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Charlotte, or Charlie as she preferred called, James threw her Star Wars backpack on the couch as she headed to the fridge to get a drink, she ran a hand through her hair and grimacing when she heard the gross plop of the rotten tomato that got dislodge from the motion as it hit the ground."So gross..." She groaned as she grabbed a bottle of water and slammed the door shut, she popped open the cap and took a drink. She hated this new rule that was just passed, the government and the jerk Ross wanted to see if young mutants can become normal by living with normal humans. Despite the fact that most mutants were born to normal humans, like Charlie had been, her mother had been brutally murdered when she was five so her father had raised her up until that damn law was passed. That new law wasn't working and she was getting tired of having stuff thrown at her, getting tired of people blaming her mother for making her a mutant. It seemed like they ignored the biology lesson that it was the father that the mutant gene came from.Let's not forget about another dumbass rule that says that mutants can't have human Soul Mates. Assholes and asshats.Ross really had it out for mutants, did a mutant kick his puppy when he was child or something?That level of hatred towards mutants wasn't normal....Wait, yes it was. Never mind.Anyways Charlie liked May Parker and her nephew, Peter Parker and Peter's best friend, Ned Leeds, and MJ, they were nice to her and treated her very well. Peter, MJ and Ned were her best friends and they shared the same likes, it also helped that they thought her powers were totally awesome.Those two always make a lot of Star Wars references with her, especially with Jedi, Sith and the Force.She caught a glimpse of her Soul Marks when she tossed the bottle away and went to grab her backpack using her telekinesis with the latter. Aunt May didn't mind her using her powers as long as she promised not to abuse either of them. Charlie couldn't pick up on the thoughts of her Soul Mates but that was probably because she had never actually come across them which was fine with her. But she did like her Soul Marks. The Twin marks on the inside of her wrists were both stars, she loved anything that involved space. One was silver with a blue glow that was the one on her right wrist and the other was a red star with a silver glow on her left wrist. They were both normally quiet, the red star felt pain and confusion every once in a while but it had been years since that happened, the last time she had felt him was when she was a child living in an orphanage for mutants. The Silver Star didn’t give off any feelings. The guys must have been in a coma or a monk with really good control over their emotions.Charlie was honestly impressed, she always thought she had good control over her emotions. The mutant had to because her emotions were tied with her powers, negative and intense emotions meant violent usage of her powers.And did they bear hers?Was she brave enough to go looking for her Soul Mates? Did she really want to know them and let them know her as well? Charlie was conflicted about it.She was on her way to her room, passing Peter's room when she suddenly stopped in front of his door and looked at it. Her head tilted to the side as she 'listened' to the thoughts that were coming from within.The seventeen year old mutant chose at that moment to open the door because she didn't like what she was picking up from them."What are yo--""Watch out, Charlie!!"Charlie raised her hand, dimly hearing her backpack drop at her feet with a thud, to block the intense white light that seemed to bathe the room, she felt a pulling sensation and then nothing but darkness and the last thing she thought before succumbed to the darkness was that she was going to kill them....─┉┈◈◉◈┈┉─Ned and Peter stared at the spot where Charlie had been but she was no longer there.".....""....."They slowly looked at each other and said in unison: "We are so dead!" Then they are quick to add: “Aunt May!”
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NEW YORK CITY, JUNE 1943.Charlie groaned as she slowly regained consciousness, blinking her eyes open slowly before she winced at the bright light and the stench that hit her. The mutant placed her hand on her forehead when she got a piercing headache."...You two are so dead." Charlie hissed.Headaches weren't pleasant for the telepathic mutant, hearing voices just made the headache even worse so Charlie shut off her mind to the thoughts around her as she slowly stood up, placing her hand on the stone wall beside her. She looked around slowly and realized that she was now in an alley.When did she get here? She had been at their apartment so did that bright light teleport her here?Charlie looked up and frowned when she saw the people walking by, taking note of their clothes. Their fashion looked a lot like the fashion of the 19...."Oh shit..." Charlie muttered before she bent over to grab a newspaper and picked it up, her eyes zeroing on the date.June 1943.Then she moved down to the headline and almost fainted.ELITE NAZI FORCES OVERRUN NORWEGIAN TOWN.Those two idiots found a time traveling device and it sent her back in time! They were so dead when she got back to her own time!She dropped the newspaper and rubbed her hands over her face, raking her fingers through her hair as she looked up at the sky. Well, she couldn't just stand here and do nothing, she had to leave this alley or else she might attract an unsavory person. She closed her eyes and used her powers to make an illusion of her clothes now matching the time period around her.Charlie left the alley and headed into 1943 New York City.─┉┈◈◉◈┈┉─Men were filled in the waiting room of the enlistment office, reading the newspapers that had various headlines about what was happening during the war, either in Europe or off American shores."O’Connell, Michael..." The Army doctor called out.A young man folded his newspaper and stood, wearing only boxer shorts. Dozens of half-dressed recruits read newspapers, waiting for their exam results."Kaminsky, Henry..."Kaminsky stood, tossing his paper aside, he glanced at the next newsreader down."Kinda makes you think twice about enlisting, huh?" Henry saidSteve Rogers lowered his paper, he’s frail and small."Nope." Steve said."Rogers, Steven."Steve folded the paper and got to his feet.─┉┈◈◉◈┈┉─Charlie avoided bumping into the shoulders of the people that walked through the sidewalk of New York, she walked briskly through the city. She had no idea where she was going but she needed to find a way back to her time.The longer she stayed here, the greater the risk of her accidentally changing time.She had hidden her Twin Marks with her powers, just like she had done with her clothes by making it appear that she had bare skin instead of Marked flesh. It was an illusion of sorts that she was casting on anyone who happens to look at her wrists.Charlie sighed heavily as she paused on a crosswalk and looked both sides before she crossed the street.She hoped that Ned and Peter were also trying to figure out how to get her back home to them...─┉┈◈◉◈┈┉─“OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod,” Ned muttered as he walked back and forth in Peter’s room. “OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod…”“That’s not helping!” Peter snapped, tearing off his goggles. “This is a very delicate piece of technology so I need both silence and zero distractions.”Ned sighed heavily and ran his hand through his hair. “I know but we could have sent her anywhere into the past or future!”“Yeah, which is why we need to get her back, there’s enough movies about time travel that show the consequences of messing with the past.” Peter said as he slipped the goggles back on. “So I need both silence and zero distractions!”“Okay, okay.” Ned said before sitting on the bed and covering his face with his hands.Peter went back to work.─┉┈◈◉◈┈┉─Steve anxiously watched an army doctor scan his file. On Steve's file, a dozen ailments have been checked and a description of his Soul Mark which was a gray circular object with lines on it and it had a smaller circle in the middle on the top of his left wrist. His childhood friend Bucky had the same Mark but it was on his right wrist."What did your father die of?" The Doctor asked."Mustard gas," Steve said and the doctor looked up. "1918. He was in the 107th Infantry. I was hoping to get assigned to them if..."The Army doctor interrupted him. "And your mother?""Few years back, she was a nurse in the TB ward. Got hit, couldn’t shake it." Steve answered. Finally, the doctor shook his head."They weren’t weak, Doc; they were fighters. If you just give me a..."Again the doctor interrupted him "Sorry, son. You’d be ineligible for your asthma alone.""You can’t do anything?" Steve asked, upset."I’m doing it. I’m saving your life." The man said.The doctor stamped Steve's file: 4F.─┉┈◈◉◈┈┉─Steve walked out of the recruitment building with a heavy heart and his hands in his pockets. He wasn't looking where he was going and he suddenly collided with something about his size, soft and smelled like granny smith apples.There was a reflexive grabbing of arms so whoever he had crashed into didn't fall down. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going." Steve said as he pulled away from the person he had bumped into and froze when he saw a beautiful dame, she looked to be around the age of seventeen.She was the same height as he was.Steve waited for the normal reaction that he got from dames who looked like her, they always looked at Bucky and ignored Steve. That was one of his fears about their shared soulmate, would she focus more on Bucky and ignore Steve?Bucky had done his best to ease Steve's fears, telling him that she would love Steve as well.But then she did something surprising: she smiled at him, brown eyes fixing on his blue eyes."It's okay, neither was I." She said with the same smile on her face.He released her and stepped back, almost shyly not used to talking to a dame."I'm Charlie Anderson," She introduced herself. "It's short of Charlotte but my Dad always called me Charlie so it stuck.""Steve Rogers."Her smile seemed to widen at the sound of his name."It's nice to meet you, Steve...Um, I'm new here and I'm trying to find a movie theater but I seem to have gotten myself hopelessly lost.""Where are you from originally?" "California.""You're a long way from home."Charlie smiled at that. "Yes...yes, I am."Steve cleared his throat as his cheeks flushed pink and said, "Um...follow me, I was heading to one myself."Together they walked away, Charlie glanced back and looked back at Steve. "Did you just leave from the recruitment building?""Yes.""Were you recruited?""...No, said that I had too many illnesses." Well, the doctor didn't actually say it but he knew what was on his file."Don't give up, Steve," Charlie said as she grabbed his hand. "Maybe you'll get your chance."Steve stared at her in surprise at both the use of his first name and by the fact that she had grabbed his hand willingly. "T-thank you, Charlie." He said finally.She beamed at him and said, "Now let's go to the movie theater." She gently tugged his hand, not releasing it as they started to walk once again.Steve couldn't help but wonder if she was his soulmate but that was unlikely, he didn't see any Mark on her wrists where the Marks are always at. The skin there was bare.And he felt disappointed at that, he would have liked it if she was his and Bucky's soulmate. She wasn't mean to him or ignored him, she treated him like anyone else and looked at him normally too.He liked the fact that she touched him willingly and without any agenda, hidden or visible, of course Bucky wasn't here but it seemed like she wanted to touch him and didn't want anything in return from him except for him to show her how to get to the theater.Unbeknownst to him, his companion had started to pick up on his thoughts now and that told her one thing: He was her Soul Mate, it was a good thing she decided to hide her Marks.She hadn't wanted to meet even one of her Soul Mates, she never expressed interest in them because somehow she had known they would be humans. And there was now a law against a mutant having a human Soul Mate.Charlie felt his courage and strength, the love for his family, the unwavering loyalty to his friends. He had known great pain and humiliation, but Charlie had never read anyone with such inner strength before. It filled her with wonder. Steve had taken nearly everything life could throw at him and cast it all aside, unafraid. Undaunted. Much like how she and her brethren have with the fear and hatred that humans had thrown at them ever since Charles and Erik had revealed themselves back during the Cold War.Curious for her small Soul Mate, she dove deeper until, at the tail end of it all, came the dizzying feelings a man has for a woman, the youthful hope that she will pay him attention and not ignore him for his friend, the yearning and excitement of being near her, the sparks that fly when he feels her touch. And the desire for much, much more.And the disappointment that she wasn't his and his friend's Soul Mate, the sadness that she bore no Mark.She kept her face blank and her emotions locked down, she had a sneaky suspicion in her gut on who her companion is. The name is familiar but there are a lot of people who either have the same first name or same last name and are not related.There's no way he is Steve Rogers aka Captain America.
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MOVIE THEATER, NEW YORK CITYOn the screen, a swastika fluttered on a flag as a newsreel flickers. A column of Nazis stomps down a road."As Hitler’s troops continue to ravage Occupied Europe..." The newsreel announcer said.Steve sat in the audience, watching intently with Charlie at his side. They were sitting straight and not touching each other, clearly nervous about the other though Steve was clearly more so because he had never gone to the movies with a dame before.Charlie was nervous because she was afraid that she would accidentally lower her guard and he'll feel her emotions. She could feel his nervousness through the Silver Star on her wrist, the Red Star was still silent. "On the home front, enlistment centers teem with the able-bodied, eager to help our allies." The Newsreel announcer continued to say.A line of snakes out a recruiting office on the screen."They’re just tryin’ to get outa workin’ for a living." A few rows ahead, a man shouted back at the screen. The mutant pressed her lips together in annoyance, there was a jerk in any time period.And monsters too, She thought sadly as she looked up at the screen, knowing what was happening in occupied Europe especially to the Jewish and those who didn't fit Hitler's Aryan race.Her paternal grandmother was a young girl during this time but she had remained hidden, thanks to her own mother who kept herself and her child hidden in the English countryside, at least that's what her dad told her.And according to her father, both his mother and grandmother had been mutants and had the same powers as she did. They both had been Class 5 mutants, the strongest of all mutants.At her side, Steve looked across the aisle, looking at the people that were in the theater with them.Charlie glanced over as well, her eyes narrowing at the jerk. She was tempted to do something with his mind but didn't want to run the risk of exposing herself, she had caught one of the rare unprotected glimpses from Erik's mind about what had happened to people like them during this time.They earned the unwanted attention of a crazy Nazi doctor named Sebastian Shaw that killed their mother to teach the young mutant how to control their powers.It was why her great grandmother had hidden herself and daughter away, she had known about Shaw and while they were technically safe in the UK, it didn't mean that there weren't any spies lurking about, looking for people like them.The mutant looked at a young woman that was watching the screen, tears welling. She clearly had a man overseas, Charlie could see memories of him racing through the woman's mind. Across the aisle, a middle-aged Jewish couple looked somber."Across the seas, our brave boys are already showing the Axis that the price of freedom is never too high!" The Newsreel announcer said.Soldiers, some wounded, wave at the camera, their smiles almost convincing.They will lose smiles when they see the camps, not those soldiers per say but when the news comes, those smiles will fade away."Jeez, play the cartoon, already!" The loud jerk shouted again.Steve saw the woman flinch, he whispered to the man. "Can you keep it down, please?"Charlie pressed her lips together in annoyance, her brown eyes narrowing."Together with the allied forces, they march toward freedom and liberation for millions of grateful citizens."A kid pulled his wagon, a hand-drawn sign says SCRAP METAL."Let ‘em clean up their own mess, the jerks!"Steve leaned over, fuming, he jabbed the man in the shoulder. "YOU WANT TO SHUT UP?"The man slowly raised from his slumped position. He rises and rises, revealing a very large jerk.Charlie stared up at the man, and to quote her favorite franchise, she has a bad feeling about this...─┉┈◈◉◈┈┉─And she had been right to feel that way...The jerk hammered Steve in the jaw, knocking him into a line of garbage cans. Steve groaned and got back up. Steve’s a natural fighter, bobbing and scoring a kidney punch, but the guy barely felt it. The jerk swung and while Steve tried to block it with a trash can lid, the jerk yanked away the lid and pounded him again. Steve’s feet lift off the ground and he hits the cement hard. For a moment, Steve laid still on the ground. The jerk hovered, panting.Charlie watched from the sidelines, she knew how to fight both with and without her powers but Steve didn't know that. He had told her to stay back and let him handle this jerk.The mutant wanted to help him but she knew that she couldn't, mutants weren't known yet to the world during this time. Charlie felt the instinct urge to protect her Mate, an urge that all mutants had and it wasn't something that was easy to resist. But she had to, she wasn't from his time and he's dead in hers.So he was better off not knowing who she really was.The jerk shook his head."You just don’t know when to give up, do you?" The loud jerk said.Steve wiped his bloody mouth before he said, "I can do this all day."She doubted it but she had to give it to him, Steve was a scrapper and she was starting to respect him. And it was going to make it hard for her to not develop any sort of deeper feelings for him.Charlie knew that he had started to develop feelings for her, she had sensed the emotions and heard his thoughts when they had been walking to the theater earlier.The jerk knocked Steve back into a pile of garbage. He moved to hit him but someone grabbed his arm, which stopped Charlie who had been ready to step in and punch the guy herself."What’s with all the fighting?" A man's voice asked from behind the jerk.The jerk spun to see a soldier standing there.Charlie stared at the newcomer in surprise, he was handsome and taller than she and Steve were. She felt the Red Star's anger and worry immediately, she discreetly placed her hand over it and rubbed the spot as her eyes widened in surprise.This new man was James “Bucky” Barnes, Steve's best friend and future second in command of the Howling Commandos.He’s who she had been sensing in her time but how? But he died during the war so why was she able to feel him when she had been in her time? It doesn’t make any sense, she just has more questions instead of answers the more she thinks about it.But she does know that she really needs to make sure that neither he or Steve feel her emotions. That's going to be rough but she was a Class 5 mutant as well. It wasn't impossible, she just has to be very careful with how she uses her powers and not overtax herself."Don’t you know there’s a war on?" Bucky asked.The jerk took a swing. Bucky slugged him, spun him around, and planted an army boot on his ass. The jerk ran away then Bucky looked down at Steve, getting up from a pile of garbage."Sometimes I think you like getting punched." Bucky said."I had him on the ropes." Steve said.Sure, he did but he was impressive with his courage.As Steve got up, a folded enlistment form fell from his pocket.Bucky picked it up to look at it, and he unfolded it. "How many times is this?" Bucky asked before he read it. "And you’re from Paramus now? It’s still illegal to lie on an enlistment form, and seriously, Jersey?" Then he noticed the beautiful dame standing nearby. "Whose this?" He flashed a charming smile towards her.Charlie struggled not to blush when she saw that smile, that was a panty dropping smile. Like seriously, ohmyGod, how'd any woman resist that smile? She was trying her hardest not to swoon over that smile.Or turn into a puddle of melted butter."Charlie Anderson, it's short for Charlotte but she prefers to be called Charlie," Steve said because Charlie had been struck briefly speechless by his smile. Damn brain. "We sort of crashed into each other outside the enlistment building.""Hello, doll, James Barnes but you can call me Bucky." Bucky said as he held out his hand towards her."It's nice to meet you, Bucky." Charlie said with a smile before she took his hand, shook it then she released it so she could check on Steve. "Are you okay?""Yeah, I would have won in the end." Steve said, surprised and pleased.Charlie sensed Bucky's surprise and happiness as well, then she heard their thoughts and the reason behind it. Apparently other girls had only focused on Bucky and ignored Steve because of how he looked and his illnesses. She didn't care about what someone looked like on the outside, all she cared about was what was on the inside and knew that Steve was kind-hearted and wanted to help people.She wiped the blood off the corner of his mouth and said, "Yes and you would have gotten blood all over his nice clothes as well. That would have shown him."Steve and Bucky laughed at her quip.Charlie looked at Bucky and said, "Thank you.""No thanks needed, doll, he's always getting into fights and I have to help him out."She sensed his worry and concern about Steve, he was a good friend and would probably be a good soulmate if she told them who she was but she resisted that urge. Charlie couldn't change history for her own benefit. Steve frowned, finally noticing and taking in Bucky's uniform. "Looks like you got your orders.""107th ship to England first thing tomorrow," Bucky said. "This is my last night.""So, what’s the first stop? Church?" Steve asked.Bucky grinned and said, "Yeah...maybe second stop."They walked out of the alley with Charlie walking between them."Where are we going?" Steve asked Bucky.He whipped out a newspaper and handed it to Steve, across from Charlie and his arm brushed up against her that caused a thrill to go through her but she clamped down on her shields that kept her emotions from being felt through their Marks. "The future."Steve opened the paper to see an ad that reads, WORLD EXHIBITION OF TOMORROW. Monorails race around the futuristic buildings. He had angled the newspaper in a way that Charlie could see it too, there's no buildings that looked like that in her time but it was amazing about what people always thought what the future would look like.Then she tensed when she caught Bucky's thoughts but she made sure that her annoyance or jealousy didn't go through their Marks....