Buzzkill [Winter Soldier]

Chapter 10

The next morning was rough. Throughout the night, Ruth would wake up from the intense pain all over her muscles. In the morning, Ruth got up slowly and made her way downstairs. Others were already awake, and small chatter filled the room as Ruth strode through.

The Woman made sure to acknowledge that Ruth and Ryker held the standard at this facility, and now, Ryker was gone. 

Ruth found out about his disappearance by someone asking her where Ryker went, and when Ruth told them she didn't know what they were talking about, they went silent and walked away. Ruth went to the Woman's office immediately. The Woman never looked up at her, but Ruth could see the rage the Woman had inside. The silence of her anger made it more unpredictable to what the Woman would say or do.

    "Ryker has left the facility without authorization. Do you have any idea where he went?" The Woman asked, continuing to look down at her desk.

    "I don't. He didn't tell me anything."

    "I find it a little odd that he would try to leave this place without taking you with him, you two were so close. He never asked you to join him?"

    "Never."

    "Hm." The Woman just shook her head, "Well, I have a team on the lookout for him. If he shows up at SHIELD he'll get a rude awakening with a bullet to his skull."

    Ruth just continued to stand, still in shock as to what was happening.

    The Woman shuffled some papers on her desk, "If you get any contact from him, let me know immediately. Other than that, take the day off. You look horrible."

    Ruth nodded, walked out of the office, grabbed some food, and sat down to watch the combat training going on on the main floor; but she couldn't pay attention to it. Her mind wandered around to what was going on, where Ryker could be, the last things he said, and what would happen when he came back...if he came back.

    For the next week, the Woman didn't allow Ruth to go outside the facility, fearing Ryker would try to contact Ruth, or take her with him.

Ruth grew more and more anxious. As the time went on, Ruth would sit at different windows at different parts of the building for hours, waiting for some sort of sign from Ryker that he was ok; but it never came.

    Another early morning came after another sleepless night for Ruth. For the whole morning she sat, lost in her thoughts and worries.

The Woman called Ruth into a training room, and Ruth obeyed.

    "Just a little bit of training today. I'm going to test to see if you are still up to par after last week," The Woman said as they walked.

    Ruth nodded, tired of these tests that she thought she was done with months ago.

Ruth saw the table with her weapon straight ahead of her as she walked into the room, and positioned herself behind it. As usual when weapons were involved, the Woman positioned herself behind a panel of bulletproof glass that stood off the back wall of the room. The Woman would sit on a small chair behind the protection of the glass, writing evaluations on her clipboard as she observed.

Ruth took the gun and held it in her hand, it was a 9mm pistol that she had used hundreds of times. When Ruth looked at the Woman sitting behind her, she didn't see the electricity panel, and relief washed over her. Ruth then looked down the room ahead of her. There was a person sitting down in an old chair with restraints on their wrists and a burlap bag secured over their head.

    "You have one bullet in the clip, I want you to eliminate the threat," the Woman said, speaking even and clear. "But you need to look him in the eyes as you do it."