[1] Take the Shot | Leo Fitz

19

While Ward was interrogating a potential suspect, Skye stood in the lecture hall watching as FitzSimmons gave their speech to a crowd of eager cadets. Nina had been in the hall at the start, but she was quick to realize that Sci-Tech lectures were no place for a specialist. It also didn't help that faculty members were watching her with keen eyes. As if she was going to revert back into the Executioner, the person people loved and feared, and kill them all.

Due to this, she retreated outside the hall. She could still see all that was going on through the glass walls and she couldn't help but notice how every cadet hung off of every word the scientists said and that every time Fitz opened his mouth, they stared at him like he'd given them the world.

Nina wouldn't admit to herself that she sometimes looked at him in the same way.

After a few moments of lingering outside the hall, Nina decided that she didn't need to guard them and was about to go on a walk around the grounds. Her idea was squashed when she heard a shriek come from the room and she charged back in. When she entered, she noticed a boy panicking.

"Oh, God. Oh, God!" Nina recognised him as Donnie from the list of students she'd been given, "what is this?!?"

His cries caused Nina to run further into the room and case his surroundings trying to figure out what was causing his distress. It was then she noticed the ice that was spreading up his legs.

"Ward, I suggest you get in here," Nina said, holding her earpiece as she watched the teenager freak out. She received an unsteady comment from Ward, telling her he was on his way.

"Hey! What's happening to me!? Help me! Help me! Get it off! Can anybody help me!? Make it stop! Help me get it off! No! Make it stop!" Donnie screamed. He was severely distraught and he wasn't even trying to hide it, Nina had to push down her feelings of wondering what it felt like to be so transparent with your emotions as she ran towards him, trailing behind FitzSimmons who had started running before her.

Unfortunately, before anyone could reach him, his entire body was submerged in ice and the lecture hall succumbed to chaos.

"Eso no es bueno (that's not good)," Nina muttered under her voice. Fitz was the first person to reach Donnie while Simmons stopped by a case and started rifling through it. Nina noticed that it was a first aid kit, every room in the academies had one.

"Find exposed skin! He needs glucose to raise his body's natural freezing point," Simmons told her partner, Nina had caught up with them at this point but was being a silent observer as this was not her speciality. She could see Skye in the corner of her eye and noticed how she was also on her feet but seemed unsure of what to do.

"Simmons, I need something to break the ice."

"I-" Simmons shot Fitz a worried look, "I didn't exactly bring an arsenal with me to the academy."

"I did," Nina called out as she unzip her jacket and pulled up the hem of her shirt. A knife was sheathed and strapped to her torso and as she pulled it out, Fitz had a clear view of the tattoo under her rib cage. They were initials, and he quickly put together that they were the initials of her team etched into her skin permanently in black ink.

Fitz staring was interrupted as her shirt was pulled back down and Nina held up the knife. Fitz looked at the blade with a gulp. It was incredibly sharp and he wondered how she could keep such a weapon close to her skin without fear it may injure her.

"We need to break the ice, not his skin," Skye said and Nina rolled her eyes.

She grabbed the knife by the blade, ignoring how it cut into her own skin and began to draw a slow but steady stream of blood from her palm. She'd left the sheath attached to her body but she didn't have time to regret it before she brought the hilt to Donnie's neck, stopping just before making contact.