"I just wish I knew why they looked so familiar," Ray groaned as they walked into his apartment. Darcy tried not to wrinkle her nose at the pile of dirty dishes on the sink and bong on the kitchen counter. Sure, she'd indulged a bit in undergrad but being around pot now just made her uncomfortable.

"Ray, please drop it," she sighed, lowering her backpack to the floor.

"It's kind of hard to when my girlfriend's got to jacked guys in her apartment. How would you feel if you came here and found Giselle and Miranda sitting in my living room."

"Well, I'd wonder how two Victoria's Secret Angels got simultaneous concussions," she teased, turning to face him. Upon seeing his slightly annoyed expression, Darce stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing a kiss to his lips. "Babe, they're just friends I met through my internship in New Mexico."

"Right, cause those guys are definitely scientists," he sulked.

"Hey, I wasn't a science major and worked with Jane." Ray huffed as his hands roamed down to the swell of her ass and tucked his face into the crook of her neck.

"You swear nothing happened between you and those guys?" Darcy bit her lip before shaking her head. "Darce?"

"Are you roommates home?"

"Shouldn't be – they've got work." She glanced around to see if one of the guys was still there – there had been quite a few times one of the roommates was supposed to be at work and then they'd wander into the living room and interrupt a conversation. Apparently sensing her hesitancy, Ray grabbed her hand and pulled her back go his room.

After tossing a pile of clothes onto an open chair, Darcy perched on the corner of his bed and motioned for him to join her. He leaned against his dresser instead. "So...James."

"The dark haired one who showed up last night?"

"Yeah. He's, uh… Okay, please don't flip about this because it doesn't really mean anything."

"What doesn't mean anything?"

"He'skindofmysoulmate."

"Come again?" Ray frowned.

Darcy groaned and buried her head in her hands, her hair swinging forward to cover her face. "James is kind of my soul mate."

Ray went slack jawed and stared at her for a long moment before rubbing a hand down his face. "So…so this is it then."

"What d'ya mean?" she asked, frowning as he began to pace.

"I mean, you know it's coming when you're dating someone who doesn't have your words but Jesus, Darce! You could have told me before he got here!" Ray said, spinning to face her.

"Whoa, hang on a second!" she said, jumping to her feet. "You don't think…I'm not breaking up with you just because he's here."

"Right," he scoffed. "Because you're gonna stay with me over your soulmate."

"You're damn right I'm going to!"

"You're going to stay with me instead of the guy who is perfect for you? You're crazy, Darce."

"Ok, keep talking like that and I'm not going to be staying with you for much longer," she snapped. "Ray…Hey! Look at me!" Darcy grabbed his elbow and pulled him to a stop. "I know I should have told you about James before but it's not like that between us – we decided that we're not…we're just going to be friends. That's all."

"But why?" Ray asked. "Darcy, he's the guy for you. What'm I next to that?"

"Do I really need to answer that, Mr. Raymond Joseph Carleton soon-to-be Esquire?" she smirked, standing on her toes to kiss him.

"Yeah, kind of," he shrugged, hands closing on her hips. She turned them so his back was to the bed before gently pushing him. Ray bounced on the mattress and smirked as Darcy grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pulled it over her head, tossing it aside and crawling up to straddle his hips.

Her hair dangled around them as she leaned over him to kiss the tip of his nose, "You're the guy I'm choosing to be with, not the guy that's forced on me."

OOO

When they heard her on the stairwell, Steve turned off the television.

"I was watching that," Bucky grunted.

"We've seen that movie a million times." He grunted again and sat up to retrieve his glove from the coffee table just as the key slide into the lock. By the time the door swung open, the glove was in place and he was lounging on the couch again.

"Hey," Darcy said, smiling at her two guests. Ray closed the door behind them and eyed James appraisingly. Catching it, James raised an eyebrow and glanced at Darcy, who rolled her eyes. "So Ray knows about the whole..." she waved her hand between them.

"Okay," James said evenly.

"Yeah…" Ray drawled.

An awkward silence fell over the group before Darcy shook her head and walked back towards her bedroom, leaving the three men to look after her. When she reemerged, her backpack no longer hung from her shoulders and she was pulling up her hair into a messy bun. "So," she said, settling on the floor beside the coffee table; Ray kept leaning against the wall. Steve and James jumped to their feet to offer their spots on the couch but she waved away their gesture and leaned back on her elbows.

"How was your day?" Steve asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

"Eh," she shrugged before glancing back at Ray and patting the ground beside her. He pushed off the wall and joined her, placing a hand on her thigh. "Class and teaching. What'd you guys do? Take in any of the sights?"

Steve looked at James, as though prompting him to speak. "Not really welcomed in this city," he finally grunted.

"Ah, right. The whole…yeah," Darcy nodded, glancing between the two before looking at Ray. "Anyways, what were you guys thinking about for dinner?"

"Well, we were thinking about maybe making it here instead of going out," Steve said. "I ran out earlier and got some things – I hope you don't mind."

"No, that's fine," Darcy smirked. "I have some cash so I can throw in some cash for the groc – "

"No! Please, you let us stay here," he grinned. "It's the least Buck and I could do."

"If you're sure…I really don't mind," she said.

"We can pay our half," Ray chimed in.

"It's fine," James said.

They chatted awkwardly for another few minutes before moving to the kitchen, where Steve refused to let Darcy or Ray help as he made dinner. While he cooked the chicken, James was set to the task of throwing together a salad. Darcy got out her emergency bottle cheap red wine and poured everyone a glass.

Things relaxed for a while with Steve asked Ray about himself. Though it wasn't meant to be an interrogation, she couldn't help but feel like it was a "meet the parents" moment where both James and Steve were trying to gauge whether or not he was a good enough guy.

Which was crazy, because she'd never met Steve before and she and James had agreed to be nothing more than friends.

"What about you? What do you do?" Ray asked.

"Oh, uh," Steve said, glancing at Darcy and raising an eyebrow. She shrugged and took a sip of her wine. "Security, mostly. Tracking down Hydra."

"Bastards," James muttered under his breath.

"Shit," Ray smirked, a bit of awe sneaking into his voice. "That's gotta be pretty cool. So what branch do you work for?"

"Branch?"

"Homeland Security?" Ray asked, "CIA? FBI?"

"Babe," Darcy said, putting a hand on his arm. "They're not…Steve and James don't work for the government."

"But he just said they're…" He started before understanding dawned on him. Slowly, Ray turned back to face Steve. "You're Captain fucking America, aren't you?"

"I prefer Steve," he shrugged.

"But that would make you," Ray continued, turning to face James who looked as though he were daring him to say it. "Darce, can we talk for a minute?"

"Come on," she said, pulling him into her bedroom.

James heard the door click shut which was quickly followed by, "You're soulmate is a fucking Hydra assassin?!"

Major apologies for how long it's been between updates. In a few word explanation, school and work both suck. I already have the next chapter plotted out so it's just a matter of finding time to write it out. I hope you enjoyed this! It was more of a transitional chapter - and sorry to those of you who wanted Ray out of the way ASAP.