Buzzkill [Winter Soldier]

Chapter 31

"Not Captain America you-" Rumlow refrained from what he was going to say and grabbed Ruth by her shirt collar, "James Barnes, what did you tell him?"

"I didn't tell him anything." Ruth glanced around her for something she could use as a weapon. Looking quickly, she saw Rumlow's knife could be in reach if she tried. She then noticed the SHIELD patches on his shirt's shoulders. They're still saying they were SHIELD?

In a swift movement Rumlow picked Ruth up completely by her collar and pushed her against the opposite wall, her back slamming against the concrete. Ruth was reaching for Rumlow's knife when-

"That's enough, Agent!" Dr. Mage's voice pierced Ruth's ears.

Rumlow reluctantly released his grip and stormed out of the room.

When Ruth looked at Dr. Mage's expression, it wasn't much more pleasant than Rumlow's. Instead of the usual clipboard in his hands, he held a large tablet that Ruth thought for sure would have video of her talking to James in the last few days.

"Sit down, Miss Rogers," Dr. Mage commanded.

Ruth walked to her bed and sat down.

Dr. Mage stood in front of her and turned the tablet around to show footage of a room she had never seen before.

"What is this?" Ruth asked, looking around the screen for a hint.

"What have you told Mr. Barnes?" Dr. Mage ignored Ruth's question and continued with his own.

"I haven't told him anything." Ruth replied. 

"You're lying."

"I am not."

"Then how did he recognize Steve Rogers?"

"James recognized him?"

"Yes."

"I didn't tell him anything."

"I've seen you talk to him lately, Miss Rogers. It's surprising to me how you would lie for him. Don't you think it's interesting how quickly after that one boy died that you found another weakness?"

Ruth didn't believe what he was saying. Was she really gaining another weakness? Would that mean they would make her kill James too? They wouldn't do that...

"Do you think he feels the same?" Dr. Mage interrupted Ruth's thoughts.

"He doesn't feel anything, and that's not my doing. You destroy his mind and then take it as an inconvenience when he tries to get his mind back. I don't know why you find me so interesting that you would think I feel something for people because I work with them. Do you not know what I did in that facility in Sweden?"

"I am very aware of what you did, Miss Rogers, and I am aware of your mistakes."

Ruth sighed.

Mage continued, "The program we use to erase someone's memories doesn't just allow someone to get their memories back without someone or something steadily reminding them of those memories. That means I know that Mr. Barnes just seeing Steve Rogers wouldn't bring back such vivid memories because it didn't the other night, so what have you told him?"

"Watch the videos. Watch all the videos you want of the two of us talking and you'll see I've told him nothing." Ruth knew that even her telling the truth wouldn't be enough for Dr. Mage. She knew that most likely he would find other methods to get the information he wanted out of her if he wanted it badly enough.

Dr. Mage stared, much to Ruth's discomfort, into her eyes for a long moment before handing her the tablet.

"This is live feed of what is about to happen in the next room over. If the thing I think of happens, you'll want to not only listen through these walls, but watch intently," Dr. Mage said, his face an emotion Ruth wasn't used to. In the past, even if he was angry Mage wouldn't be without his eerie grin for so long.

Ruth held the tablet in her hands, long enough to see Dr. Mage come onto the screen while other doctors, guards, and agents filled the room. The room looked wide, walls shining with metal. The light was grim, but lit well enough to brighten the whole room.

Pushed just a little farther back from the middle of the room sat a chair. The large, unforgiving chair was full of restraints, including one to hold someone's head like a vice; something Ruth recognized. Computers surrounded the chair and some of the lab coats wandered around the computers looking as if they were making sure everything worked. Ruth scanned every inch of the room. Where was James?

Ruth heard the slam of a door coming from the left hallway where one exit of the building was. She set the tablet down on her bed and rushed to her door to see who it was. James made his way slowly past her door with other agents leading him to the room where Mage was, which Ruth assumed must be down the right hallway. Ruth talked hastily to try and ask James something, anything, before he was past her door and probably getting his mind butchered by the doctors.

"James, what happened?" Ruth frantically asked him. She could visibly see that his mind must be running wild. His face was distraught and he furrowed his brows as if he were trying to remember something.

"I saw him, the voice in my head, he was there. Rogers? That's your name, not his, right?"

"Steve Rogers, you saw him? His name is Steve. James just hold on. Hold on!" Was all Ruth could get out before James passed by her room and was out of her reach. Her heart raced as her mind became frantic, clouding with anxiety. It was just like Ryker...