Marvel Oneshots

Welcome Back (Jack Thompson)

Written for Agent Carter Bingo on Tumblr! Run by @agentcarterbingo and running through the end of the year! Go check it out!

Square Filled: Surprise!

Summary: Jack's been recovering in the hospital and at home for the last month since he got shot, and now he's finally allowed back in the office in LA. Y/N has been dating Jack since before all that, and after such a long month full of hardships, they get Rose, Peggy, and Daniel's help putting together a surprise welcome back party for Jack as a break from everything they've been going through.

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"Alright everybody! This is it, Daniel's gonna be here with Jack any second! Final touches and take your places please!"

The agents scattered, dropping down behind desks or cabinets as planned, leaving only Rose and Peggy with me.

"Relax, Y/N. It's going to be fine," said Peggy.

"Yeah! You've done so much work to get everything looking great, but now it's time for you to kick back and enjoy it, too."

I sighed. "I know, I know, I just... I really want everything to be perfect. And it feels like there's still plenty of things that could go wrong."

"Like what?" asked Peggy. I scanned the room, and immediately found Samberly sticking out from behind a small potted plant.

"Like that," I deadpanned, staring straight at Samberly. I moved to go tell him to hide somewhere else, but Rose put out a hand and stopped me.

"I'll take care of it. You two go find your hiding places."

"Thanks Rose," I breathed, my shoulders sagging a bit in relief. She went to deal with Samberly, and Peggy pulled me towards the desk closest to the entrance, where we were going to hide.

"Just take a deep breath, Y/N," she said as we crouched. "Everything's going to be fine. He's going to love it."

"I sure hope so."

She gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze, but it still didn't do much to calm me down. My boyfriend, Jack Thompson, had been shot about a month ago. He'd almost died, and it had been incredibly touch and go while he was in the hospital. Finally, he'd managed to pull through, but it had been weeks of recovery. Today was the first day he'd been healthy enough to come back to the office, so I'd talked Peggy, Daniel, and Rose into helping me plan a surprise party.

We'd gone through so much over the past month. I just wanted this one thing to be perfect, as a break and a celebration after everything we'd survived.

I took a deep breath as the sound of footsteps echoed up the stairs. After a second, the familiar voices of Daniel and Jack floated into the office.

"Relax, Sousa, I told you I'm fine."

"Jack, you needed help getting out of the car, forgive me for thinking you might also need help on the stairs."

Before Jack could come up with a retort, Daniel jumped in with the code phrase as their footsteps came to a stop.

"Anyway, welcome back to the office, Jack!"

With that, we all jumped out from our hiding places, hands in the air and smiles on our faces.

"SURPRISE!" we shouted in unison. For the first time since I'd started planning the party, I didn't care if everyone else in the room had done their jobs correctly or not. I only had eyes for Jack.

I beamed at him as he took in the sight before him, seeming more shocked than surprised. Slowly, though, his eyes met mine and his face morphed into a smile.

I wasted no time moving around the desk to wrap my boyfriend in a tight hug. He winced, and I immediately jumped back.

"Oh shoot, Jack, I'm sorry, I totally forgot, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, sweetheart," he said, pulling me back to him and kissing my forehead. "Did you put all this together for me?"

"Well, I had plenty of help," I said, beaming up at Jack. "Peggy, Rose, and Daniel are the only reason I managed to pull all this off in the first place."

"That explains those streamers around the room. Shoddy work from an SSR Chief, Sousa," said Jack, turning to Daniel with a grin. Daniel gave a grimace-smile back.

"Ha. Have I told you yet how good it is to have you back, Thompson?" He gave Jack a hard clap on the back as he spoke, making Jack wince. I glared at him, but Daniel just shrugged.

"Alright, enough of that," I said. "C'mon, it's your first day back in the office with all of us! It's time to celebrate!"

Jack wrapped an arm around my shoulders as we walked into the bullpen, with all the decorations and food laid out. Everyone we passed gave Jack friendly smiles and welcomes, and no one but Daniel patted him on the back hard enough to make him wince.

We spent the whole day celebrating, and I didn't leave Jack's side once. I didn't really plan to leave his side again, since the last time I had, he'd been shot.

As the day went on and agents started to leave, the party slowly winding down, Jack and I kicked back on one of the bullpen's few waiting room-style couches. He kept his arm around my shoulders as I leaned into him and rested a hand on his knee.

"You know, I could get used to our days at the office being more like this," he mused. I chuckled as Peggy and Daniel wandered over to us too.

"Come on, Jack, you and I both know you'd get bored within a few days, tops," I said. "You'd be out in the streets looking for something you could do if you didn't get it here within a few days."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"So, I know I hit you kind of hard earlier, but seriously, how are you feeling?" asked Daniel. He and Peggy sat noticeably closer together on their own couch than they needed to, but I didn't say anything. I could only hope that this meant they'd actually gotten somewhere, instead of spending every day pining over each other from across the office.

Jack shrugged. "I still don't feel one hundred percent. I got shot, Sousa, so it's not like I'm magically going to be better overnight."

Daniel rolled his eyes, and although I couldn't see his face, I knew it made Jack smile.

"But... I'm feeling a lot better," he continued. "And don't ask me to repeat it, because I'm not saying this sappy shit again, but... you guys are all a big part of that."

"Wow. Thompson, you really have gone soft since you started dating Y/N," teased Peggy with a smile. I smiled back and looked up at my boyfriend as he rolled his eyes. Still, he couldn't keep a faint smile off his own face either.

The four of us stayed like that long after everyone else had left, talking, laughing, and teasing each other well into the night. After a month of worry and uncertainty, things finally felt right with the world again.

Hopefully it would stay this way for a long, long time to come.