Sneaky Smooches
Or: five times Steve surprised Peggy with a kiss, and one time Peggy surprised him back.
Peggy had surprised him with their first kiss, her hand on his collar, wind screaming past them as they raced the Valkyrie toward what seemed like certain disaster.
And sure, he'd had other kisses since he woke up (some equally surprising, thank you Nat), but it wasn't those kisses he thought about in those rare moments when he allowed himself to dwell on all he had lost.
It was Peggy's surprise kiss, all too brief though it was, that stayed in his mind.
And now that he was back, now that they had found each other once more, now that the rings on their fingers anchored them together for all time—
Well, it was his turn to return the favor.
1.
"Darling, I'm ho—"
The rest of Peggy's sentence never made it out of her mouth, occupied as it was by her husband, who was kissing her as though the world was ending. Her briefcase hit the ground with a thump.
When he finally let her go, he was grinning like a boy. "Welcome home, Peg."
Peggy blinked and tried to regain her footing. "Were you hiding in the closet?"
Steve's eyes sparkled but he didn't reply, retreating back into the kitchen. "Dinner's hot!" he called back over his shoulder.
Mouth twitching with amusement despite herself, Peggy picked up her suitcase and followed.
2.
There was nothing quite like a mystery novel and a heavy rainstorm. Peggy curled up on the couch and flipped open the newest Agatha Christie. It had finally come in for her at the library and she'd been looking forward to this moment all weekend.
The evening got later, the shadows deeper, and the plot thicker. A crash of thunder outside made her jump and then scoff at her own jitteriness.
She'd been through a war, for heaven's sake!
But it was a compelling mystery…
The plot was at its height when a pair of arms snaked around her waist without warning and a firm kiss landed just beneath her ear. Peggy yelped, jabbed backward with an elbow—
And then recognized Steve's chuckle and relaxed into prickly irritation.
"I thought you were out!" she gasped, trying to reach over her shoulder to slap him with the paperback.
He hugged her closer, still chuckling. "I thought I'd surprise you."
"You're a blooming menace, Steve Rogers," she snapped, and tried not to smile at his infectious mirth.
3.
Two weeks on an away mission and Peggy was missing her husband more than she could have thought possible.
It wasn't as though they hadn't been away from each other before—they'd had much longer periods without each other during the war, and then he had been gone and she'd gone on entirely without him for years.
But now that they were married, it was a whole new kind of loneliness being without him.
"Right this way, fellas," she simpered in an American accent, leading the way down the hallway with two of her marks in tow. She lengthened her stride, hoping to get into the meeting room at the end of the hall first. It would give her time to get behind the desk, within reach of the hidden gun.
She would need it—things had gone belly-up earlier, and her backup was out of the picture.
But just as she reached the doorway, a hand reached out of the darkness, tugging her in with a suddenness that made her trip over the too-high heels she was wearing, falling straight into a solid chest that she knew all too well.
"Steve!" she hissed in surprise as he kissed her—on her cheek, thankfully, since she was wearing the knockout lipstick as a backup plan.
"Missed you," he mumbled against her throat, planting another kiss there.
She laughed breathlessly, relief washing over her like a wave. He always had been her best backup.
"You're my bodyguard," she breathed, drawing away to get behind the desk. "And you speak only Polish."
Steve's eyebrows twitched in surprise at the language choice even as he relaxed into the pose required. The two marks walked in; he winked at her behind their backs. Peggy's smile was quite genuine even as she slipped into her role.
She had never been so glad to be surprised.
4.
Peggy Carter was not good at being sick.
Unfortunately, the suspect she'd been interrogating had delivered some payback in the form of a rather nasty cold. So here she was, feverish and stuffy, shivering under a knitted afghan (a wedding gift from Ana) and wishing she felt well enough to think straight.
She must have drifted off, because in her dreams she felt a soft and familiar touch. Blinking awake, she looked up to see Steve leaning over her, looking at her as though she were the most beautiful girl in the world.
"Did you just kiss me awake?" she rasped, bringing up one hand to touch her lips.
He beamed down at her. "Isn't that what's supposed to happen when a guy finds the sleeping princess?"
Peggy's hair was tangled, her nose was all stuffed, and she sounded like a frog. And yet, looking into her husband's eyes, all she could see was the plain and simple truth.
To him, she was beautiful.
"You watched Snow White too many times," she groused, but didn't protest when he joined her on the couch and began gently untangling her hair and massaging her aching head.
After all, what else were Prince Charmings for?
5.
Director of SHIELD.
It had been a long time coming, that title. The office with her name on the door had taken even longer. But now, at last, both were hers.
She knew she was expected downstairs at the official opening, knew that Colonel Phillips and Stark were waiting. But that didn't stop her from slipping up a back staircase of the new facility.
The nameplate bearing her name was shiny and new, nothing about it betraying the heavy responsibility that came with the job. Peggy turned the handle and slipped inside the new Director's Office, coming to a stop in the middle of the carpeted floor. Behind the desk a chair waited—her chair.
It was hers. At long last, she was where she needed to be.
The hinges of the door were new and silent—a shift of the reflection in the polished tabletop was the only warning she got before familiar arms wrapped around her, dipping her backwards into a firm, swoon-worthy kiss.
"I'm so proud of you," said Steve, after they both finally came up for air.
Peggy caught her breath and quirked an eyebrow, struggling not to smile. "Sneaking up on the Director in her office, are we?"
"We are," said Steve very unrepentantly, and reeled her in for another kiss.
+1.
He loved the way she looked when she read.
Peggy always got completely absorbed in whatever she was reading, eyes intent, forehead creased. Sometimes concern, anger, or sorrow swept over her face—other times she would startle herself by laughing out loud.
In other words, she was completely adorable.
Steve had originally come in the front room for some other reason, but he forgot all about it when he saw his wife snuggled into the corner of the couch, back to him, her head bent over a newspaper.
She was perfect. And completely unsuspecting.
Moving silently he came up behind her, bent to press a surprise kiss to her cheek—
And was promptly surprised in turn when Peggy reached up with both hands, dragged his head down, and neatly flipped him flat onto his back on the sofa cushions in front of her. His startled laughter was instantly smothered as she leaned in and kissed him soundly.
"And that's what you'll get every time you sneak up on me," she told him once the kiss was over. Her eyes were sparkling, cheeks rosy.
He loved her so much that it hurt.
"You promise?" he asked, because it sounded like the best deal he'd ever heard. He would sneak up on her every day for the rest of his life if she'd let him.
She dimpled and leaned in again. "Promise" she whispered, and sealed it with a kiss.
A/N: Peggy's flip at the end is inspired by Rob and Laura Petrie in the Dick Van Dyke show, episode "Twizzle." Written for Steggy Week 2022. Hope you enjoy!