Phil woke up feeling far too hot. He opened his eyes and looked around. Assessing the situation. Clint was pressed tightly to his left side, and Phil smiled as he looked at him. pressed to his right was Natasha. Which was surprising, if not exactly unprecedented. Sometimes after a particularly bad op, they'd end up piled together like puppies, reassuring each other that they're safe and whole. It had never been sexual between them. Well, not outside of ops where they'd had to pretend. But they were closer than most couples ever were, all three of them. It come from having complete trust in each other. From relying on each other. From never giving up on each other.

He'd underestimated how much the last few months, and the two weeks since he came back, had been affecting them. He sighed.

Natasha pinched him, not even opening her eyes.

"You were dead. Stop beating yourself up about it."

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Better now."

"Good. And you're alright with me and Clint?"

"What took you so long? That's all I've got to say on the subject." Phil smiled, but it faded as Clint snuggled closer to him, making a low noise in his sleep.

"Clint's been telling me about Loki."

"Yeah. it was bad. And then you were gone. I was left picking up the pieces."

"I'm sorry for that. Do you think he's going to be alright?"

"Yes. The things that Loki did to him, they weren't that bad compared to some of the things he's had done to him before. You know this."

"Yeah, but..." Phil shrugged. This was different. He hadn't been there.

"So, fix it. Make up for it now." This was why the three of them worked.

"I suppose that's all I can do."

"He loves you, you know."

"I'm starting to realise, yes."

"You do realise that if you hurt him no one will ever find the body." And from Natasha that wasn't an idle threat.

"Yes."

"Good. I'll tell him the same when he wakes up." Natasha snuggled closer to him. "Now go to sleep. It's still early."

"Alright." Coulson pressed a kiss to her forehead, and then did the same for Clint, who made a happy noise.

It wasn't perfect. Clint was still dealing with a lot of issues, and Coulson had a few of his own. And they'd have to be careful not to damage the team, or hurt Natasha's feelings. But for right now, curled up in the warmth of his two best friends, his lover and the woman who was like a little sister to him, it was more than enough.

They were going to be okay.

He had to believe that. And he might doubt himself (as a recently resurrected man) but he would never doubt Clint or Natasha. They were his everything. And he couldn't afford to screw it up.

But that was okay, because they wouldn't let him.