Author's Note: I said I wanted a multichapter PeggySous fanfiction... well here we are :D

I know the title is kind of a basic play on words, but honestly guys... after 140+ fanfictions and dozens of chapters within those fanfictions... I'm really running out of title ideas XD XD

"This certainly brings back memories," Peggy said as she gazed out of the window. The midday sun was glinting off of endless waves of sand, heat making her view of the world wobble a little.

Daniel was in the driver's seat next to her, one hand clasped loosely on the wheel and the other resting against the door. He too was squinting outside, but it was more to see past the billows of sand hitting the glass in front of him. The windshield wipers were on to get the brunt of it out of his line of sight. They were necessary, but it still felt odd to Peggy to have them on with the sun beaming down.

"If you're about to start fondly reminiscing, our times in the desert were very different," Daniel snarked, wiping at a drip of sweat rolling down from his hairline. They had the air conditioning on by the sun coming in through the windows was still brilliant.

"No fondness here," Peggy assured him. "The only memories I can draw up was a significantly unpleasant fight with Mr. Jarvis and quite a lot of sand in my high-heeled shoes."

Daniel quirked an eyebrow and changed the subject. "We close yet?"

"I believe so," Peggy replied absently, squinting at the map unfolded on her lap. "I would be able to give you a more definite answer if the last landmark hadn't been sand, sand, and more sand."

Her gaze returned to the window, keeping to focus on the next long curve that would signify their arrival. Their target was a rouge nuclear physicist named Dr. Coppor, who was planning to test his nuclear bomb out in the empty swaths of desert available to him in California. The SSR had gotten into his personal files had figured out that, if he set off the bomb where he had planned, the radiation spread would be massive enough to travel across nearly the entire desert and possibly beyond.

So Daniel and Peggy had set out into the oppressive (dry) heat in the hopes of stopping Dr. Coppor before he could detonate the bomb. With any luck, which admittedly came rare to them, they wouldn't be set awash with radiation in the process.

Daniel lazily pushed the wheel to the right and Peggy glanced up. "We're almost there," she reported. The test site had also been taken from Dr. Coppor's person files, and she was dubious as to whether it was even the right spot considering how little they'd seen for so long.

But then Peggy caught site of a large metal structure, blatantly out of place in the middle of the uniform spread of sand. "There, right there!" she cried, putting her hand on Daniel's arm. He stepped on the brakes, their car jerking as it came to a harsh stop.

"Alright," he said, checking to make sure his gun was loaded and fumbling for his crutch. "We get out there, and if he doesn't stand down we take him in the hard way."

"Daniel." Peggy paused fixing up her own gun to look at him. "We don't shoot until he makes a move to activate the bomb. There's no need for unnecessary death."

Daniel dipped his chin, accepting her order. While it may have been true that he, as Chief of the LA division of the SSR, was her superior, he still took nearly all of her opinions into account. Maybe that decision was spurred by the knowledge that she would be in an even higher position than him if the government had room for females in law enforcement. Or maybe he really just respected her judgement.

The two of them got out of the nondescript SSR car and started to walk towards the bomb a couple meters off the side of the road. It would be easy to get turned around without the tether of the car; even the road they'd just been on blended in seamlessly with the rest of the sand.

"Dr. Coppor?" Peggy called, peering around. The wind kicked up and sand bit into the exposed skin of her face and neck. "Wherever you are... we just want to talk."

"Vhy do they always say they vant to talk?" a voice, thick with a Russian accent, came from near the bomb. Then Dr. Coppor stepped out from behind it. He had small device held in his hands: the bomb trigger. Daniel's grip on his gun tightened.

"Because we really do want to talk," Peggy insisted. "At the SSR, we use killing as a last resort. If you'd just put down the trigger and come with us, I'm sure we can figure all of this out."

Dr. Coppor snorted. "You think dis is the trigger for da atomic bomb?" he asked incredulously, holding up the decide. "Dis tiny little thing? No... I voud not be so careless."

Peggy looked cluelessly from him to Daniel, who shook his head a little. "Last chance, Dr. Coppor," he warned. "We're both armed and while we don't want to kill you, we can let you blow that thing up."

"Dis bomb? No, no, I vill not blow it up," Dr. Coppor assured him. "At least... not vhile I am vithin range. Vat vould be the point of all my hard work if I vere to be exploded before I could see da results? No, no. But I do vish for you two to be out of da way. So... no, I vill not blow up dis bomb.." he gestured behind him at the nuke. "But I vill blow up the vone behind you."

And before Daniel or Peggy could absorb the meaning of his words, Dr. Coppor had depressed the trigger in his hand.

A shockwave sent Peggy flying forward. She skidded on her hands and knees, sand spraying everywhere from inside her mouth to down her shirt. Her ears rang and she felt herself coughing, but the world around her was hazy. Was it smoke? More sand?

She couldn't figure it out before she lost sense of everything and fell unconscious.

Author's Note: A short little prelude (prelude? prologue XD) to start off... other chapters will be longer.