Chapter 5
Phil Coulson prided himself on being prepared for anything.
But he had not prepared for Nick Fury casually strolling into the briefing room and dropping, “So, I hear you’re getting hitched” like it was just another Tuesday.
Coulson choked on his coffee.
Darcy, who was sitting on the edge of the conference table, legs swinging, just grinned. “Didn’t take you long.”
Fury leveled a look at her. “I have eyes everywhere.”
Coulson cleared his throat, trying to compose himself. “Sir, I—”
“Relax, Coulson,” Fury said, waving a dismissive hand. “I don’t care who you’re shacking up with. I do, however, care about whether or not your soon-to-be Mrs. has been snooping in our classified files again.”
Darcy put a hand over her heart. “I am offended, sir. I have not hacked into SHIELD’s system in at least... okay, two weeks.”
Fury pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jesus.”
Coulson sighed. “Sir, I assure you, Darcy knows how to respect security protocols.”
Darcy snorted.
Fury’s eye narrowed. “Uh-huh. And I suppose the fact that she recently accessed Project Pegasus was just a coincidence?”
Darcy gasped. “You were tracking me?!”
“You thought I wasn’t?”
Coulson groaned, rubbing his temples. “Darcy...”
She pointed at Fury. “Look, in my defense, Carol Danvers is awesome and I just wanted to see what her diet is so I could, y’know, eat like a space goddess.”
Fury stared at her. Then at Coulson. Then back at her.
“I’m not sure if I should fire you or promote you.”
Darcy beamed. “Ooooh, I vote promotion.”
Coulson sighed again. “Sir, if it helps, I can personally guarantee that my fiancée will refrain from further breaches of security.”
Fury grunted. “Your fiancée better watch herself, because the next time she pulls something, I’m putting her on babysitting duty for the next batch of rookie agents.”
Darcy pouted. “That’s cruel and unusual punishment.”
“So is dating Coulson,” Fury muttered.
Darcy grinned. “Oh, trust me, it has perks.”
Coulson choked again.
Fury looked deeply unamused. “I’m leaving before I hear something I can’t unhear.”
With that, he turned on his heel and left.
As soon as the door shut behind him, Coulson groaned. “Darcy.”
She laughed, swinging her legs. “What? You proposed. This is your life now, baby.”
Coulson exhaled through his nose, but there was no mistaking the warmth in his expression.
And as Darcy leaned in and kissed him, slow and teasing, he decided that yeah—this was exactly the life he wanted.
---
The wedding was supposed to be small.
But this was SHIELD. Nothing was ever small.
Thor crashed in uninvited, claiming he had come to bless the union with the “greatest of Asgardian feasts.”
Clint and Natasha had a running bet on how long it would take Coulson to cry (he did, and Clint won).
Maria Hill gave a deadpan toast about how none of this was in the SHIELD employee handbook.
Fury showed up wearing sunglasses at night like some kind of mythic entity.
And at the end of it all, with Darcy laughing against his chest as they danced under twinkling lights, Coulson knew—without a doubt—that this was the best, and most chaotic, decision of his life.