This was all going to escalate much farther than she ever thought. Ruth was sure of that now. Her thoughts became a swarm she struggled to keep up with. What these files contained, the files that they didn't even have, it all involved her. The facility, the Woman, the games, the tests, the experiments. Was it all for this?
"Ruth," Natasha called, stepping into the central control room of the carrier, startling Ruth out of her thoughts, "I think I found something."
Ruth turned to Natasha who stood behind her, half turned to the door in an effort to lead Ruth out. Ruth glanced back at the view of the sky before following Natasha out the door.
Everyone that was filed in the lab to examine the USB now stood aboard a small helicarrier high above the clouds on their way, by Steve's orders, to Russia. Taking their time, Steve hoped that they'd find more information on Hydra's whereabouts as well as remaining safely in the air and, hopefully, hidden.
But for whatever the reason she couldn't understand, Ruth noticed the kid Peter Parker being invited by Tony on this journey with them. She knew now that there was more to his involvement than he lead on.
Walking back with Natasha, Ruth felt muddled in this aircraft that she still hadn't seen most of. Each hallway she followed Natasha down, her steps felt off, walking deeper into an empty space.
As they turned the corner into a room, Ruth spotted Steve and Tony waiting by a computer that projected multiple screens in front of them, the light reflecting off of Tony's face. Steve stood beside him, arms crossed at his chest. Ruth could tell he had no idea what Tony was quickly examining as he scrolled through pages and pages of data.
As Natasha and Ruth walked over to stand beside the boys, Nat took over the keyboard and typed away.
"Well, excuse me," Tony remarked.
"I found something in the files that you all need to see," Nat said, keeping her focus on the computer.
Ruth steadied her breath, eyes fixating on the screen closely.
Nat glanced up at Ruth, "I think there's a reason why Hydra chose you for that experiment," she said softly.
Ruth furrowed her brows. At the click of a button, another screen pulled up in front of them. A series of pictures lit up the screen, all faces Ruth recognized. One was her, one was Ryker, and four others alongside them.
"What's all of this?" Steve asked.
"The people She chose," Ruth said quietly. "She chose us to be a part of the experiment."
"Who are they?" Steve asked. "Do you know them?"
Ruth nodded. "They were all at the facility at some point while I was there. That's Ryker. And those two girls there," Ruth pointed to the screen, "I knew pretty well. Their names are Dani and Syd."
"Were they high ranking? Is that how it worked?" Steve asked.
"They were definitely far better than most. Dani was the best sharpshooter any of us had seen, and Syd comfortably knew her way around explosives."
"But why so few? Why not an army?" Steve questioned.
"The experiment took weeks to even complete the first phase, and it still wasn't perfect. Maybe the Woman thought she couldn't afford to do multiple people at a time," Ruth replied.
"Do you know if they started with anyone else before you?" Steve asked, turning to Ruth.
Ruth shook her head, "Not that I know of. But ask Bucky, he was at that Hydra base way before me."
Steve nodded.
"Well, if they're going based off the chronology of the file, Ruth is first choice," Nat said.
Ruth scrunched her brows, "It says that?"
Nat nodded.
"Why first?" Ruth asked.
"I guess that's what we have to find out," Tony said, letting out a deep sigh, "That and a hundred other things."
Nat shrugged, "It may not be something to find out."
"Were they supposed to get immunity to electricity as well? Do you think their serum formulas are different than mine?" Ruth asked, looking to Tony.
Tony sighed, "That's where it gets tricky." He grabbed a tablet from the table beside him, "I haven't been able to find all the components for your serum yet."
"What?" Ruth said bewilderedly, shock etched on her face. "Can you just not decipher it?"
"It's not even there. This file is incomplete," Tony replied.
Ruth shook her head. "But this is identical to what Hydra got. If anything, we would even have more. Does that mean—"
"That Hydra literally experimented?" Tony continued. "Yes. That's why they thought it was mind control, because that's how it looks. Only with testing could they find out it would give you abilities."
"But that means that what I took from Russia was incomplete. Why would Russia only give the Woman some of the files if she didn't have the rest?" Ruth asked.
"I know I showed up while you were on your laptop downloading files," Nat said to Ruth. "Did you just not finish downloading them?"
"I downloaded everything I was supposed to. It was covering my tracks that I didn't get to finish doing," Ruth replied.
"That's why we're going to Russia," Steve said with assuredness.
"We could look for years and not find the rest of those files. Shouldn't we just stick to finding Mage?" Ruth asked, looking to Steve.
"If possible, we can plant a bug into Russia's system and download files from the dates of your mission and see if there was anything else hidden. While that works, we can look for Mage," Steve replied.
Ruth gave a short laugh, "The time it would take to get past the encryption alone for that kind of security would take too much time to be worth it. We're talking about the Foreign Intelligence Service database, right?"
"You don't think it would be worth it to find out what was in that serum? In all of the serums?" Tony asked.
Ruth turned to him, "Of course it would. But if Russia didn't have all of those files when I looked, why would it suddenly all be there?"
"It would be worth a shot," Steve said.
"Would it be worth it if we got caught?" Ruth retorted. "The Woman had a deal with Russia, we don't. If we get caught hacking into their servers not only will they hunt us down but they'll blame America. Do you really want your country to start a war with Russia because we're looking for a file that's probably not even there?"
Steve went silent.
"She's got a point," Tony said with an exasperated sigh.
"Can we focus on Mage first? Files later? We still have Kal downstairs in a cell," Ruth bargained, looking to Steve.
He paused for a moment, glancing from the computer screen, to Ruth, then to Nat and Tony. "Let's find Mage. Whatever he's working on, we need to stop it before it gets worse."
Ruth and Tony nodded in agreement.
"I just have one thing to add," Natasha began. "These other candidates the Woman chose, do you think Hydra found them? Do you think they're being experimented on?"
"If they are, what would we be able to do about it? Would we help them?" Ruth asked.
"Let's focus on the Hydra base. If we find these women, we'll decide then," Steve replied.
Natasha nodded, looking back to the computer.
"Ruth, would you mind updating Bucky and Sam on where we're headed?" Steve asked, turning to her.
"Do we know where we're headed?" Tony asked with a small laugh.
Steve let out a sigh, ignoring Tony's gaze. "Just tell them we're working on finding the base."
"Got it."
"And," Steve interrupted as Ruth turned to leave, "I would think about interrogating Kal for the location of the Hydra base, if you're comfortable with that."
Ruth paused a moment, before looking back up at Steve, "I'll give it a shot. If I can't, Nat may have to step in." She looked to Nat, Steve turning to her as well.
Nat gave a nod in acknowledgment.
Ruth turned, looking to the floor, collecting her thoughts, collecting her mindset before having to delve back to her past.