Title: Virtues and Impulses

Author: AoN (bellalinguista)

Word Count: 4,000

Summary: During the war, Peggy unexpectedly found herself falling in love with not just a good soldier, but a good man. As she finally begins to let him go, Peggy finds herself falling again with one Angie Martinelli.

Notes: The main plot is set after the events of Agent Carter whilst the flashbacks occur during Captain America: the First Avenger.

Chapter Two: Caritas and Avaritia

Even with her fierce protector who had swore to keep the monsters from the nightmares at bay, Peggy did not manage to fall back asleep that night, or whatever had been left of it.

She was a light sleeper, but she would have stayed awake for the remainder of the night regardless of Angie's presence and her rather remarkable blanket stealing abilities.

If there was something certain that Peggy had learned about Angie in the last few hours, it was this: Angie had a tight grip of steel.

About an hour ago, she had stopped trying to recover them all together. They were now Angie's, tangled around her small frame from her own tossing and turning, clasped in a grasp that could not be broken, and Peggy simply accepted that fate.

She had to.

It was not that chilly anyway, Peggy reasoned with herself. She had experienced colder. Much colder, at that.

Such the winter she spent living in the sewers of the city, for example.

Or even the time where she found herself in the Soviet Union.

As she was well aware, this, in retrospect, was nothing in comparison.

She could handle being blanket-less, she concluded with a disgruntled huff.

She just did not want to.

Peggy laid awake in bed, not daring to move in case Angie was also a light sleeper herself. There was no point in both of them being even more tired whenever they would finally decide to get out of bed. Not having much to do in her current predicament, Peggy stared up at the high ceiling and did her absolute best not to blink.

Whenever she blinked, she was taken back there.

To that dreaded hilltop that overlooked the countryside that now concealed battlefields.

Each blink brought her back to that cemetery.

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate.

Abandon all hope, you who enter.

There had been no hope that day; their enemy saw to it that any sign of such a thing had been immediately relinquished without a trace.

War was hell, to which Peggy would agree, having fought through it, and that statement rang even truer that day as she, the Howling Commandos, and Steve combed their way through a small village that now no longer existed.

They each lost a part of themselves that awful day, even if they would not readily admit it. Nothing could have prepared them for what they saw, for what would haunt them for the rest of their days, probably.

Peggy did not doubt it.

Angie shifted, only slightly at first, but then rolled over altogether, inching herself closer to Peggy. The movement did not end there. Angie then slung her arm around Peggy's waist. Peggy held her breath for a short moment as Angie pulled herself even closer, cuddling against Peggy's side as she remained asleep.

Involuntarily, Peggy's lips thinned into a smile as gazed down at Angie, who did not show any signs of waking any time soon. This was leading Peggy to believe that Angie was not a light sleeper at all. How she greedily wished she could sleep like a lump on a log like the younger woman who was still oblivious to the rest of the world as she slumbered peacefully.

Angie's embrace grew tighter around Peggy as she made herself more comfortable. She rested her head on top of Peggy's shoulder, now foregoing her pillow altogether, and mumbled something under her breathe; Peggy was not able to make it out. It sounded like complete gibberish.

Perhaps it was not as peaceful as Peggy imagined.

...not those monsters, anyway…

They each had their own set of demons to face.

Peggy would not wish hers onto someone else - certainly not on Angie - and, with the increasingly amount of time Peggy spent with her, she would assume Angie would not wish her own on others either.

There was definitely a lot more to Angie and Peggy had only been granted a small peek, hasn't she?

She was only aware of a few sides to Angie: there was the bouncy, eccentric automat waitress who had been blind sighted when her cousin was struck by a bus after knocking off a newstand. There was also the stubbornly headstrong actress who could summon a getaway car to sneak people out of the city, if need be. More recently, Peggy had become aware of the little girl who needed her older brother to square the monsters in the closet and under the bed away, but needed her own strength to combat the others - the other monsters. Finally, Peggy also knew of the concerned roommate who could stand at gunpoint without even the smallest of flinches.

Papà's always spitting out quotes from it - actually, he only quotes this one part: 'Abandon every hope, you who enter.'

Peggy Carter had her own secrets, ones that she had bent over backwards to keep and conceal until this evening.

And so did Angie Martinelli, but the thing was… Angie was still bending.

Angie offered to be her protector, a role Peggy had taken on herself when they first met that faithful day Peggy decided to frequent one of the city's many automats. Their definitions varied a bit (drastically, more like it): Peggy's own involved pushing those she cared for away whereas Angie's…

Angie's meant embrace. She embraced those she cared for.

Very literally, at that.

Perhaps Peggy should take a leaf out of Angie's book because, well, Peggy could get used to this: being close to another person - or, at least, allowing herself to be close to another person. She hadn't allowed herself to do such a thing in a long time.

It was nice.

She had forgotten.

Unable to keep them open any longer, her eyelids were starting to droop with heaviness, just as the morning sun began to peek through the curtains of the room's window. Oh, this definitely would not do. She would have to pick a room on the other side of the mansion otherwise… she would be up with the sun in the rare mornings she allowed herself to sleep in.

But for now, as she finally allowed herself to rest in this sweet, warm embrace, it was no bother - something that could easily be overlooked.

Angie shifted again, this time only to snuggle even closer against Peggy's shoulder. Peggy rested her cheek against the top of Angie's head. Peggy placed her arm on top of Angie's that held her. Angie hummed softly in her sleep at Peggy's touch, but other than that, she did not stir.

Peggy smiled, eyes coming to a close as she finally welcomed sleep.

This was something she could get used to, Peggy told herself once again. In fact, it was, indeed, something that she wanted - to be surrounded by this strong sense of such unlimited loving kindness towards all others, by such benevolence and generosity in times when Peggy believed she deserved none.

She wanted more of these little moments where nothing else mattered and everything was tranquil, where they were the only two people in the entire world.

xxxx

Colonel Phillips had dropped the folder onto her desk with a rather loud and impressive 'thump.' If that had not given away the fact that he had been a bit aggravated, his stern expression and clenched jaw had.

Peggy's only response had been a raised eyebrow.

The Howling Commandos had returned from their latest mission. It had not been a raging success, but it had been a success nonetheless. They had stopped enemy advancement, just as they had been assigned. It could have, however, gone more smoothly.

They had barely made it back to headquarters before having decided to have a couple of rounds at the nearest pub, to where they had all taken off, all but Rogers.

No, instead, Peggy, as Colonel Phillips had instructed, would find Captain Rogers in the infirmary where his injury would be better attended to - one of the Commandos had patched him up in the field.

Peggy was to see to it that the incident report was filled and done properly. The Colonel had left, to return to his own work, whilst mumbling something about the recklessness of America's golden boy under his breathe.

After making her way down to the infirmary, one of the nurses had lead her to the room where another was taking care of Captain Rogers. Peggy had then been asked to wait outside, in the hallway. It had seemed that Captain Rogers had been an ideal patient, up until the point Peggy had made her entrance. All of a suddenly, the Captain had begun to fidget and had found it difficult to sit still.

She had been told it wouldn't not be much longer and it hadn't been. Soon enough, Peggy had been allowed back into the room.

"It was nothing," Steve said, wincing as he tried to slip his injured left arm through the sleeve of his shirt.

"You'll rip your stitches - again," Peggy warned sternly.

Setting the folder down on the chair near the doorway, Peggy walked up to the edge of the bed, where Steve was sitting, to help him back into his button up shirt. When she took a step back, he was noticeably blushing.

It was endearing, really.

"A gunshot to the shoulder is not nothing," Peggy chastised.

"Yeah? How'd you know?" Steve challenged, feeling a bit braver than he should have. This, too, was also endearing, albeit a bit of annoying.

Without skipping a beat, Peggy replied, "I've had two of my own - right shoulder, within an inch of each other." She turned around to backtrack her steps and fetch the folder.

She could hear the franticness in his voice as his swifted apologized, repeatedly. Peggy waved it off, no offense taken.

Steve followed his apology with a question, "How were you shot twice though?"

"Have you already forgotten that I've been fighting this war longer than you?" Peggy asked in return.

"I'm sorry," Steve apologized again.

Peggy shook her head and fought back a laugh. How many more times would he say he's sorry? He had done no wrong - just tried to play off the seriousness of his injury, something she had seen a few times throughout the years. Steve was even probably right - perhaps, due to the serum, this injury was nothing. He would certainly heal a lot faster than she did.

She sat down in the chair and opened the folder, bringing pen to paper.

"I can do my own paperwork," Steve quickly said, standing up.

"I believe Colonel Phillips would have given it to you then, if that were the case," Peggy pointed out, glancing up at him.

He was smirking.

He was still that small, little man who had thrown himself on what he thought was a live grenade.

Of course he was.

"I think we both know that I'm probably not in his good graces at the moment," he remarked.

"I'd have to agree with you. Do you mind telling me what happened? It seemed things were going quite well, until you -"

"Until I did the right thing," Steve interrupted, sitting back down on the edge of the bed.

"And what was that?" Peggy inquired, not looking up from the papers in the folder.

For a moment, Steve didn't say a word. He didn't begin to speak again until Peggy met his eye.

"Just when we thought it was all over and we were heading to the rendezvous point, we were ambushed by the enemy - a small group that had evaded us earlier, I guess," he said. "Their first shot hit one of our men. He'd fallen and… and I wasn't going to leave him behind. It was the right thing to do."

"What did you do?" Peggy asked.

"I shielded him while the Commandos did what they do best," Steve answered, shrugging his good shoulder lightly. "The gunshots sounded like they were coming from everywhere. I did my best, but I got nicked - it's nothing compared to his injury. The nurse said they doctors are working on him, that they're doing their best. They are, aren't they?"

Peggy nodded, "Of course, they are."

Steve mimicked Peggy's nodding. "Good, because I'm a man of my word, but… I'd be glad if this is a promise I don't have to keep."

"You do make a lot of promises," Peggy teased lightly. "What was it this time?"

"That I'd take a message back home to his family, personally," Steve replied, looking down at his hands on his lap for a second. "I told him I'd rather if he'd do it himself, but I'd do it if I had to. We'd got to talking on the plane ride over. He has a family waiting for him back in New York - a little brother and sister that he still needs to take to the zoo, a father who's incredibly proud, and a mother sick with worry. I wasn't going to abandon him out there, Peggy."

"I know, Steve, and he'll be alright," Peggy reassured. "We have the best medics here. Without a doubt, he'll be able to take his siblings to the zoo."

Steve nodded along as he stood up once more. Peggy stood as well, just as Steve crossed the room, ready to leave at least this portion of the infirmary. He held his hand out towards her, gesturing towards the folder.

"I'm gonna be waiting around anyway, for the doctors to finish up," Steve pointed out.

She handed it to him before they both took a step into the hallway.

"But, uh, do you mind delivering it to the Colonel for me?"

Peggy could not help but smirked.

xxxx

It did not take long for Peggy and Angie to repurpose the second living room. Angie had asked why they – or anyone – needed a second one anyway. Peggy could clearly hear Howard's cheeky answer in her head. It was an answer that she had kept it to herself.

It was also the same answer that had reappeared when Angie questioned the necessity of so many rooms for just one man and his wife. Once more, Peggy had kept said answer to herself, but Angie couldn't have been so oblivious to Howard's reputation. It was a reputation that was often featured in the papers.

After they had settled into their bedrooms, they had decided to lock up the others – sans one which would serve as a guest room, should the need for one ever arise.

In the couple of weeks that passed, they had kept to themselves in their newly claimed rooms. Peggy had not dared to be so forward, even though she had quite enjoyed their sweet first morning together in their new home.

The curtains were still drawn, but Peggy could feel the warmth of the late morning sun seeping through as she slowly woke from the most welcoming uneventful slumber.

Peggy curled up into herself, not yet wanting to wake – why should she? It was not as though she had somewhere to be today.

As she shifted, Peggy felt the blanket that now covered her; in its return, it had been pulled up to her shoulders.

Her eyes fluttering open, Peggy realized that she wasn't as cold anymore - that the blanket thief had returned what was rightfully hers. Or rather, the thief had returned what should have been rightfully shared by those occupying the bed.

"Morning," Angie's voice said softly, cautious as to not disrupt. "Take it you slept a bit better?"

Involuntarily smiling, Peggy rolled over to face Angie. "And how, exactly, did you know I wasn't still sleeping?" she murmured, still struggling to wake.

"Lucky guess," Angie shrugged. "The last time I said good morning, you replied with a snore-"

"I do not snore!" Peggy protested with a huff, now wide awake.

Angie grinned widely, "Whatever you say, but just so you know, this secret is also safe with me"

"There is no secret."

"Again, whatever you say," Angie repeated, suppressing a giggle.

Then, there was silence. They laid in bed, quiet, enjoying what Peggy guessed was the late morning.

"Have you been up long?" Peggy asked, curious. "I'm surprised you aren't wandering the rest of the mansion."

Angie shrugged her shoulders, "Plenty of time to wander and figure this place out - we'll be living here afterall, right? Besides, I promised I was gonna protect you, so here I am. You ain't getting rid of me."

"Nor do I ever plan to," Peggy remarked. "You've really sweet, Angie."

It was quiet again. It was a peaceful silence, a more enjoyable silence than that shared in the middle of the night, in the few short moments that occurred after Angie had freed Peggy from the realm of her nightmares.

"Have you ever been to the zoo, English? The one in Central Park?" Angie spoke up. The question came out of the blue.

"I have yet to set foot in Central Park," Peggy confessed.

Her confession was met with a surprised gasp, as though she had caused a great offense.

"How long have you been in the city?" Angie questioned. "The park is one of the first places tourist flock to. There and the Statue of Liberty."

Peggy huffed, "I'd like to think myself as an inhabitant of this city instead of a tourist, thank you."

"But you haven't been-"

"Have you?" Peggy shot back teasingly, bracing herself for an exasperated 'English, are you kidding me' or whatever colorful expression she was about to throw her way.

"Nope."

Furrowing her eyebrows and frowning, Peggy propped herself up on her elbow to look down at Angie. "Dear, weren't you born here? I've at least hopped across the pond only a couple years ago."

"It's been on my to do list," Angie admitted, shrugging her shoulders. "Growing up, my brothers always told me the same story over and over again, about the Central Park zoo escape - ever heard of it?"

When Peggy shook her head in response, Angie also propped herself up so that they were eye level. "So you haven't heard about the rhinoceros that freed itself and gorged its keeper to death?"

"What?" Peggy wrinkled her nose. "How does a rhinoceros-"

"It then helped the other animals to escape," Angie went on. "A panther, a lion, a few hyenas, a polar bear, and a Bengal tiger - all set loose in the city. People were horrified."

Peggy tilted her head to the side and looked up towards the ceiling, going over what little details Angie just shared. Finding it difficult to piece together a viable story, she reminded herself that this was, indeed, something brothers probably told their sister in order to have a bit of fun.

"I'm still trying to figure out how a rhinoceros could unlock multiple locks," Peggy admitted.

"With it's horn," Angie deadpanned. After a moment, she grinned. "I believed it for years, y'know? The infamous hoax of 1874. Can you imagine a bengal tiger strolling along Fifth Avenue? I could. My brothers - they were pretty convincing."

"Are they still?"

"Not like they used to be, but little Angie Martinelli grew up, got wiser," she reassured. "My oldest brother promised he'd take me there to see the sea lions, but… it's just not something we've gotten around to, what with the world nearly ending and all."

"Well, there's time now, isn't there?"

Angie's smile grew faint. Something flashed in her eyes - reminiscence, perhaps? To a time before the entire world changed? Before Peggy could decide, Angie had lied back down, resting her head against the pillow.

Then, Angie suggested, "Maybe we should go, English. Together."

"That'd be lovely," Peggy replied earnestly.

The furniture that once neatly decorated the second living room was pushed up against the walls, an effort made by both Angie and Peggy. They had even removed some of the hanging pieces of artwork.

They had haphazardly turned this second living room into a makeshift dance studio, a space for Angie to practice and recite for various auditions, and home office, where Peggy kept the SSR files she had snuck out. The space was divided by the couch they had left in the middle of the room, to be used by whomever saw fit in the moment.

Currently, it was Peggy who had flopped herself onto it, hanging herself over the edge of the armrest. If she cranked her head slightly to the left, she could still see the wall she had spent all morning decorating.

If you could call it decorating.

Most wouldn't.

Mr. Jarvis would be appalled.

Perhaps they should invite him and his wife over to dinner and to see what she and Angie have managed to do with the place.

Peggy replaced the artwork with maps. She also had tacked various pictures and notes onto the wall, from the SSR files that were now skewed all over the desk behind the couch. Now that was something she didn't want to look at - she'd handle that mess later.

During her last trip to the SSR office, to pick up her final paycheck, Peggy had grabbed everything she could that regarded, or even mentioned, Leviathan or what she had seen in Russia with the Howling Commandos.

She was combing for anything that would give her a clue, or even the smallest inkling, about Dottie.

But she was getting nowhere.

"Hey, Pegs!" Angie's voice called out from hallway. "I got an audition for this small radio gig- oh, wow."

Grabbing the back of the couch, Peggy pulled herself up with a small grunt. She spotted Angie standing in the doorway. She followed Angie's gaze over her own shoulder and to the wall. Peggy turned back to Angie who had taken a few steps into the second living room.

"Looks like you got some work done in here," Angie commented, hesitating to move any further to get a better look - classified information and all that, even if it did involve a shared roommate who turned out to be a trained Russian assassin. "How's it going?"

"I'm getting nowhere," Peggy replied, honestly. "I really don't want to be admit it, but, frankly, it's rather obvious - I don't have the resources here to further my investigation."

"What 'bout Mr. Fancy?" Angie suggested.

Peggy shook her head, "I don't want to drag Mr. Jarvis back into all this."

"And Mr. Stark?"

"After all the ruckus he's caused, I think Howard should continue to lay low for the time being," Peggy pointed out.

Angie took a seat on the opposite end of the couch, of which Peggy had thrown herself over the back so she could continue to stare at the different postings on the wall. She hoped that the different perspectives would cause her to spot a piece of information that she had overlooked.

Still nothing.

"You said you needed resources, right?" Angie spoke up, stealing Peggy's attention away. "And, uh, from what you told me a couple weeks ago, don't you still have an empty desk waiting for you at the phone company?"

"You mean go back to the SSR?" Peggy clarified.

Angie nodded.

Now frowning, Peggy turned her attention back to the wall, nearly willing for something to stand out now.

"Cuz if you continue like this, English, I think you're gonna drive yourself nuts," Angie said, concerned.

Angie had a point.

And, maybe, she was even right.

To Be Continued.