"Let's start with an easy question," Antakov said after Peggy was handcuffed to the table. It felt vaguely reminiscent of when she had been interrogated by Thompson back in New York. Of course, Peggy knew that Thompson wouldn't have actually hurt her. The assassin looming near the door was another story, however.

Peggy raised her chin defiantly, daring him to ask about Steve. If there was one advantage she had here, it was that she truly would rather die than give the secrets of Project Rebirth to the Soviets.

"What are the names of the two agents we captured?" he asked suddenly. Peggy's gaze faltered. Of all the things she was expecting to be asked, this question caught her off guard, and she knew that Antakov saw it.

"Daniel Sousa and Jack Thompson, both agents at the SSR," Peggy replied after a moment. She didn't know why they cared about Daniel or Thompson, but it seemed like harmless enough information. Maybe if she cooperated now, she would be able to hold out longer later.

"Good," Antakov said with approval, "If only you were that forthcoming about everything."

"If only," Peggy deadpanned.

"I don't want to talk about Captain America, at least not yet," he said after an uncomfortable silence, "I want to talk about the SSR."

"I still don't know much," she said, playing dumb, "I'm a glorified secretary"

"Now why do I not believe that?" Antakov smiled before turning back to the agent in the corner, "Olga, make her a bit more compliant."

Peggy stiffened in her chair. She'd seen what Dottie could do, and that was with Peggy able to defend herself. But she was handcuffed and could barely move, "But don't hurt her too badly, I want to be able to speak with her when you're done."

"Sousa wake up," A voice hissed near his ear. Daniel cracked his eyes open, his head still throbbing from the night before.

"What?" he asked before his vision was fully in focus.

"She's gone."

"What?" Daniel said again, more urgently. His eyes finally snapped open and he looked behind him. The chair Peggy had been in the night before was empty, her handcuffs hanging loosely against the leg of the chair.

"If they lay a hand on her-"

"You'll what? Kick their asses? While cuffed to a chair?" Daniel asked incredulously, even though he was thinking the exact same thing. He knew Peggy could take care of herself, but he couldn't help but feel rage building up at the thought of them hurting her.

"Eventually," Jack muttered under his breath, "Once we get out of here."

"Thompson…" Daniel said slowly, a realization suddenly popping into his head "When they bring her back, keep your mouth shut."

"What? Why?" Thompson replied.

"We can't make them angry," he continued, "The most they can do is kill us… but Peggy."

"They'll torture her," Jack said mostly to himself.

"So not matter how angry you get, no matter what they do to her, you keep your damn mouth shut."

Peggy knew there was no way of getting out of this. She could manipulate interrogators without a problem. It was easy to play the dumb woman who knew nothing, or in some cases, the strong woman who could beat you senseless when she got free. But Black Widows weren't as susceptible to exploitation. And as Olga menacingly walked towards her, Peggy knew that she was going to have to take every punch that was thrown.

She wouldn't be hurt too badly, right? This was only a first interrogation and she hadn't given Antakov anything more than her companion's names. Peggy was still needed, and as long as she was, she'd be alive. In pain, but she could deal with pain. She'd be tortured before and it was… unpleasant but this was survivable.

"Tell me when you have had enough," the agent said before striking Peggy across the face. Peggy could tell it was just a warning, not even hard enough to leave a bruise. The assassin was testing her, seeing how hard she'd have to hit before Peggy cracked. But if Peggy was anything, she was stubborn. Antakov would intervene eventually. He'd stop the agent before Peggy was accidentally killed.

At least that's what Peggy told herself as she was repeatedly slapped. After a few hits, she tasted blood in her mouth. As if her broken nose didn't make her unattractive enough, now she'd have to face Daniel and Jack with a spilt lip. They would lose it when they saw, Peggy had no doubt.

No matter what had transpired during the Stark investigation, they were still her teammates, and she wasn't looking forward to seeing how they would react when she returned all beaten up. She hoped that they'd have the good sense not to say anything until the agents were gone.

"Will you comply?" Olga asked as she paused her attacks.

Peggy only shook her head, not having the strength to actually form the word 'no'. She hit Peggy again before taking a step back. Finally, Peggy thought. As if on cue, Antakov came back in. was it her imagination, or did he look mildly impressed. He held a towel and some medical equipment.

"Leave," he snapped at Olga before walking towards her, "Miss Carter."

Peggy flinched back as he leaned in closer to her, "I only wish to clean your face," he said as he raised his hands.

"I don't understand you," she admitted after she gave her consent for him to touch her, "You have me beaten, yet you heal me."

"You think I want this?" he asked, "I don't like torture, Miss Carter. It's messy and uncivilized. I would prefer if you just cooperated with me."

"You know that won't happen, though." She said. Peggy stared at him as he cleared the blood from her face. She was searching for insincerity, but she could only find truth. It was sick, but he reminded her vaguely of Sousa during the SSR investigation. He didn't want to make this harder than it needed to be, but he would if it came down to it. She had the fleeting thought that in another world, Antakov would do well at the SSR.

"Your nose is broken," he said after all the blood was cleared from her face, "Would to like me to set it for you?"

"Yes," Peggy said after a moment. She braced herself for the pain as she felt his hands move to either side of her nose. She grimaced as he snapped the bone back into place with a sickening snap.

"I will return you to your room now," he said, "I have convinced my superiors to allow you to eat."

Peggy hadn't realized how hungry she was until this moment. It did make sense, it had been two fays and Peggy had lost quite a bit of blood. She could imagine that Jack and Daniel were starving too.

"Thank you," she said quietly. Even bruised and tied to a chair, she still had her manners.

"Maybe tomorrow you will be more compliant," he replied.

"Pegs!" Daniel exclaimed when he heard the click of her heals against the linoleum of their cell.

"Are you both alright?" she asked as she was roughly shoved forward.

Daniel craned her neck as far as he could to see her. He noted that the blood had been cleaned from her face, but he felt his blood boil at the site of the forming bruises and split lip. She didn't look seriously hurt, but she was roughed up enough to reveal what had happened to her in the past hour.

"You're worried about us?" Jack asked disbelievingly.

"I'm fine," she said quickly.

"Are you really, Peggy?" Daniel asked quietly.

"Yes," she replied honestly, "A little worse for wear, but I've had worse." Peggy grimaces as she was shackled to the chair again. The brief respite from the painful position had been heavenly, but she was already beginning to feel the pains of being stuck with her arms behind her back for hours. She might just cooperate if only to be able to walk again, "They're going to feed us," she said after a few moments.

"You didn't cut a deal did you?" Jack asked. That was the only reasonable explanation for Leviathan not starving them to death.

"Do you honestly think I would sell you out?"

"Sell us out?" Jack asked, "Then they didn't want to know about Captain America"

"Not today," she replied, "They're saving that fun for later."

"What did you tell them?"

"That I didn't know much," she said, "That I was more of a secretary than an agent"

"So you lied?" Jack asked.

"I wasn't going to tell the truth."

"But you knew what would happen, how they would-"

"Honestly, you two," she said in exasperation, interrupting Daniel "I am alright."

"This time," Daniel said, "But what about next time? Peg… don't get yourself killed trying to protect the SSR."

"Can't we just focus on the fact that I'm alive?" she snapped. They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, not sure how to convince the other that they were wrong.

Hours later, after they had eaten a small meal of stale bread, Daniel was asleep. Peggy's eyes were drifting shut, but Jack was still wide awake.

"Carter?" he asked quietly, so as not to wake Daniel, "Remember what happened in Russia… how I told you about…"

"Yes?" she asked as she sat up straighter.

"Can I…" he faltered, "Can I be honest with you like that again?"

"Of course," she said without hesitation.

"When I woke up and saw you were gone, I assumed I'd never see you again," he explained, "Both Sousa and I… we were worried, Carter."

"You were?" she asked. They both knew what this was going to be like. They knew any one of them could be taken or killed at any moment.

"Yeah," he admitted, "And we both know that you're independent and a damn good fighter. Hell, I know firsthand that you know how to hit, and take hits…"

"But?" she said quietly.

"I don't want to wake up not knowing where you are, Carter… not in a place like this after everything we've been through"

"I…" Peggy stammered. Not even in Russia was Jack this open with her, "They said they were taking me back tomorrow. I won't go without waking you."

"Promise me, Carter," he said, "That you won't do anything stupid to save me and Sousa's asses. Promise me."

"I promise," she lied.

A.N. Hi, okay, so I know a lot of you probably hated me after the last chapter and not getting to see what happened to Peggy right away. But this chapter is long enough that you should forgive me. I really need feedback on this one, I am so unsure of its quality. I've never written a torture scene before, and it's only going to get more intense, so I need to know if it was good. Also, this was never intended to be a Cartson fic, the end of this chapter just kinda happened. So I need to know if you want me to continue in this direction, or if I should tone it down a bit. I love all the positive feedback I'm getting, it's seriously the only reason I've been updating so frequently, so keep it up!