amuseoffyre:

This scene devastates me in so many ways.

Let me tell you about Peggy Carter. This is a woman who has overcome every prejudice levelled at her. “I know something of what it’s like to have every door shut in my face”. She has reached the top of an elite fighting unit. She’s a trusted soldier and agent. She’s a spy and a covert operative. She’s smart and cunning and wilful and determined.

But the fact that she’s a woman means that she has to wear armour 24/7. Because everyone knows women are feeble and emotional creatures. Everyone knows they’re overwrought and highly-strung. So if she shows even a flicker of emotion, they’ll come down on her like a ton of bricks, and say “she’s just a dame after all”.

And when Steve’s about to die, she’s doing her best to be strong for him, but Phillips knows whats coming. He clears the room because he knows that tone in Rogers’ voice, and he knows how much Peggy does her damnedest to be strong and unbreakable.

But even though he’s cleared the room, even though she’s completely alone, even then, she can’t cry out loud. She’s spent so many years pushing all her emotions down, it’s all she can do to put her face in her hands and silently let the tears fall. Because she’s built her armour so strongly around her that she can’t and won’t break, even when she’s lost the love of her life.