7005/Calling Old Lucky

Calling Old Lucky
Date of Scene:	19 July 2021
Location:	The Lab - Playground
Synopsis:	Peg gives Logan one last call to say maybe goodbye. A lot of things that went unsaid for too long are finally said between them, and Logan decides to take a desperate grasp at something to help save her.
Cast of Characters:	Peggy Carter, Logan Howlett

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Peggy Carter has posed:
It'd been months since they spoke. Of course, Logan no doubt saw the news. SHIELD one of the public enemy number one. HYDRA getting close to the US government, suddenly painted in a better light. Peggy Carter wanted for the kidnapping of a Fortune 500 company businessman (no doubt HYDRA also). It's been a mess. She's made no contact, probably in efforts to keep him out of the mess and spotlight. But one fateful afternoon in July, the last phone number she had from him gets a call from an unknown number somewhere out of Pennsylvania.

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan had heard the news.

Hell, sometimes that was all he did. He was living peacefully, minus almost killing Bucky Barnes, working as a simple groundskeeper up in Westchester, near the Xavier's School. Not a bad life, he's worked so many jobs odd or otherwise that it doesn't seem to be that much out of scale for Logan.

No wonder he had kept his business out of SHIELD's. He heard about the kidnapping of a fortune 500 business man by one Peggy Carter, but he trusted she had excellently apt reasons for doing so. Even if he was shaking his head when he found out about it. "Hope you know what you're doing Peg." Those were the words that Logan had muttered under his breath.

Let the old soldier rest, he thought. Live a decently normal life, he wanted.

Then his phone started to ring while he was in his cabin. Unknown caller. Logan grunted, nearly growled. Who was it this time? Was it Daken, looking for revenge? Was it Victor, coming to stir up some trouble? Was it some contacts in Madripoor askin' for a favor?

Only one way to find out: Logan picked up the phone and answered it. "Get to talkin', I don't have all day." the Canadian grunts out, still grouchy as always.

Peggy Carter has posed:
A smile ghosts across Peggy's face from where she lays in that bed, hundreds of miles away. He can hear it behind her voice too, though the tone of her words sounds paper thin and slightly breathless, on the edge of a rasp. She's trying not to let it play off too badly over the phone, but that's about all the strength she has left in her. "I suppose I deserve that for calling from an unknown number. Got a new burner recently, figured I'd check to see if yours still worked." Her clipped accent is quiet and fond, the tone unmistakably her even if it lacks her usual strength.

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan's eyes widen a little bit, his cigarette falls from his hand as he rises alert and with a hint of haste to him.

"Carter, where the hell have you been?" Logan grunts out, a bit of a smile and no small amount of joy at hearing the sound of her voice. But that was part of the problem, wasn't it? The sound of her voice. It sounded weak, like she's just been put throug hteh wringer.

"You know I kept the burner you gave me in case of emergencies. Give me a sitrep, Carter, what's going on?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
"That's... a rather complicated answer, truth be told. And I didn't want to involve you in all this mess, but..." Peggy falls quiet a moment, slightly catching her breath from the long string of conversation, but also still debating how much she dares pull him into things. It doesn't take her long. She knows she'd want him to tell her if situations were reversed.

"Do you remember the old Playground SSR base in Delaware? That's where we've holed up, for the moment. It's managing to go unnoticed and... well, I guess my penchant for keeping old things about has paid off. Put aside HYDRA's attempted assassination and being an internationally wanted criminal... I'm doing fine." That's such a blatant lie. It's the sort people tell on their death bed, in rasping tones of denial.

Logan Howlett has posed:
"Horse shit." Logan replies gruntly. "I know you too well, Peg. The sound of your voice, darlin', sounds like you just escaped dyin' again." There's a sound of silence, an internal voice telling Logan not to get involved, not to get even minutely close to Peggy again after the pain he may have caused her, the trouble he might bring to her door.

"The Playground base?" He huffs.

He goes silent, as if waiting for the confirmation, before he continues. "I'm on my way, Darlin'. Try not to hurt yourself anymore until I get there, okay?" He takes a deep breath. "I know when you need help, Peg. You've never been too good at hiding it from me."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A little, slightly sardonic laugh escapes her throat as he says she just escaped dying, "Well, jury is still out on that matter, frankly, but hopefully..." Peggy tries to make the response sound light, a simple joke, but there's too much truth behind it. She may actually be dying. Probably why she called, too. In order to hear his voice one last time.

"Yes. Down in Delaware. I'll make certain they know to expect you if you want to come, but... I don't know. There isn't much to do now. I just simply..." She sighs, her head sinking back against the pillow. The conversation was exhausting, not just physically. It hurt her heart to talk to him after this long, "I wanted to hear your voice again. And say thank you. For everything."

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan takes a deep breath as he's already leaving his cabin behind, grabbing up his jacket from the rack and making his way to a beautiful motorcycle. A short grunt from the mutant as he responds. "You're gonna be alright, Peggy." He doesn't care if he has to make her drink his blood, she's gonna be just fine.

"Delaware." Logan remembers the exact way from hwere he is. "I'm on my way, Peggy. Tell them not to shoot me unless the ywant to get dead." Logan replies, a little bit of the Wolverine shining through his voice. She can hear the roaring engine of his motorcycle as he gets about to driving.

Her last words spurring in him urgency. "Stay strong, Peggy, You're gonna see more than just my voice." and just like that, he hangs up the phone, and he's on his way.

She wasn't gonna get let off the hook that easily.

Peggy Carter has posed:
True to her word, Peggy's warned people he's coming. The old entrance hidden in a rural hill isn't too hard too find for someone who has been there before. There are new faces guarding it these days, nearly 70 years passed since the last time this base was in use. But, around here, he's still known as one of the Howling Commandos. His picture is up on some of the walls, in black and white, when he helped that unit. It still makes him a little bit of a legend and some young SHIELD agent's eyes when they greet him, "Uh...Mr. Lucky... I mean, Mr. Howlett... Uh. Logan. Yes, she said... anyway, uh... This way." The young man stammers, leading down through the ancient halls given new light and use in the last months.

Peggy is laid up in the lab, it half functioning as a medical bay as well. She looks like death warmed over. Her skin is like parchment and just as fragile. Where it's not raw, sickly bruised, or wrapped in burn treatments, it's ashen gray white. Her hair is very loosely pulled back in a scarf, trying to help save most of it from falling out. There's the strangest faint pattern of red lines that almost look like circuits at the edge of her face, temples, and wrists. She's bullied them into letting her wear her black satin robe with the pink flamingos on it instead of a hospital gown, though. The series of monitors she's hooked up to read not great vitals, but stable, at least.

A geninue smile cuts across her features as she sees him. "Stranger."

Logan Howlett has posed:
It was nice, to have people who continuously kept their word, rather than treating him like that as long as he was well-behaved, like some kind of animal.

Wolverine arrives on what amounts to a chopper. Maybe an old schooler, but a Howling Commando all the same, Logan bears the name with some measure of pride still. the war was horrible, but his name is among the many who gave their lives to stop an unfathomable evil.

Now? He may have to do it again.

Sliding his motorcycle to a stop, he dismounts only to be faced with a young0ish SHIELD agent. "Logan." He growls at him with a bit of a rush. When he finally makes it to Peggy? Logan seems to come to a slow stop. To Peggy? Logan still hadn't aged a day. Whether it was in 70 years ago, or a year ago, Logan doesn't look a day over his thirties or forties. His eyes are soft though, as opposed to being hard. Is he going to outlive another one of his friends?

He moves forward, even as she looks so sickly, kneeling next to her bedside and leeting his hand gently caress her head and cheek, if she allows. "I'm here, kid." He always called her kid. As well as killer and other classic names for strong independent women back in the day. "You look how I feel, Peg." He chuckles a little bit, a noticeable sadness in his eyes.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Seeing him brought more of a smile to her paled out lips than the sound of his voice had. Peggy tries to straighten somewhat, in the tilted up bed with a mound of pillows so she can almost be sitting when she gets the energy to work. There's two tablets, currently off, settled at her beside with the official SHIELD logos on them. Clearly, even sickly as she is, she's trying to keep the ship commanded from her death bed. She always did.

"I *certainly* don't feel much like a kid, old man, but I appreciate the sentiment." She rasps out to him gently, her clipped accent as warm and gentle as it comes. She closes her dark eyes a moment as she feels his heavy hand in her hair. Her skin is uncomfortably clammy-cool to the touch. Whatever HYDRA did to her, they really made it close to the end this time. "Tsh. Acting like that, I really *will* think I'm dying. Come now, it's not... So bad. We've always managed out before."

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan looks at Peggy as she lays there, his eyes slowly drifting to her vitals. He's seen enough of those to know that Peggy might not even make it through the week if she's lucky enough to make it through the night. Logan takes a deep breath, before his eyes rest themselves back onto Peggy.

She was always one of the most beautiful women Logan had ever seen. She was youthful, authoritative, powerful, and spoke her mind without fear of consequence. Now, in this moment, he risks losing her. Was there a part of his heart htat still....still loved, cared, for this woman, in every stage of their friendship? Yes. Absolutely, without doubt.

He takes a deep breath then, bring her hand in to his if she so allowed. "You just might be, Peggy. You just might be." Logan replies to her in a soft tone. He's lost so many people...but he refused to lose Peggy too.

"Is there anything the doctors can do? How did this even happen?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
There is no fight from her as he takes her hand. Peggy's thrilled to see him, happy for the warmth of his strong, familiarly calloused palm. She tightens her fingertips around his as much as her strength will allow, giving the smallest squeeze, but it's something to let him know she's still fighting. Even with how awful she looks and feels, she hasn't given up yet.

There's also another strange addition to her hand. Or, re-addition, as it were. Her old, antique wedding ring that she wore all through the 50s and 60s is back in place. Sometime about ten years after Daniel died, she took it off. Put it on a silver chain around her neck. But she's wearing it again. Maybe the end of life makes people do strange things. She's not even thinking about it, as the pad of her thumb runs gingerly across the side of his palm.

"Maybe. The genetic damage is... extensive. The serum they used on me back in the 70s? It wasn't...tested. Even all that effective. They had to patch it once already, but whatever HYDRA did triggered a...cascade failure, apparently. All the genetic damage and cellular eging I should have experienced is... catching up. Fast. It's not as bad as radiation sickness, but... " She gives the faintest of shrugs, "It's close. If they can get my old blood sample from the Triskelion, though... we might be able to undo the damage. Just remove the serum... Entirely. A team is working on it." She reassures him softly, but then she's quiet, needing to catch her breath from that rather long explanation alone.

Logan Howlett has posed:
Damn.

Genetic damage was no joke. He noticed the ring on her finger, but...he knows from so many people that for some reason, dying always made people a little sentimental. The way her thumb gently brushed his palm, so he paid no important heed to the ring that was back on her finger after Daniel died.

Though as she spoke about the damage, on how her serum was drastically failing her in all of the worst ways, Logan shakes his head. "Why did you take that serum?" Logan shook his head. He had the natural ability to regenerate deceased, dying, sick tissue. He never got sick, never felt the cold hand of death. Time was his friend, and Peggy? Peggy was a normal human. This was enhancement, and Logan slightly disapproved, but that serum gave him time with Peggy.

"I'm sorry, Peg." He shakes his head. "When do they think they've have anything even ready?" He questions her, though when she needs to catch her breath for a moment, Logan leans in then, attempting to lay a kiss to her forehead, gently, softly, warm against cold. But after?

He potentially may cross a line, but he also might lose Peggy forever, and he needs her to know that he still- No, he can't tell her that. It would put her in danger...so he won't tell her, he'll just show. He leans in slowly, attempting to press a soft kiss to Peggy's lips. Of course, he's fully prepared to be told to leave if need be, but..

It was Peggy. It was his lifelong friend.

Peggy Carter has posed:
A little groan comes as he asks about the serum. She forces her eyes back open, pale lips pulling into a little smirk, "Trust me, it wasn't my choice. That's the *first* time... I should have died. They... gave it to me as some...last ditch effort, when the Winter Soldier nearly succeeded in his try on me back in the 60s. It worked... for a while. We got lucky." She admits faintly.

Then the kiss on her forehead gets a softer smile and a quiet closing of her eyes. Peggy gives him the quietest of rasping laughs. "When did you get to be such a soft heart?" She teases him gently, but hasn't dared let go of his hand. She's trying to give him some hope. But it's never been this bad before, not even when they shot her full of holes.

But the kiss on her lips? That she wasn't expecting. Her eyes shoot back open, wide, the kiss momentarily returned on pure shock and old habit but then she's pulling back, breathless again for a lot of reasons, "...Oh, Logan, it... I know I left... We left things... Logan, Daniel's alive again."

Logan Howlett has posed:
"We don't have luck on our side anymore, killer." Logan tells her, his voice soft, caring. Though as she calls him a softie, Logan chuckles a little bit grimly before he had kissed her. "I made friends, Peggy. People like me, who accepted me. Taught me how not to be what they made me." 'They' obviously being Weapon X...or rather, the program used to enhance him.

The kiss is wonderful, it's electric, it's fireworks for Logan. Enough so that it almost surprises him when she kisses him back, but alas, she pulls back from him, breathless. They left so many stones unturned, so many things unsaid...and yet, her husband was alive.

He kissed a married woman.

"Daniel's alive?" Logan questions Peggy, then he lowers his head. "I'm...I'm sorry, Peggy. I didn't know, I just..." He shakes his head. "I missed you." The news of Daniel being alive answers so many questions for him...or at least he thinks it does.

Peggy Carter has posed:
There is no anger in her features, no afront. Peggy doesn't even pull back from his hand, she's just trying to be able to look up to his eyes instead of their faces hovered so close it's the edge of a kiss. She turns her head as he lowers his head and presses a cool, gentle kiss to his temple. Still that deep affection there, if not a seduction. She loves him incredibly for so many reasons. That doesn't change.

"It's... it's alright. You didn't know. It's... classified, and complicated. I don't know if he... If we'll be able to keep him in this time. They're working on that too. It was some sort of time and magic... Blunder. But it means he's here. Probably will be back soon enough, he's been keeping vigil..." She admits with a tired little laugh, "I ordered him to go get food and a nap in a proper bed. He was cross. But..." She squeezes his hand again, "I missed you too. I should have been in touch before all... this. I didn't want to get you into this SHIELD mess. I'm... glad you found people. Goodness knows you deserve it."

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan seemed pleased that she hadn't kicked him out of her room.

Hadn't turned him away, hadn't cursed his very name for even -daring- to show that kind of affection to her. It never happened, the retribution never quite came, instead, the only thing he found was her eyes on his, and the softness of her lips touching his temple.

The warmth turns his attention to her. "Peg, you know that only makes me want to kiss you again..." He looks her in the eyes. That deep affection returned wholeheartedly by Logan, though he takes a deep breath. "I don't want to get in the way of you and the bub, Peg." He shakes his head a moment.

"There was just...so much I never told you." He sighs. "Peggy, I was in this when they went after you, I was just late to the game."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A sweet, sad smile crosses her lips again as she hears those words. Peggy carefully gathers his hand up against her sternum, wrapping her other palm around the other side, though she can't move it near so much as there is an IV taped to the back of her palm and a monitor on her finger. She can get it enough that she's got his heavy palm wrapped in both her delicate, paper thin looking hands.

"It... truthfully may be no matter, if things keep going this... Poorly. But he's my *husband*. The father of my son. I... I'm so damn lucky to have him back in my life, even if it's for a little bit. I love him. I always have."

She takes a quiet breath, searching for his eyes again, "But I love you too... in our own way. I think you've been the most ocnsistent part of my life for... forever, really. I can't imagine it without you. I should have called before this but... Neither of us was good at... commitment. When things got so close last time, we both ran, and then this mess with SHIELD. I thought you were better off after all. Not getting caught up in this. And here I've drug you out here."

Logan Howlett has posed:
That sad smiles comes across her lips, and Logan looks as if he might be about to move away, but no...her delicate hands, soft and weak as they are, keep him there as he finds his hand happily resting on her sternum, so close to her heart...yet he was not the man who won it. Logan shakes his head a moment. "Everything matters, Peg. I've been there before...been in that hole." He shakes his head then.

"There's no easy way out of it. I know you love Daniel." He was a fool, he thought, that Peggy could ever truly love him. "That was my mistake. I thought...if I told you I loved you.." he shakes his head. "That you'd die like Itsu did." Itsu was his wife of many, many, MANY years ago. "That whoever wanted me would get to me through you...and kill you without a second thought." He shakes his head.

She tells him he loves him, and Logan looks at her then. "I can't imagine life without you either, Peg." He takes a deep breath. "That's why I'm going to save your life."

Peggy Carter has posed:
As he admits that, Peggy's eyes press shut again. Perhaps she'd expected, but she felt the same. A bittersweet, too-tired laugh escapes her lips, "We both were always... in too deep. Too many enemies. I didn't want to bring mine down on your head. I still don't." Peg squeezes his hand again, trying to reassure, even as the exhaustion is getting the better of her. It's harder to keep her eyes open.

"W-what? No... they... SHIELD is working on it. Morse. Simmons. They'll manage, or they won't. I just wanted to see you, talk to you, one last time..." Peggy admits softly, but her hand is going slack around his. Sleep is going to win sooner rather than later, body too exhausted to fight to keep awake.

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan takes a deep breath a moment, though he eventually speaks. "The only difference between you and me though, Peg, is that I would've lived through it." Logan gives Peggy a sad look. "I was terrified that we'd be..." he gestures to how she is now. "Here." he shakes his head a moment, though as Peggy seems to start to fell into a deep slumber, Logan doesn't release her hand.

He only does so once he is certain she was asleep...he could hear her heartbeat, the slowness of her breath. He looks at her a moment, staring into her closed eyes. A shallow breath later and Logan stands up tall, pressing a gentle kiss to Peggy's lips once more, this time far more brief. "You're not going anywhere, Peg. I'm playing keepaway, and you're on my team." He sets his hand on her cheek, before he is slowly pulling away from her.

In the hallway, he grabs a nurse firmly. "Set up a blood transfusion in this room -now-." He growls at her.

He had no idea if it would work, but worst case scenario? His blood should offer Peggy some aspect of his healing factor, which should hopefully start bringing her dying cells back online and immediately begin reproducing. Best case scenario? It saves her life.

But that's just assuming this would work at all. "Don't worry about blood type, don't worry about presentations or signing manuscripts, get me a blood transfusion to Peggy Carter."