11834/Once Upon a War, 1939

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Once Upon a War, 1939
Date of Scene: 19 December 1939
Location: Rural France, December 1939
Synopsis: After saving Spike from a Third Reich experimental lab in late 1939, Margaret Carter realizes that monsters don't just wear gray uniforms. Tension ensues in an abandoned resistence cabin on the French countryside.
Cast of Characters: Spike, Peggy Carter




Spike has posed:
     There are a lot things that William the Bloody can claim in the years since he was sired, but this is a first. After being caught by a government agency from Germany he was experimented on. If only he knew what the future would bring.

     Rescued by an American agent he's thus far been too happy to still be undead. Peggy something. He's been too glad to be free to worry about too much other than that. Crash down to hide in an abandoned house until the sun goes down.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The rescue wasn't exactly smooth, but it was as precise and smooth as these things could be. The facility where he was being kept was a small lab, he the only 'patient', at the moment. A primary experiment before the Germans see if it's worth capturing more of his type. After the series of tests, torture, violence, and other awful things they put him through, they have probably found that yes, the vampiric kind are definitely worth recruiting. Hopefully Peggy shot her way in and blew the place up before they got that information back to high command, but she really has no clue. Her entire goal was to get the 'innocent' out of there. How little she knows what that innocent actually is.

While he may have protested a bit on their escape, Peggy's clipped British accent was firm about 'No time for talking, they've still got people on us.' She's carried them deeper into the French hills, well away from the lab they were in. Partially in a stolen Nazi car, then that was ditched and they've been on foot through the heavy forest for the last hour. Finally, she stopped them long enough to listen. Really listen. Nothing behind them. Nothing ahead. Nothing but an abandoned cottage in the icy December rain and the fact that even a young agent like Margaret Carter is still only human, and she needs to stop for the night. So, with a few shoves of her shoulder, she pushes the door off the lock and in they stumble to the dark, if dry, room. "...glad the place hadn't... fallen in yet." She mutters in her British accented French. She doesn't even know if he speaks English yet. Her French is fluent enough.

Spike has posed:
     He winces as he waits for the threshold to keep him from entering. It's not like she can invite him in. He looks a little suprised as well as beat down. Still, it's good to at least be away from the lab and those that have been cutting and prodding him.

     There is a slur of speech as he responds int French,"Give it time." The French is broken, but at least the words all made sense put together,"Are you sure about this?" he asks, mentally a little muddled from all the attention he got in the labs."

Peggy Carter has posed:
The threshold is, pretty much, non existent. This house hasn't been used in a long time, probably since even before the war started. The resistance has kept it in tact enough as a good pass through place, the only reason Peggy knows it, but it's no one's home. Still, the agent does not seem to understand why the man (who is seemingly in better form that her despite being prisoner far too long) hesitates at the door. Her exhausted brain also processes just how slow and broken his french is. She thought it was because he was drugged, but now she blinks and tries in English. "...Are you one of *ours*?" Her Manchester accent is heavily clear, the Queen's English clipped and far more perfect from her lips than even her French.

"Never mind, just...get in here and get dry. It's bloody well freezing out there." And while she was still lightly bleeding, the bullet graze to her upper shoulder not having been seen to at all, she operates on adrenaline and spite. They wouldn't make it without a fire, so that's her goal now. "...they better have left me wood..." She mutters, picking her way in the darkness to the old woodstove.

Spike has posed:
     His cockney accent is impossible to miss,"In a manner of speaking." he comments and walks in. Closing the door and looks around tries to shake things off. He might have been a little drugged as well.

     He walks into the next room to look around, leaning on the door jamb for a minute. The mention of wood gets a raise of his brow, but he doesn't comment. Drugged or not he's starting to realize a few things...like they are alone and he's going to need blood soon.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The woman is no-nonsense, just as she was when she rescued him. She'd done it mostly in French, having assumed wrongly that he was a native, but she wasn't much of a person for chit chat. "...Sit down. There should be a couch and a cot against the wall. There's jars of water and some rations in a crate around here somewhere." Her clipped words come quickly as she crouches down in front of the wood stove, breathing the smallest sigh of relief as she does find some dry wood stacked next to it. Her injured arm is less useful than she'd like, so she's doing most of the work off handed, but she shoves several logs into the stove and then grabs for the fireplace matches. "...we'll need to restock this place when we leave... or I'll have to. They left it proper last time." And, as the strike of a match slightly brightens the room, it's clear the old cottage was remade as a safe house at some point over the last months. A crate of rations, some first aid supplies, and three cots against the wall. Scratchy wool blankets. No personal supplies or family treasures. This is no one's home.

Spike has posed:
     He sees that there is nobody else is in the house and that seems to make him relax a little. It's not like he's not healing right now as the two of you speak and he turns back towards you,"Rations?"

     He takes a step and staggers, leaning back against the wall for a moment,"What the bloody hell did they do to me?" he growls and puts his hand against his head, trying to make the world stop moving when it shouldn't.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Sodium Barbital, from the smell and the bottles I saw in there... enough to kill an elephant. I don't know how you're breathing I... I'm just glad you still are." Peggy admits quietly, tossing him a worried, brown eyed look across her shoulder, especially as she sees him stumbling to lean against the wall. "And that's just what they had you on today. I have... a few files.. there wasn't time to read. But just sit down and keep steady. As soon as I get us some heat we'll give you a look over. Stop being stubborn about it." Peggy huffs out gently, hiding her concern beneath stubborn orders.

She looks back to the woodstove then, blowing across the little bit of tinder that she found, trying to ensure at least one of the logs catches as she perches there on her high heels. She's in a get up that looks far more appropriate for one of the local inn keep girls, a pair of T-strap heels and a plain black dress with little white flowers, her hair done in the fashionable curls that only take a few pins, and a heavy cardigan overtop. It's that cardigan which hides her weapons, various supplies, where she has the file hidden...everything she needs to actually do her job without attractin attention.

Spike has posed:
     He staggers over to the couch and takes a seat,"I guess I don't die good enough to other people's liking." He staggers once more and takes a seat on the couch. He's not there yet, still a little shook, so might as well mess with her some until he gets his facilities about him,"Breathing is a funny thing."

     He really isn't breathing of course, but from where she is she can't see that. He studies her and the way she moves. Nods in approval as he assesses the situation,"So what is your next play after you get out of this one?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
The way she moves is like a highly trained, fairly dangerous agent posing as a local inn girl and using every inch of her feminine wiles to make everyone under estimate her. Pretty. Still fairly young, probably barely 20 honestly, but she's made of curves that are only tamed by the fact that she's built a fair bit of muscle in training and she's done just enough make up to be distracting. Granted, the icy rain has made much of it streak and flattened her curls, but there is something quite vibrant about the determination in her face as she builts that fire. She has certainly not noticed his lack of breathing, most of her still assuming he's just an unlucky prisoner.

"Breathing is rather essential, I'd think, so please, do keep trying to do it and I'll do the same." Peggy flashes him a teasing smile across her shoulder, face finally a bit more lit by the wood stove fire. Once she's certain it's going, she unfolds from the crouch, only slightly stumbling from exhaustion and that blood loss at her shoulder. She takes a moment to pull herself together. She can't afford for her body to give out now. She moves to lighting two more small laterns in the old cottage. "Out of...this one? Depends what you mean by get out? There's an SOE base about 3 clicks from here. I'll get you there, they can get you proper medical care and back to England, and I pick up my next assignment." She's then coming to his side, the most essential business of heat and light done. She offers him a jar of stale water. "You look parched."

Spike has posed:
     He watches each movement, trying to gauge her capabilities despite being highly stoned. The problem is sometimes he is too cocky for his own good. So when she walks over with the water he decides to make a play. He plays it cool initially.

     He takes the water in his hand and he takes a shallow drink. His face screws up at the flavor. Setting the glass aside he admits,"I think I want something. Warmer." he replies and his face shifts, forehead thickening and his fangs lowering. He's a demon, grattitude isn't really a thing. Fortunately for you he's still too stoned to move so fast and face plants on the floor.

Peggy Carter has posed:
That is... not what she expects to see when she offers water to the man she saved. Fangs. Those were almost certainly fangs. Maybe she's lost too much blood. Maybe she inhaled something she shouldn't. Or maybe vampires exist. She's not certain. But the pure shock of being hit on my something that momentarily does not look entirely human is enough for her to miss the fact that he's also still too drugged to do it smoothly and is suddenly face planting.

"Oh hell." She mutters, dropping into a crouch and leaning down to gently scoop him up from the floor. She smells like sweat, blood, military issue soap, and woman. It's probably not a smell that helps. But she carefully tries to direct him up onto the couch again. "...take it easy there, casanova. What... do you mean... Warmer?" She asks warily, now staring at him with slightly too-wide eyes as she tries to see if he's injured anywhere else.

Spike has posed:
     When she helps him back up his head hangs loosely and he falls back on the couch. Oh she saw right. Crinkly forehead and fangs. Vampire no question. He lifts a finger to say something and falls back against the couch, head looking at the ceiling trying to not count the lights,"

     One hand raises and he almost touches the blood on your shoulder, then the arm falls to the couch. He leans forward and that's about it, falling back again,"Bloody Hell!"

Peggy Carter has posed:
Fangs. Strange forehead. Strange eyes. Margaret Carter stares at him for several long moments, her mind slowly putting together the things she heard in German. Vampire. They were saying it. She thought it was teasing, but they said it. She stares at him a bit closer, "I... look...I suspect... you're...hungry..." She stammers out, this slow revelation actually throwing her entire world order for a loop at the moment, but Peggy is a little too controlled to completely freak out. So. Vampires exist.

She takes in a deep, controlling breath, trying to calm her panic, but her pulse now leaps in her throat far worst than when she was facing Nazis. "... are you a ... Vampir?" She pronouns the word in German first, but then repeats in English, "Vampire? Are you real?.. Are you what they said??" Peggy carefully pulls herself away from him, out of touching range, as she drags the few papers she stole from the lab crumpled out of her pocket.

Spike has posed:
     He tries to lurch out of the couch again...falls back again,"Vampire yes." he replies and sighs when his drugged self can't gets more than one step towards her,"Evil and blood thirsty." Yeah he looks evil doesn't he?

     He finally quits trying to get up for the moment and sighs again,"Note to self, eat anyone that even thinks about bringing sodium barbatol into the same room with me." He's not moving fast, and more or less falling deeper into the couch.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"It might be more than that. They... I'd say they were trying to kill you, but if you're not... Human..." Peggy is still wrapping her brain around that possibility, "Then I suspect they were trying to... *almost* kill you." She grimaces at him. She looks over the paper for a few moments. "Bloody hell. They gave you Barbital, horse tranqualizers, a mild form of arsenic, and morphine... just to name a few. Any human would be dead..." Those papers alone confirm he cannot be mortal.

She then sets the papers down. She can't let herself just continue to bleed forever, especially with a vampire around. She shifts to pick up the gauze from the rations trunk, and the cleaning alcohol. She's keeping herself a decent distance from him, but scent of blood fills the room as she carefully peels off her cardigan. "...If you are evil and blood thirsty, I have no issue finding the way to put you down permanently. But you haven't killed me yet, and I know those men are evil. They are more than blood thirsty. And you were their victim. And now... with the information they have on you... They're going to want more of you." Peggy admits with a brow furrowed frown.

Spike has posed:
     His coordination may be coming back. He manages to sit on the edge of the couch. There is a smile that slowly spreads across his,"They weren't trying to kill me." he replies with a laugh that is ice cold,"They were trying to find a way to control me and those like me. To make us the Third Reich's new division,"Human bodies with demon souls inside willing to kill anything and anyone."

     He eyes the blood you are trying to quell and sighs,"You are right about one thing. You got me away from them and they will likely coming looking for us both." He waggles his eye brows and looks towards the other room,"You want to hide in there all day? See what the night brings?" He really can do the creepy when it suits him.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The stern Brit pauses in her careful cleaning of the bullet graze, pressing the gauze into her bare shoulder to try and stop some of the bleeding, but also to cut the scent of blood off from the room. She stares over at him, considering the pale face and that hang-dog grin that screams trouble. It's the first time Peggy considers that she might be the prey in this situation. A slow breath quickly pushes back that thought.

"What is your name? Before I explain to you a few things about your current situation and the beginning of this war in front of you, I would prefer your name, young man." She smirks at him as she catches some sort of reaction to her calling him young, "Yes. I realize you are probably decades if not centuries older than I am. I do not know how... being a Vampir..." She still uses the German pronunciation for it, it feels safer some how, "Words. But as long as you keep acting like a hormonal, horny teenage boy, I'm going to call you young man. So. Young Man. What is your name?"

Spike has posed:
     Oh she is the prey. There is no question about that. His thoughts are clearing and his balance will follow. Maybe he's playing with his food and maybe he just isn't recovered enough. A hand covers his heart as if she wounds him.

     "William to few, Spike to all." he replies. The shaky in his voice starting to clear. He rests his elbows on his knees and he shrugs,"Make no mistake pet. I don't want to shag you. I want to eat you. Once I have your blood in my system I should be able to make my way out of this country."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Exhausted, cold, and slightly low on blood, Peggy is still sharp enough to realize when she's in a dangerous situation. At least, when she gives herself a moment to take time and look it all over, like she is right now. Dark eyes stare back at him, drinking in all of the thirst in Spike's features and that very dangerous, slowly sharpening look from him. She takes in a slow breath to calm her own heart and keep herself focused. Slowly, she takes another few steps back and she turns her bleeding shoulder away from him, so she can clean it without direct temptation.

"Spike, then. My name is Margaret Carter. I'm an agent with the SOE. If I go missing, they will know. Now... I could be your food, or we could work on the same side, which is making certain the Reich doesn't get control of... more of your people. Some of my superiors would say to put you down like a rabid dog. I... think... everyone deserves a chance. So. You can work with me or you can work with them. But if you eat me... then it's over. Whoever else the Germans take of your kind... there will be no one of the allies coming for them. It's a miracle I was there for you."

Spike has posed:
     He laughs softly and rolls his neck. His eyes start to focus on you a lot more,"Well Margret Carter. If you are going to know about vampires you should know things. Things like we really don't give a toss about one another." The predator in him starting to rise stronger and he suddenly pushes from the couch and lands smoothly on his feet.

     This is starting to look decidedly bad for Agent Carter and he rolls his neck a few times,"I suppose I should thank you for setting me free though. That place wasn't pleasant. As for your superiors, well now who asked them?" He eyes you for a moment,"Tell ya what. How 'bout I give you a ten second head start?" Sociopath...it's a thing.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The fire was going. It was warm, her arm was only starting to feel better as she wraps the tight bandage across the lascerated flesh and around her bicep, securing it as best possible. Everything was looking up. Except for the fact that her rescue was maybe just as dangerous as the people she rescued him from. Peggy stares at him hard with slightly too-wide eyes. While she'd like to hold her ground, be as stern as possible, she's also young. Not even a year into service. This is the strangest, most terrifying thing she's faced yet. Nazis, she understood. Hungry vampires?... She wasn't so certain.

"William. I understand you are hungry and you are... strong. But you are also still drugged, I have several guns, other drugs, and I did save your life. I will give you a small amount of blood for you to get control of yourself, or I will put you down and run... and I remember where the car is better than you do. You have two options. Do not be a bloody idiot about it." No matter how scared she is, how her pulse leaps in her throat, she talks a good game. The tone of her voice is like a nanny scolding a naughty dog.

Spike has posed:
     He was shaky before, but his legs are strong again and he takes a step towards you,"Oh you understand how hungry I am?" he comments and turns his head to the side,"I was drugged yes, but that is starting to fade away." He takes another step and adds,"A lot of things are fading away."

     "So you know. Bullets are like bee stings to me." he advises,"You can shoot me and I'll keep coming. Putting me down takes special knowledge and skill beyond your years."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Instinctively, Peggy takes another step backwards. Slightly towards the door. She's already making mental calculations to go for the car, but she doesn't quite run yet. She takes a slower breath to keep herself calm and quietly shrugs back into the cardigan, covering those bandages any any scent of fresh blood in the room. "Well, I suppose that's true. But I know certain drugs work on you and I'm quite trained. Beyond that...I did save your life. We are, at this moment, nominally on the same side. You could control yourself like a half sane sentient being and we can work to get through this together, or we can fight and abandon each other. I will manage either circumstance, but I feel like the former might be wiser for both our survival. Even if it's purely selfish ... eating me... is short term satisfaction for long term loss. I promise you that."

Spike has posed:
     "Certain drugs do work." he replies and takes another step,"Of course you have to have them in you hand with a delivery method." He stalks you and waits for the one miscalculation. Getting the door open, just waiting for one or two more steps before he makes his move,"I suppose I could make you a vampire to repay you for your kindness."

     His hunger is obvious and his restraint is better than some might think,"You do keep thinking about the idea that you will come out on top of this." he comments,"Like somehow you will win the day and beat the monster that is over a century old." Each step and movement makes it clear he has one thing on his mind and unfortunately for her it isn't romance.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Romance wouldn't be a thing the woman cares for either, but she is slowly circling her way over to the door. A bittersweet smile crosses her young features, making her look a dozen years older than she is. A girl of 20 shouldn't be near so tired as she is right now, but war does that to people. "No, William... I do not think I will win the day. We are at war. The world is in shambles. The best I can hope for is... survival. And then to survive another day, and one after that. And that maybe England will survive a few more months, and maybe a few years. Maybe our homeland will survive. Maybe... those monsters that captured you and their ilk will end up in the ground. But I know I do not get out of this alive... I accepted that when I signed the contract. The best ...win I can hope for is dawn. And then another after that. And if...if I manage that? It will be enough." She finishes as she stops at the door, hand on the knob...

Spike has posed:
     There is that little moment between certainty and trying to find the door knob. That's all it takes. Two fast strides and he has her pressed up against the door. He is strong. Really strong.

     His face is close to yours and he tells you,"It doesn't look like you're going to see the next dawn now does it?" He studies her face for a long time,"You know, the more you fear the the purer the blood."

Peggy Carter has posed:
She's caught. He's stronger than she is, now that he's worked through most of the drugs. Faster than she is. She could try and run for the car, but he'd easily overtake her. Not taking the ten second head start may have been her fatal mistake, but she didn't. Now she's there, in the catch of his arms, and she stares up at him with her heart hammering too hard against her sternum. Somehow, she controls the fear in her face. Maybe she's just stared down death a little too often already for her age.

"...then... I do not see the next dawn." She admits softly, a sick little laugh behind it. "I knew it would happen. In this war, I suspected. I am sad it's at the hands of someone I rescued instead of taking out one of the Third Reich." She gives him the most bittersweet smile, a tired laugh escaping her barely controlled breath. "...I've dreamt of my death before. I always hoped I would go down taking out a Nazi. Considering I killed at least a dozen today... I suppose it's as good a time to go as any."

Spike has posed:

     "Make no mistake. I appreciate the rescue pet." he replies and turns his head to one side a moment,"I was in need and there you were." He starts to move his head towards your neck and adds,"You are brave, even in the face of certain death."

     His fangs prick your neck, then he pulls back thinking something over. Evil or not, Spike has certain things about him that nobody understands,"A dozen Nazis by yourself?" You can see a little blood on each fang though he's distracted now,"That changes things doesn't it?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
For all the ways that Margaret Carter expected to die, being drank dry by a vampire on her own turf? That was not on the list. But he has her. She's seen his recovered strength, she knows his speed, and fighting would just make it a messy, mewling death. So, she's facing it full and open. No fear, no begging. Simple, quiet acceptance and noble dignity as befits a proper British lady and agent. Her eyes shut as his teeth brush her throat, pulse leaping far faster beneath her skin that the expression on her face, but then he stops. A breathless sort of laugh escapes her still red painted lips.

"Did you think there were only 2 scientists working on you, William? Four scientists, two adminstrators, 4 guards, and at least two soldiers from the local base to get through before I even got to the lab where they held you. I did not start my service as a killer but I do not hesitate to kill those who would kill me and mine. You, for today, were one of mine. When I got to you, they were dead or unconscious, and I burned the building after. So, heaven damn me or hell embrace me, I killed 12 nazis today. If I had to, I'd do it again tomorrow. I don't know what that changes but... I'm just sad that the man I saved is the one who takes my life and I didn't go down fighting one of those bastards." Every word she says smells of truth. Painfully young, but she's that brave and that practical. The only thing that has quickened her pulse is the imminent threat of death, not anything she's spoken. She does not lie in her last moments.

Spike has posed:
     There aren't many things that impress him or even give him a moment of consideration, but this,"You killed a dozen people and you are just a human." he mutters and sighs. His index finger touches each wound on your neck and the licks the blood from his finger. Young, fresh, and adrenalized.

     He scowls darkly and he pushes the door open behind you. A hand on each shoulder and he turns you so your back is to the room instead of outside. He takes a step back into the night and points at you,"You got me out of a bind and you killed a lot of the things that were causing me pain. It gets you a pass Margaret Carter. We're even. Remember that. If we cross paths again, whatever happens happens."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Those heavy, chocolate eyes study him for a long moment, especially as he reaches to her throat. She doesn't move, doesn't dare give him more access, but she also doesn't shy away. Peggy will take whatever is coming to her. She stares death in the face and she does not turn. His commentary gets the strangest little smile from her. "I'm not just a human. I'm SOE." Which is still just a human. But it's the badge of courage she can wear to get her through the rest of days...

And then he's turning her and she's pushed back into the cabin. She doesn't know if this is a good sign, but she'll take it. She moves slowly over to the water, picking one up to get some hydration in her just in case she has to run. As she drinks, she speaks, looking quietly in his direction. "I'd do it again, for what it's worth. You might be a monster. But.. it's what you are. They're human and they chose evil. I'd save you any day over them..." She drinks deep of the water, no fear in her eyees. She has the keys, her cardigan, her gun. If things go badly, she'll run. For now, she watches him and she recharges in what little ways she can.

Spike has posed:

     He stands at the door for a long moment. She will never know how close she came to being a body on the floor. His eyes say he's hungry, but she's off the menu,"Watch your back out there Margaret Carter of SOE. There are a lot of bad things in the world."
     With that, he turns and heads out into the night. The promise of someone else's blood and a cigarette hang in his thoughts. Well, your blood first, but he's taken that off the list of options....tonight. A few moments later and he is not to be seen or heard.

Peggy Carter has posed:
As he's speaking, and even in the initial wake of his disappearance, Peggy does not move an inch from her protected, strong stance near the rations crate. She just stands and watches him like a very faintly disappointed drill sergeant. While her words might not be what saved her, she meant them and she wasn't going to cave on her stance. She meant every inch of it. Now, however, he's disappeared and she's alone in the cabin. She takes a few moments to ensure he's gone, but there is nothing but silence and the crackle of the wood stove around her. She shakily steps over to the edge of that cot where they sat before and weakly sinks down into it. "...my god... Holy... My god..." She exhales out shakily. She doesn't sob, but a few tears escape as she leans over and, in the last few solitary moments of her day, lets herself fall to unseen pieces that she'd never around someone else. Tomorrow is another day and she'll put herself back together.

Tonight, however... Vampires are real. Nazis are awful. And Peggy isn't sure how to exist in a world when she's surrounded by nothing but evil...