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Samar Navabi didn't believe in the soulmate principle, truthfully. She didn't understand how it worked. How could people have more than one soulmate? Then again, the thought of being able to see color was almost intoxicating. But, in spite of that, she found herself unable to believe in the concept and surrounded by a colorless world.
---
And then she met Raymond Reddington. Well, she talked to him for the first time, about her tattoo and Zegna ties and someone named Lord Baltimore. And then he left, got released, and she headed back to her place. At first, she didn't think anything had happened. Until she got back to her house and saw the red of apple.
That was only the beginning of the strangeness.
___
She met Elizabeth Keen and Donald Ressler in Warsaw, when they were helping a woman out-although at the time she hadn't known their names. And in that same instant, she could see two more colors. The blue of the sky, the green of the grass. But again, she didn't notice until she had left the building to head back to the airport. But she couldn't get the image of Liz's blue eyes out of her mind.
Some things were still grey, but the colors she could see made it all a little more bearable. She was certain that they would be the last two, despite the lack of colors in her life.
She was wrong.
___
Harold Cooper brought with him the color yellow into her life. She was too busy talking with him to notice. When he asked her what she wanted, and she smiled, that was when she noticed the yellow of the sun, bathing her in its warm light.
"I look forward to having you on the task force, Samar." Harold's tone was warm as he offered her his hand.
Smiling, she took it. "Likewise, Director Cooper."
___
The next one was a surprise, but only a slight one. She had long since figured out that Red was one of her many soulmates, but the fact that his bodyguard was, too, that was the surprise.
Dembe Zuma was a quiet man, who rarely spoke when Red wasn't around.
But even before that, the first thing she noticed was that she could see the color brown after she met him. In the soil, in his skin. It was beautiful.
"Dembe, this is Samar Navabi." Red introduced. "Ms. Navabi is going to help us should we ever need her skill set."
"A pleasure." Dembe's voice was slightly deep as he pressed a kiss to her hand, and she found herself blushing in spite of who she was as a person.
"Nice to meet you as well." Samar responded. She didn't stay long after that, but the first thing she noticed after leaving was that her eyes were brown, as well.
___
Aram Mojtabai brought with him feelings she had never felt before, and the color purple. "You're tall." He blurted upon first seeing her, and she found herself smiling brightly as a result. However, it wasn't until she got back to her small house that she realized this.
And then something occurred to her.
Even before she had seen the colors the people, her soulmates, had brought with them into her life, she had known. Deep inside of her, she had felt it. Felt that they were her soulmates.
That was both terrifying and thrilling, truth be told.
___
"But you think he knows where to find the Scimitar." Red responded, the realization hitting him. But his tone stayed calm.
"Perhaps." Samar glanced at him but then turned her gaze forward, not daring to look at him for more than a few moments. He was wearing one of his ties again.
"Mossad has no tolerance for any agenda except Mossad's. You'll be sanctioned for this indiscretion." Was that a hint of concern she detected in Red's voice?
She couldn't focus on that right now, though. She was too busy thinking about the blue of the sky.
The green of the grass.
The red of an apple.
The yellow of the sun.
The brown of the soil.
The purple of a flower.
She looked at him. "So be it. I can't work with this task force unless my partners are my highest priority." Samar's tone was matter of fact. This time, she didn't look away from him for even a second. Her words could be taken in more ways than one. Both in the 'partners on the task force' way and 'partners as in soulmates' way. And Red fit into the second category more than the first. As did Dembe.
"I understand." Red's fingers brushed over her hand.
Samar knew that no matter what happened, from here on in, her partners had to come first. She wouldn't lose anyone else she cared about.
Especially not her soulmates.