Summary: Sam and Pansy walk into a Hydra base...

Written for the May Roll-a-Drabble challenge at Marvelously Magical Fanfiction
I rolled Sam Wilson / Pansy Parkinson / Soulmates
Word Count Limit: 100 to 1000

Sam didn't like thinking there was such a thing as Fate, that everything was already written in advance, that he had no say in the matter, no free will. He knew most people felt they were "blessed" with a soulmate countdown. Right there on their wrists where the pulse beat strong, where anyone could see it, but Sam did not. Sam hated it.

It was only made worse when the countdown left little to no time to meet his supposed soulmate, because he was standing in front of a Hydra base with Steve.

"With my luck, she's a Hydra agent with a face like Red Skull," he muttered.

"Uh?" Steve inquired, not taking his eyes off the guards patrolling the perimeter, counting how long it took them to disappear around the corner again. Sam waited for him to finish, then thrust his wrist under his nose. Steve knew. They knew everything about each other. Spending as much time as they did together on the road to chase after a ghost would do that to you.

"Oh," Steve agreed, but true to himself, tried to soften the blow. "Maybe she's a prisoner?"

"That isn't much better. Imagine they did to her what they did to Bucky."

"Maybe she's delivering pizzas?"

"In the middle of the desert?" Sam sighed, knowing a lost cause when he saw it. "Let's just get this over with."

Pansy had been crushed when Draco had discovered her soulmate countdown and broken up with her - because he didn't have one, but she didn't care! She loved him! Had always loved only him. What did she care about a so-called soulmate she had never laid eyes on? She had managed to hide it so well until then too, but Draco had tossed her aside for a Greengrass, of all things.

In retaliation, Pansy had decided to accept any assignment from the Ministry that would get her as far away from the happy couple as possible. And if she still held on to the secret hope that Draco would see the errors of his way and come begging back for her… well, no one needed to know that.

Her assignment was to gather information on a group of muggle Death-Eaters called Hydra and assess how much danger they could be to the wizarding world. Her boss had snidely commented that she was perfect for the job, never mind that she had just been a kid during the war. She was, in fact, nailing this job, but only because they were mere muggles. Such boring, easy to manipulate, frail people… but at least this base was proving to be interesting.

Not as interesting as Draco, of course, with his perfect ivory skin, and long, silky, platinum hair and-

"What the hell are you doing here?" demanded a man as he grabbed her wrist in a bruising grip.

That's what she got for letting her mind wander, she hadn't even noticed her disillusionment charm had worn off. Pansy smiled sweetly at her assailant and stupefied him with her wand aimed under his belt. He fell with a dull thud while she massaged her wrist, and froze in shock when she noticed how low the countdown was. Any minute now… Was she doomed to have a Death-Eater muggle as her soulmate? No fucking way. She deserved better. She wanted Draco. She was getting the hell out of there.

She was about to apparate when the one and only Captain America filled the corridor. He was even more impressive than she had imagined. One fine male specimen if she said so herself. Could he be…? No, that was idiotic. She knew from the extensive files Hydra kept that one of the reasons the man had been accepted into the Super Soldier program was his lack of a soulmate countdown. Of course the countdowns disappeared once their match was met, so that didn't mean he hadn't met his soulmate before he entered the program.

Pansy looked back down at her wrist, then up at Captain America who froze when he finally noticed her, then back down at her wrist.

10… 9… 8…

Sam walked right into Steve. Honest to God, it felt like walking into a brick wall. Admittedly, he was at fault for paying more attention to his wrist than his surroundings, which was stupid when they were infiltrating a Hydra base, but…

7… 6… 5…

Pansy didn't understand until the Captain looked behind him. He wasn't alone.

4… 3…

Sam rolled his eyes at Steve's shit eating grin. He knew something he didn't.

"Not Hydra, no pizza."

Sam's eyes grew wide with realization and he pushed Steve aside, not knowing why he was suddenly so anxious to see her, his soulmate. Maybe it was Steve's knowing grin, maybe just plain old curiosity.

2… 1…

Pansy's breath caught when a handsome dark stranger walked into view. He was… the polar opposite of Draco, was her first thought. Gorgeous, was her second. About to get shot, was her third and she lashed out at the Hydra agent sneaking up on them with the darkest curse she knew. Force of habit. No one needed to know, although the man's entrails splattered all over the wall was a bit of a giveaway.

"Perfect," Sam breathed out as he watched between the pretty brunette and the human jello sliding down the wall.

"Adequate," Pansy lied, because he was still a muggle and so far, he had done nothing to earn her respect, although the way he stared at her as if she had invented Sleekeazy was quite charming. But then he squashed all her doubts by sprouting wings to protect her from a stray bullet fired at their little gathering.

"Oh, just kiss already," Captain America sniped as he barreled passed them to flatten any other threat lurking in the shadows.