Renegade Rising || Leo Fitz Book Two

Chapter Fourteen

As they sped through the air, Asia began to recognize where they were heading. "wait a minute..." she trailed off, looking at the building they were hovered beside, cloaked of course. "You don't mean...?"

Trip turned at her and grinned, as suddenly something landed on their roof. No, wait, two something's. "Tic Tac, I'm goin to need you to take flight controls for a second. I've got to go pull the woman I love off the roof of our plane." He flashed her a wink as he slid out of his seat.

Asia watched him, wondering if she had ever seen him this happy before, anticipating seeing someone as badly as he was now. Maybe on graduation day, but even that didn't seem to touch this enthusiasm. The small hatch on the roof popped open and two feet slid through, then legs, then Jemma fell through the hole, dropping into Trip's waiting arms. It was like watching ballet, the way they moved together. It was clear, the feelings the two of them shared. When their lips brushed one another, Asia looked away.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to get your sweater back," Jemma said sheepishly, "It appears I've been compromised." She glanced up at another pair of feet that appeared through the entrance and slipped easily into the bird. "Thankfully, Agent Morse here is incredibly capable and saved my life."

Asia glanced back over her shoulder, giving a quick look at the other agent. The was y'all, very tall, with long, waist length brown hair. She was slim, but Asia could tel that beneath her red blazer was sheer muscle. Mockingbird. Asia had heard of her before, but it was something else to see her in person. Asia then rotated her gaze back to the sky as she began to pilot them easily away from that dreadful HYDRA skyscraper. If she could turn their turret guns back on it, she would. Burn the whole thing to the ground. Be done with them.

But people she cared about were in the aircraft with her. She couldn't risk something like that. Suddenly, Trip slid into the seat beside her. "Alright Monroe, I've got flight controls. Your turn," he nodded back towards where Jemma and Agent Morse were getting strapped in.

Asia didn't need to be told twice. She slipped out of her harness and made her way to the back of the plane, sliding into a seat beside Jemma.

"Asia!" The agent gushed, turning and wrapping her arms around the other brunette. "My goodness, I'm glad to see you. How have you been? How is the base? How is...everyone?"

Asia could feel her face starting to crumple and she looked away, rapidly blinking away the tears. "It hasn't been great," she mumbled in reply, looking back at her friend. "I'm fairly certain Fitz hates me." She sighed. She didn't like thinking about that possibility, the inevitability of it being true.

"Fitz? No," Jemma shook her head. "The Fitz I know doesn't hate anyone. Except maybe Ward." Jemma couldn't imagine Fitz looking at Asia with anything but love in his eyes. The two had practically been inseparable until the Ward incident.

"Well, he's not the Fitz you know," she shrugged. "And I heard him telling one of the new recruits that he thinks I'm terrible. That he wants noting to do with me anymore."

Jemma sighed, pulling Asia towards her so that the brunette's head was resting on her shoulder. "I'll talk to him. We will get it all sorted out."

"I don't think there is anything left to sort. He's still struggling with his vocal rehabilitation from the hypoxia and having me around only makes it worse. He resents me for being around and he resents me for staying away. I think we've passed the point of no return."

Jemma patted her head in a rather motherly fashion. "You need to trust me, Asia. He doesn't hate you. I don't think anyone who knows you, hates you. You're an amazing person. And you've helped me make it through this never ending undercover mission. So I say I owe you a favour, at least."

After that, the two rode in silence, leaning on each other, all the way back to the Playground. For a little bit, things almost felt normal.

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The next day was anything but normal, though. Thus was the life of a SHIELD agent. The team had woken up to the rude awakening that HYDRA, specifically a merc named Marcus Scarlotti, a guy who had almost killed Clint a couple years ago, had dressed up as SHIELD and attacked the UN. There were deaths, there were injuries, it was not great. The team spent the day working on various things, Bobbi, Hunter, and May off to meet with a man they believed had created the weapons used on the attack. Weapons that sheered into a person's skin and ate them alive, turning them to grey ash. It was horrifying to watch the footage of, of these odd, destructive devices. Jemma and Fitz were trying to get information of her old HYDRA hard drive. And that left Asia to do...what?

Revenge, according to Coulson. So she found herself, once again, perched up high on a building, taking out HYDRA agents with her rifle. She had to move buildings a few times, to keep herself hidden, but it was easy enough. Avenge the fallen, or whatever. She had her orders and she executed them, quite literally. It was a long, hard, hot days work, out there in the blistering sun. Being picked up by Trip in the fully air conditioned jet that evening was a blessing. She sunk into the seat, wiping her brow. "What a day," she muttered, glancing over at Trip. "Anything exciting happen at base?"

"Nothing really," Trip shrugged, "Other than the usual. Jemma is trying to get settled back into the lab. It's been...a bit more difficult than expected. Fitz didn't take her return very well." He frowned, brow furrowing at he stared out the night sky in front of him.

"He's...not?" She asked quietly. "I thought her being back would have made him...I don't know. Better?" She frowned. This wasn't going how it was supposed to at all. Jemma was supposed to come back and repair all the things she had broken, she had faith that bringing Fitz' best friend back would make him happy, he would be able to function better, his speech therapy would start getting better. How was it that no matter how much she tried, she couldn't seem to make amends for what she had done?

"Well, TicTac, it doesn't always work out that way," Trip said with a sigh. "I guess she tried talking to him about you, he didn't take it very well." Asia shut her eyes, pressing her fingertips against against her eyelids, applying pressure to try and alleviate the growing migraine forming in her skull. Trip took his eyes off the sky for a second, to glance over at his friend. "You gotta understand it's not all your fault, okay? If that's how Fitz wants to act, that's how he's going to act. You can't move all the pieces, you know? It's not chess. Mistakes are going to happen."

"But what can I do to start to fix things?" She asked, still pressing her eyes shut tightly. She needed water, and two ibuprofen, stat.

"You just have to start apologizing to people who got hurt," he said with a shrug, banking them to the left as they descended towards base. "You don't have to apologize for how you put yourself back together, because what heals you is what heals you. But you can apologize for those who were hurt on the way, because I'm sure you didn't intend for that to happen."

"Of course I didn't!" Asia said in protest. "You know I would never."

"Of course I do, but I've known you for years. Like I'm surprised we're not old and gray for how long it's felt like we've known each other," he laughed. "But that doesn't mean everyone else does. So maybe you can just start there, and work your way forward."

Asia thought over his words for a moment, thought about what the consequences might be if she didn't start speaking to those on her team she had hurt. She thought that by pulling herself away from them, excluding herself, she could save them. Make sure they didn't get hurt, and let herself feel all the pain instead. But Trip was right, as he often was. Asia straitened up as they landed at the Playground. It was time to start making her amends.