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“You really should go to bed,” Sousa told Peggy as he finally headed out of the lab. While it was late, Peggy bristled at his tone. “I’ll go to bed when I’m sure there’s nothing more that warrants my being awake,” She said, tone brisk. Jarvis had headed to bed hours before, and Peggy knew that there was nothing more to be done tonight. But her nerves were strung tight after listening to Chadwick scream at his wife on the radio, followed by eerie silence.
“You think she’s coming after you next,” Jason said softly, once the door had swung shut on Sousa. “That’s why you won’t sleep. But I won’t let that happen, Peggy. And the alarms Jarvis set are infallible.”
“I don’t think Jarvis’ disembodied voice could do much to stop whatever it is that Whitney is capable of,” Peggy replied, pacing the floor of the lab. “But in any case, that’s not why I don’t want to go to bed. I’m sure there’s more we can do here. Some angle you haven’t thought of.”
“Really?” Jason asked with an amused grin. “You want to be Howard’s stand in and help me figure this out?”
“I’m not a scientist,” Peggy admitted, crossing over to the chalkboard. “But there must be something I can do. There must be something—”
“Peggy,” Jason interrupted softly, coming up beside her. “There’s nothing more we can do tonight. Will you please go to bed? Because I can’t sleep, and I’m certainly jealous that you have the option.” That made Peggy pause, and she looked up at him.
“You really won’t try?” She asked, heart aching with how much she wanted to help him. The fact that she couldn’t even squeeze his arm in reassurance almost made her want to cry. That was a sign of sleep deprivation, surely.
“There’s no use to it,” Jason said with a shrug. “Closing my eyes just makes the pull stronger. I don’t want to… I don’t want to fade away.”
“I don’t want you to fade away either,” Peggy admitted in a soft voice. She turned away, trying to mask the emotion in her face. “The reason I can’t sleep… It’s not just because I know Whitney’s after me. It’s because every time you leave my sight I wonder if I’ll ever see you again.”
She heard Jason intake a sharp breath, before he said, “Then I won’t leave your sight. This might be uncouth to suggest, b-b-but, well, it’s not as if anything improper could happen in my current state.” Her eyes flicked over to his, and she noticed the stutter that was the telltale sign of his becoming flustered. It was just as endearing now as it had been the first time she met him.
“Dr. Wilkes,” Peggy smirked with a lift of her brow, “Are you suggesting that you would like to retire to my quarters together?”
“I wish I meant it like that,” Jason said, eyes burning into hers as earnestly as they ever had. “But really, I meant… Would it ease your mind if I stayed with you until you fell asleep?” The idea was ludicrous, and Peggy shouldn’t have even given it another thought. And yet, when Jason looked at her like that it was very hard to remember why she was supposed to be saying no.
“That would be agreeable,” She said in a clipped tone. “I require fifteen minutes to get settled, and then you may enter my room.” With that she turned on her heel, heading up to her room. She tried to stay calm and collected, but as she changed into her nightclothes she was more than aware of the way her heart was pounding. Part of her wanted to choose something racy, as this would be the first time Jason saw her so indisposed. But that seemed like more harm than good, considering that neither of them would be able to do anything about the tension they felt. She settled on a pale blue set of pajamas, which were tight enough to show off her figure without being obscene. Her hair was set into curlers—she wasn’t too shy to let him see her in a scarf—and after her toiletries were finished she settled into bed.
“Peggy?” He called out softly from the hall. “I would knock, but…”
“Come in,” She said, reaching out to turn on the bedside lamp. “But let’s get one thing clear, Howard is never to know about this.” Lord knew he’d find a way to twist it into something dirty.
“I wouldn’t dare,” Jason said, his smile visible in the soft lighting. “And Jarvis and Ana are in bed, so our secret’s safe.” He came into the room, glancing around to get his bearings. “Um. Where do you want me?”
“Can you sit?” Peggy asked, sitting up in bed. She hadn’t thought about it before, but she realized she hadn’t seen him do it yet. And if he could go through walls, he’d certainly go through a chair, wouldn’t he?
“I can,” Jason said, standing at the foot of her bed. “And I can lie down as well. It’s something I’m still trying to understand. It’s not that only some objects are permeable, because—”
“Leave the science for the morning,” Peggy insisted, patting the other side of the bed. “Like you said, nothing untoward can happen. You might as well lie down.” She couldn’t resist asking, not when she wanted so desperately to be close to him. If this was all she could have, she was sure as hell going to take it.
“When I pictured our first time in bed together, this wasn’t quite what I’d imagined,” Jason laughed as he settled down on top of the blankets next to her.
“And how often do you picture us in bed together?” Peggy asked with a quirk of her eyebrow.
“A perfectly reasonable amount?” Jason tried, and even in the dim lamplight she could see that he was blushing.
“I can’t blame you,” Peggy said, rolling over on her side to look at him. She’d tried so hard to deny how she felt for him, citing the distance necessary during an investigation. But in the early hours of the morning, it was rather hard to remember that. “It’s a shame our first date ended up with you becoming incorporeal. I’d quite enjoyed that kiss.”
Jason rolled over on his side so that they were facing, only inches apart. “That kiss,” He sighed, and Peggy swore she could feel his breath stroke her lips. “I really hope that wasn’t our last kiss.”
“That thought alone should give you motivation to figure this out,” Peggy said, before rolling over onto her back again. “I can promise you that kissing you will be the first thought on my mind when you again become tangible, regardless of our audience.”
This time she heard rather than felt his intake of breath. “I’ll be taking you up on that,” He said in a low voice, not sounding as unaffected as his cavalier words demonstrated. “But for now, you really should go to sleep. I promise I’ll wake you if anything happens.”
“Alright,” Peggy agreed with a yawn. As soon as she forced herself to close her eyes, she could feel her fatigue catching up to her. “But we’re not done with this conversation.”
“Of course not,” Jason replied, and even as she drifted off she could hear the fond smile in his voice. “Sleep well, Peggy.”