A/N: So sorry i disappeared for so long! University was keeping me away but now it's summer and i got more time so I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I'll try to update again soon!
Skye walked past Nova in a hurry, almost bumping into the detective as she did so. Nova chuckled at the distressed look her fellow team mate possessed.
"Where are you going?" Nova asked the girl as she followed her down the stairs to the cargo hold and the lab.
"Training with my new S.O... again." Nova could almost hear her internal groan and she smirked. As the two arrived downstairs she could already see Ward's judging look he gave Skye.
"You know you're late." Ward stated.
"And tired, from the morning workout." Skye sighed and tightened her bandages on her wrists. "I thought I was joining SHIELD, not 24 hour fitness."
"Well good luck" Nova shook her head in amusement and gave Skye a little pat on the shoulder and walked towards the lab. FitzSimmons were already working away with another invention when they noticed Nova's entrance.
"Nova, you're just in time!" Fitz exclaimed, his voice brimming with enthusiasm. Simmons chimed in, her eyes sparkling. "We've created a special spot for you to conduct your detective research right here in the lab!" Nova's face lit up with gratitude and surprise as Simmons continued, her excitement evident. "I personally decorated your desk, Nova, with all the essentials to inspire and support your investigations. It's going to be perfect!" Nova felt a rush of warmth in her heart at the gesture and a smile appeared on her face. She looked behind Fitz' and saw the desk they made her own. She turned back to the pair and immediately pulled Jemma in for a hug.
"Thank you so much guys," Nova whispered in the hug and when she pulled away she turned to Fitz who was already observing them with a smile. She pulled him into a hug too. "You didn't have to do all that!."
"Hey, Simmons. What did your S.O. give you guys for morning drills?" Ward's voice cuts in from outside the lab. The three of them turned their heads to the agent.
"Oh, atomistic attribute drills!" Jemma exclaimed eagerly. "Yeah, we'd name the mechanical, chemical, thermal-"
"Electrical properties of materials." Fitz jumped in, finishing Jemma's thoughts as if their minds were linked.
"Alright fine, you proved your point" Skye rolled her eyes at Ward and Nova tried her best not to laugh.
"Changing course, briefing in three." May's voice cut through the intercom and Nova immediately jumped up in action. This meant there was a new mission.
"Ah- looks like we're on the move!" Fitz had a smile on his face and he was the first to run up the stairs, the others were quick on his tail.
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Nova absorbed the details shared during the briefing. A few hours ago, a transport operated by SHIELD came under attack near Sterling while transporting a highly valued asset: Canadian physicist Dr. Franklin Hall. The attackers, apparently, had possessed an ability to turn themselves invisible. At least, that was Coulson's theory so far.
Dr. Hall, along with a small group of esteemed scientists, was being protected by SHIELD because their enemies desperately wanted to get hold of them. The mission at hand was to locate and secure him.
Though not an agent herself, Nova knew the weight of the mission at hand. She understood the gravity of the situation and the heavy security measures that should have been in place during the transport due to Dr. Hall's "priority red" designation.
After a few hours they landed at the sight of the accident and they learned that their invisible attackers weren't invisible but it was caught by something else entirely– Gravitonium.
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The lab hummed with its low whir of machinery. Fitz, Jemma and Skye were in deep discussion about their new foundings.
"Which causes these, ehm," Fitz trailed off and turned towards the screen and motioned towards it to show Skye as best as he could. "wiggly bits here, but when an electric current is applied, the Gravitonium solidifies. And those gravity fields erupt, randomly changing the rules of gravity around it." He turned back to Skye, leaning against the desk with his palms. "Well, so, now you can imagine what would happen to a big rig at 100 kilometers per hour. Or, uh, well, you could just remember, 'cause we saw it already, didn't we?" Fitz chuckled.
"Yeah, and guess which genius published every theory about Gravitonium and possible applications ... years ago?" Jemma caught in and sat back on her chair. Behind her the doors to the lab opened with a gentle woosh. Nova's boots echoed through the lab. She was holding her laptop in her arms.
"Dr. Franklin Hall." Skye said in understanding, the pieces fell together perfectly in her mind.
"Correct. And Dr. Hall attended the University of Cambridge at the same time as Ian Quinn." Nova said, announcing her arrival. All eyes turned toward the entrance as Nova stepped in, her presence commanding attention. She stood tall, her gaze steady, radiating an air of confidence.
She dropped her laptop on the desk where Skye was sitting and took a seat next to her.
Skye looked at Nova for a second, her eyes following her movements when she opened her laptop. She scoffed in amusement and shook her head.
"I hear you, it's just.." The brunette trailed off for a second and turned to both Fitz-Simmons and then back to Nova. "Coulson may be off about this. Quinn is a notoriously good guy. His charity endowment's something like $8 billion."
Nova chuckled at her words but her attention was on her laptop screen. She turned her laptop towards Skye so she could read what it said. It was research about Ian Quinn and his activities on the earth's soil and all the properties he owned and how he had used it.
"8 billion dollars invested into charities with money made from leeching the earth of its resources." Nova said and scoffed in disbelief. Rich people
"Well, looks like he dug up another." Jemma said.
The door of the lab opened once more to reveal May.
"Let's go guys, briefing room. Coulson requested an emergency brief."
With no discussion the four made their way upstairs to the briefing area in the bus. When they got upstairs Coulson and Ward seemed to be in a heavy discussion already. They all stepped around the holo table in the room. It still felt a little invasive for Nova to stand with the team as a SHIELD agent. She looked behind her and saw Skye take a place in the corner of the room, seemingly thinking the same thing. She took a step back and stood next to Skye who flashed her a small smile.
When Coulson realised everyone gathered he turned his attention to everyone. He caught both Nova and Skye from the corner of the room and shot them a confused look that only lasted a second as he explained why they were gathered.
"Dr Hall is a prisoner at Quinn's compound in Malta, and its up to us to get him out."
"We've checked the specs. There's no way into Quinn's compound without a large S.H.I.E.L.D. strike force or a man inside. He's got neodymium laser fencing surrounding the property." Ward was determined, Nova noticed it in the way he was standing. Coulson may be the leader of the team but it was clear that Ward tried to create a form of dominance in the way he presented himself.
Coulson shook his head. "They'll never allow a strike force into Malta. Plus, this weekend, Quinn Worldwide's got its annual shareholders gathering. We'd risk global outrage, but–"
"If we go in alone" May cut in, sharing the same thought as Coulson.
Nova zoned out as the conversation continued. An idea came to her. She wasn't a SHIELD agent and neither was Skye. She bit her lip in thought as she went over the possibilities they had. She caught Skye's eye and she knew that they shared the same idea.
"If we had a monkey, we could get in." Fitz' words caught her attention and she slapped her hand in front of her mouth to prevent herself from laughing.
"Ugh, Fitz!" Jemma groaned. Nova couldn't help but find it endearing.
"If we had a small monkey, he could slip through the sensors and disable the fence's power source with his adorable little hands." Fitz continued, ignoring Jemma.
Skye nudged Nova and she motioned her head to the team. Nova simply nodded, already knowing what she was about to say.
"We could go in." Skye stated. Her attention was back to her phone again. She had been typing furiously the whole time before and Nova raised a brow.
The team turned to the duo in the back. Nova caught Fitz' concerned look and Ward's unimpressed one until he turned back to Coulson, completely ignoring Skye. Nova scoffed at his attitude.
"Drop me in the hills outside of Valletta. I'll spend a few weeks establishing a cover, gathering intel–"
"Hall doesn't have a few weeks." Coulson shut down Ward's idea.
Nova couldn't believe what she was hearing and crossed her arms. The obvious answer was right there.
"And to restate," Simmons spoke up, her voice laced with gravity, "any Agent of SHIELD caught on Maltese soil can be shot to death with bullets."
In response, Nova and Skye exchanged a meaningful glance, their determination mirrored in their crossed arms.
"Not us,"Skye stated firmly once more. "Send us in."
Ward interjected, his tone serious, "Skye, this is serious."
Nova shook her head, a mixture of disbelief and determination. Coulson then gave them a look, he seemed to listen. "Wait. What are you saying?"
Nova met his gaze, her determination unwavering.
"Coulson, think about it. You've got two non-S.H.I.E.L.D. agents right here. Skye and I don't fall under the protocol. We can go in and rescue Hall. I might even be able to gather some extra intel." The weight of their words hung in the air. However, when she saw a small twinkle in Coulson's eyes she knew what the plan was going to be.
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Nova checked her make-up for any flaws in the small mirror from her bag once more before she stepped out of the taxi. She was wearing a white midi dress and a light pink bag that went with it. A door from another taxi opened on the other side of the driveway of the enormous mansion and Skye walked out in a pink flowy dress. She looked away the moment she locked eyes with her. They came here alone and were not supposed to know each other.
She let out a breath when the doors of the mansion opened for her after she showed security her invitation. Unlike Skye, she went in as someone completely different. Her name was Allison Reed, a reporter for the New York Times to write an article about Ian Quinn and his successes.
When Nova entered the garden– which looked more like a park in Nova's opinion– the party was already bursting with people.
"And who must you be?" A deep voice creeped up behind Nova. She turned around and was met with a tall man. He looked her up and down until he caught Nova's raised eyebrow and the man coughed. Nova chuckled awkwardly and held out her hand.
"Allison Reed, reporter for the New York Times. It's a pleasure..."
"Derek Cho, Ian Quinn's assistant." He shook Nova's hand. His grip was strong, almost too much.
"So you're the one behind all his success then!" Nova said flirtatiously. If there was anything she knew about men like this, it was their ego and how to manipulate it. Derek laughed at her comment as he let go of her hand. He brushed some hair from his face and he flushed a little at her words.
"Well I wouldn't say that exactly."
"Nice, keep it up. Get him to talk." May's voice cut into her earpiece from her place back on the Bus.
"I bet you get to be up close to all his experiments, huh?" Nova fluttered her eyes at the man and she could visibly see him tense up. She had to fight the urge to roll her eyes.
"You know I could eh-" Derek looked around him quickly, then turned back to Nova with a flirtatious smile. "I could show you some of the latest experiments."
"You'd do that for me?" Nova's shock was anything but sincere, but Derek seemed to buy it.
"For you, anything." He winked and grabbed her hand.
Derek led her towards the house. She spotted Skye's pink dress standing with Quinn so she had hope one of them was going to be successful. Derek nodded at the security guard who let them inside a door that seemed to lead to the basement. Was Quinn operating in the basement? The hallway seemed to be neverending until they reached a door all the way in the back. Derek grabbed a keycard from his jeans and opened the door.
Nova's eyes widened at the amount of computers and equipment she didn't even dare to name. Fitz probably could, she thought. She noticed Derek stayed at his place close by the door, leaning against the wall. She felt his eyes on her while she walked around the room. She debated using her lipstick she received from Fitz right now, would he notice?
"The only way to disable the grid is to crack the system and trigger a reboot. This would give the team three seconds to cross." Coulson's voice echoed from the briefing room as he explained to Nova and Skye what the plan was. "Of course, Quinn's too smart to allow any wireless access on his property."
Nova nodded in understanding. "That's where Skye and I come in."
"Exactly." Jemma opened a black case, inside where two make-up items. "Working compact, works under X-ray" Jemma grabbed the compact container and opened it up.
The small mirror showed three red lights that turned green after a few seconds. Nova looked at it intrigued. Fitz grabbed the compact carefully from Jemma's hand and pointed at the lights.
"Desert rose to match your complexion." Fitz said to Skye and she smiled in appreciation at the detail. "But oh, what's this? A readout, okay? Turns green if you're in close enough proximity to a computer to gain wireless access." He explained further.
"When it does, you just drop this nearby and walk out. We'll do the rest. Easy as pie." Jemma said. Beside her, Fitz turned back to the black case and grabbed the second item, a lipstick and handed it to Nova who watched in curiosity.
Fitz smiled. "Open it up."
Nova did as he said and inside was a light mauve coloured lipstick. She saw the same lights appear in the tube itself.
"I uh, picked this colour because I think you'd look good in it." Fitz' eyes widened in panic. "Not that you don't always look good! I mean–"
Jemma nudged his side and grabbed the lipstick back from Nova's hand gently. Nova coughed, her ears turning a darker colour. Fitz looked down to the ground for a moment but Nova turned back to Jemma when she spoke.
"So this lipstick has the same function as Skye's compact, however, there is another thing. If you twist the bottom of the tube this little fella comes out!" Jemma twisted the tube and from the bottom a USB port appeared. "If you were able to come close enough to a computer, you could stick this in and we'd be able to access intel from here!"
"Yes, but miss Avery?" Coulson cut in from the side of the holo table. Nova turned her attention to the man. "Make your safety a priority. This is only a benefit but not a necessity, we need you safe."
"Yes we do!" Fitz nodded eagerly and turned to Skye. "Both of you!"
The two girls smiled at him and Nova turned back to Coulson and nodded in understanding.
"Will do."
"So what is the story here? Any cool projects that–" She turned around but her words were cut off when Derek pressed his lips to hers. She let out a sound of surprise but didn't pull away. She walked backwards a little until her back hit the desk behind her. She opened her eyes slowly and looked to her right, a USB port was right there in front of her. After a short while, Derek pulled away and he turned a bright red.
"Wow" Nova said.
"What's going on?" She heard Fitz' accent from her earpiece but ignored it and smiled at Derek as convincingly as she could.
"You are so beautiful, Allison." Derek brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
Nova chuckled nervously and opened up her bag, she grabbed the lipstick and opened it up. "Can't have my lipstick get all messed up now, can we?" Nova chuckled and saw the lights turn green. Derek chuckled with her as she applied some of the lipstick.
"Oh no! I think I got some of my makeup all on your face!" Nova said in a fake apologetic tone.
Derek's eyes widened and looked into the window of one of the cupboards around them.
"I'll be right back." Derek smiled at her and walked out of the door. Nova let out a nervous breath and twisted the lipstick in her hand. The USB port appeared and she ripped it out and put it in the computer next to her.
"Yes! Brilliant, Nova! We got access!" Jemma yelled enthusiastically.
"Now, get out of there." May said. "They're on to Skye, see if you can help her. You remember some of your training Avery."
Nova's eyes widened in shock at the news and quickly walked out the door. She almost walked into Derek but he had his back turned, talking to another woman. Typical. She ignored Fitz-Simmons confusion at the mention of May's words on training and walked towards the party. A splash of water surprised her and she ran outside. Someone had jumped in the pool, it was Skye.
She ran towards the side and held out her hand to her teammate. Skye grabbed onto her gratefully and the moment Skye was on the ground she dragged Nova with her in a sprint.
"They caught me we need to leave!" Skye let go of Nova's arm as the two ran away. The party had turned into chaos, a helicopter flying over them.
"This way!" Nova yelled and led them to the side of the garden when two men dressed in all black ran towards them. "Fuck!" They turned the other way but another man came from that direction. They were surrounded. The two men behind them grabbed onto their arms, locking them in.
"No, no please!" Skye pleaded in panic.
Just then Ward ran in and hit the man in front of them to the ground. Nova gasped in a mix of shock and relief. She remembered May's words from before and she elbowed the man who held her in his ribs. He grunted from the force and she kicked him on the knees. The man toppled over and she got out of his grasp. Ward had knocked out the guy who held Skye and then turned to the other one that previously held Nova. His eyebrows furrowed for a second but then shot the three men with a night-night gun.
Skye clung to Ward in fear. "You okay?" He asked her and when she nodded he turned to Nova who just gave him a quick nod.
"Just follow my orders. I'll get us out of here." Ward ran of and they followed suit.
Ward led them back inside the building, the same hallway Nova had been previously but this time they stopped at a different door. Inside they saw Coulson in a stance against Hall, the professor they had to come and rescue. Something wasn't right. The whole room was turned upside down. Nova's eyes widened when she saw the gravitonium device in the middle of the room, it was gigantic.
Coulson shot into the glass and Hall fell into the generator. The whole room seemed to shake and Nova felt it from outside. Ward barged into the room the moment Coulson was back on the ground.
Nova watched in shock from the door opening. She felt a hand grab her own and saw Skye in tears as she watched the whole ordeal. Nova squeezed her hand in comfort. She had been far too close to combat as she should have been.
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"You okay?" May stood in the doorway of Nova's bunk. The girl looked up at the agent with a small smile and nodded.
"Why aren't you in the field anymore?" Nova questioned.
She saw May's face fall slightly. Most people wouldn't have noticed but Nova tends to have a keen eye for things. "I've been thinking I should head back in again, actually."
"They need you, you know? Coulson does."
"I know." May sighs. "Ward told me you handled yourself pretty well with those guards. You're sure you regret quitting the academy?"
Nova looked down at her hands, holding back a smile.
"I do sometimes. Truth is, I don't even know if what I did was the right choice. But I do know that this team? It feels different."
"Well, just because it's been a few years. The offer of being your S.O still stands."
"Thank you, May." Nova looked back up and smiled at her. "Maybe I'll hold you up on that in the future." She could almost see May smile back at her.