Divided
All characters rightfully belong to Marvel Comics
It was a shock at the moment Agent Peggy Carter dared a glance at the reclaimed-the important vial secured in her shaking hand. She seemed to be a captive in a delusion of betrayal, as her dismal stare was casting over the liquid red collected in a tube of glass.
One part of her tried to push the arising doubts away, but the spiraling truth was forcing her to enter a void. The world blurred into darkness, and efforts to salvage hope was decreasing in the seconds her jeweled eyes became transfixed on the only... good... thing left she had to preserve from corruption and shades of deception.
Numbness seized her grief as realization delivered a killing blow when she held the vial close to the dim glow of lamplight-it was sample of Steve's enhanced blood-a piece of Captain America that would become weaponized and disused for unrighteous conquests of greed and the balance of power between dominance and enslavement.
Once more, Steve's existence in all its honor, resilience and humanity had been altered for a rectifying purpose of restoring strength in the ranks of combat warfare-demoralized soldiers-weapons- carrying on missions for the authorized will of strife and unwarranted victory.
It didn't take much for her agile and clever mind to piece together a harrowing truth that would ultimately destroy everything Steve had stood for and reduce value of his exploited life into a zero sum. The government was going to harvest the blood of the one man she had given her heart too; and the unforgiving conclusion that Captain America's monumental sacrifice would end with another lie weaved by the structures of injustice and immoral authority.
To many arrogant and deceived men, freedom had simply been butchered and ideals were poisoned because invalid trust among dishonorable men. And Steve was being treated as a recycled product-the super-solider serum was invested by the errors of manipulation.
Staring at the sated blood, Peggy felt ashamed to even hold the vial; surges of remorse consumed her veins. She felt downright sick...Used and blinded by Howard Stark's own renowned unsatisfying arrogance. The egoistical billionaire valued bank accounts, not another life-not the unbreakable trust of a virtuous endearing man who had believed in him as a worthy and reliable friend- not a sleazily undignified traitor to the cause of liberty.
Closing her eyes, taking a moment to recollect her stalwart emotions; Peggy curled her taut fingers over the vial; securing it under the warmth of her devotion towards Captain Rogers-shielding his legacy from the SSR and the hidden world of traitorous deeds. In a brief flash of light, rage seared her deeper than any wound as vivid, cherished images of the six foot and chiseled super-soldier invaded her disciplined recessed of her mind once again.
"Agent Carter," Steve addressed with a low, but confident voice. His unwavering steel-azure eyes held glints of the pale light casting over the white bricked walls of the examination room; as he felt powerful surges of Doctor Erskine's infused serum seized in the reserves of his merging blood. Taking a few merger seconds, Peggy settled her resolve on his boyish, chiseled and fearless visage. He sat on the exam table, his arm leaden as he allowed the nurse to take samples of his purified blood and store into vials for further testing.
Standing poised and guarded in the doorway, Peggy locked her arms over her bust and affixed her brown irises on the stoic expression veiled over his carved features. Steve wasn't the same man she had found in the streets Brooklyn; no longer had been frail measured and plagued with illness-he had changed into a masterpiece of modern science and a symbol of untainted perfection. In other words, he was a hybrid of strength, virtue and youthful beauty.
Before he rolled down his sleeve, Steve looked at her with uncertainly held in his sincere blue eyes, despite that the full expanse of his arched lips fastened into a weak smile. "They've got enough pints of my blood to create an army," he joked, feeling a tad bit light headed.
Peggy knew the hidden truth behind his truthful words. Before she took another unfaltering step into the room; Steve had met her half way, and placed his large hand on the crest of her tensed shoulder. "The serum doesn't change who I am, Agent Carter," he whispered with honestly evident in his crisp drawl."This was my choice and I owe Mr. Stark everything for giving this Brooklyn kid a chance to do something right."
Listening to measure of gravity in his words, Peggy released a despondent sigh, and snapped her eyes up at his handsome face, still imagining sunken-hollowed in cheekbones and sallow coloring over gaunt features of a sickly boy who carried fire and determined than any soldier she had interviewed for Project: Rebirth. She had chosen Steve for a reason that couldn't be explained with simple words.
The presented-irrational moment was tearing down her walls, she couldn't allow him to breach, not matter how much she found him unbelievably attractive. "Well, I will give Howard the benefit of the doubt. He has proven that we can trust him with his collection of inventions, even though some don't even work." Then, she curled her burgundy shaded lips into a coaxing smile, expressing her humor, while staring into flecks of hope alight in his stern blue embers. Steve had given her something worth to believe in again. "It would seem that I do owe Howard something for proving me wrong about the true value of the serum."
With that Peggy braved another stiffly step into his shadow. Though the years of her training she had become accustomed and harden to standing in front of soldiers, but looking at up Steve made the world tilt and for the first time in her life, Peggy felt her imbalance on the solid ground beneath her heels.
Bracing himself, Steve leaned in a fraction of a breath closer. "Peggy..."
Dismissing the constant stirrings, she had created her division, reluctant to feel the broad muscles of enhanced strength pulse against her slender figure. "Steve, whatever happens out there I just want you to know that you are meant for more than just wearing uniform. Project Rebirth is something that only the fewest of men can value in this world. It will help liberty and hope rise from the ashes of this bloody war we're facing."
Summoning her residue strength, Peggy encompassed her dainty hand over the solid center of his sculpted pectorals; feeling the powerful beats of his heart thumping against her poised fingertips."Just remember that you're never alone in this you do have someone here watching your back. Always."
"I don't why, but I do feel heavier than I did before I got muscles," he replied though a sigh, the rawness of his confession tore at his throat. The back of his mouth ached against the reproach of uncertainty, and he felt the weight of responsibility piling on his shoulders-a burden that he will carry on the battlefront.
"Well, your body mass has certainly increased, I think feeling heavier is all a part of effects of the serum." Peggy replied evenly; trying to keep her countenance genuine in front of him.
Steve felt his lips curve into a weak grimace. "That's not what I meant..."
"Oh, do enlighten me, Steven Rogers?"
He nearly choked out his words. "I mean that because of this miracle that has happened to me, I feel a great deal of responsibly," he dismally stared at his larger hands for a moment, and he sighed out a sharp breath. "What if I don't live up to what Doctor Erskine believes me to become, Agent Carter? All men have weaknesses and they do change after the war. It's a common thing that is issued on the battlefield-"
Peggy lifted her hand, and caressed a soothing touch over the squared edge of his broad jaw. She gazed steadily into his blue eyes; allowing him to search for his resolve that reflected in her chocolate pools. "Doctor Erkine didn't choose you because of your character, Steve. He picked you for a reason that I can't say to you at the moment because you have to figure the answer out when the time becomes right."
"Thank you, Agent Carter," Steve asserted with a cadence of reverence in his baritone.
"Well, I must be on my way, knowing Howard and his brilliant mind he will need a woman's steady hands to prevent him from sudden destruction. Both in the laboratory and in his office," she said, sauntering back to the door. Then, with a graceful swivel of her heels, she turned around and stared back at him, for a long moment. She drank in his new heroic and steadfast visage, not the soldier; she had trusted him to be once he put on the uniform.
Steve walked briskly towards her and unintentionally closed the distance between them; as he dipped his head down. Blond tresses of his ruffled hair touched her forehead and his lips hovered over the softness of her pale cheek, heat flushed the skin and he pressed a chaste kiss there, a perfect spot that he knew had not been untouched. Closing his eyes, the young Brooklyn soldier allowed his lips to embrace the equal warmth roasting over his skin. Relishing the feeling of acceptance-Steve knew that she was his right partner.
Peggy grinned and dismissed herself from his empowering presence. "At ease, Private Rogers," she said, unable to diminish the glow of smile that beamed across her face. "I will be in the laboratory if you requite further assistance."
He nodded in return and watched her leave, and then trained his inquisitive blue eyes back on the vials of blood stack in rows-thirteen small glass tubes that held a promise and salvation to humanity.
Opening her eyes to the visages of deception, Peggy unlocked the door of her room, ignoring the girlish laughter echoing down the hallway. She blocked everything out, and stuffed the gray orb back into her head bag.
At first, she wanted to kick the door down and watch Howard Stark-the rich and unworthy double crosser jump out of his own wits, but then she thought it wouldn't be improper and not very lady like of her sudden eruption of cold, hard fury.
Taking a moment of gathering herself up, calm and collective, Peggy clicked her spiked heels and entered the darkened apartment, putting on semblance to fool him. When she stepped in the dominion of Howard Stark, inhaling the rich scent of his choice of bottled whiskey mounted on her table and watching him enjoy his last meal-food she risked her own security of getting for him from the dining hall.
It didn't take long for tension to spear through the air between them, the solidified lie that he manipulated her to believe when she willfully reclaimed the so-called 'light-switch' for him. She risked her own life running his errands only to discover that he used her -used Steve Rogers to gain fame and fortune back into his pocket. He was snake -slithering in and out of holes and biting people with his poisonous lies and incurred truths. For years she allowed sleazily and dishonest men to dominate her heart-tonight she was breaking those chains.
Leveling cold glare down at the billionaire, Peggy asked on simple and effective question, even though she knew the truth. "Howard, please tell me, whose blood has been collected in this vial?"
The billionaire sat there in the chair, drowning in his own lies. "It's a sample taken from Steve Rogers," he said, watching her face crumple with anguish. He had pierced her deep—a bullet sliced through every layer of her heart.
Hearing those cold and soul-aching words, Peggy bit down harshly on her tongue; feeling utterly abandoned, used-downgraded for trusting makeshift feelings about him. He played with her loyalty and love for Captain America; used that against her by wielding his own shield to protect himself -it was her life.
She was his defense to help give him libation from the pit he had fallen into when he shook hands with the devil. "How could you betray your friend...Steve trusted you...I trusted you," she seethed all at once; feeling a surge of heated blood sear though her rigid bones.
Peggy felt dizzy knowing that Steve would make the choice in heartbeat to offer his blood to save lives. He was a benevolent man at heart when it came to helping those in need. Howard say right through those noble and human virtues and formed them into his own power that would save his rotten skin. "You sold the samples without even knowing how much value they was worth...You unbelievable sorry excuse for a bastard." She made those words jab into his disloyal heart, bone deep.
"Hear me out, Peg," he said, pretending to be all innocent. She refused his tricks. "This wasn't one of my get rich schemes. I wanted to make a difference, to preserve that whatever good was left in humanity. Steve's blood can save millions of lives-even though he's not alive today; he's still protecting the weak."
"You mean your bank account, Howard," She shot back; ready to sink her claws into his neck. "I can't believe you used a good man, the only one I have ever loved and made him into a weapon...He died for our freedom, not for some rich fool to muck up his legacy so that debts can be paid-in blood." She exclaimed, her eyes flamed with resentment. "You're bloody right, Steve may not be alive us today, but it lives in through good men that believe in everything he stood for when he carried that shield on his back."
"Peggy..."
"No," Peggy raised her voice, a swell of tears threatening to escape from her eyes. She scolded him with rented hate. "You used me to betray the man I loved…To rebuild your empire and create a better world through lies and division between friends—You have destroyed everything that Steve for by selling whatever was left of the serum to become compartmeitnized for the rebuilding benefit of military power.
Resuming out a scolding breath, Peggy tore her brown eyes away from his pathetic and disheveled face, "Steve Rogers was not only a soldier who dedicated his life to the SSR, this county, he spent days on the battlefield giving young man a purpose to carry on the fight. He is not prize to be won, Howard. I made a pledge to carry his mission onward, even though I not as good as Steve was. I haven't forgotten that pledge, even when I was running around for a man who I considered a trusting friend and got my hands dirty in the filth of his errors."
Howard said nothing.
Fighting back her tears, Peggy kept her head up, and stared him down, unleashing her confession. "Now, I see where I stand, I am no longer on your side, but in the middle between you and Captain Steven Rogers."
She made her words clear and meaningful; allowing them to sink into him with a knife in the heart—equal pain. "I'm going to leave and get a few things to make sure this gift never sees the light of day, and when I get back your stench better not linger. I meant it, Howard. It is over between us. Never come back to me again for anything."
A division had been made.
Peggy clutched the vial tightly in her hand, and walked out, kicking the dust off of her feet. She never looked back, just kept on walking forward, hardened and resigned by her pledge; she knew that Steve's blood would be safe. She was going to watch over it because it was worth more than US funds of millions-it was priceless.
The vial was something Agent Carter had to remind her heart that her love to Steve with was worth everything to her. And she would risk everything to protect his legacy from falling into the wrong hands-HYDRA, KBG and even the blood thirsty wolves sitting behind desks of the SRR.
Looking down at the vial, Peggy trusted herself with the promise, Steve trusted her -she would not fail him.
Blood sometimes comes from the deepest wounds, but it also repairs holes in a broken heart.
In a moment of feeling her heart beating steady in her chest, Peggy took a chance and stared down the hallway expecting Angie walking up with a bottle of peach schnapps, but instead she caught a glimpse-a illusion of him...Steve, her Steve, he stood confident and tall and was dressed in his royal blue- spangled uniform, mounted near the stairway.
The graphite helmet was clutched in his gloved hand and cropped blonde hair messy from battle. He smiled down at her with his blue eyes calm and trusting and he nodded wordlessly; before turning away back into the light and left her feeling her soul ignite with purpose again.
"Don't worry, Captain, you'll always be in safe hands." She held the vial close to her chest, and whispered out her unbreakable vow. "Always...My darling."