Every Agent Tries to Stop: Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
First in the 'Every Agent Tries to Stop' series. 15 days, 15 mistletoe kisses, 15 different pairings.
12th December
"Okay, are we ever going to get round to putting the tree up or what?"
"Priorities, Skye! I case you hadn't noticed we were busy with some issues that were slightly more pressing than Christmas decorations. Namely trying to not get killed." Agent Ward rolled his eyes as he responded, it made no sense for the team to be getting frustrated over something so insignificant. Who cared when the bus got decorated, as long as they were all still alive by the time Christmas came around? Sadly, not everyone on the team was on the same page, so less than 24 hours after the debrief of the team's last mission, everyone was back on the topic of a Christmas tree.
"I'm with Skye on this one... it's our first Christmas together. Well, our first Christmas as a team, me and Simmons have spent Christmas together before, but it's not really the same as all six of us being on the bus together, and I mean we might not even get another chance to decorate the bus if something else comes up-"
"So we should make the most of our free time, and have some fun together as a team?" Jemma cut Fitz off before he could continue with his rambling. Not that she wasn't just as guilty of it as he was on occasion, but they needed to convince everyone that decorating together could be fun, and that wasn't going to happen if Ward was irritated at everyone. She really needed everyone to get into the Christmas spirit, this was going to be her first Christmas spent without her parents. She knew Fitz would make it special, just like he last year when he spent Christmas with her family, but being on the bus was like having her own little work family and she felt as though Christmas was the perfect time to express that.
"Considering the fact you guys forced Agent May to take the bus somewhere you could do some Christmas shopping, I think it would be a shame to not get the decorations up. I'll go get them... FitzSimmons, I trust you two can go and fetch the tree Skye bought?"
"Of course we will, Agent Coulson. This is going to be so much fun guys!" Simmons grinned and left the room, Fitz smiling after her and following. Agent Coulson went to leave the room as well, shooting a questioning glance at Agent May in lieu of asking her if she would accompany him.
"I'd just like to point out for the future that I am here as a pilot, not a taxi service, and Agent Ward is correct, we have other priorities. I suppose unless anything else comes up, we can take the time to decorate however." She said to no one in particular as she exited the room.
Once it was just the two of them, Skye smiled mischievously at her supporting officer,
"so... they're so obviously in love right? Tell me you see it too, they're both so cute and clueless about it!" Agent Ward looked startled, which Skye thought seemed unusual, but she began to understand his expression as he quickly responded,
"May and Coulson? I don't think-"
"No! No... I mean FitzSimmons, obviously! They just care about each other so much, it's adorable and frustrating to watch at the same time."
Ward looked a bit less startled after her second statement, although come to think of it, Skye wasn't quite sure why. She'd never given it much though, but May and Coulson would probably make a rather good couple, and the idea of it surely shouldn't be so shocking, she considered. Although obviously less shocked by the idea, Agent Ward didn't look at all convinced of the romance Skye could sense between Jemma and Leo.
"I think you're looking into things too much Skye. As much as you might want to, you can't just assume you understand other people's feelings. FitzSimmons are practically the same person, I really don't think they have anything more than friendship on their minds. I mean, they're close sure, but they're also practically brother and sister."
"Okay first, that's kind of gross, why would you talk about them like they're related when they make such a cute couple? Second, I definitely think there's more than just friendship between them, and I can prove it!"
Skye had been looking forward to finding to causing havoc with the mistletoe they had bought last week, against the will of certain agents, and this was the perfect opportunity to make use of it. Whilst they'd been talking, May and Coulson had been fetching in the boxes of decorations. Ward watched, intrigued, as she routed through the first few boxes, eventually giving up on figuring out what it was she was looking for.
The fourth box she searched contained exactly what she was looking for, and she held up some mistletoe and grinned triumphantly at Ward.
"Mistletoe. How exactly does that prove you right?"
"It doesn't. Not yet... but once we trick FitzSimmons into standing under it, we'll see how they react. I bet you anything after you see their reaction to getting caught under the mistletoe, you'll agree with me."
"I somehow doubt tha-"
Skye quickly slipped the mistletoe into her pocket as Agents Fitz and Simmons reached the doorway, signalling frantically to Ward to stop speaking. May and Coulson had just got back with the final boxes, and stood staring silently at the sight of the breathless agents dragging the tree into the room. The tree they'd bought was plastic, and had originally been in a storeroom on the other side of the bus, boxed and ready to be brought in to assemble. Skye hadn't considered it before, but it had taken them rather a long time to fetch it, and everyone could now see why.
"You may be two of the brightest agents I've ever had the privilege to work with, but you really didn't think that through did you?"
Agent Coulson tried not to smile too widely as he addressed his fellow agents, stood with their arms around the fully assembled tree they'd just dragged into the room.
"What do you mean?"
Uttered a confused looking Fitz, his arms dropping to his sides as he stepped away from the tree.
"I believe Agent Coulson is referring to the fact that most people would have fetched the tree into the room before assembling it, rather than dragging it half way across the bus,"
Simmons blushed as she listened to Agent May, realising how much effort they'd wasted. She didn't mind too much, putting up the tree with Fitz had been fun, and even dragging it around hadn't been too much of a chore. It was the embarrassment of other people thinking she'd been silly that was unbearable and she covered her face with her hands and laughed along with the rest of the team, whilst Fitz stuttered out half formed excuses. She put her hand on his arm, and he went quiet, looking defeated as he realised none of his words were convincing anybody that they hadn't messed and made things harder for themselves. Eventually, he turned round to look at her and burst out laughing himself, giving up on trying to defend their actions.
Eventually the laughter died down. Thankfully, no one had noticed Skye slipping something else into her pocket. Placing the mistletoe had been more of a difficulty however, and it was still sitting in her pocket, alongside the star for the top of the tree she'd snuck out of a box whilst everyone was busy giggling. She wasn't tall enough to reach the top of a door frame without drawing too much unwanted attention to herself, so as everyone began emptying boxes of tinsel and baubles she walked over to Agent Ward, and looked him in the eyes whilst discretely handing him the mistletoe, then looking pointedly at the door.
Soon enough, the tree was covered in a variety of different coloured tinsel, with mismatched baubles strewn across it. Skye was smiling at a sceptical looking Ward as Fitz wrapped a giggling Simmons up in tinsel, spinning her outwards as if they were dancing together. As far as Skye could see, the two of them were so obvious that the mistletoe was unneeded, but the bus could always benefit from some Christmas fun, and mistletoe was still the perfect way to get that spirit started in her opinion. Besides, her supporting officer was still looking far too unconvinced.
"Where's the star for the top of the tree?"
She questioned, making sure the decoration in her pocket was well hidden. Agent Coulson looked over at her suspiciously. He hadn't been there for the entire conversation, but realistically Skye knew that he and Agent May must have overheard some of what she'd been discussing with Ward. She was almost waiting for him to call her out, but that moment never came.
"We must have dropped it while we were bringing the decorations. FitzSimmons, seeing as though you guys made such a chore of bringing in the tree, you should probably go look for the star."
"Okay Agent Coulson!"
Fitz and Simmons exclaimed simultaneously, heading towards the door. As they walked, Skye took the star from her pocket and placed it on a nearby table. As her targets reached the doorway, she prepared herself to stop them, but before she had chance to say anything, Agent May picked up the star.
"Wait. The star's here on the table, there's no need to go looking for it."
They stopped, practically in the centre of the doorway, exactly where Skye wanted them. They started to turn round, but before they got the chance to move from the doorway, May had continued.
"You might want to look up though."
She smiled, as did the rest of the team as they watched the dawning of realisation on Fitz's face.
"Jemma, you might want to-"
"Oh, is that-"
"Yep."
Before they had time to overthink things, something which they were both frequently guilty of, their eyes closed and leant in to meet each other's lips. Fitz brought his hand up to brush her cheek, and hers came to rest on his waist, subconsciously blocking the two of them away from their spectators whilst their other arms were by their sides, both of them holding them awkwardly, unsure of what to do with them. Simmons thought about the first time the two of them had kissed, as she felt Fitz's fingers run gently over the back of her hand. It had been under mistletoe that time too, only that time they were alone, and had both had enough alcohol that they hadn't worried about which hand should go where. She intertwined their fingers for a brief moment, before reminding herself that they also hadn't had to worry about onlookers last time. After a few seconds that had felt far longer, they broke apart. They both stepped away from each other, Fitz stumbling backwards and looking down at his feet. They suddenly noticed the laughing and, in Skye's case, cheering happening around them and started giggling along with the rest of the team, both blushing lightly as they caught each other's eyes.
"Okay, who's idea was that?"
No one responded as Fitz looked around, scanning the room for guilty looking faces. He waited for a few moments, before realising that, as usual, it was useless expecting any of them to own up. He was almost sure it was Skye, but either way, it didn't really matter.
"Whoever decide mistletoe on the bus was a fun idea will live to regret it... mark my words, this wont be the last kiss aboard the bus this Christmas!"