The screaming match between Yoyo and Daisy was almost too much for Asia to handle, even as she tucked herself in the co-pilot's seat where she didn't have to hear it. There was a part of her that wasn't surprised he had refused to come. He loved that little girl so much, simulation or not. But if they were planning to go back for Leo, they could go back for Mack all the same. Yet, she understood how Yoyo was feeling right now. If it weren't for Dr. Radcliffe...she would be feeling the same exact way. And now, Yoyo had to live with what it felt like to know Mack wouldn't leave that world for anything, even her. She looked over her shoulder and met Yoyo's eyes, exchanging a gaze of understanding. It hurt Asia to see that pain in her eyes, pain she could have mirrored if things were different.
"So why didn't you ever touch down while we were in there?" Asia asked, turning to look at Davis, and Piper who stood leaning against the chair behind him. "We're almost on empty and clearly the power isn't in the best state. It could have been a quick gas and go. Whoever the hell tried to shoot us out of the sky wouldn't have been any the wiser."
Piper and Davis exchanged a glance, something that spoke words even through the silence. "We should show her," Piper said finally, and Davis sighed, but nodded in agreement. It was only a matter of time before they found out, after all.
Piper gathered them all on the main deck after Davis had set the bird back to autopilot. Then, she turned on the news briefing of Talbot. Talbot describing the explosion at Shield HQ. Talbot saying he couldn't rule out Inhuman involvement. Talbot admitting a manhunt was ensuing, saying that they were terrorists. Talbot describing what was going on in Europe, how another, similar explosion had killed the King of Wakanda. How the Avengers were, essentiality, grounded."
"Makes a bit more sense now," Asia admitted as she stared at the screen in horror, reaching for her phone in her back pocket. She had many messages, encoded, many in another language. Clint. Nat. Both asking her to listen to them, to listen to the side that needed them the most. The Sokovia Accords had caused all of this, how some believed they needed to be signed and others didn't. She read through them all, unsure what to think, what to feel. She would sort that out later, especially the pending calendar invite, telling her where she was needed...and when. She had to fix things here first, before she went charting off to another country to stop a temper tantrum between arguing, superpowered, adults.
Asia stayed on board the Zephyr as Daisy and Yoyo moved to the structure, rounding a corner just in time to find Coulson and a very weakened May exiting an elevator shaft. Daisy rushed to May, helping her limp towards where they could get her back on board. Asia surveyed the internal structures of the rig that the plane was scanning. "There," she said, tapping a room near the bottom. "That's where she would have kept them. Look at the layout, Mack is definitely down there." Suddenly, an explosion rippled through the rig, fire shooting out of the elevator shaft.
"Where are the stairs?" Yoyo radioed, and Jemma pressed her lips into a thin line, calling back that they were down, too. They needed to get off the rig, now. Before it collapsed beneath them. Asia was doing all she could with ice to keep the legs standing, but in a few more torpedo blasts, that really wouldn't matter anymore. The whole thing would be submerged.
"Get them in the containment module, now, Daisy," Asia barked the order out, knowing Yoyo's heart must be breaking.
Suddenly, behind them, there was a whirring sound. Asia turned around in time to see a blue and white light, then water and three bodies splash to the ground. Mack, Aida, and Leo, all landing on the ramp of the Zephyr in the cargo hold, a good amount of salt water joining them, their clothes soaked and clinging to their skin.
"You did it, Ophelia, you did it!" Leo said, startled, shaking as he stood. He hadn't expected her to, really. To save them all. Ophelia closed her eyes and looked up, soaking in the feeling of this. Of triumph. She really had saved them. She was a hero.
That name bristled like spines in the back of Asia's skull. How dare he still call her that name after everything? Without a second thought, Asia drew the Icer from her belt and fired, hitting Aida's chest. Now, with human biology and human blood running through her, she dropped to the ground. Good.
"Asia?" Leo said softly, turning to look at her, eyes wide as if he were seeing her for the first time in years. For the real him, perhaps, it felt that way. But Asia Monroe didn't have time to consider feelings, only thoughts. And her thoughts right now were to contain the threats. In another beat, she leveled the Icer on him, firing, dropping his body to the ground with a heavy thump.
"You can get in the chamber now," She radioed softly, as Jemma and Piper looked at her with wide eyes. "I have Mack. Let's go the hell home." She turned, looking to Jemma and Piper, daring them to challenge her, as the bay opened to accept the incoming pod of their friends.
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"Who did this?" May asked in horror as she stared at what remained of their base as the Zephyr descended. Rubble was everywhere, yet they were still able to land relatively safely, especially with May's expert pilot skills. She was the best, after all.
"You did," Asia said quietly, evenly, resorting back to that emotionless tone she always had when things got just too damn heavy. With every word she spoke, every breath she took into her lungs, she thought of Leo, passed out in the containment pod in the back, about to be moved into one of the rooms. "You were keeping him from coming after us. From killing us."
"Who?" Coulson asked, perplexed and dazed as he stared at what remained of their base.
"You," Jemma answered him, watching them both as the information sunk in. What they, or their robot selves, had done to the team.
Rubble littered the ground where they landed, along with char and other burnt bits of debris. Their once secure doors had been blown outward. As they walked through them, more rubble was everywhere. Shelves, light fixtures, ash, covered everything they had once known. But they had to get in and make sure the containment room was still standing. It was the only place they knew they could safely keep Aida during this all. And Asia was the one to press the button, sending their pod down into the room and sealing it tightly behind them. After everything was surveyed, everything was assessed, they all met once more on the Zephyr.
"We managed to avoid detection getting in here, but we probably shouldn't stay long," Coulson said and Jemma walked on board.
"Well, we don't have much a choice," Asia replied dryly, crossing her arms over her chest. "We had to refuel."
"And because of that room," Yoyo said, looking to her for a nod, which she got.
"Yes," Asia agreed. "That's the only place that can contain Aida's newfound teleportation powers. So. That's where she has to be. Thanks to Jemma, she can't get out of there." She looked at Jemma appreciatively. Once, she had thought the rooms a bit barbaric. But now, she saw their use.
"Exactly," Daisy agreed. "We can keep her there until we decide what we're going to do with her."
"Why don't we just chop her head off like last time? I'm sure you'll find plenty of volunteers for that job," Yoyo suggested, and Asia looked at her, trying to hide her smile from the others. It was a great idea as far as she was concerned.
"Wait, wait, wait," Coulson said, shaking his head. "I think we need to think about that a little deeper. She's a real person now. She saved Mack. She's escaped Radcliffe's programing, maybe she's different now."
Asia scoffed, and eyes turned to her. "I mean, what? You really believe that?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at them. "She named herself 'Madame Hydra.' Not really a characteristic of a good person. And yea, she's human now. But that hasn't stopped us before." She leveled her gaze with Coulson, and in her eyes, he saw Ward. He saw every Hydra agent she had gunned down at his command. He saw the death, the blood on her hands, stained and dripping to the floor. He looked away, ashamed.
"I agree with Asia," Yoyo said, nodding. "If she really did all those things in the Framework, then better safe than sorry." She looked at Asia and nodded in agreement. That bitch had trapped Mack, after all.
"No more killing," May said evenly. "We've done enough of that. There has been enough." And Asia knew some of those words were at the bitterness of her own actions.
"So that brings us to the next question then..." Coulson said, trailing off when he couldn't speak the words. Words he thought he would never have to ask, never have to put out there.
"What do we do with Fitz?" Daisy finished for him, and she looked to Asia. They all looked to Asia. She felt the weight of everyone's thoughts and feelings and questions on her. She thought, for a moment, deciding how to proceed, what to say back to them all.
So she hit them with a follow up question, unsure of where else to go from here. "What do the two of you remember from your Framework lives?" she looked to May and Coulson. "Because I 'lived' mine for about 5 minutes before I ruined her life plans, so I'd say pretty little on my end."
"As much as I remember from this one," Coulson admitted. "I could tell you exactly what I did from the last three weeks. I could tell you about college, growing up, what I did when I was little. The only difference is that I know this one is real, and I know that one wasn't."
"So it's like waking up from a dream then," Asia said with a nod, still studying them both closely. She needed it to be like that. She didn't want to think about what Leo remembered. What he had done. She knew those things would tare him up inside. But moreso, she didn't want to think about him remembering his life with Aida. About loving her. About kissing her, growing up with her. It made her want to vomit.
"No, Asia, not from a dream," May said with a shake of her head. "It was a whole life. And we liked it. Felt it. All of it."
"Right, well..." Asia took a deep breath, looking up at them again. "But you're you now. This is you. I mean...does it...does it feel...feel as real?" She turned, unable to finish the rest of the sentence, her lower lip trembling. They couldn't see her cry. Not now. She walked off, looking for the darkest corner of this stupid plane to hide on, grabbing a tablet as she went. She just needed to be away from it all. It couldn't be as real. How could they have felt it was as real as this life? She knew right away when she was in there that something wasn't right, so how come they didn't?
"She's worried that he's going to be the same person he was in the Framework," Daisy said somberly, looking to her team. None of them could be mad or annoyed at Asia for reacting the way that she did.
"No," Yoyo said with a sigh. "She's afraid that he's still in love with someone else," then she turned, off to go find their missing teammate. Someone needed to be there for her as she went through all of this.