May 2012, Manhattan
The ensuing battle felt like it lasted for hours.
It didn't take long for Peggy to become separated from Steve and Natasha, her only link to her team the comm unit in her ear. She fought off opponent after opponent, until even her muscles began to protest, adrenaline coursing through her, the only thing keeping her going.
Occasionally, one of Iron Man's repulsor blasts would skim past her, but she never flinched, never dared look to check on him. He was a grown man now, had been for a long time, not a little boy who needed his godmother to hold his hand.
Hawkeye's arrows zipped past her as well, but she had been on enough ops with him that she didn't even really register them.
She vaguely heard something about Natasha getting up to the top of the Tower, but was thoroughly distracted by Hulk landing heavily beside her.
The tremor knocked her off balance, but she steadied herself, hastily holstering her gun, just in case he took it as a threat. "Hulk? Is something wrong?"
She had no idea if Hulk could understand people, although his reaction to Steve earlier suggested that he was not the mindless beast people assumed him to be.
Hulk reached out a hand, his palm up, and she let out a strangled gasp, seeing the little girl curled up, blood gushing from her leg.
"Agent Carter? Report?"
"All fine, Captain," she answered, managing to keep her voice steady. "Hulk's found an injured civilian. I've got this."
Hulk was beginning to get a little fidgety, so she lifted the girl into her arms, wincing when the child cried out in pain.
Hulk immediately leapt off, apparently to find more things to smash, and Peggy retrieved her gun, arranging the shield so it was covering the child's head.
"Alright, sweetheart, I don't know if you can hear me," she said gently, ducking down a side alley, "but I'm going to get you somewhere safe."
The girl's hands tightened on her uniform, her face burrowed into her chest.
"Can you tell me what happened?" Peggy prompted.
"A wall fell over," the little girl sobbed. "It landed on my leg and I couldn't get up. The big green man helped me."
That was new.
"It really, really hurts," she whimpered, trembling in Peggy's arms.
"I know, darling; I know," Peggy whispered, her eyes scanning the street for any soldiers or police officers. "What's your name?"
"Amelia."
"Alright, Amelia; I'm going to …" Peggy cut herself off, catching sight of the young officer who had been with the police captain who questioned Steve's orders earlier. "Sousa!"
The name left her lips without conscious thought, but he spun around anyway, his eyes widening - almost the same eyes that had once laughed at her across the break room.
"Lady Liberty! How did you …?"
"Your grandfather was in the army, wasn't he?" She asked briskly. "Daniel?"
His brow creased. "Well, yes, but …"
"No buts," she snapped. "You're the spitting image of him. Her name's Amelia; she got trapped under rubble. Tell me someone's had the sense to set up a triage in the subway or something."
He nodded hastily, helping her transfer the little girl from her arms to his. "Good luck."
"Thank you." Peggy spun on her heel, opening fire on the aliens that had landed. "Go!"
A roar from the direction of Stark Tower sounded just before Clint chuckled. "I think Hulk got Loki."
"That's the least of our problems," Peggy said. "We're completely outnumbered." As if to prove a point, one of their shots slipped past her shield and threw her backwards, into the nearest building.
While she momentarily struggled for air, dazed by the collision, there was a soft scuffle and meeting of metal, and when she opened her eyes, there was a gloved hand in front of her. She took it and allowed Steve to pull her to her feet, in time to see Thor take out the other aliens.
A huge explosion from the next street over marked the end of another space whale, but it sounded too loud in her ear - one of their own had been way too close for her liking.
Natasha was on the roof of Stark Tower, and Clint excluded himself a second later, when his pained voice said, "I'm out of arrows; had to jump - crashed through a window. Not gonna be much use, guys."
"Stand down, Hawkeye," Peggy said sharply. "We'll handle things from here. Iron Man, are you clear?"
"All clear," he said, reassuring her. "Blew the bastard up from the inside."
Peggy's response was halted by her comm unit humming with a change of frequency, just as another wave of Chitauri landed, and she grimaced. "Cover me," she told Steve and Thor, ducking down behind a car. "Nick, this has better be good."
"The Council has ordered a missile strike on Manhattan," Fury said briskly. "Can you override it?"
"What?!" Peggy demanded.
"They've overridden my orders; the bird's gone," Fury said. "Can you override it?!"
"What did they use?" Peggy asked.
"7-Alpha-1-1."
Peggy closed her eyes, horror seeping into every pore of her body. "No. The WSC had that in place to make sure SHIELD didn't take over the world or something. I can't stop it."
He cursed, then disappeared from the comms, and Peggy rose to join her team-mates.
"What was all that about?" Steve asked.
"We are destined to never get that dance, Captain," she said with a tight smile, turning off the comm unit momentarily. No point in distracting the others as well. "The World Security Council has decided to just nuke Manhattan to stop this. Whole island will be gone soon along with everyone on it."
"That is a fool's errand," Thor growled. "No amount of energy will destroy that barrier. The portal will remain open and the only people who may be able to stop it will be dead."
Another small explosion separated them for a moment, and Steve caught her wrist. "We'll make it out of this, Peggy. I swear to you."
Peggy smiled sadly. "Maybe this is just how it's supposed to end, Steve. You, me, and a hail of gunfire and explosions. Strangely fitting." She switched the comm unit back on as Thor reached them again, just in time for Natasha's voice to come through.
"Can anybody copy? I can close the portal."
Peggy sucked in a breath, and Steve looked up at the Tower automatically. "Do it."
"No, wait!" Tony argued.
"Stark, these things are still coming," Steve protested.
"We got a nuke coming in," Tony said, and Peggy realised with a thrill of foreboding that Fury must have called Tony as well. "It's gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it."
"Tony …" Peggy began.
"Stark, you know that's a one-way trip," Steve said.
Tony didn't respond.
"Tony!" Peggy called.
"He's turned off the comms," Steve said, turning back to the aliens approaching them. "We've got work to do, Agent Carter."
He was right, of course, but Peggy still kept one eye in the side, until Iron Man appeared, grasping a missile larger than himself and forcing it up towards the portal, until they both disappeared through it.
A moment later, the remaining space whales pitched into buildings, and the Chitauri fell like marionettes with their strings cut.
For a few moments that stretched into eternity, they stared at the sky, the portal still swirling in mid-air.
"Close it," Steve said finally.
"No!" Peggy said.
"We can't risk anything else coming though," Steve said gently. "You know we can't."
Once again, he was right and she knew it, but that didn't stop her from crumbling, Steve's arms closing around her.
"Close it," he repeated.
Peggy took a shuddering breath, burying her face in his shoulder, her heart breaking once more. It had been hard losing the Commandos, harder still losing Howard and Maria, since it happened so suddenly, but this was Tony, the little boy she had practically raised as her own, who used to demand Captain America bedtime stories and insisted on getting her cards and gifts on Mother's Day, because "Auntie Peggy's like having two mommies."
And, of course, there had been times she was afraid she would lose him, to drink, or Afghanistan, or to everything that had happened since Iron Man's creation.
But nothing compared to actually losing him, and they didn't even have a body to …
"Son of a gun," Steve muttered, shaking her a little. "Peggy - Peggy, look!"
Peggy lifted her head, sucking in a breath when she saw Tony plummeting to earth from the place the portal had been.
Her relief was short-lived when she realised that the suit was not kicking in to slow his landing.
Thor began swinging his hammer for take-off, but a green blur hurled itself towards Tony, grabbing him out of thin air and smashing into a building.
Peggy, Steve and Thor sprinted towards the landing site to find Tony lying motionless on the ground and Hulk waiting nearby.
Peggy flung herself down beside him, tearing the visor away to see his face. His eyes were closed and she touched his cheek. "Tony? Tony, open your eyes for me. Tony?"
Fury was back in her hear, barking orders and questions, and she pulled the comm unit out, tossing it on the ground where Steve helpfully stepped on it.
"Anthony Edward Stark, open your eyes!"
Her hand slid down to his chest where the arc reactor sat, silent and cold, and she choked back a sob, grief hitting her for the second time.
Hulk suddenly let out an angry roar, making them all jump - including Tony, who sucked in a hasty breath.
"What the hell …?! What just happened?! Please tell me nobody kissed me."
Peggy's laugh sounded more like a sob, but she didn't care, flinging her arms around unyielding metal.
"Sharon," Tony murmured, somehow managing to keep her cover even now (because, sure, not telling the world he was Iron Man was impossible, but practically dying and being scared back to life by an enormous green rage monster - of course that wasn't enough to make him break her cover). "Sharon, it's okay." He looked up at Steve, gingerly patting her back. "What happened?"
"We won," Steve said, sounding a little breathless.
Tony let out a huge sigh of relief inside the suit, and gently nudged Peggy away. "Alright, yay! Good job, guys. Let's just … not come in tomorrow. Let's take a day."
"Already planning on it," Peggy muttered, her eyes fixed on her godson's face.
"Have you ever tried shawarma?" Tony asked. "There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."
Thor glanced up at the Tower. "We're not finished yet."
Tony sighed. "And then shawarma after?"
Steve smiled and held out a hand to help Tony to his feet. "I could eat."
"Thor, Clint's somewhere in one of those buildings," Peggy said, gesturing in the direction of his earlier perch. "Could you get him please?"
Thor nodded, flying off in that direction, and the others made their way on foot to the Tower.
JARVIS didn't greet them on entrance, but the elevator still worked and the panel she rested her hand on warmed and hummed a little, so she guessed that his servers were unharmed.
Natasha met them in Tony's living-room-slash-bar holding Loki's sceptre, watching over the unconscious 'demigod' currently occupying a crater in the floor.
Hulk joined them via the broken window after scaling the outside of the Tower.
"Was this you?" Peggy asked with a smile.
"Puny god," Hulk grumbled.
Tony laughed, but his response was waylaid by Thor flying through the window with Clint, who looked rather worse for wear.
Peggy grimaced. "Alright?"
"Been better," Clint said, straightening up. "Landed on the quiver again."
Peggy's grimace turned into a wince. The quiver was exceptional and allowed him to change out the heads on his arrows, but it did mean that it was rock solid with no give at all.
The last time he had landed on the quiver, he had ended up black and blue all over.
His eyes were fixed on Loki, and Peggy could see the fear in them, masked behind anger. She and Natasha closed ranks around him.
"You can't shoot him," Steve said, sounding unconvinced.
"Don't worry," Clint said. "I'm out of ammo."
Steve sighed and held out an arrow. "Picked it up outside. You can't shoot him."
Clint nodded, taking the arrow with a tiny smile. "Thanks Cap."
At that point, Loki stirred, and they gathered above him. Clint strung the arrow, took aim and waited, but when Loki opened his eyes, he didn't seem about to start a fight.
"If it's all the same to you," he said quietly, "I'll take that drink now."
Clint's knuckles whitened and Peggy rested a gentle hand on the back of his neck, while Natasha reached forwards and pinched the nerves in Loki's, causing the man (could they call him a man?) to slump back into unconsciousness.
"Pressure points," Peggy said, forestalling Thor's queries. "I guess even Asgardians have them."
"Now shawarma?" Tony asked.
"Get out of the suit," Peggy said, looking up at Hulk. "Hulk, do you want to let Bruce come back now?"
"Little girl," Hulk said.
"She's alright," Peggy said. "She went to the hospital. I'll find out and let you know, okay?"
Hulk huffed, but there was a sudden blur, and Banner crumpled to the ground.
"And get him a change of clothes while you're at it," Peggy added, averting her eyes.
"What are we gonna do with him?" Clint asked, glaring at Loki.
"He will face justice on Asgard," Thor said immediately. "He is wanted there for many crimes as well, including the attempted slaying of our own father."
Those words seemed to deflate Clint's intended argument, and he nodded reluctantly.
"I assume you'll take the Tesseract as well?" Steve asked.
"That would be a good idea," a weary voice said from the corner.
Peggy moved towards him immediately, her hands outstretched. "Dr Selvig, are you alright?"
"No offence, but I'm beginning to wish I told SHIELD where they could put their experiments," he answered.
Peggy sighed. "I really don't blame you. Steve, can I borrow your comm please?"
Steve handed it over, and she set it in her own ear, wandering away for some privacy. "Director Fury, do you copy?"
"Your comm go down, did it, Carter?"
Peggy gave an innocent smile she knew he couldn't see. "Can't imagine how that happened, sir. Here's what's going to happen. You're going to send a quinjet to collect Dr Selvig so he can get medical treatment. You are also going to make sure Pepper Potts can land somewhere and get back here. Tony is going to lock Loki in the nuclear bunker until we can find a way of returning him, Thor, the Tesseract and that damn sceptre to Asgard, preferably before the World Security Council starts being idiots again. Between us, we have enough medical knowledge to treat any injuries until tomorrow. We are going to get something to eat, then we are regrouping at Stark Tower. No one is coming to debrief us. No one is coming to talk to us. I do not want to see the media within three blocks of this place. Do I make myself clear?"
There was a brief pause in which she thought he might argue, then … "Perfectly clear, ma'am. The quinjet should land within a few minutes."
"Thank you." Peggy took the comm out of her ear, just in time for Tony to reappear with a change of clothes for Bruce, who had just woken up.
Once everyone was sufficiently dressed, Tony turned to hug her properly, the arc reactor humming reassuringly against her chest.
"You have a nuclear bunker, don't you?" She asked him.
Tony raised an eyebrow. "As a matter of fact, I do. Not that it would have done much good today. How did you know?"
"You're a paranoid genius," Peggy said with a smile. "Can it hold him?" She asked, jerking her head at Loki.
Tony gave him a long look. "For how long?" He asked finally.
"Until we can get them back to Asgard," she answered.
Tony shrugged. "Yeah." He strode forwards to seize one of Loki's arms. "C'mon, Point Break; give me a hand."
Once they had Loki safely stashed away, they left the safety of the Tower. Just as Peggy had ordered, the street was empty except for a quinjet.
Clint blanched, and Natasha stepped in front of him, clearly ready to fight if she needed to, but Peggy gave them both a smile, guiding Dr Selvig towards the jet.
Selvig may have been as culpable as Clint (i.e. not at all, in her eyes), but he had been largely behind the scenes, so Peggy didn't feel worried about anyone on the carrier blaming him for the attack.
Clint, however, was a different story.
The jet took off and Peggy turned back to see that the others had obviously escorted Clint to the shawarma joint already, except for Steve who had waited for her.
"Do you think people will figure it out?" He asked, offering her his arm.
Peggy smiled, slipping her arm though his. "Clint or me? Or everything else?" She sighed. "Probably. It's whether they'll be believed. The internet's full of assumptions and rumours and conspiracy theories. I'm not saying anything yet." The police officer earlier crossed her mind and she grimaced. "I could have blown my cover already, so I might do, if the rumours get a bit too wild. Much harder to make someone disappear nowadays."
"Is that what you were worried about?" Steve asked curiously.
Peggy chuckled. "I'll tell you the whole story eventually, Steve. Right now," she added, as they reached the small restaurant Tony had mentioned, "I think we could both use some food."