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It was not the picture Peggy ever thought she would make, but there she was: tanned, hair grown out, wearing shorts and one of Steve's button-up shirts, waiting for him on the porch of the bakery, three books in a neat stack in front of her as she drank a cup of tea and had a biscuit. Two and a half years on the island, and Peggy had thoroughly assimilated. When nothing magical or dangerous was happening, it took all she had to keep herself from dying of boredom.

And after her chat with Julie at the dance the night before, Peggy had begun to wonder just what she was doing on the island. It was a comfortable life, and she never forgot how lucky she was to have Steve, but the ITF and her defense class were barely enough to keep her occupied. Not the way her career had, and she missed it, at times. No, all the time.

Rather, she missed having a purpose. And with no purpose, Peggy simply had her own life to lead, but even that was proving to be a bit of a disappointment.

Thus, the books. She planned on taking a few classes once the term started up again as well, and...then what? All around her, people seemed to be content and living their lives, getting married and having children, but Peggy barely knew what she wanted anymore.

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Steve Rogers is a lucky man, and knows it. There have been rough patches, difficulties, genuine hardships. Losses that have staggered him, burdens he wasn't sure he could carry, but at the end of the day, he is, in his mind, the definition of fortunate. He tries to remind himself of this fact regularly. Sometimes he's given external reminders that chase all other thoughts from his head.

He stops for a moment on the path when he sees her and whatever momentary frustration had been plaguing him disappears. Peggy Carter is the definition of a knockout and he is, for the space of a heartbeat, breathless.

"Hello," he says when he's closer, smiling and leaning down to catch a hand on the steps and lower himself beside her. As ever, there's no rush, no schedule. It can be infuriatingly slow, the pace of things, but there are still moments that deserve to be properly relished.

He tucks her hair behind her ear and bows his head to kiss the warm skin just above her cheekbone and before her temple, and cups his hand to curve of her spine.

"You look especially thoughtful," he comments as he draws back, looking interested but not expectant. Peggy's eyes always have a keenness to them, her brain constantly in motion, but there's something borderline pensive in them now.

"Hello yourself." Always guaranteed to lift her spirits, Steve's presence pulled Peggy right out of her thoughts and back into the present.

"I was wondering if there wasn't anything else I could be doing right now," she admitted. "There isn't much call for my talents most of the time, and I don't know how to do anything else. Or what I want to do."

Before I had the army, I had art. It's at least been something I could put into practical use, here, and something I genuinely love. Peggy took to teaching women's self defense (which most days looks more like women's extremely effective offense) so well, but at the end of the day we both had a higher calling, and teaching small classes wasn't it.

"It can be a daunting question to consider," I murmur, sliding my hand up til my finger eclipse the collar of my shirt- which she looks fantastic in, as ever- to gently rub over the back of her neck. She knows I empathize, it goes without saying.

"What you want to do. But you're a smart, compassionate person, Peg, you're a great teacher- you know how to do plenty." I look over her profile, then duck my head to press my mouth briefly against her shoulder.

"Talk to me."

Peggy leaned in closer to Steve, distracted for a moment by his touch and his hair brushing against her cheek. If there was one thing she knew she was happy for, and wouldn't change for the world, it was him. As much as she missed being useful, having a career, she wouldn't be able to give up the island if it meant losing Steve all over again.

"I do love teaching. And I'm going to take some classes next term to see if I'd enjoy anything." She hesitated a moment, but continued because Steve was the only one she knew she could trust with her thoughts, ridiculous as she felt. "I'm turning twenty-nine in a few weeks and I haven't much to show for it. I am proud of what I've done, but I don't feel it means so much in peacetime."

"That's absurd," I say immediately, then realize that was a mistake and not at all what I meant to say.

"I'm sorry- the way you feel, that's not- That's entirely valid. But know that there is no amount of time that could pass that would make the things you've done any less important. Or valued." Peacetime is hard. Our lives in general haven't been... easy. Here, where we're not needed the same way, it does get thrown into sharper relief.

One arm fully around her now, I slide my hands under hers and turn them palms up so I can thread our fingers together.

"I know I never spent a lot of time considering life out of... after... combat." I tilt my head a little so I can watch her expression.

"What about you?" It's not that we've never discussed it- who we were out of uniform, off the field. But if it's bothering her, then maybe something's catching up to her she hadn't given much thought to previously.

Edited 2014-03-20 03:34 (UTC)

"I rarely did. It never occurred to me that I might want something else," she admitted, and it was most likely why she was floundering so much. All the girls she'd trained and lived with for years, they had families and husbands and lives outside of the military. Peggy simply wanted to be better, move higher, and show up any man who laughed in her face.

She looked at their hands together, and gave his a squeeze. "I do have you. You make every moment of the day worth it."

I would never want to seem ungrateful or undermine what she's saying- I couldn't be more deeply honored that it's true- but there's an instinctive doubt that being with me could be worth the entire career and life she had ahead of her back home.

Still, she isn't home. She's here, as am I, and if you're going to be trapped somewhere for years, you could have worse luck than to be trapped with someone who actually makes every day a gift.

"I'm so grateful," I murmur, resting my cheek against her hair, watching the places her slender fingers fit along mine, "for the chance to have fallen in love with you, Peggy."

Though it was the sort of thing Steve would say, Peggy still - even after all this time - wasn't used to the way his words made her feel. If she were any weaker, he would probably reduce her to a giggling, babbling mess on a regular basis.

"I love you. And if I'm to be stuck here forever, there's no one else I'd rather have by my side."

I shift enough- my arm around her and where I'm positioned on the step- to lean my head down and gently butt our mouths together. Her scent fills up my senses and I breathe her in for a moment before catching her lips in a brief kiss.

"Same," I say quietly, and can't help but smile.

Peggy smiled against his lips, and though she very much wanted to continue right there, she was still acutely aware that they were in public. She pulled back slightly and set a hand on Steve's cheek, her thumb brushing over his cheekbone.

"Would you like to help me pick a class or two?"