The Red Agent

by Ronan_Moon

Summary:

It’s the year 2017, right after Spider-Man Homecoming (Fall 2016) and before Thor: Ragnarok (2017). We’re in the Midtown School of Science and Technology, the same school Peter Parker (Spider-Man) goes to; located in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, New York.

Our protagonist, Violet Johnson, is a 15 year old sophomore girl with a troubling past…

She has red on her ledger, is an expert spy, multilingual and an incredible assassin…but why?

Well, like many young girls, she was trained in the Red Room…but it wasn’t against her will…

She volunteered.
She signed up.
She wanted to become the perfect assassin.
She was fine with being manipulated, tortured and being broken in ballet.
She thrived on the pain.
She drew strength from it.

And she completed the program
She became the first widow to not need any brainwashing, control or manipulation.

She became

The Red Agent.

Notes:

This is my first fanfic here on AO3 so I hope you enjoy and if there's any ways I can improve please let me know! :)

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

It’s another day at Midtown High. I managed to get into this school as a freshman last year on my own. The Red Room offered to force them to enroll me but I wanted to see if I could do it on my own, which I did. 

 

Everything goes normally until gym class. Today the Avengers are here to find and recruit promising young kids. Either intelligently promising or physically. 

 

I’m sitting in the corner of the gym, watching the other kids with my usual bored, flat, expression when I’m finally called up next to spar against some dumbass kid. I contemplate lazily if I should try to beat his ass or not, considering I don’t want too much attention on me before being called over by him.

 

“Hey, red girl! Quit cowering in the corner and come fight me!” he calls out obnoxiously. I roll my eyes and get up, my large red-lined hoodie covering my eyes as I make my way to the mat. 

 

I crack my neck and knuckles as I approach the mat where the other boy is jumping up and down and punching the air as a small crowd starts to form. And I recognize him as Johnathon Baker, he’s a sophomore as well but a total jerk and football jock. The usual combination. 

 

“Alright, no blows below the belt or you’re disqualified and if it’s found to have been in malicious intent you could get suspended!” The gym teacher yells at us sternly, “Respect each other and try not to get concussed!” She blows her whistle, signifying for us to start and we begin to circle one another. I notice Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, Anthony “Tony” Edward Stark, who’s looking incredibly annoyed to be here, and James “Bucky” Buchanan Barnes standing close by to observe the match. 

 

‘The kids got some muscle but he’s too overconfident’ I note to myself as he circles me, practically jumping on his toes as he smirks and readies himself. I sigh and prepare for him to make the first move, which he’s quick to do. 

 

He clumsily swings his fist at my head and I drop down before coming back up with a quick jab to his chin. He grunts in pain as he stumbles back “You’re going to regret that” he snarls as he lunges at me. I jab him in the stomach before grabbing him by the back of his neck with the same hand, using his momentum to lead him past me as I throw him. He quickly regained his balance but before he could barrel towards me again I rushed him, grabbing his collar and using my foot and his weight to throw him onto his back, and I pinned him to the floor. 

 

“You gonna tap out now or do I have to choke you?” I whisper harshly. He says nothing and continues to try to get up. In response I sigh and put my forearm onto his throat, pressing lightly and gradually increasing pressure. 

 

Finally, he aggressively taps out and I immediately get off of him, stand, and offer my hand to help him up. He scoffs, clearly embarrassed but trying to regain some pride by smacking my hand away and getting up in a huff. I step back and say nothing as I notice the Avengers out of the corner of my eye watching me, clearly intrigued. 

 

“Very well done Ms. Johnson” the gym teacher blows her whistle as she pats me on the back “Next match: John Williams and Jason Smith!” I walk off the mat and start towards one of the punching bags to waste time until I’m cut off by Natasha Romanoff. 

 

“Hey, you did a good job in that match. What’s your name?” I stop in my tracks and don’t meet her eyes “Violet Johnson ma’am.” Natasha nods and hesitates “You’re a good fighter, Violet. Where’d you train?” “Just a dojo back home” I shrug “Well, I know this is very forward, but how would you like to join the Avengers?” she asks with a warm smile. A little too warm. 

 

“Sorry ma’am but I’m not interested” I grunt and begin to walk past her before she puts her hand firmly on my shoulder before slowly lowering her head to whisper in my ear “I know you’re trained. Professionally. To kill” “I dunno what you’re talking about” I shrug her hand off my shoulder and continue to walk past her. 

 

“You’re gonna want to come with me now unless you want to make a scene” ‘ shit’ I think, ‘ either I can sort of cooperate or leave now. Shit shit shit.’ I look for my nearest exits out of the corner of my eye; I spot the usual windows, main doors, exit doors, and vents, none of them are close considering we’re in the middle of the gym though so it’s not much help. 

 

“Look, lady. I’m not interested” I say, trying to play dumb one last time. 

 

“‘Борьба – это как дыхание’” ( fighting is like breathing ) she whispers. 

 

I freeze and sigh, “Думаю, ты меня поймал. Товарищ вдова” (I guess you caught me. Fellow Widow ). 

 

She smiles, clearly satisfied, and pats my shoulder “Хороший выбор. Подписывайтесь на меня.” ( Good choice. Follow me. ) I sigh and do so as she leads me through the main doors, signaling to the other Avengers to follow. 

 

“Yo loser” 

 

I whip my head around, but not angrily, I recognize the voice, “Where you headed?” I see my senior friend, Lizzie, heading towards me, her usual smirk donning her face. I smile back and meet her dap halfway “Oh you know, just going to chat with a couple Avengers, no big deal” she laughs, and her laugh is so cute I can’t help but crack my smile even wider. 

 

“Alright then,” she ruffles my hair “stay safe, don’t get lung cancer” She chuckles and nods her goodbye to the Avengers around me before leaving. 

 

“Don’t get lung cancer?” Tony Stark asks suspiciously. I shake my head and suppress a chuckle “It’s just a stupid inside joke” Steve Rogers shrugs to him and they continue leading me out the door.

Chapter 2: Quick Getaway

Notes:

Sorry this one is really short lol

“Alright. Talk.”

 

We’re all standing in the school parking lot, next to their van. A slight wind is picking up and dark clouds cover the sky to the visible horizon.

 

The voice is Tony’s, he’s looking at me with a grave expression , arms crossed. “What do you wanna know?” I ask, voice dripping with hints of sarcasm and annoyance. “Cut the crap kid. Do you work with the Red Room or not?” Bucky snaps, moving towards me. I tense, readying for a fight as he nears until he’s an inch away from my face “well?” 

 

Suddenly I grab his head, smash his face down onto my knee, jump over him, and run for it. “Shit!” Bucky swears, clutching his face while Steve runs to his side. 

 

“Alright kid,” Tony sighs as he presses the arc reactor on his chest, activating his Iron Man suit, “come back and apologize or we’re going to have to detain you” I keep running, nearing the end of the parking lot until Tony blasts a warning shot at my feet, flying to the front of me and raising his hands to blast again if necessary. 

 

“C’mon kid, just surrender now. We don’t need to make this messy” I say nothing as I narrow my eyes and look for a place I can run to with shelter from the sky…

 

‘There!’

 

I spot a small entrance to a sewer system that I hope Iron Man won’t be able to squeeze through as I roll away from his blaster shots and slide into the entrance.

 

“Shit she’s fast” Hawkeye gasps for air as he catches up to the rest of the Avengers waiting at the entrance of the sewer “anyone know where that leads?” Natasha asks. Tony opens his helmet “J.A.R.V.I.S.? Bring up the sewer map.”

Chapter 3: Sewer

The splashes of my feet upon puddles of suspiciously brown water echo loudly as I make my way through the sewer, bouncing off the cylindrical walls like a game of ping pong. I know hoping I lost the Avengers would be a waste of time so I focus my energy on running as fast as I can and hope I can make it to the end of the tunnel before the Avengers do.

 

Thwack

 

I whip my head around towards the sound, it’s dark but the tunnel is lit by dim lights and I can make out an arrow. My eyes widen and I’m about to run but it’s too late.

 

Gas slowly seeps out of the trick arrow and I can already feel my consciousness slipping. I desperately cling to it as I try to stagger away from the arrow but soon succumb to its effects.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Wake up sleeping beauty”

 

My eyes fly open as I jerk awake and I begin wildly looking around, trying to get my bearings. A bright light shines overhead and I’m boxed in by sterile grey and white walls. My wrists are chained to the cold metal chair and my pockets have been emptied.

 

Natasha Romanoff sits at the opposite end of the table in front of me and I can sense eyes on me through the two-way mirror on my right.

 

“Welcome to the Avengers Compound,” she says with a serious tone, “You’ve been quite the problem. Let’s start simple. Is Violet Johnson your real name?”

 

I say nothing and continue staring at her as cold as the metal cuffs encompassing my wrists.

“J.A.R.V.I.S?”

 

The AI program speaks through a speaker in the corner “legal name: Violet Johnson, age: 15, birthday: April 7th, 2002, sex: female”

 

“What’s the point of asking me questions if your stupid AI can answer them for you?” I sneer at Natasha.

 

“Because there are things he doesn't know, and I need to get you talking.” She comments dryly.

 

“Well you know as much as I do that that’s not happening, Widow”

 

“We’ll see about that…”

 

The large metal door suddenly swings open and an incredibly average-looking man walks in.

 

“Hi, the name’s Ant-Man, but I bet you’ve heard of me already” he grins as he nears me. “Nope. Never heard of you before.” I say flatly. “Oh…well, that’s me…” he clears his throat awkwardly as he unscrews a small vial.

 

“Please drink this willingly so I don’t have to force it down your throat,” he says with a nervous chuckle. I cock my head and give him a defiant stare before muttering “What’s in it?” “Oh just a truth serum,” Ant-Man says “For the last time it is not a truth serum” Natasha mutters under her breath with a shake of her head as Ant-Man slowly lifts the vial to my lips.

 

I narrow my eyes and wait until just the right moment before smacking my forehead into the vial, and his hand, at full force, causing him to drop it and for it to shatter upon meeting the floor.

 

“Shit! Please tell me that wasn’t our last one!” Ant-Man looks nervously at Natasha.

 

“Yes, the last drinkable one.” She sighs and prepares a syringe. I grimace slightly at the sight of it, knowing there’s no way I could stop her from injecting it into me while I’m cuffed to a bolted chair.

 

She nears me slowly “Lang. Try to keep her still.” Ant-Man immediately grabs hold of my shoulders from behind but I don’t even bother struggling, I know it will just make the shot hurt more and that will help no one.

 

Natasha finds a good spot on my arm and injects me.

 

Nothing feels different but I know the serum will make me completely responsive to questions, I will be forced to answer all questions honestly, and it will make me unable to lie or keep secrets.

 

“Let’s get started” Natasha sits back down, “Do you work for the Red Room?” I try to fight the drug but it’s no use “Yes.” “Thought so. And are you brainwashed or controlled by the Red Room?” “No. I volunteered.” Natasha’s eyes widen slightly “So you must be the first new generation Widow that isn’t under full control? And the first Widow to not have been subjected to any brainwashing?” I nod. “Fascinating” she looks at my face curiously and I can do nothing but stare back.

 

“And why did you do that?”

 

“To forget my past” I whisper.

 

“What?”

 

I take a deep breath “I said…to forget my past”

 

She nods slowly and sits back in her chair before letting out a sigh “Alright. I’m done here. Do any of them want to ask her anything, Scott?” Natasha asks Ant-Man. In response, he peeks his head out the door, whispers something, and turns back to her “I think Barnes wants to talk to her. Alone.”

 

Natasha hesitates before nodding and standing up. She gives me one last, unreadable look, before walking out the door.

 

I sit in silence for a while before mentally counting the seconds.

 

I count up to 200 before getting way too bored and decide to hum.

 

And eventually my humming turns into soft singing…

 

“Everyone's born as clean as a whistle

As fresh as a daisy

And not a bit crazy

Staying that way's a hard row for hoeing

As rough as a briar

Like walking through fire”

 

I pause to make sure no one’s listening to me though I wouldn’t care too much anyway, before continuing. I just don’t want to seem vulnerable.

 

“This world, it's dark

This world, it's scary

I've taken some hits, so

No wonder I'm wary

It's why I

Need you

You're as pure as the driven snow”

 

As I finish singing the final line, the door opens and a man peeks his head in the door and walks in.

 

“What’s the song?” He asks casually once I finish the line

 

“‘Pure As The Driven Snow’, from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie” I say slowly, my voice measured and calm as I observe every inch of him, looking him up and down and noticing every little detail.

 

‘His left arm is extremely stiff. Possibly prosthetic. Appears to be 6 feet exactly and weighs over 200 pounds. He has a somewhat distant, no-nonsense expression on his face.’

 

He sits down in the chair across from me, his eyes never leaving mine. His expression continues to be serious but there's a hint of something else, pity, maybe? ‘ If you pity me so much then let me out’ I scoff mentally as he continues studying my face, and I continue to study his back, it’s like a face-off of sorts until he finally talks again.

 

“Violet right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“My name’s James Buchanan Barnes, most people call me Bucky but you might know me as…”

 

He takes off the glove on his left hand and rolls up his sleeve.

 

“The Winter Soldier”

Chapter 4: Red Over Blue

Notes:

First off yes, the title is an Arcane reference.

And second: From here on out it will take me longer to release each chapter because this is the last chapter I made before posting my story. Please comment below if you like it so I know to keep going, thank you! ;)

My eyes widen slightly and all I can think is; ‘holy crap. This guy is a legend. Possibly the best assassin to ever live’ as I take in a sharp breath and examine his metal arm and try to regain my cold unbothered composure.

 

“I’m not trying to intimidate you. Just wanted to show you that we might have more in common than you think”

 

I nod slowly.

 

“Violet. Have you ever killed anyone?”

 

I pause, not taken aback by the question, but unsure of how to proceed. After all, the Winter Soldier has killed a lot of really important people.

 

“Your silence says more than answering ever could” he chuckles slightly.

 

He sighs at my continued silence and intense stare and begins to speak again “Violet why do you kill?”

 

“Why should I answer your questions?” I counter

 

“Because if you don’t answer them willingly we’re gonna have to pump more truth serum into you”

 

I narrow my eyes before sighing “I kill who I’m ordered to kill.”

 

“But why? You volunteered right? Why on earth would you do that to yourself? Were you tricked into it?”

 

“No.” My voice rises slightly as I begin to get defensive “Yeah, I volunteered. And I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. They explained everything to me and I agreed to their terms. I agreed to everything. And I don’t regret it.”

 

Barnes puts his hands up in mock surrender but his expression is serious “Hey, take a deep breath, why are you getting defensive?”

 

I pause, breaking eye contact and giving myself time to return my breath to normal.

 

“I joined the Red Room to drown the blue of my past in red” I say with a deep breath, bringing my eyes back up to meet his.

 

Barnes nods slowly before asking “Why’s red better than blue?” his voice is barely louder than a whisper.

 

“Because red…red gives me problems and enemies and guilt that drowns out any chance of blue peaking through and being a problem. Red gives me stuff to deal with…so that I never even have to think about blue. Never see it.”

 

“But blue’s still stained on things isn’t it?”

 

I say nothing and hesitate before nodding slightly.

 

“And blue can never truly drown? Can it?”

 

I sigh and shake my head, clenching and unclenching my fists.

 

“Nah.” I scoff “Because blue will forever be the brighter color. No matter how much red tries.”

 

“What is blue, Violet?”

 

“Blue is the water that’s been drowning me all along.”

 

“Grief then? For something you did?”

 

“Blue is a tidal wave that deserves to drown me but never will.”

 

I take a deep breath.

 

“And yes, I still see blue. I see it. I see…her…everywhere. In every faded secondary rainbow, in every iridescent or broken wings she…she’s everywhere…”

 

Bucky’s face is full of melancholy as he takes in my words and is almost startled when I let out a hysterical chuckle, “God…she’s everywhere…my Arke. Lost her wings because of me. Just as her name foretold.” I scoff bitterly before staring intensely into his eyes, tears starting to form, “She was everything to me. And it’s my fault she’s dead.”

 

His eyes soften sadly “It’s not your fault Vi-” “NO” I scream, cutting him off, “IT IS MY FAULT!! I KILLED HER!!!” I’m now sobbing and gasping for air uncontrollably “I DROVE THAT KNIFE INTO HER SKULL. I DID. IT DOESN’T MATTER THAT I WASN’T AWAKE. I STILL DID IT. DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND???” I scream, thrashing as much as I can against my restraints. Grief surges over me.

 

When I finally calm down and fully open my eyes again, Bucky is standing next to me, staring into my eyes. I can do nothing but let my tears fall and look away.

 

“Violet, listen to me. Look at me.” He pleads, “It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault Violet…”

 

I continue to ignore him. I continue to sob.

 

“Hey. I know what it’s like. I know exactly what it’s like. Everyone I killed. I watched it all. I remember it all. I was a prisoner inside myself. I never wanted to do any of it. But I was forced to. And I’m so sorry you were forced to too.” Suddenly I feel his body pressed against mine and I look to see that he’s hugging me, tight, I wonder if, no, I hope, that he’ll never let go as I cry in his arms.