Two Birds on a Wire

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/29270352.

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: Gen
Fandom: Agent Carter (TV), Agent Carter (Marvel Short Film), Marvel Cinematic
Universe, Captain America (Movies)
Character: Dottie Underwood, Peggy Carter
Additional Tags: Character Study, Character Analysis, One Shot
Language: English
Series: Part 1 of Red Sparrow Black Widow
Stats: Published: 2021-02-07 Words: 1407

Two Birds on a Wire

by Moira_Darling_Roche

Summary

I used to be so jealous of girls like you. I would have given anything to walk like you, talk
like you... But now, I can be anything I want.

A short study of Dottie's character through the first season of Agent Carter. Background for
some oneshots I plan later.

Two birds on a wire

She sat up on her bed and reached to grab a bobby pin from her set hair. She bent it open with her
teeth, and in a practiced movement, had the cuff connected to her bed unlocked.

She threw the makeshift lockpick in the trash and moved to the vanity. She tilted her head,
studying her blank face in the mirror. She touched a gentle finger to her lips, and then pulled out
her drawer of makeup and hair pin basket. She started pulling the pins out of her hair, letting them
fall into the basket.

“Hi…Hello… hey there…” She muttered to herself, trying out accents and intonation. “Hi, I’m
Dottie… Hey, just call me Dottie…”

One Says ‘Come on’ and the other says ‘I’m tired’

She followed the movers out of the flat, locking the door behind her. She tugged her jumper
straight and fluffed her hair with her other hand as she walked out to the waiting cab.
She clutched her handbag and watched the movers load the last of her things into the truck. One of
them looked at her, so she widened her eyes and smiled widely back at him.

“What’s a gal like you doing out here all on your own? Moving back in with your folks?”

“Oh no.” she giggled, light and easy. “I’m in the ballet.”

“Oh, another show girl. ‘Xcuse me, but you don’t seem like the type.”

She tilted her head, still smiling. “Oh? And what type is that, mister?”

“…a little more…worldly wise.”

“Oh. Well, my father always says one can never be too wise.”

He frowned a little. “I see. Well, I hope you make it, miss.”

“Oh, I know I will.”

The sky is overcast and I’m sorry

A simple set of apartments. Simpleminded girls with no great expectations beyond marrying. Easy
to do away with should they get in the way. Perhaps a good way to get some practice in for her
more experimental solutions.

Then there she is, standing there infront of her, wrapped up in a dressing gown. The dressing gown
is only there to hide the clothes underneath.

“Oh, call me Dottie.” She shifts her bag to her other hand and sticks her hand out to shake with a
big grin. “Nice to meet you. This place is pretty swell, huh? Seems like one big, happy family.”

The nobody said something, but she wouldn’t look away from Peggy Carter.

“No, it's a pleasure to meet you”.

“I love your accent. England, right? I've never met anybody from there.”

The old hag was saying something sanctimonious again, completely oblivious to how much of her
girls either fucked each other, or fucked men on the side. Not even her silly rule about the first
floor could keep her girls safe in the illusion of being ‘pure’. Purity was just a sham.

Now the waitress was talking, and then she and Peggy were gone into their rooms, and she was
being led to her room.

She fingered the comforting cold of her handcuff in her back and smiled vapidly at the landlady.

One more or One less, nobody’s worried

She unlocked Peggy’s room with the stolen key and let herself in. the thread wafted to the ground
infront of it, and she picked it up with a smile.

So the SSR agent wasn’t completely useless.

She shut the door quietly behind her and looked around the simply decorated flat. She trailed her
fingers in the air over the bureau and moved to take a seat at the vanity.

She opened the jewelry box, and then blinked as she caught sight of herself in the mirror. She tilted
her head, wondering what peggy thought about when she looked at herself.

Did she realise what she was missing out on? Did she realise what a waste her life had become?
Running to get coffee or lunch for the male agents, doing their filing for them all because she
hadn’t been born with a prick. She could be so much more – she should make them see what they
were demeaning.

She picked the gold tube of lipstick out of the box and took the cap off. She slid the lipstick up in
the tube, and leaned forward again to apply it.

“hello… Hello there…” she dropped her voice, tried to mimic Peggy’s English accent. “hello, I’m
Agent Carter…”

Two Birds of a feather

She locked the door and then she sat down in the dentist’s chair. She smiled coyly up at him, and
he slid his hand up her knee. She put her hand on his, and he yelled when she wrenched it back and
reversed their positions.

She easily hiked her skirt up a few inches and straddled him, pinning him to his own chair. He was
so easy. They were always so easy.

She glanced to the side and saw the drill, and the smile that spread across her face wasn’ coy. Her
voice however, was coy when she said: “I’ve never used one of these before.”

He didn’t scream as long as she wanted him too, they never did. She couldn’t understand why they
couldn’t just oblige her and make it a little more interesting!

She rolled her eyes and slid off the body, grabbing her bag on the way to the window.

Say that they’re always gonna stay together

She watched Peggy with hidden interest when she was finished kissing her, curious to know what
would happen. Was it fast?

“You’re…wearing my brand,” the agent whispered, stumbling.

She tilted her head, expressionless as Peggy collapsed to the floor. She drew her switchblade
opening it as she stepped to stand over Peggy. She watched the light glint off the blade with a smile
before bending down.

“-Peggy carter? Miss! For your own safety, stand back!”

She grit her teeth in frustration before sliding the knife back up her sleeve and clutching her hands
to her chest. “Oh gosh, Mister, can you help?” she turned to face the incompetent agents as they
came up the stairs. “I think my friend Peggy must have faints.” She fretted.

The crippled one bent down to check her, they were rolling her over, someone pulled out a pair of
handcuffs, and she wanted to smile.

Maybe this would make Peggy see – make her realise she was so much better than these fools.

“Oh gosh, I hope she’s okay. Should I call an ambulance?”

“Thank you, miss. We’ll take it from here,” one of them said.

Those monkeys couldn’t handle Peggy on their own. They wouldn’t have a clue where to begin.
She was so much better than them – she would run laps around them.

Dottie trailed after them down to the foyer, watching as they bundled the coming to Peggy into the
back of a car. Peggy turned to look at here, and she just stared blankly back.

But one’s never gonna let go of that wire

Peggy could never beat her. No one beat her. She was the best. That was just a fact. The Red
Room had made sure of that. They had tested and trained her in every way imaginable. She was the
perfect weapon.

Peggy let emotion get in the way. She cared about people around her. Cared about the nobodys she
ran into.

She even cared about her incompetent supervisor who never even realized she was running a
treasonous investigation under his very nose.

There’s nothing I won’t understand

She rolled off the wing of the plan, pressing a hand to her side. There were definitely broken bones
to account for.

She gingerly stood up, wincing as she put weight on one of her legs. She stood there for a moment,
catching her breath.

“…turn around Howard. Please…”

And peggy was still trying to save everyone. Even the bastard that got her into this mess in the first
place.

She took a single cautious step. And then another ginger step. Her leg buckled on the third and she
grit her teeth and kept walking.

Maybe the Red Room didn’t have it all correct.

Peggy had beat her, and peggy was supposed to be inferior.

“Hello….Hello…” she dragged in a breath as she started walking faster. “hello, I’m…” her voice
took on a British accent as she muttered to herself. “Hello there….Oh I’m Peggy Carter…Hello…”

She smiled as she slipped out of the hangar.

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