It could have been a romantic night. If it was peacetime and they were in a warm car with the radio softly playing, it would have been. However, they were in the middle of a war, the night was cold, the bed of the truck was hard, and the roads were rough. The ever-changing pattern of leafy shadows and moonlight wasn't enough to distract Steve from the fact that he and the rest of the Howling Commandoes had been running around in the woods for three weeks and that he was cold, sore, and dirty.

Beside him, Peggy sighed. "I feel like I should be glad that its Barnes and Dugan's turn to drive, but I'd almost rather stay awake all night than be jolted around back here."

Steve let out a huff of agreement that was somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. "Makes me wish Howard had actually finished that flying car he was working on. If we could avoid the potholes, this would have to be a little more comfortable."

"A flying car?" Peggy asked. "I don't think I've seen that one yet."

"I don't know if it was an army project," Steve said. "I saw it at the Stark Expo back in New York, right before I met Dr. Erskine."

"Let me guess." Peggy grinned. "Something exploded?"

"Yep," Steve said, smiling himself.

Peggy shook her head. "I honestly don't know how that man has lived so long."

They lapsed into silence for a few minutes before Peggy spoke up again. "If you could have a hot bath or a proper soft bed waiting for you at the base, which would you choose?"

"Oh, that's hard," Steve said. "I think I'd go for the bath and then fall asleep in it."

Peggy laughed. "You'd wake up frozen and catch a cold."

"Which would you pick then?" Steve asked.

"A comfortable bed. I haven't had a truly good mattress since I joined the SSR, and sleeping on the ground this whole mission reminds me of how much I'm missing."

"Well I'm sure that whatever they have back at base will be better than rocks and tree roots, even if only barely," Steve said.

Peggy smiled wryly.

The cold air kept on blowing past them, the truck continued to bounce along, and the shadows and moonlight still danced over everything. Steve's exhaustion started to catch up with him, and he began to zone out, not quite asleep or awake.

A sudden pressure against his side jolted Steve back to awareness. He turned his head to see that Peggy was asleep, her head pillowed on his shoulder. She looked so vulnerable; the strength she always presented to the world fading away as she slept. Steve had seen past her walls before when Peggy chose to let him in, but this was somehow different. Sleeping meant giving up control until she woke. Peggy trusted him enough to relinquish control in front of him. That realization made something in his heart warm.

When Steve thought about his future after the war, Peggy was always there. It was impossible to picture his life without her in it. In this moment, with the warm weight of her body pressed against his side driving away the cold and the warmth growing in his heart, those dreams for the future seemed closer than ever.

Steve leaned his head back against the cab of the truck and closed his eyes, the discomforts of the night fading as he slipped into dreams of the woman who held his heart.

Bucky jumped out of the truck with a groan. Driving for hours through the night was definitely not his favorite thing to do. He simultaneously wanted to stretch his legs and fall immediately into bed.

He walked around to the back of the truck. "Well, we made it."

No one answered.

"Steve? Peggy? You guys awake?"

Bucky looked over the side of the truck.

It took him a moment to make anything out in the gray predawn light, but once he could tell what he was seeing, he grinned. Steve and Peggy were both asleep, Peggy with her head on Steve's shoulder and Steve with his head resting on top of hers. They looked very comfortable and ridiculously cute.

Dugan came around to see what Bucky was staring at, and let out a (surprisingly) soft chuckle. "A perfect picture," he said.

"I only wish I had a camera," Bucky said.

"Well, I don't think we need to bother waking them, do you?" Dugan asked, a conspiratorial smile on his face.

"Nah," Bucky said. "Philips can wait a bit for their reports."

He and Dugan drew away, leaving their friends to their well-deserved bit of peace.

The Howling Commandoes were the first Steggy shippers.

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