11254/Checking on a Friend

Checking on a Friend
Date of Scene:	20 May 2022
Location:	Carter-Sousa Home - Long Island
Synopsis:	Steve comes by to check on Peggy, and finally eases most of her doubts about her reality. And dubs himself 'Uncle Steve' to the forthcoming baby!
Cast of Characters:	Peggy Carter, Steve Rogers

---

Peggy Carter has posed:
While everyone has firmly said Peggy can, and should, take more time off, she really didn't agree with that. It means she's been back in the office every day, going over every report she missed and trying to catch up on everything with SHIELD. But no one is letting her stay late. Therefore, even when she's been in the office, they are shooing her out right on time. Even if her husband is still on duty or in the field, she's told to go home. So, tonight, she went home.

It's a little too quiet. There are still guards outside, SHIELD isn't letting her be anywhere totally alone after being plucked out of her own home all those weeks ago. But, inside, she's still not really settled back into being comfortable in her own home. It's not worth cooking for just herself, so she's picking at the sandwich she grabbed on the way home. Not with any real interest. Feet up on her couch, other hand balancing a tablet on her belly, she's still reading SHIELD reports on HYDRA. Doing data analysis. It's the only way to keep her mind off things.

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve had avoided coming to see Peggy for a simple reason, if a somewhat silly one: he was afraid she wouldn't recognize him. It's a valid concern with all he's been through in his life, but less so once reports of Peggy's general well-being came through. Maybe if he'd been consciously aware of the problem he would've pushed it away and come by earlier, but as it is he didn't really go "oh huh that's why" until talking to Janet yesterday. Talking to Janet sorts a lot of things out.

    So he comes by the new place in Westchester, dressed casually in t-shirt and jeans and light jacket, gives the SHIELD guards a friendly hello, and knocks right on the door. If HYDRA has a Captain America double to come try to re-kidnap Peggy they're going to have to go to a lot of trouble to have copied him down to the DNA and everything, so he's not worried.

Peggy Carter has posed:
The knock at the door gets a slightly furrowed brow from Peggy. She wasn't supposed to be having company. She looks from her tablet, to the door, then back to the tablet before reaching for one of the tabs at the top of the screen. She swipes through to the security system and front door camera (sometimes, modern tech is really very nice.) That's when she sees Steve. "Oh! Coming!" She calls, a few moments longer than she'd wanted to leave him waiting, but getting off the couch isn't the easiest process right now.

She's still in her navy wrap dress from the day, high heels and stocking gone to let her swollen legs breathe a bit more comfortably, but otherwise she looks like she just stepped ot of the office. She's on the edge of beach ball round, far along enough that it feels like she's running out of room, and yet with two months to go. A quiet smile paints itself across her features as she pulls the door open. It even reaches her eyes, though they are a bit haunted. "Steve! I...I wish you'd called, I'd have some proper dinner ready or something. Come. Come in.'

Steve Rogers has posed:
    "That's kinda why I didn't call," Steve replies with a grin as Peggy opens the door. "I already ate, you don't need to go to all the trouble. You okay for a hug? Or should I just give you a firm handshake?" He pulls his hands out of his pockets, either way, and steps on inside so Peggy can get the door shut behind him.

    "You're looking good!" he notes enthusiastically, "But tired. And like you /just/ got home. Aren't you still supposed to be out on medical leave or something?" His tone isn't really admonishing; he knows all too well the siren song of feeling useful and keeping up with things.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Oh, don't be silly. I'm pregnant, not a cracked china doll. Give me a hug." Peggy reaches out and immediately pulls him into a tight, warm, rather strong hug. She didn't even really lose that much muscle mass under HYDRA's captivity again. Whatever they did to her, it didn't affect her body, thankfully. There's a lot more roundness to her now, but all of her is still firm and toned otherwise. She's the Peggy Carter he's always known, just with a bit of extra softness at the edges. And a beachball of a baby. But that's temporary.

She then pulls back and leads him into the somewhat old fashioned, but comfortable looking place. Unlike the Long Island house, this one isn't completely stuck in the 50s. It's just got hints and pieces of older decades everywhere. She smirks to him as she leads the way back into the living room, where jazz still quietly plays on the record in the background. It's her working music. "I'm looking like a beachball. And I was perfectly fine. What am I supposed to do? Just sit at home twiddling my thumbs? I like working."

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve gladly wraps Peggy in a return hug, just as firm, with a grin. "I wasn't afraid I'd break you or anything. Just didn't know if it'd be uncomfortable. I read asomething the other day about modern pregnant ladies not liking it when people just touch their bellies, which I guess makes sense. I think I'm glad I can't ever do that whole process, it sounds exhausting."

    He looks around the house as they walk through, smiling as he hears the jazz. "Hey, I get it, I'd be bored too. I didn't have all the details, just what was available... not 'publically' but generally from my clearance. And hey, 'you look like a beachball' can be looking good. I mean, you were gone for two weeks, so who knows what..." He frowns, trails off.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"What they did to me?" Peggy finishes his words quietly, never one to dance around the hard subjects. In fact, other than her feelings for him far, far back in the day, she'd never been anything but completely honest and open with the man. She motions him into the living room, "Sit... sit. Relax. Do you want a drink before I put myself back down? There's hot water on, but Daniel keeps coffee in the house, and even so beer, though I can't touch the stuff. But if you won't let me get you food, at least let me get you a drink?" Peggy asks, hands resting on her non existent waist as she watches him. She might just be stubborn about this matter.

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve's not about to tell Peggy not to be hospitable in her own house. He frowns for a moment, then says, "Think I might need a beer for this one. I don't mind waiting if you need tea, though." He sits down with a sigh.

    "I should've come by sooner," he admits, "but... well... I don't know what they did to you, and I'd been kinda... avoiding facing it. I wasn't going to forever, you know me, I was just kind of... collecting myself? Everything /just/ got nice and settled, you know? You and Daniel are good, me and Janet are good, Bucky seems happy and has a girl, the world's not ending for once. So of /course/ that's when HYDRA shows up." He shakes his head.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"Of course. Just sit. I'll be right back. And I have tea. When don't I have tea? Well, other than when a war is on. But there's not a war on now. I have tea." Sure enough, there is a half empty mug of tea sitting on the coffee table next to the tablet she was working on when he knocked at the door. She turns on the ball of her foot, stepping into the kitchen quickly. Her motions aren't quite a waddle yet, but there is a rolling gait to her step that isn't generally there saying she'll be at waddling in a few weeks.

A minute later, she's coming back out with a Super Bock beer, which is a good comment on exactly who is drinking beer in the house these days, because Peggy definitely never drank Portuguese beer in her life. She grabs the opener off the little bar in the dining area and pops the top off, handing it to Steve before she comes to settle across from him and listens, simply listens. Her frown deepens a bit more as he goes through the worries. "You do know the best way to handle not knowing things is to simply...Ask? You helped rescue me. I know that much. You were THERE. You were always welcome at my side. Hell... rescue or not, you're always welcome in my life, Steve."

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve grins as he takes the beer. "I know! And, see, as soon as I /realized/ that's what was wrong I came by to check on you. It's a good thing I talked to Janet or I would've been drawing some sad cartoon before I got around to figuring it out." It's self-deprecating; he's not /that/ bad about feelings. Not really.

    He takes a drink of the beer, nodding appreciatively, then says, "Alright, well... what /did/ they do to you? Janet didn't say, but I'm assuming it was something inevitably awful."

Peggy Carter has posed:
While Peggy seems over all her normal self, and in pretty darn good health for having been kidnapped by HYDRA for two weeks, there is something a bit heavire behind her eyes. A bit more haunted. She's doing fairly well at hiiding it, but it's still there. Steve probably knows her well enough to see it. She lowers herself down into the couch with a bit of a grunt, finally settling there and picking up her tea again, before she turns her eyes back to him.

"They..." She sighs, letting out a somewhat longer breath. She gives a long look to the room around them, something wary about it. Almost paranoid. "Do you remember the messy around that Framework program several of us got stuck in last year...?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve nods slowly. "Yeah. You were trapped in a computer, a shared dream of sorts. Living a different life. It took a bunch of work to get you out, but they did, finally." He swallows, glances away for a moment, then takes another swig of beer. Seeing Peggy in that pod, with all those wires and everything, and feeling so helpless to /do/ anything about it...

    He sighs. "They put you back in there again, huh?" He shakes his head, takes another drink.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"They...upgraded it some, finally. Not a pod, just a bed, of sorts. Refined the scenario. I think they're trying to use it as data mining technology. They kept putting me throgh scenarios where I 'escaped' their captivity, got back to SHIELD. Asking me for reports. For current projects. For inside information, so I'd talk to them like I was safe at home. I just kept... finding little inconsistencies. They couldn't get everything right. So, they'd pull me out argue with me, drug me... Try again." Peggy doesn't quite meet his eyes as she says all of this. She's ashamed she let them get to her quite so badly. Also, she doesn't want him to see how much of her is still stuck back there. She stares at the corners of her living room, looking for a pixel out of place.

"I... know I'm back. I'm fine. This was... ideal, really, the baby and all things considered. It could have been so much worse. I just... part of me keeps waiting to see something out of place."

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve frowns at her thoughtfully. "Is the baby okay? Could... could being in that whole thing affect it at all?" He can read all the little signs, the way she stares at the corners, the haunted look in her eyes. How can they possibly convince her this is /real/? Really real?

    A pause, and a smirk, and he adds, "I mean, if SHIELD's trying to keep you /home/ this time, well, nobody's bugging you for reports or anything, right?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
As she realizes just how much she's been avoiding his eyes, Peggy turns her gaze back to him. She forces herself to meet his gaze, a softer smile crossing her generous mouth. "I know... I know I'm here. Everything is too right. They couldn't get all of this. And, as you said, no one is bugging me for reports or inside information. I'm... pretty sure I'm back, at least. 99 percent certain." Peggy smiles wider, doing her very best to be reassuring.

"And the baby is fine. I don't think that did... anything to her. Or him. Just content as ever. There's a little bit of stress, but there is always stress in my life. So, the baby is fine, I am home, and that's what matters."

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve nods. "It is. But you not being half-convinced--well, okay, maybe one percent convinced--that you're not /really/ here matters too. You don't want to wind up thinking your child isn't real."

    His brow furrows, and he says, "Is there... anything I can do to help? I mean, if you want to talk about it, I'll listen. If you /don't/ want to talk about it, I'll bore you with an in-depth analysis of the current baseball season. You know, whatever might help." The furrowed brow breaks into a smile, warm and friendly.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"...tell me about Erskine." It might seem an out of the blue request. But that's something she knows HYDRA wouldn't know. Something that happened so long ago, something that was private between him, her, and the dead. Dark eyes stare at him heavily across the top of her tea mug, but there is an excitement to them, a hope that this might be the thing that convinces her this world is real.

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve smiles, if faintly. "A good man. A really good man. He developed the super-soldier serum, for the Nazis at first, but he fled to America and brought the formula with him. Project: Rebirth, they called it. They recruited a bunch of people, including me. I don't think the Colonel really wanted /me/ to be the subject, but Erskine... he believed in me. He said that the serum would enhance /everything/ that I was. Not just my muscles and by speed, but my heart. My morals. The important stuff."

    He sighs. "He died in my arms, right when the project had been successful. Nazi assassin. It... it was kind of like losing a parent, all over again, you know? He /believed/ in me, when I really, really needed someone to believe in me."

    A pause, and then he adds, with a smirk, "I wonder if he could tell you had a crush on me?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
It's not until that very last question that Peggy's fully convinced. The other things, people could know. People saw. But that little bit, especially that Erskine KNEW and needled her more than once on it, that was something private. Her eyes pull away, rolling up to the ceiling for a moment, the way she always does when she's caught dead to rights on something she doesn't quite want to admit to. "I did *not* have a crush on you, Steve Rogers. It was pure... Professional, you and I." She stammers out, but there is a grin behind her words, especially as her eyes return to his.

"Besides, even if he could tell, he wasn't going to go squealing. So, no matter, right?" She gives him a bit more of a smile. This one does entirely reach her eyes. She's a bit more relaxed now. Closer than she was before.

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve snorts. "Uh-huh. And I can sell you the Brooklyn Bridge, for cheap." He grins. "Well, you're right that he'd never have said anything about it if he /did/ know."

    He sighs, relaxing himself, feeling the tension drain that he hadn't realized was there, at the way Peggy kept fretting and looking around. "You think he'd approve of what we're doing? I mean, I'm sure he'd be happy for you and Daniel and all. I just... I try to think about it, you know? Am I doing what he would've wanted. Using his gift well."

Peggy Carter has posed:
While her smile is coming a little easier, it faulters slightly as he asks those last questions. Peggy sighs and reaches her hand over, patting the coucn next to her instead of the chair he's settled in. "Oh, come here, you fretting boy scout." She insists, waiting for him to come to her side so she can rest one hand on his knee. It's certainly not in a coming onto him way, but in a firm, old, deep friends way. A way that is meant to be grounding, and to show him just how much she means what she's saying.

"He would be so... So proud. Sad about the world, sad that we have to keep working, but proud that we never stopped. That we've always taken care of the people that need us. That we keep fighting for the people who can't defend themselves. He'd be so proud, Steven..."

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve moves over to sit next to Peggy and gives her a wry, rueful smile. "I wonder sometimes. HYDRA keeps coming back, you know? And yeah, yeah, 'cut off one head and two will take its place' but I /worry/. That we're not... doing enough." He shrugs. "Not to mention all the other problems in the world."

    He sighs, and goes to wrap and arm around her and pull her into a sort of side-hug. "But I think you're right. I think he'd be proud, and happy for us, and annoyed that we're sitting around talking about him. But I think about it, to make sure I'm still doing the right thing. I think when you stop worrying about it, is when you're most in danger of slipping, you know?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
She happily lets herself be pulled into his arms. There's still a small part of her that can't get used to how much BIGGER he is than her now. After all, she knew him almost as long as small Steve as she does his current state. Peggy relaxes there, though, content and protected. He still feels like home, even after all these years.

"It's fine to think about, as long as you don't get caught up in it. I know the temptation is there. God, Steve... I feel it all the time. The amount I wanted to blame myself for how deep HYDRA got into things... How much it flourished. Do you think I should blame myself?" She asks, turning just enough to look up to his eyes. "I was Director for most of those years, you know. Did I not do enough?"

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve thinks about that. "The world's safe, mostly, and free... well, mostly. They're /there/, but they didn't /win/. They keep losing, and coming back, and trying again. I'd almost admire them if they weren't so awful."

    He smiles down at her. "So, no, I think you did enough. And it's a good thing for me to remember--I'm hardly the only one that's been fighting them. I'll try not to get too lost in my own head." A smirk. "Just be a dumb lug, throwing my shield at things and punching Nazis." Sure, sure. Steve Rogers, dumb jock.

Peggy Carter has posed:
"If I did enough, and I was HERE that whole time, well, you're certainly doing enough having been on ice for decades and decades. Doing enough..." Peggy sighs, trying to consider her words, to phrase them in a way that she believes as much as she means. Not just reassurance for both of them, but earnest truth. "It's not always winning. I don't know if we'll every really... Win. There's always evil. HYDRA always has another head, somewhere. But it's winning a bit better than we did yesterday. Saving one more life. And I know we're doing that." She smiles up to him, earnesty behind her words. She meant every inch of them.

Then her eyes go a bit wider for a moment, looking down somewhat abruptly. "Oh. You...you were asking how the baby was. Awake. Very...awake is the answer. Here." Unless he pulls back, she guides one of his hands gently to the left side of her stomach, where something like a heel or a shoulder is defintely pushing up and shifting around. Someone's awake. It's an odd sensation.

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve nods at first, listening, considering. He'll probably never really start beating himself up for not defeating all the evil ever, but if he did would he really be Steve? It's part of who he is, striving so hard.

    Then Peggy grabs his hand and his eyes widen a bit as she puts it on her stomach. The sensation /is/ odd, this weird hard little lump on Peggy's abdomen, and he grins a little foolishly. "Hey there, little guy. Or gal." He peers down at the lump. "Trying to say hello to your Uncle Steve?" He's trying that out. 'Uncle Steve.' Well, what else is the kid going to call him?

Peggy Carter has posed:
'Uncle Steve' is what breaks through that last, tiny edge of haunting in her eyes. Now Peggy is just outright smiling. She keeps her hand over his, as that stirring continues, the baby most definitely awake now that she's fully settled on the couch and it's getting on in the night. "She likes to wake up just as it's getting close for me to go to sleep. She has an ironic humor and a soldier's sense of timing. I suppose it's in her blood. Or his. Daniel keeps calling her... Her. It's wearing off." She pats his hand gently.

"Uncle Steve sounds just about right, and that means you also get some diaper and baby sitting duty. I'd say both you and Janet, but I think she'd hire a fleet of nannies before changing a diaper herself. And..." She sighs, expression going a touch more solemn again. She turns her head to search for his eyes, "Whatever failures both of us feel like we can take on our shoulders... This world is better than the one we were born into. I know that. This baby has a better chance of seeing peace than we did... I have to hold to that."

Steve Rogers has posed:
    Steve snorts, still peering down at Peggy's belly with a look of wonder in his eyes. "Janet will give you the most fashionable baby clothing ever invented, but changing a diaper? Never." He grins. "But I'll be glad to help out. Maybe I can get Nadia to help. She might like kids." She might try to recruit baby Carter-Sousa into GIRL at a very young age, too, but that's the price one pays for knowing Nadia.

    He gives the belly a mock glare. "You, miss, should let your parents sleep, but I hear that's not a normal thing until you're at least five years old. Maybe older."

    He looks up with a smile, then and says, "Yeah. As... strange as things have been, I think it's... generally better, in a lot of ways. Sometimes I feel entirely out of place, but then sometimes I hear something, or talk to someone, and some of the stuff I always believed... it's more widespread, now. There's less crime, less war, more heroes. I guess we're doing okay."

Peggy Carter has posed:
"We're doing okay. We're going to keep doing better. That's what matters, Steve. If I didn't believe that, I... I couldn't look myself in the mirror. But I do. And you should too." She squeeze his hand one more time and then gently lets go. "But... It is late. This is her time to sleep fussing, and whatever hours of sleep I can steal now, I'm going to. Thank you for coming. Really. This door is always open to you, and Janet too, but... you're my family, Steve. Don't forget that either. Please. Don't be a stranger." The look in her eyes isn't exactly pleading, but it's close. She's missed him. She asks that as much for his sake as her own.

Steve Rogers has posed:
    "I think the last few months really just... threw me for a loop," Steve admits quietly. "I've been thinking about a lot of things. Why we do what we do. Stuff like that." He shrugs. "I think I'm pretty much settled now. I should've just come and talked to you a while ago, huh?"

    Giving the belly a last pat, and then giving Peggy a last hug, Steve gets up. He snags the beer bottle to finish it off--no good wasting good beer--and says, "I'll come around more often. Janet says we've got dinner on Monday, right? I'll be there, for sure." He grins. "You sleep well, okay?"

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peggy just stares at him a moment as he mentions that he should have come and talked to her a while ago. "You know I'm always right, and if you need any sense talked into you, yes. But sometimes even YOU are a stubborn man who likes to ignore good sense. But yes, in the future, just come talk to me. I miss you." Peggy leans over and kisses his forehead, smiling.
    hen she's gently pushing herself up out of the couch, body popping in a few places. She's definitely getting to the sore stages, but she'll still properly see him to the door. "Yes, we do have dinner Monday. Janet'll strangle us both if we miss, so the world better not catch fire between then and now. Go home. Get some rest. Enjoy your lady. I'll see you Monday." She gies him one last, tight hug, before opening the door to let him out into the balmy evening.