A New Mission
The Scarlet Spider woke up five hours later, by then it was past noon and the sun was beating down on them. They didn’t speak the whole drive, and Bucky made sure to make as few stops as possible. He thought about what he would tell the Scarlet Spider as they drove. Her enhanced senses gave her the ability to hear a person’s pulse, so she would be able to tell if he lied. He tried to predict what questions she might ask, and what answers he would give. He planned his words as carefully as he dared, though he knew it might not be enough.
When the sun had just finished setting they finally stopped at a hotel. It was a small place stuck next to the seemingly endless road, where people on road trips might stay for the night. There were only two cars parked outside and the receptionist barely even glanced at them when they checked in. Bucky had wanted to keep driving for at least another day, but he knew he should have a clear head when explaining things to the Scarlet Spider.
“This mission is about you,” he told her as he handed her a bowl of spaghetti. They were almost out of food now, he would have to buy more tomorrow. “You need to mature into the person you were meant to be.”
“I am mature,” she replied. “All my teachers have told me so.” Shit. This was going to be hard.
“Yes, but you have not finished growing mentally,” he said. “You need to learn about the world so that you can understand your place in it.”
“The Scarlet Spider is the daughter of HYDRA and it’s most loyal subject. She is the treasure of HYDRA and she will help shape the world into what it should be.” Her voice was flat and monotonous as she spoke, Bucky thought of the laughing child in her mother’s arms and felt his heart clench.
“That is HYDRA’s world,” he explained. “And you must learn about the outside world as well. Once you know this,” he gestured to the dingy room, “world as well as HYDRA’s, you will know exactly what to do with it.”
The Scarlet Spider thought a moment. “So,” she said. “Once I understand where I would fit in this world, and how it functions, I will know how to change it into HYDRA’s world?”
Oh, Bucky hated that question, he wished she hadn’t asked. But she was a child, so she was curious. And he couldn’t lie to her. Or to himself.
“Yes.”
The Scarlet Spider nodded. “How will this mission be carried out, sir?”
“The first thing you must know is that we are on the run from enemies.” The Scarlet Spider grabbed one of her knives. “You won’t be concerning yourself with them!” he added. “That is my job. You will focus on the mission, I will handle everything else.” The Scarlet Spider put her knife down and resumed eating her spaghetti. “Since we are on the run we won’t be able to stay in one place for long, but we will play the roles of a father and daughter. You will learn how it is to be a normal girl and observe how other people live.” This next part might be a mistake, but he had to try. “We will be changing names with every town we go to, but when we are alone, I will call you Karen.” He searched her face for some kind of reaction, but he found none. “And you will refer to me as your father, so that you are always learning. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” she replied.
“Good, but our mission has already begun. Say that again.”
“Yes, Dad.”
Hearing her say that made his throat tight, but he ignored it as he finished his supper. He would have to be careful with how he taught her, she couldn’t know they were running from HYDRA.
It took a week for them to leave the country, and for her to ask the question that Bucky had both been anticipating and dreading. During that time he and the Scarlet Spider changed names every day, and only spent a few hours outside. Bucky assured her that once they were out of the country it would be safer for her to be out in the open, and her mission would progress more smoothly. He made sure that she was always asking questions to people, he hoped it would help her understand how other people see the world.
Bucky rarely slept. Most nights he would be kept awake by the thought of perfect blue eyes, that ghost whispering his name in his ear, and the knowledge that he should remember something constantly nagging at him. He made sure to keep this hidden from the Scarlet Spider, and he made sure she always slept and ate enough. It was strange, pretending to be her parent when he was really her parents’ murderer. But he couldn’t dwell on that, not when he had to focus on keeping them hidden, and keeping her in the dark.
Every time Bucky said the Scarlet Spider’s name he would search her face for some kind of recognition, but never found any. He knew it wasn’t likely that she remembered anything from when she was three years old, but he still couldn’t help but hope. Hope was dangerous, and he hoped for far too many things. Part of him had started to think that maybe the Scarlet Spider would eventually forget about HYDRA if they kept running long enough. But that thought was forced away from him when they were sitting in their small apartment in Mexico. A map was spread out before him and he was so deep in thought that he almost didn’t hear the Scarlet Spider when she spoke.
“Dad?”
She was tossing one of her knives casually from one hand to the other, but for once she looked thoughtful, maybe even confused, but that might have been a stretch.
“What is it, Karen?” he asked. Again, he looked to see if she reacted to the name, and he was surprised to see her frown slightly.
“I think it might be best if you call me by a different name,” she said. Bucky blinked in surprise.
“Why?” he asked. She had stopped tossing the knife and was staring at it with a distant look in her eyes.
“Because I never use a name for more than one mission, and that name is familiar to me. I don’t remember the mission though, do you know what it was?” Bucky had stopped breathing. He searched his memories of every time he said her name for something he might have missed, but came up empty. She’s an even better actor than I thought, he thought to himself. Bucky’s mind raced, what was he supposed to say? C’mon Buck, the ghost whispered. When have you ever been tongue-tied talking to a girl?
“You never used that name for a mission,” he began. “It was your name before you were brought to HYDRA.”
The Scarlet Spider frowned at him. “I was born at HYDRA, not brought.”
Bucky shook his head. “No,” he said. “When you were three years old you were taken by HYDRA, before that your name was Karen Parker.”
“HYDRA is my mother and father,” she said, her knuckles had turned white with how hard she was gripping the knife, and her voice had gone cold. Bucky remembered Pierce saying the same thing to her three years ago when she had cried for her parents.
“HYDRA did not birth you Karen, your parents did, and they were not HYDRA. HYDRA killed your parents and brought you to them.” He was talking as quickly as he could now, for fear that if he didn’t tell her all of this now he would never get the chance again. “They made you into a weapon when you should have been a child and they hurt you when you didn’t do well enough. What they did to you was wrong Karen!”
Her knife was suddenly against his throat and her face was inches from his. “That is not my name!” she snapped. Bucky noticed her hand was shaking ever so slightly. “I am the Scarlet Spider, and HYDRA loves me!”
“No, Karen,” he whispered. “HYDRA loves what you can do, HYDRA doesn’t love you.” A fist connected with his jaw and for a second he saw stars. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry Ka-”
She grabbed his hair and pulled it so that he was facing her. “STOP CALLING ME THAT!” she shouted. “You are nothing! You don’t know anything! HYDRA loves me! HYDRA lo-” she was broken off by a sob and Bucky’s eyes widened when he saw tears streaming down her face.
Slowly he brought his hands up to frame her face, she flinched at the contact, but she didn’t pull away. “I love you, Karen,” he whispered. “Not because of your abilities or your achievements. I love you because you deserve to be loved. HYDRA wronged you and I will do everything in my power to make it right for you.” He wiped away the tears on her cheeks. “Please,” he said.
He couldn’t read her eyes, but this time it was because there was too much emotion for him to process it all. Her lips were moving, but no sound was coming out, and for a moment Bucky thought she had understood. But then her eyes hardened and she glared at him.
“Sputnik,” the Scarlet Spider said. Bucky’s eyes rolled back, and the last thing he heard before losing consciousness was her whispering “Traitor,” in his ear.