"Will you please stop rattling your handcuffs?" Jack asked after what felt like hours. They had near been so close to each other and everything was starting to get on everyone's nerves.
"I'm sorry," she sighed, "But now you have me thinking that I might actually be able to slip out of these"
"It's been hours, Peg," Daniel replied, "You can't."
Peggy sighed, knowing they were right but not liking that they were. She hated feeling so utterly useless. It was her fault they were here in the first place and she couldn't even do anything to help them escape.
"So…" Peggy said after a moment, "Now that we're all awake, I'm sure that they'll send someone in."
"To do what?" Jack asked.
"I don't know," Peggy replied, "I don't know what they want from me."
"We're still alive," Daniel said, "That's a good sign"
Peggy and Jack remained silent. They all knew all too well that there were things worse than being dead. Peggy especially feared for the two of them. She had been the target of the abduction. She was happy that Thompson and Sousa were alive, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Leviathan would eventually decide they were more trouble than they were worth. If they got hurt because of her… Peggy didn't even want to think about it. They were the only two agents in the SSR that she trusted, and they were her friends. Even Jack she had grown to trust, not that she'd tell him of course.
"Did you hear me, Carter?" Jack asked.
"What?" she replied, "Sorry, I was thinking about something."
"Do you think you could lead us if we got out of here?" Jack repeated.
"Why would you want me to lead you?"
"You know the terrain," Jack said, "And I'm sure you still have connections here."
"Let's just focus on getting out before we discuss getting back home," she said, trying to hide her pride at Jack admitting she was the best person to lead right now. Daniel was going to reply when he heard footsteps just outside of the door.
"Don't say anything," Peggy instructed Jack and Daniel didn't look happy, but Peggy noted that they didn't intend to disobey her. Her tone hadn't really left any room for them to argue.
"Margaret Carter," A thickly accented voice said. She didn't recognize the speaker, but she could tell by the two girls at his side that he was high up in the Black Widow program, "My name is Dmitri Antakov. I have been wanting to speak with you for some time."
"You could have just spoken with me in New York," she said, "I'm not a very busy woman."
"Our records say the opposite of that, Ms. Carter," he replied dryly, "You almost singlehandedly took down one of our most promising agents."
"You want to talk, then talk," she said, "What are we doing here?"
Antakov laughed with genuine amusement, "You like being in charge, don't you, Ms. Carter. Here you are, locked up and you still act like you're the one doing to interrogating."
"I don't know why you'd want to interrogate me," she said, "I don't know very many SSR secrets."
"I don't care about the SSR," he replied.
"That's all I do nowadays," she said, trying to hide her confusion. If they didn't want intel on the SSR… the man could see the realization dawn on her face, and he smiled in reply.
"I knew you would catch on," he replied, slipping into Russian. Peggy didn't have time to worry about how he knew that she spoke Russian.
"If you think I will tell you anything about Steve Rogers…" she said through gritted teeth.
"Come on, Margaret. Why make this harder than it needs to be?"
Peggy looked at the ground. She was afraid that if she spoke, she would say something that got them all killed. Her fear of exploiting Steve was the whole reason she had gotten rid of his blood in the first place. She didn't even want to think about what would happen if the science of Project Rebirth got into the hands of the Black Widow program.
"I would sooner die," Peggy said. Her voice shaking with anger and barely above a whisper.
"You know what Black Widows can do. I beg you to reconsider" The man said, "I will give you until tomorrow to think on it, then I will get the information out of you, Ms. Carter. No matter what it takes."
Jack and Daniel weren't sure what to say. They weren't able to understand a word of what just happened, but they could judge by Peggy's tone that it was something that hit very close to home for her. And of course, they'd both heard her say "Steve Rogers". They gave her a moment to regain her composure before they spoke.
"I didn't know you spoke Russian, Peg," Daniel said gently. It seemed like the best course of action to not mention anything about Steve just yet.
"It was my area of expertise when I was with the 107th," Peggy replied wearily. She had finally calmed her breathing enough to have an actual conversation, "I expect you want to know what just happened," she said after a few moments.
"That would be nice," Jack deadpanned.
Peggy took a deep breath before beginning, "There's a lot you don't know about me," she began, "I suppose its common knowledge know that I was 'Captain America's Girl', that's not entirely accurate though.
"I knew him before he was Captain America. I helped choose him to be our first attempt at creating a super soldier. It was called Project Rebirth, and it was considered a success. After Steve… died we didn't try again. Howard and I… we both took it very hard and the program wouldn't be able to function without him. The file is locked away somewhere and I haven't seen it in years.
"I don't know how they know that I worked on that project," she said, "But I don't think they know what I did."
Jack and Daniel sat in stunned silence for a moment. As far as they knew, no one in the SSR knew of her direct involvement with the super soldier program.
Peggy waited a moment for them to speak before continuing, "I don't know any of the science behind it, that was all Howard. I don't really know anything relevant."
"So they want you to give them intel of the super soldier program," Jack said. It sounded more like he was trying to make sense of it himself than actually ask Peggy.
"Intel that you don't have," Daniel added.
"And once they find out I don't have it," she said, "We are screwed."
The next morning, Jack, Peggy, and Daniel were no closer to figuring out an escape plan than the night before. Peggy's body clock was telling her that it was a few hours before sunrise. She had trained herself to wake up no later than 5 am, and her body had not failed her. Daniel and Jack were still asleep, their soft snores were barely audible over the incessant buzzing of the light fixture above them.
She was mentally preparing herself for whatever the day had to offer her. She didn't know how long it would be until the man returned. Peggy had been tortured before, and she had survived, but this was different. She had seen what the girls in the Black Widow program had endured just to be trained. She couldn't imagine what they would subject a prisoner to.
As if on cue, the door opened and Antakov stepped in, this time flanked by a different agent, "Have you reconsidered?" he asked.
Peggy pretended to hesitate. Her supposed knowledge was the only thing making her useful. If she could just pretend that she knew something, then maybe she would buy enough time to escape, "I told you already, I would sooner die" she replied.
"Very well," Antakov said. Was it Peggy's imagination, or was there genuine sadness in his voice?
Antakov nodded at the assassin and she stepped forward to uncuff Peggy. She slowly stood up and rubbed her raw wrists. She was in no shape to try and escape right now, and Antakov seemed to sense this. Besides, there was no way she'd abandon Thompson and Sousa.
The agent slipped a blindfold over her eyes and she was lead from the room. Peggy attempted to memorize all the turns she took, but she soon lost track. Before she knew it, the blindfold was being pulled off and she was in an interrogation room. Not unlike the one at the SSR.
"Have a seat, Ms. Carter," Antakov instructed, "And let's begin"