Once upon a SHIELD case (Howard Stark)

Chapter 1

a/n

Thanks to ruff1258 for encouraging me to update. I wasn't completely sure what would happen next, so needed that push to figure it out :)

As always, feedback is welcome. 

***

2 months later {Maria}

Thump!

I looked over at Peggy and saw that she tossed another heavy file on the floor. It must not have been what she was looking for.

"Any luck?" I asked.

"No," she sighed. "Two months and we don't have a single, solid lead on the Winter Soldier. Master assassins don't just sprout up overnight."

"Not much does," Howard said drily from his perch.

We were camped out at our apartment--mine and Peggy's. We'd been roommates for the last six months after my former roommate had gotten married and moved out and Peggy's rent had gone up. 

"Should I order in for dinner?" Howard asked. Peggy and I looked at him. "What?" He said. "I'm hungry. Aren't you ladies hungry too?"

I was but Peggy was determined to uncover something before we took another break. And stopping for dinner would be considered a break.

I started to shake my head but my stomach growled loudly. Howard smiled while Peggy looked exasperated. 

"Sorry," I said. "I guess it has been a while since I ate." I shrugged my shoulders.

Peggy looked at the time and it finally registered with her. She looked at me and winked. "Howard, dinner would be lovely. I guess we have been going at it for quite some time." 

"Any preferences?" He said as he stood and grabbed his hat.

"No," we said in unison. 

"I'll be back shortly." He bowed with a flourish and whirled out the door. 

Peggy rolled her eyes. "He's a bit too dramatic."

I laughed. "He does it for our benefit." We sifted through more files and meaningless papers. "Besides, I think it's funny. And really just enjoys the attention." 

"You're too sweet sometimes, Maria." 

"Me, sweet? You've seen my dangerous side." I winked at her. "Remember when I took down that intruder in the office."

"Yes," Peggy said with a smirk. "You bumped into him, squeaked, and then pushed him into Howard."

"Who finished coralling him, I might add. It was all about teamwork." I looked at Peggy arrogantly.

She looked back and we dissolved into laughter.

"Maria, sometimes you are just too much."

"I know. I've been told that before...wait a minute." I pulled the open file closer.

"What is it?" Peggy asked. She stood and came to my perch on the sofa.

"The first sighting of the Winter Solider isn't until shortly after the War ended. After Steve Rogers crashed the Red Skull's ship into the ice." I said the last part softly.

Peggy's eyes clouded over. "Yes, we know. What difference does it make?"

"We've been assuming that the Winter Soldier was a homegrown assassin, right?" I looked at Peggy for confirmation and she nodded. "So what if we've been assuming incorrectly. What if the Winter Solider..."

"Is a Hydra weapon?" Peggy finished. "But how could that be? Witnesses have always seen a man."

"They've seen the shape of a man. A man whose strength is akin to Captain America's. And anyway, the Red Skull masked his deformity for years without anyone the wiser. You know that he had to be running experiments--we've found evidence that some of them were done on Allied troops."

"It's not a far leap is it?" Peggy pondered. "It certainly would make sense--why he appeared all of the sudden. If he wasn't homegrown but rather someone that they captured and trained."

"Brainwashed most likely." Howard said from the door. 

Peggy and I jumped. We hadn't heard him return. In fact, how did he get in? We hadn't given him a key, had we?

"Why do you say that?" Peggy asked.

"Because most people's instinct isn't to kill unless provoked. Very few are excited for the opportunity. We saw that in the War." He looked at Peggy.

This was one of those moments where I felt like a third wheel. They had a past, a shared history that I wasn't part of. I knew that neither one of them felt romantically for the other--Peggy was still grieving Steve. And Howard, well, who knew what he thought. But he certainly never acted interested in Peggy as more than her friend...as more than Steve's friend. I think that any feelings they may have ever had for each other had been severed by that shared friendship. 

"So you think that Hydra captured someone, brainwashed him, and then trained him to be a master assassin." I looked at Howard and he nodded. "Well, then. Now all we have to do is find out his real name."

"No, we need to find the Hydra cell." Peggy said.

Howard reached into the bag of food. "Chinese anyone?"