A/N: Sorry for the delayed update but this is a very important chapter to Emma's back story and future in the story. It also introduces the next section of the story, which will be revealed at the end. Thank you all for the support and reviews and likes and follows and favorites! They mean so much to me and I love reading all the reviews, so please keep posting more! Enjoy!

Emma was put on bed rest after heading back to headquarters, the nurses found nothing wrong with her but could tell she was under stress. Nick didn't want her on the rest but knew she was no good to him when she was under this kind of stress.

The nurses had assured her that her powers weren't taking over but they were growing stronger, which is why she had to stay on bed rest for a few days.

"Phiiillll!" Emma whined when he came to visit.

"Don't even try to ask me to leave, you are under orders. I just came to bring you some comfort food and some DVDs but you need to rest."

"But I'm fine," Emma lied. She felt fine and knew she was fine but the worry in the back of her mind kept nagging at her. If her powers ever did take full control over her, she would never be able to control when and where she would travel and she would lose her job or even her life. If she couldn't control time stopping, someone else could get a hand on her and use her uncontrollable powers for evil. Luckily, her strength was all her own but still, the worry was there, always there. Especially since the episode back in the city.

"No, you aren't. You are exhausted and pushing yourself too much lately. You just need to rest. If you travel, fine, but try and control when you're traveling for your own safety."

Emma sighed and leaned back into her pillows as Phil dropped a bag of Sonic fast food in front of her and placed a Peanut Butter Cup Sonic Blast on her bedside table. "Now, enjoy your food and Clint should be back soon, he said he wanted to stay by your side."

Emma smiled at that thought, ever the big brother. She thanked Phil as he left and quickly ate the delicious, greasy fast food in front of her. It was the best comfort food and helped her ease her mind and she soon fell asleep with a cheesy movie on in the background.

She didn't sleep peacefully, she had a nightmare, or what she thought was a nightmare.

She was standing in a dank, dark cave, she felt behind her and she was in a corner of the cave. In the distance she heard screaming in a language she couldn't pin point and then gun shots and more screams and then cheers. Then she heard sickening noises closer to her and she could smell blood. She looked over to a light in the far side of the cave and saw a man hunched over another man, who was severely injured and then she noticed a large object was placed in the man's chest. And then the man on the table gave a scream that made her skin crawl and she screamed covering her ears in panic. The man in the corner turned to see what was in the shadows and Emma closed her eyes.

Emma awoke screaming and sweating. The nurse came running into her room as all the devices in her room that she was attached to started beeping and going haywire.

"Are you alright?!" She asked placing a hand on her shoulder as Emma started to calm her breathing.

"I had a nightmare, but it felt all too real to be a nightmare, more like a vision. I could feel things, I could smell things, things that weren't here in this room. Dreams just don't do that. It felt like one of the dream time travels but it wasn't." Emma quickly explained.

The nurse went over to check the still beeping machines and paged the doctor and Nick.

"Your vital signs are normal, but your brain activity spiked abnormally for someone who would have been dreaming. I wonder…" The nurse walked over and touched Emma's pillow, "You didn't travel because your pillow is covered in sweat."

Emma looked at her perplexed, "What does that mean?"

"Once the Doctor is here he will know." The nurse replied.

"You had a vision," Nick's voice replied coming into the room.

"How long have you been outside my room?" Emma asked.

"Every night. I want to make sure you are sleeping better, evidently not."

Emma placed her head in her hands, why couldn't she just control everything. In the 4 years she had been with S.H.I.E.L.D. she thought she had learned how to control her powers and now there was one more piece to the never ending puzzle to her life.

"How do you know I had a vision?" She asked lifting her head up and pushing hair from her clammy forehead.

"You've had them before, just didn't know it. You said yourself you discovered that your powers won't fully finish reaching their full potential until you are 25. Your time with Rogers and Erskine proved that, but you are about to turn 21, you are reaching your end of your development with your powers. So, all of your powers are reaching or peaking towards full potential."

"But what does that all mean?" Emma asked frustrated.

"You know what it means, you always have." Nick said. Emma growled in frustration and was tired of the mind games she was enduring with Nick and S.H.I.E.L.D.

"No, I don't Nick! I time travel, I was born with that; this I know. I was given the Super Soldier serum to protect my family and myself and the world, I have come to realize that. This serum has helped grow and cultivate my gift; it gave me strength and endurance to handle my time travel. I control time and I stop time and I travel through time. And now I suddenly see time…" Emma stopped as she figured it all out for herself. She always had these gifts as part of her time travel, but they were dormant until this serum started to take effect. The serum made her super human, she needed the serum to help her use her powers to full potential like her mother told her long ago.

"My mother was right, how did she know that giving me the serum would help my powers actually grow?"

Nick smiled at her finally figuring it all out, "I was hoping this day would finally come. Your mother was a mutant; she had time abilities as well which is where yours came from. Hers weren't as strong because she didn't have a serum to help strengthen her mind and body to control them. She aged and with age the mind can wither and the body can lose strength and agility. You weren't going to be the first test subject, Rogers was. They were going to save that vile until you had reached your age potential, which was roughly around your teens, young enough to let it grow and just before you would reach your age to stop. Your parents discovered with testing that serum on animals that the mind and body of a twenty something year old human, is about the age limit and time the serum will hold and keep a human at that age. Any time after that, the body is not stable enough to hold it, which is why it affected the Red Skull the way it did."

Emma sat there and let the information sink in as the doctor came in and checked her vitals and cleared her health and then left her in peace with Nick.

"She was trying to save me and give me a better life with the serum; she must've had a vision about my future." Emma finally said.

"We believe so, one of her last communications she talked about was seeing that the serum would work, she had a vision of its success."

Emma felt a wave of relief at somehow finally understanding and knowing the full truth of her abilities. "I was sent forward to have a chance at life and I was sent back to understand my life, it all makes sense."

Nick reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a black wallet and placed it in Emma's hands.

"Happy Birthday Emma. It's your 78th or 21st, which ever year you feel like celebrating."

Emma laughed and opened the wallet and found an official new S.H.I.E.L.D. ID with Level 8 Clearance and a badge. She was now an official Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Emma reached up and hugged Nick before he could protest, "Thanks Nick."

"Welcome Agent Barker. Your parents would be proud," He said pulling out of the hug. "You can add that with your SSR one now. Agent Coulson will be in later in the morning with your first official solo mission."

Just at that moment Nat and Clint came running in. "We heard you had a vision." Clint said looking excited.

"How did you-"

"We ran into your nurse," Nat interrupted and then they both noticed the badge in her hands and looked at Nick.

"She completed her training, she is an official Level 8 Agent." He replied.

"She finished training a while ago?" Clint stated confused.

"I had to finish training myself, my mind. I finally understand and believe in myself and my powers." Emma smiled at her friends. Nat came over and hugged her and Clint gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Now, you should get some sleep." Clint said and Emma just rolled her eyes. He and Natasha stayed in her room to make sure she slept soundly while Nick left off on some business.

The following day, she was given time off and celebrated with Nat and Clint, they took her to Las Vegas for her birthday. Needless to say the day was a blur of shows, drinks, and general madness.

She awoke with a killer hangover the next day on a bathroom floor with a pillow under her head and covered in a thin blanket and dressed in her USO costume. She sat up and held her head as she carefully got up off the floor. That will be the last time she ever drinks that heavy again. Events of the evening were a blur.

What the hell happened last night? Emma thought as she grabbed onto the sink for support.

Emma remembered going to many different clubs till 2am in Vegas and then getting on their plane to head back to NYC, she tried to sober up on the plane but Clint tricked her after a few glasses of water and gave her a vodka and sprite, saying she needed to get more alcohol back in her system.

Then all she remembers is getting back to headquarters and going to her room and throwing on her dress, then it got real blurry again, something about doing an impromptu show for a drunk Clint and Natasha who had really wanted to see her performance.

It was after that she only saw flashes, one was of Steve, then Peggy, then Bucky. Wait a second, Emma thought. She looked in the mirror as she was holding the sink. She thought she was in her bathroom and her surroundings came in a lot clearer. The lights were different, the décor vintage, and she heard a radio playing in the background 40's music. Emma stumbled toward the door and opened it to find a hotel room and Steve getting dressed into his uniform.

"Hi sweetheart," he smiled turning at the sound of the door. "How are you feeling?" He came closer to her.

"I…I'm very confused and my head hurts," Emma winced as she held her head. Time traveling and alcohol and a hangover do not mix well she figured. Steve put a hand to her cheek.

"Let me get you some aspirin." He disappeared into the bathroom and returned with a glass of water and two pills.

"Thanks," Emma responded as she sat down on the bed and took the meds and then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt a kiss on her forehead and gave a smile and looked up at Steve. Even though she couldn't remember how or when she came back, she was happy to see him. She was worried about what she might have said to him the night before.

"What happened last night? I don't remember coming to the hotel." Emma asked.

"Well, we recently just got back to London and Peggy, Steve, and the Howling Commandos and I were out at the Pub for the night, celebrating that today I get awarded a medal for my bravery saving the 107th."

"You saved the 107th?!" Emma asked surprised. She faintly remembered reading that somewhere but had to play off she knew nothing.

"Yes, I couldn't leave Bucky and those men behind and I was tired of being a performing monkey." Emma leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"I'm so proud of you and glad you are alive!"

"Thanks, well we got back for the night and found you in the lobby looking lost and confused, asking people what year it was and what day it was. When I asked you what was wrong and what you were doing in your dress, you said you were doing a private performance for two friends nearby since you had returned from your mission. You then proceeded to vomit in a waste basket in the lobby." Emma winced remembering some of the events slowly coming back and that especially and held her stomach and sipped water at the nausea creeping back.

"Oh God," She closed her eyes in embarrassment.

"The hotel thankfully understood and said it was fine. I then carried you back up to my room since I didn't know where you were staying. I put you to bed but you got sick again in the bathroom and insisted it was indecent and disgusting for me to see you this way and demanded you sleep in the bathroom. So, I followed your wishes and gave you some things to keep you comfortable." Steve had a teasing smile on his face and Emma just nudged him.

"Well thanks for being so understanding. I am sorry I was a mess last night."

"What exactly happened to you last night?" Steve asked.

"I got back from my mission yesterday morning and went to visit a friend since I figured you were still on tour with the USO Girls. I then had a few drinks and then heard you were back and figured in my drunken stupidity that I could go to your hotel at that godforsaken hour to see you."

"But that doesn't explain why you were confused at the year you were in last night. And you said you had two friends last night." Emma slowly lifted her head to see Steve's hurt face. "Why are you lying to me?"

"It's-It's complicated Steve. It's part of my mission, I can't tell you."

"We work on the same team," He countered.

"I know but I just can't tell you. Not now, just please, please trust me. I was with two friends last night, I was in town visiting them but that's all I can tell you." Emma touched his face and he nodded his head and leaned his forehead against hers.

"I'm sorry, I just haven't seen you in a while and I was worried." Emma kissed him softly on the lips.

"Thank you, your concern is appreciated. I love you Steve, I would never hurt you."

"And I love you." There was a knock on the door and they both turned and Steve went to open the door. Peggy was there with a tray in her hands, she smiled at the two of them.

"Good morning Captain Rogers and Agent Walker. I brought breakfast for the both of you. How are you feeling this morning Emma?" Peggy asked. The smell of eggs made Emma groan with another wave of nausea.

"I've been better." Emma said taking a large gulp of water to calm her stomach.

"Captain Rogers, Colonel Phillips and some of the other heads of our division would like to speak to you more about the Hydra base you encountered when you saved the 107th. They said it can be after your medal ceremony."

"I would much prefer helping my country than receiving some medal." Steve replied as he put his jacket on and gulped down his glass of orange juice.

"Emma would you like to join?" Peggy asked.

"I am afraid not, this is all I have." Emma gestured to her clothes.

"What happened to your clothes?" Steve asked.

"I lost them during my mission."

"I will send someone out to get you some things. Please write down your size information on this paper." Peggy grabbed a slip of hotel stationary and a pen and Emma quickly wrote down her information. Since she didn't know how long she would be here, she would need clothes.

"Thanks Peggy. I appreciate it."

"Try and get some rest. I will see you later." Steve kissed Emma goodbye and left.

Emma collapsed on Steve's bed and covered her face with her hands.

This is getting too complicated. Soon he is going to figure out I'm not on missions. I'm not here. I'm going to have to tell him.

Emma rolled over and snuggled in closer to the pillow. She could smell Steve's cologne and soap and she felt a sense of comfort and warmth come over her and she let the sleep take over. She awoke a few hours later at a knock at the door. She opened it to find a bellhop with boxes and bags for her. Emma showered and changed into one of the dresses. She then decided to head out and found Peggy coming back in the lobby.

"Emma, glad to see you are doing better!" She replied.

"Thanks, how did the meetings go?" Emma asked.

"Good, Captain Rogers is putting together a team to go after all of the Hydra factories and bases over Europe. We are taking the steps to take down Hydra and the Red Skull."

"Good!" Emma said but she felt a pit of worry in her stomach.

"I was going out to change to go to the Pub to meet with everyone, Steve is there now. Would you like to join?" Peggy asked.

"Sure, I will wait here till you have finished changing." Peggy then headed up to get dressed and Emma took a seat in the lobby. It was then when something strange caught the corner of her eye, Emma turned and saw a woman looking confused and distressed. Emma got up and went over to her.

"Miss, can I help you?" The woman turned around abruptly and Emma stepped back like a shock went through her. Her body went cold and something didn't feel right and she knew why. She had accidentally run into her mother.

"Please help me!" She whispered grabbing Emma's hands tightly. "I don't know where I am but I just narrowly escaped…" She trailed off looking all around her like someone was hot on her heels.

"Escaped who? Are you alright?" Emma asked through her tight chest. She tried to keep her emotions and her time traveling in check, she needed to help her mother, even if she did have a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"I was trying to save my family…then everything went black…then so much pain…electricity…it was dark and cold and they used me…my head hurts so much…"Her words were running together and she put a hand to her head in pain. Emma caught her before she hit the floor and started to move her to the lobby.

"Used you for what? Who?" Emma asked frantically.

"To find some cube…" Her mother said weakly.

"Emma?" Peggy called running to her and then she looked down at the woman in her arms. "Who is this?"

"I don't know but she seems like she's in trauma."

The woman cried out in pain and fell to the floor dragging Emma and Peggy down with her, she held her head in her hands and blood started to flow on the side of her face like it was coming from her ears and then her nose was bleeding as well.

"My head! Too much travel, too much foresight, they abused my gift, they abused me!" She cried.

"Who is they?!" Emma cried out, she couldn't live through this again. She couldn't watch her mother die again.

"Someone call a doctor!" Peggy called running towards the front desk.

The woman looked up at Emma with a pale and bloody face, "Please save me…" She whispered.

"I want to, I wish I could…"Emma held back tears, "But tell me who did this to you and I can help you."

"Hydra…" The woman said with her last breath and she died in Emma's arms and the tears that threatened to fall began to fall.

"No…no…no…mom…" Emma cried over her body as she heard sirens and then a gun shot and she felt a bullet go through her shoulder. She looked up and saw a man running out of the lobby.

Peggy started to go after but Emma stopped her. "NO! Stay with this woman, I am going after that Hydra bastard." Emma got up and carefully placed her mother on the floor and tried not to look back. She already watched her die once before, she didn't need this image of her in her mind. Whoever shot at her most likely was part of Hydra and who was chasing after her mother.

She ran out of the hotel grabbing the gun from her thigh holster under her dress and winced at the pain in her shoulder. She focused on her healing power to heal her shoulder as she ran but focusing on that was making her head feel dizzy as she ran and she then suddenly felt the all too familiar sensation of her traveling and found herself running in the halls of S.H.I.E.L.D. It was the middle of the night and only a few agents were on the floor she was on, which looked to be forensics.

Agents turned and looked at her as she came to an abrupt stop and took in her surroundings. They all whispered and she took a deep breath to focus on her healing and to calm her emotions.

"SHIT!" She screamed.

"Emma?" Phil called running up to her from the other end of the hall.

"How long?" She asked.

"1 hour, what the hell happened to you?" He asked.

"Shot, by Hydra."

"I'm sorry, what?!"

"My mother died in my arms in London 1943, why was my mother in London in 1944 Phil? What more is there that you all are hiding from me?" Emma asked angrily turning to him.

"No, your mother died in 1942, in your home. We have autopsy reports and everything."

Emma stared at him blankly and then felt that sickening feeling in her stomach come back in full force. "Get me Fury, Hill, Romanoff, and Barton. Meet me in 30 minutes in your office."

"Who said you were giving orders?" Phil teased.

"I'm an official Agent, I can give orders when I damn well please." With that Emma turned on her heel and headed for the elevator.

Once showered and changed into new clothes, Emma met everyone in Phil's office.

"I'm still a little drunk, plus hung over you know," Clint blatantly stated as she walked in.

"Don't care, I got more questions for my secret files for Director Fury and I want you all here as witnesses and now my parents on this mission."

"Mission? What mission? I did not give you a mission." Fury retaliated.

"Then explain to me how the hell my mother lived and I then died again in my arms in 1943!" Emma screamed.

Fury's face fell and he gave her a blank look, "What now?"

"I traveled, about November 1943, I was in a hotel in London with Steve and Peggy, and suddenly I saw a woman come in all crazed into the lobby. It was my mother."

Natasha leaned forward listening intently and Clint just shook his head confused, "She was paranoid, claiming after she was shot in my home everything went black and then she was somewhere cold. They tested on her with electricity and probably other things, it sounded as if they had forced her travels and foresight, which had become very weak at her age."

"You owe me thanks for that information." Fury mumbled.

"What else did she say?" Phil asked.

"She said Hydra was the ones behind it and they were looking for some cube." Emma then noticed Fury and Phil shift uncomfortably.

"What are you two hiding?" Emma demanded and Natasha and Clint looked over at them.

"They were using her to find the Tesseract. It's a cosmic cube, we only know it was used as a weapon but it was found in the bottom of the ocean where Captain Rogers crashed by Howard Stark. Hydra had it and evidently your mother helped them find it, without her will. We didn't know she was the key to Schmidt finding the cube, we thought she was dead." Fury explained.

"Then how come we have files claiming she died in her home?" Natasha asked.

"Evidently we had a traitor in our midst at the time working for Hydra who faked her death. They must've used a weapon to create her death but still keep her alive." Phil said.

"Does that answer all your questions Agent?" Fury turned towards Emma.

"Yeah…yeah it does…" Emma needed some air and she left and headed up to the roof. Emma took a seat near the edge and looked out over New York City's bright city lights and the dark blue sky which was starting to light up with the morning sun.

Nothing about her life made sense, just when she started to understand everything, some other curve-ball was thrown in her face. She ached and missed the times when it was just her and Steve. She never knew how content and easy life was when she was with him, like nothing else mattered.

"You know we stop Hydra, nothing is for naught." Phil said behind her.

"I know, but I wish I was there for that," Emma commented.

"You probably will be. You never know," Phil took a seat next to her and put his arms around her shoulder. "Your life is never going to be simple kid, just face that fact."

"It was once."

"With Captain Rogers?" Emma turned and Phil was smiling. "I felt that way once too, with a cellist."

"I told you that you should call her, I remember that mission. I wasn't there but I remember the phone calls interrupting our classes and missions and you would take them immediately." Emma smiled at the memory.

"There's that smile. It's nice to see that smile."

Emma leaned her head against his shoulder. "Just when I got my life all figured out, my mom comes back from the dead."

"And dies again."

"Yup…"

"Life sucks."

They both gave a small laugh. "How about a distraction? A new mission for a while, a solo mission?"

Emma turned and looked at him as he held out a S.H.I.E.L.D. file. Emma took it and opened it up and laughed.

"Really? He's my mission?"

"Tony Stark. You knew his father, so you can understand him better than anyone else. He's been getting a little too much press about his weapons company and we need an insider to give us any news and keep tabs on him. We don't need him to become a problem."

"And I'm the perfect one for the mission?"

Phil grinned, "You bet." Emma just shook her head and looked over the file briefly. "When do I start?"

"You begin in two days, you are a college graduate intern for Stark Industries and will be reporting directly under Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. You will be Pepper Potts' first and only intern."

"Well, I guess I need to go shopping and get some suits and get packing."

Phil patted her on the back, "Welcome to Stark Industries."