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Rose stood, hesitating at the door in front of her, blinking back tears. Assistant Director Margaret Carter it read. Finally when she couldn’t put it off any longer she knocked.
From inside she heard a shout of “come in!” Swinging the door open Rose met Peggy’s eye and Peggy immediately knew that something was wrong. “Rose!” she exclaimed, shooting out of her seat and starting toward her, “what happened?”
Rose took a deep breath, hating herself for breaking her friend's heart. “The LAPD just called, they found a body.” She couldn’t bring herself to say the actual words.
“Oh… oh no,” Peggy said. “Who is it? I’ll send someone ove-”
“It’s Daniel,” Rose blurted out.
Peggy froze, her hand already halfway to the telephone. “No,” she whispered, shock and heartbreak showing in her eyes before resolve took over. “No, no it can’t be, I saw him just this morning he was fine! We were going to dinner, he wouldn’t miss that. This is just a mistake. I’ll just call them now and let them know they made a mistake.” Peggy turned toward Rose, eyes willing her to tell her that she was right that everything was going to be fine. The hand that was reaching for the telephone was shaking minutely.
“He had his ID on him and everything,” Rose said gently, already reaching out to comfort Peggy.
“No,” she whimpered weakly once more and Rose could see the pure heartbreak in her eyes. But just as quickly as they had found out about Daniel’s death it was gone, stuffed behind the mask of Agent Carter. “If you’ll excuse me,” Peggy said, her tone oddly formal. She quickly gathered her keys and other things, hands shaking ever so slightly, only a trained eye would be able spot it. “Tell the LAPD that SHIELD will be taking over the case and to bring the… the body to our morgue.”
“Peggy…”
“I am not to be contacted for the remainder of the day,” was all she said before striding quickly out of her office. Rose let her go, knowing that she needed this time to grieve.
Peggy strode through the halls as quickly as she could. She couldn’t break down here, not in front of all of the agents. She practically flew to her car, getting in and starting the ignition in under ten minutes. As she drove her body acted on autopilot, taking the familiar turns while her brain flickered through broken thoughts.
This was all her fault, she should have given him more protection, she could have stopped him from leaving today, if she had just cared more he could still be alive. Her lips trembled traitorously and she quickly clenched her jaw, fighting to keep her composure. Fighting to keep the sobs down.
Finally she pulled up in front of the tan bungalow that she and Daniel had lived in for the past six years. Almost there. She climbed out of the car and pulled her keys out of her hand bag. Carefully, trying to stop her hands from shaking she put the key in the slot and turned it, stepping into the familiar safety of their house. Her house.
As the door clicked behind her she finally let go of her iron control and felt her heart shatter.
The broken sob that had been clawing at the back of her throat ripped its way out, her hand flying to cover her mouth, as if she could stop it. Once the first one had escaped her lips all of her grief poured out tumbling over one another.
With a soft cry she slid to the floor, her back against the door. Tears slid down her face, ruining her mascara and soaking her dress. She buried her face in her arms, not caring about the mess that she made.
Her breath came in stuttering gasps, chest heaving with the force of her sobs. Tears ran freely down her face and her throat felt scratchy.
As her tears ebbed a little she pulled herself up, kicking off her pumps and wandering through the house unsteadily, silent tears still rolling down her face. She raised a hand to her face and flicked away a few of them but more quickly took their place. Laboriously making her way to the bedroom Peggy all but collapsed onto the bed, not even bothering to take off her makeup or change. Reaching over to the other side of the bed she grabbed Daniel’s pillow, letting his familiar scent comfort her even as a fresh wave of tears leaked from her eyes.
Clutching the pillow to her Peggy let the familiar scent and its comfort pull her into an uneasy sleep. She would face the rest of the world tomorrow.