agent rogers • j. thompson

delicate.

is it cool that i said all that?
is it too soon to do this yet?
'cause I know that it's delicate

—
CHARLOTTE ROGERS

"Use me as bait." Howard suggested, obviously feeling guilty for everything that had happened so far.

"Howard, don't be ridiculous!" I groaned.

"It's okay Charlotte, it's my fault we are in this mess. Besides, I can clear my name and I'll be a hero!"

"I've lost too many heroes in my day. Please don't add yourself to the list." I sighed.

Everyone else agreed with Stark's plan, so we set up a press conference. I took the opportunity to get a word in with Jack as we walked past me toward the podium.

"Jack..." I started.

He completely stopped to look at me, ready to hear what I had to say despite our earlier dispute.

"Don't... don't get shot up there."

He ever so slightly smirked and strutted up to the podium without a response.

After he introduced Stark, Howard's speech was cut short by a gun shot. Luckily, it only hit the window and no one got hurt.

Howard was shoved into a police car to escape while Peggy and Jack searched for the sniper.

What they reported back was unsettling — the rifle was set up to shoot automatically. It was just a distraction.

-

When the team arrived at Howard's airplane hangar, we watched him take off in one of his planes. Jarvis volunteered to go up after him, promising us to shoot him down only if Peggy and I couldn't talk him down.

Peggy and I rushed to the radio room, where Ivchenko got away. I took on Dottie while Peggy tried to get through to Stark.

Dottie was tough, but for once the serum did me justice. I was able to take her out and send her through the window.

JACK THOMPSON

Ivchenko knocked me out cold when he was on his way out. When I got back up again, he was trying to hypnotize Sousa into killing me.

I actually feared Daniel was going to pull the trigger.

I briefly reflected on everything that had gone down over the past few weeks. I thought about Charlotte, and I was still hurt by the fact that she lied but I knew now that she had no other choice. I cared about her deeply. As I stared down the barrel of a gun, I realized I will die without ever fixing things between us.

I didn't have time to reflect any further as Sousa hit Ivchenko and pulled cotton out of his own ears.

"You son of a bitch!" I let out a deep breath as we lightly laughed.

A few short minutes later, Charlotte came running over with blood smeared on her cheek. "She did it! She got through to Stark!" She exclaimed with tears of relief filling her eyes.

Sousa stood up and the two of them embraced as I awkwardly stood there. When she released her tight grip on him, she looked to me with caution.

"Jack, I'm so, so sorry —" She looked up at me in shock as I grabbed her hand and looked down at her face.

I pulled her into a hug that she returned with a sigh of relief.

"What do you say we go and get those drinks now, Blondie?"