Work Text:
1.
“If you have any further questions for me Ms. Romanoff, feel free to call me any time.” Natasha studied the man before her for a moment before taking the card from his outstretched hand. Barton had told her about the man that would most likely become her Handler and she couldn’t help but feel that he might have over exaggerated. She would have never guessed that Agent Coulson would be a middle aged man with a receding hairline.
“Barton thinks you’re some type of hero.” Agent Coulson leveled Natasha with a careful and steady look.
“Agent Barton is a good man who has a romantic view on the people who help him.” Natasha didn’t give any indication that she agreed with the man, but she did agree with him on some level. Barton almost gave up his whole career, and possibly his life to bring her in.
“I expected more than you when I heard storied about the infamous Agent Coulson.” The agent snorted slightly and he gave Natasha an honest smile.
“If we are being honest here, I was expecting a little more than a short Russian woman with an attitude problem.” Natasha took in his smiling face and knew that the man was much more than he seemed.
“Why are you the one stuck with me?” Agent Coulson gave Natasha another calm look before shrugging his shoulders with an awkward laugh.
“I’ve been told I have a soft spot for red heads.” The man left the room calmly and Natasha offered the empty room a rare smile. He wasn’t terrified but he had certainly been scared and it took a man with a lot of character and a possibly a little bit of brain damage to make fun of the Black Widow.
2.
Not for the first time in her life, Natasha was glad that Agent Coulson could remain calm in the most desperate of situations.; and if having an expert made bomb strapped to her body while the timer only had ten minutes left wasn’t a desperate situation, she really should hand in her resignation.
“Agent Coulson, we both know that SHIELD would be a happier place if I were to die. If you leave now, you should be able to get out of the blast zone.” Of all the things to happen in that very moment a slap to the face had been at the bottom of the list.
“Agent Romanoff I am trying very hard to disable a bomb and get it off of your person with in the next nine minutes, if you do not stop with this martyr bullshit and let me do my job I assure you that it will get messy in hear.” Agent Coulson was very carefully screwing off the top panel of the intricate bomb and was doing it with more ease then he did in most social situations.
“I would apologize, but I feel like you wouldn’t accept it.”
“I don’t accept apologies Agent Romanoff, I accept guarantees that it won’t happen again.” The man offered her an awkward smile then continued to quickly defuse the bomb.
“How is it that you can barely ask a person out for coffee, but you can disable a bomb as calmly as you stir coffee?” Agent Coulson blushed ever so slightly and Natasha couldn’t honestly believe this man was a SHIELD legend some days.
“How is it that you think it’s a good idea to distract a man that it trying to save your life by disarming a very difficult bomb?”
“Touché Agent Coulson.”
Neither of them said anything more as the man carefully worked at the bomb, slowly taking it apart until he finally seemed to get to the most crucial point. He paused ever so slightly and quickly muttered a slight prayer under his breath before clipping one of the many colored wires. Natasha hadn’t even realized that she was holding her breath until she saw the timer pause and then completely shut off.
After words, when she had been properly debriefed and had worked out all of her left over adrenalin with Clint (and if she happened to hit him a little gentler then usual he made no notice,) she decided to properly thank Agent Coulson. From what she have learned from Clint the man had a sweet tooth a mile high and was a tea drinker so after a stop at a bakery and a tea shop she found herself in front of the man’s quarters at base.
If Natasha hadn’t been so mentally tired she wouldn’t have had reacted to the sight of her handler answering the door in Captain America t-shirt with basketball shorts and a pair of thick framed glasses.
“Agent Romanoff, it’s a pleasure, although if I had been expecting company I would have been wearing something more appropriate.” The man stood to the side and made a gesture for her to enter his small quarters. A glance at the paused TV and the mat on the floor earned another surprised look from Natasha, who hadn’t guessed that her handler would be into yoga.
“You’re a man of many talents Agent Coulson.” The agent snorted and guided Natasha to the small couch at the side of the room.
“Not many would think so, but that just means I’m doing my job. Thank you for the tea and apple fritter by the way, it’s… nice.” The man blushed again, and Natasha was reminded that while the man was a face of efficiency, he could be very awkward when outside of work.
“It’s strange, how you seem to be better with bombs then with people.” Agent Coulson paused for a moment, taking in Natasha’s words carefully and he gave her a long leveled look.
“I think we both can agree that people do more damage than bombs do.” Natasha found she could only hum in agreement.
3.
“Coulson!” Natasha crawled her way through the spaces in the collapsed building till she could make her way to the last known location of her handler.
”Agent Rom…Nat… have you g…t him yet?” Clint sounded worried through the broken com-link and Natasha couldn’t help but feel slightly worried as well. One of the agent’s on their team had gone rogue and had blown up the building as a distraction to get away with valuable intellect about the mission.
“Just worry about getting the bitch that blew up the building, I’ll get Coulson out.”
“Nat, Coulson… slight… condition… has...” The com-link died and Natasha cursed at their predicament.
When she heard a noise up a head Natasha quickly got down to the source of the noise and found Coulson trapped underneath a large piece of wood. It was too large to move by herself and it barely left any room between him and the wall, but Natasha could fit through easily. His breath was labored and Natasha could see he was bleeding from a head wound but she had seen him in worst states than this. What really worried her was that the man was clearly having a panic attack.
“Agent Coulson, please try to calm down sir.” Coulson looked up at her with unseeing eyes and Natasha wasn’t quite sure how to react to seeing the man so obviously afraid. She grabbed either side of his face gently and looked into his eyes. “Coulson… Phil you need to calm down.” She had read that using first names and gentle body contact were usually better in these types of situations and it obviously had worked because Coulson seemed to gain a little bit of control. “Phil, are you alright.”
“I… I… shit.” He closed his eyes and tried to take calming breaths but he was quickly becoming panicked again.
“Backup should be here in twenty, I really need you to try to calm down before you hurt yourself.” Coulson shuddered violently but he was clearly trying his best to calm down. Natasha touched his face with gentle hands once again and began to stroke his face. She had seen mothers do this with troubled children before and it seemed to be bringing him down from his distress, he calmed further when she began to sing softly in Russian.
…
“Thank you, for everything.” Coulson’s voice was scratchy and Natasha offered him the glass of water from the table by the hospital bed.
“Clint told me about your claustrophobia.” Coulson closed his eyes in a wince and Natasha could only guess that it was a weakness he didn’t want advertised. “I will never hold it against you Coulson, we all have our fears.” The injured man was silent for a long while and Natasha realized that somewhere along the way the silences between them had become comfortable.
“Phil.” Natasha gave him a questioning look at the obvious sign of permission to use his first name, but he only met her with a bright smile. “You just talked me through a panic attack and brought me a donut, I’m pretty sure that makes us on a first name basis.”
“Call me Natasha then.” She gave him a small smile, not as bright as his own but just as meaningful.
“Just a warning, I’ll probably call you Tasha.”
“I’m alright with that.”
4.
“You’ll have to tell me the story of how you single handedly saved the Milan Fashion Week.” Natasha smiled at the large collection of dresses Phil had seemingly pulled out of nowhere. She may be an assassin but she still liked to dress up, especially in designer clothes that she could never afford.
“According to the junior agents I did it all with nothing put a broken stiletto heel.” Natasha snorted with laughter and wondered, not for the first time, who the hell told all of the younger agents these ridiculous stories. Her money was on Clint, possibly Sitwell, that man had an odd sense of humor.
“I’m slightly disappointed you weren’t wearing them.” Phil shook in silent laughter from where he was curling her hair. She had seen Phil walk in a pair of heels and he could do so better than most females. It was just another one of his surprising skills.
“After I rescued half the designers I’ve found myself being given nicely tailored objects of thanks every now and then. I’ve kept some of the suits of course, and most of the designers have no problem letting me call in a favor every now and then. Pepper and Maria certainly enjoy my connections.” Phil started undoing the curlers and began setting her hair in a complicated updo. He made sure to conceal a few knives and Natasha admired his work in the mirror.
“I know you have to return most of the dresses, but I am going to keep these shoes.” Natasha twirled around in the dress and made sure that none of her weapons would be seen while she danced.
“I’m sure Christian will be fine with that.”
“Have you found a new hobby yet?” Phil rolled his eyes at the mention of Fury’s latest orders. Clint had been laughing till he couldn’t breathed when he found out that Phil was ordered by the director of SHIELD to find a different hobby because ‘collecting Captain America trading cards was fucking creepy when the guy was still alive.’
“I’ve looked into playing an instrument, possibly a cello.” Phil handed Natasha a small handbag that hid her compact, lipstick, knockout darts, and a few small tracking devices. “Good luck tonight Agent.”
“Likewise Coulson. Although I am disappointed I won’t be able to see much of the city.”
“I’m sure you can visit Budapest on your next vacation.”
5.
Clint stirred slightly while being unconscious but he made no move of waking up. The Helicarrier was in total chaos and she was sure that other people were in trouble, but at the moment she only worried about her own people. Banner was practically indestructible, Thor was a god, Captain Rogers had the serum, and Tony had the suit. Natasha wasn’t entirely human herself, but Clint was, and right now she had to make sure he was alright.
“Coulson, I have Barton back under his own control, he should be awake soon.” There was a pause on the com, and Natasha wondered if maybe Phil didn’t have one on.
“Good… good work agent.” Phil’s breathing was unsteady and labored. He must have gotten injured somehow.
“Coulson, what’s wrong?” Natasha cut straight to the point, she wasn’t sure what was wrong with the agent, but it didn’t sound very good.
“It’s just a scratch Tasha, nothing I,” Phil coughed violently and Natasha could have sworn that for a second after he was done she couldn’t hear him breathe. “Can’t handle.”
“Where are you located, I’ll get there as soon as I can.” Natasha couldn’t help but feel slightly scared. Everything was such a mess and two of her closest friends were down.
“Just worry about Clint, he… he won’t be alright after this. I’m sorry I couldn’t make it this time Tasha.”
The com went dead, and Natasha wishes she was naïve enough to believe that soon the man wouldn’t be dead as well.
+1
Natasha looked at the man who was sitting up ever so slightly in the hospital bed. He had lost weight, he was pale and in pain and obviously exhausted. She took in the ill-fitting hospital gown and the bandages peeking out from underneath them, she looked at all the wires and tubes coming out of his body and the thick beard on his face that resulted in a four month coma.
Phil Coulson was alive, and Natasha had so many emotions about that she didn’t know how to react.
Obviously the look of calm on Phil’s face after she slapped him meant that he knew exactly how she would react.
“Don’t you ever do that again you bastard! I can’t believe you went in without backup and then just kill your com like that.” She was seething with rage, but there were other emotions underneath that rage, but when she felt her hand being squeezed weakly she mostly felt relieved.
“I’d apologize, but you know how I feel about apologies.” Natasha smiled slightly and bent down to kiss Phil’s forehead. She whispered in his ear the same prayer he said so often in Russian and wiped away the tears from his eyes.
“Agent, I’m beginning to think you have a soft spot for redheads. I should probably hide Pepper away.” Phil rolled his eyes at Tony, but it didn’t have any hate behind it and Natasha smiled at the mention of the CEO.
“We all were present while you were unconscious sir.” Steve’s strange statement made Phil blush and Natasha made a note to ask the injured man about that for a later time.
“It is good to see you with the living Son of Coul, I am glad to see you have not perished by my brother’s hand.” Thor was surprisingly gentle and the smile Phil gave him told Natasha that the two were closer friends then she had thought.
“Sir… uh, Phil… I…” Clint waved his hands awkwardly, as if trying to say everything he wanted to say with a single hand gesture and Phil just laid his hand on his shoulder. They looked at each other as if no one else was in the room, and Natasha felt slightly intrusive for being there.
“I’m glad you are okay Clint.” Tony had a strange look in his eye at the interaction between the two and Natasha shot him a warning glare. When she looked back at Phil he was clearly falling back asleep and she decided to herd the Avengers out of the room and into the hall with Fury and Bruce.
Natasha went to turn out the lights and heard Phil sigh in relief. He had a long recovery ahead of him, but he would have friends to help him. She thought he was already asleep before she heard a mumbled “G’night Tasha.”
“Good night Phil.”