Requested old west AU. Enjoy!

…

There were many perks to being the sheriff of a small town.

The pay was good, far better than anyone else's. There was respect from all of the townspeople, who would nod his way and smile when they passed. His office was in the middle of a clustered town square, right beside the saloon if he wanted to rewind after a long day of work.

Most importantly, the window to his office gave Bucky a great view of the general store, and Miss Ella Rogers who kept it.

Ella Rogers was said by many to be the most beautiful and desired women in the town, and travelers who stopped in their humble town on the frontier would agree, saying that even in their town she would reign supreme. Her skin was somehow fair in the blazing western sun, golden hair always neatly tied back in a light blue ribbon. She was like a breath of fresh air in the stale town, a flower in the middle of the desert, which ironically, she was known for.

In front of her shop, Ella kept flowers in small pots. It was amazing really, those beautiful pops of color which were found no where else in a hundred mile radius, somehow blossomed in her caring hands.

That's when Bucky would see her the most; when she was watering her flowers. She did it at closing time every day. A trick, she said, so that the precious water wouldn't vanish in the scalding afternoon sun. He would always see her through his window, sometimes, forgetting what he was doing and just watching her willow-like movements. She would meet his eye every day and send him a toothy grin, taking a hand off her watering can and waving. It was his favorite moment of the day.

Bucky had known her for a long time. When his parents moved to this town, Ella and her brother were new too. The three children hit it off right away, becoming the closest of friends. Ella's brother, Steve, was now his deputy, who wasn't quite aware of how smitten he was for his sister. As far as Bucky could tell, she seemed quite interested in him too, not that either of them had ever made an advance towards one another. Not yet, anyways.

The sun was just sinking past the horizon, turning the dirt into a sea of fire. Bucky walked out of his office beside Steve, just across the way, Ella was locking up the store. She looked over her shoulder at the sound of the boots crunching against the dirt road, smiling brightly.

"Evening," she greeted, tucking the key into the pocket of her long, dusty gray skirt.

Bucky tipped the rim of his hat in greeting. "Ella."

"How was business today?" Steve asked. "Did Mr. Maximoff come in again?"

Ella laughed lightly and nodded. "Yes. Three days in a row, now. Hung around for half an hour before buying just a pencil. Talked the whole time."

"I think he's sweet on you," Steve said.

"Yes, I think so too." She said. Bucky didn't know if she was blushing or if the red from the sunset was simply casting red light on her cheeks. He hoped for the latter, that someone else wasn't making her swoon. Her blue eyes snapped towards him. "What about you? Anything exciting today?"

Bucky shook his head. "Not today. Been awfully quiet lately."

"I suppose that means you're doing your job well." She grinned.

Bucky couldn't even respond, simply taking in the brightness of her smile, how it lit up her face and what felt like the entire street as well. God, he wished he could just muster up the courage and tell her how he felt, but he was scared of rejection. He was scared of what it might mean for his friendship with Steve. He didn't want anything to ruin it, put a strain on it… he was so protective of his sister, his last family. That was partially why he chose to be deputy.

"I suppose so," Steve spoke, startling Bucky out of his thoughts, forgetting his friend was there while he was enraptured in her spell.

"Well, I'll see you two tomorrow." Ella said. "Good evening."

She went on her way down the dirt road, worn, pointed toe boots kicking up small clouds of dust that floated in her trail. Bucky's gaze lingered on her a moment longer before Steve nudged his shoulder and nodded towards the tavern.

"Come on, let's get something to drink."

…

The next day was nothing special, again. All Bucky had to deal with was a drunk that was causing a slight disturbance. It only took a few minutes of convincing him to go home before the whole ordeal was over.

Bucky sighed heavily and trudged over to where his horse was tied to a post. Normally, he would walk but work brought him to the other side of town today.

Bucky looked up when the sound of heavy trotting of a horse reached his ears. Steve was coming towards him, before he even said anything, Bucky knew something was wrong. He skidded to a stop before him, a look of worry carved into his face.

"Buck, it's Ella. Something happened."

Bucky felt his stomach drop, but didn't hesitate to swing up on his horse and follow after his friend, dread spreading through his entire being wondering what could have happened. He only saw her that morning, opening up the shop. Was she hurt? Had she been taken?

"What happened?" he asked loudly.

"Robbery!"

…

They were at the general store faster than Bucky expected, but every second felt painful. He barely waited for his horse to slow down before hopping off. The first thing he noticed with despair was that her flowers had been knocked over, petals crumpled and ripped off. Still, he didn't linger on that, going through the door and into the store.

It was in disarray, broken glass and papers on the floor, displays knocked over… an all around mess. His gaze fell on Ella, who was sitting on the floor, back pressed against the wall. She had strands of hair falling from the tie, eyes wide and frightened still. There was a small cut on her cheekbone, smudged, dried blood surrounding it. Crouched by her side, clutching her hand and rubbing his hands soothingly down her arms was Mr. Maximoff, Pietro rather. He looked up when he heard Bucky enter.

"What happened?" he asked

Pietro answered. "I was coming to the store to buy something, saw the flowers in front and the door opened and I knew something was wrong. Came inside, and Ms. Rogers was slumped over on the floor."

Bucky lowered himself to her eye level, gently turning Ella's face to better examine the wound, now noticing that it was slightly swollen and bruising. Steve was then there as well, ushering Pietro away and taking his spot by his sister's side.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked.

"I'm fine," Ella said trying to muster up strength in her voice, but it still trembled towards the end.

"What did they do?" Bucky asked.

"They… they stole everything. All the money." She said, voice breaking.

"Did they hurt you?"

"No- I mean, yes but I'm alright, really."

"Mr. Maximoff said he found you unconscious."

Ella sighed and hung her head, reaching out and grasping Bucky's hand tightly, looking for strength.

"Tell us exactly what happened," Steve urged.

She inhaled deeply before speaking. "Well, I opened the store, like usual… it was a slow day at first but then a group of four men came in. I didn't recognize them at first, figured they were just travelers… one of them walked up to me and told me to give him the money. I tried to run, but they grabbed me. We struggled, they pulled out a pistol. After I gave them the money, one of them hit me and I was out."

"Did you see their faces? What did they look like?" Bucky asked, feeling anger bubble up inside of him.

"His face… it had terrible burns all over it."

Steve stood up abruptly. "I'll go ask around." He walked out of the store, leaving Ella and Bucky alone. They were silent for a few moments, Bucky looking out the window to where his office was, only a few feet away.

"I should have been here."

"Don't do that to yourself, Bucky." Ella breathed. "You were doing your job. No one could have known that was going to happen."

"I'm sorry this happened to you." He said. "We'll get them, we'll get your money back… but for now, let's get you out of here. You can stay in my office."

He helped her off the ground, placing a hand on her lower back to make sure her wobbly legs didn't give out. Bucky watched as her face fell even more once she laid eyes on her ruined flowers. She turned away quickly, hiding her face in his sleeve.

"Just stay in here for a while," he said, motioning to his office. "I'll go find your brother and we'll figure this out."

"Wait!" Ella said, grabbing his wrist and stopping him from leaving. "There's something else."

Bucky took another step closer. "What is it?"

Ella looked down at her feet. "This… this is going to sound crazy." She hesitated before speaking, meeting his eyes and biting her lip. "I think it was Rumlow."

Bucky blinked once, not registering the shock that went through his being. Rumlow had lived in their town no more than a year ago. He was well respected and had a sizable amount of land and money, and was going to ask for Ella's hand. Everyone expected her to say yes, even Bucky did with no small amount of despair. That's why everyone was shocked when she turned him down.

Rumlow was humiliated to say the least, spending the night in the tavern, drinking away. He stumbled home drunk as could be. People believed that in his compromised state, he knocked over a candle which created a blaze that devoured his estate, with him inside.

"That's impossible." Bucky said. "He's dead."

"They never found a body." Ella said. "He spoke to me as if he knew me, asked if I missed him. I didn't recognize him at first, but it all makes sense… and he said he was coming back."

Bucky inhaled sharply. "We'll find him, don't worry."

"He's off, strange. He's dangerous, Bucky." She said. "Please, be careful."

Ella then stood up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his jaw, lips lingering there longer than either of them expected.

Bucky shook off his surprise and nodded. "I will, stay safe, don't leave that office."

She nodded, stepping away and shutting the heavy wooden door behind her. Now, all Bucky had to do was find the men that did this.

…

Bucky met up with Steve, the two of them going through the town and asking if they had seen a man with a burned face. Bucky informed his friend about what Ella told him, about who she believed the man truly was, causing Steve's worry to mirror his own.

There were people who were vaguely able to send the two off in the direction they believed the criminals headed, but in the end, it seemed they made it too easy.

Steve and Bucky were drawn to the sounds of gun shots and shouts on the edge of town. The pair rode there quickly, wondering what chaos had erupted now.

There were three men firing their pistols into the air, frightening a farmer and some of his cattle. It was a mess, but as Steve and Bucky rode towards the thugs, ready for a fight, they all dropped their guns and put their hands into the air.

Bucky blinked in surprised at the three men… only three. Ella had said there were four. Surely she had been correct on that, her mind was sharp. Bucky looked at their faces, seeing no fear or even guilt and no burns… they were missing one.

"Where's the other?" Bucky questioned as Steve placed the three in handcuffs, digging through their pockets and finding the stolen money.

The men didn't answer, only staring them down evenly.

Bucky's brows furrowed as he thought, wondering what their play was. Dread set in as he realized where he was compared to where Ella was and Rumlow's warning about how he would be back. He knew where he was.

"I know where he is." He said to Steve.

"Go," said Steve. "I got them."

Bucky wasted no time yanking the reins and speeding down the dirt roads towards where he feared Rumlow may be.

…

Ella saw him before he came up to the door.

She was sitting by the window, watching the sun sink into the red sands of the horizon, awfully bored. She had cleaned her cut and fixed her hair and now felt that she had nothing to do but worry about her brother and Bucky.

She was thinking about how she had kissed him before he left, that he didn't look uncomfortable, how he didn't react the way she feared he would. It gave her hope, that perhaps when he came back, she could tell him how she felt, how she wanted to be with him.

She was dragged out of her thought as she saw a menancing figure making its way down the road towards her. She sprung out of her seat and checked to make sure the door was locked. Ella dragged the chair she had been sitting it and jammed it under the door handle as an extra measure.

She was frantic as she looked around the room, only finding one exit which was currently locked up by her. She dug through Bucky's desk, looking for something to help protect herself, but there was nothing.

He tried to open the door. Ella gasped and pressed herself against the far wall, heart pounding. He hit the door harder, feeling like he was shaking the entire building. He did it again and again, Ella flinching every time until finally, he applied enough strength to break the door off it's hinges.

Ella shouted as the door fell loudly onto the ground, eyes moving warily up to the face of the figure, finding what she feared as he took off his hat.

It was Rumlow.

His face was marred greatly with burns, disfiguring him almost past the point of recognition, but she knew it was him.

He didn't say anything at first, taking heavy steps further into the room.

"Ms. Rogers." He spoke finally. "Good to see you again."

She looked towards the open door and made for escape, but she wasn't fast enough. He caught her by the waist, her desperate cry for help going unheard in the evening air. He threw her against the wooden desk, watching her scramble in fear as she clenched the corners so hard, her knuckles turned white.

"Let me go." She pleaded.

"Not yet." He said. "We're going to have a little talk first."

"And then what? You're going to kill me?"

Rumlow reached out towards her, but didn't expect her hand to shoot out and slap him across the face.

"Don't touch me!" she spat.

Unfortunately, that only succeeded in making him angry. He grabbed the hand that had just hit him hard enough to make her cry out.

"You humiliated me! You ruined me!" he roared.

"You ruined yourself, dammit!" Ella hissed. "You have no humility, you couldn't take no for an answer!"

He obviously didn't want to hear her speak anymore, hand closing around the swooping column of her throat. Something was wrong with him, Ella had been right. Although he had escaped the fire with his life, he had lost his mind. Something was missing, something made him like this.

Bucky saw his door open before he got off his horse. He cursed to himself, fearing that he was too late, that Rumlow had already completed whatever he came here to do. He sprinted up the wooden steps through the doorframe. He was right, Rumlow was already there with a hand wrapped around Ella's neck, the girl's hands repeatedly pounding on his shoulder to little effect.

"Hey!" Bucky shouted.

He drew Rumlow's attention for a moment, which was all Ella needed for her hands to grope around his desk before her fingers wrapped around a heavy, metal candle stick, drawing it back and hitting her assailant over the head with all the strength she could muster. It was effective, Rumlow dropping to the ground like a rock.

Ella instantly sucked in a deep, wheezing breath of air, chest heaving as she watched Bucky rush over and stick Rumlow's hands into a pair of thick cuffs, searching his person and confiscating his pistol before looking up to Ella, concern written all over his face.

"Are you alright?" he asked, taking her face tenderly into his hands.

Ella nodded, eyes narrowing at the unconscious man on the floor. "I got the bastard back."

Bucky chuckled. "Yeah, you did. You don't have to worry about him anymore."

Her bright eyes flickered to him, filled with gratitude and something else that he couldn't read. She leaned forwards and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you," she murmured into his ear.

…

No more than an hour later, all four of the thugs were locked up, waiting to be transported to a more secure prison in the morning. Steve fretted over his sister all that night, examining her cuts and bruises and having her regale him with her tale countless times. He was proud that she was able to protect herself in the end.

Ella soon went back to the store to clear it up and by the end of the week, everything was back to normal. The only thing different was that Ella's flowers couldn't be saved, she had to discard the buds and petals, leaving the outside of her store looking like any other building in town.

Bucky caught her walking towards her store one morning, quickly leaving his office and going to her before she unlocked the door.

"Ella!"

She turned, smiling widely upon seeing who it was. "Morning."

Still, neither of them made an advance towards each other since the peck on the cheek Ella gave him.

"I have something for you," he said, taking another step closer.

"Oh, Bucky you didn't have-"

From behind his back he produced a small pot with a colorful, budding flower in it. Ella's lips parted in surprise as she took the pot into her hands tenderly, examining the beautiful flower.

"How did you get this?" she asked in awe.

"It wasn't easy." He admitted. "But I called in a few favors and-"

He was cut off by Ella going onto her toes, hand going to the back of his head and kissing him swiftly. Bucky responded immediately, hand going to her back and drawing her closer. It was everything either of them thought it would be and more, absolutely perfect.

They pressed their foreheads together as they parted.

"Well, I guess we should go to work." Ella laughed, lips curled into a content smile.

"I suppose we should." Bucky said. "I'll see you later tonight."

"Nothing could keep me away."