Agent Peggy Carter strode confidently into the basement of Howard Stark's second home that they were beginning to use as a starter base headquarters to their newly formed agency S.H.I. . She headed straight towards his lab with a look of determination on her face and made her way to the billionaire's side.
"Howard." She greeted with a nod to him and a couple other techs in the area. "You said you had something important to show me?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow and intrigued expression.
"Oh do I ever Peggy dear!" the eccentric man said exuberantly, reaching behind him and bringing forward a glass box. "It's a 084 and damn intriguing!"
Inside of the box was a metal sphere with strange marks across it. The most intriguing part of the object was its glowing blue center.
"The light resembles the Tesseract." She remarked, referring to Hydras Cosmic Cube he had just recovered from the oceans floor. "Where was it found?"
"Agents located it in South America." Howard explained, tilting the objects container to make it roll to the edge. "I thought so too. We want to compare the two but were unsure if they'll react badly together. What's your opinion my partner in crime?"
She took the container from him and moved it around as well. "Has anyone touched it? Or is it thought to do what the cube did to Red Skull?" she asked as she studied the sphere.
"The scientists that surveyed it when it was first found touched it with gloves on and as far as we can tell, nothing has happened to them." He replied nonchalantly.
"As far as you can tell? That sounds unsure Howard." She stated with a frown.
"No they're fine!" he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "No explosions, no extra arms, nothing at all. Go ahead, take a touch. Put some gloves on though, just in case." He handed her a pair of gloves happily.
She rolled her eyes and handed the box back to him to pull the uncomfortable latex over her hands and then accepted the 084 back. She flipped the clasp on top and delicately lifted the glowing stone. She rolled it in her hand and frowned.
"It seems harmless. Do you have any idea what it could do?"
"None. I'm thinking the runes might mean something?" he said pointing at the marks. "Seen anything like that before?"
"The marks? No I haven't. Do we have someone who specializes in runes such as these?" She questioned bringing the sphere closer to her face.
"Not like that exactly. We've got people looking into them though." He leaned against the table before him and shrugged. "Honestly, were all pretty stumped. "
She nodded as he spoke, stoking her thumb across the surface. She tilted it to look at the opposite side, her thumb pressing into a prominent rune and was so shocked by the objects response she almost dropped it onto the floor.
It began to vibrate and the soft blue light brightened and spread out to envelope her frame. She gasped, her eyes glued to the strange glow around her, the eeriness forcing her gaze to the phenomenon.
"Peggy! " Howard cried. She lifted her eyes to look at him, a widened almost frightened look on her face.
"Howard! What's happening?" She blinked and everything exploded into white light. She brought her left arm up to shield her face, the stone in her right hand shaking even more violently.
Instinctively she released it, yet it didn't fall, but instead held itself up in the air right before her face. Peggy had to close her eyes tightly as the light became too bright. The entire air around her was warm and vibrating with energy.
The strange energy stayed for only a moment longer and as soon as the heat went away she lowered her arms and opened her eyes.
The sight before her was even more startling than the light had been as she was no longer in the lab. Except, as she looked around, she was; however it was now shiny and strange. Instruments and machines she didn't recognize covered an expanse of bright metal tables. Behind the closest table, where seconds ago Howard was, two brunette men stood.
The first one was not familiar at all. He had thick curly hair and dark brown eyes that were wide behind glasses. He wore a crisp white lab coat and had a vial of some sort of liquid in his hand. A scientist she instantly guessed.
The other caused her to double check. He very closely resembled Howard but with subtle differences. His nose, the goatee, and most importantly his size and posture. Not to mention his black t shirt with the strange design on the chest.
"Who are you?" she demanded, her tone brisk with a glare on her face.
"Holy fuck." The one that resembled Howard said earning an elbow in his side by the other man.
"Are you Peggy Carter?" the scientist asked cautiously.
"Yes, who are you?" She asked again.
"No really. Fuck. Fuckity, fuck, fuck." The goateed man said. "How is this happening?"
"Tony." The scientist hissed and Peggy directed her gaze to him, he seemed saner than the other man.
"I would really like to know what is going on here. What did that thing do?" she asked, bending and picking up the now lightless sphere at her feet. "Where's Howard?"
"Oh great, Howard." The second man grumbled, confirming her suspicions they were connected somehow.
"Agent Carter, um, what is that? We can't tell you exactly what happened without knowing and well, "
"Bruce." The other cut in. "Agent Carter, what year is it?"
"1949. What sort of absurd question is that?" She responded. "Gentlemen, I'd really like to know who you are and how you got into S.H.I.E.L.D."
"I'm Doctor Bruce Banner." The shorter man said. "And this is Tony Stark. "
She nodded. "So you are related to Howard? Why have I never met you?"
"Yeah we're related." the Stark moved away from the table and handed her a sleek object that resembled a communication radio. An image of an attractive red headed woman was on it, but what drew her attention were the bright letters and numbers that spelled out: Friday, January 16, 2015, 10:15 AM.
"I'm his son." Tony finished speaking.
She lifted her widened eyes to his face and he gave her a little smile. "Welcome to 2015 Agent Carter."