Peggy Carter (Marvel Cinematic Universe)/Synopsis

The story of Peggy Carter from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
==Early Life==
Margaret "Peggy" Carter was born to Harrison and Amanda Carter on Wednesday, April 9, 1921, in , . She received her education from .
Throughout her childhood, Carter almost always held a sense of adventure. She was particularly close to her older brother, Michael, whom she admired. Her mother often found Peggy's sense of adventure frightening and advised her to act more like a traditional lady. Once, Carter was reprimanded by her school's headmaster for breaking into his home and attempting to steal his wife's underwear and his most expensive bottle of brandy. The incident made Carter a heroine to her fellow students.
====
===Codebreaker===
By 1939, Carter was a member of the British Royal Military, engaging in more simplistic office work that was expected of women of that time. By 1940 she was working as a codebreaker in . During this time, Carter became engaged to Fred Wells, a man who worked in her department. Her priorities were called into question when Mr. Edwards informed her that she had been recommended for the . Believing that a woman should not fight, Carter turned down the offer.
Carter introduced her fiancé to her brother Michael at their engagement party. To her disappointment, she discovered that Michael believed Wells was not good enough for her and that his sister had the potential for greater things. He revealed that he was the one who had recommended Peggy to be a field agent. The pair discussed if this wedding was truly what she wanted, with Michael telling her that as it was not yet her wedding day, she still had time to change her mind. In spite of his assurances that she was meant to be a fighter, Peggy refused to listen and stormed away.
Carter continued to focus on her upcoming wedding, having her mother help her try on her wedding dress. The preparations were tragically cut short when the family were informed that Michael had been killed fighting in . His death greatly saddened Carter, who realized she had lost the only person who truly understood who she was. The loss prompted her to reverse her earlier decision and pursue the field agent position, but as a result, the marriage was called off. Carter eventually joined the British counter-intelligence and security agency.
===Joining the Strategic Scientific Reserve===
As an MI5 operative, Carter was loaned to the American agency Strategic Scientific Reserve where she became an advisor. In November 1940, she infiltrated Castle Kaufmann, the headquarters of the general Johann Schmidt, leader of HYDRA, 's top secret science division. Disguised as the maid Eva, she freed the captured scientist Abraham Erskine, the creator of the Super Soldier Serum, and escaped the castle. Soon, Carter was assigned as a liaison from the British government to help the Americans combat the Nazis. Carter served under Colonel Chester Phillips in the Strategic Scientific Reserve. In the winter of 1942, Carter spent time in the sewers of New York City. Carter also spent time in the , learning local dialect which kept her from freezing to death.
===Project Rebirth===
In June 1943, Carter was assigned to Colonel Chester Phillips' training base; she was the first to meet the candidates up for the Project Rebirth. When Private Gilmore Hodge mocked her English heritage and the fact that she was a woman, she promptly punched him across the jaw, much to Chester Phillips' approval. Carter oversaw potential candidates' training for Project Rebirth, including a skinny but determined Steve Rogers. She smiled each time Rogers would do something smarter or braver than the other candidates, such as dispatching a flagpole to retrieve a flag or diving on a grenade, not knowing it was a dud, to protect others.
When Steve Rogers was selected as the candidate, she escorted him to the Strategic Scientific Reserve Brooklyn Facility under an antique shop. Along the drive, Carter and Rogers bonded over their shared struggles to gain respect in war time, Rogers due to his height and Carter due to her gender. Although Rogers was hopeless at speaking to a woman, Carter was charmed by his honesty and kindness.
Carter witnessed how Rogers was injected with the Super Soldier Serum at Project Rebirth. During the procedure, Rogers began to scream in pain; Carter ordered Erskine to stop, but Rogers insisted he could finish the procedure. Rogers was successfully transformed, growing over a foot in height and gaining incredible muscles. Carter was one of the first to greet him after his transformation and provided him with a new shirt, not before touching his newly muscled figure.
As the celebrations continued, one of the guests, Heinz Kruger, detonated a bomb, destroying much of the lab. Kruger then shot and killed Abraham Erskine before making his escape. Carter was able to shoot him in the arm and gave chase. She followed the assassin into the streets of Brooklyn and fired several rounds into the car Kruger was using to escape. She managed to shoot the driver, but Kruger turned the car around and drove straight at her. She was saved by Rogers, who pushed her out the way, although Carter insisted she could have killed him. Rogers gave chase and successfully caught the assassin, but was unable to stop Kruger from .
Colonel Phillips was given a new assignment to take the S.S.R. to to take the fight directly to HYDRA, and made Agent Carter and Howard Stark a part of his staff. In November 1943, Agent Carter met Steve Rogers again, though at this time he was employed by the US Government to perform as the Army's mascot Captain America. Carter spoke to him, telling him that Erskine meant him for more than performing; during their conversation Rogers learned that his friend Bucky Barnes had been captured by HYDRA and Phillips was not planning a rescue mission.
Carter and Howard Stark agreed to help Rogers get to his destination at the secret HYDRA base in where Allied s were held. They took a plane and Stark flew them to the destination; along the way, Carter gave Rogers a radio to call her when he needed to be picked up. The plane was soon fired upon by enemy guns, so Rogers leaped from the plane while Stark flew Carter to safety. After a few days, Rogers did not return, leading Chester Phillips to announce him as killed in action, but before he could punish Carter for her part in Rogers' death, Rogers returned to the base with over 400 rescued soldiers. Carter berated him for arriving late, and Rogers showed her that his radio had been damaged in the firefight.
===Working with Captain America===
Peggy Carter was present at the meeting of the senior staff of Strategic Scientific Reserve in , along with Colonel Phillips. They discussed the best way to take down HYDRA bases scattered across the Nazi-occupied . She later met Rogers in a bar while he was putting together a new team for his next missions. Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes found themselves in awe of Carter as she was wearing a beautiful red dress rather than her uniform. Although Barnes tried in vain to ask Carter for a dance, Carter would not look at him and told Rogers that once the war was over, she wanted to go dancing with the right partner. She told him that Phillips needed to see him in the morning and left.
The next morning Carter became furious at Steve Rogers after she saw him being kissed by Colonel Phillips' secretary Lorraine. He accused her of having a relationship with Howard Stark, much to her frustration. When she came to collect Rogers later, she found him trying out the new shield Stark had provided for him; without warning Carter picked up a gun and shot at Rogers, claiming to be simply testing the shield. She left leaving Rogers and Stark shocked and impressed.
A few months into the war, Carter received word that Bucky Barnes had been killed on a mission to capture HYDRA scientist Arnim Zola. Knowing that Rogers would be devastated by the loss of his closest friend, she went to find him. She found him sitting alone in the ruins of a bar drinking. She tried to comfort him, reminding him that Barnes' death was not his fault and Barnes must have believed that their mission was worth his sacrifice.
===Losing Steve Rogers===
In May 1945, Rogers attacked HYDRA's last base of operations, he allowed himself to be captured, only to distract Johann Schmidt and allow the US Army time to attack the base. Carter was a member of a company of soldiers led by Colonel Chester Phillips to follow Rogers into the HYDRA base. Carter was able to save Rogers' life when he was pinned back by a HYDRA soldier using flame throwers; Carter shot the enemy soldier in the back causing his equipment to explode. Rogers jokingly told her she was late, reminding her of their earlier mission when she accused him of the same thing. Rogers gave chase to Schmidt while Carter continued to fight.
Red Skull managed to get to his HYDRA plane and Captain America gave chase; seeing that he had no chance of catching up, Carter and Colonel Phillips stole Johann Schmidt's Coupe and gave Rogers a lift. Moments before he jumped aboard the Valkyrie, Carter kissed Rogers and told him to get Schmidt. Rogers managed to leap aboard the plane as Phillips was able to stop the car from plunging off a cliff edge. Carter watched as the plane flew away with Rogers on board.
After a brutal fight to the death on a HYDRA plane, Johann Schmidt was finally defeated, along with his soldiers. Knowing that the plane Rogers was on would cause a lot of trouble for America, he was left with one option; forcing the large plane to land on the waters of the Northern Atlantic Ocean.
Carter, knowing that this would result in his death, did not give up hope. She pressed on the matter, implying that there would be time for them to sort the situation out, even if Howard Stark had to be called. However, Rogers claimed that there was not enough time, and proceeded with the landing. As the plane made its final descent, Peggy and Steve set a date where she would teach him how to dance. All communications with the plane were then lost, and all Carter could do was cry.
===The Obelisk===
Later that year, Peggy Carter led a Strategic Scientific Reserve team that included Jim Morita and Dum Dum Dugan into the last HYDRA base, commanded by General Werner Reinhardt. After arresting him, she had everything in the base confiscated and labelled. The label 0-8-4 was placed on an alien artifact in Reinhardt's possession that was shaped like an Obelisk. Carter discussed with Dugan that, with the war ending, a peace time organization was needed to protect the innocent from dangerous technologies and to supervise people like Howard Stark.
===End of the War===
In May 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered. With the war now won, the London SSR base was packed away and Carter began to help with the filing. Chester Phillips came over to her while she was moving boxes and handed her a single file, Captain Steve Rogers' file. She opened it and saw a picture of the man she loved before his transformation, a skinny but determined man. She kept the photo with her for many years after the war to remind her of the man she loved and lost.
===No Deal for the Devil===
After his capture, Werner Reinhardt was moved to the USA and taken to the Rat, a secret SSR facility. Seeking to find out more information, Carter visited the Rat to interrogate him. They talked about the pen that she had left in his cell to find out what he would do with it. As many former Nazi scientists were already recruited by the US Government, Reinhardt expressed the wish to be recruited as well, as he considered himself far more valuable than those who would make parlor tricks by sending rockets into space.
Agent Carter then mentioned his many war crimes, but he offered to help her understand the items the SSR has confiscated from his last commanding post. He told her about the myth about the "stars" and revealed that the artifacts were of extraterrestrial origin. The disdain that Carter had for Reinhardt outweighed her curiosity about the "blue angels" he described, so she sentenced him to a life term in the Rat, promising him that as long as she had a say, he would never be freed as long as she was alive.}}
==Post-War Activities==
===Capturing Dottie Underwood===
Sometime after Fennhoff's incarceration, Daniel Sousa left New York City to work as the chief of the SSR compound in . Carter tried to keep in touch with him, but he rarely answered her messages. A full year passed, whereas Carter soon learned that Dottie Underwood was trying to rob Bowery Savings Bank.
Carter and multiple SSR agents, including Chief Jack Thompson, prepared an ambush to arrest her and her hired accomplices. Dressed in a style identical to Carter, Underwood and her cohorts took over the bank and forced the personnel to open the vault. As the vault opened, Carter appeared and held her at gunpoint with a shotgun. The SSR agents quickly drew their weapons and arrested the accomplices. Underwood was able to knock out an SSR agent and disarm Carter. The two engaged in a fierce fight but Carter managed to knock her out with a bag of money.
At the , Carter questioned the operative about her contacts and employers, but Underwood remained calm and mentioned that girls like Carter are too used to getting what they want the easy way. Carter asked about a deposit box of a unknown client and wanted to know why Underwood wanted the contents, a lapel pin with an "A"-like symbol; Underwood told her there are currencies stronger than money. Chief Thompson interrupted the interrogation and told her she was going to for a case there, stating that he would interrogate Underwood himself.
===Investigation in Los Angeles===
Landing in she met Edwin Jarvis again. Carter learned that Howard Stark had a defense contract meeting here and, since he liked the scene, had decided that he wanted to create his own movie studio. Jarvis invited Carter to stay with him and his wife on Stark's estate. While driving Carter through Los Angeles, Jarvis also had to transport Stark's newest addition to his menagerie, a flamingo called Bernard Stark. Jarvis told Carter his life was quite boring right now and he would be pleased to drive her around.
Jarvis dropped her off at the Auerbach Theatrical Agency, the cover of the local Strategic Scientific Reserve office, where she was greeted by Rose Roberts. Roberts and Carter discussed Roberts' life in Los Angeles, that Roberts had picked up surfing, and that somehow artists kept showing up for the office, despite their attempts to keep it hidden.
Chief Sousa seemed surprised by her presence but told Carter she was welcome to his team. He introduced her to the police liaison who was skeptical about their odds of capturing the Lady of the Lake Killer. Carter immediately theorized that the dead body might not be connected to the frozen lake. She learned the body of the woman was frozen through and somehow the body did not warm up despite multiple heat lamps pointed at it. Carter and Sousa visited the lab technician, who told them the body was not frozen in ice but in a substance that remained frozen. The technician told Carter that the substance was probably related to Isodyne Energy, a cutting edge development laboratory.
==Zodiac==
Agent Carter eventually moved to Brooklyn, New York City, continuing to work with the Strategic Scientific Reserve. Carter was stuck in an office run by Agent John Flynn who patronized her and only used her for code-breaking and analysis, believing that, as a woman, she should not be sent into the field.
Three months into her work there, after all of her fellow agents had gone out for drinks, leaving her alone in the office, she received a call directing her to the location of the Zodiac and requesting agents to retrieve the substance. Carter used the absence of her co-workers as an excuse to take the mission, and traveled to the Zodiac's location, carrying a briefcase full of field gear with her. The place was guarded by two guards who told her she could not go in. Carter quickly subdued both of them and threw one through the window. The third guard managed to get a weapon but Carter quickly took him hostage. Cuffing him to a pipe, she made him scream for help.
When two other guards arrived she ambushed them and knocked them both out with a club. Using her gun she forced the last guard to retreat and lock himself in the room where the Zodiac was stored, believing himself to be safe. Carter continued advancing and shot several holes into the door, making one large hole, and threw a smoke bomb in the room to make the guard inside pass out. Using a gas mask, she entered the gas-filled room and quickly found the vial marked with a strange Zodiac symbol
However, Carter was attacked by a huge guard in a gas mask. During the fight the guard managed to pull her gas mask off. While she was exposed to the gas the guard pinned her down and started to strangle her. On the verge of passing out, Carter managed to grab a knife from her briefcase and stabbed him. After she knocked out the final guard, Carter recovered the Zodiac and brought it back to the Strategic Scientific Reserve New York Office.
The next day at the office, Agent Flynn admonished Carter for her actions, saying that the only reason that she was an agent was that people felt sorry for her after Captain America died. In the midst of his tirade, the office hotline rang and he was informed by Howard Stark that he was to give the news to Agent Carter that she would be running S.H.I.E.L.D.. Stark also ordered Flynn to "let her know you’re honored to bring her the news". Carter refused his offer to carry her things out the office.
==S.H.I.E.L.D.==
==Retirement==
Before 2012, Carter had quit S.H.I.E.L.D. and retired. In her advanced age, she now had , which caused her to have to stay at a retirement home in .
After Steve Rogers returned from being frozen for nearly 70 years, he was given files about his friends and allies from the 1940s, including Peggy Carter's. He thought about calling her, but, in the end, decided against it, afraid of her seeing him still young.
Two years after he was saved, Rogers eventually went to visit her at the retirement home where she lived. She was lucid at first, but after a few minutes of conversation, due to her mental deterioration, she suddenly acted as if she met Rogers directly after he had crash-landed after the Battle in the Valkyrie.
===Death and Funeral===
Carter died in her sleep in 2016. Steve Rogers served as a pallbearer during her funeral, where she was eulogized by her niece Sharon Carter.
Category:Synopsis