(A/N- Hey guys I am really new to the Agent Carter fandom and I am no writer. I just wrote this story after looking for some good long cartson fanfics and not being able to find many. English is not my first language and I would be really grateful if you guys could leave reviews about what I've written till now. It is your response to this story that'll determine if I'll carry it forward or not. Please leave a review!)
Agent Peggy Carter had lived a life filled with losses. The people closest to her had a tendency to leave and she blamed herself for these losses. In her words it was she who got them killed. She thought she had found her soulmate in Steve Rogers (who was better known to the world as Captain America). However that love story was not meant to have a happy ending.
After losing Steve, Peggy thought it impossible to love again. The loss of her one true love had made Peggy put up walls around her, never letting anybody in, for the fear of losing them. She was only too aware of the fact that it was she who was to be blamed for her dear friend and roommate Colleen's murder just a few weeks back and the guilt had been gnawing her ever since. This was the reason why she had been very hesitant in taking up Angie's offer to live in her building. Ultimately she had caved.
However, given the events that had occurred in the past month, what with federal agents sweeping the place and two tenants with secret identities (one of them a trained soviet assassin), it was quite understandable why her landlady Mrs. Fry had absolutely refused to shelter Peggy a moment longer. For the last 4 weeks Peggy had been living with her friend Angie in a house owned by her billionaire friend and world renowned inventor Howard Stark whose name had been cleared by Peggy. She was, however, in desperate need of a proper residence of her own despite the luxury of Howard's villa and his repeated assurances that she was welcome to stay there for as long as she wished.
While things were certainly gloomy on the house hunting front, Peggy had seen a welcome change in her workplace. She was now treated with respect by her fellow agents, given how she had prevented Manhattan from a grave crisis. Of course no one but a few people actually knew how big a role she had played in the whole operation, but the reason for this change in atmosphere was, according to Peggy, a person named agent Thompson...well, Chief Thompson. He had surprised her with his civil behavior since becoming the chief.
To be honest, she had felt a pang of regret for not being recognized for doing her job well, but mostly she was happy for Thompson. After their brief stay in Russia she had come to see agent Thompson in a completely different light. She knew everyone who had witnessed the war firsthand had been terribly affected by it, but somehow seeing Jack Thompson, the cocky, arrogant and self- assured Thompson as vulnerable as he was in Russia, made him seem somehow more human to Peggy, someone who had his own weaknesses and battles to fight. He was still cocky and arrogant, but now he was a tamer version of his earlier self. This was a welcome change to say the least. Also, he had decided to cut down on his sexist remarks and had been treating Peggy with respect, and this, according to her, had made everyone else start treating her like the federal agent she was, instead of treating her like a secretary who brought them their lunches and served them coffee.
Just as Peggy was thinking about how Jack Thompson had somehow single handedly changed her life at the SSR, her thoughts were interrupted by the presence of a woman in a waitress's uniform. She was none other than Angela Martinelli, who happened to be Peggy's closest friend and confidante and who aspired to be a broad way star someday.
"Hey English," greeted Angie, using her nickname for Peggy, "How's the house hunting going? Still no luck?" she asked.
"No!" groaned Peggy, finishing the cup of coffee she had been drinking and fishing in her purse for money to pay for the breakfast she'd just had at the diner, "all the places I've seen till now have been most unsuitable. For how long am I supposed to live at Howard's place? Isn't there any decent place left for a woman to live in this city?"
"Give it a few more days, something will come up." Angie assured her. "It's a shame they didn't have any extra room at the place I'm moving to. Oh, what a pain it will be to live with 2 more women after having stayed at a billionaire's villa! At least I made the most of it" finished Angie, sounding a bit happier.
"Well," said Peggy, getting up from her booth, "I better leave if I don't want to lose my job. I don't expect Chief Thompson will be pleased if I am late."
"Oh yeah!" said Angie, "The blondie who calls his grandmother Gam Gam! He's been rather friendly with you... a bit too friendly, don't you think?" she smirked.
"Come on Angie, he's just being nice to me because of what we've been through. There's nothing more to it. Honestly you have to stop teasing me about him!" Peggy huffed.
For the last 2 weeks Angie had been pestering Peggy, trying to make her believe that maybe Jack Thompson was being nice to her because he had begun to have feelings for her. To Peggy, it was all rubbish. Jack Thompson was nothing but professional towards her (maybe a bit more civil and friendly these last couple of weeks) and the idea of him being interested in her was almost ludicrous.
"Oh come on Pegs, one day you'll realize that I am right about this. Trust me, I've had more experience with men than you have! Oh yeah.. And if you guys do end up going out, tell him to improve his skills with the ladies, he isn't all that great around emotional women, from what I saw" laughed Angie.
"Goodbye Angie" said Peggy, preferring not to get into this so early in the morning, "I'll meet you later". With this she left the diner to go to her place of work, the headquarters of the Strategic Scientific Research.