Feel My Soul Avenger

Past to Present

Warning: Language, thoughts of someone with a bad past associated with her marks, angst, slight sexual harassment, and bullying.

Back to Stella P.O.V.

     As soon as Steve left the room, I flopped back onto the bed and groaned loudly while throwing up my hands to cover my eyes and kicked my feet a few times against the mattress in glee. I had found them, all three of them, and who would have thought that all three of them would have been together and in the heart on Manhattan? Definitely not me! I thought they might have been from South America because that's where the majority of roses grew, or from somewhere where roses had a special meaning, or where rose was in the name of the place they lived. I would have never thought that three superheros, three of the worlds mightiest hero's, would be represented by a delicate and some-what feminine flower.

     Tony I could understand to a small degree. His rose on my mark had turned a deep red and was on top of a corsage like arrangement with my other marks. He was a deeply passionate man about everything he was invested in and cared about if the tabloids were to be believed. Though he had a snarky and passive aggressive type of voice and humor, every time he looked at me I could see a softness and a gentleness in his eyes that I knew was just for me. It was also the same shade of red as his Iron Man suit so that was a give away as well.

     Clint on the other hand didn't seem like a very soft man to me so far. After all, the first time I saw him he was falling out of a vent and wearing all leather from his sleeveless vest down to his boots. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that though, honestly I found it quite attractive. His rose had turned a deeper purple and now instead of one purple rose he had two and a purple hawk flying to the right of my cluster of roses. I thought this new interpretation of him suited him perfectly, after all he was known as Hawkeye, and from our touch bonding, I knew just how much he loved the feel of being up high.

     Now Steve, sweet Steve, I could see why I had a rose symbolizing him on my arm. It wasn't because he was soft, or because of the time he was from, it was because of how he treated me. When he was with me earlier, he held me so softly, so gently, but firmly that I  had no doubt that should he have needed to move me he could have. While at the same time he was treating me like the most the precious gem in the world. I guess to him I might be? How long did he go thinking that his mate might have been dead? Well now he didn't have to worry, and his one rose had turned to three beautiful deep blue roses that were under the red rose in my flower arrangement. There were flecks of gold throughout my mark that I assumed symbolized me, because I knew I didn't have anymore soulmates, but that was just an assumption since I haven't seen my marks on them yet.

     Soulmates. S-O-U-L-M-A-T-E-S. Plural. Multiple. Well Shiitake Mushrooms! I had tried to prepare myself for this moment for my whole life, but now that it was here, I was overwhelmed and my mind went back to my past. I turned on my side on the bed and ran my fingers gently over my soulmark as my mind began to spin out of control. Ever since my marks showed up as a kid I was ecstatic, I didn't realize that it was rare for someone to have more than one soulmate, so the next day when I ran up to my best friend Cynthia at school and showed her my arm, I was unprepared for her reaction. The disgust that filled her 8 year old face as she backed away from me with a finger pointed at me. The word "Freak" being yelled at me for the first time and catching the attention of all of my classmates. Whispers passing from child to child as everyone backed away from me like I had an infectious disease that could kill them as they all pointed and laughed at me. I vividly remember the tears running down my face and running to the teacher for help, but she just sneered at me and told me to take a seat. I ran home from school sobbing that day with scraped knees from how many times I had been shoved and called freak. From that day on I only wore long sleeved shirts even in summer, and made sure my marks were always covered. But I cherished them.