Burning Love - Avengers Soulmate

Chapter 18 - 'Home'

"Olivia, would you like a drink or anything?" Bruce asked, cautiously. Unaware of where they stand with her at this moment.

"No thank you, Bruce," she replied with a small smile. Warming up the nervous scientist. The thing Olivia liked about Bruce was his ability to know when to shut up. She didn't mean it in a bad way but the others were just forcing conversation onto her and she was stressed, to say the least.

Bruce was quiet and kind and absurdly nervous around his new soulmate. And she loved it. The unintentional brushes of fingers or a simple hand on the shoulder could send this man blushing to the high heavens.

They were currently sitting in the towers laboratory where so many memorable things happened, but we live and learn. A machine beeped in the background as Olivia's legs dangled from the tall medical table.

"Olivia, what did you do in Wakanda? We barely heard from you and whenever T'challa contacted us, he was always very brief and never went into details." Bruce asked from across the room as he typed away on his computer.

"Wakanda was probably one of the best things to ever happen to me. They were able to retract some very harmful memories that would've caused issues further down the line with my recovery. T'Challa and Shuri were both incredibly kind and treated with the most respect that I've experienced in my life." Olivia replied, reminiscing on the fond memories.

Olivia looked up to find the scientist admiring her from across the room. He quickly looked away, hiding the evident blush that had crept onto his face. She softly chuckled to herself, knowing she had this effect on him made her feel powerful.

"Just to let you know, we have a psychiatrist on standby for whenever you are ready to talk about.. well, everything," Bruce said, concern creeping through his eyes.

"A psychiatrist? You have to be kidding," Olivia muttered, "I'm fine Bruce, swear."

She wasn't fine, not at all. These last few months were mentally exhausting and traumatic for Olivia. She used to hate that she was forced to live with these people because destiny says so and now, all she wanted was a bit of comfort from anyone.

Bruce just looked at Olivia, seeing the girl practically withering away in front of him. Sure, she looked healthier than before but now, she was a mere shell of a human waiting for commands to be fulfilled just to make some importance of her life.

The lab doors slid open as Mr. Steve Rogers entered, panting like an overheated dog, and he made his way over to the doctor. Olivia had just realized the brown envelope labeled, 'CLASSIFIED'.

Olivia's heart skipped a beat as Steve entered the room, his presence commanding attention. She watched as he approached Bruce, the brown envelope labeled 'CLASSIFIED' clutched in his hand. The room seemed to hold its breath as the weight of secrecy hung in the air.

"Steve, what's going on?" Bruce asked, his fingers pausing over the keyboard.

Steve's expression was a mix of weariness and determination. He glanced over at Olivia as if assessing her readiness for whatever news he was about to share.

"We've received some intel about a new threat," Steve began, his voice grave. "It's connected to your past, Olivia. Hydra seems to be rearing its head again."

Olivia's heart pounded in her chest as the words hit her. She had hoped to leave that part of her life behind, to attempt to build something new with the Avengers. But the past was never truly gone, was it?

Steve continued, "We've tracked down some suspicious activities that point to a potential resurgence of Hydra operatives. Fury thinks they might be after something dangerous, something that could tip the balance if it falls into the wrong hands."

Olivia's mind raced, memories of her time as a Hydra agent flooding back. She had done terrible things, things she had tried to bury deep within her. Now, it seemed like her past was catching up with her, threatening to unravel the fragile progress she had made in her recovery.

Bruce looked at Olivia, concern etched across his face. "Olivia, we're not forcing you into anything, but if you have any information that could help us, it might be crucial."

Olivia swallowed hard, her palms clammy. The weight of her past choices felt suffocating, but she had come a long way since then. She had to make a choice – continue to run from her past or face it head-on.

Taking a deep breath, Olivia met Steve's gaze. "I'll help in any way I can. If Hydra's back, then I need to do my part to stop them."

Steve nodded appreciatively. "We're all in this together, Olivia." Placing a tentative hand on her back as if to tell her that they were there for her.

She tried to ignore the spark that bounced from her skin even from the smallest of touches shared between her mates.

The door opened dramatically once again to reveal a very drunk Tony Stark. He came staggering towards us with a half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and the other reached out to find stability in Steve's shoulder.

"...Tony are you alright? How much have you had to drink?" Bruce came forward rushing to aid his soulmate.

Tony ducked out of the way and just simply stared at Olivia with a broken look.

"So? You stable for once?" he slurred, provoking Olivia whilst inching closer towards her medical bad.

"Somewhat stable. Are you?" she fired back with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Olivia soon realized that Tony wasn't joking with her.

"Do you know how it felt? To feel incomplete as the rest of your mates enjoy a happy life, knowing they had met you and talked with you?  I have waited my whole life to just meet all of you, do you even care?!" Tony shouted. He was clearly emotional but Olivia refused to let that keep him from being put in his place.

"It's not my fault, Tony. You don't get to snap at me because of my fucking trauma. It's not like I asked for it. I didn't ask for HYDRA to experiment on me and tear me apart. I didn't ask to be a brainwashed puppet for them, to murder and torture for them, but that's what happened and I had to deal with it, okay?! Look, I'm trying to move on and I'm doing my best with what I have. So yeah, I've pushed everyone away and I'm distant, I'm sorry, okay?!" Olivia shouts angrily.

The room was filled with heavy breathing and suddenly, Tony started countering Olivia's rant.

"Look, you don't get to keep being distant and act like you are too incompetent to feel human emotions. You're making this harder than it needs to be, just get help already. Everyone has struggles you know, it's not just you. So quit being selfish and actually be a good soulmate for all of us, or... or we'll find someone else who will care for us better than you ever would've." Tony says drunkenly while he sits in a chair, his speech is slurred and his words are broken up by long pauses. He seems to be having trouble concentrating on his thoughts.

"...ok," Olivia responded in a small voice, feeling inadequate and insecure.

Tony just took another glance at Olivia and then walked out, smashing the Jack Daniels on the floor on his way out.

Was this how they really felt about her? Was she really this shit of a soulmate?

Bruce and Steve soon followed Stark, not necessarily disagreeing with any of the words he said. Olivia was left alone once again feeling heartbroken over her mates, over how badly she treated them, over how she hadn't even seen them but was this all her fault, truly?

With no tears left to cry and feeling too shitty about herself, Olivia raised her mental wall again. Telling herself she will never let anyone see the real her, ever again...

AN: Fuck fluff 🖕🖕 anyway vote, follow and comment pls xx byeee