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The SHIELD Christmas party was in full-swing, and agents of varying levels of seniority were, for once, relaxing and celebrating having nearly survived the year. It was nice to see everyone having fun, though Piper was distracted, because right now, she was on a mission.
All night, someone had been following Davis around and setting up mistletoe in an attempt to catch him under it. At first it was funny, but as time went on it began to become concerning. What if Davis actually had a secret admirer? He was married, and not interested. Piper couldn’t just let that stand.
So she gave herself the mission to find out who was targeting him.
The base was packed with SHIELD agents in various stages of intoxication, and as she scanned the crowd she couldn’t see anyone acting in any way she wouldn’t already expect, taking into account the alcohol. This would be difficult.
“You don’t really have to do this, Piper.” Davis said.
Piper looked back over at him. “Of course I do! You don’t want someone trying to kiss you all night, do you?”
“Well, no.” Davis admitted. “But we don’t know that’s what’s happening.”
“Uh, yes, we do. Everywhere we go there’s been a newly-placed sprig of mistletoe.”
“Piper, this is a Christmas party. Mistletoe isn’t too unusual.”
“I’m telling you there’s something suspicious about it!”
Davis shook his head. “Okay. You go find out who’s planting the mistletoe, and I’ll go and drink with Yo-Yo.”
Piper watched Davis leave through narrow eyes. Fine , she thought. I’ll show him .
So she left and began her search. First, she traveled to the locations of the planted mistletoe. The evidence was still there, but as Bobbi and Hunter seemed to be engaged in some mistletoe-related activities underneath it, Piper decided against trying to collect it. Best leave them be.
Next, she tried to speak to witnesses to see if anyone had seen the culprit in action. However, no one she asked was able to give her a straight answer - which likely had something to do with the amount of alcohol that had been consumed. Some agents gave her partial answers, but if she was to take every answer she was given at face value then the culprit would be approximately 7’3, bald, and with hot pink eyes. Somehow, Piper didn’t think that was accurate.
The next thing she could think of to try was to check the security camera footage. She had the clearance to access the security cameras and, thankfully, security cameras couldn’t get drunk. Whatever she recovered on that footage would be the truth.
On her way down the corridor, Piper was less aware of her surroundings than she usually was - a fact that she’d happily blame on the small amount of alcohol that she, herself, had drunk earlier in the night. She didn’t notice that she had stepped underneath a new sprig of mistletoe until she felt someone poke her shoulder.
Piper turned her head around suddenly, looking over at Daisy.
“Looks like we got caught together.” Daisy said, indicating to the mistletoe.
Piper looked up and sighed. “I’m sorry for this, Daisy. I didn’t notice you or it. We don’t have to kiss-”
A small crowd of agents had gathered around them by now. Piper was acutely aware of the expectations being placed on them and she felt her face flush with embarrassment. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to kiss Daisy - far from it, in fact - but she didn’t want Daisy to feel pressured into it. If they kissed, she wanted it to be a choice.
Daisy glanced around at the crowd. For a moment, she had a slight frown on her face, but then it was gone and she was waving the crowd away. Knowing that Daisy could easily make them all leave even while being slightly tipsy, the crowd dispersed, and Daisy turned back to Piper with a grin.
“I guess you’re not one for Christmas traditions?”
Piper shrugged. “Traditions, I don’t mind. I’m just not a fan of mistletoe.”
That slight frown was back on Daisy’s face but, once again, it had disappeared after a moment. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Then, with a smile, “I’ve seen you running all over the place tonight. What’s up?”
“Someone’s got a crush on Davis. I’m trying to nip it in the bud.”
Daisy began to laugh. “Wait- what ? Do they know he has a kid?”
Piper threw her hands up in the air. “ That’s what I want to know !”
“How about I help you with your mission? Two heads are better than one.”
Piper smiled at Daisy. “Thanks, I’d appreciate it.”
Daisy returned the smile, beaming, “Great! Where to, then, ma’am?”
Piper felt some heat rush to her cheeks, but she did her best to ignore it and focus on what she was saying so that she didn’t stutter. “The, uh, the surveillance room. If I can get a look at the security footage I can narrow down my suspect list.”
Daisy gave a mock salute, and the pair began their journey down the corridor.
After shutting the door to the surveillance room behind them, Piper let out a small breath of relief. As much as she enjoyed being able to unwind with her peers, having some peace and quiet felt nice. While Piper let herself relax for a moment, Daisy crossed the room and began to set up the screens that they would be needing.
“So,” Daisy began, “What time periods are we looking for, and which cameras?”
“Davis and I ran into the first mistletoe sprig at around 9:30pm, in the corridor outside of the lab.”
Daisy paused, turning to look at Piper. “Wait, what about mistletoe?”
“That’s how Davis’s secret admirer has been operating - setting up mistletoe to try and get a kiss out of him. Except I’ve been hanging around Davis for most of the night, so they haven’t had a chance to jump in and steal his kiss.”
Daisy stared at Piper for a few moments. “...Okay. But why do you think Davis is the target?”
Piper stared back at Daisy. “We ran into seven sprigs of mistletoe. I don’t think that’s just a coincidence.”
“Yeah, I’m not saying I think it’s a coincidence. Just…” Daisy sighed, and decided to be direct. “What if you’re the one with the secret admirer?”
Piper blinked.
“What?”
“Think about it. You ran into more mistletoe after you stopped hanging with Davis, didn’t you?”
Piper’s eyes widened. “ Oh .”
Daisy smiled, though her expression held a hint of nervousness to it - though Piper didn’t notice Daisy’s anxiety due to her own shock.
“So, uh. Do you still want me to go through the footage-”
“Yes.” Piper spoke immediately, then quickly added: “We still need to verify that you’re right. Davis could have still been the target.”
Daisy turned back to the screen and began to jump through the security footage, until she found the right location. Then she began to rewind, slowing down when she passed Piper and Davis’s encounter with the mistletoe. After a few more moments she paused, with their new primary suspect on screen. Daisy backed away to give Piper room to look.
Piper approached the screen, squinting at the image. The quality of the recording wasn’t great, and the suspect had their back to the camera, but after a few moments Piper was sure that she knew their identity. She turned around slowly to face Daisy, who was watching her carefully from a few feet away.
“ You ?”
“Surprise?” Daisy offered. “And, for the record, I was not trying to kiss Davis. I love the guy, but- no.”
“Huh. So. Uh. Okay. Why?”
Daisy raised her hands defensively. “I didn’t know you didn’t like the whole mistletoe thing - totally wouldn’t have gone for this if I’d thought about that more. That’s my bad.”
“No, I mean… why ?”
“What do you- oh . Well, I’ve kind of been into you for a while. I thought this might be a low-key way to interest check.”
“You’re into me?”
“Yeah. It’s kind of why I’ve been trying to kiss you all night.”
“Huh.”
“So… are you okay with it?”
“Okay with what?”
“Kissing. In hindsight, I probably could’ve avoided all of this if I’d just asked you that in the first place.”
“You mean, you kissing me?”
“We’re the only ones here, so- yeah.”
“I’d- well- uh- I’d love to- I mean- I’d like to- uh- kissing is… nice.”
Daisy grinned and closed the space between them. When she was close, she cupped Piper’s face and angled it upwards, gently pressing their lips together. After a moment, Piper smiled and deepened the kiss.
They broke apart not long after, but stayed close. Piper looked up at Daisy, then her eyes caught something else and she looked up further. Daisy was holding a sprig of mistletoe above them.
“Sorry, sorry. I just couldn’t resist it.”
“It’s okay.” Piper laughed quietly. “You can, uh, kiss me again, whenever you’d like.”
Daisy beamed. “I’ll hold you to that.”