Birds of a Feather | | Leo Fitz Book One

Chapter 7

He had not taken it well, to say the least. Asia could still feel the pressure of his hand on her shoulder, shoving her out of the way and into the wall, hard. Harder than she expected from him. Hard enough to make her rethink any of her feelings she had over the curly-haired scientist. And then, hard enough to make herself feel like a selfish piece of shit for worrying about her emotions when Simmons could be dying. Natasha had been right all along, emotions were not good, for anything. Remaining neutral in all aspects, unfazed, was the only good way to behave.

After taking a moment to compose herself, Agent Monroe made her way back downstairs to join Coulson, May, Ward, and Skye. When she entered the cargo hold, her eyes first sought out Leo, who was sitting with his back to the glass of the Lab door. Simmons sat on the other side. They would have been back to back if it weren't for the thick sheet of bullet proof glass between them. Leo was holding a small drill and moving it quickly over something. He looked so defeated. Asia could not bare to look at him. Sighing, she turned and marched over to the others, pulling out her tablet and quickly reading over the information they had on the subject.

"Simmons believes she contracted the virus when we came in contact with the first victim, so slightly under 48 hours ago," Coulson explained, nodding towards the Lab. His arms were crossed over his chest, as if he were trying to hold in his worry.

"How...how much time does she have?" Skye asked, clearly distraught. Asia stepped into place beside her, squeezing her hand softly.

"Well," Agent Monroe said, "Based on how the symptoms in the others...two hours. If we're lucky." Her words were flat. Emotionless. She couldn't let this get the best of her. But her eyes, they were fraught with worry, anyone who knew her would be able to tell.

Skye squeezed her friends hand back quickly, twice. "That's enough time, right? We can find a cure.SHIELD is supposed to have the smartest people hiding in their shadows or whatever, right?"

May looked over at Skye, her brow creased in concern. Two hours...two hours was not much time, not in the grand scheme of things.

"SHEILD has labs everywhere, right? Someone needs to be working on this, now." Skye continued, her voice starting to waver. Asia pulled her closer, wrapping her arms around the girl. Skye clung onto her friend's shoulder, her hands shaking slightly.

"They do," Coulson replied, "I've made sure of that." He then turned to face May, his face grim. "How soon can you get us on the ground?"

"Three hours," May replied, glancing over at the Lab. Skye let out a small gasp. "The flightpath we had, when heading to the Sandbox, puts us directly over the Atlantic Ocean. Unless someone knows of a mystery island out here, there's no way to cut down the time."

"Sir..." Ward began, glancing over at Skye and Asia. Asia looked up at him, meeting his gaze with a steady one of her own. "Correct me if I'm wrong...if we don't make it to the Sandbox in time..."

"Simmons will release a pulse that will blow us and this plane right out of the sky, no Agent Ward, you are not wrong," Coulson said, confirming all of their worst thoughts.

"We can't just sit here and watch her die!" Skye protested, pulling out of Asia's hug, but still holding onto her hand tightly, as if it were grounding her. "There has to be something we can do for her, anything at all."

Coulson looked at Skye with a fatherly gaze. "There's only one person on this plane who can find a cure. I think we all know that she will." They all turned to look over at the Lab.

Leo placed a small item into a sliding drawer and pushed it into the Lab. Jemma looked through the glass and smiled at him, taking the object. They were working, working hard, testing the antiserum on rats to see if any of them took. The group watching broke apart, heading their separate ways.

Asia, not knowing what else to do, walked at a steady pace towards a hanging punching bag a few feet away. Pulling her headphones out of her pocket, she jammed them in her ears, and began to swing. The music she was playing was loud, encompassing everything. She didn't have to think, she didn't have to exist. If anyone had chosen to hack into her iPod at this moment, they wouldn't be hearing calm, ballet music, they would hear the screaming words of "Blood" by In This Moment. She wanted anger, hate, she wanted to take this out on a real person. Why couldn't it have been an actual assailant? Why did it have to be a disease? A person she could kill, torture, obliterate, would have been eons better. She lost track of time, she lost track of place, all there was was her, the punching bag, and the screaming music.

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A bolt of movement jolted Asia out of her rhythm of blows. Leo, running past, case with the helmet in hand. Asia tore of her headphones and stepped forward, but it was too late. The Lab doors slid open, and he was inside. "Leo!" She called out after, covering her mouth with her hands. No, no, he couldn't. He would get infected too. This couldn't be happening, not the both of them in one day. She could feel the tears at the corners of her eyes and immediately blinked them away.

Leo turned to look at her and smiled sadly. "It'll all be okay Asia, I've just got to take care of Simmons right now. We'll be out lickety split."

Asia thought she was going to puke. Her best friend was quite possibly sacrificing himself. At that moment, May and Ward came jogging down the stairs. Without hesitation, Asia threw herself into Ward's arms, which were already open as if he already knew she would be needing him. His hand ran gently over her soft hair, pulling her to his chest.

"This can't be happening," she murmured into his t-shirt. "It can't. He's my best friend, Ward."

"Hey now," Ward replied softly, "What am I? Chopped liver?"

Asia sniffed, shaking her head. Only Ward could make her smile at a time like this. Ward grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back from him. "Agent Monroe, you are stronger than this. Come on, you didn't even cry when Clint was in the ICU for that bullet that almost got his heart. Don't start now."

She nodded, biting her lower lip. He was right. Of course, Ward was always right. And so, Asia took to pacing. Pacing back and forth in front of the Lab, her eyes fraught with worry. It was surprised she didn't wear a hole in the floor with the amount of times she wove back and forth. How could she possibly be so selfish? She could barely make herself get past the thought of Leo having feelings for someone other than her, and she hated herself for it. She deserved to be punished for it. She clenched her hands into fists, bouncing them off the sides of her legs. All she wanted was the two scientists safe.

And then, Jemma was asking for a moment alone with Fitz. How could they deny her that? All the same, Ward had to practically drag her out of the cargo hold. She didn't want to leave him down there. Her thoughts, her emotions, were running rampant. Natasha would be so ashamed, and that thought only made her hurt more.

So she took to her pacing again, this time behind Ward and the others in the planning room. She was trying to wrap her head around what was going on. The clock was getting dangerously close to two hours, Jemma's time limit. Suddenly, an alarm started sounding.

"Someone's opened the cargo door." May said, fingers flying over the tabletop computer.

Ward and Asia locked eyes and in a second, both took off running, running towards the stairs, towards the cargo hold. The sound of yelling and rushing air could be heard before they even reached the stairs. Ward started taking them two at a time, and Asia, frustrated, jumped right over the railing. Fitz was standing there, attempting to get a parachute jacket out when Ward reached him.

"The antiserum, it works!" Leo shouted, "But she jumped!"

Ward quickly grabbed both the chute and the serum from Leo, pushing him back towards Asia who grabbed onto the scientist, pulling him back from the edge. In a blink, Ward was gone, diving off the edge and after Jemma. Asia held onto Leo tightly, collapsing against the ground.

"It's going to be okay, you found the cure," She said, hugging him. He held her back, his arms wrapping around her waist.

"We did. Jemma is going to be fine," he repeated, but he still sounded somewhat upset, staring at the open cargo hold. And it was then Asia knew, she knew he cared for Simmons. He was upset not simply because Jemma had jumped, but because Ward would be the one to save her.