Hi, my name is

by bouncingcrow

After watching Avengers for the third time, I couldn't focus on any one character for too long anymore. Thus this was born. A series of one-shots on each character of the Avengers, a character sketch or overview if you will. Disclaimer is here: I don't own these characters or plot lines laid out in the movie.

2. Hi, my name is Phil Coulson

Hi, my name is...Phil Coulson

"The devil is in the details."

Like most CIA agents, Coulson had started out as a "runner", otherwise known as the kid that gets the big guys their coffee. Unlike most CIA agents, he figured it was an order, so he should do his damnedest to make sure it was done right. This general preferred one cream and no sugar, and this AIC liked lattes. He had an uncanny ability to remember what people liked, and he saw to it that they got it.

In a strange way, it was the smartest move he could have made. Even in the distinctly cold and removed environment of espionage, his superiors appreciated his attention to detail when it came to these things, and he was rewarded with promotions. And information. No one pays attention to the guy who wheels in the food tray, but he paid attention. He paid attention to everything. Coffee orders weren't the only thing he could recall with absolute acuity.

SHIELD was watching him for a while. When they recruited him, he had accepted with the same small smile that he gave every question. He'd be lying if he said the idea of being the runner all over again was not disheartening, but he found that that was not where he had to start this time.

Agent Coulson started in the field – not as a spy or one of the grunts to throw at the bad guys – he had gone in to smooth out some wrinkles. He was exceptionally good at that. He ironed the situation so well that a few people on the wrong side got cut in the process. And then he had cleaned the mess left by the agents and walked away.

He had found his niche. The super humans and super egos did nothing to ruffle his feathers. They liked coffee just like the rest of the human race, and they still needed someone to wipe out their tracks half the time. Coulson provided this service with a calm air and a dangerously sharp wit that actually disarmed most people. Smile at the beast, he thought, and you throw it off long enough that it is forced to listen to you.

It was a tactic he had learned growing up. If you smile when you're facing down the big guys, they will wonder what you have up your sleeve because, surely, you wouldn't be smiling unless you knew something the other guys didn't. Being in the CIA had given him the tricks and the secrets, so now his big stick was real, but he still preferred to speak quietly.

Obviously, he was lacking in super powers and a cape, but within SHIELD, he was considered the Agent. While Maria Hill was the Commander, Coulson was the ultimate right-hand man. He had been sent into every situation that SHIELD had dealt with, either in the thick of things, or after the fact. He ran the show with absolute control; no one went against his order, ever, and no one knew exactly why. One thing for sure, though, when he was in charge, things got done. They were done quickly, and they were done right.

Another agent had once asked him how he managed to stay calm when dealing with someone like, say, Tony Stark. Coulson gave him his small smile, an indecisive shrug, and commented simply, "The devil is in the details."