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When she first saw it, she didn’t know who he was.
The smile on her face, was like none she had ever seen before.
She looked so happy.
She knew she was wasting time, staring at an alternate universe caught in her portal. Every second the energy ticks down and soon the scene in front of her will vanish.
“You’re so embarrassing! Get off!”
Her own voice echoes through the void, cheerful; weightless.
“ Hey! That wasn’t the deal, you said if i got more kills than you, I could kiss you.”
His voice makes her heart heavy in her chest, she doesn't know him like that, but she wants to.
Laughter bubbles out of both of them as they lay in a field of flowers, in the very place Wraith is standing. She’s still so unsure of the world, how could there possibly be a version of her confident enough to start a relationship? A small frown of frustration forms on her brow as she watches them kiss in the grass, only for her attention to then be taken from an attacker fast approaching them.
“You’re not safe there.”
Her words leave her mouth before she can stop them, the alternate version of her pauses and quickly takes action to move them both to safety.
Now her portal has to close.
A long breath leaves her nose as she opens the portal and steps out, leaving them in their own world.
"Hey, you alright? you took a bit longer than usual to do that… weird thing with your hand.."
Reality slowly returns along with the familiar face and voice of the man himself.
"I'm fine."
"yeah, okay. I get it, probably some inter-dimensional space problems I couldn't possibly comprehend. y'know, the usual."
"Do you have a problem with me preferring to keep my mouth shut over blabbing nonsense 24 fucking 7?"
Her volume rose as her sentence went on, taking her own pent-up jealousy and frustration out on the one she wishes she had.
No that's a lie. She doesn't want him, she doesn't want to find out how her life changes for the worse. She's seen it happen, not all the void visions are good.
That same scene, so many different versions.
"okay! sorry. I'll be... over here."
Mirage makes the wise decision to leave her alone, even though she wishes he wouldn't. Her head is so loud when she's alone, it hurts.
"wait-"
Wraith talks before thinking it through, now looking kind of silly with no words to follow up. Mirage did stop though, turning back to face her with a concerned crease in his brow.
"I...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell."
A look of slight surprise flashes across Mirages face before a small smile takes over and he returns.
"hey no problem, I'm sure that thing you do probably takes a lot out of you. I have spare meds if you need 'em?"
Her tired eyes look up into his, she wishes he wasn't so nice; so considerate and handsome.
"it does… but that's not the part that hurts."
She wishes she had just kept her mouth shut, had let him walk away and dealt with the voices telling her to go after him. Now she's the one blabbering nonsense she knows she'll regret later. If she tells him what she sees then what? does that when her path with him starts? Will she watch him die or will they live on together? the chance she's not willing to take makes her head pound, hands over her ears.
"Hey! whoa-- okay, let's just take a break for a minute and relax we're safe here until the ring starts to close, okay? okay. Let's sit down."
Panic makes Mirages voice shake, gently taking Wraith by the forearm and guiding her to shade where they can sit down. What's most surprising is that she lets him.
"I'm sorry to slow us down."
They had been sitting in silence for awhile, only the faint sounds of gunshots filled the space until she spoke up. Her arms over her knees, eyes interested in the soil beneath them.
"Slow us down? Wraith, you're literally the fastest out of all 3 of us. Do you know how many times you've saved mine and Paths ass with your abilities? Not to mention your aim; if anyone's slowing us down it's me, me and my 0 movement abilities! yep! Just me and my boys!"
He laughs, even though it's the truth, the truth does kind of hurt, but that's not important right now. What's important is that Wraith has something on her mind and he wants to be there for her if he has any chance of getting closer.
A small smile comes to Wraiths lips as she continues to stare at the ground, she does kind of feel sorry for some of the situations she's left him in. Kind of...
Though, the slight lift in mood is only for a second, the thoughts rushing back to her mind about what to say. Did it go this way for every other version of her? She can't help but wonder.
"When I… start making a portal,"
Her voice remains steady, not admitting to herself the decision she's made, choosing to ignore it instead and just let her mouth run.
"I cross through what you'd probably call alternate universes… In order to save time, you jump it."
Mirage sat next to her only listens, they've been friends for awhile now, but he can't recall a situation like this where she's willingly talked about what's on her mind.
"The void between realities you'd think would be quiet... It's not. It's filled with all the different versions of this very place. Different versions of me; Different versions of you. I've seen them all."
He has never listened so closely and intently in his life, leaned into the conversation and a crease of interest in his brow, processing the information. He knew Wraith and her abilities were cool, but this is a lot.
“Wow… okay um… well now i know that calling you amazing is a complete understatement…”
Wraith huffs, shaking her head with a small smile that gets taken away with her next words.
“I see us... all the time.”
Now, she pauses. Lips pursed, she sighs through her nose and keeps her eyes busy elsewhere. Look anywhere but at him.
“I’ve seen us die a thousand times, I’ve watched Path get pulled apart. I’ve seen all the possible things that can go wrong, and did.”
“Wraith… i had no idea-”
“I’ve seen us... together.”
Silence descends on the field, the two of them sit on the words still lingering in the air above them.
For once in Mirages life, he doesn’t really know what to say.
“I’ve seen you take bullets for me and I've watched you die…"
Another long pause leaves Mirage looking at her to continue. Head in her hands, she keeps the tears back only just; convinced that now isn't the time for emotional downpour.
“Every single portal I've made, every single reality i have seen, you are there and i fall in love with you. Every single time. And i…. I'm so scared that something bad will happen if I follow the rest of my realities in letting that happen.”
Mirage takes a second to process her words, his heart thumping in his chest at her indirect confession. He wonders if this is how all the other realities went, he pictured it more set up with roses and him the one babbling but this works too.
"Wraith… If every single other version of us has ended up together, there obviously must be a reason right? Well, we both know it's because I'm irresistible on a multi-dimensional level, but- OW"
A sharp pain in his arm forced his sentence short as Wraiths fingers mercilessly pinch the tender skin of his upper arm. Though she wears a smile on her lips as he looks over with a pained face.
"All I'm saying is, we made it this far. How do you know our reality will end badly?"
As he talks, his hands find hers.
"I don't. There are versions of me that have lost you and I don't want to be one of them."
Her voice is so low, filled with heavy emotions. He wonders how long this has been on her mind and feels terrible; The burdens her poor shoulders carry.
"well i-... I think we should find out for ourselves…. Maybe, I mean if- if you want to we could. Y'know, uhh…"
Mirage clears his throat as he tries to collect his words into some form of a sentence in his head before opening his mouth again. She knows his intentions, he makes it so easy. Patiently she waits, a small smile on her lips thinking about how amazing it is that he can brighten her world up so easily just by existing.
"be together...ish, like we're already basically together with the team and all but uhhhh…..."
Wraith leaned in first, he's sure of it. Or maybe he imagined it and just wanted an excuse for himself to lean in. Regardless, her lips are right there and they stole the rest of his sentence away. He can hear his heart beat in his ears, his throat aches. What is he? A 17 year old boy getting his first kiss?
“You’re beautiful.”
His words float around them as they share the same breaths. Suddenly, nothing else really matters. Sure, the ring closes in 30, sure other versions of him probably never made it this far. Its just them. It always has been, Mirage thinks to himself. The bashful smile on Wraiths lips is enough.
He finally closes the distance, Wraith meets him halfway. It’s only a small kiss, Mirage wishes it lasted longer but the siren of the arena sounds against them.
They both slowly rise to their feet, Wraith turned to leave but Mirage refuses to let her hand go and she turns back around. Without another word, Mirage brings her in for a tight hug.
“You will never be alone. Okay? You’ll always have me whether you like it or not. Don’t forget that. Doesn’t matter what dimension or what time or place, we’ll find each other.”
His words were spoken perfectly, no stutter no cracks.
Wraith returns the embrace gently, she’s never been one for hugs but this one feels so special. She feels like an entire weight has been lifted off of her shoulders as they part.
“Thank you, Mirage.”
“No thanks needed, i do take bribes, though.”
His wink wasn’t enough to stop the light shove he got in return but it was worth it.