"We took a left turn somewhere past crazy, but it seems a nice piece of road so far..."

"You're going to let her roam among you?" The Soothsayer's eyes grew wide over the edge of her veil. "That way lies madness!"

"Yeah, well, we took a left turn somewhere past crazy, but it seems a nice piece of road so far..." Clint said, running his fingers over the dust-covered back of the supplicant's seat. Then he looked up, his clear gaze pinning her to her shabby velvet chair. "You don't get to play God and decide who walks free and who gets shut up in a bottle for a lifetime; not anymore. If I hear anything about more genies being sold, I'll be back." His hand had drifted down to the satin-covered table and now splayed, bearing his weight as he leaned forward. "And I get the feeling you won't like it."

Incense wafted through the thick air of her tent as they stared at each other, the Soothsayer's long fingers white on the edge of her table. The gas lamps burned bright enough to show the fear in her dark eyes, all traces of smugness and confidence wiped from her face. Against the supernatural, the minor demons and dominions she was master of, she was invincible... But against the very real, very physical threat he promised, she wouldn't stand a chance. And they both knew it. Clint took his other hand off of his pistol and reached into his coat, drawing out a vial that glimmered and gleamed in the lamp-light.

"And this?" He told her, watching as it drew her mesmerized, unwilling gaze. "This is over."

The crystal broke between his fingers with the faintest tinkling, slivers and fragments falling like stars to land on the dark tablecloth and lie there, winking in the orange-hued shadows. Clint felt the edges of the released magic brush by him, a cool touch in the suffocating heat of the tent, and knew that somewhere out in the carnival Natasha had stopped, startled and shaken and suddenly free.

Now whether she chose to stay with him would be her choice, and no one else's.

He set the metal cap down in the pile of shards as the Soothsayer followed his movements, dazed.

"A parting gift," he said, and turned, listening to the silence that filled the worn and patchwork tent behind him as he left. But there was no reprisal, no shouted curse or cast demon; he had broken her magic as surely as if he had ripped it from her, and now there was nothing left. After all, they both knew the rage of a genie that had been robbed of a loved one, and he prayed as he ducked out of the tent that he was, beyond pretense or unconscious command on his part, beloved of this one.

That she was waiting outside for him, flames curled in her hair and banked in her eyes, was answer enough.

Her hands, reaching out and touching him like she could not believe, could not have hoped for this, and her smile like a sunrise, were prayers in and of themselves.

Edited 2013-03-01 05:16 am (UTC)

Omg I adore this. Omg.

\o/ Thank you so much! I sat down determined to write something and it kind of blindsided me. I do love AUs, yes I do...

And we are so glad that you love AUs too. <3

WOW! What an awesome AU you've created in just a few paragraphs.

After all, they both knew the rage of a genie that had been robbed of a loved one, and he prayed as he ducked out of the tent that he was, beyond pretense or unconscious command on his part, beloved of this one.

That she was waiting outside for him, flames curled in her hair and banked in her eyes, was answer enough.

Her hands, reaching out and touching him like she could not believe, could not have hoped for this, and her smile like a sunrise, were prayers in and of themselves.

**GUH**

Edited 2013-03-01 07:26 pm (UTC)

Thank you! :D I challenged myself to create a sense of the world without rambling on (as I am wont to do), and so it's fantastic to hear that I succeeded!

Loved this. Dark magic defeated by reality, and love. How did crazy4orcas put it so eloquently? *GUH!* :-)

(That Hansel outfit may or may not have been the basis for part of this world...) I'm glad you liked it! And thank you for reading. :)

Woah! Totally want/need more of this fabulousness!

I wish I knew where it was going next - or where it had been! This snapshot is literally all that I got of the world, so I don't know if I'll ever revisit it... but anything's possible, especially if it's an enticing AU. :) Thank you so much for reading!