Hate to see your heart break

By: Paramore

Album: Paramore

Dad!Coulson x Darcy

A/N: Set in just Darcy timeline

When Darcy had begun her relationship with Clint, Coulson was not happy. But he wasn't exactly upset about it either. At the time, she was not aware that he was the father she had been kept from her entire life and while he too had been kept from her, he made the decision not to uproot her life so consciously by telling her so. He had never actually had an intention of hire-ring her, but somehow, and he blamed Maria, her resume had ended up in the ever growing pile of candidates.

He'd done everything in his power to find someone else before ultimately having no choice but to choose Darcy. She was the best option for the job. In all honesty Coulson didn't want Darcy to be a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. He knew the dangers of being an agent and he certainly knew the sacrifices that would have to be made, but in the end the choice was clear, so he made it, and he was happy he did.

Darcy flourished in a way that would make any father proud. But he wasn't just any father, he was hers and seeing her succeed so beautifully made him itch with the desire to share her life with her. And that opened up a can of worms that could never be resealed. He suddenly found himself wanting to know more about her. Wanting to talk to her, to spend time with her, to tell her how much he wished he'd been there when she was growing up and how angry he was with her mother for keeping such a beautiful, funny, smart, girl from him.

But he never could and soon enough someone else, someone who never should have gotten close to her in the first place, told her the truth and while she hadn't been devastated, the circumstances had left her reeling. She had been held hostage for days, struggling to survive as Pneumonia took over what was once a simple chest cold.

It was so bad that they had to put her into the ICU for treatment and that meant that only immediate family could see her. Clint was angry, he'd been slowly building up to the moment when he'd lash out at Coulson, but even as the doctors explained the situation he just walked away albeit was a fierce glare at Coulson beforehand.

He still hadn't properly spoken to Clint and he suspected his anger had to do with the fact that he had recruited Clint to S.H.I.E.L.D. They were friends in a workplace kind of way and while he didn't always share everything with Clint, he shared enough for Clint to know he had deliberately kept this from him and her.

As the days passed, Coulson spent most of his time in Darcy's room watching over her. He was afraid in a way he never had been before. And when she awoke he felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders. That is until Darcy had confronted him about the secrets he'd been keeping. He did his level best to look ashamed for keeping such a secret and did his best to explain how things had happened and why, but in the end, while she had accepted what he had told her, she remained strictly professional. And when she was moved to a private room on another floor, Clint took up sitting with her and he wasn't really needed anymore.

This brought him back to his original musings. Clint was a good man despite what he thought of himself, but he had a bad habit of making stupid mistakes. Like the one he almost made with Bobby at Stark's wedding. Thankfully he could count on Natasha to have his back.

Clint was doing better with Darcy than he ever had with any other woman he'd been with. Coulson was sure it had everything to do with Darcy, she had a way with people, but that didn't stop him from worrying about her even if it was somewhat obvious she didn't want his worry.

Darcy was still in the hospital when the Avengers were called out to deal with a situation in space. Before that mission, space travel for the team had been all but theoretical. They never thought they'd actually need to use the ship Tony had built though. But they had, and now they were going on two weeks gone, and the first week without communication.

Coulson stayed away from Darcy because he was sure that's what she wanted. He regularly checked in with her through security feeds or with the doctors, but other than that he kept his distance. But as week two and then three came to a close he had a nagging suspicion that he should go to her. So he did.

She looked up at him, tears threatening to spill from her eyes as he walked in. Obviously Clint's absence was wearing on her. He wasn't sure what to do though. They never actually discussed what or if she wanted anything from or with him, and given her response to him in the beginning he had a pretty good idea she wanted nothing.

But as they starred each other down, she finally said something he never expected to hear in his entire life.

"Daddy." She cried. He rushed to her, he didn't think he just did and he held her, for how long he had no idea, but she cried into his shirt and his suit jacket ended up around her shoulders and despite the fact that she was in pain; he wanted nothing more than to continue holding her. So he did, because she wasn't stopping him.

She cried for what felt like hours but Coulson said nothing. He didn't know what to say. Darcy had fallen in love with a man with a dangerous job and there was always a chance he might not come back. He knew they had discussed this. The problem was it didn't mean she still wouldn't feel upset or sick or terrified when he did leave. It didn't help that she had just gone through something extremely traumatic before he left.

Darcy continued to cry until sleep overcame her. Coulson couldn't bring himself to let her go, so he continued to hold her even as she slept. And eventually he fell asleep too. The next morning, Clint found them in Darcy's hospital bed. Her head on Coulson's chest, and his arms around her. Like a father protecting his only daughter; trying to keep her heart from breaking.