"Lend an Arm"

Soulmates were an imprecise science. The one time Tony tried to study it, his headache grew rapidly and he gave up. If he couldn't take it apart with his hands and put it back together in a different, better way, he wasn't interested. All that bull about marks appearing soon before you meet your soulmate, having multiple ones of varying shades depending on how important that person would be to you.

The problem? No one would know it to look at him, but Tony was clingy.

He didn't have a single soulmark until the day before he met Rhodey. They were both definitely into women, although Tony's soulmark remained as dark as his coffee, just as Rhodey's remained as light as the foam. Then came Pepper. After he returned from Afghanistan his soulmark for her was much darker, as hers was for him. They tried dating; they really did. Then he found another soulmark. The words 'Natalie Rushman' said to him. Pepper took it as a threat, even though the soulmark was light compared to his others.

(He was so busy being Iron Man and not sleeping with Pepper that he'd missed the words which had formed on his back. Just 'Mister Stark', nothing he hadn't heard before; but it was in Phil Coulson's handwriting, and disappeared without Tony ever noticing that it'd been there.)

One day, four more marks showed up on his body. Tony took a cold shower to fight past the pain of so many words appearing at once. He clenched his fists, resting them against the wall as he let the cold pour over him.

And this. This is where things got complicated. Because he was soon meeting and fighting with all these people; a Norse 'god', Captain Goody-Two-Shoes America, and Bruce Banner who, yeah, he was pretty excited to meet. Then a battle happened for real, and afterwards he had the pleasure of meeting the new Robin Hood. Turns out? They were all soulmates. Platonic ones – he wasn't so sure about Romanov and Barton – and he was cool with that.

Until they moved into the tower.

After he and Pepper failed to work, her soulmark dimmed on his body and Bruce's began to darken. Tony wooed him with dried fruit, high-tech machinery, and stories about himself, as well as a few donations to Bruce's favourite charities. It seemed pointless, since most of the money went to administrators instead of where it was needed, but the guy seemed to appreciate the gesture.

But… he was still stuck on one of his soulmates, Betty Ross. Tony already had plans to ruin her old man, so he included a plan to kidnap and bring her to the tower. Only at the most opportune moment, of course. So Bruce's mark grew lighter.

Clint needed shelter, so Natasha brought him there. When it became clear that they were somewhere between platonic and non-platonic, he began to think that he had a chance. Sure, there were the jibes about Natasha always trying to set Steve up with various women – and really, no one had told the guy about bisexuality? – but before this whole Avengers mess Fate had known they were soulmates on some level. When Natasha showed no interest, Tony stepped up his game with Clint, providing a top of the range… range, and trapped him in the workshop with new arrow designs. It helped that Clint refused to leave Tony alone with his bow. He should've taken that as a sign that it wasn't going to go anywhere.

Steve moved in next, and his friend Sam – another platonic soulmate, apparently, but not Tony's – visited a lot. Tony gave them every help that he could in searching for Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, and sneaked trackers onto Steve whenever the two went out following leads. And when they became non-platonic, Tony was torn between disappointment and wanting to laugh when he pointed out that Natasha should have widened the field when trying to find him a date.

When Thor joined them, Tony tried not to like the guy so much. But, as with his other soulmates, he couldn't help but fall a little in love. The guy already had a girlfriend, Jane Foster, who he'd brought with him. Tony got on well enough with Darcy, but they didn't have each other's words. More than that, she seemed to have a long-distance relationship with her intern.

Then one night, he had that burning feeling on his back again, and ran into the bathroom. He couldn't have been getting another soulmate, surely? At his age? But if he was… could this person be the non-platonic soulmate he'd been waiting for?

"JARVIS, show me," he said, craning his neck to look in the mirror.

"It says 'Mister Stark', sir."

"Run handwriting matches."

"It resembles the one which was on your back some years ago."

"Wait, what?"

"You had a soulmark there, sir. It appeared after your return from Afghanistan."

"And you didn't tell me?" Tony said incredulously.

"You never mentioned it, sir."

"I don't exactly stare at my back all the time."

"Surely you felt it?" JARVIS sounded confused. Okay, Tony was an awesome programmer, but he wished he hadn't built in so many voices to choose from. Still, better than a monotone. Less creepy.

"I was in pain from being tortured for a month! I wasn't exactly gonna notice it, was I?" He twisted again, tracing the letters. "Any idea whose it was?"

"It disappeared after the battle of New York, sir. During that time, the only person who died that you knew personally was… Agent Coulson."

Tony felt sick. He clutched onto the bathroom sink.

"No," he said.

"Sir, it looks exactly the same. This indicates that Agent Coulson died, but was brought back to life, and that you are to meet him again soon."

Tony shook his head.

"I really hope you're right, J," he said. "If that's true, we're all gonna have words with him."

He found out at breakfast that Natasha, Clint, and Sam had received marks in similar writing overnight. The two former SHIELD agents were equally pissed off, and confirmed that it was Phil's handwriting. Different marks to their original ones for him – for both, it was just their surname – but they'd seen their names in that writing often enough. Sam's was more interesting.

"Why don't we all have marks for him?" Steve asked, frowning. "Why does Sam have one, and not Thor, or me? We both met Coulson."

"If he died and came back to life, and has been away somewhere all this time, maybe he'll need my help?" Sam suggested.

"It still seems weird to me. We're non-platonic soulmates."

Then Sam came down with a cold the day before he and Steve were supposed to follow up another lead on the Winter Soldier. Thor, Jane, and Darcy were headed out that way, tracking down more strange star signs, and Bruce went with Steve in case the Hulk was needed. Or, for that matter, in case a doctor was needed.

So it was Tony, Clint, Natasha, and Sam who greeted Phil when he arrived with his team.

"Mr. Stark," he said. "Barton. Romanov." Sam sneezed. "Bless you. Mr. Wilson, isn't it?"

"You can call me Sam," he said. Phil's eyebrows rose.

"I was hoping to find Dr. Banner here," he said. "Skye needs help." He indicated a young woman with olive skin, long hair, and a nervous look in her eyes. "She's just received powers and needs to learn to control them."

"I'm here to support her," a young man with a Scottish accent and curly hair said. "My name's Fitz."

Introductions and confrontations were swiftly dealt with. Phil tried to leave, but Tony demanded that he stay and explain himself to the others, and Skye – who could apparently make the ground move, why the hell was she in a skyscraper? – convinced him to stay. He agreed to see them settled in, and got JARVIS to record his story. He described his resurrection, and the part he was trying to play in rebuilding SHIELD.

The next morning, Tony received a new soulmark, and apparently Phil had gained a few as well.

"You're not seriously leaving before you've met them?" he asked Phil. "Spitting in the face of Fate, are you?"

"I have a job to get back to—"

"Captain Rogers and Dr. Banner have returned with Sergeant Barnes," JARVIS announced, interrupting him.

"Shit," Phil muttered.

"You wanna be the coward and not stick around while they watch the recording?" Tony said acerbically. "Fine. But you've gotta meet them sometime. We all recognised Steve and Bruce's writing, and we all have new soulmarks in writing which has to be Barnes'."

"I'm not here to play nursemaid to all of you," Phil said. "I was supposed to be, but then I died, got my own team, and now I have to fix the mess HYDRA got us into. I don't know what the hell your father and his friends were thinking, letting Zola work with the SSR from the beginning." He shook his head. "I'm leaving. Goodbye, Mr. Stark."

He reached the elevator just as it arrived. The doors opened, and Barnes walked out, flanked by Bruce and Steve. Phil stepped back, but they just stared at him. Even from this distance, Tony saw him swallow.

"Rogers," he said, nodding at Steve. "Banner. Sergeant Barnes. Good to see that you're back."

"Thank you," Barnes said, eyes wide. "You're one of my—"

"I have to be going," Phil said. He waved to Fitz and Skye, who were eating cereal together on the sofa. "I'll say hello to the team for you."

"Bye, DC."

"See you later, sir."

"Good to see you again, Agent Coulson," Bruce said, staring at him.

"Good to see you alive," Steve said. "Aren't you going to explain yourself?"

"Ask JARVIS. I'm not going through that again."

"Or you could ask me," Fitz said. "Since I've seen the records."

Without another word, Phil left in the elevator, and Tony lowered his head. He noticed Barnes walking over to him, and braced himself for… he didn't know what.

"I'm sorry about your parents," Barnes said. Yep. Kind of what he expected. "It was my fault." Tony shrugged, still not looking up.

"Guns don't hurt people; people hurt people," he quipped. When he peeked, he saw Barnes staring at the floor, obviously distressed. "HYDRA killed my parents. You were just their gun."

"How… how can you just…?"

"I've had more time to come to terms with it, I guess." Tony sipped his scotch. "The Blame Game's no fun. Clint was brainwashed once, and Loki tried it with me. I can't hold it against you, especially when it was so much worse for you. Clint organised a couple of attacks during the course of, what, a day or two? And he wasn't cryogenically frozen repeatedly. And he still has both his arms." He looked at the metal one, fighting the urge to reach out and touch it. "If you ever want me to tinker with it, or just do some repairs, let me know. Hell, if you don't trust me, you could try Fitz over there. He's an engineer. A damn good one. I would've poached him from the academy if I wasn't going through my whole mid-life crisis at the time, or whatever the press called it."

"Thank you," Barnes said quietly. "For not calling me a monster."

"Ah, hell," Tony said. "Of course you're not a monster. Don't believe anyone who tells you that."

"My dad's the definition of a monster," Skye piped up. "You look a hell of a lot more sane, if it's any consolation."

"Um… thank you?"

"Let's get you a drink," Tony said, dragging Barnes over to the bar. "What would you like? C'mon, pick something. If I haven't got it, I'll have someone get it, okay?"

"Anything?" Barnes looked unsure. Tony knew how important choice was for the man.

"Whatever you want," he said. "I'll get it for you."

Barnes gave him a small smile, and that's when Tony knew he was in trouble.

Bruce was still working with Skye, and Fitz had refused to leave her. Tony tried to tempt him into the workshop, thinking that that might've been why the Scot was still around; but no. He was just that ridiculously loyal to Skye.

Tony had heard of FitzSimmons, of course. Yeah, he'd been going through a personal crisis – at one point dying – when he first heard about their work at the academy. He was only interested in Fitz's work, but he would've found something for Simmons to do nearby if he'd been able to snap up the engineer. The next thing he'd heard, they'd gone into the field. A huge waste of talent, he'd thought; but at least they'd been keeping Phil alive.

It took awhile, and a bit of observation, before he realised part of the reason Fitz wouldn't work with him: brain damage. JARVIS reported it, and Phil had confirmed it when Tony bugged him about why Fitz spent more time with Skye than doing engineering work. His hands and his mental dictionary? Tony and Bruce could totally help with that. Or at least Tony's money and hiring the best specialists could help, since Bruce pointed out that he wasn't that kind of doctor.

Mulling over problems was a great way to keep Tony awake. He ventured out to the kitchen during the night a few times. Due to his tower-mates being the kind who had nightmares on a semi-regular basis, it was inevitable that he'd run into Bucky at some point. He probably had the most nightmare fuel to deal with. When Tony saw him sitting alone, still as a statue, he clattered about making hot chocolate. Well, getting the coffee machine to make hot chocolate, and why did nearly everyone else have trouble working it? The only two people aside from Tony who could work the coffee machine were Fitz and Thor (to Tony's ever-lasting surprise).

"Here," he said, placing a mug in front of Bucky. The soldier rubbed his eyes with both hands. That must've hurt with the metal one. "C'mon, Edward Scissorhands, drink up. Not allergic, are you?"

Bucky shook his head, and took a sip. His eyes closed, and he smiled. Yeah, Tony's heart was definitely in danger. He peered while Tony tried his own hot chocolate. Oh yeah. Perfect. Tony was a certified genius.

"Who's Edward Scissorhands?" Bucky said. Tony nearly choked.

"No one's shown you that movie yet?" he asked. Bucky shook his head. "Actually, yeah, I can see that some people might consider it insensitive. But it's Tim Burton and Johnny Depp and… yeah, we're gonna watch it. You wanna go straight to bed after this, or are you up for a movie?"

"I can handle a movie."

"Great!"

They were settling down when Tony became aware that Bucky was watching him.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Who is your non-platonic soulmate?" he said. "Which one?"

Tony sat back slowly, cradling his still-warm mug of chocolaty excellence.

"I'm no one's non-platonic soulmate," he replied, hoping that was it.

It wasn't.

"By choice?" Bucky said far too perceptively. Tony fiddled with some of the foam as JARVIS automatically selected English as the language.

"Nope," he said. Better to be honest. "But I've gotten by like that for years, and I'll continue to get by like that. Never know when I might find someone who'd actually… want that with me."

Bucky remained silent as they watched the film. Tony was crushed with guilt when he saw the tears on Bucky's cheeks by the end.

"This was a bad idea, wasn't it?"

"No," Bucky said. "Best idea in the world. I hate it when people tread lightly `round me. How am I supposed to adjust if I'm not challenged sometimes?"

"Good way of looking at it," Tony said.

"Thank you," he said, turning his head to look at Tony. "For being what I need."

"Anytime."

Fitz was playing with a screwdriver when Tony realised that he wasn't alone. He looked up and grinned.

"Come to play with my toys?" he asked. "Finally! What took you so long?"

"Bruce requested time alone with Skye. Said he wanted to see whether she learnt faster without me monitoring her progress. Besides, JARVIS is always watching over us."

"That he is," Tony said, straightening up. "Wanna help me with the latest design for Clint's trick arrows? I want the tip to be able to stick like blue-tack to whatever it hits, but stick fast. Super adhesive. Then we need to be able to un-stick it. The idea is to reduce the level of damage by not breaking windows, or walls, or desks, or columns—"

"Simmons would be better at the, uh, the s-solution. Chemicals."

"But we still need to be able to shape it, and have it stick on impact," Tony said. "It'd be even sweeter if the arrow could bounce back into shape afterwards. Here. These are the specs I've drawn up."

While Fitz was studying them with a dexterity that was impressive, muttering notes to himself, Tony considered how to broach a delicate subject.

"I was so preoccupied with the soulmark on my back turning out to be Agent's, that I didn't notice the two other marks, just around my arc reactor," Tony said. Fitz glanced over his shoulder at Tony. "Not uncommon for it to itch during the night. I need it to fill up the cavity, and it does power the suit, but it's a phantom itch from when the shrapnel used to be there. Thing is, the words are the first ones you and Skye said to me. I'm used to soulmarks being all in random places – sometimes I forget where – so it took awhile."

"That's alright," Fitz said. "We knew it was unlikely that we'd find our, our non-platonic soulmates here."

"What about the two of you?"

Fitz hesitated. "How do you know?"

"How do I know what? There are a lot of things I know, Scotty."

"When you've found your, uh… romantic one?"

"I wouldn't know," he said, shrugging. "I keep thinking I've found them, and they're always interested in or with someone else."

"Are you serious?"

"Yep."

"So you haven't got your eye on anyone at all?"

Tony shifted, thinking of Bucky's eyes, glistening after Edward Scissorhands, and whatever other movies Tony had shown him that made him cry. How to Train Your Dragon came to mind.

"I wouldn't say that," he muttered. "You haven't found yours?"

"No," Fitz said, expanding part of the blueprints. "When I met Skye I flirted with her, badly. I cringe at the, uh…"

"Memory?"

"Yeah. But then we almost lost Simmons, and I thought it was her." He grimaced. "That didn't work out, either. No one's ever seemed interested."

"It can't be because we're engineers. Engineers are awesome, and you'll never get me to say otherwise."

"Absolutely," Fitz said, and he grinned. "It's just a bit lonely sometimes."

"So why didn't the rest of the team come?" Tony asked. "Are you Skye's best friend on board?"

"I wouldn't have said so, no. But I kept her, uh, quaking-thing secret from everyone else. I'm the only one who hasn't treated like she's…" He looked down at his hands, falling silent.

"Different?" Tony offered. Fitz nodded. "Maybe your first instincts with her were right?"

"I wish," he murmured. "Her soulmark on me… it's the darkest any of them have ever been. I want to protect her. She's had a bad life, and she's imp…"

"Important to you."

"Yeah."

"I know the feeling."

"When are you going to make a move on Barnes?"

Tony inhaled through his teeth. "Please don't tell me I'm obvious?"

"I think it's because I understand what you're going through."

"That must be it." Tony ruffled his hair, and Fitz smacked his hand away with a laugh.

"Are we going to get on with any work?" he asked.

"That's more like it! That's what I've been waiting to hear from you for weeks. Thought I was going to have to adopt you to keep you around. C'mon, buddy. Let's amaze the hell out of our resident Merida."

"You're on, Stark."

In the middle of How to Train Your Dragon 2, Bucky rested his arm around Tony.

"Awful quiet tonight, Tony," he said. "Usually you react more than this. Something else on your mind?"

Tony glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "What makes you say that?"

"I'm observant." He raised a hand. "Sniper."

He snorted. "Yeah, should've seen that coming."

"If I asked you to try it, would you… go out with me? On a date."

Tony tensed, and swallowed. "Who've you been talking to? If it's Fitz, I'll kill him."

"Don't kill Fitz. He's your baby engineer. And he didn't tell me anything. He's too busy mooning over Skye."

"You noticed that?"

"Again, sniper. Observant."

"Pity bird-brain doesn't notice more in social interactions."

"You haven't answered my question. If you're not interested, just say so."

Tony bowed his head. "Not one of my soulmates has ever been interested in me romantically. I'm just getting older. Why would it happen now, especially with a super soldier who's never going to age?"

"Like I said, if you're not interested—"

"Shit, of course I am." He grabbed Bucky's hand before he could remove it from Tony's shoulder. "Never had a soulmate who felt the same way about me."

Bucky blinked, looking Tony up and down. "Good thing you're not a sniper. You'd be terrible."

"Hey!"

"Really. Have you seen the way Banner looks at you? Or Barton and Romanov? Steve and Sam?"

"They don't—"

"They do. I don't know why nothing happened before, but you could probably have your pick of any of them."

Tony stared into Bucky's eyes. "So could you."

"But I don't want them. I only want you."

No time to waste. Tony leaned in and kissed Bucky gently. JARVIS paused the film.

"You know," Tony said, moving his lips to Bucky's ear, "if you weren't such a gentleman, we could skip the date and go straight to bed right now. I mean, we've seen enough movies alone together." Bucky smiled wickedly, and Tony could see why Steve talked about Bucky's success with the girls during the war.

"I don't have to be a gentleman," he said, his Brooklyn accent thicker than ever. Tony shivered.

"That a promise?" he asked.

"Definitely."

When Tony and Fitz resumed their work on Clint's arrows, they both took in each other's mussed appearances. Tony had definite love-bites just below his neckline, which Fitz noted with a smirk.

"Not bad for a couple of engineers, eh?" he said.

"Did she rock your world?"

"Mind your own business, Stark."

"The tower didn't collapse around us, so I'm guessing she's finally learnt control."

"Did your bed survive a super soldier?"

"Barely. I'll need your help reinforcing it later."

"Well, I suppose it's only fair," Fitz said, "considering that we might need the same help."

Because after the latest episodes of Agents of SHIELD, I have all this Fitz-Skye feels, which is confusing me because I just finished season one with Mum, which usually gives me FitzSimmons feels. My feels are all over the place! Gah!

Popular pairing is popular. Bucky/Tony was requested by Post U Later, kogouma, and AngeLinks. Three readers! In other words, it had to be done. And I liked the idea of Tony being in unrequited love with a whole bunch of people before finding the one who loves him back, and then discovering that his previous feelings for some of the others would have been returned by now. And, as I said, Fitz-Skye.

Review, please! It makes this whole endeavour worthwhile for the author.