I don't own anything (I wish I did xD)

I'm going to write some Philinda friendship moments, like pranks, holidays and stuff, until the day of their graduation from The Academy! I hope you'll like it :)

You are on the right side of a basement entry, placed in the inferior right corner of the room. You are alone and can't communicate with anyone. If enemy A, nine feet away, has a gunshot unloaded in his left hand, and enemy B,nineteen feet away, has a loaded gun, who shouldyou atack first?

"What the hell is this?" she cried out, unable to contain herself.

"I'm sorry?" asked the guy who was sitting two chairs to her right

It was very late, and they were the only ones who were still studying at the library. They were sitting in the same wood table, each engrossed in their respective book, lit by the last lights on. It was a Sunday night, and both freshmen would have the next day one of the most important theoretical examinations. For him it would be simple, he was good with strategies and the theoretical part, and if he was till studying it was because maybe he insisted too much. For her... well, that was another story.

"I'm sorry. It's just... I don't get this" she complained. "I just can't understand theorical stuff"

"It's called theoretical" he said. It was not a presumptuous correction, just a comment, and she liked that. "Let me see it"

The chestnut-haired guy stood up and then sat down on a chair in front of her. He took the book and read it, taking a few minutes to find the answer.

"You are in a basement, right?" he said after a small pause. "This means there are stairs, perhaps some pillars, behind which you could hide... What would you do?"

"Me? No idea. I'd have to watch them, decide which enemy is the weaker and what factors could be potencially dangerous" she snorted, clearly upset, then rolled her eyes. "I mean, what am I doing in the freaking basement anyway? Do I have to knock out those guys, get some files or what?"

He smiled. She was a smart girl, and seemed to think just like him.

"It's simpler than that... Let me show you"

He took one of his notebooks from his bag and the pen she had put asides a few minutes before. He drew a perfectly rectangular room, then added some letters; M, A, B.

"Now, this is the field" The guys started. "A and B are your enemies. You are the M"

"Why am I the M?" she asked, confused. In most exercises and textbooks, agents were represented by circles or letters X.

"Well, because your name is Melinda" he replied.

"You know my name?"

She was a shy and quiet specialist, he was a cheerful field agent. Both areas were something like rivals by the time because they both thought they were superior than the other ones, and they used every opportunity they got to prove it.

"Of course I know your name, everyone does" he answered, shrugging. "I mean, we are just freshmen, but you already kicked all those senior asses" She blinked, surprised, was that a compliment? "We share some classes, you know"

May internally thanked her mother for teaching her on how to control her emotions, because otherwise she would have blushed violently. She didn't know that guys had that power over her. Like, not in real life.

"I know. Your name is Philip Coulson, isn't it?"

"Just Phil"

"Well, just Phil, why on earth are you still studyng on a Sunday night? You are still getting a perfect A"

"That's because I study as much as you train. But, do you want me to explain this to you or what?"

"Oh, please" she sighed.

"Fine. So you are M. A is on your left, and B is right in fronto of you"

"Why can't they be on my right, or behind me?" she asked.

"Because the entry is in the inferior right corner, so there is a wall in your right side and the stairs behind you. And, if you have already reach the basement, there shouldn't be anyone following you"

"Why?"

"Because you already took care of them. Besides, the reason of why A is in your left and not in front of you, is because the book places the first enemy inmediately next to you, then in front of you, and then behind you"

"The book. What book?... Oh. That thing you are holding is a book"

He didn't sigh or lost his patience. He just smiled, amused with her exasperartion.

"It's fine. It says that in the prologue, anyway"

"I was meant to read the prologue?" she exclaimed, horrified. " Oh, fuck this, I'm screwed" May smacked her head dramatically against the notebook. "I'm a mess. I'm going to fail this stupid exam, then I'm going to fail the year and they will kick me out of the Academy, so I'll end working as a secretary or..."

"Come on, don't exaggerate. Besides, Melinda May, working as a secretary? "Phil said, trying to cheer her up. "I barely know you, but I'm pretty sure that I would have to get you out of that place before you set it on fire"

"Fine. If I ever end up doing the paperwork, you can either rescue me or shoot me"

"It's a deal. Now try to focus in this. You just have to think more"

"Thanks" she muttered, rolling her eyes.

"I didn't mean that" he said, chuckling. "I know that you are good working under pressure, and that all depends of the situation you are living. Trust me, that's what I would do too. Just try to imagine yourself in the basement."

"I..."

"I'm sorry, kids, you gotta go now" Professor Maxwell, some kind of fossil who was in charge of the library, walked towards the two young agents. "It's a half past eleven, and I need to close this place"

"Fine" they said in unison, and he walked away to get his keys.

"That's it. It's over" she muttered.

"No, don't worry, May. Let's go to the gym, I think I know how to make you understand" Phil put his books back in his bag and they both stood.

"Just Phil Coulson, I think you are my salvation"

He just smiled.

And hour and a half later, the two freshmen were still in the gym. They hadn't gone to the smaller one, which was more private and confortable, because it was closed, so they had to be content with the bigger one. They had changed into their sport clothes, and now they were laughing as they sparred, sharing their secret techniques and movements. Once she had understood the exercise and the theoretical crap, as she liked to call it, the exam had been completely forgotten, because, as Phil had said, the most important part was to be relaxed. And, in a weird way that she couldn't understand, he was better at calming her down than Tai chi.

"Aaaannd... die!" May said, dropping him with a kick.

He fell down heavily, the air taken from her lungs by the blow, but laughed anyway.

"That was quite impressive" Phil said. Well, he was starting to realise that everything about her was.

With a small smirk on her flushed and sweaty face, May held a hand to help him up. He took it, but instead of standing up he pulled her at the same time he stretched out his leg to make her lose her balance. He caught her off guard and she fell down into the floor, right next to him.

"Now that's low" she protested, laughing. "You shouldn't do that to a lady"

"What, you want your revenge?" Phil asked, amused.

"Best of three?"

"Actually, I think that it's enough for tonight" a voice spoke from the stands.

They stood up at the same time, perfectly synchronized

"Nick? What are you doing here?" Asked Coulson, surprised.

"I saw the lights on and I wanted to see what was going on" he said, walking downstairs to reach them.

It was a tall and burly guy, with dark skin and hair as black as May's. Seeming serious and responsible, but still like a nice guy, he was one of the alumni from the Academy, who was working there as a trainer like many others

"This is my s.O, Nick Fury" said Phil.

"I know, Phil, he supervises some of our classes" she remembered him.

"Melinda May, isn't it?" asked the other one. "Hey, don't look surprised. As you just said, I supervise your classes, and let me tell you, you are a great fighter. Besides, I worked with your mother some years ago"

"Thanks. And really?"

"Yeah. She's excellent, a great trainer, but you must know that already... Whatever, what are you doing here? It's sunday!"

"Phil was helping me with this exam" May said, sighing at the memory. "Tomorrow we have this huge theory exam... and I suck"

"You are not that bad" Phil consoled her, making her roll her eyes.

"Well, you should go to sleep, it's almost one o'clock and you can't fall asleep in your exam" suggested Fury. "By the way, I saw you guys sparring, and you make one hell of a team"

"Thanks" they both said.

"And you are right" May hastily put her things on her back, putting a grey jacket over her thin training t-shirt. "I gotta go, my s.O is going to kill me. Bye, Nick, nice to meet you. And thanks, Phil, for everything."

"Bye..." he said, watching her disappear through the door.

A few seconds later his s.O burst out laughing, giving him a small punch on his back.

"You are not that bad" he imitated him in a shrill voice, shaking his haid. "Byeee..."

"What? What's your point?" replied the other one, pissed and somewhat embarrassed.

"Damn it, boy, you totally like that girl" Fury elbowed him in the ribs as they headed to the gym's entry. Sometimes Nick was more like an annoying older brother than some capable and professional secret agent

"Of course I don't like her!" he said. "I just met her!"

"You two make a nice couple... May and Phil, sitting under a tree..."

"Geez, Fury, just leave it" Phil cut him off, rolling his eyes.

"Fine. However, she's very pretty"

That was something Phil Coulson just couldn't disagree with.

...

Two weeks later, the test results were published in the bulletin board of freshmen. After discussing with her friends, May had gone for Phil, to tell him the news. They had become really close friends and now they met every day. People had begun to speak, for an Academy of a super secret agency can not be exempt gossip and stories. And the last one was, what was doing that shy specialist looking for a popular field agent?

After about ten minutes of walking the halls finding no hint from Phil, she finally saw him. He was at his locker, changing the books for the next class.

"Hi, Phil" she said, going to his side.

"Hey you" he greeted happily.

"I got a B-!" She said, almost jumping of excitement. "I'd never gotten more than a D in theory!"

"Really? That's awesome! I told you you could do it" he smiled.

They started to walk towards the gardens. Some students were looking at them in strangeness, but the didn't even notice it.

"I definitely would have failed without you" she replied. "But, in the exam, I tried to imagine it just like you told me to"

"I was in the clasroom with you, idiot" he remembered her, chuckling. "And also when the professor screamed at you to shut up"

She just nodded, smiling, as if it were such a great memory. They sat on the grass, under one of the great oaks, whose branches gently swayed with the wind. The day was warm and cozy, perfect to go out and escape exams for a while. May wore his usual black pants and a turquoise blouse, that one way or another showed off her eyes, or at least so it seemed to him. For his part, Phil wore jeans and a simple black t-shirt. A few yards away, a couple of girls watched the two agents, incredulous. What the hell did Coulson, one of the most coveted Academy boys, sitting with that specialist?

"Well, anyway, I brought you something to thank you" said May, taking a small envelope from her backpack.

"You didn't have to" he said.

"I know. But I wanted to. Go ahead, take it" she insisted, waving it in front of his face.

Phil took the envelope, which was simple and white, without any writing or dedication. It was not a romantic gift, very different from the kind of objects that another girl had ever given him. He liked that, because it was a reminder of how different she was. Opening it he found a collectible Captain America card, very old, but in perfect conditions.

"The other day you said that you collect them" said his friend, shrugging. "My mother knows a guy, who gave it to her because he owed her a favor or something. It's the number twenty three from the limited edition of the..."

"Fifty five" he completed. "Thank you, for real, I've been looking for this edition for years"

A girl who gives Captain America cards, Phil thought, now this is a special girl. Besides, he had only told her once that he collecter cards, as a trivial comment, he didn't actually expect for her to remember it. By the way he was looking at her, he seemed about to kiss her, which made her blush lightly for a few seconds.

"It's not a big deal" she said. "My mother was so happy because you had helped me that she sent it within two days. I think she adores you, and she doesn't like a lot of people"

"I'm glad" Phil put the card carefully in his bag. "But you don't have to give me anything, I'm still going to help you with theory if you need to"

"Of course I need to!"

"Fine, I will help you with your theorical problem " she rolled his eyes, smacking his shoulder. "You can help me with hand to hand stuff"

"But you are great with that"

"I'm certainly not as good as you" he said. "Besides, next month we'll have to pick a partner"

If he had to be honest, that had been Fury's idea. After watching them train together, and swearing to God that it wasn't a plan to make them a couple, he had suggested him to ask her. At the end of the day, he was still one of the best and mod clever agents from the agency, and he knew how to recognize a great team when he saw it

"Do you want us to work together?" she asked.

She couldn't help but feeling surprised. Unlike her, Coulson had hundreds of friends and several girls who would kill to be his partner in the class. In addition, they had only met a couple of weeks ago, and partners were supposed to last for the rest of the year. And all of that was excluding the fact that she was a specialist and he was a field agent.

"I mean, just if you want to" he said, a little bit awkwardly.

"Of course I do" she smiled. "I'd love to... Your fans won't be specially thrilled about it, though."

"Fans?"

She pointed on the sly the girls that were still spying them.

"Oh, crap, that's Vanessa... I think" he said, upset. "John, my roommate, was trying to convince me to go on a date with her"

"She seems... pretty"

"She is stupid" Phil rolled his eyes, making her smile. "I'd never go out with her... Hey it's two almost two. Do you wanna have lunch?" he asked. "I'm starving"

"Sure, let's go" she said, accepting the hand he had offered her. "Geez, I still can't get over the fact that I got a B- in theory"

"It's great, Mel"

"Mel?" May asked, amused. Besides her mother, and a couple of very old friends, no one had ever called her anything different from May or Melinda

"Oh, I'm sorry" Phil apologised.

"It's fine" she calmed him. "I like Mel... and thanks again, Phil. For helping me and everything."

"That's what friends are for, right?"

Friends... May thought, as they started to walk to the cafeteria, with a smile on her face.

Now they just met... What do you guys think? Please give me some reviews! And if you have any ideas or want some special moment in the story, just send me a PM or post it in a review!