I was sitting at my desk the next day with word from Sousa that someone was supposed to come in tomorrow. He wasn't given a name, just told there was a "perfect man for the job."

So I was surprised when I saw Peggy walk into the bullpen.

"Peggy!" I stood quickly from my desk with a smile on my face.

Her head snapped over to where my voice had come from and she smiled at me, which I wasn't expecting at first. "Tiffany," she greeted, and we walked toward each other. When we met in the middle, I pulled her into a hug. She hugged me back, but when we parted, I felt horribly awkward.

We didn't speak for a moment, and finally Peggy cleared her throat. "Where is, uhm, Chief Sousa?" she asked, and I could tell his new title made her smile.

I turned and gestured where I saw him last. She nodded and walked over. I didn't follow, but I did stand and watch.

"Hello." Daniel spun around and froze. "Chief."

"Peggy." He looked like a deer caught in headlights and I started getting an uneasy feeling. "What are you doing here?"

Peggy's face dropped. "The Lady of the Lake killer," she said. I realized that someone had decided to mess around with Sousa a bit. Was I shocked? No. Was I annoyed at the childish behavior? Absolutely.

"Right," Sousa said, and took a few steps closer to her. He made brief eye contact with me but didn't linger long.

"Thompson said you requested backup," she said.

Sousa finally snapped out of it. "Yes, yes... yes, of course," he said.

"Unless you've solved it already—"

"No, no, no. I... I was expecting..."

Peggy's face fell and she closed her eyes. "You didn't put the request in," she said. I could hear the disappointment.

"No, I did!"

"But not for me."

"I... I just didn't think you were coming till tomorrow," he explained, finally recovered from the initial shock. They shared a very awkward handshake, and I finally had to turn away back to my desk.

When I did, I looked and saw Detective Henry coming in with more boxes— he'd been bringing everything he could on the Lady of the Lake killer, even though I didn't think this case connected to that one. The only thing shared was the location and that the victim was a woman.

Unless the killer was a supernatural being with some kind of ice powers (highly unlikely), these were different cases.

"Okay!" he called, and I followed him over to where Peggy and Sousa were staring at each other. "I've got three more boxes of old case files downstairs."

He set the boxes in this hands on the desk next to the pair, breaking them out of their bubble. I looked between the two of them and knew there was more to the story than I knew. Partially because Peggy didn't know the whole story when we talked and also because Sousa didn't talk about it. She was part of his list of banned questions, after all.

"Detective Andrew Henry, LAPD Homicide, this is Agent Peggy Carter, SSR, New York."

Since Detective Henry was over his cold, he shook Peggy's hand. "How many of you agents do we need?" he asked, and he looked between Peggy and I. I gave him a raised eyebrow, causing him to straighten his spine again and look away. It thrilled me that I made him uncomfortable.

"As many as it takes to catch the killer," Peggy answered.

Detective Henry shook his head. "Well, that's zero. This new body means I'm gonna have journalists clawing down my door. With a little help from the press, I'll catch out bad guy before the evening rush on Cahuenga Pass."

"What if they're not connected?"

"What if the frozen lake and the murder aren't connected?"

Peggy and I looked at each other after we were done speaking over each other and I smiled. I was glad to see we were on the same page in this and she had only just gotten the case.

Detective Henry looked between us (a bit spooked) and asked, "How do you figure?"

"You think they're unrelated," Sousa said, getting on track with our new program. The body was dumped at another time..."

"But was found only when another incident caused the lake to freeze."

"Perhaps," I said.

"Unlikely."

"Most doubtful."

"But not impossible.."

"Didn't Dooley have an old saying?" I asked.

"'Explore all avenues for unturned stones."" Sousa walked off, ready to explore a new avenue.

Detective Henry was lost. "What's a 'Dooley'?" he asked.

Peggy ignored his question. "The SSR came on board because a body of water froze during a heat wave. The first step we should take is to determine whether or not the dead body and the frozen lake are even the same crime."

"Otherwise we might be getting off on the wrong foot and miss crucial evidence and lose valuable time," I added on.

Peggy and I walked off and I smiled at her. "I have missed this, by the way. I liked working with you quite a lot," I said in a quieter tone.

She smiled. "I have, too," she said. "We'll have to try and catch up while I'm here. I feel like we should smooth things over a bit."

I tried not to let my disappointment show. Was I shocked that she was upset with me? Not really. But I had hoped we wouldn't have to actually get into it. Avoiding things was my best hobby.

However, I did owe her an explanation. I tried to explain some things over the phone when I first was settling in, but she deserved a face-to-fae conversation and explanation. It was the least I could do.

Sousa came back out of his office after putting the phone down and stopped us in our tracks. "We're going to check out the body. Grab a coat."

A/n: How do you guys feel about the chapter length? Are they too short? I just don't want to make the chapters too long and bore you to death. Let me know!

Also, how are we feeling about Wednesdays at noon? Good? Bad? Feel free to let me know! (Please tell me, I like seeing your comments)

See you next chapter :)