Chapter 7: Adjusting

Knocking on the room door roused on Bucky from his sleep. He looked down, gently rolling Bella off of his metal arm before sitting up. He sat still for a moment, gaining his bearings. Knocking again had him moving so it wouldn't wake Bella. He moved towards the door, pulling it open, his eyes squinting against the bright lights.

Bruce stood there, looking apologetic. He had a cup of coffee in one hand, a stethoscope in the other. He had on different clothes than the day before, looking tired himself. He pushed his glasses up on his face with his hand. "Sorry, I thought you guys were awake. I wanted to check Bella's vitals; see how she was doing physically. She's still asleep?" Bucky was about to nod, but he felt a warm hand on his back. Bella peered around his arm, giving Bruce a tired smile. "Good morning," She murmured quietly, looking past him before meeting his eyes once more.

Bruce smiled down shyly at her. "It's actually noon," He chuckles. "I'll give you guys some time to get ready. You can find me in the lab, after you have breakfast. Steve said your appetite might change a bit, higher metabolism," He notes before giving them both a nod and walking away. They both watch him retreat for a moment, Bucky shutting the door once he is out of sight. Bella stood on the tips of her toes, placing a kiss to his cheek. He watches her head to the bathroom, and the water is cut on in the skink.

He looks around the room feeling slightly antsy, not used to not doing anything. There was nothing to do within the room, so he stood by the bathroom door, eyeing Bella curiously as she went about brushing her teeth and getting herself together.

She met his eyes in the mirror, a light hue spreading across her cheeks as she gave him a small smile behind her toothbrush. She bent down to spit in the sink, pushing her hair back in the process. She gargled some mouthwash and spit in the sink again. She pulled her hair up into a bun, wrinkling her nose at the blonde strands. She turned around, tilting her head at Bucky.

"You okay?" She questions concerned, her brows furrowing, eyes searching his. He nods quietly, holding out his hand for her to take. She all but glides towards him, relaxing as he brings her to his chest. She listens to his heart, closing her eyes. "I'm not used to being so…still," He murmurs in her hair. Bella chuckles. "Take it while you have it. There's no telling when something may come up," She pulls back a bit, reaching up to caress his face. She rubs her thumbs across his temples, her eyes narrowing slightly as small blue lights passed between her fingers, touching his skin.

"Do you feel anything?" She asks softly, just watching her hands. He shakes his head, and Bella could feel that pulsing of energy her shield uses. She watches the energy swirl around his head, and at this point, Bucky can see what's happening in the mirror. "What are you doing?" He asks just as quiet as to not disturb whatever it was she was doing. She shrugs. "I'm not really doing anything. It just happened," She replies. He closes his eyes, his head dropping a bit. "It's warm," He whispers. "Do you trust me?" She asks, her eyes focused on her hands. "You're the only person I trust," He replies softly.

Her breath catches for a moment, and Bucky could hear the sharp intake of breath at his statement. She lets it out calmly, closing her eyes. She lets the energy do what it wants, which is swirl and migrate into his skin. It was like she could feel and see him mentally. She saw scrambled memories upon memories unfinished like a movie on pause, scrambled voices. She heavily swallows as she could hear Russian words that made no sense to her, but obviously had some meaning to Bucky.

"What is zhazhdushchy (Longing), rzhavye (Rusted), pech (Furnace), rassvet (Daybreak)…." She started to ask, listing off the words in confusion as she tried to pronounce them. Bucky clamps his hand over her mouth, switching positions as he held her against the door frame. Her eyes snap open, and she removes her hands. Bucky wore an expression of fright and anger, his blue eyes staring into hers intently. His voice was commanding and tense. "Don't ever say those words. Ever. Not in that order, not at all. Do you understand?" He doesn't even realize he's shaking her by the arms. She nods frantically, never once seeing him like this. "I understand!" She gasps out, afraid to touch him again, yet yearning to hold him. He clenches his teeth, closing his eyes. He lets go of her arms, leaning his forehead against hers, his eyes closing as he swallows. "They'll put me back…bring out the Winter Soldier, and there's no telling if you can snap me back, if it'll even work, and if…I could kill you Bella. That's the last thing I want to do," He whispers, his hands on both sides of her head, his breathing heavy as he tried to calm himself.

"I'm sorry," She whispers. She hesitantly reaches out to touch his skin, and he lets her, leaning into her hands. "There's so much of you…in your head that you can't sort. Those words…." She trails off as he tenses up at the thought of them. She continues, "They are in the back of your head, just sitting there, while your memories struggle to….to find purchase," She explains. "I don't know how to help you," She says sadly. "We'll figure it out, just please…." He trails off, shaking his head. "I won't," She replies, wrapping her arms around him.


Fury walks with Bella around the compound, and she does her best to keep up. "So, you were working on this thing call Project Insight. It was to detect threats to Earth essentially, and SHIELD would take care of it? Except now, SHIELD is being run by HYDRA who plans to kill people who is perceived as a threat. What does that have to do with me?" Fury sighs. "It all adds up Ms. Swan. Nothing in this world happens by coincidence. Back in your senior year of high school, you submitted a very interesting paper about molecular energy, energy stability, theoretical equations on time continuum. Your paper was submitted by your school to Stark Industries. Is that right?"

Bella nods. "Yeah, I remember that. So because I wrote a paper, I'm a threat?" Fury chuckles, his one eye looking her over. "It doesn't really work that way. Yes your paper was the start, but it was the fact that your school reached out to Stark Industries. By now, I know you know of Iron Man, A.K.A. Tony Stark. He actually responded to the school about interest with your work, and they weren't able to reach you, so they reached out to your mother who I am assuming never told you this. It's why Mr. Barnes was sent to snuff you out. Trying to eliminate as many people before Project Insight went in the air. Once I realized something wasn't right, I shut the damn thing down," He murmurs. "It's not just that. The classes you took, the school you went to, your grades. Project insight would be able to look at your life and determine from there if you could endanger the world. It was risky, I knew that, but…after Loki and the things that we don't notice in our lives, we couldn't take that chance," Bella nods in understanding. "I get it, but you don't know how many people who probably had good intentions have died because of some automatic program,"

He nods in agreement. "Yes, Mr. Rogers had the same opinion. Speaking of, how are you feeling with the serum in your body?" Bella purses her lips. "I don't feel any different so I guess that's a good thing. My appetite has changed. Just a bit. I can eat enough for a grown man and be full. However, my shield did something…interesting today," She bites her lip, her brow crinkling as she stares at the floor for a moment. "Interesting like?" Fury asks, fully intrigued. She looks up, staring him in the face. "I could see inside Bucky's mind today. Not read it per se, but I could see inside of it. He's so lost, and I don't know how to help him. His memories are all jumbled and…I don't know what to do. There are these words…that trigger him? I guess words used to brainwash him. Can that be removed?"

Fur tilts his head in wonder. "Hmmm. Trigger words? If you know them, I'd advise not to even mention it to anyone else. Your gift is quite interesting. It's possible," He replies, causing Bella to sigh. "But something you can't tell me, right?" Fury nods. "That would be correct. I can however look into it for you and what you're looking for may prevent itself to you one day. I assumed that you managed to rid Mr. Barnes of his undoing, but you've only seemed to protect him from it,"

Bella nods. "Yes, and even though the words have to be said to him, what if they are? Would my shield even help him next time? What will happen to his memory? Will he lose everything he worked so hard to remember?" Fury could see that she was struggling. Overcome with emotion. She wanted to help him, but she didn't know how. She didn't know what to do. "Why don't you try it out on me. Your gift," Bella tilted her head at that. "How would that help me?" He shrugs. "Your powers are changing, or growing maybe, and you never know if it's the same for everyone," He waited patiently, seeing what she would do. She sighs and walks over to him, her hands reaching out to touch the side of his head.

She closes her eyes, and Fury saw a blue glow out of the corner of his eye. He felt warm as she pushed her way inside of his head. Bella saw things she never knew existed. There was a woman. A cat. A…creature. She saw important aspects in his life. Things that meant everything to him, just revolving around his brain. "What is a skrull? I see it pop up a lot in your head," Fury raises his brows in surprise. "Interesting," He murmurs, but gives no indication about it. She pulls back, tilting her head at him. "You are a mystery Sir," Fury chuckles. "That I am,"


Bella blushes embarrassed as she pushes away the plate, earning a chuckle from both super soldiers. "That's perfectly normal Bella. With your size, and the speed of your metabolism, you're going to eat twice your size," Steve explains. Bella looks at the empty plate and then Steve. "So, what you're saying is, I can't get fat?" The three of them chuckle, and Steve shrugs. "I guess…so, how do you feel?" Bella mulls over the question. "Like I have a lot of energy and I can run and not get tired," She explains. "I have no memory of what I felt like after getting the serum. So, Steve's more apt for this than I am," Bucky explains, leaning back in the seat to look at both of them.

"That may be, but, you pretty much taught me everything I know, and there's no telling how well I can keep up with you now," Bella points out, thinking of her training with Bucky just a few short weeks ago. Steve's nods in agreement. "I think after Bruce gets you looked at; it would be in all of our best interests to see how you fight. If we can get our hands on Pierce…. we can stop this whole operation," Steve says, nodding to himself as he thinks. "But would that be it though? There's HYDRA agents everywhere. They can be anybody. When we were in Ohio, there were I don't know how many agents we took out, yet here, they're integrated in the very agency built to protect people. You can take down Pierce all you want, but S.H.I.E.L.D. will no longer exist. It wouldn't be able to. What do you do then? What do you do when the world needs you?" Bella questions, leaning back as well, eyeing Steve as he thought about what she was saying.

"I'll save the world," Bucky smiles softly at Steve's response. It was the response that Steve would always give. He'd save the world. That simple. Bella slowly nods with a smile of her own. "No wonder they call you Captain America," Steve let's out a flustered-like laugh. "Would you fight with us?" Steve asks, changing the topic, the question directed at Bella. Bucky shifted a bit uncomfortably. He and Bella hadn't properly talked about joining the battle against Pierce and his team. Both he and Bella knew she wasn't really cut out for the whole fight scene, especially one like this. Bella knew that Bucky would want to fight, who wouldn't want to take down the man that turned him into a killing machine? "No offense, but I'm more of an insider type. Just a few weeks ago I was visiting my sick father, stalked by a creature of the night, and since then, I've been running for my life. I'm better at planning and…with this new body, I'm changing, my gift is…or shield, whatever…it's changing. I feel I'd be too unpredictable in a fight, more harm than good," Bucky takes her hand, and Bella squeezes it gently. "I understand. How about we head over to Bruce and test some things out?"


Bella takes in a deep breath as instructed, letting it out slowly, repeating the process a few times. "Okay, follow the light," Bruce says, shining the small flashlight in her face, and Bella follows it with her eyes. Bruce hums softly, gaining her attention. "What is it?" She questions, following the light along the way. "Your eyes…they're very….eccentric," At Bella's confused expression, and Bucky's not so quiet grunt, Bruce grabs a mirror, holding it up to Bella's face, and she peers closely in the mirror, blue little splurges of what looked like lightning in her eyes. "Wow," She whispers, awed. "Ow!" Bella snatches back her hand, looking at Bruce with a wounded look. He sheepishly smiles. "Had to test your reflexes," She rubs her hand, flexing her fingers. She looks back in the mirror, humming softly. "This may sting," Bella just nods, before feeling the pinprick of a needle.

Bruce draws some blood for another test, and Bella watches with slight apprehension as he swirls it within the vial. "We'll wait on this. I've heard your appetite has increased so that is a good sign, means there's no side effects with the serum in your bloodstream. Your reflexes are normal. I think you're good to go Ms. Swan. I'm going to run your blood sample one more time against Steve's, and that'll be it for testing. How are you feeling? Any lack of energy or feeling sick?" Bella shakes her head, smiling at Bruce as he looks happy about that. "Well, you're free to go,"

Bella hops off the chair, shaking Bruce's hand. "Thank you, Dr. Banner," Bella walks over to Bucky who sends her a small smile. "Where are we off to now?" She asks as he leads her down a series of halls. "To the training room. They want to see how well you do in combat," Bella hums with a nod, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "Nervous?" Bucky asks, knowing she was. "A bit. It would be embarrassing if superheroes kicked my ass," She snorts. "Well, you took down a slew of Hydra agents, human might I add, by yourself, so I think you'll do fine. Besides, it's not every day you're trained by an assassin,"

Bella grins at him. Upon entering the training room, Bella notices Steve, a woman, and another man talking softly amongst themselves. Steve notices them enter, waving them over. "Bella, this is Natasha Romanoff, and my friend Sam Wilson. This is Bella," Bella shakes their hands, smiling at them. "We just want to see how well you hold up in a fight. I know you said you aren't going to join us, but I was thinking that just in case or if you change your mind, we'd have an idea of what you are capable of. Is that alright with you?"

Bella nervously nods, taking off her sweater, leaving her in her tank and sweats. Bucky takes it from her, and learning from last time, Bella ties her hair up in a quick ponytail. "Ready," She murmurs. "I just want ya'll to know that I am not going first," Sam says, stepping back and crossing his arms over his chest. Bella chuckles. "Scared?" She taunts. Sam gives her an incredulous look. "I wouldn't say scared, but they can get their asses kicked first, that's all I'm saying,"

"Alright, well I guess you can start with Natasha here. She's a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, and is very skilled in combat. If you two will go over to the mat, and on my mark," Bella felt quite intimidated by Natasha. She could tell that despite her pretty looks and slim figure, she wasn't an agent for nothing. They both position themselves on the blue mat, and nod at one another. "Okay, ready? Begin," Natasha was fast, faster than she'd ever seen a person move. Bella wanted to learn her pattern and her moves, but she also knew that if this was a real fight, she'd be dead. Instead thinking, Bella just went with the flow. Natasha had gotten a few good blows in, and Bella knew she'd be a bit sore later, but once Bella got out of her head, she was a natural.

Eerily enough, she fought like Bucky. Not unstoppable, but she learned to use her weight to keep her balance, and within 10 minutes, the training turned into sparring as Bella had learned to keep up with the agent. Natasha was impressed. Bella was a fast learner, and Bella dodged her moves even after switching up her tactics. Bella suddenly drops low to the floor, swinging out her foot and Natasha went down on the mat, a surprised expression on her face. "Damn," She murmurs, giving Bella a proud smile. "Even Clint can't hold me for that long," Bella holds out her hand, and helps Natasha to her feet. "I'm assuming that's a compliment?" Bella questions, chuckling.

She looks over to Steve who's nodding in surprise. "Alright. Do you want to break or keep going?" Bella just shrugs, rolling her shoulder, clearly feeling energized to keep going. Sam steps up next, and Bella is a bit more familiar with this as she could really use her weight and height to her advantage. Sam wasn't afraid to hold back, and Bella wasn't afraid to give all she had. They started with dodging punches and crouches, until Sam got a good jab in her gut, and Bella decided to do things differently. Sam was able to keep up with her at first, having watched her with Natasha so that gave him the ability to see how she moves beforehand. She takes him completely off guard as she jumps into the air, almost hovering for a few seconds before sending a roundhouse kick into his chest. It wasn't hard enough to send him flying off the mat, but it did take him down.

Bella lands back on the mat with a light thump, smiling in victory. "This is fun," She smiles. Bucky narrows his eyes as he stood off to the side at her jump in the air. She was unaware of just how high she jumped and how long she was in the air.

Steve was next, and this time, Bella was a little nervous. Steve was about just as big as Bucky, if not a tiny bit taller too. Also, he was freaking Captain America for crying out loud. "Just relax doll," Bucky calls out, seeing her nerves getting the best of her. Bella nods, giving him a thumbs up. "Whenever you're ready," Steve prompts, waiting for her. Bella shakes her hands a bit, nodding. "Okay, ready," Bella realized that Steve was hard. He felt like a rock when punching him, and he barely budged when she threw a punch. He took her down on the mat quite a few times, his strength being her downfall.

After the eighth time of hitting the mat, Bucky and Steve were about to call it quits. She did rather good for a first go round, and that was something. Bella however was stubborn. "One more time," She pleads, shaking her head a bit, and Steve warily glances at her. Bucky walks over, and brings her off the mat, looking her over. "One more time, okay? That was a lot of falls to the head," He brushes a blonde strand from her face before getting her back on the mat. "Last time Steve," Bucky reminds, and he stays close by, watching as Bella and Steve prepared.

"She's got fight," Sam says from behind him. Bucky nods. "She does," "You taught her how to fight like this?" Sam questions, and Bucky nods, feeling proud. "She's very good. I've never seen anyone fight like her, well except you," Bucky chuckles. "No hard feelings about the whole trying to kill you thing," Sam shrugs it off with a small smile. "Sure,"

Back on the mat, Steve is about to tackle Bella down again, and before, Bella knew it was coming but was never prepared to counteract it. She did too much thinking. As Steve dives for her, Bella does something different. Using his own weight to her advantage, she drops on the mat on her back, using her feet to kick him in the chest. While it wasn't hard enough to send Steve to his ass, it did slow him down.

She quickly shot up, and punches him in the face. As he's a bit stunned, Bella remembers what Bucky had taught her. She went for his abdomen, using her leg to wrap around his body, bringing herself around to his back, and she takes one arm under his chin and across his neck, her other hand supporting her arm; effectively putting him in a chokehold. Steve holds up his hands in surrender, and Bella hops down. Steve turns to appraise her, "You've got spirit, I give you that. Is there a reason you didn't fight with your gift?" Bella shrugs. "I'm sure it can be reliable, but I don't know how to control it all that well yet. Maybe next time?" She asks, and Steve nods. "Sure," Bella steps off the mat, and follows alongside Bucky back to their room.

"What happens next? What will they do?" She questions, wondering how long they were to sit here for without doing anything or going anywhere. "They'll wait for Pierce to make a move, and then we take him down for good," Bella nods, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "What happens after that?" She looks up at him as he walks over to her, crouching down in front of her.

"Whatever we want," Bella touches the side of his face, her lips pursing. "We'll figure this out too," She taps his temple, and smooths his brow down.


AN: I know, I know, it's been so long. Just a little something to get me going, so I apologize it isn't as long as it usually is. I am also posting the next chapter to The Rabbit Hole soon, maybe tomorrow or sometime this weekend FOR SURE. I've been working on the chapter, so no delays.

See ya'll again somewhere else.