Earth-717: Agent Carter 2 – Warm Blood, Cold War

Chapter 2: Project Rebirth

Peggy stepped down the stairs and into the main operations centre for SHIELD. Since the capture of Baron von Strucker back in 1949, the organization had expanded both in roster and in importance, now employing a dozen full-time agents and several support staff. Peggy received multiple respectful nods as she marched towards one of the desks closest to the Director's office.

The desk had a nameplate on it that read "Daniel Sousa – Agent Three". After Howard Stark left the organization as an official agent and instead took the role of a civilian asset, Sousa had accepted a leadership position. At the moment, he was standing with the help of his crutch that he had at all times to assist with his left leg.

Sousa was currently on his telephone. He was speaking Japanese, a language that he had managed to gain a fairly decent knowledge of during his time as a prisoner of war. While several years ago he was being held captive in an enemy camp, he was now one of the most important spearheads of an initiative to create a joint operation between SHIELD and the Japanese government.

Peggy stood in front of Sousa's desk, taking note of how impassioned he sounded as he spoke a language she didn't understand. After finishing a sentence, he then looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Another minute later, his conversation ended, and he lowered the phone.

"Agent Carter."

"Agent Sousa. Putting your best foot forward on the joint operation?"

Sousa frowned and looked down at his leg for a moment. Peggy gulped.

"Oh dear. I'm, uh, I'm so, so, sorry, I didn't even . . . ."

"Don't worry about it," said Sousa. "Not that big of a deal, really. Figures of speech are what they are."

"Yes. Figures of speech. Right."

"To answer your question, yes. Talks seem to be going fairly well, all things considered. The Japanese government has every reason to hate us, but they seem to see the value in our proposal. Well, the people I'm talking to, at least."

"You'll get it done. You always do."

"Appreciate it. Speaking of which . . . ."

Sousa sat down on his desk. He picked up one of the papers on it with his free hand and looked down at it.

"Your hunch paid off. Now that we got access to Manfredi's books and private files, we can confirm he's had dealings with known Hydra operatives."

Sousa sighed as he threw the paper back down on the table.

"It never ends, does it?"

"Sadly not," said Peggy. "Always another villain to catch, another scheme to stop. But that's what we do. Hydra's been on the run ever since we exposed them. Figure it's past time for them to get confident again."

"Cut off one head, and two more take its place," said Sousa. "Somebody really needs to let those assholes know the war's over."

Sousa frowned as he looked down at his leg.

"So many men went through all the trouble of fighting that war. Good men. Maybe we did win, in a way, but many of these men lost. And even more came home . . . . and found that they didn't have a home anymore. That the home they had is one they don't even recognize. And yet, what could Hydra care? They're still doing the same shit, their very existence being a callous reminder that we still haven't won yet."

"Daniel, I know that . . . ."

"Carter!"

Peggy and Sousa both looked at the head office, where Director Chester Phillips was standing in the doorway.

"My office. Briefing. Now."

"Briefing? I only just got back."

"And you've already got another assignment."

Peggy and Sousa glanced at each other, and he offered her a playful shrug.

"The world calls, Carter."

She smirked at him before walking into Phillips' office. Sousa watched her as she closed the door behind her. Phillips walked over to his desk and picked up the receiver for his phone. He then handed it out to Peggy without another word. She took the receiver and placed it against her ear.

"This is Peggy Carter."

"Agent Carter," said the voice of a man. "My name is Colonel Walker Price. I've been told to contact you."

"By whom, might I ask?"

"Howard Stark."

Phillips folded his arms and leaned against his desk as he waited. Peggy looked at him for a moment before resuming her conversation.

"What does he need?" asked Peggy.

"He needs you, or so he says. Agent Carter, I need you to know that Mister Stark and I are collaborating on a top secret project. I also need you to know that it's top secret for a reason. We can't discuss this further over the phone. Stark wants you to see what we're working on. He specifically asked for you."

"I haven't heard from Howard in months. Where am I supposed to go, exactly?"

"Director Phillips will provide you with transportation. For your safety, and for our security, it will be better if you don't know exactly where you're going."

"If you're going to be frugal with me, Colonel, then I too have a condition. I'm bringing my partner. Angela Martinelli."

"I'm not sure if that's the best idea, ma'am. I was told only to ask for you."

"Angie and I are a package deal. Howard knows that. I'll see you soon, Colonel."

Peggy lowered the receiver and placed it back on the hook.

"We've spent too long in the shadows. It's time for us to take a new direction."

"By new, my good Madame, I believe that you mean yours? We still have not come to any sort of agreement regarding our new management."

"If I may, I would say that I see no need for new management. I believe a more cooperative approach would suffice."

"We still must . . . ."

The discussion came to an end as Andrea walked into the room. She looked at the circular, wooden conference table, which had the Hydra logo emblazoned upon it. Around the table sat the members of the Hydra High Council. Ophelia Sarkissian, Daniel Whitehall, Lord Shingen, Dottie Underwood and Arnim Zola's robotic body were all present.

Each of the members sitting at the table looked at Andrea as she took her seat.

"I see you saw fit to start without me," said Andrea, scowling. "Please, don't allow me to interrupt your important proceedings."

"Miss von Strucker," said Ophelia.

Shingen gave a short bow of his head. Whitehall looked away from her. Dottie tried to give her a reassuring smile.

"We were merely reopening the dialogue regarding our leadership," said Zola.

"A dialogue that you don't want me to be a part of, is that right?" asked Andrea. "Afraid that I might demand my father's position?"

"I don't think anyone at this table is afraid of you," said Whitehall, turning to her.

Andrea furrowed her brow as she matched Whitehall's gaze. Dottie clenched one of her fists.

"Is that a threat, Doctor?"

"Enough!" said Shingen. "Such bickering gains us nothing. At least be honest with the girl."

"No need, my Lord," said Andrea. "I know damn well what the majority of this Council thinks. You think I'm a spoiled child who doesn't deserve her seat here. That I was handed this spot because of my name rather than earning it."

"Well, it is true," said Ophelia. "Your father failed us when he stepped in for the Skull. The Zemos are still too young to inherit their father's seat. I was the Skull's right hand during the war. But then comes you, a woman with almost no experience with these types of affairs, and you stroll in here as if we should just hand you the throne of our enterprise."

"We've been with Hydra since its birth, fraulein," said Zola. "You are still young, and you have not yet emerged from your father's shadow."

Dottie folded her hands together on top of the table.

"To be perfectly fair, she hasn't really had the chance to prove herself yet."

Ophelia chuckled.

"And the other runt of the litter runs to her rescue."

Dottie clenched her jaw.

"Your individual egos will be your undoing," said Lord Shingen. "Everyone at this table craves further power. That is not in dispute. But slitting each other's throats at every turn will not get us any closer to our goals. We need each other to succeed, whether we want to admit it or not."

"That doesn't change that our Little Miss Andrea here is far more privileged than she deserves," said Ophelia.

"You want me to earn my place?" asked Andrea. "Fine. We'll see how just how smug you all are once the Winter Soldier finishes his mission."

"Winter Soldier?" asked Zola.

"Oh, you didn't know?" asked Andrea. "I gave a name to our special project. Mister Barnes? Figured it was appropriate under the circumstances."

"You activated Barnes on your own?!"

"And what mission did you send him on?" asked Whitehall.

"A mission to steal the most dangerous weapon on the planet."

"You never take me anywhere nice."

"Shut up, Angie."

Angie held out her hands in surprise, but Peggy ignored her. The helicopter they were in landed on the roof of a military facility. Through the side window, Peggy could see Howard standing at the edge of the helipad with several other people, including a handful of soldiers on security detail. One of the soldiers approached the helicopter and opened the side door.

Peggy stepped out first, followed by Angie. A woman with glasses, a lab coat and blonde hair was at Howard's left, and a man with a military uniform and grey hair was on his right. The two agents walked towards Howard, who clapped his hands together.

"Ladies."

"Howard," said Peggy.

Howard gestured towards his companions.

"This is Doctor Felicia Campbell, one of my top scientists. And this is Colonel Walker Price. You spoke on the phone."

"Agent," said Price.

"Colonel. How nice of you to call."

Howard cleared his throat and put his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry I've been off the grid lately, Peg. We couldn't risk anyone outside of our circle finding out what we're doing here."

"And what is it that you're doing here?"

"Come with me."

The entire group made their way into the building. Once inside, the quickly found themselves moving through an elaborate science facility, with numerous people working in various laboratories. While Peggy and Angie looked around with curiosity, Howard and his associates paid no attention to the people they were passing.

Howard led them to a special elevator that required his own personal key to access. After the elevator ride, the group arrived on a special floor of the facility, which had far fewer people on it. Once they were in the main lab area, Howard finally turned around and faced the rest of the group. Angie quickly glanced out one of the nearby windows.

"Couldn't talk until we got down here," said Howard. "Nobody who isn't on this floor, aside from a couple of the most important people in the White House, knows what we're doing. Even Phillips hasn't been briefed."

"Awh," said Angie. "Now I feel special."

"Why me?" asked Peggy.

Howard looked straight into her eyes.

"Because I needed someone I knew I could trust."

Felicia walked up to Howard's side.

"We understand that this may be a . . . . sensitive subject for you, Agent Carter," said Felicia. "We wanted to ensure that we didn't contact you until we verified the project's viability."

"You still haven't told me what the project is."

"We've been working on a weapon. One that could change everything for us."

"Change everything in a way the atom bomb didn't?"

Howard turned around and looked at the wall behind him. Built into the wall was a metallic safe. Howard inserted his key into a slot in the safe's handle. He opened the safe, revealing that the inside was refrigerated, and that placed inside was a small storage rack that held two vials filled with a red fluid.

Peggy narrowed her eyes as Howard grabbed one of the vials and held it out to her. She took it from his hand and looked down at it. She then slowly looked back up at Howard with a contemptuous scowl on her face. She asked her question, despite already being certain of the answer.

"What is this?"

"One of the last remaining samples of Steve's blood."

Peggy and Howard stared at each other. Angie nervously rubbed her hands against each other, not sure of what to say. Felicia awkwardly shifted her gaze around the room. Price stepped away from the group and stood near the soldiers guarding the door. Peggy glanced down at the vial again, before looking at Howard with a piercing glare.

"Where did you get it?"

"Top brass had some samples stored away at a secret science lab during the war, but they never made it stateside. They were presumed lost, but someone managed to find the last remaining ones buried under some rubble. We flew them out here, and, luck would have it, they survived. They were the basis for all this. Project Rebirth."

"You . . . . you dare . . . ."

Howard gulped as Peggy marched up to him.

"You hide this from me, and dare to use his blood for your own gain?"

With her free hand, Peggy delivered a powerful slap to Howard's left cheek. The soldiers in the room looked at them and gestured for their weapons, but Howard held up a hand.

"I didn't want to hide it from you," he said. "Eisenhower wouldn't let me bring anyone in. And he also wouldn't just let me bury it."

"You could have walked away."

"And what? Let someone else do this? Peg, I know how this must make you feel, but this wasn't going to go away! Everyone knows how much of a difference he made. As soon as we found this, someone was gonna try and extract the serum. Might as well be me."

"He's not your fucking lab experiment!" she shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

"He was Erskine's lab experiment. Are you mad at him?!"

While watching the altercation, Price checked his watch. Peggy took a step back and clenched her teeth. She started to look side to side. Angie reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," said Angie.

Peggy closed her eyes for a moment. Howard sighed.

"If it's worth anything, I'm sorry. But it had to be done."

Peggy shook her head as she looked down at the vial. Felicia then turned her head towards the window, and saw a large military helicopter move into position next to the building. She blinked as the side of the helicopter opened up to reveal three soldiers wielding rocket launchers. The soldier in the middle had a metallic left arm.

"LOOK OUT!"

Everyone turned to look at the window just as the soldiers fired their rockets, shattering the window and causing a massive explosion that engulfed two of the soldiers. The force of the explosion sent the vial flying out of Peggy's hands, and it smashed against the floor. Although Price was seemingly knocked unconscious by the blast, the soldiers inside the room started trading fire with the soldiers on the helicopter, and within seconds, the entire room was in chaos.

Peggy and Angie both pulled out their pistols before shoving Howard and Felicia behind some nearby desks. After telling Howard and Felicia to stay down, Angie fired three shots at one of the enemy soldiers, causing him to fall out of the helicopter. However, the Winter Soldier and several of his allies managed to leap into the room and started taking it with overwhelming force.

The Winter Soldier, who had now traded in his rocket launcher for a shotgun, gunned down one of the guards before aiming at Angie. She hurriedly took cover behind a pillar as he fired, blowing apart a sizable chunk of drywall.

"Shit!"

Peggy emerged from behind one of the desks, opening fire with her pistol. She shot one of the enemy soldiers through the chest before turning her aim on the Winter Soldier. He held up his metallic hand to deflect her shots.

"Move!" shouted Peggy.

Angie slid out from behind her cover and ran for another desk, blindly firing her own pistol as she ran. Peggy vaulted over the desk as the Winter Soldier changed cover locations. Peggy ran up to another enemy soldier, body slamming against him to throw him off balance. Grabbing him by the neck, she then stuffed the end of her pistol into his mouth and pulled the trigger.

As the soldier's head splattered all over the nearby pillar, Angie found herself struggling with another enemy only a few metres away. Having run out of bullets in her clip when she was ambushed, she had been forced to fight one of her foes with her bare hands. She performed a quick low jab before following up with a higher, more powerful punch with her opposite hand, using the same combo attack that Peggy had taught her in training.

Tossing the corpse of her deceased foe away, Peggy then ran to another pillar. More fighting was going on around her, but she knew that the priority target was the man with the metallic arm. She peered around the corner to try and see where he was, only to see his silver fist swinging around the pillar towards her.

Peggy gasped as she ducked below the strike just in time. Stepping back as the Winter Soldier walked around the corner, she then aimed her gun. He bashed it away with the side of his hand, and continued to march towards her. Holding up both fists, Peggy then tossed a forward punch before sidestepping a strike from his metallic fist.

Knowing that one mistake might kill her, she stayed more defensive than she normally would be in a fistfight. The Winter Soldier pulled out a knife with his organic hand and slashed horizontally, missing Peggy again. She then countered with a jumping knee strike, knocking him back. She followed up with a solid left hook to the side of his head.

The attack knocked off his goggles, revealing his eyes. A stripe of black paint had been placed over them.

"Hmm."

He threw his metallic arm forward again, but Peggy was ready to dodge. She then grabbed him by his head and bashed it against a pillar, dazing him. She then threw an uppercut with her right fist, striking his chin. Seemingly having him on the ropes, she decided to press the attack and go for a haymaker punch.

This was her one mistake.

The Winter Soldier, having recovered faster than Peggy had anticipated, avoided the haymaker before following up with a quick jab from his metallic arm. It hit Peggy square in the chest, and she heard a loud crack as his fist smashed against her ribcage. She screamed out in pain as she fell backwards, her back crashing against the floor.

Having beaten the enemy soldier into submission, Angie turned her head and watched Peggy collapse. She then saw the Winter Soldier walking over to the wall safe and pulling out the last vial of Steve's blood. Shouting in anger, Angie ran for him without thinking. He quickly glanced at her and reached out with his metallic arm, seizing her around the throat.

Angie gasped for air as the Winter Soldier squeezed. He then threw her back, launching her into the air. She slammed against the nearby wall before falling to the floor in a heap. The Winter Soldier and the remaining enemy soldiers returned to the helicopter, having killed all of the guards. Peggy reached out with her hand as she watched them escape.

"Steve . . . ."

Peggy coughed out blood as she slipped into unconsciousness.