He quickly stops her retreat but gently cradles her face in his hands, forcing her head up to look at him. She blinks a couple of times to focus on him and pull her attention away from the paralyzing fear that is coursing through her veins. And when she finally sees him, his grey eyes are soft and reassuring, reminding her more of a relaxing rainy day than the hardened steel she was so used to associating with him. And when he mumbles the words "Trust me," she gives the smallest nod of her head in acquiescence. Taking a step back, his hands fall away from her face and if she wasn’t too worried about the impending doom of following this man across a ward that clearly didn’t want her there, she might have noticed his reluctance to let her go. She might have noticed him stop himself from leaning in to kiss her. He intertwined their fingers and took a step ahead of her. Bending his arm, he moved their clasped hands behind his back simultaneously hiding their hands and shielding the majority of her body with his own. While she believed him that he didn’t think there was danger awaiting them on the other side of the ward, she did notice his intrinsic need to protect her.  