Day One: Edelweiss

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/25631302.

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: F/M
Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel, Agent Carter (TV), Agent Carter
(Marvel Short Film)
Relationship: Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa, Peggy Carter & Daniel Sousa
Character: Peggy Carter, Daniel Sousa
Additional Tags: Fluff, Domestic Fluff, we would all go to war for peggy carter let's be
real, Peggysous Week 2020
Language: English
Series: Part 1 of Peggysous Week 2020
Collections: Peggysous Week 2020
Stats: Published: 2020-08-02 Words: 2478

Day One: Edelweiss

by TheAsexualofSpades

Summary

Edelweiss: Signifies deep love and devotion. Native to the Alps, so those who harvest this
flower must face danger to prove that love and devotion.

***

The war is over. They’re home now. And yet, Peggy still has not stepped foot in a cinema?
Daniel’s not having it. Plus, they both could do with a…little reminder, of sorts.

Notes

i love them and everything's fine

“I’m not one for the cinema.”

“I know, Peg,” Daniel says, handing her the bowl, “believe me.”
Peggy stifles a laugh at Daniel’s patient exasperation. “I believe Mr. Jarvis had a…similar
reaction.”

“Did he?”

“We were at the racetrack, looking for Calvin Chadwick.” Daniel hums. “I didn’t know who
Whitney Frost was.”

“Wait, seriously?” Daniel turns off the sink and drapes the towel over the fridge handle. “Peg, her
face was on posters everywhere in New York.”

Peggy shrugs. “Like I said, I’m not one for the cinema.”

Daniel just shakes his head with a smile. “And what did Jarvis have to say to that.”

“He asked me if I assemble rifles in my free time.”

Daniel throws his head back, laughing. Peggy glares at him in mock offense, only to have it ruined
when she can’t help but smile when he looks at her. He slumps against the counter for support, still
laughing.

“If only he knew,” Daniel murmurs through the last of his chuckles.

“If only he knew what?”

“That you spend your free time reading Agatha Christie and muttering about how stupid the
characters are under your breath.”

“It’s not like it’s hard,” Peggy mutters.

“Like that.”
Peggy whacks his arm halfheartedly with her own dish towel. “I’ll have you know I’m getting
better at it.”

“What, predicting the ending or not getting frustrated with fictional characters?”

“…yes.”

Daniel bumps her shoulder lightly. “Well, call me crazy, but I think that might have something to
do with what you do for a living.” He turns around, leaning against the counter. “Long days solving
mysteries, chasing bad guys, all you’re missing is a trench coat and a fedora.”

“I’ll have you know I have perfectly suitable hats,” Peggy says, making them both laugh.

“Seriously, Peg,” Daniel says after they both stop laughing, “if you don’t wanna go, you don’t
have to. I just…well, I kinda wanna know why.”

Peggy sighs, making sure none of the drying dishes will topple over as she hangs up her towel. “I
suppose I’ve never understood the appeal.”

Daniel shrugs. “Escapism? Momentary reprieve?”

“But the same thing can be accomplished through a book,” Peggy says, “and then I’m not limited
by whomever they cast to play the roles. I can let my imagination do the work for me.”

“True,” Daniel says, “but there are some things that words can’t really do when they’re just on
paper. Sometimes you need the nuance of spoken word to really get everything out of a certain
situation.”

Peggy squints. “Why does this sound suspiciously like how you argued for Dooley to give us the
recordings of the interrogations as opposed to just the transcripts?”

The innocent shrug and the look he gives her fool absolutely no one.
Peggy switches tactics, perching one hand on her hip. “Why do you enjoy it, then?”

“I’ve always found them to be a bit better at holding my attention.” Daniel gestures with his hand.
“Not just my imagination, but my sight. The sound. The music of it. Helps me flush everything
out.”

“A more complete experience, then.”

Daniel nods. “Plus, it’s not just the picture itself. It’s going out, late at night, to see a show. It’s…
you know, it’s its own deal.”

He pushes off the counter, taking Peggy’s hands in his. “It’s walking back late at night,” he
murmurs, “your head buzzing. Someone special in your arms, both of your hearts still beating fast.”

Peggy smiles when he takes her into his arms. She’s learned that Daniel can be very persuasive
when he wants.

“It’s sitting in a room full of people and only being able to pay attention to the person right next to
you.” Daniel rests his chin on her shoulder. “It’s being able to share a story with someone.”

He pulls back, that terribly cocky smirk on his face. “Can’t really do that with a book, now can
you?”

Peggy huffs. “Oh, alright.” She raises an eyebrow at Daniel’s childlike excitement. “You’re
certainly eager.”

“Come on, Peg,” Daniel laughs, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to her cheek, “let me share a
story with you?”

Well, that’s just not fair. How the hell is she supposed to say no to that?

They choose next Friday. Daniel picks the picture, buys the tickets. Peggy picks the restaurant.
They discuss the last of the work plans over pasta and garlic bread until Daniel reaches across the
table to cover her hand midway through a discussion of their current case.
“Peggy,” he chides gently, amusement sparkling in his eyes, “no more work talk tonight, okay?
Take the night off, please.”

Peggy protests halfheartedly until Daniel gives her those puppy-dog eyes that she swears do not
work.

“Oh, alright,” she relents, “I suppose one night won’t throw us overboard.”

“It won’t,” Daniel promises, “but it will do you some good. Now,” he continues, picking up his
fork again, “tell me about the current book you’re reading and how stupid the characters are.”

They make playful jabs at mystery tropes until they’re finished, carrying on as they walk down the
block to the theater. The night is young, the sun just setting behind the horizon. The air is still
warm from its rays, bathing the street in a soft haze that makes the streetlights glow a little fuzzier
at the edges. Peggy finds that as their conversation meanders, she cares less and less about trying to
follow it, letting Daniel’s arm in hers hold her steady as they fade into the nightlife.

“Right here,” Daniel says, sweeping them through the doors. “This way, I think.”

“Have you been here before?”

“Once,” Daniel says, “came with Rose after I lost a bet.”

“You should know better than to take a bet against Rose,” Peggy laughs.

“Yeah, yeah,” Daniel mutters as they step into the auditorium, “it wasn’t a big deal.”

“What was the bet?”

“Doesn’t matter.”
“Daniel,” she laughs, poking his shoulder as they sit down, “tell me.”

“Alright, alright.” Daniel lays his crutch out of the way. “It was a stupid filing competition. Who
could finish their stack of paperwork first.”

“Why on earth would you take that bet against Rose?”

“Because if I could suffer through Thompson and Krezminski’s filing,” Daniel shoots back, “I
could damn well suffer through my own.”

Peggy laughs, conceding. The New York office did not exactly have the best reputation for
scrupulous filing. “And you lost and came here?”

“Rose wanted to see the noir based on The Brick Foxhole,” Daniel explains, “it was called
‘Crossfire’ or something.”

Peggy makes a noise of understanding, glancing around. The place is filling up nicely, even though
it’s not quite full. Daniel follows her gaze.

“Normally the shows get fuller as the night goes on,” he murmurs, “picked an earlier time so we
wouldn’t get caught in the crowd.”

Peggy nods in thanks, settling into her chair. Soon enough, the lights start to dim and the screen
lights up. The film begins to roll and Daniel carefully nudges her shoulder. She looks over to see
him staring at her hopefully, his hand laying open in the space between their seats. She tries to
pretend she isn’t blushing when he smiles warmly as she takes it.

It’s dark, she can get away with it.

As always, her trust in Daniel is not misplaced. The picture is, indeed, a mystery story. Something
about a female spy returning from abroad to team up with an older detective, trying to find out
what’s happened to her missing husband. The characters, while…limited, perhaps, by the
constraints of the medium, are interesting enough that Peggy finds herself furrowing her brow in
concentration as she tries to figure out the story before the characters do. She hears Daniel chuckle
a few times when nothing funny has happened on the screen and glances over, raising an eyebrow.
“You’ve got your focused face on,” he whispers, leaning close so as not to disturb the other movie-
goers, “you enjoying it?”

“Don’t be smug,” she whispers back.

“I’m not,” he defends, leaning back a little, the flickering light from the screen showing a warm
smile, “I’m happy.”

Unfortunately for Peggy, this time when she turns away, the screen is bright enough that she can’t
hide her blush.

She figures out it was the husband fairly easily. He had faked his own death, it turns out, and has
secretly sided with the enemy, becoming the very antagonist the spy and the detective were
attempting to vanquish. She does understand what Daniel was talking about; the nuances of the
actor’s faces convey things she has no idea how to put into words, the music in the background
makes her heart beat faster when tensions rise, and she finds her work instincts taking over, getting
frustrated when the camera won’t pan down far enough to let her see the whole room.

She keeps a hold of Daniel’s hand the whole time.

Right before the climax, there’s a quiet scene. The spy is standing by the window, looking out over
the city. The detective comes in behind her, shutting the door.

“I don’t know why he did it,” the spy sniffs, folding her arms, “I don’t know why he decided to go
off and join the people he signed up to fight.”

“People do crazy things,” the detective mutters, coming up behind the spy, “for crazy reasons.”

“Even go to war?”

Peggy scoffs at the melodramatic delivery.

“Even go to war,” the detective agrees, looking at the spy. “You know that, right?”

“I don’t expect you to understand,” the spy says, making Peggy scoff again. Honestly. “I went to
war because I had nothing. Because it took everything from me and I had to try and take some of it
back.”

Oh.

“And you didn’t go to war,” the spy cries, whirling around to point a trembling finger at the
detective, “so how could you know? What would you go to war for?”

“I’d go to war for you.”

Ah. There it is.

The husband gets caught, the detective kisses the spy, the screen fades out.

“Well,” Daniel says, turning to Peggy as the other people start to get up, “what did you think?”

“Why didn’t they realize it was the husband when they initially found his draft card?”

Daniel rolls his eyes fondly, getting to his feet, grabbing his crutch, and starting out of the theatre,
still pulling Peggy by the hand. She keeps up her ‘review’ of the story as they walk back along the
street. It’s cooler now, the breeze ruffling her hair, the indigo sky turning brisk where the
streetlights glow amber. They chat idly about the story, what they liked, what they didn’t, lapsing
into silence when they run out of things to say.

Peggy glanced down at their entwined arms. Daniel is warm against the gentle breeze.

“Peggy?”

They stop, Daniel turning to face her with a look of concern on his face. “Everything okay?”
“Hmm? Oh, yes,” Peggy says quickly, “just thinking.”

“Uh-huh.” Daniel squeezes her arm gently. “I know you better than that. Come on, tell me.”

“It’s silly.”

“If it’s worrying you, it’s not.”

Peggy smiles at the sincerity in his voice. “It was one of the scenes,” she confesses, “the one where
they were…at the window.”

Daniel curses under his breath. “Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. I tried to pick a picture where there
wouldn’t be a lot of that, but, uh, guess we can’t escape from it.”

“No, no, it’s not that.” Peggy shakes her head. “I just…it reminded me of…something.”

Daniel’s face falls, stepping closer. “I didn’t mean to make you sad, Peg, or to remind you of—“

“Not Steve,” Peggy clarifies, smiling a little when Daniel’s shoulders slump in relief, “just…how I
got started.”

Daniel nods, accepting the answer and gesturing to the sidewalk in front of them. Peggy accepts his
invitation to keep walking, the slight daze from the movie beginning to sap some of her strength.
She leans more heavily into Daniel who comes a little closer to support her, sharing their warmth.

“I get what you mean,” he says out of nowhere, “about that scene. It, uh, well…it had a good
question in it.”

At Peggy’s quizzical look, he elaborates. “About what people go to war for.”

“Ah.”
Yes, well, that is quite a question, isn’t it?

“That was quite the declaration,” she says, trying to lighten the mood, “the detective saying he’d go
to war for her?”

“Yeah.” Daniel’s crutch clicks against the sidewalk. “That’s one way to do it.”

“Well,” Peggy murmurs, “let’s hope we never have to worry about that. One war in my lifetime is
quite enough for me.”

Daniel chuckles. “I don’t know if I’d say that.”

Peggy stops them, frowning. “What on earth does that mean?”

Daniel stops too, turning to face her. “Peg, what does that quote mean to you?”

“Pardon?”

“When the detective said it,” Daniel says, “what did it mean?”

Peggy blinks. “That the detective was willing to go to war for the spy.”

“So she wouldn’t have to or to fight alongside her?”

Peggy’s words die in her throat. Daniel scratches the back of his head and takes a deep breath.
When he looks up at her, the trust and faith in his eyes is enough to take her breath away.

“If working at the SSR has taught me anything, it’s that war isn’t just two sides shooting at each
other on a battlefield,” he says. “It’s information, it’s secrets, it’s covert operations and talking and
teamwork.”
He gestures between the two of them. “We can fight wars every day at our jobs, just by doing
paperwork and making phone calls. Hell, we’ve fought wars by doing that.”

“Daniel,” Peggy says, holding out her hands, “what…what are you saying?”

Daniel takes a step closer. “I’m saying I’ve already gone to war for you, Peg. I fought the whole
damn War Department for you. And yeah, I’d do it again.”

He holds out a hand when she opens her mouth. “And before you say anything, I need to tell you
that quote means something different for me.”

Peggy closes her mouth, waiting as Daniel comes close enough for her to see the glow of the
streetlight reflected in his eyes.

“I would go to war to follow you, Peg,” he says, “because I know damn well you’re going anyway
and I’m sure as hell not stupid enough to try and stop you.”

“Oh, Daniel…”

“Just…” and it’s his turn to blush, the tips of his ears going red as he coughs into his fist. “Let me
share the story with you?”

How is she supposed to say no?

Instead, she kisses him, bathed in the warm glow of the streetlight, until neither of them can say
anything.

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