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"Daddy?"
"Yeah?" Steve responded.
"Daaaaaaaaddyyyy." Anna called again, clearly not excepting Steve's one word answer.
"I'm coming I'm coming." Steve smiled, standing up off the couch and walking across the room to where Anna was standing in front of a large shelf.
"What are these?" Anna held up one of the many large cardboard sleeves resting on the shelf. Steve chuckled, kneeling down beside his daughter.
"Those are records. And I really am old."
"What?"
"Nothing." Steve took the record from Anna's hands. He pulled the record half way out of its sleeve and showed Anna.
"What does it do?" Anna asked, running her fingers across the record's ridges.
""You play music with these-"
"Like an iPod?" Anna's eyebrows raised.
"Kind of, yeah." Steve put the record back and shrugged. "But these aren't as popular as an iPod is."
"Why not?" Anna frowned behind her large oxygen mask. "These are cool!"
"Well you can listen to iPods everywhere." Steve stood up. He picked up Anna and carried her and the record to the old record player sitting in the corner. "You can only listen to records on these machines."
"Oh." Anna said as Steve gently set her down. "How come we have one?"
"Well this is from when I when I was growing up." Steve said, sliding the record out of it's sleeve. Anna giggled.
"Did the dinosaurs have these too?" She smirked.
"You've been spending too much time with Tony." Steve loaded the record onto the record player.
"Mommy and Pepper said that too." Anna nodded as Steve turned the record player on. "Oooh!." Anna watched Steve move the needle towards the record. "What're you doing?"
"This is how you get the music to play-"
"STOP!" Anna grabbed Steve's hand quickly.
"What?" Steve put the needle back into place away from the record. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah I just... I wanna do it!" Anna whined.
"Okay." Steve let Anna start to slide the needle. "Careful." He warned.
"I got it." Anna said confidently. Her confidence was followed by a loud screeching sound. Steve frantically pulled the needle off the record, muttering a swear that made Anna gasp.
"Sorry." Steve said quickly.
"It's okay. I'm used to hearing it from Clint. " Anna shrugged. "I won't tell mommy or Pepper. "
"Thank you." Steve lightly moved the needle back onto the record. "Those two would have my hide. And... remind me to talk to Clint about swearing in front of you."
"Okay." Anna nodded. Anna's eyes widened as music began to play. She clapped excitedly. "That's so cooool!"
"Yeah?" Steve smiled brightly.
"Yeah!" Anna nodded.
"I'm glad you think so." Steve sat down on the ground, tickling Anna's stomach. She giggled, sliding her oxygen backpack off and sitting in Steve's lap. "...what now?"
"Huh?" Steve looked down at his daughter confusedly.
"The music's playing... Now what do we do?"
"Well... Sometimes people would just sit and listen-"
"That sounds boring." Anna shook her head.
Steve laughed, briefly tickling Anna again. "And sometimes people would dance-"
"Oh!" Anna stood up carefully, realizing her crutches were across the room. "Let's do that!"
"You wanna dance?" Steve raised his eyebrows. "Do you know how to dance?"
"No… Can you show me how?"
"…I can try" Steve stood up, shrugging. He helped Anna slide her backpack on and stood in front of her.
"Umm. I can't each your shoulder." Anna pointed.
"That's alright-"
"Here." Anna stepped forward, standing on Steve's feet to boost herself up a couple inches.
"That'll work." Steve nodded, trying not to laugh. Anna frowned.
"It's your fault I'm short!" She pouted. "Mommy said you were like a 'extra small hobbit' before you got all big and strong."
"Did she now?" Steve grinned. "Do you even know what a hobbit is?"
"No… But it doesn't matter. It's still your fault." Anna pouted.
"Well I'm sorry for any inconveniences I may have caused you." Steve joked. His smile faded slowly. He really did feel like it was all his fault Anna was so frail. "Okay… How about you put your hand here on my arm. That's it."
"Don't let me fall." Anna said nervously. She gripped Steve's sleeve tightly as Steve rested his hand on her back for extra support.
"I won't. I promise."
"Now what?" Anna looked up at her father. "I hold your hand right?" Anna grabbed Steve's hand, putting his hand above hers.
"Yes you do." Steve smiled. "But, most times the boy's hand goes on the bottom." He said, letting go for a moment so he could reposition their hands.
"Why?"
"I don't know… actually." Steve said. He shrugged.
"What do we do with our feet?" Anna tapped her toes lightly.
"Well you don't have to do anything Miss 'Dad's-feet-are-stepping-stools." Steve tapped his toes as well, making Anna bounce lightly. She laughed. Steve stepped back and forth to the music, letting Anna continue to balance on his feet. "Voila. You, young lady, are dancing."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"It's not that hard."
"I'm the one doing all the work." Steve said playfully. "But this is a really simple dance."
"Do you like to dance?"
"Aren't you full of questions today?" Steve smiled. "Yeah… I mean. I'm not very good at it-"
"That's okay. I'm not either." Anna whispered, winking. Steve laughed.
"I think you're pretty good " He whispered back.
"Nope." Anna shook her head.
"Why are we whispering?"
"Cause the bad guys might hear us." Anna whispered as though it was obvious.
"Ah. The bad guys. Got it." Steve whispered, nodding. For the past few weeks Anna had been playing spies with Clint whenever he was home. It was hard to tell when Anna wasn't playing the game. "What do the bad guys look like?"
"They're fat and have gross teeth. And they smell like cigars. Blech." Anna said, pretending to gag. She looked around before whispering. "They work for HYDRA."
"They do?" Steve raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. That's how we know they're really bad."
"As opposed to not bad bad guys?"
"Uh huh." Anna nodded.
"What are they planning?" Steve asked, slowly turning himself and Anna as they continued to dance.
"They want to assasserate Santa Claus." Anna whispered.
"They do? Not Santa Claus!" Steve said, ignoring Anna's mispronunciation of 'assassinate'.
"Yeah!" Anna nodded again. "They want to take over the North Pole so they can give everybody coal."
"That sounds like something they would do." Steve nodded. "Speaking of christmas… Do you know what you want this year? It's only a few weeks away you know."
"Oh yeah…" Anna said, thinking. "Oh oh oh! When me and Pepper were at the store I saw a box of like a bizillion colored pencils!"
"A bizillion? Really? That's so cool!"
"I know! There were so many colors! Can I get one of those? I want it soooo bad!" Anna said excitedly.
"You'll have to put it in your letter to Santa." Steve said, making a mental note to ask Pepper what store Anna saw the box in. "So… how are we gonna beat the HYDRA agents before they get to the North Pole?"
"Daaaaaddy. We're not playing anymooore." Anna rolled her eyes.
"Oh, sorry I forgot. So… Why do you want the colored pencils so bad?" Steve said imitating Anna.
"Well, you like art a whole lot so I wanna try it too." Anna said shrugging. Steve grinned with a strange sense of pride. "You and Mommy said I can draw pretty good."
"You can." Steve nodded, thinking of Anna's many crayon drawings on the fridge.
"Since you taught me how to dance can you teach me some stuff about drawing too?" Anna asked.
"Of course." Steve said. "Speaking of dancing lessons I wanna try something."
Steve lightly lifted Anna off of his feet and back onto the floor. She looked at him nervously as her legs started to shake from standing on her own. Steve held her hands and smiled reassuringly. She smiled back. "Just follow what I do." He said.
"Okay." Steve spun his arms, twirling Anna around carefully. She laughed as he placed her back onto his feet. "Do it again!"
"You sure?" Steve said, laughing as well.
"Yeah!" Steve spun Anna a little faster.
"Again!"
"Okay, one more time." Steve spun Anna and lifted her up carefully dipping her slightly. The little girl giggled loudly before erupting in a coughing fit. Steve straightened Anna quickly, holding her. "You okay?" He asked, slightly panicked.
"Yeah." Anna said between coughs. "Just tired."
"Do you want to stop dancing?" Steve asked, double checking her oxygen mask was on properly.
"No." Anna shook her head as she started to breath normally again. She rested her head on Steve's shoulder, wrapping her arms around his neck. He stood still, unsure if he should take Anna to Bruce to make sure her oxygen tank was working properly. Many other worried thoughts also ran through his mind. "I'm fine Daddy." Anna said, knowing how worried Steve could be.
"Maybe we should-"
"Keep dancing?" Anna cut him off. Steve sighed, chuckling softly. Anna was the same as he was when he was small. Always playing off any problems she had so she wouldn't inconvenience others. She lifted her head up and looked and Steve with a smile. "Please? I'm okay, Daddy. I pinky promise." She held out her hand, pinky extended.
"Pinky swear?" Steve smiled
"MmHmm." Anna nodded. Steve carefully shifted Anna to carry her with one arm and joined pinkies with her.
"Okay." Steve said. "Pinky swear promise."
"This song is pretty." Anna said as Steve put his hand on her back. She rested her head on his shoulder again and Steve started to sway softly to the music. Anna yawned loudly and Steve knew she wasn't far from falling asleep. It was almost her nap time anyway.
"Yeah it is." Steve nodded. He smiled and kissed Anna's head softly.
Natasha stepped into the apartment with a sigh. Her 2 day mission had been long and tiring. Sliding out of her shoes she yawned, raising her eyebrow at the sound of old music playing. Walking into the living room she smiled when she saw Steve facing away from her. She stopped and stepped back, planning to jump out and scare him when he turned around.
She stood up straight when she saw Steve was rocking back and forth to the music. He turned slightly and Natasha smiled brightly when she saw the half-asleep Anna in his arms. She pulled out her phone and snapped a picture. Steve turned when the flash went off.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt you." Natasha said, putting her phone away.
"It's alright." Steve said as Natasha crossed the room. He gently shifted Anna so that he could kiss Natasha.
"Ew." Anna said with a loud yawn.
"How was your mission?" Steve asked quietly.
"Long and boring." Natasha said, taking off her coat. "I see you've got yourself a rather gorgeous date this evening."
"What can I say? Blondes sure are adorable."
"Yes they are." Natasha ruffled Steve's hair before flicking him on the nose. "So tell me. Was she a better dancer than you were the first time?"
"Way better."
"Better dancer than me?" Natasha kissed Anna's cheek affectionately.
"Oh yeah, way better." Steve smirked.
"Well. Good to know I've been replaced."
"Yep. The 4 year old wins."
"She's almost 5, naturally she becomes Alpha at 5."
"Naturally. I'll help you move your stuff out in the morning."
"We had a a few good years." Natasha nodded, resting on hand on Steve's shoulder, the other over Anna's backpack to join their dance. "It's just understandable."
"You guys are weird." Anna mumbled.
"Yep." Steve nodded. "But you love us anyway."
"Mmmhmm."
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