Okay, so since I'm back, I have actually been writing. I've written like 3k words this week, which is insane considering I haven't written in like a year. So trying my best to channel the mojo and keep it going.
This fic is currently standing at 120k words. Even generously assuming that 20k of them get trashed in the inevitable rewrite when I finish, it's pretty long. And this fic is a little over halfway done. So it'll probably be 200k words long when I'm done. (Insert my husband saying, "Did you say it was going to be short when you started it?")
Anyway, since it's been so long, context of this fic is it's a Christmas fic in which Strike Team Delta ends up in Phil's hometown of Manitowoc for Christmas, and Clint and Nat meet Phil's entire family. The set up/inspiration for this fic was sort of three-fold:
What if Phil Coulson was the screw up his family and his siblings were way more successful than him?
Going home for Christmas when you're the only one unmarried and/or without kids sucks. A lot. (Cue stories of me sleeping on the couch in my late twenties while everyone else had a bedroom!)
Isn't crazy that when you're home with your siblings and parents you sort of revert to a non-grown-up version of yourself? Some amalgamation of the adult you, the kid you, and the teenage you? And what does that look like for Phil Coulson? And what does Strike Team Delta think of that?
And thus this fic, which has no real name at the moment, was born.
Since I am determined to finish this for this Christmas (really I am!) I have a Sunday Six for us. And I'll probably try to post status updates every week. Despite having two maniac children now, my husband is also onboard plan "get Mandy writing again" and has pretty much point-blank instructed me to use a few hours every week to leave for work a little early and go sit at a coffee shop instead of heading straight to work. So I think it's gonna happen. I think I'm going to get there.
So enjoy this little snippet of a scene, which it took me a shockingly long time to write, that happens right after Phil has a run-in with one of his childhood bullies at a shooting range in Manitowoc.
“Seriously,” Phil said. “Please, go in there and shoot. I brought you here so you can get some range time in.”
“Phil, I’m not going to use the range of some guy who fucking tortured you,” Clint said, exasperation bleeding into his tone. “You want me to kill him? Sure. I’ve killed men for less. But use his range? He doesn’t deserve to see my skills.”
Another laugh escaped Phil, and he found himself smiling up at Clint. It was unfair. Phil was meant to be the one cheering Clint up, helping him forget about his past. Clint shouldn’t have to be doing the same for him. “Thanks, Clint.”
“Seriously,” Clint said, his expression overly solemn. “You want me to kill him.”
“Unnecessary,” Natasha suddenly appeared by their side. “I took care of him.”
Phil frowned. From the Black Widow “taking care of someone” could mean anything from a polite threat between friends or hiding the body in a deep freezer. But Phil didn’t actually think Natasha would go that far. Though it filled him with warmth to think of the Black Widow roughing Roger Larson up.
Natasha met Phil’s gaze with wide-eyed innocence. “What?”
“We’re going to need a clean up crew, aren’t we?” Clint asked, with an over the top sigh. “Fury is never going to let us live it down if we can’t handle Manitowoc without needing to call in back-up.”
“I didn’t kill him,” Natasha said disdainfully. “I’m not a monster.”
“The SHIELD reports from the seventies beg to differ,” Clint retorted.
“At least I was effective,” Natasha sniffed, “and mind you, never caught by SHIELD, unlike some spangled assassins we could speak of.”
“Hey now, don’t throw around ‘spangled’ like it’s an insult. If spangles are good enough for Captain America then—“
“Children,” Phil said, unable to contain his smile.