Birds of a Feather | | Leo Fitz Book One

Chapter 19

Asia hopped down the spiral staircase into the cargo bay, finding Leo, Jemma, Ward, and Mike already there, Mike dressed fully in black. Asia let out a whistle, "Man did they ever trick you out. Nice suit, Mike," She greeted in a friendly tone, coming to rest standing next to Leo, looking at the tablet in his hand.

"Nice, isn't it?" Leo whispered to her, showing her the specs quickly on the screen.

"Very," Asia whispered back with a quick grin, patting his shoulder twice. Above them, there were steps on the staircase and Coulson descended, followed by Skye and May.

"Hayward's cellphone has been traced to an abandoned factory about eight miles from here," Coulson said, typing at his tablet to blow up and overhead view of the factory for all of them to see.

"Probably Centipede's new lab," Ward suggested, glancing at the building.

Coulson nodded, "Certainly been their MO, we destroy one factory they set up another putting us back to square one. Though thanks to Agent Monroe, we took out a pretty big one last time. They must be hurting," he nodded at the agent appreciatively. "But it has to stop. This time, I want answers."

May nodded, "Means we go in quiet. Minimal damage, minimal noise."

Coulson nodded in agreement, "Ward, May, you'll go in the West side. Mr. Peterson and I will enter in the loading dock. Simmons, Monroe, you'll run backup from the outside." Asia opened her mouth to object, but Coulson cut her off. "Asia, you're still healing from last time. Not only that, but your face is fresh to their whole facility. They've probably got a hit on you by now. No need to take pointless risks."

"So we're doing this just us?" Skye asked, skeptical. "No back up? Shouldn't SHIELD be sending in squads for something big like this?"

"Trust me, they already did," Coulson said in a satisfied voice, glancing over at Mike approvingly.

"let's move," May said with finality.

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Leo, Jemma, Skye, and Asia were all piled into a discrete van outside the the warehouse. Despite what Coulson told her, Asia suited up anyways, ready to run in at a moments notice.

"We alone in here?" Coulson asks over coms.

"It appears so," Simmons frowned, looking down at her tablet. "The only heat signature we're reading are yours."

"But there's some sort of weird electronic signal," Skye said, typing quickly at her laptop, "I'm working on isolating it as we speak."

"Think we're too late?" Ward asked, "Looks pretty emptied out."

"Fitz," Coulson ordered, "Dial Hayward's number."

Leo nodded and quickly tapped some buttons, "Done and done," he replied over coms. They can hear the phone ringing over coms. Suddenly, all the screens in the van light up and begin to beep rapidly. "Sir, you've got company," Leo said, tapping away at his screen.

A cacophony of sounds begins to blow up their coms, making it difficult to hear. Gunfire, shouting, flesh hitting fabric. Asia clenched automatically, ready to make a break for it, but Leo grabbed her wrist, holding her in place. "You're not going in," he whispered, concern in his eyes.

"But," Asia started to say, the sounds on the coms making her itch to get in the thick of it, to protect her comrades.

"No, you heard what Coulson said. You're not getting anywhere near this unless absolutely necessary. And it's not," Leo said, and Asia had never heard him so full of concern before. She sighed, leaning against the wall of the van, watching his monitor.

Suddenly, the one's displaying Mike's suit and body systems began to light up.

"What's happening?" Skye asked, panic in her voice.

"His systolic and diastolic pressures are dropping," Jemma said, voice dripping with concern.

"Heart rate is plummeting as well," Leo put in.

"Sir, he's in bad shape. Between the physical exertion and this wound his vitals are dangerously low," Jemma said rapidly over coms, the nervousness portraying in her voice, as well as the small quiver of her hands.

And they were forced to listen and wait, for the worst. For what might happen next. Finally, Coulson came over coms. "Mission fail, we're coming back."