[2] An Executioner's Requiem | Leo Fitz

62

She hung up the phone and re-entered her bunk, surprised to see the sleeping man she'd left wide awake and sitting up in her bed. He smiled softly at her, eyes half closed as he ran his hand through his untamed curls.

"Morning," he said with a thick Scottish accent.

"Hi baby," Nina smiled, moving towards him and pressing a kiss to his cheek, "sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't, the empty bed did," he smiled softly before gesturing to the phone in her hand, "was that Coulson? Do we have a new assignment? Is someone trying to end the world again?"

"No... well probably, but it was Skye not Coulson. She needs some moral support to go see her Dad."

"Oh, you're leaving?" he pouted and Nina held back a laugh.

"Yes, but I'll be back and we can cuddle all you want," the engineer blushed heavily as his girlfriend read his true desire, "but right now you need to get ready to help Simmons with the ship cataloguing and I need to get ready to meet Skye. I'll be gone a couple hours, max."

"Okay, can we go to dinner tonight?" he asked, "with Simmons to? We haven't done anything together since Coulson gave us this break."

"Sure, I'll invite Dawn. I don't think Jemma will enjoy being a third wheel."

"Okay, but why Dawn?" he asked confused and Nina just smiled.

She thought Dawn and Simmons would be cute together but she also knew how overprotective Fitz was of his best friend. He'd shoot the idea down if Nina told him her true intentions were to play matchmaker so she just smiled.

"No reason," she shrugged and kissed his cheek one more time, "I'm going to go shower, you coming?"

"Yes!"

His response was so immediate that any questioning about Dawn left his mind, and he allowed Nina to pull him towards her bathroom. A place where they got a lot more dirty before getting clean.

*

Nina both understood and was confused as to why Skye came to her for moral support regarding her father. She understood that the two women had shared a hellish year together but after the hacker had watched her completely and seriously try to murder her mother, Nina didn't think she'd be roped into anymore family situations. 

But alas here she was, sitting on a dwarf wall a few feet behind Skye sipping on the extremely potent coffee, the hacker had bought her as a thank you.

They were watching Cal, who looked incredibly less monstrous than he had the last time Nina saw him, open up a veterinary clinic. One that Nina had been told he now owned.

"Oh! Hey there, little funny face," he exclaimed with joy as a woman came up to him, walking her dog. He was quick to bend down and pet the furry friend, "you coming to see me today, hmm?"

Considering one of the last time's Nina had seen the man, he'd thrown a countertop at her, Nina found the sight interesting, she hadn't thought Cal was capable of being gentle. Even though his previous murderous pursuit was about bringing his family together, there was still a touch of aggression behind every interaction or mention of his daughter and, now deceased, wife.

She couldn't help but wonder if the team looked at her with the same interest whenever she interacted with Wren or Fitz.

"Can I help you?" Cal's voice pulled Nina out of her thoughts as she focused back on the father and daughter.

"Just passing by," Skye responded nervously, "nice place."

"Oh, thanks," he smiled, causing Nina to pull her bottom lip between her teeth. There was no indication that Cal knew who Skye was and she knew that had to have hurt, "well, we're just getting up and running. It's gonna be a magical place once we get totally moved in. You know, we already have adoptions days every Saturday. Tell your friends. Free spaying and neutering, too. Just ask for Dr Winslow."