[2] An Executioner's Requiem | Leo Fitz

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When Coulson walked into the holding cell Skye had claimed as hers, he wasn't surprised to see both the hacker and Nina in there. While Skye was playing a game of operation, Nina lay next to her with a book in hand.

The two weren't speaking and apart from the occasional buzz of Skye's game and the turn of Nina's pages, the room was completely silent. Yet Coulson could see the comfort both females felt in each other's presence.

"Ankle bone's always the toughest," he said when Skye went to pull out a bone and was met with a buzzer. His voice called both agents to look up at him and while Skye decided to speak, Nina greeted the director with a nod before going back to her book.

"Yeah," the hacker spoke, "maybe a game of nerves isn't the best idea for me."

Skye set the game aside as Coulson stepped closer to her, lowering his voice slightly as he spoke, "you and I need to take a ride."

Nina's head snapped up at that because Coulson hardly sounded that serious when he was talking to Skye. The hacker seemed to have the same thought as she faced Nina, worried, before looking back at the director.

"Okay, but why am I suddenly feeling like Old Yeller right now?"

Coulson's face melded into that of shock at her words, "I'm kinda surprised you know the reference."

"I've had a lot of downtime lately. That and Fitz really wants a dog," she said, pulling a smile out of Nina.

"Thought he wanted a monkey," Coulson said confused.

"Yeah, I made him readjust his expectations," Nina spoke up and the trio smiled at each other until a solemn mood fell over the room.

"You can't tell me where we're going, can you?"

Coulson nodded before reaching out to pat her shoulder, "you're gonna need to pack a bag."

He gave her a small smile before walking out of the room and once Nina gave Skye a reassuring hug, she jumped off the bed and followed after the director. Managing to catch him just before he left the Bus.

"I'm coming with," she stated, causing him to stop and face her.

"No, you're not," Coulson shook his head, "Garner gave you a very different report than he gave Skye. You're staying on base and I'm pulling you off field duty."

"I know, he told me and I don't care about that," she responded, though guilt did grow in her at the reminder of her last conversation with the therapist. She'd been an absolute prick and she knew it, "I promised Skye I wouldn't let anything happen to her, I can't do that if I'm not with her."

Coulson sighed heavily at her response because he knew she wasn't going to change her mind and therefore he was left with no choice but to tell her something he didn't want her to know just yet.

"FitzSimmons finished analysing your brain scans."

"Okay..." Nina said a little confused with the relevance of that information.

"There was a potentially fatal increase in your brain activity back in Wisconsin," he stated and Nina rose her eyebrows shocked. Surely she should be feeling the effects of such a thing but she felt no different than how she always did, "it occurred at the exact same time Skye lost control."

"What are you saying, Coulson?" Nina asked, wanting him to get straight to the point.

"She created a frequency when she lost control, the same frequency that radiated off your body in the basement when you first summoned late Agent Kline. Fitz made the connection this morning."