Buzzkill [Winter Soldier]

Chapter 20

Ruth didn't know when the next injection would come, Dr. Mage hadn't visited her since she began training with James. The training continued, and everyday James helped build up Ruth's strength and get her back to the condition she needed to be in. Her weight came back quickly, and she could feel herself getting stronger. On the eighth day of training together, while practicing hand-to-hand combat, James landed a punch just under Ruth's right eye with his metal fist. Even though he wore a glove on that hand, it stung like hell. One mistake in her judgement of where to dodge a punch just gave her more pain to have to deal with.

Back in her room, Ruth's eye and cheekbone began to throb and become inflamed. No one gave her an ice pack, even after she asked one of the guards for one when they delivered her dinner.
Improvising, Ruth took one of her socks, soaked it with the cold water that came from the tiny metal sink in her cell, and held it tight against her eye. The cold felt so soothing against the throbbing that she forgot about all the dirt and sweat that must have been on those socks.

The next day at training, Ruth walked into the gym with a sizable black eye that James noticed immediately. One thing that Ruth noticed about James that day, developing more and more as the training went on, was that he was struggling. It seemed as if, for only a couple of seconds, his mind would travel somewhere else and he would disconnect completely. At that training session, Ruth finally made the connection as to why she noticed the behavior; it reminded her of Ryker. It was almost haunting how similar James' disassociation was to Ryker's. It was the same disassociation Ryker had as he was getting his memories back. Now this was happening to James.

Was he regaining his memory? What did they do to him?

James didn't mention anything about it that day, but two days after he talked to Ruth.

"What's your last name, again?" His brows were furrowed as if a voice were still talking to him in the back of his mind.

What an odd question to ask someone, Ruth thought.

"Rogers," she replied.

"Rogers...Hm."

"Do you recognize that name?"

"I don't...I don't know. Have you told me your last name a lot?"

"No. The name has never been a pleasant one for me."

James just nodded, then started their training.

That night, Dr. Mage visited Ruth in her cell. She was surprised to see him, but more than anything she was concerned. Seeing Dr. Mage meant feeling the eerie sensation of fearful desperation.

"You will have another injection tomorrow morning," Dr. Mage said, smiling, again.

Ruth didn't reply. She just focused her gaze on a spot in the corner of the room and tried not to have the anxiety consume her.

"It looks like you're making progress, and after only three injections. Imagine how good you'll be feeling after the first round is over."

It was hard for Ruth to believe this was still the first round. "How good I'll feel? When have you once thought about how I was feeling?"

Dr. Mage's expression turned into a fake surprise, "Well, that's something I ask you everyday, 'how are you feeling?'."

"But you never meant it. You ask to check on your scientific advances," Ruth retorted.

"Right you are, Miss Rogers!" His sudden voice shook up her anxiety more.

Ruth took this time to see if her inclinations were right, "Was James ever brainwashed?" She tried to make her voice seem interested, but not desperate.

"Oh dear Miss Rogers, is this a crush?"

"My name is Ruth. What is it with you that you would think my respect towards a man would mean adoration?" Ruth snapped. "Someone who has done as much as James has for Hydra, or any agency, deserves respect. I want to find out more about who he is."

Dr. Mage was a little taken back by her tone, but still kept the grin. "Yes. He has his memory wiped every few months, few weeks, or even a few days or so. Any hint of something coming back to him can't be tolerated."

Ruth felt a sudden mixture of anger and sympathy for James. The screams of Ryker as his memory was being wiped still haunt Ruth's memory as if he were still screaming. For something so horrible to happen to someone multiple times a year, or month, was unthinkable.

"Why? Why do that to someone who works so well for you?" Ruth questioned.

"We've had James work for us for a long time Ruth. He is a tremendous asset that we cannot afford to lose."

"How long has he been an asset for Hydra?"

"Seventy years."

Ruth's blood ran cold. "How could you keep a human being stored away as a weapon, an asset, for seventy years?" She questioned further, getting noticeably more full of anger with each word.

Dr. Mage stood up and walked towards the door, "Very easily, Miss Rogers. You're the same thing he is now. Who knows? Maybe we'll keep you around seventy years. That would be something, wouldn't it?" And with that, Dr. Mage strode out the cell door and disappeared down the hallway.