Hello, sorry for putting you all into panic mode. Enjoy!
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Breakfast at the Griffith was something new to Dottie Underwood. She used to have communal meals back at the Red Room Academy in Russia, but they weren't supposed to talk there. Here all the girls gossiped and discussed the day ahead, some sneaking bread rolls into their purses as if the landlady Miriam Fry hadn't noticed. It was her first breakfast here, and honestly it was a little overwhelming. She just wanted to focus on her target, study her and her mannerisms, find out her favourite foods, favourite conversation topics. It was hard when the girl next to you wanted to discuss work at the L&L Automat. Dottie turned her attention away from the brunette mystery, and to the woman talking to her. Angie Martinelli. She faked interest, nodding enthusiastically, smiling, and giving responses which didn't sound too empty. Befriending Angie might come in handy later on. She had seen her come out of Peggy Carter's room the night Miriam showed her around, last night. Only, Angie didn't seem entirely happy with Peggy. Dottie decided to use that to quickly get in and make Angie feel like Dottie was worth having around – and it had worked, remarkably well. Angie had already invited Dottie to her room later for schnapps, Dottie smiled, "Oh gosh, Ange, you don't have to do that!" Using a nickname, Dottie would make Angie feel like she was open and warm. Angie smiled back, "Oh don't worry about it, Iowa. C'mon, I'd be happy to have you 'round!" Dottie battered her eyelashes slightly and turned away, as though she were considering it, "Ah heck, alright! What else am I gonna do for fun, huh?" Then she looked back at Angie, "I don't think I've ever heard anyone call me Iowa before." Angie shrugged, "It's just somethin' I do, and I kinda have a little habit of callin' people by where they come from. I'll stop if you don't like it though." She looked slightly concerned. Dottie waved her hand, "Don't even worry about it! I like it." She smiled widely again, a mark of her new persona. The innocent, wide eyed, bright smiling Dorothy Underwood.
Dottie joined Angie later that night for schnapps. Something Peggy never did. Angie appreciated Dottie's company, she was a little cuckoo sometimes, and she was outrageously flirtatious, but Angie appreciated it. Dottie smiled, watching Angie fall drunk, talking about work, ranting about her not very good friend Peggy Carter, Dottie's target. Her blue eyes roamed Angie's body freely, when she looked back up, it was to see Angie watching her, blueish-green eyes large. She looked like a deer in the headlights. Dottie had been flirting with her all night, and now she had just caught her looking her up and down like she was going to undress her any second. She watched Angie swallow hard and leaned in a little. The closer she could get, the more she could find out about Peggy Carter, the more Angie would tell her. Angie was still staring at her, still unsure of what Dottie was thinking, what Dottie was planning.
Then she kissed the waitress. Dottie didn't know why, but it didn't feel right. Nothing about what she was doing felt right. She pushed it to the back of her mind and focused on the task at hand. For a moment, Angie kissed her back, even deepening it. When they broke, Dottie found herself staring into a pair of brown eyes. Definitely not Angie's.
Peggy Carter. Peggy pushed her back, so that Dottie was on the floor, and she was on top. Dottie couldn't understand what was happening, and Peggy pinned down her wrists on the floor above her head and leaned forward so that her lips were nearly touching Dottie's. "What do you think you're doing?" Peggy whispered, smiling. Dottie struggled underneath her, "I'm having some fun, getting information." She confessed playfully, when it became apparent Peggy wasn't letting her go, "You here to join in Pegs?" she asked, flirtatiously as ever. Peggy raised an eyebrow, "Information? From her? This isn't how it went Dottie. You didn't sleep with Angie to get to me. This is all wrong." Dottie frowned, "What are you talking about? I never got to you before now." Peggy pressed her lips against Dottie's, who tensed completely. Peggy pulled away and watched her, "Do you remember now?" Dottie shook her head, more confused than earlier. Why was her enemy kissing her? Peggy was beautiful, and it certainly wasn't unpleasant, but it set her on edge. Her target suddenly got up and dragged Dottie up with her, turning away once Dottie stood up.
Dottie smirked and launched herself at Peggy to attack. Her move was instantly countered by all too familiar hands. Her own hands. Dottie took a step back, she was looking at herself, with dark brown hair, "You're too easy." She teased blonde Dottie, who began shaking her head, stepping further back. Dark haired Dottie followed her until she lost the ground and fell down.
Suddenly, Dottie was sitting safely in an interrogation room and in walked Peggy Carter again. "Love the hair." Peggy commented. Dottie frowned, pulling her hair into view. It was dark brown. "What is happening?" Dottie asked, beginning to struggle to stay cool. Peggy shrugged, "You forgot." Dottie gritted her teeth, "Forgot what? I have a mission to complete. I have you to kill. There is nothing to remember or to forget." Peggy shook her head sadly, "Oh darling, we've lost you. We've lost you. I loved you and I got you killed. I seem to have a habit of that, silly me." Dottie's eyebrows creased, "You...what?" Peggy looked up at the ceiling as if sending some kind of prayer, "Dottie, I miss you. Come back to me, please." Dottie yanked furiously at the chains keeping her to the table, she had to get out of here. It was crazy here. Peggy looked at her, "There's no use. You'll only tire yourself out." The agent shook her head sadly again before leaving. "Peggy, I don't care!" Dottie shouted, "Just let me out! I don't know what you're talking about, just let me kill you and let's be done with it." She pulled hard against the chains one more time and actually managed to break them. She stared in amazement for a moment before getting up and running out after Peggy.
Peggy seemed to keep looking behind her, grinning at Dottie, like it was a game. No matter how fast Dottie ran, she couldn't catch up either. This hallway was endless and was a straining clinical white, which only got brighter as she ran. Suddenly, Peggy stopped, and Dottie stopped a few feet away. Peggy was looking at someone or something behind Dottie, so she turned around. There stood another tall woman, her cheekbones were defined like Dottie's, her hair was a light brown, and her eyes, the same shade of blue as Dottie's.
The blonde felt her stomach drop, "Mother?" She didn't remember much of her mother, Elizaveta; she died when Dottie was fairly young, leaving her an orphan at the government's disposal, what with her father god knows where. But she had never forgotten her either. Her mother approached her slowly, smiling the way Dottie did, and she slapped her across the face before speaking to her in Russian, "You foolish girl. Disgusting, foolish girl." Dottie held one hand to her face, and looked back at Elizaveta, "Are you going to do this again? " Dottie asked her. She simply shook her head,
"I was so proud of you, for being so strong when others couldn't. You served your country so well. And now look at you. You let yourself stray from your mission, you let yourself get shot, and you even managed to fall in love with a woman, of all people. You're disgusting." Dottie slapped her back across the face, though she still appeared to be cool,
"I am not in love with anyone, let alone a woman, and I have not forgotten my mission. Don't you dare lecture me on being the one who strayed, the one who was weak, the one who was disgusting. You're the one who left so that you could cry into a bottle every night. I'm the one who cleaned up after you, every time. I begged you to stop, and you didn't. See what happened."
Elizaveta looked stunned for a moment, before she straightened up and smiled,
"Look at you, finally raising your back hand at me. You've changed." Dottie didn't smile back, "You haven't." Her mother laughed, "As disgusted as I am, I've missed you. I want you to know as well, that this wasn't the life I had in mind for you, but you lived it well, even if hundreds had to die by your hand." The blonde scowled for a moment, taking in her words,
"Oh please, are you trying to make me feel guilty? Don't bother, I had jobs to do, and I did them. Simple as that. Why are you telling me this? Why are you even here?" Dottie demanded to know. Elizaveta studied Dottie with the same curiosity Dottie studied others with, before she tilted her head. She then looked at her as if the answer was obvious. Dottie held her breath, "Because you're dead." Her mother finally answered, before disappearing. Dottie felt sick, her body felt suddenly numb. How? When? Had she died in the war? She turned around to face Peggy, her complexion pale.
"So what the hell are you doing here, if I'm dead?" Dottie asked. Then she laughed, "Hell...ain't that a kick in the head?" Peggy watched the woman joke with herself for a moment, "I'm always going to be here, darling." She replied once Dottie had finished. Then she walked off into a room.
Dottie followed Peggy into a pitch black room, "Peggy?" She called, walking further and further into it. There was no response, only a humming sound. All of a sudden she was greeted by a large screen, full colour, full sound, and it was a first person view, showing her Peggy Carter. Dottie narrowed her eyes, walking closer towards it. Peggy was declaring her love to her as they danced in what looked like a lounge to slow jazz. Dottie's eyes widened, visions, memories, smells, sounds, tastes and touches all came back to her at once. This was a memory. She had gotten lost in what she used to be, the guilt she had felt, she had been trying to find a new way to complete the objective she previously did not, forgetting that she left it behind for a reason. She left it behind for the love of this woman, and for the new life she was going to live with her.
Dottie found herself smiling, a genuine smile, and she recited the words she heard herself saying to Peggy on the screen. Peggy replied, smiling back at her. This was why seducing Angie had felt so wrong, this was why Peggy had kissed her, in an effort to remind her that Dottie was in love with Peggy.
Dottie suddenly felt her heart ache to see her love again. For some reason, that ache seemed to echo through her abdomen and her stomach. She looked down. Two clean holes were pierced into her body, though not all the way through. They were bullet holes, Dottie recognised, and they were the reason for the pain, and the reason she was here. She remembered the Russian conspiracist Vladislav shooting her. She remembered watching Peggy cry for her to stay awake. She remembered hearing Angie tell her to stay awake too. She remembered that she didn't.
Dottie had failed again, and this time she wasn't sure if she could make up for it.
Hi thank you for the reviews!
Sorry for putting you into panic mode again. I'm not nice, I know :(
Forgiveness will find a way, I'm sure!