When Jemma Simmons joined SHIELD at the age of seventeen, she hadn’t expected to go out into the field. Ever.
But then Tony Stark had made himself a weaponized super suit, a god had shown up on Earth, a war hero had been found frozen in the Arctic ice, and all the rules had changed.
So now, Jemma found herself walking towards a closed room in a SHIELD building, dolled up in a war-era nurse’s uniform, with her hair done up in delicate curls and shoes that she would never be able to run in, feigning confidence with a bright smile. She knew just how vital her role in this was. Even a small misstep could be fatal. She had to be perfect.
Everything depended on it.
“Morning. Or should I say afternoon?”
________________________
Jemma Simmons had failed.
As much as Agent Hartly had tried to reassure her that it wasn’t her fault, and that all the fault lay with the agent who had put on the wrong game, Jemma knew that she had failed. She had panicked, and frightened the captain even more than he already was. She knew that the fault was hers, and she was lucky that things hadn’t gone worse.
At least she knew now she wasn’t cut out for field work. As much as she would have loved to go out into the field, she doubted anyone at SHIELD would be asking.
At least she would have her lab. Jemma didn’t plan on leaving it anytime soon. She was perfectly happy in the safety of her beloved lab.
“Agent Simmons? Nick Fury told me to find you here? Something about blood samples?”
Jemma winced. She had completely lost track of time, and had forgotten that Captain America, unlike the usual crop of field agents that usually ambled into her lab a good thirty minutes late, probably valued being on time.
“Please sit, Captain Rogers. Yes, Director Fury has ordered a screening of your blood – we’re just looking at biomarkers, enzyme markers, comprehensive metabolic panels and the like – to make sure that you are in tip-top shape and because we would prefer to prevent accidentally bring back any disease from the 1940’s.”
Steve stared at her blankly.
“That sounds … good. And please, it’s just Steve.”
Jemma smiled at him and reached over to grab a new syringe.
“Okay Steve, please sit down. And hold out you hand.”
Steve sat down and pulled up his sleeve as Jemma reached down to take a sample of his blood.
“Sorry for giving you a fright the other day, I was just a little startled.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. This must be so strange for you, to wake up in a different era. I can’t even think of how I would manage.” Jemma said as the syringe filled up with blood.
“Oh, it’s strange, all right. Fury showed me how to use the, um, internet … is that how you say it? But I have no idea what to do with it or what to catch up on. The last thing I remember, Roosevelt was president, the Nazis was running wild all over Europe and I was crashing a plane with the Tesseract into the Arctic. And now… everything has changed. Besides the Tesseract, of course.”
Jemma winced.
“About that, Howard Stark pulled the Tesseract out of the ice a few years after they lost you. He, um, lead the search for you, but they could only get as far as the Tesseract before they were forced to quit the search. Technology was nowhere as close to as sophisticated as it is today, and the Arctic is a tough place to navigate.”
Steve stared at her.
“Howard got the Tesseract out? Do you know what happened to it? Where it is now?”
“S.H.I.E.L.D has it, I think.” Jemma replied. “They are probably experimenting on it, trying to harness it to its full potential. Something about unlimited clean energy, I think.”
Steve looked conflicted.
“That’s how it always starts. There’s nothing good that can come out of messing with things that dangerous. It was better off at the bottom of the sea.”
Jemma cleared her throat.
“Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do above it. It’s way above my pay grade. I’m only Level 5. Not far up enough to be trusted with potentially world ending objects. Also, I’m a biochemist. It’s totally outside my line. So, I can’t help you with that.”
Steve nodded, moving his arm to get it back to normal.
“However, what I can help you with is finding your way around more recent news and culture. You know, what to search for.”
Steve’s eyes lit up. “I have a notebook … uh, I’ve been keeping a notebook with a list of things that people tell me to do, or see, or read up on. As of now I have I Love Lucy, which is a TV show?”
Jemma nodded encouragingly.
“The Berlin wall going up and down, and Star Wars, which I was told is about people in space? Romanoff tried to explain it to me, but I can’t seem to get my head around people on other planets.”
He looked up at Jemma quickly.
“We haven’t done that, have we? Gone into space?”
“Well, humans haven’t gone into deep space yet. Or on any of the other planets. But we did put men on the moon, so that’s something.” She replied.
“The moon? But that’s so far away!”
“I mean, in the comparative scale of things, it is the closest object to the Earth.”
Steve’s eyes widened and he nodded his head. “Okay, so I’ll put the moon landing on my list. Anything else?”
“I would add Star Trek to your list as well, it’s a personal favorite.”
______________________
“Where else am I gonna get a view like this?”
“Glad you like the view, Romanoff, it’s about to get better.
A S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier appeared out of thin air.
“It’s nice, right? Pulled her out of storage with a couple of old friends. She’s dusty, but she’ll do.”
“Fury, you son of a bitch.” Steve said, looking up at the helicarrier incredulously.
“Ooh, you kiss your mother with that mouth?” Fury replied.
“Altitude is 1800 and climbing, we’re ready to send out the lifeboats.” Coulson cut in. “We’re here too, you are welcome for the help, Rogers.”
“Ah, Phil. Nice to see you, after that whole pretending to die thing.” Tony chimed in.
“Hey, I did die. For eight minutes. That’s something.”
“So you die for eight minutes and you get a fully paid vacation to Tahiti? I should try that sometime.” Natasha said, as she directed a large group of terrified children over to one of the lifeboats.
“I wouldn’t recommend it. Tahiti’s horrible this time of the year.”
______________________
“Jemma. Hey!”
Jemma turned around to see Steve walking towards her.
“Steve!”
“I didn’t know you’d be here. It’s great to see you, though, you showed up just at the right time.”
Jemma winced. “Yeah, well, we were a little, uh, occupied with some other things or we would have joint you sooner. Fury’s had us fix this thing up and keep it in storage for the last year in case we needed it. We really hoped that we wouldn’t, but here we are.”
“Yeah, here we are. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about potentially lending us some manpower, on occasion. As much as I would like to have this not be a regular occurrence, I have a feeling it just might be where we are headed.”
“Yeah, well, seeing that we’ve just found a lot more powered people, we should have plenty. You might want to talk to Coulson about that, though. That’s more of his thing.”
Steve nodded. “And would we be able to get any scientists?”
“If that’s your way of offering me a job, I’d have to politely decline. At least for the time being. Coulson has me studying a monolith we came across. Really interesting stuff.”
“Right. So, I’ll go talk to Coulson, and you’ll let me know about that job, sometime down the line?”
Jemma smiled. “Sure. I’ll let you know. And could you do me a favor and sign what is left of Coulson’s trading cards? Apparently, they are vintage and Fury got blood all over one of them, so now Coulson won’t stop whining about it.”
_____________________
“Hey, I’m here. You said you wanted to talk?” Steve said, approaching the park bench where Jemma had asked him to meet. She had called him out of the blue and had seemed incredibly distraught.
There was definitely something wrong with Jemma, even more so than what Steve had sensed over the phone. There were dark shadows under her eyes, she seemed much thinner then when he last met her, but there was also a steel in her eyes. Steve recognised it from wearing that very look too often. She was trying to be strong, to hold herself together, when all she really wanted to do was to break. Her eyes told a story of someone who had been through too much, and who was worried she might not survive it.
“Oh, Jemma, what happened?”
“Steve. You came. I didn’t think you would.” She said, looking up at him.
“Of course I did. What’s wrong?”
“Um, I sort of got abandoned on a faraway desert planet with an ancient, evil Hydra god and a forgotten astronaut.”
“What?”
She sighed, tears forming in her eyes. “God, that sounds like the beginning of a shitty bar joke, doesn’t it? I don’t know. I was working on the monolith, and it sucked me in and portaled me to this desert planet, and I was so scared, and hungry, and sad, and lonely, and it was just after Fitz had asked me to dinner, and there was no sun, and I was so scared….”
“Jemma. Breathe. Along with me. Slowly. That’s it, in and out. Breathe.”
Jemma took a few shuddering breaths.
“Thanks. I don’t know how to explain it… um, let me try again.”
She took a deep breath.
“The monolith took me to this planet. It’s the home of this ancient Hydra deity, and it just might be the worst place in the universe. I was there for, um, around six months.”
“Six months. On an abandoned desert planet. Alone. Jemma, that’s horrible.”
“Well, I wasn’t completely alone. About three months in, I met Will. He was an astronaut, who’d been sent by NASA on a mission to Maveth in 2001. He was the only one of his expedition who’d survived. We helped each other. I acted as his voice to hope, and he helped bring me back to the ground. It wasn’t as lonely after that.”
“2001… Jesus, he was alone for fourteen years?”
Jemma nodded. “Yup, fourteen years. And we didn’t get him back. I think the monster got to him. The monster caught up to us just as the portal opened and he told me to leave.”
She shook her head.
Jemma’s voice began to raise. “Fitz is trying to find a way to get him back, but it’s not fair! Why was it me? He should have been the one to make it, he’d fought so hard!”
Steve put his hand on her shoulder.
“Jemma. Look at me. Will made a choice. He made an incredibly brave choice. He chose to let you live. I know it’s hard, living, while the people you love are gone, but you must do it. And from what you’ve told me of Will, I doubt he would have been able to have a live back home anymore. I lost all those years of my life; I have some idea what it’s like. And I don’t remember any of the time I spent in the ice. Will would have remembered every excruciating second of his.”
Steve paused.
“Jemma, Will made a choice to let you live. The best thing you can do to honor him is to live your life to its absolute best. Live the life that he never got to. You can’t spend the rest of your life mourning him. That would make his sacrifice useless.”
Jemma shuddered. “The people you love… I only knew Will for what, four months? That’s nothing.”
“Jemma, I’m still in love with a woman I only knew for a few months during the war. We didn’t even go out on a date, ever. But I know there’s no one else I could ever love. Four months, alone, on a strange planet, facing death every single day? That’s going to create some bonds.”
He sighed. “I feel like this is a good time for me to apologize.”
Jemma looked at him. “For what?”
“If it wasn’t for me, you never would have had to come out into the field. That was your first mission, wasn’t it?”
“Well, I wouldn’t put all the blame on you. I was sort of destined for this, I think.”
“What do you mean?”
“My mum, Sarah, she was, uh, a high-level S.H.I.E.L.D field agent. And so was my Nan. So, I grew up with a lot of this, on a daily basis. My mum was trained by Peggy Carter, I know you knew her. Peggy basically brought up my mum, and she was always around whenever I needed her. I still go see her, every now and then.”
“Have I met them? Were they at S.H.I.E.L.D before it collapsed?”
“I don’t think so, my mum died the year before you came out of the ice. A pity, because she would have loved to meet you. She was a big fan.” Jemma chuckled. “There was a period when the only cereal we were allowed to buy was the one with Captain America on the front. Don’t get me wrong, we all thought the cereal was terrible, but mum insisted.”
“So why science, then? Why not join the field straight out?”
“That’s from my dad. He was a scientist at Roxxon, and when I had surgery for scoliosis as a kid and was bedridden, he used to take me outside and talk about the stars. That’s where I got my love of science from.”
Steve smiled at the story. It seemed to have lightened Jemma’s mood too, as the corners of her lips had lifted.
“I didn’t know that you had scoliosis as child.” Steve said softly.
“Yeah, I was always sickly as a child. Mum always said that that was something I had inherited from her father. He wasn’t the healthiest person in his youth, apparently. Had every possible disease. But he survived. He was a survivor.”
“I guess that’s a family trait too.” Steve replied with a smile.
__________________
“Who is this? It is THREE AM! Who are you, and why did you wake me up at this godforsaken hour?” Jemma yelled groggily into her phone. Fitz turned around to look at her, clearly sharing her annoyance at his sleep being disturbed.
“Jemma, it’s me, Steve. I’m so sorry to bother you, but is Daisy around? We have a mission in Laos tomorrow, and we could use the extra manpower, now that Banner, Thor and Stark are not around.”
“Ugh, yeah, about that. Daisy is AWOL right now. She’s having some sort of crisis after the hive thing and left the compound a few weeks ago. Coulson told me to give her space. I don’t know where she is, or what she’s doing.”
“Does Phil know where she is? I could really use her on this. This is the first lead we’ve had on Rumlow in months. It could be crucial in wiping out Hydra once and for all.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t think Coulson would tell you if he knew. Why don’t you just take the Maximoff girl?”
“Wanda? I probably will, if we can’t get Daisy, but I’m not sure she’s ready. Daisy is far more battle tested, and she has better control over her powers.”
“Didn’t Wanda manage to take five of the six Avengers out at one point. I think she’ll be fine. What’s the worst that could happen?”
Jemma put the phone down and looked at Fitz, who was resting his head on his hand.
“What’s the worst that could happen? Dangerous last words.”
__________________
Turns out, the worst that could happen was quite bad. Coulson was clearly worried and had felt to need to get Daisy and the other Inhumans back to the S.H.I.E.L.D compound, citing the growing calls for enhanced people to be regulated. Coulson had seen first-hand the risks that compiling a list of enhanced people could have, and how easily it could fall into the wrong hands.
The calls for the regulation of powered people had the potential to raise a lot of problems for Phil Coulson.
He had seen the way his own agents had turned on Daisy after her transformation, and the way even Simmons had begun to look at Daisy.
With fear.
Selfishly, Coulson did not want that to be Daisy’s future. He loved the girl like the daughter he never had, and he wanted her to stay safe.
And as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D, he knew that revealing the identities of the extensive Inhumans who worked with S.H.I.E.L.D to the government could have no positive outcomes. With all the fright around enhanced people, the government would not take kindly to a couple dozen more showing up at their front door.
Also, there was the additional teeny-tiny issue of SHIELD technically being an illegal organization. If three dozen, fully trained Inhumans were to show up out of the blue, it would raise questions as to where they had come from.
And the fact that the Avengers seemed to be tearing each other apart. Stark being in favor of the accords would be a problem, seeing as he was the main source of S.H.I.E.L. D’s funding.
There was also the matter of Phil’s own resurrection. Now that all of S.H.I.E.L.D’s secrets were out in the open, it was only a matter of time before people started looking into how, exactly, he came back from the dead. That would raise a lot of questions, that Phil, frankly, did not want to answer.
Phil Coulson brought his head down to his hands with a sigh.
Now, more than ever, S.H.I.E.L.D needed to stay underground.
______________________
She’s gone.
In her sleep.
Jemma pressed send with a sob.
______________________
“It’s still strange that she’s gone.” Jemma said with a sigh. “I mean, I knew this was going to happen for a while, it was just a matter of time.”
“But it’s not something you can ever be prepared for. Loosing someone who you were close to.” Steve replied.
“Yeah, I suppose so. Still, she always seemed invincible, you know? She was the Peggy Carter, who single handedly took down a dozen of the SSR’s best men, who blew up Roxxon, who did all these incredible things, and survived. And now, she’s just gone.”
“No one’s invincible, kid. We’ve all got to go someday.”
There was an awkward pause as they reached the elevator.
“Phil’s got you stationed somewhere nearby here? To wait these whole accords thing down? I know things must be hard for S.H.I.E.L.D right now.”
“Berlin. We had an old safehouse here, and Coulson wanted someone to look after the Inhumans nearby. To make sure they stay hidden.”
Steve nodded.
Jemma took a breath before continuing “And things with Fitz have been a little, well, strained since Maveth, and Will and everything. I thought it might be good for us to take a little time apart. Anyway, I ‘m sorry to bore you with my relationship troubles, you must have far more important things to do.”
“Oh, it’s no problem.” Steve replied quickly. “It’s great to talk to you.”
Jemma smiled. “Thank you for walking me back. If you find yourself in Berlin and need anything, feel free to give me a call.”
“Sure, I’ll …”
“Steve. There’s something you gotta see.”
______________________
“I talked to my contact in the CIA.” Jemma said softly, walking over to Steve and Sam. “She says that tips have been pouring in ever since that footage went public. Everyone thinks that the Winter Soldier goes to their gym. We filtered through the noise, and used some old SHIELD tech to zero down on which one was actually him.”
She slid a file over to Steve.
“It’s not much of a head start, but it is something. You’ve got to move quickly, it’s only a matter of time before everyone else catches on to you.”
Jemma’s phone chimed. She looked down at it.
“That was my contact. You need to leave. They have orders to shoot on sight.”
__________________
A blond agent strolled into Steve’s glorified cell.
“Here’s the receipt for your stuff.”
“Bird costume? Come on, man!” Sam exclaimed.
“Hey, I didn’t write it.”
She lowered her voice.
“I’m Sharon Carter. I’m Jemma’s contact in the CIA.”
Steve nodded at her. He recognized her from the funeral. It made sense that Peggy’s niece would be close to Jemma. They must have been closer than Jemma let on, if she could convince Sharon to betray the people that she worked for, no questions asked.
Sharon subtly pressed a button to allow sound into the room.
And then all hell was let loose.
________________________
“Jemma, it’s Steve. I need a favor.”
“Steve, where are you? And where is Barnes? Are you safe?” Jemma asked frantically.
“We’re safe. I have Bucky. And Sam’s here too.”
“Ah, yes, Sam. What do you need? Things are a little chaotic over here, after that little escape stunt.”
“The doctor. The one who was sent from to UN. Can you find out who he is? He’s the one who was behind this from the beginning – the bombing, framing Bucky, everything. We need to know. He could be able to control an army of winter soldiers, he’s dangerous.”
“I’ll check out the SHIELD databases. We must have something on him, he couldn’t have appeared out of thin air.” She paused for a minute. “I’m sure some of the cameras in the city must have picked him up. We’ll figure out who he is.”
“And, if you could do me another favor. We still don’t have our suits. And I have a feeling we’re going to need them.”
---------------------
“Do you understand what a getaway car is?”
“It’s low profile.”
“Good, cause this stuff tends to draw a crowd.” Jemma pulled open the boot, to reveal their gear. “Sharon sends her regards.”
“Tell her I said thanks.” Steve replied. “Any word on the doctor?”
“The psychiatrist who was assigned by the UN was Dr. Theo Brossard. Coulson’s contact in the Berlin police say that he was found yesterday, murdered in his hotel room, so we know that the person who showed up was an imposter. The good news is that we found out who he is. Helmut Zemo. He was part of the Sokovian intelligence. His wife and kids died in Sokovia. We think this is some kind of drawn- out revenge plan, but the bad news is that we don’t know what his end goal is yet. Maybe releasing the super-soldiers on the Avengers, though, honestly, in my opinion it seems unlikely. There’s something we’re missing here.”
Steve nodded. “Thank you, though, for everything. I know helping me was risky.”
Jemma smiled. “Happy to do it. And honestly, I don’t think Peggy would ever forgive me if I didn’t help you.”
Jemma began walking away, then turned back to look at Steve. “When this is all over, if you still need a place to crash, off the books, give me a call. I’ve had some practice living off the grid, these past few years. I know a place.”
___________________
“Can you move your seat up.”
“No.”
Bucky shifted in his seat.
There was an awkward silence as Sam and Bucky attempted to decipher the conversation happening outside the car.
“The girl. Who is she?”
“Who, Jemma?” Sam asked, looking at Bucky through the mirror. “Jemma Simmons, she’s a scientist from S.H.I.E.L.D. The part that’s still active. She’s the one who’s been helping us all along.”
“Has anyone ever noticed that she looks eerily like Peggy Carter? The eyes, the cheeks…”
“I thought she looked more like Steve, if anything. They have the same smile. Maybe she’s a long lost relative or something.”
Bucky nodded. “Eh, she could be.”
______________________
“The light switch is here and there’s a key under the flowerpot down back. If you need anything else, I’m a call away.”
“Thank you so much, Jemma.” Said Steve, looking around. “How’d you find this place?”
She looked at the ground. “It was my grandparents’, actually. They were, um, high level SHIELD agents, and built this place to be completely off every grid. S.H.I.E.L.D, Hydra, the government, no one’s ever known about this place. It was paid for through about thirty shell companies. And it’s equipped with state-of-the-art security systems. Trust me, there’s no safer place on the continent.”
“The Sound of Music, Breakfast at Tiffanies, Charade, Romeo and Juliet… Your grandparents sound like boring people.” Sam remarked looking through a stack of CDs under a counter. “Is there not one action, horror, anything?”
Jemma laughed. “Yeah, after all the violence at work they really hated to bring that home. Also, gramps was a scaredy- cat. He watched five minutes of a horror movie once and refused to watch any more. My mom bought them all the CD’s a couple of years before she died.”
“Your gramps sounds like Steve, then.”
“Hey!” Steve said. “I watch horror movies!”
Jemma looked at him. “Really? Name one that you’ve watched.”
Steve opened his mouth to answer, before realizing that Jemma and Sam were technically right.
“See?” Sam said with a grin.
_______________
When Jemma, Fitz, Daisy, May, Mack, Sousa, Yo-Yo, Kora and the Coulson-bot got back from the past, half the world was dead.
As much as Jemma wished it was an exaggeration, it wasn’t. Mack’s brother was gone, Daisy’s father was gone, and May’s mother (who Jemma didn’t even know existed) was gone.
Leaving behind only a pile of dust.
And they had been for four years.
In those four years, the rest of the world seemed to struggle to move on.
Half of the Avengers were gone, turned to dust by the mad titan.
Turned to dust by a mad titan attempting to play God.
Who had killed half of all living beings in the galaxy.
Those who remained were left to put together the pieces.
They didn’t seem to be succeeding.
_________________
When they got back, Alya was gone.
Jemma hadn’t known how much she could feel pain till she lost her daughter.
The daughter that she didn’t even remember.
Turned to dust.
Jemma’s hand shook as she lifted her cup of tea to her lips.
Once again, Jemma Simmons had failed.
“Jemma.”
Jemma turned around, startled out of her thoughts, to see Fitz standing against the doorframe.
“Jemma. You knew that this was going to happen.”
Jemma swallowed, red rimmed eyes on the floor.
“That doesn’t make it easier! I don’t even remember her! I don’t remember my baby!” Jemma yelled, the teacup clattering on the floor. She sank to the ground, shaking.
Fitz ran over to her and held Jemma’s trembling body in his arms.
“Jemma. Look at me. We knew that this would happen, and we prepared for this.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded photograph of a beaming Alya, sitting on Jemma’s lap. Jemma smiled shakily.
“You are the only one who knows how to undo this. So, go, find the Avengers, help them get the stones, and we’ll get our little monkey back. You are the only one who can do this, Jemma. Do it for her.”
Jemma took the photo from him, wiping away a tear. “You know, Alya’s the first person in my family to have blonde hair since, uh, Steve.”
“Let’s hope she hasn’t inherited his habit of running headfirst into trouble, too.”
Jemma chuckled. “That one is a particularly stubborn family trait, I don’t think we are losing that anytime soon.”
“Oh, we’re in for a lot of trouble with that little monkey, aren’t we?”
_____________________
“What if we could somehow control the chaos, and we could navigate it? What if there was a way that we could enter the quantum realm at a certain point in time, but then exit the quantum realm at another point in time? Like before Thanos.”
“Wait, are you talking about a time machine?” Steve cut into Scott’s yammering.
“No. No, of course not. No, not a time machine. This is more like …. Yeah, a time machine. I know it’s crazy. It’s crazy.”
“But it is possible.”
Steve, Scott and Natasha sprung around towards the source of the voice. Natasha lunged forward only stopping when she realized who it was.
“Sorry I didn’t call ahead. I had a key.” Said Jemma.
“Seeing that I’ve spent the last five years first in the future and then hunting down alien robots in the past, it’s not crazy. Fitz and I figured out how to do it.” She continued.
“I’m sorry, did you say you were hunting down alien robots in the past?” Scott asked.
She shrugged. “Long story. Anyway, I know how to do it. I just need to fine tune some of the details. We used the monolith last time, which is a little more unpredictable than what we’re going to need to do.”
Steve was looking at her closely. “You lost something. In the snap, when you returned. You lost someone.”
Jemma looked at him with steel in her eyes. “I lost my everything. And I’m going to get it back. Are you in?”
Nat looked over at Steve. “It’s not like we’ve got anything better to do.”
“Good. We’re going to need some more manpower. And someone to help build us a time machine.”
_____________________
“It’s a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull a… what do you call it?”
“A time heist?” Scott responded.
Tony looked at Steve. “Why didn’t we think of this before. Oh, because it’s laughable. Because it’s a pipe dream.”
“What if I told you that it’s not a pipe dream? That we’d been to the past and managed to make it back alive.” Jemma said.
“Who are you, again?” Tony asked.
“Agent Jemma Simmons, SHIELD.”
“Well, Agent Simmons, I’d ask you to prove it.”
Jemma reached into her pocket and held out five communication devices.
“These are modified, long distance communicators. Put them on.”
The others nervously looked around at each other before reaching out and pressing them behind their ears, as Jemma had done.
“What are we looking at?” Scott asked. Jemma ignored him.
A second later, a hologram of a woman in a black bodysuit appeared.
“Daisy!” Jemma said, excitedly. Daisy smiled at her, looking around at the audience with a curious expression.
“Do you need me for anything?” she asked, worried. “Had something happened?”
“Oh, I just needed to prove a point. Is Daniel around?”
“He’s here somewhere. I’ll get him.”
Daisy vanished from sight, as the five continued to stare at a hologram of an empty room.
“Who’s Daniel?” Scoot asked.
“You’ll see.” Jemma replied. Daisy reappeared in the frame, this time, with a man.
“Jemma.” He turned around to look at the others. “Steve Rogers?”
Steve looked at him. “Who are you?”
“That’s Daniel Sousa.” Tony said, incredulously. “He was a friend of the old man’s.”
“He founded S.H.I.E.L.D. With Peggy Carter.” Natasha said, looking at Jemma. “And he was killed on a mission.”
“Well, that’s what history says. But we felt that Agent Sousa was too valuable to lose, so we pulled him out of the timeline. He’s in space, now.”
She looked at Daisy and Sousa. “Thanks for the time, you two. I’ll call again when things here settle down?”
They smiled and nodded at her as the call cut off. Jemma looked at Tony with a raised eyebrow.
“You believe me now?”
“What if we screw it up worse?”
“I don’t believe we will.”
“I’ve got to say, your giddy optimism rivals this one’s.” Tony said, gesturing at Steve. “I believe the most likely outcome will be our collective demise.”
“Not if we follow all the rules of time travel. That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sports events…”
“I’m going to stop you right there, Scott. Are you seriously telling me you plan for time travel is based on Back to the Future?”
“That’s not too far off, though.” Jemma cut in. “Think of time like a river. It doesn’t flow in a straight line and has offshoots and streams. Now, if you throw one twig into the river, it creates tiny ripples, but it gets swept up by the tide and doesn’t change the flow of the river. But if you throw too many twigs into the river, it creates a dam and forces the river to create a new offshoot. That changes the present. But if you only create tiny ripples, you can change the future and not affect the present. I have all our research here.”
Jemma put down a drive next to Tony, who eyed it suspiciously.
“I know this is difficult for you, I know it is. You’ve got a wife and daughter, but I’ve lost someone very close to me, we all have, and you won’t even…!”
“That’s right Scott. I won’t even. I can’t. I’m sorry. I’m honestly happy to see you. Oh look. Table’s set for seven. Come on, stay.”
“Tony. I get it. And I’m happy for you. I really am. But this is a second chance.”
“I got my second chance right here, Cap. Can’t roll the dice on it.” He turned around to face the others. “If you don’t talk shop you can stay for lunch.”
Tony walked inside.
“What do we do now?” Jemma asked.
“We’re going to need a really big brain.”
“Bigger than his?”
____________________
“What? I see this as an absolute win!”
Steve shook his head, walking out of the room. The experiment with time travel had proved that they were nowhere near ready to do this on their own. As he walked out, Jemma caught up with him.
“How did you do this the first time?” Steve asked.
“We used the tides.” She replied. “Movements that happen across space and time. But we hadn’t figured out how to control them. Right now, if we hopped onto a tide, who knows where we’d end up. That’s why I needed Tony. He’d be able to figure out the last bit, if he was willing to help.”
Steve looked at her sadly. “Well, he’s not. I guess we’re never going to be able to undo this.”
“No. He’ll come around.” Jemma looked at Steve, fire in her eyes. “I know it.”
___________________
Jemma was right.
Tony had turned up when they needed him the most.
And now, they were seconds away from seeing if their theory worked.
“Alright Clint. We’re going in three, two, one…”
The machine powered up.
And Clint vanished.
Jemma held her breath. Steve’s hand reached up to squeeze hers.
“It’ll work. You’ll get back whoever you lost. We all will. It. Will. Work.” He whispered.
“Lila!” The machine roared to life and Clint came tumbling back.
“It worked.” He looked up at them. “It worked.”
Jemma’s face lit up with a euphoric smile.
___________________
“Okay, so the how works. Now we gotta figure out the when and the where. Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with one of the six infinity stones.”
“Or substitute the word ‘encounter’ with damn near been killed by.” Tony cut in.
“We only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each. And these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history.”
“Our history. So not a lot of convenient places to drop in.”
“Which means, we have to pick our targets.” Jemma said. “We have to get in, get the stones and then get out without being seen, by well, us.”
“Fitz and I have mapped out everything we know about the stones and have picked the safest point in time to pull them out. First up, the Aether. Or the Reality Stone, as we know it. Before it was given to the collector, it was absorbed by one Dr. Jane Foster.”
“Ah, the old flame of mine.” Thor chimed in, half a can of beer in his hands. Jemma looked at him distastefully.
“Yes, that Dr. Foster. Thor and Rocket, you two are going to go back in time and get it from her, before it was ever got to the hands of the collector.”
“Got it.” Rocket said as Thor began to ramble on about the impermanence of life. Jemma tried to tune out the talking as the others looked around uncomfortably.
“Next, the power stone.” Jemma said, talking louder to attempt to drown out Thor’s ramblings. “From what Rocket has told us, the Power stone was safely hidden on Morag until it was stolen by Quill. Now, we don’t know where on Morag the stone was hidden, so, we’ll need to wait for Quill to steal the stone, and then take it from him. Colonel Rhodes and Nebula will be going to bring that one back.”
She looked around the room before continuing.
“Romanoff, Barton, the two of you will be going to retrieve the Soul Stone on Vormir. To our knowledge, the soul stone had never been removed before Thanos, so all you have to do is go slightly earlier in time.”
“What is Vormir?” Nat asked.
“It’s an uninhabited planet roughly seven trillion….”
“It’s where Thanos murdered my sister.” Nebula cut in, with a blank expression. The others looked around at each other, trying to find something to say.
“Um, here comes the tricky part.” Jemma said awkwardly, when it seemed that Nebula was done talking. “Initially, we thought that the stones have never been in the same place at the same time, but after some research, we realized that if you pick the right year, there were three stones in New York.”
Bruce looked up from the plans. “But the stones had never been united before Thanos.”
“That’s what we thought. That’s what Thanos thought, too. But in 2012, both the tesseract and Loki’s scepter were in the same place. Now, Steven Strange was still a doctor performing surgery at the time, but the time stone was in New York far before Steven Strange showed up. That’s where the rest of you will be heading to. 2012, during the battle of New York. And I’ll be waiting here, to pull you back. And remember, any major changes to the timeline will bring you back to a future that you don’t recognize, a future where I’m not here to pull you out of the quantum realm. So, remember, make ripples, not waves.”
Steve got up from his seat on the couch.
“Alright, we have a plan. Six stones, three teams, one shot."
___________________
“Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends, we lost family, we lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes, no do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. That doesn’t mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives, and we’re going to win.”
He looked at Tony.
“Whatever it takes.”
Rocket shared a glance with Jemma, who had a small smile on her face as she powered up the machine.
“Man, he’s good at that!”
_____________________
“Here we go!”
The machine powered up as Jemma held her breath.
And then they were gone.
She let out the breath she was holding and yanked her phone out of her pocket.
“Fitz? It’s time.”
_____________________
It had been four minutes and fifty-seven seconds.
Three. Two. One.
Jemma typed out the return codes and pulled on the dial. The machine came back to life, and all the figures who had vanished reappeared.
All except one.
_____________________
From the time she was a little girl, Jemma Simmons had known that the fate of the universe was up to her.
It was up to her to push everyone towards making choices that led to their fates.
Gramps always said that some of the choices would be hard.
Deadly, even.
But they had to be made.
And she had to push them towards it.
Jemma was the only one who knew how the war would end.
She had to ensure the future stayed as it was.
Jemma Simmons had to be perfect.
____________________
The Avengers were initially so euphoric to reach back that it took them a second to realize what Jemma had the minute they arrived.
They were missing someone.
Natasha Romanoff was dead, and it was her fault.
Jemma Simmons had not failed, but it felt like it.
From the minute that she met Natasha, she had guessed. Jemma was a lot of things, but stupid was not one of them. Gramps hardly mentioned any of his friends form his old life, but he’d never talked about Nat.
The only thing proving her existence was an old, crumpled polaroid photograph from a shawarma joint, shoved in a drawer.
She’d found it first as a little girl, and then again after he’d moved away, while clearing out the place for Steve and Sam.
She’d guessed that it was too painful a memory.
This was supposed to happen.
She couldn’t help the deep pang that had settled in her heart, though. She didn’t even though Nat that long.
But she knew a good soldier when she saw one.
And most of all, she knew how good of a friend Nat had been to Steve.
Jemma took a deep breath. Now all that was left to do was snap, and then Steve could go back to the future, where he belonged. To be with the woman he loved.
And Jemma would have her baby girl again, and all would be right in the world.
_________________
“Did it work?”
Jemma’s phone buzzed. It was Fitz. She turned around and held it to her ear.
“Fitz?”
“Jemma, she’s back. It worked. She’s back!”
Jemma gasped. “It worked. It worked. It worked!”
Everyone in the room looked around at each other, gasping.
They had pulled it off.
And then they looked up.
__________________
“Move!”
Jemma screamed as Steve pulled her out of the way, behind a table. He turned to Jemma.
“Can you fight?”
“Who, the alien ship firing at us? Of course I can’t fight them, I’m a scientist!”
“Didn’t you spend four months on an alien planet?”
“Yeah, where the only things I had to fight were hunger and giant slugs!”
“Okay, so stay out of the way for me. As much as we need the manpower, I need you to stay alive.”
Jemma screamed as another shot landed a few inches away from them.
“Luckily for you, I know some people who can fight.”
Jemma felt the earth below them cave in as she hit a button on her phone.
SOS.
And then, her world went blank.
___________________
Abord the Zepher three, trillions of miles away from Earth, Daisy’s phone chimed.
SOS.
She turned to Kora and Daniel.
“Guys? I don’t know what’s happening, but we have to get to Earth. Right now.”
_________________
Mack felt the tremors on the ground a few seconds before he got Jemma’s message.
“I want every agent who can move down at the Avengers compound now! And find every single person on this planet with even the slightest superpower who’s been brought back and get them there too!”
Beside him, he felt Yo-Yo running.
“You got it, boss.”
___________________
When Daisy got back to Earth, all she could see was a battlefield.
And Captain America slowly trying to get back up.
His shield was shattered.
Daisy slowly touched down on Earth and ran over to help him up, while keeping a watchful eye on Thanos.
It stuck an impressive picture, Captain America, single handedly facing up against Thanos’s entire army.
But he wasn’t going to be alone for long.
“Captain.”
“Agent Johnson.”
“We are here to help. We are going to win this, together.”
Steve looked at her with a confused glance. Together? We?
And then his earpiece came back to life.
“Steve... Steve on your left.”
A portal began to open.
Steve looked at Daisy. “Find Jemma.” He said, letting out a breath as T’Challa appeared from one of the portals.
Daisy nodded, as the Avengers joined Steve Rogers on the battlefield.
They were in the Endgame now.
__________________
“Jemma, Jemma, wake up, come on, I’ve got to get you out of here.”
Jemma tried to open her eyes. Her vision was blurry, and there seemed to be someone flying around ahead of her. Her head felt like it was going to explode.
She blinked.
“Jemma, come on, that’s it, wake up.”
“Jemma squinted. “Daisy?”
“Jemma!” Daisy said with a sigh of relief, pulling her into a hug.
“Daisy, what’s happening?” She asked, panicked.
“Thanos. Somehow, he returned. I don’t really know all the specifics, I just got here and there he was, so I decided to punch first and ask questions later. Come on, Steve told me to get you out of here.”
Jemma blinked. “The stones. Steve. He has to put them back.”
“What? Thanos blew up our only two time machines. We can’t send them back right now. I need to get you out of her, you are injured.”
“No, no, Steve.”
“Jemma. Looks at me. Steve will be fine. You need to leave. You need to make it out of here, for Alya.”
“Alya?”
Daisy smiled. “Yeah, she’s back. Alya’s back. And you are not going to die without seeing her. So come on. I’m getting you out of here.”
Daisy helped Jemma up, and the two turned around. They froze.
Thanos had the stones.
“I am inevitable.”
He snapped his fingers.
Nothing happened.
Jemma realized what was going to happen a fraction of a second before it did.
“No, no, Tony.” She gasped.
“And I am Iron Man.”
He snapped.
They stared at Tony as Thanos and his army turned to dust. Tony collapsed on the ground.
The Avengers all began to gather around him, and Jemma couldn’t help but think of that little girl.
The one with Pepper’s smile and Tony’s spirit.
The one who would never get to see her father again.
Tony Stark took his last, shuddering breaths.
Jemma felt a tear fall down her face.
______________________
Steve walked up beside Jemma and sat down on the makeshift bench next to her.
“I’m going to put the stones back.”
Jemma nodded, looking ahead.
Steve looked at her.
“You know what I’m going to do, don’t you?”
Jemma smiled. “I’ve known since the beginning.”
Steve nodded. “I’m so proud of the woman you’ve become, Jem. It must not be easy, carrying the weight of the future on your shoulders, but you’ve done it. I’m so proud of you.”
Jemma looked at him, wincing. “How long have you known?”
Steve smiled. “I guessed after Maveth. When you told me that your mom’s name was Sarah. And she had been trained by Peggy. Though, to be fair, I almost mistook you for Peggy the minute I got up. I knew for sure when you were so sure after the time travel. That’s what kept me going, the whole time. Just the fact that you were here meant that there was a better future, waiting for me.”
He looked at Jemma. “Will we meet again?”
“We will. For me, it’ll be a few seconds, but for you, it’ll be a lifetime.”
“Was it a good lifetime?”
Jemma smiled. “It was an incredible lifetime.”
Steve got up to leave, before stopping and turning around. “How do I find Peggy?”
Jemma looked up at him. “You know where she is. You’ve been to her house, remember?”
Steve stared at her and chuckled.
“Have you talked to Bucky?” She asked.
“Yeah, he knows. I gave him my notebook and everything. Look after him for me, will you?”
“I will.”
Jemma ran up to Steve and pulled him into a hug.
“I love you, Jemma.”
“I love you, Gramps. And you better make it back quick, Alya wants to meet you.”
“Alya?”
“My daughter. My everything.”
Steve gaped at her before pulling her back into the hug.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, kiddo.”
“Also, I might have done a tiny thing and impersonated Nan to blow up a classified S.H.I.E.L.D project sometime in the 50’s. Apologize to her for me, will you. And tell her that I only did it to save the world.”
Steve laughed. “I’ll convey the message. See you around, kiddo.”
Jemma smiled at his retreating figure.
Steve would be back, she knew it.
In the meantime, Jemma had a daughter to entertain.