Who: Peggy Carter and Svetlana Sergievskaya What: Business discussion Where: The Agency When: Monday February 23rd Rating: G Status: Complete | Partner thread
In the year Svetlana had been in the area, she had made sure to make connections with the different organisations she was a part of to broaden her network. So when she had gotten a request to meet up with someone about a training exercise (at least, that’s how it had sounded when she’d been told to meet up with a Peggy Carter) the Russian woman hadn’t been terribly shocked. She simply figured out where to go and made sure to be available at the time.
So here she was, a bit early but with tea in hand. In her bag she had some fact sheets. The fact that the Los Angeles area was ranked so high on the FBI’s list of trafficking locations was rather depressing, though not shocking. What was shocking was the fact that while the United States felt they had the moral authority to rank countries on a tiered system, they were the one country which relied on volunteer organisations as opposed to NGOs to raise awareness.
Politics. Go figure.
While the issue of Dreaming was the main driving force behind the Agency it didn’t mean that they had to be ignorant about other things going on in their community. Peggy was doing her best to attempt to branch out and help others in their community that needed things, but that also required learning more about different organizations and seeing what she could to pass the information along to her agents. She wasn’t expecting all of them to quickly join up in what she was doing, but even just one or two helping her was better than nothing.
She had made contact with some people and that lead to Svetlana coming to the Agency to discuss what she knew about the trafficking and maybe Peggy would be able to learn a thing or two. And she ultimately hoped that it would end with her being able to help with whatever organization Svetlana worked for.
The building for the Agency was like most government buildings Svetlana had been to. Which meant going to check in, and wait to be taken to see the woman she was meeting with. She personally had no experience with the dreams, or really heard anything about them. So to her, it was just like a first meeting with say the FBI or CIA. Once she was told she could head up to see the head of the Agency, Svetlana gave a small nod and let herself be led up to Peggy’s office.
The knock announced Svetlana’s arrival and the person who had led her up nodded and then left.
“Miss Carter? I’m Svetlana Krylova.”
As she had been in the country only a year, she knew that her accent would give her away. This country was known for it’s diversity and people being there from all over, so a name alone wouldn’t necessarily say that Svetlana was from Russia, just that she was Russian.
“Lovely to meet you, Miss Krylova,” Peggy answered happily as she got up to answer the door and held her hand out to shake the woman’s hand, “And you can certainly call me Peggy. I don’t like being too formal in situations like this. Especially if we’re going to work together.” Once the handshake was out of the way she made her way back behind her desk and gestured for Svetlana to take a seat across from her.
The fact that she was Russian didn’t pass by Peggy, but she didn’t have any reason to hold it against her or really think much about it. “It’s quite lovely to meet you. I’m excited to learn some more about what you do and hopefully set something up for training for the rest of my Agents. We’d like to be able to actively help with human trafficking and make sure that the rates that it’s happening at decline.”
Shaking Peggy’s hand, Svetlana gave a small smile.
“Svetlana, then.” If they were to be going the more informal route, might as well offer her name as well. It made sense. Depending on how much they were to work together, they would form some sort of working relationship where first names would be fine. Noting the seat, the Russian woman moved to it and sat down, pulling out some of her notes.
“I do hope we can work on that, given the proximity to Los Angeles and how that is third on the FBI’s list of hub cities. What I do is multifold. As I know was mentioned, I run training on what to look for, the web of the organisation and why it is so difficult to catch. That I think is more what you would need from me? I also work with different shelters and can give you different ones to reach out to as well. This country is more focused on volunteer organisations for the shelters, so there are less ..contracts.. I believe you could say on coordinating?”
Peggy listened intently as Svetlana began to detail the things that she did with the organization. It seemed so simple to be able to get information about this, but so complicated to actually go out and get things done. If they could easily eliminate the threat then the world would be a safer place, but they would be quickly out of a job. Sometimes it was a double edged sword and Peggy wished things in the world would just be happier.
“Yes, that is exactly what I would love information on. Being able to see the signs and assess is the first step. Finding out who and what are involved in these different organizations that are making this a problem is most likely the second step.I want to make sure we have all our bases covered and help out where we can. And the shelter information would be well received,” Peggy mused aloud, “I’m sure that we could work something out with them to do volunteering. And yeah, I can believe the less contracts part. Red tape can be a bit of a pain in the arse.”
“Even if you find the people, getting those who have been trafficked to testify can be difficult.” It was all part of the operation. The isolation, the fact that they were often seen as criminals themselves because their papers were confiscated. The fact that to remain in the country meant having to testify, and families being threatened back home. It was messy and complicated because no single person was in charge. Not to mention the rate of those who were re-victimised once they were back home.
“I know the issue of.. red tape.. well.” Strange phrase, but each country was different. However working in Russia and having to deal with the suspicion on any NGO that accepted outside help? She was relieved to at least be in a place where there was less suspicion in wanting to help people. “That would be best, though. To work out volunteering.”
“We’re certainly in no place to make people testify. I think we’re far more interested in getting them out of those situations and into somewhere safer. But I completely understand their nervousness about doing something like that. The social repercussions in their circle of family and friends can be quite daunting. I just wish that America was far more willing to allow those that have had their papers confiscated to stay,” it pained Peggy’s heart to think about those people being sent back home to a terrible situation.
“Yes, volunteering. And information on seeing the signs of something going on. We are more than capable of handling situations and getting people out if need be,” Peggy wasn’t going to appoint a whole task force towards this endeavor, but she could at least make sure when her Agents were out and about they could assess situations. People needed help and they were here to help people no matter if they were part of this strange dreaming community or not.
The rules America, and really most countries, had in regards to granting visas to those who were trafficked was disheartening. Looking at the numbers of visas available versus visas granted. There wasn’t much that could be done about that on an individual level. It was simply red tape.
“I have brochures with me, so that will be easy enough.” With that, Svetlana dug into her bag and brought out the brochures that would help Peggy and her agents. She hadn’t anticipated there to be any task forces or the like, she knew how complicated this all was. But even small gestures and raising awareness would help.
Peggy took the brochures from her with a smile and opened them up to browse through them, “Perfect. And would you be willing to do a large presentation? I don’t know how you feel about public speaking. But I know that would probably be a great way to reach a lot of people.” She knew that a lot of people would pick up the brochure, skim, and then forget about it weeks later. If she was willing to do a presentation then Peggy could ensure that more people came and paid attention.
“Of course I can. Just let me know when would be best and I can fit it into my schedule.” This was what she did, after all. There were others who could cover any appointments if necessary. But the whole point of leaving Russia was to try and spread more awareness. And hopefully in a place where people would actually care as opposed to doing the bare minimum.
“Perfect, let me bring up my schedule and I can figure something out. Thank you so much for being willing to do that, Svetlana,” Peggy flashed her a smile as she turned to her computer and started to look up a date that would work for a presentation. It felt good to bring something like this to her Agents and hopefully help some people out in their community.