Cleanup at the Beach

By Devan Alexander

She'd insisted on coming with them, that her ankle would be fine if she could just walk it off. He'd looked at it, and she'd consented to let him wrap it, but it was obviously troubling her now as they moved across the uneven sand on the secluded beach to clean up the remains of an 084. It also didn't help that he could see she was tired; the others couldn't but he knew. It was probably a factor in how the ankle had been injured in the first place. He'd occasionally see her wince as she stepped down, but it would only stay on her face briefly as she masked the majority of the pain behind that stoic mask of hers. He kept catching Simmons watching her and shooting him dirty looks. Finally he decided it was time to do something about it, because he knew that she never would. He worked his way over to her, combing the beach for pieces of the 084 as he did so.

"Hi," he greeted softly.

She glanced briefly at him.

"What do you say about you and I heading over to that wall and sit for awhile?" he asked with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Her glare read no, definitely no.

"I can only get away with it if you come with me," he tried again. "Come on May; sit on the wall with me for a few minutes."

May rolled her eyes at him but proceeded to remove her gloves. He then offered her an arm and although her sigh was irritated, she took his arm and actually leaned on him to get to a shady spot by the wall. Once there and completely without her permission, he put his hands on her waist and lifted her onto the wall. She huffed her disapproval at him. He smiled at her, and then hopped up on the wall beside her. His team, he noticed, went out of their way not to look in their direction.

"You know, if you rested your bad ankle on the wall it would make it look more realistic," he suggested quietly.

She sighed heavily, feigning disappointment in him and gingerly shifted to put her angry ankle up on the wall. He shifted slightly so she could rest her back against him. She didn't.

"Will you just listen to those waves," he offered wistfully. "When was the last time you and I sat and listened to the waves?"

"Phil."

In that one word he knew that she knew what he was up to and perhaps it was an admission that he was right. To be honest, he was proud of her for letting him help her and sitting down to rest. There was a time when she wouldn't have.

"Making them finish might be good punishment for the water balloon incident," he offered.

He couldn't see her, but she actually smiled at that one. The water balloon that had hit her in the back of the head hadn't been aimed at her; Fitz was still promising her that. It had been meant for Skye; May had merely stepped through the door after the balloon had been released. And the one that had hit her stomach had been thrown by Jemma who was so stunned to have actually hit someone that she hadn't realized who it had hit for a full three minutes. Skye was laughing so hard she'd snorted, and the memory was so funny that she actually leaned her full weight back against Coulson. He shifted and his arm automatically moved around her to stabilize her.

"Are they done apologizing yet?" he asked.

"No," she answered, her mirth apparent.

He was quiet after that, watching his team work and catching the occasional smile from Simmons. He knew how much Simmons admired May's strength, but he was also aware that she felt that the specialist pushed herself far too hard. Coulson was even more surprised when May nestled in a little more comfortably as she rested beside him. He was surprised that she wasn't on alert, then realized that either meant she knew they were safe or something was seriously wrong. He was pretty sure she knew that they were safe, was listening to the waves and maybe even watching them too. To be honest, he was fairly amazed that she was willing to relax against him like this; she hadn't since Bahrain, and he found himself wondering if she was in far more pain than she was admitting to. Phil was grateful that he didn't feel any of her little tell-tale signs that she hurt and she seemed content. He wasn't about to move or disturb her in any way. He was even more surprised when she grew heavy against him and he was proud to know that she felt safe. He tried to think of other things to keep the goofy grin from forming on his face. She was important to him too, far more so than she'd ever understood. If they lived another life he might even have called it love.

Coulson wasn't sure if the team knew she'd fallen asleep, but they were all relived that she was resting. He watched them as they worked, occasionally focusing on the waves, or the birds. Each person found a reason to look in their direction now and then, and he noticed that his specialists had stepped it up a notch to make up for the fact that May was down. Phil was proud of them. His team finished up and took turns moving all the cases to the SUV. Then they broke into smaller groups and either walked along the beach playing with the waves or sat in the shade talking softly. Each had glanced at the senior agents with a smile at one point or another and he realized that they knew she must be asleep because if she weren't they'd be leaving. He didn't expect any of them to even consider the fact that she might simply be enjoying the beach, but then to be honest, only he knew that side of her. They spent a large part of the afternoon at the beach before he felt her shift, then shudder when her ankle moved ever so slightly.

"Phil?" there was still a bit of sleepiness in her voice.

"I'm glad you got some rest," he answered. "And don't roll your eyes at me, you needed it."

"I... won't be walking on this ankle," she realized.

"Probably not for a couple of days," he agreed quietly. "You'll have to ride to the car on my back."

She turned her body to glare at him but she ended with a grimace of pain instead as her ankle shifted.

"You'd have to limp along and be assisted if you were hurt," she hissed at him as a reminder.

"But it's not and Simmons will agree with me that you shouldn't put any weight on it, especially on this shifting sand. It'll be like El Salvador."

She closed her eyes at the pain of the memory and turned away.

"You were younger," she reminded him.

"You haven't changed," he smiled. "Not physically. I've got this, unless of course you'd be more comfortable on the back of another team member."

"No."

"Not even..." he taunted.

"No."

His grin widened. "Good. Everything is packed and ready to go. They were just enjoying the day and we all should be getting hungry soon. Fitz probably already is."

He called the team to them, and then helped her up so that he could slide off the wall and gently settle her on his back. Simmons smiled her approval at him and although May wanted to bury her face in his back she was able to maintain an expression of calm indifference, with perhaps just a bit of sunburn on her face. The other specialists walked on either side of Coulson just to make certain that the shifting sand didn't trip him as they went back to the SUV, but his footing stayed true. Coulson put her in the front passenger seat and held his hand out for the keys smugly. She sighed as she dropped them in his hand. No one said a word to her directly but she could hear murmuring in the back as they chatted together like a family. They were nearly to the bus when Simmons leaned forward.

"When we get back to the bus just wait in the SUV while I get the crutches, I'd like a scan and you can tell me if you need pain killers."

May offered Simmons a nod but a smile lit in her eyes at the look of disappointment in Coulson's eyes once he realized he wouldn't be allowed to carry her to the lab. Thankfully the ankle wasn't broken. It would be a few days on crutches, a few more to strengthen it all without pain killers and May would be back to normal. The team could hardly wait.