Work Text:
Jack Thompson had warned her.
“You’re chasing a bogey man down into a pit of quicksand.”
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Ana had been shot. Might die. Jarvis was slowly disintegrating in front of her eyes.
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She paced the halls of the hospital, questions swirling at her heels.
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What had Whitney Frost done with Dr. Wilkes?
Was he all right? Was he still corporeal? How long could he last out of the containment chamber?
What did Frost want with him?
“That’s been a long time coming.”
“You blushed.”
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What had she done?
She had let Dottie Underwood get away. A menace in high heels and bright predatory smile. An unnatural disaster, and she, Agent Peggy Carter, had willingly, eagerly let her out of the cage and let her loose on the world.
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What had she done?
She could not count the ways this had gone wrong.
She could not see how she had ever thought it could go right.
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Where was Daniel?
When she called the office, asked for the chief, Vernon Masters answered.
Why had he not come to the Stark mansion last night?
He always showed up for her.
“She called off the engagement because she thinks I am in love with you.”
He always had her back. And now - when she needed him - she could not reach out and touch him.
”We should talk.”
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She had swept them all up in her wake: Daniel, who should have stopped her. Jarvis, who should have been safely tucked up with his wife. Ana, who should not be fighting for her life in surgery. Dottie, who had been out of commission, and was now swirling around creating chaos.
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Jason. She had been so focused on saving Jason, she had forgotten every rule.
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Daniel. She had destroyed all his happiness, so hard-won in California, and did not know if she could promise him anything in return.
(Where was Daniel? Why had he not shown up? He always showed up. For her. She relied on it.)
(She did not know until now how much she had relied on it.)
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Jack Thompson had warned her. Had warned her she had a lot to lose.
"But I won’t lose."
"Yes, you will. And when you do, you’ll never see it coming."
She hadn't just bet on herself. She had bet on everyone she cared about.
And she had lost.
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"That's why they call it gambling."
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She hung up the phone and sat beside Jarvis. Slowly, she stretched out her hand, slid it under his, and turned it to clasp his, palm to palm.
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Agent Peggy Carter, woman of action, always ready to improvise, always on the move.
Sitting. Still as stone. Holding on.
Waiting for answers.
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What had she done?