A/N: Another chapter not inspired by a song, but the idea just wouldn't leave me alone! AU for the end of Captain America: The First Avenger (some dialogue from the movie is borrowed; I own nothing!)

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Leading SoulMark Experts always cautioned against trying to "de-code" your SoulMark. Nine times out of ten, they said, the circumstances surrounding The First Meeting would happen how Fate decreed they should, no matter what preparations people made. SoulMarks could provide you with clues, but no one could ever be 100% sure as to how they would inevitably meet the one person that they were destined to be with.

Someone with the Words of, "Hey, look out!" might dream of being daringly rescued from some slightly dangerous situation, when in reality it turned out that their Soulmate was warning them against stepping in some dog poop.

But in the case of one Darcy Lewis, she knew deep in her gut that her meeting with her Soulmate was destined for greatness. How could it be otherwise when her Words were, "I don't know when I am." That's right. Not where. When.

She had stopped listening to people who whispered that maybe her Soulmate would end up being crazy long ago. She refused to give in to that kind of thinking. She liked playing around with the idea that they were a Timelord. (So what if she was a die-hard Whovian.)

And then New Mexico happened and Jane's Soulmate turned out to be an actual Norse God and Darcy figured that maybe her idea of her Soulmate being a time traveler wasn't so crazy after all.

What was crazy, at least at first, was when Agent iPod Thief came back and said that SHIELD (because that's apparently who he worked for) was interested in having Jane come work for them.

The astrophysicist was wary at first, given SHIELD's treatment of her and her research so far. But then they offered her use of their top-of-the-line labs, and all the resources that came with it and Darcy could see the pure want in Jane's eyes. In the end, Jane decided it was at least worth a visit to New York - purely for surveying purposes. She wasn't about to work from a lab that didn't pass her meticulous inspection.

So that meant that Darcy followed her boss lady to the Big Apple. She couldn't help but be impressed by the accommodations SHIELD was offering, but she didn't show it. But when Agent iPod Thief actually returned her iPod, she cracked a smile.

"Guess I can't call you Agent iPod Thief now, huh?"

"I would prefer not," Agent Coulson admitted.

Darcy studied him. "Okay, Son of Coul it is!" she decided, borrowing from Thor's book. She couldn't help it. And when he managed the barest hint of a smile, she decided the nickname would stay.

Hours later, Darcy finally got Jane away from the shiny new labs. "You haven't even told them that you'll come work for them yet! No Sciencing until you've decided!"

"You're right," Jane admitted, coming back to her senses as the fresh air and sunlight hit her. "Do you think the lab is like a bribe or something? Do you think they want us to keep quiet about what happened in New Mexico, and that's why they're offering us this job?"

"Janey, I don't have psychic powers; I have no idea what SHIELD really wants," Darcy said as they wandered down the street. "But think of all the shiny machines you just saw; we would never have to cobble inventions from scraps again!"

"That's true, but -"

"But you don't have to decide anything right this second. In fact, no life decisions should be made before we have coffee!" Darcy declared.

Jane's eyes lit up. "Coffee, yes!"

"And real food," Darcy added, walking back through her mental logs on how long ago Jane had eaten something. Peanuts on the flight up here didn't count.

They paused, looking around for a likely lunch target, when the doors of the building behind them burst open. Someone nearly shoved Darcy to the ground in their haste to get through the crowd.

Tense eyes met annoyed ones, and Darcy called out, "Dude, seriously, where's the fire?"

The man had seemed ready to run further down the street, but he stilled at Darcy's words. She couldn't begin to describe the look he was giving her; it seemed all sorts of parts lost, desperate, fearful, yet hopeful. She ignored the part of her brain that was focusing solely on this muscles, because damn was he ripped!

The stranger took a step towards her, and Darcy felt Jane tense up beside her.

"I don't know when I am," he whispered, looking at her with pleading eyes as though she had all the answers he sought.

Darcy didn't need Jane suddenly grabbing her arm; she was all too familiar with those Words. Maybe she did have all the answers after all.

"Hey, it's okay," she said soothingly. "I'm Darcy, what's your name?"

"It's Steve," Steve said, eyes darting around the area. They grew bigger as he spotted the lights and the cars and the flashing billboards. He focused back on Darcy, on the one thing he could understand. "And you're -"

"We're Soulmates, yeah," Darcy confirmed in wonder. He was finally here! She was being remarkably calm, all things considered, but he looked like he needed her to be the calm one. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

Steve shook his head and Darcy instantly went on guard. "Everything is wrong. I don't know when I am," Steve repeated.

Darcy smiled at him, trying to project a feeling of calm. "Well, it's -" That feeling was shattered when huge black SUVs appeared out of nowhere, blocking off the street. People in black suits poured out of the building that Steve had come out of; she spotted Son of Coul among them.

And striding towards them was an intimidating dark skinned man with...was that an actual eye patch?

Steve automatically stepped in front of Darcy.

"At ease, Soldier," Eyepatch guy ordered. His one eye wandered over Darcy and Jane. "Coulson, get Foster and Lewis out of here."

Steve's arm reached back to curl around Darcy's hip, and Darcy felt warmth spread through her at the contact.

"It's Dr. Foster, seriously, how hard is that to remember?" Jane snapped, glaring at Coulson as he stepped closer. "And we're not going anywhere without him," she added, gesturing to Steve.

"You're in no position to bargain here -" Eyepatch began.

Darcy rolled her eyes as she stepped in front of Steve. "Soulmate clause gives me plenty of room to bargain!"

Murmurs spread amongst the crowd as Darcy pulled aside the collar of her shirt to show the SoulMark on her collarbone, glowing the bright gold that meant she had recently met her Soulmate. Behind her, Steve copied her actions; his SoulMark - in the same spot - was glowing the same golden color.

"Now tell me what's going on," Steve demanded, stepping forward until he was standing next to Darcy.

Eyepatch sighed. "Look, I'm sorry about that little show back there, but we thought it best to break it to you slowly."

"Break what?" Steve and Darcy asked in unison. They glanced quickly at each other, then focused back on Eyepatch. Questions about who they were - would be - as Soulmates would come later. It was more important to focus on the here and now.

"You've been asleep, Cap. For almost seventy years," Eyepatch said. There was no softening of his voice, no attempt to deliver this devastating news in any gentle way. It just was.

Steve stared at him in shock, trying to process what exactly that meant.

Darcy reached out and took his hand, trying to convey that she was here for him. She barely knew him. She didn't know anything about him, other than his name and that apparently her theory about him being a time-traveler wasn't as crazy as some people had thought. But none of that mattered. Her Soulmate needed her. So she would be there for him, in whatever way she could.

"You gonna be okay?" Eyepatch asked with as much delicacy as an elephant in a china shop.

Steve didn't even look at him. Instead he looked down at Darcy's hand in his, and then slowly he moved his gaze until his amazing blue eyes were locked on Darcy's. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I will be."