Oceans Away || Leo Fitz Book Three

Chapter SeventyTwo

"I'm going after her," Mack insisted, moving around the car towards where it felt like the rumbles were coming from, at almost the same time as Asia said, "I'm going with you." It was as if the two were completely in sync. They both knew their partner was out there and they had to go get her, they had to bring her back home.

"No," May said, grabbing Asia's forearm. "That wasn't our instructions. We're supposed to lay low and finish the job." Asia knew she was right, she knew it, in her mind. The Asia of two years ago might have said they needed to stick to the rules, to the playbook. But she had changed. She wasn't the agent Fury had sent to the Bus. She had grown and changed since then. And she believed that sometimes you had to break the rules in order to do things right.

"You don't have to come," Asia pulled her arm free from May's grasp, shaking her head. "You can finish the mission, but we have to try and bring her back. Leo and Jemma can fix her, May. We have to try." Her words sounded pleading, even though they weren't. Asia was going whether or May agreed or not.

"We'll meet you at the extraction point," Mack insisted, urging Asia forward and further into the darkness, towards the source of the quake.

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Mack and Asia made their way through the outer streets, until they made it to a pole barn. The barn was illuminated from the inside, and they could hear voices, quakes, and the sound of what seemed to be fighting. Yea, there really could be no other place but here. Asia hoped Mack was right, hoped that Daisy was really reaching out to them, asking them to come and bring her home. There was a place in her gut that worried it was the opposite. That this was a "two birds one stone" type of situation. That they were all walking into a neatly planned trap.

"What's happening in there?" Mack asked, not necessarily to her, but to the universe, as they heard another groan of pain from inside the warehouse. Without speaking, Mack gave Asia a nod, an understanding. He would move up towards the door and she would hang back by the bushes which gave her cover. That way, if Hive was here...she wouldn't be exploding any time soon. She didn't like the idea of hanging back, but she knew it was the best thing she could do right now.

Suddenly, even from her vantage point, the sounds of fighting stopped. Things got eerily quiet out there in the Wyoming town, like there wasn't a soul around. In moments like these, it was entirely too hard to hope for the best, much less not just expect the worst. So Asia kept her eyes trained on Mack, watching him move forward until he was just outside the door. She wasn't able to hear the other side of the conversation going on inside, but she did hear him utter four words that made her hopeful once again:

"She's coming with me."

Asia sat on the balls of her feet, ready to spring into action. She wished she could hear more of what was going on inside that barn. Hearing Mack gave her a good sense of what was happening, but not all the details she craved to know. All she needed to hear Mack say that was Ward's body was nowhere in sight and she could be in there to help him in a blink of an eye.

"Sorry, but no can do. I need my partner back. And my partner needs my help," she heard Mack say again over comms, as his figure was silhouetted in shadow from the white light spilling out of the doorway. And then he continued. "How exactly is murdering a blue alien going to help me? Help anyone?" So it had been the Kree Daisy was fighting. And she had killed him.

"Daisy, this isn't you," Mack said after a moment, a tense, grittiness to his voice. It made Asia's hands clench to fists reflexively. Something was wrong. Whatever Daisy had just said in response to him was not good. She moved along the bushes trying to get a better view, but there was none.

"Daisy, it's because your sick," Mack continued, his voice coming off somewhat more pleading now. "That...that thing is a parasite. It infected you. It's messing with your head." Another pause as Daisy responded. She was shouting now. Asia couldn't make out the exact words but they were clearly passion-filled. "The world is changing," Mack said in response to whatever she was professing. "We had to adapt."

"Daisy...." Mack tried again, taking a couple small steps forward into the garage. "That team...cares about you. Asia cares about you. I care about you." His words were softer now, even though Daisy had not quelled her anger.

"So what's that make us?" Asia heard her spit out. "Friends?"

"Yea," Mack nodded, and Asia could practically see the look of compassion on his face. That slight smile that would tug up only one side of his lips as he tried to get through to their teammate. "Friends. Partners." Then, Asia watched as Mack shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, and bent over, setting his gun on the ground.

That....wasn't good. That wasn't part of the plan. As much as Asia loved Daisy, she wasn't stable right now. Who knew what she would do?? She had held Leo up to a wall with a quake, choking him out for fuck's sake! Sweat was beginning to manifest on Asia's palms. If she could maybe just get a slightly better view...she could see inside the complete warehouse, and know for sure if Hive was inside. Then she could move to make sure Mack and Daisy both got out of there safely. She could hear Mack still talking as Asia moved around, trying to find a better vantage point.

It wasn't going to be easy, but maybe if she moved further away, she could get a better view, all the way in. But suddenly, a quake erupted. Asia whipped her head back around, watching Mack's body fly out of the barn, colliding with the ground outside. "No, no, no, no," Asia muttered to herself rapidly, pushing back forwards through the brush. She had to get to him, before Daisy did something that couldn't be undone. It felt like her world was crashing around her. She could hardly hear anything except for the blood rushing in her ears. Her chest felt tight, like her breathing wasn't working right, and everything was hot.

"You should have stayed away" She heard Daisy scream ravenously. She looked up in time to see Daisy stalking towards Mack's body, as her teammate tried to raise himself from the ground. Mack moved his arm to throw a blocking fist, but Daisy opened her palms, the sound of the bones in his forearm snapping echoing around them.

"Please," Mack said, his voice broken over comms. "Daisy, I am not going to fight you."

But she didn't seem to echo his sentiment. Her fists collided, one after another, with his broad chest. With each blow, Mack let out a grunt of pain. Asia felt like she was moving through syrup. Like her muscles weren't working. Everything was wrong. She was panicking, and she never panicked. Her hands were shaking and she couldn't make them stop. This wasn't right. This wasn't Daisy. This was her worst nightmare come to life. Daisy kicked out, knocking Mack's body to the ground.

Mack reached up to try and stop Daisy's next punch to his vulnerable chest, but she thrust his arm down, aiming another quake at it, followed by the same with his other arm. "I wanted you to be a part of this," She shouted, before pummeling his face with a flurry of blows. She leaned in, breathing heavily, and Asia couldn't hear what she was saying now. Daisy's voice had dropped to a pained whisper.

Suddenly, Daisy thrust her palm onto Mack's chest, and he let out a scream of pain as his ribs cracked with each quake.

"NO!" Asia screamed, thrusting from the bushes, her eyes glowing a pale blue, her skin fizzing with snaps of water and ice. She couldn't remember moving, couldn't remember if she was even walking or something else was making her move. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!" She screeched in a cry that could only be described as animalistic. Daisy froze and whirled to face her, but by the time she looked, it was too late. Large spears of ice were bursting from the ground, each taller than the next, thrusting towards Daisy, who back peddled, trying to run down the street.

One large, glacier of ice erupted from beneath the tar streets, thrusting above the tops of the houses and buildings around him, taking Daisy with it. Asia could barely hear her scream as Daisy flew backwards through the air. Asia didn't see where she went, didn't care. That wasn't Daisy anymore, that wasn't her friend. Her body was shaking as the earth continued to ripple with chunks of ice. On shaky legs, she moved to Mack, who had tears of pain running down his face. Mack. He had put himself right in harms way to keep her safe and bring Daisy home. She should have stopped it.

Crouching down beside him, she pressed a finger to her ear. "Coulson, please, do you hear me?" She said, hoping someone on the other line was listening. "Please, we need evac."