InsaneJournal

The Enterprise. It wasn't where he expected to wake up. Not after everything. But well, it was better than the alternative. And when he was told he should stop by Ms. Peggy Carter's office for a briefing, well, he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. All of this was like something out of dream. He knocked on the door. "Agent Carter? I believe I'm here for a briefing."

Peggy looked up at the new arrival and smiled. It almost passed by her that he’d called her ‘agent,' so when it dawned on her, she raised an eyebrow and stood up from behind her desk. “Phil Coulson, is it?” she asked, glancing down at her PADD and the information that had already been taken from him. “Welcome to the Enterprise. How are you feeling?” It was always good to ask at the start of a meeting, allowed Peggy a chance to get a feel for how a new arrival was immediately reacting to, well, everything.

"Just call me Phil, please." There was no wiping the smile off his face. "Ma'am. I have to say, it's quite the honor. Never thought I'd get the chance to actually meet you, especially-" He stopped himself thinking it best not to tell her that she was dead in his timeline. Didn't seem right. "Phil Coulson, agent and former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. - which evolved out of the SSR. We're actually currently using your old base as our HQ. You are incredible, Agent Carter, can I just say that?"

She glanced down at his file again and paused, a light blush slipping over her cheeks. Of course Steve and then Tony had filled her in on her future work, but hearing it stated so bluntly like this was something else. Not too mention his flattery. “Agent Coulson, Phil,” she said, clearing her throat. “Thank you for the compliment. I'll begin, since you know of me, by saying that I'm from before the founding of SHIELD, so while I'm sure I did many things for the organization, I haven't experienced any of them yet.”

He nodded, still amazed he got the chance to see the one and only Peggy Carter in her prime. "Right. No spoilers, then, ma'am." He managed to compose himself, putting away the fanboy and took a seat, returning to being an experienced agent of SHIELD. "So, this briefing then. What did I just walk into?"

Peggy folded her hands. “Well, to put it in the most basic terms, some odd phenomenon is pulling people from various and alternate realities and bringing them here to this reality. The Enterprise crew is giving us room and board and allowing us to join them on their exploration mission. Oh, and it's the 23rd century as well, which is always jarring to remember.”

"That's kind of them. Who's the captain of her right now?" Was this Kirk's Enterprise or Picards? Which Kirk? He nodded, taking in all the information she gave him. "Oddly enough, not necessarily the strangest thing I've had to deal with in my time with SHIELD."

“James Kirk,” she said. “Are you familiar with him? Several people who have arrived have been familiar with the Enterprise and its crew and adventures. Just as some people have known me. It’s - well, it seems as in alternate realities, various fictional characters or stories are, in fact, reality. It’s been a lot for some people to understand, myself included at times.” Though Peggy didn’t know Phil before this moment, she felt comfortable around him, that she could trust him. She hoped that she wasn’t misplaced in that immediate trust. “I don’t know how that sits in relation to other things you’ve experienced, but it’s certainly odd enough for me.” She smiled at him.

"I'm familiar with the stories of the USS Enterprise and her crew," Phil said, giving no indication that he'd watched them growing up. "I grew up idolizing Captain America, reading all about his adventures and yours. And yet I eventually got the chance to work with him at SHIELD. Since then, I've gone through wormholes to alien planets, had my arm cut off and seen things most people wouldn't believe. I've died and been brought back to life by SHIELD."

He gave her a smile. "What I mean to say, Agent Carter, is that even if I might not have seen this particular series of weird events, I've become pretty adaptable over the years. "

Peggy let out a low whistle at his outlining of some of the - exciting? - things that he’d experienced. At the end, her smile grew. It was nice to have someone she was briefing as a liaison who wasn’t completely panicking. “Please, call me Peggy,” she insisted. She handed him a PADD and an ID card. “Sounds like you’ve had quite a career. Hopefully things won’t get too boring for you around here.” A pause. “These are yours for the duration. The ID will get you into your quarters and all public areas of the ship. The PADD is your networking device and also includes a map of the ship, standard Federation history, that sort of thing.”

"Call me Phil. The career chose me, as it were." The smile on his face widened as he took the PADD and the ID card. He wondered if he could get the network on his prosthetic arm to link with the PADD - that was a question for Daisy or Fitz. "Cool. I just mean, history - it's kind of a hobby of mine." Which was an understatement, but talking about alternate lives in the framework was probably a bit much. It'd be good to see what the movies left out. "So, I'm not that good at sitting still. Is there some way we can lend a hand with the crew here? Not that I'm eager to be a red shirt on an away team right away."

She arched an eyebrow, not quite getting the red shirt reference but deciding not to ask about it. “Is there anything in particular you’d like to do? Most people wait a few days or a few weeks before jumping into finding a job. I can always use more help with the traveler liaison program, though the bulk of it is administrative. Otherwise, there are opportunities to train in various ship’s departments if you’d like or a more menial job such as recreation coordinator, bartender, cook, etcetera. It’s completely up to you.”

"Administrative tasks are something I have some experience with," Phil said with a smile. "I'm used to jumping into action right away. If you need assistance, I'm happy to get started right away."

Peggy flattened her hands out against her desk and, tipping her head to the side, considered Agent Coulson for a moment. “Tell you what,” she said, “I’d like you to go ahead and get acclimated. Take a day or two to get to know the ship, read through some of the background on it and the Federation, talk to your fellow travelers, and then we’ll talk. I want you on board, but I want you to have a chance to just - enjoy yourself for a while. I know how overwhelming this is, and I also know how hard it is to do nothing, so don’t think I’m putting on the brakes because I don’t want you working with me. I absolutely do.”

Phil couldn't help but smile. "I'll do my best, but I can only promise a few days. After that I'll get antsy." He gave Peggy a smile. He was a workaholic, especially after TAHITI, vacations just didn't seem right to him. "I appreciate it, Peggy, I do."