Chapter Thirteen

Steve reread the paper in his hand for the tenth time. The sunlight was now pouring through the curtains, so Steve had turned off the TV. It had taken him a couple seconds to find the right button, but nothing he couldn't handle. In fact, turning off the TV seemed to be the least of his worries.

SHIELD had included a file on Bethany, to which he spent the majority of the night studying. Her file was almost as big as the rest combined, and he knew that there was a lot of things missing. There wasn't much detail towards the assignments she went on, to which Steve assumed was confidential, but they did include her mental evaluations. The pages about her bipolar disorder, the lapses she had over the years, the medications and treatments she endured and the very shocking fact that the scientists at SHIELD believed that the serum running through her veins may just very well be the reason towards her illness.

That's ironic, Steve thought as he reread the sentence again. The very thing keeping her from getting hurt physically was hurting her mentally. There were pages about the serum she used. Apparently a lot of tests had been run on her throughout the years, whether to cure or duplicate, Steve wasn't sure. But after reading a brief history on America since he went under, Steve realized that they were desperate for people like him, people like Bethany.

Two long pages explained why Bethany wasn't aging. It really didn't make much sense to him. It might as well be written in a different language since the words were so foreign. He understood the basics though; her body was in a constant flux of regeneration not just when something needed repairing.

Steve looked down at where Bethany was sleeping on her stomach. Her head was looking in the opposite direction of him, but her body still laid close to his. He was starting to get used to the dark hair. It was the stick straightness of it however that he didn't like. Sighing, he put down Bethany's file and opened Tony's. His was almost as complex as Bethany's, but he had barely put a dent in it. For some reason, Steve didn't like him. There was just something in the way his eye's shone in the picture that rubbed him the wrong way.

"Running as fast as he can! Iron Man lives again!" Steve jumped slightly at the loud sound coming from Bethany's phone. She too jumped up, completely disoriented before moving to a sitting position with her back towards him, picking up the phone.

"What Tony?" She moaned. Steve closed the file, watching her body language. Bethany and her love her sleep surely hadn't changed. Her back was bent over slightly, as if her shoulders were pulling her down. "Not that I know of," Bethany responded into the phone, moving to lie against the end of the bed. "Why are you asking m-" Bethany stopped as she noticed Steve's presence, eyes widening as she slipped off the bed. "Shit!" Bethany yelled as her body met the floor. Steve quickly leaned over.

"You okay?" He whispered.

"One minute, kid," Bethany said into the phone before pulling it away from her ear. "I forgot you were here," she admitted sheepishly.

Steve gave an apologetic smile, before getting out of the bed and help her to her feet. "You're bleeding."

Bethany looked where her arm nicked one of the springs of the sofa bed. "Typical." She pressed the phone back to her ear. "Tony, can I call you back?... Fine, then I'm putting you on speaker phone."

She put the phone on a table and quickly went for paper towels. "You'll have to tap into the city's power grid in order to connect the arc reactor to the tower," Bethany said loudly as she pressed some towels up against her arm and then handing the rest to Steve who began to clean up the little puddle on the ground.

"Pepper's convinced that's illegal," Tony's voice sounded through.

"And since when does that matter to you?" Bethany asked as she looked at her arm to determine if it had stopped bleeding.

"You know Pepper. All about doing things the right way."

"You're activating a clean energy protect," Bethany reminded him. "If Stark Tower is able to operate on the arc reactor, as only a prototype, then you can expand this and possibly save planet earth. Theoretically, the government shouldn't give a damn."

"You hear that Pep?" Tony said. "I'm not the only one who thinks this way."

"Tony, I'm still calling the city," Pepper's voice responded.

Bethany shook her head, chuckling. "If they say no, then you can do it. They shouldn't even notice. It's not like you're stealing their power."

"Thank you!" Tony cried out. "Listen, what you doing today? I need your input. Plus, I'm starting a new suit, and two hands are better than one."

"Four hands," Bethany corrected. "Unless we'll be doing something with left ones."

"Eating," Tony said naturally. "So?"

Bethany looked at Steve who stood up with the blood soiled paper towels. "I can't. I have… things to do."

"Things? Since when? I thought you said you're done work until like May."

"I said I'll be in New York until May," Bethany corrected. "I'm kinda on an assignment."

Bethany moved over to the garbage bin and threw out her paper towels, gesturing for Steve to do the same before picking up her phone and putting it to her ear. "Kid, we'll have lunch soon. I promise…. Okay, I'll call you later. Bye"

Bethany put her phone down, gathering her hair in her hands. "Sleep well?" Steve asked, as she went to the kitchen and began to scramble through the shelves.

"Yeah, actually," Bethany said, stilling momentarily. "It's been a really long time since I've slept through the night. What about you?"

Steve gave a small smile. "I- uh, I read some of the files last night."

"And?" Bethany asked, pulling out instant pancake batter.

"And it's a lot to read," Steve summarized.

Bethany gave him a sympathetic smile. "Think about it this way, babies can learn everything from scratch. It's a lot, but we'll get through it. This is something I promise, and more importantly, plan to keep. There hasn't been an assignment that I've given up on yet."

Steve nodded, "Is there anything you want me to do?"

Bethany shook her head, "Just sit. Food should be ready soon. Until then, why don't we learn something new? Like… ummm… Oh! Microwave."

After getting dressed, Steve sat at the table, his new laptop in front of him. Bethany had shown him the basic set up, but Steve went straight to Google. He liked it. It was like a library at the touch of his fingertips. It made gaining knowledge so easy. To begin with, he looked up the Cold War.

Clicking the Wikipedia page, he began to read. Bethany was in the shower, promising to be as quick as she could. They had basically planned out their entire day during breakfast; starting with buying Steve some clothes. She also planned on showing him some of the cities features, going to the book store to pick up some history books and then grocery shopping, since Bethany's fridge consisted of milk, butter and eggs. And cheese. Bethany had stressed that hard when Steve surveyed it.

The bathroom door opened, and Bethany came out wrapped in a big white towel, wet hair hanging down her shoulders. "I'm about to use the hairdryer," She said, holding up the metallic item. "I just wanted to let you know, since it's loud."

Steve nodded as she turned to disappear behind the doors again, looking at her tanned, leaned legs. He remembered the first time he touched them, surprised at how soft they were. He took in a deep breath before turning his attention back to the laptop screen as a whirring sound started from the bathroom. Steve typed 'hairdryer' into the Google search bar.

The words explained it enough, but since Steve figured he shouldn't assume anything in this new world he read the quick description provided. Scrolling down the page, he made the decision to look up 'radio'. There was a device in the corner that looked strangely like a radio but Steve wanted to make sure before he played with any buttons.

Arriving to the conclusion that, yes, that was a radio, Steve went over and pressed almost every button before the music started to play. "In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind, we've gone too far."

Steve frowned at the weird sounding music, but arrived at the conclusion that music had to have evolved with everything else. The bathroom door opened again, Bethany coming out singing the words to the song. Steve watched as she picked up her phone and looked at it briefly. She was still in her towel, but her hair was completely dry. It had a soft wave to it, and Steve felt the need to run his fingers through it.

"Can you leave your hair like that?" He asked over the music.

Bethany looked up at him before turning to a mirror and studying her hair. "There's a lot of it, though. And it'll frizz up through the day."

"I can braid it," Steve suggested, walking over to her. Just like… like old times.

Bethany smiled, looking at Steve's reflection in the mirror. "Okay. Just let me put some clothes on and I'll get a brush."

Steve nodded as she slipped away quickly. The song changed and Steve cringed a little at the sound of it. "Just shoot for the stars if it feels right, and aim for my heart if you feel like…."

He sat on the couch—which he and Bethany had folded up before she went to shower—and took a hold of Bethany's phone. Remembering her password—which she told him was 0704—he pressed the music icon and started to scroll through the music on her phone. Some of it, he recognized. Things like Peggy Lee and Benny Goodman.

Getting up, he turned off the radio and played Minnie the Moocher. "Oh God," Bethany said coming out of her room in tight blue jeans, a white shirt and an unzipped feminine looking black leather jacket. "I forgot I had this song on here."

"Do you mind?" Steve asked as Bethany passed him the brush.

"Not at all," Bethany responded. "Another thing to add to our list of things to do today; put music on your phone. That way you can have all your own music."

Steve nodded as he began to part her hair. It was incredibly soft in his hands, and he could smell her shampoo linger up to his nose. "Once you're done this, I'm just going to do my makeup and then we can head out."

"Are you going to do the same makeup as yesterday?" He asked, twisting her hair.

Bethany's shoulders quirked. "Why?"

"You look different with your makeup like that, is all." Steve explained.

"Would you prefer red lips and kohl eyeliner?"

Steve finished the braid, handing the end to Bethany who tied it off with a black elastic. "You don't have to."

She turned to him, taking his hands. "Steve, don't shy away from me. Not now. I want to make this easier for you. I know this is all… overwhelming. It's been a while since I've done red lipstick, but I probably have a tube somewhere."

Steve followed her as she went to the bathroom and pulled out a huge bin of makeup from under the sink. She began to sort through it, digging even. Feeling Steve's gaze on her, she snapped her head up. He was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed with a slight look of amused judgment on his face. "I go undercover a lot, okay? The amount of times in the last twenty years I've been put under cover as a teenage girl is unhealthy. I know every song by every Disney Channel Pop Princess…" She mumbled the last part, but Steve heard it loud and clear. He decided not to question it.

Looking down again, she saw the familiar green tube. "Aha!" She cried pulling it out and running it over her lips three times.

Steve watched as she lightly smacked her lips together, getting lost in memory.

"Don't put makeup on," Steve said seeing her settling on her chair at the vanity.

"Why not?" Bethany asked as she picked up her favorite shade of red.

Getting out of bed, Steve wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Because putting on makeup means you're planning on going out. I want you to myself for a little longer."

"We both have duties, Captain." Bethany reminded him with a wink.

"I don't like having to pick you over them, but I can't help it," he murmured against her neck. "Come back to bed."

Bethany stood up, trying to work her way out of his grip, only to have Steve follow her movements and keeping her in his grasp. "Steve, I have things to do."

"Yes, like joining me back in the bed." He said, pushing down the side of his shirt she was wearing and placing a kiss on her shoulder. "Making those sweet sounds when I do this," he said before lighting digging his teeth into her skin. Bethany leaned against his body, pressing her thighs together as a light whimper escaped her lips.

"Steve," she complained. "We spent the whole night-"

"Bethany, you should know by now that there is nothing that I would rather do than make love to you until the end of time."

"Sounds exhausting," Bethany said, fighting to get away from his peppering kisses. "I don't think I have the stamina for that."

"Well I do," Steve said, wrapping his arms around her waist and picking her up.

"Steve!" Bethany cried out annoyed, but he could hear the smile in her voice. "There's a war going on, remember?"

"Which only makes me appreciate and crave these moments more," he said, lying her down on the bed. Bethany flipped over onto her back, settling on her elbows.

"You don't give up do you, Steve?"

"Steve?" Bethany called out, snapping him out of his trance. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he said shaking the memory out of his head. "Just lost in memory lane is all."

"Okay, just let me pack my bag," Bethany started, slipping her diamond earrings into her lobes. Steve noticed that her eye makeup was now done as well. "And then we can go."

She shimmied her way past him and started packing her bag with her phone, keys, wallet as well as the credit and debit cards in Steve's name. Steve slipped on the shoes SHIELD gave him as Bethany put on a pair of grey heels with velvet bows on the tip.

Leaving the apartment, Bethany moved to lock the door. "BETHHHANNNNNNYYYYY" they heard from down the hall. Bethany turned to the source of the noise, watching as a little boy with a red cape came running down the halls and wrapping himself around her legs.

"Well, hello to you too, Theo," Bethany said looking down at the little boy.

"Look what I got!" Theo said, unwrapping himself from Bethany and showing her his Iron Man action figure.

"Wow, did your Mommy buy you that?" Bethany said, leaning down a little.

"Yup!" Theo said before turning to Steve. "Hi, I'm Theo. I'm four and I'm a superhero."

Steve raised his eyebrows, amused. Moving to lean on the haunches of his feet, eye level with Theo, Steve stuck his hand out. "Steve."

Theo shook it strongly. "Theo! What did I tell you- Oh Bethany!" Steve watched as a beautiful blonde woman walked across the hallway, arms filled with brown bags. "I didn't know you were back."

"Hey Jen," Bethany said with a soft smile. "I just got back yesterday."

"You need help with those, ma'am?" Steve asked standing up.

Jen's attention turned to Steve, where she smiled. "Uh… sure. Thanks..?"

"Oh, Jen this is an old friend of mine, Steve. Steve, one of my neighbors, Jen."

Steve took all of Jen's bags with a smile. "Nice to meet you."

"I gotta say, it's been a while since anyone has offered me help, Steve." Jen said opening the door to her apartment. "Well, and then there's Bethany."

"Best. Babysitter. Ever!" Theo declared, running into his apartment and onto the couch.

Steve put the bags down on the kitchen table. "Babysitter?"

"Only when needed," Bethany explained, leaning against the doorframe.

Jen threw her keys on the counter and folded her arms. "About that… I have a date tonight. You think you could…?"

Bethany exhaled deeply. "Only if it's okay with Steve."

"Well, you're welcome to join," Jen insisted. "I wouldn't have a problem with that."

Steve shrugged. "Sure."

"Thank you," Jen said with a smile. "Six then? I'll feed Theo beforehand."

Bethany nodded before bidding her goodbye and leading Steve out the building. "Babysitting, huh?"

"I moved here about three years ago and Jen and her husband were fighting. A lot. I was here about two weeks when she came to my door, tears down her face begging me to watch over Theo while she and her husband worked things out. Seeing her, completely out of control, begging for help… I don't know, she reminded me of me. I couldn't say no. Then it turned into her needing someone to watch him during marriage counselling and then divorce hearings."

Steve nodded as they walked down the Brooklyn streets. "Until right now, I thought your life was just work."

"It seems that way," Bethany agreed. "That's how I want everyone at SHIELD to see it. But SHIELD doesn't give back to back to back missions. I'm usually home once a month."

Steve smiled, looking at her. "I'm gathering you're a very complex person."

"Have I ever not been?" Bethany asked, playing with the end of her braid.

Steve broke out into laughter. He had never heard something truer then that.

After visiting a department store, the bank and the book store, Bethany and Steve sat at a local café, waiting for their sandwiches. Steve ran his fingers across the edges of the brown leather jacket Bethany had snuck off and bought him while he was trying on some clothes.

"So?" Bethany asked, gesturing to the area. "Thoughts?"

Steve looked up at the tall buildings, one in particular that read 'STARK' on it. "Everything here is so…"

"In your face?" Bethany supplied. Steve nodded. "Welcome to the 21st century. If something isn't in your face, it isn't worth building."

"Do you want to stop and see Tony?" Steve asked gesturing to the building. "I can wait out here."

"Nah," Bethany said. "I'll see him soon. Knowing him, he'll show up unexpected one night. Plus, I want to teach you more about this generation before you two meet. He won't lay off the jokes, I can promise you that."

"And here we go," a brown haired waitress said, putting down their food. "Enjoy."

"Thank you," Steve told her as she walked away.

"So we still have to go grocery shopping," Bethany said before taking a small bite of her sandwich. "Think we'll have enough hands to carry both those and your clothes back?"

Steve nodded as he took a big bite, absolutely famished. "Between the two of us, yes. Are we taking the subway again?"

"Yup," Bethany said, wiping the side of her mouth. "Maybe we'll see those girls again," she teased with a twinkle in her eye.

Steve blushed slightly, remembering the group of teenagers riding the subway, barely wearing anything at all. Steve spent the majority of the journey staring intently at Bethany, trying not to acknowledge them at all, but to his dismay they kept pushing themselves against him and making small talk, giggling away. Finally, Bethany put her hand on his thigh and asked him if they could stop to pick up some prenatal pills. Steve didn't know what she meant, but the teenaged girls did and laid off.

Looking around at the women at the café, Steve's brows furrowed. "Why is everyone dressing like this?"
"Provocative?" Bethany asked, taking a sip of her lemonade. "Believe or not, but this is what is considered fashionable. And sexy."

"They're barely wearing anything," Steve spoke up. "They're leaving nothing to the imagination. How do they expect men to respect them if they don't even respect themselves?"

Bethany leaned forward, taking one of his hands. "This is a generation where people don't wait until marriage for sex. Not like we did, but it's accepted now. Many couples have more than one kid out of wedlock, and society is okay with this. And people get divorced without judgment. It's a completely different world. I mean, here I could get a job as a mechanic or a doctor with a blink of an eye, especially with my credentials. Sure, some women still face inequality, but it's not the same."

"I'm starting to see that," Steve said looking down at his plate as Bethany's phone began to vibrate loudly against the table.

"Sorry," Bethany said picking it up. "It's Clint. If I don't pick up, he'll call again." Steve nodded, taking another bite of his sandwich. "Yes, Katniss?"

"Don't call me that," Clint warned annoyed. "Grandma."

"Fine. What do you want? I'm at lunch."

"Just wanted to check up on you. Make sure you were still alive."

Bethany put a french fry in her mouth before replying. "You've never done that before."

"It's not every day a past love of yours returns," Clint explained. "So?"

Bethany looked at Steve who was gazing around at the buildings and people. "What exactly are you inquiring, Barton?"

"I'm wondering if you had hot, dirty, sweaty sex up against the wall last night."

Bethany crunched her nose. "Why would you even want to know?"

"Because I care for your wellbeing. And you need to get laid. You're too uptight. In fact, it's been so long for you, you're probably a virgin again."

"Goodbye Clint," Bethany said before hanging up.

"Anything wrong?" Steve asked, finishing off his sandwich.

"No, just Clint being Clint," Bethany said putting her phone back on the table. "A severe pain in my ass."

Bethany picked up her sandwich to take another bite before the screen lit up again. She groaned as she read the name before answering. "What Natasha?"

"Clint said you hung up on him," Natasha replied in her usual bored voice.

"Well, tell him to put his big boy pants on and deal with it," Bethany responded.

"I just want to know!" Clint yelled from a distance.

"Look, just tell him what he wants to know, and then he'll stop being more annoying than the wifi on the third level of the hellicarrier."

"Fine," Bethany grumbled. "No. Okay. And while you're at it, how about you tell him it was never like that to begin with."

"Wait, seriously?" Natasha asked, surprised. "Never once?"

"No," Bethany answered, trying to keep her tone as neutral as possible.

"Not even when he returned from battle?"

"Especially not then," Bethany said with a sigh. "Look Tasha, I'm at lunch."

"If you do, will you tell me?"

Bethany kept back her growl. "What? You want to know the raunchy details?"

"You know me," Natasha said in her natural air.

"Fine, but I have to go. Bye."

Bethany refrained from slamming her phone against the table, greatly annoyed that her partners' refusal to keep their noses out of her business. "You sure everything is okay?"

Bethany looked up at Steve, who was sitting up straight, fingers circling the rim of his glass of water. "And that was just Natasha being Natasha. Do you want the rest of my sandwich?"

"Are you not hungry?" Steve asked, eyeing the ham and Swiss sandwich.

"I lost my appetite," she said pushing her plate towards him. Steve took the plate happily and began to devour it. Bethany watched him fondly, always amused at the fact that he collected food like a garbage can.

"You're going to make yourself sick," Bethany chuckled as Steve dipped another piece of bread into the melted cheese.

"I thought you said my meta… metab.."

"Metabolism," Bethany supplied.

"Right. I thought you said it runs four times faster. Doesn't that effect my appetite?"

Bethany sighed, "Yes, but it's not good to have that much dairy in your stomach. Ever drink so much milk that your stomach gets upset?"

"Have you?" Steve asked with an eyebrow lifted.

"My childhood," Bethany said, reaching over to wipe some cheese off the corner of Steve's lip. "Basically up until I discovered alcohol and then it was a whole new type of sickness."

Bethany offered up the cheese on her finger to him, which he accepted his lips brushing against her thumb in the most sensual way possible. "Enough eating," Bethany decided, moving to straddle Steve's hips. "Time to work off that meal."

"Someone's eager," Steve said, running her fingers over her bare legs and up the large t-shirt she was wearing. "But I have no objections."

"Beth?" Steve asked as he finished off her sandwich.

"Yeah?" Bethany said blinking away her memory. She had got used to pushing back her memories of her and Steve over the years, but now that he was in front of her, it was getting a lot more difficult.

"You seemed lost in though. You sure you're okay?" He asked softly.

Bethany took in a deep breath before shaking her head. "No. I-I'm not actually. I've spent the last 70 years piercing my life together, but just like that everything rushes back. I thought I put those memories behind me. But, they're as clear as day."

"I'm sorry," Steve told her honestly.

She let out a humorless scoff. "Steve, it's not your fault. I guess it's just hard having those memories close, having you close, and yet both being so far away."

Steve leaned over and took her hand again. "Beth, I get it. I'm a stranger in this place, but with you… I feel like I belong. I know I can do it. And for me, having these memories aren't as bitter as they once were. I only appreciate life and you more because of them."

A small smile pulled at her lips. "That's a good way to look at it."

"I want to be with you," Steve said suddenly, Bethany's heart immediately picking up, but not necessarily in a good way. She was nervous. She had not idea where this would lead to and her commitment issues hadn't quite resolved themselves over the years. "All I've been able to think about since waking up is kissing you. But there are a million reasons why that wouldn't be a good idea. I know that. It just… it doesn't change what I feel."

Bethany squeezed his hand, "Thank you for telling me that."

"All done here?" The waitress said from behind Bethany.

"Yes," Bethany said, pulling her hand away from Steve's. "Just the bill please."

"One or two?" The waitress asked as she picked up the plates.

"One," Steve answered, pulling out his wallet.

The waitress nodded, promising to be back in a minute. "I can pay," Bethany assured. "This wasn't a date or anything. I have an income. It's not the forties, women pay for their meals."

Steve shook his head, "I don't care. I wasn't raised like that. Plus I believe you picked up the tab last time we went out. It's my turn."

Bethany played with one of her earrings while Steve paid for lunch, using the money they took out of his bank account earlier. "Grocery shopping?" Steve asked as he got out of his chair, moving to help Bethany out of hers.

She smiled amused at his gentlemanly antics. She had watched the gestures slowly slip away from society until it was basically nonexistent. As he picked up all the bags and offered his arm to her, Bethany watched as some of the girls gave opened mouthed surprised faces at the acts, and couldn't help but bite back a smile.

Oh God, Bethany. He's doing it again. He's stealing your heart. Be prepared.

"You wanna see my superhero collection?" Theo asked Steve excitedly, jumping on the couch.

"Should you be doing that?" Steve asked, giving the boy a skeptical look.

"No, he shouldn't," Jen called from the door. "Theo, get off the couch. You know the Wilcoxes downstairs don't appreciate it."

Theo jumped off the couch and repeated his question to Steve. "Lead the way," Steve said before Theo started to pull him to his room.

Bethany put a hand on her heart, unable to keep back her smile. "I think that's the first time I've ever seen you smile," Jen said, reapplying her lipstick in the reflection of the toaster.

"I smile," Bethany countered.

"Not like that," Jen said. "So, tell me about him. About you two."

Bethany shrugged. "We dated a few years back, had a bad breakup around the same time his best friend died. He just came back into my life yesterday, though."

"Any hard feelings?" Jen asked.

"He really wants to forgive me… let's just I'm the reason we broke up in the first place."

Jen began to fluff her hair. "How so?"

Bethany sighed, "He wanted to get married, start a family. I wanted to focus on work. Take things slow. I didn't give room for compromise."

Jen frowned, stopping her movements. "But you're like… what? Twenty-one? Twenty-two? You must have been young when he asked you. He couldn't expect you to just stop what you were doing."

Bethany shrugged. "It's complicated. All I know is he's staying on my couch until he settles into New York. It's the least I can do."

"Settle into New York?" Jen asked, packing her bag. "Where did you two meet?"

"Washington," Bethany lied smoothly. "He was a soldier. He's… on leave now."

Jen's eyebrows went up. "Should've guessed with that physique. That or professional athlete of some kind. Anyways, I've got to get going. Meeting him at the Italian place down the street. Help yourself to whatever."

Bethany nodded as Jen left before sighing and turning to meet the boys in Theo's room. "And this is my comic book collection!" Theo told Steve, who was sitting cross legged on the ground holding an Iron Man action figure in one hand and a vintage Captain America in his other hand.

"Ah, my two favorite superheroes," Bethany said sitting next to Steve. Steve looked at her and gave her a small smile when she tossed him a subtle wink.

"It's really humbling," Steve whispered, gesturing to all the Captain America merchandise around the room. "I never asked for this."

"Which is probably why you got it," Bethany whispered back. "Theo, why don't we pop some popcorn and watch a movie?"

Theo stopped from digging through a bin and excitedly jumped up and down. "Yes! Can we watch Hercules?"

"Get your PJs on first, okay?" Bethany said, moving to undo the cape from his neck. Theo didn't need to be asked a second time as he quickly went to it. Steve stood up, offering his hands to Bethany. Pulling her up she held onto one of his hands, leading him out the room. "Let's see how much of the microwave lesson you remember from this morning."

After the movie was done, Bethany put Theo to bed, and her and Steve had time to themselves. Bethany laid down and put her feet on Steve's lap who, without giving it a second thought, began to massage her feet. Bethany channel flipped for a while before settling on A League of Their Own which had luckily just started.

Bethany figured the movie would be good for Steve considering it came out in the nineties, but was based during World War Two. The setting, style and music would be familiar to him, but the war was only a backdrop.

Half way through the movie, Bethany fell asleep. She had seen the movie more than enough times, considering she loved baseball, loved the forties and loved women proving they were just as competent as men. In fact, she mouthed almost all the words up until she fell asleep.

When the movie ended, Steve turned off the TV, a sense of pride filling him of being able to do it with such ease. Putting the remote down, the door to the apartment door opened and Jen walked in.

"Have a good night?" Steve whispered as Jen gave a wave of hello.

"Steve, you're a man," Jen said after a moment, putting a hand on her hip, contemplating something.

"Uh… yes?" Steve responded.

"Is there something about me that says 'will pay for her half of the bill', 'doesn't need you to open the door' and 'is totally fine with sleeping with him on the first date'? Don't answer that last one," she snapped as Steve's mouth fell open.

Steve looked down at Bethany's feet for a couple of seconds, before looking back up. "It's not you. It's them. They shouldn't be treating you like that."

"Yeah…" Jen mumbled, throwing her bag on the table. "Was Theo good?"

Steve nodded, "He's a good kid."

"Yeah, he is," Jen smiled. "I have to give Bethany a lot of the credit though. His father isn't around, so she's been making sure he has male figures to look up too. Which would explain his superhero obsession."

Steve gave a light smile. "She's good with him."

"Patient," Jen agreed. "Understanding. She'll make a good mother someday."

Steve felt his heartstring tug a little. "It's amazing how much she's changed since I last saw her. She wasn't even close to being ready. I loved her, but I still knew that she was selfish. She thought about other people, but she always made sure she was put first. Seeing her now… It's a completely new Bethany."

Moving her feet off of him, Steve took the key Bethany gave him out of his pocket. He leaned down to pick up her heels that she had earlier discarded and picked her up carefully. "Well, thank you Steve." Jen said opening the door for him and going over to Bethany's apartment, taking the key from his hand and opening it for him. "I hope this isn't the last I'll see of you."

"I have a feeling it won't be," Steve assured her with one last smile. "Good night ma'am."

Closing the door, Steve carried Bethany to her room, placing her down slowly. He considered changing her, but decided that it wasn't the best idea. Instead, he settled for pulling the blankets over her body and kissing her forehead. He watched as she shifted into her pillow, licking her bottom lip before her mouth split open as it always did when she was in a deep slumber.

Watching over her for a couple seconds, a glint from her nightstand caught his attention. Turning his gaze, he saw it was the reflection of the streetlights dance off a silver picture frame. Steve picked up the photo, instantly recognizing the image.

It was him. But not as he was now, tall, strong and heroic. It was from before Captain America, the serum and the events that led them to that very moment. Standing there, skinny, looking slightly out of place.

He hadn't really questioned the lack of photos of him in her living room. The thought had passed once, but Steve told himself not to be vain about it before focusing on a new topic. Now though, as he looked around her room carefully, he noticed he was the only one featured in her pictures in the room.

One of them on his birthday, Steve giving her a piggy back ride, one from the Christmas before they were together, Bethany making a funny face to the camera. Another showed them on her birthday, Bethany sitting in his lap, their foreheads pressed up against one another's. He even stumbled on one of them in a passionate lip lock, one he definitely didn't remember being taken. He was in his full Captain America suit though, so he could only assume he was too involved with their fervent kiss to notice the flashing that came with a photograph.

Turning back to look at Bethany, he wanted nothing more than to crawl into the bed and hold her close. Tell her he forgave her, and bygones were bygones. Instead, he made his way to the couch for another night of research.