Chapter Text
Peggy’s heart felt like it had stopped in her chest as stared at the unmistakable figure in front of her. There was no doubt who it was. The same perfect dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, and broad shoulders that she had come to love during the war were standing right in front of her. Even his shield was on his arm. The only thing missing was that grin that had come to make Peggy’s heart ache when she thought about it. Instead of the grin that used to light up his face nearly every time he saw her, Steve Rogers was glaring at her, his chest visibly rising and falling evenly even from the few feet he was standing away from her.
Peggy swallowed hard trying to get her throat to push away the tightness that was forming there when Steve started to rush forward at her. For just a split second she thought he was rushing forward to pull her into his arms, the way he used to when they were alone together, but her years of war and espionage quickly pushed that thought aside and sent off warning bells that he was charging forward, not to embrace her, but to hurt her. Peggy quickly moved to the side slightly, stumbling just a little at an uneven crack in Howard’s driveway as her brain raced to keep up with what was happening. Somehow Steve was here, not drowned somewhere in the Arctic, and clearly he wasn’t the Steve she had said goodbye to on the radio. This was a wild and angry Steve, and right now that anger was directed at her.
In the second her mind had been whirling he was now in front of her, with a punch aimed at her side. Peggy quickly reached out to block it and an intense wave of pain shot through her arm as Steve’s super strength hit her hard. She quickly bit back a cry of pain as she moved to put distance between them as she tried hard to think of the best way to bring him down. Peggy’s hardest hit, even with the heaviest object she could find would barely phase Steve and she knew it. However, she knew if she could get him off balance, she might have a chance, and maybe she could find a way to take his shield, so it could serve to absorb any blows he could manage to land. Peggy stopped her retreat, clearly surprising Steve as she raised her leg and put all of her strength into pushing him as hard as she could with her knee. Steve stumbled back just a step, clearly not expecting the move and Peggy quickly turned to deliver a roundhouse kick to his stomach. Before she had turned all the way back around however she felt a hard blow to her back and she couldn’t fight back the cry of pain this time as she fell forward onto the cement, her back throbbing.
She turned over to face him quickly, leaning up on her elbows as she saw he had taken the shield off his arm and was holding it in his hand. His intention was clear, he planned to drive the edge of it against Peggy’s leg, breaking it. But Peggy saw this as her chance, she could get the shield away from Steve if she moved quickly enough. She reached up and grabbed the bottom edge of it before pushing it as hard as she could towards Steve, the leverage and shock working to her advantage as it was pulled from Steve’s grasp. Peggy pulled the shield close to her chest and rolled quickly away from Steve and stood back up, sliding the straps onto her arm. Before Steve could even really process what had happened Peggy heard the familiar roar of a car engine and saw Mr. Jarvis speeding towards them on the driveway, heading straight to where Steve was standing. The car hit Steve with enough force that Steve was knocked back and Peggy couldn’t help but wince when she saw his head bounce on the concrete. The force of the blow to the head was clearly enough to stun Steve momentarily as he blinked rapidly trying to clear his vision as Mr. Jarvis out of the car, a syringe of something viable in his hand.
“Miss Carter!” He yelled and held it out to her the usual panic under pressure clear in his voice. Without thinking too much Peggy reached forward and snatched it from his hand dropping Steve’s shield in the process. She then stepped back to Steve and knelt down putting a knee on his chest as she stuck the needle into his arm and injected the medication. It didn’t take long after that for Steve to stop struggling completely as his eyes closed and his breathing went back to a deep even rhythm. Peggy took a moment to catch her own breath as the pain in her back and arm screamed to be noticed as she came of her adrenaline rush and she looked up at Mr. Jarvis.
“That won’t last long. His body will burn through it in moments.” She told her friend as she slowly stood back up, wondering faintly if Steve had managed to break her arm. Mr. Jarvis shook his head as he shut off the car and came to stand beside her, looking down at Steve.
“No, Mr. Stark said he made that especially for Steve during the war, in case he was ever in need of surgery or some such. He said that it should last long enough for him to get here.”
Peggy looked at Jarvis, allowing the confusion to show on her face.
“Howard knows Steve is here? How?” She demanded as she looked back down at the now peaceful Steve. Jarvis sighed deeply and shook his head. “We have a lot to talk about apparently Miss Carter. Let's get Mr. Rogers inside and secure in the lab and I can do my best to explain what I know until Mr. Stark arrives and can tell you all of it.”
Peggy just nodded, feeling slight resigned as she moved to grab Steve’s shoulders and nodded for Jarvis to take his feet so that they could carry him inside.