An unfortunate fact dogging Peggy's heels is that she needs Senate approval for non-Stark funding for SHIELD. Howard proposes marriage; Peggy agrees. Peggy proposes tracking a criminal to Leningrad; Howard agrees. Also, feelings.

Janet is there for the trial, and afterward.

Mipha would go out with the Guard and take stock of the Domain. She would eat fish fresh from the river and feel the sun on her skin. And when the sun began to set, she would be ushered back to her rooms and told to stay the night, safely in the center of the Domain. Nobody noticed when she slipped out, dressed in armor meant for a man who did not exist, exploring the world around her.

Mikey meets Pete and Alicia, who are a couple. Cue awkward fumbling-toward-a-threesome shenanigans. Thanks to handsomespeck at LJ for the beta.

He Xuan had been ready to leave the desert well before Shi Qingxuan had finished her little investigation. It wasn’t the sun, or the sand, though both were unpleasant, but Crimson Rain’s stupid voice on the private communication array: « Oh, sorry, are we walking in on something? If I knew there was a dress code I would have gotten done up. » And if it wasn’t that, it was the tinkling of jewelry in Shi Qingxuan’s hair as she moved, or the meaningless asides that were disorienting in…

Author summary from Snickfic:

He was so tall. Conor mostly forgot that, somehow. Dumo was the first of the Wilkes-Barre guys to make it to the show, but he was still one of them, an equal - until now, as Conor surveyed the terrain and felt pretty damned unequal.
 
Dumo met Conor’s eyes. His cheeks were apple-red. “Please?” Dumo said, as though even now Conor might leave him hanging.

Adventures in keeping power in a country that would rather you stepped down, or: Prunella still has a few tricks up her sleeve.

Parker and Hardison pretend to be married for a job.

Hayley and Uncle Pat catch up. Happy holidays.