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Chapter 11

Jemma had a funny feeling she wouldn't get the option to stay on The Bus after she'd offered to go along for the ride, even though Skye reassured her that Coulson would let her, as she wasn't feeling too comfortable about returning to the place she'd been held prisoner. As it turned out Skye got left behind on The Bus with May to monitor their activity. May had been left in case they needed to make a quick getaway. And Jemma got to accompany Coulson, Triplett and Fitz back to the Hydra base.

May had landed the plane on top of the mountain, so it wasn't quite as far of a walk to find it, about half a mile. If only she had had a plane when she was trekking down the mountain with The Winter Soldier to begin with.

"How did you escape this place?" Fitz asked as they stood outside the building.

It was a large building, it looked nearly like a small factory but with no obvious doors at the ground floor and it was set into the side of the mountain.

"We jumped," Jemma said looking up.

"That's got to be a good 10 meters."

She thought back on the experience, a little troubled by it. "Yes," she said absently. "It was a scary drop."

Coulson sighed. "Well, we've got to get back in there. Trip did you bring the spelunking gear?"

"Yes, I did."

"Spelunking?" Jemma stammered, "I, I don't think I can do that Sir-"

"It's all right. We'll pull you up."

Fitz put one finger in the air, "um…"

Trip glanced at Coulson and Coulson smiled at Fitz. "We'll pull you up too Fitz."

"Right," Fitz sighed.

The blood had been mopped up but the bullet holes were still there. On the roof, in the hallway, everywhere The Winter Soldier had met them. Jemma hadn't considered whether or not he had actually killed those Hydra men or if it was all acting. Since that was all just for her benefit, to make him trust her. But, looking at the holes in the wall now, she was pretty certain that those Hydra guards hadn't been in on the truth either, and were just eliminated to keep up the ruse. Which, was pretty disturbing.

"What happened here?" Fitz asked as they moved down the hall.

"The Winter Soldier."

"Ah, him."

"They could really use an interior decorator."

Jemma feigned a smile. "Yes, most of this place looks like the set of the Death Star."

They came to the T in the hallway. Trip turned to the left. "What's down there?"

"My prison cell. The Winter Soldier's room… er, cell… well, much nicer cell than mine anyhow. More of a room really," Jemma said.

Coulson checked in with Skye. "She says to take the left. That the locked room is further down this way."

"Oh goodie," Jemma whispered as she followed them down the hall she knew so well.

Coulson turned back to her. "You doing all right Simmons?"

She faked another smile. "Never better Sir."

"Good. I know this is probably a little rough for you." And then he turned away and continued down the hall ahead of her.

The Winter Soldier's room was open, and being that she was at the tail end of the group she decided no one would notice if she just peered inside for a minute. She crept over to it, and looked in. Yes, this was his room. Minus the dead bodies. It was the same way they'd left it.

Jemma walked in. There was a thin layer of dust on the table. He hadn't been back. She took a few steps toward his bedroom area. There were his clothes lying on the floor just as he'd left them. A couple of bath towels, which had dried and hardened in crumpled forms lying atop a boot and underwear. Her eyes fell to his unmade bed, the sloppy stack of books on his dresser-

"What a slob."

She spun around, trembling.

Fitz stood behind her.

"Yeah, he could use a maid service," Trip said just behind Fitz.

"Come on team, we need to get to that locked door sooner rather than later."

The group of them traipsed back out of the room and down the hall. She passed by her cell, never looking in its direction, she didn't want to see it. Didn't want to think about it. She was here on a mission, she was free.

At the very end of the hall, was the door in question. It was tall, metal and had an electronic lock of some sort.

"Looks reinforced," Coulson remarked pulling a pick-lock device from his pocket. "This should take care it," he said sticking it under the lock. "Everyone might want to take a couple steps back."

A minute later the door was blown open in a loud blast.

"That's subtle," Trip said as they moved inside.

Jemma noticed several planes.

"Someone left the lights on," Trip muttered.

"Is this… a runway?"

"Yes Fitz, I think it is." Coulson pulled out his gun.

There was the faint sound of people calling to one another.

The team pressed up against a wall for cover.

"I don't think this base is abandoned," Coulson said dryly.

Trip waved Jemma and Fitz back. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Everybody back up," Coulson said under his breath.

The four of them slunk back out of the secret hangar and then once they were back in the hallway they started to run. Four of them against however many Hydra agents were in this base were not good odds.

Jemma had come prepared this time, trainers instead of flats. She hadn't, however, brought a weapon of any sort with her.

She pointed the way that she and The Winter Soldier had escaped, through the mechanical room, in the dark and back up to the roof. They climbed to the roof, and then down off the roof and headed back to where May had landed The Bus in a clearing about half a mile away up the mountain.

"That was a close one," Fitz smiled. "I didn't think we were gonna make it out of there."

"Maybe we should've stayed. Could be they just left a skeleton crew behind in the hangar," Trip said.

"Yeah, maybe."

Jemma could see their plane coming into view and May was standing in the open cargo bay next to Lola.

Then, before she realized what was happening, she was thrown into the air and slammed back down again several feet from where she'd been. The world around her was fuzzy, her head was ringing.

Fitz was over her, mouthing something like, "Jemma get up!" And pulling at her arm.

"W, what happened?" she stammered as she was dragged to her feet. And then, she heard something, like gunfire. Was someone shooting at them?

And then all sound returned, and she could see clearly again.

"Get down," Coulson was yelling at them. "Get down both of you."

"We have to get back to the plane!" Fitz yelled to her.

Something exploded between them and The Bus making it nearly impossible to get back to it. They were pinned down in a crossfire.

"That was not an abandoned base," Coulson called out.

"Nope, and I'm going to be out of bullets soon. We have to make a run for it," Trip said.

"Yep."

Hydra began to move in. Jemma could see the men shooting at them now, creeping out of the forest around them. She did not want to be taken prisoner again.

"Put down your weapons!"

Coulson turned to them. "Don't put down your weapons." Although, he and Agent Triplett were the only ones returning fire. She wasn't sure if Fitz had a pistol on him or any of their gadgets. Sadly, she didn't.

"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. surrender or-" He slumped to the ground.

Another Hydra agent fell to the ground, and then another…

"There's a sniper. Trip can you see him?" Coulson said.

The Hydra agents turned toward the new shooter, and began to fire back.

Jemma squinted in the direction Agent Triplett was looking in. She couldn't see anyone.

Agent Triplett grabbed a pair of high powered binoculars and scoped the area. "I don't know. If he's up there he's pretty well hidden."

"C'mon Jemma," Fitz grabbed her by the sleeve. "Let's get inside."

She scrambled to her feet and then someone else grabbed her much more roughly from behind. "Don't move." She felt a gun barrel at the back of her head.

But before she was able to turn around he fell to the ground. A bullet had shattered the glasses on his face.

Several other Hydra agents were coming toward her from the same direction.

Coulson and Trip were busy firing in the opposite direction.

The Hydra men were closing in on her and Fitz. They were alone out there, left to their own wits. Jemma threw her backpack around nailing one agent in the face. This did enough to really piss him off.

He caught her in a headlock.

Jemma fought with him but she had very little martial arts training. She attempted to flip him, but he had her tight and was beginning to suffocate her.

A moment later, she was pulled down to the ground and then his hands released fully. She came up coughing and sputtering, her eyes on a pair of heavy black boots in front of her. Confused she lifted her head.

The Winter Soldier was standing over her, fighting the agent that had her in the headlock. He slammed his bionic arm into him and, knocked him bloodied, to the weeds beside her. And then he moved on to the next one, sending him flying through the air with a kick to the chest.

There were bloodied bodies piling up all around her. She got up off the ground.

He turned and faced her. She had no idea what he was thinking, he was wearing a mask and goggles that made his expression unreadable.

"Bucky," she gasped.

A Hydra agent rushed him as he turned to look at her. The Winter Soldier grappled with him, an assault rifle pressed up against the leather armor he wore.

There was some rapid fire but Jemma wasn't certain where it had come from. The ground was on fire from the explosions. There was chaos all around her.

May yanked her by one arm. She was on the field of combat now. She also had Fitz by his shirt sleeve and was intently pulling them both toward the plane.

The Winter Soldier turned toward her. It was as if in slow motion. His long brown hair hanging over the goggles, menacing and unreadable.

May released Fitz and Simmons, wary, readying herself for a fight.

"No!" Jemma jumped in front of him. "No, she's my friend!"

His posture shifted, and he turned back meeting the oncoming Hydra operatives who were following them back to the plane. His movements were fast, and precise as he eliminated his targets. She watched in horror as men were stabbed, limbs broken, and smashed with his metal arm.

But she couldn't stare for too long, she scrambled into up into the cargo bay along with Fitz.

"Go inside!" May instructed before she waded back into the fray.

She lingered longer than she probably should have. The sound of gunfire, and people screaming, and the metallic whirr of The Winter Soldier's bionic arm filling her ears. It was a total and complete bedlam outside.

Trip stumbled aboard followed by May and Coulson.

"I told you to go inside," May said sternly.

Her eyes fell to The Winter Soldier, the only man on their side left out there to battle with the remaining Hydra agents, of which, there were still at least two dozen.

The hatch began to close.

"We can't just leave him behind!" Jemma pleaded with May.

She glanced over at him, and then met Jemma's eyes. "He's too dangerous."

"But…"

She watched as the door closed completely on the scene outside the old Hydra base. The Winter Soldier locked out and left to his own defenses.

Coulson startled her with his presence. "He wouldn't have gotten involved if he didn't think he could handle himself."

"But Sir, he came to our rescue and now we're going to leave him out there to fend for himself."

"He came to 'your' rescue Agent Simmons."

"What? No. I don't think-" But then the look on Coulson's face stopped her.

"Why don't you go collect yourself Simmons? We all need to."

"Right." This was so wrong. Jemma forced herself to leave the cargo bay and find her way back to the tiny space where she slept on board to change her clothes, then to the bathroom to assess the damage she'd taken.

As The Bus lifted off she tried not to think about The Winter Soldier being injured or possibly taken prisoner by Hydra again. They should've helped him…

"Are you sure nothing happened between you?" Fitz said as Jemma finished cleaning up a gash on his forehead in the lab, about half an hour later.

"No. Nothing happened Fitz."

Trip came in, and helped himself to some Betadine. "I'd say he definitely wants something to happen."

Jemma looked down blushing as she reached for a bandage. "I'm sure that's not the case."

"Yeah, anyone who follows you around sniping people who threaten you isn't interested," Fitz muttered clearly annoyed.

Jemma hastened to apply the bandage and then excused herself from the lab. As she walked out into the meeting room/bar area Skye smiled at her.

"It is kind of romantic."

"Stalker if you ask me," Fitz said passing by her.

After he was gone Skye leaned in and said, "Is Fitz jealous?"

"It is The Winter Soldier, no one to be taken lightly."

"Agent Triplett," Jemma snapped.

"Hey, just sayin'."

"You guys," her voice pitched. "There is nothing going on."

"Okay, okay." Skye put her hands in the air.

Annoying. Can't a girl just get saved by a former Hydra agent without everyone getting in her business about it? Jemma needed a minute alone. She walked briskly back to her sleeping compartment.

She swiped her keycard in front of the door and it slid open. It was an incredibly tiny compartment, they all had one like it on The Bus. Her bed was the biggest thing in there, and as she entered, it was directly in front of her against the wall. She had meant to climb immediately into bed but then she heard something. A strangled sort of breath.

She turned around.

The Winter Soldier stood up against the lockers, just behind the door.

She gasped.

He put one bloody finger up to the mask.

"Bucky?"

Shaking he removed his goggles and let them fall to the floor, and then, after a couple tugs the mask fell from his face, also clattering at her feet. He sucked in air as if he hadn't had any in such a long time.

"Help me…"