Peggy was really working very hard to fight off the visual image of ripping the heads off of Thompson and Sousa even as she sat in the middle of the automat. As always, though, a few words from Angie coaxed a smile from her and when her soulmate went back to work, Peggy got up from her seat to buy a piece of pie.

When she returned to her seat, there was a note on the napkin at her table, reading, "Meet me in the alley in 5 minutes." And she knew that handwriting, seeing as it was the same style as the maroon Miss Carter? that was on her right ankle.

No, Peggy told herself firmly. That's absolutely not what's going on here. She was just thinking about Thompson and Sousa too much, that was all. She was too fixated on her soulmates at the moment and was imagining things because of it.

There really was only one way to find out.

She wolfed down her pie, slapped money down on the table for Angie to find, and then headed out the back entrance the prescribed five minutes later.

"Miss Carter?" came instantly from the darkest shadows of the alley the moment she stepped outside.

"Do I know you?" she asked, thinking that just maybe she knew the man behind the distinctly British accent.

That would make whatever was about to happen simpler, wouldn't it? But, no, she realized as he stepped into the weak light of a street lamp, she'd never seen him before in her life. So here she went again… number six.

"Oh," he drawled. "We haven't had the pleasure, but we may yet; you're coming with me."

Headlights flared to life in a car behind him, and Peggy's instincts kicked into gear. She slugged her soulmate in the face so hard he fell and then she made to run for it as the car sped after her, only to realize that her way out was a one way door and she was stuck where she was with a car coming at her. So she did the only sensible thing she could think of and shot the tire.

The car swerved and skidded to a stop in front of her, and the next thing she knew, she was staring into the face of Howard Stark as he deadpanned, "I know; I should've called first."

How, Peggy thought in exasperation do I end up finding myself in these situations?!

But the idea of actually having something important to do, something with which to prove herself was too tempting to pass up when Howard offered it to her, no matter what it meant in the long run. Especially if it meant that she got to get to know the man Howard said was named Edwin Jarvis – his butler, her… well, married soulmate. But of course, nothing in her life could be perfect.

But if there was one thing that she and Mr. Jarvis agreed on instantly. They didn't discuss the fact that they were soulmates; it was understood without being discussed that he had Anna and therefore wanted nothing but friendship from Peggy. What Peggy wanted from him? Well, she wasn't sure at first glance, but since he seemed to be sincere, she let it go his way.

But then Coleen died and Peggy fell apart – too many losses, too many, too much, too fast – and she already knew that she couldn't call Angie, couldn't tell her any of this. So she called Mr. Jarvis – and where did her scattered brain pick for a meeting place? The automat.

Stupid girl! She wondered if Mr. Jarvis would be capable of lying to save his own life, let alone keep the necessary secrets if he realized that Angie was one of his soulmates. Peggy already knew that they were because Angie had stopped by her apartment for a visit one evening and they'd ended up half-naked together, showing one another all their soulmarks. And just like with Bucky and Steve, all of them were identical and all seven of them were still there.

More secrets to be kept from yet another soulmate, but she had to say something to him to keep Angie safe and him uncompromised, didn't she? She didn't see how there was any other way.

So the moment she slid into the booth with their backs to one another, she asked quietly, "Who did you order that coffee from?"

"I believe her nametag said 'Mary,'" he answered in confusion. "Is that important?"

"What is important is that you don't speak to a different waitress, Angie."

His voice was slow, and she could tell she'd piqued his curiosity as he asked simply, "Why?"

"Save yourself from having to lie to her if you can help it; trust me, it's not enjoyable."

"She's one of our soulmates?" he asked a little bit stiffly.

There was no need for her to lie to him about this, was there? He would understand why she was asking him to do this, wouldn't he? "Yes."

She couldn't see his reaction and got the feeling that she should be glad for that as he muttered, obviously upset, "Pink words?"

"Yes…?"

She wanted to ask how he'd known that, but he was too quick to change the subject, saying stiffly, "Very well. Now, why exactly did you call me down here?"

So Peggy allowed the change of topic and poured out the story that she wanted to tell him. Angie never came up in conversation again, but Peggy was quick to get close to Mr. Jarvis – despite her head telling her to keep distance between them – and him to her. They never really discussed Angie, or Anna, or any of their soulmates, until that one quiet moment in the house of Howard's that she was staying at when he was stitching up her bloodied knee and somehow the topic turned to Steve.

She didn't have the heart to tell him that Steve was one of their soulmates; it seemed too cruel with what Angie had inadvertently told her the evening before when she'd stopped at the automat for an after-work coffee and chat with her female soulmate.

"You know that man you talked to in here once? The stuff-shirt suit? He's been back in here almost every other day since that first time."