Fitz was halfway to the building when he realised his mistake.
Actually, that wasn't exactly true.
He'd realised his mistake the moment he left the Playground with one duffel bag instead of two. But, in what had become true Leopold James Fitz fashion, he'd brushed the concern to the back of his mind and continued walking.
He'd realised his mistake once more on the plane, when the baby on the lap of the woman beside him made a mad lunge for the silver bracelet cladding his wrist; a Stark original that Nina had let him borrow a while back. Yet again, he'd ignored the burning sensation in his stomach telling him he was doing something wrong, only choosing to smile at the baby and pull his sleeve over the accessory.
He'd only decided to acknowledge and process his mistake when he stepped out of the taxi onto the desert terrain and began to move towards the building of his desire.
He hadn't told Nina.
He hadn't told her anything about the lead he'd found a day prior or that he would be leaving the base let alone the country to follow it.
Bobbi had just called, letting him know that Coulson was looking for him but there was no doubt in his mind that Nina was as well.
Fitz knew she was going to be pissed but as he stood in the desert, he decided he had no choice but to make that another concern he'd process later. He'd grovel and beg for forgiveness back at the base and he hoped that Nina would grant it.
"I'm looking for Yusef Hadad," Fitz called out to the man not so subtly guarding the entrance, " is he here? I'd like to see him."
"But does Yusef want to see you?" was the response he got, and Fitz tried not to laugh. Sure the man was intimidating and could probably take Fitz's head off in a fight but over the years he'd learnt that not many people were as intimidating as Nina.
He was one of the lucky ones she allowed to know her beyond the knives, scars and militant attitude. How could he even start being afraid of a man with a gun when all she had to do was frown and his knees would buckle?
"I'm fairly certain he's gonna want what's in this case," the engineer said, gesturing to the metal briefcase in his hand.
"Let me take a look, huh? I'll decide," the man made a lunge for the case but Fitz stepped out of his grasp.
"Hey, wait. I want to see Yusef. You understand?," he hissed, "or is your English worse than you think?"
"Suit yourself," the man said as he grabbed Fitz's arm.
The agent had expected to be manhandled so Fitz didn't put up much of a fight, he allowed himself to be dragged into the building, in a less than grateful manner. His body hit into walls and too many corners for it to be an accident but he kept his mouth shut until he was tossed into a room with the man he was looking for, a handful of guns for hire and the lead, a scroll, he'd set out for sitting on the table.
He's briefcase was immediately stripped from him and he allowed it, knowing they would not be able to open it without him.
His knowledge was only supported when a tense couple of minutes passed and the briefcase remained closed.
"So," Yusef started, obviously frustrated, "we can't open this so we'd like you to do that for us now."
"I'll open it and give you what's inside, no problem," Fitz said, strangely not phased by the knife pressed up against his side, an attempt to keep him docile, "but only in exchange for something in your possession."
"How about in exchange for your life?"
At those words, the man standing next to him, decked him across the face. The agent tried not to be effected by it, but he was visibly in pain so all he could do was force himself upright, spit out some blood and lock eyes with Yusef once more.
"No deal."
"A man with nothing to lose," Yusef laughed.
Fitz didn't agree with that, he had a lot to lose and he was sure just being here was pushing him close to losing it all.
"Okay, listen, because I'm only gonna say this once. I've already lost a friend, and it may sound strange, but to get her back, I need to understand the properties of an ancient monolith. Now, I've learned it was buried in the Yucatan after being dragged around the earth for a few hundred years. And originally found with it, were artifacts. Mostly worthless, except one. A scroll casing, over 1000 years old. The casing holds a parchment which reportedly describes exactly what this monolith is, which is what I want to know. And I tracked the scroll casing, not easy, through history, to Mosul's Central Museum in Iraq. But it was taken by your extremist buddies when they ransacked the place this year. So you can either hand it over in exchange for what's in there, or you could spill my guts in the sand and use the briefcase as a booster seat. Now choose quickly because I have a really pissed off knife wielding woman without a doubt on her way and when she gets here she'll kill me but only after cutting your head off."
"Are you threatening me?"
"Warning you," Fitz corrected with a shrug. Nina may be incredibly pissed at him but she would never allow someone who threatened or laid hands on him live, especially without Coulson ordering her to stand down "now what's your choice."
"I admire your... stupidity," Yusef just chuckled before pushing the case over to him, "now, open the case."
Fitz did just that and once it displayed the very things Simmons had once used in an attempt to kill Ward, he pushed it back to Yusef.
"Are these splinter bombs?"
"The very same used in the UN Attack and used to kill Sunil Bakshi," Fitz responded, "that name should mean something to you."
"One of these killed him?"
"Yeah, separated his atoms, leaving no remains," he responded, not voicing that his best friend had been the one to do that.
"This woman you went to all this trouble for," Yusef started, "you love her, yeah?"
Fitz didn't respond for a beat as he thought. Yes, he loved Simmons but he was pretty sure it wasn't in the way that Yusef so obviously implied.
He cherished Simmons, not in the fiery passion of romance, but in the steadfast bond of friendship. She was his safe harbour and he was hers in return. Their connection ran deep, weaving through shared experiences and whispered confidences while being spared the weight of misunderstanding. He treasured the evolution of their relationship, from the initial spark of something more to the enduring embrace of brother and sister.
No, Nina was the only one he loved that way.
He loved her so much that his thoughts were consumed by her, day and night. He loved her so much that her smile had an uncanny ability to bring out his own, and her laugh had quickly become one of his favourite sounds. His love for her transcended infatuation, it was a profound devotion that knew no bounds.
He cherished her to the extent that he would willingly endure a shattered heart if it meant hers remained untouched, full of love and joy. He would sacrifice everything, even his own life, if it gave her peace. The mere thought of being separated from her caused him physical pain.
In Nina, he found not just a girlfriend, but a home, a place where he could be his truest self without fear or reservation. He prayed she found the same sanctuary within him. In loving her, he had discovered a love that was profound, enduring, and utterly irreplaceable.
A love that defined the very essence of his being
So why hadn't he told her where he was going?
Why was he pushing her away in his pursuit to find Simmons?
His pursuit? Hadn't it been theirs?
"She's family," he responded but Yusef just laughed.
"Only love can make a man so stupid," he said as he picked up one of the splitter bombs, "no remains, you said, huh? Should be easy to clean up."
Fitz shut his eyes as Yusef pressed down on the weapon. A bright flash spread through the room and while the others were disorientated, he grabbed the scroll and ran. He'd made it halfway out the building when they snapped out of their dismay and followed after him with, according to the gunfire, every intent to kill him.
"Get down!" he heard, followed by the unmistakable sound of a motorcycle engine.
Fitz didn't hesitate to comply, ducking down as a bullet surged above his body and found a home in one of his assailant's arms. Blood gushed out of the wound as the man fell, his head hitting into a rock and knocking him out. Fitz's gasp was loud as he snapped his head towards the direction of the bullet, needless to say he was very surprised to see a leather-clad women sitting on a motorcycle with a gun in her hand and a black helmet hiding her identity.
"If you don't get your ass on this bike right now," she said, reaching up to her helmet with her free hand and snapping up her visor, "the next bullet goes in your head."
"Nina!" was all Fitz could exclaimed as he looked into his girlfriend's eyes. She looked furious, and it didn't help that the black tendrils passing across her dark blue pupils seemed to be more frequent.
A sign of clear anger in the inhuman.
"Now Fitz!" she ordered and the engineer flinched, she hardly ever called him Fitz. He was always Leo to her. He didn't hesitate before darting towards her, seamlessly sliding onto the vehicle behind her.
"Nina, I'm so sorry," he began, but before he could finish what would have been a heartfelt apology, she silenced him with a sharp gesture, thrusting the gun and a spare magazine into his trembling hand.
"I drive, you shoot," she commanded, her tone cutting through the air like a blade as she slammed down the visor.
Fitz winced at the venom laced within her words, but listened nonetheless. As he moved to wrap a free arm around her waist, Nina was quick to swat him away. Instead, calling forth her shadows to anchor him to the bike. He didn't bother to suppress his disappointment at Nina's refusal but the specialist didn't care, launching them into motion a second later as she drove through the desert.
Gunshots pierced the air as Nina manoeuvred through the chaos, Fitz returning fire with the purpose to maim rather than kill. He lacked the bloodlust that often possessed by others when a gun was in their hand, it was fortunate that his shots found targets who didn't rise again.
"Incoming!" Nina's warning cut through the roar of the wind, snapping Fitz's focus ahead. A lone figure on a motorcycle emerged, weapon trained on Nina as he headed towards them fast.
Fitz reacted by rising his own firearm, but the man was a lab rat, where he knew how to use weapons he was nowhere near as fast on the trigger as most. While his shot did find its mark, it wasn't before their assailant discharged their weapon.
Their motorcycle jolted, swerving erratically for a moment before Nina could steady it again. She inhaled sharply, and although she hadn't allowed him to touch her, Fitz could feel her body go rigid.
"Nina?" Fitz's concern was palpable as the bike swayed, the man in front of them was down but the engineer could hardly focus on that as Nina practically doubled over, her chest close to making contact with the handlebars.
"Are we... still being followed?" Nina's voice strained as she fought through the pain.
Glancing over his shoulder, Fitz shook his head, "No, we're clear."
"Good," Nina gasped as she immediately pulled over. One they were stop, she swung her leg over the side, struggling to dismount as Fitz followed suit, "you'll have to drive. I'm hit."
"What! Where?" Fitz's panic was evident as Nina stumbled forward. He caught her before she fell, his touch inadvertently exacerbating her agony when his hand brushed across her abdomen.
"It's nothing," she responded as she pulled away from him, "there's a plane waiting at a clearing a few minutes away, I can tend to it there."
"Not if you bleed out first!" Fitz yelled, "let me take a look at it."
"No," was all she said as she called up shadows from the ground. She inhaled deeply before directing them to her wound, she allowed them to fill the hole in her side with such painful groans that Fitz almost cried, "th-there. It's not bleeding anymore."
"The bullet's still inside you, Nina."
"And that's where it'll remain until we get to the plane," was her response as she remounted the bike.
"Please, let me help," Fitz implored, he felt guilty and worried. It was his fault Nina was even here. She'd come to protect him and gotten shot for her troubles.
"Fitz, just drive," Nina's voice was strained but her resolve was unwavering.
He took one last anguishing look at his girlfriend before obeying and climbing back onto the bike, driving towards the clearing as Nina directed him.
As they drove across the sandy terrain, Fitz couldn't shake the weight of responsibility tied to their current dynamic. He knew he'd been the catalyst for their fractured relationship, yet having Nina refuse even his smallest gestures stung.
He couldn't understand why she couldn't see things from his perspective. They were both trying to bring Simmons back, so why did she have to be mad that he'd followed a lead.
*
Nina was bleeding... a lot.
That was all Fitz could focus on as her looked at her from his position, a few feet away, his fear and concern eating away at him.
She'd called her shadows out of her bullet wound before stepping on the plane and sent them back home. Doing so had caused immense pain and a large splash of blood to hit the dead grass below her as she almost collapsed. Fitz had been quick to grab her and help her up the plane's steps, a series of contact that she'd allowed.
Seeing her like this terrified Fitz, Nina had been shot multiple times before but she'd never shown it affected her in this way. She could still throw her knives with 100% accuracy with a bullet in her arm, could still vault over furniture with no hesitation when one found a home in her abdomen, both threw and took hits like it was nothing but now... now she looked one bad touch away from passing out and never waking up.
Fitz didn't want to let go of her, he was almost afraid that the moment he stopped touching her she would cease to exist, melt away in her blood and pain. What he wanted, however, didn't matter as she'd been quick to go back to freezing him out once they were seated and the pilot took to the air.
That had been 3 minutes ago, and it was clear Nina was hellbent on not talking to him for the entire ride to the Playground or asking for his help in any capacity. She was surrounded with first aid materials, snapping on latex gloves with the intention to dig the bullet out of her body. She'd ditched the jacket of her motorcycle getup, leaving her in leather pants and a hiked up, bloodstained, white tank top.
Both her lower arms were wrapped in white bandages and immediately drew Fitz's attention. Any question he planned to ask about them dissipated and was replaced with concern the second Nina groaned in pain.
"Nina, please, let me help you," Fitz begged, his voice trembling slightly as it matched the subtle shake in his hands.
"I don't need your help," she hissed at him, a flash of anger mixing in with the pain in her voice and on her face.
Had Nina not been injured that would have been enough to make Fitz stand down but the blood seeping through her latex gloves and staining her scarred skin was enough for him to not allow her to push him away.
Not when her life hung in the balance.
"Nina, you're losing too much blood," his voice was tinged with desperation, "you need medical attention."
"I didn't exactly bring a doctor with me," she rolled her eyes.
"I am a doctor!"
"I know I call you doctor sometimes, but your PhDs aren't in medicine of any sorts."
"Yet, I'm the closest thing to qualified that you have on this plane," he shot back but Nina just shook her head defiantly.
"I can handle this on my own."
"Nina, please," he stood up and moved to her, his heart was racing in his chest and from the speed and sheer amount of blood leaving her wound, he guessed hers was as well, "I can't lose you too."
For a moment, Nina wavered, torn between her anger and love for her boyfriend. For a split second, she could almost feel Simmons' fingertips grazing her own before she was consumed by the monolith and her resolve shattered.
She suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of guilt.
Fitz had lost his best friend and though he had no chance to save her back then, he still blamed himself. But now his girlfriend was bleeding out in front of him, a problem that he had the skills to fix and Nina had the audacity to refuse his help.
God, she was terrible.
A horrible person and an even worse girlfriend.
"Okay," she whispered, "okay, you can help me."
Fitz surged forward at her permission and he was quick to pull on a pair of gloves and grab everything he needed. One of those thing's being her discarded jacket, which he held up to her mouth.
"We've got no sedatives and you can't drink while on your meds," was all he said as he motioned towards the jacket. Nina just stared at him for a moment, realising two things.
One, Fitz had been listening when she told her Garner was going to have her medicated and two, this was going to hurt like hell.
She deserved it.
She was a horrible person and an even worse girlfriend.
She deserved the pain.
"Coulson and May don't find out about this," she warned.
"Which part?"
"All of it."
"Okay."
"Okay."
"I love you."
"Yo también te amo (I love you too)."
With that out of the way she bit down on the cool fabric of her jacket as Fitz went to work both of them disappointed but not surprised that her item of clothing did a poor job of concealing her agonised screams. Nina, because she had a reputation to keep and Fitz because those screams would haunt him for nights to come.