（ ００１ ｜ ｖｉｄｅｏ ）

[mannerism]

(un: p. carter )

[ Well, here we have a username that hasn't been seen on the network in a while. The video itself is, alas, distorted at the moment. It seems the device itself is being moved rather quickly from hand to hand. ]

-- bloody well doing alright by myself.

[ And then there's Peggy Carter and a native nurse who has apparently made the mistake of trying to open and hold the device for her. It's enough to get her chased out as the woman struggles to sit up. On her way out, the nurse does take a few bloodied bandages with her. ]

Well, turns out one can get promoted in their absence.

[ She holds up a file of pages, apparently her new job description. ]

Is it too much to hope that my house is still intact?

Comments

video # un: skyenet

[evite]

( skye's never actually met peggy carter. to be fair, the woman didn't do much active duty-ing in her elder years, and certainly wouldn't have had reason to interact with coulson and co in their gallivanting adventures. that doesn't meean, however, that skye doesn't know the name, or the face, or even to some degree the clipped tones of a british woman who's just about had enough of someone else's shit.

the video camera had been still a fairly new invention in the 1940s, but shield had always been ahead of its days. there were a few videos, not many, of the agency's founding female member. skye had watched those with rapt attention. the videos of howard and the rest? not so much.

thus, the smallest hesitation in between the beginning of her video feed and her first words, one that might even hint at a little bit of starstruck admiration. ) The P wouldn't happen to stand for Peggy, would it?

( 'ma'am' gets swallowed down, hard. same for 'agent'. )

video }

[mannerism]

[ Peggy Carter has always been comfortable with the idea that her work is conducted in the shadows - secretive and concealed, that was the nature of her life and she liked it.

Riverview, however, brought her work into light. Here, she had to adjust to the fact that people know her, they know what she does, they recognize her skill-set. An odd sensation, for a woman who was used to anonymity, it had its advantages as well as its drawbacks. She's quiet used to this by now, and at the least the woman doesn't confess herself to be a fan of her world. ]

That it does. I have a feeling this was not a lucky guess.

[ she knows her, of her, one or the other. ]

[evite]

Luck has never really been my thing.

( aside from her tête-à-tête reveal with peter parker — who was becoming an exception in a number of ways, the little monster — skye hasn't exactly been forthcoming with people when it comes to her prior occupation. or her employer, for that matter. she figures it's safe to assume that others might choose to do the same.

so it's with a little bit of pride that skye bows her head and gets to work, applying a layer of careful encryption that delays any verbal response by a few minutes. in the interim, peggy might hear a frenzy of keys tapping, a huff of irritation or two as she tinkers with the programming, and then finally a satisfied murmur or two before skye's face reappears on the screen. )

Okay. That's better. I figured this probably wasn't something either of us really want on the network at large?

( how do you talk to a person from who knows how many decades before your own without introducing them to the spoilerdome? )

Right, so. This is my first time playing catch-up, so, sorry if this is totally weird for you too. But does SHIELD mean anything to you yet?

[mannerism]

-- You've secured the line.

[ clever. For all that she has learned in Riverview, computers are still something of a work in process. She knew hew basics but alas, not much beyond that. Her reaction to the very name SHIELD is telling - she sits a little straighter, less comfortable but very much down to business. ]

I know of SHIELD. I also know it played host to another organization for a time.

[ there is a challenge there. this young helpful stranger could be SHIELD or HYDRA. hell, she could be both if Peggy understood the matter of the uprising correctly. ]

[evite]

Yes.

( there's no compliment in the other woman's words, but there's approval in them that skye takes as compliment enough. )

And if by "played host" you mean got hijacked by literal Nazis, yeah, that'd be HYDRA.

( she's not offended by the implication. rather, she's a little relieved. it's the smart move, keeping one's cards close to their chest, trying to suss out whether a new associate is friend or carefully hidden foe. it's a move may might have encouraged her to make; naturally, without the guidance of a more experienced and patient hand, skye's gone in guns blazing as per usual. she could probably stand to learn a thing or two from agent carter. )

My former SO was one of those snake bastards, actually. Real gut punch to find out your trainer's pure evil.

[mannerism]

Much like hearing your life's work sums to having HYDRA reemerge in your own organization.

[ she hated that part, spent many bitter nights wondering if this is the legacy of all that she has done, growing HYDRA inside of the organization she and howard have built, the same organization that killed howard and left tony without his parents. ]

I'm sorry about your SO.

[evite]

It's okay. Well, I mean — it's not okay, it's still fucked up and I still sometimes think I should have killed him when I had the chance, but...

( her voice trails off, a little embarrassed; there's just something extra fucked up about even saying that out loud. )

It is what it is, I guess. ( better not to dwell on it, may had said. ) I haven't run into any of them here, anyway.

[mannerism]

But you haven't and that was probably the right call.

[ there were many people she wanted dead, many that she brought to justice instead. if the same would happen to the same SO, the young woman would be better for it. ]

Small graces, I suppose. Do you keep a database of names? HYDRA operatives? I doubt they'd raise many heads in a world that houses the Avengers.

[ there's a slight eye roll. the name is absurd, they're not necessarily avenging at all times. ]

[evite]

( there's a pause before skye answers, that same embarrassment flooding into a proper recognition of should have regrets. )

Not... really. ( her mouth purses into a straight line, not quite a frown but certainly not a smile either. ) There are some names I'm not going to forget, but I didn't learn them all, either.

( after taking down the so-called clairvoyant in john garrett, skye had thought the most of their hydra worries were over. so much for assumptions, as she'd recently come to find out. )

It's not like there's a list of evil people pretending to be on our side back home, though.

[mannerism]

No list of known operatives?

[ one can say once a spy is uncovered, they are far less dangerous than before. Peggy has made the same mistake not too long ago with one Dottie Underwood. She shifts, tries to find any position that might not be so uncomfortable. ]

I would like the list of those you do know. One can never tell who gets trapped here.

[ a pause, she smiles. How quick she is to try and return to what she knows to do, when really - ]

I realize I never asked for your name. It seems like I don't need to introduce myself.

[evite]

It's Skye. ( technically, agent, but does that matter as much here? ) And you don't need to introduce yourself, but... well. Peggy? Agent Carter?

( which one should she use??? )

'Hey you' just feels rude, don't you think?

[mannerism]

Peggy, if it's all the same to you. I suppose our work titles are devoid of importance here.

[ and as for that last comment: ]

Believe me, I've been called worse. So long as you don't call me Marge, we should be quite alright.

[evite]

Peggy I can do.

( it'll just probably come with a lot of screaming into her pillow afterwards, though, all things being equal. )

And I'll get to work on a list for you. Is there somewhere I can bring it? I can manage a short encryption on the network but the server storage system is still a little... ( a beat, and skye winces. ) Alien to me, I guess.

[mannerism]

Good God, if it's alien to you, I might never quite maneuver it.

[ She's tried to learn and even picked up on a skill or three as far as operating the device itself but what Skye is describing is several levels above her current one. ]

I'll send you an address. Rumor has it no one claimed my flat while I was gone.

[evite]

I'm sure you could manage it.

( there's a hint of reverence there that skye doesn't quite manage to swallow down, but it can't be helped. there's just ... well, there's no way to ignore the fact that peggy carter is basically a hero to every female agent of shield out there. for skye, someone who lacked basically any role models growing up, it had been a particularly desirable image to latch onto when suffering through endless sparring lessons or miserable factoid learning with ward. if peggy carter could found shield, skye could survive whatever test they wanted to throw at her. )

I could give you some pointers if you wanted. I'm mostly freelance, so just let me know when and I'll block out some time.