A/N: Update!

For more years the team stuck together doing missions. Fury trusted Barton's team, and the team had never once failed Fury. When it seems like their mission's about to go south, someone in the team will always find a way to get them back on track. No, the missions were never easy, and when it is, they know something's wrong, and most of the time, they're right. They never leave a mission site unscathed, or unharmed. They take bullets in their shoulders, legs, and earn bruises and scars on their bodies, but they always stuck together, helping one another get up and carry on with their missions.

Phil and Melinda had earned their own fame within S.H.I.E.L.D., despite having a personal relationship within a working team, they know how to balance both and how to compartmentalise. They know when to call each other by their last names, and when to call each other by their nicknames. They are the ideal working pair within S.H.I.E.L.D..

But they're not exactly a couple.

"Off early tonight?" Clint asked, watching Phil walk past his office. Phil looked at Clint and smiled.

"Yeah, Mel and I are off for dinner." Phil said. Clint leaned on his doorframe and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Whose idea, yours or your girlfriend's?" Clint teased. Phil raises an eyebrow, a smirk forming on his face.

"Mine, and she's not my girlfriend." Phil said. Clint frowned and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Aren't you a couple?" he asked. "What, do you still call yourselves, a fling?"

Phil scrunched his face and slightly nodded his head. "We're not, we just…can't call it a relationship, either."

Clint scoffed at his statement. "Clearly you two never broke anything up." he muttered, enough for Phil to hear. "Make up your mind, Coulson, relationship or not." He went back inside his office and closed his door, leaving Phil blinking and looking at Clint's closed door.

The two never really talked about it. What was there to discuss? It was like they're continuing whatever was supposed to happen had the baby not been taken away. They didn't need any more talking nor discussing about anything in their…thing. Melinda doesn't like talking about things, she gets things done, and whatever's done is final for her. Phil, on the other hand, knows that there's nothing really to talk about.

Phil didn't want to assume right away that Melinda wanted to be his girlfriend, and same was the case for Melinda. For years they just relied on each other's physical touch, words of intimacy and feeling of love.

Phil didn't know if he was the only one bothered by this, or if Melinda was also thinking of the same thing. Melinda never really mentioned anything about their relationship, and he wasn't going to talk unless she opens it up herself.

But Phil didn't think people come to Melinda and ask about her personal relationships. If she was ever open to anyone about her personal life, it's only within their team: Clint, Natasha and Victoria, sometimes Maria. And Phil didn't think for a second that any one of them would ask anything about Melinda's personal relations with Phil. Natasha could, but the two had better things to do than to chat about their personal lives both are clearly compartmentalising within S.H.I.E.L.D..

But Phil doesn't really know that.

Natasha and Melinda had just finished sparring. Melinda had taken Natasha down more times than the latter had taken down the other. Both retrieve to the benches in the gym and sit down, breathing heavily as they both gulp their water down their throats.

"Tell me, Melinda, what do you do to take down people in combat?" Natasha asks, leaning against the wall as she tries to catch her breath. Melinda looks over at her and smirks.

"Thought you've figured it out by now." Melinda replies, taking another sip from her bottled water. Natasha frowns.

"You're swift, you're small, you throw strong punches and fast kicks?" Natasha asks, raising an eyebrow. Melinda leans against the wall and sighs.

"Your dominant hand is your right, and you don't use your left much. So when I take out your right, you use your left and when you do, you either fall off your balance or you think of another move for your left hand," Melinda explains. "Which could take a second or so, meaning your mind is away from the fight, so you're distracted. It's an advantage. I take you down easily from there. But lately you've been improving on how fast you think of a move, so it gets harder to take you down."

"You take advantage of my weakness." Natasha points out, nodding. Melinda raises her eyebrows at her.

"I take my opponent's weakness as my advantage," Melinda says. "Most of the time, people don't notice their weaknesses until someone has to point it out for them."

"That's why you always grab my right hand." Natasha realises. Melinda nods.

"It's a helpful trick." Melinda says, finishing her bottle of water. She puts it down beside her on the bench and closes her eyes as she takes deep breaths. She feels Natasha shift beside her.

"So you and Coulson," Natasha speaks up. Melinda opens her eyes and sees Natasha smirking at her. "You're back together?"

Melinda shakes her head. "No. He's not my boyfriend. We broke things off years ago, Nat." she defends herself. Natasha frowns.

"You guys are literally always together for, literally, years." Natasha says. "I mean, even the physical touches give it away. The holding of hands, the very long and intimate hugs, the frequent kisses; don't tell me these mean nothing to you." Natasha frowns. Melinda sighs.

"It's very complicated." Melinda mumbles.

"I'm sure it's not that complicated." Natasha replies.

"Phil and I never really talked about this," Melinda tells her. "And if you ask me, I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?"

"What's the use, Nat?" Melinda asks, throwing her hands on her lap, exasperated. "For us to have a normal relationship? This life that I'm living isn't normal and so is his. We work for a very dangerous organisation, risking our lives everyday, we just lost our child who was kidnapped by the former head of the organisation. That's not normal, Nat, and to have the relationship that people actually expect to be normal, it doesn't fit in this messy life." She looks at Natasha and sighs. "Something as good as having a normal relationship can't match with the messes he and I made for ourselves. And I don't think I can risk hoping for something normal when I know in the end, it will just end up crumbling on the ground."

"Don't you think you'd want something good, at least a little something that's good in your messy life?" Natasha asks her. Melinda scoffs.

"Just to see it deteriorate everyday and end up in ashes? I've had enough of those." Natasha eyes her carefully and bites her bottom lip, her eyes narrowed at Melinda and her brows furrowed together. "What?" Melinda asks, noticing the way Natasha is looking at her.

"You're pushing him away," Natasha tells her. "You're afraid that if you do have that relationship, any time he'll leave you like he did before. You're afraid of getting hurt by the same reason you suffered from years ago." Melinda frowns at Natasha. "And with no normal relationship, it would be easier for the both of you to leave each other."

Melinda does not say anything. She does not know what to say. She knows Natasha could see past Melinda's facade and words. She knows Natasha can very well word out Melinda's intentions and thoughts, just by looking at her eyes and how she acts. Melinda hates it, but Natasha always ends up right. Always.

Most of the time, people don't notice their weaknesses until someone has to point it out for them. If earlier, Melinda had to point out to Natasha her physical weakness, now Natasha had just pointed out Melinda's emotional weakness. She's afraid of Phil leaving her again.

"Melinda, if you're getting yourself into another fling like this again," Natasha says softly. "I suggest you stop it. It's doing you no good. Better have nothing than to have something not normal. At least with nothing, nothing can hurt you." Natasha pats Melinda's lap and offers her a small smile before standing up to leave the gym.

For a few minutes, Melinda just stays there, sitting, contemplating on Natasha's words. "Is this the part wherein you leave me?" She hears a soft small voice ask. She shoots her head up and sees Phil leaning against the doorway of the gym, arms crossed over his chest. Melinda swallows and stands up, slowly walking over to Phil.

Melinda bites her bottom lip and sighs. "I'm sorry." she tells him softly. Phil nods and straightens his posture.

"I deserve it, after everything you went through." Phil tells her. Melinda looks down and tentatively steps closer to Phil, who opens his arms. Melinda throws herself in his arms and buries her head in his chest. She will miss him. She will miss his touch. She will miss his smell. She will miss everything about him.

"We'll still be partners on the field." Phil tells Melinda softly. Melinda nods against Phil's chest and pull back. Phil gives her a sad smile and Melinda returns it.

"Well, I better get back." Phil says. "See you around, Agent May."