The Fighter

1

Rune's POV

"Rune, come home please. I miss you. You know  I love you, baby. You're my soulmate and I just want a second chance. Please call me back." The drunken voice of a man I had once known left another voicemail. I knew this voicemail would be the first of many that night. Whenever Sam got drunk, he always called and begged me to come home. I never did.

Sam wasn't a man that gave up on what he wanted. But I wasn't the kind of woman that would deal with the same man hitting me when I ate a little too much or when he came home early from work and I didn't have diner ready for him. After a year of dealing with his abuse, I snuck out and fled the country. 

I went to Africa and started making friends, spent most of my time in a small run down village ad met a stunning woman named Nakia. She changed my life. 

"Rune! Are you home?" Tessa called. 

I smiled and deleted the voicemail from Sam, setting my phone aside. I stood up to welcome me best friend home. It had been almost seven months since She had told her soulmate, James Barnes to leave. I didn't have to force the large man to leave, he did it on his own. 

I almost felt bad for him, but then I had to remember that not all soulmates were perfect. Not every soulmate entered at the right time in someone's life. I mean, look at my luck. Samuel Griffin Ryans was my soulmate and he was one of the worst men I'd ever met. Of course I'd get stuck with him. 

Tessa rounded the corner wearing the god awful uniform for the same diner I worked at. The difference between the legendary daughter and myself? Tessa made the waitress uniform look okay. It was a dark red color button up shirt with skin tight white jeans and black sneakers. Our hair had to be pulled back and we had to wear a headband that matched our shirts. 

Since Tessa was so thin, she could pull off the tucked in button up and the white jeans without looking bad. I wasn't in that camp. Sam and my last boyfriend, Harry thought that I was a few pounds past curvy. 

I knew I wasn't overweight, but I wasn't thin either. I had love handles, maybe a little too much, but I didn't really care. I knew that nothing would get the weight off. I'd tried dieting, exercising, weight loss pills. Everything I could think of but nothing came of it, so I kind of just accepted the fact that I was going to be a little on the heavy side. I wasn't ashamed, but I wasn't exactly proud of it either. 

"I made $50 in tips today. You wanna go to the bakery a couple blocks away and try their new dessert menu?" Tessa asked, fanning herself with a make-shift row of tens. I laughed at her and grabbed my hoodie off the chair by the table. She had me at dessert. 

She turned back to the door and made a squealing noise. I quickly grabbed the dagger I keep hidden under the table, facing the door. It was a habit I picked up after Sam followed me from my hometown to Texas. 

I didn't need it. Tessa hugged a girl with brown hair standing in our doorway. I wasn't sure who this woman was, but Tessa seemed at ease around her, so I slid the dagger back under the table. The tension in my body slowly vanished from me. I relaxed and put the hoodie back on the chair, almost sure that we wouldn't be going anywhere with the appearance of the strange woman. 

She was insanely attractive. She had long brown hair that hung in loose curls. She had brown eyes and an aura that said she wasn't meant to be messed with. She wore a loose black sweater and black skinny jeans. Her fingers were covered in rings, her neck held multiple necklaces. Whoever she was, she was very into bling. 

"Tessa, I just had to come get you. Steve's run into a bit of trouble in Wakanda and he requested you come back to help him." She said, holding Tessa's hands. Steve, right Tessa's dad was Captain America. It was easy to forget who her family was when Tessa was so down to earth and humble.

Tessa's energy instantly vanished. "My dad? Wanda, will I see...Is he there?" She asked, not able to say his name. After making him leave, she broke down. I'd held her while she cried and she can't say his name without the tears returning. He really broke something in her. She really did love him. 

Wanda sighed softly. "Barnes returned the arm to T'Challa and he moved out to the middle of nowhere. He's not around Steve anymore. Steve beat him to a bloody mess after hearing about what happened." She gave Tessa a smile. "Come back. I miss having you around. So does Steve." She said. 

Tessa looked at me and I knew her thoughts. If she left, what would happen to me. I had gotten away with telling her that I wasn't allowed in the actual country of Wakanda because of their rules but they gave me a way to avoid my past without telling her about Sam. I didn't want her to look at me with pity like most people did if I told them my past. 

I had to remember that Tessa belonged with them. She was a super soldier just like her dad. She belonged in that fairy tale world and she deserved a prince charming and a happy ending. That's the kind of girl she was. She used to tell me stories about she felt when she was with Bucky and I knew she couldn't pass on that feeling completely. It was true that sometimes soulmates were wrong, but I tried so many times to make Sam care about me. Maybe it was just a matter of time before she wanted to go back and give her soulmate another chance. If her chance was literally showing up at our doorstep, I wasn't going to let her pass that up. 

"I'll be okay, Tess. I'll probably get assigned to protect someone else. If you want to go, you should." I told her, being almost honest with her. It had taken two years for me to be assigned to her case. Before I was actually given something to do, I had to fend for myself. I wondered if I would be able to go back to Africa or if I was stuck in America until King T'Challa chose to call upon me. 

Tessa ran to me and hugged me tightly, almost jumping up and down in her excitement. The girl was a spitfire and I was sure that was never going to change. She and Wanda rushed into Tessa's room to get the few belongings Tessa owned. I knew Tess wanted to get back to her dad. She had told me how much she missed him over the past seven months. It was really hard for her to be so far away from him when she'd found out that he was her dad a month before he left on a mission. Then the whole thing with her soulmate happened only a couple months after they left. She hasn't seen him in over a year. It made sense that she was so excited to go back and see him. 

Tess and Wanda came back out not long after with two suitcases. Tessa hadn't bought any more clothes while she was here. She said she didn't see the need for a giant closet. She didn't mind doing one load of laundry and having almost all of her clothes clean and hung up. I didn't mind laundry. It gave me something to think about and I did a lot of laundry. 

Tessa looked at me and smiled again. "I'll talk to T'Challa and see if you can come out and stay with us. I think everyone would like you. Especially Shuri." She kissed my cheek and picked up her suitcase. "I'll call you when I get there, Rune!" She said and walked out with Wanda. 

And just like that, I was alone in the apartment again. I sighed softly, trying not to be sad. Tessa was a girl who decided what she was going to do and she did it right then. T'Challa had paid for the apartment and the lease wasn't up until the end of the year. Of course, it wasn't in Tess's name, so it wasn't a huge deal. I was just going to miss her. 

I grabbed a Diet Pepsi from the fridge and opened it, taking a drink. Maybe I'd try a diet again. Try to lose just the couple pounds I'd put on from Tessa constantly buying me junk food. 

I had just sat the cold soda on the counter when my phone rang again. I tensed up, letting it go to voicemail. I should have just ignored the call and went to watch TV or to the gym, but curiosity got the better of me. I couldn't leave it alone now. 

I picked up my cell phone and pressed play on the most recent voicemail. 

"Rune, baby is Samuel. I know that I messed up, but it's you and me forever babe. You're the only one for me and I'd run to the ends of the earth to find you. Please give me a call, I just want to hear your voice. I won't ask where you are, I just want to hear from you." Samuel said, his words far less slurred than the message he'd left me earlier. 

If Tess could tell her soulmate no when he wasn't being good to her, so could I. Right?