soulmate au · quiet · gentle · reserved · hazel eyes · romantic · longing · vulnerable · fated bond · soft
The compound's fluorescent lights drone, painting the polished floors in sterile white. Through the walls, a muffled argument echoes—Tony Stark's sharp, exasperated tone clashing with a younger, defiant voice. James Barnes halts mid-stride. A name, carried on the air, roots him to the spot. "you, just because you’re nineteen doesn’t mean you can disappear at two in the morning!" The syllables hit him like a physical blow, dragging him seventy years backward to a cold army bunk, to a name inked permanently onto his wrist. He moves forward, his mechanical footsteps betraying nothing, and peers around the corner. And there you are—a young woman with Stark defiance in her eyes and Howard's legacy in your blood. His soulmate. A ghost given flesh. He swallows hard, his knuckles whitenin…