A/N – Thanks for following favouriting (is that what it's called?) it! But I really wish you'd leave some reviews! I don't care if they're good or bad! Just let me know how the story's going! I welcome suggestions on your part!

30 minutes later, Peggy was in the middle of a meeting with her fellow SSR agents, discussing the new assignment that involved the capture of trained Russian female assassins. From what Peggy had seen of Dottie Underwood, it was going to be anything but easy to capture more of her kind. Thompson was addressing the meeting, as usual.

He looks so determined, thought Peggy, it's good to know Chief Dooley has been replaced by him, someone who knows exactly what to do and how to do it. His eyes have a determined look in them, those bright blue eyes that light up when he smiles one of his rare smiles. His lop sided smile was something you saw rarely, yet it made you want to know the reason behind it.

Just as Peggy was thinking about Agent Thompson's facial features, she was brought to reality when she heard her name being called by none other than agent Sousa, a co-worker she really liked and respected.

"Agent Carter, I was just saying that this assignment may involve a lot of code breaking and since you're our best code breaker here, and what with your vast experience and knowledge about the USSR, I suggest you head this assignment." said Sousa.

Everyone looked at him with disbelief clearly etched on their faces. No doubt they didn't think Peggy capable of handling such a big responsibility. Everyone except Thompson. He had a calculating look on his face and after a minute he said "Alright carter, Sousa's right. You're heading this mission".

The disbelief was now directed towards agent Thompson.

"You think so, Chief Thompson?" said Peggy.

"Of course I do, or I wouldn't have agreed to it, Carter. I believe you're our best shot. And if you're half as good as you were in Russia, I have no doubt that we'll be able to capture at least one such assassin" finished Thompson , with a look of admiration directed towards her.

Peggy blushed, the first time this had ever happened in this office, and muttered a thank you.

"It's settled then" said Thompson "Agent Carter will head this mission and she'll be assisted by Agent Sousa and Agent Smith. Of course, I'll oversee the whole operation. Feel free to ask for any assistance if required". With that he left the room and gradually everyone else dispersed too.

Peggy could not understand why she had blushed at what agent Thompson had just said. Maybe because this was the first time he had ever praised her openly. Or maybe, said another voice in her head, it was because you were caught focusing a bit too much on his smile. Oh rubbish, she was merely…. observing, this was her job- to observe things going on around her. She had blushed because she had been caught off guard, that's all. There was no other reason for her to have blushed in front of agent Thompson. Agent Thompson of all people! Ha! That's settled then, thought Peggy triumphantly as she left the room to prepare for the mission.

Inside his cabin, Agent Thompson was supposed to be catching up on his paper work. He sighed, having never had any desire to do such tedious and incredibly dull work such as filing and reviewing various documents. Now that he was chief so of course, he had more work to do, a lot of which involved this paper work. He wondered how Chief Dooley had managed everything so smoothly.

Damn, he missed his former boss. Thompson was reminded of the day Dooley had died, how he had asked Peggy to catch the bastard who was behind it. Dooley knew, in his last moments, how Peggy was the only one who could put an end to that crisis.

Agent Margaret Carter, Jack thought, how that woman had single handedly prevented that major crisis! Of course, he knew she was capable, but just how much so he had found out just then. She was a strong woman, not one of those damsels in distress who constantly needed a man by their side to protect them. Hell, she was more than capable of protecting herself, which he had witnessed firsthand when she had punched him in that alley. Jack smiled at the memory. He no longer saw Carter as a burden on the SSR, someone who could only be trusted with phone calls and lunch orders.

Russia had been something of an eye opener for him. Not only was Peggy dangerously smart and efficient, she was also compassionate. He didn't know why he had opened up to her about what really happened in Japan but he did not regret it. It felt good to have shared what he had been keeping inside him for a long time. Moreover, she had not mentioned to anyone what had happened in Russia, how he had found himself paralyzed with fear once the firing had begun.

Peggy Carter, with those blood red lips and high heels, gifted with superb intelligence and ravishing good looks and a smart mouth, thought Jack. He was certain that he did not have any feelings for Carter, but all the same, he was seeing her in a new light.

While Jack had been thinking this, he did not realise the smile that had appeared on his face. Nor did he realise that outside the glass doors of his cabin, he was being 'observed' by Peggy Carter, who had no idea why Chief Jack Thompson had a smile on his face with a bunch of paper work laid out on his desk, but which nevertheless made her smile too.