Birds of a Feather | | Leo Fitz Book One

Chapter 35

Asia couldn't quite remember who it was who threw the first punch, Ward or Trip, but somehow the two ended up throwing fists at one another haphazardly, tossing their strength all about. At first, Asia had started to object, but it was obvious it would be of no use. So she stood, occasionally moving out of the way while the two men brawled.

And then Coulson was there with another man, one Asia recognized as Agent Garrett. "Agent Ward, stand down!" Coulson barked immediately. Ward stops instantly, looking at Trip before shoving the other agent away from him. All three agents stood at attention, waiting for one of the senior agents to speak.

"Agent Garrett and I have come to an agreement. He convinced H.Q. he could interrogate Quinn here on our plane as we continue to Bethesda," Agent Coulson said finally, after looking over his two agents with a look of disappointment.

Garrett grinned, looking over at Coulson, "Well I'm a bit of a sweet talker when I need to be. You wouldn't believe what I could this son of a gun into. You didn't tell me you had a new member to the team, Coulson." His eyes drifted over to Asia, eyeing her stance.

"She's not new to Operations, that's for sure," Coulson said, looking over at Asia. While he didn't smile, there was a hint of a proud grin in his eyes. "This is Agent Monroe, protege of Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff."

Agent Garrett let out a low whistle. "Agent Monroe, as I live and breathe...I've heard the stories, never thought I'd meet you in the flesh."

Asia held out her hand to shake his, and was disappointed to find his weak grip was masked by a strong stance. "The pleasure is all mine," she said coolly, with a small nod.

Garrett proceeded to shake Ward's hand in greeting, a familiar grin sliding over his cracked lips. Garrett had been Ward's SO back in the day. Asia had never liked him much. While Natasha was strict, Garrett was harsh, and there was a clear difference, a clear difference Asia noted and didn't ever appreciate. Thankfully, Ward hadn't seemed to have picked up on those unfortunate traits. But then, Garrett spoke again.

"Saving the girl is our top priority," and Asia thought perhaps he wasn't as bad as she originally believed.

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"It doesn't make sense," Leo said, looking from May to Asia, then back to Jemma and the papers they were studying. "None of it does."

"So you're saying...that this entire thing was a coverup?" Asia asked, looking over her tablet at the information which Jemma and Leo had laid out for them. She swiped over the screen as she listened to them speak, looking over at May on occasion to gauge her reaction as well. The older woman seemed equally as concerned and surprised, although she managed to mask it better than Asia had. The two scientists had just gotten through telling them that Agent Coulson had never actually been treated at Bethesda.

"That's exactly what we're saying," Jemma said with a quick nod. "The doctor's listed, the operating room number, none of them exist. None of them are a part of S.H.I.E.L.D." She pursed her thin, pink lips, clearly distraught. Jemma was the type of woman who was used to having all the answers, but this time...this time she did not.

May turned to Asia, both women staring each other evenly in the eye. It was clear to see they were calculating the next move, what exactly it was that could be happening.

"I'll stay with Leo and Jemma and I'll keep digging," Asia said as, at the same time, May spoke.

"I'll head to the bridge and speak with Coulson, brief him on what we've discovered so far, see if he has any more information he might be able to give us."

Then the two agents nodded at each other curtly, and May turned to leave. Asia turned back towards the two scientists. "You heard it guys, lets get back to work. We're running on limited time here."'

Minutes later, Jemma was called to the bridge.

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Asia had fallen asleep next to Skye's life support pod, head resting against the glass. Jemma had been watching the two of them for many minutes when Leo quietly entered the room. It would have been picturesque, three of his favourite people, if it weren't for Skye's dire state and the bandages which riddled Asia's body. "How is she?" He asked Jemma quietly, handing her a saucer of tea. Chamomile, just how she liked it.

" Deteriorating," Jemma said with a deflated sigh, "and I don't know how to stop it. The only thing I found remotely interesting is something called "GH-325"." She stabbed her pen lightly on her notebook where she had scribbled the word repeatedly.

"Some sort of drug?" Leo asked as he quietly set a chair beside his coworker, watching Asia's light breaths as she slept.

Jemma shrugged, "Whatever it was, Agent Coulson was injected with it and literally minutes later his cells were showing signs of regeneration. That's what we need, for Skye."

Leo's eyes widened, "Regeneration?" He mused softly, running a hand through his curly hair. "Is that even possible?"

Jemma let her head fall into her hands and she spoke, muffled by her own flesh. "Even if this miracle drug does exist we don't know where to find it. We have no coordinates, no logs of anyone's departure or arrival. They're essentially nonexistent."

"I think I can help with that," Leo said with a small smile towards Jemma. He stood up, and moved over to Asia, tucking a strand of hair away from her face, and motioned Jemma to follow him out of the room.