Darcy walked into the S.H.I.E.L.D the next morning with a cup of Starbucks and a big yawn. Last night when she got home, she stayed up for a couple more hours reading up on the mission. She wanted her first big undercover assignment to go without a hitch, and more importantly, she wanted to prove to Coulson that she was a valuable agent to organization. Darcy knew a lot of people within S.H.I.E.L.D talked about her, and not in a good way. This was her chance to show them all that she really belonged here. "Morning," she said with a nod to the agent next to her workstation.

The agent simply nodded and then went back to his computer. Darcy sighed and sat down. She took a sip of her latte and flipped open her file. She already knew pretty much everything there was to know about Darcy Coulson, the trick would be remembering it all. She tapped her pen on her desk as she read through the actual case that they were investigating. Something weird was happening in that town and it was up to her and Coulson to figure out what it was. Weird lights; strange noises; missing people - Definitely aliens ... or monsters ... maybe a hoax? There were lots of possibilities. Darcy rubbed her hands vigorously over her shoulders; not because she was cold but because she was extremely nervous. She just hoped that she'd be able to keep her cover and not blow the entire mission. It was going to be hard. Also pretending to be married was not going to be easy either. Especially not to Agent Coulson. He was so by the book and never cracked a smile, except for maybe a smirk once in a while. Clint swore that Coulson wasn't so straitlaced. He would know because Coulson used to be his handler and they spent a lot of time out in the field together. However, Darcy had a hard time believing that Coulson could be humorous.

"Darcy?" Clint said as he peeked over her cubicle.

"Clint! I thought you were leaving today?" Darcy said as she snapped out of her thoughts and smiled up at her friend.

"Leaving in an hour. Just wanted to wish you luck on your mission," he said. He walked over and sat down in a vacant chair next to her desk. He smiled at her, noticing how tired and weary she was. She looked nervous as hell. "Darcy, you're going to do fine." he tried to reassure her.

"I feel like I could vomit," she said putting her head down on her desk. "I really wish it was you and me on this mission."

"No, you don't." He laughed running his hand through her hair. "Trust me, you couldn't be with a better agent on your first mission. Coulson's a badass mofo. If you guys get into some sort of trouble, he'll be able to pull you out. But I can almost guarantee a hundred percent that it'll be smooth sailing with him leading. Just stick to your cover story and you'll do great."

"Easier said that done. Pretending to be married is going to be really difficult, especially to him," Darcy smirked. Butterflies were fluttering around in her stomach again. "Oh my god. Do you think I'm going to have to like-"

"Fuck him? Doubt it."

Darcy snorted. "No, I should hope not. What about kissing and hand holding all that lovey-dovey stuff?" The thought of having to act all that out with Agent Coulson sent her brain reeling with fear. Darcy sucked at real relationships, how the hell was she supposed to succeed at a pretend one?

Clint picked up Darcy's latte and took a sip. "Oh, well, I doubt it. Maybe hand holding, I mean you two are supposed to be married, so you'll have to act like it when you're in the public eye. Unless in your cover bio it says that you're not that type of couple. What did it say?"

Darcy shook her head. "Deeply in love."

"Oh, yeah, you'll have to fuck him." Clint smirked at Darcy as she shot him a glare. "Just joking. If any of those situations do come up just pretend you're an actor. Which essentially is what you're doing. It's just acting, Darcy. And, I doubt Coulson will be cramming his tongue in your mouth-"

Darcy made a gagging noise at that mental image. "Eww. Seriously, Clint, you really need to think of how you word your sentences." He chuckled and stole another sip of her latte. "And you need to get your own coffee!" She added with smirk and balled her fist up pretending to threaten him.

Clint put his hands up in front of his face to 'block' her punch, and laughed. He glanced over at the time displayed on her computer. "Shit. It's show time," he said. He stood up and leaned down to kiss the top of Darcy's head. A lot of people thought they were in a relationship but they were just really good friends. In fact, they had never even talked about dating each other. They talked about sleeping together and fooling around all the time, but it was always in a joking sense. Clint and Darcy were undoubtably in love with each other, but not in a romantic way. "I'll try to text you if I get any downtime."

Darcy wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a squeeze. "You better. And you better stay safe," she said looking up at him. She had no idea what the nature of his mission was, other than it was a recon mission to Hong Kong. She just hoped that it wasn't too dangerous, not that Clint couldn't handle a dangerous mission. She just wanted him ... needed him back in one piece.

"I will, doll," he smiled. "Now, I better get going before Fury has a conniption. Later, Darce," he said with one last wave.

Darcy watched him walk out until he disappeared through the doors, then she turned back to her file. She picked up her drink, it felt empty. "Damn it, Clint." She said pulling off the lid and looked down into the empty cup. She chuckled to herself and shook her head. She wasn't mad at him but she was certainly going to get back at him as soon as she saw him again.

The rest of the day was quiet. Darcy managed to get a lot of work done as well as getting a report typed up for Agent Sitwell. When five 'o' clock rolled around she packed up her stuff and headed out the door. She was surprised that she didn't bump into Agent Coulson all day. He had been paged over the PA system three times during the course of the day, so she knew that he was there. She just thought he would have stopped by to see how her mission prep was going. Maybe he was just really busy doing agent stuff. She yawned and headed out to the parking lot. Tonight she'd have to get some good rest; tomorrow was going to be a big day.

It took Darcy a long time to fall asleep that night. Her mind was on overdrive thinking of the mission, Agent Coulson, Clint, reports that were piled up on her desk waiting for her when she got back ... There was just so much ... When she did finally fall asleep she woke up late.

Of course that would happen.

Darcy was supposed to meet Coulson at the S.H.I.E.L.D garage at 0800 hours sharp because they had to be on the road by nine. She looked at her watch as she sped into the S.H.I. garage. Fuck. It was already close to 8:30. Coulson was going to kill her; she just knew it. And there he was, leaning up against a red classic Corvette with arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Oh yeah, he was pissed.

"Shit," Darcy muttered to herself as she got out of her car and grabbed her duffle bag out of the back seat. She locked the door and handed her keys to agent who attended the garage. Quickly, she hurried over to Coulson. "I'm so-"

"You're late, Agent Lewis," he said taking his black sunglasses off and hanging them off the pocket of his shirt. He glanced back at the moving van behind him. Two agents dressed in moving men uniforms sat in the front seat with frowns on their faces. "You're holding us up," he said turning back to look at Darcy.

Darcy looked at the van and gave the guys an apologetic smile. They didn't return it. "So, I take it that's all our furniture and stuff?" Darcy said looking at van. She wondered what kind of stuff S.H.I.E.L.D picked out for them to furnish their house with. She hoped it was nice stuff and not crappy beat up stuff. Like pretty much all the stuff in her apartment.

"Yep," he said as he turned and grabbed a packet off the top of the Corvette. "These are all your documents - driver's license, birth certificate, teaching license, passport, etc ..." He handed it to her and she opened it up.

"Oh no ..." she said disapprovingly. "These look totally fake. Nobody's picture looks this good on a driver's license. Certainly not mine. I'm the most unphotogentic person in the world." She held up the license for Coulson to see.

"I doubt that," he said coolly as he reached into his pocket. "You'll need this also ..." he said as he pulled out three small objects holding them in the palm of his hand.

Rings.

"Oh ..." Darcy said as she looked down at his hand. Coulson picked up the plain gold band and put it on his finger and then picked up the diamond engagement ring and the wedding band. He grabbed Darcy's hand and slipped both of the rings on. Wow. The engagement ring was gorgeous. Darcy couldn't stop staring at it - White gold with a modest sized princess cut diamond in the center surrounded with little aquamarine stones. When the sunlight hit it just right; it made little light rays all over the hood of the car. "It's beautiful..."

"Glad you approve, Agent Lewis. Now we have to get on the road. It's a six and half hour drive, and we're already falling behind." Coulson said hurriedly as he opened the door to the Corvette and got inside.

"Wait ... We're taking this?" Darcy asked, looking at the flashy car and smirked. "S.H.I.E.L.D's giving us this? Man, I didn't even know they had cars like this! 1962 C1 Corvette, Signet Red... Gorgeous..." she said as she got in the car and shut the door gently.

Coulson's lip twitched. "Actually, this is my personal car." He put his sunglasses on made signal with his finger to have the moving van to start to head out.

Darcy's mouth dropped a little bit. "No fucking way..." she muttered under her breath. This was Coulson's car? His actual car? Like, he actually owned this? In real life? She tried to wrap her brain around it - she couldn't. She always imagined him to drive a black car with tinted windows. A total stuffy agent car, not a fucking hot Corvette.

Okay maybe his was a little more interesting that she first thought. She tried to suppress a smile as he pulled out of the garage and headed out onto the open road.

They drove in complete silence for the first three and half hours - three and a half very uncomfortable hours. Darcy didn't dare ask to turn on the radio, though she could really use with the distraction of the radio right now. If this was a S.H.I.E.L.D car, she would have turned it on without a second thought. This was his car though, and it was in pristine condition; it felt wrong even sitting in it. She glanced at Coulson out of the corner of her eye. He was leaning back comfortably with one hand on the wheel, the other draped over the outside door. This was also the first time she realized that he was in regular clothes and not a suit. Jeans and a white polo shirt; black shades over his eyes. He looked ... nice. Relaxed and comfortable. Darcy had worn a short floral sundress with black flip-flops; she had been informed to dress down this morning, so when they rolled into town that they'd look like a couple and not like government agents. She guessed they kinda looked like a couple.

She grabbed her purse off the floor and began to look through it for her hand lotion. She had her iPod in there, and debated whether or not it would be rude to put her earbuds in. Yeah, probably would be rude. She was about to pick up her hand lotion when an envelope tucked inside one of the pockets caught her eye. She pulled it out and opened it up.

'Congrats on your marriage!' - The card read. It had a little wedding cartoon couple on it hugging. Darcy rolled her eyes.

Clint.

She opened it up and something slid out and fell into her purse.

'Just in case *wink* *wink* - Love Clint.' The inside read.

In case of what? Darcy reached inside her purse and pulled out a square foil wrapper.

Holy shit!

A condom.

"What's that?" Coulson finally spoke after almost four hours of silence.

Darcy quickly dropped the condom back into her purse. "Nothing!" she said in a rushed breath. She was going to fucking kill Clint the next time she saw him. She dropped the card into her purse and looked at Coulson. "So are we almost there yet?" She changed the subject, hoping he wouldn't ask about it again.

"About two hours away," he said without taking his eyes off the road. "You hungry?"

Darcy had been starving and really had to pee about two hours into their journey, but had been to scared to say anything. She had been late this morning and didn't want to piss Coulson off anymore than she already had. "Starving," she said as they pulled into a burger joint.

Coulson turned off the engine and looked over at Darcy. "We're officially on assignment now, Agent Lewis. As soon as we step out of this car, we're husband and wife. You'll need to call me Phil," he took off his sunglasses and looked at her. His eyes felt like they were burning holes through her. "In fact, call me Phil until we're off assignment. I don't want you getting confused and slipping up by calling me Agent Coulson in front of civilians."

That was kinda harsh. But yeah, she might have actually done that.

"Okay," she said opening the car door up. The two undercover agents in the moving van pulled up beside them and jumped out. She watched as Coulson gave them just the slightest nod, and they headed inside to grab something to eat. Coulson gave her the 'don't fuck this up' look, and got out of the car. Darcy exhaled deeply and told herself over and over, she could do this. And they were just going inside to grab a burger, how was she going to feel once they got into town and had to start interacting with people on a daily basis?

Coulson held the door open for her and she walked inside the restaurant. "Thanks, Phil," she squeaked out. Man, it was really weird calling him by his first name.

"Of course, sweetheart," he said giving her a warm smile. A fucking real smile. He really could do it. He had really prefect pearly white teeth also.

"Oh my god, stop staring at his teeth. Who stares at teeth? Psychos and dentists, that's who." She thought to herself, giving him a little smile back.

They were really nice teeth though.

"Welcome to Burgers and Stuff, can I take your order?" The young man asked.

"I'll have the classic number two combo with a Dr. Pepper," Coulson said and then looked over at Darcy. "What would you like, babe?"

Babe?

Darcy forgot how to speak, let alone think for a moment. Why was he turning on the mush factor so much? Was he trying to make her feel uncomfortable?... Oh? Oh! Yes that's what exactly he was trying to do. Suddenly confidence grew inside her and she smiled. "I think I'll have the chicken tenders with fries and a Sprite," she said to the young man. She looked back at Coulson. "Thanks, honey-bear," she smiled sweetly and batted her eyelashes a couple of times.

Coulson's lip twitched and he nodded. "You're welcome."

They sat outside on one of the tables and ate their food, while Agents 1 and 2 sat in the moving van. Darcy and Coulson didn't speak much, but once in a while Coulson would look over at his 'wife' and give her a smile. When they were finished, they hopped back in the car and headed out on to the road again.

"Sweetheart? Babe? You totally threw me off guard there, Coul- Phil," she said, looking over at him. "You were amazing though, really slipped into character right away."

Coulson looked over at Darcy. "This isn't my first rodeo, Darcy. I've been on a lot of undercover missions over the years I've been at S.H.I.E.L.D." He turned his car down a dusty road.

"Oh yeah, of course you have ... Have you ever been on a mission playing a husband though?" she asked curiously.

"No, this is a new one for me," he said with a nod. He sighed a little bit and looked over at her. "Look, I know this is an odd mission, Darcy. I will try not to make you feel uncomfortable, but we will have to play the part. Otherwise, the whole mission could be compromised." He warned her again, just like he had the other night. They went silent again for about another half an hour. "Welcome to Shady Oaks," he said breaking the silence as they passed a large wooden sign.

Darcy's heart jumped into her throat. This was it. This were they'd be living for the next two months. She read the sign as they drove past it: Shady Oaks; population 458. Fuck, that was a small town. Darcy couldn't recall the last time they passed a gas station or a major supermarket chain. It seemed like years ago. They were really out in the middle of fucking nowhere.

There didn't seem to be much of anything; just a ton open fields, large wooded areas, and few houses here and there. No shopping malls or stores, or even restaurants. Darcy had never been anywhere that didn't have a McDonalds on every other street corner. Coulson turned down another dusty road and passed a huge rundown farm with a dilapidated red barn. The farmer that was working in the field stopped what he was doing and stared at them, like, he had never seen an outsider moving into town before. "Okay, the this town is totally giving off the creep vibe, and we've only been in it for twenty-seconds," Darcy said as she looked in the side mirror. She was so thankful that there were two heavily trained undercover agents in the moving van behind them. Also, she was thankful that Coulson was next to her, she really hoped that he was as badass as Clint said he was. "Honey, we're home..." she said quietly as the they approached a small two-story white house with the paint peeling off of the siding. Coulson stopped the car in the driveway and the moving van pulled up behind them.

God, if this was the outside of the house; she couldn't wait to see the inside.