Alright! A chapter! In this one, we have a bachelorette party which goes astray. I tried to write fluff, but Jessica Jones glared at me until I gave her a cameo. Sort of. And I have decided that Wanda is also a bridesmaid, but because I am lazy, no explanation will be entered into the previous chapters. Sorry. Also, I am a slow updater. See the end of Chapter 4 of Belief. Anyway... Prepare yourself. Assassins and Alcohol.

Peggy was drunk, that much she was sure of. As Natasha drank straight from a bottle of Russian vodka, Wanda mixed fancier cocktails, Pepper dealt another round of Apples to Apples, and Sharon and Maria tried to start some drinking game involving pistols, it occurred to her that perhaps this is getting a little out of hand. "Ladies," she called, her words only slightly slurred, "perhaps it's time to calm down."

"Aw, c'mon, Peggy, we're just getting started," whines Sharon. "Maria, Pepper, Tash, you agree with me." Pepper looks as though she's more used to fancy wine than the kind of hard liquor spies keep in their offices, and says nothing.

"Well, if this goes on much longer, I think it would be in our best interests to move it off of SHIELD property. Mainly because of the 24/7 live security monitoring," Hill explains with a smirk.

Natasha stands, not even swaying, despite the fact that she's had at least half a bottle of straight vodka. "In answer to all of that, firstly, Carter one, we're not done yet. Carter two, I am not quite drunk enough to tolerate nicknames. Pepper, I think maybe you should go home, because you actually have to be presentable in the morning, and you probably don't have much interest in my next suggestion anyway." At this, Pepper raises an eyebrow.

"What's happening next?"

Natasha looks proud, which really should have set off a dozen warning bells, but Peggy can't bring herself to be scared. "We're gonna lurk in dark alleys and beat the shit out of assholes that think they're gonna be the ones winning." Her smile turns evil. Peggy frowns as she nods, considering. It's a horrible idea, but fun. And aren't those ideas always the best?

"Wanda, Pepper, we could drop you two off at the Tower beforehand," Peggy offers, ignoring Maria's slight start of surprise as she warms to the idea. Pepper nods gratefully as Wanda shakes her head.

"No, thanks," declines the young woman. "I know I'm not as advanced as most of you, but I've had training, and it's not like I'll be out there alone. Call it a coping mechanism or whatever, but beating up potential rapists or muggers sounds like a good time."

"Christ, Romanoff, we can't leave you alone with anyone," laughs Pepper. "I would like to go back to the Tower, if that's okay. But nobody here is allowed to drive."

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Having delivered Pepper back to the Avengers Tower, Peggy, Natasha, Wanda, and Maria have already stopped an ATM robbing by the time they make it to the alley behind a hotel building in a rather sketchy part of New York.

"Wow, Hill, I'm impressed," murmurs Natasha. "Why do you know these things again? And who names a town Hell's Kitchen?"

"Crimelord got ambitious a few months ago, and some idiot who may or may not have superpowers started beating up thugs in a Devil suit," replies Maria, prompting a sigh from Peggy.

"Why is this my life?" Wanda asks, only half serious in her complaint.

Before Peggy can offer a sympathetic reply, Natasha motions for them to be quiet. A fire alarm is going off inside the hotel, and people are scurrying out, sounding worried.

"Should we leave, if there's actually a fire?" Asks Wanda.

"Yes, if there actually was a fire, we would leave," replies Maria, her voice barely audible. "But this is something else."

Wanda opens her mouth to ask what "something else" is, but before she can, Natasha makes a "wait here" motion, and darts toward the sound of an opening door. Not five minutes pass before she returns, but the amount that does is still worrying, for someone of Natasha's skill. There is too little noise for multiple assailants, and the other option would be someone well trained and merciless, but merciless doesn't line up with someone who pulls a fire alarm to evacuate civilians, so Maria is beginning to worry that they're dealing with someone with superpowers just as Natasha comes around the corner, unharmed.

Maria's relief lasts only as long as it takes her to notice that Natasha is not alone. "Introduce me," says the stranger.

"I will introduce you," Natasha says in a disturbingly compliant voice. "This is Maria, and Wanda, and Peggy."

As Maria begins to reach into her holster, the man looks into her eyes. "Maria. Show me your gun." Maria almost scoffs. She'll show it to him, alright. She'll shoot him-

"I will show you my gun." The words come from her own mouth as she lifts her gun, handing it to him. What. The Hell. She tries to yank her arm back, but why did she want to do that? He'd asked to see her gun. She should show it to him.

"HEY." Wanda steps forward, ignoring the arm Peggy throws out to stop her. "Who are you, anyway?" He turns to her, a disturbing smile curving over his face.

"Manners, Wanda. Smile," He whispers.

A chill runs down her spine as he says her name. She realizes that she's the only one who even has a chance at resistance. Lifting her arm, she reaches into his mind, and gasps as horrors flood her brain. Squeezing her eyes tight, she recognizes the click of a pistol. Well. Thinking fast, she acts only on instinct. She pushes out, throwing him back, then turns around, ducking as Peggy aims a gun at her head. "You don't want to do this," Wanda whispers, desperately staring at Peggy as she tries to break the hypnotized state. "Peggy." She reaches into the Brit's mind, and finds an odd wall, which she visualizes as a sort of film blocking Peggy's true thoughts. The film, or wall, whatever, must be the representation of the man's control over her. The only desire Peggy is acting on currently is a desire to kill Wanda. As Peggy has several decades more experience than she, this could prove problematic. Wanda pushes against the wall, and tries an old trick. She takes a strong memory, normally a person or specific event or experience. She's used this before, during her first meeting with the Avengers, but this time, she twists it into happiness. "C'mon, Carter, gimme something here," she whispers. Suddenly, she finds what she needs. There's a mountaintop field, a picnic, and Steve. Others, too. It looks like Italy, maybe. A memory of war? Odd choice, but her friends are odd women. As she feels the cold press of metal against her head, Wanda withdraws from Peggy's mind and blindly reaches out to her assailant. This time it's Natasha, and Wanda treads carefully this time, trying to pick a memory that isn't to painful out of the shatters that make up the Russian's mind. She finds one, with Clint and his family, that seems to involve a lake and water guns. That'll do. As she feels the gun leave her head, Wanda stares into the eyes of the man, still standing a few yards away, Maria's gun in his hand. "Put down the gun, leave us, and don't come back," says Wanda, glaring at him as she mentally shoves him away. There's a tense minute of resistance, but she pushes harder, and he places the gun on the ground and walks away. "Maria, Sharon. Snap out of it." Wanda snaps her fingers, and Peggy grabs Sharon as if trying to shake her awake. Predictably, this ends with Sharon nearly tackling her. Wanda releases them fully, and they stand there for a minute, trying to comprehend the events of the past ten minutes.

"Bloody hell, Wanda, I tried to shoot you! Sorry.." Peggy trails off, looking guilty.

"Hey, it's not your fault, it was my idea," protests Natasha. Wanda holds up her hand, shaking her head.

"It's nobody's fault. That was mind control. And besides, I'm fine. Don't worry about it." A look of disgust crosses Maria's face.

"Great. That guy will be a hell of a lot of paperwork tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," emphasizes Peggy. "Let's go home."

There are nods of assent, and the six of them begin the slow trek home, reaching the tower around twenty minutes later. There are murmured goodnights ans they board the elevator, and then they all go off to their respective rooms.

I swear, I intended for this to be light and fluffy. However, the rest of the MCU is demanding to be included. So. Kilgrave cameo. Hope you like it!