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

[howdoyoufeel]

"Yes, we've all been pretty busy lately."

She's not upset. In fact, she's quite happy to be a part of this world and to be working out in the field. It was a rare chance and she was always one to seize those bulls by the horns.

"Let's make it a date, then? A promise that when we have the time."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"A promise," Steve agrees.

He looks around them for a moment. No one seems to be listening to them -- still, he leans forward and says in a low voice, "Can I confide something to you?"

[howdoyoufeel]

Peggy breathed out for a moment and then answered simply,

"Of course, Steve. I would think we've been through enough that that would no longer be a question."

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve smiles to himself. Quietly, "There's a lot about me that I don't tell anyone but Bucky.

"I'm...actually dating someone."

[howdoyoufeel]

There's a moment where Peggy takes a moment to process this. It wasn't as if she ever saw Steve with any other women. She's quick to push it back inside though and she brightens. They had been through too much together and Steve was probably the only person who although he got flustered, respected her skills in and out of the field.

"Oh now?"

She forces a hesitant smile.

"Who is she?"

She's cautious. More than likely very naive sounding.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"A musician," Steve says. "Greek.

"And a he."

[howdoyoufeel]

Right, Peggy. It take her a moment to process just what she was being told. At first, a wave of sadness. She does have a crush on Steve ever since that car ride just before he became the man he is now. That indomitable spirit was something Peggy knew all too well. Then a wash of confusion and then comes the realization that above all else, the man she cared for /trusts/ her enough to even tell her this. She smiles. It's not forced. Although the moment may seem a bit awkward as she isn't quite sure what to say, she is genuinely happy.

[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."