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Clint had been sure that keeping their fragile, three day old relationship a secret was safer, but Phil...Phil was a stand up guy, and he refused to act like there was something wrong with them being together. Phil had told Clint to let him take care of it, that he could convince Fury that SHIELD's frat regs were a relic of SHIELD's early military sponsorship and were outdated and didn't work anyway. He'd told Clint not to worry, but Clint couldn't help worrying, which was why he was lurking in the drop ceiling above Fury's office.
His timing was good; he heard Phil come in just a few minutes after he got settled.
"Director," Phil said.
"So formal?" Fury sounded relaxed. "You have a bad weekend or something?"
"No, sir. But I am here on business."
Fury sighed. "You couldn't have let me enjoy the weekend afterglow?"
"Sorry. I really couldn't. It's about SHIELD's frat regs."
"Did you catch two of the juniors screwing again? Just look the other way, Cheese, we've talked about this before."
Clint felt a twinge of uncertainty. If they'd talked about this before and it hadn't gone Phil's way...
"We have," Phil said. "And I've told you that having the regs on the books doesn't do a damn thing except force our people to lie to us and add stress to an already stressful job. SHIELD agents are going to get involved with each other, Director. It's inevitable, whether it's against the regs or not. If it's officially banned, they we can't even manage those relationships appropriately."
"Banning them means we have to deal with them less often," Fury pointed out. "And it gives us a simple and clear course of action to resolve the issue when it comes up."
Clint closed his eyes. God, this was not going well.
"And what happens when the agents involved are people you aren't willing to lose?" Phil asked quietly.
There was a long pause. "If this is going where I think it might be going," Fury said, "you had better get up and walk out before you say another word."
"I've started a relationship with Agent Barton," Phil said baldly, instead.
"Goddammit, Cheese! What did I just say? Why are you fucking doing this to me?"
"This isn't about you, Nick!" Phil snapped back. Clint's eyes flew open. He'd never heard Phil so much as raise his voice to the Director. "This is about me, and it's about Clint, and it's about a stupid set of regs that should have been suspended and revised years ago."
"What, you're doing this for leverage? You're my friend, Phil, but you don't run the Division. We can disagree about the regs, but in the end it's my call, and I'm not dealing with this bullshit."
"You want me to choose between Clint and SHIELD."
"I'm sorry, Phil."
Clint bit his lip to stop a sound from escaping.
"So am I," Phil said. "Pass me that pad of paper and the pen?" There was a soft sound--the pad sliding across the desk--and the occasional tap as Phil briskly crossed tees and dotted eyes.
"What are you doing?" Fury asked after a moment.
"Writing my letter of resignation."
Every muscle in Clint's body clenched.
"What?" Fury sounded about as poleaxed as Clint felt.
"You heard me." The occasional tap of the pen grew sharper and more frequent. "You just said I can't have both this job and a relationship with Clint. I can get another job, Nick. Clint's one of a kind."
"Jesus, Coulson. You started this relationship what, on the weekend? You think a guy you've been screwing for less than three days is worth throwing away your career?"
Clint flinched.
"Can the shock tactics," Phil shot back. The tap of the pen never stopped. "I've known Clint for nearly four years; he's not a stranger I'm going to regret picking up in a week. I know what I want, and I seriously doubt I'll have to start my career from scratch regardless of where I go." A pause, then the sound of the pad sliding across the table again. "There you go. My resignation, effective immediately." Clint heard a chair slide back. "Excuse me, I have an office to clear out."
"Phil," Fury said quietly. "There is another option. Agent Barton--"
Phil cut him off. "If Clint chooses to resign, that's up to him, but if you think I'd be willing to stay after you forced him out, then you're kidding yourself."
Clint closed his eyes, heart aching. Phil, Phil, Phil.
"You think I'm going to bow to this bluff of yours?"
"This isn't a bluff, Director. It's an ultimatum." Phil sounded calm now. "Change the regs, or I walk out that door."
Clint waited. After a moment, he heard footsteps. Just about the moment Phil would be reaching for the door, Fury caved. "Fine! Christ, Phil. Fine, okay, we'll change the fucking regs."
"Thank you, Nick."
A rustle of paper. "Can I tear this up now?"
"Of course." The was the sound of paper tearing, and then Phil spoke again. "I can always write another, if I need to."
"Yeah, yeah, I get the point. Get back to work."
Clint had to wait almost fifteen minutes before he could safely make his way out of Fury's office ceiling, but when he did, he made a beeline for Phil's office. He slipped in the door and Phil looked up at him and smiled warmly. "Clint. I spoke to the Director; everything's taken care of."
An incredulous laugh escaped Clint. How many other times had Phil covered a risk and a sacrifice like that with 'it's taken are of'? "You gave him your resignation," Clint blurted.
Phil's smile turned wry and he got up from behind his desk and came around to lean against the front of it, instead. He held out his hand and Clint took it and let himself be pulled in to stand just about between Phil's knees. "I should have known you'd be listening. Yes, I did. I'm glad he gave in, but I'd have walked out of there if I had to."
Clint leaned his forehead against Phil's and put his hands on Phil's hips. "No one's ever..." Clint trailed off, then swallowed and made himself finish. Phil deserved to heard it all. "No one's ever put me first before."
Phil brought a hand up to cup Clint's cheek. "I love you," Phil said. "Everything else is negotiable."
~!~