Everything went just as Peggy said it would; the plane landed in New York without any complications and Mr.Stark, Agent Carter, and Evangeline were hastily ushered into a car by soldiers in uniform carrying large automatic guns. Angie didn't know exactly why, since she wasn't putting up any fight to stop them from taking her to the Appalachians. And what good were guns going to be when one bullet in the wrong spot and the human-bomb would kill everyone within a fifty-mile radius?

"They're not for you," Howard mentioned once they'd climbed into the limousine and taken their seats. He must've noticed her perplexed expression at the sight of the armed guards. "I mean, they are, but they're not trying to keep you captive." He didn't need to explain any further, she understood well enough that once the Germans found out just how powerful she'd become, they'd do everything in their power to use her 'advancements' for their benefit. Even if it meant a suicide mission, following her to the United States and sniping her before anyone could figure out just how close to death they were.

The ride took a few hours and Evangeline feared the threat of getting lost in her own thoughts with nothing else to do. After everything that had happened and losing the opportunity to tell her best friends good bye, the last thing she needed was the torture of silence to plague her throughout the rest of their journey. So she decided to try her luck at getting to know more about the people she'd be working with.

Howard Stark was a charming man with a very flattering sense of humor. Every question Angie asked him was always responded with a cheeky comedic answer that left both Peggy and Angie in fits of laughter. The stories he told were ones of legend, ones that would only get funnier with every time he told them and make the two women victims of soundless laughter, the kind that held their mouths wide open despite the fact that no sound was coming from their throats.

Occasionally, if the trio reached a particularly serious subject, Howard was always ready with a hilarious comment to turn the tables and left tears running down their cheeks and their hands pressed against their aching stomachs. Sometimes he hadn't even tried to sound humorous, the gift just came to him naturally, making the people around him much less than immune to his lighthearted tone and clever way with words.

Peggy wasn't even near to being as comedic as Howard, but neither was Angie or anyone else she'd met, though she'd never admit that to Steve or Bucky. They both thought they were a hoot and a half, which they were on occasion, but were inevitably left in the dust when matched with Howard's turn of phrase. Peggy enjoyed Mr.Stark's company just as much as Evangeline did and it didn't take long for Angie to notice how much younger the woman seemed when she was obviously happy, how her eyes sparkled and her welcoming laughter reminded Angie of sleigh-bells during Christmas.

During her time on the front lines, happiness was nearly extinct. Anger, hatred, fear, anxiety- they all kicked happiness out of their club like a blithering drunk no one wanted or cared about anymore. When you were constantly at death's door, taking other people's lives in the act of preserving your own, joy, glee, excitement, and any other feeling that was too pleasant for a blood-bath had been extinguished like a candle's flame. Pain, torture, and despair were constantly present in the eyes of Evangeline's comrades.

So seeing Peggy change from an agent on a mission to a woman chatting playfully with her friends was a refreshing shift from the horrors they'd left behind in Europe. The fact that Peggy was comfortable around them enough to let her guard down for a moment or two made Evangeline feel honored, even blessed, knowing that she'd found another person in her life to be there for. In the end, Angie wasn't afraid or uncertain of calling Howard and Peggy her friends, because by half way through their ride through New York, they were practically kindred spirits.

A couple hours full of laughter and enjoyment later, the three gradually began to notice the shift in the limousine's pace and the humorous air in the vehicle died in an instant. Though none of them had spoken of the change out loud, they were all on the same page, the limo had slowed down to almost a crawl. Howard turned his head in the direction of the driver, but Peggy quickly covered his mouth before the millionaire could ask what the hell was going on. But even if he'd said something, it wouldn't have mattered in the end.

Because the driver was dead.

None of them knew when the man at the wheel began to fade away, or what had caused his death since there were no bullet-holes in the limo or the driver, but they all knew that whatever was about to happen next wasn't going to be good. 

When the limo finally came to a full stop, the sound of knuckles tapping on Howard's window seemed to thunder through the vehicle. The millionaire's eyes widened and he glanced at Angie and Peggy to tell him what to do, considering the fact that they both had more training in warfare than he would've liked to admit. With a subtle nod from Peggy, Howard pressed a shaky fingertip against a button on his armrest and the black tinted window began to slowly roll down.

"Hello, sir," A man in a police officer's uniform smiled kindly at the group of three. They didn't by it, not one bit. This individual was as much a cop as Angie was a goose. "And pretty ladies. I noticed that your vehicle stopped in the middle of the road, figured something might be wrong. Have you been having engine trouble lately?"

"No, sir," Howard replied with a voice just as cheery as the 'officer's. Despite the fact that he wasn't Hydra's main target, he was still having a hard time believing that he wasn't a direct target. "I believe we haven't. This is a new limousine, the best one money could buy, so I wouldn't say our decrease in pace would revolve around engine issues."

"Oh, I don't know about that," the 'cop' spoke up with a fake puzzled expression on his face as he ran a suspicious hand over the stubble on his chin. "I've been hearing a lot about car salesmen ripping people off when it comes to new vehicles. Mind if I take a look under the hood?"

"With all due respect, sir, he actually does mind," Peggy intervened and kept her voice just as friendly as this impostor's. "This man is the most intelligent individual in the entire country. If anyone would know how to fix a car engine, it would be Mr.Stark." It was obvious that the 'officer' was upset by this news when he clenched his jaw and glared at the agent.

"On that note, I have to ask you to come out of the vehicle."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the locked, black limousine doors were ripped off the vehicle as if the metal were made of tissue paper and thrown across the road. What once protected the trio was now destroyed, and the whirring sound of something robotic tore through the air. Two arms reached inside the car, one grabbing hold of Peggy's arm and the other gripping onto the front of Howard's collar.

"Peggy!" Angie quickly reached out her hand to latch onto the British agent's, but their fingertips barely grazed each other as the man and woman were forcefully removed from the limo, leaving Angie alone in the back seat. She could feel the fury rising up inside of her chest, filling her lungs and running through her veins like a drug. After all the hell her enemies had put her through, there was no way Evangeline Harris was going to let them get away this time."Oh, not on my watch!"

No, Evangeline didn't need to be grabbed and dragged to get out into the open.

She was going to strut onto the road and show these monsters who was really in charge of this situation.