4715/10:49 in 1949, A Late Night

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10:49 in 1949, A Late Night
Date of Scene: 13 January 2021
Location: New York SSR Office
Synopsis: Peggy and Sousa talk.
Cast of Characters: Daniel Sousa, Peggy Carter




Daniel Sousa has posed:
Late night at the SSR the only people still here were the people unlucky enough to pull night shift and the people with too much work or too little sense to go home. Sousa was a Chief so that put him firmly in the last category, even if 'home' in this case was a hotel room in Midtown. Though he was sure he wasn't alone in that category tonight and now that he had his five best agents (besides Rose), armed up and on standby back in LA he'd done what he could do for their current situation logistically. Still he was sure there was something else he could do to be helpful so he got up from his borrowed desk, 'borrowed' a Thompson's bourbon from his desk and after grabbing some mugs, knocks on Peggy's office door. "Peggy, it's Sousa, can I come in?" he asks, who knows, Peggy could be sleeping for once.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Most certainly not sleeping for once. Peg's pulled four, maybe five hours a night since this all happened and tonight is looking to be no difference. It might be encouraging, or worrisome, that she's got two fluffy pillows on the small couch at the back of her office and a big fluffy blanket. She's slept here more than once, especially as of late. A cup of neglected tea rests at the side of her desk and her feet are kicked up, at least, as she continues reading over reports that she's gotten from both the Mojave site and the Roxxon site.

"Come in!" Peg calls the moment she hears a knock, but the professional, distant tone of her voice softens just a bit more as she realizes who it is. Tired eyes flicker up from her report and her smile goes a bit wry as she sees what's in his hand.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Sousa makes his way in with a warm smile. "I come bearing gifts from Thompson," he says before adding soto voice. "Even if he won't know about it until tomorrow,." He moves into the office letting the door close behind him. "Figured you'd be burning the midnight oil and could use a drink and a friendly ear," he says of why he came.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Oh sure, you get to go back to California by the time he realizes half his bottle is gone and I get to help him round up the man hunt for who did it." Which gently implies that she might be planning on drinking half that bottle with him, her smile teasing as she says that much. "...we really shouldn't." Her heart isn't behind the protest. She simply gives a nod in the direction of the chair across from her and then she drops her feet down off the desk, rubbing at her eyes. "...these files are going fuzzy anyway.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Sousa takes the offered chair. "Took the rap for it already," he says about the bottle. "I'm sure he'll get me back next time he's in LA, but you're safe." He smiles and sets down the mugs, opens the bottle and pours two healthy portions in each mug before sliding one to Peggy. "Not sure this'll make them files any less fuzzier, but it'll be a nice break," he says, sounding like he could use one himself. He lifts his cup in salute before taking a swallow from it and letting the strong liquor burn it's way down to his belly. "Mm, Thompson didn't skimp on this one, hope he wasn't saving it for a special occasion." He doesn't seem to mind though as he regards Peggy for a moment. "So, how have you been holding up with," he searches for a word that encompasses the weirdness they're engulfed in and settles on: "Everything?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
"...I could ask you the same thing." Peggy deflects, though only lightly. Her concern for him is clear and it's been quite some time since they dared sit together like this. Since the last time she came out west to help him with a case. Since the time her being there made Violet leave the man. Peggy's studying him a little deeper now, trying to see the man behind that professional mask.

She does take the mug and raises it to him in a silent, respectful toast. She knocks back a good gulp of it and lets the heat relax all the way down her throat, into her shoulders and chest. There's a few bits of tension that dare to go, though most of her is still tightened up and exhausted. Ready to jump at any moment. "I've been holding up... fine. Just another day in the life, right?" It's only partially a lie.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
There is a faint smile for the deflection, but as she studies him he suddenly finds his drink very interesting, his eyes flicking there as he clears his throat, "I'm fine. Just dealing with a world where time travel isn't just fiction anymore and trying really hard not to think about what May let slip." That was true enough but still a deflection of his own, a time worn one between them, talk about the work. Though despite that there's something familiar in eyes, that same bone deep dedication to the job Peggy shared, including the accompanying loneliness. "Other than that I've got my best people ready for us in LA."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Dark eyes flicker towards the door for a heartbeat, ensuring no one else is outside near listening range or approaching the door. Then she looks back to Daniel, head slightly tilted, "I've talked to Agent May a lot over these weeks. She's staying at the penthouse with me. If you...need to get something out she let slip, go ahead. I'm not going to judge you or call you insane." Chances are, Peggy already knows. And if she doesn't, well, she certainly wants to.

She takes a deeper sip of her drink, still studying him over the rim of the glass, but it seems he has thoroughly distracted her from the work she's been at 14 hours most days. From the slight thinning of her face, she could use the distraction.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Apparently I'm a famous agent of something called SHIELD?" Sousa ventures as to what he'd heard from May. "And you did mention earlier you'd be able to destroy the research from both sides of the anomaly. Assuming you're not going through with May that means you're alive whenever she came from, guessing somewhere around 2003 or 2008?" he says, his math off significantly due to May aging extremely gracefully. "God, those don't even sound like real years," he remarks. "Just trying to wrap my head around it since we had that talk in here a few hours ago, before I realized if just trying to process it for a few hours is rough, how's it been for you dealing with it for days or weeks?" he says. "Figured I should offer to listen to anything you had to say about it all, knowing you wouldn't want to burden somebody with it yourself."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A small sound comes from her throat as he mentions the name of SHIELD. It's not one of surprise. If anything, there is an odd bit of familiarity over it. Peggy looks away from him, down into her glass as she sinks back a bit deeper in the chair and crosses long legs. "The first thing that made me think perhaps she wasn't ... completely full of shite was her mention of SHIELD. Howard and I have been... talking. A lot. Setting up things... behind the scenes. Transitioning to a more...Independent agency and entity. Something focused on the strange things we saw in the war. O-8-4s...the like. Philips knows. No one else does. We're thinking of calling it..."

"SHIELD." Her eyes flicker up as she says that, looking for his response. "You were on the top of the list for recruits when we finalized everything." There is an edge of pain and apology behind her eyes as she confesses that. Guilt that she hasn't told him already. She's honest about it all now, though. Even if she's not saying a word about herself in the future.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Sousa offers a small and reassuring smile to let Peggy off the hook for not telling him about it. "Should have figured you'd be behind it with a name like that," he remarks wrly. "And count me in. Whatever you need."

The lack of discussion about her future self is noted with a nod, "I don't want to know about the future either, what I know already, SHIELD, apparently being a well known agent in it, is definitely bending my brain just trying to manage the implications of it all. I assume it's not set in stone or we wouldn't care who May told about the future, and that instead of meaning we can't be killed until we do whatever it is May remembers we have to make sure we do what she remembers or it's going to be a bad time for everyone?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
"I...honestly haven't a clue. Perhaps it is all set in stone. Perhaps we are creating new timelines every time we say something different. I don't know that Agent May will ever know either... And I haven't had the.. wish to ask my future self if she is gaining memories of this all. Goodness, I cannot imagine I'd ever forget it. But I have heard her voice. It is...unmistakably me. And that is all...rather unnerving." Peggy confesses, even if she was avoiding it before, she had to get something off her chest. The whiskey helps too, in truth. She takes another good sip of it and allows her eyes to sink shut against the strange pang of loneliness all of it inspires in her. She cannot imagine being alive that long. In this job that long."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Wait," Sousa says almost rising out of his chair in surprise. "You talked to yourself in the future? How?" he asks curious and alarmed all at once. That seemed risky, though after his professional side has had its say the personal side takes the helm noting those closed eyes and prompts. "What's on your mind Peggy?" he asks her. After all he'd been doing most of the talking and he'd come here to listen.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"It was... mostly accidental. Mostly. They have managed to concoct some sort of... time phone. May has it. I'd rather not even know where she's storing it. But I was in the room when a call came in and I... heard myself. Talking to May. They are companions... of a sort. Fellow agents. Friends, I think, but..." Peggy sighs, eyes still shut for several heartbeats. She knocks back the rest of her drink, emptying the glass and placing it a bit too heavily down on her desk. She lets the silence linger perhaps a moment too long.

"...This life is... already a lonely one. I simply cannot imagine what it would be like to... somehow... still be alive in 70 years. To have lost... everyone. To be on the job that long. It just sounds quite...Exhausting." She confesses, quiet enough that her voice is barely a whisper.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"A time phone, huh," Sousa says with a bemused smirk. "And I thought Zero Matter was as weird as things got." The smirk is short lived and he falls quiet as Peggy does, concern writ large on his features. He downs his drink as well, setting the cup down on the desk. "Not how you saw life going?" he ventures already knowing the answer. "Y'know, when I lost my leg and was recovering in the hospital all I could think of was how things were going to be different, all the things I couldn't do, until one of the docs made me see a shrink, thankfully a lot more sane than that Leviathan hypnotist," he says with a shake of his head at that memory. "Anyhow he called what I was doing catastrophizing, looking at the worst and ignoring the good. I know you Peggy, if you're still doing the work seventy years from now the work still has to matter, and just because you're still on the job all that time in the future doesn't mean you're alone. Seventy years is a long time, you might have cracked how to be Agent Peggy Carter and still have a life. Besides, my grandfather lived until he was 90, so for all you know I'm right there with you limping along as always while we deal with one weird case after another," he says offering a smile before remarking, "Hmm, doesn't sound so bad to me."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A more gentle smile crosses her ever-red lips as he offers some earnestly hopeful words. "Rather... how I saw my life going, for maybe 70 or 80 years total. Not a century. And I didn't sound..." Peggy's lips press a bit tighter, trying to figure out how to explain this. "Well, this is ridiculous, but she didn't sound 100 years old. Still... it's no matter. I cannot ask and...I cannot catastrophize, no. It was just... Strange." She uncrosses her legs, sitting forward a bit straigher in her chair. One hand comes out, quietly reaching for his. "...Whatever happens, thank you for coming, Daniel. I... I've missed you."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
There's a hmm, of surprise at Peggy saying she didn't sound a hundred on that phone of May's. "I'd say that's really weird but then you heard your voice on a 'time phone' so it comes in around the fifth or six strangest thing I've heard today," he offers with a smile that's both wry and reassuring. "But still had to be weird to go through, hearing yourself in the future."

Sousa reaches out for Peggy's hand in return. "You're welcome, you know I'm always here for you when you need me,"," he tells her as he gives her hand a squeeze. "And I missed you too, Peggy, a lot."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"I know. But... I shouldn't keep you any later or people will start talking." Or she might be tempted to do something they did once, which was very nice, and she knows they really shouldn't do again. Peggy's hand lingers a touch longer against his, heavy and warm. Perhaps a heartbeat longer than is professional in any way. And then her fingertips fall away and she straightens up, trying to look a bit more professional. "We... we have an early morning."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Sousa too flashes back to that same shared moment, studying Peggy for a moment like he's considering it before Peggy's hand drifts away from his and Chief Sousa steps back into the drivers seat. "Right," he says about the early morning. "Rose promised to give me a wake up call at five," he says with a grimace and a shake of his head. He glances at the bottle, "We should take that with us. Maybe when we get May back home we can toast her farewell and another weird case of ours in the books."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Sounds like a good date to me, Daniel. Looking forward to it. I mean...date... in the calendar, you know. Work... Date." Peggy's throat clears, her cheeks suddenly pinkening a bit as she gives him one brief nod and escorts him to the door for a brief, warm good night. Her body hovers there, next to his, almost a bit awkward, like they should be doing more than a simple hug. But that's what she settles, on trying to keep professional. "... Good night, Daniel. Try to get some rest, at least." A pat of his shoulder. Another look. Her breath a bit tight in her chest and she turns on the ball of her foot, heading back to her desk. Files will cool her down for the night.