Moments


A/N: FYI - contains flashbacks of events prior to my version of Season 2

Anywho, Enjoy! (And kindly let me know what your favorite part/line was)


Firsts


Their first kiss was not under a mistletoe…

~A~

New York, December 31st, 1946

"My brothers and I would race to see who could first find where our parents carefully hid our Christmas gifts and then when we were older, we upped the challenge by seeing who could unwrap and re-wrap them without anyone knowing the difference…"

The general merriment and slightly intoxicated laughter of the office New Year's Party went suddenly quiet, as every agent and switchboard operator collectively held their breath.

Peggy paused halfway through her story to Rose to glance around.

She didn't find anything abnormal except Ramirez smirking wolfishly at her and Jack, who had come to stand at her elbow to eavesdrop. What she did find, (which was pretty normal), was Daniel's sympathetic grimace as his eyes darted above her head.

Adding it altogether, she rolled her eyes. To Rose, whose eyes were twinkling with suppressed mirth, she grumbled, "I work with a bunch of prepubescent adolescents, not adult professionals."

She was just going to leave it at that, but then Jack chuckled lowly, "You can't dodge them all." No doubt he was recalling her attempt at the Christmas Eve gala.

"Watch me," she challenged, and then she taunted for all to hear, "I'll kiss Jack, if Ramirez and Palmer follow tradition as well."

The two male agents who happened to be standing under the other hanging parasite blanched. And to the amusement of all, the two began to hastily edge away from each other.

And so the office merriment continued, and Peggy made sure to leave early to join Angie at Times Square for the final countdown.

Better to kiss a complete stranger for that tradition, than blur any lines of professionalism and complicate things.

~A~

Their first kiss was not while they were undercover…

~A~

New York, February 14th, 1947

"You know it would be easier to sneak around this joint, if I wasn't in these ridiculous duds," Jack whined as they shut the office door and made their way to the nearest exit.

He had a fair point, as Jack was wearing crimson canvas trousers tucked into leather laced up boots that matched his deerskin gauntlet gloves, and a pecan-colored gambler's hat. To add insult to injury, underneath his dark brown frock coat, his shirt was diagonally buttoned, welding goggles dangled from his neck, and instead of his usual suspenders, he had double holsters from which two ornately decorated gold and pearl derringers hung. It was not exactly a nondescript outfit per se.

And while he might not like his, she liked hers. All of the brass cogs and wheels and buckles that adorned her knee-high boots, crimson corset, duster, and top hat allowed her to smuggle in tech like lock-picks, camera pens, and mini-tranquilizer-darts, and although her tan trousers were more form-fitting than she would like, they did allow her ease of movement.

That, and it made a stellar memory out of their last mission together before she transferred to L.A.

"Yes, but you and your grey suit, suspenders, and red paisley ties would have never made it beyond the front stoop, and I would have been tossed out by association."

As progress-minded as this secret Steampunk Society was, The Gaslamp was still dominated by men. Women needed to be vouched for, and she and Jack needed to have a look at the guest sign-in logs.

They knew Dottie had been a guest here. She had been spotted by one of Daniel's bums. What they hadn't known was who vouched for her or why she used him to con her way into this fanatic club of romantics. And thanks to this field trip, they did at least now know the name, if not the why.

"We wouldn't need to sneak, if Matthews had managed to maintain his diversion as long as he promised," she huffed with annoyance.

"Well, who would have thought that his level of obnoxiousness could be plumbed?"

Before she could make a waspish comment of her own, the door at the end of the hall began to open.

Time slowed and Peggy considered all her options and chose the one she felt would have the maximum amount of success.

Jabbing her fingers into Jack's chest repeatedly, she shrilly hissed in her best New Yorker accent, "I can't believe you said that about my mother!" Jab. "It's Valentine's Day!" Jab. "And our anniversary!" Jab. "And you forgot both!" Jab. "And to top it all off, you say in front of all our friends that I sound like – and I quote – 'the harpy that is my mother-in-law!" Jab.

Just as Jack grabbed her abusive fingers, the club's security officer called out, "Sir! Ma'am! If you need privacy for your – er – domestic dispute, please, take it elsewhere. This is a restricted area."

She and Jack hastily made their apologies and exited out the side door.

As soon as it shut behind them, Jack growled, "What the hell, Carter?!"

Peggy dropped the wrathful shrew act and shrugged, coolly replying, "There are two things that make people highly uncomfortable."

"Oh? And what, pray tell, are those?"

"Public displays of affection and – "

"And what? Public displays of aggressive henpecking?" Rubbing his sore chest, he muttered, "I'd almost prefer the first."

She stopped walking and arched an eyebrow at him, "Almost?"

He snorted, "Yeah, almost. Don't think that I don't know you're wearing that damned lipstick."

"Good. Then quit your whining."

~A~

Their first kiss was not to shut the other up mid-argument either…

~A~

Los Angeles, Late Spring 1947

"You don't have to do this, Marge. You don't have to be a goddamn hero."

"This isn't about me being a hero, Jack. This is about me doing my job," she snapped back.

In no way was she intimidated by his use of his height to loom domineeringly over her. In fact, she went toe-to-toe with him, invading his space as she continued to argue: "I am a woman. He is a plastic surgeon who has only female clients."

Her mouth quirked up a little as she added dryly, "You're pretty, but not even you are pretty enough to fit that criteria."

Jack was not at all amused and growled lowly, "Be serious, Carter! You're pretty too! Gorgeous even. There is no effing way that he will think you want to be 'improved' like some insecure Hollywood starlet!"

Whether it was that unguarded compliment or that primal growl of his, but something tripped the circuitry of her primitive brain, and all she could think about or see were his wide pink lips, that were currently pursed in an unusually attractive grimace, centimeters from her own, and how she wanted to give them something else to do other than grimace at her or scold her, something more pleasantly productive.

Some part of him too sensed the change in her, as his previously scowling eyes were now filling with a different sort of blue fire.

"Peggy! If you're done telling Jack to mind his own case load, we can hit the road!" Daniel hollered from the locker-room doorway, breaking their moment.

She grabbed her clutch and strode for the doorway giving him a stiff nod and murmuring, "I'll be careful, Jack."

As the door shut behind her, she heard him mutter petulantly, "It's not you I am worried about. It's all the other crazies and evil sons-of-bitches out there."

~A~

Nor was their first kiss so cliché, that it was after a near death experience…

~A~

Somewhere in Germany, Early Summer 1947

"Peggy!"

"Peggy!"

"Carter!"

"Goddamn it, Marge!"

Whether it was the desperation in his voice, his cursing, or his use of that name that she had a love-hate relationship with, that broke into her trance, she didn't know. But whatever it was, it worked. She jerked her gaze from the ravine floor that they were currently dangling over and blinked away her memories of Bucky to look at him.

He was soot-covered and wide-eyed with barely held together panic, but at least he had all four limbs and was not perforated with any shrapnel.

When he saw that he had her attention, Jack declared, "You need to start making your way to my side of the car or we are going to tip over and arrive at the pearly gates far sooner than I am prepared for."

She nodded her understanding and began to make the slow climb up the cargo-netting, carefully testing how her movements shifted their precarious balance.

If Mason Colter, her former handler, hadn't just blown up the cargo train they were on in order to elude them yet again, and if they weren't just about to plummet to their deaths, she might have quipped something along the lines of 'What makes you think it's the pearly gates you are destined for?' But that was most definitely not the case.

Eventually, she was able to make it to his side of the car, and with great care, they were eventually able to make it to safe ground.

Once they did though, their counter-balance weight was gone, and so the train car fell to the ravine below.

As she watched its violent descent, she began to feel light-headed and she swore that she was falling too, falling like Bucky did.

The universe did not stop spinning until Jack grabbed her by the shoulders to turn her away from the terrifying sight of that gaping maw to face him.

Her eyes met his concerned blues, and her fear-adrenaline faded. She was hit with this sudden urge to sag against him, lean on his strength, and kiss him. Her body was then flooded with a wave of joyful relief at their being alive, and she again had the absurd urge to kiss him in celebration.

She nearly did. She was leaning towards him, when the next wave of emotion hit her – anger.

"I'm okay…" she attempted to reassure, her voice sounding breathless to her ears. More convincingly, she bit out, "But we won't be able to catch that bastard if we don't get a move on. There's a crossing a few klicks south from here."

Jack gave her a quick once over, before nodding his acceptance, "Alright."

Wordlessly, he shouldered their one remaining pack and followed her lead; at least until a few minutes later, when he asked warily, "Hey Carter? There's not a certain scent in the air that I need to be worried about, for fear of hypothermia or the like, is there?"

She thought about it for a few moments, before answering slowly, "No... but you should know that. Weren't you marching through this patch of German wilderness before you were shipped out to the Pacific?"

~A~

No, their first kiss happened…when it mattered.

~A~

Los Angeles, Fall 1947

"Just give me a moment. I wasn't expecting any company," he admitted almost abashedly.

"I can see that," she observed lightly as she amusedly watched the rumpled-looking Jack – a tie-less, suspender-less, and hair disarrayed Jack – hastily straighten his front room.

"But you don't need to do that, at least not for me," she gently chided, nodding at the files he had attempted to hide (not the dirty dishes he was putting in the sink). "I have been known to take work home with me on occasion."

She ignored his derisive snort at her vast understatement and continued, "In fact, while I was reviewing my case notes, I came across this and thought you would find it helpful."

She handed him the file she had brought with her, and she watched with even more amusement as his usual skepticism gave way to boyish excitement, as he eagerly rifled through the pages, practically devouring them.

With a smug grin, she noted dryly, "I guess, I was right then."

"Right?" he declared flabbergasted in disbelief, "This is… Marge, I could kiss you!"

~A~

His words rang in their ears and one of those life-altering pauses descended.

Peggy knew that she had reached a crossroads and how she responded mattered.

Her moment with Daniel had come and gone before she realized.

She had been more cognizant of it with Jason – his pleading brown eyes begging silently that she promise to always make the safer choice, a promise that she could never make.

A year or two ago, she would have never thought she would be having a moment like this with Jack, of all people.

When she had decided she was ready to move on from Steve, it had been with the expectation that it would be with someone of his quality – someone who saw her and who respected her and her dreams, shared them even. At the time, that had not been Jack, and she chalked up their chemistry as a by-product of friction between two strong personalities.

When they became equals in both of their eyes, she became increasingly attracted to him and fond of him. But she did not want to ruin a good thing with their partnership.

But now, she had to admit that unlike Daniel or Jason, if she was to let this opportunity to deepen her relationship with him pass her by, she would regret it for the rest of her life. The pain and heartache she had felt when he hadn't been at her back – no, at her side – during the Isodyne investigation had been more devastating than she would have predicted.

If she were to close the door on them now, would they ever recover what they once had, much less, ever have the chance for something more again?

So…

"You should."

~A~

"I could kiss you."

As soon as the words left his mouth, time slowed to an excruciating crawl.

From the wide-eyed amazement on Peggy's face, he knew she was not up to the task of witty downplay. But for the life of him, he could not think of what to say to return them to their status quo.

He could not take back the words, and to be honest, he did not want to. It was almost a relief that it was out there.

Almost, if not for the fact that Peggy Carter had his heart in her bone-crushing capable hands.

When he thought he could not take it anymore, two words left her beautiful crimson lips – two words that had never sounded better in her crisp British accent.

"You should."

~A~

Time sped up, in a halting sort of way after that.

One moment, Jack is anxiously searching her face with those deep blues of his and holding that file.

And the next, the file is on the table, and he is invading her space. His eyes still locked with hers, one hand gently cradling her face, and the other hovering protectively in front of his crotch (to guard against any knee-jerking of hers, she supposed.)

His lips descended upon hers in a slow gentle tentative caress at first.

But then, when she didn't resist, he gained confidence and…

And heat began to suffuse and flood her body, especially where he touched her. Heat radiated from where his hand cradled her face and where the other now rested gently on her hip. It radiated from his chest as it pressed up against her. It sparked from where his lips masterfully slid across hers.

There were no fireworks, like those so frequently depicted by this town's cinematic industry.

But in her gut there was a roaring crackling fire, like the kind that had warmed her home on many a cold wintry day growing up.

She hadn't realized how cold she had been before this moment.

But now that she wasn't, she wanted more.

~A~

His Marge tasted divine. Better than he had ever dreamed.

It was all he could do not to devour her before she woke up from whatever spell she was under, and he needed to resign himself to unrequited love once again. So he took it slow to draw out the moment as long as he could. And it was glorious.

He did eventually however have to breathe.

It was when he pulled back though that she awakened and became the partner that he knew.

Her hands fisted into his shirt and he prepared himself to be tossed across the room, as she was so fond of doing in their sparring sessions.

But instead, she yanked him closer and took the lead in their dance.

And he let her, opportunistic man that he was.

~A~

When their kiss finally ended, it was on her terms.

She drew back and gently pushed him away, straightened her clothes, and without looking him directly in the eye, she briskly stated, "If that meant what I think it means, meet me in front of Jorgensen's 'manna from heaven' bakery at 20:00 tomorrow."

And then she spun on her heels and strode out his front door, leaving him staring stupidly after her.

~A~

He of course went.

She was wearing that caramel and black cocktail dress from when they were 'Mr. and Mrs. Baer', and it made him wish that they were 'Mr. and Mrs.' something else right now.

When she saw him, her eyes lit up and she quit nervously nibbling her lip to smile warmly at him.

As soon as he drew up next to her, she graciously accepted his single scarlet rose, before looping her arm through his to lead him a few blocks away to a rooftop, where Chinese takeout was laid out picnic style and a talented saxophone player could be heard from the street below.

Afterwards, he generously tipped the talented bum as he walked Peggy home. It was an act, which (he thinks) earned him one helluva kiss goodnight, and perhaps, a second date.


A/N: I hope it was worth the wait ; )