Peggy frowned as she grabbed Eddie's hand and pulled him down to sit on her other side, while Angie reminded Anna, "They were just trying to protect us, you know."
"That doesn't mean that I have to like it," Anna replied a little tersely.
"Oh, no, I didn't say that."
"Holding things against people is harmful to any relationship, though, soulmate or otherwise," Peggy said. "I believe the boys and I discussed that on the way here."
"Thank you for reminding me!" Anna said, her voice suddenly regaining some of the fearless tone that she'd used with Howard as she looked Jack straight in the eye, pointing an accusatory finger as she demanded, "Next time you consider threatening someone with deportation – don't!"
"Yeah," Jack drawled, rubbing the back of his neck in an uncharacteristically nervous gesture. "I should probably apologize for that."
Beside him, Peggy snorted, repeating in disbelief, "'Probably'?"
"I should say so," Anna muttered to herself, digging her fisted hands into the couch as she started to feel unpleasantly overwhelmed.
Angie laid a concerned hand on her arm, asking, "Are you alright?"
"Of course. Why would you think otherwise?" She knew as well as anyone else that her half-smile was unconvincing though.
From Angie's other side, Daniel spoke to her for the first time, pointing out as he looked at her worriedly, "You did just kick a millionaire out of what is technically his own house."
She sniffed, declaring almost flippantly, "It was apparently on the days' to-do list, and I think he's deserved it for awhile."
Edwin blinked in surprise at her brutal honesty and the others grinned like they weren't sure they should. Looking around at these five of her soulmates, whatever had coiled in Anna vaporized and she groaned, realizing the things she'd been saying – the soulmarks these poor people had lived with because of her out of sorts temper.
She buried her face in her hands, promising, "I'm not normally like this."
She heard someone stand from the other couch and crouch in front of her. Anna anticipated Edwin, but the hands that pulled her palms away from her eyes were too small to be her husband's. Peggy's dark eyes stared into her own as the Englishwoman said lightly, "Only when angered, right?"
Anna glanced at Edwin, knowing he was where the information had come from, and then back at Peggy, nodding as she admitted meekly, "My tongue gets a mind of its own then."
"That's alright," Peggy glanced pointedly at Daniel as she murmured, "We all say things we don't mean sometimes."
"But Jack's right," Daniel said. "Those things can be forgiven – sometimes even easily, if we're willing to forgive them."
He smiled at Peggy, who was quick to return the gesture and Anna recognized that their words had a dual meaning for them, whatever that might be. Catching a shift in Jack's expression, she saw that he knew about whatever had just been patched up and the resolution pleased him. Anna's eyes narrowed at they flitted between the three of them, thinking but not quite allowing herself to think it all the way through before she acted. She surged onto her feet and tugged Angie into the spot she'd occupied before pulling Peggy onto her feet and then shoving her into the space that had opened up on Daniel's opposite side.
"I think you ought to stay right there," Anna said firmly, meeting Peggy's startled expression with amusement in her own eyes.
Then she froze, realizing where exactly this situation put her. Seeing her hesitate, Peggy reached out and wordlessly gave her hand an encouraging squeeze. Angie volunteered helpfully, "He's a really good hugger."
Daniel chuckled, Peggy and Edwin raised their eyebrows, and Angie demanded, "Don't ask."
Anna turned hesitantly towards the empty space between Jack and Edwin and her husband beckoned, "You can come here."
So she did – but the dregs of her adrenaline kicked in and she sat down sideways, putting her feet in Edwin's lap and daring to rest her head and shoulders on Jack's knees. Both men looked at her like she'd lost her mind, and Edwin even opened his mouth to protest.
Before he could speak, she dug the toe of her high heel into his thigh, declaring gaily, "Considering the blood and kisses of a little bit ago, I don't want to hear it."
Edwin shut his mouth, but Daniel repeated suspiciously, "'Blood'?"
"So there were kisses?" Jack asked at the same time.
"M-hm," Anna answered them both at once, capturing Jack's hand and pressing a kiss to his knuckles, both of them blushing as she asked, "Is that okay with you?"
He stammered out a nearly adorable, "I guess so."
Edwin looked like he didn't know whether to laugh or scream as he eased her shoes off of her feet and the other four people in the room looked downright shocked. Yes, usually she was as sedate as her husband and even quieter than him, but today had been an unusual day and she was fine with acting accordingly if she wanted to. Though, at least laying down seemed to be calming her down and bringing her back to herself, so to speak.
"What blood?" Daniel asked, completely undeterred as he looked between Peggy and Edwin. "Captain Rogers'?"
"It's in my jacket right now," Peggy revealed with a dejected sigh. "Please, Daniel, let me do with it what I want."
"What are you planning on doing with it though?" Jack asked, absently winding one of Anna's brown curls around his finger.
"I don't have a body to bury or ashes to spread, and quite frankly I can't bring myself to completely believe that he's dead, but I want to do something to commemorate him. I want to go to the Brooklyn Bridge and empty the vial into the river."
"What could possibly be the problem with that?" Edwin asked Jack instantly, looking to him as the head of the SSR – and the man who could confiscate the vial if he wanted to. "The blood is rendered utterly useless that way; there's no chance of anyone getting hurt or of it falling into the wrong hands."