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As Steve slowly returned to consciousness, the faint sounds of a baseball game reached his ears, which was strange, because the last thing he remembered was…
His eyes popped open. The Valkyrie. He had been piloting the Valkyrie into the ice of the Arctic because he couldn’t see any other way to keep the bombs from reaching New York and killing countless people. He and Peggy had gone through countless ideas, all quickly discarded as unfeasible, until they were down to their only option of crashing the plane.
Peggy. At that Steve sat up, looking around, frantic. She’d been with him, on the plane, by his side, holding on to each other as tight as they could as the ice rushed up to meet them. And then he saw her, on the cot next to him, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t know how they had survived the crash, how anyone had even been able to find them, but as he took stock of his body, and took a quick glance at Peggy, neither of them seemed any worse for the wear.
“Peggy, wake up,” Steve said, as he gently shook her shoulder.
Steve could see Peggy’s eyelids begin to flutter, and her breathing change, as she woke. Then her eyes opened and found his, and Steve knew, no matter what their circumstances were, that everything would be ok.
“Steve? Where…where are we?” Peggy asked as she slowly sat up.
“I don’t know Peg. The last thing I remember is the crash and then waking up here. But the game on the radio, something’s not right…”
Before Steve could finish his thought, the door opened, and a woman came through.
“Good morning. Or should I say afternoon?”
“Where are we?” Steve asked the woman, as he looked around the room more thoroughly.
“You’re in a recovery room in New York City,” she replied.
“Where are we really?” Peggy demanded.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“The game. It’s from May 1941. I know, ‘cause I was there,” Steve said.
“Your tie isn’t Army regulation, and whatever brassiere you’re wearing underneath that shirt isn’t one I’ve ever seen before,” Peggy stated.
“Now, we’re going to ask you again. Where are we?”
Before the woman could answer Steve’s question, two men were suddenly coming in the door. Steve looked over to Peggy, who gave a slight nod, each grabbing one of the men and throwing them through the wall.
As soon as they were out in the hallway, Steve grabbed Peggy’s hand and took off running, not stopping until they were outside, surrounded by unfamiliar sights and cars.
“At ease, soldiers.” They turned to find the source of the voice, and were met by a man wearing an eye patch.
“Look, I’m sorry about that little show back there, but we thought it best to break it to you slowly.”
“Break what?” Peggy asked.
“You’ve been asleep, both of you, for almost 70 years.”
Steve met Peggy’s eyes, and Peggy squeezed his hand in reassurance.
“You both gonna be ok?”
“Yeah, we just…we had a date.”
It didn’t take much more convincing to allow Director Fury, that’s what he told them his name was, to lead them into one of the apparently future cars, and take them to a different facility in New York City. On the way, he gave them a brief summary of the last 70 years, and how they were found.
The allies had won the war, with Germany surrendering about a month after they had gone down with the Valkyrie, with Japan surrendering a few months later after the dropping of two Atomic bombs.
Howard Stark had never given up the search for the wreckage, but unfortunately because they’d never given Morita their last coordinates as the plane went down, he’d had a large area to search. The SSR became S.H.I.E.L.D., run by Howard and Colonel Phillips, and even after both of their deaths, teams went out to the Arctic every year to search.
Finally, their wreckage had been found after nearly 70 years, with the two of them frozen inside, wrapped around each other. Steve couldn’t help the blush the bloomed across his cheeks as he glanced down at his and Peggy’s intertwined hands. They hadn’t let go of each other since they’d first began their escape from the fake recovery room.
It was a huge surprise to the wreckage recovery team, when they began the transport of what they thought were their bodies, to discovery they were both still alive. S.H.I.E.L.D. called in their best doctors to supervise the defrosting process, and they had then been placed in the fake recovery room together.
“I’ve taken the liberty of having a couple of rooms set up for you. Stark kept your belongings in storage, you’ll find them untouched in your rooms. Agent Coulson here will show you how to operate the electronics in your room. If you need anything, just pick up the phones in the rooms, and someone will answer. I’ll leave you to it.”
Agent Coulson showed them into their rooms and gave them a quick instruction on how to use the television and radios. Steve could tell he had something he wanted to say to them, but instead, he excused himself, leaving Steve and Peggy alone in Steve’s room.
Steve sat down heavily on the bed.
“Seventy years. Can it really be possible?”
Peggy sat down next to him on the bed.
“It is hard to wrap my mind around, but with everything we’ve seen today, I don’t see how we can believe otherwise. At least we have each other.”
Carefully, Steve took Peggy’s hand in his again.
“There’s no one I would rather have been frozen for seventy years with.”
Peggy took her free hand and gently moved Steve’s hair off of his forehead, before leaning in to gently kiss him.
“Me either, Steve. Well, I suppose I should go to my room and make sure Stark didn’t make an utter mess of my belongings. I’ll see you in the morning?”
“Yeah, of course you will. I guess I should take a look through my stuff too, make sure it’s all there.”
After Peggy left, Steve went over to his footlocker, checking through his meager possessions. His sketchbook and drawing materials were all there, his mother’s necklace, some books, and there, under a few sets of clothing, was the velvet box he’d carefully kept hidden. He’d hoped that after the war was over, that maybe…well, now definitely wasn’t the time.
He hid the box back in his footlocker. Now may not be the time, but they did still have a date to keep, even if they were a little late.
Steve had tried to sleep, but when that didn’t work, he worked on trying to turn the television on. After fumbling with the remote for a few minutes, he finally got it on and was in awe at the number of channels. As he was making his way through them, he heard a soft knock at the door.
On the other side was Peggy, looking like she hadn’t been tossing and turning. He stepped aside from the door, and she immediately came inside.
“Couldn’t sleep either, huh?”
“We did sleep for seventy years, so I don’t know why I’m surprised that sleep wouldn’t come. You figured out how to turn the television on, I see.”
Steve rubbed his hand across the back of his neck.
“Uh, yeah, I did. Did you, umm…did you want to come watch with me? The number of channels is kind of mind blowing.”
“Yes, if you wouldn’t mind, I would.”
They settled on the bed next to each other, Steve’s arm slowly slipping over Peggy’s shoulders, and Peggy curling into his side. Quite without meaning to, they both fell asleep.
S.H.I.E.L.D immediately set them up on a training program, to get them back into top form, because while the war may have been won, the battle was never over. Peggy found not only a great sparring partner in Natasha, but also a great teacher of different fighting techniques. Steve’s shield had also been rescued from the wreckage, and even with all the advances in modern warfare technology, it was still his weapon of choice.
If Steve thought they had been great partners together during the war, it didn’t hold a candle to how well they worked together now. While it was difficult knowing that everyone they had known was gone, they still had each other, and Steve fell a little more in love with Peggy every day. The only nights they spent apart from each other was on the rare occasion they were sent on separate missions, and Steve couldn’t imagine his life without her.
“So, you gonna ask her soon, or what?”
Steve startled at the question and looked over to see Natasha take a seat next to him in the briefing room.
“Ask who what?”
“Don’t play dumb with me Rogers. Ask Peggy to marry you. You’ve been staring at her like a love sick puppy the entire time she’s been over there talking to Hill. It’s obvious to anyone with eyes you two are over the moon for each other. What are you waiting for?”
“It’s just…” Steve started. “We’ve been through a lot. I love her, she loves me, we never spend a night apart if we can help it, but I don’t want to rush us into anything she isn’t ready for.”
Natasha was quiet for a few seconds before she started to speak again.
“I’ve seen a lot of people and relationships in my time, and I have never seen two people more in love or perfect for each other. You don’t need to worry about Peggy not being ready. Besides, the two of you are practically dinosaurs, if you wait any longer, you might actually turn into fossils. I hear the Smithsonian is looking for a new ancient history exhibit, you might be a perfect fit.”
The grin on Natasha’s face was enough to pull a laugh out of Steve.
“Thanks, Natasha.”
“Any time old man.”
Steve had always loved Christmas as a kid, but more often than not, he had been confined to bed with one illness or another. Which was why for his first real Christmas after the serum, because the ones during the war were celebrated in tents on missions, he insisted Peggy go with him to find a Christmas tree.
They had just moved into a small brownstone in Brooklyn, and while they didn’t have much to move in with, Steve had come home with bags full of what he deemed “necessary decorations.” Peggy insisted it looked like Santa and his elves had vomited all over everything, but she had to admit his excitement was contagious, and she was looking forward to finding a tree to place in their new home.
They ended up at a local tree lot, where Peggy was sure Steve had inspected every tree until he found what he said was the perfect one. She wasn’t quite sure what made this particular one better than all the others, but the smile on Steve’s face made the long time in the cold worth it. It was also worth it to see the look on the lot attendant’s face when Steve hefted the tree on to his shoulder and started the walk down the street to their home, like it weighed no more than a small twig.
It had been fun decorating the tree and fireplace; Steve had put some holiday music on and hummed along while the hung the ornaments and stockings. And it did look lovely now that they were done, sitting on their couch in front of the fire, Steve’s arm around her shoulders.
Steve reached over to the stereo to change the song, and the sounds of Bing Crosby filled the air. Suddenly he stood, reaching his hand out to pull her up.
“I know I’m a little late, but may I have this dance?”
“Better late than never,” Peggy said with a grin on her face.
Steve pulled her in close and they swayed together in front of the fire.
You're all I want for Christmas
All I want my whole life through
Each day is just like Christmas
Anytime that I'm with you
“I know things didn’t turn out the way we had imagined during the war, but you’re happy right? With me, and our life together?”
Peggy pulled back from Steve’s chest to look at his face. He looked decidedly nervous.
“Of course I am, Steve. What’s brought this on? Are you not happy?”
Peggy didn’t think she’d ever seen someone look like they were about to have a heart attack, but Steve’s face certainly is what she imagined it would look like.
“What?! I’m happy, I’ve never been so happy. I’m doing this all wrong and I’m ruining it.”
“You’re not ruining anything Steve, and what are you doing all wrong?”
Steve pulled away from her, straightened his shoulders, and promptly dropped to one knee.
“I love you, Peggy Carter, and can’t imagine my life without you. It would be a real honor if you would agree to marry me.”
Peggy felt her mouth gaping open, like a bloody fish, but she seemed incapable of doing anything else as Steve pulled a ring out of his pocket. She must have stood there like that longer than she thought, because Steve was starting to squirm a bit on the floor.
“Peggy?”
His words finally snapped her out of her trance and she felt a smile begin to spread across her face.
“Yes, my darling, of course I’ll marry you.”
Steve took her left hand and slipped the ring onto her finger, before she pulled him up off the floor and into a kiss. When they broke apart, she looked into Steve’s face, and she was sure the happiness there was reflected on her own face. A glint caught her eye, and she finally glanced down at her hand.
“Oh, Steve, it’s beautiful. Wherever did you find it?”
“In London, during the war. I happened across a small jeweler’s shop one day on leave and as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to get it for you.”
At that, she had to pull him down for another kiss.
“I don’t want to wait to get married. Let’s do it tomorrow, if we can. I think we’ve waited long enough already, don’t you?”
“Yeah, Peg, we have definitely waited long enough.”
You're all I want for Christmas
And if all my dreams come true
Then I'll awake on Christmas mornin'
And find my stocking filled with you