"If you didn't want the stir fry, you could have just said so," Syke said with a manic giggle. She felt like her face was going to break, she was grinning so hard. The pure blast of energy was the fastest vibration she'd felt so far. Her body was roaring and swimming in it. Instead of taking the impact, her cells had moved to match its pace and absorbed the energy.

"Skye?" Clint breathed, springing from the couch to yank her against his chest, "I'm very glad you're okay. Please don't ever do that again. I'm way to young to have a fucking heart attack."

"That felt amazing, but I'll do my best," Skye said, voice muffled against Clint's t-shirt, "But, Clint?"

"Hum?"

"I kinda can't breathe," She wheezed, excitement muted by the realization that her soulmate just watched her get shot in the face. The archer released her sheepishly scrubbing a hand through his hair.

"As thrilled as I am that I didn't just kill my soulmate with a repulsor to the face," Tony interjected, "How is that possible?"

Skye gasped as another line on her ribs flared in recognition, "Oh, good, I was wondering about you. I can manipulate mater vibration. I'm the Hydra target Clint went on a mission to intercept and apparently, his soulmate. Yours too."

"How many soulmarks do you have?" Tony asked, curious now.

"Eight." Tony hummed in acknowledgement, fingers flying over a stark pad. "You won't find anything. I erased my identity when I left my team."

"Hacker?" Tony looked impressed, she was right. Jarvis hadn't been able to find as much as security footage with her in the background.

"Shield picked me up from the Rising Tide," Skye answered, "I'll tell you as much as I can, you're not the ones who I'm hiding from." Tony opened his mouth to ask more questions, but Clint shook his head.

"Tomorrow, Stark," He looped and arm under Tony's shoulders, grabbing his plate with the other hand. "You need food and sleep, before you start shooting off your own limbs."

Skye woke up screaming, but she hadn't slept more than a handful of hours a night since terrigenesis. The bed was shuddering with the aftershocks of her nightmare. Skye ganced at the clock, 2:17. She peeling herself from the bed with unsteady limbs, running through the Tai Chi May had taught her. By the time she finished, everything had calmed. She padded into the living area and peered through Clint's doorway, but he was sleeping like a rock. His heavy snores echoed through the apartment.

"Jarvis?" Skye whispered hesitantly at the elevator, "Is anyone awake?" Buried deep in drunkenly written lines of code, the second of three glowed amber. The elevator doors slid open.

"Sir is awake in the communal kitchen, Miss Skye," Skye gaspped in pure shock as her third line of words flared to life. "And may I say how lovely it is to finally meet you."

"You too, Jarvis," Skye said with a tired smile, "and it's just Skye. No misses or anything." If the elevator shot to the common floor faster than usual, Jarvis couldn't be blamed. His soulmates needed each other.

If there was ever a time when someone looked the least like a superhero it was in the midst of a panic attack in front of the open refrigerator in the middle of the night. A water glass lay shattered around him. "Tony," Skye called kneeling carefully in the pile of glass. Tony looked up, glassy, unfocused eyes seeing through her. "Hey there, sweetheart, I'm going to stay right here okay?" She slowly reached for the hand that lay limp on the ground. The other was clutched to his chest, chin resting on his knees. "Tony, hun, I'm going to keep one hand right here and you grab it if you want, alright." Tony blinked slowly, but all that came out of his mouth was a pained sob. "I need you to breath with me, Tony. Just listen to your breath, in, and out, in and out-"

Tony had woken up alone. It was rare that all of his soulmates be gone at the same time, well, excluding Skye, but he could hardly ask the woman to his bed. He spent an hour or so in the lab before heading up to the communal kitchen for leftovers and a glass of water. With nowhere to direct his mind, the anxiety of his nightmares returned. The empty pit of loneliness and shame that he usually chased away by curling into someone's arms festered. Before he knew it, the water glass shattered and the tide of panic he had been holding at bay swept him under.

"-And out." Skye repeated, exaggerated her own breath, keeping it steady. A shaking hand slowly edged onto her own and she laced their fingers. "Tony? Hey there, sweetheart." His eyes focused on her face, wide and bloodshot, sorrowful whiskey brown. "It's okay if you don't have words right now, but I need you to stay where you are while I clear away that glass. And then I need a look at that hand." He hadn't felt his body unwind, legs fall away from his chest to reveal glass shards embedded in his left hand. "Jarvis? Paper bags?" Skye wiped up the glass and water, tossing the paper bag into the recycling. "Is there a first aid kit somewhere, J?"

But it was Tony who croaked, "It's under the knife block." Skye led him to sit on the couch. Tony lay his head on her shoulder. Cradling his hand in her lap, she pulled half a dozen shards of glass from his palm. Fortunately, none of the wounds needed stitches. She laughed softly at the box of Avengers band aids and the Captain America shield on the antibiotic ointment. "Alright, let's get you to bed," Sky murmured, standing to dispose of the glass and set the kit back in the drawer. "Tony?" She turned when there was no response. The man had fallen asleep under her gentle ministrations, "Tony, wake up." She shook his shoulder gently.

"I'm'na stay here," Tony mumbled, shifting so that he was laying flat against the back of the couch. He blinked up at her, quietly asking, "Stay with me?"

Skye nodded, setting the paper bag and the kit on the ground and snagging an afghan off the back of the couch, "Of course, Tony." The couch was obscene, wide enough for Thor and Steve to lay shoulder to shoulder on the cushion, but Skye curled easily into his arms. "Just move me over if I get to octopus like," She murmured, intertwining their legs, "I like to be cuddled."

"If you wake Tony, you're responsible for keeping him out of the lab long enough to get some food into him," Skye threatened groggily, keeping her eyes closed against the morning sun. The footsteps stilled. Skye burrowed further into Tony's arms. The footstep still hadn't moved. Skye reluctantly rolled over and eyed the scruffy man standing frozen in shock a few feet away. "Hey there handsome," she mumbled through a yawn. Smooth, Skye, very smooth. "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"Right, sorry, I just didn't think I'd ever find you," The man said, voice laced with equal parts shock and awe. Skye ran a hand through her hair in an attempt to tame it, she winced. Lovely, her first meeting with her soulmate and his first impression was the disaster that was her bedhead. She pressed a kiss to Tony's forehead, and stood with a cat like stretch. Skye smirked when his eyes widened, tracing her form. She forgot she had been wearing nothing but an over sized t-shirt and her panties. Looks like he wouldn't be paying much attention to her hair after all.