As soon as they land in Wakanda they're taken to a medical center where Peggy and Angie are introduced to T'Challa's sister Shuri and the medical team that will be overseeing Angie's treatment. The first thing they need to do is map out Angie's brain in a dormant baseline state, which means putting her back into a cryogenic coma. They're given a few hours alone while everything is set up, time they spent together quietly reassuring one another that they were both real, that they were alive and here and together again. There were a few tentative touches, little confirmations of warm skin, steady beating hearts, and remembered reactions to a gossamer caress. It wasn't until they received the message from the doctors that they were ready for Angie, that the two shared a gentle kiss that was full of promise and hope.
Peggy never left Angie's side as she was prepped and placed in the advanced cryo-chamber. They're eyes locked as the chamber closed and neither looked away as Angie was put under. Only when she was sure that Angie's eyes were closed, did Peggy finally blink and look away. She spoke to the doctors, who explained once more what would happen. After they mapped out Angie's brain, they would start stimulating certain areas, triggering memories and emotions that would allow them to determine what was truly Angie, and what was the Winter Soldier programming. With that information they could then start deleting the programming, though they did warn Peggy that Angie would still remember being the Winter Soldier. Deleting the program would mean she could no longer be controlled, turned into a mindless weapon, and used against her will. Removing what the Russians had done to her would give Angie back her free will. Her memories of her time as the Winter Soldier would remain however, they would now be a part of who Angie was, that they could not erase. That's where the psychologists would come in, and where the bulk of Angie's recovery would lay. Peggy thanks the medical team and Shuri for their help and their compassion before seeking out T'Challa to do the same. He was taking a risk helping Angie, and Peggy wanted him to know she would do whatever she could to repay his kindness.
T'Challa spoke of bringing Angie peace, but there wouldn't be any peace for Angie with the actions of the Winter Soldier over her head. Armed with a declaration of sanctuary from the soon to be King of Wakanda, and with a heavy heart at leaving Angie behind, Peggy returned to New York, going first to Steve.
"We always assumed it had been the Winter Soldier who hit the train." Steve admitted from his recliner. "We could never figure out why Bucky had been spared though. Knowing it was Angie, there must have been some part of her that just couldn't do it."
"It's why she couldn't cause the scandal her masters wanted surrounding Howard's death." Peggy nods as she holds a mug of tea in her hands, allowing the comforting warmth to seep into her skin.
Steve promised to help however he could by calling in some favors and owed markers. Natasha wanted to help as well, taking Peggy to a friend of hers. Matt Murdock was a lawyer, but he wasn't an expert on international law. With Natasha's permission he'd called in someone who was. Peggy of course was leery of them both, even though Natasha vouched for them.
"I understand the position you're in, Captain." Jennifer Walters says as she sits with Peggy, Natasha, and Matt in the privacy of Natasha's personal apartment. "In a very unique kind of way. See, Bruce Banner is my cousin, and people are always trying to blame him for what the Hulk does, but as it stands, at the moment anyway, Bruce and the Hulk are two separate people, one should not be accountable for the other's actions."
"This isn't going to be an easy fight, Ms. Walters." Peggy replies after giving the other woman's words time to shift through her thoughts.
"No, but it's a fight worth taking on." Jennifer replies. "You are the only person who has shown both Bruce and the Hulk any kind of respect that is free of manipulation. Bruce would want me to help you in any way I can. Besides, I kind of owe you because it's kind of my fault you're without a Hulk these days."
This got both Peggy's and Natasha's attention. Peggy's the one who asked, "How so?"
"I think it's my fault he took off." Jennifer admits. "I was working a dangerous organized crime case, ended up getting shot, Bruce saved my life. Only, it came with some side effects."
Peggy and Natasha watched in shock and awe as Jennifer shifted into a tall, green, she hulk. That shock and awe doubled when they discovered that Jennifer was still Jennifer in this state. "How?" Natasha asked. "How are you still in control?"
"Acceptance goes a long way." Jennifer answers.
Not everyone was so easily swayed to Peggy's cause of helping Angie get her life back unmarred by her years of being used as a deadly weapon. Fury was furious. He wanted to know why he wasn't told as soon as Peggy had an identity on the Winter Soldier, and Peggy was brutally honest with him. "Because you would have found a way to continue using her. Oh, don't look at me like that, you did it with Bruce, you tried to do it with me, so don't act all innocent. You have an agenda and are willing to do whatever it takes to see it through."
Everett Ross was an unlikeable little man Peggy was introduced to when he came barreling onto the Avengers Compound and attempted to order her to hand over the Winter Soldier for immediate arrest. At first Peggy was as polite as she could be about it, informing him that Angie had been granted sanctuary in Wakanda and was undergoing medical treatment to remove the Winter Soldier programming. "She's currently in a cryogenic coma, Agent Ross. All legal matters regarding Sgt. Martinelli should be taken up with her lawyers. Ms. Walters is currently in the Netherlands presenting Sgt. Martinelli's case to the U.N.'s Court of Justice."
"You can't keep circumventing the rights of the United States by taking everything to the United Nations, Ms. Carter!" Ross argues, his face reddening.
"Captain Carter." Peggy corrects. "And I can, and I will, because believe it or not Agent Ross, the U.S. isn't the only bloody country in the world. Now, do us a favor," She indicted the rest of her team who'd been in the middle of something when he'd stormed in, "And piss off, we're busy."
Tony leans in closer to Pepper as Ross storms off in a huff and whispers, "Might want to take up the U.K's offer of land to build a second compound. Peg's going to get us all deported."
"The things we do for the person we love." Pepper muses with a warm smile.
Peggy knows that the Winter Soldier has done some horrible things, that some of those things directly impacted people Peggy cares about in the here and now. It was easier for Steve when it came to what happened to Bucky because in the end Bucky had survived in no large part to someone, Angie, battlefield triaging his wound. The person Peggy was worried about, the one whose thoughts and feelings she was concerned about, was Tony. He was her friend and she wanted so badly to make sure things between them were alright, but how could she possibly do that? The woman she loved, brainwashed, and lacking her own free will as she was, killed his father.
"You're up late." Peggy says softly, finding him standing alone by the windows.
"I think there are raccoons." Tony replies, squinting out into the darkness. "We deal with way too much weird shit to have a raccoon problem. With our luck one of the damn trash pandas will eat something weird, and then boom we have a walking talking raccoon on our hands."
Peggy can't help but smile at him. "Yes, I can see how that could end up being an issue. Especially since one of the children would end up wanting to keep it."
"And by children, you mean?" Tony turns to look at her when Peggy steps beside him.
"Barton." Peggy laughs. They stand there for a few moments, comfortable in the silence between them, and then Peggy sighs softly and says, "Tony, about Angie, well, about the Winter Soldier that is, and what happened to Howard…"
"Uncle Buck punched him in the face once." Tony says, his voice low, firm, but not hard, just sure in what he was saying. When he feels her dark eyes on him, Tony continues, "The older the old man got, the more driven he was about the business side of things. Every once in a while, like with Ultron, he'd tinker with someone else's work, or he'd obsess over the arch reactor." He tapped the arch reactor in his chest and flashed her a small smile. "Which I can't be mad at, because he helped me find the element that saved my life." He paused, then went on. "Anyway, where was I, oh, yeah, ok, so, Dad lost out on some huge corporate deal to Hank Pym, which seemed to make the whole thing even worse because he and Pym had beef. So, he'd come home drunk, the less time he spent in his labs, the more time he spent in the bottle. Anyway, he came home drunk, continued to drink, and he lost control of his anger. He tried to hit me, Mom got in the way, and when Uncle Buck found out he stormed over and punched Dad right in the face."
Anger bubbled up in Peggy's belly, tempered by a small bit of compassion and sorrow, because she knew how much Howard never wanted to be like his own father. "I'd have done the same."
"After the old man died, my Mom, she started to thrive again." Tony said with a warm smile and bright eyes as he thought about his mother. "She got clean, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, pills the doctors gave her so she could cope with being married to my father, and stayed clean. She taught music, and went back to playing the piano, and performing. When Obadiah Stane tried to get her to marry him, she told him to fuck off, I was so proud of her."
"Your mother sounds like a remarkable woman, Tony." Peggy says warmly, watching the emotion play out in his dark eyes and across his face.
"She was." He smiles. "And she only got better after Dad died, so, yeah, I miss the old son of bitch, all I ever wanted was to make him proud of me, but he wasn't the best man to have in our lives. So, don't worry about it, Peg. I'm not going to hold a grudge over something your girl had no control over doing. My Mom, she wouldn't want me too."
"The man I knew," Peggy says, reaching out to put her hand on Tony's arm. "The Howard I knew and loved, he would have been so proud of you, Tony. I know I am. You're a good man, Tony, a good friend. I'm sorry if I haven't been as of late."
Tony gives her a beaming smile. "Don't worry about it, Cap. You were trying to save your girl, I get that, if it were Pepper, nothing would get in my way either."
Peggy is grateful as she makes her way across the compound to check on the twins, because she knows that if Tony had lost Maria, he would not be as willing to see the woman beyond the weapon, and this would all play out very differently.
Natasha needs time to take care of something personal, Peggy offers to help, but the redhead insists that it's something she has to do alone. Peggy sticks around so the team isn't so short changed. Taking care of the twins, training with them, Vision, and Sam, kept Peggy busy and focused between updates on Angie. She also starts a bit of a recruitment drive, starting with the man who got past Sam, breaching the compound. Peggy would be there for Angie as she recovered, so she needed to make sure the Avengers could run at full steam whenever she or one of the others were away. They still had no idea where Bruce had gone, or what Thor was up too, so having a list of people on reserve was just a good idea to make sure they were able to do what they'd promised to do, keep the world safe.
When Peggy does finally make it back to Wakanda she brings Vision and Wanda with her. Vision comes because Shuri is curious and quite frankly, so is he. He has become something beyond what Tony can explain, so he hopes to get answers from someone more familiar with vibranium and super advanced technology. Wanda comes because she's formed an attachment not only to Peggy but to Vision as well and wants to be there for them both. Walking into the brightly lit medical treatment room where Angie's cryochamber was, Peggy walks over and presses her hand to the glass. "I'm sorry I've been away so long, darling. The team needed me, and I needed to try to set things right for you beyond the safe haven of Wakanda. I'm not going to lie, darling. It's going to be an uphill fight, your bloody country is being a pain in my arse, but Nat and I have put together a strong team for you. But that isn't something you need worry about, all you need to concern yourself with is healing."
Angie's medical team explains things to her, but honestly most of it goes over Peggy's head. She was smart as whip before the serum, and after, her mind was even quicker, but Peggy had a feeling that even Tony and Bruce's eyes would glaze over a bit as they tried to take it all in. What the doctors were telling her boiled down to, they've done what they can physically, repairing the damage done by the Russian's programming, removing the pathways and connections that created the Winter Soldier. They needed to test their work now, which is the primary reason Peggy needed to return. They were going to wake Angie, and using what they'd learned from Karpov's book, try to trigger the Winter Soldier. Peggy wouldn't admit it, but she was scared. What if she couldn't get Angie back without the programming? As long as there was a possibility of triggering the weapon within, Angie would be viewed as a threat, and not even Peggy's good standing at the U.N. could make it safe for her to live a normal life. Peggy was scared, because if the advancements of Wakanda couldn't bring Angie back to her, then what hope did she have of anyone else being able to help her?
They would wake Angie in the morning after spending the rest of the day and evening preparing her body to function on its own outside the chamber once again. Until then Peggy would need to keep herself busy and out of the medical staff's way. So, she headed to the bungalow she'd been given to stay in while visiting Wakanda. Stepping inside she was surprised to find Wanda sitting on a sofa using her powers to create an intricate looking piece of beaded jewelry. "Wanda?" Peggy says gently, not wanting to startle the girl. "Everything alright, duckie?"
Wanda sets her work down on the low table in front of her and then looks up at the older woman with a warm smile and nod. "Viz and Shuri went super geek and trying to keep up was giving me a headache."
Peggy chuckled softly as she walked over and sat beside the girl. "I know the feeling." Reaching out, Peggy gently tucked a lock of red hair behind Wanda's ear while offering the girl the soft, warm, comforting smile Peggy had developed just for her and Pietro. "How are you doing, sweetheart? This is the first time you've ever been away from Pietro. Are you ok?"
Wanda nods, then a few seconds later admits, "It's strange, being so far away from him, but I know he's safe with Clint in our new home, and that makes it easier."
"I'm so glad the two of you think of it as home now." Peggy replies.
"We think of you, Natasha, and Clint as home." Wanda blushes as she admits this.
Peggy caresses the girl's blushing cheek. "I do the same thing, duckie. I've found my home in the people I love and trust since the war. Back then it was Angie, Steve and Bucky, and Howard. Now it's you, Pietro, Sharon, Natasha, and the others."
"And Angie," Wanda reassures.
"And Angie, always Angie." Peggy agrees with a nod.
The next morning Wanda stands close to Peggy as they wait for Angie to awaken. The girl is there in case they need to subdue Winter, but also to support Peggy, and Peggy is grateful for that. Even if she does feel guilty for relaying on the child so heavily when it's meant to be the other way around. Peggy was the adult who'd gladly accepted the responsibility of caring for the twins, she should be there for them to lean on, not the other way around.
When Angie woke up, sitting up on the bed and staring ahead of her with a slightly blank expression, the recording of Karpov's voice that Pierce used to control Winter was played. Angie blinked. Peggy bit her lip and then asked, "Angie?"
Angie took a deep breath and then turned her head to look at Peggy. "Still me, Peg."
Relief hit her so hard Peggy's knees wobble a bit and suddenly Wanda was standing just a bit closer to her.
After an hour or so of tests Angie's psychologist smiled reassuringly as she said, "All of that physical medical stuff, that was actually the easy part, Sergeant Martinelli. Now comes the hard part, working through the trauma of everything that's happened to you."
Peggy sees the twitch in Angie's eyes and is quick to reassure. "It's alright, Angie. It's nothing to fear or be ashamed of."
Angie relaxes a bit and nods as she returns her attention to the doctor. "Sure Doc, whatever you say."
Wanda excuses herself by saying she wants to check in on Vision after the medical team leaves. Several awkward moments passed between them as Angie sat on the medical bed while Peggy stood just a few feet away watching her. When Peggy can no longer simply stand there, she walks over and reaches out to touch Angie's face but Angie jerks away, and it stings. "I'm sorry." Peggy had assumed, after the moment they'd shared before Angie went into the chamber, that Angie wanted this. "I didn't mean…"
"They could be watching." Angie says softly, her eyes darting around even though her head is slightly lowered, her face hidden by her hair.
"It's alright if they are." Peggy replies. "It's different now, in this time and this place. We're safe here, Angie."
Another awkward silence builds up between them. Peggy is suddenly very aware of every sound in the room, the flow of air across her skin, and the thudding of her own heart. She reaches up to fidget with the dog tags that hang around her neck, the soft clink of the metal drawing Angie's gaze. There are two sets of two tags hanging from small ball chain loops, hanging from the larger ball chain around Peggy's neck.
Angie reaches out, her fingers brushing against Peggy's as she takes the tags from Peggy's grasp. She splays them out like a hand of cards, reading the stamped names, Peggy's and her own. Angie rubs the pad of her thumb against the tag with Peggy's name on it before letting the tags drop back to Peggy's chest. "I meant what I said in that garden, Peggy. I'm not the girl who wore those tags, not anymore."
"Nor am I the girl these tags were first issued too." Peggy replies. "I spent sixty-six years asleep in the ice. When I was awakened, I was thrust into a world I no longer understood, a world I never asked to be a part of. I found myself having to deal with the fact that for me the war had happened just yesterday, while for everyone else it had been decades. I spent the first few years of my return sitting on my anger and resentment over being brought back into a world without you in it, a world where Steve is an old man, and Bucky and Howard, and most of the Howlies were gone. I have fought in battles against aliens and gods, but worse than that, I have fought against arrogant men mad for power. Everything is different, and yet nothing has changed."
For the first time since waking up in that tiny room in a SHIELD rehabilitation facility Peggy laid herself completely bare, allowing someone else to fully see the extent of her emotional maelstrom. "I cannot truly compare what I have been through, to what you have been through. I spent the better part of our separation in a state of complete oblivion, while you, oh my darling, I can't even begin to comprehend what you've been through." Peggy steps closer, so close that she can feel Angie's knees press into her thighs as she reaches up to tilt Angie's head up so she can look into the expressive blue eyes.
"What do you see?" Angie asks as she looks into Peggy's eyes.
"Anger and regret." Peggy answers. "Pain and sorrow." She raises her hands to gently hold Angie's face in her hands. "But despite the darkness I still see the light that is you, Angie."
Angie closes her eyes and sighs softly before leaning forward just enough to press her forehead to Peggy's. She had a long way to go before she could even start to contemplate having a life again, and she would need to do that before she could think about Peggy being a part of that life. But for the first time since that fateful moment on a cliff in Europe with a world war raging all around her, Angie didn't feel like she was drowning in the rushing, dark, icy waters that had consumed her since her fall.
Peggy will be what Angie needs her to be, will do what Angie needs her to do, as she heals. Which meant that when Angie asked for space, as much as it hurt her to do so, Peggy gave it to her. With Wanda and Vision in tow, Peggy left Wakanda but not without a few gifts from Shuri. During Peggy's first visit, Shuri had agreed that the large blocky Stark watch Peggy wore was not in agreement with Peggy's style or tastes. So Shuri made her a much more elegant watch with all the high-tech Avengers bells and whistles Peggy needed to stay in sync with her team. Shuri also gave her a beautiful, delicate looking beaded bracelet that used similar technology to T'Challa's suit, to create an upgraded version of Peggy's shield. A second companion bracelet, which Peggy would receive during a later visit, would give her a sharp bladed weapon. Okoye's idea, according to Shuri, because what good was a shield without a weapon behind it. Peggy would laugh gently, smile, and reply, "I am the weapon, darling."
Peggy did her best to continue living the life she'd been building before discovering Angie was alive. She trained the twins, helped them adapt to their new lives, and argued with Pietro about needing a proper education. She and Sam continued working with the V.A. because helping vets would always be important to Peggy, working with veterans actually gave her more of a sense of purpose than being an Avenger, which she also continued to do. She stayed on top of things with Jen about Angie's case, which needed to be handled carefully since they were basically calling out Russia for kidnapping allied soldiers. Karpov would end up being painted as a rogue agent with no ties to Russia, everything he did, he did on his own. Peggy worried a bit about how Angie would feel about that since she clearly had a complicated relationship with the man. Peggy also worried about Natasha. She'd gone completely off the grid, not even Barton had heard from her. Peggy hoped that Natasha knew that if she needed her, Peggy wouldn't hesitate, she'd be there as quickly as she could.
Outside of work Peggy spent time with Steve, even accompanying him to visit James. She went rock climbing and to the shooting range with Sharon. Binged pop culture with Tony. Had tea with Coulson. Then after nearly six months of keeping herself busy she finally gets a message from Angie asking her to come see her. Peggy makes what arrangements she needs to with the team and work, and then heads to Wakanda as soon as she can. When she arrives, she's more than a little surprised to spot Everett Ross as they make their way from the landing pad where she'd been greeted warmly and welcomingly by her friends. Peggy raises an eyebrow as she says, "You know he's an American spy, right? Works for the CIA?"
Okoye grumbles while T'Challa nods. "We are well aware of where his loyalties lay, but he did help defend Wakanda when we were under attack. Allowing him to be a liaison seemed like an appropriate thank you."
"Shuri told me about that," Peggy says softly. "I'm sorry I wasn't here to help when you needed me."
"No need to apologize." T'Challa reassures. "Your purpose is out there, my friend. Protecting the world at large."
"Yes, but Wakanda is a part of that world." Peggy replies. "Especially since you're speech at the U.N. If you ever need me, T'Challa, I will be there to help."
The king of Wakanda nods in acknowledgement of her offer and replies, "The same goes for me, Peggy. If you ever need our help, all you have to do is ask."
"You've done so much for me already." Peggy replies.
T'Challa smiles. "Speaking of, let's get you to our guest." Peggy eyes Ross and T'Challa once again reassures. "He has no access to her."
"Thank you." Peggy replies, unsure if she will ever be able to thank T'Challa for all he's done for them.
Angie's living in a small bungalow on the outskirts of the city which Peggy finds a little surprising. Angie had always talked about craving the energy of a city and how badly she couldn't wait to get back to that. There were a handful of chickens scratching at the ground as Peggy walked up to the door. She hesitated for just a moment before knocking, and when the door opened Peggy's breath was taken away. Angie's hair was longer, lighter thanks to the sun, and pulled back into a braid. While her hair had lightened, her skin had darkened to a beautiful bronze tan that under normal circumstances Peggy would have been jealous of. She wore a wraparound skirt and top in the local style, and sandals. When Peggy's gaze finally met Angie's, Angie was smiling in a way that made Peggy blush at having been caught so blatantly checking her out. "Hi."
"Hi." Angie replies softly. "I'm glad you came, Peg. I've missed you."
"I've missed you too." Peggy replies, taking a careful step closer. When Angie reaches out and pulls her into a hug Peggy finally let's go of the breath she'd been holding since that moment on the rooftop. "Safe and sound, darling?"
Angie tightens her hold. "Safe and sound, English."