Author's Notes: - Not betad again as I have gone over this myself so often it's a wonder I can still read it.
This will cover both after the Avengers and flashbacks showing the development of the relationship.
Hope it makes sense and you enjoy it.
The steady beep from the monitor measured each heartbeat of the man lying on the bed. A clean white bandage covered his chest while tubes and wires connected him to the machines that were keeping him alive.
Doctors and nurses floated around the small room, softly discussing whether or not they could do anything more for their patient while, seated at his side, a dark-haired woman tapped her fingers against the arm of the chair worriedly.
"Dr Grainger," the lead doctor said, pulling her attention away from the patient, "I'm afraid there is nothing else we can do."
"Then he's going to die?" she asked sadly.
The doctor nodded, "I'm sorry but the damage to his heart was extensive. The implant isn't working as well as we projected."
She nodded, "You did your best, Doctor. Now I'm going to have to reach out to the last person I want to."
Standing she leaned over the prone man, stroking his hair before pressing a kiss to his forehead, "Hold on for me, Phil. Just hold on and I'll fix this."
x
"Dr Grainger," Fury greeted the woman when the communication link opened, "How is he?"
"Not good," she replied, her head dropping, "The implant isn't strong enough to completely repair his heart. My team are out of ideas and I only have one left. You know what that is."
Fury winced, "Alexandrea, I'm not sure if that's a good idea."
"I understand why you think that but," she rubbed her eyes tiredly, "I'm not letting him die for your pride."
"Stark believes he's dead," Fury continued, "I used that. He won't be happy."
Alexandrea nodded, "But he will help. Even if it's just so he can gloat to you that we only saved Phil with his help."
"I know you're going to call Stark with or without my agreement," Fury said, "Thank you for the courtesy call."
"Phil has great respect for you," Alexandrea reminded him, "So do I. Despite our previous interactions," she paused, licking her lips before continuing, "I'll let you know what happens."
"Alexandrea," Fury called before she cut the link, "It was his choice, not mine."
She chuckled mirthlessly, "But you knew what decision he'd make before you gave him the ultimatum."
x
The buzz that preceded Tony Stark arriving in the building gave Alexandrea some time to ready herself, she knew that she had to be calm and make sure Stark didn't focus on the fact he was lied to.
"Alexandrea Grainger," the man himself greeted her with his trademark smirk, "You were the last person I expected to hear from this morning."
"Which is why you're here," Alexandrea replied, moving to him and exchanging a quick friendly hug, "How's Pepper?"
"Fine," Tony nodded, "She says hi. She didn't seem too bothered about me coming to see you alone."
"Well I am the one person who never succumbed to your…charms," Alexandrea shot back.
"So you say," Tony replied with a flirtatious grin.
Alexandrea gave a small smile before pushing forward, "Tony, the reason I asked you here is for your help. Part of our recent research was around creating an implant to repair damaged hearts. It wasn't ready but we had to use it to save a man. And it did its job but…"
"Not completely," Tony finished for her.
Alexandrea nodded, "He's dying. And I need the best engineer there is to see what went wrong then hopefully help fix it."
Tony shrugged, "Lead on."
Alexandrea gave him a quick smile before starting towards the medical wing. She watched closely as Stark nodded cheerfully to everyone who gave him a stunned, awed look.
They stopped outside the door and Alexandrea turned to him again.
"Any personal feelings you have need to be put aside," Alexandrea told him, "The man in that room is very important to me and I don't care about anything but saving his life."
She turned and opened the door ignoring the look of confusion she was getting. Alexandrea moved to check the chart before turning to see Tony Stark speechless as he stared at the patient.
He looked up at her and finally found his voice, "Coulson?"
x
Alexandrea dropped her head into her hands, she was exhausted.
"You should get some sleep," Tony's voice made her jump.
Turning to where he was working, she shook her head, "I can't. Haven't been able to since this happened."
"You and Coulson," Tony said, "Really?"
Alexandrea let out a sigh, "It's none of your business, Tony."
"I'm saving his life," Tony replied lightly, "I think I deserve to know."
Alexandrea sighed again, "It's a very, very long story and one without a remotely happy ending, even if he survives."
Tony stared at her, "So why are you pushing yourself so hard?"
"Because I can't let him die," Alexandrea replied, "Anymore than you could let Pepper."
"Touché," Tony murmured before hitting the final button with a flourish, "It's stable. Now we wait."
Pain.
It was the first thing his brain registered as he pushed to the surface of consciousness. Confusion followed. A memory surfaced and he saw Loki's spear appear through his chest. He gasped, choking as it was ripped away and he fell.
"It's okay," a soothing voice whispered through the haze, "You're safe."
The pain radiated through him as his mind spun.
"Phil," the same voice called, this time he felt a hand take his, "Focus on my voice. You're safe, come back to me."
Forcing his eyes opened he saw her, a smile touching her lips as he looked up at her croaking, "Drea?"
"Hi," she whispered, stroking his cheek, "You worried me there."
"What happened?" he breathed.
"You," a familiar man's voice said somewhere nearby, "Did something extremely stupid and nearly died."
He sighed, still confused before a memory appeared, "Drea, did they win?"
There was a pause and he heard the other man say something before Drea smiled down at him again, "Yes. They won."
Relief filled him and his energy faded, he was exhausted and felt her fingers slide through his hair.
"Drea…"
"Get some rest," she soothed, "You're safe. The world is safe. I promise."
At the gentle ministrations and comforting voice he gave in letting sleep take him once more.
x
Tony watched Alexandrea as she soothed the confused man. He'd known Alexandrea Grainger for years; their families mirrored one another in many ways. His father and her grandfather had worked together and, from what he now knew, had been founding members of SHIELD. They'd only really known one another in a professional capacity due to their family and company connections but during a conference he'd made Pepper go to in his place, Pepper and Alexandrea had become friends bringing her into his circle. Like him Alexandrea had taken over her father's company. However, unlike him, she hadn't become self-destructive overwhelmed by the constant pressure of running a successful company. Possibly because she was the youngest of seven, which made him wonder all the more how she became romantically involved with Coulson.
"Thank you, Tony," she said sincerely.
He nodded, "Let me know if there are any issues with the implant. Also call me once you're ready to remove it so I can make sure they don't kill him after I saved his life."
Alexandrea nodded, "We can't let your hard work go to waste."
"Get some sleep, Alexandrea," Tony told her, "You look like hell."
Alexandrea chuckled; "Go away," smiling as he affectionately squeezed her shoulder before he left her alone.
x
Alexandrea watched Tony Stark leave the room before turning back to the man who was thankfully now fast asleep and no longer unconscious. She let out a long sigh of relief as she relaxed for the first time in what seemed like years.
The exhaustion was pulling her down but she knew she had to make one more call.
"Well?"
Alexandrea frowned at the lack of greeting before she nodded, "Stark did it."
"Good," Fury replied, "I'll send over a team in a few hours."
"What?"
"Agent Coulson should be within a SHIELD rehabilitation facility," Fury reminded her.
Alexandrea glared at him, "He's not stable enough to be moved."
"You can't do this, Alexandrea," Fury reminded her, "I only came to you because your company's implant was the only possibility to save his life. Not for you to keep him."
"I'm his next of kin," Alexandrea stated coldly, "Medical decisions until he's able to make them himself are mine to make."
"Actually since he signed the papers, they're mine," Fury retorted.
Alexandrea glared at him before stating coldly, "He can't be moved for a few days. I need to monitor the implant and Stark will be coming back to help remove it."
"Then you have a few days."
Phil was exhausted, somehow just sitting upright in bed had taken every bit of energy he had. This was actually the longest he'd managed to stay awake in the past few days. His eyes closed again but the memory of Loki stabbing him flashed through his mind and he jumped awake. He took a few deep breaths trying to calm down, looking up as the door opened.
He stared at the woman who appeared in the room, beautiful as always, amazed to see her. He'd been sure he'd been dreaming she was with him, "Drea?"
Tears filled her soft brown eyes as she moved to his side, her hand sliding into his as she rested her forehead against his. Phil slowly slid his hand up along her cheek and through her hair; he'd forgotten how good it felt to be with her.
"How do you feel?" she breathed, her eyes closed as she leaned into his hand.
Phil let out a sigh, "Alive."
After a few moments she pulled back and the professional mask slid over her face, "We removed the implant from your chest yesterday. Fury will be sending a team to take you to a SHIELD medical facility in a few hours."
"Drea…"
"We have no other choice," she reminded him.
He stared at her sadly, "You know that I…"
"I know," she cut him off; "I need to make sure you're healthy enough to travel before they come for you."
He opened his mouth to say something else but couldn't find the words as she slipped into doctor mode and turned away from him.
x
Alexandrea finished going over the test results when she felt another presence in her office.
"Agent Romanov," she greeted the other woman, "It's good to see you again."
The spy nodded, "Dr Grainger. Director Fury sent me."
"I know," Alexandrea nodded, "I'm just finishing updating the test results and anything else your doctors need to know."
"So he's…"
"Alive," Alexandrea smiled slightly finishing the other woman's sentence when she hesitated, "Yes. He'll need physiotherapy for a while but he should regain his full strength in time."
Romanov nodded, "Good to know."
Alexandrea took a deep breath, "Follow me, Agent Romanov."
Remaining completely professional she led the spy to the hospital room, "There you go. I'll be in once I've finished this and you can take him back to SHIELD."
"Alexandrea," Romanov called, stopping her from leaving, "This isn't anything against you personally."
"But I'm too high profile to be married to a SHIELD agent," Alexandrea finished for her, "Even if he quit, he's made far too many enemies and knows far too much." Silence echoed between the two women before Alexandrea spoke again, "I'm not a fool, Natasha. And despite what everyone believes, he didn't make the decision. I did."
"Alexandrea…"
"I fell in love with the wrong person," Alexandrea continued, "I know that. And as much as I want to just forget him and move on I can't," she took a breath; "You should go in. I'll be a minute."
x
"Coulson," Natasha smiled warmly seeing him sitting on the bed looking bored, "I didn't believe Fury, not until right now."
"Apparently I'm a medical miracle," Phil answered with a wry smile before glancing at the door.
"She's finishing paperwork," Natasha told him, "You have to let her go."
Phil sighed but didn't say anything.
She shook her head slightly but decided not to say anything else about it. It wasn't her place.
"Once we have everything there is a transport ready to take you to the SHIELD medical facility," she told him.
They turned as the door opened and Alexandrea walked in a folder in her arms looking every bit the medical professional.
"Agent Romanov," she said her voice steady, "Here is Agent Coulson's medical file. If your doctors have any questions then tell them to call me."
Taking the folder Natasha nodded, "I'll be back in a few minutes."
She turned and left the alone, making sure to close the door behind her.
x
"If you do anything like this to me again," Alexandrea said, moving to his side and helping him slide on his shirt, "I'm not going to be happy."
"It's not on my list of top ten things to do again," Phil admitted, he caught her arm.
Alexandrea wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on for a few moments before moving back so they could kiss. They parted and Alexandrea stepped back.
"I want to know if you have any side effects from the implant," she told him as he buttoned his shirt, "This was experimental technology I had to call Tony Stark to help with. So do not act like there is nothing wrong when there is. Okay?"
He couldn't stop the smile that touched his lips, nor the slightly sarcastic, "Yes, dear."
"Phil," she snapped.
"Drea," he slid off the bed and took her hand, "I'll be fine. I will do what the doctors tell me, I promise."
She moved and held him again, closing her eyes as she rested against him.
"I love you," he whispered in her ear.
"Love you too," Alexandrea replied, allowing one more kiss before helping him to the wheelchair allowing in the team that were waiting to take him away.