Interlude Peggy Carter
Peggy suddenly woke up. She looked at the surroundings around her. White walls, photos by the bed, her old hands. Her mind, which had been dull so far, was sharpening again. As if yesterday she went to bed sick, and today she woke up completely healthy. She looked at the watch next to the bed. 10 am. Pretty late. She usually woke up much earlier. She felt different, better Her thoughts seemed to be more coherent. As if she had become again Agent Carter. Her hearing began to pick up the conversation from the adjoining corridor.
"Doctor, this is incredible. Some patients with mental problems have clearly improved since 8 am!" Nurse Becky was saying. Peggy was sure she hadn't remembered her name before. And now she remembered. Becky Philips from Ohio. Her brother and mother came to visit her here from time to time. The details started coming back to Peggy. About everything. Her past. Days here when she lay like a log instead of serving the world. What a shame.
"I noticed it too. But we're not allowed to talk about it. My friend is a chemist and he noticed a strange anomaly in atoms after the invasion. He called me immediately as soon as his equipment started to go crazy. But the government immediately ordered it all to be silenced," Dr. Martin said.
"Invasion? Is this some cosmic radiation? Besides the deaths and the destroyed part of the city, can we benefit from the invasion?" Nurse Becky asked.
"Perhaps. I want to see how many patients this anomaly worked on," Dr. Martin said.
Invasion? Yes, there was an invasion! Peggy had to get up immediately and find out what happened. Cursed weak body. She hated being old. Her bones and teeth ached and she didn't have the strength to move! She barely got out of bed. But she didn't care about the pain. There was Peggy Carter. Still. Even after being married. Her husband took her last name. She never thought she would get married. Not after what happened to Steve. And yet she fell in love and took her chance. Despite a happy family life, there was always an old wound in her heart.
Steve Rogers.
Peggy quietly destroyed the security camera and slipped into the employees room. It had been so long since she had used her skills, but now she had to. She quickly changed into a proper nurse outfit. She put on her glasses and changed her hairstyle. It doesn't take much to fool the human eye. Especially when someone is in a hurry and when he has some assumptions. After all, it's impossible that a woman who just had Alzheimer's was now a nice nurse.
Alzheimer.
Devastation for her brain. Another injustice in her life. The first was to take Steve from her, and now this. There was no cure for it. Yet she remembered almost everything again. Even the moment when the doctor told her the diagnosis, she began to forget her children's names.
Anthony and Julie.
They were dead. They died a year ago in a car accident. And even then she didn't know who they were! Her children. Neither of them ever had regular partners. Their lives was devoted Shield. Peggy had no grandchildren. Her husband, Daniel, was also dead. The only living relative was her sister's daughter, Sharon. She also followed in Peggy's footsteps and became Agent Shield. Sometimes she visited Peggy and told her about her work. Previously, Peggy hadn't remembered those visits, but now she does. She wanted to tell her niece how proud she was of her. Peggy quickly slipped out the front door. She looked at the trees, the sun's rays, the people walking down the street. Just D.C. Freedom tasted strange. Peggy was just walking, watching people. As if learning to live anew after this terrible disease. A disease that took away her personality. She was so old! And she felt weak. Maybe they already had some experimental Steve's blood serum in Shield or something. She needed an immediate boost. She couldn't represent Shield as a weak and shaky old lady. She wanted to go back there. Good things were not happening right before she left Shield. Hank Pym abandoned them, Howard died in an accident with his wife. Peggy suspected there was something wrong with the death. However, she soon abandoned this case to save her own health. It started innocently. First phone numbers and what she's been doing lately. Then the holes in her memory grew bigger and bigger. Until there was almost nothing left of it.
Invasion. She heard about it. Aliens in the world. It was amazing! Aliens. She thought she had seen many strange things before, but it was amazing. She paused before the public television news. A young smiling presenter talked about scary reptiles from outer space. The official name is Chitauri. It is not known what they wanted. They just started attacking to lose at the hands of The Avengers. The Avengers. Super heroes. Peggy snorted. She has struggled all her life to keep this world safe! Where were these heroes before?
She thought so until they were shown.
Steve was there.
He struck one of the Chitauri with his shield.
Blonde hair, blue eyes, and his brave expression. Same as in her memories. It hasn't changed a single wrinkle. Young, handsome, full of enthusiasm and that stupid stubbornness.
He was back.
Steve was back.
He survived then. He came back to her.
Howard was right! He had always believed it would be possible. Howard was already dead, too, and Peggy could clearly picture his face like: I won that bet, Agent Carter. It was the face of their youth, because he became very serious afterwards. He had a wife and a son. Peggy was ashamed of it, but she didn't know Howard's son very well. She was mostly busy with work. And then her illness began.
He was there too. Howard's son.
Iron Man, Tony Stark.
If Howard could see it. His son and Steve fighting side by side against aliens. Howard would lock himself in some kind of laboratory with alien technology and try to understand it at all costs. The rest of the people Peggy did not recognize. She had to catch up as soon as possible. Green monster, Hulk. Two Agents: Black Widow and Hawkeye. And the biggest unknown.
Thor, God of Thunder.
Nordic god. Red Skull and his obsession with the Norse gods. Tesseract. The gods were real? Why didn't they take their artifact when Schmidt stole it? Why were they involved in the alien invasion if they previously preferred to leave humans to their fate?
Peggy immediately went to the public library to use the computer. She charmed the librarian without any problems that she was just a poor old lady who only wanted to write to her grandchildren and forgot the library card. Peggy quickly hacked into Shield's server and found an answer to that question.
Loki, the Norse God of Mischief.
Thor's adopted brother (according to mythology they were to be biological brothers). Nevertheless, the file said they were not related. Peggy sat watching videos with Loki. You have to know your enemy. Nevertheless, for a God of Lies, he was surprisingly weak at lying to Black Widow. The invasion was also a flop. Peggy knew a lot about war and strategy. Every night she analyzed hundreds of battles, every move of the opponents. To win the war. Loki's actions! It was so stupid! She had never seen any of her opponents have such a weak strategy as Loki had.
Until she dug up a new report.
Worldwide readings. Everywhere.
Conversation between the nurse and the doctor.
Suddenly Peggy recovers.
Loki did it.
Unintentionally, he revived the real Peggy Carter. Not the shell that could only lie down.
What was this energy?
What was he going to do with it?
Schmidt wanted to be a god.
And Loki reall was god.
Peggy felt strange. On the one hand, Loki gave her life. On the other hand, he was an enemy to be neutralized. Peggy smiled bitterly. It used to be easier than that. We were good, they were bad. Just enough. And now she wanted to hug Loki and shoot him at the same time.
She began reading pages on Norse mythology.
Loki, the wisest god of Asgard.
Trickster.
Liar.
Diplomat.
Then Peggy read about his new companion, Sylvie. Fierce loyalty. Just like Steve when he wanted to protect someone who he cares about. Suddenly, agents entered the library. They could be dressed like civilians, but Peggy had a watchful eye. She immediately disappeared into the crime book section, trying to look natural. There she found a rather fat man staring at the two copies of Agatha Christie.
"Excuse me, young man, can you help me out. I got lost and I am looking for a Dawn retirement home," Peggy lied.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know much about this city. I'm here temporarily. I'll be back in New York soon," the man replied. Damn it. Peggy had to find someone else. She had to pretend to be a nice granny who had no reason to rummage through the Shield files.
"Have I not seen you somewhere? You have a very familiar face," replied the man.
"I'm afraid not. I have to go now," Peggy replied to leave.
"Wait a minute, I remembered. You're not a relative of Peggy Carter? I once saw her picture with Tony's parents," the man said.
"Tony? Tony Stark?" Peggy asked.
"Yes, I am his bodyguard. I mean, I was until he became Iron Man," the man replied.
"I'm Peggy Carter," Peggy replied. The man's eyes widened for a moment, but suddenly he began to adjust his tie and hair.
"It's an honor. I'm Harold Hogan. But Tony, I mean Mr. Stark calls less Happy," said the man, Happy.
"Nice to meet you. I'd love to meet my godson. I haven't seen him since he was on the verge of a teenage rebellion," Peggy replied. Happy kissed her hand.
"It will be an honor for me to bring such a special person to meet Tony and of course the captain," Happy said, and left the books on the shelves. They went arm in arm together. Peggy discreetly watched as the agents were still rummaging around at the computer and questioning the people around.
"Yes, I would certainly love to see Steve and Tony. Hope I won't be too old for them," said Peggy.
Happy was confused and evidently wanted to say something that would comfort her, but he still was silent. Unimportant. Peggy was still looking at her hands. Old as rotten boughs. Wrinkles everywhere. Gray curls, instead of chocolate.
Peggy smiled as she left Happy, and the Agents were left behind.
Amateurs.
At least her mind was the same.
Steve was never a superficial person.
Yet deep within Peggy there was some uncertainty.
Because of Steve's youth and beauty.