Oceans Away || Leo Fitz Book Three

Chapter Fifty

Mack, and his brother, were okay. The Watchdogs had stormed their house, and the two had managed to hold them off almost entirely on their own. And, once Mack's brother had seen Daisy and Asia weren't all that scary, he had a newfound appreciation for Inhumans and all of the hard work Mack really did for the world. An event which could have turned incredibly bad ended out pretty okay.

So it was back to business as usual. Or as usual as things could get. Asia spent her days training, with the occasional Skype call inbetween to check in on Hunter, and spent her nights looking at apartments online with Leo. There was a lot items in apartments Asia hadn't even thought about until Leo pointed them out. Realistically, she just cared about having a place for just the two of them. That was her only requirement. And Leo was just fine with that.

So things were really mostly normal. Up until the call on the police scanner came through.

A man shouting about Hydra coming to kill him and how he needed Daisy Johnson to come, quick. Or else, he wouldn't survive. So, of course, what choice did they have? None, so off they went to Dyker Heights to try and help this terrified man.

Of course, there was the possibility this was all an elaborate trap by Hydra to lure them out into the open. They had to be careful, take precautions. Especially since Daisy had never seen or heard of Edwin Abbott before in her life. That didn't bode well for things not being a trap set by Hydra. So they disconnected the Quinnjet from the Zephyr and kept the bigger plane close by for extraction and extra artillery, just in case.

As their black SUV pulled up into town, Asia took in the scene displayed before them. Two police officers were standing next to a middle aged African American man, who was rubbing his hand over the bald spot on his head, fingers trembling. Several other police officers were blocking off the small crowd who was growing. "I'm not crazy," she could read on the man, Edwin's, lips. As Daisy and Asia got out of the car, he began to point vehemently at Daisy. "There, there she is. That's her.

"Um, who are you guys exactly?" The police officer asked as the two women confidently strode towards him. This entire situation was much more bizarre than he had ever dealt with before. Little did he know, it was only going to get worse.

"ATCU," Asia said, pulling a badge from her jacket pocket and flashing it, before shoving her hand back into the depths of her pocket. "Agents Johnson and Monroe." Shortly after, Coulson stepped up with them to survey the situation.

"Edwin, right?" Daisy asked, giving him a comforting smile. "I'm Daisy Johnson. I have a couple questions for you. Like, how did you know my name when you called 911?"

"Because, I, uh, I heard you say it just now," He said, locking eyes with Daisy as if she were the only person on this Earth that he knew. Asia furrowed her brow; that certainly hadn't been the expected response.

"Uh, what exactly do you mean by that?" Daisy asked, cocking her head to the side. This was all starting to sound a bit crazy.

"I saw this, all of this," Edwin explained, gesturing at the space around them.

"You saw what, exactly?" Asia asked, crossing her arms over her chest. She was studying him for nervous ticks, all of which had been pretty dead giveaways. However, she couldn't pick up on any signs that he was lying to them.

"This moment," Edwin continued to explain. "Talking to all of you, the cops, your other agents over there," he gestured towards Lincoln and May. "All of it."

"How?" Asia pressed, her lips forming a thin line. Shield never used to believe in the power to see the future, but realistically, anything could be true these days. An Inhuman with psychic powers wasn't out of the realm of possibilities.

"It was Charles, he's the homeless guy out back. He lives in the alleyway behind my place." Edwin explained, gesturing towards the alleyway behind him. "I don't know what he did. Cursed me maybe. He touched me and made me see..things. All of this."

Asia leaned around him and glanced into the alley. Behind a van, she could see the top of a man's head, an olive green hat on his head. He looked weathered, though not necessarily old. He ducked a bit when he saw her watching, nervous, afraid. Whatever he did, she didn't think it had been intentional.

"They're gonna come kill me, you have to stop them," Edwin said, stepping forward, closing proximity to Daisy. "Please." He grabbed the sides of Daisy's arms.

Immediately, Daisy's hands went up, pressing against his chest to keep him further from her, creating space between him. She could feel her heart start to beat a little faster. "Hey, hey, we can help you but I need you to tell me how you knew it was Hydra. How did you know they were coming for you?"

"Because," Edwin said, his eyes creasing with worry. "That's what she yells when they come out of the sky."

Asia's stomach flip flopped and she swallowed, hard. Something was wrong here. Really, really wrong. She looked at Daisy and saw the same anxiety mirrored in her eyes.

Suddenly, there was a whirring in the air, the familiar mechanical sound of rotors and engines. Something was flying, rapidly, towards them. Asia whirled, eyes to the sky, and caught a beat on a flying black object just as May shouted loud enough to alert them all, "It's Hydra! Get down!"

Asia ducked behind a civilian car, turning to watch Daisy help Edwin crouch behind a police car just as a missile launched. She let out a small breath of relief. He was alright. Maybe whatever he had seen, was wrong. Maybe it was some sort of 'worst case scenario' vision that helped you prepare and be safe. Maybe their arrival had saved him.

Several police cars exploded with the impact of the missiles. Immediately, Asia through up her arms, a wall of thick, blue water barraging the flames the came from their gas lines, keeping the gawking civilians safe. She threw up a wall of ice, blocking off a line of sight from the airplane. "Go," she shouted at a group of huddled people, looking at the sky in fear. "Get down that road, hurry," she nodded towards the cross street, currently clear thanks to her ice.

She heard screaming, gunfire. She whirled around, and saw Edwin, dead, bullets ripped through his chest, blood spattered on the ground. She let out a gasp, unable to control the rush of air leaving her chest. He had been right. Whatever he had seen, it had come true. There was someone, an Inhuman, Charles, who could predict the future. And Hydra must be here to find him.

Just as the thought hit her, Daisy took off running. "The homeless man, he's Inhuman. They're after him!" She was sprinting down the alley before Asia could blink. In another heartbeat, after Daisy had disappeared behind the storefront wall, she was sprinting after her, her Inhuman speed closing the distance between them.

But it wasn't enough.

She watched in horror as a clawed net came down from the Hydra plane, wrapping itself around Charles. Daisy was screaming, running forward, grabbing at his hand. But it was of no use, he was torn into the air, something dropping to the ground where he had been.

And Daisy was suspended. Literally suspended, floating in the air, head back, eyes rolled shut. It felt like it was only a split second, but it felt like an eternity. Asia heard a strangled cry and it took a moment to realize it had come from her own mouth. And then she was sprinting forward again, catching Daisy as she fell to the ground so that she didn't collapse against the pavement, when she noticed it.

On the ground, beside the two women, was a tiny carving. A small, little, hand chiseled bird.