When Coulson walked into the holding cell Skye had claimed as hers, he wasn't surprised to see both the hacker and Nina in there. While Skye was playing a game of operation, Nina lay next to her with a book in hand.
The two weren't speaking and apart from the occasional buzz of Skye's game and the turn of Nina's pages, the room was completely silent. Yet Coulson could see the comfort both females felt in each other's presence.
"Ankle bone's always the toughest," he said when Skye went to pull out a bone and was met with a buzzer. His voice called both agents to look up at him and while Skye decided to speak, Nina greeted the director with a nod before going back to her book.
"Yeah," the hacker spoke, "maybe a game of nerves isn't the best idea for me."
Skye set the game aside as Coulson stepped closer to her, lowering his voice slightly as he spoke, "you and I need to take a ride."
Nina's head snapped up at that because Coulson hardly sounded that serious when he was talking to Skye. The hacker seemed to have the same thought as she faced Nina, worried, before looking back at the director.
"Okay, but why am I suddenly feeling like Old Yeller right now?"
Coulson's face melded into that of shock at her words, "I'm kinda surprised you know the reference."
"I've had a lot of downtime lately. That and Fitz really wants a dog," she said, pulling a smile out of Nina.
"Thought he wanted a monkey," Coulson said confused.
"Yeah, I made him readjust his expectations," Nina spoke up and the trio smiled at each other until a solemn mood fell over the room.
"You can't tell me where we're going, can you?"
Coulson nodded before reaching out to pat her shoulder, "you're gonna need to pack a bag."
He gave her a small smile before walking out of the room and once Nina gave Skye a reassuring hug, she jumped off the bed and followed after the director. Managing to catch him just before he left the Bus.
"I'm coming with," she stated, causing him to stop and face her.
"No, you're not," Coulson shook his head, "Garner gave you a very different report than he gave Skye. You're staying on base and I'm pulling you off field duty."
"I know, he told me and I don't care about that," she responded, though guilt did grow in her at the reminder of her last conversation with the therapist. She'd been an absolute prick and she knew it, "I promised Skye I wouldn't let anything happen to her, I can't do that if I'm not with her."
Coulson sighed heavily at her response because he knew she wasn't going to change her mind and therefore he was left with no choice but to tell her something he didn't want her to know just yet.
"FitzSimmons finished analysing your brain scans."
"Okay..." Nina said a little confused with the relevance of that information.
"There was a potentially fatal increase in your brain activity back in Wisconsin," he stated and Nina rose her eyebrows shocked. Surely she should be feeling the effects of such a thing but she felt no different than how she always did, "it occurred at the exact same time Skye lost control."
"What are you saying, Coulson?" Nina asked, wanting him to get straight to the point.
"She created a frequency when she lost control, the same frequency that radiated off your body in the basement when you first summoned late Agent Kline. Fitz made the connection this morning."
"That doesn't make sense," Nina shook her head, "I didn't pass out back in the cell, I iced myself. If the frequencies emitted are the same, why did I completely black out in Wisconsin? Bobbi said it looked like I was possessed, that didn't happen here."
"Fitz thinks it has something to do with the duration and strength but he's still unsure," Coulson sighed, "but one thing he and Simmons are certain of, is that if Skye hadn't passed out when she did, you would be dead."
Nina gulped at the statement. She would've never guess that Skye's abilities were interfering with her own or that she was so close to becoming a casualty.
"So Skye, she's..."
"The reason you keep losing control," Coulson confirmed and Nina bit down on her lower lip. She wanted to stay by Skye's side and help her but not at the expense of herself, especially because Skye would be inconsolable if she found out, "Simmons thinks once you get better at controlling your abilities, hers will stop affecting you. But until then, I have no choice but to separate you two."
Nina sighed, her body almost deflating at his ultimatum before she silently spoke, "your decision is final, isn't it?"
"It is."
"Okay.... can I at least say goodbye?"
"Of course. We'll be heading out in an hour," Coulson mirrored the same shoulder pat on Nina that he'd done on Skye before leaving the Bus and heading back into the Playground.
Nina watched him leave before walking back to Skye's cell. She wasn't surprised to see that she was packing a bag or the instant realisation in Skye's eyes when she saw her.
"You're not coming with me, are you?"
"I'm not," Nina shook her head with a tight smile before moving over to Skye and wrapping her in a tight hug, "I'm sorry."
"I should be the one apologising," Skye responded quietly as she held Nina around the waist and rested her head on her shoulder. Nina didn't expect such an intimate hold, but she didn't pull away.
"El primer paso no te lleva donde quieres ir, pero te saca de donde estás," she decided to say causing Skye to loosen her grip slightly before asking.
"What does that mean?"
"It's literal translation, the first step doesn't get you where you want to go but it gets you where you are," Nina translated, "I know you want to master these abilities but you're breaking your body by trying to rush it. Take your time and enjoy the journey because it's just as important as the destination you have in mind."
Nina squeezed Skye a little tighter as she spoke, part of her not ready to let her go. Nina had Fitz on her side 100% but she and Skye were going through the same thing. No one understood them like each other did and now they were being separated.
"You know," Skye whispered against Nina's skin, "you're very hypocritical in your advice."
Nina laughed at her words before leaning her head against Skye's, "yeah, I know."
*
Nina really wanted out of the base. It had only been a few hours since Coulson and Skye left but she found herself ridiculously bored. Simmons was keeping Fitz busy with something Nina didn't understand in the lab, Bobbi and Mack were off base and May was practically running the organisation while Coulson was out.
Nina was very bored and after a phone call with her son and adoptive father, she realised she just really wanted out of the base. She hadn't been outside since Wisconsin, which was a few days ago and since she was off field duty, she knew there wouldn't be an opportunity to leave anytime soon.
Unless she made one.
Which was exactly what she was planning to do when she moved through the base and found Mack and May.
"I thought you were off base," Nina said as she strolled up to Mack at the same time May did.
"I just got back," Mack said as he looked at Nina weary. He didn't expect her to be friendly considering what the last thing she'd heard him say was.
"You want to tell me what's going on?" May asked, ignoring the pleasantries. Nina took a step back to physically remove herself from the conversation and hopefully avoid May's wrath.
"I'm sorry?" Mack asked confused.
"You've been off base several days babysitting Hunter. Yet here you are," May said and at the mention of her brother, Nina took a small step forward.
"What? Oh, and no Hunter, yeah. Well, I mean what can I say? I spent the last 48 hours in Athens, Georgia keeping the guy out of bar fights," Nina winced slightly as Mack recounted Hunter's adventures. They looked out for each other and yet here she was failing to look out for him, "I mean, the guy's in no shape to return."
"I should call him," she stated quietly to which Mack turned to her, almost panicked, before shaking his head.
"Might want to give it a few hours," he said calmly, "he was knocked out when I left."
Nina nodded with a pout and turned back to May, missing Mack's reaction to her action. His eyes dropped down to her lips and the moment he realised what he'd done, he looked back up focusing on the wall just passed her head.
"Well, then we've got a problem," May said, pulling the man out of his inappropriate thoughts.
"We do?" He asked, confused as to what May was referring to.
"Hunter didn't resign or take a leave of absence. He went AWOL."
"Yeah, a broken heart will make a guy do dumb things."
Nina cocked her head slightly at the mention of a broken heart. Last she'd heard from Hunter, he was talking about staying at SHIELD to further things with Bobbi. Nina was under the impression things were going well for them and although they'd broken up more times than she'd 'died', this one felt weird to her.
"So will money and opportunity," May stated.
"Do you really think Hunter would sell SHIELD secrets?" Nina spoke up, the look May gave her told her that was exactly what she was thinking, "he's not like that. He'll steal you beer sure, but he isn't the kind of man who leaves without a reason or who would sell government secrets. That's just not my brother."
May simply nodded after staring at Nina for a moment. She trusted her and if Nina trusted Hunter, May would too... for the time being at least.
"Was Bobbi there when you left?" She asked, focusing her attention back on Mack. Nina perked up at the mention of Bobbi, she'd wanted to speak to the woman for a while but she was never to be found.
Nina honestly thought she was avoiding her.
"No, we must've just missed each other."
"Call Coulson," May said after her mini interrogation, "he's waiting for your report."
"Will do," he nodded and once May gave him the look of dismissal, he smiled at Nina, turned and walked away.
Once Mack was out of hearing range, May turned to Nina before walking away as the younger of the pair matched her strides. They weren't going back into the base, just walking around the hanger, that told Nina that May was waiting for her to speak.
"Am I allowed to leave base?" so she did and May responded by giving her a blank gaze, "please, I just want to get a coffee... and maybe a tattoo."
"Andrew made it very clear that you are to avoid potentially stressful situations. That includes painful ones," May refused.
"Please? I've been wanting to get another one for a while, also sparring with you hurts way more than getting a tattoo," Nina stated but when she saw May's unchanging glare she added, "come on May, I'm not sure what Garner told you but my anxiety isn't social. I can order a coffee without bringing about Día de los Muertos."
"We have coffee here and you own a tattoo gun," May stated and Nina's mouth gaped.
"Wow... not even Tony pulled the 'we have food at home' card," Nina muttered before begging, "please, May. I already feel like a lab experiment with my scheduled blood appointments with FitzSimmons and the brutal training sessions with you, please don't make me a caged animal as well."
May watched her shoulders shrink along with her words. Ever since Wisconsin, she and Skye had been treated differently. Where Skye locked herself in the holding cells, Nina had moved back into her bunk but that luxury was met with frequent trips to the lab to be poked and prodded by Simmons and daily training sessions with May where she left bruised and sore.
At the recollection of all those events, May felt a sliver of sympathy and so she nodded.
"One hour. Then your back here to train."
"Two?" Nina pressed and the dark glare that took over May told her it was the wrong move.
"Half an hour."
"One hour it is!" Nina exclaimed, grabbing May's right hand with both of hers and shaking them, "thank you."
Before May could say anything. Nina had sprinted towards the hanger doors, slapped her hand across the sensor and bolted; and May couldn't help but smile ever so slightly at the action.
•
Half an hour later, Nina sat in a corner booth in a random cafe with film wrapped around her neck, covering the fresh tattoo on the back of it. There was a black coffee in front of her and her contacts had been replaced with her thick rimmed glasses.
Part of her wanted to throw on her hood but she knew that cutting off clean air to her new ink was a recipe for infection. So she sat, sipping on her piping hot coffee, enjoying being out of the base with zero fear that she'd lose control.
Knowing that Skye was the reason for most of the unfortunate events with her powers was both rewarding and upsetting. She, of course, felt bad that Skye trying to find her own control was compromising hers but she was glad that she wasn't the issue with her outbursts.
She had always been an observant person, figuring out things before most people did, so it bothered her greatly that she didn't realise every time her powers went haywire she was right beside the hacker. Though she didn't get to dwell on her irritation before a plate holding an apple pie was placed in front of her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't order th-" Nina's words trailed away when she realised the person who had handed her the treat wasn't a waitress.
The woman was decked out in the colour black. Black chunky boots, black ripped jeans, a black lace top and a black zip up hoodie. The only contrast to her dark outfit was her stark white hair, the rose tint on her lips and her very pale skin.
The woman slid into the booth in front of her and sent her a small smile that contrasted all of Nina's previous conceptions about her.
"Sorry, I was passing by and couldn't help but notice you lost in thought," she said, pushing the white plate closer to Nina, "I figured something sweet could bring a smile to such a pretty face."
Nina tensed slightly at the woman's words. She was no stranger to messing about with people she just met but her thoughts immediately went to Fitz and that fact that May had only given her an hour.
"Thank you, but I'm not interested," Nina said after a moment and a pout dawned on the rose lipped woman.
"In me or the pie?" She pressed and Nina's blank gaze caused the woman to shrink in her seat, "ouch... can't say I've been rejected so quickly before."
Nina laughed softly at how quick the woman was to admitting she was hitting on her while her eyes landed on a pink, yellow and blue woven bracelet on her wrist.
"Caught me on the wrong day, I guess," Nina responded before pushing the plate towards the woman, "I'm also on a diet, my trainer would kill me if she knew I broke it so quickly."
What Nina was really thinking was that her trainer, Melinda May, would kill her if she didn't make it back to base on time. The diet, however, was her own doing, being an agent required her to be in top shape at all times after all.
"A diet but you look fantastic already?" the woman exclaimed, "I mean, look at your body, it's lean and muscular, not to mention you're beautiful. Are you an athlete?"
Nina's eyes flickered up and down her body before she responded to the question.
"I do track," she lied before continuing, "but you already knew that right?"
"Sorry?"
"When most people comment on my body, or look at a female's legs for as long as you just did, they ask if their a model not an athlete," Nina explained, "you asked if I was an athlete because you already know that I am or that I could've been. You know exactly who I am, don't you?"
The woman blinked rapidly as she bit the inside of her cheek, internally she was annoyed Nina had figured her out so quickly but she shrugged and just nodded.
"Nina Ramos, 24. Tony Stark's adopted daughter and according to the constant news on your resurrection, a suspected FBI agent. They were close but unfortunately got the wrong government agency," she started, Nina's relaxed stance breaking away at the indirect mention of SHIELD, "I know a lot about you but I don't think you'd appreciate me reciting your Wikipedia page."
"Correct," Nina took a sip of her coffee, "if you're looking to spend a night with Stark, you're better off trying to break into the Tower than asking help from me."
"What? No, gross! I'm here for you," the woman said with a grimace as Nina tilted her head in confusion. Sure the woman knew quite a lot about her but it wouldn't be the first time someone did so with the ultimate goal being to sleep with her legal father, "I'm Dawn and we're the same."
"The only thing we have in common is our sexuality," Nina deadpanned and Dawn looked at her shocked but before she could ask how she knew, Nina pointed at the bracelet.
"I thought you didn't label yourself," Dawn stated with a small smile as she twisted the colourful accessory around her wrist.
"I didn't," Nina responded nonchalantly, "who are you?"
"Like I said, I'm Da-"
"Dawn, and we're the same. Yeah I heard you," Nina cut her off, "now ditch the bullshit and tell me who you actually are."
Dawn's lips curled into an impressed smile before she fell back against the cushion of the booth, the sickening sweet smile that had been on her face was replaced by a calm look and teasing eyes. It almost looked like she enjoyed having Nina stare her down, like the whole situation was fun to her.
"My name is actually Dawn and we are actually the same," she repeated, elaborating before Nina could pull out her knife and threaten her, "I was younger than you when I transformed, I may have had years to prepare but I was still terrified of what I became. What I could do. I can't imagine how it was for you, to go through your transformation without any understanding of what was happening."
Nina's hand tensed around her mug for a second before she relaxed her grip. Any other day she would've walked away and ignored what Dawn had said but it was clear what she was talking about. There was someone in front of her now, other than Skye, that had gone through Terrigenesis and despite the training, teaching Nina to always be untrusting, she wasn't cautious of Dawn and let her continue.
"I was like you and didn't go through any extreme physical changes. Though much like your eyes are now a fraction darker, my voice is a fraction deeper than what it once was," Dawn explained, "the mist changes everyone differently, gives them different things they can do. But the real difference between you and I, is what happened after we went through the mist."
"I haven't said anything about mist," Nina stated, though she was very aware she didn't need to confirm what was being said for Dawn to know it was true.
"Like I told you, I know a lot about you," Dawn simply said with a small grin, "I've always known I was special and I had a mentor, he's a sarcastic son of a bitch, but a guide of sorts. The first thing he did after I transformed, was embrace me. Tell me, Nina... what was the first thing that SHIELD did to you?"
We're the ones that need protection from them
"What do you want, Dawn?"
"I just want to talk," Dawn smiled, grabbing Nina's mug out of her hand, taking a sip of her coffee and wincing under Nina's glare, "how does it feel, your gift?"
"Intense," Nina deadpanned, not wanting to go in detail with a person she just met.
"Come on Nina, give me more," Dawn said, leaning forward, "don't make me force you."
Nina didn't like the condescending tone Dawn's voice had taken on and where she was ready to argue back, she caught sight of the clock just passed her head. She had 15 minutes to get back to base.
"Well this was nice, but I'll be on my way," she stated standing up to leave but before she could move Dawn spoke.
"Sit down," Nina froze as her voice echoed in her head. It was like something took over her body, her limbs moving on their own. All control of herself promptly left her as her knees bent and she sat back down, all against her will. The feeling of being controlled disappeared as soon as it appeared and Nina turned to Dawn with shock in her eyes, "cursed speech, isn't it neat?"
"What the hell?"
"It's my thing. Just like necromancy and shadow manipulation is yours," Dawn smiled before scratching her head slightly, "though Gordon's going to be very mad I just used it on you."
"Gordon?" Nina spat out, still a little disoriented about having her body taken over.
"Yeah, he's my mentor. He's actually having this same conversation with your friend Skye right now."
"Skye?" Nina asked before her voice darkened and she shot up onto her feet, "I swear, if he lays a hand-"
"Shut up and sit down," Dawn ordered and Nina's lips were sealed shut as her bottom collided with the booth seat once more. Dawn sighed, rubbing her throat slightly, "geez calm down. You really are as hotheaded as everyone says."
"Stop doing that," Nina hissed when Dawn's hold on her disappeared, "it's unpleasant."
"Don't let being told what to do? I guess is a good thing you rejected me," Dawn teased, before focusing, "your gifts work on an opposite basis to mine. In theory, my powers shouldn't work on you at all and the fact that they do shows just how little control you have over your own."
"I'm very aware that I can't control this," Nina stated, lifting her hands. Her veins weren't black nor was she summoning any ghosts but she could feel the dormant power under her skin, waiting to be let out again.
"I can help you with that," Dawn smiled, "I can take you to a place where you can be with people like us."
"Us?" Nina asked shocked, "how many more of us are there?"
"You'll be able to learn about yourself and your gift, without being locked up like an animal," Dawn carried on, ignoring Nina's question, "you only need to ask me and I'll take you there."
"Take me there?" Nina question before crossing her arms around her chest, "my life is here. My job, my family. It's all here. I'm not going to give that all up for some pipe dream you're trying to sell."
"Understood but when you're ready to give this pipe dream a chance, he'll find you."
"Who?" Nina asked as Dawn got up and exited the booth.
"Gordon, just say his name and he'll find you," she answered as she began to leave, she sensed Nina about to ask how and spoke over her shoulder, "trust me, he just will. Hopefully I'll be seeing you soon, Nina."
Nina watched Dawn leave, not moving out of her seat as she processed what had just happened. There was a place, with other people like her and Skye, where they could practice without scrutiny and fear. And despite Nina refusing it just moments ago, in her heart, she knew she needed to go.