I'm in This with You Til the End
Chapter 6 – Me or You?
Author's note: Thank you for your patience!
…
"There!" Daniel exclaimed, pointing to the black armory truck in front of the cream colored inn. Jack swerved the car behind another building to hide their parking spot before all three members slipped out of the car quietly.
The inn itself was not guarded with the same armed men earlier at the facility, but there were a fair share of men in suits downstairs with their own weapons holstered onto them. As a vacant inn, it was a perfect sanctuary for criminals like Panther, where no normal citizens and tourists of LA would go. No disturbances, few witnesses, and low traffic.
Daniel stood frozen there for a moment at the similarities of the inn compared to his home with Peggy. He thought back to Jack's earlier comments on how Panther had been tracking her movements since New York. He shuddered at how long Peggy was exposed to such danger; how was he himself not aware of this? How could he let his own wife be placed in such danger without him knowing?
Rose followed his gaze and stepped behind him. "Chief Sousa?"
Jack also glanced over at Daniel's still stare towards the inn trying to decipher his thoughts. He knew they were not good. "Sousa—"
Daniel abruptly turned back to the car and threw open the door, yanking out the rifle from the seat. "We're entering through the cellar. Let's go!" he said, starting his hurried trek to the inn.
"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jack hissed, grabbing Daniel before he continued charging.
Daniel looked up at Jack incredulously. "What the hell are you doing? We're wasting time—"
"You can't go in like this!" Jack responded. "Look at you. You're already injured, and they're going to recognize you right away when you go in! You'll be drawing attention that you don't need right now. How can you save Peggy if you can't even save yourself?"
Daniel stopped in his actions. He knew Jack was right. He looked himself over, and despite fixing himself to the best of his ability, he knew he was still a mess. "What do you suggest then?"
"Rose and I can go in to find her. Our disguise gear is very similar to what those guards had back where we found you. You stay out here for reinforcements."
"I can't just sit and wait around! This is my wife we're talking about—"
Jack pushed him back. "The longer you argue, the more time we waste. And I know who Peggy is, thank you very much."
Daniel couldn't help hearing a hint of bitterness and jealousy in Jack's voice, but that thought will be saved for another day to process. "You know I can't just stay here and do nothing!"
"Then you'll have to choose if it's your ass that needs saving, or Peggy's," Jack said. "Because I'm not guaranteeing I can save you both."
With that, Jack pulled his mask up and stormed off, leaving Rose and Daniel watching him go. Rose turned to Daniel and assured, "He's just worried. I'll do my best to bring Peg back to you, Chief Sousa. I'll make sure of it."
He nodded. "Thank you so much Rose. I still need to do something. I can't just sit here and watch."
She nodded. "You won't be. When Mr. Jarvis was released, he contacted me while I was coming to get you, and he wasn't far behind. You'll have to guide him to this place. By that time, there will be enough back up, and Chief Thompson and I should already be back with Peggy. There's no need to endanger you too. What if we get her out, but in the expense of you getting hurt or losing you? What will Peggy do?"
He appreciated the concern and logic, but nothing seemed to make sense in his mind right now. Daniel knew that time was ticking, and for the sake of not losing any more of it, he nodded. "All right, I'll stay for reinforcements. Please be careful!"
Rose nodded and pulled on her mask before grabbed her gun. "We'll bring her back, Chief!" she whispered loudly before running off.
Daniel slipped back into the car and grabbed the radio to switch on for correspondence. Once he finished making contact, he leaned his head back against the seat, wincing at the soreness from his torture earlier. He sighed and closed his eyes to think. Time seemed to crawl at an agonizing pace, and he refused to do nothing. His thoughts were on Peggy, solely on Peggy.
(flashback)
Daniel quietly entered his house after another long night's work. It's been a difficult couple weeks working late nights as he wrapped up a large case, and though Peggy was also working late nights on a separate case, there was a good chance she already went to bed. She needed the recovery after weeks of intense work.
He kept as quiet as possible as he went to the kitchen first for some coffee, but he was surprised at what he saw when he turned on the dim light.
There on the kitchen table was a setting for a warmly toasted sandwich on a plate plus his favorite coffee. The napkin had a scribble on it: "Darling, be sure to eat, not just have coffee."
Daniel smiled in surprise: she stayed up to make sure he had a bite to eat and drink before bed, despite her exhausting schedule? And from the feel of the temperature of the sandwich, it was made very recently too.
He made his way to the bedroom first and saw the light was dimly on. On their bed, Peggy had fell asleep sideways holding herself up, as if she was trying to just nod off and not sleep. He shook his head in humor and quietly sat down beside her, tucking the blankets carefully over her form before kissing her forehead.
She stirred awake and sleepily looked up, "Daniel?"
"Sorry Peg, I didn't mean to wake you," he whispered. "Go back to sleep."
She shook her head with a sleepy smile and pushed herself up. "I wanted to make sure I stay awake for you to return tonight."
Daniel smiled and brushed her cheek. "You had a long couple weeks dear. I know you must be exhausted. It's okay."
"No, but today is different," she said.
"Different?"
She nodded before leaning in to kiss him, whispering in his ear, "Happy birthday."
He blinked looked down at his watch. It was only fifteen minutes before midnight, and in the busyness of the recent days, he completely forgot. "It is? It completely slipped my mind."
Peggy smiled. "For the next several minutes it still is. I wanted to make sure to say that to you before the day is over, since we weren't able to cross paths today." She reached up and rubbed his cheek, smiling lovingly.
Daniel couldn't believe his eyes or ears. In the dim light, he thought that his Peggy was such a vision with her natural tones, even without make up. Her smallest gestures become his largest swells of love towards her. Even after long work days where Daniel feels it should be him who should make sure she is well taken care of, she goes out of her way to make sure he is. He's such a lucky man.
He reached a hand to cover hers along his face and brought it to his lips, kissing it. "I love you, Peggy. I love you so much. Thank you for the wishes. Thank you for waiting for me." He grabbed her and hugged her close, feeling the warmth in heart permeate to his entire body.
He felt her arms wrap around him too. "I will always wait for you. I love you too, Daniel."
They stayed like that for long while, almost forgetting about the sandwich and coffee in the kitchen.
/end
Daniel felt wetness in his eyes as he thought back to that day. It was only a short while ago that they celebrated his birthday, and today, it felt like an eternity ago.
You are always so good to me Peggy, he thought. What have I done in comparison?
He felt helpless. Memories morphed into the events leading up to today's case and events. His thoughts were treading dangerous territory, and a million possible scenarios were running through his head. What if he was already too late? What if they killed Peggy? What if they're torturing her? Or worse, what if Panther already forced her to…
He shook his head away from those thoughts. He had to believe that Peggy would keep fighting, to keep stalling until help arrived. But her look towards him when he was released at first…she seemed—hopeless. Crestfallen. Defeated. Never had he ever seen Peggy without purposeful stride, without a will to keep fighting.
Don't wait for me, he remembered her saying to him outside of the facility earlier.
He instantly sat up. No, he couldn't stay any longer.
No Peggy, he thought. I'll wait for you. I said it before, I said it earlier, and I promise you. Please, just wait for me. Don't do anything rash.
He has to go in to get her himself and see that she's okay. He trusts Rose and Jack, but he doesn't trust that Peggy not already has given up. He could never live with himself knowing that he didn't go in to try and stop her before she did.
He grabbed his rifle again and another small pistol before exiting the car quietly. He looked around the inn and found that the cellar entrance was tampered with—likely where Jack and Rose entered. At least something was going their way today.
Wait for me, Peggy, Daniel pleaded. Please, wait for me.
He crept into the cellar as quietly as he could and prayed that he could find her soon.
…
(meanwhile)
Peggy reached to grab the robe hanging on the door, but failed…being cuffed at her wrists couldn't allow full free range of motion to be useful. Cursing under breath, she shuffled through the drawers in search for a solution, any solution.
From the walls, she could hear the heavy footsteps of Panther coming up the stairs along with his henchmen. Time was dwindling, and her plan was becoming less and less achievable by the second.
Ah….wait! Success!
She grabbed the hairpin from the drawer and managed to free one of her wrists from the cuffs before she heard her door knock.
Damnit, she thought. New plan, new plan…
"My dear, I'm back," Panther announced, shuffling in with two of his men. He held a stack of new linens in one hand and glanced around the room. "Miss Carter?"
The room was empty, and he started getting nervous. He tossed the stack of linens to the unoccupied bed and ordered, "Find her!"
"No need," Peggy said, walking through the door with her head held high. She wore the robe from the bathroom and had her arms crossed across her chest, with a look of defiance on her face. The robe perfectly covered her pants and left only her bare feet showing through.
She waved her now singly cuffed wrist around and demanded, "Some host you are. I couldn't even get a hot bath while waiting in this unkempt place. I could only go so far with my hands tied."
Panther automatically grinned and sauntered to her, giving an appreciative look over. "I was hoping I could do the honors—"
"You can do the honors of releasing my hands so I can take a bath to rid of this muck from earlier," she interrupted, poking his chest. She had to keep his trust, keep him in this game as long as she can to prevent him from noticing any distraction. "And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the agreement. But I want quality. I am not a piece of dirt to be further sullied however you want."
"Of course—"
"And where are the sheets?" she continued. "They better be the highest quality."
Panther nodded and had his men hand him the stacks. "Pure silk, in many different colors for your choosing. If you like velvet, I bought those too."
Peggy quickly (but carefully) looked through the stacks of each type of material and pushed them back. "Silk. Black. And replace those comforters!"
Panther grinned, apparently pleased with her choice. "Black is my favorite color. It's as if we're meant to be!"
The sick bastard, she thought.
Peggy cleared her throat and waved her wrist. "And now?"
He snapped out of his excitement. "Ah, yes." He slowly uncuffed her wrist, but grabbed it to haul her forward to him, just inches from her face. "But don't think I don't have my eyes on you, young lady. You don't know what I'm capable of," he gruffly warned.
And you don't know what I'm capable of, she thought inwardly. Peggy forced a look of fear on her face and slowly nodded. She has to play her part, make him believe that he still has the upper hand over her, and that she is a grieving widow that is fighting to stay sane for a new look of a "better life."
He then released her and she grabbed her robe closer. "I didn't forget. Now, my bath?"
He smiled. "I will change the sheets while I wait."
She didn't bother seeing his crazy perverted expression on his face before turning around back to the bathroom. She quickly closed the door and leaned on it, taking a few deep breaths. This plan had to work. The nervousness was making her nauseous again, but she forced it down.
Peggy looked up from where she stood and saw the vent above the counter. She quickly shed her robe to the floor and turned on the shower. She stood on the counter to quietly undo the clasps that bolted the metal vent in its place, removing it all together. One quick, quiet leap later, she was up and inside.
Finally.
Now to navigate to an unmanned area of the inn to escape. Preferably unnoticed.
I'm coming back, Daniel, she thought. I'll bring you home…we'll both go home. Together.
…
Author's note: I know, not much action this chapter. But the next one, I promise there will be more!