Renegade Rising || Leo Fitz Book Two

Chapter Twentyfour

Alright guys, I know it took a while, but here is the next chapter. It's a nice long one, to make up for my absence! 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The screaming was the first sign things had gone not quite as planned. Mack's voice reverberated off the walls of the chamber, up the tunnel, into the small room, echoing and bouncing until they couldn't hear anything aside from his screams. Asia's throat clenched, face going white. That was the sound of pain, or torture. She knew it too well. She had made similar screams, once upon a time.

She ran to the lip of the cavern, staring down into the blackness, looking for something. Anything. A sign of him. "Mack, can you hear us? We're getting you out!" She shouted down the hole as Bobbi started the pulley that would bring him back out of the hole.

"Can we get him out any faster?" Coulson asked, looking over at Bobbi.

"I'm running this thing as fast as it'll go," she replied with urgency. "The last thing I want is for it to short out or over heat. Then we're really screwed." She glanced nervously at the rope. She was pushing the heat index as is, trying to get her teammate out so that could make sure he was okay.

The wait for his form to appear over the lip of the carved entrance was unbearable. But then, suddenly, there he was, body writhing in pain. Asia felt her skin grow clammy, pale. Something was very, very wrong. Her eyes immediately scoured his hulking body for blood, any sign of a wound, but she could see none. That didn't seem right. There had to be a wound, somewhere, that was causing this much pure agony.

"Mack!" Bobbi wailed, running over to him to help unhook his harness. "What's wrong? What happened?" Mack had been one of her closest friends since the fall of SHIELD. She wasn't about to lose him to this alleged haunted cavern.

"Mack!" Coulson also chorused, holding out his arms to keep the other agents back. "Fall back, something isn't right," he squinted at Mack's figure, and it appeared as if Mack were trying to speak, grunt, make a vocalized word.

"There's no signs of a wound!" Jemma screamed, chorusing Asia's thoughts exactly. "He's hurt but there's no sign of it."

"Could it be psychological?" Asia asked, when suddenly another roar tore from Mack's lips, echoing around the room, smashing against their ears. Asia pressed her palms to her ears for a moment, trying to block out the sound. She winced, looking up at Mack once more. "Something is very, very wrong," she whispered, mostly to herself.

Mack's body spasmed, twitching and writhing when suddenly, his head twisted up at them, his eyes filling with a pure black. Dark, demonic even. As if he had been possessed by the tunnels. The entire team stood, stunned, too afraid to move or breathe or speak. This....this was not Mack. Something had gone very, very wrong down in that chamber. His mouth open and he hissed out one word before shit hit the fan: "Run."

Then Mack began swinging. He used his body like a tank, shoving Bobbi up against the wall. Her breath shot out of her mouth like a blow dart, head getting dizzy. "Mack, stop!" She grunted, shoving against him, shoving her knee into his gut.

Mack stumbled back, swinging wildly at Coulson as he did so, whirling so face Jemma, stepping forward to lash out. Asia slid in front of her friend, fists raised. "I don't want to fight you, but I will," She said slowly, nodding at him, narrowing her grey eyes. The giant man looked at her, a guttural growl coming from his mouth, but he slowly turned, and took his attention over to Coulson once more. Asia blinked, frozen. What had happened? Why had he turned away from her, and only her, as he pursued the rest of her team? The pit of her stomach began to swirl distastefully, a bitter flavour forming in her mouth. But there wasn't time to think or question it. She wasn't sure if anyone on her team had even noticed.