Buzzkill: The Reckoning

Chapter 46

"Shouldn't we at least let Steve know about this?" Bucky asked, his voice tentative, his eyes looking to the door every few seconds.

Ruth sat in the swiveled chair in Steve's office typing away on his computer, Bucky looming over her shoulder. "That I'm using his computer?" She asked. "There's no need, he'll be fine with it."

"No, that you're contacting someone to join us." Bucky didn't know what was going on. From the gym Ruth beelined it to Steve's office and he hasn't been able to get many questions in.

"I'm actually contacting two people, so..."

"Ruth!" Bucky spoke up. "Are you even going to tell me who you're trying to get ahold of?" From the looks of Ruth's screen, it didn't show any kind of messaging database. It actually looked like a bunch of numbers on a...bank account?

"Because I'm not sure if this will work. It was a long time ago when we came up with this," Ruth replied, keeping her eyes fixed on the computer.

"Wait," Bucky interjected. His voice suddenly grew quiet, as if someone would hear them, "Are you contacting someone from the Sweden facility?"

Ruth nodded, "Yep."

Bucky ran his hands through his hair. "Ok, Ruth, I trust you, but don't you think this is a little soon? A month ago no one here trusted you at all and now you want to bring in two more people?"

Ruth sighed, she knew how this all sounded. She knew the risk. "If you could trust me for a little longer, I'll explain everything."

She scrolled down the page, barely uttering a series of numbers in her head so she wouldn't forget. With a few more clicks on the page, Ruth typed in two different fifteen-piece numbers and sent them each a message in a code they all learned long ago.

Ruth leaned back in the chair, letting out an exasperated breath. She looked up to Bucky's concerned face, "Do you have a phone I could borrow?"

"Now you want a phone?"

"Please?"

Bucky let out a sigh, tentative. "If I let you use my phone, will these people you're contacting be able to trace where I am?"

"No," Ruth reassured him, "It's only acting as a middle man for Steve's computer, giving me an alert if they reply. And Steve's computer is already heavily encrypted."

Bucky took out his phone from his pocket and handed it to Ruth, "I'm still not sure about this. I just want to make sure you stay safe."

Ruth took the phone from his hand, her other comfortingly holding his. She looked into his eyes that were filled with concern. "Come on," she motioned for the chair she sat in, sliding over as far as she could so he could sit next to her.

"You know we're definitely not going to be able to both fit in this chair, right?" Bucky asked, reluctantly trying to sit beside Ruth as she unlocked his phone.

"One cheek on, one cheek off and we'll be fine," Ruth replied nonchalantly.

Bucky put his right arm around the back of the chair behind Ruth as he fidgeted awkwardly in the seat.

"Wow, you really don't have a lot in this phone," Ruth muttered, her eyes fixed on the screen.

Bucky shrugged, "I just use it to make calls and texts. It's not like I go on social media or whatever."

She looked up at him, "But you have a twitter?"

"Oh, right," Bucky started. "Sam started one for me. I've never used it. I don't really understand the point of it."