What If...? Rumlow Turned Against Hydra: Book One

3

In the harsh fluorescent lights that caused everything to have a strange glare no shadow could survive for long, Steve looked corpselike, further causing Rumlow to fight the urge to be physically ill. Surrounded by STRIKE team members who were taking no chances with Captain America, their black uniforms standing out in ways that were suddenly sinister to Rumlow, they moved quickly down the corridor. Steve was on a wheeled stretcher, restrained as if he wouldn't be able to break free once he was able to regain consciousness. In fact, as Rumlow watched, he was sure he could see Steve start to stir. He hoped to see Captain America rise up suddenly, fighting his way free as only a superhero would be able to do. Rumlow had kept the shield, ostensibly until he was ordered to do something with it, but actually for the distant, imagined, possibility that Steve would need it in the fight against his enemies.

Reality didn't come close to matching what he wanted, and instead of the heroics Rumlow was hoping for, the stretcher was pushed into a room off a main corridor. He had no idea where they were in the building, they hadn't entered from the outside, but from an underground area that seemed to be a security checkpoint rather than a parking garage. Rumlow had no choice but to follow the security detail that worked in the building in the hope that he wouldn't get lost. The room they ended up in was huge, with the same harsh overhead lights and cold sterility of a hospital but without the feel of a place that was designed to help people heal. It was instead a place where Hydra was able to do anything they wanted to anyone they could get their hands on. Rumlow had never been to that facility, but he understood the mindset very well, he had once agreed with it. The only thing he agreed with anymore was the driving need to be away from Hydra while helping Steve to escape them.

"Good work."

The voice startled Rumlow, he was so intent on Steve and how they could possibly get away he hadn't noticed the others who were already in the room when they entered. There were loud clicking noises as the doors were locked, trapping everyone in the room. Pierce was smiling, the predatory glitter in his eyes more pronounced than ever as he walked to stand over Steve. Pierce reached out to Rumlow who for a moment tried to hesitate as if he didn't understand what Pierce wanted before he gave in, handing over the shield as Pierce smiled, so triumphant it was almost obscene. Rumlow wanted to rip the shield from Pierce's hands, the man who never should have touched it, but he didn't. The inaction was beginning to wear on Rumlow, who preferred to be doing something, though he had no idea what he could do in a room full of Hydra personnel. Pierce set the shield aside as he looked at Rumlow in approval while Rumlow nodded briskly, not trusting himself to speak.

"Our timetable has changed," Pierce announced. "With Steve Rogers apprehended, we can wait a bit longer for Project Insight to launch. When it does, it will be with Captain America serving Hydra, using the helicarriers to establish us everywhere in the world."
Rumlow couldn't keep the horror from his face, but it didn't matter, Steve was moving, his eyes taking in everything around him as his consciousness returned, drawing everyone's attention. Steve was assessing his surroundings, testing his restraints. Pierce walked slowly to the stretcher, smiling down at Steve as he motioned for a doctor or technician in a white lab coat to approach.

"Better give him something to make sure he's tractable," Pierce said with such obvious pleasure it made Rumlow want to gag openly. Steve tensed as a needle once again went into his skin, struggling harder for a few seconds before he relaxed. His eyes remained open, still able to take in his surroundings.

"Isn't he going under again?" Rumlow asked, putting some concern into his voice.

"No, we need to be able to keep him under some form of control, but if he's unconscious, we can't start to bring him to our way of thinking," Pierce answered. "Just a powerful relaxant, so he's pliable, but aware."