Maria Hill hated Christmas. Christmas meant breaks, and if she hated anything more than Christmas, it was breaks. she felt she couldn't afford to take a vacation, especially now that S.H.I.E.L.D. it was busier than ever. Hydra had emerged from the dust again, much to Maria's chagrin, they had chosen the correct slogan. "Cut off one head, two more shall take its place."
Fury also hated Christmas. nevertheless he organized a Christmas dinner every year. every year there were mugs with customized Christmas S.H.I.E.L.D. logos on it. every year, both the Director and Assistant Director were tortured by several thousand people telling them “Merry Christmas.”
not to mention the endless Christmas songs on the radio, which echo through the corridors every year around December 25th and take the agents out of concentration.
she pushes back her office chair and starts spinning in circles, as she often does when she's tired. her paperwork is almost ready, and it's almost half past one in the morning. no one is in the office except her, and she's already looking forward to locking the entire building and not returning until tomorrow morning.
Maria puts the final signatures and tosses the sheets on top of the stack, which she quickly slips into a drawer. once on the street, she tries to stay as far away from the streetlights as possible out of paranoia. not that it matters.
the small apartment she rents is on the other side of town. the bus ride is not that long but hell for her because it always seems like everyone on the bus is a Hydra spy. Maria is uncomfortable with people staring at her, and around these days there are always extra people on the bus. she leans against one of the posts, trying to avoid the gazes of the strangers around her.
she is just taking the keys out of her jacket pocket when something strikes her. There is no yellow glow through the small window in the door, which means that the lights are off. Maria ALWAYS leaves the lights on, out of paranoia. slowly she slips her hand into her bag and clasps her fingers around a pistol.
the door creaks a little when she opens it, and Maria realizes that she really needs to do something about it the next time she has the time. her hand automatically goes to the light switch, and when the light flicks on, suddenly a muffled voice is heard. "3 .. 2 .. 1 .."
"Merry Christmas!" it sounds in unison. a group of people jump from behind furniture and doors and startle her. she sees Stark, Rogers, Romanoff, Barton, Thor, Pepper, Peter Parker, MJ, Ned ... who invited those two? a few other agents, Coulson, Peter's Aunt May, Rhodey, Sam Wilson, Wanda, Vision, and even Fury. she is still completely perplexed when Pepper points upwards with a smile. "Mistletoe!"
before she can look up herself someone sets herself in motion and before Maria knows it she is kissed on the mouth by Natasha Romanoff, who whispers "Merry Christmas." once more against her lips.