[ she knows that look. not on him, perhaps, but on others: the silver flicker in the eye that lands somewhere between understanding and opportunity. ambition isn't always a vice, only usually. but if there's a ladder to climb, here, then it's meant to be one that leads them out of this place.

but, oh, the risk! when peggy asked fitz about the project and any intent to continue it, he'd been equally adamant. and she, in that moment, had passed a simple verdict: good. but that had been months ago, and the landscape has changed dramatically.

rather, her vantage point over it has.

peggy holds up a hand, a finger, a warning. this is the most she's felt like herself in a damn long time. ] Something being most successful is damned different to being, well, actually successful. Not to mention you're grading on a helluva curve. Agent Fitz is undoubtedly brilliant and I don't mean to besmirch him when I say it might be more accurate, [ she gestures at his notebook, ] to call it the least unsuccessful attempt instead.

[ two very different metrics, peggy carter thinks. edith piaf croons behind their conversation, a sentimental counterpoint to all this sudden shoptalk. ]