[2] An Executioner's Requiem | Leo Fitz

50

"You're assuming that this thing is a weapon," Skye said as Nina's eyes widened at the display on the screen before setting the device down, "well, it's in SHIELD's possession. Maybe they're just afraid of it, afraid of what Gonzalez might do with it."

"We're not the enemy here," Coulson stated.

"No one said you were, Gonzalez however..." Nina explained, "he almost killed me because of some shadows and the Inhumans saw the aftermath before they could heal me. It makes sense for them to be afraid, the whole 'they did that to one of their own, what will they do to us'."

"This man teleported onboard, Nina," May said, referring to the eyeless Gordon, "he's clearly very dangerous."

"Well the same could be said about you, May," Skye said, responding before Nina could, "I heard about what happened to that little girl in Bahrain."

May tilted back her head at the hacker's words and Nina immediately focused on her. She didn't care how frustrated Skye felt with the conversation but bringing up Bahrain was not okay.

"Skye, don't," Nina warned but the hacker continued.

"Jiaying told me the whole story. Did you know that she was Inhuman?" Skye said and May looked at her shocked while Nina sighed. No one had told her that the little girl May had to kill was Inhuman but having been told the whole story years ago and then going through terrigenesis, Nina figured it out, "they both were. So you, of all people, should understand why they'd want to keep their location a secret... what they're so afraid of."

May didn't respond to Skye's words as the hacker shook her head and exited the room, probably to return to Lincoln's side. Nina sighed once more as she watched her leave, listening to the door shut before speaking.

"I... I don't think the same way she does," she said, drawing Coulson and May's attention, "but I understand where she's coming from. Whatever this rock is, it probably scares the Inhumans almost as much as they hate SHIELD."

"Scares them enough to break into SHIELD?" Coulson asked and Nina shrugged.

"Gordon isn't the enemy," Nina stated, not saying anything about Raina as she was still a little confused as to what that woman wanted, "Skye isn't wrong when she says Inhumans just want to be left alone, this infiltration doesn't mean a war needs to be waged. We don't need an us against them situation."

"Gonzalez doesn't seem to think so," May said.

"Gonzalez is a single-minded prick who thinks SHIELD can operate the same way it did when Hydra were embedded in its ranks. Skye and I's... even Lincoln's presence proves that such is not possible but he refuses to admit that," Nina said without hesitation, "I am inhuman and I am SHIELD, so trust me when I say, Gonzalez will be the death of us all."

Nina nodded to both Coulson and May before dismissing herself, leaving the two to ponder on her words with a simple question on their mind.

Was Nina us or them?

*

"Hey, Linc," Nina's teasing voice cut off the question Simmons was in the middle of asking Lincoln. At the familiar voice, he perked up, turning to face her.

"Nina, you're here too?" he asked, in an accusatory tone that she chose to ignore.

He'd been in the corner of the lab, sat on one of those ridiculously high chairs, while Simmons asked him questions. The inhuman likened the experience to a therapy session and he didn't enjoy answering anything she asked.

"I work and live here more than I live at home so... yeah," Nina smiled, she gestured to Simmons and the biochemist nodded before leaving the room, "how are you feeling, sparky?"