A/N: Okay so there's a lot more Bethany in this chapter than the previous ones. She finally has a place. She's a smart one, and I think this'll help to show that.

Chapter 25- Worry

"I'm crazy for trying, and crazy for crying. And I'm crazy for loving you. Worry, why do I let myself worry? Wondering what in the world did I do?"

~Crazy, Hayden Panettiere

After resting for what both felt like forever and no time at all, Bethany felt more like her old self. While there was a faint thumping in her head from her concussion, she wasn't as sensitive to light and sound. In fact, upon waking from her nap, she felt well enough to take a shower in the small, and frankly gross, bathroom in the secret base. The concreate room had the essentials. A stand up shower, a bathroom, a sink and a mirror.

She only caught a quick glance at her reflection, not wanting to see what she currently looked like. She was certain she was a mess. Bethany couldn't even remember the last time she had a shower. She stripped, balling her clothes up in a corner and placing her new clothes- things Hill brought in for her- on the toilet. She waited for the water to get warm before climbing in and immediately feeling like a new woman.

She was more than emotionally drained. She knew that she was at high risk of having a relapse with her bipolar disorder, but right now, she didn't matter. Her need for Steve didn't matter. Her pain didn't matter. There was something bigger than her happening. Although she couldn't help but give a small smile when her thoughts drifted to Maria. The two agents often went head to head, fighting even if they were on the same side. They were typically cold to each other, but there was always an unspoken sense of respect for each other. Now things were different. Maria was helping her, comforting her, assuring her that everything would work out. Never in a million years would Bethany have thought that she would depend on Maria and be okay with it, but never in a million years would she have thought that SHIELD would be compromised and overrun.

She sighed as she massaged her hands into her hair. It felt disgusting and while she couldn't wait to wash it, she didn't want to be the one to do it. Nonetheless, she took the small hotel sample Maria gave her and used the entirety of the bottle washing and rewashing her hair.

Moving to wash her body, her hand stopped on her neck. She wondered if there was still bruises around it. From Steve's reaction earlier, she figured it was pretty bad. Even when he was just talking to her, his gaze kept going to her neck and she was almost sure he didn't even realize he was doing it. Then again, Steve would act like that with a splinter. She then felt the extreme urge to continually wash her body not just of dirt, but experience. She felt like she was about to rub her skin right off the bone after ten minutes of cleansing. She hadn't even noticed that she had began to cry. For what, she wasn't sure. Probably everything. Nothing specific, just everything she'd ever experienced, the good and the bad. And she didn't try to stop it. She left the emotions roll free, the tears mixing with the shower's water and letting go of all her strength while she was hidden in the bathroom.

When her hands felt wrinkly and her stomach growling with hunger, she stepped out of the shower and began to dry herself off. Maria was only able to get some stretchy pants, knowing it would look suspicious if bought maternity jeans, but Bethany didn't care. As long as she was comfortable and clothed, she couldn't complain. The sweater Maria brought was nice, a woolen grey thing that was soft to the touch. Bethany winced, wondering if it would fit over her bump, but succeeded in pulling it over her body. It was a bit tight, but her stomach was covered and it felt like the material was hugging her. She missed Steve's sweater but it was quickly losing his smell and she knew that if she wore it any longer, it would cease to smell like him altogether.

Her hair went up blindly into a ponytail before she decided to look into the mirror. It was grimy and had a huge crack in the middle, the shape of the cracks looking like someone had thrown their fist into it. Bethany wondered if that was the mirror she destroyed in the SHIELD HQ in New York the day Steve woke up. She held her fist up to it, seeing that it fit perfectly in the dent. She then focused on her image. What she saw that day, almost two full years ago was completely different. And it made sense. She wasn't that same agent, that same woman that she was then. Going day-to-day only counting on what missions she would get. The only love she received was innocent family and friend love, and even then at that point in her life, it was almost like she was continually in the dark. Murder shone in her eyes then.

But now, she just looked tired. Tired with life, with mistakes and even with herself. She looked weak and vulnerable and fat, she thought with a grimace. Her face was a sickly pale colour, her eyebrows looking insanely dark against her skin. It was also rounder than usual, her baby weight becoming prominent in her face now. On that day Steve woke up, there was never a doubt in her mind that she was a bombshell. She had dark sexy look that she strutted so confidently was nowhere to be seen now. She just looked and felt like a blob.

"Bethany?" She heard Maria say with a subtle knock on the door. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Bethany called back, it not coming out as close as strong as she wanted it to. She placed her hands on her stomach, closing her eyes momentarily. We're okay, she thought. It'll work out. It always does.

"Nick's awake if you want to tell him your theory," Maria shared.

"Just give me another minute," Bethany responded, looking back into the mirror. "We're okay," she said to her reflection strongly. She caught glimpse of that hard-headed agent, never worried about tomorrow, only having the past to haunt her. Not afraid of the future, nor the present. She knew she needed that girl to come back out, make her strong again, but Bethany also knew that girl disappeared completely the day she told Steve that she loved him. Because that hard-headed agent didn't know how to love like that. A type of love where she felt like she would burst if she could never be with him.

Bethany let out a deep breath of air, running her hands over her face before leaving the bathroom. She followed the light hum of conversation to Fury's bed where he lay in it looking even more helpless than her. "Hey Sleeping Beauty," Bethany teased, knowing she needed a little bit of humor to get her through the next conversation.

"What'd I miss?" Nick asked, the words slurring together with exhaustion.

"Steve and Natasha ended up in Wheaton, New Jersey," Hill contributed. "Then SHIELD sent a missile to attack them. They're no longer just wanted. They want them dead."

Bethany looked down at her feet at the last part. Of course, she already knew this. The moment Steve jumped out of the elevator she knew things weren't exactly going to be easy for him. It never would be, but he went and embarrassed SHIELD and its STRIKE team. And Bethany knew Rumlow well enough to know he didn't take getting beaten up well. Neither does Steve though, Bethany gave as an afterthought.

"SHIELD ordered it?" Nick asked, completely taken back.

"There's a few select people who could have ordered that, and three of them are standing in this room," Bethany supplied. "It's Pierce. It has to be him."

"You're getting ahead-"

"No, I'm not." Bethany interrupted. "I've hated him for years with reason. I've never felt like I could trust him. And what did you do? Oh yeah, offered him a seat on the Council even after I asked you not to."

"I get it. You were right from the beginning. If you just accepted the role of Director years ago-"

"Oh, I'm sorry I have a mental illness and was put under severe watch through the years," Bethany said sarcastically, crossing her arms.

"You should count yourself lucky," Maria reminded her. "People with mental disorders aren't hired by SHIELD."

"No, just traitors apparently," Bethany retorted with a pointed look.

"Are you gonna tell him the theory? Or should I?" Hill asked with a sigh.
Bethany's gaze turned to the agent's briefly before meeting with Fury's. "We think it's HYDRA."

"Excuse me?" Nick asked, dragging the 'cuse' part out. From the look on his face, Bethany knew convincing him of this would be just as hard as convincing herself. Because she didn't want to believe it. For her, HYDRA was something she was fighting against by association of the SSR. But she never had to go head to head with them. She was typically condemned to her lab or room, drawing up designs and trying to replicate a serum she knew couldn't be replicated without years of dedication. Even the years after the war where SHIELD was closing down little HYDRA operations or hunting down Nazi groups, Howard kept her away from all that.

She didn't want to believe that through the years, SHIELD had turned into the very thing it had originally sought to destroy. There was so much betrayal, and she wondered how many agents had pretended to be her friend, only to be reporting to their leader. The thought alone made her want to retch, but she stood her ground, digging every piece of that hard-headed agent out of her. "Steve and Natasha followed the memory stick to Fort Lehigh. I had a hard time figuring out what it was at first, but then I realized that it's not only where Steve was trained, but it's where the first SHIELD base was set up after the war."

"And how does that connect all this to HYDRA?" Nick asked, seeing no evidence.

"Arnim Zola," Bethany stated. "Ring any bells?"

"Very little," Nick admitted, but Bethany could see that he was starting to understand where her theory originated from.

"He worked for the Red Skull," Bethany began, sitting in an empty chair. "Steve captured him and he proved to show that he wanted to live, and if that meant working for the SSR, then that's what it meant. When Operation Paperclip came into play, he was the first person on the list."

"I know you and Rogers look amazing for your age, but no one else does. Wouldn't he be dead?"

"Well his body is," Bethany granted. "It's a long story."

"I have nowhere better to be," Nick reminded her, looking around the room momentarily.

1981 was a rough year, but that day proved to be the hardest of them all. It could've been because five SHIELD agents were brutally killed earlier that day and she could nothing to stop it. It could've been because she watched as Howard blatantly ignored his only son in the time of tragedy instead of explaining to him that these people's families needed him today and that he would be his tomorrow. But Bethany was almost certain it was because it was the Fourth of July.

Her pain was so severe, everything burned a deep hole into her body and soul that she got into her car and just drove. She paid little attention to traffic lights and stop signs and even less attention to the speed limit. But she paid absolutely no attention to where she was going until she pulled up to Fort Lehigh. She got out, her boots crunching the gravel underneath her feet. It was pitch black, but she didn't need the light to help her navigate. She dug through the door compartment until she found the key to the locks on the base, letting herself fall victim to autopilot.

Walking around the base, she felt whispers of Steve everywhere. She could almost see him standing there in his too big clothes and too big helmet, looking like he was about to pass out after doing a hundred jumping jacks. Or the look on his face when he caught her looking at him, a blush immediately spreading through his face. Bethany let out a deep breath of air, walking forward even more. She wasn't sure why she was torturing herself, but clearly the world wanted her there.

She found herself in the old SHIELD base, the old lights flickering. Almost everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, nothing of particular interest popping out. When she walked up to the four portraits on the wall, she gave them all a hard look. Colonel Phillips had died years ago, and she didn't have any hatred nor love to the man. They weren't really friends, or even comrades. They just worked together, occasionally having a conversation. There was Peggy, looking more beautiful than ever, staring proudly into the distance. Through the years, they became close, working together on missions every once and a while. After Bethany terminated her pregnancy, Peggy had developed a hatred for her, but almost as soon as Steve was declared 'killed in action' did Peggy take it upon herself to be Bethany's support system.

Then there was Howard, his very image angering her. Bethany loved her older brother almost more than anything, despite them drifting apart through the years. He was the reason for everything exciting that ever happened in her life and she appreciated that more than she could ever express. But his lack of interest in his son drove her to new levels of irritated. Tony was such a smart, hopeful and overall amazing kid that Bethany hated Howard's ignorance. Maybe it was because she knew what it was to live a life alone, but she thought he was throwing away the best thing in his life.

Lastly, she focused her eyes on the image of her which she previously looked over. She couldn't even recognize herself, but she knew that it was her. Blond wavy hair, carefree smile. The photo had been taken before her breakup with Steve, and if her memory served right, before they had even started their romance. She looked fearless, but in a different way than she looked now. Bethany swallowed hard, pushing the bile down. The girl in front of her was much like her brother; didn't know how good she had it. Thought the rules of society were expendable to her. Her fists clenched together and she found herself throwing her arm at the image. The protective glass instantly cracked, but the smiling girl remained.

Feeling a piece of glass push itself out of her hand, she haphazardly wiped her bloody hand on her black pants. She briefly considered taking the photo down, but decided against it. The photo served as a reminder of who she was. And why she couldn't go back. Her heart was telling her to leave but Bethany pushed forward, looking in every nook and cranny. She frowned when she got to the long and vast shelves. Once upon a time, every SHIELD file, high priority or not would be on those shelves. Now they were empty as if that time didn't exist. Her fingers traced the wood as she walked forward, her fingers catching in the divide of the two shelves. Pulling her fingers out, she noticed finger marks pressed into a thin layer of dust on the wood. She looked at the odd positioning before realizing someone had pulled the two shelves apart at some point, and clearly sometime recently.

Growing curious, Bethany made work of moving the shelves apart, raising an eyebrow at the elevator in front of her. While she didn't know that elevator was there, she had known that at some point, Howard was trying to add a second level to the base, digging down instead of building up. She looked at the pin pad, trying to decipher what the key code could be. She typed in the obvious ones; the year SHIELD was established, the year the SSR was established, her birthday, Howard's, but nothing. She leaned in closer to the keypad and saw that the paint on four of the numbers were lighter than the others. Seeing that the eight seemed to have a prominent trace of fingermarks on it, she pressed that one first, followed by the 9, 5 and 3. She continued to change the order of the numbers until 8539 did the trick and the door opened.

Stepping inside, she felt just as empty and bored as she ever had been. There was no excitement or scared feelings bubbling up. Just a small sense of curiosity. When the doors opened, they revealed a mass of technology. Her eyes widened at the sight. The lights flickered on automatically and she heard a hum of tapes rolling. She stepped up to the three massive screens in the middle, watching as one flashed to life, a strained robotic voice asking if she wanted to initiate the system.

"Hell yeah," Bethany muttered, typing the word 'yes'. She took a step back as her demand processed, watching as suddenly the screen was filled with green and back lines. Squinting, it almost resembled a face.

"Stark, Bethany Elizabeth," A new voice spoke. Her head snapped around the room, looking for the source before she realized it was the computer. "Born 1920."

"I wish I ordered your background check," Bethany said, crossing her arms, making eye contact with a camera mounted on the head of the three screens.

"You have fraulien, a very long time ago," the voice responded.

Bethany held back a shiver. The voice was taunting her, almost like it knew every single one of her sins, making her uneasy. "What are you?"

"Surely you remember me?" The voice answered.

"Zola?" She asked slowly, as if not knowing herself. But there was something in the voice that seemed to drag her conclusions there. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Immortality, my dear," he declared. "Not as impressive as yours, I'll admit, but immortality nonetheless."

"I see," Bethany answered plainly. "So staying down in an old basement with nowhere to go and nothing to do is worth being immortal for?"

"I still have use in society," the man answered.

Bethany scoffed. "How?"

"One day, I will be needed and on such day, I will be here. There is still a cause to fight."

"Yeah, okay," Bethany replied uncaringly. "See if it was up to me, I would've chose death. If that was an option for me, I'd have taken it long ago."

"That may be a quick to jump statement. You still believe he is out there."

"It's not just about Steve," Bethany snapped.

"Ah, but that's where you are wrong," Zola promised. "Without him, you would never have reason to die. Without him ever walking into your life-"

"This conversation is over," Bethany interrupted before she strutted to the elevator and then out of the base, never giving her discoveries a second thought.

Fury blinked twice when Bethany finished her story. The blond waited for him to collect his thoughts and when he did, she wasn't disappointed. "But why do you instantly go to HYDRA? It was ended with the Red Skull."

"Maybe his personal ideas, but old habits die hard," Bethany responded, having thought about this hard. "Their beliefs may not be right, but they can cause order. It wouldn't surprise me if they could get people to rally with them."

"Don't let Rogers hear you talk like that," Hill spoke up.

Bethany raised her eyebrows in a 'tell-me-about-it' notion. "The point is, in an organization like SHIELD, would it really be that hard to find people who want World Peace, but knowing that the definition could mean a million different things? Inflicting fear in order to create order, isn't that what Project Insight is all about? What if this has been their idea from the beginning? I'm not saying I'm wrong, but there's a really good chance I'm right. I know it's not what we want to hear, but we have to face the very real possibility that this may be what's happening."

"And what," Fury asked, giving her a pointed look. "Pierce is their leader?"

"If the shoe fits," Bethany reminded him. "He's the one that approved that aerial strike. He's the one that's sent the order for Steve's capture, and probably death by now. I know you don't want to hear that, but I haven't trusted him ever. We were assigned missions together, Nick. Has it ever occurred to you that I know him a little bit better? I've seen him in action."

"Until I get proof, I refuse to believe any of this," Fury declared.

"Fine," Bethany said with a sigh, walking out of the room. She could hear Hill's heeled boots clacking on the floor behind her.

"Wait, I think I found a way for you to contact Rogers," Maria called out, catching Bethany's attention all together.

"How?" Bethany asked, growing anxious.

"We may not be able to get in direct contact with Steve, but maybe we can with someone who he would turn to. He might not know who to trust, but right now he's trusting someone. Unless you think they're camping out in the woods."

"They're basically in a war with an intelligence agency," Bethany responded, crossing her arms. "They need to gain the upper hand, and hiding out and waiting this out isn't one of them. You're right. He's trusting in someone. But how do we figure that out?"

"He's your husband," Maria reminded her. "Would he go to an old friends? Maybe contact Tony?"

"No, he's not an idiot. That's the first place SHIELD would check," Bethany responded, slowly making her way over to the surveillance videos and sitting herself down. "Steve's always been good at giving someone the benefit of the doubt. But he wouldn't just impose on someone."

She looked at the screen, it replaying the video of him and Natasha in the Apple Store. How do I find you? She wondered, tapping her fingers on the arms of the chair.

"Maybe retracing his steps?" Maria offered, typing on the keyboard, pulling up the GPS on Steve's phone. It had long ago gone off the grid, but they could see where he had been the last week. "This could act as a guide to show us where he went lately. Maybe from there-"

"I don't know that address," Bethany interrupted, looking at the last place the GPS registered. Maria copied the address, pulling up a report of the owner's information. "Sam Wilson?" Bethany questioned.

"Never heard of him?" Maria asked, trying to hide how shocked she was.

"I think we found our answer," Bethany responded, a glint of hope twinkling in her eye.

Steve wasn't a fan of putting Sam at risk, but at this point he knew he had to be smart about where he was hiding. He felt a deep rooted trust in the man, their bond being genuine. The man gracious welcomed him and Natasha into his home, providing him with a change of clothes and a room to clean up in. The first thing Steve did when in the security of Sam's home however was slide his wedding band onto his finger.

As Steve finished cleaning himself up, he caught Natasha's reflection in the mirror. Everything about her, her face, her body language, screamed that she was suffering and whether it was pain or knowledge that was weighing her down, Steve knew that she needed some kind of assertion. He had seen that look on Bethany's face more than once over the years.

"You okay?" He began, moving to sit in front of her.

"Yeah," she answered, but Steve recognized it clearly as the one Bethany used when she was trying to conceal just how badly she really was doing.

"What's going on?" He probed, hoping the red head would open up to him. She had already helped him so much, he felt like it was his debt to help her through this time.

"When I first joined SHIELD I thought I was going straight," Natasha revealed. "But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA. I thought I knew whose lies I was telling but… I guess I can't tell the difference anymore."

"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business," Steve teased, trying to lighten the conversation, but feeling her words hit him full force. He had been thinking about how HYDRA affected him, how SHIELD's betrayal would affect Bethany. But he didn't realize until now just how hard this would be for Natasha. Her entire life was SHIELD. It wasn't like him and Bethany where they had each other to fall back to. She dedicated every moment to being a SHIELD agent and whether it was because it was all she knew how to do or because she felt like she needed to make up for past mistakes, Steve didn't know.

"I owe you," Natasha let out, barely audible.

"It's okay," Steve assured, knowing that him pulling her out of the rubble wasn't a hard decision to make. It wasn't even a decision.

"If it was the other way around, and it was down to me to save your life, now you be honest with me," She began, looking more vulnerable than Steve had ever seen her. "Would you trust me to do it?"

"I would now," Steve answered, watching as she looked surprised and honored at his words. While the two of them had a rough couple of days, and didn't always agree, he was starting to see that Natasha just wanted to do what was right, and truly believed that whatever SHIELD told her was right had to be it. But since the Lemurian Star disaster, Natasha had proven herself. "And I'm always honest," Steve added as an afterthought.

"Well you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing," Natasha joked lightly.

"Well," Steve began, leaning back. "I guess I just like to know who I'm fighting."

While Steve wasn't thrilled about having to die and miss what was supposed to be his life, he knew that there was a reason for him doing that. Everything turned out for the best in a way. Now he had Bethany and a baby on the way. And while the world was fucked up at the moment, he wouldn't trade his life now for the uncertain one waiting for him in the 1940's.

"I made breakfast," Sam announced, leaning against the doorframe. "If you guys eat that sort of thing."

Steve let out a small chuckle, gesturing for Natasha to join them. "Maybe you shouldn't tell her," she let out quickly.

"What's that?" Steve asked as he stood up.
"Bethany," Natasha clarified. "Maybe you shouldn't tell her about everything. About anything."

"She needs to know."

"Just think about how much this'll change her life," Natasha said, getting up.

"Maybe it's time that it was changed," Steve said with a sigh, the two of them following Sam to the kitchen. "Plus she'll want to know. And I can't lie to her. Not about this. Not about SHIELD."

"Knowing now that you didn't have to die-" Natasha tried to interject.

"I didn't die. I'm still here," Steve reminded her. "And I still had to crash that ship. It was heading for New York, it was going to kill a lot of people."

"There's always a way around it."

"And I found it," Steve said, sitting at the table and pouring himself from orange juice.

"I don't know, I just feel like the Bethany I know wouldn't take that as an answer," Natasha said with a shrug, sitting down beside him.

"And the Bethany I know was too afraid to say anything to me at that time in our life. I don't think we would've ended up in the same place," Steve admitted.

"She thought you hated her," Natasha justified. "Did you?"
"I didn't hate her, I hated what she did," Steve said, almost whispered the words.

"That's the same thing."

"No, trust me. It's not," Steve replied with a sigh, ready for the entire conversation to be done and over with.

"So what you're saying is that you wouldn't go back in time now, granted you had the opportunity, and change your past? Make it so you would walk away?" Natasha asked, her brows furrowed.

"If I never crashed that ship, I wouldn't have realized just how much I loved her. Loving her in general was too much, but after everything she did, me still loving her? Wanting her in that very moment? That wouldn't have come if I could've walked away," Steve explained, taking a bite out of his waffle.

"You don't have faith that somewhere along the line you would've realized this yourself?" Natasha questioned.

"I don't want to take the chance," Steve answered, ready to drop the entire conversation.

"Sam? Do you believe in true love?"

"Yes," Sam replied quickly.

"And would you do absolutely everything in your power, past, present and future to have a life with that person?"

"Uh, who wouldn't?" The man asked before shoving a waffle into his mouth.

"Steve apparently," Natasha responded.

"I said none of that. All I'm saying is if I didn't crash that ship, who knows where Bethany and I would've stood."

"Well I think if it's true love, you should have faith that it would all work out," Sam added with a shrug.

"What if she did something that completely changed the way you looked at her?" Steve began, knowing that he had trusted Sam with everything so far, this was just another thing he could entrust in him. "Something that should be unforgivable, but only when facing death matter less?"

"Can I have an example?

"A secret abortion," Natasha offered, seeing how Steve didn't want to say the word.

"Woah… Did she..?" Sam asked, looking to Steve's solemn face. Years later and the fact that Steve forgave Bethany didn't change the fact that he was mourning a child that would never live their life. "Man, that's rough."

"And?" Steve asked softly towards his prior question.

"Yeah, I guess that may have changed a few things," Sam agreed. "How can you work past that?"

Steve sighed, putting his knife and fork down. "You've both have been faced with near death experiences. In that moment, there's always one thing you wish you could've done differently, or done to begin with. For me, all I wanted was to see her one last time. I didn't forgive her for her actions, but I finally understood why she did them."

"Which was?" Sam asked.
"She wasn't ready to be a mother. At that point in her life, she was barely even ready to commit," Steve shared. "Beth couldn't say that she loved me and while she didn't flirt with other men, she was okay with them flirting with her. All she wanted was to have some fun."

"That doesn't make it alright," Sam responded.

"No, but she was both mentally ill and terrified. She's told me that when she found out she was pregnant, I had temporarily gone off the radar," Steve explained. While he knew what she did was wrong, he always felt the need to defend her to other people. She wasn't that same person, and he didn't want people to think she was a heartless creature.

"So she got a feel of what raising a baby alone would be like," Sam summarized, understanding a little bit more.

"In a sense. Don't get me wrong, I will never be able to forget that she did that, but she's proven to me that she's grown," Steve continued. "She's hiding instead of being here. She's grown."

"After seventy years, you'd hope so," Natasha teased with a raised eyebrow.

Despite just returning from a raid, Steve felt oddly reenergized. He was in an overwhelming good mood and he couldn't pinpoint exact why. He and Bucky changed out of their battle uniforms and made their way to the base's lab.

"There's your girl," Bucky encouraged, elbowing Steve's chest.

Steve watched as Bethany went about her work, today wearing a girlish blue dress and never looking more innocent than she did there. Her curly hair was pulled back in a floppy black ribbon and swung from side to side as she moved around. The one foot she was pretending was broken so her secret remained a secret was wrapped tightly and dangling by her side. "There she is," Steve responded with a goofy smile.

"You just came back from a mission," Bucky continued. "Go over to her. Hug her, kiss her. Come on, it's your first time back since you two got together. You should already be wrapped in each other's embrace."

"I'm fine just watching her," Steve spoke softly, meaning what he said. While he did want to hold her, there was something so captivating about admiring her from afar. Especially with how she looked, almost like an angel, not the tempest she usually resembled. "I can never get over how beautiful she is."

"You're not the only one," Bucky pointed out, arm gesturing to one of the liberated men they just rescued. He was confidently making his way over to Bethany, looking smug and ready to put his charm on. "You want me to sock him?"

"No," Steve said, pulling Bucky's sleeve to stop him. "I can take care of it."

"Then why aren't you?" Bucky asked confused as Steve stood rooted in his spot.

Steve said nothing, just watching the encounter take place. Bethany had offered the soldier a flirtatious smile, her hand to shake and name. Her head tilted, lip in between her teeth and hips popped, Steve could read her body language clearly. When the soldier took half a step closer, a hand moving to Bethany's hip, Steve went to march forward only for Bucky to hold him back. "Buck-" he began, not understanding since the man was so keen on a fight before.

"Wait," Bucky encouraged, watching Bethany closely. Steve did the same, watching as Bethany carefully moved the man's hand off her waist and placing a hand in between them to gain some space.

"I have a boyfriend," they heard her say, Steve perking up at her words. The man didn't take that as an answer as he went to close the space again. This time Steve charged forward, Bucky on his trail. "Let go!" Bethany protested.

"You heard the lady," Bucky said just as Steve pulled the man off of Bethany, shoving him backwards a little.

"What the hell man?!" The soldier asked as Steve shoved him when he tried to retaliate. Steve looked back at Bethany who was wrapped up in Bucky's arms, his best friend making sure his best gal was alright.

"Don't touch her," Steve snapped. "You don't treat a lady like that."

"Hey man, she started it," The man protested.

"Yeah, well we're finishing it," Bucky announced.

"Stay away from her," Steve warned.

"Whatever man, she's nothing but a little slut anyways," the man muttered. Steve had no time to register what he was doing before he laid a hard punch into the man's jaw, sending him across the room. If everyone wasn't looking at them before, they were now. Steve paid no mind however, turning to Bethany and welcoming her into his arms.

"You okay?" He asked, kissing the top of her head.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "You didn't have to do that."

"Yes I did," Steve promised. "No one should call you that."

"It's true-"

Steve shushed her, his eyes meeting Bucky's momentarily. "No one should call you that," he repeated.

"I can take care of myself," Bethany said, pulling back a little. Her words weren't ones of anger just of assurance.

"I have no doubt in that, Doll. But let me take care of you while I can," he said, giving her a small smile.

"Okay," she agreed, returning the small smile and tilting her head, expecting a kiss. Steve didn't keep her waiting.

A/N: For everyone's kind words about finding Molly, thank you! She's home, safe and sound and doing perfectly fine. She's like my child in a lot of ways, so it was really scary when I woke up and found out she slipped out of the house. She returned on her own though, so that's always a good sign!

I know, I know. We didn't get anywhere in this chapter. *Sighs* When the chapter reaches 4000+ words, I stop. But like I've said, I have chapters lined up. Next week is gonna be killer for me (an assignment and 3 midterms) so you'll probably get another update since reviews always make me feel better.

***ONE MORE THING: I've been photoshopping and viding Bethany and Steve things for the last few months. I've started a tumblr blog (username is SorryEverAfter) and there's nothing there now (I'm being tutored this weekend 'cause I'm like Steve when it comes to this website) but there will be videos, photos AND weekly previews. So if you're interested, give it a follow! And be patient with me because... well because I seriously suck at tumblring.***

RealHuntress18: I'll give you more Bucky in the future too! And when you're a Stark and have been working for SHIELD for almost 70 years, you pick up a thing or two. But this chapter served mainly as showing that experience really does come in handy.

EdwardCullenfan2009: Thank you : )

Loveless Wings: Oh my god, you're making me blush :) I hope that everything is well with you! Glad that my story could provide some sort of happiness.

Jo: Thanks :D
FeliciaFelicis: I love 80's movies. They hold so much soul that is lacking in today's movies. Haha, I'm not telling you when they'll interact. They will eventually though and I hope that everyone will like what I have in mind. Also, I haven't really thought about Maria and Bethany's relationship later on. I guess whatever happens happens. AND YOU ARE WRONG; I always look forward to your reviews!

SailorRaven34: Well, I am only human ;) Ah, so you liked the Winter Soldier POV, eh? They'll be more so sit tight!

MissAnimeMiss: Thanks :)

kadienewberg: Haha that's okay. As long as I'm doing this right, I don't care about the length or quality of reviews :)

Guest: Ahhhh... sorry for the disappointment, but not yet. Soon, I promise! It's a lot to cover, so writing it is taking me a lot longer than I'd like.