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Ever since she and Peggy Carter had moved into one of Howard Stark’s spacious New York residences, Angie had become accustomed to Peggy’s erratic arrival and departure times. Initially, Angie would stay up practicing her lines or reading a book until her friend appeared at the front door. Peggy put an end to that habit quickly, “Angie, be reasonable. At least one of us needs to get some sleep around here and you have to be ready for your rehearsals.” It was true. Angie’s small part in an off-Broadway production of “Around the World” required a specific routine and she would soon be out late at night with performances. “Are you saying I need more beauty sleep, English?”
Peggy looked her in the eyes, “I would never say that.” As Angie blushed, Peggy continued, “I just think it is advisable that we have at least one functioning mind in the establishment at all times.” Angie acquiesced, “Okay, but you gotta promise me that you will, well, at least promise me that you’ll try to take care of yourself while protecting the world from evil or whatever you do.”
“I will do all I can to keep intact, I promise.”
One night a month later, Angie awoke suddenly to the sound of something crashing outside her bedroom door. The luminescent hands of her travel clock on the bedside table read 3:31 AM. Angie moved rapidly out of bed, as instructed by Peggy, who took great pains to teach Angie basic security and self-defense skills “just in case.” Though Peggy could not tell Angie everything about her job, they both knew that her work was dangerous. Peggy was clearly concerned about Angie’s safety, “It’s best to be vigilant. We can’t have anything bad to happen to you now, can we?” Though Peggy made this statement with her trademark levity, her voice wavered ever so slightly, belying her real worry. Now Peggy’s directives came rushing back to Angie as she grabbed a weapon and opened her bedroom door quietly. “Angie,” came a strained voice.
“English!” Angie ran into the entryway and turned on a light to find Peggy sprawled on the marble floor next to a fallen table and pieces of a vase that had shattered.
Peggy struggle for breath, “I need your help.”
“What happened?” Angie asked.
“Listen carefully and follow my instructions exactly. My legs are now useless and I don’t have much time left.”
“What do you mean?”
“Jarvis is on his way, but we can’t wait for him. I have been poisoned with a paralyzing chemical agent and I need you to get the antidote from the false bottom of my sweater drawer. You know which drawer?”
“Yeah, I think so. Wait, an antidote? Has this happened to you before?”
“Another time, Angie. At the very bottom of the drawer there’s a small red metal toffee box with a hypodermic needle in it. Bring it to me and administer it in my upper thigh immediately. It is important that you not call a hospital or doctor; they won’t know what to do. Go. Now!”
Angie ran into Peggy’s room and retrieved the box hurriedly, ignoring the other tins and questionable items in the hidden space. She sprinted back to Peggy’s side, but by the time she got there, Peggy could no longer speak. Her eyes were emoting for Angie to dispense the medicine. Angie lifted Peggy’s skirt, thinking, “This is not how I imagined this moment,” and, with hands shaking, took a deep breath and pushed the needle into Peggy’s thigh, pressing the plunger in a steady motion. After removing the needle, she looked expectantly at her friend, but Peggy’s eyes were closed and her body inert. “Come on, English, don’t give up. You are the toughest person I know. Come on, honey. Stay with me.”
After a few minutes without change, Angie began to cry silently (and not, by the way, like the fake crying she used on the SSR Agents at the Griffith House) as she held Peggy’s brunette head against her chest, declaring “Don’t you leave me, Peggy Carter. I love you, you fool. Stay with me.” Before Angie knew it, Jarvis had unlocked the front door and was kneeling beside her, checking Peggy’s pulse, “You administered the antidote?”
“Yes, but I can’t find a pulse. Maybe I did something wrong.” Angie agonized.
“I’m sure you did your best.” Jarvis placed his hand on Peggy’s wrist. “You’ve done well. I feel a faint pulse and she is breathing, though it’s shallow. Help me get Miss Carter onto the couch.”
They carefully lifted and placed Peggy on one of the living room couches. Jarvis opened a large leather physician’s bag, “Miss Martinelli, please bring that free-standing coat rack over here.” Jarvis hung a several unfamiliar electronic devices and bottles of fluid on the coat rack. He expertly inserted an IV in Peggy’s hand and placed wires on her chest. He also gave Peggy a couple of shots through her IV tube.
“What is all that…stuff?” Angie inquired.
“Conventional medical equipment and some of the more advanced variety acquired by Mr. Stark. They will allow me to monitor her vitals.”
Angie asked, “What do we do now?”
“We wait. For how long, I’m not entirely sure.”
“Turns out waiting for things isn’t my strong suit.”
“In that case, may I make you a cup of tea to calm, well, my nerves?” Jarvis offered.
“I’d like that.” Jarvis pulled up a chair for Angie next to Peggy’s side and headed toward the kitchen.
“Wait. Mr. J?”
“Edwin.”
“Eddie, I’m not sure what you might have heard when you came in…” Angie started.
“I didn’t hear a thing.”
“That’s generous of you.”
“Miss Martinelli, your relationship with Miss Carter is none of my affair and I am not in the habit of eavesdropping or gossiping.”
“Good. Please don’t tell Pegs what I said.”
“Of course, you have my promise of complete discretion. However, if I may, I am not alarmed by romantic relationships between women or men, and neither, I dare say, is Miss Carter. Moreover, I know she cares a great deal about you.”
Angie looked thoughtful, “I never met anyone like Peggy. The first time our paths crossed, I knew she was, well, extraordinary.”
“Yes, I had a similar impression during my initial encounter with Miss Carter,” Jarvis stated as he touched his jaw. “Now, about that tea.”
Later that morning, Peggy began to regain full consciousness and took in the scene around her. She found Jarvis and Angie sitting in chairs surrounding the couch on which she was lying. Angie was sleeping, but Jarvis was alert and held Peggy’s hand while saying softly, “How are you?”
“Let’s see. My mouth appears to be in working order, as are my arms and legs. I think I’ll survive, though I am quite tired.”
“Of course.”
“How’s Angie?” Peggy asked, looking at her.
“Surprisingly adept at remaining levelheaded in a crisis. She saved your life.”
Two days later, Peggy was recovering in her room and reading a newspaper in bed. She put down the paper and called out, “Angie?
“Yeah?"
“Can you come here please?”
Angie looked in her doorway, “Can I get you something?”
“Yes, you. I want to speak with you.”
“I’d like to, but I am busy getting ready for rehearsal.”
“This will only take a moment. Is there something bothering you? I feel like you’ve been avoiding me since you saved my life.”
“It was really Jarvis that saved you. I’m so glad you’re okay, Peggy.”
“Hmm. One of the things I like about you is your honesty and directness, so sit down and out with it.”
Silence.
“Could it be that you are concerned about how I’ll react to your attraction to women or is it more about your complicated feelings for me?”
“Jarvis?!” Angie exclaimed.
“Jarvis didn’t say a word. I overheard you two talking when I was regaining consciousness. In the future, it might behoove you to avoid private conversations in front of the comatose.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Angie sat down with a sigh, “I was going to tell you.”
“When? During my next brush with death? Angie, do you think me so shallow that you imagined I would reject you on the basis of this revelation? Furthermore, did you think I didn’t know? I am not completely impervious to your shameless flirting and disarming personality, nor am I naive; I’ve been in the military, and if that isn’t a hotbed of romantic relationships of all kinds, I don’t know what is.”
“You should hang around the theater some time. Look, Pegs, I wanted to let you in on that part of my life, I really did, but I had a bad experience in my past when I told a gal and I didn’t want that to happen with you.”
“I promise you, it won’t. Tell me what happened with said woman.”
“Her name was Lucille. She was a singer in the USO with me. She was coming on to me constantly and I thought I could trust her, but all I did was brush her hand one day at the movies and she flipped her lid. She said terrible things to me and got me thrown out of the USO. My professional life as a touring singer was finished in that moment. I lost most of my friends, even gals I was close with. I had to come back home and start over again. I was just lucky that my parents didn’t get wind of the story. It would have given my ma a heart attack.”
“Darling, I’m sorry,” Peggy put her hand on Angie’s, “that sounds awful.”
“Listen to me and my pity-party. I’m sure you’ve lost many people in your line of work.”
“I have, and I’ll tell you more about those people sometime. But aren’t you going to be late for your rehearsal?”
Angie stood up, “Yeah, I better get going.” Angie paused a moment, then demanded, “What’s going to happen now?”
Peggy raised an eyebrow playfully, “What do you want to happen now?”
“Not fair, English.”
“See how much fun we can have now that our big secrets have been revealed.”
“Fun for whom?”
“For me, of course,” Peggy answered, “and maybe for you, too.”
“And you don’t want me to move out?”
“You silly, silly woman.”