Chapter Text
It was well past midnight when Peggy emerged from the file room, intending to grab her coat from her chair and head straight home to where Daniel hopefully wasn’t waiting up for her. He’d surely chastise her for working so late, despite the fact that they both spent more than their fair share of late nights at the office.
However, as soon as she left the file room, she gasped in surprise as she saw a man standing in front of one of the desks, pushing himself off of…
Oh dear. Pushing himself off of Jack Thompson, who was already jumping off the desk he’d been sitting on and scrambling to fix his shirt and tie. The mystery man scurried past her, his head down. She didn’t even see his face. She raised an eyebrow and continued to her desk to grab her coat.
As she shrugged it on, she was surprised to see Jack still standing there, she would have expected him to flee by now. Then she caught a glimpse of the look on his face. Jack Thompson was scared. And that made sense really, this clearly wasn’t something he’d wanted anyone to find out about. She shot him a tentative smile. “I’m not going to say anything, Thompson, your business is your business.”
“Thanks Carter,” he whispered, and he sounded surprised.
“Of course. God knows you’ve caught Daniel and me in a similar position more than once,” she chuckled.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah but that’s different. You and Sousa not being able to keep your hands off of each other is hardly news.”
He was clearly still nervous, and Peggy hadn’t seen him with such a vulnerable look on his face since the mission in Russia. Of course, she understood why he was nervous, he just really needn’t have worried about her reaction, of all people. “That may be true, but either way, I’m not in the business of gossiping about my coworkers’ relationships. And if you’re worried that I’ll judge you for your preferences, I really, truly, don’t care.”
“Really, it doesn’t matter to you? At all?” He asked, his voice shaking a little. He clearly needed reassurance, and she was apparently the only person who knew that, so naturally, it fell to her.
She took a deep breath and leaned against her desk, still facing him. “There’s something I never mentioned about Dottie Underwood and the Stark case and that whole situation.”
He blinked at that, clearly not following her change in subject. “Is there a point to this conversation, Carter?” he asked, confidence seeping back into his voice.
“I assure you there is. I never told you guys how Dottie knocked me out at the Griffith.”
“I’m really not sure where you’re going with this,” Jack interjected.
“I know you’re not, I’m getting there,” Peggy insisted. “Anyways, I never told you guys, because it didn’t seem relevant to the investigation, but she had this special kind of lipstick infused with a knockout drug.” she paused, wondering if that would be enough for him to connect the dots.
“So what, she swapped yours out for this knockout one?” Apparently not.
Peggy sighed. “No, Jack. She kissed me.”
His eyebrows shot up. “So what, just because you were kissed by another dame once, for decidedly unromantic reasons, you think you understand me? Is that where this is going?”
Peggy took another deep breath. “Not quite, no. You see, I liked it, and the fact that I liked it made me finally acknowledge a part of myself I’d been ignoring for a long time.” There, she’d said it.
Understanding dawned on Thompson’s face, but it was quickly replaced with confusion again. “And Sousa?”
Peggy chuckled. “Sorry, I should’ve clarified. I’m attracted to women and men. Daniel doesn’t know, though. Actually, no one else knows, except for you now, I guess.”
“Oh,” he breathed.
“Yes, oh,” she chuckled again. “So when I tell you I don’t care at all that I just caught you in here with another man, I really mean it. No judgement here.”
He smiled at her. “I guess that would be kind of hypocritical of you.”
“Just a bit, yeah,” she said. “But Jack, even if that wasn’t the case with me, I still wouldn’t judge you for this. You can’t help it, and it’s not something to be ashamed of.”
His smile faltered a bit. “I’m trying to believe that, I really am. This conversation helped a lot, thank you” he said, and there was more sincerity in his voice that she’d ever heard.
She stood up and crossed the space between them to wrap him in a hug. “Of course,” She pulled away from him, “now I really should be getting home, Daniel hates it when I work late. Now that’s what I call a bloody hypocrite.”
They shared a laugh at that. “Goodnight,” Jack said. “And Carter?” she turned back towards him, “you should tell your husband about Dottie. He still loved you when he thought you were a traitor, and you two weren’t even together yet, so I really don’t think this will be a deal breaker for him. You should trust Daniel.”
“I think you’re right, and I think you should consider telling him as well.” She patted him on the shoulder on her way out the door.