Buzzkill [Winter Soldier]

Chapter 44

The early mornings as autumn turned to winter were peaceful. The steady melodies of the classical music broke the stale silence but still allowed for the stillness of the morning to shine through.
It was just after 8am and James had already left to go get some food for the week while Ruth meticulously cleaned up the apartment just for something to do. As the quiet days became normal, it became hard for Ruth to find something to do to keep her mind occupied. She still tried to stay in shape and often refreshed her combat skills by training with James just in case, but without even books to read, the hours felt long.

When James came through the door, he was smiling wide and holding four grocery bags full of food.

    Ruth looked over at James's excited face and the mountain of food he brought, quizzically. But she couldn't help the smile on her face from seeing him so happy.

    "How much food did you get?" She asked him as he set the bags on the counter.

    "A lot," James replied. He took off his jacket and ball cap and set them on the couch. "Today is Thanksgiving!"

    "Thanksgiving?"

    "Yes! An American holiday where everyone gets a free pass to eat as much food as they want and not get judged for it."

    "Hm." Ruth watched as he unpacked the random assortment of food.

    James started putting the food away, "So tonight, we are going to have a Thanksgiving dinner."

    "Sounds good to me."

    When evening came, the two of them laid out all the food James had gotten and filled their plates. As they ate and after they finished, James talked about all he could remember from Thanksgivings in the 1940's. It wasn't much, but it still intrigued Ruth to hear anything about how America was then. From there it went to talking about Ruth's memories when she was young and at the facility in Sweden. She mentioned how training during the winter would be the hardest because the Woman would sensitivity train them to the cold by having them shoot rifles in the freezing weather without gloves.

James then said how that reminded him of a time where he was out sniping in the cold on a mission in the 40's.

    "We were somewhere around Ukraine or Germany, I think, and I'm set up at a nice spot under some trees laying in a little bit of snow and up on a hill with a view of everything. So my guys are taking care of things, and Captain America is down below knocking out people with his shield." James grinned, "Well, a nazi comes up from behind Steve while Steve is a little occupied. So, it being my job, I took the hostile out before he could kill Steve."

    Ruth nodded, wondering where the story was going.

    "After the guy goes down," enthusiasm filled James's voice, "Steve turns around and salutes to me as I'm lying down trying not to be noticed! Completely giving away my position."

    Ruth couldn't help but laugh.

    "So I'm trying my best not to go down there and scold him as I'm scrambling to gather my things and move to another spot as good as the one that Steve just took from me." He laughed at the memory.

    "Did you talk to him about that afterwards?"

    James smiled, "Not really. When we all met up I just went to him and told him, 'Steve, please, let the sniper stay hidden!'"

    Ruth laughed again at the thought of a novice Captain America.

    "Did you like Thanksgiving dinner?" James asked Ruth, looking at her clean plate.

    Ruth nodded, "It was great."

    "Just wait until we can get an actual turkey with stuffing and mashed potatoes."

    "What, waffles, potato chips, store-bought roasted chicken and some different fruits and vegetables isn't a normal Thanksgiving dinner in America?" Ruth asked, hinting sarcasm.

    James grinned, "Not quite."

    "What about Christmas?" Ruth asked.

    "You don't have Christmas in Sweden?"

    "No, we do, I just don't remember anything about it." Ruth wrung her hands, "They didn't want to celebrate anything like that at the facility. I guess Christmas can bring back memories for a lot of kids."

    "Well, we'll definitely need some sort of tree to decorate."

    Ruth gave a small smile. Seeing James trying to help her get back some of the childhood she lost was heartwarming. Even though there was seventy years of lost time and memories for him to recover, James was still trying to help Ruth.

    When they were done with dinner, Ruth stood up and took their plates to put in the sink to take care of. After she set the dishes down, Ruth reached for the light switch behind the sink and turned it on. The switch faltered and electricity sparked out and onto Ruth's hand. Startled, she took a step back, landing her other hand on a dish towel behind her which then sparked and started a small flame on the cloth. She quickly grabbed the towel, put it in the sink, and turned the water on, extinguishing the small flame.

Ruth stopped and looked down at her hands, she didn't feel any of it. There was only a slight pulsing from the electricity that filtered through her body. She didn't understand. Something happened between the injections and the time she left the Hydra facility that made her not feel the painful effects of electricity. She was immune to it. For a moment, Ruth wondered if she just couldn't feel pain, but she definitely felt when James punched her square in the face a few months ago. What was happening to her?

She didn't even notice James walk up to her until he laid his hand on her shoulder and said her name.

    "Ruth, what's going on? Are you hurt?"

    "I don't...No, no I'm not hurt. James, what happened to me at that Hydra facility?" She asked him like he would know. It would be a long shot if he even had an idea of what they did.

    "I'm sorry Ruth, I don't know."

    She stretched out her right arm and looked at the injection scars. Lines seemed to begin to stretch from the scars as if they were small veins emerging from underneath her skin.

    "I don't get it. The electricity touched my hand, but I didn't feel any pain. There was nothing but a small pulse." Ruth turned around and looked at the counter behind her, "Then with my other hand I backed up and touched the towel and enough electricity hit it for a flame to start."

    James was just as surprised as she was, his eyes wide as he looked at the scars on her arm.

    "Is that what their plan was? To make me an electric weapon?"

    "I don't know if there's any way to find out."

    Ruth took an exasperated breath and went to go sit on the couch.

    "Can you make your own electricity just sitting there?" James asked, intrigued to know what this was.

    "No. At least if I can, I have no idea how. When I touch actual electricity I can feel the pulse of the of it through my body, especially my arms and hands. Just sitting here I don't feel that pulse at all, I feel as normal as I usually do," Ruth explained.

    James's mind drifted off in thought trying to figure it out. "I guess there's really no way to safely test it."

    "Test it?"

    "See if you really are immune to electricity and/or can conduct it."

    Ruth shook her head, "Unless you have a taser or cattle prod on you I think we'll just have to keep guessing."

    James nodded and finished putting the dishes away.

    "You know it is kind of ironic," He said from the kitchen.

    Ruth turned around on the couch to face him, "What is?"

    "You're called Buzzkill because of what you've done in the field, now you actually have a reason for the 'Buzz' in your name."