[2] An Executioner's Requiem | Leo Fitz

50

Nina had been reading through some files in Coulson's office when the man himself walked in, followed by May and Skye. They hadn't noticed her at first, which was understandable since she was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall behind his desk. Their conversation didn't seem all too important or confidential so Nina opted to finish reading the employee file of a potential hire, sent to her by the inhuman she'd put in charge of her foundation, before making her presence known.

"I have no idea," Skye said as Nina turned the page, "seriously, I have never heard of anything like that before and neither has Lincoln."

"And you believe him?" Coulson asked as Nina turned the page once more. This time it made a slight sound that May picked up on and she rose a hand, silencing Skye's response.

"You've got until three before I start shooting," May said and Nina didn't even think before standing up, knowing that May would start well before three.

"Hey, fancy seeing you here," Nina smiled at the trio while she used the file to wave at them. May's face instantly relaxed while Skye smiled back and Coulson looked incredibly confused that she was even in the room.

"Why were you hiding?" May asked.

"I wasn't," Nina responded, "I just like the floor and the spot behind the desk is my favourite."

"You have a favourite spot?" May asked and Nina nodded, "are you a dog?"

"Well, I have been called a bitch multiple times," was her response and May rolled her eyes before gesturing for her to come over and join the conversation.

"As I was saying," Coulson said, smiling at Nina in greeting as she stopped beside him, "are you sure you can believe Lincoln?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Skye asked, Nina turning to look up and Coulson, her eyes asking the same question.

"You barely know him," Coulson said and Nina agreed, acknowledging the fact that she had handed over her business to someone she also barely knew.

"I know enough. He and Jiaying helped me, the same way Dawn helped Nina," Skye said, "they never tried to hurt us. They taught me to channel my power so I wasn't hurting myself. These are good people, Coulson."

"Are they? People, I mean," Coulson said and Nina's hiss at his words made him realise that his question was in poor taste, "I mean, look, I know you feel connected to this group, but you won't tell us much about them, you're keeping to yourself..."

"I've been taking care of Lincoln."

"Oh, is he awake?" Nina asked once the hacker mentioned the human charger once more.

"Yeah, he woke up almost two hours ago."

"That would explain my lights momentarily going out," Nina smiled, "I should stop by, say hi and everything."

"He'd like that," Skye responded softly.

"From our perspective," Coulson continued on, drawing the two enhanced agents back to the conversation at hand, "we don't even know what to call this group."

"Inhumans," both Skye and Nina said, though only the former continued to speak, "our ancient ancestors called themselves Inhumans, and we just want to be left alone."

"We?" Coulson asked at the same time Nina tilted her head. She knew that she was included in that 'we' but she didn't like the way it felt at that moment. It felt like Skye was denouncing their relation to SHIELD, and it made her uncomfortable.

"If they want to be left alone why infiltrate a military vessel?" May asked and Nina snapped her head towards her.

"They what?" Nina asked surprised and May nodded by grabbing a tablet off Coulson's desk, pressing a few buttons and handing it off to her. She watched, quite confused, to see Gordon teleport onto Gonzalez's ship with Raina by his side. Her confusion only grew when she was shown a large stone, with random cravings in it, turn into a grey liquid before becoming solid once more.