Oceans Away || Leo Fitz Book Three

Chapter ThirtyFour

Leo Fitz sat alone in a room filled with electronics, towers and screens that sung an electronic tune as they gave off a red hue. The familiar warmth, the humming and buzzing, it should have made him feel comfortable. But it didn't. Because of where he was. Because of who he was with.

"Alright, Fitz, we're going to have a civilized conversation now, got it?" Ward said, crouching down in front of the scientist. He looked almost the same as Fitz remembered him - except more stubble covered his chin and cheeks. He looked less cleaned up as he did when he was with Shield. Though, Leo supposed, he was probably trying to be a model agent when he was pretending to work for the good guys.

"Why the hell would I do that?" Leo spat back at him, letting all the anger that had filled him for these past two years come out with venom in his words. He hated Ward - but he also hated that there was a part of him that wasn't filled with hate. There was a part of him that still wished he was wrong. Asia would say it was the good in him, he knew that, but he still hated that part of himself. It made him feel weak.

Ward tsked at him, shaking his head. "Now that's not the attitude my guests should be behaving with. We don't have to act like that Fitz, we really don't. I don't want to have to make things difficult."

"Do you worst," Fitz said back, putting on a brave face. Really, he wondered what Ward's worst could possibly be. He had already dropped him out of a plane, after all. He had nearly died down there. What was any different from nearly dying in here? At least he could breathe, in this room.

Ward sighed, "I really don't want to have to do that. You know I don't want to hurt you. Or at least, I'd think you would know that. We were friends once." Ward ran a hand through his hair, then looked back at Fitz. "I just need you to tell me how Simmons got back. That's it. And then this whole mess can be done."

"I'm never going to do that," Fitz replied, shaking his head, no, as if the words themselves weren't enough. "You're going to have to figure it out on your own." He looked down at his lap. His legs weren't shaking. He was standing strong. He knew, some way, they would come for him and Simmons. They'd be saved. Asia would get there before anything happened to him.

Ward sighed. "You really have gotten stubborn, haven't you? That's what hanging around with Monroe will do to you."

"Don't say her name," Fitz spat out, flames of fire heating his words. The thought of Ward being anywhere near her made him feel like he could take on ten men alone, and come out victorious.

"Huh, touchy subject? She doing okay since I last saw her?" Ward asked, leaning forward as he watched Fitz tug against her restraints. "Here's the thing Fitz. First, you guys are only together because of me. I pushed the two of you to the brink, and look what came of it! A good thing, for a little while. Second, she's not going to save you. Do you understand that? None of them know where you are. She isn't around to drop another little tracking beacon into the ocean to send a super secret emergency rescue team your way. Not this time. This time, it's just you and me. So you might as well start talking."

"I already told you," Leo said shaking his head, still enraged at his words about Asia. How dare he. How dare he after what he had done to her. "I'm not telling you anything." He took a deep breath, and sat back in his chair, a sense of calm washing over him. He knew deep down that Ward was wrong. The universe might treat the two of them as if they were cursed, but just as strongly as that seemed, he knew that Asia would find him. No matter what, they always found their way back to one another.

Ward leaned back in his chair too, sighing as he mirrored Fitz' pose. "Shame, it really is." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a little silver remote. Leo worried and wondered for a second at what it was. There were so many different devices in this room, that realistically, it could be to anything. "Here's the thing, Fitz. Love? It can be a real damn weakness. I know yours is, at least. And that's why I kept a little something around, just in case this came up. A reminder, of what I already did to your little girlfriend once. And what I'll do again, if she does come to find you, and you haven't given me my answers." He aimed his hand over his left shoulder and pressed a button.

From behind Ward, a screen hummed to life, a grainy image filling the screen. Ward stood up, sliding his chair back towards the wall.

"Wait," Leo said, trying to stop him. "What.. what is this?" Around him, more screens glowed with life, black and white images in motion covering them. A faint sound began to grow through the room, too. Giving life to whatever Ward had just pressed play on.

"Ward, please, it's me," Fitz recognized her voice the second he heard it, as he saw her, Asia, the woman he loved, strapped to a barbaric looking electrical chair. "You don't have to do this. I know you don't want to." Her voice grew louder, and suddenly, a scream of pain, as an electrical charge buzzed over the speakers.

"Ward...turn that off..." Fitz said quietly, sternly, looking back up at the man he used to call his friend.

"Sorry Fitz, can't hear you." Ward said, as he pressed a button on the remote, turning the volume on his little torture film louder and louder, until Fitz was surrounded by the sound of the woman he loved in agony. "I'll be back in a bit," Ward called over his shoulder as he opened the door to exit the room. "You can spend a little time with Monroe, see if this jogs your memory at all." And the door was shut. And the volume grew louder and louder, until all Leo Fitz could hear was her cries.

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Short update, but let me know what ya think!