"The President himself asked me to extend his personal thanks, interrupting Melody's reverie.
For the first time, she really looked at the Director. He had at least a decade or two on her, but he was as steadfastly American as Melody herself. No risk of betrayal, but he was a prime target for assassination, given his position.
Melody discarded the fear the second it turned itself over in her mind. After all, she didn't become one of the agency's top agents by being cautious.
"Do you ever get out from behind that desk, sir?" she asked her superior.
Confusion showed on the man's face. "What do you mean, Agent Powers?"
"Would you like to go on a field mission with me? To my apartment maybe?"
"Your apartment! Agent Powers--"
"Or maybe we can just stake out the situation here, and see what develops," she interrupted, walking around the desk to him.
"Agent Powers, this is against protocol!" the Director warned. Melody ignored him as she lowered herself into his lap, the man either unable or unwilling to resist.
"It's like this, Director Petersen," Melody began. She pulled the knot off of his tie, and tossed it aside. "You're the only man who's been a constant in my life ever since I joined the agency. Everyone else is either dead or a Red, which is the same thing. You just...make sense."
By now, the Director's shirt was mostly unbuttoned. He tried one more time: "Agent Powers, America comes first."
Melody considered this. "No, Director. America may be the number one priority, but I come first." And with that, the spy caught his mouth with hers.
XXXX
Jane set the story down.
"Well?" Daria prompted.
"It's pretty good," Jane finally said. Daria released the breath she didn't know she was holding.
"I especially liked the part where the whole story was just a metaphor for your relationship with Mr. DeMartino." Daria scowled.
"I'm thinking about submitting it to Musings magazine," she said in a curt tone.
"You should!" Jane encouraged. "But do it under a pseudonym, on the off chance that someone in this town reads it and starts putting two and two together."
"In this town?" Daria snorted.
"Oh, you should show it to DeMartino, see what he thinks."
XXXX
Daria didn't have to wait for him to finish before she got his opinion. All throughout the story, a vicious grin was plastered on his face. Whenever he reached a choice bit, he would cackle or cheer. Daria allowed herself to smile, and remain smiling, at his praise.
He finished the story and turned to Daria. "This story is GREAT!" he practically shouted. "I absolutely LOVE it!"
"You know..." Daria hesitated a moment. "I've written a lot of Melody Powers stories. If you'd like, I could bring them over for you to look at."
Daria could almost imagine the drool oozing from her lover's mouth.
XXXX
"Hello, Daria!" Daria turned away from her contemplation of the Outgoing Mail slot to the familiar voice which had greeted her.
"Uh, hi, Mr. O'Neill," she awkwardly replied.
The teacher glanced down at the envelope in Daria's hand. "Musings Magazine? Daria, are you submitting a story? That's wonderful!"
"Um...no, just a letter to the editor."
"Oh, that's too bad," Mr. O'Neill lamented. "You're such an excellent writer, Daria, I'm sure they'd publish you if you submitted something!"
"Maybe," she admitted, now very glad she had taken Jane's advice and used a pseudonym. She distracted O'Neill by pointing out a loose shoelace, shoved the envelope into the slot, and fled before he had finished retying.
XXXX
Daria weaved her way past Quinn and her posse of fashionables, clustered around the newest Waif and bemoaning some almost-certainly petty disaster which had befallen them. Instead of offering up color commentary, she made a beeline to the mail, where the response letter from Musings she had been waiting for lay.
"Congratulations...please reply within fourteen days...will publish in two months..." She lowered the letter in shock.
"I'm a published writer," she announced.
Quinn looked over at Daria's outburst. Her brow furrowed for a moment, then her face exploded into an 'Aha!' expression. Putting on her sweetest smile, she approached Daria. "Oh si-is! Could you do me one eensy-weensy favor?"