Another chapter! Yay!

WARNING: This one's a little sad. Don't hate me! *ducks flying objects* It'll get better, I promise.

"If You Ever Feel Alone"

"Regardless of what Father decides, you will return to Midgard when Kaju is killed."

Sunrise

Coulson slowly woke, smiling and reaching out for Skye before even opening his eyes. When her side of the bed was cold, he popped his eyes opened. In his hazy thought-process, he tried to figure out where she'd gone. Perhaps, downstairs with the rest of the family. He reasoned, rolling his head back and forth before sitting up. Legs dangling over the side of the bed, it took him a minute to get up.

I really need to find some sort of treatment to make me feel younger. Coulson mused, yawning just before completely rising from the bed. He heard all kinds of crackling and pops. "Seriously?" he groaned, yawning again before his eyes fell to the small notepad on his dresser. "I don't remember putting that there." Curious, he picked it up. Reading it, his heart escalated as panic set in.

"No, Skye. I just got you back." He cried at the paper like it could bring her back. Then, Coulson caught onto the part about keeping his ring so he knew she wasn't intending to come back to him. Still, he felt like a piece of his heart had been ripped out.

Dropping the notepad on his bed, he went to grab some clothes and put deodorant on. Turning to grab the notepad, he darted out of the room and down the stairs, not giving a damn about his appearance.

The rest of the team looked in the same state like they could care less about appearances. Jemma and Fitz were preparing breakfast while May and Ward sat at the table, talking with the lab-rats.

May turned her head toward him as he made his way into the area. She immediately detected his distress. "What's wrong, Coulson?"

All he could do was to hold up the notepad. Heart-stricken, his face clearly showed the pain. As his world seemed to fall apart again, he couldn't look at her because she wasn't there, wasn't there to glue him back together. He was lost without her. "I…um…" he could barely get any words out.

May came forth, taking the notepad out of his hand. His hand seemed fused to the spot, but he lowered his eyes to watch her read it. She looked back up at him with understanding. "You asked her to marry you?" was all she could say.

Her question seemed to unfreeze him. "Yeah, and she accepted. I don't understand why she couldn't just stay here with me. We, as a whole team," he looked at each one of them as he said team, "could eliminate Kaju. We're a tight-knit team." His eyes rounded back to May's. "I don't get it. Have I done something wrong?"

May passed the notepad to Ward, who read it before handing it over to FitzSimmons. "No you haven't." She jerked her head to the notepad. "Skye hasn't either. She wrote that she was doing it to protect you, protect all of us. The ring, your ring, she's taken with her. That's her way of saying that she will come back to you." May defended the hacktivist like she'd been doing ever since Skye's life had been in the balance. "She loves you, Coulson. Believe in that."

He was stunned that not only had his hacktivist left him, the team, but also that May was so determined for him to see Skye's point of view. "She didn't even me the chance to show her that I can be worthy of her hand in marriage." Upon seeing the confused expressions on his team, he was quick to explain. "Old fashion custom in Asgard. A man has to show that he's worthy of marrying a woman, usually by defending her. Her father isn't exactly pleased that Skye's fallen in love with me." He pointed at his chest, continuing. "But we thought once I proved my worthiness that her father would accept our intent to marry. Something about Midgardian men unable to protect Asgardian women. It's some power trip or something."

May crossed her arms. "I'm pretty sure your abilities are enough to earn you the brownie points you need."

"I don't think her father sees it that way." He shook his head. "Which is why I got permission from Thor to marry her on Earth before up there. If Thor could show him that we are indeed hitch, he would have to accept it." He tilted his head. "Although I'm not entirely sure our marriage would count up there."

"Well, it should." Jemma said.

Ward stood up, standing next to May. "What do you need us to do, Sir?"

Although Coulson was touched by the loyalty his team offered, he felt helpless and lost in this situation. His appearance screamed defeat. Sagging his shoulders, he looked down. "I honestly don't know."

"We need to find the Clairvoyant." Fitz spoke up. "He's the only way to bring her back."

The team realized he was right.

"Then, let's get searching!" Ward exclaimed, slapping his hands. Then, he looked at the food FitzSimmons had prepared. "After we eat and get cleaned up."

They laughed, even causing Coulson to chuckle.

"You're saying there's nothing to be done?"

Coulson sat in his office, hunched over, hands clasped and elbows on his knees. Staring at a frozen scene of Skye sitting in the interrogation room, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the look she was giving the camera. Hands clasped, back relaxed in the silver metal chair, she looked annoyed yet he could detect a faint of fear.

This image was just mere minutes before he and Ward burst into the room to interrogate her. Fascinated by her mind, personality and those expressive chocolate doe eyes, he should've known then he wouldn't be able to take his eyes off her. Not even when her spitfire, hidden fright told him of her real feelings as she stood, brushing off their questions and pushing Ward back away from her. A tinge of jealousy had flared up when she did that, but it quickly dissolved when she sliced her annoyed eyes over to him.

It'd been then upon looking at the file he'd composed and seeing her intelligence that he didn't want to brush her aside, to let her out of his custody. In the beginning, he'd decided to use her skills to complete his hand picked team, but somehow along the way she'd become a part of his team, a part of his life, one person he couldn't live without seeing her sleepy-cast eyes or spitfire personality.

Even when Miles, her boyfriend at the time, came into the picture, he couldn't quite just drop her. He'd become even more jealous at the realization that she had a boyfriend, although he tried his damnedest to hide it. Then, he could tell her loyalties had switched from the Rising Tide to S.H.I.E.L.D. The way she'd defended them and lost all respect for the man who'd pulled her out of her spiral of despair. He'd given her the push to accept the bracelet, to accept the fact that he was a sentimentalist, one who respected her more than Miles had, more than the Rising Tide ever had.

At least that's what Phil Coulson had hoped. He knew she was just as close and had respect to him as he was to her. Her actions toward finding him and punching the woman responsible to pull him out of his descent told everyone of her feelings – respect, loyalty, maybe even…love – that seemed to be unable to shake. Even, the team could tell the love bug had bitten her.

Now, here he was, staring at a frozen screen shot of her, trying to get some kind of hit. Oh, God. He groaned as he dropped his head in his hands and running his fingers through his thin hair. I've become addicted to her. I am so flipping screw. Coulson raised his head, alarmed. That just sounded creepy.

"Sitting here, dwelling in her absence isn't going to help us find the Clairvoyant, Phil." May came out of nowhere, using her ninja skills, as she glanced at his TV screen. Crossed arms, she didn't even wait for his permission to enter the office. "And staring at that frame isn't helping, either." May jerked her head toward the TV.

Averting his gaze to May, he looked at her like a man who'd lost everything. "What am I supposed to do?" He snapped, bolting out of the chair with clenched fists. "She's not here to give us guidance on what to do! Thor isn't here to train me with this stupid weapon!" He glared at the sheathed handle. "What am I supposed to do?" He reiterated, throwing the innocent weapon to the floor like it was the cause of his anger.

May dropped her hands to her sides, glaring at him. "Are you fucking kidding me right now?"

Coulson paused, leveling his eyes with hers. "Excuse me?" He spit out.

The room was filled with angry tension, fueled by his pity. They had a stare down until finally May spoke her peace. "Fine. I'll open up your eyes." Kneeling down to pick up his weapon, she rose, presenting it to him. He stared at it angrily before cautiously taking it from her. "That," she pointed to the weapon, "is your answer to defeating The Clairvoyant. Obviously, he's not only directing his attention to you, but also to Skye." She paced. "Now why is that? Wouldn't the Clairvoyant know what happened to you?"

"I was healed off planet. He has two points he's trying to do. One…" he held up his pointer finger, "is find out how I was healed, and two…he believes Skye is an abomination."

May looked surprised. "You know who the Clairvoyant is?"

Coulson nodded. "It's Skye's uncle. Kaju is the God of Death and War. He's a god. That's how he's able to spy on every government, every agency." Coulson flopped onto his chair. "I guess he's the black sheep of the family." Setting his weapon on the desk before him, he sighed heavily. "Okay, so Kaju is on Earth, and he's been here for decades, obviously." The senior agent twiddled his thumbs as he racked his mind for a solution. Snapping his head up, his eyes leveled with May's. "He's been cast out from Asgard." Standing up, he grabbed his weapon. "I need to talk to her father."

Coulson headed for the door. May turned on her heels. "And how do you suppose you're going to do that?"

He leaned back into the office. "My weapon is my ticket." Then, he was off, leaving a confused May in the dust.

"Oh dear, I'm a mess."

Coulson slipped the weapon on and looked up toward the sky. "Heimdall, open the Bifrost!" He called, at first asking then turning to desperation. Rain had started falling at a heavy rate.

"C'mon, Heimdall!" He yelled. "Please, open the Bifrost!"

Nothing. Not even a swirl of clouds

"Dammit!" He stomped his foot into the muddy surface, splashing dirt-ridden water all over. Turning on his heels, he stomped back over to the tarmac. May was standing at the edge, having followed him outside. Pointing at her, he said. "I'm going to find a way to her. Watch me!" He glared at her as he passed her.

May watched him before turning back to the spot where'd he been. Don't let him destroy himself again.

TBC...