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Being a SHIELD agent had its advantages, especially when you answered directly to the man at the top. Phil Coulson valued his team and when they were between catastrophic, world ending events the Head of SHIELD allowed his agents to have time off and freedom. So when you had mentioned to FitzSimmons that you had a friend who worked at the Smithsonian who was going to let you see the exhibit’s new Captain America statue before it was officially unveiled, you had the resources to get the whole team access. You hadn’t realized Coulson had been passing in earshot of your conversation with the two young scientists. Phil Coulson was the biggest Captain America in the world and he could be charmingly persistent. That was your downfall; you had a hard time saying “no” to him. You’d had a puppy dog crush on him since your academy days. All he had to do was smile at you and you were more than willing to do whatever it took to get your friend to give in to your request.
You used every trick and resource being an agent had provided you with. When those proved fruitless, you had coerced your boyfriend the Avenger to help (“You owe me for helping you please your crush, you know,” Clint had told you with an eyebrow waggle). Clint had to promise your friend a date with the Black Widow before said friend would acquiesce. You had promised Clint you’d owe him twice over if he was the one to break the news to the super spy in your place (“Is your plan to kill me off so you can be with Coulson?” he’d asked you jokingly; you’d be lying if you denied the thought had crossed your mind).
And that was how you found yourself standing just outside the Captain America exhibit next to a casually dressed Phil Coulson. FitzSimmons, Daisy, Hunter, Bobbi, and even Mack and May had all come along. Coulson looked like a kid in a candy store as the door to the Smithsonian opened for your team, revealing Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton.
“Agents,” Coulson greeted them with an arched eyebrow.
“It’s been a while, Director,” the red haired Russian said, her lips curling into a smile at the sight of him.
“Hey Natasha,” you greeted her quietly. You’d seen the bruises she’d left on Clint and suspected you might end up sporting matching ones.
“Barton’s on guard duty and I have a date with a Smithsonian employee,” she told you dryly.
“Eddy’s a good guy,” you replied as your friend in question appeared from behind Clint.
“Please don’t break anything,” Eddy said to you.
“We’re all perfectly civil grownups, Eddy,” you told your friend. “What could possibly go wrong?”
“You’re friends with Black Widow and Hawkeye, lots can go wrong,” countered Eddy.
“If they get too rowdy, I’ll just shoot them,” Clint replied easily.
You rolled your eyes at Clint as a couple of the others scoffed at him. You even thought you heard May mumble ‘You wish, Barton’ before you ushered Eddy off with Natasha. You ushered your team inside and Clint fell in step beside you, his hands shoved in his pockets. “You planned this,” you accused.
“Couldn’t miss his reaction to the statue,” replied Clint.
“Sure Barton,” you chuckled. You watched your teammates go off and do their own thing in little clusters, smiling fondly at them. They had their own little cliques – what work place didn’t? – but they were still very much a family. Coulson and May were undoubtedly the parents of your team. Mack, Bobbi, and Hunter were the older siblings. That left Fitz, Simmons, Daisy, and yourself as the babies of the family. Watching them, you weren’t terribly upset that they had tagged along on your night off. You weren’t even all that annoyed with Clint being there even though you were acting like it. “Too bad Steve couldn’t be here. That would have really won me some points with the boss,” you mused as you watched on. Coulson was all over the place with May trailing along behind him.
“I don’t think Coulson would be able to function if Steve were here,” chuckled Clint.
“My boss is adorkable,” you giggled before heading off to join your team.
Clint watched you, a frown on his face. He hadn’t seen you in weeks before you had mentioned Coulson wanted to interlope on your night off. Missions usually kept the two of you busy, but it had never been a problem in the beginning. You’d worked a desk job for SHIELD when Clint had first met you, not part of any team. Back then, it had just been him going off on missions. Then SHIELD fell and you had found yourself reclassified as a field agent. Clint had finally understood what his absences had made you feel like. It should have brought you two closer but it seemed to be driving a wedge between the two instead.
“You can’t do that! We’ll get shot at! Clint warned us already!”
Your voice pulled Clint from his thoughts and he moved in the direction you had gone. The Avenger stopped short, his eyes widening at what he saw before him. Agent Melinda May was standing in front of the bronze statue of Captain America, brandishing a replica of his famous vibranium shield. She had her lips twitched up in a slightly amused smirk.
“C’mon, May! You can’t be condoning this!” Clint watched you try to sway the woman.
“The Director can’t back down from a challenge,” May answered.
“You can if it’s from Hunter! He’s a troublemaker!”
“You know he doesn’t need my encouragement where the country’s golden boy is concerned,” countered Hunter.
“Look at how happy he is (Name). Do you really want to destroy his hopes and dreams?” chimed in Daisy.
You sighed in defeat and gave Clint a helpless shrug. You held in a giggle when you saw him raise his cell phone and snap several pictures of Phil Coulson – who had scaled the bronze statue and was snuggling up to it from behind. His hands were splayed over the bronze chest of the statue and for once the director of SHIELD looked blissful. It made your heart flutter. Phil Coulson was your ideal man – serious and family oriented (you knew he viewed the team as a family too) but also silly and easy going. All the same traits you had seen in Clint before you became a full-fledged field agent and he started drifting away from you. Sighing, you turned away from Clint, unsure of where you stood with him. You had hoped both of you being field agents would be a new beginning but it seemed it was the beginning of the end.