PURE AND TAINTED
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
( calm down, it's not a bomb )
"I THINK YOU SHOULD TALK to her." Aline almost rolled her eyes at her girlfriend's statement, shaking her head as she zipped up the front of her suit. Once the two girls were alone, changing behind the van while the other guys changed as well, Wanda had practically forced Aline to explain what exactly the problem was and who this mysterious blonde woman was. She'd been surprised to find out it was none other than Aline's cousin Rome, a woman she's heard plenty about (mostly angry things), and their argument the previous day. She of course understood why Wanda would want her and Rome to speak, but she didn't want to. She was still furious, trying hard not to scream or punch something. "She's your family, and you might not have the chance to do so again."
"Why should I?" Aline nearly spat, pulling her hair out from the inside of her suit. She shook her head wildly, then started to fix her hair. "The woman all but abandoned me, you can't expect me to just get over it."
Wanda stepped in front of her eyesight, lips pursed. "Ali, I think you and I know it's much deeper than that." She reached around to fix the hood of Aline's suit and once she was done, she settled one of her hands on the side of Aline's neck. Her other hand grabbed hold of Aline's. "I know I don't know her very well but 一"
"Exactly," Aline said and narrowed her eyes, "you don't know her. How can you possibly defend her?"
"You defended Stark when we first met," Wanda retorted, arching one of her thin brows, resulting in Aline to roll her eyes. "Maybe she was scared. I've seen your memories, moy dorogoy. I know what happened. And..." She trailed off, chewing on the inside of her cheek. Wanda had never wanted to tell Aline how she felt when she first saw those memories. Seeing her love dressed in blood and anger, it'd been frightening. "And it scared me." Her voice came out to a whisper.
Aline furrowed her brows, feeling the breath escape past her lips. She always suspected there was a part of Wanda that was scared of her, but she never let it show. The only time she did something even remotely close was when she saw Aline shift for the first time (the sound of bones breaking and breaking was horrifying) or when she saw Aline drain a body with her fangs (Wanda had gone pale). "Why didn't you ever tell me that?"
"How could I?" Wanda said sadly. "Who wants to hear their partner 一 hell, their soulmate was terrified of them at one point or another?" She ducked her head, awkwardly avoiding Aline's gaze. "When I looked in your head and saw those moments when you'd lost Madelaine, I'd never felt such anger before. You hurt me, it was scary, but I understood why." She finally looked up, dropping the hand from Aline's neck to grab her other hand. "But you have to understand that it wasn't a good thing, my love. And Rome tried, she did the best she could. You can't blame her for being scared." Wanda released her hands to gently cup Aline's face, thumb stroking her cheekbone. "I get it, you have every right to be mad, but you need to talk to her at some point. And actually listen this time, yeah?"
The tribrid gulped. Wanda did have a point 一 she couldn't exactly blame Rome for being scared and worried, who wouldn't be in that situation? But that didn't excuse the amount of pain her leaving had put her through for years. She sighed. "What if, what if she won't hear what I have to say? I may or may not have said some... choice words on that rooftop. None of them good."
"If Rome is anything like you told me, then she will. I know it sounds difficult to hear, but she still loves you." Aline released a scoff and Wanda gave her a look, her hold on Aline's face tightening just the slightest. "Hey, she does! Whatever argument you two had will not matter. You're family, you need each other. So please, talk to her; you both look like you need it."
Aline pursed her lips and groaned loudly. "Why are you always right?"
The Enhanced girl smirked at her, leaning over to kiss the tip of the tribrid's nose. "Because we very well can't have you always be right, you brag," she teased. "What would the world become then?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you have to say it out loud. I thought our relationship was perfectly fine without you commenting on my flaws, but I guess I'm wrong." The two girls chuckled, then looked down at themselves. "We should get finished changing," Aline said, seeing as how she only had one sock on and both of her boots were tossed haphazardly on the ground beside her.
"Yes, we should." Wanda let go of Aline's face, then pat her on the hip. "Get finished, then talk. I mean it." The brunette almost flicked Aline's ear when she saw her stick her tongue out.
As soon as they were done changing, with Aline placing her hair up in a ponytail, she awkwardly walked over to Rome. Her cousin had remained by the car, keeping her back turned so as to allow the men to quickly change into their gear. It was more than obvious how out of place her cousin looked, and she probably felt that way too. The only people she truly knew was Bucky and Aline, and she was only on good terms with the former.
She could spot Sam watching her out of the corner of his eye, strapping his gear onto his back, like he was afraid Aline would rip Rome's throat out or something. In fact, she noticed all the men were watching her cautiously as she approached her cousin, duffel bag held tightly in her hands. Once she reached her, Aline poked her in the arm then held out the bag. "Here," she said quickly just as Rome turned around. Rome gave her a curious yet wary look. "Calm down, it's not a bomb. It's just some clothes I packed that might help with the fighting and stuff. I used it officially before I got this suit." She gestured to the suit Tony had made for her last year, just before they had fought Ultron. She can remember just how upset she was at how many bullet holes there'd been, but Tony had managed to fix it up (to which she quite literally jumped up and down, squealing a "Thank you" to the man). Inside the man was a pair of dark jeans, a thick sweater, and a leather jacket that should hopefully keep her fine.
"You kept it," were the first words Rome had said. She followed Rome's gaze and saw that her cousin was looking at the necklace around her throat. Aline had bothered to hide it, instead allowing the green crystal to shine brilliantly in the sunlight.
Awkwardly, Aline tucked it into her suit. "Yeah," she said with a nod. She'd wanted to throw the necklace away ages ago, toss it in the ocean or bury it in some desert somewhere, but it'd been a part of her past 一 a time when she'd still been young and happy and innocent, a time where she loved her family and they her. Looking back up at Rome, she paused. What was she supposed to say? Wanda said to talk but how? Aline had said some rather hurtful things yesterday but it wasn't as if Rome had been kind either. No, no, no, she shouldn't be thinking like that! Listen to her, that's what her soulmate had said.
For the past year, Wanda had been the one to hold Aline's hand and relax her. She was like an anchor for her, and Aline was eternally grateful for her since they started dating. She's always been thankful that Wanda has been nothing but calm and helpful throughout their relationship, and she couldn't have asked for a better soulmate. Aline often thought of how similar she was to Madelaine, and wondered if they were the same person, just reincarnated. However, reincarnation was just another one of life's big mysteries, something Aline would have no idea if it was true or not. The tribrid was also glad that Wanda never seemed upset whenever Madelaine was mentioned or brought up, instead listening with rapt interest and smiling.
Rome eventually accepted the duffel bag, placing it on the top of the car. She cleared her throat. "I know we haven't always seen eye-to eye but..." She sighed, looking away briefly. "Well, I suppose family rarely does, but I am sorry. Truly, Alina, I am."
Alina 一 now that had been a name she hadn't been called in centuries. Fury had always called her by her last name, and the Avengers and Wanda had only ever known her as Aline, but never Alina. It'd been the name given to her all those years ago, the name of her childhood. But as the years passed and the world started becoming more modernized, Alina and Magna Eiradottir and Andromeda Sigrundottir were no more; Aline and Maggie Ashford and Rome Kingsmill were born.
She nodded sadly. "I'm sorry too, Andromeda." I'm sorry for everything I've put you through, she wanted to add. I'm sorry I was a monstrous bitch to you in the past and for yesterday. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough.
From behind her, she could hear Wanda walking up and so she turned to meet up. Aline could hear Wanda's heart flutter nervously, and she almost laughed. There was always that anxiety that came with meeting your significant other's family, and for the most part, that was what the Avengers had been for Aline. Her teammates had become more of a father, with each of them taking substantial familial roles, but now here was Rome. Her actual family, her blood.
"I'm glad to see you two over here making peace," Wanda said, taking Aline's hand and giving Rome a kind smile. She then pressed a kiss to Aline's cheek, then held out a hand for the witch to shake. "My name's Wanda, I've heard... certain things about you."
Rome hesitated for a moment, staring at the outstretched hand before taking it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Wanda. My name's Rome Kingsmill. I'd like to say I've heard equally pleasant things about you, but it wasn't until yesterday did I hear of you." She let her hand drop to her side then cleared her throat. "So, this is... your new soulmate?" She had made a point to emphasize new. Of course she'd be skeptical. Who wouldn't be? It's not everyday that people discover they're meant to meet their soulmate in this life, but to have gotten to have two? The odds were astronomical.
Aline simply nodded. "Yeah," she said slowly. "Trust me, I've done some research. There's not a lot to explain our situation. But that doesn't really matter." She hadn't mentioned to Wanda about the research she managed to scrounge up. There were several theories as to why, but the one that made any possible sort of sense was that because Aline had died and been revived because of her vampire curse, she had two lives, hence the two soulmates. Even then it sounded too convoluted and complex, but she always tried to push the thought away. It didn't matter how she'd gotten her soulmate, all that mattered is that she had her. Aline looked down at Wanda with a loving gaze. "She's great, trust me. Much more than I deserve." She wrapped an arm around Wanda's waist then kissed her cheek.
A/N: i realized i probably shouldn't
have done the whole two-soulmates
thing, so here i am, years later fixing my
problem & trying to find a decent-ish
way to explain it oops