AN: Alright. I honestly can't stop writing about this ship. I truly appreciate all your favorites and follows, but I'd like to ask for more reviews if possible. I need some ideas for the next few chapters-I'm running out of them! Also, thank you for the lovely reviews from those that have taken the time to type even short, sweet sentences.

Guest: thank you for taking the time to read it!

AmyBobiNguyen: I wish they were too! I feel like Thompson is pretty shy around women and tries to show his affection through teasing, some of it heartless and insensitive. But he's learning!

tiggerdavis1970: there will be if you send in ideas! And two reviews from you? I feel special;)

oldmoviewatcher: Welcome to the Cartson Trash Can, where everyone is aware of how they are trash. It's big enough to be a dumpster now. And your review made me smile for several minutes:)

Please enjoy, my lovlies:)

"Jack?"

Thompson looked up from his reports and turned toward Peggy. The lamp on his desk cast shadows on the planes of his face as he looked at her attentively. "Yes?"

She glanced around nervously, carefully making sure they were in fact the only two left in the office. "I...need some advice."

His eyebrows rose to his hairline, and he let out a soft chuckle. "What could I possibly give you advice on, Marge?"

She mumbled an indistinguishable word around the pencil she lightly gripped in her mouth as she ducked her head.

"What was that? I couldn't understand you."

"Men. And, um, rejecting them politely and nicely and gently."

Jack's previously quiet chuckles turned into a full guffaw. "You? You need help turning down a man?"-he let out another laugh-"Who would you want to turn down?"

Peggy frowned. "That's beside the point. I just need help knowing-"

"No, no, no, I'd like to know who it is! Let's see, if you won't tell me, I'll just have to guess."

"Oh, please don't."

He ignored her. "Is it Stark? I hope not; he's an idiot as much as he is a genius. Hmm, Campbell? Wait, nah, he's married, and you're not that kinda gal. Russo? Kowalski?"

"Please stop. You'll only tease him." Immediately after she finished talking, she but her lip when she realized her slip.

"I'd tease him? Who would I possible pick o-oh, Mags, it's not Sousa, is it? Geez, why do you not want to go out with him? I thought you were sweet on him." Jack walked over to her desk and perched on the corner. "What's he done so that you don't wanna be his girl?"

"He's sweet, but I...sometimes feel like he pities me." She rushed over her next words. "It's not that I don't appreciate his friendship, but I feel that he only sees me as a woman that must be protected. He pities the fact that I am overlooked, and for that, he hasn't really bothered to get to know me. To him, I am a single woman that must be taken care of and protected because no one will ever see me as anything else." She paused and gazed at Jack, and he could feel the shiver going up his back. "I want to be respected. I want to be treated as an equal, but I also want understanding. I want to be acknowledged as having emotions but not being emotional. I don't want him to acquiesce to my every want; likewise, I don't want to bow to his every desire. I want a lively underlying friendship full of banter and laughter rather than dull discussions. And as selfish of me as it is to say it, I don't think I can have that with Daniel."

"Is that what you really think of me?"

Both Peggy's and Jack's head swiveled to the open door. Sousa stood there limply with the most broken expression adorning his face. "I came to get a file...Peggy, I don't understand...I thought we had something, and I just..." He swallowed thickly. "I don't pity you. I'm sorry you find my company dull, but I-Peggy, I just wanted you to know that you're really something, and even if other pigheaded guys don't see it, you're special to me. And I..." He trailed off, and rather than making excuses and explaining in more detail, he turned tail and hustled toward the elevator.

Jack glanced at Peggy to see her reaction, which, when he saw it, looked more guilty than anything. He mumbled a curse before dashing toward the elevator Sousa had just disappeared into. Punching the button several times, he stood bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waited.

A few moments later, Jack caught up to Sousa on the ground floor. "Sousa!" Unsurprisingly, he didn't turn around. "Sousa! Daniel!" This caught his attention, and he slowed enough for Jack to catch up. "She didn't mean it."

"Of course she did! I just wish she'd said it to my face instead of telling you!"

Jack reeled back as though he'd been slapped. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know perfectly well what! Don't pretend you haven't been spending more time with her or that you're sweet on her! I've seen the way you look at her, and honestly, it just makes me feel inadequate! Who'd take poor, crippled Daniel Sousa over the dashing war hero, Jack Thompson? No one!" By this time, Sousa couldn't be bothered to keep his voice at a reasonable volume. His shouts could be echoing across the tiled floor.

Jack yelled back just as loudly, "She's still hung up over Rogers! She can't even think about going steady with anyone until she's come to terms with what happened over a year ago! You honestly think that if she went for anyone right now that it would be me? I'm a coward, Sousa, and quite honestly, I wouldn't want her to be with someone like me!" His eyes betrayed his insecurities.

"Then tell her that! Tell her you don't want to be with her! She's falling for you hook, line, and sinker, and I'm embarrassed I didn't see it before I humiliated myself by asking her for a drink."

"I can't tell her that because it wouldn't be true." Jack hung his head and shuffled his feet as his hands moved to his pockets.

Sousa smiled bitterly and said, "Just promise me two things."

Thompson's formerly limp head snapped up. "Anything besides doing your paperwork."

Around a watery chuckle, Sousa managed to mumble, "Don't rub your relationship in my face when you finally have one-"

"Deal."

"-and take care of her."