5834/The Hundred Year Plot

The Hundred Year Plot
Date of Scene:	09 April 2021
Location:	Lounge - Playground
Synopsis:	Peggy is surprised when artifacts from her past start showing up in the Playground... only to find herself surrounded by a mix of family both new and old to celebrate her 100th Birthday.
Cast of Characters:	Melinda May, Peggy Carter, Daisy Johnson, Steve Rogers, Daniel Sousa, Clint Barton

---

Melinda May has posed:
Friday night. For once, it's actually a low key evening around the Playground. Of course, to be fair, it's not like operations have ramped up into an all-time high. Sure, there are lots of things to be doing -- particularly when it comes to tracking down how HYDRA twisted the SecDef into forcing SHIELD to scatter to bases like this all over the country. But, well, that's just the way it goes sometimes.

May walks into the lounge, a fairly sizable, old fashioned, Coleman cooler in her arms. Grunting, she sets it down beside the counter and pops it open. From it, she pulls a couple of bottles of whiskey, but leaves the beers in the ice that fills it -- Smithwicks, some microbrews, and some of the usual mix of American and Canadian brews, alongside some mixers.

Once she's satisfied with that, she peels off the old brown leather pilot's bomber jacket she's wearing and tosses it over a chair near the door.

Peggy Carter has posed:
While Peggy has mostly split her time between the Playground and the house in Long Island, most of this week has been spent at the Playground cleaning up after missions. It's been a mostly quiet night, no pressing hunts to take them out or anything. She's called Daniel at the house to let him know she might even be back 'home' tomorrow, but one last evening is to be spent waiting for the world to fall apart. It hasn't. Yet.

She steps into the lounge area, having caught the tail end of May's legs passing this way and now she looks up at the woman curiously. "...I'm not saying that we all drank enough the other day, because with the state of things as they are people deserve a shot, but..." She smirks at the cooler. "Is Hunter getting to you?" She asks with an amused grin.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Now that there is no ongoing emergency back at the room Daisy shares with Jemma it's finally time to *relax* a bit and get to explore a little more of the Playground. Of course she still had to actually face Jemma and explain why the whole room had been soaked with water. But details!

"There is never enough booze.." Daisy calls out while she makes her way in from one of the corridors, gesturing with one arm, "Besides, our bodies forget all about it after a day." a beat, ".... or a week. Depending on how much we drink.." on her other arm she is carrying a red cape along with a small wooden sword that would be more befitting of a child.

"I found the most curious stuff at the kitchen ..." Noone ask what she was doing there. Hopefully not cooking or baking. Everyone knows she is a disaster, "Here I was going for the dough rolls when I found these instead." she places the small cape and sword on the table near them. "How long was this place deactivated for anyway? Maybe someone forgot them here from before..."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers has been careful since SHIELD was disavowed within the United States. The decision not to leave with them was a difficult one, but he eventually accepted that he could likely do more for the agents on the run and their war against Hydra from his current position.

So meeting with SHIELD, or helping them on missions, was requiring great amounts of care so no word could make it out of his involvement. Today had involved a flight overseas by a trusted member of the Avengers, with Steve jumping out of the plane to parachute down and hoof it to the base.

He strides through the hallways now, wearing black jeans and a button up shirt, with a leather jacket overtop. Not familiar with the base layout, Steve might have stumbled into closets and storage rooms before finding the correct room. Indeed, as he walks in he's got an oddity in hand that he picked up in one such room. An old doll of a medieval person, like something a child would play with. Red hair, made of fabric and stuffed with cotton or something else soft. "I hope I'm not running too late. Wasn't counting on the headwind we ran into," he says as he walks in.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Peggy's call caught Daniel just before he piled into a car with Piper and Davis and headed for Delware. He did his best not to ruin his surprise visit, sounding convincingly eager to see her tomorrow and then hopped in the car for the ride down to Starling.

As they stepped out of the car in the hanger Daniel noticed something, and paused to pick them up. "How in the hell?" he mutters, picking up two little metal objects and a photo.

But Piper calls, "Get a move on, we're going to be late." And so, Daniel makes his way up to the lounge photo and two metal cufflinks in hand, knocking on the doorway of the lounge before stepping through. "Is this a private party or can anyone join?"

Melinda May has posed:
May actually lets out a laugh at Peggy's words. "Hey," she says, flashing an actual grin, "it's Friday. There are enough people on base, no one's likely going to get too soused on these paltry offerings." She glances down to the cooler. "Especially if you end up sticking to that Thames water you call beer." Of course, there are a pair of fine whiskey bottles on the counter, now.

She's dressed a little out of character -- blue jeans, red top, brown boots, no black -- as if she were out in public trying *not* to look like herself. Her hair's tied back in a tail, too. She crosses to the stereo system and turns it on. A wall of thumping hip hop comes rumbling out of the speakers. Grimacing, she turns the volume waaaaaaaaay down. Then, she picks up the remote and starts trying to figure out the controls. The words she mutters are crisp and hardly audible, but it's clear she's swearing at them when she smacks the remote against her palm a couple of times. Then, she's pushing another couple of buttons and Drake gives way to the bright, brassy swell of Benny Goodman and the Orchestra. "Oh, thank god..." she sighs, turning the volume up to an listenable level.

As other agents enter the room, she looks momentarily surprised. Her expression schools into something a little less carefree, though there's still some gleam to her brown eyes. Her eyes alight on the sword and cape and then on Daisy's face. Mild curiosity fills her expression as she studies the young woman for just a moment. Steve receives much the same reaction, especially with that doll in hand. Still, her gaze is more assessing of the man that the toy.

It's only when Daniel enters that she actually pauses. It's just a fraction of a second, and her expression melts into something that mixes pleasure and regret all at once before it fades back into something more controlled. Like she's getting emotional feeback back under control. "Not at all. C'mon in, Daniel. Glad you could make it." In more ways than one.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Either utterly oblivious to the date or, more likely, doing her best to ignore it, Peggy's not dressed any way special today. She's in a comfortable swing-style dress of navy and green plaid with matching T-strap heels. The only thing really different about the woman is she's begun wearing a bit of jewelry again -- on her left ring finger is her antique looking wedding ring and around a band on her neck is a different ring, one more masculing in style, but it's been there the last few days. She's quite casual as she plods through the room towards the little kitchen corner where the kettle is, moving to fill up the pitcher with some water.

The blasting hip hop music gets a good wince from her and a little glare before it fades into something rather more acceptable. "Look, tradition is tradition, and I can't help you Anericans have different tastes in pisswater..." She mutters about the Smithwicks, but still seems intent on tea.

Then she pauses, hearing Daisy and Steve's voice. A flicker of confusion crosses her face as she looks back towards the pair and catches sight of Daisy with those 'confusing' props, the cape and sword she knew too well. Steve with the doll gets even wider eyes. She stares, dead quiet for a few heartbeats, until her husband comes in through the door. She's just blinking, a little senseless and shocked. "Ah...I think... this place has been down about forty years now, Daisy..." She rasps out a simple, logical response to the woman's question of the decomissioning. She could answer that much, at least. Daniel is given a softer smile, "Decided to come visit, darling...?" Now that the kettle has been put on for water, she steps over to give him a brief kiss to the corner of his mouth, but her dark eyes keep trailing back to the strange props the others are carrying.

"...where did you all... get... Those?" She starts quietly, before looking back to May with a curious, slightly accusing gaze. But the woman looks just as confused. Peggy stares back, lingering near her husband, but it's quite clear the doll, sword and cape are more than dusty artifacts to her.

Clint Barton has posed:
Clint slips in holding an old, beat up camp cup. It's got what looks like a piece of paper rolled up in it. He makes his way over to stand near Steve and look over the crowd. He's dressed nicely for a change, which means an actual button shirt and chinos, even dress shoes. Arriving late, he waits to see exactly where things stand before making any further move.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Woah, a laughing May. That brings Daisy to grin at the older woman even if there is some concern visible there on her expression. Perhaps still trying to gauge on how well May is handling the empath powers she recently developed. But ..., things seem under control. "May, you had Drake on the stereo and you turned it off..?" she says it almost as if it was a capital crime. "Specially when it's on about ..." and yes she does rap it a little bit, "~I got enemies, got a lot of enemies~" famous Drake music! And Daisy most likely knows the damn lyrics from top to bottom. But thankfully to everyone involved she doesn't for much further down that hole besides a little dance move. She appears to be in good spirits at least!

"These don't look to be *that* old though. Or well, maybe."

Steve being here is a surprise, and she lifts one hand to greet the man. "Heya, Steve." See? On first name basis. Just go with it. "Where's the pizza box?" nothing like a little ribbing from the last time she saw the man, on that infamous Vogel mission! But it seems delivered in quite the good spirits.

Daniel receives a wave as well from Daisy. "Hello." a glance then to Peggy, noting her expression, then to May. "Do we have a little mystery here?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve Rogers looks relieved at the adjustment to the music though doesn't make any comparisons to the song before. He looks around and greets each person that he knows with a nod or a smile or a spoken, "Agent Johnson. I mean, Daisy." He smiles to her and then moves over to look at the collection of beverages, picking out one that he is familiar with. "At least it's cold instead of warm," he says, that being a favorite thing for the GIs to needle the Brits about during the war.

Steve offers Clint one of the beers as well. As Peggy mentions the item he's carrying, Steve glances down at it. "Oh, just something I picked up. Probably left behind a long time ago from the look of it," he says. It doesn't look like a very modern creation, at that.

Steve gives a small shrug and says to Peggy, "I figured maybe I could find someone who might appreciate it rather than leaving it sit there by itself."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Thanks May," Daniel says giving the woman a nod as he enters the room fully. Smirking at Peggy's greeting and happily returning the kiss and giving his wife a fond look. "Definitely haven't lost your touch, almost believed you were surprised by me being here," he says, before reaching into the pocket of his jacket and producing a black and white photo and a pair of black and gold cufflinks (https://i.imgur.com/0Jhcmyx.jpg) the photo is of Daniel and Peggy at their wedding day on the Chelsea pier, in the backup dress and tux after well... that was a long story...but they were cutting the cake together, as much looking lovingly at each other as what they were doing, Howard's hideous golden cane leaning against the table with the cake.

"But these waiting for me when we parked was sort of a give away," he says with his usual wry grin.

Daisy and Steve both get nods of greetings and their items a curious look.

Melinda May has posed:
Seriously, where is May going to dig up artifacts like these that disappeared before the war? Sure, she's been a time traveller -- ONCE. But only once. And the 20's and 30's aren't where she went. "Looks like it," she says seriously to Daisy. Mystery, indeed. She scoops up a Smithwicks and pops the cap by snapping it against the counter rather than using a bottle opener. Doubtlessly a skill she perfected in the decades before twist tops.

"Here," she says, passing it to her friend. "You need something stronger than tea..." She looks at the beer. "But this will have to do. Drink. We'll figure it out."

She looks to Daisy. "Where did you say you found those, the kitchen?" And to Steve. "Where was that?" Hell, she could ask the same of any of them. Even Clint, with his battered old cup. And, evidently, Daniel found the cufflinks in the garage. That's a fairly wide range of areas for such strange things to show up. She looks at Peggy. "You want us to do a search of the base?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
The arrival of Clint gets a respectful smile from Peggy and a small dip of her head in greeting, but she's still got that strange, curious smile on her face. She has yet to let herself reach for that old doll, though Steve's comment about it gets him a very flat look. "There is no way you do not know where that is from, Rogers. You're pretty, you're not *that* dumb." She smirks at her old friend. Daisy gets the long end of that smirk as well, "You all quite need to work on your acting skills. Innocent? None of you. None of you are innocent. What is going on here?" She asks flatly. Her cheeks are just faintly coloring, but she's trying to keep it serious. Maybe someone is playing a horrible joke on them all and she's not aware? Is this a trap?

Then Daniel's showing those cufflinks and she KNOWS his face. His not innocent smile. She grins wide, "Are those the ones from before or after they knocked you in the Hudson?" She asks with a little, fond laugh. The attempted assassinations of their wedding night were a fond memory now. She takes the passed drink from May and knocks back a good gulp of it, still blushing all the way to her ears now. The cup in Clint's hand gets a longer look, it not having been recognized immediately, but now memories are coming. She blinks against a strange sting behind her eyes as she stares over all the old pieces in their hands. "...I'm not CO here any more, but if there's any other fossils you all wish to dig out, I... shan't complain." She rasps out after a moment. She's NOT going to cry in front of them. Or so she tells herself.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"The kitchen, yep." Daisy confirms back to May with a brief nod, now getting more curious about the whole affair. They are spies! Mysteries is what they thrive on! She goes to get a beer for herself, giving Peggy her best innocent look before she tries to copy May in getting that beer open by flicking the top on the counter. One .., two tries. *frown* At the third she gets it. Yay!

"I plead the fifth." she answers Peggy before lifting her beer in a greeting to Clint's arrival. "Just in time for the drinks, as usual." she rests her elbow on the counter and then lifts the beer up to her lips for a good swig.

"So it's a good ol' scavenger hunt? I am all ready for that."

Clint Barton has posed:
Clint pulls the paper out of the cup he's holding and flattens it out.. it's not paper, it's an old photo. Given the subject matter, it'd have to be from the early to mid 1940's. There's a fairly rough (and not terribly military) group of men gathered around a very slightly younger looking Steve Rogers, and next to him is a young woman in a British uniform. He pipes up, "I found this old thing stuffed in a closet, thought the Howling Commandos deserved a better place to hang out. Maybe you can think of somewhere good?" He offers the photo to Peggy before nodding to Daisy when she greets him, "Yeah, I've got a kind of sixth sense about that kind of thing."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve takes a sip of the cold beer, letting out a sigh as if the beverage is hitting the spot. When May asks about where he found the doll, he says, "I made a wrong turn and ended up in a storeroom. And it was sitting there on the shelf."

He takes another drink of the beer, turning towards Peggy. For not being a good actor, Steve does a decent job at a curious, perhaps even confused look. He looks down at the doll for a few more moments. "Doesn't ring a bell. Was it popular back in our day?" he asks Peggy.

Whether or not he can act, Steve isn't oblivious. He notices Peggy's emotion, an eyebrow going up slightly. "Is everything ok, Peggy?" he asks slowly, glancing briefly at others in the room as if they might know what is going on more than he does, Daniel Sousa getting the longest of that look. To Peggy he says, "If you'd like it, I'd have just given it to a charity or something. I think Wanda might have some involvement with.. what was it... Juvenile Diabetes or something like that." He holds out the doll where she can take it if she wants.

As Steve gets a glimpse of the photo, his eyes widen. "Clint where did you come across that?" he asks. "I don't think I've seen that before." He moves over to where he can see it better while Peggy looks at it.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel's wry grin is teasing but when she asks if they're the ones from before or after the attack he shows genuine surprise on his face. "You don't know?" he asks her. "They're from before, but the weird thing is I lost the left one when I got tossed in the drink, so, dunno how you did it, but well played Peg," he leans in to give her cheek a kiss.

Clint's gift is given a look as well, and he smiles, before shuffling things around in his hands to be able to extend one to Clint. "Daniel Sousa, good to meet you," he says to the man, then he offers a hand to Steve as well. "You too, Captain Rogers," he says.

Melinda May has posed:
The strange fact is... none of them are lying. Every one of the agents that entered with some old prop found them just where they said. It really is a mystery, from that perspective. There's a photo tucked into the doll's overalls -- a shot of 8 year old Peggy and her ten year old brother Michael. Another one folded into the hem of the cape, too: Her mother and father before the War.

Add them to the photo of the Howling Commandos and the image from the wedding, however, and it starts to add up to a lot of precious memories, to be sure.

May crosses toward her friend, extending her the bottle of beer. "Hey," she says, seeing the emotion there. "I don't think anyone's pulling one over on you, Peg. But... It *is* your birthday today, isn't it?"

Year 100, at that.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"A scavenger hunt from most my childhood, is it? I used to wear that with my brother, you know." Peggy nods to the cape, fully certain the ploy is up but she's trying to stay ahead of it before they all get her into genuine tears. She might not actually manage to keep control, but she's trying very hard. She gives Daniel's hand one squeeze and one last kiss before she steps away enough to gently reach for the cape in Daisy's hand, fingering the edge of it. It's absolutely her old cape.

Then she's almost jealously stealing the doll out of Steve's hands. She gives it a quiet squeeze against her chest, "We can donate a truck to Wanda's charity, this one stays with me... I resuced her once too often to give her up." There's something of a young, fierce woman from 80 years ago in her eyes. The girl who fought incredibly hard before they'd ever let her be this woman. She keeps the doll clutched in close.

Then something in her realizes that almost no one in this room has met Daniel. She blinks between Steve and Clint, though her eyes linger on the old photo for a heartbeat, "Oh...This... For those who haven't... well... This is Daniel Sousa. My husband. Steve, well, you all met on a battle field but I suspect there weren't time for pleasantries. Clint... and I am still rather... stunned as to how you found this. Daisy... and May, you know. But yes, Daniel, these are... some of my most... Trusted..." Peggy's really having issues keeping it together. She's trying very hard.

Slowly, she steps forward. The old photo is taken from Clint, gently flattened out on the table. Then the photo of her brother and herself, she wearing that cape that Daisy has. Lastly, her wedding photo. She lays them all out carefully on the table near the beer, swallowing back tightly.

"...Yes. I... suppose it is. 100 today. Didn't much... consider it, until now." She confesses softly. Two little drops of tears dare escape off her cheeks, dropping onto the table just below those precious photos. "You all are... too damn much." She whispers faintly.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
There is some surprise there on Daisy's expression when Peggy speaks about the cape being of her past. Genuine surprise. Then a glance to May. Uh, interesting. Brows furrow and her attention does stay for a good while on the older agent, almost as if trying to figure something out. Yet as the talk then goes to the birthday itself she grins and her attention shifts from scrutinizing this May more attentively. The part about the birthday she *did* know. And she does give the cape over to Peggy. "That's why you have your family in SHIELD to consider it for you, Peggy." she lifting her beer in the woman's direction. Everyone knows what Daisy thinks of the other SHIELD agents. Everyone's family.

Even drunkles.

She takes another drink and dislodges herself from the counter, smiling gently but staying mostly silent now and just letting them go through their past memories.

Clint Barton has posed:
After passing over the photo, he shakes Daniel's hand, "Good to meet you, Clint Barton." That done he moves over to collect a beer as well and pops it open on the counter, looking like he's practiced the maneuver any number of times before taking a swig. "Oh, birthday? Well hell, Happy birthday then. Lucky we all stopped by." He's got a bit of a grin on his face, but he can sell it, he is a spy after all. It's almost lik ehe does this a lot or something.

Steve Rogers has posed:
And now Peggy isn't the only one who is taking in a lot. "You're Peggy's husband," Steve says, his eyebrows going up. "From the war?" He looks to Peggy as if to confirm this is true, and then back to Daniel Sousa, reaching out to shake his hand back. "I'd say you're looking remarkably young. But that seems to be going around," Steve tells the other man.

His eyes go back to Peggy, seeking something. An explanation. But then the significance of these items for Peggy hits home. "Your birthday," Steve says. "I don't think I ever knew when it was," he tells Peggy. "Happy birthday," he says, not missing the chance to wish her that even with what is going on.

Steve looks at the doll again and then at the other objects, and back to Daniel Sousa. "So is something bringing things from the past? The doll and cape, and... your husband?" Steve asks, looking around the room to open it up to anyone who knows what is going on.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel has that look a lot of GI had back in the day meeting Steve a bit star struck and a lot of respect. And maybe a bit of awkward because well Peggy. "SSR Volunteers, you helped us out near Volgograd in 45," he says. More like saved him and 999 other soldiers by breaking a HYDRA blockade. "Good to meet you."

Clint's name pings something too, "You're an Avenger right? With Cap?" he asks the man.

As for things being brought from the past, Daniel shakes his head, "Well I got here from by a literal magic mirror, not sure where the rest of this stuff is coming from," he says. "But given there's three people here who saw action in The War and look like they're still in their thirties, seems like just about anything's possible these days."

Seeing Peggy's reaction, he shifts his cane between hands, and takes hold of hers in a show of quiet support, knowing how little she liked to let emotion show in front of the troops. He gives it a gentle squeeze.

Melinda May has posed:
May's eyes sparkle just a little as she steps back away from Peggy and the group. The expression on her face is oddly gentle for May. Softer than any in this room -- other than Peggy or Daniel, who knew Lily Chen, her temporal doppleganger -- have ever seen on her face. She looks entirely fond of her friend, quietly satisfied, and oddly wistful.

She meets Daisy eyes for a moment and probably stuns the younger woman with a small wink before she turns to pick up a brown paper bag she dropped beside the beer cooler earlier. From it, she pulls a slender box -- slender in terms of depth. It's about a foot wide, though, and ten inches high, maybe an inch thick. Wrapped in brown paper, tied with a string.

"Here," she says, crossing to Peggy. "This has your name on it, too." She waits for her friend to take it from her before retreating as -- hopefully -- Peggy opens it.

And, indeed, within in it is a book. It's a custom made book entitled, "The Life and Times of Peggy Carter: An Unauthorized Photo Biography".

Within that book are certainly photos. They start with Peggy's christening and include spreads of the family she grew up with. Then it moves on through her stint at Bletchley Park -- and a shot or two of Michael in his uniform. There are even some photos of her and Fred, her first fiance. Though, admittedly, not many.

From there, it turns to her time in the SOE, and then the SSR. There are shots of her working her cases, arguing with the men who would have held her back, and looking entirely smug when she broke the cases they couldn't. There's meeting Daniel and Jack and Rose. There are the Jarvises and Howard in LA.

There's the founding of SHIELD -- and those first agents: Daniel, Rose, Lily, Tessa, and others... There's the wedding, both before and after the assasination attempt. There's the birth of little Michael and shots of him growing up. From there it's a decade by decade breakdown of key moments in her career. Even a shot of her asleep in that cryopod, creepy as that is.

But also of her waking. And shots of her new family working together. The book covers nearly 100 years of time, though the last 35 years are a little sparse.

The thing is, though... most of these shots are impossible. Some of them are moments that couldn't have been seen by others easily. None of them are so intimate or so private as to be invasive, mind. But they are comprehensive.

And the only clue to who the photographer might have been is an etched line drawing of a calla lily and a small envelope containing a card.

Peggy Carter has posed:
It's easier not to cry when people don't care. Everyone stiff upper lip, carrying on with business, no eyes in her direction or gentle touches to give any sort of support. Peggy's been practicing that sort of not crying for a literal century, save her childhood years. But now there's a room full of people, unwitting accomplices or not, and all of these little tokens that are a show that it *did* matter. That she *does* matter. Peggy quietly looks back to Steve and Daniel, a fluttering smile crossing her red mouth, "I believe you two met once before but it was under...difficult circumstances." She softly admits, a hint of a bittersweet laugh behind her tone. "Daniel and I married in 1950. I...wish you could have been there." Peggy whispers, though she pages into a part of that book, many of the wedding photos, "..there's some good pictures here, at least... I never... saw them from this angle."

And then she's looking back to Clint and Daisy. Two who aren't from history, who barely know her, but are still standing here. Her lips press a bit tighter, a smattering of confusion crossing her tearful face. "You both...you barely know me. Nothing but a face in text books, really, I'm sure, but... you're here. And this... it all..." She swallows tightly. lost for words, for once. "... SHIELD comes from a lot of... History. Here. Things you're all a part of, even... Now. It matters. That you... we're... All still standing. Especially after this month." It was bigger than her birthday, even if she didn't have the best words for that.

Finally, as she goes back through the last photos, the ones of Michael especially, when he was a toddler and a teenager, things Daniel never got to see? She sinks back deeper into her husband's arms. It's a softness *no one* gets to see in her, but she lets herself lean against the man with the false leg as they both look over photos of their son. A few more tears streak down her face and she's simply stopped bothering to hide them. "...I'm sorry you missed it. He... was... Is... such a good little man." Even if that man is 50 now.

Finally, still leaning against Daniel, her eyes raise to May. She's staring hard at her friend, confused and touched. A few more tears dare cut across her cheeks, "This... it was you... but also... Lily? Did she...? How much did you know?" She cracks out a bit of a laugh, "I... am going to have to get so much... Revenge on you... Melinda May..." She grins through tears. It's the closest thank you she has in this moment.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
With Daniel correctly identifying Clint as an Avenger, along with Cap, Daisy comments. "They've got Funko-pops as well." as if that's confirmation enough indeed he was right. Not that Daisy explains what those are! Better let Daniel go down that rabbit hole once he discovers the joys of internet.

The exchange of the book brings a curious look from Daisy but she doesn't pry into look on what the contents are. It does seem personal, whatever may be there. Instead she focuses on that WINK.

It stuns her indeed, and just leaves her thinking on what the heck exactly is going on. Because really, there's a lot of emotion in the air and May is just acting .., too normal! But damn it, Peggy is talking again and so her focus returns to the woman. "It comes from history, but more importantly of the people that are part of it. The legacy created in the past is one that lasts well into today." she drains the rest of her beer, putting it aside.

Clint Barton has posed:
With a nod, he answers Daniel, "Yeah, I work with Steve. It's an interesting kind of job." He takes a sip of his beer, smiling a little as he watches Peggy's reaction to the gifts and people. "There'd be no family here if you didn't get it started."

Steve Rogers has posed:
Though all of this caught Steve off-guard, he recovers quickly enough, replying to Daniel Sousa, "Volograd. Yes, I remember. Those were rough days." He glances towards Peggy again, and back to Daniel. Steve's expression grows into a smile. "Well, however it happened, I'm really glad that you're here with Peggy, now,' Steve tells the other man, the sense of transparency imparting Steve is sincerely glad for it.

Steve looks at the photos when Peggy shows them to him. "You were a beautiful bride, Peggy," he says, smiling to her and then turning the expression to Daniel as well, nodding to the other man.

Eventually Peggy focuses in on May, at which point Steve drifts away, moving over to the side of Daisy Johnson. "Maybe you can fill me in on what all is going on later?" he mumbles to Daisy, voice just soft enough she'll likely be the only one to hear him.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"I was laid up and bleeding at the time, I think," Daniel says of his meeting with Steve. "It's all sort of hazy," he admits, but shock and morphine will do that to a man's memories. "But thank you for saving my life and" he tilts his head vaguely implying the sincerity of Steve's words. "Everything else," he says with a warm smile the previous awkwardness melting away, leaving only the respect he has for the man. "If you want to grab a beer sometime, I think I owe you a round or ten," he says with a faintly wry smile., before nodding to Clint. "I bet," he says of working with Steve. "Welcome to join us too, for the beers, saw some footage of your work in that alien invasion, it was pretty incredible."

Daisy's words bring the inevitable question, "What in the heck is a Funko Pop? A drink?" Yep, he has a lot of things to learn about modern pop culture.

Though when the pictures of Michael come out his attention is fixed entirely on them., He never dared to ask to see them since his return but now that they're right there in front of him he can't turn away.

Daniel encloses Peggy in his arms, eyes looking glassy as they study the pictures of Michael in years he never got to live. It takes him a time to lift his eyes from the page but when he does his questions mirror Peggy's, about how this came to be and what was Lily's involvement in all of this. "Did she use the lawfirm?" he asks May guessing at how Lily got this to be here when it was needed, even if that didn't explain all the other things that had shown up from before Lily's time.

Melinda May has posed:
The funny thing about that 'Thank You' from Peggy? It's not May who flashes the unrepentant grin at her friend -- and a knowing look to Daniel. While Peggy has been looking at pictures, sharing them with Daniel and the others, the Asian agent has retreated to the doorway and is picking up the brown leather bomber jacket she discarded earlier -- the one with 'L CHEN' on the name flash above the left breast.

The one person in all of existence that shares Melinda May's DNA and can go almost anywhere she can (and several places she can't), that's Lily Chen. It's really a good thing she'll always be SHIELD at heart.

"Actually," she says softly, "Melinda knew nothing." She gives Peggy a smile in resopnse to that hard, teary stare. "I'm sure she'll be along soon. But, I've got more work to do, so I can't stay." Her expression turns just a little grave. "We'll catch up another time. Promise."

With that, she steps out into the corridor, hand thrust into her pockets, and saunters off in the direction of the hangar.

Oh, and that card in the back of the book? It reads:

    Happy birthday, Peg.

    It took me a whole century to pull this off.
    Good luck topping it.

    Sorry, I couldn't stay longer.
    I'll see you again, soon.

    LC

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peg could take hours going through the book and she likely will later. The quiet conversations behind her, assurances about SHIELD ad the reasons people are here? They aren't missed. Daisy is given a long, still rather red-eyed look across her shoulder. "We wanted it to be easier for you all, you know... Not harder. But I guess none of us signed up for easy." She knows the boys understand that. So many reasons they all fought and the war still not over? It's hard to see. Clint's included in that look, all gratitude and apology at the same time. She's still not left her husband's arms. These are people she trusts enough to let see the softer edges and the old battle axe of SHIELD most certainly has them.

Then Steve and Daniel are commenting about beers and Peggy gives them a husky, thick throated laugh. "I'll be in proper trouble if you two end up friends. I might actually have to get a full night's sleep for once. But... I suspect there's a good little bar in Brooklyn where you all can bond." Steve's comment about her wedding dress gets an even softer smile, "I'm...sorry you couldn't be there. but... you still helped give me the best gift." She squeezes Daniel's arm. The man is her rock, clearly, even if no one outside of this room will necessarily see it.

Then she finally hits the card in the very back of the book. It says a lot about how thrown she was by the whole night that she didn't notice the name on the jacket before, normally she's on top of every little detail. A new welling of tears hits her eyes as she realizes who has been standing there the whole time. "Oh hell..." She breathes out. The expression her face is entirely changed. Touched, but more understanding. Shocked in a different way. She looks up, mouthing into the shadows behind the disappearing woman, 'Thank you. I miss you.'... But she doesn't chase. Part of her knows well why she needs to go.

"God... I need a drink. We all need to drink, don't we? Stop standing around, this isn't a funeral, it's damned well a party!" She finally breathes into the air, once the very real ghost of Lily's disappeared from the room.