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Bucky was making his way back to the kitchens when he overheard the music. It had been a while since he’d heard loud music that wasn’t Tony’s rock-centration or the occasional melodramatic warbling that made its way from Steve’s room. Wanda’s music tastes were often slightly better, but she was still very much in the minority. Fury and Steve’s broad frames filled the door to the training area where the music was coming from, blocking the view. He moved past the door with little sound, but then the music stopped.
“Precision. Poise. Perfection. There’s dancing where you’re trying to get someone into bed with you, and then there’s real dancing. You’re not going to win any awards, I’m just trying to make sure you can still do the job while you’re dancing. The way to do that is repetition and doing it well. Both of you should be able to do this. Sam, you’re a fighter, for crying out loud. Wanda, you’re young and know the music. You’re both trying not to lead, that’s why we’re figuring this out now.” A clap of hands and she yelled “Reset!”
“Some days I just feel like I’m back in the Army,” murmured Steve. “Romanoff looks like a drill sergeant and sounds like his nightmares.”
“If all drill sergeants looked like Romanoff, recruitment would be up by thirty-five percent at a minimum,” Fury scoffed.
“Until she opened her mouth or scared the bejeezus out of you with a raised eyebrow. I meant that she’s… she’s mean.” Steve’s joke felt disrespectful, but still. Bucky moved back into the training room.
“Doorway, gents, not a meeting hall. In an emergency, you’re getting shoved out of the way.” Fury and Steve acknowledged him by parting and letting him through. Bucky moved further along the wall and the others followed suit, getting out of the doorway. He frowned down at Wanda and Sam, who were dressed in fine gear and doing their best to follow Natasha’s guidelines for dancing. Naturally she’d noticed the trio of men up on the gangway, but she ignored them for now. Bucky looked back at Steve.
“What’s the deal?”
“Natasha’s teaching them how to dance. Mission coming up where they need to be believed as upper class dining guests worth millions.” Fury rolled his eye. “You’d be surprised at how impolite the Black Widow has been about their dancing so far. You can always tell when a professional dancer and a novice are trying to pass themselves off, otherwise I’d just send Romanoff and whoever else.” Steve tried to catch Bucky’s eye, but he simply ran his metal hand through his hair and then nodded. The movement seemed to through Sam off and he stumbled, nearly knocked Wanda over. Natasha threw her hands up in the air.
“How exactly is that Precision, Wilson? Poise? The only perfect thing about it was the imperfect nature of it.” Bucky shook his head at her frustration and she glared up at him.
“Stop shaking your head, Barnes. Your brain’ll bounce between your ears,” she snapped. Bucky stared at her and then he vaulted over the rail and came stepping up to her. Romanoff watched him with attitude, not backing down an inch when he came right up to her.
“Maybe it’s the teacher’s lessons, Natalia. After all… they haven’t had the years of abuse you went through to get over.” Her eyes widened at his tone, and Bucky backed down immediately, seeing the hurt on her face. “Dancing ain’t about steps and math and timing and form. It’s about emotion. Or has that changed, too?”
“Some dances, yes,” she conceded, looking up at him. He always forgot how tiny she actually was. In his mind, she was a thousand feet tall. “But they’re going to get caught out if they aren’t careful.” He looked over her shoulder at the sheets that described a number of steps. It looked like some horrendous Rorschach test from Dr Rayner’s therapy lessons.
“That? That’s not dancing, that’s just gymnastics. Twister without the colours.”
“What’s wrong with gymnastics?”
“Nothing aside from the endemic mistreatment of the athletes. How long did your toes bleed through your shoes before you forgot how bad it is on your feet?”
“It’s a difficult skill to master, yes.” Again, she conceded the point, but she seemed almost supernaturally angry at him at this point. They weren’t shouting, but there was definite heat. Sam and Wanda had taken a few steps back to give them the illusion of privacy but they’d also gone very quiet as the pair snarked at one another.
“Dancing is supposed to be fun. They don’t look like they’re having any fun.”
“They’re not supposed to be having fun, Barnes. They’re dancing.”
“Then maybe you’re dancing the wrong way.” The words hung there between them for several moments until one eyebrow slowly lifted up and Natasha tilted her head, her eyes and face wide and pleasant in that terrifying way she generally had right before breaking someone’s something.
“Of course I am, Barnes. Please tell me how to do it better.” Her voice was beyond dangerously calm. Up on the walkway, Fury glanced at Steve.
“He know she’ll put him in the infirmary in a heartbeat?” The Captain smiled softly to himself and Fury doubled down. “Wanna bet that she walks out after putting him on his ass without cracking so much as a smile.”
“Remember that tenner I paid you?” Steve asked, his eyes still on the escalating situation below. Fury nodded, keeping an eye on Natasha, who looked like she was ready to throw the first punch. “Good. I’ll take that bet.” Steve smiled and didn’t reach for his wallet.
“Easy money,” Fury intoned. “Is he seriously fixing his hair again?”
Bucky rolled his sleeves up and tied his hair back out of his face as he nodded to Wanda without taking his eyes off Natasha who was standing still, in a ready stance. Wanda brought out her phone and a song came on through the speakers of the training room. Starting off slowly, The Book of Love by Peter Gabriel began.
Bucky circled her like a martial artist while Natasha stood as a statue, waiting for him. Once he’d gotten used to the beat, he closed in on her, stepping up to her. When he moved away as the next verse began, she followed him, seamlessly stepping together with him. Bucky immediately grinned, nodding to her and when the words began to echo through the room as the singing rose up in melody, he raised his hands, asking for hers. Natasha moved with him, twisting out of his reach before coming back and cupping her hands to his. They moved within the music and twirled and leaned together as if they’d been doing it for decades. The two of them moved together and though Natasha was the showpiece, Bucky was there, a steady infrastructure for her to present her art to the world. Natasha’s eyes were bright and wide, and her cheeks were pink as she twirled around, lifting off of him and whirling around him. The emotion on his face was the only thing that connected and Natasha found herself lost in the dance, feeling everything. As the song came to an end, Bucky ended it in a theatre bow, deeply reverent over her outstretched hand, kissing her knuckles.
As Wanda burst into sudden applause, Natasha curled her fingers out of Bucky’s grasp. To his credit, he let her go, but couldn’t help a moment’s hesitation as he caught her eyes. Their fingertips pressed against one another for another moment longer than necessary as Bucky fought the resistance to letting her go. Natasha gathered her skirts about her and looked back at Wanda, who was looking between the two of them with huge eyes. Sam, beside her, was seemingly trying to figure out how to do the twirl and still hold onto Wanda’s hand, but wasn’t doing it well. Natasha turned back to the younger Avengers.
“That’s how simple it is when it’s done… not badly.” Bucky grinned at Natasha.
“I’m sorry. I tried. I’ve lost a step or two in eighty-odd years. But thank you. That was more fun than I can remember having.” Natasha pursed her lips in a sassy pout, but her features didn’t bend further, and she didn’t say anything in return. And didn’t smile at him. Bucky smiled sadly and cocked his head, appreciating her as Natasha turned back to the door to leave. Above them, Fury tapped Cap on the bicep, holding a folded note out to him. Steve shook his head until Fury smirked and nodded down to Natasha, passing beneath them. When she was past everyone, she broke into a huge grin, giddy and wide.
Sam walked up to Bucky while Wanda hurried out after Natasha, casting a conspiratorial smile at Bucky on her way through.
“She’s a pistol and a firecracker,” Sam said, rolling his eyes. Bucky smiled to his hand that had held Natasha’s for the dance and took a breath.
“She’s dynamite.”