The flight back to the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters was only twenty-three minutes, but it felt like it was hours. Doctor Neely looked over Darcy from head to toe, making sure that she hadn't been bitten or scratched by the werewolf. Everything appeared okay except for lots of bruising along her body, other than that she was fine. They ordered her to stay overnight in the med bay observation, but she was allowed to get up and walk around if she felt up to it. She had asked several times on Phil's status, but was never given a clear answer. Darcy shifted in the stiff, scratchy sheets of the medical bed, trying to get in a comfortable position; she would try to get some sleep but knew it was going to be near impossible to get her mind off Phil.

"Agent Lewis, if you don't stop fidgeting I'm going to end up jabbing you with the needle. Now please stop!" one of the S.H.I.E.L.D nurses said in a stern voice as she grabbed Darcy's arm to try to draw some blood. Needles were Darcy's least favorite things list (right under going to the gynecologist, which took the number one spot). She hated that sense of feeling pricked, and that strange sensation that came over her when she watched the blood flowing from her arm to the syringe. The nurse gripped her arm tightly and flipped it to the underside. "Agent Lewis, this is ridiculous. My six-year-old granddaughter isn't even this terrified of them."

Darcy squirmed and shifted uncomfortably in her bed. "Can't help it," she said squeezing her eyes shut. Maybe if she didn't look at the blood being drawn it wouldn't be so bad. She felt the needle just touch her arm and she flinched. "Ow!" she yelped and then shimmied back away from the nurse. There was a laugh at the doorway and she looked up to see Clint leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"It's like watching a cat being thrown into a bath," he joked. "Damn, Darcy, I had no idea needles freaked you out."

"Don't laugh!" Darcy squeaked out, glaring at him. The nurse gripped her arm again and then jabbed the needle into her. "Fuck!" Darcy shouted, shooting a look of death to the nurse. Then as quickly as it happened, it was over.

The nurse rolled her eyes at Darcy as she capped up the blood sample and walked out of the room. Clint shook his head and then walked over to Darcy and sat down in the worn chair across from her bed. "So you just survived a werewolf attack and here you are freaking out about a little needle? That's great," he said with a chuckle, propping his feet up on the edge of the bed.

"Har-Har," Darcy rolled her eyes. "You know that nurse could have been a little nicer about the whole thing. Her bedside matter sucks a big one," she said, trying to get comfortable in her bed again.

"How long you gotta stay in here?"

"They said just overnight," Darcy leaned back on the stiff pillow and looked up at the ceiling. "They haven't said a word about Phil. Have you heard anything?"

Clint nodded. "I just asked about him. They said he's undergoing some tests to figure out if any of his DNA has been altered. He's still showing signs of enhanced senses, but he hasn't transformed into a werewolf or anything."

Darcy felt relieved and at the same time disgusted with herself. "I feel like it's all my fault."

"What's your fault?"

"Everything. I fucked this whole mission up. From calling S.H.I.E.L.D to extract us from not getting to Phil on time. Just everything," she crossed her arms and sighed. "Now, S.H.I.E.L.D has to go clean up the mess I left. You know they're going to put some chemical in the town's water supply to alter their minds to forget anything about us being there? How crazy is that?"

Clint shrugged. "I agree it's not the most ethical way, but it's for the best. Darce, listen, you're not the first agent to blow a mission. I've done it, Phil's done it. It happens."

"Now Fury wants to speak with me in the morning and I know he's going to freak out on me. He'll probably demote me or some shit."

"Doubt it," Clint gave her a reassuring smile. "You fuckin' sent a werewolf through a wood chipper. Everyone is talking about it. You're officially the office badass. Plus, you saved Coulson."

"I could have got to him sooner."

"Yeah, or you could have gotten to him later and he'd be a goner." Clint stood up and walked over to Darcy, kissing the top of her head. "You done good, Agent Lewis."

Darcy struggled with a smile. "If you say so." She might have really agreed with him if Phil wasn't god knows where being treated for scratches and weird super-human senses. Of course, there was Annie and Lindsey too. She had asked about them and none of the medical staff would tell her anything about them either. She looked over at Clint. "Did you hear anything about the little girl and her mother that was brought in?"

"Nope. You want me to see if I can find anything out for you?" he asked as he started to walk towards the door.

"No, that's okay. I'll see if I can find something out in the morning," she gave Clint a smile. "Thanks for stopping to see me."

"It's good to have you back, Darcy." Clint said with a wave of his hand before he exited the room.

Darcy tried to snuggle back into her bed except she couldn't get comfortable. Tonight was the first night in a few that Phil wasn't spooned up against her. Just thinking about his arm over her waist and his face resting gently in between her shoulder blades sent a tingle through her body. Letting out another deep sigh, Darcy rolled over onto her stomach, tucked her arm under her pillow, and closed her eyes, hoping to get a couple of hours of sleep.

Morning came quicker than she thought. It had felt like she had just fallen asleep when the nurse came in and told her that she was discharged. She headed down to the locker room for a quick shower and a fresh pair of clothes. Her body ached like hell still but at least all her tests came back negative. It was a little after ten in the morning and her meeting with Fury wasn't until eleven, so she still had a few minutes to see if she could find anything out about Phil, Annie, and Lindsey. She entered the medical wing of the headquarters and walked over to the nurses station.

"Can I help you?" the nurse asked, without looking up from the chart in her hand.

"I wanted to check on Agent Coulson."

The nurse looked up. "I'm sorry, his status is classified, Agent Lewis."

Darcy glared. "Can you at least tell me if he's okay?"

"I have orders, agent." Darcy wanted nothing more than to take that chart in her hand and smack her over the head with it. What was the big deal with just answering with a yes, he is okay or no, he is not? "Okay ... What about Annie and Lindsey Martin? Am I able to talk to them?"

"They're in room 319," the nurse said, pointing down the hall.

"Thanks." Darcy walked down the hallway looking at the numbers on the door until she reached 319. She poked her head in and saw Annie sitting up on her bed looking at a book. Lindsey was laying in another bed with an IV hooked up to her. Her eyes were open and she looked a lot better than she did last night. Darcy knocked on the side of the door and smiled when Annie looked up.

"Mrs. Coulson! I mean, Miss Lewis." Annie waved. Darcy's heart skipped when she was called Mrs. Coulson, and then sadness filled her. She'd probably never be called Mrs. Coulson again. It was bad enough that last night she had to turn in her wedding ring and fake ID information. She felt like she was getting divorced from Phil.

"Annie," Darcy smiled as she walked into the room. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," Annie said looking over at her mom and then back to Darcy. "This place you work at is kinda weird."

Darcy laughed. "Yeah, it really is. I'm so glad you're doing okay." She looked over at Lindsey. "How about you?"

Lindsey nodded. "I feel better than I have in weeks." She paused and looked at Darcy for a moment. "So, you aren't a school teacher? And your husband isn't a writer, is he? Annie told me you work for some government organization."

Darcy nodded. She didn't know how much detail about S.H.I.E.L.D she was supposed to go into without getting in deep shit from Director Fury. "We're called S.H.I.E.L.D: Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division. I'm Agent Darcy Lewis."

"And the man you were with? Is he part of this too?" Lindsey asked.

"Darcy nodded slightly. "Yes. His name is Agent Phil Coulson," she paused for just a moment before she quickly added. "I'm sorry we had to lie to you both. We just needed to keep a low profile so we could figure out what was going on in your town."

"Agent Lewis," a nurse said as she walked into the room. "We're going to need to take their vitals. You'll need to step out of the room, please."

Darcy nodded. "Okay." She looked back at Annie and Lindsey. "I happy that you're okay and I'm happy that I've gotten to know you, Annie. You're such a sweet girl, and I just know you're going to do awesome things in your life," Darcy said with a smile.

Annie jumped up from her seat and hugged the brunette agent. "I'll never forget you, Darcy."

She stood there for a moment before she felt comfortable enough to hug the little girl back. Never before had any kid ever liked Darcy enough to give her a hug. She could feel a tear forming in her eye and she swore at herself that she would not cry. She looked at the nurse, who was dumping some pills into a cup. Darcy had a feeling that those were the drug that would make Annie and Lindsey forget anything about S.H.I.E.L.D, her and Phil, and anything to do with werewolves. "I'll never forget you either, Annie." Darcy gave the girl another hug and a wave to her mother and then walked towards the door. She stopped just to take one little glance at them, she smiled softly to herself as Annie walked over to her mother and gave her a hug. Annie was going to forget all about Darcy but at least she'd have her mother healthy again. She sighed softly and then exited the room, making her way down the hall to Directory Fury's office.

No one ever liked being called into Fury's office, because he rarely called you in to give you a pat on the back for a job well done. If you were called into his office it was more likely that you fucked up something and were about to get chewed out. Darcy stood outside his office door and looked at her watch, which read 10:58. Her appointment with him was at 11:00 and she wanted to walk in right then. That way he couldn't yell at her for being too early or too late. She watched as agents went along their busy day, passing papers, typing reports, walking around with cups of hot steamy coffee–How she wouldn't love to be doing any of those things right now. She swallowed a lump in her throat and her palms began to sweat when her watched switched over to 10:59. She scolded herself for acting like such a baby. Honestly, what was Fury going to do? It's not like he was going to kill her. A couple of agents passed by her and gave her a smile and nod. People had been doing that all morning and calling her a werewolf slayer. Maybe if she felt like she hadn't screwed the mission up so badly, she'd actually feel pretty good about it. Darcy looked down at her watch again and groaned inwardly. Okay, she was not going to let this get to her. Just be your normal snarky-ass self and everything will be a-okay. She took a deep breath to regain her composure and knocked at the door.

The door clicked and swung open and Darcy walked in. Fury was sitting at his desk, reading over something. He was wearing his standard leather coat and eye patch. If anyone else was wearing that get-up it would make them look like a clown, but it made him look like a fucking badass that you didn't mess with. She still couldn't believe that he and Phil were best friends. "Director–" she started to say, but he held up his finger to silence her without looking up from his work. Darcy bit her lip and sat down in the leather chair across from him, folded her hands and waited patiently for him to finish up.

A minute or two later, he looked up and her and nodded. "Agent Lewis, thank you for coming in," he said in a tone that was steely and cold. He shuffled some papers on his desk and then tipped back in his chair, making it creak. "How are you feeling?"

Did he really want to know how she was feeling or did he want her to say everything was fine? "I'm good. Bruised but good," she replied.

He nodded. "Good to hear." His good eye looked over like it was drilling a hole through her brain to access any information she had stored up there. "I know you haven't tuned in your official report yet, but I just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done."

Darcy blinked a few times without saying anything. He was congratulating her? Okay she did not see that one coming. "...Thanks, Sir."

"Now that being said. You did screw up a few orders, like not waiting for the extraction team to get to you. Agent Lewis, you were told not to move from your location until they arrived."

"Phil could have died!" Darcy interjected.

Fury shifted his eyebrow upward. "Agent Coulson, could have. Yes, and so could have you. I could have lost two agents last night." He stood up and clasped his hands behind him. "However, I am willing to let this one go this time."

Good, she wasn't in as much trouble as she thought. "Thank you, Sir." She started to get up.

"I'm not done yet," he said as he watched her sit back down. "Agent Coulson has been sending me reports on you and your progress as an agent. He has recommended you move up to a Level 3. Now, I'm not so sure about that myself, but I trust Agent Coulson's judgement. So, Agent Lewis welcome to Level 3," he said tossing a new ID to her.

Again Darcy couldn't speak. "Are you serious?" she said at last. She hadn't been a Level 2 all that long. Did she really deserve this? God, she hoped Phil hadn't recommended her because they were fucking each other now. No, Phil wouldn't do something like that. He must have saw something in her that she didn't see. Hell, he saw something in her that Fury didn't see. "Thank you–"

"You'll be assigned to help Dr. Jane Foster while she's here doing some research for us. I'll go into the details with you next week. Don't make me regret my decision, Agent Lewis." He sat down and clasped his hands in front of him on the desk. "I'll need your official report by tomorrow evening. Also, agent, you have a two week counseling session for mission decompression."

Oh, hell no. Darcy Lewis did not do counseling; there was absolutely no way she was going to be laying on a couch going over her feelings and thoughts with some weirdy doctor. "I don't think I need that, Director–"

"You may not, but Agent Coulson thinks you do."

She was going to kill Phil. He knew how much she hated talking to doctors, especially ones whom she didn't consider 'real doctors.' "Fine," she crossed her arms and glared.

Fury didn't look amused. "Go home and get some rest, agent. You can return to work in a few days. Just make sure you get your report over to me by tomorrow evening. When you and Agent Coulson both return to work you'll be debriefed."

Darcy started to get up and then stopped. "Sir, how is Agent Coulson?"

"He's doing better," Fury said studying Darcy's face. She really hoped that she wasn't giving anything away about their relationship. "He was released this morning and is at home resting."

"So he's not a werewolf?" Darcy had never felt so relieved in her entire life.

"He's not a werewolf. His senses are still heightened but are slowly falling back to normal from what I understand."

"Oh thank god." Darcy sighed and then smiled.

Fury was looking at her again with his eyebrow gently arched. "You two became pretty close while on assignment then?"

Fuck, what did he mean by that?

Darcy sat up straight in her chair immediately. "Um–" she started. "He's a great agent and I've learned a lot from him while we were on the mission. I consider him a good friend after getting to spend time with him."

Fury nodded. "He's one of my best agents. That's why I'm glad you disobeyed orders. Just don't do it again, Lewis." Darcy swore that he almost smiled. "You're dismissed."

"Thank you, Sir," Darcy said with a giant grin on her face as she left the room.

"You're still alive?" Clint was leaning up against the cubicle wall as Darcy walked back to her desk. She smirked at him and flashed her new ID in front of his face. "Well, well what's this?" he asked, snatching it out of her hand.

"Level 3, baby!" Darcy sat down in her chair and spun around a few times. "You know, I thought he was going to rip me a new one when I walked in there, but he actually congratulated me. He was happy that I didn't follow orders."

"See, it pays to fuck up once in a while." Clint handed her ID back and leaned up against her desk. "I heard Coulson was released this morning."

Darcy nodded as she pinned her new ID on her jacket. "Yeah, that's what Fury said. I'm supposed to go home and get some rest for a couple of days," she said as she gathered some papers and shoved them into her Hello Kitty bag.

"Hey, that's not fair! I never get vacation time after I come back from a vacation."

Darcy dropped her bag and raised her eyebrow. "Okay, I was not on a vacation. I was tracking down werewolves."

"Like for the last two days you were there. The rest of the time you and Coulson spent screwing each other." Clint was teasing, and he could tell that Darcy was getting a bit agitated. "Okay, sorry. I was just–"

"Being a jack ass," Darcy said and then punched him in the leg. He yelped, and she laughed. "You deserved that, Barton. Besides, it's not like I'm going home to anything spectacular. I'm going home to my shitty apartment and working on my shitting mission report."

"Or you could go to Phil's fabulous apartment and spend time with him," Clint suggested, and then waggled his eyebrows.

Why didn't she think of that?

"Um, that's actually a great idea. Except I don't know where he lives and I don't want to text him in case he's sleeping. Maybe I'll–"

"Fulton Place, apartment D17."

Darcy raised her eyebrows. "Seriously? That's like one street over from me. I had no idea we lived so close to each other."

Clint looked at the Ninja Turtle clock that sat on Darcy's desk. "I gotta run. I'm meeting Nat for lunch."

Darcy grinned widely. "Oohh, like a–"

"Nope. Not a date."

Darcy stood up. "You just need to tell her, Clint."

"Maybe sometime, Darce," he said softly, giving her a hug. "Give me a call later."

Clint had it bad for Natasha. Usually he was quite vocal about what he wanted but he couldn't bring himself to tell her how he felt about her. Darcy had tried to give him advice, but he never took it. He had told her that Natasha was one of his best friends and his battle buddy, and he didn't want to risk losing her friendship. Darcy smiled softly at him. "I will."