Renegade Rising || Leo Fitz Book Two

Chapter FourtyEight

The tape had only gotten weirder after that moment. The same man who had appeared in the electric blue orb on the football field and grabbed Skye's father had appeared and in a blink, Skye was gone.

"So," Asia began, pacing the room, hands on her hips, as Hunter poured out shots of whiskey and set them out on the small card table. "What exactly is the game plan here? We don't know who that guy is, just that he has appeared and grabbed Raina, Skye's father, and now Skye. We have no way to track him, no idea why he comes or where he goes..." she trailed off to look at the two men who were watching her as she paced. She raised an eyebrow at them, crossing her arms over her chest.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. and Skye, both gone, just like that," Coulson sighed, walking over to look out one of the windows. "There are no good game plans here, Agent Monroe. I'm not even sure which game plan gets us out alive at this point."

"Well," Hunter began, pausing a moment to knock back his shot of amber liquid. "Maybe it's time to start rolling with the bad game plans, then."

Asia watched him for a moment, then looked back up at Coulson. Maybe, for once, he had a point.

But before they could think on it more, Asia spoke suddenly. "I'm going down to the lake for a bit, unless anyone objects. Want to get some practice in." Not much to her surprise, neither of the men objected. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her black Shield issue jacket and trudged back on outside.

The air around her was crisp and cool, breezing through her locks of brown hair. Fall. She liked it. It had always been her favorite season, when she allowed herself to have favorite things. The mist in early mornings, the crunch of leaves beneath boots. Cool, but not too cold. Warm but not too hot. A perfect balance, a secret that she kept wrapped up in her heart.

But a nature walk wasn't the intent of this outing. She wanted to practice. Thus far, she hadn't spent a day without doing some sort of practice, and she didn't intend to start. Not until she had this whole powers thing mastered. She stood at the edge of the lake, boots just far enough away to stay dry, watching the dark blue, boardering on grey, waters lap at the sand and rocks. If she closed her eyes, she could feel the power rippingly beneath the surface. It called to her, whispered sweet things in her ears.

So she began to practice, running through her usual routines. While she was always able to produce the ice, it was so much easier with an abundance of water around her. So much source to pull from. She practiced like that for an hour, before she decided to try something new.

Slowly, she reached over and unzipped her black leather boots, then rolled her socks off, shoving them into her shoes and setting them back and away from the water. then she rolled up the bottoms of her leggings a few times to keep them dry. She wasn't entirely sure her plan would work.

Taking a deep breath, she lifted one foot and stepped out, slowly lowering her foot towards the water. Like a fan, the water near her foot started to freeze, expanding outward, giving her enough space to stand. Carefully, she rested her foot on the cool surface, placing all her weight on the ice, then lifting her other foot and doing the same. She held her breath, looking down at the two circles of ice below her, supporting herself, kissing her feet with cool white.

She let out a laugh, surprisingly even herself with the sound which escaped her lips. She looked up the sky, raised her arms, and cheered. She had done it. She had controlled this thing, this ebbing and flowing power growing inside of her. She was literally walking on water. She almost wished the others were outside to see this with her.

Suddenly, the sound of a low flying engine crashed through her thoughts, catching her by surprise and breaking her concentration. The ice below her feet shattered, dropping her feet into the couple inches of cold, murky water below her. She almost fell backwards, but caught her balance. Her eyes tore over the clouded sky until she caught sight of the Quinnjets approaching. Without a second thought, she grabbed her boots and ran for the cabin.