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slashtakemylife · 4 months

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Peggy lives under the shadow of Steve, even when she's the main lead

With the release of What If and Peggy Carter taking on the role of Captain America, Marvel is very likely patting their back on their "feminism" and how they've given us a badass female leader that can have her own spotlight however it's very easy to see how we are still seeing this story through a males eyes and male focus only.

1. The curse of being Cap's girl, she can only be his

Honestly the misogyny on Peggy's character actually begins since the first movie but we'll get into the little details later, the first glaring ones to me begins ever since the Cap 2 movie, when they show Peggy as old she has pictures of her kids but none of her husband, why? We are even told she's had a good life, a full life, so where is her husband?

Because in the patriarchal way, Peggy Carter, even as an old lady who has lived her full life and is basically allowed to... is still Steve's. It's more likely they didn't want to show who "filled his shoes", so to speak, this imaginary man, this husband who got to have Peggy, "bested" Captain America and you can't have that can you? I know it may sound stupid but we are dealing with a male's worldview.

It even shows when in her interview you can see how she still hasn't quite gotten over Steve, she even seems to reluctantly say, "That's where I met my husband", in that interview you can see she is still affected, aka she hasn't gotten over him but then you got to remember, she's married now, she's supposed to be over him, why is she still so affected? Why does she speak of her husband like an after thought? Why did she even marry a man when clearly she wasn't over her last? Peggy isn't the kind of woman to marry just because she had to, you know she would only marry a man she fully loved, not just to not be a spinster.

The answer is that in the male worldview, no one can supplant Steve Rogers but not because Steve Rogers is someone you can't forget but because in the male eye, Peggy is Steve's property, for someone else to have her it means they "won" over Steve and you can't win the representation of maleness. Peggy at best got second scraps, yes you heard it, Peggy's husband is just supposed to be a "second best" beside Captain America, I'm sure he was a lovely husband and father but no man can ever "best" America's representative of maleness, remember this is the worldview from a male perspective.

The only time Peggy ever gets some agency is in her show and there's a beautiful scene at the end of season 1 where we literally see her tell Steve good bye, she gets over him, by season 2 she is well over Steve, she's still affected, mind you, of course she misses him but he is no longer her world, in fact she can now flirt and get into the idea of finding new love and she does in Sousa.

It's really unfortunate when the Cap's girl curse gets landed on them because Steve was never supposed to come back into her life but then he did and of course this means crashing all her progress, they didn't just made them break up, they killed Daniel Sousa, there had to be no trace of competition so Steve could very joyfully land in the past and fit into her life as if he never left

Steve Rogers never gets over Peggy but Peggy did but since Steve wants Peggy, the writers took that progress back and made her love him again no questions asked.

2. On Captain Carter

Wow Marvel is sure patting their back thinking they nailed "feminism" when they grabbed Peggy Carter and turned her into Captain America.

In the first episode, they do get it mostly, she is bigger, she's strong and she leads the Howling Commandoes but there's one little trick that lets you remember, this is still a man's world.

Steve's Hydra Stomper.

In the original format, aka the movie, they sell Peggy to us as a top agent, and she is, we get some badass moves from her at the beginning but once Steve finally gets into his role as Captain America, she gets placed behind the scenes, it's the classical "woman in a high position" but really the real high position is Philips, Peggy at best is only seen removing little flags from maps but we never actually see her in combat until the end but of course she had to be there, otherwise how will we get to the final kiss scene amairight?

We should've expected the same treatment right? Especially since there's a very telling excuse for Steve to stay behind lines and be the master behind it, he's skinny now, he isn't fit for battle at all but he can still help coordinate the Commandoes right?

Wrong.

You can't leave Captain America, even in his skinny form, out the battle, what is he? A woman? Those double standards are what hit me, no one cared if Peggy Carter joined the fights, she doesn't have to, she's not supposed to, we all know she's Cap's girl, she's not a soldier so no one bats an eye but when the roles are reversed, it's inconceivable that Steve takes his assigned role as a love interest.

How interesting it is that when male characters are placed in the love interest role they just have to fight to be interesting right? It's almost offensive to put a man as just a love interest that does nothing but be there right?

I am also glaring at you Gwen Stacy, Gwen Stacy as Peter Parker's girlfriend is literally just a girl that got caught by the baddie and Spiderman accidentally killed but when they reversed the story and now it was Gwen as spiderwoman and Peter the boyfriend... He turned into a lizard, yeah the boy couldn't just be the boyfriend and I'm not even sure if he was the boyfriend or just the friend which also, red flags! Peter can have girlfriends but Gwen can't.

Back to Peggy, if they had only shown that first episode, it would've been good, some minor double standards with Steve's Stomper but meh, I'll live.

The real treat is the sequel, I'll also make an honorary mention on how also in other episodes they still grind Steve hard and show you she is very much in love, not a fancy, she hard loves him, not even Steve showed that much fanatism, but hey, back to topic.

My biggest glare to this episode starts with the Watcher himself, he says he never does sequels and honestly he's right, he shouldn't because the result is honestly shit, from a Peggy character pov

They copy the plot of Steve Rogers story instead of making a new one for her.

Yup, you heard me and fine she wasn't going to deviate much I know but they seriously stuck way too much into Steve's story up to the point where it doesn't work and yes I'm glaring at you Winter Soldier arc.

The Winter Soldier arc works so well because Steve and Bucky have history together, Steve and Peggy have just feelings, the relationship between Steve and Bucky and Steve and Peggy are severely different, in both cases.

For Peggy it is because she is a strong willed woman, she's had to fight her way everywhere, Steve sees her as an equal and both understand what it is to constantly be fighting to prove to others who you are because by being a woman/weak man, everyone looks past you, they undermine you, that is the Steggy dynamic.

Bucky is very different, he's exactly the opposite, he's a man of his time, he's charming, healthy, strong and noble but he isn't too moved to act the way Steve is, he isn't as strong headed as Steve is, he's been blanketed by society but thanks to Steve he gets inspired to stand up for others, remember that while Steve tried to enlist, they had to draft Bucky. One of the things about their relationship is that Bucky treats Steve as an equal too but not an equality of same struggle like he and Peggy, Bucky merely treats him as a friend, he pushes Steve out of his comfort zone, I mean he put him on the Cyclone, they rode on the back of a freezer truck, Bucky drags Steve into his adventures and treats Steve like a friend, not a sickly kid and then later on its Steve the one that has to repay the favor when it's Bucky the one's that the Winter Soldier. It's loyalty to their years of friendship and Steve knowing Bucky's character the best.

So no you can't just exchange roles and honestly the fact that if you see every single episode of What If, you quickly realize that while they may all start from a slight deviation, it leads to completely different scenarios totally outside of any MCU story.

Yondu not keeping Quill doesn't form a slightly different Guardian of the Galaxy, it generates an entire new Avengers team, they even get rid of Jotunheim and Asgard as an after thought, there's absolutely no step to step plot in any MCU movie, it's a brand new story

Same as Iron Man after the New York battle not going through the hole, it launches him into a crazy Space Race in Skaandar and while yes we get a repeat of characters and themes and places, it gets rebranded and adjusted to the characters it has, that being Tony Stark and even delves with other character's themes such as Gamora and Tony striking a friendship and both getting rid of Thanos.

This doesn't happen with Peggy, they reuse Steve's storyline, again and even pull other movies move by move, the episode is an interesting take but too close from the plot of the movies while every single one of them has deviated and found new interpretations of the characters under different scenarios, with Peggy this doesn't happen and they are trying to fit her neatly in Steve's story with slight changes but NEVER does she ever get out of the mold of being intently focused on Steve.

Even Natasha points on her dating like "what if he's named Steve?", Peggy also will never look at another man, it being her own version of "Sharon Carter", which we must remember Steve shared a kiss with, we won't ever get a whiff of a "Sousa", maybe a grandkid or something, nope you bet we never will because while Steve can, Peggy must certainly can never, she's is solely and only Captain America's girl, Steve Roger's love interest.

#peggy carter #captain carter #what if #what if...?#marvel #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #marvel mcu

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momentofch-aos · 6 months

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Trick-or-Treat! I have come knocking on your Tumblr door asking for a treat. You can answer with a meme, a bit of art/fic, a fic recommendation, pictures of candy, or something else! Then go to your mutual’s Tumblr door and ask them for a treat! Happy Halloween! 🎃👻 (don’t answer until October 31)

My apologies this is a day late and I have no idea if it makes sense for this. Just a little Drabble I’ve been thinking about. (“200 words” I said. Yeah right.)

On a rare night off, Daisy was grateful that their apartment building didn’t have many trick or treaters. Not that she hated the kids that lived in their building, in fact there was a little 2-year-old girl who was obsessed with Daniel that she had a particular soft spot for. But they were out of town this week.

The past month has been tiring so when she came home to find Daniel having fallen asleep reading on the couch, it was very easy to shuck off her jacket and boots and curl up next to him.

In typical Sousa fashion, he woke up as she settled besides him, opening the blanket for her to crawl under, his arm wrapping tightly around her waist as she curled into him. He dropped a light kiss to her lips.

“How was your debrief?” He murmured as she rested her head on his shoulder.

“Good. Mack wanted to get home to Faith and Flint. Ended it a little early. Faith is dressing up as Rey from Star Wars.” Daisy replied softly.

“From the sequels right?” Daniel asked rubbing his eyes.

“Yup. I told him I wanted to see photos.” As if on queue Daisy’s phone buzzed from where she dumped it on the coffee table. “I’ll get it in a minute.”

“I ordered dinner. It’ll be at 7. Mexican? You mentioned tacos last night.”

“Hmmmm.” Daisy agreed “Nap first.”

She felt Daniel chuckled underneath her as he pulled her closer. The feel of his sweater under her hand and his slow steady breaths pulled her into an easy sleep.

An hour later, they somewhat startled as the doorbell rang. Daisy had rolled off the sofa, as she was pulled from sleep, Daniel’s hand still gripping hers.

“Must be the food.” Daniel said smiling at his girlfriend who was still trying to work out how she was on the floor.

“Yeah I’m on it.” Half asleep still, she shlepped her way to the front door, looking through the peephole.

On first glance, there was no one there so, Daisy assumed the food had been left on the doormat. But when she opened the door, she caught sight of the tiny human she missed the most.

Alya Fitzsimmons bounced excitedly on the door mat, before flinging herself around Daisy’s legs.

“Auntie Daisy!”

“Alya?” Her sleep fogged brain seems to lift as she squatted to properly hug her tiny niece, swinging her into her arms as she stood up. “What are you doing here?”

From around the corner, Jemma and Fitz appeared and Daisy immediately wrapped her arms around Jemma, Alya squashed between them.

“We thought a visit was in order.” Jemma whispered as she hugged her tight.

“And I thought it would be a nice pick-me-up after your missions and meetings.” Daniel said from behind them, shaking hands with Fitz.

“Uncle Daniel!” Alya practically leapt from Daisy’s arms towards Daniel who scooped her up.

“Hey kiddo.”

“Cannot believe you all kept this from me.” Daisy looked around the group of some of her favourite people. “You too Fitzy.” She hugged him tight before leading them all into the apartment

“We were definitely due a visit. But I don’t think you’ve properly noticed who Alya wanted to dress up as this year. Hey Al, you wanna show Auntie Daisy?” Placed back on the ground, Alya stood proudly in the middle of the kitchen, hands on her hips.

For the first time Daisy and Daniel took into consideration what the young girl was wearing. A tiny Quake suit, complete with purple accents and tiny fabric gauntlets.

“I’m you!” She shouted, holding her hand out and mimicking Daisy.

Daniel was chuckling as Daisy dropped to her knees with her hands over her mouth. Her heart warmed as the smallest Fitzsimmons moved like she was quaking different objects around the room.

“You really are! Look at you. It’s such a good suit.”

“Yup Daddy made it, just like he made yours!” She was bouncing again now between Fitz and Daisy.

“Her daddy has been working on it for weeks. He had to get it just right.” Jemma said, rolling her eyes at her husband.

“Hey it had to be accurate. Otherwise what’s the point?” Fitz smiled down at his daughter. “Oh I picked the food up off the driver by the way” He lifted the paper bag off the top of her suitcase.

“Thanks Fitz, I’ve made up the guest room for you all, if we want to pop your bags in before we eat?” Daniel said, taking the bag Jemma had dragged in off her and leading the way as Fitz followed him.

For the second time, Daisy looked around at her people and wondered just how planned this had been. Grateful that she had people who knew exactly what she needed. Jemma leaned into her shoulder as Alya chatted excitedly about her new suit and how she wore it on the Quinjet.

And when Daisy suggested she pick up her suit from base in the morning so they could take some photos together the following day, the excited energy in the apartment only doubled.

She was still tired, but with every moment in the company of some of her favourite people, Daisy felt like she wouldn’t need to sleep for at least a few more hours.

#agents of shield #daisy johnson #daniel sousa #marvel #fanfic #dousy #fitzsimmons #alya fitzsimmons #quake #halloween #prompt #trick or treat #I’d like to think Mack would call Alya Tiny tremors upon seeing her all dressed up.

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straightbaittournament · 9 months

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the option with the least votes will be eliminated. propaganda under the cut (and more always welcome!):

kit herondale and livvy blackthorn:

They were literally straight bait. So Kit, Livvy and Livvy’s twin brother Ty were a trio with their own side plots in TDA. And well. We literally meet Kit when Ty breaks into his house and puts a knife to his throat and Kit gets distracted by Ty’s eyes. Then later Kit and Livvy have a few moments and kiss once. Then Livvy dies. There are some necromancy shenanigans. Kit confesses his love to Ty then immediately flees the country. Like Kit/Ty was clearly endgame from the start but Livvy and Kit just made out once.

peggy carter and daniel sousa:

She’s the best secret agent, he’s a hot as hell disabled war vet They get together, but also don’t because apparently Steve Rogers is a homewrecker Peggy moved on after losing Steve, got together with the amazing Daniel Sousa, and then got broken up because the Russos didn’t want Steve to be seen as being gay for Bucky

nina zenik and matthias helvar:

[MAJOR SPOILER] If they were truly straight Matthias wouldn’t have died (submitted also stated that nina is canonically bi/pan)

buffy summers and spike:

Buffy's a vampire slayer and Spike's a vampire. Enemies to Lovers. Absolutely not intended by creators, creators treated it like a joke at first, then some of the writers/producers actively hated it even throughout their canon relationship, they don't technically get together in the end, also he dies (kind of. he's brought back in another show. and the comics. it's complicated). Very queercoded relationship despite being m/f - desire, euphoria, shame, slowburn, keeping it a secret, doesn't think anyone else will understand or accept them, wanting to change for the better.

ellie chu and paul munsky:

Classic set-up where they start off as strangers and become really close. He even has a crush on her! straightmod feels it's important to note that ellie is also canonically a lesbian, so there's a bait and switch element to this one

himmel and frieren:

https://official.lowee.us/manga/Sousou-no-Frieren/0030-015.png https://official.lowee.us/manga/Sousou-no-Frieren/0030-016.png https://official.lowee.us/manga/Sousou-no-Frieren/0030-017.png https://official.lowee.us/manga/Sousou-no-Frieren/0030-018.png https://64.media.tumblr.com/ccb9c16bab47d917d2e11dd22c9b88e7/828182d720d735af-ea/s500x750/210c55d7128139c2ce032383b34ad487df067514.jpg

jean-luc picard and beverly crusher:

They have a number of romantic moments throughout the TNG series from arguably the first but DEFINITELY the second episode. but they only get together (briefly before divorcing) in an alternate timeline episode which is also the season finale. Also they have a kid together in Picard but are still not allowed to be together She was married to his best friend and he was in love with her but wouldn’t say anything because he wouldn’t want to damage his bestie’s marriage and then his friend died and they met again years later and shared a lot of romantic and sexual tension for years. He openly admitted (under mind reading) that he had loved her since his bestie was alive but felt he couldn’t act on it. In an alternate future they got married. In the canon future they got together and broke up repeatedly because trauma makes relationships hard sometimes and they have a kid together who is named after the aforementioned bestie. An episode forcing them to share thoughts makes him openly admit that he loves her and has loved her for years even when she was married to his best friend.

tyler rake and nik khan:

They’re very close, have lots of chemistry, but have never been acknowledged in canon. At this point they are just work friends who save each others’ lives on the regular.

keiichi maebara and rena ryugu:

Fluffy harem romcom twists into yandere horror, but then twists again into a story of friendship triumphing over everything. Really holds for any pairing with Keiichi, but the rooftop battle in part 6 is just too good. A recent manga spinoff has them married to total randos, so their respective sons can have the same kind of relationship.

naoko takahashi and shouta oohara:

this “show” is a 2 episode hentai so I can understand if this doesn’t get in the brackets lol (I would not recommend watching this hentai for the sex scenes, I just remember reading about Oohara getting cucked for a girl and thinking that I had to see this) So, it starts off with Takahashi being in love with Oohara and they do have ghost sex in the first part of the episode 1 but what happens is that even though they have the opportunity to be together as ghosts, Takahashi pretty much IMMEDIATELY forgets about Oohara because she becomes completely infatuated with this ghost girl named Sakurako to the point where even when Oohara turns into a tiny penis in episode 2 but Takahashi doesn’t give a fuck

good luck everyone! now go vote!

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captainsophiestark · 2 years

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The Unholy Alliance

Daniel Sousa x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Fictober 2022!

Fandom: Marvel

Prompt: “How would that even work?”

Summary: Daniel and Y/N have been staring at each other longingly for months, and Jack and Peggy are tired of it. So, in a moment of history in the making, the two *team up* to find a way to get their coworkers to finally realize their feelings for each other.

Word Count: 1,940

Category: Fluff, Humor

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

Peggy's POV

I sighed heavily and took a long, long sip of my coffee. Tea was usually my drink of choice, but some mornings, the caffeine that came with tea just didn't cut it. This was one of those mornings.

I tried to force my brain to engage, but for some reason, it refused to. I stared out at the office without really seeing it. The massive stack of case files on my desk floated into my field of vision, even though I was actively trying not to look at it, until a hissing whisper to my left made me jump and snapped me out of my haze.

"Carter!"

I turned to see Jack Thompson, Chief of the New York SSR, leaning out of his office door and whisper-shouting towards me like children did when they wanted to share a secret. I silently raised an eyebrow at him, expecting an explanation, but instead he just motioned for me to join him in his office before disappearing back inside himself.

I sighed. If I wasn't awake enough for case files, I certainly wasn't awake enough for Jack Thompson's antics. But, on the other hand, whatever seemed to be going on with him would likely prove more interesting than my stack of case files.

I stood, since I couldn't exactly ignore Jack anyway. I walked into his office and shut the door behind me, then faced Jack, who sat behind his desk and watched my every move as I crossed the room to take a seat.

"What's got a bee in your bonnet?" I asked, kicking my feet up on his desk. He scowled, but didn't say anything, which is how I knew this must be serious.

"You saw Y/L/N and Sousa too, right?"

I took a deep breath and blinked, trying to figure out what he was referencing. Our two mutual friends had been dancing around each other for a month now, both painfully oblivious that their feelings were requited, and it had been hell for the entire office to watch. After another moment of thought, I realized they'd been hovering by the coffee maker together just before my stack of files had pulled my attention away, chatting, leaning into each other, and taking every opportunity to make even the smallest of physical contact.

"Yes, actually, I did. It really is remarkable that neither of them has realized how painfully hard the other is trying to flirt, isn't it?" I mused. Jack huffed.

"Remarkable's one word for it." I looked over at him, and he met my eyes with the same intensity as any of our most serious missions. "We need to do something, Carter."

"What? Jack, you must be kidding."

"Absolutely not. I'm going crazy watching those two every day. It was funny at first, but now it's just annoying, and it's distracting the other agents. I can't imagine it'll take much to push those two towards each other, so... c'mon, let's brainstorm something."

I leaned back in my chair, processing Jack's proposal. It was ridiculous. And Y/N and Daniel would both be furious with us if they knew what we were planning. And yet...

"You know what, Jack? I'm in." I took my feet off his desk and leaned forward instead. "Let's do this."

Jack and I bounced idea after idea off each other, each scheme getting crazier than the last. I couldn't help thinking we would've been better off doing this when we were both much less tired, but it was too late for either of us to back out now.

"Alright, what if we forced them to confess to each other-"

"Carter, how would that even work?"

"It's easy! We'd get some truth serum from Howard-"

"He has that?"

"Probably! And if he doesn't already I'm sure he'd be willing to make it-"

"Carter. What if we just locked them both in the interrogation room and didn't let them out until they got somewhere?"

I stared at Jack for a few beats, then huffed as I leaned back in my chair.

"Well, I suppose if you want to do it the boring way."

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

Y/N's POV

"Peggy, what's going on? Are you sure you're doing okay, you seem exhausted."

"I'm fine," she insisted, pulling me along as we speed-walked towards the interrogation room. "It's just an urgent case that I need you on, right now."

"Alright.... You wanna tell me anything about this guy I'm supposed to be interrogating?"

"You should know plenty already, don't worry."

I frowned and started to ask another question, but stopped short when I saw Jack standing outside the interrogation room with his arms crossed.

"You guys, you're starting to freak me out a little. What is-"

Before I could finish my sentence, Jack yanked open the door and Peggy heaved me through before I could catch myself. I stumbled into the interrogation room and came face to face with a fuming Daniel Sousa, handcuffed to the desk, as the door slammed shut behind me.

Daniel and I stared at each other for a few beats as my brain tried to process the last few moments. Finally, I straightened up and gave Daniel a bewildered look.

"What just happened?"

Daniel huffed through his nose, and even in the dim lighting of the interrogation room, I could see a furious blush rising on his neck.

"I guess Jack and Peggy got bored and decided to mess with us to cure their boredom."

I blinked at him, then turned to the now-closed door. I took a few steps forward and rattled the doorknob, but it didn't budge. Jack and Peggy had seriously locked us in here.

"Did you get arrested?" I asked, turning back to Daniel. "Is this like that whole thing when you guys arrested Peggy last year?"

"No," sighed Daniel. "I think they just... I don't know. I don't know what those two were thinking."

He stared at the floor and shook his head, momentarily lost in his own thoughts. I couldn't help staring at him, my heart picking up speed just a little bit. There were certainly worse fates than being locked in here with Daniel, as far as I was concerned.

After a second, Daniel took a deep breath and looked up at me, the blush now creeping onto his cheeks as well.

"Y/N, would you mind grabbing the key to undo these handcuffs?"

I started, mentally kicking myself for not thinking of it earlier.

"Oh, yeah, of course! Did you... happen to see where the key is?"

"Jack tossed it in the corner," he said, nodding towards the corner of the room farthest from him. "I'm gonna kill him when we get outta here."

"I'll help," I said, giving Daniel a small smile as I moved to retrieve the key. I walked back to stand in front of Daniel, and he held his hands out as far as he could for me to unlock. I tried to take deep breaths and calm my racing heart as we stood almost chest to chest, but I wasn't having much success.

I'd had a crush on Daniel pretty much since the day I'd met him. He was handsome, and funny, and a total sweetheart. Who could ask for anything more?

I carefully took Daniel's right wrist in my hand, then started trying to unlock the cuffs. My hands were shaking just a little bit, and the handcuffs were beat to hell and absolutely needed to be replaced, so it was taking much longer than I wanted it to.

"So..." I said, trying to ease the tension a little as I worked at the lock. "Any idea why Jack and Peggy did this to us? They're kind of the last people I would've expected a team-up from."

"Yeah..." Daniel sighed, and I glanced up at him to find him staring at me, an emotion I couldn't quite place on his face. "I... I don't know what they were thinking."

The lock finally clicked on the handcuff, and I met Daniel's eyes with a triumphant smile. He had a similar smile on his own face, and as we stared at each other and the moment stretched on, I became painfully aware of just how close together we were. He was officially free from the desk, and yet neither of us had moved to step away from each other. That, combined with the furious blush on his face and the way he was looking at me... the pieces finally clicked into place.

"Y/N... listen, I know this might not be a great time, since we're both locked in here for who knows how much longer, but I feel like I should tell you-"

"Daniel. I know." His eyebrows went up, and he blushed a little deeper as the realization continued to wash over me. I'd been so stressed and blinded by my own feelings that I hadn't even noticed Daniel's until now. "It took me an embarrassingly long time to see it, but... I know. And I feel the same."

"Yeah?" asked Daniel, a breathy hope in his voice.

"Yeah."

Daniel smiled, and so did I. Cautiously, he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer, and I wasted no time wrapping my arms around his neck. After entirely too long dancing around each other–enough time that Jack and Peggy had actually teamed up to do something about it–we were finally doing something about our feelings. And it felt great.

My lips had just barely brushed Daniel's when the door to the interrogation room went flying open. Daniel and I whirled to find Jack standing there, holding the door wide open.

"FINALLY! Glad this plan worked and the two of you finally stopped being idiots," he said. "But the whole point of this was so none of us had to see you two being all lovey-dovey in the office anymore, so get out."

"Jack-!"

"Nope, c'mon. I'm giving you the rest of the night off to finally go on a date together, so let's go."

"Jack, that's actually... kind of sweet," I said, taking a half-step towards him. He just huffed and rolled his eyes, then held the door open a little wider.

"Yeah, whatever. I finally got Carter to go home and get some sleep, so you two just get the hell out of here so I can have a few peaceful hours of work for once, alright?"

Daniel and I exchanged knowing smiles, then headed out the door past Thompson together. We didn't waste a minute before heading out onto the streets of New York, breathing in the refreshing night air and letting the energy of the city light us up.

"So... where do you want to go?" asked Daniel, a mile-wide grin on his face. I beamed back at him as I took his hand in mine.

"I'm happy to go wherever, as long as it's with you," I said. I paused, then after a moment, continued. "But I could actually really go for some Chinese food right now."

Daniel laughed. "Alright, then Chinese food it is. And, lucky for you, my sister just turned me on to the best place a few blocks from here."

He tugged me into his side, wrapping his arm around me as we headed down the street together, deliriously happy and truly the picture of a comfortable, happy couple. It had been a long time coming, and despite the fact that I'd almost had a heart attack in the interrogation room earlier, being with Daniel now felt like the most natural thing in the world.

I'd found my soulmate, and now that we were together, I was never letting go.

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benoitblanc · 2 years

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"There is one problem with that plan, it won't work."

"There's one problem with that plan," Jack said the minute Peggy paused for breath. "It won't work." "Oh?" Peggy arched an eyebrow at him. "And why, in your infinitely superior opinion, would you say that?" "'Cause the Council's gonna expect a breakin from us sooner than later, Marge, so the last thing we want to do is send in someone they'll know. Isn't that why you sent Underwood in to get Frost? They see you in there, they'll know something's up; Sousa, likewise. They clearly don't trust me anymore-" he made a vague gesticulation at his chest- "they know Jarvis works with you, Stark's too damn recognizable, and you bet your ass they know who Wilkes is after the whole space-goop-rage-monster thing." "Ouch," Jason called from where he and Stark were muttering over schematics at the coffee table. "Sorry, Doc, just telling it how it is." Jack leant back and crossed one foot over the other. "So who's that leave you? Rose and- who?" "Well- I-" Peggy spluttered for a moment. "Dr. Samberly, then." "No," Daniel said immediately, then caught a glimpse of Peggy's expression and decided the safest option would be to backtrack. "I mean, sure, but it would be a pain to fly him out to New York." "See, Sousa gets it." If Daniel didn't know better, he'd say Jack was enjoying watching Peggy squirm. (Who was he kidding? Jack was definitely enjoying it.) "No one's seen Underwood in seven months, apparently we can't trust half the Bell Company anymore, and you're running out of civilians to give the SSR speed-run to. I mean, there's always Ana Jarvis..." "Absolutely not," Peggy and Jarvis said at the same time. "Okay, fine." Jack shrugged. "Think we might have to go back to the drawing board on this one." The front door slammed, and they all jumped. Peggy, Jack, and Daniel scrambled for their pistols as one. "Oh, God, it is raining cats and dogs out there!" An accordingly bedraggled Angie Martinelli appeared in the doorway of the sitting room, then did a double take at the web of documents pinned to the walls, the crates of lab equipment, and the six federal agents sprawled out on her couches. "Jesus, I go out for two hours... Good to see you, Peg, but you couldn'ta called first?" Peggy caught Jack's eye, and a slow, victorious smile unfurled on her face. "Tell me, Angie, how would you feel about committing a bit of light treason?"

this is. NOT five sentences whoops

send the first line of a fic & i'll write the next five!!!

#thanks so much for asking!!!#answered #arwen writes #marvel #agent carter

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xxruinaxxmcu · 2 years

Text

Jack Thompson x Reader

What Lies Before Us

Masterlist (previous chapters, book 1)

Chapter 15

Upon their return in New York, company awaited them in the SSR – more specifically, in the bullpen. Peggy and Daniel were waiting for them.

“They look livid”, Y/N commented, seeing the obvious anger on Daniel’s face, and the absolute frustration on Peggy’s.

“Philips, I’d guess”, Thompson said quietly, as the two of them joined them in the bullpen, closing the door to make sure no one else could be listening.

“You could’ve warned us before calling the director!”, Daniel hissed, trying his best to keep his voice down.

“You know how our chain of command works, Sousa, and this needed to be done urgently.”

“You’re unbelievable!”

“Hey, give us a break, Daniel”, Y/N interjected, “I know this is a shit situation for all of us, especially for you, but we literally flew halfway across the globe to take out whatever base HYDRA had in Japan, and destroyed their ability to reopen a rift in space with Stark’s gamma cannon.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Y/N”, Sousa said, now much more quietly. She simply raised an eyebrow.

“Philips contacted Howard. He wants that he and I rebuild an organisation in which the SSR is only a part of”, Peggy began, looking intently at the two New York SSR members, “He intends for it to have a broader range of duties than the SSR ever had. It’s supposed to be called S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Shield?”, Jack snorted, “Yeah, why not just call it Captain America’s fan-gang.”

Y/N chuckled, and even Daniel cracked a smile – Peggy only shot him an annoyed glance.

“I didn’t come up with it, Jack”, she replied, “It’s apparently a shorthand for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division.”

“Sure”, Jack nodded amusedly, “There’s a way to make any shorthand work.”

Peggy rolled her eyes. “It will take time to build up this new organisation. In the meantime, we will have to continue within the frameworks of the SSR, try to hunt down the rest of the Arena Club members, and especially Mr. Keller, who’s now probably somewhere hidden in the middle of nowhere together with Agent Eden. There aren’t many people within the SSR I trust not to be working with HYDRA… but I trust you. So if you want to remain within the organisation, and transition to working for S.H.I.E.L.D., I will keep your names on the books.”

There was a moment of silence, where no one truly knew what to say. Such a decision, you don’t make within the blink of an eye.

“And that after you threatened to shoot me”, Jack joked instead.

Y/N mustered a smile: “Thank you, Peggy, for your trust. On my part, if that is possible, I will consider it for a few days.”

“Ditto.”

Peggy nodded – after all, this didn’t need to be confirmed right away.

“I thought about how to get to Keller”, Y/N then announced, seeing three rather surprised faces when she did so, “The only way for us to find him is to tempt him with a bait, a bait suitable for a HYDRA member interested in scientific revelations. I thought long and hard about who could fill this role, and no one came to mind. Most of Stark’s employees are Americans, Doctor Vanko is Soviet, and I don’t know if HYDRA’s already desperate enough to work with what they consider ‘Untermenschen’. But we have one ace up our sleeves. A young man who offers to serve HYDRA, sell out Stark intel to get back at the people that had wronged him, that had taken his brother away from him. In an act of revenge, he volunteers to join HYDRA. And best of all, he fits all their recruitment targets. Right ethnic background, can show incredible loyalty within his family during the war, himself a member of the HJ. It’s the ideal match.”

“We’re gonna use Schmitt as bait??”, Jack asked her – just to confirm.

“He has potential motive”, Peggy agreed, “Y/N, you’re brilliant!”

“We can’t just use a civilian, he’s untrained!”, Sousa interjected. Y/N raised her eyebrows.

“I doubt this man is completely untrained. He will have had boxing lessons as a kid, that was part of the curriculum of the Hitler Youth. And most likely, he was also made familiar with guns. Regardless, we will obviously make sure he’s not killed, he just has to lure him out in the open. Then we take him out.”

“We’ll kill Keller?”, Sousa asked, frowning.

“Buddy, he already shot you once, and we don’t have to collect a billion HYDRA agents in our prisons”, Thompson deadpanned, “So even if we go in with the objective to capture, I wouldn’t be too hesitant to put a bullet in the guy’s brain.”

“I’ll contact him”, Peggy said, “and will report back once we’re ready to make our move.”

…….

Only when they were at Y/N’s place did Jack and her get the chance to talk about Peggy’s offer.

“What do you think?”, Y/N asked, “You’re planning on staying?”

He sighed. The comfortable route would’ve been to say ‘yes’. After all, he had a great position within the SSR, and with Daniel, Peggy and Y/N, he knew a handful of people he could rely on. But he also began to question if the SSR’s business of hunting HYDRA and Leviathan was what he wanted to do for the rest of his career. He didn’t have the same passion for hunting HYDRA that Peggy had. If anything, he wanted to make sure the Reds were being kept out – all of them, not just the ones that were after Stark tech.

“What about you?”, he asked back, not knowing what to answer.

Y/N tilted her head. She had earned her life’s purpose spying. She never had to deal with HYDRA before, there were enough “normal” Nazis to be hunted down. HYDRA was, after all, just a miniscule part within the Third Reich’s warped notion of Germanic influence in the world. “I can’t… I can’t understand why we are obligated to keep men like Zola or Fenhoff alive within our prisons when all they are is a liability. I can’t hunt the same agency we cooperate with. Especially if we have to assume they’re our co-workers. I will finish this job, and we will hunt down every last one of those bastards within the Arena Club. But then? My skills are for hunting other targets. Dooley had me investigate the mafia, but nowadays, that’s not under our jurisdiction anymore. That’s the FBI now. But God, call me biased, but I don’t fancy working for Vernon’s boys.”

Jack lifted a corner of his mouth, finding it amusing how they had reached such similar conclusions without even talking to each other about it beforehand.

“What?”

“You know, I thought the same thing”, he had grabbed two glasses, now reached for the whiskey, “the CIA it is, then.”

He handed her a glass to toast, knowing that she’d probably not actually touch the drink after the ceremonial clinking of the glasses.

“I’ll give Senator Cooper a ring. Though our resumé should be sufficient”, he grinned.

“Yeah, I’m quite certain he’ll list me as your secretary, though”, she retorted, raising her glass to meet his. “To one last job.”

“In the SSR”, he corrected before almost downing the entire glass like a shot, causing Y/N to roll her eyes with a chuckle.

“What?”

“You in a hurry or why do you drink this petrol like the devil’s behind you?”, she asked amused, switching his almost empty glass with hers.

“If you hate it, why’d you keep it in your house?”, he asked back, accepting her glass.

She simply laughed: “By this point, I’m conditioned to keep at least one bottle in reserve given you practically live here. We all have our vices, and this is yours.”

“Geez, thanks.”

“I told you, it has gotten better compared to 46”, she said with a grin, “though I can’t really comprehend why you drink this stuff pure. You always have, even at university.”

“You want the truth?”, he said with a lopsided smile, “Much cheaper.”

She shook her head – typical Jack-reasoning.

“And it’s an acquired taste.”

“Why would you want to acquire the taste of certain death?”, she joked, and he raised his eyebrows.

“What?”

“It’s funny”, he said, taking a sip, “Sousa’s said the exact same thing.”

Y/N snorted: “Good to know the SSR will at least maintain one man with the ability to see the big picture.”

“They’ll have Peggy.”

Y/N winked: “I said one man. I’m sure they can rely on Peggy until the day she dies.”

…….

Meanwhile, L.A. Stark Laboratories.

“W- Why am I being interrogated again? Have I done something wrong?”, Elias asked, looking anxiously at the brunette who had led him into a small room.

“You have done absolutely nothing wrong, Mr. Schmitt”, Peggy said, pointing to a chair for him to sit down, “As a matter of fact, Mr. Stark is very impressed by your work on the rocket engines.”

“Then why? Is it because of your colleague? The y/h/c one?”, he asked, voice still thin.

“Not in the way you mean”, Peggy said, sitting down herself, “Tell me, Mr. Schmitt, have you ever heard of HYDRA?”

“Hydra?”, he repeated confused, “The Greek monster?”

“No, the Nazi organisation”, Peggy replied, but she thought his confusion to be genuine. He didn’t know about HYDRA – most Germans didn’t.

“Never heard of it. Did my brother work for them?”

“No, at least, nothing would indicate that he did. We hunted them during the war, thought that they were eradicated. It would seem that we were mistaken.”

He looked at her, obviously wondering what this all had to do with him.

“I’m sorry, Miss, but I have no knowledge of this organisation. I can’t even tell you much about the SS, and my brother worked there.”

“It’s quite alright, we know all we need about HYDRA. See, Mr. Schmitt, some days ago, a HYDRA member disappeared. We need to lure him out of hiding”, she began, “and we can’t trust our SSR agents to do that job. Unfortunately, many of this man’s close contacts have met several of our agents, so chances are, he’d be able to uncover them.”

He looked at her, still confused.

“HYDRA predominantly recruits men with a… certain profile. Men, only men. Preferably German. With a background in science. In other words, men like you, Mr. Schmitt. Which is why, after some deliberation, Agent L/N recommended you for this job.”

His mouth fell open: “What??”

“I believe”, Peggy paused, “I believe she trusts you to be on our side. Which, I must say, surprised me, given her background with your family. But in any case. Your job would be to contact our man, to convince him that you have something of value. Stark technology. Something that you can offer them for them to meet with you in a secure location. When said meeting is scheduled, you will be accompanied by our best to assure your safety.”

“If those men – HYDRA – if they’re Nazis”, he said shocked, “they’re dangerous! They’re mad! It was one thing to work for the Nazis when they were the ultimate source of power, but to do so now? They must be insane!”

“Perhaps, but insanity can be incredibly dangerous”, Peggy replied, “And Mr. Schmitt, it would not go unrewarded. We will put in a good word at the Office of Immigration. We would be able to get you your citizenship.”

Elias remained silent for a good 30 seconds. This was a huge commitment.

“What do you say, Mr. Schmitt?”

He exhaled, collecting himself. He looked up, now determined. “Yes. I say yes.”

It would be a long shot – establishing communication, establishing trust – it would take a while. By an ironic twist of fate, the boy who had wanted nothing but to uncover the identity of the spy that had gotten his brother had become the spy himself.

………..

The next weeks were rough, and most days, the only time Y/N and Jack saw each other was within the walls of the SSR during working hours. Though Jack didn’t have nightshift every day, he hardly left the agency before two in the morning, and was there by 7:00 latest. Hunting down the remaining members of the Arena Club, Keller aside, was now top priority, and all possible resources were mobilised to get a handle on the problem as soon as possible. He made sure every police force in the country knew the faces of the men they were after, as well as the Office of Immigration, boarder patrol, hell, he even informed the FBI. By the end, he wanted that there was no law enforcement officer on US soil who didn’t know who they wanted to be arrested.

But Sousa had been right when he had moaned about how difficult it was to take Hugh Jones into custody – turns out, going after some of the richest, most influential men in the country ruffled some feathers.

“I think you didn’t get what I was saying”, Jack seethed into the telephone, inches away from screaming into it, “I gave you the paper trail connecting them to various cases of espionage and treason.”

“Sir, by all due respect-“

“Stuff it!”, Thompson interjected, “And so help me God, if you don’t do your goddamn duty right now, sir, I swear I will leak this story personally to the Washington Post!”

Silence.

“You understand now?”

“Yes, sir.”

After ending the call, Jack stared at the telephone. Sometimes, he really wondered if they were actually achieving anything, when they were working with people who obviously didn’t share their interest in actually bringing people to justice who didn’t fit the bill of being communist spies. What purpose was there of having power if you didn’t use it to get results? Why enter law enforcement, when you don’t enforce the law? This had nothing to do with political views, this had to do with integrity. For what did they offer up their lives in the thousands if not to upkeep the safety at home?

The door to the bullpen was pushed open and Y/N came in with coffee, interrupting his philosophical crisis.

“Weren’t you here like forty minutes ago?”, he questioned.

“Yes, probably”, she shrugged, filling up his cup, “but something has to keep you up and running, and it isn’t sleep, these days.”

“I want to have the case closed by Christmas”, Jack replied, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “The sooner, the better.”

Y/N laughed, causing him to raise an eyebrow. “What?”

“Never say ‘it’ll be over by Christmas’”, she said, shaking her head, “That’s what the Europeans thought in summer of 1914.”

He rolled his eyes: “I swear, if we’re still here in a year, I’ll ask you to shoot me.”

“Yeah, sorry, you’ll have to ask Peggy to help you with that”, Y/N replied with a grin, turning around, “But we’ll get it done. Just… maybe just before New Year’s Eve.”

……….

Regularly, Y/N would get a report from Peggy on the progress regarding Elias Schmitt. She had to admit, she was surprised he agreed without more fuss. But Peggy had spent months on him, wiretapping conversations, eavesdropping and following him, and he came out clean. He was their best shot at luring out Keller – after all, the motive he had was better than anyone could have come up with as a cover story, and it wasn’t even a lie. They had used the rogue agent to initiate a line of communication between Keller’s men and Schmitt, with the explanation that he had gotten his name when the SSR had asked him to assist their lab rats on hunting him down.

Meanwhile, Thompson finally made some progress getting the rest of the law enforcement in line to make arrests of those members that were not in hiding – which meant a media frenzy, given that some of the names, such as Hayes, were publicly well-known figures, together with several of the most-well-known bosses of businesses. The crackdown also meant that the mafia realised that their plan had been spoiled, meaning they attempted to silence those who knew of their involvement, which resulted in Jack’s old pal from the fair, George Heath, to end up shot in the gutter.

“Chief, I’ve got four calls from the Times in the last three hours, they are about to break a story on the Arena Club”, McKinley sighed annoyed, “I tried to talk them out of it, but unless we pressure them legally to hold back the story, they’re not gonna listen.”

“For f- then get the editor on the line and tell him if they disclose anything that will affect the trial, they’ll end up in court themselves!”, Thompson barked, “we can’t have them talk about a secret organisation before we bring charges!”

“Chief-“

“McKinley, the editor!”

His deputy raised his hands, turning around to pick up the phone.

Jack clenched his jaw, annoyed that it seemed that everyone was currently conspiring to make this ordeal even more frustrating than it would have been anyways.

Y/N had observed the interaction from her station, shaking her head slightly. The magic limit for Jack’s tolerance for sleep deprivation was a week. He could function well for about one week with three to four hours, then it started to show. And this was exactly what it looked like when day 7 had passed. That had been exam season every semester at university. Mostly followed by stellar exams, one last hurrah at a bar, and then some viral infection because of the previous stress. She had always found it rather silly – not finding it particularly effective herself to study with such few hours of sleep. She had even tried to talk to him to change his ways – and spectacularly failed in achieving that, which is why she didn’t even try to talk him out of it now. Especially when day 7 had passed, there was no way to get through to him. Then he’d pull through out of stubbornness alone.

“I can call the editor, if you want”, she said to McKinley, who looked like he really didn’t want to talk to more journalists.

He looked at her with wide eyes: “You would?”

“Yeah”, Y/N shrugged with a grin, “you know, I can pretend to be the SSR’s lawyer’s secretary.”

“I owe you, L/N!”

…………

As a matter of fact, by December 20th, they had managed to arrest, or at least localise almost all members of the Arena Club. The big absent, of course, was Keller, who was still underground. From what Y/N had heard from Peggy, she believed that it would take at least another month for them to be in a position where they could organise a meeting without suspicion. Elias was in frequent contact with Keller, or his associates, and even sent them some of Stark’s blueprints – mostly of things like his hoover-car, which was less dangerous than his weapons’ designs. Especially given its rather volatile performance.

This was about two weeks after Y/N and Jack had returned from Okinawa, and Y/N was pretty sure in any other institution, Thompson would be granted at least two weeks of holidays to stutter off his overtime. But that was the pleasure of being the Chief – no one cared.

“Who’s the folks who’ll cover the 25th?”, she asked when filling up his coffee again.

“Wallace and m-“

“It can’t be you”, Y/N interrupted, earning a frown.

“What?”

“Wallace and whoever, but not you and not me”, she shrugged, putting his cup down, “we have a very important appointment that day.”

He raised an eyebrow and rubbed his face: “If you want me to play a guessing game, I’m sorry, but I don’t have the nerve.”

She rolled her eyes: “As a matter of fact, yesterday, at like 23:00, I got a call. You wouldn’t know, I know, you were still in the SSR.” She paused to underline her point, making him roll his eyes. “Your mother called. Wanted to know if you were still among the living. And she told me, and as a matter of fact, I quote her here, ‘you better drag him here for Christmas dinner, or so I swear, I will force him to join me at the Church for a dozen time’!”

He sighed.

“Don’t brood”, Y/N shook her head, “We ain’t arresting Keller on Christmas. It’s one dinner, Jack!”

“Fine. But I don’t have presents for them.”

Y/N laughed: “Yeah. You never had presents for them. I’m sure your ma will already be happy to just see that you’re still kicking, but I’d advise you to sleep for five hours for a change. Right now, you resemble a ghost.”

“Geez, thanks for the barrage of compliments”, he said dryly, reaching for the coffee.

“Why, of course”, she winked, “It’s my job, right?”

“Your job is to arrest men like Keller.”

“Yes, and we will, Jack, but tell me, do you think a German scientist, even if he is appearing to work with HYDRA, is likely to chose Christmas for a meeting with his HYDRA handlers? Germans, if you believe, really care about Christmas”, she reasoned with a sigh. Arguing with Jack was hard enough on a good day, and when he was low on sleep, it really was a pleasure.

“If you say so.”

“I do say so.”

A/N: Christmas theme in September... Is that even acceptable? Idk, but I hope you like it regardless! There *may* be a longer pause between this and the next chapter, but I swear, it will come in September. Just not sure exactly as to when. Also - return of Elias! I like him as an OC in this story, and I felt like he fit in perfectly in this narrative. And: I love the ‘it’ll be over by Christmas’ joke. Not sure how famous it is in the US as it referred to the 1914-period of the war, but I felt the need to put it in here. Also, if you want a weird WW1 story - the 1914 Christmas Truce is one of these things that sound so unreal in the backdrop of both world wars that were yet to fully unfurl their wrath. Comments & feedback as to which parts you enjoyed most are ALWAYS a highlight of mine!

Tag List

@pretty-girl-40

@abysshaven

@deathofmissjackson

@okkulta

@briskywalker

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#jack thompson #jack thompson imagine #agent jack thompson #jack thompson x reader #agent jack thompson x reader #mcu #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #marvel's agent carter #agent carter #peggy carter

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redvanillabee · 2 years

Note

what are your opinions on the agent Carter groups ages?? It’s confirmed that Peggy was 1921 right? And I think Howard was confirmed same as Steve as 1917? But what about Sousa and Thompson, cause Thompson calling Peggy ‘kid’ in episode one makes me think he has at least a few years on her

Well anon I don't have to guess cos there's pretty good canon—well, canon-adjacent sources as to how old the characters are!

Yes, Peggy's birth year is confirmed to be 1921; I think that's from her funeral in CACW. Howard's birth year is 1917 according to the MCU Wikia, and is reflected in, of all places, a Disneyland prop of Howard's pilot license.

(Steve's birth year is actually 1918 according to the MCU Wikia, which extrapolated that from his enlistment form in CATFA and a deleted scene in The Avengers which contained his file. It is Bucky who was born in 1917; his date of birth is 10 March 1917, making him a few months older than Howard.)

While we never got Jack's canon age or even age range, in the original casting call, it is described that 'Agent Jack Thompson is in his 30s' (x). Peggy, meanwhile, would have been 25. It is entirely possible that he just called her 'kid' to be condescending; she did, after all, just put him in his place about filing his own paperwork. But at age 25, Peggy would be at least 5 years younger than Jack. I'm in my late 20s and I jokingly refer to people 5 years younger than me as kids. So really, that can go both ways.

(There's a headcanon out there that Peggy lied on her enlistment form to say that she was born in 1919. This was largely due to her birth year being listed as 1919 in a file from the same deleted scene where we saw Steve's. If we go by this headcanon, she would have been 27 to her coworkers. Still a plausible age range for Jack to call her 'kid', both as a reference to her age or as an insult.)

Daniel's age...this we actually didn't get any points of reference in Agente Carter; even the casting call didn't list his age range. However, we did get his personnel file in AOS S7, and as much of a hot mess of that file is, there's some useful information. The file (transcription here) lists his age as 27, but doesn't give a date of birth. The file header says it is for SHIELD (rather than SSR), but there's no way he is 27 by 1955 (the setting of his episode in AOS S7), so feel free to take that to mean that he was 27 when AC S1 started.

#answers #Anonymous #ac meta #my meta

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withoutawar · 1 year

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dynamics!

DYNAMICS! to discuss potential dynamic types

hmmm !!! endless possibilities what with time travel involved and steve's main-bro daniel sousa ending up in AOU's ranks ( just kidding, steve's never met him in his life, but he did take the whole man-out-of-time mantle from him so same-same. )

sorry i'm a bit stumped on this one because they haven't spoken yet / i'm not sure of jemma's pre-existing views / beliefs of steve since many people tend to have them. ( he goes to shake someone's hand and turns out they wrote a ten pager on why captain america is everything wrong with the world for their college personal essay etc. ) what i can say is that steve has the utmost respect for Smart People, and he tends to sort of blank on people who speak a mile a minute whilst also thoroughly enjoying their passion and he's good at wading through information-dump to get to the crux of the topic so !! i think they'll be super fun to explore !!

if you have certain plots in mind, let me know, otherwise we can do random dialogue-y things and figure them both out !!

#analyticallyminded #thanks for sending!#ooc.

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ao3feed-danielsousa · 2 years

Text

TREMORS

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/zqQYDjv

by ARTEMISHOOD

the story of a duo that falls into another city

the love story of 2 people who think they aren't worth loving.

the story of 2 kids who want their parents to hook up

AOS spoilers NWH spoilers ARROW pre season 6 and above spoilers

D.Johnson x O.Queen P.Parker & W.Clayton CROSS POSTED ON WATTPAD

Words: 3316, Chapters: 3/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Arrow (TV 2012), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Multi

Characters: Skye | Daisy Johnson, Peter Parker, Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak, John Diggle (DCU), William Clayton (Arrow TV 2012), Thea Queen, Dinah Drake, Earth-2 Laurel Lance, Curtis Holt, Rene Ramirez, Quentin Lance, Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Earth-2 Harrison "Harry" Wells, Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers, Sara Lance, Ray Palmer, Nate Heywood, Zari Tomaz | Zari 1.0, Amaya Jiwe, Mick Rory, Jaxander "Jax" Taizu, Martin Stein, Leo Fitz, Jemma Simmons, Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie, Yo Yo Rodriguez, Melinda May, Phil Coulson, May Parker (Spider-Man), Michelle Jones, Ned Leeds, Happy Hogan, Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones, Wade Wilson, Deke Shaw, Alya Fitz, Kora (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Daniel Sousa

Relationships: Oliver Queen/Skye | Daisy Johnson, Peter Parker & Skye | Daisy Johnson, William Clayton (Arrow TV 2012) & Peter Parker

Additional Tags: Post-Spider-Man: No Way Home (Movie), Dimension Travel, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, screw canon, Daisy Johnson Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Mayor Oliver Queen, Protective Oliver, Smart William Clayton (Arrow TV 2012), william clayton & peter parker being little shits, no f bombs, we say frack in this household, peter parker isnt aloud to curse, Precious Peter Parker, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Skye | Daisy Johnson Needs a Hug, Hacker Skye | Daisy Johnson, BAMF Skye | Daisy Johnson, Protective Skye | Daisy Johnson, Bisexual Skye | Daisy Johnson, BAMF Peter Parker, BAMF Oliver Queen, Domestic Fluff, bus kids do it better

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/zqQYDjv

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #daniel sousa #agent carter

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earnmysong · 3 years

Text

my newest interweb buddy, @danieljradcliffe, requested that i list my top ten male characters. thank you, my dear! [the gifs belong to their creators!] ... if you’d like to partake, feel free!

1. marquis de lafayette, hamilton

2. schmidt, new girl

3. eleven, doctor who

4. michael vaughn/andre michaux, alias

5. ryan atwood, the oc

6. chuck bartowski, chuck

7. pacey witter, dawson’s creek

8. daniel sousa, marvel

9. don keefer, the newsroom

10. john carter, er

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momentofch-aos · 1 year

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NEW POST - Appreciate the Beauty of the Snow

Prompt : Spring

“We’re gonna distract ourselves from the fact we are ageing and our kids are almost adults by doing something ridiculously immature.”

Daniel tries to distract Peggy and it ends up in a snowball fight on the roof.

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

My final bingo prompt! What a journey it has been. I started this to kick start my creative flow again and it's definitely helped!

Like many of the other prompts I have done, this does fit into my Peggy & Sousa Universe (To Belong-verse, its a series on my profile), but it also stands alone.

The only context you would probably need is that Jack is married to the lovely Ruth (who puts up with no shit) and Peggy is Director of SHIELD, with Daniel and Jack as her right hand men. Howard is still Howard and Jarvis owns my heart.

As usual I have done some prosthetic research but if anything is wrong, please let me know, I'm more than happy to make it right!

I hope you enjoy!

@agentcarterbingo

#agent carter #acb2022 #my peggysous heart #peggy carter #daniel sousa #jack thompson #howard stark #edwin jarvis #snow #to belong-verse #fanfic #marvel #peggysous

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dousytiva · 3 years

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Dousy Family Headcanons and Incorrect Quotes brought to you by Sousa Cult 2.0 🤠

1) Sousa urges the kids to use a wide vocabulary because he's ✨old✨

Dousy kids: Ya'll'd've-

Sousa: I WILL TURN THIS CAR AROUND-

Dousy Kids: Bruh why'd ya'll do that

Sousa:

Sousa: You are no longer in my will.

2) The Dousy fam and cursing

Daisy complaining about a mission: And the shit head had the audacity-

Dousy kid: Who's shi-thead?

Dousy kids: SHIT!

Sousa: Language!

Daisy: Did you just say... language?

Sousa: It just slipped out...

Dousy kids: Shi-

Daisy: Com'on kids you know your father does not tolerate that damn shit in this motherfucking house.

Sousa: I-

Dousy kids: Shit!

Sousa, after being around Daisy for too long: WE DO NOT CURSE IN THIS GOD DAMN MOTHERFUCKING HOUSE... shit.

3) Dousy attempting to explain where babies come from

Dousy kids: Where do babies come from?

Daisy: Well-

Sousa: OHHHHKAY let's let daddy explain this one

Sousa while trying not do his signature *fazed* face: Okay, so kids, an angel comes and plants a baby in mommy's tummy. That's where babies come from :)

Dousy kids: I thought it was storks...

Sousa telling Dousy kid they're about to have a sibling: So there's a baby in mommy's tummy :)

Dousy kid: SHE ATE THE BABY!?!?!?

Daisy: Yes, and I'll eat you too if you don't eat all your vegetables.

Dousy kid: *quickly shovels down broccoli*

Daisy: We need to tell them about the birds and the bees.

Sousa to the Dousy kids: They're disappearing at an alarming rate.

4) "Daddy" 💀💀💀

Dousy kid: A kid at school laughed at me today for calling you my daddy.

Sousa: And why would they do that?

Daisy: *whispers what it means to Sousa*

Sousa:

Sousa: Call me Dad, Papa, or Father from now on or else😐😐

5) The crazy shield parts

Dousy kids: Dad, tell us more about your childhood!

Sousa: Well around the time of WWI-

Daisy: Dad actually doesn't remember his childhood. He has... amnesia.

Dousy kids: Why are our only grandparents Coulson and May?

Sousa, scrambling to find an answer: Well, uh you see... uhhhhhhh some boys like girls and some girls like boys but other boys like boys and some girls also like girls-

6) Dousy Kids and Philinda Grandparents

Dousy: So we’re having a kid

Everyone: Congrats both of you, who would’ve thought the man out of time and quake would make such a great couple.

*later dousy talking to philinda*

Daisy: we want you to be the grandparents cause daniel’s parents are unfortunately not alive anymore

Phil: daisy, i- i don’t know what to say

May: STOP MAKING ME CRY

Dousy kids meeting Philinda: Hello MeeMaw

May:

May: ME- WHAT NOW!?

7) Bonus

Dousy kid, wearing a flowerpot on their head: Mom look I'm a pothead!

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straightbaittournament · 9 months

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only the option with the least votes will be eliminated! the rest go on to round 3. propaganda under the cut (and more always welcome!):

the option with the least votes will be eliminated. propaganda under the cut (and more always welcome!):

kit herondale and livvy blackthorn:

peggy carter and daniel sousa:

nina zenik and matthias helvar:

[MAJOR SPOILER] If they were truly straight Matthias wouldn’t have died (submitter also stated that nina is canonically bi/pan)

buffy summers and spike:

himmel and frieren:

jean-luc picard and beverly crusher:

tyler rake and nik khan:

They’re very close, have lots of chemistry, but have never been acknowledged in canon. At this point they are just work friends who save each others’ lives on the regular.

keiichi maebara and rena ryugu:

naoko takahashi and shouta oohara:

good luck everyone! now go vote!

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captainsophiestark · 2 years

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Babysitting

Daniel Sousa x Peggy Carter

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for day five of Peggysous Week, hosted by @peggysousweek !

Fandom: Marvel

Day Five Prompts: “Is that my shirt?”, Footprints, Howard Stark, Wild Animals, Tony Stark, “I can’t believe you just did that”

Summary: With Jarvis and Ana away on holiday, Peggy and Daniel are on babysitting duty for Howard and Maria's night out. Any night with the couple's favorite toddler Tony Stark is chaotic, but it also never fails to be a good time.

Word Count: 1,754

Category: Fluff, Humor

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

An unholy screech pierced the air as Daniel and Peggy walked up the drive, arm in arm. They shared knowing smiles as they reached the front porch, then Peggy rang the doorbell.

"Just one minute!" yelled the familiar voice of Howard Stark from somewhere inside. Then, a moment later, his wife Maria's voice rang out.

"You can just let yourselves in!"

Peggy turned the handle and stepped through the door, her husband Daniel right behind her. They made it a few steps towards the kitchen before a blur came tearing around the corner and hurtled at them, almost too fast for them to react.

Peggy's training was just good enough that she managed to catch Tony, Howard's son, as he came sprinting in for a hug at mach-ten.

"Aunt Peggy and Uncle Daniel!" he screeched, wrapping his arms around Peggy's neck and waving frantically at Daniel, who was just out of reach.

"Hey kid, how are you?" asked Daniel, smiling as he got close enough to hug Tony without the boy having to leave Peggy's arms.

Tony just babbled on happily, screeching in excitement like he had as Peggy and Daniel first approached the house. Peggy carried him into the kitchen to find Howard waiting, looking rumpled and exhausted.

"Maria went up to change her shoes," he said in lieu of a greeting.

"Wonderful to see you too, Howard," teased Peggy with a smile. She handed Tony off to Daniel, then crossed the kitchen to help Howard straighten his suit and tie.

"Thanks, Peg. It's good to see you too. And thanks for babysitting tonight, we- is that my shirt?"

Howard stopped mid-sentence due to distraction, a more than normal occurrence for him. He pointed and stared at Daniel, even as Peggy moved to fix Howard's hair and Tony squirmed in Daniel's arms.

"Why the he- heck... would I have your shirt?" asked Daniel, barely remembering to censor himself for Tony.

"I don't know. But I do know I have one just like that one you've got on."

"So what, you think I went up to your closet while you weren't looking and stole your shirt?"

Howard shrugged. "You thought I'd blown a hole in my own vault and stolen all of my own inventions."

Daniel sighed and rolled his eyes as he took a seat at the counter, Tony still in his lap. Peggy just chuckled as she stepped away from Howard, now that he looked halfway decent again. He brought this up all the time, and now that a few seconds had passed, he'd already moved on to the next thing of interest. Peggy shot Daniel a wink as Howard strode out of the kitchen and back into the hallway.

"Maria! Are you ready to go? How long does it take to find a pair of shoes?"

"Longer if you keep nagging me about it," said Maria with a smile as she appeared on the stairs. She floated down each step, the picture of grace, and Howard watched her every move with hearts in his eyes, all traces of annoyance gone.

The Starks swept into the kitchen together, and Tony managed to wiggle out of Daniel's reach to go hug Maria. She hugged him back and smiled at Peggy and Daniel.

"Thank you for coming to watch him tonight."

"Of course, Maria," said Peggy. "We're always happy to spend time with our favorite nephew."

Tony turned around, absolutely beaming at Peggy, then wandered a little farther away to play with some of his toys. The adults shared smiles.

"Well, you two have a good date night," said Daniel, kicking back in his chair. "We'll see you whenever you get back tonight."

"Don't wait up!" called Howard with a wave over his shoulder, already halfway out the door. Maria gave Peggy and Daniel a soft smile and a wink, then followed her husband. And then, Peggy, Daniel, and Tony had the house to themselves.

"So..." said Daniel, getting Tony's attention as he faced Tony and Peggy. "What do you want to do?"

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

"Come on, Uncle Daniel! We have to find him!"

"Okay, I'm coming!" said Daniel, trying not to look too exhausted or concerned as he followed along behind Tony. The kid had been out of his and Peggy's sight for two seconds, and he'd managed to release Bernard Stark the Second out onto the grounds. Now, he and Tony were tracking flamingo footprints through the sprawling backyard while Peggy went around the other way to try and cut him off up ahead.

Every time Daniel thought he and Peggy might be ready for kids of their own, something like this happened.

"I think I hear him!" Tony whisper-yelled, whirling around to look at Daniel excitedly. Daniel nodded, fighting a grimace.

"Let's be careful and move quietly, then. We don't want to scare him," said Daniel. Tony nodded and turned back around. Daniel took a deep breath and put a hand on the kid's shoulder, ready to pull him back at a moment's notice. They'd reached a corner of the house, and if Daniel listened, he could hear feathers ruffling not far off.

Hopefully Peggy had found the bird from her direction, too, and they could find a way to herd him back to his own space.

Slowly, Daniel and Tony crept around the corner. Bernard the Second stood about ten feet away, looking incredibly pleased with his escape. As soon as he caught sight of Daniel and Tony, he whirled around and took off in the opposite direction.

"No!" cried Tony, starting to chase after the bird.

"No!" yelled Daniel, grabbing Tony's shoulders and quickly yanking him back.

"Got ya!" shouted Peggy as she came striding around the other corner of the house, straight into Bernard's path. She held a massive tranquilizer gun in her hands, and she didn't hesitate before firing off a shot straight into Bernard's chest.

The dart hit its mark, and Bernard squawked in outrage before slowly (and fairly gracefully for a large bird) settling into the grass, fast asleep.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" cried Tony, rushing forward to give his aunt a hug. Daniel followed behind, shaking his head at the scene before him. The unconscious flamingo, his wife holding a child in one arm and a tranquilizer gun in the other - even after years with the SSR and now SHIELD, Peggy always found insane new situations to get them into as a couple.

"Well, that went quite a bit better than last time," mused Peggy. She smiled, and the matching grin on Tony's face was downright frightening. Those two made quite a pair.

Daniel shook his head. "I can't believe you just did that."

Peggy shrugged as Tony wiggled out of her arms to go check on Bernard.

"Well, what else were we supposed to do? Jack still has the net gun we used on Dottie a while back. This was all I could find."

Daniel shook his head again, but couldn't keep a smile off his face as he wrapped his arm around his wife and kissed her temple.

"You're insane. And I love it."

"Damn right you do," muttered Peggy. She smiled and turned to kiss Daniel, then the two stood in comfortable silence and watched Tony for a few moments. It was an odd scene, between the small child and the large bird, but it was a peaceful one. Finally, Peggy sighed and shook herself out of the moment. "Alright, well, now that that's handled, let's get these two animals off to bed."

Tony giggled at being lumped in with Bernard and shifted to be a little bit closer to the flamingo. It wasn't easy, but with Peggy and Daniel working together and Tony opening doors, they managed to get Bernard safely back into his enclosure. As soon as they finished, the three of them wandered into the living room to decompress.

"How about we put on a radio program?" asked Peggy as her boys flopped down on the couch.

"Yeah, how about that one with Betty Carver and Captain America?" suggested Daniel with a shit-eating grin. Peggy glared at him, and he and Tony just laughed.

"How about I go get the tranquilizer gun again?" she teased. The boys only laughed harder.

Peggy managed to find a replay of Flash Gordon, Tony's absolute favorite radio show, before she took her place on the couch with Daniel and Tony. Tony curled up in between the two of them, and Daniel had his arms around both Peggy and the young Stark.

"Alright, we'll listen to this show, and then it's time for bed. Deal?" asked Daniel. Tony nodded emphatically.

"Deal."

The three snuggled up a little tighter as the program began, settling into the comfort of the couch. The warmth of the room and the gentle noise of the radio relaxed all three of them, however, and after such an exciting day, they drifted off less than five minutes into the program.

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

"Kids, we're home!" called Howard as he strode into the house, Maria right behind. Silence. "Hello?"

Maria and Howard shared a look, and Howard gently shifted Maria behind him as he crept further into the house. Always better safe than sorry when you'd made as many enemies as Howard had.

Even if there was no way in hell an intruder could take on Peggy by herself, let alone Peggy and Daniel.

Howard and Maria made it into the living room to find Peggy, Tony, and Daniel snuggled up on the couch together, the radio still on from when they'd all fallen asleep. Maria smiled at the sight of her son with a smile on his face, happy, safe, and loved, right where he belonged.

"That's sweet," whispered Maria. Howard sighed and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Yeah. It is."

Maria sighed, then leaned up to kiss her husband on the cheek. "Come on, my love. Let's go to bed."

"I say we cannonball into the middle of that," joked Howard, taking a step forward. Maria yanked him back, giggling.

"No! Let them sleep, we'll see them in the morning."

"Alright, fine," said Howard with a smile. "We'll let them have their peace. For now."

Maria just laughed and rolled her eyes. The two giggled as they headed upstairs, both more than a little tipsy and very happy to have their family home and safe. They couldn't have asked for a better night. Or better people to have in Tony's life.

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daisybeewrites · 3 years

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Academy Blues

oh, deer

word count: 2.8k

warnings: none for this chapter, vague foreshadowing

ship: dousy (daisy johnson x daniel sousa), background Fitzsimmons and Philinda

heyyyyy…. yes i posted it early on Ao3

howeverrr you guys are gonna like this chapter. i just feel it in my bones (bc its fluffy and the angst starts kicking in in the next one)

“You look like Rudolph, Daisy,” Elena greeted.

Daisy took a large swig of coffee, rolling her eyes but smirking. The pair were walking together to Elena’s first class after a tough early-morning spar.

“You’re the one who punched me where I already had a bruise,” Daisy shot back.

“Hey, I already told you I was aiming for the jaw. It’s not my fault you didn’t duck quick enough.”

They laughed as Elena swiped her key card to the comms building. Daisy held the door for Elena, shoving her lightly in the back as she passed.

“Hey!”

“Not my fault you can’t see backwards,” Daisy teased.

It was Elena’s turn to roll her eyes and laugh, slowing to a stop outside May’s lecture room.

“Right. Wish me luck, I heard May was giving a pop quiz today,” Elena grimaced.

“You don’t need any luck. I’ll see ya, Elena,” Daisy replied.

“Yeah, you will!” Elena said, backing into May’s large lecture room.

Daisy watched her wave and sit down with a group of third-years, her perfect french braids swishing behind her, before turning around. Daisy didn’t have a moment to think about where she was going before she ran into a solid wall.

Daisy looked up into a pair of dark chocolate eyes, crinkled at the edges with a small smile. The wall’s hair was ruffled, as if he had just gotten out of bed. He wore black SHIELD sweats and a white t-shirt. The wall was very attractive. She vaguely registered the smattering of books on the ground, her mind more focused on his hands on her shoulders.

“Daisy, are you okay?”

She must have been staring for too long. “Yeah, I’m good! Great! Sorry, Sousa,” she apologized, quickly bending over to pick up his books. She almost dropped them again when his hand brushed hers while she handed the thick textbooks back. She gave him a quick smile, taking a deep breath to compose herself, reciting her affirmations. I am Daisy Johnson. I am an Agent of SHIELD. I can move the Earth. I am powerful. I am in control of myself.

Daniel’s smile grew a bit when he heard Daisy laughing quietly to herself.

“I guess you could say I really swept you off your feet.”

Daniel chuckled at the quip, his hands still on her shoulders. “Yeah. Foot,” Daniel corrected. Daisy furrowed her brows, but ignored the strange comment.

“Right. Well, the bell—” Daisy was cut off by a long, high-pitched bell. She closed her eyes tight, the blaring alarm causing tiny vibrations to travel through her skull. When she opened them, Daniel was still standing in front of her, white tee and black sweats and messy morning hair encouraging just a bit more flirting before he had to leave.

“Wow, look at you. Late! I’m a bad influence on you, Danny.”

Daniel shrugged, glancing at his watch. “S’not the first time,” he murmured lowly, stepping away and giving her a last look before he disappeared into the classroom.

Daisy pretended not to notice her heart rate had risen from it’s usual sixty beats-per-minute to seventy-six beats-per-minute.

Daisy spent the rest of the day absentmindedly completing work in her classes. For some reason, flirting with Daniel felt… different than it had with her exes. Even her exes in SHIELD. Daniel was grounded. He had a calm presence. Being late didn’t phase him in the slightest; Daisy would have internally berated herself for the rest of the day.

She was finishing a short answer assignment from International Law and SHIELD Policy while stretching on the outdoor training grounds when she saw him again: still in sweats despite the heat. He was still walking with same, familiar limp. Then it clicked—’Foot’; the throwaway comment from earlier made much more sense now. He had a prosthetic. Before she could think anymore about that revelation, May called the Ops trainees to gather around her under a giant maple tree. Daisy was the last to get up, hanging towards the back as usual.

“Ops training, eh?”

Sousa turned to Daisy standing beside him, breaking his focus on May to turn to her. “Yeah. I used to be military, remember? 28th Infantry Recon Scout. I figure I’ve got to get at least near the level I used to be before I can go in the field.”

Daisy nodded, her hair caught in a slight breeze. “As long as you don’t steal my crown as the Queen of Spar, Master of Field Ops Physical Training.”

Daniel chuckled quietly, turning his attention back to May, who was explaining today’s exercises.

“Partners,” Daisy breathed. Daisy hated partners, unless it was May. She’d rather condition. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the other trainees, they were great people! But her nerves got the better of her and she ended up holding back, not helping herself or her partner. She knew how to control her powers, how to keep herself from using them while sparring. Whispers of doubt and guilt still invaded, fogging her mind like deadly mist.

You could kill them. It’s happened before…

She was taken back to the moment by Daniel tapping her shoulder. “Partners?”

Daisy reluctantly nodded and motioned to him to follow her over to a thick pad of grass next to a small willow tree.

“So, what exactly are we supposed to be doing? It’s Tuesday, which is usually a mix of breathing and nerve control and focusing on technique, rather than strength.”

Daniel glanced over at the other partners, who were all going through defensive and offensive stances slowly, like tai chi, he thought.

Daisy walked closer to where he had stopped beside the willow, pointing out a pair of partners moving almost in sync.

“They’re focusing on how their breathing can help their fighting. Mentally and physically. If you’re nervous, your heart rate spikes, your brain goes fuzzy and then your body gets sloppy. If you aren’t breathing, your heart rate spikes, your brain goes fuzzy and your body gets sloppy. Breath can make a punch more powerful and a kick more accurate, if you know how to use it. I’ll show you the moves.”

Defensive, offensive, block, strike, block, kick. Daisy continued in a cycle until Sousa could mirror her movements with little effort.

Daisy stopped him then. “Great! You’re a quick learner,” She winked, smiling wide.

Daniel smiled back, “So how do I do the breathing thing?”

Daisy pondered how to explain it for a second. “You have to flow, like water. You control your breathing, you have the power. But at the same time, you have to let the air flow naturally. The moves will align with your breath, don’t force it.”

Daniel nodded, and they were off. It took a minute to get into the groove, but once he did, it felt effortless. Every kick, block, inhale and turn, exhale and strike came naturally. It gave him the opportunity to study Daisy.

Usually, especially in the early mornings in the computer lab, Daisy looked tired. Her brows were drawn slightly, fingers fidgeting, knee bouncing. In the halls she walked briskly and adjusted her bag or checked her watch often, a small tic she didn’t seem to notice. Right now, though, breeze across her olive skin, Daisy looked cool as water.

She felt the earth beneath her. The trees and grass and flowers in the wind. She tuned in to the radio of her surroundings, letting her muscle memory guide her. The forest was really loud. The concrete buildings had a sort of buzz, too. They mixed in her bones like the sounds of a great symphony, low rumbles and high-pitched chittering and long, constant notes that provided a harmony to the undulating melody. The frequencies of each living and non-living thing in the area seemed to be flowing around her, steady.

Daniel softly stared at her as she moved through the flow with him. She was very good at this. He was having a bit of trouble, though he doubted he would be having this much trouble if it wasn't Daisy right in front of him. For an exercise designed to relax them, wasn’t it counterintuitive to partner with the girl that made his heart skip a beat when she smiled?

When May clapped her hands and signaled the end of the session, the tired, sweaty kids gathered around May’s oak tree. The sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon, bringing a glow to each of their faces. Daisy looked radiant.

“Class is dismissed. Tomorrow, we’re conditioning,” May warned. In a quieter voice, May called, “Daisy, can you hang for a second?”

Daisy stepped away from her bag and towards May. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything’s fine. I have a question for you. Would you mind giving up your free period three times a week?”

Daisy’s eyebrows raised, no classes that she knew of only took place three times a week. “I want to say yes, but I’d also like to know why?”

“Fair. Top brass called. If you want to be a field agent with powers, you’ve got to practice fighting with them, get comfortable with them. I know everything that happened with Lincoln…” May paused, gauging Daisy’s reaction. When there wasn’t any, May continued. “Your powers didn’t make you an agent, I did.”

May paused, giving Daisy a chance to settle her thoughts before adding, “But I think this is important.”

Daisy slowly nodded. If this was important to May, then Daisy had no problems giving up her free period.

“Who will I train with?” she asked.

May smiled. “Meet Yo-Yo and I behind the garage at seven sharp tomorrow morning.΅

Daisy saluted playfully, wandering to her bag and walking in the direction the other students had gone. She could see them filtering into the cafeteria. A smoothie sounded nice…

The canteen was full of students grabbing plates of chicken and veggie tacos. Daisy was always happy during dinner on taco Tuesday. She grabbed her plate and a small green juice and searched for a familiar pair of heads, warm brown eyes and freckles sitting next to dirty blonde curls.

As she approached, two hands went up, waving. Weaving her way through students, she saw Fitz pat the seat beside him.

“Oi, Dais! I've got something to show you!”

Daisy sat down, her attention drawn to the tiny device on the table in front of her. It was small enough to fit in her hand, but surprisingly heavy for its size. Multiple coloured wires stuck out from various surfaces. Fitz was grinning at her with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. He pressed a button on a small remote that sat on the table. Daisy looked over at Jemma, puzzled. Was something supposed to be happening?

Daisy glanced down at her hand. There was nothing there but a constant weight.

“Fitz! You replicated cloaking!”

Jemma and Fitz immediately shushed her, looking around. “He wasn’t supposed to! It’s above his ‘level’. Professor Weaver practically forbid him.”

Daisy’s eyes widened. This was very Fitz. Tell him he can’t, and he will, just to prove it to himself. Holding it up to eye level and moving it around, Daisy marveled at the seamless invisibility. “What are you gonna do with it?”

Fitz shrugged. He began to explain a number of uses for the device, along with the technical modifications he’d have to make for them to work. She tuned out after Jemma exasperatedly told him they couldn’t train monkeys to be invisible recon scouts.

Her plan to learn something from Fitzsimmons banter was derailed when Daisy noticed a shadow at the corner of her eye. It slipped away as quickly as it came, around the corner of the cafeteria and out of sight.

Why was she getting déjà vu?

“Dais, you alright there?” Fitz asked quietly.

Daisy turned back to him, smiling. “Yeah, I thought I saw something. Probably just tired.”

The sandy blonde boy laughed, “S’only Tuesday, Dais. We’ve got a whole week ahead of us!”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. I’ve got six tests this week!” Simmons countered.

Daisy’s mouth opened in surprise, quickly shut when Fitz made a comment about catching flies. “Wait, so you aren’t excited for the tests?”

Jemma shook her head miserably, her amber eyes rolling. “No. Usually I would be, it’s so odd! But I was studying the other night and reviewing old tests, and my chest felt so heavy and my head started spinning—”

Fitz stopped her by putting his hand over hers, gently reassuring her. Watching the two, Daisy thought her heart might burst, a bubbly feeling rising in her chest.

Jemma turned back to her, considerably less distressed.

“Do you want some help studying?” Daisy offered.

Jemma nodded. “Tonight, 8, the rooftop?”

The group nodded.

At eight o’clock, Daisy carefully climbed out her window and around the corner to the fire escape. The stairs whispered and creaked with the wind, but you would never know anyone was climbing the iron to the roof unless you ran directly into her.

She arrived at the last landing, one floor above her own, and crouched down. She jumped, using small quakes as a make-shift propulsor. Jemma turned her head towards the soft thump of Daisy landing on the roof.

The space was decorated with a jungle of potted plants and fairy lights strung around the ledge, mix-matched multicoloured and shades of white. They cast a warm glow across the spread of notes and textbooks neatly placed in front of Jemma. Daisy approached, pulling out her laptop and a pouch of pens, pencils, highlighters, and white-out.

“Ready for our study date?”

Jemma smiled. “Yes. Fitz should be here any minute.”

The two girls got comfortable, beginning to go over notes and chat idly. Daisy wrote down vocab and key ideas on note cards and organised them by subject. Jemma laughed loudly when Daisy expressed her confusion at the difference between the three biochemistries that she was taking. Suddenly, loud clanging was heard from the side of the building.

“Daisy! Jems!”

The two girls shared a glance at the panicked voice. Fitz.

They rushed over to where he would be coming onto the iron landing, grabbing his hand and helping him over the concrete barrier onto the roof.

Fitz supported himself on his knees, panting. “There's a guy down there. Creepy bastard.”

Jemma and Daisy shared another glance, this one full of concern and trepidation.

Fitz pointed to Daisy. “Askin’ about you, Dais. Your…” Fitz trailed off, drawing waves in the air with his hand.

Jemma rested a hand on Daisy’s shoulder, squeezing slightly. “Go check it out, we’ll be here when you get back.”

Daisy reluctantly jumped onto the metal landing below, resisting the urge to use her powers to cushion her landing. She quickly checked the perimeter of the dorm, then wandered closer to the forest that backed up to the dorms.

If only she had night vision as well as the power to create earthquakes.

A subtle movement caught her eye, a dark silhouette shifting in between the trees. A haze of clouds covered the moon, making the forest darker than usual. Daisy stepped forward slowly, her breath speeding up.

The air seemed electric, the few clouds in the sky bloodred with the remaining rays of sunset. The tall pines and thick oaks were silhouetted black against the sky, branches seeming to reach out to grab the twilight shadows. Daisy threw a quick glance over her shoulder, letting out a relieved exhale when she saw Fitz and Jemma watching over her from the roof.

A twig snapped right in front of Daisy, the treeline only twenty feet away. Daisy felt the echo bounce around the forest. She took a deep breath, steadying her hands and lungs. Something, someone, was right on the other side of those bushes…

“AAGH!”

A deer leapt out of the brush, landing right in front of her. Its large doe eyes stared at her, ears back. It was just a fawn.

Daisy slowly let out a sigh of relief, dropping her arms from where they had come up in front of her. She snorted.

“You’re just a baby. What are you doing in the bushes by yourself?”

Daisy tentatively reached out, the fawn showed no signs of moving. She opened her palm, letting the deer sniff before it bounded away across the field.

Daisy sighed. She felt something was off, like you would the moment before you were struck by lightning. Like any second, something else would pop out of the forest, this time a real threat…

Silence.

Stillness.

Daisy sighed, shaking her head and rubbing her eyes. I just need sleep. If the paranoia has set in, I definitely need sleep.

Daisy headed back to the dorms, the feeling of eyes on her following until she was safely on the roof with her friends.

The twinkling fairy lights lit the rest of their evening, shadows and deer forgotten in the warmth of laughs and starlight.

#daisy johnson #dousy #daisy johnson/daniel sousa #fitzsimmons #jemma simmons #daniel sousa #leo fitz #timequake #fic #philinda #philindaisy #academy au #ashby writes #x reader #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#marvel #aos #melinda may

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xxruinaxxmcu · 2 years

Text

Jack Thompson x Reader

What Lies Before Us

Masterlist (Book 1 and previous chapters)

Chapter 12

“Y/N L/N, SSR, with whom am I speaking?”, Y/N picked up the phone at the office, having spent the entire day trying to occupy herself with some task to keep her mind off Jack and Daniel.

“Y/N?”

“Rose?”, Y/N asked, recognising the voice of the woman who had once worked here in New York before changing to Sousa’s office in L.A. “You sound terrible! Is something wrong?”

“Oh, Y/N, it’s awful!”

“What’s wrong?”, Y/N asked, feeling her blood freeze.

There was only one reason Rose would call her now. In that tone. Something must’ve happened.

….

“Mr. Thompson, we’re sorry, but at this moment, there’s nothing we can tell you!”, the nurse said, taking a step back from the furious man in front of her.

“What d’you mean you can’t??”, he fumed, “Then get a doctor on the line!”

“Sir, the doctors are busy doing surgery on your friend-“

“I get that, sweetheart, but what’s the prognosis??”, he interrupted harshly.

The lady threw her hands up in the air: “Sir, we don’t have one yet, he was wheeled in just minutes ago, but I can promise-“

“I don’t need promises, I need a doctor!”

“Sir”, a bunch of security guards came down the hallway, “It’s better you leave now. There’s nothing anyone can do for you here at this moment.”

“Are you freaking kidding me?”, Thompson cussed, stepping towards the guards, who probably assumed that he was about to lash out, so they grabbed his arms, turned them behind his back and shoved him outside the hospital.

“For your own good, kid”, the older guard hissed before shoving him out the door.

“Goddammit!”, Jack yelled into the void. Should he turn back? They’d probably call the cops if he did, SSR badge be damned. He couldn’t bear the thought of calling Peggy. He wanted to call Y/N, just to have her near. But he didn’t deserve that. He wasn’t the one injured, hell, he didn’t even get scratched. Why the hell was he always the one whose comrades took the bullet, the grenade? Why did he always get out alive, unscathed? He managed to pull himself together in the car to call the L.A. office to inform them, incredibly grateful that it was Rose who picked up, not Peggy. He could already see the brunette getting on the next plane to Boston. Probably, Stark could get her here faster than any other person in the United States, probably even faster than the president.

After the call, he felt absolutely empty. There was only guilt there. It was there with such intensity that he had only experienced once before – on Tsuken Island, when he had realised he had just killed six innocent boys. He gripped his steering wheel as tightly as possibly, mechanically driving back to their hotel. In hindsight, he was quite amazed he didn’t crash the car along the way. There was one way to make that feeling more bearable, he had done it a dozen times in the first months after the incident on Okinawa. It had become less frequent lately, perhaps because he almost managed to convince himself that he deserved happiness. But by God, today, he didn’t even believe he’d deserve a tomorrow. He just needed it to stop – that pain, that guilt, whatever means it took to get them to become muted.

……..

“He was what?”, Y/N asked Rose when she had landed in Boston.

“He said something about being kicked out of the hospital. He seemed very upset, Y/N.”

“I bet”, Y/N bit her lip, “any news from the hospital?” It was about four hours after the initial call, after which Y/N bribed anyone she could find at LaGuardia Airport to get on the next plane headed to Boston.

“He’s stable”, she said, causing Y/N to exhale. Stable didn’t mean much – a comatose person was, theoretically speaking, stable.

“And the surgery?”

“He lost a lot of blood”, Rose said quietly, “apparently he was hit multiple times.”

“But blood loss can be dealt with”, Y/N replied, hopeful that no worse news were imminent.

“They said he was lucky. Do you think that means he’ll pull through?”

“I mean, if they didn’t think he would, I doubt they’d say he’s lucky”, Y/N said grimly, “as by definition, otherwise he wouldn’t be lucky. When’s Peggy gonna land?”

“I think that’ll take another three hours or so.”

“Right, I’ll go talk to the people at the hospital”, Y/N said quietly, “and then I’ll search Jack.”

“I already instructed the hospital to increase security”, Rose said, “and if they have anything on Daniel, they call me right away. Y/N, go search your fiancé. I can handle the rest.”

Y/N sighed slowly: “You immediately call me if I can do something. Anything. You understand?”

“Yes, Y/N.”

“Thank you, Rose”, Y/N said before ending the call. She knew which hotel Daniel and Jack were staying in. She just hoped Jack didn’t go on some stupid suicide mission on his own.

…….

“Excuse me, I’m searching for the room Jack Thompson is staying in”, Y/N told the concierge, who looked at her rather confused – it was, probably, rather unusual to see a woman storm into the lobby, demanding to know what room a guest is staying in.

“Darling, we are prohibited to give out our guests’ room numbers to strangers”, the man informed her, adjusting his glasses whilst eyeing her.

Incredibly annoyed, Y/N waved her hand in front of his face: “He’s my fiancé, good sir, so you better hurry your ass or I will get the information myself by taking that book from you!”

“Milady-“

“Sir”, she shoved a fiver in his hands, “Like I said, you better hurry.”

A bit taken aback, he glanced down, consulting his book.

“That would be 241b”, he said.

“Thanks”, Y/N said, turning around.

“Won’t you need a key?”

“No, I can manage”, Y/N replied curtly without wasting another second talking to this very unhelpful man and dashing upstairs. Floor 2, room 241b. It was easy to find. She knocked. Nothing. She knocked again. “Jack?” Nothing. One last time. “Thompson?!”

Was he out? Looking at the lock, she knew that it would be easy to open. Most hotel rooms were. It took her no time to make it spring open. She hadn’t even opened the door when she could smell the familiar scent of hard liqueur, probably whiskey, bourbon, or something in that realm.

‘Oh no.’

“Jack?”, she repeated, closing the door behind her.

“Y/N?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m fine.”

She had to walk through a narrow corridor to see the main part of the room, so at first, she only heard his voice, not seeing him. He sat on the desk, staring outside the window, bottle in his hand.

“Yeah”, Y/N said dryly, “You’re doing amazing. I can see that from miles away.”

She heard him huff. “I’m good.”

“You’re a godawful liar.”

He turned his head so that he could see her. And she could see him. It wasn’t in his genetics to look terrible. But for his standards, he looked abysmal. The best Y/N could describe it was as if he hadn’t seen a bed in a week. She didn’t have to see his eyes to know that he had been drinking, the smell and – well – the bottle beside him were proof of that already, but they were glazed over. It probably wasn’t just the alcohol, but the guilt.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“You don’t even know what happened.”

“Did you pull the trigger?”, Y/N asked, crossing her arms, “No? Well, then I suppose it wasn’t your fault.” Life was, of course, more nuanced than that – but she knew Jack better than anyone. She knew he didn’t act carelessly, or at least not more than was human, when other people’s lives were on the line. It had been an accident.

She walked closer, knowing full-well that there were no words in the English language – or in any language – to make this alright. She simply sat beside him, putting one arm around his shoulders whilst taking a hold of the – now identified – bottle of whiskey.

“Give me that.”

“Jack Thompson, most people would be at the hospital after this much”, Y/N declared, lifting it up to see how much of the liquid was gone, “and given the hospital staff isn’t your biggest fan, that’s probably not where you want to end up today.”

“Please.”

She winced at his tone. “No.” Y/N pressed her lips together: “It won’t help, not in the long run.”

“I don’t care about the long run right now.”

“Yeah, but I do”, Y/N replied silently, “I care a lot.”

“Why?”

“Why do I care?”, she asked confused, “Where should I start? How about that – you’re my best friend. Hell, you’re family. Why wouldn’t I care? After all, I love you.”

She should feel him shaking his head. “Then you’re real dumb.”

“No, I’m probably the only one in the room who’s currently judicious”, she replied.

“Why’d you come? You shouldn’t have.”

“Oh yeah?”, Y/N lifted up the well-used bottle of whiskey, “and then what? I’ll do anything for you, but I’m not gonna bury you.”

“Just everyone else.”

Y/N had heard enough. Enough guilt, enough self-loathing – at least for one day. “Jack Thompson”, Y/N turned around to face him, grabbing his chin so that he had no option but to look at her. She searched for his hollow eyes: “You listen to me. No one died today. Sousa’s one tough son of a bitch, so you don’t give up before he does. And tomorrow, when you’re actually a human being again, we will go see him. Alright? Everything is going to be alright. He agreed to come with you. And you didn’t pull that trigger. Now, you can tell me all you want that bullet was meant for you – tough luck. Things turned out different. We all make choices, and he made his. That’s not on you.”

“I triggered the booby-trap.”

“You can tell me the details another time, Jack. I don’t need to hear them now”, Y/N replied quietly, gently running her finger along his cheek, “Right now, all you need to know is that no one has died on your watch today. His surgeries were successful. He’s stable. And you.” She pointed to the bed behind them, “You should sleep now.” She felt deeply sorry, sorry for Sousa, who was injured, but she also felt sorry for Jack. Most of the time, he had the best of intentions in mind. Whether that was on Okinawa, when he wanted to protect his C.O. or whether it was here. But that didn’t matter to him when things turned out wrong. It didn’t lessen the guilt he carried. She pressed her lips together. There was nothing that she could do or say to lessen that, and that made her feel incredibly powerless.

“Why are you here, Y/N?”

“You’ve asked me that already”, Y/N sighed, “the real question is, why did you think I wouldn’t be here? Why do you think you deserve to be alone?” She didn’t expect an answer, and she didn’t get one. “Because if it is for the reason of guilt, whether that is getting people killed during your time at the SSR, or from earlier, from the war, then by God’s name, don’t. Jack, you know my file. You know that all my team members died in 1944 or 1945. Most of them died because of me. Because I wasn’t there when they needed me most. You need to let it go, otherwise you’ll join them sooner than later. And then, no one gets saved. Because then, no one is here to continue the fight.” She paused. “People like us, we don’t get to quit. They need us to keep going, even if they never ever thank us. And I need you to keep going, because I cannot do this alone.”

She was pretty sure that he would have cried right then and there if he had tears left to cry.

“Come on”, she said, pushing herself off the desk and holding out her hand to him, not really trusting his sense of direction or ability to walk currently. And the last thing she wanted to do was patch up some wound from him falling over.

Visibly reluctantly, he took her hand and stood up.

“Easy there”, she said as she felt his weight slip away from her and pulling him back. It felt half-familiar. This was by no means the first time she saw him drunk – actually, she stopped counting approximately in their third week of their second semester at university, but still. This was way different. She had seen him in a great many states, but not like this. She hadn’t seen him shattered.

Y/N dropped him onto the bed, biting her lip.

He looked up to her: “What about you? You’re headed out?”

“By God’s name, no”, she said, sitting down next to him, “I’m not leaving you, you understand? You’re stuck with me.” As a matter of fact, she wasn’t sure if it was even safe to leave him. She had no idea when, and how quickly, he had worked on that whiskey. He was in a bad shape, for sure, but arguably, it could turn from bad to worse, and if it did, someone had to be there. And as so often, that someone had always been her.

To keep her mind occupied, she grabbed his hand and started to massage it. She had no idea for whom this was more soothing – but at least, he did fall asleep quite quickly.

She simply stared at his face. When she had come to Boston, she had prepared herself for a great many things. A furious Thompson. A short-fused Thompson. A frustrated Thompson. But nothing could’ve prepared her for this – a shattered Jack.

Yeah. It felt very different than the countless times she had stood in the bar, talking absent-mindedly to her girlfriends from university, just to keep an eye on him during his attempts to finally become the high-score holder for the Piccadilly Commando ranking.

“How did your feedback turn out? Professor Morton really didn’t like my writing style, can you believe it?”

Y/N’s eyes were fixed on something completely different when Lara had asked her about her latest essay.

“Uh… no, he was quite happy with mine, I think”, she responded with a two-second delay, “Would’ve liked more depth, which is difficult considering I was already at the absolute maximum of the word count.”

Lara had followed her gaze. “Oh, is it Commando night again?”

“When isn’t it Commando night?”, Y/N muttered with mild annoyance, “Damn Nick for bringing that atrocity over from the UK.”

“Come on, the Englishman is charming!”

“You think?”, Y/N raised an eyebrow at Lara, who laughed. Y/N found Nick to be a great many things – loud, posh, and self-assured, but charming wouldn’t even make her top 20 adjectives to describe the man.

“Well, I’m not gonna go after Jack, if you know what I’m saying.”

Y/N shot her a deadpan look: “No, Lara, as a matter of fact, I don’t. We’re friends. Not more, not less. So if you wanna give it a shot, by all means. But let me warn you. He’s a handful when he’s tired, drunk or hungry.” ‘How often do I have to explain that to her?’, Y/N thought, ‘Jack and I are friends. Friends-Friends, with no add-on.’

Y/N and Lara were now both facing the table where the group of men were playing that weird card game Y/N never bothered to understand, and which had the main purpose of getting its participants absolutely shitfaced. Jack and Nick aside, it was a group of eight, including a member of the university’s baseball team, Kenneth Brown. Y/N had always found him incredibly importunate. A roaming sound came from the group, and Y/N saw Nick look from Jack to Kenneth in somewhat disoriented anticipation. The mood had shifted quickly from competitive and happy, to, well, tense.

Y/N exhaled: “Why can’t he pick the freaking math kid to piss off at least once in his life?” Hearing Lara chuckle in the back, she had already begun to manoeuvre her way through the hall of drunken people to the desk where Kenneth took a swing at Jack, hitting him in the jaw, only to be hit in the nose himself. The two men stood up, ready to exchange further blows, just as Y/N had reached them.

“Kenneth”, she said with a forced smile, “I’ll proof-read your work for Professor Smith for next week if you let it go.”

“Y/N, don’t-“

“You shut up”, Y/N turned to Jack in annoyance, before turning back to Kenneth: “Deal?”

“Sure thing, sweetheart.” He took off with a grin that made her want to throw up, but she was too busy being annoyed at the man behind her to get offended by the man in front of her.

“That’s number four”, she said, “In two months, four!” She turned to Nick: “Your game’s over for today?”

The Brit only nodded, still somewhat startled at the scene – which actually surprised her, given this happened almost every time they played this stupid game.

“Brilliant.” She grabbed Jack’s arm, only to realise the other one had somehow gotten a hold of the bottle of whiskey the men had shared at the table before she arrived. “You’re kidding me, right?”

He lazily grinned and took a swig. She was SO close to grabbing the bottle and throwing it right across the hall, but she didn’t want to cause a bigger scene than it already was, considering she was basically dragging him outside. And it was a dragging, indeed.

“No, wrong direction”, she grunted when he was about to stumble into the opposite direction from his place.

“Oh, right.”

“Yeah right.” It came out a lot harsher than she had intended, but she supposed that that’s what happened when she was very annoyed.

“You angry?”

“No, I love dragging you out of bars”, she retorted cynically, watching him take another swig from the bottle. “Don’t you think you’ve had your share for the night?” She grabbed the bottle and wrestled with him for it, but winning against a drunk guy wasn’t that hard.

“Hey!”

“You’ll thank me tomorrow.”

The walk to his place was about 15 minutes, give or take. Maybe closer to 20 under these circumstances, and Y/N was freezing, but that didn’t concern her that much. What was more concerning was the eventual silence between them. The Thompson-scale-of-drunk was rather predictable, it went you-don’t-even-know-he-drank/he-makes-blunt-remarks/he-gets-irritable-and-vocal/disorientation-and-vocal-slurring/silence. Stage two was the best, stage silence was what happened on the days he went too far, even for his rather impressive limits.

“Keys”, she announced when they had reached the door and took them out of his hand, not wanting to spend three minutes next to him trying to get the key inside the keyhole. She stepped inside, turning on the light.

Behind her, Jack leaned his forehead against the wall, squeezing his eyes shut.

“You good?”

“Yeah.”

Y/N stood there, contemplating to leave right now and leave him to his own devices. Her thought process was cut short by him gagging.

“Yeah”, she couldn’t help but to remark cynically whilst guiding him into the bathroom, “you’re fantastic.”

After making sure he wouldn’t hit his head anywhere or fall over, she left him in the bathroom and waited outside. That didn’t happen as often as the bar fights. As a matter of fact, this only happened four times in their entire time at university. And by all the annoyance that she had felt when she had interrupted him and Kenneth 45 minutes earlier, she now felt none of it anymore. Whether it was just the fact that he was her friend, or whether even at that time, she had felt more than that, she can’t remember in hindsight. But she didn’t leave in these nights, either.

………

Y/N had eventually dosed off for a few hours. That was cut short eventually when Jack woke up and made his way to the bathroom. Given he was able to make it there himself, Y/N decided that her assistance was probably not needed for him ridding himself of some of the scotch. There was nothing she could do to avoid hearing him gag, but hell. She had seen and heard worse.

She checked her watch – shortly after 7. Theoretically, a good time for breakfast, though she wasn’t sure if eating was such a good idea.

Unsurprisingly, Jack didn’t look particularly fresh this morning. And perhaps a shade paler.

Normally, now would have been the time for Y/N to make some sarcastic remark, but she decided against it for many reasons. First, the situation really didn’t merit sarcasm. After all, they still had no idea how Sousa was fairing, exactly. And also, she wasn’t quite sure if he’d react well to sarcasm right now.

“How’r you feeling?”, she simply asked, knowing at least part of the answer in advance.

“Like shit.” Well, at least he was honest.

He rubbed his temples, though that only offered temporary relief.

“Right”, Y/N said, “You take a shower and shave. I’ll grab us coffee.”

She didn’t wait for a reply, after handing out the instructions, she simply marched out the room. She got coffee from the bar in the lobby, and with paying double, she even got them to agree that she could take it to the room. When she didn’t hear any water from the shower upon return, she assumed that he was finished. Still, she knocked as a warning before entering again. He, indeed, had showered and had nearly finished shaving, too. She lifted up the coffee cups whilst walking past him as to signal that she had delivered on her promise.

“Milk, no sugar, just as always. Comes with perks, given that you’ve made me brew your coffee for months.” There it was – just a little sprinkle of sarcasm.

A few moments later, he emerged from the bathroom and Y/N handed him his coffee.

“Thank you, Y/N.” He sounded so earnest that Y/N was quite sure that he didn’t just say thank you for the cup of coffee.

She gave him a smile: “Always.”

For a while, they sat there and drank their coffee in silence, both of them lost in their own storm of thoughts.

“You were right, by the way”, he then announced quietly without looking up from his cup, “He’s HYDRA. That was the file I got out of the cupboard. The one that was booby-trapped. He had a file in there with all the details on the 107th. Personal background, family. Current presumed whereabouts.” He pressed his lips together: “I didn’t look at it thoroughly yet, though.”

Y/N didn’t really know how she felt about that development. Naturally, it was upsetting knowing that the group was still around – right under their noses. But they had defeated worse. They had won a war. They would win against this, too.

“We’ll track him down. Presumably, he’ll try to evade the police, now that he knows we’re onto him”, Y/N said silently, “I informed the SSR before coming here to mobilise all resources to find him. And that, we will. And we won’t put him in a cell. We’ll kill him. That’s the only way you can kill a hydra.”

Now, Jack looked up. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do that for you.”

She raised her eyebrows: “What?” She almost laughed: “This was supposed to be a surveillance operation, not an instant kill. We didn’t even know what he was if it hadn’t been for you and Sousa. Don’t be silly. We don’t kill before we know we’re dealing with a hostile person. Now we do, and now we’ll find him, and then, we’ll kill him. Don’t worry about me. Whatever my role will be, I’ll be able to handle it.”

“I know.”

“See?”, Y/N smiled, “Then you don’t need to say you’re sorry. I’ve heard that way too much in the last 12 hours.”

She checked her watch again. Shortly before eight. “Right”, she said, “I’ll call the hospital. I suppose it’s better if they hear a fresh voice. And then, we make a trip downtown. And I’m driving.”

……….

Once Y/N had parked the car outside the hospital, she looked over to her companion. “You’re ready?”

“Course.”

When they entered the hospital, some guards directly swarmed them. “Sir, I think we were clear-“

“I vouch for him”, Y/N sighed, shoving them five dollars, “He won’t lash out. Promise.” She wasn’t sure if it was her good words, or her money that did it, but they eventually let them pass.

“I think I’ve bribed like a dozen people since getting to LaGuardia”, Y/N commented sarcastically, making her way to the desk further in the back. “We’re here for Daniel Sousa. Was admitted yesterday. We’re colleagues.” She searched for her batch: “SSR.”

The poor lady seemed a bit overwhelmed by two federal agents standing in front of her, so she hastily consulted her book.

“Room 452, but someone’s already there to see him!”

“Yeah, that’s his wife”, Y/N said, already walking past the lady, “and also our colleague.”

Finding room 452 took a few minutes given the sheer size of the hospital, but it wasn’t difficult. The signing was quite decent.

“There we are”, Y/N pointed to the door with the correct number on it. Again, she looked at her companion. She didn’t need to repeat her question, he only nodded. When they approached the door, they heard someone talking, but it was muffled enough for them to be unable to identify it. Y/N just hoped that it was two people. Actually, for the first time in a long time – probably since L.A. and the last shooting incidence – she understood the necessity of the Stossgebet. A term she had come across by some devout Germans in the heat of battle, when they sent a very specific, dedicated and urgent prayer.

But she didn’t give herself the time to pray. She knocked. “It’s Y/N and Jack. Can we come in?”

The door was unlocked, so she opened it. The sense of dread that she felt when opening the door was washed away by a sense of utter and unparalleled relief when she was greeted by a conscious Sousa and a waving Peggy. They both looked battered – which was to be expected, but they were awake. He was alive.

“Thank the Lord.” Y/N didn’t know what else to say – she was just happy that no funeral was on the cards.

The door behind them fell shut, and when Jack didn’t say anything, Sousa was the one to crack a smile.

“If it weren’t for the tubes sticking out of my arms, I’d say you look worse than me, Jack.”

“Sousa, I don’t think you understand how grateful I am to be insulted right now.”

Y/N motioned to Peggy to follow her outside and the brunette followed her without a strange look.

“How is he?”, Y/N asked in the hallway.

“He was incredibly lucky, no vital organs were severely hit. I’m sure it’ll hurt like hell, but he’ll pull through”, she said, looking over her shoulder with a tired smile. “How’s Jack?”

“He’s… fine”, Y/N said, stressing the ‘fine’ with dripping sarcasm, “probably almost admitted himself to the hospital because of alcohol poisoning, but I fear the staff wouldn’t have treated him after he’s kicked out for threatening a nurse.”

“Ah”, Peggy remarked dryly, “so he’s fine.”

“It was a long night for all of us”, Y/N replied flatly, “I’m just glad that we’ll be able to laugh about it at some point.”

Peggy grabbed her shoulder, looking her directly into the eyes: “Do you know how many people died on my watch? My roommate, Krzeminski, Juniper, I almost got Ana and Dr. Wilkes killed, and I could expand this list indefinitely given all the innocent people that died because of Fennhoff. He shouldn’t take it that personally.”

“That’s rich of you to say, Peg”, Y/N responded with a dry smile, “Because last time I checked, you do the exact same thing. Granted, you don’t drown yourself in it. At least not with alcohol.”

“Doesn’t mean others should do it, too.”

Y/N shot her a look that said ‘are you freaking serious?’, which resulted in both of them laughing. They were tied together, both as colleagues who understood the dangers of their work, who knew that these risks were necessary and sometimes unavoidable, but also as wife and fiancée, who were connected to this on a level that went beyond work-friends. They understood each other better than perhaps anyone else ever could.

“Will he be alright?”

Y/N looked at her, rather perplexed by her question. “Yeah. He came back from war and was alright. Different, but alright. He’ll be alright.”

………

“You took those bullets for me, Sousa”, Jack said, pressing his lips into a fine line, when Peggy and Y/N had left the room.

“Hey, you did say to cover you, in all fairness”, Sousa said jokingly. Jack shot him a glance.

“Next time, don’t take me literally.”

“Yeah?”, Daniel raised his eyebrows, “Why’s that? I thought we were going in there as a team. And I’m pretty sure that’s how soldiers do it. They cover each other. With everything they have.”

He wasn’t wrong. But that almost annoyed Jack more.

“You know”, he said dryly, “the bag I took with me here, well, that was the bag that I travelled back home with after I was discharged.” He reached into his jacket’s pocket and fished a little pouch out of there.

“I have no use for it, you know”, he said without explaining what it was, “You took those bullets for me. I know soldiers don’t usually get medals from the Naval Branch, but you’re still the better person to have it than me.”

He placed it on the bedside table. It was his Navy Cross – he hadn’t even bothered to ever take it out of his bag. That’s why it had made its way from New York to Boston with him.

“Are you serious, Jack?”, Daniel asked in disbelief, “You can’t just give away your freaking medal-“

“Like hell I can”, Jack huffed, “Did you ever see me wear that thing? Sousa, I did nothing that merits such a freaking medal. Nothing. And if you’d still be in active service and those guys had any sense, you would’ve had your medal ages ago. You can also sell it if you want. I’m not gonna miss it.”

Daniel, who still hadn’t heard the truth about Tsuken Island, looked at the Navy Cross intently.

“Why’d you even join the freaking Marines?”, he asked, inspecting it.

Jack couldn’t help but laugh. “Maybe because I wanted to serve my country. Maybe because I wanted the bragging rights of not being just a measly soldier. Maybe to impress a girl.”

Daniel shot him a deadpan look: “You didn’t end up on Iwo Jima just to impress Y/N, did you?”

“I had no idea where our ship was headed”, Jack shrugged, “and even if they’d told me, I didn’t know where Iwo Jima was until they told us to take it.”

The door opened again and Y/N and Peggy came back in.

Y/N directly noticed Daniel holding a medal.

“Is that your Navy Cross, Jack?”, Y/N asked confused.

“No, it’s Daniel’s Navy Cross”, Jack replied, winking at the man attached to the tubes.

“I believe this is a terrible idea”, Daniel said, putting it back in the pouch, “You got this for a reason, you know? They shipped you to Iwo Jima and Okinawa.”

“No, they actually only shipped me to Iwo Jima”, Jack specified, “I volunteered for Okinawa.”

“Why, for the bragging rights??”, Daniel asked, starting to doubt Jack’s judgement.

“No”, Jack grinned slightly, “But they needed volunteers from the Marines. Figured I was already done for, so I might as well get into the fight one more time.”

“What the hell”, Y/N exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air, “Why does everyone inside these walls seem to have a freaking death wish?? Peggy, who fails to see that she saved about a million people more than she couldn’t save! Daniel, who first almost gets sucked into the freaking vortex of Stark’s creation and now is a human bullet shield! And Jack freaking Thompson who volunteers for another amphibious assault because why not?? Am I the only one here who’s a responsible adult who wants to preserve my life, along with everyone else’s??” She huffed: “You are all unbelievable. Either unbelievably brave or unbelievably stupid, and quite possibly, both at the same time!”

Her rant had caused everyone to laugh, so after her initial anger and frustration subsided, she couldn’t help but to laugh, too. Especially because she knew, in her heart – she wasn’t that different.

“Yes, because attacking Dottie Underwood with a butter knife is so life-preserving”, Jack reminded her with a tired grin.

“If it had been a butter knife, yes, that would’ve been stupid. But it was a knife-knife”, she shot back, knowing that this didn’t make it that much less suicidal.

Apparently, they were all scarred enough by loss to repeatedly put their life on the line, causing more hurt to those around them than they probably could have anticipated.

But that was what dedication looked like. That was what love looked like.

A/N: Sorry for the two week unannounced hiatus, I went on vacation back home! Which meant I fled London’s 40 degree celsius hell, exchanging it for the beautiful Alps. But, as reparation, it’s a pretty long chapter. And, I found it when writing, a heart-wrenching one at that. Very little action per se, but a lot of feelings, which is always nice (I hope!!). Feedback, comments, reblogs and likes are all INCREDIBLY appreciated!

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