Note: Yet another Fitz story. It's ozhawk's fault for writing Bucky/Fitz. Anyway, same kind of spoiler for the previous few Fitz chapters, and I promise to post something different as the next one. Hopefully.

"Never Too Late"

The small box burned bloody great big holes in Leo's pocket. Metaphorically, thank God, because it's not like he had all that many clothes with him. But he could feel eyes on him everywhere he went, like he couldn't escape, and he knew that just walking around like this wasn't the best way for his people to find him. Skye might not have had access to a computer to hack CCTV of New York, he didn't know where Coulson might be looking, or where Hunter might be…

Sighing, he glanced around again casually while he waited in line for ice cream. At least it was more logical to duck out of an ice cream cue; someone could have a change of heart about that, but they were less likely to about coffee, for example. In fact, Leo was proud of his reasoning, and wished that he could tell Jemma all about it.

Except she was with the wrong people, and he was going to be hunted once they found out what she'd done. If they found out. Oh God, what if they found out? What would happen to Jemma? She'd be at the mercy of 'real' SHIELD.

On his next scope of the area, he saw a flash of dark blonde hair, like Jemma's, only much longer. Then the woman's face turned to his, and his eyes widened.

Bobbi. And she smiled when she noticed him.

"Shit," he muttered, and he took off in the opposite direction. Please, please, please let her be working alone. If she'd brought someone else with her… Damn it, this is why he needed to find someone to give the toolbox to! And what if it wasn't really Bobbi? What if it was Ward's companion? Or Ward himself (with bigger tits)? Leo took the risk of running up to a policeman, and tugged on his sleeve. Time to dust off the American accent again.

"Yeah?"

"Sir, that woman's chasing me," he said, nodding to Bobbi, who'd slowed down when she realised who Leo was talking to. "An ex-girlfriend. Please, you've gotta help me out. Be a pal?"

"She's your ex-girlfriend?" the cop said, looking him up and down.

"Little tip for you: never date a co-worker with terrible spending habits," Leo said, itching to continue running. The cop laughed.

"Okay, kid, get going. I'll buy you some time."

"You're the best, really," Leo said, patting him on the arm, then he took off. The cop wouldn't hold Bobbi for long, but it would at least delay her for a precious few seconds while he worked out what the hell to do in this incredibly crowded city.

Nearing another intersection, Leo noticed the red light, which would probably be long enough for Bobbi to catch up to him. Getting into a taxi would also take too long. His best hope was to keep running until he reached… well, he couldn't go to a police station, because there might be an alert out for him, considering the other SHIELD's potential reach. Talbot wouldn't have a clue who he was, so he couldn't rely on the army. In fact, if he went anywhere that wasn't straight to someone on his side, it would give Bobbi time to catch him, because God knows her legs were longer than his.

Finally! Abandoned shopfronts. Shopfronts for abandoned shops, that is, but it was better than nothing. He could hide until he had a better plan than 'RUN LIKE HELL'. Bobbi was looking back at the cop – what was left of him – so Leo took the opportunity to duck into a passage between two graffiti-scrawled stores. One was padlocked (optimistic owners), and the other's door was falling off its hinges. Not terribly covert, but faster, and he was looking for speed right now. So he ducked in, hoping that the traffic sounds would cover the squeak of rust, and used his phone to see his way through to the centre of the store. He ducked behind a counter and rustled through his backpack. There were the DWARFs. There were parts of a Thunderstick and of an ICER, nothing assembled. Damn, even a taser would be good right now.

"Fitz?"

Bobbi sounded breathless and distant, probably outside. He heard the padlock rattle on the door of the building opposite, and knew he wouldn't have much time to put together the ICER. His hands trembled as he worked quickly, and the final click was loud enough for her to hear. He knew the moment she set foot on the wooden floor, the clomp-clomp of her boots drawing closer. He jumped up from behind the counter, ICER held aloft.

"Why are you following me?" he said. "You've got your information."

"We know that Jemma—"

"Don't call her that!"

She sighed. "We know that Simmons made a fake toolbox. We want to know where the real one is."

"What makes you think I'd know?" he asked, releasing the safety. Bobbi held her hands up in the 'I surrender' move, but that didn't mean anything.

"Because we've searched high and low, and can't find it. You're the only person who's left since we acquired it."

"It was Fury's toolbox."

"And we need it to rebuild SHIELD."

"Phil Coulson is the head of SHIELD," Leo said. "Fury gave it to him. How can we trust that you aren't corrupt when you and Mack were spying on us? The last person who spied on us was Ward, and he was HYDRA. We're not taking that chance again."

"We're not HYDRA, Fitz—"

"Why should we believe you?" he shouted.

"Please." Bobbi lowered her hands, holding them out to him. "Just… give me the toolbox."

"Where's Jemma? What've you done to her?"

"Nothing."

"You can't really expect me to believe that?"

"She's… she's in custody."

His blood ran cold. "Did you hurt her?"

"No! But she lied to us—"

"Pot-kettle!"

"Fitz, give me the toolbox… and we can let her go."

He back into the wall, still aiming the ICER at her. "You're really going to bargain with her? She looked up to you. You were friends. My God, it's Ward all over again."

"Fitz—"

"I haven't got your bloody toolbox!"

"Don't lie to me!"

"It's with Coulson!"

Bobbi paused. "Then where is he?"

"How the hell should I know? Just… stop following me."

"Where did you last see Coulson?"

"…I'm not telling you."

She shook her head. "You're lying. If you'd seen him, you'd be with him. You left our SHIELD, not his."

"You're not getting your hands on it," he said.

"Do you have the strength to pull the trigger?"

Leo swallowed. "For Coulson? For SHIELD? Yeah, I do."

She moved closer to him, and his hands tensed. He could do this.

"We were friends once," she whispered.

"You were never my friend."

"Is this woman bothering you, Curls?"

Leo's jaw dropped, and he stared at a man walking through the door behind Bobbi. His jaw worked, but no words came out. When the man glanced at him, Leo nodded, trying to think of something intelligent to say, but coming up blank. He'd only had the words for a few months; he didn't think he'd have to think of something so soon.

Then he realised that Bobbi was taking advantage of his distraction to run forwards. The man jumped her from behind, and it was only seconds before she was on the floor, unconscious, both her batons broken and the man with his fist raised, ready to come down on her head in a fatal blow.

"Wait, don't kill her!" Leo said, stepping forward quickly. On second thoughts, probably not the best words to have as a soulmark – pretty fucking bad, in fact – but it was enough to draw the man's attention. He looked up at Leo, and then slowly stood.

"You couldn't know that," he said.

"I don't want you doing that for me. No… no killing. Very sweet of you to offer, but if you do that, we're just as bad as she is, if not worse. Just…" He held out his hand. "Come to me? Please?"

"You couldn't know my words.

Leo rolled his eyes. "And you couldn't know mine. I'm pretty sure I'd remember seeing you naked before. Or anyone in these last… however many months it's been since I got my words as well. Christ, I thought you'd be a baby." He laughed shortly. "You've no idea how glad I am that you're not."

The man stepped closer, through beams of light coming through the shop windows and roof (no wonder it was closed). He was wearing a hoodie, and his hands were tucked in his pockets now, although Leo was pretty sure he'd seen a flash of metal. Was his soulmate already married? His heart sank at the thought, but he wasn't going to stand in the way of that.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

"My name is Leo Fitz. Well, Leopold, but I prefer to be called Leo." He kept his hand out, and the man extracted one of his hands for a shake.

"James Barnes," he said, studying Leo's face.

"Lovely to meet you, James. I… hope it is, anyway."

"You hope?"

"You're not married, are you? I thought I saw something sparkle on your left hand, but I could be wrong." He half-smiled. "I hope I'm wrong about that."

"You are," James said, taking his hand back. Leo's felt cold without it. "Can I… can I see your mark?"

"Well." Leo picked up his phone. "It's not the best light in here, but if you hold this," he handed the phone to James, "and give me a moment." He unbuckled his belt, leaving it in the loops, and then peeled his jeans down far enough to show James the words on his right thigh. "Is it your writing?" James cleared his throat, his cheeks turning pink, and nodded. "Where's yours?" He pulled his clothes back into place, and James handed over the phone before pulling down his own trousers. His mark – in Leo's writing – was on his inner left thigh.

"Yours?" James mumbled.

"Yes," Leo said. "I'm yours, as well."

James looked startled, and quickly rearranged his clothing. "We should leave before she wakes up."

"Just let me grab my bag. I'm staying not far from here. If my room's been left alone, my bag should still be packed."

"Then let's go."

Back at Leo's flat, all his security measures were untouched, and so were his things.

"We'd better not stay long," he said. "Where do you live, James?"

"Back at one of those shops," he said. "The one with the padlock. Next door to where I found you."

"Ah, right," Leo said. "Maybe… we should stay here, then."

"Is it safe?"

He shrugged. "Healthier than where you were staying. Though we'll have to go back and get your things."

"This…" James indicated his clothing. "It's just a change of clothes back there. I've got everything else I need. Weapons, clothes on my back."

"Shit. I have to get you some more things."

"You don't have—"

"I do have to, an' that's the end of it." James closed his mouth. "I need to find my boss."

"Coulson?"

"Yeah. D'you know where he is?"

"No. But if your friend is in danger, I can help you get her back."

"May is there, as well. I don't know where everyone else is." He shrugged helplessly.

"Do you have this toolbox?"

"Yeah. I need to get it to Coulson. I think he's the only one who can open it."

James nodded. "I… don't know many people, and I don't think I can see Steve yet."

Leo frowned as he perched on the edge of the bed. "I recognise your name, but I can't think why."

"Have you been to the Smithsonian lately?"

"Haven't been anywhere near Washington DC."

"Have you heard the name Bucky Barnes?"

"Yeah, o' course. He's on the memorial wall at the Hub… oh my God."

"I think I know why we only got our marks a few months ago," James said, twiddling his thumbs. A surprising action from Bucky Barnes. And Christ, one of his hands was made of metal, what the hell? "I was brainwashed by HYDRA. I can't remember much of it, but I've been breaking my programming, trying to find who I was before. One day, when I thought I'd finally shook it, I got my soulmark. While I didn't have your writing on me, HYDRA couldn't find you. Fate was keeping you safe."

"Maybe you're not meant to be the man you were before, and that's why you got your soulmark," Leo said. "Either way, obviously we got ours at the same time." He patted the bed beside him. "Come and sit down. Looks like we need a long chat."

"Do we have time?"

"I suppose not. But you should at least sit down while we discuss where to go now."

"To rescue your friend Jemma. And the other one. May?"

"That's right. Of course, they could probably break out and come looking for me. Hell, I don't know what to do." He covered his face. "Any ideas?"

"Do you know anyone who's good at finding people?" James asked, sitting beside him.

"Yeah, but I have no idea where the hell any of them are. Wouldn't even know where to start looking. It's a huge country, and they could be anywhere, maybe even overseas by now. If I could use the internet…" He raised his head. "I wonder."

L F LionWorks • 4m

In an Empire state of mind. Also in a soulmate state of mind. Time to tell friends! #TeamBus #Soulmate #616

"I don't understand why putting one of those symbols makes the words turn blue," James said, looking over the screen of the new phone. "And why you've used Lion Works."

"Lion for Leo, Works for Fits. It's a play on words."

"Hmm. And this will work?"

"Six-one-six was our call sign, and we named the plane The Bus. The right people will know who this is. We're a pretty intelligent bunch."

James hummed again. He was seated behind Leo and curled around him protectively, where they were hiding out. Leo refused to leave the city, and they stayed indoors as much as possible. James didn't want to risk running into anyone he might know (i.e. Steve Rogers or Natasha Romanov), and Leo was worried that 'real' SHIELD might search New York once they realised that he hadn't left the state.

"How long will it take?" James asked.

"We'll give it a night."

The next morning, Leo rolled over and checked his phone before getting out of bed. He had a few new followers: MightandPower, BoatSong, BioGirl, and NotAWinchester. No Coulson, but perhaps he was with one of them? He checked their messages, starting with May.

M M MightandPower • 5h

Feeling free again. #TeamBus #616

There was a picture attached to it, of most of the 'real' SHIELD team out cold on the ground. Leo smirked, and scrolled down to her two other messages.

M M MightandPower • 7h

With BioGirl. So happy to be in chains. Just like the old days. #TeamBus #616

M M MightandPower • 7h

Congratulations, LionWorks. Looking forward to meeting your soulmate. #TeamBus #Soulmate #616

Leo grinned, and showed off the messages to James, who grumbled something and turned over to get a few more minutes' sleep. Next, he checked Jemma's account.

J S BioGirl • 5h

Once more struck by how amazing MightandPower is. #TeamBus #616

J S BioGirl • 6h

Oh dear. I see bad things arising for the miscreants who didn't even check to see whether we had additional phones. #TeamBus #616

J S BioGirl • 8h

Isn't Twitter a marvellous thing? So easy to find friends. #TeamBus #616

J S BioGirl • 8h

Oh my gosh, LionWorks, I'm so happy for you! We must meet up sometime. #TeamBus #Soulmate #616

J S BioGirl • 9h

MightandPower has THE best ideas.

Then he went on to Skye's account.

M S P BoatSong • 10m

How do you leave the Afterlife? Not being existential here. #TeamBus #616 #DeepQuestions

Leo frowned, and looked down her other messages. Mainly photographs of her surroundings, and he wondered whether she was trying to work out where she was. One message speculated that she was in China, which… was not a good thought, considering her heritage. He immediately shot off a message to her, asking what was up. While he waited for a reply – her latest message was fairly recently, after all, so there was a chance she was still online – he opened a new tab and began to search images of China. Even though Skye had probably done that already, but it didn't hurt to have an extra pair of eyes on the job.

"Problem?" James said, and he yawned as he rolled back over to face Leo. "You're frowning."

"I don't know where Skye is, but she may be in China. I'm trying to find a good view to match it up with the pictures she's posted on Twitter."

"Uh-huh. You go on with that. I'm gonna search for breakfast."

"The blue bag."

"I know, I know…"

There wasn't any reply from Skye, so he decided to check Hunter's account before continuing his Google search.

L H NotAWinchester • 30m

Now also in an Empire state of mind, LionWorks. Mutual friend buying funny hats. #TeamBus #616

L H NotAWinchester •1h

Forbidden from using song lyrics in tweets. AC gets the tunes stuck in his head. #TeamBus #616

"Hunter and Coulson are together," Leo said. "That accounts for all of us. Now we just need to meet up."

"Can I come with you?" James asked, dropping a breakfast bar into Leo's lap.

"I was counting on it," Leo said. "I'm not going anywhere without you."

"Even though I'm not ready to bond yet?"

Leo's face softened. "Even if you're never ready to bond, it's enough to know that Fate's deemed me worthy of having a soulmate. Honestly, it makes me happy just to look at you, even though I should probably tune down the ogling."

"Are you kidding?" James said, his gaze trailing down Leo's body. "That's my favourite part."

Bored with writing the tweets. Sigh.

I'm still plugging away at the three unfinished chapters. Gotten a bit of a move on with one of them, so I might finish it today. Then I'll take a break from writing Fitz for awhile… depending on tomorrow's episode, anyway. That resolve may yet break, because he's adorable and fun to write, and sometimes I just need a holiday from the angst.

Please review! [At signs don't appear on ffnet. Le sigh.]