"Chapters Twenty-One to Thirty"

21. Extremis (Johnny Storm/Pepper Potts)

Johnny takes Pepper under his wing and teaches her how to control her fire power, even though it takes awhile between her CEO duties and his superhero duties. She takes a long time to trust him not to continue his womanising ways, no matter how much he tries to prove himself worthy of her trust, to the point where he's on the brink of giving up. It takes Tony to point out how unfair Pepper is being towards her soulmate, of all people.

She still doesn't want to be a superhero, despite the powers and near-invincibility that Extremis gave her. As she put it to Tony once, 'That was really violent'. She doesn't even like Johnny being a superhero, because she worries about him. Since Johnny has nearly given up, he doesn't realise that she's trying to flirt back (and Pepper is really awkward at flirting, no matter how long she's worked for Tony Stark). She has to hit him around the head with a clue, i.e. an offer to bond, before he catches on.

"Wait, are you serious?" Johnny said, staring at Pepper with wide eyes. "You're not pranking me or something, are you? `Cause that'd be cruel."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm serious. I'm sorry I haven't made myself clear, Johnny."

"The term 'mixed signals' comes to mind."

Pepper poked him. "I've never deliberately flirted to get my own way. I prefer to use professional charm. This is new to me. I didn't mean to screw this up, I really didn't—"

"Hey, hey." He pulled her closer and rubbed her upper arms. "Calm down. Nothing's screwed up. I thought I'd screwed up, because that's what I do."

"No, you've been perfect," she said, leaning into his heat. "Will you bond with me?"

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world," he said. "Yes, I'll bond with you, Virginia Potts."

22. Play With Your Arrow (Clint Barton/Leo Fitz, Alphonso Mackenzie/Wanda Maximoff, Bucky Barnes/Jemma Simmons)

Clint and Fitz talk long into the night about Scotland and the circus and the parts of their work that they can talk about. Fitz describes the months of therapy after his near-drowning, and Clint lets him vent his frustrations. He offers to coach Fitz in self-defence, the playing dirty (not in a fun way) kind, and to teach him better sniping skills to strengthen his muscles. Fitz mutters a poor, inappropriate pun to do with exercising hand muscles and playing with Clint's 'arrow', which makes Clint laugh and Fitz blush.

Mack and Wanda are chaperoned everywhere by Pietro, since the twins don't want to be separated much at first, and because Pietro doesn't trust Mack with his sister, which Wanda finds incredibly embarrassing. She's inexperienced, but Mack's her soulmate, and he'd never hurt her. She doesn't object too much, though, because her power is still fairly unstable, so having her brother there means he can keep an eye out and make sure that Wanda doesn't accidentally manipulate Mack.

While he's still regaining himself, Bucky is reluctant to have Simmons around, but she doesn't want to be kept from her soulmate. Plus, she's a doctor. Not that kind of doctor, and there would probably be ethical issues if she tried to help him like that, no matter how desperate she is to shield him from the evils of the world. Sometimes he's happy to have her around, and sometimes he accuses her of crowding him. But Simmons takes everything because she's not leaving her soulmate when he needs her the most, and he seems perfectly well adjusted most of the time.

Of course, all of this leads to an alliance between SHIELD and the Avengers, after the latter forgive Coulson for keeping his resurrection a secret from them.

23. Dead and Alive (Phil Coulson/Wade Wilson)

Wade wakes up thinking that he dreamed the whole thing, which leads Phil to showing him that even if he dreamt something, reality is so much better. They bond again before even leaving the room, and Phil is suspicious when they don't run into any of his curious agents on the way to breakfast.

Eventually, May joins them, and explains that Phil and Wade were rather 'vocal' during their bonding, which is why the junior agents are avoiding them, due to a combination of embarrassment and awe. May slept soundly, although she heard some of their efforts in the morning during her exercises, and congratulates them. When Wade seems set to chatter her ears off, however, she leaves them to breakfast alone. Although it's probably supposed to be a romantic meal, Phil ends up discussing Wade working for SHIELD, Hunter's suggestion originally. Wade will train as a field agent (not for 'quiet' ops) and will be part of a rescue team if they need him to rescue someone via teleportation.

Whenever Phil gets a headache or has just plain had a long day, he knows that he can join Deadpool in their room, and let Wade's mindless nattering wash over him and cancel out the stress of the day, or bond with him again. Wade never ceases to be amazed by this.

24. Reunion (Jane Foster/Jemma Simmons)

Despite her pleas, Jemma is only allowed to say goodnight to Jane, who is then driven back to her apartment. During the ride, she is interrogated by Jemma's parents, a scary thing, but not as bad as Jemma feared when she speaks to Jane later (number courtesy of Bruce and Tony). Jane's still a little terrified by the next morning, but she's alive, so Jemma's parents probably approve of her. Jemma repeats her wish to keep Jane away from her uncles, which makes Jane curious, but she reins it in for Jemma's sake.

It turns out there's been a betting pool on whether Jane and Jemma are soulmates. Now that it's confirmed, the pool changes to when they'll bond, whether Jane will meet Jemma's mysterious uncles before Jemma drags her back to America, and who'll propose first. No one tells either Jemma or Jane about this, in case they incur the women's wrath.

They do find out about the debates over what nickname to give their pairing. The J Doctors is one. BioStar is another. Simster is Fitz's favourite, for some reason. It still isn't resolved when they both finally sneak back into the country with Tony's help, and end up bonding on the plane. Tony won that bet.

25. On Fire (Johnny Storm/Maria Hill)

Johnny is still reluctant to hand over his cloaked clothing, and he sure as hell wouldn't do it without asking Reed. If it fell at all into the wrong hands, there's no telling what might happen. The fewer people who know, the better.

Maria is more curious about her soulmate than the advanced tech he's been wearing to follow them around. And grateful to him for saving her life. The excessive flirting she could do without, and Susan gives her tips on dealing with Johnny, 'for future reference', though Maria doesn't think she'd actually bond with him. Have sex, yes, but bonding isn't something to jump into when a casual relationship works just as well. Johnny grumbles that the difference is that they're soulmates, but Maria is firm on the point.

Eventually, he gets bored of not being allowed to bond with Maria, and his soulmark on her is fading. Hers is dark enough on him to signal that she's fine with a non-platonic arrangement, but it may as well be platonic for all the romance he's getting. He's been trying to change, and another person points out that being someone else will defeat the purpose of soulmateship. Accepting this, Johnny returns to his old self, without the womanising, though now he's not above flirting with other women.

When Maria finds out, he tells her everything, and she's disappointed in herself, worse so when he says that he doesn't blame her for not wanting a long-term relationship with him. So she promises to try, and they talk more, to find out what it is that makes them perfect for each other on the inside.

26. Strike (Brock Rumlow/Darcy Lewis/Jack Rollins)

It's barely a week before Darcy goes into labour, and she keeps Brock and Jack with her so that she can squeeze their hands and scream at them while she gives birth. She has this superstition, passed down through her family, that anything other than completely natural birth isn't really birth at all. (She blames it on an ancestor having played Macbeth.) Of course, she isn't thinking about any of this during the labour, and when the second child comes it isn't as bad.

Both men have been an absolute rock for her since they were reunited, and are enamoured of their children; it's even possible that the twins are half-siblings. Darcy insists 'never freaking again, or I'm cutting your dicks off'.

"Please tell me they're boys," she begged the ceiling, while a nurse patted her forehead and another delivered the afterbirth. The weirdest sensation, but a lot less painful.

"To carry on the family name?" the midwife asked.

"No," Darcy said. "Screw that. If those two," she pointed at her soulmates, "have fathered daughters, they're going to be the most spoiled and over-protected little girls ever born, I swear to God."

"Don't worry; they're boys this time," Brock said over his shoulder, and Jack grinned.

Darcy glared at them, and as soon as she could, she pointedly closed her legs.

27. Green Flames (Bruce Banner/Johnny Storm)

Bruce is eager to work on a project with Reed, which makes both Johnny and Tony jealous, because Bruce doesn't belong to Reed Richards! His brain belongs to Tony and everything else is Johnny's… obviously. (In Johnny's opinion, everything about Bruce is his, not that he'll ever tell Bruce that.)

The next time the Hulk appears, Johnny requests a chat. Bruce is the only person who doesn't want Johnny to change, and Johnny has quickly become infatuated. The attraction is no longer physical, and it isn't about bonding because they're soulmates.

If the intensity of having sex would be enough to make his soulmate change, bonding could be worse. On the other hand, if a bond would settle him, maybe there'd be less of a chance of involuntary hulk outs?

Johnny explains to the Hulk that they're soulmates, and that he wants nothing more than to bond with Bruce. It wouldn't be physically possible to bond with the Hulk, but once they're connected by the soul, he's sure that will carry over to Bruce's alter ego. And Johnny admires the Hulk, he really does. The Hulk likes Johnny – can't help it, since they're meant for each other – so he promises to stay quiet during the bonding process.

Bruce has forgotten the conversation by the time he wakes up, but Johnny is more than happy to fill him in. Bruce is deeply surprised. Johnny's more interested in pouncing on his soulmate as soon as they're alone, demanding a bond.

28. Cling to Faith and Honour (Phil Coulson/Victor Creed, Logan/Melinda May)

The Avengers and SHIELD do their best to anticipate anyone Creed and Phil intend to kill and get there first, either capturing or taking them out. It's partly to save Phil, and partly to get him back sooner, even though he's too far gone to abandon Creed. Little do they know the full reason he'll stay by his soulmate.

May and Logan grow closer, even though she's skittish about getting into a relationship with him. He's happy to wait as long as it takes; he's been waiting all of his considerably long life, what he remembers of it, so he'll take whatever he can get when she's ready.

In the meantime, Phil is baffled over the changes to his physiology. Being deeply bonded to a mutant has had an effect on him. Old scars have partially cleared, including the ones from Loki's sceptre. (Whenever Creed sees them, he silently swears vengeance against Thor's brother.) But because of Creed's inner Alpha, the bond, his x-gene, and knotting at least twice a day, Phil has ended up carrying Creed's child. They head back to Stark Tower so that Jemma and Bruce can examine Phil and keep track of the pregnancy.

(And he insists on condoms in the future, though they'll probably forget every time.)

29. My Scientist (Darcy Lewis/Jemma Simmons)

Over doughnuts and hot drinks, Darcy and Jemma get to know each other, and what they can talk about regarding their work (very little). Darcy spends a third of the time drooling over Jemma's accent, while Jemma tries to keep her eyes above the neckline, made difficult by Darcy's low-cut top. There's no more talk about what will happen in bed, though it's quickly decided that they'd prefer a non-platonic soulmateship.

When everyone else finds out, Tony and Bruce are torn over who to protect: their wrangler or their new play-mate. In the end, shovel talk duty is handed to Steve, who sits them down and gives them a stern talk about respecting each other's boundaries, not taking things too fast, and then runs out of things to say. Those who are spying on the conversation are either laughing or face-palming. Until he demonstrates how much he knows about sex by giving them detailed tips about eating out a woman. Tony never calls him a virgin again.

As the relationship progresses, it becomes clear that no one's separating them, which means a custody schedule would be useless. So the Avengers and SHIELD have to learn to play nicely. In the meantime, Jemma begins planning a proposal, because she's a traditional girl, damn it!

30. Nothing's Too Broken (Bruce Banner/Leo Fitz/Tony Stark, Phil Coulson/Sam Wilson/Steve Rogers, Jemma Simmons/Pepper Potts/Rhodey Rhodes)

It's impossible to keep the news of the engagement quiet. When Bruce, Fitz, and Tony go down to breakfast with the others, everyone starts smiling at them secretively. At first Tony is sure that JARVIS tattled on them, but it's actually because all three are still wearing their engagement rings. They don't want the news to leave the tower, because who knows what catastrophe might happen? But it's important to inform their friends, and then impress upon them the need for secrecy until the wedding is over.

Phil had a long talk with Sam and Steve, all three sitting in Lola, Phil in the front and his soulmates in the backseat. They agreed to see more of each other, although they've convinced Phil that they're compatible. Or think they have. He's still not entirely sure that he hasn't dreamed a lot of this, and continues to shy from any overtures towards a bond. It's not until Sam forces himself and Steve to back off and give Phil room to breathe that he can think clearly. Bucky is there to support him, and gives Phil the boost of confidence he needs to go further with Steve and Sam.

In a reverse, Jemma has clung to Pepper and Rhodey whenever they've been around, nuzzling up to them and generally being a nuisance. It seems they're quite comfortable in the friendship they had before, although they're willing to go to bed with their soulmate whenever she can coax them there. But they never initiate things, and are often busy. So, feeling a bit neglected, when the opportunity crops up to do a project with Fitz, Bruce, and Tony – after the honeymoon – she leaps into it. Suddenly, she's barely leaving the lab for anything other than sleep and sustenance. On the plus side, all four are incredibly productive, and Jemma sinks back into her Science-Only mindset. So Rhodey and Pepper have to win her back after the project's done.

"Who's interrupting our celebrations?" Tony said, scowling at the ceiling. "JARVIS, we're playing three-dimensional chess!"

"Miss Potts and Colonel Rhodes wish to bond with Dr. Simmons," JARVIS replied.

"We've been to bed before," Simmons said, waving her hand while she kept her eyes on the holographic board. "Tell them to come back later."

"The distinction is that you have not bonded," JARVIS said. "Colonel Rhodes and Miss Potts apologise for neglecting your emotional needs."

"Tell them it's three-dimensional chess!" Fitz said, watching as Simmons made a move.

"They will wait," JARVIS said. Simmons sighed.

"As soon as we're done, I suppose I'll have to see what they're fussing about," she said.

Pepper and Rhodey more than make up for the time they've lost with their third, around the same time Phil and Sam are dozing off the bonding while Steve looks at them, and wonders how he got so lucky. The three-dimensional chess games finish when Fitz mentions whipped cream.

Saucy.

Still writing on the old laptop, and posting from the new one. Can't complain, though. I just hope the kids at school tomorrow behave themselves.

Please review! I'm working on a new chapter for 'Fate Has a Twisted Sense of Humour', and I've got several soulmateships meeting, not just the main one. I'll try to keep the others as background as possible, to test the waters.