My submission for Cartson AU Week. Today is Dragon Rider day, so I wrote this, well, today. Hopefully it isn't terrible.
This is actually going to be my first Agent Carter fanfic, and I might have more coming soon, so I hope this goes well!
Jack Thompson flicked a rock on the ground with his finger. Nearby, Suspenders was getting restless, shuffling about and occasionally breathing fire up into the sky. "Stop that, or they'll know we're here," he snapped at his dragon, eliciting a whine from the creature.
For the past four hours, Jack had been waiting in the forest with Suspenders to see if he could catch a glimpse of the infamous Blonde Rider. The only things he knew about her were that she was blonde, evidence by the hair that fluttered out of her helmet as she rode her dragon, and that she was brilliant at winning races. She had a connection with her dragon that was better than the one he had with Suspenders, and it made him a bit jealous. Plus, she always passed him just as he was closing in on the finish, snagging victory right out of his hands.
No one knew who she was though. After every race she finished (and won), she would always hop back on her dragon and soar off into the unknown. The village was almost always a buzz about finding out who she really was. Chief Dooley had even offered a reward of five hundred golden coins for whoever could prove and find out her identity. Jack and his friend, Daniel, had decided to see if they could figure out who Blonde Rider was.
Today, he had woken up and gone out to get water for his family when he caught sight of her dragon out in the distance. After that, Jack had hurried through the rest of his chores and saddled up Suspenders. He didn't decide to tell Daniel this. His friend had had an accident recently, and was now recovering after losing his leg. Dragons were a bit of a sore subject between them at the moment, since Daniel's dragon had died in the accident. Better not to bring up bad memories about the incident.
He heard the sound of a dragon landing in the nearby valley he'd tracked down as the point where Blonde Rider and her dragon had come out of. Shushing Suspenders, Jack crept up to peek over the ledge into the valley. Down below, he caught sight of Blonde Rider dismounting her dragon. Her dragon was the same breed of Night Fury as his, but a more slender female that lacked the vertical stripes that were displayed on Suspenders's belly.
Blonde Rider stroked her dragon's nose, making her relax and curl up. Jack was amazed at how quickly she was able to make her dragon relax. It took him three times as long to calm down Suspenders, and the Night Fury breed wasn't exactly one of the easiest breeds to train. He decided to watch Blonde Rider closer. Perhaps he could pick up a few tricks from her to use with Suspenders.
Giving her Night Fury some fish, Blonde Rider chuckled and scratched the back of her ears. Then she reached up to her helmet that masked her face and unbuckled the straps. Jack fisted his hands as Blonde Rider turned away from him and slide the helmet off, preventing him from catching a glimpse of her face. But as she pulled the helmet off, the blonde came with it. It was only a wig that hid the chestnut brown curls underneath. At least now he knew why the other blondes in the village had been so confused and angry when they caught him tracking down their movements. A wig was pure brilliance, hiding the true identity of Blonde Rider. If he could only see her face…
Behind him, Suspenders snorted and rustled closer to the edge. Jack turned to face his dragon with a finger on his lips. But Suspenders only began to growl and bare his teeth at him. Confused, Jack began to sit up and move toward his dragon. Before he could, something grabbed the back of his leather riding armor and pulled him over the edge. He couldn't stop the shout from coming out of him as he hit the ground. Climbing to his feet, he whirled around to face his assailant, and froze.
"No," he murmured, staring at the unmasked rider standing in front of him with her arms crossed. "Peggy?"
Of all the possible people in the village, it was Peggy Carter who was Blonde Rider. He remembered her trying to enter the races when she and him and Daniel were all eligible. However, Chief Dooley had forbidden her from entering due to her foreigner status (she'd moved here from across the Eastern Sea after her parents died), and the fact that one of the last girls who entered in the races had died. He started ignoring that rule after Blonde Rider appeared on the course one day and smoked the rest of the competition, but Peggy was still forbidden from entering.
Now that she stood before him, Jack found himself wondering why he hadn't questioned her before. He didn't ever see her at any of the races, and she always rebuffed his offers to come with him to see other races. Blonde Rider had been appearing the races soon after he first started to join them too. Truthfully, Jack had had a bit of a crush on her for a while, but now seeing her standing there in riding armor made him fall even harder in love with her.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed angrily, throwing her helmet to the side and pinning him up against a tree. "Trying to cash in on Dooley's prize?"
He shook his head, trying to keep his attention away from her red lips.
"Then why are you here?"
"I just wanted to figure out who kept beating me…" he said lamely, looking about for Suspenders. "And who you were really were. I wanted to know who Blonde Rider was."
"Honestly, you need a better nickname if you're going to call me something," Peggy replied, releasing him from the tree. "Now get lost and don't tell anyone about this, got it?"
He stood up and brushed himself off. "No."
Peggy looked at him, frowning. "What do you mean, no? You have what you came here for, now you don't need to stick around."
"I want you to teach me how to be as good with Suspenders as you are with…your Night Fury," he thought about something suddenly. "Hey, how'd you even manage to snag one in the first place?"
A growl came from behind both of them, and they turned their heads toward the noise. Suspenders and Peggy's Night Fury were on opposite sides of the stream that ran through the valley, splashing water at one another and wrestling. Jack saw her smile at the two dragons playing before turning back to him.
"Her name is Angie. I found her abandoned in the woods on day when she was little, after I first arrived here. We were both orphans in our own way, and I ended up taking care of her in secret."
"And how did you get into dragon racing after Dooley forbid you from it?"
"I needed a disguise, and then I was in," she replied, holding up her helmet with the wig. "Honestly, I think Dooley only cared about making sure I didn't race rather checking to make sure I hadn't snuck in."
Both of them chuckled at this while Angie and Suspenders began to flick water at each other with their tales. Peggy seemed to be more at ease when she laughed, more approachable.
"So will you train me?" he asked again. "Show me how to have a good relationship with Suspenders like you do with Angie?"
She turned back to him and nodded. "We'll start tomorrow at nine in the morning, and train for an hour every day. You listen to everything I do, and you don't tell anyone about this. I don't need anyone else to know about my secret, especially the chief. Do we have a deal?"
Jack nodded immediately. "Thank you, Peggy."
"Don't thank me until you've started training with me, then see if you still want to thank me," she laughed as Suspenders bounded over to them, giving Jack a couple licks.
Jack grinned at her as he mounted his dragon. "See you tomorrow," he called before he and Suspenders took off into the air.
Peggy watched as he took off, feeling herself blush. Angie nuzzled her hand and made a purring noise of happiness. She'd taken a lot more notice of Jack lately, and found herself to be intrigued by him. With a little help, he could become a great dragon rider, maybe even as good as her.
"Guess we'll be seeing a lot more of them soon, eh, Angie?" she said, scratching the backs of her Night Fury's ears.
Jack Thompson was in for a wild ride.
How is this? Not too terrible, right?
PLEASE REVIEW! I really want to hear your thoughts on this and my writing for Agent Carter.