Birds of a Feather | | Leo Fitz Book One

Chapter 27

The boiler room was now, more or less, what appeared to be a full fledged SHIELD nightclub, complete with pool tables, a bar, a dance floor, and a disco ball. The DJ was playing the latest hip hop tracks and the students, who had formerly appeared like the world's largest group of nerds were now grinding on a technocolour dance floor. The four of them leaned on a railing on a catwalk which ran over the room. Ward let out a low whistle.

"Drinks are on me," Skye said in a sing-song voice. She grabbed Asia's hand, and together the two made their way down into the crowd. Jemma and Ward shot each other a look and followed after them. Moments later, the two brunettes were at the bar, flashing twin grins at the cute bartender who handed them each a full shot of clear liquid. The clinked glasses before knocking them back.

"This mission isn't so bad," Asia said to Skye over the loud music. "We could use more like this."

"How'd your little tour with Fitz go? Makeout in his old dorm?" Skye teased, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Jesus Christ, no!" Asia objected, "For the millionth time we're just friends!"

"Whatever you say," Skye said, grabbing two beers for them and handing one to her teammate. She didn't believe it for one moment.

"What about you and Ward?" Asia asked, getting the attention off of her. "Gonna take him onto that dance floor?"

Skye's face tinted a scarlet red, her full face flushing. Asia couldn't help but grin. She had struck a sweet spot on her friend. "I don't think he would care if I even asked," Skye muttered, her eyes flickering over towards the dance floor where plenty of young couples were already clustered.

"How about I make you a deal?" Asia said, using her tools the way she knew best. "If I drop a couple hints to Ward, you back off about all this Fitz nonsense."

"They didn't train you to be a master negotiator for nothing, Monroe," Skye joked, taking a sip of her beer. "I'll take you up on that, for now. But if you haven't kissed him in 3 months, I'm starting the teasing back up."

Asia rolled her eyes, letting out a long, purposefully drawn out sigh. "Fine. Now, go get him," she said, pushing Skye away from the bar and towards Ward. After Skye was gone, Asia found her way over to Jemma, carrying a second beer for the girl. A peace offering of sorts, because while the two were not necessarily rivals anymore, they weren't super good friends either. It was easy to spot the redhead among the other students, surrounded by her followers, even if she hadn't had the aid of the tech glasses she was wearing, the ones which could pinpoint her teammates for her upon a specific series of blinks.

"Oh, here everyone," Jemma said in a weirdly cheery voice as Asia handed her a beer. "This is my protegee. I'm teaching her everything I know." She wrapped an arm tightly around Asia, giving her a slight squeeze. As much as Asia wanted to weasel out of the hug, she hugged the redhead back, keeping her cover.

"Jemma is the best teacher, but I'm sure you all know that," Asia gushed, pushing her thick rimmed glasses up on her nose. There were several students who were clearly jealous, and several who voiced how lucky she was. She glanced over at Jemma, and both girls smiled.

"This isn't so bad is it?" Jemma asked as they walked away, strolling through students.

"Not bad at all, actually," Asia replied, "Too bad Leo is missing out."

"I'm sure he would have loved to be here," Jemma said with a smile, "How did your little tour go today? Fitz seemed pretty excited about it."

"It went well, I learned a lot, saw a lot. It was a fun way to pass the time," Asia admittedly in honesty, surprising even herself that she had admitted that, to Jemma of all people. Jemma nodded knowingly.

Moments later, Ward was walking up to them quickly, and Asia was pulling out her phone and dialing Leo's number, which was speed dial number 3.

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"Asia," Leo picked up on the second ring. "Please tell me you haven't left the Boiler Room yet." He would have loved to join them there, join her there, for the fun that could only happen in such a place.

"Leo," Asia replied quickly, "They staged the attack." There was no time to answer his other statement.

"Well that's nonsense," Asia could hear the skepticism in his voice, picture the face her was making. "Why?"

"To lure you and Jemma to the Academy, cross them off our list as suspects," Asia spoke quickly. "Leo, you have to get out of there, now. They're after you." He could hear the slight hitch of panic in her normally calm, collected voice.

"Relax," Leo said as he stepped quickly down a flight of stairs leading towards the Boiler Room, "I'm out, you're overreacting. He's just a lonely kid, Asia. We had a nice little hang session. I actually helped him solve his..." Leo trailed off for a moment, the terror of realization hitting him, "power problem." He snapped the phone shut and turned around, taking the stairs back up two at a time.

A pit of dread grew in Asia's stomach, knowing exactly where he was headed. She turned to the others, "We have to go."