Wishing Well | Leo Fitz Book Four

Chapter Four

"You're a monster," May said, as she threw a punch at Mace, which he caught easily. She had just tried to hit him over the head with a metal bar, and nothing had happened. It had bounced off his skull as if it were nothing. May had lashed out him instantly, trying to take him down. Something was wrong with her, really wrong. She was acting like a rabid animal.

"I prefer the term 'Inhuman,'" he said, as he nodded down at her, and the words ricocheted off of Asia's head, her mouth dropping open in shock. He had never told her that. She was in charge of his Inhuman division, and her own Director was Inhuman, too. And he had never said a thing. Not to her, not to anyone that she knew of. The shock rippled through her as she watched Mace lift May off the ground with a strength that only could be Inhuman. "I am sorry about this, Agent May," he said, as he sighed, the hit her head against one of the brick walls, only as hard as it would take to knock her unconscious.

Asia tried to stop Mace before he left the room, but he didn't give her the time. She had questions, a lot of them, but apparently now was not the time for answers. If Mace had been an Inhuman all along, and was hiding it, there had to be a reason why. She planned on getting to the bottom of that.

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"I saw Daisy, Asia," Leo said, rubbing a hand over his tired face as the two sat in the Lab together, Asia perched on her desk, legs crossed. It was late in the evening, when he and Mack had gotten back, so no one else was around to bother them, or seeing a Head of a department acting completely casual and what some might consider unprofessional. Her brow furrowed, both at this news, and the way he looked exhausted. She reached out, placing a small hand on his shoulder and squeezing at the tension gently, kneading some of it out.

"She was distant, cold. She's turned her back on all of us," he shook his head, and for the first time in a long time, Asia could see some of the age and weathering showing in his face. This poor man was exhausted. "We've all been through so much. But none of us ever left." The word was sharp, stabbing, cold, and it filled the pit of Asia's stomach with regret.

"I did," she said after a moment of silence between the two of them. She understood why Daisy was doing what she was doing, probably better than anyone here. Two years ago, that had been her, isolated and alone. "I abandoned everyone and I went on some sort of revenge rampage under the guise of following orders. And you weren't upset at me the way you seem to be with her." She looked away, eyes drifting off down the Lab. She wasn't sure she wanted to see whatever expression would be on his face.

Reaching up, he placed his hand over hers, the one which rested atop his shoulder. "It's not the same, love. I understand how you think you need to sympathize and take her side, but...it's not. You never left the team. You never sided with a vigilantly murderer. And you never made members of our own team turn against us, lie to us, hide things..." He trailed off, shaking his head.

"Wait...she's doing what now?" Asia said, turning back to look at him, brow furrowed in confusion.

"She's got...well, she's got Yoyo stealing her bone repair pills and having secret meet ups to check in," Leo admitted, knowing this information was going to hurt her, both from a professional perspective, and from the place of someone who considered herself to be a friend of both these people. Asia sat up straight now, doing a double take, eyes wide in disbelief. "You're going to see it in the full report Mack and I give tomorrow," Leo finished with a sigh, squeezing her hand again supportively.

"That's....I'm not sure what to say," Asia said after a moment, shaking her head slowly. "I'm at a bit of a loss, if I'm being honest. I guess...I'll just have to read the report in the morning then." She looked down at him, the two looking eyes for a moment. He watched the storm roll through her gaze, hurt, angry, afraid. He grabbed her hand and stood up, pulling her to her feet and then wrapping her tightly in a hug, letting her fall against him, even as tired as he was. She needed him right now.

"Let's go to bed," he said, rubbing a hand through her hair, gently combing out any tangles, before kissing her forehead. He met her gaze once more, and she looked slightly better, slightly more ok, given the circumstances. Asia looked at him, biting her lower lip and nodding. Bed sounded good right now. Sleeping beside her partner, the person she knew she could trust no matter what, could cure everything. Or at very least, make her ready to face the next day.

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It was the next night when the EMP hit.

Do I have your attention now? the distorted voice spoke over the TV, lighting set up so that no one could see the man's face. The blackout in Miami was just the first taste of what's to come. We will continue this onslaught, city by city, hour by hour, until our voices are heard. Until our demands are met. We are the Inhuman Resistance.

"Oh jesus fucking christ," Asia said, dropping her head to slam on the table. Her life, her job, they were all about to get so much harder.

We will no longer allow our kind to be treated as freaks by society, the voice continued to prattle on from the screen in front of her, as she and Director Mace watched from his office. They had just been in the middle of a meeting when the emergency broadcast came on in front of them. Unless the governments of the world end Inhuman Registration and allow us to live in peace, we will use our powers to fight you. Until the end. And then the broadcast cut off, the room dimming around them.

Asia lifted her head and looked at Director Mace, eyes wide. "That's not us," she said adamantly, shaking her head. "I don't know what intel your other teams can dig up, but I have recruited Inhumans all over, and no one has said anything about this." She looked him dead in the eyes, hoping he would believe her. This wasn't something the Inhumans would do, Asia knew that in her bones. But guy instincts weren't really something you could go on for a situation like this. She needed facts, cold hard facts.

Mace sighed, looking at her, then he turned to one of his men. "Get Agent Fitz in here, now."