Wishing Well | Leo Fitz Book Four

Chapter Twenty One

Ghost Rider - Robbie - continued to slam his fist into the door, now each hit imbued with the flames that wrapped around his closed fists. "Is he Inhuman?" Mace asked Asia, not taking his eyes off of Robbie's figure through the glass. He had to hope it would hold. He didn't want to find out what would happen if it couldn't.

Asia paused for a moment, before she spoke, fully aware of how ridiculous the words she was about to utter would sound. "He claims that he made a deal with the Devil," she sighed, shaking her head.

"Which is rather ridiculous," Leo concurred, shaking his head. "There's no such thing."

"You know," Coulson said, speaking for the first time in a while as he had been watching the showdown between Agent Monroe and Director Mace. "There is a rational side of me which desperately wants to agree. But," he gestured towards the containment module. "The scull on fire thing is a really compelling argument." The chamber shuttered with Robbie's next slam, causing them all to tense.

"Leo," Asia said, turned to face him, face only displaying the slightest hint of concern. "We're still good here, right?" She nodded towards the chamber, biting her lower lip.

"Yes, yes, of course," He replied quickly, locking eyes with her. She could tell he was nervous, too. "The module is made with a poly-adaptive material. It's the most sophisticated compound that Shield has." And just as he finished there was the screeching sound of metal ripping and tearing. Asia jolted, eyes turning back to face the chamber, hands out and ready to cast whatever she might need to to protect them.

The two doors of the chamber flew forward, slamming into the wall before them, and out he stepped, Robbie, but not quite Robbie, and his eyes were locked on them. "That's...That's not possible," Leo stuttered, taking a step backwards. Robbie began to run towards them, fueled by whatever anger he held inside of him.

Asia grabbed Leo and Coulson, shoving them forward and knocking Director Mace of out the way of the warpath, all of them stumbling towards the wall. As Robbie neared, Asia braced herself, coating her hands with a thick layer of ice, like she was wearing gauntlets of clear blue. As he neared her, she side stepped, reaching out and grabbing his shoulder, using his own momentum to thrust him forward, tossing his towards the hood of one of their black SUVs. As he collided with the metal, she shifted, taking a step back, moving into an adaptive stance ready for the next attack.

But then Director Mace was standing beside her. "Make sure they stay safe, Agent Monroe. I've got this," he said, giving her a sharp nod. She didn't have to be told twice. She quickly moved over to Leo and Coulson, helping move them back towards the module, towards the closet point of get away.

Then she turned back, just in time to see Robbie running at Director Mace, and to see him fire two, what could only be super-powered punches into his chest. She froze for a moment, confused, as his next punch sent Robbie playing towards the ramp. But she knew he had lied on that tape. So what the hell was he?

Robbie was back up in a flash, running at Mace and pinning him against the railing of the stairs leading upwards, his head hitting the metal behind him, yet he didn't falter. He punched Mace straight in the jaw, once, then again. Asia couldn't just stand there and do nothing, so she dashed forward, grabbing at his shoulder. "Robbie, stop, that's enough." She shouted, hoping her order would get through to him.

But he lashed backwards, tossing her towards the far side of the room where she collided with the wall, sliding to the ground in a pile. Instantly, Leo was at her side, making sure she could stand, that she was alright. She nodded at him, taking his hand as he helped her stand, other arm wrapped around her shoulder. Her actions had been foolish, and this was the price she paid for them. "Robbie, stop, please," she called out again to him as he continued to hit Mace, over and over. Eventually, she knew, he would fall. "We'll do what you want, but you have to stop." She didn't know if he could hear her, if he could understand, or even if he could...that he cared at all what she had to say.

Not knowing what else to do, she turned and looked at Gabe, Robbie's younger brother, who Daisy had wheeled out of the module in his chair. Her gaze was pleading. He had to know something that could be done, some way that could stop this fighting.

Gabe met her eyes, a look of fear in his own that must have come from seeing something this horrifying for the first time. His life growing up had not been easy, but watching his brother turn into the devil and attempt to murder a man was a whole new, dark level that he wished he had never reached. But when he met Asia's eyes, he knew he was the only one that could stop this. The only one who could get through to him.

"Robbie!" He shouted without hesitation. "Robbie, look at me! Stop! Robbie you have to stop!" the young boy shouted, staring towards the thing that his brother had become, hoping to all hope that this worked, that he was heard.

Ghost Rider paused, hand still in the air ready for the next punch, still holding Mace by the collar of his shirt. He turned, slowly, eyes landing on Gabe. Gabe stared back at him, mouth open, and he shook his head slowly, just once. He couldn't believe that was his brother. That whatever was in him had stolen all of his goodness away and replaced him with this. The flames extinguished from Ghost Rider's skull and slowly, oddly, the muscle, tissue, and skin began to grow back over it, replacing Robbie's face as it once was, as if nothing had happened.

"Get me out of here," Gabe said, shaking his head again, directing the order to Daisy. Silently, she turned his chair around and wheeled Robbie's younger brother away. A silence fell over the room, as all eyes weighted heavily on Robbie Reyes.

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Asia peeled off her long sleeve shirt, looking in the mirror at her bare shoulder that was slowly bruising before her eyes. She reached out and touched the tender area gently with her fingers, wincing only slightly. A quick shower would fix all of that right up, she figured, and then she could get a quick nap in before back to work. That was the life of an agent, never much rest, always lots of work.

"That looks like it hurts, love," Leo said, stepping up behind her, finger tips like butterflies on the bare skin of her back. Her skin erupted with goosebumps at the touch of him and she had to close her eyes for a moment, fighting not to get completely swept away by him. As her eyes were closed, she felt his lips brush her collar bone, the tip of her shoulder, and she sank into him.

"Just a bit, but it could have been much worse. I'm not sure Robbie knows his own strength," she muttered, leaning against him, eyes still shut as he gently began to massage her back near her spine, careful to watch the bruised area.

"Well it's damn good it wasn't," he murmured, kissing her temple, the top of her head. "I would have had to fight him, then, and I think we both know just about how well that would go." Asia opened her eyes to look up at him, a wry grin stretching over her lips as they locked eyes. Full of wit, this one was.

"It was very kind of you, coming in at the perfect time like that today," she said softly, always aware of how gentle and soft she was around him. It was...weird, but weirdly refreshing. She never needed walls up around him, never had to be the strong front. She could always just be however she felt like being, and he would accept her for that, without question.

"That's what I'm here for, yea?" he said, bumping his nose to hers. "Plus, Mace needed to know. He wasn't making very many rash decisions, it seems. If he just listened to you more often, we would all be much better for it," his eyes twinkled with a smile. Then, gently, he tipped her chin up and their lips met, a soft, gentle kiss at first, with hunger hiding beneath it. His fingers which were on her spine pressed her closer to him, heat of his touch scalding against her ice cold skin. It was all-consuming, this passionate love she felt for him, he was like the sun rising over the horizon in Alaska, after the long, cold winter which seemed that it would never end.

They paused their kiss for a moment, needing to catch their breath, the intensity building so quickly that it would envelope them completely if they weren't careful. "Shower," she said abruptly after a moment, cheeks growing red quickly as she giggled with embarrassment. "I'm going to get in the shower, now. You should come."

He smiled at his girlfriend as he watched her lose the rest of the clothing that clung so tightly to her body, turning slowly to face the shower, reaching in and turning the nob, the water beginning to flow. She glanced over her shoulder at him and smiled. Of course, he would join her. There was no world in which he wouldn't. He was lucky to have her, lucky she was his girlfriend. And, he thought to himself, perhaps girlfriend simply wasn't enough. He would have to do something about that, sooner rather than later.