EVERMORE ─ marvel ⁷

VII. The Symbol Of Us

Chapter Seven
Sam

"Do you know where I put the copies of the latest crime reports in Europe?" Soroya asks, sifting through stacks of papers on her desk.

I shake my head, looking up from the report I'm reading over at my own desk. "Ask Suzzie, maybe she filed it."

Soroya sighs, tapping her nails on the surface of her desk. "I already asked her. I've been losing everything lately. Yesterday I couldn't find my phone for two hours and you know where it was? I had stuffed in the fridge when I went shopping after work."

"When was the last time you slept?" I ask her.

She rubs her face with both hands, putting pressure on the bridge of her nose and under her eyebrows. "Six months ago."

I let out a dark chuckle. "Tell me about it."

There's a pause, and then Soroya says: "You know what I've been thinking about?"

"Hm?"

"Weekends and vacation days. The Avengers are a government agency and every government agent gets days off, even directors."

"But with so much going on, who would take over when we aren't here?"

"We can appoint a deputy director," she suggests, sitting up, smoothing her hair out, which is coming out of a braid. "Someone who can take over our responsibilities on weekends and holidays."

"Who?"

"I don't know, we could have a vote on it. All I know is that you and I need a break, we need to relax and spend time with the people we love. You've been missing Jade as much as I've been missing Bucky and the kids. We both agreed that our duties as directors were too important to ignore, but we also have duties to our families, to ourselves."

I smile at her, nodding my head slowly, glancing at our schedule for the next few days. It's ridiculous. "I feel bad for the new deputy director. They'll have a very busy weekend."

Soroya shrugs. "If we can survive six months with no break they can survive two days."

I chuckle again, but this time it's far more joyous, filled with the excitement and anticipation of having time off. Soroya notices my shift in mood, eyeing me with curiosity. "Already thinking up weekend plans?"

I nod, turning my attention to the door of our office. "Suzzie!"

Moments later our assistant runs in, her body splitting into two; one waits for me to continue and the other goes to help Soroya find her missing report. The one standing by the door asks: "Yes?"

"I need you to book a hotel room for me. Someplace nice."

"Where? For how long?"

I grin at her. "Two days in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba."

From the other side of our office, Soroya lights up in delight. "Oh Jade will love that."

"I hope she will."

-

Friday night, we take one of the Wakandan ships and fly to Cuba. I picked Cuba because Jade's ancestors lived there before they moved to Denmark. She's never been before. I remember promising her that one day we would go there for vacation, but our lives, even before I was named director, have been chaotic and busy. We haven't had a lot of free time in our lives. But we have the time now, so I'm trying to make it count.