Disclaimer: I do not own the Marvel Cinematic Universe, nor do I have a safe pod in my office. It's okay, though; I don't think Doombots are going to attack my fan fiction lab anytime soon.

Soulmark AU Reminder: Everyone has a Soulmark, a tattoo of the first words their Soulmate will say to them. Showing someone else your Soulmark is like baring your soul to them, so most people only show their Soulmate or very trusted friends.

Living at the center of the Avengers World was stressful.

First, the Science!

Second, the villains.

Third, the attacks.

So it was understandable that Darcy Lewis was a little stressed the day she met her Soulmate.

It was only about 2 pm, but she'd had enough. She was in the middle of a strongly worded resignation screech in Tony Stark's direction, as he tried to figure out how to turn Jane's machine on so that he could chase her abductor and get her back. Doombots were attacking the tower, and terrified lab assistants rushed through the halls outside, frantic to get to safety.

"...At least if I'm working at the campus library, I'm not going to be jumped by radioactive humanoid frogs! No one will try to kidnap me or my graduate advisor! I've had enough! I'm done with this!" Darcy shouted.

"That's nice, Lewis," Stark remarked, as he squinted at some of Jane's notes. "Okay, I don't think I can turn this on after all. We're just going to have to do things the old fashioned way."

"I told you so!" Darcy screamed at him. Stark ignored her and activated his helmet. As it slid into place, Captain America stepped through the door.

"Hey, Steve, could you get her outta here?" the billionaire's voice echoed out from within his suit.

"No way!" Darcy objected. "I'm not going anywhere until you get her back!" She glared at Tony, but Captain America held out his hand for her.

"Please, I promise we'll do everything we can. But I know we'll do it better if we can be sure that you're safe."

Darcy stopped in her tracks, ignoring the mayhem of explosions, ignoring Stark as he took off out of a nearby broken window, ignoring the screams of bystanders on the street, and momentarily ignoring that the supposed "innocent experiment" with Jane's latest portal machine had resulted in Doctor Doom stepping into their lab and abducting the scientist within five seconds of the machine's activation. She stared at Captain America's outstretched hand and gave him a once-over.

And this made her more angry than she had been before.

"Are you f**king kidding me?!" she shouted.

Captain America nearly dropped his mighty shield. "What—" he began, but Darcy was too upset to let him continue.

"I can't meet you today! Today is the worst day ever! The way things are going, you'll die before we can even get to the hand-holding, much less the good stuff!"

A nearby explosion cut off her Soulmate's answering laugh.

They both retreated to the back wall of the lab to shelter from the aerial combat taking place outside. "For most of my life I wasn't sure I wanted to meet you, with a mouth like yours!" he shouted over the mayhem.

"Yeah, by all means, let's have a pleasant chat about our Soulmarks right now when the world is ending and there are people that need saving and there's an entire lifetime that we're probably going to miss out on because we are definitely going to die!" Darcy yelled angrily.

Her Soulmate gave her an annoyed look. "Guess there's only going to be time for me to give you a preview of 'the good stuff,' then," he said, and angling his shield to screen them from any prying eyes or explosions, he pulled her roughly into his arms.

It was everything a first kiss should be, and everything a last kiss could be. Darcy wanted to push him away and slap him across the face, but she also wanted to keep kissing him forever.

Darcy's lips were burning when he pulled away. "It takes a lot to kill me, and you'll be fine if you get in one of the Safe Pods."

"No! Not until Ja—"

"Please. Please, I—I need you to be safe." His face was so earnest, so hopeful.

Darcy frowned the frowniest frown of her life. "Get Jane back."

"I will."

"And—" She shot a look at the mayhem outside. "Don't die. I… I need you, too."

He nodded, gave her a brave smile, and helped her into one of the lab's Safe Pods, securing the door shut behind her.

She leaned forward to watch as he walked over to the nearest exit, the window Stark had used minutes earlier.

He turned to look back at her, and Darcy swore she would remember that moment for the rest of her life.

Then he jumped.

Sarah leaned forward and bounced a little beneath her Captain America bedspread. "And then what happened?!" she asked, her blue eyes twinkling.

Darcy smiled indulgently. "And then I sat in a tiny space for three hours while he saved the day, and we lived happily ever after."

"Can you tell it to me agaiiiin?" the little girl cajoled, batting her eyes.

"Not tonight," Darcy told her, giving her a little shove toward her pillow. "It's time for bed. But if you don't whine," she added over the whine that had already begun, "I might tell it again tomorrow."

The girl sighed and snuggled down in her bed to obey, and her mother tucked her in a little more snugly and kissed her eyebrow, making her giggle. "I love you, Super Sweet."

"I love you too, Super Awesome," Darcy's daughter replied through a yawn.

There was movement in the hallway when Darcy stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her. Her overprotective mother instinct plus a normal amount of 'home alone' apprehensiveness went into overdrive and she gasped, her mind racing with plans of what to do next: could she get to the panic button in the bedroom, or should she just go back to Sarah, lock the door behind her, and hope that she could protect her daughter with the taser hidden under her bed?

And then his red, white, and blue appeared in the light from the bathroom, and she relaxed, letting out an audible sigh of relief. "You nearly scared me to death, Steve."

"Sorry," he said, and approached quietly, pulling her into his arms. "She just get to bed?"

Darcy smiled and leaned up to kiss his chin. "Mmhm, and guess which usual bedtime story." He raised his eyebrows inquisitively. "The romantic tale of the day we traded Words, of course."

"But you didn't—"

"Don't worry," she assured him. "I left out the swears."

Author's Note: Come read my behind the scenes blathering at iwillwriteyourfic DOT blogspot DOT com SLASH 2016 SLASH 05 SLASH a-simple-device-swears DOT html