A/N: Okay, remember in 2x04 when Coulson mentioned something in Sausalito while he was dancing with May? Yeah well this chapter is about what could have happened in Sausalito, but that's just in the fic's case of course!
Phil and Melinda walk down the streets of Sausalito. Melinda is in a summer dress and is also wearing flats, while Phil is wearing khaki shorts and floral shirt and another shirt underneath it. Before leaving, Melinda had laughed at what Phil was wearing, telling him that he looked like he was going to the beach in Hawaii rather than a coffee shop in California. But Phil, he was in awe of how beautiful and rare it is to see Melinda in a summer dress.
Phil's hand brushes against Melinda's and Phil decides to grab hold of her hand, wrapping his fingers around her hand. Melinda also wraps her fingers around his hand, a small smile forming on her lips.
"You know we're not supposed to be a couple in this op, right?" Melinda asks Phil quietly. "I'm about to seduce a barista in five minutes and it won't work if he sees us holding hands." Phil smiles and looks at her.
"I know, I just wanted to hold your hand," Phil says, giving her hand a light squeeze. "I've missed you, and I miss having this moment with you." he admits quietly. Melinda looks at Phil and smiles softly at him.
The two turn to the corner where the coffee shop is and stops. Phil lets go of Melinda's hand and looks at her. "Your talkie's working fine?" he asks. Melinda nods.
"Yours?" Phil nods. "Be safe, Phil." she says. Phil nods again and leans over to plant a quick kiss on Melinda's forehead. Melinda smiles and enters the coffee shop first.
Melinda takes a seat on the high stool of the counter. She starts fixing her hair and looking at the barista with a small smirk on her face. The barista is cleaning mugs and couldn't stop looking at Melinda. The barista puts down the mug he's cleaning and slowly walks over to Melinda, a smile forming on his lips. Phil enters and takes a booth not far from where Melinda is sitting, but is also near the storage room.
"What would a beautiful lady like you want something on a pretty day?" he asks. Melinda giggles and Phil had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the barista.
"What kind of tea do you have…" Melinda trails and looks at the barista's name plate. "Lucas?"
"Do you prefer hot tea or iced tea?" he asks, leaning closer to Melinda. "Either way, I could always make something good out of it." he adds in a low voice and winks. Melinda giggles.
"What kind of hot stuff do you have, Lucas?" she asks, a small smirk forming on Melinda's lips as she looks down at his body. Lucas grins.
"The only hot stuff around here is you, beautiful lady," Lucas says, not removing his grin off his face. "And down here, if you really want to know." Melinda leans in closer until her face is almost just an inch away from his.
"Maybe tonight if you give me a call, I'd find out." Melinda says in a low voice, smirking while biting her bottom lip. Phil takes this as a sign that he should enter the storage room. He stands up quietly, and walks over quickly to the storage room door, opening the door quietly with a universal key. He enters it and sees stacks of boxes of utensils and ingredients.
Phil takes out his talkie. "I'm in the storage room." he says, pressing a button.
"Don't get too pissed now, Coulson, you know Melinda won't go out with that guy." He hears Natasha's playful voice from the talkie, followed by the muffled laughter of the others. He rolls his eyes.
"Where's the intel located?" Phil asks, clearly not liking the subject.
"If you go straight ahead, there's a backdoor, and the intel's probably located inside it." Clint says. Phil walks straight past the boxes and ingredients and sees a door. He takes out his universal key and opens it, only to find rows of drawers inside the room.
"Barton, where is it?" he asks.
"Fifth row, sixth locker." Clint replies. Phil makes a face.
"Fifth from the right or fifth from the left?" he asks. He hears Clint sighs on the other end.
"Fifth from the left, Coulson, how do you read and count stuff?" Clint replies, exasperated. Phil walks over to the fifth row and counts one, two, three, four, five…sixth locker. He opens it but an alarm is triggered.
Lucas takes out a gun and points it at Melinda. The other customers stand up from their seats as two waiters take out their guns and point it at Melinda. Melinda slowly stands from her seat and raises her hands up at Lucas.
"Anybody who exits this coffee shop will be shot," Lucas announces, and looks at Melinda. "Looks like we've got a bad girl in the house." he says in a low voice, smirking at Melinda who is glaring at him. Melinda looks around her, and looks at the two waiters beside her, their guns pointing right at her. She looks at Lucas.
"I could've liked you, you know." she tells him in a low voice, giving him a wink before she grabs the arm of the waiter on her right and uses him as a shield when the waiter on her left pulls the trigger, shooting the other waiter dead on his chest. Melinda begins throwing punches and kicks at the other waiter. The customers begin screaming and running out from the coffee shop when Lucas hops over the counter and pulls the trigger when Melinda ducks, shooting the other waiter on his chest. Melinda stands back up and kicks the gun away from Lucas's hand. Lucas tries to grab it from the ground as Melinda gives him another kick before running out from the coffee shop.
Melinda runs on the sidewalk, against the flow of people going in the opposite direction. She turns to look back and sees Lucas running far behind her but on sight. She turns the corner and sees a bay. She takes a look at her surroundings and without thinking, jumps off the board and into the water. She swims and takes cover under a walk board, lifting a small portion of her head up to look for Lucas, who looks around the bay area and runs further, not seeing Melinda in the water. Melinda heaves a sigh of relief and stays put to where she is, in case Lucas goes back.
Phil holds onto the file, trying to contact Melinda through the talkie but only hears static noises. "Barton, do you have any contact of May?" he asks, his teeth gritting.
"Her tracker's also gone." He hears Victoria's muffled voice in the other line. Phil's heart starts beating fast. Where the hell is she? Is she okay? Is she hurt?
"I'll look for her." Phil says, and starts walking.
"Coulson, the intel." Clint says.
"I have it with me."
"Then, go."
"I can't just leave May behind, Barton. Don't you have an exit strategy?"
There is silence in the other line. Phil rolls his eyes and mutters a swear under his breath. He turns his talkie off and puts it in his pocket before running down the road.
Melinda is still in the water, hours after she had first taken her dip. It's getting a bit dark and cold and she can't get herself out of the water, afraid Lucas or his companions, if any, will find her. Fuck retrieval ops. She thought. She swims further under the dock and into the open, shivering at the cold air.
"Mel! Mel!" She hears someone calling. She swims nearer the surface and sees Phil running towards the bay.
"Phil!" She shouts back, waving her hands up. Phil sees her and runs to her, offering her a hand as he pulls her out of the water. He shivers when the cold water touches his skin. He buttons off his flower shirt and puts it over Melinda's shoulder.
"The intel?" Melinda asks, her teeth clattering because of the cold. Phil shows her the file. "Thank God. Else the dive wasn't worth it."
"What happened?" Phil asks, as the two walk back town.
"I think the people running the coffee shop were Hydra," Melinda says. "And they knew we were coming, apparently. They were armed."
"And we said this was a simple retrieval op," Phil says. "Are you hurt?" he asks. Melinda shakes her head.
"Just cold." she replies. "You?"
"Had to fight off a waiter inside the storage room but I'm good." he replies. Melinda sighs, relieved and smiles at Phil, who takes out his talkie and turns it back on.
"Coulson? Do you have May?" Clint asks.
"She's with me now." Phil replies.
"Good. Come back to the plane, you guys know where we are."
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