CHAPTER TWO: Just us, together, laughing
Coulson turned down the radio as he put the car in park. He doubted that his music would be audible from outside his car, but it was still a residential area, and it was also late at night, so he felt compelled to lessen the volume anyway.
Turning to his left, he looked to the small, one-story house he was meant to be watching. The lights were on inside and the curtains were only half drawn, but Miss Nathan was nowhere in sight. Perhaps she had gone to bed and forgotten to turn off the lights in the main living area. The bedroom (at least, he assumed it was the bedroom) window was covered and dark.
Coulson pulled a granola bar from his pocket and opened it. Retrieving a small set of infrared binoculars, he started scanning the surrounding area. He brought the granola bar up to his mouth and took a bite as he searched for anyone in the darkness. The area seemed clean. He put the binoculars down into his cup-holder and leaned back in his seat.
Now, everyone's favorite part of a stakeout: the waiting.
He looked at his clock once again. He didn't know why he continued to do that, the result was always disappointing. According to the clock, he had been there for five hours now. He shifted in his seat again to keep his legs from falling asleep.
Miss Nathan had come out of her room sometime after two, to Coulson's surprise, and had moved to the couch, where she had been quietly watching television ever since. So far, Marcus Daniels had not made an appearance. Coulson wasn't sure if this should be seen as good or bad news. For the sake of the woman dimly lit by the television screen, Coulson was glad that the stalker had not come to bother her tonight. But, Coulson was also charged with the duty of bringing Mr. Daniels in for observation and evaluation, so the fact that the man still hadn't shown up was something of a setback to the current objective.
And so, he waited.
This was the second night of the watch, and Khan had seemed both surprised and relieved when Coulson, his superior, had offered to take his stakeout duty for the night. He could tell that the rookie agent wanted to question his motives, but a blank stare from Coulson had effectively squelched that curiosity (or at least its voice).
And truth be told, Coulson wasn't totally sure what his motives were either. He didn't understand why he would volunteer to fulfill a lower agent's duties when he could be sleeping peacefully in his motel room right now. But here he was, camping outside a stranger's house, keeping his eyes peeled for a man who had eluded him at every turn so far. Coulson sighed and shook his head. What was this? Why did he have such an interest in this random woman?
Coulson sighed and leaned deeper into his seat, pinching his eyes tightly shut as he messaged his forehead. When he opened his eyes again, he glanced over at the window. Miss Nathan was sitting quietly on her couch, just as she had been for he past forty-five minutes, the glow from the television screen flickering across her face. Because of the soft lighting in the house, added to the distance, Coulson couldn't be sure, but he thought she might be looking at him through the window at that moment.
His guess was confirmed when he saw her raise her hand and give him a gentle wave. Suddenly feeling like a peeping tom, Coulson was glad she couldn't see his face flush as he too lifted his hand to return the tiny wave.
He saw her get up after that, and he assumed it was to close the curtains and give herself some privacy. Instead, she disappeared out of sight.
A few moments later, she returned. This time, she walked straight up to the window and stood in front of it, holding a phone in one hand and a small business card in the other. She dialed a number and then held the phone to her ear, looking out the window to watch him.
Surprised and amused, Coulson smirked as his cell phone started to ring.
"Hello?" he answered.
"When you said you would be sending a man to watch out for me, you never mentioned that the man would be you," she observed in lieu of a formal greeting.
Coulson breathed out a little laugh and gave an equally small shrug. "It's sort of a rotation thing."
"And you drew the short straw because you had to go first?"
"No, Khan was actually here last night while your sister was over so, I'm technically the second shift."
"Oh," she said in surprise. "I don't think I noticed him out there then."
"Well, that's generally the goal. So I guess he did his job well."
"So what does it say about you that I caught you?" she teased, hugging an arm around her chest while she leaned to sit on the back of her couch.
Coulson smirked at the jab. "Probably that I'm out of practice. Haven't really been on a stakeout in a long time."
"But you're back at it for tonight, so...should I feel honored or guilty?"
"Honestly, maybe a little of both."
He heard her laugh over the phone and it made something in his own smile brighten a little bit.
"Well, it should be said that I am truly grateful. Your sleepless nights won't go unappreciated. I feel safer already just knowing you're out there." She smiled, a little sheepishly. Then, suddenly remembering something, she quickly added, "You can pass my thanks on to Agent Khan, also."
"I will. And..." Coulson glanced at the clock in his car, "speaking of sleepless nights, I have to say, I'm a little surprised to see you up at three o'clock in the morning."
She sighed on the other end of the line. "Yeah, I was asleep, but...I haven't been sleeping very well lately. With everything that's going on..." She looked at him, seeming almost ashamed of her own confession. She saw him nod at her gently from the car. "I hate it that he is able to get under my skin that much. Makes me feel like I'm under his control somehow." She didn't know why she was discussing something so personal with a total stranger, but once again, there was something about this man that seemed utterly trustworthy.
Again, Coulson nodded understandingly. He knew what that felt like. "It'll pass," he reassured. "You're stronger than you think."
His voice was so gentle, and yet so sure. It caused goose bumps to sprout up her arms and Audrey found herself rather grateful for the distance between them so that he couldn't notice. She had never had that kind of reaction to a man's voice before, especially not in just a normal discussion over the phone. But Agent Coulson was so soft spoken, and his words were oddly breathy...there was just something about his voice that made him sound as kind as his eyes made him look.
She drew herself out of her reverie and almost had to keep from laughing at the strangeness of it. What was it about this man? She never thought about total strangers like that.
"I, uhh..." she began, realizing she needed to start saying something so that her mind would quit wandering. "I was just about to make a midnight snack. Can I get you anything?"
Coulson shook his head promptly. "No thank you. I brought some food with me."
"Let me guess: donuts and coffee? That's always the stakeout food in movies."
Coulson looked over to the passenger seat at the package of mini donuts and granola bars, several of the wrappers already opened and discarded. He grimaced slightly as he looked back to the lady at the window. "Well, it's not only donuts." He could practically see her roll her eyes.
"Please tell me you have something in there that isn't processed."
Coulson looked around himself again and triumphantly held up a small plastic bag of grapes.
Audrey squinted out the window. "What is that?"
Coulson turned the package and looked at it. "They're grapes," he said, somewhat defensively. He heard her exasperated sigh huff over the phone.
"I'm making you a sandwich," she declared.
"That really won't be nes-"
She started cutting him off with a series of nondescript noises, pulling the phone away from her ear and speaking hurriedly to it, "Nope, too late! I'mdoingitanyway! Youcantstopme!" She hung up the phone before the man on the other end could respond.
She missed the sound of Coulson's laughter as he too lowered his phone away from his ear. He sat back in his seat and tried to shake his head at her through the window, but she wasn't looking anymore, already heading to her kitchen.
Coulson chuckled and slowly dropped his gaze, taking in his surroundings with a fresh eye.
What a mess.
Unbuckling, he quickly bent over the center console to grab the empty packages and wrappers that had fallen onto the floor on the passenger's side. After a few seconds of gathering, Coulson had two fistfuls of trash, unsure of what to do with them. He looked around the car for a suitable place to hide the mess, finally noticing the glove compartment. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure Miss Nathan wasn't watching, and then he opened the compartment and crammed both handfuls inside. When he was done, he looked around for anything else that was amiss.
He resisted the urge to open the mirror in his visor and check his appearance, but that didn't stop him from combing a few hasty fingers through his hair. After straightening his tie and dusting off some crumbs from his pants, it was probably the best he was going to be able to look, especially with no sleep.
He fiddled around with a few other things here and there, checking his surroundings again with the binoculars. After just a few minutes, he saw her coming out of the house, carefully carrying two plates in her hands. She wore a set of pink and white pajamas, accented by a gray cardigan and a pair of practical tennis shoes (which seemed to be hastily added to the ensemble as an afterthought). It was hard for Coulson to keep his smile contained.
Luckily, she did the smiling for him and she sneaked up to the car. Coulson rolled down his window.
"It just occurred to me," she said, coming up to the window and bending down to talk through it in hushed tones. "I'm basically blowing your cover right now, aren't I?"
"In a nutshell, yeah."
She offered a weak smile and a hike of the shoulders. "Sorry."
"I'll take your remorse into consideration," he said, trying to sound stern but also conscious to not make it sound too believable.
"Well, I do come bearing gifts," she lifted the sandwiches into view. "Does that help?"
Coulson couldn't keep his face from breaking into the soft smile. He was usually better at restraining that kind of thing, but for whatever reason, he found himself wanting to not be restrained around her. That was odd to him, but also fascinating at the same time. Coulson reached a hand up to press the unlock button on his door. "Get in," he said, by way of answer.
Audrey gave a little celebratory twitch and then handed him one of the plates through his window. As she walked around to the other side of the car, Coulson looked down to examine his new dinner/breakfast.
She climbed into the seat next to him and closed the door with a loud clank. Coulson was caught off guard by the silence of the car as soon as she entered and had settled into her seat. The air felt heavier and closer to his skin than it had been before. They both stared out the windshield before each casting a sideways glance at the same time. They smiled shyly.
Coulson looked down at his sandwich.
"It's just ham, cheese, spinach, and a little bit of tomato," Audrey explained. "I didn't know what kind of condiments you liked, so I just left them off."
"This is perfect," he assured her. "Although, you didn't have to do it."
With a simple pffft and a wave of the hand, she dismissed his courtesy. "Don't even worry about it. You can consider this my thank-you for everything you're doing."
"But you've already told me thank you."
"Well, now I'm showing you. So just shut up and eat."
Coulson chuckled and picked up the sandwich. He passed one more questioning glance over to the woman beside him, and just smirked when she moved her own sandwich in his direction and said, "Cheers." They tapped their sandwiches together and then started eating.
The cabin of the car soon filled with the contented sounds of chewing as they both let their gazes wander aimlessly around their dark surroundings.
"You have no idea what a relief it was to look out the window and see you parked out here," she observed after a considerable silence. "I kept being afraid to look. After a while...I just kind of stopped looking out my front window...afraid it would be him."
Coulson looked over at her in concern. But she didn't meet his gaze, just kept staring out the window.
"And it'd be one thing if it only affected me. But it doesn't. My neighbor said that he scared her kids the other day, that they didn't feel safe playing in the yard when he was out there."
Coulson scowled. "When was this?"
"Three days ago now. Or four, I guess, technically," she amended, gesturing to the clock. "And that's not right, you know? It's not just that he's harassing me, it's gone beyond that now. Now my whole neighborhood feels uneasy, with the blackouts and the stalking...it's just uncomfortable."
"Blackouts?"
She turned and looked at him blankly for a few seconds. "Yes, blackouts," she exclaimed, slapping a hand to her forehead. "How could I forget to mention the blackouts? I'm sorry. I guess I was just a little...distracted when you came over the other night."
He quirked an eyebrow. Distracted? As in, distracted by him? Was that too presumptuous for him to assume? He wasn't sure if that's what she meant, but there was a small part of him that hoped that's what she meant. It felt funny to take that as a compliment, but that didn't stop him from wanting to anyway.
She seemed to notice her ambiguous wording, and also the way he was apparently interpreting it, so she quickly moved to correct it. "I just mean, I don't often have many government officials showing up at my door at ten o'clock at night."
He smirked and softly shook his head as he said, "Not gonna lie, I'm glad that's the case."
She laughed and Coulson's smirk became a smile. He quickly looked down and took another bite of his sandwich.
Audrey smiled at him when she noticed his slightly shy response. She watched him in amusement as she followed suit and also took a bite. When he looked back up at her, she let their eyes clash without quickly looking away.
"Yes," she continued quietly. "After he told me I was his 'light in the darkness', he started cutting the power to my house, then to my whole block. I think he was trying to send a message of some kind. That's when I realized I couldn't stay here any longer and I went to be with my sister in Eugene for a few days."
Coulson frowned in thought, grateful to be back in business mode. "And you're sure it was him? Cutting the power, I mean. Did you ever see him do it?"
She sighed and dropped her eyes to her lap. "That's the same thing the police asked," she said, disheartened. Her next words were rushed and defensive. "No. I didn't see him do it. I can't prove it was him. He was always right in front of me when he did it, but...it always felt like it was him. And I can't explain what I mean by that."
Coulson shook his head as he saw her start to get upset. He didn't like the idea of her equating him with a bunch of unhelpful cops who all thought she was crazy. It was suddenly very important to him that she think differently of him. "Hey," he said, reaching a hand towards her, but letting it fall short and land on the gearshift instead. "You don't have to explain it," he said comfortingly. "I believe you, Miss Nathan."
She looked back to him with a certain look of wonder in her eyes. "You do?"
He nodded. Lifting one shoulder slightly, that nod turned into a marveling shake of the head as he observed, "You're a smart woman, perceptive, clearly not crazy. I have no reason to think you'd be making this up. I trust that what you're saying must be true. I don't know how; I don't even know why. But if you say this man's been stalking you and cutting off your power, then until I see evidence to demonstrate the contrary, I'd be a fool not to believe you."
"Wow," she said after a moment of awe. "That's...That's very refreshing to hear. Thank you. Most cops have just written me off since I can't prove anything. Like my word alone doesn't count for anything."
"Well," he said, looking into her eyes. "I'm not a cop."
Silence overtook the car after that, and they both eventually turned their attention back to finishing their sandwiches. Coulson's eyes landed on the clock, the soft green bars forming 3:26 in block numbers. "Not that I don't appreciate the company," he began, "But perhaps you should revisit the whole sleeping thing. It's pretty late." He nodded to the clock for emphasis, noticing her subtle groan when she read the time.
"You're right. I have a thing I have to be at in five hours. And as much as I'd like to sleep through it, I don't think my colleague would appreciate that." She looked at him with apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry."
He snorted. "It's fine."
"It doesn't seem fair that I get to go inside and sleep and you have to just sit here awake all night."
"It is fair, Miss Nathan, believe me." He lifted the empty plate off of his lap and held it out to her. "Remember, I'm the one who actually signed up for this."
With a conceding shrug of the shoulder, she took the plate and set it atop her own. "Okay well, thank you again, I guess." She opened the door, causing the light in the cabin to come on and illuminate her face more fully. He could see the tired bags forming under her eyes, and Coulson was silently grateful that she was agreeing to get some sleep.
After another moment's hesitation, she finally drew herself out of the car. Bending over to look at him once more through the open door. "I guess this is goodnight then. Or, good morning?"
He smiled at her and gave a small nod. "Goodnight, Miss Nathan. Pleasant dreams."
She returned the smile brilliantly. And with that, she closed the door.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed chapter 2! If you did, leave a comment down below and let me know your favorite parts. As always, I love hearing from you guys. Your comments mean the world to me. :)
Canon Inspiration for this chapter:
"I begged him to leave me alone. He just stood there, saying I was his 'light.' I didn't understand what he meant until he started blacking out my entire block." - Audrey Nathan, S1E19
