"Chapters Eleven to Twenty"

11. This Is Not Good (Johnny Storm/Phil Coulson/Victor von Doom)

A truce is called between America and Latveria, and Doom continues to help SHIELD. He has spies in other countries, and the truce is kept under wraps; basically, only SHIELD and Barack Obama know about it. Even the CIA and the FBI are in the dark, and only Phil and Johnny's closest friends and family know about the soulmateship.

Due to his rocky start with Doom, Johnny refuses to bond with him, even platonically, and Doom has to accept that. Phil sympathises with him, but he loves Johnny, and respects his wishes. As triad soulmateships usually only have one non-platonic bond, it is possible for the 'third wheel' (a derogatory term for the platonic third soulmate) to form a relationship with a Blank, or with the platonic from another triad. So Phil takes it upon himself to find someone for Doom, partly to assuage his guilt, and partly so that Johnny will never feel obligated to bond with Doom.

When Johnny realises what Phil is doing, he is eager to help, mainly so that Doom will stop looking so forlorn whenever he speaks with them. (And no, Johnny doesn't like Phil and Doom to speak in private.) Weirdly enough, Johnny inspires Phil with an off-hand comment about setting Doom up with Darcy, because Double-Ds. Phil glares at him for that for a few seconds, and then realises that it's ingenious. Darcy is the platonic third soulmate for Jane and Thor, and she's complained before about being a third wheel. He subtly gives Doom the idea of seeking out Darcy's company, which eventually leads to a relationship. Darcy's degree in political science comes in handy when she marries the ruler of Latveria, that's for certain.

12. Blond (Johnny Storm/Steve Rogers)

Johnny actually makes it to their bonding ceremony on time, and is far more relaxed than Steve, who is expecting something bad to happen at any moment. He's unaware that nearly every one of their acquaintances had threatened their enemies, in no uncertain terms, into staying away from the ceremony. In fact, they're able to spend their whole honeymoon uninterrupted, only running into trouble a few days after they get back.

The trouble? Turns out the media snapped some telling pictures of them, and their mischievous swaps are examined until they've cottoned on to every time Steve has pretended to be Johnny and vice versa. There's also the expected outcry from several corners about Captain America's soulmate being a man, and one who resembles him so much. Steve does his best to ignore the vitriol, though it cuts him deeply that he doesn't have the support he expected. Johnny feels guilty, but there's no way he's leaving his soulmate, so he arranges a solo press conference, filmed live, where he defends their relationship. It reduces Steve to tears, and he's the third call-in. He declares his love for Johnny on live national TV, and social media goes wild.

13. Falling in Lab (Bruce Banner/Jemma Simmons)

Bruce and Jemma bond quickly, much to everyone else's horror (Phil) or amusement (Skye and Tony). It means that they have to form an alliance between SHIELD and the Avengers, because to separate Bruce from his soulmate would lead to a Hulk-out, and Jemma is as loyal to SHIELD as she is devoted to her soulmate. The Avengers are somewhat grudging at first, still pissed off with Phil.

May and Steve discover that they're soulmates when she snaps at him for being hard on Phil. It reinforces the need for an allegiance, which makes things awkward for Phil and Clint, who were soulmates. Phil had been happy to keep away because Clint had rejected him, and Phil hadn't fought since he was Clint's handler. Then Clint married Laura, and the soulmarks disappeared after Phil's death, so there's no going back.

There's plenty of space in Stark Tower, but Phil doesn't think that there's enough room for him to stay with the Avengers, so he stays on the SHIELD base. Skye goes with him after rejecting Tony's job offer, Jemma stays with Bruce, and May and the others follow Phil to base, even though Steve wants to get to know his soulmate. But she's insecure about being Captain America's soulmate, pissed off at the other Avengers (even Bruce for 'stealing' Jemma), and extremely loyal to Phil. Things are awkward for a long time.

Then (since this was written before 'Ultron'), Jemma falls pregnant. Bruce is overprotective-ness personified, and since she's closer to her SHIELD family than the Avengers, he takes her back to her friends for the duration of the pregnancy. They're glad to have her back, and Bruce finds he can do more with SHIELD than with Tony, and with May's help gets better control over the Other Guy. Add to that his strength, and he becomes a pretty good field agent. (Jemma and the baby being his prime motivation.)

14. Let It Go (Phil Coulson/Sam Wilson)

Sam spends the night watching over Phil, making sure he has enough sleep, comforting him when he has nightmares. He calls the Avengers in the morning, as he promised, and berates them for their attitude towards Phil when he's obviously so vulnerable. Not that they knew about the alien blood thing, but what did they expect when he'd been dead for five days? They're lucky he isn't a vegetable, though his sanity seems to be slipping.

In the ensuing days, Phil apologises for being a bad soulmate by not bonding with Sam right away, and Sam continues to tell him that it's okay, they can take it slow, Phil's been waiting much longer, Sam's in no rush. Phil questions Sam even wanting to bond with him, but Sam is patient. He's seen all of this before. And when he wakes from a nightmare, Phil's there to look after him, putting them on slighter more even footing, not that Sam would put it like that. But it gives Phil more insight into the fact that they're all a little bit broken, even the ones who are supposed to help 'fix' them.

Sam can't stay at SHIELD, because of his work. However, after only getting to see Phil sometimes and talking with him on the phone when neither of them are on a mission, he enlists SHIELD's help in finding Bucky. Once he's in Steve's care, Sam quits his normal job, joins SHIELD so he can see Phil more often, and they bond.

(And Trip lives. Yay!)

15. Rock the World (Jemma Simmons/Johnny Storm/Skye)

They spend a very enthusiastic night together, and spend the morning discussing the possibility of going away for the weekend. With the Avengers now back in SHIELD's picture, they can cover for Jemma and Skye. Skye insists on talking to Phil about it first, and is surprised and angry that he spent hours arguing with the Avengers (and Pepper), defending his actions. The only reason May didn't intervene is because she was needed back at the base in her capacity as Phil's deputy.

Fitz gives an extremely technical and terrifying shovel talk to Johnny while Susan is giving her own frightening shovel talk to Skye and Jemma. The three compare notes and unanimously decide that some time away is for the best, since they live with crazy-scary people. They end up going to Hawaii, so they won't be too far away if trouble strikes.

16. Tell Me (Bucky Barnes/Clint Barton/Phil Coulson)

Bucky doesn't stray far from his soulmates' sides, which means that Clint and Phil have to stick close together so their third doesn't feel torn between them. After the post-battle debrief, Phil has to explain himself, how he was brought back to life, everything that's been involved with restoring SHIELD to a better, HYDRA-free version. Then Clint and Bucky drag him away so they can be alone together. Even though they were soulmates, Phil and Clint never spent a great deal of time talking about personal things, so, in a guest suite of Stark Tower, they talk for hours, before falling asleep in a tangle on the sofa.

Bucky is still wary of any incarnation of SHIELD, Clint was alone for months, and Phil has SHIELD to think about. Now that he has to deal with the Avengers, despite Tony disassociating himself with SHIELD, he's going to be busier than ever. Neither Bucky nor Clint wishes to be a burden on their harried soulmate, so it takes a few weeks of separation before Skye calls them, tells them to pull their heads out of their butts, and meet with Phil somewhere before his pining drives everyone crazy. They agree on a need for compromise… though as they thrive on living one moment to the next, and not making long-term plans, it's appropriate that they make it up as they go along.

17. Pretend to Die (Bucky Barnes/Jemma Simmons/Steve Rogers)

Phil keeps his promise of calling Clint, and the Avengers visit SHIELD, two by two in the most secret way possible. Bucky and Steve shower attention and courting gifts on an overwhelmed Jemma, who wants to drag them to bed, but finds it hard to see the relationship working out in the long-term. Who knows what the serum did to the two of them? They might outlive her significantly. Any day one of them could die, and she doesn't see the logic in making promises they can't keep. (The HYDRA thing has made her far more cynical.)

Tony agrees to give some funding to SHIELD, and to help with their tech, even though Fitz is more than capable. Well, when his hands are steady and he can be understood. At least they have Mack's help, thank goodness. Bruce and Jemma discuss what happened to Fitz, in case they can do anything. Fitz and Jemma aren't talking, since she hasn't been back all that long so he's still pissed, and she and Mack aren't getting along.

The atmosphere is tense enough for Jemma to go back to Stark Tower with Bucky and Steve, to get to know them and to give Fitz breathing room, now that he knows (part of the reason) why she was gone. Steve and Bucky are sickeningly old-fashioned, while she's trying to convince them to make the most of their brief time together, although she's not sure whether returning to SHIELD is a good idea, considering the strain in her relationship with Fitz. So she stays at Stark Tower for the time being, and makes friends with a woman named Helen Cho (in between trying to seduce her stubborn soulmates).

18. Help (Jemma Simmons/Nick Fury)

Jemma joins Fury on his secret missions, slightly annoyed that she doesn't always know what's going on, but accepting that keeping secrets is a hard habit to break for the former head of SHIELD. She's let in on Theta protocol, however, when that crops up. Phil is relieved to see her, despite knowing who she was with, and is glad that the Helicarrier will have her on the staff. Then Ultron attacks Latveria, the Avengers are trying to save the day, and the Helicarrier shows up to help out.

One of the heroes is dead for about five minutes before Jemma revives him. Even then it's touch-and-go, but at least Pietro is alive. Unfortunately, without Dr. Banner around to help out, and with a crew she barely knows, Jemma is on her own in creating a synthetic version of the GH325 (without alien crazy matter). It aids Pietro's recovery.

After a tiring forty hours, Fury makes his soulmate go to bed, although she's up four hours later and telling him that he's a hypocrite for telling her to sleep longer. She takes cat naps until Pietro is out of the danger zone, and then sleeps for nearly sixteen hours before Fury wakes her up. The Avengers are incredibly grateful that she was able to help, freeing up other medical personnel to heal injured Latverians.

The ruler of Latveria, Victor von Doom, was out of the country when Ultron struck, and he thanks SHIELD for saving his people. Even though he was gentlemanly towards her, Fury is convinced that Doom was making eyes at Jemma, and caves in to her demands for a bond. They continue to fly around, taking out known HYDRA agents, and Jemma is able to contact her friends at SHIELD so they can see that she is, in fact, still alive.

19. Long Years Ago (Tony Stark/Victor von Doom)

They bond (see 'Fate's Bonding Scenes'), and Tony legitimately has trouble walking in the morning. While in bed, they discuss strategies for Victor to redeem himself in the public eye without having to reveal his connection to Tony… yet. If that's their only option, they'll go on a talk-show and explain what happened. That would involve a meeting with Pepper, and possibly the board of directors, but Victor's perfectly happy to schmooze while Tony designs stuff on his StarkPad.

It's not just to discuss the effect on Stark Industries, though. They also need to work out what will happen with Latveria. Victor is its ruler, and he can't just give that up, not when he's done so much good for his country. It's a matter of weighing up whether Tony will move to Latveria, leaving Pepper in charge of SI in America, or whether Victor will nominate a new ruler for Latveria and move back to the USA.

On one hand, if Tony can establish a superhero group in Europe, then they don't have to rely on someone else to make the long-haul flight when there's trouble. And since it turns out that SHIELD is back, he can make contact with them. On the other hand, he's already comfortable with the Avengers, and no one knows what would happen to SI stocks if the last remaining Stark moved overseas. As far as Tony's concerned, the shares don't matter, as long as people are still employed and he can be with his soulmate.

After debating over it, Tony moves to Latveria, and he and Victor design environmentally friendly ways to travel; so that, after Victor trains his replacement, he's able to relocate to America with Tony. He remains a long-distance advisor, and the superhero group that Tony formed moves around Europe as needed. He sends design improvements to them, and his Latverian branch of SI creates the new equipment.

20. Mew-Mew Time (Bucky Barnes/Darcy Lewis)

Darcy introduces Bucky to her parents, who are both alarmed and relieved. After all, her soulmark ('Stay out of the way') turned out to be her soulmate trying to keep her safe, not being an asshole. Plus, he's probably going to become an Avenger. However, being an Avenger's soulmate has disadvantages as well as advantages, mainly to do with being a potential target. Just because Bucky is a war hero (born before Darcy's grandparents), and Captain America's best friend, it doesn't mean they won't worry about their little girl. Especially since Bucky was a brainwashed assassin for seventy years.

Fortunately, when it comes to introducing the idea of the Winter Soldier joining the Avengers, Darcy is the mistress of spin. She uses social media and her poli-sci degree shamelessly, and when she proves adept at pulling the public to their side, Pepper nabs her for SI's marketing department on a part-time basis.

Meanwhile, Bucky does everything he can to make sure that he can be a good, safe soulmate for Darcy, because the last thing he wants to do is hurt her. She appreciates the gesture, but points out that you can't get any worthier than being able to wield Mjolnir.

Sorry it's taken awhile to get around to doing the next chapter. I've been having problems with my laptop AGAIN (still), and it doesn't feel like I'm on holidays at the moment; feels like when I was unemployed, to be honest.

Ugh. I'm supposed to be writing, and instead I'm lounging around watching 'The Nanny', playing computer games, and reading fan fiction, rather than being productive. Oops.

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