A/N: Am I sorry for leaving the last chapter on a cliffhanger? Not really ;) You might hate me for the end of this chapter, though. I hope you all enjoy it anyway!

Chapter Eight

Revelations

Natasha raised both her eyebrows, her lips now fully curled into an amused grin, while Clint barked out laughter loud enough to earn a few side glances from the other patrons. I slumped back in my seat and sipped at my coffee, hating being laughed at while simultaneously being glad they weren't upset.

Clint wiped at his eyes, struggling to contain his laughter. Was it really that funny?

"I… You… I can't believe you thought something as ridiculous as that would make us upset," he wheezed out, shaking his head. "You do know who you're talking to, right?"

"Yes, I do. But I also took into the consideration that you're human beings with human feelings." I paused as the waitress came back with our food, and when the large plate holding the burger and fries I ordered was put in front of me, I immediately dug in. "You're not just some movie characters anymore, which, admittedly, I'm still getting used to."

There was a strange look in Natasha's eyes, like she was seeing me for the first time. "I think I've seriously underestimated you, Beth."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sure you know that you've been deemed a threat since you arrived," she replied, and I nodded my agreement. "It doesn't matter who your soulmates are, you came here under unknown circumstances, and into the very heart of our home where we're supposed to be safest."

"I'm sensing there's a 'but'," I said, mimicking her words from earlier.

She smiled. "But, I underestimated your humanity. I've seen no reason to believe you've lied to us at all, so taking that into account, it's actually quite amazing how well you're adjusting to everything. Like you said, we were movie characters in your world, and our feelings could mean nothing to you. And yet you take them into consideration."

"Wow, thank you." Did the deadly Black Widow - probably the most detached and dangerous woman in the world - just compliment me? "And you're welcome, of course."

The red-head shared a glance with her soulmate, before turning back to me. It was Clint that spoke, though.

"Please don't take this personally, but you have to understand that we still don't entirely trust you. You may not have lied yet, like Nat said, but we still know nothing about you while you know God-knows how much about us. And we'd really appreciate if you didn't share anything without consulting us about it first."

"We are glad you told us about our movie relationships away from the rest of the team, though." Natasha added, her smile from earlier looking more like a smirk again. "Bruce is awkward enough already."

"Poor guy," I laughed. "But yeah, you don't have to worry about me spilling any secrets. I think that's probably about it, really. Maybe there were some little things here and there, but lots of stuff that was mentioned was also never explained."

"Like what?"

"Budapest. I'd sell my soul to Satan to know what happened in Budapest."

Natasha actually laughed. "Consider your soul safe, then." She grinned as she ate her steak and salad.

"Sometimes even I don't think I know what happened in Budapest." Clint winked at us, digging into his own burger, then said around a mouthful of food, "You wanna head back to the tower after this?"

I pulled a face at him. "Yeah, I guess… Wait, no, I need to go to the chemist and get my prescription first."

"Fiiiiiine."

Turns out I'd not only forgotten to get a handbag and purse, but also socks of all things. I had the thigh-highs I'd been wearing when I'd arrived last night, but I definitely needed more than just those.

We got back to the tower just after two, and after spending the next hour organizing everything into my new closet perfectly (it shouldn't have taken so long, but I reorganized it twice), I decided to go find myself a small snack. It was still a few hours before dinner, and I was starting to feel a little peckish. I'd sometimes have some fruit to snack on while I shopped, but didn't today.

Steve and Bucky were in the lounge room, watching some 80s movie I'd never seen. Probably something Sam had recommended. They'd been watching it when I'd gotten back, so I assumed it'd be nearing the end soon.

After shooting them a small smile but not saying anything, lest I interrupt the movie, I headed towards the kitchen. I knew it was well-stocked; this morning I'd ransacked the place for coffee, and found enough food to last me several years during an apocalypse. But I assumed it was a week's worth of food for the two super soldiers with their super metabolism.

Craving some fruit after my salty lunch, I looked through their fruit bowl for some bananas. None. Absolutely none. There were apples, pears, plums, and a few avocados, but not a damn banana in sight. Groaning, I opened the fridge and leaned in. Among the meat, veggies, bottled water, and a case of beer, were a few punnets of strawberries and blueberries. I didn't exactly expect to find some bananas in the fridge, but I was disappointed none-the-less.

I grabbed both the berries and moved to the breakfast bar. "Fuck everything."

The movie must've ended, because Steve and Bucky were making their way over.

"What's up?" Steve asked, leaning on the bar across from me. Bucky sat on the stool to my left.

"Did you eat all your bananas or something?" I pouted, popping a blueberry in my mouth. Bucky grabbed one to eat as well. "Because I just really want a fucking banana but you don't have any."

Bucky laughed, grabbing a strawberry next. "That's because modern bananas taste like shit."

Um, did he just…? Oh no, that was not okay. "Have you been eating them before they're completely ripe or something?"

"No," Bucky rolled his eyes, "they're just different from the ones Stevie and I grew up with."

"Okay, then why don't you just buy those then?" Seriously, bananas were the best and it was taking all of my self-control not to get super offended.

Steve laughed, easing the tension. "It's because they don't exist anymore. Apparently some plague wiped them out in the fifties."

"And now we're stuck with bananas that aren't as sweet or creamy," Bucky finished.

Sweeter and creamier than normal bananas? I couldn't imagine that. "Well that's a damn shame then, I'd have loved to try them. But I still love normal bananas. In fact, next time I go out, I'll buy myself a bunch."

Bucky pulled a face. "Please don't."

"Bucky," Steve warned.

I rolled my eyes. "They'll be mine. You so much as look at them wrong and I can promise you'll be sorry. Now stop eating all the berries. I'm hungry."

Just to spite me, Bucky grabbed one last blueberry with a cheeky grin. He got up and helped Steve make some large salad sandwiches. The thought crossed my mind that they'd be too full for dinner, until I remembered that they needed more food than regular people.

In fact… I looked to the living room, and sure enough, I could just see a large bowl on the coffee table, empty save for a few popcorn kernels. Damn, their grocery bill must be expensive.

"How do you guys afford your metabolism?" I wondered aloud. "I mean, Tony's generous enough to let you live here and all, but I doubt he pays for your food."

"Several decades worth of military back pay." Steve explained absently, like he answered this question all the time. "We both managed to rack up millions of dollars."

If I had a drink, I would've spat it out. "You're both millionaires?"

"Yep," Bucky grinned. "The paperwork was a bitch, but once it was all done, we were sorted for life. I'm officially retired."

"I'd expect you to be, at your age."

He flicked a piece of grated carrot at me. "That's not nice."

"Neither are you," I said, flicking the piece right back.

Steve groaned, but when he looked at us, he seemed content. "You two are such children."

It suddenly occurred to me that while I knew these two men from the movies, I didn't actually know them on a deeper level. And what did they know about me? That I was a foul-mouthed Aussie fangirl from a different universe? I loved coffee and shopping? That wasn't much. And yet we got along so well. When I tried to distance myself from them, I still found myself drawn into conversations, even light ones like these.

"Why aren't we more awkward with each other?" I asked suddenly. "Like, we don't even know each other very well at all, but talking to you both is so easy and just comes so naturally. I mean, if anything, I should be fangirling or something."

Bucky looked at me funny. "Isn't it obvious?"

"What's obvious?"

"It's because we're soulmates." Steve clarified, smiling gently. "If we hadn't have been marked the moment we met, then sure, it could've been more awkward. But because we were, the bond prevented that."

That just made it sound like the soulbond was controlling my actions, and it was something I definitely didn't like. "So it's not even us, then?"

Bucky gave Steve a gentle shove. "Don't listen to him. It would've been the same as it is now, because you get marked when you're ready to get marked, not any earlier, and not any later. We were marked instantly because we didn't need prior time to get to know each other better. Besides, it's not always not awkward. I mean, you still make Steve blush."

That was true, and it was damn fun to do so. "So I would've gotten along with you both anyway. Does the soulbond enhance that in any way?"

"A little bit, yeah."

Okay, great, that meant I'd have to try extra hard to distance myself from these two. Because now I knew. We would've gotten along well, soulmates or not, but the bond in place was actively keeping me from what I wanted to do.

Shit, I'd have to actually ignore them entirely if I ever wanted this to work.

"I, uh, I have to pee."

It was a lame excuse, and Steve and Bucky knew it, if the concerned look they gave each was anything to go by.

But they let me go to my room with no protests, and didn't bother me at all, even though I didn't come out until it was time for dinner.

The food was already spread out over the two coffee tables when we arrived at the common room, the scent of Chinese takeout filling the air. My immediate reaction was to deny the food - I'd gotten food poisoning from cheap Chinese far too many times in my life - but I forced the feeling away and decided, fuck it. Despite my bad experience with it, I adored Chinese food (and Japanese… and Korean…)

I'm damn glad I didn't turn down the food, because it was probably the best I'd ever tasted. No doubt Tony had the best place in New York on speed dial.

We'd all settled in with our food, the super soldiers flanking my sides as usual (which made it all the more difficult to ignore them), when Bruce emerged from the lab and came over to join us. He took a seat on the couch next to Thor.

"Uh, hi," he said nervously, reaching for some sweet and sour pork.

My hand paused, holding a forkful of honey chicken halfway to my mouth. "Hey Bruce." I grinned.

"Sorry I haven't come to meet you yet." He smiled sheepishly. "I have the Other Guy under control most of the time, but I still like to be careful around unknown threats, like young women who appear in the tower out of thin air one day."

"I understand, don't worry about it." I waved him off, popping some more chicken in my mouth.

He seemed relieved with my answer, and finally began digging into his own food. "We haven't made much progress with determining where the energy on your sweatshirt came from, or why it sent you here, so we've contacted Dr Selvig to come check it out."

"He's the portal expert," Tony added, grinning lazily. "But he's busy right now, and won't be able to come check it out for another month at least."

"You better be paying him well. I don't want him taking time out of his busy schedule to come look at something that isn't particularly important to me. I mean, I love that hoodie and all, but the energy or whatever is something I don't wanna remember anytime soon. It hurt like a bitch."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Not only will I be paying him extremely well, but he's also very excited to see what we've got. Thor took a look and said it's nothing like he's ever seen before."

"It isn't," Thor confirmed, brows pulling together in a frown. He honestly looked like a confused puppy. "Not even Loki's magic compares to whatever that energy is."

"Huh, weird." Though I was a little intrigued, I also wasn't feeling the excitement that the others were. Maybe I'd feel more interested when they actually found the answers they were looking for, and I… "Do I get my hoodie back once you figure all this shit out?"

"Yes, you'll get your ugly hoodie back." Tony rolled his eyes.

I plastered on an absurdly bright smile. "Jarvis, can you please tell Tony that he's an asshole?"

"I would, Miss Clarke, but I'm afraid he already knows."

Clint spat out his food while Tony gaped, glaring into the ceiling.

"Jarvis, you traitor!"

Trying to hold back my laughter, I quickly finished off my food, surreptitiously trying to ignore the amused smiles Steve and Bucky were sending my way. Like last night, exhaustion began to creep up on me and make my limbs feel heavy and my mind start to wander. I glanced at the super soldiers next to me. They still seemed quite awake, and I knew if I wanted to leave on my own, then I had to do so now.

"I think I'm gonna head off," I told them all, already getting off the couch. "Even with last night's good sleep, the last two days have exhausted me."

Steve looked ready to hop up. "Okay, we'll head back with you." He turned to look at Bucky, who nodded in agreement.

"Oh, no, it's okay. You guys stay here."

Clint grinned. "Yeah, she doesn't need to be chaperoned."

"Are you sure?" Bucky asked, though unlike Steve, he made no move to get up. Good.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I'm sure."

"Before you go," Natasha quickly interrupted. "We need you to meet us here at ten tomorrow morning. We'd like to talk to you about some things that might help our upcoming mission."

Ah, they meant the mission in Sokovia to get the scepter. "I'll be here. Night everyone."

After a chorus of goodnights from the team, I headed back to the apartment and my room completely alone. Ignoring Steve and Bucky seemed easy enough in theory, and I believe I pulled it off well, yet it had been a little harder than I'd anticipated. I just really hoped they wouldn't pick up on what I was doing.

A/N: Bananas really were different for Steve and Bucky. They were called Gros Michel bananas and the only place they're available these days are in some south Asian countries (not sure which ones).

My chapters are just a bit longer in this chapter. Do y'all like that? Should I make them shorter again? Idk, just experimenting with my writing style.

You're all probably gonna love/hate the next chapter ;)