I don't own SHIELD and never will. No copyright infringement intended.

When Coulson first started rambling about the universe it sent a chill down Ward's spine – his behavior reminded him of Garrett that last day or so. "Skye, go!" he urged.

She shook her head. "I'm not leaving either of you. Coulson? Come on. Snap out of it," Skye pleaded. But her pleas went unheard – Coulson just kept talking.

Ward stepped in front of Skye to protect her just in case the director attempted to hurt them. "Coulson, come on. Just come back." He knew it wasn't going to work since it hadn't with Garrett but he had to try. He wasn't going to admit that he was so scared he could barely stand it right now because it wasn't the right time.

When Coulson turned around, Skye bit her lip to hide her scream at the glazed, almost inhuman look in his eyes. "Coulson?" she whimpered.

Ward looked at the wall behind them and immediately noticed the familiar writing. Fuck, this was definitely bad. "Do you know what you wrote?"

The director ignored him and just kept talking, stumbling over his words. When he started moving towards them, Skye and Ward walked backwards and nearly tripped over each other in the process. "Do you think he's aware of what's happening, Ward?"

He shrugged. "Sir?" No answer, but he didn't really expect one. They both flinched when Coulson started to hum and neither could place the song. And when he was done, he started screaming at the top of his lungs. Both Skye and Ward winced and clapped their hands over their ears to block out the noise. Once his mouth closed, they uncovered their ears.

And then awareness seemed to slowly come back. "What happened?"

Skye approached him warily. "Do you remember anything of the past ten minutes? Ward and I walked in on you writing on the wall."

Coulson shook his head. "I was writing on the wall? Why?"

"We're not sure, sir." Ward didn't want to make any sudden movements in case they set him off again. They really didn't need another incident, especially so close to the last one.

He groaned and grabbed his head. "Go get Melinda!" he ordered. It didn't take Skye that long to react – she turned around and ran in the other direction, skidding around the turn to go find May.

"You should sit down," Ward suggested.

"Good idea." Appearing dazed, Coulson practically slumped in the chair behind his desk and laid his head down on it. Ward hovered uncertainly behind him and sighed in relief when May and Skye burst into the room. May checked over Coulson frantically, clearly panicked.

"You seem fine now," she gasped once she was satisfied with his health. Her heart still pounded, however, and she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

"Melinda, what if this is one of the problems with TAHITI?" Coulson looked at her in clear terror. He thought he had managed to escape the side effects but clearly not. "What if you have to put me down?"

May shook her head. "Don't you dare ask that of me, Philip Coulson. I can't do it."

"Then have Ward do it."

Ward backed up when their gazes turned towards him and raised his hands. "Don't look at me. I can't do it either. And I'm sure you'll be fine." He'd never forgive himself if he killed Coulson, and he knew Skye would hate him forever if he even tried. He couldn't risk her loathing him again.

Skye walked over to Ward and let him hold her hand. She needed the comfort right now. "We'll figure this out," she assured the man she considered a father.

"Yeah, you're not alone," Ward whispered as he pulled his girlfriend in for a hug to comfort her (he wasn't very good at it, but he at least tried).

May kneeled down on the floor and looked at Coulson. "I promise you that you are not going to die or follow the same path Garrett did. We're all here for you."

"And you're sure?" He looked so uncertain that the three of really didn't know how to react to his question.

"We're sure." May stood up and sat down in Coulson's lap. He oomphed about the sudden weight but didn't complain about it.

Skye cocked her head and stared at them suspiciously. "I don't know what's going on between you two but I like it." She smiled when they turned to stare at her.

"Well it's definitely not platonic." Ward was glad they found each other (finally). They needed anything they could get now that the world was falling apart around them. Rebuilding SHIELD wasn't exactly easy but they were all trying to figure it out.

"I'm in love with her. Hope she feels the same way." Coulson looked at May bashfully.

She grinned and then swatted him. "Nice of you to tell me in front of Skye and Ward. Good effort. Lucky I feel the same way about you."

"Okay, that's the weirdest love confession since Ward's creepy one after he kidnapped me."

"Hey! It's true but we don't talk about that." Ward really did not like to think about that period of time because it reminded him of how much he spiraled because of Garrett and everything else spinning out of control.

"At least we can joke about it now," she pointed out. Then she sighed. "We should probably leave them alone so they can have sex on the desk."

"Thanks for the imagery, Skye."

Skye just shrugged and ushered him out of Coulson's office so Coulson and May could have some privacy.

They needed to figure out what was wrong with Coulson as soon as possible because they were running out of time. The writing on the wall was about to bite them in the ass and no one would see it coming if they didn't sort out this situation. But one thing was for certain – Phil wouldn't have to deal with this by himself. His family rallied around him as soon as they found out something was wrong.