Chapter 50- Broken Wings

"Baby, don't understand why we can't just hold on to each other's hands? This time might bee the last I fear unless I make it all too clear I need you so, oh. Take these broken wings and learn to fly again, learn to live so free. When we hear the voices sing the book of love will open up and let us in. Take these broken wings."

~Broken Wings, Mr. Mister


Bethany couldn't believe that it was real. That she, Steve and Jamie were moving into a house. Their house. The three of them got up early that Sunday before their friends would get together to help them move all their boxes and unwrap all their new furniture. Setting up a new house could take weeks, but the walls were all painted and waiting for Bethany's photos to be mounted onto them. With the large team they had, they were hoping to get the entire house finished in three days, leaving Bethany with just enough time to enjoy her completely finished house for one night before leaving for Germany. Steve had turned the entire activity into a training opportunity for the team, even setting them up with the mission of getting it all done before Bethany had to leave. It was definitely a more exciting mission than what they usually had to finish, so they were all looking forward to it.

But before their house was filled with people and things, the family wanted to take an hour to themselves, wandering around the empty house and just enjoying the quiet. Every step, every little whisper seemed to echo against the walls of the big house. The sun was shining through the huge picture windows and Molly was exploring every corner and step.

"This is our new home, Munchkin," Bethany whispered, feeling like if she spoke in her normal tone, it would be too loud. "We're home."

Bethany put Jamie down, the baby immediately dashing out to chase Molly around the empty house. "We did it," Steve breathed, pulling her close to him.

"We did it," She whispered back, the two of them basking in the fact that they had made it this far. To want, to dream for this moment, where they had their own family and their own house and to actually get it were two different things. It wasn't quite what they had dreamed up all those years ago, but neither of them cared. What they had around them at that moment was perfect, and neither of them could think of a single thing they wanted to change. Right then and there, they felt like their future would be amazing and filled with happiness. With more children. With a free and safe world. In that moment, everything felt possible.

Throughout the day, Bethany supervised the entire team. She alone was telling people where things went and only asked for Steve's opinion when she could see the creative cogs turning in his head. Having people who could fly and lift up heavy things like they were a baseball made the entire process a lot easier than anyone originally anticipated. Since they had a huge balcony attached to the master suite, they had the huge mattress Bethany had ordered flown up and through the double doors. Romanoff had her classic smug smirk on her face after the mattress had been set onto the bedframe, knowing full well that despite the huge mattress, Bethany and Steve would still only use a fraction of it. Bethany just liked the idea of them having more room on the bed to fill with children.

Bethany had set a basket filled with Jamie's favorite toys up in the living room corner, along with her laptop which was playing a selection of children's shows. She didn't want to keep him cradled up in a play pen all day, but took active steps to make sure he didn't get out of the house or up and down the stairs. Someone was always down there watching him as well, but he minded his own business. Every once in a while, he would get up and go to the front window, watching the team with curiosity before finally wandering back to his corner.

At one point, he had elected it was time to nap. He had taken all the toys out of the basket and placed Molly inside it before he curled up next to her. He had happily napped for two hours in the basket, his fingers curled into Molly's fur. "We're almost done for the day," Steve whispered into Bethany's ear as she watched Jamie sleeping. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing her back flushed to his chest.

"I think we did good," Bethany replied. "It looks good."

"I got you something," he announced, pulling away from her to walk over to a box and pull a frame out. "I thought you could add this to your collection."

Bethany took the silver frame, a small smile pulling at her lips. In the frame, there were multiple spots for photos, all of them from a different place and time. When Steve had found a picture of a small Bethany with pigtails and her big brother having his arm securely around her shoulder, as if protecting her proudly from the world, he knew he had to slip it into his pocket so they could frame it openly in their new home. He had gone even farther, digging deep and far and finding a rare picture of himself as a child, a picture of Tony as a kid and then of course, of Jamie. She touched the glass of the frame delicately, her face reading exactly what she was thinking.

"I love it," She whispered, tracing the golden letters that read FAMILY at the bottom. Steve unhooked the hammer from his belt and dug into one of his pockets for a nail.

"I thought it could go here," Steve replied, pointing to the sidewall of the stairs that Bethany had requested specifically so she could show off her photos. He placed the nail right in the middle, looking back to her for assurance.

"It's perfect," she agreed with a smile, watching as he made work and then stepped back to allow her to place the frame upon the wall. Stepping back and into Steve's embrace, they held each other as they looked at the photos. Everything was perfect.


When their house was finished, Bethany feeling accomplished for actually being able to put her entire home together faster than most building reality shows, Steve, Jamie and Bethany locked themselves in their house for the night. Sam was all up for them having an amazing house-warming party, but Bethany had put her foot down. She was tired and she had to get up the next morning and go to Germany. She really just wanted to spend her first night in her house with her two boys.

Steve had cooked them burgers on their new barbeque with Bethany's pasta salad as their side dish. Then, after twenty minutes had passed as Steve insisted, they went into their new pool. Jamie looked adorable in his floaties, but Steve kept a firm grip on Jamie's waist as they waded in the pool. Bethany only slipped her feet into the water. The water wasn't properly heated yet, but Steve had claimed it was comfortable for him and Jamie hadn't expressed a sense of complaint. She enjoyed watching her two boys interact, especially in their own home. Jamie loved placing his hands on Steve's head and giving it a firm push, Steve playing along and ducking his head under the water for a quick moment before coming up and shaking the water from his head. The baby would throw his head back, his beautiful laughter dancing into the air. Everything just seemed too perfect to be true.

Both Bethany and Steve assumed that to warm their new house, they'd have sex that night, but for some reason, with Jamie in his pajamas and his blond hair being curlier than ever before due to the recent humidity, clinging onto Bethany's neck as he fell asleep, they decided to welcome him into their bed for the night. It was definitely big enough. It had to be custom-made in order to reach the proportions Bethany had in mind.

They laid in bed, Steve holding a copy of Daisy Miller while they both read silently, curled up together. Jamie was sleeping soundly on Bethany's chest, her hand rubbing soothing circles on his back. "I'm done with this page," she whispered to Steve, waiting for him to finish before he turned the page. Instead of turning it however, he put the book down on his chest. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Steve said softly, a hint of exasperation in his voice. "There's absolutely nothing wrong. Everything is perfect. I haven't felt this peaceful and at ease… well, ever."

"I know," she replied, a smile pulling at her lips. "Do you think this is temporary?"

"I guess we'll find out soon enough, since it's back to reality tomorrow. Especially with you going away for work," Steve spoke softly so he wouldn't wake Jamie. "But I'll tell you one thing for sure Bethany… this right here? It's going to make it damn harder to get out of bed tomorrow and go to work. Was that your plan all along?"

"Maybe...?" Bethany offered before chuckling. "I wanted to tempt you with something more than what we've had. And yes, giving you a sense of peace as a seduction technique was part of my plan, but you know that I'll support you no matter what you chose to do. Hell Steve, I think I proved that within the last few months."

"You definitely have," Steve nodded. "I don't doubt you in anyway. I know I say this a lot, but you've changed so much Bethany. I've always loved you, but this new version of yourself is just…"

"You make me want to be the best version of myself," Bethany breathed. "I know what the worst version of myself is. I don't ever want to be like that again. I've got a second chance and now I want to make it all worth it."

"I just want you to be happy Beth," Steve whispered. "That's all I really want in this world."

Bethany knew that he wanted other things as well and so did she for that matter, but really what they had right then and there, it was amazing. "I am happy," she promised him. She had never been this happy before in her life. She had so much more than she ever thought she would have. And really, it was just the perfect amount of blessings to make all the bad worth it. Not everything in their life was perfect, but they had time to make it that way. They had the time to help their friends find their ways, find peace in their world as well as the greater world. They had time for kids and perfect family moments. Time was never something Bethany had been short of through the years, but now time seemed to mean something. It wasn't just the years passing her by. This was a life she never thought she deserved, but here she was, with it, and no longer feeling like she didn't deserve it. She felt like she had earned this right in life. She had put up with all the hell and high water that had been thrown at her, and so had Steve. Bethany had mended fences, corrected her old ways, learned how to love and be loved and earned the right to claim a happy life.

And more importantly, she had it.


Leaving her family that morning had been difficult. It wasn't just temporarily saying goodbye, but it was the fact that she wasn't even leaving to do something enjoyable. If she was escaping for a girls' night, that would be one thing. But going to Germany to convince its politicians of the Avengers capability and ability to accept the responsibility of their actions as well as save the world was not her idea of a good time. A lot of countries held doubt in the Avengers, especially after Sokovia. The media, particularly Christine Everhart, was doing a damn good job at trying to place sole blame on the team, (to be fair, Ultron was their fault, but they had done the best they could do to save the country and its people) and trying to convince the world that they should pay for all the reparations needed.

That really peeved Bethany. The world seemed to think that they were made of money, and while she wouldn't say they weren't well off, that really didn't matter. They saved the world. They had paid a price, lost an Avenger, and risked their lives to correct their mistakes and save the world from falling under Ultron's destruction. The ruin of one small country compared to the whole world seemed like an acceptable sacrifice in her opinion. Plus, it wasn't like the team was just sitting back and drinking beers, completely ignorant of what happened. They had all participated in helping these people rebuild their lives. Yes, they wouldn't be the same, but for people to expect that after tragedy, they were being idiotic. After the Second World War, re-building was what everyone was doing. It was a natural part of life, of getting over the experience. But it seemed like all people could do when tragedy struck was focus on it opposed to try to repair their lives. It irritated her so much.

Of course, Christine Everhart got her hands on the cost of the Rogers' house and had used it against them on the news that morning. Bethany had watched it while on the jet over to Germany and fought the urge to throw her tablet at the television screen. She was in her mid-nineties and she never had a house to herself. They always belonged to someone else, whether her parents, Howard or SHIELD. She felt like she had the right to use all that money that would have accumulated over the years in a savings account to build her dream house. Could they have donated that money to the survivors of the Sokovia Battle? Of course. Had she and Steve had that conversation more than once? Yes. But even Wanda agreed that they deserved a win. All these people, who were currently housed somewhere due to the Avengers generosity, shouldn't expect them not to have a home just to give it to someone else. Bethany had made sure, due to all her guilt, that every single family affected had a place to call home, even if it was temporary, and had hired hundreds of sponsors to help these families rebuild their lives.

The meetings and Germany had been painful, and Bethany still had another full day to go. Her German was rusty, but she understood what the men and women said to each other when they thought she couldn't understand. She was regretting coming alone. She should have brought someone with her. She had made a mental note that the Avengers Facility needed a team of lawyers who could deal with all this without her. She hated politics. She hadn't minded it when she was younger, it just being a natural part of society. But she had lived through enough to realize how flawed every single system truly was. It was why she hated it so much. All she wanted to do was get back to her hotel room and relax. When she was changing into some professional attire before her meeting began, Bethany had found a vibrator wrapped in her pajamas. She hadn't packed it and couldn't help but smile knowing that Steve must have. He was trying to take care of her and making sure she was happy even though they were so far away. She was only gone for a night, but his gesture was not going to go unnoticed. It was sweet and she knew that after her day, she deserved an orgasm or two.

She hadn't had solo play in what felt like forever. She really didn't need it when Steve was basically able and willing whenever. Even if he was clearly too tired, she would just wait since it was worth it. She was a little hesitant about it not being as enjoyable as it was with him, but at the same time, it was going to be an interesting exploration. Steve knew how to work her body in ways even she didn't understand. It was like he had studied her every breath and gasp through the years and committed them to memory. Bethany was always just focusing on how amazing everything felt to even really pay attention to the specifics.

She had the option of taking a cab back to her hotel, but after being stuffed up all day, she decided to walk. The hotel wasn't close, but she needed the fresh air to clear her thoughts and help her body relax. Germany had offered the Avengers a huge donation if they committed to saving the country before all others in time of emergency. Bethany had been shocked at the proposition, especially since she hadn't come to them to ask for donations. Many governments had offered the team something, probably to ensure that the team was committed to their safety, but no one had bluntly spoke their expectations. Bethany wasn't sure whether or not she felt offended or if she admired them. Germany had come a long way through the years to build back the world's trust. Their dark history was actual events that Bethany had lived through. She had grown up with the knowledge that Germany was the villain, especially after the Great War. She hadn't really been surprised when they rose once again during the Second World War to claim their greatness back, but it only showed the children born after the Great War what their parents had been telling them through the years.

After the war, however, the SSR was despatched to Berlin for a variety of reasons. Chaos had captured the country, Russian troops basically pillaging and raping the entire city. In their view, they felt like they were exacting revenge because of what the German troops had done to their own people. The Howling Commandos had packed their bags to help bring a sense of peace to the ruined city and Peggy had convinced Howard to let Bethany come. Bethany was deep into her depression, barely leaving her room and Peggy thought that it would do her some good to help others. Howard had been skeptical and while Bethany really didn't do anything during the trip, not good or bad, it was years later that Bethany realized what she really saw during that time. The Allies were in charge of the narrative of that time since they were the winners. The fall of Berlin and the aftermath was lost from so many historical text books. They taught about the bombing raids in Britain but not the raids on Germany, which by the extent of the damage, Bethany could tell were a lot worse. It had smelled and almost every building was damaged in one way or another. Women were being raped daily, even willingly allowing it for their safety from the opposing side or for some food. Survival sex. Bethany couldn't even imagine having to give into that and she was the type of woman who said 'yes' to sex just because she didn't know what would happen if she actually said 'no'. But it had never been for money or food. She did it because why not?

But her memories of the city made her not want to visit Germany through her years. She always hated when she had missions in Germany. She had only agreed to doing this because no one else wanted to do it and she knew it had to be done. She was about twenty minutes away from her hotel room when the city fell completely dark, save for the street lights. The German politicians had almost insisted she take a cab, but Bethany wasn't worried about her safety. She had done far more dangerous things than walk alone at night in a foreign city, which she reminded them that the proof of that was basically why they were meeting that day.

However, a dark shadow had caught her attention, it moving by the corner of her eyes. She turned her head down a dark alley, seeing nothing there, but still feeling like something or someone was watching her. She shook her head, taking a few more steps forward before the feeling of paranoia fully hit her. Bethany had a variety of actions she could participate in, but the most idiotic one seemed to be the one she wanted to do the most. She ventured into the alley, on red alert. She could still feel the eyes on her, but she couldn't see anything. She didn't dare say anything. If it was a threat to her, they would come out soon enough. If not, she'd turn around and go about her night.

She was almost at the end of the alleyway when she felt a soft breath on her neck. She whipped around, using her elbow to land a decent jab to the attacker's face. He stumbled back and Bethany saw a flash of metal before a death grip took a hold of her neck before throwing her against the brick wall hard. Her head swam for a moment, her vision trying to clear up, but she didn't need it to make out her attacker. It was Bucky. Or, from the recent turn of events, the Winter Soldier.

Kiley had told both her and Steve that Bucky had reverted back into the Winter Soldier when they were close to being killed and that some nights, he would disappear for hours only to come back looking tired, guilty and like he was carrying a deep, dark secret. The knowledge of Bucky turning into a fighter when danger arose was common sense for her. But to know he could turn randomly… that was scary.

His mind had gone through so much abuse through HYDRA brainwashing that he didn't get to chose when he was Bucky and when he was the Winter Soldier. And right now, he was the Winter Soldier. Something must have triggered him. It was clear that he wanted to fight her. Possibly kill her. For what reason, she wasn't sure. But she knew one thing for certain; he was going to keep fighting her until she was dead. She was pretty sure that she could give him a run for his money. Despite not having a good fight in the past few months, it was like riding a bicycle at some points. Especially when danger was on her tail. Her body could easily snap back into its old ways. But after the day she had and the night she had planned, she really did want to spend the next five to ten minutes going back and forth. It wasn't like her life was actually in danger. Did he know that if he killed her, she would just come back? Would he leave her, or take her to some kind of HYDRA or government base?

When she pulled herself up, he had already strode forward, his metal hand taking another firm grip on her neck. This time, his fist closed tightly, Bethany struggling to breath. With his hand not leaving her neck, he harshly threw her against the wall, using his height to keep her feet from the ground. Bethany, her fight or flight sense kicking in, threw her leg around his outstretched arm, laying a hard kick to his face while also throwing her other leg up, her knee meeting his crotch. Pain flashed in his eyes as his grip loosen and he stepped back. Bethany used his moment of weakness to kick his stomach with both legs and freeing herself. She gasped for air as her hands took a grip on her neck.

"Bucky," she said aloud, hoping the name would capture some kind of recognition within him. When his eyes met her, she knew that he was in complete Winter Soldier mode. He wasn't going to stop until his mission was done and Bethany really didn't want to hurt him. Even if he had the ability to heal like Steve did, she would rather have her neck broken than even harming her husband's childhood best friend.

So when the Winter Soldier pulled himself up from the ground, that's exactly what she let him do.


**A/N: So I wrote that last scene before I saw the movie and new about those magic words. But I'll have Bucky and Bethany discuss it when they next see each other because YES, they will see each other.

Cleo9427: I've 100 percent have decided what Bethany will do during the movie, but the polls have been keeping me on my toes. Honestly, I feel like everyone will both like and dislike what I write. It'll be good, but will annoy people. But in that good way ;) I'm hoping that I can write Civil War really close to the beginning of the next story. I have to wait a little longer before I start, sadly.

RealHuntress18: No matter what happens in the story, Bethany will end up heartbroken, feeling betrayed and hurt. But she'll do what she feels is good for Jamie. She'll do her damnedest to make sure that the events don't affect him in any way.

Empress01: Yes! The next story, Through the Storm, will feature Civil War and the aftermath of it.

Adela: I very much enjoyed writing Bethany and Hank. I personally cannot stand Hank Pym, so it was fun to write Bethany's hatred for him.

Jo: I didn't include the Ant-Man end battle scene because it didn't seem relevant to me or my story. Bethany knows it happened, so does Steve, but they decided not to dig into it, mostly because Bethany just doesn't want to do with Hank Pym anymore than she already had to.

anonymouscsifan: Scott and Peter provided the best comedic relief, but Sam and Bucky need their own TV show now. Just the two of them competing for Steve's approval. It would actually do really well :P

pulchritudo in omnia: Woah, I'm not sure what flatters me more; that my smut is to die for or that Bethany is literally the best. Probably the smut since I'm always surprised when people like my smut :P