Prodigy

Chapter 27

"Hello, prodigy." A man greeted me as I stepped out of the chamber. "We have a mission today."

"Wonderful, wake the soldier then." I told him.

"No, you misunderstand, we have a mission. As in you and I." He explained.

"Oh alright, I'll grab my mask."

"No need. This is an undercover mission. We go in, grab what we need, then get out." He explained.

"I'm not sure I understand how I'm needed for this sir." I told him confused. I wasn't fighting, or training, or designing. Just lay low.

"This mission is at a party for Stark Industries. They think it's less suspicious for me to have a date. Here," he handed me a red dress. "Wear this so you blend in a bit."

"Yes sir." I agreed. He left the room so I could change.

They started giving the run-down of what the plan was. Apparently, we're just meeting with an undercover Hydra agent who's currently working for S.H.E.I.L.D. to just slip us a note with some information. The information has nothing to do with me nor my work and I play no role in this mission other than a cover-up to not look suspicious.

"Prodigy," the man spoke directly to me to give me the orders. "You are not to speak unless spoken to. Avoid speaking to any guests at the party other than your partner on the mission. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir." I agreed as I realized the rules of the mission were very similar to the rules my father gave me.

We arrived at the tower and it felt almost humbling to see my last name up in lights at the top of it.

My partner turned to me. "Tonight, and tonight only, you're allowed to go by your name." He instructed me as he adjusted his tie. "Do you have a fake last name? It'd be pretty suspicious if people knew you were a Stark."

"Martin, sir." I answered.

"Perfect. Let's head in then." We entered and I looked around. There were so many people I couldn't believe it. "You sit at the bar, I'll be back shortly." He told me.

I sat down and just waited. Eventually, a woman sat next to me. "Enjoying the party?" She asked.

I turned to her and smiled "Yeah, I am." As I looked at her, her face looked familiar, making me nervous considering the only people I knew for decades have worked with Hydra.

"I'm Natasha, Natasha Romanoff. What's your name?" She asked.

I couldn't believe it. They were right. She's all grown up now, the only problem is now we're on opposite teams. She's one of the 'Avengers' my brother is leading.

"Oh -uh I'm Ally Martin." I lied.

"You look really familiar." She raised an eyebrow. "You sure we haven't met?"

"Oh, I'm a stay-at-home wife so no, I don't get out a lot." I got a little flustered. I wanted so badly to just say hi to her as myself and reconnect with her. She seems to be much happier here.

A man came up next to her and my breath hitched. "Hey Nat, you make a friend?" He asked.

"Hi Steve, this is Ally. She looks so familiar doesn't she?" Natasha asked Steve.

"Well, she does kinda look like an old friend of mine. From the '40s." Steve laughed as he looked at me. I laughed with him to ease some of my nerves.

"Maybe it's her daughter?" Natasha offered. "Was your friends' last name Martin?"

"Uh no -no it wasn't. She never had children though, she died quite young." Steve answered. I could tell gears were turning and he was slowly realizing I might've still been me.

Thankfully my partner returned. "Hey, sweetie, you ready to get going?" He asked with a grin.

"Yes, of course, it was lovely meeting you both." I smiled as he and I walked away.

We returned to the base and went to report that we returned. "So it went well then?" A man asked.

"Yes, sir." My partner answered.

"Sir, I cannot go on another mission involving the Avengers." I told him.

"You will go on whatever mission we send you on." He demanded sternly.

"Sir, I personally know two of the Avengers. I trained Natasha Romanoff when she was a child, and personally worked with Captain America as well as designing his shield." I explained to him. "They both nearly recognized me today. It'd be a risk to go undercover around them again."

"Very well, from now on you're going to only accompany The Winter Soldier on missions. Masked." He demanded.

"Yes, sir." I agreed.