Worlds Apart | Leo Fitz Book Five

Chapter TwentyFive

"Are you okay?" Leo asked in a hushed tone as the team made their way through the sewer system beneath the city, following the secret tunnels out from the basement of the Lighthouse. He recognized that cold, harsh look on her face, her eyes set straight ahead, unwavering. He had seen her disappear into that far off place, that place in her head where she locked herself up when things got too hard, too much to cope with, more times than he wished he had. But he understood why she did it. Disappearing, returning to her hard-shelled exterior, it was her defense mechanism - it was how she stayed safe when things were too much. He couldn't fault her for it.

"No," she replied after a moment of pondering, a moment that lasted so long that Leo wasn't entirely sure if she had not heard him or had just decided to ignore the question all together. Her best friend had essentially accused her of being selfish for wanting to keep her team safe and then decided to remind her of one of the worst experiences of her life all in one go. But how did one say that? She hadn't given Leo the details of what happened, at least not the specifics, so there was no subtle reference she could make to ensure he would understand. And she didn't feel like she was being selfish for doing her job. For protecting others. And for all Daisy knew, staying behind was what she had done last time too, they had no way of knowing that what Asia was doing was the wrong thing.

"Is there anything I can do?" He asked, brow furrowing as they continued to walk along. He didn't like being in a position of the unknown, of feeling like he couldn't save her the way she was always able to save him. She had always been his lighthouse, and he, the ship stuck at sea weathering the storm. He just wanted, for a time, to be able to reverse the roles and guide her safely into port.

"No," she said, but reached down and took his hand in hers, regardless. She knew he would feel better for it, for feeling like he could make her feel a little bit better, even if it wasn't 100% perfect. And he did, make her feel better that is. Just by being there. Sometimes that in itself was all she really needed. For now, it would be enough. It would have to be, because there was still work left to do, and Asia couldn't spend the entire day thinking about her feelings. This job didn't allow for that, it never had, and she knew that going into it. This wasn't new information.

They exited out a small door into sunlight. Natural, actual sunlight, and it felt good, the heat of it on Asia's soft cheeks. She looked up and smiled, in spite of herself, in spite of everything going on. It felt good to be outside again, on the soil, and the only thing wrong with it wasn't she couldn't feel the water that pulsed with life everywhere. Leo squeezed her hand, and she turned to see him, looking up, eyes closed as he breathed in deeply, a wind rustling through their hair. There were leaves blowing around on the ground, and people walking by outside the alley they stood in. They were finally home. And here was the proof of it, right in front of them. And as Asia looked around, she noticed the rest of her team smiling, too, and realized she wasn't alone in all of this. They were all feeling the overwhelming sense of being home again, of being outside again.

A crow cawed overhead, soaring on the breeze, and Asia followed it with her eyes. Home. She hadn't really felt the weight of how terribly she had missed it until she was here. And then a police car drive by and instantly she ducked back, pulling Leo flush to the wall beside her. Even if they were home, their problems weren't all fixed. They were still being hunted.

"We have to get moving," Coulson said, stepping back out to the street after they were confident that the police car was gone. "I'm sure we won't have a ton of opportunities like this. Mack..." Coulson trailed off, sighing and surveying their surroundings before he nodded towards a rusty orange retro van with a 'For Sale' sign in the back window. "How about that one? Think you can work with that?" It didn't look particularly efficient, but it would hold all of them. And it had curtains which covered the back windows, an added bonus for remaining unseen.