Me again! This chapter is more aimed at looking at the relationships between Beth, Bucky and Steve as well as to build on Beth a bit more! Hope you like! Thank you for your reviews, favourites and follows, they mean the world to me!

...

September 5th, 1933. Brooklyn, New York.

Before meeting Bucky, Sarah Rogers worried greatly about her children. Shy, accident-prone Steve was always getting into fights he had no hope of winning and when not fighting, would shut himself away with his sketchbook while Beth, who was more outgoing but still shy, chose to shut herself away with her books and often got into trouble herself when she tried to stop the scraps her brother got in to. Within a month of meeting Bucky, the boy a year older than Steve had almost become part of the furniture of the Roger's household. Sarah never once complained, too overjoyed to see her children laughing and playing, though they still had an uncanny knack for getting into fights. Thankfully, Bucky was usually never far behind to end the brawls that Steve started and Beth had attempted to finish.

After five years, the two boys had become more akin to brothers, and though at times she knew it frustrated them, they never once failed to let Beth tag along, despite the fact she was four years younger. Even at school, the boys let her sit with them at lunch, ignoring the strange looks they received in doing so. If anyone ever asked why they let her join them, whichever boy asked would simply shrug and give the same answer.

"Because she's family."

The year Bucky moved up to high school, Steve and Beth continued sitting together, meeting with Bucky at the gates after every school day. They never told him that they were the talk of the school, with girls constantly asking Beth to introduce them to the handsome sixteen year old and Steve beaten up almost daily by the boyfriends of said girls, jealous of their infatuation with Bucky.

The day Steve moved up to high school to join his best friend, Beth was expecting to feel more upset, however, being more outgoing than her brother, she did have a very small group of friends who had already offered for her to join them at lunchtimes. On the first day of school, Steve and Bucky walked her to the gate and Steve gave her a hug.

"We'll meet you here after school, okay squirt?" he asked.

She frowned at the name he'd only called her since meeting Bucky and punched him lightly in the arm, making him laugh.

"Okay punk." She said, mimicking Bucky's favourite word for the older sibling.

The pair waved as they began walking away and she smiled widely as she waved back. Spotting her friends, she began to make her way over to them, only to be stopped by one of the boys in the senior class.

"You're friends with that Barnes kid, aren't you?" He asked her.

"What is it to you?" she replied, not liking where the conversation was heading.

The boy stepped up to her and she nervously stepped back out of instinct. Suddenly, she wished her friend and brother were there, but she quickly put the thought out of her mind; they weren't there, this was her fight.

"It's a lot to me. Tell him to stay away from here."

Frowning, she felt her arms instinctively cross.

"Why?" she asked, against her better judgement.

"Just do it." He growled before stalking off.

The moment he was out of sight, Beth saw her friend Mary run over to her, worry shining in her chocolate coloured eyes.

"Are you okay? I only just saw Henry talking to you and realised it can't be anything good!"

Beth shook her head and looped arms with the other girl.

"It's fine. He just wants me to ask Bucky not to come here any more."

Beside her, Mary scoffed and rolled her eyes. Seeing the confusion on Beth's face, she gave a small giggle.

"He's jealous! He's dating Jessica Palmer, who saw Bucky drop you off during last year and has now grown a slight obsession with him."

After giving her friend a disbelieving look, only to realise it was the truth, Beth threw back her head and laughed loudly. It was such a ridiculous thing and she had no issues choosing to keep her mouth closed and not tell Bucky the message.

Another month passed and Beth heard nothing from Henry. He occasionally threw her the odd look, but she found it easier and easier to brush him off, until eventually, she was lulled in to a false sense of security. It was during a crisp December morning that she realised how stupid she had been to believe herself safe. After completing her dance class, she opted against being driven home by her friend, instead choosing to walk. It was only when she was halfway home that she realised she was being followed. She began picking up her pace, hearing the footsteps behind her doing so too. As she reached the park, she broke out into a sprint, but it was only seconds later that a body slammed in to her, throwing her to the ground. A pair of hands grasped the front of her coat and she was lifted off the floor to look into a pair of deep green eyes.

"I warned you to tell him to stay away." A familiar voice growled.

Henry. Clearly he'd had enough of seeing Bucky and had finally decided to act. Beth managed to raise her arm and punch him hard enough in the face to knock him off her. Not waiting for him to recover, she scrambled to her feet and raced towards her apartment block. She didn't get far when Henry crashed in to her once again. This time, she managed not to fall, but it didn't deter him. Before she had time to recover, something solid connected with her face and she yelped as she dropped to her knees, cradling her face in her hand. Above her, Henry sneered.

"Now, you little bitch, tell him to stay away or that face of yours won't stay pretty for long."

He left after giving her a hard kick to the stomach that had her gasping for air, and she could only lay there as he turned the corner, his hands in his pocket, whistling a tune she once enjoyed but would hate for the rest of her life. It took almost an hour to regain her breathing, pick herself up and walk home, but thankfully, her mother had only just returned home herself and hadn't had time to worry about her whereabouts. Instead, she had something more disturbing to worry about and as she saw her daughter's face, the grocery bag she had been holding dropped to the floor. Steve came out of the apartment to investigate the source of the crash and his eyes widened at the state of his sister.

"What happened to you!?" Sarah asked as she bundled the sniffling twelve year old in to the living room.

"I was on my way home and a boy ran into me. I fell face first on to the floor." She replied, wincing as Steve pressed an ice pack to the injury.

Steve and Sarah shared a look over her head, neither one believing the story when the mark on her face was clearly fist-shaped, but neither pressed her. They both knew that like Steve, she would only tell them the full story if and when she was ready to. Once they patched her up, Sarah made her way to the kitchen to make some cocoa and Beth moved in to the hallway to call Bucky. As much as she didn't want to, she knew now that Henry was serious about his threat and though she didn't care what he did to her, she wasn't about to put Bucky in harm's way. When he came to the phone, she took a deep breath to steady herself before speaking, hoping her voice didn't tremble as much as she thought it did.

"I don't want you walking me to school or walking me home from there anymore." She said, her eyes filling with tears.

"Why not Bethie? Is everything okay?" he asked, hearing the tremor in her voice that she tried to hide.

"I'm okay, I just want to walk with my friends from now on."

Bucky frowned. He knew that her friends either lived the opposite direction or were driven to and from school, so her words puzzled him. Like Steve and Sarah, he decided it best not to question her further and went for another tactic; speaking to Steve.

"Okay, well if that's truly what you want, I won't come any more. Can I talk to Steve before you hang up please? I need to discuss a school project with him"

Knowing full well he was lying and actually wanted to find out the real reason why she had called, she called out to Steve and handed him the receiver without another word to was about to hide in the bathroom so she could listen in on them when Sarah called her through to drink her cocoa, ruining that plan. Still, she wasn't too worried as Steve didn't know the real reason either. Unfortunately, she forgot about how good he and Bucky were at putting two and two together. Steve waited until she was out of earshot before he asked Bucky what she'd said to him. Bucky relayed her message and he frowned.

"I think someone beat her up Buck. She came home with a bust lip and bruised ribs, claiming someone ran into her. This doesn't feel right."

"I agree with you. Do you think it could be one of those punks at her school? The boys that seem to think I'm stealing their girls?"

The thought made Steve so angry he knew the phone would have been crushed if it was made of a weaker substance.

"Seems the most logical explanation. I don't want to risk you going there again though if it is or they might hurt her again. I'll collect her from now on."

Bucky agreed, though he didn't want to, and Steve ended the call. When he returned to the living room, he gave his sister a look that said he wanted the truth, but she simply returned with one of her own that told him there was no way she was doing that and he sighed in defeat.

...

Sarah allowed Beth to stay at home the following day, but Steve still made his way to the school anyway, calling out to Beth's friend Mary as she was about to step in to the gate

"Hey Steve! Where's Beth?" she asked.

Steve explained what happened the day before and Mary gaped up at him in disbelief.

"I can't believe he went through with it! On the first day of term, Henry told her to tell Bucky to stay away as he was jealous that his girlfriend fancied him, but she ignored him. I'll bet you all the money I have that he did it!"

Thanking her, Steve continued on to the high school and when he said the name to Bucky, the other teenager's eyes darkened.

"Oh yeah, I know the guy."

That afternoon, Harry Bennet discovered that while pissing off Bucky Barnes was generally a bad idea, pissing off Bucky Barnes by hurting Beth Rogers was a death sentence. Steve watched on as Bucky's fist repeatedly met Henry's skin, eager to step in as it was his sister that had been hurt, but he held back, understanding that this fight was Bucky's. When they arrived at the Roger's apartment later that evening, Bucky marched straight to Beth's room after saying a quick hello to Sarah. Steve and Sarah never did find out what was said between the pair that day, but they did know one thing; the following morning Bucky continued taking her to and collecting her from school, and Beth never again tried to stop him.