"Hot in Winter"

Phil had trained himself not to be surprised by anything. A day when the Avengers didn't argue? He saw it as a blessing. The Winter Soldier turning out to be Bucky Barnes and joining the team? He saw it as a challenge. His soulmark appearing when he was seventeen? He saw it as a test in patience.

The Human Torch suddenly crouching on the car in front of him, when they'd never even spoken before? It was just to keep Phil on his toes.

"Heya, hot stuff, how's it going?"

He snorted. "A double dose of irony; must be my lucky day."

Noticing the silence, he looked up into wide blue eyes. Then the words registered.

Finding out that Johnny Storm was his soulmate? 'Surprised' was an understatement.

"Well, hey there, soulmate," Johnny said, holding out his hand. Phil pursed his lips, and capped off the pen he'd been using as he tallied the usual battle damage. He tucked the pen into his suit pocket; the cold was freezing the ink and making it impossible to write anyway.

"Good day, Mr. Storm," he said, picking up his notepad. He nodded shortly, and then walked off.

"The hell?" Johnny said.

Okay, judging by the soulmark he'd been born with, he'd always figured that his soulmate was gonna be a smartass. He hooked up with anyone willing in the meantime, and made whatever kind of comments he wanted when he met people, hoping to hear those words. He finally heard them, and what? His soulmate just… just walked away from him?

That would not stand.

"Hey!" he called, running after the Avengers' handler. Coulson, wasn't it? He was pretty sure that's what Sue said. Uh… Phil Coulson. That's right. "Phil!"

The agent – he was a SHIELD agent, right? – turned on his heel, and Johnny nearly ran into him.

"Can I help you with something?" he asked. Johnny blinked, surprised.

"Um, yeah," he said hesitantly. "Dinner, maybe? Or celebratory drinks?"

"No, thank you," Phil said, and he began to walk away again. Johnny trotted beside him.

"Okay, we could start with coffee," he said. "Or a movie. Maybe just, I don't know, a talk? C'mon."

"Why?" Phil asked sharply, looking at him from the corner of his eyes. Johnny frowned.

"I… I thought… What you said to me. It's on my skin. It's my soulmark. Here." He pointed at his chest. "D'you wanna see?"

"No, thank you."

"So… oh. What I said to you… isn't your soulmark." He slowed to a stop. Damn. So Phil wasn't his soulmate. Pity; Johnny'd seen Phil fighting when he had to break cover, and he could really move. He'd heard great things about the guy; hence trying to flirt with him.

There was a sigh, and Phil halted where he was. He spoke over his shoulder.

"Yes, it's my soulmark," he said.

Johnny's head snapped up at that.

"What?" he said. "Then why…?"

"Why what?"

Johnny walked over to him. Phil's shoulders tensed up.

"If you're already with someone, just tell me," Johnny said. "I'll be okay." Not great, but he'd deal with the rejection.

"You have no problem with finding bed partners, I understand."

"Shit. Look, that's all over with. I swear. Are you single?"

"Yes."

"Got your eye on anyone?"

"No."

"Then go out with me! Look, we're soulmates." He had no problem with the cold, and unzipped his suit so that he could show Phil the words on his chest. He even snatched the notebook out of his hand and held it up beside the skin. The writing matched perfectly.

"I realise that," Phil said.

"I'll commit to you, only you. You have to know that, Phil. I've tried steady relationships with people, but since none of them were my soulmate, it didn't go anywhere. But you… We belong to each other. Fate says so."

"Fate has a twisted sense of humour."

"I don't know about that."

"Look at us!" Phil said, gesturing between them, and grabbing his notepad back. "This is ridiculous."

"But…" Phil began to stride away again. Pissed off, Johnny dogged his steps. "What is your problem? We're meant for each other."

"We have nothing in common."

"How would you know? Do you know the real me? I mean, this is the first time we've talked to each other, ever. Don't make snap judgements, okay? And don't believe everything you hear or see in the media. Hey!" He snagged Phil's arm and turned him around. "Look at me!"

"Problem?"

"Pro… problem? Yeah, problem! The other half of my soul is rejecting me. You said yourself that you're unattached, that you haven't got the hots for anyone else, but you won't even give me a chance. If our situations were reversed, how would you feel?"

Phil's eyes flashed, and he pulled Johnny's hand away with surprising strength.

"The same way I've felt for a long time," he hissed. "Same way I've felt since my damn soulmark showed up."

Johnny flinched back. "What? Why—"

"Because I was the school nerd! I was the comic book club president. I was in the chess club. I studied. I was nowhere near the cool kids table in school, and I never had been. I took self-defence classes, but sports? I sucked. I was one of the few kids out at my school. Eight weeks before school finished, I was in the gym locker room when it happened. A burning sensation on my back. I used a mirror to check out what it said. One of the cool kids – one of my bullies – saw it. Saw that someone called me 'hot stuff', when I was clearly anything but. I was average, but add the reading glasses and mild acne to all my other list of offences, and I was an easy target. By the end of the day, everyone in school knew that I'd be in my thirties before my soulmate was legal. And to be called 'hot stuff'? As if that was ever going to happen."

"I'm… I'm sorry, but it's not my—"

"They told me it was just gonna be a joke, that my soulmate would never really want me." Phil's chest was heaving, and he was red in the cheeks. "At that age, someone twenty years older than you is considered old. I was going to be a cradle-robber, they said. I was gonna have to pay to get my soulmate to like me, and they'd leave when I hit fifty."

"Shit, Phil—"

"And I shouldn't have believed them. But those are the memories I associated with getting my soulmark. Bullying. The end of my senior year becoming worse than it had been before then. Thinking that you'd… that you'd never want me." His voice dropped, and Johnny reached out to touch him. Phil stepped back.

"It was… it was just a stupid attempt to flirt with you," Johnny said. "A lame line, I know, but I knew it'd get your attention."

"You landed on a car in front of me."

"Yeah, but you didn't look up."

"It made the car dip, and my pen nearly ran all over the page."

Johnny smiled apologetically. "Oops. My bad."

Phil sighed. "Look, it isn't a good idea."

"You won't even let me give you some good memories to replace the bad ones?" Johnny managed to take one of Phil's hands in his. They were cold, and he frowned, before stepping close and exuding warmth. "I understand the love of suits – you really do them justice – but it's snowing. Even Hawkeye's wearing sleeves, it's that cold out. Do you really need to freeze your… assets off, just for the sake of looking good? Personally, I think you'd look cute, rugged up and wearing a woollen hat with a bobble on top."

Phil rolled his eyes, and Johnny mentally patted himself on the back for the small smile he dragged out. "I'd still wear a tie."

"Ties are very useful."

He sighed, but he didn't move away from Johnny's heat. "I'm nearly twenty years older than you—"

"I'm in my thirties; you're hardly cradle-snatching."

"And I'm scarred."

"Yeah, you're a SHIELD agent, formerly field, now handler of the Avengers. Pretty sure scars come with the territory."

Phil rubbed his left arm, and Johnny moved closer.

"You heard that I had an encounter with Thor's brother?"

"You died temporarily."

"His spear nicked my heart, going right through the centre of my soulmark. You can still make out most of the words, but with the stitches… The doctors were practical, not artistic."

Johnny's heart broke for him. He pulled Phil forward, with less reluctance than the agent displayed before.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "Just so you know? It doesn't change anything between us. I still want to take you out to dinner, see where this could go. Won't you let me? You're my soulmate for a reason, Phil. I… I didn't know you were my soulmate when I flirted with you. Just seemed like a bonus to me when you said my words. I thought I'd finally found the one person who'd be willing to be stuck with me forever."

"But—"

"Please?" Johnny looked at him, trying to show how earnest he was about this. "Let me try to convince you I'm worth a shot? If you really don't want to go out with me because I'm me, I'll leave you alone. But if you're objecting because of your insecurities, then stop. I'm not gonna give up if there's a chance. Okay?"

Phil studied him, and then slowly nodded. "Okay. A date."

When he realised that this was positive confirmation, Johnny grinned widely. Then he hauled Phil close and stole a kiss.

Gah! I'm terrible at not writing angst. But I knew all along that it wouldn't be smooth sailing. I promise! Happiness will be written at some point! I… I think.

Erm.

Yeah.

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