Invitation
Peggy could have sworn there was supposed to be something sweet about today, something easy. It was the day after their first night in the house, roles playing perfectly. Angie outside on the porch in an old-fashioned rocking chair, nothing but sweats and a loose T-shirt on as the boys set up surveillance and get everything ready really. Their hangovers probably killing them from the night before.
Her smile appeared when she saw the lemonade drink in her hand and shook her head. How American, she thought. The weather was surprisingly warm she thought to herself as she made her way outside to where her friend was. It was funny though, Angie never did this back at their home. Then again there were still a lot of things that Angie did that completely surprised her. No matter, she liked a challenge. She liked puzzles and trying to figure them out.
She leaned against the door frame, adjusting her black shirt, shoving a hand in her jeans pocket, and smiling, looking out to nowhere in particular. Angie hadn't seem to register that she was right there and continued humming a small tune to herself. It seemed light and upbeat to Peggy, and Angie seemed to enjoy herself. The look of small joy on Angie's face as she looked around humming it made Peggy smile brightly at her.
"Hey, English." Angie shrugs smiling as she takes a sip of the lemonade in her hand.
"Hello, darling." She notices that the nickname makes Angie smile a tad wider. She's not sure why but it makes her heart beat a little faster. "Enjoying yourself?" She asks pushing herself off of the door frame to find herself in the chair next to Angie and Angie rocks back and forth nodding.
"Immensely." She admits.
"I will never understand you Americans." Peggy teases.
Angie scoffs giving her a look. "Pegs, have you seriously never done this? Relax under the shade watching the world tick buy in the sunlight and drink something refreshing?" Peggy laughs and shakes her head. "No? Really?" Peggy nods. "My lord Pegs you're more boring than a moon rock. And not the Apollo 18 kind neither!" That causes Peggy to laugh harder. The movie was ridiculous though it made her paranoid of rocks. Angie loved watching it and it was entertaining.
"No, perhaps not, but as long as you're having fun and relaxing-" Angie instantly snorts. "What?"
"Oh English," Angie reaches over squeezing Peggy's hand for effect and continues. "You wouldn't know relaxation even if it hit you like a freight train."
"I beg to differ."
"Alright name once that you relaxed, completely without me havin' ta pester ya and 'force' ya to." Angie crossed her legs waiting for an answer.
Well okay, there was- no. Okay if she had to be truthful, Peggy couldn't think of a time she completely relaxed without being persuaded to somehow. She wasn't sure she had ever relaxed really until she met Angie. That definitely said something about the all famous Peggy Carter who was amazing at just about everything except- of course relaxing. No, maybe she could relax!
To be fair, once Angie's fingertips worked on your tense shoulders and sore muscles you couldn't do much but relax under the godlike touch. Angie had to have been a misuse sometime during her past lives to learn how to do that. In a second flat, she let her walls down and pressed her back into the hands trying to help her. She'd be awarded a kind hearted laugh and a comment about being married to the job along the way.
"Alright, I suppose you win." She told her sitting back in the chair and propping her feet up on a nearby box.
"Feigning it doesn't count Pegs," Angie commented. Peggy rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something when-
"Oh hello new neighbors!" That voice was like nails on a chalkboard to Peggy, she visibly cringed at it and looked at Angie who put on an amused smile looking watching Peggy before both their eyes turned to the woman before them trying to run through the short grass in heels. It was amusing.
The woman seemed tall though the heels probably had something to do with that, blonde hair, tanned skin, brown eyes. She wore a snug fitting blue dress as if she just came from a party, a small dog perched under an arm, and whatever the hell kind of heels those were. She ran carefully like she had done this millions of time, but it was easy to tell it was still difficult for the woman. Oh yes, Angie thought. This is going to be so amusing. It was almost a stereotypical sight to behold. Oh, how Angie wished she had a camera to film not only the woman was actually very attractive, but Peggy's reaction to her voice.
The woman smiled at them almost dumbfounded, Angie saw through that. She smiled back waving her over much to Peggy's dismay. The woman smiled brighter at that and found her way over to the porch steps stepping up on them and setting the dog down. It seemed to just sit down and watch the world as Angie had done before. It was adorable really, fluffy in its own ways. What kind was it?
"I am so sorry I wasn't here to greet you to the neighborhood yesterday!" She apologized. Angie shrugged taking a sip and smiling.
"Nah, no biggie really. We came home, unpacked a bit and then passed out. poof." The woman nodded and looked to Peggy for the rest of the story. Peggy seemed off guard by it but quickly caught herself and continued.
"Yes, we haven't been up long." The woman's eyebrows shot up at her accent and god did Angie never tired of seeing that face people would pull. "Our..uh-" Angie playfully hit her hand and finished for her.
"Oh just call em like they are! Our lackeys are unpacking the rest. Punishment for getting bone ass drunk and waking with a hangover!" The woman seemed to understand as she sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Believe me I understand more than you think. Miss uh-"
"Cartinelli." Angie beamed. The woman turned to Peggy.
"And Miss-?"
"Cartinelli," Peggy answered. The woman blinked before Peggy held up her hand showing the ring and held Angie's up as well. She seemed to want to get rid of the woman as quickly as possible.
"Oh my! Congratualtions! I had no idea!" Angie laughed and shrugged. "I'm James." She held her hand out to Angie first then Peggy. "James Curt." Angie nodded. While it was surprising to Peggy she was James (probably because she doesn't watch the news) it didn't much bother Angie. Angie had a female cousin named John, so it didn't surprise her.
The best thing about this whole charade was Angie was completely spinning it. She could already see through the fake walls as she knew Peggy could. There was something darker about this woman, and she was playing best friend instantly to gain their trust. Two could play at that game. She smiled brightly. She wanted to frown at her. This reminded her too much of her own family. Her mother would pull the same stuff this woman would when people, especially new people popped in near by.
Angie could pull this off, it just might end with her wanting to slap the woman as hard as she possibly could.
"I'm just next door-" She pointed to the biggest mansion of the lot in Peggy's mind. She had to blink a couple of times. "-If you need anything!"
"Thank you kindly Mrs. Curt." James winked at Peggy and smiled at Peggy's pinked cheeks. Strike one for Mrs. Curt.
"Anyways I must be going bye!" The small dog probably named CoCo or something trailing behind her.
"Bye." Angie told her waving before looking at peggy. "I don't like her." Peggy nodded sighing. "She's too-"
"Clean." Peggy finished. Angied nodded in agreement.
Angie herself outside for awhile longer before as Peggy went in and talked to Agent Barton. Probably more technical stuff she didn't necessarily understand. She wasn't stupid, she just didn't understand the tech stuff like that. Sure she could use a laptop like a pro, film a small film in a day and edit it in two, but when it came to the termonology she was lost. There were a lot of "WHAT ABOUT THIS complicated thing or that" she didn't understand. She sighed at the thought and shook her shoulders.
Once in the house she recieved a glare from Thompson about the comment about being a lackie. It made her smile. They never got along. Not after he tried to hit on her and assumed so many things about her when she told him no. Effectively she gave up and voiced her concerns about it never going to happen and she wouldn't because he wasn't her type. Daniel usually kept him line. Poor guy. She saw the looks on his face. Hurt to see somethign so familiar on his face.
She smiled at the men as she made her way up to their room to actually take a shower now that no one was drunk and too busy to care about what she was going to do. For being someone so important they ignored her presence a lot. Well that wasn't fair. There was a lot to do, and atleast Peggy didn't ignore her.
That was her favorite thing, even when Peggy was in deep concentration doing something she had learned to answer all of Angie's question and give her equal attention. Angie didn't mind it when she was told to give her a bit but she liked it when Peggy balanced things perfectly for her. It made Angie feel completely important and needed. It was nice.
She was stopped when the phone rang. She sighed.
"Hello?"
"Oh Mrs. Cartinelli!" That voice.
"Yes...uh-"
"James. It's James." she sounded irritated.
"What can I do for ya?"
"We're having a party tomorrow, nothing fancy. It's just formal you know. My husband and I would like to know if you and yours would like to come?" Angie's eyebrows dipped at the choice of wording.
"Me and mine?"
"Yes! Your wife and others." James sounded positively happy.
"Alright yea sure we'll be there."
"Thank you very much! I'll put you down! Anyways sorry for the bother toodles!"
"No prb- hello?" No answer. The damn woman hung up. So Angie did too. She sighed inwardly and opened the bedroom door to yell down to the hall to Thompson who was setting up...something. She didn't even want to ask. Better not to. "Hey Jack! Tell Jake we're going booze leggin tomorrow. I mean partying. Peggy was listening on the other end so she should know.
"Yea yea." He grunted. "Least it ain't a mafia. Then we'd be dead or locked in a closet." Angie froze.
But that's exactly what would happen if it was the mafia. They'd lock you in a closet after they beat 'sense' into you until you begged for death or convinced em. Most cases they'd drag you out and shove you to the floor before your brain was kissing a bullet and your blood was all over it. The thoughts caused flashes of a previous experience to flash throughout her mind.
Then we'd be dead or in a closet.
There's something oddly familiar about the way she feels her body freeze and her throat tighten at the words. She knows why, she just never thought she'd feel it again. She never thought the fear would seep in through her cracks before she covered them up. The intense fear builds up and she can feel her heart quicken. She wants to run. She needs to run far far away from this situation. She can actually feel the need for that build up and her mind starting to tell her body to run. She wants to.
A gentle hand rests on her arms and it snaps her out of her thought, her fear. She looks up to see Peggy's face full of concern and understanding at how she reacted. She clears her throat and looks down at her hands as she side steps away from the touch guilty that she needed it. Peggy gives her a hurt look as if she herself did something wrong. She doesn't get a chance to apologize or explain before Peggy puts on a blank face and addresses her.
"Agent Barton is down stairs, wants to brief us tonight before the party tomorrow." And then she's gone.
Angie feels so unbelievably guilty. She doesn't understand why it always ends up like this. She feels like one way or another they lie to each other, Peggy about her past, Angie definitely about her past. It's frustrating that she can't just say the words outloud to her. That everything she's thinking is- nothing. It's well It's nothing important is what she tells herself.
How do you tell your best friend "Oh hey btw I was subjected to watching horrible things happen, abuse because I was gay, driving getaway vehicles due to threats, and my father the head of the mafia. Vincent Martinelli the famous criminal is my dad."? Is it even possible to coherently tell? She guessed not. It'd have to come out all at once or slowly over time. She's already proven to cover her tracks, and she doubts she can't say it all at once so- not at all is the answer. At this thought she shakes her head hoping she won't mess up and the guys will see her in distraught. Completely guilty, she's not sure she'll even be able to sleep tonight.
"The party is perfect for recon. Angents Cartinelli will go in with Jack as bodyguard, they'll meet and greet, then come home and divulge information. Not as easy as it sounds because they have to keep a picture perfect image to keep everyone interested, they won't get any real information but they will get and hear things on all the guests. Maybe we can learn something from their pasts to use to our advantage against this bastard."
That was all Jake told them. As soon as he let them go Angie ignored the rest and went straight to their room. The nostalgia of talk and it all was proving to be a bit much. As soon as the bedroom door was open she was laying down on the bed taking a deep breath. Peggy entered but said nothing. Instead she found herself next to her friend on the bed and surprised Angie by entwining their fingers. Angie didn't question the comfort. She gladly took it and remained silent. Her eyes closed shortly there after.