Oceans Away || Leo Fitz Book Three

Chapter TwentyThree

Asia leaned forward, wiping her hand across a small square of the fogged mirror in front of her. The steam from the hot shower she was running had fogged the glass up almost instantly. She leaned forward against the sink, closing her eyes and letting the heavenly thought of the hot water coating her body, running over her bare skin and drawing paths down her form fill her mind. She let out a sigh at the thought of it. She needed a hot shower right now, after the week she had.

She reached down and tightened the white towel around her form so that she could brush out the tangles in her hair. When she opened her eyes to glance into the small rectangle she had cleaned in the mirror, a pairing of eyes were staring back at her, blue and hungry.

"Leo," Asia said in a warning tone, turning around to look at him with an amused smile on her face. He was standing there, sweater long discarded, wearing nothing but a pair of blue plaid boxer shorts. "If you were going to get up, why didn't you just shower with me?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the sink behind her for support.

"I didn't want to miss a moment I could have spent beside you," Leo replied with a shrug, stepping into the steamy bathroom and wrapping her small frame in a hug, kissing her gently on the lips. "Shame I missed out on the shower though."

She pushed him lightly on the shoulder, laughing. "Probably best you did, I did enough damage on you last night." She swiped her thumb over the right side of his neck and right shoulder, both of which had purple and red bite parks left by her own teeth. "I'm sure your skin could use a little break."

"Just because it could doesn't mean I want it to," he replied cheekily, pressing a peck to the tip of her nose. "But also, we've got work to do today."

"Of course we do," Asia replied with a sigh, looking up at the man she loved. At least she would get to spend her time at work with him. That was the biggest perk to their job, she thought to herself. "I thought all of that might have gone by the wayside when I was gone." Her words were dripping with sarcasm and it made Leo roll his eyes.

"Keep up that sass, Miss," he whispered into her ear, tugging on her ear lobe between his teeth. "And you'll find yourself bedridden for a week." His words were gentle, not real threats, nothing scary about them, but they made her heart race all the same. He always had that effect on her. She smiled up at him, unable to keep the happy expression from her face.

Leo let out a groan. "It's hard when you look at me like that, makes what I have to tell you next even harder," he said with a pout, brushing a strand of hair from her face and holding her cheeks in both of his hands. "But you have to go get an exam. In the Lab. Physical and Psych, before they'll let you out in the field."

There was a sinking feeling in Asia's gut. Of course they were going to want that, it was practically Shield 101. It made sense to her that this was coming, even if she didn't want it. Frankly, she was surprised that she hadn't been quarantined the second she had come out of the ice. Coulson must have played a hand in that. Yet, she didn't want the exam, she didn't want people with needles and notes getting anywhere near her. She shuddered at the thought.

Leo pulled her closer to him, holding her tightly and resting his head atop hers. "It will be alright, I'll be there the whole time, yea?" He said softly, hands running through her still damp hair. "There's nothing to worry about. I've got you." And of course, he did have her. That was all good and fine and helpful, but he would never really understand. He wouldn't understand what it felt like to have your very soul ripped to shreds from your body and have there be nothing you can do to stop it.

She looked up at him and tried her very best to put on a brave face. She was a superspy after all, faking it till she made it was practically her MO. This would be no different she supposed. So she allowed her boyfriend to slip his hand into hers, lace their fingers together, and lead her back out to the bedroom. She let him help pick out an outfit, nothing out of the norm, black leggings and a zipup black jacket. He brushed her wet hair and told her awkward jokes and she laughed along as if things were fine. But in her stomach, the dread pooled like acid.

"Come on then," he said, pulling her up from her position seated on the bed. "Let's go get you checked out so you can get back to doing what you love. Being in the field." She nodded, and let him pull her along. Her senses felt hyperaware. Every drip of water, every turn of the sink, she felt all of it and it made her twitchy. She could feel every water signature enter and move about the building they made. This is probably what being on acid feels like, she thought to herself as they rounded the corner towards the Lab.

Jemma was standing in there, along with Coulson. That much was expected. But what Asia didn't expect was the two other figures standing in the florescent light. She recognized them on instant and surged forward, breaking her handhold from Leo to shove through the glass doors of the Lab, moving at full sprint until she barreled headlong into Clint Barton's chest, arms wrapping tightly around him. She felt Natasha's hands on her shoulders, squeezing them gently.

It had been so long since she had seen her mentors. Too long, if she had a say about it. And now they were here. "How?" She asked, pulling out of the hug to look between the two Avengers. "Why?"

"Because you were hurt, dork," Nat rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. Yet, a hint of a smile hung on her red, pouty lip. "Had to make sure you were alright. And, figure out who I have to kill."

"Uh, who we have to kill," Clint elbowed his partner in the ribs. "Cause I also have an ax to grind."

Asia shook her head, grateful to have people like Natasha and Clint in her life. "There's more important things for the Avengers to be handling, I'm sure," she teased, glancing at Coulson with a raised eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest in a fashion which mimicked Natasha.

Coulson shrugged. "Missions, maybe. Time to visit your old trainee? That's one of the most important things there is." He said, giving Asia a small smile. He knew that Asia had been through a lot. More than most people would survive and come back to tell the tale of. So when Nat and Clint insisted they check up on her, he wasn't about to stop them. Not to mention they were still two of his best agents. He wasn't about to get on their bad sides.

"Well," He stood up straight from the table he had been leaving against. "I'll leave you to your catching up. Simmons, if anything odd comes back in the results, I'll be in my office." He nodded at everyone individually, before exiting the Lab.

Asia had almost forgotten why she was here, now. If it weren't for Coulson's words and a Shield Psychologist walking in clutching a clipboard to replace him, she might have. But the sinking feeling returned to her stomach when the psychologist sat down beside the exam table and Jemma snapped on her white gloves. With a pit of despair filling her stomach, she slowly climbed up onto the table and leaned back, ready for the Hell to begin.