Chapter 28
“The place is all yours, now!” Sharon set down her bags in the foyer, fully packed and ready for her return to Washington. “I think I have everything.”
Peggy watched her with a tinge of sadness. Most of the Avengers had already headed home, or at least to the places they were going to next. Thor had elected to go with Foster and her troupe back to her mother’s flat in the city, while Banner, Betty and Stark went back to New York together with Jake. That only left herself, Steve, Romanoff and Sharon, and the last two had decided to return back to Washington together.
“I was a bit surprised that you didn’t head out with the New York lot and Jake," she teased, having noticed the pair spending time together over the last week.
Sharon may be a trained operative, but she didn’t even bother being coy, only arching an eyebrow and pulling a mysterious smile. “You think you know so much!”
“I know the two of you got very chummy in the past few days. How long has that been going on?”
Sharon shrugged impishly. “Oh, since the Arctic at least.”
The Arctic? Peggy paused, calculating how long ago that was. “That was...last December.”
“Mmmm, yeah.”
Somehow, that left Peggy feeling a bit put out with her niece. “You two...up when we found Steve?”
“The Arctic is cold in the winter and we were on a glacier! We kept warm!”
Peggy was never particularly a prude, but even she found her jaw falling at Sharon’s playful words. “You better hope my mother isn’t haunting this house, as I think she just rolled over in her grave.”
Sharon’s snort echoed in the empty foyer. “I’m leaving you alone here with a man you are not married to and I’m the one who would shock and horrify her with my hook up?”
She had a point, but Peggy had liked teasing her all the same. “Yes, well...I’m in love with my chap.”
“I know.” Her ribbing softened as she sobered. “Besides, as much as I’d like to take the time, I got to get back. The team here is getting me data, and honestly, I’m at a dead end in London with this Mandarin case. The MST Pharmaceutical angle led us nowhere and now we are getting chatter he’s putting up videos again. They suspect he has a new target in mind.”
“Where?”
“Don’t know,” she admitted, running a worried hand through her hair. “They are guessing a military base, that seems to be a favorite target, that or a hospital, though after this it could be anything. I’m in communication with Everett Ross at the CIA here in Europe. He’s the only person there I seem to be able to get a straight answer out of for all of this, and he thinks that the super soldier theory probably doesn’t have much to do with the Mandarin. They likely hit MST Pharmaceutical for no other reason that it is a Western company who does a lot of charity work overseas. Targeting them makes a bold statement to the constituents the Mandarin wants to please, while at the same time riles up the West who will be offended that someone would hit a company doing nothing wrong. In the end, he’s caused a stir and outrage and that is what he wants.”
Peggy had a feeling it would all come down to that. “And so the whole super soldier angle, the fact that MST Pharmaceuticals had a form of the serum that the CIA gave them, that all was what, just a coincidence then?”
“I know, I know, I smell a rat in all of this, too. After all, this Everett Ross could just be covering up for his employer and feeding me a line of bullshit, but I don’t know, Peggy...what if all of this is just that...a coincidence?”
“Coincidences don’t happen like that!”
“We literally just watched multiple universes converge for no other reason than the stars just happen to move in the way that they do, and you don’t think that it could just be a coincidence?”
Sharon had a point, and logically, Peggy knew that. Of course things sometimes just happened for no reason. Not everything had to be part of a greater design or conspiracy, but that small piece of her pride that was already smarting from her earlier realizations of the conclusions she had jumped to hated. She hated to admit that in the end, it had all been her own folly, prejudice, and fears of what or who may lurk in the shadows.
“I just hate wasting my time and yours on a wild goose chase is all,” she finally managed to grumble, hugging her arms around her middle. “I hate thinking that in the end, we spent all this time chasing down Siobhan Haldane and tried to connect her to something nefarious that this Mandarin character wanted, and it was all a goose chase.”
“I don’t know if it was all a goose chase,” Sharon teased, lightly. “You looked fabulous in that outfit we went clubbing in. I have pictures.”
“Blimey,” Peggy chuffed, reaching up a hand to bury her face in. “I have done and worn worse, I suppose...but not by much. Still, I thought my instincts were right on this one. I dragged you across England to prove it, and I was wrong.”
That hadn’t been easy to admit to herself, let alone admit to her niece, a woman who had spent her childhood begging for stories of her long-lost great-aunt, imagining her in all sorts of mad adventures. Failing Sharon on her niece's first big case hurt more than she liked to think about.
“You know, I get that you're a legend to everyone, including me,” Sharon drawled, slowly, with mild amusement and much affection. “But you are still only human. Perhaps this just served to remind us both of that. I let myself get suckered into the idea of solving a case with my Aunt Peggy, which sounded fun...and truth be told, was fun!”
That did cut through Peggy’s moroseness a bit. “It was at that.”
“Besides, I got to go back and see where my family comes from, which was cool. I took some pictures for Dad and Maggie. Maybe when things calm down we can come back and go visit.” Sharon danced around the elephant in the room, that of Michael. “I don’t know, I think it was eye-opening for me in a way. Siobhan Haldane is a strong woman, there’s a lot to be admired. Makes me think of Dad and Maggie in new lights...and grandpa too. Everyone makes mistakes, Peggy, everyone fails. I think it’s how we pick ourselves back up and learn from those moments that matters in the end.”
They were common sense words, ones Peggy knew and understood well, but it hit her differently hearing them out loud from Sharon. It reminded her of that truth, centered her back in something familiar. “I accede to your wisdom in these matters.”
“Good, because I’m going to have to kick you off my case.”
Peggy laughed, throwing up her hands. “I’m well and truly off now. No more meddling, I promise.”
“Good,” Sharon nodded firmly, just as up the drive, Romanoff made her way through the growing twilight of the early, autumn evening.
“Ready to load up,” she asked, nodding to Sharon’s bags in the doorway.
“Yeah!” Sharon turned to Peggy, enveloping her in a tight hug. “You know, even if you failed in this case, you’re still my childhood hero, right?”
Peggy chuckled, but squeezed Sharon extra tightly before pulling away. “Well, you don’t make such a bad Avenger yourself. If you ever get bored with chasing down international terrorists, you know where I am at.”
“Oh, I am happy leaving the crazy aliens to you guys.” She picked up both of her bags, looking to Romanoff cheerfully. “Besides, you got Romanoff, she’s worth, like, twenty of me.”
“I don’t know about that, You’ve not seen her play poker,” Romanoff joked with a small smile.
“And on that note,” Sharon laughed, stepping out of the door as Romanoff moved out of the way to let her through and follow. Peggy stalled the other agent, however, catching her arm briefly before she made it away.
“Before you go,” Peggy murmured, quietly, just enough for only Romanoff to hear. “There is something I would like you to check out if you could.”
Romanoff’s green eyes widened just a fraction, the only hint that she was surprised at Peggy’s request. They had never been close, the two of them, but over the last two years they had managed a sort of camaraderie despite it all. It was the first time that Peggy had ever asked her to do anything personal for her, and she hoped that Romanoff understood it for what it was, a sign of trust in her.
Peggy had expected her to be suspicious and reply that it depended on what it was. Instead, Romanoff merely nodded, once. “What do you got?”
Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the folded manila envelope that Siobhan Haldane had handed her. “I was given this. It was found in the old files of Lord Ranulph Haldane. Does that name ring any bells?”
“British mad scientist who had a secret laboratory where he was doing research on dangerous and destructive weapons he planned to use against enemies of the United Kingdom, including and most especially the USSR?”
She had been KGB. She of course would likely know that. “That would be the one, yes. His daughter found this list and passed it on to me. She said we all have secrets, even SHIELD, and gave me this. I can’t make heads or tails of it. Arnim Zola’s name on it, but the rest I don’t know, and JARVIS has been locked out of the SHIELD files thanks to Tony’s meddling when he was onboard the Chimera. Once upon a time, I was a spy able to do these things on my own, but I fear that my new high profile status means I no longer enjoy the luxury of people ignoring me because I’m female and thus incompetent, so no more sneaking into the files room for me.”
Something fierce and angry lit Romanoff’s usually otherwise placed expression at Peggy's words. “You are the furthest thing from incompetent, you know.”
It was a rare show of defensiveness on her behalf from the otherwise reticent agent, and it caught Peggy slightly off guard. But it warmed her too. “I know that, just...there was a time in my career others didn’t, and I used it to my advantage. You know a thing or two about that, I suspect.”
Romanoff quietly studied her for a long moment, carefully, before jerking her chin. “Yeah, I do. So check the SHIELD files on this list, that’s all you want?”
“Well and anything you can find on them. I don’t know why Ranulph Haldane had the list or what he wanted with it. If Zola is on there, it could be as simple as a list of enemies, or a list of potential threats.”
“It’s worth a look.” Romanoff carefully tucked the envelope inside of her jacket pocket. “I assume you want to keep this between you and me?”
Peggy had to admit, she was surprised she even asked the question. “You mean you wouldn’t tell Fury if I asked you?”
“I’m Fury’s agent, not his slave,” she shot back, perhaps a bit pointedly. “I think the world of Fury, and he knows I’m loyal. But that doesn’t mean he owns me.”
Peggy couldn’t pretend she understood the first thing about the dynamics of the relationship between Romanoff, Fury, and Barton. Still, it was reassuring to hear her say that at least in this she was her own woman. “If you could, for now, till we understand more. If we find something that’s a threat, then we can tell Fury.”
That seemed to satisfy her. “I will see what I can do in our downtime, but after that, I can’t guarantee anything. Fury has a host of jobs he wants me and Rogers on, so…”
As if sensing he was being spoken about, Steve, too, came up the drive, having stowed his gear, including his shield, on board for the return to Washington. “I thought we had two weeks off, Romanoff? You already thinking about work?”
“Never ends for me,” she replied cheerfully, with the good-natured distance Romanoff managed with all of those she liked but wasn’t necessarily close to. She shifted into it so easily, it almost boggled Peggy’s mind. To say Romanoff had layers was an understatement. Still, while she hadn’t known Steve long enough to actually truly call him friend, she at least had some measure of trust for him, that much was clear. “How do you two plan to spend your two weeks of vacation time? Please tell me it isn’t finding all your old haunts from the war years, because that’s just depressing.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Steve drawled, shooting Peggy his crooked smile. “I wouldn’t mind seeing if that old pub is still there. Maybe they rebuilt after the war.”
Peggy actually felt her cheeks flush, despite herself. “It’s England, nothing ever goes away forever. If not that, I’m sure we can find another like it.”
Romanoff, caught between them, rolled her eyes. “Sharon has a point about you two.”
At least Steve was now the one to look abashed, shrugging. “Give us a bit of credit? We did lose seven decades together.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Romanoff smirked, waving it off.
“How about you,” Steve asked, changing the subject. “Finding a beach somewhere?”
“Maybe,” she shrugged, looking thoughtful. “Might just keep it relatively local. Might go on a road trip, somewhere...rural and Americana and find a B&B for just me, a good book, and a bottle of wine.”
The thing with Romanoff was that it sounded exactly what someone like her might do, and yet, it could just as well be a cover for something else she didn’t want to explain. For not the first time, Peggy wished she knew the other woman better. “Whatever you do, enjoy it.”
“Thanks.” She flashed a brief smirk before slowly making her way out of the open doorway and back down the path. “Got to head out. See you in a couple of weeks, Rogers. Carter, I’ll be in touch.”
And with that, she was gone, her boots crunching in the gravel drive, down back across the road to where the quinjet sat waiting. Peggy moved to stand beside Steve in the growing dark and cold, shivering slightly as she pulled her sweater around her. Without asking, Steve wrapped an arm around her shoulders to bring her closer to his warmth.
“So are we actually going to enjoy our time in London or are we going to solve another case you’ve dug up,” he teased, half seriously.
“I think I’m done with the Haldanes and Darkmoor for now,” she admitted, leaning into his shoulder. “Perhaps I was more chasing my own regrets and past than anything else.”
Here merely hummed by way of answer, a rumble Peggy felt through his chest. She had yet to say anything to him about what else she found, about the super soldier serum and the CIA, of how they had offered it to MST Pharmaceuticals to research, of the fact that there had been at least one other super soldier who had survived horrific experiments for decades before dying, unknown and unnamed, save for the moniker of Weapon II. She would tell him before they returned to America and their normal duties. For now, she had set Betty to the task of finding out what more she could on the matter in the hopes that they could start finding just how far-spread the data was and who was developing it. Peggy would eventually tell him all of these things, but not tonight.
“So what do you want to do with two weeks to ourselves in London?” Romanoff might have been teasing, but Peggy was not. Their time off was unplanned and welcomed, and she intended on using it.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe play the American tourist for once. Last time I was here, I was just another soldier in a war and London was a lot less fun.”
“This is true,” she admitted, grinning up at him. “We have the museums, of course, which I doubt I could get out of showing you. And there are all manner of new things that didn’t exist when I was young. We could discover some of that together.”
“We could,” he acquiesced, noncommittally, a hint of his Brooklyn roots peeking through. “Though...it occurs to me you never did bring me home to your parents’ house during the war.”
There was an implicit suggestion there, a very subtle one. Steve was never one to be as audacious as say Stark or as beguilingly open as Thor, but Peggy got the hint and arched a playful eyebrow up at him. “I didn’t, did I? But perhaps that was perhaps a certain gentleman had never gotten around to asking me to dance until he was about to sacrifice himself for the good of humanity and all that.”
“Well, I was an idiot, wasn’t I?”
“You were,” she confirmed, as in the distance, the quinjet whined to life. “But I still love you.”
“That’s good. I’m kind of crazy about you, myself.”
Over the wall that surrounded the front of the property, Peggy could see the quinjet carrying Romanoff and Sharon lift into the darkening evening sky, hovering over the heath. Somewhere, dogs barked, and a few children shouted in amazed joy at the sight. Peggy couldn’t help but smile at the blue-white light, as the jet moved straight upwards before turning in its direction and taking off, a streak of light into the west.
“We have the house all to ourselves, now,” Peggy pointed out, pulling away from him, but threading her fingers in his. “So what do we do with ourselves?”
There was one thing Steve wasn’t, and that was a fool. “Something tells me you already have ideas.”
“Points to you, Captain. Come inside, it’s getting cold out.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, happily allowing her to drag him with her back into the warmth of her family home.