Renegade Rising || Leo Fitz Book Two

Chapter Sixty

Skye was following closely behind the medical bed on which Lincoln was being wheeled into the Lab on, Jemma beside her, Leo and Asia closely behind. The blonde man had yet to wake up and Asia could see the weight baring down on her shoulders, the pained look rippling over her face. Clearly, this guy was pretty important to her. Asia hadn't see Skye with this outward display of concern since Ward was on the team, when he got hurt. Quietly, she slipped her hand into Leo's, threading their fingers together and giving a gentle squeeze. She hoped they would never be in the same position as their friend was now. She never wanted to see Leo lying on a bed like that.

"Agent Monroe," Coulson called out from behind them and Asia stopped, turning and dropping Leo's hand as she did. Her Director was standing there, holding a small phone in his hand. "You've got a phone call," he said flatly, offering the phone out to her. As her face scrunched in confusion, he included, "You don't have to take it. I can say you're not available."

But curiosity got the best of her. Holding out her hand, he passed her the phone, and she placed it to her ear, walking over to a quiet corner of the Lab.

"Hello?" She said into the abyss of white noise, wondering who on earth could be on the other end. The only people who ever called her were Nat or Clint, and usually they didn't call someone else first.

"Hey Monroe, it's me," a deep voice responsed, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She knew that voice anywhere.

"Ward..." she replied carefully, trying to put the pieces together. "You made it out...How?" Though asking how seemed like a silly question after the fact. He was Grant Ward. He had made it out of far worse before.

"You know me, never go down without a fight," he replied back casually. "Speaking of, I saw your sister. She is doing great."

"Is?" She asked quietly, not wanting to get her hopes up. But he had said it. Is. Present tense. As if she hadn't been in the Hydra facility when it exploded. As if maybe, maybe she had gotten out.

"Yea, she's doing great. I'm not with her now, but I was. Too important to Hydra to leave behind. They put her on a jet out of there as soon as they figured out they were compromised. But she's alive, Monroe. Figured that was something you needed to hear," his voice had gotten quieter, softer, taking the same tone it had the first time he figured out her parents' names were on the Wall of Valor. "So it's not over. She's still out there."

"Thank you," she replied quietly, unsure of what else to say. And she meant it. Without his call, she never would have known. She wouldn't have even kept looking. And her sister was still out there somewhere, alone, and Asia knew she needed to bring her home. "But don't think this means I forgive you," she added at the end, to make sure he knew they weren't on good terms. This didn't fix everything he had broken.

"Didn't expect it to. Why do you think I left on my own?" He replied. "Anyways, I should probably end this call before someone traces it. Take care, Monroe." He waited for her response, but all he got was the phone making a small click, signifying the end of the call. He looked down at the phone and shook his head, shoving it back into his jacket pocket and walking off into the bright city lights.

Asia walked back to Coulson and handed him the phone. "Might want to get a new number," she suggested as she turned to walk back to her friends.

"Did he want anything important?" Coulson questioned before she could walk away. Not unsurprising, she admitted. Not knowing what they talked about could have been dangerous.

"Nothing special," she replied without hesitation. "Just the usual Grant Ward gloating bullshit. Wanted to make sure I knew he was still alive, out there, somewhere." Not entirely a lie. Even if it had been, she had learned to lie from the best. Even Natasha couldn't always break her poker face.

"That sounds like him," Coulson replied with a sigh. "I'm sorry he bothered you. Hopefully, this is the last time he bothers any of us." Asia couldnt help but agree. If they never saw him again, she wouldn't be any worse for the wear.

"It's okay," she shrugged. "He doesn't get under my skin anymore. Just another asshole in a world full of them, ya know? Doesn't make him any more special that any of the others." She glanced over her shoulder where her friends stood, watching Jemma draw blood from Lincoln's pale arm. "I'm going to go back over to them," she nodded towards the others. "Skye could use a friend right now."

Coulson nodded, giving her a small smile, studying the agent as she walked away, joining the others, resting her head on Skye's shoulder, the two girls linking hands. Even though circumstances were not the best, seeing his team back together made him feel better than he had in days.

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Asia and Skye sat side by side in a small, glass room, Lincoln in front of them, lying in a hospital bed, various monitors hooked up and monitoring his vitals closely. He had yet to show any signs of change since they had arrived. Yet, Asia felt very confident that Jemma knew what she was doing. Lincoln would be okay. He had to be, Asia wasn't sure Skye would make it if he wasn't.

"So you met him at the place you went?" Asia asked quietly, head still resting on Skye's shoulder. She knew the answer already, but figured Skye talking about a good, happy time might make her feel better.

"In Afterlife, yea," Skye nodded. "He was kind of like...a teacher. He helped me completely transition. Helped me really understand what I can do. And he was a friend." She sighed, staring at the bed. "If he doesn't get better, it's going to be my fault."

"Skye..." Asia day up, looking her friend in the eyes. "We both know that's not true. And I'm the queen of taking blame for everything. You don't need this on your shoulders. Also, he's going to be fine. You know Jemma is the best of the best." She looked over at the blonde man, wishing her words to take reality.

It had been a few days since they had made it back to the Playground. And they had been difficult days. The Avengers were out, fighting Hydra and a robotic monstrosity called Ultron. Asia had spent most days in constant periods of stress, hoping she wouldn't hear word of Nat or Clint being taken down. Clint had already been hurt in a battle earlier that week, leaving Asia a disheveled mess when Nat sent her the message. He had been fine, of course. The team saw to that. But it scared her nonetheless.

And the tensions around the base were constantly rising. Asia knew they were being watched almost constantly by Gonzalez and his men. She was pretty damn sure they were afraid of her, though it felt odd that they didn't mind her before she had powers. Her ability to hurt others hadn't been affected, just changed in how she could do it. It wasn't like she hadn't been a trained assassin these past few years and suddenly now was. She had always be someone you shouldn't mess with.

She didn't like their constant watching. Clearly, she and Skye weren't trusted. It didn't help that things with Jemma were still weird either. At least Hunter was getting better now. Little victories, that was what she kept her thoughts on.

"Was Afterlife nice?" She asked Skye after a moment of comfortable silence. "I want to hear all about it. About the other...Inhumans who were there." It was weird having a label for it now. What she was. Who she had become.

"It was great, Asia, really," Skye replied with a slight smile. "There's so many more of us than I could have imagined. And the leader of them....she's my mom." She looked over at Asia, a grin quirking up the corner of her lips.

"You're joking!" Asia smiled back, squeezing her friend's hand. "Skye, that's amazing. Your mom. Wow...you know, stuff like this makes it feel like going in that tunnel was really a twist of fate. Even though it still feels like a curse some times." She sighed, shaking her head. "Every time I feel like I have my powers under control, something happens to remind me that I don't."

"You should come with, next time. When I go back," Skye suggested immediately. "They could teach you. How to have complete control. And you wouldn't have to stay forever, just for a while. It's not a prison or anything. Gordon, the teleporter, could bring you back here any time."

Asia thought about it for a moment. The chance to understand who she really was right at her fingertips. The opportunity to really, truly learn. It would be foolish to turn down such an opportunity, to throw away the chance to understand herself once again. "Okay," she said finally, after a brief moment of thinking. "I'll do it."