Birds of a Feather | | Leo Fitz Book One

Chapter 53

Shortly later, the Bus was airborne. Asia sat in the living space, staring at the shattered glass. It was hard to comprehend all which had just happened.

Back in their Academy days, Asia and Ward had often debriefed from hard missions. Their tradition was picking out a beer for the other to drink and shit talking. At first, it had been about trying to get the other to try something new, something they might like, but eventually, it turned to just picking out the shitiest drink they could find and laughing while the other grimaced and drank.

But he wasn't here now. He was helping Hand escort Garrett to the Fridge, where he belonged, locked in a jail cell. She was glad the act would give him some closure, but, a part of her felt empty without someone to help her get through it all.

Suddenly, a small knocking came from the wall behind her. She turned, looking up to see Leo standing there, grey sweater fitting him ever-so-perfectly as usual. "Hey, hope I'm not interrupting anything," he said with a small smile. "Mind if I sit?"

"Sure," Asia said, smiling back. She scooted over on the couch, making space for him. He sat down close to her, not quite so close that they were touching, but close enough.

"So," he said turning to her, "You've noticed Simmons and Agent Triplett, right? Its not just me seeing things?"

"By noticed, do you mean the flirting?" She asked. He nodded back in response. "Yea I've noticed it. I know Trip, he's definitely interested in her. And it seems she is too....does that..bother you?" She asked, biting her lower lip and looking back towards the cracked glass.

"I mean..." Leo began, before trailing off. "Well, yea, it sort of does. But not in the way youre thinking. Its not like I like her or anything. She's just one of my closest friends, you know? I want to make sure he's good enough for her."

Asia rolled her eyes, but was secretly relieved. "Trust me Leo, Trip is nothing but a gentleman," she assured him, patting his arm. Looking over at him, studying his eyes, he still looked quite shaken, quite like she was feeling. "Hey, you holding up ok?" She asked, clear concern in her voice.

"Yea, I'm okay. Its just...a lot, you know?" He said back, shrugging. "All of it. I can't believe it. We worked with him, he helped us."

"Its terrible, I know," Asia said, sighing, letting the tension out of her shoulders. "But we'll get through this, you know that right?"

He turned to look at her, studying her face, her large eyes, the way she had just the tiniest dusting of freckles across her cheeks. "You know, it almost seems believable when you say it," he joked, but smiled at her nonetheless.

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Asia held onto the base of a ladder, stabilizing it as Trip climbed down, holding a blowtorch in his hands. From behind them, Coulson cleared his throat, announcing his presence.

"Bad news," Trip said with a sigh, setting the torch down on a nearby toolkit. "Fuel line...its leaking pretty good in there," he thumbed towards the ceiling.

Coulson sighed, "Of course we are. Can we fix it?"

"Yea sure," Trip said, slinging his arm over Asia's shoulders, "Tic Tac and I can take care of it, just not till we land."

"Perfect," Coulson replied, spinning around and leaving the room, presumably to check on the status of the other jobs being worked on.

"So," Asia said, turning to Trip, deciding to take this moment of alone time to question him. "You and Jemma...am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?"

"Come'on girl, one minute alone and you're already prying for my secrets," Trip said laughing, folding up the ladder.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it prying when youre flirting out in the open for the entire world to see," Asia quipped back.

"Oh you mean like you and Agent Fitz?" Trip fired back, causing her cheeks to flash red for a moment, before she burst out laughing.

"Oh Trip, I've missed you," she teased.

"You too, Tic Tac," he grinned. "And Jemma is nice, shes sweet and she is really funny, when she starts talking. Maybe theres something there, maybe there isn't." He shrugged. "I'm not going to push it too hard."

"I think its safe to say theres something there," Asia smiled. "She cant lie to save her life and reads like a bad book."

Trip sighed, "i hope youre right, Tic Tac," he said, ruffling her hair and walking off towards the Lab.