"Reconciliation"

Daisy kept monitoring the surveillance for Phil, sending reports to him periodically, as well as keeping an eye on every relevant tag on social media, bless her. He sighed as he flicked through the data with reluctant sweeps of his hands. What he wouldn't give to have someone neutral, with more political know-how…

Hang on.

He shot off a message to Daisy: Need you to find Darcy Lewis for me.

The reply said: Done and done. Will get co-ordinates to you ASAP.

Phil made for the deck, asking for the first available pilot. May happened to be free, and needed the distraction. By the time he had a location, they were ready for take-off. He just needed to make a stop at an Apple store first…

The door swung open, and Phil smiled tentatively. He held up a gift-wrapped box as Darcy's jaw dropped.

"Reconciliation iPod?" he said at the same time she said, "Holy hellfire!"

Then they stared at each other for five seconds.

"What?" they both said.

Thor was out, and the others were involved in science, so Phil was able to sit at the small dining room table opposite Darcy. His soulmate, apparently. He'd thought the writing was familiar when he saw his soulmark after coming back to life, but he hadn't seen any of the forms Darcy had signed since then, so he'd had nothing to compare it with. Now they were staring at each other's palms, Darcy at Phil's right hand and him at her left. She'd been wearing woollen fingerless gloves, and he'd been wearing a fake skin created by SHIELD.

"I wasn't expecting this," he said.

"Likewise. So I'm guessing you've been alive all this time?"

"Not all of it," Phil said. Darcy winced, and nodded. "Did they say what happened to me… with Loki?"

"Yeah, but I didn't connect it with getting a soulmark," she said. "Gonna show me your left hand?"

"Nothing to see there."

"Dude, it's right—" She shrieked when he disconnected the prosthesis from his arm, before securing it back on. "Shit, don't do that!"

"Sorry," he said. "Listen, Miss Lewis—"

"Darcy. We're soulmates, so you might as well use my name."

"There's a reason I came here today," Phil continued. "To see you."

"You didn't even know we were soulmates until now," she pointed out.

"No, I need your skills," he said.

"Uh-huh? Keep talkin'."

"You studied political science, you're a scientist wrangler, and you have experience with superheroes."

"Really only Thor," she said, frowning. "I haven't met the others yet. I'm dyin' to meet Banner, `cause he sounds like a real sweetie, and there's the whole Culver connection. We could reminisce about days at college—"

"Have you heard about the ongoing debate over the superhero registration act?" he said. It seemed expedient to interrupt. Darcy's face shuttered.

"Yeah," she said. "I've heard. Thor's… not happy about it."

"And I'm sure that's an understatement."

"Yep."

"I was hoping to bring you in," he said. "I've arranged a meeting. The Avengers who'll be present know that the director of SHIELD will be there, but I presume they don't know it's me. I'd like to take you along to help handle negotiations. Having a friend of Thor there to act as a buffer would be great, and you're handy with a taser."

"Aren't they illegal in New York?" she asked.

"Extenuating circumstances."

"Hmm." She quirked her lips. "Hasn't anyone thought of doing what charities do?"

Phil leaned back in the chair. "What… specifically did you have in mind?"

"Well, you know how sometimes they have those little stalls which sell pens and bags and teddy bears, and the proceeds go to whatever charity it is?"

"Yes?"

"Avengers merchandise. You've got more players, so more scope. Re-release some of the old Cap merch – I'm sure you can consult on that – and get in on the market. Do official toys, maybe some signed stuff, and put the proceeds towards some kind of insurance thing. Like when they did Live Aid way back when. Each time there's a disaster, release new stuff. Shiny things to distract people. A superheroes calendar where all the guys are half-naked. Do makeup, like pictures to apply to nails, a range of the colours the Black Widow and the Scarlet Witch wear. 'You can get the superheroine look, too!' That'd be a cool slogan."

"So capitalising on saving the world is the best way to go about this?" Phil said, though he couldn't deny that the idea had appeal. Darcy shrugged.

"It all comes down to property damage, which all comes down to money," she said, "so capitalism is the answer."

"And releasing toys will appeal not only to the children's market, but to the parents as well," he said. "As long as we have children on our side, we'll get the parents. No one wants to protest against superheroes if their kids are fans."

"They shouldn't be protesting against the Avengers anyway," she said, and she snorted. "It's so petty. If it wasn't for superheroes, the bad guys would easily take over. The kind of people who sympathise with the villains must have bad taste in people. Or terrible upbringings."

"Bad upbringings are no excuse for killing people," Phil said, immediately thinking about Ward, and he had to suppress a shudder. "Look at Harry Potter. The Dursleys weren't much better than the orphanage, but Tom Riddle chose darkness while Harry chose light."

Darcy stared at him, her mouth dropping open. "Holy crap, you've seen the movies?"

"Please," he said, frowning slightly. "I read the books first."

"Oh my God."

"I'm in my fifties. I'm not dead."

"You're adorable, and I want to cuddle you."

"Please don't."

She pouted. "Okay, spoilsport. Still want me to come along with you?"

"Yes. I'm feeling better already."

Steve's eyes nearly fell out of his head when Phil walked in the door. Tony knocked his chair over as he leapt to his feet.

"I knew it!" he said. "It was you Fury was talking about!"

"General Talbot," Phil said, nodding at his ally across the table while ignoring Tony and Steve. He narrowed his eyes at General Ross. "Stay away from Bruce Banner if you know what's good for you."

"Are you threatening me?" Ross growled.

"Yes," Phil said bluntly. He glanced at Darcy, who stood at his elbow, and she smiled at him encouragingly. "Let's get started, everyone. We'll make this as brief as possible. I know how valuable General Talbot's time is."

"Good to see you again, Coulson," Talbot said. "Still in one piece?"

"Mostly," he said, wriggling the fingers of his prosthesis absently. "Gentlemen, Darcy, please take your seats."

"What's she doing here?" Ross said.

"Miss Lewis has a degree in political science, and is here as a consultant."

"Who'd she sleep with to get that position?"

"No one," Phil said, noting with amusement that Darcy's hand was twitching towards her concealed taser. "We only just found out that we're soulmates. There's been no time for that yet."

"We haven't even started setting boundaries yet," Darcy added. "If Thor's brother was alive and here, I'd totally ask him to give you a set of glorious boobs like these, and see whether people started assuming that you blew a bunch of guys to get where you are."

"He's probably kissed enough asses," Phil added.

"It should be about kicking ass in this profession."

"Are we going to talk about the fact that you're somehow still alive and here?" Steve said, glaring at Phil.

"Let's see," he said. "Do I want to discuss the fact that I was dead for five days, and then injected with alien blood which made me temporarily crazy and had my memories of it erased in a procedure where they had to keep me awake while I begged for death? Is that something I really want to dwell on? Let me think… uh, no. No, it isn't. So let's put the personal aside, and get down to business. Now, this registration act has its merits. I think it should definitely be implemented… if you can implement a supervillain registration act simultaneously. If you can't, then it's not fair on those trying to save the world."

"And if we're going down the road of insurance, we'd need representatives from all the major insurance companies in a meeting with us," Darcy said. "I think we also need to make it official whether Thor's a god or not. If he's not a god, then people can't complain that any damage he does is an act of God."

"Semantics create the perfect loopholes, don't they?"

"They really do."

Only Talbot was smiling, aside from Darcy and Phil. Steve looked sad and baffled, Tony looked angry, and Ross was clearly livid. Phil was glad to see it, and gently nudged Darcy's ankle with his.

"Miss Lewis came up with an excellent solution to funding problems," he said. "The floor is yours, Darcy."

They'd come up with a list of merchandising opportunities, including areas and demographics which had been neglected. She proceeded to outline all of them, along with how to promote the fund. With Daisy's remote assistance, she'd hacked SI and found numerous requests from companies willing to make official Avengers merchandise, ones which had previously been ignored in favour of SI producing their own toys. Tony didn't look happy about it, and had probably figured out that he'd been hacked, but Darcy was on a roll. No one could get a word in edgewise. Phil gazed fondly at his firecracker of a soulmate.

He knew about her intern Ian; they'd discussed all recent liaisons, anything from New Mexico onwards. She knew about Audrey and Rosalind. They'd decided that this civil war Tony and Steve had started took precedence for the moment.

Phil also knew that he was too old for her. She went for younger men (younger-looking in Thor's case, though even Phil could ogle him). The first time they'd met he'd confiscated her iPod – hence the 'reconciliation iPod' he'd offered today. But they could be powerful allies… as long as he stayed on her good side.

I love Darcy/Phil, but decided that for the purposes of getting this chapter posted ASAP, I'd have to leave it at possibilities for the future. Personally, I think Darcy would love being soulmated to a super spy, and she'd get on with everyone at SHIELD, even May. I don't know whether she'd be willing to leave Jane, even for her soulmate, but… yeah, that's something to consider for the headcanon thing.

Now, I'll be incommunicado until the end of December, because I don't think I'll have internet where I'll be staying. I'm currently doing this at the airport.

So happy [insert holiday], and please review! (Even though I won't read them until I get home.)