Note: Canon-divergent in that Simmons' cover wasn't blown, so she's been Phil's inside girl for a lot longer.

"Pretend to Die"

Jemma knew it was dicey, going undercover at HYDRA when she wasn't a trained field agent. She did as Coulson asked, though, because… well, it was Coulson, and she couldn't handle Fitz at the moment, and she blamed herself for it, and… In other words, she'd thought this to be a perfectly sensible, if foolhardy, idea.

And then the base came under attack from the Avengers.

Now more than just the original six, with the Falcon, the Winter Soldier, War Machine when he was available, and even Thor's Asgardian friends when they happened to be around. Jemma didn't know whether Sif was with them, and whether or not it would be better if she was. On the one hand, did the woman know anything about subtlety? Would she accuse Jemma of betraying the team, thus exposing her? Would she attack first, ask questions later?

Although, judging by the ferocity of the attack, none of them were supposed to be getting out alive.

She broke protocol sending out a panicked message to Skye. There was no point in maintaining the pretence anymore; it seemed she was going to die today, whether HYDRA thought she was on their side or not.

"Everyone, on your knees!" the Winter Soldier barked as he stormed into the room, automatic weapon in his hands. Jemma knelt beside her desk obediently, wondering whether she could get out of this by playing dead, or at least by hiding. But what if the whole building was blown to kingdom come?

At least the last thing she'd said to her parents was that she loved them. That was how she ended every conversation with them, just in case.

The Winter Soldier – no one dared call him Bucky Barnes – was promising a swift death to all the scientists loyal to HYDRA. After all, the rot in SHIELD had started with the science division, so it was better to get that out of the way first.

"Bucky, get a move on!" someone called from outside.

"Gimme a minute, ya punk!" he called back. "I wanna savour this." The other voice was probably Captain America, then. Jemma nearly squeaked when the Winter Soldier stopped beside her as he finished his speech.

Then his hand shot out, and he grasped her by the hair. Well, it was loose, and it was long; far more dramatic than any of her short-haired colleagues nearby.

"To make an example of you all," he said, and he tipped her chin up with the end of the gun's barrel. The others flinched back, a couple crying out and covering their faces. She met his eyes and felt a flare of irritation.

"The way my day is going, this was bound to happen," she muttered.

There wasn't much of a change to his expression; only a slight twitch at the corner of one eye, and his mouth tightened a little. His eyes flicked side to side, and then he moved the gun so that the barrel of it rested against the side of her head.

"Play dead, and make it convincing," he murmured.

Her eyes widened, and she mouthed 'What?' The gun brushed against her ear.

"For peace, freedom, and liberty," the Winter Soldier said.

Then he moved the gun away from her head and fired.

Jemma gasped at the loud noise, and her body sagged when he let go of her hair. Her head bumped against the bottom of her desk on the way down, and she stayed as still as she could on the floor, her ears ringing. She could faintly hear more screams, cries of her names, even a few people begging for her to be alive. If they weren't the enemy, she might have felt touched by their concern for her. As it was, she couldn't humanise them, or it would make it more difficult to think about their impending deaths, and she certainly couldn't bring herself to mourn anyone from HYDRA.

Except her soulmate, but then he was a weapon, not an autonomous agent.

There were more fires, and someone else ran in to help the Winter Soldier. The floor was stained with growing pools of blood, and it seemed that Jemma was the only one left alive. She peeked up at the Winter Soldier, who scowled at her.

"You're only breathing because you're my soulmate," he said, and he offered her a hand. She winced as she stood up, and knew she'd have a few bruises. Nothing to complain about, in the long run.

"Wait a moment," she said, and she turned to her computer. She saved her work every half a minute, so her portable storage device was up-to-date. She removed it from the computer, stuffed it down her bra, and then let the Winter Soldier lead her out of the lab.

As far as she knew, none of the Avengers were yet aware of Coulson being alive, so she kept her mouth shut. She would have gone for her phone, but it didn't seem like a wise move, not with the Black Widow behind them. No doubt she had already catalogued anything threatening about Jemma, and was perfectly ready to strike if she made a wrong move.

So. No pressure.

It seemed that the fighting was over by the time they left the building. Captain America ran over to them. He said something, but Jemma was still having a hard time hearing. When he looked at her and spoke, she wished she knew how to read lips.

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you at the moment," she said loudly, pointing to her left ear. He moved closer.

"Do you have information for us?" he repeated. At least she heard him this time.

"Not for you, no," she said. Then she paused, and he looked equally stunned. The Winter Soldier's grip on her arm tightened for a moment.

"That's why she's alive," he said. Jemma's hearing was improving, then. "She does have information."

"Our soulmate works for HYDRA?" Captain America said, looking disgusted. She couldn't blame them.

Before she could correct this misunderstanding, a car pulled up. She didn't recognise the woman who climbed out of one side… actually, she did. It was the head of security who'd been investigating the mole a few months ago. She tensed. And then… May was with her? Jemma noticed Hawkeye on her other side, jaw dropping.

"Mockingbird and the Cavalry?" he said.

"What?" she said, looking at him.

"Bobbi Morse and—"

"I thought she was head of security for HYDRA!"

"Not quite," Morse said, reaching them. Jemma couldn't help smiling widely at May, who half-smiled back.

"You all right, Simmons?" she said.

"So much better, now that you're here," she said.

"You know her?" Hawkeye said, jerking a thumb towards Jemma.

"Simmons has been working undercover for us. Agent Morse was there to protect her."

"Really?" Jemma said. "I had no idea." She beamed. "Lovely to meet you, Agent Morse."

"You, too," she said. "Officially, this time. Or should that be unofficially?"

"I don't really care. At least I don't have to pretend anymore."

"Everyone in there is dead," Captain America said, indicating the building behind them. "Let's demolish it. Where's Iron Man?"

"Do you have intel?" May said. Jemma stuck her free hand down her shirt and pulled out the storage drive.

"Here you are," she said. "Everything I was able to get. Please." She looked up at Captain America. "Please destroy the place. The experiments… their plans…" She trembled, and looked at May. "I did my best—"

"You did excellent work. Good thing you contacted Skye."

"I thought the end was near; there didn't seem to be any point in keeping secrets. I just wanted to say goodbye."

She felt the same constriction around her arm again, and looked at the Winter Soldier, who seemed paler than before.

"You're lucky," he said. "If she wasn't our soulmate, she'd be dead, and the information would be gone."

"Soulmate?" For the first time since they'd met, Jemma saw that May seemed genuinely rattled.

"Let's get you back to base," Morse said.

"But… she's coming with us," Captain America said, frowning. "You've got your information—"

"Simmons means more to us than information," May snapped, and Jemma couldn't help smiling.

"She's our soulmate!"

"I'd…" Jemma trailed off when all eyes turned to her. "I'd much rather return to my team, thank you all the same." She tugged at her arm gently, and the Winter Soldier let go. "It's been so long since I've seen them… I'm sure a great deal has happened."

"It has," May said, and she glanced at Morse, before returning her attention to Jemma. "Come on. Your job here is done. Let's get you home."

"That would be lovely," Jemma said, drifting away from the Avengers and pressing in to May's side. She was surprised to realise that if she could have picked anyone to swoop in and save her like that, it would be the Cavalry. "How's Fitz?"

"You'll see him when we get there…"

Bucky swallowed as his second soulmate walked away with other people, only minutes after he'd found her, and after she'd met Steve and confirmed that it was a true triad, talking about another man. He looked at Steve, who seemed as stricken as he felt.

"I almost blew her head off," Bucky said. He dropped his gun. "I… I almost killed our—"

"You were never going to," Steve said. "We had to say the words to each other."

"Thank God she's not HYDRA," Clint said. "Dodged a bullet there."

"Maybe not the best turn of phrase you could've used, under the circumstances," Steve said, slinging an arm around Bucky's shoulders. "We'll find her."

"I already attached a tracking device when I flew over their vehicle on the way here," Tony said, sounding smug through the mask. "It'll be easy to find them."

Turned out that it wasn't so easy. Something had started to scramble the tracking as soon as the car began to move. Cameras along the way had bits of footage missing, and it seemed like the car itself went completely off the grid, along with the people inside.

"You're saying we'll never find her again," Steve said, seated beside Bucky on the sofa in their quarters.

"Not necessarily, Captain Rogers," JARVIS said. "I have mapped out the pattern of the security cameras which were affected, which may provide a clue."

"It could've been a diversion," Bucky pointed out.

"The vehicle in question has not appeared anywhere else, not even on the journey to the HYDRA base. It seems to have come out of nowhere."

"Cloaking device?" Clint said, poking his head out of the vent. Bucky scowled up at him, but Clint just grinned back.

"Possibly, Mr. Barton." He paused. "May I suggest something, sirs?"

"Anything," Steve said.

"There is a call coming through for you, although I have no idea how she found the number."

"She? Is it her?"

"Would you like to answer it, sir?"

"Yes!"

On the screen in front of them appeared the same young woman from before. Bucky had remembered the name the others were screaming: Jemma. Jemma Simmons. Her SHIELD record had disappeared somehow, but Bruce had recalled reading some of the articles she had written while she was studying for her doctorates. Two of them.

"Hello," she said primly, giving a little wave.

"I'm sorry about before," Bucky said. "Nearly shooting you 'n' all."

"You sure know how to make an impression on a girl, Barnes," Clint said, and Bucky flipped him off. Jemma cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry as well," she said. "I shouldn't have run off like that, but you're strangers to me, and I wanted to see my friends. I also had to make my report to Co— to my boss."

"Who is your boss?" Clint asked.

"Clint, go away!" Steve hissed. "This is our call."

"It's me or Tony, Cap."

"I would still like to talk to you," Jemma said. Bucky couldn't take his eyes off her. She was gorgeous, and she had the kind of accent that drove Steve wild. Bucky too, for that matter. She had lovely long hair that he wanted to curl up in his hand, for an entirely different reason to earlier that day when he'd – shit – nearly killed her. His other soulmate.

"Anytime you want, sweetheart," Bucky said.

"Well, not anytime, of course," she said, dipping her head and brushing some of her hair back behind her ear. Bucky itched with wanting to touch it.

"You could come stay here for awhile," Steve said. "I'm sure Tony won't mind. Bring your friends."

"That's…" She averted her eyes. "That's not entirely appropriate."

"We wouldn't try anything, I promise. No rushing. But we've been waiting for you."

"You've been waiting a lot longer than us," Bucky said. "I wasn't in my right mind—"

"No, no, I understand," she said quickly.

"We'd like to meet your friends," Steve said. "And your family."

"My parents are… overseas."

"England?"

"Classified," she said apologetically.

"Or we could come visit you," Bucky said. "Please?"

"I'm not sure my boss—"

"Let us talk to him," Steve said. "Or her."

"I don't think—"

"Jemma, who are you talking to?" a voice said in the background. She looked away from the screen. Clint cursed, disappeared into the vents, and then jumped down out of them feet-first.

"My, uh, my soulmates, sir," Jemma said. "And one of their friends."

"Coulson?" Clint barked. Steve's jaw dropped.

"What?" he said. Bucky frowned.

"Isn't he the guy who…?"

There was a sigh. Jemma had her head buried in her hands, and a man moved into the picture behind her. Bucky didn't recognise him, but the others seemed to. Steve leapt to his feet, and Clint began shouting. When it looked like Jemma was about to run off, he jumped in front of them.

"Save it!" he shouted. When Clint and Steve shut up, he looked over his shoulder. "It's probably better that we all meet up sometimes. This is our call with Jemma."

"Understood," Coulson said, nodding shortly. "I'll arrange something with Maria."

"Hill knows?" Clint said. Bucky scowled at him fiercely.

"Not the time," he growled. Clint frowned, but held up his hands in a surrendering motion.

"You can get my number," he said, pointing at Coulson. "Call. Me."

Coulson nodded again, and began to leave. He paused by Jemma, touching her shoulder.

"Be careful," he said softly. She put her hand over his, and Bucky's hackles rose with jealousy.

"I will," she said.

"We just got you back."

"Thank you for sending Agent Morse in, sir."

"We'd hate to lose you."

She smiled up at him. "I'm sure I'll be safe with them."

He didn't look entirely happy, but finally left them alone, and Bucky and Steve sat back down.

"I shouldn't stay on too long," Jemma said. "It's a fairly secure channel, but every secure channel still has its weakness, and we have to be careful with HYDRA after us."

"We'll protect you," Steve said.

"I have people at my back," she said indignantly. "And I'm perfectly capable. I was there for months, with no undercover training, and my cover stayed intact. I met Whitehall himself, and he was convinced. If he wasn't, he certainly didn't give any indication."

"But you're our girl," Bucky said. "Or… we want you to be, anyway."

She turned pink. "That sounds lovely. I'm a very lucky girl."

"You're lucky?" Steve said, boggle-eyed. "We're the lucky ones here. Bruce has told us how much he admires you—"

"Bruce?" she said. "Bruce Banner? He admires me?"

"Yeah."

"Well." She covered her cheeks. "That's… wow."

"Now I'm feelin' jealous," Steve remarked.

"I'm already jealous," Bucky said. "Barton obviously wants to see Coulson, so today ain't the last you're gonna see of us, doll."

"Oh, I hope not," Jemma said, eyeing them over. "I really hope not."

Apparently 'Agents of SHIELD' is starting in America in a few days? I'll have to follow ozhawk's advice and watch the episodes online; I already have to catch up by watching 'Agent Carter', because I was giving Australian television the benefit of the doubt.

Never. Again.

Please review! This is an adorable and cheeky ship, isn't it?