Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. If I do I will tell you. I own Isabelle.

Warning: Abuse is described somewhat. If you do not want to read- skip the last /|\\\.

Modern Day AU


Steve walked to her house the next morning. He waited patiently for Peggy as she got ready. Finally, the front door opened and Peggy appeared. She gripped the railing and hobbled down. A small grin slipped on Steve's face as he watched her.

"Hey," said Peggy breathlessly.

"Hi," replied Steve. "Just so you know- today's Friday."

"Okay?" Her British accent rose with the question.

"Every Friday, Wednesday, and Monday we get classes from Mr. Phillips and Mrs. Jarvis."

"About what? Is Mrs. Jarvis married to Mr. Jarvis?"

Steve nodded. "Yes, they are married. They teach us dancing."

"Why?" Peggy questioned.

"Because if we go undercover on missions and other things, they want us to know what to do. Dancing helps us in fancy spaces and helps us to hide things in our clothes." Steve replied to her.

"Stevie!" A voice wafted through the air.

Both Peggy and Steve turned and saw a girl with blonde hair about chin length hurrying toward them. She had a large smile on her face when she spotted him and her were bright. When she finally caught up to them, she intertwined her hand with Steve's. The girl smiled at Peggy.

"Hi, I'm Lorraine."

"Nice to meet you," said Peggy. "I'm Peggy."

"So you're the girl that beat Gilmore? Wow, you must be one tough cookie." Lorraine nodded appreciatively.

"Why, thank you." Peggy stopped for a minute to catch her breath.

"You good?" asked Steve cautiously.

"Yes, I'm just not used to working with crutches." Peggy forced a smile.

A chuckle escaped his lips.

/|\\\

When they arrived at the school, Natasha was waiting patiently with Pepper. Pepper waved crazily when she saw Peggy. Peggy lifted her hand in acknowledgement and left Steve and Lorraine behind. Students moved out of her way as she crutched towards her friends. Natasha's hair was in a French braid and Pepper's was in a Dutch braid. Peggy joined them on the steps and waited as Natasha got up and began a crown braid on her. The trio talked about yesterday and Lorraine and Hodge.

"Why do we only have dancing classes three days of the week? When will it be held?" inquired Peggy.

"We only have dance classes three times a week because Mrs. Jarvis and Mr. Phillips work at SHIELD College. It's always held during your lunch period or study hall," supplied Pepper.

"Thank you for telling me. I was a tad nervous."

Natasha laughed. "There's nothing to be nervous about. Mrs. Jarvis is the kindest woman you will ever meet. Us girls normally work with her except on partner day or when she's not feeling well. She brings us cookies and lets us gossip about people. She'll even join in."

"She sounds amazing," stated Peggy.

"Okay, your hair is done," said Natasha. "Let's go."

Pepper held the doors open for Peggy and Natasha. Peggy thanked her while Natasha just inclined her head. They arrived at Mr. Jarvis' classroom. Mr. Jarvis was writing on the board. Pepper waved bye to her friends and left to go to her first hour class.

"Hello, ladies. There is a new seating assignment for the project we are starting today." Mr. Jarvis didn't look away from the chalkboard.

Sighing, Natasha glanced at the new seating arrangement and found where she was supposed to be sitting. Peggy found her seat easily. Both of them were in separate groups. Other students filed in and Mr. Jarvis told them to find their contemporary seats.

At Peggy's table Steve sat down next to her and Gilmore sat across from her. Lorraine joined the group and smiled brightly when she saw she was in a group with Steve. Peggy glanced around and saw that Natasha had Clint, Bobbi Morse, and Tony. Before Tony could even begin to complain about who he was sitting with, Mr. Jarvis started calling out names to take attendence. Tony sat somewhat patiently as he anticipated the end of the attendence to finish.

"Yes, Mr. Stark?" Mr. Jarvis asked.

"Sir, I really don't appreciate being a group with two deadly spies." Tony gulped at the seething look Natasha shot him.

"Deal with it, Mr. Stark." Mr. Jarvis rolled his eyes. "Director Fury has asked me to give you a 'mission'."

Everyone looked at him.

"Take a look at the people sitting in your group. You will work together for a mission. I will hand out the files in a second; you will have to come up with a plan to stop a HYDRA attack. Understood?"

The students nodded. Peggy tilted her thoughtfully.

Natasha spoke. "Mr. Jarvis, will this be for a grade?"

"Yes. If you do not pass, then you will not get a grade for it so it will neither help or hurt your grade. You will be allowed to take it again, if need be." Mr. Jarvis began to pass out the files.

Peggy's group looked over the files. Peggy raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Carter?"

"Why do we all have different assignments and different names?"

"Director Fury did these himself, so I do not know why. I can only assume it's for the best of the group," shrugged Mr. Jarvis.

"Thank you," answered Peggy.

Her eyes skimmed over her file. Arabella Winston. Peggy read the rest of the file and her mission. Disarm and get intel from Tryson Wilmington.

Steve read his file. Parker Hanson. His job: get rid of any remaining evidence left from teammates at the Gold & Black Gala; escort Arabella as date.

Lorraine glared at her file. Twila Asheville. Stay in the van and listen to everything going on with teammates.

Hodge closed his eyes and memorized his job and name. Undercover as security; secure the perimeter and help out Parker, if he needs it. Zakary Desmond.

The bell rang and everyone left.

/|\\\

After school, Peggy and Steve met up with Gilmore and Lorraine. They went to Steve's house.

"Mom, Dad! I'm home with friends." Steve shouted to his parents.

His mother and father appeared. A little girl sprinted from behind them and into Steve's legs. Steve knelt down and picked her up.

"Hello!" Steve's mom said. "I didn't know he had friends!"

Steve looked mortified and Hodge and Lorraine looked extremely uncomfortable. Peggy choked out a laugh. Steve looked at her.

"I'm sorry, that was really funny though. Can I please sit?"

"Oh, yeah. Of course." Steve led Peggy to the living room. "Sorry."

"It's fine, Steve. Do you like to read? Who was that little girl?" Peggy asked, surveying the room.

A nervous chuckle slipped out of his mouth. "Yeah. She's my sister. Her name's Isabelle."

Lorraine and Hodge appeared and they got to work. They practiced their backstories and what they were supposed to do. Steve's parents fed them a dinner of roast beef and a side of cheesy mashed potatoes. Dusk arrived and the group dispersed. Steve walked Peggy back to her house.

"Tell your parents thank you. Please," said Peggy. "I enjoyed meeting your little sister too."

"I will. I think they enjoyed having people over," chuckled Steve.

Before he knew it, Peggy pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. "Goodnight, Steve."

"Goodnight, Peggy."

Peggy disappeared inside and Steve was left in a daze. He pushed open his front door and was bombarded with questions by his family. Steve answered each question quickly.

/|\\\

She sat on her bed. Her eyes were welled up with tears. Another lash of the whip hit her skin. Peggy bit down on her tongue hard. The basement door opened and she heard a squeak. Glancing up, she saw Angie.

The man turned around and spotted Angie.

"Go," he said quietly.

"No!" Angie's voice rang out.

"Angie, please," begged Peggy. "Go!"

"But-"

"Go! I don't want you to get hurt. Go, now!"

Angie nodded and closed the door. The man slammed the whip onto her back once again. Black dots began to dance across her vision. Her shoulders shook with quiet sobs as the pain began to catch up with her.

"Uncle..." Peggy's voice began to fade away. "Please..."

A cruel laugh escaped him. "Shut up, you stupid little girl!"

Another hit. Peggy's body was becoming numb. The pain overwhelmed her and she fell to the ground.