withdrawn
Ray let out a small groan and washed his face, grateful they had let him get up and use the small bathroom that was down a short corridor from the living room he had been left in. It wasn’t the first time he’d been sick and Ray was starting to think maybe he was unwell for a moment, but then he recalled the car trip, where he had realised he didn’t have any medication on him.
He’d been on them for months now, of course his body wouldn’t take kindly to suddenly dropping from multiple doses a day, to having none at all. Shit. How long had he even been here? The drive along had gone on hours, Ray vaguely recalled drifting off into a restless sleep somewhere into the night. Going by his symptoms, Ray guessed he’d been there at least a day for it to be so bad. He was damn lucky Bancroft wanted him for his powers, otherwise falling asleep would be a dangerous move.
Ray lowered himself onto the cool tile of the bathroom floor and laid down. He had very nearly fallen asleep there when he heard Bancroft and the other man arguing as they headed into the living room.
“Ah! Where is he?!”
“Calm down old man. He’s probably in the bathroom again.”
“I need him up and active so I can test his powers!”
“He’s sick! Have you given him anything to eat or drink?” The other man hissed.
“Well, no. I—”
“There won’t be any powers left to use if you don’t look after him, you idiot!”
Bancroft started to argue, but was cut off.
“I suggested earlier you call in the one who used to work in medical. You haven’t done that though, have you?”
“No, I have not. I assumed at first he was simply tired from the trip...” Bancroft muttered.
The other man scoffed at him. “He was shivering.”
“Well, he was on the cold floor...”
There was some noise, followed by something smashing, but Ray couldn’t tell if it was because they had fought, or because something was smashed in anger. A few minutes later, the younger Hydra agent entered the bathroom and crouched to check on Ray. He carefully rolled Ray from his back, onto his side and put to fingers to his neck.
Is he checking my pulse? Do I really look that bad?
He must have, for the man to bother checking. He watched Ray for a bit before leaving the room, returning shortly with a bottle of water. Rather than asking if Ray was able to sit up, he simply put an arm around Ray’s shoulders and helped him into a semi-sitting position, holding him there while he had a small drink. He waited to make sure the water stayed down before trying to question Ray.
“Were you given something on the way here?”
Slowly, Ray shook his head.
“Were you sick before then?”
Again, Ray shook his head. He slowly lifted his hands, having to think about the simplest way to communicate what he needed to. Ray just hoped it was understood.
M-E-D-S he signed, glad the letters didn’t require a lot of effort. Going by the ‘oh shit’ look on the Hydra agent’s face, he understood. Good. He didn’t feel up to talking.
“You don’t have any with you?” The agent guessed.
Ray’s expression made the answer pretty clear; an exasperated ‘what do you think?’ sort of look.
“Hey, I’m just trying to make sure I’ve got it right. No use trying to help if I don’t know what it is,” the man said as he picked Ray back up. He didn’t head back to the living room though, instead heading for another room. “For someone with such extensive planning, Bancroft is a fucking moron, thinking this will all work out, without checking to see if you’re even in a condition for his plans. It’s like that mess I keep hearing about, where he killed the guy he wanted to use as leverage against his last tar- Hey! What are you doing?!”
Ray had suddenly had a burst of energy and lashed out, hitting the agent’s shoulder and struggling to free himself from the man’s arms.
“Stop it!” He snapped at Ray. “You’ll fall.”
Ray paused turned his head to look down at the floor. With the man’s height and Ray not really in a condition to properly break his fall, he’d likely end up injuring an arm, or his head if he did. He sighed and covered his face with an arm instead. Even when he felt himself being lowered onto something soft, Ray kept his face hidden. He had a feeling the agent was still in the room though, watching him. He hadn’t heard any footsteps leaving after all.
“Hey.”
Ray didn’t respond and soon felt a hand on his wrist, carefully pulling his arm away from his face.
“Are you feeling sick again? There’s a bathroom attached to this bedroo…” he paused when Ray shook his head and was quiet for a bit, thinking on when Ray actually reacted, frowning when he realised. “Shit. You’re that same guy he wanted back then, aren’t you?”
Rather than nodding, Ray turned his head to look away, biting his lip as he tried to stop himself from getting too upset. It didn’t seem to work though, Ray blinking to try and clear the tears that were obscuring his vision.
“And the other agent was someone important?” The man guessed. Why else would Bancroft use them as leverage? He sighed as Ray struggled to free his wrist from his grip. Letting go, he watched as Ray covered his face again.
“Okay…” he frowned. He decided to leave Ray alone for a bit and went to collect the water, which he put on the bedside table in the room before leaving the room, partially closing the door behind him so Ray could have at least a little privacy.
Ray should have expected it would come up at some point, being back around Bancroft, but the fact that this stranger (he was still struggling to recall the name of) was the one to do it had caught him off guard. When he was certain he’d been left alone, Ray lowered his arm and slowly moved to curl up under the warm blankets of the bed he’d been left on. As he started drifting back off to sleep, Ray found himself wondering whether or not Clay had even realised he’d been gone for an unusually long time. Cassie definitely would have, possibly a few others too…
@theghostofagentweiss ((for reference purposes))
