Chapter Text
“Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it didn't fall, for it was founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine, and doesn't do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
— Matthew 7:24–27, World English Bible
When you want to build something, you need a strong foundation. Something strong, and sure, that won’t give way to the elements thrown at it. A foundation that would be first layer of something incredible, similar to a skyscraper that was close to the sky, you could swear that if you stood on the very ledge, on the roof, you could taste the stars. Something built on strong beliefs, and pure principles, and with a driving force to guide your mind, to remind you what you were fighting for; to remind you of those pure principles and strong beliefs.
To remind you who you really are.
These were the thoughts that were swirling through Peggy’s mind as she stood with Howard, in a deserted area on the grounds of what used to be Camp Lehigh. Of course, it still was an Army training camp, technically, but with the demise of the war had also brought silence to the base. Peggy found it rather unnerving, actually, because she had been here when it was all but that, bustling with officials barking commands, and the grunts of privates, hurrying along on their daily runs. If she looked hard enough, she supposed, she could see the ghosts of the soldiers she’d seen through training, and a part of her in the back of her mind wondered if they’d made it home alive. The reasonable part of her brain chastised herself, for it was nothing but inefficient, as well as destructive, to think that way.
But a part of her couldn’t help but stare out over at the flagpole, standing tall and proud over the crest of the hill, much like the lines of soldiers she’d seen departing for battle, and she let herself, just for a short second, to think of Steve, of the way he’d cleverly unscrewed the pole, making it topple down, and how Peggy had looked him with a mystified look, because in an inordinate way, she found him...refreshing.
In a manner that Peggy hadn’t yet decided was good or bad, Howard decided to disrupt her thoughts.
“So, is there a reason you dragged me out to this army base, Agent Carter? Or do I have to regret recruiting you for this particular job?”
She turned and responded briskly, “Well, Mr. Stark, seeing as we haven’t gotten anywhere with this ‘particular job’, as you say, besides the name, I don’t believe you have the sufficient ground that’s required to regret recruiting me for anything.”
He laughs, and goes to stand beside her. “That is the exact reason I recruited you in the first place.”
She raises an eyebrow quizzically. “What? Our sickening lack of progress?”
“Your ability to be even snarkier than I am.”
This riles a small smile out of Peggy, which is a rare occurrence these days.
“I am curious, though,” she says. “What made you pick the name? Why SHIELD?”
Howard falls silent for a moment, and Peggy debates whether she should get him to a hospital.
In the midst of her trying to remember her knowledge of CPR (just in case), Howard speaks again.
“Because I think what we need is something to protect people,” he admits honestly, and Peggy happens to look over at him, and sees a rare moment of vulnerability in his eyes. “Because of what we’ve seen? We need someone, something who is ready for something like that. Something that, sends the message that no matter who the person is, no matter what they’ve done, that they’re worth saving.”
Peggy is surprised at the magnitude of his words. Of course, she’d known he was a genius, but, right now, she truly believed it.
“I suppose the name is fitting, too,” he says after a moment. “Because of him.”
Peggy looks back at the flagpole, and silently agrees.