Hayley Atwell | One-Shots

PC - Idiot

Odessa:
Gunfire. Gunfire everywhere. All around me. I crouch down behind a wall to shield myself from the flying bullets as best as I can. The worst part about this whole situation—besides getting shot at, obviously—is that I'm here alone. I'm not even technically allowed to be here. But, me being me, I disobeyed direct orders and went anyway.

When I find an opportunity, I stand up again and shoot, only to be forced back to crouching. I'm pretty much surrounded. I fucked up, I'll be the first to admit that. At least I can own up to my mistakes.

"Come on out! We have you surrounded!"

"Uh, sorry, I can't!" I call back, fiddling with the magazine, trying to change it out while bullets hit the wall just above my head. "I'm busy!"

"You have nowhere to go, no one to call!"

I sigh. The sad thing is, I do. I do have someone to call. But that someone would kill me if she knew where I was and what I was doing here. She will not be happy. I fearfully chuckle at the thought of her cursing me out the way she does when she's really mad. Precisely what she's going to do when I come home.

"Are you sure you have the right person?" I call back sarcastically.

A bullet flies and I can feel it barely touch the top of my head. I stand back up just to instantly sit back down again without firing another bullet. Okay, cool. So, unfortunately, I think I need to call for backup. I really am screwed.

I pull out my phone and dial work.

"Dooley," Chief Dooley answers.

"Hey, chief," I respond, trying so hard to cover the sounds of what's going on around me and my nerves.

"Ah, Agent L'vine. What a pleasure," he says sarcastically. "I'll patch you through to Carter."

"No, no don't do that!" I say quickly. But it's far too late. The line beeps then her voice.

"Odessa?" God, her sweet, sweet accent gets me every time.

"Peggy..."

"What is it? Are you alright?"

"Peg, I need you to promise me you won't go bonkers."

"O, what is it?"

"I need an extraction."

"For what? You're not supposed to be on a mission."

"Yes, yes, I know. I know, Peg. But I really am in a bit of a pickle right now and would really love some help."

Her voice starts to raise. "What have you done?"

"Okay, so I did exactly what I was told not to do. But hey, I got what I came here for. But now I'm sort of getting shot at and could really use some help."

"Okay, I'm on my way."

"Thank you."

"Oh, and just so you know. You're in deep when you get home."

The line cuts off. Less than fifteen minutes later the SSR is coming to my rescue... again. When the crooks are all handcuffed and put away, we head back to the office. I follow Peggy around knowing that if I take even one wrong step, she very well could slap me so hard my head spins all the way around full-circle.

She leads me into the conference room, locks the doors, and closes the blinds. I stand and wait. Finally, she whips around to face me.

"You are so... I don't even know, Odessa. There are no words. I have no words! Going against strict orders? And nearly dying? Are you trying to get fired?"

"Peg–"

"One of these days, we will not be able to help you! One of these days– No. No." She pinches the bridge of her nose and squeezes her eyes shut. "I cannot– No. I can. I can believe this. This stupidity. This situation you put yourself and me in."

I know at this point she's just ranting, getting it all out. She just needs a minute to explode before we can actually talk. So I let her go on and on and on.

"And to tell me to not go bonkers? And what kind of a word is that? You don't tell your wife to not go bonkers when you do something as stupid as this! And what if you died? What then? I would be left alone. You would leave me alone. You know how much I need you around. So why do something so stupid?!"

There's a long moment of silence. So I take it as my cue to start talking softly. "I know it was dumb. But I got what we wanted."

"That is of the least importance to me. You could have died!"

I step up to her and take her hands in mine. "I know, Peg. I'm sorry."

"You–" I can see the anger flare up again. Here we go again. "You deliberately went against strict orders! You could get fired, you could die, you could jeopardize this whole operation! What went through your head?!" She starts pacing the room again. "I can't believe after every conversation, every interrogation, you still chose to go against orders like this! This mission wasn't just some little mission that you should do alone! It was meant for a team of four because of the severity! And what did you do? You went at it alone. You told no one where you were or what you were doing. You–"

I cut her off by grabbing her hands and pulling her into me. I hug her long and hard. She's tense at first but melts into my embrace when she calms down. Sometimes, cutting her off with affection is the best decision if she keeps going on and on and on and on like she was doing. Fighting back on this issue isn't worth it. I pick and choose my battles with her.

"You could have died," she squeaks softly.

"I know. But I didn't. I'm still here. The hard part's over."

"Except for the conversation you're about to have with Dooley."

I chuckle, so she does too.

"Yeah, that's not gonna be fun."

Peggy pulls out of the hug first. "Can you at least consider not doing such idiotic things sometimes?"

"You know that's what I do, Peg. I'm not the smartest. But I make decisions that help people in the long run."

"You're not easy, you know that, right?"

"I know. It's a wonder how you put up with me."

"I don't know how I do it."

We smile at each other. When I kiss her, it's like all our problems melt away.