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Steve Rogers looked around the large Atrium of the Ronald Reagan Building in the heart of Washington DC and guessed there had to be seating for at least a thousand people, if not more. There were stars and stripes being projected on the ceiling, and American flags, the flags of each branch of the military and the POW/MIA flag, spread around the room. A large blue velvet curtain decorated the stage where he would speak later that evening.
“Could you please stand at the podium, Captain Rogers? We just want to do a quick mic and lighting check, then we’re through for now.” The gentleman in charge motioned toward the clear podium on the left side of the stage, and Steve obliged. “Alright, so the Swing Dance group finishes their performance, and you are introduced. Feel free to just recite some of your speech so that we can test the volume of your microphone.
“Sure. No problem.” Steve cleared his throat. “Thank you. Thank you for inviting me here to our Nation’s Capital on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, to celebrate and support the brave men and women who put on a uniform and defend our country every day.” He stopped and looked over to the man, who waved his hand in a circle for him to continue, while listening intently to the communication device in his ear. Steve went on. “The good work that both the United Service Organization and the Disabled American Veterans do is important to those in service overseas and here at home, as well as those returning, quite possibly to a new reality due to injuries sustained in the field. Thank you to every single one of you that has donated tonight to each of these fine charities.”
“That’s great, we got it. Thank you,” the man said. “That’s pretty much all we need until tonight. Would you like me to get you transportation back to the hotel?”
“Oh, no thanks. I think I’d like to walk.”
“Okay, but if you need anything, please give me a call. I’ll have a car at the hotel by 5:30 to pick you up.”
Although the Marriott that he was staying at was within easy walking distance, Steve didn’t argue with that. Making the walk as Steve Rogers was one thing, but doing it in full Captain America gear would be a nightmare. He headed toward the exit in the back of the room when the door opened and the dance group began pouring in. He stopped to allow them to pass, and was surprised when he recognized one of their members.
“Captain,” she said with a curt nod of her head toward him.
“Ms. Davidson,” he replied, as she passed. She turned around and gave him a big smile before continuing along toward the front of the room with her partner. Steve meant to head on to the exit, but found himself hanging around the back of the room to watch the dance practice, or more specifically, to watch her.
Steve met Molly Davidson for the first time a little over year ago, just about two months after SHIELD fell. It was a busy time for him, with the on-going search for Bucky and the Avenger’s trying to track down Loki’s scepter, but Steve still made time to attend events to support the military whenever he could. He felt like it was part of the job, even if they did all start to blur together after a while.
That changed when he attended a dedication ceremony and dinner for a new VA hospital that was opening in New Jersey. Part of the entertainment for the evening was a Dance group based in New York that performed dances from the 1930’s and 40’s. The moment he laid eyes on Molly, he was intrigued. She was certainly beautiful, with jet black hair and the greenest eyes that he’d ever seen, but what caught his attention was her smile, which could light up an entire room. She seemed to be so full of life when she danced that it was hard for him to take his eyes off of her. After the performance, he managed to get an introduction, and she had been every bit as sweet as he expected, but she turned him down flat when he suggested they get dinner sometime.
Over the past year, her group was apparently just as much in demand as he was, and they met on a few more occasions at events. She always seemed pleased to see him, and they always talked comfortably, but she would change the subject immediately if he hinted at seeing her outside of these events, and he never seemed to find the time or the nerve to try to contact her outside of their meetings.
He’d learned a lot about her when they talked, though. She was 28 years old, and born and raised in Queens, where she owned a dance studio, even though she had a degree in Accounting from Empire State University. Dance had always been her first love, and when the owner decided to sell the studio where she grew up dancing, her parents helped her buy it and still helped with day to day operations. She liked Rocky Road ice cream, Crime/Mystery novels, and joined the dance group, because she loved Swing dancing, as well as the vintage costumes.
The group practiced for close to a half hour, mostly blocking where each couple would dance, before they finally called it quits. Steve suddenly hoped that the fact that he was waiting for her didn’t come off as too stalkerish.
“Of all the ballrooms, in all the towns, in all the world, he walks into mine,” she flashed that lovely smile at him.
“Technically, I think I was here first.”
“You got that reference, though, right? Casablanca?”
“Of course. It came out in the early 40’s, and they brought it over for the troops to see. We were pretty busy fighting Nazi’s, but even we took a break every once in a while. It was one of Bucky’s,” he stopped and took a deep breath. “One of my best friend’s favorites. He used to quote it all the time.”
“I figured that you probably did. Anyway, I heard you were speaking tonight while we were checking in to the Marriott, and was hoping I’d get to see you. The staff is very excited to have you there.”
“It’s a nice hotel. Were you headed back there now? I was actually about to go grab some lunch and maybe take a walk over to the World War II Memorial. I’d love some company. That is, if you're free?”
She considered him for a long moment, and he was certain that she was about to turn him down again, but she managed to surprise him. “Sure, why not? I have a few hours before I have to start getting ready and it’s pretty nice for September in DC.”
“Really? Great. There’s a food court here in the building. Maybe we could get something and eat it by the Washington Monument.”
They made their way to the crowded food court and decided on Wraps to go. She tried to argue when he insisted on paying, but gave in when he wouldn’t budge. They made their way the few blocks it took to get to the monument.
It was an unusually cool day for Washington in September, which brought the crowds out. Steve pulled his hat down further over his face hoping that no one would recognize him, and he could spend time with Molly in peace. He was pretty sure that was one of the reasons that she wasn’t too keen to accept his offer of a date. At every event, they were usually interrupted by other guests who wanted their picture taken with Captain America, and she would usually wander off when it happened.
They found an unoccupied section of the small wall that lined the path, and sat down to eat their lunch. “So how do you like DC?” She asked him, as he handed her wrap to her.
“Oh, I used to live here. I moved back to New York in April last year.”
“I didn’t know that. What made you move?”
“Well, I kind of crashed three Helicarriers down in the middle of the Potomac River and destroyed the company I worked for, so, yeah,” he chuckled.
“Geez. Of course! Sorry about that. I wasn’t thinking.”
“No need to be sorry. SHIELD got what it deserved, and I prefer New York anyway. It’s been a good trip back though.”
“Well, at least no one is trying to kill you this time,” she teased him. “Yet.”
“I’d like to keep it that way, thank you. So what about you? How do you like D.C.?”
“Eh. I’m a Queens girl through and through. It’s almost too quiet here, and everything is so white.”
“That’s true, I guess. There are a lot of white buildings.”
“Memorials too,” she waved her hand up at the massive pointy white monument looming over them. “Well, except for the Vietnam Memorial. It’s the only black memorial in all of DC. My dad likes to point that out every time we come down here. He says it’s fitting.”
“Is your dad a vet?”
“Yep. Two tours in Vietnam right at the end of the war.”
“I think I’m thankful that I was frozen for that one.”
Molly shrugged, “Yeah, you probably should be.”
“By the way, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you dressed for your own time period. We always seem to meet when you’re dressed up in mine.” It was true. The dance group dressed the part for their performances, looking like they all just walked out of the 1940s just like him, but for practice today, she had on leggings and an Empire State University t-shirt.
“This is your time period too, Steve. At least it is now.”
“I suppose, but you look very pretty dressed for either time period. You’d have been pretty popular back when I was a kid.”
She tried to play off the blush that was creeping across her cheeks by rolling her eyes and looking away. “From what I’ve seen over there at the National History Museum, you look pretty good in both as well.”
“You’ve actually seen that display?”
“Of course. My dad's a history buff and dragged us down here as soon as it opened.
“I was a skinny, sickly little punk kid from Brooklyn.”
“Yeah, the Brooklyn thing is pretty terrible, but I guess not everyone can be from Queens,” she teased him.
“Uh huh. Brooklyn beats Queens any day.”
“You wish,” she laughed. “Still, Brooklyn or not, my dad would probably lose his mind if he ever met you. My mom too.”
“Hmmm. I’d be happy to meet your parents, Molly. It was customary to meet the parents before you went on a date back in my time. Not that I was actually going on any dates back then. Of course, that means you’d have to agree to go on one with me.” He couldn’t resist bringing the subject up again.
“I didn’t say you should meet them, just that they’d probably fawn all over you if you ever did.”
“Am I ever going to be able to convince you to go out with me?”
“We’ll always have Paris,” she mused. “Or, well, Washington D.C.” She crumbled up the paper her wrap had been in, and shoved it back in the bag. “Let’s head over to the World War II Memorial. We should probably be heading back to the hotel soon.”
Once again, she’d managed to change the subject. This time Steve wasn’t quite ready to let it go, but he did for the time being. If she was shy of the attention he got, showing her that people often left him alone when he wasn’t dressed as Captain America seemed like the best course of action.
“So are you all staying around for the dancing tonight, or leaving when you’re done?” At other events, if there was going to be dancing, the group often stayed to dance and get people out on the floor. That always gave him more time to talk with her between dances.
“We’re staying. I don’t guess I’ll have your name in my dance card though, will I?”
“I’m not really much of a dancer,” he shrugged. It was true. He’d never asked her to dance, even though he thought she might have hinted at it a few times.
“Just like I’m not really one for hanging around when you are schmoozing, I guess.”
He started to argue the fact that schmoozing was part of his job at these events, but he knew she’d argue back that dancing was hers. Instead, he changed the subject to the construction of the memorial, and let the matter drop.
They toured the memorial without a single person recognizing him, and they were almost back to the hotel when Steve broached the subject again. “So, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’ve managed to be out in public for a couple of hours and no one even gave me a second glance.”
“Oh, I saw more than a few ladies giving you a second glance, but I don’t think it was because you’re Captain America. I suspect it has more to do with how hot you are.” She cupped her hand over her mouth immediately and he could see a deep red creeping across her cheeks. Steve was more pleased than he’d probably ever admit about that little slip of the tongue.
“At least they left us alone, right? Maybe we could give dinner a try when we’re back in New York?”
“I have to say that I’m pleasantly surprised. I guess I’m used to always seeing you in the suit, when everyone wants to meet you. I really do enjoy spending time with you, Steve, but you’re a lot to deal with, and I don’t just mean the whole beefcake thing you’ve got going on. I mean, you’re Captain America. You fight bad guys and aliens.”
“If we stop fighting our enemies, the world will die.” He replied with a grin.
Molly didn’t miss the Casablanca reference. “Well, what of it? It'll be out of its misery,” she said, replying with the next line. “That was a good one.”
“Glad you liked it.” They had reached the hotel, and he held the door open for her. “So is that a yes?”
She gave him that beautiful smile that he loved. “Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if we……”
“Oh my word! It’s Captain America!” An older woman squealed as they entered the busy lobby of the hotel. “I can’t believe it! John, come quick and bring the camera! You don’t mind posing for just one picture, do you? The folks back home will never believe me if I don’t have proof!”
Before he could even answer, the woman was standing next to him and a flash was going off. More people in the lobby realized what was going on and were descending on him quickly. Soon he was surrounded by people wanting pictures or autographs.
He glanced around for Molly, and found her being crowded to the back of the group as more people began gathering around him. When he finally made eye contact with her, she shrugged in the direction of the crowd, waved goodbye, and turned toward the elevator.
Steve thought about trying to find her once he got away from the crowd, but he hadn’t thought to ask for her room number, and realized how odd it might look to go to the front desk and ask them for it. Instead, he went back to his room, flipped through the TV for a little while, and finally got ready for the fundraiser.
He found her later, toward the end of the night, just coming off the dance floor with a much older gentleman. Steve guessed he was somewhere in his late 80’s or early 90’s, but he still moved pretty well when he was dancing with her to the slow song that had been playing.
“Captain,” she grinned when she saw him approaching. “Excellent speech. I was inspired.”
“Thank you. Your performance was flawless, as usual,” he returned the compliment.
“Sorry, I’m being rude. This is Mr. Richardson.” Molly indicated the man next to her. “U.S. Marine. He enlisted on his 18th birthday in 1944. He was just telling me about his experiences at the Battle of Okinawa.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Captain.” The older man held out his hand and Steve shook it.
“No, the honor is mine. I never made it over to the Pacific theater and I was in the ice by Okinawa, but from what I’ve read that was one heck of a battle.”
“It was. I was barely 19, hadn’t been in many battles, and it turned out to be my last, but it was as bloody as they come. Japan was so desperate that they were sending 12-14-year-olds out to fight us.”
“Oh that’s awful,” Molly responded.
“It wasn’t fun, that’s for sure. Anyway, thank you so much for the dance, Miss. It’s been quite a while since I’ve waltzed with anyone. Not since my Jane passed away ten years ago.”
“Well, I was honored to be your partner.” She gave a small curtsy to him.
“Thank you, but I’m sure dancing with someone a bit younger would be more fun.” He indicated Steve.
“Oh, I don’t actually dance,” he replied quickly. “Never really learned.”
Mr. Richardson looked between him and Molly. “Well, I think it’s time you learned, Captain. Thanks again for the dance, Ms.” He turned and walked away, leaving them alone on the side of the dance floor.
“Is that true? About not knowing how to dance? Is that the reason you’ve never asked?”
Steve shrugged. “You’ve seen what I looked like before the serum. Not a lot of gals were looking to dance with me. Then, I was a little busy with the Nazi’s.”
“What about all those girls on the USO tours? I’m sure they were very anxious to dance with you.”
Steve felt a blush creeping across his cheeks. “Dancing wasn’t usually what they wanted to do with me.”
“I’ll bet,” she chuckled.
“So why did you leave earlier, in the hotel?”
“You mean when you were being mobbed? Honestly, I didn’t know what else to do.”
“It really doesn’t happen that often, you know. You see me in this suit and people tend to notice me, obviously. I do usually get left alone back in New York, like you know, for dinner?”
“You don’t give up, do you?” She knew the smile on her face betrayed any actual annoyance at his persistence.
“Did you know that I visited 10 different recruitment centers before I ended up in the Army? I was willing to keep going, too.”
“I’m not the least bit surprised,” she grinned at him. “Did you know that dancing is one of my favorite things to do on dates? Night clubs, Supper clubs, the living room of my apartment. I’m not picky. I don’t even care of my date is particularly good at it, as long as they're willing to try. I also happen to be an excellent teacher.”
“Interesting,” he looked out at the dance floor, but seemed to think better of it. “I was going to head out. Would you like a ride back to the hotel?”
“Sure,” she shrugged, barely able to hide her disappointment. They gathered their things, said their goodbyes and got stopped five times for pictures on the way to the door. Each time, he expected her to leave, but instead she patiently stood off to the side and waited.
When the car dropped them off at the hotel, he walked her to her room. “Thank you for waiting for me as we were leaving.”
“Well,” she grinned. “You were kind of my ride.”
“I appreciate you not wandering off, so I didn’t have to wonder if you got back safely.”
“This is my room, so now you know.” She looked between him and the door to her hotel room. “So I took a step toward something that makes me uncomfortable, maybe next time we run into each other, you should do the same.”
“Maybe you’re right,” he nodded.
“I should probably be going. It’s getting late and I don’t want to be those obnoxious people talking in the hallway and keeping everyone awake.”
“I bet they're asleep in New York. I bet they're asleep all over America.”
She covered her mouth with her hand to mute her laughter. “You couldn’t resist one more Casablanca reference, could you?”
“Here’s looking at you, kid,” he replied with a wink. He opened the door for her and waited until he heard the clicking of the deadbolt before heading back to his own room.
Molly’s last class of the night was done, so she grabbed her schedule book and sat down on the floor in the empty dance studio to go over tomorrow’s schedule. As she reviewed it, there was a sound from the hallway. Turning toward the door, she found her mom standing there with a big grin on her face.
“Hey mom, you leaving for the night?”
“Well, I was, but it appears you have a visitor.”
She wasn’t expecting anybody, but she stood up and smoothed out the black wrap around skirt that she was wearing over her dance outfit. “Who is it?”
Steve Rogers appeared behind her mom and Molly’s eyes went as wide as saucers. “Hi there,” he said as her mother moved aside to let him enter the room. "I’m here to inquire about dance lessons? I didn’t really have much time to learn how to dance in the 40’s, but I’ve always wanted to, and I heard this was a great place for it.”
She could barely contain her laughter, and certainly couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face. She took a deep breath and managed to give him her very best ‘all-business’ look. “I’m sorry, we’re actually closed right now. If you’d like to stop by tomorrow or call the studio, I can see who might be available for lessons.”
“Molly Louise Davidson, do you know who this is?” Her mother had her hands on her hips and was looking absolutely scandalized.
“I do, Mom. His name is Steve, and he is a very persistent man,” she replied, not looking away from him.
“Something I’ve been accused of my entire life.” He wasn’t taking his eyes off of her either, and that alone made her giggle somewhat nervously.
“You know,” Molly’s mother seemed to realize that there was far more going on than she understood. “I’m going to head out for the night. Your father will be waiting for me. It was very nice to meet you, Captain Rogers.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he responded, turning to tip his head toward her politely. “It was a pleasure to meet you as well.”
“I’ll just lock up after myself.” Before she left, her mother gave her a thumbs up behind Steve’s back, and that just sent Molly into another peal of nervous laughter.
“Dance lessons, huh?” She managed to say when she got control of herself.
“Well, recently someone suggested that it was time for me to get off my butt and learn to dance, so here I am. I think it’s important to have a really good teacher, and I hear you’re the best.”
“Oh I wouldn’t go that far. I’m close though,” she winked at him, before tinkering with the sound system and putting in a new CD. “Private dance lessons are about 45 minutes to an hour long, and very expensive. Lucky for you, we're offering free lessons to soldiers who were frozen for at least 70 years.” She held her hand out to him, and walked him to the middle of the floor when he took it.
“Does that include dinner afterward by any chance?”
She looked him over slowly. “Do you like Italian? There's a great Italian hole in the wall three shops down.”
“To be clear, that would be a date, right?”
“Yes. I guess so. I mean, you did meet my mother. Besides, I think my mom might actually try to ground me if I didn’t offer to make sure you got fed,” she giggled. “First a lesson, though.” She grabbed his free hand and placed it on her hip, getting them in position.
“Was that cannon fire, or is it my heart pounding?” he teased her.
“Are we back to the Casablanca quotes? Well, I guess we’ll start with the Slow Fox Trot then. Play it again, Sam!” Pushing a button on the remote, the first strains of As Time Goes By began to play.
“You know, Rick never actually says that. He tells Sam to ‘Play it.’ Ilsa says, ‘Play it once, Sam,’ but that's about as close as anyone gets to it.”
“I did know that. It’s one of the most misquoted movie lines in history, I think. I kind of like it, though.”
“Maybe we could watch Casablanca together on our second date, and just so you know, my living room might be big enough for dancing.”
“Second date, huh? That could be fun, but let’s start with this dance first, what do you think?”
“Molly, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” he replied, as he pulled her just a little bit closer.