Avengers: Search for the Winter Soldier
Chapter 51: The Domino Effect
Summary:
While the Soldier's Team is in a meeting with Dr. Golden, Wanda and the Winter Soldier spend time together. Cont'd
Notes:
This chapter is dedicated to brand new reader, melles1276 - who was kind enough to leave me a wonderful review and commentary. Thanks for hopping on board this ride with us. – W6C
Steve took a seat at the island counter, aware of the Soldier's eyes on him as he walked over and settled on the tall chair. Wanda closed the utensil drawer and draped the damp dish towel over the side of the drainer to air dry. The sponge the Soldier held was still dripping water onto the floor as he stared at Rodzhers. Wanda took the wet sponge from his hand, squeezed out the excess water and placed it in the tray on the edge of the sink. She then opened a drawer and took out a clean towel to dry her hands before handing it to the Soldier. He dried his hands with slow, deliberate motions, making sure to get between the metal panels that allowed his fingers to bend then he handed it back to the Witch.
"How are things going downstairs?" she asked Steve as she hung the towel on a rod inside the cabinet door.
"It's going," Steve replied and Wanda raised her brows with a grin. "It's a bit much, to be honest. I know Emily is trying to keep us up-to-date on all the information she's gathering, but I'm not even sure I'll remember half of what she told us so far and she's not done yet."
"What sort of information?" Wanda asked conversationally.
Steve shrugged and glanced at the Soldier. "She's sharing the results of the evaluations she's conducted," he told her, leaving his answer vague so as not to draw the Soldier's attention to the fact that the meeting was focused on him, but Wanda knew. She nodded.
"Has any of it been a surprise so far?" she asked.
Steve grinned and shook his head. "Honestly, no. Disheartening in some aspects, but when I walked in here and saw the two of you…" he trailed off with a gesture toward them and Wanda smiled. "Well, seeing him helping you with the dishes really lifted my spirits."
"I'm glad," Wanda told him. "He's been a wonderful companion," she told Steve, reaching over to lay her hand gently on the Soldier's metal forearm. The Soldier looked down at her hand then he looked back at Rodzhers.
"So… has he been social… at all?" Steve asked her. "Or is he -?"
"He has," Wanda interjected with a nod then looked at the man standing beside her. "Why don't you wait for me in the sitting area?" she suggested and the Soldier looked at her. She took a step back and gestured toward the recreational area of the large room. The Soldier moved past her and walked to where she'd indicated. Steve and Wanda watched him and when the Soldier stepped into the sitting area he looked at all the seating options but ultimately chose to remain standing and turned slightly to keep them in view. Steve and Wanda, realizing he was simply going to stand there until told to do otherwise, turned their attention back to each other. "It's definitely a work in progress," she told him with a grin. Steve nodded.
"We'll probably be another hour or two," Steve informed her then rubbed his face vigorously with both hands. Letting out a long breath he asked, "Are you okay with him for that long?"
"Oh sure," she assured him. "We're fine. Do what you need to do."
"What are your plans now that you've had lunch and dessert?" he asked with a grin.
"I'm thinking perhaps we'll play a game or maybe take a walk outside," she told him.
Steve nodded. "He likes dominoes," he told her.
"Dominoes… really?" she asked.
"Yeah, Bucky and I used to play it all the time… during the war. It helped pass a lot of very long nights. Nat and I got him involved in a game a few nights ago and it seemed to trigger some of his memories. It was the first night he called me Steve. I don't think it was the Winter Soldier though…" he paused looking at the Soldier standing alone on the other side of the room. "I think Bucky was able to gain a little control that night."
Wanda thought about that and nodded. "Okay, I'll see if he wants to play dominoes. If you come up later on a break and we're not here, we might go outside for a while."
"Okay, sounds good. Stay on comms, okay? Just in case -" Steve asked and Wanda assured him that she'd stay available for the team… just in case.
With her reassurance, Steve got up, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and walked to the Soldier who remained standing quietly as he watched Rodzhers approach him.
"I have to get back to the meeting, but I'll come back in about an hour. You're going to stay with Wanda, okay?" The Soldier looked past Rodzhers to the Witch standing nearby. The Soldier looked back at him but didn't respond. Steve laid his hand on the Soldier's shoulder, resting it between his neck and the metal appendage. He squeezed lightly and the Soldier's expression softened for a moment and Steve smiled. "I'll be back soon," he told him and waited for a response. The Soldier gave serious thought to his words, before focusing on him again. Steve nodded and headed for the door. Wanda smiled as he passed by and Steve gave her a nod.
Once Steve had gone, she joined the Soldier in the living area. "You can sit anywhere you like," she told him as she opened the games cabinet. She took out the tin container of dominoes as the Soldier chose a chair against the wall that allowed him a view of the entire room and then joined him.
When Steve got back to the office, the others were already in their places. Sam had stayed behind to discuss Dr. Golden's findings with her in more detail. Nat, Bruce and Clint had returned to their seats just before Steve arrived.
"Everything okay upstairs, Captain?" Emily asked. Steve nodded as he approached.
"Yeah, everything's fine. Apparently he and Wanda polished off a pot of paprikash together and then enjoyed ice cream sundaes for dessert." He took his seat as the others on the team considered what he just told them.
Dr. Golden smiled. "Paprikash and ice cream… sounds delicious."
"- sounds like a 'script for heartburn," added Bruce with a grin.
Smiling, Nat shook her head and chimed in, "Sure does and Steve, it'll be your fault for leaving those two together."
"Well, he does seem quite comfortable with her… oh, yeah, they were doing the dishes when I walked in."
"…Doing… the dishes?" Clint asked.
"Yeah, Wanda had him wash and she dried," Steve told them.
"Is she trying to domesticate him?" Sam asked with a grin.
Steve shrugged with a smile. "Whatever she's doing, it seems to be working. He hasn't given her any trouble and they seem to be getting along rather well. I'm actually a little jealous."
Dr. Golden smiled at that. "There are two more sections to go over, but I'll try to make it quick so we're not here all day. As most of these aren't going to be a surprise to any of you, I'll focus on the sub-traits that are the most important or the most surprising," she told them. The team members nodded and referred to their printouts.
Dr. Golden gave a quick outline of the next big trait but kept the superfluous information to a minimum so she could go straight to the sub-traits she felt were most important. "Agreeableness evaluates the level of amiability or niceness a person shows toward others while socializing. Does the individual take an active interest in others; in their lives or thoughts and feelings… or are they more distracted or reserved, judgmental, cynical, etcetera. Some of the sub-traits evaluated in this section are Trust, Earnestness, Cooperation, Compliance and Humility.
"I don't believe any of you would be surprised to learn the Soldier scores low in the area of Trust while Soldat's scores were higher. A low score indicates that the Soldier is skeptical and suspicious of others and automatically assumes dishonesty and scheming is the intention of those around him."
"Wait," Steve interrupted, "is Wanda safe with him?"
Dr. Golden looked at him. "I'm sure she's fine," she assured him. "If they've managed being in each others' company without anything happening to this point, I'm sure that he's realized she is not attempting to harm him in any manner. His score indicates that his first and foremost assumption about others is that they are not to be trusted, but it sounds like Wanda has given him assurance that he has nothing to fear from her… and if he has nothing to fear from her then she has nothing to fear from him." Steve nodded that he understood so she continued.
"Soldat is fearful and lacks the confidence the Soldier displays, but he wants to believe others have good intentions toward him and that they are trustworthy. He is damaged," she said, nodding, "… beaten down, wounded mentally and physically, but he still has a good heart. Soldat craves closeness, he yearns for it, whereas the Soldier appears to not care if he bonds with another person or not. But the Soldier's been tortured both physically and mentally as well and conditioned to keep any feelings or personal desires under strict control, so his results may be low based on conditioning and not on what he truly feels or desires."
"You think the Soldier isn't as stoic inwardly, as he appears to be outwardly?" Sam asked.
"Well, currently, it's difficult to make that assessment. He's been artificially controlled for decades," Dr. Golden reminded them. "Hydra found it necessary to wipe his memories and repeatedly torture him more often than they ever expected to in order to retain control of Sgt. Barnes. The Soldier, as we know him, is a constructed personality. He is a segment of Sgt. Barnes' personality that was purposely created and split away from the rest; the part of him that was exactly the type of soldier Hydra needed. His military records show that Barnes was a very skilled marksman; he was a member of the Howling Commandos and the team's sharpshooter. He took on the role of sniper, in order to watch over the team and keep them safe." She looked to Rogers as if for confirmation and he nodded. "Barnes already had the skills… all Hydra needed to do was destroy his free will and control his mind – once they had control of the mind, controlling the physical was easy.
"The next sub-trait is Earnestness and this scale evaluates a person's basic stance toward deceiving others and scheming or manipulating for personal gain. Those with high scores, like Soldat, are reluctant to be conniving and manipulative. Those who score low, as the Soldier did, tend to believe that some degree of manipulation is necessary in life and they are more likely to come across as being shrewd and calculating."
"Yeah, I think that's a given," Sam agreed.
Dr. Golden flashed him a knowing grin, but stayed on course. "This score doesn't necessarily mean he's amoral, it's more like he's guarded and restrained when it comes to divulging anything he knows as his own truth."
"This just means it's not in the Soldier's nature to automatically trust anyone, right?" Steve asked.
"Correct," Dr. Golden replied.
"But he can learn that we are trustworthy, right?" Steve added, holding on to hope and Emily nodded.
"It is possible," she told him. "It's possible for him… for them, to learn new ways of thinking and behaving. That's what we're hoping for," she reminded them. "These evaluation scores are not set in stone. They can, and most likely will, change as he moves further away from conditioned responses. The reason we do these evaluations is to determine in what areas an individual requires the most assistance and guidance in changing their behavioral and cognitive abilities. What we do know for certain, is that a person's environment strongly influences their expression of problem behaviors. He is, essentially, a product of his environment… as are we all."
"So, if we can change the way he feels about us, we can change the way he behaves toward us, right?" Clint asked.
"Well, in this case, we know the Soldier's actions and behaviors are conditioned responses," Dr. Golden explained. "His behavior and activity level are not necessarily due to cognitive levels, but conditioned responses."
"You lost me," Clint told her, a confused look on his face.
"Cognition is the actual mental activity of processing information and using that information in forming judgment on how to behave or react to certain situations. For instance, social cognition is cognition that relates to social activities and helps us to understand and predict the behavior of ourselves and others in a social environment. "As human beings we are social creatures. We learn naturally, what behaviors are acceptable to others in a social situation as we grow up and as our social activities change. The Soldier has no social skills – zero - none. His level of social cognition was taken from him – erased - and painful aversion therapy techniques were used in order to teach him – in order to condition him – to not seek out social interaction with others. This would ensure that he would never be accepted in social circles and would never fit in to our culture and society. They did this, I believe, to make certain that if he did stray away from Hydra he would be considered an outcast… a misfit… perhaps, even a deviant. He would be shunned by our society and would have no recourse but to return to those who created him… who understand him… and where he would feel comfortable and accepted."
"So you're saying he does feel emotions; like loneliness and fear… and actually has a desire to seek out friendship. Is that correct?" Clint asked, unsure that he understood correctly.
Emily took a moment to think about his question and how to respond to it. The human mind was a fascinating study but often it felt impossible to explain.
"I believe he's not completely devoid of emotion," she said nodding. "He doesn't show emotion because emotion is unacceptable to his handlers, but I don't believe they were able to extinguish his emotions completely. The human brain is an incredibly intricate machine," she told them, "and the Soldier is extremely intelligent. I think he simply realized that not showing that he experiences emotion was easier, and less painful, than fighting a fight he knew he couldn't win. So, yes, Clint… I believe he feels loneliness and even fear… and I think he wants to know that there are people who can be trusted – that there are people who won't hurt him."
Her answer gave them all something to think about and she gave them half a minute to follow their own thoughts.
"So if both Soldat and the Soldier experience emotions," Steve thought aloud, "how is it they turned out to be so different from each other?" he asked. "I mean, Soldat wears his emotions on his sleeve, clear and evident… the Soldier hides his so completely that he has everyone believing that he has none." He looked at Emily and waited for her to explain it to him.
"Their obvious differences are based on how they process information. Soldat processes incoming information using "hot cognition" and the Soldier uses "cold cognition"," she explained.
"Sorry, you lost me again," Clint told her.
Steve glanced at him and added, "Me too."
She looked at Steve and then Clint and noticed the rest of the team members were also looking at her as if waiting for her to explain it more clearly. She thought about it for a moment then began. "There are some psychologists who prefer the subject of cognition be split into two categories; hot and cold.
"Hot cognition refers to the mental processes in which emotion plays a role in how we learn, as with reward-based learning. For example, say we give him a lesson and he completes it successfully, we praise him and offer a reward. He learns that we respond kindly to his successes and therefore he begins to learn quickly in order to gain another reward. Reward-based learning is the direct opposite of Aversion-based learning, where instead of being rewarded for good behavior he would be punished for poor behavior. It's the aversion-based therapy which resulted in Soldat's fearful demeanor. There's no real praise for doing something well or correctly; the reward is actually the absence of punishment."
"So, it's like motivated reasoning… where a person's actions are motivated by emotion instead of logic," Sam added.
"Yes," Dr. Golden nodded. "When a person's thought processes are influenced by their emotional state that is referred to as 'hot cognition'. Conversely, 'cold cognition' refers to the mental processes that don't involve feelings or emotions. It implies the cognitive processing of information is independent of emotional involvement. "What you might call 'muscle memory' psychologists refer to as 'working memory'. His conditioning is his working memory and his cognitive level is grounded in that conditioning, it doesn't hinge on emotion. The Soldier's cognitive abilities are based solely on logic and critical analysis of all the information he has at hand."
She gave them all a minute to process that and when no further questions were presented she looked at the monitor and scrolled down the page. "Okay, Altruism and Humility I can go over this with you later if you feel the need to know details, but I'm going to bet you know where they stand in those areas just by seeing the arrows. Altruism, in short, refers to concern for another's well-being. It is an extreme selflessness in undertaking actions that benefit others without benefit to one's self or may incur great personal risk. Humility at its core pertains to selflessness and dignity shown to others. Soldat scores high in both and the Soldier, low. No surprises there.
"I'd like to move on to Cooperation and Compliance," Dr. Golden stated, scrolling down the page. "This section refers to an individual's tendency to avoid confrontation, and the ease with which they yield to others." Each team member looked up from their printouts to regard her. "Yeah, you don't need to see arrows to know how this one was scored. High scorers, like Soldat, will seek out compromise and at all costs try to avoid conflict. Those who score low, like the Soldier, are much more confrontational, but whereas a lower score indicates his willingness to assert pressure or intimidation to get what he wants… I want to point out that the Soldier's score was so low because he doesn't bother to intimidate or coerce… or even negotiate to achieve his goals. He simply takes out the opposition or obstacles that stand in his way. But – as stated many times already - he complies with these orders only after having his memories erased, his consciousness wiped clean and having his trigger words re-established and then used in order to activate the assassin."
"You mean activate for a particular mission, right? He's always an assassin… or am I mistaken on that count?" Sam asked.
"You are not wholly mistaken, Sam," Dr. Golden replied, "but the Winter Soldier, as a destructive and unstoppable weapon, requires activation by ten code words spoken in precise order for him to become single-mindedly focused on a particular mission. The man who walks among us today is the Winter Soldier; with all his training and knowledge of destruction, but he is not an activated assassin."
"Wait," Sam interjected, "we have information that Hydra operatives are actively on the hunt and searching for the Winter Soldier… are you telling us that if they come here, and find him, they can activate him by reciting those words?"
"Essentially, yes," Dr. Golden nodded.
"So if they succeed in finding him here, we need to keep them away from him," Clint pointed out.
"Or keep him away from them," Natasha stated.
"Or, at the very least, keep him from hearing those words," Emily added.
"How do we do that?" Clint asked.
"Earplugs?" Sam suggested, only half-joking. Everyone at the table thought about that piece of information and each tried to think of a viable alternative.
"I think Tony has noise-cancelling headphones in his lab," Steve commented aloud. "Those could work."
"Isn't there an entire wing of this place that is sound proofed?" Sam asked, having heard that particular detail before, but wasn't sure if it had been said as a joke or not.
Steve glanced at him and sat back heavily against his chair. "Knowing Tony I'd say that's probably true. We'll have to find out for sure."
"I would hope we wouldn't allow them access to him at this point, even without the potential threat of activation," Dr. Golden stated flatly. The team members all looked at her as the tone of her voice had changed; becoming serious and dark. "Just seeing a Hydra operative, at this point, could undo everything we've accomplished so far," she explained.
"Of course," Steve replied, thoughtfully. Deciding to move along the discussion he looked at his printout. "The next category is Sympathy and Compassion and I don't find the results for this one to be much of a surprise either," he stated, noting the arrows on the page pointed up for Soldat and down for the Soldier.
"Neither did I," Dr. Golden agreed. "This sub-trait focuses on an individual's inclination to feel sympathy and compassion in their dealings with others. High scores like those of Soldat are considered to be empathetic and compassionate toward others while refraining from judging them too harshly. Those with lower scores, take a more detached stance toward others and can often be perceived as cynical or anti-social… even pathological, in the distances they put between themselves and others."
"The Soldier," Steve said softly then looked at Dr. Golden and she nodded.
Again, Wanda had no dominoes on her rack that could be used so she had to pick from the extras lying face down on the table. She turned it over and looked at it, scanning the openings available to her on the layout in front of her. She groaned as she was still unable to get rid of any tiles and it was the Soldier's turn again. He had only three tiles remaining on his rack while Wanda now had seven.
"Your turn," she told him.
He glanced at her before studying his three tiles and scanning the layout. He saw two options open to him and calculated which move would allow him to get rid of all three tiles in the quickest fashion. He had a three/four tile, a two/four tile and a two/one tile; on the board his options were an open one and an open three. He realized quickly that either of the two would allow him an option for his two/four tile if the Witch were to block either path to victory. He chose the two/one tile and positioned it so the one connected to the one on the layout leaving the two open for his other two-tile.
Wanda watched him set down the tile and deflated with a sigh. The Soldier looked at her and she smiled at him. "That didn't help me at all," she told him but he didn't react to her statement. He watched as she chose another tile from the extras.
"Aha!" she exclaimed, "finally!" She placed a double-three tile perpendicular to the open three on the board then scanned her tiles again. "Of course," she stated, "I don't have another three to add to it."
Of course, she didn't have it, the Soldier thought. If she had had the three to begin with she wouldn't have had to draw, but it meant she had to draw another tile to try to complete the move. He watched her choose another tile and immediately put it down on her double-three; the three/two tile completing her turn.
The Soldier realized her tile now had an open two which meant he could put down his two/four on it and that would leave an opening for his four/three as his final move, making him victorious. He chose the two/four tile from his rack and placed it at the end of the tile she'd just put down. As he carefully placed the tile, his arm jumped causing the tile to get knocked sideways.
Wanda looked at him to make sure he was okay, but he was focused on trying to place the tile. She looked down as he tried to straighten the tile and noticed his hand was trembling. He finally got the tile situated the way he wanted it and knocked his knuckles on the table top to signal her that he had only one tile left.
Wanda smiled and chewed on her lip lightly. As she studied the board for her options, she was distracted by a sudden movement from the Soldier. She kept her head down and raised only her eyes to look at him. She watched him for a full minute, noting his muscles were beginning to twitch. His shoulders would jump and his head jerked slightly to the side.
"Are you okay?" she asked, straightening to give him her full attention. He looked at her and nodded. Wanda watched him a little longer, noting the change in his physical manner then she let out a long breath and reached for the shuffled tiles again. She picked up a two/five and immediately blocked the open two he had just put down.
It didn't matter though as the Soldier still had a three/four tile left and her double-three tile allowed two more moves to be played from it, so he removed it from the rack. Wanda laughed lightly as he set it down; realizing no matter what she had chosen to do on her last play wouldn't have made a difference. He would have won no matter what.
"You win… again!" she declared with a soft laugh and shook her head. She wondered if he could even lose at any game they played with him. His tactical mind was like a computer and it was really a pleasure, and an eye-opener, to watch him move against an opponent. "Do you want to play another?" she asked and he looked at her, "– or we can go outside if you want." His eyes shifted quickly toward the large windows behind her and Wanda took that as a sign. "I agree. Let's get some fresh air."
She picked up the tin and began sweeping the tiles from the table into the box. The Soldier pushed the tiles that were closest to him toward her and as she reached for them to place in the container. She shook the tin to get the tiles to shift and lie down properly before she put on the lid. Wanda glanced at him and noticed his eyes were unfocused as if he'd turned his attention inward. She watched him for a moment then shook the tin box in her hand. The sound of the tiles shifting and hitting the sides of the box caused him to blink. Keeping her eyes on him, Wanda stood up slowly and that action drew his attention. He blinked a few times as if clearing his thoughts and he looked up at her. She moved to the cabinet to put away the game before turning toward him again.
"Are you okay?" she asked him. He thought about her question and gave a single nod. Wanda watched him as his muscles jerked and his head began to wobble as if he was losing control of his motor functions. She noted that his expression had softened and despite the involuntary movements, he appeared to be more relaxed than he had been only a moment ago. She walked over to him and crouched down in front of him. They looked at each other for a moment, as if for the first time. "Is there anything I can get for you?" she asked.
He thought about the question then answered. "Steve."
Steve was listening to Emily's ongoing explanation of the test results when he heard his earwig communicator open. He raised a finger, asking the doctor to pause for a moment then tapped the device nestled in his left ear.
"I'm here, Wanda," he said then listened to the voice in his ear as the others waited.
Dropping his printout, he pushed away from the table and ran from the room.
TBC'd