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“I can't believe that none of you have Timers!” Clint looked around, bewildered by the backwardness of his compatriots.
Steve shrugged, “They weren't around when I was young, and then...” he waved his hand absently, clearly trying to turn the subject away from his time in the ice, as he did whenever it came up. “I guess I'm still a little old-fashioned.”
“You've got to get with the program, man, everyone's got one. Well, almost everyone.”
Wanda fidgeted in her seat and rubbed her bare wrist. She had been fascinated by the devices ever since she had first heard of them as a child. The little implant in one's wrist could somehow determine the exact moment they would meet their one true love, and until that time it would count down the minutes to their meeting. The thought of having a true love was so romantic, but there was something cold and clinical about them that made her shiver. Also, she knew Pietro would never approve.
His spiteful response to Clint reaffirmed her notion. “Well some of us couldn't afford expensive nonsense like that growing up. Or when we were running for our lives from the humans. Or when we were forced into the Brotherhood--”
Wanda didn't catch the rest of Pietro's rant, or Clint's huffy retorts. She just concentrated on disappearing into her seat as she finished her meal in silence.
Her efforts to go unnoticed were not entirely successful, as Steve leaned over with concern. “You don't have to feel bad for not getting the Timer, Wanda.” He smiled, and it went all the way to his eyes, “Or for getting it, if you decide to. Just do what you want, and don't listen to those blowhards.”
Wanda smiled, and blushed, and that night she dreamed of going to the Timer shop, sitting in the cold, cold chair, and feeling the thrum of the machine over her arm.
---
Clint stopped her in the hallway the next day, apologetically. “Wanda, I didn't mean to pressure you with the Timer thing.”
She shook her head and muttered, “It was nothing.”
She attempted to walk around him and continue on her way, but he moved to block her path. “It's just that, my Timer, it's, you know.” He offered up his wrist to her, showing the blinking lines that indicated a missing pair. “She's out there, Wanda,” his voice was surprisingly soft, “She just hasn't gotten her Timer yet, but I know she's out there, somewhere.”
He gazed at her intently, and she could feel his unspoken assumption about what would happen when she got her Timer. She heard her voice come out cold and distant, “I do hope you find her, Clint. Now I must go to practice, if you will excuse me.”
That night she dreamed of her timer blinking empty lines at her for years and years, as Clint's had done.
---
“Oh my,” She had known that the Avengers were paid a generous stipend, but this was more generous than she had anticipated. Wanda had no idea what she could possibly spend this much money on, since all her food and housing was provided for already.
“Plenty of dough to get yourself a Timer, and a nice new dress to meet your true love in, eh Wanj?” Clint was needling her again, or needing Pietro through her, it was all the same to him.
It didn't seem to work this time, though, as Pietro turned to her calmly, “We could go get them. If you want one, I'll go with you. I'll get one too, even.” He was attempting to look as if he was above such silly things as true love, but Wanda knew if he was even suggesting the possibility of getting a Timer it meant that he really wanted one.
She was about to agree, but had a sudden moment of realization. “Do you think it's right for you, Pietro? You're not very,” she tried to be tactful, “patient.”
“Yeah, I've heard about people who had to wait half a century to meet their true loves, and they were all old when they finally did.” Clint was significantly more blunt.
Steve shook his head, “The more I hear about these contraptions the less I want to do with them.”
“Me too,” said Wanda to herself, thinking none of the others had heard.
She dreamed again, and this time she was an old maid, with her Timer ticking away in her paper-thin skin, still years from meeting her true love.
---
Between fighting evil and practicing their skills so they could better fight evil, the subject of Timers didn't come up too often, so Wanda was surprised when Steve brought it up in the middle of her hand-to-hand training.
“I'm not really sure I'm going to get it, yet. I think that if Pietro does, then I will too.” She knew that solidarity with her brother was just an excuse to not make the decision for herself, and she could see that Steve knew it too.
He stopped their sparring to give her a stern look. “Wanda, promise me you won't do anything you don't want to do.”
She felt strange looking back into his eyes when they were so serious. “I promise.”
He smiled at that, and it made her feel warm inside. The warmth seeped into her dream, and she was holding Steve's hand, with their Timers blinking side by side.
---
Pietro's notion to get them Timers hadn't faltered after a month and so, to Clint's great elation, they set out to the shop together. The sales lady seemed to believe their parents had been incredibly remiss in not getting them Timers earlier, and Wanda had to prevent her brother from flying off the handle at her presumptuousness.
Pietro gallantly offered to go through the procedure first, and Wanda didn't argue. The sterile nature of the shop and the strange machines all around gave her a sick feeling in her stomach that could not entirely be chalked up to nerves. The Timer was implanted and activated in what seemed like a moment for Wanda, but must have been ages for Pietro. It jangled joyously almost immediately.
Pietro stiffened, and squeezed his eyes shut, “How long does it say?”
She bent over to read the little digits on his wrist. The spots for Years and Days were both empty. “One hour and fifteen minutes,” she replied, too shocked to process what that meant.
“Oh!” said the sales lady elatedly, “That means she must be very near by! You are so lucky to have come here on the right day.”
“Or she's anywhere my brother can travel within an hour and fifteen minutes.”
“That's anywhere. She could be anywhere,” Pietro said as he gradually got over his shock. “I've got to go to her, I've got to go find her!” He sprung out of the chair at speed, nearly knocking over the poor shop girl. “I'm sorry sister, I must go now.”
In his wake, Wanda was left alone with the sales lady and the eerily humming machines. She thought of what she would do if her Timer came up with one hour and fifteen minutes. She imagined passing someone on the street, whose name she didn't even know, and having the Timer make its tinny little tune. She thought about having a soul mate whose name she didn't even know, but who she would be with forever just because a little device told her to.
She apologized to the saleswoman, and took the subway back to Avengers Mansion.
The moment she arrived on the doorstep, her brother appeared at her side. He looked absolutely distraught, “I've been everywhere, Wanda, and I couldn't find her, and now I'm out of time.” He held up his wrist, and she saw the blinking zeroes.
Behind the thick oak door, she heard a commotion as Hawkeye wrenched the doors open. “Wanda! You're back!”
The happy sounds of two Timers finding each other rang through the entryway, and Clint grinned at her elatedly. She immediately raised both bare wrists and shook her head, backing away. By her side, Pietro was stricken.
“It can't be...”
Wanda slipped past them both before the inevitable argument started. She went to hide in the library, where she found Steve relaxing out of uniform. “How much time do you have?” he asked in a way that seemed more polite than intrusive.
“None. I have no time.” She held her hand out to him, wrist up, “I mean, I have no Timer.” He smiled in the way that always warmed her inside. “I guess I'm a bit old-fashioned, too”
He reached out and took her open hand in his. “There's nothing wrong with old-fashioned.”