Renegade Rising || Leo Fitz Book Two

Chapter Eight

Asia sat in Coulson's office with Trip and May, picking at her fingernails as she leaned against the window, glancing at the storm clouds outside. It would rain tonight, she could feel it.

"So why was Creel in the bar?" Trip asked, breaking through Asia's wall of thoughts.

She glanced back towards the others. Yes, that's what they were doing here again. She had forgotten. She had started to zone out more than usual and she needed to catch herself on it. It was making her a weaker agent. It would inevitably lead to her teammates being in danger, by her hand. It was always by her hand, one way or the other.

"We're fairly certain he was meeting with someone. It didn't appear to be a drop sight, nothing was left behind," May explained. "The uncertainly lies in whether or not that person ever showed up before the mess went down."

Coulson's brow furrowed at the problem of the 'mess.' A woman, innocent, simply a waitress, was dead. She was covered in the same shit that Hartley had been producing from her hand after grabbing the Obelisk. "We need a solution to Creel's powers, ASAP. Can someone please give me an update on the Lab situation?"

Trip glanced over at Asia, who was picking at something on her finger. Hangnail, maybe. Most likely something imaginary to avoid the eyecontact of her teammates. "No update yet, sir," Trip said for her. Her time to speak would come, eventually.

Skye suddenly entered the room, holding her tablet in the air. "I've got some interesting news. As some might say, the plot thickens." She set the tablet down on Coulson's desk. "Remember how we were monitoring that encrypted HYDRA frequency that we shut down, just in case something popped up? Well. Something did."

Typing some buttons, Skye blew her screen up onto the big one along the wall so they could all see. A small number typed in white appeared on the black screen.

"A phone number?" Coulson questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Have we called it?"

"Not quite, but it's queued up for whenever you're ready," Skye replied.

"Any clue who it is? Maybe Creel?" May suggested.

Trip couldn't help but crack a grin. "Creep, nahhh. We're not exactly pals with the guy, I doubt he wants to hang."

"And no way is he lonely, that man is jacked" Skye grinned, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"I'm going to stop you right there," Creel said, cutting in. "Go ahead and call the number. Let's see who is looking for a friend."

Silence fell over the room as Skye typed a few buttons and the phone on Coulson's desk flipped to speaker, ringing loudly as they all waited on baited breath to see who would answer their call. Suddenly, the ringing stopped and a soft, white noise fill the room. Someone had picked up.

"Hello?" A cool, smooth voice slid across the line. Asia quirked her head. The voice was familiar, very familiar. Just the sound of it reminded her of a snake.

"Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?" Coulson quipped back, and they all stood on edge, waiting for the response. They knew that voice, without a doubt.

"Agent Coulson. I'm glad you got my message, but so, so hurt you don't remember who I am," the woman replied, letting her sentence float into the dead air.

Coulson paused for a moment, before speaking again. "It's hard to forget the woman in the flower dress. But why this little rendezvous, Raina?" Of course. Raina, the woman in the flower dress, the one who had aided HYDRA.

Asia vaguely remembered the woman from the events this past year. In the fuzzy, locked parts of her day, she remembered seeing her walk about that Lab as Asia's torture ensued. Her muscles reflexively tensed and she pressed herself against the cool, brick wall.