WALKING DISASTERS | Jack Thompson

44.

PEGGY, DANIEL AND SERA DEVISED A PLAN to get more information, which involved planting a bug on Hunt and sending him out into the world. Sitting in the lab, Sera gathered with her friends and fiddled with a radio, connecting to the bug's frequency and giving them access to the conversations Hunt may have.

When he spoke after a while, Sera grinned. "Hallelujah, these things actually work!"

"I need a drink."

"What happened, Mr Hunt?"

"I ain't talking to you. Where's Chadwick?"

"Cal's at a fundraising dinner. He could be begging all night."

"Good. Then he won't mind if I help myself."

"What happened?"

"I ain't saying a word 'til your husband gets home. I said I need a drink."

"This could take a while," Peggy said.

"A drink sounds pretty good right about now," Daniel said.

They all looked at Jarvis, who sighed. "I'll bring the bottle."

"Bring the expensive stuff," Sera called after him. "I know Howard's got some really good expensive stuff hidden away."

"Ugh, you call this the good stuff?"

"I'm sorry if our liquor cabinet fails to live up to your standards, Mr Hunt."

"So the woman is Whitney Frost, right?" Sera asked, drinking a glass of Howard's wine.

"Yeah," Daniel nodded.

"Ugh. Goes down like acid."

"God, he loves to moan, doesn't he?" Sera asked. "Reminds me of Jack when something doesn't go his way."

"How are things between you and Jack?" Daniel asked.

Sera shrugged. "I think we'll be okay. He said he'd look into Masters for me and try and find out what he's up to."

"Really?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah," Sera nodded. "He loves me too much to say no to me. I have no faith that he'll actually go through with it, but at least he said he'd try."

"Fair enough," Daniel laughed.

"Calvin, is that you? Oh, thank God."

"Oh, Rufus. You've been missing in action all day."

"Chadwick's arrived home," Jarvis announced.

"What the hell happened to you? You look like you've gone ten rounds with a meat grinder."

"Yeah, that SSR agent, the one you had me go after. Peggy Carter. She kidnapped me."

"Kidnapped?"

"Yeah, she shot me with a tranquilliser gun and locked me in her trunk. She tried to kill me."

"She's finished," Chadwick said. "I'll have her job for this. I will have her deported. Who the hell does she think she is?"

"What did you tell her?" Whitney asked.

"What? I didn't..."

"What did you tell her?"

"Alright, look, she injected me with something. I thought I was dying, alright?"

"What did you say?" Chadwick asked.

"She wanted names."

"And you gave them to her? We hired you because you said you couldn't be broken, and this is what you have to show for it? No, I'm not taking the fall for this. You're gonna have to answer to the council yourself."