Darcy woke up the next morning to the sunlight shining in her face. She squinted, then rolled over on her stomach to look at the clock. It was 9:45. She sat up quickly, cursing herself for sleeping in. "Shit!" She jumped out of bed and grabbed her clothes, wondering why Phil didn't wake her up. She opened the door and headed into the hallway; a hot shower awaited for her, hopefully without anymore snakes.
"Morning!"
Darcy jumped and dropped all her clothes. Phil was sitting in his office/bedroom at his computer; steaming cup of coffee in his hand. She bent down to pick all her stuff up off the floor, hoping that her tiny shorts were covering enough of her ass. She blushed at the thought of the memory of the bare-chested Phil she saw last night. "God, you scared the crap out of me!" she said, sounding harsher than she meant.
Phil scrunched his brows together slightly. "Sorry," he apologized, pushing the black framed glasses further up the bridge of his nose.
Darcy sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap. I'm just really bitchy in the mornings, especially before a shower and a cup of coffee," she apologized, giving him a faint smile. She leaned up against the door frame of his office, crossing her arms, hoping to hide her braless chest. Her thin white Hello Kitty shirt alone would not conceal what she had going on underneath it.
"Noted," he replied with a smile, sticking his cup out towards her. "Coffee?"
Darcy looked down at the cup and then back to his face. Clint and her shared food and drinks all the time, and thought nothing of it. For some reason it just felt a bit too intimate to share Phil's coffee. "Umm, I'll just get some when I'm finished with my shower."
He nodded. "I cleaned the tub this morning when I got up," he said. "And I checked for snakes ... and spiders."
Darcy grinned. "Did you get up at the ass crack of dawn? Why didn't you get me up? I feel bad for sleeping in."
"I woke up at 4:30-"
"Oh my god! I'm glad you didn't wake me up then!" she said shaking her head.
"Didn't sleep well-"
"Futon?" Darcy smirked.
Phil nodded. "Yeah. I guess a drain pipe in Afghanistan is more comfortable than a futon."
"Worst invention ever," Darcy joked.
Phil nodded, then looked back at his computer screen. "I've been reading over the file on this town. I'll send you a copy later to look over," he said looking back at Darcy.
"Okay. So what exactly is the game plan here?" She asked.
"Let's lay low for the first couple of weeks. Get to know the people in the town. Keep to ourselves for the most part. We won't go out and do any forest exploring right away. Basically, we'll just play the husband and wife part for now," Phil said.
"Sounds good. I really don't want to do this art camp thing though. I suck at art ... and kids," she groaned just thinking about it.
Phil chuckled. "Darcy, you'll do great. I don't have any doubt in my mind."
The next two weeks flew by, and before Darcy knew it she was gearing up for the first day of art camp. She walked downstairs that morning with a scowl on her face. "The day I've been fearing has finally come," she rolled her eyes walking into the kitchen.
Phil looked up from his newspaper. "Morning sunshine!" he smirked.
Darcy grumbled as she got a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. She and Phil had grown a bit closer over the last two weeks, as friends and not much more. Not that Darcy had expected they would or anything. They were good work friends and that was all. Even if Darcy secretly wished for maybe a little something to happen between them. "Melissa called me last night just before I went to bed. She and Barbie are super stoked about today!" Darcy said in a mocking voice, rolling her eyes. "It seems like everyone in this town is a little too happy all the time. It's creepy. Except for Sheriff Dunham, he's creepy but in a whole different way."
Phil nodded. "Just remember you're on assignment, Darce. Keep your ears open while you're at camp for anything unusual."
Phil started calling her, Darce, at some point during the last two weeks. It was sweet. She nodded. "I will." She looked up at the clock and groaned again. "Oh my god ... I got to get going now."
"It's only for three hours," Phil smirked. He thought it was quite comical how Darcy was acting about all of this. Teaching kids to do finger painting and whatever couldn't be that bad. Hell, he wished that he could trade places with her.
"Three hours with little monsters," she said grabbing her purse. "I cannot wait to get home!" She added as she headed towards the door.
"You want me drive you there and pick you up later?" Phil offered.
"Nah, it only takes fifteen minutes to walk into town. The fresh air will calm my nerves," she said stopping at the door and turned around.
"Alright, see you when you get home, sweetie," he smiled and then went back to reading his paper.
"Later gator," she said and then winced. That sounded absolutely stupid. She heard him chuckling behind his paper as she walked out the door.
It only took ten minutes to get into town. Darcy groaned as soon as she walked into the school. She really didn't want to be here because she knew it was going to be like stepping into hell.
"You're here!" Barbara said running over to Darcy, giving her a hug. "The kids will be here any moment, I've got everything set up! We are doing finger painting and making macaroni noodle necklaces today."
"Awesome," Darcy forced a smile. She looked around the classroom, it had been set up with little tables and chairs. Paper, paintbrushes, paint, crayons, and markers had been lined up along the shelves.
"Ooohh, you'll probably want to wear an art smock. It's bound to get messy, and you wouldn't want your pretty dress to get messed up." Barbara handed Darcy a paint splatter white art smock.
"Where's Melissa?" Darcy asked, putting the smock on.
"Oh ... well, she had a bit of a problem this morning ... She'll be here soon." Barbara said quickly. She didn't elaborate on it anymore, which Darcy found a bit odd. "Oh, look! The kids are here!" She said, running over to the door to greet them.
It was like a herd of elephants stomping through the classroom. They were like wild banshees, screaming and laughing, running all over the place. Kids. Darcy's worst nightmare. "Oh my god ... Here we go," she muttered under her breath. Suddenly she was really jealous that Phil was at home, he was undoubtedly working on S.H.I.E.L.D stuff, but Darcy would do practically anything to trade places with him. "Okay, kids ... let's all find a seat!" Darcy yelled, probably more loudly than she should have.
Of course none of the kids listened to her. They all kept running around, screaming at the top of their lungs. Darcy wanted to do the exact same thing. One of the kids started running circles around Darcy trying to dodge another kid who was threatening to throw a bottle of paint at him. "Okay stop! Stop!" Darcy said, trying to get paint bottle kid to put his 'weapon' down.
"Children!" a sweet voice called from the doorway. It was Goddess Melissa. She was dressed in a cute sundress, flower in her hair, and her make up flawless. "Please sit down now. We're going to begin class." She walked over to Darcy and smiled.
"Hey, nice work with the kids. They wouldn't listen to me," Darcy said with a faint smile. "I hope everything is okay ... Barbara said you had a problem."
"Oh, well, they don't know you yet. They'll come around I'm sure," she said giving her sweet smile to Darcy again. "And everything is just dandy!" She added before she hurried off to get the paint supplies ready for the kids.
Well, that pretty much meant everything is not dandy. Darcy could definitely sense that Melissa was hiding something. Barbara also, she knew something as well. What exactly, well that was TBD. Maybe if she was lucky she could figure it out before she left for the day. She'd wanted to have something to report to Phil, to make him proud of her. Let him know that she could be a top S.H.I.E.L.D agent. Who knew, maybe she'd get to do more field missions. Darcy certainly didn't want to just work at the HQ for the rest of her career.
"Can I have some paint please?" A little voice called from behind Darcy.
Darcy turned and smiled at the little girl. "Of course you can," she said getting some paint and paper for the little girl. This was a perfectly polite little child, just like they were supposed to be. "What's your name? I'm Mrs. Coulson."
"Annie Martin. You're pretty," Annie giggled. "Will you sit by me?"
Darcy absolutely loved this little girl. "Sure," she smiled handing her the paint and paper. She watched as Annie headed back to the table all the way back in the corner and sat down alone. Her heart broke for the little girl.
"Everyone, I want to introduce you to Mrs. Coulson," Barbara said loudly. "She and her husband just moved into to town for the summer."
"Yes, her husband is an author! He's writing a book about a small town just like ours." Melissa seemed to light up when she was talking about Phil, and that didn't sit to well with Darcy at all. "Mrs. Coulson is going to be helping us with art camp. Everyone be very nice to her!" Melissa giggled.
"Okay, let's work on our finger paint pictures!" Barbara chimed in. The class got extremely noise again with little screeching voices.
Darcy started to walked back to sit with Annie, when she stumbled over a foot. A bunch of kids laughed as Darcy pulled herself up off a desk. She squinted her eyes at the freckled boy. "That wasn't very nice," she said in a warning voice.
"Brian was just trying to see if he could see your underwear," another boy laughed. "He thinks you're hot!"
"I do not! Shut up, Kevin!" the freckled boy yelled.
How old were these kids? Seven? Eight? Darcy didn't even know what to say. Well, she knew what she wanted to say but knew she'd get in deep shit if she said it. Instead she forced a smile and headed back to Annie's table but not before she was hit in the back of the head with a wad of paper.
Little shits.
Darcy felt like she was beat with a bat by the time she walked up the driveway to the house. Art camp sucked big time. Except for Annie. Darcy really liked the little girl, she was sweet and polite, unlike the other little monsters in the classroom. She wondered why Annie didn't have any friends though? Maybe because she was too nice? Maybe because she wasn't a crazy little psycho like the rest of them? Darcy walked up the steps to the porch and stopped to look at the swing that hanging on it. That wasn't there this morning. "Phil," she said as she opened the door to the house. "I'm back." She tossed her purse on the table and walked into the kitchen to find Phil laying down on the floor with his head under the sink.
"Did it go well?" he called from underneath the sink.
"I need ice cream. I need wine," Darcy said. She smirked as she was watching him work; tools spread all around him.
He chuckled as he blindly reached for a wrench that was laying next to the red tool box. "That bad, huh?"
"Sucked. Except there was one sweet little girl. I felt bad for her because no one else paid any attention to her. She kinda reminded me of me at that age. Also something is up with Melissa and Barbara. They were acting sort of weird today. I'll figure it out." Darcy said as she knelt down on the floor and tried to peek into the cabinet that Phil's head was in. "What's going on in there?"
"Plugged up. Thought I'd fix it instead of calling someone," he said as he slid out and smiled up at Darcy. "And fixed."
She grinned down at him. "Nice work, handyman Phil," she said, eyes flicking down at his chest. He was covered in splattered water and dirt. She wrinkled her nose. "You definitely need a shower now ... 'cause you stink." Darcy stood up and chuckled, reaching to take his hand to help pull him up.
Phil nodded as he wiped his hands off on the sides of his jeans. "I was thinking the exact same thing," he said as began to pick up his tools and toss them back in the box. "Do you want to get a pizza tonight?"
"That sounds good. I'm afraid if we go out anywhere tonight I'll run into Barbara and Melissa. I can only deal with them so much in one day," she said with a smirk on her face as she looked at Phil's ass. He had a great ass. More often that not, Darcy found herself staring at it when he had his back to her. "So ... where did the porch swing come from?"
"Found it in the shed."
"And you put it up all by yourself?"
Phil turned towards Darcy and grinned. "Well, I'm pretty good at screwing-" His phone buzzed mid-sentence and he picked it up immediately and headed out into the other room.
"Pretty good at screwing?" Darcy chuckled to herself as she watched him head upstairs. It was not exactly a great place to leave a sentence hanging, especially since Darcy's mind was usually in the gutter. She grinned then opened the fridge and got a can on soda out. She leaned up against the wall, sighing deeply. Two weeks into the assignment and she was starting to have major feelings for Phil Coulson. She tried to push them out of her mind. She told herself that it was just because they were working so closely with each other. It was hard not to have feelings though, because she was finding out that Phil was actually sweet and funny. Not at all like the grumpy stoned faced agent that she had always thought he was.
Phil had spent the rest of the day and into the evening up in his office with the door shut. Instead of ordering pizza, Darcy made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a side Doritos. She ate alone in the kitchen, not daring to even go knock on his door; whatever he was doing in there was probably, like, Level 7 top secret stuff. She waited for him to come down stairs, and when he didn't she decided to go up stairs to take a shower. Darcy paused just a moment outside his door to listen, but the only sound she could make out was the tapping of fingers on a keyboard. She stood there for a moment with her fist balled up, ready to knock.
"Yeah..." She heard his voice say on the other side of the door. She was about to answer but realized he was talking to someone over the phone, quickly Darcy crept into the bathroom, and started up the shower.
A bit later she emerged from the bathroom, wearing a pair of black shorts and hot pink tank top. She piled her damp hair on top her head in a bun, and headed down the stairs. Walking into the kitchen, she grabbed a cookie and then headed outside to sit on the porch swing. It was peaceful out there, with only the sound of the creaking swing and chirps of insects and frogs. She nibbled on her cookie and zoned out until the opening of the screen door snapped her out of her trance.
"Hey," Phil said softly, carrying two glasses of red wine. "Sorry, I got caught up in some work stuff. Thank you for the sandwich." He smiled and handed Darcy a glass of wine.
"Thank you," Darcy nodded and patted the seat next to her. He sat down and took a sip of his wine. Darcy smiled. "So ... Is everything alright?"
"Yeah," he smiled. "I just had to get some stuff done that couldn't wait until after I got back. I'm just sorry I missed most of the evening with you. It's nice out here ... Quiet," he said as he looked out into the night sky.
"I definitely needed the quietness after all the yelling and screaming today. Those little shits wore the fuck outta me!" Darcy chuckled. "I don't know if I'm going to last. I'm no good with kids."
Phil laughed. "You will. I bet you're better with kids that you think you are."
Darcy snorted. "They didn't listen to me. One boy tried to trip me so he could get a look at my underwear." She took a sip of wine.
"All boys like a hot teacher," Phil grinned and gave her a little wink.
Darcy laughed. "Oh my god..." She shook her head and then tipped it gently so that it fell against his shoulder. She had only meant to keep it there for a couple of seconds, but when he didn't budge or seem to mind, she left it resting against him. They rocked back and forth on the swing listening to the night sounds, and then Phil slipped his arm over the back of the swing behind Darcy.
"Your hair smells good," he whispered, his chin was resting lightly on the top of her head.
Her heart jumped and she sat there frozen for a second, thinking what she should do. Part of her knew she should just say 'thanks' and let the moment fizzle out. The other part of her wanted to put her lips all over him, kiss him fiercely until they both needed to break away for air. To run her hands all over his chest, run them up his back and rake them through his short hair. She'd pull him close to her again, slide her tongue against his lip until he allowed her entrance; she'd nibble, bite, and suck until both their lips were swollen. Darcy could feel the heat rising to her face just thinking about what could happen.
"Thanks..." she said slowly looking up at him.
"You're welcome," he whispered back, his eyes were slowly searching all over her face, as if he were looking for permission to kiss her. He tipped his face closer to hers without taking his eyes off her.
"He's going to do it..." Darcy thought. She could feel her chest beating faster and she kept chanting 'kiss me, kiss me' over and over in her head. Usually, she would have just made a move, but for some reason, with Phil, she couldn't. She wanted him to make the initiative and she would be more than happy to reciprocate. She could feel his warm breath on her face; smell the wine on his lips. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes just as he was about to put his lips on hers.
There was a loud popping sound and then a snap of chain just as one side of the porch swing detached. Darcy fell to the floor with a huge thud and Phil fell next to her. The porch swing had just missed hitting them both. "Christ..." Phil muttered, using his forearm to push himself up a bit. "Darcy... Are you okay?"
"I ... I'm fine..." she said, pulling herself up. She looked back at the swing and silently told it to 'go fuck itself' for ruining the kiss that was about to happen. "Are you okay?" she asked.
Phil nodded. "Yep," he said pulling himself to his feet and then helping Darcy to hers. "Watch the glass." He pointed to the shattered wine glasses.
"Darcy laughed. "So I guess I should call the handyman that put this thing up and chew him out? He really did a shitty job," she teased.
"Yeah..." Phil grinned sheepishly and ran his hand through his hair. Inwardly, he was cursing himself for ruining a perfect moment, but then again maybe it was a good thing the swing did break. Getting close to a junior agent that was half his age was not the ideal, and he had to remind himself that over and over. "I'll get the glass and the rest of the mess cleaned up," he said as he began to move the swing out of the way.
"I can give you a hand if-"
"No, Darce, it's fine. It's getting late, and I know you need to get up early. Don't worry, I've got it." He gave her a slight smile.
"Um, okay..." she said quietly, watching him turn away from her. He looked really bothered by something, and if she had to guess, it wasn't because of his crappy handyman job. "Night then," she said and then went back inside the house.