Coulson had ended up having to Ice the car guy, which was unfortunate, but overall not too bad. They got away with the Jeep after all. A functioning car that would get them to where they needed to go. It would get them to Skye. Asia, admittedly, would have done a hell of a lot worse to get to her friend. They had limited time, limited resources, and were about to face people who could, truly, pack a punch.
After they had stopped on the side of the road for Coulson to take over driving, Asia glanced at Hunter, who was now in shotgun. "Alright so. I'm going to do a thing. It's going to seem unorthodox. You're probably going to freak out. I'm going to ask you to just make sure I don't fall." She looked at him evenly, knowing full well she had already looped the seatbelt around her ankle in a series of intricate, weaving knots. He opened his mouth to ask her what she was meaning, but by that time she was already hanging over the back seat, popping open the trunk of the vehicle and hanging backwards out of the car, screwdriver and replacement license plates in hand.
She could hear the two men shouting from within the car and tuned them right out. No time for that nonsense. Surely, the police would be on the lookout for a Jeep with specific plates. She'd be doing them a favor. A favor that listed their car in an entirely different state. Clean fix. She'd launch the other ones into the woods, never to be seen again. She sighed, leaning backwards and looking at the pavement that raced only a foot from her face, black and weathered. The entire world seemed to move slower, except for that pavement. That, definitely, moved much faster than Asia had expected. She needed to get this done quickly and get back inside.
Carefully, she undid the screws then held the screwdriver between her lips as she carefully withdrew the old plate and placed the new one in its spot, slowly screwing the four screws in by hand. She then finished tightening them with the screwdriver. She took a deep breath as she would up her arm, then yeeted that license plate off into the woods, laughing to herself.
Doing a sit up, her abs crunched as she pulled herself back up and into the car, smile on her face and sweat on her brow, greeted by Hunter's shocked face. She gave him a thumbs up, then wiped her forehead off, leaning over to until her left ankle from the mess she had hooked it into, all the while as he sat with his mouth dropped open. She knew she had done well, but she had never been one to really, truly gloat. She had always been a big believer of 'those who can, should.' And she had.
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Driving through the mountains, in itself, was actually pretty relaxing. The trees were this golden colour they only ever started to turn at the very beginning of fall, and the air, with the windows rolled down, smelled sharp and crisp. Asia thought she might not mind living up here, in a place like this, surrounded by nature and beauty. She rested her arms on the window, leaning her head on them, watching the trees speed by as Coulson took the roads quickly, covering as much ground as possible.
Honestly, Asia was pretty sure that Gonzales and his team had made it there already. How could they not? It had been a couple days, they had Quinnjets, and they had the locale on a map.
They had an immeasurable amount of resources compared to what May had provided them in the case. Yet, Asia had a tiny bit of hope that they'd find her when they got to the Retreat. Hiding. Somewhere. Anywhere. It was dangerous to hold onto that fragment of lost hope, she knew that. Hope was always a dangerous thing to have, but particularly in her career field. But she was also scared to let it go.
Only time would tell. Asia closed her eyes and silently willed for Coulson to drive faster. For the distance to become shorter. For anything, anything to bring her team back together again. She set those good intentions out into the universe, and then let the drive lull her to sleep.
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Sleep didn't last long. Hunter shook her awake when they were twenty miles out, giving her that knowing gaze and nodded at the gun at her waistband. "Might want to get ready, love," he suggested, straightening back up in his seat. Asia sat up straighter and ran her hands through her long brown hair, trying to make it look as normal as possible. She crackled her knuckles, and leaned back in her seat, looking out the window again. They were deeper into the wilderness of the northern American mountains. The anticipation twitched beneath her skin; the anticipation to find Skye, the anticipation to fight.
Coulson pulled them off road when they got closer, taking the Jeep through the woods and pulling them up along a portion of the perimeter, stopping and parking. Asia undid her seat belt and slid quickly out of the car, her mouth falling open as she took in the aftermath around them. There was an entire arch of blown out trees, fragmented and splintered. The ground was worn free of all grass, nothing left but flat earth. She knelt down, pressing her open palm to the soil, feeling the power that had surged through it not all that long ago.
She closed her eyes, letting the wave of power flow over her. When she opened her eyes once more and looked up, Coulson was looking down at her expectantly. "Skye did this," she confirmed his thoughts with the quick sentence. "She was here." The only question now was, where had she gone?
Hunter walked around the perimeter of the arch, stopping and picking something up from the ground, studying it, then holding it out for them to see. It was a large, sharp spear of would, old and worn, with dark red blood covering the tip. It had clearly punctured something, or someone, and drawn a lot of blood. A potentially fatal amount. "Do you reckon they did this to her? Or she did this to them?" Hunter asked, glancing around the area again, making sure there were no eyes on them.
Coulson sighed, picking up the wood and studying it closely. "There's only one way to find out," he replied finally. "Let's break into the cabin." He tossed the wood to the ground lightly, and began strolling through the remains of the forest, as if this were a casual vacation trip. Hunter and Asia exchanged glances, before raising their handguns and following their Director.
The cabin was really cute, honestly. Had the whole woodsy getaway aesthetic going on, with tiny green shutters on the windows and a softly slopping roof, the tiny porch complete with a little bench swing. There was a large lake out back, the mountains framing the entire thing for an even more picturesque view. Asia wouldn't have minded vacationing there, on different circumstances of course. But overall, the Retreat was everything the title had made her expect. A little hidden oasis of safety.
Coulson knew the code to enter the fortress of a cabin, obviously. It was as if the numbers were etched into his brain, he didn't have to check his phone or anything for the password. Simply stepped forward and dialed in an intricate set of numbers and letters into a key pad, and the vault of a door sprang wide open for them.
As they entered the large, one room cabin, a part of Asia was still hoping deep down that they would see Skye, sitting on the plaid couch, legs crossed, watching TV or typing away at her laptop. But alas, the room was dark and empty. Upon entering, Coulson sat down at the swivel chair in front of the fancy computer, typing in his credentials and logging into the Retreats security cam system.
"Alright, what we're about to see, it might not be great," Coulson explained as he rewound the footage until small, grainy figures started to appear in black and white on the screen. The clearing where they had just been was once covered in trees, trees that coverage the footage of the screen.
They watched as Skye fought hand to hand with an Agent, taking him down easily, but not fatally. Then, they saw Bobbi and Calderon, the agent who had held a gun to Asia's head only days ago, appear on screen. Calderon raised his gun and fired and they watched Skye raise her hands up in defense, the air around her rippling as the trees shattered and everything near her blew away. Asia watched in both horror and awe as the large splinter of wood shot right into Calderon's heart. She could feel the eyes of her teammates on her as they saw the footage and she knew what they were wondering.
They were wondering if she could bring that sort of destruction, too.
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Renegade Rising || Leo Fitz Book Two
Fanfiction**this is a sequel to Birds of a Feather** Following the acts of Birds of a Feather, we find ourselves amidst the story of SHIELD after their fall. Phil Coulson has become the new Director of SHIELD and is working on assembling those still loyal to...
