Chapter 32
Izzy waiting nervously in the made to order omelet line, watching for Laura and Frankie to arrive. It was 7:30 on the dot, they should be here. Maybe something went wrong, she thought hopefully. The clock on the wall ticked off the seconds. At 7:31 she was ready to breathe a sigh of relief. Then the door opened, and the pair of women entered the cafeteria. Damnit.
She watched covertly as they exchanged a few words, then Frankie came over to get into line behind her. Izzy waited as the line moved forward, not moving with it to put some distance between her and the people in front of her. She didn't want them to overhear the conversation she was about to have.
"Hey, the line's moving," her target edged closer to her.
She glanced at the trainee in front of her to judge the distance. He seemed far enough away. Here goes nothing, she took a breath.
"Hail Hydra," she whispered.
The other woman froze like a deer in the headlights, "excuse me?"
Oh, Goddamnit, she didn't have time for this shit. Didn't Laura give Frankie a heads up?
"Look," she said quickly, "we don't have much time. I've been instructed to get your help planting a listening device tomorrow."
Frankie hesitated before replying, "I don't know you and you don't know me, so I'll make this easy for you. I'm a prisoner here. There's no way I can help you. You have the wrong person."
Cursing Laura and the leadership of Hydra that put her in this position, Izzy shook her head emphatically, "Laura will make sure you're where you need to be. Just be ready." Thinking quickly, she added, "then we'll get you out of here and back where you belong: with the Commander."
She just made the last part up, but hell, what Frankie didn't know wouldn't hurt Izzy. She just needed her to cooperate.
Frankie nodded slightly, "I'll be ready."
That God, she bought it! Izzy suppressed the urge to grin.
"I'll see you tomorrow morning, then. Stay safe."
Leaving the woman's side, Izzy moved closer to the people ahead of her in line.
One obstacle down. Only a bunch more to go, she thought grimly.
Ruby woke up with another headache and some dizziness. Rolling to the edge of her bed, she swung her legs over and pushed herself upright. Vertigo made the room tilt wildly around her as she waited for it to pass. Once it did, she carefully stood and made her way to the bathroom. Taking care of her immediate bodily functions, she leaned against the counter and stared at herself in the mirror. She looked like crap, she thought. Part of her hair was still pulled back in the ponytail, but the rest of it hung in a wild mess around her face. There were smudges of dirt on her bare arms and her neck was peppered with red spots and a couple darker spots given to her by Bruce.
Bruce. She flushed at the memory. Being with him was everything she had ever hoped for and had only been disappointed by up until yesterday. Was it yesterday? She frowned.
The door between the adjoining rooms slammed loudly against the wall, making her cringe.
"Ruby!"
"In here," she called out.
Izzy burst into the bathroom and wrapped her in a tight hug.
"Oh my God! You're back!"
Despite her headache, Ruby grinned at Izzy's enthusiastic greeting.
"I was only gone a day and a half. You act like you haven't seen me in forever!"
Her friend pulled away and held her at arm's length. Ruby noticed dark shadows under her eyes. Something in the back of her mind sent a tendril of worry through her. There was something important she needed to remember, but it eluded her when she tried to pinpoint what it was.
"Izzy, what's wrong?"
Something she couldn't describe looked back at her through Izzy's eyes but was quickly replaced with concern.
"You just ran off to follow the man that threw you and Andy around like ragdolls and I didn't hear anything from you for almost 48 hours. I was worried out of my mind!" Izzy grasped her by the shoulders as if to shake some sense into her, "when did you get back?"
"I, um," Ruby stumbled, "last night, I think."
Izzy pulled back and squinted at her, "you think? You don't know?"
"Yeah," she reached up and rubbed her temple, "I've got another headache, so I'm not thinking clearly right now."
"Here, come sit down for a moment," Izzy led her out of the bathroom and pushed her down on the couch then sat beside her, looking at her with worry. "I was told they solved the problem with the headaches."
"Apparently not mine."
"Do you want me to take you to the infirmary?"
"No," she shook her head slightly, careful not to move it too much. "There wasn't anything the doctor could do last time. I think I still have some of those pills she gave me. Maybe I'll take a couple of them and lay back down for a while."
Izzy found the bottle and gave it to her then went for a glass of water to wash the pills down. After Ruby took them, her friend tucked her back into bed, promising to check on her in a couple of hours. She was drifting off as the door closed, leaving her alone again.
When she woke up, several hours later, her headache was gone, but the nagging feeling that she was forgetting something remained. Getting up, she wrinkled her nose. She needed a shower. Desperately. And she was certain her teeth had fur growing on them. She half expected to see little furry Muppets with googly eyes lined up in her mouth as she examined herself in the mirror.
Turning on the shower, she brushed her teeth while waiting on the water to get hot, then peeled off her filthy clothes and tossed them into a pile on the floor.
"Hey, I heard…," Izzy said from the doorway, then stopped. Her eyes grew wide. "Is that a hickey?" she asked in shock.
Ruby checked in the mirror. Sure enough, there was a red and gray mark just under her collar bone, "yeah, I guess it is."
"Ok," Izzy put her hands on her hips and pursed her lips, "spill it! Tell me everything."
"Not right now," Ruby pushed her gently out of the bathroom. "I'm naked and need a shower."
"I'm not going anywhere until I hear all the juicy details," Izzy told her.
"You're going to have to wait," Ruby said, shutting the door on her. Then she hugged herself and smiled.
After her shower, she felt much more like herself except for that little voice in the back of her mind that was screaming for her attention. Right now, she decided to just ignore it. In her experience, the more she tried to force a memory, the more elusive it became. She would remember eventually and worrying about it now wasn't doing her any good.
Izzy almost pounced on her when she emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel. Being naked in front of her friend didn't bother her, but there was no reason to parade around naked.
"Ok, tell me everything!"
"Can this wait until after we eat?" It was almost 4:00 and she was starving, having missed both breakfast and lunch. And maybe dinner last night? She wasn't sure.
"Um, no," Izzy replied. "I know you, Ruby. Once we're in the cafeteria, you won't talk about it because someone might overhear. Then when we get back here, you'll claim you're exhausted and need to sleep some more. You'll keep giving me excuse after excuse and I'll never get the story from you."
And that had been her plan. Izzy knew her too well. Resigning herself to the inevitable, she pulled a shirt over her head and stepped into some clean panties before sitting down on the couch and facing her impatient friend.
"Well, at first he was mad that I came, but I just ignored it. Then there was this hot spring and we were kissing," she blushed at the memory.
"Oh, my God! You did it in a hot spring? That's hot," Izzy laughed. "No pun intended."
"We didn't actually make it that far that time." Ruby told her about the armadillo and the two of them rolled with laughter until tears leaked out of their eyes. Then she told her about what followed and how it was nothing like the books.
Izzy rolled her eyes, "I told you those books were garbage! You should have asked me about it. I could have given you some tips."
Ruby blushed deep red. They sat and talked until Ruby's stomach growled angrily, making them both laugh.
"Can we please go eat now?" she begged.
"I guess," Issy nodded. "We should get you some pudding so you can practice swallowing, though."
Ruby blanched and the thought, "that's not funny!"
"It is to me!"
Bruce and Bucky watched the two women cross the field to the main building.
"I don't like this," Bruce muttered.
"Do you have any other ideas?" Bucky asked.
"Not really."
"Then we stick with this plan until something better comes up."
"I still don't like it."
"Are you going to be like this the whole time?"
"Probably," Bruce admitted.
"Great," Bucky complained as he watched the pair enter the building. "I wonder if Hawkeye will swap with me?"
Bruce shook his head, "I think he has his own agenda with his assignment."
"This is why I don't date."
Bruce chuckled, "just wait. Your turn will come and you'll be just as bad."
"I doubt it."
Bruce clapped him on the back, "keep telling yourself that."
"I wonder where Bruce has gotten off to?" Ruby pondered as she worked her way through the extra-large piece of lasagna, she had helped herself to. "I would have thought he'd show up by now."
"Fury's probably still debriefing him," Izzy was just toying with her salad. "Speaking of which, I'm surprised he hasn't cornered you yet."
A weird feeling came over Ruby and she paused with her fork halfway to her mouth. Frowning, she set it down. Something was right there, just beyond her grasp. She struggled to bring it into focus.
"Ruby?"
"Hum?" she returned her attention to her friend.
"Is something wrong?"
"I don't know. Have you ever got the feeling that you were missing something obvious but can't quite put your finger on it? At least that's the closest I can come to describing it."
"Girl," Izzy sighed, "I feel that way all the time."
"Yeah, but I can't shake the feeling that this is important."
"Okay," Izzy pushed her plate away. "Is it connected to what happened with Bruce?"
"I'm not sure," she huffed with frustration.
Izzy reached out and patted her hand, "don't try to rush it. The more you fret about it, the longer it will take. You know how that works. Just relax and it will come to you."
Ruby gave her hand a squeeze, "thanks, Izzy."
Back at the dormitory, Ruby told Izzy she was just going to try to get some more rest. Considering she had slept most of the day, Izzy was skeptical, but there were times when even the closest friends had to give each other some breathing room. Besides, Izzy thought, after tomorrow things were going to change drastically. Either for the better or worse. She just prayed it was for the better. The one thing she was sure of, though, was that she was going to have to come clean to Ruby about being with Hydra. If she handled it right, maybe Ruby wouldn't hate her too much afterwards. She could only hope. If only Banner and the others had never come to Houston, this would never had happened.
Shutting her door behind her, she turned towards the bed and froze.
"What the hell?"
A small pistol lay on her pillow, it's mat-black color like a stain against the color of the comforter. Ruby's heart thundered in her chest. She locked the door and bolted it, then as quietly as possible, turned the lock on the adjoining door between her and Ruby's rooms. Then quickly checked her bathroom and closet to make sure she was alone in her room.
Pulling out her cell phone, she saw there was a message.
Tomorrow a go.
Objectives unchanged.
"Just peachy," she muttered as she tossed the phone on the bed and sat on the couch to stare at the gun.
She knew perfectly well how to use a gun. That wasn't a problem, but apart from inanimate targets, she had never shot anything. Now, she was expected to kill not one but two people. Just like it was a normal thing that happened all the time. She wondered if the faceless person sending her these orders had ever killed someone, or if they just ordered others to do their dirty work for them.
She should just come clean with Ruby right now. Her friend was the smartest person she had ever met if a bit naïve. Together, the two of them should be able to come up with a solution where nobody got dead and she didn't end up in prison for the rest of her life. Izzy got up and approached the door to knock but couldn't bring herself to do so. Her fear of Ruby's rejection paralyzed her.
Flopping back down on the couch with a dramatic sigh, she stared up at the ceiling to keep from looking at the weapon on her bed. How the hell was she going to get out of this mess?
She must have dozed because it was dark out when she opened her eyes. She looked across the room at the clock beside her bed. It read 9:23. She had been asleep for a while, no wonder her neck was stiff. Getting up, she turned on the light. There on her pillow, the pistol lay undisturbed. She had hoped it was all a bad dream. No such luck, though.
She still had time to do something, anything, to stop this. But what? Maybe she could work out a deal with Fury and give him Laura in exchange for leniency. Once he had the agent, he could root out the rest of the moles, if there were any more.
The more she thought about it, the more sense it made. She wouldn't have to kill anyone and maybe she wouldn't be locked up for too long. Plus, Ruby would be safe. She would miss her best friend, but she knew it was the right thing to do. And Ruby would know what she did. She paced back and forth at the end of her bed for several minutes, rehearsing what she would tell Fury. Once she had it worked out, she went to her door and unlocked it, but paused with her hand on the knob. She looked back at the pistol and quickly went and picked it up, stuffing it in the back waist of her jeans and pulling her shirt over it. Thank God, it was dark outside, or someone would notice it quickly.
Leaving the dormitory, she started towards the main building.
"Going somewhere?"
Izzy froze.
Laura stepped out of the shadows where she had been lurking.
"What do you want?" Izzy asked irritably.
"I was just coming to check on you and make sure you got my gift," Laura said with a slick smile.
"It was lovely, but I prefer jewelry," Izzy replied.
The smile left Laura's face, "I can't believe we're relying on someone like you to do something this important."
Izzy shrugged, "if you don't like it, do it yourself." You self-righteous bitch, she thought silently.
"Oh, no. Unlike some people, I know how to follow my orders."
"Well, gold star for you."
Laura's lips thinned.
"Was there anything else?"
"You aren't about to do something foolish, are you?" the other woman stepped up to her quickly and reached around her to put her hand on the concealed gun. "A bit early to be carrying this around."
"Why? You expect me to leave it in my room like you did for anyone to find it? What if the cleaning staff had come in to do some cleaning?"
Laura laughed, "how do you think I got it in there?"
Izzy paused, "how many of us are here?"
Laura released the gun and patted her on the back, "don't hurt your pretty head thinking about it. Just do your job. Now, I suggest you go back to your room and put whatever it is you thought you were going to do out of your mind. You're going to need your rest. Tomorrow's your big day."
Izzy stepped back to put some distance between them, "I wasn't thinking about doing anything."
Laura nodded with satisfaction, "good." She started to turn away but paused. "By the way, don't worry about Ruby tomorrow. Headquarters decided she's no longer a threat. Just take care of Frankie and get to the extraction point."
Before Izzy could ask her anything else, she hurried away, calling out to another agent walking across the field.
