The creations of the Marvel Universe are still not mine and I'm still not profiting from any of this, other than the sheer joy I get from your lovely feedback.
sailorraven34: Yeah. Tony. Speak now, deal with the consequences later, though usually his charm can get him out of the consequences. Glad you're enjoying.
All For Jesus: Yup. Sweet revenge. You do not want to get on the wrong side of the ladies of the tower.
Thanks for the favorites, follows, and especially, the lovely reviews. You are the reason I do this.
Kisses
"Do I really have to put in an appearance at all of these parties?" Nick asked.
"Yes, you do," Maria confirmed. "As the director of SHIELD, you're kind of expected to show up at the different department holiday parties."
"But I don't really want to go and they don't really want me there."
"True, but you still have to go and whining isn't going to get you out of it," she stated firmly.
"I am not whining," he protested.
"Yes, you are," she corrected. "And it's not particularly appealing."
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"Remember, I have to go, too, and I'm not any more excited about it than you are." She walked over and wrapped her arms around him. "We don't even get to take advantage of the mistletoe."
"We could," he reminded her, leaning down for a kiss. "Completely send the IT department into a frenzy by sharing a big, wet kiss right there in the middle of their party."
"Yeah," she replied, patting him on the chest. "Let's not. There are enough people around here who assume I got my job by sleeping with you."
"Those who matter know the truth," he told her. After another kiss, he sighed and released her. "I suppose we'd better get going."
"I'll make it up to you later," she promised.
Their first stop was Human Resources. There was a definite shift in the mood when they walked into the room. It was silent for several moments before the department head crossed to welcome them, quickly leading them away from the sprig of mistletoe hanging in the middle of the room.
Maria amused herself by greeting many in the room by name, their eyes widening as they wondered why the Deputy Director knew them by name. Soon, they found themselves at the buffet table. Knowing this was only the first of several stops, both took only small samples of a few of the dishes spread out in front of them.
She noticed the barest of smiles flicker across his face. When she caught his eye, he glanced down at her plate. In addition to the items she had placed on her plate, she noticed a familiar, small, foil wrapped drop sporting a slender white flag.
His gaze darted quickly to the sprig of mistletoe and she blinked to acknowledge her understanding.
He would if he could.
She slipped the candy into her jacket pocket and returned her attention to the gathering. After several more minutes of awkward mingling, the administrators discarded their trash and took their leave, heading to the next gathering.
The rest of their day included brief, uncomfortable stops in IT, Cryptography, Linguistics, Medical, and several others. There was little difference from one stop to the next.
Silence upon their entrance.
Brief conversations with department heads.
Concern about Hill knowing names.
Having a perfect memory sure was fun sometimes.
Buffet offerings varied slightly from party to party, but always, there were Hershey's Kisses.
And, always, Nick found a way to slip her one.
When they had put in the expected appearances at the days festivities, they each headed to their own offices to take care of all the things that had come up, holidays be damned.
Deciding she had done enough for the day, she wrapped up and headed to Nick's quarters. After ascertaining that no one was watching, she let herself in, smiling when she saw him sitting at his desk, firing off an e-mail.
She crossed the room, carefully pushing papers aside so she could sit next to his computer. Finally, he clicked to close up the system, then looked up at her with a smile. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the chocolate candies she had collected on their earlier tour.
"I want to trade these in for the real thing," she told him.
He studied the pile, carefully counting her collection, then nodded soberly.
"I think we can do that." He unwrapped one, popped it in his mouth, then gently pulled her onto his lap. After a tender kiss, she picked up another, removed the foil wrapper, and slid it between his lips. The next kiss was a bit more passionate, the one after, even more so. Each a bit deeper and longer until nothing remained but a pile of wadded up foil.
"Now it's your turn," he told her. When she raised a questioning eyebrow, he reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a jumbo bag of the sweets.
She laughed and shook her head. "Not only would I put on 50 pounds, I'd be on such a sugar rush I wouldn't come down until next Christmas," she told him.
With a nod, he looked at the pile of wrappers from the ones he had consumed. "Probably so," he agreed. "Just the ones I ate have me wondering if I'll ever sleep again. I swear I can feel the sugar rushing through me."
She turned to straddle him so she could study his face and narrowed her eyes in consideration. "Maybe if we put out heads together, we can come up with some way for you to burn off all that extra energy," she told him.
He pushed back his chair and stood up, holding her waist as she wrapped her legs around him.
"I was actually thinking of putting something other than our heads together," he told her, moving towards his bedroom, "But I suppose that's as good a place as any to start."
And that's day 5. Hope you liked. Reviews craved. On to day 6. Wearing each other's clothes. Could be interesting.
