Prodigy

Chapter 32

𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢
We got the girl in cuffs after Barton shot the net around her. I had Rhodey search the perimeter and we found a Hydra scientist, we brought him to the authorities immediately. I tried suggesting we bring the girl in too, so far everybody disagrees with that.

We got her locked up in one of the empty training rooms since we didn't have any cells. The room was almost fully concrete but thankfully it could lock electronically.

After I got her locked in I saw my whole team just sitting in the lounge all in shock.

I entered her room with a bottle of water. "Want one?" I offered. She said nothing so I just set it in front of her.

"What do you want Stark?" She snapped quietly.

"What was your mission today?" I asked as I took a sip of my bottle.

"To hunt the Avengers." She answered. "I'd like to talk to Bucky."

"Look, kid, you're powerful but have you seen my team?" I told her. "Any one of them could've killed you out there, you're lucky they didn't."

"No they couldn't." She chuckled.

"What are you talking about?" I huffed back. "One of them is a trained spy and assassin, one has some insane magic powers, and two of them are super soldiers. One of the super soldiers even has a metal arm. You could've died."

"You really don't know?" She smirked as I raised an eyebrow at her. "I trained Natasha as an assassin when she was a child. I worked with Wanda when we were both exposed to the mind stone. I am a super solider, and I designed that metal arm. I'm certain each of them is strong enough to kill me, but not a single one of them would. Neither would you. Now can I please see Bucky?"

"You really think I wouldn't?" I threatened.

"I know it." She hissed as she looked me in my eyes.

"Who are you anyways?"

"Cap knew me as Miss Martin when we were on the base together in the '40s. Buck knew me as prodigy when we were trapped in Hydra together. Natasha knew me as Miss Prodigy when I trained her. Wanda simply knew me as Y/n." She explained. "I grew up being called Project Prodigy by none other than Howard Stark. Bring Bucky to me, now."

"I've heard of that in his files." I told her. "I know my dad probably wasn't the best, and I'm sorry for what he did to you but-"

"My father was horrible to me." She interrupted me. "He may not have been super great to you but you'll never understand how he treated me. Bring me Bucky."

"Father? Howard Stark is your father?" I questioned. She nodded her head. "That's impossible. You're playing some sort of mind game on me, you're not his daughter. A subject for an experiment sure I'll believe that but you are not his daughter."

"Believe me he didn't want me to be his daughter to begin with." She huffed. "You said you saw the file."

"I heard of it, it's on the computer files but I never got the password." I explained.

"He would keep me a tight secret." She mumbled. "MM-DD-1920 should be the password. It's my birthday if that helps you believe. Here, take this as well. That'll be the rest of my file from Hydra, just plug it in when you open Project prodigy." She handed me a flash drive. "Then I'd like to talk to Bucky."

I began to walk out but turned around for a moment. "If you were really his daughter, why demand to see the man that killed him?" I asked.

"Who do you think gave him the mission?" She hissed.

My eyes widened. Her demeanor seemed more hurt than malicious but still, she's willing to kill her own father? That's hard to believe.

I began walking to my office to look for the file. I passed through the lounge where I could feel the tension in the room and could tell everyone was still in shock.

"Okay which of you knew her during her time in Hydra?" I asked. Romanoff, Maximoff, and Barnes all raised their hands, matching what she had told me earlier. "What was her main job there? What did they have her do day to day?"

"Normally we were in cryo," Barnes began. "Other than that I was her main priority."

I paused for a minute before nodding. "Barnes, you're good to go see her. She's been asking about you."

He walked out. I looked at Romanoff. "What was her job with you?" I asked.

"She trained the girls in the red room and set up simulations for us to practice with." She explained. "When I met her I was really young and she showed me compassion that I had never felt before. Years later she returned and she seemed broken. I couldn't say her name anymore they made us call her 'prodigy' but she still cared about me a lot."

"Maximoff?" I asked as I turned to her.

"With me I helped train her after she got her abilities." She explained. "The mind stone reacted with the different chemicals and injections Hydra had given her."

"Did she ever tell either of you about her past?" I asked.

"She told me I reminded her of herself as a child. Said she had to do extensive training and always strived for perfection." Nat explained. "She told me that she always had somebody behind her to remind her of all her flaws."

"I would assume that man was your father Tony." Wanda began. "When I met her I explained my hatred towards Stark Industries and she told me Howard Stark had ruined her life. Said that he kept her isolated, she even told me that the way he treated her was very similar to Hydra."

"I gotta go." I said as I continued my way back to my work station.

"Tony, wait!" Nat called out, I turned to face her. "What's going on? Why are you asking about her past?"

"Howard's her father." I answered as I slowly accepted that it could be true. This girl, who had become a broken killer, could be my sister. I turned back as Nat's face dropped.

I got to my work station and pulled up all of my dad's files. All of his experiments. I tapped on 'Project Prodigy' and it prompted me to type the password. I sat for a moment, thinking about all the times I failed to hack into this file. I typed in the password she told me.

MM-DD-1920

The file opened. For the first time in many years it opened. I plugged in the flash drive and watched as the file grew, then I began reading.