I never thought I'd have a front seat to the funeral of Phil Coulson. When I had decided to attend for my half brother's sake I always assumed I'd be seated towards the back. After all, there were many extremely important people in attendance. There were a few politicians here - a few were governors, I think? Well I knew that the Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, was here.

The most decorated guests however were those who fought in the very recent Battle of New York. All of the newly crowned 'Avengers' were here with the exception of Thor, who apparently had to go back to where he had come from, according to my half brother (and Phil's son) Alex.

Alex had managed to hold himself up so far. He was seated to my left and I had been sneaking glances to make sure he was okay.

Alex was the complete polar opposite of my other half brother. Justin was my brother through my father. Like me, he was Australian. In fact he was so Australian he was a professional athlete in the Australian football code - the Australian Football League. Being a fit and handsome bloke he had many girls throwing themselves at him and as such he had strong social skills and a large circle of friends. We hadn't been very close until our father got sick. Justin was ten years older than me and we lived very different lives. But it was great to have him there for me as we grieved our father's death. I don't know how I would have survived otherwise.

Alex on the other hand was closer to my age, he was only just under two years older than me. Unlike Justin he wasn't handsome and charismatic. Instead he was smart. Super smart. Alex was one of those freakishly intelligent people who managed to graduate school early and as such went on to graduate college early. I don't know exactly what he did for work as he was always coy about it when asked, but I knew he had his college degree in a STEM field.

"I can't wait until this is over." Alex breathed to my left, only audible enough for me to hear him.

"I know." I smiled weakly towards him.

"Do you want to just run away and get drunk? Screw this." Alex muttered as he slouched in his chair and crossed his arms like a petulant child.

"We can if you really want. Just let me know." I quietly said to him.

It was a fairly odd comment for Alex to make. I knew he wasn't the partying type. He had always told me he was quite proud that he didn't attend a single party during his college years and instead knuckled down to focus on his future. In fact, the only party he had ever attended was one that I dragged him along to when he came to visit Australia when I was sixteen. That was a fun night, but Alex didn't seem to think so.

To my surprise Alex began to contemplate my offer. He appeared to be deep in thought as he put a finger to his neatly shaved chin and cocked his head to the side. But then he immediately shook it, indicating that he came to the decision of 'no'.

"Very tempting. But I can't. Maybe we can go get drunk or something afterwards." Alex quietly asked me.

"Deal." I grinned, sending him two thumbs up just as the funeral speaker stepped up to the large, sleek podium with a microphone affixed at the top.

Alex had previously told me they had decided to hire a professional MC to deliver the eulogy at the funeral. There were plenty of people who knew Phil well enough to deliver one, such as fellow S.H.I.E.L.D agents or even Alex himself. But most candidates felt they were too inadequate to deliver the strong eulogy the hero needed.

It was down to either a professional speaker or the head of S.H.I.E.L.D Nick Fury himself. The final decision rested with Alex who chose the professional to speak for reasons he did not disclose to me. However Alex did tell me he found a poem he planned to deliver as part of the service.

The speaker was a portly man with very little hair. He had an extremely kind demeanor and his booming voice seemed to bring comfort to those attending the service.

I had taken a few sneaky glances at some of the other people to gauge their reactions. I actually hadn't noticed that in all of his glory, Tony Stark was seated directly behind Alex and I. He was wearing an extremely crisp suit with an eye-catching red shirt underneath. His hair was styled in a trendy manner and his beard was nearly trimmed. He looked exactly as he appeared on television and online and it caught me off guard. He was so intently focused on the speaker that luckily he didn't notice me staring.

When I tore my eyes away to look elsewhere I noticed Steve Rogers was sitting a few seats away from Stark. Unlike Stark he must have felt my eyes on him as he glanced over to see me watching him. He sent me a warm smile and I sent back an awkward smile as I quickly looked away, feeling my face turn red in embarrassment of getting caught.

I turned back to the front to listen to what the MC was saying.

"Phil Coulson leaves behind not just a wonderful legacy, but a wonderful son as well. In 1990 Phil was able to snag a beautiful Australian model named Julie Keyworth as a wife-"

I heard Alex let out an audible unapproving sound at the mention of our mother. I knew for a fact he had requested that our mother not be mentioned during the service. I didn't blame him, after all she hadn't even bothered to attend.

Mum hadn't been a mother to Alex. Not only had she abandoned Phil when she came back to Australia for a visit and shacked up with my dad, she had abandoned Alex too. When Alex was a child she only communicated with him through a few letters a year and she never bothered to go visit him. He only ever came to Australia to stay with us once and that was only because Phil was desperate for Alex to be looked after for a long operation he needed to participate in.

Mum is closer to Justin, my half brother and her ex stepson, than she is to her own son. Hell, most people she meets don't even know she has two children. As far as I know I'm the only one she ever talks about.

Needless to say nowadays she has no relationship with Alex, and her mention during the eulogy for his father who she abandoned was not welcome.

"-and together they created an extremely impressive son. Alexander is a dashing young chap who's already achieved so much in his short life. Everyone I've spoken to have all mentioned just how proud Phil was of his son."

I let out a breath of relief and slumped my shoulders as I let go of the tension that was building in my upper body. There was only one mention of mum as a smooth segue into speaking about Alex. Alex seemed to relax too as no more scoffs came from him.

"But who else could speak better about the wonderful relationship that Phil had with his son, than his son himself? Alex would like to come up here to ensure you all really know just how great Phil Coulson was as a man. Come on up, Alex!"

The entire room was silent as Alex shakily and slowly supported himself out of his seat. But then when he took a step towards the podium and his dark eyes swept over the sea of people he seemed to become a deer stuck in headlights. His already weak chin began to quiver and his arms remained awkwardly and stiffly by his sides.

Oh, shit. The guy is having a silent meltdown.

Without even thinking I began to clap my hands together and shouted "Go, Alex!"

I immediately regretted my action as the same sea of people who had frozen Alex turned their attention on me. Maybe I was being paranoid but I swore I saw a few judgemental looks and whispers thrown my way.

But then a second person to my right began clapping in encouragement as well. Steve Rogers.

This caused a tidal effect as others in the room began to join into the round of applause. I beamed when I noticed Tony Stark clapping loudly too, and then I saw Steve looking my way. Instead of being nervous I was now extremely grateful that not only had he bailed me out, but he had encouraged Alex too. So instead of looking away and feeling embarrassed I sent him a warm smile and mouthed 'thank you'. He sent me a bright smile back and sent me a thumbs up.

I cast my eyes back to the front as the applause began to die down and saw it had done the trick. Alex was now unfrozen as he was almost standing up at the podium. When he arrived he gave the MC a firm handshake and then turned to face the audience.

"T-thanks for coming everyone..." He stuttered and trailed off.

He went silent for a few moments as he pulled out a piece of paper from his breast pocket that had been neatly folded. He unfolded it and held it away from his face as he ducked his head to be closer to the microphone.

"My dad," he began strongly before his voice began to falter, "is a hero for what he did in the Battle of New York. But he's always been a hero to me anyway."

I could feel the mood of the room change upon hearing Alex's powerful words. A few people even began sobbing upon seeing the heartbreak play out before their very own eyes.

This mood shift seemed to hit Alex as once again he seemed to freeze in front of the large number of guests staring up at him.

"My dad…" he choked out, but stopped immediately.

He attempted to take a few seconds to compose himself as he breathed heavily and blinked away the tears welling up in his eyes.

"My dad," he started again but immediately let a large number of sobs escape his throat "sorry, I can't do this."

Alex buried his head in his arms as he began to cry loudly. Before anyone knew what was happening he jumped off the pedestal and quickly exited the venue from a side door.

A few murmurs broke out in the room. No one was judging Alex, in fact all whispers were sad and full of sympathy.

I had my attention on the MC as I expected him to take control of the ceremony. But he seemed unsure of what he should be doing as he kept nervously glancing at the door that Alex had bolted through.

I closed my eyes and took in a shaky breath as I began to contemplate my next actions. It seemed inappropriate for me to jump in and speak on behalf of Alex. I didn't know Phil Coulson very well, I never even met the guy in person. I had only spoken to him a few times when I had Skyped Alex during our teen years. The elephant in the room was also that I was living proof of my mother's deception and abandonment towards Phil. In normal circumstances it should be a no-no for me to talk on stage.

But the one thing I knew about Phil was that he loved his son very much. I'm sure Phil wouldn't mind me bailing out Alex.

I nodded to myself in encouragement and immediately ripped myself out of my seat. I decided to not look at the crowd as I confidently strutted up to the podium. I didn't want to psych myself out or talk myself out of this.

"May I?" I asked the MC as I pointed to the microphone, who only sent me a curt nod in response.

"Hello, hi. Hi. Many of you don't know me. My name is Annabelle Cartwright and I'm Alex's half sister. As you can tell from my accent, Phil wasn't my dad. Which is a shame, 'cause he was pretty awesome." I proudly exclaimed.

I took a deep breath as the gravity of the situation suddenly hit me as I watched a sea of eyes focused on me, many of whom were part of the world's most elite. I was waiting for myself to fall apart as I did earlier in Steve Rogers' company.

But the anxiety never came. Maybe it was adrenaline, or maybe it was because my eyes kept flicking to Steve in the front row who was shooting a calming and contagious smile my way. Whatever it was, I had the strength to continue on with my impromptu speech.

My eyes then shot down to the podium and I saw the poem that Alex had printed out. He had previously told me he had found a poem online that he had planned to read aloud. I could read it on his behalf… but that didn't resonate well with me. I already feel I was outside my lane being up here and talking. Reading Alex's poem feels like I would be going too far.

"I could stand up here and drone on about how much of a fantastic human Phil was. Not a word of it would be forced or a lie. But I dunno, it doesn't feel right. Instead I want to share with you one thing. Phil Coulson hated bullies."

I then shared the two anecdotes with the audience I knew about Phil's intolerance for bullies. Alex had to move around a lot for Phil's work so being slightly weird coupled with always being the "new kid" made him a prime target for bullies. But Phil always came up with witty ways to ensure Alex was left alone, at least until they moved again.

Then I was able to share my own anecdote of when Phil learned through Alex that some of my high school bullies graduated from "emotional bullying" into "physical bullying" in year nine. He actually used his S.H.I.E.L.D connections to get the Australian Federal Police involved. I had to tone down the story to make it funeral appropriate, but gosh it's a good story and it got the audience cackling as I described the fear that was instilled into my bullies.

"...so basically, let's be real. Phil Coulson died doing what he loved, which is putting bullies in their place. He bravely fought bullies until the very end, and the world is worse off without having Phil Coulson in it."

I took a few moments to compose myself and steady my breathing or else I knew I would begin to cry. My words had even surprised me as I had never really thought about the person Phil was. He was always just Alex's dad to me. I guess I always thought I was a memento of the bane of his existence - the love child of his ex wife's affair. But even if it was through Alex mostly, he had always been very welcoming of me. I really do wish I had gotten to know him better and now it was too late.

There were a few sobs echoing off the large room and it caused me to take another huge gulp of air to stop myself crying.

Alex's poem on the podium caught my eye once again. I still didn't feel right reading it, but Alex was nowhere to be seen and I knew how important it was for this poem to be read aloud at this funeral.

Then the idea hit me.

"Alex found a beautiful poem online that symbolises his grief in a very elegant way. In his absence I politely request that Phil Coulson's number one hero, Steve Rogers, Captain America, come up and read this poem if he graciously accepts."

I found it hard to mask both my nerves and my guilt as I shot my eyes towards Steve. I couldn't read his reaction properly but he looked a little shocked as he pointed at himself and mouthed 'me?'

"Will ya look at that. The guy's been the face of American bravery and heroism since, well…since Phil came along. But he's still too modest to come up here. C'mon Cap, get your arse up here." I joked, and a few laughs rang out throughout the crowd.

When Steve got up and walked up to the podium I took my leave from the stage and plonked myself back down on my seat in the front row. The adrenaline was about to leave my body, however I felt myself begin to buzz when I felt a hand on my shoulder give a 'congratulatory' squeeze before letting go. I turned around to see a grinning Tony Stark in all of his glory. I shot him back a goofy smile and a thumbs up before turning back around to watch Steve deliver the poem that Alex wanted read out.

The rest of the funeral went by smoothly. The MC had seemed to recover from his unsteadiness after I was able to segue the ceremony away from Alex's hasty exit, and he was therefore available to deliver the rest of his service.

"On behalf of Mr Phil Coulson's friends and family, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming along today to say your final goodbyes. We will now be opening up the venue space to the left of the hall for some drinks and finger food. We welcome you all to join us and share your fond memories with Mr Coulson." The MC declared, bringing the service to a close.

This caused a large sound of scraping chairs to bounce off the walls of the roomy venue. The crowd began to chatter amongst themselves as they slowly trudged over to the area the MC was directing to them to go.

I stood up and was going to go the opposite way to everyone but I felt a firm grasp on my shoulder. I swung around and saw Tony Stark grinning my way.

"Great speech, kid." He said with a sly smile.

I had to give everything I could to not wrinkle my nose at being referred to as 'kid'. It was Tony Stark, he could call me anything he damn well pleased.

"Listen. After all of these…festivities are over, I was planning on taking your brother out to cheer him up. Do you want to tag along?" Stark offered to me before I noticed his eyes dart to my left "Cap, you're invited too."

I looked over and saw that Steve Rogers had silently joined us and was standing directly next to me. However I completely lost interest as my eyes snapped back to Tony Stark's grinning face.

Memories began to run through my mind of times I had admired Tony Stark's entrepreneurship. In year ten our English teacher made us study Stark Industries' participation in wars as an 'issue' piece to strengthen our written and oral skills. In year eleven my Business Management teacher made the class study the Stark Industries business plan transition away from weapons manufacturing. In year twelve my Legal Studies teacher made us study legal ramifications of decisions made by the company in the past. Now in university Stark Industries was used as an example in nearly every class.

Even just recently I had a failed job interview where the interviewer asked an interview question - if I could work for any company, which would it be? I had answered Stark Industries but in my nervous state I couldn't give a cohesive answer on why.

Now I was getting personally invited to tag along on an outing with the CEO and genius himself. But I had to play it cool. Not only because I didn't want to look like a bumbling idiot in front of one of my heroes, but I'd look highly insensitive if I suddenly got excited in front of all these mourners.

"Sure. I gotta go find Alex though, y'know, make sure he's fine. I'll let him know about your proposal." I responded with a small smile.

Stark only sent me a curt nod as a dismissal and I immediately turned around and began to make my way to the side exit of the venue so I could go and find my brother.

I heard footsteps following me and moments later Steve Rogers was by my side. It seemed my nerves of being in his presence had melted away as I no longer felt timid and inadequate being around him.

"I'll come too." Steve nodded when he noticed I was looking at him.

"Do you mean to go find Alex now, or tonight with this thing Tony Stark is organising?" I asked curiously.

"Well I meant for me to help you find Alex, but yes, I'll come to this event Tony is planning." Steve responded with a warm smile.

"Cool." I nodded, not feeling shy but not knowing what else to say and we both walked in silence for a few moments.

"Do you uh…wanna go together?" Steve suddenly asked and I stopped in my tracks upon hearing the words.

I spun around and anticipated that perhaps I had heard him incorrectly. This proposition had come completely out of left field and I wasn't sure why he would ask me this.

"Like, on a date?" I asked with my eyes wide.

"...Yeah," He answered. Now it seemed it was his turn to be nervous as he began to awkwardly rub the back of his neck and began to blabber on "I mean if you don't want to that's okay, I don't want to pressure you-"

"-Sounds fun, I'm in." I smiled as I cut him off.