Owner	Pose
Daniel Sousa	It's been another?god how many days had it been since they started dealing with supplies and the invasion. Day X, or rather night X, Daniel is settled in bed beside Peggy in his boxers and undershirt, his shirt and slacks left jumbled on the floor from his sleepy trek to bed at far too late an hour. If there was justice in this world he should be sleeping like the dead, but clearly not tonight. "Lily!" he exclaims as he sits up, his arm reaching grasping air. "Wha?" he asks, bleary eyed looking around their bedroom with a lost expression.
Peggy Carter	Peggy *had* been sleeping fairly deeply, in her warmest nightgown against the bitter January cold that has settled in around the area, making supply runs and the evacuation of injured people even harder. But Peggy sleeps close most nights, half tangled up around him with at least her arm across his stomach, so when he abruptly sits up she certainly doesn't miss it. She gasps awake as her arm is sloughed off of him and he's reaching for something that isn't there. "Daniel?...are you...alright?" She asks softly, trying to blink herself into more focus but her brain is taking a few more sluggish moments. She sits up slowly, trying to wrap him up in her arms.
Daniel Sousa	There's a second where it's clear he doesn't recognize her and shrinks away but slowly recongition for Peggy and their surroundings shows on his face as he looks around."Shit," he curses, before letting himself be wrapped up in Peggy's arms, despite the cold air, his undershirt is damp with sweat and his heart is racing. "Sorry to wake you Peg, it's just a nightmare."
Peggy Carter	As he shrinks away from her, it's like a momentary stab to Peggy's heart. She's NEVER felt him shy away from her before and it makes her throat tighten, but there isn't really even time to process it as he finally comes back to himself and leans into her arms instead. She pulls him in a bit deeper, leaning back against their headboard as she fully wraps him up in her embrace, tucking her cheek against his hair as she tries to guide him to fully press in against her. She takes a few slow, deep breaths, keeping her own heart calm in efforts to try and slow his. "It's alright...it's fine. You're safe and it's fine. I'm here..." She reassures him over and over.
Daniel Sousa	Daniel lets himself be leaned against his wife more fully, drinking in her warmth and her words to anchor him to reality and the here and now. "Sorry Peg," he tells her. "I'm okay, it's just a nightmare," though he leans deeper into her embrace and embraces her in return. "Just glad you're here, Peg," he tells her tilting his eyes towards hers, unable to hide the bit of glassiness to them even in the dim light of the bedroom at night.
Peggy Carter	Even in this darkness, Peggy can see that faint glassiness in his eyes from the bedside clock and the streetlight outside. She reaches her hand up, combing fingertips gently through his hair as she studies his face and kisses the corner of his mouth ever so softly. She's trying to do everything she can to reassure him she is quiet present and quite fine. "Of... of course I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I promise. Do... do you want to tell me about it?" She kisses him again, her other arm squeezing a bit around his shoulders. "I'm listening. Or you can try to forget it happened. But I'm here. I love you."
Daniel Sousa	Daniel nods weakly. "Yeah," he says taking a breath. "It was a Framework dream like the sort I had when I was redoing my certs. I'll be okay, I promise, just had to relive losing the kids again, takes me a bit to shake out what's real after these things." He hugs her tight as if confirming she's really there. "I'll be okay," he repeats, an assurance likely for both of them..
Peggy Carter	As he pulls her into that hug, Peggy returns it tightly. She wraps her toned arms around him as tight as they will go, saying nothing for several heartbeats, just letting him be wrapped up in every inch of warmth she can provide and the softness of the skin of her bare arms. She turns her head, kissing against his temple and into his hair. "I... I can't even think about it. I'm so lucky I never... ever had those dreams, because that's the worst nightmare in the world. I know it is. But our kid... Kids... are safe. Michael's fine, and I am certain the newest little one is safe and sound as well." She whispers against his hair.
Daniel Sousa	"Glad you don't have them either," Daniel says after that long quiet hug. "I hate these dreams...they were such good kids..." he takes a breath then holding her tighter putting his face against her shoulder. "Sorry, I know they're not real, I'll be okay in a second," he says trying to put a brave face on it like any other sort of hurt. "Like you said our real kids are fine..." even if one of them looked older than the both of them.
Peggy Carter	"...they felt -- feel -- real and we lost them. Daniel. There's nothing to be sorry about. I... god, I miss them too. Still." Peggy whispers against his hair, pressing a few kisses there as she tries to make it alright by kissing his heart back into his chest, but she knows it's impossible. She still felt that loss, in the darkest of nights, it just wasn't what her nightmares were about. She finally pulls away just enough she can look into his eyes, nearly nose to nose, one hand coming up to rest against his cheek. "I wish I knew better words to say. But it's alright to... miss them. It is. If you want to tell me about it... tell me. You don't have to hold this alone."
Daniel Sousa	The kisses are welcomed and he runs his hand through Peggy's hair. "It's always some happy memory from when the kids were growing up, Chirstmas, a birthday, then they all start vanishing one by one and I can't stop them." Fresh tears dampen his eyes as he leans his head against Peggy's shoulder and they drip down to dampen her skin. "I feel so alone and powerless, everyone else is just stopped, like pausing a video, but I can move and I can't do anything to stop them from going away."
Peggy Carter	A small, aching sound escapes her throat as she hears those words. That's a true nightmare, it'd be among her worst as well. Peggy just tightens her arms around him once more, lost for any words to make it better. She holds on an uncomfortably long amount of time before she gently coaxes him down into the bed to lay next to her. Peggy barely lets go of him, just enough they can be eye to eye again on the pillow amd she can guide one hand down to wrap over his, bringing it to rest against her softer stomach. "You're not alone. You're not powerless. You're taking wonderful care of your child... and your wife. And what they did to us was still a nightmare. But we're here. Now. This is real."
Daniel Sousa	Daniel lays down without argument, shifting closer to Peggy once he's settled, not wanting to be too far from her. "Thank you," he says his voice still raw with emotion. "I don't want to fail either of you, you, the little one and Michael are the most important things in the world to me."
Peggy Carter	Normally, it's her who lays against him. She drapes herself across his body and uses his shoulder as a pillow or, at least, has her nose and forehead pressed against the outside of his arm as she sleeps. After having lost him for so long, it's her way of ensuring he's still there and still real every night. She slept decades without him. That's a part of her nightmares. So, that is how she's learned to cope. But tonight, it's different. Tonight, she sinks back onto her shoulders and gently tugs him over to drape against her. It leaves him room to hug her torso or rest a hand against her belly as he wishes, and she can tuck her cheek against his hair, wrapping him up in her warmth as much as she did when they were upright. "You aren't going to fail us. I promise. We're here and safe. We're working on things with Michael. Things are better. We're all safe."
Daniel Sousa	Daniel drapes himself across Peggy in the way she normally dd with him, needing that same reassurance. "I love all so damn much, I really hope thing's will be okay," he says before he looks to her in the dim light of the bedroom. "Maybe we can get out to see Michael when the angel buisiness is over and figure out some names for the new one."
Peggy Carter	"I'd like that. We'll give him a call tomorrow, alright? Set something up. Check in on him." Peggy reassures her husband, kissing his forehead one more time. "But now, it's late. We both had an incredibly long day. If you can get back to sleep, you should. We both should. I love you incredibly and I'm not going anywhere. I promise." She whispers one last time, wrapping her arm around his shoulders as she hugs him tight against her. She'll wait until his breathing levels off before really letting herself fall back sleep, holding onto him the whole time.