Buzzkill [Winter Soldier]

Chapter 7

Ruth assumed that when she turned eighteen, like the others at the facility, she would soon be going out on her own and graduating from this place. Still doing contracts for the Woman if she desired, but she would live on her own.

However, the Woman never planned for this outcome.

Turning eighteen, both Ruth and Ryker were the best agents the Woman had, she wasn't going to let them go. Ryker was easily manipulated because of his memory being wiped and his eagerness to please, and the pleasure that came from manipulating Ruth's mind to do her own will made the Woman want to keep Ruth as long as she could. The best part of it all for the Woman was that Ruth never rebelled, it was easy.

To secure this future for herself, the Woman constantly fed to Ruth that Ruth would never survive on her own without the Woman's protection and security; and Ruth believed it whole heartedly. The Woman told Ruth how as soon as Ruth disassociated herself from this facility, she would be killed in an instant; and Ruth believed it. The Woman told both Ruth and Ryker that if they ever tried to leave and get away from the facility, she would bring them back and kill them with as much pain involved as possible; and they both believed it, they had no reason not to.

Approaching Ruth's twenty-second birthday, the Woman assigned her and Ryker an extended mission that would require them to go into the heart of Russia for two weeks; the longest either of them had been away from the facility since they arrived there. They were given all the necessary weapons and technical equipment that they needed. If they needed more, there would be a supplier in Russia they could get to easily. Both Ruth and Ryker spoke Russian fluently, so that wouldn't come close to being an issue. Over years of learning, they both knew the ins and outs of the intelligence community including leaders, top assassins, who to watch out for, and where the top information was kept throughout the country.

The two of them stayed in an average one-bedroom apartment and took a day to unpack and settle in. The next morning, Ruth went out to a café a couple blocks away from the apartment to grab some intel. No one in this country would recognize her unless they were extremely knowledgable in the intelligence community, and even those people were few and far between. To know what the Woman had hidden in her facility would be to know the depths of an organization that had never seen the light.

Walking into the coffee shop, Ruth looked like an average student in the city. Her backpack was slung around her shoulder, her earphones void of music were in her ears, and her motorcycle helmet was clipped onto her backpack. She parked her motorcycle a block away, keeping it off the main street. Ruth sat down at an empty table against the wall where no one could sit behind her and see what she was doing. Opening her bag, she took out her laptop and quickly began hacking and gathering data from a main Russian intelligence server into a hard drive. She had already downloaded a fair amount of files when her screen suddenly fuzzed out and a well-known intelligence logo took over her screen; SHIELD.

Immediately, knowing she didn't have much time, Ruth put the hard drive into her pocket, shoved the laptop into her backpack, and slung the backpack over her shoulders. Just as she finished, Natasha Romanoff made her way through the shop from the back door.

Ruth cursed under her breath. She had run into Natasha a couple of times before. Once when Natasha was still on her own, and another time when it was unclear if she had gone to a different path. Ruth knew that even if she acted like a normal citizen, Natasha would recognize her as Buzzkill in an instant. The advantage to being legally dead and having a secretive boss was that no one knew what your real identity was.

Sure enough, Natasha strode across the room towards Ruth before Ruth could make her way towards the door.

"Natalia, it's good to see you again. I've heard you're trying your luck by working in a different shop," Ruth said sarcastically, staying where she was.