Oceans Away || Leo Fitz Book Three

Chapter ThirtySix

Sky diving never felt like falling to her. It was somewhere in between falling and floating, this peaceful difference. But today, she couldn't even focus on that. All she could focus on was hurtling through space towards the grey portal below her. If they closed it before she got there, she had to be ready. Had to be able to brace her fall with...water. A lot of water. More than she felt like she had on hand. She was going to have to do something, tap into something she hadn't since she had been prisoner. She could feel the Hydra soldiers in the room below her, feel the water, the lifeforce that kept them moving.

And so, as she hurtled into the room, she flared out her hands, sucking in the water from four men, four armed men in camouflage clothing. And then she was gone, slipping through the portal, hurtling through space to a new dimension, a new planet. She was gone before she could see the wake she had left behind, the four soldiers falling to ground, their bodies husks, disintegrating into ash.

The sky opened up around her as she hurtled out of a mountain of sand, rocketing into the air. Her arms flailed wildly, and she shot her hands out beneath her, a small slide of water cushioning her fall and bringing her to the ground. And a second later, it was gone, a hiss of evaporation the only sound but the wind around her. It was then she realized how hot it was, how it made her body feel heavy, like lead. Something about this planet...there was so little water here. It was like the planet was sucking the water right out of her. Suddenly, there was another sound, and Coulson flew out of the ground himself. Asia shot her hands up again, trying to create more water to brace his fall, but nothing appeared, no sound, no water, nothing.

He slammed into the ground, breath heaving out of his chest, as his eyes fluttered shut. Asia scrambled over to him through the sand, hands and knees, tapping her hand against his face. "Coulson, Coulson, wake up." He groaned, and Asia sighed, leaning backwards. It was dark, clouds blocking out whatever sun there might be. She couldn't tell if it were day or night ; everything around her was a hazy blue colour. She took her pistol out of its holster, held onto it, and sat watch. She would wait a little while, see if Coulson woke up, and if not, she'd try and wake him again. Until then, she would sit, taking in everything around them. It was best to learn what this planet had to offer, though it currently didn't appear like much.

It must have been an hour, maybe a few, when she decided to try and wake him again. Leaning over, she grabbed Coulson by the shoulder and shook him, lightly at first, them with a little more force. "Wake up, Phil, wake up now!" They didn't have a lot of time left, she had to guess, before Hydra completed whatever their end goal was here. And they already had a pretty good head start. Finally, thank god, his eyes blinked open and he inhaled sharply.

"Monroe," He said, squinting at her, as if he had expected someone else. Then, his eyes widened as he noticed the scenery behind her, the multiple moons in the sky, the sand everywhere and the rocks jutting out of the crust like knives. "I'll be damned...we're on Tatooine." Asia shook her head at the reference, standing up and extending a hand down to him.

He took it, standing up and undoing the clasp that held on his backpack, dropping the discarded thing beside her own. No need for them now, not since the dive had been successful. He sighed, looking around them again, at all the dust and sand. "Alright," He said, taking out his pistol and checking that it was ready. "Let's go get the bastard."

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There were plenty of footprints to follow, all over the sand they trod on. Hydra had wandered everywhere, their combat boots apparent. Asia could also make out the gentle step of Leo's dress shoes. At one point, they stumbled upon a suit jacket laying in the dirt. Asia knew it belonged to Leo, she didn't have to do more than glance at it. Yet, she still picked it up, held it close for a second, before tying it around her waist to give to him later.

She didn't want to think of the worst, so she didn't let herself. He would be alive when she found him. She figured, if he wasn't, she would have felt it by now. She imagined it would feel like losing a part of herself. And she hadn't felt that yet, so she trudged on with an unbreaking determination.

She wasn't sure what hour it was when the dust started to pick up, but she did remember the moment she could sense other humans nearby. She paused, grabbing Coulson's shoulder beside her. "They're close," was all she said, nodding in the direction, into the dust storm, that she could feel them. The brunette raised her pistol, walking into the cloud of gusting sand, Coulson right behind her. She heard him before she saw him and raised her pistol, aiming to her mark. Coulson took out the two Hydra agents with him, while Asia shot him in the chest, confident he was wearing a bulletproof vest. It would knock him down.

And it did. She marched forward, stepping hard on the right wrist, and he reflexively dropped the pistol he was trying to hold onto. Coulson stood beside her, handgun aimed at Ward's head. Ward looked up at them, surprised. They were definitely the last two people he ever imagined to see here.

"You'll never find Fitz without me," was the first thing Ward said to them, when he finally got over the surprise of it all.

"I'm not here for Fitz," Coulson replied with a shrug, "So not really a concern of mine."

Ward flicked his glance from Coulson over to Asia, then back to his former leader. "You might not be, but I know she is. She wouldn't leave this place without him."

Asia bent down and grabbed Ward's gun, tucking it into her holster, stepping back and allowing Ward to stand up, hands raised. "You don't know anything about me," she said, aiming her gun at his face. "Leo is smart. He'll find a way to meet us at the rendezvous point."

Ward stared evenly back at her, shaking his head. "He's going to be dead within the hour, Monroe. You think you can deal with that? The creature that lives here, it can smell blood. Fitz, he's bleeding. He won't stand a chance."

Asia looked at Coulson, who nodded. Asia, in a split second, pointed her gun down and shot, with precision, the meaty side of Ward's shin, knowing full well it would hurt like a bitch but wouldn't stop him from hobbling around. When he hunched over on reflex to clutch at the bleeding hole, Asia pistol whipped him right across the jaw. "He's not the only one bleeding now," she replied calmly. Ward looked up at her, at the steely gaze she gave him, and he realized he had never seen Asia Monroe like this before.

"Now that that's taken care of," Coulson said, nodding with his gun for Ward to stand back up straight. "You're going to lead us out."

They followed Ward along the path he walked, listening to what Asia considered to be mad ramblings. "I've been where the two of you are, you know," Ward said after a while. "Filled with hate and the desire for revenge so much that it fueled me, it was practically all I needed to sustain life. But there are other things, like the things I saw today, that give such better sustenance. That are so much more fulfilling."

Coulson sighed, then twitched his wrist, shooting Ward on the flesh of his arm, just enough to graze. Ward let out a groan, wincing. "I dunno, I'd say that's pretty satisfying. Asia, how'd it feel to shoot him earlier?"

"Pretty damn good," She replied evenly, cocking her head to stare at Ward. "Looking forward to doing it again."

"Great, now that that's settled," Coulson replied, "Let's keep walking."

"You know," Ward said, shaking his head and staring off at the horizon. "They have it all wrong about this place, it isn't death. It's something else entirely, something beautiful. It has given me a purpose. Malick was right, it was all meant to be. And knowing that the two of you are here, with me, confirms the fact that I am part of a grand plan." He smiled, at both of them.

Asia's brow furrowed. "Sounds like he's lost it," she said flatly, aiming her gun at his forehead. It would be so easy to blast right through.

"You'll understand someday, Monroe," Ward said, almost wistfully, before he turned back around, carrying on the path they were headed down. Asia grimaced, but followed anyways. She wasn't too sure if he was right in the head, and if he was their lead, that could only mean trouble.