Working relationships

[agent_coulson]

Phil Coulson was used to being woken up from a dead sleep. In fact, he'd basically stopped having "dead sleeps" anymore, after so many years of being on call and needing to be instantly alert at a moment's notice. He dozed more than he actually slept now.

So it wasn't a shock to hear his mobile ringing at 3am, but that didn't mean it was pleasant. His hand shot out automatically, pushing the button to answer the call even before he was fully awake. By the time it reached his ear, he'd opened his eyes and the beginning of a silent hope was already forming in his head: that maybe this would be something needing his authorization, or a question from a junior agent, or--hell, even a question from Fury himself, anything to let him go back to sleep after the call ended.

Of course that was a pipe dream. He listened carefully as the threat was described to him: two speedsters, shooting some kind of unidentified beam, in Newark. Destruction to property. Civilian lives at risk. General chaos.

It made sense, really. Of all the places he least desired to be, New Jersey at 3 in the morning on a Saturday was pretty close to the top of the list.

He sighed, and sat up, swinging off the bed to head for the closet. "I'll be there in twenty minutes. Call whoever's up on the roster, at least a Level 2. I don't want to be there all morning." With that, he snapped the phone shut, grabbed a suit off the rack, and made a beeline for the kitchen--if he was going to deal with this, he wasn't going to do it without coffee.

Comments

[ladyofmarvel]

"I did, yes. I figured you wouldn't appreciate 'I got stuck in traffic' as a viable excuse from me." A small smile, then she nodded at the rest of the question. "If you're sure you don't mind, I wouldn't say no."

...lol somehow this turned kind of tl;dr sorry

[agent_coulson]

"Not at all." Phil gestured. "I'm parked this way." He started picking his way back through the wreckage of ketchup, mustard, and charred bits of metal. Agent Woo met them a block later, and Phil paused, tilting his head back toward the scene. "There's not much clean-up, just some blasted cars and a lot of... condiments."

Woo nodded. "Got it. Heard you got a non-lethal on both of them?"

"Thanks to Danvers."

"Good work, Agent Danvers." Woo smiled at her. "The guys in Bio R&D were just saying the other day that they needed more speedster physiology data. Guess they'll get it now."

Phil hid a small wince. He did not envy those two--once the science wing of the R&D department got their hooks into someone, there was no end to the tests. They were all humane, for the most part, but life as a guinea pig was not Phil's idea of a vacation. "We're going to head back to HQ. Let me know if anything comes up here."

"Will do, sir." Woo headed off to the scene and they arrived at Phil's car a moment later.

He got in on the driver's side, calling, "It's open!" to her as he settled in. He hadn't bothered to lock it--if someone was ballsy enough to be wandering around while all that was going down a couple blocks away, maybe they deserved to get in. There wasn't anything to take, anyway: this was a SHIELD vehicle, bare of anything except a sophisticated GPS system hidden in the dash and an arsenal under the backseat. Neither were accessible without a voiceprint.

Pff, there's no such thing

[ladyofmarvel]

She gave Woo a return smile, nodding at the small praise. A small look was spared for the two, knowing exactly where they were heading and what they were in store for. It was one of the few reasons she avoided the R&D department. She was one step over the line away from winding up there herself, and knowing that they'd love the chance for an excuse to pick and prod at her always creeped her out a little.

Making her way over to the car, she opened the door and slid into the seat, closing the door gently and looking over at him as she propped her head up on her hand, elbow resting by the window. "All in all, I'd say that was a pretty decent tag. Limited civilian casualties, minimum damage, no lethal force required. And look, you didn't even get any mustard on your shoes."

DON'T CHALLENGE ME

[agent_coulson]

Phil glanced down at his shoes speculatively, then laughed. "You're right. It's a good morning already." He glanced out the window, where the sun was just starting to come up. "And it's barely started."

He turned the key in the ignition, speaking his name and waiting for it to roar to life. The GPS console flipped outward to him, but he hesitated, his finger hovering over the entry on the list of destinations that said "SHIELD HQ". "You coming back to HQ, or should I take you home? I can wait for that report if you want to get some sleep. You deserve it."

Torro Torro!

[ladyofmarvel]

Her eyes turned towards the creeping sunlight, watching it beginning to wash over the city, illuminating it for another day of hustle and bustle. "Seems kind of pointless, particularly since a certain Agent won't be taking the same offer themselves."

That was said with a smirk as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Unless someone decides that they're only human and can sleep for another two or three hours..."

*snorts, stomps hooves* JUST WAIT THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT NOW

[agent_coulson]

"If I sleep now, I'm just going to feel more tired." Phil shrugged regretfully at her and shifted the car into drive, pulling out into the main thoroughfare. "There's a limit I can reach, under a number of hours... that just registers as a nap, and refreshes me. Go over that and my body gets demanding." He sighed. "And I have enough demanding bodies at work."

He signaled and merged onto the US-9, glancing over his shoulder briefly, his eye catching hers on the way back. "Yourself excluded, of course."

*flicks red cloak* Bring it, baby.

[ladyofmarvel]

She chuckled at that, watching him slide the car easily into the sparse early morning traffic. "Very diplomatic save there, Phil. And I'll be the first to admit that I can be very demanding, given the right circumstances."

Biting back a grin, she turned to look out the window, wondering what else the day was going to throw at her with such an invigorating start so far. "I might use my lunch hour for a nap, but only if the day's slow."

[agent_coulson]

Phil smiled and was quiet for a moment, just watching the road as they drove. Something she'd said made him think. After a minute of silence, he ventured: "Carol... about the other night. At the bar." He hesitated, trying to carefully formulate what he wanted to say. Someone zipped into his lane ahead of him and then slowed down, making him break forcefully and mutter a curse--more at himself for losing focus than at the other driver.

[ladyofmarvel]

She was wondering when he'd bring that up, or if, even. She'd left the ball in his court, stating her interest, preference and letting him decide when and if he wanted to visit that option. Anything else would not only be unprofessional, but unwanted and far too pushy. "Mm? Are we referring to your frisbee activities, or something else?

god I experienced so much vicarious uncomfortableness writing this tag XD

[agent_coulson]

He grinned involuntarily. "Oh God, I forgot I told you about that." Then his expression sobered. "No, I'm referring to something else." He looked over at her for a moment, then turned back to the road. "I want you to know that... I understand we were both drinking. Sometimes people say things when they're drinking... that they wouldn't otherwise. Or make certain offers."

He cleared his throat. "My point is: I--you don't seem uncomfortable around me, but I just wanted you to know that I wouldn't hold you to anything you said in a bar, after a few beers."

*chortles* YES!!!

[ladyofmarvel]

Shifting in her seat so that she was facing him more solidly, she gave him a small, soft smile. "Phil, I wasn't drunk. I was barely buzzed. And if it would clear things up with your conscious, let me make things clear. I'm perfectly sober and it's in the light of day, and I'm making you the same offer. Casual, reciprocal sex, with no emotional strings attached and no requirements of changing our current friendship, other than adding an extra... layer to it."

[agent_coulson]

Phil's knuckles turned a pinkish shade of white as he gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter. His eyes flicked over to her--the early morning sunlight on her hair, the gentle curl of her lips. "Ah. Well, I guess in that case, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't... interested."

He sighed. "This is an incredibly unprofessional conversation to be having in a SHIELD vehicle." He pulled onto the off-ramp, leaving the US-9 behind as they entered New York.

[ladyofmarvel]

"Would you prefer to have it in a SHIELD office? With SHIELD employees everywhere? Or perhaps in the residence if a SHIELD Agent. Kind of a tough thing to get away from, Phil. Part of working where we work is learning how to compartmentalize our lives and work. This moment here? This is a transitional one. It's allowable because it's ours. Those brief little snippets we can call our own, we're allowed to be ourselves."

Tucking her hair behind her ear again, she let her eyes linger over him. "I'm glad you are interested, though."

[agent_coulson]

He turned to catch her looking him over, and a bit of color rose in his cheeks. "An Avenger giving me the compartmentalizing speech. That's different." His lips twisted up into a small, self-deprecating smile. "I'm usually using it in the opposite argument, though. In order to--as Stark puts it--suck the joy out of life."

He turned onto a surface street, heading away from SHIELD HQ. "By the way, if you ever make a similar offer to someone and they aren't interested, you should probably bring them in to SHIELD. They won't be human."

[ladyofmarvel]

She snorted at that. "Stark's idea of joy is almost parallel to Loki's, minus human casualties. Mostly."

The turn away from their destination was noted, and had her lifting her brow and tipping her head slightly to the side, curiously. "I believe that's the nicest compliment I've ever gotten, Phil. Mind if I ask about the detour?"

Not that she was concerned, but she was curious. Phil Coulson wasn't particularly known for deviating from regulation and procedures.

[agent_coulson]

His eyebrows rose in mild surprise. "I did say this was an unprofessional conversation to have in a SHIELD vehicle." He gestured ahead of them. "And I need coffee. So, we have two options. One--that Starbucks, where you could let me buy you a latte. Or two--my apartment, a few more blocks north. I have Italian roast, but no milk."

[ladyofmarvel]

Her smile widened. "I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't love a chance to get to see the inner sanctum of Phillip Coulson. It would even be worth foregoing a little milk in my coffee." She was pleased, amused at his obvious and logical adaptation for having a personal conversation; more pleased that this meant the conversation would be continuing.

[agent_coulson]

"It's not very exciting." He shrugged and smiled. "But it has a bed and caffeine, nothing else is really necessary." He paused, his mind quickly replaying what he'd just said. "To clarify, I meant... necessary for me. For life. The life of a SHIELD agent." He shut his mouth again, resolutely disallowing himself from putting his foot in it again. He had a feeling this was going to keep happening with Carol.

A minute later they pulled into a darkened parking garage beneath his building, and he swerved into the first open spot. There were four other cars in this garage registered to him--three of them SHIELD vehicles, and one of them a personal car, which saw hardly any use. He kept thinking about just selling it... but it seemed like one of those psychological steps that would mean his life--down to his ability to transport himself--really did belong to SHIELD: lock, stock, and barrel.

He blinked and brought himself back to the present moment, hopping out of the car and walking around to open Carol's door. He knew she probably didn't expect him to, and apparently whatever they might be doing at some point in the future would be as purely physical as you could get without being by yourself, but he'd been raised with certain ingrained values, and one of those included holding the doors open for people he'd recently professed interest in sleeping with.

[ladyofmarvel]

Another small chuckle, and she reached over and gave his shoulder a light pat. "It's all right, Phil. I get what you meant." But the phrasing itself was certainly serendipitous, along with his obvious realization and attempted verbal backpedalling.

She'd been about to open the door herself, but she'd seen him coming around the back, letting him indulge in his chivalrous attempts. Besides, it wasn't often Carol was actually treated as a lady. It was... nice. Welcome. Getting out of the car, she might have passed by him closer than she needed to, her eyes keeping his as she stood and moved slightly away. "Thank you."

[agent_coulson]

"My pleasure." He tried not to think too much about how the smell of her shampoo left a pleasant waft in the air when she walked by him. Gesturing to the elevator a few feet away, he walked to it with her, then pushed the button for his floor and crossed his hands calmly in front of him as they rose.

"I guess we could have stopped by and gotten you a change of civilian clothes." He glanced at her costume, continuing to resolutely not notice how it conformed to the curves of her body. This was all sensory information he was very, very good at ignoring during the course of his day, but suddenly his brain was making notes of it, was filing it away in files he didn't even realize he'd had. Hell, in cabinets he hadn't even been aware of. The Carol Danvers file cabinet had apparently just been waiting for data entry. "But the people in my building are used to seeing Avengers come through all suited up, so if you're comfortable..."

[ladyofmarvel]

She wasn't sure what the scent coming from him was; body wash, cologne, deodorant, or perhaps something more natural, but it was nice. Crisp, with a little hint of something male. It suited him.

Standing in the elevator with him, she looked down at herself, taking in her costume with a small sigh. "It is a bit much for civilian interactions, but I have a change of clothes at HQ, so I don't have to stay suited all day. Unless you find it discomfiting...?" That last was said with a bit of a curve to her lips, tone light and easy.

[agent_coulson]

Phil met her eyes, trying to hold in a grin that was just going to be too inappropriate, even if they were out of the car now. "No... no, it's just fine with me."

The elevator stopped and the doors swung open. Phil let her walk out first, then led her down the hall to his apartment. He unlocked the door and turned the knob slowly, listening carefully. When he heard the sound of something small falling to the ground, he nodded and opened the door, stepping inside and picking the little weighted object off the floor. "Come on in. Make yourself at home." He closed the door. "Is coffee all right, or would you prefer tea?"

He stepped into the kitchen, waiting for her response--it was more of a kitchenette, really, just a little island of linoleum and tiny countertops, with an undersized fridge and a coffeepot. The rest of the apartment was similarly pared down, with the right furniture in the right places, but not much personality or thought put into them. A couch and television were situated in the living room, he had towels in the linen closet, a bed and dresser in the bedroom... all the basics. The place had an upscale feel to it, with new carpeting, modern fixtures, but it didn't feel quite lived in. More like a well-appointed hotel suite. The only thing that hinted at a past or a life beyond his work at SHIELD was a framed picture of two older people standing in a field with a Golden Retriever, hung on the wall by the kitchen.

[ladyofmarvel]

The little booby-trap was a bit of a surprise, only because of the simplicity of it. But it didn't phase her in the slightest that he had a contingency security measure to endure the safety of his home. She had one; herself. Anyone attempting to break into her place would likely find being kicked out the window to be a deterrent. "That all depends on what kind of tea you have."

The apartment was sparse, not much in the way of knick-knacks or personal touches. Though, considering how often he was at the office as opposed to his home, it made sense. She went over to look at the picture, smiling at the dog. "Aha. The fabled best friend. Your parents look nice, Phil. Happy."

[agent_coulson]

"I have, ah... Early Grey and some kind of... orange..." He rustled through a container of tea from the top of his fridge. "Orange Pekoe," he told her, reading aloud from the writing in the packet. "Sorry, not much of a tea person, I don't have a great selection."

He walked out to take a look at the picture with her, still holding the tea container. "Yeah, they are nice. I try to get out there to visit them every once in a while. They think I'm still in the military."

[ladyofmarvel]

She looked over at him as he came to stand beside her, looking down at the container. "For future reference, Orange Pekoe is basically black tea. But I think I'll be happy with a coffee, if you're making some for yourself, thank you."

Looking back to the picture, she tipped her head to the side slightly. "Must be hard, balancing family, lies, and work." Not that she intimated that in a negative way. Lying sort of came with the package when you worked where they did.