Chapter One: Fist Fights and Power

Bucky couldn't keep her eyes away from her. She was stunning. From where he sat with his best friend, Steve Rogers, he could see her every detail. Her long, thick black hair set in tight curls down her back and framing her pale face. She wasn't smiling. In fact she looked very sad. He forgot for a second that Steve was actuallytalking to him and jumped when he felt his friend jab his shoulder. It wasn't much of a punch, Steve wasn't exactly defined as a strong man, but it was being knocked out of his daze that startled him.

"You've been staring at her for five minutes Buck." Steve stated, a small smile ghosting over his face.

"Really?" Bucky smirked slightly, glancing back at the woman. She was now sipping from a glass of whisky.

"Yes. Now go talk to her." He gestured with his hand and Bucky shook his head, "You've never had trouble with women before."

"Well… She's different… I…" Bucky looked away from Steve in embarressment, the small man suddenly grinning.

"I do believe, Buck, that youthat you are smitten." Steve joked and Bucky straightened his back, "Go on, talk to her, you're meant to be the confident one!"

"Fine." Bucky smiled and shoved his friend playfully, "You're such a punk sometimes."

"Pfft. Jerk." He countered with a smile.

Bucky shook his head and stood up slowly. He made his way over to where the woman was sitting at the bar. He sat besides her, ordering a whisky like hers, and she spared him a small glance.

"I've never known many women to enjoy a good whisky." He said and she looked up at him, pink lips curling into a small smile.

"Oh really? You seem to be meeting the wrong women then." She said smoothly, her voice rolling from her mouth and he could hear the strong British accent.

"It seems I have been." He smiled, "My name's Jame's by the way… Although I prefer Bucky."

"I like that name." She said, looking into his eyes, "It suits you."

Only then did he truly notice her eyes. He sat in shock for a moment. One of her doe eyes was bright blue, whilst the other was a firey amber colour. They contrasted beautifully with each other, but she grimaced when she realised he was staring at them.

"Sorry about my eyes…" She murmurred, "They must be rather… Off putting…"

"No. I think they're rather beautiful." He smiled, "Why would you think they weren't?"

"That's sort of the reason why I'm here." She sighed and took a large gulp of her drink, "My bastard of a boyfriend caught me without my contacts in."

"You wore contacts?" He asked in confusion.

"Yes… I knew he wouldn't accept me as myself…" She stopped and sat up, her muslces tensing, "Sorry. You don't need to hear my sob story, you don't even know my name."

"Then tell me your name." He stated seriously. He was figuring a lot out about this woman than he thought he would.

"You can call me Belle." She said and Bucky grinned.

"Pretty name." He complimented, "For a very pretty lady."

"Flirting are we?" She smirked, quirking an eyebrow at him. He raised his hands in defeat and sipped his own drink, relishing the burning sensation flowing down his throat.

"Just a compliment, love." He smiled, "Now you were saying about this jackass you used to date?"

"You sure you want to hear it?" She asked half jokingly and he nodded.

"Of course."

"Well… Michael has always felt a hatred for anything he didn't think was natural. So, naturally, to keep my chances at being with him I wore eye contacts to change the colour of my eyes so they weren't… Weird anymore." She sighed, staring at her fingers, "After a while he found me taking the contacts out and we argued. Started calling me names; freak, that kind of thing…"

"How could anyone be so insensative?" Bucky questioned.

"I don't know… But it was during our fight that he let slip the fact he was making use of other women behind my back." She laughed mirthlessly, a cold glimmer in her glazed eyes.

"No woman deserves treatment like that." Bucky stated, malice clear in his deep voice and it startled Belle. She wasn't quite ready for such a reaction out of him. To be brutally honest she didn't expect him to care!

"It's nice to know there's a man in this world that thinks so." She smiled brightly, and Bucky felt his breath catch in his throat. She had a lovely smile. Bucky realised how much he liked this… Having a real conversation with a woman instead of just flirting. It was refreshing.

Bucky looked over his shoulder and frowned. Steve had disappeared from their table and Bucky's mind immediately jumped to the worst outcomes. It wasn't unlike Steve to argue with others, so Bucky didn't rule out the posibility that Steve may have gone too far yet again. Belle placed her hand on his wrist worriedly.

"What's wrong?" She asked. He shook his head.

"My friends disappeared. I'm afraid I'll have to go find him." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before standing up. He placed some money onto the table, for both their drinks, but Belle wasn't going to let him go that easily. She stood up with him and pulled on her coat.

"I'll come with you." She stated. She wasn't asking him, she was telling him; Bucky only able to nod in return.

The two searched the place for Steve, Belle merely going off the description Bucky had given her, but it was only when they walked outside that they saw the scrawny man being pulled into an alley way. Belle and Bucky shared a wide eyed look and ran towards where they had just seen him seconds before. Bucky's mind reeled as he saw the three men kicking and punching his best friend and then all he felt was anger.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He exclaimed, and the three men stopped and turned to him.

"Teaching this runt a lesson!" One of them answered and kicked Steve sharply.

"Get out of here. Now." Bucky demanded, his eyes growing dark with fury. The men laughed.

"Or what? You're going to kill us? Oh I'm so scared!" The tallest man laughed, "And you brought a whore too?"

"She isn't a whore!" Bucky snapped and glanced at Belle, who was crossing her arms over her chest to hide herself from the mens wandering eyes.

"Could've fooled me…" The man who somewhat resembled a pig snickered to his pals, the latter chuckling in agreement.

"I'm only going to tell you once more. Leave." Bucky hissed and his hands balled into fists by his side.

One of the men shook his head and lunged at Bucky. He was knocked to the floor and he could faintly hear Belle shriek but put his attention on his assailant. He sent his fist into the man's stomach and kneed him hard between the legs. In the man's momentary lapse of weakness, Bucky could grab his face and headbutt him hard enough for the man to go limp but Bucky remained stable.

"BUCKY!" He looked towards Belle and his blood ran cold. The pig-like man was pinning her to a wall and… Bucky could barely stand it. He pushed the man roughly away from him and punched him in the face once, twice, three times until the man was bleeding from his broken nose and his open mouth. "Belle!"

He stood up and charged at the man who was trying to defile her. Belle watched in horror as Bucky punched the man mercilessly through his blind fury. She would wince every time he pulled his arm back, knowing it would be the sickening sound of his fist against the man's face that followed. She was too focused on Bucky to notice the man coming up behind her.

She felt a hand grab her shoulder and she gasped as he threw her into the wall. She hit the ground and the air left her lungs. She sat up just as the man drew closer and sheer panic filled her, making her heart jump wildly in her chest. He smirked, a dark expression flitting across his face and he looked down at her.

"Come on whore, do what you're paid to do…" He drawled, licking his lips and she gulped.

"NO!" Her vision flashed white and she pushed her arms out in front of her, squeazing her eyes tight shut. The man cursed loudly as something invisable pushed him hard enough to send him off his feet and hitting the opposite wall a good 4 metres away from him. His back hit the brick wall with a crack and he fell into a heap, unconscious.

Belle stared at him in shock, lowering her hands shakily. She steadied her breathing but it wasn't easy with the hurricane of questions filling her mind. She was dragged away from her chaotic thoughts by a familiar voice. She turned her head slowly to look at Bucky. His eyebrows were furrowed in confusion, his eyes trained on her with a glimmer of disbelief. His hair was dishevelled and strands were hanging in front of his forhead, his clothes creased and messy but he appeared unharmed.

"Belle…." He whispered and she swallowed the lumo in her throat, slowly pushing herself up with great difficulty, "What… What did you just do?" He asked quietly. She shook her head, her eyes landing back on the unconscious man.

"I-I don't know." Her voice quivered and she couldn't bring herself to look back at Bucky. He sighed and looked at the fragile, beaten up body that belonged to his long time best friend.

"Will you help me get him up?" She nodded and walked past him to Steve. Bucky watched her carefully, but not out of fear, out of concern. She just knocked someone out with a strange… power that she didn't even know she had…

The trio stumbled into Belle's apartment, as it was the closest place to the bar they could reach carrying an unconscious man. They lowered him onto the bed and sighed in relief. Belle started to examine his face, gingerly touching the bruises and the small cut on his left cheek. She sighed again and stood upright.

"He's going to need stitches for that…" She said quietly and Bucky nodded silently, watching her go into the kitchen. He sat down beside the bed and grimaced at the stinging he felt in his ribs. She came back in with some medical supplies and dabbed some transparent liquid onto Steves cut. Bucky couldn't help but stare. She was a marvel to look at, and it was no less so when she concentrated. Her tongue was poking out between her lips a little and her eyes were narrowed slightly.

"Belle, what happened back at the alley…" He began and she stopped dabbing the anti infectant, "Has it happened before?" She put away the bottle and picked up a small black box from the bedside table.

"No." She stated simply and opened the box. She pulled out a small needle and some thin black thread.

"Belle, I don't think any less of you; you can tell me. I won't judge." He leaned forward and she looked like she was about to cry. She continued to adress Steve's cut as she spoke, her fingers make short work with the needle.

"It hasn't happened before…" She faltered, "At least not to that extent."

"Okay." He studied her for a few more seconds, taking in her watery eyes, "Why are you upset?"

"Because I'm a freak Bucky." She stated coldly, although he could hear the words shaking.

"No, Belle, you're not a freak." He stood up and walked around the bed towards her, "What makes you think that?"

"Bucky, you saw what I did." She cut the thread and stood up, "Since when has a normal person ever been able to do that?"

"Just because other people can't do it doesn't make you a freak." Bucky said earnestly and she chuckled mirthlessly.

"My dad told me, when I was little, that I had to be the same as everyone else. I had to pretend to be normal. Because he hated what I could do. I wasn't like everyone elses daughters, and he hated me for it." Her jaw tensed as she gritted her teeth, "Look at me, spilling my history out to a man I've only known mere hours!"

"Belle…" He sighed, his eyes shining with sadness, "You don't have to tell me everything right now, but know that you can trust me."

"Everyone I've ever trusted has abandoned me." She growled, "I can't trust anymore." He grabbed her face quickly in his hands and her eyes widened.

"Belle, I promise you, I won't abandon you. I promise." He whispered and tears slipped down her cheeks. She couldn't hold them back anymore. It was like her defenses had just caved in around her.

"Thank you…" She leaned up and hugged him tightly, burying her face into his chest. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes. She felt so fragile. He would never have thought earlier that she had suffered so much, she put on such a brave face about it. When they pulled away from each other, a comfortable silence settled around them.

"Do you… Do you mind if I stay the night with Steve?" He asked cautiously and she forced a smile for him.

"Of course not. I have a spare room for you." She said, "I'll sleep on the sofa."

"No, I'll sleep on the couch. You sleep in the spare room, it's your house." He countered, a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth and she sighed.

"You're a guest. Besides, you did kind of get into a fight." She chuckled and he shook his head.

"If you're not going to let me sleep on the couch, and I'm not letting you sleep on the couch, there's only one solution." He grinned, his eyes sparkling, "We sleep in the same bed."

"Seriously?" She quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes, seriously." He joked and she couldn't help but smile, a real smile this time, "I promise I won't try anything!"

"Fine." She said, giggling slightly, "Let's just go to bed. I have some clothes you can borrow." She walked over to the spare room and he followed, feeling like a puppy following its owner. She opened the draws and pulled out a grey T-Shirt.

"Are these… his clothes?" He asked and she nodded sadly.

"I kicked him out before he could take his stuff." He took the shirt and she quickly spun around as he took his current attire off; she could feel the heat rise to her cheeks. He chuckled as he pulled the shirt over his head and then his trousers, leaving him in his boxers and the shirt.

"I'm decent." He said, laughter in his voice. She grabbed herself some pajamas and walked past him to the bathroom.

He laid on the bed, folding his arms behind his head and smiled at the ceiling. After a few minutes he heard the bathroom door click and he looked at her as she came into the bedroom. His smile fell and his eyes widened slightly. She looked absolutely gorgeous. She was wearing short shorts and a loose fitting black shirt that hugged her curves nicely; her legs were long and pale. To say Bucky was starstruck was an understatement.

"Take a picture." She said, smirking, "It'll last longer."

He laughed and she got under the covers quickly, glad to have herself hidden from sight. He shook his head and turned the bedside lamp off on his side. She copied with the lamo on her bedside. In the dark, they could hear eachothers breathing and niether dared to move and break the peace.

"Goodnight Belle." He whispered and she closed her eyes, smiling.

"Goodnight Bucky."

~~~~A/N~~~~

Yeah, it's shit, I know that, but please don't send flames. I don't appreciate hate thank you very much. You're welcome to comment though! This is my first Bucky fic, so I apologise for mistakes.