Work Text:
It can’t be just anything.
“Maggie?”
It has to be something Claire will like – love, preferably.
“Hello? Earth to Agent Bell?”
Easier said than done.
“Hey!”
Someone suddenly clicks their fingers right in front of Maggie’s face, making her jump as she’s snapped out of her train of thought. She immediately scowls, looking over at OA, but his concerned expression doesn’t make her forgive him. “You okay?” he asks now that he finally has her attention. “This is the third time today you’ve spaced out like that.”
Maggie pulls a face, leaning back in her chair. “Just trying to figure out what to get Claire for Christmas,” she explains, still stuck where she has been for the last few days – nowhere.
“Isobel’s kid,” OA clarifies, but Maggie ignores the smug note in his voice, her attention immediately shifting to where Isobel sits inside her office, desk in perfect view from Maggie’s own.
"Yeah. I’ve bought her a few things already, but...” she trails off with a frown. When she’d mentioned wanting to get a Christmas gift for Claire, Isobel had helpfully offered her a list of things to choose from, if only to avoid overlap, and while Maggie had happily bought several of them, she still wanted to get Claire a present that was handpicked by her. “I don’t know, I just want to get her something that’s from me, y’know?”
“Isn’t she, like, seven?” OA says, turning back to his computer. He’d thought she was distracted by something far more serious. Then again, getting Isobel’s kid to like her probably is serious as far as she’s concerned. “I think you’re overcomplicating it.”
Maggie sighs, fidgeting with her pen, tapping it quietly against her mousepad. He’s probably right. Claire will no doubt love what she already has wrapped, but even still...
She decides she’ll look one last time.
She heads to the mall immediately after her shift and makes a beeline for the first toy store, as if she hasn’t already been in several as of late. Much of the products are the same ones she’s already seen, scrutinizing everything as she slowly moves through the aisles. She passes by plenty of rabbit plushies and almost considers one, taking it from the shelf. It’s impossibly soft, with baby blue fur, but Claire already has a rabbit that she takes everywhere, and Maggie puts it back.
Unfortunately, it’s the closest she gets to a potential option. Anything else that catches her eye just feels too easy or generic, or it’s something similar to what she already knows Isobel is going to buy. It doesn’t help that Claire isn’t as toy oriented as the majority of kids her age. Maggie tries another shop instead.
The art store is on the same side of the mall and arguably much more in line with Claire’s interests. Almost every time Maggie has seen her, she’s been drawing or painting – hell, she has her own art room at home. Maggie does, at least, spend longer in here than the toy store. There’s plenty to choose from in all manner of creative outlets, but nothing ultimately stands out to her like she’d hoped, not even after a second lap.
Perhaps she should’ve expected that this would be a bust, too. One of the presents she’s already bought was a set of oil paints in almost fifty colors, and she knows there were plenty of similar items on Isobel’s list. Claire isn’t going to be short on creative supplies, and Maggie doesn’t want to oversaturate her. She huffs in defeat, walking out empty-handed. There’s a bookstore on the second floor. Third time should be the charm, right?
Of course, it’s not until she’s surrounded by books on three sides that she remembers an entire wall of Claire’s bedroom is a bookshelf, and Maggie has no idea what’s already on it. With her, it could be anything – children’s books, encyclopedias, probably one of the FBI’s handbooks or something that’s required reading in law school. Not even the little display of puzzle books is any help, Maggie has already bought her one full of sudoku grids.
She tries her luck in a few more generic stores after that, but in the end, she has to concede and tell herself that the gifts she’s already bought are more than enough. Besides, it’s not as if she didn’t put in the effort, even as she heads back towards the entrance with nothing to show for the trip.
That is until something catches her eye in a shop window.
She does a double take and stops dead. It’s a clothing display, and there, on the child mannequin’s head – a cream-colored beanie with orange cat ears and matching feline features stitched into the fabric. Perfect. Claire loves cats, enough that Isobel takes her to a cat cafe every other week, and given that Maggie is rarely seen without her own beanie in winter, it even has the personal touch she was looking for.
She’s relieved to discover that it’s not just a display piece, finding one of only two left in the children’s section. It’s good quality material, too – Claire’s little head certainly won’t be cold with this on, and Maggie is sure she’ll love it, idly swinging its paper shopping bag as she heads back to her car.
She’s quick to wrap it up when she gets back home, the task second only to making a sandwich that she eats while holding the paper together with one hand, then adds it to the gift bag with all the others. She doesn’t actually know, yet, if she’ll get to see Claire open them up, but she'll have her answer tomorrow when she asks Isobel.
Unfortunately, catching her isn’t always so easy. Their new case is no less urgent than any of their others, but it requires a bureaucracy that keeps them separated for much of the morning and into the afternoon. Maggie only sees her when she’s receiving orders, or if they happen to be in the JOC at the same time before Isobel disappears again – there’s certainly no time, or at least no good time, to pull her aside in private.
The opportunity doesn’t arise until near the end of their shift, when Isobel is coming out of the elevator just as Maggie passes it. “Hey, you got a minute?” she asks, immediately following after her. She can’t help but feel a little bad, when this is probably the first real moment Isobel has had to relax, but she doesn’t seem to mind.
“Of course,” she says brightly, smiling for the first time all day as she motions for Maggie to join her inside her office.
“I finished gift shopping for Claire,” Maggie tells her, hovering by the edge of Isobel’s desk, watching her place the three folders she’s carrying into her paper tray. “I was wondering if there’s a day I could bring them over, or if you just want me to give them to you?”
Isobel turns back to her but doesn’t immediately say anything, a thoughtful look in her eye as she tilts her head slightly. “Do you have Christmas plans?” she eventually asks.
“Uh, no, not this year,” Maggie admits. She was so distracted by work that she forgot to book the time off as early as she normally would, and then couldn’t get the desired window by the time she remembered.
“Well, you could come over on Christmas day,” Isobel suggests gently, half-expecting Maggie to decline. “Give them to her then.”
For a moment, Maggie thinks she must’ve misheard her. “Are you sure?” she asks uncertainly. She thinks she’s had a dream like this before, distantly wondering if she’s unconscious out in the field somewhere.
“Why wouldn't I be?” Isobel says, smiling again. “We'd be happy to have you, and she’d love it if you were there. You could come around noon?”
The offer still feels a little surreal even as Maggie nods. “I’ll be there,” she agrees, enamored by the way Isobel’s eyes immediately light up, and just like that, she has somewhere to be this Christmas.
Of course, she’d be lying if she said she didn’t think about it at least daily over the next two weeks. Christmas at Isobel’s... Christmas with Isobel. Maggie feels like she's skipped a step somewhere when she still hasn’t found the courage to try asking her on a date yet, even after five years, and while she’s excited to personally give Claire her presents, she’s suddenly more anxious than ever about the gift she bought for Isobel.
Already wrapped, it’s been sitting on the dresser in her bedroom since the end of last month – gold plated drop earrings in the shape of eight-point stars. She’d seen them in a shop window during a morning coffee run and known, in an instant, that they’d be perfect for Isobel. Maggie’s sure she’ll love them, given that she’s regularly worn the bracelet Maggie gave her the year prior, but this is still the first time she’ll get to see Isobel actually open one of her Christmas gifts.
And as the 25th gets closer, she manages to agonize over plenty more – things she normally wouldn’t even care about, like what to wear and whether or not she should bring something for dinner, as if she can even cook. In the end, she settles on a store-bought carrot cake, knowing it’s Claire’s favorite, and prays Isobel doesn’t make something similar for dessert.
They both work Christmas Eve, on a case that temporarily manages to make Maggie forget all about her nerves, until that evening when it’s dark out, and Isobel passes by her desk to leave. “See you tomorrow, Maggie,” she calls, with a wave that Maggie almost forgets to return in time.
“Goodnight, Iz,” she answers, watching her as she disappears from view. It isn’t much longer before Maggie follows her example, suddenly so distracted that it’s a miracle she finishes her paperwork. She eats last night's leftovers for dinner and double – triple – checks everything she needs tomorrow, then heads to bed early knowing full well the anxiety will keep her awake.
It’s gone midnight by the time she manages to fall asleep amidst doubts about almost everything, and yet she still wakes up before her half a dozen alarms in the morning. She doesn’t live particularly far from Isobel, so she has nearly two hours to kill before she needs to leave, and they’re a contender for the longest two hours of her life. She might not be able to will time to move faster, but she certainly tries.
It’s a relief when she can finally carry her large gift bag out to the car, though that feeling doesn’t last very long. Halfway through the drive, she can’t help but start to feel a little nervous again – much to her own annoyance. For someone who usually has nerves of steel, she wishes they wouldn’t fail her when it comes to Isobel. She tries to distract herself from it by listening intently to the radio and finds it a little ironic that Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas starts just as she turns into Isobel’s block.
She has to park short of the front gate, hanging her gift bag from the inside of her elbow so she can carefully carry the cake with both hands, and part of her expects to drop it when she balances it in one arm to ring the doorbell. Then – the moment she’s spent weeks agonizing over.
Isobel opens the door with a bright smile that Maggie is sure only she’s had the privilege of seeing. “Maggie!”
“Hey,” Maggie greets, feeling uncharacteristically shy. “Sorry if I’m too early.”
Isobel immediately waves off her apology. “No such thing, we’ve been waiting for you,” she reveals, holding out her hands. “Here, let me take that.” Maggie passes her the cake, almost grateful to no longer be responsible for its safety, and follows her inside, but the door has barely closed behind them when Isobel leans into her, voice dropping to a murmur. “Brace yourself.”
Maggie frowns slightly, wondering what she’s meant to be bracing for, but the answer becomes apparent the moment they set foot into the hall. “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie!” She hears Claire before she sees her, barreling out of the lounge to meet them. Maggie doesn’t think she’s ever seen her move so fast, barely kneeling down in time to catch her when she collides with her for a hug.
“Woah, hey, kiddo,” she laughs, gently patting her head before she pulls away. “It's good to see you, too. How's your morning been?” She doesn’t actually know if Claire believes in Santa – best not to mention him.
“It’s been the best!” Claire answers, with a smile not unlike her mother’s. “I got so many presents! Like a canvas for painting and a HUGE bunny teddy, and-”
“Mija." They both look up, interrupted by Isobel’s voice as she returns from taking Maggie’s cake into the kitchen. “Let her settle in, okay? You can show her everything in a moment. Why don’t you go get your present ready?”
“Oh, my present!” Claire exclaims, having clearly forgotten all about it until Isobel’s reminder, and she immediately hurries back towards the other room to do as suggested.
“She has something for me?” Maggie asks in surprise, looking to Isobel as she gets to her feet again. It’s mesmerizing, how ethereal she still manages to look even in nothing but leggings and a shirt that hangs from one shoulder, leaning against the kitchen door-frame.
“Both of us do,” she says, as if it should be obvious. “Why wouldn't we?” She motions down the hall with one hand, stepping in front of her. “Come join us when you’re ready.” She turns to head into the other room, and Maggie stares affectionately after her until she disappears from view. It takes a long moment for her to find the wherewithal to shrug her coat off, a warm flutter deep in her chest. She might not have gone back to Indiana this year, but this manages to feel just as much like coming home.