Oceans Away || Leo Fitz Book Three

Chapter TwentyNine

As Asia was working out, hitting a hanging punching bag in a small gym room branching off from one of the main halls running by the Lab, she heard a commotion. Brushing back strands of hair from her sweaty forehead, she stopped the bag and went to look around the corner out into the hall. Looking out she saw Leo fast walking towards another Lab agent, who was moving a cart full of boxes, each open and containing paperwork and books, some pieces of art as well.

"Hey!" Leo barked at the guy in a tone Asia had rarely ever heard exit his lips, "Be careful with that! That's a priceless manuscript, you can't just go dropping things like this on the ground." He picked up a old, bound book with yellow pages, placing it delicately in the box once more. "Might as well go burn down the Lourve why don't you?" Asia hadn't seen him this exasperated in a moment. The agent looked at Leo then back at Asia, hands shaking nervously. He was a young kid, probably as young as she was when she had started with the agency.

Asia gave him a small, sympathetic smile, shaking her head and telling him, with her eyes, to just go ahead and leave. She would handle the situation from here, and calms thing down a bit. That was one of her strengths after all, deescalation of situations. Especially when it came to him.

"Leo," she said, stepping forward and resting her hand on his right shoulder. "What's wrong? You're yelling at an intern. You practically scared him to death," she smiled as he turned to look at her, his eyes drinking her in even when she was a sweaty mess.

"They're just.." he let out a frustrated sigh. "They're all idiots. I know they mean well, but idiots all the same." He ran a hand over his face with more sounds of frustration, as he then rearranged the books in the box, making sure they were all stacked safely. "I'm sorry, it's just been a rough day. I don't mean to take it out on you...or them."

"What are all these books for?" Asia asked, leaning against the wall, watching him. There was practically a small library on that cart. She enjoyed reading as much as the next person, but these volumes didn't exactly scream out light reading.

"They're..books on symbolic anthropology and various iconographies. To help Jemma. She wants to go back, through the portal. She, erm, left a man there." He scratched the back of his head uncomfortably, knowing Jemma was still an uncomfortable topic for Asia, given the events which had occurred before. "Apparently they were quite, erm, close on the other planet. I want to help her, if I can. I think I've figured it out, or at least the first steps."

All Asia could think about was how devastated Bobbi would be. The woman so clearly cared about the redhead, but who was in Jemma's heart? Asia didn't really know, anymore. Jemma hadn't really even spoken to her since she had made it back and recovered. Not even an apology. She had considered approaching the scientist herself, but hadn't gotten around to it just yet.

"Well, that's good, I suppose," Asia said after a moment of silence. "She's your friend, you should help her." Leo couldn't help but notice how she said 'your,' instead of 'our.' Things clearly weren't mended between the two women quite yet. Did it bother Leo? Of course. But he wasn't going to push things.That was a decision for Asia to make of her own accord.

Before either of them could say anything else, their wristwatches buzzed simultaneously. Asia glanced down at the message. "Huh. Coulson's calling a team meeting. In Conference Room C." She lowered her wrist, looking back towards him. "Did you get the same thing?"

"Yea, me too," He stood up, patting the box of books. "I'm going to put these away, then I'll meet you in there, yea?" He said, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek. She smiled at him a nodded, leaning in to soft kiss. Her mind, though, was still on what he had said wearlier. What would Bobbi think when she found out? And could they really make it back to a place like that, without getting trapped forever this time? She chewed nervously on the inside of her cheek as she walked briskly down the hall to change into clean clothes.

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"Alright everyone," Coulson said, standing in front of his team of about twenty five individuals. He stood one stair up, so he could see them all, look them all in the eye, so no one was left out. It was a good leadership tactic. Always seemed to work out for him, anyway. "Thank you all for coming. I know you're wondering what this meeting is about, why you were selected. Well, today we are launching Operation Spotlight. The objective is to find out every skeleton in every closet of the ATCU." He let that sink in for a moment. "The last few days have been especially difficult for everyone involved, and what happened to Doctor Garner was, without a doubt, a tragedy. But now we have a unique opportunity.

"Now, we have the chance that may have never been possible before. When we agreed to let the ATCU keep Doctor Garner in stasis, they agreed to take his Shield Containment Module with them. We're going to use this module to gain access to their facility and their information."

"So that brings us to teams. We'll be splitting up in various pairings to make sure we get in and out undetected, as efficiently as possible. Bobbi and Hunter, you'll be going in on the ground," Coulson explained. "I've sent you each a file on the plan, but if adjustments are needed, I trust you to make those decisions. Daisy, Mack, Monroe, you'll play quarterback from Zephyr One."

"May, you'll be leading Extraction," Coulson continued on, when suddenly, May cut him off.

"I'm bringing Lincoln with on this one," she said, expression flat, no emotion there. Asia tensed a little bit at this. May hadn't exactly appreciated Lincoln's take on capturing Doctor Garner...which had involved use of force. Potentially excessive force, depending on how you were looking at it.

"Alright then," Coulson agreed with a nod. "The new guy is going to get a hands on experience with one of the best we have," he tapped onto his tablet for a moment, as if making a note of this addition. "Agent Fitz, you'll be in charge of making sure each team has the tech they need. Agent Simmons, you'll have your team stand by for medical as needed. Let's hope it's not needed.

"And let me make this crystal clear for everyone. I want to know everything. Everything going on inside those walls. I want to know what's in the facility. How many Inhumans they have in stasis, who they are, where they come from. How close they are to their supposed cure. And, of course, what the facility really wants to do with these Inhumans. We aren't going to let the wool be pulled over our eyes with this one. Does everyone understand?" There was a series of corresponding nods and murmurs of agreement. "Great. Then, does anyone have any questions before we wrap this up?"

"I have one," Daisy spoke up from beside Asia. Asia clenched her left fist slightly, the nails digging in to her palm. She hoped Daisy wasn't about to call Coulson out for some reason.

"Alright, Agent Johnson. Let's hear it," Coulson replied, clearly not sharing the same concerns as the brunette agent.

"Why are we doing this now? We've been working with them for weeks," Daisy said, earnestly. And, Asia had to admit, that was a good question. There was plenty of time to dig into the ATCU's underbelly before they had gotten so buddy-buddy.

"Because," Coulson replied. "I think the head of the ATCU finally trusts me. I would like that feeling to be mutual, but I'm not going to let it, without thorough vetting." He tucked his tablet under his shoulder, clapping his hands together. "Alright everyone, you know what to do. Let's get to work."