Night Job

Two weeks later

"Come on…you have got to get over this shyness, Steve," Tony practically whined at him as their small party entered the crowded, loud strip club. Without checking to see that everyone was actually following him, and just assuming that they were, Tony proceeded across the room to a large free table a bit back from the stage, which was probably why it was empty. "If it makes you feel better…consider it a burlesque club," he said with a sweeping arm gesture and a large tacky grin that was pure Tony.

"That does not help, Tony," Steve said following the leader of tonight's events but keeping his eyes aimed more at the floor than anywhere else. Bucky slapped Steve on the shoulder as he headed away from the group to do a quick security sweep of the room, a habit he could not break him of. There was no way any HYDRA agents were laying-in-wait for them to randomly enter here. But if Steve thought that it would make Bucky comfortable, he would let him run laps in here.

Both Sam and Bruce followed him and Tony to the table, with Sam pausing to spit out some cheesy pickup line to a waitress with short pink hair in a skimpy outfit that fit her body very nicely, he noticed as he went by. At least Sam had good taste, Steve thought as he watched her just shake her head at the comment and walk away without a word. He figured all of the waitresses were used to such things happening.

"How are you and your sidekick ever going to find someone if you hole yourself up in your place every night?" Tony asked raising his arm trying to get the attention of any waitress.

"Tony, we've been over this. The chance of finding any female for us, much less our soulmate, especially in a place like this, is astronomical," Steve said as he took a seat, leaving the chair on his left open, looking back at Bucky now grinning at the female bartender. Of course he would be smiling in here…

Bucky had adjusted to this modern time a bit quicker, unfortunately due to his HYDRA training, and when it came to their soulmate, they were both in agreement. The person was most likely long dead, having lived early in the last century when the two of them had been born. It was the most logical assumption.

They had known since growing up in Brooklyn that their soulmarks were a match, but not a complete match. There was a piece missing. The soulmarks upon their chest, at the top of the sternum, consisted of a section of a star surrounded by a black circle. Whereas Bucky's lower left-side section of star was red, Steve's right-side lower section was blue. The unique flowing dividing line showed the missing top piece was colored white with a bit of each of their colors on the bottom side of the missing piece. This would have been a definite indication so that the third person would have known that they were missing two sections, not just one. It was fate that ended up with both of them having the same symbol, similar yet different, to represent them…Bucky's arm's star and Steve's shield.

"Steve, I'm not here looking for your soulmate. I'm just trying to get you…" Tony began to say before being interrupted by Steve loudly stating, "Language, Tony," which elicited a round of laughter from the entire table, but barely a slight chuckle from Bucky who had been walking over to them and had been close enough to hear the last part of that conversation. Would he ever fully return to the carefree way he had been?

"I got the waitress on the way over now," Bucky said pointing at the beauty walking towards them as he sat down.

"Fine, Barnes," Tony said in his most bland voice towards him this evening as the waitress appeared. But at least Tony had acknowledged him. After the waitress had introduced herself, Tony exclaimed, "Let's start with a round of tequila shot for everybody."

The waitress headed off to the bar to get the drinks started as a dancer came out on stage, causing a roar of cheers to come from the other guys in the place. With her arrival the music became louder, the crowd a bit more carefree. The group began to watch as she crossed the stage, except for Steve who politely averted his eyes, scanning the rest of the place…the strip club…the burlesque club…so that he had something else to concentrate on. Bucky caught his eyes, seeing that he was not watching and giving him a shake of his head in disbelief.

He thought back to how they had met all those decades ago as Bucky happened to be nearby as some bullies were trying to take his lunch money from him as he headed to primary school. He had tried to fight back but back then he had always been too weak.

Luckily, Bucky had come up behind them, turning the tables as the bullies were not prepared for someone who knew what they were doing. A couple of swift punches had stopped them, making them run away, before he began helping Steve up off of the ground where he had been knocked down.

As Bucky helped him collect his books, he noticed that on the cover of his notebook, Steve had drawn a full version of the soulmark. Being too young to understand the implications of having multiple soulmates, he had quickly shown Steve the section of the soulmark that resided on his chest, asking where he had seen it. With that, Steve had then unbuttoned his own shirt, revealing the almost complete match.

That day, after telling their parents what they had discovered, the two of them had been sat down for a long, long discussion about keeping a secret. There was a stigma about having a soulmark that indicated having more than one partner. This type of soulmark had been frowned upon for centuries, even to the point of death back during the dark ages. Then there was the fact that two same-sex partners with matching soulmarks were sometimes killed, even as little as the beginning of the last century when they had been born, which made some hide their partnerships for years.

He and Bucky may have been best friends, but even with their soulmarks telling them that they were destined to be together, they had never felt drawn sexually towards each other. They knew early on in their platonic friendship that it was the missing piece of the soulmark, the female that would complete them, that was required to satisfy that need. But they had been inseparable from the day they met forward, until the war.

With Steve becoming a war hero, the government had forbidden his soulmark from becoming common knowledge for fear of it being used against Captain America. With Bucky being a partial match, it had automatically included him in the secret with only a select few officials knowing the truth. When they both had been listed as either missing or killed in action, the government held onto the secret, never revealing the shameful truth about the two men missing a third soulmate.

There had been numerous cases over the years of people trying to alter their own at the chance of becoming famous and rich. Even now, famous or wealthy families would not allow soulmark designs to be displayed in public. Tony was one such person. It was not until well after he had met Pepper that they had discovered their match.

They had tried using modern technology to search for a match but none could be found. There were numerous websites that helped to match soulmarks without having to wait for that random encounter that took place more often than not. There were also clothing lines that made custom garments that exposed a soulmark for all to see in hopes of finding a connection. Both Tony and Natasha had tried using their skills to search on the internet but still nothing had shown up. They had tried to console the pair by telling them that maybe their other just had not signed up, but they had another idea as to why she was not found. And with how their lives had been 'delayed' by close to a century, they both held out little to no hope of finding her.

As the night began to carry on, the group continued to drink, some more slowly than others. Bruce held back heavily, always afraid of losing control, with Sam being a close second. Between Steve and Bucky, there was no chance at getting drunk on anything available to them, so they both participated in the revelry that was Tony Stark on a night out in the town, who seemed to be trying to single-handedly pay for every dancer's college tuition.

"Sweetness, let's go for a round of Jager-Bombs this time," Tony said pounding his open hand on the table, giving the waitress a start as the sound, but making it clear that this was a demand, not a request, of any of the guys sitting with him.

"Tony, it's starting to get late," Steve said glancing around the room trying to find a clock but realizing that there was not one. No windows to the outside, no clocks. That was one way to keep a captive audience. He was not even sure how long they had been inside of here.

"Come on, Captain Tightpants. Loosen up a bit. Hell, Barnes is being a more enjoyable guest, and that's saying something coming from me," Tony said saluting Bucky with his empty bourbon glass. The waitress showed up quickly with the requested drinks, passing them out around the table.

As the other guys were downing the shots, Steve held it in his hand, took a cleansing breath and then downed his own drink, wishing for this night to end so he could go home and sleep. As his head came back down into a forward position, he was looking across their table to the one next to them where a different waitress was reaching to clear away dirty glasses and bottles.

That was when Steve suddenly gasped and began to choke on the liquid that was trying to finish going down his throat. He began to cough as he stared ahead, not truly trusting what he was seeing in the dim light. Everyone at the table began to laugh, catching the attention of the waitress, who was now looking right at him.

"That's a dollar that you owe me, Sam. I told you that Cap wouldn't be able to hold his drink," Tony said raising his hands triumphantly over his head as the others laughed at the event.

Once he was finished coughing on the burning liquid, Steve made eye contact with Bucky.

"I need to speak with you…now!" Steve said, leaning towards him and talking in a firm low tone that the others at the table would not be able to hear, before standing up and walking away. Bucky left his own empty glass on the table before following him to the dark corner where he had ended up.

"What's wrong? I've seen you drink so I know that you can hold your liquor," Bucky said moving strategically so that his back was up against the wall, giving him a view of the room and so that nobody could come up from behind him.

"Do you see the waitress with the bright pink hair?" Steve asked turning his head in the direction of the indicated woman.

He realized it was the same waitress that Sam had tried to hit on when they walked in. Bucky barely had to look to find her, her short bobbed hair was practically glowing under the black-lights from the stage. Around her eyes, makeup was brightly splashed with pink glitter and black sweeping lashes that had to be fake. Her lips were a perfect matching pink to her wig and eyes. She wore some kind of iridescent powder with sparkles over the rest of her face, giving an ethereal appearance.

"What about her? HYDRA?" Bucky asked, his mind automatically going on the defensive and thinking the worst, Steve recognized.

"No, Buck. She has the soulmark!" Steve calmly stated in his firmest voice.

After a few seconds, Bucky actually began laughing out loud. It was a sound he had not heard in a long time.

"Buck, I'm serious!"

With that statement, and seeing the sincerity on Steve's face, he finally calmed down and they both began to focus on the woman. She was wearing the same skimpy outfit that all the waitresses were, short black pants and a black tank top with the place's logo on it, but she stood out for two reasons. Whereas the other females wore high heels, she was wearing black leather riding boots. Also, now that they were looking closer, they could tell that the pink hair was definitely a wig whereas none of the other waitresses' hair were fake. Why was she the only one wearing a wig?

"Steve, are you sure?" Bucky asked, now not taking his eyes off of her. "What did you see?"

"She was cleaning the table next to us as we did the shots. When I looked back down, she was leaning over to get a glass on the far side of the table, which made her shirt drop low enough for the soulmark to show," Steve explained, beginning to pace back and forth on a three foot line in front of Bucky.

"Are you really sure? We've talked about this."

Steve could only look at the woman moving around the room, taking drink orders, walking to the bar, cleaning tables. He knew without a doubt that what he had seen was the missing piece. He had drawn it so many times over the years, that there was no denying it.

"Yes, it's her! She's our soulmate!"

Bucky seemed to consider this possibility while never letting his eyes leave the woman. The guys at the table started calling over to them so they headed back to their seats. When their own waitress came over once again, Bucky motioned for her to come around so that he could talk to her. Luckily, she stood between him and Steve.

"What time do you close?" he asked, starting with an easy question she had probably heard many times before.

"We're open till four a.m.," she answered with a smile he though was a bit too easy, probably just hoping for a better tip.

"Are the waitresses also dancers?" he asked the one question he knew was probably also on Steve's mind. Tony may think of Steve as shy, but he knew better. They had grown up being just a bit more respectful of women in general than modern men were used to doing. But if their soulmate was a dancer also, he knew they would not be able to get around the idea at other men having seen her naked.

"Not really. There are occasionally some that do, you know, better tips. But usually not," she said casually before addressing the entire table. "Do you need another round?"

"No thank you, ma'am," Steve said firmly, letting Tony know that the evening was now over, who threw his hands up in defeat as the waitress walked away. They had gone out tonight since it was about a week after their raid on a HYDRA base and everyone was now over their minor injuries. They had invited Natasha to tag along but she had turned them down saying it was not her turn to babysit Tony. But it looked like he and Steve just got another mission.

"Party pooper," Tony said pulling out his wallet to follow their waitress who was headed over to the bar to get a total for him. Tony mumbled as he walked away, "One coughing fit and everyone has to go home."

"That's not it, Tony," Steve partially yelled over the loud music but it only got him a wave of dismissal from Tony as he walked away from the group .

"Everything all right, Cap?" Sam asked trying to stand without using the table or chair for support.

"Yes. Bucky and I will be back at the Tower later. Think you and Bruce can get Tony home safe?" Steve asked as he scanned the room again, probably looking for the pink hair. Steve may have lost her while talking to Tony, but he knew exactly where she was, taking the order of a table on the far side of the stage.

"No problem, Steve," Bruce replied pushing his chair under the table. He had barely joined in the shots, with Tony drinking any that he refused to. They all understood why he didn't and none of them were stupid enough to push him into doing something reckless.

As the rest of the group left the club, with their waitress giving a squeal before hugging Tony, most likely for giving a generous tip, he and Steve made their way back over toward the corner, taking a small empty booth so they could work out a plan.

"So…first we need to verify what you saw. It's not that I don't believe you, Punk, but I have to see it for myself," Bucky started the conversation with the obvious.

"It would seem creepy to just ask to see it," Steve said thoughtfully. "We need to find out her name, who she is, where she lives, that kind of information."

"People who work in places like this don't give out private information like that, Steve," Bucky said watching her take another round to a table. This was when he noticed that she pulled something out of her pocket to look at. "Do you see that?"

Steve turned his head enough so that he was able to see what had caught Bucky's attention. The girl had pulled a pocket watch on a chain out of the front pocket of the small shorts she was wearing. Turning to face each other, they could both see the stunned expression on each other's face.

"What are the chances of a girl in this era using a pocket watch?" Steve asked.

"I'm going to guess that she's the only one," Bucky responded looking back at where she had been, but finding her gone. Looking around the bar, he finally saw her heading toward a door leading to the back of the place, where the dancers had changing rooms. Pulling an item from his pocket, Bucky handed Steve one of the team's earcoms. "Here, take this. I'm going to head out and watch the back door. You stay here to see if she leaves by the front."

"You just happen to have these with you?" Steve asked putting the device into his ear.

"Always," Bucky replied as he stood up and headed for the front door.

The club was situated on a corner so it did not take him long to find the side door of an alleyway that the club used as a rear entrance. Using his training, he silently made his way up a loading dock's stairs that was close to the exit. From there, he was able to have a good view but be hidden in the shadows.

"See anything Steve?" he asked softly, hoping that the loud music didn't interfere with them being able to hear each other.

"Yes, she came back out right after you left, did something at the bar with the bartender then disappeared into the back again. I haven't seen her since," Steve told him.

Bucky kept watch on the door, wondering if it would open soon. He didn't know why he was so hopeful. They had agreed numerous times that searching any more was pointless and just going to depress them. But, he now found, there was still a sliver of hope inside of him.

"You do realize that this could be considered stalking," Steve said into the earbud.

"It's not stalking…it's surveillance," Bucky stated firmly, "We need information so that we can then formulate a plan…a mission."

"Please don't use that word, Jerk. Not for this," Steve groaned into his ear. That was when the back door of the club opened to reveal one of the large bouncers. He looked around the alleyway before stepping outside and allowing a form to emerge from the door.

Taking in the small form that was now pushing a bicycle through the door, Bucky quietly said, "We have movement back here."

"On my way," Steve responded while sounding like he was trying to run inside of the place.

The two figures seemed to be talking as the female dealt with something being pulled from a backpack she had hanging on the handlebars. She had changed from shorts to what seemed to be sweatpants and was putting on a hoodie, items he thought much too light for the growing cold weather. From the light by the back door, he could see that her hair was still pink in color, but he wondered why she had not removed the wig yet. As she gave the bouncer a fist bump as a goodbye gesture, he went back inside while she began to mount the bike. Once the door was shut, she walked the bike a few feet towards the end of the alleyway, which he knew Steve was close to.

"I see her. I'm across the street and have a good view," Steve's voice whispered in his ear.

Instead of leaving the alley, she glanced around as if making sure she was alone. Satisfied that she was, the target…no, possible soulmate…then pulled the pink wig off of her head allowing her natural hair to fall free, depositing the wig into the backpack before pulling out a ball cap from it. They both could see the very light colored long hair that had been hidden under the crazy colored wig.

"Wow…look at that hair," Bucky heard Steve say at the sight. But for him, the scene was a bit of déjà vu...even to him. There was something way too familiar about this. But when she began to gather the hair in her hands and uniquely twist it around before pulling it up and hiding it under the cap, Bucky's jaw dropped.

"Damn it! There's no way…" Bucky said more to himself than to Steve.

"What is it?" Steve asked concerned.

Without answering a reply, he watched as she finished her task, pulled to the end of the alley and began to head down the dark street without even realizing she was being watched. "Buck, answer me!"

"Steve, I know who that is! And technically…so do you. Follow her, Punk!"

Author's Note: I tried to use background history either from the MCU or the comics, depending on which worked better for my story.

I wrote this as a "what would I want to read" story. So I'm glad that others out there are enjoying reading it (and continue to do so) because I had a lot of fun writing it.