Once upon a SHIELD case (Howard Stark)

Prologue

Another day, another case. Peggy Carter, SHIELD's top agent, headed out of the briefing room. Most of HYDRA had been stamped out but there were still loyal followers wreaking havoc across the globe. The latest report was chilling. An assassin, The Winter Soldier, had been recruited by HYDRA. Word was he was good at what he did. Too good for SHIELD to stop, yet.

Squaring her shoulders, Peggy walked with authority to her office. SHIELD directors accepted her for her skills but some of her peers didn't... the men. She never made it about gender equality, but about doing her duty to the world. And finishing what she and Steve had started.

Where to start on finding the Winter Soldier. She would work out a timeline of his targets and figure out when exactly he had started with HYDRA. Somewhere along the way she'd have to discover a clue...

"Hey beautiful." 

She rolled her eyes, "Howard, nice to see you." 

"Don't lie, it doesn't suit you." He winked at her and sat down in the seat across her desk. "What are you working on these days?"

"Are you consulting on the case Howard? I'd be happy to compare notes with you."

He gave her a shrewd look. "What case would that be?" he asked innocently. "The Winter Soldier?"

"Howard..." Peggy said with a warning tone.

"What?! I read it upside down. You know better than to leave the file open on your desk." He gave her a pointed look.

"Actually," a voice piped up from the doorway, "the director just sent you a memo that Mr. Stark is consulting on the case."

Peggy smiled at Maria, one of the office secretaries. "Thank you Maria." She took the stack of memos from her. "And tomorrow..."

Maria stopped leaving and looked at her.

"Report to my office. The director has permanently assigned you to work with me."

Maria's eyes shone and she almost jumped up and down. "Thank you ma'am. I'll see you then." She exited quickly.

"New recruit?" 

Sigh. She'd forgotten about Howard. "Yes. And please don't flirt with her. She'll have enough to learn without your shenanigans."

"Aye, aye captain." He gave her a mock salute and turned to leave. "She is rather cute though." And with an audacious wink he walked out. 

Another sigh. This was going to be interesting.