2. Chapter 2

Phil closed his eyes and groaned softly after he saw the advertisement for Stark's Bar that Fury was pointing at. "No, boss."

"This guy Captain America has a huge following, and I want him on my stage," Fury said, tossing the local gay newsmagazine at Phil, who didn't even look at it because he already knew it backwards and forwards. As the assistant manager of the huge and hugely popular night club The SHIELD, part of Phil's job was to keep tabs on the competition. Nothing revealed the status of a bar's bad financial outlook better than how desperate they sounded in their ads.

SHIELD's ads were always low-key and classy because Phil ran a tight ship and Fury knew how to keep it on course. Phil was, actually, part owner, although only of a small percentage. Enough to keep him tied to the place come hell or high water, which he knew had been Fury's plan all along. Ever since they had retired out of the Army at pretty much the same time, Fury had been shepherding Phil like a worried older brother. It was endearing and also damn frustrating, but Phil appreciated having something greater to devote himself to than his cat.

"Gay night is one of our most lucrative nights, boss. We don't need new blood." Phil rolled up the magazine. "What's this really about?"

Fury glared at him with his good eye, then leaned back in his chair with as much resignation as he ever showed, which wasn't much. "Apparently he's good friends with the Black Widow."

Phil groaned loudly. "Not this again."

"She's the best burlesque performer on the East coast, if not the whole damn country, and I want her on the main stage."

"And she's already said 'no' three times. You ask one more time and it's borderline creepy." Phil crossed his arms.

Fury crossed his arms in reply.

"No."

Fury continued staring at him. "I'm trying to put together the best damn team of performers any club has ever seen. I've got Thor and Banner and Danvers, but I need Romanov."

"I'm still not sure why Banner is even involved, he's a liability."

"Because his stand-up act is spectacular."

"He gets on stage and mumbles for the first half, then screams in rage for the second."

"And people think it's hysterical social commentary, and they throw money at it. His youtube vid hits are in the tens of thousands. Are you questioning my decisions?"

"No boss, never. Why would I do that?"

Fury glared at him then got up and walked out of the office. Phil had lost that round, but that didn't mean he actually had to put much effort into trying to score Captain America. Word was the guy was loyal as hell to the dive bar he worked at, and while the photos of him that Phil had seen showed one amazingly good looking kid, it wasn't as if hot bodies weren't a dime a dozen in that town. Phil had been to Stark's Bar before, and consigned himself to spending a very long night being very, very bored at a very lame 'club' with very unprofessional talent just so he could tell Fury that he tried without lying about it.

Sometimes, his job sucked.