Oceans Away || Leo Fitz Book Three

Chapter ThirtyFive

Coulson's plan worked, of course, because it was a damn good plan. As soon as Ward heard his brother's voice on the phone, he couldn't stop talking. After all, they had about fifteen years of lost time to catch up on. It was the perfect plan to pinpoint exactly where Ward was. But Coulson didn't let the conversation go on for much longer. As soon as the call was traced to Ward's exact location, their Director grabbed the phone out of Thomas's hand, and made it very clear to Ward that this was the last time he was going to be chatting with his little brother. Because they were coming to put him down.

The trace on the phone brought them to Southwest England, and it looked like they were at the same castle where they brought Jemma back. Asia remembered it well, the shaking, the old water, the screeching sound that had pierced through her skull like a knife through wet paper. It was clear as to why, and as to why they had gone back to this specific spot, as to why they had taken Jemma and Leo. They were going to open the portal.

Daisy tried texting her, saying that Mack was having her get the team together, the Inhumans. Asia tucked her phone away, leaving the message on read. She didn't have time to think about Daisy's team right now, even if she was supposed to be a part of it. No, she was too busy coming up with her plan. Because she wasn't letting Ward get away, not this time, even if it was to be at her own expense.

She was standing in the back of the plane, quietly strapping on a parachute backpack, when Bobbi called everyone up to the front. The cams on the aircraft were using heat sensors to get a read inside the castle, where the pit was. They were standing around where the portal should be, and it looked they were preparing for going through.

"That's Ward," Coulson said, tapping at one heat signature on the screen. Asia wasn't really focused on him, though. She heard Hunter ask Coulson how he could know that that specific blob belonged to Ward, but she couldn't judge, because she knew which one belonged to Leo. She would have known it was him from miles away.

She took a step back, then another, and Coulson glanced over his shoulder, eyeing the pack, the meeting her gaze. She nodded once, then looked to her left, at the only other parachute left in the plane, then back at Coulson. His lips pressed into a grim line, and he nodded in return. She wasn't going to be alone on this death mission. She was going out of this plane either way, but it was a small comfort to know her Director would have her back.

Asia continued to take steps back towards the end of the ramp, keeping her eye on the button that would open the door, leaving space for her and Coulson to jump. She looked up towards the front of the plane, towards Bobbi and Hunter, eyes still glued to the screen in front of them. They would be mad at her, she knew that much. But it wasn't a choice, she had to do this. Leo would do the same for her, she knew it. It was a leap of faith.

"It's too late, they jumped in," She heard Hunter say, from up front, and there were several less red forms visible on the heat sensing camera. Coulson turned back to look at Asia, whirling to grab the parachute bag. Asia threw out one of her hands, a bolt of ice firing directly onto the red button, the ramp beginning to open up to the night sky behind her. Coulson walked determinedly to stand beside her.

Hunter turned, looking at her, wide eyed. "Asia, what do you think you're doing?" He said, looking at her, then Coulson, then back. "Both of you need to back away from there right now."

Asia shook her head, a look of sadness sliding over her eerily calm face. "I can't do that," She said, glancing out at the open sky behind her. "I have to do this, it's what needs to be done. Once and for all." She had resigned herself to this truth, knowing she could not wavier for a second, or they would pull her back from the edge.

Suddenly, an explosion came from behind them, rocking the ship, followed by another. "Hydra has missiles locked onto us. We need to move, now," Bobbi shouted, climbing back into the pilot's seat.

Asia didn't have time to think, barely time to breathe. She turned back around, looking down at the castle below. She could see the open portal through the giant opening in the roof, the space that made the resonating sound that had hurt her so much last time. It was now or never. They had already sent men through, Leo through, and Asia knew they wouldn't keep the portal open for much longer. Her window was closing, rapdily.

There was only one choice. She knew it in her heart, in her mind, in her soul. She had known it since Fury had given her a new assignment, since Coulson had picked her up all those years ago, since she met everyone on the Bus, met the people she now considered to be her closest family. Her choice was Leo. It had always been Leo, and it always would be. They deserved to be with one another, as much as the universe begged to differ. They were like two magnets, inevitably pulling towards one another, despite all odds, all outside forces. They would always find a way back to one another, through any storm, because theirs was a love that was not bound by the constraints of space nor time. Theirs was a love that writers have been trying to put to page for eons. Theirs was a love that can not be put to word, or song, or understanding. It just was, and it always would be.

So, Asia Monroe took one last look at her mentor, her Director, and he nodded at her. Without another thought, she tipped forward, falling gracefully out of the jet, tipping into the inky blackness of the sky, as her body hurtled downward.