I don't own SHIELD and never will. No copyright infringement intended.
Isabelle Hartley hoped Phil Coulson could do a lot of good for SHIELD as the new director but she wasn't so sure. After the agency fell because of Hydra, she had a lot of trust issues and didn't exactly have faith in his team (although they had proved themselves in the end). She'd definitely try to work with them in the future, whenever that may be. But it probably wouldn't be for a long time as she was finally headed home; back to the apartment (and the occupant) she missed dearly. But first she needed to say goodbye to the others. "It was nice working with you, Director."
Coulson nodded. "You too, Agent Hartley. And again, I'm sorry for your loss."
Isabelle waved him off. "It's fine – you don't have to keep apologizing for that. You had nothing to do with Victoria's death." No one had known of her and Victoria's relationship until she had snapped earlier and informed them of that fact. It had gone deathly silent after that, something she was still proud of.
'We're still sorry, Agent Hartley, and I hope we can work with you again." Skye smiled at the older woman.
"You're a good agent for someone who only joined up a few hours before everything went to shit. Keep it up, Agent Skye." Isabelle could only see a hardworking agent in this young woman and hopefully she wouldn't burn out like so many others had.
"Thank you. I'm going to go find Jemma now because I'm sure she needs me for something." Skye waved goodbye and then left to go look for her other teammates.
Isabelle turned back to Coulson and shook his hand. "Call me if you need me and I'll be here."
"I will do that. Goodbye." And he too turned away to go deal with the mess that had been left on his shoulders in the wake of Hydra's attack.
Isabelle just smiled and then left the secret base. She jumped in the car and made a quick phone call before starting it up. She was so excited to get back home that she didn't even stop to eat even though she was starving. She leaned her forehead against the door and took a deep breath to calm herself before opening it. Isabelle was greeted only by the living room light and turned it off before making her way to the bedroom. "Hey, sweetheart," she whispered to her girlfriend after changing into pajamas and crawling into bed.
Victoria turned to face her. "What did I tell you about pet names, Iz? I don't like them."
Isabelle laughed but didn't deny it. "And you know I don't like being called Iz. We're even then." She pulled Victoria in her arms and kissed her.
Victoria reluctantly pulled away from her a minute or so later to question her girlfriend. "Did you tell them anything about me? Did you spill our dirty little secret?"
She shook her head. "You'd be proud of me because I didn't say a word other than getting pissed off about the fact that a Hydra agent killed the woman I love."
Victoria grinned. "Good for you. How's Director Coulson handling shit?"
Isabelle sighed. "It's piling up on him but I don't care about that right now. I missed you and I want to talk about what you've been up to."
She rolled her eyes. "Nothing. I'm stuck in this place until the end of time because everyone thinks I died." Victoria had sent a Life Model Decoy onto that plane as a precaution and was glad she had in the end (even though everyone thought she was dead – it was an advantage in some aspects of this whole shitshow).
Isabelle kissed her again to stop the whining and was satisfied when it worked. "I'm sorry about that and we'll figure out a way for you to be out in the real world soon enough. We still have the technology."
Victoria shrugged. "That is a good point. I knew there was a reason why I love you."
"Just the one? Are you sure?" Isabelle winked at her and started laughing when her girlfriend pinched her arm.
Victoria leaned back into the pillows and sighed. "I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to fake my death because someone is going to catch on sooner or later and will take advantage of it. I don't want that to happen."
"Neither do I," Isabelle assured her. Victoria turned her head to face Isabelle again and started grinning from ear to ear. She narrowed her eyes and stared at Victoria suspiciously. "What are you up to, Tori?"
She didn't answer at first. "You know I love you?"
Isabelle nodded. "Of course I do, and I love you too. What's this about?"
"Marry me. Let's just get the fuck out of this place – when we've both slept enough because I know you're exhausted – and elope tomorrow. We'll just do it under fake names."
She gaped at Victoria. "You just proposed. That was your proposal."
"Short and sweet, wasn't it?"
Isabelle grabbed her hand and squeezed it before diving in to kiss her yet again. "Yes, I'll marry you. Took you long enough to ask," she teased.
"Hey, you could have asked earlier." But Victoria's heart swelled with joy and she actually teared up. "Damn it, now I'm emotional. Fuck me."
"Gladly. Looking forward to making love to you as my wife for the first time ever." Isabelle was so giddy she started laughing.
"Me too." Victoria brushed the bangs out of her fiancée's face and sniffled. "We'll leave first thing in the morning. Now get some sleep."
"Will do." And then Isabelle closed her eyes and started to dream of their future together.
It took Victoria a while to fall asleep after Isabelle accepted her proposal. Her mind raced as she too thought of their future as wives. Eventually, the outside world would have to know of her existence but she didn't care about that right now. Isabelle was the only person and thing that mattered to her at this moment. Fuck the outside world and everything associated with it. And she couldn't wait she could call the woman next to her her wife.