Chapter Twelve : Running and Hiding

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     Valencia walked around, not having a single clue on where she was or where she was going. She slowly stopped walking when she heard wiring in another room and followed the sound until she found where it was coming from. She looked inside but the room was empty and she walked inside to look around. There were some devices that seemed to be a work in progress and it looked way more complicated than she could comprehend. A whole bunch of screens were up but they kind of reminded her of holograms. She had no idea how to explain the room but it was pretty interesting. This was pretty much what the one and only Tony Stark did in his spare time.

     "Hello," a voice said and Valencia quickly turned around away from the screens. She looked around to find out where that voice was coming from but she was the only person in the room. "I'm sorry if I frightened you."

     "Who are you? Show yourself," she said with her fists clenched.

     "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is JARVIS and you must be Valencia Parrish," the voice said but she still couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

     "Where are you?" she asked as she raised her fists, both of them surrounded by small force fields and ready to be used if needed.

     "I'm right here, Miss Parrish. Forgive me for not disclosing this at first but I am an artificial intelligence system created by Mr. Stark, therefore I have no body, no physical appearance. I just am," the voice said and Valencia lowered her fists and the force fields disappeared.

     She laughed humourlessly at the situation, not believing what she had just heard. "I have officially gone insane," she chuckled.

     "I can assure you that you are not, Miss Parrish. I can alert Mr. Stark so he can explain it to you, if that is what you wish," the voice suggested but Valencia shook her head, even though JARVIS couldn't see it.

     "Don't call Stark. I'm sure he has way more important things to take care of rather than explaining your existence to me," she said with a humourless chuckle. "I think they would all rather do anything else if it meant they didn't have to deal with me."

     "Forgive me if I am intruding, but you seem to be feeling rather sad," JARVIS said and Valencia scoffed.

     "I don't know what I'm feeling. For two years I was a prisoner and then I was on the streets for another year and now all of a sudden, Captain America and Iron Man want to give me a place to stay," she said as she leaned against one of the tables.

     "It probably feels strange since you've had nobody to help you since the day you were captured by HYDRA," JARVIS said.

     Valencia shook her head. "After what happened at the Triskelion in D.C., I came straight here just to find my family and make sure they were okay. I was standing right in front of my brother and he didn't even see me because I made myself invisible," she explained.

     "Why did you do that?" JARVIS asked.

     "I was sure that if I was being followed, they would find me at my old home. So if I made myself invisible and walked up to him, nobody would see me so nobody would know I was there. And it's a good thing too because it turns out that someone was following me and hunting me down," Valencia said.

     "What about your other brother?"

     "I was walking by his school and he saw me but he didn't recognize me."

     "I may not be a human, but I would think that would be rather painful," JARVIS said and Valencia blinked the tears away.

     "It is. It hurt a lot to be so close but still too far away. But I had to keep my distance so whoever was following me didn't find them. And it worked," she said as she looked at the floor.

     She heard footsteps approaching and looked up and saw Stark standing by the door. She stood up straight and thought about just walking out and going back to her room without a word.

     "Good evening, sir," JARVIS greeted while Valencia stood there awkwardly.

     "I think that's my cue to leave," she said as she started walking out of the room but Stark grabbed her wrist. She clenched her fist with her free hand on instinct and he didn't fail to notice her shifting attitude and the change in her voice as she looked at him. "Let go of me."

     "I may be letting you stay here, but stay out of this room," Stark said as he noticed the ways her eyes darkened.

     "Or what, Tin Man?" she asked as she refused to break eye contact with him, challenging him. "What exactly are you gonna do without your armour?"

     His grip on her wrist became tighter and so did her fist. She held eye contact with him, practically daring him to try something. Eventually, he did let go of her and the corner of her mouth twitched into a crooked smirk. Maybe if he did have the armour, she wouldn't dare challenge him but he was just a normal human like everybody else. Of course, to an extent.

     "You know, nothing is stopping me from putting a power restriction cuff on you right now and seeing how much damage you'll really do without your enhancements," Stark said and Valencia scoffed.

     "Probably way more damage than you realize," she replied.

     "What are you gonna do? Kick me in my kneecaps like you did with Steve?" he questioned.

     "I'm not stupid. I know I don't stand a chance against a super soldier without my shields or invisibility. Those serums didn't give me super speed, strength, agility or a higher tolerance to pain, you know. I had to train to get there and my pain tolerance did go up but not because of the serum. But if you wanna have a go at it, just you and me, no powers and no armour, I'll still knock your ass to the ground," she said and nearly smiled when she saw a tic in his jaw.

     He may have been nice enough to leave the door open at her request, but to him, she was still dangerous. Maybe she was crazy for challenging him like that after he gave her a room to sleep in. He did say that the original plan was to let the FBI track her down and do whatever they wished but it was Rogers who insisted that he and Wilson find her. Nothing was stopping Stark from throwing her to the curb right now and letting her wander the streets on her own. Nothing was stopping him from sending her on her way where she would be hunted like a rabid animal.

     When Stark didn't say anything else, she turned around and walked out of the room. Even though Stark was letting her stay in his establishment, she was still an ex-HYDRA agent and an ex-assassin which meant that she couldn't be trusted.

     As she walked down the hallway with her hands in her pockets, she started to wonder how Barnes was doing. Surely, he was doing way better than she was. He was much older than she was and probably gained back his memories by this point, meaning that he probably knew how to hide in plain sight without being tracked down. She still hadn't heard anything about him or the Winter Soldier, which meant that he was still in hiding somewhere and nobody found him. Yet someone found her and tried to kill her and then the target of her previous missions found her and brought her to the Avengers Tower. Barnes was so much better at this running and hiding stuff than she was.

     As she was walking, she saw a familiar redhead and stopped when she realized who it was. She was about to turn around and walk the other way but the brunette woman saw her and stopped in her tracks as well. Valencia and Romanoff held eye contact for a while before Valencia decided to turn around and leave.

     "Hey. Don't move," Romanoff said and Valencia sighed. She turned around to face the brunette who she had tried to kill a year ago and knew she didn't have any good feelings towards her. Why would she? "Take out your hands."

     "I don't have anything in my pockets," Valencia said as she raised her hands to show Romanoff that she was in fact unarmed.

     She noticed that she didn't have any power restriction devices on her wrists and narrowed her eyes at her.

     "You tried to kill me and Steve and now here you are. Sam doesn't trust you, neither does Tony and honestly, I can't say I blame them," she said.

     "Listen, I don't like being here anymore than you want me here. But if my presence is such a bother, I'll leave," Valencia said as she pressed the button for the elevator and when it opened, she stepped on. "You can go ahead and tell all your friends that you don't have to worry about me no more."

     Once the doors closed, Valencia sighed as she leaned against the wall. The Avengers Tower was supposed to be a safe place for her to stay so she wasn't on the streets but the people who were already there didn't feel so safe with her around. It didn't take a genius to figure that out and if she was being honest, she couldn't blame them. She had done such horrible things that not even she wanted to talk about them. It was pretty clear that nobody wanted her around and she could understand why. If she was in their shoes, she wouldn't want her around either.

     When she got to the floor where her room was, the elevator doors opened and she hurried back to her room to grab her stuff. If she was quick enough, she would be out and on her way before anyone would notice, not that they would even care anyway. Once she was sure she had everything and the room was left the way it was before Stark brought her there, she closed the door and went back to the elevator and pressed the button.

     Maybe she could go back to her family's house and find out if they would take her. After all, they were her family. But then again, she was a HYDRA assassin for two years. What if they knew about what she did and decided they never wanted to see her again? She didn't even want to think about that as she reached the ground floor and walked out of the building and into the streets.

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     Steve walked into the lab where Tony was working on one of his projects and looked around. "Where's Valencia?" he asked and Tony just shrugged his shoulders.

     "She was here talking to JARVIS fifteen minutes ago," he said.

     "Miss Parrish was pretty upset when we spoke," JARVIS said and both men looked at each other and then back at the A.I. system.

     "Can you elaborate?" Tony asked.

     "She misses her family. One of her brothers didn't see her when she returned. The other one did see her but he didn't even recognize her. She said it hurt to be so close but still too far away," JARVIS said.

     "Why couldn't she tell them what happened that day?" Steve asked.

     "She was worried that ex-HYDRA agents followed her from Washington D.C. to New York so she stayed away to ensure that they stayed safe," the A.I. system said.

     "Was she being followed?" Tony asked.

     "Yes," JARVIS answered.

     "Can you pull up everything about her?" Steve asked.

     "Of course," JARVIS said as multiple screens popped up with any and all available information about Valencia before and during her time with HYDRA.

     "Is that the car crash she was in?" Tony asked while looking at an image of a damaged car that was flipped over.

     "Yes. It was reported that she succumbed to her injuries on her way to the hospital," JARVIS said.

     "What were the reported injuries?" Steve asked.

     "It was reported that she suffered a brain injury, a punctured lung and some broken ribs but it is possible that her injuries were over exaggerated," JARVIS said.

     "Sam and I think that the doctors were most likely HYDRA and used something to slow her heartbeat down to the point where it couldn't be detected when her family was called in to identify her body," Steve said with his arms crossed.

     "She said there were no reports about a missing body from the hospital when she was taken," Tony said.

     "That is correct, sir," JARVIS replied.

     "She was an assassin for HYDRA. Do we know how many assassinations she's credited with?" Steve asked.

     "About half as much as Sergeant Barnes," JARVIS answered.

     "Natasha said he was responsible for over two dozen kills in fifty years, which would be over twenty-four. If she's credited with half, then she would be responsible for at least twelve kills," Steve said.

     "Many people have reported seeing a woman dressed in red but she would disappear in the blink of an eye. People have called her the Lady in Red, the Red Lady, or the Red Spectre, given that she's like a ghost and is always wearing red," JARVIS said.

     "Did she ever assist Barnes and vice versa?" Tony questioned.

     "There were a few times they assisted each other. The night Fury was shot in Rogers' apartment, it was Parrish who shot him. Barnes was there to assist and ensure that she completed her mission," JARVIS answered.

     "Two enhanced assassins, one who is like you and one who can make herself invisible and create force fields. Are you sure finding them and bringing them here is a good idea?" Tony asked while looking at Steve.

     "I still need more to find Bucky. Valencia hasn't seen or heard from him since that day at the Triskelion. But I think bringing her here could help her. She could learn to use her skills to help people instead of using them to hurt people," the blonde said and Tony sighed.

     "Cap, she killed twelve people in two years. Not as much as your war buddy but it's still something to be cautious about while having her here," he said.

     "She was trying to keep herself and her family safe. She was backed into a corner and she did what she had to do to survive. HYDRA would've killed her and her family if she didn't do what they said," Steve said.

     "Then how would you explain Barnes?"

     "Valencia said they wiped his memory and afterwards it was like he didn't even know where he was. Even on the highway, he didn't even know his own name."

     "Brainwashing?"

     "Most likely."

     Natasha walked into the lab and the two men turned around to look at her when they heard her footsteps. "Am I interrupting anything?" she asked with her hands on her hips.

     "Just learning a couple of things about our new resident," Tony replied.

     "Speaking of which, have you seen Valencia recently? Tony said she was her earlier," Steve said.

     "I saw her at the elevator. She said we don't have to worry about her anymore," Natasha said and her words left Steve confused.

     "What is that supposed to mean?" he asked.

     "She left," Natasha answered. "I don't trust her anyway and neither does Sam or Tony and I don't think I have to say anything about her on Fury's behalf."

     "Look, she tried to kill me too but I'm still trying to give her a second chance," Steve said.

     "You could be giving her a chance to kill us," Natasha replied.

     "She had a whole year to cause trouble but instead she was hiding and trying to survive on the streets alone with no home and no support. Neither of you have the cleanest hands so I don't think you should be so quick to judge her," Steve said before turning back to the artificial intelligence system. "JARVIS, is Valencia still in the building?"

     "Miss Parrish had left nearly ten minutes ago, Captain Rogers," JARVIS said and Steve turned around to walk out of the lab.

     "Where are you going?" Tony asked.

     "To find Valencia and bring her back," Steve said.

     That is, if he could find her before she gets too far away from the Avengers Tower.