Desperate Times... (R at worst)

Despite the speed he'd been going on the way there, the drive to the Institute felt like an eternity and Chris found himself worrying more and more for Skye's life. During the drive, he questioned her sanity in desiring to end her own life on a whim like she had; Chris had never seen anything like that before in his life and it made him wonder what life in a relationship with her would have been like. He didn't regret what he'd said, though, based on the fact that it was the truth and how he felt about everything but Skye was a friend and fellow mutant. The young man wasn't going to allow her to die simply because he didn't desire a romantic relationship with her.

The truck halted just outside the front gate and Chris moved around the front and picked Skye back up, applying pressure to the cut and hoping he wasn't too late before running to the gate and banging on it then looking at what appeared to be a camera.

"Can someone help me," he questioned hoisting Skye a bit higher to prevent dropping her. "She's bleeding out and this is the only place I thought safe for... one of us... please, open up. I don't know how much longer she has."

Chris looked down at Skye when she spoke and merely shook his head, inwardly cursing her for putting him in such a situation but his feelings of frustration became hope when a man came to the front gate and opened it up. When he asked what happened, Chris sighed and looked down at Skye feeling it best to just tell the truth for her mental benefit later on.

"Attempted suicide," he answered the man. He didn't have to tell him, but he figured that if anyone could be trusted it was someone at the Institute. He followed as indicated and spoke very little, only mentioning brief tidbits on what he'd done to attempt to stop the bleeding then went on to explain her mutation as best he could.

"She's an electrical mutant. She discharges electricity regularly and anything or anyone she touches is in danger of a shock. I can touch her because I share that ability, though it's less obvious on me," he explained as they entered the medical bay, "but if anyone can help her, it's you guys. Mount Sinai would only report her to the MRD and she'd be carried off."

Chris frowned down at Skye with furrowed brows in response to her words of wanting to die. "Tempting... but do you really want to take a coward's way out? I thought you were braver than this." He took a deep breath following what he'd said and shook his head realizing how it had to sound and followed them up. "These people can help you. Dying isn't the answer to anything, especially this. So you'll not be able to date me... that doesn't mean you won't be part of my life in some way. This is entirely illogical."

Chris obeyed the man's words and made his way to the med bay and laid Skye on the table there and crossed his arms looking down at her still trying to make sense of it all. When Jason came back in and explained the plan, the young mutant nodded in agreement up until he was asked to give her the sedative to which his eyes widened and his brows raised in surprise. "So you want me to stab her with a needle and not expect an electrical outburst that could fry your med bay? I'll do it, but I'm just curious is all."

When asked what had brought everything on, the young man looked over at Jason and furrowed his brows slightly. While he'd have liked to tell the man to mind his own business, he didn't really see any harm in confirming what he'd already overheard. "Yeah. She has rejection issues of the worst kind but... yeah - not really anyone's business. No offense."

Chris then stood silently while the man seemed to calm Skye somehow. He'd met a few mutants and had no way of knowing if he could cast illusions, numb pain, a telepath, or something that he had no name for. All mutation was different and even with he and Skye, the mutation itself was similar but how it manifested was almost night and day between them. Seeing the young woman calm down, Chris glanced over at Jason and did as instructed, recalling his military training and gave her the shot.

The former airman then stepped back and let the man work, happy to hear that she wasn't going to need stitches but then nodding with a sigh. "She'll live and not need stitches, but she's in need of psychological help. Those bangles on her aren't just cosmetic. They're MRD property and if anyone can help her, it's you. So thanks, maybe I'll see you around..."

Chris listened to the man's words and, while he felt insulted that Jason believed him to be abandoning Skye, the young man saw it as quite the opposite. The Institute could give her the security and schooling she needed to understand and control her ability so she was a less obvious target for the MRD. All in all, Chris believed he was actually saving her life. "Great men and women are forged in fire. Believe me, her memory of me leaving isn't the worst she has. Take a look at her jewelry when you get the chance and you'll understand." He nodded to the bangles on her wrists before turning to the door, stopping and looking back at the man.

"So while you're judging me as some kind of monster for leaving her in a place of safety, ask yourself if she'd be better with the MRD because if she stays with me that is what will happen. Or, as you say, she would die. At least here she has a chance to learn and develop her powers, but maybe neither of us are fit to look after her?" He arched a brow and shrugged then told the man to take care then left the med bay and was soon back at the gate which he'd entered.

He had to change his clothes and then focus on his father. Events had taken place that he couldn't ignore and his father was to blame for them and a major threat to not only himself but other mutants; like it or not, he was going to have to deal with the man and while a lot of what Jason had said was judgmental and wrong, the part of her survival was correct. Skye would die if she traveled with him and the likelihood of himself being captured and or killed was equally high. His thoughts were all over the place as he got back into the truck and left the manor going back into the city. He had a lot of work to do before his job was finished and he could breathe easy.