"Raina, your name...it sounds so familiar, but I don't know why," Simmons says.
"It's alright. I'll try to explain as best I can though I must warn you, it will sound very hard to believe."
"Assuming I truly did just come back from the dead, I doubt anything would surprise me," Simmons jokes with an uneasy laugh.
Raina pauses for a moment as if choosing her next words carefully. It puts Simmons even more on edge particularly with how Raina's eyes were the only things she could fully see in this dark room. Simmons rubs the spots on her chest where Ophelia shot her and flinches despite the wounds being fully healed. She can still remember the feeling of her body going cold and her world being consumed by the dark as she bled out.
"Tell me," Raina begins breaking the silence at last. "What was the first thing you remembered when you pulled yourself out of that grave?"
"I-I'm not sure. Just brief images."
"Images of a life you never had?"
"Yes, how do you know?"
"This it the part that will be hardest to believe. I need you to just let me explain it and then ask any questions you might have. Can you do that?" Raina asks. Simmons gives a brief nod. "Alright then. Now, a lot has changed since the massacre at the Academy," Raina starts. "Hydra won the war between it and Shield and the woman you know as Ophelia had been running Hydra with an iron fist ever since."
"Ophelia is in charge?" Simmons asks without thinking. "But she was just a student at the academy, the same as me. How can she be in charge?...wait, how long has it been since the attack at the academy?"
"What did I just say about asking questions?" Raina reminds her.
"I'm sorry, but I-I need to know. Please."
"Very well. It's been 9 years since the attack at the academy."
"What!?" Simmons exclaims. "It can't have been that long! There's isn't any kind of technology on Earth that can keep a body preserved that long! I would've been a rotting pile of flesh in that graveyard if that were true!"
"Simmons, please calm down. As I said, all will be revealed shortly. Just let me get to the end of my explanation."
"I'm sorry. Please continue," Simmons apologizes with a shaky voice. She takes a series of long breathes; her heart, once again, feeling like it may burst out of her chest.
"I have a gift Simmons; the power to see into the future. Not too long ago, I had a vision of Opehila speaking with one of her colleagues about another world. One that is similar to our own, but also vastly different. A world where Shield won; a world more free than this. From what I could tell from my visions and Intel we received from other agents, she kidnapped people from that dimension and your equivalent from over there crossed over into our world to save her friends. I had a vision of her and you pulling yourselves out of the exact same place in that graveyard. My only guess is that she crossed over into your corpse and in doing so, fully restored your body. The other you may now be gone, returned to her own dimension, but the life she gave your body stayed along with some of her memories. Ok, now you may ask any questions you have."
Ordinarily, Simmons would find herself throwing out question after question about how none of this could be possible, but she can only find it in herself to ask one. "The people at the Academy, my friends…are any of them still alive?"
"Some people escaped, but not many. You can check the Shield database once we reach Providence."
"Providence?"
"A base Nick Fury had set up in Canada for emergencies," Mike answers. "It took some doing to find," he explains; a somber look forming on his face. "And we lost more than a few good people doing it. But we finally have a chance to turn the tide of this fight."
"How can I help?" Simmons asks.
"I don't know, but you must be of some importance if my visions showed you to me."
"Agent Peterson," Alisha's voice sounds in the room. Mike pulls his communicator off his belt and answers it.
"This is Mike," he replies.
"We'll be landing in less than a minute. When we do, take the girl to meet with our superior. Alisha out." The call ends and not long after that, the group can feel the Zephyr starting to slow down and then start descending.
"Welcome to Providence," Mike says once they feel the Zephyr touch down. "Follow me," he says and Simmons does as she's told.
"Do you mind me asking you a question?" She asks as they leave the room, and Raina, behind.
"Sure, go ahead."
"Just what is Raina? I couldn't fully see because of how dark it was, but something about her appearance didn't seem quite human."
"Raina is what we call an Inhuman."
"What's an Inhuman?"
"That is a good question. I don't fully understand myself, but whatever triggered her power of foresight also altered her physical appearance. Alisha, the one that found you, is an Inhuman as well with the power to make copies of herself."
"And are you an Inhuman?"
"I'm Enhanced, but I'm not an Inhuman. The Shield database will have a more detailed history regarding what you missed over these past few years," he explains leading Simmons to the Zephyr's exit ramp. Upon going down the ramp and entering Providence, Simmon's jaw drops. For the second time since pulling herself out of her own grave, she feels excitement and wonder instead of fear and dread.
"Hey, you seem happy all of a sudden," Mike says with a smile as he leads Simmons to a door marked 'Level 0'.
"I've never been in a real Shield base before," she says as Mike scans a card he has in front of the door to open it. They step through and Simmons' smile continues to grow. "I heard stories about what these bases looked like when I was at the academy, but I must say, the reality definitely beats the fantasy."
"Happy we didn't disappoint," a voice says. A voice that this time Simmons legitimately recognizes. She faces the direction the voice came from and feels her heart do a leap.
"Victoria! I mean, Ms. Hand! Ma'am! You're alive!" Simmons yells and throws her arms around the other woman to give her a hug. "I'm sorry," Simmons apologizes, but doesn't let go. "After what I've been through, I'm just really really happy to see a familiar face."
"It's ok. I'm glad to see you're alive as well, Simmons," Victoria says lightly hugging her back. "I found it hard to believe that you were back, but Raina's visions have never been wrong."
"I wish I could explain how, but I don't even believe it myself. Ms. Hand, I need to know. Has it really been 9 years since I died?"
Victoria places a comforting hand on Simmons' shoulder. "I'm afraid so." Simmons feels her knees grow weak and Victoria helps keep her steady. Simmons glances at Victoria's left hand on her shoulder and feels something off about it.
"Oh my, God. Your hand," she realizes.
"You don't go to war without accumulating a few scars. Fate seemed to have a sick sense of humor in my case," she says observing her black robotic hand. "Hope to repay Daniel Whitehall the favor one day."
"I'm so sorry," Simmons says.
"Hey, what matters is that you're ok. Now, take all the time you need to process this and when you're ready, I'll brief you on everything that's happened since the attack at the academy."
To Be Continued...