#poor harris

Everyone thinks it’s Ilya you have to worry about but it’s actually his angry kitten of a husband!

Ilya: oh you are worried about me? Nyet! My husband is who you should worry!

Shane: so I see you chose violence? Brave for a man that only last six seconds *decks the player*

Lord Malmesbury to the Prince of Wales

Brunswick, Thursday, 11 Dec. 1794

I expected to have had it in my power before this date to have announced to your Royal Highness our departure from hence and the probable day of our arrival in England, but the messenger Dupins, who pass’d thro’ Brunswick a few days ago in his way to Berlin, brought official accounts dated the 29th Novr. (a week later than Y.R.H. letter by Major Hislop) which say in the most express terms that on that day no time was fix’d on respecting the sailing of the convoy, nor any determination then taken as to the place at which I was to embark with the Princess. It was absolutely impossible, under this uncertainty, for me to think of setting out, & I am sure your Royal Highness cannot disapprove my having not venturing to expose so very valuable trust as that I have in charge to anything like risk or difficulty. Not a possible delay can arise on this side of the water; everything & everybody is ready here, neither will a moment be lost in getting away, or on the road, the instant I receive from Ld. Grenville the necassary orders & information. I have written to him every post since my arrival to press him on this subjecy, and I humbly intreat Y.R.H. to do the same, otherwise I do not really know when I shall be able to acquitt myself of my very pleasing duty and deliver into your hands what I sincerely hope & believe will be the great source of all your future happiness, and this idea is so strongly impress’d on my mind that I regret more & more every day that is pass’d here, because I consider them as so many deducted from it.

I am order’d by the Princess to say everything that is respectful, grateful & affectionate to your Royal Highness. She has receiv’d a box from England with English dresses & it is amazing how much they become her.

I have mention’d to Ld. Grenville the subject of presents to be made here on this occasion. I fancy (as nothing is settled on this point) that they had better be sent from London after the Princess’s arrival. I shall be able to explain to Y.R.H. by this means to whom they should be given & what they should be, & I mention’d the subject to his Majesty’s Secretary of State as I consider it as an expence (& it will not be an inconsiderable one) which ought to be repay’d by the publick, not by your Royal Highness.

I've had some people comment that Harris has been, well, pushed into corners and manipulated.  That he's went from being trapped in a HYDRA facility, to being forced into working for SHIELD.  That he's really been

It's true that Harris has been manipulated. Which is unfair. But the Phil Coulson of my world is not a man given to cruelty or malice. He is, at his heart, a protector. He seeks to be a shield, for those who have none. And at the end of "Four (Or Five) Reasons," Harris has no where to go. He has no one. He is lost, and adrift, and traumatized. He has no family, no friends, very few connections.  He is injured, he is in a bad mental state, and he is facing government inquiries that he is not really prepared for, or capable of handling.

By forcing him into the SHIELD ranks, Phil gives him, in one fell swoop, a place to live, a purpose, and access to the medical and psychiatric care that he needs to heal. If Harris was the sort of person who would be happy kicking back for a month with a book, then that's what would've happened to him. But he needs work. He needs to be useful. That's his psychological profile. Phil made sure he got what he needed. And if in three months, after he'd gotten his feet under him and after the legal issues had been resolved, he'd showed up for his review and said, "I want out," then he'd be out.

Harris is not working for Tony. Because he doesn't want to. Harris is working at SHIELD. Because he grumbles, and he makes faces and he gives looks, but in the end? He is safe there. He is protected. He has a therapist and friends and a purpose. He LIKES Phil. He really likes Darcy and Tony and Shawn and Drew.

When he thought something bad was happening, when he truly believed that they were in danger, his first action was to warn everyone.  The second was to protect Darcy.  He pulled her down, made sure she stayed down, and he covered her mouth and nose, not his own.  His instinct was to protect her.  Not because he thinks she can't protect herself, but because he will not let anything happen to her, if he can help it.  Because she is his friend.