Worlds Apart | Leo Fitz Book Five

Chapter Six

"You wanna talk about any of that?" Daisy asked as the elevator slid slowly with them inside.

"Nope," Asia replied evenly, punctuating the word with a stab of her tongue. "You?"

"Nope," Daisy replied back with a sigh, as the elevator slide to a stop. As the doors opened slowly, they were bathed in a pink light. Before them was an indoor garden, rows on rows of potted plants with grow lights strung above them to simulate sun. Together the two began to walk forward through the plants, stopping to study leaves and pretend to prune items as Kree soldiers walked about. Asia was surprised, feeling the soft, bumpy touch of actual foliage beneath her finger pads.

They continued to weave further through the room until they made it to a set of doors at the end of the wall, where Daisy pressed the tablet device against a scanner. The doors, another elevator, slide open. This one was different though, clearly not meant for people. Kree only. The walls were clean and white, as was the floor and ceiling. They climbed inside and stood next to one another in silence as the doors slid closed. But as the doors almost met, a blue hand reached in and gripped the edge of the door, stopping it in its tracks.

Without a second thought, Asia instinctually jumped, grabbing the lip of an open moonlight above and hoisting herself up, hands and feet bracing in the rectangular space. In an instant, Daisy was jumping up beside her, just in time for the Kree worker to walk in, carrying a basket of manufactured lemons. As the door started to shut, another hand stopped it, a Kree worker coming into view, annoyed look on his face. "We've got a few more," he said, with a roll of his eyes. Painfully slowly, he rolled a cart of tomatoes and peppers into the elevator. Beside her, Daisy's arms started to shake.

To Asia, this felt like nothing. The amount of times she had to hold herself in a painfully uncomfortable position for Nat and Clint was...definitely not countable on her fingers and toes. But she knew Daisy wasn't used to trials like this, she knew that her best friend wouldn't be able to hold up here long. She could already see her wrists starting to shake. Suddenly, her left palm slipped down, a sweaty squeal echoing around the small square. The two Kree agents looked at one another, then looked up, eyes narrowing as they saw Daisy and Asia suspended above them.

Asia sighed, shaking her head. "You take left I take right," she said, dropping from her suspended form, leg lashing out to hook around the neck of the Kree man on the right, using the momentum of her fall to twist her body, and in turn twist him off balance, throwing him into a wall as she spun and caught herself, jumping back to her feet and slipping into a fighting stance. The Kree were always known as good fighters, but that was clearly not the lot in life for this one. He was big enough and able to throw his weight around, but Nat had taught Asia well enough how to use that to her advantage.

As soon as she had become comfortable with her Inhuman abilities, the mixture of her combat skills with her elemental control became natural. It was hidden in the ice that covered her knuckles on a well placed punched, in the slice on an icy blade through the skin of a gut. It was the perfect cake mixture of what she had been born to do. And it was this perfect concoction that left her with a somewhat easily incapacitated Kree worker. She peaked out the doors of the elevator to see Daisy propelling hers right through the far wall, the wall gaping away leaving a hole into the far room. There was a far room. With no doors from in here - which was odd. Asia narrowed her eyes, an idea starting to form.

"Elevator is busted," she said to Daisy, brow creased as she nodded towards the hole in the wall. "But it looks like you might have figured out a quicker way anyways. Little less stealth than we wanted but, when in Rome. Or outer space, I guess." A glint lit up her eyes as she smirked towards Daisy, then nodded towards the floor below.

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The slab of concrete fell below Daisy's power and the two jumped through the hole in the ceiling, landing in a hall with walls made of rock painted white. Every few paces, there were sconces on the wall, a golden light bathing the hall, which was devoid of any Kree, exactly how they had hoped. "Let's go," Asia said, taking a quick step forward. Suddenly, as if triggered by her step, a sheet of glass fell down from the ceiling, blocking their way. Daisy whirled, ready to head back the other way, but another sheet fell. A hissing sound reverberated around them as gas began to pour into the chamber, white like fog.

Asia tried to cover her mouth with the black sleeve of the shirt Deke had gotten for her when she was out. "Don't breathe," she tried to say to Daisy, feeling some of the gas slip into her mouth as she did so. She fell to her knees, as Daisy raised a hand to try and shatter the glass, but her eyes fluttered and she fell beside Asia. There were footsteps, and Asia looked up, eyes wide, as a group of Kree rounded the corner.

There was one man in front, with a black mop of hair, who was clearly the leader. He wore a long overcoat that clipped down the front, his face more white than the Kree soldiers she had ever seen. Behind him were more Kree, one female, leading a group of soldiers. She had a high braided ponytail and carried a set of silver balls in her palm. "You were right," The man in front said in a haughty voice. "It does not occur often that I find myself surprised, but we may mark this day down as one of them." Through her blurred vision, Asia could see the blackness of his fingernails and the coal around his eyes.

From behind him, Deke stepped forward. "I told you they would be here, sir," he said, eyes avoiding looking at her. There was a deep sense of betrayal that filled her and she couldn't shake it. "Exactly as promised, unable to fight back. We can discuss price later." He looked at Daisy, but he couldn't look towards her, and Asia couldn't put her finger on why. There was some sort of regret that filled him for her specifically, and she didn't know why.

"So this is Quake, Destroyer of Worlds? And her partner in life and death, Frostbite, Bringer of the End?" the Kree leader said, stepping forward and leaning over to study them. "How is it that they are here, now?" He asked, the question not specifically directed at anyone.

"Well, the important thing to remember is, they're yours," Deke said, his words the loudest 'I told you so,' that Asia had ever heard.

"I'll kill you," Daisy said through gritted teeth as she reached out and gripped Asia's hand tightly. Asia squeezed back as she felt the potion gas infiltrating her system, slowly knocking her out.

"Sorry sweetheart," Deke said, crouching down and meeting Daisy's gaze. "I only playing the long game."

That was the last thing Asia heard before she passed out, for the second time that day.