Chapter 2

Monday, April 9, 2012, S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Location Unknown.

Nikolai slowly opened his amber eyes, only to be blinded by the bright light that came from every direction. After his eyes got used to the strength of the light, he tried to sit up on the bed he was on, but was prevented by slight body pains and a brace on his left arm.

Nikolai ignored these annoyances and forced his body to sit up, looked around the room and realized he was in his team's lab. He had many devices attached to his body constantly checking his condition, but he quickly unplugged them and got out of bed. Nikolai then went towards a mirror that was there and saw himself.

He is a tall young man with a height of 182 centimeters, jet black hair, fair skin and amber almost golden eyes that are a result of the experiments he did as a child. Nikolai was wearing a hospital gown, but his well-developed body could easily be seen behind them. Despite his superior strength as a super soldier, Nikolai's body was designed to prioritize speed and agility, so he was not a robust man.

Nikolai can be considered a very handsome man and many agents of the organization can confirm this fact, especially the women who have constant contact with the boy. If Nikolai had a normal life he would have been successful with the common girls, but unfortunately he is a 17-year-old boy who works in a secret organization and has had a troubled life.

Nikolai touched his face, arm and chest and realized that he was almost 100% healed. There were no more burn marks other than slightly lighter skin at the burn site, and the only evidence that he had been injured was his left arm in a cast. It didn't even look like Nikolai had just gotten out of a life-or-death situation, at least not on the surface, as he felt slight tingles in his body and was very hungry.

As Nikolai looked at himself in the mirror, a very beautiful woman with brown hair, wearing a white lab coat with the SHIELD logo and holding a small stack of papers, walked into the lab. That woman is Jemma Simmons, a member of the Ghost Unit team and Nikolai's personal physician. The moment Jemma saw Nikolai out of bed, standing in front of a mirror with all equipment turned off, she freaked out and asked him, "What do you think you're doing? You are still not allowed to get out of bed.

Nikolai looked at Jemma who was putting the papers on a table and coming towards her and was going to answer something, but the woman 20 centimeters shorter than him was already pulling him to the bed with an incomparable strength for someone her size. "You almost died on your last mission, you can't walk around unsupervised."

"I'm fine Jemma. I've survived worse during my missions." Nikolai said without any concern, but Jemma didn't pay attention and started running some tests to check her condition. Nikolai just accepted her fate and let her do whatever she wanted, as he would. It will probably be released soon for another mission. Healing quickly is one of the perks of being a super soldier.

"You were in a coma for two days after being shot at close range by an anti-tank gun. Any ordinary person would have been turned to coal." Jemma said after completing routine checkups on Nikolai. She still vividly remembered the scene when Shen Mei arrived at the HQ in a Quinjet with Nikolai's blackened and deformed body who was passed out, Jemma really thought that maybe this was the end of him.

"Good thing I'm not an ordinary person, right? And you're talking like I wish I'd been shot. It was not my intention to almost die, but you know how our work works and accidents happen." Nikolai said it like it was nothing, which it really was since he didn't understand how close to death he had come. For Nikolai the events of the mission were something ordinary that could have happened to anyone else, and this was nothing to fuss about.

"You don't understand, do you? You took a direct hit from an RPG-7, a missile launcher whose projectile is designed to pierce 7 millimeters of pure steel into main battle tanks with a plasma beam at supersonic speeds." Jemma said in a serious tone, trying to demonstrate to Nikolai how close to the end he really was. "Even with the prototype armor designed by Fitz and your superior capabilities as a super soldier, you should have died with it."

Nikolai noticed how tense Jemma was and wondered if there wasn't something going on behind her near death. Then he turned serious, looked deep into Jemma's eyes and asked, "Where are you going with this, Jemma?"

Jemma didn't respond for a few seconds and tried to look away, but in the end she decided it would be best to tell Nikolai whatever was consuming her mind. She then walked away from Nikolai and towards the table that left all the papers while saying, "I believe you are getting even stronger every time something like this happens."

Jemma walked back to Nikolai with the papers in hand and showed him several blood tests, X-rays and CT scans of her entire body. Some of these scans were pretty old, from the time he joined SHIELD that other doctors had done before Jemma was in charge of him. Other scans were more current and done by Jemma herself, throughout the time the two worked together.

"See, these scans show that your body has gotten even stronger since your last accident, when you were shot at point-blank range with a shotgun. Your bones, skin and muscles became even more resistant and strong. Your healing factor has greatly increased, to a level that I cannot determine its limits." Jemma said as she showed them various X-ray images, papers with various medical terms that Nikolai didn't even understand, and other things.

"This is not normal? I may not be a doctor, but first aid is fundamental SHIELD knowledge and I know that there is a process called 'healing' and it is responsible for healing injuries and making the body more resilient." Nikolai said as he pushed the papers away and looked at Jemma, who was paying close attention to what he said. "Because of the tests that the Russian scientists did on me, this ability must have been improved as well, nothing out of the ordinary."

"The problem is not your healing factor, but the time it takes for your body to heal and the consequences of that. If it was the same you as a year ago and if by some miracle you managed to survive this, you would have to spend at least a year recovering." Jemma said quickly to Nikolai, and then she concluded her reasoning by saying, "Your bones have gotten as strong as steel, your skin is so tough it's very difficult to stick needles in and draw your blood, and that's not to mention your muscles have gotten even tougher. "

Jemma said all this as she ran her hands over Nikolai's body, looking at him as if everything about him was one big scientific mystery. He then pushed her hands away from his arms and asked, "What's wrong with that? Isn't it much better that I get stronger and stronger? It just proves that the serum from the scientists who kidnapped me works."

Jemma then widened her eyes as if she had just been caught in the act and walked away from Nikolai, taking the papers back and carrying them to the table. She then said in an uncertain tone, desperately trying to change the subject: "Yeah... Sure... You should talk to Fitz, he's looking for you to talk about the armor."

Nikolai wasn't an idiot and he could easily see that Jemma wanted to change the subject after all she's a terrible liar, but he didn't mind too much as talking about science wasn't her strong point. He then gave a slight smile and asked Jemma something that she didn't like at all, as she should have thought a little longer before changing the subject: "Does this mean I'm off the hook?"

Jemma was about to refuse, but realized that if Nikolai stuck around she would have to explain some things to him that she didn't want to. Jemma then just sighed in defeat and said, "Fine, but you are prohibited from participating in any strenuous physical activity."

Nikolai then looked around and for the first time in all his time as a member of the same team as Leopold Fitz and Jemma Simmons, he realized that the two are apart and that sure is a historic event. Nikolai then looked at Jemma and asked, "Where is Fitz? It's the first time I've seen you two apart, it's even weird."

Jemma just rolled her eyes at Nikolai's comment used to it as it became a running joke, some people even thought that FitzSimmons was a single individual. Jemma just ignored that and answered Nikolai's question, "Probably waking up now and heading to the mess hall. We went to sleep a little later than usual yesterday due to the celebrations."

"Wait… Celebrations? What?" Nikolai asked suddenly, his eyes wide with surprise. He doesn't remember anyone talking to him about arranging some celebration before the accident, he would certainly have remembered something like that.

"Yesterday was Easter Sunday, some agents decided to go out to have fun during the night. Nothing special, just co-workers going out for drinks at a bar and having a good time." Jemma said as she walked around the lab looking for something.

"Does that mean…that I was in a coma all weekend? You got to be kidding me." Nikolai said with the saddest face a person could have, after all there is nothing more unhappy than getting sick on the weekend and getting better on Monday just to go back to work. He then looked at Jemma with a defeated expression and asked, "Did you even buy me chocolate?"

"We were in a bar, there was no chocolate." Jemma said with an innocent face as she walked back to Nikolai with a set of clothes she had taken from somewhere in the lab, unaware that she had just destroyed a boy's feelings.

"Like this? Do you celebrate Easter without chocolate? What's the point of leaving the house then, if you're not going to eat chocolate?" Nikolai asked Jemma, genuinely confused by this. It makes no sense no eat chocolate on Easter, it's almost a sin.

"Adults celebrate Easter in a different way." Jemma said simply as she handed the set of clothes to Nikolai, who changed on the spot. He took off the hospital gown leaving only his underwear, leaving all his muscles on display while changing with a little difficulty since one of his arms was in a cast.

Despite Nikolai being a very attractive young man, the last person he would impress with his exceptional body would be Jemma Simmons. It is quite possible that she knows more about Nikolai's body than he does with the number of examinations Jemma does on him frequently, if there is anyone who knows Nikolai's body in the smallest detail besides him, it is certainly her.

"You guys are weird." Nikolai stated as he finished putting on his outfit which consisted of simple shorts, a popular black shirt and comfortable flip-flops. He then picked up the hospital gown and handed it to Jemma as he said, "I don't think I would stop eating chocolate even as an adult."

"Right… Speaking of food, I've made a list of what you need to eat to replenish your energy. Make sure you go to the cafeteria and eat all of this before you pass out from lack of nutrients." Jemma said to Nikolai as she handed him a sheet of paper with everything he needs to eat this morning, and it was a huge list.

Nikolai wasn't surprised by the length of the list, after all he was already used to eating much more than the average person. The enhanced healing factor wasn't for everyone, having to constantly replenish all those nutrients isn't easy. Luckily all of that food will be paid for by SHIELD, so he was going to enjoy it while he could.

Nikolai then said goodbye to Jemma and left the lab, leaving her behind with her thoughts. She then took a deep breath and thanked God that she managed to successfully escape a metaphorical bullet, after all Jemma has no idea how she would respond to Nikolai if he started asking even more about her capabilities. She couldn't tell him the truth on Director Nick Fury's orders, but she's a terrible liar and Nikolai would definitely pick up on something weird if he kept asking.

"Why does it have to be me on this job?" Jemma asked herself, since this secret was hard to live with. She really wanted to tell Nikolai the truth about the super soldier serum that the Russian scientists gave him, but she believes it would be a very bad idea considering Nikolai's psychological problems and his young age. Fortunately, if things continue as they are, Jemma won't have to keep this secret much longer.