#rose roberts

[heyyy-its-j]

Agent Carter Text Posts - Part ?????

[picked-off-by-barzal]

Where were their Doomsday chairs, Feige??

[flowashingmachine]

Guys would yall potentially read an agent carter s3 fic, im gonna do it episode by episode and id be totally open to ideas to put in it

[my-ny]

Agent Carter text posts pt. 2/?

[swan-of-sunrise]

Heavy Lies The Head...(Tales From The SSR)

Summary: Halfway out the door on a late Friday night, Daniel receives a telephone call from the FBI and is thrown head-first into Jack and (Y/N)'s top-secret investigation, forcing him to reckon with a devastating truth (Chapter 13 of Specs and the Flyboy in Daniel's POV)

Pairings: Peggy Carter X Daniel Sousa, Jack Thompson X Reader

Word Count: 6.3k

Warnings/Disclaimers: None

A/N: Hi guys! I haven't rewritten a chapter of Specs and the Flyboy in a while, so I decided that it would be interesting to read Chapter 13 from Daniel's POV! Thank you for reading, I hope you all enjoy!

Heavy Lies The Head... November 1947 West Coast Strategic Scientific Reserve, Los Angeles (Previous One-Shot)

For the most part, Daniel enjoyed his position as Chief of the West Coast SSR. Accepting a leadership role had been a nerve-wracking decision, one that he’d wrestled with over many long days and sleepless nights before finally giving the bosses in D.C. his answer, but it was one that he was forever grateful he’d made; being the one to call the shots and oversee the creation of a brand-new branch came easy to him and living far away from the familiarity of New York had helped him flourish, both in regards to his job and his new normal as an amputee. He’d grown more confident in his own abilities, finally feeling that he was on equal footing with Peggy and Jack by the time they’d crossed the country in order to work the Isodyne Energy case, and he was particularly proud of his recent leadership decisions, including hiring the country’s top codebreaker. With that being said, however, he’d steadily grown to dislike having to rush in and clean up the messes that his agents loved to cause behind his back, which was the exact situation he found himself in on a late Friday night in the office…

“Finally headed home, Chief?”

Daniel stifled his tired yawn behind his hand as he limped into the waiting room of Auerbach Theatrical Agency and nodded. “Yeah, I was filling out some paperwork for the Lacardo case and must’ve lost track of time. I didn’t keep you, did I?”

Rose waved his worry off and slipped the vinyl cover over her typewriter. “Not at all, Chief; my big plans for tonight consist of a cup of hot chocolate and the newest Agatha Christie novel.”

“Trust me, there are worse ways to spend a Friday night.” Daniel shifted his weight onto his crutch and fished his car keys out of his jacket pocket while he continued. “I was just planning on reheating some stew for dinner and passing out on the couch.”

The secretary snorted in amusement as she collected her gloves and purse. “Eating a decent meal and getting some rest for once? Who are you and what’ve you done with Chief Sousa?”

“Ha ha, very funny.” Just then, the telephone at Rose’s desk started to ring and Daniel felt a surge of guilt when she let out an exasperated groan. “It’s okay, I’ll get it. You have a good night, Rose.”

Rose flashed him a grateful smile and patted him on the shoulder. “Thanks Chief. I’ll see you in the morning!”

Daniel watched the loyal secretary walk out onto the sidewalk and make her way towards her maroon ’46 Ford Deluxe with a fond smile. Despite his desire for a clean break from the New York SSR and a fresh start in Los Angeles, he’d secretly been relieved when Rose put in her papers for a transfer to the fledgling branch; she’d always been a reliable secretary, but she’d quickly proven herself to be a valuable asset to the West Coast SSR and a trusted confidant to him. The telephone’s continuous ringing recaptured his attention and he heaved a sigh before picking up the receiver and holding it up to his ear. “Auerbach Theatrical Agency, this is Mr. Auerbach speaking. Who’s this?”

“FBI Director John Roberts.” Daniel’s brow immediately creased in worry. It was common knowledge that the SSR and the FBI – the country’s top two federal law enforcement agencies – shared a tense relationship, with the former’s creation and continued existence after the war causing quite a stir in the Justice Department, and the mysterious death of Vernon Masters placed even more strain on their icy working relationship. “You’re a smart man, Chief Sousa, so I’m sure you already know that this isn’t a social call.”

Rolling his eyes, Daniel leaned against the edge of Rose’s desk and shortly replied, “Yeah, I gathered that already. What can I do for you, Director Roberts?”

 “Earlier this evening, two of your associates interfered with a high-level FBI operation and are currently being held at our headquarters awaiting questioning. In accordance with the Bureau’s standard procedures, I’m required to notify you of-”

“Wait a second, what? Which associates?”

“Chief Thompson of the New York SSR and Agent (Y/L/N), your branch’s new codebreaker. They interfered with our bust of a transnational organized crime syndicate at The Palladium and since they refused to cooperate with our agents, they were taken into custody pending a formal investigation.”

Daniel’s temples began to ache and he clenched his jaw. “I’m on my way. When I get there, I expect a full and unabridged explanation from you, Roberts.” Without waiting for a reply from the older man, he slammed the receiver down onto its cradle and heaved a sigh. “Well, shit.”

There were countless emotions brewing in Daniel’s chest as he limped out of the office and climbed into his ’40 Ford V8 Standard, ranging from anger at the FBI and their blatant incompetence and annoyance that his late night was showing signs of turning into an all-nighter, but he was mainly filled with confusion; from the moment they first met, Jack and (Y/N) despised one another and if anything, time had only intensified their mutual animosity, which was why Daniel couldn’t understand why, out of all the agents that were employed at the West Coast SSR, those two would spend their Friday night at a swanky Hollywood nightclub together. There’s something more to all of this and I just know that I’m not gonna like it one bit, he thought as he switched his car’s engine on and peeled away from the curb, a familiar knot of foreboding beginning to take root in the pit of his stomach.

It was a quarter past midnight by the time Daniel parked in front of the FBI’s Southern California Division, centering himself with a deep breath before stepping out into the chilly night air and making his way into lobby of the federal building. When he stepped through the doorway, he was waved over to the front desk and he presented the bored desk agent with his badge. “Chief Sousa of the Strategic Scientific Reserve.” The desk agent grunted and he tucked his badge back into his coat pocket. “I have business with Director John Roberts, so if you could point me in the direction of his-”

“Chief Sousa!”

Daniel glanced over to see the man in question striding across the near-empty lobby towards him, and he struggled to mask his growing irritation behind a thin-lipped smile as he was compelled to shake his outstretched hand. “Now that you’ve got me here, Roberts, I’d appreciate some straight answers and the immediate release of my people.”

Clenching his jaw in obvious annoyance at his lack of pleasantries, Director Roberts shot the desk agent a look and waited until he disappeared down the hall to start talking. “At eleven-hundred-hours, my men breached The Palladium in the culmination of a months-long investigation into Martin ‘Lefty’ Stompanato, with the intention of arresting him and his business associates.”

“The crime boss from Queens? The SSR investigated him and a couple of his men in connection to a suspected mob hit on one of our scientists last year, but there wasn’t enough evidence to charge them for murder.”

“Yes, we’re well aware of your agency’s failed attempt to bring him to justice.” Roberts’ condescending tone forced Daniel to bite his tongue and his grip tightened around his crutch as he continued. “After you released him and his men, he simply moved his organization across the country to Los Angeles; since then, we’ve been conducting undercover operations, collecting witnesses and compiling evidence obtained over several months, and tonight was supposed to be the night where we’d finally catch him in the middle of a sale. Your people, however, interfered in our operation. Their actions led to Stompanato’s murder at the hands of a suspected weapons dealer, and we have reason to believe that they were both acting in an official capacity on behalf of the Strategic Scientific Reserve.”

Narrowing his eyes, Daniel stood tall and refused to cower under the older man’s glare. “I can assure you, my people weren’t at that nightclub on my orders and they sure as hell aren’t responsible for Stompanato’s murder.”

Roberts sneered. “Well, forgive me for not trusting the word of the man who’s got a nasty track record of lying on behalf of his agency.”

Before Daniel could retort, two disgruntled agents escorted Jack and (Y/N) into the lobby and he was forced to maintain his composure as he studied them both; Jack wore a pair of black tuxedo slacks and a white dress shirt – the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, its top button was undone and a black bow hung loosened around his neck – and (Y/N) was dressed in an elegant baby pink satin evening gown – with what was clearly Jack’s tuxedo jacket draped over her shoulders – but despite their formal attire, he was immediately taken aback by their many cuts and fresh bruises, clear evidence of their action-packed evening at The Palladium.

(Y/N) at least had the decency to look contrite as they were walked over to Daniel and Roberts but Jack remained his usual smug self, flashing them one of his trademark smirks and giving them a jaunty two-fingered salute. “Hey there, Danny Boy.”

Instead of laying into his fellow chief like he oh so desperately wanted to, Daniel ignored him and turned to (Y/N); he’d grown rather fond of the codebreaker over the past couple of months, with her staunch professionalism and impressive work ethic coming into the West Coast SSR like a breath of fresh air, and while he was less than pleased with the mess she’d gotten into with Jack, he trusted her to cooperate and let him navigate their way out of it. “Director Roberts here already filled me in on the situation at The Palladium, but I think I’d rather hear it from one of my own agents…”

(Y/N) nodded, her fingers fiddling with the clasp of her crumpled clutch as she smiled embarrassedly, and it was then that Daniel began to suspect that something was wrong. “Of course. Chief Thompson and I were at The Palladium in a strictly civilian capacity, Chief Sousa. You see, I lost a bet with him the other week about the outcome of the World Series…”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Roberts grumbled to himself and crossed his arms over his chest, his displeasure rolling off of him in waves.

With his suspicions confirmed by (Y/N)’s laughably fake story, Daniel nodded in resignation and allowed her to continue. “Anyways, we noticed a couple of men we knew weren’t waiters entering the kitchens; the waiters at The Palladium all wear white dinner jackets and gloves to set themselves apart from the patrons, and the men we saw were all wearing dark suits. So, we decided to follow them and that’s when we got into an altercation.”

“And then Larry, Curly and Mo arrested us and let the actual bad guys get away,” Jack interrupted with a hard glare aimed at Roberts. “Ain’t that right, Mo?”

Daniel quickly raised his crutch to prevent the older man from lunging at Jack and (Y/N). “Cool it, Roberts.” Ignoring the director’s indignant sputtering, he turned back to the unlikely duo and nearly arched a brow at the strangely protective stance that his fellow chief had taken in response to Roberts’ reaction; Jack was standing half a step in front of (Y/N) with one arm outstretched as if to usher the codebreaker behind him, and his jaw was tightly clenched as his blue eyes blazed with barely restrained anger. Daniel had been a reconnaissance scout in the Army so there wasn’t much that could rattle him, but a part of him had always been a little wary of Jack Thompson’s notorious temper; he’d seen the man unleash his rage on plenty of suspects and enemy agents in service of the SSR but he’d never seen him use it in defense of another person, let alone someone he steadfastly claimed to detest. Daniel recovered from his surprise quickly, choosing to instead focus his attention on the duo’s prominent bumps and bruises. “And are those injuries from the goons who attacked you, or did an agent rough the both of you up while in custody?”

Eyes ablaze, Roberts slapped the crutch away from him. “They were like that when we arrested them and even if they weren’t, Sousa, you could hardly blame any of my agents for taking a swing at ‘em! The FBI’s been working to take down Martin Stompanato and his entire operation for well over a year and thanks to these two idiots, all that time and effort was for nothing! The SSR’s full of so many incompetent nutcases, it’s no wonder Vernon Masters got killed on your guys’ watch!”

Daniel’s nostrils flared as he straightened his posture and pointed an accusatory finger in the older man’s face. “You wanna talk incompetence, Roberts? You set up an ambush at a popular nightclub smack-dab in the middle of Hollywood and failed to inform a single law enforcement agency about it.” Roberts blanched and Daniel angrily continued. “I don’t know what they teach you boys here at the FBI but at the SSR, that’s the very first thing we do when conducting a large-scale operation; had my office been properly notified, I would’ve ordered my agents to steer clear of that club tonight but instead, you broke procedure and put my people in danger. And for your information, Vernon Masters got himself killed when he sided with Whitney Frost and the Council of Nine over his own damn country.” The director stood in stunned silence and with a withering glare, Daniel stepped back and glanced over at (Y/N) and Jack; the codebreaker’s eyes were widened in surprise at his merciless reprimand and the corner of the chief’s lips curved into an impressed smile. “We’re gonna leave now, Director Roberts, and if I catch wind of you harassing any of my people again I’ll be sure to drop a line to your bosses back in D.C.; I’m sure they’d love to hear about how one of their top men screwed up his own operation.”

Without another word, Daniel turned and limped out of the bureau’s lobby. That should keep ‘em off my back for a couple of months, Daniel thought to himself as he led (Y/N) and Jack to his parked car; now that he’d sorted out the FBI’s gross incompetence, it was time to finally get the truth out of the unlikely pair silently sliding into the backseat. While he switched on the ignition, he glanced up into the rearview mirror and caught the wary look exchanged between the chief and the codebreaker, his lips pursing as he peeled away from the curb and started down the street.

“Okay, now’s when the two of you are gonna tell me what you were really doing at that club tonight and why two SSR Chiefs and a codebreaker just lied their asses off to the FBI,” Daniel ordered, his words breaking the terse silence that filled the inside of the car.

“Sure, but we’d better swing by Carter’s place and wake her up ‘cause this involves her too.” Daniel’s brow furrowed in confusion; his eyes flicking to look into the rearview mirror, he watched Jack glance over at an uneasy (Y/N) before staring out the window. “It’s about to be one helluva long night…”

Daniel heaved an exasperated sigh. “Of course it is.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This is ridiculous, Daniel. We should all be at home, asleep, not traipsing through the office in the middle of the night like common burglars.”

“Yeah, I know, honey, but they said that it wasn’t safe to talk anywhere else.”

Peggy hummed in displeasure, her tired eyes narrowing as they led Jack and (Y/N) up the stairs to the main floor of the West Coast SSR. Having just returned home from a lengthy stake-out up north with Agent Collins, Daniel’s girlfriend was understandably less-than-pleased when she’d opened her front door and listened to his brief run-down of the evening’s events; without uttering a single word, she bundled herself up in a long coat and replaced her slippers with a pair of sturdy rain boots before locking up and sliding into his car’s passenger seat, her exhaustion seemingly at odds with her overwhelming curiosity. If there’s one thing that could tempt Peggy Carter away from her warm, comfortable bed, it’s a compelling mystery, Daniel thought with a half-glance at the woman in question, resting his free hand on the small of her back as they walked into the bullpen and leading her over to Agent Robinson’s neatly organized desk, leaning against it to relieve the dull ache brought on by his prosthetic leg. “Okay, spit it out, you two.”

Peggy practically collapsed into Agent Robinson’s desk chair and yawned into the back of her hand before adding, “Yes, please explain why I’ve been dragged out of bed after returning from a forty-eight hour long stake-out in Santa Barbara.”

Leaning back against (Y/N)’s desk, Jack spared the codebreaker a glance and after receiving a nod of encouragement from her, he turned his attention back to Daniel and Peggy. “Ever since I got out of the hospital, I’ve been conducting my own investigation into who shot me and why.” Well, that explains some of his stranger-than-usual behavior over these past few weeks, a surprised Daniel thought to himself while Peggy simply nodded. “Well, I figured out the ‘why’ pretty quickly; my shooter stole the file on ‘M. Carter’ to keep me from looking into it, but they didn’t realize I’d had a copy made and stashed it here before getting ready to leave L.A..”

“I already told you, Jack, that file’s a fake.” Peggy’s lips turned downward into a confused frown. “It was planted by Vernon Masters in order to discredit me, don’t you remember?”

“The file’s not about you, that’s for sure, but it’s definitely not a fake. Anyways, while I was going over the file to figure out why someone would wanna steal it I realized someone had written codes on it. I got into contact with every codebreaker I knew but they couldn’t figure ‘em out, so that’s when I showed them to (Y/N) here.”

“At first, I didn’t want to have anything to do with him or his investigation but when I saw that the file was about an ‘M. Carter,’ I…” (Y/N) trailed off, fingers twisting around one another as she stared pointedly at the floor and softly continued. “Peggy, you and I both know that you weren’t the only ‘M. Carter’ working for the SOE during the war.”

Daniel froze and the bullpen fell silent, the hum of the overhead fluorescent lights the only sound accompanying the heightening tension filling the room. He’d first learned about Michael Carter from Peggy’s personnel file, back when he’d wrongly suspected her of being a Leviathan spy, and she’d talk about him from time to time, but her stories of her older brother and their childhood together would always put her in a melancholy mood; needless to say, Peggy still mourned Michael’s tragic death and Daniel knew that for (Y/N) to suggest that he was not only alive but a ruthless war criminal would shatter her heart. Glancing over at his girlfriend, he took note of her pursed lips and flared nostrils as she stared daggers at her best friend, who was looking back at her with sympathetic eyes. “My brother died on the front in 1940. That file details war crimes that were committed in June of 1944, four years after his death.” Daniel cautiously rested his hand atop one of hers for comfort, but she all but ignored him. “Even if he wasn’t dead, there’s absolutely no way that it’s about my brother; he was a war hero, not capable of the horrific things detailed in that file.”

Jack raised a placating hand, as if to defend the codebreaker from Peggy’s wrath. “That’s what we thought at first but when (Y/L/N) cracked the first code in the file…”

And with that, the unlikely duo launched into a thorough and concise explanation of their months-long secret investigation into Jack’s shooting, starting with (Y/N)’s expert codebreaking. The first decoded message led them to the humble abode of Aaron Templeton, Jack’s would-be assassin, and after locating a wooden crate bearing the same crest as the strange weapon they’d recently recovered from a daring bank robbery several weeks prior, they smuggled it out of the SSR’s evidence lock-up to be examined by Howard Stark; it was revealed that the weapon’s design was based on a stolen Stark Industries blueprint and after a second decoded message led them to Fieldman Family Orangery, they discovered that the orangery doubled as an illegal weapons manufacturing operation. After thwarting another assassination attempt, Jack apprehended the failed assassin and (Y/N)’s interrogation techniques led to a stunning revelation: the Secret Empire – a criminal enterprise within Hydra tasked with generating financial support and distracting the SSR from Schmidt’s plans – was not only alive and well but actively operating on American soil. A tip-off from one of Stark’s less scrupulous acquaintances informed them of a weapons hand-off involving Secret Empire agents would occur at The Palladium, so Jack and (Y/N) decided to infiltrate the nightclub in the hopes of stopping the sale and apprehending the enemy agents. Their well-planned mission quickly went awry with the murder of Stompanato by a Secret Empire operative, who both Jack and (Y/N) purported to have been Michael Carter himself, and the FBI’s intervention inadvertently allowed them to escape while the partners were placed under arrest.

Daniel stood and silently listened to their entire story, all the while torn between pride and disapproval; his more professional side marveled at Jack and (Y/N)’s effortless ability to keep their entire investigation secret from an entire building full of highly-trained agents – their daily performance of open hostility towards one another giving Bette Davis and Joan Crawford a run for their money – but personally, he felt a surge of betrayal on Peggy’s behalf. (Y/N) was one of Peggy’s oldest and dearest friends and Jack’s actions during the Zero Matter case finally proved his loyalty to Peggy; they’d both not only consciously decided to keep vital information regarding her brother from her, but they’d turned to Stark, the Jarvises and an L.A.P.D. rookie officer for help instead of her. At least they both look guilty about it, Daniel thought to himself as their story drew to a close, studying Jack’s deep frown and (Y/N)’s ashen expression. But when the codebreaker’s gaze met his and he saw the overwhelming shame in her (Y/E/C) eyes, his heart sank and he saw clearly the toll this secret investigation had taken on her.

“For two months,” Peggy started, the hardened edge in her voice causing (Y/N) to flinch and the muscle in Jack’s jaw to twitch. “You both not only suspected that my brother was alive and operating as some sort of enemy agent, but you chose to keep it from me.”

“Carter, we wanted to wait ‘till we had some concrete proof-”

(Y/N) was quick to interrupt Jack’s terse explanation. “Back at Bletchley I saw first-hand how hurt you’d been after losing Michael, Peg, and I didn’t want you to go through all that again if we turned out to be wrong. I…we were only trying to do the right thing.”

With a sour chuckle, Peggy finally looked up at (Y/N) with reddened eyes filled with betrayal. “The woman I met at Bletchley wouldn’t have lied to me…but I suppose war really does change people.”

“Peg…” Ignoring Daniel’s attempt to soothe her, Peggy leapt out of her chair and hurried out of the bullpen. “Peggy, wait!” An upset (Y/N) quickly followed after her, and Daniel took the opportunity to round on Jack. “Nice going, Jack. You couldn’t pull this shit on Peggy all on your own, could you? You just had to drag her best friend into it too!”

“I was shot, Sousa! I was shot and left for dead, and you really thought I wouldn’t do a damn thing about it?!” Jack stood at his full height and planted his hands on his waist. “This isn’t how we planned on telling you guys about our investigation and I’m sorry that Peggy’s upset, I really am, but I’m not gonna apologize for doing the right thing. And as for (Y/N)…” His shoulders sagged and he released a heavy sigh, regret flashing across his face as he ran a hand through his mussed hair. “She could’ve told me to go to hell, walked away from my investigation without getting her hands dirty, but she stayed. She stayed because she’s a damn good agent and she understood that all of this was bigger than any friendship. If Peggy’s half the agent I know her to be, then she’ll come around and see that (Y/N) made the right choice.”

As the sound of raised voices in the hallway filtered into the bullpen, Daniel pushed himself off the edge of the desk and limped past Jack. “You sure we’re talking about the same Peggy Carter?”

Both men crossed the bullpen and hurried into the hallway, only to find (Y/N) standing by herself with her back to them; the codebreaker was practically curled in on herself, her shoulders uncharacteristically stooped and her fingers pinching the cuffs of her borrowed tuxedo jacket, and Daniel didn’t need to see her face to know that she was overcome with anguish. “Where’d Peggy go? Is she okay?”

(Y/N) wordlessly pointed down the hallway and Daniel set off after his distraught girlfriend, leaving Jack and (Y/N) alone behind him. He stepped into the waiting room of Auerbach Theatrical Agency just in time to see Peggy storm past a familiar British butler and out the front door, the wood slamming against the frame and rattling the large glass window displaying the company’s name. “Chief Sousa…” Edwin Jarvis smiled uncomfortably at him, trying his hardest to behave normally but failing to hide the guilt shining in his green eyes. “Miss Carter is quite upset, and she stated in no uncertain terms that she is to be left alone.”

“Jarvis, what the hell are you doing here?” Daniel slumped against his crutch and shook his head in disbelief. “Haven’t you and Stark done enough already? For Christ's sake, after everything Peggy’s done for you both, you return the favor by going behind her back to help Thompson investigate her brother!”

The butler sighed. “I regret the part I played in deceiving Miss Carter, but you must see that it was a necessary precaution.” He glanced over his shoulder through the window. “As I suspect she will, in her own time.” Composing himself, he squared his shoulders and turned back to face Daniel with a polite expression on his face. “I presume that Chief Thompson and Miss (Y/L/N) are here?”

Daniel nodded and wordlessly gestured for Jarvis to follow him, both men making their way back upstairs in weighted silence. Turning the corner and stepping into the hallway outside the bullpen, Daniel’s brows shot up when his eyes landed on Jack and (Y/N) in the middle of what could only be described as an intimate moment; the chief was leaning down and staring intently into the codebreaker’s reddened eyes, his hands hovering in midair to grasp her arms in a comforting gesture, and she was looking at him with an uncharacteristic helplessness and – to Daniel’s utter shock – overwhelming trust. Their attention was drawn to Daniel and Jarvis’ presence and (Y/N) was quick to back away from Jack as they approached. “Peggy went outside to get some air, and I just so happened to run into one of your co-conspirators on the way back in.”

Jarvis nodded. “Mr. Stark grew concerned when Chief Thompson and Miss (Y/L/N) did not immediately return to the mansion, so he sent me back to The Palladium to see if everything was all right. I instantly knew something was wrong when I saw all the FBI agents and Mr. Stark’s leisure car still parked on the street; naturally, the first place I thought to go for help was here.” He studied the unlikely duo’s injuries with a concerned frown twisting his features. “What happened?”

While Jack started to explain their turbulent evening to the butler, Daniel caught (Y/N)’s eye and led her a little way away for a quiet moment. “Look, (Y/N), I understand why you did what you did…I’d have probably done the same if I were in your shoes,” He admitted with a half-shrug. “But give her a little time, okay? It was a pretty major thing you two hid from her, after all.” (Y/N) silently nodded, and the crushing guilt filling her eyes caused his heart to lurch in sympathy; he ran a hand through his rumpled hair and sighed, the need to comfort his top codebreaker and friend suddenly overwhelming him. “Maybe it’ll be easier on her if she sees all the evidence you’ve gathered,” He offered, his encouraging smile widening a little when a hopeful gleam sparked to life in her (Y/E/C) eyes. “You two can bring everything to the SSR tomorrow and-”

“No can-do, Sousa.” They glanced over at Jack, whose hands were planted on his waist as he shook his head. “We’ve got reason to believe that the Secret Empire has a spy working here; that’s another reason we’ve been sneaking around behind your backs. ‘Sides, it’s not like we’ve got any hard evidence to show off; the only physical evidence we had was a bug planted in The Palladium but it was destroyed when Stompanato’s men attacked us.”

(Y/N) bit her lip and glanced down at the trampled clutch in her grasp, no doubt experiencing even more guilt, and weariness settled into Daniel’s body as he ran his fingers through his hair once again. “Well, then, I guess there’s nothing else we can do here tonight. I’d better go find Peg, see how she’s doing. I’ll give you two a ring tomorrow so we can figure out how to work on this case.”

Jarvis gave him a short nod and turned to (Y/N) with a kind-hearted smile. “Miss (Y/L/N), may I offer you a ride home? And you as well, Chief Thompson?”

“I need to speak with Thompson alone, if you two don’t mind; I’ll make sure he gets home okay.” His reassuring smile fell as he turned his attention onto Jack; the muscle in the chief’s jaw jumped but he stared back at him unwaveringly, even when the codebreaker shot him an inquisitive look. “We’ll talk in my office.”

Daniel nodded at (Y/N) and Jarvis before turning and limping back into the bullpen, ignoring Jack’s awkward goodbye to (Y/N) as he stormed into his office and hung his crutch onto its hook; just as he leaned against the edge of his desk, Jack strolled into the office and crossed his arms over his chest in a show of defiance. “If you’re expecting some sort of an apology, Sousa, then you’ve got another thing coming.”

“Does it look like I was born yesterday?” Daniel snorted in derision. “I learned a long time ago not to expect any accountability from you, Jack, but I’d just like to know why. Even before you uncovered Michael Carter’s involvement, why the hell would you hide all of this from us?”

Scoffing, Jack unfurled his arms and jabbed a finger into his own chest. “Well, seeing as I was the one who was shot and left for dead, I wanted to be the one to solve my own case; I got tired of waitin’ around this godforsaken city for you and Carter to solve it, so I took matters into my own hands. Does that answer your question, Chief?”

“You know, if I didn’t know any better I’d almost believe that half-baked reasoning of yours.” He crossed his arms over his chest as his irritation started to rise. “You’re working an angle, aren’t you?”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake, I’m not working any-”

“Cut the shit, Jack! You’re not gonna stand in my office and lie your ass off to my face, not after everything you did for Vernon Masters last summer!” Daniel raised his voice and Jack’s stony expression remained unchanged by his anger. “Peggy and I deserve better than that.”

“So, because Vernon Masters manipulated the entire SSR to serve his own self-interests, I have to report everything I say and do to you two for your approval?” Jack demanded. “Have you stopped to think that this holier-than-thou attitude you’ve developed since leavin’ the New York SSR is one of the reasons why I kept all this from you in the first place?” Stunned, Daniel blinked and remained silent, causing Jack to let out a mirthless laugh. “’Course you haven’t, accountability’s never been your style. Speaking of which, you ever apologize to Peggy for accusing her of being a Leviathan spy or did you decide to sweep it under the rug?”

Daniel clenched his fists but refused to rise to the chief’s bait. “Does (Y/N) know what you’re playing at, or are you keeping her out of the loop too?”

Jack’s blue eyes flashed dangerously and his nostrils flared as he snapped, “I don’t see where it’s any of your business, Sousa-”

“Well, it is my business, Jack, and based on some not-so-distant memories, I know that you’ve got an angle you’re working; I just wanna hear you admit to it before one of us finds it out for ourselves.”

“Okay, okay!” Jack ran a hand through his mussed hair and started to agitatedly pace, clearly aggravated by Daniel’s incessant questioning. “Look, it doesn’t take a genius to know that the SSR’s not gonna be around forever, Sousa, and I’d prefer not to be on board the sinking ship when it finally goes down. This case is gonna be my ticket into any federal agency I want, or maybe even somewhere in the political sector; the point is, I’m not planning on sticking with what I know is a lost cause.”

Daniel couldn’t keep himself from scoffing and shaking his head. “And here I thought you’d changed your charming power-hungry ways since the Zero Matter case. What about (Y/N)?”

The chief’s pacing slowed to a stop and Daniel’s brow furrowed as he watched him lower his head and fix his downcast gaze on his shining dress shoes. “What about her? We’re just partners working on a case together; once it’s closed, I’ll be headed to D.C. and she’ll still be here cracking codes.” He looked up, any hint of emotion wiped away by his hardened glare. “You got a problem with that?”

Just as Daniel opened his mouth to launch into a scathing retort, the memory of Jack comforting an upset (Y/N) back in the hallway sprang into his mind; the chief wore an expression of concern as he looked at the codebreaker but what caught Daniel off-guard the most was the unexplainable tenderness present in his blue eyes. He cares about (Y/N), Daniel thought to himself while he studied Jack’s indignant scowl, I don’t know in what way just yet but he cares about her. Whatever the case, it was clear that any topic concerning his relationship with the branch’s top codebreaker would be met with open hostility, so Daniel decided to let it go for the time being. “No, not at all.”

“Good. See you on Monday, Sousa.”

“Wait, Jack, I can still drive you home…” Daniel’s words trailed off as the fuming chief stormed out of his office and slammed the door closed behind him. “Asshole.”

Heaving a heavy sigh, Daniel maneuvered himself into his desk chair and reached down to rifle through the desk’s bottom drawer, the events of the evening finally catching up to him as fatigue settled into his limbs. He withdrew a half-empty bottle of O’Harren’s, pouring a modest amount of the scotch whiskey into his empty coffee cup and nursing it as he lost himself in thought; the alcohol burned as it made its way down his throat, but it did nothing to alleviate the growing ache in his temples brought on by the newfound knowledge of Jack and (Y/N)’s secret investigation. Unable to choose between staying angry at Jack and worrying about the implications of the Secret Empire’s reemergence on post-war America, he replaced the top on the bottle of O’Harren’s before getting up and hobbling his way over to the window.

Across the street, Jarvis was holding the door of one of Howard Stark’s cars open for (Y/N), the pair of them shooting furtive looks at Peggy, who was sitting on a park bench just outside the Auerbach Theatrical Agency. The butler got into the driver’s seat and when he started the engine, the headlights illuminated Jack as he strode down the sidewalk; he slung his tuxedo jacket over his shoulder and spared Stark’s departing car one brief forlorn glance before looking away and continuing on his way. Daniel watched from his window as Peggy took a shuddering breath and brushed her tears away, and it only took moments for him to decide what needed to be done; grabbing the bottle of O’Harren’s in one hand and grasping onto his crutch with the other, he limped out of his office with only the intention of comforting his grief-stricken girlfriend in mind.

There was no doubt that stepping into the role of Chief of the West Coast SSR was one of the best decisions of Daniel’s life and one he’d never change in a million years. However, despite his loyalty to his leadership position and the SSR as a whole, he understood that from time to time, he could better help the people he truly cared about by setting his chiefly duties aside and simply being Daniel Sousa for a while. There’ll be plenty of time to worry about this Secret Empire mess, he thought to himself as he wrapped an arm around Peggy and let her cry into his shoulder, but it can wait just a little while longer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: I like writing in Daniel's POV, he's got such a nice balance of kindness and snark lol thank you all so much for reading and commenting! I’ve created a Spotify playlist inspired by this series, and I’ll be updating it every time I upload a new one-shot. Enjoy!

Spotify Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0iKzLZlEK1rTaSIiW5zRlk?si=97af3c9ce3ff4b65

“Tales From The SSR” Masterlist

“Specs and the Flyboy” Masterlist

Tagging: @nnon-it-up​ @fluffymadamina​ @remmyswritings​ @ourstarsailor @coffeeandcrimeshows​ @darkusangelus​ @josis-teacup​ @marvel-jackt-loki-buck​ @yeetyeetchickenmeat​ @sameoldbaby​ @theserenityspace​ @seeing-but-not-observing​ @supervoldejaygent​ @momc95​ @brooke0297​ @kinda-c0nfused​ @outoftheregular​ @mads-weasley​ @mostclevermiss​ @crowleysqueenofhell​ @groovy-lady​ @xxruinaxxmcu​​ @deadlymistletoe

[momentofch-aos]

M's Marvel Thought of the Day

Daniel Sousa, now settled in the 21st century, looks up what happened to his friends from his own timeline.

Daisy had already gently broken the news about Peggy's death to him. They visited her grave site and talked about the adventures and missions the two had been on.

He read the case file on Howard and Maria Stark's death, the Winter Solider case and knowledge of who he was sending him for a loop. He'd met Sergeant Barnes once, that day when he thought he would die on the battle field. He had never been Howard's biggest fan but no one deserved that.

He read the obituaries of Ana and Edwin Jarvis, found they were buried in New York, side by side as they'd been in life. He left pink flowers - Ana's favourite colours of peonies - on their grave, and thanked them for their friendship and support.

There had been two people he'd been somewhat surprised to find out were still alive and unbelievably in the same old people's home in DC. He'd been unsure whether visiting would be a good idea but after some gentle investigating from Daisy and Mack, he found himself entering a rec room. There was various elderly people around, reading newspapers or napping in high backed armchairs. But no-one looked familiar. Daisy squeezed his hand before getting the attention of one of the nurses, who led them around the corner of the room.

As they make their approach when Daniel hears a far too familiar voice, making him stop in his tracks.

"Ha! Got you again Thompson, pay up!" Rose Roberts, with now grey hair but with the same thick glasses, smirked triumphantly across the top of the checkers board.

The older man across the table groaned. "We go through this every damn day Rose. Can we go back to Chess?" Daniel took in the older man he'd known a life time ago, hair still slicked back in the way it had always been. A cane leant against the wall behind him and he coughed after laughing at Rose's comeback.

"Chief Thompson? Agent Roberts?" The nurse asked drawing their attention. "You have some visitors."

Both former agents looked across to see Daniel standing with an indecipherable look on his face.

"Fucking hell..."

"What the hell..." Their voices overlapped suddenly.

"Hey Rose, hey Jack." Daniel said stepping forward. Rose struggled to her feet, using the table to leverage herself up.

"Chief? Is that really you?" Rose looked up at him, his arms coming up to help balance her.

"It's me. It's good to see you Rose." And he found himself engulfed in her arms, wrapping his back around her and holding her tight. "God it's good to see you Rose."

"How the hell are you here?" She said as she looked back up to him. "And who's the beautiful woman you brought with you?" She fixed him with that same mischievous look she used to shoot at him all the time after glancing to Daisy who stood off to the side. Always so invested in his love life, so he chuckled.

"I can explain everything I promise. Why don't we sit?" He helped her back to her chair, glancing across to Jack who had his hand's in fists on the other side of the table. "Hi Thompson."

"Who are you?" He demanded. "You're sure as hell not Daniel Sousa. He died in...55." He paused remembering the exact year. "We buried him. We... mourned him. You sure as hell aren't him."

"I can explain that I am Jack."

"I am 102, not stupid." Rose scoffed, making both men turn to her.

"Jack do be serious. What about Rogers? He came back to Peg did he not?"

"How can we be sure? It may be some traitor. Davey was telling me just the other day about those shape shifting aliens Fury was palling around with..." Jack started saying.

"How about this Jack? I'll prove it to you." The older man looked puzzled but let him continue. "Before you went to Russia with Carter, met the Howling Commandoes when we were investigating Stark. You tricked me in the locker room, into seeing Carter changing. You asked me to get your compass from..."

"Locker 42." Jack finished his sentence and looked Daniel up and down, his gaze resting on the prosthetic leg.

"I've still only got one leg but the future makes a better prosthetic than Stark by a mile." Daniel joked, and Jack stood at that, pulling Daniel into a hug that he was not expecting. "It's good to see you too Jack."

They sat back down, chairs pulled up for Daniel and Daisy, as they told the story of faking his death, and pulling him out of time. Of their adventures into space and the weird and wacky things he'd discovered in the 21st Century.

They told him stories from their own lives after his death, cases he'd missed out on, Howard's ridiculousness. Peggy's rise to power. The three old friends spoke fondly of her, recalling stories from throughout the time they spent with her.

Rose grilled him and Daisy on their story and relationship, telling Daisy all the embarrassing things that Daniel had been happy to leave behind in the 50's. The unlikely pair giggled and formed a friendship.

Rose told her stories of her first and second marriage, her daughter, son-in-law and grandson who would visit every weekend.

Jack had been married when Daniel died, to Peggy's lovely personal secretary Ruth who knew how to put him in his place. They'd only had a daughter the year or two before Daniel supposedly died. Jack talked about how they'd gone on to have three more daughters, now had 8 grandchildren, including a grandson who had joined SHIELD recently (Daniel promised to keep an eye out for him). Then, his Ruth had passed a few years ago and Daniel expressed his condolences.

At that moment, a young boy, probably 5-years-old barrelled into the room and to Jack's side. "Pops, Pops!"

"Hey there, Danny. How's my favourite guy?" With surprising strength for a man of his years, Jack swung the young man up till he was sat on his knee.

"I'm good! Momma's coming now." He pointed to where a pretty blonde was making her way across the room, shaking her head as she stooped to kiss Jack on the cheek and ruffle her son's head.

"Sorry Grandpa, the traffic was horrendous." She greeted Rose much the same way, passing her a package. "Fudge from that place on 4th for your Rose, Danny over there insisted." She turned to the guests who sat between them. "Hello, I'm Ruthy." She shook their hands.

"Ruthy, this is Daniel and Daisy. Daniel, Daisy, my granddaughter Ruthy and her son, Danny." Jack smirked at Sousa as his great-grandson played with the watch on his wrist.

"Danny? Huh." Was the only thing Daniel came up with as he watched an old friend acting like a goofy grandparent.

"Yeah, Grandpa had a friend called Daniel who saved his life a bunch of times when he was younger. Used to tell us stories all about Sousa and Carter and their adventures. We never believed him until we found out where he worked." Ruthy filled in nonchalantly, sitting on the opposite side of the table, digging through her bag to produce a water bottle for her son unaware of the look on Daniel's face. Jack smirked massively. "Here, Grandpa. I managed to grab that album from storage that you wanted." She handed across a large leather bound photo album to the older man, who flipped through a few pages.

"Here you go Daisy, you'll like this one." Jack smirked, that old charming smile creeping onto his face as he passed the now open book across to her, Daniel peering over her shoulder and scoffing.

"Woah." Ruth finally looked up, glancing at the photo and then back up to Daniel and back again. "Well. I cannot believe it took me that long. I knew you looked familiar. I thought it was just Quake that had me thinking that."

Daisy smirked. "You don't seem surprised?"

"Oh I've worked at Stark Industries for a long time, I'm so used to superheroes and weird tech not much surprises me anymore. You see Tony Stark walking round in Iron-Man pants one too many times and you get over stuff pretty quickly." She levelled Daniel with a look. "Time travel huh?"

"Yes. But I haven't seen these in literal years." He said his hand tapped a few photos. One from the first day of opening the first SHIELD base, Thompson and Howard Stark stood either side of Peggy and Daniel. Another of Peggy, Daniel and Rose throwing confetti at Jack's wedding. One of Daniel and Thompson with Peggy on her Wedding Day. An outtake of that one where Howard was attempting to jumping into frame and Jarvis dragging him out, while the three of them laughed lay below it.

He could still picture that party, he could hear the band playing, memories of Peggy dancing with Rogers, happy and content. He remembered how happy he was for her.

Daisy squeezed his knee beneath the table and brought him back to the present. He pressed a kiss to her temple and continued the conversation. They had coffee and cake and Rose shared her fudge. Daisy made lunch trolley roll across the room, making Jack's great-grandson shriek in delighted laughs and push it back into a position where she could do it again and again.

They left hours later and Daniel felt more settled than he had done in a long time. Daisy squeezed his hand as they drove away.

They'd return to visit every time they were in town, which was more often these days now SHIELD HQ was there, sometimes together, sometimes alone. They met all of both of their families, attended Ruth's 100th birthday. Brought presents for Daniel's namesake's birthday.

When Daisy and Daniel tied the knot, two reserved seats on the front row of the groom's side were filled my two of his oldest friends some of their families just a couple rows back. They 'snuck' them into new SHIELD HQ to see all the new tech and planes, the memorial wall that included people they'd known a lifetime ago.

Daniel loved the future, loved living his life alongside Daisy and her family. But knowing his friends were there, getting to spend time with them was an unexpected but valuable thing for him. It gave him a link to the past, someone to shoot the breeze with, with some similar experiences from the past. A taste of a previous life he was grateful for as he lived his new one.

[follychromatic]

OcTOONber Day 1 - Explosion

I'm not 100% sure of what the context here is, but I know it probably has something to do with Dr Dodo

[agentcarterzine]

Zine Submissions Are Open!

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