WHEN STEVE AND RAEVANNA ARRIVED BACK AT HEADQUARTERS, THEY WERE GREETED BY WANDA, WHO SEEMED VERY SURPRISED TO SEE ASH WITH THEM. The Sokovian girl raised an eyebrow in confusion, then looked at Ash before saying to Raevanna, "Who is this?"

Raevanna huffed. "Ash, meet Wanda," she said curtly, gesturing between the two. "Wanda, Ash."

Hello, Ash said with a nod.

Wanda blinked, taking a step back in shock. "Did he just-"

"Use telepathy to speak to you?" Raevanna finished. "Yeah, he did." Then, without waiting for a reply, she entered the building.

Raevanna would be lying if she said she wanted Ash as a partner. Having another magical creature to have to watch over was the last thing she wanted. Things were finally settling down for her, too; her missions were less intense and time-consuming, and she was able to spend more time with Steve. She finally felt like she had settled into living in New York, only to have a curveball be thrown at her in the form of a powerful creature from the place of her birth. Raevanna couldn't understand why it had happened or why now, but she was stuck with it. There was no way for her to reverse it, so she had to deal with it.

Raevanna, Ash said, picking up speed so he could catch up to her. I'm sensing some hostility from you.

Raevanna snorted. "No shit," she muttered.

Ash suddenly jumped in front of her, blocking her path. I know something's bothering you, I can feel it, he said. Tell me what's going on.

"What's going on is that I don't want you here," Raevanna hissed. "I didn't want this, and I certainly didn't ask for it."

No one asks for this, Raevanna, Ash said.

"My point exactly," Raevanna retorted. "So let's get one thing straight right now. I have a job here, and I have a life. So stay out of my way and we should be fine, yeah?" When Ash nodded slightly, she huffed and muttered, "Good." Then she walked around him and continued further into the base.

Eventually Raevanna found her room. She waved her hand over the door, using magic to open it, before she stepped inside, keeping the door open wide enough for Ash to follow. Then, she closed the door behind him and collapsed on her bed face-first, shouting into her pillow in frustration.

After a moment, she sensed movement from Ash. Lifting her head, she saw he was sitting by the side of her bed, watching her with concerned eyes.

"What are you looking at?" Raevanna snapped.

Ash's head lowered, and he got up, walking over to the window before sitting down under it and closing his eyes, obviously meditating. Satisfied, Raevanna nodded once and put her head back on the pillow.

Just as she started to doze off, there was a knock on her door. Raevanna groaned loudly in annoyance, then sat up and called, "Yeah?"

"It's Steve."

Raevanna sighed. "It's open!"

The door opened, and Steve walked into the room. He smiled at her, sitting down next to her before nodding at Ash. "He okay?" he asked.

Raevanna glanced at Ash, then rolled her eyes and looked away. "Don't know, don't care."

Steve sighed softly. "I'm getting the feeling that you don't want him around."

"I don't," Raevanna said, her voice expressing her frustration. "Things were finally starting to be... normal, for us. And then I get hit with... with this." She motioned to Ash. "And it was like a sucker punch to the face. I mean, I was finally starting to get comfortable, but then life laughed and said, 'ha you thought.'"

Steve smiled at her joke; it sounded like something Blake would say. "I wouldn't take it so personally, Raevanna. Sometimes in life, we get hit with things we're not ready for. And all we can do is either make the most of it or ignore it." He glanced over at Ash. "And I don't think he's something you can ignore."

Raevanna sighed softly, shaking her head. "I know. I just... I'm stuck with him now. Forever."

Steve nodded slowly. "Yeah. Forever is a long time. But I still think you're looking at this the wrong way." When Raevanna frowned in confusion, Steve explained, "I think you'll be a lot better off if you embrace him as opposed to ignore him. I mean, take the fact that you're a night fae, for example. When you first found out about it, you did everything in your power to try and stop it. But when you embraced it, it became a part of you, and now you have full control over what you can do, and it helps you instead of hurts you."

Raevanna huffed quietly. "Yeah, but that was a totally different situation."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? How?"

Raevanna opened her mouth to reply, only to stop when she realized that, unfortunately, there wasn't much of a difference between her magic and her bond with Ash. So she huffed again, crossing her arms as her bottom lip jutted out in a pout. "Okay, so it's not really that different..."

Steve smiled, kissing the pout off her face before taking her hand. "I know this is hard for you, but try to embrace this. It may not be as bad as you think."

Raevanna nodded, giving him a grateful smile. Then, there was a knock on the door, and Vision walked inside, nodding respectfully at them.

"Captain Rogers," Vision said. "Blake believes that she has determined the location of Rumlow and wishes for you to come assess her work."

Steve nodded, standing up. "Alright, I'll be right out." Turning to Raevanna, he said, "Get ready, we may have to leave again."

Raevanna smiled. "Okay."

Steve smiled back, then turned and followed Vision out of the room. Raevanna sighed, smoothing her hair out of her face with one hand before she, too, walked out of the room, heading for the kitchen to grab a snack.

However, as Raevanna walked down the hall, she bumped into someone, nearly falling over from the impact. Quickly righting herself, she cleared her throat, then looked at the person she had ran into. It was a woman, a little older than her (by human standards) with a pale complexion and dark hair and eyes.

"I'm sorry," Raevanna said, shaking her head. "I didn't see you there."

"It's fine," the woman replied, then winked at Raevanna and said, "It'd be a different story if you weren't as cute."

Raevanna swallowed nervously, shifting uncomfortably when she saw the woman's eyes roam her body. "So, uh, are you new here?" Raevanna asked. "I don't think I've seen you before."

"Yeah, I'm a friend of Tony's," the woman said. Sticking out her hand, she smiled and said, "I'm Rodi."

"Raven," Raevanna said, shaking the woman's hand.

"Oh, I know who you are." Rodi flashed a brilliant smile. "Captain Rogers is a lucky man to have such a beautiful lady as his girlfriend."

Raevanna smiled, blushing slightly. Her brain felt slightly fuzzy as she looked at Rodi, and she shook her head in an attempt to clear it. "Thank you."

"No problem." Rodi winked again, stepping closer to Raevanna. "He's a very lucky man indeed."

Raevanna's brain began to get even more fuzzy the more she looked at Rodi, and she shook her head again, trying to clear it but failing. Her willpower, which was usually strong against advances from others, was turning to water, and she didn't know or understand why. What's happening to me? she thought.

Rodi stepped even closer, reaching out and brushing a lock of Raevanna's hair out of her face. "I can see what makes you so special to him. Beautiful both inside and out."

Raevanna bit her lip, backing up until her back pressed against the wall. She knew that Rodi was doing something to her; something that was melting away her resistance and willpower. A small voice in the back of Raevanna's brain was telling her to stop - to fight this weird influence and run away. But despite what her mind was telling her, she physically did nothing. She just stayed absolutely still, her heart beginning to pound as Rodi lowered her head, her lips brushing against Raevanna's neck.

"You are gorgeous," Rodi whispered, kissing Raevanna's neck and making her shiver. "Absolutely stunning."

Raevanna shuddered, inhaling sharply when Rodi began kissing up and down the length of her neck. "Stop," she muttered weakly, biting her lip.

Rodi looked up at her, smirking. "Do you really want me to?"

Raevanna closed her eyes tight. Her mind told her to say yes. But her lips said something else.

"No."

Rodi grinned, pressing her lips to Raevanna's. Raevanna's mind went completely blank, no longer seeming attached to her bodily functions. Her tense body went loose, her head tilting and moving backwards as Rodi continued to kiss her. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, and her arms slowly went up to loop around Rodi's neck. Then, just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.

"Raevanna?"

Raevanna instantly pushed away from Rodi, her eyes going wide when she saw Steve standing a few feet away. Her heart broke when she saw how hurt he looked, and she realized he had seen her. Then, his hurt turned to anger, and he spun around, storming back down the hall without another word.

"Steve, wait!" Raevanna called. When he didn't slow down, she whipped her head around to face Rodi, and without hesitation she punched the woman so hard that she felt Rodi's nose break under her knuckles. Rodi dropped to the ground, and Raevanna glared at her, saying sharply, "Don't ever touch me again." Then, she hurried after Steve.

"Steve, wait," Raevanna said, rushing after him. "Steve, please stop."

Steve abruptly stopped, spinning around to face her. "What, Raevanna."

"Steve, that wasn't what it looked like," Raevanna said.

"Oh, really?" Steve retorted. "Because to me it looked like my girlfriend kissing another woman."

"You don't understand, she was... weird," Raevanna told him. "She had me under some kind of spell-"

"Yeah, I bet she did." Steve rolled his eyes. "You've gotta come up with something better than that, you know."

Raevanna blinked. "I'm not lying, Steve. She did something to me, I couldn't-"

"That's bullshit," Steve snapped, shocking Raevanna with his use of language. "Tell me the truth, Raevanna."

"I am telling you the truth," Raevanna insisted.

Steve shook his head, laughing humorlessly. "Fine, don't tell me. But if you were getting bored with me, all you had to do was say so. Or at least try to do a better job of hiding it."

Without waiting for a reply, Steve turned back around and stomped off. Raevanna watched him go, her eyes welling up with tears as the truth of what she had done sunk in. She had lost the love of her life. And this time, it was her own fault.

Biting her lip as she struggled to hold back tears, Raevanna spun around and darted back down the hall. Then, she couldn't hold it in anymore, and tears began to blur her vision - so much so that she didn't see Ash as she rushed into her room. Ignoring his confused look, she collapsed on the bed before bursting into tears, her body racked with sobs as her buried her face in her pillow.

Raevanna? Ash asked. Are you alright? What happened?

"Leave me alone," she said between sobs.

Ash cocked his head, coming closer to her as he used their bond to relive her most recent memories. He got the fleeting images of the woman, her encounter with Raevanna, and Steve's reaction to seeing them. Ash felt her confusion in the moment, followed by the heartbreak of Steve's response. Then, he growled as Rodi's face was etched into his mind, and without saying a word to Raevanna, he pushed open the door and ran outside, determined to find this woman and give her a piece of his mind.

Ash crept down the hall, using his extrasensory ability to find Rodi. Soon he found her, huddled in a hallway with a phone pressed to her ear, so he stepped a few paces closer, activating his ability again to hear both sides of the conversation.

"Is it done?" came a heavily accented man's voice from the other end of the line.

"Yes, it's done," Rodi said. "I made sure the captain saw us together. Phase one of our plan is complete."

"Very good, Aphrodite," the man replied.

"The Avengers will never know what hit them," Rodi - whose real name was apparently Aphrodite - replied with a grin.

"Even so, I want you to keep an eye on them," the man told her. "Captain Rogers and Raven Knight have been through much together, so their love is strong. This may or may not affect their relationship as long as we hope it will. So I want you to watch them, and make sure this rift between them stays. Is that understood?"

Aphrodite nodded. "Yes, Zemo. I understand."

"Good," the man - Zemo - said. "If all goes according to plan, the world's most powerful couple will be no more. And the Avengers will be nothing more than a treasured memory."

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A/N: I KNOW Y'ALL PROLLY HATE ME FOR THIS CHAPTER AND I'M SORRY CAUSE APPARENTLY I LIKE TORTURING THIS CHARACTER

anyway, a damaged relationship is not the only thing raevanna will have to deal with in this act sorry not sorry :P