18

1.5K 74 36
                                    

There weren't many people still in Nina's life who knew her before her father died and she became a Stark, in fact, there was only one. Elijah was his name, the old friend she'd briefly mentioned to Mack.

They'd met when they were toddlers in daycare and had become that duo adults were convinced would grow up to be married. Elijah figuring out he was gay a few years down the line and Nina being attracted to literally anyone else, sadly put a wrench in those plans.

The two had gone to the same schools growing up and spent a lot of their time outside of education together. Elijah was a regular visitor to the Tower and Nina was used to sneaking in and out of his house to watch movies with him and his little brother. The two stayed in touch when she joined SHIELD and he enlisted in the army. 

They were close, Nina and Elijah, closer than she had been with Ward but she had a habit of not mentioning him for the sole reason that after he'd been discharged, he strayed further from the right side of the law than he had been before enlistment.

She cared about him a lot, but being friends with a criminal - good enough to have never been caught - wasn't something a SHIELD agent should be and she still didn't understand why she'd told Mack about him so casually.

Though, maybe now wasn't the best time for Nina to think of the past and question her actions as Mack's agonised scream seemed more important, especially since it came from the alien city he'd just entered.

"Get him up, now!" Coulson yelled as he grabbed the lines connecting to Mack. 

"I'm trying, it's on max power!" Bobbi responded as she pressed a few buttons on the machine reeling Mack out from the pit.

"He's struggling on the line!" Fitz exclaimed as Nina stood up. She looked to Seven, telling him to stay seated, before rushing over to Bobbi. 

"Before the dwarfs went down they scanned for signs of life," Simmons explained as Nina grabbed onto the rope. She twisted it around her palm before jumping up and pulling it down, feeding more rope into the machine and speeding up Mack's return, "all readings were negative."

"I can see him!" Fitz yelled, "he's coming up!"

It only took a few seconds for Mack's body to become visible. He was slack against the rope, unconscious as Coulson grabbed him and set him on the solid surface. Nina moved over to him, watching in silent worry as Coulson and Bobbi pulled off his harness.

"Hey, hey," Bobbi said, laying a hand on his side and shaking him slightly, "talk to me, Mack! Come on, Mack, talk to me!"

Her words seemed to trigger more pain in the man as he regained consciousness and screamed. Nina couldn't help but grit her teeth at the loudness of his shriek as she took several steps back, covering her ears with her hands. The action went unnoticed by everyone but Simmons, who made a mental note that Nina was still sensitive around loud noises and that she was most likely still having paralysing headaches.

"M-Mack Attack?" Seven whispered worriedly. He'd abandoned his game on the floor and sat with his knees squished against his chest as he rocked back and forth. In his head, he could hear the twins' screams as they underwent experiments together and could see their bloody faces, looking at him in worry as he was dealt the same fate.

After tasting freedom and a life outside of Hydra, merely remembering scared him.

He didn't want to go back... he couldn't go back. 

"Mack, were you attacked?" Coulson asked, trying to calm down the large man convulsing in front of him. When he didn't get an answer he looked to a terrified Bobbi, who couldn't tear her gaze away from her friend.

[2] An Executioner's Requiem | Leo FitzWhere stories live. Discover now