The Secrets of Petra (Parker) Stark

19

Petra opened the journal. It read:

August 10, 2005

Heaven forbid the wrong person finds this journal. If something is to ever happen to us, I want you to know the truth.

Petra stopped reading. Why would her parent's write something that other people could not see? What truth?

Your father and I are agents for a secret government organization called S.H.I.E.L.D.. My hope is that you will never become involved in their affairs. Our mission is to protect the world. Save lives.

If the journal was not stuck to Petra's hand, she would have dropped it. Her parents were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents! What is a person supposed to do with that kind of information?

We were sent on a mission about a month ago to take down a Hydra base. You should have learned about them in history, but they are our enemies. Very few remain. With luck, by the time you are reading this, Hydra will be wiped off of the face of the earth for good. During our mission, we came across Hydra's experimentation on a baby. They had not gotten very far with their experiments and the two year old was still perfectly healthy and fully human. We took the baby back to S.H.I.E.L.D with us.

Petra did not like where this was going.

As agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., your father and I have always known that we would never be able to settle down and raise a family. Of course we always have wanted children of our own, but being sent on missions every few months, it would be inconvenient and troublesome. But when we found the baby, we knew that she was our chance at having a family.

No. Stop. Petra did not want to read the next part, but she had to know if her suspicions were correct.

That baby was you, Petra.

This time, Petra really did drop the journal. She put her head in her hands and closed her eyes. Ned was right. She really was adopted. Well, more like rescued... From Hydra of all places. This had to be a prank, right? With shaky hands, Petra picked up the fallen journal and continued reading.

You gave us the chance to be parents. I pray that you will never have to read this, and that your father and I will be able to tell you ourselves, but I know that in our line of work, there is a chance that we may be gone.

You are a blessing in our lives and we love you very much.

Love,

Mary Parker

A tear drop landed on the page. Then another. It was then that it occurred to Petra that she was crying, but who could blame her? Her entire life was turned upside-down in just one night. Then again, you would think that she would be used to it by now.

Apparently not.

Petra closed the journal, not ready to read whatever else was written in that thing. She traced the gold-colored accents that were engraved on the red leather of the cover. How could they have kept this from her? Granted, she was only six when her apparently adoptive parents died, but still. 

Petra jumped at the sound of a knock on her door. "Come in!"

May opened the door and poked her head through. "I totally botched dinner, so I was thinking Thai-" May took note of Petra's tear streaked face. "Hey, what's wrong?" May stepped fully into the room and walked over to sit next to Petra on her bed. She put a comforting hand on Petra's shoulder.

"I found... this journal." Petra opened the book to the front page and handed it to May. Petra watched as May's brows furrowed and her eyes widened and she read the words on the page.