agent rogers • j. thompson

dancing with our hands tied.

i knew there was no one in the world who could take it
i had a bad feeling

—
CHARLOTTE ROGERS

The very reason that we had to cause pain for answers was why I was against violence.

Punch after punch, tear after tear.

Tears involuntarily flew down my cheeks, but I could not let myself break.

"Charlotte, just tell us where she is and this can stop." The agent reminded me.

"I'm not the enemy," I grunted with a sore lip.

The agent just studied me for a bit and gave me a confused look.

"Usually people in your position are this busted within half the amount of time it took you to get there."

"Well, I'm sure you've heard-"

"Where is Carter?" The agent yelled.

I just kept my mouth shut and I closed my eyes. I felt a hard knuckle on my cheek.

"I don't want to do this to you Char-"

"STOP! We found Carter!" Jack urgently shouted as he bursted through the door.

"Charlotte!" Peggy called out.

"It wasn't me! I swear, I didn't tell them anything!"

"I know you didn't. It just pains me to know this was because of me..."

They handcuffed Peggy's hand to the desk as well, and when she said it wasn't necessary, Jack pointed out that she hospitalized three agents, so yeah, it was necessary.

I didn't utter a word while Peggy tried to explain to them the truth. Every minute they spent interrogating us was another minute Dottie, the true enemy, had to plot and scheme.

She explained to them how we were able to conduct our own investigation, telling them bitterly how we were overlooked enough to get away with it.

"What do you have to say to all of this, Rogers?" Jack asked without looking at my bruised face.

I just stayed silent until Jarvis appeared with the alleged signed confession of Howard Stark.

Dooley didn't fully buy it, so he waited for Stark to show up himself. He told us that if Stark showed, we'd get to leave.

I had to give him props — he was no fool.

Peggy, Jarvis, and I were escorted into an office room with large windows.

"Charlotte, do you recall the name of the prisoner we brought back to the States?" Peggy said with a hint of concern in her voice.

"It was Dr. Ivchenko. Why?" I stepped up next to where she stood and looked in the direction she faced.

The man who looked so innocent seemed to be tapping out morse code to someone across the street.

And before I could stop her, Peggy was telling them everything, all so she could tell them about Ivchenko. They were all skeptical until she offered them the last remaining sample of my brother's blood.

I couldn't help but notice the aura of utter sadness Jack was radiating. I couldn't help but think about how much of this was my fault.

I had to make this right.

But I couldn't.

Jack, Daniel, and a handful of other agents were going to the building next door to investigate.

The next thing I knew, Dooley locked us in an interrogation room and everything went black.

PEGGY CARTER

"Charlotte!" I wanted to run to her, but we were all handcuffed to the table in the interrogation room.

I tried to quickly explain to Jarvis what we had to do, and eventually caught on. On a count of three, we lifted the table — which poor Charlotte was still attached to — and smashed the two-way mirror.

"I just realised something," I muttered.

"We are still attached to a table." Jarvis pointed out.

"We are still attached to a table," I echoed.

Thankfully, Jack walked in on the other side and asked us what the hell we were doing.

"Where is Charlotte?" He asked, suddenly ignoring the fact that we busted through the window.

"We need to leave her in there right now. She is unconscious —" I wasn't able to finish my thought when I noticed Chief Dooley.

He was beginning to sweat profusely in a heated vest made by the man of the hour, Howard Stark.

My heart broke at his fate.

I wished Charlotte had remained unconscious long enough so she wouldn't have to witness what was about to happen. But she opened the door to the interrogation room with a broken handcuff on her wrist.

She furrowed her eyebrows at the sight before her until she realised what was happening. Instantly her face contorted into one of pure heartbreak.

"Make Ivchenko pay. Tell my wife I love her. Make sure you tell her that," he begged everyone.

Charlotte ran up by me as Dooley started to run toward the window.

Dooley shot the window in front of him burst through. Charlotte screamed, cried, and reached after him, but Jack pulled her back and shielded her from the explosion.