They say that everyone in the world has a soulmate. Whether they be in another planet or universe, someone has a match. Soulmates have a mental link. They never feel each other's pain, but they can feel each other's emotions. But, when a connection is strong, memories, pain, feelings, and thoughts can be shared.

        Everyone has at least two timers, one on each wrist. The one on the right represents the time until they meet their soulmate, the left is the time until the two souls are connected. Some had multiple timers, counting down the time until a relationship milestone was reached. The timers on the wrists start ticking the moment someone was born. But yours? Neither of yours started or stopped, then again, you had multiple timers.

        Life, unfortunately, for you was indeed rough. The constant teasing from your family and friends didn't help the loneliness that you struggled with. The kids at school pushed you around, purposely making you feel horrible. You hated the way they made you felt, so you created your own timers, in hopes to disguise the fact they never started counting down. By the time you reached 10, you had found 12 more timers, none of which were labeled or ticking. There was only one timer ticking, labeled in neat cursive, "First Glance”.

        The year was 2013. It had been a full-on year since your home had been destroyed was destroyed by the attack on New York and since the timer "First Glance" stopped ticking. You had gotten caught amidst the crossfire on a bridge, catching a quick view of the Avengers. You had run into various people that day, so you weren't so sure when the clock had stopped. You pushed the memory out of your head as you tried to focus on the speech that was being given. You were at your graduation, tapping your fingers nervously against your leg. You strutted across the stage as your name was called, smiling for pictures. As you walked off the stage, you felt a strong sensation, like you've never felt before. It a flood of emotions. Anger, stress, anxiety, nervousness, but most of all, there was loneliness. You didn't understand why you could feel these things because they weren't your feelings. But, within that same moment, you felt those feelings, you felt and heard a ticking. Multiple tickings. It was rhythmic, making you slightly sleepy, however, you ignored it. You weren't used to it and you didn't know why you felt these things. You were confused, but you didn't bother to pay attention.

        Naturally, you were ecstatic. You could finally call yourself a classified S.H.I.E.L.D assassin. At the end of the stage, your uniform and badge were waiting for you. As you were walking, you felt a sharp pain in your back, almost as if you had fallen on your back. Your natural response would've been to gasp and wheeze, but you continued to walk across the stage. When you reached the end, Director Fury himself was there to greet you.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

        "Congratulations, Agent (Y/N). I would like to have a private meeting with you in three hours." He handed you your gear.

        "Yes, sir." You accepted it with a smile and walked away. You were nervous about why he wanted to meet with you personally. More often than not, he only called people to a private meeting to discuss something they did wrong or to fire them. You had time, so you decided to go to your parent's house and drop by. 

        When you reached your parent's house, you barely had time to knock on the door before the door was opened and you were yanked inside.

        "(Y/N)!" You mom practically squealed your ear off. She started flipping your arm over like she always did. You started getting tired of it and you snatched your arm away from her.

        ”Jeez, Mom! Give me a break!” You snatched your arm away from her. As you began to soothe your aching arm, she snatched your arm away again and gawked at your wrist.

        "What? What is it?" You questioned. At those words, your father and your brother decided to come and see what the fuss was all about. They both did the same thing as your mother and exchanged glances.

        "Would someone just tell me whats going on?" You were irritated at this point and took back your arm.

        "(Y/N)... Look." You brother, Thomas breathed. You slowly reached your arm out and saw that the timer, "First Met" was ticking. There were only 2 hours left before you met you "soulmate", the same amount of time that was left until your meeting with Fury. You gasped and coughed and looked to your family for support.

        "What do I do?" Your voice was barely above a whisper.

        "What do you have to do in two hours?" You dad folded his arms across chest and raised an eyebrow.

        "Well, um... I have a meeting." And with that, your family had pushed you out the door

        Since you only had about 30 minutes before the next hour, you decided to change into your uniform and arrive and the S.H.E.I.L.D base 20 minutes before Fury arrived, even if it meant speeding and possibly getting a ticket.

        You did, in fact, make it before the director did, 10 minutes to be exact. You strutted in, straight to Fury's office. Once again, you tapped your fingers nervously, waiting for the Director. You looked down at your wrist, only 15 seconds left.

        14...

        "Nice to see you're early, (y/n)" Fury had walked through the door and it looked like someone was behind him.

        10...

        "I'd like you to someone." Fury took a step to the left.

        8...

        Standing behind him was the infamous Captain America. The two of you locked gazes.

        5...

        He reached his right hand out to shake your hand, revealing that his timer was in sync with yours.

        2... 1...