Redback Widow V I Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. [16]

Past Life

"We can't go yet. There are still people in danger," Tess argued.

"Coulson's on it. He's rescuing the Inhumans right now," Mack said.

"But not the dead ones. Look. When I was brought back, I heard someone else going through the same pain, the same process," Tess admitted.

"Being revived? Who?" Mack asked.

"Some Inhuman. Has to be," Flint reasoned.

"They're the only thing Kasius values," I pointed out.

"Look, if we don't find them, nobody will. It's a whole other section--" Tess started.

"Yeah, but right now, you need to get on that trawler. People are depending on you to fly them up to safety," Mack said firmly.

"Show me where to go, and I'll get them," I volunteered. Mack looked over at me, about to object. "Tess is needed on the trawler. You guys meet Fitz-Simmons. I'll save whoever I can and we'll meet at the rendevous. Easy," I said.

"Nothing about that sounds easy," he pointed out. We stepped aside to talk about it privately.

"Mack, it's an Inhuman in pain. I have to go," I said firmly.

"Asya, please..." he tried to reason with me, but finally relented and let me go.

"Take care of the big guy. He worries,"

-

I leaned over, checking one of the bodies. Dead. Chains rattled in the distance, spooking me slightly.

The Inhuman.

I headed towards the sound, eventually finding a door with Kree printed on it. I pushed it open, weapon still in hand. "Hello?" I asked. "I'm here to help," there was a form on the bed, curled up under a blanket with a foot sticking out. "What's your name?" the figure sat up.

"Asya," it was me. "It's good to see you."

"This is a trick," I muttered, shifting away from the thing slightly.

"I thought the same thing when I was standing where you are," she said.

"This isn't real," I denied.

"I wish that was true. An LMD or a Framework illusion...but it's me. I'm you," she said.

"How? I--" I asked.

"I waited so long to see myself again, still with hope in my eyes," she said. Still with hope.

That didn't sound good.

"How are you alive?" I questioned.

"They killed me, brought me back to take my blood, my DNA, then again and again for years. They revive me when they want, kill me when they don't," she answered.

"What? How?" I asked. "How many times?"

 "I held on to the thought of this moment," she claimed.

"Нет, это неправильно," I muttered.

"But this time, when they asked me how our team fought back, I tried to give them as little as I could. But I knew you were close. You and...Mack. Mack. He's still alive," she started smiling. I gaped at her, not wanting to consider that possibility. "Hold him for as long as you can."

"What happens to Mack? What happens?" I asked, no, demanded.

"I practiced so many times what to say. I wanted to be better, save you from the pain. But seeing you...all the pain comes back," she said.

"You've been here this whole time..." I realized.

"Stuck in the loop. Like you," she said.

"What loop?" I asked.

"We make it back in time. But then we bring everything that's to come," she claimed.

"I don't believe you," I said firmly.

"I know. I don't think I did, either. Until I was on fire, reaching for Mack. And then there was nothing there," she said.

"How do we stop it?" I asked, knowing she had the answer.

"I'm not sure you can," she said. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes briefly.

"Whatever's coming, I'm not afraid to hear it. Tell me how to fight," I said.

"I want to. I want to help you fix the mistakes. I want to tell you something different than last time. But the more I talk...the more I hear my words echo all over again," she said, her breathing starting to shudder.

"It's okay. Take it slow," I said softly. "Just tell me what you remember."

"I remember feeling helpless. Not being able to change people's choices. His choices," she admitted.

"Mack?" I asked.

"No. Coulson," she said.

"Coulson? How? How does he die?" I asked urgently.

"It's already begun. He's sick, and he knows it. We tried to stop it. Loyalty--it cost us the world," she admitted.

"You heard all this, and you still couldn't change anything," I said.

"I know. Stuck in the loop. But you can forge a different fu--even as I say the words, I realize I've heard 'em before," she said.

"Are you telling me to go back and change the world, or are you warning me that I can't?" I asked nervously. A door opened in the distance, and I tensed.

"You need to go. They're coming," she urged.

"No. Not yet," I replied.

"I hope you travel a path to a world I've never seen. Now go!" she urged.

"Not unless you come with me," I shot back.

"Go! This is not my path," the blanket covering her fell off, and I stared at the sight. "Please! Please. Go now,"

---

"Let her go!" Mack. Oh, god. It's been so long.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah," I pulled back, trying to keep my neck as far away from the blade as possible.

"Mack, no," I breathed.

"Iva told me I'd find you here," I whimpered slightly, feeling the knife threatening to slit my throat.

"Shadows...what'd they do to you?" Mack asked, terrified.

"I've grown to know Iva quite well. Pain can be so persuasive," Kasius leered. He was right there, holding me up. I knew what he was planning.

Mack couldn't see. Not if he wanted to stay that way.

"Mack, run! Leave! Go home!" I begged.

"I'm not leaving. I said let her go!" I took on a shaky breath, unable to get any further away from the knife.

"Look at her tremble. Perhaps she knows what comes next for you...for me, huh?" a single, terror-filled tear slipped down my face, leaving a stiff and cold path down my cheek. "For all of us here, standing on the edge of timeless, violent glory," I heard him swallow the vial in his hand, the vial clattering to the ground.

Mack needed to leave. He had to leave.

I felt the knife start to drag across my throat, and the world paused. Everything was silent.

Fear shook me to the core. Of course. My only true moment of fear was my last.

---

"Mack," I ran over, hugging him tightly.

"How?" he breathed in my ear. "You were killed."

"Oh. I'm so sorry you had to see that. That wasn't me," I assured him.

"But you were dead," he said, putting his hand on my face as if he couldn't grasp what was happening.

"No. I'm here. And it's time to go home,"