A/N: Alriiiight, so the past few episodes have left me thinking, and I realized the least the writers could do was give us some vague but happy Philinda send-off. The two of them quitting their jobs for good and giving in to the years and years of (sexual) tension that they have suppressed and just, idk, live a little? So this story came forth after that thought process, I hope it's good enough!
Also, still getting used to these characters, so please cut me some slack if they're OOC.
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.
'Retirement'
Everybody always insisted that you can't change the future, nor the past. Both were set in stone, and even if you tried to, you could never influence the outcome - it was inevitable.
Phil Coulson had never believed that. He knew that even one word could change someone's life, one touch, one different walk to work. One leap of faith.
"Would you rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. if I was gone?"
Daisy frowned at him, then got a little angry, before controlling herself.
"Nobody will do it like you do."
"Doesn't matter. S.H.I.E.L.D. needs a fresh face."
She frowned again. "Why are you asking?"
"I just need to know."
They were silent for what seemed like forever, Daisy looking at him with a stern look, and Coulson merely awaiting her answer.
"You're leaving."
It didn't surprise Coulson that she had seen right through him. He knew he was an open book, but he didn't lay all his cards on the table, and the only ones in his entire life who had been able to guess those hidden cards' value were Melinda May and Daisy Johnson. They knew exactly what he meant, even when he didn't.
"I might be."
She raised an eyebrow, but then just shook her head and smiled.
"A.C.," she started, bringing out a smile from both of them at the small sense of nostalgia, "you do you. I'll pick up the pieces. Just don't mess it up. And keep in contact, please."
He nodded, and they sat in silence for a while longer, which was a feat for Daisy, because ever since knowing her, he knew she had trouble shutting up sometimes.
"And be gentle with her, okay? You two have been through a lot."
He didn't know what to do with that advice, but he knew she meant well and he was more or less impressed that she had figured out completely what his plan was, without them using any words. It wasn't the first time, though, and hopefully not the last, either.
~...~
When she rounded the corner, her dark hair flying around her head and shoulders like waves of an ocean, he knew he couldn't go back anymore, knew he wanted to see this plan through, no matter the outcome.
He was holding just one duffel bag, not even filled completely - his free hand reached out to her, as soon as she laid eyes on him.
"What?"
He put some more emphasis on his hand, and she looked at it, then at his face, the duffel bag, and his face again.
"What are you doing?"
"Taking a leap of faith."
She raised one of her eyebrows, and it amused him a little, despite the fact that none of the two women shared any biological links, they resembled each other so much.
He knew she would say yes eventually. Or, well, he hoped she would. Yet she was still hesitating, and he hadn't expected anything else, but he had expected her to put up a verbal fight, maybe call him an idiot, doubt his sanity, so when she simply put her hand in his without any words, he was still a little surprised.
He had expected bullets to greet them as soon as they stepped foot outside the Lighthouse, had expected heads to turn and people to run and scream in fear. Instead, when the sweet afternoon sun shone onto their faces, he felt a sense of calm he hadn't really felt in the world since… well, since he had joined S.H.I.E.L.D..
There was no sunset they could walk into, but them walking away from their lives felt a lot like it.
After what seemed like forever, walking in silence through the city, they had to stop for a traffic light to allow them to cross. He didn't even know where they were going, but as long as she was with him, he was right where he should be.
She looked at him, and he felt her eyes on him, so he met them, and perhaps it was the fact that they had just left behind everything they had once held dear, or maybe it was just his impatience running out after decades of keeping himself in check - he felt something pull him towards her, and as their hands found each other, so did their lips. First tentative, careful, too afraid of losing even more that day then they already had, because he knew they couldn't go back, would risk endangering their friends, and he would still do whatever he could to protect them. After a few brief moments, he gave in, at the exact same time she did, arms wrapping tightly, lips speeding up, making up for lost time, until he realized where they were, and he pulled back as if burned. She was very good at hiding her emotions, but his interruption of their kiss hurt her, he could tell.
"No," he whispered, "don't do that. Don't let yourself talk you down. We'll continue this when we're alone. So… I can kiss you properly."
A twinkle in her eyes told him she approved of his words, and their hands joined once again, sharing a promise of never letting go again.
~...~
They would never come back. Daisy knew that. And it was better that way - they had given their lives, literally, to keep S.H.I.E.L.D. running, so the least they deserved was a happy ending.
It took a couple of hours until the team realized that May and Coulson were gone. They had screamed at her, almost insulted her, angry for not stopping them, for giving them the chance to get away.
"They will die, Daisy!"
"How could you let this happen?!"
"You didn't do anything to stop them?"
She held up a firm hand and they all stopped, and their looks told Daisy that they were still very angry with her, but they knew better than to argue when she had told them to stop.
"They gave everything to this cause. Don't they deserve to be happy for once?"
The team let her words sink in. Daisy knew the team was trained by each other not to let Coulson and May walk away like that, their two leaders, in a way the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D., the new version of it anyway. She knew it would be tough to find a way to move on without them, but if those two had showed her anything, it was that you could always move forward, if you really wanted to.
As they would later learn, them leaving the team behind had broken the loop, and everybody was glad it wasn't someone dying that had done it. Even if they missed the two, the team was happy for them, and they were happy with the fact that they got a real chance of saving the world this time, knowing the outcome would be different.
One rainy day, she received an encoded message, and without hacking it she knew who had sent it.
She was met by two familiar faces, no big smiles on their faces like she had expected, but they looked happy, content, their heads leaning against each other, and Daisy knew they were alright, like they always were supposed to be.
The picture was signed with one single word, and it made Daisy smile, truly happy for her adoptive parents.
Retirement.
A/N: It wasn't as fluffy as I had originally intended, tried to keep it with the flow of the show, which doesn't show a lot of Philinda goodness, so I hope that this isn't too little or too much. Anyway, I would greatly appreciate it if you left me a review! Thanks so much!