I don't own Agents of SHIELD and never will. No copyright infringement intended.
Going undercover as a married couple with the man she loves (who doesn't know how she feels) is one of the worst decisions Melinda May ever made and now she has to live with the consequences. Dancing with him is bringing up emotions she tries to tamper down every day of her life. And to top it off, she's pretty sure the alien artifact they're after has affected both of them badly because she's just kicked some ass she didn't mean to and Phil swears she went after him. And the problem? Melinda can't remember if she actually did in fact so he may be right. "Phil, just calm down, please. I'm sure there's an explanation for this," she pleads nervously. She can't afford for him to go off on his own and have another episode. That's the last thing they need.
He's panicking and knows he's acting irrationally but Phil can't help it. "Just stay away from me, May."
She puts her hands up in surrender, suddenly terrified about how this is going to end. "I will, Phil, but please calm down. Nobody's trying to hurt you," Melinda soothes. She hopes it's working because she doesn't want to do this in front of an audience. But she will knock him out and rush him back to the Playground if she has to. The others will most likely find out what they've been trying to hide for a year but they'll handle it as a family, which is what they should have done in the first place.
"Where are we?" Phil can't remember what they're doing or why they have matching wedding rings on their fingers. Were they undercover?
"We're enjoying a night out like we planned." Their cover probably's blown but Melinda has to keep it up anyway so they can get out of here safely.
It clicks into place for him even though he still can't remember what exactly is going on. "You were helping me?" He's so confused.
She nods. "I was helping you, Phil. Come on, we should get you home because you're not clearly not feeling well." She rushes over to him and puts a hand on the small of Phil's back to lead them out of the restaurant. Fortunately for them, everyone is so terrified of Melinda they just let them go and she's grateful to them for it (something she'll never admit out loud).
Phil's head starts clearing once they leave. "We need to get that artifact as soon as possible don't we?" he questions about five minutes later.
"Yes, we do but we can wait a little while for that. I'm more worried about you right now. Do you feel like you're about to have another episode?" Melinda bites her lip as she awaits the answer.
He shakes his head. "I feel a lot better now, nothing like I do when I'm about to have one of my episodes. What the fuck happened back there, Melinda?"
"Don't ask me because my memory of our time in that place is basically shot." She doesn't say anything when he wraps an arm around her shoulder and just smiles as they make their way back to the hotel they've chosen to stay during this mission. Melinda's still pissed he's out in the field again but they're too far in to back out now. As soon as the door unlocks, she heads to the bathroom to take off the dress (she's worn some uncomfortable dresses over the years but this one takes the cake) and change into something she loves.
Phil's waiting on the bed once she comes out. "You looked beautiful tonight, Melinda."
She rolls her eyes. "Don't do that, Phil."
He tries to look innocent. "Do what?"
"Compliment me. I'm not falling for it." They both need to have sex to let off some steam but that's not happening tonight.
"Melinda." He has no idea what's going on with her and that worries Phil. He can still read her like a book but he misses the old her, the woman who used to enjoy playing pranks, sometimes. And that just makes him feel guilty.
"Philip, let's just go to sleep and forget about tonight. Got it?" Melinda somehow knows where this conversation is heading and she refuses to let that happen. It can't.
He bites his lip and looks at her. "Please tell me what's bothering you. I'm sure you'll feel better afterwards, and hey, no judgment here. You know that."
She feels herself cracking and tries to halt the flow of tears that want to escape but it's no use. "I fucking love you, you idiot, and I'm so worried about you!" Damn it, what is wrong with her tonight? It must be that alien artifact again (she hopes).
Phil's not shocked at all – he figured out how she felt a long time ago and was just waiting for Melinda to catch up to it. "Wow, what a romantic love confession. I love you too, by the way."
Melinda gapes at him. "You love me?" How can he feel the same way about her? He's in love with Audrey. "What about Audrey?"
He sighs. "We're over, Melinda, and she's moved on. You, on the other hand, are the love of my life, and I want to spend the rest of our lives making up for lost time."
And then the tears start falling down her face. "Fuck, it's true. You actually love me."
Phil pats the bed and she sits down next to him. "Yes, it's true, and please don't ever doubt my feelings for you. Melinda, you're the only person I trust anymore and it hurts but I need you in my life, by my side. I'm scared shitless about what's happening to me but I feel better when you're next to me."
Melinda chokes on some more sobs but laughs when he makes a face and then kisses her. "No sex tonight, Phil, I'm tired."
He chuckles. "No arguments here – we'll make up for it later – but let's dance. Try to erase the disaster that we were in the middle of."
"There's no music," she points out before he takes out the iPod Skye gave him for his birthday and turns it on. Fleetwood Mac – one of her favorite songs by them – starts playing and Melinda grins as he takes her hand and pulls her up from the bed.
Phil and Melinda start swaying around the room and temporarily forget about all of their problems, including Hydra. Everything is raining down on them at once but none of that matters at the moment. All that matters is that they have each other.