Philinda Forever - One Shots

In Case You Don't Live Forever

I know that Phil Coulson has never sang on AoS, but imagine if he secretly could, and he sang the song above to May while she's unconscious.

-nightsisterkaris

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Standing with shock and horror, Phil froze as he watched the fireball roll out of the warehouse. It was like a hot brick wall that hit him, leaving Phil breathless and cold once the first wave of heat passed. As soon as the blinding light from the blast went out, he started running. Team members tried to drag him back, but they didn't understand - except Daisy, who held them away, then followed, quaking away falling ruins and debris.

He shoved through countless beams and slabs of metal, until he found what he was looking for. There under a metal wire racking, was Melinda. He couldn't move such a massive storage structure, and his bionic hand went to work, opening and closing the energy shield until he had cut through enough metal with the shield.

As soon as he had collapsed by her side in the small cavern, he touched her neck, thanking God when he felt a soft -though unsteady- pulse.

Pulling the unconscious woman into his arms, Phil lifted her up to Daisy then climbed up after, taking the agent to the quinjet. May was swiftly set onto a bed where Phil joined her side, Jemma attending to other injured agents and suddenly it was quiet. Everyone was gone and Phil was standing beside Melinda's tiny form.

It was so quiet.

Phil couldn't even hear her breathing naturally. The only sound was the machine with a tube down her throat and a respirator ready on hand. The loud obnoxiously precious beep of the heart monitor droned on.

He wasn't one to sing.

Phil could express a little vocal talent (his mom tried to get him into a Catholic boy's choir when he was seven) but singing wasn't a talent useful in the field.

May has heard him sing. Barton likes to tell the story of how when Phil was drunk he brought the whole bar to tears with some Frank Sinatra song he doesn't remember. But sing to anyone? No.

Except for now.

All he could hear when he looked down at May was that she was mortal and that he couldn't lose her today. Or tomorrow. Or any day for many years to come.

So he began to hum before testing the first lines,

"You put all your faith in my dreams,
You gave me the world that I wanted,
What did I do to deserve you?
I follow your steps with my feet,
I walk on the road that you started,
I need you to know that I heard you, every word"

He gained confidence, softly raising his voice a little. He blinked away the one tear, taking Melinda's free hand from the sheets.

"I've waited way too long to say,
Everything you mean to me,

"In case you don't live forever, let me tell you now,
I love you more than you'll ever wrap your head around,
In case you don't live forever, let me tell you the truth,
I'm everything that I am because of you"

Phil sighed as he finished the chorus, clenching his jaw when he counted the beats on the heart monitor as they started to find the rhythm to his song, somehow syncing with him. May's body was calming.

"I, I've carried this song in my mind,
Listen, it's echoing in me,
But I haven't helped you to hear it,
We, we've only got so much time,
I'm pretty sure it would kill me,
If you didn't know the pieces of me are pieces of you."

The agent tried not to break when he gripped the smaller hand in his with more force, as if trying to pull her up and back to him.

"I've waited way too long to say,

Everything you mean to me,

"In case you don't live forever, let me tell you now,
I love you more than you'll ever wrap your head around,
In case you don't live forever, let me tell you the truth,
I'm everything that I am because of you"

Phil shook as the first shallow sobs erupted with a wave of emotion, coming out in tears streaming down his face like a river against his cheeks. He licked his lips and tasted salt. Phil couldn't finish. Suddenly from the doorway a soft female shakily ang,

"I have a hero whenever I need one,
I just look up to you and I see one,
I'm a man 'cause you taught me to be one"

Daisy was leaning on the doorpost, her arms folded. "I've heard you sing it before." She smiled to Coulson. "I know I makes you think of May. You can finish it. I know you can finish it and let her know." Daisy began the first phrase then let him go on.

"In case you don't live forever, let me tell you now,
I love you more than you'll ever wrap your head around,
In case you don't live forever, let me tell you the truth,
I'm everything that I am,In case you don't live forever, let me tell you the truth,
As long as I'm here as I am, so are you."

All Phil got was a small responsive squeeze to his hand.

Now May knows.

But maybe she always has.