#and the daniel sousa we saw in agent carter stayed in his own time and married peggy

[all-that-jazz-93]

Finally watching Agents of Shield again for the first time in years

[captainsophiestark]

Head Cold

Jack Thompson x Reader

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Written for Agent Carter Bingo 2022! @agentcarterbingo​

Fandom: Marvel

Square Filled: “Go away.”

Summary: Jack Thompson's a notorious workaholic who doesn't stop for anything, even a cold that's almost completely knocked him out. Thankfully, Y/N's around to make sure he takes care of himself, and she's not about to let his stubborn nature win.

Word Count: 3,120

Category: Fluff

Warnings: Illness, not super graphically depicted, it’s just a slightly nasty head cold

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

I'd had a crush on Jack Thompson since the day I'd started working at the SSR. He could be a total ass sometimes, but I remained convinced that a heart of gold lay underneath the posturing. Every day, I watched as he walked past my desk to his office as Chief.

Which was why I noticed that today he looked like shit.

Despite my staring, Jack had never really noticed me, at least not more than he noticed Peggy and Daniel. And he certainly didn't notice me today as he trudged to his office with his head down, bags under his eyes topping off the impression that he'd suddenly been replaced by a zombie.

He walked past me, then Daniel and Peggy, and slammed the door to his office behind him. I turned around to see if my two friends had also noticed his condition, but they hadn't looked up from their work.

I faced forward again and stared at the pile of papers on my own desk, debating my options. I hoped Jack wouldn't push himself past his limits and come to work when he should've stayed home, but part of me knew he'd push until he dropped. And he'd looked like literal garbage when he walked past my desk a minute ago.

I tapped my foot and pulled one of my files closer, keeping part of my attention on the door to Jack's office. I'd give it a little while, and if I didn't see him, I'd go check on him myself.

As it worked out, I didn't have to go to Jack. He ended up coming to me.

"Agents Carter, Sousa, and Y/L/N," he called into the bullpen, swaying in his doorway as his hoarse voice struggled for volume. "My office. Now."

This time I saw Peggy and Daniel exchanging concerned looks. They'd finally noticed what I'd seen when the Chief came in: Jack Thompson looked like death warmed over.

"What's up, Jack?" asked Sousa, stepping into the room as I carefully shut the door behind us. "You don't look too good."

Jack just waved him off without looking up from his desk. He slouched in his chair, failing to paint even half the imposing portrait he usually did.

"I'm fine." The congestion lacing every word said otherwise. "I've got a case for you three to get working on."

Peggy and Daniel shared a skeptical glance, but didn't say anything. I squinted my eyes and crossed my arms, staring Jack down.

"We've got intel about Leviathan potentially rearing its ugly head again. I need the three of you on it. Case files are here."

He pointed to several stacks of papers on his desk, but didn't stand. He clearly didn't have the energy for something like that.

Peggy and Daniel shared another look, then moved forward to grab the files. They both stared Jack down, and he stared right back, looking completely exhausted. Still, the duo did nothing. Daniel scooped up my case file for me, handing it to me as we all headed for the door.

"C'mon, Y/N," he said. "Let's get started."

I didn't take my eyes off Jack, but he just stared blankly at the desk in front of him. Like he was contemplating how bad it might hurt if he simply passed out and bounced his head off it in the process.

Peggy gently grabbed my arm and led me from the office with her and Daniel. We stopped just outside the door, Daniel closing it behind us this time. The three of us made a tight circle next to Peggy's desk, and I raised my eyebrows in question at my two friends.

"Why aren't we doing anything about Thompson?" I asked. "He's clearly sick as a dog. He shouldn't be working right now."

Peggy sighed as Daniel explained.

"You weren't here for it, but he's been like this before," Daniel began. "He came in here like a ghost, and sat at his desk working away. This was before he was Chief."

"Everyone in the office tried to get him to go home," Peggy continued with a tired sigh. "He looked terrible enough that even I let some of the things he'd said go and tried to persuade him. He wouldn't budge. He insisted on working through it."

I scowled as Daniel picked up the story where Peggy left off. "Nobody could get him to give it up. Eventually, Dooley saw how bad he was hurting and ordered him home. Said he'd fire Thompson on the spot, best agent in the office or no, if he didn't knock off and get some rest. Thompson still put up a hell of a fight, but he couldn't ignore the direct order."

"But now, he's the one giving the orders," Peggy finished. "He's not going to order himself home, and no one else here has the power to make it happen."

I scowled and turned from my friends to squint at Jack's office door.

"Yeah, well, like you said. I wasn't here last time." I turned back to my friends. "Can you guys hold things down here and take charge if I get him out of here?"

"Sure, but good luck," said Daniel. "He showed just how stubborn and thick-headed he could be last time."

"He's about to meet his damn match," I promised, more to myself than my friends. I passed my case file over to Peggy, who took it with a small smile, then I turned to face Jack's office door again.

I marched forward, shoulders back and head high as I extended a hand and hammered on the wood. I heard a groan of pain from inside, then Jack's raspy voice.

"What?"

"Lemme in, Thompson," I said. "You're sick as a dog, and you're too stubborn to admit it. I intend to do something about it."

"Go away."

"Wrong answer."

I briefly debated just breaking down the door and barging in there, but I paused. I had another option to try before brute force. That could be my plan B.

I pulled a bobby pin out of my hair and knelt down in front of the door, snapping the pin in half as I went. Not as precise as actual lock picking tools, but I'd made it work before.

And I made it work again. The lock gave a satisfying click, and I pulled the pieces of the bobby pin out before turning the door handle. The door swung open easily and I stepped inside Jack's office, swiftly closing the door behind me. Jack snapped his head up from his desk, where he'd been face-down.

"How the hell did you get in here?"

"Determination," I said, quickly crossing the office to stand by Jack. "Now come on, Thompson. Get up and go home."

Jack shook his head, leaning back in his chair to survey me. It would've been a power move, but he immediately started hacking and coughing, which ruined the image.

"I have work to do here," he finally said, gathering himself enough to look at me again. "I can't call out sick and shirk all my duties just because I have a little cold."

"Alright, first of all, you have plenty of capable agents who can deal with the workload so you can get healthy again," I said. "And second of all... you're not going to get any work done by staying here a second longer than you already have."

"I don't know why you all insist on completely babying me, but I'm not so sick that I can't fill out some papers-"

"Oh, that's not what I mean." I cut Jack off as I walked around the desk, picking up two pens before sitting on the edge of it. "I mean, you're not going to be able to do any more work because I'm not going to let you get any work done until you go home."

Jack opened his mouth, probably to ask what the hell I was talking about, but before he could, I started drumming the pens on the table and singing at the top of my lungs.

"Go home Thompson, go home and take a naaaaaaap..."

Jack just stared at me for a few beats as I carried on, apparently trying to process what he was seeing. Finally, after my fourth verse, he snapped out of it enough to yell at me.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Y/L/N?"

"I told you," I said, temporarily pausing my drumming and singing. "No one in this office can order you to go home and get some rest. So I'm taking it into my own hands to force you to take care of yourself another way."

Jack just stared at me, shocked. I waited, looking right back at him. I made sure the patience on my face told Jack clear as day that I was willing to wait him out in every single way, including spending this entire day in his office being annoying, if that's what it took.

"You know, I could always order someone to get you out of here," Jack mumbled, glancing over my shoulder like he was considering it.

"Absolutely no one in the office is going to take your side on this," I said plainly. Jack seemed to consider for another minute, and then he sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair when he realized I was right.

"Fine. Fine, dammit. I'll go home."

"Great! I'll get your coat."

Jack stared at me as I crossed the room and grabbed his coat and briefcase, then held out a hand for him to help him stand up. Still, he just stared.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm helping you get home."

"I don't need help getting home," he sneered. Or, tried to. The congestion and the coughing lessened the effect a little bit.

"Whether or not that's true is beside the point," I said. "I'm going to help you get home because I don't trust for a single second that you won't smuggle out some papers and try to do work in a diner if I don't keep an eye on you."

Jack scowled at me, and I could tell he'd been planning exactly that. I just grinned back at him and offered my hand again.

"C'mon, Chief. Let's get you outta here."

****************

Jack huffed and complained the whole way back to his apartment. I kept a tight hold on his briefcase, so he couldn't find any spot to sneak in work, and he wasn't happy about that. He couldn't do much about it, though. The cold was wearing on him, I could tell. And now that he didn't have any work to distract him, the exhaustion was starting to creep in.

"Alright, this one's yours?" I asked, coming to a stop outside the apartment Jack said was his.

"Yeah, this is me."

"You've got your keys?"

He nodded, searching his pockets for a few seconds before pulling out a ring. He fumbled with them, sagging against the wall as he found the right key and turned it in the lock. My heart squeezed as I watched him. He was looking really, really rough.

He managed to get the door open and swayed like he was about to fall through the doorway, but stopped short to look back at me.

"Uh... thanks. For the help."

"No problem," I said, my heart racing a little faster in my chest. "Uh, Jack... I know you don't need the help, or whatever, but... you really are looking kind of rough. Do you- I mean, if you want, I could come in and... make you some soup or something?"

Jack stared at me for a long beat, and I couldn't quite read the emotion in his face. He blinked a few times, then finally looked away and sighed.

"Yeah. Yeah, that'd be nice."

I gave him a soft smile, then before I could second guess myself, I pulled one of his arms around my shoulders and helped him over the threshold.

I kicked the door shut behind me and forced myself to ignore the butterflies exploding in my chest. I was in Jack Thompson's apartment.

The hacking cough from my crush quickly helped snap me out of any lingering giddiness. I was here because he was sick as a dog, and I really did hate to see him like this.

"Kitchen's in there," said Jack, clearing his throat a little before he spoke.

"Alright, great. Here, why don't you lay down and I'll whip something up," I said, aiming for the couch in the living room. I helped Jack lay down, and thankfully, he didn't even protest when I pulled a blanket up over him and set his briefcase far, far away.

"Thanks for this, Y/L/N. You really didn't have to do this."

"Don't worry about it, Jack," I said. I walked the other few feet into the kitchen, then looked through the cabinets until I found everything I needed. I started cooking, and it wasn't long before the soup was ready to go.

I put it in a bowl and double checked that it wasn't too hot, then headed back into the living room. When I rounded the couch, however, I found Jack completely passed out.

I couldn't help a smile when I saw him. He looked much calmer like this than he usually did at the office, without all the swagger, stress, and bravado. I sat down in a chair next to him, deciding to sip some of the soup myself. There was more on the stove to reheat when Jack woke up.

I debated leaving a few times, but I really didn't want Jack to wake up alone when he felt so shitty. In the end, I decided to pick up his briefcase and do some of the paperwork he'd been trying to push through earlier. Might as well help Peggy and Daniel keep things running, even if I wasn't in the office to do it.

By the time Jack finally stirred, it was evening. I looked up from the papers I'd been pouring over as he shifted on the couch, coughing a little but already looking better than he had before. He glanced around the apartment until his eyes finally landed on me.

"Y/N. You're still here."

"Yeah. Sorry, I just didn't want to ditch you when you felt so bad. I managed to get through some of the more boring aspects of this paperwork while you were out too. Here, let me go heat up some soup. You must be starving."

Jack nodded as I stood and walked into the kitchen. It didn't take me long to heat the soup, and this time when I came back into the living room, Jack was still awake and even sitting up.

He watched me as I rounded the couch and sat beside him, passing over the warm bowl of soup. I gave him a soft smile.

"So how are you feeling?" I asked as he took a sip.

"...Better, although I hate to admit your stupid scheme actually helped."

"Don't worry, I'll wait to gloat until you're healthy."

Jack huffed a laugh, then set down his spoon and looked at me.

"Why are you still here, Y/N? And I want more than some line about wanting to take care of me. Why do you care so much?"

I started, blinking stupidly as Jack just stared at me. I stuttered a little, trying to think of an answer, but I couldn't really think of anything but the truth.

"I... well, I care about you, Jack. A lot. I... I actually have for a little while now."

"...Are you trying to tell me you've got a thing for me, Y/L/N?"

My face started burning as I looked away. "Actually Jack, I'm trying very hard to avoid telling you that."

Jack huffed a laugh, and when I looked back at him, I found him glaring into his soup bowl. My heart dropped.

"Listen, I'm sorry, I really didn't want to make anything weird," I started. "Let's just pretend it never-"

"Y/L/N, I feel the same way," he said, finally looking back at me. He had a slight smile on his face now, which was the only thing keeping me from absolutely combusting from embarrassment. "I'm just pissed at myself for not noticing how you felt. I give Carter shit all the time for being so blind about Sousa, but now I finally get why she always just laughed in my face."

I grinned, and Jack did too. He still looked a little rough, pale with bags under his eyes, but even his cold couldn't dull the shine of how handsome he looked.

"So you're saying you feel the same way?" I managed to ask.

"Yeah, Y/N. I'm saying that."

Jack and I locked eyes, and my heart leaped in my chest with utter joy. Jack set aside the soup and started leaning in towards me. I started to lean towards him, too, caught up in the moment until I managed to remember why I was here in the first place.

I sighed deeply and put a hand on Jack's chest, stopping him in his tracks. I leaned away, and Jack raised an eyebrow at me.

"What's the problem?"

"You're sick as a dog, remember?" I sighed. "I'm not trying to catch whatever you have, Thompson. Kiss me as soon as you're healthy."

"Y/L/N..."

"Nope. I'm not changing my mind. After following you around all day, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I don't want this cold."

Jack sighed heavily, looking seriously dejected. It pulled on my heartstrings just a little bit, but not anywhere close to enough to get me to change my mind.

"Look at it this way," I said. Jack perked up, and I couldn't help the mischievous grin that formed on my face. "The more you take care of yourself and give yourself time to rest and get healthy, the sooner we can have our first date and happy ending."

Jack huffed and glared at me, but took another sip of his soup nonetheless. I just smiled and leaned back against the couch cushions.

"Let's plan on this weekend," I said. "If you take another day or two to yourself to get healthy, you should be ready for a night on the town by then."

Jack shot me a glare as he leaned back on the couch next to me, brooding over his soup. I just smiled as I watched him, waiting for his answer.

"Fine," he muttered after a few beats. "I guess I can stick Carter and Sousa with a slightly heavier work load for another day or two. It'll be worth it in the end, after all."

With that, he turned to me with a wolfish grin. I smiled right back. I couldn't wait for him to be done with this cold.

I'd been waiting a long time for this moment with Jack Thompson. I could manage another day or two while he got healthy.

[formerlyknownasenigmaforum23]

In which Daniel Sousa and Daisy Johnson are not only compatible but right for each other:

In what world did we EVER think we would get to experience Daniel Sousa’s story getting to continue outside of Agent Carter’s all too brief 2 seasons? In what world did that story end with TIME TRAVEL and a woman from the future with superpowers claiming his heart?

Because make no mistake about it, Daniel Sousa started falling for Daisy Johnson the second she was in his office giving him a bullshit story to save her friends. The fall continued the second he saw how strong she was and how much fight she had in her in that barn.

He has a type. And he is strong enough and secure enough in who he is that he can acknowledge it.

And while we can acknowledge the importance of Peggy Carter to Daniel Sousa.

We can acknowledge that in a way it prepared him for falling in love with Daisy Johnson.

We can acknowledge that every relationship we have in this crazy thing called life shapes us in some way. That’s beautifully human.

We can acknowledge that Daniel Sousa is shaped by Peggy Carter.

We can acknowledge that he cared for her, that he loved her, that she will always probably be one of the great loves of his life.

But we can also acknowledge that he and Peggy Carter were not each other’s endgame.

Steve Rogers was Peggy’s.

Daisy Johnson was Daniel’s.

Why?

Because IMO Peggy Carter was willing to walk through the fire with Steve.

Hell, she did walk through fire. She literally got Howard Stark to fly them into enemy territory so Steve could rescue his bff. She risked her entire career, her reputation, everything she had worked for which in those times was a hard won battle for a woman.

For Steve Rogers.

She wasn’t willing to do that same thing with Daniel Sousa.

To me, she was never willing to let him in completely.

I doubt she would have shared the deepest, darkest parts of their work that she would’ve had to take on as she moved up the ranks.

Parts that were necessary and needed and this is where I SCREAM that we should have gotten more seasons of Agent Carter because I think we would have gotten there with her character.

And it would have been brilliant.

Fury had to have picked up some of his habits from someone.

Daniel Sousa wanted to help, he was there to help, he has proven that he is a good man in a crisis.

But would she have let him in?

I don’t think she would have.

And there’s nothing wrong with that.

BUT now, we have Daniel Sousa out of time, with this team of heroes, with Daisy Johnson.

And what does he do, after a few very understandable freak outs and breakdowns?

He helps them.

He jumps right into the fight.

He doesn’t hesitate because Daniel Sousa is a good man in a storm.

He’s calm, he’s pragmatic, he’s a crack shot.

He would not have been promoted to head the west coast of the SSR and S.H.I.E.L.D if he wasn’t one of their best.

And in the middle of all of the chaos surrounding him what does he find?

Someone who’s willing to let him be by their side.

Daisy Johnson sees Daniel Sousa prove himself time and again with their team.

He’s there and present.

He might not know anything about what’s going on but he’s still willing to hold a flashlight if they need it.

He’s consistent. He proves this constantly in the time loops when he’s there and willing to help her with whatever she needs.

Even if that means dying so she can keep remembering.

He proves himself to her and in return?

Daisy starts to let him in.

And yes, it’s going to take time for her to trust him with her broken bits because our girl has a lot of them.

But so does he.

It’s going to take time on both of their sides to show each other everything.

They’ll get there.

And it’ll be their own kind of perfect. 

But first? First Daisy gives him a choice.

To stay on the ground where it’s safe.

Or come with her into the depths of space on what she probably thinks is a suicide mission.

And the fact that this man, this competent, caring, crack shot of a guy wants to be by her side? It’s a fucking revelation for her. Yes she has a team but how many times has she had to go to battle alone? How many times has she been hurt?

Too many to count.

How long has it been since she’s had someone want to be there for her, to pick her up, to be her partner in all things?

Far too long.  

Daisy Johnson deserves a good man in a storm. She has earned herself a soft love with someone who is going to support her through it all. Who will see her broken bits as something beautiful and part of her.

Someone to pick her up when she runs into those walls and helps her go back into them.

Daniel Sousa deserves someone who will let them fight beside them. Someone who he can partner with and support and be supported by. He has earned himself a superhero just like Peggy Carter. Someone who will also see his broken bits as something beautiful and part of him.

Daisy Johnson and Daniel Sousa have loved and lost so much separately.

Together they have everything to give one another.

And they won’t waste it because they know how precious it is to find it.

Thank You for coming to my TED Talk.

[thirtysomethingloser92]

If The World Was Ending

Pairing: Daniel Sousa x Reader

Warnings: Angst, small smut scene, mentions of torture. “Daniel Sousa can’t lose someone else he cares about”

Daniel Sousa sat by the light pod, his own body covered in bruises and scrapes. His arms folded over his dark blue dress shirt that now carried a stain of your blood on it. A bloody liaison across his head, a purple bruise forming across his lower jaw. He was in pain, yet his eyes never left the steady rise and fall of your chest, because as long as that was happening, you were alive. You were safe and breathing.   He had been so close to losing you he realised, he had been so close to standing at your grave rather than sitting next to you in the light pod. The panic he felt in his heart when he watched you laying on the table, your eyes barely open and you barely conscious from the painful injections you were given earlier, the doctor picked up the scalpel and held it tauntingly over your chest; (“I just want to see what makes an inhuman tick,” Those words would never be erased from his brain, no matter how much he tried to will them away) was something he never thought he could feel, he was positive that it was strong enough that you could feel it even as you hit the ground. He emptied his own gun into the perpetrator, but it still didn’t feel like it was enough. It was barely enough that he was pleading for you, begging for you, to stay with him. That he pulled your almost lifeless body into his lap, brushed your hair from your face, and began talking to you. Him whispering what a pain in his ass that you were to him, he told you stories about the war, stories that he probably wouldn’t have told you any other time. Except now you were dying, evacuation was still a bit out, and he was terrified that someone he had come to care about so deeply would die in his arms. He smiled as Jemma came and checked on your stats, telling him that you were stable, and your wounds were healing. He smiled a little less when Daisy came in and stood by his side, telling him stories about The Battle of New York; she showed him videos on her tablet of you running around and fighting aliens. She tried to remind him that you were strong, and it would take a lot more then a crazed Hydra agent to kill you. He didn’t even bother smiling when Coulson came in, leaning against the wall and staring at the scene in front of him. “She’s a good person.” He began, watching you with soft eyes, “Her powers don’t define her. Despite what Ross says,” He continued staring, “I don’t know how much she’s told you about her past, but when I found her, she was on SHIELD’s radar. She can manipulate people’s emotions, she can read them; like a human lie detector,” Coulson shrugged, “As a result, the higher ups thought that she would be able to weed out spies, use her powers as a type of interrogation technique,” Daniel’s eyes barely left your body, but his eyes showed the sadness in them, “They wanted her for their own purpose,” Coulson nodded, “So I took her under my wing, trained her up, made her see that she was more than what they wanted her to be. She was so determined to prove her worth,” He gave a sigh, “Still to this day I think she’s trying to prove something to me. She doesn’t need to worry I trust her fully and completely. She has nothing to prove,” Daniel nodded, “She’s a good person. I’ve noticed that she seems more lighter since you’ve taken that bracelet off. More carefree,” Coulson nodded in agreement, “Ross wanted her contained for her original purpose, to help him interrogate those in the Sandbox and the Raft. The ultimatum was either wear the bracelet which would bind her powers until she agreed to work with him or work for him then and there and well, you know what she chose,” He looked down at Daniel who still looked worried at the woman in the pod, “She’s going to be okay. She’s dealt with blows like this before and she’s made it out,” “She stopped breathing,” Daniel swallowed deeply, “I was talking to her, and she just stopped. I tried-“ He swallowed the lump in his throat, “I tried to keep talking to her, I tried to revive her and I thought for a minute that she,” He shook away the tears that were welling in his eyes. Coulson continued to stare at Daniel, “You care about her deeply,” It was a statement rather than a question as he could see it on the other man’s face, the desperation, the need to have her eyes open, to see her smile again. He remembered those feelings with May, like a physical ache in his chest. Daniel stayed silent, neither confirming nor denying Phil’s statement. Instead his eyes just focused on the pod in front of him. “Did you want us to take you home?” Phil asked quietly, seemingly already knowing the answer, but asking it anyway. A small sigh escaped Daniel’s lips as he leaned back in the chair, making himself more comfortable as his eyes never left the chamber, “I’m right where I need to be,”

  You were so tired, every bone in your body ached in a way you never knew before, but you couldn’t focus on that as you stormed into your apartment; the sound of the familiar limping following quickly behind you. Your lips were cracked and split, ribs broken. You know that the man behind you didn’t fair any better, but you were so wound up in your head that you could barely comprehend the pain you should have been feeling at that moment. “Would you say something already? Get it out?” Daniel called out to you as you went to walk straight into your bedroom. Every part of your mind said to ignore him, to walk away and deal with everything in the morning when you weren’t so tired, and your body wasn’t screaming for relief. Your mouth, however, opened before your mind could even catch up to what it was doing. Walking away wasn’t your strong suit. “You screwed this whole operation up!” You stalked forward like a lion stalking it’s prey, “You were told to stay back, I had this whole thing handled,” Your chest was heaving and you could see his brown eyes watching your every move, making you abnormally hyperaware of every movement. His face was blank and that was what angered you even more; “I couldn’t leave you in there at the hands of Hydra. With what they were doing to you,” He said calmly. You scoffed and shook your head, placing your hands on your hips, “I had back up in the form of Daisy, of May, and Mack and Yo-Yo and Deke; we’re trained for this!” “What? Trained to be tortured the way you were?” “I’m a superhero Sousa,” You didn’t miss the slight flinch at the mention of his last name, “I’m an Avenger. This is what we do. We save the world whether we survive it or not,” The crack in his mask finally broke as he looked at you incredulously, “I knew a woman like you. She wasn’t a superhero, she didn’t have powers, but she was strong, and stubborn, and never knew when to ask for help,” You think you finally understood the out of time man as you shook your head and bit the inside of your cheek. You didn’t think that you were that bad, you always asked for help if you needed it- at least you think you did. “I get it, I do. You fell in love with someone back in 1955, and we took you away from that, your heart is broken. And I’m sorry that you were pulled out of your own time and you never got a proper chance with Peggy, I really am-“ During this speech, Daniel had turned around to face the front door, he looked as if he was taking a few calming breaths. You had never really seen Daniel get mad before, not in the few months you had known him. You had seen him argue back if he thought something was wrong or unjust, but you never had to watch him physically turn away and calm himself down. Daniel spun around quickly to face you, “See, I don’t think you do get it. Because if you did get it, we wouldn’t even be in this mess. You’re a superhero, like you keep calling yourself, but you have this habit of letting things get worse thinking that you have it under control and ultimately you end up paying the price when it goes south. It’s like you get a thrill from the danger” “You want me to apologise for that?” “No. I want you to ask for help when you need it! I want you to trust me enough to ask for help! You almost died out there,” He argued back, stepping closer to you, his brown orbs searing through your soul. You shook your head and threw your hands out, “Don’t even try to pin this on me, you heard the name Peggy Carter and you flipped. I had everything under control, and then you came barging in like John Wayne and nearly got us both killed,” “You don’t think I don’t realise that I screwed up?” He stepped closer to you, “But you’re wrong,” You tiled your head to one side, “No I’m not. You let your emotions get the better of you. You need to learn to let go of her. You can’t do that every time someone mentions her name,” “I didn’t do it because of her. I did it because I saw what he had already done to you and what he was about to do to you,” Daniel moved even closer, “You’re everything to me. If something happened to you, I couldn’t deal with that,” “Do you want to go home Daniel?” You whispered as he moved even closer again, his hand moving to ghost over your face. He shook his head, “Not anymore,”

  The kiss was burning, almost searing into your skin. His hands on either side of your hips as he tried to pull you closer. His tongue traced your lips,  hands slowly moving from your hips and touched your face, his fingertips moving across your soft skin a centimetre a second, barely touching your flesh as if you were something breakable, something precious, across your cheeks and behind your ears, moving down to your jaw and neck, across your neck under your jaw. You couldn’t help but to move your head back to allow him access to your neck as a breathy moan escaped from your lips. You felt the hungry opened mouth kisses, the scraping of his teeth against your sensitive skin as a louder moan escaped from your mouth.

You felt as he moved down, his lips on your chest, down the slopes of your breasts, his fingertips leading the way, brushing lightly around your breast, moving slowly, a centimetre a second. His lips found a nipple and gently closed on it, lifting it, before allowing it to drop back. His mouth continued to pepper your body, his hands reaching around your back and pulling you closer to him as he lowered himself to his knees.

His fingers moved down the outside of your legs, Goosebumps rising from your skin as his fingertips lightly traced your skin, around behind you knees before moving back up your thighs and to your buttocks. You almost collapsed on top of him from the feeling of his gentle lips and soft touches. You could feel the wetness in your underwear as he kissed your inner thigh.

You watched as he stood up, you giving him a slight hand, his fingers moving to his shirt buttons, one by one they were undone, revealing his chest to you. He slipped the shirt from his shoulders and let it drop to the floor.

Biting your bottom lip, your mouth suddenly went dry at the site in front of you. Of course, you had seen him in his white singlets, many times in fact, but nothing could have prepared you for the sight in front of you.

You reached for his belt, but he took your hand away.

His eyes never left yours as you cautiously reached out and touched him, his hands painfully slowly undoing his belt and kicking his pants off out of the way near the door.

He turned you around, so you fell easily on to the bed, his eyes watching your now bare body with almost animalistic glee. You watched as he removed his false leg and placed it by the end of the bed. You knew that by him doing that meant that he trusted you implacably. He wanted you to see all of him, and you realised in that moment that you think you were completely in love with the Agent out of time.

He stooped over you, and kissed you in the same, only just touching way, that he had done before. Soft almost imperceptible moans emerged from between your lips, your hips moved with a rhythm unguided by your mind.

"That feels so good." You heard yourself whisper as a finger slid between your wet folds soft and delicately.

His finger moved to your entrance. Your legs parted to allow him free access, but instead he chose to concentrate teasing it just a bit longer without venturing inside.

His finger entered you slowly until it was fully inside. Your hips rose as you arched your back to force him deeper

“Please,” You whispered, noticing the small smirk on Daniel’s face. As if he knew exactly the type of emotions that you were feeling.

He leaned forward, his lips once again brushing against yours, as his hand moved between the both of you to guide himself into your entrance. A sharp gasp escaped your lips as he rested his forehead against your own, his eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of you contracting around him.

He began to move inside you, slow and steady at first, before his movements became harder, more exquisite. You continued to meet his pace as your skin started slapping together. Your hands moved up to his shoulders, nails digging in as a loud moan escaped his lips. He reached down once again and kissed you, this time so much harder than his previous times, this time was needy, desperate. As if he needed the comfort.

A large wave of emotion overcame your body, heightening the experience. The feeling of adoration, the feeling of feeling wanted and equally needed.

The feeling of love.

You wondered whether that came from you or Daniel, either way it made you climax harder than what you ever really had before. He must have felt it too, because as he pumped himself inside you his forehead came to rest upon yours, his chest heaving and his hands brushing your hair off his cheeks as he peppered your lips with kisses.

You don’t remember when he rolled over or when he wrapped his arms around you, but that night, you fell asleep feeling safe, secure and satisfied.

The days events had floated away in your mind as he pulled you closer to him, leaving no space between you.

“I can’t lose someone else I love,” He whispered, his breath brushing across your back, leaving goose bumps in it’s path.

You felt him press a small kiss into your shoulder as his thumb traced your hip bone and you closed your eyes, a smile gracing your face.

[a-wonderingmind]

peggysous week, day 4

the song this was inspired by is called Don't You Worry, by Oh Wonder, and actually, is another long unfinished wip that sat long and lonely in my folder. So here you go!

stay here, darling

The sound of Peggy’s laughter echoed through the chill of the night. He watched her unfold in the cover and sound of the darkness, taking a hop, skip and a jump over the tramlines.

LA at night was like a different world; the darkness creating a blanket where they could just be them, Peggy and Daniel, not Agents Carter and Sousa. He wanted this feeling more.

She looked back at him and smiled. It could have lit up the city.

We walked the city streets at midnight when the world went quiet

We skipped our dancing feet along beside the taxi rides

If I'm honest, it felt like love

Daniel looked up from his seat on the bench, and met the tired eyes of his partner, seemingly fresh out of the halls of Congress.

“How was it?” he held his hand out, and she took it gratefully.

“I am spoiled at SHIELD, honestly, Daniel. I had forgotten how tiring it is to work without having the respect of your colleagues,”

He merely hummed.

She joined him on the bench, and laid her head on his shoulder, hands still interlocked. She sighed.

And all the beats fell in between the silence that we shared

And all the trees were swaying softly in the thick black air

If I'm honest, it felt like love

The kettle was boiling, beginning to whistle as she put the last of the tea leaves into the strainer. Her dressing gown wafted out behind her as she reached over to take it off the stove before it woke Daniel.

The mug was warm; she wrapped her fingers around it and revelled in the gentle heat it provided. The morning of a day off went frequently like this, him preferring to sleep in late and her taking the opportunity to get up at her own pace.

Speaking of, she should probably think about taking her curls out soon.

Just on her way out, tea finished and mug on the side, she runs into him, hair messy and still half asleep.

He reaches for her, his crutch squeaking to accommodate the arm he places on her hip to pull her closer.

Their lips meet and it's a barefaced morning kiss, bad breath and all; fondness.

“Morning,” she smiled.

“Morning, Peg,”

And you said, stay here, darling

Don't you worry 'bout a thing, don't you worry 'bout a thing

I'm right here, darling

They lay bedside each other, panting and red.

Peggy turned to him. “I love you, Daniel.” He merely hummed in reply, though she could hear the reciprocation in his voice. His eyes were slipping closed and she watched each muscle in his face relax as he dozed.

She could feel the pull of sleep as well, but she watched him just a little longer, joining each of the freckles that smattered his cheeks and nose with her gaze.

She reached out to trace a line across his left cheek. She got about half way, before a hand jerked up and grabbed her fingers.

“Hey!” she protested quietly.

“I can feel that,” he rumbled in return. “Go to sleep,”

We let the freckles on our faces make a million stars

A constellation so amazing, that we saw a spark

If I'm honest, it felt like love

It was nearing 5am when the thought hit her. They were on some weapons smugglers' tail, down by some nondescript warehouse near the port. Daniel had just made the worst pun; and now, was rummaging around in the back for the snacks he had packed the night before.

“Daniel?” she said, trying not to think too hard about what she was about to do (though of course she had been thinking about it, rolling it around the back of her mind as maybe, possibly, someday), but watching her partner and knowing that this felt right.

“Hm?”

“Marry me,”

He snapped back to sitting beside her, doing his most adorable impression of a deer in headlights.

“Peg?”

“Marry me, Daniel.”

“I mean, yes, but -” he said, still slightly dazed.

“Why the hesitation?” she replied, confused.

“Would you believe me if I was to say I went ring shopping last weekend?”

“So, dinner tomorrow night...”

“Yeah,” he smiled shyly.

She grinned.

And in the morning, you adored me 'til the sun went down

And then I knew you were the one I couldn't live without

If I'm honest, it felt like love

He could hear the kettle whistling from the kitchen. He had been dozing for about half an hour now, and he could heat Peggy up and about, pottering around the kitchen, probably making tea. It’s the first day in almost three months they’ve both had a day off together, and he is determined to make the most of it.

He should probably shower, but the bed was warm and his crutches were too far away from under the comforter.

Eventually, the call of nature compels him to get up; thankfully, the bathroom was not too far. Next on the list - coffee. He meets Peggy on the landing. She’s barefaced and beautiful, a hand keeping her dressing gown across her waist. He reaches for her and pulls her in for a kiss, graceless and raw, soft and yielding.

“Morning,” he smiled.

“Morning, Daniel,”

And you said, stay here, darling

Don't you worry 'bout a thing, don't you worry 'bout a thing

I'm right here, darling

It was not uncommon for Jack to turn up at their DC house, bedraggled from a cross-country haul and ready to collapse on the nearest soft surface.

But all the times before this, there had not been another, tiny, human in the house.

“I can go somewhere else, it’s fine, you’re tired enough,”

"Nonsense, Jack,"

Peggy turned to Daniel. "Can I give you this task," summarily handing him the squirming child, "and I'll go and get the spare linens. I think there should still be some open in the fridge,"

“Linens? In the fridge? I think you guys might be more sleep-deprived than I am,”

Daniel rolled his eyes and throws a ‘she means the milk,’ behind him as he crutched through to the kitchen and pulled it out of the fridge; he leant himself against the side to free up the other hand in order to sterilise the bottle. To Jack’s untrained eye, even half asleep, Sousa seemed to be able to bottle up the milk and give it to his daughter very efficiently.

“Look at Mr Dad over here, barely awake and daddy-ing with ease,”

Daniel gives him an unimpressed stare; in complete contrast to Edie, who giggled and reached for Jack.

“She recognises you,” he chuckled. “You’re family now.”

We built a little house and filled it with our little dreams

But shining brighter are the moments that were in between

If I'm honest, it felt like love

“Is this what it was like for you?” she asked, turning away from the melee, gathered in her honour.

He chuckled, the deep sound stilling the vibrations in her bones. “It was a little quieter, for sure, but basically, yes,”

“If one more person comes up and makes a joke about finally slowing down,” she grumbled, without any heat behind it, “I swear I’m going to accelerate it exponentially and knock their head against the wall,”

Daniel just smirked. “There she is.”

She looked at him questioningly.

“You’ve been flitting about all evening, darling, almost like you don’t know what to do with yourself. I know work has been a huge part of life so far; and it’s hard to lose, no doubt, but I, for one, am looking forward to spending more time with you,” he said, eyes sparkling.

He took her hand and she squeezed his palm, just like the first time in the van. Their hands were older now, like they are, but just as warm, just as snug as then.

“Me too,” she smiled.

And now we're ready for the ending, we're hand in hand

A life so colourful, we didn't even need a plan

If I'm honest, it feels like love

tagging @peggysousweek!

[imjustthemechanic]

The Price of a Soul

Part 1/? - Agent Russel Part 2/? - The Letter Part 3/? - Miss Lake Part 4/? - The Stewardess Part 5/? - An Assassination Part 6/? - Fallout Part 7/? - Face to Face Part 8/? - Deals, Details, and Other Devils Part 9/? - Baggage Part 10/? - Private Funding Part 11/? - Just Passing Through Part 12/? - Party of Four Part 13/? - Resolute Part 14/? - The Wreck Part 15/? - Body Snatchers Part 16/? - Out of the Frying Pan Part 17/? - A Miracle Part 18/? - A Matter of Circumstance Part 19/? - Nome Part 20/? - The Future Part 21/? - A Hero’s Welcome Part 22/? - Up to Speed

In which Peggy has to have those conversations she’s been putting off.

-

Having cleaned out her room at the Botticelli Gardens, Kay no longer had a place to stay in Los Angeles.  Something would obviously have to be done about that, but Peggy was not yet at the point where she was willing to trust the woman to stay in a hotel.  She therefore invited Kay back to her place to wash up and change, and Kay seemed happy to accept.  While Peggy unpacked, Kay took a shower, and Peggy could hear her chanting cheerful nonsense under the spray.

“Boom ba-boom-boom boom ba-boom-boom bass!  He got that super bass!”

She came out wrapped in a towel, and Peggy noted that the roots of her blonde hair were growing out darker.  Peggy took her own turn to wash up, and came out to find Kay already dressed, in a black skirt with a red jacket and matching red hat, which she was adjusting in front of the mirror.

“What do you think?” she asked, turning so that Peggy could inspect her outfit.

“A bit flashy for a spy,” Peggy replied, grabbing the pile of clothes she’d left folded on the vanity.

“I’m a flashy spy,” said Kay with a smile.  “The James Bond of the Red Room.  Or… no, wait, that’s not until the fifties, is it?  James Bond.”

“I’m afraid I wouldn’t know,” said Peggy, “but if I ever meet the gentleman I will give him your regards.”

Once clean, dressed, and made-up, Peggy felt considerably more confident as she and Kay headed back to the Auerbach Theatrical Agency front to meet with Daniel.  Unfortunately, more confident was not the same as actually feeling like she knew what she was doing, and there was definitely a knot of dread in the bottom of her stomach that would not go away.  Sooner or later Daniel would absolutely ask her what she meant to do about Steve.  Her only honest reply would be that she didn’t know yet and needed time to figure it out.  It was the figuring out that was going to be agony.

Rose stood up to greet Peggy as she stepped inside, then stopped short when she saw Kay.

“Good afternoon, Peggy,” Rose said cautiously.

“Hello, Rose, it’s good to be back,” Peggy replied.  “I believe you’ve met Miss Katerina Lachkova.”

“Call me Kay.”

“She’s given us some valuable intelligence and for now Chief Sousa and I have chosen to continue working with her,” Peggy said.  She wanted both Rose and Kay to know that this was open to change at very short notice.

“I love your lipstick,” said Kay.  “That’s the perfect shade for a redhead.”

“Thank you.  Your jacket is very becoming also,” Rose told her.

Having thus established that the two would refrain from trying to kill each other until Peggy gave them permission, Rose allowed Peggy and Kay upstairs.  Daniel was waiting in his office for them, and the way he sat up and lowered his hands, Peggy could immediately tell he’d been sitting there holding his head.

She also realized that the presence of Kay would keep him from talking about personal matters, which was… it was only a temporary reprieve, but it was something.  Peggy shut the door behind them, and went to sit down in the chair where Kay had sat while interrogating her as ‘Nadine Russel.’

“I can’t believe you found him alive,” said Daniel.

“Neither can I,” Peggy replied.  “Although Kay claims to have known the whole time.”

“The serum acts to keep his body functioning almost no matter what,” Kay said.  “So when he became unconscious in the water, it slowed his metabolism to reduce the demand for oxygen.  The cold slowed it further, so he went into a state of suspended animation that could have kept him alive almost indefinitely.”

“And this is something the Soviets know?” asked Daniel.

“They picked up a number of Schmidt’s experimental subjects from various camps during and after the war,” Kay explained.  “It’s something they’ve been working very hard on, and they’re going to be working even harder once they learn that Captain America is back.  They will see it a you having a weapon they don’t.”

“Not that there aren’t people here who don’t think the same thing,” Peggy noted dryly.

“From what I know of him, the United States government will find Captain Rogers harder to control in peacetime than they thought,” said Kay.

“I agree,” said Peggy, and made a mental note to ask later what kind of things Steve had gotten up to in that alternate twenty-first century.

Daniel nodded.  “Well, in the meantime, I do have some good news.”  He picked up a file off his desk.  “I don’t have a lot of information yet, but it looks like the East Coast has Underwood.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” said Peggy.  That at least was one less thing to worry about.

“Did they mention me at all?” Kay asked.

“No, as a matter of fact, they didn’t,” Daniel told her warily .  He plainly still wasn’t sure what to make of Kay, any more than he had any idea what to think of Steve’s unexpected return.  “I think they’re trying to keep that on the down-low… although Thompson did mention a splitting headache the morning after Stark’s plane left New York.”

“That wasn’t me,” said Kay.  “Drowsiness or slurred speech, yes, but not headache.”

“I don’t imagine Thompson has requested me again,” Peggy noted.  The last time he’d tried to interrogate Dottie, she’d nearly broken his nose.  He had to save face by now allowing it to happen again – and that meant not giving Peggy a chance to upstage him.

“He hasn’t,” Daniel said, “but I thought you’d want to know.”

“I do want to know,” said Peggy, turning to Kay.

Kay nodded.  “I’m going to need to talk to her,” she said.  “Some of my information is out of date, and I think she’ll be able to fill me in.”

Daniel looked at Peggy.  She nodded.

“I don’t know if I’m going to be able to arrange that,” he said.  “Officially, you’re still a wanted foreign agent.”

“If you can’t arrange it, I can do it for myself,” said Kay, “but it’d be nice if I didn’t have to.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Daniel said.  “Miss Lake… do you mind giving Agent Carter and myself a moment to talk in private?”

“Of course not.”  Kay stood up.  “I’ll wait outside.”

“On the other side of the room, please,” said Peggy.  “And do try not to cheat anybody out of their entire life’s savings while you’re there.”

“Oh, that’s asking a lot.  I can’t make promises.”  Kay smiled and shut the door behind her when she left.  Peggy and Daniel watched through the office window as she went to the other side of the room, leaned against the wall, and opened her compact to check her makeup.

Daniel turned to Peggy again.  “Okay, tell me the rest.”

“I want you to at least pretend I haven’t told you this when we’re in front of her,” Peggy warned him, “although I’m sure she can guess.  I feel like the fewer people know, the better.”  She took a deep breath.  “She says she knew where Steve was because she’s a time traveler from the twenty-first century.”

Of course Daniel’s first reaction was to scoff, but Peggy could see him quickly catch himself.  He knew she wouldn’t tell him something that sounded so ridiculous without a reason.  She detailed what had happened on their trip, and the full story Kay had told her… leaving out the parts about her and Daniel’s own future.  That was irrelevant now, as Kay herself had pointed out.

“I don’t know if I believe it,” Peggy said.  “I want to believe her, but that may just be wishful thinking.  Her information has been good so far, but if she wants something from us that we may not be willing to give her… what better way to put us in her debt than by giving us Steve?  Not just us personally, but the entire country?  Or to establish trust?  She told me she wants me to trust her.  Why would somebody give us Captain America if they didn’t have the country’s best interests at heart?”

Daniel hesitated, his eyes moving back and forth as if he were trying to choose between two possible directions for this conversation.  “Has she given you any idea what she might want in return?”

“Sort of,” said Peggy.  “She told us that Steve’s friend, Sergeant Barnes, is captive in a facility in the USSR.  She has some kind of a plan to rescue him, and it seems to hinge on Dottie telling her where he’s being held.”

He mulled that over for a few moments.  “We’ll have to be very, very careful if we let her talk to Underwood,” Daniel decided.  “What does your gut tell you?”

“I’m afraid my gut is every bit as confused as the rest of me,” said Peggy.

Of course, Peggy knew her gut wasn’t the organ Daniel was really concerned with, as his next question confirmed.  “So on a personal level…” he began.

“Oh, no,” Peggy groaned.

“I’m not going to…” Daniel swallowed.  “I just need to know what you want, Peggy.”

Peggy shut her eyes as she felt those traitorous tears well up again.  “I don’t know what I want yet.”

That seemed to surprise him.  “You don’t?” he asked.

“No, I don’t,” Peggy said.  It was just as she’d feared, wasn’t it?  Daniel really thought Peggy had been settling for him and that he had no chance now that Steve was back.  She took a couple of deep breaths and forced her emotions to calm down.  “I knew Steve three years ago, in the middle of a war, in a totally different world.  I don’t know how well I remember him, and he doesn’t know how much I might have changed.  I’m going to need some time to work it all out.”

“Right, of course you are,” said Daniel, lowering his head a little in embarrassment.  “I’ll give you some room, then.”

“Thank you,” Peggy said, but she could see in his face that he already expected to lose.

To distract herself, she glanced out the window to see what Kay was doing, and found her cheerfully flirting with Samberley, who appeared to be falling for it hook, line, and sinker.

“I think we’d better put a stop to that,” said Peggy.

“I think you’re right,” Daniel agreed, sounding as relieved as she to have an excuse to end this conversation.  He got up and as he opened the door, Peggy caught his arm.

“Just promise me whatever happens, you won’t think it’s because you’re unworthy,” she said, looking him firmly in the eye.  “Worth has nothing to do with it.  You are not in any way less than he is.”

“You say that,” said Daniel, with just a hint of a smile, “but I’m definitely shorter.”

Peggy smiled back, and stood up a little taller to kiss his cheek.

That was the moment when the elevator doors opened.  Peggy dropped back onto her heels and turned to look as Masters stepped into the room – followed closely by Steve Rogers.  Like Peggy and Kay, Steve had apparently had some time to clean up.  He’d shaved and combed his hair, and was now dressed in a beige shirt with a tie.  People crowded around to meet him as he entered, but he looked right over their heads and into Peggy’s eyes.

In a world where time travel was apparently possible, and where men cold survive three years frozen solid in the arctic ice, it simply wasn’t fair that Peggy couldn’t sink into the floor and vanish.

“Daniel!” said Masters, worming his way through the crowd towards him.  “It looks like I’m gonna have to borrow a couple of your agents.”

Should Peggy move away from Daniel?  But wouldn’t that just make it more obvious that she wanted to hide something from Steve?  Why was she trying to hide anything, anyway?  She’d had the entire trip from the Valiant to Los Angeles to tell Steve what she’d been doing for the last three years and she hadn’t said a thing.  If she’d stopped to think about it she would probably have decided it was in order to avoid overwhelming him, but wasn’t it just because she didn’t want Steve to know she was on the verge of marrying somebody else?

“Steve,” said Masters, making Peggy bristle.  “I think you’ve met Daniel Sousa.”

“We met at the airport, yeah,” said Steve.  He gave Peggy a questioning look.  She tried not to react to it… she would have to sit down with him and explain.  Was he remembering how she’d told him off for kissing that blonde in the SSR offices, how she’d thrown the words the right partner back at him?  He’d later told her what had happened and she’d felt foolish.  Would Steve expect to hear that this, too, was only a misunderstanding?

“Captain,” said Daniel, shaking Steve’s hand.

Masters put a hand on Steve’s shoulder as if the two were supposed to be best friends now.  “We’re taking Steve to New York to meet the president and visit his hometown, and he’s requested that Carter and Lake come along, since they’re the ones that found the spot.”

Peggy glanced at Lake, still standing by the wall next to Samberley, then up at Steve.  Everything he was thinking had always shown on his face, but that was no help to her because right now he wasn’t thinking at all about why he wanted Peggy and Kay with him.  He was thinking about what he’d just seen, and it was certain now that he had seen it.

“Of course,” said Daniel.  “They’re welcome to.”

“Wonderful.”  Masters patted Steve’s back again.  “We’d best get a move on, then.  The whole country’s waiting to welcome the Captain back!”

[jaskiers-sweetkiss]

Not Possible [Soulmate AU]

Pairing: Daisy Johnson x Daniel Sousa

Based on the prompt: “Can someone make a soulmark story with Daisysous where Daisy's soulmark is "Who the hell are you?" and Daisy, being someone that would always get herself into tight situations, was something that she heard a lot and has gotten kind of desensitized to it and while Daniel's soulmark is "Who I am is on a need to know basis", he had gotten into the habit of asking people who they are to get that kind of response. However, both of them are very focused on their respective missions (Daisy to fight the Chronicoms and Daniel to figure out who is trying to infiltrate his SHIELD base), they didn't realize they were each other's soulmates until he noticed his writing on her body while rescuing her from the barn and then they fall in love yay” from @magickgirl786 (lmk if you want me to untag you) 

Warnings: light swearing, mentions of torture, THERE WILL BE AGENTS OF SHIELD SPOILERS

a/n: I was so inspired by the prompt that I literally pounded this out in like an hour last night. This is my first Daisel/Dousy/Sousy/DaisySous fic so lmk what you think!!

___

Daisy Johnson hadn’t exactly had a normal life and being born with the words “Who the hell are you?” tattooed on her wrist didn’t make it any better. It was a question she had asked and been asked many times throughout her life. She asked herself that very question constantly growing up as she fashioned a name and identity for herself since she had no family to do it for her. She created Skye, the hacker but then “Skye” was thrown out the window when she met her parents and learned her real name was Daisy Johnson and she started the entire process of creating an identity over again. At some point, Agent Johnson became Quake and Quake became Destroyer of Worlds, she’d had enough names and identities to make a person’s head spin.

Working as a field agent with SHIELD didn’t help much either. Her job ensured that she was asked: “Who the hell are you?” on nearly every assignment. She barely even registered the shock of hearing the words anymore. She certainly wasn’t listening for them in 1953, decades away from anyone who could possibly be a candidate for her soulmate.

Daniel Sousa wasn’t sure what kind of soulmate he’d be getting with a soulmark like “Who I am is on a need to know basis,” but boy did he try to find out. He had tried to elicit the response from every new person he met but it never hit. The words started to make more sense when he joined the SSR and later SHIELD. Surely his soulmate must be an agent, he thought, but soon enough that idea fell through too. The identity of his soulmate was far from his mind as he went about his job, especially when dealing with the added stress of a Peggy Carter imposter. That must’ve been why the words went right over his head.

“Who the hell are you?” His words were harsh as he stepped into his office only to find it occupied by some dame he’d never seen before.

“Who I am is on a need to know basis.” Her words were curt but she radiated power and authority. On a normal day Daniel might’ve shown a little more respect for the woman but today he was out of patience.

“I need to know.” He demanded and she smirked.

“Ah, no, you don’t.” She smiled coyly, “Because I don’t exist, and we’ve never met. Now, can you shut the door please?”

“Not to be rude, but it’s been one of those days,” he began, eying the woman with his signature no-nonsense look, “So produce some credentials or I’m gonna put you in handcuffs.”

She complied immediately and he nearly let out a sigh of relief. Today may have been stressful but at least everyone was being compliant, even the two imposters he caught had gone quietly and without a fuss.

“I should inform you, that’s not my real name,” she spoke evenly as she handed over her ID, “My initials are C-I-A, catch my drift?”

“Subtle.” He deadpanned but he was grateful. It seemed someone was finally taking his fears of Hydra sleeper cells in SHIELD seriously, maybe someone was finally here to make his day easier.

The next thing he knew he was locked up in the very cell he had been keeping the imposters in. So much for making his day easier.

Daisy was surprised by the flare of guilt that came from locking Sousa up in his own holding cell. She normally wouldn’t have thought twice, it was part of the job and she was saving her people and the world, but there was something about Daniel Sousa that gave her pause. Maybe it was because he was a nice guy, or because he was already catching onto Hydra’s presence more than fifty years before it would actually come to light. Either way, she had to shake off the feeling as she continued on her day.

An opportunity to redeem herself not long after. Daniel Sousa was going to die, killed by the Hydra sleeper cells he was trying to expose, but they didn’t have to let that happen. They wouldn’t let that happen if she had any say in it. She still couldn’t figure out why she felt so strongly about a man she had only interfaced with once but something was telling her she couldn’t just let this man die. So she didn’t.

___

Daniel Sousa was not having a good week. First Hydra, then his base is infiltrated, and now he’s been kidnapped. Except, it’s worse than a kidnapping really, because not only is he no longer in Los Angeles, he was no longer in 1953, and he was, apparently, no longer alive. Somehow Daniel Sousa, Agent of SHIELD and World War II veteran, had found himself in the 1970s without having aged a day. At least this new Future SHIELD still did fieldwork, he really needed the consistency.

He found himself paired up with the agent from his office who’s real identity he learned was Daisy Johnson. He wasn’t sure what it was about her, maybe the power she emanated or her bold attitude, but something drew him to her. Somehow, even with the looming threat of Hydra, he felt less worried with her by his side. Though, maybe it had something to do with her earthquake powers.

It wasn’t until the barn that he realized the true reasoning behind their inexplicable connection.

God, that barn. Daniel wasn’t sure if they’d ever make it out of that god-forsaken building alive. Sitting there listening to Agent Johnson be sliced apart was a torture in itself for him, though he knew his pain was nothing compared to the agony she was surely feeling if her screams were any indicator. She looked like she was on the verge of death when they deposited her back at his side.

“Stay with me,” he remembered begging. He remembered telling her about what happened to his leg. He remembered feeling like there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to make sure she made it out of there alive.

Then she lifted up her hand to show the piece of glass stuck under her skin and he realized why he felt so strongly about the woman lying in his lap. His own words, “Who the hell are you?” were tattooed along her wrist. There was no mistaking his handwriting and while all he wanted to do was replay their meeting back in his mind to find out if she had said his words, he knew he needed to keep his mind on task if he ever wanted a shot at this soulmates thing. So that’s what he did, he threw all of his strength, mind, and ability into getting them out of that terrible barn. It wasn’t until he was seated on the Zephyr with Daisy safe, sound, and healing in front of him that he let his mind wander to the possibilities.

___

Daisy wasn’t surprised that she wasn’t alone when she woke up, but she was surprised by her company. She had expected Jemma when she woke up in the med bay’s hospital bed with an IV in her arm, but instead she got Daniel Sousa, not that she was complaining. He looked equal parts relieved and nervous when she awoke though she couldn’t figure out why. He didn’t tell her either, though the nervousness remained throughout her recovery. Jemma informed him that he hadn’t left her side the entire time she was unconscious and her heart warmed at the fact. The sentimentality surprised her, she wasn’t one to grow attached so quickly but there was just something about Daniel Sousa. She didn’t find out what until she had been released from medical.

“Agent Johnson, I think we should talk,” he said in that calm but commanding way of his, though Daisy didn’t miss the nervousness in his voice and face.

She merely nodded, following him into the Zephyr’s kitchen. They sat across from each other at the table, Daisy starting up the coffee machine before sitting down.

“What is it, Agent Sousa?” She asked, a teasing smile on her face, “You look like you might vomit.”

“We’re soulmates,” he blurted before immediately cursing himself and Daisy froze in shock.

“Excuse me?” She finally spit out, subconsciously sliding her fingers over the words on her wrist.

She’d heard the words hundreds of times, surely it couldn’t be him.

“I didn’t realize until I saw my writing on your wrist in the barn, I-” he stopped suddenly, unsure of what to say next. He had dreamed about meeting his soulmate, but never had he thought it would go like this. In lieu of knowing what to say, he rolled up his sleeve instead, placing his wrist on the table with his soulmark on full display.

Daisy’s mind was screaming at her as she stared at the man’s wrist. The man was born decades before her, he was supposed to die before she was even born, and yet those were her words, in her handwriting, clearly displayed on his wrist.

“What the hell?” She heard herself mutter, though she didn’t feel like she was in control of her own body in that moment.

“I’m sorry,” Daniel panicked, interpreting her confusion for upset. “I shouldn’t have sprung this on you, especially so soon after recovery-” he rambled before Daisy cut him off by placing a gentle hand on his own that was still resting on the table.

“I’m not upset,” she reassured him, “I just- how is this possible?” She laughed slightly at her own question, soulmarks were an extremely unpredictable thing and even modern science didn’t have a good understanding of them, obviously the chain of events that brought them together were meant to happen.

“I don’t know,” Daniel smiled sadly, “But, as crazy as all this is, I’d like to give it a shot.”

Daisy smiled. She couldn’t help it even if she tried, the man sitting before her was so genuine and even if he wasn’t her soulmate she was sure she’d be feeling the same butterflies in her stomach.

“Me too,” she said softly and the butterflies only flapped harder at the smile that broke across his face.

“I’d like to take you on a date if any of this,” he gestured to the Zephyr and the commotion that came with it, “ever dies down.”

“I’d love that.”

[chasethesun18]

From one Skyeward/Peggysous shipper to another, how do you feel about daisy x sousa? I see them cropping up on my dash a lot now, and I wanted to hear thoughts from someone who 1) is watching the season and 2) isn't hating on Skyeward.

i can already feel that this is gonna be long but i’ve lowkey been waiting for someone to ask me this so this rant is long due. first of all, i LOVE that you ship skyeward cause it feels a lil lonely over here and those are my babies my cute murdering babies.  a lot goes into this answer and i think it needs bullet points. lets do bulletpoints 

first of all, aos has already said that they don't follow the mcu timeline or events (as seen in many ways, my favorite being going back in time to avoid talking about the snap). so whatever damage endgame tried to do to my otp peggysous, is moot

secondly, the shit endgame tried to do my otp peggysous is also moot bc according to their own stupid time travel rules, steve now exists in an alt reality that only he lives in. he didn't throw a wrench in peggysous he's just out their living in his fantasy au. (also i dont think he stays w peggy in this au, but that's a sidebar) also despite the russo brothers lame attempt to say steve is the father of peggys kids (so he made out w his neice???) that does not fit their own time travel rules and mcu says tHAT CAP SAVED PEGGYS FUTURE HUSBAND IN A BATTLE WE KNOW SOUSA WAS IN I REST MY CASE

third, idk what aos is trying to do with their timeline and how long its been since daniel and peggy have supposedly seen each other but they aren't following mcu time travel rules, common knowledge time travel rules, OR timeless travel rules so i legit dont know what's happening

so here is my consensus. this is all a big au where i get the best of both worlds of my shield cast AND the loml daniel sousa. i think they're gonna plop daniel back into his timeline and i can be content believing he goes back to peggy. if he doesn't, will i pretend this whole storyline was in no way connected to agent carter and was just a fun time travel spin off? yes. but until then, him and daisy are cute together i can't lie. and if hes gonna be on a lil time travel adventure than he might as well have some fun. and hes so sweet to her it kinda breaks my heart cause i feel like no ones been sweet to her in a hot minute. 

granted, i haven't seen the latest episode so the last i saw was him saying he was right where he needed to be and mY HEART. do they belong together? no. are they fun to watch together for the time being? yES. the good thing about fiction is at the end of the day you can believe anything you want to believe about the characters, so when its all over ill believe the ending i want for them. but for now i love getting to see daniel and i dont mind a mini romance for the final season.

and in the end daniel will go back to peggy and daisy will prob have no love interest bc they always kill him off and she should be w ward but ive accepted that hes like...dead or whatever ugh

sorry for this dissertation but thanks so much for the ask! <3

[nettlestonenell]

You can come out from hiding under your desks, now.

Three Reasons You Can Stop Fretting About Peggy Carter in Endgame

It is Nell, Gentle Readers, here to settle your uncertainties and qualm your queasies in the wake of Avengers: Endgame, in particular its finale.

Tumblr (and I) are well-aware at this point (and even, it seems, some covering the fandom-at-large) that Steve’s dance with Peggy in the penultimate moments of Endgame has more than one Peggy and Steggy fan on the edge of their seat—and not always in a good way.

This emotion needs it’s own verb.

Here are the three reasons you’ve got absolutely no excuse to be worried.

But What Happened to Peggy’s Character Development in Agent Carter? Didn’t Steve Just Steal All That from Her? And Her Family? (And US?!?) Did Steve Rogers Just Sort of Murder Peggy’s Children and Grandchildren? In the Name of Love? Did I Just Watch That?

Take a breath, Peggy fan. Thank you for your support of TV-Peggy, but according to Avengers: Endgame’s in-film explanation [and multiple post-opening Russo interviews, if you accept those into canon], nothing done in the past/time heist portion in the film negates what we’ve already seen and know to have happened IN THE MAIN MCU TIMELINE (which I’ll now call ‘ours’). So Peggy DID all the things we saw her do, including become a wife and mom and grandmom and co-create and run SHIELD…and die. That can’t be unwritten or taken away from her. From “Our” Timeline Peggy.

Please put down the gun, Agent. We’ll handle it from here.

Something to notice is that the two guys who wrote Endgame, Markus and McFeely? Well, they’re actually the two guys who are credited as “Created by” for Marvel’s Agent Carter. They served as Executive Producers on the show. They wrote The First Avenger. The Peggy Carter we know (“Our” Peggy) is courtesy them directly building on the comics, for Cap’s first film, AND for the TV show. [We also cannot forget Kevin Feige, who produced The First Avenger and the TV show, AND the 2013 One-shot. Peggy is part of his hard work, too.] These are the guys who cared about and remembered James D’Arcy’s top-shelf performance as TV Jarvis, who said, of all the people they could have picked to include in the biggest movie ever to be released on this planet: yes, we want to put him in our film, most people won’t get it at all, some will get the Jarvis comics reference, and a few—we happy few—will know exactly what is going on and our hearts will grow three sizes in three seconds. This is a choice we make, because we love that show and that story, and those characters.

We as fans love Peggy Carter, yes. But these guys? These guys LOVE Peggy Carter. They’ve placed her centrally into the MCU, they’ve thought about and developed and worked on her and her journey for a decade (even before 2011 when TFA was released) . Is it logical they’d then turn around and just…set fire to the thing? Over-writing and backspacing their story and that character’s development?

And so do McFeely and Markus and Feige, Peg. So do they.

Speaking of that 2013 One-Shot, Have You Seen It?

It was attached to the DVD release of Iron Man 3, and it became a backdoor pilot to the TV series. So? Well, if you’ve watched it, Gentle Readers, you will know that it…cannot be canon if we are meant to accept ONLY Marvel’s Agent Carter TV Series and “Our” Peggy. It’s contradictory, Peggy is not entirely as we’ve come to know her. It’s a different Peggy.

Two interchangeable white men in suits and positions of power? Who ever heard of such trickery!

See, with the time travel rules and notions set up in Endgame, the multiple tellings of Peggy Carter’s story actually…work in greater harmony than ever before. Think about it:

The Peggy Carter in TFA doesn’t have the shaky standing among co-workers and on-going struggle to accept her own worth over how others treat her that is given to/developed for her in Marvel’s Agent Carter TV Show. That new (but necessary to dramatic progress) character beat was created and introduced in the TV show.

The Agent Carter One-Shot Peggy is NEITHER the Peggy nor the SSR agents that we meet and watch in the TV Show.

And the Peggy dancing with Steve in Endgame is NOT “our” Peggy. She’s Peggy at a different point than when we knew her—or, Peggy at the LAST point we knew her, about to change and grow beyond our understanding of her with Steve re-arrival.

She is Peggy (just like the One-Shot is Peggy), same skill-set—but different life experiences.

You Can Choose to Believe What You Like About that Dance.

It’s not going to be elaborated on any more than it has been on film. And here, ultimately, is your saving grace. Here, is the possibility of harmonizing Our Peggy with Branch Reality Peggy. Please thank Kevin Feige and McFeely and Markus for this. For leaving that shot unexplained, inexplicit, but open to eternal speculation.

It is never good to die without finishing a poem. Just ask Coleridge.

And here is what Nell is going to believe about that dance, and why.

Number One: The song choice, yes, it’s a WWII tune, but it could be playing at any time. Nostalgia is strong in all generations, but of course Peggy and Steve might dance to a song from that time—they could dance to that record in 1947 or 1957 or 1967. It’s about memories. So, the song being used as they dance is no real year-locative indicator. It’s timeless.

Number Two: The house. And here’s what I know. The house shown is a California bungalow, built predominately in warm US climates from 1910-1939. It’s a very particular style of house—not one you’d find in New York City (or Brooklyn). We are shown that house, and a small yard—and no other houses or buildings in-shot. So, clearly not in the city. [see Number Three]

Picture for architectural reference only.

The house has a yellow exterior. Is there, um, anybody from the TV Series we associate with the color yellow? Who ALSO had a California bungalow-style house—in California? Whose interior was painted yellow? Could it be this person’s house? And maybe they’re…gone?

You gotta love a man w/ a consistent aesthetic.

Number Three: Keen-eyed viewers of both seasons of the TV Show will recall both a shift in fictional and actual location from Season One being in NYC to Season Two moving to California. With this came a significant shift in cinematography. Suddenly, Agent Carter was sun-infused, the camera leaving things so sun-dappled it sometimes bordered on being out-of-focus.

Above, Season One Agent Carter. An homage to noir.

Above, Season Two Agent Carter. Let the sun shine in.

That’s exactly how the dancing scene was shot.

Conclusion: This scene is set in California, therefore, after Peggy moved there from NYC, as she stated she was about to do in the series finale.

Number Four: Steve Rogers knows the details of “our” Peggy’s life. He would know when she married, to whom, all about her children. He would know her timeline. We can’t know what became of her husband (whom we generally assume to be Daniel Sousa), only that he is absent from photos at her aged bedside. It would be no huge stretch to wonder if he hadn’t been killed working for the SSR. If this were true, Cap would know that as well. Being a widow would not negate Peggy’s children, nor prevent Cap from coming on-board and helping raise them. Or the two of them having children of their own.

No doubt, this photo was on the other side of Peggy’s bed when she was in care.

It’s no great stretch at all to go forward understanding that Cap’s arrival could show up the day after Agent Carter’s series finale episode set around 1947—or even fifteen years later.

Bottom Line? Cap knows more about “our” Peggy’s life than we do, and whenever he chose to stop in and stay [and maybe he co-ordinated it with returning one of the stones, such as in 1970—the dancing clip is rendered timelessly, and will take closer scrutiny to try and date it through Peggy’s dress, hair, and possible wrinkles-given] he would do so in a way so that he (and the writers) would rob Peggy and her family of nothing.*

Because that’s who Steve Rogers (and the screenwriters that created the film version of him and Peggy) is.

Peggy’s known. Peggy’s always known.

*Right after he managed to rescue Branch-Bucky.** **After stealing more Pym Particles as he replaced the Tesseract in 1970.

Sleep tight, Gentle Readers, Cap hasn’t disappointed you—or Peggy. He (and Feige, and McFeely and Markus) have just made it so you can

[peggysousfan]

New Years Series Chapter 5

Here is chapter 5! Fluff and angst all mixed in here. This is set after season 1 and before season two. It’s more of an Au tbh. Theres banter and fluff, and a sweet ending. Enjoy :)

"Would you STOP coming in through the WINDOWS, it scares the hell out of me." Daniel exclaims as he sets down his book.

"Sorry." Peggy says while latching it closed behind her.

"Peg, why are you here? Can't the case wait?" He exasperates. She chuckles and hands over a warm box.

"Why? Are you getting tired already?" He playfully glares and takes the offering. When he opens the lid he moans in delight and takes it to the table.

"Thank you! God I'm starving, I haven't ate all day." He reaches in the box and takes out a slice of pizza to eat. As he does, Peggy leans against the table and places a file with several individual papers next to the box. "Can it wait till we eat first?" He asks with a mouth full. She laughs at him and takes a slice for herself. She licks her lips in anticipation before biting down, and Daniel can't help but watch.

"What?" She asks, and then he looks away; caught like a child eating cookies from the jar.

Daniel's ears and cheeks flush red as he stutters. "Uh..n-nothing." She tilts her head to the side and looks him up and down with squinted eyes.

"Are you sure you're alright, Daniel? You seem flustered all of a sudden." He takes another bite and starts to go through the papers, nodding at her question. "Daniel."

He chuckles slightly and avoids her gaze. "I said I'm fine, Peg." She squints her eyes at him but drops the matter anyway.

"Alright...if you say so," She teases, making him look up at her and chuckle.

"As a matter of fact, Agent Carter, I do say so" He smirks, making her turn red.

"We're off duty, 'Sousa'. " She emphasizes, making him laugh.

"Okay, okay, okay. I do say so 'Peggy'. Better?"

"Much better," And they laugh again before finishing off their dinner.

While Daniel looks through the file she brought, she can't help but watch him work. The way his brow furrows when he thinks, when he puts his pencil behind his ear as he re-reads something, and the way leans back, all relaxed, as if he's nearly got it all figured out. These are the things Peggy Crater notices about Daniel Sousa, and she loves to watch him work.

Flashback:

2 weeks previous, nearly a month after the Stark case and dealing with Leviathan, Agent Carter and Agent Sousa were called into Chief Thompson's office; a new case was brought in. A gang on the lower east side of New York sprung up on the radar for estranged weapon sales. The informant of the SSR said they may be connected to Hydra weapons. Nearly a week into the case and they already had a lead. Peggy and Daniel stayed in a car, in close proximity, staking out an old  abandoned mill. For hours they sit and come up with nothing, and Peggy began to get bored.

She grumbles and moans from the ace in her back and tries to stretch, only to brush against Daniel and graze his face with her elbow.

"Oh bloody hell! I'm sorry Daniel I didn't mean to-"

"Its fine, Carter. Don't worry about it." She glances away for a moment before looking back at him. "Peg, its fine. Seriously I know you didn't mean to," He laughs, making her relax a bit. "You'd think this being a car from Howard Stark, that it'd have more space."

She hums in agreement but then looks down. "Well it doesn't really help when we have hoards of take out crowding us as well." As she says this he glances down and then back up at her and laughs; making her heart swell. "What? Daniel why are you laughing like that?" As she begins to laugh too.

"This is your mess, Peggy. You ordered all of this!" He says, trying to stop laughing. But every time he looks at her and then glances at the food, he laughs again.

"It is not!" She replies, affronted. "I'll have you know half of this is yours." He gives her a look as if to say she was crazy. She huffs and turns away, her body facing the steering wheel. "Fine, a third of it is yours." She crosses her arms in a pouting position.

"Awe, come on Peg." He nudges her and pulls a smile from her lips. "You know I was just fooling around with you. Do you forgive me?" He asks as he keeps nudging and poking her, making her break out in a grin

"Yes, alright. I forgive you." She turns to face him again and that's when she realizes just how small the car is.

Her knee brushes against his and her hand on the seat grazes his. They both look down at the close proximity and down at their hands. Before either of them are aware, their fingers intertwine and hold each other. They look up again, their faces so close they begin to breath the same air. Peggy looks down at his lips and back at his eyes, and Daniel does the same. At the same time they lean in, their noses graze against each others, making them pause. As their breathing becomes uneven, they lean in more; nervous and excited all at once. But before their lips meet, a noise occurs outside; the gang has finally arrived. Peggy clears her throat and leans back, grabbing her gun and loading it before they both exit the car to apprehend the criminals

End flashback:

Daniel begins to sense he's being watched, so he looks up at Peggy and she slightly jumps with a start an immediately looks away; her cheeks creep with a blush.

"Something wrong, Peg?"

"No." She clears her throat and reaches for a piece of paper. "Nothing at all."

Daniel doesn't buy her answer or her shy smile. So he stands up and walks around the table where she stands. When he gets beside her he leans against the table and crosses his arms, waiting. SHe looks up at him with a raised brow.

"May I help you?"

"I don't know...maybe." He shrugs his shoulders and keeps his arms crossed, looking at her. She smirks and then tries to make her face neutral.

"Daniel what are you doing?" Although her question is meant to be serious, her small chuckles takes that tone away.

"Observing." Peggy smiles at him and steps closer.

"Observing what? Hm?" She mimics his arms and crosses her own.

"You." She takes another step closer, now in his personal space.

"And why is that?" She smirks, causing him to do the same.

"Cause I can."

"Is that so?" He hums in confirmation while Peggy sets her hands on her hips.

"Yeah. If you can observe me, I can observe you." She counters against him.

"Oh really? Because...I wasn't 'observing you work."

"No? Cause I saw you." His smirk slowly forms into a grin, and so does hers

"Did not."

"Did too." Peggy bites her bottom lip in an attempt to keep herself from smiling, but it doesn't work.

When she looks in his eyes, all she can see is a glisten of excitement, and before either are are of what's happening, she jumps at her chance. Her lips crash into his and her hands grab the front of his shirt, pulling him close. Daniel uncrosses his arms and instinctively wraps them around her back.He pulls her closer and she leans in, her body pressed fully against his. His hands run up and down her back before they stop; one grazes through her hair as the other stays on her waist. As they break apart for air, Peggy still keeps her grip on him, leaning her forehead against his as they catch their breath. Daniel leans back and kisses her temple, making her giggle and look up at him.

"This still doesn't mean I didn't see you watching me."

"Oh bollocks! I thought that would work." Daniel laughs so hard he leans back and falls into a chair, making her laugh at him.

"Not funny, Peg!" He exclaims, although he couldn't help but laugh at it himself.

"Yes. Yes it is." She walks over to him and straddles his lap, making his laughter die down.

But before he says another word, his lips are filled with her kiss, their lips move together like the waves of the ocean. She runs her fingers through his hair as he holds her close, never wanting to let go. As their lips part once more, Peggy doesn't stop there. She peppers kisses along his cheek, head, and neck, not once stopping. He nudges her head back and the kiss again, longer and deeper. Peggy takes her hands and brings them to his chest, resting on his shirt. At this, Daniel pulls away and is brought back to reality.

"W-we can't do this. I'm sorry Peg, we just- we can't."

"Why?" She leans back, slightly, only enough to look at him.

"Because this is going to end very badly and I don't want you to get hurt." He looks down to avoid her eyes, but she lifts his chin and kisses him quickly.

"Why are you saying this will end badly? We've hardly started, Daniel." As confusion fills her face, Daniel sighs and glances away.

"Because, Peg...I'm leaving." She blinks away the tears that start to form and focuses on the meaning behind his words.

"Leaving?" Her voice cracks. "W-where? Why? Daniel-"

"I'm moving to Los Angeles because I got promoted...as Chief." As the words settle in her mind, a pit sinks into her heart. Just when everything began to feel right again, it all tumbles down. Daniel sees the state she's in and wipes away a loos tear. "Peg?"

"I-I'm very happy for you, Daniel." She smiles sadly and gets off of his lap, creating a physical barrier to match the emotions one. She starts to grab the file and head towards the window.

"Peggy, don't. Please. Just-" He grabs her by the hand and stops in her tracks, refusing to look back at him. "Be honest with me, Peg." At first she hesitates, but caves in from the whirlwind of dread that is eating away at her.

"I don't want you to leave." she turns toward him and watches him shrink back. "I-I want this- us. I-I don't want to be left behind again, Daniel. I ca't- I won't-"She cries, but he takes her face in his hands and brings his lips to hers, wiping away the warm tears that fall.

"Come with me." She starts to decline but he stops her. "Peggy, come to LA with me. Dottie Underwood is behind bars, the drug cartel Thompson can deal with, and the SSR can find you a place to live." She smiles through the tears and looks into his eyes. "Just say yes."

For several moments she stays quiet, debating her options. But none will ever amount to this. "Yes." At this Daniel smiles so brightly she can't help but laugh in return before he cuts her off kisses her breathless. "I just have one question..."

"What's that?"

"Uhm...." She hesitates and shakes her head, but he pulls her closer by her back and looks into her golden brown eyes. "Would it be okay if-well if I wanted to live with you instead?"

Daniel pulls back, shocked, and Peggy starts to worry if she should have never asked. But before her fear could grow, he kisses her again with all of his strength.

"It's more than okay, Pegs." He pulls her into an embrace and holds her close.

For the rest of the night they  put up their work and rest. After all this time they finally opened up to each other and now they are  ready to start a new life together.

[songofdefiance]

So yeah.  Other Endgame bits.  There are still spoilers.

I mentioned Thor, yeah?  Yeah.  I saw a Mary Sue article earlier that sums up my beef with that pretty well, so I’ll link that:

https://www.themarysue.com/problematic-character-depiction-avengers-endgame/

Basically, somehow in addition to reverting Thor’s development in IW, the Russos managed to make it worse by turning him into a fat joke that lasts the entire fucking movie.  It’s horrible.  It’s exhausting.  It’s not even a little bit funny.  They also completely pass over his alcoholism, which is never resolved as far as I can tell, and the film continually mocks him instead of actually addressing his grief properly.  I’m on the fence on him going with the Guardians - like, yeah, that’ll be fun, but at the same time that’s still a reversion on his Ragnarok development. 

Not to mention that, now that Valkyrie is the ruler, she probably won’t appear in future movies at all.

Steve... Steve took a bit more thinking.  My initial reaction to his ending with Peggy was happiness.  Sure, let him and Peggy be happy together, why not?

Then I took a few minutes to really dissect what that meant. 

It meant abandoning his best friend in the 21st century, even after promising multiple times that he would stay with him - even after giving up his shield for Bucky in CW!  It meant abandoning his other close friend, Sam.  While I’m ecstatic at the prospect of Sam being the next Cap, I’m just...

...look.  For several of the films that had Steve in them, it seemed like his arc was about exactly what he was talking about in this film: learning to move on.  Learning to find a way to live in the 21st century, even if he missed his old time.  And it seemed like he did!  He found a purpose, and a family, and several very good friends.  He was learning to live again.  It was, in my opinion, one of the better ways to handle a pseudo “return from the dead” arc.  It had actual consequences, and it showed him dealing with those.

And then all of a sudden that’s just... gone?

All of a sudden, he decides that he can’t stand to stay another minute?  He has to go and be with Peggy the moment he gets the chance?  Peggy, who found connections of her very own because of Steve’s disappearance, like Angie and Jarvis and Daniel (look, I didn’t like Peggy and Daniel’s romance in Agent Carter either, but now I’m like... I’d rather have that).  She found her way to move on.  I thought Steve had found his. 

Guess not.

If you’ve ever watched the Flash... you know how at the end of season two, after two seasons of character development during which Barry learned why he had to learn to move on from his mother’s death, he had a sudden 180 and went back and saved his mom anyway?  Like, yeah, I get it, he was grieving over his dad and not quite in his right mind, but... still.  Steve’s actions reminded me of this.

(Except Steve’s actions apparently don’t have consequences???  Whereas Barry’s actions created an evil future version of himself that almost killed Iris and destroyed all of reality...)

I did like a few things about the movie.  I like Steve wielding the hammer.  I like the all-women team up.  I liked that Gamora came back somehow, though I’m still incensed about what happened to 2018 Gamora in IW.  I liked Nebula’s character arc.  I liked the way they did Tony’s death.  I like Pepper in the Rescue armor.  I liked how Natasha was... almost acting like Tony, when we got the brief glimpse of her after the five year time skip. 

I have a lot of questions, though.

What happens to SHIELD if Peggy got Steve back?  Is it still formed?  Did Steve really go back to the 40s and not bother to tell anyone where he is in the ice?  Did he really go back to the 40s and not try to save Bucky from Hydra earlier?  What happened to Daniel Sousa?  What happened to Angie Martinelli?

What happened to 2012 Loki?  Wouldn’t he have brought the Tesseract to Thanos?  How does Hydra act now that they think Captain America is on their side?  Does 2012 Steve go looking for Bucky after the first Avengers instead of joining SHIELD? 

If 2014 Thanos died, how the fuck did any of this shit even happen?  If 2014 Nebula died... what???  Is it possible that Natasha could be freed after Steve returned the soul stone?

Just.  ??? To a lot of this. 

Side note: what happens with Agents of SHIELD?  Supposedly season six will be set one year after the season five finale... which means they’re one year after the Snap.  And yet none of the returning cast is missing.  Daisy, Mack, May, Simmons... they’re all there.  Are they going to be trying to deal with a post-Snap world with all of them being lucky enough to survive, or is the show actually meant to be set one year after the events of Endgame?

I’m a bit confused, in addition to being angry.  So.  Y’know.

Bye.

[justsomewritingsandshit]

New Anniversaries

 Daniel Francisco Sousa II (OC) x Reader, former Steve Rogers x Reader, mentions of Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes 

Length: 3483 words (yeah, I got carried away)

Warnings: none really, allusions to previous part, and some swears, reader moving on, pretty much made up Peggy Carters family - quick rundown. Peggy married Daniel Sousa, they then had a son, who had a son himself

Requested by @iamwarrenspeace

Masterlist for this series | Part 2 to Missed Anniversary

“Love?”

“…Yeah?”

“You awake?”

Both the bed springs, and yourself, groaned as you flopped onto your back. “Apparently.” You looked pointedly at your boyfriend in accusation. “What time is it?”

Daniel, the love of your life and; the sweetest man on the planet, looked a little guilty. This was a big indication of what the time was. Your eyebrows raised, seeming to further his awkward look. “… It’s seven, love.”

You closed your eyes, “Then, I’ll see you in two hours.”

“No!” Daniel pouted, scooting closer to your body, “Please, I made you a breakfast!” Your eyes shot open in horror. While Danny was a wonderful person, who was as smart as a whip, and as gorgeous as an Adonis, he cannot cook. He once set fire to a pot of water he was boiling, literally. You still don’t know how. Obviously seeing your frantic look, he back-tracked, “Okay, I ran down the road to get us French toast… But, I made the coffee, though!” His proud expression, which somewhat reminded you of a small child’s excitement, made your chest warm. Daniel made you happy, you loved him so much.

You let out a sigh of relief at his confession. The man couldn’t cook to save his life, but the Brit could make a mean cup of joe. “Darling,” You cooed, using one of his own terms of endearment against him, “I love you, and I love that you’ve done this,” Your hand gestured to the tray of food he’d been holding the entire length of the conversation, “But I am so tired. Please let me sleep.”

You could see Dan considering, his face softening slightly as he saw your under-eye bags, “Love,” He sighed gently, “Please eat breakfast with me.” His voice was too sweet, far too sweet for you to say no to.

In fairness to him, Daniel had just returned from the south of England the night before, after he’d visited his father. You’d definitely missed him, just as much as he’d missed you. He’d been absent from your life for three weeks, celebrating his father’s birthday with him, as well as to taking his annual leave from work. Dan worked hard, constantly trying to stay ahead of himself. It’s news to no person in the workforce, in any industry, that paperwork piled up after a while, if left unattended for even a moment.

Originally, you’d planned to accompany him, but you’d been forced to cancel those plans, to take over the position for a woman you worked with, after she’d gone into early labour, thus swiftly forced on maternity leave.

“Okay, fine!” You reluctantly sat up to eat, exposing your warm skin to the cool morning air, as your blanket shifted around you. “But I want you to know, that I’m only doing this,” You were referring to being awake before nine, “Because I love you!” Snatching a piece of French toast, which had been drizzled in syrup, you took a large (probably unattractive) bite, before letting out a borderline sexual moan, “This tastes so good, babe.”

Daniel smiled happily at you, “I asked Mel,” The woman who usually did the morning shift at the diner down the street, “To put extra syrup on it for you.” Your man knew you had a sweet tooth. You continued to messily munch on the food, not caring about the consequences, such as the mess you were making. “Hey.” Dan caught your attention, before he gently cupped your chin with his large hand, turning your head towards him. He leaned in close, softly kissing just below your bottom lip, before he pulled away, licking his smiling lips. “You had some syrup on you,” He explained casually, but you saw the underlining cheekiness in his grin.

You’d gotten extremely lucky with him. The man could still make you blush, after two years together. Thinking back, now, you wondered how you could have possibly believed you loved Steve. You never felt such a raw, powerful connection him, unlike with your Daniel. Did you ever truly love Steve? You weren’t sure. All you knew, was the day you met Detective Sousa, was one of the best days of your life.

You met Detective Daniel Sousa at your workplace, approximately six months after you left Steve.

 The museum had become your second home after your breakup, as it was the perfect place for a history nerd such as yourself to hang around. You enjoyed your job, creating exhibits, and giving tours – especially to the elementary schools who visited on their school trips. After all, children were the most unintentionally funny people on the planet. The only downside to the job, was having to frequent the Captain America exhibit, and being forced to look into the eyes of the man who’d betrayed you, as well as the eyes of the man who’d been partner to that betrayal. Although, after a few months, when you walked past the exhibit, the sting of heartbreak faded, leaving only memories. You guess it helped to remember them as heroes they were, rather than your own personal villains.

 There had been a break-in at work, so the local precinct had sent some of their officers to the crime scene, and thus; you were introduced to Detective Sousa. He’d been there to investigate the crime, but had stuck around, long after the case had been concluded.

 It began casually. After his shifts had ended, he would often escort you to the subway stop nearest to you work, claiming that he had to protect you from the evils of the world. Daniel wasn’t capable of being a subtle flirt, not at all.

 His ‘protection’ shtick, had originally left you weary (for obvious reasons), but you eventually conceded to grabbing coffee with him when he asked you (the second time), nearly eight months after you became single. The two of you had stopped at a local Starbucks on the way to catch the train that night, all the while arguing if it truly counted as a ‘date’. You both guzzled an entire cup of coffee, before realising you’d missed your train (too concerned by your conversation to notice the time), and the next train would take ages to arrive. Daniel offered you a ride, which you had accepted almost instantly – you weren’t subtle, either.

 That was the first time you’d kissed him. Your body had pressed against the stick-shift of the car, his tanned hands cupping your cheeks, the both of you enjoying the moment you were sharing. When you’d pulled back, you both were breathing heavy, knowing that there was an undeniable connection between you two.

 “It’s still not a date.” You had winked at him teasingly, not-so-subtly letting him know that you weren’t entirely sure your words could be classed as true.

 After that first kiss, your friendship and relationship with Daniel only flourished. Before you’d know, Daniel was asking you to officially be his girlfriend, letting you know that he only wanted to kiss, and love, you. Honestly, he barely got out he words before you’d agreed. Ironically enough, that day, your and Daniel’s anniversary, was the day you had left Steve. It was as if the stars had aligned in your life.

Your fathers loved him.

 Who wouldn’t, though?

 Daniel was classically handsome, and had a natural charm to him – he reminded everyone of an old-Hollywood movie star. He had the tanned skin and the perfectly tousled dark hair, as well as the jaw, nose and lips that you were sure had to be carved by angels. Not only that, but he was funny. He had a dry wit, the product of his British background he said, that kept you laughing. Also, he enjoyed all the nerdy things you did – you often spent hours conversing about the Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter, dissecting every aspect together.

 You fell for him so easily.

The world stood still the day you’d discovered his secret.

 Six months into ‘officially dating’, Daniel had sat you down to talk. When he opened his mouth, you’d been ready for the worst – he’d found someone else, he was secretly married, he already had children and another family, etc.

 What you hadn’t expected, however, was that he was the grandson of Peggy Carter. You knew who she was. How could you not? Agent Peggy Carter. You knew her from the textbooks you’d studied at school, from the exhibits you ran at the museum, but mostly; you’d known Peggy Carter from the man you had loved.

 When you’d first started with Steve, all those years ago, you’d known that he missed her. After all, she was the first woman he ever loved.  You had helped the captain move on, as at that time Peggy was in her last years of her long, fulfilled life, and Steve had been in his late twenties. For the entirety of your relationship with Steve, you’d compared yourself to that strong English woman, admittedly scared of her ghost.

 It turns out, she was the wrong spectre to watch out for.

 Daniel knew of Steve. You’d told him everything – every memory, emotion, and thought. You’d kept no secret from your sweet detective, which is why this admission wounded you. “Why didn’t you…” You remember that you’d trailed off, struggling not to cry, scared that Steve’s past was going to ruin another relationship for you.

 The man you’d fallen for, took your hand into his own, “It wasn’t to hurt you, not at all. I love you.” This was the first time either of you had said it aloud, “I didn’t want his past to hurt you. I’m not going to let that happen. What we have, is too good to let be ruined by some family history.”

 His words had moved you, “T-that’s fair enough.” Your attempt to be casual was failed by your stutter, which was to distract from your tears. “M-my f-family used to be c-conservative, and t-that’s s-scary t-too.” Your joke hadn’t been that funny, but it still made you two laugh.

“So, now that I’ve consumed this breakfast food, can I rest?” You’d worked a particularly long shift the day before, which had consisted of school trip after school trip. Then, you had stayed up late, in order to witness Daniel’s return from the British Isles.

Daniel shifted the tray of empty plates and cups, to one of the bedside tables, before scooting up to you. “Okay.” The two of you had curled around each other, both tired but entirely content. “Before you fall asleep, love, I want to ask you something.”

“Mhmm?”

“Will you marry me?”

You shot up, absolutely startled, and managed to elbow his chin in the process. Not that you noticed. Had you just hallucinated? “W-what?” You loved Daniel, but were you ready to commit to him in this permanent way? Your heart filled with happiness, knowing that you loved him unconditionally. “Marriage?”

Daniel nodded, smiling happily over at you. “I want to marry you, Y/N.” He watched your face, taking note of the shock and slight apprehension on it, “I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, sometimes eating waffles in bed.” As you let out an awkward chuckle, he reached over to the tray he’d just placed on the bedside table. Then he lifted a small, white ceramic sauce bowl up, revealing a gorgeous ring inside. “It was my mother’s.” Dan explained, as he brought the ring closer to your face, “When I told my father that I was going to ask you, he insisted that I give it to you. He said it was a family heirloom.” From what you knew of his family, they were big on tradition – this must be another one.

“Danny, I-”

“You don’t have to say yes, if you’re not ready yet, love.” He reminded you, once again letting you know why you fell for him, and furthering the warmth in your heart. “We can pretend this didn’t happen, if you want.”

“No.” Daniel froze in shock, he genuinely wasn’t expecting such a blunt rejection from you. “No! I mean yes, I want to marry you! The ‘no’ was to your idea of pretending the proposal didn’t happen.”

“So… yes?”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes!”

The engagement party was at your shared apartment, as your work at the museum, and Daniel’s at the police station, didn’t really earn either of you mega bucks –  this meant hiring out a venue was not possible. It didn’t matter, though. The two of you cooked and baked all day (well, you did). Daniel, instead, stuck to occasionally handing you a spoon, or the flour. His father, who’d flown in for the event, had brought champagne on his way from his hotel. Your fiancé had spent a fair few hours organising the apartment, moving furniture, and setting up what he said was a ‘sick’ Spotify playlist for the evening.

It was going well, too. Your dads’ had flown in from Wyoming, as well as several of your other family members, and they were now mingling amongst Dan’s family, both of your friends, and co-workers. The evening was going so well, and everything went to Daniel’s schedule. You didn’t expect anything less than perfect, as Daniel strived to make this the best party you two could afford.

Of all things that you didn’t expect to happen, however, Tony Stark showing up to your engagement party was pretty high on that list. You didn’t remember inviting him, as he was barely known to you. Sure, you’d been in his building a few times, when you’d dated Steve, but that was literally years ago. But there he was, sipping on a flute of champagne, chuckling along to the story Daniel’s father was telling.

“Hello.” Dan slid his arms around you, pulling your body into his. He seemed to be either un-aware of Tony Stark’s odd presence, or completely nonchalant to his placement in the room. “What’s got you so pouty?” You’d been standing in your small apartment kitchen, having run to grab some more food for a few plates that were running low in the living room. It was then that you spotted Stark, and had paused to stare in confusion, just out of sight. “Are you pouting, because your dad told the story of how you walked in on him and your step-dad?”

“What?” You spun around quickly, “No! He told that story?” You shoved your face into Daniel’s shoulder, “No!” After your mother’s death, your father (to your knowledge) hadn’t even looked another persons’ way. At least, that’s what you thought, until you came home early from a sleep-over one day, only to be visually scarred by the image of your father having sex on the couch. The fact it was with a man was irrelevant, it was the fact it was your dad – you didn’t sleep that night, and you were too scared to have sex until well into your twenties.

Daniel chuckled, and kissed the crown of your head. “Yeah, it made my dad and Uncle Tony crack up.”

You froze, up until this moment, you’d thought that Dan only had aunts’, and cousins’. “Uncle Tony?” Your voice was chilling.

“Yeah,” Daniel paused, his face morphing into his embarrassed, slash guilty, face. “I forgot to tell you that he’d my godfather, didn’t I?” When you glared at him, he tried to defend himself, “It’s not something I can casually tell people!”

“Daniel Francisco Sousa, the second, we’ve been dating for over two years!” So, he’d been keeping secrets from you again, “Is there literally anything else, about you, that I should know? Tell me, is the Queen of England, also a relative?” The sarcasm was you trying to show that you weren’t being too serious, but you were pissed.

“No,” He sighed, kissing your cheek in affection, nuzzling it, trying to get back into your good books, “Love, that’s the last surprise about me, I swear!” Picking up the plates you’d abandoned, Daniel walked over to the door to the kitchen, “Now come on, I’ll introduce you!”

Three months later, you found your way back into the Avengers tower. You walked into the same elevator, spoke to the same JARVIS, but this time you requested that you be taken to Mr Stark’s office, rather than Steve’s floor. The elevator arrived, and the doors then opened, leading you into the large room.

“Y/N!” Tony Stark greeted you. His arms were thrown wide, drawing you into a hug the second you’d stepped off the elevator. “What are you doing here?” He wondered, although judging by the look on his face, you were sure he already knew.

“I’m here to talk about this,” You held up the cheque that had shown up in your mailbox, the large sticker on the front telling you it came from the desk of the Avenger in front of you. “This is too generous, Tony.”

The man rolled his eyes, “Nonsense! You and my godson aren’t gonna be able to pay for that wedding alone!” He waved his hand dismissively, wandering over to his desk, “Look, I don’t have a kid, the closest I got is Daniel. I’ve always helped his parents out, for all his stuff – school, camps. When I was told he was getting married, I wrote the cheque before I even knew it was you he was marrying. I was going to give this money to him, anyway.” Tony slumped into his chair. “I was surprised it was you, though.” He continued quietly, whilst you stood silently in front of the elevator, not sure what to do, or what to say. “I’m glad the both of you found each other, you suit each other well, and I’m glad you didn’t hold who he is over his head.”

Your shook your head, “I would never!”

The billionaire nodded, “I know. I’m happy for you both.” Tony smiled at you, “Now, I have a meeting, so you should head off.” It was a clear dismissal, “Also, I’m not taking the money back!”

You shook your head, but you still managed to smile slightly, “Goodbye.”

“By the way, was that Y/N I saw earlier?” Pepper Potts, right hand woman of Tony Stark, questioned later that night. Those who were at the Avengers tower that night, sat around the large dining table, consuming a nice Chinese takeaway that Natasha Romanoff had suggested. Across the table from Tony, was Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, the two men responsible for so much of Y/N’s emotional damage. “What were they doing here?”

“Y/N’s the one marrying Daniel.” Steve’s head shot up, noodles hanging out his mouth as he stared at Tony in shock. Y/N was getting married? “Yeah, I met her officially at the engagement party, that you missed,” Tony gave a mocking scolding look to Pepper, “They’re perfect for each other.”

“Why was she here, though?” Pepper once again asked, before noticing Tony’s sheepish look, “What did you do, now?”

“Nothing!” He received her narrowed eyes in response, “Okay, I gave them some money for the wedding! Y/N didn’t want to accept it, but I insisted! They’re family, now, after all!”

“Family?” Bucky asked, pretty much choking out the word. After all, his stint as the Winter Soldier meant that a lot of Stark’s family had been taken out.

Tony glared at him, he was well aware of what had happened, and for that reason he did not trust Barnes. That, and the whole affair thing, too. “Daniel’s my godchild.”

“Daniel?”

“Yes, Daniel Francisco Sousa, the second.” Tony threw a glare towards Barnes, before being struck by a thought. He turned his attention to Steve, who was very interested in his food. “Daniel’s father and I pretty much grew up together, you know. His parents and Jarvis were all I had after my parents died.” Tony paused, to look at Bucky, before continuing, “You might know one of them, Peggy Carter-Sousa?” Steve’s neck nearly snapped with the force of him turning to look at Tony, his eyes wide. “Mhmm, I guess that means that technically, Y/N is going to be a part of the Carter family…”

Steve stood up suddenly, his chair flying backwards. He stormed out of the room, leaving a sad-looking Bucky, a shocked Pepper, and a smug Tony, behind. On the way up to his room, the same one where he broke Y/N’s heart nearly three years ago, he thought to himself about what he’d just discovered.

Y/N was getting married… to someone who was related to Peggy… his best girl.

His bright blue eyes began to water, and he felt a heat begin to spread. He was feeling waves of jealousy, and guilt descend.

Y/N had managed to get a piece of Peggy. Y/N had Peggy’s grandson. Y/N didn’t need him. Maybe, Y/N never needed Steve. And now, Y/N had everything he’d ever wanted…

TAGGED:

@iamwarrenspeace, @itsnotnormalteen, @stilesloverdaily

[imjustthemechanic]

The Price of a Soul

Part 1/? - Agent Russel Part 2/? - The Letter Part 3/? - Miss Lake Part 4/? - The Stewardess

Miss Lake has been spotted on her way to New York, and by the time she gets there, Peggy thinks she has figured out why.

-

Peggy found it very difficult to sleep properly the next few nights.  She would toss and turn, with the bedclothes coming free of the mattress and her curlers coming loose in her hair, as she puzzled over the situation and tried to figure out what it all meant.

Based on Lake’s techniques it seemed clear enough that she had come from the same place as Dottie – a facility that trained women from childhood to be perfect, undetectable spies.  Evidently, it worked, since Peggy had now fallen for it twice. That being the case, it seemed clear enough that Lake’s mission was to locate Dottie and… and do what?  The Soviet government had already denied all knowledge of her and made it clear that they didn’t want her back.  Dottie didn’t seem to want to go back, most likely because she knew she’d be executed at once and nobody would shed a tear for her.

Either way, Dottie would be no longer be the SSR’s problem. That might be a good thing, except for the part where Soviet agents were operating on US soil apparently at will.  People like Masters, and now Governor Strieber in Nevada with the mob breathing down his neck, already thought the SSR was unnecessary in peacetime, or even actively doing more harm than good.  Capturing Dottie would be a way to demonstrate that they weren’t useless and could correct their mistakes.  But to capture Dottie they might first have to capture Lake.

And then, apparently just because all that wasn’t enough of a bloody headache, there were the numbers.

What else could they be, if not the location of the Valkyrie?  There wasn’t much else up in that part of Canada besides the occasional polar bear. The most obvious explanation seemed to be it was some kind of trick or trap, a distraction, a piece of psychological torture – which it definitely was – but what if?  If the Russians did know where Steve’s body was, had they already retrieved it?  During the war other countries had certainly been working on their own super-soldiers. The Geneva Convention had condemned such experiments as inhumane, but that certainly wasn’t enough to stop some people.

She was going to need a strong cup of tea in the morning if she were going to be good for anything.

How had she been so stupid?  The FBI didn’t employ female agents – posing as one had merely played to Peggy’s sympathies.  And she’d already known that Lake was an actress.  She’d been doing MacBeth when Peggy walked in and Rose had even said she wasn’t terrible.  When Daniel had told her Strieber had called in the FBI she should have asked for the agent’s name then and there, but she’d been too annoyed.  If she’d known to expect Nedrick instead of Nadine she could have arrested the woman at once!

Why had she given Peggy the telephone number for a place she actually was staying?  Had she really expected Peggy to get in touch with her?  Was she supposed to have found the envelope and rung her hours earlier?

Not that it mattered now… by now Lake was surely long-gone.  If she’d heard that they’d found the real Agent Russel, she’d probably left the country. The only way they’d find her now was an incredible stroke of luck, and Peggy knew better than to hope for that.

Two days after searching Lake’s apartment, however, Peggy got one.

She arrived at work, and Agent Sato immediately stood up. “Carter!” he called out.  “The Chief wants to see you in his office.”

Brilliant, Peggy thought… absolutely tremendous. What more could be added to this palaver?  “Thank you, Sato, I’ll be right there.”

She set her purse on her desk and her briefcase beside it, and went and knocked on Daniel’s door.

At this point she would have thought nothing could surprise her anymore, but it was a genuine shock when Daniel answered with a smile on his face.  “Good news, Peg,” he said.

“What, really?” she asked.

“We have a sighting!”  He let her in.  “I got a call from the New York office – a man saw the poster of Miss Lake and recognized it.  He says she was a stewardess on his flight from Chicago yesterday.”

It sounded too good to be true but damned if Peggy wouldn’t take it.  “From Chicago to where?”

“New York City,” Daniel said.

Peggy paused.  “Does that mean Dottie’s in New York?”

“That’s what Thompson thinks.  He’s asked for you.”

That was a second surprise.  “Thompson asked for me?” Peggy said, not sure she’d heard right. Jack Thompson considered Peggy a humiliation waiting to happen… whenever he thought he was onto something big his first reaction was to push her out of the way so she couldn’t get involved. That was how she’d ended up in Los Angeles in the first place and she doubted anybody had ever been happier to sign transfer papers than he.  Now he wanted her help?

“He said to tell you that you’re the expert on these Russian girls.  Also that he’s still sore, and his wife doesn’t think he should be back to work at all yet,” said Daniel.  “What he told me is that we know Miss Underwood considers you a personal rival, and…”

“And he wants to use me as bait,” Peggy finished for him.  Now, that sounded more like Thompson.  “Well, you be sure to tell him he can call upon my expertise anytime. Do you have my ticket?”

“It’s waiting for you at the airport,” Daniel replied.

“I’ll pack a bag and be on my way,” she promised.

Daniel nodded.  “When I came in today, I was thinking it had been a while since we had a date and with all that’s going on it might help you relax.”

“I’ll take a rain check,” Peggy promised, and kissed him quickly before hurrying out.  In the door, however, she hesitated.  “Has anyone heard from Agent Russel?”

“No,” said Daniel.  “We assumed he’d been taken off the case.”

“So did he,” Peggy replied.

It had only been a couple of weeks since Peggy’s formal transfer to the West Coast had gone through… she had certainly not expected she’d be heading back to New York so soon after finally clearing her things out of Howard’s house.  Angie would be happy to see her, and perhaps they’d be able to have lunch together…

But mostly what consumed her thoughts as the propellers roared into takeoff was the question of why Lake would have gone to New York.

Of course, the fact that she’d been on the flight didn’t necessarily mean that was her destination.  She could have been on her way to Canada, or Europe, or just about anywhere except Australia, really.  Unless she thought her quarry were there, there wasn’t much reason for her to stop in New York City.  That was clearly Thompson’s theory, but if he were wrong they might ultimate accomplish nothing.

Was there another reason for her to go to New York? What was in New York that the Soviets might be interested in, besides the SSR itself?

The answer came to her, and she sat up straight. “Fenhoff!”

The man in the seat next to her, who’d been snoozing with a newspaper over his head, twitched.  “Gezundheit,” he muttered before settling down again.

Of course, Peggy thought… Fenhoff was the one who’d hired Dottie under false pretenses.  He was a major part of the reason why the Americans even knew the Russian women were operatives.  He’d done irreparable harm to their national security for the sake of a personal grudge.  It was supposed to be a secret where he was being held, but that didn’t mean it actually was.  He was in Sing Sing, just up the Hudson River from New York City.  If anything, they had even more reason to want him dead than they did Dottie.  They would never have lost control of her if not for him.

She checked her watch.  Still over an hour until their next landing, when she’d be able to telephone Daniel and tell him.

Her layover was brief, but she did just barely have time to find a pay phone and pass her theory on to Daniel.  He promised to pass it on to Thompson and she got back on the plane feeling much less antsy.  Not that she felt any great love for Fenhoff himself, but the government wanted to keep him alive, and if it helped her catch Lake and Dottie, well… maybe Thompson had the right idea.  Bait.

When the plane finally landed in New York, the SSR had a car there waiting for Peggy.  She tossed her suitcase in the back and climbed in – Thompson was in the back seat.  Peggy took the place next to him and said, “Fenhoff.”

“Sousa already called me,” Thompson assured her. “We’re arranging to beef up security around the place but we’re not gonna make a show of it.  We don’t want to tip Lake off.”

Peggy nodded – it was nice to be taken seriously, although she had to wonder whether Daniel had mentioned it was Peggy’s idea. As the car pulled away to drive to her hotel, she couldn’t resist a dig.  “Well, Miss Underwood may not be in town, but it’s lucky I’m still the expert.”

“You can think like they do,” said Thompson, as if agreeing with her.  “That’s what we need right now.”

Thompson had never been shy about the belief that women were basically illogical creatures.  He would never even try to get into one’s head.  “You mean I’m… underhanded and duplicitous?” Peggy asked innocently.

“You’ve fooled all of us more than once,” Thompson pointed out.

He did have a point there.  Peggy decided to consider it a compliment.  “How’s your war wound?” she asked, referring to the time Thompson had been shot in a hotel room.

Thompson grimaced.  “Sally’s still treating me like an invalid.  She thinks this would be a great time for me to get an office job. Something where I don’t get shot at.”

“I hope you told her the SSR would be lost without you,” said Peggy.

He gave her a sideways look.  “Was that sarcasm, Carter?”

“Of course not!”  Peggy changed the subject.  “I assume somebody has already called and checked with Sing Sing?”

“Fenhoff’s still in his cell and very much alive,” Thompson replied.  “We also interviewed some of the other passengers and crew from the flight.”

“And?”

“They all agree that the sketch from Russel’s description looks like the stewardess.  The pilot told me one of the girls who was supposed to be working the flight got a call from the police in her hometown to say her husband had been arrested, so this other lady took her shift.  None of them had ever seen her before but they didn’t care as long as she did the job.”

“None of them will ever see her again, I’m sure,” Peggy said.  “Any sightings of Dottie?”

“None that we know of.”

“I see.”  So unless she really were on her way somewhere else, Fenhoff was the only reason Peggy knew of for Lake to be in New York.  The next few nights were going to be a series of long, tired, boring stake-outs, but it wasn’t as if Peggy would have been sleeping anyway.

Once she was settled into her hotel room, Peggy made a couple more telephone calls.  One was to Angie, to let her know she was in town and that the two of them could get together and catch up once she knew her schedule better.  Then she did her best to catch a few hours of sleep, knowing full well she’d be up the entire night.

This went better than she’d expected – rather than rolling around squirming as she thought of the missed opportunities, she nodded off quickly and napped for a couple of hours, waking up groggy but at least having had the rest.  It must be because she felt as if they were getting somewhere, she thought.  The idea that Lake would be after Fenhoff was only a theory at this point, but it was a good theory, one that allowed her to take some action.  She combed her hair and got dressed in practical trousers with her holster under her jacket, and met the car that would be taking her up to Sing Sing.

“You owe me one, Marge,” said Thompson, as Peggy climbed into another car with him.  “The prison’s only got a few girls working for them, mostly nurses and laundry, but they’ve sent them all home until further notice so this Kay can’t slip in among them.  They didn’t even want you there but I convinced them we needed you.”

“I’ll remember that,” Peggy promised.

“We’ll have men at all the exits,” Thompson went on, “but I’m gonna put you right next to Fenhoff’s cell.  Should be no way she can get that far.”

“Should be.”  But if she did, Peggy thought, Miss Lake was going to find herself with quite a bit of explaining to do.  Hopefully before turning her over to the men, Peggy could get an opportunity to ask about those bloody numbers.