"Coming in hot."

"We are pretty hot, I will admit."

I groan and roll my eyes. "That was too easy." Carol shrugs.

"Not my fault you tossed the perfect ball. I just took a swing." She grins over at me as we enter Earth's atmosphere and flames begin to lick, wait for it, my very own spaceship. Not too bad my first time out of the country. The planet too, of course. "Little lighter heading down. You'll want to switch on the thrusters when we're close." Carol instructs and I nod as we plummet. Adrenaline shoots through me as the clouds clear and I can see the green-blue blur of my home. "Pull up. Pull up. Pull up, pull up, pull up!" Carol's pleas get louder and I tug my arms up frantically as we near the landing beside the facility. My eyes are slits as we slow and finally bump into the landing pad, then Carol flicks a couple of switches and we rumble down. I take a breath and unbuckle myself while Carol chuckles. "Well, we didn't die. Success." I laugh back and open the hatch, popping up and running out instantly. I take a deep breath of earth air and grin. This is still home.

"Our two favorite aliens, home at last!" A familiar voice bursts from the front doors belonging to Tony with a surprisingly bright-eyed Bruce beside him. Rhodes strides out just behind them too.

"Ah, and our favorite dumbasses come to greet us. Not you Bruce." Bruce waves this off as the four of us collide with hugs all around.

"Bring me a new toy?" Tony questions, nearly bouncing on his toes while Bruce's eyes alight with curiosity.

"Uh, it's mine. And I want it to stay all in one piece, thank you very much." I warn before my eyes scan the space behind the three men.

"Steve's coming back from a mission tomorrow with Sam and Bucky. Natasha's working with Wanda in D.C. It's just us here." Bruce tells me and I deflate slightly.

"Oh. Thanks, I was wondering where everyone was." I respond and he tilts his head towards me just enough so I know that he's aware of the very specific who I was searching for.

"So, you're stuck with us." Tony claps his hands as we head inside. "Come on, we're ordering pizza since none of us can cook worth a shit." My smile returns and stomach growls at the mention of pizza.

"And I want to hear about space. Obviously." Rhodes adds as Carol hip bumps him. We descend into a flurry of conversation as we eventually settle into the gathering room. What's Skadar like, what are the Canelians like, what kind of pizzas we're getting, etc. Carol and I regale them with stories of people with skin that can flush bright teal in an instant to match the planet under them, how they gifted me the last ship in the fleet that once belonged to my people, and the fact that pineapple on pizza is an abomination. We're all laughing at Carol as she does a pluriesian impression (it's an animal kind of a mix between a pig and a cat) and working on the last two boxes out of ten when someone arrives.

"...could've died, Steve."

"Yeah, but I didn't, Buck. It's fine." Steve is shoved through the doorway with an amused grin on his face and uniform smudged with soot. Bright eyes meet mine and widen as pretty pink lips part. "Reagan." His voice deepens from moments ago and sends a trickle of pleasure down my spine.

"Steven." I greet him back softly, a teasing lilt added that immediately coaxes a smirk out of the soldier.

"Yeah, hi we're here too." Sam waves as Bucky beelines it to the rest of the pizza. I blink and glance at the other two soldiers.

"Right, hey Sam. Bucky." I grin at both of them and hop up to hug them quickly, then end up right in front of Steve. "Hey." My words are quieter this time. More intimate since we're closer. Steve takes another small step towards me.

"Hey. Good to see you. Nice ride out front." He comments and I laugh softly in return.

"Maybe I'll take you for a spin sometime." I joke and that cute smile grows.

"I'd like that. Think we need to talk anyway." A bit of seriousness creeps into his voice and my brows furrow.

"Sure." I agree immediately. Steve glances over at our group and his fingers smooth down my arm, then entwine with mine.

"Might as well go now while they're distracted." He murmurs and I grin.

"No objections here." I squeeze his hand and we walk out together to the hoots and whistles of the group behind us. "How are you? How was the mission?" I sway into him slightly as I ask, interested in his answer as well as just happy to be around him again. He feels like home too.

"Both good. Thank you." His eyes sparkle over at me as we head into my room and I sigh contentedly while collapsing onto my bed. Steve chuckles as he shuts the door behind us. "I wanted to talk about this." My eyes open and I sit up to find a half-undressed Steve in front of me. Shocked heat zings through me and I swallow as my eyes rove over every curve as the top half of his suit hands limply from his hips.

"We can talk about that," I say gruffly, voice slightly rougher than before. Steve's lips flick up while his smile widens.

"Not exactly what I meant." He says and my brows furrow. Slowly, he turns around and I gasp.

Black ink spills out from the center of his upper back in dark and light black loops. One cuts sharply down his spine to a point, then comes back to meet the knot. Another shoots up and the point would most likely just appear out of his shirt collar. Slithering curves meet in the middle and with the points, it almost seems like two hearts tied together with the infinity symbol. Oops.

"Uh, wow. I'm guessing you didn't hide Thor's mead and get plastered while I was gone?" I ask while standing up and allowing my fingers to skim the new ink. His shoulders shake with a laugh and I'm glad he's taking it well.

"Hidden snifter is still in the cooler under my sink behind a false back. Was working out with Natasha and she threw me. She spotted the ink. Definitely wasn't there before." My hands slide down his arms as he turns with raised eyebrows. My head shakes.

"I'm...I'm sorry, I have no clue why this would happen. Just..." I think for a moment before stepping towards the door. "would you wait here a second? I'll bring you some clothes back. You're welcome to the shower, just-"

"Stay here." He finishes with a curious look and soft smile. "I'll be here." He assures me and a flash of a grin crosses my face before I'm hurrying down the hall back to the gathering room.

* * * * *

"Carol?" I interrupt her mid-laugh and her sparkling eyes land on me. "Could I borrow you a minute?" Her brows furrow over her as she nods and hops up from the couch. I grab her hand and drag her to Steve's room, grabbing a few clothes as I explain. "You remember when I was in that classroom with all those Canelians and they were explaining my history?" She nods along, smile fading as she senses the urgency in my voice. She waves her hand to say yes and continue. "That bit about the soulmates? Real. Totally real." Her eyebrows raise and eyes bug out.

"But that was just a theory." She objects as I walk back out with a T-shirt and sweatpants over my arm.

"Not anymore," I tell her as we rush down the hall.

"The marks?" I nod. "Wow, you two really didn't waste time, did you?" She chuckles and I roll my eyes.

"Not like that. He knew his marks matched mine and wanted an answer." We burst back into my room and find my bathroom door closed with the soft pattering of a shower running behind it. I toss his clothes onto the bed and turn to face Carol. "I thought there was more to it than just a...a feeling, a longing, whatever!" I hiss quietly.

"It's a choice that you make. It's biochemistry. Ask Bruce about it." Carol shrugs and smirks as my cheeks fill with heat.

"I'm not asking Bruce." I protest and she chuckles as the bathroom door suddenly opens to release a rush of steam and to reveal Steve with a white, plush towel straining around his waist. Suffice it to say my cheeks are now not the only thing that's heated. Carol smirks and spins a finger in the air.

"Care to turn for us, Captain?" Steve's cheeks brush darker pink as he accepts the bundle of clothes from me.

"Think I'll put some pants on first." He looks pointedly at her before slyly winking at me and ducking back into the steaming bathroom. Carol look back to me and crosses her arms over her chest.

"You going to tell him?" She asks and I glance back over to her sharply.

"I remember wanting to know why ink suddenly became scrawled across my chest." She nods in agreement. "Let's just make sure that's what it is before anything else." We both look up when Steve exits once again and turns with his hands out.

"Well?" He asks and Carol briefly glances at the marks before looking back at me. The answer is clear in her eyes.

"Think I'll give you two a few minutes." She says softly and ducks out of the room as Steve turns back to me with raised eyebrows.

"You might want to sit down," I suggest and he does so while shrugging on his shirt. Eyebrows furrowed over bright sapphire eyes make him look like a puppy as he stares up at me in confusion.

"What's going on, Rea?" He asks and reaches for my hand. I accept and smooth my other hand over his fingers for comfort.

"Nothing bad," I assure him first. "It's just, uh, I know what those marks are and it's a little...well, it's interesting." I preface and he tugs on my hand to get me to look at him.

"You're stalling." He points out and I sigh.

"It's a thing with Skogsra. When they...once they've chosen a soulmate, the tattoos change to show that they're taken." I explain and his blue eyes widen. "It changes, of course. If the couple splits up the tattoos should disappear. Mine have changed too." My hands shed the top half of my suit and I turn to show the marks previously just under my breasts have traveled up and across my shoulders as well. Like wings. Reflexively, I shiver when Steve's warm fingers follow the ink like a boat on a river. Goosebumps rise as he travels and my lips press together at the sweet feeling.

"So...you've branded me?" His voice is apprehensive, but light so I know he's teasing. I turn with a soft chuckle and my arms crossed over my bare breasts. His eyes flick over the ink now leaking barely over my shoulders, then his fingers brush over the hair on my arms. Asking for permission. I take a breath and my arms drop to instead guide his hands back to my skin. They move when my lungs inflate deeply with relief at his touch, then slide around me to tug me a bit closer so he can press a chaste kiss to the center of the tattoo. A shaky half laugh, half breath leaves me and his eyes are sparkling when he looks back up at me. "Don't think I mind." He relents and my worry fades away to be replaced by something much warmer and sweeter.

"Might need you to prove it, Captain." I dare and he grins against my skin.

"I consider a privilege, your majesty." He says and the room is filled with my laughter before we tumble down into the sheets.

The End

A/N

This is unconscionably late, but it's finally here! And since I'm such an asshole, I'm going to add another little headcanon I had as I wrote this last bit.

So Loki and Thor about a week into the visit to Skadar left, so it was a hilarious little headcanon of mine that Loki came back to Earth to impersonate Steve. ;) I changed the last line from "It would be my pleasure...my queen." Just so it would sound more Stevey and less Loki-ey. Do with this headcanon what you will! Just had to share! Thank you for reading lovelies.

Read more marvel on my page! Just keep on reading, dears! :)