Disclaimer: I don't own any characters familiar to Marvel

Chapter 2

The following morning, Daniel woke up to the sound of movement in the kitchen. He quickly popped up, not expecting the disturbance, stopping only when he saw Steve.

"Apologies," Steve offered.

Daniel nodded in acknowledgement, but somewhere deep inside, there was doubt that the other man wasn't quite so apologetic.

"Coffee?"

"Definitely," Daniel replied, moving the blanket off him before he stood up. He stretched for a moment and pulled up his suspenders before folding up the blanket and sheet he'd been given and making his way toward the kitchen where Steve had disappeared.

"Go ahead and have a seat," Steve said, referring to the small table in the corner of the room. "Milk and sugar are already at the table."

Daniel took a seat, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Steve was barely cordial, at least where he was concerned, and he wasn't obtuse. He needed to squash it, as soon as possible. "Thank you for taking us in last night." He watched Steve momentarily hesitate in his actions before recovering.

"You're welcome," the other man replied, raising both coffee cups and carrying them towards the table.

Daniel reached for the cup from him. "Look, I know that we didn't have the best introduction, but we have no intention of harming you or Peggy or the life you've built together. We just need some help to get home."

Steve studied the man across from him. Daniel appeared completely genuine and the fact that he hadn't yet moved his gaze from his only further drove home his sincerity. He was pleading with him, hoping that he'd believe him, pleading to understand that he had no intention of wrecking his life with Peggy. He nodded slowly, accepting the words. "From what was said last night, isn't this a little closer to home for you?"

Daniel shrugged. "When you put it like that, I guess," he allowed. "Having said that though, the life I've lived since being pulled out of time…I chose to stay with that team for a reason." If he'd wanted to leave that badly, they wouldn't have forced him to stay, despite whatever changes to the timeline that could have occurred because of it. "Daisy saved my life. I mean her entire team did by their actions that night, but since then…" He trailed off for a moment. "Daisy is my home, much like I suspect Peggy is to you." He noticed Steve's shoulder unfurl when he mentioned Daisy and wondered if she'd been correct the night before for assuming that the man had been threatened by his appearance.

Steve reflected on his own time travel experience. "I know what you mean," he admitted. "When I woke up in the future…it was like no time had passed for me. I was still intending to go dancing with Peggy the following weekend. I was crushed when I learned that so much time had passed." He didn't think he'd ever forget the feeling of the world metaphorically falling out from his feet in that moment. "And as many friends as I made there, and the people I met…I was still-"

"Hopelessly in love with Peg?" Daniel asked though he didn't expect a response from his companion. "She has that effect on people," he acknowledged, hoping his words wouldn't offend the other man. It wasn't as if he still harbored feelings for his former partner.

Steve smiled as he thought on his wife. "She certainly does," Steve agreed easily.

"Who does what?" Peggy asked.

Daniel turned to reply, but all words left him when he noticed the small figure she was holding in her arms. "Hello, there," he greeted the youngest human.

"Daniel, this is Juliette Natasha Rogers," Peggy introduced. "Our son, Michael stayed the night with a friend of his last night. I imagine you'll meet him soon enough."

"Michael…after your brother?" He asked, though he already knew the answer. He focused on the little girl in her mother's arms. "Hi Juliette," Daniel greeted the small child. "It's nice to meet you." He watched as she turned her face into her mother's neck. "She can't possibly yours," he remarked, looking back at Peggy and noticing her frown. "I've never seen you shy away from a conversation."

"Very funny," she repeated, not the least bit amused by his words. She handed off the child to her father. "Here you go, daddy," she said, as Steve placed the child in the highchair. "I placed extra towels in the washroom for you, Kora and Daisy."

Feeling like an outsider, Daniel excused himself from the kitchen then, letting the family be. Silently, he mused over the fact that seeing Peggy again, seeing the life she'd built for herself didn't hurt like he'd expected it to. Once their relationship ended, they'd only ever spent time together in an official capacity. Their friendship had been strained under the demise of their romantic relationship, and though he had gotten over her, he hadn't been anxious to see her move on without him.

"Still no regrets about how your life turned out?" Daisy asked, announcing her presence. Stepping up behind him, she wrapped her around his mid-section as she peaked over his shoulder, noticing the family moment he was watching.

"Not one," he immediately denied, bringing a hand up to rest over her locked ones as he rubbed them.

She disconnected her hands as they fell from his middle. "Really? Because you were watching them intently."

Daniel turned around to face her. "I was just musing over the way that things worked out. Honestly, there was a time when I couldn't imagine watching that scene without feeling jealous or hurt, but…it doesn't bother me the way I thought it would."

She offered him a sincere smile. "I'm glad that you found some closure…I mean on your terms." Obviously, there'd been closure when their relationship ended, but just because a relationship ended didn't mean the feelings automatically did.

"Now that that's out of the way, good morning," he greeted, placing a swift kiss on her lips. "How did you sleep?"

"I tossed and turned for most of the night," she confessed. "You?"

"Pretty much the same," he confirmed.

Daisy nodded. "Kora didn't get much sleep either."

"We knew that sleep would be hard to come by," he reminded her as he looked her over. "You do look very pretty today," he complimented, looking her over.

Daisy looked down. "Peggy graciously offered us some of her clothes." She immediately brought her hands up to smooth her blouse. "I don't fill it out quite as well as she does," she complained quietly.

"You look lovely," he quickly remarked. "As much as I enjoy looking at you when you're in your yoga pants, I like knowing that all I have to do is slip your skirt up if I want to touch you," he spoke softly, so as not to be overheard by anyone else.

His eyes darkened in response to his own words, and she felt her cheeks pinken with embarrassment and was left wondering how he could still make her blush even after a year of being together. "How do you still manage to make me blush after you've seen my body dozens of times?"

"Because I'll always want you…in every way."

Her stomach twisted and desire flushed through her in response to his words. "Behave, please." She couldn't handle the dirty talk, not when they didn't have a chance to do anything about it. "Besides, Agent Carter has a very curious expression on her face right now."

That observation didn't surprise him, not that he had been hoping to hide anything. "I think I'll head upstairs and get ready for the day. I'm sure another conversation isn't far off."

"Yeah, sounds good," she said with a smile. When he stepped away, she noticed that the couple in the kitchen were still looking at her and she had a feeling that her conversation would begin before he rejoined her. "Morning," she greeted approaching them. "Anymore coffee?"

"Of course," Steve obliged, pouring her a cup.

Daisy smiled at him before she noticed the young child in the highchair. "Oh, good morning," she instantly greeted her.

"This is our daughter, Juliette Natasha Rogers."

"Natasha…after Romanoff?" Daisy asked, sparing Steve a glance before looking back at the little girl. "Hi, sweet girl," she greeted, using Jemma's term of endearment for Alya. "That is a beautiful name."

"You seem to know a bit about me," Steve said then.

"Yes, well, it was a big deal when you thawed out," Daisy denied before realizing how awkward he must have felt. "I'm sorry," she apologized in earnest. "I guess I forgot how weird it feels when a practical stranger says certain things about your life," she apologized, remembering how awkward things initially had been with Kora.

Considering the comment about thawing out, Peggy deduced that she'd been around when Steve was. "How old were you when Steve 'thawed out?'"

"23…24, give or take a month or so," Daisy said, trying her best to recall.

"I have so many questions I want to ask you," Peggy confessed. "But I'm sure that the answers would only confuse me."

Daisy nodded slowly. "Probably," she admitted. "And a lot of it probably needs a longer explanation that Daniel and Kora should be present for."

Peggy returned the head nod, understanding the reasoning. "I suppose I'll get breakfast started then."

"Do you need any help with that?" Daisy asked.

"No, thank you though."

When his wife moved away from the immediate area, Steve spoke. "Did you know Natasha?" He asked his companion though his attention never wavered from Juliette.

"No, not personally. I knew who she was, and I had some friends that worked with her over the years, so I heard a few stories."

Steve nodded once in acknowledgment. "Did you ever meet any of the Avengers?"

Again, she shook her head in negative. "Again, I had friends that did. I didn't even become a full-fledged agent until…" she hesitated then, unsure if she should mention announce something that Steve may not have mentioned to Peggy. Leaning forward, she lowered her voice. "Like right before Hydra came out," she continued.

"She knows about Hydra and SHIELD falling," Steve informed Daisy. "What did you do before that?"

"I was originally brought on as a consultant for a mobile team that had been put together."

"And what did that entail?"

Daisy thought back to the first few months and her original team, sans Ward. "We chased down various threats ranging from powered individuals to criminals to alien artefacts."

At that point, Juliette was finished eating, content to remain in her highchair and Steve took a moment to look at his companion. Her mind was miles away and he could almost make out a smile playing on her lips. "You liked working with SHIELD."

Daisy was pulled out of her reverie. "I liked working with that team," she clarified. "Or, well, most of them," she tacked on as a memory of Ward made it's way unbidden to the forefront of her thoughts. "Before SHIELD fell, I had issues with the way they did things."

He couldn't say he disagreed. "And after?"

"It was better," she replied, offering no further details.

"What was better?"

"I trusted the people in charge…" Robert Gonzalez entered her thoughts. "Barring one," she admitted with a frown as she thought of him. She may not have trusted Mace in the beginning, but she had in the end. His sacrifice in the framework had genuinely proved his allegiance to SHIELD, or at least the idea of it, considering the circumstances in which he'd died. "In effort to not hinder any of our future conversations," she began, knowing it wouldn't be long before the five of them sat down together again, "I think I need to disclose something to you."

"Oh?" He couldn't help but be curious by what she had to reveal to him.

"Phil Coulson didn't stay dead after Loki stabbed him."

He was brought back to the moment when Fury tossed Coulson's bloodied cards onto the table before him. "What?" Despite how enthusiastic Coulson had been about him, he'd felt completely horrible for the man's death.

"There was a project that SHIELD had been working on…prior to that. It was a serum that could bring people back to life or…pull them back from the brink of death, but there were side effects."

"What sort of side effects?"

"The kind that drove those people crazy." She watched as he winced. "Fury shut it down and put the file in his toolbox."

Steve frowned.

"It's like the president's book of secrets, but for SHIELD directors," she explained.

He acknowledged the explanation before returning to her revelation. "And this serum was used to bring him back."

"Yes."

"But if it was so dangerous-"

"I guess Fury thought it was warranted." She couldn't say she disagreed with the decision, considering the role that Coulson had in her life. "I mention it because it may come up in the conversation. Coulson is a big part of my life and…yeah," she finished lamely. "It would just be easier to disclose his status to you now instead of holding the others up for this explanation."

He nodded once. "So, he's been alive for…however many years after?"

"I guess it was five years," when everything was said and done. "He did end up dying again…and staying that way."

He met her gaze then with a look of compassion on his face. Steve recalled the version of the agent he'd met. "How did he feel about…being brought back like that?"

"He…once he found out about the method that brought him back to life, he never agreed with it." While he'd never said it expressly, she suspected that Coulson felt robbed of the peace that death afforded him.

"Last night when I mentioned the robot, the one that took Daniel's place at the Roosevelt…it was Coulson."

"You guys built a robot version of him?"

"Not all of us, but yes," she admitted, easily able to see that he didn't agree with the decision. "The members that did…they had a…device, called a time stream that was able to predict various situations, to see how things would play out. His knowledge was needed when we were traveling through time."

While he couldn't say he agreed with it, he did understand the need for it by way of her explanation. "And the robot version of him, how did he feel about that?"

"The correct term for him would be LMD," she chimed in, assuming he'd understand how it was different than a robot. "I didn't want to the explain the concept yesterday to Peggy."

He nodded, understanding that the omission had been more about getting his wife to understand the situation they'd experienced.

"He wasn't too happy about it," Daisy divulged. "When he first woke up and realized that he felt different, the memories that were implanted kind of…assaulted him all at once. Even when we were dealing with everything, he had his moments of resentment. But when we found out why he'd been built, I think he came to terms with it." Or at least it seemed like he had when she had last spoken to the group through the virtual meeting.

"You miss him."

"I miss all of them, but yeah…I do." She couldn't imagine living the rest of her life without seeing him again.

After dressing for the day, Daniel returned downstairs with Kora in tow. The pair moved to the kitchen, content to join the others.

"Morning, Kora," Peggy greeted from her spot at the stove. "Coffee?" She watched the woman hesitate. "Or we have tea."

"Morning. Uh, tea, please," the other woman replied, spying her sister with Steve at the small table. "I don't think the three of us got six hours of sleep between us."

Peggy offered her a nod of understanding. "Yes, well, I suppose that is to be expected after your ordeal."

Daniel moved around the women and poured a cup of tea for his teammate.

"Milk and sugar are at the table. I also have honey and lemon if you prefer those," Peggy informed the woman.

"Plain is fine with me," Kora replied, blowing on the hot substance. "Do you need some help with breakfast?"

"No, I…" she thought better of it. "Actually, could you watch over this for just a minute or two? I…Daniel, might I have a word with you?"

Daniel looked to Daisy, who was still engrossed in her conversation with Steve. "Uh, sure."

Peggy smiled at Kora. "I'll be back shortly," she promised before exiting the kitchen, waiting for Daniel to follow. She claimed at seat at the formal dining table and waited for him to follow before speaking up. "So, I suppose it would be fair to assume that Daisy is more than just a colleague for you…" She trailed off, watching Daniel closely for his reaction.

Crossing his arms, he leaned back in his seat. "This didn't take you long." He'd been expecting the question since she'd witnessed his embrace with Daisy. "You didn't say anything to her?"

"I do have manners," she reminded him. "Interrogating a guest in my home is not something I'd do."

"Yes, it is," he volleyed before he could help himself.

Peggy smiled sheepishly. "It is, but she's been pleasant and therefor I didn't think I had a reason to," she clarified before pushing the subject again. "So, again…fair assumption?"

"It is," he allowed then while trying to fight back a smile as he thought on Daisy.

"You traveled into the future and fell in love with a woman that won't be born for another twenty-something years."

"And then some," he corrected with a nod. "I did," he confessed easily. "Someone on her last team said it was like something out of a comic book."

Peggy smiled. "I can't say I'm very familiar with them," she admitted. "Michael's got a handful of them, but I've never read them."

"Yes, well, you aren't exactly the target audience," he bantered.

"No, I suppose I'm not," she allowed with a small smirk before she sobered back up. "And she makes you happy?" She asked, returning to the conversation.

"Very," he confirmed.

She nodded, thinking on the moment she'd witnessed earlier, comparing it to when she discovered he'd been dating Violet in 1947. It had been a very uneven dynamic between Daniel and the nurse, so much so that she'd easily been able to deduce that Daniel's feelings hadn't been nearly as strong as Violet's had. However, there was a balance that existed between him and Daisy, an equal push and pull. "And you make her happy?"

"I like to think so." He hadn't heard any complaints so far…

"I'm glad," she responded in earnest. "Daniel there's something that I want to say, and then I'll never mention it again." She waited for his acknowledgement and watched him shift in his seat, as if preparing for something awful. "The worst part about our relationship ending was the fact that I lost this amazing friend."

"I felt the same way." He admitted. "We just…obviously weren't meant to be together in that capacity. It may have taken a while for me to get there and understand that, but I never blamed you for ending things." He'd been stationed on the west coast, and she'd been summoned back to New York. Despite the feelings that had once existed between them, it just wasn't enough in the end. They both deserved more than the other could give.

It felt as if an invisible weight had been lifted off her shoulders. For years, she'd regretted the way that things ended between them. It wasn't so much the romance as much as the deterioration of their friendship. "Now that you're back, for…however long, I hope that we can find our way back to that friendship."

He took a moment to consider her words. Though they were well intentioned, and he felt the same way, that would never happen. There was no going back to it. But they could start over. New. Fresh. And probably different than before. Daniel nodded. "Me too."

Peggy nodded once. "Okay, so…I'm going to finish breakfast."

"Hi, mum, dad. I'm home!" However, he came to a stop when he noticed the unfamiliar people sitting with his father.

Steve was quick to greet his son. "Your mother is putting Juliette down for her nap. How was your night?"

"We had a lot of fun," Michael answered.

"Michael, this is an old friend of your mother's. Meet Daniel-"

"Johnson," Daniel smoothly interrupted, smiling at the child. "And these are my friends. Daisy and Kora Johnson."

Michael greeted each person before turning back to his father. "Can we go to the movies soon? Peter Plan is playing and Davy said he saw it and it was really good."

"I love Peter Pan," Daisy spoke up then, striking up a conversation with the boy. "It was one of my favorites when I was a kid." It wasn't until he looked at her like she had another head that she realized she must have said the wrong thing.

"But it only just came out a few years ago." Michael recalled, proud that he'd remembered something Davy's older sister said.

When was it originally released? "I meant that I loved the book when I was growing up. Seeing it…it made me feel like a kid all over again," Daisy said, walking back from the flub.

The child nodded in response before turning back to his father. "Davy is outside and he's wondering if we can go ride our bikes."

It would be easier to continue the conversation without having to omit anything because his son could potentially be listing… "Take care of your overnight bag and then yes."

Excited by the agreement, Michael eagerly nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Wow, that could have been bad," Daisy murmured.

"You couldn't have known…" Kora tried to comfort her.

"Luckily, I was able to walk it back, but what if I say the wrong thing to the wrong person?"

Before anyone could say anything in response, Peggy's approaching footsteps were heard along with a much more eager pair.

"Bye mum and dad!" Michael called out, running of the house.

"She down for the count?" Steve asked when his wife returned to the living room where he'd been sitting with the time travelers.

Peggy nodded as she claimed a seat next to him. "We should have at least 45 minutes of uninterrupted time," she said, turning to towards their guests. "I've been thinking about your dilemma and I'm afraid that I've only come up with one solution, which in hindsight may not even be feasible."

"We're all ears," Kora spoke up then, having come up empty handed when it came to finding a resolution for their predicament.

"Steve also managed to travel through time with this quantum realm," Peggy began, "something that Howard's son was able to replicate."

"Okay…" Daisy allowed. "But how does that help us now?" Once Tony Stark was able to do such a thing, would they even be alive?

"Steve has mentioned the brilliance that Howard's son carried on. He learned that from his father. Maybe we could point Howard-"

"No."

"No."

The responses were said in sync and Peggy stopped speaking immediately. She frowned at her husband, not expecting his response. "Steve?"

Steve turned his body into his wife's form. "I know that he didn't give up on searching for me before I returned and that whether you like it or not, he looked out for you when I couldn't. I will always be thankful to him for that. But I don't trust him enough to know about such a thing." Howard Stark had some fine qualities, but he also had several that weren't quite so fine.

Daniel looked to Peggy, watching for her reaction. He never did understand the friendship that existed between her and Howard Stark. While Howard wasn't exactly a bad guy, he'd never cared for the way he treated those around him. Peggy didn't appear surprised to hear Steve's reasons, meaning the same thing had probably crossed her mind before she'd even brought it up.

Daisy cleared her throat. "Steve has a point. Tony has the same veracity as his father and while no harm was ever intended on his part, there were consequences to his actions," she recalled, thinking on everything that came about because of Ultron. "He learned that from somewhere." She exhaled a sigh. "There's also the idea that if Howard Stark discovers that there is such a thing out there before Hank Pym, it'll just create another timeline."

Kora pursed her lips. "So, that leaves us back at square one."

"Not exactly," Daisy denied, frowning at her sister. "And I know this is going to sound completely stupid but hear me out. I write a letter, give it to the director of SHIELD with strict instructions for it to be passed down the line of succession until right before we deal with Izel."

"A letter?" Kora parroted. Their saving grace was a letter? They'd been through their fair share of scrapes, but she didn't think it would come to something like this.

"In theory, if nothing changes, then Mack will be the director and he'll be able to send a team to save us."

"So…we wait for the calvary," Daniel assumed.

"That's the idea anyway…" Daisy finished.

"How do you suggest we go about giving a letter to the current director of SHIELD?" Kora asked. "Who even is the Director of SHIELD?" She frowned, unable to recall. She knew that Peggy would eventually become the director, but were they there yet?

"That will be where Peggy comes in," Daisy replied, turning to look at the other woman. "You helped found SHIELD with Howard Stark and Chester Phillips. Perhaps you are in a position where you could pass it on…"

Understanding that this was their last hope, no matter how small it appeared to be, she cleared her throat. It was obvious that she wasn't the only one skeptical of the idea, but she found herself unable to deny the request. "I can certainly try." Even if it didn't work.

"This also means that we'll need to trespass a little longer on your hospitality," Daniel tagged on, hating that they needed the additional help. He'd never been one to feel helpless. It reminded too much of those first few months after losing his leg. He'd hated depending on other people, always had. It was one thing when he suddenly found himself in the future and a fish out of water, but now that he was close to his original time, the feeling of failure was taunting him.

"Whatever you need, Daniel." She'd help him however she could.

He nodded at Peggy in appreciation before his attention fell on her husband to see if the man had any qualms about Peggy's easy agreement. However, there seemed to be no objection or resignation, so Daniel took that as a good sign. When Daisy resumed speaking with Peggy, he was content to let her lead the conversation and without little input from him. He made his way towards the large window in the living room. Keeping one ear to the conversation, his gaze remained on the outside world. A group of kids were playing in the grassy field across the street from the house and he began focusing on them. The feeling of someone setting a hand on his shoulder pulled him from his thoughts. He saw Steve standing next to him holding out a glass of dark liquid. "Thanks," he murmured, accepting the glass.

"Scotch. Glen Garioch."

Daniel nodded. "My preferred," he admitted with a small smile.

"After the serum, alcohol doesn't have an effect on me, or well…human alcohol doesn't." For a moment, he thought on his former team. "Peggy's had this bottle for ages."

Musing over the description, Daniel wondered if it was the same bottle that she bought for him when he traveled to visit her during their short romantic relationship.

"Looked like you could use it."

"Yeah…" Daniel scoffed before swallowing the contents. "The world is so different in 2020. Before we left for space, Daisy and I rented a small apartment. We were only there for six months, but I never really saw kids playing outside, not like that," he motioned to group he'd been watching.

"They did not," he allowed, thinking on his own time in the future. Steve paused then, wondering if the other man would follow-up with anything else. When nothing else came forward he took a sip from his own drink. He could tell that Daniel was struggling with something, but he didn't know the man well enough to ask.

When the conversation wound down and everyone went their separate ways, Daisy approached a reflective Daniel. Though he hadn't actively commented on anything since the beginning of the group's conversation, she knew he'd kept an ear to it, even as the outside world seemed to hold his interest.

"You okay?" Daisy inquired, approaching him.

"Just…thinking about all of the differences between here and there, that's all," he denied. When she reached for his drink, he handed it off to her.

"You sure that's it?" Daisy asked, taking a sip from his glass and handing it back to him.

"Of course, it is. What else could it be?"

Daisy shrugged. "I don't know," she allowed. "We're a lot closer to your original time. Maybe you're thinking or feeling a certain way because of that…" She trailed off, not so much waiting for him to respond but watching him for any minute reaction to her words. "Your parents for one thing." When his grip on his glass tightened, she knew she'd hit a nerve. "They may be in a different state right now, but you're closer to them now than you have been since we pulled you out of time."

"There's nothing I can do about that right now," he denied.

She hesitated momentarily, not having heard the strict baritone of his voice directed at her before. "Daniel, if you want to reach out to them…" She trailed off, bringing up the subject.

Immediately, he shook his head in negative. "If this last option does pan out, I couldn't let them know I'm here only to disappear all over again." He couldn't cause that pain for them, not again.

**While Peter Pan was originally released in 1953, it was re-released in 1958.