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captainsophiestark · 1 year

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How Not To Impress Your Future Inlaws

Jack Thompson x Reader

Masterlist - Taglist

Requested by Anon! Hope you like it and thanks for being patient!

Fandom: Marvel

Summary: Jack Thompson and Y/N are undercover at a gala, looking for Vernon Masters. He's not there, but they might just find someone (or two someones) worse, especially since Y/N has a giant secret crush on Jack Thompson and is in the middle of pretending to be his girlfriend for their jobs.

Word Count: 3,492

Category: Fluff, little bit of angst?

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

I sighed dreamily as I stared up into the eyes of none other than Jack Thompson, Chief of the New York SSR and my boss. His arms wrapped securely around my waist as we swayed back and forth together on the dance floor, taking in the soft music and blocking out everything in the world around us as we got completely lost in each other.

Or at least, that's what we wanted everyone around us to think.

The illusion was slightly ruined for Jack and I who could hear Peggy and Daniel's voices crackling over the comms in our ears. We were currently in the middle of an undercover operation for the SSR at a fancy gala event, and Jack and I were pretending to be happily dating, in love, run of the mill civilians.

"Can you see anyone we've tied to Vernon Masters?" demanded Peggy, her voice crackling over the comm device. Jack leaned in like he was whispering something in my ear, using it as cover to respond to Peggy.

"For the fifth time, Marge, no. He's not here and neither are his cronies."

I heard Peggy's huff of irritation on the other end of line (for Jack's nickname for her as much as for the fact we'd come to a mission dead end), but I couldn't entirely focus on it with Jack so close to me like this.

I'd had a crush on him for a while now, one which had only grown as he'd become a better person who trusted me and Peggy as agents and chose the right side over the side that got him power and recognition. Now, I was borderline pining for him, to the point that both Peggy and Daniel had noticed and individually called me on it. I'd given them both hell while they were mooning over each other and doing nothing about it for the better part of two years, though, so I guess I was due some payback.

Still, in this moment, it was more than a little inconvenient. Even though it seemed pretty clear that Vernon Masters and his cronies weren't here, and that we'd somehow been led on a wild goose chase, I'd learned over and over again that getting distracted for even a second on the simplest of missions could get you killed.

Jack's hands suddenly tightened around my waist and his whole body tensed even as he continued to look over my shoulder, and I got the distinct feeling that I might be about to re-learn that lesson yet again.

"Jack? What is it?" I asked, leaning in to whisper in his ear and trying to keep up a calm facade. Peggy and Daniel couldn't see Jack's face, but they could tell from the tone in my voice that something was wrong.

"Is it Masters?" asked Daniel over the comms.

"No," Jack ground out, sounding like it was something far, far worse than Vernon Masters. "He's not here, and we need to bail out of this mission right now."

"Why?" I asked, jumping in before Peggy or Daniel could. I tried to turn us on the dance floor so I could catch sight of whatever he was looking at, but he whirled me away further into the crowd before I could. I pulled back and away from him just enough to look him in the eye. "Jack, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. But our cover's at high risk of getting blown if we don't leave, so we need to go."

I raised an eyebrow, and I heard Peggy and Daniel start protesting and asking questions over the comms. Jack seemed seriously stressed though, so after making one last scan of the room to make sure I really didn't see anything to do with Vernon Masters (or Dottie Underwood, or any of our many other enemies), I snagged Jack's comm-disguised-as-an-ascot out of his jacket pocket and stuffed it into my handbag.

"We're on our way out shortly, stand by," I said to Peggy and Daniel, then gave the flower pinned to my dress the same treatment as Jack's secret comm device. Once we had a little bit of privacy from our friends, I grabbed Jack's arm and met his eyes. "Jack, what's going on? I'm your partner, at least for this mission, and your friend. You can tell me."

He sighed heavily through his nose, his eyes darting up to scan the room again before at last landing back on me. He seemed to be debating something mentally, then finally, I saw his jaw lock and determination come into his eyes.

"My parents just walked into the room."

I couldn't stop my mouth from dropping open and my eyes going wide. Jack almost never talked about his parents, so the little I knew came from conversations about highly-connected people who, in some way or another, knew the Thompsons. Now, they were in the same room as us while I was pretending to be Jack's very serious long-term girlfriend.

"Yeah, that look on your face? That's exactly why we need to go," he said, taking my hand in his and at last leading me off the dancefloor. "Masters obviously isn't here anyway, so-"

"Jack!"

Jack's grip on my hand tightened and I saw him grimace as a voice called from behind us. His shoulders tensed, and I swore I could see him mentally calculating whether it'd be worth it to ignore his mother's voice and just run for the door. Apparently he decided the answer was no, because after another second he turned around, a ridiculously fake smile plastered to his face. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me tighter to his side as we faced his parents, so apparently we were going to try to keep up our covers as long as possible.

"Mom. Dad." His voice was as strained as his smile, and I kept sneaking looks at the pained expression on his face as his parents made their way over to us.

Jack definitely had the family resemblance, although his father's hair had grayed and the lines of his face were a little harsher. His mother had darker brunette hair, but there was no doubt Jack had her eyes and mouth.

Although, after two seconds of watching Jack's father stand with his shoulders back and his chin high as he surveyed us, it didn't take me long to see where Jack got some of his more irritating traits.

"We didn't know you were going to be here," said his dad, not bothering to say hi as he looked us up and down again.

"Likewise, Dad."

"So, who's this?" asked his mom, looking to me with a slightly reserved smile as she broke the tension. I couldn't tell if she actually wanted to know, or if she just wanted to change the subject.

"This is Y/N," said Jack, hesitating for half a second before he continued. "My girlfriend."

I'd be lying if I said my heart didn't leap in my chest at his words. I tried not to let it show in my expression, but I wasn't sure I'd been totally convincing.

"I see," said his mother, a polite smile forced onto her face. My stomach sank as I realized she wasn't particularly happy with this situation, and fell even farther when I saw a frown on his dad's face.

"And how exactly did the two of you meet?"

Jack hesitated again, then continued with the story we'd made up for our covers.

"I was at a gala for work. Her father holds a high position in the military, so she was there too, with him. We met, and we hit it off."

I forced a smile onto my own face, leaning into Jack a bit even though we were both tense as a pulled muscle. Of all the times I'd let myself imagine Jack calling me his girlfriend and maybe introducing me to his family (which I hadn't done often), it had never gone anything like this.

"Well, I can't believe you never told us about her, Jack," said his mother, her smile seeming more genuine now. "It's wonderful to see that you've found a nice, respectable young lady to spend your time with, for once."

My eyebrows shot all the way up my forehead, and I felt Jack's grip tighten to almost uncomfortable levels around my waist. His other hand was a fist at his side, but before I could jump in and say anything, his father continued his mother's train of thought.

"It's a wonder a woman of any kind of respectable family would give you the time of day after all the disappointments you've been bringing home lately. You had a senator congratulating you last year, and now you've completely alienated one of my long-time friends and all his connections."

Jack's breathing became labored next to me, and I could feel the stress radiating off of him in waves. I frowned, the scowl only deepening as I caught Jack's mother staring at the floor and shaking her head and his father staring him down with a disapproving scowl.

"Hold on," I said, finally finding my voice after the past few minutes of shock. "Are you talking about Vernon Masters?"

"Of course I am," his dad responded. I opened my mouth to see if he happened to remember that Vernon Masters had recently fallen from public grace (although most of the public wasn't aware of the extent of it, and that he was also a wanted criminal), but he pressed on before I could, directing his comments at Jack more than me. "Not only that, but he had an inquiry into his leadership at the SSR, the first Chief ever to have that questionable of a tenure. Now, he's siding with a bunch of righteous fools who have no idea what they're talking about and are headed for the gutter, and he's going to wind up there with them, dragging us and the family name down, too."

Jack was shaking, and to my surprise, it seemed to be from a turmoil of upset emotions rather than anger. His father's words had an impact on him, and so did his mother's clear agreement with his father, but I didn't wait for any of them to sort out the situation, because I was shaking too. But with rage.

"You listen to me," I hissed, keeping my voice low to avoid throwing a scene but letting every single word drip with venom as I stared down Jack's parents. "Jack Thompson is one of the best men I know. He's sweet and wonderful and smart and strong and yeah, I want to kill him on a semi-regular basis, and there's some things I'm still mad at him for. But in the past year since that senator shook his hand, the wrong hand, he's been doing an absolutely fantastic job growing and leading and standing up for what's right, and it's been amazing to watch him become this wonderful man and leader. And if you disagree, you can go straight to hell, you absolute bastards."

All three Thompsons stared at me in shock, but I didn't care one bit. The anger still boiled in the pit of my stomach, and I knew if I stayed here long enough to get into an argument with Jack's dad, I'd probably just end up hitting him. So, I took Jack's hand from around my waist, and used it to pull him towards the exit.

"Come on, Jack, let's go. We don't need people who aren't going to appreciate you for the man you are now."

I didn't look back once as I tugged Jack out of the ballroom, people jumping out of my way to clear us a path at the fury of my gaze. Not completely the unnoticed exit we'd been shooting for, but I really didn't care anymore.

Once we got outside, we were immediately met by Peggy and Daniel, who'd decided to come in after a few minutes of us being off comms. I quickly brushed them off, since Jack was apparently too stunned to do so, telling them we were fine without filling in any details. I could see they had a thousand more questions they wanted to ask us, but before they got the chance, I brushed past them and pulled Jack towards our car. We'd arrived separately from our fellow agents for the sake of our cover, and now we were going to leave and get a little space from everyone, our friends included.

I was still fuming as I sank into the passenger seat, Jack sliding cautiously into the driver's seat. He kept glancing at me out of the corner of his eye as he started the car, but I stared straight ahead, trying to get a hold of the whirlwind of emotions warring in my chest.

I was furious at Jack's parents and the things they'd said to him. But now that we were out of there, I was also petrified by the realization I'd basically just confessed my love for Jack, despite a year and a half of trying to hide it. After a few moments of silence as Jack carefully pulled out of the parking lot, leaving Peggy and Daniel behind us, I sighed. I couldn't just ignore the situation, and the longer I waited to address it, the harder it would be.

"Listen, Jack, I'm sorry if that was weird," I started, staring straight ahead and refusing to look at him. "I just... I couldn't take what they were saying to you, and I saw the way it was hitting you, and I just... anyway, I'm sorry."

Jack didn't say anything for a few seconds, and I swear I was on the verge of a heart attack when he at last glanced over at me and spoke.

"Did you mean what you said in there?"

Of all the responses, that definitely wasn't one I was expecting. Jack kept glancing at me, only taking his eyes off the road for a fraction of a second, and I could feel a nervous energy radiating off of him that was nothing like the confidence he usually projected.

"Jack... of course I meant it. I don't think I could've ad-libbed something fake like that if I'd tried, despite my training as an agent."

"You swore," he snorted, at last sounding a little more relaxed. I was just about the only person in the office who didn't swear at least semi-regularly, but facing down Jack's dad, it just came out naturally.

"Yeah, well, your parents are assholes. I guess it brought something out of me," I grumbled. Jack looked over at me again, this time with a grin on his face. For the first time since he'd caught sight of his parents, the familiar, swaggering, ridiculous Jack Thompson that I loved so much was starting to come back.

"So... you think I'm sweet and wonderful?"

I groaned and covered my face, sinking low in my seat. My face was on fire, and I knew if Jack caught sight of my expression, that embarrassment would be reflected in it.

Jack chuckled, and a second later I felt the car roll to a stop. I risked a peek through my fingers to see that we'd pulled off on a side road, and now Jack had turned in his seat to face me. As soon as we made eye contact, I went back to completely covering my face and looked away from him.

"You know, if I didn't know better, Agent Y/L/N, I'd say it seems like you have a crush on me."

"Oh my God," I whined, turning even further away from Jack. I heard him chuckle, then felt his hands gently grip my wrists and tug them away from my face. I just stared at him, totally done with this night and this interaction. My expression apparently only made him happier, as the cheeky smile on his face grew.

"You do, don't you?"

"Shut up, Jack, alright?" I said, looking away from him and out the window and wishing to be anywhere else. "I already get enough crap about it from Peggy and Daniel."

"Wow, 'crap'? Who are you turning into?"

I yanked one of my wrists out of his hand and smacked him in the shoulder, unable to keep a smile off my face despite myself. I huffed a long sigh, mentally trying to figure out how to best get past this situation so Jack and I could keep working together despite my semi-admission, but then he spoke, his voice low and soft and more sincere than I usually heard it.

"I've got a thing for you too, you know. I have for a long time. I just never thought you'd feel the same way."

My attention snapped back to Jack, my eyes searching his face for any hint of teasing or a joke or anything else. I found nothing but plain, open honesty.

"I wasn't... great to you or Peggy when either of you first joined the agency," he continued. "I figured I'd pretty much lost my shot from then on, even if you've been a little more willing to spend time with me lately."

"Jack..." I whispered, my heart hammering in my chest. I reached out and softly cupped his cheek in my hand, and he leaned into my touch, staring at me like he couldn't quite believe I was real. "I've had a thing for you for a while, but... you've grown a lot lately. I meant what I said to your dad, you're somebody who's strong and stands up for what's right. And I also meant what I said about the few things I'm still a little mad about... you definitely made some mistakes in the past year, starting with that Senator after we dealt with Ivchenko and ending with Vernon Masters. But I've gotten to watch you grow and wake up to the bullshit around us and make different choices, and honestly, it's just made me fall harder."

A smile tugged at the corner of Jack's mouth. "Are you sure?"

"Completely."

Jack nodded, taking my hand in his and slowly pulling me closer to him. I tried to stay calm as one arm wrapped around my waist, over the console of the car, and his other hand dropped mine to tilt up my chin instead.

"Can I kiss you, Y/N?"

"Hell yes."

Jack laughed, and I beamed back at him as he at last closed the distance between us for a long-awaited, lingering kiss. We stayed like that for a few minutes, locked in each others' embrace, until finally we broke apart, both breathless but with gigantic smiles on our faces.

"You know, we're about to be working extra hours since we didn't find Vernon at this thing," started Jack, looking at me with a gleam in his eye, "but do you think there's any chance of carving out a little time in the schedule for me to take you on a real date?"

I beamed back at him, my heart exploding in my chest, this time from happiness rather than anger or embarrassment.

"Absolutely."

"Good. How about tomorrow? I'll pick you up from work at eight," he said, moving to start the car again. I leaned back in my seat happily, reaching over the console to grab his hand once we started rolling again.

"How are you going to pick me up from a place we'll both be at all day?"

He shrugged. "I'll find a way. So how about it, sweetheart?"

I grinned. "As long as you don't take me to that terrible place you recommended to Peggy and Daniel last month."

"Hey now. That place is fantastic, they just have awful taste."

"Mhm. Deal or no deal, Thompson?"

"Fine, deal." I squeezed Jack's hand, unable to stop the happy gesture as we cruised down the street together in companionable silence. After a few seconds, however, Jack spoke up again. "So does this mean you're gonna swear all the time now? Because I made a bet with Sousa-"

"No! It was a heat of the moment thing, it's not happening again."

"...What if I gave you a script to say to Sousa? Just a couple words?"

"No shot, Jack! You're just going to have to take the loss to Daniel."

Jack kept teasing me, trying to cajole me into helping him win his bet with Daniel, but I just laughed and turned him down. We kept joking and talking all the way back into town, until he dropped me off at home and walked me to the door, giving me a goodnight kiss like we'd just come back from a perfect first date. Which, I guess for SSR Agents, we kind of had.

We hadn't found Vernon Masters tonight, or any of his cronies, and I'd been about two seconds from physically assaulting my long-time crush's father. But Jack and I were going on a date tomorrow, and we had plenty of time to figure out all the other stuff, together. So as far as I was concerned, tonight had been an absolutely amazing night.

****************

Marvel Taglist: @valkyriepirate

#marvel #agent carter #jack thompson #jack thompson x reader #marvel fanfiction #marvel imagine #marvel one shot #agent carter fanfiction #agent carter oneshot #agent carter imagine #jack thompson imagine #jack thompson oneshot #jack thompson fanfiction #1940s #SSR #daniel sousa #peggy carter #chief jack thompson #post season 2

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haveyoureadthisscifibook · 3 months

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The Vela by Becky Chambers, Yoon Ha Lee, Rivers Solomon, and S. L. Huang

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie

Adaptation by Malinda Lo

The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

This Other World by A.C. Buchanan

Rosewater by Tade Thompson

The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard

Mindtouch by M.C.A. Hogarth

Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor

hello! these are all queued; I just wanted to double-check a few series:

Malinda Lo, Adaptation

Emily Skrutskie, The Abyss Surrounds Us

Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, The Long Earth

were you looking for the whole series for these, or just the first book?

#clarification requests

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margaux-thompson · 8 days

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QUICK STATS ;

Name: Margaux Rose Thompson

Nicknames: Meg, Marg, Go

Age: 34

Birthday: September 1, 1989

Gender & pronouns: Cis woman & she/her

Sexuality: Bisexual

Time in Wilmington: Born and raised. (Up until a year ago lived an hour away in Raleigh and visited often)

Occupation: unemployed (former lawyer)

Neighbourhood: Midtown

Relationship status: Divorced

Face claim: Alicia Vikander

Biography

TW: drug use, cheating, parental death

The mayor's daughter is a phrase sweet on the ears. It's a bit of privilege wrapped up in promise and it's what Margot's, known as Meg to her mother, life was meant for. It was country clubs, ribbon cuttings, and Christmas photos in the local paper. It was standing up straight in public and sweet flower dresses on Easter. It was all those things that she never got to live. Because she was Robert Thompson's daughter, his baby girl, and when she was four he changed the landscape of Wilmington.

And yet, even before that there were complications. Seldom had she joined the family then there was a new face around the dinner table. The half-brother. The disgrace. The bastard. Those are all the names her mother poured into her ear before she'd grown big enough to pull the training wheels off. To think of him simply as Rhys. Any affection that might have naturally grown was carefully pruned away. It was directed toward the siblings her mother had provided. And if there was a certain crook of the jawline that matched them, it was never commented upon outright. After her father's death, Bea was little more than a means of comfort for their mother. What memories she had of the man were watercolors, dripping in the corners of her mind. He was the center of gravity for all that came after; a centrifugal force she'd learn to resent.

As a little girl, she was shuttled between ballet and violin practices. For the former she had some affection, but for the latter only resentment. And yet, she went without complaint. She ate her vegetables without complaint. She went to bed without complaint. This one, her mother was like to say, this one is a balm for the soul. And in her mother's presence she was that. The mannequin upon which to pin her hopes and desires, to dress in her griefs and resentments. Margaux was polished, until she wasn't. She was perfect, until you weren't looking. At eleven, after a ballet recital an older ballerina offered a kiss of alcohol from a water bottle. At twelve, after playing in the school band for Christmas she hit the fire alarm and later pointed a finger at the tubist. Her rebellions were like match sticks, there and then gone, noticeable only from the corner of your eye.

In high school, she was everything, always, all at once. She played soccer, carved out a spot for herself on the debate team, and secured herself the accessory of football player. In between AP classes and practices, her rebellious seeds began to germinate. She existed on a cocktail of adderall and gin. (The latter secured from her mother's liquor cabinet.) She knew these were forgiveable sins. If caught, she could find her excuses and her smiles and play at her mother's fondness. What she knew wouldn't be so easily brushed away was the cheating. The girls she kissed at half-time when she could (should?) have been seeking out her boyfriend. She was no bible thumper, but she did rather enjoy the favor of those at the country club. So she kept that part of herself in a box and tucked it beneath her bed. Good only for sporadic browsing. Equally unforgiveable was her attraction to art. Robert Thompson's daughter was never going to be a starving artist. And, if she wasn't going to be brilliant well she might as well lock that away too.

Duke University was her grandparent's recommendation, one she was more than happy to oblige. It was there she meant to establish her name, to become more than just the mayor's daughter. She majored in pre-law with a minor in business and, in turn, secured an acceptance to law school. There she found riper fruit than her high school sweetheart, there she found nothing in the world tasted as sweet as authority. The politeness she'd donned like a perfume melted away and beneath all that she found someone assertive and decisive. Graduating with honors was a given, as was securing a position at a law firm in Raleigh.

At twenty-nine she married. At thirty-one she was a mother. Both, in turn, would turn out to be disappointments. Marital bliss came and went like a summer storm, and the title of mother left her fumbling in the dark. Her son was barely a year old when things came crashing down around her. It started with an affair - with a client - and the dominoes fell from there. She was suspended from practicing law and, a week later, served with divorce papers. It was a messy year, that ended with her moving back home to Wilmington and buying a fancy apartment in Midtown. Her son, stayed with his father, and that almost felt right. Better he belong to that name and that city than to the slowly rotting legacy that was Robert Thompson.

Home now for a year, and with her license newly reinstated, she's contemplating whether it might just be better to raze the whole thing to the ground and start over.

WC:

Stay tuned

#wnc.intro #hc #8.

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roboticonography · 10 months

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Hi this is the Agent Carter asker, thank you for being so nice about my headcanons, I love your writing so much! I don't want to bother you by talking your ear off so promise this is my last ask. Based off Markus and McFeely saying that Peggy's two children from her TWS pictures would have Super soldier DNA (because they support the closed loop theory, but this could work for alternate timelines too) Mr. Carter and the little Carters could be doing things that are life-threatening for normal folks but are cakewalks for them as part of Steve's "offscreen sitcom husband" shenanigans:

Director Peggy: Oh, Grant took the children cliff-diving off Niagara Falls for the weekend. I've got the house to myself, I can finally catch up with the latest Agatha Christie

Jack Thompson, who's been gaslit about Peggy's marriage since 1949: That doesn't sound right, but I don't know enough about Marge's weird-ass personal life to dispute it

And even Daniel Sousa could pop by for the occasional cameo after he "dies" in 1955, like his and Daisy's spaceship lands in the Carter backyard and Daniel casually walks out like "Oh hey Peg, hey Steve" because of course he knows what's up. Maybe he brings Steve some modern album vinyls (God bless 21st century Brooklyn hipsters for giving mid-century Steve the means to listen to Carly Rae Jepsen), Steve makes them all a nice dinner then Daniel and Daisy fly off again

Well, hello again! Welcome back 😁

I haven't given a lot of thought to the possibility of superpowered kiddos, but I enjoy the incredibly wholesome idea of Steve taking the kids on fun little athletic adventures while Peggy is at home in a hot bath with a whiskey and a good book.

I also like the idea of Peggy and Daniel reuniting on friendly terms - however they ended their relationship, it seemed sad that she would spend the rest of her life thinking he died in 1955.

Thanks for sharing!

#anon #convos

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xxruinaxxmcu · 2 years

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What lies before us

Book 2 of a Jack Thompson X Reader Story

Book 1: What Lies Beneath

Chapter 1

Y/N was good at keeping secrets. She was excellent at it – after all, it had been her job for four years, and back then, her life was on the line every day. If she had slipped up, she would have been dead meat. She was excellent at it because she was a spy – keeping secrets was in their job description. She had no problem continuing the banter and annoyed remarks towards Jack Thompson during their working hours to upkeep the image that nothing had changed. She had no problem doing it. It was a different story for Jack. After all, his normal tone with people could often be characterised as the tone of a jerk. What was worse, Y/N had to endure the remarks of other people in the office, and as much as he liked to throw them onto the street, he couldn’t. They hadn’t done something he had not done too. At a time.

Today was such a day. Agent Lee’s vocal comment about how women simply didn’t belong in this environment, even ‘if they looked like Y/N’ annoyed him probably ten times as much as it did her.

“Good thing I make the hiring and firing decisions, Lee, isn’t it?”, Thompson said in passing, “Or did you get the bullet out of my chest?”

“Sorry, Chief.”

Y/N clenched her teeth to stop her from laughing. She didn’t know what was funnier – Lee’s voice that sounded like a bitten dog, or Thompson’s poisonous stare. When she brought the coffee to the Chief – an unfortunate job she had yet to get rid of somehow – she whispered in passing: “Try not to stare him to death. He’s said this about Marge a million times.”

He would have loved to say that she was not Peggy Carter, but he also knew that it was better to just say ‘thanks’ for the coffee.

Back at her desk, her phone rang.

“Agent L/N, SSR, with whom am I speaking?”

“Y/N!”

“Peggy?”, Y/N asked, “What a coincidence, I was just thinking about you. What’s the matter? How’s the western front?”

“The temperatures are slowly getting more bearable”, Carter said, “it’s even rained some days ago.”

Staring outside the window, Y/N noticed that it was still raining in New York. “What a miracle.”

“I made some progress on the Arena Club pin. It seems to link to the club’s city of origin, where they, at least historically, would hold their meetings in an undisclosed location. I’d imagine that, whatever the key opens, it will be connected to this place.”

“And where is the club’s origin?”, Y/N asked back, noting all the info down onto a paper, “Do you know that already?”

“That’s why I’m calling you”, Peggy replied, “because it’s not on the west coast. Imagine where the most likely location is for an organisation connected to wealth, power, and politics.”

“…Washington D.C.”

“It would appear so.”

“Fantastic. And what about Underwood?”, Y/N questioned.

“There have been no crimes reported in our jurisdiction that would match her skillset. It’s not impossible, of course, that she is around here, still, but she knows about the Arena Club. After some digging, we found out that not only was she hired to steal the pin, but she’d had relationships with at least one of the members before their… unfortunate demise through Whitney Frost.”

Y/N sighed. Catching Dottie Underwood was as easy as catching a dragon. Just, she’d argue, more dangerous for the people involved.

“I’ll let Chief know.”

“If we’ll find the time, we’ll fly over to discuss the case in depth. We just have to finish up a few things here, first.”

“Don’t worry, Peggy, we’ll not botch the job”, Y/N assured, “Though I’m not looking forward to heading into DC.”

She could hear Peggy laugh and someone speak in the background. “Tell Sousa I said hi.”

“I will. See you soon, Y/N.”

“Bye, Peggy.”

She stared at her notes, exhaling slowly. Another day, another attempt to catch a ex-Soviet child assassin.

Getting up, she pinched the bridge of her nose. The Arena Club was about as far removed from any Communist organisation she could think of. Aside from the Mafia, there was hardly any organisation more interested in wild capitalism than the Arena Club.

“Chief”, she exclaimed when knocking at his door, “Carter called. Underwood.”

She was called into the office and placed her notes on Jack’s desk. “She traced the Club’s origin to DC. And she assumes that Underwood is going after whatever it is the Club was hiding, too.”

He rubbed his eyes, studying her handwriting. “Brilliant”, he deadpanned.

“It’s the best lead we’ve got on both”, she shrugged, “and I’d really love to know that the Russian killing machine is locked up somewhere real save.”

“You want to lock her up?”, he questioned, “You have too much faith in our prison system. Unless, of course, you want to keep watch yourself.”

“You’re thinking of permanently stopping her?”, Y/N inquired, crossing her arms.

“Accidents happen”, he shrugged, “and usually, if you have a bomb on your hands, you diffuse it, not bury it under some concrete.”

Y/N scoffed: “I suppose. Do we have the clearance to neutralise her?”

“She’s Soviet. Of course we do. Executive Order 9835, remember?”, he asked back, referring to Truman’s decree on tighter regulations on Federal Agents to sniff out any Communist sympathisers, “We’re just doing what they’d want us to do. Eliminate the Red threat.”

Though liberally interpreted, Y/N was aware of the current climate. The White House and the Congress would have their backs. After all, they were suspecting foreign agents everywhere.

“Alright then”, she nodded, “Shooting it is.”

She was about to leave when she heard Agent Hill call her name: “L/N, phone’s ringing!”

“What is it today?”, she hissed, turning on the spot to get the call.

“Agent L/N, SSR, whose speaking?”

“Y/N?”

Y/N wasn’t quite sure if she heard right. “Jonas? Is that you?”

“Don’t ask how I got this number, I probably breached protocol more than fifty times”, she could have recognised the voice anywhere. He had worked with her in Germany – one of the few, incredibly valuable locals that worked with the opposition.

“Protocol?”, she asked, “You’re working for whom, exactly?”

“MI6, and we’ve intercepted communication from East Germany”, he spoke quickly, and Y/N knew better than to waste time asking questions. “They were discussing plans to re-establish communication with an asset in America. The pronouns used refer to a female agent who has entered the US between 1941 and 1946 and has had contact with the SSR.”

“Anything else?”

“It’s incredibly vague, but that it is of the outmost importance that this operation be kept from the Americans, and that something has to be shipped from America to Leningrad, before November.”

“Why would MI6 not contact us in the first place?”, she questioned, “Shouldn’t that be in the interest of both?”

In the background, she could hear Agent Lee barked at more junior agents to fetch him coffee, given the designated person for that was busy. Y/N would have loved to inform him to keep his mouth shut, but was too busy listening to Jonas.

“There was an order not too long ago to send these types of things to the FBI rather than the SSR. I don’t know why.”

“I think I know”, she groaned. Vernon Masters – may his soul rest in the hell he deserved. “Jonas, if you hear anything, and I mean, anything else, please find a way to contact me again. And thank you. I know this is dangerous for your position.”

“Hell”, he scoffed, “We’ve done worse. They’ll just kick me out, not execute me like the Nazis would have.”

“Still. I’ll be in touch.”

She stared at her notes. She had heard Thompson walking up to her during the phone talk and was now looking over her shoulder.

“What was that about?”

“Seems like today is Dottie-Underwood-day”, she replied sarcastically, turning towards him, “That was Jonas Bauer. He was a German resistance member and worked with me in the war. He’s now working for MI6, who apparently received the order to disregard the SSR, and direct their information to the FBI.” She pressed her lips together: “Anyways. Short summary is, Underwood will steal something that has to be shipped to Leningrad, before November.”

Thompson frowned. “Why the tight schedule?”

Y/N tilted her head. “If I had to guess, because whatever she’s stealing is quite sensitive. If I were them, I’d avoid using ships if possible. The American navy has the possibility to hunt them down, and a ship is more vulnerable than a plane. And possibly, the November-deadline has something to do with the temperature. Which would mean it’s something that is volatile to altitude, and at least partially made out of liquid or gas that shouldn’t drop below a certain temperature. That would explain the ship, and the month.”

The agents around her looked at her with a perplexed expression. Jack simply looked dumbfounded.

“Yeah. I guess it would.”

“And you know who could maybe give us an idea of what they want to steal?”, Y/N asked, dreading her own answer. Not again!

“No.”

“Yes. I don’t like it either.”

“After Dooley and L.A., I’d say going to Stark is way down the list”, Jack retorted tensely.

“Sure”, she shrugged, “Do you have any other brilliant, albeit conceded scientists on that list of yours? Maybe Samberly, if we ask nicely.”

He threw her a look, and she only grinned: “Like I said. I don’t like it either.”

“We don’t even know where Stark is. He could be out of the country, for all that we know”, Jack objected again.

“Yeah, he could”, she agreed, “but you know who probably does? Edwin Jarvis.”

He raised an eyebrow: “You have the phone number of Stark’s butler?”

“I had to be able to reach him in L.A. I naturally wrote it down”, she shrugged, “So yes. I do.”

“Great. Tell him I am repulsed by the thought of working together.”

Y/N shook her head: “Unbelievable.”

Looking up, she noticed again the gazes of her co-workers observing their interaction. Too familiar? Raising an eyebrow, she asked: “What, anyone else have something to contribute that I should relay to the butler?”

Jack frowned at his staff: “Your work isn’t doing itself, agents.”

A muffled ‘sorry chief’ emerged from the room as he left Y/N to her own devices as she now made the call to Mr. Jarvis whilst the rest of the office rejoiced that the poor agent who had been barked at by Lee returned with their coffee.

“Edwin Jarvis-“

“Good morning, Mr. Jarvis, this is Y/N L/N from the SSR. We’ve worked together not too long ago”, she said quickly.

“Yes, I remember. The Frost-incident.”

“Exactly. See, we have a development here with the Underwood-case, and what is important right now is that the Soviets want to steal something, and they need Underwood for it. I suspect it could be linked to the Arena Club. In any case, they need the item or items to be shipped from the US to Leningrad before November. I assume it’s because of the volatility of the product, which would indicate it is some sort of weapon. Does Howard Stark know anything about the sorts?” She spoke so silently that not even the man at the next desk could have understood her well, a habit she had picked up early in her career as a spy.

“Mr. Stark knows a great deal about many things, but that does not mean he shares it openly with his surroundings.”

“Well, it is very important. Could you ask him if he has ever knowingly sold anything to members, or to people close to members of the Arena Club, or if – once again – some blueprint of his disappeared? I’m sorry to bother you again, but the security of the world might be under threat here.” Y/N had the ability to use polite words, but utter them in such a way that it was clear that she did not accept ‘no’ for an answer.

“I will chase him down to inquire. It might take a while, though, I am afraid. He is currently on a yacht outside of Hawaii.”

Of course he was. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Well, he can dock in Pearl Harbour”, Y/N retorted dryly, “And take a plane from there back to L.A. He might need Miss Carter’s help to explore all possible links of that being one of his inventions that got stolen, or sold.”

“Yes, Miss L/N.”

“Thank you, Mr. Jarvis. And until next time.”

It had felt that it was one of these days where Y/N had repetitively run in circles from her desk, to Thompson’s office, to the coffee machine and back again. It was Agent McKinley’s turn for the nightshift, so the rest could leave between six and seven. Returning to her desk to collect her handbag before leaving, she noticed a note placed on top of it, which she carefully unfolded. She recognised the handwriting instantly – Jack’s handwriting was much neater than most would suspect.

19:15. Entrance Underground.

He always used the European way of writing time – apparently, he had been made accustomed to it in the Marine Corps. A way to avoid the a.m./p.m. confusion – a confusion Americans invented, as Y/N made the experience that not even the British subscribed to their way of telling the time.

It was 19:04 when she had unfolded the note, so she left the SSR office without wasting more time, and to make sure the two of them would not leave the office in immediate succession.

It was September – and it was still pretty warm, so walking down the streets was actually still a pleasant experience. At 19:15, as expected, both of them walked towards the underground station and headed down the street to the parking area where Thompson had parked his car.

“If I may give you a piece of advice”, Y/N said with a grin, “Next time someone makes a foul remark, don’t act like you care. You’re not supposed to care.”

“Yeah”, he grunted, “But what the hell has Lee contributed since joining the SSR? Even of the basis of merit, he should keep his mouth shut.”

“Yes”, she sighed, “But it’s not really about merit, is it?”

Jack rolled his eyes. He knew what she was saying was true. He had even said the same thing to Peggy. They’d never be seen as an equal to men – at least not by most of their co-workers.

When getting in the car, Y/N quickly checked their surrounding to make sure they wouldn’t directly be seen by another agent, but the street was empty.

“Will you let me work the Underwood case?”, she asked quietly when he started driving down the street. Jack remained silent for a while, and his face grew serious.

“You know my skills are exceptional for this kind of work”, she reminded him, knowing that it wasn’t really about her skills.

“I know that, Y/N.”

“We’re in this profession for a reason, Jack. It’s bound to be dangerous”, she replied silently, “But you can’t keep me from being involved. Having the best people on the job reduces the risks of failure. If you send less-qualified agents up for it, you’re just setting them up to be killed.”

“I understand that, Y/N, I do. But that doesn’t mean I’ll like it.”

“But you’ll let me do it regardless?”, she asked back.

“We’ll cross that bridge when it comes to it. Who knows? Maybe, by some miraculous coincidence, she’ll be hit by a truck”, he replied dryly.

“Yes. I’ve heard that’s a common way for Soviet super-assassins to die”, Y/N agreed cynically, “Right after drowning in the shower.”

......

He pulled up to the empty parking space next to the entrance of the apartment block outside the city centre. He liked the anonymity of it – he hardly knew his neighbours, because of his very erratic working hours, the travelling, and the occasional near-death experiences, he hardly had the chance to bump into any of them. It was only the third time Y/N was at his apartment, because, quite honestly, he preferred the atmosphere in hers. But his was closer to work, and that made for less commute. And for more sleep.

Whilst Jack warmed up something for dinner, Y/N was occupied with setting her hair in pin curls for the night. She always thought that this procedure made her look silly, or like a grandma. If Jack had been honest though, he thought watching her do it was actually a very personal experience. Because, unless they let you, women would not show the process to men. It signified a sort of closeness that was hard to describe.

Wrapping the curls in a silk towel to secure them, and to have a more comfortable time sleeping, Y/N returned to the kitchen area to join him for dinner. It was beef stew with potatoes, which wasn’t fancy, but it was tasty. And most significantly, he had actually prepared it in foresight, so she gave him extra points for resourcefulness.

“How is the sleeping going?”, she asked eventually, referring to the occasional nightmares she had witnessed the first time they had shared a bed not that long ago.

“You know”, he evaded, “It’s getting there.”

Y/N raised an eyebrow, not truly convinced that this meant it was getting better, but decided not to interrogate him. She’d see it eventually, anyways, she suspected.

“And did you tell your mother that I am back and alive, and all is well between us?”, she asked jokingly.

“Yes.” He grinned: “But now, ma is insistent on you coming over to say hi.”

“I will”, she assured, “once we have a quiet week.”

He laughed: “Yeah – like that’s going to happen any time soon.”

Y/N got ready to go to bed, taking off her makeup, neatly folding her clothes, making those for the next day ready. It was habit – just like always having a switch-blade knife tied to her thigh. It was habits like these that had kept her alive through the war, and they were hard to shake.

She wore a simple night robe to bed, nothing like in the magazines with lavish fur, but only simple embroidery.

As she would have guessed, Jack’s nightwear style was about as adventurous as hers – a cotton button-down shirt and pants.

“Those pants have a hole at the ankle”, she pointed out as he entered the room.

He looked down and shrugged: “It’s for sleeping, right? Besides, I don’t wear pants, I wear trousers.”

“What’s the difference?”, she questioned amusedly as he climbed into the bed next to her.

“Women wear pants, men trousers. Or so my DI informed us in Boot Camp.”

“Your DI must have made this up”, she laughed, “But sure. Jack Thompson only wears manly trousers.”

She pulled the blanket up to her chin and turned to on her side, facing Jack. “Good night.”

“Night.” He switched off the lights and searched for a comfortable position. It was still foreign to know that someone was sleeping just inches beside him, but not uncomfortable. Apart from the cold feet, that was apparently something all women universally shared to torment the men in their beds. Or so he was convinced.

Jack was an incredibly light sleeper – he hadn’t been as a child, but since the war, he was incredibly sensitive to sounds. Hence, when someone knocked against the front door, it took about three seconds for him to be wide awake.

“What the hell”, he grumbled, rubbing his eyes. It couldn’t be neighbours – again, barely anyone knew him. He dragged himself out of bed to see that it was shortly after three. He trotted towards the door, only to see two figures through the peephole, whose silhouettes he could make out even with the dim light of the corridor outside. He looked behind him, hearing Y/N’s steady breathing. He prayed to God that she’d stay asleep.

He opened the door and stepped outside: “This better be important, Sousa, it’s three in the morning!”

“We thought it is important to let you know right now, as we’re headed to the airport right after to fly to Atlanta to follow a lead there”, Carter shot back at his annoyed tone.

“’A’right”, he rubbed his face awake, “shoot.”

“Stark was able to reduce the numbers of candidates down to one he finds most likely. It’s a bomb that has about the destructiveness of a nuclear bomb, but its primary ingredient is a special gas, a gas only he knows how to make. But a member of the Arena Club once saw his equations and the blueprints”, Sousa explained.

“So you suspect they’re transporting a bomb case and explosive gas?”, Jack asked back, “Of course they do. It always has to be something that explodes, right?”

“We’re trying to hunt down the scientists who could have produced it”, Peggy added, “one of them is in Atlanta.”

“Got it.”

“Jack, who are you talking to? It’s the middle of the- Oh, hi, Chief Sousa. Peggy.” Y/N walked up to the door, and though only half-awake, she wasn’t quite sure what was funnier, the disbelief on Sousa’s face, Peggy’s mixture of satisfaction and horror, or Jack’s embarrassment.

“You two keep your mouths shut”, Thompson hissed, “You understand? I don’t need this getting to my agents just yet.”

“Oh yeah? I remember there was a time you loved taking a jab at Peggy and I”, Sousa retorted with a grin.

“Yeah”, Thompson scoffed, “Then you tell me how that’ll end up for Y/N. Whatever she does then, she’ll always be seen as the one whose here because she’s got one on the chief. That was a bit different with Carter.”

“Jack, they take the piss regardless”, Y/N muttered amusedly, “and let that be my problem.”

“Well, and you know what this”, Peggy gestured at Jack and Y/N, “means. You owe me a dinner.”

“You bet on us?”, Jack asked offended.

“I bet on you not constantly having a stick up your behind, indeed”, Peggy winked, “and I think I have been proven more than right.”

“Oh, Peggy”, Y/N shook her head, “Please.”

“Anyways”, Sousa cleared his throat, “I guess, uh, I guess we’ll leave you to it, then. See you soon, Y/N. Jack.”

“Leave us to it?”, Jack repeated, “We were sleeping!”

“Whatever you say, Chief Thompson”, Peggy waved at them, “that’ll be your loss then.”

They left an amused Y/N, and a very red Jack Thompson behind, who was thankful the apartment was not lit, so Y/N couldn’t see his cheeks.

“They couldn’t have left a note”, he grumbled, stepping back into his apartment and locking the door, “It had to be right now.”

“Don’t brood”, she yawned, “It’s way too early for that.” The bed was still warm as they climbed back in.

“I brood whenever I please”, he muttered into his pillow.

“That you do.”

“Y/N?”

“Hm?”

What did he want to say? They didn’t say ‘I love you’. Neither of them had yet.

“Sleep well.”

“You too, Jack.”

......

Jack dropped Y/N off far enough so that she could make her way to the office on her own and that they’d be at least 15 minutes between them arriving.

“Good morning, Agent Wallace”, she said when entering the headquarters, “Agent Lee. Chief Thompson.”

He nodded at her, and both found it incredibly odd to greet each other after they had literally eaten breakfast together not even an hour prior.

They settled in for the day and the sounds of paper printing, phones ringing and men cussing created the unique atmosphere that was so typical for the NYC-HQ of the SSR.

“Chief!”, Agent Harrow exclaimed from the phone, “there’s an incident in a movie theatre down 31st street, it sounds incredibly similar to the case you covered not too long ago.”

“Midnight oil?”, Y/N asked confused, looking at Jack, “but Howard said-“

“Exactly”, Thompson interjected, rolling his eyes, “Harrow, Ramirez, McKinley and Wallace, you go have a look. If it is what it seems like – do yourself a favour and don’t pick up the canister.”

The three of them got on their way immediately. Y/N followed Jack into his office under the disguise of bringing him coffee: “You don’t think that’s fishy? Howard hated this invention. He made damn sure he destroyed all the material he had.”

“Could have been someone working off his blueprints again”, he shrugged, “it’s better to have a look than let the NYPD run into it and gouching their eyes out.”

Y/N hadn’t even considered what would happen if untrained policemen came in contact with the gas. Jack was right. It was the careful option.

“You’re right.”

He raised his eyebrows: “’cuse me?”

“You’re right”, she repeated with a raised eyebrow. She hadn’t spoken unclearly.

“That’s a first.”

“Like hell it is”, she grinned and left him be.

In hindsight, Y/N knew that there were just five agents left, because it was still before nine when those would come in with a longer commute. This was unusual, normally, they always wanted eight to be here minimum, nightshift and Sundays aside.

It was like in a movie with the roll broken, moving incredibly slow. The door was thrown wide open and five men stormed in.

“Hands up!”

Y/N identified the accent immediately. Eastern European. Most likely Soviet.

“Guns on ground or we shoot!!”

They were outnumbered – even if they drew their guns, they had them already ready to fire. They’d be quicker. So they complied.

“Codebreaker?”

Jack and Y/N’s eyes met. Though she hadn’t worked as a codebreaker at Bletchley, she had been trained in it. She nodded almost invisibly, and just as invisibly, he shook his head. The last thing he wanted is for them to take her, or isolate her from the group.

“I am.”

“You four”, one of the men put his rifle at Thompson’s neck, “In there!” Thompson, Lee, Michaelson and Goldberg were shoved into Thompson’s office, leaving Y/N with the five men in the main hall.

They shoved her at a desk and placed a paper in front of her.

“Watch the door. Make sure those investigating the theatre don’t get back in. Three men can handle this girl.” He didn’t know she spoke Russian.

The paper was a code of British origin. Dated yesterday. To the Americans.

“Move. Break it”, the man right behind her instructed. He was tall, about two meters, and heavy-set. The other two were significantly shorter and stockier, about 175cm.

“Yes”, she nodded, throwing a glance at Thompson and her colleagues. There it was again. This immense calmness whenever she had known in war that if she failed, she’d be dead. It was so ultimate. So clear.

She heard two of the five men disappear, manning the front entrance from the outside. She didn’t have to worry about them for the time being. She felt the cool blade against her thigh. A blade would never win against rifles, so she had to convince them to drop them.

She started to get an idea of the code that had been used, noting down the patterns to create a key. The men barraged the door to Thompson’s office to make more than sure they had no chance to get out. But given they were now unarmed, they were no real threat anyways.

“What is it?”, the tall fellow asked harshly.

“This will take a while!”, she replied curtly, “but could you please put those guns on the ground? I can’t run and you took my gun off me. They make me incredibly uncomfortable.”

“What do you think, boss?”

“Typical American sissy. Hmh, I mean, what is the harm in it. The other men are barred inside that room.” He gave her a fake smile: “Only for you, beauty.”

They placed the rifles on the desk behind them and she started writing down the initial lines of the document. This was exactly why women made for excellent spies – they could demand something and their perceived softness would help them get their way.

Intercepted conversation between KGB and Soviet Asset in US

She waited until they were just in the right position. One of the men stood in front of Thompson’s barraged door, inspecting it with a self-assured smile. The big fellow stood to her right, close enough that she could take him out first. The third was checking the street for the returning agents.

‘Here goes nothing’.

.....

“Goddammit!”, Jack cursed, punching nothing but the wall. He had fallen for their trap – the theatre, that had been a set-up to draw out agents.

“Chief, if she can hold them off long enough for the 9 o’clock shift to arrive-“

“You don’t seriously think they won’t kill us before?”, Thompson hissed, “That’s why they came so early. They must’ve been aware of the schedule!”

“But if they need her-“

“Then they take her, Lee!”, Thompson interrupted, tearing his hair, “Fuck. Fuck!”

“Chief-“

“Just shut the hell up, Lee!”, Thompson raised his hand at his agent and silenced the man with a stare that could have killed.

He watched outside, through the glass, watching Y/N. She looked so focused, so absorbed, so aware.

So brave.

She looked up, just a fraction of a second. Enough to localise the position of the three men that were still in the room.

“No.” Jack’s voice broke. She’d die. They’d reach their weapons. She couldn’t be quick enough to strangle three men. Not when at least one of them towered over her like a giant.

This was a suicide mission. He was about to yell, yell to her not to do whatever she was thinking about doing.

But she was beyond asking for permission. That was the Y/N he had never seen before.

He knew the feeling he felt. It felt like back on Iwo when his buddy left their foxhole to man the machine gun whose gunner had just been killed. He knew that that was a suicide mission, but they had to try. And the minute his buddy left the protection of the foxhole, he was gone. But this felt even worse. Because whatever he felt for his buddy, that was brotherly love. And death of a brother hurt like hell. But this, this was no brotherly love. This was love that hadn’t yet had the chance to develop. He could feel his heart stop.

......

Y/N’s body tensed up in preparation. It was a split second that it took for her to be ready to attack. She leapt up from her chair, throwing her entire weight against the bear of a man next to her, puncturing his aorta, which resulted in blood spurting in all directions, but at least, he was dead in an instant. The next man was the one at the window who wanted to grab a rifle, but she managed to grab his arm, pull him towards her and shove the blade right through his throat. The third one knew he was done for – she was closer to the weapons than he was. She contemplated killing him nonetheless. But some part of her didn’t want to become what she knew she could be – a killer that didn’t care about her death toll.

“You’re all filthy, disgusting examples of humanity’s worst”, she spoke in Russian, taking handcuffs from the desk with her and immobilising him. Her fighting style looked different to Peggy’s – it was more targeted, more specific. It was, in essence, trained to be lethal.

Only then did she look behind her to see the cut-up bodies of the other two men lying on the ground. They lay in pools of their own blood. She looked at her hands that were covered in it, too. Grabbing a handkerchief, she got most of it off, enough so that she could clear the door to Thompson’s office without smearing it everywhere. Slowly, she started to regain her other senses. She could hear Jack yelling her name. She looked up to see him and the other three looking at her, eyes wide.

Her hands were shaking when she opened the door to his office.

“Y/N, oh God, Y/N-“ Jack grabbed her by the shoulders, looking at her face, “You alright?”

“Yes. Yes, I’m good, J-“

He squeezed her against his chest, and she wanted to inform him that he’d get blood all over him, but it was pretty clear that he didn’t care. “I’m so sorry.”

The door was opened, and the other two men came into sight, but only for a fraction of a second – when they saw the carnage, they took off running. Lee and Goldberg were about to run after them, but Thompson raised a hand: “If they leave the building, they’ll run right into our line of fire.” He pointed to the windows to their right and took the rifles left behind from the assailants.

Y/N watched him from behind. His hands were perfectly calm at the trigger, the weapon perfectly still settled into his shoulder.

Two rapid shots. One was shot in the back of the head, the other in the shoulder. Within a few seconds, neither were still breathing.

“Not bad”, she said dryly.

“I’m not a Marine for nothing.”

“And here I thought you were the Chief of the SSR.”

“That, too”, he replied dryly, “but I’ll never stop being a Marine.”

A/N: I know, it’s insane. It didn’t even take a week. I unfortunately don’t have a clear updating schedule, I’m sure it will slow down at a point. I do have good news though - I have two chapters in reserve, so it hopefully doesn’t take ages for those to be published either. I have a plan, I have an ending in mind, and I want it to be beautiful, terrible, sad, and delightful. Let’s see if I succeed at that. Do let me know your thoughts. Also, on a side note: I really try to do my research to the extent possible: E.g. I found it very important to hightlight that Jack is a Marine (not a member of the Army, or the Navy or Air Force), because it was mentioned that he saw action on the beaches of Iwo Jima, and that was a battle fought by the USMC. And yes. I read like 5 autobiographies of veterans of Iwo & Okinawa to get their education, vocabulary and so on down. Hope you enjoy these little insights into history!

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18 notes · View notes

roughtradesaint · 1 year

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Marge Thompson is such my vibe.

2 notes · View notes

willel · 1 year

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Then a murder so unusual and scary should have been something that would still be talked about in Hawkins, like Big Foot, lol. You would think that a bunch a nerds who even knew about Pennhurst would have heard about it and been fascinated. But obviously, it’s canon that nobody around them even talked about it (Nancy, Dustin, etc just discovered it in S4).

Lucas mentioned Pennhurst in season 1 (and suggested El should go back there because he was convinced she was crazy). For all we know, it is still an urban legend that some people know about/discuss from time to time. My hometown is a small town like Hawkins (not really anymore, it's been developing a lot the past decade). I'm sure there's some haunted murder house somewhere in town or a big blow out murder case that happened there 30 years before I was born that I've never even heard about but my dad did. Or other people my age have.

We're all individual people, big news/knowledge is not necessarily common knowledge. There are some people who probably think Obama is still the president of the US. So I get your point but....

We already know WHY this stuff hasn't been mentioned before. It's because the writers didn't think of it until now. There is no point in stressing over why no one has brought it up. They can't go back in time and change that. Or maybe they can go back and edit in random scenes that bring it up Star Wars prequel style? Or would people prefer it to be Derry, Maine style where people's memories are legitimately wiped away every so often to erase all the tragedies its been through?

I just don't think that's a good idea. There's no rectifying this. There's no way to make sense of it that will be absolutely perfect. They did what they can to make it work in the confines of what already existed before.

Also, it's no secret they took a lot of inspiration from Freddy Kruger. It's been a while since I've seen that movie, but I'm pretty sure it's the exact same deal? Freddy Kruger was a serial murderer and that a town mob murdered in the past, but the main characters who are teenagers at that point don't really know about him at all even though it was such a big deal?

Yeah, just read a summary. All the older adults knew and it was sorta an urban legend around town. But the main characters didn't know about it.

In case you need to see just how much inspo they took from that movie:

A 15 year old girl named Tina Gray has a disturbing nightmare in which she is stalked through a dark boiler room by a figure with distinctive razor-sharp knives for fingers on his right hand. Just as he catches her, however, she wakes up screaming, only to discover four razor cuts in her nightdress identical to the cuts in her dream.

The next day, she finds out that her friend Nancy Thompson experienced the same dream. That night, Tina, Nancy and her boyfriend Glen Lantz have a sleep-over to make a distraught Tina feel better. Tina's rebellious boyfriend, Rod Lane, crashes the party and goes to bed with Tina in her mother's bedroom. However, Tina has another nightmare, and this time the killer catches her and brutally murders her right then and there. Rod wakes up to find Tina being cut open by invisible knives and then dragged across the ceiling. Rod, being the only other person in the room at the time, is suspected of the killing and is arrested the next day.

Nancy then has three violent nightmares in which she is viciously stalked then attacked by the same terrifying figure who attacked Tina.

[…]

It arouses concern, but also other feelings in Nancy's mother, who is clearly hiding a secret. Eventually, Marge, increasingly drink-sodden, reveals to Nancy that the owner of the hat, and the killer, was a man named Freddy Krueger, a child murderer who killed at least twenty children over a decade earlier. Furious, vengeful parents burned him alive in his boiler room hideout when he was released from prison on a technicality. Now, it appears he is manipulating the dreams of their children to exact his revenge from beyond the grave. Nancy's mother, however, reassures Nancy that Krueger can't hurt anyone, pulling Krueger's knife glove from a hiding place in the furnace as a visual aid.

[…]

Nancy devises a plan, with Glen, to catch Krueger, but Glen succumbs to sleep and is viciously killed by being sucked into his bed and shot back up in a fountain of blood. Nancy is left alone with Freddy after pulling him into the real world. She runs around her house and forces him to run into booby traps she had set earlier. After setting Freddy on fire Nancy locks him in the basement, and finally gets her father and the rest of the police to help.

It's movie logic. The "don't think about it too hard" logic. Some people in Hawkins knew the urban legends. Some people didn't. By the time of the 80's, the urban legend has probably become a full on, "I heard if you spend the night in that house, you'll be murdered by the ghosts of Victor Creel's family" kind of stuff. We can't know. And we won't know.

In a different reality that also has a Stranger Things show, I could see them tweaking this concept to... "move" the location of the murder somewhere else.

Maybe it didn't happen in Hawkins. Maybe it happened in Bawkins, Indiana the next town over about 20 miles away. In that way, it could be a little more believable for people if some characters didn't know about it. But since the story is focused on Hawkins, that'd just be creating yet another underdeveloped set piece when they could've been spending that time in Hawkins instead. Like California.

#stranger things #ask

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dalekofchaos · 2 years

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Donald Thompson should’ve been the Loomis of the Elm Street franchise

As much as I love Dream Warriors, I feel like Donald Thompson should've been like the Loomis of the Elm Street franchise, was a mistake to kill him off in Dream Warriors

The former police chief nobody believes would provide a lot of good storytelling opportunities, and allow a more cohesive connection between films. Especially AFTER killing the last of the Elm Street children.

Could start off by deciding to protect the Elm Street children at Nancy's funeral. Her sacrifice inspires him to do what he should have done.

And the reason why Freddy doesn't kill him? He wants him to suffer and because Don’s pain is Freddy’s fun. He took everything from Donald, no one believes him, a once respected chief of police now becomes the town pariah and despite how much of a thorn he is in his side, he enjoys the game. "I don't want to kill you, Donny boy. You, are my accomplice. Don’t forget, it’s because of you I am this way. I’m the reason why Marge and Nancy are gone. You failed to sign that warrant and I haunt the children’s dreams You bring me the children and I kill them. You lead the children to defeating me, I come back and we do this all over again."

Donald could've stayed on for until FVJ if I had my way The town finally starts listening to Donald, which he brings up the idea to forgetting Krueger to take away his power, but the town takes it to far. He did not agree with the extent of what Westin Hills takes it. so he became the town crazy again. He could’ve been the one adult in the know in FvJ who knew that what they were doing with Westin Hills was essentially slapping a band aid on a gunshot, but nobody paid attention to him, so he resolved to keep watch for when everything started crumbling down.

And you could either have Jason kill DOnald, which further pisses Freddy off because he took his favorite toy away or Donald could sacrifice himself to kill Freddy and Jason.

#A Nightmare On Elm Street #Donald Thompson #Freddy Krueger #Nancy Thompson #ANOES #Nightmare On Elm Street

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captainsophiestark · 2 years

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Blind Date

Daniel Sousa x Peggy Carter

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for day six of Peggysous Week, hosted by @peggysousweek !

Fandom: Marvel

Day Six Prompts: “I could never move on from you”, Coffee, Blind Date, Confession

Summary: Daniel and Peggy have clearly had feelings for each other much longer than either is willing to admit. After Peggy said no to drinks and Daniel moved to LA to forget his heartbreak, it seemed like they'd missed their chance. When newly-single Daniel moves back to New York, however, they have an opportunity for a second chance. And their friends are going to make SURE they don't miss it.

Word Count: 2,137

Category: Fluff, Humor

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"What the hell are you doing in here?"

Jack Thompson slowly looked up from his newspaper and peeked up at the person standing before him from under the brim of his hat. Angie Martinelli stood before him, hands on her hips and tapping her foot as she stared down the SSR chief.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked. He'd worn a coat and hat and brought a newspaper all in the hopes of not being recognized.

"Are you kidding me? You stick out like a sore thumb wearing that getup. Now what are you doing in my diner?"

Jack ducked his head and spoke quietly, hoping he could still avoid detection if he really needed to.

"Is Marge here?"

"Who the hell is Marge?"

Jack sighed heavily. Slowly, he looked up to meet Angie's eyes with a glare. She glared right back.

"Peggy."

"No, she's not here. Why?"

"You ask a hell of a lot of questions, you know that?"

"Yeah, and you duck a hell of a lot of answers. Now tell me what's going on or I'm calling Peggy right now and telling her you're here."

Jack sighed and ran a hand over his face. Then, he slid over in his seat and gestured for Angie to join him. She just stared back, but something in his face managed to convince her to sit with a huff.

"Daniel's coming back to town," said Jack, keeping his voice low.

"Am I supposed to know what the hell that means?" Angie demanded. Jack whipped off his hat and slammed it onto the table along with the newspaper, finally giving up the charade.

"Alright, don't play dumb with me. You're Carter's best friend. You're clearly smarter than shit, especially since you managed to lie right to me and Sousa last year. So I know you're not blind, and I know you must've noticed how Carter and Sousa look at each other."

"So what if I do?" asked Angie, pointedly looking anywhere but at Jack as she picked at her nails.

"So they were both too dumb to do anything about it before. They missed their shot, and Sousa left for LA. But now he's coming back, and they've got a rare second chance. You and I both know they're gonna miss it if we leave them to their own devices."

"What are you saying?" asked Angie, at last dropping all her fake-aloofness and giving Jack her full attention.

"I'm saying if we ever want to see those two end up together–if I ever want to go into my place of work in peace without those idiots pining from opposite sides of the office for the rest of our lives–you and I need to step in and do something."

Angie paused, taking in the blond before her. He met her stare with unflinching determination.

"Alright," she said after a minute, shifting in her seat to face Jack a little more. "I'm in. What's your plan?"

****************

"Yes, Angie, I promise to stay for at least one cup of coffee," sighed Peggy. She leaned against the wall, phone pressed to her ear as Angie Martinelli read her the riot act on the other line. "I know, I know, we have a deal– listen, Angie, I've got to go. He could arrive while I'm back here talking to you and then I won't be able to stay for coffee because he'll have left-"

Angie chattered away for a few more minutes, but Peggy finally managed to get her off the phone. The firey New Yorker had pressured and guilted Peggy every day until she'd agreed to go on a blind date set up by Angie, and now Angie had called the cafe to make sure Peggy didn't back out of it. Peggy had sworn again and again that she'd at least stay through for one cup of coffee, but Angie had apparently wanted to hear her promise one more time.

It wasn't making Peggy feel any better about the date, honestly. Why did Angie feel she needed to make Peggy swear on their friendship to stay through one cup of coffee? Could the guy be that bad, whoever he was?

Peggy sat down at her table again, trying not to let her imagination run too wild. She'd only been at the cafe for a few minutes, but the lack of action had her twitching and jittering like she'd been there much longer.

She busied herself by observing the other patrons at their tables, and scanning the faces of the people who entered. She did a double-take, however, when she saw a familiar face come through the door.

"Daniel!" she called, waving him over with a smile. He lit up when he saw her, but confusion quickly replaced his smile.

"Peggy? What are you doing here?"

"Oh," Peggy flushed, suddenly incredibly embarrassed. "Angie set me up on some... blind date. I normally wouldn't let her convince me, but... well, this time she wouldn't take no for an answer."

"Wait, really?" asked Daniel.

"Yes, I'm afraid so. What are you doing here?"

"Same thing," he said, sounding absolutely bewildered. "Thompson's been on me since the minute I got back into town, wanting to set me up with somebody. He told me to come here, and made me swear not to leave until after I'd at least had one coffee."

"...Daniel, are you joking?"

"No. Why?"

"Because Angie made me promise the same thing."

The two just stared at each other for a few moments as the realization sunk in.

"Did they just set us up with each other?" asked Daniel. Peggy huffed, trying to process her shock.

"I believe so."

An awkward silence stretched between them, neither quite sure what to say next.

"Well..." Peggy finally started, mustering all her courage. She'd been in the war, dammit, she could do this. "I promised Angie I'd at least stay for one coffee."

"Yeah, and Thompson's paying as part of our deal, so... we'd be crazy to waste that."

"Right. Then let's go put in our orders."

Daniel smiled even as he fought the urge to run out of the cafe and never look back. He and Peggy had spent plenty of time together over the years, but never in a context even close to this. The one time he'd asked her, she'd shot him down. He took a deep breath as they headed for the counter together. He'd been in the war, dammit. He could do this.

Peggy and Daniel put in their orders, then sat back down at their table, two coffees in hand. They shared painfully awkward smiles, then both took sips of their coffee to avoid conversation. Finally, Peggy braced and made herself take the leap.

"So, this'll be a nice way for us to catch up now that you're back, won't it," she said with a tight smile. Daniel nodded, almost choking on his coffee as he rushed to answer.

He cleared his throat and tried not to look too flustered as he said, "Yeah. Yeah, it will. I... I uh, have to say, I missed you while I was gone."

"I missed you too," said Peggy with a soft smile. Daniel's heart melted, and it showed on his face. Everyone but Peggy could see how crazy he was about her. "How was Los Angeles?"

"It was good. I gotta say though, I missed New York. It's good to be back."

Peggy nodded and took another sip of her coffee. She used the time to fortify herself for her next question. She didn't really want to ask it, but she'd also go crazy if she didn't get the answer.

"I know it's probably none of my business," she stared, carefully not looking Daniel in the eye. "But I have to ask... didn't you have a girlfriend in LA? Why is Thompson trying to set you up with someone else?"

Daniel laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact just as much as Peggy.

"Uh... yeah, I dated a nurse for a while but... it just didn't work out."

"...What happened?"

Daniel sighed. He did not want to have this conversation, but he also didn't have a great way out of it.

"Well... she was great, but I just... my head was somewhere else."

"Oh."

Peggy took another long sip of her coffee as she tried to process Daniel's words. There must be someone else, then, but who?

"Listen, Peggy, I gotta get something off my chest," said Daniel. He rushed his words a bit, mostly so he could get out everything he had to say before common sense made him shut up. "I promise to never bring this up again if you don't want me to but... I moved to LA to get away from you."

Peggy choked on her coffee.

"Oh! No, no, not like that!" rushed Daniel. He put his head in his hands and groaned before looking back at Peggy. "That's not what I meant at all."

"Then what did you mean?" she asked, trying to figure out just how offended she should be.

"Ah... I went to LA because I needed space to... deal with my feelings. For you. I thought a little distance would help me move on, but it didn't. I could never move on from you."

Daniel stared holes into the table as he finished his confession. He couldn't bring himself to look at Peggy, to see the rejection in her face. Fortunately for him, he didn't have to.

"Daniel..." Peggy reached across the table and gently put her hand on his. His head snapped up, eyes wide with hope as he met her gaze. "I didn't realize you felt that way."

"What?" asked Daniel, honestly shocked. "I... I mean, I asked you out before I left. Remember?"

"Yes, but Daniel... well, I don't know, that's different than this. A date is different than feelings that hold for months away."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you, Peg. And I'm sorry if I made this weird, I just-"

"Daniel, I feel the same way."

Daniel paused for a long moment. "...I'm sorry, could you say that again? I think my brain stopped working for a minute."

Peggy laughed. "I said that I feel the same way. I think just about everyone but us realized how we felt for each other. Rose stopped giving me updates on you after the first few weeks because every time she mentioned your girlfriend, I went almost silent for the rest of the call."

"Seriously?"

"Yes! Daniel, when you asked me to go out with you before you left... I still had a few things to work through. To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure you were asking me out as anything more than a friend. I never imagined that might be the last chance I got."

"Well then, I can't believe I'm about to say this, but... thank God for Thompson."

They shared a laugh, their faces absolutely lighting up as they stared into each others' eyes. Now that the confession was out there, they couldn't seem to look away.

"Well, if we really want to, we can just give Angie the credit."

Daniel laughed. "Let's go with that. It'll drive Thompson nuts, too, which is obviously a perk."

They shared a smile, the silence stretching between them now much more comfortable than before.

"So... what do we do now?" asked Peggy with a little laugh. "I never quite considered what we'd do if we got to this point and you shared my feelings."

"Well fortunately for you, I've done almost nothing but think about it," said Daniel, standing from the table and offering a hand to Peggy. She took it and stood with him. "I think it was the biggest problem for my relationship with Violet."

Peggy grinned. "Does it make me a bad person for being happy that didn't work out?"

"Nah. I think everybody would agree it was for the best. Violet included."

"So, where are we off to?" asked Peggy. She still held Daniel's hand, a fact they were both absolutely giddy about.

"Well, we stayed for the cup of coffee we promised Angie and Thompson. What do you say we go get that drink from a few months ago?"

"I say absolutely yes," Peggy replied with a grin. "Better late than never, after all."

"You're damned right it is."

Peggy and Daniel's faces had already started hurting from smiling, but that didn't stop them from absolutely beaming as they walked out of the cafe together, hand in hand. It had taken a longer path and a stranger route than either of them would've liked, but Daniel and Peggy were together at last.

Everything was right with the world.

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denimbex1986 · 2 months

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'Andrew Scott is hunting his prey by way of an erotic European vacation turned deadly game of cat and mouse.

Scott leads Netflix’s “Ripley,” based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel series “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” The “All of Us Strangers” actor portrays the titular sinister grifter who is hired by a wealthy man to travel to Italy to try to convince his vagabond son, Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), to return home. Set in 1960s Europe, the series hinges on a core love triangle between Ripley, Dickie, and Dickie’s fiancée Marge Sherwood (Dakota Fanning). The Netflix show is filmed in black and white.

Elliot Sumner, Maurizio Lombardi, Margherita Buy, and John Malkovich round out the cast, with creator Steven Zaillian writing and directing all eight episodes. Lead actor Scott serves as a producer.

“Ripley” is co-produced by Showtime and Endemol Shine North America in association with Entertainment 360 and Filmrights. Executive producers are writer/director Zaillian, Garrett Basch, Clayton Townsend, Guymon Casady, Ben Forkner, Sharon Levy, and Philipp Keel of Diogenes.

“The Talented Mr. Ripley” was most famously adapted into a film starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Paltrow in 1999.

Lead actor/producer Scott told IndieWire’s Anne Thompson that “Ripley” was a “tough shoot.”

“I was in the middle of playing an enormous part,” Scott said. “Tom Ripley in the new version of ‘Talented Mr. Ripley,’ and I was in Italy, and I’d been away during the pandemic for almost a year. I was doing an enormous amount of acting, it was a genuinely enormous part. And so actually, I was looking forward to not acting for a little while. It was a tough shoot.”

The actor added that he selects his roles based on a “signature” quality.

“If the writing has a singular signature in it, then I’d be interested in doing it. It’s always the script,” Scott said. “It’s your job, saying ‘no’ to things. I’m pretty affable as a person. But when it comes to choice-making, I don’t really care what anyone else thinks. I have quite a strong idea about what I’d like to do.”

“Ripley” premieres April 4 on Netflix...'

#Ripley #Matt Damon #The Talented Mr Ripley #Patricia Highsmith #Andrew Scott #Netflix #All of Us Srangers #Dickie Greenleaf #Johnny Flynn #Marge Sherwood #Dakota Fanning #Eliot Sumner #John Malkovich #Steven Zaillian #Maurizio Lombardi #Margherita Buy

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phantom-le6 · 2 months

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Ramble of the month February 2024: 90’s MCU phase 5 – transitioning from Secret Wars to Infinity Wars

Having spent much of last month and a fair bit of this one working on submissions to literary agencies for my autism book, this month’s ramble and the one for next month took a bit of a back seat, and as such I’ve still not been able to vary myself away from delving further into my hypothetical Marvel and DC film universes. Apologies to anyone who, like me, were hoping to vary things more. However, hopefully what we cover in this ramble and the next will make up for it, and as April will be Autism Awareness time, I can guarantee something different for then.

By this point, I’m sure readers don’t need as much of a recap on what these posts to do with my 90’s-based MCU are about. Long story short, I’ve done what the meme makers don’t; looked at the comic book and real-world history of Marvel from that era to create an actual 90’s based MCU instead of putting 90’s actors into a present-day MCU. However, as we’re into a fifth phase and well past the 1990’s, we should at least quickly review phases 1-4 first.

Phase 1:

1992: Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man

1993: Thor, Spider-Man, Ant-Man & The Wasp

1994: Captain America: Fantastic Four 2, Iron Man 2

1995: X-Men, Avengers, Daredevil

Phase 2:

1996: Spider-Man 2, Thor: Land of Enchantment, Silver Surfer

1997: Hulk vs Wolverine, Fantastic Four: Doomsday, Iron Man 3

1998: Captain America: Society of Serpents, Daredevil 2, X-Men 2

1999: Avenger 2, Spider-Man 3, Doctor Strange

Phase 3:

2000: Fantastic Four: World War III, Thor: Ragnarök, Daredevil 3

2001: Hulk: Rise of the Leader, X-Men: Fall of the Mutants, Avengers: Under Siege

2002: Doctor Strange 2, The Captain, Spider-Man 4

2003: Captain Britain, Fantastic Four: Enter the Negative Zone, Ghost Rider

Phase 4:

2004: Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Secret Wars: Part I

2005: Excalibur, Defenders, Ghost Rider 2

2006: X-Factor, Secret Wars: Part II, Heroes For Hire

2007: Namor the Submariner, Doctor Strange 3, Iron Man: Enter The Mandarin

As discussed in previous rambles, phase 1 was all about establishing the MCU and its characters, phase 2 was about the expansion and development of the continuity, while phase 3 was mostly about many characters and teams losing, being put on the back foot and so on. Phase 4 then covered Secret Wars, which temporarily deprived Earth of some major MCU heroes to put them through a real alien war, and in the process also allowed some other heroes to come to the fore. Phase 5 then becomes about following on from some of those plot threads while beginning the set-up for this MCU’s version of the Infinity War. So, let’s quickly show you the phase 5 slate and then get right into the details of these would-be films.

Phase 5:

2008: Spider-Man 5, Fantastic Four: Unthinkable, Ms Marvel

2009: Elektra, Black Panther 2, Defenders 2

2010: X-Men: Proteus, Spider-Man 6, Ant-Man 2

2011: Silver Surfer 2, Avengers vs X-Men, Ghost Rider 3

Spider-Man 5 (2008) Directed by Matthew Vaughan

Peter Parker/Spider-Man = Wil Weaton

May Parker = Marg Helgenberger

Flash Thompson = Ben Affleck

J. Jonah Jameson = J.K. Simmons

Joseph "Robbie" Robertson = Denzel Washington

Betty Brant = Parker Posey

Ned Leeds = John Barrowman

Eddie Brock = Wentworth Miller

Randy Robertson = Taye Diggs

Harry Osborn = Ryan Phillipe

Mary-Jane Watson = Alison Hannigan

Herman Schultz/Shocker = Patrick Muldoon

Felicia Hardy/The Black Cat = Elisha Cuthbert

Roderick Kingsley/Hobgoblin = Michael Keaton

Quentin Beck/Mysterio = Nathan Fillion

Captain Jean DeWolff = Jessica Biel

Detective Stanley Carter/”Sin Eater” = James Marsden

In the first three Spider-Man films, we built up to Peter befriending the Osborns and dating Gwen, only for the Green Goblin/Death of Gwen story arcs to play out in Spider-Man 3. The fourth film then gave Peter a clash with the Sinister Six as he struggles to come to terms with Gwen’s death. Following Secret Wars, Peter now has the alien costume, and so film 5 is basically the alien costume story arc. Sounding a little too much like the Raimi/Maguire Spider-Man 3? Trust me, it’s not like that and for two key reasons. Firstly, I’m not trying to shoe-horn Venom in for the third act, just set him up for another film. Second, I’ve chosen Wentworth Miller of Prison Break and The Flash fame to play Eddie Brock, and that’s far from being our only change.

In this film, Peter’s occupied trying to stop a series of illusion thefts being committed on behalf of a new “kingpin”, who turns out to be the Hobgoblin, while also having to track down a notorious serial killer called the “Sin Eater”. As the alien costume influences Peter ever more, the question becomes less will he stop all the criminals, but rather will he become one. Matters are further complicated when costume thief Black Cat begins seducing Spider-Man and the alien costume pushes Peter to accept this despite his relationship with Mary-Jane. The film culminates with a chance clash with the Shocker revealing the alien nature of Peter’s costume, forcing him to finally fight it off. Eddie Brock gaining the symbiote is then handled in a credit’s scene.

Direction-wise, I picked Matthew Vaughan as he’s a proven superhero film director due to his work on X-Men: First Class. He’s the fourth director to take a hand on Spider-Man solo film in this hypothetical MCU, with John Hughes having directed the first two, and 3 and 4 being handled by Frank Darabont and Martin Campbell, respectively.

Fantastic Four: Unthinkable (2008) Directed by Roland Emmerich

Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic = Tom Hanks

Susan Storm (Richards)/Invisible Woman = Meg Ryan

Johnny Storm/Human Torch = David Spade

Ben Grimm/Thing = Bryan Cranston

Alicia Masters = Heather Graham

Agatha Harkness = Angela Lansbury

Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom = Goran Višnjić

Hauptmann = Ronald Guttman

Nick Fury = Tommy Lee Jones

Black Bolt = Pierce Brosnan

Medusa = Elizabeth Hurley

Crystal = Dina Meyer

Gorgon = J.G. Hertzler

Karnak = Alexander Siddig

Triton = Orlando Bloom

T'Challa/Black Panther = Chadwick Boseman

Namor McKenzie/The Submariner = Christian Bale

Barbara "Bobbi" Morse/Mockingbird = Rebecca Romijn-Stamos

Jericho Drumm/Brother Voodoo = Doug E. Doug

Having had the Fantastic Four directed by Leonard Nemoy (films 1-2), Steven Spielberg (films 3-4) and Ridley Scott (film 5), this MCU closes out their share of films under the stewardship of Roland Emmerich, notable for such films as Independence Day, White House Down and Midway. This film adapts the events of the storylines ‘Unthinkable’ and ‘Authoritative Action’, but leaves the events of ‘Hereafter’ to the comics and begins introducing the Infinity Stones. Since non-comics fans and fans who haven’t read those stories won’t get those references, let’s do a quick summary.

In the comics, Doctor Doom turned to magic for an attack on the Fantastic Four, which resulted in Reed and Sue’s son Franklin being taken to hell, and the team having to storm Latveria to get him back. During the incident, Doom scarred Reed before being dragged into hell. Afterwards, Reed seized control of Latveria to dismantle Doom’s arsenal and craft a permanent prison for Doom, one in which Reed would serve as warden. However, when the rest of the team tried to stop Reed, Doom somehow began to possess each in turn, ultimately forcing Reed to kill Ben Grimm just to stop Doom. The events of the Hereafter arc involved a trip into the afterlife to bring Ben back, in the process healing Reed’s scars.

In this film, Franklin is kidnapped and taken to a demon dimension, and Sue leads a rescue team comprised of her, Ben Grimm, Brother Voodoo and the Black Panther to save Franklin while Reed and Johnny attack Doom, aided by the Inhumans and Namor the Submariner. The attack seemingly defeats Doom, after which Reed leads the F4 to Latveria, seizing control of the nation. Fearing Doom is somehow influencing Reed, Nick Fury of SHIELD intervenes along with Mockingbird, Voodoo, Namor and T’Challa, only for the seemingly captured Doom to begin telepathically controlling the other F4 members. Ultimately, Reed manages to force a feedback that wipes Doom’s mind, but in the process, Ben Grimm dies as he does in the comics. With Ben’s death, the Fantastic Four decide to step back from hero work, becoming a think tank called the Future Foundation.

The bulk of the film’s cast is from past films, with the only new addition being mystical nanny Agatha Harkness, played by Angela Lansbury in better keeping with the comics version of the character. As for the Infinity Stone I mentioned, that would be the mind stone, which Doom uses to control the various F4 members until Reed works out Doom is channelling the stone’s power and creates the feedback.

Ms Marvel (2008) Directed by Gates McFadden

Carol Danvers/Ms Marvel = Melissa Joan Hart

Michael Barnett = Brian Krause

J. Jonah Jameson = J.K. Simmons

Frank Gianelli = Rory Cochrane

Tracey Burke = Kate Mulgrew

Tabitha Townsend = Kyla Pratt

Lynn Andersen = Amanda Seyfried

Mystique/Raven Darkholme = Connie Nielsen

Rogue = Anna Paquin

Avalanche = Alessandro Gassmann

Fred J Dukes/Blob = Vince Vaughan

Pyro = Hugh Jackman

Irene Adler/Destiny = Sally Field

When it comes to trying to tackle Carol Danvers in films, one story that’s yet to hit the big screen is the story of her downfall against the X-Man Rogue back when Rogue was part of Mystique’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Indeed, the 90’s animated series of the X-Men is the only adaptation to handle this, and they did it by neatly sidestepping some disturbing backstory. Long story short, there was a story arc in the Avengers comics around the late 70’s/early 80’s where Carol (then codenamed Ms Marvel) was mind-controlled and raped by an extra-dimensional being so he could be reborn in a body compatible with Earth, then after fast-growing to adulthood, his presence caused a bunch of time disruptions. When Carol then agreed to go with this being, the Avengers made no effort to prevent this.

When Chris Claremont wrote Rogue into Avengers Annual 10 and showed Rogue rocking Carol’s powers, the question that came to be asked was why Carol hadn’t sought out the Avengers upon returning to Earth, and the answer was made clear. The team hadn’t shown any real concern for Carol during her strange accelerated pregnancy, and then let her go off with a blatantly mind-controlling rapist from another dimension. As such, telling the story of Carol clashing with Rogue and the Brotherhood should never be an exact re-telling. Claremont’s story in Avengers Annual 10 was as much about correcting what the writer of the main comics at that time had written, and with film adaptations, you’re better off just taking a different path entirely.

In this case, we’re showing Carol working as an investigative journalist for a Daily Bugle-owned women’s magazine, who uses the Ms Marvel identity to tackle crime where needed. This is based on her original run in the comics, so we have Jameson borrowed from the Spider-Man films while using the magazine staff from the comics for supporting roles. As for the villains, roles from past films like Mystique and Pyro are combined with newly cast actors to give us our second MCU Brotherhood. The film draws in a mix of acting talent, with Melissa Joan Hart reprising the role of Carol Danvers, and Trek alumni Gates McFadden directing the film. McFadden has played the mutant Plague/Pestilence for three X-films before this and has some directing experience, making her a good choice for this project.

Elektra (2009) Directed by Roxann Dawson

Elektra Natchios = Leonor Varela

Stick = Scott Glenn

Stone = Sigourney Weaver

Kirigi = Daniel Henney

Frank Simpson/Nuke = John Cena

Matsu'o Tsurayaba = Hiroyuki Sanada

Kwannon = Kelly Hu

Turk Barrett = Gary Dourdan

The story of Elektra following her death in Daredevil is one Fox didn’t quite get right, in large part because they tried to incorporate plot elements and tropes that didn’t tonally fit with the character. Having used two Daredevil films to set her up before giving the character a one-shot solo film, I think the best thing is taking those bits out. Instead, we get the Hand going after the Chaste with Elektra in the middle, and when Elektra proves more than they can handle, they bring in the pill-popping assassin known as Nuke. It’s a straight-up martial arts action film initially, but then becomes a more Punisher-like action film when Nuke comes on the scene.

Trek alumni Roxann Dawson takes the helm because she’s one of the few women I know of that would be directing anything back around this time. Considering that films with female leads are often better handled by female directors, it makes sense to try and make this the case wherever possible. The cast is either retained from past films of picked to be more comic-accurate. Case-in-point, picking American actor Scott Glenn to play Stick rather than English actor Terrence Stamp.

Black Panther 2 (2009) Directed by Tim Burton

T'Challa/Black Panther = Chadwick Boseman

Shuri = Tatyana Ali

Ramonda = Alfre Woodard

T'Chaka = Courtney B. Vance

W'Kabi = Chiwetel Ejiofor

Okoye = Nia Long

Zuri = Joseph Marcell

M'Baku = Idris Elba

Nakia = Lupita Nyong'o

Monica Lynne = Kerry Washington

Baron Macabre = Sterling K Brown

Jerome Beechman/Mandrill = Joaquin Phoenix

Nekra Sinclair = Toks Olagundoye

Kevin Plundarr/Ka-Zar = Chris Hemsworth

Shanna O'Hara = Scarlett Johansson

Zaladane = Jolene Blalock

Everett Ross = Martin Freeman

In Black Panther 2, T’Challa becomes allied with Ka-Zar of the Savage Land when it turns out his hidden jungle in Antarctica houses a cache of Vibranium to rival Wakanda’s. Most would-be Vibranium hunters baulk at trying to gain the Antarctic variety due to the dinosaurs, but soon both nations are threatened when the woman-controlling mutant Mandrill, his adoptive sister Nekra, the Savage Land priestess Zaladane and Wakandan criminal Baron Macabre team up. Due to the inclusion of some of these villains, I opted to switch from Tim Story to Tim Burton from a directing stand-point. This film also features a change of role for a couple of real-world MCU alumni.

Defenders 2 (2009) Directed by Stephen Sommers

Dr Stephen Strange = Johnny Depp

Namor McKenzie/The Submariner = Christian Bale

Bruce Banner/Hulk = John Cusack

Silver Surfer = David Wenham

Valkyrie = Diane Kruger

Kyle Richmond/Nighthawk = Josh Duhamel

Patsy Walker/Hellcat = Mena Suvari

Wong = Will Yun Lee

Clea = Keira Knightley

Jericho Drumm/Brother Voodoo = Doug E. Doug

Dr Anthony Druid = Mark Strong

Daimon Hellstrom = James Van Der Beek

Dr Tania Belinsky (Belinskaya)/Red Guardian = Beatrice Rosen

Dr Arthur Nagan = Julian McMahon

Dr Jerold "Jerry" Morgan = Stellan Skarsgård

Ruby Thursday = Alyssa Milano

Harvey Schlemerman/Chondu the Mystic = Stanley Tucci

Shuma-Gorath = Geoffrey Rush

The Defenders, Marvel’s superhero non-team, return for a second instalment at this point, and I’ve picked Stephen Sommers as director based on him directing a live-action GI Joe film around the same time. In this film, the few routinely active Defenders learn via immigrant Russian doctor and superhero Red Guardian that a team of scientists called the Headmen have stolen the Reality Stone from AIM in an effort to seize world power for themselves. Allying with Namor the Sub-Mariner, the Defenders seek to stop the Headmen while Clea joins with Brother Voodoo, Dr Druid and Daimon Hellstrom to try and bring back Doctor Strange from the extra-dimensional limbo he sacrificed himself to in Doctor Strange 3. At the same time, the Silver Surfer seeks the Hulk. The whole team then comes together when the Headmen open a portal for Shuma-Gorath, in the process transforming into their strange comic-style appearances.

Everyone from Dr Druid on down in the cast list is new. As for why we’re skipping over the original male Red Guardian and focusing on the second female iteration for this MCU, there’s two reasons. First, the second female iteration served as a Defender in the original comics, and second, these MCU rambles are focused on the main film continuity, which in this version of the MCU is strictly cinematic. TV shows, while allowed as tie-ins, are optional content, and while I’d happily allow a TV show to dive in on Black Widow and some other characters, I think a film was and is a bit much for a character with so little solo comics content.

X-Men: Proteus (2010) Directed by LeVar Burton

Storm/Ororo Monroe = Halle Berry

Polaris/Lorna Dane = Jeri Ryan

Wolverine/Logan = Tom Cruise

Peter Rasputin/Colossus = Henry Cavill

Remi LeBeau/Gambit = Zachary Levi

Cyclops/Scott Summers = Patrick Swayze

Jean Grey = Milla Jovovich

Warren Worthington III/Archangel = Neil Patrick Harris

Beast/Hank McCoy = Alec Baldwin

Robert Drake/Iceman = Michael Weatherley

Banshee/Sean Cassidy = Liam Neeson

Dr Moira Mactaggert = Olivia Williams

Mystique/Raven Darkholme = Connie Nielsen

Rogue = Anna Paquin

Avalanche = Alessandro Gassmann

Fred J Dukes/Blob = Vince Vaughan

Pyro = Hugh Jackman

Irene Adler/Destiny = Sally Field

Professor Charles Xavier = Patrick Stewart

Kevin Mactaggert/Proteus = Iain De Caestecker

Joseph Mactaggert = John Hannah

Rahne Sinclair/Wolfsbane = Bonnie Wright

Danielle Moonstar = Selena Gomez

Jubilee = Chloe Bennett

Everett Thomas/Synch = Christopher Massey

Douglas Ramsey/Cypher = Devon Bostick

With the third X-Men film Fall of the Mutants having split the X-Men up, and a combination of the Secret Wars duology, Excalibur and X-Factor films following events for the divided team, this fourth X-Men film is intended to reunite some of the scattered team into a new whole. It also gives Rogue her defection from the Brotherhood following the events of Ms Marvel. In this film, Moira Mactaggert’s son Proteus emerges as a dangerous mutant and begins a rampage across to Scotland. With Excalibur unavailable, X-Factor is summoned while the X-Men pursue Mystique’s Brotherhood to Scotland. The two teams meet up and reunite when they find Professor X is also with Moira, having been recuperating on Muir Island since being released from a SHIELD hospital (this is set-up over end-credit scenes for Fall of the Mutants and X-Factor).

Direction-wise, the X-Men have been handled initially by Jonathan Demme and then Jonathan Frakes in films bearing their team’s name, while Excalibur was helmed by Christopher Nolan and X-Factor by LeVar Burton. For this film, I’ve put Burton back in the director’s chair. Casting-wise, I imagine same fans will be perplexed by my choice of Chloe Bennett for Jubilee. This is because Bennett is of a mixed ancestry that includes having a Chinese mother, and while the ideal is always to try for exact representation from the comics, there aren’t many actresses active in Hollywood around the time of this film with even one parent of Chinese descent, let alone two.

As such, the question becomes which do you compromise; Jubilee’s racial background or her nationality? My choice, compromise slightly on racial background and bring in some plot threads relating to prejudice against people of mixed race. Quite honestly, characters of mixed race are among those groups under-represented in film and TV, so if I have to compromise, let me at least try and do so in a positive way.

Spider-Man 6 (2010) Directed by Matthew Vaughan

Peter Parker/Spider-Man = Wil Weaton

May Parker = Marg Helgenberger

J. Jonah Jameson = J.K. Simmons

Joseph "Robbie" Robertson = Denzel Washington

Betty Brant = Parker Posey

Ned Leeds = John Barrowman

Eddie Brock/Venom = Wentworth Miller

Randy Robertson = Taye Diggs

Mary-Jane Watson-Parker = Alison Hannigan

Flash Thompson = Ben Affleck

Felicia Hardy/The Black Cat = Elisha Cuthbert

Sha Shan Nguyen = Grace Park

Captain Jean DeWolff = Jessica Biel

Anne Weying = Michelle Williams

Principal Harrington = Viggo Mortensen

Lance Bannon = Hayden Christensen

Gloria "Glory" Grant = Candice Patton

In the sixth of our Spider-Man films, and the last to both start and end with Peter Parker wearing the webs, we showcase Peter and MJ preparing for their upcoming wedding, but the pair are stalked by Eddie Brock, who has now joined with the Venom symbiote and seeks to make Peter’s life hell. He attempts to manipulate the Black Cat into being his co-conspirator as well, preying on her jealousy after the symbiote-free Spider-Man resists her seduction. The story ultimately culminates in Venom trying to force Peter into a no-win situation where he has to choose who to save; Mary-Jane or Felicia. Matthew Vaughan returns to direct, and we get a few extra supporting cast members in lieu of the various villains of Spider-Man 5.

Ant-Man 2 (2010) Directed by Peyton Reed

Hank Pym/Ant-Man = Michael Douglas

Scott Lang/Ant-Man II = Paul Rudd

Maggie Lang = Judy Greer

Cassie Lang = Joey King

William Cross/Crossfire = Ethan Hawke

Taskmaster = Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Alex Gentry/Porcupine = Nick Offerman

Janice Lincoln/Beetle = Naya Rivera

Having left Ant-Man alone in terms of solo films since phase 1, phase 2 marks a return for Hank Pym, who by this point has been out of action since a mental break-down forced him to retire. Now of sound mind again, he tries to deal with tech thief Crossfire, who steals the prototype for a new, more aggressive variant of the Ant-Man suit, the Yellowjacket. However, Hank’s old suit is not safe to use as it clashes with his neuro-chemistry, risking more mental break-down. Even worse, it’s been stolen. In tracking down the Ant-Man suit, Hank encounters desperate divorced father Scott Lang, who stole the suit to get money to cover his daughter’s medical treatment.

With this film, the aim is to pass the mantle of Ant-Man to Scott Lang in a more comics-accurate manner, while at the same time preserving certain casting that the MCU got right, hence why Pym, Scott and Maggie are all retained from the real MCU. In terms of Cassie, I switched to Joey King as she’s had a remarkably steady record of employment for a non-Disney child actress, and I think she’s a great choice to take up this role for the remainder of this hypothetical MCU. Direction-wise, I figured it best to stick with the choices of the real MCU and go for Peyton Reed, having had to go with Sam Raimi on the 90’s-made first Ant-Man of this MCU.

Silver Surfer 2 (2011) Directed by JJ Abrams

Silver Surfer = David Wenham

Thanos = Josh Brolin

Mentor = Michael McKean

Eros/Starfox = Joel McHale

Gamora = Zoe Saldana

Drax the Destroyer = Dean Cain

Adam Warlock = Chris Pine

Pip the Troll = Peter Dinklage

Nebula = Emma Stone

Mar-Vell/Captain Marvel = Jude Law

Following the events of Defenders 2, the Silver Surfer finds himself drawn into yet more Infinity Stone adventures when Kree hero Captain Marvel and the android Drax the Destroyer come to Earth with Adam Warlock, keeper of the Soul Gem. Hot on their heels are Thanos and Nebula, each of whom has begun to seek the Infinity Stones. Worse still, Mar-Vell is dying of cancer. The film is meant to advance the Infinity Stones plot while also adapting the death of Mar-Vell from the comics, not to mention setting up for the Guardians of the Galaxy to appear in the next phase.

For direction, I’ve picked JJ Abrams based on his Star Trek and Star Wars work making him a decent choice for a space-based hero like the Silver Surfer. In terms of casting, we have a few reprises from past films in this 90’s MCU and from the real MCU. However, some shifts have also occurred, most notably with Drax due to wanting to use his original comics origins over the revised MCU/later comics version. The would-be autistic representation of Bautista and Gunn’s Drax quickly become so much farce, so as an autistic person, I’d just as soon avoid that and go down the android route, thanks very much.

Avengers vs X-Men (2011) Directed by Jonathan Frakes

Cyclops/Scott Summers = Patrick Swayze

Jean Grey = Milla Jovovich

Storm/Ororo Monroe = Halle Berry

Wolverine/Logan = Tom Cruise

Peter Rasputin/Colossus = Henry Cavill

Remi LeBeau/Gambit = Zachary Levi

Warren Worthington III/Archangel = Neil Patrick Harris

Rogue = Anna Paquin

Steve Rogers/Captain America = Brad Pitt

Thor = Dolph Lundgren

Janet Van Dyne/Wasp = Catherine Zeta Jones

Iron Man/Tony Stark = Tom Selleck

Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk = Lucy Lawless

T'Challa/Black Panther = Chadwick Boseman

Sam Wilson/Falcon = Will Smith

Peter Parker/Spider-Man = Wil Weaton

Professor Charles Xavier = Patrick Stewart

Carol Danvers = Melissa Joan Hart

Mystique/Raven Darkholme = Connie Nielsen

Avalanche = Alessandro Gassmann

Fred J Dukes/Blob = Vince Vaughan

Pyro = Hugh Jackman

Irene Adler/Destiny = Sally Field

Frank Bohannan/Crimson Commando = Harrison Ford

Louis Hamilton/Stonewall = James Brolin

Martin Fletcher/Super-Sabre = Peter Fonda

Dr Valerie Cooper = Malin Åkerman

Sebastian Gilbreti/Bastion = Bruce Greenwood

Congressman Rev. William Stryker = Eric Roberts

Forge = Jimmy Smits

There have been two occasions in Marvel comics where the X-Men and Avengers have been drawn into direct conflict, at least using multiple issues of a comic and to my knowledge. The first is the 1980’s mini-series X-Men versus Avengers, where the Avengers attempted to arrest Magneto to resume his trial before the world court, while the Soviet Super-Soldiers sought to arrest Magneto for his actions in X-Men #150. As Magneto was part of the X-Men at the time, this naturally put all three teams at odds with each other. The second occasion was the AvX storyline in which Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor, Colossus and Magik became possessed by the Phoenix Force, something the Avengers tried to prevent and later combat.

While this film draws on the basic concept of both series, that something sets the Avengers and the X-Men at odds with each other, it’s not about arresting Magneto or issues with the Phoenix force. Instead, the issue is Rogue; her status as a mutant terrorist is used to convince the Avengers to apprehend the X-Men. This is bad timing, as the X-Men are working with Rogue to help restore the mind of Carol Danvers. The masterminds of the plot are rabid anti-mutant politician William Stryker and government advisor Sebastian, who in reality is a new form of sentinel in disguise. Luckily, government advisor and secret mutant Forge is suspicious of Bastion and convinces NSA director Dr Valerie Cooper to set up a contingency plan.

As a result, the film builds to a climax where, after the intervention of Spider-Man ends a major fight between the two teams, Bastion unleashes his prime sentinels. Enter Mystique’s expanded Brotherhood in their guise as community service government heroes Freedom Force, and the stage is set for a truly epic battle. Direction-wise, I opted for Jonathan Frakes to helm this entry, and while many actors are reprising roles from past films, everyone from Crimson Commando on down is new to the MCU as of this film.

Ghost Rider 3 (2011) Directed by Mark Steven Johnson

Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider = Connor Trinneer

Roxanne Simpson = Jessica Alba

Eric Brooks/Blade = Jamie Foxx

Rachel Van Helsing = Cote De Pablo

Daimon Hellstrom = James Van Der Beek

Vlad Tepish/Dracula = Mads Mikkelsen

Lilith = Felicity Jones

Mephistopheles = Jeffery Combs

Phase 5 of our 90’s MCU closes out by bringing Johnny Blaze’s time as Ghost Rider to its conclusion, in a story where Johnny teams up with Blade, Rachel Van Helsing and Daimon Hellstrom against Dracula and his daughter Lilith, who are secretly in league with Mephistopheles. The film is partly an original plot and partly an adaptation of the end of the original Ghost Rider run of comics, though it’s far from being the last Ghost Rider film of this MCU. Just as the comics would have others take up the Ghost Rider curse after Blaze, so too will this MCU move onto those later riders in turn. Having used Tim Burton on the first two Ghost Rider films in this MCU, I’ve picked Mark Steven Johnson who handled the 2007 Nicholas Cage Ghost Rider film to take on this third instalment of 90’s MCU Ghost Rider.

This wraps up our look into phase 5 of this 90’s-based MCU; next month, we’ll cover phase 5 of our alternate DC movie universe. Until then, ta-ta for now.

#fancast #mcu

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