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"So, May's off with her ex," she said, standing across from his desk. She gave a slight shrug and looked away distractedly.
"Good," Coulson said, glancing up at her for a moment, before putting his fingers against his temple again, and continuing to review the file in front of him on his desk.
"At least someone's getting some action around here."
He looked up at her again, but just with his eyes this time, and a slight frown. Her hands were shoved in her pockets and her lips were pressed together like she had more to say, but she wasn't going to.
"Well, I know who's not," she added. Apparently, having more to say on the subject.
"That's quite an assumption to make," he said, tossing the pen between the fingers on his other hand onto the desk and sitting up. "I'd never insinuate..."
"I wasn't talking about you," she said, crossing her arms. "And anyway, of course you wouldn't. You wouldn't have to insinuate, you were monitoring me."
"Not like that," he said, suddenly defensive.
"It just felt weird, with Ward in the basement. Like, I want nothing of that mixed in with any of that. The last thing I need right now is a dead boyfriend."
"I'm sorry," he said with a sigh, as his expression softened.
"It's not your fault, come on," she said, twisting her fingers into her jeans. "But the last time I went out was with Miles," she added with a gesture of her hand, "And..."
"Yeah I was kind of there," Coulson reminded her. "Is that your idea of a date?"
Skye froze and stared back at him with his eyebrows emphatically raised.
"Hey, High and Dry," she said, crossing her arms as his head jerked back slightly. "When was the last time you went out?" She waited while he composed himself. "That's what I thought."
"It's been awhile," he said, shoulders all tensed up.
"What are you doing right now?" she asked, leaning towards his desk.
"I thought I was working," he answered, glaring back at her.
"Your mistake," she said, with a tiny smile. "C'mon let's go be pathetic together. I need to get out of here. Do something normal. I need normal, Coulson."
"I've got a lot of paperwork ahead of me," he said, waiving his hand across his desk.
"I'll help you when we get back," she replied, all sing-song, and leaned against his desk.
"You must really be desperate," he said, narrowing his eyes.
"Uh, yeah."
***
"So it turns out that I'm terrible on the ice," she said, laughing and holding onto his arm. "Maybe whatever that stuff did to me did something to my sense of balance?"
"You'll pick it up fine," he said. "Just relax. You've never ice skated before?"
"Once. When I was ten," she said, holding on for dear life. "This one family in Alabama took me to this sad little rink. There was a crawdad wearing an elf hat or something."
"This is your first authentic ice skating experience," he said, sliding ahead of her and then turning towards her, holding his hands out as she clacked her skates against the ice and reached for him.
"Ugh. Of course you're graceful at ice skating," she said, annoyed, holding onto his forearms as he skated backwards. "You're graceful at everything."
"Thanks," he said, smiling slightly.
"You're supposed to feel sorry for me, not feel complimented," she said, shoving at his shoulder.
"Okay," he said, unable to stop smiling. "You want to get something hot to drink after this?"
"I want something alcoholic, what's wrong with you?" she asked. "I thought this was about us being pathetic together, not recreating the ending of 'It's A Wonderful Life."
"That's not the ending to that movie, Skye," he said, patiently. "Have you ever seen it?"
"They show it every year on television, Coulson," she answered.
"Yes, but, have you actually watched it?"
***
"You ever think about telling her?" she asked, sipping the hot chocolate as they walked through the small town.
"Of course, but, can't right now. The whole point was to keep her out of danger," he said, looking up at the night sky as he watched his breath in the cold air. "You talk to Miles?" he asked, turning back to her.
"Sure, but I'm different now," she said, stopping. "And with all that other baggage..."
She sighed and lifted the lid to the steaming cocoa before taking a slow sip. He knew her baggage was a reference to her father and what she was now. Which they weren't even really sure what that meant.
"Besides, I'm done with falling into something and hoping that it sticks. I want someone who really gets me, y'know?"
Coulson smiled back at her, but his expression just made her curious.
"Don't you want that?" she asked, not sure if she was reading him right.
"What we do," he started. "How we do it. It's complicated. Sometimes it's better if they don't know everything."
Skye blinked a few times and closed the lid of her drink. "I can tell you how that movie is going to end."
"Is that right?" he said.
"Yeah," she nodded. "That's not trust, Coulson. Hiding a part of yourself?"
"It doesn't fit into some neat box, I've tried," he said, walking again.
"It's not about a box, Coulson, it's about a relationship. People don't fit into boxes."
He could feel the irritation roiling under her words while they continued on.
Across the way, he looked up at the old marquis and smiled.
"Hey, want to go see a movie?"
Her eyes followed his and read "It's a Wonderful Life" spelled out on the sign.
***
"Good popcorn," he said, turning to look at her.
Skye nodded and took a handful, eyes never leaving the screen.
Even though she'd been hesitant, once it began she was sucked in, and now he was kind of bored, having seen it more times than he could count, watching her instead.
Watching her watching it.
"Are you kidding with this?" she said, looking back at him. It was the moment where Jimmy Stewart's character jumped in to save the other guy from drowning.
She gestured up at the screen, popcorn between her fingers. "He's too nice to even get to finish being miserable."
"What?" he asked, sitting up in his seat. "No. Just keep watching."
Both of their coats were thrown off and they were just sitting in the theater in their jeans and sweaters, alone, save for a handful of other people randomly filling seats.
"I've been trying so hard not to feel sorry for myself," she said, with a heavy sigh.
He was such an idiot. "Oh, Skye, no," he said. "Just watch it until the end. It's not that at all. Promise."
Putting his arm around her, he pulled her against him and settled back into the seat to watch it with her, shoving his hand into the popcorn bucket.
***
Okay, so, it was that.
Happy ending aside, Coulson hadn't quite remembered the rest of movie the way he thought he had. The little town brimming with corruption, only, he hadn't seen what was really there before.
The one good man. Who had his eyes opened.
The feeling was still lingering when they both left the theater.
"I'm surprised I never watched that," she said. "I would've loved it and never stopped talking about it. It could've been my Christmas tradition."
"Missed opportunities, huh," Coulson said with a grimace, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Skye swung towards him in her furry hooded parka. "You're telling me that movie didn't push any buttons for you? How HYDRA completely ruined your life last year?"
"Yes, it did," Coulson said. "And a whole lot from this year, too. Now, how about that drink?"
***
"Just give him a little shake."
"Coulson, are you drunk?"
"Getting there," he said, swirling the scotch in his glass.
"I'm not doing that, I don't want to scare people."
"That guy deserves to be scared, though," he said, as Skye raised her eyebrows at him. "Not a lot. Y'know. Enough."
He took a drink from his glass and looked down the bar at the man sitting at the end. Coulson smiled and raised his glass as the man looked away.
Skye lifted her glass to Coulson. "Here's to good friends," she said, clinking it against his.
"To keeping us on the path," he said, staring back at her.
"The last time I asked a guy for a drink," she said, "He turned out to be HYDRA."
"That sucks," he said, reaching over to the bowl of peanuts and breaking it apart, tossing away the hull.
"A lot sucks," she said. "I never had some dream of life in the suburbs, but monster dad and Nazi stalker were an unexpected twist."
"Right," he said, standing up. He dug in his pocket and pulled out his wallet and went over to the jukebox.
Skye watched as he leaned up against it, pushed a few buttons, then came back towards her as girl with a country twang sang that she was "The happiest girl in the whole USA."
"Very funny," she said, finishing her drink.
"Look, I'm sorry about the movie. I think I only remembered the ending." He shook his head with a chuckle. "I wanted to cheer you up."
"And you made up for it by putting that on?"
"I thought I was supposed to be the cynical one," he said, raising his hand to get the bartender's attention.
"This is an actual song?" she said. "'Skippidy doo da thank you'? I'm definitely going to need another drink."
"Afraid so," he said, sliding cash across the bar and ordering them another round.
***
"I did want the suburbs," he said, as they walked out of the bar. "Yeah."
He sounded a little embarrassed by it as the door shut behind them.
"You definitely didn't get that," she said, pulling her gloves on. "But, why? You travel around the world and look for 084s and fight super Nazis."
"Family," he said. "I wanted the one I didn't have."
She put her arm through his as they started walking back across town where they had left the SUV parked.
"SHIELD's my family," she said, leaning against his shoulder. "It's a weird, dysfunctional, alien family, and we hired some of them to be a part of it, but still..."
"This is warming the cockles of my heart, Skye," he said.
"You are, too," she said, looking up at him. "Family."
That got a surprised smile out of him, so she slid her hand down his arm and took his hand.
"Is that okay?" she asked.
"Sure," he said. "It's nice."
"Does that mean I get a Christmas present?" she grinned, swinging around in front of him.
"Depends," he said, as she walked backwards and he slowed his pace. "If you've been naughty or nice."
"Nice," she said, after taking a moment to pretend to think about it.
"Alright, then. What do you want for Christmas, Skye?" he asked, stopping, his eyes searching her face.
"You," she said, looking up at him through her lashes.
***
"I went too far, huh?" she asked, looking back at him as he drove the SUV. She was wearing a pensive look.
"Wasn't really expecting that," he said, staring ahead, hands gripping the wheel.
"Look, just forget it," she said, shrugging, noting his slightly panicked expression. "We were drinking, and after you asked me to dance with you, I thought..."
"No, you thought correctly," he said. "Except, I didn't think you'd actually do something about it."
He stopped at the light and tapped on the wheel with his fingers, pressing his lips together as they sat in silence.
Venturing to look over at her, he found her staring at him, and she suddenly rushed forward and kissed him as he met her halfway; her gloved fingers sliding up his jawline to the back of his head, his arm wrapping around her waist pulling her onto the console between them.
The honk behind them continued until finally he pushed down a little harder than he'd realized on the gas as they jerked forward.
"Okay," he said, both hands back on the wheel, as she sat back in her seat. "We should talk about this."
"Yeah," she said, brushing her fingers against her mouth.
"I'm the Director," he said. "So..."
He pulled over with a jerk into the side of the road and put the SUV in park.
"Backseat?" he asked, turning to look at her.
"Yes," she agreed with a quick nod.
They both finagled their way out of their seatbelts in a rush and opened the doors, switching to the back and sliding in.
"What are we doing here?" he asked, holding up a hand between them.
"It's just kissing," she said, sliding her gloves off and putting her thumb against his chin to part his lips.
They kissed again, more slowly now, rustling around in their coats trying to get a good angle.
"This isn't really," she said after a moment, then pulled off her jacket, her flannel top exposing the long line of her neck, so when he leaned in to kiss it, she shivered.
Her hand went between the folds of his jacket and she ran it up over the front of his shirt as he nipped at the spot below her ear. She drew in a sharp breath, feeling him smile against her neck as he planted a trail of kisses there.
He stopped and looked up at her, kissing her shoulder where the shirt and her skin met. "Just kissing," he said.
She got to her knees and pushed his shoulder back until he was against the seat, and she had crawled over his lap to straddle him before he could protest.
"Just kissing," she said, holding his face between her hands as she tilted her head to kiss him again, feeling his mouth open under hers with a sharp sigh, as his tongue pressed against hers. They both shared a moan and she sank down on him as his hands made their way through her hair, tickling the nape of her neck.
She tipped her head back and his teeth scraped along the edge of her chin, his lips sucking against her neck.
"Coulson."
His mouth made its way to the tops of her breasts and he stopped, tilting her face back down to him, as she leaned her arms against the back of the seat and sucked at his lower lip, drawing it between hers.
Hips jerking up towards her, she slid her tongue into his mouth hearing him whimper slightly when she ground her hips down against his. She pulled his scarf away, and mouthed her way along his jawline, until she reached his ear, then slid her tongue over the tip as he groaned and grabbed her waist.
"So sensitive," she whispered into his ear, smiling. She bit at the lobe with her teeth and then kissed his neck. "Guess you liked that," she teased.
"I...," he started, then swallowed. "I like your voice."
She pulled back for a moment and searched his eyes. "That's hot," she said at the discovery, mouth slightly open.
He looked a little exposed, like he had given her something he'd been holding onto.
Satisfied, she kissed him again, affectionately, as he pulled her tightly against him.
***
"Don't forget these," she said, dangling the keys out to him as they parked the SUV in the Playground's hangar.
It was dark and late enough that no one else appeared to be about.
"Won't be anytime soon," he said, swiping them out of her hands.
"That was fun," she said, teasing. "We should do it again."
"Yes," he said, peering back at her, nodding his agreement.
"Your office, next time?" she smiled, biting her lower lip.
"We're both reasonable people," he said, with a little frown, swinging the keys around his finger. "I'm sure we can work something out."
"Won't fit in a box," she said, starting to walk away and turning back towards him.
"Nope."
"Thanks for the great Christmas present," she said, waving her fingers at him as she disappeared into the doors.
He smiled after her and hung up the keys, beginning to whistle Auld Lang Syne down the empty hall.