June, 1948.

In which Rose discovers why Peggy's been smiling so much for the past few weeks.


Rose took a bite of her pastry, flipping to the next page of a very interesting article about some recently discovered temple ruins in Paraguay. She liked the peace and quiet in the S.S.R. office in the morning before everyone got here. They were downsizing some these days, so she was the only one out front anymore, like she had been at the California office. (She'd loved the weather out there, but she'd started to get kind of homesick, and her mother wasn't doing as well as she used to, and so when Peggy got called back to New York after Agent Thompson was shot, Rose decided to go with her.)

The door buzzed and Rose looked up from her magazine. "Hey, Peg!" she greeted.

"Good morning, Rose," Peggy said with a smile.

"You're here early," Rose noted.

"Yes," Peggy said, pulling a folder from her handbag. "I was hoping I could catch you before everyone else got here. I had a favor to ask."

"Sure," Rose said, setting her breakfast aside. "Whatcha got?"

"I know it's not something you normally do," Peggy said apologetically. "But I knew I could trust you to be discreet."

Rose smiled, intrigued. "Of course."

Peggy set the folder down on the desk. "I need some documents made. Birth certificate, driver's license, that sort of thing. Not just forgeries that would pass for a mission, but actual, legitimate paperwork."

Rose peeked inside the folder and flipped through the pages.

"It's all in there," Peggy told her. "What it should say. I just need you to make it official. The military record might be the tricky part."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Military record?" This was some serious stuff.

Peggy nodded. "Yes. It's not…I hope you don't think I'm doing anything…unsavory."

"Oh, no, I didn't think that!" Rose assured her. They were spies. Fake paperwork was part of the job. Even if the legality of it was sometimes…nebulous. "Whatever this is for, I figure you're doing it for a good reason."

Peggy blushed a little, but she smiled. Rose was curious about that smile. Peggy had been wearing it for a couple of weeks, and Rose didn't think she'd seen it before. It looked good on her.

"Thanks," Peggy said. "And I know asking for a fake military record seems a bit dubious, but what I'm asking you to put in it is all true. Some things left out for anonymity's sake and some names changed, but no false records or anything like that. The person that this is for is…well, sort of starting over. We didn't think it was necessary to erase their whole life story, but, you know, names and dates and things like that needed changing."

Rose nodded. "Got it." Witness protection-type stuff was not uncommon in the office, and it was usually done pretty low-key. The fact that Peggy was asking Rose to handle it on her own probably meant it was not approved by the brass, but Rose trusted Peggy's judgement. "It may take me a little while, especially the military part, but I can get it for you."

"Thanks," Peggy said with a grateful smile. "And don't rush. Thoroughness is much more important than haste in this case."

It took her a few weeks to get through. The military record was the hard part, so she started on that first. It did seem pretty above-board—basically just saying that this guy had been in the Army during the war. The further in she got, though, the more curious Rose became. Mostly, it was the choice of new name that sparked her interest. Whatever this guy's name had been before, it was going to be Steven Carter now, and Rose couldn't help but wonder what his connection was to Peggy, picking a name like that. She also thought he looked awfully familiar—she couldn't shake the feeling she'd seen his picture somewhere before. She couldn't place it, though, and she wasn't going to ask. Peggy trusted her to do the job, and if she'd thought Rose needed to know that part, she would have told her.

"Voila!" Rose declared as the office was closing up one evening. She presented the folder to Peggy with a proud flourish.

Peggy grinned as she flipped through the documents. "These are perfect," she said. She snapped the folder shut and gave Rose a hug. "Rose, you are a star!"

Rose blushed a little at the praise. "Aw, thanks," she said. "I hope it didn't take too long."

"Not at all," Peggy assured her. She hugged her again before picking up the folder and happily bidding her good night.

The next morning, Rose was part of the way through her breakfast and a very amusing article speculating where poor Whitney Frost had gone wrong when Peggy arrived. This time, however, she wasn't alone. Rose had to make a very conscious effort not to let her jaw drop at the man who walked in with her—it was Mr. Carter, whose name and photograph she'd been staring at for weeks now, and Lord, have mercy, he was even more handsome in person.

"Good morning, Rose," Peggy said, a little grin on her face as if she knew what was going through Rose's head.

"Hello, Rose," Mr. Carter said, holding out a hand for her to shake. "I'm Steve. Peggy's told me an awful lot of good things about you."

"Oh," Rose said, taking his hand and feeling kind of flustered, which she blamed on the smile he was giving her. It was like soft clouds and sunshine. "Oh," she said again, trying to regain her composure. "Thanks. I, uh, she hasn't told me anything about you. I've seen your name around, though." That was stupid, why had she said that?

He smiled again, and this time something in it made her feel more at ease. "I understand I have you to thank for all my paperwork," he said. "I really appreciate you getting all that taken care of for me."

"Oh, it was nothing," Rose said. "I'm happy to help."

"She is a great help, but it was hardly nothing," Peggy corrected. "Thank you, Rose," she said again. "I'm sorry if this has all been a bit rough on you—I know I didn't exactly give you a lot to work with."

"That's kind of my fault," Steve said.

"It's entirely your fault," Peggy replied, and that smile Rose had been seeing for weeks, it was back again. Oh. This was…well, maybe it was work, but it was a lot more than that too.

They chatted a little bit more before Peggy took him back into the office. Rose sat back down, picking up her magazine and pastry with a smile. "Good for you, Peg," she said softly. Rose knew there had been a little something between her and Agent Sousa for a while, but this guy…Rose didn't think she'd ever seen Peggy look quite so happy.

It had started to rain by the time lunch drew around, and Steve left the office and went to get the car so he could take Peggy to lunch, leaving Peggy to wait with Rose at the desk. "So," Rose said. "He's quite a catch, hmm?" Peggy looked at her in surprise and Rose laughed. "Oh, come on, Peg, it's obvious. Well," she corrected. "To me, anyway. I'm sure the guys in the back didn't notice a thing."

Peggy laughed at that.

"I've been wondering for weeks what's had you smiling like that," Rose went on. She poked her in the arm with the end of her pen. "So, how'd it happen?"

Peggy smiled. "We've actually known each other for a long time," she said. "And we…I'm afraid I can't tell you how this part happened, but…" The way she smiled was so happy—the kind of happy that you only got after things that have been going really wrong suddenly started going really right, and it just about broke Rose's heart. "We found each other again," she finished.

"I'm glad," Rose said, reaching over and squeezing Peggy's hand. "I really am. And I'm glad I could help."

Peggy squeezed her hand back. "Thank you. I was going to tell you about all this now that it's sorted, but since you've saved me the trouble…" she smiled. "I was also going to let you know that now that he's official and has paperwork and everything…" She smiled wider. "We're going to be getting married."

Rose's jaw did drop then. "You're getting married?"

Peggy nodded, still smiling. "Next Saturday. It's not going to be anything fancy—very small, actually, but I would love it if you could come." Her smile softened. "I could use a maid of honor."

"Me?" Rose asked, her throat suddenly tight. She jumped up from her desk and gave her a hug. "Aw, Peg, I would love to!"

The door buzzed, and Steve was stepping inside with an umbrella. He looked at the two of them and grinned. "Looks like you've got a maid of honor, then."

Rose blushed and stepped back. "I'm just…Honored. Really."

Peggy smiled, stepping over to take Steve's hand. "I'll get you the details after lunch, yeah?"

"Okay," Rose agreed. She smiled, then, overcome with a wave of excitement, she stepped forward and grabbed them both in a hug. "Oh, congratulations!" she said. "I'm so happy for you!"