[1] Take the Shot | Leo Fitz

45

Nina woke up to the sound of soft tapping on her bedroom door. She had always been a light sleeper, so she wasn't surprised to see Fitz still lay asleep next to her, completely oblivious to the sound that had forced her out of her slumber.

With a groan, she climbed out of bed. Nina would be lying if she said her body wasn't sore. It felt like that one time when she was 13 and ran a marathon with zero preparation. She couldn't walk for a week and it was not a welcoming feeling. But as she looked down at Fitz, she decided her current pain was worth it. She leaned down and placed a small kiss on his bare shoulder before quickly throwing on her clothes.

Nina made sure that Fitz's body was properly covered before she opened the door. Coulson was standing there, holding a coffee with a raised eyebrow.

"Rough night?" he asked as he pointed at the noticeable hickey on her jaw, Nina just rolled her eyes. She was too tired to feel awkward about his words like she had been last night.

"Shut up," was all that she said as she stepped out into the hallway, silently closing the door. Nina didn't want to wake up Fitz until it was absolutely necessary, she was very aware of how willingly he'd let her wear him out.

"Coffee?" Coulson asked as she laughed at her response. Nina looked to the cup he was offering her and shook her head, she didn't think she'd be accepting coffee from anyone for a while.

Coulson just nodded, not noticing the reason behind her decline and gestured for her to follow him. They walked through the hallway towards a room, the team had occupied the day before and pushed open the door. Coulson walked in first, followed closely behind by Nina, who was not surprised to see another party in the room.

"I figured you be back a lot sooner," Nina said as she locked eyes with May.

"I would have never left if I knew," May said and Nina could hear the guilt in her voice. She knew what the rest of that sentence was and it made her feel a little uncomfortable.

I would have never left if I knew... what he was going to do to you.

"Doesn't matter, it wasn't your job to know," Nina said giving the agent a nod as she tried to push away the memory of her pain. When she succeeded, she turned to look at Coulson, "what are we here for, boss?"

Coulson anticipated the question and responded by connecting a large pad of paper to a tripod and holding up 3 pens, "everything has to connect. The Clairvoyant, Quinn, Deathlok, Ward and Garrett... Hydra in general. If we can figure out how they connect, we can find them."

"So we're going to try to complete the puzzle?" Nina asked and Coulson nodded, the two females in the room gave each other looks before shrugging, "I'll put on a pot of coffee."

*

Coulson had woken Nina up at 5 am, it was currently 9 and they had only just figured out what connected all their problems. Nina and May were very happy they could stop racking their brains for answers, especially because Nina had downed 6 cups of coffee and the older woman was convinced she was one more away from a myocardial infarction.

"I've always wanted to go to Columbia," Nina said as she caught the words on the TV as she opened the door that divided the room she was in with the room the rest of the team had congregated in. FitzSimmons and Skye were sitting on the same bed, the hacker typing away on her laptop while the scientists watched a newscast covering Deathlok's recent crimes.

"You've never been?" Simmons asked, taking her eyes off the screen to look at her, as Nina focused on the biochemist she could see Fitz blush deeply in the corner of her eye.