"What are strong men like yourselves doing?" A voice sounded through the dark alley. A woman appeared. Her voice held a slight British accent.
"Teaching some punks a lesson," the largest of the five bullies said gruffly. He eyed the woman hungrily...
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《《 ☆ 》》
"What?"
"You heard me, Sergeant Barnes," Phillips said gruffly. "Agent Rogers, you are dismissed to attend to your duties."
"Yes, sir," Marlene left the room with her eyes trained on her feet. She couldn't look anyone in their eyes. Especially not Steve, not Bucky.
"How long?" Steve asked calmly, trying to wrap his mind around the matter.
"Since 1941," Howard answered, finally sitting up straight.
"You're joking, right?"
"It's not often you come across a woman that can take down street thugs without breaking a sweat," Phillips reasoned. "Especially one that can have anything she wants with a bat of her eyelashes."
Bucky's mind was racing a million miles per minute.
"That's badass," Dugan offered up.
"She lied to us?" Steve asked faintly.
"She didn't want you worrying," Howard explained. "She didn't want you two to try and interfere. She didn't want-"
"Why'd she tell you?"
"Howard Stark was her cover," Peggy explained. "She does actually work as his partner. However, every time she is sent out of town to do some work with inventions, she's on a mission for the American government."
"Barnes, Rogers," Phillips spoke up in a surprisingly soft tone. "Don't be too hard on her. She's done great things. Things you should be proud of. She was under my orders not to tell either of you."
Without another word, Colonel Phillips left the room.
"Was she ever hurt?" Bucky asked Howard and Peggy with a look of concern after the news had finally sunk in.
The two shared a glance.
"I take it she was," Steve said, falling dramatically into his chair.
"She was grazed by a bullet," Peggy explained. "Damn near went into her arm."
"She has a few cuts."
"Gotten a few bruises."
"The worst had to be-well. . .," Howard said carefully. "She was injected with some sick serum invented by Hyrda after her first mission. My butler had driven her to my lab, saying she refused to go elsewhere.
"The serum was meant to cause her more pain than you can imagine. Mental and physical. There was a very slim chance of survival," he explained slowly. "I honestly thought she wasn't going to make it through the night. She was paler than paper, her lips were blue, she was shivering, she was sweating, her eyes were red.
