“His Part to Play” - 11. On Maneuvers
Dec. 14th, 2020 07:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
breakinglight11Forever Captain:
“His Part to Play”
By Phoebe Roberts
~~~
Summary: “Steve Rogers has retired to the 1940s to build a new life with Peggy. In leaving behind the mantle of Captain America, at last he’s got a measure of peace. Still, Steve will never stop feeling the responsibility to step up as a hero— except he's not sure how much power his actions have at this point in the timeline. Somehow he must reconcile his new life and identity with the responsibility and burden of being a hero out of time.”
Previous chapters:
1. Lost Time
2. Building
3. Reaching
4. Bonds
5. Ghost
6. Stag Night
7. Wingmen
8. Mr. Carter
9. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
10. Suiting Up
Chapter summary: A knock at the door when Peggy’s on a mission throws plans into a tailspin.
“His Part to Play”
By Phoebe Roberts
~~~
Summary: “Steve Rogers has retired to the 1940s to build a new life with Peggy. In leaving behind the mantle of Captain America, at last he’s got a measure of peace. Still, Steve will never stop feeling the responsibility to step up as a hero— except he's not sure how much power his actions have at this point in the timeline. Somehow he must reconcile his new life and identity with the responsibility and burden of being a hero out of time.”
Previous chapters:
1. Lost Time
2. Building
3. Reaching
4. Bonds
5. Ghost
6. Stag Night
7. Wingmen
8. Mr. Carter
9. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
10. Suiting Up
Chapter summary: A knock at the door when Peggy’s on a mission throws plans into a tailspin.
~~~
11. On Maneuvers
Steve was alone in the house when the girl came banging on the door. It was late but he was not asleep, instead burning the midnight oil in his studio on an anatomical diagram for a medical almanac, picking out the fine bones in the human hand. Peggy was out on maneuvers and had been for several days, despite her due date drawing near. She was all but entirely out on leave by this point, with the intent that all her fieldwork be placed on hold. But when there had been word of a fugitive HYDRA agent she’d been keeping tabs on for months surfacing in D.C., there was no one else who understood his M.O. like she did. And so, after a bit of agonizing on both their parts, they decided she had to strap on Rishun’s jumpsuit and take on the job.
She had been gone for nearly a week now and had managed to call home only once. That was not unusual for missions where she had too much to do and too much to lose if communications were intercepted. But it meant Steve did his best to swallow his concerns and wait, trusting in her capability to, as always, see her through.
The frantic knocking burst through the evening stillness and jolted him from his concentration. His instincts told him it was too unsubtle to mean a threat, but at this hour of the night, there was no chance it was anything good.
He answered it to a gawky, olive-complexioned girl with cat-eye glasses and a badge from the SSI. “M-Mr. Carter?” she stammered, holding out the badge. “I’m Lottie Salazar? I’m Lieutenant Thompson’s secretary? The lieutenant sent me?”
Steve kept his tone even. “Nice to meet you, miss. Is everything all right?”
“Yes, sir. Well, no, sir— well, you see—”
“Is it Agent Carter?” he cut in, trying to conceal his growing apprehension.
“Yes, sir. It’s only— it’s just—” She gasped in a breath and tried to pull herself together. “The message came in a few hours ago. Agent Carter, she’s— she’s in labor.”
Heartbeats went by as Steve processed the words. “The… the baby?” He stared, his whole body rooted to the spot. “It’s coming?”
Lottie nodded frantically, fingers knotting. “They sent to tell you, sir. Out on the subway. Sorry I’m such a mess— I’ve never taken the train this late—”
“Lottie,” he cut her off, dazed. “What happened?”
“Oh! Oh, of course. We just got the message in over the wire— on Agent Carter’s secure frequency. I don’t know how much I can say, sir— the mission’s, well, it’s—”
“Classified,” he murmured. Classified, and actively operating. This was what Steve had been dreading; while Peggy had worried for her career, for compromising the integrity of her missions, but he could not help but fear for her and the baby itself, placed in the line of fire in the course of her work.
“Has there been an extraction?” he asked, forgetting himself in the moment. He could hear her little sound of bemusement to hear him use such terms, so he hastened to explain. “I served too, you know. During the war.”
She nodded with a gusty breath. “I guess you could say that, sir. But we didn’t send anyone. She— connected with an old contact, it seems. That contact is seeing her to a hospital, last we heard.”
Steve had a thousand more questions— what contact? Where were they exactly? What was Peggy’s status when labor began? —but he knew it was more than Lottie’s job was worth to tell him. He settled for a simple one: “What hospital?”
“The one at George Washington University, Mr. Carter.”
The initial shock warn off, all Steve’s old campaign instincts kicked into gear, strategizing, weighing all his options with the information at hand. “Lottie, are they expecting you back at the office?”
She blinked behind her large cat-eye glasses. “Ah… I don’t think so, sir. All they told me was to tell you.”
He ducked behind the front stairway, for where Peggy’s emergency suitcase had been stashed since she entered her third trimester. “And is there anybody at home who’s waiting up for you?”
“No, sir. By now they’re used to me getting called in to work at all hours.”
At that, Steve decided. “I see. Lottie, can you read a map?”
“What do you mean, Mr. Carter?”
He strode out door with the girl nervously trailing, slamming the lock behind him and heading to the driveway for the car. “There’s one in the glove box. I could use a navigator. Tell me what exit will aim us at DC.”
By this point he wouldn’t have thought the girl had any gasps left in her, but that moment proved him wrong. Her eyes darted between him and the waiting Chevy. “But, sir— it’s after midnight— and it’s gotta be four hours away!”
“Miss Salazar,” he chuckled. “You seem like a good kid— like you want to help folks out. You should know, I’ve traveled a lot longer and a lot farther than that when she needed me. So that sure as hell won’t stop me now.”
She gulped. Steve threw open the door and tossed the suitcase inside.
“So, what do you say, miss? Road trip?”
~~~
Next chapter: Waiting
11. On Maneuvers
Steve was alone in the house when the girl came banging on the door. It was late but he was not asleep, instead burning the midnight oil in his studio on an anatomical diagram for a medical almanac, picking out the fine bones in the human hand. Peggy was out on maneuvers and had been for several days, despite her due date drawing near. She was all but entirely out on leave by this point, with the intent that all her fieldwork be placed on hold. But when there had been word of a fugitive HYDRA agent she’d been keeping tabs on for months surfacing in D.C., there was no one else who understood his M.O. like she did. And so, after a bit of agonizing on both their parts, they decided she had to strap on Rishun’s jumpsuit and take on the job.
She had been gone for nearly a week now and had managed to call home only once. That was not unusual for missions where she had too much to do and too much to lose if communications were intercepted. But it meant Steve did his best to swallow his concerns and wait, trusting in her capability to, as always, see her through.
The frantic knocking burst through the evening stillness and jolted him from his concentration. His instincts told him it was too unsubtle to mean a threat, but at this hour of the night, there was no chance it was anything good.
He answered it to a gawky, olive-complexioned girl with cat-eye glasses and a badge from the SSI. “M-Mr. Carter?” she stammered, holding out the badge. “I’m Lottie Salazar? I’m Lieutenant Thompson’s secretary? The lieutenant sent me?”
Steve kept his tone even. “Nice to meet you, miss. Is everything all right?”
“Yes, sir. Well, no, sir— well, you see—”
“Is it Agent Carter?” he cut in, trying to conceal his growing apprehension.
“Yes, sir. It’s only— it’s just—” She gasped in a breath and tried to pull herself together. “The message came in a few hours ago. Agent Carter, she’s— she’s in labor.”
Heartbeats went by as Steve processed the words. “The… the baby?” He stared, his whole body rooted to the spot. “It’s coming?”
Lottie nodded frantically, fingers knotting. “They sent to tell you, sir. Out on the subway. Sorry I’m such a mess— I’ve never taken the train this late—”
“Lottie,” he cut her off, dazed. “What happened?”
“Oh! Oh, of course. We just got the message in over the wire— on Agent Carter’s secure frequency. I don’t know how much I can say, sir— the mission’s, well, it’s—”
“Classified,” he murmured. Classified, and actively operating. This was what Steve had been dreading; while Peggy had worried for her career, for compromising the integrity of her missions, but he could not help but fear for her and the baby itself, placed in the line of fire in the course of her work.
“Has there been an extraction?” he asked, forgetting himself in the moment. He could hear her little sound of bemusement to hear him use such terms, so he hastened to explain. “I served too, you know. During the war.”
She nodded with a gusty breath. “I guess you could say that, sir. But we didn’t send anyone. She— connected with an old contact, it seems. That contact is seeing her to a hospital, last we heard.”
Steve had a thousand more questions— what contact? Where were they exactly? What was Peggy’s status when labor began? —but he knew it was more than Lottie’s job was worth to tell him. He settled for a simple one: “What hospital?”
“The one at George Washington University, Mr. Carter.”
The initial shock warn off, all Steve’s old campaign instincts kicked into gear, strategizing, weighing all his options with the information at hand. “Lottie, are they expecting you back at the office?”
She blinked behind her large cat-eye glasses. “Ah… I don’t think so, sir. All they told me was to tell you.”
He ducked behind the front stairway, for where Peggy’s emergency suitcase had been stashed since she entered her third trimester. “And is there anybody at home who’s waiting up for you?”
“No, sir. By now they’re used to me getting called in to work at all hours.”
At that, Steve decided. “I see. Lottie, can you read a map?”
“What do you mean, Mr. Carter?”
He strode out door with the girl nervously trailing, slamming the lock behind him and heading to the driveway for the car. “There’s one in the glove box. I could use a navigator. Tell me what exit will aim us at DC.”
By this point he wouldn’t have thought the girl had any gasps left in her, but that moment proved him wrong. Her eyes darted between him and the waiting Chevy. “But, sir— it’s after midnight— and it’s gotta be four hours away!”
“Miss Salazar,” he chuckled. “You seem like a good kid— like you want to help folks out. You should know, I’ve traveled a lot longer and a lot farther than that when she needed me. So that sure as hell won’t stop me now.”
She gulped. Steve threw open the door and tossed the suitcase inside.
“So, what do you say, miss? Road trip?”
~~~
Next chapter: Waiting
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