Buzzkill: The Reckoning

Chapter 22

For two hours after being questioned by one of Ross' top henchmen, Ross himself not wanting to stain his own hands with Ruth's blood, Ruth was left alone in the interrogation room, her pain-filled body struggling to find any comfort in the chair she sat in. Ache settled deep within her muscles in her shoulders, falling down through her back with bolts of pain. Once the long hours passed, she was lead down another floor to an open cell in the barren cell block.

The metal room amplified the sound of the heavy doors coming to a close, the pound of the guards footsteps, and the cursing coming from the guards lips.

Ruth winced as she settled down onto the rigid bed chained to the concrete floor in the cell, sliding herself far back on the thin cushion so that her back leaned against the wall. The metal cool, even through her thin jacket. It brought the faintest relief to her bruised muscles.

Ruth sighed, taking a labored deep breath in and leaning her head back. She knew the interrogations would quickly turn to a beating interwoven with questions they wouldn't believe her answers to.

"They don't go easy, do they?" Kal's voice called out from the other side of the wall behind Ruth.

At least she thought the cell block was barren. The bullet-proof glass cell doors made it easy for Ruth to hear Kal's voice.

Kal chuckled.

Ruth clenched her jaw, hoping that if she closed her eyes she could try and block out what Kal was saying.

"At least they didn't dare to touch your precious face. I look like I've been in a boxing match," Kal remarked.

They didn't want to give any openly visible bruises that would only give Ross more backlash from Steve and Bucky. When Ruth told the agent she would tell Steve and Bucky anyway, he threatened them. With the situation she was in, Ruth didn't know whether or not to test if the agent's threats were credible.

"What did they ask you this time?" Ruth asked Kal, her head still resting on the wall behind her. Obviously they took Kal back for more interrogation without anyone watching her as well. Or maybe Ross didn't care if anyone saw them beating her.

"The usual," Kal replied. "Who did you kill, does this name sound familiar, blah blah blah."

Ruth stayed silent.

"I almost feel bad for the guy. He gets so worked up when he asks if I killed one of his buddies a little while back. Maybe I should pretend to cry or something so that he'll sleep better at night," Kal said with apathetic sincerity. She continued, "I don't know if he's realized it by now, but if you come from where we came from, you just don't feel anything."

Ruth stared straight at the wall in front of her, not wanting to move her body an inch. Kal was right. No one ever felt anything at the facility. Ruth never felt anything...Not until Ryker died.

"Did they ask you about that kid Ryker?" Kal asked, ignoring Ruth's silence.

Ruth scoffed, "That kid? According to Ma'am he was your brother just as much as he was mine."

"Yeah, but not like the brother he was to you. You two were pretty buddy-buddy." Kal dragged on her voice, "Training together, going on missions together. It thoroughly made me want to vomit most of the time."

"We were the youngest there by a few years. We had to stick together somehow."

"I guess." Kal paused. "It's a shame he had to go and die," she said, her voice flat.

Ruth shook her head, knowing Kal was trying to push her buttons.

"It feels pretty horrible to be betrayed and have someone so close to you be killed in front of your eyes, doesn't it?"