#dadship

Well, all logic went out the window the second that he looked over to her, after what must’ve been a mistake, a slip of the tongue, and well - the pure panic in her expression said it all. He would’ve let it go, brushed it off as a slip of the tongue, a mistake they all made but it became impossible to ignore when he heard Barnes’ terrible attempts at stifling his laughter.

To give him some credit, the man was trying to cover his mouth but the longer he tried to stop himself from laughing, the harder he started to laugh until he was doubled over, hands on his knees and the sound of his laughter echoed around them.

At least Rogers had some sense to not laugh and throw Barnes a look, not that Barnes could see either his or Carter’s look. Damn, that woman knew how to give meaning to if looks could kill. There was certainly a venomous quality to her look. 

“I’m going for some fresh air,” Carter announced before promptly marching out of the room.

The silence left behind was tense, at least Barnes had caught himself and stopped giggling, clearing his throat. He looked between them and where the door Carter had just marched out of.

“I should...” He started to say, throwing a thumb towards the door, Rogers stopping him mid-sentence with a slow shake of his head.

“You two should do the job I pay you for,” Phillips grumbled at them, rising to his feet. He brushed off their concerned look, following after Carter’s mumbling.

It didn’t take long to find her pacing the hall, hearing her mumbling only growing louder as he stepped closer. He leaned into the wall, arms crossed over his chest, and watched her for a while. It was the embarrassment of the situation that got to her, amongst he knew, but as he watched her struggle to light a cigarette, thinking better of it before shoving the objects hidden underneath the false brick in the pillar, he couldn’t help but smirk.

“Y’know, I would be proud to call you my daughter,” he told her after a minute, making sure that brick wasn’t in her hand. He knew her tendency to swing when startled and her impeccable aim with any projectile in her hands.

“Sir, I didn’t-”

Phillips shook his head and smiled at her, those rare types of smiles that showed past the chiseled walls the old colonel had built around himself to protect himself. Those very walls that these three damn idiots, the ones responsible for his stress and anyeriusms, he swore, had chiseled away at overtime.

They got on his nerves, they drove him to the brink of insanity. They annoyed him. They disobeyed every damn rule he’s ever laid in place but he knew their reasoning. Beyond all the white collar, bureaucracy, and political bullshit that was their jobs, he knew at the end of the day those three would do whatever it took to do the right thing.

He knew from the very first day that he’d met Carter, she was different. She had a spark, a flame of life that no white-collar asshole could ever tame. She needed to prove herself time and time again, no matter what it took.

That's what he admired about her and, unfortunately, for him, that spark just only grew by the time she met Rogers. They both carried that damn fire.

“Peggy, listen,” Phillips said in a soft tone that asked her to just listen to him. “I’m honored that you see me like that. It was a slip of a tongue but I couldn’t be more proud to see you as my daughter. You’re everything I would’ve wanted to call my own kin.”

“You’re not getting soft on me, are you?” Peggy teased, blinking hard to fight back the tears. “I-” 

She stopped and cleared her throat, trying to find the right words to say. There were none, of all the words in the English dictionary, none could be summoned to describe the feelings rising in both of them. Instead, he acted first. He pulled her into a tight hug, feeling her arms wrap around him.

“I’m proud of you, Peggy,” he told her as they pulled away, gently wiping away the stray tear from her face. “I’m proud of all that you’ve done and all that you will do. Even if you did bring those two numbnuts into my life.”

“Y’know we can hear you!” Bucky called down the hall. “You have to admit we made your life better, Chester!”

Barnes was the only damn one who was brave enough - no, stupid enough to ever call him by his first name. Yet, all he could do was laugh softly at Carter’s eyes sparkling as she laughed. 

“You made my life a living hell!” He called back to Bucky.