Buzzkill: The Reckoning

Chapter 23

Ruth's eyes widened, not expecting that response to come out of Steve's mouth.

Steve stood from his chair, "Of course, I am glad that you're working for SHIELD now. I couldn't have you go ruining my Captain America reputation," he said with a grin.

Ruth let out a sigh of relief, standing to face him.

"If you want to consider yourself a Rogers, go ahead. If you don't, that's fine too," Steve told her. "But now that I know we're related, I am going to be calling you some cringey family nicknames pretty much all the time," he said with a smile.

Ruth gave a smile and shook her head.

Steve held out his hand and shook Ruth's. "Thank you for telling me, Ruth. I know it can't be easy. And just so you know, my side of the Rogers family was pretty great. So maybe after things settle down, we can look up some obscure relatives of ours and see if any of them are decent."

"I'd like that," Ruth said truthfully.

"Can you go talk to Tony?" Steve asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "He has some prototypes for your...conductors, or something? He just hasn't been wanting to bother you for the past couple of days. I think Bucky told him to stay back a bit."

Ruth nodded, taking a step and opening the door. "I'll talk to him in the morning. I'm a bit tired from earlier. Thanks, Steve."

"You're welcome, cuz."

Ruth winced, "You're going to need to come up with something better than that."

"Ruthy?"

"Definitely not," Ruth replied.

"I'll think of something."

As Ruth walked through the halls back to the living room, she couldn't help but think of her talk with Bucky. It seemed to be more of an argument, really. It startled her. She hadn't raised her voice like that in a long time. But for him to trust her that much, after all this time, she couldn't help but think there was a catch. Was she really being played with all of this? Steve, Tony, and Bucky act all nice and friendly, pretending to be on her side, just to finish what Mage started? Is that really why Tony is making those conductors? Was she still just an experiment?

Bucky couldn't do that to her though, right? It was stupid to think that way of him.

Ruth couldn't help but think she was at the end of her rope most days, being dragged along like a rag doll. It seemed like Bucky carried her along, defending her from being treated much worse than anything she had experienced so far. If he wasn't here, where would she be? If he wasn't there four years ago, where would she be now?

"Hey, Ruth!" Bucky called from the heart of the living room. The space surrounded with couches, the stone fireplace lit and providing warmth.

Ruth turned and spotted him, standing at the foot of the large sectional and waving her over. She couldn't help but wonder what he was up to. Walking over, she saw Sam sitting on the other side of the couch, leaned over on the coffee table, apparently setting up another game.

"Want to play Monopoly?" Bucky asked, a hopefulness in his voice.

Ruth couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to make her feel better. But truthfully, it was just nice to see him this upbeat.

"Sure," She replied. "As long as Sam doesn't get too competitive," Ruth teased.

"Yeah yeah, at least this one I know I'm going to win," Sam enthused.

"I wouldn't bet too much on that," Bucky commented, walking over to the stereo, looking lost.

Ruth sat in the middle of the couch, watching Sam put the board together, having no idea what any of this stuff meant.