The birth of platonic soulmates
Helana has the future knowledge to know that Shield had been pitting her and Hank against each other, she’d seen them doing the same between Tony and Bruce when they’d gotten Natalia to seduce the physicist.
She knows the way they’d give her projects that were in Hank’s field because they ‘thought she’d do better’ and vice versa. She knows that they kept chipping away at the void between them until they were so far apart that Hank would believe her a thief and she’d believe him so irrational she wouldn’t even try to plead her innocence. Frankly both of them had been stupid and Peggy had never really been her friend.
It’s a sharp thought she has in quiet moments while she stares at her hand, bending each finger and watching the unblemished skin pull tight. Helana hasn’t aged a day since she first got back. Seeing Peggy had also put that into perspective.
When you are around people all the time you don’t notice the small changes, the way the hair gets a little lighter as it greys. The laugh lines getting steadily deeper and deeper. Little things that happen as you’re supposed to age together.
Helana’s hair is still a smooth dark brown, her skin still unmarked other than the scar on her cheek. No wrinkles, no weakness due to age. Helana is exactly where she started, no, she’s younger. Around 30 when she should have been at least 52, she doesn’t know how to feel about it.
On the one hand no one wants to age, to be confronted by their mortality. On the other hand, she’s upset because she hadn’t wanted to use the stones power, had fought against it at every opportunity. If they were going to ignore her and change her anyway then what was the point in giving her the bloody option?!
If she concentrates enough, she can see the faintest green glow coming from her skin, maybe she can fix it if she just pulls it away. Like taking off a skin suits so she can age like a normal fucking human.
Her computer pings and her attention shifts to it. An email from ‘Pym’ passing on a project because he was too busy to do it, filled with lots of barely consoled sexist remarks. Perfect.
She calmly prints the email and the project then makes her way to Hank’s lab, throwing the doors open so hard they slam into the walls for extra drama points. “That’s it, Pym! I’m sick of you passing your work onto me because I need to ‘earn my keep’! Who the fuck do you think you are?!” She yells as she storms over. He snaps his head up from where he’d been working on an energy converter, even more perfect.
“Excuse you! I’m the one having to pick up your slack because you wanted to leave early so you could go out partying!” He yells back, waving at the energy converter. The Shield appointed lab techs start wearily looking at each other and backing away. “I’ve never passed on work, unlike you I’m willing to do the tasks assigned to me!”
“Oh yeah?! Then what’s this!” She tosses the printed email onto the table between them.
She watches his anger bleed into confusion as he picks the email up then his confusion turns into a cold burning rage. “I didn’t write this.” He says darkly before abandoning his project and stalking towards his computer.
“Sir, I…” One of the lab techs starts but he’s cut off.
“Shut up.” Hank growls before twisting the computer’s screen towards her hard enough to almost yank it off the table. “Did you send this?” On the screen is an email from ‘her’, it contains a lot of flowery language that basically boils down to ‘I’m better than you so do what I say’.
“No.” She hisses, the blatant manipulation still pisses her off.
“Right, everyone get out.”
“Wait…”
“Do not make me ask again!” Hank snarls and the lab techs dart out, she bets they were going to snitch. He glares at the computer for a moment before shoving it to the ground, it shatters and shoots outwards, some pieces rolling over her feet. “Thank you, Dr Stark. For bringing this to my attention.”
“Don’t thank me, Dr Pym. I just came in here to yell at you.” She huffs as she kicks a piece. “Do you want to share a lab so they can’t pull this shit again?”
“Yours or mine?” He grumbles and she smiles.
“Yours, I’m not in the middle of a project.” She tells him before heading back towards the door, she’s sure she can kidnap a few baby agents to shift her lab equipment. “Oh, by the way if you shift the transfer unit 0.3 inches to the left you won’t need the stabiliser to be so big and the energy output will be larger.”
“You can do it. I’m going to start on this chemical mixture they wanted you to do.” He snaps making her laugh. He’s a grumpy little shit and she loves it.
“We really need you to stay to oversee this, Helana.” Peggy says from the doorway as she’s packing.
“Oh, I’d love to Pegs. Don’t get me wrong.” She says brightly as she zips her suitcase up.
“This is really important; lives are on the line.” Peggy protests as she heaves the suitcase up and starts striding towards the door.
“And they will continue to be on the line while I attend my son’s graduation. You really need to come up with new material, Peggy. Having the same conversation is getting old, at least switch up the words.” Peggy’s brow furrows and, as annoying as the woman is now, it still hurts to witness the beginning of the end for the strong woman. “Didn’t you realise? You should get that checked out, bye now.”
She pats Peggy’s cheek as she passes making the woman scowl, can’t have her care too open after all, this place was full of snakes. Her skin sings with anticipation, four more years until James comes to kill her. Four more years until her long-awaited traps start locking their jaws around their prey.
She’s almost out of the base when Hank storms over, completely furious. Ah, she thought she’d avoided this since it hadn’t been a fixed point. He slams the attempted Pym particle mixture in front of them.
Peggy shoots her a ‘shit he found out’ look which almost makes her deck the woman. “Did you know about this?” He asks her, barely controlled anger curling around his words. Huh, so this was different.
“No.” She promises.
He nods before snatching it up and shoving it into his pocket. “I quit.” He growls at Peggy then turns on his heel and storms away.
“I’m going to Tony’s graduation, want me to drop you off first?” She asks as she hurries away from Peggy.
“Fine, but we’ll go to the graduation first. I don’t want you to be late.” He grumbles making her beam.
“See, this is why you’re my platonic soulmate. You at least understand that our kids come first.” She grins and throws an arm over his shoulder, even as his frown becomes deeper. More contemplative.