Chapter Text
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The swift rap against his door roused Phil from where he’d been dozing on the couch. He stood, padding across the little suite Tony Stark had provided for his stay, shrugging his suit coat off and laying it on a chair as he went. The face peering tersely back at him through the intercom was familiar, though unexpected. “This is a surprise, Director.”
“Phil.” Instead of bulling his way in, SHIELD’s Director waited in the hallway.
Phil Coulson stepped back so he could enter. “It’s awfully late, Nick.”
“And yet you hadn’t gone to bed.” Voice heavy with reproach, Nick Fury strode past him, making himself at home on one end of the couch. “Thought I’d stop by. See how the team was holding up.”
“Well enough, considering…”
“Mmhmm. Considering that Rogers got his ass handed to him by a god-damned ghost.” Nick laid a hand on the cushion beside him – could a single press even be called patting? – and settled further into the arm of the couch. “Sit down and tell me about it. I know Barton is plotting murder, and that Romanov and Rumlow are about to be at each other’s throats, but how are you handling it?”
Phil sat, elbows resting on the back of the couch, head tipped to look at the ceiling. “Things are pretty well straightened out. I got a bit... heated. Captain Rogers seems to have stabilised.”
The low rumble of Nick’s laughter carried in his words. “Was that before or after you tired to book his unconscious ass on an all expense paid guilt trip straight to hell?”
“It wasn’t-” in his rush to defend himself, Phil turned, staring right into the line of a full-face smirk and a bright laughing eye. “Hell?” In a move that would have lifted the brows of anyone that knew him from work, Phil Coulson reached forward, batting at Fury’s knee. “I’m not that bad.”
“You’re worse.” Nick laid his hand over Phil’s, holding it where it rested on his leg. “I would know.”
“And – given that the Captain was sedated – how, exactly, did you know?” The room had been cleared, but…
“Helen kept the monitor feed live; apparently, you looked frazzled, and she was concerned you might… exacerbate Rogers’ condition.
“It wasn’t just the Captain’s condition that concerned me.” He turned his hand over, gently grasping. “Really, Nick, do you want to deal with potential fallout for the initiative if something happened to disrupt that relationship? These incidents already have the rest of the team rattled; we can’t afford to have anyone doubting each other’s motives at this stage.”
In the corner of the couch, Nick Fury shifted. He used the grip on Phil’s hand to urge him to scoot in, wrapping his arm around Phil’s shoulders to tuck him against his side. Nick leant his cheek at the edge of his thinning hairline with a soft sigh. “Sometimes, I think you take that team more seriously than I do.”
“The Avengers are important to you.” Phil nodded, curling close to press in against Nick’s neck.
“They aren’t the only ones.”
“Mm.” He slid his arms beneath that ridiculous trench coat. Phil didn’t bother to quiet his contented sigh when he was pulled closer, half into the Director’s lap, both arms wrapping around his shoulders. Warm and secure, he let himself drift down to the edge of sleep, until Nick yawned above him. Phil took a long breath, pulling back from their shared embrace to look up at him. “I can start some coffee.”
“Phil.” Nick was smiling, the faint little one that pulled at the corner and showed his dimple, even if he was shaking his head.
“Thank you.” For coming; for being you. It drove him crazy more often than not, but Phil could put up with Nick’s habitual recklessness since it got them occasional moments like this.
Nick grumbled a sigh against Phil’s temple. “You’re welcome.”
“Nicholas?” Phil tipped his head up, nose brushing the other man’s cheek.
“Philip?”
All these years, and Nick Fury still wouldn’t be the one to initiate anything more intimate than the hug they’d been sharing. That left Phil to lean in, hand curled against the back of his lover’s neck, holding him gently as Phil fit their lips together. Nick returned the kiss tentatively – lips trembling and hands touching lightly along Phil’s back – as if worried he was going to break the man in his arms; a ludicrous thought – considering Phil Coulson was as well trained as he was – but still a sweet notion.
Phil pulled away, fingers rubbing Nick’s shaved head. “Thank you for doing this.”
“I would do more, except that my man is prissy as hell and hung up on protocol.”
Considering that last kiss, Phil almost wanted to take umbrage at being called prissy. “There’s no need for somebody to lodge accusations of favouritism. I don’t want anyone to question your integrity, Nick.”
“Well, I don’t give a fuck.” Fury squeezed him again. “It’s not like anybody can tell you’re my favourite; sure, I give you all the most important assignments, but those are always the shittiest.”
“I don’t usually mind being kept busy.”
“And I don’t mind keeping you busy, if and when I actually manage to see you.” Nick huffed against the top of his head. “The job isn’t conducive to sharing personal time.”
“It sure as shit is not.” Dropping the casual curse now and again went against Phil’s style, but it always got a chuckle out of Nick, and that was reason enough for Phil to do it. “Though, until Agent Rumlow’s team arrives to assist, I will be less busy? At least for a few hours this… morning.”
“I should probably let you sleep, since you need it.”
“I do. People seem to really enjoy waking me for stupid reasons.” Phil leaned back, knowing his smirk was entirely unprofessional and not giving a damn. “Although, I doubt even Tony Stark would risk waking you.”
Nick Fury’s lone eye winked back at him. “Are you implying that my staying over might be necessary for you to get a good night’s rest, Deputy Director Coulson?”
“I can state it plainly if you’d prefer, Director Fury.”
“Stick with subtle; it confuses them. And I like your implications... though I’m more for demonstration, myself.” Half-grinning as he stood, Nick headed toward the bedroom.
Phil chuckled softly to himself, even as his back cracked pushing up off the couch to follow.
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