Standing before the mirror in his chamber, Steve couldn't find a single flaw in the military dress uniform the palace seamstresses had made for him based on his sketches. It was perfect, right down to the decorations and rank insignias. The only difference was the material, which he couldn't identify but which was more comfortable than anything from Earth he'd ever worn. His hands shook slightly as he tied his tie. He didn't know why he was so nervous. Maybe it was just that so many things had been going right lately—mostly in ways he had never dreamed possible—that he felt like his good fortune was gonna have to run dry soon. He'd beat Hydra. He'd survived. Bucky was alive and had a brand new arm. And now they were going home, and he was finally going to dance with his best girl.

"Geez, with how nervous you look, you'd think we were on the way to your wedding," said Bucky, who was wearing his own Asgardian-made US Army dress uniform. "When'll that be, anyway? Next month?"

"Shut up," said Steve, watching his newly clean-shaven reflection turn red. "What if this is a huge mistake? I'll be showing up out of the blue when the whole country thinks I'm missing or dead. This isn't protocol at all."

"Since when do you care about protocol?" said Bucky. "Come on, you've earned it. And I think she deserves to be the first one to know you're alive. It's gonna be an interesting night."

That was certainly true. Heimdall wasn't simply going to drop the two missing-in-action soldiers into Manhattan on their own; Thor, Loki, and, at Steve's request (and the insistence of both Loki and Heimdall for some reason), Sif would be coming too. Aside from wanting to introduce his Asgardian friends to his Earth friends, Steve thought it might be better to meet in an informal setting before the subject of the Tesseract came up.

There was a knock on the door. "Captain, may I enter?" It sounded like Lady Sif.

"Come on in," said Steve, finally satisfied with the way his tie looked.

Sif walked into the room, and his and Bucky's mouths both fell open. Instead of her usual armor, she was clad in a cherry red swing dress with pointed silver trim on the bodice and lapels, along with matching lipstick and heels, and her hair fell in large curls around her shoulders. She looked like she could be Peggy's sister. "Is this really what Midgardian women look like?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah," said Bucky, with a glance at Steve.

"I told you," said Loki, following her in. He was wearing an English officer's uniform, and thankfully the ridiculous mustache from Hungary had not come with it. "I've been surveying Midgard a bit to get a better sense of what they look like at these sorts of things. I wouldn't deliberately do it wrong."

"But surely my lips aren't supposed to be this red," said Sif. "It feels so strange!"

"Don't be ridiculous. It's all an illusion; it doesn't feel like anything."

"You know what I mean," she snapped.

"Well you can't go to a Midgardian dance hall looking like a warrior."

"I think you look swell," said Bucky, cutting through the bickering.

Sif's discomfort and irritation melted away, and she flashed him a smile.

"There," said Loki. "See?" He turned to Bucky. "Thank you. Are we all ready to go, then?"

X

Peggy didn't know what had possessed her to actually come to the Stork Club tonight. She'd never done anything so masochistic in her life. Steve wasn't going to be there. Even Stark knew there was no hope left, which was probably why he had offered to personally fly her all the way back to Manhattan. He might be the most arrogant, womanizing prat she had ever met, but he obviously blamed himself for failing to locate the Hydra warplane, particularly after finding that shining blue cube. He hadn't so much as flirted with her since the plane went down, though she doubted he'd be able to hold back forever.

The atmosphere of the club was at complete odds with her melancholy mood. The band was playing bright, upbeat swing and the floor was full of energetically dancing couples. Peggy let Howard help her off with her coat, but when he made to accompany her to the bar, she decided it was time to put her foot down. "Howard, I'm sure there are plenty of girls here without the good sense to turn down a dance from you," she said, forcing a smile. "There's no need for you to sit vigil with me as I mope my way through a few gin and tonics."

He protested, but she argued him down fairly quickly. By the time she had been supplied with her gin and tonic, it was five minutes to eight. She really should have forgone her usual eye makeup tonight. She thought back to when she received word that Michael had been killed in action. They had parted badly, and she never had the chance to put things right with her older brother. She didn't know if this was better or worse. She'd been able to talk to Steve right up until the crash. He'd been so brave. A brave, wonderful, stupid man. Why did all the men she cared for most have to be such selfless bloody heroes? She should have known what would happen from the moment she watched him jump on a dummy grenade when all the bigger, stronger recruits were running for cover.

Dimly, she heard the current song come to an end. When it started up again a moment later, the song was a much slower one—a foxtrot beat with less brass and more strings. She glanced over at the stage and frowned. There was a man in uniform standing not far from the musicians, and if she didn't know better, she would have sworn it was Sergeant Barnes. It took her a second to recognize the new song as "Long Ago and Far Away." She stifled a bitter laugh and faced her drink again.

"Long ago and far away

I dreamed a dream one day

And now that dream is here beside me

Long the skies were overcast

But now the clouds have passed

You're here at last…"

Peggy squeezed her eyes shut tight. She'd made it without crying so far, but that would surely change any second.

"I hope I made it on time."

Her eyes flew open, her breath catching in her chest. She had to be imagining things. He couldn't possibly be here. When she turned around, there would be no one there, and she would continue her sorry night as planned. But when she did turn around, Steve Rogers was standing there, wearing a crisp dress uniform and smiling sheepishly at her. There wasn't so much as a scratch on him.

"You're here," she breathed. "How are you here? Does the Colonel know? How did you make it out? There was going to be a memorial in Washington next week. President Truman was going to present you the Medal of Honor." She finally managed to get her babbling under control, but he didn't look like he minded.

"It's a long, very strange story. I'll tell you all about it later. For now, I was thinking I'd take you up on the offer for dance lessons, if that's still on the table."

She let out a noise that might've been a laugh or a squeak and launched herself at him. She collided with him slightly off-center, so he was forced to spin around as he caught her. Then they were kissing in full view of the entire club, and she could not have cared less. She was so happy she could have floated off the floor if he wasn't already holding her a few inches above it.

When they broke apart a few wonderful moments later amid a few wolf-whistles from the other patrons, she couldn't suppress a giggle. His face was smeared with lipstick, and she knew hers couldn't look much better. Before she could look for a handkerchief to sort them out, a black-haired British officer slightly taller than Steve walked past. With a smirk in their direction, he gave a small wave, and she could have sworn that his fingers flashed with green light. A similar flash traveled over Steve's face, leaving it perfectly clean. "You're welcome," she thought she heard him say.

"Who was that?" she said, watching the officer, who, in the three seconds since she last looked at him, had somehow managed to insinuate himself between Howard and a blonde he'd been chatting up. Howard looked deeply affronted.

"Part of the long story. I'll introduce you in a little bit," said Steve, who was wearing the widest smile she'd ever seen on him. Even in the rosiest moments of her engagement to Fred, she'd never put much stock in the idea that a man could cause a woman to become weak in the knees, but that smile. He took her hand and led her to the dance floor.

"Chills run up and down my spine

Aladdin's lamp is mine

The dream I dreamed was not denied me

Just one look and then I knew

That all I longed for long ago was you"

X

Sif watched the reunion between the captain and his lady, truly happy for them. She had spent enough time around the mortal man to recognize that his had not been an easy life. One who could weather so many hardships and still be as good and kind as he was deserved to find joy. She was proud that Asgard had played such a large role in bringing that about, reuniting him with his love and restoring his dearest friend to him.

As though her thoughts had summoned him, Sergeant Barnes approached her a moment later. "I've danced with you on your world; it's only fair if you dance with me on mine," he said, grinning.

She grinned back. "Of course, but you will have to show me how it is done here."

"Long ago and far away

I dreamed a dream one day

And now that dream is here beside me

Long the skies were overcast

But now the clouds have passed

You're here at last"

The steps were not difficult for a seasoned warrior to learn, and Sif quite enjoyed herself dancing with the sergeant. But her gaze was drawn frequently to where Thor was standing with Loki as she twirled around the dance floor. Even in the illusory uniform and with his beard and long hair hidden to view, Thor stood out from the mortal men around him. Not that he had realized it. He was frowning at the glass in his hand—no doubt unimpressed by the Midgard-brewed drink.

Beside him, Loki's eyes had a wicked gleam to them, and she watched him leave Thor to go and talk to an auburn-haired woman in a yellow dress. A man with dark hair and a mustache but no beard scowled heavily at him from behind her back. She rolled her eyes. When she looked back at Thor, she found him staring at her. She blushed and forced a smile before turning her attention back to Barnes. "How are you enjoying Volund's work?" she said, tapping a finger on the back of his left hand.

He used it to spin her around. "It's really something else," he said. "It feels a little different, but it works just like I never lost the real one." Then he snorted at something over her shoulder. "Does Loki do that a lot?"

"What?" They revolved so she had a clear view of him again. He had abandoned the auburn-haired woman for a brunette, and the dark-haired, mustached man was standing nearby with two drinks in hand, looking livid. "Oh, one of his favorite pastimes at a gathering like this is to identify the largest ego in the room and shred it to pieces. I don't think that poor man will enjoy a single dance tonight."

"Howard Stark is about the farthest thing there is from poor," said Barnes, amused. "He can take it."

X

"Chills run up and down my spine

Aladdin's lamp is mine

The dream I dreamed was not denied me

Just one look and then I knew

That all I longed for long ago was you"

Thor watched his oldest friend dancing with Sergeant Barnes. He'd tried to ask Sif for a dance in the feast hall the other night just to see if there was anything to what Loki and Rogers had said, but she had pulled the mortal onto the floor instead without even noticing him, and now they were dancing again, and she was laughing at something Barnes had said. His brother and the captain had been so convinced that Sif was in love with him. Had they been wrong? Or had she lost interest because she'd received no encouragement? The idea vexed Thor much more than he would have expected.

"Just one look and then I knew

That all I longed for long ago

Was you"

As odd as Midgardian clothing was, Sif looked lovely tonight. In fact, Thor was having a hard time understanding how he'd failed to notice that for so long.

The song came to a gentle end, and Barnes raised Sif's hand to his lips and kissed it. The vexation brewing in Thor's chest spiked sharply. He set aside the unimpressive drink and walked towards them, scattering a few of the mortals with his purposeful stride, including a dark-haired man he dimly recognized from the planning sessions about the Tesseract, who seemed to have been heading in the same direction. Sif's eyes widened when she spotted him approaching, and Barnes grinned and melted into the crowd.

"Good Lady Sif, will you do me the honor of dancing with me?" said Thor, holding out a hand. The skalds had struck up a new song. This one was much more boisterous, and the people around them were already getting excitedly into position.

"Thor, I...we don't know the dance," said Sif, even as her hand drifted up to his. "We'll look like fools."

"Then we'll look like fools," said Thor. "But it can't be too hard to learn. We have overcome far more fearsome obstacles than this!"

She nervously wet her lips with her tongue, then nodded. He beamed at her. The next few minutes were a disaster, but they laughed their way through it, and by carefully observing the couples spinning around them, they were able to mostly work out what to do by the time the next song started.

X

After his dance with Sif, Bucky headed for the bar, where he found Loki sampling a drink. "Well the alcohol certainly hasn't improved since my last visit to Midgard," he said with a grimace.

"Then you should leave it for someone who'll appreciate it," said Bucky, relieving him of the drink and draining it himself.

"You've earned it anyway," said Loki. "You successfully made my brother jealous enough to actually take notice of what should have been obvious for half a millennium." They passed a few songs this way, Loki watching Thor and Sif with a smug expression, Bucky watching Steve and Peggy with a contented one, all while Loki tried a variety of drinks that he let Bucky finish because none could measure up to his lofty standards. Bucky also could have sworn he spotted a second Loki talking to a pretty dame across the club, not far from where Howard Stark was standing.

"Shouldn't you be out there dancing?" said Loki.

"Not really in the mood for it tonight," said Bucky. He was too preoccupied by the fact that he was less than a mile away from home, which had definitely had time to get a visit from a notifying officer that he was missing and presumed dead by now. This could be his only chance to assure them in person that he was still alive until the war was over. He and Steve might be across the Atlantic for months—maybe years—longer, once they reported back to the Colonel.

He suddenly missed them so much it was like there was a rock in his stomach. Rebecca and Joanie had written enthusiastically to him about their respective nursing and telephone operator jobs, and Charlie kept promising that he'd be taller than him by the time Bucky got home or the kid was old enough to enlist and join him overseas, whichever came first. Thankfully it would be another year and a half before the latter was possible. After what he'd been through over there, he might be willing to go back, but he hated the very idea of his baby brother enlisting.

"You've gone rather quiet," Loki observed.

"Oh," said Bucky. "Yeah. I was just thinking about stepping out to go visit my family. I'm pretty sure they think I'm dead."

"What's stopping you?" said Loki.

"Well...aren't Steve and I supposed to be helping you, Thor, and Sif blend in?"

"How much trouble do you think we can get into in one evening?" said Loki innocently.

Bucky leveled him an extremely flat look.

"Okay, pal, I've had enough of this." They turned to see an irate Howard Stark storming up, eyes on Loki. "How many brothers do you have, and why is it that the only dames any of you are asking to dance are the ones I've looked at longer than two seconds?"

"I don't know what you mean, sir," said Loki. "My only brother is the oafish blond dancing over there with our childhood friend. I myself have been right here enjoying drinks with Sergeant Barnes for the last three or four songs."

"It's true," said Bucky, suppressing a grin. He and Steve had run into Stark first when they arrived at the Stork Club, and he'd accepted their promise to explain how they were both alive and in New York once they were all back at SSR headquarters.

"Fine," said Stark, "but it's a little hard to celebrate the two of you being alive when I can't seem to get any company." He walked off, looking irritable.

X

"You must miss your family terribly," said Loki, as though there had been no interruption. "Separated from them by war."

"Yeah," said Barnes.

"You should go to them," said Loki. "We can do without you for a few hours. You have my word."

"Thanks," said Barnes, and with one last glance at the dance floor, he headed for the door. Loki barely noticed him depart; his mind was racing too fast. He didn't even bother to continue thwarting Stark's amorous pursuits.

The sergeant's situation had given him an idea. Families separated by war would want nothing more than to be reunited. And they would, of course, be deeply grateful to the one facilitating that reunion. How many Jotnar had been living as stranded refugees on Midgard all these centuries? Surely the three he and Thor had battled could not be the only ones...

I didn't just make up Bucky's family. The bio of him in the museum in Winter Soldier mentions that he's the oldest of four siblings. (It also lists two different birthdates for him, but I'm gonna ignore that and focus on the information about his family.) In the comics, he has a sister named Rebecca, so I kept her and made up Joan and Charles. Charles is the baby of the family, and the difference in age between him and Bucky is part of how Steve and Bucky grew up so much like brothers.

The song the band is playing is a really popular '40s song by Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin that first appeared in a '44 film starring Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly. There have been around a hundred different recorded versions of the song since the movie, so it seemed like a safe bet that bands playing at popular clubs would have been familiar with it. I wanted to find a good one to fit Steve's line "We'll have the band play something slow" that worked both for Steve/Peggy and Thor/Sif. I'm pretty happy with it.

We're about done with the Captain America crossover stuff. The only big thing left for the human characters is to figure out what to do about the Tesseract, and then we'll find out what Loki has in mind for any stranded Jotnar still on Midgard and how that will factor into his plans for Jotunheim. And unless something else occurs to me while I'm working on the Jotunheim stuff, that should be the final storyline of the fic.