[1] Take the Shot | Leo Fitz

8

Nina was convinced the mission couldn't get any worse. What the team had originally thought to be a high tech weapon turned out to actually be an alien disease that they didn't know how to treat. It had claimed three lives and just when Nina thought it was contained, Simmons had caught it.

Coulson, May, Ward and Skye were all huddled up in the cargo hold discussing the situation while Nina remained in the shadows, close by but not a part of the circle. She was watching Simmons, who sat on the floor in the lab with her back to the glass door, with Fitz who mirrored her position in the cargo hold. Nina had grown to like Simmons and the revelation that she was infected crushed her, she couldn't comprehend how Fitz must be feeling.

"Simmons believes she contracted the virus approximately 36 hours ago when she received an electrostatic shock from the first victim," Nina could hear Coulson but made no move to join their huddle. She thought back to the moment where she grabbed Simmons in the clearing, if Nina had gotten a little closer to that body she'd be infected too.

"How much time does she have?" Skye asked the question on everyone's minds and Nina tensed as she awaited the answer.

"Based on when the firemen were infected, how quickly their symptoms manifested... two hours at most."

"That's enough time, right?" Skye announced and May looked down as she looked to her, "I mean SHIELD has dozens of labs and scientists working on this thing, don't they?"

"They do. How soon can you get us on the ground?" Coulson addressed the question to May, who answered with a solemn tone.

"Three hours," it was with her words did Nina's denial completely dissolve and Skye covered her mouth in shock and disbelief, "our path to the Sandbox has us right in the middle of the Atlantic."

"Sir, correct me if I'm wrong, but if we can't land in time..." it was Ward's turn to speak.

"Simmons will release a pulse that will blow this plane right out of the sky."

"We can't just sit here and watch her die. We have to do something!"

"There's only one person on this plane capable of finding a solution for this, and I'm willing to bet my life that she will," everyone turned to look into the lab. To Simmons who was no longer on the floor but standing with teary eyes.

"She's just a kid," May said as Nina pushed off the wall and started for the glass that separated the team from their biochemist.

"She's so much more than that," the team watched Nina as she knocked on the glass and caught Simmons' attention.

"Oh. Hello Nina, how can I help you?" Simmons tried to remain positive but it was impossible to ignore the weight of death that was dragging her down.

"I need you to promise me something," as Simmons looked into Nina's eyes, she noticed the glassy finish they had and she was shocked to believe the Executioner was crying for her.

"Of course."

"I need you to fight."

"I'm sorry?"

"The science isn't in our favour but I don't care, you need to fight. Don't give in and don't give up," Nina broke eye contact for a moment, looking at Fitz who was watching her with tear tracks down his cheeks before she focused back on Simmons, "we're friends, Jemma. You're not allowed to die."

"Then I need you to promise me something as well," Simmons said back as she allowed the tears to run down her face, "if I'm gone-"

"Jemma-" both Fitz and Nina tried to stop the thought but she carried on.