As y/n is interrogated by Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff, memories of her life as the Ruby Raven start resurfacing. She used to work hand in hand with the Winter Soldier. Except she knows there's more to that, more to him, and she's determined to...
"We can't look back for nothin' Take what you need say your goodbyes I gave you everything And it's a beautiful crime"
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--1989--
I've been working with the Winter Soldier for a while now. They even gave me a name : the Ruby Raven. I have to admit it sounds pretty cool ; well, that's what I tell myself to take my mind off what brought me here in the first place.
"What if I don't want to work with him ?"
Of course I asked. I want to delay the moment I'lI have to kill someone again as late as possible. It was already hard enough in the Red Room.
"Then your sister will pay the price, to see if that motivates you."
That'd teach me a lesson. Never ask questions, never disobey. Therefore, I started working with him. It was weird at first but eventually, we became the most efficient killers in the world, so efficient people thought of us as a myth, something that couldn't possibly exist. But we were real, damn yeah we were. He could still speak English as the Winter Soldier so he understood the conversations around him. It took me a while to figure out who he really was, who was locked up in the Winter Soldier's mind. Something about him obsessed me : you'd have to be completely stupid not to see someone was struggling under the cold surface. I have that chance that H.Y.D.R.A. trusts me because they know they can control me thanks to my sister. They know I'm harmless when it comes to them. That's what helped me finding out about James Buchanan Barnes. When I read in the files that he was enhanced with the same serum as me, something clicked inside me. We were connected, in a way. What monster would I be if I didn't help him ? I found all his trigger words and I even saw his activation once. It was awful. He was fighting against it so hard that you could see the pain in his eyes. I started watching him every day, looking for a way of getting him out of this. And I did. We were waiting for our assignment that day and one of the agents was talking to us.
"Try not being seen. We don't want your face in the newspaper."
The Winter Soldier's face twitched slightly and hope shot through my mind. When we were alone, I decided to give it a shot.
"Newspaper."
"What ?"
"Newspaper."
"Stop."
His eyes glitch and I swear I see someone else behind them.
"Rogers." I start saying all the words I read in his files, all the words he could probably recognise, everything James Barnes could be emotionally attached to. "Howling Commando. Shield. Stev-"
He grabs my arms and slams me against the wall. He breathes heavily on my face and even though I'm surprised, I'm not scared. I look him in the eyes.
"Stop this."
"Fine." I smile internally. I know this can work, and I'll get everything ready for the day it eventually does. When I come back to my room, I rearrange everything. It's not really hard to make it look old : the furniture's already old and the walls look yellow from all the people who've been here. It's perfect. I'm gonna wake James Barnes up.
