Birds of a Feather | | Leo Fitz Book One

Chapter 48

Asia slid her headset off, unbuckled her harness, and slid out of the seat, moving her way down the halls back towards where Coulson and the team would be waiting. She had done as she was ordered, let some part of her felt wrong, shooting SHIELD drones out of the sky. And where were Natasha and Clint? Neither of them had reached out to her. Something about this was wrong, very, very wrong, and it was making the thin hairs on the back of her neck stand on point.

The agent arrived in the Lab the same time Garrett came down the stairs from his aircraft. "Someone mind telling me just what the fuck is going on?" He cursed, looking from Asia to Coulson.

Asia shrugged, "Saving your ass, for one thing, but other than that," she turned to Coulson, looking for his answers about as much as Garrett was.

"We have no clue," Coulson admitted. "Someone's jammed the systems. Our plane is rerouted. We have no controls. God only knows where we're headed," he glanced back towards Skye, who was still rapidly typing away, searching for clues.

Garrett chuckled, "Well, I got you beat there, you're headed for the Hub. That has to be where you're routed. And for damn sure that's where those fucking drones came from. I'd like to know who was trying to blow me out of the damn sky."

Coulson rubbed a hand over his forehead, lost in thought for a moment, before it all seemed to click. It was like physically watching a lightbulb turn on. "Victoria Hand," he whispered, eyes widening.

Asia scoffed. There was no way. But then again, she remembered what Hand had done to the boys. How she had sent them out there alone. Maybe it was a part of some big plan all along. Her mouth slowly dropped open, forming a 'o', her eyes widening.

"Hand?" Leo asked, looking up from his desk. "No way. There's no way."

"No way?" Garrett asked, looking between the agents, brow furrowed. "No way she's what?"

Skye stood back from her computer, turning to face them and crossing her arms. "The Clairvoyant."

Garrett began to laugh, before muttering. "What a fucking day." He looked back between all of them. "Did we not just watch Ward blow a hole in the Clairvoyant's skull?"

"I believe that he was a decoy. It was a good trick, but that's all it was." Coulson replied. "Someone wanted us to stop looking, because the Clairvoyant is working inside SHIELD. Using her high-level clearance makes her seem like she's got psychic abilities, like she's always one step ahead."

Garrett scoffed again, hands on his hips. "You honest to God think Hand is behind this shit? I've been stationed with her. She's a buzzkill for sure but she's no mastermind."

As the men were talking, Skye returned to her laptop, damn determined to get the screen to clear, make the blocks go away. She began typing rapidly, biting her lower lip as she did so. Suddenly, she began to slap at Asia's arm, still typing away with one hand.

Asia turned, about to ask what the hell she wanted, when her eyes widened. OUT OF THE SHADOWS AND INTO THE LIGHT began to run across the screen. "Um, guys?" She said quietly, but the three men didn't take notice. More loudly, she repeated herself. "Guys, you need to see this."

They turned in time just to see the large letters flash across the screen: WE ARE HYDRA.