Chapter Text
Jemma tried to stop fidgeting. She had just left to go on a mission with Bakshi, to retrieve one of their assets. The only thing calming her nerves even just a little bit was the thought that SHIELD would be hiding in the shadows.
She’d briefed Coulson on the mission and he was adamant on not letting Hydra get to the asset. He’d been very clear about it: either they get to it first, or they make sure that the other organization does not leave with it.
Maybe she’d be less anxious if she at least knew what the asset was. Knowing Hydra, it could be either a catastrophically dangerous weapon, a person, or both.
When they arrived, Bakshi pulled her aside to brief her shortly. Her eyes went wide when she saw the picture. On it there was a young woman, probably barely 25 years old.
Bakshi started explaining Jemma’s role in the operation. “You’re here as a friendly face. Because you’re relatively new to our facility, she won’t recognize you as Hydra. Under no circumstances do you bring up who you’re working for. Try keeping her civil, otherwise you will get not just us but also yourself in big trouble. She’s a very dangerous individual.”
Jemma couldn’t believe that such a nice and chipper looking girl could mean so much danger. She’d have to see that with her own eyes.
“What’s her name?”
Her superior looked at her with a malicious glint in his eyes.
“Skye.”
That was the name she called out softly, when she was walking through the cold and dark corridors of the ship.
She got no response, but she hadn’t expected any. A few rooms further, she spotted dark shapes on the floor.
Hydra agents, either knocked unconscious or dead. Their weapons lay next to them in pieces. Looking around, she didn’t find any trace of the woman she was searching.
“Skye”, she called out once again. This time she was surprised to hear a response.
“That’s not my name.”
A shadow appeared from behind some cargo boxes. “The only ones who know that name are either dead or part of an evil organization that kidnaps little kids to turn them into weapons. And you look like neither.”
Standing in the light, opposed to her target, Jemma felt very exposed.
“What is your name then?”, the scientist asked gently. Hopefully the woman wasn’t able to hear the tremble in her voice.
“I’ll tell you what, you get me out of here and I tell you my name.” Jemma couldn’t make out if that was sarcasm, or if the woman was actually bargaining for her freedom.
She wanted to apologize, because the only way either of them was leaving there was with Hydra, SHIELD or dead. Before she got time to open her mouth, she heard Bakshi in her ear.
Convince her to come with you.
How was she supposed to do that?
“I’m here to help you.” God, she felt awful about herself for lying. “Nobody’s going to hurt you if you come with me. You don’t have to be afraid.”
The woman scoffed. “Me? I’m not afraid.” As if to prove her point, she stepped out of the shadows.
Jemma didn’t know what too feel. This was just a girl, yet she indeed didn’t look afraid at all. No. She was angry.
“But you are”, the woman - no, girl continued. “In fact, you’re terrified. I don’t think you’re actually Hydra. What are you doing here? Kidnapped and forced to do their bidding? No, that’s not it. You’re undercover, aren’t you.”
Shit. Bakshi was listening in. Jemma hadn’t missed his change in attitude over the last few weeks. She was sure he suspected her of something. The last thing she needed was somebody giving him ideas.
“Don’t worry, your comms aren’t working anymore”, the girl said, as if she’d read Jemma’s mind.
She heard footsteps behind her.
“Simmons!”, Bakshi called out. “What on earth is taking so long? Why aren’t you responding to my orders?”
He was flanked by several agents pointing their guns at them. When he saw that she’d found the target, he bared his teeth in a smile that made shivers run down her spine.
“Good work, agent. Let’s go.”
Jemma saw the change in the girl’s stance. She was preparing to fight her way out of this one.
Before either of them could move, a gunshot rang. The girl pulled her to the ground and she saw the hole the bullet made in the wall, right next to where her head had been.
She turned to thank her, but the girl’s eyes rolled back. The chaos had given the Hydra agents the chance to shoot her with a tranquilizer.
They quickly hoisted the girl up and Jemma followed closely behind them. She was not keen on getting shot at again, whoever that had been.
By the time they’d gotten out of there, Jemma had made up her mind. She was getting this girl, whatever her real name may be, out of Hydra.
It didn’t end up being that easy. After the mission, Bakshi did trust her more, but not enough to let her know what they did with the girl.
Several days had passed since she last saw her and she had still gotten nowhere.
During the last briefing, Jemma hadn’t dared to say anything to Coulson about her intentions of saving the girl.
He’d think it was too dangerous, tell her off for even trying.
Twelve days after the mission on the boat, she finally saw her chance. One of Hydra’s high ranked officers had just apprehended one of her colleagues, who supposedly was a traitor.
He really wasn’t, but Jemma wasn’t about to tell that to the scary woman. She had better things to do, like saving a young woman from Hydra’s claws, or not getting imprisoned herself.
She snuck into the room where the girl was supposed to be, according to her research. And indeed, there she was, suspended against the wall.
Her head was held upright and her eyes kept wide open, in front of her was a screen with weird patterns.
This was so much worse than Jemma had expected. They were brainwashing her.
She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, when the girl’s eyes flitted towards her and a defensive look took place on her face. She couldn’t have been here for that long yet, the brainwashing hadn’t been successful. Yet.
Jemma put her finger in front of her mouth, motioning to the girl to keep quiet. Then, she quickly went to free her of the shackles on the wall.
A sudden sound behind her made them both startle and she turned around, finding that the scary woman was standing behind her.
Weird thing was, the woman didn’t attack her. Instead, she urged her to move faster and follow her.
“What-”, Jemma started to ask, before being interrupted.
“Coulson has a plan.”
Jemma closed her eyes tiredly for a second. She had just jumped from a skyscraper onto an invisible jet and honestly, the past two weeks had had enough action in them to last her a year or three. She was not made for field work.
Luckily – if one could call it that – her cover had just been compromised so she wouldn’t have to go back to Hydra, ever.
The scary woman identified herself as Bobbi Morse, apparently one of SHIELD’s best agents.
“How did you know I was there?”, she asked the agent.
“Coulson told me to help you get her out. He had a vague suspicion that her capture did not sit well with you.”
Now that they were talking about the girl, she noticed that she was swaying a little on her feet.
Jemma urged her to sit down and let her take a look at the arm she was holding close to her body.
After a quick assessment, she concluded that it might be broken. She wanted to ask what happened back at Hydra, but the bruises on the girl’s face told her enough.
“Daisy”, the girl breathed out.
Jemma and the other SHIELD agent looked at each other in confusion.
“You got me out – thanks by the way – so I owed you my name. Which is Daisy. Daisy Johnson.”
Bobbi shrugged and smiled. “Nice to meet you, Daisy.”
Daisy looked at the two of them in slight discomfort.
“Well, nice to meet you too and really, thanks a lot, but I’ve gotta go. Got places to be, people to strangle for selling me out.”
Jemma looked down in shame. “You can’t leave. You’re coming with us.”
Daisy’s eyes filled with disbelief.
“God”, she muttered to herself, turning away from them, “I’m such an idiot. And here I thought someone was finally going to save me. Give me back my well-earned freedom.” She sighed. “Out of the wolf’s house, straight into the lion’s den.”
While the young woman’s eyes started to droop, Jemma wondered how they were going to convince her that they were the good guys, not just another facility that just kidnapped her. The last part was going to be especially hard, considering they technically did kidnap her. Sometimes one had to wonder what separated them from Hydra.
If you asked Jemma, it was all about intentions. She’d worked for both organizations now, and she’d seen the differences. But still, she had to ask herself now, are good intentions an excuse for everything?