A Working Romance | Marvel "The Office" AU

The Return of Peggy Carter

Steve Rogers <srogers@starkpaper.com>

To: James Barnes

Subject: Last week

Hey, Buck. I know I've kind of been keeping my distance from you, and there's a reason for that and it has nothing to do with you, but I'm sorry.

I don't regret what happened and I do want it to happen again (so much more, Buck, so much). But it shouldn't have happened then . Just because I know Peggy and I are over, doesn't mean we technically are. She's expecting me to be faithful to her and... I'm not anymore. Not mentally or emotionally, which is just as bad as physically in my opinion.

I feel awful about it, Buck. On one hand, I just want to be with you, but on the other hand, I'm not a cheater. And I can't continue to act in a way that I would otherwise condemn. It's not fair to anyone.

Peggy comes home this week. I've already moved all of my stuff into a new apartment and everything is done. I just need to actually break up with her.

I hope you understand.

James Barnes <jbarnes@starkpaper.com>

To: Steve Rogers

Subject: Re: Last Week

Steve, it's okay. I get it.

I'll back off a bit until you've done it.

Steve Rogers <srogers@starkpaper.com>

To: James Barnes

Subject: Re: Last Week

I don't deserve you.

---

Steve's writing an email to Tony when the door opens.

A FedEx employee walks in, two boxes in hand. "Delivery for a Parker and Jones?"

Across the office, Peter jumps at his name. "Oh my god," he gasps. The young man darts around the desks and materializes in front of the man. "Hi, I'm Peter Parker."

The FedEx employee hand over a tablet, a weary look in his eye.

Steve takes the tablet from Peter after he signs for his package. "I'll sign for Ms. Jones," Steve says.

"Thank you," the employee says, handing one big box to Peter and the other to Steve. He takes his tablet and lets himself out.

Peter plops down on the ground, sitting criss cross in front of the big box. "MJ! It's here!" he calls, tearing into his box.

MJ looks up, stare blank. "What is?"

"The stuff we ordered!"

Her eyes brighten, perking up. She saunters over, taking her own box from Steve and settles in next to Peter.

Steve and Bucky exchange a look as the two young employees open their boxes, animatedly talking about their goodies.

Tony steps out of his office and pauses. "Do I want to know?" he asks Steve, pointing at the pair.

The receptionist shrugs. "I'm not sure I know what's going on."

Peter hops up, bouncing in front of Steve's desk with a new mug in hand. He bounds over to Tony and shows the man the mug. "It's this stuff we found online of our favorite comic. It was really cheap and we found a ton of stuff for our desks."

Clint perks up. "Which comic?" he calls as he strolls over, his own company mug in his hands.

MJ stands, holding up a t-shirt to herself. The camera zooms in on the shirt, where a shadowed figure holds up a shield with the comic logo below him. "Captain America," she says.