Title: Lie Detector Confessions of a Reluctant Legacy
Summary: This should be easy. All Trip needed to do was give the same answers he gave last time and he would be done with this before complete exhaustion took over. It's not like he's the type of person who has deep dark secrets. Not the type that prevents one from getting a security clearance anyway. Unfortunately, this Agent Koenig asks more follow-up questions and is more of an Agent Carter fan boy than his brother.
Warning: This is what happens when you let head cannon go too far.
When: Takes place at the end of episode 22 (before the Coulson tag). Therefore this is Cannon compliant for the MCU up to AOS episode 22. (In other words, I expect this to become completely AU 5 minutes in to episode 23.)
This is in the same universe as the other stories in my series In a World Like This, but this is designed to be a complete stand-alone story and more of an episode tag than anything else.
This is essentially an exercise in head cannon. I am liberally applying the principle that as long as cannon has not explicitly disproven the possibility, it is still feasible.
Disclaimer: Some of the questions in this story are taken from AOS episode 19 along with parts of the responses, but everything else comes from my extremely vivid imagination. I only own my own ideas and even then I'm sure other people have come to the same conclusion.
Rating: K + for discussion of things such as Alzheimer's, divorce, teen pregnancy, the Grand Hydra Conspiracy, the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and don't ask, don't tell (DADT).
Relationships: Peggy Carter & Antoine Triplett, Sharon Carter & Antoine Triplett, Antoine Triplett & Agents of SHIELD Team, Phil Coulson & Antoine Triplett, and past Peggy Carter/Gabe Jones in addition to allusions to other previous relationships that predated their marriage. Also allusions to past Antoine Triplett/OMC.
Other warnings: This story is written by a dyslexic person using voice recognition software. Prone to crazy voice recognition errors and changing tenses without even realizing it. My beta tries her best, so proceed with compassion.
Proofread by Grayson Steele
"What is your full name?" Trip sighed to himself at the first question. Agent Koenig even phrased the question the exact same way his brother did. That's fine with him. The sooner he gets done with this, the sooner he can actually sleep for the first time in days.
He tried to get some shut eye on the plane after they took down Garrett, but he just couldn't sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about everything, even if this villain was gone. The ride to this secret base was the first time that he'd been able to fully process everything that has happened in these last 3 weeks.
Has it only been 3 weeks since everything fell apart?
He was worried about his family, especially his grandmother. The fall of SHIELD meant no more subsidized senior living community. His mother made good money as a doctor, but Alzheimer's is expensive even if you are sharing those costs with other siblings. He also doubts his father's benefits package includes health insurance for his mother-in-law.
He was worried about the team, especially Fitz and Simmons even though he had been informed of their survival. Jemma was his first real friend among the team. The first one to trust him without knowing he was a SHIELD legacy. He was worried about her. He wanted to see if she was okay (although he knew that she was anything but that) more than he wanted sleep.
He was well aware she was close to Agent Fitz, but he wondered about the depth of those feelings given that she was completely oblivious to the other man's unwarranted jealous behavior. He was also worried about the man himself despite Fitz's antagonistic behavior towards him. But things were starting to get better before…
"Antoine Roger Triplett," he answered before becoming too lost in his own thoughts.
"Are you named after Captain America?" Yes, these are definitely going to be the exact same questions, even the supplemental ones. Eric asked the same thing. He was tempted to roll his eyes.
"My middle name comes from a close family friend." He gave the same reply last time. Due to recent events, Trip was glad they went with Roger instead of Grant.
"Who happens to be Captain America?" That question was not asked last time. During the first "orientation" the next question was about eye color.
"Steve Rogers was friends with my grandparents not Captain America." Unlike the man in front of him, Trip was very aware of the difference between public persona and true self. "It's a family tradition. My mother's name is Stephanie." A tradition that will be stopping with him, but he doesn't say anything out loud. He just wants this to move on to the desert island question.
"Was Triplett the last name you were born with?" Unfortunately, that was not going to happen right now.
"My original last name was Carter-Jones." Trip responded reluctantly. Everyone on the bus knew who his grandfather was thanks to the first interrogation and the need to 'borrow' grandpa's old gear. The Director was the only one who knew about his grandmother and so far he has kept that information to himself. Now that his original last name was out there, it would take a quick Google search to determine who his grandmother is. "However, I took my father's name after their marriage." That is technically true.
"Speaking of family, please list your immediate family?" His interviewer asked. This question came later last time.
"My mother is Dr. Stephanie Triplett. She lives in suburban Los Angeles with my father Jonathan Triplett. He works in the accounting department at Stark Industries." He replied the same as last time.
"But he's not your biological father?" Last time his twin asked Trip if his father ever met Iron Man before asking about his Grandpa Jones. Right now, he preferred that question.
"No. I don't know who my biological father is." That was a subject never mentioned in the Carter-Jones household growing up. Once he earned his level 6 security clearance he tried to find the answer. He discovered it was classified at level 10 and decided it was probably best to never know. Now that that information was probably on the Internet for anyone to see he had no desire whatsoever to look for it.
"Jonathan raised me. I think that's more important. He told Agent Koenig with a hint of anger in his voice. "Also, as far as I know, I'm an only child."
"Are any of your grandparents still alive?" At least Billy Koenig's question about his grandparents was less obvious.
"Jonathan's parents died right before he married my mom when I was 10. It was a car accident. My grandfather Gabe Jones, yes that Gabe Jones, died when I was in high school." He was expecting Billy to now give a variation of his brother's Howling Commandos tattoos speech. That did not happen.
"Since your birth name was Carter-Jones, I assume that your grandmother was the one and only Peggy Carter, Gabe Jones' second wife." Last time, because he was never forced to admit his original last name, he only referred to his grandmother as Grandma Jones. He did this hoping that Eric would just assume that his mother was a product of his grandfather's first marriage.
"That's correct." He answered honestly because subterfuge wouldn't work this time. "But this is another thing I don't advertise. I prefer to keep my personal life private. All I ever wanted was to be judged by what I can do."
"If Peggy Carter was my grandmother, I would have her name tattooed on my arm." His training was the only reason why he didn't start laughing. Somehow it made perfect sense that one twin worshiped his grandfather, while the other one was completely obsessed with his grandmother.
"The past tense isn't necessary." He corrected slightly annoyed. "My maternal grandmother Margaret Carter-Jones is still alive and currently lives in an assisted living/rehab center in Arlington, Virginia because her son and daughter from her first marriage live there." Actually, it was because grandma felt most comfortable in Arlington. His cousin Sharon thinks it's because that's where grandpa was buried. He doesn't have any opinion on that.
"Please give the names of your aunt and uncle?" Personally, Trip believes this question was in here so that he could learn more about his idols family life.
"Uncle Taylor works for Treasury and Aunt Marcy is at the State Department." Actually, Aunt Marcy works for the CIA, she was just on detail to the State Department. Fortunately, it was true enough for the agent not to ask a follow-up question. "They go by the last name Carter-Jones because they want nothing to do with their biological father. I also have 2 other aunts, Desiree and Jamie Jones, from my grandfather's first wife. They're both career military. There was a reason why Director Coulson asked me to be the one to contact armed services." They would be less likely to hang up on General Jamie Jones' nephew.
His mom was actually the black sheep of the family by not working for the government in some way. Actually, his mom was the black sheep of the family for a lot of reasons, which was why he wasn't particularly close to any of his aunts or uncle. Then again, they were all 14 to 20 years older than his mom. Grandma Peggy considered Stephanie her miracle baby having conceived her at 50.
"Why didn't they join SHIELD? Your grandmother was director from 1981 to 1987."
That was another thing not discussed in the Carter-Jones household, but even he knew it was because they refused to continue working for an organization that forced their mother or stepmother to resign when their 16-year-old half-sister had the misfortune of becoming a statistic.
"They wanted to be somewhere without a family legacy." He said out loud instead. It was still the truth. "I don't blame them because I hate being seen as a legacy or worse, the token minority."
"Yet you still join SHIELD, despite the fact that the Academy taught classes on your grandparents. Why not join another agency or the military?" 'Because DADT wasn't repealed until 2011 and SHIELD was the most LGTBI friendly agency in the intelligence community.'
"Director Nick Fury crashed my graduation party and promised me that SHIELD would be the one place where I would be judged on my abilities and only my abilities." 'Because it's a lot easier to keep quiet regarding who my grandparents are than the alternative.'
"Have you ever been in contact with Alexander Pierce?" Last time the Insight question came first.
"Not personally. Garrett would get calls from him occasionally. They had mutual friends. However, I had no idea that those mutual friends were other Hydra agents." Trip was still mad at himself for not noticing anything strange about that. For the last few weeks, he had been analyzing everything that he missed. How did he not realize that Garrett was killing off members of his own team?
"He was also your grandmother successor at SHIELD." Strangely, the way he said it reminded him of the Tony Stark question last time.
"That doesn't mean I actually met the guy. My dad works for Stark Industries, but that doesn't mean Iron Man is my best friend. I've never met the man." He answered defensively.
"Are you sure you never met Alexander Pierce?" He asked again.
"If I did, it had to happen when I was a baby. According to family legend, her successor sent my mother a baby blanket and my grandmother burned it. In light of that, I doubt they socialized after the transition."
Nearly thirty years with his grandmother had him betting the baby blanket thing was true. He just wished that the woman who torched her successor's self-serving gift was still around.
"Do you know if your grandmother was aware of his true allegiance?" Trip wasn't sure if he was more surprised that Billy asked this question or that his brother neglected to. Of course, maybe Eric didn't pick up on his subterfuge during the first interview. He didn't pick up on the fact that Ward was lying through his teeth, so it's possible that he never realized Trip's purposeful misdirection.
"You're going to have to ask Grandma Peggy that. Considering that some days she doesn't even remember who I am, I'm not sure you're going to be able to get an answer. However, knowing my grandmother like I do, she probably would've shot him before giving him control of her baby." He answered defiantly.
Grandma Peggy would have never allowed Alexander Pierce to take over if she had known the Hydra truth, even though she was forced out by the World Security Council. Of course, now he's wondering if Alexander Pierce or rather Hydra manipulated things so Grandma Peggy had no choice but to leave the agency. The events surrounding his conception were classified at level 10. Did that mean something? Was his very existence a Hydra plot?
"Have you ever been married?" Finally they were moving on to something else, even if this was not a question he was asked last time.
"No." He answered quickly. This question was only slightly better than the one before for him.
"Are you sure of that answer? No quickies in Vegas or something for a mission?" Agent Koenig asked as a follow-up question.
"I've never been married." He said sadly. He was almost married, but that doesn't count.
"In April of 2012, you did fill out paperwork regarding your new spouse. In June 2012, that paperwork was withdrawn." Again, his training was the only reason why he didn't react to that question. As far as he knew, Skye had erased all traces of him ever working for SHIELD, including evidence of his almost marriage.
If he worked for any other agency such paperwork would not have even existed since DOMA wasn't repealed until a year after the implosion of his engagement. However, Nick Fury believed since SHIELD was never really a part of the U.S. Government; they didn't have to follow 'ridiculous rules'. This was something that was brought up by various conservative Congressmen at the SHIELD hearings according to various news outlets.
"I was engaged to a guy name Robin, who happens to be one of my grandmother's nurses. Unfortunately, the wedding was scheduled to take place the weekend that the Chitauri invaded Manhattan. Robin was mad that I went to help instead of having the wedding as planned. That was when he realized what my being an Agent of SHIELD truly meant. Robin decided that he didn't want to marry someone more committed to his job than to him. I found this argument strange considering the fact that he is a nurse and his job can be very demanding as well." The argument that followed was bad and ended with Trip throwing his engagement ring in the Potomac.
"Grandma said it was better that he left me before the wedding, instead of going through with it, thinking that he could change me afterwards. She said it would be less painful this way." Of course, Grandma Peggy barely told him this before her mind returned to a time where she was going through her own Robin situation.
"Is it true that her first husband left her because of her career?" Billy questioned. Again, it occurs to him that this man is only asking to learn more about his idol.
"He didn't like being number two to SHIELD." He also didn't like being second to Steve Rogers' ghost either, but yet another topic that was never mentioned in his family.
In the end, it was for the best. Her first marriage lasted six years and ended with him leaving her with two small children to take care of. Her second marriage lasted 36 years (preceded by more than 2 decades of friendship) and only ended because of death. He knew his grandparents loved each other very much. He could tell by just the way they looked at each other. Trip always wanted to find that type of love for himself. After two years, he realized that he never had that with Robin.
"He was an idiot. He knew exactly who I—grandma was from the beginning. You don't marry someone like Peggy Carter and expect her to stay home with the kids. If the man wanted a 1950s housewife, he should have married someone else. Grandma was right. It was better that Robin left when he did because even though I loved him I'm always going to be a SHIELD agent first, even when the only thing left of the agency is ashes."
"What is the difference between an egg and a rock?" He took a deep breath at that question. Finally, something easy.
"An egg breaks when you throw it at somebody." Trip repeated his response from his first orientation.
"Have you ever heard of Project Insight?" Agent Koenig moved on without any follow-up questions for once.
"The first time I heard about the project was during orientation with your brother. This was after the incident in Washington." He knew all about the project now. It's been on the news nonstop for the last 3 weeks. While they were in that little hotel in LA, watching the news was the only thing to do (other than convincing his mom to let him have Grandpa Jones' spy gear).
"You wash up on a deserted island alone," Agent Koenig said as he returned to the regular questions. "Sitting on the shore is a box. What is in that box?"
"A SAT phone, so I can call someone to get me off the island." He said, practically giving the same answer as last time.
"Who would you call?" But the follow-up question was new.
"Sharon." The name was out of his mouth before he could even think.
"Who is Sharon?"
"Sharon Carter is my cousin, although several generations removed. Her grandfather was the significantly younger brother of my grandma Peggy. We practically grew up together." His only first cousins, who all came from Uncle Tyler, were still in elementary school, and felt more like his nieces and nephews. Uncle Tyler just had to keep up the family tradition of having children in your fifties.
"Being retired, Grandma Peggy took care of us most of the time." He thinks of that time as Academy prep. There's a reason why both he and Sharon managed to get through the specialist program in one year. "We went to elementary school together until my mom moved to California. Later, we went to college and attended the Academy together." They also did a lot of OPS together after his engagement fell apart before Garrett pulled him for his team.
"So your cousin Sharon was a SHIELD agent?"
"Yes."
"Is she affiliated with Hydra?"
"No," he answered emphatically.
"How do you know that?"
"First of all, she's now at another agency, which means she passed their vetting process." Sharon was now at CIA, most likely because of Aunt Marcy.
"Hydra has infiltrated many organizations."
"Sharon is not Hydra." He repeated forcefully. "First of all, it would completely kill grandma if she was." Actually, this whole mess will probably kill her anyway, if Grandma Peggy could really understand what happened to her agency. He was going to have to call the ex to see how grandma was really doing. Sharon would do her best to protect him, but Robin would give him the truth, no matter how painful.
"The reason why I completely trust Sharon is because she's always been there for me through the break up to dealing with grandma. She took a DC assignment just to help take care of her. Sharon is the closest thing I have to a sister. If I can't trust her, then this Hydra thing is more fu-messed up then I believed." He barely caught his use of a curse word. He was getting tired of this interrogation. He just wanted some sleep.
"Although this incarnation of SHIELD is not considered a terrorist organization, many of the agencies former members are considered terrorists. It is also no longer considered a government entity nor is it recognized as such by any major world powers. In light of this, why are you here?" He exhaled, positive this was the last question since it was similar to the final question last time but not exactly the same.
It made sense that he was not asking the exact same question. They were no longer considered fugitives after taking down his former boss and Project Centipede (and Aunt Jamie going off on whoever gave Talbot permission to hunt down her nephew). They were going to be able to rebuild the agency from scratch.
He could still say that he was here to take down Hydra because they won the battle, not the war. He knew Hydra was still everywhere, but he could still fight it from the CIA. Sharon and Aunt Marcy called him after they took care of Garrett. The CIA wanted him, badly. Yet he's still here going through orientation again. Why was he still here?
"To rebuild SHIELD," he said after a few moments of reflection. "My grandfather was one of the first specialists of this organization, but my grandmother was one of its founders. She nurtured this organization as if it was another one of her children. Even after she was forced out by the World Security Council, my grandmother stayed on as a consultant. She was on Nick Fury speed dial until she got sick." Yes, the man did call a lot.
"My mom was always convinced that my grandmother loved this organization more than her. Actually, she was convinced grandma hated her for causing her to be forced out of SHIELD. That wasn't the case, but this organization always meant a lot to my grandma. If she could help rebuild it, she would be at the Playground with us, but she's not. So it's up to me. I owe her that much. I owe the organization that much." When his mother handed over the commando gear, she actually said he was very much his grandmother's grandson.
"Why?" Why can't this guy let this interview end?
"Because I didn't realize that my boss was the evil that we were hunting. Because I didn't see that Grant Ward was a wolf among us. Because if I wasn't born, Alexander Pierce would have never become head of SHIELD and therefore would have never been named to the World Security Council." Because he never thought it was suspicious that the identity of his biological father was classified at level 10.
"This interview stops now." Director Coulson says over the intercom. Trip knew that the window in the room was a two-way mirror. "Give him his lanyard. As far as I am concerned, Agent Triplett has passed orientation."
"Yes, Director Coulson." Agent Koenig said reluctantly.
He collects his lanyard and nearly walks into the director, who is waiting for him when he exits the room.
"What happened wasn't your fault." The director states as he leads the way to what Trip hopes is the sleeping quarters.
"I should have realized something was wrong earlier. I've been trained since I was a little kid to pick up on things that most people don't notice and yet I didn't see it." He told the man angrily.
"Not realizing that John was evil incarnate is also something that is not your fault, but I wasn't talking about that." Coulson clarified. "Your birth did not allow Alexander Pierce to infiltrate SHIELD. Hydra was already in the organization at that point."
"Everything related to my birth and conception was classified at level 10 and it's no secret that the World Security Council used the excuse of her teenage daughter getting pregnant to force my grandmother's resignation. You're an expert in analysis, sir. I think it's pretty obvious what happened." He said with a hint of bitterness.
"You were just a baby. You were not responsible for…" The Director started, but Trip cut him off.
"Sir, I don't think I've actually slept for more than 2 hours since this all began. I really just want to sleep." He doesn't even have the energy to check on Simmons, not after the interrogation with Billy. He definitely doesn't have the energy to argue with his superior.
"You are in room 6A across from Simmons and Skye. Your lanyard will let you into the room." Coulson said pointing down the hallway.
"Thank you, sir."
"If you want to call your cousin or your mother, it's okay." Coulson offered.
"Tomorrow, sir." He can deal with everything tomorrow.
The end
You can check out the other stories in the In a World Like This universe. Agent Triplett will be having more of a role in later chapters of Tony Stark is Not a Relationship Expert (But He is Still Doing Better than Phil Coulson).
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