The ride to the S.H.I.E.L.D airbase was long and exhausting but for Nova it was nothing but nerve-wracking. The last time she had a mission with S.H.I.E.L.D. it went horribly wrong, so she really hoped a repeat of last time would never happen again.
When she stepped out of the car she was immediately met with one of the biggest planes she's ever seen. Flying in smaller planes all her life probably changed her views on the plane even more now that she was in front of the big aircraft. After a few more moments of looking up, she saw another car approaching that stopped right beside hers. A tall man with raven black hair and a black suit walked out and she immediately recognized him as Agent Grant Ward. Coulson sent some background information that could be necessary about all the agents that would be on this team to the detective so she at least knew who she was working with.
"You must be Agent Ward," Nova said as she approached the tall man.
Ward looked over at her and gave her what she thinks was a smile but she didn't quite catch it. It even looked like it annoyed him a little.
"That's right, and you must be Nova Avery? "
"That's me."
After the brief introduction, they both headed towards the plane that would become their home for the next few months.
As soon as she entered the plane voices of two arguing agents were heard. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, watch it! That's the Night-Night Gun." The curly headed man said, a Scottish accent filling Nova's ears.
The two new equated teammates looked at the pair of scientists that had been unloading when they arrived. Nova observed the two for a bit, already knowing these were the two top-scientists of S.H.I.E.L.D in the past few years, agent Fitz and Simmons. Nova may not have been an official agent but she knew enough from her past visits and cases.
Nova crossed her arms in amusement and watched the pair, silently observing them before making herself known. To her surprise, Ward seemed to be doing the same thing.
"Well, it's on my stuff, and it doesn't work, and there's no way we're calling it the night-night gun." The brunette scientist replied, who Nova knew to be Jemma Simmons.
The curly headed man, Leopold Fitz scoffed at her reply, not taking her comment lightly. "The bullets work. Nonlethal, heavy stopping power, Break up under the subcutaneous tissue–"
"Oh, with a dose of only .1 micro liters of dendrotoxin. I'm not Hermione, I can't create instant paralysis with that." Nova laughed at her comment a little bit, the nerd in her coming up. Simmons grabbed a few bags and walked into the lab on the plane. "You should have run the specs by me before building the molds."
"The bullets are hollow! It's a marvel I can keep them from breaking apart in the chamber!" Fitz was getting agitated with his friend now, although Nova wasn't sure if they were based on the bickering she was witnessing.
The pair seemed to not have noticed the two other people present with them in the cargo-hold. They kept up their bickering until Nova saw Ward walk up to the two in the corner of her eyes, annoyance clear on his face. Right in front of the lab entrance, Ward dropped his large duffel bag on the ground- loud enough for Fitz-Simmons to hear them. The bag landed with a loud thud, and the two heads turned to him, the pair then quickly noticing Nova behind him with a smirk on her face. Simmons seemed to be surprised while Fitz just carried an embarrassed look.
"Fitz-Simmons?" Ward questioned the two, the annoyance in his voice was just as present as in his facial expressions.
Nova came to stand next to Ward again and pointed at the Scottish man in front of her, "That there is Doctor Fitz," Fitz gave the two a lopsided smile, putting up one hand to send them a small wave. Nova smiled at him and then turned to the woman opposite him and then pointed at her, making sure Ward saw. "And this is Doctor Simmons."
"Hi, yea uhm." Fitz trailed off, his confidence dissipated a little when he looked from Nova to Ward, the look he had was not welcoming. "I'm engineering and Simmons is Bio-chem."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Nova Avery, you can just call me Nova though. Did Agent Coulson tell you I'd be joining you?" Nova walked into the lab, shaking the hands of the two scientists, hoping to make a good impression.
"Oh yes! Fitz and I have been reading a lot about your cases, it's an honour, truly." Simmons shook her hand cheerfully. "And call me Jemma!"
"Thank you so much Jemma, I've read a lot about the two of you when Coulson send me it. You guys are incredible. Although I think I'm the only one who did the reading." Nova cheekily looked up at Ward who was silently judging the pair.
"Coulson said I'd need my comm receiver encoded." Ward handed Fitz the receiver which he grabbed swiftly. "Don't know if you've worked with that model before. It's.." Ward was interrupted when a loud noise filled the room. Both Jemma and Nova looked at where the noise came from and met Fitz's gaze who had apparently just smashed Ward's receiver. "Brand new.." The agent trailed off and Nova's eyes widened, finding the situation kind of hilarious.
"Right, I need to find Coulson. It was good to meet you all." Nova walked out of the lab, catching Fitz's look who gave her a small smile. Jemma had already ran off to do some scientific stuff, much to Ward's dismay. She still heard the three bicker a little bit when she walked up the stairs of the Bus.
***
After a brief introduction with agent Coulson, who had explained her role on the team- that being the private detective for their missions- she received her bunk on the Bus. It was a little small but it was really cozy which she enjoyed a lot. The brunette had found a place for the handful of books she brought along, making the place feel a little more like home after. Now all she needed were some pictures and it'd be perfect, but being the chaotic woman she was, she forgot them.
Coulson had gathered the new-found team to a briefing after they all had the time to settle in. He explained that there had been a sighting of a new enhanced person, right in the middle of the streets in Los Angeles. The hacker group- The Rising Tide- had shown up again after this ordeal and Coulson's plan was to use them to get to him. The plan itself was simple but they had to get one of them on board to interrogate, and Nova had to admit she was a bit skeptical but since she was just a consultant she had no place to speak. While Coulson and Ward would get the Rising Tide lead they found the rest of the team would inspect the site of the incident, the part where Nova came in.
Agent Melinda May was behind the wheel, driving the four to the broken apartment building in LA. Jemma had been sitting next to the Asian female, chatting away while May did her best ignoring her. Nova smiled at the interaction between the two, finding the contrast quite funny. Fitz caught her look and smiled a bit, nudging her. The detective looked at the man beside her and smiled.
"So, I know we only met for a moment today, but I just wanted to say I'm glad Coulson got you on the team."
"Thank you, Fitz. I appreciate it." Her smile got a bit wider when he had complimented her, not many people showed appreciation to her besides her work so she appreciated it a lot.
"Have you ever worked with Shield before?" Fitz asked, hoping to continue the conversation before they arrived.
Nova's smile dropped for a moment and she avoided the mans eyes next to her, fumbling with a lose thread on her shirt for a bit.
"Yeah, once or twice." She said and finally looked back into his eyes. When she saw him already looking at her with a soft smile she couldn't help but smile back. "Coulson and I worked together before so since he was in charge of this team he asked for me."
"That is so cool. Going in the field and all." Nova noticed how his left leg had started moving up and down out of nervousness. "I mean, the field is not always dangerous of course.." He trailed off as he finished his sentence.
Nova put a hand on his leg, stopping it from bouncing up and down. Fitz looked at her in shock because of the sudden touch which caused her to let out a small giggle.
"Calm down, Fitz. Agent May is there with us, we'll be fine-." May's eyes looked directly at the woman in the rear view mirror after she had mentioned the agent. The look in her eyes caused her heart to sank. She forgot that Fitz-Simmons didn't know about her situation and quickly shut up.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh look! We're here!" Jemma exclaimed.
May drove straight into the street where the accident had happened. Nova was secretly glad they had arrived before she had to talk about what she almost spilled. And if she had to tell them how she knew- that would be even a longer story to tell. And she wasn't ready for that.