"and thank you that… I'm fixed, I'm not blind and I can still run properly. Thank you that Fury's crazy idea worked, thank you that Grogan didn't have to suffer to make someone else talk." Rogers paused. He was kneeling by his bed in his quarters. Michaels had broken yesterday, it had taken less than an hour for O'Malley to prove his story right, Michaels had led them to the two places the drug was, they hadn't even needed to put him out. They'd just told him to lie still, stuck a couple of big long needles in him and sucked the stuff out. He'd been told it could be a week before he was completely back to normal, but he already knew it was working. He wasn't so shivery now, he could sit still, he just felt better, fitter. It wasn't over though. Fury still had Romanoff interrogating Ryman. "God, I pray that Fury wouldn't forget who he is or why we're fighting. I pray he won't turn in to the enemy." He didn't know what Fury had Romanoff doing, but he was pretty sure it was bad. "I pray one side or the other gives up soon, I pray that justice be done in your world. Amen." Rogers stood up. His head didn't spin. Not even for a moment. He wanted to go out to train, test himself, see what he could put up with, but he'd been warned off that for a couple of days, until they were sure there hadn't been anything else. Michaels had been told in no uncertain terms by Romanoff that he would go down for murder if he, Rogers, died, and they'd probably get him tried in Texas so he'd likely be executed. He could go and ask the Armsmaster for something to do, he'd done that a couple of times since he'd been here, much to the Armsmaster's surprise, but he'd found things that needed doing. He was half way down the stairs when his radio went off.

"Rogers." Fury's voice.

"Receiving."

"Get down here, on the double." Rogers grimaced slightly. He didn't want anything to do with what Fury was doing.

"Where's here?" He thought he knew where, but he wanted to put off the inevitable.

"Interrogation room 3. On the double."

There were three people already in there. Romanoff looked tired, she'd barely slept for the past three days, Fury looked worse. There were dark circles under his eyes. Ryman looked awful, he sat hunched forwards, head dropped, leaning on the table, he looked utterly broken. Rogers felt his breath catch in his throat. He looked away. Most of the men he'd seen looking like that had just got out of Nazi captivity, admittedly he'd seen men come out of Nazi hands looking much worse than that, but there weren't many other places he'd seen make men look this bad. There were lines, and there were lines for a reason. Whatever the stakes, whatever the circumstances, there was never an excuse to do that to another man. Romanoff was standing, leaning against the wall, looking as though she wasn't paying attention, though Rogers doubted that. Fury was sitting opposite Ryman, leaning forward, hands on the table, eyes steady. He'd done it, he'd beaten Ryman in to… this state, he'd won.

"I take it you remember Captain Rogers." Fury said. Rogers looked across at Ryman, who glanced over his shoulder at him and nodded. Rogers nodded back. This felt so wrong. He was a soldier. He shouldn't let himself care what Ryman had been through. But he couldn't, Ryman was as human as he was and there was no way Ryman could hurt him, or anyone, right now. They didn't know why he'd done what he'd done, he'd coerced Grogan, who was to say he hadn't been coerced or blackmailed in turn? "Now," Fury continued, "you said you were first contacted about this… venture some months ago. Who contacted you?" Ryman curled further for a second, as though his stomach was hurting him.

"She just called herself Joseph online."

"She called herself Joseph?" Fury repeated. Ryman nodded.

"She gave me everything I needed, the place, contact details for the mercs, instructions for catching him," He nodded at Rogers. "she said which road he'd be on, and that he'd go to help if he saw an accident. The mercs thought I was paying, so they always did what I said. She had files on him, medical files, which drugs would work on him and how well, so we could keep him out indefinitely if we needed to, but we realised quite quickly he'd be more use to us conscious, so she came up with a plan to make him cooperate. She came on base, gave herself an identity and became his primary point of contact, she wouldn't trust anyone else to pull it off." Rogers drew breath slowly. Grogan. Ryman was saying that Grogan had been the mastermind of the whole operation. That couldn't be right. She'd been too scared of them, and of the other side, she'd been coerced. "I've never seen a person change themselves so completely, she is a splendid actress. It was like there was two people living in her skin."

Fury straightened slightly. "Spell this out for me." He said. "Who is this woman?"

"Grogan, Joseph, whichever you call her." Romanoff straightened up. Ryman flinched as though she'd hit out at him.

"You said we should keep her as a guarantee and let the rest of you go." She paced round behind him. He shrank away from her. What must she have done to make him like that? "No one else ever said she knew anything."

"That was the plan all along. She looked like an innocent so you'd let her go, the sweet, bewildered little girl from Connecticut. Only I ever knew she knew anything. Everyone else thought I was in charge. I swear to god I'm telling the truth." Rogers looked hard at the back of Ryman's head. It was at least possible, but he couldn't believe that of Grogan. Romanoff laughed softly.

"If I even thought for a-"

Fury raised a hand. "That's enough." Romanoff stepped back. "Do you know who she was taking orders from?"

"No. She said she was working for someone, she said 'my employers' from time to time, but never more than that."

Fury sat back. "Do you think you have any reason to lie?"

Ryman curled further forwards. "Maybe to save my reputation? But what the hell? I'll never work again with this stuff on my record."

"So what are you trying to do right now?"

Ryman laughed. "Save my own sorry ass. What else is there now?"

Romanoff laughed. "Yeah, save your ass, drop her in it. She's never done anything but cooperate since we got her here."

"You haven't asked her for much."

"You two, come with me." Fury stood up and pointed at Rogers and Romanoff, then led them out in to the corridor and closed the door behind them. Rogers refused to meet his eyes. "Do you think he's telling the truth?" Fury asked.

"Yes." Romanoff said at once. "He hasn't got it left in him to lie now, it would have been a brave lie to tell, and it does make sense."

"No it doesn't." Rogers said. "She can't be the mastermind, it's got to be him. That's what every other account says."

"But if only Ryman knew about it-" Fury started.

"Fury, the problem with torture – well, one of them – is that people will say anything to make it stop. That's all you've done, you've made Ryman say what he thinks will make you leave him alone and hurt someone else."

"But it makes sense." Romanoff started. "It's a perfect way to be on the ground, but not risk being interrogated, and she had a way of interrogating you, you never even realised it was happening." Rogers looked at her blankly. "Asking you about peoples personal lives. It was genius. You were desperate for company so you let her ask, it gives her a way to bring down Iron Man." Fury looked at her blankly. "Look, if I wanted to stop Stark, I wouldn't try to beat him in a fight, he's too strong. I'd kidnap Pots, bloody her up and tell Stark I'd kill her if he didn't do what I wanted." Rogers closed his eyes for a second. It fitted. It was at least possible, but it seemed pretty unlikely.

"Rogers?" Fury asked.

"If she is putting it on, she's very good."

"Bring her in to room two, don't let on that we suspect her. Don't spook her."

Grogan was hiding against the front wall when he opened the door, Romanoff just out of her sight. She jumped up and backed in to the far corner. Rogers spread his hands in front of him.

"Hey, it's only me. I'm not gonna hurt you."

"He's not with you." Her hands were clenched fists at her sides. She looked terrified.

"No. It's only me. We just have a few questions for you, we're still trying to figure this out." She shook her head and shrank back.

"They're going to torture me."

"No they're not."

"They tortured Ryman and the others."

"They won't because I won't let them. I'll stay with you, I won't let them hurt you." He meant that. Even if she was the mastermind, she didn't deserve to be treated like that. She shook her head. Something was wrong in her face, Something had changed in the way she looked at him. She was staring at him as though she was trying to figure him out.

"Where is Ryman?" He hesitated.

"I'm not sure." He wasn't completely sure, Ryman could have been moved without his knowing. Her breath caught. She was wild-eyed now, either someone had hurt her, badly, or something of Ryman's story was true. "Look, this is just about details, things we can cross check. There's nothing here to be scared of." But she looked scared, but the fear in her face was mutating, changing in to something more like resolve. She straightened her back, breathing hard through her nose, brought both hands up towards her face as though being forced to at gunpoint, then threw something in to her mouth.

"What did you take?" Romanoff appeared behind him. Grogan champed her jaws once. Rogers's reasoning caught up with his eyes. She was trying to poison herself. They had to get the stuff out of her. They might only have seconds. Both of them started forwards. "Hold her." Romanoff said. Grogan centred her weight, breathing fast. She looked like a different person. Every movement looked like it belonged to somebody else. She ducked Rogers's advancing arm, one of her legs came up to hit him in the groin. He twisted away. She was fast. Romanoff punched her hard in the stomach, but she'd braced. She spun and back kicked Romanoff high in the chest. She'd been well taught. Romanoff grunted, but caught Grogan's supporting leg and pulled her off balance. Grogan stumbled. Her arms flew out. Rogers caught her by one arm and pulled her over. He threw her to the ground and held her there. Romanoff crouched beside him, grabbed Grogan by the hair and pulled her head back. Grogan was struggling madly but they were far too strong for her. She screamed. Romanoff pushed her cheeks in to hold her mouth open, let go of her hair and put her hand in Grogan's mouth.

"Come on, it's still in here." She muttered. Then she yelped in pain and pulled her hand back. Grogan had bitten her, hard, she was bleeding. "No, gone." Romanoff backhanded Grogan across the face. She'd stopped struggling. She was gasping for breath, frothing at the mouth. He'd seen this before. Right after he'd taken the serum, the Hydra agent that had pushed out a fake tooth and died on the ground in front of him. Romanoff hadn't given up though. "If we can make her sick," They were fighting a losing battle. If it was the same stuff the man who'd shot Erskine had taken, and it looked like it, she was dead. But he wasn't going to not try. He looped one arm round her torso and pulled her head back with the other. She wasn't struggling now, just lying in his arms, gasping. Romanoff pulled her mouth open and reached in. Grogan coughed and jerked, then went still. Her head flopped down to one side, whitish, blood tinged foam dripping from her open mouth. Romanoff laid a hand on the side of Grogan's neck and shook her head. She got up and cursed once. "She's dead." Rogers nodded. He could smell bitter almonds around Grogan's mouth.

"Cyanide." He concluded. Romanoff nodded.

"We never had a chance. She guessed Ryman had broken, she guessed she was exposed, and we have no way of finding her employers." Rogers set her down gently and laid her straight. Romanoff looked back at him. "You OK?" Rogers nodded once.

"I've seen this before, it's just… until the moment she took the pill, I believed her, I believed she was innocent." Romanoff sighed.

"People lie, she lied well." She picked up her radio and told Fury what had happened. Rogers closed Grogan's eyes and mouth and wiped the blood and foam away, so she didn't look like her death had been so bad. He'd always done that for civilians, even if she'd just about proven Ryman right by killing herself… she looked like the frightened girl from Connecticut again now, the last few minutes felt unreal somehow. The change in her had been so sudden, but if Lucy Grogan had been an act all along, that made sense, even if he didn't want it to. He couldn't let this stand, he had to pray, even though it was too late for her.

"Lord Jesus," Rogers started silently, he wouldn't pray aloud in front of Romanoff, "I'm sorry we got this wrong, sorry we didn't save her. I know she's in your hands, I don't know if she was saved," He doubted it though, she'd asked if praying helped once. "but I do know that whatever decision you make with her, it will be just. It's harsh, I don't always like it, but help me not to forget that I wouldn't want to live in a world without justice."

Fury came in a couple of minutes later, neither of them had moved, Romanoff was still standing by the wall, Rogers was still kneeling next to the body. Fury looked across them.

"There was nothing you could have done." He said. "If it was cyanide, once she's swallowed it, it's damn near impossible to save them."

"It was cyanide." Romanoff said, scuffing at the floor. "Looked like it, smelled like it, killed her quick enough…"

"The only question is, how did she get it in here?" Romanoff crouched down by Grogan's head and ran a hand round the inside of her mouth.

"No false tooth." She withdrew her hand. Rogers closed Grogan's mouth again. "We never cavity searched her, so she could've done it that way."

"She'd have had to have it on her when we arrested her." Rogers said. "I guess she'd have had enough warning, it took us a few minutes to get through the guard."

"Unless somebody slipped it to her since." Romanoff said. Rogers and Fury looked at her. "Somebody on this base slipped it to her somehow because they're working for whoever paid her." Fury sighed.

"Almost every guard on site has rotated through here in the past few days, more have had contact with her food, bedding…"

"They're agents of SHIELD." Rogers said. "Don't we trust our own men?" Romanoff shrugged.

"You can never rule it out. Anyone can betray you."

Thanks to Fell4 and my Mum (who doesn't even like Marvel) for beta, to my brother for learning to imagine with me and to God for creating the world and everything in it, including brains to think of stories, and for being a hope to the hopeless for millennia.