Swing Dancing and Storytelling

Every Friday night at 7:30 Steve Rogers would disappear like clockwork. At first the other Avengers didn't really pay much attention to the phenomenon, passing it off as a coincidence and not worth investigating. However, after Steve turned down Tony's incredibly persistent request to marathon Star Wars, Tony, and the rest of the Avengers by proxy, could no longer ignore this odd behavior.

Unfortunately for Tony, the following Friday the team was called out on a mission, and 7:30 that night was spent half-frozen in an underground research facility in Russia. Whether Cap's ornery mood was due to the cold or missing out on his usual Friday night activity was still under debate.

The next week found them all enjoying a lazy day in the newly named Avenger's Tower. Tony was lounging on his favorite couch in the common room fiddling with a Stark-Phone he was trying to upgrade while discussing his current projects with Bruce. Bruce was in the connected kitchen where he had just started cooking dinner for the team. Apparently cooking could be quite therapeutic, and after many years of moving from place to place around the world, he was like a living cookbook of cultural dishes. When he found out that Thor had a very narrow taste of the food of Midgard, Bruce made it his personal mission to cook something new for him to try at least once each week.

While waiting for dinner, Thor was discussing the advantages and disadvantages of stealth attacks with Natasha. Clint, sitting opposite to them, butt-in to tell the story of the first time he saw Thor and how well that "stealth" mission had gone.

The casual atmosphere was disrupted as Steve entered the room. He looked rather dapper in a nice pair of slacks and a light-blue, button-down shirt. "Spangles!" Tony exclaimed jubilantly, "You're just in time for dinner! Indian, I think. Right Bruce?"

Bruce nodded as he stirred, "Curry."

"Um actually," Steve rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly at being caught, "I sort of already have plans for tonight. Besides, I ate earlier." He said dismissively. "Thank you for the offer though." Without another word he dashed through the room, grabbed his jacket, and was gone before Tony could voice his protests.

"Well that was weird." Clint remarked. Tony glanced at his watch.

"7:30, of freaking course." He mumbled under his breath before speaking louder. "That's it!" Everyone turned to look at him in surprise. "I have tried to leave it alone, but enough is enough." Tony stood up waving his hands dramatically. "Jarvis."

"Yes sir."
"Activate his tracker."

"Right away sir. Tracker activated. Sending information to your phone now." A light blue hologram map popped up on Tony's phone with a very patriotic looking eagle icon moving steadily away from the tower.

"You put a tracker on Captain America?" Clint shook his head in disbelief. "There's a special place in hell for people like you Stark." In fact, he had put a tracker in each of their phones. Not that Clint needed to know that. Shame they would never get to see the personalized icons though. Tony was quite proud of those.

"Oh c'mon, like you haven't noticed. You and Nat are spies, paying attention to this kinda stuff is what you do. I know you have realized Steve disappears at the same time every Friday, and I know you want to know why as badly as I do."

"The difference being we know it isn't our business to know." Natasha said.

"Oh cut with the bullshit Natashalie. You can pretend to be Fury's perfect mindless lackey all you want, but we both know nothing and no one can stop you from doing a little research of your own when something is bugging you. I know you want to know what he's been doing." He paused, a mischievous smirk stretching over his face, "Or who he's been doing."

"I hardly think that's any of our business Tony." Bruce spoke up disapprovingly.

"Besides, Steve's like the epitome of old fashioned." Clint remarked. "There is no way he is getting more action than me." He looked around at the blank looks on everyone else's faces. "Right?"

"Well he is certainly attractive enough," Natasha added straight-forwardly "and he is quite a talented kisser for someone his age, but I don't think this has to do with a woman."

Thor nodded his agreement, "The Lady Natasha is right. Were Steve in a committed relationship I am certain he would inform us. He would not hide her away, for there is no honor in that."

"Whoa whoa whoa! Back up a second!" Tony exclaimed, "When did you kiss the Capsicle?!" Natasha gave him a venomous glare that promised nasty things should Tony press her further before replying with a simple,

"Classified."

Tony sighed heavily. So not fair. "Fine, we will revisit that later. In the meantime, Steve," he pointed to the small eagle, "is on the move and I want to find out where he's going. You guys coming or what?" They exchanged glances and after a short pause, Clint spoke up.

"Well you convinced me." He stood. Thor clapped his hands together and stood up as well. "I must admit that I too am most curious about the Captain's whereabouts. I will accompany you on your journey." Natasha stood up next.

"Well I never turn down an opportunity for blackmail. Besides," she smirked, "you boys would be helpless without me." Clint looked as though he were about to say something in protest, but thought better against it and wisely closed his mouth. Everyone looked over at Bruce expectantly. Bruce looked up at the hopeful gazes of his companions down to his unfinished meal and back again. Finally, he gave a defeated sigh.

"Fine." Tony gave a little cheer and Bruce shot a glare at him in response. "But only to keep you all from doing something stupid, or morally ambiguous… or both."

"Aw you know you love us Brucie." Tony said with a grin.

"You are helping me clean this up when we get back Tony." He gestured to the soon to be abandoned mess in the kitchen. "And you're buying pizza."

"Deal." Tony quickly agreed, eager to get moving and already contemplating how to program his robots to do the work for him. He really needed to hire a housekeeper with all of the new residents in the tower. Then again, with the very extensive background checks they would have to go through, not to mention all of the confidentiality agreements and contracts they would have to sign, maybe it would just be easier to build a maid robot.

"Right then, incognito everyone. No costumes, no drawing attention to ourselves. That means you big guy." He moved his attention to Thor and gave him a pointed look.

"How are we planning on following him? Not on foot I assume." Natasha asked.

Tony grinned. "Leave that to me."

"Do I even want to know where you got this van?" Bruce asked. The Avengers were currently occupying a large, very official looking, black van; much like the ones used in spy movies… or by SHIELD. Tony grinned cheekily.

"Let's just say Director Eye-Patch owed me a favor. Besides, I've always wanted a real spy van! It's just not the same when you buy it yourself." He gestured with the hand not on the wheel at all the gadgets around them. "I mean how cool is this?!"

Clint pressed a button near his seat and a Stark Industries holographic map appeared in front of him. "I may have modified it a bit."

"Do you ever sleep?" Clint asked incredulously.

"Only when Pepper makes me." Tony admitted with a wry grin.

They had been driving for about twenty minutes now, and Steve had been stationary for the last ten. At last they pulled up to the location the tracker led. It was a non-descript brick and mortar building downtown. They all piled out of the van and walked toward the building.

"It is a gymnasium?" Thor asked, looking at a poster on the side of the building. Natasha took a closer look.

"It's a dojo." She said. Clint's face scrunched up in annoyance.

"I swear to God Tony if you dragged us all the way out here just to watch Steve play Karate Kid..." But Tony wasn't listening. He was staring off in the distance, an unfocused, glazed look over his eyes. "Stark?"

"Shh." He hissed, holding his finger up in a 'hold on' gesture.

"What are you-" He cut Clint off.

"Shh! Listen." They stopped and looked around listening carefully. Sure enough, over the hustle and bustle of the busy downtown area, soft music could be heard coming from inside the dojo. They exchanged glances and wordlessly decided to investigate. They walked around the building until they found a side door. The music was louder there and sounded upbeat from behind the door, though still not identifiable as a genre.

With one last look at the ragtag group, Tony pushed open the door. It was indeed a dojo, but all of the sparing equipment and dummies had been pushed to one side of the room, leaving a large open space in the center. That space was filled with couples dancing. Swing dancing to be exact, as they would later find out. The men wore clothes similar to Steve's own attire when he left earlier, and the women wore long skirts and dresses in an array of bright colors and fun patterns that twirled out as their partners spun them.

The dance was lively and energetic. The couples moved with a grace and synchronization that could only come from many hours of practice. It was hypnotizing in its beauty, and in the center of it all was Steve. He was dancing with a blonde woman with a red dress and red lips, casually talking with an easy smile on his face as he led her. He was a natural; easily one of the best there.

For a moment they just stood there in the doorway, taking it all in. As shocking as it all was, it was also somehow the most natural thing in the world. Ever since they had known him, Steve didn't quite fit in. He was out of place in this time period; awkward in his 40's charm and old fashioned way of thinking. Here though, he just fit. Despite the makeshift dance hall and the modernization of the couple's outfit, this place was probably the closest Steve could ever get to his own time. His home.

When the song ended, Steve smiled brightly and bowed to the blonde, who curtsied back over-dramatically, before scanning the room to find his next partner. His smile faded when he spotted the team standing rather awkwardly by the door. He sighed, rubbed the back of his neck anxiously, and reluctantly walked over to them.

"Finally got curious enough to follow me huh?" The men averted their eyes, unsure how to properly explain themselves. Natasha attempted to ease the tension with a smirk and said,

"Well you know how Tony gets when it comes to mysteries. He just can't leave it alone." Tony shot her a glare, but lost his ire when he saw a flicker of amusement and understanding pass over Steve's face. Tony sighed dramatically and spoke up.

"Alright fine! I was curious. Sue me!" He threw up his hands in defeat. "Actually you probably shouldn't do that, I have great lawyers. In fact, just last week-" Bruce laid a hand on Tony's shoulder, silencing his rambling, and stepped forward.

"We were all curious." He said, "Tony was just the instigator." Steve nodded in understanding. Honestly if the situation was reversed and one of them had been mysteriously disappearing in the same way, he would probably have done the same.

"Of course some of us were hoping it would be a chance to catch the perfect Captain doing something scandalous for once." Clint said, "I mean c'mon man. Dancing? If it were anyone else I could use it as black mail, but it kinda fits your All-American country-boy vibe."

"I'm from Brooklyn." Steve deadpanned.

"Whatever man." He waved his hand dismissively. "But dancing Steve? Really? Why?"

Steve looked around and considered his options, but ultimately decided that after all the effort they went though, he might as well explain himself. So he told them. He told them about the scrawny, sickly boy who wanted to make a difference in the world but was rejected every time he tried. He told them about the man who saw more in him and gave him a chance to prove himself. And he told them about the girl. The woman who knew him before the rest of the world and saw him for his true self. Who looked at him not as an experiment or even a hero, but saw the person underneath. He told them about his first and last kiss with her before a mission he would never come back from. He told them about their last conversation and the first date they would never have.

"She was gonna teach me to dance." He said, looking forlornly at the couples behind him. "I guess I thought learning would keep her close you know? At least, that's why I came here the first time. But the more time I spend in this world, the more amazing things I see, things that shouldn't even exist. I mean a man who flies around in a metal suit?" He gestures to Tony first, then Thor. "A demigod? I mean we fought an Alien army from outer space!" He exclaimed.

"I may have come here to get over Peggy, to help me move on, but now I can't help but think that in a world with all of those amazing impossible things, seeing her again might not be as impossible as it once seemed. And if there is even the slightest chance that I might see her again, I want to be ready for that dance."

He looked at his team, at their sympathetic and still slightly chastised faces before looking back at the dancers. "So you. That's why I come here." Tony, looking serious for once, broke the silence that followed.

"You know," Steve meet Tony's eyes, "my dad use to tell me stories about you. He would talk of your heroism as if you were a god. You could do no wrong in his eyes." Steve looked away uncomfortably, he never liked the way people idolized him.

"My Aunt Peggy though," Steve's head snapped back up. "she told the best stories. She would tell me about Steve Rogers, not Captain America. To her, you were just a man. A super-powered incredibly handsome man - her words, not mine - but just a man all the same. In her stories you weren't perfect by any means; in fact, she could get downright angry with you in some of her retellings; but no matter the situation, you always did your best to do the right thing. I never liked Captain America. He represented everything I could never be for my father, but Steve Rogers was my hero. After all, any man that my Aunt Peggy admired had to be someone worth aspiring to."

Steve smiled at Tony like he hadn't smiled in years. "Thank you Tony. Really." Tony nodded back with a slight smile of his own. An understanding passed between them in that moment and for the first time since becoming a team, Tony felt things would be alright.

Clint cleared his throat abruptly, "Alright, enough with the heavy stuff. I for one have had just about enough standing on the sidelines here. Care to teach us how to do this dance Rogers?"

"Sure. Yeah, why not?" Steve smiled brightly and began to lead the team further inside toward the dance floor. Bruce, however, stayed rooted to the spot.

"You coming Brucie?" Tony called back.

"Hmm? Ah, no. Dancing is really-" He ran his hand through his hair. "just not my thing." Natasha sauntered back to him.

"Dancing is everyone's thing. Take it from someone who knows." She grabbed his hand and pulled him along to where the rest of the team was waiting. Bruce wasn't wrong. He was a terrible dancer, too timid to confidently lead. Thor was too strong in his lead and would step too widely. Tony, too quick and unsure in his movements. Natasha as graceful as she is, was untrusting of her partners and didn't follow the lead, and Clint simply had two left feet, always stepping on his partner's toes. Regardless, they had fun. They laughed and bonded and for a night, left their cares behind.

The next week when Friday at 7:30 rolled around, Steve found himself once again joined by his teammates. And again the following week, and the week after. Without a word exchanged, they had begun a new tradition. In between Fridays, Tony and Bruce worked tirelessly on a machine that would one day give Steve Rogers that dance with Peggy. Despite their many failures along the way, Tony would never get discouraged. After all, he knew it was possible. He had already heard that story.

Thank you for reading my story! I left it open ended and I might consider writing a sequel/prequel (what do you call it if there is time travel) if there is a high enough demand. Please review and leave me your thoughts!