Phil glanced at the clock, it was a little after eight. An unusual time for visitors. He hoped it wasn't Skye, bored and looking for company. He wouldn't mind, but it was their first weekend off and he'd been hoping to relax and not 'babysit' the rookie.
He checked the peep hole and stood back in surprise. He wasn't easily surprised, so it took him a moment to compose himself before he opened the door.
"Hi," Steve said with that lazy smile of his. Beside him, Bruce grinned.
"Hello," Phil replied, looking from one to the other, wondering what they were doing there.
Steve rocked on his heels as Bruce murmured a 'Hi'. "Uh, are you going to invite us in?"
"Yes, of course," Phil said standing back. The two men stepped past into his small apartment. Bruce instantly looked wary, adjusting to the enclosed space.
Phil closed the door, turning to find them both staring. He was at a loss if he was honest. He hadn't had anything to do with the Avengers since -.
"Pardon me if this sounds rude," He said with a questioning gaze. "But what are you doing here?"
"We heard you were back from Tahiti," Bruce said, relaxing again and giving him a smile. "Well, it took a while for the news to reach us-."
"We've been travelling," Steve interrupted, taking a sweeping look of his apartment. "But as soon as we heard, we headed home."
"That's a lot of 'we's'," Phil said, motioning with his hand for the them to move further into the room. "Have a seat, can I get you a drink?"
"I'm good," Bruce shook his head.
"I'll take a beer," Steve said, eyeing Phil's half drunk bottle.
The apartment was open plan and Phil grabbed a beer from the fridge, looking at them from the kitchen island as he popped the lid.
"You travelled all the way here to say hi?" Phil asked. Neither man replied and he headed over to them, holding out the bottle. "After New York you took to the road?"
"I needed to work on some issues," Bruce said blithely. Even Phil cracked a smile. Steve took the beer and looked smug.
"I wanted to get away," Steve said as Phil sat down. "Taking orders all the time, I needed the break."
"Sounds like a good plan," Phil nodded. "A good time."
"Not as good as Tahiti," Bruce said, leaning forward, elbows on knees.
"It's beautiful there, shame to leave," Phil nodded. "But duty calls, I had work to do."
"Sounds like a hell of a team your putting together Phil," Steve said.
"Why are you here?" Phil asked again, they were dodging the question and it was getting tiresome.
Steve smiled, digging into the inside pocket of the leather bomber jacket he wore. "I wanted to return these."
He held out his hand. Phil grinned, taking the cards from him, "I thought Fury had these."
"He gave them to me, after New York," Steve informed him. "I kept them and when I heard you were still alive, it didn't feel right to keep them."
Phil looked through them, pleased to have them back. Each one was marked with a signature. "You signed them all."
"You asked me too," Steve laughed.
Phil placed them down on the table and looked at them keenly. "Why are you here?" He knew he sounded like a broken record, but it made no sense. Why make the effort, just for him? Not that it wasn't flattering, but still, no sense whatsoever in his mind.
"You know why," Bruce informed him. "We already told you."
"You came here to return some cards you could have sent through the post," Phil asked wryly.
"No, we came back because of you," Bruce corrected firmly.
"Because we heard you were still alive," Steve added in, looking at him with a knowing smile that unnerved Phil even further. There was a lot of unspoken implications in their answers.
"Sounds like you two are doing okay on your own," Phil pointed out. He glanced from one to the other, he could see and sense their connection, which them having to spell it out to him. He couldn't help adding, somewhat blithely, "Together."
"And just like that, the man is in denial," Bruce said, looking at Steve knowingly. Like they knew how he'd react. Phil sat up straighter, pursing his mouth.
"Or jealous," Steve said, giving Bruce a thoughful nod.
"Thank you for returning these," Phil interupted any further talk of implying nature. Had they come to rub it in his face? They'd went on to save New York, save the world. They'd went on to fashion a future together, he wasn't part of their world anymore. "I appreciate it. I'd ask you to stay-."
"Well I do have to finish my beer," Steve sighed, sitting back as he took a long draw from the bottle.
"And we have a lot to catch up on," Bruce said with a nod.
Phil pondered on the etiquette of asking two superheroes to leave without offending one and risking the anger of the other.
"Does Fury know you're back?" Phil asked, mentally working on that particular scenario.
"No," Bruce replied. "Or if he does, he hasn't contacted us. Least, well, I haven't had any visits from Natasha recently."
"Did he really think she'd have been able to contain you?" Steve grinned, the beer was relaxing him.
"Entertaining thought isn't it," Bruce chuckled.
Phil ignored how his heart clenched just a tiny bit when they looked at one another. He could see how the joke wasn't an old one, how they'd probably spoken of it hundreds of times on their travels and found it equally amusing each and every time. Jealous didn't really sum it up, in fact he felt removed, not part of them. He'd had Tahiti but he'd missed out on so much more. He wasn't part of their team any more. They were superheroes in every sense of the word and he was just Agent Phil Coulson, running a team of special agents who, while cohesive and determined to get the job done, didn't compare to the mass scale these men fought and defended on. Once he'd been part of their world, had dipped a toe on the periphery of their larger than life existences, but now he didn't even have that.
Phil quickly stood, cards tight in his hand. He caught the startled glance of Bruce and chided himself, he knew Bruce could handle himself, but Phil was still wary of the beast within, especially inside such a confined space as his home. He'd never openly say it, he respected the man too much to make blithe, throwaway comments about 'him'. Bruce probably fared well on the open road, travelling, moving, never stuck in the same place for any long length of time. Steve would be a good companion for him, solid, calm, exploring and discovering the new world he found himself part of.
"I'm sorry I um," Phil said, motioning towards the door. "I've had a long couple of months putting the new team together, this is the first weekend we've had to ourselves."
Steve had rested a calming hand on Bruce's knee and Bruce sat back on the sofa, not making a move as Steve stood up, setting his bottle on the table as he did so.
"So you have a few days," Steve said, moving around the table. Phil took a wary step back, unsure of Steve's actions and still struggling to figure out a way to remove Captain America from his apartment without serious damage to himself.
"Yes, to myself," Phil agreed. It was rare he lost composure, but Steve advancing on him the way he was had him flustered.
"Good, because we have a lot to catch up on," Steve said, reaching out and grabbing his arm gently. He pulled him forward, glancing behind him with a small nod of his head. "Careful."
Phil glanced around to see he'd backed himself near the kitchen island, the low hung light about to crack his skull. Still, now he found himself too close to Steve's broad shoulders and chest.
"I don't mean to be rude," Phil said, aware Steve's hand still clutched onto his arm firmly. "But-."
Steve's other hand lifted up and cupped his face, any further protest he had died on his lips. Phil found he was completely out of his depth now and his usual self control was spinning. He had no idea how to react save for mentally plead for the insanity to end.
"When Fury told us you had died," Steve said, a whisper just between the two of them. "That was what brought us all together. You. I've had regrets in my life, but the biggest was not being able to tell you how I felt-."
"I appreciate that," Phil said, wanting to pull away but frozen to the spot. "But you could have just called."
"You never treated me with anything but respect for my work," Bruce said from behind them. "When everyone else was tip toeing around me, you remembered who I was first and foremost, a scientist, not someone to be feared. You came and sat with me, had a coffee and talked about my work. You never referred to him."
"You watched over me as I slept," Steve smiled, thumb stroking over his cheek.
"Again, you could have just called," Phil pointed out.
"When we started travelling together, we talked about how you were the catalyst, the bond between everyone, all of us," Bruce had approached them now and stood beside Steve, putting an arm around his waist.
"That made you part of us," Steve continued. "It also led to more serious confessions-."
"After a few beers," Bruce smiled.
"And lots of tequila," Steve reminded him.
"He had the tequila," Bruce bantered, giving Phil a smile. "I have to watch what I drink. One too many and there's another bar ground to dust. The big guy doesn't handle alcohol all that well."
"This is getting very uncomfortable," Phil said as Steve's hand drifted from his cheek to his neck, fingers stroking his ear.
"Me and Steve, there was something there from the very start," Bruce said, giving Steve a look that made Phil swallow down hard. It had been a long time since anyway had looked at him that way and it did rear some jealousy up within him, he had to admit. "And as we've explored and examined our relationship-."
"He makes it sound like a scientific experiment, it really isn't," Steve laughed softly, eyes dancing.
"We realised we both had had a moment with you too," Bruce continued, ignoring Steve. He looked at Phil closely, studying him. "You going to deny that?"
"No," Phil said, suddenly feeling confused and vulnerable. "I mean yes."
He stepped back, colliding with the kitchen island. Steve followed, reaching around, hands sliding through his hair and Phil felt and heard the dull thud as Steve's hand stopped his head hitting the lamp.
"Careful," Steve chided gently again.
"I think you should leave," Phil stammered.
"I told you this would be awkward," Bruce said behind Steve.
"Nobody said it would be easy," Steve replied, stepping closer. Phil had nowhere to move or look as Steve pressed close, chest to chest, his larger frame dwarfing Phil's own. "But I didn't come all this way to leave without at least finding out one thing."
"What's that?" Phil asked. He should have been afraid and intimiated, Captain America had him trapped and there was no way his strength would be able to move the man. But he also knew if he pushed him away, Steve would step aside, he was honourable and had integrity, something Phil loved about him most of all.
Steve palmed the back of his head, pulling him closer as he moved in. Phil was surprised as Steve's mouth covered his, gentle and careful. For a moment the world stopped spinning, Phil leaned against the kitchen island just to brace himself. He had two options as Steve began to pull back, lips beginning to disconnect. Leave it at that, let them all get on with their lives. He knew neither man would ever pressure or press him for more, despite their feelings. And how much easier it would be to go their seperate ways, them on the road, him with his team. Or he could take a chance.
Snaking a hand between them he wrapped a hand into Steve's shirt, holding him steady and jerking him forward as he pulled away, wanting more. Phil had always lived his life by the book, followed every rule, worked hard to get where he was in life. Sometimes he even took chances, knowing the outcome could be good or bad, he'd never know unless he tried. Here were two people, not just one, but two, putting trust into him enough to show him this side of themselves. Didn't they deserve the same trust in return?
Steve kissed him deeper the second time, mouth working his lips open, hands framing his face, solid body pressing up against him. Instead of intimidating it made him feel safe. For once he let go of his defences and control, he let himself float in the moment.
"Uh, guys," Bruce interrupted from behind them, feeling left out.
Steve pulled back slowly, stealing small kisses from his lips as he did so with the air of a man who'd gotten what he'd always wanted plus extras. He gave a smile and glanced around, Bruce stood a little to the side, smile dimpling his cheeks.
"Still want us to leave?" Bruce asked, looking at Phil. Phil licked over his lower lip, which tingled from Steve's touch.
"Well, I guess it was rude to ask seeing as you've only just arrived," Phil admitted.
~fin~