I apologize in advance for making people cry before Valentine's Day. It's post TRACKS/early TAHITI with a little canon divergence. There's a little tie in to the first chapter of another Skitz story of mine, Nightmares.

Denial

It couldn't be true. It couldn't be true. It had to be a lie. It couldn't be true. It couldn't be true.

Leo buried his head in his hands, clenching his curls roughly. He was sitting in the waiting room with the team at the SHIELD hospital that they'd rushed Skye to after she'd been…

"It's your fault," he told himself angrily. "You took the easy job, and let her go in alone. Why didn't you go after her? Why didn't you run in when you heard the shots? Why didn't you do anything?"

Through the cracks in his fingers, he saw a nurse approach the team. Leo stood up immediately after Coulson, feeling a range of emotions course through him. He was still wearing the same clothes that he'd been on the mission in, and had slept in them during the flight. The rest had only opened his mind to a series of horrific nightmares that all involved him trying to save Skye in various circumstances, but failing every time. He'd woken up in a cold sweat, and prayed that she would be saved.

All his prayers came crumbling down as soon as the words 'life support' left the nurse's mouth.

Leo felt himself block out the rest of the conversation and sank back into the chair he had been in. In front of him, Coulson was staring blankly at the space where the nurse had been before she left. The senior agent was pale, and looked as though he couldn't comprehend the events occurring either.

May's fists were clenched so tightly that the skin was white. Without warning, she stormed out of the room with what looked to be actual tears in her eyes. A few seconds later, a loud crash came from around the corner, as if something had been pushed over. No one made a move to go see what it was though. Leo had a feeling that going after her right now would only be a good idea if he wanted to get hurt.

Simmons had her arms curled in tight at her sides and was huddled beside Ward. The specialist had his arms around her like he wanted to protect her from the world if it came crashing down on them. Both of them looked as though they were already at Skye's funeral. Leo looked bitterly at them. They had each other, and May and Coulson had clearly some past together. But he was alone now. He had no one. His insides felt dead and empty. It was like someone had ripped chunks of his identity from him.

There was no way he could lose Skye. She was the heart of them all, the one who saw things different from the true blue SHIELD way. Skye brought life and light to the team in ways no one else, especially himself, ever could. She had been their missing puzzle piece to making them a complete, whole, functioning unit.

Ward's stone walls that shielded him from the rest of the world cracked to let Simmons in and opened him up to the rest of the team because of her.

Jemma found a friend who would watch chick flicks with her without complaining and talk about girly things with because of her.

Even though they weren't biologically related (although he still questioned it a lot), Coulson and May had found a daughter because of her.

Leo had found someone who he cared about in ways he never thought were possible because of her.

It was because of Skye that they were united. There was no way that this bubbly, positive girl in plaid shirts who could hack just about anything, who couldn't do a Scottish accent to save her life, who saw the good when no one else could was so severely injured. Leo just couldn't believe it.

He stood up and shuffled over to Coulson. "Can I see her?" he asked. "Please?"

Their leader looked older than ever as he faced Leo and gave him a small nod.

They left Ward and Simmons to comfort each other and walked down the hallway where the hospital rooms were. A nurse standing nearby directed them toward Skye's room. As they entered, Leo's breath caught suddenly in his throat when he saw the tube in her mouth and the paleness of her skin.

In that moment, he collapsed against the wall and started sobbing. There was no more denying it when it was right there in front of him. He didn't go after her; he didn't have her back in that mansion. Quinn had shot Skye because he hadn't gone in with her. Now the girl he loved was possibly going to slip away from him forever.

Coulson's hand felt like a lead weight on his shoulder. Leo wiped his eyes and looked over at him to see the other man crying as well.

"We'll find a way to save her," Coulson promised him as he led Leo from the room.

Leo nodded in affirmation. Earlier in the day, he was actually happy about the mission. He and Skye were pretending to be a dating couple on a six month anniversary trip. They'd bonded well, and it all felt like a wonderful dream that he didn't want to wake up from.

Right now, a dream was Leo wanted all this to be.

How is everybody's hearts?