Chapter Text
Howard met her in the early 50s.
She was young, and beautiful. She had long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a soothing voice. She came in to work as his personal secretary. She did her job and was always on call when he needed her. She also rebuffed all of his advances. It didn’t take Howard very long to find respect for her.
Maria Collins Carbonell knew he was a womaniser, and she never forgot it.
But…she also never disparaged him for it.
In fact, he’d heard her reprimanding Jarvis after he made such a remark.
‘Well,’ he’d said. ‘I imagine he has plans for any woman he can seduce.’
‘No, no, Mr. Jarvis,’ Miss Carbonell had quickly retorted in a stern tone. ‘You are a butler. You keep such remarks to yourself. Mr. Stark’s personal life is not your business, nor is it mine. We have no business remarking or disparaging him on where he gets his kicks. And if you feel entitled to do so, you might want to consider why you’re taking his money.’
Jarvis had nothing to say to that, and the remarks from him cut down significantly.
But…it made Howard think. That whole thing had started with Peg. She was the first one to start disparaging his life choices like that. And there were people who followed suit. But…really, it was no one else’s business but his own. And it made Howard feel good to have someone else vocalise that statement.
It took Howard longer than it should to realise that Maria was protecting him.
Then he discovered her secret.
Howard locked his office door and poured a couple of drinks. He set one down in front of Maria and took his glass around the other side. ‘How did it happen to you?’
‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I’ve been able to for as long as I can remember. I learned to control it as a child.’
That was weird. Howard regarded her. ‘You’re sure different from Cap.’
‘What do you mean?’ Maria asked.
‘Well, Steve never seemed to learn to control his strength,’ Howard said. ‘Phillips used to send him on missions just to stop him from breaking all of the punching bags. The amount of things he broke just by picking them up was staggering. I used to think he couldn’t help it but…you learned to do that as a kid?’
Maybe Steve hadn’t been as mindful and careful as Howard had thought.
‘Well, you have to,’ Maria said. ‘You can so easily hurt other children just by playing with them. If you don’t learn to control your strength, you can accidentally break bones.’
The same reasons a lot of soldiers refused to train with Steve.
Maybe…that was the day Howard’s opinion of Steve began to take a dip. The more he thought about it, the more he remembered Steve breaking things, breaking bones, and screwing up and yet refusing to do anything to help moderate his strength. He insisted he didn’t need it. He insisted he was in full control of his strength.
Then…Howard looked at Maria.
If she hadn’t had super-strength all her life, she’d had it for a good chunk of it. And she constantly did these things…these little things Howard had once considered nervous habits. He knew better now. Every time she spun a pencil between her fingers, every time she fiddled with a raw egg, every time she sat down to play the piano…she was actually practicing moderating her strength.
What Steve insisted he didn’t need, she did any time she found her hands empty.
And she had never broken a single thing without meaning to.
Then, one day, in 1955, Howard was working from his home office. His phone suddenly rang and Maria answered it. ‘Stark Mansion. Mr. Stark’s secretary speaking. Yes, I’ll see if he can talk to you.’ She lowered the phone. ‘A Mr. Daniel Sousa, Mr. Stark.’
Howard looked up.
‘Bad?’ Maria guessed.
‘Confusing.’ Howard held his hand out.
She gave him the phone. ‘Sousa?’
‘Howard!’ Sousa sounded relieved. ‘I’m glad I caught you. The secretary of yours that answered the phone. Is she enhanced?’
Howard froze. He glanced up at Maria. ‘…Where did you hear that?’
‘The better question is where did Peg hear that?’ Sousa said. ‘She was just in my office, demanding men to go and apprehend your secretary.’
‘What?’ Howard demanded. ‘Why?’
Sousa let out a breath. ‘Off the record?’
‘Off the record.’
‘Peg’s been getting increasingly paranoid of late,’ Sousa said. ‘She’s even starting to scare me. She’s convinced that anybody with any type of power needs to be reeled in and controlled. I told her she needed proof that your secretary was a threat. She stormed out with something about how I’d get it. So, I’m gonna ask you straight right now, Howard: Is your secretary any kind of threat?’
Howard reached out and caught Maria’s wrist as she went to leave the office. ‘Absolutely not.’
Maria looked back at him in surprise. He just shook his head. She stopped and watched him, brow creasing in worry.
‘I didn’t think so,’ Sousa said. ‘But Peg does, based entirely on the fact that she is enhanced. I have no doubt that Peg’s heading your way to provoke your secretary, to prove she’s the threat Peg says she is.’
‘Peg’s done this before, I take it?’ Howard asked.
‘Worse,’ Sousa said. ‘Peg’s successfully done this before. It works better when she does it in a public place though. Usually, I can take the person into custody, hold them for the required 48 hours and then let them go. She’s very…ham-fisted about provoking them so it’s not hard for me to prove they acted in self-defence. But the experience is still very unpleasant for all involved. I don’t like explaining to them that I need to prove they were provoked, and they don’t like sitting in a cell for two days because of one paranoid woman.’
Howard scowled. He’d done a lot of thinking about Peg too in recent years. Suddenly, commotion outside got his attention.
‘Thanks for the warning,’ Howard said. ‘But I think she’s here. I call you back after.’ He hung up. ‘Maria, stay in the office.’ He grabbed the keys and exited the office, locking the door behind him.
Howard pocketed the keys and leaned on the door.
It didn’t take long for Peggy Carter to stride in, followed by a frazzled Jarvis.
‘Howard, you have an enhanced secretary,’ she immediately said.
‘And where did you hear that?’ Howard asked, folding his arms across his chest.
‘I am a Federal Agent,’ Peggy huffed indignantly. ‘What on earth were you thinking? Do you know how dangerous she is?’
‘How do you know?’ Howard asked. ‘You’ve never met her. Where did you hear that I have an enhanced secretary?’
Peggy ignored his question. ‘You’re right. I never met her, and I think I ought to remedy that.’
‘I don’t.’ Howard felt rage bubbling away in his blood. Peggy had always been intolerant and tart. He was inclined to believe Sousa when he said that she was going out of her way to provoke the enhanced she targeted into a violent reaction.
‘Don’t be ridiculous, Howard!’ Peggy snapped striding to the door he stood in front of. She reached past his waist and grabbed the door handle. That was when she discovered it was locked. She looked up at him as if he’d sworn in church. ‘Give me the key.’
Howard lifted a hand to her shoulder and pushed her back. ‘No.’
Peg’s lips pressed together. Unlike the last time she’d swung a fist at him, Howard saw this one coming. Over the three years she’d used him for her missions in the 40s, Howard had come to learn that face. She pulled the same face every time she was about to try violence. So…Howard ducked.
Peg fist hit the wood behind him.
She grunted and pulled back. ‘Don’t you remember Whitney Frost, Howard?’
‘Maria is not Whitney Frost,’ Howard just about snarled. ‘Now, get out.’
‘Howard—’
Howard moved right in her face. ‘Get. Out.’
Peg flinched back, obviously not expecting this. She backed up a bit, looking shocked. Then she turned and marched out like a toddler who’d just been sent to bed. But Howard’s blood was still boiling. He stood there and watched her go. He made sure she headed in the direction of the front door and he didn’t move until he heard the front door slam. Obviously, Jarvis couldn’t read his mood.
‘Was that wise, sir?’
Howard spun around. ‘Don’t you dare ask me that, Jarvis! You need to learn to say “no” to her!’
Even he didn’t know where all this rage was coming from. He’d been angry in protectiveness of his employees before. But this was something brand new. It was deep and intrinsic. It was in his guts, tightening his throat. It was dark and it felt dirty and horrible. But he couldn’t push it aside, even as he watched Jarvis flinch back.
Howard turned on his heel and went back to the door. Unlocking the door, he opened the office and found it fade away immediately at the sight of Maria. She’d clearly heard the whole thing. Her arms were wrapped tightly around herself and she was shaking. She slowly looked up at him. That was when Howard realised it.
Without thinking, he moved over to her. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her to his chest. She didn’t let go of her own body but she tucked her head under his chin and let out a shaky breath. Howard found himself rubbing her back and gently rocking her in an attempt at comfort.
I’m in love, aren’t I?
When had that happened?
This is what it feels like?
This overwhelming, all-encompassing need to protect her? The hot, ugly rage should anything even threaten to harm her? The automatic deliberation of options his brain was now engaged in, to try and keep her safe? The desire to make her happy and see her smile again. The frustration and despair at knowing he couldn’t do that right now?
‘Who was she?’ Maria murmured.
‘Peggy Carter,’ Howard answered. ‘She was part of Project Rebirth too. Got hot under the collar for Cap. Joined the SSR. I helped her out a few times in the late 40s. But I haven’t heard from her since I helped convert the SSR into S.H.I.E.L.D.’ He glanced at the phone. ‘Sousa called to warn me she was coming.’ He looked down at her. ‘You all right?’
‘Yeah, she just shook me up.’ Maria stepped back and squeezed his arm as he let her go. ‘I mean, it’s not uncommon for people to get twitchy when they hear you have things like super-strength – especially when you’re a woman. But that was on a new level.’
‘Hm.’ Howard walked around and picked up the phone again. He dialled. It didn’t take long for Sousa to pick up.
‘Hello, Daniel Sousa.’
‘Sousa, it’s Howard.’
‘Oh, good. Did you get rid of her without incident?’
‘This time,’ Howard said. ‘I’ve got no doubt she’ll try again.’
‘She will,’ Sousa said. ‘Hang on.’ There was rustling on the other side. ‘I’ll need you to describe what your secretary’s like so I can use it if Carter ever does get her in here.’
‘Please, Maria wouldn’t hurt a fly,’ Howard huffed. ‘I wouldn’t have even known if I hadn’t noticed her moving things in the office that are notoriously hard to move.’
‘So, she doesn’t raise her hand against anyone?’ Sousa asked.
‘She’s more likely to tell someone off than she is to even think about raising her hand against another person,’ Howard said. ‘She’s polite, diplomatic, everything someone who works in the corporate world needs to be.’
At his side, Maria smiled.
‘Okay, that’ll help,’ Sousa said. ‘Do you know where her powers came from?’
‘She doesn’t even know,’ Howard responded. ‘Seems she was born with it.’
‘So, probably an ancestor somewhere down the line…’
‘That’s what I think.’
‘All right. My recommendation would be to put your security on high alert, and do everything to make sure Peg can’t ambush…Maria, did you call her?’
‘Yup.’
‘Do everything you can to make sure Peg can’t ambush Maria out in public. I still don’t know where she got the information.’
‘I’m thinking someone on my board of directors has loose lips,’ Howard said. ‘Only a few people know about Maria’s super-strength. She doesn’t go around advertising it.’
Sousa was silent for a moment. ‘What was the name of that guy that Peg brought to you for a job back in ’49?’
‘Obadiah Stane?’ Howard asked.
‘Yeah. Look into him.’
‘Why?’ Howard asked. Mind you, it wasn’t a dumb idea. Peg had brought Stane to him and asked Howard to give him a job. And he was good at the job Howard hired him for. He was an excellent businessman: diplomatic, but ruthless. But…he had been brought in by Peggy, who was the problem here. And he was one of the few people who knew Maria was not an ordinary woman.
In fact, it was through her that Howard had discovered, Stane used his larger size to physically push people out of his way when he wanted to go somewhere – usually into Howard’s office.
Although, the image of him unsuccessfully trying to push aside a woman four times smaller than him was still hilarious.
‘Off the record again?’ Sousa asked.
‘Off the record.’
‘Well, turns out HYDRA isn’t dead,’ Sousa said. ‘And about 90% of the people Peg pushed us to enlist…well, do I have to finish that sentence?’
Howard nodded, seeing exactly where this was going. ‘No, you do not.’
He practically heard Sousa nod. ‘I know they’re here. I just can’t prove it.’
Which meant it was entirely possible that Stane was HYDRA. ‘Okay, thanks for the head’s up. Good luck.’
‘You too.’
After Howard hung up, he sat back in his seat, turning this over in his head. At the same time, he looked at Maria and told her what Sousa had told him. She bit her lip and nodded. Howard had a few things to do now: put his security on alert, he also hired some reliable PIs to tail Maria along with a bonus.
If Peg tried anything while she was out in public, they were to interfere.
Doing so would result in a 10% bonus.
And he also ordered an audit of his company, to be delivered onto his desk the next morning. If Stane was HYDRA, it would show up in the figures. And you couldn’t fudge numbers without making some mistakes. Howard was sure he would see some fudged numbers the next morning. The last thing he did was make an international phone call…you know, after making sure his phone wasn’t bugged.
‘HYDRA, eh?’ Phillips asked. ‘Sousa’s sure about this?’
‘Sure enough to be investigating it seriously,’ Howard said. ‘Hate to say it but we might need to look into it too.’
‘Yeah…Rogers only took down one faction,’ Phillips said. ‘Never in history, has an organisation like that been done in by losing a single leader. But, if it’s true, your phone call with him might have been bugged.’
‘I thought of that,’ Howard said. ‘Which was why I made sure my phone wasn’t bugged before calling you.’
‘You’d be a low priority,’ Phillips told him. ‘You’re a civilian, and they might think they can make use of you later. Still, I’d exercise extreme caution if I were you. If they think you’re gonna cause trouble for them, you may find yourself on their hit list.’
‘Noted.’