Bucky
Three years passed before the Winter Soldier saw the Scarlet Spider again, and in that time she was fully trained and assimilated into HYDRA. Trained in multiple methods of combat and spy work, she became as valuable an asset as the Winter Soldier. Her first assassination was completed when she was five years old, and her second came only a month later. She recovered numerous time-sensitive data for HYDRA, advancing their work more quickly than it ever could have without her. She was the prize of HYDRA, she was HYDRA’s daughter, their Little Scarlet Spider.
The Winter Soldier was awoken from cryostasis and given his new mission: protect the Scarlet Spider as she gathers intel on a couple who may be a risk to HYDRA and, should they be found guilty, aid her in disposing of them. The couple’s names were Jonathan and Harriet Mailer and they had a son named James who was six years old. James Mailer was an outcast and without any friends, therefor it was determined that the best course of action would be for the Scarlet Spider to befriend him in order to gather information on his parents. The Winter Soldier was also informed that the Scarlet Spider had been given orders to do as he commanded since she was not quite ready to perform a mission on her own yet.
When the Winter Soldier met the Scarlet Spider again he no longer had any memory of her, and she of him, so for them they were both meeting each other for the first time. The first thing the Winter Soldier noticed was her stance, she stood like any soldier and carried herself fiercely despite her size. She regarded him with a blank emotionless expression much like his own, and her eyes were just as calculating as his. In the ten seconds that they regarded each other they both thought of five different ways they could take the other down, (a force of habit), and determined all the ways the other might prove useful.
“Good to work with you, sir.” The Scarlet Spider’s voice was flat and professional, betraying not a hint of emotion. The Winter Soldier gave a brief nod in acknowledgement, it seemed likely that as a child she would need a few signs from him to show he had heard her. Despite her age it seemed likely to him that their mission would prove easy enough, she was obviously capable. After being briefed on how to best work together and given all the necessary supplies they were taken to the apartment they would be staying in for the few weeks that their mission would take. They would be acting under the alias of Matthew Mcnair and his daughter Crystal.
The apartment was across the street from the Mailers, with a broad view of the entire street outside of the window. They arrived at precisely 2:30 in the afternoon and the Scarlet Spider immediately began unpacking. She wasted no time in setting up multiple look out points in the apartment and the surrounding area where she could observe their targets, meanwhile the Winter Soldier prepared rations and stored weapons all throughout the apartment. By the end of the day they had a clear view of the inside of the Mailers’ house and front yard. The Scarlet Spider explained her plan to the Winter Soldier as they ate their rations that evening, afterwards they both took turns sleeping and keeping watch over the Mailers’ home. The Scarlet Spider required more sleep than the Winter Soldier due to her age, but he was able to go for days without sleeping, so this was not an inconvenience.
The next day the Scarlet Spider went and introduced herself to James Mailer, who was sitting in the front yard of his house by himself. She immediately made it clear that she preferred playing with him to spending time with any of the other children in the area and in only twenty minutes the two had become inseparable. The Winter Soldier kept watch over her from either the apartment window or from under a tree, when the Mailers asked the Scarlet Spider about him she told them that he was still troubled from his time in the military and the death of her mother, so he didn’t like to talk to people. They smiled sadly when she told them this, and told her to let him know that if there was anything they could do for them to just ask.
This continued for several days, the Scarlet Spider would spend the day playing with James Mailer while the Winter Soldier watched and every few days the Scarlet Spider would send in a report to HYDRA. While the Scarlet Spider could not get any useful information on Jonathan and Harriet Mailer through their son, she knew to wait for an opportunity to present itself, and exactly two weeks into the mission, one did.
The Scarlet Spider returned early to the apartment one day and informed the Winter Soldier that she had been invited to attend James Mailer’s seventh birthday party and that he was invited as well. Since they had only one day to prepare a plan they made sure to act quickly. The Scarlet Spider already knew from James Mailer’s parents what he wanted for his birthday, so she bought an action figure for him and clumsily wrapped it, (though she could have been much more professional had the situation called for it). She and the Winter Soldier discussed a plan for how he would behave while in the house, though ideally she would be doing all the talking, and HYDRA delivered an assortment of listening devices for the Scarlet Spider to plant around the house while they were there, which she hid in the sleeves of her shirt and pockets.
The Winter Soldier and the Scarlet Spider arrived at the Mailers house the next day and were greeted enthusiastically by their son. The interior of the house was decorated with colourful streamers and there were multiple balloons scattered about the place. The Mailers smiled warmly at the Winter Soldier and offered him some food, but did not try to converse with him beyond that, clearly they respected the privacy they believed he needed. The Winter Soldier sat in an armchair and watched as the Scarlet Spider gave James Mailer her present to him. The boy shrieked with delight when he saw the toy, and soon he and the Scarlet Spider were running about the house playing with the rest of his action figures.
Since the Scarlet Spider was much more athletic than an ordinary child she pretended to tire when James Mailer did, collapsing onto the floor next to him and laughing.
“Try not to wear yourselves out before supper,” Harriet Mailer scolded. The Scarlet Spider grinned at her.
“I can do this all day!” she declared, and suddenly the Winter Soldier couldn’t remember how to breathe.
The room seemed to shrink in on itself until it wasn’t there anymore. All he could see was a pair of eyes that were an incredible shade of blue, bluer than all the skies and oceans in the world, and that thought felt just as oddly familiar as the sight of those impossibly blue eyes. Bucky, a ghost whispered in his ear, and the Winter Soldier felt a hand brush gently against his cheek. He needed to breathe, he needed to see, and he couldn’t. He was drowning in those blue eyes, and the hand against his cheek was dragging him under. He couldn’t hear, he couldn’t see, he couldn’t breathe—
The sound of laughter abruptly cut through the Winter Soldier and everything snapped back into place. The two children had resumed their game of chase around the house and Jonathan Mailer had gone to the kitchen to add some finishing touches to his son’s birthday cake. Harriet Mailer was reading a book, but the Winter Soldier noticed her glancing at him every once in a while, a look of worry on her face. He noticed that he had a faint level of perspiration and an elevated heart rate. He shifted his position to appear more relaxed and breathed deeply to slow his heart. He had been warned about this, of course, too much time out of stasis could lead to the brain malfunctioning and giving him meaningless images and sounds. He would have to report this after their assignment, he just had to make sure he held out and they didn’t have to abort before the Scarlet Spider had at least finished placing bugs all around the house.
A little less than an hour passed before he experienced another malfunction. The Mailers had brought out their son’s cake and clapped when he managed to blow out all the candles on the first try. The family was sitting around the table eating cake with the Scarlet Spider sitting next to James Mailer when the sound of the door opening and closing alerted them to the presence of a guest. The Winter Soldier casually rested his hand near one of the many knives he carried on him, and he noticed the Scarlet Spider doing the same. James Mailer ran forward just as a young man came around the corner. He looked to be at least five years older than Jonathan Mailer, and judging by the similarities in their faces, the Winter Soldier guessed the man was Jonathan Mailer’s brother Thomas.
“Who are you?” the Scarlet Spider asked, and the fearful tone she had opted for made the Winter Soldier’s surroundings disappear again. A little girl stood before him, he knew her. She was scared of him, how did he know her? The Winter Soldier mentally shook himself and everything returned to normal. Thomas Mailer was smiling at the Scarlet Spider while James Mailer jumped up and down and waved his arms in the air.
“Mommy, daddy!” he cried, he said something else, but the Winter Soldier couldn’t hear him. That hadn’t been right, he should have been scared. No, why would he be scared? Who was scared? Again the child appeared before him, this time she was clinging to a pink wall. She was making too much noise, he had to silence her. Who was she? He knew her, he knew her, he knew her. Bucky!
A loud bang filled the room and the Winter Soldier almost didn’t stop himself from pulling out one of his knives before he noticed the tattered remains of one of the balloons and heard Thomas Mailer say “Oops.” The rest of the residents had begun to laugh but for some reason he couldn’t hear it. All he could hear was the sound of his blood pumping through him and his gasping breaths. Why was it so hard to breathe? Why was his right arm shaking? Why couldn’t he see? Where was he?
He could hear the girl crying, who was she, why was she crying? He made her cry, her parents were dead, she was his mission, she was Karen Parker, she was the Scarlet Spider! He reached for her, she had to stay quiet. Bucky! A hand was outstretched before him, he had to take it, had to, had tohadtohadto. He was falling, why was he falling? He could see her falling next to him, she was so small and she was falling. He did this, they were falling and it was his fault. He reached his hand out to her, but he couldn’t reach. I did this I did this IdidthisIdidthisIdidthisI—
BUCKY!!
“Can you hear me, Matthew? It’s me, Jonathan, I’m right here. You’re safe, it’s okay. Can you hear me, Matthew?” For a minute he didn’t know who was talking, then he remembered where he was, his vision cleared and he could see Jonathan Mailer’s face frowning with concern.
“I can hear you, I can hear you,” he gasped. He closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing while Jonathan spoke to him.
“Crystal didn’t notice, we didn’t tell her,” Jonathan murmured. “It’s okay, you haven’t ruined today for her. You’re okay, you’re safe.” He wanted to tell Jonathan he knew he was safe, but his heart was still racing and his head was spinning and he was having a hard time breathing. “Just breathe with me, Matthew okay? Breathe in...and out. In...and out. You’re safe.” Jonathan’s voice washed over him and he found that his heart rate slowed as he breathed in time with him. After a minute he was no longer shaking and his breathing felt more controlled. He still felt sick and light-headed, but he pushed himself off of the floor, (when had he gotten there?), and looked around him. He was in a dimly lit room covered wall to wall in glass cases containing rows of small decorative spoons. He could faintly hear the children laughing in the other room, for some reason the sound made the tension in his shoulders release.
“Where am I?” he whispered. He tried to stand but he swayed on his feet. Jonathan grabbed hold of his arm and helped him stay upright.
“Oh, this is just the room where I keep my collection,” Jonathan said. “Harriet told the kids I’m showing it to you, I usually do that to every guest at least once.” Jonathan looked away from the many cases and looked into his eyes. “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” he said, then “I’m sorry.”
Jonathan shook his head. “You don’t need to apologize for anything,” he said. “I used to get panic attacks all the time, I still do, occasionally.” He smiled, but he didn’t look happy. “I know what it’s like.” A minute of silence passed awkwardly before Jonathan broke it. “Are you feeling up to heading back out there?” he asked.
“I think so,” he said. Looking at his reflection in one of the glass cases he took a deep breath and brought his face back to the neutral emotionless expression it always held. He wiped away tears he hadn’t even noticed had been there and nodded.
The rest of the day passed by without incident. The Scarlet Spider tilted her head to the side slightly when he walked back into the room which he knew was her asking if he had found any useful information, he subtly shook his head no at her, and she resumed playing with James. The Mailers served supper and insisted the two of them stay. Harriet piled a large amount of food on his plate, and he found it helped with the dizziness.
Just as they were finishing supper James asked the Scarlet Spider if she could sleep over. She turned to him with big eyes and asked in her best Innocent Child voice “Can I, daddy?” He pretended to think about it before nodding, and she cheered with delight. As he was leaving he wrapped her up in a hug and she whispered “Hail HYDRA,” into his ear. He repeated the phrase back, but he found that the words made him feel as if there was a stone in his stomach.
He didn’t sleep. Instead, he spent two hours telling himself he should report back to HYDRA that he was malfunctioning, but every time he considered it the ghost whispered in his ear. Bucky. He thought of the name, and he thought of those impossibly blue eyes. He thought of the girl, Karen, the Scarlet Spider. He thought of the sight of her frightened, terrified, of him. He thought of her parents’ bodies, left behind without a second glance. And he thought of those blue, blue eyes and the name in his ear.
“Bucky.” The name felt strange on his tongue, almost familiar. He said it again. He smiled.
He spent the next two hours disposing of half of the weapons and packing the rest. Afterwards he searched around town until he found a car to steal. He found the owner dead in his home, he had so far not been discovered for days, and probably wouldn’t be found for another week. He packed all of their provisions into the stolen car and parked it two blocks away from the apartment. He tried to sleep after that, but he couldn’t stay still, and the voice kept whispering in his ear.
The next morning he picked the Scarlet Spider up from the Mailers. They both thanked him for coming over yesterday and reminded him that if he needed anything he just had to ask. He slipped Jonathan a note as he shook his hand, a warning so that he and his wife would know the danger they were in, and then he and the Scarlet Spider left.
Instead of taking her to the apartment he began walking to the stolen car. “Where are we going, sir?” she asked while matching his pace step for step.
“Our mission has changed,” he said. “I have taken care of everything, we will be moving.”
“What is the new mission, sir?”
“How much sleep did you get last night?” he asked instead of answering her. He walked up to the car and opened the door.
“Three point four hours,” she answered.
“That is not a sufficient amount for a child your age. Sleep in the car, I will tell you about the mission after we have relocated."
“Yes sir.” The Scarlet Spider lay down in the backseat and closed her eyes. In a few minutes her breathing had slowed and he could tell she was asleep. He looked at her, a child who he had handed over to HYDRA. He thought about her parents and how happy she had been with them. He thought of Pierce, who would not know they were missing for a few days. He thought of blue eyes.
Bucky.
Bucky smiled and started the car. It hummed to life and he was struck by the feeling that he had done this before. As he drove away from their little apartment and the Mailers and HYDRA he began to hum softly. A few years later he would remember the song was called White Cliffs of Dover. The Scarlet Spider slept in the car, and for the first time he could remember, Bucky felt like he was doing the right thing.