CHAPTER FIVE
it's a waiting game now
　

IT WAS MORNING BY THE TIME they got back to Avengers Tower, and throughout the entire flight, Tony hadn't left Ophelia's side. He sat beside her unconscious body, one hand stroking her hair and the other resting at his side. He didn't particularly like the sight of the bruises that were forming along her cheekbones and jawline, or the blood on her lip and under her nose, but Tony knew that Steve did what he had to do. She wasn't herself, and knocking her unconscious was the only way to save her life. But clearly, that had been a challenge for Steve, as the star-spangled man had a few bruises himself from their confrontation.

They were immediately met by a tired looking Maeve Whalen ⎯⎯ who was still wearing the same pair of sweatpants and tank top from before ⎯⎯ when they arrived at Avengers Tower, and were quick to debrief the woman when she met them on the platform and asked how the mission went. Afterwards, they brought Ophelia to a cell and laid her down on a cot inside so Bruce could check her over for any critical injuries that she may have sustained in Paris and Belgium.

Tony was standing some ways away from the cell, eyes watching Bruce's every move. He wanted to be sitting by her side and make sure that she was okay, but Steve had pulled him aside so they could discuss what they were going to do with Ophelia now that she was in their custody.

"I found this at their base," Steve said, showing him a red leatherback book that had a star on the front.

Tony's brow furrowed as he reached for the leather book, carefully taking it into his hands and opening it up. Everything was written in what appeared to be Russian, so he couldn't tell what it said. But he did recognize one thing, and that was her name.

"What is this?" Tony asked, looking up and meeting Steve's gaze, face twisting with both concern and confusion.

"Whenever me and Romanoff uncovered HYDRA's files, we discovered that they had a book that looked exactly like this one for Bucky," Steve explained. "It was how they activated him. How they activated the Winter Soldier. But this one isn't for Bucky, it's for Ophelia."

"She's a Winter Soldier?" Tony asked, stomach churning at the thought. He had heard stories about what happened to Bucky during his time as the Winter Soldier, and he hated picturing the love of his life going through something like that.

Steve sighed, glancing at Ophelia's cell before looking back at Tony. "We can't know for sure. It was never in any of HYDRA's files that Romanoff released to the world. But yes, I think Ophelia is part of the Winter Soldier program. It would explain why she didn't recognize you or her name. And it would explain why she has a book like Bucky's."

Tony blinked away the fresh tears, trying to remain strong. "How do we bring her back?"

"It won't be easy, Tony," Steve said honestly, crossing his arms. "It'll take some time. A lot of it. But I think that if we surround her with things from her old life, then we might be able to trigger a memory and get her to remember something."

Tony hadn't thrown out a single thing since his fiancé was presumed dead, so bringing some of her possessions to Avengers Tower wouldn't be very hard at all. "Alright, uh, I'll give Pepper, Rhodey and Happy a call. They can bring some of her stuff by."

"They should stay for a little while," Steve suggested. "It'll be good for Ophelia to see some familiar faces. Hearing you all talk to her about the past might trigger something in her memory. Could speed things along."

Tony immediately whipped out his cell phone, but hesitated to dial Rhodey's number. Finger hovering over the contact list, he looked over at Ophelia resting inside her cell and frowned. He didn't want to leave, not without knowing she was okay first.

Steve noticed the expression on his face and gently patted him on the shoulder. "I'll stay with her, Tony. Go make the call. She'll be okay with me and Bruce."

He hesitated for another moment, and then nodded his head and slowly left the room, going to a more private area in Avengers Tower to dial Rhodey's number. His best friend answered almost immediately, the man clearly eager to know if there had been any news on Ophelia Southerns since the last time the two of them spoke over the phone.

"Tony? Hey, what's going on? Did you⎯⎯"

"We've got her," Tony cut him off, a faint smile appearing on his face as he stared out the glass windows at the city of New York.

Rhodey sighed in relief. "Is she okay?"

"Well, that's a little complicated."

"What do you mean?" Rhodey asked, his tone laced with concern.

"She's a little banged up, but otherwise okay. Physically, at least," Tony said. "Steve found a book while we were in Belgium. We think that it might help jog her memory."

"How is a book supposed to help bring her memories back?"

"It's some kind of Winter Soldier journal," Tony explained. "I don't really know a lot about how it's supposed to work, but Steve said that Bucky had one just like it. It's how they would activate him."

"So, they brainwashed her and then turned her into a Winter Soldier?"

"Seems like it," Tony sighed sadly. "We're going to use the book to bring her memories back, but it's going to take some time. And we're going to need help."

"I'll always be there for Ophelia. We all will," Rhodey said, speaking not only for himself but for Pepper and Happy, too. Because they cared about Ophelia just as much as he did. "Just tell me what you need me to do."

His mouth twitched back into a faint smile, very grateful to have a best friend like James Rhodes in his life. "Steve said she needs to be surrounded by things from her past, so I need you, Pepper and Happy to come by and stick around for a bit. Bring some of her things and some pictures, too. The more stuff the better."

"I'm on it," Rhodey said. "I'll call Pepper and Happy, let them know what's going on. We'll get everything you need and be there as soon as possible. You just worry about Ophelia, okay, man? Stay with her. She needs you right now."

After talking to his best friend for another moment and then hanging up, Tony immediately made his way back towards Ophelia, only to find that Bruce was gone and the door to her cell had been locked by Steve Rogers, who was sitting on a chair nearby and watching the unconscious woman sleep, obviously waiting for him to return.

"You get a hold of Rhodey?" Steve asked.

"Yeah," Tony nodded, pulling up a chair and sitting beside his friend and fellow Avenger. "He's calling Pepper and Happy now to let them know what's going on. They're gonna bring some of Ophelia's stuff with them."

"That's good," Steve acknowledged with a nod of his head.

"How is she?" Tony asked. His eyes had yet to move away from the unconscious body of Ophelia Southerns, as though he was scared that she would disappear and he would lose her all over again.

"She's fine," Steve replied. "Bruce said that her bruises aren't going to swell and that they should go away in a few days. He also checked her for a concussion and said that everything looks fine."

Tony's shoulders sagged in relief, something which didn't go unnoticed by Steve Rogers.

"She's going to be okay, Tony," he said reassuringly. "Ophelia has a lot of people that care about her, and that's a good thing. A support system is exactly what she needs right now. No matter how long it takes, we'll get her memories back. I know we will."

"Gotta admit," Tony said with a faint smirk tugging at his mouth, "that giddy optimism is exactly what I needed to hear right now."

Steve chuckled, shaking his head lightly, and the two of them fell into a comfortable silence, simply watching Ophelia Southerns sleep and waiting for the woman to wake up.

　
━━━━━
　

IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE Ophelia Southerns finally woke up. But she did so whenever Tony Stark wasn't in the room, the man having left for a moment so he could use the restroom, which he only did after Steve Rogers had promised him that he wouldn't go anywhere and would stay with Ophelia until he returned.

As the woman sat up on the cot, Steve leaned forward, elbows on his knees. He watched as she looked down at the bindings on her wrists and then watched as she glanced around the cell in confusion. But when her eyes finally landed on him, the confusion vanished and was quickly replaced by a stoic expression as they narrowed into an intense glare.

"Do you remember what happened?" Steve asked, but he received no response from the woman, who simply leaned back against the wall and continued looking at him with narrowed eyes. "My name is Steve Rogers. What's your name?"

Again, the woman said nothing.

Steve sighed, getting up from the chair and crossing the room to grab the peanut butter sandwich and bottled water that Natasha had brought not that long ago, during which time she also informed them that Edrick Karlov wasn't going to give them any information.

"Are you hungry?" Steve asked, approaching the cell and opening the small latch that near the floor. He slid the food and bottle water inside, before locking it back up.

Her eyes flicked down to look at the food and bottled water, but only for a moment. Steve could tell that Ophelia was hungry and in need of some water, but the woman didn't even move an inch. And it was then that Steve knew it was going to be extremely hard to get the woman to cooperate with them.

Steve crossed the room, and just as he was about to sit down on the chair again, the door opened up and Tony walked in, finally back from his trip to the restroom. He looked at Steve and then at Ophelia, and his eyes widened slightly when he saw that she was finally awake.

"Ophelia?" Tony breathed out, stepping further into the room, eyes never moving away from her body. She turned to look at him, head tilting to the side and eyes narrowing when she seemed to recognize him from their mission in Paris.

Tony looked her up and down, frowning at the sight of all the bruises littered across her visible skin, and then he met her gaze. They held each other's stare for what seemed like an eternity, but it was when tears started to blur over his vision that her brow twitched with confusion and curiosity.

Steve cleared his throat to capture Tony's attention, and once the man looked at him, he motioned with his head toward the door. He walked out of the room then, and Tony hesitantly followed a moment later. And the second that they were in the hallway and out of earshot, Tony began asking questions.

"How long has she been awake? Did she say anything? Why didn't you come get me?⎯⎯"

Steve was quick to cut him off. "She hasn't been awake long, and I didn't come get you because I promised you I would stay with her. And no, she hasn't said a word. Tried to give her food and water, but she won't even touch it. She isn't going to make this easy for us."

Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair. "What do we do now?"

"We wait," Steve replied, crossing his arms. "Out here, not in there. We need to observe her for a little while. See if she does anything. If she eats or has any water. I know you want to be in there with her, but it's just until Rhodey and the others get here. Then, we can start trying to trigger a memory."

It was obvious that Tony didn't like the plan and wanted to walk through the door, sit in the chair and just talk to the woman he loved. But he also knew that Steve was right. If she was refusing to eat and talk right now, then they needed to have some patience and leave her alone for a little while. So, even though he didn't like it at all, Tony nodded his head anyway.

"I'll take the first watch."

"Are you sure?" Steve said, looking at the exhausted man standing beside him and silently noting how he had bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep over the past few nights. "I can do it so you can get some sleep."

"I'm not going anywhere, Cap," Tony replied.

Steve didn't argue with him. Because if it was him and that was Ginny inside the cell with her wrists bound and memories scrambled, he wouldn't want to leave her side either. Not when she needed him. So, he nodded, patting Tony on the shoulder. "I'll come back in about an hour or so. Let me know if you need anything."

Tony didn't say anything in response, eyes already zoned in on Ophelia Southerns through the one-sided glass window. She still hadn't moved. Not even an inch. And the food and water remained untouched.

It seemed like hours had gone by, but in reality, Tony knew that it had only been about fifteen minutes. And she still hadn't moved from her position on the cot. She just stared at the door with slightly narrowed eyes, as though she was waiting for one of them to walk inside the room again. But Tony didn't, no matter how badly he wanted to.

At some point, Tony thought about opening the door and going inside so he could plead with her to eat the peanut butter sandwich and drink some of the water, because he could tell that she wanted it. Badly. But he didn't do that and sighed instead, running a hand through his disheveled hair.

Gonna be a long day, he thought.

a/n: gosh the amount of love tony has for this woman just kills me, like she is his everything 🥺 anyways, i hope you guys are ready for them to try to jog her memory with stories about the past! stories that are gonna get you right in the feels btw, so be prepared for that

also, you may have noticed that steve mentioned someone named ginny in this chapter 👀 she is his love interest in my upcoming steve rogers fic, which was made for me by the lovely starfragment! i'm very excited to share their story with you all!