-- Wasn't it just her damned luck to be plagued by cocky genius 'round every corner? Peggy might have been more keen to learn exactly what business in which Tony dabbled, but the words clean energy were enough to curl her lip. It made her think on the Tesseract. As noble a quest as clean energy was, it settled poorly in her stomach. Shame, really, because one minute more spent dwelling on the problem might have reminded her of Howard.

Instead: "It was only a theory," she clarified in a curdled tone. "It might not be recruitment at all. It might be some...terrible misunderstanding."

But Peggy's voice betrayed her. She didn't believe the whole affair could ever be so innocuous.