AN: MCU fandom is so chaotic and I srsly hate being on twitter right now ever since endgame happened. So here I am, trying to distract myself from the hostility of it all. Anyway, I don't know if I'll add another chapter to this but let me know if you wanna see some domestic fluff and other shenanigans featuring these two.

AN2: This one took me a couple of revisions and I can't necessarily say I'm satisfied but it's there somehow. A feedback would mean a lot, thanks.

Disclaimer: Not mine.


April 1948

Peggy stepped into the diner looking around for her friend before spotting her chatting up with a man at the counter. She smirked and rolled her eyes before making her way towards one of the booths. She stopped immediately as she took one glance at the man with his back to her: broad build, tall, blond hair, and a smile that frequently haunted her after all this time.

It's not real. It can't be real. It's been three years.

She clenched her jaw and grasped the gun inside her purse as she took cautious steps to the man at the counter. She cased the place as she did so, making sure that whoever that man was did not have any accomplices waiting for her to make a move.

Standing a little behind him, she pressed her gun to his side, acting as casual as she can to hide what was going on. "Don't you dare make another move. If you think I will be fooled by some impostor, then I hate to disappoint you," she whispered. Hoping that her friend would take quite a few more moments in the kitchen. "You will surrender whatever weapon or ammo you have, walk out of this diner, and tell your boss that you failed your mission."

Peggy noticed the upward turn of his lips and thought that maybe he would attack but instead he picked up his mug and sipped his coffee before speaking, "ma'am, I'd suggest that you put the gun away and we can talk about this. Search me if you want, but I'm unarmed."

Hearing his voice made Peggy's composure falter. She pressed the gun harder to his side and saw his face scrunched up a bit, "I am not here to play your games so either do as I say or else you'll never see the light of day again."

The man sighed, "fine, and I hope if I surrender you would let me explain." He moved and pulled out something from his pocket and placed it on her outstretched 's grip and force on the gun slackened as she felt the compass on her hand.

She took a deep breath and opened the compass to find a younger version of herself staring back at her. She released a shaky breath and felt tears well up in her eyes. Before she could interrogate the man, however, Angie came back out from the kitchen with a smile on her face.

"Hey there English, what do you fancy for today?" Sensing something off with her, she tilted her head and asked, "you okay?"

Peggy cleared her throat and nodded, "never been better," she smiled. "I'll just have um, coffee and a sandwich; take out, please."

"Alright then, just one moment," before she disappeared back to the kitchen, she threw a wink at the man beside her and Peggy had to roll her eyes at that.

She turned to him, "where did you get this?" Her voice was shaking again. She noticed the similarities this man had with Steve but also noticed that he had a different aura with him. He looks tired, older, as if he'd been out into the war longer than anybody else.

"If you put the gun away, I'll be happy to explain."

Peggy reluctantly placed the gun back to her purse and stepped back a little as the man faced her. She took a sharp breath and held the compass tightly. "Steve?" She didn't want to believe, forcing her mind to be critical and skeptical. Trying to lock up any emotions that would betray the uncertainty she was supposed to be feeling.


Steve tried not to fidget when he felt the cold metal pressed against his side. This was not how he planned to see her. He wanted to show up to her place, probably bring something or anything to give to her, especially it's her birthday tomorrow.

He sensed the mixture of emotions evident in her voice. The confusion, anger, pain, and a whole lot more he could not decipher. He knew he had to prove his identity sooner to get out of this situation, so he brought out the compass and gave it to her. It might have done its job since the pain from the gun against him lessened.

When he turned to her, Steve felt that same warm feeling whenever she's around. The woman he saw back in 1970 was beautiful, but now, it was like he was back at camp, trying not to screw up his conversations with her. He didn't know how to talk to a woman, as she stated back then and Steve wondered if that was true or he just really got tongue-tied around her.

"Steve?" He was immediately transported back to the hospital in 2014. Visiting a much older Peggy Carter. His heart broke a little and he forced himself to smile and nod.

"Yeah Peg, it's me, I swear." He slowly reached out to her but she flinched and stepped back. His heart ached but he understood. After three years it must've been a shock and he didn't want to put her through an emotional roller coaster in public.

He retreated his hand in surrender and smiled sadly, "I get it. I'm sorry. I understand if you're confused and-" Angie came back and Steve immediately turned back to his coffee, acting as casual as he could.

Angie decided to ignore her friend's off demeanor and gave her the order, "here ya go Peg. You know, you owe me a few months of catching up after leaving for California."

Peggy smiled a little, "I'll make sure to keep that in mind, I am also quite thrilled to hear about your theater career."

"I'll take your word for it then," she bid farewell to Peggy before going back into the kitchen.

Peggy looked back at Steve who was trying not to eavesdrop on their conversation. He looked back at her and smiled again, "keep the compass. I'm sure you probably have no use for it but I'll be more comfortable if you have it with you. Kinda like I can keep you safe or something like that."

It broke his heart that he actually believed that the love of his life would take him back. He actually thought that it would be easy to go back into her life as if no time had passed. Now here he was, feeling like an idiot, reluctantly letting go of the woman of his dreams.

At least you tried. It's better than not trying.

"You're leaving?" She asked.

Steve's eyes widened and suddenly he couldn't formulate a single word, "I-uh, I thought you, you were, um, only if you want me to."

He saw a small quirk of her lips and his heart was filled with a bit of hope.

"I don't want you to go," she took a deep breath, "but I can't do this right now." Peggy looked at him straight in the eye and he sat up straight subconsciously. She pulled out a pen and paper and wrote down her address, "burn this as soon as you reach my house. I will give you a chance to explain whatever is going on just to make sure you are not simply spying for an intel with regards to SSR."

"Yes ma'am."

She finally handed him the paper without breaking eye contact, "2000 hours, Captain," she turned around and walked out of the diner, leaving Steve gaping at her speechless.


Time could not go any faster when Steve was waiting all afternoon at his hotel room. Good thing his bank account was still active, he managed to buy some clothes to change into and bought flowers; fake ones, knowing she was allergic to them.

He arrived at her house five minutes before the assigned time to give himself a few moments to build up his courage and go over what he was going to tell her.

When he was ready, he raised his fist to knock but the door swung open and he smiled sheepishly. Peggy stood by the doorway, "heard you walk up the front porch five minutes ago and I wondered how long you planned to stand there staring at my floorboards." She gestured him to come in and asked him to sit on one of the chairs in the living room. As he sat down, she noticed the flowers and was about to speak when beat her to it.

"Oh, these are for you, don't worry, I made sure they're fake since you're allergic." Steve noticed the shocked expression on her face and smiled broadly as she took it.

Peggy ran her fingers on the petals lightly before she cleared her throat, "would you like something to drink?" Steve nodded and moved to stand when she stopped him, "oh you don't have to, I'll do it."

"I guess I'll have some coffee then."

Peggy disappeared to the kitchen and she released a sigh. She opened a drawer and placed her gun and its holster inside. She sneaked a glance at the flowers and smiled, she could count in one hand the people who knew she was allergic to flowers.

When she came back, she found Steve at the same spot and same position she left him as if he didn't move a single inch. She bit back a smile and placed down the tray on the table.

They let the silence envelope them for a few minutes, it wasn't like it's an awkward silence, but both could not deny that there's an elephant in the room that needed to be addressed. Peggy decided to break the silence, "let's just get this over with. Where have you been Steve? How did you survive that plane crash? Howard," her voice broke. "He's been searching everywhere for months after you-" she shook her head and sipped her tea.

Steve could hear the desperation and frustration in her tone, the pain and longing she must have felt. "If I tell you the story, you can't interrupt because I don't think I can go through with it. It's gonna be hard to believe but I swear everything I'll tell you is real and it really happened or will happen."

Peggy furrowed her eyebrows, she felt her stomach sink, "bloody hell," she muttered.

As Steve told his story of where he was or when he came from, Peggy's heart went out to him. She believed it, every single word that came out of his mouth, every event he said that happened, and every creature he mentioned that was quite out of this world. Still, she couldn't erase the feeling that he was leaving something behind, that he was keeping some things from her.

When he was done, she noticed his tears, silently streaming down his face and she didn't hold back anymore. She stood up and brought him with her as she wiped his tears, "it'll be okay. I've got you." She pulled him into a hug and Steve finally let the dam break.

It took him a while to calm down and Steve felt lighter as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "You're taking this whole time-travelling thing calmly."

"Well, it's too complicated to be fabricated. Besides, I've got you here after three years. I just got back in New York four months ago from a mind-boggling mission. I'll give it a few months or so for my mind to catch up."

They sat back down on the couch and Peggy took his hands, "after waking up in the ice, did you ever wonder where I am? Did you have any information about me?" She asked gently. She didn't hear anything about her, she wondered maybe he didn't care that much or maybe he lost his memory or maybe she didn't make it that far into the future.

"The first thing I realized after they told me I slept for almost 70 years is that I missed our date. You were one of SHIELD's founders so they have a file on you and I found out where you were and since then I started visiting."

"Really?"

Steve nodded, he needed to say this before they decide on anything that would change their dynamic. "Peg, I love you," Peggy's eyes widened and she was about to speak when he cut her off, "and I came back here to be with you. I disregarded the concept of time to be here because for once I want to choose me. To choose us, the life we could have had."

"Oh Steve," she whispered and squeezed his hands for comfort.

"But, when I found you, you already lived your life, you had kids, had a husband, a beautiful family. You established SHIELD from scratch. And I don't want to take any of that away from you. That life that you had, it's everything I ever wanted for you, even if it's not with me. As much as I want to be with you, I want you to be sure that this is what you want."

Peggy never met anyone as selfless and as thoughtful as he was and she loved him for it. She pulled him by his shirt and kissed him. She hoped that for now it's enough to convey her feelings towards him. She hoped it's enough to answer his question because she's too speechless to say anything.

Steve was in cloud nine. He remembered their first kiss and it was different than now. The one during the war was rushed but this, it's sweet, slow, and filled with promises of tomorrow. When they broke away, he smiled and cupped her face, "it's a yes then?"

Peggy chuckled and nodded, tears finally escaping her eyes. She wiped them away and the smile stayed on her face as they stared at each other. She wanted to memorize his face, she wanted to freeze this moment, cherish the feeling, and contain the love and happiness that surround them so that if this turned out to be a dream, then she'll have something to always look back to, no matter how painful.

Steve pulled her into a hug and dropped a kiss on top of her head. His mind drifted back to Tony and Nat and smirked, you two better not be laughing at me wherever you are, I followed your advice. He sighed; you can rest now. They were both silent, swaying gently on her living room and as he glanced at the clock, he noticed it was half past midnight. He pulled Peggy closer and whispered, "Happy birthday Peg."

She had a lot of questions for him, but those things could wait. What's important for now was she got him there with her, alive and real.


AN: Let me know your thoughts (and give me prompts if you want to have more chapters to this).

~kingdomfictionalia