Chapter Fifteen

Phil sat in the sickroom, rereading the Godfather as he waited for Juliette to wake up. Natasha had hidden herself away somewhere, which he was grateful for. She didn't do well in sickrooms, waiting. Recovery took time, and Natasha wasn't known for her patience.

"Agent Coulson?" Banner asked quietly as he tapped away at the computer across the room. "There's something I wanted to ask you." Phil sighed; he had been waiting for a question. Corea had left, Juliette was stable enough and he was needed back at the base. The towering doctor had treated Phil, one of the few who knew the truth, and if he had ever seen something odd about one of Phil's agents, he had known better than to mention it. Banner wasn't used to that, Phil could see. "The amount of salt Hornet gave Juliette shouldn't have had that reaction. Her cells held so much water in them already, far more than they should. There's nothing in her medical file about intolerance to salt."

Phil gave Banner a friendly little look.

"We all have things we would rather not have on file, you understand, Doctor." Banner stared at him for a while before he nodded. There were things that weren't in any of their files, secrets Phil kept even from SHIELD. Even from Fury.

"Here we go," Banner said suddenly, moving towards Juliette. Phil put his book down quickly, leaning forward. She had begun to move, twisting around into a more comfortable position than on her back, her breathing changed rhythm. Phil smiled as her eyes opened, the green watery circles widening as they were exposed to light. Juliette blinked for a moment before she sucked in a shuddering breath. The heart monitor next to her began to beat erratically and the shoulder Phil had been about to pat began to shake.

"What's going on?" Phil demanded, reaching out for his agent.

"Panic," answered Banner, moving around the bed quickly. "We need to calm her down." Juliette had lost what little colour she had regained whilst unconscious. Phil knew the look on her face from somewhere before.

"Juliette, shhh, calm down. It's safe." She couldn't hear him, what he was telling her made no sense. "Juliette." He placed a hand on her pale cheek and she flinched away, her eyes finally focusing on him. "Agent Mede, you're safe." Slowly her shoulders relaxed and the heart monitor went back to an elevated but no longer frantic pace. Phil smiled encouragingly at her, smoothing down her cheek gently.

"Phil?" she asked softly. "She was in my head."

"I know, we saw the recording." Banner had disappeared, Phil noted. "How do you feel?"

"Awful." Phil sighed; he now had to start the task of finding out if Juliette was compromised.

"You're going to have to tell me exactly what happened in your head. I'm sorry, Juliette but you have to." Her eyes shut firmly. "Juliette."

"She knew what I was going to do," she said at last. "Before I had even thought about it, she knew. The tape, that wasn't some trick. She could tell what I was going to say before I had said it."

"Did she make you think of anything to do with SHIELD? Names, locations, codes?" What Clint was asking was had Hornet done something Loki had, was he about to lose another Agent to someone else's mind.

"No, just a headache, someone pressing on my temples. It was her talking, knowing. She didn't find anything, as far as I know." That was what scared Phil, as far as Juliette knew. There was no knowing exactly how far Hornet could delve into her mind.

"Alright. I'll do my best to keep special ops away from you." They would question Juliette far more thoroughly, harshly even.

"Doesn't matter," she answered, rolling back to stare up at the ceiling. Tasha had made it a term when she came in, no one messed with her head, Fury had kept Clint away from the interrogators whilst Phil had been out of it. None of them however had come up with a good enough excuse to make them leave Juliette alone when she joined SHIELD. "I'm not scared of the worse Uncle Sam can do."

"I didn't have the British down as ones for mind wiping," Phil said gently. Juliette let out a harsh little laugh.

"They're still scared as hell of the druids and the French." He wasn't going to get anything else out of her, not now she had started joking. There were things Phil knew he'd never know, Clint was the only person who had come completely clean. Tasha kept her past as a closely guarded secret only the ones she trusted knew. Juliette never said anything, talking all the while.

"Get some rest, we've still got a wasp to catch," he told her and stood up. Clint was at the door, a tray in hand. He glared at Phil as they met.

"You did it again," the archer hissed, checking they were out of Juliette's earshot. "You sent her in alone."

"I didn't have a choice, Barton," Phil snapped back.

"No, and you didn't have a choice in Cairo either." That again. Phil gave Clint an unimpressed stare. "You could have sent Nat, or-"

"No, Barton, I couldn't have. Things don't always work as we plan them." Clint was unconvinced. Phil turned to walk past him; he couldn't face that look again. He had enough guilt on his wounded shoulders already without Clint reminding him. Clint didn't say another word, disappearing into the sickroom.

"You look bored, I brought crumble," Phil heard him say, his tone instantly bright and cheerful.

"I think this tube is feeding me."

"Why haven't you got the TV on? You know Steve's watching Wimbledon, right?" Phil paused, listening. The TV came on after a moment he heard the dapper tones of a BBC sports commentator. There was a long silence. "It's strawberries for Wimbledon, isn't it?" Clint said finally.

"Yes."

... ...

Note: I am disappearing to Scotland for a week and a half, so no updates, sorry. I shall continue when I return.