"So she was telling the truth. You really are back," Clint stated, looking him over. Phil could feel himself paling, his hand moving to his arm unconsciously to touch the soulmark there.
"I am. Didn't think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?" he replied, watching for a reaction. The stricken look was not what he was hoping for. It was only slightly better when he found his arms full of a shaking archer. "You all follow Ms. Romanov back inside. We'll be in shortly."
They watched as the door closed behind them in silence, before turning to study each other. It was Clint who broke the silence first, as usual. He never could stay quiet for long. "You look exactly the same. What happened? I saw your body, I felt your hand... you were dead. There is no faking that," he said quietly, tears in his eyes. It was uncharacteristic for Clint to show so much emotion in public.
"Is there a place inside that we could talk privately? This shouldn't be public knowledge," Phil replied, meeting his gaze. Clint nodded and led him inside wordlessly to the elevator.
"My floor, J," he said to the ceiling. The elevator started moving immediately.
"You don't share with Natasha?" Phil asked, surprised.
"Nah. It's been three years, don't pretend you know us anymore. We shared a floor when we first moved in, but we drove each other crazy. I'm not the tidiest person, as you know, and she's OCD about everything being where it should be. We almost killed each other before Stark built her a brand new floor. That was eight months ago, after the Ultron fiasco," Clint explained. The elevator door opened to a slightly messy apartment, and a dog was jumping on him before he'd even realized it was there. "Down, Lucky! Damn, sorry Phil. I should have warned you about him."
"It's alright," Phil replied, bending down to pet the dog as it wagged it's tail. "I've always been a fan of dogs. I used to have one, growing up. It only had three legs."
"That's right, you told me about that a long time ago. I acquired Lucky the same time I got the apartment complex. I still live there part-time, because none of the others know it exists- minus Nat, of course," Clint babbled. He was wringing his hands nervously. "I'm only going to get today, huh?" he asked suddenly, looking down.
"Why would you think that?" Phil asked.
"Because you have an actual life outside of SHIELD that none of us knew about. A wife and a kid, Phil. You don't need me around to mess more shit up," he said quietly, not looking up. "It's fine. I'll take what I can get, honestly. I'm amazed you're here at all."
"Clint, Audrey died a while ago. And she wasn't my soulmate. We married because of Skye, who was not planned. We only stayed together for her. Audrey found her soulmate before she died, and they were very much together in secret. When I got my mark, I told her, and she encouraged me to come find you. I wish I'd taken her advice sooner. I didn't love Audrey as anything more than a friend. As for Skye, I'm sure she'll love you. You're her favorite Avenger, did you know?" Phil told him, using a finger to lift his chin.
It really shouldn't have surprised him when Clint lunged forward and kissed him. Kissing Clint was nothing like kissing Audrey had been. He'd been in love with the archer for most of the time he'd known him, but he'd thought Clint had his own soulmate and children. Kissing him now felt like a dream come true. He didn't want to stop, and he suspected that Clint felt the same way as he deepened the kiss and wound his arms around Phil's neck to pull him closer. He could feel Clint's erection pushing against his stomach, and pushed his own hips forward to give him some friction. Clint moaned, breaking the kiss and breathing heavily. (Phil wasn't doing much better. He was half hard and breathing just as badly.)
"We probably shouldn't go that far just yet..." Clint said quietly. "We only just found each other."
"We've known each other for twelve years. I've been in love with you for ten of them. If it's all the same to you, I really don't care much for waiting. I won't push you, of course," Phil replied with a small smile, stroking Clint's cheek. This time he was ready for the needy archer in his arms.
An hour later, they were lying in Clint's bed together, with Phil stroking his back lovingly. "Did you mean it when you said you'd been in love with me for ten years?" Clint asked quietly. Phil nodded.
"Yes. But I was your superior, and I was with Audrey and had Skye to think of. I also thought you were in a relationship with Natasha, which you've thoroughly proven wrong. Speaking of Skye, I should introduce you. She'll want to know what's taking us so long, if nobody has told her. And I need to talk to her about our team, too," Phil replied.
"Wait, there's one more thing I need to... you knew the whole time it was me, didn't you? You and Nat are the only two people in the world who have seen my handwriting, with the possible exception of Fury and Hill because they were in charge. If you knew it was me, why the hell didn't you come find me sooner? Why would you let me think you were dead?" Clint asked, frowning. He had tears in his eyes again, which Phil couldn't stand.
"I'd been watching the Avengers news, watching you specifically. You seemed happy, close with most of the team. It just didn't feel right for me to force myself on you after it seemed you'd gotten over my death. I couldn't do that to you until I absolutely had to," he said quietly. Clint kissed him again, because he wasn't sure he could speak just yet. When he caught his voice, it wasn't steady. He didn't care.
"Phil. You know me better than that. All of the Avengers news was staged. I had to act like everything was fine, because the world doesn't want defenders that have issues. Steve and Bucky- and maybe Tony- have the world's worst PTSD. Natasha can't be touched from behind without attacking whoever did it. Bruce turns into a giant rage monster and spends half of his time on his own trying to find a cure. He only just moved in, you know. Wanda and Pietro don't trust Stark at all, and they're only living here because they don't have anywhere else to go and they trust me to take care of them. I can barely close my eyes without seeing all of the people I killed because of Loki. Hell, I think Rhodey and Wilson are the only two people who might actually be normal on this team, and they're both military. I never got over you. I never wanted to," Clint argued. "I need you in my life, soulmate or not. Hell, it can be platonic if you suddenly decide you don't want me like this, I don't even care as long as you're still here."
"I can promise you the latter will never happen. I can't promise I'll always be here, because the world needs me as much as, if not more than, you do. But I can promise that I will always come back to you. I will always be here for you. And I'm hoping you'll be here for me, too. And maybe Skye, someday. That's where things will get complicated, though," Phil told him, pulling him closer.
"Come on, then. Introduce me officially, and we can have that other discussion you've been itching to have," Clint said with a smile, pulling away to grab his pants.
Skye and Pietro were almost never apart anymore, in the two days they'd been together. It was no different when the rest of her team showed up (minus her father, which what the hell?!). Jemma squealed and threw herself at Skye, pulling her into a tight hug. Fitz was slightly less enthusiastic, though he gave her a bright smile and a hug after Jemma let go.
"We heard you found your soulmate!" Jemma exclaimed, moving back to stand next to Natasha. (They'd all insisted on being called by their first names, which she was no longer lying about knowing. She'd come clean on everything she knew, and they'd told her even more. She might have more information that her father, and it made her smile. He'd be so jealous when he found out...)
"Congratulations, Skye. We've found ours, too, actually," Fitz admitted. He was standing beside Tony, who had possessively put an arm around him. Skye thought it was cute.
"That's so great! You guys will be happy, I just know it. But where's D- Coulson?" she asked, almost slipping. Only May seemed to notice the slip, but she didn't say anything. Skye actually figured she'd known the truth the whole time. Her existence was an extremely high clearance, but Fury and Hill had known... maybe May did, too.
"He found his own soulmate. They're... getting acquainted right now," Jemma said, grinning. "Can you believe we all have Avenger soulmates? Well... apart from May. I'm sorry."
"It doesn't bother me. My own soulmate is enough for me," she replied with a tight smile. Skye knew better. She and Coulson were the only other ones in existence who knew that May had not, in fact, found her soulmate yet. But her words had done something strange years ago, just after Skye was born, that made them think her soulmate had died. The words were still there, just hidden under makeup and clothing. May had long ago given up on finding him.
"Who wants a drink? I feel like now is a good time for a drink. Wait," Tony stated, turning to stare at the three agents. "You're old enough to drink right? Please say yes, because I didn't think to ask last night and Agent might kill me for getting his... you know. Yes?"
"We're all old enough. I'm twenty-five, and they're twenty-seven," Skye replied, amused. "And yeah, maybe don't tell him that you gave me alcohol without finding out if I'm legal yet. I'm flattered that you think I wouldn't be, though."
"Shut up," Tony muttered, pouring drinks for everyone.
"What did you do this time, Stark?" Clint asked, leading Coulson into the room. Skye immediately went over to hug him, ignoring the stares from her team and the knowing looks from the Avengers.
"None of your business, Birdbrain," Tony grinned, passing him a drink. "Drink up, because it's only one glass per customer tonight. No getting drunk, this time."
"Good, because we need to have a very serious discussion later," Phil said, giving Skye a pointed look, making her blush.
"Did Clint tell you that I found my soulmate here? I'm assuming someone must have mentioned it... come meet Pietro!" she babbled, suddenly nervous.
The introductions happened quickly, and in no time at all Skye found herself being led to the elevator (away from her soulmate, she thought sadly) to have that talk with Clint and her father. And wouldn't that be interesting?
May was standing by herself, nursing her second drink, when someone made their way over to talk to her. She hadn't had any peace at all in weeks, and she'd been enjoying the time tonight had given her to think about things as everyone else got to know their soulmates. She'd forgotten that Dr. Banner would be the odd one out, with her. So, instead of glaring or ignoring him, she turned to greet him.
"Bit of an odd night, wouldn't you say?" she asked politely, gesturing to the rest of the room and the two teams that had separated into pairs. Bruce froze and just stared at her for a minute. "Or not."
"Yes... it's been a very strange few days," he finally replied, staring at her intently. She felt herself pale as her hand went to the mark over her heart. "I was wondering if I'd ever meet you. It's been a long time since I got my mark."
"Mine... I honestly had assumed you were dead. It did something strange years back, burning and then fading to green. I suppose that makes sense now," she admitted. Bruce gave her a tight smile.
"I'm so sorry. I know I'm not what anyone would expect or want. I'll leave you alone. I wasn't planning to be here much longer, anyways," he replied, starting to back away. Her hand shot out to stop him before she could even think about it.
"I never said that I don't want you. Why would you even think that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"My big green problem is usually a fairly big turn-off," he replied, lips twitching.
"We all have trouble with our rage. Yours just happens to be a physical manifestation. It's not something that's going to scare me off," she assured him, pulling him closer. They ignored everyone as they kissed, content to finally have found each other.
"So, you're soulmates! But that's great! I don't get what there is to talk about. If Mom could be happy with hers, why couldn't you be with yours?" Skye asked, sitting down heavily on Clint's couch and watching them shift nervously.
"How did you know about your mother's soulmate?" Phil asked, raising an eyebrow. "That was meant to be secret."
"Please. Give me some credit here! I'm a better hacker than Stark. How would I not figure out that Mom was sneaking out at night to see some random guy? Didn't take much after that to realize that they were soulmates and she was happy while you were pining. And still blank, until recently. Why didn't you make a move sooner?" she replied, smirking.
"That's not any of your business," Phil said with a small smile. "I take it that means you're okay with this."
"If you're happy, I'm happy. Besides, Clint is a good guy from what I've seen in the last few days. He's one of the only ones that didn't hit on me," she shrugged. Then she turned her attention to him. "You hurt my father, and I'll make sure you'll never shoot an arrow again. Got it?" He nodded, wincing.
"Skye, stop it. I'm more than capable of taking care of myself," Phil said, rolling his eyes. "Now, the other thing I wanted to discuss. If we're going to be living here, you should probably tell the others the truth about who you are, and who I am to you. I'll be there with you, if you want."
"I was hoping you'd say something like that. I almost slipped today, not for the first time. I really do want to tell them," she admitted. "I just don't want them to hate me. Actually, could May already know?"
"She could. You'd have to ask her. I've never told her, but that doesn't mean much with where we work. She had a high enough clearance, I believe. Honestly, the whole team does at this point, with me being Director and all," he told her. She grinned.
"Great! I'll tell them tonight, then. Thanks, Dad!" she exclaimed, bouncing up to hug him. Then she shocked Clint by hugging him, too. "Play your cards right, and maybe someday I'll be calling you 'Dad', too. Welcome to the family."
"So, I thought you all might like to know some things about me. Forget everything you previously thought was fact, because it was all a cover story. Dad thinks I'd be in serious danger if anyone knew who I really am, so we've been keeping it secret for as long as I can remember. I was born as Daisy Johnson, because he's too paranoid to use his own name on my birth certificate. When I was four, I chose the name Skye and took his last name because Mom made him give in. She didn't want me to have a different last name than both of them, and she'd taken his name when they got married. I think it should be stated that they didn't love each other. They stayed together for me. Anyways. Dad spent years training me in self defense and spy stuff, well enough to be one of the best SHIELD agents ever. I could honestly be in the same league as Natasha if I worked hard enough. I've got the training, I'm just out of practice. When I joined, he made me swear not to tell anyone. The ban was only just lifted," Skye explained, watching her team's reactions carefully.
"You make it sound like your father is Fury or something," Jemma said, looking confused.
"Oh god, he's not really Fury, right?" Fitz asked, looking alarmed.
"God, no. Uncle Nick would not make a good father. No offense to him, he's just too harsh. No, my full name is Skye Coulson," she replied, smiling slightly.