Chapter 13- Waitin' On A Broken Heart

"'Cause there's love that's new and all the rest, but the love that's gone, baby, hurts the best. Have you been waitin' on a broken heart? Did you see the end from the very start? I saw it too, but I never knew that you were only waitin' on a broken heart."

~Waitin', Caitlin Rose


Bucky didn't know where they were. Kiley did, as she typically knew things beyond his knowledge, but he didn't care today. Today, they weren't walking around a foreign town, seemingly familiar but having no tangible memories to support its familiarity. Bucky had been getting restless, with no new memories surfacing despite the déjà vu feeling surrounding him. Not only that, but he was trying to understand his new feelings for Kiley. He knew he wasn't exactly acting normal, or at least as normal as he had been. She had questioned him more than once, asking if he was okay, but every time he waved it off and gave her a small smile to try and convince her of this. He wasn't going to tell her. He didn't think he would ever tell her.

He was stuttering all the time now, often looking down at his feet. However, he wasn't ashamed of this, not in the least. When he was like this, it was hard to remember the killing machine HYDRA had turned him into. He would rather be shy and awkward than powerful and strong any day. He felt at peace like this. When he was like this, he wasn't worried about accidentally hurting someone. Or purposely either for that manner.

However, he could use a hint of the other man now as he tried to uphold his promise to Kiley. The night before, some thieves had tried to break into their car when they were getting some hot chocolate. Bucky and Kiley had walked back up as they pried the passenger door open, but Bucky had immediately sprung into action. Kiley had stood there, holding both of their drinks, watching in shock. When one of the men got too close to her, she threw the hot beverage at his face and kicked him where it counted, doing this all with a straight face. She hadn't shown that she was afraid until they had got in the car and drove off. Bucky had been immensely proud, not to mention amused, but Kiley had only reminded him on his promise.

Bucky had promised to teach her how to hold her own. She had been smart on her feet, but Bucky had been close. If the man had got back up, or had avoided her aim, and she was alone… He refused to think about it. This was just a random act of violence and thievery. If it had been HYDRA, they would have been prepared, and they wouldn't have fallen so easily. It could have easily been someone he had made an enemy of. There were so many possibilities, and he was dragging Kiley into dangerous territory.

Which is why they were at a gym, in the middle of the day, Bucky teaching Kiley how to fight. They were getting stares, probably having to do with Bucky's metal arm on display, but Bucky kept urging Kiley to ignore them. The red painted star on his upper arm was almost washed all the way off, thanks to Kiley rubbing it aggressively through the weeks.

He felt odd. He had never been out of cryofreeze this long. His arm had never been used so much without being updated or worked on, and it was causing him some grief. He felt like he was having an out of body experience, but then again, he figured that technically this was more himself than he knew.

"No, turn to your side," Bucky commented, taking a hold of her hips and turning them slightly. He focused on his breathing and heart rate, remembering that this was important. Making sure that she could take care of herself was more important than the way he felt.

"Can I ask why?" Kiley asked, but allowed him to fix her stance.

"Smaller target," Bucky explained. "You don't have the strength to withstand heavy forces. If someone throws a punch at you, you'll fall right over and don't try to argue with me."

"Okay, but I'm already small," Kiley reminded her. "I'm like an elf."

"Well, now you'll be smaller," Bucky pointed out. "Okay, your fist is good-"

"I told you, I know how to punch," Kiley said, sounding annoyed. "My dad taught me. That and how to shoot a gun."

"But how many people have you punched? How many people have you shot?" He questioned, but her silence was answer enough. "I know you want to learn the cool things, but you need to master the basics first. No one just wakes up and miraculously knows how… to.. do…"

Kiley attempted to hide her amused laughter as Bucky realized that one morning he had woken up and knew how to fight. He had woken up one morning and was a killing machine. Everything was like a reflex, no actual memories of learning the techniques he displayed. "That's not the point," Bucky said after shaking his head.

"I get it," She promised, tossing him a brilliant smile. "Baby steps. Although, sometimes children dance before they walk."

"Kiley, learn how to throw an amazing punch and then we'll work on everything else," Bucky stated, leaving no room for argument.

"Okay," She agreed, throwing a punch onto the heavy bag. "Ow, shit. That thing is hard."

"So is a human being," Bucky reminded her, letting his hands slip from her waist and taking a step back, he reached out for a pair of red boxing gloves. "See why these are important now?"

"Yes," She grumbled, holding her hands out as Bucky started to put them on for her. He had bought them the night before, used, but still in great shape, and tried to get her to wear them. She had fought about it, reminding him that in real life, an attacker wouldn't stop for her to put on a pair of boxing gloves.

"Like I said earlier, it's idiotic to hurt yourself while training. But if you break a knuckle or two during an actual fight…" He received an eye roll, but he knew she was only playing with him.

"Now that I have these giant clown shoes on my hands," Kiley said, waving them about. "You'll have to fix my hair when it falls in my face. How's your braiding?"

His heart stopped for a moment. She wanted him to braid her hair. It was a simple enough idea. It meant nothing except no stray hairs in her face. But he could remember a hazy vision of Steve braiding Bethany's hair. His large fingers worked in perfect harmony, moving golden strands over golden strands, a look of concentration in his eyes, his tongue sticking out of his mouth slightly. When he was done, she would turn around in his arms and he would kiss her, the concentration in Steve's eyes fading to love.

All Bucky could do was swallow hard, and nod. He received an odd look from Kiley before she turned her attention back to the punching bag.


Steve closed the dresser drawer, sighing. He had finished the last of the chores on Bethany's list. It was quite extensive and it had taken them both two days to finally go through it all, but they did it. It would've taken less time, they both knew, if they didn't have two kids to take care of while also dealing with their Avengers duties.

Natasha and Clint had been gone for three days already, scouting more HYDRA facilities, while Bruce was constantly in the lab, running tests on Jen. Tony was on tech duty, trying to add the finishing touches to Bethany's suit, while also trying to establish a good and safe place to put Jen, where she wouldn't be able to hurt herself, or escape. Thor had been less than helpful, only going on and on about Loki's sceptre, so they sent him off to Dr. Selvig, hoping that they would be able to ease some of Thor's rambling.

With Bethany's memories back, and Jackson returning to the Tower, they had settled into a good place. Bethany had seen Theo calling someone on the landline, and picked up another phone and heard Jen's voicemail. He was trying to call his mother. Steve had found Bethany fuming over Jen's body. It had taken almost an hour to get her to calm down, and remind her that this wasn't entirely Jen's fault.

But despite that, the kid was slowly coming out of his bubble. Jackson being back helped a lot. The babysitter was giving his full time and attention to the kid, and with his counselling, he was having less nightmares. He had only crawled into their bed once that week, opposed to three or four times like he generally had. Jackson had even convinced Theo to go back to school. Classes were ending in two weeks for Christmas vacation, so they knew that the course load would be light, and then they would have a few weeks to help Theo get caught up so that he could pass his class and move on with his friends.

"All done," Steve announced under his breath, turning to look at Molly on the bed. The cat raised her head for a moment, her eyes seemingly glaring at him, before lowering her head and going back to sleep. "Alrighty, then."

"Steve!" Bethany called out excitedly from the living room. He quickly made his way over, smiling at what he saw. Bethany and Jamie were on the ground in the living room, both in a sitting position. But what made the image so much more beautiful was that Jamie wasn't relying on Bethany for support to stay up. He was sitting by himself.

"Well, look at you, Mr. Grown Up," Steve teased as he laid on his stomach in front of Jamie. "Oh, my God. You're so big now."

"It's crazy to think that only seven months ago, he was still inside of me. Safe from harm," Bethany said, her smile fading at the last part.

"Hey, no, stop it," Steve warned. "We agreed to stop thinking that way."

"I want to go and question Jacob and that scientist… what was his name?" Bethany asked, insistently switching from mom-mode to agent. "Dr. Lynch? And that Mr. Ashley guy, too. JARVIS found some interesting recordings of him and Jacob."

"Whenever you want," Steve promised her. "But knowing you, if you're bringing this up at all, you have a plan of action already."

"Maybe," Bethany began as Steve caught Jamie from falling forward and turned him to look at his mother before moving behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. Bethany circled her legs in a makeshift pen around Jamie, tapping his nose lightly. "Christmas is coming. We have to go to D.C. anyways. It could be Peggy's last Christmas. I'd never forgive myself if we missed that. More importantly, she wouldn't forget, amidst everything and would come back and haunt our asses."

"No, that sounds like a really good idea," Steve replied, kissing her neck softly. "Makes our trip to Washington a little less…"

"Depressing?" Bethany offered. "That's what I thought. Take the jet right after Theo leaves for school, do our interrogation, see Peggy and be back before Jackson picks Theo up for Christmas vacation. It works really well."

"Speaking of Christmas," Steve began. "What can I get you, my love?"

"Fresh out of ideas?" Bethany laughed, leaning back against him.

"I decided to let Theo and Jamie have the good ideas," Steve explained.

"Oh, such a gentleman," Bethany teased, reaching out to tickle Jamie's foot for a moment, the baby letting out a loud squeal. "You know, the best present you could give me Steve is just being here on Christmas. I don't need anything else."

"I specifically remember a curly haired, red lipped sass mouth telling me that Christmas was her favourite holiday back in 1943, and if I ruined it, she'd ruin me."

"I was only teasing," Bethany said seriously, but with mischief in her eyes when she looked back at him. "Plus, it wasn't Christmas."

"It was Christmas Eve," they said together, Steve nodding.

"Why is that?" He asked her, moving a hand to play with the little blond curl by her ear.

Bethany sighed, pulling Jamie into her arms. "Christmas Eve was the one time of the year when my mom was… a mom. A good mom. Not even Christmas day. Just Christmas Eve. Every time it came, I wondered if she'd stay like that. Every year, I was disappointed. But those are the only really happy memories I have of being a kid. Even during the Depression, Christmas Eve was… amazing. I got a new dress every single year. I may have wanted to go out and play with Howard, but a new dress… Anything new back then was…"

"I know," Steve whispered, looking down at his son. He was happy he could provide Jamie with clean and whole clothes, and that he would have the luxury of always having that. Nothing would ever need to be too big or too small. They wouldn't have to patch up trousers with mix matched pieces of fabric, or take special care of where they stepped.

"I forget about that a lot," Bethany said softly. "Being dirty almost all the time. We were lucky, my family. We lost a lot, but not as much as everyone else. My mother had her own workload, and my father was able to get a second job but... Have I ever told you that the real reason the state let Howard be my guardian, even though he wasn't technically of age was because the orphanages were too full? And if Howard refused to care for me, I would've been left on the street. Tony complains that he wasn't a good father, and maybe he wasn't. But he was an amazing brother."

"You miss him," Steve whispered. "I miss him too. Him and that stupid, cocky smile of his."

This drew laughter from her, and the mood seemed to lighten. Jamie looked up at his parents, his blue eyes wide before he started babbling, reaching a hand out and making grabbing motions. "Socks," Bethany said suddenly.

"Sorry?"

"Socks," she repeated. "If you really must get me something, socks."

"If I get you socks, I'll never hear the end of it from anyone," Steve sighed. "Plus, your gift to me will probably be amazing, since you never seem to fail with those."

"Oh, it's good," Bethany assured with a smile. "It will knock your socks off."

"Hardy-har-har," Steve replied, rolling his eyes.

"I don't know Steve. If you honestly don't know what to get me, after all this time together, then…"

"I'll think of something," Steve said with a sigh.

"Ask Tasha," Bethany said with a shrug. "She always has good ideas. Also, can you see if you can convince Bruce to wear the Santa suit?"

Steve snorted. "I can try, but we'll have better luck getting Thor into it."

"I know, but they don't make them that big," Bethany explained with a heavy sigh. "Look, chances are, I won't be able to give Theo his mom for Christmas. I was hoping a visit from Santa would help him. Man Steve, it kills me that he's missing her so much, and she's in the very same building."

"We agreed that we can't tell him until we help her," Steve reminded her, receiving a series of 'I know's from Bethany. "We'll help her."

"We can't make promises like that," Bethany sighed. "No matter how much we want to. But once Tony secures that cell, we'll be able to wake her up and see what she knows. From what I can tell of her file, they had only wiped her. They hadn't programmed anything."

"She's not a computer," Steve whispered. "Neither was he."

"He's fine," Bethany promised him. "Chances are, he and Kiley are somewhere in Europe, drinking hot chocolate and watching the snow fall. Maybe they're even falling in love."

Steve smiled slightly, kissing her again. "Wouldn't that be something? She'd be good for him. She's surrounded by innocence."

"You haven't seen her completely wasted. Girls' night, Steve? I cannot tell you what a shock it is, or was, every single time. But I do know what you're talking about. She's very… angelic looking. Lark-like voice. My only concern is… Never mind."

"No, you already started," Steve insisted.

She sighed, running her fingers through Jamie's curls before answering. "What if he… corrupts her? And I'm not saying that Bucky is corrupt, he's just… confused. He's lost. For him, he can only go up. Kiley? She can only fall down. See what I mean?"

"Like you and me?" Steve asked lightly, not meaning to insult her.

"Yeah," she responded, with very little emotion. "Exactly like you and me."

"Well, we worked out," Steve pointed out, pulling her closer to him and kissing her temple.

"We're working out," Bethany corrected.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Steve asked, growing annoyed.

"Only that anything could happen," Bethany replied. "You know this. I know this. The entire damn world knows it, Steve. We fight. A lot. We have different… values. I've changed a lot for you. And I don't regret it, at all. But there are some things you can't change. We're working today, but who knows what could happen a year from now? With lives like ours? Something could change everything and no matter how hard we try-"

"Beth, I don't care if you hate me, and I hate you," Steve began strongly. "I will never agree to a divorce."

"Well, that seems a little hasty," Bethany said before rolling her eyes. "If we both hate each other, why be miserable together?"

"Because I'm miserable without you too."

"But if you hate me, maybe you wouldn't be," She pointed out before shaking her head. "Steve, I don't want a divorce. I love you. I've lived too long without you, I have no intentions of leaving you, ever. But all I'm saying is that anything could happen. August 1944, what were your plans for us? And be honest."

Steve sighed, thinking for a moment before answering. "I knew that you wouldn't accept a proposal, but I also knew that when the war ended, and it would have been ending soon, that I wouldn't want us to go our separate ways. I was planning on asking you to move to New York. You had grown up there, you could move back. And if you said no… I would have moved to California to be with you."

Bethany nodded slowly. "And would you say that you thought nothing would change your mind?"

"Yes," Steve allowed. "Beth, I didn't get the choice anyways."

"Oh… Yeah, I can totally picture you coming to me as the news spread across the world that the war was finally over and ask me to move to New York. Steve we were barely talking. And when you did look at me, it was out of spite and hate. You know I take full credit for that and will never expect you to completely forgive me, but…"

"But you just proved your point," Steve said with a sigh. "Well, don't do that again and we won't have that problem."

He meant it as a joke, but Bethany thought it was anything but funny. She said nothing in return, just playing lightly with Jamie, but no smile pulled at her face. "Beth, I'm sorry," he said lightly, kissing her neck.

She pulled away from him, getting up and taking Jamie with her, heading to their bedroom. The door closed firmly behind them and Steve sighed, lying down on the ground, covering his face with his hands. He knew he made a mistake. Bethany didn't like to talk about that one, colossal mistake in her life, but did to show Steve that she wasn't going to forget about it. He knew that she thought about it every single day, and she would occasionally dream of it. Back then, it was her ticket to freedom. But now, it was keeping her prisoner.

Their child's life, or lack of, was not a joke, and Bethany's reaction was not overreacting. Steve was making light of something she regrets every single moment of her life, and insinuating that she could do it again. She wouldn't. He knew that. By the way she loved Jamie, even when she didn't remember their relationship, the way she looked at Jamie, held him and gave him all of her, he knew that she wouldn't do it again. She couldn't.

Getting up, he moved to the door, knocking his knuckle against it softly. When he got no response, he opened the door a crack, seeing Bethany on the bed, holding Jamie like he was still a newborn. "Go away," she whispered, her voice hoarse. She was crying.

"Please talk to me," Steve begged, moving to sit on the bed.

Bethany didn't look at him, just watched Jamie carefully. "I can't believe you even…" She breathed, swallowing hard.

"I know," Steve whispered, his heart aching a little. "Beth, it was stupid. I take it back."

She laughed, but with no humor. "You think?"

"What do I have to do?" He asked her, reaching out and placing a soft hand on her leg. "Tell me, I'll do anything."

She reached up and wiped a tear off her cheek, turning her gaze to him. Every single time she cried, her experience showed in her eyes. He could see each and every single heartache and heartbreak. "It's nothing you can do physically," she told him. "Having Jamie… It's amazing because he's just… He's like…"

"I know," Steve promised her, knowing that there were no words for having a son.

"He's my heart, Steve," Bethany explained. "If I lose him… I lose myself. If I had to pick between my life and his, always it would be his. I'd pick his life over yours too."

"Good," Steve nodded.

"But…" she choked up as she tried to continue. "The more I love him, the guiltier I feel for a child I never loved, and never got the opportunity to. I know I don't deserve this. You do, and because you chose me, I know that I have to give it to you. And I'm more than happy to do it. But… it hurts. A lot. I broke my own heart, Steve. I once told you that you were waiting on a broken heart by being with me, do you remember that?"

"Vividly," Steve sighed.

"Well, apparently I was too," She breathed, trying to collect herself. "I don't deserve more. But I want more."

"More… more what?" Steve asked, moving his hand up and taking hers in his. She was no longer mad at him. She was mad at herself, and while that wasn't better, at least he could help her this way.

"Babies," she whispered, looking down at Jamie. "I hated being pregnant, I know. But… looking back, it was magical. I always had you with me. I was never alone. And I know that now is definitely not the time. But I still want it. I'd give the missions up, the thrill, all again, you know I would."

"I know," Steve nodded.

"That's something that I love, but I'd give it up in an instant to have more children," she sighed.

"Despite what you think," Steve started, moving close to her, and pulling her close, careful not to squish Jamie. "You do deserve this. Not in the most traditional sense, but you've more than made up for your mistakes. You've seen so long beating yourself up. We'll have more kids, okay? As many as you want. Even if I'm old and gray and you're still young, and you want more, I'll give you as many as I can. If children will make you happy, Beth-"

"Do you think the guilt will build up and get worse?" She asked meekly, pulling away from him and letting Jamie sit in her lap. He hadn't been complaining, but it was clear that he liked this better.

"I can't tell you," Steve replied honestly. "I wish that I could, but I can't. I wish I could answer all of your questions. But right now, all I can do is make you feel better."

Bethany gave him a soft smile, but it was Jamie who dragged it into a full grin as he opened his little arms and wrapped Bethany, to the best of his ability, within them, pressing his body against hers. "Are you hugging Momma?" Bethany asked, wrapping her own arms around him. "Huh, little Munchkin?"

Steve reached to his bedside table and picked his phone off it, quickly snapping a photo. Molly had gotten up from her spot on Steve's pillow and was making her way over to crawl onto Steve's lap. "I feel better," she told him, pressing her lips to Jamie's hair, the little boy looking up to her when her lips moved away.

"All of our mistakes brought us here, right now," Steve reminded Bethany.

"I know," she said before swallowing.

"We have some Christmas presents to wrap," Steve began. "Why don't I go find a good record and we can start on those?"

"Sounds perfectly," Bethany breathed, rolling her eyes when Steve leaned in for a kiss, but giving it to him anyways.


When Theo's bedtime rolled around, Steve and Bethany realized that for the first time since Jamie was born, and probably before that, they weren't exhausted come seven thirty. Popping some popcorn and a bottle of champagne, they curled onto the couch and started to watch Holiday Inn.

"I love Marjorie Reynolds' hair like that," Bethany spoke, her head on a pillow on Steve's lap.

"You hate Victory Rolls," Steve said, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"But those aren't… you know, in your face. Plus, she can pull them off. I never could. But I'm not complaining, I always loved my waves."

"I did too," Steve whispered, running a hand through her short hair. She looked beautiful with it short, there was no arguing. It somehow made her seem more mature, and motherly. But he missed playing with her curls. He missed braiding it. Bethany didn't even call him into the bathroom, asking him to flat iron the back of her hair anymore. She just got out of the shower and let it dry naturally.

"It's just hair, Steve. It'll grow back," Bethany reminded him. "Do you know how many times I was burnt to a crisp in my life?"

"I'd rather not think about it," Steve replied, cringing at just the idea.

"The point is, I've never had to cut it this short. Not once," Bethany explained. "But I don't mind it like this. It's convenient for now. Okay, no. Marjorie Reynolds is now on my top five list."

Steve rolled his eyes, thinking back to when he first told Bethany of his top five most beautiful girls in the world. "I stand in my answers."

"You know what I noticed? That Hedy Lamarr is just a more… made up version of Vivien Leigh. If Lamarr wore less makeup, she and Leigh would look like twins."

Steve thought about it for a moment before nodding. "You're right. Okay, I'll take Lamarr off my list then and add Gene Tierney. Happy?"

"I wanted you to add Judy Garland," Bethany reminded him.

"But you said that Gene Tierney was prettier than you," Steve added.

"Well, she is. Was," Bethany corrected herself before laughing for a moment.

Steve smiled, intertwining their fingers. "What's so funny?"

"True or false, your ideal picture of beauty will now and always be the Old Hollywood glamour style."

"True, I guess," Steve allowed.

"But you hate when I wear pounds of makeup," Bethany continued, to which Steve nodded. "I barely wear any makeup now compared to then."

"But it's so… classy," Steve explained. "And sexy."

"Yes," Bethany allowed. "I always felt sexy with a peek-a-boo wave like Veronica Lake, but with the fullness of Rita Hayworth. And the red lips? Classic. I still like doing a red lip now and then. I felt… Like everyone wanted me. And that always made me feel like I had power."

It was silent for a moment, both of their attentions on the classic movie before Steve spoke up. "You're still sexy," he reassured. "Not in the same way, but you certainly are desirable."

She smiled up at him, a hand snaking up his neck, pulling him down and meeting him halfway for a kiss. "Thanks," she said against his lips.

"Do you want to finish the movie?" Steve asked as she sat up, positioning herself on his lap.

"Not really," Bethany said with a cocky smile on her face, kissing him again, this time sucking on his bottom lip for a moment before moving to straddle him. "We'll have to be quiet."

"That's not an issue for me," Steve reminded her, the bridge of his nose trailing down her chin and placing a kiss on the soft skin under her ear. His hands moved up her back, letting himself get lost in everything about her.

"I can be quiet," Bethany said, letting out a happy sigh. "When I want to be. I always thought you liked me being loud."

"I always thought someone would walk in on us," Steve said against her skin.

"Trust me Steve, if people got close enough to have the ability to walk in on us, they would've heard and knew not to," Bethany replied, tilting her head as Steve's lips began to wander downwards. She gripped his biceps, feeling them flex as she began to move her hips in circles, slowly and tenderly.

Steve's teeth grazed her sweet spot as he started to harden, a soft groan slipping from him and tickling her neck. Tightening his arms around her, he quickly moved so that she laid on the couch, his body hovering hers. She laughed, Steve smiling but giving her a firm "shhhh" before kissing her softly. Her hands began to wander, slipping into his sweater and her fingernails lightly moving across his back.

"Should we try the first of those positions, my love?" Bethany asked, biting her lip softly when he pulled back. "Flip to a random page and have our try at it?"

Steve opened his mouth to approve her idea when they heard soft steps coming from the elevator. Steve looked over his shoulder, watching as Bruce walked in, his gaze on a tablet in his hands. "Do you have a moment?"
Steve and Bethany shared a look before looking back at Banner who was finally raising his gaze. "Oh," he let out when he saw their position, Steve on top of her, Bethany's legs opened, one hanging off the couch and the other hooked over Steve's leg. "I didn't mean too-"

"It's okay," Bethany said, surprising Steve. They hadn't fooled around long enough to be too far gone, but he knew that there was a good chance that the moment was lost, gone permanently after Bruce said what he came to say.

"If you're sure," Bruce said looking at Steve.

"Yeah," Steve sighed, sitting up and freeing Bethany. He crossed his legs in a feeble attempt to keep his modesty.

"What's up?" Bethany asked as she crossed her legs under her, and grabbed the remote to mute the TV.

Bruce moved over and handed her the tablet. "I've finished the tests," he explained, sitting on the table across from the couch as Bethany scrolled down the page and reviewed the results.

"Conclusive towards what I know," Bethany replied. "But her genes were altered like mine and Steve's. Like yours, Bruce."

"Reversing this will be hard," Bruce nodded.

"That's if she wants to reverse it," Bethany sighed. "I'm not doing anything to her until I can talk to her. See what she wants. And I think we can all agree that that's right."

Both men nodded. "From what you've said, she doesn't have full capabilities of controlling her… anomaly," Bruce added.

"Just the same way like I can't help my healing," Bethany said under her breath. "She didn't want to turn me to ice. You could tell from the look in her eyes that she was shocked."

"Scared," Steve corrected. "She was scared."

"We have the footage of her freezing water, turning it to gas," Bruce reminded them.

"But that was water," Steve added. "Not a person. We're just lucky it was Beth. Anyone else… that could have had lasting effects."

"We need to wake her up soon," Bethany said with a sigh.

"Tony said that the cell is almost complete," Bruce informed her, accepting the tablet back.

"Ugh," Bethany moaned. "Don't call it that. It makes her sound like a prisoner."

"She may very well be," Steve reminded her softly. "If she wakes up and she doesn't want to be here… we can't just let her go. And I'd rather her be here than in a governmental cell in D.C."

"I… I guess that's true," Bethany allowed. "But I don't want her to feel that way. I want her to know that we're trying to help her. From everything we've learned from the HYDRA files, they hadn't started to brainwash her. From what I'm gathering, they wanted her to get comfortable with her… ability."

"Make sure they could use her as a weapon before fully investing themselves, maybe?" Bruce suggested. "I can't imagine the brainwashing process to be easy."

"No," Bethany replied, sharing a quick look at Steve. "If they sent her here, there's a lot that could break the wall they built. It would have had to be extensive and long."

"And as long as they had Jen, they would hold back on moving on Jamie," Steve summarized, placing a hand on the small of Bethany's back, rubbing it softly.

"But at least we have a lot of info on them now," Bruce reminded the couple. "We'll get them before they get us, don't worry. No one will take that little guy from you without the Big Guy coming out."

Bethany gave him a tight lipped smile, showing her appreciation, but knowing that she would be worried no matter what. "Thanks for keeping us up to date," Steve replied, standing up, offering to walk Bruce out. Bethany stayed on the couch, taking in a deep breath and thinking about everything that had happened recently.

When Steve came back over, he turned off the TV and offered his hand to Bethany. She took it and they walked hand-in-hand to the bedroom. Without saying anything, they brushed their teeth and changed into their pajamas before crawling into bed. They were laying side by side, letting their thoughts wander.

"At what point do we tell Theo? At what point do we go out? At what point do we stop telling ourselves that nothing bad will happen?" Bethany asked the darkness. Steve reached out and took her hand, their fingers intertwining. He had no answers for her and was out of words of comfort. Everything he could say, he had said. Everything he once believed was on shaky ground. Good didn't always win. HYDRA was better equipped and had more numbers. They had the upper hand of operating in secret and having SHIELD's secrets. In every light, they were the underdogs of the situation.

But then again, that wasn't anything new to Steve.


**A/N: So the next chapter has the Rogers family going to D.C. to visit Peggy and a certain HYDRA agent. It's all written, just waiting for the finishing touches :) Anyone see the new promo art for Civil War? Love that Sharon Carter is on it. I'm a HUGE Sharon fan. Honestly, I always thought the exchanges between Peggy and Steve were cute, but I want Steve with Sharon. I like how they operated in the comics, and I love Emily van Camp. For everyone who "hates" her just because of Peggy, you need a reality check. Peggy's character is heavily based off of Sharon from the comics, and Steve and Sharon actually had a relationship/life together. Even if they don't portray them as anything BUT friends in the movie, I'm very excited for Sharon. She's not just a love interest, she is honestly an amazing character. Anyways, my rant is over, but yeah. Love Sharon.

IrelandLover: Haha yeah. No. The way I see it, Steve is always embarrassed because he was taught that all of that was saved for marriage. Well, he's married. He has a son. He knows that there's no reason to be embarrassed about the way he thinks about his wife, nor what they do in their spare time. He's a very confident person in every other aspect of his life. Why not in marriage?

BerMH: Their life is getting more like how they've always lived in with the SSR and SHIELD, so yes. Very normal for them. It'll be fun to play with that, and also develop them and see how they feel about this "normal" compared to, how you put it, a Norman Rockwell painting.

Jo: Yeah, Jen doesn't have the best luck, does she?

SarahMichelleGellarFan1: Haha, that scene came to me very late at night when my mind was wandering. I wasn't gonna put it in, but I was having a hard time closing the chapter on an un-awkward tone, so smut to the rescue!

FeliciaFelicis: Jen's power definitely has the ability to make her either a villain or hero. OH MY GOD, if that makes you a pervert, I don't even want to know what I am... Although I'll wear it proudly considering I have no shame and neither should you :P Yes, I've always wanted to write Steve and Bethany in new positions but Steve is very... vanilla. I don't really think that he would come up with these positions, so... Haha, things will get interesting ;) I get 99% of my fangirl stuff from RedBubble, so check that out. Not sure if they ship to the UK, but I don't see why they wouldn't :) They have everything! Oh man, I haven't heard the wait til Christmas thing since I got my credit card about three years ago. Certainly freeing! Use that baby at least once a week since online shopping is a gift from God.