December 1, 1945

Peggy took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying not to notice the marks on her right ankle and stomach as she dressed for her first day at a new job. Steve's navy "Get away! Get back!" and Bucky's "Ma'am," mysteriously as solid as they'd been when her boys had been alive, which – according to Howard, who was the only one she'd trusted enough to ask – had never happened before. In every other case they'd both seen, the words became a colorless outline once the person who said them died.

The only theory that Peggy had been able to come up with – and she knew full well that it was stupid – was that she kept them too alive in her heart and memories even after nearly two years without them for the marks to fade. Not that she was ever going to share that thought with anyone else.

But today, she told herself firmly, today was the day that she started over. It was a new month, she was starting a new job, and to be entirely honest, there was a good chance that she could potentially meet a couple more of her soulmates today.

If the green "What are we taking everybody now?" and tan "Feel free to ignore him; grumpy is his default mood" were perhaps already together like she wondered if they might be. Sure, they didn't sound like the nicest people – certainly nothing like Steve and Bucky – but she'd take it over the aloneness, wouldn't she?

"You have got to be kidding me!" Thompson muttered, stopping beside Daniel's desk to poke his partner in the shoulder and demand, "Look at that and tell me it isn't what it looks like."

Daniel looked first at Thompson and then followed the other man's line of sight to Chief Dooley's office only to see the chief talking to a woman wearing a bright red hat and blue suit. "You think she's the new agent that supposed to report today?"

"Do you see any other new faces around here?"

The woman turned slightly and Daniel's eyebrows drew together as he asked, "Speaking of faces, why do I know hers?"

Thompson's mouth dropped open for a millisecond before he caught himself and said, "I think that's Peggy Carter."

"She's one of ours, right – SSR?"

"She's Captain America's famous fling, idiot!"

"And an SSR agent," Daniel repeated, eyeing him and using a tone that told the blond man to play nice with her if this was in fact "what it looked like."

"How do you think she got there?" Thompson leered.

Daniel opened his mouth to issue a harsher warning, but before he could do so, the chief opened the door to his office and pointed directly at Thompson and ordered, "C'mere."

"Chief's lost his mind," Thompson muttered under his breath, slapping Daniel on the shoulder before he went into the office.

Watching him go, Daniel flinched for the woman who waited for him and kept right on watching the scene unfold.

"Thompson, this is Agent Carter," Chief Dooley said, sliding behind his desk as soon as the big blond man that he'd called to shut the door. "Agent Carter, this is my right hand man, Jack Thompson."

Peggy reached out her hand to shake, but Thompson glanced at her, shoving his own hands into his pockets as he raised an eyebrow and asked, "What, are we taking everybody now?"

Peggy blinked but determinedly did not let it show when her heart sank into her toes. This cruel man was supposed to be her soulmate? And what sort of twisted joke was it that his looks reminded her of Steve? "Only everybody who can do the job, I'm sure," she answered resolutely, her hand dropping back down to her side.

She watched with a flare of satisfaction as an expression flashed across his face as though he'd just been slapped. He glanced guiltily towards her hand, now wishing he'd taken it. Oh well, his loss, she thought stubbornly.

Daniel watched, growing more curious by the second as he watched the scene fold inside of the chief's office. Thompson got this quickly-hidden stricken look on his face and then with a word from Chief Dooley he was marching stiffly out of the office with Miss Carter behind him. As they walked, Thompson nodded towards men, spitting out their names as they headed towards an empty desk in the back of the room – until they stopped at Daniel's desk.

Thompson shot him a look he wasn't sure how to interpret – soulmates or no, they weren't good at nonverbal communication – and glanced sidelong between him and the woman at his side as he said curtly by way of introduction, "This is Sousa."

"Feel free to ignore him; grumpy is his default mood," Daniel casually told Miss Carter – Agent Carter, apparently.

Daniel stuck his hand out for her to shake and Thompson winced and walked away, trying to look unbothered. Daniel didn't understand why he was so ruffled – until Agent Carter gave him a genuine smile and said drolly, "Rest assured, I am an expert at ignoring people like him."

Well, that was going to make life interesting around this joint!

Peggy tried to keep from watching Daniel and Jack as the day progressed, but it was honestly hard. She wanted the respect of these two men in particular; she wanted to get to know them. Part of her wanted to fall in love all over again. But she was wary. The two men didn't realize that they were something of an established duo already; it wasn't obvious if you weren't looking for it – but Peggy was looking for it.

She thought she could trust Daniel – maybe – but Thompson was another matter for the time being. Maybe in time, once she proved herself to them as an agent, she could trust herself to him – to both of them – as a woman, but now wasn't the time. Rather unfortunately, the job had to come first.