Oh look! Another one! Hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: Not mine!
"Your Hand In My Hand"
"As long as there's still life in me, just remember: no matter what gets in my way, I'll always come for you."
Coulson slammed each fist into the punching bag like it was his source of anger. In slow motion, he could see the attempted pendulum bag, restrained from the chain holding it in place. He could see the sweat jumping off the bag as if the droplets were escaping the wrath of the restrained pendulum like their life depended on it. Each hit shot pain up his arms like lightning, but he'd long ago ignored the pain. Sweat rolled down his face like tears, meeting their fate on his black cotton T-shirt. His heart pounding fiercely against his chest threatened to shut down, prompting his breathing to feel like he'd run an extended marathon.
Yet Coulson didn't give a damn. She wasn't there to stop him, to gently pry him from his hypnotic workout. He could still feel her like she was just on the other side of this metamorphic mirror between them. She was just a touch away; yet every time he'd try to grab her hand to make her stay with him, she would just run a hair's length forward, like moves on a chessboard.
Unfortunately, their team was left to watch the destruction of their boss, who by now was nothing like the man they'd known months ago. All four members looked worried, concerned. Standing on the mezzanine above the lab/cargo hold/workout room, they watched helplessly while Coulson pushed his body to its limit. He refused to listen to them. They could see he was one step closer to causing serious damage to his body; his spirit had already been damaged beyond recognition. Only Skye would bring him out of this hellhole, just like she'd done when she found him in that godforsaken town.
Up on the mezzanine, May had her hand wrapped around the metal railing while Ward leaned on the railing and FitzSimmons sat on it, legs dangling over the side. None of them looked at one another. Finally, May spoke up. "We need to do something – anything."
Three nods agreed with her.
"Yeah, but what?" Fitz asked, swinging his legs and throwing an arm over the bottom rail.
"If he doesn't stop working out in the next hour, we could see Coulson have severe complications." Jemma stated, unnecessarily. She was comfortable with statistics.
"What do you have in mind, May?" Ward averted his eyes over to his friends-with-benefits partner.
May slowly turned her head to look at Ward. "Find Elliot Randolph."
She turned on her heels and walked down the spiral staircase. Gently, she approached Coulson, trying to see if there was any way to knock him out of his stupor. "Phil?" She bent her head trying to get him to see her. When that didn't work, she called to him in a louder voice with no change.
Looking up at the others, she threw up her arms. Ward pointed quietly to Lola. Turning, she looked at the innocent vehicle. He is so going to kill me. She groaned. "Grab the keys, Ward!" She yelled up to him. He was already heading in that direction.
"Wha…" FitzSimmons echoed each other as they scrambled up to follow Ward, but May stopped them.
"He'll be right back." She said.
Minutes later Ward reappeared with Lola's life support. Tossing them to May, she easily caught them and walked over to the cargo hold open/close large red button. Luckily, they were stopped at a S.H.I.E.L.D.-approved airspace for rest and fuel. Otherwise, she wouldn't be attempting this. Looking up with encouraging nods from the repositioned team members, she stepped over to his beloved car, opened the door, slid in, and turned on the car. He stopped, freezing in place. She revved the engine as he turned ever so slowly to glare at her.
Stepping back from the bag, he lowered his fists. "Don't touch Lola." He ordered in a very deadly tone as he took a step closer to his beloved car.
She was satisfied, smiling up at him. "It got your attention, didn't it?"
He suddenly seemed to snap out of his hypnotic state, looking around the cargo hold before returning his eyes on May, who still hadn't made a move to leave Lola alone. "Turn Lola off and get out of her."
"When you have Simmons check on you, then I'll get out." She compromised, turning Lola off.
Coulson turned his head, craning his neck to see the rest of their team waving hesitantly. Sighing, the pain he'd been ignoring suddenly hit his body like a freight train. Stumbling in his steps, he managed to stagger back to the bench a few feet away and collapse on the cushion.
"Coulson!" He heard all four yell as he slid off the bench, reaching out to save himself before he fell onto his back, landing with a thud on the metal floor. A car door slam and three pairs of rushed footsteps rushing down the spiral staircase was the last thing he heard as the last ounce of his energy finally escape and his mind shut down. His body relaxed and his eyes slowly closed, seeing May falling to her knees, sliding in front of him to check on him.
"Come back, come back, come back, come back, come back. Come back, come back."
Indistinct talking, the increasingly agitating beeping noise, laden limbs were just a few of the senses Coulson became aware of as he sluggishly pulled himself away from the sucking clutches of the black abyss.
Please, let me die. He begged whoever would listen. Let me go wherever she is. Tears came to his eyes. Heartache had long ago set in his repaired heart; and it seemed like again his heart was breaking, for the woman he'd never get to love, for the woman who was thrust in a world she didn't know.
"Mr. Coulson?" he heard a familiar male voice softly call, pulling him even closer to reality. "Mr. Coulson, open your eyes. I know you're awake." The man caught him.
Slowly, Coulson barely opened his baby blues, taking in the world through slits. Something beeped next to him and something was attached to him. Chatter filtered into his ears from outside whatever space they were in.
"Look at me." The man commanded, and he was magnetically obligated to look at the person.
What's Elliot Randolph doing here? Where is here? He wondered. "Elliot." He croaked, not even recognizing his own voice.
Elliot smiled. "Yeah." The Asgardian lightly patted Coulson's extremely sore shoulder.
"Where…?" he managed to get out from his cotton ball mouth. Looking at his surroundings, he noted a heart monitor was beeping steadily, an IV stuck in his left hand connected to a bag of saline hanging off the IV pole, the sun peeking through the blinds. His eyes finally landed at Plexiglas window. Four figures stared back at him, nervously, worriedly, anxiously, etc.
A pang of guilty touched his heart. Slowly, closing his eyes, he impatiently shook off the fogginess that seemed to refuse to release him, only to fill him with dizziness.
"Whoa, Mr. Coulson." Elliot placed his hands on Coulson's shoulders. "It's okay."
"Skye." He croaked again in a questioning tone, hoping she was somewhere nearby.
Elliot lowered his head, shaking his head. "She's still on Asgard." Elliot reluctantly informed him. It tugged at his heart to see the dispirited demeanor. He turned in his seat to look at them for guidance.
"I can't take it anymore. I can't take it."
Coulson wanted to die…again. He wanted to lay under Raina's machine to unlock the rest of his blocked memory first. Perhaps, it could give him a sense of hope, but that was no longer an option. Damn Fury.
Turning away from his team and Elliot, he winced as he did so and cried.
Elliot, having turned back once he heard Coulson crying, started to reach up to place a comforting hand on the heartbroken man but was stopped by May's hand. Looking up at the Chinese woman, he tried to figure out what the stoic agent was thinking.
"He's not really a touchy, feely type. Skye's the only one who can get away with that." She let him know as he dropped his hand.
"Then, I suggest you find Skye." Elliot advised, looking back at Coulson. "I'm no doctor, but if you don't, you're going to lose him completely."
"I know." May agreed.
"Please, Skye." They heard him quietly plea.
Hearing his pleading mantra, all four members of Team Coulson felt a little part of their heart crack.
TBC...