You know the deal: I don't own the Avengers or any of these characters. I'm just playing with them for a little while and will return them none the worse for wear. Of course, I'll be borrowing them again later, but I'll always put them back where I found them.

Thank you so much for the lovely reviews for chapters 8 and 8.5. All For Jesus, Shadowbeats22107, and Lupin Fan: I really appreciate your feedback for each chapter. It's always nice to know that your work is still enjoyed. Ella and guest: I'm glad you liked the conversations. Natural character dialogue is key for me to enjoy a story and I like hearing that I'm getting it right.

Thanks also to all who follow and alert. I assume that means you like :-)

Love you all. Since I know you're not reading this for the author notes, on to the story.

Risks 9

Maria awoke with a smile on her face, very aware of the warm body next to her and the arm draped across her waist. At some point during the night, they had made it into the bed. She stretched, grinning broadly at the twinges of muscles sore from their vigorous activities of the night before. And the early morning. She would definitely have to make an extra effort today to keep her movements smooth and natural.

Knowing that she still had several minutes before she needed to get up, she opened her eyes to study the face of the man responsible for her mood this morning. Curled up against his right side, she examined the smooth planes of his face, relaxed and peaceful in sleep. She pondered for a few minutes.

'Let him sleep?' She knew he was exhausted. 'Or wake him up for another round?'

'Silly question,' she decided.

As she leaned over to claim his lips, a loud buzzing sounded from the bedside table. In one smooth motion, Nick sat up, grabbing the phone and bringing it up to his face.

"Fury."

When there was no answer, he repeated his greeting, then lowered the device to examine the caller ID.

Maria's eyes suddenly widened and she scrambled to grab the other phone off the nightstand. A quick glance confirmed her fear. She held it up to show him.

His phone.

Meaning that the one in his hand was hers.

He mouthed a curse and closed his eye, his mind racing.

"What can I do for you, Coulson?" he barked.

"Sorry, sir," the reply came. "Just a little disconcerting to call Agent Hill and have you answer. Is she okay?" Fury could hear puzzlement and concern in his voice.

Maria leaned close so that she could hear what was said.

"She's fine, Coulson," Nick hastened to assure him. "I stopped by her quarters this morning to get her preliminary report on the mission and to catch her up on some of the things going on here." Maria smiled and nodded, giving him a thumbs up. "She stepped into the other room. Both of our phones were lying on the table and when one rang, I answered it. I didn't even pay attention to whose it was."

They both held their breath, wondering if he would buy the story.

"Ah," Phil finally replied, the single word revealing little. "Actually," he continued, "that works out pretty well. I have some things that I need to go over with both of you, so I'll just head down and meet you both there."

Maria's eyes widened again and she shook her head.

"That won't be necessary," Nick told him. "We're just wrapping up and getting ready to head out."

"Nonsense," Phil interrupted. "I can be there in 5 minutes and you've probably already got the coffee pot going."

The brunette quickly jumped out of bed and grabbed clean uniforms for both of them before dashing into the bathroom. He heard the shower start as he climbed out of bed himself, quickly pulling the covers into place as he sought further delay tactics.

He exited the bedroom, crossing the living room into the kitchen. "How about if you run by the mess hall and grab some bagels or muffins to go with that coffee?" he finally asked. That should give them a few more minutes, he thought as he pushed the 'start' button on the coffee maker.

"I'm on it, boss," Phil told him. "I'll be there in a few."

Nick disconnected the call and prowled the living room, gathering up the clothes they had left scattered last night in their urgency, the memory bringing a smile to his face. Walking back through the bedroom, he entered the bathroom and dropped them in the hamper just as Maria was stepping out of the shower.

"Sorry about that," he said as he handed her a towel and dropped a quick kiss on her forehead before he stepped into the still running water.

By the time he stepped out less than a minute later, she was fully dressed.

"That was fast," she commented through a mouth of toothpaste as she handed him a towel.

He caught her gaze in the mirror. "Not having to wash the hair saves more time than you'd think."

She spit, then rinsed out her mouth. "So you think I should get rid of this?" she asked, gathering her hair up into a knot on the back of her head and running a pin through it.

He reached over and grabbed the pin and pulled it out, allowing her hair to tumble back over his hand. He ran his fingers through it and pulled her face to his for another kiss.

"Please don't."

Glaring at him, she took the fastener from his fingers, returned his kiss, and proceeded to quickly redo the tidy hairdo before exiting the bathroom. As he pulled his clothes on, she popped back into the room to hand him his eye patch. After claiming another peck on the lips, she headed back into the other room.

When he joined her there a few moments later, she had pulled 3 mugs from the cabinet. She filled two of them, then proceeded to dump about half of each down the drain. At his questioning look, she shrugged. "I figure you've been here long enough for us to have already had at least that much."

As he sat down to pull his shoes on, he noted her looking around, her face a study in concentration. She glanced up, catching him watching her and blushed lightly as her mind went to the night before, riding him passionately in the same spot where he now sat.

"I think I got all of our clothes picked up, if that's what you're checking for," he told her.

She sat down to pull her own boots on. "Yeah. I kind of wanted to make sure that Phil doesn't find your underwear hanging out from under the cushion," she told him.

"Wasn't wearing any, remember?" he asked. "In fact, I don't think you were either."

Adopting a snooty tone, she told him, "My valet forgot to lay them out for me."

"Forgot, nothing," he told her with a leer.

"I thought that might have been deliberate," she responded.

He returned to the topic at hand. "I picked up your robe and t-shirt. Actually, my t-shirt that you were wearing, my shirt and pants. My jacket is on the chair over there, my socks and shoes are here," he continued, pointing to said items."

Maria nodded. "That sounds like everything," she agreed as she brought two mugs over to the coffee table. "So. What have we been talking about?"

Nick opened the files on his mobile and scanned through them, quickly bringing her up to date on what had been going on in her absence. When a soft knock sounded at the door, she rose and crossed to it, taking one final look around the room before opening it.

Phil was grinning broadly as he stepped into the room, wrapping his arm around her shoulder in a quick hug. "Welcome back, Maria. Missed you."

"Thanks," she replied, returning his hug. "It's good to be back. I hear you've been released to return to full duty."

"Yeah," he told her. "Right after you left on this last mission. About time, don't you think. I still don't know why it took so long. Dr. Carlyle was being a little too conservative if you ask me."

"Phil," Nick interrupted, "if you will recall, you died. You had a large, sharp, curved piece of steel poked through your body. Your heart and lungs were damaged. You lost about half of the blood in your body. Most people don't recover from that. I think a couple of months in bed and a couple more on light duty are a small price to pay for the fact that you're still above ground."

"And you'd say the same thing if it had been you in that position?"

"Hell, no," Fury replied. "I would have been as anxious as you to get back to work."

"Thought so," Phil affirmed.

He sat the box of muffins on the coffee table as Maria handed him a full cup and they both sat.

"So, what's up, Coulson?"

The agent took a sip of coffee, grabbed a muffin and opened a file on his mobile. "There are a couple of things I'd like to run past you on this Pakistani operation."

After that, the trio settled into a comfortable routine discussing various SHIELD operations and activities that each was involved in dealing with. Finally, Fury scrolled through his files once more and looked over at the other two.

"I think that's all we can do for now," he told them. "Unless either of you have anything else?"

"I don't think so," Maria answered, "though that will probably change when I get to my office and find out what's been left on my desk."

"Yeah," Phil told her with a grin. "You know the routine. When you're gone, everyone shifts their problems to your desk. You wouldn't believe the crap I had to deal with when I got back to mine."

"Sure I would," she replied. "Didn't you notice how much of it came from my desk?"

"I did," he confirmed. "And you'll find a good bit of it back there."

She shrugged. "So I find out who's out in the field right now and shift it to theirs." She noted Nick scowling. "After taking care of the most important stuff, of course."

"Just remember mine is off limits," Phil told her.

"Mine, too," Nick added.

"We'll see about that," Maria answered with a raised eyebrow.

Phil took his coffee mug and topped it off, then turned to face them.

"Actually, there is one other thing. Really more of a suggestion than anything."

Nick and Maria both looked at him curiously.

"Your ring tones." They continued looking at him. "It's probably a good idea to have different ring tones on your phones. That way you don't answer the wrong one."

"Is this about me answering her phone this morning?" Nick asked, comprehension dawning. "Yeah, I suppose the different ring tones might be a good idea, though since we both usually carry our phones, I really don't see it being an issue again."

He would make sure it didn't happen again.

Phil continued. "You should also probably get in the habit of putting your phones on opposite sides of the bed."

They stared at him.

"That way you're less likely to grab the wrong one, even when you're wakened from a sound sleep."

Maria did a very good job of looking confused. "What are you talking about, Phil?"

He gave her a knowing look.

"Are you suggesting that Director Fury and I...?" she left the sentence hanging.

"He was in your quarters answering your phone at 5 o'clock in the morning," he pointed out.

"We don't any of us exactly keep regular office hours," Nick countered. "Besides, do you really think someone like her would want to be with someone like me?"

"And then there's that fact that you smell like that flowery body wash she uses," Phil continued.

Nick's eye narrowed. "I do not. Besides, how do you know what kind of body wash she uses?"

"I don't use flowery body wash," she protested at almost the same time.

Phil grinned at them. "I know you don't, Maria, but only because we work together, Nick, not because I've ever been in her shower. But," he added, his grin broadening, "you did do a 'sniff check' to make sure."

"Did not."

"Did so."

"I use the exact same kind of bar soap that he uses," Maria continued, standing and crossing to where Phil stood. "And, yes, I know this because I have used his shower. Sometimes, I've even shared it with him. Is that what you wanted to know? Are you happy now?" she asked, her voice tight.

Phil paused, looking at her closely.

"That depends," he told her. "Are you happy?"

She considered his question for several moments, turning to look as Nick. A smile spread across her face as she turned back. "Yeah, Phil, I really think I am."

He returned her smile. "Then I'm happy."

Nick rose and walked over to her, snaking an arm around her waist to pull her close. "I'm happy, too."

Phil looked at him and shrugged. "I really don't care about you. As long as she's happy, I'm good."

"Thanks a lot, Coulson."

"Kidding, sir. So how long has this been going on?" he asked.

"After you died, but before I knew you'd recover," Maria told him.

"Really? You've kept it quiet that long?"

"Not easy when you work with people who make a living finding out secrets," Nick added.

Phil nodded in agreement. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. It will stay between the 3 of us."

"Five of us, actually," Maria corrected. As Phil's questioning look, she added, "Natasha and Clint figured it out a few months ago."

"I'm going to have to have a talk with them," Phil muttered. "Keeping important information like that from their handler."

Maria rolled her eyes and reached out to take his coffee mug from him. "If that's all, you two need to get out of here. You might not have anything to do, but I have two weeks worth of paperwork to catch up on," she reminded the two men, pointing them towards her door.

"See you later, Coulson," Nick told the other man, slowing his pace.

"That's okay. I'll wait while you say your good-byes," he answered crossing his arms and leaning against the door.

"That's an order, Agent Coulson," he clarified, slipping and arm around Maria's waist and pulling her close.

Phil couldn't help grinning. "Yes, sir," he replied, finally slipping out the door.

Maria wrapped her arms around Nick, resting her head on his chest. "One more person who knows."

"Yeah."

"Do you think we should kill him?" she asked.

He thought for a moment. "Probably not, since we just put so much time and effort into fixing him up after Loki almost did the job. Besides, I don't think Dr. Carlyle would be very happy if all her hard work were to go to waste. Besides, I think our secret is safe with him."

"True." She lifted her face to him and he leaned down, kissing her quite thoroughly before taking his leave from her quarters.

He wasn't entirely surprised to find Phil waiting in the corridor.

"Was there something else?" he asked, indicating that he wanted the man to walk with him.

"Yes, sir," the agent responded, falling into step with the taller man. Side by side, they headed towards the office areas. "I just wanted to say that I really am happy for the two of you. I can't think of any two people who deserve happiness more."

"Thank you," Nick nodded.

"You know I think the world of you, Nick."

"The feeling is mutual, Agent Coulson."

"There aren't many people I think more highly of than I think of you." He paused. "But Maria Hill is one of those people. While you and I have been to the gates of hell together, she and I have been through several of the nastier neighborhoods there."

He stopped, turning to face the director. "If you ever hurt her, sir, I will make you very sorry. Somehow, some way, you will pay and pay dearly."

Nick studied him, then nodded.

"I know, Phil."

The other man nodded in reply, then walked away.

'Do not ever underestimate that man,' Nick reminded himself. 'There's a reason he's made it to where he's at in this organization.'

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it and find the relationship between these three believable. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. As always, please let me know what you think. I crave your feedback.

Now, off to see what I can come up with for 'Evening Stroll 6' and flesh out 'Risks 10'