Renegade Rising || Leo Fitz Book Two

Chapter Fifteen

Back at the base, Asia knew who she wanted to speak to first. The person who hated her the most for everything she had done, but never knew why. Mack. She knew right where he would be, too. In the cargo bay of the Bus, where his motorcycle was often stored, where he spent most of his time working on it, fine tuning it. It used to be the Lab on the Bus, before everything was changed and renovated for the purposes they needed it for. The Lab was no longer on the Bus, but in the Playground. They had learned from their mistakes of letting the scientists out into dangerous field ops. From Asia's mistakes.

Wringing her hands together, she stepped quietly into the soft lit room, knocking on the door as she did so. Mack looked up from his work, setting the wrench down on the ground. He picked up a dirty grey rag, which was once white but had since been covered in grease, and dried off his hands. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Agent Monroe, back from another killing spree. What can I do for you?"

Asia frowned, trying not to let his words bite at her, but they still did. She didn't choose to do these missions. She was a good agent, she followed her director's orders. And if his orders were to assassinate HYDRA soldiers, so be it. "Hey Mack....I was hoping we could talk..." she trailed off, trying to think of how she should go about this. It was difficult to try and speak to someone who disliked her so strongly, without truly knowing what her story was. So all she really could do was tell it.

"I guess that depends," he sighed, "What did you want to talk about?" He looked up at this small thing in front of him. It was crazy to know that even though she was short, and looked like she belonged at a bar with her friends more so than she did wielding a gun, that she was a well trained assassin. Still, in her eyes, he could see this pit of sorrow. Like all the light that once shone through them had burnt out. He pitied her for it.

Asia took a deep breath and began to speak. "I wanted to say thank you, and I wanted to say I'm sorry. I wanted to thank you for the help you've been to Fitz....the friend you've been to him. And I'm sorry for all the problems I've caused for this whole team. I thought I was making things better, staying away from everyone. Really I was just making them worse."

Mack sighed, studying his hands for a moment, before looking back up at her. "You know. I didn't help Fitz at all, he didn't need help. He just needed friends who didn't judge him. And you know, that guy who you remember him as, who you want him to be. I never knew that kid. I only know this one, and yea, he's a little on the odd side, but he's funny. And he's good. I like him, he's a great teammate and a better friend."

"I'm not sure what you mean..." she said softly. "I don't want Fitz to be anything but himself. I know how amazing he is."

Mack furrowed his brow, frowning down at he as he stood up so they could look each other in the eye. "You say that, but I'm not too sure you mean it. Because from everything I've heard, Fitz told you how he felt about you, and you bailed. Stopped talking to him, stopped acknowledging him."

Asia squeezed her fists, pressing her nails into her palms, letting the pain of that take focus from the pain of this conversation. "That's not what happened...you've only heard one side of the story." She paused, unsure if she really wanted to bare her soul to this man, this man who hated her so indiscriminately. "I actually told him first. I told him I loved him, and then because of me, he and Jemma got dropped into the bottom of the ocean. Because I couldn't keep them safe. They got hurt because of me. People always get hurt because of me. So when he finally woke up, and he told me. Tried to tell me. About his feelings, I saw all the damage I had done. The only thing I could think to do was disappear." She looked down at her feet, cheeks flaming red.

Mack sighed. Maybe he had been a little harsh on this agent. "Look...I get where you're coming from. But now here you are, participating in things again. People are pressuring him about you," he explained, nodding towards the conversation Jemma had attempted to have with Fitz earlier that day. "But from everything I've seen, right now the only thing making him worse is you."

"Didnt you hear what I just said?" Asia asked, frustrated. "I know that. I see that. Why do you think I've become what I have?" This whole conversation was a mistake. She should have known better. There was no way he would understand. "I...I have to go. Thanks for listening, I guess." She spin on her heal and practically ran down the ramp and back into the halls of the Playground.

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Stalking through the halls of their base, fists still tightly clenched, Asia wound her way to the Lab. She knew Jemma and Skye would most likely be in there, and she needed to vent. She felt like people could literally see the steam blowing out of her ears.

When she hit the door of the Lab, she broke into a thankful smile at the sight of her two friends. The only thing that made her falter was Leo sitting at his desk, several feet away. He looked up as he saw her in the door, and she tried to give him a small, slight smile. He looked away.

Taking a deep breath, Asia pushed on into the room anyways, moving to sit beside her two friends. "Hey guys," she said quietly, giving them both a small smile. "Doesn't it feel good to have us all here again?"

"It would," Skye began, "except they're about to release Ward into his brother's custody." She furrowed her brow. A normal human handling Ward? They literally kept him prisoner in their basement. It didn't seem right, or safe.

"You're kidding," Asia frowned. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck start to rise. If she wasn't upset before, she sure was now. She didn't understand why Coulson would release him, use him as a bargaining piece. "You mean the senator brother?"

"That very one," Jemma nodded, confirming their worst fears.

Asia couldn't quite put words on her emotions at that moment. She felt like she was a swirling mess of nerves. It wasn't okay that he would get out. She didn't believe for a second that whatever "punishment" he would receive would be worse than their control over him here. And in the deepest corners of her brain, she didn't think he would stay prisoner at all, outside of their custody. She didn't want Ward to get that chance. No matter what he had tried to stop from happening to her when Garrett held her captive, he still dropped Fitz and Jemma into the ocean. It was unforgivable.

Suddenly, there was commotion in the hall. The three of them moved hesitantly to the door to catch a glimpse of what was happening. And there he was, wearing a grey prison uniform, hands cuffed in front of him, being escorted down the dimly lit brick hallways, surrounded by armed guards. Skye could hear the sharp inhalation of Asia's breath when they caught sight of him.

Asia's hands balled into fists again, but this time, for fighting. She wanted to destroy him, before he could destroy anyone else. Her legs shifted, ready to strike when he passed by, when she felt someone grab onto the sleeve of her blue sweater. She looked down, following the hand to a gray, knit sleeve. Her eyes traveled up the arm, to look at the troubled eyes of Leo Fitz. He was right there, practically touching her, so close she could see the speckles of soft brown mixed into his eyes.

"Don't," he said quietly, nodding at her balled fists. "Don't do it. He's not even worth it." And then he dropped the bit of her sweater clutched in his hands and shuffled quietly back to his desk. It all happened so fast, Asia wasn't really sure if she had imagined it or not.