Hello everyone! I want to thank everyone who reviewed the first story in this series "Enigma." Please read that one first before this story. In this story, a little more of Marissa's past comes out. This story takes place in the Captain America to Avengers timeframe. So, enough said, here is the first chapter of story two.

Oh yeah, the disclaimer. I own nothing that you recognize. Marvel is king of the domain and all that. So, sit back and enjoy the show!

Lessons from the Past

Chapter One

Nightmare Knockouts

Marissa Hermann was a happy five year old child, content to play with her dolls as well as fire trucks and basketballs. Mutti said she was very smart for her age. She could already read and write before she entered kindergarten. Vati loved buying new books for her to read. Books about space and cars fascinated her. She wanted to fly in space one day.

"Vati, can I have a space shuttle like the Amerikaneren fly?" she asked her father one day as she watched Space Shuttle Columbia launch from a wonderful place called Cape Canaveral.

"One day, Liebchen. One day," he replied with a smile. "But now, you need to pack for our trip to die Schweiz. Go help Mutti."

"Okay, Vati!" Marissa practically skipped to her room.

Of course little Marissa's happiness could only last so long. Three days later, there was a horrible crash and fire everywhere in their car. Marissa cried out, but her parents would not listen. They did not move as Marissa tried to catch their attention.

"Mutti! Vati! Help me! It's too hot!"

Marissa remembered a man smashing the window to get her out before she went to sleep, exhausted from all of the heat from the fire.

Marissa sat on the floor of a strange house, still crying softly at the news of her parents' death in the crash. She was the only one left. She wanted her mom and dad so much, but she knew she couldn't see them anymore. They had gone to heaven with Grandmother.

The strange man who rescued her entered the living room. He called himself Baron Zemo, and he wanted to take her to his place to teach her amazing things. It was a place called Hydra. He said her parents wanted him to take her if something bad were to happen to them.

He was so nice to her, letting her have her time to mourn her parents and giving her anything she needed.

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She turned to him.

"Hello, Marissa. How are you feeling?" Baron Zemo asked her.

"Still sad, Sir, but I know Mutti and Vati are in a better place now. They aren't hurting anymore."

"You are such a smart girl. Yes, I believe you will do well at Hydra. Your parents would be proud of you. Are you ready to come with me now?"

Marissa nodded, rising from the floor. "Yes." She took his hand. "What will I learn at Hydra?"

"So many things," Zemo replied. "Languages. Mathematics. Science. You will learn how to protect yourself and serve your country. Your skills and intelligence will be a great asset to our cause."

Several years later, Twelve year old Marissa stood in an empty room, a training room. She was ready for whatever her instructors threw at her from the control room. She had her weapons and her self defense training to back her up.

Without warning, the room changed. Marissa was in a corridor in some strange alien base. She saw writing on the walls. English, she noted. She pulled her weapon, a Sig Sauer this time, and advanced forward, down the hallway.

She shot three men in American Army outfits before they even blinked. Now, the whole base would know she was there.

Marissa was not worried. She could hide in plain sight. Who would think of a child as a threat? She hid her weapon in her shirt holster. She sat down next to one of the dead soldiers and feigned weakness and fear until another soldier found her.

"He—he shot him. The bad man," she exclaimed in perfect English, forcing a few tears to fall. "I saw him. He went that way!" she pointed in the opposite direction.

"Can you tell me what he looked like?"

"I didn't see his face. I just saw him shoot them. Please help me."

The ignorant soldier relayed the information over his walkie-talkie. He took her to a room down the hall from the bodies. "Stay here, kid. We'll get 'em."

Marissa gave him a frightened nod of her head. "Okay."

The Amerikaner nodded and left the room. Marissa dropped the act and looked around the room the Amerikaner left her in. A room with a computer in it.

Big mistake.

Marissa hacked the computer in seconds, burning through the firewall. She quickly found the layout of the military institute she was in and memorized the route to the explosive ordinance room. She could rig the lot to blow and escape before the Amerikaneren knew she was there.

It only took her ten minutes to rig the power supply to explode. Marissa jumped into an air vent and stealthily made her way back into the room the soldier left her.

The alert went out about the explosives. Marissa allowed herself a grin.

The soldier returned. "We need to get out now! The building's about to blow."

Marissa dutifully followed the soldier to the outside of the building. She turned to the soldier with a smile. "Thanks for getting me out."

"No problem, kid."

She moved to hug him in gratitude, but at the last second, she pulled her Sig from her shirt and shot him in the chest.

"Stupid Amerikaner," she sighed as she watched him die.

"Hey kid! What happened? Why did you shoot him?" a man in a silly looking costume asked her. He was dressed in red, white, and blue. He had a round shield with similar colors and a star in the middle.

"He is the enemy. He must die. So must you."

"Kid, you don't want to do this!"

"Hail Hydra!" Marissa shouted and took a shot at the man.

Marissa bolted awake covered in sweat. Nightmares from her past were keeping her awake again. She barely remembered that confrontation with the costumed man, but she remembered hating him beyond a shadow of a doubt.

He is the ultimate enemy, she could hear Baron Zemo and Red Skull drilling into her. He must be destroyed.

Marissa never knew his name or where he came from. She just knew that he was Zemo and Red Skull's number one nemesis.

Marissa sighed and rose from her bed. It was only four in the morning. She couldn't go back to sleep. Only one thing she could do to forget about the past.

She found her workout clothes and made her way to the gym. She needed to work out her excess energy and anger the only way she knew how—fight it out.

The gym was empty as she made her way to the punching bags. She wrapped her hands and started punching.

He is the ultimate enemy.

Punch. Kick.

He must be destroyed.

Punch. Punch. Crossover.

Enemy. Destroy.

Kick. Kick.

Marissa envisioned Baron Zemo's face in the bag.

My little Enigma is always a puzzle! A sinister laugh and a smile.

Smash in the face. Kick in the jaw.

Zemo's face changed. Red Skull caught a kick to the forehead. Slam! Another punch in the eye.

The scientists who brainwashed her.

The men who drilled her on languages night and day.

Her martial arts trainer who beat her until she snapped and fought back.

Every single one of Hydra's soldiers who ever worked with her met her fists and her feet.

The bomb that killed Tali David.

She punched and kicked, letting all of her anger at Hydra out. She was so focused on her task that she never heard the gym door open. She didn't hear the footsteps approaching. She never saw anyone walk up to her.

All she felt was a threat walking up to her. She took a swing—

And barely stopped herself as Natasha Romanoff came into view, snapping her out of her anger induced frenzy.

"Whoa! What was that about?" Natasha asked after a moment, coming out of a defensive stance.

"Nightmares from the past. Is that why you are up so early as well?" Marissa asked, breathing heavily from exertion.

"Да," she replied. "Red Room? You?"

"Zemo. Red Skull."

"No wonder we get along so well."

"Richtig." Marissa smiled. She was feeling better already. "I'll let you punch the hell out of the bag now. I'm heading to the track for a jog."

Natasha knew Marissa wasn't telling her the whole truth about her dreams, but she let it slide, knowing her friend would tell her when she was ready.

Natasha punched the bag for a while, then decided to work out on the mat. She took a few tumbling passes, letting the world slip away from her as she focused on her routine.

Back handspring, one twist in the air and back on her feet she went. One cartwheel and a full layout, back on her feet. Take a running start and somersault, handspring, handspring, drop on all fours for a push up. Pinwheel back up to a standing position and take off again.

She felt Clint Barton walk into the gym before she saw him. "Another bad dream?" Clint asked, watching her cartwheel over to him.

"Yes. I wasn't the only one. Marissa was in here earlier punching the hell out of a bag."

"I thought I heard someone running around the track on my way up here," Clint smirked, handing her a towel.

"Thanks," she took the towel gratefully. "Come to pester me about my dreams?"

"No, just checking up on you, Nat. Making sure you didn't kill anyone or yourself."

"I can take care of myself, Barton," Natasha growled,

"I know, Nat. I know you better than you think I do. I am your partner, in every sense of the word. I care about you. That's why I need to check on you, for my own sanity."

Natasha was still not quite used to someone caring for her so much as Clint did. She sighed but did not argue the point. "Okay."

Clint hugged her briefly. "Let's go join Marissa on the track. I could use a good run myself."