"That's wonderful!" Peggy trilled before asking, "How am I just now hearing about it?!"

"I'm sorry, we've been awfully busy; I came as soon as I could though!"

"I saw that fight on the television! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I promise."

"What about…" she bit her lip, asking uncertainly while her eyes suddenly began to glisten, "Did my senile old mind dream up Steve being with you?"

"Oh, no, Aunt Peg! He… he was, yes."

The tears began to fall as she whispered, "Steve?"

"Yeah, Steve. He, ah, lives in my new Tower now."

"How am I just now hearing about it?!" she repeated, this time at a much higher, unhappy pitch.

"I was busy! I am so sorry!" Tony apologized, beginning to panic. It had been a long time since he'd heard that pitch, and it was never a good sign. "I can tell him you're here as soon as I get back to the Tower!"

"You'd better, young man!"

"I will," Tony promised, trying to calm her down – but the damage had already been done and a nurse came to stand in the doorway, demanding, "I think you need to let her rest now, Mr. Stark. You can come back tomorrow if you like."

"Someone else will be coming instead," Aunt Peggy said firmly, and the way she looked at him told him he'd better make sure exactly that happened.

Tony nodded nervously, jerking to his feet and dropping a kiss onto her temple before he high-tailed it out of that room. He was halfway home before he began to sort through their conversation, realizing that not only had her answers not deviated from what he'd always heard, but she'd actually managed to get him off topic.

He blew out a frustrated breath, muttering, "I guess that's what you get when you try to question a SHIELD director and an interrogator's wife."

He'd meant what he'd told Pepper, though; if anyone could understand the desire to keep their soulbonds a secret, he could. Maybe it would be best to let things reveal themselves in their own time – because he knew for a fact that things like this did always come out.

Maybe, he thought suddenly, he could trip Steve up when he told him where he could find Aunt Peggy! The very idea had him gunning it back to the Tower and hollering for JARVIS to tell him where Steve was the moment he parked the car.

…But Steve didn't give a thing in the world away. He was apparently smarter and had more of a clue then Tony had given him credit for.

"I'd be more than happy to see Peggy again," Steve said neutrally. "A familiar face might be just what I need."

"You sure she's not something more to you, Cap?"

Steve paused before flushing and admitting, "We were a… a nice distraction for each other from the war, I guess, yeah."

"Fair enough," Tony answered, turning and walking away before he could say anything he might later regret.

He didn't want to risk it when all of this "team" stuff was so new to them all. There was a bigger picture at play here then his own suspicions, and he would have to keep that in mind… for as long as it took for the real truth to come out.

June, 2014

Loki slipped into Avengers Tower two years after he'd left it. Though ruling Asgard for so long had left him something of a changed man – tamer, more considerate, more at peace with himself, in his own opinion – he knew his presence still might be an unwelcome one, so he waited until he knew the residents of Thor's level would be asleep and magicked himself into his bedroom without a sound. Even in the darkness, he could see that the room was still unfinished, and he sighed softly.

"Hello again, Loki."

This time he didn't jump when the ceiling spoke to him softly, just said, "Hello, JARVIS."

"How was your time as king?"

"Not what I thought it would be. The All-Father was unhappy when he awoke to find me leading the realms, no matter how well I did at the job, but that was to be expected. I pleased Mother and Thor, though, so that will hopefully mean something positive in regards to my redemption. Speaking of which, I've returned to complete my original mission here. How are Thor and Jane?"

"They're in the bedroom two doors down and to the left; they're extremely happy. Your mission where they're concerned is certainly complete. They married last year, as did Agents Barton and Romanoff and Mr. Stark and Miss Potts."

"Marvelous! Who does that leave on the list?"

"It is midnight, Loki," JARVIS said suggestively.

"And I'm not tired. Catch me up on everything that's happened since I left."

"That's going to be a lot considering that SHIELD just fell apart."

"Then you'd best start talking."

So JARVIS did… for hours, but at the end of it Loki wasn't ready to end the conversation; he was ready to move on to a different topic, asking the question, "And the captain's soulmate is… who?" Loki cocked his head to the side, realizing, "I actually don't know anything about his soulmate."

"Well," JARVIS drawled dryly. "We'll start there. According to the hacked SHIELD files, he has numerous soulmates – seven, to be exact."

"Oh Norns," Loki groaned, throwing his head back. "This is why the All-Father decided upon this punishment. The captain's soulmates are going to be a ridiculous issue, aren't they?"

"It gets better. Margaret Carter is currently an old woman in a nursing home, Sergeant Barnes has just resurfaced as the brain-washed Russian assassin I mentioned, The Winter Soldier, and the other five… well, they're dead. Make a happily ever after out of that, trickster."

"Where would you suggest I start?" Loki ground out, forcing himself to ignore the AI's taunting.

"Considering everything that's stacked against the probability of this working out, the sergeant is most likely going to be the easiest place to start… which just shows you how difficult this is going to be. But you enjoy a challenge, don't you?"