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crack_van2013-03-19 11:24 am
stars-inthe-sky.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2013-03-19 11:24 am
Entry tags:
"Protégé" by girl_wonder (G)
Fandom: The Avengers (movieverse)/James Bond (Skyfall)
Pairing: Gen
Length: 2012 words
Author on LJ: girl_wonder
Author Website: AO3
Why this must be read: I link you to a fic where Peggy Carter is Dench!M's predecessor, and you need a reason to read it?
But seriously, this is an excellent, memorable character study of three women who pave their own inimitable ways in a boys' club and kick a lot of ass (literal and otherwise) along the way.
The legend is that she came up from the secretary pool. The legend is that she was the first female agent in MI-6. The legend is that she was turned as an asset while having an affair with the Russian ambassador to the UK. The legend is that she was a Russian mole that got turned into a double agent for the crown.
Maybe none of that is true. Maybe she was a young girl recruited straight out of Oxford and maybe her recruiter was a woman who’d worked as an agent in the war and maybe she still dealt with the Boy’s Club only in high heels and wearing lipstick.
Maybe all of it is true. Maybe she was a secretary, a double agent, a mistress, a recruit. Maybe after nearly sixty years in the service, she’s realized that the legend is more important than the truth.
*****
“Report,” Carter said, her voice snapping. She was standing, even as M slumped in her chair, pressing fingers hard up into her eyeballs. The room smelled musty, and dry like cobwebs and worn wood.
“M-“ Carter started, nearly saying the full word, then stopped. “M. I need your report.”
“They killed him,” M said. She hadn’t heard her own name in months. The pseudonym was beginning to feel real. She wasn’t sure. Was she Anya? Was she the M that Carter referenced in all of the reports sent back to headquarters?
“You knew they would,” Carter said, shortly. M looked up. Carter still had on her perfect red lipstick, but the cold made her look her age. She wore a heavy jacket that only emphasized how thin she was, the white in her hair. Had she looked that old five years ago when she picked M out of the line of new recruits?
“Yes, I did,” M said.
“Well,” Carter said. “Let’s get to work.”
Protégé
Pairing: Gen
Length: 2012 words
Author on LJ: girl_wonder
Author Website: AO3
Why this must be read: I link you to a fic where Peggy Carter is Dench!M's predecessor, and you need a reason to read it?
But seriously, this is an excellent, memorable character study of three women who pave their own inimitable ways in a boys' club and kick a lot of ass (literal and otherwise) along the way.
The legend is that she came up from the secretary pool. The legend is that she was the first female agent in MI-6. The legend is that she was turned as an asset while having an affair with the Russian ambassador to the UK. The legend is that she was a Russian mole that got turned into a double agent for the crown.
Maybe none of that is true. Maybe she was a young girl recruited straight out of Oxford and maybe her recruiter was a woman who’d worked as an agent in the war and maybe she still dealt with the Boy’s Club only in high heels and wearing lipstick.
Maybe all of it is true. Maybe she was a secretary, a double agent, a mistress, a recruit. Maybe after nearly sixty years in the service, she’s realized that the legend is more important than the truth.
*****
“Report,” Carter said, her voice snapping. She was standing, even as M slumped in her chair, pressing fingers hard up into her eyeballs. The room smelled musty, and dry like cobwebs and worn wood.
“M-“ Carter started, nearly saying the full word, then stopped. “M. I need your report.”
“They killed him,” M said. She hadn’t heard her own name in months. The pseudonym was beginning to feel real. She wasn’t sure. Was she Anya? Was she the M that Carter referenced in all of the reports sent back to headquarters?
“You knew they would,” Carter said, shortly. M looked up. Carter still had on her perfect red lipstick, but the cold made her look her age. She wore a heavy jacket that only emphasized how thin she was, the white in her hair. Had she looked that old five years ago when she picked M out of the line of new recruits?
“Yes, I did,” M said.
“Well,” Carter said. “Let’s get to work.”
Protégé
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