Renegade Rising || Leo Fitz Book Two

Chapter ThirtyFour

Asia winced as Jemma dabbed a swab of alcohol over a wound on her head. The liquid burned against her scratched flesh, but she knew it was worth the pain over infection. Finding the man had not gone overly well. Oh, yea, and he was freaking blue. So definitely not a human, very much an alien. And the way he had looked at her...as if she was a lamb for the slaughter, had scared her so much the windows in the room froze over and all the water in the building chilled to a point of nearly freezing. Skye hadn't held up much better. She had knocked a row of shelves right over, a can of hospital food on one smashing right into a side of Asia's head, knocking her out cold. The man had escaped some short time after her entire world had gone black.

Jemma smoothed a small patch of bandage over her friend's forehead, patting it softly. "There you go. All better now. I have to go take care of Bobbi, but come find me if you feel something isn't right." Jemma peeled the used gloves off of her hands and searched for another, as Asia slid off the small table in the Lab, spotting Leo at the door, leaning against the frame, holding a jumper in one hand, and the other hand, a finger pressed to his lips, studying her, concern and worry laced in his eyes.

She stepped forward, a sheepish smile on her pink lips. She shrugged at him, lacing her own hands together to keep from touching him right there, in front of everyone. Of course, people knew they were friends again, but they still hadn't let anyone know about the....intimacy, or permanency, of their relationship. The only person who knew they were sharing a room every night was Skye. As far as they were aware, and hoped, everyone else was in the dark. All they possibly knew was their friendship was rekindled. It was easier that way, and safer for everyone. Some day, maybe, when things calmed down and they were less...on the run. They would let everyone know.

"You look worried," Asia murmured, slipping on the tan sweater he had so kindly brought her and fastening a few of the buttons, enjoying the feeling of warmth wrap around her. Granted, she would have preferred his arms wrapping around her, but there would be time for that later. Finally, they had what truly felt like all the time in the world, and much to make up for.

"Of course I am," he replied, biting his lower lip for a moment, thinking about how to proceed. His emotions were boiling over like a pot left on the stove for too long. "Every time you go out there, Asia, you come back bloody beat up. I don't like it, not one bit." Reflexively, he reached for her hand, but stopped himself. "I always get worried that one of these times, you won't come back at all." He frowned down at her, wondering how so much strength fit into that tiny body of hers. She hid it well.

"Leo, you know that'll never happen," she whispered back. "I'll always come back to you, no matter what. Plus, going out there and getting into fights now and then is very literally my job. We're Agents of Shield, remember?" she shook her head, hair falling around her shoulders as she did so. "Do I like it when you work with hazardous materials? Definitely not. But I trust you, and know you know what you're doing. Think of it in the same way."

"I'll try to do that," Leo sighed, shaking his head. He didn't want to sound so...whiny? Overbearing? Worried? He just....he loved her, so very much, and they had just become...whatever it was they were. He wasn't ready to lose that, wasn't ready to even think about losing that. "Well, how did the rest of it go? Besides the, erm, the cut?" he raised a finger to his own head, tapping where the bandage gash was, on hers.

Asia glanced around them, before grabbing his wrist and dragging him away from the Bus' Lab. It was too crowded in there. Too many ears, too many agents. She didn't want anyone overhearing what she had to say...

She dragged him all the way to a deserted storage area on the Bus, standing between netted boxes, in mostly darkness. She still held her hand on his wrist, but her fingers were trembling. "Leo I..." she started, then shook her head, letting go of his wrist so she could press her palms against her eyes for a moment, taking the pressure that was building up behind them away. "I don't know if I can do this. If I can hide this." She gestured at her body, then held up a finger, staring at it, until a small prism of ice was floating a centimeter above her index finger. "I just....back there, when we were attacked, I couldn't keep it under wraps. The whole room temperature dropped. I froze things. The pipes. The windows. It was awful." She lowered her hand and shoved both of her fists into the pockets of her sweater.