Buzzkill [Winter Soldier]

Chapter 6

From then on, Ruth thought of what the Woman said as absolute truth. The Woman used this opportunity to only further manipulate Ruth and use her for more tasks beneficial to herself.

Missions and outings started for Ruth soon after she discovered her tombstone. With the Woman's help, Ruth learned quickly, and could improvise in stressful situations in an instant. Because she was young, Ruth used her age as an advantage to persuade anyone who came in the way of her mission. The Woman started her out slow and simple, raising the difficulty as Ruth grew older and developed more knowledge and basic skills. As Ruth continued, the Woman made sure Ruth's identity was withheld as much as possible. Ruth quickly gained the reputation of being the one who could go into a job, get what she needed, clean it up, and get out before anyone saw her coming. Rivals within the intelligence community grew frustrated with this frequent interference to their jobs. As this pattern developed, Ruth became known as the faceless assassin Buzzkill.

It wasn't until Ruth and Ryker both turned fourteen years old that the Woman started bringing in new children to the facility. After a week of observing the first seven year old girl to be brought there, the sudden realization of what the Woman did for training came as a slap in the face for Ruth. But she trusted the Woman. It was the same thing Ruth had to go through, so the girl would get through it. Even the memory erasing.

As time passed at the facility, Ruth and Ryker only further became more like brother and sister. On more challenging missions, Ryker was always there to help. Even at their age, Ruth and Ryker quickly became the strongest agents at the facility. The Woman could trust them to do any job she asked, and they both looked to the Woman as the ultimate person of guidance. Everything they did became such a routine that they never questioned her.

The normalcy of it all overwhelmed the doubt.