Oceans Away || Leo Fitz Book Three

Chapter ThirtySeven

They continued to trudge through the desert wasteland, Coulson keeping his gun trained on Ward's spine. Asia kept her mouth pressed into a thin line, not wanting Ward to see any sort of weakness in her on the occasional glances he gave over his shoulder. But it was when Coulson stopped them, looking through a scope out at the desert to spy Fitz walking through the sand, with who must have been Will. Jemma's Will. This rocketed through Asia's body, the hope shining throughout. But, they only had thirteen minutes remaining to arrive at the portal.

"We need to move faster," Coulson urged, nodding at Ward to keep moving forward. Ward rolled his eyes, scoffing. "I'd be able to move faster if you hadn't shot me and beat me." Asia didn't really care. She would have done it again.

They crested over one final hill, and saw two forms before them in the valley. Leo and Will. Asia stepped forward, and then her eyes widened when she took in what was before her. Will, or the man she thought was him, wearing what looked like Hydra fatigues, was bending down, picking up a rock the size of a human head. Leo was laying sprawled on the ground, as if he had been knocked over, holding one hand over his head as if to shield himself.

It was almost instinctual, the way she reacted. She dropped to one knee to brace herself, drawing her pistol and firing three shots directly into the chest of the man raising the boulder over Leo. He crumpled backwards, falling to the ground, and Leo turned, looking up towards her, eyes widening.

And then suddenly, it was as if she was being bowled over. She was tumbling, head over foot down the sandy hill. She tried to stop herself, get her bearings, but there was no stopping this gravitational force until she hit the ground, head still spinning. She squinted, looking up towards the hill, and saw Coulson and Ward fighting. She turned slowly, as if she were moving her heard through molasses, eyes still struggling to focus on the images in front of her. Leo was getting up from the ground, but so was Will. How? She had placed those shots directly in his chest, there was no way. It didn't make any sense.

And then Leo was scrambling, grabbing something off the ground and faced towards Will, who was shuffling towards the now-open portal, shimmering on the ground. It took hearing the gunshot for Asia to realize he was holding a pistol. Her eyes still were trying to focus from the tumble she had taken down the hill, and whatever she had banged her head on along the way. She shifted to her knees, starting to crawl towards Leo, worried that if she stood up, she would fall over again. She kept crawling towards him, as Leo fired again and again. Will's body toppled to the ground.

Leo appeared at her side, his hand gripping her forearm, helping her to her feet. "You came," he breathed, looking at her, as wind whipped her hair around, sand smacking against both of their cheeks. He looked at her as if he was seeing a world wonder for the first time.

"Of course I came," She replied back, unsure if he heard her, or if her words were caught in the wind. There was no universe that would prevent her from finding him, ever.

"Of course you did," he replied, gently helping her move forward towards the portal. "I knew that you would." And he had, all the way down to his bones, the stardust that built him. When he looked up again, his brow furrowed. Will, or the thing that was in Will, was getting back up again. "Hold on, love," he said, patting her arm as if to test for her stability.

And then he was off, reaching for a backpack that was lying in the dust. Asia winced, trying to focus on what he was doing. He was standing up straight, holding something white in his hand. It took her a second to realize it was a flare gun.

Next thing she knew, he had fired it. Directly into Will's back, which erupted into flames. His body fell over with a distinctive finality. And then Leo was back at her side, as if he had materialized there, and he was guiding her forward again. "Come on, I'm getting you out of here," he whispered to her, before he turned and shouted over his shoulder for Coulson to hurry. The portal would close soon, if they didn't get through it, they'd be stuck here. Asia was his number one priority, he had to get her out.

They stood at the edge of the rippling black pool together, staring down at the pool. "Ready?" He asked, linking his fingers through hers. She nodded, and they dropped into the pool, falling, falling...and then they were flying.

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Back on Zephyr One, they were all alive. Well, Leo, Asia, and Coulson were. Daisy and Mack had held on to the portal until they made it through, then they took a containment module back up to the ship. May blew the Hydra castle to sky high.

Out of the containment module, Leo pulled Asia to him, brushing his thumb over her cheek. "You did that," he said, smiling at her, proudly. "You jumped through a portal, traveled to another world, all to save me."

"And you didn't even need saving," Asia replied, unable to not smile back at him. "You're the one who got me off the ground, got me to that portal. You're the real hero here."

Leo laughed, pulling her closer, their lips meeting one another in perfect synchronization. She knew the map of his mouth like the back of her own hand. As they parted from the kiss, he held her hands in between his own, pressing their foreheads together. "I am so lucky to have you, my best friend, my partner," he continued the sweet words, causing her to blush, a rare sign of emotion.

"And I am just as lucky to have you," She replied back. "Wherever you are, be it here on Earth, or a planet lightyears away...I see you, and I am home."

And she was, she was home, here in his arms, and happy. Though her happiness faltered, when she turned and saw Jemma's face, staring at the now-empty chamber, coming to the realization that Will had not made the journey home.

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