Buffy smiled as Phil Coulson slid into the booth across from her. They'd done the diner thing so many times over the years, that any diner could be their place. Well, if he wasn't so caught up playing with superhero types that he had to reschedule.
She examined him through the fan of her lashes. He looked more or less the same, but she could see it. There was a hollowness in him. Coming back from the dead sucked.
"It's good to see you, Phil." She slid her hand across the table, and he grabbed it. The quick jolt of electricity had them both smiling. He squeezed her hand with his long, elegant fingers. He wasn't strong enough to hurt her, and he wasn't trying to harm her, but she ached from the contact. It had been too damn long.
"You know?" His eyes dropped to her assortment of plates. She blushed a bit. Slayer metabolism was such a pain in the ass.
"Fury told me." She snorted. "He has a few new scars. One of them's a beauty. I told him the only reason he walked away was his questionable humanity."
"He needs me." Phil shrugged. "We've patched up our differences. He almost apologized."
"At least, he feels bad about it." Buffy shrugged. "Most save the world types don't. Their ideals put a nice rosy glow on any damn thing they do."
"Yes, pragmatism does have its drawbacks." Phil sighed, his frustration clear in the set of his shoulders. "Why did he tell you?"
"It sure wasn't any urge to beg for forgiveness. He knew the score. Magic trumps science, my friend." Buffy smiled as his eyes came back to hers, blue like the deep sea. "I would have found you one way or another. He knew it. I think he wanted me to know. I think he wanted me to hold your hand and tell you it will all be okay."
"So?" Phil's lips curled up in a knowing smile.
"I won't lie to you, Phil." Buffy clenched her eyes shut and fought down the wave of nausea that always came from discussions like these. "I promised that when you dug me out of that bottle in Thailand."
"Are you still working independently?" Phil shifted the conversation for her. He always did things like that, always cared for her comfort.
"Yep." She signaled the waitress and looked down at their joined hands. "The Council comes after me every couple of years. Giles came last time. He was all sweet and reminding me about the good old days. It didn't stop him from trying the mojo to sedate me. He went home with some new scars, too."
"I'm sure he deserved more." Phil squeezed her hand. It was just a casual thing between them, a moment of understanding.
"I can't hurt him too much. Dawn loves him." Buffy sighed. "She's happy and safe with them. I envy her ability to forgive and forget."
"You've never told her the whole of it." Phil traced his fingertips along the veins at her wrist.
"She needs stability." Buffy sighed. "It's not my milieu. I need to move. I need to fight. She wouldn't understand my life. I'm not the girl that wanted a normal life anymore."
"Want to come help me out? I can guarantee a few good fights." Phil tilted his head and pointed to her nearly empty plates and signaled that he wanted the same. The woman scrambled away from them. She had good survival instincts.
"I'm no S.H.I.E.L.D. agent." Buffy traced her finger along his pulse. It picked up as she focused on it. "Plus, your little organization has gone the way of the dodo."
"I don't need an agent. I need a friend at my back, someone I can trust hell or high water. There's a girl I need to protect and a couple of scientists. They are good kids." His eyes took on that fire to which she always responded. She was fucked, but he was going to have to work for it.
"Your team has to be larger than that." Buffy popped a piece of toast in her mouth. "Or the job is more dire than you are letting on."
"A little of both, really." He smirked. "I never get one by you. May is with me."
"Oh, fun. Do you need me to hurt her again?" Buffy blinked rapidly and tossed Phil a coy look. "I don't play well with others, but she just pisses me off."
"She only has nice things to say about you. I have a specialist as well, but you wouldn't know him." Phil smiled up at their waitress as she set out his plates. "Thank you, Wanda."
The waitress blushed and mumbled something as she backed away.
"You're still good at ignoring me when you want to be." Buffy grabbed his fruit salad and glared at him. He squeezed her hand and held tight. She picked at her pilfered fruit with her free hand.
"I have never ignored you." He watched her lick the juice from her fingers. "I doubt any sane man does."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm dangerous." She made a face. "Phil, I'm not in my twenties anymore despite the oh so special gifts that being pulled out of heaven bestowed. Hey, will you age?"
"I have no idea. The serum they used to pull me back is basically untested." He grimaced at his plate. "I had to use it on Skye as well. We could be as immortal as you are."
Buffy snagged a piece of bacon from his plate and chewed it slowly. Phil Coulson was one of the few people she trusted. He'd always been all work and no play, fully dedicated to his cause, but things had changed. S.H.I.E.L.D. was history. If he wanted help saving his team, she'd lend a hand, but she had to make one thing perfectly clear.
"If I join up with your little troop, I do as I see fit unless you convince me differently. You can't try to collect my contacts for some demon zoo or anything like that. We're equals." She looked at him, locking their gazes. "And if we wind up in bed after one too damn many, you'd better be there in the morning."