WALKING DISASTERS | Jack Thompson

36.

"CHIEF SOUSA, I'm terribly sorry to interrupt," Jarvis said, as Sousa answered the phone.

"Jarvis?"

"Ah, yes, Edwin Jarvis here," he greeted. "I've received an SOS signal from Miss Carter. Apparently, she's at the Griffiths observatory and I fear she may in some trouble. Miss Stark and I were going to-"

"I'll meet you there."

Sera's eyes widened. "Daniel, wait-"

He hung up the phone and Sera sighed. "No, no, no."

"What's wrong, Miss Stark?" Jarvis asked.

"Daniel was going to propose to his girlfriend tonight," Sera sighed. "But then again, I guess it works out in Peggy's favour."

"What does?" Jarvis asked.

"I'll explain on the way," Sera replied, grabbing his arm. "We have to go now."

They met Sousa at the Griffiths observatory and found, to their dismay, a scene that unsettled them all. Howard's car was still where it had been abandoned, surrounded by bullet casings. Fortunately, a quick assessment of the scene showed no sign of Peggy or Wilkes, meaning that they got away.

After their search turned up empty, they went back to the SSR and Sera sighed. "I was quite looking forward to a fist fight."

"Why?" Daniel asked incredulously.

"I could do with a hobby," Sera answered.

As they reached the offices, they encountered Rose and Daniel asked, "You hear from her?"

"No, what did you find?" she asked.

"A rather unsettling amount of bullet casings," Jarvis replied.

"And her car with her tyres slashed," Daniel added.

"And no sign of Peggy?" Rose asked.

"Well, apart from the bullet casings," Jarvis said.

"Well, you don't think that-"

Daniel's office door slammed and through the tinted glass, Sera saw him start whacking his filing cabinet with his crutch. "I fear Chief Sousa may be losing it, for use of a better phrase."

"Oh, he's just worried about Peg," Rose said.

"As are we all," Jarvis said.

"No, Chief has a special kind of worry about her," Rose replied.

"I think Peggy's fine," Sera chimed in. "If there was no body, she has to be alive."

Daniel emerged from his office. "Jacobs! Get to the observatory. Supervise the crime scene. I want you checking every blade of grass for evidence."

"On my way!"

"Baxter, go shake down the Dunbar," Daniel instructed. "I want a statement from every person that set foot in that place."

"On it."

"Rose, get on the horn with local precincts," Daniel said. "Put an APB for Jason Wilkes. I want every badge in the city looking for him."

Sera folded her arms. "You really think this is all necessary? Peggy's quite capable of-"

"Jarvis, Stark, you're coming with me," Daniel interjected.

"Excellent," Jarvis replied. "Where are we going?"

"Isodyne. I'm through playing nice."

"Alright, Agent Thompson," Sera muttered, chasing after Daniel as they headed out of the office. "This isn't a good look on you, Daniel. You're supposed to be the level-headed one and you're acting like Jack."

"Shut up, Stark."

-

When they arrived on the scene, they found it in chaos. It appeared that the building had exploded, and Sera stopped short when she saw the wreckage. "Oh, God."

"Do you see her?" Daniel asked.

"No," Jarvis replied.

"Don't bother," one officer said to a paramedic as they pulled a gurney from the ambulance. "There's no way anybody survived that. Let's pack it up."

Sera let out a choked gasp. "Peggy..." she then let out another gasp, this time of surprise when she saw Peggy round the side of a police car. "Peggy!"

She rushed towards her friend and hugged her, relief coursing through her as Peggy held onto her friend. "Good, yes, you're here. Here's the situation. Dr Wilkes and I entered Isodyne Energy at approxmately four-thirty A.M."

"Carter-" Daniel said, as Sera stepped away from her friend.

"I engaged with four suspects while Dr Wilkes went in to retrieve this unregistered, highlight volatile scientific discovery-"

"Peggy, stop," Daniel cut in. "Stop. Are you okay?"

"Um, yes, I'm fine," she replied.

"And Dr Wilkes?" Daniel asked.

Peggy shook her head. "He di... He didn't make it. The explo... explosion."

"Okay, we're done here," Daniel said. "How about you get some rest?"

"Th-There's still so much to process," Peggy said.

"Peggy," Daniel said. "You're going home, okay?"

Sera wrapped and arm around Peggy and the two of them headed towards Jarvis, who offered a sympathetic look. "Miss Carter, I am immensely relieved that you're unharmed."

"Mr Jarvis, can I trouble you for a ride home?" Peggy asked, her voice breaking with the strain.

"Of course," he replied, and the three of them headed for the car.

The following morning, which dawned quicker than they wanted, Sera was sitting with Peggy in her room, cross-legged on the bed while Peggy sat on a chair overlooking the gardens through the window. She didn't know how to comfort her friend, because she didn't know how she felt about Dr Wilkes. It was clear that Peggy cared for the man, which meant that she was most likely reliving past experiences of losing Steve.

So they just sat in silence, and every so often Sera would check on Peggy and ask her if she was okay, and every time she did, she would get the same answer.

"I'm fine."

Ana walked in later in the morning, holding a glass in hand. "Edwin suggested tea, but I thought whiskey was more the order of the day."

She handed Peggy a glass and she smiled. "Bless you."

Ana sat beside Sera and handed her a glass. "Thank you."

"Strange that it should hit me so hard," Peggy said.

Ana shook her head. "I don't think it's strange at all."

"I'd only know him a few days," Peggy said.

"Edwin only knew me a few weeks before he had forged papers, gone AWOL, stolen a plane and helped me escape the Third Reich," Ana replied. "Doesn't take long to realise you've met someone special."

"I just wish I had the chance to get to know him better," Peggy admitted, trying not to cry.

"I'm sure he felt the same way, Miss Carter," Ana said.

Sera reached out and squeezed Peggy's knee. "I'm sure he did. You're a special woman, Peg."