Renegade Rising || Leo Fitz Book Two

Chapter Twentyone

"After our agents are safely out of the area, we're going to trigger a remote detonation and blow the hell out of it," Coulson replied, as if this were the simplest thing in the world. The agents around them began to murmur to themselves, some agreeing with this plan, some thinking they was research to be missed by destroying the temple. "I've already sent corresponding orders to each of you if you would like to check your personal devices. We're rolling out shortly."

Asia glanced down at her watch, seeing the orders flash across the small screen. She shouldn't have been surprised. As the agents started to disperse, Asia turned and left the way she had come. After all, she had bags to pack for Puerto Rico.

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After she had grabbed her things and made it back to the Bus, she knew she had work to do. The cargo hold was a mess of boxes they needed to organize and Coulson had given her a list of specific ones to set aside for their investigation of the tunnel. They were all going to depart on the Bus together, then the small team would separate from the Bus, taking the Quinnjet the rest of the way. They wouldn't be meeting up again until much later, so having all of the supplies was essential. And it was her responsibility to find the Dwarfs, the small drones Fitz had modified to suit SHIELD needs.

Only problem was, there were tons of boxes down in the cargo bay. Tons. Asia slipped her duffel bag off of her shoulder and began to rummage around. Hopefully she would find them in the first few boxes and could be on her way.

Footsteps could be heard on the circular staircase and Asia looked up, brown hair cascading over her shoulders. It was Bobbi, probably coming back from prepping the jet. She, Mack, Jemma, and Fitz were all coming on the scouting mission to the temple.

"Quinnjet is prepped and ready," Bobbi said when she got down the final stair, right on que. "Anything I can help you out with?"

"Oh no, I'm fine," Asia replied quietly. "I just have to find the dwarf case and I'll be all good to go." As much as Asia didn't truly know Bobbi, it was nice having her around. She reminded her a lot of Nat, which was welcoming. "It's somewhere in these boxes, the game is just finding which one," she stood up, placing her hands on her hips and surveying the remaining boxes.

"I'm sure Fitz knows where they are, you could always ask him," Bobbi suggested casually, studying the younger agent as she did so. Of course, she knew the stories, she heard the rumors. "He's just sitting in the Quinnjet, waiting for everyone to be ready."

Asia didn't take her eyes of the boxes, but pressed her lips into a thin line for a moment, before speaking. "No, that's fine. I can find them on my own, no reason to bother anyone else." She bent down again, digging into another box, feeling around for the familiar hard case that held the dwarfs. This entire conversation was pushing her past the point of discomfort. She could feel the weight of Bobbi's calculating eyes on her, not believing her answer to contain the whole truth. She knew the look well. Nat had one which practically mirrored it.

When Asia glanced back over her shoulder, Bobbi had a knowing smile on her large, pink lips. "So, you and Fitz....I'm sorry to pry, but I have to ask. How long were the two of you a thing?" She crossed her arms expectantly, as if she wasn't about to let Asia back herself out of this question. She could tell by the way the other agent tensed while hearing the question, the way her rummaging slowed for just a moment, that there was definitely something still going on between the two of them.

"He and I...we were never a thing," Asia replied finally, with a casual shrug, finally grabbing the dwarf case and taking it over to the counter, flipping it open to make sure everything was inside as it should be. They were never a 'thing,' because there was no way to label something so fluid, so effortless. And then, before they got the chance, it was too late to label anything. And it was done.

"You know, as good as an agent as you are, he's your tell," Bobbi replied cooly, pressing her lips into a smile. "You read like a book whenever someone mentions the name Leo Fitz." She sighed, padding quietly over to the other agent, placing a hand on her shoulder in an almost motherly fashion. "That isn't necessarily a bad thing, when it's just the team around. You care about him. Don't think of that as a weakness..." she trailed off for a moment before continuing. "Look, I know the story between the two of you. What Ward did, what happened to Fitz....his..recovery. That's not your issue, is it?" She asked.

Asia quickly shook her head, pulling out of Bobbi's grasp. "Of course not," she said, ducking her head. The fact that Leo was changed...she would never fault him for that.

"Then what is it?" Bobbi pressed, "if you don't mind me asking."

Asia did. She did mind her asking. But additionally, the opportunity to unload all of the weight on her shoulders would feel so nice. "It's more complicated than what everyone knows. Yes, Ward did drop Jemma and Leo out of the Bus. But it was my fault. We were running away, trying to get to the cargo bay where the parachutes were...and he cornered us. I thought I could take him myself. I'd done it before, all in....practice, though. I'd never tried to actually kill him before, and I wasn't trying to kill him then, either. I...I kissed Leo, told him I was in love with him, and shoved him into that pod. And Ward beat me, because he didn't care if I got hurt or not. And he made me watch as he dropped them into the ocean. I thought I'd never see either of them again. But....ugh, I'm sorry. There's a lot of details most people don't know. I dropped my failsafe tracker after them, knowing I'd be on my own from there. Thankfully, Fury found them, and Coulson found me. And I watched him, in that hospital bed, as he tried to say he loved me back but his brain couldn't function right, he couldn't speak...he couldn't...." she stopped, taking a deep breath. "And that's all on me. Him getting hurt, the both of them almost dying, that's on me." Her words came out shaky, scared. "He was my best friend,who I love, and the reason he got hurt was because of me. I can't bare the thought of that happening again."

"Have you told him any of that?" Bobbi asked after a moment of thinking. When the brunette shook her head, no, that she had not, the blonde sighed, sitting on top of the table next to her. "You know, Barton and I dated for a bit, back in the day, before he met Harper," she paused, smiling over at the look of surprise on the other agent's face.

"I didn't know that," Asia said cautiously, not wanting her to stop her story.

"Well, we did. Obviously, I'm happy he and Harper are together. Those two....they've got a special sort of something. The kind of something we're all looking for. But I need you to hear why we didn't work out...." Bobbi looked up at the ceiling for a moment, thinking about how she wanted to phrase it. "When we were out in the field, Clint took a bullet because I didn't spot one of the counteragents. And I...I let that blame weigh heavily on me. It brought me to a dark place. And because I couldn't let it go, we could never get back to the way we were. If I had known then, that it wasn't my fault, we might have lasted longer. So what I want you to know, what the rest of us already know. That your team getting hurt is not on you." she looked down at Asia, making sure her eyes met. She wanted to make sure she understood what she was saying, what she was trying to convey.

Asia took a deep breath, trying to let Bobbi's words sink in. They reminded her so much of what Trip had told her last week, in the Quinnjet. She couldn't believe everything was her fault. She looked up at Bobbi and nodded, a small, almost invisible nod. "Well, I should get the rest of this upstairs," she grabbed the case and picked her duffle up from the floor. As she was halfway up the stairs, she stopped, looking over her should. "Thanks, though, Bobbi. For listening. I appreciate it." And then she was gone.

Bobbi watched her leave, thinking to herself how the kid reminded her almost too much of herself.