Chapter 38: On the young

Chapter 38: On the young

Fury led us to the elevator, stepping in and to the side, letting Ema and I step in behind him. The emergency phone, which I was carrying in my pocket, vibrated once. Confused, I pulled it out, only to find that Ema had accessed it and was showing me search results for Carter. I quickly read through them, nodding my head. As I suspected, her history was vastly different from her comic counterpart. She helped found Shield rather than join it after it was created, and had done so at a time when women were believed to be weaker. Her list of achievements was long, as was the rumor mill about what kind of relationship she had had with Captain America.

"We are going to have to get you a new emergency phone." Fury said, pulling me from my reading. "That one has been compromised."

"From you calling me?" I asked.

"Yes." He replied simply.

The elevator doors opened and Fury stepped out into a hallway. The design of this floor was much different than the other floors I had been to so far. Its interior was much more akin to a dorm or a hotel than an office building. Fury led us through the hall and stopped in front of a door, armed Shield agents on either side. He knocked gently and waited.

"Come in." An older woman's voice called out.

Fury pushed open the door and we all entered. Inside was a relatively well furnished and decorated room, larger than an average hotel, though still built like one as it lacked the amenities of an apartment. Laid on the single twin sized bed, tucked into the corner of the room was an old woman. She looked alert if not tired. Another woman, blonde and dressed in a simple shield uniform and not much older than me, sat on a simple chair beside the bed and held the older woman's hand.

"Ah, welcome back Nick." The older woman said in a British accent. "I see you managed to get a hold of your mystery asset."

I stepped forward, the sitting blond woman sizing me up. I ignored her for now and focused on the elderly woman.

"Hello Ms. Carter. I apologize for not being able to give you my real name."Read latest chapters at novelhall.com Only

"It's quite alright, It's understandable that someone with your purported abilities would want to remain anonymous for as long as possible." She said with a smile. "Now Nick here suggested an idea that seems a bit far fetched, even with what I read from your file. Are you certain you can do this?"

"There is a high probability Ma'am, though I'm not sure I'll be able to do it with what I have on me. I might need to leave and make something specific. Before I do could I ask why you're so willing to do this?"

The woman looked away for a moment, gripping the blonde girl's hand as she looked out the window. After a moment she looked back at me, a determined look that belayed a core of solid steel.

"I've lived a full life since I met Steve during the war. A life with a husband and two children, God rest their souls. I am not the same woman I was back then. I don't know what will happen, if" She trailed off for a moment before continuing. "Regardless of what may or may not happen though, I owe Steve. Meeting him was one of a few turning points in my life, one that set the rhythm for everything until now. When he returns he will be lost, confused, and hurt. I owe it to him to help where I can."

I nodded and looked around the room, meeting the eyes of everyone else.

"If anyone attempts to touch what I am about to give her besides Ema, Ms. Carter or myself I will shoot them dead. No warning, no second chances. A bullet through their skull." I said simply "I want everyone who enters this room to know that. And yes Fury, my lie detection belt is on."

I get a serious nod from Fury and a worried look from the blonde agent, who I am beginning to suspect is the family member Fury was talking about. I stepped closer and carded my amulet off of my neck and pushed it out into my hand. Ms Carter leaned forward and I slipped the amulet around her neck. It glowed for a moment, and the older woman let out a groan.

"What's wrong?" The younger woman asked, giving me a sharp look.

"It's nothing Sharon, the pain in my hip is fading. It has been a long while since I haven't felt that ache."

"That's going to happen Ma'am. Most of if not all of your medical problems are going to fade." I explained, turning to find a chair, sitting down to face the bed. "That includes your alzhiemers Probably. It wasn't designed to cure age, just heal in general."

"Please, call me Peggy, just getting rid of my hip is more than enough for that." The older woman said with a smile. "If this works on my alzhiemers you could call me whatever you please and I wouldn't complain."

The older woman chuckled, a smile on her face. We stood and listened for a few minutes while Peggy described how all of her aches and pains were fading.

"How long will this take?" Sharon asked."And how will we know it's working?"

"I have no idea." I admitted with a shrug. "As for knowing if it's working Ema, think you could do some scans?"

Ema nodded from beside me and stepped closer to the bed. Her eyes glowed and a familiar scanning beam came out of her emerald eyes, trailing over the older woman's body. When she was done she stepped back.

"She is slowly healing from various things. In a few minutes she will be the healthiest eighty nine year old on the planet." She said, but continued with a shake of her head. "But she will still be eighty nine."

"Crap. Alright, give me a few hours to try and put something together"

I trailed off, already trying to figure out what I would have to combine to get a de-aging object. I could combine a few clocks with anti aging cream, maybe try to find something that makes things go backward

"Maker Maybe you could use a spark?" Ema suggested.

For a moment I tried to figure out what she was talking about before my eyes went wide.

"That Alright, we can try that." I said with a nod, turning back to Fury. "I'd like the room please. For at least ten minutes, obviously Peggy can stay."

"I don't think-" Sharon started before Fury cut her off.

"You get five." He said, giving Sharon a look, which she matched for a moment before nodding.

After they left and shut the door I walked closer to Peggy, who leaned forward for me to take the amulet off.

"Let me know if any of those aches come back." I said as I leaned and lofted the amulet away, getting a nod in return.

"I was under the impression you didn't want anyone to know how your ability worked."

"You look incredible Mrs Carter." She said, standing by the foot of her bed. "Fury said Maker had done it but"

"Yes I know, it is truly incredible. Every time I move I wince, expecting an old pain to flare up." She said with a smile. "You said you had business with Maker? You made an order with him?"

"Yes, I wanted to see if he had enough time to finish my commission." Natasha asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, I finished everything." I said with a nod. "We need to go over some questions and they are all yours. I was kind of hoping to do this at a gun range of some sort but"

"He made you weapons?" Peggy asked. "How interesting. He offered to make me something special earlier I don't suppose we could all go down to the shooting range?"

"Aunt Peggy I don't know"

Peggy had a small smile on her face as she pushed herself out of bed and stood easily, surprising Sharon. She hugged the blond agent, rubbing her back before pushing her away gently to look into her eyes.

"Sweetie, I will always appreciate the care and time you have offered me these last few years. You made getting old just a bit more bearable and I will always love you for that." Peggy said, cupping the blonde's cheek. "But I feel better than I have in decades and I need to move around, stretch my legs."

"Are you sure?" Natasha asked. "Fury was hoping to keep your new found youth a secret, or at least keep it quiet."

"Just sit me in my wheelchair." She said with a shrug. "My hair is still gray, no one will look twice."

"Alright, but we should call Director Fury and let him know." Sharon said, getting a look from Peggy. "I can't just ignore my boss Aunt Peggy."

With a sigh she nodded, and Sharon pulled out her phone to call Fury. While she talked to him in the corner, I went through Natasha's questions. I was a bit more invasive than I had been for Clint, which she clearly picked up on. That being said she didn't complain once as I probed into her life and thoughts. Eventually, when I was satisfied she wasn't a secret Hydra agent or anything else, I stood and smiled.

"You're pretty good at working through double speak and asking questions I couldn't worm my way out of." Natasha admitted as we both stood. "Assuming you can actually tell when someone is lying."

"It was collaborative between me and Ema." I explained with a shrug. "We bounced questions back and forth and tried to worm our way out of telling the truth."

Once we were done playing twenty questions it didn't take the group very long to make their way down to a shooting range, riding the elevator down to one of the basement levels. Luckily due to the late hour the building was mostly empty, save some roaming security and a few workers. When I asked Natasha about it she only shrugged.

"Some floors are busier than others at night. And a few never stop being busy." She explained as we stepped into a well maintained gun range. "This is nothing on the Triskelion. That building is never calm."

As we walked to one of the larger bays I noticed a few familiar looking briefcases stacked in the corner, looking suspiciously like the briefcases of money I've been handed before. Natasha noticed this and nodded.

"That's your payment Maker. You can have it when we are done."

As me and Natasha got to the bay, Peggy quickly stood up from her wheelchair, both her and Sharon following us but staying back to watch. With a flourish I summoned the four cards that held her new weapons, before pushing them out onto the waist high counter that you shoot over, laying the rifle across it last. When I turned Natasha was holding out ear protection for me.

"Introducing the Romanoff specials." I said with a smirk, taking the earmuffs. "First two completely silent Glock 34's. Each magazine carries one hundred and nineteen rounds without any weight increase."

Natasha stepped forward and picked up one of the pistols, checked it expertly before clicking the safety off and firing down range, peppering a paper target. Eventually she switched to the other pistol and tested it out. Eventually she pulled the mag, inspected it and slid it back into place.

"A hundred and nineteen each?" She asked. "That is Impressive."

"If you think that's impressive, then check this out." I said with my best salesman voice before gesturing to the P90. "Your P90 does not have a suppressor, as I'm sure you can tell. Instead I focused on combating muzzle flip. Give it a try!"

Natasha rolled her eyes at my act, before picking up the compact sub-machine gun and inspecting it quickly. When she was done she racked and fired, first a dozen single shots, then in quick bursts before firing in full auto for a few seconds.

"That barely drifted at all." She said, nodding in appreciation. "How big is this capacity?"

"Five hundred and thirty five." I said with a smile. "All of these take normal magazines as well."

Natasha put the P90 down and went through the same process with the AWM. When she was done putting it through its paces, or as well as she could do indoors, she looked back at me.

"I seem to remember you promising that you would prevent me from ever being unarmed again." She said with a smirk. "These guns are impressive but I can't exactly carry the AWM around when I'm undercover."

I picked up one of the glocks and handed it to her after clicking on the safety.

"See that button there? Go ahead and press it."

Natasha took the gun from with a raised eyebrow, pressing the button. The gun slowly shifted into its ring form, getting a gasp from Sharon. We both looked back at the audience, me with a smirk and Natasha with a nod of agreement. She fiddled with the ring for a moment before finding the button and pressing it again, soon holding the full pistol.

For the next ten minutes she deployed and retracted all of the firearms, putting on all of the jewelry when she was done. At my request she handed me one of her new rings. I pressed the button on the ring and the gun deployed, which got me a frown.

"I thought no one else could use bound equipment." she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I had to pick between the ring and the pistol being bonded to you." I pointed the pistol down range and attempted to fire it off a few times to demonstrate my point. "I figured someone not being able to use your weapon against you when it was deployed took precedence. If you give me some more binding materials I can bind the rings to you as well."

"I would prefer that, I-"

Natasha's response was cut off by a muffled thump, followed by a vibration settling through the walls and ceiling. Ema and I shared a look, while the rest of the woman reacted.