11893/Strange Reunions

Strange Reunions
Date of Scene:	03 August 2020
Location:	Lower Manhattan, Manhattan
Synopsis:	The last time Peggy and Spike saw each other, WWII was young. Now they encounter on a street in painfully modern New York, both ghosts of each other's past.
Cast of Characters:	Peggy Carter, Spike

---

Peggy Carter has posed:
After entirely too much testing, interviews, interrogations, research, and reaffirming of her identity, SHIELD finally settled on the fact that Peggy Carter was who she said she was. She came back out of time, into a whole different world, and life is strange. She's been adjusting as she can, and today that involves getting out. Just... seeing the city. Walking streets she once knew which are very different. She walks a little too slow, her dark eyes a touch too wide. She's in a dress that would be perfect in 1946 as much as it is today, retro styles back in, the dark green fabric hugging her hourglass curves beneath the pencil skirt in that retro style. She still moves naturally sleek on her high heels.

Spike has posed:
     Spike is...well Spike. The usual look for him. Jeans, long sleeve t-shirt, and the overcoat that is almost as much his trademark as the bleach blonde hair. Currently he is closing his Zippo, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He's usually at ease with his surroundings and very little surprises him, but a blast from his past can do that for a person.

     Slowing as his eyes take you in and he even stops in the street. His mouth fails to hold the cigarette in place and the new cancer stick hits the ground and rolls away a few inches,"Bloody hell." he mutters in shock finally.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peggy hasn't quite noticed him yet. She looks like an impossibility out of another time, a lovely young tourist walking through New York City just after V-E day. Not quite as young as that first night they met, when she was still soft with youth and a little too wide eyed. Maybe another ten years of age on her frame and a few more curves. She slows her walking to entirely stop, uncertain where she intends to go. The city that was her home has changed so much. Finally, she turns around on the ball of her foot and begins back the way she came, directly towards him. That's when she feels his eyes on her. Her dark gaze locks with his and she stops dead in her tracks. That... shouldn't be possible.

Spike has posed:
     Finally shaking off the initial shock, Spike leans down to get the cigarette back. Not that he smokes yet, he just stares for a long time. He raises the cigarette to his mouth finally and takes a slow drag. His brow furrows and he exhales at last,"One of us should still be walking at this point and he's me. You aren't like me as near as I can tell so..."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Where there might have been fear in her eyes before, the fear he inspired in her that night in the little ramshackle cottage, she's grown out of such things now. The quiet confidence mirrored behind her dark eyes is something far heavier, more mature, than the young spitfire girl she was at the start of the last world war. She paces a few steps closer to him, even her body language as she crosses the street is more self assured, and a coy sort of smile crosses her ever perfectly red painted lips. "A lady has her secrets. I...will admit I never thought I'd see you again."

Spike has posed:
     Watching her with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity he takes another drag from his cigarette. Exhaling he finally manages,"I am pretty sure that would have been better for both of us."

     He still can't shake something about this,"You're not like me. I can tell. You are still like the one I met, but more confident and capable."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Finally, she comes within a few feet of him. Not violating the personal bubble of respectful space, but right on the edge of it. Probably closer than is safe, considering the things she knows about him. She's definitely not like him, still very much alive, breathing, skin flushed with health even if her pulse has kicked up a notch or two at encountering the man. She smells of amber oil and some old fashioned vanilla soap. "No, I am not like you. Still very much alive if... adjusting to this time. And several more decades of experience will change a woman. I suppose that is part of growing up in a war...and after." In the 50s and 60s, her face was in the news more than once. Director of SHIELD, an international protective organization. She gave press conferences and public notices after certain disasters. She doesn't seem to have aged an inch since those times.

Spike has posed:
     "You look pretty much the same as you did in the last commercial I saw." he admits. A drag off his cigarette and he exhales away from you since you are so close,"Super secret agent. I thought you would have grown old, retired, and died a long time ago." Charming devil he isn't. One thing different about him, he doesn't seem to be trying to set you up for feeding. In fact his body language is mostly passive, with just a hint of wanting and anxiety.

Peggy Carter has posed:
That actually gets a bit of a laugh from her, not having even remembered some of those old TV spots when things were still mainly in black and white. Howard always did like the attention. Peggy's eyes narrow a bit more on him, looking his attractive frame up and down, not bothering to hide the fact she's probably mentally profiling him as they speak. "Life sometimes has other plans. Besides, I don't think I could ever retire. Married to the job, mostly... keeps a girl young. You, however... You have changed. You at leas don't seem to be actively... hunting any more. I thought the next time I saw you would kill one of us."

Spike has posed:
     There is a smirk as you laugh and he takes the last drag, exhales, and tosses the used death stick away,"Life sometimes does have other plans." he agrees. Never retiring doesn't fit into his world since it was never a part of his life...well at least not since he was in his thirties.

     He reaches up and touches his head with his forefinger,"There wasn't an Agent Carter to save me last time a government took me prisoner. The result being they shoved a microchip into my head. Any aggressive activity towards a human results in a powerful electrical charge causes me mind blistering pain."

Peggy Carter has posed:
There is a quiet moment from her there, a trace of almost anger across her face. Apparently, she's still rather justice minded, even if it means the man across from her is suddenly far less of a threat than he had been in the past. Her jaw tightens thoughtfully, "...I suppose if it means your freedom, that is... Better than nothing. But putting something in a creature to change it's base nature and entire demeanor feels... wrong. Brain washing at best. A quiet and eternal torture at worst. And I can almost bet which government did it to you as well..." The one that she fought for and with all those years.

Spike has posed:
     "Considering I haven't been in any country other than this one for a very long time I think it is a dead giveaway." he replies with a hint of sarcasm. Not to you, but rather to the country that neutered him mostly.

     He takes a moment to look you over again and comments,"So you look good. Look a lot more competent than last we met. You were still pretty wide eyed and innocent then."

Peggy Carter has posed:
She gives a slight tilt of her head, gesturing him to walk with her as she continues her stroll. There was no reason to keep talking in the middle of the street, but she's not opposed to his conversation. Perhaps she's just considering a place a little more private, or a little less likely to attract eyes for either of their strange qualities. "...This is also not the country I'd have expected either of us to have ended up in." She admits with a small chuckle, bemused at life over all.

As Peggy continues their slow walking, to any outside eyes they could be old friends or new lovers simply enjoying the evening together, he actually gets a laugh out of her when he addresses their first meeting. "If...I'm not mistake, that was my first year of service. I was 18. I don't know if innocent is the word, but... I had a lot of learning to do. For good or for ill, war is a strict teacher and I was up to the task..." She turns dark eyes up to his gaze, daring to meet it for a heartbeat or two. "You look...far more in control. But I don't know if that is you, or the leash they put on you."

Spike has posed:
     He falls in step beside you easy enough, talking in a hushed conversational tone,"How did we get here?" he mutters lightly and snorts a little. He takes out a cigarette and lights up.

     He considers her comments and admits,"Maybe naive yet. No idea what was out there until you encountered it up close." He takes a long drag and echales,"Oh yes. I am very controlled. I heard a bloke say this is somthing like having a leash shoved up your ass."

Peggy Carter has posed:
An actual wince crosses her features when he describes what the control is like. Peggy doesn't look thrilled on the government's behalf. She just gives a slight shake of her head, "You don't teach someone to be better by chaining them... But then, I don't suppose you ever actually had a care to be better? Still, you did let me go that night..." She studies him as she drops that memory into the air between them. A night he did not murder her and had no chip in his head.

"I had saved your life. But... you were half starved already, had been tortured for days... You had every opportunity to kill a young, somewhat niave girl. Oh, I'd have fought like hell but I suspect you would have gotten the upper hand. I didn't have half the tricks up my sleep then as I do now..." SHIELD has been good to her. A secretive, chesire cat like smile stretching across her lips at the thought.

Spike has posed:
     "I watched over you that night." he comments and takes another hit. He exhales and shakes his head,"Despite popular belief we aren't all monsters...." he pauses and shakes his head,"...scratch that. We are, but some of us know what it is to owe a debt and live up to it."

     He looks ahead of the path a while and adds,"There was aother one on the loose. He was mad with hunger and willing to anything. He didn't make it and when it was done I decided we were even. When the sun started to rise I hit a small farm for blood and went to ground to hide from the sun."

     He smirks a little and mutters,"I have killed two vampire slayers, nearly killed two others." he tells you,"You wouldn't have made it. Believe me I wanted to. You were young, strong, perfect, and pure. All the things that makes at vampire's blood run faster."

Peggy Carter has posed:
The last bit of commentary on what makes a vampire's blood run actually makes Peggy fully laugh, "And now I'm old, wizened, bitter, disciplined, and sardonic. Much less of a treat, I promise you." Even if Peggy barely looked a decade older than she had that night. Somehow, she's eternally caught in her mid-thirties, at the height of health and form, her frame somehow more fit and trained now than she had been then. But the war wasn't easy for anyone, and she was very new in the game.

"Well, I suppose I'm a lucky lady you keep your debts, and there's a lot of unlucky nazis out there that I got to live through that night. Many others have tried to kill me since. No one quite succeeded. One...he came very close. But that was a gunman, not a vampire." She says that last word a bit more quietly, still not wanting to drawn unnecessary eyes.

Spike has posed:
     "So were two people out of time." he mutters softly as you continue to walk together,"I don't know as far as that goes. There's something to be said for a woman with experience. She's less likely to break." That was a little much, but he is a vampire. There is a demon inside even if he can't hurt her per say.

     "Debts are paid. You own me nothing and I own you nothing." he agrees,"Who knew you would go on to be a super spy. Like I said, your name would pop up now and then over the years after." He takes another drag and exhales,"A gunman? You really do know how to make friends don't you?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
The comment about being less likely to break actually earns a grin from her and a sideways look of amusement. Maybe flirtation? Maybe not. But Peggy isn't put off by the comment. She just chuckles huskily, "I am a very... Very hard woman to break. Many have tried." That comment is made with quiet pride behind her voice. Not arrogance, just a woman who very much knows her strength and value. She's not shy and blushing or trying to hide it.

"It got harder to hide the more prominent SHIELD became. Someone needed to be a face to the outside world, so others could live in the shadows. I spend over a decade as a spy. Being a director..." She shrugs slightly as she slows down outside a old apartment building. "Let me change the world in other ways. Show lots of young women what sort of potential they had. And others would rather I was silenced. Only one assassin ever got *that* close." There is something bittersweet across her face about that. "... There isn't much room for friends in spy games."

Spike has posed:
     "You're an amazing woman. No question." he comments as the two of you continue to walk. He looks up towards the buidling as the two of you slow down. The stories of the things you have been through do interest him, but there's no pushing.

     He takes what he can get as she tells her story,"Assassins are never dull. I have had a few upclose looks at several from multiple eras. I was a little better equipped to survive bullets. He considers a quiet moment and tells you,"Friends can be more trouble than they are worth. You just need one or two worthwile sorts and the rest can toss off."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Her dark eyes flicker back to the older building. It wasn't anything fancy. She probably could afford far nicer with her past career. But it looks like it was standing back when she moved to New York City and she clearly has a fondness for all things from her home era. "Well, I don't know if we would be the sort of trouble that is worth it, but... You know where I live now. I trust that nose and brain of yours to figure out the rest, if you ever wanted to come properly visit. It's rare to see someone from... Before. We got an interesting start. No reason to end that story now..."

And with that, she turns on the ball of her foot, old key going into the iron gate over the front door to get it open before she and move inside. It wasn't an invitation to come up now, but certainly one for the future. She flashes him one last, knowing smile across her shoulder before she disappears in side.

Spike has posed:
     It's been a long time since someone invited him back to anything so it is a little surprising. He returns that smile she offers, a little lop sided, but a smile. Once she vanishes inside he turns his attention to the street again and starts walking towards his original destination. Sure he's walked the wrong way for a while, but there is something to be said about finding an old accquaintance. For him even more so.