Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers, or Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. If I did, I'd have a recurring role on the show; and I don't, so, there. This story is a continuation of "Soulmate Shorts" chapter 14 by the every talented Ozhawk; I just hope that I can do justice to what she's already written about Skye and Cap. The original short can be found as chapter 2.

This particular chapter references "Soulmate Shorts" chapter 85 in which Phil and Melinda realize that they have been soulmates for years, but never knew it. It's not necessary to read the chapter before this one, but I think you should check it out; it's sweet.

Chapter 1 – A Day in the Life

Skye was uncharacteristically quiet as she walked through the halls of SHIELD's new headquarters, taking note of new faces she passed along the way. Her training with had not gone too well that morning, and she was very disheartened that she let control over her power slip to cause a slight tremor through the base. It was the first slip-up she had in six months, and she felt as if she were letting everyone down because she couldn't control it longer.

Everyone in the new base knew she was an Inhuman – knew she was different. Some didn't know exactly how until today – SHIELD had only inhabited this location three months before – but she could see the shock, disgust, and intrigue on several faces as she walked by.

Ducking her head and looking at the ground, Skye kept walking towards her office in the south wing of the facility, not wanting to see the looks her fellow agents were giving her.

As she continued to walk, Skye began to think about what had happened within the last eighteen-months after leaving Puerto Rico: the team lost Tripp forever, she made her team scared of her because of her newly acquired power to create earthquakes, she was turned into a human pincushion for the science twins to gawk at, and she felt as if no one else could ever feel the same way she did.

Survivor's guilt is what the SHIELD psychologist called it. Dr. Bennet believed that because Skye was able to walk away from that temple virtually unscathed while Tripp's body crumbled to dust, that Skye fe felt responsible for everything that happened within.

But what happened was her fault. If she'd not run after Raina, then she wouldn't have been in the temple when the Obelisk opened and revealed the Terrigen crystals. If she'd not been in the temple, then she'd not have been introduced to the mist that caused her biology to change. And if she'd not been in the temple, then Tripp wouldn't have run after her, and he wouldn't be dead right now.

Skye let out a huff of frustration, turns out her psychopath sperm donor – she refuses to call him her father, Phil Coulson was the man she considered a father – was right; she was different. And because she was now different, she was now suffering the repercussions of her change.

Fortunately, the last year and a half had been good for her family.

Fitz's memory and coordination had come back in spades. All he truly needed was time for his body to heal itself, and now that it finally had, he was back in the science department inventing and manufacturing all sorts of tech to give SHIELD an edge in world security. He eventually found his soulmate in none other than Darcy Lewis, intern to Dr. Jane Foster, and they had become inseparable. Darcy was uncharacteristically good with him, and has been since the Avengers and SHIELD joined forces to defeat HYDRA a little over a year ago.

Simmons was a bit crushed that Fitz found his soulmate. Ever since the team had come back from San Juan, Simmons' feelings towards her fellow scientist had taken an about face in the opposite direction. Instead of loving him as a friend and brother, she began to see him more as a man, and a person she could spend the rest of her life with. Not having a soulmark of her own, she felt that maybe she and Fitz were meant to be if he didn't have his own; however, that changed when Darcy came to live at the compound with Jane and Thor.

Darcy was very understanding about Jemma's friendship with Fitz, though. She realized that Simmons was there first, and she didn't want to ruin something that was previously established before she became the object of Fitz's affection. She and Jemma had since become good friends, and there were no harsh feelings towards the other because of their mutual love of the dorky engineer.

Hunter and Bobbi are "on again." This time for good – or so they say. Turns out the reason they fought all the time was that they were missing their third mate. Having not found her for so long, they didn't think they could last again. That all changed when Sharon Carter – formerly known to other SHIELD agents as Agent 13 – became a part of the newly rebuilt group, and uttered those first words to the couple. All the arguing stopped almost overnight. Their third soulmate completed their circle, and she was able to help them talk through their differences instead of fight. Peace between the three was sheer bliss.

What surprised everyone at the old, and new compounds, was that A.C. and May were apparently soulmates, but did not find out until much later in life. Skye was still yet to figure out how that happened. All she knew is that one day she went into Coulson's office to show him suspected HYDRA bases, and found them macking like teenagers in his desk chair. She was taken aback, most definitely, but she was happy that they had finally figured they were great for each other. Mom and Dad are finally together.

Of all the things that had happened since San Juan, her favorite thing was that SHIELD no longer had to hide in the dark from the public, and HYDRA was down to its last holdings in the world. Apparently, Daniel Whitehall was the top brass of HYDRA after the death of Alexander Pierce. Whitehall's death shook up many of the remaining enemy bases, and without his leadership they became sloppy; leaving trails of their whereabouts, and giving the few active SHIELD operatives, and the Avengers, the opportunity to raid the bases and destroy them from the ground up.

Skye had been a key factor in defeating several of those enemy bases. Her code name was Quake, and she was only sent on assignment with those individuals who knew her best so she could avoid the awful stares she was currently on the receiving end.

"Lady Skye," boomed a voice from beside her. "Seems you had quite an adventure this morn, no?" Thor's massive arm came around her shoulder, and she leaned into his touch. Since the Avengers moved into Promiseland – the name of their new base – Thor had taken Skye under his tutelage as he had more experience with otherworldlies, Inhumans, and other universal lifeforms not found on Earth.

Learning more about being an Inhuman had helped Skye deal with a lot of her issues regarding her new power, and Thor – with some gentle guidance from Jane – had been helping teach Skye to control it further so no slip-upsoccured.

"Today was a fluke, Thor," Skye mumbled to the Asgardian. "I let something someone said get to me, and I shouldn't have. I lost a bit of control." She looked up into his worried blue eyes, and knew that he was worried just as much as she at what happened. "I promise I'm not going to let that happen again."

"Lady Skye," Thor stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned her to face him. "You know I think of you as a sibling, so you know that when you are worried and hurt that I feel the same pain, yes?" Skye nodded. "Should you ever wish to converse about anything, so any future slips do not occur, please come to see me. We can talk this out, and we can work to control the emotion that is causing your control to falter."

Skye smiled at Thor, and reached her arms around him in a hug. Thor stiffened at the contact, but put his arms around her and awkwardly patted her back. "Good. Now Lady Skye, I must be off, Dr. Banner has requested that The Other Guy have a training session with me. You should come watch."

"As much as I'd like to see you and Hulk fight again," she said, grinning, "I do have things to do today that are part of my actual job here." With one last hug between the two, Skye took off again towards her office, and Thor took off towards the training center to meet Banner.

Since the Avengers and SHIELD had teamed up together to fight a common enemy, most of the heroes had moved into this new base. It was completely unexpected when Fury sent Coulson a new set of coordinates. After receiving the message from the former director, A.C., May, and Tony Stark took a quinjet to see what could be found at the location, when they came upon what looked to be an old college campus.

As it turned out, the campus was Promiseland, and it was Nick Fury's last secret base for SHIELD operation. Fury knew that one day SHIELD would be able to rebuild and once more large enough that a bigger facility would be needed. He hoped the day would never had to have come, but since it did, he knew that Phil Coulson would do right by the place and the agents who would call it home.

There were dormitories for agents to reside, multiple training facilities for all sorts of talents, an aircraft hangar, and yet another Koenig brother when they got there. Mike Koenig, the youngest, and self-proclaimed handsomest of the brothers told them that this facility had not been used since the mid-1960s, but it had been meticulously maintained since then, and may only need a slight dusting in some of the residence halls. Mike also mentioned that the location was blocked by any type of satellite view.

Somehow a technology, that Skye had yet to crack, signalled satellites overhead that the area in which they were stationed was nothing but National Forest, and fortunately enough, the compound was far enough from a main highway – and could only be accessed by a small dirt road – that passersby didn't think anything out of the ordinary lay beyond the tree line outside the college town of Charlottesville, Virginia.

Skye really didn't mind the smaller city's atmosphere. It afforded small groups from Promiseland the ability to go about town and acclimate themselves to the new area, but still retain the anonymity being a SHIELD agent required. Unlike that of a larger city, should she lose control of her ability, there should not be as much damage or destruction as could happen at the Playground outside Miami.

Turning the last corner towards her office and lab, Skye stopped dead a few feet from her door. Knowing she had shut and locked it before she left, her door should not be open now. The only people who had access to the lab, other than herself, were Fitz and A.C.; both of whom she just left outside the training room after she shook the place up. It didn't make sense.

Grabbing the ICER from the waistband of her jeans, she took the safety off. Using May's training techniques Skye crept closer to the open door and peeked around the door frame.

Standing at her desk, staring at her favorite vintage Captain America sign – a gift from her pseudo-father – was someone she had never encountered on the base before.

The individual was tall, much taller than her own five-foot-four frame, and was very muscular; something that Skye could tell from the snug shirt he was wearing. Clearly military by his stance, and his blonde hair caught the florescent light from above.

Before she could process further who this individual was, he was bending down to pick up the sign, and Skye raised her ICER to the center of the strangers back.

"Step away from the sign."