May 2012, Manhattan

The owners of the restaurant were understandably bewildered by a team of (essentially) superheroes trouping through the doors, but were perfectly happy to produce food for them all while they began to clean up the damage.

No one spoke as they ate, adrenaline slowly wearing off to be replaced by pain and fatigue.

Finally, Tony reached for a napkin and wiped his mouth. "Now what?"

Peggy's eyes travelled over her companions.

Clint had appropriated half of Natasha's chair, and she had shifted to accommodate him, her leg pressed against his thigh.

Thor was calmly eating his own body weight in cooked meat, but his eyes were weary, as was to be expected.

Banner still looked mildly shell-shocked, like he had expected them to turn on him by now (which he probably had).

Steve looked like he was about to fall asleep, but as she looked at him, he seemed to pull himself together, to step back into command, and she put a gentle hand on his arm.

"At ease, Captain," she said softly. "I've got this." As his shoulders slumped with relief, she turned back to Tony. "I assume you have room for us at the Tower?"

Tony frowned slightly. "Yeah. I mean, you've got a suite there, and I can definitely rustle up some showers, beds and privacy for the others."

"That'll do," Peggy said.

"We need to go back to SHIELD," Clint said miserably, "to debrief."

"Not tonight, you don't," Peggy said, the sharpness in her voice more protective than angry. "No one is going back to SHIELD until they have rested and feel ready."

"What if we never feel ready?" Banner asked sardonically.

Peggy met his eyes openly and smiled. "Then we'll hide you. Right, Tony?"

"Already working on it," Tony muttered, playing with his phone.

Peggy reached over and gently relieved him of it. "Not tonight, kiddo. You need rest."

Tony made a strange whining noise, but didn't argue.

"Sharon Carter's an alias, isn't it?" Banner asked quietly.

It wasn't a question.

"She is," Peggy said. "Sorry."
"Are you who I think you are?" He asked, his eyes cutting to Steve.

Peggy smiled affectionately at the aforementioned soldier. "Probably."

"Then you don't have to apologise," Banner said. "I think I know why you're doing it. I'd do it myself, if I could."

"I must confess to being a little lost," Thor said.

"I'll explain back at the Tower," Peggy told him. "That is, if we're agreed?"

There was a short negotiation with the staff, who refused to let them pay, but Tony eventually got around it by leaving a tip large enough, not just for them to rebuild the restaurant, but for each of the staff to put their own lives back together as well.

This had clearly startled Steve, and Peggy's earlier suspicions that SHIELD had provided him with less-than-accurate dossiers on his potential team-mates seemed all the more likely, but this was no time for heavy discussion.

The Tower was still empty and silent, but they were greeted upon their entrance to the penthouse by a frantic Pepper, who flung herself into Tony's arms.

Tony, for his part, seemed too exhausted and shaken to put up a front, clinging to Pepper just as tightly, pressing kisses to her head.

Peggy took a step forward to reassure her, only to find herself pulled into the hug as well. "Nat, declassify me, would you?"

Natasha gave a sharp nodded, turning to Bruce and Thor. "Sharon Carter is really her own great-aunt, Peggy Carter, the original Director and one of the founders of SHIELD. She is also, as you know, Lady Liberty. She got a dose of the same serum they used on Captain Rogers," she added, more to Thor than Banner, since the doctor seemed to have figured it out, "and that stops the ageing process, so she had to fake her death a couple of times to make sure no one noticed. The fact that she's still alive …"

"Say no more," Thor said. "You may count on my discretion in this matter."

"And mine," Banner added.

"Thank you," Peggy said, disentangling herself from Tony and Pepper. "Pepper, go and reboot your genius. Tony, we'll talk tomorrow."

"I should …" Pepper began, glancing at her guests.

"Tony showed me the floor plan ages ago," Peggy assured her. "I can handle it."

"JARVIS can help," Tony added, already leading Pepper away.

Peggy raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

Around almost everyone, JARVIS behaved exactly like a security system, not the AI he really was, due to the high chance that strangers would freak out about him.

And Tony was more protective of JARVIS and Pepper than he was himself, so inviting JARVIS to join the conversation, to identify himself as what he really was, was a level of trust she had not expected Tony to show this quickly.

Then again, he was exhausted.

"It would be my pleasure, Agent Carter."

Beside her, Steve jumped a little. "Where …?"

"JARVIS is technically a computer," Peggy explained. "Technically."

"True artificial intelligence," Banner breathed, staring after Tony with renewed respect. "Why doesn't anyone know?"

"Because he's too good," Peggy answered with a sad smile. "It would scare people. And Tony's robots - even the early ones … They're part of his family. JARVIS, the last plan I looked at had a series of spare bedrooms two floors down, is that right?"

"That's correct, Agent Carter. Your suite is one floor down."

Peggy smiled. "That's okay; I'll just take one of the …"

"Don't be ridiculous," Natasha said. "Knowing Stark, those bedrooms aren't going to be any less comfortable, and they'll all have showers."

"Agent Romanov is quite correct, Agent Carter," JARVIS said. "If you'd like to step this way?"

The tiles leading to the elevator lit up, and Peggy followed them with a smile, back into the car, closely followed by the others.

When the doors opened on the next floor and Peggy stepped out, Natasha gave Steve a helpful push before pressing the 'close' button.

"It's fine," Peggy said, forestalling Steve's apology. "I was going to drag you out anyway. JARVIS will help them get to rooms. I'll pop down in a few minutes."

"So artificial intelligence," Steve said. "Banner seemed surprised - I'm guessing it's uncommon?"

"In and of itself, it isn't that uncommon," Peggy answered, stepping through the door JARVIS had automatically opened. "But JARVIS is kind of in a league of his own. Oh, this is lovely."

The 'suite' was actually a large, fully furnished apartment, and they had stepped into a living room that would not have been out of place in her own home.

"I believe Miss Potts had rather a lot of design input," JARVIS informed her.

"I thought she might have done," Peggy said. "It isn't red and gold for a start." She turned to Steve. "Some cell-phones have artificial intelligence to a degree, but if this Tower had that kind of AI built in, I would have had to ask, with very precise wording, who decorated this room. The AI would then have searched the computers and provided me with a list of the decorators Tony hired. JARVIS, however, heard me compliment it, and provided me with extra information he thought I might like. I'm fairly sure Tony didn't realise what he was creating when he started building JARVIS."

Steve looked faintly overwhelmed. "But this isn't common?"

"Not at all," Peggy said. "And if it makes you feel better, technology in general has improved drastically over the last twenty years or so; sometimes it's overwhelming to the people who saw it happen as well."

"That does make me feel better actually," Steve admitted.

Peggy smiled. "Are you injured?"

To give Steve credit, he did seem to consider the question before shaking his head. "I think everything's healed up."

Peggy's own body was aching, so she wasn't about to push him for details. "Alright. Feel free to ask JARVIS questions; he enjoys explaining things. I'm going to pop downstairs and play mum for a while, and then I'll be back, okay?"

"Play mom?" Steve repeated.

Peggy shrugged. "It doesn't happen often. When it does, I roll with it."

She found Thor first.

Whether this was a coincidence, or JARVIS had figured out who would need her the most and the least, and arranged the rooms accordingly, she didn't know, but it was certainly helpful to get the 'easiest' conversation over with first.

He was also, thankfully, fully dressed, since she had heard rumours that Asgardians weren't quite as … body shy as humans - although she did get those rumours from Clint, who had picked them up from Dr Foster's intern, who had been playing beer pong at the time, so they may not have been entirely accurate.

Still, Thor greeted her with a smile, and she returned it as best she could.

"I wanted to check on everyone before I go and collapse."

"Ah, you need not worry about me," Thor said cheerfully. "Stark's Tower has provided me with bathing supplies and clothing."

Where exactly JARVIS had acquired said clothing was a mystery - Peggy supposed he must have scanned them when they entered the Tower and ordered it in while they were eating - or maybe Tony had a giant closet in the basement; she wouldn't put it past him.

"Still," Peggy continued, "it's been a pretty rough day for everyone. Also, I understand that your method of travel between Earth and Asgard is somewhat in disrepair at the moment."

Thor deflated a little. "Yes. The Bifrost has been destroyed. The All-Father had to resort to desperate measures to send me here. The Tesseract will have the power to send us back, but it will not be a permanent solution."

"I thought so," Peggy said. "Am I also right in thinking that you were unable to tell Dr Foster that after your encounter in New Mexico?"

Thor, if possible, looked even sadder. "You are. I told her that I would return. I planned to protect the Earth from threats such as Loki, but I was unable to come back to her."

Peggy smiled. "Well, I can't get you to Norway before you need to leave. Nor can we get Dr Foster to New York in time. Let's try the next best thing, shall we? JARVIS, get me a video link to the SHIELD lap in Tromso please."

"One moment, Agent Carter."

Peggy waited, pulling her cowl back over her face, watching a hologram form in front of her. A moment later, a brunette appeared in the middle of it, but not the one Peggy had been expecting.

The woman in question was younger for a start, and stared at Peggy like she was a ghost.

"Oh … my … Thor … Lady Liberty just appeared on my computer."

"I take it," Peggy said, glancing at the ceiling out of habit, "that it was easier to hack into her computer than the lab itself."

"It was the best I could do on short notice, ma'am."

Peggy shook her head with a smile and addressed the young woman. "Darcy Lewis, I presume."

"Oh my Thor, Lady Liberty knows my name!" The woman squealed, abandoning her pizza.

"You tased a god, Miss Lewis," Peggy said, her smile growing, "and Agent Barton spoke quite fondly of you. Is Dr Foster there? There's someone here who would like to say hello."

"Oh, she's yelling at people," Darcy said, calming down slightly. "We saw what happened in New York, and she's figured out that she was sent here on purpose, and there's … He's there, isn't he?"

"Good evening, Lady Darcy," Thor greeted, stepping up beside Peggy.

Darcy let out another loud squeal and spun around in her chair. "Jane! Jane, get in here!" Then, to Thor, "Are you okay?! We were watching the news, and you were there, and he was there, and they're not telling us anything, and where the hell have you been, and … JANE!"

"Alright, Darcy, I'm coming!" Dr Jane Foster appeared in their line of sight, and Peggy watched in fascination as Thor's face lit up. "What's the … Thor?"

"Well, that's my cue to leave," Peggy said hastily, clapping Thor on the shoulder (and dear God, she thought Steve was nothing but muscle). "Have a nice visit."

She slipped out before Thor (or Darcy, for that matter) could say anything else. "JARVIS," she said pulling her mask back off and tucking it away, "can you please make sure that Miss Lewis has my number and that she knows it is for emergencies only?"

"Certainly, Agent Carter."

Peggy knocked on the next door. This time, it was Dr Banner who invited her in, looking tired and resigned.

"I just want to assure you," she said, before he could speak, "that I meant what I said. You do not need to go anywhere near SHIELD if you don't want to."

"Thank you," he said. "I do appreciate that."

Peggy leaned against the wall, observing him carefully. "How do you feel?"

Banner gave her a small smile. "Better than I usually do after a transformation."

"Do you think that's because you chose to do it?" Peggy asked curiously.

Banner shrugged a little. "Maybe. I've never really thought about it."

Peggy nodded, dropping her gaze. "You know, I've always wanted to apologise to you," she said softly. "If Howard hadn't used the last of the serum on me, he probably could have figured out Erskine's formula."

"And then where would we be?" Banner asked. "Can you imagine if someone like Ross really had managed to create an army of super soldiers?"

Peggy literally shuddered at the thought. "Oh God …"

"Exactly," Banner said heavily. "You don't know me any apology, Agent Carter. I thought I knew what I was getting myself into and now I have a monster to deal with."

"About that," Peggy said slowly, "I'm sure you have far more knowledge of … the Other Guy, and I would never presume otherwise, but … Do you think half the problem is that he's always getting shot at?"

Banner frowned, more in confusion than anything else. "What do you mean?"

"I was on the ground after Harlem," Peggy said. "Contrary to the 'official' position, everyone local agreed that it was Blonsky causing the actual damage; Hulk was just trying to avoid the guns and help people."

"Then why does Ross still insist it was me?" Banner asked.

Peggy snorted. "Seriously? You didn't know what was going to happen, Doctor, but he sure as hell did when he got Blonsky to repeat it. If he admits the truth, he's going to be in big trouble. We did look into fighting him on it," she added, "but by that time, you were hidden abroad, and doing so would have meant dragging you back and … Well, no one thought that was a good idea."

"I would have appreciated a consultation," Banner said, "but I agree. But Blonsky being worse than him doesn't make him not a monster."

"He found me in the middle of that battle," Peggy said, her voice softening, "and handed me a little girl he'd found trapped under rubble. Her leg was half-torn to shreds, and all she could tell me was that the 'green man' had saved her. He asked me about her later, before he let you come back. That's not the actions of a monster, Doctor. That's the action of a being that can think. A being that maybe doesn't have the depth of thought that we do, but can understand the difference between a threat and an ally."

Banner had turned a little white (which was better than green), so she fell silent. "Is she okay?" He asked finally, his voice a low.

"I don't know," Peggy admitted. "I know which officer I handed her off to though, so I can find out tomorrow."

"I'd appreciate that," Banner said quietly.

Even someone who wasn't a spy could read the signs that Banner needed some time to digest this information, so Peggy pushed herself away from the wall and gave him a smile. "I take it you don't require medical assistance?"

Banner shook his head.

"Then I'll leave you to get some rest," Peggy said. "JARVIS monitors pretty much every room in this Tower, so don't worry about a transformation - we'll probably know before you do."

Most people would probably have found that disconcerting, but Banner physically relaxed, and nodded. "Thanks. Is … Is Agent Romanov alright?"

"I don't think Hulk hurt her," Peggy said. "If he did, she didn't say anything to me. But she … She's not one for judging someone on their bad days. Has too many of them herself. But I have to thank you. You saved Tony's life today. Or … the Other Guy did, however you want to word it. You probably know Steve and I were … whatever back in the day, but I'm also Tony's godmother. I will never be able to repay you for this. Or him - or whatever pronouns you want me to use." She stopped, forcing herself to take a deep breath. "But thank you, Doctor."

He gave her a genuine smile, clasping the hand she held out. "I can't take any credit for that, Agent Carter; I can't control the Other Guy. But please, call me Bruce."

"In that case, it's Peggy," she said, opening the door. "Let JARVIS know if there's anything you need."

Bruce thanked her and she bid him goodnight, before making her way along the corridor. If she knew Strike Team Delta at all (and she did), they would be in the room at the end, which had fewer entry points.

Sure enough, her rhythmic knock was answered immediately.

Like Thor and Bruce, they had been provided with clean ones, and Natasha's uniform was lying in a heap on the floor, her weapons set on the small desk, traded in for grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt that was probably Pepper's (or at least had been once).

She gave Peggy a small smile before returning to the bed, where Clint was lying, shirtless and face down. As well as the nasty bruising, his back was littered with cuts and gashes, and Peggy sucked in a breath when she saw it.

"I assume you were going to mention this at some point?"

"I can handle it," Clint said, his voice muffled in the pillow.

Natasha shook her head, leaning over him to clean the wounds with the small field kit she kept with her at all times. It didn't hold a lot, but it did have antiseptic wipes, surgeon's thread, and needles, which would allow her to patch up the worst of his injuries.

Her hair was shorter than it had been for some time, but it still fell into her eyes as she worked, and Peggy stepped up behind her, letting her own hair out of its braid to liberate the tie holding it there.

"Are you sure you weren't 'handling it' to punish yourself?" She asked, tying Natasha's hair back for her. "It wasn't your fault."

"I don't wanna talk about it," he muttered.

Peggy heaved a sigh, and sat down on the pillows beside his head. "Well, you'll have to, kiddo," she said gently, "or you'll be screwed at some point."

"Maybe I wanna be screwed at some point," Clint said with a sigh.

Natasha began sniggering, pausing in her ministration so her mirth wouldn't cause Clint even more damage.

"You're hilarious," he grumbled.

"Be fair," Peggy said with a grin, "you did walk into that one." When he didn't respond, her smile faded, and she laid a hand on his shoulder, where there weren't any lacerations, wincing when she felt how tense his muscles were. "Clint, do you blame Dr Selvig for opening that portal?"

"No," Clint answered, shifting to turn his head (much to her relief - she was beginning to wonder if he was trying to suffocate himself).

"Stop moving," Natasha ordered, her voice uncharacteristically tender. "I'm almost done."

"Why not?" Peggy asked.

Clint sighed. "Because it wasn't his fault. Because Loki took over his mind."

"Then why are you blaming yourself?" Peggy asked gently.

"Done," Natasha announced quietly. "Taking a shower." She leant down to drop a kiss on his cheek in a rare display of affection and swept out of the room almost silently.

Peggy acknowledged her with a nod, her eyes fixed on Clint, who rolled over, grimacing as his stitches pulled slightly, to rest his head in her lap.

"People died," he whispered. "Phil died. In an attack I planned. Loki took over Selvig's mind, but Selvig fought. He built in a cut-off switch."

"You fought," Peggy said, stroking his hair. "Loki ordered you to kill Nick; you shot him in the chest. You know he wears a vest. And I told you, you didn't kill anyone in that attack, either of them. All your shots went wide, aside from the ones to the systems."

"Was she on the carrier?" Clint asked suddenly, his question almost cutting her off. "I don't think she was in New Mexico, but was she on the carrier, is she okay?"

Peggy hesitated. She knew who he meant, of course, but she didn't know the answer to the question. Her mind raced frantically, flying through employee rosters and mission debriefs. She must have been on the carrier - she was a specialist; Nick would have wanted her in.

"Peggy?" Clint prompted, his eyes wide.

"Hang on," Peggy said, retrieving her phone and dialling the number from memory.

Seconds later, a familiar voice answered. "Morse."

Peggy relaxed, the motion travelling through into Clint as well, his eyes fluttering shut with relief.

It would not be unreasonable to assume that Clint and Bobbi didn't get along, given that they were divorced.

It would, however, be inaccurate.

The truth was that Clint and Bobbi adored each other, which was why they had married in the first place.

Clint had even been Bobbi's "bridesman" when she married her second husband, Lance. (Ironically, it was her close friendship with Clint that had ended this marriage as well.)

"Bobbi, it's Sharon," Peggy said - the younger agent knew the truth, but the line was less-than-secure, and Peggy had no idea where she was. "Are we safe to talk?"

"Is this about Clint?" Bobbi asked immediately. "Is he alright?!"

"Worried about you," Peggy answered, looking down at Clint as he started making motions towards the phone. "Were you on the carrier?"

"Yeah, but I'm okay," Bobbi said. "Nearly gave me a heart attack, that missile. Fury's chewing out the agents in question."

Peggy grimaced. As angry as she was with the agent who had launched the missile, she appreciated their position; the Council had used the official override code. "Yeah, I bet he is."

"Put Clint on?"

Peggy handed Clint the phone, and eased his head off her lap to go and talk with Natasha, who had emerged from the bathroom - suspiciously dry, which made Peggy thing that the 'shower' had been an excuse to give her and Clint some privacy.

"Bobbi?" Natasha asked quietly.

Peggy nodded. "He was worried."

Natasha was quiet for a few moments, her gaze fixed on Clint, who was now perched on the edge of the mattress, listening intently to whatever Bobbi was telling him. "Maybe she can get through to him."

"Are you hurt?" Peggy asked.

"Yes," Natasha said honestly. "Nothing that needs serious attention. JARVIS had some ice packs and medication delivered. He can't go back to the carrier. Or HQ. Not yet."

Peggy nodded. "I'll debrief you both tomorrow morning and then deliver them myself. In the meantime, I want you to get him out of New York for a little while. Not out of the country, but somewhere …"

"Away from the chaos," Natasha finished. "I've got a safe-house that might work."

"I don't think the Council will go gunning for him," Peggy said. "Not when they know that we know about the missile, but you never know with them …"

"I'll speak to Bobbi," Natasha said. "Everyone assumes she hates him because she's his ex-wife, so she's more likely to hear something than you. If she lets me know, I can have us off the grid in less than two hours."

Peggy relaxed a little. "Thanks. Hopefully it won't come to that. If you can't get through to him, send him back to me, okay?"

Natasha tilted her head. "If Captain Rogers is upstairs, what are you doing down here?"

"Checking on you, obviously," Peggy answered with dignity. "Tony's going to be preoccupied until tomorrow at least, but the rest of you …"

"Can take care of ourselves," Natasha said firmly, steering her towards the door. "You can get your phone back tomorrow; you won't need it before then."

"But …" Peggy began.

"Peggy," Natasha said with a weary sigh, "be selfish. For once, be selfish. Captain fucking America is in the apartment upstairs and you are not fucking Captain America. This is not acceptable."

Peggy couldn't help laughing, even as her eyes cut towards Clint, who was looking far more relaxed, even though his eyes were still troubled.

"Let me handle him," Natasha told her. "Talking to Bobbi will help, and then I can handle it after that." She smiled. "You love us. We know that. Now go and take care of yourself."