Chapter 1
Peggy had just finished pouring Steve's blood into the Hudson when she noticed her. It was Dottie, who was in a black Ford. It was clear that she was trying to shadow Peggy. She must have been able to patch herself up after the fall, but she still looked a little weak. Peggy let her follow for a few blocks, occasionally observing her out of the corner of her eyes in the car windows. She didn't seem to realize Peggy had noticed her. Peggy could use this to her advantage. Eventually, Peggy parked her car and headed down an alley. She flattened herself up against a brick wall and waited for Dottie to catch up to her. Peggy smiled to herself. She was going to enjoy this.
When Dottie turned down the alley, Peggy quickly swung into action. Dottie was clearly caught off guard. Peggy relished the moment as her foot collided with Dottie's stomach. Dottie fell to her knees, gasping as the air was forced out of her lungs. She desperately tried to recover before Peggy's next blow. Peggy threw another kick, which Dottie grabbed. She yanked Peggy's leg out from under her, knocking her to the ground. However, Peggy knew how to fall, spreading her arms out so the force of her hitting the ground would disperse. Peggy rolled to the side, avoiding Dottie's attempt to pin her to the ground. Peggy kicked Dottie again, pushing her up against the brick wall. Peggy pressed her hand on Dottie's throat. Dottie squirmed, but Peggy ignored. Finally, Dottie passed out. Peggy picked her up and took her back to the car.
Angie was sitting in an armchair, taking in her new apartment. She lay back and felt the fabric with her fingers. This was much nicer than anything at the Griffith. She sighed. She was going to enjoy living here. Just then Peggy came in with Dottie slung over her shoulder, her hands were cuffed together. "Peggy! Why do you have Dottie with you?"
Peggy dropped Dottie to the floor. "I caught her trying to follow me. I got the best of her."
"Why'd you bring her here?" said Angie. "Don't you have some place where you can toss her?"
"Yes, but I figure I could her here so I can have a go at her personally," said Peggy.
Angie's mouth dropped. "Are you saying you're gonna-"
At that moment, Dottie began to wake up. She looked around and saw Angie. "Angie! You've got to help me! I...I was walking down the street and saw Peggy. I tried to say hi, but she-"
Angie smirked. "Nice try, but Peggy already filled me in about you being a Russian spy."
Dottie's face fell and she tried to get the handcuffs off. "Can't blame a girl for trying."
"Stop that!" Peggy reached into her purse and pulled out a gun, pointing it at Dottie. "Right now."
Dottie obeyed, lifted her arms over her head. "Okay, okay. Let's not do anything stupid."
Angie watched what was happening with wide eyes. "English! You didn't tell me you still had a gun on you."
"It's part of the job," said Peggy.
"I know," said Angie. "I just felt you left those things at work. Don't you guys have an armory of something?"
"Look, you should know as well as I that you never know when you need to protect yourself," said Peggy."
Angie was shaking. "Bu...but...you're not going to shoot her."
"That depends," said Peggy.
"You're going to kill her!" said Angie. "Right here!"
"No," said Peggy. "I won't shoot her fatally, or at least I won't try to."
"English!" said Angie.
"Fine." Peggy put the gun back in her purse. "I guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way."
"Old fashioned way?" A look of dread fell over Angie face. "Oh god! What are you going to do to her?"
"Just getting some information." Peggy turned to Dottie. "Okay Dottie, if that is your real name..."
"It is," said Dottie sarcastically.
Peggy kicked Dottie in the stomach. "I have a few questions for you."
"Stop!" Angie grabbed Peggy, trying to pull her away from Dottie. "You're hurting her!"
"Hurting her?" Peggy laughed. "She just tried to gas the entire city. She can take a kick to the stomach or two."
"Why don't you turn her in?" said Angie. "Have the proper authorities take care of her."
Peggy brushed her off and kicked Dottie again. "Now, who else is working with you? We've already got Dr. Fennhoff."
"And you killed the mutes." Dottie turned to Angie. "Did she tell you about that? Has she told you about any of the people she's killed?"
"Shut up!" Peggy kicked Dottie in the stomach again.
"English please!" Angie put herself between Peggy and Dottie. Peggy could see tears running down Angie's face. "Stop this right now. Just calm down. You're mad and you're not thinking straight."
Peggy pushed Angie aside. "I'm perfectly fine."
"No you're not," said Angie.
Dottie smirked "Does that really need to be said."
She got another kick to the stomach for that. Angie made another last ditch attempt to pry Peggy away from Dottie. "Just take a few seconds to cool your head."
"I said I'm fine!" Peggy pushed Angie away. Angie ran off towards the bathroom. Peggy turned her attention back to Dottie. She lifted Dottie's leg and kicked her knee. She heard a cracking sound.
Dottie winched with pain. "I see we're escalating things. So tell me, have you stopped pretending to be asking me questions?"
"Will you just shut up!" Peggy kicked Dottie again and again. She delivered a swift kick to Dottie's face. Blood ran from her nose. As it ran down her face, Dottie stuck out her tongue and tasted it. She gave Peggy a cheeky smile as she did this.
Peggy picked Dottie off of the floor, took her to the kitchen and turned on the sink. Peggy felt the water with her finger and saw it was nice and cold. She took Dottie and shoved her face under the water. "This is for all the friends I've lost because of you! This is for how I was dragged out in front of everyone I knew because of you! This is for how you almost took everything away from me!"
Dottie jolted as the freezing water hit her face. She coughed, choking on the water. This didn't stop Peggy, who continued to hold Dottie under the sink despite her squirming. Dottie's unbroken leg kicked at Peggy, but this only strengthened Peggy's determination. She dug her fingers into Dottie's skin, drawing blood. Eventually, her face was starting to turn red. Peggy turned off the water and threw her to the floor. Dottie turned on her side and threw up. She was starting to drop her air of confidence. She quickly tried to reassume the sense of arrogance she had shown earlier during the interrogation that was now gone, washed away by Peggy. "Do you honestly think that's going to make me talk?"
"Do you honestly think I wanted you to talk?" Peggy went to stomp her foot on Dottie's broken leg when Angie ran out from the bathroom.
"I'm so sorry but I have to do this." Angie embraced Peggy and kissed her.
Peggy tried to pull away but Angie wouldn't let her. Peggy suddenly began to feel weak. She managed to break free and noticed that Angie was wearing a fresh coat of lipstick. "You...you..."
Angie put a hand on Peggy's shoulder. "SSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH. Don't fight it. Just go to sleep."
Peggy could feel her body go numb and her limbs go limp. "You...You drugged me."
"I had to," said Angie, putting her arms around Peggy and pulling her close to her chest. "Just go to sleep. Just go to sleep. Just..."
When Peggy woke up, she was laying in her bed. She tried to get up, but when she got up, she felt dizzy and had to rest her head back down on her pillow. She heard some noises coming from outside the door. It sounded like some people were trying to move something. Peggy tried to get up again when Angie came into the room. "I see you're up. Good to know"
"Seriously, are you going to come in here and act like you're all smiles and well wishes?" said Peggy. "You drugged me!"
"I had to," said Angie. "If I didn't you probably would've killed Dottie."
"Where is she?" said Peggy.
"After I put you to sleep, I did the same to her," said Angie. "Then I called some of your friends...er coworkers at the SSR."
"How'd you do that?" said Peggy.
"I found your address book," said Angie. "I flipped through it 'til I found some names that you'd mentioned. They came right over and picked her up."
Peggy thought about the noises she heard when she first woke up. "Angie, are the men from the SSR still here?"
"No," said Angie. "They left a few minutes before you woke up."
"Then why did I just hear people moving something outside?" said Peggy.
Angie bit her lip. "Well...you see...I had to..."
Peggy got up, no longer feeling dizzy. "So if they're still here, that means that Dottie's still here, right?"
Angie went to stop Peggy from getting up. "Get back in bed Peggy. I can't let you go out there and do something stupid."
"I'm not going to do anything stupid," said Peggy. "I'm just going to make sure they've got everything under control."
Angie put her hands on Peggy's shoulders. "Get back in bed right now! Or so help me god I'll...I'll..."
"Okay, okay." Peggy plopped herself down on her bed and covered herself up with the sheets.
"Comfortable?" said Angie.
"Yes actually," said Peggy.
Angie sat down at the foot of the bed. "So English...why'd you do it?"
Peggy took a moment to answer. "I was mad."
"That's not an answer," said Angie.
"Yes it is," said Peggy. "Why shouldn't I be mad after all she did to me?"
"No, you have every right to be mad," said Angie. "But that wasn't you."
Peggy laughed. "And how would you know? You just found out about the SSR. For all you know, I do that all the time."
"Well do you?" said Angie.
Peggy looked away from Angie, focusing on a loose thread on the blanket. Finally she looked up. "It was about Steve."
"What?" said Angie.
"Steve," said Peggy. "The reason I was mad was because of Steve."
"Steve...Steve." Angie thought for a moment. "Who's Steve? You didn't tell me about him. Was he one of the guys Dottie killed?"
Peggy shook her head. "No. Steve...Steve Rodgers, well you might know him by a different name. Captain America."
Angie's face froze. "No way! You knew Captain America?"
Peggy nodded. "During the war, yes."
Angie scratched her chin. "Wait, he's been dead-"
"He's been missing," said Peggy. "They never found the body."
"Well he's been missing for two years," said Angie. "Why'd you get so hung up about him all of a sudden?"
Peggy sighed. "One of the things stolen from Howard was a sample of Steve's blood. He was hoping to recreate the serum, but he decided against it. He gave the sample to me and told me that I should decide what to do with it."
"And what'd you do with it?" said Angie.
"I poured it into the Hudson." Peggy broke down crying.
Angie went to put her arm around Peggy. "It's okay. You made the right call."
"I know that," said Peggy. "Even if we could recreate the serum, there was never going to be another Steve Rodgers. He was one of a kind."
"So why are you upset then?" said Angie.
"Because he's gone," said Peggy. "I mean, I always knew he was gone, but the blood...I don't know how to say it. You could say it was like having a piece of him. Something I could hold onto. Now it's gone."
"I know how you feel," said Angie. "When I lost my brother, my mom wouldn't let anyone go into his room. When why dad tried to move his stuff to the attic, she almost bashed his head in. You two would probably have a lot to talk about."
Peggy hugged Angie. "I'm sorry for what I put you through."
"You were upset," said Angie. "You just can't let it happen again."
"You did the right thing," said Peggy.
"And I'd do it again," said Angie.
"Thanks," said Peggy as she got up. "Is Dottie still out there."
"They should've taken her away by now." Angie peaked out the door. Peggy went to follow her, but suddenly Angie froze, a look of horror on her face. "Oh my god."
"What's wrong?" Peggy rushed out to see what Angie was so shocked about. She saw it instantly. On the floor lay the bodies of the SSR agents how had come to pick Dottie up. Dottie herself was no where to be seen. Peggy looked around and saw that the door to their apartment was flung open.
