Chapter Text
If you follow me on tumblr, this is the fic I had in mind when I originally posted that brief excerpt a while ago here.
*
Week 1 – The Broken Window
*
It takes Peggy an embarrassingly long time to realize that the cute guy with the equally adorable dog she’s been crossing paths with at the park with increasing frequency in the four months since she moved to her new house, is Brooklyn’s golden boy.
She had literally thought nothing of it, not putting two and two together that the guy she was finding a pleasant aesthetic perk to her new neighborhood, was simultaneously the source of her absolute annoyance with every local business in the neighborhood’s need to paste photos of some boneheaded celebrity baseball player absolutely everywhere so she couldn’t avoid it.
It took getting the shit scared out of her when she literally walked into a life-size cardboard cut-out of him advertising some sort of cereal at the grocery store that it suddenly clicked. Once her heart stopped racing that is.
Cute guy with dog was not just a cute guy with a cute dog. He was the boneheaded superstar hometown hero she couldn’t seem to avoid.
He was featured in ads, on photos from local charity promotional flyers, a mural behind the hardware store, and even on her goddamn phone displaying another headline for an article pontificating on his recent retirement.
Her mostly mild irritation became full-blown disdain.
His ever-present face in the borough started to actively bother her, outweighing the objectively attractive physique, the kind smile he always gave her as they passed ways, and the laughter she heard watching from afar as he played with his dog in the park.
She rolls her eyes. He can’t possibly be anywhere nearly as nice as everyone was making him out to be. She knows these celebrity types. The put on good public personas, but never lived up to any of the expectations in real life. He was probably just like all the rest, a typical jock bro, cocky in knowing he was handsome, and got away with anything just because he was good at hitting balls. And of course he was paid enormous amounts of money to do that while the everyday heroes of the neighborhood struggled.
It’s no wonder their first official meeting came with a literal bang.
There’s a crack.
And a shower of glass.
It startles her so much that her steaming tea threatens to slosh over the rim of the mug and burn her fingertips.
Then a baseball lands with a loud smack against her hardwood floors. Winston lifts his head, looks at her briefly with a tilt of his head before he runs off to chase after the rolling ball.
Peggy stands staring, dumbfounded at the broken window, a faint sound of screeches coming from outside. After a few moments, she finally comes to her senses and outrage pours out of her as she starts to stomp towards her front door to chase down the culprit. The second she pulls her front door open, her doorbell sounds simultaneously, and there he is standing in front of her, Mr. Hometown Hero himself.
Steve Rogers stands with a sheepish expression. Of course its him. Recently retired Dodgers’ shortstop, the hometown rookie of the year that led the Mets to the World Series during his second season in the major leagues, the attractive dog walker she’d been running into at the park directly across the street from her house. Of course it’s him with the balls.
“Oh,” is the first thing he says, his eyes widening a bit. “Hi again.”
He fiddles with his stupid backwards cap and she wants to rip it off his head.
“Hi again? That’s all you have to say to me after hurling a baseball through my window?!”
Winston decides this is the time to come bounding in with the stupid baseball in question. He drops it at their feet, more interested at sniffing at Steve’s feet. He bounds up, front paws on Steve’s legs who immediately drops down to scratch at his ears.
“Winston no! Down!”
Winston withdraws, albeit reluctantly, looking back at her with that head tilt of confusion. She refuses to let her dog fraternize with this jerk of a jock. Peggy crosses her arms and frowns, not impressed with her dog’s positive impression of the guy.
“No ma’am,” he says, his voice sheepish. “I’m so sorry. But it was an accident. You see,” he points his thumb towards the park across the way, a clutter of young girls crowded together watching, “the girls I coach, they uh, may have gotten a little overenthusiastic. I swear it was a freak accident. This is the first time Elsa’s even hit the ball.” He laughs a little at that, shaking his head as he does. “I’m kind of impressed. And terrified. She’s seven and practically hitting homers. So that’s kind of a blow to my ego.”
Peggy finds herself smiling. He looks proud and in awe. It’s cute. His stupid smile is cute. Not that she finds that to be new information. Not when she recalls the countless smiles he’s shared when he gave her a friendly greeting anytime their paths crossed in the park.
Steve clears his throat and suddenly stands straighter. “On behalf of my team I take full responsibility. I should have been paying more attention to notice what direction the girls were practicing their hits. And I will of course pay for the damages. Just,” he fiddles with his cap again, sliding it off his head, “please don’t be mad at my girls. They’ve been learning so much and I’m afraid they’re going to lose all the confidence they’ve been gaining if you yell at them.”
Her face softens. As does her heart.
“No, of course. It was an accident.”
“Really?”
“Yes of course.”
His smile returns, wide and true, and she hates the damn butterflies the sight of it causes.
“Of course that doesn’t mean they will not be apologizing,” he assures. “But I’d like to be the one to clean it up. I don’t want any of them to get cut on glass.”
“Oh that’s quite alright. I can clean it up.”
“I insist. I’d like my girls to learn the importance of cleaning up messes, as accidental as they may be.”
“Oh. Well um… Yes that’s quite alright then.”
“Oh! I didn’t introduce myself.” He holds out his hand. “Steve Rogers.”
She bites her lip and stops herself from rolling her eyes and telling him that she knew. That of course she knew who he was. Literally everyone in the neighborhood knew. Everyone in the state of New York. Even if it had admittedly taken her several months to identify him.
“Peggy Carter.”
And before she knows it, she’s ushering Steve Rogers into her home and handing him her dustpan and broom at his request. He takes his phone out and starts taking photos.
“My buddy’s cousin does windows. I’ll ask him for a quote and get him to get this fixed ASAP I promise. Can I have your phone number so he can call you? Whatever you ask for, I’ll settle the charge.”
But she’s no longer interested in her broken window. She has other pressing questions.
“You’re coaching little league softball?”
“Baseball,” he corrects. “The Pee Wee summer league is technically baseball, and the girls chose baseball over softball so they can actually play in the league games. There are three other boys teams, but no other softball teams. Which obviously seems ridiculously unfair.”
Her heart might as well have melted into a pool at her feet.
“Oh. That’s,” she swallows down the unexpected flutters she feels, “very generous of you.”
He smiles.
“They’re having fun. That’s all I want for them.”
Steve then asks if she has plastic and tape, using both to make sure the gaping hole in her window is covered.
“I’m very sorry again Peggy, for the damage,” he says once he’s done. “I’ll make sure to check in to make sure that your window is taken care of.”
He shakes her hand again and then reaches down to Winston, who had returned to curiously sniffing his legs, to pat at his backside. She watches him walk back across the street to the crowd of little girls.
“What the bloody hell just happened Winnie?” she asks her dog. He lifts his head up at her with a big, tongue-lolling grin.
*
She’s sitting in the same the same spot at her little home office space as she had been the morning her window had been broken when her doorbells rings two days later. Winnie looks up at her in concern. Peggy opens it to find a dozen or so little girls in mismatched baseball hats accompanied by their coach and his dog.
“Good morning Ms. Carter,” the little voice chorus.
Peggy glances at Steve in the back and he gives a smile and nod.
“We wanted to say that we’re sorry,” one of the girls in front says. She has a thick long braid, a big toothy smile, and a glitter unicorn adorning her shirt.
“Really sorry!” a girl with red hair pipes in.
“Like so, so sorry,” what looks to be her twin adds.
“I didn’t mean to break your window!” squeaks out the shortest girl. She ducks her head then turns back to look at Steve who gives her an encouraging smile.
“And I wasn’t supposed to pitch Elsa the ball facing towards the street,” another explains, her expression serious. Peggy notices she seems to be one of the only ones seriously dressed for baseball practice.
“So we wanted to apologize.”
“And we brought you donuts!” squeaks another voice from the back.
“And?” Steve prompts.
“Oh! And we thought that maybe you would want to come watch us practice.”
“And can you bring your dog?!” one of the red-headed twins asks in an excited shout.
“Please please please bring your dog!” pleads the girl with the unicorn shirt.
The girls break out into excited shrieks and giggles of agreement.
“Ladies,” Steve warns gently.
“Please? We’re real sorry.”
Winston is already poking his head against her thigh and it’s not like she could really say no to the crowd of cute apologetic faces, all of the cute faces in fact, even the one with the proud grin belonging to their coach standing at the rear.
“Well girls, I sincerely appreciate the apology,” she starts. “Tell you what. I have one more work call I must make before taking a break. Then Winston and I can see what you girls are made of, especially since I think we’ll need help eating all of these donuts.”
They break out into excited giggles again, squealing as Winston pokes his head further out the doorway.
“Alright ladies, let’s leave Ms. Carter to her work,” Steve calls as the girls devolve into discussions of the addition of a second dog to their practice. “Time to get back to practice if we want to show her what we’ve got.”
“It’s Peggy,” she corrects him with a smile. “Winston and I can’t wait to join you.”
She watches at the window as they cross the street, like little ducklings flocking their backwards baseball hat wearing mother hen, holding hands and carefully looking both ways before crossing. She watches until they’re back at the baseball diamond. When she sits back down at her desk to dial into her conference call, she realizes she’s still smiling.
Winston barks in enthusiasm when she grabs his leash off the hook. She grabs the box of donuts and a pair of sunglasses before they head out towards the park.
When she approaches, the girls are deep into a set of warmups that Steve is directing. Her smile grows unconsciously. A host of little girls doing jumping jacks and a series of stretches with an MLB superstar is objectively adorable, she’d be wrong to deny that. She waits until they are finished to make her final approach. Steve’s dog breaks free of the huddle up and bounds towards Peggy and Winston. From the various times she’s bumped into Steve on walks, she knows that despite being a head taller than her poodle, he’s not an aggressive dog. Clearly, despite her reservation about Steve Rogers, she believes he wouldn’t let his dog roam leash free around small children if he wasn’t sure of his dog’s behavior.
More squealing sounds of the girls and little feet follow Steve’s dog.
“Ladies,” Steve calls gently and they turn stopping in their tracks, despite frequent look backs at where Winston and Steve’s dog are sniffing each other in greeting. “I know you’re excited about another dog but we have to let him to get to know us first. Right?”
“Yes Coach Steve!” They chorus though most are still bouncing on their heels.
She can’t help but grin. She hates how much she likes the fact that he’s teaching the girls boundaries and manners. That he’s showing them how to show respect, even to animals. Winston is already wagging his tail wildly, head tilting with curiosity at the potential group of new friends.
Peggy sets the box of donuts down on the bleachers before making her way to the girls, their hardly containable excitement palpable.
“Hi girls,” she says. “This is Winston. Winnie for short. He’s very friendly, but he’s never met this many new friends at one time so maybe we can try saying hi to him one at a time.”
“Like Winnie the Pooh?” one of the taller girls asks.
Peggy smiles. “Yes like Winnie the Pooh.”
One of the girls squeals so loud it sets off a chorus of giggles.
“He’s soooo cute!” the girl with the long, thick braid calls out. “I love him!”
“You haven’t even petted him yet Mindy!” one of the twins calls out.
“That doesn’t matter, Shannon! I just know.”
She meets Steve’s eye and he’s biting his lip holding in laughter. He helps them form a line as Mindy races to be the first one.
“Can I please please please please puh-lease pet Winnie?”
Peggy fights a snort. She swears Winston grins back at the girl.
“Sure you can. His most favorite spot is right by his tail. Hold out your hand and let him come to you. He loves being pet.”
Winston, as if completely understanding, gently nudges Mindy’s outstretched hand and then turns to let her pet his back. The girl giggles in delight as Winston’s tail thumps with excitement.
Steve high fives each in praise as they take their turn to pet Winston. The littlest of the lot, the one Peggy remembers being overly apologetic about the window earlier, comes forward apprehensively.
“Is your dog gonna be mad at me?” she squeaks, her glance on the ground.
“Of course not. Why would he be mad?”
“’Cause of the window I broke.”
“Elsa, you know it was an accident,” Steve chimes in calmly.
She looks up to him with big eyes but her frown doesn’t change.
“Elsa,” Peggy starts, squatting down to meet the girls eyes, “Winnie hardly realizes what happened. And besides, he doesn’t hold grudges. It was an accident. And I know he wouldn’t want you to be upset.” The girl nods slowly and then turns her eyes curiously to Winston. “Do you want to try to pet him.”
Elsa nods excitedly, though her hands are still gripping the hem of her shirt. Winston sits in front of her and tilts his head. Peggy shows the girl where to pet him until it encourages the girl to reach out herself.
She lets out a smile. “He’s so soft.” Elsa then looks over to grin up at her coach. “Even softer than Rodger,” she giggles.
“Hey!” Steve calls out in dramatic affront. “What are me and Rodger chopped liver now that you have a new cuter friend?”
Elsa only giggles, returning to petting Winston.
“Wait a minute, you named your dog Rodger Rogers?”
She watches Steve take off his cap and then replace it on his head albeit backwards before shoving his hands into his pockets.
“Um… I didn’t exactly name him that. It just stuck. Easy to remember. Though I guess potentially confusing since we’ll both answer to it.”
The dog in question has given up on the lack of attention and has taken to nudging at Peggy’s leg while Winston is still occupied with little hands.
It’s not the poor dog’s fault he was given a terrible name. And there’s no denying those puppy dog eyes or the massive smile. Peggy reaches down to pet him and gets a surprise big, wet kiss.
“Rodger! Down boy!” Steve calls and Rodger retreats with an even bigger grin. “Sorry about that. He’s excitable.”
She discretely wipes at her mouth. “He’s cute. Even if he has an atrocious name.” She stands and wipes her hands on her jeans. “Well with all the excitement I think it’s time for donuts!”
The girls cheer excitedly and the whole mess of them crowd the bleachers.
*
She’s carefully choosing her dinner veggies at her usual stand when she spots a familiar backwards baseball cap.
For some reason she turns abruptly, concentrating even harder on choosing the least bruised of cucumbers and tomatoes, before he notices her there. The older woman he was chatting up in the booth just a few down from the one she’s visiting lets out a clearly charmed laugh.
It’s only been a couple of days since she’d seen him, but he’s been on her mind nonstop. Perhaps that’s why she bristles the way she does when she spots him.
Not only is he supremely good with children, clearly all the locals love him too, as evidenced of how easily he’s charming everyone running and enjoying the farmer’s market. She hates it. She hates that he’s cute and it’s downright annoying that he’s the textbook quintessential definition of a hometown hero. Though she’s not quite convinced yet that it’s not just some elaborate show he’s putting on.
Still… She’s been finding herself drawn to him.
She had considered taking Winston for a late morning walk in the park the day after she visited practice, perhaps just happen to run across the team already practicing. But the diamond stayed empty and eventually she had to head downtown to her office. She was not disappointed. That had no factor on her annoyance with the charming hunk who was clearly unaware of her presence not fifty feet away.
Peggy decides not to head to the booth with the freshly baked pastries today. It would take her too close to him. She’d forgo the indulgence of dessert with her coffee.
“Hey! Hey Peggy.”
She had thought she’d been in the clear, but it would clearly be rude to pretend not to hear him. She bites her lip, rolls her eyes up to the sky and then finally turns to face him.
He’s jogged over to her, Rodger at his side, both grinning brightly. He’s carrying an overflowing reusable tote of produce under one arm that somehow only seems to endear him even further.
“Oh hello,” she says, hoping it sounds genuine, not like she’d already known he was there and ignored him. Damn his manners.
“I was kinda hoping to run into you.”
Her heart quickens traitorously.
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I wanted to check on your window.”
“Oh.” The broken window. Of course that’s why he wanted to see her. “Yes, it’s all been taken care of. Your friend was very professional and speedy with the repair. Thank you for taking care of that.”
He smiles. “Of course. It was my responsibility. I’m glad to hear that they were able to get it done as fast as I hoped. Are you sure it’s as you needed it?”
She nods, trying to reign Winston in who was now tangled up in Rodger’s leash as he tried to sniff at his pal.
“Yes, perfectly so, thank you.”
Steve easily untangles the dogs but leaves them to their sniffing.
“It’s a great farmer’s market, huh?” Peggy nods in response. “Were you still exploring or…?”
“Oh. Um. Well I thought about maybe purchasing a danish or two.”
“Oh! From Clare’s booth? She has all her summer flavors already! The strawberry-raspberry pastries are my favorite. You have to try one.”
And before she can protest, Winston and Rodger are following Steve along down the line of booths, to the far end.
Well, at least she’ll get her dessert.
She’s barely made her selections by the time Steve pulls out his wallet and paid the older woman, evidently Clare herself, for both their pastries.
“You two will have to let me know if those strawberry-raspberry squares are up to snuff. It’s a newer recipe so I expect feedback,” Clare says with a warm smile.
Steve makes a dramatic scoffing sound. “Oh come on Clare. They’re amazing! Melt in your mouth, perfect tart sweetness. I have never tried anything you’ve baked that wasn’t exceptional.”
The woman puts her hands on her hips, but the affection twinkle in her eye never fades.
“You know Steven, if you continue to butter me up so much, I’ll have nothing left for baking.”
Peggy joins into the laughter. She likes the feel of a community like this. She had craved something like it when she had decided on moving into the neighborhood.
Steve holds out one of the pastries. “Come on, you have to try one.”
There’s no point denying her stomach. He gestures them to a bench. While she pulls the pastry out of the paper bag, Steve rummages in his tote and pulls out a collapsible water bowl which he then fills and sets down for Winnie and Rodger.
“Oh my god,” she gasps, “this is delicious.”
“See? I could eat them for every meal honestly.” Steve grins proudly. “Hey, I wanted to say thanks for indulging my girls. I know they were worried they’d made an enemy. Elsa especially.”
“It was just an accident. I know that now. And like you said, we should probably just be impressed she made that big of a hit.”
He laughs. “Tiny but mighty. But I know they enjoyed your presence. And thanks for letting them meet your dog too. They could hardly talk about anything else all the rest of practice. Which was exactly what happened when they met Rodger.”
“Have you been coaching them for a while then?”
He shakes his head. “We just finished our second week. It’s a summer league. It’s part of the summer camp program the park district runs. The girls have practice three mornings a week. Then they get free lunch and some educational stuff at the center.”
“I would have thought you’ve been coaching them for longer. You’re very good with them.”
He smiles, but there’s something shy about it.
“Thank you. It’s definitely a learning process. Way more so for me than for the girls. But they’re great kids.” He adds some more water to the bowl. “You and Winston are always welcome, you know, to visit or hang out. I know the girls would love it.”
She’s pretty sure she would love it too.