A Friendly Ear And Mistletoe

   It was not too long after her last mission, when Julia Argent was walking down the hallway of the chateau Chief had rented for the holidays.

It had been a long day of work, as she and her partner Devineaux had been busy attempting to catch a certain red hat rogue.

Of course, they did not manage to catch her. They don’t call her the uncatchable Carmen Sandiego for nothing.

She walked out onto the balcony, feeling frustrated at their multiple defeats. How in the world did she always manage to get away?!

She head the balcony door slide open and a masculine voice spoke to her.

“Um”, the voice started. “Miss Argent? What are you doing out here?”

She turned around to see Devineaux, holding 2 wine glasses, little reindeer ears, and wearing a navy blue suit with his hair slicked back.

She finally snapped out of her trance as she said, “Oh. Nothing, just enjoying the view.” she said with a small smile.

It was no use though, for Chase could tell that was not why she was here.

“You don’t look like you want to enjoy the view.”

Julia sighed, embarrassed that she had been caught. Still, she tried to keep up the charade.

“What do you mean? I am enjoying the view very much!”

Chase smiled a bit, trying to hide his amusement from her trying to hide her feelings.

“Miss Argent, with all due respect, I can tell when you are not well. You were my partner for years after all.”

Julia smiled, glad to know he actually understood.

“Now come on”, he said. “What’s wrong?”

Julia sighed, now she had no choice but to tell him what was wrong. Well here goes nothing.

“Well..”, she began. “I’ve recently been very frustrated with our failed attempts to catch Carmen Sandiego. I know it may seem like a bad reason to be so glum, but I can’t help it.”

Chase looked at her. To some it might seem like a pretty weird reason to be this glum, but he understood. After all, he has also had failed attempts at catching La Femme Rouge.

“Miss Argent”, he said. “I, for one, do not think it is a bad reason to be upset. I have also had many failed attempts to catch Miss Sandiego even before ACME.” he said with a sincere smile.

Julia would be lying if she said that smile didn’t make her feel any better, but still, it was just Devineaux who would be going after her. It wasn’t a big surprise that he couldn’t catch her, but ACME had hundreds of agents, and yet they still couldn't catch her.

“I appreciate the thought Mr Devineaux, but you were one person. ACME has hundreds of agents, and we still didn’t come close to catching her.”

Chase frowned a bit, upset he could barely help. Still, he had to at least try to cheer her up, It was Christmas after all.

“Well, you cannot be upset all night, tonight is Christmas. Come, I know what will cheer you up.”

He took Julia’s hand and led her to the dance floor. Julia stopped once they got to the dance floor.

“Dancing always takes my mind off of everything. It also keeps me fit, how do you think I can jump all of those fences”, he chuckled.

Julia smiled. Chase then put one hand on her back and held her other one. He then led her through the dance, being careful not to bump into anyone who was dancing.

They both looked into each other’s eyes, grateful they had someone that understood them and would spend the holidays with them dancing.

After a little while, all the agents who were dancing slowly began to stop and get something to eat. All the agents had left except Chase and Julia, for they were the last to stop.

They ate some dinner, ACME’s dinner budget seemed pretty good because everything there was to die for. There were cookies, and turkey, and so much more.

After Julia had her dinner, she went to look for Chase, only to find him stuffing cookies in his mouth and pockets. She laughed at the sight, Devineaux noticing this, put an embarrassed smile on.

“What?” he said. “These cookies are very good, it would be a crime not to take some extras!” he said with a slight pout.

Julia laughed at the scene as she walked over to take some. She noticed Devineaux’s shocked expression and asked, “What? You said it would be a crime not to take any right?”

Devineaux just laughed as they stuffed their pockets with cookies trying their best not to get caught.

They then walked through the halls, just talking, and enjoying each other’s company.

“And then I told him, ‘You do not just throw glasses off the table like it is chess!’” They both laughed as Chase told Julia a story about his old cat.

“What happened to him?” Julia asked. “I haven’t seen a cat anywhere around.”

“Ah yes”, he began. “Well after I got the job at ACME, I gave him to my niece. She loves cats so she was very happy to know that she would take care of him.”

“That’s nice”, said Julia.

They both continued down the hall, talking about different things that happened in their life.

They stopped around the fireplace, where they kept talking. They then noticed agents looking at them with smug smiles and surprised looks.

They made a questioning look towards them, wondering what could be so funny about them, until Zari pointed up.

There it was, in all its glory, something both loved and hated by people. That thing was mistletoe.

Both Chase and Julia blushed at this and looked at each other awkwardly, each waiting for the other to say something, until Julia spoke up.

“Well then let’s get this over with”, she said with a smug smile.

Chase raised his eyebrow, wondering what she meant by that. Though all thoughts collapsed as he watched what happened next.

Julia leaned up towards his cheek and placed a small kiss there.

She pulled away, trying not to laugh at the flustered expression on Chase’s face.

“Merry Christmas Devineaux.” she said.

“M-merry Christmas, Miss Argent.”