FASCINATING. when i was writing this little ficlet i was imagining peggy as an intl student in nyc and jack as a student there, too, with michael as kind of a ne'er-do-well type who gets by thru various nefarious means. i feel like this au isnt that but it is that adjacent, in that college jack has the trappings of being an on-top-of-the-world guy but is secretly a trainwreck, whereas michael by all accounts lacks much reputability, but actually has his shit together.
i want jack to be politician bait. political science something major, double minor in international law and military history. he went to naval academy prep for most of his high school. he's growin' up to be a senator on his way to being president one day.
michael in university is ... undecided maybe. or, like, he keeps changing his course of study, and dropping classes, and taking classes that have no bearing on what he's studying. he's a dance major or something rn i feel. (maybe he knows dottie?) he's also a year older than a bunch of the other students, because he came back to university after a year or so of mysterious "illness" that he refuses to talk about.
as exchange students ... i love this concept ;; idk who i want exchanged to whom tho !!! its so good either way
anyway they argue a lot. peggy is horrified when she comes home from class one day and finds them making out on her couch (YOU BOTH HAVE YOUR OWN APARTMENTS! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS HERE?) but quietly she's pleased that this means two of her favorite people are getting along better.
(they're not really getting along better, theyre just hooking up now.)
Daniel sent a picture of Jack and Michael on a date to one of those ‘siblings or dating’ pages. (He thought it was very funny but it was only then Peggy realised how much Jack looks like her brother and is Disturbed.)
lmao yes. peggy slowly realizing that jack looks like/acts like michael is SO funny to me. she's like no .......... no there cant be two of them .......... put one of them back ..........
despite the fact that her brother is her FAVORITEST PERSON IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD haha she's figuring out now why she's liked jack so much despite him being nothing but a fucking asshole to her. he's Just Her Type (platonic)
SCREAMS. ive been thinking about this. okay okay okay
what i'm wondering is do they switch after michael's shot jack, while jack is in recovery? its a freaky friday (og) situation where they both go "if only that bastard could be me, just for a day," at the same time.
jack's body (with michael in it) is lounging by the pool at howard's place. with a semi-healed bullet wound in his shoulder. peggy's doting on/bickering with him. michael doesnt want to give up the jig because its the perfect opportunity to investigate this [hydra plant? enemy agent? whatever reason we're having him shoot jack for] but his little sister is right fucking there and she's getting suspicious.
only she's not getting as suspicious as she should be, she's mostly getting worried. because michael's personality is more or less the same as jack's, it's his memories that are different, right? so he's acting the same, he's just not remembering or reacting to stimuli the same.
jack wakes up not shot. one point in his favor.
might be the ONLY point in his favor. he's in the body of a guy he doesn't know, in a hotel he doesnt know, with a gun under his pillow, three passports with different names on them in his suitcase, and carter's file open on the hotel table.
i propose that they have to make out for it to switch back. i just think that'd be funny.
Peggy has been conscious or unconsciously blocking out all the little things she notice in Jack and Michael that would indicate that they were dating. Until one night when they were all drunk in Howard's manor, and with all inhibitions gone, Peggy just drunkenly points a shaky finger at Jack and Michael and go, hmm, they gay.
jack blusters and denies and says something like, you're drunk, marge, and tries to change the topic unsuccessfully. michael just narrows his eys and says, yes, and?
inspired by this post & i'm tagging @redvanillabee because i need more michaeljack in my life
: :
There's a man he doesn't know talking to Peggy when Michael gets back with their drinks. He gives the fellow a semi-automatic once-over: designer jeans, a rugby that's never seen a rugby pitch, and loafers with no socks. Typical preppy American university boy. Michael slides in next to Peggy and hands over her whiskey sour, which she takes without looking.
"This is my brother," she says. "Michael, this is Jack. We're in a class together." The implication, from her tone, being that she had hoped that they would never meet outside of that class. Jack does not acknowledge the introduction with even a glance.
"C'mon, it'll b'fun," he says - slurs, really. He's much too drunk to be hitting on Michael's little sister, or really to be doing anything other than sitting down and drinking water. Michael takes a slug from his own ale. "A lotta the other law students'll b'there."
"Not interested," Peggy says firmly.
Jack ponders that for an inebriated moment. "Is't okay if I ask your brother?" he asks, finally. Michael straightens up, surprised to be pulled into the conversation.
"Sure," she says.
Michael is transfixed as Jack turns to him. His eyes are a little bloodshot and they're definitely not tracking properly, but they are placed in a face that is - well, he's cute. And Michael has a track record of liking arrogant little maladjusted pricks.
Jack opens his mouth, then closes it. He sighs. "No," he says, shaking his head mournfully. "I am not drunk enough t'go for a dude. But," he points a finger in Michael's face, getting uncomfortably close to his nose, "You look like an angel."
Michael doesn't know what his face is doing. Peggy snorts.
"A'right," Jack says. He clasps both of them on the shoulder and dips his head forward. "I'll see you 'round, Carter. Carters." The plural seems to confuse him for a beat, then he recovers. "Adios, auf Wiedersehen, aloha!" He blows one of them - it's unclear which one - a kiss and stumbles away, narrowly missing the doorframe as he goes.
"Oh, Peggy," Michael says, watching him go. "I want one."
"You'd only break him," Peggy says, and takes a sip of her drink.
On a sillier note, imagine Jack and Michael describing how they met to an unsuspecting civilian.
‘Oh we first met in a hotel room ;)’
‘He took my breath away; my heart must have stopped.’
they really hit it off with bang, huh.
"i left fairly quickly after that. i was a bit flustered, i suppose, worried about being caught out. you know how it is."
"didn't even introduce himself. took me months to track him down."
"why were you so desperate to find me anyway, darling?"
"mm. i guess i just wanted to pay you back for crushing my heart like that."
fadkljslksfdlsdf i can see michael and jack trying to out-charm each other with this too. both of them flirting as ostentatiously as possible to get the other to blush or break eye contact first. making stupid jokes about how heart-rendingly handsome michael is and how jack was so cute i could kill someone.
