Submitted by agentnightshade - The way he's looking at her; like he just lost the most precious thing in the world and he prays to whatever God is listening that if she makes it out of this? He'll tell her everything, to hell with the consequences. She means more to him than John Garrett ever did, he's going to make him pay.
Turn, Turn, Turn
He keeps it together somehow until they get to the trauma center, but as soon as she's wheeled into surgery, he falls apart. He stands frozen at the double doors of the operating ward for what feels like an eternity, his palm on the glass (leaving bloody marks behind – her blood) long after she is out of his sight, already behind another set of doors, and when the others retreat to the waiting room, he falls behind and hides in an empty stairwell.
There he breaks.
He can barely breathe and his vision is blurry and he fears his legs will give away. He pounds at the wall until his knuckles split open, his blood mixing with hers.
It takes him a good ten minutes to compose himself – until at least he reaches a level when he feels like he can breathe again without his chest collapsing and speak without his tears spilling. He reaches for his pocket, pulling his phone out – his hands shake so much, he can barely dial.
He has a terrible suspicion. He has to…
Garrett picks up at the second ring.
"Son?" His voice is eerily calm. "Everything alright?"
He takes one long, hard breath before speaking.
"It was you." His voice is barely above whisper, yet strong, unwavering. "You told Quinn to shot her."
There's a moment of dead silence on the other end of the line. And then–
"Is she alive?" He is not concerned about her. He just wants to know if his plan is still in motion.
"Barely. She's in surgery." He doesn't tell him how frail, how pale she looked when they lifted her into the hyperbolic chamber; how terrified he was that he'd already lost her.
"Good. She needs to be on the brink of it. That's the only way we can get Coulson do what we want. Grant, don't forget why –"
He hangs up. He doesn't need to hear more. (Garrett tries to call back; he smashes the phone against the wall.)
Garrett is ready to sacrifice Skye. She is dying because of him, and he doesn't even feel a bit of remorse.
And Grant? All Grant is feeling is fury and desperation and panic. He can't lose her – if she dies, a part of him will die with her. She just can't… Not before he gets to tell her how he feels, how she has become his whole world in these last few months. How he believes that she could be his savior. How he loves her.
His forehead against the bloodied wall, he breathes heavily. He has to do something. He has to save Skye, and he has to… He has to stop Garrett. It all must come to an end before he could hurt anybody else, before he could lay one more finger on her.
But how?
He is not big enough for this.
He can't do it alone.
He makes a decision in a blink of an eye.
To the hell with the consequences. He doesn't care if he'll be fired or gets thrown into prison after this. Hell, he doesn't care if he lives or dies after this. All he cares about is that she has to live and Garrett has to be stopped (it's not about his survival anymore; it hasn't been about that in a long time.)
He leaves the stairwell and marches to waiting room, determined, unrelenting. There he stands in front of Coulson, not caring about that everybody is staring at him, at his bloody knuckles, his red eyes, his pale face.
"Sir, we need to talk."