[2] An Executioner's Requiem | Leo Fitz

25

Nina didn't get the chance to spend much time with Wren in his new home before she was dragged back to SHIELD. Coulson had called her, informing her about an issue involving an unknown and an Asgardian. He'd given her the choice to either join the assignment or stay home but Tony told her to go.

Nina was a workaholic, he knew that, so he simply assured her Wren would be okay. With a hug and a promise to call once she could, Nina left her son in the hands of her father and marched back into the chaos that was her life.

"Oh, she's hot,"  Nina muttered as she entered the command centre of the Bus and caught sight of Lady Sif. In the room were the Asgardian, May, Coulson, Skye and FitzSimmons, yet the scientists were the only ones to hear Nina's opinion.

"I know, right," Fitz agreed subconsciously. The moment he spoke, his eyes widened and he panicked. Nina chuckled softly as he tried to explain himself, grabbing his shoulder to stop his frailing.

"Calm down, Leo," she told him, looking deep into his eyes as she did. He blushed and immediately looked away while she let go of him and addressed the subject of the conversation, "Nina Ramos, pleasure."

"Sif," the Asgardian placed her arm across her chest and bowed slightly. Nina awkwardly mirrored the action, missing the soft smile on Coulson's face as he recalled the last time the two had met.

It was ironic that neither party remembered.

"So what'd I miss?" Nina asked, the question was followed by Simmons handing her a tablet.

"We found a few videos of the fight between Sif and our unknown," she told her. The biochemist pressed a button and Nina watched as Sif struck the man, producing blue and yellow sparks.

"What is that?" she asked, looking away from the tablet.

"Blood?" Skye questioned.

"I hope so," Simmons said, "it could give us a lead."

"Well, there's no way to know from the video," Fitz said with a sigh.

"Once we land, Fitz you go with Hunter and Mack, handle the forensics," Coulson told the engineer. He turned to look at Skye, sparing Nina a glance as well, "you two, I need you and Bobbi to talk to witnesses in the area. See if we can track down where this guy went."

Skye's eyes widened slightly at the idea of going into the field and Nina could feel fear radiate off her. Nina kept her nerves on the inside, instinctively handing Simmons back the tablet and hiding her hands behind her back.

"Understood, boss," was all Nina decided to say. She gave Skye a look, silently reminding her of the promise she'd made to her and the hacker visibly calmed down, "I'll go grab my stuff, meet you at the cargo hold?" 

Skye nodded and Nina turned on her heel, exiting the command centre and luckily missing Simmons discussing more lethal ICERs. She went straight to the bunk she'd occupied last year, missing the fact that she knew the way without anyone reminding her, to grab her backup weapons.

She hadn't gone to the Tower armed and therefore her arsenal for the day was limited. It contained 2 knives, one she had no recollection of ever buying, and a gun. While she was strapping the items to her body, her phone rang. After deciding whether or not to answer the call, she put it on speaker when she saw the caller ID belonged to Hunter.

"Hey Amadeus," she greeted her brother, "aren't we on the same plane, why are you calling me?"

"Because it's important and I don't want to see your face. Especially if you end up hating me," his tone was serious and Nina's hands momentarily froze around her sheathed knife.