Hope you enjoy!
Michael was dreaming, he was sat at a table with a beautiful woman and a man. The woman held up a glass.
"A toast! To my two favorite men, meeting at last!" she said, smiling. Michael smiled and raised his glass with hers as the man kissed her cheek.
"Go on Peggy slug it back. You won't beat your old brother this time, I've been practicing" said Michael.
"Michael, not here!" scolded Peggy, looking down at her glass sheepishly. The other man looked at her.
"You can do that?" he asked.
"Not recently" she assured him, rubbing a hand on his arm. Peggy cleared her throat.
The man turned to Michael.
"So, Michael, tell me, how go's it at the front?" he asked.
"Well, there are lots of Nazis there and they tend to shoot at you a great deal," responded Michael dryly, Peggy shot him a look that said what are you doing? Be nice!
"Other than that the scenery's splendid" Michael continued without paying any attention to her.
"Do let me know, if there's anything you feel the Home Office isn't providing. I have a direct line to command, consider me your personal concierge.
"That's very kind of you Fred," said Michael, smiling, though clearly laughing at him. At this Peggy jumped in
"Did I tell you I was recruited to be a spy?" she said, laughing.
"We turned them down of course," said Fred.
"Hmm" said Peggy
"Did we?" asked Michael, looking at Peggy.
"Can you imagine? Risking life and limb behind enemy lines doing God knows what? That's not our Peg. One thing I've learnt from the war. A boring life is a privilege.
The men finished their drinks, Michael in one go.
"I'll get us a top up," offered Fred, standing up to leave.
"So…" said Peggy "What do you think?" eager for her brother's approval.
"What does it matter what I think you're the one marrying him," answered Michael
"Of course it matters! I want you to like him," she insists
"Why did you turn down the SOE job" he asks, catching her off guard.
"It's just…wasn't the plan that we had for our lives, how did you know it was SOE?" she asks
"Because I recommended you," he admits.
"Michael! You should have told me!"
"Look Peggy I know you better than anyone else alive. And this isn't what you want,"
"What is it that you think I want?"
"The same thing you've wanted since you were a little girl, a life of adventure," he smiles at her
"I've grown up, my dreams changed"
"No you just let everyone else drum them out of you. Fred's a nice enough chap but be honest, is he the love of your life is this really how you see the future?"
"This is my engagement party, Michael!" she can't believe he's saying this.
"Not your wedding day, there is still time to change your mind"
"I don't have to listen to this" Peggy starts to get up from the table , Michael stops her.
Don't worry what other people think. You are meant to fight, stop pretending to be someone that you're not." Peggy wrenches her arm out of Michael's grasp and leaves the table
"Peg…Peggy come back!" He says, but she's gone.
A bang jolts Michael awake
"Michael! Michael, look at this!" Filip burst into the room and thrust a piece of paper into Michael's hand.
"What is it?" Michael asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"Look" insisted Filip, Michael looked down at the news clipping in his hands. On the front was a picture of a beautiful woman, a woman who looked very familiar to him.
"Do you know who this is?" asks Filip.
"I…I just had a dream about her. It's Peggy, my sister," said Michael, smiling in disbelief
"Read the caption"
"Margaret Carter joins the SSR in New York after the death of Captain America," read out Michael.
"I asked around like you asked, and there is one Margaret Carter to be found, this one," is it her, your sister? What was your dream about? Another memory from your childhood?"
"No, not our childhood, we were older. She looked in the dream almost exactly like this photo," said Michael.
"This article is only a year or two old, I say we get you a ticket to New York," said Filip.
"Yes, thank you Filip, thank you!"
New York
"Me? An agent of the SSR? Are you feeling alright, Chief?" asked Angie, Daniel chuckled.
"I'm serious Angie. I've learned in the last few years that a female agent is a true asset that we need, we need more than just Peggy on our side. No one suspects a woman, and we know you're a great actress, you can cry on command for God's sake. You are already helping us out a lot with this case. You're quick on your feet, you think well. I think with some serious training you could be a match for Peggy," said Daniel.
"Hmm, I'll consider it, I can give you an answer tomorrow,"
"That's all I ask, thank you,"
Yugoslavia
The people of Yugoslavia were nothing if not generous beyond their means. Within hours enough money was raised for two plane tickets to New York. By midafternoon Michael and Filip had packed a bag each and were ready to leave.
"You don't have to come with me, you've done so much already, Filip," said Michael,
"I'm with you, we'll find your family, besides, I've never been outside of Yugoslavia, it will be an adventure," said Filip.
"Thank you, you're a true friend," said Michael, putting his hat on his head. He was wearing his uniform, freshly cleaned. He hadn't worn it since he first came here but it seemed right to.
"Ready to return to your life?" asked Filip,
"Absolutely," said Michael.
New York
Angie walked out of Daniel's office and closed the door behind her, Peggy looked up from her desk,
"Want to help me with this box of stuff? Carlisle liked to write about his whole life it seems, there's a lot here," asked Peggy, Angie walked over to her.
"Sure, I'll help. What are we looking for?" asked Angie, picking up a few pages.
"Anything that could be about our Russian spies, they like to get to know their targets he might mention one of them," said Peggy.
The two worked mostly in silence for a time.
"So are you going to ask me what Daniel wanted?" asked Angie.
"Sorry, what did Daniel want to speak to you about?" asked Peggy, looking up from what she was reading.
"He offered me a position, here in the SSR," said Angie.
"Really? That's amazing! Did you accept?" asked Peggy,
"I told him I would think about it," said Angie,
"Ok well is there anything you want to ask me?" asked Peggy.
"Not at the moment, you have already told me what you do here. It sounds exciting, and I love the idea of helping people. But I wonder if I'm cut out for it, if I'm tough enough, strong enough,"
"I wondered that too, when I was recruited for the SOE…" said Peggy
"Is this the famous Peggy Carter origin story? Do I get to listen?" asked Daniel with a smile, he was walking up to them.
"I was just coming over to ask if I could take the two of you out to dinner," he said.
"Are you sure you want me along? I know I interrupted something earlier…" said Angie, looking between Peggy and Daniel.
"Absolutely, after all, I have a story both of you need to hear, let's get our coats," said Peggy.
Just under an hour later, the three of them were sitting at a table in a nice restaurant.
"So, you were recruited by the SOE, how come?" asked Angie.
"My older brother, Michael, gave them my name. We grew up play fighting with swords, both of us being knights saving the princess. He always encouraged me, for a long time he was the only one in my life who didn't expect me to behave like a lady all the time. He enlisted to fight in the war first chance he got, I wanted to help out too of course so I trained and became one of the girls spotting planes on RADAR. While doing that job and Michael and I were apart, much to my mother's happiness I began to behave more like a lady. I met a man, Fred, and I thought I was in love. Fred asked me to marry him and I said yes. It was then my superior told me about the SOE, but Fred shot the idea down immediately and I didn't fight him on it. I thought he was what I wanted. Michael got leave to come to my engagement party, and we had a fight about how I was living my life. Michael claimed that a life with Fred, as nice as he was and as comfortable I would be, was not the life I was meant to lead. He told me it was him who recommended me for the SOE job, basically said I was a fool not to take it, tried to convince me too break off things with Fred. I was so angry with him, with what he was saying because I knew he was right but I was too scared to do anything about it. I stormed away from angrily that night, and that was the last time we ever spoke. A few months later I was trying on my wedding dress with my mom when a pair of soldiers came to the door. Michael had died in combat. In honor of him, I broke things off with Fred and finally accepted the SOE job. So that's where I started, I didn't think I could do this work either Angie, but I'm glad I made the choice I did," said Peggy.
"I'm sorry about your brother, Peg," said Daniel.
"Thank you," said Peggy.
"Alright, I've made up my mind," said Angie suddenly, she looked at Daniel and stuck out her hand.
"I'll take you up on your offer,"
"Angela Martinelli, welcome to the SSR," said Daniel, taking her hand and shaking it.
Yugoslavia
"Hello, how can I help you today?" asked the ticket agent.
"Are there any planes flying to New York?" asked Filip,
"Not today, not for a while, I'm sorry,"
"Please I need to get home to my sister," said Michael,
"I'm sorry sir but I can't conjure up a plane out of midair.
"Trying to get to New York? I can help with that," said a man behind them, Michael and Filip turned around.
"You're going to New York too?" asked Michael.
"Name's Timothy Dugan, my pals and I need to visit an old friend. Your turn,"
"Michael Carter, my friend Filip. I'm trying to find my sister," said Michael.
"Carter, huh?" asked Timothy, looking Michael up and down.
"Does that mean something to you?" asked Michael.
"The war ended a few years ago, why are you just now trying to get back?" asked Dugan, dodging Michael's question.
"I've had some trouble with my memory, until a little while ago all I knew about myself was my first name. It's slowly been coming back to me. I know my name is Michael Carter and I have a sister named Margaret," said Michael, not holding anything back.
"Come with me," said Dugan,
I'll try and write the next chapter tomorrow, but right now it's 2am and I need to sleep. Thanks for reading! Leave a review with your thoughts if you are so inclined.