"Lipstick"

It was all New Mexico's fault.

Okay, not so much New Mexico as it was Asgard's fault. Thor and his stupid hammer and stupid brother. Which led to it being SHIELD's fault, because everything was SHIELD's fault, including whatever the hell was happening to her iPod.

Darcy contemplated hitting it against the tabletop, but then her phone would probably be next, and she needed that slightly more than her iPod.

She glared at the scrolling messages on the screen, warning her that she was being watched – well, duh – and that a friendly SHIELD agent would be picking her up. It gave her directions to Covent Garden Tube station, like she didn't already know where that was.

Yeah, well, if someone wanted to get her, they could come get her. She'd just finished her coffee and cake, and damned if she was moving.

The map flashed on her iPod screen again, and the music kept changing to songs which were not on any of her play-lists.

"Assholes," she muttered, glaring at a crowd of people across the street. They kept checking her out. Seriously, did they not care that they looked HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS?

'The people you're watching are HYDRA agents' was the next message. 'Get out of there before they kill you'.

Nope. Better the devil in public than the devil in private. Let SHIELD – or whoever it was – put that in their pipe and smoke it. Darcy was staying right where she was. She had her taser and she had witnesses. Plus, she'd already sent a text to Jane telling her about the suspicious-looking people across the road, so Thor would probably be here soon. That was before her stalking-hacker-person decided to warn her. Stable doors already open, guys.

There was a kind of click, a frustrated huff, and then someone was speaking to Darcy through the headphones.

"You seriously need to trust me on this, Darcy, and move!"

A split second later, Darcy was on her feet, grabbing her stuff on autopilot, and she hurried towards the Tube station. Her HYDRA stalkers began to follow, of course, and she really hoped the hacker had a brilliant plan. And worked for the good guys, preferably. That would… yeah, that'd be good.

She'd barely made it to the station, wondering what the hell to do now, when she saw some of her stalkers draw weapons. They were blocked by a van coming to a screeching halt in front of Darcy. The door slid open, and an Asian woman held out her hand.

"Get in, Miss Lewis," she said. Darcy let the woman haul her into the back of the van. They were off before the door was even fully closed. She was given a strap to hold onto as the van flew around corners.

"Who are you?" Darcy asked. "Who're you working for?"

"Melinda May, an agent of SHIELD," she said. "I work for Director Coulson."

"Coulson? Same one, or did he really die?"

"His death was temporary."

"Oh."

"Five days temporary."

Darcy blinked. "Shit, really? That's not possible." Agent May gave her a capital-l Look. "Says… the girl who's fought with alien-gods against Dark Elves. Right."

"Part of the reason we had to pick you up."

"Uh… that wasn't you who hacked my iPod, was it?"

"No. That's our hacker."

"Name?" May didn't say anything. "Is this gonna turn into a one-sided conversation?" Again, nothing. "Okay, then. Can I go back to listening to my music?" Still not getting a reply. Darcy texted Jane to let her know that she was sort of okay, and that Coulson was alive. 'Or so they said', she texted.

But then the bit about Coulson was deleted and her half-finished message sent.

'Sorry, Miss Lewis, but that's need-to-know basis, and Dr. Foster doesn't need to know.'

With a frustrated sigh, Darcy returned to her iPod, and waited for the van to stop.

Skye packed up her laptop as the van came into sight. She shoved it into her knapsack and walked to the edge of the pavement. The door slid open, and she hopped inside, smiling at May and then Darcy Lewis.

"Hey," she said. "Sorry, but it was the only way to communicate with you."

"Skye, sit down," May said. Skye knelt down and grabbed a strap.

"This is the hacker?" Darcy said, jerking a thumb towards Skye. She frowned.

"Yeah, I'm 'the hacker'," she said. "Don't look like it, do I—"

There was gunfire and the van swerved.

"Mack, have you forgotten the bullet-proof coating you and Fitz painted all over the cars?" May shouted.

"Not why I had to swerve!" he called back. He did it again, and Skye fell against Darcy with a startled yelp.

"Whoa," she said, sitting up. She realised where her hands had landed, and blushed, quickly grabbing onto the strap again. "Sorry. I swear, I'm not usually this much of a klutz. And sorry about my hands on… you know… your boobs."

Darcy's smile was slow and flirtatious, and Skye gulped.

"You're welcome to look as well as touch," she said. Skye nearly fell over again. She glanced at May, trying to find words. The older agent raised an eyebrow. She knew Skye's soulmark; then again, she knew everything.

"I'll go up front," she said. "Try to keep your clothes on until you're near a bed."

Skye really hoped she couldn't blush. She gave Darcy an embarrassed smile.

"I'm not gonna jump you," she said. "Not that fast, anyway. And not without your permission."

"I would've thought my words were more than enough permission," Darcy said, eyeing Skye shamelessly. "Tell me we don't have far to go."

"Should be another forty-five minutes," Skye said, pulling out her laptop one-handed. "We'll be able to strap ourselves in properly once there aren't as many turns. In the meantime…"

"In the meantime?" Darcy said slowly. Skye blushed.

"I've gotta wipe our presence from the cameras back there," she said.

"Do you need two hands for that?"

"Ideally."

"Then I can help you."

Skye was about to say that she couldn't explain the process, when Darcy began tugging at her sleeve. It wasn't long before she had Skye caged in her legs, holding the straps, and leaving Skye free to work with both hands.

"How long's that gonna take?" Darcy asked.

"About five minutes. Why?"

"Just thinkin' about how we can pass the time. Where's your soulmark?"

"Um…"

"C'mon, you're gonna show me anyway, aren't you?"

"It's somewhere anyone can see it."

There was silence, no doubt while Darcy was trying to find it. She wouldn't be able to easily…

"You're covering it with makeup?"

"Yeah," Skye confessed. "Otherwise it'd be distracting for everyone else."

"Huh."

"And I'm… kinda worried about it. In relation to wherever your soulmark is."

She felt Darcy grin against the skin of her neck.

"Where do you think it is?" Darcy said. Skye found it hard to work, but forced her muscle memory to keep her on track.

"Could be anywhere," she said.

"Anywhere, huh? My boobs?"

"Um… could be."

"My ass?"

"That could be… interesting…"

"My…" She bit Skye's neck. "Girl parts?"

Skye shivered. "I don't know. You tell me."

"Or I could show you."

"Is that… wise?"

"Not while you're workin'. But we don't have to take our clothes off."

Skye's mind continued to reel with the possibilities while 'fixing' the CCTV footage. She also put the police off their trail using pre-recorded video of the van driving in another part of London. Once she'd done all she could to get the cops and HYDRA off their back, she closed up the laptop and put it away. Then she took off her jacket, knelt up and turned around, and pounced on Darcy, cushioning her head at the last moment with the bunched-up jacket.

"You gonna show me, then?" Skye asked. Darcy's eyes were definitely darker now.

"Got any makeup remover?" she said.

"Um… yeah. I do."

"Because we're both gonna need it."

"Why? Where's your mark?"

Before she could pull away, Darcy yanked her down by her hair and crashed their lips together. Skye scrabbled to keep her hands flat on the floor of the van, to avoid crushing her soulmate. There was a faint hum beneath her skin, a tingle starting from her mouth and spreading out. Shocked, she pulled back an inch and stared into Darcy's eyes. There was a glow on her lips, and Skye's jaw dropped.

"Huh," Darcy said. "Both got our soulmarks on the mouth. That's…"

"A lot more innocent than I was thinking," Skye said. Darcy smirked.

"I'll bet it was, you naughty girl," she said.

"Not that I don't want to…"

"Try out some of the things I was implying? Yeah, I'm lookin' forward to that, Skye."

"When… when did you know it was me?" Skye asked between more kisses. Darcy whined softly at the interruption.

"When you spoke to me through my iPod," she said. "That's the only reason I left my spot. I had to find you, even if you were the bad guys. I had to…"

"I'm glad I spoke up, then." Skye kissed her hard. "D'you think, if we kept doing this, the lipstick'd all come off?"

"We can give it the good old college try."

The van door smoothly opened, revealing Darcy and Skye lying side by side, hair mussed, lips glowing, and clothes askew. They sat up when Phil coughed into his fist, and he inwardly smirked at their guilty expressions. He raised an eyebrow at May, who held her hands up, and Mack, who looked mutinous.

"Last time I'm driving soulmates anywhere," he said. "Is the back of that van seriously becoming a… a…"

"Bordello?" Bobbi suggested.

"Well," Skye said, and she flinched at the stern look May gave her. "We didn't have to take off our clothes?"

Semantics. All about semantics.

Some of ozhawk's stories have involved Asgardian soulmarks appearing on lips, when they've been first point of contact. At least three chapters so far, if I recall correctly. So I decided to do a femmeslash fic where they both have to wear lipstick so that no one can see their soulmark. Of course, my mind descended into far less innocent territory eventually, because this is me. I tried to keep it clean, and I failed dismally. *Sighs* I apologise if I offended anyone.

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