Soulmates - Jack Thompson

-10-

That night I didn't sleep very well. I don't know why. I felt like something was going to happen, I always felt those things. I felt it when Bucky died, when Steve died and even a little bit on that night we got 'kidnapped'. Sometimes it's nothing, I felt it once when Howard stole my sandwich. That was a true crime, though. That's probably when the whole him being a criminal thing started.

"Morning, cab driver." I said when I passed Thompson that morning. He looked pissed.
"Don't interrupt me when I'm in a conversation. I'm pretty sure I told you that before." He walked away while talking to agent Yauch. He screamed something at Sousa when he passed him.

When I came in to get the lunch orders that day, I saw that Thompson looked horrible. He wore the same clothes as yesterday and it looked like he didn't sleep. He didn't even seem to notice that I walked into his office.
"Agent Thompson?" He almost jumped of his chair.
"Can't you knock?"
"I did, multiple times."
"What do you want?"
"Lunch orders, sir." He didn't even make a sarcastic comment the whole 5 minutes I was in his office. It's a miracle.

I bumped into Daniel on my way out.
"Have seen him? He's exhausted." I said. He nodded and looked into his office.
"I think he's a little busy with work."
"A little?" He shrugged and knocked on the door.
"That won't work." I walked away. Peggy sat in her chair with her feet on her desk. She's probably not in the work mood. I went to talk to her anyway.
"Are you alright?" I dragged my chair with me to her desk.
"Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out the murder mystery of Krzeminski."
"That rhymes." She laughed.
"Are you a kid?"
"Up here? Yeah." I tapped on my head and we both couldn't hold back our laughter.

Jack didn't go out of his office that day. Just as I was about to pack my stuff, someone called me. It was agent Yauch.
"Thompson wants to see you." He said as I looked up from my bag. Peggy gave me a 'I wish you luck' look when I walked to his office. What did I do wrong now?

He looked just as terrible as earlier today. Possibly even more tired.
"Sit down." He gestured at a stool in front of his desk. He actually sat in his chair instead of on the desk. It's a special day today.
"What's wrong, Agent Thompson? You look... not as good as usual." I tried not to be too rude, even though I wouldn't care if I did. I just felt like he wouldn't be able to handle it.
"I didn't sleep very well. Actually... I didn't sleep at all." Yeah, I could see that.
"Look, you and I, we don't have a great relationship." That's how he started his story.
"And that probably won't change, so I have nothing to risk." He took a deep breath. I was still confused.
"What are you trying to tell me? Do you want to fire me?" He shook his head.
"No, absolutely not. It's just-"
"Are you going to arrest me?"
"No- Why would I arrest you?" I shrugged. "I want to-"
"If you're going to fire Peggy, I quit!" There was a loud thump as he slammed his fist on the table.
"WILL YOU JUST LET ME FINISH?!" I was startled by his sudden change of tone and didn't say anything anymore.
"Thank you." He lowered himself back into his chair.
"Look- I-" Jack sighed again. He slowly got up from his chair and walked towards me.
"Agent Thompson, sir, what are you-"
I couldn't even get my whole sentence out as a soft pair of lips touched mine. My eyes widen slightly in shock but his lips never left mine. After a few seconds he pulled away. Okay... what just happened? He fell back into his chair.
"That makes it a lot easier to explain." He said while raising his eyebrows. He looked back at me, I probably still had my face on shocked. Who wouldn't?
"I try to hide my emotions as good as I can, but since you spilled your coffee all over my shirt, it gets a lot harder."
"Are you try-"
"You drive me crazy. Ever since you bumped into me, I've had my eyes on you. That's also one of the main reasons why I didn't sleep." I don't think I changed the look on my face the entire conversation.
"But... you hate me, you pick on my with every move."
"That's just how I act at work, but I've gotta admit I was trying to hate you, so my feelings would go away. As you may have guessed, it didn't work." We both didn't say anything.
"So, are you just going to act like nothing happened? I'm waiting for an answer."
"An answer on what?" He pursed his lips and gestured something.
"Do you want to try and go on a date or something?" He said after gesturing a while.
"Uhm, well, it probably won't hurt."
"Is it a yes?"
"It is a yes." He immediately looked way better.
"Great! I'll talk to you at work tomorrow."
"Jack, there's no work tomorrow."
"That's what I'm saying, I'll call you." I smirked as I walked towards the door. When I unlocked it, I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"If you tell anyone about this, I'll kill you."
"Now that's the Jack Thompson I know." He grinned and let go of my shoulder.

"What were you doing in there? I was about to leave." Peggy said when we walked down the stairs together.
"Have a lovely night, Rose." I said when we passed the red haired woman. She smiled.
"He was just asking me more about the kidnapping, I don't think he believed us for 100%."
"Did you persuade him?"
"Yes, I think so."