WHO: Phil Coulson & Melinda May WHEN: a day or two after this WHERE: Coulson's Comfy Cell ™ WHAT: Coulson's playing with legos. (Okay, not really) Coulson's building a 3D blueprint of something and May comes to check on him Rating: PG13. No sex in the cell. Protocol.
Fitz had been true to his word and there had been a delivery of supplies suitable for 3D modeling. Coulson had been working ceaselessly, eating and sleeping not entering his mind as he worked to transform the scribbles on the wall into a 3D representation. The bed and table were pushed to the wall and most of the room was taken up with a the model. He didn't hear the door open as he worked to put the final touches on it. He was close, closer than before, and it filled him with a type of ecstasy.
May had been a silent witness to the progression of events unfolding, from Phil and Fitz’s breakthrough (and Fitz’s seemingly miraculous health recovery) to the orders for supplies to be brought in (which had earned a brief moment of skepticism and contemplation -- how bad an idea would this prove to be?). At first it had been like watching a kid amongst a pile of toy blocks, but soon Phil had fallen into his ever-present compulsion, and the scattered mess of building materials had slowly begun to rise and take shape.
It was strange at first -- spires and jutting connecting tubes and all, more like some contemporary art piece than the blueprints to a city, but more important was the effect on Phil: the color returned to his skin, his breathing had eased, and his biometric readings had shown his heart beat and blood pressure returning to normal range. The gleam of madness seemed to fade, as if the structure were draining it from Phil’s mind.
“I never pegged you for the lego type,” she finally remarked after witnesses the last half hour of his progress (both the city and within Phil himself).
There was a look of calm elation on Phil's face as he worked. He heard May's words but it took another few minutes of working before he sat back on his heels and looked up at her, his eyes bright with whatever was going on in his mind.
"We all have our secrets." It wasn't an accusation, but a simple observation. He rose to his feet and came to stand beside her, unable to get the smile off his face. "It's beautiful, don't you see? The entire city. Home."
He reached out and caressed one of the spires fondly. He was calm, relaxed and though his body would surely ache tomorrow, for the moment he was just happy and at peace.
“...it’s something,” was about all she would commit to, eyeing the city with a look that could, at best, be called indifference with a degree or two of suspicion mixed in. At long last, May stepped into the room and walked slowly around the structure. It was fairly impressive-- for anyone else who didn’t have a strange alien influence driving them non-stop, it would have been a project that took weeks to design and construct. The design itself was like nothing she had ever seen, of course. Whatever this city was, it wasn’t immediately recognizable. “JARVIS can run a scan. We can begin a satellite search to see if there are any geographic formations that match the pattern.”
Finally, she turned her study to the man himself. “You seem better.”
Phil could do nothing but grin at her. "It's all there," he motioned to model. "Everything. So clear, now. It's out of me and there in front of us. Nothing crawling to get out anymore."
It was all so new though, this sense of peace and calm. Though there were still dark circles under his eyes, physiologically, he seemed like a new man, ready to face the world and no longer fighting with the alien inside him.
She reached out and touched his shoulder, urging him to turn towards her where she could cup her other hand against his cheek and study his face intently. He was tired -- exhausted really, but nothing that a few days of real, true rest couldn’t fix. He was okay, would be okay. There would be no following in the footsteps of Garrett, no backup protocols to put into play. Something inside of her eased. “You’re okay,” she said quietly, as if needing to say it aloud to confirm it for herself.
He covered her hand with his own and squeezed. There was an urge to turn and kiss her palm to reassure her, but not here, not with surveillance. Despite everything, the protocols remained etched on Coulson's brain. "Better than okay," Phil reassured her. "It's… quiet…"
There was a beat as he just stood there, revelling in the peace, in the look on May's face. They'd survived this, like they'd survived so much before. And then Coulson was back. "I want a computer scan of the model, so we can manipulate it if necessary and scan for matching architecture. It might not be modern, so we'll have to cross check ruins and such. Can we get Skye on this right away? And whoever else we have available?"
“That depends. Is this the Director now giving the orders?” May asked, a minute smile curving the corner of mouth.
"That's up to whether you re-instate me or not," Coulson said plainly. He'd certainly understand if May took the cautious route, keeping him under observation for another few days.
After a long moment, May nodded once and dropped her hands to her side. “I’ll have Skye look into it. She’ll need something to do while under house arrest. Do we tell the Avengers?”
"That would be my recommendation. Fury too. I assume you've watched the conversation he and I had?" A conversation which turned into Coulson attacking the Director, but nonetheless. "Wait, Skye's under house arrest?"
Coulson pinched the bridge of his nose. "I think you need to catch me up on what I've missed before I resume any duties. But maybe not with an audience."
“I think you need to get some real sleep in a real bed first.” It was an unspoken invitation to leave the cell, but firm enough that it didn’t invite any questions or protests to the contrary. “I’ll fill you in when once we’ve reached your quarters.”
It was an invitation and an order that Phil didn't need to hear twice. "And a shower and a suit," he added. Imperceptible to anyone but May was a look of invitation for the shower, to reassure each other that they really had survived this trial. There was a part of him that was cautious, uncertain that they were out of the woods, but his brain was quiet for the first time in months.
There were no personal effects of his in the cell, but he took the knife May had given him out of his pocket and handed it back to her. "I don't think I'll be needing this anymore," he said with a smile as he headed out of the cell and towards the elevator, confident that JARVIS would alert him once the digital rendering of the model was complete.
May arched a brow and pocketed the knife. “Welcome back, sir,” she said quietly to the empty room bearing silent witness to the trials and tribulations that had happened.