Birds of a Feather | | Leo Fitz Book One

Chapter 42

"Got him! Making chase!" Asia shouted as she and May raced down a dark hallway after the figured of Mike Peterson racing away in front of them. He vaulted over a railing, and Asia raced towards it, prepared to jump, but May grabbed her arm.

"It's too far down, you'll break your legs," she said calmly, searching for the figure of Mike.

"He just ducked into the southwest stairwell," Coulson reported over coms. May and Asia shared a glance, before they took off running again. They needed to keep pace with Coulson in case some trouble started, and he was already damn far ahead of them. "All teams, he's headed into the sub-basement. I do not have a visual. Fitz, do you have a retriever down here?" Coulson questioned.

"No sir," Leo replied over coms, and it was instantly comforting to Asia just to hear his voice. "Sending some your way now."

A few seconds later, the sound of gun fire is heard. "Fitz, are you seeing this?"

"Uh, barely, sir. It leads down into the sewer system. That's under at least...40 feet of concrete. We'll be blind down there," Leo said uncertainly.

Asia raced up to Coulson's side, holstering her pistol. "Everyone ok?" She asked, looking between Coulson and Garret, then at the ladder in question. It lead down, way, way down, and it was dark beyond belief. One of Leo's retrievers quickly wizzed around her, as if studying the agent.

Suddenly, the tiny gadget turn on a dime and sped off the other direction. "Where the hell is that little thing going?" Garret asked, following the drone with his eyes till it was swallowed by the blackness.

"Sir, there's someone else down there," Leo's voice cracked over coms, and as he spoke, the sound of loud beeping could be heard as well.

The three agents looked at one another, before following where the drone had gone. It was blacker than black down there, the only visibility created from the small flashlights atop their weapons. When they reached the end of the hallways, the small drone was hovering infront of a set of double doors, blinking softly. Asia got to one side of the door, Garret on the other, as Coulson prepared to open the doors and bust in. Garret nodded, and Coulson threw open the doors.

As the three agents entered, Asia's mouth dropped open.

"What the fuck..." Garret muttered, vocalizing the emotion Asia and Coulson were both feeling. There were monitors on every wall, all showing different places, showing different SHIELD agents. And in the center of it all, sat a man in a chair, facing away from them. The three Agents form a perimeter, and circle around the man, guns up, until they end right in front of him.

Tubes ran out of the mans mouth and nose, and he was connected to all sorts of apparatuses. And when he finally spoke, it was a robotic, computerized voice, which came across the speakers. "Agent Coulson, Agent Garrett, Agent Monroe, I surrender. "

The voice sent shivers of the worst kind down Asia's spine and she raised her gun, staring at him. This was the man who had been torturing them all. This was the man who had her strung upside down from a chandelier. This was the man who had Skye shot. It took everything in her not to pull the trigger.

"Forgive me if we don't shake hands. I don't like to be touched," the robotic voice said in a mocking tone, right as May and Ward entered the room, guns raised.

"Sir," Ward spoke up, checking the dark corners, "We've got a lot of wires back here."

"Don't touch anything. We need this room swept for explosives," Coulson ordered at a guard who stood near the door. The guard gave a sharp nod in reply.

"There are no traps here, Agent Coulson," Nash's robotic voice hissed. "You're here because we are destined to meet." Despite his words, not a single Agent lowered their weapon.

"So, You're the Clairvoyant?" Garret said, almost chuckling, which Asia thought was in poor taste.

"I'm Thomas Nash. Mr. Po gave me that other name. A bit dramatic for my taste," the robotic voice echoed in reply, an almost knowing glint shining in the eyes of the man riddled with tubes.

"Eyes open, everybody. We don't know where Deathlok is or who else is down here," Coulson cautioned, before telling Fitz to keep an eye out with the drones.

"Oh no, Coulson, it's just us down here," The voice said for Nash. "Mr. Peterson is gone. I cut his feed, so you won't find him."

Coulson furrowed his brow. This wasn't making sense, not at all. Why give up so easily? Why have the armed soldier lead them down here at all? After all of the terrible, terrible things he had done, giving up so easily seemed rather out of character for someone who was allegedly ten steps ahead of them at all times. "But you had him lead us here. Why?" He narrowed his eyes at the man in front of them, the aim of his pistol not wavering for a moment.

"So I could see you with my own eyes instead of his. Now I understand why I couldn't see you after you died – because you, yourself, could not see. You were simply a broken man who did not know he was broken."

Asia shivered.

Coulson looked dryly over the words as they appeared on the monitor in front of them, before looking Nash dead in the eyes. "You're one to talk," he said flatly.

"Let's pack this freak off to The Fridge where he belongs," Garret growled, clearly growing rather tired of the man in the chair and of all this talk. He was here for the action, and it was apparent no more would be happening on this mission.

"Do you believe you can confine me any more than this chair?" The voice said, "I will join Raina in your prison, Agent Coulson, but I will see you wherever you go, just as I saw your team enter that building, saw them cut Asia down from the ceiling, saw you holding Skye in your arms, bleeding..."

Ward tensed at the mention of Skye, gritting his teeth, his lips pressing into a thin, fine line.

"Dying...knowing it was all your fault, that you could have stopped it, but you were all too late."

Inside the van, Skye and Fitz looked at one another, with matching faces of sadness. Any memory of that house was a bad one. Fitz squeezed Skye's shoulder comfortingly.

Coulson did not take any threats on his team lightly. He stepped towards the man, towering over him. "You're going away. We're gonna stick you in a little box where no one will ever hear you again."

Nash only continued to egg him on, almost as if he were enjoying this verbal game of cat and mouse, in his own sick and twisted way. " I see you're angry. Head clouded with lies. You've been betrayed and now you fear what's about to happen. A force beyond your comprehension is coming for you...you and your team. Those girls you almost lost, they're not out of the clear just yet. I've seen it."

Ward barred his teeth, almost letting a feral growl slip past his curled lips. The idea of anyone threatening Asia, much less Skye, made his blood boil. It was incredibly apparent how deeply he cared for the rookie agent.

"Skye has something we want," Nash continued, "And she's going to die giving it to us."

Coulson leaned in close to Nash and whispered, "Go to hell," before facing away from him, not wanting to look at the disgrace anymore.

Nash almost, almost smiled, "No matter where I go, or what you do to me, I will always – "

A gunshot rang out loud through the room, and Asia covered her ears instantly, wincing. Who the fuck had fired? At who? Opening her eyes, Asia saw the red blood oozing out of Nash's chest, and she instantly whirled towards the shooter---towards...Ward?

He stood, gun still aimed at the man, a calm, furious look on his face. He glanced over at Coulson, at May, at Asia, and lowered the gun, holstering it.

"What did you do?" Coulson said in a low, warning tone, a sign that further rage was to come. May stepped forward and grabbed Ward's gun in a quick motion, leaving him weaponless, but definitely not defenseless.

"He's dead," Garret said, shaking his head, looking at Ward with almost disappointment. "It's over."

But it wasn't, not really. It was just starting.