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❛ ᴇᴡᴛʀᴛᴡ. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐄𝐍 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜɴʙᴇᴀʀᴀʙʟᴇ
ᴛʀᴀɢᴇᴅʏ ᴏғ ɢᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ ᴇxᴀᴄᴛʟʏ
ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ꒱　


❝ THOSE SOUND LIKE
MADE-UP NAMES ❞

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2010
WASHINGTON, D.C., MARYLAND

━━(⚫)━━
 ᵇʳᵃᶰᶜʰᵉᵈ ᵗᶤᵐᵉˡᶤᶰᵉ

When Jimin had thought that she'd been about to die, she had wished for a normal life, one free from the trials of being a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. In all of its ironic glory, the Timeline— God, Fate, whoever was in charge— saw it fit to give her exactly that.

✧✧✧

Her eyes were still closed when she realized that she was gaining consciousness. At first, she thought that she was dead: Jimin was floating in blackness, comfortable, safe and warm. There was no pain, no fear, just complete, enveloping peace. And that was when she figured out something was wrong.

Bright light hit her eyes when she opened them, causing her to squint against the glare. For a moment, she thought she was back at the T.V.A. right when the Loom had exploded. But no— there was no groaning noise, no creaking of metal-on-metal, no chaos— She sat up abruptly, the covers falling into her lap as she looked around the room. "Loki?"

Of course there was no response, but she began to pick out the details of where she was. The softness beneath her was a mattress, the sheets tangled around her legs. The brightness was the sun streaming in through the nearby window, illuminating the room in a soft, golden glow. She could hear birds chirping outside and the distant rumble of traffic. Everything was entirely, perfectly normal. She couldn't believe it; it seemed too good to be true— which only made her more suspicious.

Jimin placed a hand down on the bed to help steady herself, but startled when it landed on something warm. Her breath caught in her throat as she tentatively looked towards the place beside her, half-expecting to see raven curls spread out on the adjacent pillow. (She definitely wasn't disappointed when they weren't. No, not at all.) Instead, she saw honey-blonde strands poking out just above the sheet.

Holding her breath, she peeled back the covers to reveal achingly familiar features— an oval face, lips pulled into a pout, even in sleep, a gently sloping nose— Katrina. How?

"Am I dreaming?" the Asian woman murmured, hardly able to accept what she was seeing.

Then, beautiful green eyes opened and a small smile appeared on the woman's face. "Well, isn't that a nice way to wake up?"

Her voice was just as soft and caring as in Jimin's memory, and she could've started crying right then and there— but she was still wary. "I don't— I don't understand," she began, her words cracking slightly. "I— you— I'm not supposed to be here."

Katrina frowned in confusion. "What do you mean? You didn't forget to put an appointment on the calendar again, did you?"

"What? No, of course not— and that was one time," the brunette defended herself. "I just. . . the T.V.A., Loki—"

"Loki?" her girlfriend repeat. "Like, the Norse god?"

"Yeah. He's not here, is he?"

The other woman stared at her as if she were crazy. "He's just a myth, Jimmy." Then, her expression softened. "Did you have another nightmare?"

Jimin swallowed and curled her fingers into the bed sheets to stop them from trembling. "It-it was a nightmare, but not all of it. I— where am I? I'm not dead, right?" Katrina sat up now as well, looking at her in concern as she continued to stammer, "there-there was a bright light, a blast— no one could have survived that. Time exploded— literally. I. . ."

She put a gentle hand on the brunette's back and began to rub it comfortingly. "It was just a dream. You're safe now."

But Jimin couldn't relax. She tossed the covers aside and got up to pace to the windows, jerking the curtains back to convince herself that this wasn't some grand illusion. Instead of the blackness of space, lit by the colorful flashes of radiation, a bird's-eye view of a city street greeted her. It was such an ordinary sight that it was almost surreal: a cracked, black asphalt road lined on either side by trees in square planters, cars parked against the curb while pedestrians went about their business.

The carpet was soft under her bare feet, a vast contrast from the hard, shiny tiled floor of the T.V.A.. Pictures decorated the walls, personalizing the room with photographs and a couple of paintings— no murals like in the organization she'd just left. The furniture was complimentarily mismatched— both her and Katrina's styles— rather than standard equipment of a corporate building. Still trying to process the change in her face, Jimin placed a hand against the nearest wall to feel its solid stability— to make sure that this wasn't an illusion.

✧✧✧

By the time she'd gotten dressed and was sitting at the counter in the kitchen while she waited for Katrina to make breakfast, Jimin had become a little more confident in this reality. When she opened the recycling to toss out her Keurig cup, she saw a discarded newspaper. Picking it up, her gaze immediately flicked to the date, which caused her to choke on the sip of coffee she'd taken: June 10, 2010. Two years before Loki's attack on New York, one year before the fatal mission that had taken her girlfriend's life (something that, Jimin would learn, would never happen in this Timeline.)

"So. . ." the brunette began, quickly placing the paper back in the bin, "when does work start?"

Katrina threw her an unimpressed look from the stove before she turned back to the eggs. "It's Saturday, Jimmy. I know you're not thrilled about your parents coming to visit, but—"

Now Jimin really did choke on her coffee and she let out loud, unappealing hacking sounds to clear her throat. Gasping through the burning sensation, she rasped out, "p-p-parents?"

"Did you forget?" the blonde asked, concern once more taking over her features. "That's not like you. Like you said, you've only ever lost track of one appointment. Usually you're pretty good at these things."

Finally getting control of her windpipe again, the Asian woman stared at her girlfriend in both horror and surprise. "What do you mean, parents? You know I haven't spoken to my father in— what, ten years?"

"I know last weekend felt like it was a long time ago, but calling it ten years is a bit of an exaggeration, don't you think? Not to mention the fact that you call your mom almost every day."

It felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Just as she'd been thinking that maybe, maybe, she could adjust to this, life— or whatever this was— had thrown another curveball at her. Now she was only more convinced that she had died and this place just resembled Earth. "Funny," she commented drily, trying to cover up her nerves. "I didn't think that Atheists could get into a heaven they don't believe in."

"What are you talking about?" Katrina wondered, frowning. "I know you're antisocial and a bit of a grouch, but when did dark humor become a thing?"

"Hey!" she protested, though her girlfriend was right, of course. "I've made friends."

"Your parents don't count."

Jimin scoffed, deciding to focus on a subject that wouldn't make her head spin. "I don't mean them. I've made six friends, for your information. Mobius, Casey, O.B., B-15, Sylvie and Loki."

"Those sound like made-up names."

"They are not made-up."

The blonde shook her head. "I already told you that Loki is just a myth, so you can't count him, even if he was in your dream. Besides, I've been to your faculty meetings— I know everyone you work with, and none of them have those names."

Jimin wished the universe would take a break for a moment and let her come to terms with the last bit of information she'd gotten before it threw something else at her. "Faculty? What do you mean?"

"Seriously, Jimmy? This amnesia thing isn't working on me. I'm not going to cancel dinner with your parents."

She sighed and put down her coffee. "I'm not that hungry so you can eat without me. There's some. . . work that I need to do."

She felt Katrina's anxious gaze on her as she went back into the bedroom where their makeshift office apparently was. A laptop was sitting on the desk, so she pulled out the chair and took a seat. There was, of course, a password to get into the computer.

Luckily, it turned out that she was pretty consistent in every universe— the code was the same one she used for her computer. It only took a couple minutes of going through her files to realize that she wasn't a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent; she was just a regular high school history teacher. Her lips curled into a wry smile at the irony.

✧✧✧

When the bell rang later that day, Jimin was sitting in the living room watching TV. It was such a regular, everyday task that she had taken for granted. During her time at the T.V.A, she'd wondered if she would ever get the chance to live on Earth again— and now she'd gotten her wish. But she still didn't trust this new reality. It felt too good, too easy. Her life so far had been a lot of things, but it had most certainly never been easy. The relative peace of whichever version of Earth this was made her restless and wary. Still, when Katrina asked her to answer the door, she did so without protest.

The sight of her parents— parents, as in plural, both her father and her mother— made her freeze. She stared at them in shock, her mouth dropping open as her arm stayed outstretched with her hand on the doorknob. Her father looked the same as he had in her Timeline; he had the same dark eyes that she did, though his were harder, colder. His dark brown hair was still cropped short in a military style. His lips were still pulled into a frown— his usual expression, which only ever deepened when she did something that displeased him. He was still broad-shouldered and well-built, clad in a general's uniform. But, then he did something that her father never had: he smiled.

It was a strange expression (for her) to see on his face, his consistently downturned lips quirking up at the sight of her, his dark eyes brightening to something warmer. She had to suppress a shudder at the look as— if she went by her past experiences (that being, none)— smiling was a promise of certain death. She felt like a twelve-year-old girl again, doing everything in her power to impress her father to keep him from taking away more.

Then, he did something else that was completely out of character: he reached forward to. . . well, she guessed it was for a hug— but again, going on past experiences— she flinched away from him, even though his movement wasn't aggressive at all. The brunette took a step back instinctively, her hand tightening around the doorknob.

Jaein's smile faltered, an almost hurt look— though mostly confused one— crossing his face. His hands dropped to his sides, giving her space. Unable to take the weirdness any more, Jimin's attention turned to her mother. Her mother, who she never got to meet in the original timeline. Somehow, she was alive.

Seul-Gi was just as beautiful as she had pictured her mother to be. Unlike her daughter, she had more of a feminine figure and was quite tall. She had long, silky brown hair that fell in a shiny sheet down her back with wispy bangs over her forehead. Her eyes were a lighter brown than either her husband's or Jimin's and were even more kind. A smile on her face seemed to fit completely, as if she were always happy.

"M-mom," Jimin murmured, her voice cracking on the unfamiliar word.

She could only stare at the other woman, unable to make her feet move to embrace her as she would've liked to. Thankfully, Seul-Gi seemed to understand and came forward herself, wrapping her arms around her daughter. Jimin closed her eyes and took a deep breath, smelling the faint scent of lilies on her mother's clothes.

"Right on time as usual," Katrina welcomed them brightly, having joined her girlfriend at the door. "I can see it runs in the family."

Her parents gave their own greetings, as if they were perfectly fine with their daughter dating a woman— something that Jimin couldn't wrap her head around. One of the reasons she'd left home (although she had never truly called it that) in the original Timeline was because of her fear of her father's acceptance— or lack thereof. Now, he seemed unbothered by this fact as he asked the blonde about work this week. He broke off his conversation to turn to Jimin, completely unaware of how her stomach dropped at his cheerful announcement: "I've brought the Janggi board so we can have a rematch."

Now, she wasn't even twelve. She was five, stuck with only her father for company, watching him from across the Janggi board, his stony expression making her shiver every time she moved the wrong piece. 

She took a deep breath, forcing herself back to the present where her parents were following Katrina into the kitchen. It was only when she lifted her hand off the knob— after closing the door behind them— that she saw her fingers shaking.

✧✧✧

All in all, things could have gone worse during their visit. Although Jimin remained tense and jumpy whenever her father spoke to her, she never actually ran out of the room— something that she was proud of. She had flinched every time he'd come near her, so eventually he learned to stay away and she had to endure his sad, puzzled look the whole time. Seul-Gi was wonderful and her mother was the only reason why she was sad to see them leave, but they promised to come again next weekend.

Once they were gone, the Asian woman shut the door behind them again. Before she turned around to face the rest of the house, she laid her palm on the solid wood of the door and rested her forehead against it, closing her eyes to take yet another breath.

The day was almost over now and she hadn't woken up. Loki hadn't appeared to whisk her away. The universe or the Timeline wasn't falling apart. If this was an illusion, it hadn't disappeared. She was here— in this strange, new life. That didn't mean she wasn't still expecting it to all be taken from her, but she could remain vigilant even while relaxed.

So, she did something she'd been wanting to do since she woke up that morning. When she moved away from the door, she found Katrina still right behind her. Seizing the opportunity, she grasped the other woman's wrist and pulled her closer until they were pressed flush together. Jimin lifted her other hand to gently place it on the blonde's cheek, savoring the feeling of warm skin under her fingertips— so different from the last time she'd seen Katrina. (No, don't think about that.)

Then, Jimin kissed her.

Her girlfriend's lips were just like she remembered: soft and inviting, tasting like vanilla Chapstick, with the familiarity that had made her heart race.

It was a shock to realize that.

Had. As in, past tense.

That didn't mean she loved her girlfriend any less. How could she? Katrina had been her first real love, her first everything. She would always have a special place in Jimin's heart. But, the kiss felt like coming home. It felt like standing outside in the summer with the sun on her face. It felt safe, like a boat anchoring at harbor— but that wasn't what boats were made for. They were supposed to sail wild waters and endure the hardest storms.

The analogy made her think of Loki. The Asgardian was the opposite of a safe haven: he was sailing through a whirlpool only to come out the other side into a typhoon. He was chaos and disorder and the unpredictability of nature. And the whole time Jimin kissed Katrina, she couldn't help but wonder— crave knowing— what it would be like to kiss him.

✧✧✧

They say to never meet your heroes, but that should be true for dreams as well: you should never actually achieve them— although, Jimin supposes it depends on what they are. Because what will you do once you've accomplished everything in life? There are no more rungs of the ladder to climb, no more pedestals to reach. After so many years of struggling to get to the top, how are you supposed to feel once you get there? Sure, you'll feel the adrenaline rush and sense of accomplishment, but how long do those really last? Would it be enough to keep you happy for a lifetime or would you keep trying to reach new heights?

That was how she was currently feeling in this Timeline. As days bled into weeks, she settled into the routine of normality, but she was still restless. She kept glancing over her shoulder, half-expecting (half-hoping) someone she knew (Loki) would pop into existence and tell her everything was falling apart. A stable life had been her dream for a long time— something to work towards once she'd retired from S.H.I.E.L.D., but now that she had it, she wasn't happy.

She couldn't believe she was saying this, but she missed being on the run, the excitement of travelling through time, the life-or-death situations. What she wouldn't give to see Mobius, O.B. or Loki again just for a new mission. This slice-of-life living simply wasn't for her, she was realizing— or, at least, this version of her. Maybe it was perfectly fine for Jimin-the-history-teacher, as she was calling the version of herself that had lived in this Timeline before she'd arrived. (Okay, that was probably confusing, but the point was, she wasn't cut out for being a teacher.)

The thing that she missed most from her old life (not including people) was her fitness level. Jimin-the-history-teacher clearly hadn't worked out as much as Jimin-the-agent had, and she was feeling it. The first day she'd decided to go on a run Katrina had given her that 'are you crazy?' look from the first day she'd arrived. Although she'd ignored her girlfriend, she felt the strain within the first five minutes.

Now, though, as she returned from her daily run, her muscles felt stronger, more like hers. She paused at her door to take out her keys, struggling with them a bit as she also held her water bottle. They dropped to the ground, causing her to curse under her breath. As she bent to pick them up, there was an odd sucking noise, like someone had turned on a vacuum. The brunette could've sworn she heard a voice start to say "Jim—," but when she turned around, no one was there.