"Hack Into My Heart"

It should never have started, but if Flower hadn't tried to hack into Stark Tower, Tony wouldn't have had to stop it. And he wouldn't have had to get so damn interested when he discovered that she – yeah, Flower identified as female – was actually a formidable opponent. It became a kind of game between them. Tony would give her an in, she'd find another one and nearly succeed, and he'd throw up a block at the last second. She would admit defeat, and insist that one day she'd get into the system.

For Tony, it was a weird form of flirting. Not as awkward as the time he'd told Bruce that he actually jacked off to one of Bruce's articles. There wasn't a near Hulk-out, but Bruce avoided him for two days straight, and blushed every time they met. It took a week before things got back to normal. In hindsight, it wasn't one of Tony's better ideas.

"Where did you learn all this?" he murmured as he typed. They had an open chat as Flower tried to break his coding, and Tony kept an eye on the systems. Although he had JARVIS to do it, that would be cheating.

'Mostly self-taught. Now stop distracting me.'

"Come on, Flower. Perty Flower."

There was nothing for a minute. Then…

'Damn it, my boss needs me.'

"You're doing this while you work?"

'I'm doing this while I'm waiting for work. Talk to you later. Next time…'

"Yeah, yeah. Dream on, Flower Girl."

'Jackass.'

"You'd like my ass. Everyone likes my ass."

'Just to look at it? Seriously, though, I have to run.'

Tony sighed. When had this become his life?

The next time they scheduled was Valentine's Day, weirdly enough. Totally not Tony's fault; it was JARVIS who suggested it, actually, and Tony wondered whether he was being set up by his AI.

"Let's talk first," he said, typing away as soon as he saw that Flower was on.

'No time to waste, Mr. Stark.'

"If you're not gonna call me Tony, call me something else."

'Alright, Something Else. Now be quiet. I'm running on a tight schedule here.'

"But it's our first Valentine's Day together, honey." Tony considered sending that, and glanced up at the ceiling. "What do you think, J?"

"I do not see how my opinion could possibly be considered valid when it comes to amorous interactions, sir."

"Was the word 'amorous' intentional?"

"How could I possibly use a word unintentionally?"

"Brat," Tony said. He sent the message anyway, and waited for a reply. He drank half of his coffee before it came.

'Are you flirting with me?'

"Am I…? Is she kidding, JARVIS?"

"I would not know, sir."

"No, seriously." He brought his keyboard closer and typed fiercely. "Of course I've been flirting with you, Flower. For weeks. Months. How did you not pick up on that?"

There was nothing for awhile, and he hoped he hadn't scared her off. She was continuing to hack the system, so it's not like she'd disappeared. When another break came, he got a reply.

'Guys have let me down in the past. I don't know what or who to trust anymore. I can't even tell if someone's interested. Besides, there's no body language between us. It's not like I can judge any other way.'

"So? We could meet."

There was another long pause. He headed her off when she got to close to breaking into the system, marvelling that she got that far. If he could find her, he would recruit the hell out of her. (Then take her to bed, because she had a beautiful mind and he wanted to make love to every part of her… not that that was an appropriate thought to be having right now.)

'Not a good idea, Something Else. I know you're capable of looking after yourself, but I've still got enemies.'

"A hacker like you? I'm not surprised."

'Not those kinds of enemies.'

"Just one voice-to-voice chat, sweetheart. Okay? It can be your reward for hacking my system, if you manage."

'Why would I want that?'

"Oka-ay," he said to himself. "Why wouldn't she want that? JARVIS?"

"Are you asking my opinion again, sir?"

"Sounds like it'd be a waste of breath."

"You never take my advice seriously, sir. Why would you start now?"

Tony resumed typing. "If I block you this time, I get to open a voice-chat."

'Ugh, fine. But I've been practising. Now don't interrupt.'

"I never said I played fair, Bluebell."

'Not my name.'

"But I'm gonna have fun guessing."

"Sir, she is actually breaking the code."

"What?" Tony nearly fell off his chair, and he pulled the screen closer. "JARVIS, we have to stop her."

"You will not allow her a win just this once?"

"Can't," he said, fixing the code furiously. "Who knows what her end game is?"

"You should have thought of that before you began this competition."

Tony snorted, trying to catch up. "I'm betting you advised against it at the time?"

"Vehemently, sir."

"Great."

Fantastic.

She'd done it.

"Okay, Daffodil, show's over. Don't make me shut down the electrics here."

'Nah, that wouldn't be any fun. And you still haven't guessed my name.'

"Rosemary?"

'That's a herb.'

"Damn." He sighed. "And I really wanted to talk to you for once."

Nothing for about ten seconds. JARVIS had already started repairs. Tony was just about to switch off the computer when there was a reply.

'Fine, but make it quick. I'm on my own.'

"That's my favourite type of phone conversation," he said, grinning, and he opened up a two-way voice-chat. He couldn't hack her webcam, but he could do this. He cleared his throat, straightening in his chair.

"What've you got for me now?" Flower asked.

Tony's world damn near stopped. Even the lighting seemed to falter, like JARVIS was surprised by this turn of events as well.

Say something. Anything, so she'll know it's you.

"All the time in the world, if you want it," he said, pleased with himself for the suave sentence.

There was silence again. She was probably reeling just as much as he was. His soulmark had been kept tightly under wraps all his life. It was the reason he always wore long socks, even in bed, and why his bathroom was the most secure place in Stark Tower.

"Shit," Flower said.

Then she disappeared. Tony blinked, and tried to find her; but she was completely offline.

"Okay, that reaction was unexpected," he said. "J, did you see that coming?"

"I did not anticipate any of this, sir," JARVIS said.

"I never should've installed that shocked voice in your programming. A flat tone would be so much more reassuring right now." He groaned, sitting back in his seat. "My soulmate just rejected me, JARVIS."

"So I noticed, sir."

"You know what that means, right?"

"Binge drinking and bad porn, sir?"

Tony pointed at the ceiling. "You are so close, J. This means that I need to get the gang together and bitch about it. Actually, put a call through to Rhodey and Pep. I need people to commiserate."

"Do you wish me to continue attempting to trace Flower, sir?"

"Yes, very smart artificial intelligence of my life. Please find my soulmate for me."

Skye was sulking through her withdrawal symptoms. Now that she'd hacked her way into Stark Industries once, it'd be almost anticlimactic to do it again.

She didn't want any of the information on the system, per se; she did it for the challenge, and because it was there. Because she needed to pit herself against the best to keep her skills fresh and strong. She wasn't invited to join SHIELD for her physical skills, but for her hacking. Coulson needed her at the top of her game at all times. Even now that she had her earth-quaking powers, she had yet to get those fully under control, so it was useless on missions. One thing which had kept her from letting loose was distracting herself with Tony Stark's challenges.

The tenuous control was sorely tested when Coulson came up to her during breakfast and broke the news.

"I want to get help for you," he said. "Canada or New York: take your pick."

"Uh… New York is closer?"

He nodded. "I thought you'd say that, and I'd prefer to keep you close."

"What are you talking about?"

"And you'll be safer there. Safer than you would be at Xavier's."

"DC, what the hell are you talking about?" Skye said, snapping her fingers in front of his face. He gave her an unimpressed look.

"I'm sending you to the Avengers," he said. "Bruce Banner will be able to help you where we can't, and Romanov and Barton will keep you on your toes in training."

"Uh…" Not good. "Is it too late to change to Canada?"

"Oh, Skye, what an opportunity for you!" Jemma exclaimed, squeezing her hand across the table. "You could work with Tony Stark. I know you're a fan."

"Which is exactly why I shouldn't meet him. I-It'd be awkward."

"Nonsense. What I wouldn't give to meet Bruce Banner… and try out those labs…" She sighed dreamily, but sat up straight quickly enough when she met Coulson's eyes. "Not that it isn't wonderful to work here, much less stressful than working at HYDRA, and… never mind."

Coulson's lips quirked. "Regardless, you probably won't have much to do with Mr. Stark, unless he wants to pick your brain. Or try to recruit you." He hummed. "On second thoughts, maybe Professor X—"

"She'll be too far away from us then," May said. "Skye, do you have any legitimate objections to staying with the Avengers?"

"Uh—"

"Just give it a try," Mack said. Why were they ganging up on her? "If it doesn't work out, we'll come rescue you."

Skye just hoped she wouldn't run into her soulmate.

May took her there, in an attempt to keep the Avengers from finding out that Coulson was alive. She couldn't say 'still alive', of course; more like 'alive again'. But then she couldn't say anything at all about it to her new house-mates. Tower-mates.

And especially not Tony Stark. If he didn't recognise her voice, his AI probably would, not to mention the words on her feet. She resolved to speak quietly and infrequently.

"They know what brought on your powers," May said as they travelled up in the elevator. Skye gaped at her.

"What?" she said.

"Dr. Banner needed to know what he was working with, the same with Barton and Romanov. Which means that Stark found out and told everyone else."

Skye buried her head in her hands. "This is a bad, bad idea." May patted her shoulder.

"You'll be fine," she said. "Coulson wrote some very creative threats which I've conveyed."

"Even a threat to Captain America?" Skye asked, curious.

"Yes. It was one of the nastier ones."

"I guess it'd have to be, what with super healing."

They arrived on the floor where Skye was going to be introduced to the team.

The whole team, judging by the large crowd waiting for her.

"Shit," she muttered as May led her closer. Tony Stark's head jerked up and he stared at her. She averted her eyes. He couldn't possibly have known it was her just from that one word.

…Admittedly, it was the last thing she'd said to him.

"Nice to meet you, Skye," Bruce Banner said, looking at her over the top of his glasses.

"You too, Dr. Banner," she said, shaking his hand. "My friend Jemma's a big fan."

"You're the hacker," Tony said. Skye nodded, still unable to look at him directly.

"No poaching her from SHIELD," May said. "You got my message."

Tony ignored her which, y'know, not exactly sensible. Especially if Skye knew anything about Coulson's 'creative threats'.

"Show me your soulmark," he said.

"Stark!" May snapped. "Back down."

Tony approached Skye, all his focus on her. "Show me. Your goddamn. Soulmark."

"You have no right—"

"It's okay," Skye said. "He does have the right."

"As soon as I found out you were a hacker whose birth name was a flower, I… I had to hope."

"What?" May said. It was a popular word. Skye removed her shoe and pulled off her sock. Then she held onto May's arm as she raised her foot. Tony knelt before her and stroked the words on her sole. Skye giggled involuntarily, and he looked up at her with a smile. Then he sprang to his feet and hauled her into a kiss. She relaxed, holding him close and letting him work it out of his system. When he finally pulled away, Skye drew in a deep breath and scrunched her fingers in his hair, keeping him close.

"Hi, Something Else," she whispered.

"Why the hell did you hang up?" he growled.

"I freaked. I'm sorry. I've… had bad relationships before—"

"Because they weren't with your soulmate," Tony said, frowning. "I've had that problem myself."

"Yeah, I think everyone knows that."

He winced. "At least… I'm experienced?"

"Hey, haven't got much of a leg to stand on."

"On the contrary." He ran his hands down to her hips. "You have two."

May cleared her throat. Skye exhaled slowly, and turned to face her.

"You knew," May said.

"…Yes."

"Why didn't you want to come here if you knew you'd see your soulmate?"

Skye rubbed her arms. "I told you, I was scared." She shrugged. "A tall tower isn't exactly the best place for an earth-shaker to live. Especially." She cleared her throat, blushing. "If bonding happened."

Tony blinked, then turned to Bruce.

"Start training immediately," he said. Bruce grinned in amusement.

"As soon as Skye's ready," he agreed.

"How's tomorrow sound?" she asked.

Skye Coulson requested this pairing. It was only after I saved the document that I realised the horrific double meaning of the chapter's title. Oops.

Please review! And no spoilers. I've got a couple of links to episode 11, so I've got to follow up on that.