Renegade Rising || Leo Fitz Book Two

Chapter Ten

There was already a candle in the window when Asia arrived at Jemma'a apartment, which seemed odd. Jemma almost never left work early, and Asia had planned on beating her home today. Cautiously, she quietly climbed the fire escape, making sure not to make a sound. She had her ICER drawn when she peeled through the window, but was relieved to see Coulson sitting at Jemma'a dining room table, sketching on a notepad, bags of groceries surrounding him.

She tapped twice on the glass and waved once she got his attention. Last thing she wanted was to get shot by her director because she snuck up on him. Lifting up the glass, she climbed into the apartment.

"Agent Monroe. I'm surprised I beat you here," Coulson greeted her as she made her way over to the table, grabbing a bag of groceries to put away. She knew where Jemma kept all her food, how she liked it organized alphabetically in her cupboards(by type of food, then brand).

"I took some time on my way, grabbed a coffee, did the whole 'casual' thing," she explained with a shrug. The very last thing she needed was anyone to stop her and ask her what was in her backpack. She tried to seem as much like a college student as possible, even though she would never really know what that was like. Sometimes she still thought about it, but she knew it was never really in the cards.

"Makes sense," Coulson said, closing his sketch book and standing up to help her. Quietly, they put away the food, Asia fixing his sorting mistakes silently, knowing Jemma would get incredibly stressed if she got home and her cupboards were out of order. Coulson noticed, watching his younger Agent quietly fix things without a word.

Once they were finished, Asia pulled open the fridge and grabbed two beers, handing one to Coulson and cracking one open herself, before walking over to the window and reclining inside the frame in her usual, relaxed position, feet propped up in the sill, sipping from the brown bottle lightly.

"So, I wanted to say, nice work today," Coulson said, sipping from his beer and studying Agent Monroe carefully. "Quick, clean, efficient. And a damn good shot."

"Thank you sir," Asia replied, acknowledging his praise. "I try to be all those things in regards to work." She said slowly, her words coming out flat. Coulson couldn't hear the sense of emotion, passion, she used to speak with. It was as if her body was experiencing a drought and all her feelings had become dried up.

"I have to ask," he continued on. "Only because I know this past year has been difficult, and I want to keep my team safe. Are you doing okay?" He watched her carefully, waiting for a response, for her body language to give her away. For anything to show she was still in there, somewhere, and not too far gone.

For a moment, Asia froze, except for the small movement of her index finger repeatedly tapping against her glass bottle. Her heart had dropped into her stomach, her stomach jumping into her throat. She felt all sorts of out of place. She shut her eyes for a moment, recalibrating her senses before speaking. "I'm okay," she replied in confirmation of his question. "I just want to keep the team safe, too."

"I know you do, especially after everything that happened last year. SHIELD has been forced to change, and you changed with it. You're very adaptable," he dropped the compliment before continuing on. "But that doesn't mean you have to lose a part of yourself." He took a sip from his beer, setting in on a coaster and getting up from the table once more, moving into the kitchen and starting food prep for dinner. He wasn't sure about her, but he was starved.

"I know," she replied quietly. And she did know, but part of her still felt the need to hold back. She was always the one getting people hurt. If she removed herself from the equation, the odds became incrementally smaller.

Suddenly, Jemma stepped around the corner of the kitchen, gun raised. "Goodness sir," she exclaimed, lowering her weapon once she saw that it was just Coulson and Asia. "Leave a note next time, you nearly frightened the life out of me. I might have shot you!" Asia almost laughed into her beer at the thought.