Birds of a Feather | | Leo Fitz Book One

Chapter 18

"It's not good, at all. The guy was a ticking time bomb, literally," Ward said as he, Asia, Fitz, Simmons, and Skye all stood around a screen, watching the footage of Mike Peterson saving a woman from a building. It was footage Asia had not previously seen, from before she had joined the team.

"HQ wouldn't have sent him if he was still combustible," Leo pointed out, gesturing at the screen, "They must have figured out some sort of was to stabilize him, somehow."

"They stabilize his attitude? Cause he was pretty hostile in Union Station," Ward shot back. Asia gave him a warning look, arching one of her eyebrows.

"Well," Simmons began slowly, "it's not like we haven't opened up our doors to other people, people with questionable track records."

Skye's mouth dropped open in a little 'O.' "Hey," she objected, "Not cool. True, but not cool. And don't worry about Mike, he's a good guy."

"Who has been in the Centipede Program..." Asia pointed out, "The program we just worked to destroy in Russia."

"But he can give us the superpower back we might need," Skye countered.

"Might need," Asia repeated, crossing her arms over her chest, delicately feeling the bruises that still lined her skin.

"It could easily go sideways," Ward continued on. "We don't need anyone getting hurt." From behind Ward, Coulson and Mike quietly entered the room, but Ward didn't seem to notice the entry, continuing on with what he was saying. " I mean the last time we saw this guy, he was a raging homicidal maniac..." Asia's eyes widened, and the rest all froze in place, glancing behind Ward awkwardly. Ward let out a sigh. "He's standing right behind me, isn't he?"

Skye nodded, wincing slightly at how awkward the situation had just become.

"Mr. Peterson," Coulson introduced, "This is Agent Grand Ward. He's the one who shot you at Union Staiton." Ward rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, offering a pained smile. Coulson continued, pointing at Leo and Jemma. "This is Fitz-Simmons, they designed the weapon that shot you," he turned towards Skye. "And I think you remember--"

"Kidnap victim," Skye butted in,moving forward to give Mike a hug. "You joined SHIELD?"

"Turns out the guys in the suits aren't so bad," Mike replied with a laugh. "And it looks like you added someone new to your team, too," he said, nodding towards Asia.

Asia gave a little wave, smiling lightly. "Agent Monroe, but you can call me Asia. Brought in right after Union Station."

Mike sighed at the mention of the station. "Look, I know Union Station could have gone another way. Another team might not have let me out of there alive. I owe you, all of you." His words were incredibly sincere, it didn't take an expert spy to see he wasn't lying.

Before anyone could speak, Skye cut in. "Oh psh, That's bygones and water under a distant bridge far away. How's your son doing?"

"He's good, he's happy," Mike replied with a smile.

Coulson, finished with intros, walked over to the holocom. "So, what do we have?"

Skye jumped into detailing what more she had found from any info Asia had managed to obtain. One of the new info leads they had found was a man named Po, a man recently jail-breaked by some Centipede soldiers, but there wasn't much out there on him.

"Look into his life inside the prison, see if that leads you anywhere," Coulson replied before turning to Jemma and Leo. "Anything more on the Centipede Soldiers?"

"We got facial recog on most of the one's from the prison break," Jemma replied as Ward tapped some buttons until a face appeared on the screen.

"Name's Brian Hayward. Stationed in Afghanistan for three years, then fell off the radar when he got back," Ward said, nodding towards the face.