Disclaimer: If I owned the picture and these characters I wouldn't need a disclaimer. So there!
And for anyone who didn't know, Strike Team Delta is the name of the Clint/Natasha team.
Mission: Probably Impossible
When Phil Coulson looks at Strike Team Delta, he can't help but feel a certain sense of pride. If someone were to ask him what he is most proud of in life, Coulson would be unable to answer with anything other than "Clint and Natasha".
When Phil had first begun to work with the two agents, he had bought painkillers in possibly lethal amounts in an attempt to rid himself of the constant headache that was Strike Team Delta. He had listened to countless arguments covering every topic from what is the best way to assassinate a thief to whether or not Natasha's hair was actually that shade of red. He had cancelled missions, dinners, and meetings to keep the two from mudering each other. Coulson had spent hundreds of hour on the phone relaying Natasha's complaints about Clint and vice versa until one day in the middle of one of Coulson's complaint sessions, Fury had simply shouted that Clint and Natasha were Coulson's team and that it was his job to make them get along and so he better stop calling Fury if he wanted to keep his job.
The next day had seen the beginning of Coulson's most dangerous mission ever. Assassinating the ringleader of a drug-dealing group while duct-taped to a piece of wood with just a box of uncooked spaghetti: Coulson could do that in his sleep. Get Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton to talk to each other for 40 seconds without death threats being made? That made impossible look easy.
With a deep breath, the normally composed agent had entered the training room where Natasha and Clint had been doing exactly what Coulson thought they would be and not training, like they were supposed to be doing. Seeing the two arguing about who knows what like a pair of kids, Coulson was ready to go and turn in his resignation papers to Fury with the note "they're insane" written on it in bold letters, possibly in red Sharpie.
But, thankfully for the SHIELD, Clint, Natasha, and the world as a whole, Phil Coulson was a man who never quit, no matter how impossible the goal might seem (except for that one time in Istanbul...). So Coulson entered the fray, broke up the fight over who had been to more foreign countries (Natasha, both men would learn later), and silently cursed Fury for having the nasty habit of always believing in impossible things.
The next 8 months of Coulson's life would prove to be some of the most difficult, hysterical, frustrating, amazing, angering, joyous, and influential of his life. He watched as two of the guiltiest people on Earth taught each other how to clean their ledgers of the red that dripped from them. Never once did they wash the red for their partner, instead showing their love for one another by simply helping the other to do so for themselves. Coulson watched as a man and woman who had known nothing but the feeling of drowning in their pasts learn to swim and look to the future. He smiled as he witnessed a trust so strong it severed traps, survived poison, and completed missions that would have killed most people, grow.
Coulson had stood by as both of them had taken turns sobbing over the unconscious body of their partner. He had bitten back knowing smiles when Clint's face had contorted with jealousy as some man kissed Natasha. He had tried to comfort Natasha as she had screamed as men who acted like monsters had taken Clint from her. Coulson had fought against Fury tapping their phones knowing how important their late-night phone calls were to each other. He had taken note of the day when Clint had started getting Natasha's hot chocolate for her in the morning. Coulson had smiled when Natasha had first taught Clint how to say "hello" in her own language. He had fought back tears as he had watched the two be separated during battle and had tried not to shout for joy when they were inevitably reunited, Clint picking his partner up and spinning her around when they did so. In those eight months, Coulson saw the strongest bond he had ever known grow and flourish under the care and love of two people who at the very least subconsciously knew that they needed each other.
But most of all, Coulson remembers hearing Natasha and Clint laugh together for the first time. Coulson is certain it was some joke that would have only received an eye-roll from anyone else, but between the stress of their jobs and their relief at living to see another day, Strike Team Delta had found it hysterical. When he sits alone in a quiet room, Coulson can still hear Clint's deep chuckle and Natasha's airy laugh. He can see Clint grasping the edge of the bridge they had been standing on as he doubled over. He can smell the popcorn that Natasha had been holding in her hand until she had dropped it in her fit of laughter. He can still feel his heart warm knowing that he had persevered and had created a team that would be able to weather any storm as long as they had each other.
Yes, Coulson thinks as he leans against a wall, slowly dying, if someone were to ask me what I am most proud of I would have to say that it is those two. His heart had leapt when he had heard that it looked like Agent Barton had been freed of the Tesseract's cold influence, knowing that his team had once again been reunited. As he dies, Phil Coulson is grateful to know that the most important part of him, the human part, the part that can turn enemies into best of friends, will live on in the form of Strike Team Delta. Yes, Phil Coulson is very proud of Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, and the world they are creating.
Author's Note: And, yes, I do know that the picture fro this story really doesn't have anything to do with it, but I liked it and got tired of looking. I hope you liked the story and I would be thrilled if you reviewed. Thanks for reading!
Be grateful,
-When In Doubt, Smile