Apologies for the delay in updating. I've had a couple of not-so-good weeks that have involved a lot of swearing, crying and curled up on the bed watching Netflix. On the plus side, though I haven't been writing or doing any work on my thesis as I should have, I now have two new shows to obsess over- Jessica Jones and Daredevil!

Anyway, I am back now and ready for more writing action. This is the penultimate chapter- I hope you enjoy!

March 4th, 1945. HYDRA headquarters.

Beth bit her lip nervously from her vantage point as she watched her brother fight the HYDRA soldiers. Her finger was itching to reach for the trigger of Bucky's Johnson rifle but she refrained, knowing it would ruin the whole plan if she let even a single shot off. Instinctively, she reached beside her for the usual reassurance from Bucky, only to touch the cold grass instead of his warm hand. She ignored the stinging in her heart, her body aching for his touch having grown accustomed to him pressing against her on missions. It hurt even more that she didn't even have her engagement ring with her for comfort, choosing to leave it in her room where it would be safe. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she forced herself to focus on the current mission.

"Ready Beth?" Peggy's voice said in her ear, breaking the silence.

"Yup." She replied.

She picked herself up off the ground, reluctantly leaving the Johnson behind and pulling her own Springfield rifle onto her back. She gave the rifle one last glance, but knew she wouldn't be able to execute her part of the plan carrying it as it was too large.

"Someone better pick up my rifle" she growled quietly.

Various chuckles filled her ear, but the reply she got from Dum Dum was a solemn promise that almost bought tears to her eyes.

"Don't worry, we will."

Satisfied, she jogged down the slope, making sure to stay out of sight of any soldiers lurking around. She silently reached the grate in the wall that was her target and with a little effort, pulled it off the wall and climbed inside, pulling it back into place just as a soldier passed by. She let out a small breath and began slowly making her way deep into the building.

"Stay safe sis." She heard Steve murmur worriedly in the earpiece and though she didn't reply for her own safety, she knew he was fully aware that his words made her heart swell.

After what felt like hours, she made her way to a room that was empty and slid out of the grate, landing softly on the balls of her feet. Slowly, she crept to the door and opened it, making sure the coast was clear. Once sure no guards were about to jump out and attack her, she reached in her pocket for one of the tiny disks given to her by Howard and pressed it against the door she exited. She made her way swiftly through the corridors, continuing her pattern of twenty steps, one disk, taking down any stray guards with her rifle. The whole time, she remained aware of the time, knowing she only had five minutes to get in and out. Once all the disks were in place, she jogged back to her starting point to leave and re-join the others outside. The door creaked open and she stepped inside to come face to face with the barrel of a gun, Schmidt smirking down at her from behind it.

"I will admit you're very good, Ms Rogers. But I am better." He gloated.

Knowing it would be stupid to fight, she placed her rifle on the ground, wishing she had Bucky's Johnson so she could shoot Schmidt in the face for her fallen fiancé. Cursing inwardly, she stood and one of the HYDRA soldiers patted her down for other weapons, pulling out two colt handguns and a knife from her ankle holster. She could only thank the heavens that she had no more of the little disks on her as that would cause more suspicion and potentially ruin the whole plan. Thankfully, they were all in place and so when the time came, the plan would still work, even if she had been dumb enough to get captured. Check of her for weapons complete, Schmidt's face pulled into a grotesque triumphant smile and she found herself glaring at his arrogance.

"Oh come now, this part of your capture is not so bad. What I do to you next however, is a little more…ungentlemanly. Please forgive me."

With that, his arm shot out, his large fist connecting with her small cheek. Despite the agony as the skin on her cheekbone ripped open, she refused to cry out. Her glare deepened as she raised her head at him, hearing a cheer in her mind that sounded suspiciously like Bucky when she saw the rage flit across his face from her lack of reaction. Seeing the triumph in her eyes, his face contorted once more in a sly smirk.

"It does not matter, the blood is enough." He nodded to one of the soldiers behind her. "Bring her."

A piece of cloth was shoved in her mouth and tied tightly round her head to stop her from speaking, before she was shoved roughly to follow Schmidt down the corridor. With every step, her dread grew and she began to worry that the others would postpone the plan as she hadn't made it back in time, which would only end badly for all of them. Finally, Schmidt held up a hand and they stopped.

"Stay here and do not come in until I command it."

He continued into the room and a moment later, she heard footsteps join him. Hearing her brother's voice had her fighting her bonds, but the soldier guarding her simply punched her in the stomach and she slumped to the floor to catch her breath. When she was hauled back to her feet, she heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh, followed by grunts from her brother that told her he was the one being hit.

"I can do this all day" she heard him say, pain lacing his voice.

"Oh of course you can, of course. But unfortunately I am on a tight schedule. Bring her!" Schmidt replied.

Steve's heart threatened to explode and he stopped breathing, hoping that the 'she' wasn't his baby sister. He watched the guards drag in a familiar body, golden hair spilling out of the braid she'd painstakingly spent half an hour getting right that morning. She looked up at him, her eyes telling him she felt that she'd failed him. He gave her a reassuring look in return and she shuddered as his eyes darkened with rage as he took in the cut on her cheek.

"It's okay." He said to her and saw her eyes glaze over with relief.

Schmidt sneered at the sentiment between the pair and the gun he had pointed at the Captain moved so it was now pointing at Beth. Ignoring Steve's cries to not hurt her, Beth looked straight in to the HYDRA leader's face, an amused smile on her own. Schmidt glared at her, finger twitching on the trigger. The siblings were really starting to grate his last nerve.

"What is so funny!?" he demanded.

She indicated behind him and he turned to see the team heading towards the window using zip wires.

"You're on a tight schedule? So am I" Steve grit out and flung one of his captors in front of him, the man evaporating as Schmidt turned the gun away from Beth to shoot him.

Several things happened at once. The guys burst in through the glass in a hail of bullets, Schmidt ran, Steve snapped the neck of the other guard holding him, Beth flung her head back to successfully connect with the nose of one of her guards and a bullet from Falsworth's gun took care of the second guard. She gave him a grateful smile as she reached up to pull the gag off. The familiar blue of Steve's uniform came in to her vision and she raised her eyes to meet his identical ones.

"Are you okay?" he asked, turning her cheek so he could see the damage more clearly.

She nodded, unable to speak as a stray bullet almost hit Steve, forcing her to pull him to one side.

"I'll be fine, just give me a gun and get after Schmidt."

Smiling proudly at her, he pulled out a spare handgun from the back of his trousers before catching his shield as Falsworth threw it to him. Sparing a kiss to her forehead, he simply muttered 'don't get killed' before taking off after the red skull. Beth stayed back with the commandos and helped them clear the room, unleashing a portion of her rage on the guards stupid enough to try and fight them. Once all the guards were dead, the group fell in to a momentary silence.

"Well, that was fun." Dugan said from behind Beth.

At once, they all burst out laughing and Beth shook her head fondly at them. Before they left, Falsworth grasped her by the arm and she wasn't the only one to give him a questioning glance.

"You scared the hell out of us when you didn't show up woman. Try not to do it again."

For the first time, she saw the Englishman in his true colours, and saw in his eyes how truly worried he had been. A quick evaluation of the rest of the time showed they shared the sentiment. She reached up and hugged Falsworth before addressing them all.

"I'm sorry. Schmidt cornered me and I couldn't get out a warning. Won't happen again, I promise."

Dum Dum gave her a stern look, the seriousness in his usual jolly face unsettling her.

"You're dam right it won't missy." The expression faded, replaced with his usual grin. "You're sticking with us from now on!"

She barked out a laugh along with the others. She didn't know when she became the unofficial second in command after Steve, but the way the others fell in behind her with no questions told her that was how they now saw her.

"Come on idiots, let's head out." She said.

"Yes Ma'am" Morita replied, an amused glint in his eye.

After a small debate, the group split in two, one half following Steve's direction, the other making their way to meet with Phillips and Peggy. A few minutes later, Beth turned a corner to see Peggy shoot at a man wearing a flamethrower suit, the pack exploding on his back.

"Nice." She commented.

Peggy spun round in fright, not hearing Beth come up behind her and the blonde woman grinned.

"Hi."

Peggy smiled, then frowned as her eyes dropped to Beth's cheek.

"It's okay, nothing I can't handle." Beth assured her.

"Okay, but if things get to bad and you want out, just say." Peggy replied.

"And miss all this fun? You gotta be kidding!" Beth laughed, her mouth quirked, though Peggy also saw the very well hidden fear in the younger woman's eyes.

The brunette reached out and took Beth's hand, squeezing it tightly. Unsaid were the words that she knew Beth was terrified and hell, so was she. But if there was one thing Agent Carter understood about Steve and Beth, it was that they were too stubborn to back down, and she made a silent promise to herself that she was going to protect them with her life. Beth squeezed back and gave a brief shaky smile before letting go as Steve reached them.

"You're late." He said to Peggy, and Beth averted her eyes, recognising that they were having a moment.

"Weren't you about to, uh…" Peggy trailed off.

"Right" Steve replied and, Beth sniggered as her awkward-as-ever brother ran off again.

Ignoring the look Peggy shot her, Beth quickly ran down a separate hall to re-join with Falsworth and Dum Dum. The pair had managed to wrench open the doors that led to a large hangar. The trio immediately fired at the soldiers following Schmidt and ran over to Steve, who was watching the plane with contemplation.

"Oh no, not that look. What crazy stunt are we pulling THIS time?" Beth asked.

"You wanna know or would you rather just go for it Bucky?" he asked, her question so like something his best friend would ask he forgot for a moment it was his sister next to him.

Knowing full well Steve was about to turn and apologise for calling her Bucky, Beth gave a sad smile and readied her gun, replying the way she knew her fiancé would.

"Let's do it, punk."

The pair charged forward, Steve running ahead of her to bash away soldiers unfortunate to stand in his path, Beth shooting at any others who tried to hurt her brother. She saw him heading towards a chain hanging down and almost stopped, believing he had finally crossed the line into insanity. Sensing her hesitation, Steve scooped her up with his arm and flung them both towards the chain. She let out a squeal as they shot across the floor towards the plane and they dropped down at a considerable speed. Despite it, she somehow managed to keep her footing enough to chase after him. She wanted to collapse with exhaustion when he finally stopped running, but she never had the chance, a pair of arms grabbing her and pulling her into a car.

"Hi", Peggy teased and Beth grinned, deciding that should they all survive, Steve was going to marry the woman. She and Bucky may not have had their happy ending, but her big brother would.

The car sped off after the plane and Beth's heart went in to her mouth, terrified they weren't going to make it. She saw Steve ready himself and even though she knew all along that was his plan, she still found herself wanting to pull him back to safety. Fighting the impulse, she instead stood in her own seat, glaring at him as he opened his mouth to argue.

"I lost Bucky, I am NOT losing you too!" she screamed over the roar of the propellers.

With a sigh, he nodded and turned his attention back to the plane.

"Keep it steady!" he called out to Phillips.

"Wait!" Beth heard Peggy shout.

Thinking something was wrong, she looked over to see Peggy's lips capture Steve's. As they parted, Beth knew she was grinning madly, but she didn't care, instead laughing as Phillips calmly informed Steve he would not be kissing him. Meeting Steve's gaze, Beth's grin dropped slightly. Steve gently reached round her, placing his shield on her back, then turned so his back was facing her. He crouched down and she climbed onto his back, her hands grasping his shoulders as tight as she could, her legs locking round his waist. A second later, he dropped and a propeller of the plane slammed into the shield on her back. She grunted from the impact, knowing she was going to have an impressive bruise from it, the pain making her grit her teeth. The pair rose again and Steve launched them on to the landing gear of the plane. Beth immediately looked back, breathing a sigh of relief to see that Peggy and the general were okay, the car remaining on the cliff. She continued clinging to Steve and as the hatch for the landing gear opened, he carefully helped her climb onto his shoulders and up into the plane. He followed after her and saw her looking at the bombs in front of them in fear.

"This can't be real." She whispered.

Steve began to wish he'd left her behind, but he knew it was too late, so he gently placed a hand on the small of her back, urging her forward. A door opened opposite them and Steve pointed down. Nodding, she silently swung over the rail to the floor below whilst Steve pulled himself up above the platform. As the soldiers reached them, Steve dropped down to take out the end guard and Beth open fired on the remaining men. She watched as Steve struggled against them and ran forward in time to see one of the bombs drop, Steve on it.

"No!" she screamed and ran over, shooting at the soldier in front of her.

There was no time for tears as she found herself overwhelmed by three guards that appeared from behind her. They pinned her arms to her sides and proceeded to march her through the plane towards Schmidt. She heard the HYDRA leader's voice speaking German over the intercom but wasn't sure what he was saying. All she knew was that as they entered the main cockpit, a crash vibrated through the plane and she almost fell with the relief that her brother was still alive.

"Leave." Schmidt commanded and the soldiers disappeared.

Beth turned to face the Red Skull, who glared venomously at her.

"You know, you really are becoming a thorn in my side."

Beth said nothing, returning his glare with her own. He continued talking, not affected by the look she gave him.

"I'm just going to have to kill you, aren't I?"

This time Beth did reply, as she saw Steve slip in to the cockpit behind Schmidt.

"I really don't care if you do. I already feel dead thanks to you killing my fiancé."

At that moment, Steve slammed in to Schmidt, causing him to stumble. Schmidt fired at Steve, the shot bouncing off the shield to create a hole in the side of the plane. Beth made her way to the controls while they fought, hoping to somehow drop the plane out of the sky. She successfully began lowering the plane until she was able to see a deep blue ocean below. As they were about to plummet into the water, a blinding pain in her stomach had her scream and drop to the floor. She vaguely heard a panic filled shout as she pressed her hand to the source, pulling away to find her hand soaked with blood. She slowly turned her head to face Steve, who looked at her with a wild terror in his eyes. She noticed Schmidt looking at her gleefully as she struggled to her knees, but knew she couldn't do anything about it.

A second shot ran out, this time narrowly missing her heart. Steve called out in panic and began running towards her, but it was too late. She could already feel her consciousness leaving and she knew she wasn't waking up from it. With effort, she looked up at Steve and gave him a smile, telling him it would be okay, but he still continued running to her. He didn't notice Schmidt raise the gun and point it at him, but Beth did. With one final push, she let out a feral scream and lunged at the HYDRA leader. Their bodies collided and she saw the gun drop to the ground. Her lips tugged upwards as he glowered darkly at her.

"The thorn strikes again." She said to him, her voice almost inaudible as she grew even weaker.

"Yes, and now, it dies." He growled back.

With all the force he had, he shoved against her. She stumbled back, weakly thrusting her arms behind her, only for her skin to meet icy cold air instead of the metal side of the plane. Her eyes widened and a silent scream fell from her mouth as she continued falling backwards. As if in slow motion, she saw Steve reach the hole, desperation on his face and tears streaming down his cheeks as he tried to reach out for her, but she knew it was too late and continued plunging to her demise. Her eyes finally slid shut as she succumbed to the death she knew was waiting for her, and as her body smacked into the water, only one breathless word left her lips.

"Sorry…"