Ahhh... sorry this took age to do guys, I got sucked up in a lot of traveling issues. And I did warn everyone I'm not exactly the best updater. As a token of my apology I doubled this chapter. Anyway enjoy! xx


Jack stepped out his car and closed the door behind him. He could hear music coupled with laughter blare from the lively mansion in front of him. Today was the day of the ballroom party at Howard's mansion. He adjusted his black bow tie before running his hand though his hair one last time. Must have been nerves. But nervous for what? He shrugged the feeling off. He entered to be greeted by Jarvis who looked up from the list his was observing.

"Good evening Agent Thompson, Mr. Stark is glad you could make it, enjoy the party." Jarvis said with a tight smile.

"Hm." Jack said with a skeptical look. "I'd say the same for you."

"I'll try to." Jarvis replied dryly.

Jack almost laughed; the poor guy probably hated having to host galas for Howard.

As he made his way through the chatty party guests, he looked around and spotted twelve other undercover officers that Peggy had designated as backup. Each of them were at their assigned stations. Jack was impressed, she strategically placed them at all areas that could have been used as potential escape routes. That way, anyone who tried to attack or kidnap Howard would have to go through them.

He walked to a table nearby to pick a glass of water and drew the glass to his lips. Before him was a large portrait of Howard on the wall. His lips tugged into a tight frown. With the smirk on Howard's face the portrait looked as though it was mocking him. As he stared at the painting, a whistle sounded from beside him. He turned to see Daniel and Fisher.

"This manor is gigantic." Daniel said in awe as they stared at the portrait.

"Waste of space if you ask me." Fisher gruffed with his arms crossed disapprovingly.

Jack zoned out of their conversation, he couldn't help but wonder where Peggy was, he hadn't seen her since he arrived. Where could she have been?

"Anyone seen Carter?" Jack asked as he glanced as the room full of talkative people.

Daniel shrugged, "Maybe with Howard?"

"Just perfect." Fisher grumbled, "To busy with the playboy, she can't even show up on time to her own lead mission."

"Cut her a break Fisher, I bet she's on to something this very minute." Daniel said hopefully before taking a sip from the glass he was holding.

"You're more loyal to Peggy than my dog." Jack said mockingly as he picked an olive from a waiter that had a tray of food. Daniel rolled his eyes and sadly glanced away as Fisher howled of laughter.

"Aw Jack you hurt the poor guy's feelings. Look at him, he's crushed." Fisher said mockingly.

"Didn't know you had the heart to own a pet," Daniel retorted with a smile.

"Done bickering like schoolboys?" Said a calm voice from behind them.

They all stared at Peggy who seemed as though she had appeared out of nowhere. Peggy's red lips were set with a dazzling smile; she wore a simple but long dark blue dress with her red hair pinned up into gentle cascades.

Peggy smirked at their surprised looks, "Yes. I heard everything you said. And to answer your question Agent Fisher, I was here the entire night searching for answers. I have a lead but I can't seem to find him now.." She paused suspiciously and raised her brow, "And why are you three starting at me like that? Never seen me in a dress?"

Fisher cleared his throat and gulped a drink from the glass cup beside him. Jack's frown deepened, they were staring at her because she was…breathtaking. But Daniel beat him to it.

"You look great Chief." Daniel said with a polite smile.

She laughed, "You too Daniel. Your purple bow tie really brings out your eyes."

"Thanks." Daniel replied with a smile.

Jack rolled his eyes, "Can we stick to the mission girlies?"

Peggy ignored Jack's rude comment.

"I'll be with Howard all night, so I want everyone to keep their eyes out for anomalies. Anyone of the guests in this party is a potential threat. Spread the word to our backup. We can't take any chances. Understood?"

They all nodded.

"Good, we can split up. Agent Fisher, I want you to focus on the outside area of the party while Daniel, Jack and I will focus indoors."

Fisher nodded and headed outside. Peggy turned to Daniel, "Were you ever able to find the editor who wrote the piece on Howard and I?"

Daniel sighed and glanced at Jack before shaking his head, "We found him alright. Dead. Right in the middle of his office. Bullet straight to his cranium."

Peggy rubbed her hands to shake off the uneasy feeling rising to her stomach, a man was killed. The person behind this was obviously trying to hide something because they were getting close to the truth.

Daniel shook his head, "And that's not all. There was a note in the guy's hand. There was no indication of motive, they didn't ask for a ransom, all it read was that they call themselves The Cronies."

"Interesting choice of name." Jack said with a scoff.

Peggy frowned, something wasn't right, somehow The Cronies knew that Fisher and Daniel were on their way to take the editor for interrogation. Whatever information that man had was lost now. The Cronies must have thought their way through everything because they always seem to be two steps ahead of her.

"The Cronies." Peggy whispered to herself. Jack had a point, why would an anonymous terrorist group name themselves something that means "a close companion."

She looked up, "Did you search his apartment? Maybe there were clues that could give us a lead?"

"You think we never thought of that? We already tried every angle we could think of." Jack snapped defensively.

She nodded, "I believe you. Maybe we shou—"

She was interrupted by a kiss on her cheek. Peggy turned in surprise to see Howard with a beaming smile.

"There you are! My favorite gal of the night!" Howard said with a wink.

"Howard…?" Peggy said with a cautionary smile as she pecked his cheek back.

Howard laughed and whispered, "Could you just pretend to be in love with me for a quick second, I want to show you off to Billy."

"Will you both be alright if I leave?" Peggy said while looking at Jack who was trying to avoid her gaze.

Daniel cleared his throat when he noticed Jack hadn't answered the question, "We'll be fine Chief. You two go have fun."

Howard placed his arm around her back and grinned, "We definitely will. See ya later fellas."

Jack watched as Howard steered Peggy away from them to greet some party guests. He was surprised as she glanced back to him almost apologetically. He took a sip from his glass and set it down in irritation. He couldn't help but notice how Peggy fitted in well with these aristocrats; she had the look, the etiquette, the pose, heck with her English accent one could mistake her for a duchess. He observed the way Peggy threw her head back in laughter along with three other guests, almost as though Howard made the funniest joke in the world.

As he walked away he grimaced, he remembered why he hated attending parties among rich folk. They only cared about themselves and their money, how powerful they were, who had the biggest car, it was all a sham.

His wondering eyes always went back to Howard's arm that was comfortably placed on her back. His lip twitched, Howard was already acting as though he owned her. Jack immediately turned away and walked in the opposite direction. He frowned, whether or not Peggy was dating Howard why should he care? Why did it bother him so much?

"Hey, slow down a sec." Daniel said calling after Jack as he limped in his direction.

He glanced back at Daniel, "What?"

"Something bothering you?"

"Of course not." Jack snapped stubbornly.

After a few minutes of tense silence Daniel sighed, "Look. I know you and Peggy always find something to quarrel over, but this time it's different. You two have been acting strange around each other lately."

Jack exhaled, Daniel was right. The past two weeks had been odd. Ever since the talk, he and Peggy had they had both been avoiding each other like the plague. Besides talking to him about incidents related to the bombing, Peggy had started avoiding his gaze, she acted distant around him, even went back to calling him Agent Thompson instead of Jack. What surprised him is how much he missed the way she said Jack. When she said his first name it felt less detached from work, it felt more like they were friends.

"Something happen between you two?" Daniel asked after the prolonged silence.

"Something like that." Jack responded with a curt nod.

Daniel picked another glass as he observed their surroundings.

"You know, Peggy has done nothing but try to be nice you at work. Why do you always feel the need to make everything a competition with her?" He asked calmly.

Jack frowned, "Because she needs to learn her place. She thinks just because she's the only woman on the team that she gets to call the shots."

Daniel noticed Jack was watching Howard and Peggy talk. He smiled slightly, "Are you sure that's really what you're angry about?"

"What are you my shrink?" Jack asked in irritation.

"I honestly think you two needs to settle aside your differences and talk whatever's bothering you."

Jack had been contemplating on whether to talk to Peggy about possible feelings he might have for her. He sighed but where could he start? Explain why he was always being so defensive and crabby towards her? Explain he had been having feelings for her not long after her arrival to S.S.R and even amidst all the insults he threw at her?

He stayed silent for a while before sighing, "Carter and I, we don't talk, we argue."

"Your point?"

"It's not that easy. We always end up back to square one."

Daniel patted his friend's back, "It never is. But it doesn't hurt to try."

Jack looked up from the glass he was holding and noticed Peggy was staring at him from afar.


"You ok Peggy?"

She blinked when she realized Howard had asked that question three times. She'd been watching Jack from the table she was at.

"I'm sorry darling, what were you saying?" Peggy asked innocently hoping that Howard hadn't noticed who she was staring at.

"You're being a terrible date." Howard sang.

He must have sensed how quiet she was. Peggy chuckled as she turned her head to her friend, "Poor you. Let me guess, you hate having competition?"

He puffed his chest as though she ruffled his feather, "In public, yes. People won't be convinced you're my date with the way you keep staring at blondie like that."

"Sorry." She said softly before popping a grape in her mouth.

"What'd he do to you?" Howard asked with a disapproving frown as they stared at Jack who was talking with Daniel.

"It's nothing really. I hinted to the fact I fancied him. I probably shouldn't have." She said with a casual shrug.

"What'd he say?"

"Nothing." She whispered as they shifted their attention to the people dancing before them.

"Good."

Peggy arched her brow at Howard's response before he continued.

"Well. I hate it when you're moppy. It's not fair to me. Sitting here and staring at him isn't going to do anything but make you even more hung over about him."

"Everything isn't always about you dear." Peggy said with a sad smile before picking a grape from his plate.

"Lies." Howard said with a smile.

She bit her lip, she wasn't "hung" over Jack... She just hated the fact she told him how she felt and all he could do was try to argue with her even more. Unlike a lot of girls who usually like to play the part of denial when a guy liked them. She knew Jack liked her back. He was just to soddy proud to admit it.

"Well you want to get over him don'tcha?" He took her hand and stood up, "Let's go dance. You look like you need some cheering up."

"I'll take a pass on that. No offense Howard, but I'm not too comfortable with all my colleagues from work watching me have fun on a mission."

"So… you're scared."

Peggy sighed, "Howard, you know how the men at work treat me. I'm a woman. I don't have that luxury, my every move is scrutinized. I—"

"Blah blah blah, all I'm hearing are excuses." Howard arched his brow, "I saw Agent Fisher and some girl dancing a while ago. So he can have fun and you can't?"

Peggy looked at the center room with people crowded around a couple who were dancing. She noticed it was Howard's friend Billy and his wife; they seemed to have caught everyone's attention.

"This is my party, why is it I'm the only one who isn't dancing?" Howard muttered as they watched Billy. He snapped his fingers. She looked back at Howard who had a devious smile.

"…Howard… I know that cunning look on your face and whatever it is, I'll save you the trouble and say no."

"How good are you at Swing dancing ?" Howard said wiggling his brows.

"Phenomenal. I was forced to take dancing classes back in England."

"Perfect. Let's upstage Billy, it'll be fun."

She raised her brows, "Now why would we do that? I thought you too were close friends?"

"I also mentioned he's one of my biggest competitors." Howard said holding out a hand to Peggy.

She laughed while accepting her eager friend's hand, "You just hate not being the center of attention."

"You know me too well." Stark said as he tugged her to the center where Billy and his wife were dancing.

"Billy, I suggest you and your wife take a break from the spotlight. Peggy and I wouldn't want to bump into you." Howard said with a smirk.

The party guests that made a circle around them to watch laughed. Peggy placed her left hand on his upper shoulder and entwined her right hand with his. Once they were in position Howard turned to the band.

"You call this music? Can you fellas make the music a little more upbeat?"

"Be nice Howard!" Peggy said with a laugh as they danced to the music. The people laughed even more at her response to Howard.

"What? With the way the music was going I felt like I was at a funeral!" Howard insisted with an arrogant grin as he twirled her.

The guests laughed hysterically. Peggy arched her brow at everyone's reaction. Either they enjoyed watching someone bicker with Howard, or they just really liked to laugh at any dry joke Howard made. Well… considering how rich her friend was, she guessed it was the latter.

As they were about to end their dance Howard placed a hand on her upper back to signal he was about to dip her, she nodded slightly before he lowered her and brought her back up from the dip gently. She did a slight curtsy as Howard bowed. The room erupted with loud clapping and whistles.

"You've been keeping secrets from me. I didn't know you were that good." Howard said in surprise as they walked away from the dance floor.

Everyone around them clapped wildly, she smiled politely, "They liked us."

"Liked? They loved us! Well—everyone besides your buddy." Howard motioned to where Jack was standing, "Probably jealous he isn't having as much fun as us."

Peggy glanced curiously at Jack who was among the crowd who was watching them dance. Did he see the whole thing? From the look on his lips set in a straight frown he probably had.

A photographer ran up to them with a camera in his hand, "Hello Mr. Stark. I work for the New York Chronicles. Mind if I take a picture of you two?"

"I don't know…" Peggy turned to Howard, "After what happened last time I don't think it'd be a good idea."

"You heard the lady, no pictures for tonight." Howard said to the photographer. The man sulked his shoulders and walked away.

Howard looked suspiciously as the photographer disappeared from sight, "Funny. I don't remember asking Jarvis to hire a photographer from the New York Chronicles…"

Something felt off about the man. Peggy frowned. The editor who was murdered by The Cronies worked for the New York Chronicles. As she looked around the room her frown deepened. All the undercover agents she had put in position were gone.

"Howard. Stay close to me." Peggy said as she took his hand.

"I've been waiting for you to say that." Howard joked.

She groaned, "This isn't the best time to be flirting Howard. Something happened to all the guards."

Howard nodded when he realized she was serious. "Someone kidnapped thirteen able bodied men without anyone noticing?"

Peggy nodded wordlessly. She felt a growing guilt develop in her stomach. Why hadn't she been more careful, she should have noticed something was wrong. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Jarvis and Daniel.

"Mr. Stark. Ms. Carter. We have a problem."

"Whats the problem?" Howard asked when he noticed the solemn look on Jarvis's face.

"I spotted two people going upstairs. I believe someone's trying to break into Howard's bedroom." Jarvis said in an urgent tone.

She paused to think and nodded, "Alright, I'll figure something out." She turned to Daniel. "The men in their positioned stations are being kept somewhere. I need you to find Agent Fisher and Agent Thompson so we can find them."

"Well…That's the other problem." Daniel said in a low tone, "Fisher and Jack went after them. I told them it would be better if we went through it by you, but they just complained that I was slowing them down."

Peggy couldn't help but feel cross. She expected this from Fisher but Jack? Did he really think it would be a good idea to go on their own? Without consulting her?

"Alright, Daniel, stay with Howard, I'll go check on them. If I don't come back down in ten minutes I want you to call the police and Jarvis right after make sure to call off the party immediately." Peggy let go of Howard's hand, "Make sure you stay with Daniel and don't do anything stupid."

"Darn villains always have to spoil the fun." Howard muttered as he watched Peggy walk upstairs.

She walked up two flights of the large staircase and turned to the right where Howard's bedroom was. Her brows furrowed, the door was wide open. In the middle of the room was Jack tied in a chair. His hands were bound behind him and a cloth around his mouth to keep him from making noises.

While reaching for her gun that was saddled in her thigh holster under her dress, she entered the room quietly. Holding the gun away from her and ready to shoot, she examined the room making sure no one followed her. Once she was certain there was no one else in the room but them she quickly walked to Jack. His grey eyes widened slightly when their eyes met.

Drops of red stained his white dress shirt from the trail of blood that ran down his nose. She touched his face to examine how badly they hurt him. He winced slightly at her touch.

"Hold still, it's just a few punches." She muttered.

From the circle that was slowly forming on his eye she could tell he'd been punched on his eye and nose.

"You have a lot of explaining to do." She said displeased. With one hand she removed the cloth from his mouth, "Where's Agent Fisher?"

Jack took two deep breaths as he watched her untie his feet, "I don't know, they knocked us out. They must have taken him to another room."

As she was about to say something she felt a dart hit her neck. The room seemed to shake from underneath her. She looked beside her to see a fuzzy image of Jack falling from his chair, a dart must have hit him as well. She fell down to her knees and placed her palms flat on the floor to steady herself. A stinging pain surged from the base of her neck.

"Jack." She whispered before letting darkness overcome her vision.


Peggy slowly lifted her heavy eyelids; she moaned, the sting on her neck had subsided. Her mouth felt dry, she smacked her lips a few times.

"Peggy! Come on, wake up Pegs."

As she looked up to see Jack staring at her with a concerned frown. She sat up slowly because her head felt like it had been drenched in water. While squeezing her eyes and taking deep breathes she turned to him, "How long were we out for?"

"I would guess for about an hour."

Her eyes flew wide open, as she looked around memories flooded her as she remembered what had happened.

"And they took my gun." She said with a groan, "Thank you Agent Thompson."

He frowned at her sarcasm.

She shook her head, "I mean. What on earth were you thinking going alone like that! Thank goodness Daniel isn't as arrogant as you two"

Jack didn't dare look at her red face, she was furious.

"Look, it was a mistake I get it.."

"You call trying to catch an unknown enemy without proper back up and without the consent of the Chief a mistake? It wasn't a mistake; it was you two being bloody foolish!"

"Look at you Peggy. You're a woman." Jack said with a bitter laugh, "What? You think if Agent Fisher and I 'consulted' you that the circumstance would be any different?"

Peggy restrained the temptation to leave him there so the person could knock some sense into his misogynistic head.

"Woman or not. This type of action could get you fired. Why didn't you tell me you two were going to play hero. We would have all thought this out better."

Jack stood up and turned his back to her, "Maybe because you were having too much fun dancing with your date"

Peggy laughed bitterly, "Are we really doing this? You're angry at me because you're jealous?"

He faced her and pointed his finger at her in accusation, "You're being delusional Peggy. I'm not jealous; you're just a terrible Chief!"

"Don't you dare pin the blame on me Agent Thompson! Who cares about being Chief? I'm angry because you didn't inform me about something important and if something happened to you I'd be held responsible for it!" She shouted back.

He went silent and continued to stare at the ground. They've argued before about a lot of things, but now she didn't sound angry, she sounded hurt.

After walking to the door, she turned the knob.

It didn't budge.

"Unbelievable." She muttered to herself, "The door isn't opening."

"Put some muscle into it." Jack said dryly.

"Enough with your sexist jokes. I'm being serious, the door, someone locked us in here." She shook the knob with more force.

"Move." Jack said as he tugged her away from the door. He tried kicking the door a few times, but to no avail. He took three steps back before running to the door as fast as he could.

"I can't believe you actually believe ramming yourself to that door will get us out of here!" She shouted as Jack ignored her.

"Hate to break it to you but I don't take instructions from girls." He gritted before trying to ram the door again. He grunted as pins of pain ran up his arm, he stopped to rest for a few seconds before repeating the process.

"Would you stop trying to act macho? You'll hurt yourself!" She said while pulling him away from the door.

His face winced in pain as he glared at her, "Don't tell me what to d—"

"Shh." Peggy said placing a finger on his lips. She leaned on the door and heard a muffled conversation between two people.

"Are they both in the room?"

"Yes, I used the tranquilizers on them as well, it'll almost be an hour so we better hurry before they wake up."

"And you're sure nobody knows I was here? If anyone suspects I'm working with you all of this will be over."

"Relax. A deals a deal."

"How long will it take us to get Stark?"

"About five minutes, six minutes tops."

"Good. Let's go into position. And here—take this knife."

"Why?"

"In case your gun doesn't do the job. As much as I hate to admit it… that woman…Agent Carter. She's smart and exceptionally trained. She'll expect you to have a gun and she'll probably figure out a way to snatch it from you. But she won't see this knife coming. Make sure to hit her right in the gut."

"You must really hate that lady. Now, come on, we don't have time, let's go search for Stark."

Peggy shivered, who could the person be to hate her that much? She closed her eyes and strained to hear if they were gone. After five seconds of hearing distant footsteps she turned to Jack.

"They've gone to search for Howard. They'll be back in 5 minutes. And when they do, one of them is coming back to kill us. He has a gun and a knife."

He turned and laughed bitterly, "Great.. Now what are we going to do? We have no weapons to defend ourselves against this guy!"

"Then I'll make one."

Jack's mouth dropped slightly as Peggy hitched her gown a little above her knees.

"W-What do you think you're doing Carter?"

"Stop staring Agent Thompson and help me rip this." Peggy instructed as she started a five inch jagged split at the hem.

"Do you really think this is the time to be redesigning your dress!" Jack exclaimed while watching her.

She looked up and sighed at Jack who was still staring at her strangely.

"Jack you're going to have to trust me on this, that man is probably on his way in two minutes, are you going to help me or not?"

He noticed for the first time in two weeks she called him Jack again. He'd be lying to himself to say he wasn't happy to hear her say his name again. He nodded and knelt down before trying his best to focus on tearing a straight horizontal line across the dress.

"I really hope you know what you're doing." Jack muttered as he completed tearing the bottom half the blue gown. He stood up and handed the cloth to her, "There."

"Perfect." She whispered with a determined smile as she rung both ends of the cloth tightly around her palms.

"So what's the plan?" Jack snapped impatiently.

From his annoyed tone, Peggy could sense he didn't like that she was in control, not that that bothered her...

"Now—I have a weapon." She held the meter long cloth up for Jack to see. "I learnt this technique back on one of my excursion trips in Russia. It's a method of defense, traditionally it works best with a towel or jacket, but this will have to do." She paused, "I just hope I remember the moves correctly…"

"Hope?" Jack murmured with a disapproving frown. Peggy's dress was torn short well above her knee, much more skin than he intended to tear…

Peggy arched her brow when she noticed he wasn't focusing, "For the second time Agent Thompson, quit looking at my legs, my face is up here."

He smirked, "Hey you were asking fo—"

Her eyes narrowed at him with a sharp frown, "Finish that sentence and I'll use this cloth on you instead."

Jack's smirk withered slightly from her piercing glare, "Alright, while you hold him back what I'm I going to do?"

"Call for back up, then look for Howard." She sighed and looked up to him, "Make sure he's safe."

He placed a firm hand on her shoulder so she could face him. "Forget Howard. I'm not leaving you alone with a killer!"

Peggy glanced away from his gaze and shook her head as she rung the cloth in her hands tighter to the point her fingers turned pale.

"Agent Thompson. You know who has the better fighting skills from the both of us. So unless you have a better plan, stick to mine." Her eyes locked with his grey ones, "As your Chief, I'm ordering you to put Howard as your first priority in protecting. Got it?"

"Be careful." He murmured before his hand that was on her shoulder reluctantly fell to his side.

Was it her? Or did he actually sound concerned about her well-being. Jack was always full of surprises.

She smiled slightly, "I'll be fine."

"Pegs—I"

Jack was interrupted by a sound that came from behind them. Their heads turned to the door, they could hear shifting.

"They're here." He said with a scowl.

"Hide under the bed. Don't come out till I tell you to." She ordered without looking back. The door bust open.

She crept behind the man and strapped the cloth to his face and start choking him. He immediately dropped the gun to pry the cloth off him. She used her heel to kick the gun behind her.

"Agent Thompson, find Howard." Peggy shouted. She turned and noticed Jack was frozen. She could tell from the look on his face, he was having second thoughts on whether to help her. "Agent Thompson, just go, I'll be fine!"

The man reached for his knife and held it to her neck. He spat to the ground, "Make a move and your throat gets slit."

Jack got out from under the bed and grabbed the gun that had been kicked outside. He held the gun and aimed at the man, "Let her go or I shoot."

"I told you I can handle this Jack." Peggy insisted.

"I'm not leaving you that man has a knife to your neck!" Jack barked, "You heard me pal, let her go or—"

The man chuckled bitterly, "You heard the girl. She thinks she can handle a man all by herself."

Peggy used the cloth to deflect the knife and twisted it to angle so it didn't face her before using her elbow to jab the man. The second she felt the man loosen his grip on the knife she twisted his arm with the cloth as hard as she could until he finally dropped it. After quickly grabbing the knife, she felt the blade piece her skin. She winced but used it to deflect one of his hits.

She transferred the knife to her other hand before turning to Jack who was shocked at the amazing feat he just witnessed.

"Find Howard." Peggy commanded before turning to the man. Still in shock, Jack simply nodded and left.

The man grit his teeth from his dislocated arm and stood up to hit Peggy. Peggy ducked and wrapped the cloth around the man's neck tightly until she felt him go limp.

"I suggest you think about rephrasing your sentences before getting a woman angry." She muttered with a dry smile as she dropped the man to the ground.

"How in the world did you knock a knife wielding man unconscious?"

She turned in surprise to see Jarvis staring at the floor with dread on his face.

"My dress did most of the work." Peggy said with a wink to Jarvis who clearly wasn't happy with the mess he'd eventually have to clean up.

"Couldn't you have been neater Ms. Carter? Look at all this blood." Jarvis said with a dry smile. That was Jarvis's peculiar way of asking if she was alright.

She smirked, "I'm fine thank you very much."

Jack and three policemen came into the room. They read the man the Miranda Rights as they handcuffed him and took him out of the room.

He watched as they dragged him away, funny how they read the rights even when someone was unconscious. He looked at Peggy was staring out at a large window as though she was in a trance. She looked like she needed a talk, he recognized the slump in her slender shoulders, she was feeling guilty. And he could help but hate that he was the main cause for it.

He turned to Jarvis and lowered his voice so she could hear, "Mind getting out of the room? I need to discuss something with Agent Carter—privately."

Jarvis cast a worried glance at Peggy and nodded, "Mr. Stark keeps a first aid kit in the bottom drawer of his bathroom. You both look like you'll need it."

"Thanks." Jack said as he closed the door behind Jarvis.

"Why'd you send Jarvis away?" She asked, still facing the window. Moonlight shone on her fixed face, creating a shadow that covered half of it.

He crossed his arms and stood beside Peggy, "You want me to tell you the bad news or worse news first?"

"Worse," She said softly.

"All the thirteen undercover agents are still missing. Daniel and I checked in every room of the house, they're gone. Many of them were our best."

Peggy ran her fingers across her pearl necklace repeatedly, how could they have done all this without her notice? Was it that she wasn't alert enough? Was it that she didn't hire enough men?

"Bad news is we found Fisher bleeding badly in the kitchen." He sighed, "They knocked him up pretty bad."

She turned to him in shock, "And what about Howard? Is he safe?"

Jack couldn't help but frown at the concern in her question, "Yeah yeah, Agent Fisher saved him from one of the Cronies who were trying to kidnap him."

He noticed the relived look on her face; she must have worried the Cronies had done something to the guy.

"Your hand is bleeding." He noted.

Peggy looked at her hand, "I'll take care of it. Go check up and see how Agent Fisher is doing."

A dark line of blood lingered across from where she held the knife. She looked up to see Jack had left her. Her heart sank a little; he seemed to have been a tad bit interested in her injury.

"Guess I should have been more careful." She whispered to herself as she tried opening and closing her palm to see how bad the pain was. As her fingers clenched inwards, her hand started to ache.

"Are you going to stand there all day or let me clean your wound?"

She turned in surprise to see Jack sitting on Howard's bed while looking through a first aid box.

"I thought you left me."

Jack looked up to her. The way she said that sentence almost made him shiver to the bones. Very briefly, something inside him wanted to wrap his arms around her as a promise not to leave her. He shook the unfamiliar thought away and rolled the sleeves of his dress shirt to his elbows before patting the space next to him.

"Sit." He instructed.

"Agent Thompson, I can assure you that your masculinity won't be in peril by saying 'please' once in a while." She said as she sat beside him on the bed.

"We both know I'm not that giving with my manners." He said softly as he brought out a cloth from the box. Now all he needed was alcohol, the one in the first aid box was finished. He rolled his eyes, how often did Howard hurt himself to finish all the alcohol in a first aid box?

Well. The guy was a playboy, he had to have alcohol somewhere in his room. Bingo. He turned to grab the bottle of whiskey from Howard's bedside and turned back to Peggy who was tapping her feet impatiently.

Peggy braced herself as she watched Jack soak the cloth in alcohol.

A small smile tugged on his lips as he examined the unsettled look on her face, "You ready, this is going to burn."

"Go ahead, I've had much worse." Peggy said with a dry smile as he took her hand in his.

She looked away and bit her lip as he gently patted the cloth on her hand. No matter how gently he patted the wound her whole hand, dull burning sensation prickled across the cut.

"This is dreadfully painful." She muttered bitterly. Peggy was surprised at how careful he was handling her.

"I told you it would hurt." Jack said with a smirk as he smoothly bandaged her hand.

"You seem to be enjoying this." She said with one arched bow, he surely did a bad job at hiding his amusement.

He shrugged, she always sported a tough exterior at work; it was just interesting seeing her vulnerable.

"There. All done." He said hold up her hand for her to see.

"Thanks." She said with a half-smile.

He hated how solemn she looked, he sighed, he had to make it right with her, "Forget everything I told you today."

"What?"

"It's not your fault. What happened today wasn't your fault, so quit blaming yourself."

She sighed, "I just can't shake it off. What about those thirteen men? They had families, friends, loved ones—"

He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "They aren't dead Pegs. We'll find them."

After looking down at their hands he gazed into her brilliant hazel eyes. It surprised him how accustomed he had grown to her eyes. He noticed how when she was downcast they seemed to grow dim and dark. The smooth green on the edge contrasted beautifully with the amber color in the middle.

"Anyone mention you have really pretty eyes?" He murmured.

Peggy smiled sadly as she patted her bandaged hand on his. "You obviously had a little too much to drink tonight Agent Thompson."

He chuckled softly, "Surprisingly I haven't had a drop, I promise."

Jack decided to do something he had been waiting to do for a long time.

He held her gently cupped her face with one hand. He leaned down and softly kissed her lips. The kiss was slow, their lips lingered on each other's before they made contact… as though they were unsure, scared that they might break each other. Their tender kiss became more passionate. He slanted her head further, deepening the kiss. He felt her hands at the nape of his neck slide to his chest.

"Jack stop." She whispered.

When they pulled away he looked at her in surprise, "Did I do something wrong?"

She rubbed her hand nervously and looked at him with a concerned gaze, "I'm being serious, how many drinks have you had tonight?"

"Did you taste any alcohol?" Jack said with a content smile. It was interesting seeing her flustered, a very different side from her usually confident self.

"Why'd you kiss me?"

Jack took her hand in his, "Not sure how you Brits go about it, but here in the States, when a guy likes a lady… he kisses her."

Wait, did Jack just admit he liked her? She frowned, "I'm being serious!" While standing up, she shook her head, "I was trying to get over you."

"What if I don't want you to?" Jack said standing up after her.

"Well then you better bloody get used to it. Look Jac—I mean… Agent Thompson. I made a mistake telling you how I feel."

"Why?" He asked with his hand on her cheek.

She closed her eyes for a second, "This isn't appropriate."

Jack frowned, "Right. I forgot you're dating Howard."

Peggy shook her head with a sad smile, "No, it's not that. We're colleagues, it won't work out."

Before Jack could respond the door bust open.

"Uh…What are you two doing in my bedroom?"

They turned to see Howard with raised brows. Jack lowered his hand from her face, but was probably not fast enough.

Peggy stood in front of Jack, "Agent Thompson was helping me patch up my wound, and in fact he was just about to leave. Right Agent Thompson?"

"Uh...Sure." Jack said almost with a smug grin, "Peggy mind showing me the way to the front door is again?"

"I'll call Jarvis to escort you out." Howard said with his arms crossed.

"Oh it's fine, Jarvis already has to clean up the big mess I made, I'll show him the way out," Peggy said taking Jack's arm as she led him down the stairs.

"I think I got your date mad." Jack said with a smirk.

"I heard that!" Howard hollered, "You know what, I think I'll come along with you two." he said as he followed them out.

"That won't be necessary." Jack said with a frown directed at Howard.

"Of course it's necessary, after all, where would my manners be if I didn't see off my party guests."

Peggy rolled her eyes, men, always trying to prove who was better than the other. When they reached the front drive way Jack turned to Peggy, "Need a ride home?"

"Actually—"

"Nice try Blondie. Pegs lives with me. Have a nice ride home." Howard said with a wink to Jack as he put an arm around Peggy's shoulder.

"Howard!" She said with warning eyes.

"It's not my fault he didn't know." Howard replied casually.

Jack looked between the two and entered his car before turning on the engine, "I'll see you on Monday Agent Carter."

She nodded and watched his car drive away. She turned to Howard who was setting on the steps towards his manor.

"Poor dress. It suited you." Howard said loudly with a smirk.

She sighed and sat next to him, "Why'd you do that Howard?"

"Do what?" Howard asked stroking his mustache innocently.

"You know what I mean you soddy dork, pretending we're a couple!"

"Hey, I never made it a secret to tell you I don't approve of him." Howard said with a smile, "Plus after all he puts you though at work I think making him suffer a little isn't that bad."

Peggy laughed, "Or you just like showing off?"

"Probably." Howard said with a goofy smile, "Look Peggy, you're one of the only friends I've had who is a girl that I haven't… you know."

"Thank goodness for that." Peggy said with a shudder.

"Hey, any girl who has me for the day would be lucky." Howard said.

He rolled his eyes, "As I was saying, as your very, rich, accomplished and devilishly handsome guy friend, I feel it's my obligation to make sure you don't hook up with the wrong kind of guy. So whatever you and Jack were doing in my room better end tonight."

Peggy patted Howard's knee and smiled, "Don't worry. I listened to your advice."

Howard frowned, "You did?"

Peggy nodded, "I told him I was getting over him. We would have never worked out anyway."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah." She sighed, "I'm sorry too."

Howard patted her shoulder, "Hey, believe me when I say this Peggy. One day you'll find a guy who you deserve and he'll be just as amazingly handsome as me. But, I'd be the more handsome one of course."

She rolled her eyes and stood up, "Night Howard."

"Night? With all the blood on my carpets I can't sleep in my own room, so I'm going to work on one of my inventions downstairs. " Howard said standing up.

Peggy paused and turned to Howard, "The Cronies didn't take anything from your gadget room?"

Howard shook his head, "Nope, I'm as surprised as you are."

She frowned, if the Cronies didn't come to steal one of Howard's inventions…what did they come for?


Yaay, so comments on their kiss? Reactions? Howard? Peggy's awesomeness? Liking the dynamic between the characters? Suggestions? Anything, feel free to comment, its really helpful on seeing how I can improve the story!