Hey everyone sorry for the delay. I moved back home and it's been kind of hard to find a quiet place to just get in the zone to write. Luckily my brother works the night shift and I managed to get this done. Let me know what you think. thanks for all the support. Enjoy :)
Three Weeks Later-
It had been a day since I had taken my board exams. I felt very confident but the exam proctors were very hard to read making me rethink every answer I had given them.
I was sitting across the table from dad checking my email constantly.
"Nora refreshing your email is not going to make them give you an answer any faster." Dad said.
"No but it makes me feel like I'm doing something." I said refreshing my phone for the hundredth time.
"I'm taking that." He said as he stood up and leaned over the table and took the phone out of my hand.
"My phone…" I said dramatically.
"Finish your BLT." Dad said.
"I'm not hungry. How can I eat when my entire future's on the line." I said.
"Nora your future is not on the line. You have three masters degrees, a Ph.D and an MD. If you fail you try again."
"If I fail I have to wait an entire year to take it again." I deadpanned.
"Would that be such a bad thing? You're only twenty; you'd still be one of the youngest surgeons ever. You could stay in New York…" That made me cough as I was drinking some water.
"Dude, knock on wood. I can't fail. I'm too young to have to do a residency so if I fail I'm going back to Afghanistan. Being the kid genius in a residency program not ideal." I said.
"That's your plan B?" Dad said.
"It's a plan, One I really don't want to have to resort to." I said.
"We need to get out of the city for a while." Dad said.
"I don't think that's the best idea." I said picking at my fries.
"Nora you can't stay holed up in the penthouse until you get an answer.
"Then what am I supposed to do. I've already been to the Met three times. I go to central park daily. I don't think shopping is going to work seeing as I still haven't repeated an outfit in three weeks. I don't know what to do."
"You're panicking." Dad said.
"I'm panicking." I confirmed.
"Let's go." He said putting down money on the table and getting up.
"But…"
"Now." He said.
I grabbed my coat and followed after him. Fans were lining up next to his car. Luckily I had sunglasses and a chunky knit headband. I had seen enough gossip magazines to know the best way to cover my face so I wouldn't show up in photos.
I walked as fast as I could avoiding cameras and got in the car. I had been doing this a lot. Our outing had shown up on a gossip magazine along with photos of us taking in the sights and going to lunch and dinner. Pepper had actually confronted Dad and asked if he was cheating on her. Dad gave her the same excuse he had given Coulson and said he decided to join a mentorship program at MIT and that was how we had met. He also added that he was trying to convince me to take a job at SI, which was why he was showing me around the city. She said it sounded like something he would do and said she was happy Dad was getting out of the lab.
"Where are we going?"
"I miss Malibu, the house was isolated had a great view of the ocean."
"So we're going to the beach." I said.
"Yeah, Somewhere I always wanted to take you to when you were a kid."
An hour later dealing with traffic we made it to Coney Island. The amusement park was closed but the pier was open. It was really empty which was nice.
"Hard to find a place around here that isn't crowded." I said taking in the empty boardwalk.
"Yeah, haven't been here in ages." Dad said.
We were quiet as we stared out into the ocean. Then there was a distinct ding that came from my phone. Dad pulled it out of his coat pocket and handed it to me.
"I think you just got your results back."
"I can't open it." I said looking down at my phone.
"Just click the button." Dad said.
"This answer changes everything. What if I failed? I'm not ready to open it."
"Nora, it's just a test not the end of the world."
"I don't want to fuck up and if I did this past year was for nothing. Disappearing for six months would have been for nothing and I'll feel even worse than I already do for leaving you alone." I said wiping the tears from my eyes.
"Nora, I can't say that what you did was okay because it wasn't. After New York the only thing I wanted was to make sure you were okay. Knowing you were as far away as possible from that mess was what kept me going but you disappearing broke me more that flying through that wormhole ever did."
"I'm so sorry." I sobbed.
"Kid, I'm not saying it to make you feel bad." He said giving me a side hug. "I don't like that you put yourself at risk like that but I understand why you did it. You've always been selfless and put others well being before your own that's what's going to make you a great doctor. So no matter what happens you'll figure it out and you'll be okay."
"You're the best Dad ever." I said crying.
"Why are you so emotional today?" Dad said confused as I hugged him.
"I've been really stressed and I'm on my period." I said.
"That explains it. So are you going to open it?"
"Not yet. I need Ice cream and champagne. Ice cream if I failed and for PMS and champagne because I've always wanted to celebrate by making a mess by opening a bottle."
"I've got both of those at the tower." He said.
"Let's go."
Another hour of driving in gridlocked traffic and as dad aptly put it wasting away the potential of his car's engine we finally made it to the tower. We ran to the elevator and almost as if Jarvis knew we were in a rush we made it up to the ninety fifth floors in half the time.
"Champagne bottle is in the fridge behind the bar." He said I ran for it and slid over the bar. I opened it and saw the bottle in there.
"Got it." I said.
"I got the ice cream." Dad said with the pint in his hand. "open the email."
"Wait, the champagne's going to make a mess we should do it outside." I said.
"I have people that come and clean every morning. Stop staling." Dad complained.
"Okay, I'm looking for it and here it is."
"Grab the bottle." Dad said giving it to me.
"I'm opening it and Congratulations Doctor AHHH!" I said as I popped the bottle open and threw my phone somewhere. "I did it! I'm board certified!" I yelled out. The Champagne was splashing everywhere.
"You did it!" Dad said picking me up and spinning me in a hug.
Then the elevator dinged and Rhodey walked in mid hug.
"What is going on in here?" Rhodey said.
Dad and I answered at the same time.
"I'm board certified."
"She's board certified"
"You passed?!" Rhodey said.
"I passed!" I shouted.
"We need to celebrate." Dad said.
"Yes." Rhodey said.
"It's a bit last minute don't you think." I said.
"You go to the pent house and dress up. I'll pick you up and we're going to dinner." Dad said.
"Okay… Wait how am I supposed to get to the penthouse?" I asked.
"Happy's downstairs." Dad said while dialing a number on his phone. I got in the elevator and went downstairs.
Happy drove me to the penthouse and I went upstairs and dug through my closet looking for something to wear. I curled my hair and left it down. I then picked out a navy half sleeved body con dress with black lace printed line on each sleeve and from the bust to the hip on each side.
I slipped on some black pumps. I grabbed some diamond stud earrings and my arc reactor necklace.
My phone rang alerting me I had gotten a text.
We're downstairs
I grabbed a black coat and went downstairs. Dad brought the limo. I'm never going to get used to that.
"Hey." I greeted. "It's been a while."
"Half an hour without you is too long" Dad said sarcastically.
"What would you ever do without me?" I retorted.
"Same thing I did last time. Fill up your voice mail and not sleep." Dad said.
"How about we change the subject before you two have another falling out cuz the last one ended with you getting kidnapped in Afghanistan?" Rhodey said.
"Why do all of our arguments of problems end with one of us spending time in Afghanistan?" I said.
"Let's just agree to stay away from that entire area." Dad said.
"Agreed" I said. "So what are we having for dinner."
"You'll see." Dad said.
Dad apparently reserved an entire restaurant. Not just any restaurant, a sky high restaurant where most people had to waitlist almost an entire year to get reservations.
"How did you manage this in half an hour?" I asked.
"I know the guy who manages the restaurant, known him for years. Told him what was going on and he closed the place down."
"Nice."
We sat down and ordered drinks. I stuck with a glass of water with a lemon wedge but dad gave a look saying 'really'.
"We'll have a bottle of red wine, the one I put on reserve."
Dinner was a blast. By the end of the meal dad and Rhodey had made me snort so many times I had to stop them from making any more jokes.
Before dessert was about over Dad decided to make a toast. Cliché Dad moments I wouldn't change for the world.
"I know this was last minute and there's only three of us but," He started before I interrupted him.
"We're the only three that matter and I wouldn't change this for the world." I said.
"Here, here." Rhodey said.
"As I was saying, We're here to celebrate the fact that Nora just became the youngest person ever to become a board certified surgeon. I know because I checked. I am beyond proud of you. You're an amazing doctor and I am the luckiest man in the world to have you as a daughter. So a toast to Nora." Dad said.
"To Nora, I'm proud of you kid." Rhodey said.
"Thank you." I said tearing up a bit.
"I wouldn't be anywhere without you two. So thank you Dads." I said making Rhodey tear up.
"Was not expecting that." Rhodey said looking away so he could wipe tears.
"Same" Dad said tearing up.
"Ooooh desserts here." I said.
We chatted a bit more before it was late and they had to close down the restaurant. The drive back was quiet. Rhodey and dad were bickering over some mission Rhodey had been on recently and how the military grade weapons the military had loaded the suit with were weak. Dad wanted to upgrade and brought up the Iron Patriot debacle. It was pretty funny to watch.
"We're here boss." Happy called out.
"This is my stop." I said.
"Good night kid, I'll see you at breakfast." Dad said.
"You sure? Cuz my morning starts pretty early." I reminded him.
"Right better make that lunch." He said.
"How about instead of going out I make us lunch?" I offered.
"I can cook us…" Rhodey started before dad and I interrupted him.
"NO!" We said at the same time.
"Hating much." Rhodey said.
"Last time you cooked I didn't leave the bathroom for an entire day." Dad said.
"I had to get my stomach pumped." I said.
"That was not on me, that was just a coincidence."
"I'd rather not risk it." I said. "Lasagna okay with both of you?"
"Yes!" They all answered including Happy.
"Okay, one o'clock good for everyone?"
"That's good but how about you use the kitchen at the tower. It's never been used before and this could be a good test run." Dad offered. I was a bit hesitant about being at the tower. I didn't want to risk running into Doctor Banner. It had been three weeks and I was still in the clear but my luck couldn't last forever.
'It's okay Nora, he doesn't always remember what the hulk does. You can go. It's your last few days in New York spend them with your father' The stones voice echoed in my head.
"Your kitchen is state of the art…" I said giving in.
"Great give Jarvis your grocery list and they'll leave in in the fridge. I'll send happy for you tomorrow." Dad said.
"Okay, night." I said hugging Dad before hugging Rhodey.
I made my way upstairs and logged on Skype. Half a minute later a very familiar ringtone started ringing. It was a group chat.
"Hey guys." I said happily. It had been so long since we had been together or even chatted at the same time.
"Nora." Jess cried out.
"Hey Nora," Sam greeted.
"How are you?" Wren greeted. He looked beat. I looked around his background and I could tell he wasn't at the base. I gave him a look and he just shook his head.
"I have news. I passed my boards." I said.
"Oh shit!" Jess said.
"That's amazing Nora!" Sam said.
"I knew you could do it." Wren said with a small smile.
"I did have a great teacher." I answered.
"Listen guys we'd love to stay and chat but we both have early mornings." Jess and Sam could probably tell I needed to talk to Wren. I was not the only one that noticed he was acting off.
"Okay, night guys give Axl and Connor and hug and a kiss for me." I said.
"We will night." They said before they signed off.
"How are things over there?" I asked.
"Same as ever." Wren answered a bit too quickly.
"That's bullshit, you're not at the base, I can tell from the background and crappy signal. You look like you haven't slept in days and you keep looking away from the computer. What's going on?" I said.
"Nora, can you not, please." He said utterly exhausted.
"You're starting to worry me. Am I going to have to get on a plane over there?"
"NO! You are by no means to come anywhere near this shithole." He said.
"Wren tell me what's going on." I demanded.
"You're better off not knowing."
"Doesn't matter. Spill." I said.
"Two weeks ago I…." then Wren was interrupted by gunshots and explosions in the background.
"Wren, What's going on?"
"Nora… the…." He said before the call cut off.
"No no no no, Wren, Wren!" I said trying to call him again but the call wouldn't go through.
"Jarvis can you trace the location the call was made?" I asked.
"The call was encrypted and the IP address was scrambled, there is no way to trace the call." Jarvis said.
"Damn it." I said.
"Would you like me to call Mr. Stark?" Jarvis asked.
"No, I'll deal with it." I said. I got out of bed and went to grab my laptop. There was no way I was going to bed until I found out that Wren was okay. I was about to break so many laws, so so so many laws and international agreements.
I grabbed my laptop and got to work. "Jarvis the penthouse is going dark." I said.
"Shall I turn off the lights?" He said.
"Not that type of dark." I said.
"Miss I believe calling your father would be the best course of action. You are putting yourself in danger.
"Program override, Winter is coming." I said.
"User Stark, Nora E, Override accepted." Jarvis said. "Awaiting orders Ma'am."
"All monitoring and recording devices shut down now. No one comes in or out of the Penthouse. Any out going signals are scrambled so there is no way they lead back here. Same with anything we get back. Decrypt it, run it through some random Russian hacker's server and then bring it back here and wipe it from them."
"And what will we be hacking?" Jarvis said.
"Jarvis no one says hack anymore. It's not the eighties we're simply liberating a bit of information to make sure a friend is okay."
"And whose information shall we be liberating?" Jarvis asked.
"US military, bring up any active ops being run out of Kandahar and Bagram base in Afghanistan also bring up the list of any squadrons currently on patrol." I said.
"There are currently two hundred and sixteen mission being run out of Bagram airbase."
"Shit, need to narrow it down. Go through them and find the one Major Wren Spencer is actively was sent on as medical support."
"Major Spencer is not listed as medical support for any currently active missions." Jarvis said.
"Jarvis I was on the phone with Wren over an hour ago and he was not at the base so where the hell is he?" I said.
"Major Spencer is not listed on any rosters. Officially he is still working on the base's infirmary."
"Where could he be?" I said to myself. In the six months I was in Afghanistan Wren didn't have a ton of friends. I was his only friend and even that was a rocky relationship. He stayed out of the field until the bombing at the clinic. He was nervous when I told him Ross was the one who debriefed me… Oh shit.
"Jarvis is General Thaddeus Ross still stationed at Bagram Base?"
"General Ross is currently stationed at a satellite base in Helmand." Jarvis answered.
"Meaning he's in the middle of nowhere sleeping in a Humvee or tent."
"Bring up all missions he's led in the past month."
"All of his missions are highly classified."
"Cut through the red tape I'm on a deadline." I said.
"All fifteen missions are right here." Jarvis said as he projected them above me. Why was I using a laptop when I could have been using that?
"Anything about Major Spencer?" I said.
"No ma'am, every person involved in these missions is only named by their call sign." Jarvis said.
"Fuck, spark strike, blaze, frostbite, mirage, what kind of call signs are these?" I kept reading through them until I stopped at Flicker.
"Jarvis if you had the power to teleport anywhere in the world would you call your self flicker?"
"It would be an accurate description of said abilities."
Ross was reassigned for an incident involving the Hulk. He had an unhealthy interest in enhanced individuals. He had Wren and I under constant watch and Wren wanted me as far away as possible from there.
"Where is this team currently stationed?" I asked.
"The last mission assigned to them was to capture a rebel base in Helmut. Their last check in was thirty six hours ago." Jarvis alerted.
"Was the mission sanctioned?" I asked.
"According to records general Ross was assigned the mission but the full details of who was assigned was not disclosed."
"Does that mean what I think it means?"
"I believe there is sufficient evidence to Court Marshall General Ross." Jarvis said.
"We can find out where Wren is."
"Actually Ma'am this may be ground for early honorable discharge and compensation."
"What do you suggest?" I said.
"If these files were to mysteriously make their way to the Secretary of Defense, then he would do everything possible to cover his tracks and make sure this never sees public eyes."
"But Ross wouldn't pay for what he did." I said angrily.
"The evidence is purely circumstantial and the general has many allies. He would be court marshaled and found not guilty but it would force his superiors hand to call off any missions that are currently active."
"Wren would be safe."
"Yes Ma'am." Jarvis said.
"Okay, do it and make it very clear the general is to be taken off active duty or this hits every news outlet in the world." I said.
"I will make it as threatening as you wish Ma'am, may I remind you, the car Mr, Stark sent for you is downstairs."
"What how?" I looked over at the clock and saw it was ten twenty in the morning.
"Oh shit. Jarvis clear all evidence of everything I did. And send my shopping list to dad's personal shopper." I said.
"That's been taken care of. I took the liberty or getting the list of necessary ingredient from your home server."
"You're a godsend." I hopped in the shower and got dressed. I picked out some dark jeans and a charcoal grey long sleeve with a blue plaid button up over it. I put on some tan heeled ankle booties with belts on the sides. I topped it off with a dark grey utility jacket and a dark plum infinity scarf. I put on my necklaces and headed out the door.
The drive was quiet and short. I thanked Happy before heading up to the common room and started cooking. I was so caught up with what I was doing I didn't notice someone come in.
"Uh, sorry I didn't know someone was in here." Some one said behind me. I turned around and saw a man wearing tan pants and a purple shirt. He had curly hair and was wearing glasses. I could tell he hadn't slept in a while.
"Sorry I got caught up making the lasagna, you must be Doctor Banner." I said smiling and internally freaking out. If he remembered he might hulk out. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm a huge fan of your work on anti electron collisions." I said shaking his hand.
"Uh, thanks. I'm sorry but do I know you from somewhere you seem familiar." He said shyly.
"Uh I doubt it. I'm Nora, I'm Tony's mentee." I said.
"So you're Nora. That explains why he hasn't been around lately."
"Yeah he's trying to convince me to move to New York."
"You don't live in New York?"
"No I'm from Dallas, I was just in town for board exams."
"Board Exam? As in surgical board?"
"Yeah I'm a surgeon and as of yesterday a board certified one."
"Oh congratulations."
"Thank you,"
"I just wanted to grab some tea and I'll be out of your way."
"You're not in the way. Besides I just put it in the oven, I'm just cleaning up."
"Still I should go."
"Okay, I'll have Jarvis call you when lunch is ready." I said with a small smile.
"Uh, thanks." He said grabbing his mug and walking out. Ten minutes later both dads showed up.
"Hello." I said.
"Something smells good in here." Rhodey said.
"That'd be the lasagna." I said.
"Where did you learn to cook because you did not get that from me." Dad said looking at the lasagna through the oven window.
"You just read and follow directions. Not that hard." I said. Just as dad was about to say something my phone started ringing. A picture of Wren I managed to take one time during our all nighter game of thrones marathon when he saw Ned Stark being beheaded. His reaction was priceless.
"I gotta take this." I got my phone and walked over to the balcony. "Wren," I said hoping it was actually him.
"Hey," he greeted.
"Holy shit your scared the crap out of me last night. Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah I'm fine. Camp got raided by rebels. Been stuck in the infirmary for hours. I just got the all clear to fly back." He said.
"What, fly back?" I said.
"I just got an honorable early discharge. You get me back three weeks early." He said.
"Holy shit that's great." I said tearing up.
"Yeah apparently there were orders from above, the entire squad got discharged extra pay too."
"I get you back three weeks early. Oh crap the house still isn't ready. I;m still in New York." I said freaking out.
"Nora breath, it's okay. This is better, I can use a vacation. Always wanted to see all the sights in New York not just speed through. I should be there tomorrow around noon." He said.
"I'll be there." I said.
"I'll send you my flight details during the layover. See you tomorrow." Wren said.
"See you tomorrow." I said hanging up. I walked back inside not being able to take the smile off my face.
"You look happy." Dad said.
"Wren got discharged early. He'll be here tomorrow." I practically shouted.
"That's great Nora." Rhodey said. "I can finally meet the guy my daughter will be living with."
"I'm picking him up tomorrow." I said.
"So that means you're going back to Dallas early." Dad said disappointed.
"Actually Wren said he needed a vacation so we're going to stick around for a bit. Might even drag him to Disney world while I'm at it." I said. The timer went off and I pulled the lasagna out of the oven. I had Jarvis call up Doctor Banner. We all ate our food, laughed a bit and talked shop. After that we all went our separate ways. I went back to the penthouse and started setting up the spare room for Wren. I skyped Jess and Sam to tell them the good news. They were excited.
I settled down and started watching a bit of TV before the chills started. I got to hand it to the stone. The two other times this month it sent me somewhere it waited until I was completely free. The two times it had been to Asgard back when Loki and Thor were still teenagers.
"Okay, let's do this." I said. It was a good thing I still had my scarf and shoes on instead of my pjs.
I stood up and closed my eyes as the glowing started. When it finally died down I was in the middle of a deserted snowy road.
"Oh great, as if I hadn't had enough snow in my life already." I said. Then in the distance I saw a pair of car lights in the distance. I started waving my arms around trying to get them to stop. As they got closer I saw it was actually a military truck like the one the commandos used during the war.
They started slowing down and pulled over. I heard the door open. I couldn't really see much since the lights were still blindingly bright and focused right at me.
"Nora?" I heard a familiar voice. The lights were turned off and I saw a bowler hat I would recognize anywhere.
"DumDum?" I said.
"What the hell are you doing here kid?" He said coming over and pulling me into a bear hug.
"You know me, I go where the stone takes me." I said.
"Well your timing is as great as ever." He said. "Come one I'll introduce you to the lotta of them." Dum Dum said.
The new commandos were younger than the original but just as dedicated as they were.
"You're timing is spot on, Peggy called us yesterday. Her team from the SSR needed back up to check up a lead on a black market weapons deal going on in Belarus. Something about your grandfather's inventions being stolen." DumDum said.
"Oh yeah, past me must have been here a few days ago. It's been months since I was last in 1946." I said.
"Time traveling hasn't gotten any easier?"
"Turns out the stone has a name, Aya." I said.
"It's a girl?"
"It's a girl or at least it takes a girl's form, mine to be exact."
"Seriously?"
"Yup, what about you, I would've thought you'd have gone back home already. It's been almost a year since the war ended," I said and that made DumDum flinch for a second.
"I went home for about a month but everything was too…"
"Boring?" I asked.
"So boring it was the same thing over and over again. Then Philips asked if there was any way to help clean up some loose ends in Germany and I got on the first ship out of there." He said.
"I understand after Steve… I got back to my own time and nothing made sense anymore. It got pretty bad for a while. Made a ton of mistakes the biggest one involved me running away from my problems. I disappeared and joined the army." I said.
"You joined the army? They let women enlist?" Dum Dum said.
"This war changed everything. What a woman can and can't do. It opened doors in ways you can't even imagine. Women like Peggy made it possible for women in my time to be able to do so many things. Joining the army, Become doctors."
"The future sounds like a great place." DumDum said.
"It has its ups and downs but you take what you can get."
"We're almost at the rendezvous point." Pinky called out from the back.
"I'm expecting a lecture." I said.
"Why?" DumDum asked.
"Let's just say the last few times Pegs saw me I wasn't in a very good place and I made some pretty dumb decisions."
"I hope she brought my bourbon, her scoldings are a lot more fun when I'm drunk." He said making me chuckle.
We got out of the truck and walked the rest of the way. The guys gave me a rifle seeing as most of them didn't know what I could do and for now it was best to keep it that way.
We walked for about twenty minutes before we spotted them. They pointed our guns at us and we pointed ours at them.
"Don't move." DumDum said. The team moved around and surrounded them. "Emu" He said confusing me. Why would the password be emu?
"Ostrich, man. Ostrich." Someone with a British accent corrected him.
"Shut up. Emu." Dumdum said again.
"Carter, Dugan forgot the password again." The Brit said to Peggy.
"Password is "eagle," you apes." Peggy said pretending she was annoyed.
"Oh, hi, Peggy." Dugan said greeting Peggy with a smile. "Fellas." He said to everyone else.
"Thompson, that's Dum-Dum Dugan." Agent Li said.
"Jack Thompson, Mike Li, Rick Ramirez, this is "Junior" Juniper, "Pinky" Pinkerton, "Happy Sam" Sawyer, you seem to know Dum-Dum Dugan... " Peggy said introducing them "And bloody hell Nora what on Earth are you doing here?" She said when she saw me.
"Oh you know me Pegs I was in the area figured I'd stick around for the fun." I said.
"Nora Stark? As in Howard Stark, Stark?" On of the agents said.
"He's my cousin haven't seen him in ages though." I said.
"The 107th, our tactical team." Peggy said happily interrupting the interrogation.
"You guys are the howling commandos." One of the agents said.
"Yeah, I hate that name." Happy Sam Sawyer said.
"I came up with that name." Junior Jupiter complained.
"That you did." Happy Sam said ironically unhappy about it.
"Dugan, you fought side-by-side with Captain America, didn't you?" Agent Li asked.
"Yeah. But not as long as they did." Dugan said looking at Peggy and I.
"Agent Jack Thompson. I'm running point for the SSR." An agent said. He was probably the one giving Peggy trouble at work. "We head due east till we hit the border."
"We'll hit a wall of Reds before we reach the border. Let's head up into Lithuania, cross over into Russia at Ashmyany." Dugan said not as a suggestion but as the plan.
"You planning on walking halfway across Lithuania?" Jack said not liking the idea.
"Well, you can if you want. But me? I'm taking these. Peggy, let's go." DumDum said catching on that the guy was probably not Peggy's biggest fan.
Peggy, DumDum and I were sitting in the back of the truck.
"Did you bring what I asked for?" DumDum asked.
"From my own private stash." Peggy said handing him a bottle of bourbon
"Ah, attagirl." DumDum said with a huge smile.
"Nora by the looks of it it's been a while since you last saw me." She said. The last time I saw her was when she was fighting that blonde woman in the hallway of the Griffith.
"Yeah about nine months for me. A few days for you I take it?" I ask.
"About three days since your falling out with Howard." Peggy said.
"Yes since that."
"You and Howard got in a fight? You two were thick as thieves what happened?" DumDum asked.
"He lied to both of us." Peggy said.
DumDum took a sip of his bourbon and sighed. "See, the Germans are geniuses when it comes to beer, but no one knows bourbon like the U.S. of A." she said as he poured us each a drink.
Peggy chuckled. "Cheers." DumDum said.
"Cheers." Peggy said.
"Cheers." I said finishing mine in one go.
"All right, so, tell me, what's the story with Stark and these Leviathan jerks?" DumDum asked.
"The SSR is convinced that Howard is trying to sell technology to enemies of the United States. They think Leviathan is a potential buyer." Peggy said. Leviathan? That's new.
"And you disagree?" DumDum said already knowing the answer.
"Howard isn't selling weapons to adversaries of the United States... Not to Leviathan, not to anybody. He may be an utter wanker, but he is one of us." Peggy said obviously still upset at him.
"So you think the whole deal is a trap." DumDum said.
"It's always a damn trap." I said.
"That's why we bring the guns." Peggy said explaining all the agents that came with her. "Question is, if Leviathan is trying to lure us in with promises of capturing Howard, then what is it that they really want?"
"Maybe it's just the pleasure of your company." DumDum said putting a cigar in his mouth. Peggy grabbed it and through it away.
"Hey!" Dugan exclaimed.
"You smell bad enough." Peggy retorted.
"And you used to be fun." Dugan said.
"Yeah, once upon a time." Peggy said sighing.
"You and me both sister." I added.
"Yeah," DumDum said clicking his tongue. "I miss him, too."
I wanted to tell them so bad that Steve was alive, that he didn't die in the plane crash but I couldn't. I missed that knuckle head, both of them actually.
"Hey, go easy on those beans, okay?" DumDum said making us laugh as we remembered what happened when Gabe had too many beans on our second mission.
"Coast is clear. Li and Ramirez are on the night watch. We should be good to go at first light." Jack said.
"Which means we stand relieved." DumDum said.
"You see any abominable snowmen like the one in Tibet?" Peggy joked.
"I... I never said, a-abominable snowman." Junior said.
"In fairness, he did specify "yeti." Pinky said.
"Yeah." Junior said a bit relieved.
"Sorry, it was a little hard to make out words in between all the sobbing." DumDum said making everyone laugh.
"Shut up. It was scary." Junior said in his own defense.
"So, what is the difference between a yeti and an abominable snowman?" Jack asked.
"One's real and one isn't." Junior said making everyone laugh. "What?"
"So, I hear they have, uh, mermaids in Japan. You see any of them when you were out there?" Peggy asked him. So I guess he was stationed in the Pacific.
"Yeah, story time." Junior said.
"I got nothing you guys ain't heard before. Did a lot of ground work, dug a lot of trenches." He said obviously not wanting to talk about it.
"They don't give out Navy Crosses just for digging trenches." Peggy retorted.
"Navy Cross." Jack said before sighing. "Hmm. All right. 1945. Tsuken Island. Nothing detail. I fall asleep on the night shift. I wake up... six Japanese soldiers walking into my camp, just waltzing in in the dark. One of them bends down over my sleeping C.O. One more second, he'd slit his throat. Snapped too. Shoot him in the back. Shoot them all... Before they even knew I was there. Before my last man was even awake." Jack said. "Truth be told, I like the kid's yeti story better." He added trying to lighten the mood.
After that we all called it a night. I was lucky the commandos had an extra sleeping bag or I would have frozen to death. The next morning I got up before everyone else and started a fire for breakfast.
"You're up early." Peggy said.
"Yeah, I can't stay up past six anymore. That army routine is hard to get out of." I said.
"So I've heard. How are things with you?" Peggy asked obviously still worried.
"Things are better. I spent the last month in New York with my Dad. It's everything Steve and Bucky always said it was. Obviously not exactly how they described it but still."
"I've been living there myself. Now I understand why it's called the city that never sleeps."
"Everything's so loud." I said.
"It becomes soothing after a while."
"Have you heard from…" I said not bothering to finish the question. "No but I saw Jarvis. He's still trying to get me to forgive Howard."
"That guy is incredibly loyal." I said.
"That he is." Peggy said. Better grab something fast we're heading out as soon as they're all up. Shouldn't be long now." I grabbed a protein bar and some coffee and ate as fast as I could.
About two hours later we were at a compound. We had gotten there before the buyer and were planning out how we were going in.
"Looks like we beat the bad guys here." Jack said.
"So we could have slept for another hour?" DumDum said making Peggy and I elbow him at the same time.
"Well, then we wouldn't have the advantage of surprise, would we, Timothy?" Peggy said with a smirk.
"So, we infiltrate in four teams of two... you, you, you, us. No weapons discharge unless absolutely necessary. Meet on the ground floor in 30. Clear?" Jack said even though we could all tell Peggy disagreed and for good reason.
"Carter?" Happy Sam asked.
"Agent Thompson's lead." Said obediently yet her posture and the look she gave us said otherwise.
"You got a better idea? Let's hear it." Jack said tauntingly.
"Four teams of two is faster. Two teams of four is safer. Discretion seems to be the order of the day. We don't know what we're walking into." Peggy explained. She knew what she was doing.
"Okay." Jack said admitting that it was a better idea. "You four. Happy Sam, Pinkerton, Ramirez, you're with me. Good?" He asked Peggy and she nodded.
"Aces." He said before walking in the opposite direction. This was better too. Peggy and DumDum knew about my powers and could cover for me if need be.
We entered one of the buildings and made our way down the stairs. There was a door at the bottom. We went inside and it looked like a classroom.
"Does anybody else feel a chill going up their knickers?" Peggy asked.
"I would if I wore knickers." Junior replied.
Agent Li went to look around and bumped into the projector. It turned on showing a cartoon. "Oh, sorry." He said.
"Shut that thing off." DumDum said loudly.
"Wait" Peggy said looking at the cartoon. Help! Then a horn honked. Help! Help! Help! And then Peggy stopped the film and turned it slowly. "Instill..." "...fear." Peggy read out the Russian subliminal messages in the video.
"Really regretting a lack of knickers right now." Junior said shaking slightly. Then we all heard a child crying somewhere in the next room.
"There's a little kid crying." Agent Li said. "What's a little kid doing in this place?"
"Careful." Peggy said picking up her rifle. We made our way further down stairs.
"Little-kid beds?" Agent Li said.
"It's a boarding school." Peggy said.
"Why are there shackles on the beds?" Agent Li pointed out.
"It's Russia, man." Junior answers and the crying gets louder.
"Peggy." DumDum said "Hey, there. You okay? It's all right. We're here to help. It's all right. We're not here to hurt you." He got closer to the girl and she pointed at his hat. "Oh, my hat? You like my hat? It's called a bowler hat. The reason they call it that is because... Why do they call it a bowler, Peggy?" the girl took advantage of that and stabbed DumDum. She grabbed on of Dugan's guns and fired two shots and then she bolted for one of the vents. I turned and I felt a throbbing pain in my left shoulder. I looked down and saw blood.
"Oh shit." I said. Holding the gun made it harder to project a shield around me and I got shot. That wasn't the worst part. I started getting the chills and glowing. I dropped the gun and put a hand on my shoulder to stop the bleeding.
"Crap, Crap, Crap." I said as the light got brighter and I was gone. This time felt different. I felt like I was falling through space. And before I knew it I landed on my shoulder on a blue mat.
"Awwh!" I cried out in pain.
"Nora?" I heard Steve say.
"Oh Shit that fucking hurts." I said turning over.
"We need a medic over here." I heard Natasha call out.
"What happened?" Steve said.
"Ten year old Russian assassin in Belarus with a gun. Awwh!" I cried out when Steve put pressure on my shoulder.
"Why aren't you healing?" Wanda asked.
"I can't heal until the bullet's out and it's pretty deep. Probably fractured and dislocated my shoulder my the way it feels." I said panting a bit.
"Just hold on a sec the medics are almost here." Steve said holding me close and kissing my temple.
"Steve sweetie just do me a favor." I said.
"Anything babygirl." He said shaking a bit.
"Don't be an idiot and tell my dads." I said before I passed out.