Chapter 17: The Dog Incident of '09
Disclaimer: No Marvel for me so I have made myself a sadness blanket burrito to hide in until the next Marvel movie.
Secondary Warning: So I kinda have an actual, real job now. Woo! *sarcasm* Sadly, I need money to survive and being a fangirl doesn't pay well. Fandoms only pay in feels. Anyway, school is also starting soon. So updates may be slower. I'm shooting for once a week, hopefully. Thank you for the continued support, y'all.
Also due to some circumstances (like temporarily misplacing my Avengers DVD right before a fight scene that requires me to watch it to write it) I've done another tidbit of the past.
Oh and one more thing, I'm working on some cute little ficlets about Eve and everyone which I will eventually share with y'all. Please send any specific prompt requests that you would like to see.
Evan got me a puppy for my twenty second birthday. I'd been begging for one since I started at Rogers Academy. My room was covered with pictures of my dogs back home. Not having a dog, or any pet at all, was like missing a limb to me. I need animals in my life. A decent portion of my happiness requires the presence of animals within my immediate vicinity.
I was denied a pet for years, because the Academy was so strict that it was borderline suffocating. I was an asset, an asset that while needed to be used also needed to be "protected". (As I look back now, it was more about control then my "safety".) All the higher ups were like the worst kind of overprotective parents. Everyone of my rank or lower were nice though so it wasn't all bad. My team in particular were a definite bright spot. Then after the procedure, the big wigs made it seem like I had a degree of freedom while actually tightening my leash. What can I say? I didn't see what they were doing at the time and after I did see most of my faith in people crumbled, especially people who try to order me around.
But that's getting off topic. The point is, Evan was the bestest friend ever. He went out, got me the exact kind of puppy we had had back home, and snuck it into my room on my birthday. I immediately named him Dog in honor of my mama. I hide him in my room for two weeks before we were discovered.
The suits probably would have taken him away if it hadn't been for the original leader of Rogers Academy, Leroy Jackson, and the one and only Peggy Carter. Yeup, that's right, you heard me correctly. Did you really think the government would start a Super Soldier Serum Program named Rogers Academy without her knowing about it? She liked to visit the Academy from the very beginning.
I adored the woman. She's my hero. She's just... the absolute best.
Anyway, she happened to stop by for a visit right in the middle of the suits and I arguing about me keeping Dog. Leroy thought I should be allowed to keep him, but that didn't stop the Board, as I called them, from arguing with him. I, in turn, argued with them in Leroy's place. It escalated very quickly into a screaming match. Evan tried to calm them down, but calm had lost all meaning to me. I was not going to let them take my puppy away from me like they did my family.
Peggy may or may not have walked in right as I was about to throw a chair at the a particularly irritating Board member.
...That could possibly, maybe, kinda be what happened….
Peggy's mere presence made all of us fall silent. She may have been like 88 at the time, but that woman will forever be intimidating. I, of course, was totally humiliated. Here I was about to throw a chair at a guy only to be seen by my mentor that I practically worshipped. My face was all kinds of red.
Then Peggy patted me on the back and joined my crusade to keep my dog.
I really shouldn't have been surprised, Peggy Carter is famous for standing up to anyone in the way of something she wants. Together with the threats of pain via chair and stapler, we got the Board to see our side and I got to keep Dog.
We left the room in triumph. Peggy even told me she was proud of me. I was beaming for an entire week.
That was the last time I saw Peggy before her diagnoses.
Dog was Evan's last birthday present to me.
My life kind of went downhill from there.
