PeggyNat Fic: Come away, O human child (chapter 1/4)
I am participating in the AU Roulette Challenge over at @au-roulette again this year! This year, instead of writing three separate AUs, I wrote one AU combining all three of my prompts.
All four chapters of this fic are written and edited, but the later ones still need a bit more polishing. So, I'm going to post the first chapter today, and the rest once a week (on Tuesdays) over the next few weeks.
The three prompts I combined for this story are Dystopia, Paranormal Investigators, and Urban Fantasy.
Title:Â Come away, O Human child
Pairing: Peggy Carter/Natasha Romanoff
Summary: As humanity, about to lose a decade-long war with the Fae, teeters on the brink of potential extinction, Peggy, Jarvis, and Dugan are stuck hunting ghosts in an eleventh-hour Hail Mary play that really doesn't seem like it's going to work. Natasha, a fairy (and double agent) is working on a last-ditch manoeuvre of her own. And Peggy and Natasha are - well, it's - complicated.
âWell, I certainly hope itâs a ghost this time,â said Jarvis. âWeâre running out of - oooh!â He, Peggy, and Dugan watched in silence as the floor and ceiling bobbed wildly on the recording for a few hard-to-follow moments, before the person filming zoomed in on the supposed ghost again, this time from considerably further away.
A familiar flash of red hair in the background caught Peggy's eye, and she paused the recording, leaning in to get a closer look. It was, indeed, Natasha. She let out a breath.
âWhat?â Dugan asked. âYou think this one's actually real?â
âHang on a second.â Peggy rewound the recording and watched again. Well, all right, then. She cleared her throat. âFirst, I need you both to promise this doesnât leave the room, for the time being at least.â Jarvis and Dugan both nodded. âSo, the interesting thing in this recording,â she told them, slowly, âis not, in fact, a ghost. Itâs a fairy.â
Dugan swore. âShit, I really thought Starkâs defenses might hold this time.â
âDonât panic,â Peggy told him. âThis particular fairy can be a bit of an ass sometimes, but sheâs not a threat.â
âAre you sure itâs not a ghost?â Jarvis asked, peering at the screen again. âFairies arenât generally transparent.â He eyed her. âAre they?â
Peggy sighed. âThe ghost is clearly a hoax, just like every other bloody ghost story weâve investigated in this ridiculous department. The fairy is off to the side, just there by the punch bowl, looking entirely unperturbed.â She gestured. âThe redhead.â
âReally?â asked Dugan, squinting at the recording. âShe looks pretty human to me. And, as far as I know fairies canât cast a glamour through a screen.â
âNot to my knowledge,â Peggy agreed. âBut regardless, believe me. She looks human, but she isnât. She has wings. The dress is quite cleverly chosen.â
Jarvis regarded her with interest. âYouâve encountered her before.âÂ
Dugan tilted his head. âWait. Are you blushing?â
Jarvis looked even more interested. After three years of fruitlessly hunting ghosts together as the world fell apart, Jarvis knew Peggy far too well. But she knew him quite well too. His determined matchmaking was well-meaning but best ignored, and now she could see him recalibrating, mentally increasing the pool of people he might attempt to push her towards, a pool that had been diminishing rapidly as the remainder of unaffected humanity got smaller and smaller.
Peggy sighed. âOh, for Godâs sake, Mr. Jarvis.â
Read the rest of the chapter on A03