"Alright, I'm not really sure where to start," Bruce said, tugging at his collar. "What year was it for you, again? Two days ago, that is."
"1945," Peggy responded.
"I guess we could watch a series of documentaries, one for each decade?" Sam suggested.
"BBC documentaries run about an hour and a half each, times seven and a half-ish decades, does she have ten and a half hours to spare?" Steve asked. "Unless there's no documentary for the 2010s yet, in which case, nine hours, give or take."
"I mean, she's not doing anything," Clint offered.
"Are you going to watch them all at once?" a small voice questioned from the couch.
Bruce shrugged. "I don't know, maybe, Morgan. Why?"
The littlest Stark set aside her Barbies. "Mommy says you can't watch that much TV at once."
"What did Daddy say?" Bucky asked.
"Daddy and I watched all of Star Wars at once when Mommy was on a business trip." She turned to Peter, who sat holding a Ken doll in one hand and a plastic dog in the other. "Don't tell Mommy, Peter."
He held out his pinkie, "I promise."
"Tony would have us see us and raise him," Steve commented.
"So…are we going to really watch nine hours of television? In one day?" Peggy questioned, slightly daunted.
"Let's just go until you've absorbed enough information for the day," Bruce lumbered over to what Peggy assumed would be playing the film.
Five hours later, the crew had made it to 1995. Sam was stretched out in a chair, fast asleep, Bruce lounging in a Hulk-sized recliner, Clint had gone home for dinner with his family, Morgan and Peter had left after about five minutes to continue their Barbies. Steve, Bucky, and Peggy all sat forward, watching intently.
"Did you watch any of this when you came to this century?"
Steve nodded, "yeah, Nick Fury had me watch these to get me caught up. I ran into Times Square-which was a big mistake-and basically had immersion therapy before I knew what was happening."
"Have I met him?" Peggy asked
Bucky shook his head, "nah, you'd remember."
She paused. "Is he dead?"
Both men answered at the same time with opposing answers. "No one really knows for sure," Steve concluded.
Raising her eyebrows, Peggy studied the screen, learning about the cultural significance of a television show called 'Friends'. "I suppose anything's possible in this day and age. They even eradicated polio."
"Yeah, that was a perk," Steve commented.
"Well, as great as this was, and it was," Sam said sarcastically, rousing himself. "I would've rather watched Star Wars."
"Only the original trilogy," Morgan suddenly sidling into the TV room.
"You don't like Natalie Portman?" Sam asked, offended.
"Daddy said the original trilogy was the best; we're not supposed to talk about the prequels."
"Tomorrow," Bruce stated, taking the responsible adult role that was becoming necessary, "or whenever we finish all these documentaries, we can start Star Wars."
"Do you think we could go sightseeing, as well?" Peggy asked, straightening up.
"Peg, New York doesn't look the way it did when you last saw it," Bucky cautioned.
"Well that much is evident, and I'll have to see it eventually-you can't keep me cooped up in here forever. I should like to see it, if we could."
Steve bit the inside of his lip, remembering his shock when he saw Brooklyn again for the first time after the ice. Almost everything he knew was gone; it broke his heart. But New York wasn't home to Peggy the way England was, so maybe she wouldn't be quite as thrown off. Besides, it would be a good chance to spend more time with her…
He kicked himself mentally. It's up to her, she didn't ask for this, he reminded himself. "Alright, how about we finish the documentaries, and then do sightseeing. Sound good?"
Peggy nodded. "I like it."
/
Peggy flexed her feet, which were starting to get sore in the thin grey tennis shoes Jarvis had picked out for her. He had remarkably romantic taste, selecting a wide variety of rather feminine dresses for her, wearing a sunny yellow one today that Pepper had genuinely pronounced "lovely". They'd gone everywhere, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art; having extended strength and stamina from the serum certainly came in handy today. Peggy silently sent her thanks to Dr. Erskine. She swallowed, her ears popping as the elevator of the Empire State Building made its way up. She'd been thrilled to hear it still stood in the city, and even more excited when Sam mentioned the observation deck.
"Are you sure you want to go all the way up? It's over a hundred stories," Steve mentioned, his brow furrowing.
She nodded, determined. "Of course."
"You don't have to, Peggy," Bucky mentioned. "Sam, Steve and I will, obviously, but you're not used to being up so high. You could always stay on the ground if you get scared halfway up." He smiled smugly, especially when Steve elbowed him in the back. Both men knew that Peggy wouldn't back down from an implied dare, especially when her pride was on the line.
But now she was in the elevator, chewing the gum Sam offered her, watching as the digital red letters climbed higher and higher. "It amazes me that the elevator doesn't need a crank," she whispered to Steve so as not to alert the other passengers.
"I know! It's all electric," he responded with an enthusiasm that never ceased. The elevator slowed to a stop, chiming when it settled with a slight bump.
"One hundred and third floor," a female voice said calmly over the speaker, causing Peggy to jump.
"Not an actual person, just a pre-recorded voice," Steve clarified.
Nodding, she stepped out onto the carpeted floor, gasping at the brightly lit room. It was all sunshine from the windows looking down at the streets below.
The streets below.
"Hey, Peg, look! All the people look like ants down there! Take a look!" Bucky had his nose pressed against the glass like a child.
Standing about a foot behind him, she stood on her tiptoes and looked at the windows of the buildings opposite her, rather than at the sight of the people down on the sidewalk beneath her feet. "Such a view, isn't it?" Peggy commented smoothly, with a practiced even tone.
"Anyone want to go on the platform?" Sam asked, eyeing the door where an attendant was letting on a few people at a time so as not to crowd the space. Several people bent dangerously over the rail, others using rotating binoculars to see the city around them.
"You coming?" Bucky asked, following Sam to the doors.
Peggy folded her red lips together, her stomach churning at the thought.
"You don't have to," Steve whispered in her ear. "He's just picking on you."
She took a deep breath. "I'm a strong Englishwoman; I'll go on. Will you be coming as well?" she asked as casually as possible.
He nodded, "alright." Steve cleared his throat, "if you want I could…um…well, that is, if you'd like…"
Peggy raised her eyebrows, expecting a complete sentence.
"Nevermind."
"Next four, please," the attendant said as a family got off the platform.
Steve watched Peggy raise her chin, roll her shoulders back, and step forward. He knew she was scared, but didn't mention it. The breeze lifted her deep brown curls around her neck, reminding Steve of a princess in one of Morgan's movies.
Peggy glanced up at Steve, who was studying her with puppy dog eyes. "What?"
He shook his head, "nothing. We can put a quarter in the binoculars if you want to see further."
Peggy balked. "A quarter?"
Bucky brushed by. "Inflation. Really, that's inexpensive these days."
"Want to?" Steve asked.
She folded her lips together again. "If we go to the binoculars, I have to walk farther onto the platform."
Silently, Steve offered her his hand, palm up. Not opening his mouth saved him from any embarrassment. Gratefully, she accepted, making his heart skip. Turning her head as if to look around, Peggy hid the blush rising to her cheeks; she felt sixteen again. Steve fed the machine, helping Peggy stand on the first round rung.
"I'll only feed Bucky's fire if I slip," she said as she tried to steady herself on the sides of the binoculars.
"I could…hold on to you?" Steve offered sheepishly.
Peggy nodded, not seeing his bashful face as she leaned toward the eye pieces. "Thank you."
Tentatively, he placed his large hands on her slim waist. Really, he'd kissed her, he'd hugged her when he saw her again in the Stark house, this wasn't shocking. But still, where they were from…
"Oh!" Peggy cried.
"Sorry!" Steve chirped quickly, instantly drawing his hands away.
"It's beautiful! You can see so much!"
"Oh…yeah…" Steve sighed, relieved, gently placing his hands on her waist again.
"He's got his hands on her waist," Sam commented to Bucky from where he was watching from the couple's left.
"No way!"
"It's not that big a deal, Buck."
"Please, it's Steve, and it is where he comes from."
Sam squinted, "he should kiss her."
"He won't."
"I'm just saying he should. We're on top of the Empire State Building, it's a beautiful day, they've had a great date-"
"Does it qualify as a date if we're here?"
"Where you're from, do they not have chaperones?" Sam joked.
Bucky sent him a glare, "what is this, junior high? Are they 'going together'?"
"I want to be mindful of your culture."
Biting his tongue, Bucky went back to watching Steve and Peggy. Make a move, he thought, hoping Sam's thoughts would come to fruition.
Peggy sighed as the binoculars went dark. "I'm sorry I didn't give you a look, I think our time has run out."
Steve shook his head, having rather enjoyed his own view of his love. "It's alright, I've been here before." She turned to step down, stopping when Steve gallantly lifted her effortlessly to the ground. He hesitated, then shot forward, barely grazing her cheek with his lips. Steve's face burned red. "I…it just seemed…sorry…I should've-"
Peggy cut him off with a matching kiss on his cheek, her face as red as her lipstick.
He smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Thanks, I guess."
"You're welcome."
"Oh my God," Sam said. The pair had migrated to the gift shop, where they still had a full view of Cap and his girl.
"What?" Bucky snapped from the other side of a carousel of Christmas ornaments, picking off three magnets that Sam had stuck to his metal arm.
"He kissed her."
"No!"
"I mean, it was on the cheek."
"Good enough."
"She kissed him back?"
"On the cheek."
"We can work with that."
Sam's eyes shifted to Bucky. "Are we matchmakers now?"
"They won't figure it out on their own."
"They're coming!" Sam hissed, turning his attention to a rack of postcards, pretending to go through them nonchalantly.
"Hello," Steve greeted casually, about a foot between him and Peggy.
"Hey," Bucky said with a forced calmness. "How was it?"
Peggy smiled. "I loved it! I could see so far, and the view was spectacular."
"Are you getting a postcard, Sam?"
Startled, Sam struggled for an answer. "I um…just like the pictures."
Bucky rolled his eyes behind Steve and Peggy. "So, anyone hungry? We should probably get back to the house. Start Star Wars tonight?"
"About that, I've been out of my apartment long enough, I should pack up my stuff and get back there tomorrow."
Peggy's face fell. "Oh, I didn't realize you lived elsewhere."
"Yeah, out in Brooklyn, nearby where I used to live. It's close to the cemetery, so I can keep maintenance for my parents. And I don't want to overstay my welcome, Pep's got enough going on right now, she shouldn't have to worry about being a hostess."
"I guess…we should get back then," Peggy said as cheerfully as possible. The pair turned, heading back toward the elevator.
Sam glanced at Bucky. "Just a bump," he clarified.