27.
Steve was alone on the floor. Natasha and Clint were still trying to talk to Ruby, Bruce was working in the lab and Tony refused to leave the bedroom. He was right. When he woke up an hour ago, he really was like he got hit by something. His reactions were slow, he couldn't keep his attention, and he fell into a slumber over and over again. Jarvis assured Steve that he was fine and just needed time and caffeine. Steve left a coffee mug on the bedside table and left.
The elevator stopped at the common floor and Steve closed his sketchbook. For a moment he just watched silently as Officers Nowak and Cooper walked out the door and looked around curiously. Cooper whistled admiringly, and Nowak elbowed him in the ribs.
"Hello," Steve finally smiled and walked over to them. He shook their hands, they greeted each other, and Steve invited them to the sofas.
"Why are you here? Anything new?"
"We need Mr. Stark's statement," Nowak said, a notebook appearing in one hand, a recorder in the other. "Is he home?"
"Shall I call him, Captain Rogers?" asked Jarvis. Steve chuckled softly, and the two officers jerked alarmed and looked around cautiously. Cooper even reached for his gun. Steve agreed, leaving the job to Jarvis.
"What was that?" Cooper wondered, his eyes still fixed on the area. Before he could answer, Jarvis spoke again:
"My name is Jarvis, sir. I'm an artificial intelligence created by Mr. Stark and I run the entire tower."
"Wow, a robotic servant!" Cooper exclaimed excitedly. "That's clever!" Earning himself another elbow to the ribs with this speech. Steve hid his laughter.
"Captain Rogers, he referred to me as a servant... Is this man trying to insult me?"
"I'm sure not, Jarvis," he reassured him. Cooper flushed to the tips of his ears.
"Su-surely not, sir... erm..."
"Jarvis, sir."
"Mr. Jarvis. I'm not trying to offend you, not in the least."
"I'm glad to hear it."
The conversation didn't continue, Tony stepped out of the elevator and walked towards them with a sigh. The officers immediately stood up to greet him, but Tony waved them off.
"I don't shake hands," he muttered. He disappeared into the kitchen, poured himself another cup of coffee and immediately took a sip. He ran his palm over his face. "You're here in person, so you're either here to tell me you found her dead or you want something from me."
He spoke seemingly calmly, not a hint of emotion in his voice. The expression on his face was blank. He expected the worst.
"The latter, Mr. Stark," Nowak reassured him. "We haven't found them yet. We have patrols all over the city, traffic cops searching every car leaving New York, street patrols trying to find out anything about Bennett. We're working on it."
"So what do you want?"
"Your statement. We've looked at several files, and we know that you and Dr. Griffin know each other. You attended the trial, you testified. She called you yesterday. We need to write down your statement. Paperwork, you understand," Nowak smiled unenthusiastically. Tony watched him, took another sip, and nodded. He sat down next to Steve, leaned back, and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.
"Go ahead."
"Can we record it?" Cooper asked. "You see, it'll be easier. Then we'll write it at the station and just send someone over to you to sign it. We didn't want to drag you to the station personally. I’m sure you don't want any unwanted attention."
"How considerate," Tony said with a nod. "Sure, record it."
Nowak nodded, turning the recorder over in his hand, pausing. He gave Steve a quizzical look, and Tony noticed. He waved his hand.
"Steve can stay here."
"Your call," Nowak agreed, pressing the button. He stated the date and time, the names of everyone present, and the reason for the conversation. Tony slid lower on the sofa, his head resting on the back of the armrest, his hand shielding his eyes from the light. Steve just watched everything in silence.
"Let's start at the beginning," Cooper started. "Tell us how you and Dr. Griffin know each other. Do you want to tell the story yourself or should we ask?"
"Ask." He waved his hand vaguely in the air again. The officers didn't bat an eyelash, Nowak opened his notebook and launched a volley of questions. Tony answered each one briefly but told them all the essentials. Despite his condition, he managed to pay attention, and by the time he drank the last sip of coffee, he was feeling better. He concentrated, stopped hiding, and maintained alternating eye contact with the two officers.
They proceeded systematically and in unison. Nowak asked questions, Cooper occasionally took notes, otherwise, he watched Tony's reactions. He watched his face and body language but maintained a poker face himself.
"What do you know about Brian Bennett?"
"He's an asshole," Tony replied immediately. "I don’t really know him, I've only seen him in court a couple of times. Amanda said he'd never hurt her before, but he's always been weird. Overprotective, possessive. Jealous. He kept her on a short leash and- Do you have to- Does he have to stare like that?" He nodded his head toward Cooper. "Must you stare? Does he always do that? I'm sick of it."
Cooper straightened up, exchanged a look with Nowak and said nothing.
"He's checking to see if you're lying or hiding something," Steve said casually, both officers looking up at him. Tony laughed, nodded understandingly, and motioned for Nowak to continue. He flipped through his notes for a moment, muttering something to himself, and finally put the notebook away.
"After the attack, were you still in contact?"
"Not for a long time," Tony shook his head. "She broke down. She had to learn to live without her sigh. I know she lost her license for a long time until she got herself together properly. She lost her baby. You see, that's pretty messed up."
Steve tensed and drew air into his lungs, looking at Tony in shock. He returned the look uncomprehendingly before it dawned on him.
"Oh, yeah, you didn't know. She was pregnant when that asshole attacked her..."
"And he only got ten years for that?"
"There were different laws at the time," Cooper explained. "The death of a fetus wasn't considered outright murder. Today he would get life in prison, but a few years back it was different."
"He should have gotten the chair," Tony snapped gruffly. Surprisingly, Cooper agreed with him silently. He read something in his notes and pointed at Steve with his pen. "You and the doctor know each other?"
"We've met three times," he shrugged. "I wouldn't say I know her."
"So you didn't know about her for a long time back then," Nowak followed up with a shake of his head.
"Why do you care about that? You're supposed to find her, not write her biography," Tony said.
"We're trying to fill in the blanks. We haven't been able to find anyone in the family, you're our only source of information."
"She has no family," Tony shook his head. "She lost her mother when she was young, her father died shortly after her graduation. Her grandparents are dead too. She does have a sister though, as far as I know... Well, I haven't heard anything from her in a long time, Mandy said something about them getting pretty caught up. But it's been quite a few years."
"Do you know her name?"
"Um..." Tony frowned, thinking hard. Finally, he shook his head. "No, I don't. I don't remember."
"Okay. Let's move to the present then. We know she recently got a restraining order, and I'm guessing the two men at her apartment were security. Right?"
"Yeah. They released Brian, she was scared to death. Before they took him out of the courtroom, he promised... he promised to finish her off when he gets out."
The room was silent for a moment. Cooper was writing and Steve just stared ahead of him. He had never seen Brian Bennett in his life, but he longed to knock his teeth out. He took a deep breath to calm himself.
Nowak went over yesterday with Tony almost minute by minute, Tony still patiently answering and giving all the information. He also told him about Patric and Adam, in short, anything they might need.
The interrogation lasted almost two hours, and when they were done, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Tony left to get another cup of coffee, and the officers went over their notes and made sure they weren't missing anything. Nowak asked Tony for his cell phone number and promised to call him as soon as he found anything.
"You know you're a bit of a legend at the stations?" Cooper teased as they were escorted to the elevator. Tony cocked an eyebrow.
"Oh, really, especially among the traffic cops. I mean, more phantom than legend. They know full well that if a car with a STARK license plate drives past them, there's no point in chasing it. But they'll be happy to give you a parking ticket. They’re competing to see who can give you the most of them. At one station I even saw they have a chart drawn and they stick a star on for each ticket."
Tony laughed and Steve gave him a disapproving look.
They said their goodbyes, the officers left and Tony rested his head on Steve's shoulder. He let out a long sigh. "Now that was long."
"You survived it," he smiled, running a hand through his hair. Tony snuggled in.
"Now I'm going to have to play the cop."
They both looked silently to the floor as if perhaps they could see through so many floors to the underground where they held Ruby. Steve jerked slightly.
"Do you realize you had two cops in the house while you were illegally imprisoning a girl downstairs?"
"Jesus!" Tony rubbed his face with the palm of his hand. "That would be more than a parking ticket."
"A couple of years in jail for sure."
"Good, I'm a criminal. I should retire, Steve. I'll buy a vineyard in Italy. I'll climb into a barrel of wine, eat cheese and never be seen again."
Steve chuckled, wrapped one arm around him and pressed a kiss to his hair. Tony relaxed, wrapping his arms around his waist, burying his face in the crook of Steve’s neck, and just held him in silence.
"I don't want to go."
"I know."
"I can't even look at her. Every time I see her... when I see those scars... I can't..." His voice was weak, broken. Steve just squeezed him harder, there was nothing else he could do for him now.
"It'll be over soon, beloved. I'm sure it will."
He nodded. He took the chain of Steve's dog tags on the back of his neck in his fingers and pulled upward until they peeked out from behind his shirt. Steve swallowed as the chain cut lightly into his skin.
"Can I borrow them?" Tony asked hopefully. "You know, for good luck."
Steve agreed. He bent down so Tony could pull them over his head. He pocketed them, took a deep breath, and nodded.
"Okay. Let's go," Tony decided, turning to the elevator and letting it take them downstairs.
Tony had a feeling of déjà vu. He stuck the communication device in his ear again, and Natasha repeated the same words she had said last night. Clint rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"I don't think you'll have any trouble getting anything out of her. She wants to talk," he assured him, looking up. "Just not with us."
"Okay," he nodded, quickly shoving his hands into his pockets. They were shaking. His knees were shaking, too. "Here we go."
He tossed his cell phone to Steve so nothing inside would disturb him. He walked out into the hallway, opened the interrogation room door, and before he entered, he clutched Steve's dog tags in his palm. Hopefully, they'd really bring him good luck.
Ruby looked up immediately, and before Tony could slump into the chair across from her, a wide smile was already playing on her face. Forcing himself not to move his gaze, he leaned his elbows on the table and rested his chin in his hand. He looked her over, his fingers gesturing to her face.
"It was straight back then in the mall."
"Natasha has a strong punch," she acknowledged, squinting at her own nose for a moment. Tony nodded. He was silent, looking at her, telling himself he was trying to read her. In reality, he didn't know what to say. His throat was lumped and his head was buzzing, but no meaningful words came to mind. Only an apology, perhaps. Lots of apologies.
Her fingers ran across the table as far as her handcuffs would let her. Tony looked down, frowning at her hands. He recognized the fingering. He hadn't sat at a piano in years, but this was not something to forget. His own fingers hit the table several times, copying her movements.
"You taught me, remember? The school was closed because of the heat and madre had no choice but to take me to your house. You woke up in the afternoon, and found me sitting under the piano. Madre said I had to be quiet and hide, you didn't know I was there and she didn't want to get into trouble. She didn't. You didn't mind. You crawled under the piano with me, shared a bag of chips, and talked to me. And then you taught me this."
She started tapping her fingers on the table again, playing the invisible piano. Tony was already remembering. He had a habit of repressing memories like that, and when the person in question disappeared from his life, he forgot about them completely. But when Ruby reminded him, playing an inaudible melody on a non-existent piano, everything came back to him. He turned his head to hide his mouth in his palm. To keep from talking. He watched her silently, waiting. She had a lot on her mind. She stopped playing, interlaced her fingers, and smiled.
"She liked you, you know? Mi madre. She liked you very much. It was weird, every adult I ever heard talk about you said unkind things, but madre would never. You were nice to her. When she mentioned we were going on a trip with the school, you gave her extra money so I could go. She told me a lot about you. She told me how lonely you really were and that what you're showing to the world is just a mask. She talked about you all the time until I was sick of it. I think she was a little crazy about you," she laughed.
Tony didn't laugh. Memories came flooding back to him, he remembered Angela always being nice to him. Not polite out of compulsion, but nice. When they met at the house, she stopped and asked him how his day was and if he needed anything. Several times she left him a box of cookies in the kitchen. He fired her when he found out she was the snitch. At that moment, he saw her attention and kindness as just a way to get something out of him. He was furious.
"She was a snitch, Ruby," he reminded her. She nodded.
"She didn't want to, but she had no choice. She was threatened with deportation. Do you know how easy it is to corner immigrants? Awfully easy. And if they have a child? Even easier."
Tony nodded. He sighed softly, rubbed his hands over his face, and looked at her again, searchingly.
"Did you find Dan?" She wondered. Tony nodded again.
"At the bottom of the river."
"I know," she sighed. "He started to rebel."
"So they eliminated him?" He wondered.
"Hmm... With Dan, they made a mistake. They picked him up when he was a teenager, he was rebelling the whole time."
"A mistake...?" Tony repeated stupidly. Ruby gave him a blank look, Natasha was thankfully more prompt.
"Children are easier to control, Tony. The older they get, the more they have a mind of their own and refuse to listen. Young children, on the other hand, you have to raise. The best age is between nine and twelve."
The best age... Tony looked at the mirror in disgust, knowing full well that Nat could see him.
"Are the voices speaking to you, Mr. Stark?" Ruby quipped, leaning towards him. "This is serious. You should consider seeing a psychiatrist."
"Tell me about Daniel," he urged her. Ruby shrugged, leaning back in her chair again.
"What about him? He was like us, sometimes he listened, sometimes he didn't. He was in charge of Banner and Potts. And Barnes, but I got him, as you know."
"Looks more like he got you."
Ruby scowled at him and nodded.
"He just stopped listening now?"
"Yeah. Completely. He said he was done with it and didn't want to do it anymore. So they got rid of him."
"Who?"
"Them. I don't know them, Mr. Stark. They're different from the ones who kidnapped us and completely different from the ones who trained us. They passed us around like a hot potato."
"You?"
"Tony, stick to the plan. We need to know who's behind all this. There'll be time for that kind of talk later."
Give me a break, Nat, he thought, completely ignoring her words. Anger coursed through his body and only grew with every word Ruby let out of her mouth. He wasn't angry at her, he was angry at the fuckers who were responsible for all of this. He had to find them. He'd have to find them for sure.
"Me, Dan, and a few others. There was one other girl from you, she arrived before me. She was fifteen, they got rid of her pretty early. She didn't listen any more than Dan did."
"There were more of you?"
"I never found out who they were, Mr. Stark. I wondered if maybe it was some kind of human trafficking... People came and went, kids and adults. Not all of them are from you. I don't know. It doesn't matter now."
She waved her hand and the handcuffs rattled. Tony did care.
"I'm sorry, Ruby," he said, rubbing his palm over his face. He had to say it, had to apologize. For obvious selfish reasons, to ease his conscience at least a little. When he looked at her again, she stared unblinkingly into his eyes.
"You didn't know."
"But if I had known... I might have... "
"You could have changed it?" She laughed weakly. "Mr. Stark... The world won't stop spinning no matter what you do, you just must be prepared for the consequences. But you couldn't prepare for them because you didn't know."
"Yeah, you're right-"
Time stood utterly still. Tony stared silently at the table, his brain working too slowly. And when the meaning of her words finally dawned on him, when he finally understood what she'd actually said, his pulse stopped, too. He jumped to his feet. His chair wasn't bolted to the floor. It flew off and toppled over onto the floor with a loud crash that echoed unpleasantly through the empty room.
"What did you say?" He could barely hear himself. Her gaze went blank. She fixed her eyes on the wall behind him, and when she spoke, she sounded like a robot again.
"Ruby Lopez, Agent 981012."
"No, no, no!" he yelled at her, "How do you know? Where the fuck did you hear that sentence!"
"Ruby Lopez, Agent 981012."
Tony ran out of the room as if his heels were on fire.
Steve was biting his thumbnail. He was leaning sideways against the table, his eyes pinned on Tony and Ruby. He clutched his cell phone thoughtlessly in his hand. He watched them. All of them watched them and listened carefully to every word, waiting for Tony to ask something they needed to know or for Ruby to slip up. So far, that hadn't happened. They talked about the past, about what had happened to Ruby and Angela. It made Steve's insides clench.
The buzzing of the cell phone in his palm surprised him and he jerked, leaving a piece of nail in his teeth. He cursed softly, spat the nail out, and looked at the glowing screen. He recognized Detective Nowak's number.
"Feel free to take care of it," Clint waved him offhandedly. Steve opened his mouth to say it wasn't for him, but he didn't. He walked to the back corner of the room and took the call.
"Rogers."
"Nowak. I thought I was calling Stark. Wrong number?"
"No, I have his cell."
"Yeah right. Can he come to the phone now? We have a shift in the case."
"He can't. I can give him a message later if you agree."
Nowak was silent for a moment, Steve could only hear his calm regular breathing. Finally, he murmured in agreement. "Why not? We found Bennett."
"Did he tell you where Amanda is?" He asked immediately, unable to hide the hope in his voice. Silence again, shorter this time.
"No. We found him in an abandoned house. He'd been lying there for at least five days with a needle in his vein. He's dead, overdosed. He couldn't have been involved in Dr. Griffin's kidnapping."
Steve was silent. He thought about his words and out of the corner of his eye he saw Tony fly out of his chair. He turned around. The look on Tony's face was clear evidence that something had happened. Ruby had finally said something.
"I have to go. Thanks for calling," he muttered absently, and before Nowak could say anything else, he hung up.
"What happened? What did she say?" He prompted immediately. Natasha shook her head vehemently.
"I-I don't know!" She stammered, distraught as well. "She said some bullshit about the world not stopping spinning and Tony immediately flipped out. Jarvis, play it for us."
The video on the screen instantly rewound a few moments. Steve watched intently, listened intently, and none of it made sense to him. They had no choice but to ask Tony if they wanted to understand. He walked out of the room and followed him.
For perhaps the first time in his life, Steve didn't know what he was supposed to do on a mission. This wasn't a terrorist organization, an army from outer space, or a mad scientist. He knew how to deal with those. But this was a woman. Steve wasn't one of those people who thought women were weak, certainly not. But as he looked at Dr. Amanda Griffin sitting on a bench a few feet in front of them, huddled in a long coat, feeding the pigeons, he couldn't help himself. She was weak, she was blind, and he still couldn't believe that she was behind all of this.
Jarvis had let them know less than an hour ago that she had finally appeared on the surveillance cameras. There was no quick preparation this time, they weren't rushing to the quinjet so they could take off. No. The room instantly fell silent at that moment and all eyes were on Tony. They waited for his orders.
"All right," he muttered to himself and stood up. He was frowning, his hands in his pockets, and his whole posture was stiff. He said nothing, just looked at Steve, and that was enough. He went with him. The others, meanwhile, had the task of mobilizing SHIELD. Tony had been against it for a long time, but they finally convinced him. Amanda had somehow managed to get Ruby inside and staged attacks on all the Avengers. Fury will want to talk to her. And besides, what about her then? They couldn't put her in Ruby's cell and keep them there until the end of their days. They needed the official auspices of the United States Constitution. They had the right to due process and a trial, both of them.
Amanda threw another piece of bread on the ground and the pigeons immediately flew to it. They fought amongst themselves, each wanting a piece for themselves. As Steve and Tony approached, the pigeons flew away and Amanda turned her face towards them. She looked different. Or Steve finally saw her as who she really was. Her face was lined with wrinkles as if she had aged five years in the last few days. Her gaze was hard, and evil, and her hands and neck were covered in age spots. Had she had them before? He didn't know, couldn't remember. He looked at her in silence, it was as if the whole world had gone silent. And it was just the three of them, silently looking at each other.
"Well, you've finally figured it out, haven't you, Tony?" she spoke, smiling. It was not a kind smile. It was far from a nice smile. Steve could see Tony beside him shaking slightly with anger. But when he spoke, his voice was calm. Icy calm.
"SHIELD will come for you, they'll take you away for questioning, and God knows what they'll do with you after that."
Amanda didn't move, just nodded and threw another piece of bread on the ground. She too was calm. The whole situation was strange. Difficult, uncomfortable. Like the calm before the storm. Steve just didn't know which of them would strike first. He held back, for now, ready to intervene.
"It's kind of a shame you caught Ruby so early. We could have played around some more," she smiled again, and this time the anger spilt through Steve's veins as well.
"Stop it," Tony growled. "Stop it. Shut up. I don't know what the fuck you were up to, but it didn't work. So don't pretend you've got everything under control."
"As you wish."
Amanda stood up, emptied the contents of the paper bag on the ground and tilted her head to the side. She listened to the cars parked a short distance away. Immediately, agents swarmed out of them. Steve took a step forward.
"Come on, Doctor," he muttered. She stepped toward him, Steve gently squeezed her upper arm in case she thought of running, and led her toward the cars. At one point she stumbled, grabbed him tightly, and pressed herself against him. Never before had a stranger's touch been so uncomfortable. She lifted her head at him and before he could pull away, she patted his cheek. Her palm was sweaty and cold as ice.
"Poor boy, such a shame..," she sighed, running her thumb over his chin. He bristled all over, jerked his head and pulled her away from him to keep her from touching him. It made him feel sick.
As quickly as he could, he handed her over to the agents who loaded her into the car. When she got in, she hid her hands in her armpits. She was shaking and grinding her teeth. It wasn't that cold and Steve quickly surmised that despite her calm attitude, she was nervous. Maybe she was scared. He couldn't bring himself to feel sorry for her. He wiped his face with the sleeve of his sweatshirt, got into another car with Tony to join Natasha and the others, and they all drove to the SHIELD base.
Tony got off the elevator first and headed straight for the bar while the others scattered around the room. Steve disappeared into the kitchen and the rest of the team took the sofas. Tony stood with his back to them, downed the first glass and poured himself another straight away. They didn't get much out of Amanda. As soon as one of the agents started the interrogation, she collapsed and ended up in the care of the paramedics.
"So... do we believe it's over?" Clint spoke up. Tony shrugged, took another drink and walked over to them. He didn't want to fucking deal with any of this right now. He just wanted to get on the plane and get out of there. And he planned to.
"Why not? SHIELD has Amanda, we have Ruby, Daniel's dead, and we don't know about any other people."
Natasha didn't look convinced, but she didn't say anything and that was enough for Tony. Remove the brain and the body stops moving. Amanda was out of the game and her minions had no reason to continue to jump as she whistled.
"We haven't found out what's rotting in SHIELD," Bruce reminded them.
"That's why you all are still staying here. We'll take another look at SHIELD, but not now. I've got just about enough on my plate right now. I'll get drunk and crawl into a hole for a week. But first, I'm gonna pull Pepper back. And Happy. And Rhodes," he rattled off to himself. Steve cleared his throat in displeasure behind his back, but Tony decided to ignore it.
"And we need to do something about Ruby. So, do we hand her over to SHIELD or sell her to the circus?" He tried to joke. Steve again disagreed. Tony growled and turned sharply, ready to give him a hard time about his fucking rightness.
The glass of strangely pinkish water shattered on the floor and Tony had the impression that everything had slowed down. He looked up from the wet shards painfully slowly, and an unpleasantly wet cough sounded in his ears. The first thing he saw was the blood trickling between Steve's fingers. Another cough. His white and sweaty face contorted in a pained grimace. Before anyone could move, the soldier sank to his knees among the shards. He coughed again, rested his bloody palms on the floor, and began to retch. Something that looked like very thin ground coffee splashed across the light ground.
Bruce was the first to recover. He jumped to his feet, rushing over, shouting to Jarvis to call an ambulance.
Tony couldn't move. He stood in place, watching everything in horror, and the words he had heard earlier that day echoed in his head. They had made no sense to him until now.
Poor boy, such a shame...