Two Days Later
Northern California
Scarlett flipped through an agent's file, her eyes scanning briefly over mission reports and skillsets. Vince had given her files of every agent who joined their forming rebellion, and Scarlett had been looking through them for the last two hours.
"Baby." Vince muttered, sleepily rubbing his face. He propped himself up on one elbow, his eyes finding Scarlett. She sat at the foot of the bed in nothing but a pair of black underwear and a white tank top. Her hair had been put up into a ponytail but it was steadily falling out. "What are you doing?"
"Studying." She answered quietly, turning the page in the file.
"What? It's almost three in the morning."
"I'm not tired." Her fingers tapped against her lips. Vince let out a heavy sigh and rubbed his eyes.
"What are you looking at?"
"The files you gave me."
Vince pushed himself into a sitting position and leaned forward to kiss Scarlett's bare shoulder.
"I missed you, baby." When she said nothing, Vince continued to place gentle kisses along her shoulder and up the side of her neck. "Something else is on your mind. You're being distant. What is it?" Scarlett said nothing, leaning away from him as she closed the file and picked up a new one. "Are you giving me the silent treatment, Scarlett?"
"I just don't want to talk right now, Vince. There's a lot on my plate and I don't want to get mad at you."
"Then talk to me about whatever it is." Vince studied her face even though she refused to look at him. "Is it Pierce?"
"He's disappointed in me, Vince." Scarlett whispered, shaking her head softly. "I can just.... I can see it in his eyes."
"I'm sorry, baby." Vince tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear. "But he's really not worth the time and effort, sweetheart. In a few months, he's going to be out of the picture anyways. You won't have to worry about him anymore because you will be the sole leader of HYDRA." His teeth gently brushed over her pulse right under the place where her jaw and neck met. "You'll lead us to greatness."
"You think so?" Scarlett turned her head to him, gazing at him through her lashes.
"Baby, I know so." He smirked, leaning in to kiss her. She accepted the kiss, her hand finding the side of his neck. Vince took ahold of her waist and pulled her into his lap. His hands gripped her thighs as his lips left hers and trailed down the front of her neck.
———
Scarlett was up again before the sun even came up. She was dressed in black skinny jeans, combat boots, and a fitting black long sleeve. Her hair had been tied back into a sleek high bun. As she approached the door to Pierce's office, the two men standing outside tensed up.
"Mr. Pierce is on a conference call." One of them told her as he opened the door. Scarlett stepped inside.
"I don't understand why you've got so much trust in Agent Rose, Alexander." A woman spoke. "She found out who her birth parents are and why she is who she is. Who says she won't turn on us just like the Maximoffs did?"
Pierce's eyes met Scarlett's. He nodded to the chair in front of his desk. She took a seat and crossed her knees.
"Agent Rose is different from the twins. She's been loyal to HYDRA her entire life and while I am disappointed with her recent behavior, I have no doubt that she'll easily make it up to us."
"Giovanni Warren's youngest son told him that Scarlett was flirting with Pietro Maximoff." A male said. "If she's gained any sort of attachment to him then she's been compromised—,"
"I can assure you that she hasn't, Gideon." Pierce leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "Scarlett is too smart to form romantic bonds. I hate to cut this call short, but I have more pressing matters to rake care of." He pressed a button on the receiver and the call ended. "I have every single leader telling me that I shouldn't let you be out in the field so soon. Gideon Malik wants you in isolation. Whitehall wants you to be punished for not killing yourself while in custody of the Avengers."
"Sir, I intend on making everything up to you and the others." Scarlett told him.
"Was Vince Warren telling the truth? Have you grown romantic feelings towards Pietro Maximoff?"
"Romance is for children. I was only playing with his emotions." Scarlett answered flatly. "I was playing nice with them in hopes of getting information out of them."
"And did you?"
"No." Scarlett shook her head softly. "They didn't trust me enough to speak of anything important around me. But sir, there are plans to assassinate you and the other Heads of HYDRA."
Pierce fell silent for a few moments.
"What do you mean?"
"Two nights ago, I was invited by a fellow agent to attend a meeting. At that meeting, they spoke of murdering every leader we have. The Baroness, the Banker, Dr. Whitehall—,"
"Do you have names?"
"I do, sir, but I'd like to keep this between you and me." Scarlett shifted in her seat a little. "I think that if I play along with them, I can get more names of traitors within our own walls, agents that make us weak. If we flush out all of the weak agents, HYDRA might finally have a chance at surviving the Avengers."
Pierce nodded his head and glanced down at his phone on his desk. It lit up and buzzed against the wood.
"Who was the agent who invited you to the meeting?"
"Agent Vince Warren, sir." She answered quietly. Pierce leaned forward in his seat and picked his phone up.
"Hmm. That's Giovanni, wanting to know about your status." Pierce spoke. Giovanni was Vince's father. "He's making a visit this afternoon. Let's keep this between us for now, Agent Rose. I want you reporting back to me every day. While you are doing that, I'm going to have to suspend you from any field work until further notice."
Scarlett furrowed her brows together, moving to sit on the edge of her chair.
"But sir, that's not—,"
"We have new agents coming in everyday, Scarlett. Could you imagine what they'd think if I let this slide? We'd have a mutiny." Pierce cut her off. Scarlett directed her gaze to the ground as he continued to speak. "As highly as I think of you, Scarlett, I can't let this just go and let things return to normal. Do you understand, child?"
"Yes." She spoke through clenched teeth.
"Good. I have two groups of new recruits that I'd like you and Agent Knight to take care of today. Dismissed."
"Thank you, sir." Scarlett nodded her head once. She stood to her feet and made her way to the door.
Suspension from field work wasn't the end of the world. It'd give her more time to fix whatever thoughts she had in her head about leaving HYDRA. She just needed to have patience and tone down the horrible attitude she almost always had.
A smirk crossed her lips. HYDRA was going to be hers, and she'd get it without Vince's help.
———
Scarlett walked alongside Agent Drake Knight, letting him lead the tour. She wasn't interested in the recruits. He was friendly with everyone and people generally liked him. He always did well with the recruitments.
Scarlett's mind was elsewhere. She listened to the quiet chatter over the earpieces every HYDRA agent wore.
"The Asset has been contained, sir." Agent Rumlow spoke. Scarlett furrowed her brows together as she came to a stop.
"You okay, Agent Rose?" Agent Knight asked her. She nodded her head softly.
"I've just remembered I have to go talk to Agent Rumlow. He owes me thirty bucks. He's here, isn't he?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Scarlett excused herself from the group and began to make her way through the facility. The only place with the ability to securely hold the Winter Soldier was the basement lab. It was designed with reinforced walls and polycarbonate windows. No one got in or out without a palm and retinal scan. Luckily, Scarlett had access to everything within HYDRA's Northern California facility.
———
Scarlett's boots clicked against the stairs as she ascended them. Her eyes flickered around the room, carefully watching the doctors and labratory personnel move about. She crossed the room to go to the captivity chambers on the other side. This was where dangerous people or unstable experiments were kept. As she got to the door, it opened to reveal Agent Brock Rumlow.
"Whoa there, Scarface. Where do you think you're going?"
Scarlett caught sight of Vince and the rest of Rumlow's team just behind him.
"I heard the Asset was in containment and I came to make sure Agent Warren didn't get himself killed." Scarlett looked up into Rumlow's eyes, unwilling to let the towering agent intimidate her into scurrying away.
"With his smart ass mouth, he's bound to get a knife to the stomach from anyone." Jack Rollins commented.
"You sure you didn't come here to see daddy?" Rumlow raised a brow at Scarlett.
"Screw you, asshole." Scarlett pushed past him and went to Vince's side. Bucky Barnes was sitting in a chair, his arms secured to the chair in metal braces. Scarlett's eyes flickered to Bucky very briefly before she turned her attention to Vince. Bucky's head was hanging so he didn't see her.
"Don't worry, Scarface." Rumlow motioned for his team to leave the room. "Your boyfriend was just getting acquainted with daddy."
"Why don't you and Rollins go jerk each other off or something, Brock?" Vince suggested. He didn't like when Rumlow called Scarlett Scarface. It was in reference to the scars littering not only the assassin's face, but also the rest of her body. Rumlow glared sharply at the younger agent. With a sharp whistle from their leader, the STRIKE team began to leave the room.
"You better watch your back, pretty boy." Jack Rollins bumped his shoulder against Vince's as he passed by.
"What a bunch of dicks." Vince muttered. "You shouldn't be here, Scarlett, not with...." He nodded to the Winter Soldier, who now had his head raised and his eyes focused on Scarlett.
"Let me talk to him." Scarlett whispered softly, bringing her hand up to cup Vince's jaw. Her icy blue eyes flickered down to his lips. "Please. Just for a few moments. And then tonight, we can go out to dinner at that sushi restaurant in Sacramento. Suki's, right?" She knew soft smile etched on to her lips would do just what she needed.
"You've got five minutes." Vince let out a soft sigh, leaning down to catch her lips. "Be safe."
Scarlett watched him leave. When the door clicked shut, her eyes shifted to Bucky. His lip was busted, there was blood smeared across his cheek from his nose, and his left eye was bruised. Scarlett could see that he wanted to speak but he wouldn't because he thought everything was being recorded.
"There's no cameras in this room." Scarlett softly shook her head. She moved to sit on a chair a few feet in front of him. "It's just us."
"You left." He spat out the blood in his mouth.
"Staying wasn't an option. Hill was going to turn me into a prisoner."
"No she wasn't, Scarlett. We were going to take you to Malibu. Stark was going to let all of us lay low at his place."
Scarlett softly shook her head, her eyes falling down to her hands.
"I know you both believe that there's good in me.... but it's not there."
"Yes it is, Scarlett. I know there is. I felt the exact same way about myself when I first got out." Bucky shifted around uncomfortably in his seat. "I didn't see the good everyone else wanted me to see. I didn't think I'd be able to not hurt anyone, not kill anyone.... But I've learned to control my anger issues and my problems and I know I can be good. That's why I know you can be too."
"Because I'm your daughter?" Her blue eyes flickered up to meet his.
"Because I see me when I look at you." Bucky's voice was soft and gentle. "I was so proud of you, kid, and I still am. It's okay to have these little setbacks, but I can help you through them. So can Nat."
Scarlett was silent, her eyes staying on his.
"That last day you were at the Compound, Scarlett, we went for a run." Bucky smiled at the memory. "You agreed to go for that run with me. It was.... It was the first time I felt like we actually bonded and I.... I liked it, Scarlett. I know I'll never be the father you deserve and we'll never be as close as normal fathers and daughters are and I'm so sorry for that—,"
"Someone's coming." Scarlett cut him off, standing to her feet. A few heartbeats later, a man was entering the room. This was Agent Oliver Maddox. He was one of the men who followed behind Colonel Vasily Karpov in being the Winter Soldier's handler. After Karpov retired, Maddox took over.
"Agent Rose. I haven't seen you in a while." Maddox looked from her to Bucky, who was hanging his head once again. Then he moved towards the back of the room to got to the table that held a few files. "Heard you abandoned us not too long ago."
"I was gaining insight." Scarlett crossed her arms over her chest and moved with Maddox. "What about you?" Her eyes flickered over his frame, studying him carefully. At six feet and seven inches tall, he towered over her. His build was slim but muscular and Scarlett had to admit he was attractive. "I heard you were in hiding."
"Vacation, actually." He flipped through a file absentmindedly. "Hard to get any shit done when you have the Avengers blowing your goddamned lab up every two weeks." He glanced to Scarlett out of the corner of his eyes. "So have you and Giovanni's youngest finally tied the knot?"
"We were suppose to." Scarlett leaned against the table, brushing all of her hair over one shoulder. "But I bailed. Had a few jobs lined up across southeast Asia so instead of going to Italy for the wedding, I went to Asia to kill."
"Sounds like a good time."
"It was." Scarlett nodded her head softly. She bit her bottom lip, eyes intently gazing at Agent Maddox.
"What are you trying to do, Scarlett?" He let out a sigh as he turned to face her. Scarlett pulled the knife from the holster on her thigh and stabbed him once in the stomach, then again in the chest. She twisted the knife inside his chest cavity, effectively ending his life. She stepped out of the way as his body hit the floor.
"You're going to get your ass into trouble." Bucky commented.
"I got angry." She shrugged her shoulders softly, wiping the blood from her blade on Agent Maddox's shirt. She was a little displeased with having to kill him. He was a good agent. "He was criticizing me and telling me I didn't belong with HYDRA anymore."
She stood up and holster her knife. Then, Scarlett brushed her hair out of her eyes and moved across the room to the door. Vince would be coming back anytime soon.
"Scarlett, wait—,"
She closed the door behind herself. Rumlow was crossing the lab, making his way towards Scarlett. She pulled the anger constantly bubbling inside to the surface and began to storm towards the staircase. He needed to buy her story.
"What's wrong with you?" Rumlow asked her.
"Ask Agent Maddox." She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and smirked evilly. "Oh wait, you can't."
"What the hell did you do, Scarlett!" Rumlow stepped towards her.
"Knifed him."
"What for?"
"Same reason I'm probably going to kill you." Scarlett stomped up the staircase. "He got on my nerves."
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