Phil had barely slept at all that night. Not just because of the metal bar of the futon that dug into his back, but also because he almost kissed junior agent Lewis. He was letting his feelings get in the way of the assignment. He rolled over and tucked his arm underneath his pillow, trying to make sense of thoughts in his head. Did he have feelings for Darcy? Like real romantic feelings? Or was it just because he was letting this pretend life interfere with his real life? Darcy was pretty. No, not just pretty; she was beautiful. She was a lot smarter than he first thought; she still had that damn mouth on her, but she could be just as sweet as she was crass. And, if Phil was being honest with himself; he liked her dirty mouth and her sarcastic sense of humor. He found it kind of cute.

She was also 23 years old, making their age difference 22 years apart. He was old enough to be her father, which wasn't a pleasant thought. She was young and vibrant; he was nearing 50 and losing his hair. He doubted that Darcy would want anything to do with an old man like himself, not when she could have her pick of any guy she chose. Work was the other problem. Even if they wanted to be together; it wasn't allowed.

It was late in the afternoon the next day, when Darcy walked in the front door. "I missed you this morning. Did you sleep in?" she asked, setting a bag of groceries down on the floor.

Phil looked up from his laptop and took off his glasses. "Hey," he said with a smile. "I did. I didn't exactly sleep well again. Now I'm behind on work stuff," he said making a gesture to his computer.

"You really need to get a better bed," she said, coming over and sitting down next to him. "Sorry, I'm late. After camp I had to help Melissa with a few things, then I headed to the grocery store. I got stuff to make stir fry tonight," she smiled.

"Yummy," he said returning her smile. Neither of them had mentioned the 'almost kiss' as if they were too scared to bring it up. "So was camp better today?"

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Well, I think I got all the paste out of my hair. They hate me, it's like they know I'm not a real teacher. Oh, and get this ... Barbara was late this morning and when I asked her if everything was okay, she quickly changed the subject."

Phil nodded. "And I talked to Ken today at the grocery store. He was acting strange ... Stranger than usual. He said that he had been at the store all morning but he had fresh mud on his shoes," he said looking at Darcy. "You better get some rest, we're going to be out late tonight."

"Uh-oh. I don't think I like the sound of this, Phil." Darcy said, wrinkling her nose. "What are we doing?"

"Good old fashioned stakeout tonight," he winked.

"Please don't say in the forest."

Phil grinned. "Where else would we go?"

After dinner and a quick clean up of the kitchen, Darcy went upstairs to get a couple of hours of rest. She shut her door and flopped down on her bed, wishing she could just get into her pajamas and crawl under her covers for the night. Phil informed her that they'd drive out to the cliff that over looked the forest at midnight. There was a secluded spot there where they could hide and do surveillance. Darcy was just relieved that they wouldn't be running around in the woods in pitch black darkness. No, sitting in a car with binoculars sounded perfect to her. She reached over and took her taser out of the nightstand; she figured she'd take it tonight just in case something went wrong. She hoped nothing would, but it was a good idea to be prepared. She sighed as she thought about Phil. They hadn't talked about the porch swing incident at all. She had thought about mentioning it, but it seemed like that it might complicate things more than they already were. She just figured it was one of those heat of the moment situations. Still, she couldn't help but think what could have happened if that swing hadn't broke...

Darcy reached over and flipped the light off, she closed her eyes, and tried not to dwell on Phil or the stakeout. All she wanted to do was rest. Just when she started to doze off, her phone lit up and started to vibrate. She reached over and picked it up, squinting at the screen.

{Hey girl. How is it going?}

Clint.

Darcy smiled, but shook her head as she began to reply. {A condom?!} She still was mad at him for that dirty joke.

{Hahahaha! I'm LOL'ing for ever. What R U doing?} Clint responded a second later.

{First of all, R U OK? How was the mission?} Darcy hit sent.

{Just peachy. Mission went well. I'm flying back to base right now.}

{Good :) I'm getting ready to go on a stakeout later. Resting now on my bed with my trusty friend.} She replied.

{Your vibrator?}

Darcy snorted out loud and shook her head. {No, U ass! My taser. I'm taking it just in case shit goes down.}

{Got it ;) So how's married life?} Clint asked.

Darcy debated whether or not she should let Clint know how she was feeling about Coulson, but decided doing it over texts wouldn't be the best thing. She needed to have that conversation face to face with him. She sighed and started to text. {It's good. U were right. Coulson is a good man. I like him.}

{U like him? Like him-like him?}

Of course Clint would read into that, Darcy felt dumb for even putting that in her text. Now he was going to hound her forever until she gave him the details. She closed her eyes and started to text, when there was a knock at her door.

"Darce, we better get going." Phil's voice called from the other side of the door.

"Oh, okay, I'll be down in a second," she called out loudly. She looked back down at her phone when she heard Phil head down the stairs. {Hey gotta go. Stakeout time. Love ya.} She sent.

{K Have Fun!} Clint replied.

Darcy stuffed her phone into her bag and then headed downstairs. Phil was leaning up against the arm of the couch with his arms crossed and a smile on his face. "You ready?"

"I am going to be dead tired tomorrow at camp. I just want you to know that now," she smirked.

He chuckled as he picked up the black bag at his feet. "I'll try not to keep you up late, Darcy." He jingled his car keys and then headed out the door.

Darcy groaned as she followed him outside and hopped into the car.

They drove slowly with through the streets, it was around midnight now and every house they passed was dark, which was a good thing. If anyone saw a Corvette rolling through the streets at that time of night it was certainly going to raise some eyebrows. Neither of them spoke until they turned off the paved road onto a dirt road that twisted it's way up a steep hill.

"Umm ... I think that sign we just passed said 'road closed'" Darcy said looking over at Phil.

He nodded. "Sure did. I hiked up here last week. There's a perfect spot to survey the forest-"

"Wait? When did you come up here?" Darcy asked.

"Last Tuesday night. You were sleeping," he said pulling his car off the road over to a secluded spot.

Darcy raised her eyebrows. Okay Phil was doing a lot more SHIELD spying stuff than she was. He was out snooping around and doing who knew whatever else, while she was sleeping and playing pretend teacher to a bunch of kids. Suddenly Darcy felt like a lousy S.H.I.E.L.D agent. "Have you been doing a lot of ..."

"Darcy-"

"No, I just feel like I haven't been pulling my weight. Like, I've just been playing teacher and wife for the last couple of weeks. I feel like I need to be doing more ..."

Phil smiled softly, "Darcy, you're doing a perfect job," he said turning the engine off. He looked over at her again. "And we're now just getting into all the actual 'dirt' of the mission. You'll have a lot to do soon enough."

She nodded. "Okay, I just want ... to make you proud of me. I want to show you that I'm a good agent. I know, a lot of people talk about me. They think I'm a waste of space. Agent Sitwell-"

"Agent Sitwell has a yard stick up his ass. Don't worry about him." Phil pulled out two pairs of binoculars and handed one of them to Darcy. He also pulled out a bag of M&M's. "Tonight we observe and eat candy. Some?" He offered her the bag, which Darcy happily took.

They sat in the car silently for about a half hour, until Darcy couldn't stand the silence anymore. "Are we allowed to talk?" she asked, looking over at Phil.

He dropped his binoculars and chuckled. "Of course. What do you want to talk about?"

Darcy took a few more M&M's out of the bag. "I don't know, I just hate sitting here in silence." She looked down into the forest again. Nothing out of the ordinary was happening. No noises; no lights; absolutely nothing. She looked back at Phil. "We could ask each other questions ... Like, get to know each other questions."

"Okay. One rule though. Don't ask any questions that you're not willing to answer yourself," he said as he scooted in his seat to make him a bit more comfortable. He picked up his binoculars and looked out over the forest again.

"Hey, you know me ... There is no question that I won't answer. No topic is too taboo," Darcy grinned.

"Yeah, that scares me," Phil smirked. "Ask away."

Darcy giggled inwardly. There were so many things she could start out asking him, but decided she's start off with innocent things, maybe if he seemed into it, she'd throw something not so innocent in there. She bit her softly thinking of what to ask him first. "Favorite color? And it better not be black."

"Red," he said looking over at her. "You?"

"Pink, I'm one girly-girl."

"I figured as much. Hello Kitty kinda gives it away," he glanced over and his lip twitched in a smile. "Favorite type of music?"

"I like everything,"

"That's not a good answer," he said and shook his head.

"Everything but country music. I mean, I really do like a lot of different types of music. You know I do. You've seen my iPod playlists. What about you?" Darcy peeked through her binoculars again.

"Same," he replied.

Darcy snorted. "And you said my answer wasn't good enough? Yours is the same!" She laughed and shook her head. Innocent questions went back and forth between the two of them for a bit until Darcy was ready to bump it up a notch. "When is the last time you were in a relationship?" She bit her lip, hoping that it wasn't too much of a personal question.

There was a long moment of silence from Phil. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and then sighed softly. "It's ... been awhile," he said at last.

"Like? How long?" Darcy asked, hoping she wasn't pushing too much. She was having fun and didn't want to ruin the game.

Another long pause. He rubbed his chin, looking straight ahead. "It's ... going on eight years-"

"Oh shit! ... Oh ... sorry," Darcy blurted out. She chewed on her lip for a moment, trying to think of something to say. "Like ... a serious relationship or ... like ... any relationship?"

Phil chuckled. "It's fine, Darcy. I haven't been in any sort of relationship in almost eight years. My last girlfriend was a serious one, and after we broke up, I just never dated. I focused more on work. What about you?"

"Serious relationship was two years ago. Last relationship I had ended about three months ago. We only dated for two months. He was kind of a dick," she chuckled. She couldn't believe Phil hadn't been with anyone in years. Not even on a date. "So ... do you have like serious self-control or do you ..." She was trying to search for the right term. She had no idea why she was even bringing this up.

"Jerk off?"

Darcy almost choked on a mouthful of M&M's. She had to turn away from him so she could focus on breathing. No way in hell did she expect those words out of Phil's mouth. "I mean ... I was trying to think of a better phrase to use!" she laughed nervously, finally turning back to face him. She was so thankful for the darkness, because her cheeks were on fire.

Phil chuckled. "No need to beat around the bush, I knew what you really wanted to say. I figured our innocent little game was going to make it to the gutter at some point," he said shaking his head. "Darcy, I'm a 45 year old male who hasn't been on a date in eight years. I'm not a S.H.I.E.L.D android like people think I am," he shook his head and grabbed a handful of candy. He didn't exactly answer her question, but gave her enough information to figure it out for herself. "You?"

"Me?" Darcy asked a bit stunned.

"Yep. You said no question was taboo, if I remember correctly."

Darcy squirmed in her seat. She did say that, but now she really wished she hadn't. If she was going to answer him though, she wanted to do it like she didn't care. Like, she could talk about anything without getting embarrassed. "... I mean, I own a vibrator."

"Did you bring it with you?" he asked nonchalantly.

"You mean, like, do I have it with me ... right now?" Darcy asked nervously.

Phil smirked. "Just in general ..." It was a bold thing to ask but he was feeling pretty bold at the moment.

Fuck, how was she supposed to answer that? Her cheeks were really burning up now; not because she was embarrassed, but because she was getting really turned on. They were totally have an intimate sexual conversation about each other. "... Yes?" she squeaked out in more of a question than an answer. Her heart pounded as she waited for him to respond.

"Have you used it yet? Maybe ... on ... your ... aching..." he said in a hushed voice, drawing out every word slowly, looking directly into her eyes. Then he grinned. "Neck?"

"My neck?!" Darcy narrowed her eyes at him and pursed her lips together. "You're totally messing with me, aren't you? Seeing how much info I'll tell you?"

Phil laughed. "I'm just asking questions, but thanks for answering so freely," he looked through his binoculars with a grin on his face.

"You are terrible person, Phil Coulson. Goddamn you!" Darcy giggled. She glanced over at him as he was gazing out into the forest, scanning for something out of the ordinary. She made up her mind; he was perfect. Gorgeous; badass; sweet; funny; the list went on and on. He was the total package and she wanted him. All of him. The only thing was; did he want her the same way or was he just looking at her as a friend, just like she and Clint were? Because she was totally not okay with that. She wanted to be Phil's girl. He hadn't been in a relationship in years and she wanted to change that.

"No change in forest activities," Phil said, setting down the binoculars in his lap. He could feel Darcy's eyes on him but he couldn't look at her. He hoped hadn't made her uncomfortable by joking around with her.

"Good," Darcy said with a smile. She hoped that there wouldn't be any activity for a while, because she was really just enjoying sitting here talking to Phil. "Have you ever had a girl in here?" she blurted out.

Phil looked over. "In my car?"

Darcy pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah."

"You're the first girl that's ever been in my car," Phil answered. "That should answer your question. Or both your questions ... I suppose 'had a girl in my car' could be taken in different ways."

Darcy grinned, happy to hear that answer. "It's a really hot car."

Phil smirked. "You like it?"

"Totally. I'm kinda into all that retro stuff. I'm obsessed with pin up girls."

"You look like a pin up girl." She definitely had the body like one. He wasn't going to say that to her though, but he was totally thinking it.

Darcy grinned widely. "That's a really sweet compliment. You into pin up girls?"

"Isn't everyone?" He left his answer very vague but smiled.

Darcy studied his face; he had such strong features and those gorgeous blue eyes. She could totally get lost for hours; looking into those eyes. "Have you had your nose broken before?"

Phil chuckled. "How can you tell?"

Darcy giggled. "It's crooked."

"You into the nose?" He couldn't help but ask. He was trying not to sound flirty but it was really hard to hold back any longer.

"It's cute," Darcy smirked, tucking another strand of stray hair behind her ear. He was sort of being flirty with her, and she was totally into it.

"You think so?" he grinned. "It's always kind of bothered-" He stopped suddenly dropped the binoculars on the floor, kicking them under the seat. He grabbed Darcy's off her lap and did the same thing.

"What?" Darcy knitted her eyebrows together. "What's going-" Before she got to ask, Phil pulled her close to him and pressed his lips to hers.

Phil tangled his hands in her hair, pressing his mouth on hers, and kissed her softly. He could feel her heart pounding through her shirt, and he knew his was doing the same thing. He cupped the back of her neck with his hand and pressed his mouth a little harder on hers; sucking gently on her bottom lip. She responded back with the same fervor that he was showing her. Her arms wrapped around him, locking around him tightly. Then she opened her mouth slightly and slid her tongue across his lips.

"... Mmm ..." Darcy moaned as Phil opened his mouth slightly and let her in. Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to pop out of her chest. She felt his tongue slid across hers and she moaned again. God, he was so fucking good at kissing. Her whole body felt like jelly in his arms, and at any second she felt like she'd just melt into a big puddle. She played with baby hairs on the back of his neck; he must have liked that because she felt him shudder slightly and let out an almost inaudible moan. "... Mmm ... Phil ... god ..." She didn't have any idea if she was even making actual sentences. Everything he was doing to her was making her mind cloudy and her body ache.

Her mind was spinning out of control; she wanted him so badly right now. She broke away from his lips and moved to his ear, nibbling on it in between whispers. She wanted to take his hand and slip it into her jeans, so that he knew exactly what he was doing to her. "... I'm so hot for you ... so fucking ... wet for y-"

"Good evening, folks." A voice called from the side of the car. A light shining right in Darcy's face.

Phil pulled away from Darcy and smiled sheepishly. "Sheriff Dunham," he said with a nod, putting his hand up slightly to block the light coming from his flashlight.

"Sorry 'bout that," Dunham said as he pointed the flashlight out of their faces. "It's a little late to be out here. Two in the morning is kinda past bedtime, eh? Plus, this road is closed. There's a sign back there at the bottom of the hill."

"Oh?" Phil questioned, he was playing stupid. "I guess we didn't see it."

Dunham waved his hand. "Yeah, probably got covered up with weeds and stuff again. This is kind of a dangerous road to be on. Especially at night. And I'm a bit surprised you'd take this fine automobile up here. Nice car by the way."

Phil nodded. "Thanks," he said giving Darcy a small glance.

Dunham chuckled. "So ... you found the make out point." He shook his head and laughed again. "I'm constantly chasing kids outta here. I'm just surprised to find you guys up here. Did Johnny tell you about this spot?"

Phil nodded. "Yeah, he said it had a nice view of the woods. It's beautiful up here ... Guess Darcy and I just got caught up in the moment."

Dunham put his hand up. "No need to apologize. Just be careful on the road on the way down. Have a good night," he said and then looked at Darcy. "Night ma'am." He tipped his hat to her and walked off to the side as soon as Phil started up the car.

Phil drove away slowly, down the hill and finally back onto the main road. "Well, we got busted, huh?" he smirked, looking over at Darcy. "Sorry about being so grabby. I heard someone coming through the woods and thought kissing would be the best cover for us at the moment."

"... Oh ... Yeah that was cool," Darcy tried to hide her disappointment. She thought the kiss was a real kiss. She had kissed him for real; she fucking told him she was hot and wet for him. But the kiss to him wasn't real; just a cover, so they wouldn't get caught snooping. She felt like a big fucking idiot. "I'm so stupid ... fucking stupid little girl ..." she thought to herself, looking out the side of the car. She couldn't even face Phil at the moment.

"Dunham wasn't in a car. He didn't even have one parked at the bottom of the hill," Darcy said at last. "So why was he just wandering around there on foot at two a.m?"

"I know. Weird right? Another mystery we need to look into." He looked over at Darcy; she was still staring out the passenger side of the car. He knew that she was bothered by something ... most likely the kiss. Maybe he had kissed her too passionately? He'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the kiss, but he meant it more as a cover than something romantic between them. God, and she told him she was wet for him. Just thinking about that, sent a jolt of electricity straight through him. The kiss was real for her. He wanted it to be real for him too, but he was scared. "Darcy ..."

"Yep."

He didn't even know what he was going to say. "It was a cover. It was the first thing that popped into my head."

"It was kind of a douchey thing to do!" she snapped. "I thought ... I mean ... I told you ... You could have let me know what plan was ... Instead of letting me think ..." Her voice trailed off.

He felt like an asshole. "I didn't-"

She cut him off again. "I thought we had something going between us. Not just the kiss but the conversation before, the joking ... the flirting... The fucking porch swing!" She still couldn't look over at him.

"We're on a S.H.I.E.L.D assignment, Darcy. We can't ..." He really did sound like a douche now.

"Well, apparently I'm not as good as of an agent as I hoped I was!" she snapped again. "I can't see when I'm being played!"

This conversation was not going good at all. Phil was fighting with his feelings. He wanted Darcy, but he also knew that they were on a work assignment and this ... could not happen between them. He could not date a junior agent, there were rules about that. Both of them could get in big trouble if they were found out. "I'm sorry if ... I led you on..." He closed his eyes, those were not the words he wanted to say, but they were the right words. He pulled the car into the drive way and before he even had the chance to say anything, Darcy hopped out and walked quickly up to the house.

He followed quickly behind her, trying to think of something to say. "I'm sorry-"

"Stop fucking saying that you're fucking sorry, Phil!" She spun around angrily at him. "Get the goddamn door open so I can go to bed!"

"... Okay," he said in a hushed whisper, as he pulled the keys out of his pocket. His hands shook slightly as he tried to unlocked the door. Darcy was so pissed at him, and nothing he could do or say could make the situation better. The door finally popped open and she pushed past him, stomping up the stairs.

He waited at the bottom of the steps until he heard her door shut. Phil leaned up against the wall and closed his eyes, wishing that he could take back the entire evening. He'd do everything differently; he wouldn't flirt or kiss her or do anything that would cross the line with S.H.I.E.L.D regulations. If he would have kept his and Darcy's relationship professional, things have would not gotten to this point. It was so hard now that he knew that Darcy had feelings for him (or used to have feelings for him). Slowly he walked up the stairs, stopping next to her room. He put his ear next to her door, and could hear her faint soft sobs. She was crying because he had hurt her. She thought that he was just stringing her along with no intentions.

Phil inhaled and closed his eyes. He was always the one in the relationship that got hurt; being the one doing the hurting was new to him. It made him feel like shit. He wanted nothing more than to go into her room, take her in his arms, kiss away her tears, and tell her that he wanted her just as much as she did him.

He sighed softly as he walked into his room; shutting the door behind him.

Tonight was going to be another sleepless night.