⋘  » ☆ « ⋙

(Y/N) was forced up to her feet and dragged out of the interrogation room by Thompson, her handcuffed wrists placed in front of her to taunt her even further about her lack of freedom. She didn't expect to be pulled into the conference room out of all places, but what surprised her even more was to see Mr. Jarvis standing on the other side of the table with Chief Dooley listening to him. She was about to question his reason for him being here when footsteps behind her caught her attention, turning around to see Sousa tugging on Peggy's arm forcefully with equally tightened handcuffs around her wrists.

(Y/N) locked eyes with Peggy for a brief second before Sousa made her move to the other side of the room. Even though she had suggested the idea to split up, Peggy ended up in the same situation as her, and that was exactly what she wanted to prevent.

"It's all there," Mr. Jarvis's voice rang through the quite conference room. He had a briefcase with him, carefully placed on the table. "I can answer any questions you may have."

Mr. Jarvis averted his eyes to (Y/N) and then flickered to Peggy, a flash of worry appearing in his face. "Agent Carter, Agent Dewitt, are you all right? Have they harmed you?"

"They're fine," Chief Dooley answered for them. "Now you've seen them. Can we get down to brass tacks?"

(Y/N) still didn't receive an answer as to why he was there. "What is this man doing here?"

"Pulling your fat out of the fryer, apparently," Sousa responded to her question.

"I'm afraid the charade is over, Agents," Mr. Jarvis continued in a calm tone. "Mr. Stark has decided to come clean."

What? This sounded completely uncharacteristic of Howard to do. (Y/N) would've thought he'd continue to stay in the dark, now more than ever, since there wouldn't be anyone who could clear his name if she and Peggy were arrested.

"What's that?" Thompson eyed the briefcase.

"Her boyfriend's confession," Chief Dooley replied, eyes flickering to (Y/N) when he did so. "He owns up to everything. Jobbing his own vault, selling explosives, the Roxxon implosion."

"Where's the man himself?" (Y/N) couldn't help but wonder the same thing as Thompson.

"Uh. . ." Mr. Jarvis checked his wristwatch. In that same hand, he had a gauze wrapped around the skin, which was probably the result to the previous automat fight. "Somewhere over Greenland, scheduled to land in Teterboro at approximately 9:00 p.m. this evening. His attorneys have the signature page. It'll be sent back to you as soon as you've agreed to his terms and Agents Carter, Dewitt and myself are free."

Peggy glanced between the chief and Mr. Jarvis. "Do we have a say in this matter?"

"You've had plenty of chances to talk."

"So, do we have a deal?" Mr. Jarvis extended his hand over to Chief Dooley, ready to seal the deal.

"Not quite."

Embarrassed, Mr. Jarvis lowered his hand and returned it to its usual spot. A telephone rang outside the conference room, probably back in the chief's office, but nobody moved a muscle.

"As tempting as this arrangement is, I'm not stupid," Chief Dooley elaborated on his past answer. "Even if this is true, why would I give up Dewitt, Carter or you for a piece of paper?"

"Uh, a signed piece of paper," Mr. Jarvis corrected him.

"No, they're staying here. So are you," Chief Dooley demanded. "I want the signature page delivered. When Stark lands, we bring him here, have a garbage exchange. That's the deal."

"It would appear so."

"And for the record, I find you repulsive."

Mr. Jarvis did not meet Chief Dooley's eyes after that statement.

"Take off the cuffs."

Thompson took the key out of his pocket and unlocked the handcuffs, the pressure releasing out of (Y/N)'s wrists.

"Howard can't do this," Peggy argued as Sousa did the same with her handcuffs. "We'll never clear his name if he turns up — "

Chief Dooley paused his walk out of the room to glare at her due to her words. "You're not clearing anybody. You're done. Both of you."

"I don't think you've understood our compromise regarding Agent Carter and Agent Dewitt."

"Oh, they're free from prosecution," Chief Dooley snapped back. "When Stark walks into the building, they walk out, for good."

"Carter, Dewitt, you're out of the SSR."

(Y/N) looked away from the chief's hardening gaze and swallowed the lump on her throat after hearing his words. She bit her lip to restrain herself from saying something back to him, knowing it'll end up worse than it already was. Instead, she decided to clean out all of her belongings from her desk, which wasn't a task that took her long enough. Still, it was humiliating enough to avoid all the other men's stares as they watched her ( and Peggy ) clean out the desk. All that effort into proving that she was as capable as everybody else, and it ended up costing her entire job. What was she going to do now? Go back to being a waitress, or find another job that will not be as fulfilling as this one?

Part of her wanted to blame Howard for all of this. If he hadn't stormed in and asked her to do this, she shouldn't be in this position. But the rational part of her argued that it was the right thing to do, and that she would've done it again if it meant losing her job.

She walked back into the conference room where Mr. Jarvis was, with the cardboard box of her belongings heavy in her hands. On Chief Dooley's orders, they were supposed to stay here until Howard appeared, so she silently joined his side and waited for Peggy to join her as well.

"Didn't take long to clean out your desks," Mr. Jarvis broke the silence once Peggy set her own box in the table. "Your personal belongings."

Peggy moved the box to the side so Mr. Jarvis could see for himself. "Two notebooks and a file."

"This one belongs to the Agency, actually," Peggy set the file in question out into the table.

Mr. Jarvis peeked into (Y/N)'s own box after that, with hopes that she was different, but was received with almost the exact sight.

"Three pens and a notepad."

(Y/N) flashed him a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"I am truly sorry about all of this," he apologized. "When neither of you met me, I knew the worst had happened and I panicked."

Peggy lifted her head to glance at him. "And I suppose the confession portrays us as what? Two patsies? Doe-eyed idiots succumbed to the charms of America's mustachioed casanova?"

"That is the gist, yes," Mr. Jarvis nodded with an apologetic look. "With a bankruptcy side plot sprinkled on top to provide a motive for Mr. Stark's deeds."

"Nice flourish."

"I hope you'll forgive me one day."

"There's nothing to forgive," Peggy dismissed his words. "You panicked and called for backup. It wasn't your line and you were trying to help."

(Y/N) crossed her arms over her chest. "And Howard stepping up with the confession, I never would've thought he'd have the nobility in him."

"Yes." Mr. Jarvis trailed off in a suspicious way. "About that confession. . ."

Peggy locked eyes with him. "Did Howard write that confession, Mr. Jarvis?"

"He did not."

It was (Y/N)'s turn to ask, slowly, in hopes to ease into whatever answer he might give. "Did you. . .write that confession, Mr. Jarvis?"

"I did."

"Oh, flipping hell!" Peggy cursed in her spot, stomping her foot down angrily.

Mr. Jarvis jumped to defend himself. "I called for help many times. Mr. Stark never answered. I — I left countless messages, nothing. So then I panicked and panicked again and put my own particular skills to — "

"For the love of God!"

"As I said, panic was involved," He insisted. "I thought it would buy us time. We were closing in on the real culprit. I hoped that with a few more hours, we would be able to prove Mr. Stark's innocence and your competences."

"And when Howard isn't in Teterboro, we'll be forced disappear," (Y/N) murmured, loud enough for him to hear but not to raise suspicion.

"Disappear?"

"Until our trials, most likely followed by a decidedly severe punishment."

(Y/N) nodded to Peggy's words. "Have you ever been hanged, Mr. Jarvis?"

"I can't say that I have, no."

"It is quite uncomfortable."

⋘  » ☆ « ⋙

The three of them saw how Chief Dooley walked out of his office and talked in a low voice to Sousa, the most interesting thing either of them have seen after being inside this room for a while.

"I'm sure we could lure one of them in, get the drop on them, steal a weapon and — "

"'Get the drop on them'?" Peggy repeated his words incredulously. "You've been in custody all of an hour, and you're Jimmy Cagney."

"Is there no one here who will listen to reason?"

"I believe it's safe to say I have no friends left at the SSR, not that I ever had any."

(Y/N) dropped her head back in exasperation, already fed up with being contained inside this room until further notice. Peggy grabbed her by the arm to get her attention and when she was about to question what was wrong, she saw her staring far ahead into the window in front of her. (Y/N) followed her line of sight and saw it clear as day; inside Chief Dooley's office, Dr. Ivchenko stood over the open window, tracing some sort of code down into the windowsill.

Peggy grabbed one of (Y/N)'s pens, a notebook, and advanced toward the conference room's own window to get a better look at what Dr. Ivchenko was doing. Without pulling her eyes away from the man, she wrote what she saw down on the notebook, and as (Y/N) flickered her gaze between the man and the paper, she realized what he was tracing. Morse code.

"'Prepare. . ." Mr. Jarvis read out the paper slowly. ". . .for. . .evacuation."

"You know Morse code?" (Y/N) frowned at him.

"Your surprise wounds me."

"He's tapping out a timetable," Peggy noticed, stopping all her movements. "'Ninety minutes'."

"'What happens in 90 minutes?"

Realization dawned upon (Y/N). "Leviathan is coming."

There was absolutely no way Chief Dooley, or anyone for that matter, to believe them about what they just witnessed after the arrest. That was why, despite Mr. Jarvis's objections, they decided to come up with a plan that would throw off everything the chief already believed. Maybe that way, they could slowly earn his trust back. With that being said, Peggy and (Y/N) walked out of the room and into the bullpen, where the chief was discussing something incoherent with an agent.

"Chief Dooley," Peggy began with a level of urgency in her voice, leaving the door of the conference room open so Mr. Jarvis could hear everything. "Chief Dooley, I'd like to make a confession."

"I already got the confession I need."

"It's a fake."

Thompson stood up from his seat with a frown. "Why are you pulling this, Carter?"

"Howard Stark isn't coming."

"The confession is a sham and the signature a forgery," (Y/N) added on.

"Agent Dewitt — "

"It's Miss Dewitt," she corrected with a heavy tone, despite her being right, it killed her to admit it out loud. "I don't work here anymore, but if you want the whole truth, I'm ready, we're ready, to give it to you."

It took some convincing of his part, but eventually, Chief Dooley sat down on a chair in the conference room and listened to what they had to say. Sousa and Thompson sat on either side of him, both deserving of an explanation after everything they've witnessed. Peggy and (Y/N) explained everything. From the first day that Howard approached them, to their latest discovery involving Dr. Ivchenko.

"It killed me."

"We'd managed to discover all the remaining items from Howard Stark's vault, and there was nothing we could do about it," Peggy started recalling the events from that night. "But I knew Agent Sousa was working that day. At least he would get the credit. We left the ship moments before you arrived."

"Neither of us knew what was going to happen to Agent Krzeminski," (Y/N) clarified, since that was accusation that had affected her. "If we did, we could've been more careful."

Chief Dooley's uncertain look did not waver from his eyes. "And why are you telling us this now?"

"Because I need your trust if you're going to believe us about Dr. Ivchenko."

"The evil enemy scientist," Chief Dooley said in an uninterested tone.

"Yeah, he's a real killer," Sousa leaned in to get a better look at the doctor back in the office. "You can tell by the way he rubs his nose."

"I know what I saw," Peggy argued. "He was communicating in Morse code with someone across the street. The southeast corner of the building, at least 10 stories or higher."

"I saw it, too," Mr. Jarvis backed her up.

"Well, as long as you saw it, too," Thompson replied with a sarcastic tone.

"He was discussing some kind of timetable. We have less than 90 minutes before something's going to happen. We can't leave him on his own."

"He's a good man," Chief Dooley defended the doctor against Peggy's words. "He's done nothing but help us."

"He's only been here for 48 hours," she shook her head. "We don't know him."

Sousa stared at them, but particularly at Peggy. "Maybe not, but we know you."

"I'm supposed to believe that you pulled off your own investigation without any of us noticing?"

"Why would you go through all that trouble instead of coming to one of us?"

(Y/N) clenched her jaw at the men in front of her. "We conducted our investigation because no one listens to what we have to say."

Peggy took the hint to speak up after she was done. "We got away with it because no one looks at us, because unless we have your reports, your coffee, or your lunch, we're invisible."

Their statement was followed by silence on Sousa's and Thompson's part. If (Y/N) squinted her eyes, she would've seen a trace of regret in Thompson's expression. But it was too late to change anything. Maybe they'll treat their next female coworker in a different way.

"Forgive me for not getting all pissy-eyed at your tale of woe, but your track record with the truth hasn't been all that hot," Chief Dooley grumbled in a heavily annoyed tone. "So if all I've got to go on is your word. . ."

(Y/N) internally debated whether or not it was a good idea, but in order to get them to trust her and Peggy about this, it was necessary.

"There is one more thing."

Luckily for her, they hadn't thrown out all the belongings found in the purse she had been carrying when she got arrested. It was easy to find the Blitzkrieg Button, its rare design catching the eye of everyone who laid eyes upon it. She hesitantly handed it over to Chief Dooley, with Sousa and Thompson hovering over his shoulder to get a look on the device themselves. The chief flickered the switch and the device opened with a hiss, revealing that vial that (Y/N) had worked so hard to protect.

"You'll want to be careful with that," she warned when Chief Dooley grabbed the vial.

"Does this stuff implode, explode?" He wondered with a frown, raising it up to get a better look. "Spice up an old fashioned?"

"That is the last remaining sample of Captain Steve Rogers' blood," (Y/N) confessed, trying to distance herself from every emotion in her body as she said those words, but it was impossible to. "Mr. Stark was afraid that your scientists would misuse the remaining samples attempting to recreate the serum."

"Which they did," Mr. Jarvis admitted lightheartedly. "so I'm afraid you'll have to forgive him for trying to protect the greatest scientific feat of the 20th century."

"Howard didn't trust us with it, either," Peggy spoke up, her eyes averting the vial. "He lied about the contents of the device."

"He nearly convinced us that we were saving the city by stealing it," (Y/N) told them.

Sousa glanced at her with a sympathetic look. "Is that why you kept it? Because he lied?"

"Maybe at first, I did not trust him with such a prize," (Y/N)'s eyes never left the vial, afraid the chief might drop it if she got distracted. "But I couldn't bring it here, either."

"I guess I just wanted a chance to protect him since I failed to do so last time."