Past to Present and Back Again

Chapter 2

"So you knew Peggy?"

"Ya I do, or well did, I used to be her partner back when she first came to America."

"Oh, do you mean Partner as in work partner or more than that?"

"Well at one point I guess you could say both, but neither lasted."

OH MY GOSH, Sousa is talking to someone about Peggy. He never talks to me about Peggy, I don't think he wants me to feel bad or get jealous of his past relationships. But hey he doesn't realize talking about past relationships is somewhat common in the 21st century. Oh, this is bound to get good. I'm so excited, I finally get to hear more about his personal past. Well at least his past relationships, I know about his family and whatnot, even some of his stories.

The footsteps of Sousa and whomever he was talking to continued to come closer to where I was lying on the couch. Luckily I have had enough training to know how to fade into the background. I cannot wait to get all the juicy details when the footsteps and the vibrations that come with footsteps stop. I am sure I'm about to get made and have the blanket thrown off of me to see Sousa standing with his smug little face above me. But that isn't what happens. I all of the sudden feel the weight on the couch shift. Someone, maybe even 2 people, were sitting down. Oh la la, this was going to be a great conversation if it was a sitting-down conversation.

But my luck had seemed to run out when I felt the vibrations of the footsteps of a small person approaching, followed not long after, by a little British, Scottish accented voice, "Danny!". It looks like Alya found Sousa, whom she adored, and he was great with.

"Alya, how are we today?" replied Sousa.

"Good, but Mommy had to go into a briefing with Daddy and Kora, so she told me to find Aunt Daisy. DO you know where she is? I want to show her my fish!" answered the sophisticated voice of the young child.

"Well, you seem to be in luck because Aunt Daisy is lying on the couch over there. She is trying to be sneaky and fake sleep and eavesdrop on my conversation with Steve here. So why don't you go jump on her and wake her up."

Damn, I had been made. I should have known Daniel always seems to know where I am, it's almost like he put a tracker on me. You know what I should probably ask him about that. Before I could sit up I felt a tiny body landing on me. I feel bad for Fitzsimmons, Alya must be a handful for them. I decided to scare the kid by sitting up and tickling her. This got Alya to let out a tiny shriek and sit down in my lap. It was clear she was marveling at Steve who happened to be sitting a few feet away from me. So I shot a playful glare at Sousa. Why did he have to be such a good spy?

It only took Alya a couple of seconds before she was bored of analyzing Steve. She seemed to come to the conclusion that it was time for me to see her fish. So she jumped off the couch, grabbing my arm and pulling me off the couch oblivious to the fact that I was semi-tangled into a blanket. I nearly fell on my face getting up and out of the corner of my eye as I was leaving I could see Sousa struggling to hold in a laugh.

Alya had clearly been to the Avengers compound because even though I clearly had no idea where she was taking me, she wasn't even hesitating as she led me from hallway to staircase and back to another hallway. All of them were white might I add.

Five minutes later we showed up at a door, again it was white. Who thought making everything white was a good idea. Probably some fancy designer that Tony Stark hired. And overpaid for. Alya didn't knock on the door and just entered. I didn't have any other choice but to follow her. The place they entered seemed to be a penthouse-sized apartment, one that seemed to be Fitzsimmonsanated. Everything seemed to be organized in Fitz's weird system and had Simmons inspired layout, with a breakfast nook and everything. There was also a kettle on the stove. Such a Simmons thing.

Alya had yet to drop my arm as she tugged me toward another room, one I assumed was hers. As the door was opening I caught a glimpse at a fish tank. It was filled with five fish I had never seen before. They ranged in colour and size but they were all bright. I think Fitzsimmons may have broken the law and let their child design and genetically modify her own fish. But hey they were beautiful. I must have stood there for a solid 5 minutes before I could remove my eyes from the tank. It was so captivating, I almost missed the door closing behind me and another person coming into the room. It was almost like I was being hypnotized.

When I turned around I saw it was Mack that had happened to make his way into Alya's room.

"Hey Mack Hammer, it's been a while, how have you been?"

Mack's face turned grave and said, "Tremors we need to talk".