That night the men made their own way to bed, though Steve seemed to want another chance at having Hermione in his bed, this time while he was awake. As she sat perched on the highest point of the, now airborne, helicarrier, the witch thought about her relationships, mainly involving her 3 sleeping comrades. Tony was easy because while he had pursued her for a year, they were very much siblings now, though there were times Tony seemed to momentarily forget and say something he shouldn't but would then attempt to bleach his mind when he remembered, always entertaining to watch.
With Bruce, while they were very close, neither felt that want for anything more than that friendship. The added problem of Hulk coming around when Bruce's pulse got too high, which he had found out with Betty Ross, had the man completely accepting of a life of celibacy. They had talked about if Bruce had ever wanted a family and while he did, the risk of his contribution hurting any surrogate was too great. So he was set on simply helping those in need, and having his friendship with the witch, who he had asked on many occasions to find love and have a family of her own, he wanted to be an uncle.
Every time he would say that, Hermione's answer was always easy and truthful, "When he shows up, I will." Now though, she wasn't sure it would be easy or truthful to say it. Groaning and worrying a loose lock of hair, the brunette removed her phone and pressed her speed dial.
The phone rang twice before a tired voice answered, "Yes?"
"Those kids of yours driving you mad already Da?"
"I love them to death but Tonks and I have decided after the next two are born, I'm to be neutered. Apparently 10 children is enough," Remus groaned good-naturedly, "Why are you calling so early honey?"
"I've got an issue that I need to talk to you about. Da, how did you know that Tonks was your mate? Was there a big siren in your mind or perhaps a subtle nudge of your heart?"
Hermione could see him, frozen amongst his kids, phone hanging slightly away from his head, while he checked his pulse, "Why do you want to know baby girl? Has something happened?"
"Please Da, just tell me how you knew"
"Well, I saw Tonks the day she was born, I was only a teenager so didn't understand what was going on but after seeing her again when the Order restarted, I tried hard to ignore the signs. When we would accidentally brush against each other, my skin was on fire, I would dream about her, and it was very hard to deny her anything or lie to her. The biggest thing though was our first kiss, the expression of feeling fireworks was nothing, we actually floated into the air outside of Headquarters."
"Damnit," the hybrid muttered.
Remus heard her and gently asked, "Are you feeling that for someone Hermione? It's okay if you are."
"No it's not Da, he's not immortal, he'll die on me like everyone else I love. I never should have made friends, let people into my heart, bloody Harry had no idea what he was making me promise to, the pain I would suffer," tears were falling fast now and Hermione couldn't stop them.
"Hermione Jeanne Granger-Lupin, you stop talking like that this instant," Remus was angry now, "People do die and that is unfortunate, and yes, you may never die but that is no reason to deny yourself and whoever this man is the wonder of love, even if for only his lifetime. But must I remind you that you could help him remain by your side forever also, should he want it? Once the youngest is in Hogwarts, Tonks wants to be marked by me during a full moon, knowing full well what that means but will do it out of love. People sometimes surprise us honey, you just have to let them ok?"
"I promise to try Da. Thank you for listening to me complain. Give my love to the pack and no matter what you read or see in New York, I am perfectly fine"
After hanging up, Hermione thought about her last comrade, the one who after stopping him in that walkway she hadn't been able to keep far from her mind. When he had held her during his nightmares the previous morning, she had really wished she could sleep, to enjoy the sensation to the fullest extent. To learn that her feelings weren't simply hormonal or fame induced, which she had tried to convince herself it was, but that of finding her mate, it was terrifying. That was an emotion she hadn't had since the Final Battle, and it was a strange concept to her.
"Just my bloody luck, my mate is Captain America. So do I tell him or live his life as a teammate and friend?" Hermione asked no one but the universe.
She was still up there when Steve woke up and at not finding her in the usual places, woke Bruce and Tony up, the mention of missing Hermione got him moving quickly. All were thinking the worse, so when Steve caught sight of her, he was slightly miffed, and easily scaled the aircraft to get to her, "Hermione! Do you have any idea how worried we all were? We thought Loki had captured you!"
"You were worried?" She asked dumbly, moving over to let Steve have a seat.
"Of course! You're our friend, our comrade, hell you're pretty much the only thing we have in common, though Stark and Bruce have their minds constantly connecting. I thought the worst when you weren't in your usual spots, Tony even got up before a double digit as soon as I said you were gone. What have you been doing up here all night?" The captain was doing a once over to check for injuries.
"I've been mulling over a problem I have, even called my Da for advice, but I do apologise for worrying you all, I didn't mean to, I just lost track of time."
Seeing she had honestly not meant to worry them, Steve gave her a large smile, "Well come down and maybe the others and I can help you with your problem. We may be men but perhaps between us, it will equal a woman's answer."
Her heart stopped momentarily at the smile but soon she gave her own, "No, this one I think I'll need more than one woman's opinion for, no offence. I'll see you back in the lab."
Apparating to the bridge, Hermione relieved Maria of her position and took her to Phil's currently empty office. The deputy director took her boyfriend's chair and watched a moment as Hermione paced, "You're making me dizzy Mia, please sit down and tell me what's wrong."
Taking the other seat, the witch sighed, "You've read my file and know what I am?"
"Yes, Phil was rather persistent that I knew and read your file front to back numerous times"
"Right, so werewolves have mates, even those like myself with inactive blood, and there are certain, umm, symptoms that tell you when you've found them. You can't choose, it's the wolf and something akin to finding a perfect soul match, no one is exactly sure, hell my Da met his mate when he was a young teen and Tonks wasn't even a day old, though it was years later he realised what had happened. What I need is help from three women I know to have similar issues, though Natasha simply because of our similar histories."
Maria thought a moment before saying, "You have found your mate in one of the other Avengers? As you've known Start and Banner for years, this would have arisen long ago, so it must be Captain Rogers. And you want to know how a couple can work together?"
"That and also," Hermione went bright red, "I went to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum, got a kiss on the cheek, gave Bruce an innocent New Years' kiss, and that is it for my romantic life, though Ton did touch my bite scar last year."
"You're almost 32 and a virgin, definitely a rarity these days, though I am sure Rogers will like that," ducking the thrown pen, Maria continued, "So you also need help in approaching him to explain everything. I don't think I'll be much help in that, Phil took the first step, as for a working relationship, you don't seem to need to worry too much. You're both unlikely to put a quickie above the task given, and teammates have always worried when on is injured or in danger. I hope that helps you Mia, oh and Romanoff will be landing at 2200 hours, we had to call one of her target's henchmen to get her to listen."
"Thank you Maria, for everything," leaving the office, the hybrid found a secure area and video called Jarvis, "Hello Jarvis, is Pepper about?"
"Hello Hermione. I will transfer you to her now," the very intelligent computer that controlled everything for Tony said.
"Mia, Jarvis really does love you, I told him not to interrupt me," Pepper said with a grin.
Seeing her yoga outfit, Hermione blushed, "Sorry Pepper, I didn't mean to interrupt you. I'll call back."
"I hadn't started yet. What's wrong?"
Giving the rundown to the woman, Hermione then said, "How'd you get Tony to stop being a moron?"
"I kissed him, works for all men"
Groaning into her hands, "Yeah, the whole 'I've only ever kissed Bruce' means what to that suggestion?"
"Right, well how about you simply tell him he's your mate, you can't live without him, and see how that goes?"
"Kissing him would be simpler," Hermione's phone began beeping with another call, "Thanks Pepper, you've been a help. Have fun in DC and I'll see you when you get back."
"You'd better have a hunk on your arm by then," were the woman's final words before signing off.
Shaking her head, Hermione answered the waiting call, surprised to see the inside of a fighter jet, "Natasha? I was going to talk to you when you landed tonight."
"Well Deputy Director Hill called to say you wanted to chat and I need to take my mind off of Clint, so what's up?"
"I have a romantic issue but no romantic experience nor any idea how to tell my team leader that he's my mate. Apparently I'm to go to him and kiss him them say, 'You're my mate but don't worry, you'll be pleased as I've never really kissed anyone, or fucked before, so how about it?' Merlin, Natasha, help," the last word was all but drowning in need.
"Perhaps you shouldn't say that verbatim. So the perfect specimen of Captain Rogers is your mate, met him briefly once, can't say you got an ogre that's for sure."
"Tash, I really need help not confirmation that he is as hot as he is, trust me I know. We all went swimming yesterday, the struggle to remain clothed was very much there. So, what do I do? Ignore or admit?"
The agent was silent for a minute before finally saying, "If it were me, I'd ignore but you aren't me Mia, you do need to work out what you're going to do yourself. Trust your gut. I'll see you tonight."
"Bye Tash," closing the holographic screen, the witch ran her head into the wall a few times before the room's door opened, three men standing there, Jarvis showing on Tony's phone, "Oh for fucks sake."