author's note: This is an older piece I wrote more or less immediately after I saw the movie, finally typed down. The news about Coulson heading the new SHIELD tv-series motivated me to put it up. (Although nowadays I'm more of a Coulson/Barton fan).

Phil Coulson still wasn't sure if this was a good idea.

He knocked.

The room behind the door went very, very silent. Most people wouldn't have noticed the difference to before but as a trained agent of SHIELD Coulson could tell that the quietness of someone not being noisy had turned into the tense silence of someone listening and waiting. He forced himself to wait patiently for 60 seconds then knocked again. Twenty seconds later he still didn't have an answer and was still alive.

Not too bad a start.

"Sir, your pizza is getting cold," he told the closed door.

A moment later it opened. There was no one to be seen, but a familiar voice told him to "Get in!"

He stepped into the middle of the room, held the pizza box out before him and didn't move. Behind him the door closed.

"You're alone and I assume that box just contains pizza." The speaker moved from behind him into his peripheral vision. "What are you doing here, Coulson?"

He turned – just his head – to face Fury. "Bringing you pizza, Sir. Chicken-pepperoni-pizza to be exact."

Agent Coulson knew his boss pretty well and read his body language as stuck somewhere between angry and curious. This was better than he had ´feared for two reasons: One – he had managed to awake Fury's curiosity and curiosity was good and Two – more importantly Fury still let his emotions show, he hadn't closed up.

"That's my favorite," Fury acknowledged, "but it hardly answers my question." He took the box out of Coulson's hand and placed it on the small table to his left. "Let's try a different angle – How are you here?"

Theoretically Coulson shouldn't know about this particular safe-house, even the director of SHIELD had a right to some privacy.

"I followed you here, Sir."

Fury's eyebrows went up a notch. "I do watch out for people following me."

"Only for the first fifteen minutes, Sir – after that you get a bit careless, because you're sure that you've lost a possible tail. I waited at a prominent junction where I was reasonably sure you would pass and got lucky – after the 15 minute window."

"How did you pick the junction?"

"Last week you used matches from a particular chain of gas stations to light your cigar. The only one in a 30 miles radius is located at that junction."

"Even if I am less careful after the fifteen minute mark, it's still not easy to follow me."

Coulson nodded slightly. "Your peripheral vision, or rather your lack thereof was my best ally."

"Impressive." His answers seemed to satisfy the director, who sat down on a chair and motioned Coulson to do the same. "I will have to work on my routines it seems."

Again Coulson nodded. Now that he had come this far he was getting a bit nervous.

"So why are you here," Fury tried again.

"I needed to talk to you, Sir."

"And this couldn't be done at HQ?"

"It would have been highly inappropriate to bring this up at work."

A slight smile showed on Fury's lips. "And following me to a secret safe-house, you have no business knowing about, without my knowledge or consent wasn't?" Considering the lives they lead, Fury could even see Coulson's point.

"Worst case scenario: You don't talk to me but I've shown you some gaps in your security measures and proven my abilities."

"Wrong! Worst case scenario: I do blow your brains out through the locked door." Given his professionalism, that was highly unlikely, but it still had been a possibility.

"That was a calculated risk, Sir."

The understated matter-of-fact-ness of that statement reminded the director once more, why Coulson was such a damn valuable agent. He leaned back and waited for Coulson to elaborate. No one else on this planet would have thought Phil Coulson anything but perfectly calm, when he spoke next.

"You are aware of my sexual orientation."

Fury acknowledge this with a slight nod. No one got to be an agent of SHIELD without everything, that might be used as blackmail material otherwise, dragged out into the open. If your bosses knew all your secrets already they couldn't be used against you. It wasn't even worth mentioning.

"Since my last promotion we've worked closer together and during the last few months I realized that I'm more than just moderately attracted to you, Sir."

Fury allowed the surprise to be seen on his face. He wasn't easily caught with his pants down – neither literally nor figuratively – but he hadn't seen this declaration coming. He turned to the pizza box and opened it, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. He took an already cut slice of pizza (of course Coulson wouldn't forget a detail like that) and took a bite out of it, while he settled back into his chair. Coulson waited patiently for him to say something. Colonel Nicholas Fury, director of SHIELD took his sweet time eating his slice, considering the man before him, the implied offer and the consequences of his decision.

"First," he started counting the points with the fingers of his right hand, "this can't affect work in any way whatsoever – the job comes first. Second – we can't keep this from everyone, but there can't be gossip either – so I'm thinking level nine security clearance. Third – I don't do exclusive. With our jobs we might not be able to see each other for months and we might die tomorrow. I won't miss chaces, because you might get jealous. Got it?"

Coulson allowed himself a small smile. "Yes, Sir."

Nick rolled his eyes. "And fourth – if we are doing this, you'll get your ass over here and you'll stop calling me 'Sir'."

Agent Coulson loosened his tie as he made his way across the room. "You got it, boss."