November, 1947.
The storefronts and houses of Queens sped by below as the train whirred along, The City shrinking away behind them. Overhead, the last remaining scraps of fall clung tight to the tree branches as they held firm against the grey November sky.
Inside the train, Peggy Carter took in the blur of sights, her red lips reflecting back against the glass window.
"You alright, Peg?" Daniel Sousa placed a hand on her knee and gave her a searching look.
Peggy snapped out of her plotting back to reality and met his deep, brown eyes. Despite the frigid day outside, everything about him exuded warmth: the friendly lines gathering at the corners of his eyes, his smile, the felt cap that threatened to topple off his head at any moment. A swell of pride pushed aside the anxiety that had gripped her since they had left the New York office that afternoon, and she raised a hand to place it on top of Daniel's.
As her gaze lingered on their hands, Peggy's eyes caught on the soft glint bouncing off her ring finger. A chill spread back through Peggy's limbs as her stomach climbed back into its seat in her throat.
"Peggy?" Daniel ventured again, an edge of worry tinted the question this time. "You alright?"
Peggy gave a noncommittal shake. "I… I haven't been through here in a long time."
Daniel cocked his head to question.
"Spent a lot of time here for Project Rebirth," Peggy shrugged slightly.
"Ah," he nodded. Peggy turned back towards the window. Daniel humored her for a moment, turning back towards his reading. As he peered over the page, however, he caught his fiancée's face scrunched in concern out the side of his eyes. He lowered his book.
The past four months had been a barrage of challenges and adventures both at the SSR and for them a couple. Over a number of nights that they had probably stayed up too late and definitely had too much whiskey, Daniel and Peggy had talked about nearly everything –including Steve Rodgers. They'd talked about Peggy's missions with Rodgers; about his rescue of an entire intelligence division stranded at Bastogne within spitting distance of a HYDRA vault; how that division was the one Daniel happened to be with when his leg was blown off; and about what really happened – on the transcripts and off – when Steve died.
He knew loosing Steve was still a tender subject for Peggy. Like so many who fought in the War, she still blamed herself for herself for the fate suffered by the unlucky ones – and Peg happened to know a lot of folks that had pissed off Lady Luck. Still, Daniel had never seen her just clam up like this at just the mere thought of Steve.
He pressed gently, "You sure that's it, Peg?"
Peggy sighed and met Daniel's eyes. She read the calm concern, and felt her scattered plans and backup plans and contingency plans dissolve. Their steadiness, deep and brown as the earth itself grounded her, but there was something else there too– a challenge?
And then Peggy saw it: he had called her bluff. Daniel knew something else was up.
Her stomach rising higher still in her chest, Peggy's mind raced for a moment before she steeled herself to face the inescapable facts. She couldn't very well jump off the train at this point and back out of the long weekend, and the expert on the subject she truly needed – intel on the Sousa family – was sitting less than an arm's length away.
"Can we run through the plan again?" she pleaded.
In the corner of her mind, Peggy shut back a blooming sense of foolishness. Normally an invite to a large, raucous family event would have been a welcome change to the normal slog of weekend shifts or making smalltalk with the bohemian theater crowd at one of Angie's shows – out of the ordinary but not daunting.
Even before the war, Carter family holidays were subdued and far between: a quiet dinner at Gran's or a weekend in the country with the cousins. After everything they had all learned about her brother while in London, meeting Daniel's siblings – much less the whole Sousa clan – seemed almost overwhelming.
"Peggy relax, it's just Thanksgiving."
"Well, it's my first one," she quipped, raising an eyebrow. "Who knows what to expect with your Yankee holidays." Peggy almost waved away the tension knotted within her with a flick of her hand before admitting aloud what had been weighing her down. "Plus, you know my family's not like yours."
Daniel couldn't help but raise his own eyebrows and let out a long sigh as he leaned back on the train bench. "That's the understatement of the year."
"Daniel…"
"What? Not how I imagined meeting the in-laws, that's all"
"Daniel, I'm serious."
A soft smile came across his face as he turned to face her on the bench. "Peggy–" he raised a hand reassuringly to her shoulder "– they will love you. They're crazy, and everywhere, and you won't have two minutes to yourself this whole weekend, but they're not insane. Trust me, Aunt Maria's been telling me for weeks how they can't wait to welcome you to the family."
She knew the comment was meant to be reassuring, but Peggy couldn't stop her eyes falling from Daniel's face, along his arm, becoming fixated on the stray fibers pulling away from the elbows of his maroon jumper.
It wasn't even that she was nervous of what the Sousas would think of her. Of course, it would make everything so much easier if they did get along, but Peggy knew she and Daniel could manage even if she had a rocky relationship with her future in-laws.
If she was to be perfectly honest, Peggy even had the sneaking suspicion that if they didn't like her right away, she would feel more at ease. After everything with Michael this summer, she almost wished she could trade the begrudging acceptance and loving animosity of so many families for the task of untangling the nest of affection and trust from the painful game of spycraft, lies and conflicting duties that had come to define her own family relationships.
Peggy took a measured breath and faced her fiancé again. "I just want it all to be smooth- to be as far from London as is possible."
"Well, you're lucky, Peg– I'm the only one in this family who can keep a secret."
Peggy shot back a semi-serious glare. "I'm not sure if that's supposed be comforting or not." He shrugged. After a moment, she conceded with a shake. "I'll just feel better once I know who they all are."
Daniel broke away, bending down to fish through his briefcase.
"Well, lucky for you, Carter, I just happened to bring the complete file." The muffled sounds of shuffling papers were interrupted with a quiet grunt. He sat back up straight, plopping a notebook into his fiancée's lap. "All yours."
Peggy quickly leafed through the pages and pages of biographical details, copies of photos, likes, dislikes, family trees. "I love you."
The notebook lay splayed between their laps, their hands resting on the picture of the character in question.
"Oh for heaven's sake, Daniel. I'm not your hitman!"
He threw up his hands in mock-innocence. "All I'm saying, Peg, is that Andy's well overdue for some payback." Daniel's playful smirk played with the edges of his eyes.
"He was thirteen!"
"I was eight!" Peggy rolled her eyes, unable to hide her amusement.
"And he's always been after me," Daniel pushed forth. "I just need someone to protect me." His eyes widened in a mixture of earnestness and playfulness.
"'I'm not having your family call off the wedding because I knocked your cousin unconscious."
"Well what happened to teamwork?" A sly smile, both infuriatingly attractive and annoyingly smug stretched Daniel's cheeks. Family stories and the tensions of earlier were miles behind them: all Peggy could think of was the best way she should think of taking that smirk off his face.
The couple leaned in, barely inches from one another. Just as they tilted their heads, a dark figured leaned over the pair, reaching for a slip inches above their heads.
"Mineola, coming up." the conductor hooted, yanking up the stubs tucked on the luggage rack above in a single movement as he passed by.
Peggy straightened up, patting her hair and flattening the creases of her emerald dress against her lap. "That's us!" Daniel breathed in. "Ready?"
Peggy gave a strong nod. "We're a team. We've gotten out of bigger jams before."
"Heh–" Shoving his last arm into the camel overcoat, Daniel laughed. "Just don't let them hear you say that- they might give you a run for your money." Peggy shook her head with a smile.
Offering his right elbow, Daniel stepped into the aisle as the train slowed to a stop. Peggy gazed warmly for a moment before taking the offer, toting their suitcase along in her other hand. "C'mon, Peg. Let's go!"
Geographical note:
Mineola, New York, is a historically Portuguese immigrant community on Long Island. The town also happens to border the neighboring village of Hempstead.