Beth woke up Friday, happy she had put in extra hours through the week so that she could have the day off. She got up, showered and dressed before heading out for her important date that afternoon. First, she had pulled some photo albums out and put them in her bag before skipping down the stairs and making her way to the bakery two blocks up from her. After her quick stop there she rushed towards St. Magdalen's, happy to be the entire day with her grandfather.

She walked in the front door and Angela, a woman who's worked the receptionist desk at St. Magdalen's for years, smiled as she greeted her.

"Beth, I knew you'd be in today. Robert is always happy to see you, birthday or not. You know where he is." On her way by Beth dropped a small bag from the bakery on Angela's desk before walking through the stark white halls. She rounded a corner and slowed her steps, smiling as she saw her grandfather sitting alone behind an easel, painting the city's skyline outside the window he was seated in front of.

"Happy Birthday Grandpa." He turned and looked at Beth while a smile spread across his face slowly.

"Is it my birthday already? Where has the time gone?" She laughed as she sat down his little bakery box on the table next to him and he grinned as he looked around. "You know I'm not supposed to have these, especially not in the middle of the afternoon." Beth opened the box and pulled out one of the Pignolo cookies and ate it as she grinned at him.

"You know what I say to that, it's your birthday and these are your favorite, just like grandma used to make." He put down his paint brush and wiped his hands before he reached into the box and took a bite. He hummed happily as he savored the cookie, the flavor taking him back to when his late wife would make them fresh for him.

"I swear they stole her recipe, these are the only ones I've ever had that compare to hers." Beth finished her cookie before she sat down and pulled out a photo album from her bag.

"I brought you these too, thought maybe you could tell me some stories today." His eyes twinkled as he eyed the old blue album, something he hadn't seen in ages. "I've only glanced through this one, it was one of the ones from the attic. I don't think you've told me these stories." Once he realized what she had brought his looked changed to something more sad and serious.

"Can I see it?" She gave him the book and watched in wonder as his eyes misted over while he flipped through the pages.

"Grandpa what it is?" He nodded as he looked at one page, turning it so his granddaughter could see what he'd found.

"This is me in 1941, the year I was hired by Howard Stark, and this is something I've always been too ashamed to tell you. I worked on Project:Rebirth, and what we did to that poor boy, it breaks my heart. He was such good kid, a good heart and strong head on his shoulders it was just that he was this tinyant of person and Howard turned him into this ideal soldier. The Army used that boy as propaganda and I was never able to look at him the same." Beth watched as he grandfather got up and moved over to a small sofa on an adjoining wall and he motioned for her to sit next to him. He showed her several pictures of he had of many of the crew that had worked on the project, and she could feel the sense of guilt he had.

"That young man laid frozen for seventy years, and survived. Most people say that's a miracle but to me, when he woke up I couldn't imagine his horror to find how this world had moved on. It scares me most days and I lived it." He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Beth's temple and she smiled as he turned to the next page, reveling a photograph of her grandmother. "Ah, my sweetheart. I met her in '44 and I remember how hesitant she was. She'd lost someone in the war and it pained me to see her so sad. I worked day after day, stopping by her father's shop everyday and doing all that I could to get her to smile. It took me two weeks to see one, and boy when I did she became an angel. Did she ever tell you about our first date?" Beth leaned her head on her grandfather's shoulder, smiling as she thought about the story her grandmother had told her countless times before.

"You asked her to dinner every day for weeks until she finally caved and agreed to one date. She said she told you that you had to agree to not ask her again if things didn't work out and you promised. She then said it was the worse date she'd ever been on, you were so nervous that when you helped her into her chair at dinner you pushed it in too far and hurt her ribs, then when you realized what you had done you pulled it back out but ended up tipping her over." By that time Beth and her grandfather were both laughing and he finished the story.

"Yes, and it only got worse. I spilled a drink on her, was short on cash for the bill and when we left I closed her dress in the car door. As I walked her to her door I broke my promise, begging for a second chance. She said give me one reason and I said because she was the reason I was so nervous, she was the most beautiful woman I'd ever laid my eyes on and I thought for sure it was a dream, that no woman as smart or as funny as her would ever give a guy like me a chance at all, much less a second one. After that she told me to pick her up the following Friday at six and after that we were inseparable. She was my everything." He ran his fingers over the picture lovingly and then he smiled at Beth. "You look just like her here, like an angel smiling back at me." Beth smiled as she reached over and flipped the page, her eyes landing on a photo of her date for that evening.

"Did you know Steve Rogers well?" She was so afraid to tell her grandfather that she had started seeing Steve, not that they were officially dating, but he did ask her to dinner stating that he wanted to make up for cancelling their plans together. She watched as a sorrow filled smile cross his lips.

"He was such a good kid. Young but full of spirit and he was just a stand up type of guy. I remember Peggy was sweet on him, and it broke her heart when he went missing. That poor girl, I think she was waiting on him." Beth noted the brunette in the background of the photograph and she couldn't deny that she could see the admiration in the woman's eyes. It had never occurred to her that Steve may have had someone before the freeze, but now that it was staring her in the face she couldn't deny it.

She sat and listened to her grandfather go on for several hours, his stories not only bringing tears to their eyes but creating fits of hysterical laughing. Beth took his hand as Frita his nurse came to take him to dinner, and both women escorted him to the dining hall. He sat and Beth joined him, leading the way as they sang to him. After hewas brought over a piece of cake, he leaned to Beth, smiling as he spoke quietly.

"Where are you off to tonight? And don't lie to your granddad, I know you've got a date." She took a bite of cake before answering, smirking at him.

"I do. First date, so no details yet, but if it works out I'll let you meet him." Robert smiled, knowing the glimmer in Beth's eyes meant she had high hopes for whomever she'd be seeing that evening. His heart melted as he watched her, that was the same glimmer his wife had and he reached over and took her hand.

"Just tell me, is he at least a gentleman?" She chuckled with cake in her mouth, but she nodded as she finished her bite.

"More than I can ever say. A perfect gentleman I promise."

Beth finished celebrating with her grandfather before she rushed home to change. She was rushing around her apartment, pinning her hair up as she looked for her favorite heels, the ones that Nicki said made her legs look flawless, when there was a knock at the door. She panicked thinking she was late, so she rushed around the room looking everywhere for her shoes, giving up after a good thirty seconds and opening the door.

"Hey, I remembered your date tonight so I brought your heels back." Beth just laughed as she looked at Nicki.

"I've been rushing around here searching for these and you had them." Nicki followed Beth into her apartment after she sat the shoes down next to the door.

"Come on, let me fix your hair. It's starting to fall from you running around."

Nicki got Beth's hair fixed and left, knowing that Beth wouldn't want her there when Steve showed up for their first official date. With her friend gone, Beth sat down and took a second to breath, she didn't want to seem worked up or anxious when Steve arrived, even though her nerves were thrumming with anticipation. She had rehearsed part of what she was going to say, and now with the new information from her grandfather, there was more. When she heard the knock this time she smiled as she walked over and peeked out to see Steve standing there. She pulled the door open and looked up at him, his smile melted every single worry she had.

"I've just got to slip on my shoes and grab a jacket. Would you like to come in?" Steve nodded as he stepped inside and produced a single flower from behind him.

"I got you this. It's not real, but that just means it will never fade." She took the metal rose and looked it over, her eyes full of wonder.

"It's beautiful. Thank you." She crossed the room and place it gently onto the shelf above the television, pausing to look at it before she rushed down the hall to grab a jacket from her room. She came back and slid into her shoes before finally looking back up at Steve and the innocent look in her eyes broke her.

"Before we go, I just have to tell you this. My boss, Tony Stark, wants me to spy on you for him but I will not. I don't care if I lose my job, well I do care but it's worth it. And it's all my fault really. When you left and I hadn't heard from you I thought maybe you where busy with Captain America stuff but Nicki han't heard from Sam either and I started to worry more. So one day at work Mr. Stark showed up and he was checking on my work and I thought since you had worked together with S.H.I.E.L.D. before that maybe he knew where you were so I asked. He had no clue who you'd be working with because to his knowledge S.H.I.E.L.D. was no more and then he asked me what I knew. I only told him I knew you were working with Sam so that he wouldn't keep hounding me and I realized I never should have asked him in the first place and I'm so sorry I did. I totally understand if your angry or upset but I need to be upfront with you and please, please know I will never, never tell Tony Stark a damn thing."

As she finally took in a breath Steve took a moment to process what she had said. He looked at her blankly for a moment before he raised his hands up, resting them on her shoulders as he bent his knees and looked her in the eyes.

"Don't worry about Tony, I'll talk to him. He won't ask you anymore. Were you really worried about me?" Her cheeks turned a dark shade of crimson as her eyes dropped to the floor and her voice was barely a whisper in the quiet room.

"Extremely." Steve wasn't really sure what to do, he wanted to hug her, but that seemed a bittoo much so he slowly let his fingers slide down her arms, tickling her wrist before they slid into her hand.

"I was worried you'd be worried. But I'm sort of happy you were. I think that means you like me." She grinned before looking up at him.

"I do, maybe as much as you like me." He was left speechless as his cheeks became a tinge darker. He couldn't suppress his smile as he tried to think of something clever to say back, but when he opened his mouth clever didn't come out.

"How about we head to dinner now before I have a chance to screw things up." Beth couldn't help but laugh as she turned towards the door.

"Let's go, but for the record, I don't think you could ever screw things up."

They both walked side by side, Beth with her hands neatly folded in front of her and Steve with his hands shoved in his pockets. He led her out to a cab and soon they were on their way to a great little restaurant across town. The ride was quiet and once the arrived at the dinner Beth found herself opening up to him, telling him all about her grandparents and how he might actually know her grandfather.

Dinner seemed to go to fast and neither of them wanted the night to end, but with everything Steve had just heard, he found himself thinking of how she could help him even more than she had been. He took her home, but as he walked her to her door, he regretting not taking them out someplace else first.

"Beth, I had a really great night. I'd love to do this again, if you do." She smiled as she turned to face him as the arrived in front of her apartment.

"Would you like to come in for a cup of coffee?" He went through an internal fight with himself, he wanted to stay and talk to her for hours, but he hated to think what her neighbors would say about her having a man in her apartment this late in the evening. She could see his internal struggle and she softly touched his arm."Steve, it's alright if you don't. But I do most definitely want to see you again." He smiled as she took the pressure of him and he nodded.

"What are you doing Tuesday evening? There's something I think you could help me with." Beth's mind was too busy focused on trying not to jump for joy as she gave him a coy smile.

"I'm available. Tuesday it is."

"Alright, I will call you before hand to let you know if you need anything. Goodnight Beth." She took his hand and got up on her tips toes to press a soft kiss to his cheek.

"Goodnight Steve." With that she opened her door and went inside, peering at Steve who stood and watched until he heard her locks engage and only then did he leave because he felt she was safe. When he got outside he took in a deep breath, he might have just found the key to solving one of his problems.