A/N: Okay, here we go again, my friends! So, this fic is going to take place in MCU after Age of Ultron, but with some non-canon modifications. Because AoU has been available to rent for so long now, I'm just going to flat out list the changes to AoU here, but if you haven't seen it and are worried about spoilers, jump to the next paragraph! First of all, I have Laura Barton as Clint's sister once again. I'm sure she's a lovely lady, but just no. Second, Pietro Maximoff was revived due to super awesome superhero body-ness. Okay? Okay. #PietroMaximoffLives! Third, Natasha and Bruce?! HELL NO! I will go down fighting that ship! Both deserve happiness, but not together in the way the movie handled it. Never that. (Bruce is still in hiding because he feels bad about destroying Johannesburg and his role in creating Ultron at the start of this fic though.)

Next order of business, this is a soulmate AU story. Because it takes place on Midgard (aka, Earth), I'll explain that part of how soulmates work briefly here (it is also talked about in more detail in Chapter 2). A person is born with his or her soulmate's words somewhere on his or her body, regardless of whether or not the soulmate has been born. Fate is all knowing like that. If the words are written in black, it is a romantic match; if the words are written in grey, it is a platonic match. People can be born with anywhere from zero to multiple soulmarks of each type. It is only on extremely rare occasions that people can get soulmarks later in life. Of course, not everyone is Midgardian, and when you have other advanced, biologically compatible life forms involved, things may get a little bit… weird!

Final note. My past stories have, in the past, featured a rotating selection of POVs. This story will provide background information in Clint's POV in the Prologue (which is Chapter 1). After that is done, Steph is taking over this show, and the rest of the story is going to be in Steph's POV. So please, don't even bother to ask for a new POV, though feel free to tell me how you feel about the matter! I'm always open to having those types of conversations, that was just where I felt I needed to go in order to get this story written!

Chapter 01 - Prologue

Clint's POV

After the events of Ultron, I dragged myself back to my sister and the family farm to lick my wounds, both physical and emotional. Shortly after Laura had given birth to my newest nephew, and named him after my savior, Pietro, I opened the front door one day to find Wanda standing there, clearly unsure of whether or not she should knock.

"Wanda," I croaked out. Unwilling to meet the eyes of someone whose twin's death was on my hands. I'd had many others to my credit before, but Pietro sat particularly badly with me. Like a permanent clog in my throat that nothing I drank could make go away. And if it hadn't been for having to help my sister with her brood, I probably would have put Tony Stark to shame trying.

"You have been hiding needlessly."

"Your brother was just a kid, and I… he shouldn't… I never wanted…" I squared my shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Wanda, I'm so so-"

"Do not apologize. If you hadn't run away, you would know there was no need for it. I've been trying to decide how best to say this, but perhaps it is best if I just show you. I doubt you will believe me otherwise."

Before I could ask what she was talking about, she made a gesture with her hand. In a whirl of blue, Pietro appeared before me, and I stared in disbelief. "What?" I asked, knowing my mouth was stuck gaping in surprise.

"Dr. Cho examined him when we brought his body back to the base," Wanda said. "It seems his heartbeat had slowed to near-zero, but once she removed the bullets and put him in the cradle, she was able to fully revive him."

"Bet you didn't see that coming!" Pietro teased, and that was the moment I knew it was real.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I gasped out, feeling a smile slowly start to show on my face.

"I was angry at you," Wanda said. "And Pietro was still healing, so he could not make the trip himself."

"I asked her not to keep this from you," Pietro clarified. "But she would not spare you, and I was in a wheelchair and couldn't drive myself."

Gulping, I looked at Wanda once more with pleading in my eyes. "I never wanted him to take those bullets for me."

To my surprise, Wanda stepped forward and smacked me hard across the face. "I would not have been angry with you even if he had died that day. It was Pietro's choice to make. He and I have had words. That's not why I'm angry at you. You abandoned your soulmate. The team you helped her and the Captain build was torn to shreds, everyone was emotionally scarred, especially those I hexed. And you LEFT her all alone!"

"She was better off without me," I argued. "Everyone who cares about me dies eventually. Even those who barely know me."

I gestured at Pietro and in a blur he knocked me on my back with a hard punch, "I almost died saving you, and you repay me by blaming me for abandoning your soulmate?"

"What do you want from me now?" I asked.

"The time has come for you to return," Wanda told me. "Natasha needs you. Pietro and I need you. The team needs you. The world needs you."

Behind me I heard my sister's soft but resolved voice, "they're right. I was selfish to let you stay this long instead of pushing you back." There was a thunking noise, and I turned to see her placing my large kit bag on the ground with my bow and quiver full of arrows next to it. "I needed you to be here for when Nathan was born, but you need to go back and make things right with Natasha and the team."

I stared resolutely into her eyes, trying to determine if she really would be okay. With a roll of her eyes, she told me, "you're done with all the renovations to this place, and no, you're not touching the dining room. When you're not here, the neighbors help out. And you know there's plenty of money. It's been almost a year since he died, and we all have to start going back to our regular lives. The kids and I will be fine, possibly even better once we do."

Almost a year and she still couldn't say her deceased soulmate's name, but I knew by now that she would push on, determined to make a good life for her kids. My Laura wouldn't become one of those who lost their soulmate and ceased to exist. Knowing that gave me the strength to accept what I needed to do without any more of a fight.

"I'll come visit," I told Laura gruffly, pulling her into a hug. "And if you need anything, call."

"If I need anything, I'll call Natasha," Laura told me through a teary laugh. "You're horrible about answering your phone and returning messages. Plus, that way you have to fix things with her."

With that final shot, Laura called the kids and I said my goodbyes before walking back to the self-flying jet with the twins. When I felt it take off, I sighed and closed my eyes, letting my head flop against the back of the seat.

"How mad is she?" I asked.

"She doesn't seem mad at all," Pietro told me.

"Fuck," I replied.

Sure enough, when the jet ramp lowered, Natasha was standing outside waiting. Her face was the epitome of passive and cold and her arms were across her chest as I approached.

"Nat," I said gruffly.

"Clinton Francis," she retorted.

"Hell, I missed you too," I told her, pulling her rigid body into mine even as she tried to fight it. Whispering to her but not caring who might overhear I said, "I love you. I'm sorry I left."

"What did I tell you after Budapest?" she asked me.

I groaned, but responded to the question with resignation. "That I'd used up a lifetime of fuckups doing what I did, but because I lived you'd give me one more. If I'd died, you would have killed me."

"And now you've used it only four years later. Guess you're going to have to be very careful for the rest of your life."

"Yes, ma'am," I replied, sighing in relief when I saw the twitch of a smile at that response. "I wouldn't dream of fucking up again."

"Of course not," Natasha said. "If you dreamed of it, you'd figure out ways to avoid it. But we both know that anything that might turn out to be forethought is not happening. It's a good thing you're pretty."

"I thought that was my line," I teased dropping back into the familiar banter when I could feel her pain starting to ease through our bond. As she turned, I grabbed onto her hand and spun her back around to deliver a deep kiss. When I pulled back, I whispered, "I owe you a favor."

"Ten favors," Natasha countered.

"Your favors are never easy!" I whined.

"Well you should have thought of that before you did something so stupid," she told me.

"Fine," I grumbled. As we approached our room, I asked, "what's the status here?"

Natasha didn't reply right away, waiting instead until she had our door shut behind us. When I moved in to try to kiss her, and possibly talk her into doing more to refresh our bond, she pulled back after just a few moments. "Hold that thought, I need to call in the first favor now. It's past due, really, but I think you're the only one who can accomplish it."

Biting back a sound of disappointment, I nodded and slipped into work mode. "What is it?"

"It's Thor," she informed me.

"He's back on planet?" I asked.

After a brief nod, Natasha began explaining the situation to me.

It seemed that Thor had come back still deeply disturbed by what he'd seen not only when Wanda messed with his head, but when he'd gone to the Water of Sights for what sounded like a vision quest of some sort. He'd left immediately after Ultron to go back to Asgard then other realms and try to determine where all of the Infinity Stones were, how to destroy them, and who was trying to collect them all.

Unfortunately he hadn't been able to gather that much intelligence on the matter and was left with nothing more to do than wait, ever watching for a sign of the stones that had yet to be recovered, or those that he knew the location of being used improperly. Although he wouldn't say which he knew of other than the stone Vision used, and where they were, he claimed that Midgard was the most vulnerable realm to attack and had vowed to protect it.

Upon his return, he had discovered that his girlfriend, Jane, was no longer his girlfriend. Jane, it seemed, had been spontaneously given a soulmark after a lifetime without one and immediately met the man. Natasha had thoroughly vetted the scientist, and it seemed that nothing malicious was in play. I knew of only a handful of people this had happened to. As Jane had almost immediately met the man at a conference after receiving the mark, Thor hadn't stood a chance.

In truth, Jane had handled the situation better than anyone else I'd ever heard of in that situation. Thor had been gone for four more months after Jane had found her soulmate, and during that time she'd quietly seen the man and begun their relationship, but she hadn't completed the bond until after Thor had returned and she had been able to speak to him. All in all, she was a classy lady, and there were no bad feelings. But Thor was still sad, as he was lonely and still hadn't met his own soulmate after more than a thousand years.

As Thor often reminded me of a golden retriever puppy, a sad Thor just made everyone else depressed too, much like a sad puppy would. Not to mention that he was prone to standing on the roof and sulking. And when Thor sulked regularly, Upstate New York experienced unusually heavy amounts of precipitation and lightning.

After a brainstorming session with Natasha on how to handle the situation, a call to a buddy of mine who owed me a favor, and a check-in with Steve to make sure there were no missions on the horizon we couldn't complete without Thor, I'd gone up to the roof of the facility to find the demigod. I approached slowly and quietly, but was unsurprised when the Asgardian began speaking when I was still several yards away.

"Barton," he said, turning to offer me a smile and a firm, forearm grasp hand-shake. We'd yet to break him of that habit in favor of a regular handshake, but at least he'd stopped referring to everyone as "Lord" or "Lady."

"Thor," I responded. "It's good to see you again; I'm sorry it has been so long."

"You had much to handle after our battles, and I trust you will not treat Natasha so again."

I smiled a little imagining Natasha's reaction if she heard that someone was trying to protect her in such a brotherly manner, and just nodded my head. "She told me about the stones."

Thor went through a long explanation of the situation that boiled down to exactly what Natasha had told me, but I let him wind back down before I spoke again. "So there's nothing you can do until something happens. Which could be tomorrow or it could be years down the road, correct?"

"You speak wisely," Thor answered. "I find the waiting to be difficult. I am a warrior, and patience has never been my strong suit."

"I hear you, Buddy," I said. "Sounds like you're getting a little bit better at speaking like a genuine Midgardian. Been studying that to pass the time?"

Thor cracked a real smile and said with a joking air of haughtiness, "of course not, you Midgardians are simple. It is easy to pass as one of your kind if I so choose."

Perfect. That was exactly the opening I had been hoping for, so I laughed and raised an eyebrow as I asked. "Wanna bet?"

"A wager?" Thor asked, eyes lighting up and hands rubbing together in anticipation. "Tell me what you challenge you would bring upon the Son of Odin!"

"If you win, I will give you a full year's supply of as many Pop-Tarts in as many flavors as you want. Natasha will even help me bring back one discontinued flavor that you miss, if you so choose." Grinning at him, I added, "And if I win, I want a barrel of your thousand year old alcohol."

"That should not be drunk by mere mortals," Thor cautioned. I kept my face blank until Thor nodded his head in agreement. "And the stakes?"

"I think you need to get away from here for a little while, try to have some fun. And I think you need to work on your undercover work after what Dr. Selvig told me about you trying to go unnoticed at his university. You look young. It shouldn't have been difficult."

"Maybe not, but I had other matters on my mind," Thor protested.

"I bet you can't go a month living among Midgardians without blowing your cover," I threw down the gauntlet and watched as amusement reached Thor's eyes.

"And where and how do you suggest I do that?"

"Today is Halloween, October 31st. Tomorrow is November 1st. Natasha and I have created a cover identity for you- one I think you'll recognize- and I have spoken to a friend who owns a security firm. He knows your real identity, and by backing up your cover story, he will effectively keep the others from questioning you too much. I'm making it easy for you."

"The others?" he asked warily.

"Yes, you will be given a modest apartment in his building, and you will work as one of his employees providing private security. You'll blend right in with all the muscles and your ability to fight, but you should be careful not to show your strength as that'll be a dead giveaway. Natasha also recommends you cut your hair," I snorted out a laugh when Thor looked startled and ran his hands through his long locks momentarily before nodding his head decisively.

"That is hardly the most difficult disguise I've ever used," he said. "At least I am not meant to pass as a maiden."

"Come again?" I asked temporarily distracted by how anyone could ever mistake Thor for a woman.

He just waved a big hand and said, "it feels as though it was a lifetime ago, and at the very least is a story for another time."

I made a mental note to ask about it later and said, "Natasha moved some of your money over to a bank account for your new identity, and Ranger, that's my buddy, pays well. Though Natasha tells me you hardly need it. You shouldn't have any difficulty on that front. So you have a place to live, a job, and an ally. Think you can keep your identity a secret until December 1st?"

"But of course," Thor hastily replied. "However, if we are called into battle or I am needed on Asgard or because of one of the Stones-"

I cut him off to provide what I thought the fair compromise was, "if you just need to check in or provide a brief counsel, you keep your cover. If there needs to be a battle, or the universe is ending, the bet is null."

Thor seemed to think on it for a moment before offering me a hand, "I shall take that wager, my friend. Now, let me speak to Natasha about my hair."

"Oh, and Thor," I said as he started to walk away. "When you meet the one they call 'Bomber,' be very, very careful."

A/N: Sorry to all you long-hair fans, but I'm not *really* one, so for the time being, Thor has super sexy Chris Hemsworth short hair. #sorrynotsorry In other news, for the time being, I'm just going to update this story once a week. I've been trying to get the entire thing written before I started posting, but I've hit a brick wall. I've always been very motivated by reviews/comments, and I've got enough ready to last more than a couple months at once a week posting. So that's where we'll start, and when I finish it, I'll increase the posting frequency for you all. Last, I have to give a shoutout to LadyWinterlight, she had a wonderful idea in one of her soulmate fics that as soon as I read, I had to use in a Steph/Thor fic. More on that starting in Chapter 4.