Chapter Three: Too Many Business Meetings, Not Enough Personal Meetings

Steve squeezed his fist tightly, focusing on the sharp pinch of pain as his short fingernails bit into the palm of his hand. He'd been sitting in a meeting for two hours. Two whole hours. And it looked like it could go on for another four, assuming Tony didn't shut his mouth. Nat was curled up into a chair on his right, taking notes in a small book with a Captain America pencil. How she had managed to bend her body to sit the way she was perched, Steve had no idea. Beside the redhead was Clint, playing with his own lime green Hulk pen. He was doodling something- from what Steve could see, it looked like a cartoon of the Hulk giving Tony a swirly. Two nondescript and fairly generic SHIELD agents were sitting on Steve's other right. They almost looked identical to him, and there was no way he could tell you either one's name. Maria Hill sat at the head of the table beside Tony, who was pulling imaged up on some kind of holographic screen projection doohickey. Beside the glass table that they were sitting at, a smaller, sloppily prepared fold-up card table had been jammed into the room. Wanda Maximoff, James Rhodes, Sam Wilson, and Vision were sitting there, looking rather uncomfortable.

When the meeting first started, Sam had raised his hand. "Point of inquiry." He scowled, interrupting Tony. "Why are we stuck at this damn baby table?"

"It's the kid's table, Hedwig. Don't get your feathers in a twist. When you're all grown up and a real Avenger, then you can sit with the adults."

Wanda arched a thin eyebrow at the billionaire as Sam scowled harder, producing a Crayola box that had been left on the table. "Is that why you laid out crayons for us as well?"

"What's wrong, big bird? Can't find the yellow one to use for your self portrait?" Tony smirked.

"All right! That's enough!" Maria stood up and glared at Tony. "We're not here to trade insults back and forth."

"What ARE we here for?" Asked Nat, glancing at Steve. His pulse had been racing. Finally, they were getting some news on what they had found in the cryogenics chamber during their search for Bucky. It couldn't possibly be anything else. He had been aching for an update ever since they'd been forced to turn their discovery over to SHIELD.

"We're here to discuss protocol changes regarding how to request information from and to contact SHIELD." Maria looked as if the words pained her to say, and everyone stared at her with blank expressions. Steve's mood flattened instantly. No news. He wasn't even getting yelled at.

As if that start hadn't been bad enough, everything still found a way to go downhill from there. The meeting was a mind numbing two hours of Maria failing to use Tony's technology effectively to make the presentation interesting, Tony arguing with her about every minute detail of hierarchy restructuring, and Sam making comments about how his crayon art was coming every five minutes. Steve was jittery, on the edge of his seat throughout the whole meeting. Hours of his life were being wasted.

Annoyed by the whole ordeal, Steve relaxed his hand, studying the small breaks in the skin where his nails had pierced him. He watched, transfixed, as the tiny wounds healed themselves, focusing on the nearly pleasant itch in order to tune out Tony's incessant talking. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand the mindless prattle.

"Captain Rogers, are you with us?" Tony asked sarcastically, in a manner that reminded Steve strongly of his fourth grade teacher.

"How much of this actually applies to me?" Steve grunted impatiently, trying to cover up the fact that he hadn't heard a single word. He leaned on the glass tabletop with his elbow as he spoke- perhaps a bit too forcefully. He internally winced as he heard it crack, pretending not to notice.

"All of it. Every word." Tony rubbed his face, looking as though he had a severe headache. "Please tell me you didn't crack the table again."

"He cracked the table." Clint chimed in, snickering.

Maria looked exasperated. Steve felt sympathy for her. He had to deal with his childish coworkers every day- he knew exactly how she was feeling.

"Steve, this is actually important." She assured him. "I mean yeah, it's just protocol bullshit, but we have to do everything by the book to cover ourselves."

Steve nodded his understanding. Usually he was the only member of the team actually paying attention, scribbling everything down so he could remember it, and going over all their protocols in his head. But right now was just not the time. He looked down at his hands again, squeezing his fingers back into a fist.

He couldn't stop replaying the events from a few days earlier over and over in his head. Nobody had been expecting what they uncovered in the glass chamber- Bucky Barnes was nowhere to be found. The person in the tube was Peggy Carter. Steve had been in a state of utter disbelief when he wiped the dust off the glass and saw her face inside. Ice had formed on her eyelashes, and her lips were blue. Combined with her paper white skin, she looked like she was from another world. When he fully processed what his eyes were seeing, his breath caught in his chest and he put a palm against the glass. She still looked as beautiful as she had when they first met. He'd never expected to see her again. She was dead. Everything he had read said that. Every mention of her name was a led him to a small, unassuming grave in a London cemetery. He'd been there. He'd seen it. He'd gone home, slightly more broken than before, and feeling more alone than ever. But now, here he was, a few inches away from someone he never thought he'd get a second chance with.

There had been a short quibble between Natasha and Tony about the best way to remove the chamber and asses it's contents. Steve stayed out of it, glued to the glass like a kid at a fish tank. He watched Peggy intently for any sign of life, waiting on her finger to twitch, or to see the faint rise and fall of her chest. Any possible evidence that she was alive inside there- praying fervently that it was real. But he had seen nothing.

Blissfully unaware of the implications of what they had found, Nat and Tony decided that their only option was to turn their discovery over to SHIELD. They had successfully resuscitated Steve after his frozen body was found, maybe they would able to do the same here. They called Nick Fury directly. Steve barely heard any of it. He was in a daze. The last time he had seen her, he had given her a rushed goodbye kiss and a promise he couldn't fill. When she woke up- if she woke up- she might not even know who he was. She might be furious with him. He hoped desperately everything would be alright.

Please be okay, he had thought, staring at her through the glass. He felt hot tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. He felt like he'd been trapped in this modern hell for a long, lonely eternity. But here was hope- asleep in a glass box, coated in a thin layer of frost. As he stood there, someone had snuck up behind him and clapped a hand on his shoulder. Without thinking, Steve swung. The unwary SHIELD agent who had startled him ducked, but didn't avoid the entire hit. Steve's fist grazed the man's cheek, and there was an audible crack as his fist connected with the man's flesh. Stunned, the agent blinked at him with eyes as round as an owl's.

"Sir, we need you to step back behind the perimeter. We'll handle this from here."

The man's face was beginning to swell where Steve had hit him, but he bravely insisted that the Avengers had to watch from a safe distance away. Steve tried to protest, but Tony grabbed his arm.

"Let's just give them space." He reasoned, and although Steve easily could have ripped away from his grip, he let his smaller friend pull him away.

The swarm of agents that had materialized, seemingly out of nowhere, began inspecting the glass case, looking for a release mechanism. A thin woman with black hair found the switch. As the lever was pulled, sparks flew and Peggy's body gave a brief jerk. The tank lit up briefly, and the chamber opened with a hiss. Two inept agents clumsily pulled Peggy's stiff body from the chamber, detaching wires and electrodes from her chest. She was wearing a nondescript black jumpsuit with the hydra emblem on it. The sight of the logo was like a punch in the gut to Steve. He would kill whoever did this to her. If they were dead already, they could consider themselves very lucky.

One of the shield agents slipped- her fingers on the cold material and the slippery frost were a losing combination. Peggy slid to the floor before anyone could catch her. Steve couldn't help himself: he leapt forward, shoving the agent he had already punched to the side with one arm. Behind him, he could feel metal fingers grab his bicep, but he tuned it out. All he could see was Peggy. He didn't make much progress. Nat and Tony were holding him firmly in one place, with the help of the rocket boosters on Tony's suit. The same woman who found the lever was the first one to inspect Peggy, kneeling beside her and placing two gloved fingers on her neck.

"She's got a pulse but no breathing!" She called out to the other agents in attendance. Steve felt his breath catch in his chest again. She had a pulse. Tjme seemed to slow down. The agents crowded in closer to the scene, blocking Peggy from Steve's view. But none of that mattered. She was alive.

Numb, Steve allowed Tony to pull him toward the door. For the first time in seventy years, he felt small. He was a helpless boy cornered in an alley again. Her heart was beating.

He let Tony take him out of the compound, and the crisp mountain air hit him like a slap in the face. A new round of nausea was worming around his gut. Even if she lived, things had changed. There was no telling who they had pulled out of that chamber- she had Peggy Carter's face, but she was virtually a stranger.

The ride back to New York was a hazy blur of disbelief and worry. Steve replayed every memory he had of her on loop. He imagined every scenario of his first visit once she woke up. He would bring her flowers. Yes, roses. Unless that was too forward. He just wanted to be there when her eyes opened for the first time- he knew how disconcerting it was to wake up in a new era. Nat took a cozy nap beside Steve, wadding up her coat and using at as a pillow. She was close enough that he could feel the heat radiating off her body. At one time, the way they were sitting would have sent Steve into a flurry of confusing emotions. But now, the only girl on his mind was Peggy.

After they got back, Steve experienced the worst two days of his life. He barely slept or ate, hardly daring to breathe. At any moment he thought he might wake up and realize it was all a dream. Peggy Carter was alive. At least, as far as he knew. It was incredibly difficult to know that she was there, just out of arms reach. He had no idea where she was being kept, but he was desperate to receive some update on her condition.

He had exhausted every possible contact within shield- Nick Fury wouldn't talk to him, Maria Hill had been out of the country and had no idea what had even happened, Nat was being kept in the dark, and Clint barely made an effort to know where he was, let alone anyone else. He had only been able to convince Agent Coulson to let him know if he found anything out. Given that he was one of Fury's right hand men, he would likely be able to discern the facts for Steve at some point. He just had to see her again. The words "she has a pulse" echoed around his head constantly. She had to be alive, she had to be. He kept replaying what he would say when he saw her, trying to figure out how to breach decades in one sentence.

But right now, he was stuck in this eternal meeting from hell. And nobody had given him any answers yet.

"Does anyone have any questions?" Maria asked, snapping Steve back to the present.

"I think we're clear now." Tony nodded, looking at everyone else to confirm.

Sam's hand shot up. "Are the chicken tenders cheaper since I'm ordering them off the kiddie menu?"

"Okay then, I think that's everything." Maria smoothed her skirt, ignoring Sam completely. Steve stood up immediately, followed by the rest of the team. He made a beeline for the door, ready to flee back to his apartment and spend three hours watching food network.

"Not you, Captain. I need to have a word with you."

Steve felt his heart sink. Digging his nails back into his palms, he turned around to face Maria. "What's the deal?" He asked, sounding a bit more hostile than he intended. He was afraid she was going to give him more trouble for not listening to the meeting.

Maria hesitated, watching for the last Avenger to make their way out the door. "It's about Barnes." She said at last. "Your friend, James Buchanan Barnes. After he fell, he didn't die."

"I know." Steve interrupted, noting the look of surprise on Maria's face.

"Who told you-?"

"CNN."

"Of course." Maria made a face like she had bit into a very sour candy. "The press got ahold of some stories before we could shut it down. They made him out to be some regular crazy."

"He's not, is he?" Steve asked, biting his lip. "Regular, I mean. Like, he's not normal anymore?"

Maria nodded. "Metal arm, enhanced abilities- the whole deal."

"We have to help him." Steve replied, looking her in the eye.

She sighed. "I knew you would say that. He might be after you. Barton and Romanoff were assigned on your tail. The council ordered Fury not to tell you that he's been killing again. Just be careful. Im glad you got a heads up."

Steve's head was swimming. "Killing again? I feel like there's a lot going on that you're not telling me. SHIELD knew Bucky was on the loose?"

"Good luck, Captain." Maria patted him on the shoulder before turning to the door, leaving him standing there with a million thoughts bouncing around his head.

She hesitated as she reached the door, as if she had suddenly remembered an important detail. "By the way, Coulson needs to see you as well."

In spite of his newly minted headache, Steve felt his heart do a flip in his chest.

"Next time, lead with that!" He replied, taking off towards Phil's office. He almost trampled Maria in his haste to get out the door. He struggled to keep his pace relatively low key as he prowled down the hallway of the SHIELD base they were meeting in, nodding to a few agents he vaguely knew as he passed them.

When he reached Phil's office, the door was cracked open slightly. He bust through it without knocking, pretending not to notice that he had completely taken the door off its bottom hinge. He gingerly tried to set the door back in place, letting dangle behind him.

"Jesus, Steve!" Coulson exclaimed as the captain burst through his office door, but Steve paid no notice to his evident surprise.

"Maria told me you needed to talk to me. Is it about- you know!" His heart was thumping wildly in his chest as he roughly grabbed a chair sitting beside the door and drug it over to sit across from Phil. He paid no notice as he accidentally cracked the arm of the chair halfway off, plopping down in front of his friend with a look of frantic determination on his face. "I want to see her. I don't care what state she's in."

"Relax, Cap." Phil said, scratching the back of his head. "She's fine for now."

"Is she awake?" Steve asked, trying to control the panic in his voice.

"No. She's scheduled to be in a medically induced coma for up to four weeks while she heals from injuries sustained prior to being frozen." Phil laid a plain folder on his desk. Steve leaned back into the chair, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Everything was under control. "There's only one problem."

Steve clutched the armrests, anxiety gnawing at his stomach once more. "What is it?"

"She's healing at three times the expected pace." Coulson opened the folder, oblivious to Steve's tense look of confusion. "According to her folder, she was an M16 agent assigned as a liaison to the SSR- after the war, she decided to stay in America and was expected to transfer to an American agency. During this time, she was rumored to have been seen on the arm of Howard Stark- I assume you already know all this?"

Steve had, in fact, already pored over the file several times. He knew her full name, age, birthdate, employment record- he'd read every gossip rag detailing her alleged affair with Howard Stark- and he'd gone over the paper stating that she was reported missing during an endeavor to remove artifacts from a deserted Hydra base at least 1000 times.

"Some of it, yes." He lied, shifting in his seat impatiently. "But what does any of this have to do with- whatever happened to her?"

Phil's expression changed, and he leaned in intensely. "What do you know about the Winchester Project?"

"The what now?" This was the first time Steve had ever heard the words. Phil looked disappointed.

"She never mentioned the Winchester project? I figured since you two were... close... it would have come up."

Steve had never elaborated on his relationship with Peggy to Phil. He had merely excused his interest in her case by saying they were 'involved' during the war- and for some reason Phil's assumption that the involvement was intimate irritated him.

"Can we please just get to the point?" Steve snapped, feeling like he was in some sort of setup.

Phil looked taken aback. "Well, I can try. We don't know very much. That's part of why I was eager to see what you knew."

"Just start at the beginning." Steve breathed, trying to contain his temper.

"Fine then. Project Winchester was a British project that has never been declassified. It's long been assumed that it was an early version of the super soldier serum that you received. Carter was one of three M16 agents assigned to work in the program. No one is sure what came of the project but it was labeled a failure- Carter was placed on probation for two months and then shipped off to be a liaison with the SSR. The other two agents never received a mark on their records and earned quick promotions. The science division in charge of the project lost all their progress during a bombing raid and everything they had done was gone, so all their research and records were lost"

Steve picked at his fingernail. He felt like he was invading Peggy's privacy. "So what are you implying? You think maybe she was a test subject or something?"

Phil shrugged. "I only know as much as I told you just now. But I can also say that she has increased bone and muscle density- on a level that's only been observed in you. Clearly we haven't been able to talk to her- as soon as she started to thaw out she woke up and tried to kill a nurse. She was sedated with an unusual amount of sedative, and examined. It was decided to let her heal from her injuries while in a medically induced coma, and then wake her slowly."

Steve rubbed his face. He would hate to be in her position. He was determined to be there for her when she woke up. "So when can I see her? Can I see her? This is all very interesting, but I just- is she going to be okay?"

"I'm not in a position to say. That's up to Dr. Wilson. But nobody can stop you if you want to see her. She isn't a prisoner,

even though the psych team did their best to convince Wilson to put her in a time capsule."

Steve grimaced, remembering his own painful, disorienting introduction to the new world. Hopefully he could be there when she woke up- a familiar face, a friend in this strange modern hell.

"Well, are we going, then?" He asked, bouncing up onto his feet. He rocked on his toes, looking at Phil eagerly.

In the months since he had first met Phil during the Manhattan disaster, the two had grown quite close. His agent friend irritated the hell out of him, but he knew he could always rely on Coulson. Over beers one night, Phil had confessed that he had looked up to Cap since he was a child- he was one of the first volunteers for an attempt to recreate the super soldier serum during the Cold War. The attempt was unsuccessful- all he had to show for it was a halted aging process and slightly improved blood pressure.

"Right now?" Phil asked, suddenly scrambling to put his things away.

"I'm not going to wait." Steve said impatiently.

"I didn't think- I mean, I figured you'd be going by yourself." The man stood up quickly, knocking into his chair. He nervously straightened his tie.

Steve didn't wait another second. He bolted out the broken door, cracking the doorknob out of the wood without even noticing. He took off down the hall, struggling to restrain his pace to a bouncy walk.

"Other way!" Phil said in a harried manner, almost getting knocked over by the captain as the man did an abrupt 180.

70 years, at least. Steve thought, fighting the butterflies churning in his gut. It didn't matter if she was furious at him for crashing, it didn't matter if she had moved on 100 times, it didn't matter if she had no recollection of who he was- she was alive.

And he owed her a date.