My heart froze as whispers tore through the room. Harvey licked his lips slowly, clearly relishing the shocked reaction from the crowd. I was vaguely aware of Elliot saying something beside me but I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

She couldn’t be there.

Harvey waited for too long before stepping aside and allowing the camera to pan across to the doors at the back of the stage. I should have known something was wrong. The normal clear glass doors had been obscured by something, blocking our view in.

Peggy? I asked tentatively, needing her to hear me.

The doors swung open and I felt myself lean forwards to see her.

Someone walked out, their blonde head pointed downwards.

“Is it her?” someone whispered behind me but I refused to look away.

The hair was lanky but bulked up with what looked like extensions. With my mods, I could tell that they didn’t quite match the colour of her hair. She was wearing her Space Corps dress uniform, her shiny badge pinned to her chest catching the light and reflecting back into the cameras.

She looked thin. It was hard to tell how thin because they’d clearly padded her suit and her head was still pointing down as she slowly limped towards Harvey.

“Why is she limping?” I heard Gem whisper quietly.

She shouldn’t have been limping.

She finally reached the podium and looked up, her eyes taking in the camBots flitting around and the scattered, confused-looking crowd.

“Welcome, Pegasus! Why don’t you tell the crowd what you told us?” Harvey said, his voice jovial but his eyes cold and calculating.

“She flinched away from him,” Gem whispered, concern evident in her voice.

My eyes scanned her face, needing to know more. She was plastered with makeup, that much was clear. She was more tanned than she had ever been. Her skin didn’t normally turn that colour, she usually just burnt. They must have been trying to hide how pale and unhealthy she probably looked. Her face was thinner than usual too. Her chin came to an unhealthily sharp point and her cheekbones jutted out unevenly.

One was swollen, just like one of her eyes. It had been covered with makeup so that people didn’t realise how badly she was being mistreated but still, it was obvious. My heart broke as fury raced through me. I will kill Harvey.

Peggy’s light blue eyes fixed on one of the camBots and she took a deep breath as she prepared to talk. I felt myself freeze again as Harvey strode to the side of the stage to let her talk.

“I’ve been asked to come out here today and to tell you what has been going on.”

She paused and took a deep breath, as if it was hard for her to speak. At the side of the screen, I could see a prompter floating over the crowd and displaying her speech.

“I have been asked to tell you that I am safe and that I have abandoned Crew seven six one and their traitorous ways.”

I hadn’t realised that I had been holding it but I felt my hand gripped Cas’ even tighter as we waited fearfully for her to continue.

Harvey’s face stretched into an even more smug smile as he watched Peggy.

“That’s true, in a way. I have abandoned my crew. I don’t know where they are. I hope they’re far away from Nova and the Council.”

My gaze flicked between Peggy and the Councillor again. She’d gone off-script. That much was obvious from the barely suppressed anger on his face and the look of determination on hers. From the prompter, I could see that she should have said ‘I contacted the Guardians and Councillor Harvey specifically after I realised how wrong our actions were’ but I knew from the look on her face, she wasn’t going to say that.

Fear started to bubble in my stomach.

Please be careful, Peggy, I begged, knowing it was unlikely that she could hear me.

Peggy looked down at the podium before her before she glanced at Harvey.

“I was asked to tell the universe and anyone watching that I asked the Guardians to come to my base, to take me away in the middle of the night and hold me somewhere safe. That is not true.”

Harvey took a small step forwards, his hand gesturing towards the Guardians lining the stage to move forwards, prepare to grab if needed.

Peggy noticed that, her eyes going wide and her words coming out rushed.

“I am not here by choice! The Council are torturing me and holding me hostage! Fight against them! Bring them down!” she shouted as the Guardians rushed forwards.

“Take her inside!” Harvey screamed at the Guardians who were hauling her towards the door, “Turn the cameras off!”

They didn’t listen though. The camBots flitted closer to the writhing mass on the stage, picking up the sounds of fists against skin. I moved closer to the screen, needing to get one last look at Peggy’s face. The Guardians were trying to restrain her but she was fighting. Her fist was jabbing into the unprotected seams of their armour, pulling out handfuls of wires and rendering them useless. With a victorious scream, she incapacitated the Guardian in front of her, fighting her way out of the reach of the Guardians and into the direct line of the cameras.

“No retreat!” she screamed, holding up a fistful of multicoloured wires.

The Guardians grabbed her once more but this time, she went without fighting. She didn’t seem scared or fearful. I’d expected her face to be a reflection of the horror racing through me but it wasn’t. She was smiling. She was proud.

She disappeared back into the building, Harvey slamming the doors behind them and leaving the crowd in a shocked silence.

Beside me, Gem sobbed quietly. I turned away from the image of the front of the Council buildings and wrapped my arms around her. Her body shook as she sobbed and I wanted to join her but no tears would come.

Shock and fear for Peggy raced through me, making my knees weak but I had to be strong for my crew. I needed to find a way to help Peggy.

Whisper filled the room once more and I met Cas’ shining eyes.

We will get her back, I promised.

I just didn’t think we’d see her. She looked so thin and injured, Gem sobbed.

I know, I thought as I rubbed her back, she’ll be okay.

Gem took a deep shuddering breath and nodded.

Okay.

Pulling away, she wiped at her face before turning back to the table. I followed her, sinking back into my chair and meeting Andy’s worried gaze.

“What now?” I asked him.

He shook his head, his eyebrows bunched together.

“Now, we figure out a plan to get her back,” he said quietly, his voice thick with concern.

I locked eyes with Aquila.

“We know she’s alive now and we know where she’s being kept. Can we go get her?”

“We’ll start working on a plan. Assuming she isn’t moved from the headquarters, we should be able to.”

A small shard of anticipation went through me.

We’ll get her back.