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"The Bus... whoever named this thing really phoned it in."
Hermione muttered as she traced a circle in the air, following the coordinates Bald Egg had sent her.
Golden sparks flew. A portal slowly unfurled.
She stepped through, and an instant later, she was standing inside a massive transport plane.
"Huh? Is somebody shooting a blockbuster in here?"
The moment she found her footing, she spotted two figures launching themselves one after the other from the open cargo ramp. One had a parachute pack. The other was in pure freefall, somehow even more extreme.
"Pretty wild."
Hermione blinked, then immediately dissolved into wind and shot after them.
...
"Miss Witch?!"
Ward's eyes went wide. He rubbed them hard.
What was she doing here?
He'd attended the S.H.I.E.L.D. Mysterious Countermeasures Team training Fury had put together. He knew Hermione's face.
"So what exactly is this?" Hermione's voice materialized right by his ear, laced with amusement. "Some kind of Battle Royale? And you brought one person without a parachute — what, were they planning to just hit the ground and become a loot box?"
Ward snapped back to himself. The distraction had cost him. The gap between him and Simmons had stretched even further, and he could already tell he wasn't catching up.
Hermione caught the panic on his face. She pursed her lips and shook her head.
Kids these days. Always so dramatic about dying.
She Apparated.
One blink, and she was right beside Simmons.
"Wah—!"
Simmons had her eyes squeezed shut, waiting for impact, when something grabbed her around the waist and yanked. She let out a startled cry and forced her eyes open.
A very pretty face looked back at her.
Simmons's mind went blank.
"Don't worry." Hermione winked. "Small stuff."
She smiled, reassuring, almost lazy. "Hold on tight. I'll take you flying."
Before the last word landed, they were gone.
...
"Where did they go?!"
Ward stared at the empty air where they'd been. He waited. Neither of them came back. The ocean rushed up toward him.
He let out a short, bitter laugh.
So Miss Witch wasn't coming back to fish him out.
He pulled the parachute cord himself.
...
10 minutes later.
"Jemma. Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?!"
Coulson's voice filled the Bus's medical bay, and it carried something rare in it, steel.
Simmons stood with her head down like a child who'd broken something. Her fingers twisted at the hem of her shirt.
"I... I know I was wrong."
It came out barely above a whisper.
The anger in Coulson's chest deflated a little at the sight of her. He sighed. His voice came down.
"Jemma. I know you did it for the team. You didn't want us dragged down because of you." He paused. "But did you think about what would happen to Fitz if something went wrong? What would happen to this team?"
"I'm sorry, Fitz..." Simmons murmured. "I won't ever do anything like that again..."
Fitz rubbed her back. "It's okay. It's okay..."
The crisp CRUNCH CRUNCH of potato chips broke through the heavy air like a wrong note in a quiet room.
Hermione was sitting in the corner, working through a bag of chips, watching the whole scene with genuine enjoyment.
Coulson turned to look at her. The expression on his face was deeply resigned.
"Well, Phil." Hermione set the bag down and studied him with interest. "Didn't know you had it in you. You always walk around with that soft, gentle face. I honestly never thought I'd see you actually lose your temper."
Coulson coughed, looking slightly pained. "Miss Witch, please — don't make fun of me."
He lowered his voice, though given the size of the room, it didn't help much. "I didn't have a choice. I'm their commanding officer. I have to be responsible for them." He paused. "I'm also going to need to keep leading them going forward, so if you could leave me a little dignity in front of my team, otherwise they'll all pick up your habit of winding me up, and then I really won't be able to do my job."
"Haha. Fair enough, fair enough. Sorry." Hermione waved a hand.
Then she shoved a bag of snacks into his hands as compensation.
Coulson had tried to keep his voice down, but the room was only so big.
"Miss Witch..."
Simmons had already suspected it. But hearing Coulson say it out loud still sent a jolt straight through her. She lifted her head, slowly, carefully, and stared at Hermione with eyes that were practically glowing.
Miss Witch.
The one who'd single-handedly wiped out an alien army at the Battle of New York.
A living legend.
And she was right here.
And she was gorgeous.
Simmons hadn't imagined their first meeting would happen like this, in circumstances this embarrassing. Her face went a little warm.
"Hmph..."
Ward was scrubbing his dripping hair with a towel, shooting Hermione a deeply aggrieved look.
We know each other. How did you just leave me down there?
Fitz's expression was harder to read, equal parts gratitude and stunned disbelief. Seeing the legendary Miss Witch in person was one thing. Having her actually show up and save Simmons was something else entirely. It felt like a dream.
Hermione reached into her pocket, pulled out a small glass vial, and tossed it to Simmons.
"Here. Antidote potion."
Simmons fumbled and caught it. She turned it over in her hands, staring at the crystal-clear liquid inside, and for a moment she had no idea what to do with it.
"This..."
She looked at Coulson. Her eyes asked the question she didn't say.
"Drink it."
Coulson smiled slightly, his tone easy. "If Miss Witch gave it to you, it's fine."
He added, almost as an afterthought, "And don't worry, S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't going to confiscate Miss Witch's gift. We're not that petty." A small beat. "Besides, even if we wanted to study it, we'd need the capability to do so."
He said it lightly, but he meant every word. At S.H.I.E.L.D.'s current level, trying to analyze one of Hermione's potions was a pipe dream.
Simmons didn't hesitate any further. She tilted her head back and drank it in one go.
The potion hit her stomach like a wave of cool, clean water. The color rushed back into her face, visibly, steadily, right before everyone's eyes.
"Whoa..."
Simmons breathed out, feeling the vitality flooding back through her. It was impossible. It was completely impossible.
That was a hundred times better than anything she had ever seen in a lab.
The tight knot in Fitz's chest finally came loose.
The vaccine actually worked... he thought, and was smart enough to keep it to himself.
Coulson watched Simmons's color return and gave a satisfied nod.
"Ward, go get May and Skye." He glanced over at Hermione. "Miss Witch doesn't visit often. Good chance for everyone to get introduced."
Ward headed out. A few minutes later, he came back with two women.
The one in front was tall, with sharp features and an expression that didn't invite conversation. Her black uniform was clean and precise. Her eyes swept the room like she was cataloguing threats. Everything about her said: don't.
Behind her was a young girl with long hair loose around her shoulders and a bright, pretty face, a mix of Eastern and Western features that made her look like someone you'd remember.
➤ Next: Early Warning of the Convergence
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