Christmas 1944 and the Howling Commandos decide to have a secret Santa to exchange gifts. I wrote this fanfiction for a Steggy secret Santa exchange on tumblr, I wrote for bearholdingashark. Merry (Late) Christmas!

December 20th, 1944; London SSR HQ

Peggy Carter looked up as she heard Bucky Barnes and Morita talking outside in the passageway. The Howling Commandos had flown in the night before. "How long until their next mission?" Peggy asked, looking over at Phillips.

"However long as it takes for them to get clearance from medical," Phillips replied. "Jones, Dernier and Sawyer are injured, and most of them are sick."

Peggy nodded sympathetically. She could hear one of Commandos coughing from the other room. She winced at the violent hacking. Her lungs hurt just hearing it. She would bet more than one of them had walking pneumonia.

"Rogers has to review his fan mail anyway," Phillips groused. "God only knows how long that's going to take." Somehow an address had gotten out for where to send Captain America his fan mail. Even though he was no longer performing, people still wrote letters and sent packages. They'd hired a few young ladies to go through the mail to collect and distribute everything, but there was still a backlog.

"Colonel Phillips," Peggy felt her heart skip a beat as Captain Rogers approached the both of them. "You said there was a backlog of my fan mail?" Peggy flushed at the sight of Steve in his uniform. Honestly Peggy, you act like he's the first man to look good in a uniform, she chastised herself.

"Two doors that way, and to your right," Phillips pointed in the direction he spoke of.

"Thank you." As Steve turned, he noticed Peggy. Steve smiled and quietly spoke, "Agent Carter."

"Captain Rogers, it's good to see you," Peggy greeted warmly.

"Good to see you too." For a moment, Steve started to say something else, but at the last minute he turned away and walked toward the mail room.

An hour later Dugan came into the main office. "Since we're going to be here for Christmas, we're putting our names in for a Secret Santa; want to join, Agent Carter? Colonel Phillips?"

"Not me, no." Phillips declined, returning his attention to the papers on his desk.

"I'd love to." Peggy volunteered. "When are we exchanging gifts?"

"Christmas day," Dugan said. "I'll be by later to let you pick a name out of my hat." He left a file on the table and left the room.

Peggy stood, stretched. She'd been sitting most of the morning, and needed a break. Her tea cup was nearly empty, so she started to make her way to the mess hall to top it up. She slowed when she walked past the mail room. "Now, we've collected a few other things we're not sure what to do with," a woman's voice informed, tinged with just a touch of maiden in distress.

"What things?" Captain Rogers asked. Peggy stopped completely. She wasn't sure she liked Private Joan's tone of voice. She'd overheard Private Joan that morning making a crass comment about getting Steve out of his uniform.

"We...ell…..." Another lady, Private Olive drew out the word.

One of Peggy's eyebrows arched.

"We collected them all into this box." Private Joan easily pulled out a box from under a table. "We were hoping you could tell us if you wanted us to have them or if you wanted to keep some. Maybe to give to a special girl?"

"I don't have a girl..." Steve was in the middle of signing something and didn't look into the box as he reached over and pulled out a pair of very lacy knickers. Once he saw what he was holding, Steve dropped it as though it had burned him. "Oh…." His cheeks turned pink and the ladies tittered in amusement at his embarrassment.

Peggy's temper flared. Although Steve was smart and had made strides in not completely embarrassing himself in front of women, he was still rather naive. From the gleam in Private Joan's eyes, it was obvious to Peggy that the Private was doing this on purpose. Joan took a few steps forward and Peggy did so as well. "How is the mail sorting?" Everyone jumped in surprise. They were not expecting to be interrupted. "Ladies? Captain Rogers?"

"I...ummm." Steve flushed an even deeper shade of pink. "The ladies were just..." He tried to discreetly toss the knickers back into the box, but hit the box with his hand instead and it tumbled to the ground. Various items of lace and silk spilled out. "They're not mine. I'm not… They're not..."

Peggy turned to Private Joan. "I thought you'd read the manifest that listed what Captain Rogers wanted you to keep from his fan mail."

"I did." Private Joan forced a smile at her superior.

"So did I, and I happen to remember that nowhere on that manifest were ladies knickers and garters listed," Peggy said, "so why are they here? You were supposed to have gotten rid of them."

"Since it wasn't on the manifest..." Private Joan said. "We weren't sure if he would want them. We figured we should double check."

Peggy's lips pursed, disbelieving the excuse.

"I don't," Steve interjected. "I don't need them; do whatever you want with them."

"Well if you don't want them Captain Rogers, I suppose we'll keep them." Private Joan turned to Peggy "You can have first pick, Agent Carter."

"Thank you, no," Peggy said curtly. "I don't need to pick through a box of discarded knickers."

Peggy turned and left the mail room. Dum Dum approached her in the mess hall and held out his bowler hat. "Your turn to pick, Peggy," he said cheerily.

Peggy reached in and grabbed the only slip of paper in the hat. Steve. "Thank you, Dum Dum. You said that the gift exchange will be on Monday?" she asked.

"Yes," He paused to cough. "Just find your pick on Monday and give him the gift."

Peggy pressed her cup of tea into his hands. "You need something warm, I'll get another cup."

"Thanks, Peggy."

Peggy got herself another cup of tea and went back to her desk. She had a fresh stack of papers that needed to be signed. As she was finishing that up, Steve returned from the mailroom and approached her.

"May I sit here?" He gestured to the seat next to her desk. "I need a break from the ladies."

"Go ahead," Peggy invited. "Joan and Olive can be a bit much," she empathized.

"When did they start sorting my mail?" Steve inquired. "How long ago, I mean."

"Several months, I think. I seem to remember they came over during the summer." She shuffled a few papers around. "Why?"

"I was expecting a lot more personal mail." Steve's brow furrowed. "I made sure I listed both names and addresses on the manifest for the items to keep, but I've only received a few letters and no packages. After I took the serum Mrs. Barnes promised to keep me in new hats and socks. The last letter I got from her promised another pair of socks-four months ago. It doesn't take her that long to finish knitting."

"Maybe it's been misplaced? It seemed as though there was a lot of mail in there."

"Finished with your fan mail already?" Colonel Phillips asked, walking by.

"Not exactly." Steve set his tea cup down and stood at attention. "I'm wondering if Privates Joan and Olive have done much work at all. Even with a lot of letters and packages coming in, I feel like there should be less of a backlog. I just wanted to take a break for a moment, I'll go back in and continue to work on it." With a nod, Steve did an about-face and headed back to the mailroom.

Lunch time arrived and Peggy had a quick bite in the mess hall. As she was returning to the office, she nearly ran into Steve who was taking two boxes to the barracks where the Howling Commandos were berthed.

"What's all this, Captain?" Peggy asked.

"I get a lot of packages with clothes in it. Hats and sweaters and stuff. We'll be going into Poland next, so I want to make sure the men have enough clothes to stay warm."

"I'm surprised there's not more than just these boxes." Peggy said.

"There's actually two more, but I can't carry more than this and see." Steve gave a shrug and walked away.

Peggy went to the mail room, it was obvious which boxes Steve had been talking about and she grabbed both of them.

"I'm surprised you didn't jump at the chance for some new knickers," Private Joan spoke from the corner. "It's obvious that you and Rogers are shagging. It would have been nice for you to have a new garter to show off." She used the British slang with an over-exaggerated accent.

"Good day, ladies," Peggy responded coolly, grabbed a box, before turning on her heel.

Colonel Phillips stepped into the room and looked around. "Captain Rogers was right, you haven't..." He stopped as he saw the box of knickers. "What's that?" His tone grew flat.

Peggy slipped out of the mailroom while Private Joan attempted to stammer out an explanation. Peggy slowed as she came to the door of the makeshift barracks they'd set up to house the Commandos. From a distance she could hear Bucky and Steve talking.

"Why would they send me their underclothing?" Steve asked stupidly. "I'm a man, I don't wear it."

Barnes laughed. "That's not why they send you their underwear, Steve. Please tell me you kept at least one."

"No." Steve retorted. He mumbled something and Barnes leaned forward.

Barnes shook his head. "We know you're sweet on Carter, Steve, you're about as subtle as a train wreck. Were there nylons in the box? Maybe you could give them to her; I bet she'd figure out a way to thank you….."

"I'm not giving her nylons!" Steve sounded offended. "That's an intimate gift, and we're not…."

Peggy blushed knowing full well that she shouldn't be eavesdropping in on a private conversation. She knew about Captain Rogers' crush. Barnes was right, Steve wasn't subtle. But he hadn't acted on the feelings and he treated her like she was a capable agent. She appreciated that. If he was still interested, she fully intended to accept a dance (or more) after the war, but she had worked hard to get where she was; the last thing she wanted to do was jeopardize it by fraternizing with Steve, or making the higher ups think she was fraternizing.

Dum Dum appeared at the end of the hall. Peggy cleared her throat and knocked on the door jam. "Delivery of winter clothes." she said cheerfully.

"Thanks for bringing it." Steve jumped up and took the boxes. "I was about to go back to the mailroom…."

"Private's Joan and Olive weren't able to get rid of the box of knickers before Phillips saw it," Peggy informed. She gave a wry smile. "I'm giving the mail room a wide berth at the moment."

"I would as well." Steve agreed.

"Did you get the package from my mom?" Bucky asked Steve. "She said she's mailed you three pairs of socks already."

"The last thing I got from your mom was back in August. Just a letter, though. I figured she was busy knitting for her son."

"That's why she sent you socks, dummy." Bucky threw his pillow. "You're her son just as much as I am. Even if she didn't birth you."

"I haven't heard from Becca since July." Steve caught the pillow and put it on his bed. "And Mrs. Evans never responded to my last letter either."

The fact that Steve had had trouble getting his mail ever since Private Joan had been stationed in the mail room made Peggy suspicious. She abruptly turned and left the barracks.

Dum Dum looked around and then held out his bowler hat. "Last pick for Secret Santa." Steve reached out and picked up the only piece of paper in the hat.

"Of course I picked Agent Carter." Steve crumpled the paper in his hand and groaned.

"Now I bet you really regret tossing the knickers." Bucky joked.

"It would be incredibly inappropriate for me to gift her underclothes." Steve said. "I'll just find something from a package, after all, a lot of people have sent me chocolate." He gestured to the boxes. "Feel free to go through the clothes, I don't need all of them. We're going into Poland next, take extra to stay warm."

With that, he left the barracks. Dum Dum and Bucky looked at each other. "You made sure she picked Steve?" Bucky asked, once the coast was clear.

Dum Dum grinned broadly. "Yeah. Same trick I pulled with Cap, I made sure his name was the only one in the hat and approached her when she was alone so she wouldn't know that I'd messed with the secret Santa draw."

Peggy got back to the mail room just as Phillips was ordering Private's Joan and Olive for KP duty for the foreseeable future.

"How long have you been working in the mail room?" Phillips asked the new face . Peggy recognized her as new recruit Lavinia.

"Just last week, Colonel." Peggy answered. Lavinia was barely eighteen. Her only accomplishments were following Joan and Olive's orders. "If you can spare me and her, I'll see if I can make some sense out of this mess."

"I'll see if I can spare anyone else." Phillips groused. "Until then you're on postal duty."

"Yes, sir." Peggy said. Phillips left and Peggy surveyed the mail room with a careful eye. "Where's the manifest?"

"I don't know. Joan and Olive never let me see it."

Peggy sighed heavily, went to her desk, riffled through one of the drawers and came back with a file. "This is a copy of the manifest..."

Steve poked his head into the room. "Is it safe?" he asked the pair.

"From Phillips? Yes. From me, not quite. I'm on mailroom duty until we can get a few more ladies in here." Peggy rolled her eyes.

Steve stepped into the room. "I'll be happy to help as long as I'm on leave."

Together, the three of them made some sense of the mail room before dinner. They still hadn't found the letters from Mrs. Barnes, nor the packages, and it greatly distressed Peggy. Had Private Joan really thrown out Steve's packages and personal letters? And why?

The trio made their way to the mess hall, Lavinia went to go sit with her friends but Peggy and Steve sat next to each other at an empty table near the kitchen.

"Uggh, that prissy English bitch." Peggy and Steve both stopped eating when they recognized Private Joan's voice behind a closed door. "It's her fault we're on KP duty."

"It's not like we were going to keep his letters, just comfort him while he looked and then he'd want to thank us for finding his personal mail," Olive whined.

"Us?" Joan asked. "Me. Phillips took my key, so I can't go in to the mail room to get the letters. Someone will find it," Joan retorted defensively.

Peggy and Steve locked eyes. The letters and packages were somewhere in the mail room. As one, they pushed their plates away and stood.