A/N- Thank you for following this story guys and for those lovely reviews! This is a slightly longer chapter. Most of it focuses on the mission, since I thought that's vital to the story. And please do not think that I am shipping Peggysous here, but I do like the idea of Daniel and Peggy as being close friends and confidantes. I hope you like it.
The next day, the first thing Peggy and Daniel did was to look for the "magic" typewriter. This did not take long, as the typewriter was kept safely in the SSR lab where the SSR scientists were trying to figure out how the damned machine worked. Sadly, they were nowhere close to the answer.
Peggy found it rather odd that Agent Smith, who was a fairly new recruit, having joined the SSR just 3 weeks ago, seemed to be missing. This was after all, his first proper mission, and most lads here would have been thrilled to be a part of this. Agent Smith on the other hand, seemed rather unconcerned. He had left early the night before, and was yet to show up to work this morning. Deciding not to pay any more attention to this, Peggy went inside the lab with Daniel where they were greeted by SSR's head of scientific research Robert Jackson.
"Morning Agent Sounsa, Agent Carter. What brings you here?" said Jackson.
"We were wondering if you could show us the typewriter we found during the Howard Stark case."said Sousa.
"Ah, the typewriter" said Jackson, "I am baffled by how it's working. Of course, I would have made better progress with it, had the SSR allowed me to actually open up that goddamn machine. But I have been ordered not to do anything that might damage it permanently since you agents might require it in your case against Leviathan."
Jackson's tone made it quite clear that he resented this decision. But they did not have time for this so Peggy said "Yes, Mr. Jackson, it may lead us to a breakthrough in this case. If we could just have it for a day or two..." she finished.
5 minutes later both Peggy and Daniel were huddled around the typewriter with a magnifying glass, both trying to look for any mark of identification as to where it came from. After a few minutes, Daniel exclaimed "Look, there's a symbol here Peggy. It's tiny but I think that's a G and a B. I think it must be the mark of the shop that either sold or created this thing!"
Peggy quickly checked for herself, and said "I think you're right Daniel. But of course these letters could mean a thousand different things. How are we to locate these makers? "
Daniel said, "I suppose we could look at all the typewriter manufacturers in New York. I just hope that it isn't something they brought over directly from Russia."
"Let's do that. We'll look up all the manufacturers in the city with these initials. I don't think there will be many of them." Peggy said.
After about an hour, they had come across 5 such manufacturers located in or near the city. Just when both Daniel and Peggy were about to leave the office to take a look at all those shops, they were greeted by Agent Smith.
"Good Morning Agent Sousa, Agent Carter. I was just coming to meet you to start the day's work-" he started, when Peggy interrupted him
"Work started about 2 hours ago Agent Smith. You seem to have forgotten office hours or maybe you had some place more important to be." she said scathingly.
"You're not making a very good impression Agent, given how you've just joined as the junior agent and how such behavior may result in you being taken off the case. Not so good for someone like you, Smith."said Daniel.
"I am very sorry agents, I just had a long night...family issues" said Agent Smith apologetically.
Well he certainly looks like he had a long night, with those bags under his eyes, thought Peggy.
"I hope this won't be repeated Agent. We are all expected to put our duties before any family obligations. I wish you'd keep that in mind." said Daniel.
"We'll ignore it this time agent, but since you've played no fruitful role in the investigation yet, you'll have to sit in the office and look for any possible clues you might find on Leviathan. All the files are in the Stock room. Meanwhile, agent Sousa and I are going to look for the manufacturers of that mysterious typewriter." said Peggy.
With that, both Peggy and Daniel went to look for the sellers of this mysterious machine.
The first 3 were nothing but a waste of time, all manufacturers dismissing the idea of a self-typing machine as preposterous. Both of them had just entered the fourth shop, a tiny little shop with a board bearing the name The Grekov Brothers, when they were greeted by a surly middle aged man.
"Good morning. How may I be of assistance?" he said in an accent Peggy recognized as being pure Russian. This may actually be the right place, she thought. I mean, what better way to get your hands on something like this without arousing suspicion!
Peggy gave a significant look to Daniel and said quite bluntly, "Mr. Grekov, we wanted to see one of your self-typing typewriters."
"What?" the man exclaimed, "we do not have anything of the sort!" He suddenly had a very shifty look and Peggy knew at once that they'd come to the right place.
"Do not pretend Mr. Grekov. Your response was proof enough of the fact that you are in possession of such a thing. That typewriter has been used for an anti-national terrorist activity. If you're not willing to give us some answers here, I am afraid we'll have to take you up for formal interrogation. We are federal agents Mr. Grekov, trust me, you do not want to waste our time." she said.
"No one is supposed to know about those machines" said Grekov, "We have very few models like that which we have to import all the way from Russia, for a select few. Please do not ask me how they work, I do not know. It is meant to be a secret." he said.
"Can you tell us who these select few are? There cannot be many, I suppose, given the suspicious nature of this whole operation, which I believe is illegal. Don't worry Mr. Grekov, we will not arrest you if you give us the information we require." said Daniel.
"There have been only two men who have come here for those typewriters. I do not know their names. A few days ago, one of them came back and asked for another piece. Since I did not have it at the time, I asked for some time. He is going to come today to collect it. I know nothing more than that, please believe me" said Grekov, the plea evident in his voice.
Peggy decided to trust the man and asked " At what time precisely do you expect he'll show up?"
"I am not certain. He may drop in anytime" said Grekov.
"How does he look? Any distinct features come to mind?" asked Daniel, who, like Peggy, believed that the man standing in front of them was indeed telling the truth.
"He is a very tall and muscular man. He has a broken nose, of that I am certain. That is all I can remember." finished Grekov.
"Alright Mr. Grekov, we'll be leaving now. I trust you're not going to share the details of this conversation with anyone? Because if we get a whiff of double crossing, we will make your life very difficult." Daniel said.
Grekov nodded vigorously and bowed them out of the shop, relieved to see the back of them at last.
As they stepped out, Daniel turned to Peggy and just as he was about to say something, Peggy said "I know what you're thinking. We'll have to keep a watch. We can hide in that alley, I am sure we won't be seen by anyone."
Daniel smiled at her. It was moments like these which made him like her even more than he already did. Of course, she knew that. He had asked her out for a drink which she had politely refused. Daniel was not the one to miss the signal. She wasn't ready. Whether it was for him or any man in general, he did not know. All he knew was that he would not be one of those men who badgered women into going out with them. Of course, he liked her, but the way she acted around him had made him realize that she liked him as nothing more than a friend, at least at the moment. So, he had decided to move on (easier said than done) and had promised himself that he would let Peggy make her choice, whether or not she wanted to be with him. Meanwhile, he himself was willing to look around him for any other woman who might capture his heart and make it easier to forget what he felt for Peggy.
Both Daniel and Peggy had been waiting for hours in that dirty, dingy alley, hoping to catch the man Grekov had described. The long fruitless wait had made Daniel doubt Grekov's words.
"Do you think Grekov was messing with us? What if there is no man like the one he mentioned? Or what if he himself tipped the guy off about us?" said Daniel.
"No, I don't think he was lying. He looked pretty terrified and it is a hundred times more difficult to lie when you're under stress or pressure. I think maybe the guy changed his mind about coming today or maybe he was tipped off, by someone, maybe even by Grekov himself. To be honest, I am inclined to believe he was tipped off. There is no reason why he shouldn't have showed up" said Peggy.
"Yeah I think you're right. Hey look, Grekov's closing the shop for the day. So I guess there is no point in hanging around now" Daniel said.
"You're right. Whoever he is, he's not coming today. Let's come back tomorrow. But before that, let's head back to the office. I feel uneasy, leaving those files around the office. If you don't mind, I'd like to take a few of them with me, to study them tonight." she finished.
"Of course," said Daniel, "I'll find us a cab."
When they reached the SSR office, both Peggy and Daniel were surprised to see Jack just about to leave his office. Office hours ended at 5 and here he was, at 8 p.m., still on the job. Peggy thought, boy, being the chief of SSR surely means being on the job 24/7. Maybe Jack should start sleeping in the office like Chief Dooley did.
"Hey Chief, we were just here to pick up some case files. Peggy felt it would be better not to leave them here." said Daniel.
"Sure. I was just leaving. If you want I can drop you on your way home." said Jack.
"Oh no, it's okay, we can manage-"began Sousa when Jack said, "Oh it's alright Sousa, my car's quite comfortable. Ask Peggy, she knows." He smirked at her.
Peggy felt slightly embarrassed, Jack was making it sound like something else entirely. Yet, she answered quickly "I quite agree Daniel, Chief Thompson's car is quite comfortable. And since we do not get paid as much as him, we might as well save our cab fare!" she said, with an amused look on her face.
Daniel thought he was missing something, but decided not to react.
After having dropped off Daniel, Jack asked Peggy in a fake British accent "To the Stark mansion, m'lady?"
Peggy laughed, "No Mr. Thompson, would you be kind enough to drop me at the diner on the same street? My stomach, I am afraid to say, demands food at the moment." she said in the most pompous manner.
Jack laughed and asked in the same fake accent, "Would the lady mind if I were to accompany her to the diner since this poor man has not had a single piece of bread since this afternoon?"
Peggy continued in her pompous tone, "Well if you want to. But please remember Mr. Thompson, I expect you to be on your best behavior. I shall be most displeased if you embarrass me in any way." she finished.
"Yes, m'lady" smiled Jack as he drove.
They reached the diner Peggy had mentioned in just a few minutes, both smiling. Peggy was pleasantly surprised to see this playful side of Thompson. She didn't expect him to have a sense of humor at all, to be honest. Jack on his part, was also equally surprised to see Peggy in a playful mood. Sure she had a sharp tongue, everyone knew that, but what he did not know was that she could be just as funny.
Both of them sat in their booth, waiting for their food. While they were waiting, Peggy decided to tell Jack all about the mission and their progress. Jack was impressed to say the least.
"I knew I was right when I trusted you with this case, Carter. Both you and Sousa are doing a great job. Can't say the same for Smith, though. Saw him hanging around the office all day, making phone calls. Chap doesn't seem to be too interested in the mission.' he said.
"I quite agree, but we've decided to give him one more chance to prove his worth. Let's hope he does something with it" said Peggy.
After that they both practically devoured their meal, both hungry and tired from the day's work. Their conversation topics alternated between work and other random topics like Howard Stark's latest discovery, Thompson's new apartment among others. Both of them were astonished to know that they actually had a lot to talk about, contrary to what one might have initially expected. Their silences was suddenly amicable, quite the opposite of the awkward silences they'd shared the night before in Thompson's car. Peggy was secretly glad that she had decided not to go to her usual diner, where Angie was working, since this would have ended with Angie pestering Peggy about Thompson, even more than she did before.
As she went home that night, Peggy Carter had a big smile plastered on her face, being pleased at how her almost fruitless day had turned out to be in the end.
Thompson, who had been immersed in his files all day, itching to step out and actually do something, was equally surprised to see how the day had ended. Who would have thought that he and Carter were capable of having a nice time together, let alone have dinner together without ripping each other into pieces. This was certainly something new. Not that he minded it in the least. He had quite enjoyed it. Who knew Carter was capable of having a decent conversation with him. Well, he thought, you certainly weren't your best around her before. It was true, he realized it now, he had been a jerk to her, treating her the way she shouldn't have been. At least by becoming Chief, I can change it now. I hope the others treat her better than they did before. She deserves respect, that woman.
That night, both Peggy and Jack went to bed with smiles on their faces, each too surprised yet happy with how the day had ended.