A/N: Chapter 10. Plot! Beginning of intro to Age of Ultron ish. Lots of angst in this chapter.

A/N: Updated the end of this chapter.

With the Avengers busy fighting HYDRA, it was Diana and Bucky puttering around the Tower. Sometimes Bruce stayed behind, or Thor, when there was no need for high powered muscle. Between missions, Natasha and Clint taught Diana the basics of self-defense, and when they left, she and Bucky would do some light sparring. She became his tour guide around the city of New York, helping him familiarize himself with the city, and when he was tortured by nightmares, she would stay up with him and watch old movies.

"I need to get a job," she sighed, after the third week of lazing around. "I feel like a sponge."

Bucky laughed and kissed her on the head. "Diana, we're all sponges off Tony Stark."

"Yes but at least you've got an excuse. You're going to become an Avenger one of these days."

He laughed. "Maybe. Anyways, that's not the point. The point is, you're the most important person in this Tower. You're the glue, literally. You keep people sane, and keep everybody from killing each other. And more importantly, you're their reason to come home safe."

"Yeah, but in between being glue, I'm still lazing my life away. I haven't gotten out of pajamas in three days." She sighed. "I need a job."

Bucky just laughed. "All right then, you can look for a job online. I'm going to go for a run."

"Run, Forrest, run," she said mockingly. "While you're at it, run to the grocery store and bring back some more cheese will you? Thor had grilled cheese sandwiches last night and finished off the entire freaking block."

"So that's why it smelled like smoke," he said, nodding. "A little bit of lightning, and Ka-Bam!"

"It's actually really cool how he does that," Diana said. "He makes the best grilled chicken ever."

He finally left for his run, and Diana took her coffee to the living room. "JARVIS, pull up some job listings, will you?"

"For what position?"

"Surprise me," she said cheekily.

"How about a position with the Avengers?" a new voice asked.

She whirled to face the intruder. There were two of them, two men, whose bearings screamed 'government agent.' "JARVIS," she said cautiously, wondering why he hadn't issued an alert.

"My apologies Miss Lawrence, my protocols were overriden. Welcome back to the land of hte living, Agent Coulson."

"It's Director now, actually, but thank you JARVIS."

Diana stared at the man who'd spoken. "Agent Coulson?" she asked. "Agent Phil Coulson? I thought you were dead. In fact, I'm pretty sure you were dead, because I distinctly remember talking Clint out of a drunken stupor of grief on the anniversary of your death."

The man had the grace to look ashamed. "It was a complicated time," he said.

"It's been three years," she retorted. "You still haven't told them?"

"Not yet."

"Then what do you want with me?" she asked, still hostile.

The other man, the one wearing the dark sunglasses, spoke up. "You're their strongest ally aren't you? Their soulmate, Cap's girlfriend. You've even tamed the Winter Soldier, brought him over to the good side."

"Who are you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nick Fury. You may have heard of me."

"Your secrets have secrets," she said, nodding. "Aren't you supposed to be dead too?"

"There's been some debate on that issue."

She was not impressed. "What do you want with me? Or did you just come early to talk to the Avengers? Tea, anyone?"

"Ms Lawrence," Coulson said, trying to withhold a sigh.

"Sorry," she said. "I hang out with the sarcastic ones too much."

"They're all sarcastic."

"See what I mean?"

"We want you to write pro-superhero articles and press releases for the Avengers," Coulson said bluntly. "The world needs to recognize that having a team of superheroes is a good thing."

She stared at him. "Well why didn't you say that in the first place? I accept."

They both blinked at her. "I wasn't actually expecting you to say yes so quickly," Coulson said, after a second. "I made this whole speech and everything."

"You can still give it if you want," Diana offered. "I'm not doing anything today. I'll time you."

"Well, I'm leaving," Fury said, heading out. "Give my regards to the team."

"Yep."

Coulson and Diana were left looking at each other awkwardly. "So," Diana said, offering him a seat on the couch. "What's it like, being a ghost?"

"Not bad," he said, shrugging.

She frowned at him. "Are you staying till they get back? You'd better be."

"You think they'll want to see me?"

"Absolutely. What if you need their help later, or vice versa? Also, it would make Clint and Natasha really, really happy."

"Hsas he told you about his family?" Coulson asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah." She smiled fondly. "I spent a week with them a while ago."

"Laura's a sweetheart, isn't she?"

"Yeah." She shook her head. "Don't change the subject. Are you going to stay?"

He sighed heavily. "Yes. Fine."

"Good." She eyed him carefully. He looked tired. "Would you like some lunch?" she offered.

"Sure."

They had a lunch of sandwiches, chips and dip, and watched an episode of Supernanny while she told him the story of how they'd all met.

"Mr. Barnes is on his way up," JARVIS announced, ten minutes after her story had ended.

The elevator opened and Bucky walked in, carrying about ten grocery bags in his metal hand. He tensed at seeing the stranger in the living room. "Diana, who's this?"

She gestured. "Bucky, this is Phil Coulson. Phil, James Barnes."

Bucky's eyes narrowed. "The fanboy?" he asked pointedly.

"That's the one," Diana said, smirking.

Coulson tugged at his collar, trying not to turn red. "Nice to meet you."

"You too." Bucky raised an eyebrow at Diana. "When are the others coming back?"

"They ought to be back soon," Diana said.

The elevator dinged and Tony stepped out. "Ooh, good timing, doll," Bucky said appreciatively. "Spot on."

"The others are coming in a second. I really hope there's food," Tony said, dropping his Iron Man suitcase with a clang and coming over to kiss Diana on the head. "We're starved. There's-" He stopped and stared at Coulson. His grip around Diana's waist tightened. "Who are you?" he demanded coldly.

"Hello, Mr. Stark."

Tony's eyes narrowed. "No, no, I asked who you are. You're supposed to say your name."

"I thought I'd made more of an impression than that," Coulson said. "Director Phil Coulson."

"His first name was Agent," Tony said, angrily. "Who are you really?"

"Tony, it's really him," Diana said, touching his arm lightly. "JARVIS recognized him and everything."

"No. He's dead."

The elevator dinged for a second time and the rest of the Avengers stepped out. "Well that was a bust," Clint said, getting out first.

"I need a drink," Natasha agreed, as they all piled out.

They caught sight of Coulson all at the same time, and froze where they were. Thor was the first to react. "What trickery is this?" he asked, bringing up Mjolnir to point at Coulson threateningly.

"Hi?" Coulson said, giving them a half wave.

"No," Clint said flatly, and walked out.

Natasha didn't even say anything. She just turned on her heel and walked in the direction Clint was going.

"I thought you were dead," Bruce said, after a second, being the least emotionally charged.

"I was," Coulson said, nodding. "For eight whole minutes. SHIELD brought me back. I'm the Director of New SHIELD, now."

"And you're just now telling us?" Tony asked, still hostile. "It's been three years, Agent."

"I've been busy. So have you all."

That was when Thor left, swinging Mjolnir angrily.

"Why are you here?" Tony asked after a moment. "Let me guess. You need something from us."

Coulson handed him a flash drive. "I was going to leave this with Hill, but I decided to come and see your soulmate. She's perfect for you guys, by the way."

Tony bristled at being handed things by dead people, and tightened his grip on Diana. "What is it?" he asked, taking the conversation off her.

"The location of the sceptre."

"Where is it?" Bruce asked.

"Sokovia."

"You knew, and you've been letting us blunder off after it?" Steve finally spoke up.

"Well so far you've destroyed seven HYDRA bases and two anti-American terrorists, so, yeah."

"And now you want us to do your dirty work for you," Tony said. He frowned. "If you hadn't decided to come see our soulmate, would you have ever told us you were alive?"

Coulson simply looked at him.

"And of course our personal cuckoo in the nest would never have said a word," Tony continued coldly. "Has Hill been working for you this whole time, or for me?"

"For you, obviously," Coulson said. "She gets better dental working for SI."

Tony glared at him. "I'll let Pepper know you're not really dead. She cried for you, you know." He let go of Diana and walked out, making a beeline for the bar in the penthouse.

Bruce followed him. "I'll get right on that info." And keep an eye on Tony, went unspoken.

Diana glanced from Steve to Coulson. Steve's eyes were locked on Coulson. Then slowly, he reached into his uniform jacket and pulled something out from the inside pocket. "I signed them." He handed Coulson a small stack of blood-stained trading cards, and walked out.

Diana wanted to go after him, but the look on Coulson's face made her waver. "Don't go anywhere," she ordered, pointing at him. She looked at Bucky. "Sit on him, will you?" And she headed after her soulmates.

She went to Steve first. "Hey," she said.

He gave her a tight look but didn't say anything.

She helped him take off the uniform jacket and kissed him. "You going to be okay?" she asked quietly.

He tipped his head forward to rest on hers. "I don't know," he admitted, closing his eyes. "I'm glad he's not dead. But I'm still angry."

She kissed his nose. "Okay."

He sighed. "I'm going to go shower." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and went into the locker room.

She found Thor on the roof, staring into the distance, Mjolnir hanging limply from his hand. "Thor?"

He turned to look at her, and gave her a wry smile. "Diana." He placed the hammer on the ground and reached out to give her a hug. "Are you well?"

"I should be asking you that question," she replied, her voice muffled.

He let her go slightly and ran a hand through his messy blond hair. "I am glad to see the Son of Coul alive. He was, is, a good man. But the last time someone came back from the dead..." he trailed off. "Loki was the one that killed him, you know."

It was her turn to hug him. "I know."

"But that is beside the point. He lives." He gave her another brief smile. "If I were not angry about his silence, I would insist on celebrating."

"Maybe you could talk to him?" Diana suggested. "He looked pretty devastated when everyone walked out on him."

Thor winced. "I will go down in a moment," he promised, returning his gaze to the skyline.

She nodded. "All right. I'm going to check on the others." She patted his arm lightly and tripped over Mjolnir. It tipped over slightly, shifting to move with her foot. She didn't even notice as she got in the elevator.

She went down one floor to the penthouse. She found Bruce studying the information on the sceptre with one eye and watching Tony knock back slugs of whiskey with the other eye. "You okay?" she asked, giving him a hug.

He shrugged. "I'm tired."

"Did the Other Guy come out to help?" she asked, rubbing his shoulders lightly, trying to relieve the tension she felt there.

"Yeah."

"Did that lullaby thing work?"

"More or less. At least I didn't crush Natasha in the process."

She nodded. "That's always good. And what about the other guy downstairs?"

Bruce shrugged. "I don't know. Only met him for ten minutes. But I feel bad for the others. Tony's on his sixth shot of whiskey."

She winced. "Oooookay. Better go over there." She ruffled his curly hair. "Get some rest before you go all science-y on the data, okay?"

"Yeah." He squeezed her hand. "I'm going to go take a nap."

She gave him a brief smile and approached the bar, where Tony was pouring his seventh shot. "I think I'm gonna stop you there," she said, taking the bottle away.

He grabbed another bottle. "Have a drink with me, doll. To dead people coming back from the dead. Long may they reign." He slammed back another shot.

She took away the other bottle and the shot glass and put them out of reach. "Tony, stop it."

"Nuh-uh. I'm not passed out yet."

"I'll call Pepper," she threatened.

He glared at her. "That's a low blow, doll face."

She held up a hand. "JARVIS?"

"Dialing Ms Potts."

"Override!" Tony said, and slumped down to sit on the barstool, scrubbing at his face. "He should've stayed dead. I was over it already," he mumbled, draining the last drops from the first bottle. "Stupid Agent. He should've waited in the first place."

She sat beside him and wrapped her arm around his waist, moving the other bottle out of reach and taking one of his hands. "Aren't you glad he's alive?"

He examined her fingers, finding it easier to look down than look at her. "Of course I am," he muttered reluctantly. "But he lied to us. He let us think he was dead." He muttered a few imprecations under his breath.

Diana leaned her head on his shoulder. "Will you forgive him?"

"Ask me tomorrow." He sighed and stood up, gently detaching himself from her hug. "I'm going to call Pepper." He kissed her on the forehead. "Go talk to the super spies. They need you more than I do."

"All right." She let him leave, and surreptiously took a sip from the other whiskey. Ugh. That was strong. It burned a trail right down to her stomach. "Yuck. It's a miracle he's not dead yet. JARVIS, keep an eye on him, okay?"

"Of course."

"Cool. Where's Clint and Tasha?"

"Ms Romanoff is in her apartment."

"Thank you." She went down a few levels, and stopped outside Natasha's door. There were no sounds issuing from inside, but she could feel the tension, anger, and grief radiating from her soulmate. The emotions made her chest hurt. She knocked lightly. "Tasha?"

There was no answer. She opened the door cautiously, hoping she wouldn't get a knife in the eye for her troubles, but there were no flying projectiles, and she stepped into the room. Seeing Natasha curled up in the corner of her bed, unmoving, made her heart break. "Natasha?" she asked softly.

"Diana," she replied, her voice broken.

Diana went immediately to her side and wrapped her in a hug.

Natasha clung to her tightly, and buried her head in Diana's shoulder. "I hate him," she choked out. "I hate him. He made me care, Diana. Besides Clint, he was the only person I ever trusted. And then he d-" She choked on the word. "He made me care, and then he was gone, and he didn't tell us. That-" She broke off into a string of Russian curses that Diana was very glad she didn't understand.

"Shh," Diana said, rubbing her back lightly. "It'll be okay."

"I hate him," Natasha repeated.

"I know," her soulmate replied, knowing full well that it was the opposite. "I know you don't actually hate him."

"Yes I do."

"You can't lie to me," Diana reminded her gently. "You don't hate him."

"I wish I could. It'd be easier."

Diana laughed slightly. "Much easier," she agreed. "That way you wouldn't have to talk to him." She smoothed Tasha's hair lightly. It was still tangled from the mission earlier today. "Come on sestra. Sister. I know it's hard to care. You're not used to it. But you care about me, about Clint, about the other Avengers. And you care about Phil."

"I'm still angry," Natasha said warningly.

"Yeah, but you don't hate him."

A sigh. "No, I don't."

Diana kissed her on the cheek. "Go talk to him."

"What about Clint?" Natasha asked reluctantly.

"I'll take care of him." She shooed her off towards the door. "Go on. Go yell at him. Bucky's going to be there to make sure you don't break him." She smiled briefly. "And after we're done with Coulson, we're going to have a teeny chat about you and Bucky. Don't think I haven't noticed."

Natasha flinched, froze, and glanced back at Diana, who was smiling. She retraced her steps and hugged Diana tightly. "Thank you, sestrenka," she murmured.

"Anything for my sister," Diana promised.

Natasha left, and Diana looked up at the ceiling. "JARVIS, where's Clint?"

"In the vents," JARVIS said tiredly. "I can't track him, although I know he's somewhere on this floor."

Diana sighed. "All right. Cool. Don't ever say I don't love my soulmates." She climbed up on Natasha's desk and hopped into the air vent. "If I was Clint, where would I be?" she asked herself. "Besides the farm," she added. She focused on the bonds with her soulmates. Everyone's strong emotions were starting to ease up, except- she started forward. It was like someone had painted neon signs leading towards Clint.

She crawled until she was over one of the living rooms, and turned the corner. She found a junction, and in that junction, Clint. He was sitting, knees drawn up, his face buried in his hands, his shoulders stiff. She slid out of the vent and landed on her knees next to him. "Do you always hide in the vents?" she asked, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you always talk to yourself?" he retorted, not moving. "I could hear you six turns away."

She smiled briefly. "I thought we talked about turning up the gain on your hearing aids."

He choked out a laugh. "Don't need to. You're no stealth ops."

She punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Did you get hurt on the mission?" she asked, triyng to figure out how to broach the subject.

"I'm fine. Just sore."

She smoothed his hair. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." He was still angry.

She sat down cross-legged next to him, their arms touching. "You know, my bathroom could always use a remodel if you wanna keep repressing your emotions," she said after a moment.

He let out another laugh. "Laura told you."

"Yeah. She wanted to make sure I knew that you care for the people around you, even when you don't show it. Mostly, she wanted to make sure I was careful not to get hurt again, but in this instance it's pretty useful too."

"He was my Superior Officer," Clint said, leaning his head back against the side of the vent. "He recruited me, brought me in, taught me the ropes, gave me my first actual pair of hearing aids. He taught me to speak. He let me date Laura and he let me keep Natasha when I found her. He was the best man at my wedding. He's Cooper's godfather. When he died... gah. I couldn't even look at a SHIELD emblem. I almost quit. I was this close. But I didn't. I kept working, in memory of him. And now the jerk's sitting in our living room, acting like everything's okay."

"Would it be better if you didn't know?" Diana asked softly.

"No." He sighed. "No, it wouldn't, because then he'd still be dead and I'd still be getting drunk every year. But I'm still angry. No matter how many puppy-eyes you give me, I'm still going to be angry."

"I know." She put an arm around his shoulders. "Just, don't take two weeks to deal with it this time, okay? I don't know how long Bucky can hold him in the living room."

Clint smirked. "You say that like you're so sure I'm going to go down there and talk to him."

"I am so sure." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Just talk to him, Clint. He's here, now. You can't let him leave without saying something."

"Yes I can. Let him suffer."

"The last time he saw you, you were being controlled by Loki," she reminded him quietly, making him wince. "Don't make the last time he sees you again, the sight of you rejecting him."

"He's not my soulmate."

"No, he's the closest thing to a father figure you've had in your life."

He winced. "Your aim's still dead-on."

"The truth hurts," she replied placidly.

Clint heaved a sigh and scrubbed a hand over his face. "Fine. You've convinced me. That doesn't mean I'm not going to be mad."

"Fine with me," Diana said. "Whatever makes you stop hurting."

He glanced at her sideways. "You can feel it can't you?"

"Yep." She pressed a hand to her chest. "Right here."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for having feelings," she told him. "Goodness knows you've had to put up with my mood swings."

"Every three weeks like clockwork," he agreed.

She shoved him lightly, blushing. "Shut up, birdbrain."

"You started it."

"Yeah." She pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Go talk to him."

He took her hand. "Come with me? I might need someone to hold me back from punching him in the face."

"Sure." She slid out of the vent, and he followed her.

When they got down to the living room, they found Natasha and Coulson sitting next to each other. Both of them looked suspiciously teary-eyed. Bucky was hovering anxiously near the breakfast bar.

"She yell at him?" Diana asked quietly.

Bucky grinned briefly. "In twelve different languages."

Natasha looked up and saw Clint and Diana. She got up with a murmured word to Coulson and went over, grabbing Bucky's arm and dragging him out of the room. "Your turn," she told Clint. "Don't hit him."

Clint turned to look at Coulson, and then looked at Diana anxiously. She pushed him in the direction of his former handler. "I'll be over here, reading."

Clint went to stand in front of Coulson. "I rebuilt my two bathrooms because of you."

"They needed the plumbing redone."

They shared a brief hug, and Diana quietly slipped out. Father-son time was something sacred. "J, where're Nat and Bucky?"

JARVIS pulled up a video feed. Bucky was steadily blocking hits from Natasha as the two of them sparred.

She nodded, and bumped into Thor in the library. "You talk to him?" she asked.

He nodded. "We spoke briefly before Natasha came down."

"Feel better?"

"Yes. I understand his reasons for keeping it a secret, although I do not agree with him."

"Good." She squeezed his arm. "Have you seen Steve?"

"I believe he is in one of the labs with Bruce."

"Thanks."

Thor followed her, and they found the two men reading information on the sceptre. Thor immediately joined the discussion.

Steve reached for Diana and pulled her into his arms, her back to his chest. He rested his chin on her head as the three Avengers discussed locations and tactics, and when the other two were discussing sceptre stuff, he leaned down next to her ear and whispered, "I love you."

She turned her head slightly to kiss him. "I love you too."

"Ahem."

They turned to see Bruce and Thor smirking at them. "Extremely dangerous sceptre over here?" Bruce prompted.

"Sorry." Diana gave them a smile and wriggled out of Steve's arms. "Obviously I'm much too distracting. I'll get out of your hair." She winked at Steve and left. Time to check on Tony.

He was deep in conversation with Pepper, so she left him in the care of his romantic soulmate and went back to the library. "Well, except for hugs," she said to herself in the empty library, "I'm useless again." She flopped into one of the couches, and remembered what Fury and Coulson had told her about her new "job". "JARVIS, pull up a search engine."

"What do you wish to search?"

"The opinion of people on the Avengers."

JARVIS, if he'd been human, would've winced. "I do not think that's a good idea," he said diplomatically.

"I don't care. Show it to me."

"I do not wish to upset you."

"JARVIS. I'm a big girl."

He gave an AI-sigh, and pulled up the search results on the nearest holographic display.

Diana excelled at skimming and speed reading. What she read made her want to throw up, or punch something. Half the opinions were that the Avengers were godsends, and the other half were of the opinion that the Avengers should be destroyed. They were called disruptive, destructive, promoters of violence, and since they didn't answer to any government, vigilantes. They seemed to think that the Avengers were either heroes or villains, and no in-between. No one seemed to realize they were people.

"JARVIS, is there a keyboard in here?" she asked.

"There is a wireless keyboard in a drawer to your left," he said.

She pulled the keyboard out. "Give me a word doc?"

A blank page appeared on the screen, and she started to write. "Four years in college, I better be able to do at least this," she muttered, typing furiously. "J, don't let anyone know what I'm doing."

"As you wish."

"And tell me when someone's approaching the library," she added.

"Yes, Miss Lawrence."

When she finally surfaced from her article-induced haze, it was starting to get dark. She saved the article, sent it to her editor ex-co-worker from Time magazine in a request for critique, and stood up to stretch. "Where's everyone?" she asked, getting into the elevator.

"Everyone is in the kitchen, as Mr. Barton is making waffles," JARVIS replied.

"Is Coulson gone?"

"Yes."

"Did everyone talk to him?"

"Yes."

"Good." She got out of the elevator and went into the kitchen. "Waffles and nobody told me?" she asked lightly, wrapping an arm around Steve's waist.

He smiled down at her. "We were going to bring you up a tray. Didn't want to disturb your reading."

"Pshaw. Waffles always beat reading. Have I taught you nothing?"

He smirked. "My mistake. How could I forget."

"Did you get everything you needed for the sceptre?" Diana asked.

They all shared a glance. "We're moving out day after tomorrow," Steve said. "Just as soon as Tony's Iron Legion can be repaired."

Diana nodded. "All right."

"And Bucky's staying behind with you," Steve added.

"I don't need a bodyguard," she protested.

"No, but I do," Bucky said, ruffling her hair. "Otherwise who'll stop me from eating all the Cheetos?"

Tony's eyes widened. "You didn't."

Bucky smirked at him.

"If you touch my Cheetos again, I will hurt you," Tony threatened.

Diana laughed, and then sobered. "Don't change the subject, guys. I don't need a bodyguard."

"Diana-"

"No. I'm in the safest place in the world right now. And from what Coulson said and you've been planning, this base is going to need all the heavy hitters you can get."

"She's right," Natasha said.

"You don't have to," Steve started, looking at Bucky worriedly.

The former Winter Soldier shook his head. "Diana's right. I've been puttering around the tower, but this time, I think you could use my help.'

"Or at least you could give us a hand," Tony said.

They all glared at him.

"Too soon?" he asked.

Diana punched him lightly. "No more puns. They are officially banned. That was the worst thing I've ever heard."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Anyways. We move out in two days."

Diana's editor friend emailed back with the results a couple hours later. "It's beautiful!" was her reply. "Revise it, publish it. You go girl!" And she gave her several numbers of newspaper editors.

So she published it. It ran in several newspapers and magazines under a pseudonym, and was picked up and carried into mainstream media.

A day after it came out, she got an email from an anonymous source that said, "Thank you, Miss Lawrence, for helping your soulmates so quickly. DC. :)" Which stood for Director Coulson, obviously. And a smiley face! It was so cute.