Work Text:
Why did Fury give you this job? Oh, that's right, he's sadistic. You were teamed with Hawk on this stupid mission to protect one of the men from an embassy, you only paid attention to what he looked like. Of course, the client HAD to be invited to a charity ball which meant a blasted dress. It also didn't help that you had to wear a full faced mask and a strip of ribbon attached to your dress.
The gown you wore was a 'present' from Tony that reached the floor in the color he thought you looked best in. The neck of the dress had a choker and then both the back and front plummeted. The back went to your hips and the front went to just under your chest. The strip of ribbon only had one place it could fit well and that was on part of the neckline. The mask you had to wear covered your entire face, but at least it was S.H.I.E.L.D. made so you could keep in contact with your partner and keep an eye on the target.
"That dress doesn't have much room for a weapon, does it?" Clint said through the speaker in your mask.
"This dress doesn't leave much to the imagination except my tattoos."
"Not the one on your back." You could almost hear the smirk on his face.
"Well, not many have noticed it, I'm sure," you told him, searching to see where he was.
"Every man in this room has noticed it. You're the center of attention."
You blushed, thankful no one could see it. "What's with the strip of ribbon," you asked, changing the subject.
"Every man and woman had a ribbon attached to them that had half of a well known saying. The objective is to find the other person with the other half of the quote. At midnight we all unmask ourselves to kiss our quote partner."
"So I'm guessing that everyone is wearing a full mask because we don't want people switching quotes?"
"Exactly, thankfully, this is the one time of year that whoever you kiss, your actual date can't get upset."
"Don't tell Tony of these things. I think I'd still be upset, but at least I'm not on a date." You stared at each quote on the men's chests. Your half of the quote was 'Love is composed of a single...' but thankfully it was a quote you were familiar with.
When it was five until midnight, a man walked towards you, his face obviously covered. The man had a nice build from what you could see and you watched him bow and point to his quote. 'Soul inhabiting two bodies - Aristotle." The man held out his hand and you took it.
'Hell, why not, we only have five more minutes,' you thought to yourself as you danced with him. You were still keeping an eye on the official so there was no worries.
At twelve, a man took a microphone and got everyone's attention to say, "you may now unmask and seal the night with a kiss."
The man in front of you lifted your mask first and then his to show Agent Barton. He smiled at you, moving closer, "took me forever to find the other end of your's and I'd hate to break tradition." His lips claimed your's softly and you kissed back.
Who knew the best part of the night would come from a strip of ribbon?