8292/Time to Catch Up Again

Time to Catch Up Again
Date of Scene:	17 October 2021
Location:	Carter-Sousa Home - Long Island
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Peggy Carter, Melinda May, Daniel Sousa

---

Peggy Carter has posed:
When contact came from Lily, an offer to catch up, Peggy decided there might be a place of comfort and home for both of them. So, dinner at the old house out on Long Island was offered. Peggy didn't cook, of course, because she cares for Lily and doesn't want to poison her. Or burn things down. But she's ordered in a lovely amount of thai food and a few beers. The fall night is just warm enough to let windows and the front door open other than the screen. Peggy's laying things out on the kitchen counter as she waits.

Melinda May has posed:
The motorcycle that pulls into the drive -- because *of course* there's a motorcycle -- is a classic 1962 Triumph Bonneville. Lily swings off it, her long hair falling out of the helmet as she does. There's an easy smile on her face. And when she sees the door open with just the screen to block it, she raps lightly on the glass before she tests the handle to see if it's unlocked.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Come in." Peggy calls through the front living room. The house looks much more like it did when they were all actively living here, some of the sunbleached carpet having been replaced. The furniture cleaned, everything dusted. It looks like a place people live again and not some mauseoleum as it did all those years Daniel was gone.

She opens two of the beers, carrying them around the kitchen island and stepping into the front room to offer the drink to the woman and look her up and down, searching for all the little differences she didn't quite catch before. "I was wondering if you'd ever call."

Melinda May has posed:
Lily offers her friend a brief hug, her smile warm and full as she takes the beer she's offered. That's really the biggest difference, perhaps. Lily has always been just a little more relaxed than Melinda. She's always been a little faster with a smile. Her hair falls in waves more than Melinda's does, simply because that's how Lily prefers it. Her colour pallet is still lighter, jewel and earth tones rather than dark, muted colours and blacks. But even between 1963 and now... there's a bit more lightness to her. Also a lot more experience in her eyes. She's got that tempered wisdom look about her that only comes from age and experience, as Peggy well knows.

Then again, Lily *is* actually older than Peggy, now.

"How could I not call? I just had to wait for the breath between crises, is all. Do you know how hard that is? You still work for SHIELD." And she's now high on the TVA's radar.

Peggy Carter has posed:
A deeper smirk crosses Peggy's lips as the woman mentions crises, "I suppose that's right. Things have felt oddly... quiet... Since that mess with the TVA, actually. I feel like I'm going a little stir crazy. But then, things had been in an awful crisis for nearly a year straight. I suppose I'm not used to having time to breathe." She does lean over and hug the woman warmly, however, clearly happy to see her.

"Sit... sit. Do you want anything else? Water? There's thai for dinner but we don't have to jump in right now." Peggy hasn't had a chance to play hostess in a long time, it's clear she's not quite used to doing it again and she does want Lily to feel welcome.

Melinda May has posed:
Lily doesn't need Peggy to fuss in order to feel welcome. "The beer's fine," she says, lifting the bottle Peggy gave her. "You don't need to stand on ceremony on my account. We've been through way too much for that." A beat and her eyes twinkle as she chides gently, "You don't really think a few decades apart changes that, now do you?"

Nevertheless, she steps further into the house -- the house she saw when everyone else was timelost, crawling with SHIELD agents and filled with questions. She's glad to see it more settled now. Somehow, it lets her relax. She's spent decades working towards this in one form or another.

Peggy Carter has posed:
There's still the mostly full jar of bullets on the mantel piece, and the old photos of Peggy, Daniel, baby Michael, Lily, the wedding, the first SHIELD unit. Peggy still keeps all the old things in this house, there's just a few more modern things for when she and Daniel come back. It's not a lot, but clearly this is a living residence again, a place of all their hearts and history. It's good to have it occupied once more.

"No. I...don't suppose it does. I'm still not used to having.. pieces of the past back. Part of me is waiting for this to all be some strange dream. Especially after that time mess."

Melinda May has posed:
Lily lets out a soft groan of agreement. "Yeah. The TVA still *really* loves me..." Total sarcasm there, definitely. Peggy may not remember most of what happened there, but Lily does. She just knows they need to remember on their own.

Nevertheless, it's not at all hard to imagine how much a bunch of fascist, jackbooted timecops will react to an woman with the abilities and sense of justice like Lily's.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"So... tell me, if you can, how long did you... know about them? Work for them? What in the *world* is going on there and how worried should I be about it?" Peggy asks as she walks over to the couch and folds down into sitting, motioning for Lily to get comfortable and join her. Peg still looks the model of a 1950s proper house wife, in her high heels and swing skirted dress, her hair in it's soft vintage waves. It's a shock just how little some things have changed about her in so many decades.

Melinda May has posed:
"Honestly?" Lily says, sinking bonelessly down beside Peggy and tucking one leg up underneath her, "I didn't. If I did, I'd never have let you go into that ritual unprepared." Her own attire is more modern and a little more casual. Khakis, instead of jeans, mind. And a nice blouse. But there's no mistaking the waves of her hair and the red of her lips for anything but a throwback to the mid-fifties -- though she's not inclined to that look *all* the time, unlike her friend.

She takes a pull of her beer and shakes her head. "And I don't work for them." She snirks that that. "Your memories probably just haven't caught up with the whole adventure, yet. They will. Trust me. You can't pay me to work for them. And they don't want me to."

She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and gives a mild shrug. "Right now, we have an... understanding. They don't mess with me, I won't mess with them." Her lips purse slightly. "Their goal is to protect the integrity of what they call 'the sacred timeline'. As if there's only one." She snirks again at that thought. "There's someone at the top of their food chain. I don't know who or what that is, but they have an agenda and the TVA is how they achieve it. Right now... there's nothing you should actively worry about. They're not going to interfere in the day-to-day workings of any reality, including this one. They only interfere when something goes off the rails, timewise, in a way that is outside of their agenda. So, saving Daniel and releasing Malevolo on the multiverse -- which we'd have wanted to take care of, anyway. But they're not going to step in here and help HYDRA defeat SHIELD. Nor are they going to step in and help SHIELD defeat HYDRA. Not their focus."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peg listens to this all, her frown deepening a bit more as she does realize there's only so many bits and pieces still in her mind about their adventure. She knew her husband was safe, but she doesn't like having holes in her memories. She sighs deeply and takes a longer sip of the beer, letting the hoppy bite of it soothe some of the worries in her mind as her long legs recross, sitting back in the ocuch.

"Well, I don't NEED them to fight HYDRA for us. We handled what we needed. As long as they keep hands off my people -- you included -- and my timeline, I don't care what strange dance they think they are doing elsewhere."

Melinda May has posed:
Lily gives her a wry smile. "You wouldn't likely know, even if they did mess with your timeline," she says. "Our timeline, really." A beat. "I have yet to meet another me out there. You. Melinda. Daniel. Never me." She has a slightly curious look on her face about that. "I suppose that will make them feel better about the whole thing. Only one of me to worry about."

She sets her beer on a coaster beside her. "When a nexus event occurs -- that's what they call a timeline disturbance -- the TVA sends their thugs in, just like they did with Daniel, and removes whomever they perceive to be the responsible party. Then they set off a chronal wave that 'resets' the timeline to just before that event and lets it continue without that event ever happening. So, really, unless it's you they come for, or someone you're with like we were with Daniel, there's no way you'd have of knowing."

Lily, on the other hand, will very likely sense that disturbance in the Force, so to speak. She's learned a helluva lot about her own power in recent weeks.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Well, I guess I'm damned lucky to know you, and sorry for all the other Peggy's out there who didn't get the chance." As strange as that is to say, a statement which is a very real part of her life, but she's getting used to it now. She studies Lily up and down, trying to pick up all the little changes from the years now that they have some moments to simply breathe and relax.

"I... don't like them. If I knew who was actually giving the orders or why this timeline is so... Sacred, then maybe... But right now it sounds like a bunch of nonsense from shadows we cannot see too full of their own power. If they had taken Daniel from me...I'd have burned the whole place down." Or died trying.

Melinda May has posed:
"I know," Lily says softly, fondly. She reaches out to give Peggy's shoulder a brief squeeze. "I gotta say, though... some of your variants seriously kick ass."

She sobers a little. "There will come a time," she admits, "when they and I will clash in earnest. They're artificially limiting the timestream, Peggy. Purposely culling timestreams that don't fit their agenda -- whatever that is. That's not how time is meant to flow. I've learned a helluva lot about temporal mechanics over the last few decades. Infinite choices spawn infinite possibilities. They're limiting those possibilities. Some of them are horrible, horrible outcomes. But some of them are absolutely incredible. There's got to be a balance. And they're shifting it."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A slight darkness crosses Peggy's eyes as she listens to her old friend and the explanation of the mess that is the TVA. Peggy sets her jaw, looking like she's ready to go and fight someone over it, but she knows that fight isn't now. Still, she's clearly going to be at Lily's back when it happens. "...whatever you need -- whenever you need -- if I'm still alive, ask me. I'll always fight at your side and you know that. Daniel too."

Melinda May has posed:
Lily nods. "Oh, I know. But now's not the time for either of us. SHIELD's still rebuilding. The Mallick clan is still out there. And we both know they're not the only heads HYDRA has. You've still got work to do here and I've got an almost infinite amount of time ahead of me to figure out the rest." The advantages of being a temporal construct.

She smirks and thumbs her collar. "Lily Chen, Agent of T.I.M.E. You can figure out what the acronymn stands for later." She winks, clearly joking. Well. Mostly.

"Speaking of..." She shifts around and sets her beer down again, rising to grab her bomber jacket from where she set it down as they settled. She fishes through the lining until she finds the pocket she's looking for and pulls out a gift small box. "Here. You'll like this."

Peggy Carter has posed:
When the woman stands to retrieve the small box, Peggy's head tilts curiously. "You're the one who has come to visit, I should be giving YOU gifts to remember us buy, not the other way around." Peggy admits with a little, confused laugh, but she reaches fingertips out, red nails carefully opening the box to expose the little locket inside. Her fingertips caress over the lovely onxy stone on the front, "Oh, this is gorgeous." She murmurs earnestly, quite impressed.

"And yes... we are not done with this fight with HYDRA. I know that. I've taken too much time off already, honestly. I just... I had to make certain Daniel was here. For good. For as long as we're alive. And he is, so now... Back to work."

Melinda May has posed:
Lily looks pleased by Peggy's reaction to the locket. As the other woman speaks of her husband, she nods. "You have no idea how many years I spent looking for the answer to that particular riddle. I *saw* an overlay way back in '55 that showed him disappearing before the bullet ever flew. But I could never figure out why or how. And when I did..." She chuffs something akin to a sardonic laugh. "I had to wait. For *decades* Peggy. Decades. I watched you nearly destroy yourself and I *knew* there was answer, but I couldn't find it. It just about drove me crazy."

She resettles on the couch and picks up her beer. "Open the locket," she suggests.

Peggy Carter has posed:
A slight shake of her head comes, "I... I wouldn't have destroyed myself. It felt like it, in those early days, but I had Michael and SHIELD... I'd never have done it, you know that. I clearly never did. The damned serum almost did the job far quicker than I ever would have. But now it's of no matter. It's...fixed. We made it. Much because of you." Peggy admits with a slightly softer, more grateful smile.

Then she tilts her head, looking back down to the locket and arching a brow curiously as she uses a fingernail to gently pop open the locket.

Melinda May has posed:
Within the locket is very small picture of Daniel and Peggy in an unguarded moment. Touching the picture will bring it up in all its holographic glory -- a single moment looping in time. Peggy may even remember the moment, since it was a moment when the world fell away and it was just her and Daniel, gazing at each other, dancing at the wedding after changing their clothes because of the HYDRA attack. Once peace had returned.

Inside the front face of the locket, however, is small engraving of a lily. Pressing that does something else altogether. But Lily waits for Peggy to get over the hologram, first.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The hologram gets a surprised look from her, a little blink as suddenly there is some stinging behind her eyes. She'd almost forgotten this moment, but seeing it in living, seeming 3D color brings everything back in a wash of memories and feelings. "Oh, Lily...it's... I don't know how you made it, but it's beatiful. I almost forgot about this... we had to change our clothes." She admits with a little laugh.

And then the pad of her thumb traces over the other side, the engraving there, a curious look in her dark eyes. SOmehow, she expects it to do something else as well.

Melinda May has posed:
And so it does. The flower lights up and pulses with golden light. Lily chuckles, then. "Press it again, please," she instructs. "Twice, if you don't mind." A soft chuckle escapes her. "The onyx is charged with some of my chronal energy. My 'time DNA', you could say. When you need me, and I can't pick up the phone because I'm offworld or something, I'll feel it. If it's off, and you press it twice, that will warn me away." She doesn't comment on whether or not she'll heed that warning.

She smiles, however, her own eyes bright and full. "The hologram is actually my memory of that moment. It's amazing what they can do in the 31st century with such things. I had them implant it there, so you could see it, too."

Peggy Carter has posed:
That makes her blink. Peggy presses it again, her head tilting to the side as she watches Lily closer as she experiments with the various types of presses. "And does it...hurt? When I turn it on? What do you feel? You can feel it across... all time?" Peggy asks gently, some concern behind her voice as she can only imagine this is horribly uncomfortable, but she also knows it's a valuable tool.

Melinda May has posed:
Lily smiles. "It feels like an itch in the back of my skull, that's all. It's not painful. It's not even irritating. It's more like... when you suddenly remember you meant to call an old friend." She swallows a mouthful of beer and gives a slightly uncomfortable shrug. "The double tap's a little more uncomfortable. More like that tingle you get when you know you're being watched, and whomever it is probably has a gun. But, yes. I can feel it wherever, whenever. It's part of me."

She smiles wryly. "Kind of like how I always *sort of* know where Melinda is -- the Melinda from *this* timeline, anyway -- in any other given timeline I happen to be in."

She chuckles. "You remember how distracted I got back in March '63, right near the end there? That was about the time Melinda was conceived. I just didn't realize it, then. The sense of her grew stronger with each passing day. By the time the beginning of November hit, I knew for sure I was going to have to move on. I suspected it earlier, that's why I started tying up all my loose ends late in the summer. But I still kind of hoped I could hang around a little longer. By the beginning of November, though, I knew I couldn't. Her life was too big for me to stay."

She looks a little pensive. "It's different, now. She's older. And she's been through time to the point of my birth. It... closed the loop, I guess. Brought us full-circle."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peg makes certain she touches it again so that little itch at the back of Lily's skull goes away. She looks across the locket once more, smiling at that memory, and then she tenderly folds it shut before she unhooks the clasp at the back and wraps it around her neck, tucking the locket down the front of her shirt carefully. It will stay around her neck, near her heart, until the day she does now, most likely.

"Well... Thank you. I hope I don't need to use it often but... it's good to have an emergency call, incase something really happens. You KNOW if I've turned it on, things are... dire. I wouldn't abuse your time like that." Peggy cracks a bit of a wider smile, "You already went through basic training as an agent with me. I don't need to torture you again."

Melinda May has posed:
Lily laughs at that. "I have all the time in the world, Peggy. Don't be afraid to call." She does nod, however, conceding. "But, yes. It's for emergencies. You have my number, now. You shouldn't need the locket except in an emergency."

She pins her friend with a direct look. "But let me be very clear, Peggy Carter: If the immediate choice is your life or using the locket, you damned well better be pressing that locket. I won't thank you for making me come to your funeral before the end of your henceforth natural years." She snirks. "TVA be damned, but I'll be fixing *that* mistake. And then I will kick your ass from here to Knowhere and back."

Yeah. Don't go pissing off the timewalker.

Having said her piece on that, however, she relaxes back into the couch again. "So," she says, flashing a grin. "You ordered Thai? Seriously... next time, I'll bring Quon's. Tradition, Carter! We have traditions to uphold in this house."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A little glare comes from Peggy as Lily does her best to insist on playing white knight if things are going wrong. "I... don't have plans on dying any time soon, no, but I'm also not going to call you every time we're in a pinch. I've almost died more than once and came out more than fine, so I think we'll be alright here. Don't be too worried." Peggy winks at her, but rests her fingertips across that gentle line beneath the collar of her dress now. "But... I promise, if I need you, I will call." She reassures a heartbeat later.

And then the woman is going on about thai. Peggy's eyes go wide, her jaw a little dropped, "It's a VERY GOOD thai place, newly opened, right down the street. Quon's is great but everything's cold when we take it the whole way here and I wasn't making either of us turn a damn thing on in the kitchen! We'll go out to Quon's next time!"

Daniel Sousa has posed:
There's the sound of a vehicle pulling into the drive way then the sound of car doors closing and the door to the kitchen opening. "Hey Peg, I'm home," Daniel calls as he loosens his tie and steps through the door and lets it close behind him. "Who's bike is that outside?"

Melinda May has posed:
"Pah," Lily scoffs. "It takes me no time at all to shunt across town. Literally." Still her eyes twinkle. She's teasing. Though she's quite willing to go out to Quon's, as well. There's history there, too.

As Daniel walks in, she grins. "Hey, you," she greets. "You like it?" The bike, she means. It *is* a classic, after all. And not nearly as heavy as the Harley Melinda tends to prefer. Though, to be fair, Melinda's is SHIELD-issue and comes with extra bells and whistles Lily's lacks.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Lily called, and I figured it's been a long, long time since we all got together at the house. And she needed to show the bike off anyway." Even after all these years, or perhaps especially now, there is a glimmer that comes into her eyes the moment she hears his car coming up the drive. Peggy is as madly in love with that man nowadays as she was when they first married.

She stands, walking over to him and tugging him into a shamelessly deep kiss. For a moment, with Lily in the room, it really does feel like those few golden years in the 50s where they all shared this house more often than not. Now it's just more modern clothing and a lot more responsiblities. "And I ordered Thai for dinner. She's mocking me for it."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel pauses in the doorway and smiles when he sees Lily though when Peggy comes for that kiss he doesn't deny her it, indeed he indugles happily audience or no. When it breaks he smiles, "What's wrong with Thai?" he asks with a bit of confusion. Though he suspects it's more about the ordering in than the type. "Thai food is one of the better things about living in this time," he says. Back in their time most people would just look at you funny if you asked for Thai food.

"And pretty great bike Lil," he says still staying close to Peggy, "Buy it recently or did it shunt forward with you?"

Melinda May has posed:
"I scored it on a shunt a few years ago, but left it in storage for a few years. Finally had time to pull it out." Lily replies. She pulls herself to her feet, since the food is in the kitchen and the pair are already standing in the doorway there. Her beer hangs loosely in her fingertips. "I'm thinking I may open one of my safehouses, stick around a bit." A beat. She chuffs another faint laugh. "One of the ones Melinda hasn't stolen from me."

She strolls toward them, more relaxed in this place than she is just about anywhere else. There are people in the universe who'd be surprised to see it, who would confuse her with Melinda far more easily than these two ever could. "I've got still got a few loose ends to tie up."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"And the issue with Thai food is, apparently, it's not Quon's. So, next time, Quon's." But now that Daniel is here, she bustles off to the kitchen to grab three plates, some silverware, and sets out all the take out containers on a tray. This was going to be family style, but it always was between them. And not at the fancy dinner table, but spread out over the coffee table with the comfortable couches. They did not stand on ceremony between them.

"So, how long do we get to keep you? Spending the night at least?" She asks Lily, as she settles in to passing out the green curry and noodles, making room on the couch for Daniel next to her.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel grins. "Should have guessed," he says about the problems with Thai. "Honestly though it's just good to sit down and eat with just the three of us again."

He helps bring the food out to the living room and takes a seat beside Peggy leaning against her slightly as he does. "Anything we can help with?" he asks about those loose ends. Waiting for an answer he leans over and grabs a plate for himself and begins dishing out a little bit of everything for himself.

Melinda May has posed:
With Daniel now in the room, Lily selects a chair, rather than join them on the couch. She helps lay out the food, despite having her hands swatted for it occasionally, and then takes an opportunity to serve herself before she sits. "You mean tonight?" she asks Peggy, arching a brow. She's sure the guest room's open to her. So, she chuckles. "If we drink enough, yes." She won't risk her bike or her life on an extra bottle of booze.

In answer to Daniel's question, however, she shakes her head. "Not yet, anyway. If that changes, I'll be sure to let you know. But I expect I'll be around through the holidays, at least."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Well then, I guess that means we should all have another beer and break into the whiskey after dinner, mm? There's probably at least two bottles in there that have been aging for 60 years now. It'd be worth cracking one open." Peggy is only half teasing there. They could all use a night off and time to really just relax. Catch up. "Besides, if we're lucky, some of the booze might shake a few more memories of this time mess free. I... dislike... not remembering half of what I did on a mission." Peggy's nose wrinkles as she dares confess that. She's more uncomfortable about forgetting how they got Daniel back then she cares to remember.

"... and Daniel's right. I know you gave me the way to contact you," Peggy pulls out the locket market with a black onyx stone from beneath her dress' collar, "But if you want *our* help... we all go back, Lily. You just need to ask." Peggy the ducks away very quickly, returning with three beers from the fridge before she fully settles against her husband's side to dive into dinner.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Sounds like a plan to me. And besides the guest room is always open to you Lily, with or without all of us getting plastered," though he's clearly got no problem with it. "Yeah, I'm not thrilled with it all being so? hazy, I know we sorted things out, but how it happened is still sort of vague," he agrees, before nodding in support of Peggy's words and taking a beer. "Just say the word Lil, and we'll be there, no question."

Melinda May has posed:
Lily takes the second beer and raises it in a silent toast before she sips it and sets it aside in favour of the food. "At this point," she says, a touch of seriousness in her tone, "The best thing you can do for me is keep an eye on Melinda for me. She needs to get a handle on her anger. She learned a lot through that mission -- we all did. But, like you, she doesn't remember most of it, either. She's already started using some of the lessons she learned about controlling her power, but she doesn't understand them yet."

A wry smile. "I've got my hands full keeping my eye on Underwood." She glances to Peggy. "She's got a lot to offer as an asset, if you can keep her attention. But the Russians are sniffing around her again. I'm trying to run interference."

Peggy Carter has posed:
That news makes Peggy groan just a little bit. "More Russians? HYDRA, I take it?" She sighs, taking a deep pull of her beer then setting it down so she can rest her plate in her lap isntead. There's worry in her face, about Daniel's memory and May's anger, but she can't do much more about that. She simply nods, "I...trust you when you say we'll get the pieces back in time. I hope you're right. But...I got what matters." Her hand goes out to squeeze Daniel's knee for a moment. They'd not really talked about how close it came, or how scared she was to lose him.

"...and while i'd like to get Russians out of our hair, the worst thing you can do to Dottie is try to trap her or tell her what to do. They'll drive her more into our hands if they push too hard."

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Oh that's not good," Daniel remarks encompassing Dottie, the Russians and all that came with it. Though he does squeeze Peggy's hand in return, knowing it was a close thing that they managed to save him from time the TVA and all the rest.

"Less is definitely more with Dottie, the more she's pushed the greater the chance she is going find a way to ruin everyone's day, us, the Russians everyone she can manage to get."

Melinda May has posed:
Lily doesn't argue with either of them. "I know," she says, giving them a small smile. "That's why I'm keeping an eye on her. Most of the time, she doesn't know." Occasionally, Lily lets her know.

A brief shadow crosses her eyes, but she blinks and it's gone. No one needs to know just how she created the nexus event that let her into the TVA. Especially Dottie.

"When she does, I poke at her enough, she deflects." She's had a long time to study her history on this one. She's under no illusions, though, that she's playing a dangerous game.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"And why...why such interest in Dottie? I'm usually the one dancing that game with her, though Daniel's put up with me enough bringing her in on things..." A smirk dances across her lips at a few fond memories of Dottie following missions, "But she was never a part of your... story here. Or is there something going on now that we don't know about? Can't... know about?" Peggy clearly dislikes the second part there, though she trusts Lily enough not to push it too much.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Daniel chuckles lightly, "Tell me about it," he says of Peggy bringing Dottie into things, though to be honest he doesn't seem too put out by it, despite her being the woman who killed him. As for the rest he takes a sip of his beer, Peggy had already asked the questions that had popped into his head.

Melinda May has posed:
"She has a role to play," Lily tells them. "I had nothing to do with her prior to siccing her on Giyera." Mallick's right-hand man. "You needed her intel and I need her to not try killing Daniel again in the present. So..." She shrugs. "Besides, she could get into the Sphere when I couldn't. It's one thing for me to walk around the Triskelion or Playground pretending to be Melinda. I couldn't very well do that there."

She eyes the pair of them, wrinkling her nose. "But, you're not at the end of this story, yet. And I shouldn't tell it to you. So, just let me play my game. You look after your people. Look after Melinda."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Another, deeper wrinkle comes to Peggy's nose as Lily practically chides them for trying to skip ahead to the end of the story. She gives a little huff over her beer, sharing a look with Daniel. "He and I are rather mystery solvers, you know that, Lily. Leaving questions unanswered isn't much of how we operate. BUT..." She takes another bite of food. "But yes. She's useful. And we *will* look after Melinda. I always do. We'll have to have her out to the house as well... She needs more time off than she's ever willing to take." A worried smile creases at Peggy's features as she considers that.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Peggy's right, you're killing us here Lily," Daniel says with good natured chiding. "But fine we'll play along and of course we'll look after Melinda, she's family just like you are, and besides Peg and I probably own at least part of the blame for her not taking enough time off, we sort of baked our work ethic into the culture of SHIELD," he admits with smile that says he's more proud than ashamed of that."Anyhow you can count on us covering our end."

Melinda May has posed:
Lily laughs at both of them. She huffs lightly. "Fine, I'm not telling you people anything, any more. Not a peep." She snirks, eyes still twinkling. "Why the hell do you think I don't answer your questions? Because then you'll make even more assumptions or extrapolate even more possibilities. And then you'll screw the whole thing up. Just... Let it play out. Trust me. I'd tell you, if it made the right difference."

That said, she's also not all-knowing. And she knows it. Sometimes... it's better just to shut her mouth.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"I don't believe that for a minute. You LIKE telling us things and getting us riled up. I know you." Peggy winks teasingly at her, but then takes her last bite of food and settles her plate aside, so she can lean against Daniel a bit more and simply relax in the glow of the evening. "It will be good to have you for the holidays. Information tease or not. This house has been too empty, too long..."