"Tony!" Thor cried jubilantly when he saw Tony two days later – just as the voice called JARVIS had predicted. "I have something to ask of you."

"What's that, Point Break?" Tony asked cheerfully, coming off of the elevator and into the common area with Miss Potts and Dr. Banner and slinging one arm around the waist of each as they settled on a couch.

"I would like for my soulmate, Jane, and her companions, Darcy and Dr. Selvig, to move into my quarters in the Tower."

"Soulmate, huh? Where are they from – planet-wise?"

"Midgard – they reside in England, currently. Surely you know of Dr. Selvig at least?"

"One of the guys Loki…"

"He's more than just a 'guy'," Tony!" Dr. Banner protested. "He's a brilliant astrophysicist!"

"So is Jane," Thor added helpfully. "And Darcy is a student of…" he paused for a moment to search for the words he needed. "Poli-sci… though I'm not sure what that means."

"Political sciences," Pepper supplied, a thread of excitement finding its way into her voice. "Please can they, Tony?"

"I'd love to have Dr. Selvig here," Bruce added hopefully. "He and Jane would die over the labs!"

Seeing Thor's look of alarm, Clint assured him. "It's a figure of speech, Thor; it means they'd like the labs."

Tony looked to his right – meeting Bruce's hopeful gaze – and then to his left – Pepper's equally pleading stare – and nodded informing Thor helplessly, "Mi casa es su casa."

Now the god was confused and Clint barely held back a chuckle as he translated, "That means yes."

Thor grinned unabashedly, saying brightly, "You have my thanks!"

"Would you, uh, like me to give her a call for you?" Pepper asked with a smile, thinking back to the one – and only – time they'd let Thor use a cell phone. No one even dared bring up Skype yet.

"That would be appreciated," Thor replied gratefully.

"I'll do it first thing in the morning," Pepper agreed with a smile.

"Well, now that that's decided on," Tony said loudly. "Let's discuss soulmates a little more… 'cause SHIELD hacks let me in on a couple of things that I want out in the open. First off, I would like to announce that Bruce is mine and Pepper's third."

Thor was quick to offer his congratulations, as was Steve… once he relaxed muscles that had tensed at Tony's first mention of discussing soulmates. Clint and Natasha both just raised their eyebrows in perfect tandem, Clint snorting as Natasha smirked and declared, "We know."

"And everyone else has figured out that you two are soulmates," Tony pointed out.

Clint smiled – a real, rare, genuine smile – at Natasha and pulled her into his lap, declaring proudly, "Yes, we are."

"Good for you for admitting it," Tony smirked. "What changed your mind?"

The assassins looked at one another, seemingly coming to a decision, before Clint said, "Not telling."

"Spoilsport," Tony complained before turning to Steve and asking, "What about you, Capsicle?"

Steve stiffened again, almost imperceptibly, repeating Clint's, "Not telling."

"You're going to make me guess?" Tony asked, narrowing his eyes as he repeated, "Because your SHIELD file did reveal some interesting things."

"Shut up, Stark," Steve snapped, instantly on the defense.

"I'm not making fun of you," Tony assured him. "But I'm curious, considering that I all but grew up in your shadow."

"Tony," Pepper warned, laying a hand on his thigh. "Don't."

"That's not my fault, Stark; I was kind of out of it while you were growing up. I can't help what Howard did."

"Hey…" Pepper put her hand on Tony's cheek, forcing him to look her in the eye as she reminded him, "At least you had the Jarvis's, right?"

"That's kind of my point," he muttered under his breath.

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked from his other side.

Tony looked at Steve for a very long minute – Steve knew he saw Tony glance straight at his right arm – before he shoved off of the couch and stalked towards the elevator with a mumbled, "I just saw something wrong."

Something. Steve rubbed self-consciously at the cloth that was covering his right elbow… and the words that had once been maroon. Had Tony somehow seen the writing… and could the handwriting possibly be familiar?

Bruce and Pepper waited all of two minutes before Pepper asked JARVIS, "Where's Tony now?"

"His lab."

"Where else?" Bruce muttered, standing from the couch and offering his hand to Pepper for her to do the same. "Come on; let's go check on our boy."

Pepper hadn't even stepped off of the elevator before she was asking loudly, "What's going on, Tony? What was that back there?"

"Nothing worth repeating," the billionaire muttered, not looking up from the gadget that he was tinkering with.

"Tony…" Pepper coaxed, going to wind her arms around his waist.

"Okay, you know what, it's nothing. I told you that I thought I saw something wrong… and if I didn't somehow – if I saw it right – I still really don't want to talk about it. I promise it won't come up again."

"That doesn't tell us if you're okay, Tony," Bruce pointed out.

"I'm okay," Tony parroted convincingly. "Anyway, it doesn't really matter… not anymore, so much."

"How," Pepper asked curiously. "Were the Jarvis's your point? That is what you said, isn't it?"

"That's part of what doesn't matter."

"Then what does matter?"

Tony sighed. "I'm not going to say, okay? If nothing else… Steve obviously wants his privacy on the subject, and we, if anyone, can respect that."

"Since when do you care about protecting Steve?" Bruce asked.

"I'm trying to be a good leader here – for the entire team!" Tony said, starting to lose his patience. "Please let me do that!"

Both of his soulmates stared at him long and hard for a moment before Bruce agreed meekly, "Okay."

"Okay," Tony repeated, relaxing against Pepper's hold, though he still didn't look up from his project. "I'm okay. You can leave me alone if you want to. Go check on poor, lonely Capsicle."

"He's fine," Pepper said instantly.

Tony sighed and Pepper and Bruce exchanged a look before Pepper nodded and headed towards the elevator, declaring, "I'm going to go make sure that Thor's level is ready for Jane and her friends."

"And I," Bruce said, dropping a hand onto Tony's shoulder. "Am not going anywhere. What are you working on here?"