Sorcerer in the Marvel Universe

Evenson’s solution was remarkably simple.

He was going to call in a favor.

Of course, not just any favor. Nick Fury wasn’t the kind of man who would care about some ordinary request from some ordinary person.

Peggy Carter was another matter.

She had the seniority. The World War II credentials. The history. She had helped found SHIELD itself.

If Peggy Carter put her foot down, people listened.

"Good morning, Evenson. What’s so urgent that you’re calling this early?"

Peggy’s voice came through the phone sounding exhausted.

That answered Evenson’s question about how well she’d slept.

"Ms. Carter, don’t take this the wrong way, but some things really are better in moderation."

Evenson couldn’t resist teasing her.

"Push yourself too hard and you might start losing your memory."

"Oh..."

Peggy yawned.

"Funny. You say that like you’ve learned the hard way."

"Mm. Mm."

Evenson made a couple of noncommittal noises.

There was no good answer to that one.

"Not for the reason you’re thinking."

Peggy sounded a little more awake now. He heard running water in the background, followed by the sound of someone splashing their face.

"The neighborhood was just a mess last night. There are a few addicts living upstairs who must have run out of whatever they were taking. They spent half the night screaming."

A pause.

"Then someone started shooting."

Evenson raised an eyebrow.

"Fortunately, the gunfire stopped before dawn, so we managed to get a little sleep."

"Sounds annoying."

"That’s putting it mildly."

The background noises changed. Pots and pans clattered, followed by the hiss of a burner.

Apparently Peggy was making breakfast.

"Thanks to this body of mine, I haven’t had a proper night’s sleep in days. I finally thought I’d get some rest last night, and then the entire building turned into a madhouse."

She grumbled for another moment before apparently remembering why Evenson had called.

"Anyway, why did you call me this early?"

Evenson hesitated.

"Is the Captain with you?"

"No."

The hiss of a gas burner came through the phone, followed by the unmistakable sound of something frying.

"He’s still asleep."

"Good."

Evenson relaxed slightly.

The last thing he needed was Steve Rogers listening in on this conversation.

Steve was a man of principles. Admirable principles, certainly, but principles that tended to leave very little room for creative interpretation.

If he found out what Evenson had done, this conversation might become considerably more difficult.

"Take a look at last night’s news."

Once Peggy confirmed Steve wasn’t nearby, Evenson stopped dancing around the subject and told her what had happened.

"Taylor, right?"

Peggy identified the problem almost immediately.

"So that big fellow of yours was the one who did it."

There was a brief sigh.

"Evenson, you really didn’t think this through. Even if you wanted to play hero, you went about it rather recklessly."

"Yeah. I suppose I didn’t think it through."

That was technically true.

In his head, however, Evenson was muttering.

Didn’t think it through? I didn’t think about it at all when I agreed to this.

"But it’s hardly the end of the world."

Peggy’s tone was surprisingly casual.

If Steve had heard her say that, he probably would’ve suffered a minor crisis of faith.

The Peggy Carter he remembered wasn’t someone who treated dozens of deaths so lightly.

But the woman on the other end of the phone wasn’t exactly the Peggy Carter of Steve’s memories anymore.

Decades spent building and commanding SHIELD had changed her.

Even the most idealistic person would become harder and more pragmatic after spending that long dealing with the darker side of the world.

And Peggy had another complication.

Inside her chest beat a demonic heart.

Fel energy constantly flowed through it, and some of that influence had inevitably seeped into her personality.

"Even without Taylor’s intervention, those people wouldn’t have survived the night."

Peggy wasn’t wrong.

The police had suffered heavy casualties. The Scorpion Gang had been dominating the fight.

But that didn’t mean the police had truly been incapable of defeating them.

The United States had plenty of resources to bring to bear.

Once reinforcements arrived, along with the National Guard, the Scorpion Gang’s fate would have been sealed.

And after suffering that many casualties, the police might not have been particularly interested in taking prisoners.

Peggy’s voice softened as she finished her breakfast preparations.

"All right."

Evenson heard the gas burner click off, followed by the scrape of a spatula against a pan.

"I know you well enough by now. You’re not someone who goes looking for trouble, and the Scorpion Gang had more than earned what they got."

She paused.

"So I’m not interested in interrogating you about why you acted."

A plate clinked against a countertop.

"But since you’ve called me, I assume you want something."

"You’ll help me?"

Evenson couldn’t hide his surprise.

He had absolutely intended to ask Peggy for help.

He just hadn’t expected her to offer it before he even made the request.

"Of course."

Peggy lowered her voice.

"I owe you a considerable favor, remember?"

There was a brief pause.

Evenson could practically picture her glancing toward the bed.

She probably was.

"Besides..."

Her voice dropped even further.

"We’re allies now."

Evenson smiled.

That was true.

He and Peggy had already formed an alliance around their shared objective of fighting Hydra.

"Then thank you."

He cleared his throat.

"The favor itself is simple. If Nick Fury asks you about what happened last night, tell him you authorized me to handle the situation."

There was a beat of silence.

Then Peggy gave a dry laugh.

"So you want me to take the blame for you."

"Taking the blame isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Might even stop a few bullets."

Evenson sounded just slightly embarrassed.

"Besides, Nick Fury can’t exactly yell at you. At worst, he’ll give you a polite warning and tell you not to do it again."

Peggy considered that.

"Fine."

She finally agreed.

"But I’ll borrow your own words here. That sort of reckless decision should also be a one-time thing."

"Don’t worry."

Evenson sounded completely sincere.

"There won’t be a next time."

He hung up.

Then he paused.

"Wait. SHIELD has a staff meeting today, doesn’t it?"

He thought for a moment.

"Yeah. Wednesday."

A grin slowly spread across his face.

He immediately dialed Nick Fury’s number.

The call was answered by a familiar voice.

"I’m in a meeting. If this isn’t urgent, call back later."

Evenson didn’t even let him finish.

"Do you know there’s a full-blown gang war going on over here?! Are you going to deal with this or not?!"

His voice rose to a roar.

"Do you have any idea what happened last night? I was sleeping peacefully when Ms. Carter suddenly called me and told me to deal with the Scorpion Gang causing trouble around here!"

He continued ranting at top volume, stringing accusations together so quickly that even he wasn’t entirely sure where one ended and the next began.

"And do you know how annoying this is?!"

Nick Fury apparently tried to respond.

Evenson didn’t give him the chance.

He hung up.

Then he turned off his phone for good measure.

Silence settled over the room.

Evenson looked around at everyone else.

A satisfied smile spread across his face.

"Done."

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