The characters are still the property of Marvel, not me. Sigh. Oh, well. I can still have fun with them.

sailorraven 34: So glad to know I make you smile. I'm trying to come up with slightly...different...angles on these prompts. Hopefully, something a little unexpected on most of them, anyway.

Ella: Thanks. Glad you like

Wicked Chameleon: Thank you. Posted a new chapter of 'Risks' last week (in case anyone missed it?) and am currently working on the next chapter of Stroll. I'm not sure when it will be ready, but soon, I hope.

All For Jesus: Fluff is good, right? I'm having fun with it.

Your feedback is appreciated more than you know. Now, on to day 3.


Movie Night

Maria resisted the urge to double check her disguise. That was always a dead give away, someone fiddling with their clothing. Fortunately, the weather was cool enough that the bulky sweats and jacket she wore blended with the rest of the crowd on the bustling sidewalk. Her hair was tucked up in a dark colored knit cap, her face mostly covered by a scarf and oversized sunglasses.

She couldn't believe she was doing this. That Nick was making her do this.

There was no way she should have lost that bet. Betting on Stark being snarky should have been a sure thing. It usually was

But not this time.

She and Nick had been observing the crowd of reporters gathered for the Stark Industries press conference. The subject of the press conference was a series of photos that had been sent back from a Stark Industries satellite.

Photos of the planet Uranus.

"There is no way he can resist making a crack about that," she whispered to Nick.

"Like that one?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

She shrugged.

"I don't know," he told her, looking towards where Stark's team was working to prepare him. "Ms. Potts was giving him a pretty serious lecture."

"Won't matter," she replied.

"Want to bet?" he asked, holding out his hand. "Winner's choice?"

That had become their default bet. Instead of the stakes being set beforehand, the winner got the decide the price once the bet was won. They did have guidelines.

Nothing dangerous. Which was relative in their line of work.

Nothing that would cause any issues with their authority..

So, while Nick couldn't wear the pink tutu in the command center, her bedroom had been an entirely different story. In fact, many of their bets ended up involving bedroom activities.

"Winner's choice," she agreed, reaching out to shake his hand.

Incredibly, Stark had kept to the straight and narrow, ignoring even the most leading of questions from the press.

"Movie night," Nick told her.

That didn't sound so bad.

"I choose, you procure."

She could handle that. He liked action movies. War movies. Horror, maybe. It should be simple. Set up a Netflix account. Or even just have JARVIS pull it up.

"Sure," Nick told her with a grin. "If you want it showing up on your history."

'Must be porn,' she figured. Still shouldn't be an issue. Surely he couldn't imagine that she would be intimidated to walk into one of the numerous 'adult' stores in the city.

She might even pick up a few extras for their evening.

When he told her what movie, she shook her head.

"Never heard of it," she told him. "Scary movie?"

His smile was a bit unnerving.

"I think you'll be terrified." He then proceeded to explain to her where she would find his selection.

She was horrified. She absolutely couldn't have this one show up on her account, nor could she pull it up at the Avengers Tower. They couldn't even watch it at the tower. JARVIS would know.

Which meant that Stark could find out. She'd never live it down.

But, a bet was a bet, so, here she was.

After a series of bus and subway rides, she stood in front of the big box store.

Strolled in very casually.

Picked up a few things as she wandered through the store.

Socks. Mittens. Soap. Hairbrush.

Finally, back in the movie section, she browsed the shelf, locating her target. But she couldn't bring herself to pick it up just yet. She continued looking.

'Terminator.'

Why couldn't he have picked that? She knew he liked it. They both did.

Placing it in her basket, she continued down the aisle, coming back down the other side. Finally, very casually, she picked it up, gave it a quick glance, shrugged, and dropped it in the basket, sliding it under the other DVD.

Making her way to the register, she paid, cash, of course, and headed back towards the subway station. On the way, the soap was dropped into a church donation box. The hairbrush went into a collection box outside a homeless shelter. The socks she slipped into the shopping cart of a woman passing on the sidewalk.

In a station bathroom, she opened both movie cases. She pried apart the case for 'Terminator' and slipped the other disc behind it, then put the whole thing back together. The empty case went into a trashcan, the plastic bag in another, and the receipt in a third.

On the crowded subway car, the slipped into the space next to a tired looking young woman with a toddler on her lap.

Maria's mind flashed back to her childhood. Stan had been one of the few friends she had. While he had been bundled against the cold, Chicago winter, his mother had worn the same, threadbare coat year after year. She'd had no hat or gloves, claiming that she wasn't bothered by the cold.

Likewise, while the child was well protected, his mother was wearing a light jacket that would barely slow the wind. Before exiting at her stop, Maria surreptitiously pushed the mittens into the woman's pocket. She wished she could think of a way to pass the jacket on, but there was an air of stubborn pride that told her the offer wouldn't be accepted.

Not to mention that it would draw the woman's attention to her.

Back on the street, she followed a meandering path to Don's place.

Don Reardon had been a longtime agent with SHIELD. It had been his whole life. His dedication had left no time for family. Nick had been the closest thing to a friend he had had, the two having worked together on several missions. Only at the insistence of a organization psychologist had he taken the step of purchasing a small, efficiency apartment. When he had quietly passed, he had left instructions for Nick to continue to make use of the off-the-books apartment as a place to occasionally get away from it all.

When Maria arrived at the apartment, Nick had the video system warmed up, the Murphy bed pulled down, and the popcorn ready to microwave.

"Did you get it?" he asked.

Sighing heavily, she pulled the case out of her jacket pocket and handed it to him. He looked at it, then at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Wrong flick," he told her.

With another sigh, she took it from him, pulling the case apart to pull out the requested movie. He grinned and slid it into the machine, then stepped over to start the microwave.

"Take your shoes off and stay awhile," he told her. She flipped him off, then stripped down to a tank top and shorts and climbed into bed.

When he looked her direction, she struck a seductive pose. "Are you sure a movie is what you want right now?" she asked, fishing an ice cube out of her glass and dragging it down her chest to draw his attention to her cleavage.

He brought the large bowl of popcorn and joined her in bed, leaning down to let his tongue trace the path of the water droplets.

"Your choice," he told her, "but you're only delaying the inevitable."

"Fine," she huffed, dropping the ice cube down his shirt.

Glaring, he fished it out and tossed it into the sink, then settled up against the wall as he picked up the remote, working his way through the menu. As the banjo music started, she snuggled close.

"So, what the heck is a Muppet anyway?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"Just watch," he told her.

She grabbed a handful of popcorn and turned her focus to the screen.

He did likewise, but soon found his attention shifting back to her. He loved watching her in rare, unguarded moments. Her face could be highly expressive when she allowed. He felt honored to be one of the rew she allowed herself to relax around,

He expression slowly shifted as the movie played. He lips twitched several times in almost smiles.

'Fork in the road," she snorted.

At an unusual sound, he pulled back slightly and looked down at her.

"Was that a giggle?"

"Of course not," she objected. "I don't giggle."

"That's a myth," Kermit said on the screen.

"What?" the man in the white suit asked.

"Myth! Myth!" the frog repeated.

"Yeth?" a woman replied.

The sound came and Maria looked up at Nick. "Okay, so maybe it was a giggle."

He leaned over and kissed her on the nose. "I heard nothing," he assured her.

When the movie came to an end, Nick climbed out of the bed to refill the popcorn and drinks while Maria scrolled through the extras menus, viewing small snatches of this or that.

"What did you think?" he asked, sliding back under the covers next to her.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "It was okay, I guess." She kept her eyes on the screen. "I noticed they had some other 'Muppet' movies, too."

"Several, I think," he agreed.

"I suppose we could watch one of those sometime. When there's nothing else to do," she commented.

"We could," he agreed. "I'll even be the one to pick it up."

"Sounds like a plan," she told him, curling against him against him.


Thanks for your time. I hope you enjoyed. I'd love to know what you think. I thrive on feedback and it's dropped off on the last couple of story updates. Anyway, working on Stroll and Day 4. Luv to all.