Hi amazing peeps!
*I still own nothing, playing with the Marvel toys etc etc**
Enjoy! :)
Phillip Coulson's Point of View
Phil knew that Toni was trying to set him at ease as he wrapped her ribs – making sure the bandage was tight enough to be supportive but loose enough for her to breath.
She chatted about her current projects, some changes she was making to the suit, the problems that came with the changes and some silliness to do with the builders and workmen at the Tower during the construction.
He smiled and laughed when he knew she expected him to, letting her think that her chatter was doing what she wanted it to – keeping him distracted.
But his mind was whirling.
He recalled Fury's words from only days before 'We are at war'. The director was right, they were, but they were fighting against things that they – if they were being honest with themselves – had no idea about. Technology of the Gods…and in any war there were casualties…
Guilt churned inside him. She was involved no because he had taken her the files and knew that she wouldn't be able to refuse the challenge. She was injured no because he had followed orders and sent her to Germany. To make it worse was the fact that she had made it through the encounter with Loki without so much as a scratch and yet it was the clash with an ally that led to her standing in front of him covered his scratches and bruises.
She thanked him as he stepped away from her, the bandaging complete. He watched as she used one of the reflective panels from the inside of her capsule to deal with the long scratch on her face and then she double checked the bandage she had wrapped around her arm.
Was that bruise a…handprint?
He would have another talk with Fury and respectfully ask that more care be taken with where Toni was sent in the future. They all had the bad habit of thinking the suit was indestructible. Today had been a timely reminder that it was anything but.
Toni's Point of View
Toni knew that Phil Knew exactly what she was trying to do as she prattled on and on about anything and everything that popped into her head. After all, you didn't get so near the top rung of the ladder of a super-secret organisation like S.H.I.E.L.D by being an idiot.
But Phil let her keep going. Nodding, commenting and making the right noises in all the right spaces she left them for him.
Trying to keep up the chirpy one-sided conversation was starting to stress her out and she was glad when he finished with the bandage and stepped away from her.
"Thanks Nurse Phil," she smiled at him cheekily.
He gave no response.
Oookaaay then.
Resisting the urge to whistle to fill the silence she made use of the shiny insides of the suit capsule and made quick work of cleaning the cut on her cheek after collecting the swabs she needed from the box Phil had put on the floor.
She hissed as the stinging liquid hit her broken skin but she persevered, first with her face and then with her arm. Damn, Thor's handprint was becoming a deeper purple on her arm.
Finishing up with her DIY First Aid she stepped into the capsule and finally relieved herself of the bottom half of her suit, she sighed at the sudden weightlessness she felt as she was left standing in jeans and pumps.
She felt her pocket, double checking that he phone and the bug were still where she had put them, thank full that the top part of her body had been the most damaged when she felt they were still there and whole.
Stepping back down she raked through her bag looking for one of the loosest fitting shirts of the loose fitting shirts she had brought along.
"Bingo!" she pulled out a t-shirt that she had actually packed for sleeping in but decided that it could do just as well for her now – no one would be able to see the Winnie the Pooh and Piglet print covering the soft cotton anyway once the cuffs were up and running.
She spared a glance over her shoulder to see that poor Phil had turned his back to her – poor guy was probably mortified after seeing so much Toni-skin (although he should count himself lucky that she was a practical girl who loved her vests and sports bras over skimpy lace numbers or he could have been seeing a lot more of her than he had). Not wanting to prolong the uncomfortable situation for either of them she carefully slid the shirt over her head, slipping her injured arm slowly through the holes and gingerly pulling the fabric down over the bandages.
"It's safe to look now Phil," she assured her companion and the S.H.I.E.L.D agent turned to face her. He quirked an eyebrow at her obviously questionable fashion sense and then he seemed to remember something, patting his pockets and walking towards the box.
She couldn't see what he was looking for, his back blocking the view of the object of his concentration but when he turned around again he was holding something out to her.
"Here," it was a mars bar. Toni smiled in thanks, her mouth immediately watering and took it, she hadn't even realised how hungry she was until the food was right there.
She took it and tore open the wrapper; biting into the chocolatey goodness she practically inhaled the bar.
He watched her eat and then once she was finished he held out a bottle of water and a strip of pills.
That uncharacteristic desire to cry rose within her and the burning began at the back of her throat. She coughed, trying to dislodge the sudden build-up of emotion and took the bottle and the pills from him.
"Two now and then see how you get on," he told her and she wasted no time in popping two of the round white tablets from the foil and downing them with a gulp of water.
She smacked her lips together and grinned at Phil.
"Nurse Phil, you are an angel of mercy," she told him and his time her smiled faintly at her before catching himself and scowling slightly.
"Better get you to the de-briefing," he told her, pointing at her wrists as a reminder to put on the cuffs. She huffed but trudged over to where she had put them and slid them on her wrists and ankles, switching them and walking towards him. She felt the slight tingle through her chest piece as they activated.
"All set," she told the agent, her own voice now replaced with the deeper tones of Anthony Stark, her baggy jeans and Winnie the Pooh nightshirt vanished no longer visible instead there was the 'casual smart' look that she had programmed into the cuffs before leaving the tower – she would have to switch between it and the Iron Maiden and jeans number.
"I am never going to get used to that," Phil mumbled as they left the room.
"Oh wait," Toni jogged back to the capsule and felt along one of the corner for the control that she knew was there…or not.
She moved to the other side and did the same thing.
"I know what you mean. Must be pretty freaky seeing me vanish to be replaced with this handsome devil huh?"
She continued feeling along the inside edge. She had definitely –
"Got it!" she announced triumphantly, snatching the control from where she had secured it.
She walked away while fiddling with it – damn thing was still a bit glitchy – until it finally did what she wanted and the capsule hissed closed. She slid the control into her pocket.
"Sorry about that," she apologised to Phil as this time they managed to leave the room and secure the door.
The corridor was still empty so Toni took the opportunity to ask Phil how things were really going with his girlfriend. He stayed silent for a few seconds obviously thinking about what to say. His reply didn't come until they were actually surrounded by the bustling top-secret staff.
"Things just weren't working out,"
Toni's heart sank.
That really sucked. Phil was a really nice guy – true that age old phrase 'when you got to know him' did kind of apply – and he deserved to be happy.
"I'm sorry to hear that," she mumbled, not entirely sure what the protocol was when comforting someone after a break up?
"Nothing to worry about," Phil told her with fake bravado, directing her down another corridor, "Just work you know, for the number of times she saw me she decided she may as well be back home and talking to me over the phone,"
"But…I thought you guys were getting on really well," she asked, faltering slightly.
Toni just couldn't understand relationships. The only people who had been in her life for any amount of time were Obediah – and, well, she had ended up having to kill him – and Pip – she didn't exactly have romantic intentions towards the man who was like a surrogate father to her. They had been in her life for as long as she could remember, building a relationship with them hadn't required any work on her part. Outside of them Phil was really the only other person 'close' to her and again she didn't even know how that had happened…
Silence fell again and she could make out the voices of the rag-tag team Fury had put together.
She straightened her back and schooled her expression. Concentrating on her walk she tried to nail the swagger – the last thing she wanted was having suspicious glances thrown her way just because she couldn't control her girly legs and hips.
"He's adopted," the deep gravelly voice of Thor told someone.
Must be talking about Loki…
"I think it's about the mechanics," piped in a softer but no less masculine voice.
Hello, who are you?
Her interest was piqued by their next comment as she and Phil turned the last corned and the confab area came into view.
"Iridium?" the voice continued thoughtfully, "What do they need it for?"
"It's a stabilising agent," she told them – minus any introductions.
A thought came to her before she parted from Phil – for a genius she thought herself extremely thick at times.
She turned to Phil walking slightly backwards and sideways, almost hissing the words to not let the others know what she was saying.
"Pick a weekend, Phil. Any and I'll fly you to Portland. You'll be there before you can blink," she offered and he looked at her wide eyed, for a second obviously forgetting about the audience, and smiled at her softly. He just gestured towards his destination.
"Gotta keep love alive," she whispered as he walked to his station.
She sighed, well, it was worth a try.
She refocused on the group, facing the right way once again.
Where was I? Oh yeah-
"It means that the portal won't go all super-nova like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." she told them walking towards the observation station – a perfect place for the bug in her pocket.
Hi hunnies!
I hope you are all having fun weekend (and staying safe with the crazy weather if you are in the UK (or anywhere else))
I just want to say that I am still feeling pretty under the weather and the majority of this chapter has been written…wrote…written *shrug* while under the influence of uber-drowsy inducing medication – I am trying to do this while I am coming up to the next dose so I am not quite so out of it lol – so I apologise for any blatant typos that I may have missed or if this chapter got a little rambly in places (READER - like this authors note? ME – Exactly!)
Anyhoo, you guys continue to be AWESOMNESS itself. 83 reviews and 159 followers! How amazing is that?
Any chance of maybe reaching 100 reviews for this chapter…? (no pressure, just a thought)
Soo…I think that is all to report…
Oh, I've made some changes to my original fic – Sink or Swim – Link to that is on my profile page. Seriously, I would love to know what you think if you fancy checking it out.
Hopefully next update won't take a week. I will try my hardest.
Take care :)