Sparks, Flames, Embers

Chapter 4: Daniel

Jack never let a dame get to him.

The Old Jack, the starry-eyed romantic Jack might have, but the New Jack, the older, wiser, realistic and jaded Jack, did not.

This Jack got under their skins. He flirted. He taunted. He riled. He seduced. And then he moved on.

They pined for him. They chased after him. If he did go back for seconds (or thirds or fourths, whatever they were on now), it was post 2300 hours and for booty call purposes only.

He did not get a boner over cheesy text messages exchanged in the middle of class while his peers were presenting their projects. That is what his teenage punk-self did.

It was his own fault that he had regressed so far. He had started it with his message: You free tonight? You can charge me in the morning for Assault with a Friendly Weapon – when Wallace had been listing out the various types of criminal charges common in law enforcement.

He only made it worse for himself during Fisher's overview on search and seizure procedures when he sent: I promise to do a thorough cavity search ;-), for she upped the ante with messages about her own personal vibrating baton and its various uses for cavity searches.

So yeah, was it any wonder when Carter went to the front of the class and announced that her topic was "Restraints" that he let out such a loud groan?

Her faint flush yet knowing smirk did not help his own fevered skin any, so when Professor Dooley offered to excuse him from class, he took it.

He took it and ran with it to the nearest empty bathroom, where he and his right hand dealt with business – just like he had in middle school.

And this is why he hated Margaret "Peggy" Carter so.

~A~

Later that afternoon, he was given the perfect example of why he hated his roommate – he was an observant nosy son of a bitch.

This was a trait that would make him an excellent investigative agent of some sort, if whatever potential agency could overlook his bum leg.

But it was not a trait he appreciated at the moment, for as soon as he walked into their common area of their suite he was faced with a glowering Daniel, arms-crossed, and belligerent stance as he growled:

"How long have you and Peggy been together, Thompson?"

Without sparing the man another glance, he headed straight for their mini-fridge and flat out denied: "We aren't."

"Bullshit!"

Jack grabbed a beer, popped the top off, and took a swig of it, all the while looking at the man questioningly with one arched eyebrow. And predictably, Danny-boy caved, spewing out all his evidence for what led him to make such wild accusations without a word of prompting.

"The two of you were both texting in class – "

"Ever heard of the word 'coinci– '?"

" – and were both fidgeting and blushing like preteens in sex ed, especially when Dooley called you out on it!"

Oh screw it. She was as much to blame as him.

"Alright. Alright. You caught us. But we're not 'together'." He used air quotes for the full condescending effect, and then shrugged dismissively. "We have been at times for like half hour, forty-five minutes, five minutes. It really depends on how much foreplay we are interested in."

One of the things he had come to love about Sousa was that dumb, slack-jawed look of incredulous horror of his. Jack was less than secretly proud that he managed to still do that to the man even after three years of rooming with him. (No, really, Ramirez now owed him $20. This was the third time this semester).

When Daniel finally was able to find his voice, he asked, "So it's just sex between the two of you?"

Jack intended to say 'No shit, Sherlock. Can you imagine it being anything else between me and Carter?', but he couldn't quite get the words out.

That moment of hesitancy, that glimmer of doubt, cost him. Daniel was all over it, shrewdly asking: "Do you care for her?"

He could have told Susan to mind his own business at this point, but that seemed too much like deflection. So instead, he gave him the truth as he knew it:

"I respect the shit out of her, which is why I have scared the bejesus out of Ramirez so his big mouth does not blab this all over Greek Row."

Sousa ignored his hint, hint glare and pressed, "And by 'this' you mean you two are secretly dating?"

After taking another fortifying sip of his beer, he shrugged and replied honestly, "I dunno know what we are. We haven't really talked out about it."

Upon his roommate shooting him another one of his Looks of Horror, Jack made a mental note to collect from Ramirez $50 for two such looks in one conversation.

"You haven't talked?"

"That's what I said, isn't it? Oh don't look so shocked. Mar- Peggy didn't really want to the last time. In fact, she rather insisted that I exercise my Miranda Right to not to."

(Make that $100).

"Oh god, forget I asked. I don't want to know."

Jack reveled for a moment in the man's positively green around the gills expression and overall discomfort, before pushing off the wall to stalk towards him. When he stood across their coffee table from him, he leaned down and warned darkly, "That's right you don't want to. In fact you don't know. This is exactly like Krzminski's girlfriend."

Danny-boy gulped nervously, and for good reason too.

Ray Krzminski actually had two girlfriends, but everyone in the frat only referred to them as that – "Ray's girlfriend". If anyone asked them who Ray's girlfriend was, they all played dumb. Now he himself didn't particularly agree with the man's dating lifestyle. As a personal rule, if he was to label a dame as 'his girlfriend' then in his mind they were exclusive. But he hoped for all parties involved that his brother would pick a girl soon.

It dawned on Jack in that moment that the reason the frat had Ray's big secret locked-down so tightly under the Vegas rule was not because they all didn't want to cock-block the man (or at least for him it wasn't just that), but it was to give the man time to figure out which girl was the love of his life.

But in the case of him and Carter? No… it wasn't that serious. It was just that he knew if word got out before she was ready, she would never jump him again. And that would be criminal, for the sex was the best he had ever had, which was saying something.

Not to mention that Carter would never forgive him. He would be re-categorized from 'bitter rival' to 'Enemy #1' – much like the U.S. had done Russia after World War 2. But unlike the Cold War, there would be no hope of détente. She would ice him out.

And that he would not, could not have.

At Sousa's nod, he clapped him on the shoulder and said, "Good. Now are you willing to be my sniper for the Annual Charity Games?"

~A~

When Peggy opened her dorm room door and was greeted by Daniel with: "So you and Jack, huh?", she was prepared somewhat with an answer, as Jack had kindly sent her a warning text that her friend had caught them out.

"Yeah, me and Jack. He's something new."

Daniel pushed past her and then spun on his heel to face her, looking as if he was ready to defend her honor – even from herself.

As soon as she shut her door, he questioned her as if he was questioning her sanity, "Something new? You wanted variety so you chose Jack of all guys?"

"Yes."

As with all hysterical people, the best approach was the calm one.

"But why? He's such a… such a…"

"Bastard? Jackass? Tosser? Wanker? Etc.?" she supplied, truly struggling to hide her amusement at his floundering.

"Yeah, pick one or all of the above!"

Peggy pursed her lips and tried not snap back in irritation. This is why she did not want people to know about her and Jack. All the explaining and defending and the enduring of the 'I care for you but WTF?!' speeches was going to be exhausting.

But this was Daniel. He did care. It wasn't coming from jealousy (or at least, it mostly wasn't). And he could be reasoned with.

So instead of snarling at him like she would most other ex-boyfriends or brotherly figures, she went over to her couch, sat down, and padded the seat next to her. When he got settled and appeared ready to listen, she said thoughtfully, "Tell me something, Daniel. If he's so horrible, why do you voluntarily choose to be his suite-mate? He can't be easy to live with."

Jack wasn't. Peggy had heard enough complaints from Daniel over the years to know that.

Daniel sighed and rubbed his face, while he graciously gave her question the consideration it was due. Eventually, he stated, "I am a legacy. My father was a Sigma Sigma Rho, and his father was too. So it's expected of me to be one too… And I do want to go into some kind of law enforcement. With my leg, I am going to need some kind of networking juice to do that... So, I guess, if I have to live with one of these animals, it might as well be the Tasmanian devil I know."

Peggy smiled, partly in amusement at his description of Jack, but mostly in satisfaction at being right and for him giving her the perfect window.

"Exactly. I know all of Jack's bad qualities already. Right now, I am learning all the good. And boyo, between you and me, they are damn fine." Her smile widened into a roguish grin that included exaggerated waggling of her eyebrows.

"Ugh!" Daniel shuddered. "Between the two of you I am going to need to petition Stark to invent top-notch brain bleach."

Taking pity on him, she finally poured the bourbon into the glasses she had set out in preparation of this conversation, and when she handed it to him, she said sympathetically, "Well until then, here is some alcohol, my friend."

Daniel downed it in one shot, and then held his glass out for another.

It was at this point that Angie bounced into their dorm, and upon seeing the bourbon, she asked cheerfully, "Ooh! What are we celebrating so early in the day?"

"Not celebrating. Mourning. Or more accurately, cleaning," Daniel corrected glumly.

At Angie's questioning and concerned look, Peggy shook her head in "don't ask" kind of way.

And Angie, being the dear sweet friend that she was, did not. Instead, she grabbed a glass of her own and poured herself a double-shot, as she declared, "Oh good, then I have come to the right place! Because I swear that so-called director is a diva and is going to be the death of my career before it gets even started."

She then proceeded to prattle on about her tale of woes, punctuating it with "can-you-believes" and "it's-outrageous-English-es", and because she was such a good storyteller that she even got Daniel to crack a smile.

As soon as she saw that, she must have felt her work was done, because she then turned to Peggy and said, "Oh, Rose wanted me to remind you to sign up for the Annual Charity Games and to let her know who else you recruited to be on yours and her team."

Peggy opened her mouth to ask Daniel, but at his guilty look, she scowled, "He got to you first, didn't he?"

Her so-called friend downed the last of his bourbon and began beating a hasty retreat, muttering some such non-sense about "Sigma Sigma Rho brotherhood".

And to think she wasted a good bottle of bourbon on that traitor.