Oceans Away || Leo Fitz Book Three

Chapter ThirtyThree

"So you really think he's going to lead us to Ward?" Bobbi asked, peering down at the man in front of them, who was finally starting to wake. Asia looked at him too - it was true that he looked a lot like Ward, albeit his hair was a deep brown instead of black. Their strong jawline was strikingly similar, as was their general stature.

"I'm pretty confident," Coulson replied with a sharp nod. "I've come to realize that everything he does is just a weird attempt to justify all the things in his past. What a better way to remind him than to bring his past front and center?" Ward's brother looked up at the, unable to speak for the tape that covered his mouth. But his eyes were furrowed in concern and fright. Coulson leaned down and ripped the silver tape off of his mouth.

"W-what is this?" the poor man asked, unable to move because his hands were still tied securely behind the small of his back. "Did..is it my brother? Did he send you?" He was scared, that much was certain.

"You mean Grant Ward?" Hunter tsked, leaning over on his knees to look at the lad. "Sorry mate, he doesn't even know you're here. Hope you're not hoping for a rescue party."

"I'm sure he'll want to send one once he figures out we've got you though," Asia shrugged, spinning a knife around her ring finger, before glancing down at the poor guy. "Shame." She turned to look at Coulson and shrugged. Coulson pulled a phone out of his pocket, as Hunter leaned over and heaved the man to his feet, shoving him into a seat so he was upright.

Asia kept her eyes on his brother, spinning the knife round and round, watching his eyes study it, study her, wonder what she was about to do. She heard Coulson making the calls, but didn't quite hear what he was saying until she heard the words, "There's someone here who'd like to say hello." Her eyes flicked up and the knife snapped down, handle into her palm, and she pointed it at him, smirking.

"That's you, friend," She whispered, nodding towards Coulson and the phone, watching his adams apple bob as he swallowed. She slipped the blade right under his chin, using the angle to tilt it up slightly, grinning. "Smile for the camera," she whispered as she turned to look at Coulson, who flashed the phone towards them. She looked into the lens and smiled, pushing the tip of the knife just slightly further towards his brother's skin, not enough to make him bleed, but enough to put a small indent into his skin. When Coulson took the phone away, Asia sat back up, taking the knife away from his neck.

Part of her wanted to say sorry, but she didn't.

Couslon muttered one other sentence, then hung up the phone. Simple as that. The bait was set. Bobbi stepped forward and offered Thomas Ward some water.

"Please, please don't kill me," He said, visibly shaking, looking between Bobbi and Asia.

"Believe me when I say, no one wants that," Bobbi said, shaking her head, trying to give him a convincing look of calm.

"Sorry, m'am, but it's hard to believe that when your..murder weapon over there is pressing a knife to my throat." He exclaimed, finding a strength in his voice, jutting his chin towards Asia. There it was, that similarity to Ward again. It made Asia uncomfortable, to the point where she would have shivered if she didn't have better control over her body.

"Desperate times, and all that," Hunter said with a shrug, putting a reassuring hand on Asia's shoulder. "Your brother, he's a pretty bad guy, ya know?" he said, giving the guy a frown.

"What about you people?? You kidnapped me!" He objected, this time more of the fear tainting his voice.

"Your brother hurt someone I cared about, a lot of people, that we all care about," Coulson gestured at the others in the plane. "And as far as any of us can tell, you're the only person left alive that he really gives a damn about. We need to find him. And you're our key to assuring that."

Thomas looked down at his lap for a moment, shaking his head, before he slowly looked back up at the lot of them. "Okay. I understand that. But you better end him, when you finally find him."

The group was silent for a moment, as they all registered what the man had just told them. Asia tilted her head in confusion. "Not gonna lie," Hunter said, "That was about the last thing I expected you to say."

"Grant, he's done this as long as I've known him. He hurts people, and he lies to himself about it so that he can bare it," Thomas explained. "It's a pattern he's kept since we were babies. And it needs to stop. It's...it's what would be best for everyone." It clearly pained him to say this about his own brother, but it had to be said.

"So everything he's ever said about the sob story childhood - that's all been a load of rubbish then?" Hunter asked, trying to understand the full picture of what they were hearing.

Thomas shrugged. "I'm sure what he told you about our parents was all true. They weren't good to us, but especially not to Ward. They had a lot of their own personal traumas, but they took those out on us."

"Were you and your brothers close then?" Bobbi asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I mean, Christian and I..he was a lot older. So we didn't spend as much time together. But Grant? I mean he was my best friend," Thomas shrugged. "He took a lot of shit, for me. Any mistake I made, he said it was his own. To keep our parents' focus on him, and not on me." The man paused for a moment, the memories flashing by his eyes. "And then...he just..didn't."

"When he pushed you down the well?" Coulson asked, probing for the information. They all knew about the well story by now.

"Yea," Thomas grimaced as he nodded. "Everything was different after that. It was like the guilt weighed so heavy on his shoulders that it was crushing him. And he couldn't admit it, because then it would be true. So instead, he got more protective than ever. He said over and over that he would never let anyone hurt me again.

Asia couldn't bring herself to say anything at all. She didn't know what would come out of her mouth if she opened it.

"So if you were so close as children...did that bond last into childhood? Do you still stay in touch?" Bobbi asked, saying the important questions that were needed.

Thomas shrugged again. "I mean...Grant was 17 when he burnt our parents' house down. He was taken away at that point, but ever since I've made sure to take a pretty wide birth from wherever he might be."

"You know, you don't seem much like your brother," Bobbi said, in a comforting tone. "And that's a good thing."

"Well, just because you grow up surrounded by a family of abusive monsters, doesn't mean you become one," Thomas said flatly, sorrow dripping from his every pore. "So whatever you do...please don't hand me over to Grant."

"Well, thanks to Bobbi, we won't have to," Coulson said, nodding at the blonde.

Bobbi nodded back, before turning to face Thomas again. "While Coulson was on the call, I did a trace to his phone. If we get him on the phone again, we just keep him on the call long enough to get a locked in location."

"Bobbi, you know Ward will never let that happen..." Coulson said with a shake of the head. It was a great idea. But was it realistic? No.

"Wait!" Thomas cut into the back and forth. "He will if you put me on the phone." He looked up at all of them, and the agents knew he was right.

And as if by some cosmic twist of fate, the phone Coulson had dialed Ward with...it chirped out a peppy ring tone on queue. Coulson looked down at it, as if they didn't already know who was on the other end. With a small shake of his head, Coulson grabbed the knife from his beltloop and cut the ties holding Thomas' hands behind his back. "Here," he said, handing him the phone. "No funny business, or the little brunette will show you how quick she can react."

Thomas nodded, accepting the still ringing phone. Licking his lips, he looked down, and pressed the little green button.