Renegade Rising || Leo Fitz Book Two

Chapter ThirtySeven

Asia's heart was still racing as May lead them down the stairs to the basement, two at a time, towards the prison chamber where Ward had once been kept, before his escape, before he murdered his own brother. The older agent grabbed the tablet on a stand, pulling up the barrier behind them, sealing the three women inside. The two powered girls sat down on the bed that was flush against the wall, holding onto each other's hands. Both were crying, shaking. The space around them still shook, still cold as if it were a winter tundra. They weren't under control, as much as both wished to be, they weren't.

"Asia..."Skye said, her voice shaking, as she looked up into her friend's grey eyes, an unasked question hanging empty between them, heavy on the cool air, almost forming in the frost that pooled from her breath.

Asia shook her head rappidly side to side, "It's fine, it's fine, it's going to be fine," she said quickly, the words tumbling like a waterfall out of her open lips. She looked up at May, like a child looking for her mother's answers, for her mother to fix her problems. But she had no mother, not anymore. HYDRA changed that a long time ago.

"Both of you, eyes on me," May ordered. "We're going to get through of this, but I need both of you to breathe." She said the last half of the sentence incredibly slowly. She needed to get them calm. Needed them to see reason, and then get control of whatever power they now possessed. There was no other option, no other safe option.

As the building shook around her and tears of ice still clung to her cheeks, Asia couldn't help but feel as empty as she had earlier this year. She, once again, was the cause of her friends', her teams', danger and pain. No matter what, those around her always got hurt. And how foolish she was, to think she could control something so much bigger than her. The trauma from the past year, and the trauma from the present, collided, swirling together into one giant mess. A mess that she couldn't seem to swim through, couldn't see the end of. There was no light in her tunnel. It was nothing but pain and darkness, and now, now it was cold too. The kind of cold which chilled her to the bone.

"I...I can't," Skye choked out, cutting through Asia's thoughts. "There's so much danger. We could hurt...we could hurt everyone," she sobbed, squeezing tighter on Asia's hands.

"You both need to focus. Look at me," May tried to command. "Look at me and breathe." Suddenly, Lady Sif's sword shoved through the material that was keeping them hidden, keeping them safe.

The wall fought back against the Asguardian weapon, glowing a golden red color as the digital mesh tried to keep the silver sword at bay. It would only do so for so long, and May was well aware of this fact. She turned towards the wall, still shouting encouraging words about being calm towards Asia and Skye, as she attempted to reason with Lady Siff.

"Asia," Skye said shakily, turning to face her friend. "I...I don't think I can stop this." Her lips turned to a frown as she searched her friend's eyes for an answer.

"I know. I know. I. I can't stop it either," Asia admitted with defeat, "and Sif. She's going to get in," the words broke in Asia's throat, a fear like she hadn't felt in a long time filling her to the brim. They had no where to run. No extraction plan. The two girls looked over at May and the wall, and it was as if they had the same idea at the same time.

The older agent had an Icer strapped to each hip, practically begging to be grabbed. "Count of three?" Skye asked quietly. Asia nodded incomfortmation. Skye then counted down, each number ticking painfully by as Siff's sword threatened to breach their location, their safe space.

"One." Skye breathed.

The two girls lunged forward, as the wall keeping them safe shattered to Sif's weapon, each grabbing one of the Icers. The two girls linked their arms around at the elbow, each pressing the barrel of the gun into their own shoulder. With a quick nod, they both simultaneously pulled the triggers, bullets sinking into them.