Boyfriend Material
An Agents of SHIELD fanfic by Aisling Yinyr Ngaio
Agent Philip Coulson. Even now, with thirty solid years of service under his belt, he was still going strong within the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division. Junior agents felt their luck should they be even called in to be reprimanded by him, because he only did that with agents whom he saw potential in. Senior agents prayed jealously that they might serve as many years as Coulson did, with nary a blemish on their field records as well. Whispers persisted within the organisation about his alleged refusal for promotion long after Maria Hill, an agent almost twenty years his junior, was appointed assistant director over him. No one was in any doubt as to the agent Director Fury would select to beard the man now known as Iron Man - a man who, moreover, was legendary for his conversational avoidance tactics - for a debriefing, the moment intelligence came from the Air Force of the United States of his miraculous (and suspicious) rescue.
That was, however, not the only point of envy among his fellows, for to the especial consternation of his younger colleagues, Phil Coulson always got the ladies.
It didn't matter that he didn't actually return the interest of most of the female half, and was usually so discreet about the ones he was interested in that nobody would learn of his seeing someone until months - sometimes years - after the relationship had ended. The disappointed murmurings of the few agents he'd worked with on medium or long term assignments ensured that his reputation preceded him, despite his lack of time in pursuing as many romantic entanglements as he was said to have. Some of the young arrogant Level Sixers still thought the rumours grossly exaggerated however, which was the only reason there were still occasional satisfied faces in mission control rooms as Coulson was being sent out into the field with another agent who had yet to see the light.
The worst part of it was, nobody knew precisely how he did it, least of all the man himself. Maybe it was his suits (apparently that was what he spent half his paycheck on every two months), maybe it was his persona (though it was most of the time so mild-mannered that the corresponding interest was confusing), or maybe… maybe it was just because he was Phil Coulson. Maybe it was the paradox of the unassuming man with intelligent eyes, a silver tongue, a repressed aura of command and, though not often displayed, fast reflexes.
So when an additional report was added to the list for Level 7 agents after the shocking Battle of New York, only this select group of agents did not feel the mixture of disappointment at the death of a near-legendary field operative, and the tiny smidgen of hope that at long last, their dating lives might finally have a chance. Ah, to be ignorant about the truth of the survival of the ladykiller.
(They did, however, heave a sigh of relief when a cold, grouchy Level Sixer was promoted to Level 7 in order to be transferred to the new SHIELD-616 team.)
- Finis -