After lunch, Bul-Kathos saw Jessica off. Their encounter was a fluke. She promised to pay for the door, and he let it slide. Fairness mattered to barbarians—damage meant compensation. Jessica's straightforwardness earned his trust; he believed she'd pay up.
Gil wouldn't return from school until afternoon, eating lunch there. His training would follow. Since Jessica drank some of Gil's milk, Bul-Kathos needed to visit the New York Sanctum for more, or tomorrow's breakfast would be an issue. The forge rarely saw customers, so closing was no hassle. He didn't rely on it for a living—his gold from Sanctuary could crash this world's economy. He often wondered if hell ran Diablo's economy; every demon carried hefty coin. Slay a few, and you'd eat well in Sanctuary. Who could explain it?
…
"Rumlow, you know who we're meeting. We're allies now, but don't do anything to make me doubt you," Dum Dum Dugan warned, having secured Rumlow's command from Nick Fury for a few days.
They moved together, not hiding from Fury, though Dugan's wariness of him—thanks to Rumlow's influence—was high. Investigations would first expose Pierce's faction, leaving Fury to carry the blame for now. His villainous look practically begged for it.
"Should I wait outside while you talk?" Rumlow asked, indifferent. His goal wasn't to meet this legendary woman himself. With Dugan handling it, his troubles lessened.
Peggy Carter—Captain America's love, a master spy, and S.H.I.E.L.D. founder—lay bedridden, nearing death, yet held countless agency secrets. Dugan eyed Rumlow warily. Allies or not, a HYDRA agent claiming to want to destroy HYDRA was suspicious. Dugan had never met a cowardly HYDRA member, though their brutal treatment of traitors might explain it.
"That'd be best. You'd have no excuse to clear out Peggy's guards," Dugan said.
Rumlow shrugged. Getting Peggy on board was enough; waiting outside was fine. He focused on laying the groundwork for his plan, then returning to Harrogath for true barbarian trials. He'd considered faking his death but discarded the idea. A living Rumlow was more useful against HYDRA than a barbarian one. He'd planted seeds with Fury for a mission to Harrogath; with the right excuse, he'd get it.
Rumlow loitered outside with agents evicted from the room. Dugan's combat prowess, enhanced by a special serum like Black Widow's, could overpower Peggy's guards. Rumlow wondered how famous spies like her managed covert missions. Were their targets so inept they couldn't gather intel? Why send someone like Black Widow for worthless groups? He concluded Fury didn't fully trust her.
…
"Peggy, you've aged too fast," Dugan said somberly, facing the wrinkled Peggy Carter.
"I'm content to age gracefully. Isn't that enough?" Peggy replied, her eyes nostalgic as she looked at Dugan, barely changed since their youth. "Those days are gone, but you're still the same, cigar scent and all."
Bedridden, her strength sapped by age, she reflected on her life.
"Why didn't you take the SSS serum? It could've given you a long life like mine," Dugan said, knowing why. After losing Captain America, then another love, she chose to fade quietly.
"Dugan, what's this about? You're not here for old times' sake," Peggy said, her cloudy eyes sharpening, voice faint but firm.
"We've found HYDRA," Dugan hesitated, worried the frail Peggy couldn't handle more.
"Inside S.H.I.E.L.D., I presume?" she said calmly, unsurprised. She'd long suspected HYDRA's "cut one head, two grow" persistence.
"It's worse than you think," Dugan pressed, deciding to reveal all. Several Howling Commandos weren't human, and Peggy alone held their contacts. "I can confirm Alexander Pierce is HYDRA."
No more needed saying. Pierce, chosen by their team, was a traitor. The situation was dire.
Peggy coughed violently, then, calming, asked, "And Nick Fury?"
"We can't be sure, but he's suspect," Dugan replied. Fury, Pierce's pick, was dubious.
Peggy exhaled, closing her eyes. "You're here for the contacts—Man-Thing, Hit-Monkey, Amphibian."
She coughed again. "The Werewolf, Mummy, and Frankenstein are still active in S.H.I.E.L.D. Midnight Vampire's gone, likely dead. You need those outside Pierce and Fury's watch."
Dugan nodded. Only Man-Thing and the others, beyond S.H.I.E.L.D.'s reach, could be trusted now.
(End of Chapter)
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