May had finished her dinner, the team, minus Coulson had eaten and chatted around a table at the canteen. Skye and Jemma stood to collect the plates as they continued talking.
When Coulson hadn't joined them for dinner, they decided to plate up some food for him and leave it in the oven to keep it warm.
"May, should we go get A.C, now?" Skye asked as she turned the taps on to wash the dishes.
May stood and walked over to the oven. "No. He's probably busy given that he hasn't come out of his office to eat." She then opened the oven, took Phil's meal out with a tea towel protecting her hands from the hot plate. "I'll see how he's doing and drop the food off." She then turned the appliance off and closed it's door.
"Oh May, don't forget these...!" Jemma handed May a knife and fork.
"Thanks, Jemma." May left the room intent on getting Phil to pause his work schedule, somehow.
She navigated her way around the Playground base to Phil's new office. The base took some getting used to. It wasn't exactly light and airy; so different to The Bus she had called home for nearly a year.
When she approached the door, she didn't bother knocking, she never had and entered the office to find Phil asleep at his desk. He was lent forward slightly. Both arms on his desk but one raised, propping his head up.
'He must of dowsed off in the middle of something.' May thought to herself. She walked closer to him trying not to disturb him as she did.
It was only when she got closer that she saw that he had his pen still in his hand. Curiosity got the better of her, she gently placed his still piping hot meal on his desk, walked around the back of his chair to peer over his shoulder to see what he'd been writing.
May was confused at first, the images on the notepad looked like he'd been absentmindedly doodling, like one would do when they're on a phone call. Random circles and lines connecting them all, it looked very familiar...
As she pondered further, she remembered that she had seen this on the glass lab door which Garrett had pulled out a few weeks before. He'd drawn nearly, if not exactly, the same strange, non-nonsensical patterns.
'What the hell does this mean?' Her focus moving from the pad to Phil, then back to the pad.
A few moments past when she heard his breathing changing slightly. She was aware of this subtle change due to her martial arts and tai chi training, the skill of proper breathing was integral.
Phil then turned a page over in his small notepad and began to doodle again as if he was in a trance. Even from her place behind Phil, Melinda felt that he hadn't woken up, he would've noticed her or felt her by now.
She slowly circled back round his desk to kneel beside him, she was right, he had his eyes open but was not completely aware of his surroundings. She got closer to him, observing him further. 'Is this like a form of sleep walking?' She thought to herself, because surely, sleep walking isn't limited to just walking, is it?
Just as suddenly as it started, Phil's head shot up with a sharp intake of breath and a look of shock or surprise, she couldn't decipher which but she could see his eyes were open and he didn't look happy and that was enough for her.
Phil quickly looked down at the pad, May wonders if he realizes that she's in the same room and not even a foot away from him.
In a look of panic, Coulson picked the pad up and leafed through it's contents, the same strange patterns appearing on every page. It seemed that he was in the middle of writing an action strategy when he must've fallen asleep and drawn over his plans. It was only a few seconds later, he noticed May was kneeling down beside him.
"Errr, May. I-" Phil was at a loss.
May looked up at him, sympathy etched on her face, "Phil, there's no need to say anything." She couldn't really explain what was going on and she witnessed it, she can't expect him to know what happened when he wasn't conscious at the time.
"...This is one of the signs, isn't it?" Phil looked worriedly into May's eyes. "I'm going to turn mad and you're going to have to 'put me down'."
May shuffled closer still to Coulson, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., placing her hands on his thighs, "We don't know for sure if Hypergraphia is a precursor to madness, Phil."
"But it's what the other me was talking about on the laptop, hypergrahia, aphasia, complete psychosis."
"Just because you have one of the symptoms of the GH325, doesn't mean you'll get them all." She rubbed his thighs slightly to emphasize her point.
He didn't seem to be buying it.
"Look, from what I've seen, those who have taken GH325 have displayed different symptoms. Look at Garrett, he had GH325 along with the Centipede Serum. who knows what that cocktail has done to his already psychotic mind."
She could see that she was starting to get through to him. "No look at Skye, she's had GH325 in her for a few months and she knows where it came from, she didn't need memory replacement."
Phil turned toward her in his swivel chair. "So your displaying one of the signs you told Fury about. We'll deal with it. You're not going to go through this alone. I'm certainly not going to 'put you down'."
May had a lump in her throat when she came to speak of him like an animal.
"I could never do that to you. Never." That's when she let a tear escape from her eye, landing on one of her hands on Phil's leg.
Phil hadn't expected that, he'd seem May cry before, sure. But over him? Never.
"Shhhh, come here." Phil went to wrap his arms around her as she climbed up on his lap.
"I'm sorry Phil, you shouldn't be here comforting me like this. Not after what you've been through." May sniffed as she lay across his lap.
"Shhhh," He said again, "It's OK, I'm here." He lifted her face gently with his hand, caressing her as he did.
She let him lift her head slightly as his lips met hers in a tender kiss, which spoke volumes to her. A kiss which reaffirmed his earlier comforting words.
One of May's hands cupped his face and the other rubbed his chest. She loved him and right now, she didn't want to be anywhere else but right here, beside Phillip Coulson.
~~~~End~~~~