𝐿𝑒𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓁𝒻 𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝑒𝑒𝓅 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓃𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓈𝒶𝒻𝑒

♚♛

Loki leant against a tree, listening to the calming voice of his soulmate through all the noise the compound provided.

She was alone in her room, strumming a guitar and humming softly, the odd Sokovian word here and there. Loki could sit in the dark forest for hours and listen to her.

He reached to the chain on his neck holding her ring, twisting it whilst debating whether to call out to her mind.

Only it wasn't there.

Instead, his hand was met with a larger, circular piece of metal. His Medallion. For a second he wondered how he could be so foolish. Soulmate magic dictated that any object he'd received from his soulmate would return to him once she was in his vicinity.

If she noticed she had the ring back, or she no longer had the medallion, she would know he was nearby.

For a second, he wondered if that was such a bad idea, it would force him to see her. If he didn't take this opportunity to see her, there was a chance he would never pluck up the courage again.

The sound of thunder rumbling in the sky brought him out of his thoughts. The slight panic he was previously feeling evaporated, he knew the minute he lifted the cloaking spell that Thor wouldn't be far behind him. Perhaps the commotion the God of Thunder would cause might draw Wanda outside.

Behind Loki, a bright burst of light dropped from the heavens, lighting up the previously dour woods. A smirk fell onto his face, his brother was no doubt angry and his anger was always his downfall. He was so blinded by his own rage, resorting to violence to sort out his messes when simple diplomacy could solve more problems than it creates. Even Loki and his sharp tongue knew when to fold; Thor did not have this ability.

It was a lack of ability that Loki was planning to exploit.

*

Wanda sat in her room, guitar in her lap and soft lullabies escaping her lips. A splitting headache had tore through her mind earlier that day and being around the loud Avengers was not doing her any favours.

She could faintly feel her twin racing around the compound, something about spiders racing through his mind. She didn't worry too much about what was bothering him when he was ready, but with his recent thoughts she had her theories already.

The second blinding flash of light in a handful of days distracted her from her silence. The Bifrost opening, this time further out in the woods.

She recalled earlier in the day that someone had called for FRIDAY to tint the windows darker for a 'movie morning'. When she'd walked through the common room earlier they were still dark. It was doubtful anyone in there had seen the colourful blast and therefore doubtful anyone would go outside to investigate.

Wanda lifted her hand to tug at the medallion chain around her neck nervously, a habit she'd picked up not long after she had found it.

But it wasn't there.

Instead she was greeted with something cold touching her neck, a ring.

Her mothers ring.

It took longer than she'd like to admit to process the information. Five long minutes she sat there, pondering what had happened. Noting that her soulmate must be nearby but the information fully sinking in until her brother burst into her room.

Pietro seemed to be panicked, being near a blast that size will certainly cause that effect. Footsteps approaching behind him set both of the twins on edge. Pietro dashed from the door to the window on the other side of the room, not wanting his back to be to whoever was approaching.

Bruce appeared timidly in the doorway, still slightly wary of the Maximoff twins despite the years that have passed since they last interacted. "Uhhh, don't worry about that, Thor's gone to check it out so just stay here."

Wanda narrowed her eyes. She didn't have to go into his head to see he was lying, the darting eyes, slightly shaky voice and the wringing hands gave him away.

It seemed Pietro had caught on as well. "Thor is not here. I have been outside since dawn, unless he arrived before then?" His accent thickened with suspicion. Bruce's eyes widened, whether in fear or from simply being caught in a lie was unknown.

"Uhh, I-." He paused and took a deep breath, seemingly to collect himself. "Just trust me, please? Give it ten minutes and every will be sorted."

Wanda took a step forward, not close enough to be threatening but enough for Bruce's attention to fully shift to her. "You wouldn't happen to be keeping something from us would you?" His breathing faltered slightly. "Or perhaps someone?"

He stammered slightly.

"Bruce, is he out there?" Wanda didn't have to say his name, they all knew who she was talking about. "Because if he is and you are keeping me from him. Well - I refuse to be held accountable for anything I may do to people in my way."

She tried not to be threatening, she really did. But this was someone she had been waiting her whole life to meet, the only person she felt she may ever rely on other than her brother. If he decided that he wanted to stand in her way then she was just going to have to move him.

Bruce backed away slightly, not much but it was far enough that Wanda could slip past and down the hall. His lack of answer was enough, her soulmate was outside.

"Wanda! Hey, just wait a second."

Bruce didn't catch up with her until she'd reached the common room, by which point most of the Avengers were aware of the brewing situation.

"Someone stop her from going outside please!" Bruce called after her. Everyone around seemed slightly stunned, none of them moved until she was already reaching for the door. They knew her long enough and had enough trust built up that they didn't quite understand why they should stop her. That was until Natasha gripped her arm and stopped her in her tracks. They'd known Bruce longer, apparently that loyalty to the original six was just too hard to beat.

"Natasha let go of me right now." Her voice was low, not even trying to be polite this time. Natasha raised her brow slightly, clearly she did not see the Sokovian as a threat.

That was until hexes seared through Wanda's arm, blazing through her skin, glowing red and burned Natasha's hand. Wanda's eyes glowed red and the spy stumbled back in shock. That sent a shot of pride through Wanda, anything that had the power to shock the Black Widow was something to be truly feared.

"I warned you before Bruce."

Something in her tone sent shivers down the spines. It reminded them too much of the Age of Ultron, when the twins posed a very real and dangerous threat to the whole of civilization. Tony had summoned the hand piece of his armour and was shuffling towards the door, as was Steve with his shield. Perhaps they thought they could be the last ditch distraction before Wanda got outside.

"Do you even know why I'm leaving?" They stayed silent. Truthfully they didn't care, no matter what was outside, Wanda using this much of her power - even if it was a small shock to the arm - was a threat that had to be neutralised.

"I see. So you would stand in between me and my soulmate."

There was a second where everyone froze. They wouldn't do that. But if it caused Bruce to look this afraid then perhaps they should.

Steve was beginning to nudge Tony away from the door, ever the hopeful romantic. He would let her out and she could finally go see her soulmate.

If only Bruce had kept quiet.

"You mean your soulmate, Loki?" There was a collective and audible intake of breath. "The man that destroyed New York and nearly took over the world? You want us to stand aside and let you go to him."

"He says to the woman who nearly caused the extinction of billions. Yes, I want you to move."

There was a whirring behind her, the powering up of Tony's blasters. A small part of Wanda didn't want to believe that he would blast her in the back but a larger voice, the more logical side, knew he would. Her chaos was bubbling under her skin, she was about to blow the compound to pieces in her rage.

"Wanda, you know we can't do that." The voice of Steve said from behind her.

She sighed. She'd hoped that she could make a quick getaway before anyone had the chance to block her exit. Apparently not. She was just going to have to make them move then.

Pietro had been lingering in the corner, staying out of sight and occasionally zipping out of the room to find other exits. He could feel her hexes prickling his skin, her magic was about to explode.

There was a split second where she glanced in his direction, a moment of eye contact and an entire conversation. A warning or perhaps a 'get ready'.

It was both.

Wanda rose her hands to waist level, red vortex curling around her fingers, crawling up her arms and encasing her whole body in flaming chaos. Suddenly she slammed her hands downward, magic shooting into the floor and scattering into the walls.

The floor beneath them began to shake, the building moving like it was hit with an earthquake.

Pietro wasted no time running over to his twin, lifting her into his arms and running out of the building just as dust was beginning to drift from the ceiling. Outside had also been hit but with significantly less power. Trees shook viciously, but as they moved further from the building, they began to sway as if a particularly harsh breeze blew through.

Eventually Pietro placed his sister on her feet. The mist from around her body had faded and her eyes lost their crimson glow.

"So did you bring the building down." He asked casually. He was slightly annoyed they hadn't noticed her power overload, she was very close to snapping when she entered the room and they drove her further to the edge.

"No, they'll be fine."

"Well then, your Mischief Man should still be here. Let's go find him shall we?"

And with that, the twins began combing through the woods, looking for the God of Mischief.