OOM: Peggy Carter. London, England, 1944.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

The local pub has an influx of Howling Commandos tonight. Steve doesn't always accompany them--beer tastes better here than it does at home, but that's still not very good--but tonight he has, and is smiling as Jones and Dugan compete in a darts contest that is not getting sloppier no matter how much they drink.

He glances at the door sometimes, just in case every new patron is a familiar face.

Comments

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve smiles back, hesitant.

"I know it's not what people expect from me. I know people think a man like me is automatically not to be trusted.

"But it doesn't change anything about me, loving him."

[howdoyoufeel]

"And I'm sure it doesn't change what Dr. Erskine saw in you."

She knew that. Steve was Steve. No question about that.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"I hope not," Steve says quietly, but his shoulders relax a little.

"I haven't felt different since I met him. Just...more myself, I suppose. I understand things more than I did before."

[howdoyoufeel]

"Will you be bringing him to County Kerry then if we have our R&R then?"

She does want to meet this man. After all if he caught the eye of Captain Rogers then he must be someone special.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve shakes his head. "Technically he's...not in the country," is how he decides to explain it -- and since Orpheus mentioned this when he lived through the war in his own timelines, Steve adds, "He's involved with the French Resistance. I don't see him that often."

Also true, given the whims of the Milliways door.

"Maybe when the war's over I'll take him there."

[howdoyoufeel]

Peggy frowned for a moment. It can't be easy being apart from someone who understands you so well for so long.

"I'm sure he'd love that."

She smiles again and then takes another drink and thinks for a moment.

"Thank you for confiding in me, Steve. It does mean a lot."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

He smiles fondly. He does like her enormously--strong women are his weakness. A reaction like this just reinforces why.

"I should thank you. It's good to have someone to confide in."

He adds with a half-smile, "Bucky would like to ask you out sometime."

[howdoyoufeel]

Peggy steals a glance at the other men around,

"He has to be brave enough to ask to find out the answer."

She looks back to Steve.

"And.. You're welcome."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"I'll tell him to try his luck."

[howdoyoufeel]

"Why do I get the feeling that this might be more entertaining for you than you let on?"

A side look comes from her direction.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve looks shocked, shocked, that his best friend has any entertainment value!

"Bucky's a good guy," he says simply, with a sidelong glance right back. "I love him to pieces. He's my family.

"But it would probably be good for his ego to have a dame--sorry, a woman--not fall into his arms."

[howdoyoufeel]

Peggy laughs a bit at the look on Steve's face.

"Well I guess someone had to even out your humility between the two of you."

Referencing Bucky's ego.

"You don't think the total transformation of his best friend was sobering enough?"

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve toys with his glass.

"I've been trying to treat him as normally as possible. He'd just get mad if he thought I was babying him."

He has a drink. "I wanted him to go home. He wouldn't go."

[howdoyoufeel]

"From what I can see, you both feel strongly about why you're here in the first place. Not every soldier is here for the right reasons but both of you are very unusual in that respect. You're not just here because you want to kill Nazis. You're here because people need you, they need all of us here."

She motions to everyone around her.

"You both are. Do you think you would have been able to sit at home while he was over here putting his life on the line?"

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve smiles wryly. "The fact that I offered to be the first subject of a risky experimental drug should answer that question."

[howdoyoufeel]

Peggy knew that was going to be the answer. It was something that Steve had shown not only in his acceptance as the test subject for the Super Soldier serum but also with his rescue of other soldiers.

"Yes. Quite so and if you couldn't, how would you be able to expect him to go home at a time like this?"

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"He was a POW," Steve argues. "There's no disgrace in going home after something like that."

[howdoyoufeel]

"I'm not sure that the disgrace is the issue here. If I understand correctly, both of you have been there for one another time and time again. That's a bond that not even the harshest torture can break. I doubt that his staying here has just to do with being here to fight. It's that he is here by your side as he has always been."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"I know," Steve murmurs and has another drink.

"He's always had my back, always looked out for me. The only reason I didn't insist that he let the Army send him home was because I knew he wouldn't go. The lunkhead thinks I still need looking after."

[howdoyoufeel]

She places her hand comfortingly on Steve's shoulder.

"You should be happy to have a friend as loyal as that. I often times wish I had someone who had my back like that. Instead, I deal with the prejudices of being a woman in a man's world. There are times when I am perfectly fine with that and other times? I felt alone in the world. If only we all had friends like James or you, we would all be better off in this world."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve wraps his fingers around her hand. "You've got me," he says quietly.

"And I am happy. I'm worried, of course I am, but at least this way I can keep on eye on him, too."

[howdoyoufeel]

She nods and smiles as his hand grasps her's. She savors the moment.

"We've got each other. Through thick and thin. You won't get rid of me, or I'm sure James, as easily as you may think."

She laughs a bit but her thoughts liner on the group. They were all in an interesting predicament. Peggy was not only a woman in man's world but at this point, she was a human in a superhuman world. She's proven time and again that she could hold her own and she was a fighter. She was sure people wouldn't understand just the bond that this group of people had. She may not technically be one of the Commandos but she felt at home with this group. With Steve... And anyone who would try and tear that away from her was in for a nasty surprise. They were all fighting against something bigger than just the Nazis.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"I wouldn't even try," Steve says and squeezes her hand before letting it go.

[howdoyoufeel]

"Good. Right then."

She takes another drink.

"Everyone looks in good spirits tonight. Something must have happened to boost morale."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"We survived another day," Steve says. "That's a boost enough."