[Jack Thompson] (The things they don't know about) Miss Tonya

[ 2 7 : c a r e f u l ]

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Warnings: Slight violence

Spoilers: Agent Carter Season 1

Author's Note: sorry I disappeared again - I was away and actually finished this chapter before I left, but felt like I'd missed something, so I didn't want to post it until I got back, sorry! hope it's worth the wait lol

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Jack returned to the office with less of the spring in his step than he usually had after meeting Tonya, and he wondered if it had something to do with how different it had felt this time. It hadn't been a bad different, he didn't think: it had felt warmer – but maybe that was just his car – and it had certainly felt more natural than it ever had. It hadn't been a business meeting, as all the others had been (sort of), but he wasn't sure exactly what it had been. Whatever it was, and however warm it made him feel at the time, he was feeling significantly void of something now. It was the same kind of feeling he gets when his favourite song on the radio gets cut short because the signal is faulty or when a movie he's watching ends before everything gets resolved.

He made a beeline for the Chief's office with the intention of throwing himself back into his work in order to shake off the inexplicable feeling, but his plans were waylaid when he found his path unexpectedly blocked by Agent Yauch standing just in front of the door to his destination. The man looked irked about something, and Jack felt the smallest twinge of guilt for disappearing in the middle of the night shift; then again, he was acting chief, so he could do what he liked.

Before he could even work out what he should say to the agent, the obstacle in his path had already spoken. "Are you dumb?"

"Excuse me?" Jack's indignant response came instantly, almost like an instinct reaction, and any guilt he'd felt previously dissipated immediately.

"I saw you out there with her," Yauch all but yelled at him, and Jack suddenly felt like a rabbit being stared down by a fox as he caught on to what the agent was talking about; it was an unfamiliar feeling and he didn't like it. "What the hell are you playing at? You might not have noticed, but she's pretty well-known, and it's gonna look real strange when she's being interrogated by some guy in the middle of the damn street!"

Jack glanced around himself as he remembered the presence of other agents in the office – not many, considering it was now the later half of the night shift, but enough for him to attempt to steer his accuser towards his office. Annoyingly, Yauch seemed to have glued himself to the floor and wouldn't budge. "Now, I wasn't interrogating her, Yauch, I–" Jack attempted to sound authoritative as the scornful expression on the face of the man before him offended him more than it should have.

"Well, what were you talking about then? Because you were in quite a rush to leave when you did and you've been gone nearly two hours now," Jack felt himself floundering as his mind worked double-time to come up with a reasonable enough excuse for his actions. "Were you just looking for a chance to speak to her? Did you wanna recreate your little dance from the other night? Are you soft on her?"

This made something snap in Jack's mind and his expression hardened; he slammed a hand onto the wall of the office right beside Yauch's head, making the glass shudder ominously. He leaned dangerously close, emphasising the extra inches of height he had on the Agent. "Let me remind you who Dooley left in charge, Yauch," he gritted out, threateningly quiet, but loud enough to be heard by the other agents in the bullpen, who had all frozen to watch the scene before them unfold. "Don't you think he chose me for a reason? Or do you wanna take it up with him when he gets back, hm?"

He watched closely, letting Yauch interpret that how he liked, relishing in the feeling of being the fox once more. "Or you and I could discuss it right now if you want?" He raised his eyebrows, daring the man before him, who now seemed to be struggling to look him in the eye, to accept his malevolent offer.

"No? Then I suggest you get back to work, Agent. That goes for the rest of you too." He raised his voice suddenly, addressing the rest of the agents in the room without even looking at them, but the sudden shuffling of papers and hurried footsteps sounding behind him indicated their obedience.

Jack caught Yauch's arm in a vice-like grip, rooting him to the spot once more as he tried to walk away, determined to deliver one final blow to re-establish his authority. "Make yourself useful, Yauch, and start accusing some actual criminals, yeah? You should be more careful pointing fingers like that, or I'll have to start questioning why you're so eager to throw the blame around. It ain't pretty in that interrogation room, I promise you that."

Giving the agent a pat on the back that was closer to a shove, he stepped into the Chief's office and slammed the door behind him, the glass rattling indignantly again. He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and anxiously ran a hand through his hair as he checked the blinds were fully closed. That empty feeling had fermented into something rotten and a dull sense of dread was creeping into his chest now. It felt like a warning of sorts. A warning not dissimilar to the one he'd just given Yauch. Be more careful.

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