Soulmate AU One Shots Collection

To Outrun Fate - Peter Maximoff x Reader

Originally posted October 11th, 2019 on my Marvel Tumblr, thefinalexperiment

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In a world where your soulmate's last words to you were written on your arm, trying to find love was a tricky affair. Some people tried refusing to date to avoid losing their perfect match, but they never lasted long. You can't stop your heart from loving, after all. Others had a more positive outlook. Why not try to find your soulmate? That way, even though you may lose them eventually, you at least had a chance to be with them.

Some people were lucky. They had normal words like "I love you" or "I'll miss you". Those types usually wound up dying side by side in a nursing home, old and fulfilled.

And then there was Peter. He wished that it was possible to remove the words. When he was a kid, people mocked him for lots of reasons. But they always stopped when they found out what his words were. Then they would avoid him. It made for a lonely childhood, so when his mutation revealed itself, he reveled in the feeling of freedom it brought him. For a time, it felt as if he could outrun the fate written into his soul.

In his teens, he started to become numb to the words. He dated around a bit, but still, in the back of his mind, that doubt was there. These words would sting him someday, there was no escaping that. It was just a matter of when...

For now, however, he was tentatively dating a girl he met at Xavier's place. Her name was (Y/N), and her skin was a wonderful, ruby red color that perfectly matched her pyrokinetic powers.

"I still think it's a bit on the nose," she'd joked once. She had been feeling down about her appearance, and Peter made sure she knew how beautiful he thought she was. "I could just as easily controlled fire if I had stayed the skin tone I was born with..."

But mutations were never that simple.

One time, when they had a huge fight, she'd said the words, and Peter freaked out. With tears in his eyes, he begged her never to say it again. They both calmed down enough to apologize, and (Y/N) ran her fingers through his hair until he stopped panicking, realizing that there had been no telltale burn in the words on his skin to indicate that she had been the one.

They'd never fought as bad as they were fighting right now. Then again, Peter had never been as reckless on a mission before.

"You don't have to step in every single time a piece of debris heads my way!" (Y/N) shouted. "That's how you get yourself killed, worrying about me in the middle of a fight!"

"What, so I'm just not supposed to care?" Peter snapped. "I love you!"

"It's like you think I can't take care of myself!"

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Come on, you have to admit that my powers are a lot safer than yours."

(Y/N)'s eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me!" Peter said. "If someone shoots a bullet at you, it's not like you can melt it. You know you can't get hot enough. But I can move it away from you, or move you out of the way!"

"Move me out of the action, you mean! How am I supposed to fight if you keep pushing me out of it!"

"It's safer that way!" Peter snapped.

"I'm not a damsel in distress!"

"You can't fully control your powers and you know it!"

Immediately, he could tell he'd gone too far. That was her sore spot.

Her voice was eerily calm as she said, "How's this for control?"

A fireball splashed against the sleeve of his jacket and fizzled out, making him jump.

"Hey!" Immediately, he was angry again.

"I hate you!" she snapped. With that, she turned and walked out the door, letting it swing open wide.

Peter stomped over to the door and shouted one last dig after her.

"Why don't you take a walk to cool down!"

It was an hour before he realized that the burning sensation wasn't just his anger. An icy hand wrapped around his heart and began to squeeze.

"No no no..."

He tore his jacket off, pushing the sleeve off his arm as fast as he possibly could. The black ink had faded to silvery pink, like a scar, and it felt like the blood in his forearm was on fire.

I hate you!

In the blink of an eye, he had grabbed the Professor and put his chair right in front of Cerebro.

"Peter, what on ear-"

"Find her."

"What?"

Peter shoved his arm into the Professor's vision.

"Use the machine. You have to find her."

The Professor's expression clouded, and he silently put the headpiece on. The room flashed red, showing all the mutants he could see.

"Where is she?" Peter demanded.

Charles' expression was stony.

"Professor-"

"She's gone, Peter."

His heart skipped a beat. It couldn't be.

"G-gone where?"

The pity in Charles' eyes told him exactly where.

"No."

"She lost control, Peter... People's lives were in danger... A mutant task force was called-"

"Stop."

"I'm sorry."

"No!" he shouted. "It can't be her!"

"Peter-"

But he was already gone, doing what he did best, as if he could outrun this fate that had been inked into his soul.