April 1st, 2014. Washington, D.C

Beth followed quietly behind Steve as they traipsed up to their apartment, lost in her thoughts as she recalled Peggy's words. yes, her friend had truly been right; she WAS glad to still be alive, even though there was still the Bucky-sized hole she knew she'd never fill. But, at least now, she could finally take that serum and live her life with her brother. She just needed to remember that once she took the serum to return to normal, she would have to stop doing things such as jumping from planes with no parachute anymore. Do that without her abilities, and she'd be dead. Thankfully, she knew her strength may leave, but her skill would not, so she knew she would have no real issues re-adjusting to being the same strength as those around her. Hell, even Clint might fight her again once he could actually have a chance at winning.

Above her, she heard the sound of their neighbour's voice speaking to Steve. Deliberately, she leaned on the banister, smiling as her brother invited the woman round for coffee. It wasn't until Kate mentioned the stereo being on that Beth shot to attention and hurried up the stairs, casting the other woman a brief smile as the nurse headed down to the laundry room.

Steve entered the apartment first, reaching for his shield the second he opened the door and Beth followed closely behind, the handgun she never left home without in her hand ready to fire. Neither relaxed until they spotted Nick Fury sitting in the darkness, but even then, as Steve's shoulders eased, Beth didn't loosen up. if anything, she could immediately tell there was something seriously wrong, causing her to reach for the light Steve switched on at the same moment as Nick himself reached to turn off the lamp beside him. one look at his face had her moving towards him for a second look, but a sharp glance from him stopped her dead.

"My wife, she kicked me out,"

Beth knew full well he wasn't in any relationship, let alone married, Nick's statement dialling her senses up to a million. As he revealed the fact SHIELD was compromised, she started a sweep of the room, also looking outside to make sure they were alone.

She almost missed the shadow on the roof, calling out a millisecond too late as gunshots filled the apartment, straight into Fury.

"Nick!" she called as he crashed to the floor.

Steve helped to pull Fury to safety and as he sprung to his feet when their door kicked open, Beth was already at work, searching for the worst injuries on the man she'd eventually trusted as a friend. Surprise wasn't exactly the word she would have used when Kate of all people revealed herself as a SHIELD agent, but she was too preoccupied to think what she felt.

"I have this, go help Captain Rogers." Kate ordered.

Not wanting to follow the order or leave her friend, Beth hesitated. It was only when Fury's eye glinted in a way that told her to do as she was told that she picked herself up and took a slightly different route to Steve. Where he'd simply flung himself into the building opposite, she simply dropped the four floors down to the ground and took the lower level pursuit. Eventually, the guy would have to leave the roof, and she would be there to continue on from Steve when he did.

Eventually, a noise from above had her glancing up to see the shooter drop down to the alley next to her. She didn't hesitate to follow, unaware that Steve had already lost sight of them both. All she cared about was taking the guy down and finding out who he worked for. It was clear he (she could tell immediately from the size it was not a female) believed he would outrun her, his body language betraying his shock as she easily kept pace with him. Realising there was something different about him, Beth reached for one of the tiny disks Nat always made her carry and threw one at him. He grunted, dropping briefly to one knee as the shock coursed through his body and she took the opportunity to kick him to the ground.

It was then she realised she knew exactly who she was looking at. From the metal arm, to the cold, dead eyes, it could only be one person. The ghost himself. The Winter Soldier.

"Who sent you!?" she demanded, rage flooding through her veins as her mind finally caught up and revealed who he was.

Her slight hesitation as recognition flooded across her face was all he'd needed. A light, brighter than she could tolerate, was suddenly thrust in her face. She cried out, dropping to her knees as she fought to shield her eyes, but it was too late. By the time her vision corrected itself, he was long gone.

"Damn it!" she screamed, turning to punch a wall beside her.

…

Steve was wild eyed when she burst into the theatre viewing room, relief flooding through his features as he took stock of her and saw she was unharmed.

"He got away. used a light grenade on me." she growled before anyone had chance to ask her.

"It's not your fault." she heard Nat say from behind her, making her jump.

She hadn't even noticed her friend standing there, but it was unsurprising she was there. Nick had taken her in and shown her trust when anyone else would've had her killed. Not many people had Nat's trust, but the director was certainly one of them.

"Tell me about the shooter."

Beth didn't have chance to say who it was, before Steve was already speaking. As Maria added her part about the ammunition, Nat cast a questioning glance at Beth, who nodded.

"Yeah, it was him."

Ignoring her brother's searching gaze, Beth watched with a clenched jaw as alarms began to scream in the theatre, the monitors showing Nick was going into crisis. Every instinct was screaming at her to get in there and do something to help, but she knew from what she could see that she would be as useless to him as the surgeons already operating. All she could do was watch as helplessly as the others when the doctors began to halt their movements and eventually, declared Nick Fury dead.