Chapter Text
Charlotte Mooney was decidedly not having a very nice day. It could even be said she wasn’t having a good month but this day in particular was proving to be quite unpleasant. Currently, she found herself slowly bleeding out from a puncture wound through her right shoulder. A long vibranium katana had her pinned to a vibranium lined wall but at least she was sitting down. Small favors.
She was as comfortable as a person slowly dying in the ruins of the only home they’ve ever known could be. The dust was finally beginning to settle from the self destruct protocol she had personally enacted and her head was starting to swim with dizziness. It was at this moment she thought her life would really flash before her eyes, her biggest regrets making themselves known. Never adopting a dog, not getting to start her new job at Stark Industries, never meeting her soulmate, but all she could think about is how no one would know she was gone. Her former team had recently disbanded and gone their separate ways. Many were sour at how things ended and cut off all contact.
It was her last responsibility as a former member of Atlas to sanitize their already abandoned lab located on what was fondly referred to as simply The Island. She was uniquely qualified for this job as well as one of the last members left who hadn’t already gone to ground. It should have been easy. But like most things, it got complicated when another party decided to show up and scavenge what was left of the fallen organization’s research and tech. Hence the self-destruct, hence the katana embedded in her shoulder.
Charlotte had managed to set off the protocol before the vultures could well and truly look around. The sword was her thanks before they sounded a hasty retreat. Were she anyone else she would be dead. Blow sky high with everything else in the labs and around the base. Luckily, she’s not anyone else. Due to truly unpredictable and slightly unbelievable circumstances she had obtained two abilities. One was harmless enough: levitation, or simply weightlessness. The second was more difficult and sometimes unreliable: phasing, as she called it, the ability to move through objects.
Unfortunately, phasing took quite a bit of energy and concentration and on top of that, denser materials were a lot more difficult to phase though. Cue the rock and hard place she found herself stuff between now. Or was it vibranium and vibranium? If she wasn’t sure she was on her death bed, she might be tickled by the irony. The girl who can phase through objects dies stuck to a wall.
So stuck in her own head, Charlotte failed to hear sounds of booted feet sweeping through the old labs near her. As they got closer though she heard the cadence of people yelling the word “Clear!” rhythmically as they got louder, got closer. Charlotte was tempted to call out for aid but her mouth had long since dried out and her throat caught when she tried to clear it. Even if she could call out she did not know who was here. Atlas was gone. These people could be enemies for all she knew. She stayed silent and waited for the team to inevitably find her.
Shock and hope filled her as she realized just who had stumbled upon the ruined island base. The first to turn the corner into the hallway and her line of sight was the highly distinguishable Captain America. His face filled with surprise at the sight of her and he quickly called over his shoulder, “I got a casualty. A live one. Might need some assistance!”
The other two people who quickly joined the Captain were just as recognizable as other members of the Avengers: Black Widow and Hawkeye. They group made haste towards her but remained cautious as they took in the scene. Charlotte couldn’t make out their reactions as all three of their faces only looked calculating and curious. Captain America knelt by her injured side as Black Widow took up the space to her left. Hawkeye hung back to keep an eye on the surroundings.
“Hello, ma’am. I am Captain America. We are here to help. I’m going to need to cut through this sword to get you back to our jet. I don’t want to pull it out in case it hit any important veins. Do you understand?”
Charlotte just shook her head. It was unlikely the team brought anything that could easily cut through the vibranium without jostling her too much. She looked him in the eye and coughed out, “Can’t. Vibranium.”
“I see, well… that means I’m going to have to pull it out then. Natasha, here, is going to help hold you in place but I won’t lie. It’s going to hurt.”
Black Widow, Natasha, leaned forward slightly and braced one hand firmly on her uninjured shoulder. The other came to rest just as firmly on her right hip successfully pinning her even more so in place. Not one to be overly comforting to strangers, especially ones met in odd predicaments such as this Natasha simply stated, “We’ll get you out of here in no time.”
The warmth of her soul words heating up on the skin of her left wrist was almost as overwhelming as the tidal wave of emotions that Charlotte felt in that moment. Joy, confusion, and disbelief were the chief among them.
“Well, fancy meeting you here.” Charlotte had just managed to mutter out in a low rasp and Steve decided to pull the katana out while she was distracted. Charlotte was able to register Natasha’s wide eyed stare as the blinding white-hot pain lanced through her body and she finally fell out of consciousness.
“Did what I think just happen, just happen?” Clint’s dry voice rang out as Steve swiftly carried the unconscious girl back to the quinjet. Natasha seemed to be in shock and did not respond but seemed to automatically follow Steve as he rushed out of the decimated labs.
No one seemed to have anything else to say as Steve and Natasha worked to stabilize the now heavily bleeding girl while Clint got the jet up and running. They were out of there in no time as Natasha put pressure on both sides of the wound. Steve hustled about, pulling out the med equipment used to monitor vitals and setting that up. By that point, Clint had already put in a call back to the tower to have Dr. Cho and a med team ready for an emergency.
Upon their arrival, Dr. Cho and her team were waiting for them on the helipad with a gurney. As Steve transferred her to the gurney, Dr. Cho gasped as a look of recognition came over her face but she said nothing and just pushed on to the elevator.
Steve, Clint, and Natasha were all torn on whether to follow the doctor or to meet up with Fury and Hill to debrief on their wayward mission. The captain made the decision for them as he radioed down for their leaders to meet them in the med bay. In the waiting room the five of them did a quick debrief on what they knew but were interrupted as Tony Stark stormed in looking slightly bewildered.
“Does anyone want to tell me why Friday reported that my new Particle Physicist was flown in on a quinjet and is now in surgery?!” The responding looks from the five other people in the room were all ones of confusion. Maria Hill recovered first and asked the obvious, “You know the girl who was brought in?”
“Charlotte Mooney. Former Atlas scientist and occasional field agent for their United Nations overseen response team. One of the most brilliant minds in particle physics and ukulele player extraordinaire. Also, I should mention, a good friend to Dr. Helen Cho who happens to be doing her surgery?” His last statement came out as more of a disbelieving question. “I just hired her last month after Atlas announced that they were closing up shop. She is actually supposed to start work next Monday. I was going to introduce everyone since she is going to be living in the tower. There was going to be cake!”
“We found her at Atlas’s base pretty badly injured but I don’t think fatally. We were sent to investigate a large explosion that happened on the island. It’s a miracle she’s not more hurt really.” Steve spoke up before Tony could continue rambling.
“Oh, hmm, yeah. Makes sense they would send her in to initiate self destruct.”
“It does?” Came Clint’s startled reply. “Does it explain why she had vibranium katana sticking out of her shoulder?”
“Well, Charlotte happens to have a special condition that… let’s say, gives her special talents that makes her useful for special assignments.”
“We get it, she’s special.” Clint muttered under his breath as Fury spoke up.
“So, you are telling me you hired an enhanced individual that will be both living and working in the tower. One of whom happened to work for an organization almost as covert as SHIELD was and you didn’t consult anyone first?”
“It’s a medical condition!”
“Oh, and what ‘condition’ might that be?” came Maria’s dry response.
“It’s called Particle Dissociation. You wouldn’t have heard of it. Very rare.”
“Rare as in--?” Steve started but Tony cut him off.
“Charlotte has the only known confirmed case.”
Fury sighed heavily, having quickly grown tired of Tony’s antics. He pinched the bridge of his nose before turning to Natasha who had been silent since the team had arrived back from their mission. “Romanoff, what’s your take on all this?”
Nastasha hesitated before answering. Her eyes flitted over to Maria, not really knowing how she was going to take her news. Natasha had been one of those people who had not chosen to wait on the off chance she might meet her soulmate. She had decided that her love and trust was hard to come by and that if someone had inspired such emotions within her that she would pursue that relationship despite her mark. That person was Maria Hill and that relationship was now a seven year long marriage.
To make matters slightly more complicated was the fact of Maria’s soulmate who had been found just the year prior in one Wanda Maximoff. The adjustment of not only sharing her wife with her soulmate but also starting her own romantic relationship with the young Sokovian woman was a hard one but proved to be well worth it. The question was: could they adjust once more for Charlotte? Would Charlotte even be interested? Would Charlotte force her to choose? Because she wouldn’t. Couldn’t. The Black Widow does not love much so once she committed she was all in.
Deciding the best thing to do in this situation was to be honest because this truth was going to get out fast, Natasha sighed wearily.
“My take, sir, is that Charlotte Mooney would appear to be my soulmate and she is currently very injured. My take is that things are complicated and I am not in a position to be professional on this matter.”
Once again, there was shock flowing through the group congregated in the med bay waiting room but Natasha only had eyes for Maria. Her expression was nearly unreadable to anyone else but Natasha knew what she could see there. Acceptance and happiness followed by concern. The brunette took a few steps toward her wife and took her hand, squeezing it.
“Maybe we should wait till after the surgery to discuss Miss Mooney any further?” Was Maria’s response. It may have sounded like a suggestion but everyone recognized it as the order it was. Fury just sighed once more before nodding and walking away. Everyone else took seats in the comfortable chairs and awaited news from the doctor.
***
The first thing Charlotte noticed upon drifting back into consciousness was the decidedly floaty feeling in both her head and body. She could definitely say she did not feel sober. Next she noticed her unbearably dry mouth which made her cough as she tried to speak.
“Oh, here you are, Charlie. Take it easy. It would appear you were stabbed.” Helen Cho’s unmistakable voice rang out sounding both concerned and exasperated. Charlotte was surprised to see her old friend but took it in stride as she tried to do with most things in her life. She gently sipped on the offered room temp water and cleared her throat.
“Hey there, Helly. I know you weren’t expecting me for a few more days so… surprise?”
“Surprise? Yes, you bet I am. And not pleasantly. What happened?”
“Oh, you know, just closing up the office. Ran into some looters. Met my soulmate. Just a regular Tuesday.”
“Met your soulmate?! Wait, your soulmate is a looter--?” Charlotte cut Helen off before she could even finish the thought. In a loud whisper she said, “No! She’s Natasha Romanoff!”
That had startled an already frazzled Helen as she knew Agent Romanoff was happily married as well as part of a triad. She briefly considered how to break the news to her younger friend and decided to just be straight forward and supportive.
“Charlie, first let me say congratulations on finding your soulmate. I hope it brings you the happiness you deserve. There are some things you need to know though. Natasha is… well, involved. Committed. She has a wife who also happens to have a soulmate. The three of them are together.”
This news was big and part of Charlotte was scared that meant her intended wouldn’t want her but she also couldn’t find it in her to hate or disapprove of her soulmate’s relationships. If anything, it showed what caring heart she had. Charlotte knew then that she would wait and see what kind of relationship Natasha needed from her before jumping to any conclusions. She just hoped she would still be allowed in her life.
“Okay.” She uttered softly but with acceptance as her eyes closed and sleep took her once again.