Renegade Rising || Leo Fitz Book Two

Chapter FourtyNine

Once they were airborne, Asia climbed out of the cockpit and went to sit beside Hunter. it was time to talk a gameplan. Even though they had a Quinnjet now, it wasn't as if they could simply zoom in, plans unthought. And, fuel was also going to be an issue. So after they were at cruising altitude, with no particular destination set, the team decided to convene.

"So," Asia clapped her palms on her knees. "Where are we headed?" She glanced around the circle of mismatched agents, wondering who would speak first. Shocker of all shockers, it was Hunter.

"I still think Mexico should be kept on the table," he suggested, raising one finger as he did so. Asia slapped his hand, giving him a fake-serious frown. He rolled his eyes and placed his hand back into the pocket of his sweatshirt. "Well, I don't hear any other brilliant ideas, mate, and you arethe one who asked," he muttered under his breath.

"I'll fill you in later," Coulson replied towards Asia, ignoring Hunter's comment altogether. "We have bigger things to address. Agent Peterson," he nodded at Mike who had also come to join them. "Has been doing some overseas work for the last couple months. Do you remember List?"

"As in the one guy at Hydra you didn't have me assassinate?" Asia asked, raising an eyebrow. Her words came out deadpan and for a moment, Coulson couldn't tell if she as being sarcastic or not. He chose to go with sarcasm, fingers crossed.

"The one and only," Coulson replied back, glancing up at Mike again. "Mike's been tailing him. Keeping an eye out. Digging up very important dirt. Mike, why don't you do the honors of telling them what you've found."

Mike sighed, shaking his head. "Well, it's not good. Not that anyone should be surprised, it's Hydra after all." He sighed again, and looked over at Asia as he spoke. "Last week, I was able to intercept some coded transmission between List and another member of Hydra. It took a minute to figure out the code, but it was clearly in regards to powered people. List has interest in them," he shook his head, frowning. "He's hunting them down, capturing them, and experimenting on them the way Daniel Whitehall was before his demise."

Asia kept her face as even as possible, not wanting anyone to feel the serious wave of dread which had just washed over her. "Well," she said finally. "We always knew he was a serious bastard, so. In the grand scheme of things, not all that surprised."

Coulson thought for a moment then nodded. "True. The bigger problem is, I think they know about Skye, and the group of powered people her father has a connection to. I only know of one man who has connections to both sides of this equation. Only problem is, we're going to go to hell and back to find him."

"And who might that be?" Hunter asked, pulling a toothpick out of his pocket and placing it into the corner of his mouth to chew on. Nervous tic. He couldn't help it. Gave him something to do when his hands were supposed to remain idle.

Coulson looked over at Hunter, "Well, you gave me the idea, Hunter. He's our bad option." Coulson stood up, tapping on his watch to pull up an all too familiar face on a holoscreen in front of them. Asia stared up at the grainy image, mouth dropping open this time, in utter astonishment. No, he couldn't mean it. Could he? She looked up at Coulson, as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on edge. Coulson sighed, swiping the image away and surveying his ragtag team. "We're going after Grant Ward."

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Eventually, the Quinnjet touched down at an undisclosed location, in an undisclosed city, with an undisclosed hotel that they could stay at for a while. The suite Coulson had managed to finagle them into was honestly one of the nicer rooms Asia had ever stuck out in. It was like an entire apartment. Two bedrooms, with two beds each, two bathrooms, both with showers and Jacuzzis, a kitchenette, and window with a view of said undisclosed city. It was a safe space, for now. A place they could relax and breathe, for a minute.

Asia dumped her black duffle on top one of the beds, and padded barefoot over to the large window, looking out at the city below. It was only midday. Much to do, much to do. They had to start pulling strings to track down Ward. Asia was still trying to figure out exactly how she felt about that plan. The things he had done.....they were unacceptable. Sure, she had done bad things herself, but she would never, ever betray her team. She would never have hurt Leo and Jemma the way he had, or hurt Skye or....she thought back to Quinn, and everything he had done to her, and shuttered. Sure, Ward hadn't wanted Quinn near her, but he didn't do anything to stop it.

She steeled herself, and turned around to face Hunter, who was streaming a football game on his laptop as he fiddled with a handgun. "I'm going to shower quick, yea? Then we can start our digging."

"Sure, mate," Hunter said, all focus clearly directed at the game on the screen in front of him.

Asia rolled her eyes and proceeded into the bathroom, locking the door behind her and quickly filling the room with steam, surrounding herself with water, letting the feeling overwhelm her senses and take away whatever worry she had been feeling before. Something about the water made her feel at peace, like everything was okay.

She stripped off her clothes, which were much in need of a wash at this point, and stepped into the bare white tile of the shower, letting the water cascade over her bare skin. Rejuvenating. It felt like she had spent the entire week at a spa, like her whole soul was cleansed. She could have stayed underneath that water forever. It was peaceful, it cleared her mind. She started thinking about their plans, what they were going to do to get their base back, get Skye back.

Asia didn't like to dwell on their base....Leo was still there. For all she knew, they were holding him prisoner, torturing him for information on where she might have gone, and he literally knew nothing about what had happened. It made her stomach tighten, painfully so. She could feel her pulse pick up, practically hear it thumping in her ears. She pressed her hand against the wall, balancing herself. That wasn't what was happening. She had to believe that wasn't what was happening. If she let herself sink into those thoughts, she would never, ever get out.

She stood one last minute in the water and then turned the faucet off. She stepped onto the fuzzy bathmat and dried herself off, slipping on one of the fluffy white robes that was hanging from the door of the bathroom. The material was fluffy and gentle, like down. She was just tying the knot on the rob when she heard it.

His voice.

Her eyes opened wide and she shoved her way out of the bathroom door, racing towards Hunter. "Leo?" she whispered, seeing his face on the tablet Hunter was holding, his own eyes wide with bewilderment. Hunter handed the small device to her, her eyes widening as she saw it was him, really him. Leo, wearing a suit and tie, and his glasses, looking completely unharmed. And much like he was in a bathroom of some gas station.

"Is that really you?" she asked, not sure she was ready to believe it. He looked good, looked like he hadn't been hurt once because of her, albeit a little nervous. "You're okay?"

"Yes it's me. Are you doing alright? And I am okay," he said, fidgeting with his glasses, as Coulson and Hunter came to stand behind her, looking over her shoulder. There was a banging sound, like someone knocking on a door, and Leo's glance shot away to the distance for a moment. "Although, erm, I could use a spot of help right this moment. "Any chance you guys could teach me how to shake a tail, starting, well, now?" he asked nervously, glancing over his shoulder once more.

"You're in a bathroom, right?" Asia asked, surveying what little of his surroundings she could actually see. "Is there an electric hand drier in there? Those white ones with the metal funnel?"

Leo tugged at his tie and nodded, "Yea, there's one," he tilted the screen so they could see it beside them.

Asia turned to Hunter and grinned, before smiling back at Leo.

Hunter took the screen from Asia's hands, cheeky grin still on his face, "You're going to be just fine mate."

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Sorry that post took so long! Can't wait to hear all of your thoughts. 

Also!! Are any of you guys good at making gif edits or video edits?? I'm hoping to make a trailer for book three but wow i've learned i;m real bad at it!  If you think you could possibly help me out pls shoot me a dm! ❤