Birds of a Feather | | Leo Fitz Book One

Chapter 22

It had been three days since they had seen Coulson. Asia kicked the leg of the lab table before hopping on top of it. She was fine, but that didn't mean Jemma wouldn't look her over. For the time being, she was working on Ward.

"Impressive. You actually managed to reopen all your stitches," she said to Ward, humming lightly as she swabbed his wounds.

Asia glanced over her shoulder towards Leo, who was busy talking with two agents she didn't recognize. There were lots of agents here they didn't recognize. SHIELD had sent in more backup than she had ever received in her life. It was impressive, all for Coulson. And she wanted to know why. Her gaze flitted back over to Ward as he spoke.

"Let's just hope Vanchat can lead us to Centipede," he sounded just as frustrated as she felt.

"Well the Chitauri metal he was selling is an exact match to what Centipede used for their device," Jemma said, a twinge of hope in her voice.

"We find Centipede, we find Coulson," Ward said in affirmation.

Suddenly from the other side of the Lab, Leo began to speak loudly, delivering orders to the new techies. "Don't ask questions, Agent Kob. Just get me the five millimeter injector. That's an order."

"y-yes sir," the agent, presumably Agent Kob, stuttered before backing out of the Lab.

Asia felt a slight blush shift over her cheeks. It was impressive, watching him like that, taking control. She would have to remember to tease him about it later. Leo wandered towards them, tapping on a tablet rapidly.

"Honestly," he scoffed, "How many agents do they think they can fit on this plane?" He looked at Asia, rolling his eyes.

"It's only going to get worse," she replied with a frown.

Suddenly, the TV in front of them lit up. "Oh joy," Leo sighed, "Agent Hand is giving another briefing...."

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Hand was going to throw Skye off the plane. Well, not literally going to throw her off in the middle of the sky above the Atlantic Ocean. Remove her. She wasn't "necessary" according to Hand. God, Asia hated that woman. She typed quickly on her tablet, sending a discrete file to Natasha and Clint. She was still running recon for them, as always, and she was fairly sure they would want to know Coulson was kidnapped.

Skye and Ward clomped down the circular stairs to the cargo bay and Asia stood up, concealing her tablet, immediately, moving towards them. Leo and Jemma followed her.

"Coulson will make this right," Ward said to Skye.

"I can find him," Skye said in a pleading tone. Asia rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Hang on Skye," Leo called out, moving forward, a small parcel in his hand. He thrust it out towards her.

"You made me a sandwich?" Skye said skeptically, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes...that is exactly what it is..." Jemma said slowly, trying to clue Skye in.

That was when Leo began to whisper. "It's a satellite phone, damper resistant. You get one shot before the bracelet shuts it down." Asia smiled over at him. God, her friends were wicked smart.

"It's only for emergencies," Jemma whispered as well.

"What do I even need this for? I'm going to be spending the next three days in a S.H.I.E.L.D. broom closet getting debriefed." Skye groaned, rolling her eyes but taking the package.

"That's right..." Asia began. "A few agents are coming here to pick you up for debriefing..." Her eyes flicked over to Ward.

He leaned in towards Skye, "In exactly 12 minutes...." His tone was so soft almost none of them could hear it. Skye's eyes widened and understanding flooded her face.

Asia stepped in and wrapped her in a hug, and Skye hugged her back. "Find him," Asia whispered, "Please."

"I will," Skye whispered into her ear, squeezing her tightly before letting go. Then, the four of them who would remain on board walked away as if they had not seen a thing.

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"Monroe," Ward said, staring her in the eye, his hands on each of her shoulders sternly. "I know your methods, you're the best of the best. Natasha Romanov herself trained you on interrogation. Now normally....I'd love to get my hands on this man myself. But, I know you want a crack at him." He was talking about Vanchat. He wanted her to disobey Hand and get info out of this piece of shit.

Asia thought about it for a moment, thinking back to the training Nat had given her. It was useful. That, and it wasn't every day that Ward handed over power. "I'll do it," she said finally.

"Let's go," Ward said, grabbing her lower arm and leading her down the hall. He quickly got rid of the guard outside the cell door, and nodded at Asia. "In you go."

Asia took a deep breath before entering through the sliding door. A man sat handcuffed to the the metal table in the dark room. Asia flipped the empty chair across from him around, so she could straddle it and rest her hands on the back of the chair. "Time to talk," she said smoothly, a small smile on her face, making her seem almost...welcoming.

Vanchat shook his head, grinning slightly. His black hair,once shiny, appeared greasy now.

"The name of all your buyers, please," Asia said. "Alphabetically, would help," she tagged on, as if it were an after thought.

"You think your 'pretty pleases' will get you answers? I'm not telling you a damn thing," Vanchat snorted.

"What, you don't want to play nice?" Asia pouted, "Now that's just unfortunate." She reached down and grabbed a belt, strapping herself to the chair. Looking up at a camera in the corner, she nodded one short, sharp nod, before looking over at Vanchat. "You're really going to regret not just giving me answers, I don't usually play nice with my toys." As she turned back towards him, an almost cat-like grin slid over her red lips.

Above them, the tiles of the ceiling began to slowly fold away, revealing eons of bright blue sky, not a cloud in sight. From the safety of her chair, Asia crossed her arms over her chest, smirking. Vanchat dangled, legs up in the air, the force trying to suck him out. The only thing keeping him in was his rapidly slipping grip on the metal table. "Any day now, sweetie, not that this isn't fun to watch."

It was only about ten more seconds before Vanchat began begging. Then, finally, he said the words they had all been waiting to hear. "Fine, fine, I'll talk. Please, I'll talk." In an instant, the doors were closed, and Vanchats body slammed against the ground.

"Now, now, don't you wish you had just agreed when I said 'please'?"