Heads up, there will be some German in this chapter, if you don't speak the language don't worry Peggy will translate it in her head right after it's said. If you do speak German, I apologize for any mistakes I will probably make, and will be extremely grateful if you point them out to me (you know, in a nice, constructive way) in a review or PM. I take German in school but I'm not that far advanced.
Anyway here's the next chapter for you! Hope you enjoy
Daniel couldn't sleep. Every time he shut his eyes all he saw was her. Peggy Carter, the strong, confident woman who could hold her own in any situation. Tied to a chair. Beaten. Broken. Twenty-four hours, down to eight. In eight hours, they'd find Peggy, dead or alive, he did not know. It killed him not knowing. He didn't know how he'd react if they found her dead, probably break down in front of everybody. He hadn't even gone home, he was the only one left on the SSR office, other's had gone home hours ago. He couldn't justify leaving and getting sleep while Peggy was gone. Then something came to him, an idea which was so obvious he wondered how none of them had thought of it before. They had to be keeping Peggy somewhere close enough to get a message here. That little girl, although she was fast, could not have gotten far considering she looked like she hadn't eaten in days. Sousa pulled both Ivchenko's and Zola's file, determined to see if either held any property in the area. He was about to look in the latter file when he heard a faint knock on the door. It was 12:30 in the morning, who on earth could be knocking at the office door? Sousa grabbed his crutch and limped over to the door as fast as he could, pulling it open without thinking about what dangers could lie behind the door. But there was no danger, only the little girl who had given him the message.
"Agent Sousa?" the girl asked in a quiet voice.
"Did-did Dottie ask you to bring me another message?" asked Sousa, fearing the worst had happened.
"No sir. You see sir she paid me to deliver a message, but not to keep silent about what I had been asked to do." Said the girl, shivering from the cold.
"Do you have a home? And folks?" asked Sousa.
"No sir, never knew my mom, my dad died in the war. The woman I was staying with put me out, she did not have enough money to keep me." Said the girl.
"What's your name?" asked Sousa.
"Kat. Kat Baker." Said the girl.
"Come inside, let's get you warmed up, I have some food if you're hungry." Offered Sousa.
"Thank you." Said Kat before walking in past Sousa, Sousa closed the door behind her before following her. Sousa snagged a blanket and chair from another officer's desk and bade her sit.
"Tell me what happened." Said Sousa, Kat took a shaky breath.
"I had just woken up, thinking about scrounging for food, stealing some if I had to, when this lady approached me. She asked me if I wanted to earn some money, when I said yes she asked me to deliver a message for her. She said take it to the telephone operations center and wait for a man with a limp. Give him the message, tell him it's from Dottie and then run back to me and I will pay you for your trouble. This isn't the first time I was asked to do something like this, usually it's a message between friends or lovers who couldn't see each other. But I could tell this was different. She told me to address you as Agent Sousa, that alone told me that you worked for the government. Then Dottie, she may not have noticed, but there was blood on her sleeve, as if she had hit someone. I was curious, as soon as I was far enough away from her, I looked in the envelope. I saw the picture, and read the note. But I was so confused and I knew it would be smart to not get involved. So I did as I was told, and was paid handsomely for it." said Kat.
"You seem very smart for your age, and not just that but you have good instincts. How old are you?" Said Sousa.
"I'm eleven. I guess you could say that my father raised me well." Said Kat.
"Sorry, please continue."
"I made it back to the alley where Dottie found me. She was still there. She gave me five dollars and turned to leave, I asked her if she knew a place where I could stay, get some food. She said to me, 'I'm afraid five dollars won't go that far, my dear, why don't you come with me?' I agreed. She took me by the hand and led me to an abandoned factory in Greenwich Village. Told me its history as if the death of 146 workers in a factory fire was a bedtime story." Daniel knew it well, it was dubbed the Triangle shirtwaist fire. On March 25, 1911, the eighth floor caught on fire but no one could get out because management had locked the doors from the outside to prevent strikers or other people from disrupting the workplace.
"The moment I walked into the factory with Dottie, I heard a scream. I asked her what it was, who else was here, she told me not to worry. She put me in a room with a nice bed and said she'd bring food. I sat on the bed and waited, that's when I heard the second scream, much louder than the first. I got scared, there was a window behind me, I climbed out of it and ran. A few hours ago I decided to come here." Said Kat.
"You made the right decision. I know which factory you mean, but I've never been inside. do you think you could draw me a map?" asked Sousa. Kat nodded.
"Here you go." Said Sousa, handing her a notepad and a pen.
"I was on the second floor, the screams were coming from right above me." Said Kat as she drew.
Peggy was just waking up when she noticed that the two doctors were talking not so quietly near her.
"Ich will ihm gehirnwӓsche geben" said Ivchenko.
I want to brainwash him. That can't be good. Thought Peggy, thinking that they must mean Stark.
"Fϋr was?" asked Zola. For what? That's a good question, thought Peggy.
"Stark ist nicht bis dumm." Said Ivchenkov. Stark isn't stupid. Well, although he is an inventor most of his inventions don't work. Thought Peggy.
"Was kann er fϋr uns tun?" asked Zola. What can he do for us? Translated Peggy.
"Machen Waffen." Said Ivchenkov. Make weapons. Uh oh, though Peggy. Ivchenkov had already gotten to Stark once, who's to say he won't be able to do it again?
"Here you go." Said Kat, handing over the map.
"Thank you, thank you so much. I have to go see a colleague of mine, you're welcome to stay here if you like." Said Sousa.
"No thank you sir, I don't think I will." Said Kat.
"Are you sure? It's much warner here then outside, I'd prefer it, just in case I have some more questions." Said Sousa.
"Well all right then, where can I stay?" asked Kat.
"Right here, sorry we don't have any beds around." Said Sousa, Kat nodded and curled up on the floor under Sousa's desk and was fast asleep within moments. Sousa chuckled and covered her with a blanket. She had a long day. Sousa wrote a quick note just in case an agent came back before he did.
There is an 11 year old girl sleeping under my desk. She's the same girl who brought Dottie's message. Don't wake her, don't hurt her.-D. Sousa. He left the note on the inside of the elevator before leaving. Unfortunately he couldn't get a cab this late, but where he was going wasn't too far.
Daniel got to Jack's house twenty minutes later. He pounded on the door until Jack finally showed up.
"Sousa, what the hell?" asked Jack.
"I know where they're keeping Peggy." Said Sousa.
Thanks for reading!