The room was bright as Beth struggled to open her eyes, the sun forcing them closed as she became aware of how much pain she was in. Her jaw was sore as was her body, but the worst pain was at the back of her head. Her eyes were only open in little slivers as she began to sit up, until the nausea overcame her.
"Whoa. Slow down or you'll end up in worse shape."
Beth let herself lay back as she reached up and felt the source of the pain in her head, a large knot. She pulled her hand away from the bump as she squinted in the direction of the female voice.
"What happened? Where am I?" She then tried to sit up again, this time being met by a hand on her shoulder pushing her back. "Steve, where is he?"
"Hey, it's alright." Her voice was calm and even as she spoke to Beth, her face slowly coming into focus. "You're at Sam Wilson's house and Steve is just in the other room. You don't remember what happened?" Beth first noticed the woman's red hair, then her green eyes.
"I know you, from Stark industries." Natasha moved around the room so she could close the curtains, waiting for Beth to recall what had happened. "Um. I remember going with Steve to Brooklyn. Walking around the block like a dozen times." She knit her brows as she thought, what else went on.
"Alright, you and Steve walked. Why?" Beth thought about it for a moment, trying to get her thoughts in order. She was just about to speak when she overheard Sam raise his voice in the other room.
"You shouldn't have tried that alone. She could have been killed Steve. I know this is a very personal mission but don't go it alone." It was all starting to come back to her now.
"Bucky. We went to find Bucky." Natasha only nodded as she sat in a chair next to the bed. "We found him, or he found us. I talked to him as if I was someone he knew. It worked, Steve's idea worked. Only for a moment but it worked." Natasha remained quiet as she watched Beth carefully. "Then something went wrong. He looked at Steve and his eyes changed. He was angry and I remember his hand had been on my neck but when he saw Steve he withdrew and took a step towards him. They had a stare down for a minute and he told Steve his mission was to kill him. Steve started pleading with him and he just got madder. I stepped forward, and he swung around and backhanded me. That's the last I remember, it goes blank after that "
Natasha had no doubt that is what happened, she was there to see it, matter of fact she was the one who saved Beth but she didn't totally trust her.
"Tell me, why did he talk to you? Of all the people, why you?" Beth just looked at Natasha. "Are you sure you've never met him?" Could she really think Beth was lying? Or worse, affiliated with Hydra?
"What are you implying?" Natasha raised her eyebrows as she leaned back.
"I only asked a question. There were no implications." Beth narrowed her eyes, she knew from Tony and Happy that Natasha was no one to mess with. "If you think I'm not going to watch you just because Steve trust you, then you're mistaken." Steve startled both women as he cleared his throat. Natasha simply stood up and walked out of the room, but as she passed Steve he grabbed her arm.
"I can watch out for myself, and if you don't trust her, you're the one who's mistaken." Natasha looked back at Beth one last time before disappearing out of sight.
Beth watched the way he whispered to the red-headed assassin, wondering what type of connection the two had because it's seemed to go deeper than the Avengers. His voice brought Beth back to reality and she found herself longing for his embrace.
"How are you feeling?" She looked up at him as he stood there waiting for an answer. More than that he was waiting to see if she was upset with him for putting her in harm's way.
"Sore, but overall alright." He let go of a breath as he took the seat Natasha had left, sitting on the edge so he could be close to her. "Why am I sore? I remember him backhanding me, after that I'm blank." Steve reached out and turned her chin so that he could get a clear look at the bruise on her jaw.
"When he hit you, you fell back and hit your head pretty good. After that he came at me, and while I was trying to stop him you managed to get to your feet. That's when Natasha came out of nowhere and pushed you out of the way from a bus coming down the road. You hit the pavement hard and was out cold." She just wanted to lean in and kiss him, his lips were so tempting. She decided against it, not wanting to ruin their first kiss, if there would be one.
"And Bucky? Did you at least get through to him?" Steve shook his head no as he sat back in the seat, his expression telling her enough to know Bucky still had no recollection of his best friend.
"He's still all messed up from Hydra. But you, you made some connection with him. You made him at least remember someone." She could see a distant hurt in his eyes and she hated that he had seen the kiss between her and Bucky. Hated that her eyes fluttered open slowly and that the two shared a longing look after, but she hated most her inability to just speak the truth.
"I don't think it will be long before he figures out I'm not her. Maybe he already figured it out and that's why he struck me." Steve shook his head no, that was not the reason at all.
"Bucky didn't hit you. That was the winter soldier. No, Bucky is lost inside there somewhere and I've got to figure a way to get him out." She sat up slowly, trying to keep the pain choked back as she got herself into a seated position on the edge of the bed. Once her feet were on the ground she reached over and took his hand.
"I'll help you in any way I can. Just say the word." Once again Steve found himself looking at her hand holding his, staring as he fought with himself to just kiss her.
Beth had called off work sick for two days, and when she got there Friday morning she was surprised to see Happy waiting on her in the lab. He was busy looking at some of the ammunitions she had spread out on the counter from doing calculations the day she found out Tony had been watching her.
"To what do I owe the pleasure Happy?" The man jumped, knocking bullets all over the floor. He yelled but quickly stopped, hoping that he didn't appear to be easily startled.
"Shit," he muttered as he got down on one knee to pick up the scattered rounds. "I'm sorry Beth. Pepper asked me to come down to get you but you weren't here yet so I was just having a look around while I waited." As he spoke Beth made her way over to him, stooping down to help clean up the mess he'd made.
"Don't worry about it. You, I don't mind looking around. It Mr. Stark's snooping that bothers me." They had picked up the last the bullets when Happy finally looked about Beth, and he immediately saw the bruise.
"Wow. Beth are you alright? That's one nasty looking bruise." She shrugged as she rose to her feet before grabbing a tray to put the ammo on.
"I've been better, but I've also been worse."
Happy could only nod in response, and a feeling of anger started. He sat the bullets on tray as Beth locked her personal belongings in a locker tucked in the back of her laboratory, his anger bubbling more and more as he studied the almost hand shaped bruise. She approached him smiling hoping this meeting with Pepper had nothing to do with her personal relationships, but Happy couldn't help but ask.
"Are you sure you're alright. I mean, are you dating someone who's, well, hurting you? Because if you are and you're afraid to leave then," Beth was quiet as he started, shocked he'd think she was in an abusive relationship and also touched he cared enough to ask. She the interrupted his rambling by speaking up.
"Happy no. The person who did this doesn't even know me, so please don't worry. I'm fine I promise." He eyed her up for moment before nodding.
"Alright. Let's go on up before she's down here thinking I'm goofing off." Beth suppressed a giggle as she nodded and began walking with him to the elevators.
Pepper's reaction to Beth's jaw was laced with anger and disgust as she proceeded to ask if Steve had somehow put her in danger.
"Seriously, I'd expect Tony to be the only one to do something putting others in danger. And Tony only does it when he let's his emotions get the better of him. I thought for sure Steve the type of guy who thinks out every detail, I mean god, just look at you. How could he not protect you at all cost? That's it, I'm going to pay him a visit " Beth didn't want to admit to going after Bucky, but she didn't want Pepper thinking it was solely steve's fault, after all she knew the risks when she agreed to his personal mission.
"Ms. Potts, it's not what it looks like. I can also assure you that whomever I chose to spend my with, is completely my choice." Pepper's anger gave way to embarrassment, and she sat quietly for a moment.
"That was inappropriate as your boss. But I'm also your friend." Beth let out a breath as she leaned back in the leather chair.
"I know, but I'd rather not talk about it right now." Pepper let it go and the two started talking business.
That evening as Beth changed out of her work clothes, her phone buzzed with a message from Steve.
are you free tonight? I still owe you the sixties.
Beth couldn't stop from giggling as she read the text, taking a moment to find the right response that didn't sound overly eager. She must have typed a dozen different responses before finally just forcing herself to hit send.
sure. Come on over.
She then buzzed around her small apartment, tidying up before Steve arrived. She had just about cleaned the whole place when she got to her bedroom. She simply went in, checked herself in the mirror and walked out closing the door behind her. She knew Steve well enough to know that
there would be no reason to tidy up that room tonight. She had just sat down and was looking through her playlist for the era when there was a knock at her door. She found herself panicking slightly, so she took a deep breath to clear out the butterflies and then opened the door. She stepped back as Steve walked in carrying a pizza.
"You brought dinner, that's really sweet. And I have the perfect compliment to that pizza." Steve smiled as he turned and looked at Beth, not knowing where to go. "Oh, you can set on the coffee table. I'll grab some plates and drinks and join you."
"I'll be here waiting." He sat down shaking his head, not knowing why he just said that; she knew he'd be waiting. He opened the box and spoke over his shoulder. "I didn't know what you'd like so I got pepperoni. I hope that's alright." Beth appeared by his side and handed him a beer and a plate.
"That's fine with me. Just so you know though, any pizza topping is fine with me." Steve thanked her for the beer and waited for her to take the first slice.
"That's good to know." He got his own slice, chuckling to himself as Beth tried to take a bite only to burn her lip.
"Ow, shit. Damn it. Stupid twist top, ow, now my hand hurts." She turned to look at Steve, embarrassed that she got all flustered in front of him. He tried to hide his grin as he took her bottle and twisted off the top.
"Be careful, it's hot." Beth took a long drink of the beer to cool off her lip before returning his banter.
"Thank you Captain Obvious." They both laughed for a moment and soon conversation turned to the reason for their dinner date.
Beth explained everything from the Civil Rights Movement she could remember, the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King, the Berkeley free speech movement and the war in Vietnam. She tried to add as much positivity in it that she could, not wanting Steve to think the country he would protect with his life had changed in a way that made it bloodier by the decade. After they'd finished eating and had 3 beers each, the music came on. Beth wasn't really drunk, but perhaps her inhibitions were fading away. She and Steve danced and laughed through eight songs when suddenly things slowed down. As Percy Sledge started singing When a Man Loves a Woman, Beth slowly put her head against Steve's shoulder and he pulled her hand to his chest as he held her close. He wanted to ask her about their relationship, but this moment felt so right he kept quiet and simply swayed with her to the music. Steve was happy that the next few songs kept her close, listening to her softly singing along.
"Like the river flows surely to the sea. Darling so it goes, some things are meant to be." He felt her fingers playing with the hair at the base of his skull and he looked at her only to find her looking back at him. Her other hand eased from his and with that she touched his jaw before raising up on the tips of her toes to press her lips to his. She lingered there for a moment then pulled away, list heavy in her eyes.
"I've been meaning to do that" Steve whispered before leaning down to plant a kiss of his own. Their kisses were soft and slow, both savoring every second of each other. Soon their dancing had ended, the two now occupying the sofa as they continued tasting lips and tongues. Steve slowly began to pull from her, his mind body protesting his mind's decision. As he separated from her Beth looked up to him biting her lip, wishing he hadn't stopped.
"I better get going."Steve stood up and held a hand out to Beth, helping her up but something caught his eye. He whispered to Beth, asking her to shut off the lights and she could tell by his body language that something was off. She walked over calmly and shut off the lights then turned to see Steve looking the window.
Steve watched as the dark figure disappeared from the roof of the building next to Beth's. Even in the dim light of the sliver of the moon, there was no hiding the glimmering of a metal arm now exposed as if a warning to anyone who was fool enough to come after him.
"He was watching us. He was just out there watching us." He turned to look at Beth and could see the worry in her eyes.
"Hopefully he's remembering." He took one last look out the window before closing the curtains.
"I hope so. I hate the idea of leaving you here alone knowing what he did to you." Beth crossed the room to stand next to him, his eyes looking at the yellowing bruise before meeting hers.
"Then stay here. Keep me safe. I think I'd sleep better if you did." With that her arms slid around him and his around her. Steve rested his chin on her head as she waited for his answer, clarifying that they didn't have to sleep together. "The guest room is pretty sparse, but it serves it purpose." Steve took a deep breath, he wasn't going to risk something else happening to her, but would him being there put her at more risk? If he was being honest with himself he wanted to stay, and not in the guest room. He decided he'd rather stay and make sure she was safe than to leave and risk not being there to protect her.