Renegade Rising || Leo Fitz Book Two

Chapter ThirtyNine

"That's very...understandable," Dr. Garner said after a moment of thinking. "I think your response to the incident was...interesting, but I can't argue that it wasn't effective. Next question, why did you hide your transformation from the team?"

Of course it came back to that. It always came back to that. Everyone was upset about the three of them, Skye, Asia, and Leo, being in cahoots. Like she hadn't done it to protect herself. She sighed again, pushing back her hair for a moment and looking up at the ceiling, this time to try and keep the tears at bay. If she had never gone near that tunnel....If only. "I didn't want to keep it from them, but it felt as if I didn't have a choice. Jemma....Agent Simmons," Asia took a deep breath, getting control of her emotions before fixing her gaze on Andrew. "She was going off about how 'monsters' like Raina needed to be exterminated. And guess what? Turns out I was one of them. No one was disagreeing with what she was saying, and honestly I thought if I kept it at bay long enough, we would find a cure. I was hoping no one would ever need to know." She looked up at him, trying to see if he was understanding exactly what she was trying to express. She was worried...honestly, earnestly worried that she was going to be...hurt, or turned out, or something worse.

"I see," he replied with another nod of acknowledgement. But Asia wasn't entirely sure that he did. That he saw, that he understood. Part of her was afraid that he never would.

The questions went on like this, until it was lunch time. Andrew left, Coulson came, and the rest of her day went on without any event. But still, in the back of her mind, was the needling feeling that today had been make or break.

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Later that evening, Asia was jolted from a nap to feel the entire Bus shaking. Vibrating. Rattling. Her mind flew to Skye and she was on her feet, reaching for a door handle that wasn't there. Panicking, she ran to their adjoining wall, banging her palms again it, hoping her friend would hear her. She knew it was of no use, that the walls were completely sound proof, but she tried anyways, desperately banging away at the black, honeycomb walls. "Skye!" She shouted, "It's me, it's okay. You can stop it!" she called out useless words of encouragement which simply drifted off into the void.

She sat back on her bed, staring at that wall between them. Was there a way she could send her ice over there? Was it possible, if she couldn't see what she was aiming for? Back in containment, she had sent Skye that little rivulet of ice, held her hand using it, but that was because she was what she was looking for, she saw her goal. This time, she would be flying blind.

But she had to try, she had to do something. Her friend was in danger, her friend was hurting, and she couldn't hear or see her. But she tried it anyways. Raising one finger into the air, she sent a little wave of ice up towards the ceiling, feeling for any cracks, searching, it didn't have to be big. The molecules of ice could fit through just about anything. And then, as if by miracle, there it was. A tiny, little crack. Her ice slipped through and she lost sight of it, but she kept her focus on Skye.

That was when shit really got weird. Even if her eyes open, it was as if she could see an overlay, see her small bullet of ice sliding along, dropping into Skye's room. Leo, Jemma, May, and Dr. Garner were all there, waking Skye from sleep. Jemma was shouting something angrily and Leo was trying to stop her. Skye was clenching her fists, focusing, trying her best to stop the shaking. Asia focused, her ice sliding over Skye's thigh, crawling up her jacket until it wrapped itself around her friend's pinky finger, like a tiny ring. She saw Skye look down, eyes wide, then saw a determination light in her eyes. When Asia blinked, the entire vision was gone, as if it had never happened. But something determined in her, some proud little piece, knew it had. Knew she had done all of that.

She hadn't lost control once. Not for one moment. She was learning, and she was growing stronger.

And the shaking stopped. Skye had gotten control. Asia let out a sigh of relief. She was proud, too, of her friend, for handling that as well as she had. She knew it, she knew Skye could get control. The two of them would be just fine, after all. It was such a relief, knowing that they were both going to be okay. She sat back on her bed, leaning against the wall, letting all the tension release. She looked at the door, waiting. Leo would come check on her, she was sure of it. So she waited. Waited and watched.

But that damn door, it never did open.

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It couldn't have been more than half an hour later when the plane started shaking again. Asia looked up from her lap, where she had been staring, lost in thought. But this...this felt different. This rumbling was not the same as before, this wasn't Skye. Moments later, the door to her cell opened up, and there her friend was, motioning for her to follow. Without hesitation, Asia leapt to her feet. And then the two girls were hugging, squeezing each other so tight Asia thought her lungs might burst. It had been over a week since she had seen anyone outside of her normal routine. It felt good.

"Thank you, for earlier," Skye whispered softly into her ear. "It helped, really helped. I don't know if I could have gotten it under control so quickly without you." Skye gave her friend a squeeze before releasing.

Asia shrugged, "I've said it before, we're in this together. Now, what's going on exactly?" She asked, looking around as the plane shuddered beneath them. "Are we...flying?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yea, Dr. Garner went to go see what's going on," Skye explained, "Pretty sure we should follow up. Figure out a plan."

So it was agreed upon. The two girls would go find Dr. Garner and, presumably, May, and figure out where they were headed and why. The crept down the halls, until they heard raised voices coming from the Command Center.

"Civilians are in danger. I made a call." They heard May proclaim, and Asia could practically see the woman with her brow furrowed, lips pursed, before they even rounded the corner. The two adults were so intent on arguing they didn't even notice the other agents approach. Apparently, they were each others' blind spot.

"And what do you expect me to do with the other agents?" Dr. Garner asked, arms flying out as he gesticulated angrily. Asia had never seen him like this before. Every time he had sat before her, he was calm, articulate, easy to speak with. This man was an entirely different person than the one she had known. She barely recognized him in this state. Something about the two being near each other was making two of the calmest people she knew so volatile. She looked at Skye, confused.

"They used to be married," her friend whispered so as they would not be noticed. "Used to being the key words there." Asia nodded, not allowing the shock to display on her face.

"Same as if we were still back at base," May scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "You'll keep the two of them here. I'll handle the situation."

Surprising even herself, Asia stepped into the room. "Excuse me, but no. That's not how this is going to happen."