Note: Slight spoilers for 'Agents of SHIELD' and definite spoilers for Age of Ultron. A fix-it is involved, but please don't read if you haven't seen the movie. I started writing it before I'd seen S02E18, so definitely non-canon from end of it onwards.

"Visions of Tahiti"

Phil was walking between Bobbi and Mack when a car squealed to a stop beside them. The two agents drew weapons, aimed them at the car, when a man stepped out of it. A very familiar man.

"Aren't you a bit early?" Phil said.

"Director Fury?" Bobbi said.

"Not the director," Fury said, walking up to them. Three people poured out of the vehicle behind him, aiming at Bobbi and Mack. "I'm gonna have to take my director back. He's needed somewhere else."

"He surrendered to us," Mack said. Phil shot him a scathing look.

"Well, now I don't feel bad about this," he said. "I knew we were on different sides, but really? You make it sound so much worse."

"Come with me, Phil," Fury said, holding out his hand. "You're needed in Europe, or will be. The Avengers…"

"What happened?" he asked, tensing.

"You might be needed. Come on. Time's running short, and it's a long way to…" He glanced at the others. "Europe."

Mack and Bobbi had to back off as Phil walked over to his former commander. He didn't look back at them as he climbed in behind Fury.

"Got everything?"

"Yeah," Phil said. "Fitz and Hunter have everything else. I hope."

"The toolbox?"

"Afraid so."

Fury's eye narrowed. Then he shut the door, and they were off and driving.

"Repeat that," he said.

"Got it here, sir," Phil said. He removed the holographic chip from the knot of his tie, revealing a large bulge in the main part, hidden by the holograph.

"Good thing they didn't pat down your front."

"Good thing they somehow missed the strain on the knot," Phil said, and he handed the toolbox to Fury. "We wrote down the most relevant information. Seemed pertinent to keep paper copies, just in case."

"You were right. The internet's been hacked by a robot calling himself Ultron. Stark and Banner created him based on von Strucker's tech. The Avengers are headed for Sokovia now, and we're gonna meet them there."

"We're driving to Europe?"

"We're driving to my secret weapon."

"One of many, I assume," Phil said dryly. Fury chuckled.

"You know me too well, Coulson."

"I wish. Did you know about Gonzales starting his own version of SHIELD?"

Fury sighed. "Whole damn thing's a clusterfuck."

"No kidding."

"But we've got bigger worries."

"What?" Phil said, glancing out the window. "Like the end of the world?"

"Got it in one."

"…I was joking."

"Still hit the nail on the head. Ultron wants to destroy Earth and its inhabitants."

"End of the world? Again?"

"You missed the climax last time," Fury said. "Wanna see the action up close?"

Slowly, Phil grinned.

"Actually, yeah," he said. "Sounds like fun. As long as Romanov doesn't punch me for keeping my… resurrection a secret this long."

"Hope that she keeps making cow-eyes at Banner. Best distraction for her."

"…Banner? I've only been gone a couple of years!"

Fury shrugged. "I guess we've got time for a bit of water cooler gossip. You see, there was so much fuss about the Helicarriers for Project Insight that nearly everyone forgot about the one Barton nearly took down."

Phil stared at the former director. "You have a Helicarrier."

"SHIELD isn't on stable ground yet… either of them, since it appears there's more than one. I needed a place to stay and a way to travel."

"And you have people," Phil said.

"Who'll be under your – or our – leadership once the organisation is strong."

"How can it be strong without the resources you clearly have?"

"Calm down, Coulson. I'll need you on top of your game."

"Why?"

"In case an Avenger gets injured."

"They'll probably all get injured," Phil said, the thought paining him. "That comes with the job. What do you really mean?"

"…In case an Avenger gets killed."

It all made a weird kind of sense… and didn't. "Project TAHITI? That's what this is about? You know all of the GH formula was destroyed."

"And whose fault was that?"

"Yours. For keeping it from me in the first place, and forcing us to break into the facility, injuring the guards and causing the mountain to self-destruct. But how do you intend to dispense a formula which doesn't exist, and causes its… its victims to become mentally unstable? Especially considering that they're high-powered people?"

"Because Simmons left behind blood samples when the Hub was attacked," Fury said as they pulled up by the river. "Because someone found that the GH self-replicated once it was in the blood stream. Because being in someone else's blood stabilised its effects."

"And I suppose you had to test it on people to find out," he said.

"Brock Rumlow was one of them. We didn't care whether he lived or died. Other people killed or injured during the fall of SHIELD." They walked to the edge of the river. Fury picked up a handful of gravel and tossed it over the water, showing where the gang plank connected the mainland to the Helicarrier. "Problem is, we've run out of the blood."

"You need to drain me?" Phil said. "Those were Skye's blood samples, not mine."

"Before she became powered," Fury said. Slowly, the Helicarrier became visible as the motors started. A plane landed near them, one Phil recognised, and out walked Hunter and FitzSimmons.

"What happened?" he asked. "How did Simmons get here?" It probably wasn't wise to mention Ward and Agent 33 until Fury did.

"They picked her up from the Playground. Figured we might need your team's expertise. And keep them away from Gonzales. Plus, you like them."

"What about May?" he said. Simmons winced.

"That's… complicated," she said.

"I guess she needed to stay behind and keep an eye on them," Phil agreed, nodding.

"We have a memory machine on board," Fury said. "There are things you need to see."

"Oh, I've seen everything."

"Not yet you haven't. Only what you were awake for."

"…What do you mean? Nick, what the hell have you been keeping from me?" Fury ushered them inside, grimacing at Phil's raised voice.

"You haven't been operated on since you nearly died," he said.

"No, I haven't."

"That wasn't a question. If you were operated on, you'd be asking me about… what we left inside you."

Phil could actually feel the blood drain from his face. Hunter helped him to a chair, fussing like the other half of their old married couple dynamic.

"What did you leave inside me, apart from alien blood?" he asked hollowly. "And did May know about it?"

"She didn't know all the details," Fury said. "The blood was the unknown element."

"So what did you leave in me?"

Fury cleared his throat. "This'd be a lot easier if you were into steampunk."

"…Are you saying I'm part-robot?"

"Not like Garrett. What's inside you, the machine… Someone get him coffee before he passes out!"

"Machine," Phil whispered. "All those probie jokes about me being a robot are harsher in hindsight. Kind of like HYDRA, only on a smaller scale."

"Do you know what TAHITI stands for?"

"Terrestrialised Alien Host Integrative Tissue number one," he recited. He was never going to forget one of the worst days of his life.

"That's one acronym."

Phil moaned, burying his face in his hands. "I hate to ask what the other one is."

"Touch-Activated Healing Intravenous Transfusion Instrument."

"Bet you had fun coming up with that one," Hunter remarked. Fury scowled at him, but Phil was pleased to see that Hunter was unaffected.

"Touch-activated?" Phil said. "Intravenous transfusion? I'm a glorified blood bank?"

Fury's expression didn't change. "Yes."

Clint rested on the bench beside Pietro Maximoff, mourning the loss of the boy. Young man, not boy. It didn't take long to get to the Helicarrier – trust Fury to have one stashed away – but he was depressingly sure that there was nothing to be done. Nevertheless, Pietro was loaded straight onto a stretcher, and Clint followed as it was wheeled away. If Wanda couldn't be here to watch over her twin, the least Clint could do was be there for him, even though he'd died saving them.

"Get him to an operating theatre!" a young woman snapped, running beside the stretcher. She checked his injuries, cutting away at his sweater with a dexterity he didn't anticipate considering they were all moving at a rapid pace. "Damn it, multiple shot wounds. This had better work."

"What're you going to do to him?" Clint asked as they bustled into a theatre. She pushed him right out again.

"Stay out here, sir, and let us do our work," she said firmly. Then the door was closed, and someone else was pushing him to the waiting room.

"I hate it when people say stuff like that," he muttered. Suddenly, his eyes widened. But never exactly that. Not until now.

Hands shaking, he pulled out his cell phone and then started to dial the number for home, before remembering why he didn't call from the Helicarrier. It wasn't safe, in case the number was traced. He'd have to tell Laura that he'd found their third later. Or… maybe he could take the young woman – a doctor? – back to the farm with him? No. He was getting ahead of himself. They needed to compare soulmarks first.

But if it was her…

"Sit there," Simmons instructed after they'd all scrubbed. Phil obediently sat, and Fury stood beside him. "I presume I'll be told when I need to… touch the director in some way?"

"You don't touch him. He needs to be touching the boy."

"You make me sound like Michael Jackson," Phil said. Fury smacked the back of his head. "Hey, what was that for?"

"Don't diss Michael Jackson."

"Still too soon?"

"Quiet!" Simmons said. "I need to remove the bullets first."

"What does this touching involve?" Phil asked Fury.

"Your blood is tapped through the vein, but your hand has to be over the injury while it heals. We can use both your hands to save time."

"Which vein?"

"In your arm. Don't worry, they all go through the machine inside your chest. It keeps the circulation consistent—"

"Like my heart."

"The heart which was stabbed, Coulson. How do you think we repaired that? Alien blood alone wasn't enough to fix that. Not like the super soldier serum."

"Prepping a line," a technician said. Phil didn't recognise him, but at least Simmons was here to supervise. He hated that he couldn't completely trust Nick, or at least not as much as he used to, even before today.

"So you're saying I have an artificial heart?" he said.

"I'm saying that your heart is part flesh, part cybernetics."

Phil began to feel as though he might pass out, and was grateful for the chair. When Simmons called, he was led to one beside the operating table she was bent over, and he was connected intravenously to Pietro. Then he placed his hands over the injuries while Simmons rambled on about surface-level biometrics confirming his physical connection to the blood being dispensed… and after that he kind of tuned out. It was either that or pay attention and end up dizzy. He scowled, trying to remain upright, and was grateful for the hands on his shoulders.

The operation passed in a slow blur of science he could never hope to understand (or pronounce), an ache in his arms, and the recurring sense of betrayal. Maybe Hunter was right? Maybe they should just head south of the border and live out their lives away from the madness of SHIELD? Part machine. How was that missed? Let me guess, he thought. Cloaking materials of some kind. Typical Fury.

He was eventually relieved of the lines, and heard enough to know that the operation had been successful. The GH formula in his veins had worked, and would continue to renew itself thanks to his semi-artificial heart. Pietro Maximoff would live to see another day, and Phil could get some damn sleep…

"I never noticed that soulmark before," Simmons said. Phil shook himself to stay awake as someone put plasters over the places on his arms where he'd been tapped for blood.

"Whose?" he asked.

"Yours. Just below where the needle was placed. It wasn't there last time I checked."

"Thought I was getting a rash," Phil said, trying to focus on the writing. The bottom of part of the mark was hidden by the bandage, but he could still make out the words: 'Greetings, Phillip Coulson. An honour to meet one so highly favoured by two realms.' "That wasn't there last time I checked. Mind you, I can't remember the last time I had this shirt off. My soulmate is Asgardian?" It was very precise writing, not florid like he pictured Asgardian writing to be, and it was in English.

"Maybe it's someone who's just arrived from Asgard?" Simmons said. "Perhaps the mark didn't appear until then?"

"It wasn't like that for Dr. Foster," he murmured, and he traced the letters. But he was swiftly losing focus. "I need to lie d…"

Thor looked Vision over as he watched Wanda weep by Pietro in the recovery room.

"You have a soul," Thor said.

"And so you believe that I may have a soulmark," Vision said.

"I saw it on your back before you cloaked yourself," the Asgardian replied.

"How fascinating. What did it say?"

"I saw only that there was a mark. There was no chance to read it."

"Perhaps you could help me?" With a thought, Vision shed his upper layers of clothing, and turned so that Thor could check.

"It is in English. 'What on Earth are you?'"

"Those are my words?"

"Yes."

"Then I must find a suitable response for my soulmate," Vision said. "Although I suspect many shall say such words to me."

"It would be better that you find your soulmate sooner, then," Thor said.

"Did you know that Phil's here?" Tony said, stopping in front of them with his arms crossed. "Phil Coulson? Agent-Agent Coulson?"

"Alive?" Thor said, his eyebrows rising at an alarming rate.

"I recognise this man's name," Vision said. "Tell me about him?"

Thor rhapsodised about Phillip, Son of Coul, who stood against Loki, earning praise in Asgard and commanding respect on Midgard, although he already held respect from the Avengers. A group of superheroes fought a demi-god in the name and memory of a single human. He was clearly an extraordinary man. Vision looked forward to meeting him, a… strange emotion. He trailed behind the original Avengers as they barged into a different hospital room, where a young woman with light brown hair was scolding a man with thinning hair and a rumpled suit.

"You should have agreed to have juice beforehand, and preferably a biscuit," she was saying.

"When you say biscuit, d'you mean cookie?"

"Yes, you infuriating man. What would the others say if I didn't return you to them in one piece? Goodness, and you're not the one I was operating on!"

"No. I was just your living blood dispenser. Is it really illegal to strangle Nick Fury?"

"I imagine so, although I'd help you cover it up."

"Thank you, Simmons."

"Not at all, sir." She looked over at them, and so did the man, presumably Coulson. "Do you want me to leave?"

"Stay," he said, touching her arm. "In case you do have to operate on me after this."

She rounded on the Avengers, and Vision hovered at the back – not literally – to avoid her look of ire.

"He has been through hell and back, and you will not harm him," she said. "I don't care how hurt you think you feel, he's had it just as bad, if not worse."

"Simmons," he began.

"No, sir! You may think one of them will cause you physical harm because you kept it secret, but that is a completely unreasonable reaction to something which should be joyful news, not an excuse for more violence."

"She's right," Steve said with a sigh. "I hate it, but she's right."

"Of course she's right," Clint said, and he took a step closer to her. "Dr. Simmons?"

"Or Agent Simmons, though I'm here as a doctor."

"Did I say your soul words before? Because you said mine."

Her jaw dropped, as did nearly everyone else in the room.

"I… Yes, you did. I'm sorry, I was busy at the time, I didn't realise—"

"Neither did I, not until later. My wife will be happy to hear about this. So will the kids. We've been waiting to find you."

"You're… you're already married?"

"We can bring you in on it, if you're interested. Became kind of a necessity when we discovered she was pregnant, so…"

"I see."

"Jemma," Coulson said. "Go talk with him. I'm sure I'll be okay. I doubt they're gonna hit me while I'm on a hospital bed after helping to save one of theirs."

"Good point," Tony muttered.

"Come on," Clint said. "We can compare soulmarks, make sure we're not wrong."

"Very well." She looked back at Coulson once, but he waved her out of the room, before shrinking back under the collective stare of the rest of the Avengers. No one appeared ready to make a move, so Vision nudged his way through them.

"Greetings, Phillip Coulson," he said. "An honour to meet one so highly favoured by two realms."

The man seemed incapable of speech, and Vision waited until his mouth had stopped opening and closing soundlessly. Thor cleared his throat.

"He is one of ours," he said. Coulson nodded, gazed up at Vision, and finally settled on words.

And what words.

"What on Earth are you?" he asked. Thor visibly startled.

"Rude," Tony said. "Just because he looks different—"

"Excuse me, but I've seen a Kree who was masquerading as a human," Coulson said, "so appearances have lost all meaning. And I didn't ask for the reason you thought I asked."

"I am your soulmate," Vision said. Coulson's face softened.

"And that's all I need to know, I guess," he said. "Not that we don't have a lot of talking to do, because we do."

"Of course," Vision said. "May I sit down?"

"Please." He gestured to the chair beside the bed. "It's been a hell of a day for me, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little out of it sometimes."

"Wait, wait, wait," Tony said, pointing between the two of them. "JARVIS in human form is—"

"JARVIS?" Coulson said. "I knew the voice was familiar…"

"It is more complicated than that," Vision said, sitting where indicated. "Shall I start from the beginning?"

"It's a very good place to start."

Vision held out his hand, palm out. Coulson hesitated, and then placed his hand on top. He gasped, and then slowly smiled at Vision.

"Never thought I'd feel that, ever," he said. "Not at this time of my life, with no soulmark until a few hours ago."

"If it is any comfort, I did not anticipate this, either."

"Disappointed?"

"No. I am very pleased indeed."

Coulson's cheeks darkened slightly. It was a pleasing reaction, which confused Vision, yet it held an undeniable charm.

"Vision and Coulson are soulmates," Tony muttered. "My head's gonna explode. I need a drink. Fury had better have a damn bar on the Helicarrier."

"We had one on the bus," Coulson said. "A really nice one."

"How do you fit a bar on a bus?"

He smiled. "Not that kind of bus."

"Laura!" Clint insisted on carrying Jemma's bag into the front hall. "Laura, I brought someone home with me!"

"If it's another stray dog—"

"Better than that!"

Jemma chewed her bottom lip, fidgeting in place while she waited.

"What if she doesn't like me?" she whispered.

"Of course she will. They'll all love you."

Laura Barton was round with pregnancy, making her look even more huggable. Jemma didn't know what she was supposed to say, and twisted her fingers together as Laura raised an eyebrow. Clint apparently wasn't going to explain, the git.

"What brings you here, sweetheart?" Laura said. Jemma held in her gasp.

"You're as lovely as he said," she replied, and then ducked her head in embarrassment at the corny comment. At least it was something complimentary.

"…I see what you mean about being better than a stray dog," Laura said, and Jemma smiled hopefully at the woman's look of amusement. "A stray soulmate is much better."

"And I'm already house-trained," Jemma said. "Plus, I have opposable thumbs."

"She's a doctor," Clint said.

"The one who operated on Pietro? You sent a message…"

"Yes, although I couldn't have saved him on my own," Jemma said.

"Much more fun to do things together," Laura said, holding out her hand. "Come on. You've gotta meet the kids. They'll be bouncing off the walls as soon as they realise there's a new person they haven't met yet. Do you like kids?"

"I was the youngest in my family, and I haven't had much opportunity to interact with children."

"You'll get the hang of it. It'd be nice to have someone else to pop out babies. Got some catching up to do. I'm carrying number three." Jemma paled at the thought, nearly tripping over, and Laura added dryly, "I'm kidding. Now, gonna tell me your name?"

"This is Jemma Simmons," Clint said when she was speechless with relief. "She works for SHIELD."

"It's lovely to meet you, Mrs. Barton," Jemma said.

"Call me Laura. We'll all soulmates here."

Phil and Vision had spent almost an hour talking, and as soon as he was feeling less light-headed (not light-headed at all, because Jemma came back to watch him like a hawk, which was way funnier when she revealed that Barton really was her soulmate) they went for a walk around the Helicarrier. They were interrupted by debriefs, and Barton was given permission to take Jemma home which meant that Phil had to see her off. But he'd finally switched off his phone, and was now holding hands with Vision as they sat on the deck and watched the clouds.

"Thank God the cafeteria's intact," Phil said. "We used to have some of the best chefs working here. SHIELD would test homeless people, and those with cooking talent would be cleaned up, given a place to stay and training in food preparation, and then eventually put to work on bases, either on ground or on a Helicarrier like this one."

"That is noble indeed," Vision said.

"In hindsight, I hope none of them were HYDRA. No cases of food poisoning, though."

"What are your intentions now? Will you return to SHIELD?"

"If there's anything worth returning to," Phil said. "My team is here, except for May. If we get her, we can set up our new base here. I have to find the Koenig brothers as well, bring their lie detector along unless Fury has one onboard." He glanced at Vision. "And what about you? Are you going with the Avengers?"

"Perhaps. I will adapt my plans to suit yours, if you wish."

"Listen…" He entangled his fingers with Vision's. "My, uh, sex drive is pretty low. I'm sure I'd be fine with you, but if you're interested in a platonic relationship, then I just wanted to let you know that I'm cool either way."

"What does your temperature have to do with it?"

"…I mean 'cool' as in 'okay'."

"I would find any relationship acceptable. I did not anticipate that I would have a soul, but apparently I am sufficiently alive to be in possession of one."

"I only just gained my soulmark, presumably when you were born, which means that… I have no idea what I'm doing. I know what's expected, but it's been so long that I'd given up hope of having a soulmate."

"Why do you suppose Fate matched us?"

Phil considered a rabbit-shaped cloud. "I don't know. Because you needed someone who wouldn't put pressure on you? Who could help you acclimatise to this world? Who could look past your powers and appearance and see a person worth caring for?"

"That is perhaps why you were chosen, yet it does not explain how I can help you."

He smiled. "You already have. You helped save the world by assisting the Avengers in stopping Ultron, and ultimately destroyed him, I understand. And for me personally? You aren't putting pressure on me to enter a non-platonic relationship."

"Not all non-platonic relationships must include sexual intercourse," Vision said. Phil blushed involuntarily.

"True," he said. "If we don't work in the same place as each other, though… I don't know how much time we'll have to spend together."

"Any time is acceptable. Perhaps my powers will allow me to travel swiftly to your side? Not as Pietro does, with speed, but with magic?"

"Like teleporting?"

"I have not explored all of my capabilities yet."

"I know one of them."

"Oh yes?" Vision said, raising an eyebrow.

"Your voice makes me swoon a little inside."

…What?

I mean yes, of course it does, but why did I end the chapter there?

Well, I've been sitting on this since I saw the film the day it opened here, waiting for the movie to premiere overseas before posting it. I apologise to the remaining countries who have to wait.

'Rough Day' by ozhawk is an alternative ending to 'Ultron', like this one, except hers is more realistic (by MCU standards of realism, anyway), and obviously not set in a soulmate AU. A fix-it fic, because you can never have too many of those. In other words, highly recommended.

Please review!