Birds of a Feather | | Leo Fitz Book One

Chapter 52

Asia threw her hands into the air as ordered, looking eyes with Hand and refusing to blink till the woman looked away. God she hated her, and she could never quite put her finger on why. Perhaps she wasn't HYDRA after all, but that didn't cause the agent to have any less dislike towards her.

Suddenly, Jemma pushed her way through the soldiers, determined, and moved quickly forward, throwing her arms around Leo, then Asia, then, more hesitantly, May and Agent Coulson. "I thought you were dead, I am so, so happy to find otherwise," she said quickly, her lips trembling as she did so. Asia saw the relief in Leo's eyes and for a minute, that jealousy monster bit at her again, but she shoved the thoughts away. There was no time for that, not now, not ever.

"I don't know what you're thinking," Coulson began to speak towards Hand, "But I am not HYDRA. Never have been, never, ever will be." His words were so earnest, so heartfelt, it would be practically impossible to disbelieve him. "The piece of trash who infiltrated our ranks is laying at your feet," he nodded towards Garrett, who still lay, passed out.

Hand nodded solumly, looking down at her feet. "I know, we heard it all through devices planted in the piping, they're in every room. Agent Coulson, I offer you my deepest apologies. I am embarrassed to admit I ever thought it could be you."

"Apology accepted, if you'll have your men low their weapons," Coulson replied, trying to smile. It was hard to do so, after what they had all just witnessed. Hand motioned for the men to lower their guns, and the remaining agents lowered their hands to their sides. "They got the best of us, this time," Coulson admitted sadly. "How bad is it? How deep does it go? Have we...have we found them all?"

"We found them all," Hand replied with a nod, "But....it's far deeper than we expected. We've lost many more than ever expected. And now, the process of getting them out must begin. Starting," she looked at the ground and poked Garrett with her heel, "With him." She signaled a soldier behind her to collect Garrett's body, and handcuff him as they did so. Hand nodded at Coulson, indicating his group should follow her out of the room.

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In an area referred to as the Nerve Center, where the safe SHIELD agents were holed up, Asia's eyes were racing through the names of the confirmed deceased, her face flushed. She needed to see if Nat or Clint's names fell on that list. She scrolled through once and didn't see them, but then went back to the top to make sure, refreshing to let the new names line onto the page in neat little rows.

A strong hand clapped her on the shoulder. "They're not on there, Agent Monroe," Coulson said from behind her. She looked back at him, her lips pressed in a thin line. He could see the tears forming in her soft, brown eyes. Sometimes he forgot what it was to be like at that age, even after all that training, tender and innocent. Easily influenced. And they had all just been through so much. He pulled his agent into a fatherly hug. "Your old teammates are safe, even if Natasha caused some trouble by leaking lots...and lots, of files. But we'll sort that out later. What's important is that they are alive."

Asia nogged, sighing, releasing air which she did not know she was holding in. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"No problem, Monroe. That's precisely what I'm here for," Coulson released her from the hug. "Now lets go. Our team is going to need us, and then we're going to need to get the hell out of here." Asia nodded, and both SHIELD agents moved back towards the halls.

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Agent Monroe watched in silence as the cuffed HYDRA members were lead out of the Hub. It was difficult to watch, people she had known, people she had fought with, trained with, hung out with on occasion....and she had had no idea of their true alliances. But they had been stopped now, and there was no changing the past, at any rate. The worst part of the whole ordeal was watching Trip. He almost lost it when he saw Garrett being marched by, his face scrunching up and growing red. "I trusted you!" He shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at the man, trying his best not to cry. Jemma had a hand comfortingly placed on his upper arm, almost holding him back.

Ward looked from Garrett, to Trip, to Asia, and finally to Coulson, a look of pure confusion on his face. Coulson placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him away, leading him slightly down the hall, breaking the news of his mentor's betrayal. Asia could hear his repeated "No's" of disbelief, and the sound that could only distinctly be described as a fist making contact with concrete.

It all made Asia's heart ache in an unmendable way.

Hand spoke from behind them when Coulson returned. "Captain America has taken care of the helicarriers at Triskelion, but..." her voice faltered and she looked away, finding her words. "Even his status is unknown, like that of many others."

That hit Asia like a brick wall. Just because her mentors hadn't been on the confirmed deaths list didn't mean....it didn't mean that they weren't. Perhaps, simply, SHIELD didn't have confirmation on their locations. Everything Coulson had told her before in the Nerve Center seemed flawed now, here, in this hallway filled with sadness and betrayal.

"Couslon," Hand said, looking towards him then nodding towards the Nerve Center, "May I speak with you alone?"

Coulson nodded before turning towards his team. "Go prepare the Bus." Then he turned, following the woman they had, moments ago, believed to be the head of HYDRA herself.

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Asia stood in the Lab of the Bus, staring at the bullet holes which riddled the once pristine glass. It was shattered, just like the image of SHIELD, almost fittingly so. It was going to take hours to fix, and that's if they were lucky.

"I just can't believe it," Skye muttered, kicking the desk in front of her lightly, looking up at Asia, Jemma, and Leo for answers. They had none. It was hard to imagine how they would rebuild from here, if at all. Asia felt hollowed out.

From above, came footsteps, and Coulson appeared, moving down the staircase. "Skye, I need you to get working on our tech. We need to fix as much of the firmware as possible, get the GPS working, and whatever else you think you can tap into. FitzSimmons, gather a crew of whatever scientists you need. We need to get the avionics bay back to fully functional, and get this ramp fixed so we can load up and go, asap. Asia, help whoever needs it, wherever they need it. Ward will be rendezvousing with us later, at a safer position."

"Wait what? Where's he going?" Skye objected, before her face turned a bright red and she looked down at her feet.

"He's going to escort Garrett to the shithole he belongs in," Coulson said flatly. "Now, you had your orders, get to work."

"Excuse me, sir?" A familiar voice bounced off the walls and Trip jogged up the ramp of the Bus, before Coulson disappeared back where he came from. "I wanted to talk to you. I was wondering...hoping really, that if I help with the repairs, you'll have a spare bunk on board for me? Since you're down a specialist and all." He flashed that nature, Agent Trip smile, but there was something lacking in it. Unsurprisingly so, he had been through hell.

Coulson scoffed. "Sorry Agent Triplett, but I just don't see that working out. Feel free to take one of Agent Hand's vehicles, but not on my ship." He turned to leave, when Jemma spoke up, stepping forwards, moving till she was right beside Trip, giving him a reassuring smile.

"Pardon me, Sir, but I think you're making a mistake. Agent Triplett would be an asset to our ship, really," Jemma said, rather boldly, just the tiniest bit of pink showing in the corners of her cheeks.

"I'll take not of the, Simmons, but this isn't a democracy," Coulson replied flatly.

Asia rolled her eyes and stepped forward, standing with the other two agents and crossing her arms. "Isn't it, though?" She questioned brazenly, raising an eyebrow at Agent Coulson.

"I agree with Agent Monroe," Jemma nodded eagerly, something Asia never expected to hear her say. "I witnessed Trip...Agent Triplett willing to die not only for me, but for SHIELD. He's most of the reason I stayed alive through this. We owe him, and I think he is valuable."

Agent Coulson looked between the three agents, before his eyes landed on Jemma once more. "I'll allow it, for now. But he's under your watch, Agent Simmons." Asia noted the redheaded agent couldn't help but smile at this, a secret smile, that lit up the corners of her eyes. "Well, now, like I said. We've got work to do. The American government is coming for us, and we need to be fully operation and well away from this place before they even get close."

The agents all scrambled to work, knowing an invisible clock was ticking.