Buzzkill [Winter Soldier]

Chapter 30

The whole afternoon and evening Ruth paced, sat, waited, and watched for James to  return. As the hours went on, the more anxious she became, the serum only escalating it. Another sleepless night wasn't a surprise for her.

It was late in the night that James returned, along with only a few of the guards that left with him. Ruth rushed to her door to stop James, who appeared to be all in one piece.

    "You got him?" Ruth asked, quickly and quietly.

    "Yeah."

    "Pierce arrived about an hour ago. What took you so long?"

    "He got away the first time. The second time I had to wait for his confirmed death."

    "And no one followed you?"

    "I had a run in with one guy after I got Fury the second time. It was odd, he threw a shield at me."

    Captain America? Ruth wondered if James even knew who Captain America was. Instead, she just nodded.

    "But then I got away fairly easily," James continued.

    "Good." Ruth replied.

Already haven taken the mask off of his face, James took off his goggles and furrowed his brows as he looked at Ruth. "Why aren't you sleeping?"

    "I rarely sleep here."

    "Why?"

    "I think you know why."

    James nodded, and quickly continued walking down the hallway when Pierce appeared.

    "Come on, James. Let's not make this night any longer," Pierce called, standing in the doorway of a room at the end of the hall, motioning for him to hurry.

    James strode down and walked past Pierce into the room and sat in the chair positioned in the center. This was a room Ruth had never even seen before, and James thanked God she hadn't. Every time he sat down in this chair, he never knew if it would cause him pain. Right after he sat down, one of the men in lab coats went directly to his metal arm to make sure it worked properly, which only took a couple minutes. While James got checked out, Pierce leaned over Dr. Mage's shoulder and talked low,

    "What happened with the other one?" His tone was dangerous.

    "The girl?" Dr. Mage asked with a lump in his throat.

    "Yes."

    "Just a little bug in the experiment. I'll fix it."

    "You don't have much time to do so. We need her out in the field."

    "I know. I'll get her ready."

    Pierce walked to the center of the room and in front of James. The doctors checked James' vitals while Pierce asked him questions.

    "Mission report," Pierce demanded.

    "I shot the target three times with my rifle, one witness, confirmed death at 2am."

    "Did the witness interfere?"

    "He tried to chase me down, I got away quickly."

    "Good." Pierce visibly relaxed. "I'm going back to headquarters tonight and make sure this is all cleaned up nicely. Thank you for your service, James. You are a gift to Hydra." Pierce shook Dr. Mage's hand and walked out the door.

    Ruth was sitting on the edge of her bed when Pierce passed by her cell. Her heart jumped when he peered through the glass. Pierce paused for a moment, scanning her as if to try and find something wrong. Ruth kept eye contact with him for the moment he stayed, knowing there shouldn't be any physical sign of something wrong, she knew her hands weren't shaking.

    "Hm," Pierce muttered before continuing on and out the building.

    Ruth sat up at the back of her bed waiting for the night to be over. She didn't know when she fell asleep, but Ruth woke back up the next morning at the sound of a guard bringing in food and setting it down on the floor at her door hastily before leaving. The whole day she waited for something to happen. Whether it was something from her mind and her body aching for more serum, or for Dr. Mage to walk in and decide something worse for her than injections. Ruth knew that James said she was going to be in isolation for a week, but with Nick Fury dead, who knows who would need to be killed that they couldn't send just the Winter Soldier in for. The silence made it very easy for every thought that went through Ruth's mind to take over. She wanted so much to get out of this box cell she was in, to see someone on the outside, to talk to someone. The serum made the isolation seem maddening after only a few hours.

    The withdrawals made it hard to live.