Renegade Rising || Leo Fitz Book Two

Chapter Twentytwo

The conversation with Bobbi had left her rattled. Her heart was tugging her one way, her brain, the other. It was easy to say it wasn't her fault when Bobbi wasn't there to see what had happened. It sure felt an awful lot like her fault. Then again, that was the nature of this job. People got hurt, and you didn't always have a choice in the matter. If she hadn't been there at all, what happened to Leo and Jemma could have been much worse.

As she made her way to the Quinnjet, picking anxiously at a fray on her black sleeve, Skye rounded the corner, practically bumping into her. "Hey, I'm glad I found you," she said, pulling her friend into a quick hug. "I won't see you guys for a while, since we have to go fetch Raina from Canada," the brunette rolled her eyes. Raina had been causing them problems for too long now, but if HYDRA was after her, it was sort of there responsibility to keep them from getting her. "Anyways," Skye continued, "I just wanted to say...stay safe. I can't shake this feeling in, like, the pit of my stomach...it feels like something bad is going to happen. So, just be careful, okay?" She yanked Asia into a tight hug.

After a beat, Asia squeezed Skye back. "You know me," she replied jokingly. "You have nothing to worry about. I'll make sure to watch my back, though, as always." She let her friend go and gave her a small finger wave as she walked away. Skye always cared so deeply about her friends, it was heart warming every time. But in the back of her mind, Asia couldn't stop thinking about her words. That something bad was going to happen. She had that feeling ever since they first encountered the Obelisk. Having someone else on the team feel the same thing....it couldn't be a good sign. The brunette shook her head as she tried to clear her thoughts, climbing up the ladder to the Quinnjet where her team was waiting.

"Agent Monroe, late as always," Coulson chided, but in a more teasing way than actually being upset. Monroe was perpetually late. It was almost endearing at this point. Almost.

"You know me," Asia quipped flatly, with a small roll of her eyes, carrying the dwarf case over to where they kept their cargo on the small jet, securing it into place. "I'm ready to go when you are, Sir," she said, turning to face him. Bobbi and Mack were up in the pilots' seats, which was fine by her (she planned on sleeping anyways) and Jemma and Leo were strapped into seats against the wall, sitting several away from each other, not speaking. Everything was as usual. Well, the new usual. Which meant it absolutely was not normal.

"Strap in then, Monroe, " Coulson replied. "We'll get this show on the road." He nodded towards on of the open seats against the wall, then tapped at his watch, indicating time was quickly slipping away. They had to get a move on, get to this temple, and destroy it before HYDRA even knew what hit them.

Asia quickly stored her duffle and took a seat across from Jemma and giving her a small wave. The scientist had her arms crossed over her chest and one leg crossed over the other, her heel tapping rapidly against the floor. She was clearly upset about something, her body gave her away, as did her face. Her lips were pressed into a thin line and her eyes were...tired, was the only appropriate word to describe them. She looked very tired. But she did offer a small smile once Asia waved. Good, at least that was something. They would talk later, she was sure of it. Jemma liked to pretend on the outside that she didn't enjoy sharing, didn't enjoy personal talk. She portrayed this look of calm, of a business like attitude. But secretly, the girl loved to gab. She loved to vent. And she loved to vent to Asia most of all.

But as Jemma looked across the plane at her friend, she felt guilty. She wasn't sure this would be something Asia would want to talk about. After all, it involved Fitz. And Asia wasn't really in the mood for talking to Fitz these days. Or ever. Even if the poor girl, silly as she was, was still so clearly in love with the other scientist, as much as she tried to deny it. And Jemma was fairly certain Asia wouldn't want to hear anything about how Fitz had just pulled her aside and told her he couldn't work in the Lab with her anymore. It had too many painful memories and was impeding on his therapy. He was going to work with Mack instead. Mack, who definitively hated Asia. No, perhaps this was one thing she should keep to herself. But she offered her friend a small smile, regardless. No need to worry her, after all.