[1] Take the Shot | Leo Fitz

27

Getting Nina to agree to go out into the field with Garrett took Coulson an unprofessionally long time and a large chunk of his team's budget for the renovations she suggested for the training room. It would have been easy to leave her on the Bus but May was already staying behind, leaving two of his best agents would have made him the most unwise team leader in the business.

"The Guest House is not a SHIELD facility. We don't know who or what's in there. Be prepared for potential resistance," Coulson spoke as he geared up. He was in the cargo hold with Ward and Garrett, all three of them were preparing to leave the Bus.

"No contact from inside?" Garrett ask and May shook her head.

May didn't trust Garrett. She didn't know if she necessarily believed that he was the cause of Nina's team's untimely demise but there was something about him that felt off to May. She trusted her instincts and they told her that where Garrett wasn't trustworthy, he wasn't dangerous... at least not right now.

"I've tried every known channel, no response," she filled them in.

"Place could be abandoned," Ward suggested.

"That would be bad," Nina responded as she walked down the spiral stairs in the cargo hold. It was the first time she laid eyes on Garrett since hearing he was on the Bus and she balled her hands so tightly into a fist that crescent indents were left in her palms, the bandage on her right hand failing to act as a cushion.

"She's right," Coulson cut in when he sensed Garrett about to talk to her. Nina agreed to be civil but he also knew that one wrong word from Garrett and he wouldn't be able to stop whatever she decided to do, "we need the people inside to work on Skye."

"Let's hope they come voluntarily," Nina sighed leaning against the bannister. Coulson trailed his eyes over her uniform.

She hadn't pulled on her tactical jacket so Coulson could see all the various places she kept her knives. In total he'd counted 5; one on each arm, one strapped to her torso and two tucked into her combat boots. Though he could only see 5, he wouldn't be surprised if she had more hidden somewhere and he couldn't help but notice the lack of a holster.

"No gun?" Coulson asked her and Nina shrugged.

"I promised to play nice. I don't trust myself with a long-distance weapon around him," she darted her eyes over to Garrett quickly, he'd been watching her closely. It was clear he had been preparing for a hostile introduction and was wary that he hadn't gotten one.

"Good choice," Coulson nodded.

"Coulson, you are aware she can throw a knife at the same speed and distance of a bullet right?" Ward asked with a loose smile. Nina grinned at that, remembering that the two men had witnessed the way she'd killed Russo.

"It's the thought that counts," Coulson responded playfully while Nina bit back a smile.

"Simmons is prepping Skye to move at a moment's notice, sir," Fitz announced, pulling everyone's gaze to him as he walked out of the lab with a backpack resting on one shoulder and Nina's tactical jacket in one hand.

Nina hadn't seen her jacket since she used it to stabilize Skye when she found her wounded. She had assumed she left it in the manor and had planned to put in a request for a new one. Nina hadn't expected Fitz to have brought it to the Bus and washed it for her.

The small action was sweet and Nina thanked Fitz with a brief kiss on the lips as she accepted the jacket and pulled it on.

"Trip can help, he's had med-tech training," Garrett suggested watching the exchange while Nina gritted her teeth at the sound of his voice and at the fact that he'd now imposed on something that made Nina the happiest.