InsaneJournal

He had a date. With Peggy Carter. Phil Coulson hadn't been on a date since Rosalinde (and were those even dates) and here he was, two hundred years in the future and going on a date with the most amazing SHIELD agent herself. Okay, so maybe there was a bit of hero worship going on. He kept wanting to glance over his shoulder to see if Steve Rogers was going to show up and cut in.

But no, it was just him and Peggy Carter sitting at a table overlooking the sunset on the Pacific. A suit had seemed too formal for the occasion, so he'd gone more casual, the short sleeves leaving the metal band on his forearm visible, but that at least wasn't as strange a sight in this world. A live band was playing and though the music was new, it was at least danceable, which Phil hoped they'd have time to get to after dinner.

"I imagine your line of work doesn't leave a lot of time for holidays like this."

Peggy breathed the fresh air in deeply, lost in her own thoughts for a moment before turning and smiling at Phil across the table. "It has its moments. Most of the last year, before I woke up in this century, I spent in Los Angeles with Howard Stark. And even when you're working around him, you still manage to get dragged into all sorts of adventures. Not a holiday, by any stretch of the imagination, but it had its good points." Lounging by the pool at his estate, drinks and dancing, undercover and not, violent other-worldly phenomena that threatened to destroy all of the Earth. That sort of thing.

"Working with Tony had some similar aspects," Phil said with a smile as he refilled her glass. "Though a lot of that was trying to keep him out of trouble."

It was good to know when Peggy was from as he could put that on the timeline he had of her life. After all, you didn't get to be president of the Steve Rogers fanclub without knowing about the awesomeness of Peggy Carter. And there were times Phil had thought it would have been great if Peggy had been able to pick up the mantle of Cap. She was more than capable of it, to be sure.

"Sounds a lot like our current adventures." He took a sip of his wine. "My past few years were spend largely on the run. It's nice to have a few days in one spot."

"I find that keeping a Stark out of trouble is an impossible task," Peggy said, smiling. But, looking back on all of the troubles with him that she had, they weren't unwelcome. In fact, Peggy didn't think she'd mind if he showed up here like other people had. With all of the comings and goings …

"On the run from what?" she asked curiously, arching an eyebrow. Peggy had largely been trying not to learn all that much about her own future, though it wasn't entirely possible given how many of the travelers knew who she was and what she did, but knowing about Phil's future wasn't the same as knowing her own at all.

"The government at times. Also the Watchdogs, who were an anti-inhuman group. Then the Russian, who thought I was the man responsible for everything since the attack on New York.." Phil shrugged. "But that's generally life at SHIELD, well, since the Avengers. Always someone wanting you dead."

There had been plenty of people who had wanted her dead too, and she nearly laughed at the idea that she had founded an organization that simply propagated that into the next century. "And now you're here where, I hope, no one has expressed any interest in wanting you dead, right?"

"Well, not yet, but there's someone here among the recent travelers who betrays me and my team and in his future - my past - I end up killing him." Which was a very reductive way of talking about Grant Ward. "Although before the Avengers, SHIELD went years just doing its job, protecting the world."

She raised an eyebrow. "Anything I should be made aware of?" she asked. It was more the security chief's department and the Enterprise's crew to deal with any issues that might crop up, even among travelers. But she still liked to be appraised of any potentially difficult situation.

It was too much to ask that dinner between the founder of SHIELD and one of its former directors could avoid any talk of business. Then again, Phil was used to it. "Grant Ward. He was a member of my team, though he was acting as a spy for HYDRA. There's more to the story than that, but he hasn't lived it yet. He was a good agent, unfortunately it was a HYDRA agent inside SHIELD who found him and made him into what he was."

Peggy cringed inwardly at the mention of HYRDA. She'd had more than her share of run-ins in that area. "As HYDRA, as far as I'm aware, doesn't exist in this time or reality, hopefully we have nothing to worry about." She smiled over at him and picked up her wine glass once again, sipping it gently.

"That's my hope. But I'll probably be keeping an eye on him, regardless." Phil took a sip of wine. "What have you enjoyed the most about the 23rd century version of Earth? Or what's surprised you most?"

A change of subject, Peggy noted. She also noted that she, too, would keep an eye on Mr. Ward. It could never hurt to be more aware of anything that could potentially go wrong. "I suppose the advances in technology," she admitted. "It's nice to be able to travel freely and quickly from place to place, and also to see that the Earth still exists and is cleaner and better than I'm sure it was headed to in my time. What about you?"

"I'm still getting used to replicators. Not that I'm much of a cook, but the concept of them is just odd." He gave her a smile. "But generally I'm a fan of antiques, even in my day, so most of this just seems fantastical. I miss my old corvette."

Peggy laughed. "I wonder what kind of corvette would be considered an antique now, here. I can't imagine they've got anything from the 20th century that still runs, do you?"

"Probably not, although Daisy took me to a few antique shops in Vegas to try and find me something for my room on the Enterprise. I… might have had quite the collection of World War II memorabilia in my office back home."

"And did you find anything that will make you feel more at home?" Peggy asked. She hadn't done much decorating herself, even though perhaps she should have. At first, it seemed like she wasn't interested in making it into a home; she wanted it to feel transitory. And then she simply grew too busy to bother herself with it.

"A nice watch that's from the early 21st or late 20th century. Earlier would have been better, but that's hard to find now." He couldn't exactly tell Peggy about his collection of vintage cap cards or how he had her original SHIELD pin that he'd kept safe. After all, he didn't want to come off as a crazy fanboy. "I'm not sure the Enterprise will ever feel like home, but then again home loses meaning when you spend your life on a jet. Or a spaceship."

"It's a place to make our own for right now," Peggy said, agreeing otherwise with his assessment. She nodded. "I haven't truly had a place to call home in several years, so I tend not to get too attached anyway. It might be nice, now, to have something a little more, well, homey."

"What do you miss most about home? If that's not too personal a question," Coulson asked, refilling their glasses.

"I'm not sure I have a good answer for that," Peggy admitted. She tugged at the ends of her hair over her shoulders and picked up her glass once he had refilled it. She hadn't been living in England when she left. It was true that she was beginning a new relationship, but it hadn't taken off yet. She missed … Howard, she supposed. And Jarvis. "I don't miss my work, I don't think. That isn't to say I didn't enjoy it, because I did. But this - opportunity and experience, is nothing like I would have had otherwise." She leaned her head to the side. "I guess my best answer is some of the people I knew, that's what I miss."

"People are irreplaceable." The words came out a bit more morose than he intended, but he thought of Tripp, and of seeing him again in the framework. "Although there are people here I never thought I'd have the chance to meet. From Princess Leia to Captain Kirk. Even you."

The last two words were said with a smile and Coulson flushed slightly.

Peggy couldn't help but smile at his compliment, and also at the shade of red he began to turn. She set down her wine glass. "Agent Coulson, would you care to dance?" she asked, standing up and refolding her napkin on her seat behind her. She held out a hand.

He had been planning to ask her that same question, but he should have known he'd get one upped by Peggy Carter. He gave her his hand with a smile as he got to his feet. He let her lead the way out to the dance floor as he slid his arm around her waist. "So, who leads?"

She gave him a look as she moved her hand to the back of his shoulder and squeezed his other hand. "Tell you what, Agent Coulson, I'll let you lead this time," she said glancing up at him with a grin.

Phil smiled as he started leading her in the dance. "Very well, but the next dance, I fully expect to be spun and dipped by you, Agent Carter."

She laughed and grinned wider. “I'm sure that won't be a problem at all.”