[2] An Executioner's Requiem | Leo Fitz

30

One thing Nina had grown to love since her self inflicted imprisonment, was the fact that she could use her powers without worry that she'd hurt someone. She loved it because it only took a few days for that worry to transform into admiration for the beauty she could create with the shadows in her grasp.

She could blossom flowers out from the floor, dark as night yet as pretty as the real thing and create sculptures on the ceiling, just as beautiful as the stars she'd loved as a child. She could talk to Melody as if she hadn't attended her funeral and laugh like the naive teenager she had been so many years ago.

Nina could truly let go in her solitude, and it came with a feeling of peace she hadn't felt for a long time... which was why the words uttered by a man in a grey suit, Andrew Garner, were both unwelcome and incredibly strange.

"I'm not here to discuss my ex."

Nina paused in her press up and tilted her head to look at Garner confused. She was pretty certain she hadn't mentioned May or said anything since he walked in but her confusion quickly wore off when she realised why he'd said that.

"I take it you met Skye," she responded amused, pulling out of her press-up position and standing up. She grabbed a water bottle as she waited for his rebuttal and took a large sip.

"Mhm," he hummed before adding, "I'm also not here to discuss my other clients."

"No, you're here to make me relive painful moments in my life and somehow find clarity in my tears," Nina rolled her eyes. She grabbed the hem of her shirt and gave Garner a look. The therapist turned around and she pulled the shirt off her body, quickly putting on the hoodie Fitz had left last night.

"I'm disappointed you still hold such hatred towards therapy," Garner said once Nina gave him the go-ahead to run around.

"I haven't really attended any since you to change my mind," she shrugged, dropping down onto the floor while Garner took the bed. Where most people found the height difference while speaking to someone intimidating, Nina didn't care. Someone could be twice her size and she'd still be able to demobilise them without breaking a sweat.

"That was almost 4 years ago," Garner stated shocked, "Coulson called me after you almost died to set up a session. When you didn't show I assumed you found someone else, don't tell me you didn't?"

"I don't like therapists," Nina simply stated and Garner sighed, opening his notebook and clicking his pen.

"I'll try not to take that personally," He responded and Nina tucked her hands in her pocket, anticipating the start of the session, "we'll get right into it then. Why did you shoot yourself?"

"It was an ICER," Nina deadpanned at the way he'd phrased the question, "it wasn't like I was trying to kill myself."

"I didn't say you were," Garner responded, "though you can't argue that it was an aggressive move. Right in the temple, why not the arm or chest. Surely that would've done the same job."

"I told Coulson I'd take this session seriously but if you're insinuating anything, I will stop speaking," Nina warned him.

"I'm not insinuating, just stating facts," Garner said as he wrote down a few things while Nina took a large sip from her water bottle. He watched her as she did so, noting the way her eyes seemed to be locked on the space just above his head, "what was on your mind, right before you pulled the trigger?"

"Royal blue calla lilies," Nina answered, the corner of her mouth tugging into a small smile, "my favourite flowers."

"I remember," Andrew said mirroring the smile, "you had them in vases by your hospital bed when we first met."