"Defrosting"

Leo Fitz was only a junior when he and Jemma were assigned to the team watching over Captain America after he came out of the ice. Jemma was there to keep an eye over his physical progress, Leo to maintain the equipment regulating his recovery.

It was incredible that the man was still alive, after all this time. Who knew what his mental state was going to be? But physically, he was fine.

Very fine. Leo had always been fluid, sexuality-wise. He could admit to having a crush on Jemma, which was only natural. She was pretty, intelligent, and they just… clicked. People already called them FitzSimmons. It sounded nice. Leo could get used to it.

Steve Rogers was big, of course. Muscular. Jemma blushed when they had to cut him out of the suit, and Leo couldn't blame her. If he'd had to brush against all that smooth flesh covering hard muscles, he'd be hard put not to start drooling. As it was, he'd had a hard enough time keeping his mind on work with all of that in front of them.

"Lovely, isn't it?" Jemma whispered.

"Very," he said. As they all filed out, he paused by the table, and rested his hand beside the captain's. "Don't worry about a thing, captain." Then he followed Jemma to the door.

He wouldn't see Captain America in person again for a very long time.

Steve woke up to a new world. He didn't expect to have a soulmark; he didn't have one before the crash, so why would he have one now?

Which is why it was a hell of a shock, the first time he actually saw his backside in a mirror, to read a long set of words.

"The hell?" he exclaimed, craning his neck and stepping closer to the glass. His quick mind turned the letters around the right way. 'Don't worry about a thing, captain. Do you s'pose you could help me over here?'

Well, whoever it was clearly knew his identity. Since no one was supposed to know outside of SHIELD, when Nicholas Fury asked for Steve to come and help them save the world, he agreed. With any luck someone's first words to him would be a reassurance, and then a plea for help. Where else was he likely to find them?

But no. New York was a washout. He didn't find anyone during his exploration of America. And in DC? Everything went to hell.

"Got some intel on the last known location of the Winter Soldier," Sam said, dropping a file on the coffee table in front of Steve. "Thought you'd appreciate hard copies; more difficult to doctor."

"I don't know about that," Steve muttered, remembering some of the people he'd met during the war, and their various 'talents' being used in less-than-legal ways. He opened the folder and thumbed through the grainy pictures. But it sure did look like Bucky, or what Bucky'd become. "I'm gonna follow this up."

"Info's a couple days old. Only sorry it took so long to get."

"But it's a starting-off point," Steve said, standing. "Where was it taken?"

In the end, it didn't matter. Someone else got to him first, and Steve was pissed when he found out who it was.

Phil shrank back in his computer chair, an instinctive reaction to Steve Rogers glaring at him. Disappointing Captain America was nowhere near his life's ambition, so he swallowed delicately and opened his mouth.

"Better think before you speak," the Falcon advised. Phil nodded.

"Can I help you with something?" he said.

"Maybe you could tell me how you came to be not dead," Steve said through gritted teeth. Phil cleared his throat.

"I will, if you talk me through all of your triggering experiences during the war," he said, raising an eyebrow. Steve's frown deepened.

"I don't talk about those for a reason," he said. "Least of all to a stranger who I thought was an ally."

"And I don't talk about the traumatic events which have happened to me for a reason, captain. Tell me, were you ever put through such pain, such an unnatural procedure, begging for death again until you're hoarse but for it to be denied?" Phil scowled as Steve remained silent. "Well? Because if you were, then maybe we could start a club. In the meantime, you want specifics? You talk to Dr. Simmons. If you want to see Sergeant Barnes, go to my engineer, Fitz. He's working on the electronics. Something happened to the arm. He keeps having to sedate Barnes, so if you could help him out, that would be appreciated." He pointed to the door with his pen. "Go."

Sam Wilson gave him a small wave on the way out, and Phil waved back. After both men were gone, he slumped over the desk and let his forehead touch the surface. It was just going to be one of those days, wasn't it? Time to let the rest of the Avengers know that he was alive, then.

Leo barely even looked up when someone joined him. It couldn't be an enemy, or they never would've been let in. From his peripheral, he could tell that it was someone tall and muscular, which was good. With Mack performing emergency surgery on one of the cars the Winter Soldier had run into, he was down a person.

"Do you s'pose you could help me over here?" he asked loudly. Barnes was stirring again, and Leo didn't have time to keep making sedatives. He needed someone to administer the rest of what they had while he finished work on the arm. He had Barnes's permission, but after the pain set in he requested to be put under, placing a huge amount of trust in them. Leo had no idea what made him agree, and he wasn't going to question it.

Slowly, the tall man walked over.

"So you're the engineer," he murmured. "Tell me what you need me to do?"

It took a second for Leo to decide which issue to address first.

"Ah," he said. "Right. Erm, perhaps we could talk about that later? Right now, I need you to hold this here – that's right – while I load up the last of this. It should last another half hour, and I'll be done in less than ten minutes, but better to err on the side of caution."

His helper was, indeed, helpful, and Leo was done in the promised ten minutes. He made Barnes more comfortable for when he woke up, ensured there was nothing lethal in reach, and then smiled up at the man who'd shown up at just the right time.

And stared.

"You're… you're Captain—"

"Steve Rogers," he said, holding out a hand. Leo shook his hand, processing the last quarter of an hour.

"Aye," he said. "I know. I was… I was there when…"

"When what?"

"You were… you were frozen, from the ice, and I helped with the machines to defrost you."

"Um… thank you?"

"You look much better, not that you looked bad before, you never could have, even in the pictures of you before the serum, which of course I've studied because Howard Stark was brilliant…" He trailed off. Just because he was better with his words now was no excuse to talk his soulmate's ears off. "But you look more… alive. And your hair's shorter."

Steve frowned, tilting his head. "You were there… hang on." He straightened up, which Leo thought couldn't be possible. "What you said, when I entered this room. Did you… talk to me while I was unconscious?"

"Aye. I probably said something friendly and reassuring. Or possibly embarrassing. You were a terrible distraction, I'll have you know. It was difficult to get any work done."

"I'm sorry," Steve said, amused. "I'd show you my soulmark, but it's in a… delicate place."

"Mine isn't," Leo said, holding out his open hand. He shivered when Steve took it in his own large hands, and studied the writing. He smiled gently as he looked at Leo.

"My writing, alright," he said. "Hey."

"Hi," he… no, he didn't squeak. He just spoke half an octave higher than usual.

"I probably shouldn't be so forward, even though you're my soulmate, but could I kiss you?"

"You… you want to?" Leo said, his eyebrows shooting up. "You want to kiss me?"

"Who else? You're my soulmate. You're not… already with someone, are you?"

"No, I… no one's ever… no. I'm not. But I'm surprised you'd want to, that's all."

"Because everyone who was alive during World War Two is homophobic, is that it?" Steve asked dryly. Leo cocked his head.

"No, that's not it," he said. "But because it's… me."

"Yeah, you," Steve said. "My soulmate. Now are you gonna let me kiss you or not?"

"But I—"

"I happen to think you're adorable, and your big eyes are kinda making me melt inside, so I'd really, really like to kiss you now."

"Oh. O-okay."

When Bucky woke up, actually feeling pretty refreshed, and found his arm to be in perfect working order, he was baffled to hear smothered noises nearby. He glanced around, and raised his eyebrows when he saw Steve smooching the hell out of someone.

"I haven't even left you alone, and you're still gettin' up to no good!" he said. Steve backed off, and Bucky recognised the scientist. "Dr. Fitz, am I good to go, or do I need to play chaperone?"

"No, you're…" He cleared his throat and tried to smooth down his hair. It was a lost cause. "You're good to go."

"I found my soulmate," Steve said, beaming proudly. That reminded Bucky.

"Yeah, me too," he said. Steve's jaw dropped.

"Wait, really?" he said. "Who?"

"Knock-knock?" There was a pretty young woman rapping her knuckles on the doorframe.

"Jemma, you'll never guess what," Fitz said. Or Leo, Bucky should probably call him, seeing as how he was Steve's soulmate.

"What's that?" Jemma asked, although she was looking at Bucky. He pulled his gaze from hers, met Steve's, and tilted his head to indicate the doctor. Steve's eyes widened, and he smiled slowly.

"We both got lucky in this life, didn't we?" he said. Leo turned to look at him.

"What?" he said.

"You're Bucky's soulmate, aren't you?" Steve said, addressing Jemma. She nodded shyly, and Leo grinned.

"Well, we both met ours today, then, didn't we?" he said. Jemma gaped.

"You and Captain Rogers?" she said. Leo nodded enthusiastically, and Jemma smiled. "I'm so happy for you, Fitz."

"You, too," he said. "Both bagging a hot super soldier. Not bad for a couple of nerdy scientists, eh?"

"Tony and Skye are gonna establish some secure network connections between us," Steve said as they prepared to leave. "So we can talk, and Buck and Jemma can talk."

"Sounds good to me," Leo said, and he blushed at the wicked grin on Steve's face as he looked Leo up and down. "Stop that."

"Never." He bent down and kissed Leo. "I'd like to do more than talk. Now that Bucky's back, we don't have to search for him, so I'll have more time to travel around. Maybe kidnap you from time to time."

"Since kidnapping is a real possibility for me, you'd better not try it."

"And maybe you'll let me take you to Scotland, so I can meet your family," Steve continued, stroking Leo's cheek. "If that's okay with you?"

"P-perfect," he said. He pecked Steve on the lips shyly. "You'd better go now. Get your friend home."

"Okay." Steve patted his rear, and Leo yelped. "Talk to you later."

"Bye, Steve."

"This is so exciting, isn't it?" Jemma asked as she and Leo waved their soulmates off.

"And terrifying. My soulmate is Captain America."

"Never mind that. My soulmate is the Winter Soldier."

"We're doomed, aren't we?"

"Only in the best way, Fitz."

Yay for soulmates! Please review, dear readers.