Brainstorming
“Could it be something in the serum protecting me?” Steve asked. Tactics he could manage, but there’s no way to outmaneuver a...virus? Microscopic-telepathic alien invasion? Mutant rebellion? When it came to the Avengers, you never knew what to expect.
Peggy scoffed. “And what, I obtained immunity through your saliva?”
That worked a laugh out of him. Peggy always knew how to maintain an even keel and make others do the same. “I suppose that’d only make sense if you’d made out with the whole east wing of the hospice.”
She smiled. “Just Angie. Any word from your pals in New York? Stark?”
Steve shook his head. “Got something on the comm that might have been the Hulk, but it could have just been static.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “If the green one is active, that means it may well be biological.”
“Shouldn’t we focus on helping out those who are affected, instead of wasting time figuring why they got hit in the first place?” That, at least, he could do. Whether this was science or magic or some combination, it was Tony or Thor’s area. By now Natasha would have whipped up a short list of enemies potentially responsible, Banner would be gathering data on a global scale, and even Barton might have a good idea where the attack originated (no offense, Clint). But what had Steve done?
Peggy covered his hand with hers. “Figuring out who’s behind this as soon as possible is our best chance of getting them back to normal. And understanding why some of us were spared is our best clue as to who’s behind it all.”
“Right,” Steve nodded. Of course. It had just been so unsettling, seeing those blank stares. First Sharon, then Sam, then everyone on the street. Checking the hospice for immune patients had been brutal, knowing there was (for whatever reason) a good chance each one could be exempt. Hoping not to be greeted with another empty, silent gaze. It made it that much harder to ignore when they were, in fact, dead to the world. It was a look he recognized and never wanted to see again.
“Maybe our experiences with the SSR exposed us to something?” Steve asked.
Peggy considered this. “It seems unlikely that the government would accidentally develop a vaccine to a virus that wouldn’t be released for another seventy years.”
“But what else could it be?” Steve was tempted to invite over a few of Peggy’s neighbors to brainstorm, but most were busy calling family and friends to see who was okay. Besides, Peggy said it’d comfort them to know that Captain America and Agent Carter were on the case.
“It would explain why so many patients here are immune...some kind of residual low-level radiation could have shielded those near me from its effects.”
Steve couldn’t help smiling. “Even without knowing it, you still help people. Just by being around them.”
Stop that, her smile said. Then her brows furrowed. “But none of the caretakers have been exempt.”
“Oh. Yeah.” They went quiet, thinking to themselves for a while.
After a minute or two, Peggy inhaled sharply, jarring Steve. He worried for a second that she had lost lucidity again. He didn’t know if he’d be able to explain the whole situation a second time.
It hadn’t been instantaneous, this change, but it was swift and unmistakable. A day at most it had taken the world’s population to stop performing nonessential tasks. Nobody knew what to call it (at least none of the people left with their faculties intact), let alone why they were spared. Maybe if more than a sliver of the population were responsive to non-fatal stimuli, they could find some answers. But so far, Steve and Peggy knew only of themselves and a few other senior citizens at her care facility.
Instead, he followed her gaze out the window. “Steve, look!”
He turned in his chair to see what caught her attention. There were no cars pulling into the parking lot, no smoke clouds over the city, no crashing spaceships, just a few storm clouds heading this way - then he saw it. The speck at the head of the rapidly approaching storm, the center of all that lightning. No natural clouds moved that fast.
“Thank god,” he whispered.
“You can thank him when he gets here,” Peggy cracked. Steve shot her a look.
Thor lightly touched down in the parking lot as the clouds gently dispersed, releasing their lord to the ground. He strode to the main entrance until Steve knocked on the glass and waved, getting the thunder god’s attention. Peggy’s room was on the first floor, so he lifted the window for Thor to meet them directly. Steve wondered whether he would have managed to climb so gracefully through a window in armor and cape while holding a hammer. At least the shield could get strapped to his arm or his back. And capes? Even Fury's billowing coat looked impossible to fight in.
Peggy sat up. “You often deal with this sort of thing on Asgard?”
Thor nodded in greeting, following her cue to skip pleasantries. “Never this in particular. Fortunately, I believe I know who is responsible.” He turned to Steve. “I apologize for not being available by Iron Man’s frequencies. I was caring for Jane, studying her behavior. I couldn’t leave her until I knew she would be fine on her own.” Steve nodded. He was just glad Thor was okay. He had an even more reassuring air than Peggy.
“We’ve been trying to work out why some of us are immune,” she said. Steve leaned back as the prince of space and his former commanding officer swapped sitreps.