Buzzkill: The Reckoning

Chapter 27

This was all going to escalate much farther than she ever thought. Ruth was sure of that now. Her thoughts became a swarm she struggled to keep up with. What these files contained, the files that they didn't even have, it all involved her. The facility, the Woman, the games, the tests, the experiments. Was it all for this?

"Ruth," Natasha called, stepping into the central control room of the carrier, startling Ruth out of her thoughts, "I think I found something."

Ruth turned to Natasha who stood behind her, half turned to the door in an effort to lead Ruth out. Ruth glanced back at the view of the sky before following Natasha out the door.

Everyone that was filed in the lab to examine the USB now stood aboard a small helicarrier high above the clouds on their way, by Steve's orders, to Russia. Taking their time, Steve hoped that they'd find more information on Hydra's whereabouts as well as remaining safely in the air and, hopefully, hidden.

But for whatever the reason she couldn't understand, Ruth noticed the kid Peter Parker being invited by Tony on this journey with them. She knew now that there was more to his involvement than he lead on.

Walking back with Natasha, Ruth felt muddled in this aircraft that she still hadn't seen most of. Each hallway she followed Natasha down, her steps felt off, walking deeper into an empty space.

As they turned the corner into a room, Ruth spotted Steve and Tony waiting by a computer that projected multiple screens in front of them, the light reflecting off of Tony's face. Steve stood beside him, arms crossed at his chest. Ruth could tell he had no idea what Tony was quickly examining as he scrolled through pages and pages of data.

As Natasha and Ruth walked over to stand beside the boys, Nat took over the keyboard and typed away.

"Well, excuse me," Tony remarked.

"I found something in the files that you all need to see," Nat said, keeping her focus on the computer.

Ruth steadied her breath, eyes fixating on the screen closely.

Nat glanced up at Ruth, "I think there's a reason why Hydra chose you for that experiment," she said softly.

Ruth furrowed her brows. At the click of a button, another screen pulled up in front of them. A series of pictures lit up the screen, all faces Ruth recognized. One was her, one was Ryker, and four others alongside them.

"What's all of this?" Steve asked.

"The people She chose," Ruth said quietly. "She chose us to be a part of the experiment."

"Who are they?" Steve asked. "Do you know them?"

Ruth nodded. "They were all at the facility at some point while I was there. That's Ryker. And those two girls there," Ruth pointed to the screen, "I knew pretty well. Their names are Dani and Syd."

"Were they high ranking? Is that how it worked?" Steve asked.

"They were definitely far better than most. Dani was the best sharpshooter any of us had seen, and Syd comfortably knew her way around explosives."

"But why so few? Why not an army?" Steve questioned.

"The experiment took weeks to even complete the first phase, and it still wasn't perfect. Maybe the Woman thought she couldn't afford to do multiple people at a time," Ruth replied.

"Do you know if they started with anyone else before you?" Steve asked, turning to Ruth.

Ruth shook her head, "Not that I know of. But ask Bucky, he was at that Hydra base way before me."