April 2nd 2014, SHIELD HQ, Washington, D.C

Hey all, I will be doing two updates this week, because the next chapter is one that takes place on the 17th December, so it's only fitting to give you guys an early Christmas present and upload two chapters this week. Enjoy!

Beth rode back to the triskelion with Steve in silence, her hand holding his as she drew comfort from him and fought against the turmoil inside her. He stared out the window, his mind whirring between sadness and anger over Fury's death. Sure, he and Fury weren't exactly best buddies, but he did respect the man and he had taken care of Beth after he took over as SHIELD director, something the captain would always be grateful for. When the car finally stopped, the door on Beth's side opened and Rumlow held his hand out to her. She took it and he helped her down, though as always, she felt a shiver of discomfort run through her from his touch.

"You okay?" he asked her.

She nodded before stepping away from him, missing the dark glint that briefly flashed in his eyes as he took in her retreating form. He watched as she exchanged a few words with her brother, mentioning that she was heading to the gym. 'Good, she'll be easier to apprehend there' he thought to himself as she reached up to hug the captain before heading out of the parking lot. He shared a look with one of his men and the other agent nodded, following after her to wait for the signal to capture her. Pierce had made it very clear that no matter the outcome of his meeting with Steve, she was to be detained to use as leverage. He was broken from his thoughts as Steve turned to ask him where he was to go.

"Follow me, I'll show you."

…..

Almost an hour had passed and the punching bag in front of Beth was beginning to look the worse for wear. She may not have Steve's level of strength, but thanks to Zola, she had more than enough strength for her last kick to hit the weakest point of the bag, splitting the material. Sand began pouring to the floor and though she knew she'd be billed for the replacement, she a felt deep sense of satisfaction seeing the grains form a pile on the ground. With a huff, she wiped her sweaty forehead and bent over, catching her breath as she reached for her water bottle. As with Steve, every time she hit the bag, memories of her time as a Howling Commando would flash in her mind. Often, she became so wrapped up in the memories, she would forget to breathe. More than once she'd actually passed out and would wake up either on the floor of the gym or in her bed on the rare occasions Steve found her. She snorted in amusement at the memory of the first time he saw her on the floor; the poor man thought someone had attacked her and when she revealed what had actually happened, he looked torn between strangling her and hugging her. Thankfully, he'd eventually settled for hugging.

A noise from behind stopped the bottle in her hand halfway to her mouth and she instinctively reached to the back of her waistband for her gun. The doors to the gym were heavy and made a lot of noise. For someone to come in without them doing so meant only one thing; she wasn't supposed to know they were there. Slowly, she flicked the safety off and waited for the footsteps to draw closer. She feigned drinking and the moment she heard the feet stop behind her, she threw the bottle, splashing water in the face of one of the men on her team. Surprise and betrayal flooded through her, but she shut her mind down, shooting him in the chest and focusing instead on the fact that three others had come in.

"What the hell!?" she shouted out to them.

As she hoped, her exclamation made them pause and she took the opportunity to take out two of them before they could react. When the last one raised his rifle, she darted for cover and the bullets bounced off the boxing ring. Waiting for a pause in the volley, she jumped up and fired two more shots. When she heard the sound of a body drop to the floor, she risked a glance and saw they were all dead. She wasn't stupid; she knew more would be coming for her and she had to move fast. She raced over to the window and pried it open. Glancing down, she swallowed nervously. It wasn't the largest drop she'd faced, but it was still bigger than she was ideally comfortable with.

A crash from above had her looking up and her heart shot into her mouth as she watched Steve fly through the air towards the glass atrium below. Behind her, the doors slammed open and she had no time to worry about Steve as she was too preoccupied with dropping on to the ledge in time to avoid the hail of bullets aiming at her head. For the life of her, she couldn't understand what was happening, but she had no time to contemplate it further. She raced to the far end of the ledge, desperately looking for a place to land without killing herself. She was about to give up hope and just jump anywhere when she spotted a row of small trees three floors below. Taking a deep breath, she launched herself into the air and a heartbeat later, landed in the foliage. The wind whooshed out of her and numerous branches pierced and scratched her skin. She let out a pained gasp, trying to catch her breath as she struggled to detangle herself. Eventually, she was free and the second her feet touched hard ground, she started running, not caring that she was receiving various looks of surprise and offers of help. She knew she'd be followed soon enough and she needed to put as much distance between herself and SHIELD as possible. She ducked into an alleyway and paused to pull her cell phone out of her pocket. She scrolled through it and was about to call Rumlow before she remembered the attackers were on her team, and he was most likely the one giving the orders.

"God damn you Brock" she growled.

Gritting her teeth, she threw the phone into a dumpster, aware they could track her through it, and took off jogging once more. She'd barely reached the sidewalk when one of SHIELDs vans pulled up in front of her, Rumlow behind the wheel. Twisting, she turned to run in another direction, only to let out a pained scream as she crashed to the floor, a SHIELD Taser attached to her leg, set to a level high enough to nuke a rhino with. As black spots flitted across her vision, she thrashed on the ground, clawing at her leg to remove the probes specially designed to embed deep in the skin. It was to no avail. She could only watch helplessly as Brock exited the vehicle and made his way over to her. Before he could touch her, a shot rang out making him duck for cover, dropping the Taser. The volts stopped and Beth let out a sob of relief, finally able to pull the electrodes out. She wanted to let her body shut down, but stubbornness and the desperation to escape had her pushing up off the floor to stumble away from the man she'd once considered a teammate.

"Guess my instincts about you were right. You really are a bastard" she said shakily, her body still trembling from the Taser.

Rumlow's flashed angrily and stepped towards her again, stopped only by another shot ringing out. A black motorcycle screeched to a halt in front of Beth and the visor flipped up to reveal a very pissed off Natasha Romanoff. Though the look wasn't aimed at her, Beth still felt a shudder run through her. Then again, she mused, it could have just been more aftershocks from being electrocuted.

"Get on" the other agent said, her voice controlled in a way that told Beth she was struggling not to kill Rumlow.

Beth swung her leg over the bike, the pair peeling off down the street before any backup could arrive. Once sure they were a safe distance away, Natasha stopped and pulled her helmet off to face Beth, who was still pale and shaking.

"What was that about?" she asked the blonde woman.

"I have no clue. All I know is that my team were trying to kill me and I saw Steve plummet from what must have been a twenty floor drop. If I had to guess, I'd say it links to Fury."

Natasha frowned and when she spoke, her voice was thoughtful.

"Guilt by association probably. That or you were to be used to lure out Steve as he was also attacked by Rumlow earlier."

Beth had a feeling the other woman was right, and knowing her brother was also a target didn't make her feel any better.

"We need to find Steve."

Natasha raised an eyebrow as she took in the dishevelled state of her friend. It was only then that Beth became aware of the wounds still bleeding all over her, even more pronounced by the fact her clothing left her arms and legs bare.

"Not looking like that you're not. Here, take the bike and get yourself cleaned up. I'll call once I have Steve"

Before Beth could say she no longer had a phone, the redhead was holding one out to her, a knowing smirk on her face. Beth took the device and slid onto the bike, taking the helmet Natasha held out to her.

"See you soon. Be careful" Natasha said, and for a brief second, genuine concern flashed across her face.

Beth nodded and made her way to the apartment she had before she'd temporarily moved into with Steve. Relief flooded through her to see no agents there, but she knew it wouldn't be long before they were. She quickly slipped in and grabbed an outfit from the closet as well as her Johnson rifle, the familiar weight in her grasp providing some comfort. No way was she leaving it behind again. She took two handguns as a precaution and made her way out of the building via the fire escape. Just as she predicted, two SHIELD vans pulled up as she rode away.

She didn't stop again until she was in the outskirts of the city and certain she hadn't been followed. She used a gas station toilet to dress the puncture wounds on her leg as well as the various cuts from landing in the tree. Once satisfied she wouldn't scare people away or draw attention to herself with the blood, she changed into dark skinny jeans and plain black top, throwing on a pair of old converse and a hooded sweater. She pulled her hair into a braid and tucked it into the back of the sweater before pulling the hood up over her head. She finished the look with a pair of dark rimmed glasses, marvelling at how something so simple could alter her appearance so much. As she left the restroom, the phone in her pocket bleeped and she read the message to find only an address. It took less than five minutes to arrive there and she sighed in relief to see Natasha and Steve standing next to a blue truck. Abandoning the bike at the side of the road, she made her way over to them, Natasha's face impassive, Steve's drawn tight with worry. The moment his eyes fell on her, he flew towards her, engulfing her in his arms. She happily leaned into him, some of the tension she'd been unconsciously holding since she witnessed him falling earlier easing away.

"What happened?" Steve asked as he took in her appearance and noticed her limp as she made her way to the car.

"I had an incident with a tree and got Tased by Rumlow" she shrugged.

Fighting the urge to make her stay and hide, Steve slid into the driver's seat and once they were all settled, they made their way to New Jersey. A few minutes into the drive, Steve suddenly sat up and looked over his shoulder at Beth, who gave him a questioning glance.

"A tree?"

Beth couldn't help it. Seeing the look of perplexity on her brother's face sent her into peals of laughter. When she finally calmed, he was staring at her once more, this time more solemn.

"Nat said you'd had a couple of run-ins with the Winter Soldier. One of them involved Howard and Maria didn't it?"

She couldn't help but glare at her friend, one of the biggest secrets she'd had now knowledge to her brother.

"Yeah. I've had two encounters with him."