SHIELD had arrived to sort out any loose ends. Agent Carter supervised the clean up operation: the remaining weaponry was to be taken to the archives, Crowley himself was in custody receiving medical treatment for multiple head contusions, and several agents were engaged in thawing out and repairing the damaged toy shop. The two gents had offered to stay with her, while Ellie returned to her restaurant to prepare it for the following day's business. Jarvis volunteered his considerable experience to help Ellie out, leaving Peggy alone with Jago & Litefoot.
"He's conscious again, Miss Carter. And he's stopped ranting about apocalyptic portents. He's ready in the interrogation room at your leisure." called one of the agents, stepping from the mobile truck that doubled as both office and prison van.
"Thank you, Agent Costa. Gentlemen, duty calls, I'm afraid."
"Very well Miss Carter. We shall wait for you here, if you don't mind. I'd sooner know what if anything the cove has planned as he suggested." Litefoot stated.
"We always see an investigation through to its fullest terminus." Added Jago, tugging on his lapels.
"Suit yourselves then. Though given the aptitude he's shown so far, I don't imagine he could plan anything more intricate than the few scattered attacks he's already performed."
Peggy bid a brief farewell to the gentlemen, before heading into the mobile unit. She greeted the Agent manning the telecommunications setup, before heading further in to the prisoner's cell. The guard outside the cell nodded at her in affirmation, unlocking the door to allow her access. Within, she found Crowley, handcuffed and chained to a small desk. She sat in the free chair opposite him, crossed her legs and leaned forward to rest her elbows on the table.
"Tell me everything. From the beginning." She instructed, firmly. Crowley laughed softly, mostly to himself.
"Of course.... of course it's you... I remember you now. Thought your face was familiar alright. Should have known you'd be here to bear witness. The Lord moves in mysterious ways."
Peggy leaned back into her seat, exhaling as she went, wondering how best to approach this interrogation. However, Crowley appeared to be particularly chatty now he recognized her.
"You were there, the day the Lord gave me a sign. In a way, you are his messenger."
"I can assure you, I'm no such thing. You were struck on the head, probably suffered a concussion, it would explain these delusions." Peggy insisted, but Crowley either didn't or wouldn't listen.
"You were my John the Baptist, your role to prepare me for my glorious mission... That day, as I lay injured on the floor of my church, I remember looking at the damage that you had caused. I saw the broken bell and shattered stones and I realized the truth."
"What true was that?"
"The bell is a symbol, to draw the followers to their place of worship. Here it lay broken, like God's message had been broken. Nobody heeds the call anymore. Without a flock, the Church would crumble just as my church had. I felt the Lord's rage, and sadness. I knew the time for judgement had begun."
"So, that's when you started performing your own brand of justice?"
"Not mine. My Lord's. I was taken to a hospital, the doctors there thought I was crazy. I had to escape. I had work to do. That was when I sent my first soul to burn in the fires of Hell. You must think me a cruel man...?" He paused, awaiting a reply.
"It had crossed my mind." Peggy replied, dryly.
"You do me a disservice then. You see, my victims are purely the heathen ones. In a way, by shortening their Earthly lives, I'm limiting their potential for future sins."
"I'm sure it makes a twisted logic in the confines of your addled mind, Crowley. But frankly, even the sight of you makes me ill. You have no shame. No remorse. The sooner I leave you to rot here the better. But what was your plan? How does killing a handful of Christmas shoppers usher in the Rapture?"
"Truthfully, those 'liberations' were a way of passing time. Tangential to my real goal. They served to put the fear of God into London. Nothing like a life threatening scare to make the rats afraid of death again. On the heels of my jaunts, church attendance rose sharply. In the packed churches, I could carry out the true work." He spoke with such sincerity and almost a sense of pride. Peggy could barely stomach to sit so near to a man without empathy.
"You don't mean to say that you did something during masses? Trying to incite hatred in the loyal devotees?"
"I laced the Eucharist with a special blend of my own design."
"You mean you poisoned the mass goers?" Peggy exclaimed all to aware that Jarvis and Jago had partaken in the sacrament.
"You misunderstand. The faithful followers received the antidote."
"Antidote for what, Crowley."
"A disease only good Catholics will survive. At midnight tonight, it shall rain from the heavens. All of London will choke, the very air will turn against the Godless populace."
Peggy's eyes widened with shock she couldn't mask. Surely this had to be a bluff, she thought. There was no way this feckless priest had concocted such a chemical agent. Then again, she mused, he was a brilliant scientific mind in his youth.
"Let's say I believe you. How do you plan to disperse the chemical? A bomb somewhere perhaps?"
"I know you didn't partake in the Holy Communion. You're refused your chance at eternal life, so stop fighting to prolong this one. You're a lost soul already. It's all over."
Peggy slammed her closed fists upon the table as she kept to her feet.
"Enough games! Look Christian, look at what you're suggesting... mass murder, millions dead, is that really what God wants? Can you be sure you haven't been influenced by the Devil?"
"No... Your words are false. You deceive me harpy!" He protested, yet his voice wavered.
"It's not to late to renounce him, Christan. Do the right thing, please." Peggy pleaded, gently.
"You... you... you will not sway me from my mission. I hear the Lord, I know it is He who speaks to me. I have faith in my conviction!"
"Spoken like a true Crusader." Peggy sighed, as she turned to leave the room. There could be no further point in continuing this farce of an interview. Peggy rejoined the two gents, and filled them in on what few nuggets of information she had actually pried from the priest.
"A bomb that will distribute a disease to all of London... where could it possibly be located?" Litefoot summed up.
"Assuming of course it is a single detonation point. This cove could have devices spread right across town." Jago added.
"Unlikely. He made it sound like there was a single target that would cover all of London. More devices means a corresponding increase in risk of detection. For a lone operator, one device is most probable." Peggy clarified.
"But where could a single bomb be placed that could effect the whole city? It must be a tall building of some kind, surely?" Wondered Litefoot.
"We're looking for the loftiest location in all of London. The tallest tower, the superlative structure.... A-ha, St Paul's Cathedral. Tallest building in London."
"No, I don't think he'd choose a church for his bomb Henry. Damaging a Holy building is against his modus operandi."
"You're right!" Peggy exclaimed. "Both of you. Tallest non religious structure in London would be.... the GPO Tower!"
"Evidently some new addition to the skyline. Can't expect us to know everything that's changed from our time." Litefoot muttered.
"Exactly. It's still under construction, so accessing the site would be easier. Plus, I'm sure he'd appreciate the image of a telecommunications tower being the beacon of his Holy revenge." Peggy was already striding towards a SHIELD car before Jago and Litefoot had caught up with her thinking, and the scampered after her.
"Henry, the game is afoot!"
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