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Night time in Chinatown. For the most part, Chinatown isn't too lawless. The people here mostly keep to themselves. They also tend to police themselves. Then again, the Red Scare isn't so far in the past, and the average New Yorker isn't know for being able to tell the difference between Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. Sometimes it's just better to handle things themselves.
Of course, it doesn't hurt that there's someone else who's taken the neighborhood under her wing. The Devil has Hell's Kitchen. There are Heroes for Hire in Harlem. And in Chinatown, the Iron fist looks out for the law-abiding citizens.
Tonight, that means she's discouraging a trio of teenagers from trying to break into an antique shop. Wearing green silk, with a yellow mask tied over her features, she's currently holding one boy in front of herself in a joint lock as she explains the situation to the other two.
"First of all, all of you ought to know better than to steal from an antique shop. That's just asking to pick up an ancient curse."
*
Pregnancy is a pain in the ass — literally. And a pain in a whole lot of OTHER places too, but today it's Peggy's behind, hips and feet which are sore. So, getting down to work hasn't been a fun walk and all the parking spots (including her usual) were taken in the underground garage, so she had to park down the street. To say she's in a poor mood would be putting it mildly. But, here comes the director, waddling down the street in her big maternity coat and high heels, heading for the noodle shop.
The sight of someone in green holding up that boy like he was a naughty puppy stops Peggy in her tracks, though. She arches a brow, unable to help the amusement that dances across her expression. She slows her waddle and just comes to stop a few feet down the street, watching the trio. She finally adds, "And Norma has a double barrel shotgun inside. Really… that is a poor choice all around."
*
Danny gives the boy a shove as she releases him, which cues one of the others to rush her. She has just enough time for a roll of her eyes, then there's a snake-fast snap of her hand, a side-step, and the second boy is in exactly the same position as the first.
"Also Norma keeps a shotgun inside," she agrees with Peggy, as if nothing has changed. "Also, your parents will be incredibly embarrassed when you show up tied up on their doorsteps for the whole neighborhood to see."
That, more than anything else, gets the boys to suddenly go still, looking at each other.
*
While Peggy's frame slightly jerks, ready to get into the fight if she MUST (even in her condition), it is clear this masked hero has is, so she stops as quickly as she started. Peggy is still slightly smirking, amused and curious at the whole mess. She folds her arms across her chest, only further making her 'delicate condition' rather obvious. She doesn't seem to care at this point.
"…She's nicer than I would be. I'd bring you down to the precinct and make your family come get you. But maybe the whole neighborhood knowing is more mean. It depends what your mothers think of public opinion." Peggy chimes in, more than happy to be a stern mother figure and morality bully along side of the masked woman.
*
The boys are suddenly looking very concerned, looking between each other, Peggy, Danny, and the other end of the alley. "I feel like you're about to make a much better decision," Danny says lightly, easing her grip just a bit. "So I'm gonna let you go. And tomorrow, you're going to help Norma with the trash. Or else your parents will know."
She lets go with a slight shove, and all three of the boys go scampering off down the other end of the alley, looking over their shoulders and shouting to each other in Chinese. Only after they've turned the corner does Danny turn back to Peggy, a lopsided smile curving beneath the mask.
"Kids these days, right?"
*
As the kids go running off, Peggy gives a tired laugh and a slight shake of her head. "…Norma would have shot them, honestly. They got lucky with you." The British woman offers in her tired, clipped accent as her dark eyes look up an down the woman's frame, trying to recognize the person in front of her.
"…So…do you spend every evening scaring teenage hoodlums while wearing spandex and a yellow mask? Or is this just a holiday thing?" Peggy is only half teasing as she asks that, the spy in her now too curious to let this drop.
*
"First of all, it's silk," Danny notes, as though this is an important distinction. Maybe it is to her. But the grin that follows suggests she just doesn't take much very seriously.
"Second of all, not every night, but probably more than is strictly healthy for me. Less since the whole…vampire thing died down, though." Because that makes it better. There's not much to suggest the young woman is anyone in particular. She's short, that much is clear. And blonde, to judge from the braid down her back. But there's nothing remarkable about her accent, no jewelry to give her away.
"You make a habit of looking for trouble, or are you smuggling more than a baby under that coat?" she grins.
*
A brief look down to her stomach and Peggy gives a long smirk along with a slight sigh, "I don't think there is ROOM for anything other than a baby under this coat. Barely room left for my own damn hips and stomach." Peggy mutters, getting to that point in a pregnancy where just walking, breathing, or doing ANYTHING is annoying. "And…I work in the area. Just…like to keep an eye on things, you know."
If Danny is much of a news watcher, Peggy Carter's face has been on the evening news more than a few times for her work with SHIELD. She's one of the few public faces for the very private organization. Otherwise, she's just a business dressed pregnant woman walking alone in Chinatown in the middle of the night. Not too weird, right?
*
Danny isn't much for watching the news, but Jeryn makes sure she keeps up on important things, which include important faces to recognize and not butt heads with. Mostly the latter part.
She tilts her head toward the entrance to the alley, smile easy. "Well, I'd be happy to give you an escort to your car if you want," she offers. "Not that you can't take care of yourself," she adds, holding up her hands. "Just, you know. Doesn't hurt, right?"
*
"I…ah, actually just parked. Was headed for a bit of light dinner. I know it's late, but when you're craving noodles…" Peggy states with a half shrug, as if that would be perfectly normal, as she nods towards the noodle shop down the street. Was it even still open? Apparently, she thought it was, and her cover story of cravings will just have to hide the fact she was headed into the office, not away from it.
*
"Ah, well. If you want noodles, I can promise you the best ones in town are that way," Danny points a thumb over her shoulder. "Golden Dragon. Really authentic good stuff." She tilts her head, considering the shop Peggy's indicated for a moment. "You know, I don't think I've ever gone into that one."
*
That offer makes Peggy's brows arch and her stomach actually now grumble like she really is hungry. At least it helps with the cover. "Really? I'll…have to keep that in mind. Wing Sing is small, nothing remarkable…Just habit, I suppose. Nothing special, not really worth checking out. But I like it." A contradiction, really, that Peggy is so attached to the place but is so casually dismissing it.
*
Danny eyes Peggy for a moment, letting that one sit. There's something off, but…this woman runs a spy organization. Probably better not to press unless she wants certain questions asked about herself. "Well, there's something to be said for familiarity, right?" she finally says, flashing another smile as she starts back out of the alley and toward the noodle shop.
"I've been told that being pregnant can do some weird things to your tastes, too. And smell. And…everything." It's like she doesn't even know how to make polite conversation about babies.
*
To be fair, even Peggy isn't all that good at conversations about babies. But, she doesn't want to disappear into the Wing shop's back room and get remarked upon by an intelligent, slightly suspicious super hero, so she's hovering a little awkwardly on the street, trying to decide what step to take next. "…Yes. Being pregnant…absolutely does weird things to your everything, I can confirm. I don't recommend it in the least, but that whole matter of carrying on the species and all… eventually our bodies don't give us much of a choice."
*
"Well, they make a pill for that these days." Leave it to the woman who runs around in what looks like pajamas fighting crime to mention The Pill. Then again, maybe that says something more about who Danny is. It's not something many women talk about, after all.
"Anyhow!" Grinning, she takes a step back and heads back into the alley. "Stay safe, miss. I've got some more hoodlums to keep an eye on, I think." She reaches for a fire escape, vaulting lightly back up toward the roof.
*
"…Yes, well…tell that to your body when you're almost 40!" Peggy calls to the woman, though Peg is well beyond 40 now herself, the first time that was when the clock started ticking. Then the masked woman is heading back into the darkness, "Ag…good luck with your…Patrol." Peggy calls after her, shaking her head slowly. Stranger and stranger things these days. She then turns on the ball of her foot and heads towards the office once and for all.
*