Chapter 27
It was the unfortunate truth that after the sort of encounters the Avengers had, there was always the unpleasant task of picking up the pieces. The London authorities had already termed the incident at the university their version of the “Battle of New York,” and the British press were running rampant with speculation on why they had been singled out for an attack, what the presence of aliens meant for the security of the world, and of course, how exciting it was that the Avengers were there on British soil saving the world once again! If anything, it was the latter that took the predominant headlines, as the faces and names of the core group of Avengers were starting to become known. While Tony Stark was a famous figure, even to British readers, those of the others were not. It was only when Stark waggled a tabloid in front of her face that she had even really paid attention.
“What do you know of Captain America’s mysterious past?” Stark had practically shoved the splashy headline under her nose. “Hopping the trolleys in Brooklyn as a kid so he didn’t have to pay? Please say Rogers was canoodling with someone behind the bleachers in his youth. Was canoodling what they called it in the 30s?”
“Maybe you should ask him and not me.”
“Why not ask you? From what I understand, you and Rogers have canoodled quite a bit since his reappearance.”
Peggy swatted the paper away, absolutely refusing to have this discussion with Stark. “Why do people care about such things?”
Stark, well used to being in the limelight for all the right and wrong reasons, shrugged philosophically. “Makes us seem approachable, less like gods with super powers and more like normal people who just happen to fight alien threats.”
“You are just normal people who happen to fight alien threats.”
Stark snorted outright at that. “You said that with an absolutely straight face. I’m impressed.”
“I’m being serious.” She stood from her borrowed desk at the London SHIELD offices, where she had been hunkered down all morning managing the paperwork and many conversations involved with SHIELD and the British government over the University of Greenwich incident. This, sadly, was her job. Unlike Stark, who could preen for cameras and go home to his lab in Malibu, she as director was actually forced to deal with the messy aftermath of their work.
“I’m being serious, too,” Stark countered, airily. “I mean, this life is normal for you, I suppose, but…”
Peggy rolled her eyes at him, but couldn’t quite hide the hint of a smile that threatened to escape. “I admit to being rather inured to strange events happening in my close proximity, yes. I suppose you have a point, this all does get rather normal after a while.”
“Does it?” For a brief moment, the happy-go-lucky, joking facade of Tony Stark faded. Something else flickered in his dark eyes, his expression tightening for just a moment before he shrugged and turned his face away, looking towards the bright windows that overlooked London. “You know, this building, never did love it. I mean, I’m just an engineer, not an architect, but you know any building that could theoretically melt things on the ground because of the angle of the glass…”
Peggy took the bait on his change of subject, at least briefly. “How is the rebuilding in Malibu coming?”
“Done! House is as good as new. Took the opportunity to enlarge the lab downstairs, you know, expand it for my armory, I suppose you could call it. That’s what Pep is calling it anyway, but you know, I think she finds it all kind of hot.”
Somehow Peggy highly doubted that Pepper was as into Tony’s suits as he thought she was. “I will have to come out and see it.”
He seized on that idea happily enough, spinning back to her, eagerness manically alight in his expression. “You should! Get the whole gang out there; Bruce and Betty, Thor and Jane, maybe even Darcy and that kid she’s hooked up with...what’s his name, Llewyn?”
“Ian,” Peggy smirked, admitting to herself she was somewhat surprised she remembered the boy’s name.
“Yeah, get them all out there. You can bring Cap, Romanoff if you have to, we can make this a real party.”
It was tempting. “Maybe before the holidays we can do it. I have been meaning to see Angie again now that Steve is awake. She’s yet to meet him and is going to kill me for not bringing him by.”
“We should bring her to the house! I don’t know that she’s been out since Dad was alive, she can see what we’ve done with it.”
Peggy could already see the delight he took in this, almost giddy with it. It made her cautious. “Perhaps…”
“No, let’s make this happen. Maybe after Thanksgiving, but before Christmas. Pepper is talking about going out of town, and I thought…”
“That sounds good,” she cut him off as he whipped out his phone, already making a note to himself. “I mean, if you’re sure.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?" He didn't even looking up from whatever he was typing, his thumbs gliding across the single pane of glass.
“Just...I don’t know, you’ve had a lot on your plate. I know you were fixing up the house, then had to repair Stark Tower no sooner than you had it renovated the first time. Then everything with the Avengers...New York…”
She hadn’t been seeing things. She could see him visibly tense at the mention of New York.
“And now this,” she continued without a pause. “I know it’s a lot right now. If you want to put this off.”
“No,” he exclaimed, shortly, finishing his typing and sliding his phone into his breast pocket. “No, I want to do this. It is good team building, right? All that corporate stuff Pepper is throwing at me that I only half pay attention to.”
“It is,” she admitted, thinking it would be a good idea to have the Avengers get together to do something social without the weight of saving the world on their shoulders. “Thank you.”
He waved it off. “Least I could do after leaving everyone hanging out there.”
There was that tension once again, now accompanied by a hunch in his shoulders, a certain fear and anxiety that was not Stark's norm. Was that guilt or an attempt at self-preservation? Both? “I suppose it couldn’t be helped. Damndest moment to have your systems go down.”
“Yeah, well, new suit, hadn’t really tried it. Knew I was taking a gamble.”
Lying wasn’t particularly Stark’s style; he didn’t appreciate it in others, and while not particularly honest to a fault, he also didn’t tend to tell boldfaced lies. So Peggy was willing to accept that at least on some level he was telling the truth. Perhaps the suit was new, perhaps it was having more problems for not having been tested beforehand. That said, something about his body language screamed that wasn’t all of it.
“Perhaps it is for the best,” she shrugged, philosophically, patting him on the shoulder. “All those portals, they were hard to doge through, and we didn’t know how all of them worked. Those fighters…”
He pulled from her hand as if it were on fire, ducking out from under it as he turned, making a move to slide away and out of the door. “You know, the time! I promised Bruce I’d help ensure that red Infinity Sludge was stabilized so Fury could take it to his super secret vault in the center of the Earth or wherever he has it.”
He moved, blindly, refusing to look at her or at the door he was heading to. It meant that he slammed almost headlong into the woman entering into the doorway, stopping himself before he could bodily run into the stately woman. Peggy would have been impressed, had she not been concerned for all parties, namely the woman who started in shock and surprise.
“Lady Siobhan,” Peggy yelped, ready to dive in to steady her in her elegant heels. As it turned out, no assistance was necessary, as she grabbed a corner of the door frame easily enough.
Stark, shocked out of whatever panic that had driven him to nearly plowing through Siobhan Haldane, reached a quick hand to steady her as well. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there!”
“It’s quite alright,” she assured them both with a hint of a self-deprecating smile. “No harm done!”
Peggy was still British enough to be somewhat scandalized that a woman with some rank and title was nearly stomped on by a rich American, and immediately began to unexpectedly channel her mother. “Please, come, have a seat.”
“Thank you, but I’m perfectly fine.” She was at that, moving gracefully to the proffered seat as Peggy turned to Stark with a wide eyed, half stunned stare. For his part he grimaced, shamefaced, tugging fretfully at his right ear.
“Let me make introductions,” Peggy quickly smoothed over, waving towards where Stark stood, shrugging and effecting a half-wave. “This is…”
“Anthony Stark,” Siobhan cut in, all smiles as she extended a hand to the vaguely embarrassed Stark. “It’s hard not to know your face. It’s a pleasure to meet you, finally.”
Stark only nodded, pulling up a charming smile from somewhere, not even bothering to correct her on his first name. “And you are Lady Siobhan…”
“Haldane,” she supplied, as Stark did one of the most courtly little bows over her hand that Peggy had ever seen. She blinked, frankly more amazed by that little display than his near running over of the lady in the first place.
Siobhan Haldane was surprised as well, though there was a glimmer of amusement in her green eyes. “You are quite the charmer, Mr. Stark. You remind me of your father.”
If he was bothered by that, he didn’t show it. “I get that. I take it you knew him?”
“Only acquainted with him, really, and his work. We were interested in the arc reactor technology. We had tried to do something similar at Darkmoor but never could get it off the ground. We were in talks with him about working together on development, but they sadly never materialized and we never were able to pick it up again.”
It took Stark’s brilliant mind only a few seconds to put all the pieces together. “Darkmoor Research Facility...you oversee that.”
It was a statement, not a question. Siobhan smiled. “I do, among several other things.”
His expression shifted, calculating and thoughtful. “I admit, I am interested in a lot of your work, as is the new Stark Industries CEO, Virginia Potts. Tell me, how is your work on sustainable energy going of late.”
“Not as well as yours is.” She laughed, nodding to the faintly glowing light visible just underneath Stark’s shirt. “I have engineers who would kill to discuss that with you. Some of our initiatives overseas with my other companies have been begging for something like your miniaturized arc reactor, especially out in the field in places where energy is non-existent and they lack the infrastructure and support systems to get it. Your research could save a lot of lives, Mr. Stark, if you are interested in talking it over.”
He was interested, clearly so. “Well, we will have to chat more, my lady.” He glanced to where Peggy stood, sensing that this conversation wasn’t going to be about joint ventures into public health and assistance. “Perhaps, Lady Siobhan, you can get my contact information from Peggy. Please, feel free to reach out to me personally, or even to discuss with Miss Potts. She would love to speak with you.”
“Thank you, Mr. Stark.” She watched, bemused as he nodded to both women before turning on his heel and walking out at a much more sedate pace than he had before.
“So that’s the famous Tony Stark.” Siobhan turned to Peggy, who had moved to settle behind her borrowed desk. “Is he half as brilliant as he thinks he is?”
“Unfortunately, yes, more so.” She would never deny Tony’s brilliance, or his hubris. “I didn’t know you knew his father.”
“Like I said, it was as a professional acquaintance. I was always sorry to hear how he had passed.”
“Yes,” Peggy murmured, quietly, unsure of what else to say about that. Howard’s loss rang differently for her than it did most others. She shifted focus. “I am surprised you came by today. I read in the papers you are donating a large amount to go to the repair of the University of Greenwich and help those whose livelihoods and education are affected by the closure. That is rather giving of you.”
“I’m hardly the only one donating behind the scenes. I'm just the only one they decided to announce that did it.” She shrugged a lazy shoulder under her elegantly cut dark wool coat, tucking a stray auburn curl behind her ear. “I would rather not have the fuss, but I suppose it does help the Foundation in the end. People see you out and about doing things, they are more prone to give you money.”
Her pointed observation made Peggy smile. “Still, it is good. What the Avengers do sometimes...what they have to do, it isn’t pretty, it’s often messy, and we try to have as little collateral damage as we can. Sometimes, you can’t help it.”
“Mmm…” Siobhan Haldane nodded, arching a thoughtful, ruddy eyebrow. “You know my father always said that war is messy and collateral damage is just the way of it. I suppose it shouldn’t have shocked me that he was committing war crimes in the name of king and country with an attitude like that.”
Peggy wasn’t sure she could be so flippant about all of it. “I take a very different view. War is always going to be hell, but that doesn’t mean you have to pull innocent lives into it. Saving the world means trying to save as many as you can. You will not be able to save everyone, but you have to try.”
The other woman nodded, thoughtfully regarding Peggy before glancing out the window, then around the room, as if taking it all in. “You know that SHIELD was founded in the aftermath of the Darkmoor incident, as a response to it, really. After the war it was agreed that no one country or government should have all the power to create weapons of protection...or destruction. Of course, we see how far that actually worked, but the idea was there. My father in many ways was no different than any other government leader or scientist at the time. One might argue, he wasn’t terribly different from Howard Stark, just on the other side of the moral divide. Many said the only thing keeping SHIELD honest in those early days, and by extension Howard Stark, was you, Director Carter.”
So...she had sussed it out after all. Not that Peggy had been hiding it, it was the worst kept secret at SHIELD, but Peggy hadn’t advertised it, not to Siobhan Haldane. Her mouth went dry as she tried to find words to meet the other woman’s placid smile.
“You don’t have to be ashamed or apologize." She waved it off with the same effortlessness she had waved off Stark. “It wasn’t hard to figure out. SHIELD doesn’t precisely hide who you are. Besides, your name and picture were in the papers when it happened. I thought it was just a coincidence at first that you looked so much like her, but it wasn’t hard to put the dots together. I just am curious how you got from then to here, sitting in this office, still looking as you did in the 1940s.
Peggy felt her jaw work, but no words formulated for long seconds. When they did, she felt slightly an idiot for it. “I...it’s a mad story. I’m here now, working with the Avengers.”
She could have told the other woman she followed a time traveling, shrinking man through a pocket between dimensions and she doubted it would have ruffled Siobhan Haldane. “So you are. And the Agent Carter who was with you, she is…”
“My niece! Uh...Sharon is my great-niece, actually. Her grandfather was Michael Carter, he worked there at Darkmoor.”
Something clicked for Siobhan then. “Ahhh...well, that explains a few things, I suppose. Does she know…”
“Yes,” Peggy stammered. “Yes, she knows. We had made the Darkmoor connection to MST Pharmaceuticals and…well…”
“You assumed that because my father was creating weapons of mass destruction and killing innocent people and calling it peace, that obviously there was something nefarious going on with MST Pharmaceutical and that was why it was being targeted. That part I understood perfectly well.”
Peggy flushed at her rehash, realizing just how badly she had misjudged all of this. “Lady Siobhan, I owe you an apology.”
“It’s just Siobhan, Director, and you really don’t. You were both doing your job. Like I told you earlier, I’ve come to accept my father and his past. I’m here to do good, not just throw money at repairing a university, but to make real progress. I wasn’t making any of that up. And I’m not here to get back at you personally or anyone.”
That Peggy did understand. But it didn’t explain why Siobhan Haldane was sitting here right not. “Why are you here, then?”
She sat silently for long moments, a thoughtful, troubled look on her face, as if debating on what to say...or how to say it. She started, stopped, looked at Peggy, and then finally spoke.
“I told you everyone has their dark secrets. You know my father’s. I know yours, for however dark it actually is. SHIELD has its secrets, too.”
It was an odd turn of phrase and it caught Peggy short. “I suppose, considering the world SHIELD does, it would have secrets.”
“It has secrets I’m not sure you are even aware of.” She reached for her purse, an elegant, designer number that she had sitting on the floor right by her feet. She pulled it to her lap, extracting from it a small, manila envelope. “Your recent investigation got me thinking. I reviewed some of my father’s files, some correspondence he had that didn’t make sense at the time, but in light of some of your inquiries might be given a new context. I’m not sure.”
She slid the envelope across the desk. Peggy reached across to take it, sliding it away from her to frown at it in her fingers. “What is in it?”
“I’ll let you read it. Perhaps you can do some digging into it yourself.”
With that, she closed her purse and stood, holding out a hand to Peggy. “I am afraid I have to get going, though. I only planned to stay for a minute. If you could, when you have a chance, please forward Mr. Stark’s information to my secretary so I can reach out to him. It would be a pleasure to have him working with us.”
“I will...do just that.” Jarred by her sudden change and departure, Peggy stood, taking the other woman’s hand. “Thank you...SIobhan.”
“You as well, Peggy Carter.” Her smile was brief, but bright. She turned on her designer heels and marched out of the office, as if Stark hadn’t nearly run her just minutes before. Peggy watched her go before holding up the envelope in her fingers, curiously.
What secrets did SHIELD have that Ranulph Haldane would have found?