'Clara,' she heard someone say, their voice distant as she made her way from a dream world to reality. 'Clara? Time to go.'

She finally opened her eyes, seeing the room dimly lit, but daylight beginning to appear in long stripes across the floor. Sam was standing above her, one hand resting gently on her shoulder as he eased her back from her nightmares. 'You found him?' She yawned, sitting up and looking around for her bag, wiping the back of her hand over a sweat-slick forehead. 

'Yeah, Sharon's got a lead,' he told her, taking a few steps away and giving her space to get ready. 'Apparently his lab's not too far from here - Buccaneer Bay.'

'Nice,' she said, rolling her head over her shoulders as she tried to ease the tightness in her muscles. As she did, she noticed the lack of anyone else in the room. 'Where is everyone?'

'Waiting by the car, so be quick,' Sam said, gathering his own bits and pieces from around the room. 

Clara rose, her legs as stiff as her neck, and she stretched them a little too. 'Have you guys gotten any sleep yet?' She asked, already knowing the answer.

'Nope.' He looked over his shoulder at her. 'About yesterday - you didn't tell us you could do that.'

'Do what?' Clara frowned, her mind still foggy from sleep. 'The thing with the thing? The ramp and the bikes? The forcefield?' She questioned, getting there eventually. 

'Yeah, that,' he confirmed, leaning against the bar. 

'I didn't realise I had to tell you everything I can do,' Clara yawned again, reaching into her bag for another drink. 

'You don't,' Sam assured her. 'It's just a little harder to trust someone when you know they're keeping secrets.'

'God, if that's what you're worried about me keeping from you then I'd hate for you to find out any more,' she snorted.

Sam didn't seem to see the humour in that, and he held out his phone for her to take. 'I think it's time I spoke to your SO.'

'Oh...' Clara nodded slowly. 'Right. That.'

'There a problem with you calling them?' Sam asked, narrowing his eyes. 

'Not at all!' She smiled innocently, taking the phone to see it ready and waiting on the number pad. She typed in the phone number, and pressed the green icon at the bottom of the screen, lifting the phone to her ear. When the agent on the other end of the line answered, Clara spoke, doing her best to keep her tone professional. 'Good morning, Agent Simmons.' 

'Clara? Is that you? My God, I am so sorry-'

Clara interrupted her. 'Yes, this is Agent Wilson.'

'You know Peter came looking for you? You didn't tell him where you were going? He's been worried sick, bless his heart,' Clara turned to face away from Sam, biting down on her bottom lip as she tried to maintain composure. 'Is everything okay? Is this about your bloodwork? Did you father tell you?'

Clara sighed. 'Yes, everything's...' She trailed off, about to brushed over her words, when she realised what she had said. 'Bloodwork? What about it?' She spoke, keeping her voice low, hoping Sam wouldn't listen in. She didn't know anything about any blood tests. 

'Oh, I assumed your father would have passed on the message by now,' Simmons said nervously, clearly thinking she had slipped up by mentioning it. 

'Things have been busy,' Clara told her, her voice growing a little harder at the woman's tone. What was she hiding from her? What was her dad keeping from her? 'What's going on? And when did you even take my blood for testing?' 

'It's nothing you don't already know, your father just asked us to let him tell you,' she admitted. 

'Okay, well, how about you tell me now, and when my dad mentions it, I'll act none the wiser?' Clara suggested, feeling more and more anxious by the second. She was quite sure she had no clue what Simmons was talking about. 

'Promise?' Simmons asked. Once Clara did just that, she continued. 'When you were on Zephyr One we just took a little blood to sample, after all we hadn't ever seen inhuman abilities quite like yours, and we would have needed it for the Index,' she began, Clara smiling back at Sam as she saw the impatience growing in his expression. 

'I thought Fury told you not to put me on the Index?' 

'Well, yes, he did,' Simmons admitted cautiously. 'But when we saw what the traces of the Aether in your DNA he said we should, just to be safe.'

Clara frowned, Simmons speaking so blasé about it all, she had almost missed what she had said again. 'Sorry, traces of what?'

'The Aether,' Simmons repeated, speaking as though Clara would know exactly what that was. 'We likely wouldn't have noticed it if not for the readings Dr Banner recorded when it was still in his possession. It set off a rather loud alarm - it was quite funny actually, Fitz and I, we were-'

'Simmons,' Clara interrupted, trying to ignore the pounding in her chest, and the sudden shaking of her hands. Sure, she had no clue what that was, but it was something in her blood, and something her father knew about that he didn't tell her. 

And what did "just to be safe" mean? After everything that had happened at the beginning of summer, they had put her on the Index, all because of this thing they found traces of in her blood. If it was big enough of an issue for Nick Fury to go back on his promise, she should be worried, right? But surely if it was bad her parents would have told her?

She shook the thought from her head. No, it must just be the fancy word for whatever gene had been passed along from her parents to her. 'Look, I just needed a favour,' she continued, hiding the shakiness in her voice. 'I need you to reassure someone that I'm on a recon mission.'

'A recon- Clara, what are you talking about?'

'He just wants to double check with you, my senior officer, that it was in fact S.H.I.E.L.D. that sent me to gather intel on the Flag Smashers,' she said, really hoping that Simmons was willing to help her cover her lies. 'Here,' Clara held out the phone for Sam.

'No,' Simmons told her. 'No no no, Clara, you don't understand - I'm really, really bad at-'

Sam took the phone, raising it to his ear as he spoke. 'This is Sam Wilson.'

'Juggling!' Jemma winced inaudibly on the other end of the line, cursing herself as she wondered why on Earth that had to have been the first thing to come to mind.

'I'm sorry?' Sam asked, not quite hearing what she had said as the connection dipped in and out. Apparently Madripoor's mobile data left a lot to be desired. 

'This is Agent Jemma Simmons, S.H.I.E.L.D.,' she said, instilling a false confidence in her tone. 'I believe you're in correspondence with one of my field agents?'

'Yeah, so you did send her out to chase leads on the Flag Smashers?' He pressed.

'Yes? Yes. We did,' Jemma told him. 'And you best not be delaying her, we're working on a very strict schedule under the new director.'

'Right,' Sam said hesitantly. 'What did you say your name was again?'

'Agent Simmons,' She repeated, thinking she had definitely been caught out. 

'Well, thank you, Agent Simmons,' he said. 'I'll do my best not to get in her way.'

Clara raised an eyebrow, having heard only one side of the conversation, but it seemed to go... okay? In all honestly, she had hardly been paying it much attention, still questioning what Simmons had been talking about. 

'I guess you're good to go, then,' Sam told her, thinking it was probably too late to go back at that point anyway. When Clara didn't react to his words, he raised an eyebrow. 'Clara? You alright?'

'What? Yeah, I'm fine,' she waved him off, picking up her bag to hook over her shoulder. 'Let's go.'

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