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Chapter Text

It didn’t come as much of a shock to Daisy that her and the others were suddenly being teleported from the diner. It was only a matter of time before their moment of peace was disturbed. She didn’t think they would’ve ended up in an empty theater though. As she got her bearings, Coulson broke the silence, “And we were just about to get pie.”

“Holy no way.”

The team spun towards the voice, Daisy already lifting her arm in defense, and were shocked by what they saw. Before them was Daisy, only years younger. Right behind her were the younger versions of the team.

The first team. Minus Ward.

At that fact, Daisy put her arm back down, and Yoyo hissed, “What are you doing? They could be robots.”

“I can feel their bones. They’re…well, real.”

Just as the younger version of Coulson opened his mouth to say something, the movie screen came to life, showing a grim looking Fitz and Simmons. Seeing Fitz’s well-kept facial hair and Simmons’s new hairstyle, Daisy could immediately tell that this version of them on the screen were older.

They had linked their hands and Simmons started to speak, “We know this may be crazy, even for our older team, but...Fitz and I brought you to this place. We took you from your separate timelines to this spot in the space dimension to try and…” she locked eyes with Fitz, “fix things. Not only are we from the future, Fitz has seen the team’s future. We have been looking for a way to do things differently since.”

Fitz took over. “Together, we compiled our story, the team’s story, to be presented to you in an episodic, comprehensive manner. We did this to prepare you, in hopes that you choose to make different decisions moving on from now. This is why we picked you from different timelines. Anything either team does when you’re sent back to the place and time we took you from won’t affect the other in the slightest.”

Simmons smiled and continued, “We understand how confusing things might get with there being another version of you around, so Fitz and I suggest that our older team should go by their first names for the time being if they need to, with Mack and Yoyo being the exceptions of course. We hate to keep you against your will, but this is too important.” Her eyes started getting misty. “There are many things I regret happening.”

Fitz looked down before looking back to the camera and agreeing, “Me too. So you’re going to do better after this is over. You’ll be sent back when you’re done.” He moved to turn off the camera before stopping.

“Oh and press the button on any of your chairs if you need to pause the screen.” With that, the message from them was cut off and the Shield logo replaced them on the screen with a timer counting down from one minute.

After a few moments of no one knowing what to do, Phil sighed, “Everyone find somewhere to sit then.” The team followed his lead and went up to a middle row, their younger selves getting settled in the row behind them.

Skye leaned forward as both sets of Fitzsimmons fully realized the amazement of their future selves inventing spacetime travel and started tossing theories back and forth. She angled herself in a way to get a clearer look at Daisy and wondered, “So…what should we call you? Because I only have one name you know.”

Daisy glanced at her and couldn’t tell if it felt like she was looking in a mirror or at a ghost. She answered, “I go by Daisy now actually. Um..I guess you will know why soon.”

Skye looked like she wanted to ask more, but she sat back when the screen changed. Jemma leaned into Daisy a little to whisper, “How bad do you think this will be?” As soon as she said that, Daisy heard her voice start to pour through the speakers and felt her stomach twist into a knot.

“Bad.”

Chapter Text

SKYE (in voiceover, while a montage of city life plays): The secret is out. For decades, your organization stayed in the shadows. Hiding the truth. But now we know— they're among us. Heroes... and monsters. The world is full of wonders.

Skye slumped down a bit in her seat out of embarrassment as Daisy mumbled, “You and Fitz are so dramatic for this.” 

Jemma whispered indignantly, “I haven’t even done this..yet.” Phil was looking at Daisy with a soft smile.

“The world is full of wonders.” 

East Los Angeles, CA. Exterior of a store. A little kid is looking at superhero action figures.

[indistinct conversations]

MIKE: Thanks, Bernie.

Daisy smiled sadly. She really missed Mike.

BERNIE: You bet.

MIKE: Ace, come and get it. [Mike hands Ace a hot dog.] What do you say we go out to your Aunt Mindy's this weekend? You and Kisha can swim in the pond. 

ACE: Sure. 

MIKE: You know, you got a birthday coming up in a couple of months. Who's your favorite?

ACE: I'm okay. 

Skye could relate all too well. She could never bring herself to ask even her better foster families for stuff that seemed trivial during financial struggles.

MIKE: Hey. Things are tight right now, but I'm gonna find something. Not back at the factory, but I got prospects. You and me... what are we? 

ACE: We're a team. 

Simmons cooed softly. “How touching.” Mack took Yoyo’s hand. He and Hope were a team.

MIKE: [chuckles] that's right. So, who do you... [explosion; people screaming; indistinct shouting; car alarms blaring]

Fitz was startled by the sudden noise. “Bloody hell!” Simmons lightly smacked his arm.

MIKE: Are you okay? All right, Ace, look at me. I need you to stay here with Bernie, okay? People might be hurt, and I'm gonna see if they need my help. Stay with Bernie. (to Bernie) Watch my boy! 

[indistinct shouting] 

[Mike runs towards site of explosion] 

Coulson smiled and claimed, “He’s a brave man.”

DEBBIE: Help me! Help me!! 

[indistinct shouting] 

WOMAN: Come on! Come on! 

[Mike punches fist into side of building and begins to scale it]

Fitz whistled lowly. “Even with super strength, that’s going to hurt your hands.”

Simmons hummed and said, “Yes, but he probably didn’t feel anything until after his adrenaline died down.”

WOMAN: Come on! Get out! Get out! Come on! 

MAN: Anybody in the building still?! 

MIKE: [grunting, grabbing onto window sill] Aah! [coughs; grunts; Mike throws himself into building and glass shatters] 

DEBBIE: [whimpers] Help me! Help me! 

[Mike grunts, searching around for Debbie] 

(outside building) MAN: Keep going. 

[indistinct shouting. Skye films building on her phone.] 

Jemma snorted, “Of course you had the front row seat to everything. Even then, you never stayed out of trouble.” Daisy just shrugged because it’s true.

[Mike jumps out of window, explosion behind him; he lands with Debbie; people gasp; Skye continues filming]

Fitz shook his head. “Typical superhero landing.”

[siren wails in distance] 

[Debbie coughing] 

[Mike dashes off] 

[as Skye speaks in VO, Skye in real time checks on Debbie. Mike disappears into the crowd and gets back to Ace.]

Melinda nodded and said, “It says a lot about you that you checked on her first rather than going after Mike. You did good.” Daisy smiled. Impressing her SO will always leave her with one of the best feelings.

Skye, on the other hand, was also touched to get such praise from May, even if it wasn’t hers.

SKYE (V.O.): We can't explain everything we see. But our eyes are open. So what now? There are no more shadows for you to hide in. Something impossible just happened. What are you going to do about it? 

Mack laughed and leaned forward to look at Daisy. He teased, “Have you always given inspirational speeches, Tremors?”

“I don’t give speeches.”

Yoyo grinned and interjected, “No, turtle man is right. I’m pretty sure I have heard you say something similar to an inhuman recruit.” Daisy rolled her eyes.

Coulson shared a confused glance with May. What’s an inhuman?

Outside. Paris, France. 

[tires screech; cars pull to a halt] 

DUMONT: (into walkie-talkie): Agent Ward, there's been a development.

Daisy’s team started muttering curses under their breaths, much to the confusion of the others behind them.

DUMONT (V.O. now): It's the Rising Tide. They've pinned down the location of the package. We need to abort.

Skye cringed slightly. She felt bad that she was a part of something that endangered Ward’s missions. At the same time, Daisy smirked. She was happy to have thrown a wrench into the guy’s plans a bit.

[Ward drives a motorcycle. When SHIELD agent is in VO, we're looking at Ward.] 

WARD: I'm five minutes away from retrieving it. 

DUMONT: So is everyone else. They posted the coordinates online. 

Skye muttered to herself, “Stupid, stupid..” Simmons rubbed her arm comfortingly.

WARD: If the job was easy... [parks motorcycle] 

DUMONT: Yeah, it wouldn't be any fun. Watch your six. [siren wailing; conversations in French. Ward takes off his helmet and heads into the restaurant, wearing a waiter disguise.] 

DUMONT: Red tie, by the window. 

WARD (in French): May I take your glass, sir?

MAN IN RED TIE: [says something of the affirmative in French] 

[Ward walks up the stairs and waves the glass over his tray. Some high-tech stuff happens with blue lights on the tray.]

Skye grinned. “That’s cool. How come I haven’t seen that yet?”

Coulson shrugged and answered, “We haven’t been on an undercover op that needed it.” 

[Ward enters an apartment] 

[Woman singing in french] 

[door creaks] 

[Ward uses his tray (which is clearly more than just a tray) as an x-ray to search around] 

[Woman singing in French] 

[beeping as Ward finds a keypad and scans his cloth-covered hand] 

[secret door opens in the fireplace area. Ward looks around. There's money in there.] 

[Ward turns around to see a woman standing and looking at him]

WARD: Your fireplace is broken.

Skye laughed, eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Wow, who knew the robot had a sense of humor?”

Leo mumbled to Jemma, “Yeah, real bucket of laughs that one.”

[door closes] 

[man shouts in French] 

[Ward jumps at man (and his buddy, backup man). They fight. The woman leaves.] 

DUMONT: Ward, just a heads-up. We've got possible hostiles in your vicinity. 

WARD (being choked by the aforementioned hostiles; sarcastically): Really? 

Skye grinned and clapped, “Look at him, he’s on a roll.” Coulson smiled but couldn’t help but wonder why Ward didn’t pick up on any of his jokes when he was first assigned to the team then.

[more fighting, still to the sound of French singing on the V.O. Ward wins, knocking his assailants unconscious, and leaves.] 

Outside. Ward is climbing up to a rooftop. A helicopter is approaching. 

[Ward grabs a rope dangling from the helicopter, and they're off.] 

Skye groaned, “That was totally one of the reasons Ward listed off for the purpose of strength training.” May smirked a little.

INT: Agent Hill's field office. The location card reads "Location: classified." 

HILL: What does "S.H.I.E.L.D." stand for, Agent Ward? 

WARD: Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. 

HILL: And what does that mean to you? 

WARD: It means someone really wanted our initials to spell out "SHIELD."

Skye turned and gave Coulson a look. “He had a point.”

“I can neither confirm nor deny.”

[Hill gives him a Look] 

WARD: [sighs] It means we're the line... between the world and the much weirder world. We protect people from news they aren't ready to hear. And when we can't do that, we keep them safe. Something turns up... [takes thing out of pocket] like this Chitauri neural link... [slides it across table to Hill] we get to it before someone bad does. 

Phil whispered to Melinda, “He took that straight out of the handbook, no personal opinions whatsoever.”

“You think?”

HILL: Any idea who Vanchat was planning to sell it to? [Hill gets up and starts to walk around] 

WARD: I'm more interested in how this Rising Tide group found out about it. I thought they were just hackers. What changed? 

HILL: A little while ago, most people went to bed thinking that the craziest thing in the world was a billionaire in a flying metal suit. Then aliens invaded New York and were beaten back by, among others, a giant green monster, a costumed hero from the '40s, and a god. 

WARD: I don't think Thor's technically a god. 

HILL: Well, you haven't been near his arms

Daisy and Melinda smiled at that

Hill: The battle of New York was the end of the world. This... now... is the new world. People are different. They have access to tech, to formulas, secrets they're not ready for. 

WARD: Why was I pulled out of Paris? 

HILL: That, you'll have to ask Agent Coulson.

Ward: Uh, yeah. I'm clearance level six. I know that... Agent Coulson was killed in action before the battle of New York. Got the full report. 

[Coulson, clearly not dead, steps out of the shadows] 

COULSON: Welcome to level seven. [beat] Sorry, that corner was really dark, and I couldn't help myself. I think there's a bulb out.

Daisy couldn’t help but smile. She turned to Phil and said, “You’re such a dad with those jokes.” 

He just smiled back. “They make you smile every time.” Well, Daisy couldn’t deny that. 

Skye glanced at Coulson. She couldn’t help but notice that they seem to have a closer relationship in the future.

Outside, on the streets of L.A. 

[horn honks] 

[Skye, clearly trying to be covert, is trailing Mike] 

Daisy sighed, “I could’ve been way more subtle.” 

Melinda shook her head, saying, “It wasn’t too bad actually, considering your lack of training. You’ve always been more of a natural at undercover.” Daisy smiled and tilted her head, conceding to her point.

May silently agreed with her older self but couldn’t find it in herself to voice it. It was hard enough to watch a version of herself be much more open with an older Skye. How did they become close enough for that?

INT: Hill's field office. Hill, Ward, and Coulson step out of an elevator and walk to a room. WARD: Director Fury faked your death to motivate the Avengers. 

HILL: Well, the death of a common ally is a particularly effective team-builder.

Daisy gripped the arms of her seat as her mind drifted to Trip. “Not always,” she whispered.

[they stop at a door] ROBOTIC FEMALE VOICE: Say "cheese." [I.D.s and clearance flash across a screen. They're granted entrance to the room, and they go in.]

Coulson shook his head and commented, “I believe that was a feature that Stark suggested. ” 

May rolled her eyes.

COULSON: Plus, it wasn't that much of a stretch. I stopped breathing for about 40 seconds. 

HILL: Eight. It gets longer every time you tell it.

Phil smiled bitterly, “I wonder why.” Melinda rested a hand on his arm briefly. 

[they walk into an office space full of people]

COULSON: Yeah, well, you get shanked by the Asgardian Mussolini, you can tell it your way. I was looking at the big white light, and it felt like a lot longer than eight seconds.

WARD: Do they know? The Avengers... that Fury played them? 

HILL: They're not level seven.

Skye raised her eyebrows. “Really?” 

Coulson shook his head, amending, “Agent Barton was actually. I guess Fury knew telling Clint would mean telling Natasha.”

COULSON: I got out of the I.C.U., Fury stuck me in a grass shack in Tahiti. Rough gig. Mai tais, Travis McGee novels, and a physical therapist whose command of English was... irrelevant. 

WARD: But something put you back in the game. [they stop in front of a screen playing the footage Skye captured of Mike] 

WARD: What is that? 

COULSON: That's a superhero, Agent Ward. 

HILL: An unregistered gifted. Identity... unknown. 

SKYE: The secret's out. For decades, your organization... [woman speaking french] MAN: On May 2nd, an unidentified object... 

COULSON: Another little present from the Rising Tide.

Skye shrunk in her seat. It seemed like she was going to need to get used to being reminded of her mistakes. Simmons tried to comfort her, but she turned her attention to Coulson when he tapped her hand.

He smiled at her reassuringly, “Hey, you’re the reason Mike is alive and Ace has a father. Don’t forget that being a member of the Rising Tide is what helped hone your hacking skills and led you to us.” Just like that, Skye felt her guilt start to ease off her shoulders. 

WARD: How are they getting this stuff before us? 

COULSON: Same way they cracked our RSA implementation. They're good. So I need better. 

HILL: Agent Coulson has requisitioned a mobile command unit, to which you are assigned.

Melinda whispered to Phil, “I can’t believe that in the end, it was my fault.”

He shook his head and took her hand. “You couldn’t have known.” 

COULSON: Rising Tide is trying to draw us out. I think it's time they succeeded. 

WARD: You want me to cross them off?

Skye’s eyes widened, “That was considered?!” She knew that Ward didn’t know her then and wasn't the fuzziest person, but knowing that he was ready to cross her off so easily unsettled her.

Coulson shook his head. “Of course not.”

Daisy felt like she understood Ward a lot better after seeing him in the framework, but even she wondered about his question’s intent. Was he really trying to get Coulson to take him under his wing, or was killing just so ingrained in him that he didn’t expect anything else?

COULSON: Wow. No. I want to use them to get to him. [nods towards Mike on screen] This man's world is about to get very weird. He's gonna need some help. 

WARD: I'm sorry. I was trained from day one as a specialist. I go in alone. I get it done. Defusing a nuclear bomb... I'm your guy. A welcoming committee? [inhales sharply] Not my speed.

Skye snorted, remembering when he interrogated her with Coulson. “Clearly.”

COULSON: I know it's not what you want. Agent Hill did a very detailed assessment of your last three missions. Combat— top grades. Espionage— she gave you the highest marks since Romanoff. Under "people skills," she drew a– I think it's a little poop. With knives sticking out of it.

Almost everyone laughed. Melinda shook her head, “Hill was never good at drawing.”

WARD: What?

HILL: It..

COULSON: That's bad, right? And given your family history, I'm surprised it's not worse. But... I think you're the guy for this. If I'm wrong, you go straight back to your bombs. [Dr. Streiten enters with some files that he hands out]

DR. STREITEN: Team's approved. Physicals are all fine. Fitz-Simmons is not cleared for combat. I'm told that won't be an issue. Agent Ward here... he's almost too fit.

Skye was amused by watching FitzSimmons splutter and try to protest that they aren’t that bad in combat. However, she couldn’t help but overhear Leo’s whisper to Jemma. “I would say we are more than cleared by now.”

Skye glanced back over to her own nerdy pair of friends. She wondered if Ward would start to train them too. 

WARD: That's an issue. That should be an issue. Maybe I can't join the team– 

HILL: God, are you dismissed. 

WARD: –because my... [Ward walks away in frustration and through a door] 

HILL: It was a porcupine. It was not a poop. It just means that he– 

COULSON: No, I'm pretty sure. 

HILL: And it's not just Ward. Your whole roster is sketchy.

Yoyo grinned, “And it’s only going to get sketchier right?” Mack laughed along with Jemma and Leo.

Daisy narrowed her eyes playfully, “Don’t make me come over there Yoyo.”

COULSON: Well, they're cleared.

DR. STREITEN: I would have been very happy not to clear you, Phil. I'd love for you to rest up some more. 

COULSON: I've had plenty of that. Thanks.

Daisy nodded, “Can’t expect you to rest forever.” She understood what he’s not saying. The time it takes to recover physically is the time you’re alone with the trauma the most. You need a distraction if you don’t want to be left with the pain to consume you.

Jemma rolled her eyes at her friend, “You wouldn’t know how to rest for more than 5 minutes.” She knew all too well that Daisy was one of the worst patients she’s ever had along with May. 

Skye’s team spared some glances at their youngest member. They wouldn’t expect the bubbly woman they knew to try to weasel her way out of recovery like that. 

Skye wasn’t as confused. She knew that it was inevitable for her to get injured at some point on their missions. She knew she could handle pain better than her team would expect. She knew they wouldn’t know about how she tried to pick up broken glass with trembling, bleeding hands. She knew they wouldn’t know about how she still went to school with her appendix on the brink of rupturing. 

She knew…

She grinned, “Wow guys, you really think I would want to lay in bed all day? Just because I don’t want to train sometimes doesn’t mean I’m lazy!” 

FitzSimmons snickered and Coulson smiled, but Daisy glanced over her shoulder and looked like she could see right through Skye. And well…for the first time since they got here, Skye could recognize herself in Daisy. Because Daisy knew too.

HILL: You sure? 

COULSON: You should go sometime. 

HILL: Where? 

COULSON: Tahiti. It's a magical place. 

HILL: [chuckles] Three days in, I'd be begging for an assignment. 

COULSON: Exactly. [Coulson walks out of the room]

DR. STREITEN: Tahiti. He really doesn't know, does he? 

HILL: He can never know.

Skye frowned, “What the hell does that mean? Know what?” 

Coulson didn’t have an answer. Only the same question. He knew something was wrong with him. His jaw clenched. Now he just had to wait and see what these memories will show him. 

INT: a diner in L.A. Mike is sitting at a booth. 

DEBBIE (on the T.V.): I-is there any way I can thank him? [background noises of city and restaurant goings-on] 

DEBBIE (on the T.V.): Are you sure nobody saw him? 

MALE REPORTER (on the T.V.): So, the identity of the hooded hero still remains unknown.

Mack snorted, “Is that what they’re calling him? At least the names have gotten better.”

[Skye slides into the booth across from Mike] 

SKYE: Just act natural. 

MIKE: What? 

SKYE: Just pretend that we're talking. 

MIKE: We are. 

SKYE: Good. 'Cause you never know who's listening.

Yoyo couldn’t believe that this is actually the younger version of Daisy on the screen. She knew some of the story on how Daisy was adopted onto the team, but she never expected her younger self to be this…different.

MIKE: I don't even know who's talking. 

SKYE: I'm Skye. And you're the hooded hero. [chuckles] Please tell me that you're not staying with that name.

Mack laughed, “Good to know we would’ve been on the same wavelength as partners, even back then.” 

Skye smiled. This guy…Mack. He seemed nice. She wondered when he and Yoyo would end up joining the team.

MIKE: Wait. What? I'm not... I'm a factory worker. 

SKYE: [scoffs] Sure, by day. I saw you. You're a hero. Like, a for-real superhero, which is– I'm not, like, a groupie, stalker type, but– [laughs] Oh, my God! That is so cool! [calms herself down] Okay, okay, chill. Just don't... don't draw attention. [sighs] You're in danger.

Yoyo raised her eyebrows in surprise, “Wow Daisy, I’ve never seen you so…excitable.” How come she’s never heard Daisy laugh like that?

Mack smiled softly, “It would be good to see you smile like that more.” Daisy turned the ring on her finger. She shouldn’t have been acting like that at all. What if she accidentally drew someone’s attention to Mike? She should’ve been more careful.

MIKE: You got the wrong guy, lady. 

SKYE: No, you've got the wrong approach. The cute girl from the hospital is dying to thank you—and possibly "thank you"—[clears throat] And you're hiding. The clip of you rescuing her has had the most hits since that puppy with vertigo. And you can't even find a job.

Jemma laughed, “Just what were you implying?” Daisy smirked a little. Jemma is far too used to her innuendos to not know. 

MIKE: What do you mean about danger? 

SKYE: S.H.I.E.L.D. 

MIKE: Shield, what? I should carry a shield?

Mack snorted.

SKYE: S.H.I.E.L.D. Government. Scary men in dark suits who come after guys like you. They knew about the battle of New York before it even happened and then cleaned it up before anyone could ask any real questions. Overnight. How long do you think it'll take for them to clean you up? 

MIKE: And you want to know why I'm hiding. 

SKYE: What if you didn't hide? What if you got in front of this and let people know that you're a hero?

Daisy shook her head. Once people know you publicly as a hero, you can’t make any mistakes. You’ll always be in the spotlight. That pressure wouldn’t have been good for Mike or Ace.

MIKE: I'm just a guy. 

SKYE: Well, a guy like that gets work, gets perks. I can help. I'm great with computers– like, weirdly great. I mean, I could help you create a whole new identity or [gasps] a mask.

Simmons whispered to Skye, “It was a nice gesture.” Skye smiled sadly. She just wishes things had worked out for him better.

MIKE: Okay. [gets up] 

SKYE: Uh, ok– well, you could just– also, we could just stick with the– [stops him] hood. Listen, you cannot walk away from this. With great power comes... a ton of weird crap that you are not prepared to deal with. Now, my office is–

Coulson smiled, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard it put quite like that before.” Sometimes, Skye’s views on the world were refreshing. They need her kind of positivity in this line of work.

MIKE: You have an office? 

SKYE: Yes, I have an office. It's a mobile... office. It's a... van. I live in a van... by choice. But it's always in the alley around the corner... free wi-fi... and you can come by anytime!

Yoyo frowned a little, “I forget about that detail. Why the van again?” Skye wouldn’t have answered, but it seemed like Daisy had no such qualms.

“It was cheaper to pay for gas than a monthly rent. Anything else and I wouldn’t have eaten very often.”

Skye’s eyes stayed on the screen as her team went silent. They felt bad that they haven’t put as much thought into Skye’s homeless situation before.

MIKE: Thank you. [he leaves] 

SKYE (calling after him): They're coming for you. [she looks at the I.D. she snatched from his pocket] Mike.

Simmons lightly slapped Skye’s arm with a laugh. “Ugh you’re so sneaky!” Yoyo grinned at Daisy.

“Seems like I’m not the only one with a natural talent for stealing.”

Daisy smiled back. It definitely was not a natural talent. 

INT: the same S.H.I.E.L.D. facility as before, except now we're in an individual office, and a woman is dealing with papers. 

COULSON: Agent May. 

MAY: No.

Both teams smiled. May is always May.

COULSON: So you've been briefed. 

MAY: I'm not going back in the field. 

COULSON: Yeah. You've got such a nice setup here. You ever thought about adding a moat? [beat, wherein May glares at him] I just need you to drive the bus, liaise ground transpo, some on-site supervision. This isn't a combat op. 

MAY: Then you don't need me. [stapler clicks]

Most would expect Coulson to speak up but it was Daisy who said, “We’ll always need you. Even if you couldn’t fight another day. You keep us grounded.” She’s a firm believer of this. Unlike Daisy, May has so many qualities that make her worthy to stay. 

Melinda quietly thanked her as May remained silent. She knew that she would have been a part of Coulson’s team either way, but she was touched that the other woman seemed to think highly of her. She wondered if Skye felt the same.

COULSON: I do. 'Cause we'll be running ourselves. Picking the ops... Making the calls... No red tape. This is where they actually make the red tape, isn't it? I always wondered. [beat] Melinda. 

Daisy laughed, “Ha! May smiles at your jokes too.”

“Not as much.”

MAY: You're really just asking me to drive the bus? 

COULSON: I'm not asking. But it's a really nice bus. 

[A hangar. There's an impressive plane.]

Yoyo whistled, “That’s the bus? No wonder you guys are always talking about that thing.” Skye’s team looked at each other. Guess they won't use the bus in the future. May scowled about that.

[indistinct conversations] MAN: You need to know? 

MAN 2: Yeah. ASAP, please. [indistinct shouting] [Ward strides into the hangar, taking off his sunglasses.] 

MAN 3: That's gonna be on a secondary. 

MAN 4: Yeah, got it! [Ward walks onto the plane (the door to the cargo hold is down)]

Fitz smiled, “Finally! I was beginning to think our future selves forgot to include us.”

“Ugh Fitz.”

FITZ (while rushing over to Simmons): Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Watch it! That's the night-night gun. 

SIMMONS: Well, it's on my stuff, and it doesn't work, and there's no way we're calling it the night-night gun.

“Night-night gun?” Yoyo asked.

Simmons smirked at Fitz. “Well would you look at that. Guess it never did catch on.” 

He hissed, “And it’s probably your fault.”

[Fitz-Simmons gather their things and head into a small lab a few steps further into the plane] 

FITZ: The bullets work. Nonlethal, heavy stopping power, break up under the subcutaneous tissue– 

SIMMONS: Oh, with a dose of only .1 microliters of dendrotoxin. I'm not Hermione. I can't create instant paralysis with that. [they unload their things as they talk] You should have run the specs by me before building the molds.

“Hey! You guys ignore all of my Harry Potter references.” Skye glared at Simmons beside her.

Simmons smiled sheepishly, “To be fair, you usually make them when we are busy Skye.”

“Whatever.”

FITZ (talking over her): The bullets are hollow! It's a marvel I can keep them from breaking apart in the chamber! 

SIMMONS (talking over him): Or used a higher-caliber round. Or read a book. 

FITZ (talking over her): Have you ever heard of physics or– What's the other one? Inertia? SIMMONS (talking over him): It's not particularly difficult! [loud thud as Ward drops a duffle bag to the ground. Fitz-Simmons falls silent.]

Skye shook her head, “Yep, still got none of that.”

Yoyo laughed, “Ah, so they’ve always done that.”

“Believe me, it was worse before,” Daisy said. She smirked as Jemma hit her arm.

WARD: Fitz-Simmons? 

SIMMONS: [points to Fitz] Fitz. 

FITZ: [points to Simmons]. Simmons. I'm engineering. She's biochem. Agent Ward?

Skye smirked, “It’s cute how you introduce each other.” 

Fitz scoffed, “Cute? I mean it’s only polite, why do you-” Simmons cuts him off.

“Polite? What about that look of disgust on the word biochem?”

“I was simply-”

“As if engineering is any-”

“Distinguishing our separate fields to-”

“Better than working with biological systems that you-” Finally, they are both cut off by Coulson.

“Let’s just move on guys.”

WARD: Coulson said I'd need my comm receiver encoded. [gives Fitz the comm receiver] Don't know if you've worked with that model before. It's— 

[Fitz beat the receiver with a hammer, smashing it to bits] 

WARD: ...brand-new.

Skye laughed at Ward’s face.

SIMMONS: He'll repurpose the I.D.I.S. chip. 

FITZ: Don't need the external receiver for the inner-ear comms anymore. 

WARD: So, uh, how does it– [Simmons sticks a swab into Ward's mouth, around which he makes noises of general displeasure] 

SIMMONS: Embedded sensorineural silicone matched to your DNA. It's very posh. [she removes the swab] So, are you excited to be coming on our journey into mystery? 

WARD (sarcastically): It's like Christmas.

Skye laughed again. “God, I can’t believe I missed that first interaction. That was gold.” Daisy was smiling too. It was pretty cool to see the team before she joined them.

[Simmons gives him a cheeky little grin like the absolute angel that she is] 

[a vintage-looking red car pulls up into the belly of the plane] [tires screech] 

FITZ: One of Coulson's old S.H.I.E.L.D. collectibles. Flamethrowers, world's first GPS. He's mad for this crap.

Coulson muttered, “Did he just call Lola crap?” Phil didn’t look happy either. Both Leo and Fitz just slumped down in their seats.

[Coulson gets out of the car and walks past] 

COULSON: Don't touch Lola. 

FITZ: And he calls it a girl's name. [Fitz slaps Ward on the... look I honestly can't tell if he slaps Ward's back or Ward's ass] [Fitz chuckles. Ward looks unamused]

Skye slapped her hand over her mouth to smother her laughter. 

Fitz groaned, “Yeah yeah, laugh it up.”

[Coulson, with Ward behind him, climbs up small spiral staircase to the upper level of the plane] 

COULSON: Lola's not just a collectible, you know. People tend to confuse the words "new" and "improved." [they walk through the upper level of the Bus] 

COULSON: This mobile command, they were in heavy rotation back in the '90s, but then we got a heli-carrier. Hey. Did you hear the one about the guy who's afraid of flying?

Skye groaned, “Is this another one of your lame jokes?”

“They’re not lame.” May gave him a look.

WARD: I've done a night jump into a drop zone under heavy fire, sir. I can handle it. COULSON: That was a... joke. The first part of a... I'm not gonna tell it now.

Skye sighed with mock exasperation, “Just when I was starting to have hope for him.”

[May, who was already on the Bus, steps towards them] 

MAY: If you plan to unpack, make it quick. Wheels are up in five. We may have a hit on one of The Rising Tide's routing points.

Coulson smiled, “I should’ve known you were just baiting us.” Skye grinned, knowing he didn’t mean it as a jab. He’s acknowledging that he underestimated her.

Daisy glanced back at the younger team wistfully. They always underestimated her when she was Skye.

COULSON: Good. We need to do some catching up. [May nods, walks away] 

WARD: Is that... who I think it is? 

COULSON: She's just the pilot.

Melinda smirked. She could tell that Ward recognized her as his first real threat. Good.

WARD: Melinda May is "just the pilot." Come on, sir. What game are you really playing? COULSON: Better stow your gear. [engines whirring] [Coulson goes up another tiny spiral staircase, this one leading to his own little office space] 

[the cargo hold door closes as the Bus prepares for takeoff] 

May does some pilot stuff in the cockpit. Radio chatter.] [the plane starts to taxi as the V.O. starts] 

SKYE (V.O.): How will you come at us? From the air?

Skye facepalmed, “Not me again.”

[In L.A., we see Skye's van in an alley] 

SKYE (V.O.): From the ground? [we see the interior of the van] 

SKYE (V.O.): How will you silence us this time? How can you? [the Bus achieves liftoff] SKYE (V.O.): The truth is in the wind. [int van] 

SKYE (V.O., until it isn't): It's everywhere. You cannot stop The Rising Tide.

Mack laughed, “What are with all these dramatic speeches Daisy?”

“Okay can we just not?”

Yoyo teased, “It’s getting good. You could be a writer.” Daisy groaned.

SKYE (V.O.): You will not find us. [Coulson on the Bus] [back to Skye] 

SKYE: You will never see our faces. But rest assured... We will rise against those who shield us from the truth. And nothing... nothing can stop us in the– [van door opens. Coulson is on the other side with Ward next to him]

Everyone broke out in laughter except for Skye and Daisy who were trying to hide behind their hands. Even May smiled.

Fitz practically cackled, “Talk about gold!”

SKYE: Hey. What up? [Ward puts a bag over her head. Blackout.]

Skye mumbled, “Okay, but I’ve been on the bus long enough to know that we usually don’t kidnap people like that. I wasn’t even that big of a threat.” Coulson grimaced a little, seeing her point.

Daisy smiled, “Getting kidnapped by Shield on the average Tuesday. Sounds about right.”

[Ward and Coulson lead a bag-headed Skye onto the Bus] 

INT: Bus's interrogation room. 

[Ward manhandles Skye, head free of bag, into a chair] [Coulson closes door behind him]

SKYE: You guys are making a big mistake. 

WARD: You don't look that big.

Skye rolled her eyes. Ward was such an asshole. Thankfully, he hasn’t been that mean to her since the incident with the alien virus.

COULSON: Sorry for the lack of finesse. Agent Ward here has had a little history with your group... The Rising Tide. 

SKYE: I don't know... what you're– 

WARD: Okay, there are two ways we can do this. 

SKYE: Oh. Is one of them the easy way? 

WARD: No. 

SKYE: Oh.

Mack had to smile. His partner still had that kind of bravado. It’s just not as easily rattled.

WARD: What's your name? 

SKYE: Skye. 

WARD: What's your real name?

Daisy hummed, “I thought he might’ve known why I was there. Didn’t even think about the no surname thing.” Skye was staring into the back of her head as she said this. She just realized that she might actually know her real name now. At least the first part of it.

COULSON: That can wait. It's another name we need... a certain hero. 

SKYE: What makes you think I know that? 

COULSON: Well, you made a little mistake. The phone you filmed the hooded hero with had the same cryptographic signature as a few of The Rising Tide posts. 

SKYE: Wow. Yeah. Was that a mistake? Or am I now sitting in the center of your secret headquarters? What is this? A plane? I got inside. And by now, you've discovered you can't beat the encryption on my equipment, so you got nothing.

May smiled a bit. The girl was pretty good. She talks too much, but she’s good.

COULSON: We have a fairly strong coincidence... you being on the scene right before it went up in flames? 

[In L.A., a S.H.I.E.L.D. van pulls up outside the building at which the events of the start of this episode took place] 

COULSON: Want to tell me what my team is gonna find out? 

[Simmons gets out of the van. Fitz does, too, and she grabs his shoulders playfully. May gets out from the driver's seat. They all look up at the building.] [May walks to examine the dent in the ground left from Mike jumping and landing] 

COULSON: How did you know the hooded man was in the building? 

WARD: Did you blow it up to draw him out?

May shook her head annoyed. Ward was too good of an agent to be blowing an interrogation like that. Skye hadn’t even said anything to get under his skin.

SKYE: Did you?

Yet.

COULSON: That's not our style. 

SKYE: I was just kidnapped by your "style." S.H.I.E.L.D. covered up New Mexico, Project Pegasus. Of course you'd be covering up Centipede. [Ward looks at Coulson] 

SKYE: Holy no way. [laughs] You don't know what that is. Billions of dollars of equipment at your disposal, and I beat you with a laptop that I won in a bet?

Jemma hummed, “You never did tell us what bet that was.” Knowing Daisy, it was probably something illegal or at least mildly dangerous.

Daisy shrugged and explained, “I got drunk with a bunch of hackers I just met. One of them bet that they would give their laptop up to whoever could hack Tony Stark.”

The room went silent. Daisy’s team was surprised, but Skye’s team was downright shocked. May soon set her expression blank but continued to silently re-evaluate the girl. 

Coulson was in disbelief. “You hacked…Jarvis?”

Skye smiled at their reactions. It was still her best hack to date. “It took a while,” she admitted, “but I was able to do it. Probably through sheer luck.” She added that last part quietly because she was not stupid enough to believe that she actually had pulled one over on the genius billionaire. Chances are, he let her in his system as a joke. He seemed the type.

Daisy was confident in her skills, but she had similar thoughts. She looked over at Phil and inhaled sharply when she saw his proud smile. Phil locked eyes with her, “I shouldn’t have expected any less.” No matter how many times this girl surprised him, he just kept learning new things about her and what she can do. Melinda flashed Daisy a special smile, showing that she feels the exact same way.

Daisy blinked away her tears.

COULSON: You need to think about your friend. We're not the only ones interested in people with powers. We'd like to contain him, yeah. The next guy will want to exploit him, and the guy after that will want to dissect him.

Daisy jokingly whispered, “Still waiting on that last one.” She wondered if she should contact Mike soon. They seemed to have quite a lot in common these days. It would be nice to talk to someone who understands. She gets distracted from that train of thought when Jemma slaps her on the arm. Hard. “Ow.”

Jemma hissed quietly, still not wanting the other team to overhear, “Don’t you dare joke about that.” 

WARD: What is Centipede? 

Inside Mike's home 

[Mike is on the phone. Ace is sitting nearby, tossing a basketball up and down.] 

MIKE: [sighs] Yeah, I get it, but... Listen, doctor, people saw me. They saw what I can do. If I went public, that might be good. I mean, your product works. It works amazingly, and... [he scratches at a mechanical, bug-shaped device attached to his forearm] yeah, yeah, I-I-I know what I signed, but if we got out in front of this, maybe [the person on the other end says something] Then what? You want me to go crawling back to the factory? I couldn't even get workman's comp from those crooks. I don't think– [person on other end] Yeah, ye– Doctor, I just thought... [collects himself; nods] Okay. [hangs up phone] [throws phone at photo of himself and a woman]

Yoyo sighed, “It is not easy being trapped in a tight spot. Powers don’t always make it easier.” Daisy was inclined to agree with that. 

Skye held the side of her neck, frustrated with herself. Her talk with Mike is what made things worse. 

INT: now-destroyed building in L.A. 

SIMMONS: This was a lab. Was this leased as a lab? 

MAY: Mnh-mnh. Self-empowerment center. [ha] With a top-of-the-line motion-sensor security system. 

SIMMONS: Ah. So a secret lab.

Skye snorted, “Of course you’re excited.”

Fitz felt like he was going to be sick. “God, how are you just casually kneeling next to a charred body? You’re sick Simmons.”

“At least I don’t actually get sick over it.”

MAY: And a superhero. Not a coincidence. So, was this explosion sabotage? Was it meant for him? Or were they just in over their heads? 

FITZ [approaching]: Yeah, working the problem. Ladies, if you'll just– [walks around Simmons] Sorry. 

MAY: If you're gonna be in the field, agent Fitz, you have to get your hands dirty. [beeping as Fitz sets some drones up] 

FITZ: No, I don't.

Leo’s face darkened, “Eventually.” Fitz was unsettled by this.

[drones whirring as they go into the air] 

FITZ: ♪ Heigh-ho, off to work you go ♪

Jemma smiled, “I miss them. You should really work on those again.” Leo shook his head and was muttering.

“They’re not important.”

Now Simmons was getting worried. What happened to Fitz? Since when were any of his inventions not important to him?

INT: Bus interrogation room 

SKYE: Centipede– it was chatter on the web and then gone. I traced the access-point MAC address to that building. 

WARD: What were you after? 

SKYE: The truth. What are you after? 

WARD: World peace.

Jemma huffed, “Yeah right.” 

Leo mumbled, “Corny and a lie.”

Skye couldn’t help but feel like she needed to defend Ward. She wasn’t his biggest fan most of the time, but he was still her friend and teammate. “Hey Ward is…Ward, but he is a good agent. He protects people.’

Jemma gave Daisy an incredulous look. Daisy rolled her eyes and gave her a look that said “just ignore her.” 

WARD: You pseudo-anarchist hacker types love to stir things up. [approaches Skye] But you're never around for the fallout. People keep secrets for a reason, Skye. 

SKYE: Well, just because you're reasonable and... [pushes his chest] firm... doesn't mean that you're not an evil, faceless government tool bag. 

WARD: Just give us your guy's name. 

SKYE: He's not my guy!

Simmons teased Skye, “Good to know you guys had chemistry even during your interrogation.”

Skye spluttered, “Che-chemistry? Ha, as if.” At the same time, Daisy shot Jemma a glare. Jemma just smiled right back and gave her the same look Daisy gave her not even a few minutes ago.

COULSON: You understand he's in danger. 

SKYE: Then let me go. Let me talk to him. Me, not the T-1000 here. 

WARD: You want to be alone with him. Of course. (to Coulson) She's a groupie. All this hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D., tracking powers... she might as well be one of those sweaty cosplay girls crowding around Stark Tower. 

SKYE: What?! I would... It was one time.

Laughter broke out across the room again. Yoyo grinned, “Who would have thought?” Daisy rolled her eyes. When will the embarrassment end?

Simmons asked, “Who did you dress up as Skye?”

Skye smiled and shrugged, “Black Widow.”

“Huh. I was expecting Thor or Iron Man, but I bet you looked good with a red wig.”

“They’re great, but she was my biggest Avengers crush.” This caused FitzSimmons to gape at her. Leo and Jemma also looked at Daisy with surprise.

Daisy shifted a little in her seat and mumbled, “Oh…did I never mention that I’m bi?”

Yoyo whooped, “I knew it!” She grinned. “Called it not long after we met actually. Your flirting with Simmons is really what sold me though.” Daisy covered her face with one hand and flipped Yoyo off with the other.

That last part might as well have forced Fitz and Leo into rebooting their brains. Simmons blushed and tried not to look in Skye’s direction. Jemma was just looking at Daisy with a small, flattered smile. Flirting huh? Interesting. 

COULSON: [opens door] Ward. [the men step outside and walk through the Bus] COULSON: Is it the girl? She getting under your skin? 

WARD: Sir? 

COULSON: Or is it the assignment? Are you so anxious to get out of this that you'd deliberately blow an interrogation?

Phil mumbled, “More like anxious  to get in.”

WARD: Give me a minute alone with her, you'll have your answers. 

COULSON: She's an asset. [gets a case] 

WARD: She is such an a... wait... "asset"?

Skye gasped, “Rude! He’s the ass between the both of us.”

COULSON: We don't know anything about her. Do you appreciate how often that happens? That never happens. We need... [opens case to reveal a gun] what she knows.

Daisy groaned, “I can’t believe I fell for that.” 

Phil smiled. “It’s good that you did though.”

INT: destroyed building in L.A. [Fitz's drones are flying about] 

SIMMONS: See, we designed each with their own capabilities, so, um, some recording the dimensions and textures of the room, and then some testing the matter density, radiation. I mean, one is basically just smelling.

Mack shook his head. “Smelling?”

Simmons smiled. “It’s a bit more complicated than that.”

FITZ: Whoa, whoa, whoa. I've got something in something. 

SIMMONS: Who's got it? 

FITZ: Uh... Bashful. 

SIMMONS: Aww.

Daisy and Jemma shared a smile. They really loved those dwarf drones. They used to spend so much time playing with them in the lab with Fitz.

[May goes over to check what the drone is looking at] 

MAY: Surveillance camera. Deep-fried. 

FITZ: Yes, but that model has flash memory in case of [walks into something; clang] brownouts. Now, I could sync that with data from the motion detectors and, with a little luck, get some images from before the blast. And by "luck," I mean "unappreciated genius." 

SIMMONS: Yeah, we'll need it. Snow's reading some compounds that are... [she notices something] Whoa. My god. [she rushes over to the something] 

MAY: explosive? 

SIMMONS: [holds up metal] Not of this earth.

Phil sighed, “You know, it’s so rare to even work with things that are from this earth anymore.”

INT: Interrogation room 

COULSON: [holding up vial] This is QNB-T16. [sticks it into gun] It's the top-shelf Martini of Sodium Pentothal derivatives. It's a brand-new and extremely potent truth drug. Don't worry. The effects only last about an hour. 

WARD: And you'll have a nice little nap. And we'll have all the answers to our... [Coulson jabs Ward with the serum gun] 

WARD: Hey! What the hell?! 

COULSON: I'm sorry. Did that hurt?

May smirked. Coulson definitely enjoyed that too much. 

Phil whispered to Daisy, “I know that plan was against you, but you have to admit that was satisfying to watch.”

She smiled and said, “I can’t deny that.”

WARD: No. But you've lost your mind. You should never do that to a member of your team. And, yes, it did hurt a little bit. But I always try and mask my pain in front of beautiful women 'cause I think it makes me seem more masculine. My god, this stuff works fast.

Fitz laughed, “Oh he really said that? Wow I can’t wait to bring this up later on our mission.”

COULSON: Don't trust us? Ask him whatever you'd like. 

WARD: Wait a minute. Wait. You can't just... [Coulson leaves the room] 

WARD: [calling after him] This is definitely not protoco– [door slams shut] 

SKYE: [takes off her jacket seductively] You seem nervous, Agent Ward. [she leans over the table]

“Classic technique,” Yoyo teased.

Fitz and Simmons were both blushing furiously to the embarrassment of Leo and Jemma. Daisy just smirked at them.

WARD: I'm calling to mind my training. [Skye gets up] 

WARD: There's no way I'm gonna reveal classified secrets to a girl who's hell-bent on taking us down. [Skye leans over next to him] 

SKYE: Have you ever killed anyone?

“That’s what you go with?” Mack asked. It’s obvious enough that Ward has killed before.

Skye shrugged. “Maybe a stupid question, but his reaction and justification would have told me more about him. And I wanted to know for sure.” May nodded.

WARD: Yes, a few. High-risk targets. But they were terrible people... [Skye moves to the other side of him] Who were trying to murder nice people. And I didn't feel good afterwards. 

SKYE: And does your grandmother know about these things? 

WARD: [voice breaking] Gramzy?

Skye laughed. “Now that, I didn’t expect. Even if Ward was acting, why would he go all out like that?”

INT: factory at which Mike works. [Mike and his boss are walking on the factory floor.] [indistinct shouting] 

GARY: My hands are tied, Mike. It's company policy. You didn't meet quota. I had to let you go. 

MIKE: Gary, look, I got no choice. It's just me and my boy now. 

GARY: There's no openings, Mike, and even if there were, I got a hundred guys standing in line that are just like you, only they won't bitch when their back hurts.

Yoyo cursed under her breath in Spanish while Daisy sighed. They can protect and save the world all they want, but they can’t do much about injustices like this. 

MIKE: I was injured, but I'm stronger now. I can handle twice the load I used to. 

GARY: What are you not hearing? You don't cut it. When I say I need things moved, I need– [Mike, with superhuman strength, pushes a nearby load super far]

Mack looked at the other members of his team, asking, “This is not going to be good is it?” Their silence is the only answer he needed.

MAN: Oh, hey! Hey! 

MIKE: Like that? 

GARY: Are you out of your mind?! [Mike pushes Gary violently away by the face. He goes flying into a stack of metal tubes] 

MIKE: These are people, Gary. Men! Not parts you replace when they break. 

GARY: [shakily] it's not me, man. It's the company. I'm not the bad guy. I'm not the bad guy, man. 

MIKE: Yes, you are. It's simple now, just like we used to read about. You're the bad guy. [Gary grunts] 

MIKE: And I'm the hero. [Mike swings a metal tube down at Gary. Blackout.]

Daisy and Skye looked away before the swing. They couldn’t stand to see Mike like that. That’s not him.

Mack shook his head. “Not good at all.”

INT: Bus. They're in what looks like a briefing room. 

COULSON: Did Agent Ward give you anything? 

SKYE: He told me he's been to Paris, but he's never really seen it and that he wishes you had stayed in Tahiti. 

COULSON: It's a magical place.

The bus kids looked at each other. Coulson really did say that every time Tahiti was mentioned. Like it was instinct.

SKYE: Ward doesn't like your style. Kind of think I do. 

COULSON: What about his? 

FEMALE REPORTER (on T.V.): ...remains in critical condition. [TV is playing footage from the factory] Employees could not identify the attacker, but security footage confirms that this man assaulted the factory foreman before damaging thousands of dollars' worth of company property. 

SKYE: This is wrong. This is not... the guy I met. He was... 

FEMALE REPORTER (on T.V.): With us here on KZQM25. 

SKYE: He just needs a break.

“It’s no wonder Coulson took you in as a stray,” Melinda commented. “Your heart is just as big as his.” May glanced to her left to look at Skye and Coulson. They really were quite alike.

Daisy smiled weakly. Her heart doesn’t feel very big at all these days.

Briefing room. Everyone is there (except Ward). Skye is pacing. [beeping as the briefing table scans Mike's I.D. and starts to lay out information] 

COULSON: Michael Peterson... factory worker, married, one kid. Gets injured, gets laid off. [Skye stops pacing] Wife jumps ship. Good guy, bad breaks. Best guess is, somebody tells him they can make him strong again, make him super. 

MAY: Who has the tech to do that? And why would they want to?

Daisy shifted in her seat. “Plenty of people want to play with power,” she answered, almost coldly. “Someone desperate and in need like Mike is the perfect victim. They use people like him because they’re expendable…and easy to manipulate.” 

Skye didn’t know what to think as she stared into the back of her own head. Despite everything she faced in the foster care system and while being homeless, she’s never not been able to see the bright side of anything. Make things light, keep herself and others happy; they were her best ways of staying afloat. She wondered if her older self spent so much time around emotionless spies that she forgot how to do that.

COULSON: Fitz, what do we have from the security footage before the blast? [beeping as Fitz pulls things up] 

MAY: What are we seeing? 

FITZ: Well, the man is angry at the other man.

Mack laughed. “Way to state the obvious Turbo.” Fitz frowned. This man called him Turbo? What kind of nickname is that?

[long beat] 

SIMMONS: The data is very corrupt. 

FITZ: Yeah, like cold war Russia corrupt. 

SIMMONS: Yeah. 

FITZ: I-I can't sync the timecode without– 

SKYE: What if you had the audio? [beat as they all turn to her]

Skye grumbled, “You didn’t have to look so surprised.”

Simmons smiled and rubbed her arm. “You weren’t a part of the team yet Skye. We just didn’t expect you to step up like that.”

SKYE (a bit defensively): I was... running surveillance on the lab. I had my gun mic pointed at the window before the blast. The digital file's in my van. There's too much background noise for me, But you could probably– 

SIMMONS (to Fitz): You can clean that up, can't you? Find a sync point and use cross-field validation to find– 

FITZ: But I can't scrub for expression patterns when the vit-c is all– 

SIMMONS: Well, is there a chrominance subcarrier? 

FITZ: Yeah, attached to the back porch. Brilliant. (to Skye) Um, that audio would be great. Thank you very, very much. 

SIMMONS (at the same time as Fitz): We will take that audio, please.

“You actually looked like you were following along with that Daisy,” Yoyo mused then teased. “Did FitzSimmons become a trio?”

Daisy and Skye both laughed hard at that. “FitzSimmons are very much always a duo,” Daisy assured. “I do understand some of their science babble when it’s tech related though.”

Phil smiled. “You three might not have noticed, but you kind of were like a trio. You used to follow each other all around the bus, and Skye ended up working in the lab more often than not.”

Melinda smirked and added, “FitzSimmons do it the most, but all three of you have gotten pretty good at finishing each other’s sentences too. Phil and I called you the bus kids.” This resulted in the two trios exchanging smiles with one another.

COULSON: Your van's here, but you were right. We couldn't decrypt the files. 

SKYE: The encryption's coupled to the GPS. Get my van back to that alley, and then I'm in business.

Mack whistled, “That’s pretty impressive Skye.” Skye blinked in surprise. Mack is probably the first of the future team to directly address her about something rather than Daisy.

She smiled. “Thanks.”

COULSON: Agent May will escort you. (to May) And on your way out, wake up Ward. 

INT: hospital in L.A. Debbie is lying in bed. Mike stands outside her room with flowers.
WOMAN ON P.A.: Volunteer services to Oncology 1. Volunteer services to Oncology 1. [Mike opens door and steps into Debbie's room] 

DEBBIE: You're... Oh, wow. You're... him. 

MIKE: [chuckles] I'm glad you're doing okay. [hands her the flowers] 

DEBBIE: Oh, yeah. Thank you. They're beautiful. [nurse leaves the room and closes door behind her] 

DEBBIE [dropping the charade]: What the hell are you doing here?

Yoyo mumbled, “Almost forgot she had been working in that destroyed lab.”

MIKE: I don't know where to go, doctor. Everything's getting... I-I know what's right. I do. But no one will listen to me. I volunteered because you said things would change.
DEBBIE: [gets up out of bed] And... you said you could keep it together. Our first subject lost it... walked into the lab with a fricking bomb.

Mack had a feeling that things were about to go south fast.

MIKE: I'm not like him. 

DEBBIE: Well, tell that to your foreman in the I.C.U. 

MIKE: [grabs her] I saved you. 

DEBBIE: [wrenches free from grasp] You exposed me! You exposed the program. [checks out window; exhales sharply; turns back to Mike] The people who gave me this technology... they are very serious, and they do not want to be revealed. Mike Peterson needs to disappear.

Mack sighed, realizing what’s probably going to happen. “I know someone who is really good at that.”

Daisy timidly played with her ring. 

MIKE: You're right. I'm not him anymore. I'm someone else now. 

DEBBIE: Oh, please. You're juiced, Mike. And you're losing it, just like the last guy. [sighs] This is a disaster. 

MIKE: No. [goes to open window] It's an origin story. [city noise in the background] [Mike jumps out the window]

“You have to admit, that’s a pretty great exit,” Coulson noted with a faint smile. Melinda and May rolled their eyes.

INT: Skye's van. 

SKYE: Audio file should be coming through. It's not compressed, so it might take a minute. 

INT: the Bus lab. 

FITZ: Uh, yeah. [machinery beeping] 

FITZ: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm getting it. [Fitz runs over to a keyboard and clacks around on it] 

FITZ: So, uh, uh, when... when you get back, I'll show you my thing. A thing. It's not... I-it's my hardware. My equipment. Let's... hang up.

Fitz groaned out of embarrassment while Simmons laughed. “Your crush on Skye started so early,” she teased. This caused Skye to sit up straighter in shock. She assumed Fitz was head over heels for Simmons.

Fitz stared at Simmons mortified that she would say that with Skye right next to them. He snapped back, “Like you don’t have a crush on her yourself!” Skye’s eyes widened. 

“‘Oh Fitz, Skye gives the best hugs you know,’” he mocked. “‘Oh Fitz, Skye is so kind, and her hair is so pretty.’” Simmons looked like she was about to choke trying to defend herself. To both of the team’s amusement, Skye is now blushing just as bad as FitzSimmons were. 

Daisy leaned closer to Leo and Jemma and quipped with a smirk, “I guess couples that crush together, stay together.” 

[nearby, Coulson is watching over Simmons' shoulder as she toys with her find from the building] 

COULSON: So, the alien metal wasn't the explosive? 

SIMMONS: Well, I assumed from the break pattern and dispersion that it was, but it's just dripping with gamma radiation and... [the thing starts dripping yellow goo] 

SIMMONS: Oh! Now it's actually dripping. [chuckles] Fun.

Yoyo snorted. Jemma has a deep love for science, but she’s never seen it expressed so blatantly.

[Ward walks in] 

WARD: So, what did that get us? 

FITZ: Skye's sending us the rest of her decrypted files on Centipede. But we have her audio. I've loaded it up. 

COULSON: Nice work. [keyboard clacking; Fitz rushing about. He ends on the stairs.]

FITZ: Now, using motion estimation, Bayesian inference, a beam splitter, and a little diffraction theory, Our mystery man... [presses some buttons; machine generates an image] appears. It's like magic. But it's– it's science.

“Science doesn’t explain everything,” Mack said. FitzSimmons exchanged frowns. Science was the explanation for everything, even the alien objects they’ve worked with.

WARD (about the scene going on in the generated image, soon to be a video): explosives in the case? [Fitz presses play] 

DOCTOR (in video): ...to please calm down. Just let me check your vitals. 

MAN (in vid) I feel fine. I want to feel more. Where's the doctor? Where is she?! 

DOC (in vid): I-if you don't settle down, I-I'll have you sedated. 

MAN (in vid): Where is she?! [Fitz pauses the generated video] 

FITZ: Wait. Did you... did you see that on his arm? [beeping, rewinding] 

COULSON: What does that look like to you? 

WARD: A centipede.

Mack shuddered. “I would not want that thing in my arm.”

SIMMONS: It's an intravenous filter for his blood. This goo, sir... very similar to the serum Dr. Erskine developed in the '40s for the– 

COULSON: Super soldiers. 

SIMMONS: I'm reading alien metal, gamma radiation, the serum... every known source of superpower thrown in a blender.

Yoyo scoffed, “They really didn’t skip out on anything did they? Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.”

Skye replied, “You have no idea.”

COULSON: We need to see the origin of the blast. Run it back from the last point recorded. 

[Skye slips a memory card into her bra while May isn't watching]

“What was that about?” Yoyo questioned. She’s been hearing Coulson and Skye talk about her getting picked up from Shield intentionally, but she wouldn’t believe that Daisy had any malicious plans. It is weird for her to be hiding something like this though.

Skye mumbled, “I’m searching for my family. There’s really not much of anything at all on it.”

SKYE: That should do it. [closes computer] 

MAY: Let's head back. All right, let me just– [Mike shows up and attacks May. They fight. Mike knocks May down.]

Yoyo winced. “This is not looking good for you.” 

Coulson smiled apologetically at May when she turned to glare at him.

SKYE: Mike. What are you doing? 

MIKE: Saving you. From the scary men in dark suits. And you're gonna help save us. SKYE: "Us"? [Mike pulls out Ace] [Ace whimpers]

“He shouldn’t have brought his son into this,” Mack glowered. Normally he would be more understanding of the circumstances, but losing Hope again made this moment sting more. Yoyo took his hand and started whispering soothing words to him.

MIKE: Don't cry. Okay? Stay strong for me, Ace. What are we? 

ACE: We're a team. 

MIKE: That's right. (to Skye) Now drive.

“Not even a please,” Skye tried to joke. 

[the generated image rewinds; we can see the blast originating from the man in it himself]

COULSON: Extremis. It's new. Completely unstable. 

SIMMONS: Poor man didn't bring an explosive. And Mike has the same stuff in his system.

Mack’s grip on Yoyo’s hand tightened. 

WARD: And judging by his strength level, a lot more. 

FITZ: So any minute now, Mike is gonna– 

SIMMONS: He'll take out anyone within a two-block radius. 

COULSON (to Ward) Well... you wanted a bomb. [close up of Mike's face. Blackout.]

Melinda shook her head. “You and Daisy are the worst at joking during serious situations.” Daisy and Phil shared a smile.

[Ward fiddles with a gun] [Coulson examines a screen] 

SIMMONS [walking up to Coulson, Fitz behind her]: Sir? He didn't explode because he was angry. The two are connected. It... it's kind of a chemical surge. But calming him down will buy him a minute at most. He will detonate within the next few hours. COULSON: Solution? 

SIMMONS: Isolate him, get him away from people. 

COULSON: Or? 

FITZ: Put a bullet through his brain.

Yoyo grunted, “Oh fun. Another mission with no good options. The most common and the most difficult.”

SIMMONS: If he's dead, this irradiated metabolic process will stop. 

COULSON: We need to come up with a third option... one that doesn't involve Mike's son losing a father. 

SIMMONS: We have a couple of hours at most. There's no way that we could possibly– COULSON: Don't ever tell me there's no way! It's on you. Get it done.

Skye looked at Coulson. “No pressure or anything.”

“That…might have been a bit intense of a pep talk. I’m sorry FitzSimmons.” The two shot him nervous but understanding smiles. 

[Ward shoulders the gun] 

COULSON (on the phone): May? 

MAY (on the phone): He took Skye. 

COULSON: You all right? 

MAY: We'll deal with that later... at length. [Coulson looks concerned]

Skye teased, “Someone’s going to get it. Bet that conversation wasn’t fun.”

MAY: Right now, we need to figure out where they went. 

EXTERIOR: A train station in L.A. [indistinct conversations] 

INT: Skye's van [keyboard clacking] [beeping] [info on Mike running across the screen]

MIKE: How long is this gonna take? 

SKYE: This is top speed. Trust me. It's not like I'm deleting a Facebook page. I'm bypassing the license bureau's A.E.S.-protected data stream. So chill. 

MIKE: How do I know you can really do this? 

SKYE: I've done it before.

Daisy hummed. “I’ve done it a lot by now.”

[beep] [on the screen, it says "all files deleted"] 

FITZ [standing in front of a screen running simulations]: Come on. Give me more paralysis. [beeping] 

FITZ: Less rigor mortis! Oh, come on! [screen reads "simulation fail"] 

FITZ [running over to computer]: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 

SIMMONS [fiddling with night-night gun serum]: Just pretend it's an exam. We're taking an exam.

Skye sighed out of exasperation, “That’s what calms you down? That would make me freak out more.”

“There aren’t any lives at stake during an exam,” Fitz reminded her.

FITZ: An exam... yeah. 

SIMMONS: Yeah. 

FITZ: Okay. I don't want an "F." [Simmons puts vial of serum into a machine] 

FITZ: "F" equals a massacre.

Daisy snorted.

[Fitz breathing heavily] [computer beeping; screen reads "security breach"] 

FITZ: Whoa. 

SIMMONS [running over to Fitz]: Oh, no! What is this nonsense? Why are you making nonsense?!

Daisy laughed and looked over at Leo and Jemma. “You were so chaotic under pressure.”

Jemma rolled her eyes. “Oh like you were any better.”

“I mean, I kind of was.”

FITZ: This isn't me! It's noise. Someone's hacking our secure channel. 

COULSON [walking in]: It's longitude and latitude. Mike took Skye. [engine turns over] COULSON: She's telling us where.

“Clever,” Yoyo commented. 

Skye was distracted by something else. She wondered, “Did future FitzSimmons really take the time to put music over this? Not that I’m complaining, it’s pretty badass.”

MIKE: We'll take the nice lady with us. We... we... we can't go to the airport, So we'll... we'll take a train. And there, she'll... she'll help us start over, Make a new life... A better life, like I always said.

Yoyo looked annoyed. “So he was planning on dragging you along even further for his benefit, just like that? Typical.”

Daisy shook her head a little. “He wasn’t himself…”

EXT: train station. A car with Coulson and Ward pulls up. [indistinct conversations] 

[they get out and start walking] 

WARD: Look at this place. You're gonna risk thousands of lives over some nobody.

“Great to know what he really thinks about me,” Skye said sarcastically. The others could tell she was hurt by it anyway. 

Phil smiled at Daisy. “Nobody’s nobody.”

COULSON: Nobody's nobody, Ward. Fitz-Simmons will come through. [through megaphone, at Skye's van] Mr. Peterson, good morning. We're not a threat. We're here to help. But you're in danger, and we need to take you in. 

MIKE (to Skye): What did you do?!

Fitz flinched while Skye grimaced. Admittedly, Mike started to scare her at that moment. Raised voices were never a good sign for her in the past.

[police radio chatter] [Skye's van door goes flying off its hinges; everyone ducks/scatters] 

MAN: Whoa! Get down! [ people screaming ]

Daisy grinned, “Wow Coulson, I didn’t know old backs could bend like that.” Coulson and Phil both glared at her.

Skye laughed. Maybe her older self wasn’t too different after all.

MIKE [pulling Skye out, running for train station]: Come on. Come on. [Ward rushes after them] [Mike leads Skye through station] 

WOMAN ON P.A.: Please return to check-in counter. [ speaking spanish ] [ Indistinct conversations ] 

MAN [passing by]: Yeah, we won't. [Skye whirls around and kicks man in the dick] 

SKYE (to Mike): You're right... he is a little bitch.

Yoyo cackled and even Mack couldn’t help but chuckle despite his dour mood. Yoyo praised with a grin, “Very resourceful Skye.”

Skye smiled. She might not be able to fight as well as the other more seasoned agents on the team, but she usually had something up her sleeve.

MAN'S FRIENDS [charging Mike]: Yo, get him! Get him! 

MIKE [putting Ace behind him]: Ace, get back! [Skye runs away]

Skye sighed, “I would have taken the kid with me, but I thought that it would have made the situation worse.”

“If you can’t safely assist, it’s best to stay out of harm’s way,” May quietly reassured. Skye blinked at her with surprise before slowly nodding.

Daisy observed the interaction before sharing a look with her SO. Watching this seemed to be developing the relationship between their younger counterparts earlier than expected. 

MAN AND FRIENDS: Get out the way, man! Come on! Come on, now! [Mike fights man and friends] [ Screams ] [ man's bones crack ] 

MIKE: Ace! [man's friend hits Mike over the back with something metal; it clangs; it bends] [Mike turns to face him] [wide shot of man flying up in the air, yelling]

Yoyo bit the inside of her cheek. Mike probably seriously hurt someone, but that was kind of funny.

EXT: train station. Debbie is in a car. 

POLICE: Tell dispatch we'll need backup! [ siren wailing ] 

MAN 2: I don't know. Just go. Just keep going to the other side. [ Indistinct shouting ] [Debbie's buddy gets out of the car] [ Engine turns over ] 

MAN 2: You need to get inside.

Yoyo groaned, “Great. Another problem.”

INT: train station

COULSON [bringing Ace over to a police officer]: Hey. Let's get him out of here. 

ACE: Help my daddy. 

COULSON: I promise. 

MIKE: Ace! Ace!

Skye smiled. Coulson was good people. One of the best she’s met really.

[Ward grabs Mike from behind and begins choking him] 

MIKE: Ohh! [ Chokes ] 

WARD: Look... the stuff inside you is unstable. It'll kill you and everyone in here. 

MIKE: Who's gonna miss us?!

Mack wanted to scream at the screen. Did he even know that his son got out? There was no way he could know for sure. He would risk his son’s life without knowing.

[Mike throws him off] [ Groans ] [ Police radio chatter ] [ Indistinct shouting ] 

[Skye tries to escape; Mike grabs her]

Simmons said, “I’m surprised he still tried going after you.”

Skye shrugged. “I guess he still thought his plan could work.”

[Debbie's buddy shoots at Mike] [Mike and Skye run outside] [ People screaming ] 

[Alarm ringing ] [ siren wails ] [May pulls up]

Yoyo nodded. “Good. You needed her help.” May smirked.

COULSON (into earpiece): We're at the north entrance, May. [Coulson picks Ward up off the ground] 

WARD: You told them to hold fire. 

COULSON: I don't think that's us. We may have a third party here. He's gonna head down to the tracks. You stay high. I'll go low. Only take the shot if you have to, Ward. [Ward starts walking off] 

COULSON: Ward! [Ward looks back] 

WARD: If I have to.

“He’s way too trigger happy,” groused Mack.

Coulson shook his head. “Unfortunately, it’s a common trait amongst specialists.” Daisy’s team looked at each other. It’s more common if they’re Hydra.

[ Train whistle blows ] [ Skye breathing heavily ] 

SKYE: You got to stop! These people can help you. 

MIKE: The men in suits? They're your buddies now? Where did they take my son?!

Skye sighed and played with her bracelet. She should have never put that into Mike’s head. It would have made the situation so much easier to handle.

[Mike pulls Skye to the balcony of an upper second level of the station overlooking the ground floor] [ Police radio chatter ] [Debbie's buddy shoots at Mike] 

MIKE: Get down! [Mike throws Skye to the floor]

Yoyo hummed quietly, “It was a little rough, but it was good that he protected you. It seems like he’s not too far gone.”

[ gun cocks ] [Mike is shot] [Mike goes flying over the balcony] [Mike lands. Hard.]

Mack grimaced. He hasn’t liked any of the decisions Mike has made so far, but he hoped that he made it out of this alright. So he can live better for him and his son.

[gun cocks, aimed at Skye] [May appears and kicks Debbie's buddy's legs out from under him] [They fight. May kicks his ass.]

Skye sent May a small smile. She was still grateful for that. May gave her a little nod back.

[Mike, glowing red, pulls himself up] [Coulson approaches] [Coulson puts his gun down] MIKE: Think that means anything? I know you got men everywhere waiting to put me down. I know how this plays out. 

COULSON: I don't. I know you got poison in your system. I know it's burning you up. Mike, the last guy who wore that, exploded. 

MIKE: I'm not like that other guy. I'm... It matters who I am... inside, if I'm a good person, if I'm strong.

Daisy looked down at her hands and clenched them into fists. Mike’s wrong, so wrong. Bad things happen to good people. It’s a fact of life. Inevitable. But..he might also be right. She wondered if her being around those people is what made bad things happen. Gabe’s words still ringed in her ears. ‘Robbie needs good people around him, and that's not you.’ 

WARD (through earpiece) [sniper gun trained on Mike from afar]: I have a clear shot. Do you copy? 

COULSON: I know you're strong. Your boy knows it. He needs you to let us help. 

MIKE: You took him! [ Voice breaking ] You took my wife, my job, my house. You think this [gestures to Centipede on arm] is killing me?! [Skye and May run up]

Mack glanced back at Skye, “It wasn’t safe for you to be there.” She wasn’t an agent at this point. There was nothing left for her to do. 

Skye met his gaze before looking back at the screen. “No, but it’s where I needed to be.” Mack supposed it was then. 

MIKE: All over, there's people being pushed down, being robbed. One of them tries to stand up, you got to make an example out of him. 

COULSON: You bring this building down on us, will that help them? 

MIKE: That's a lie! [grabs some heavy looking debris] All you do is lie! [throws down debris] You said if we worked hard... if we did right... [Ward's finger tightens on the trigger] 

MIKE: ...we'd have a place. You said it was enough to be a man. But there's better than man. There's gods. And the rest of us... What are we? They're giants. We're what they step on. 

COULSON: I know. I've seen giants... up close. And that privilege cost me... nearly everything. But the good ones... the real deal... they're not heroes because of what they have that we don't. It's what they do with it. You're right, Mike. It matters who you are.

Phil nudged Daisy and whispered, “I still believe that.” She couldn’t look at him. She couldn’t be reminded of how much he still believes in her. Not right now.

MIKE: I could, you know? Be a hero. 

COULSON: I'm counting on it. [ Silenced gun as bullet hits Mike in the head]

Mack jolted, “That trigger happy..” Yoyo swore under her breath.

[Simmons rushes over to him] [Ward, from afar, shoulders night-night gun, Fitz next to him] [Simmons quickly checks Mike over and smiles up at Coulson. Mike's okay.]

Mack relaxed as Yoyo sighed in relief. “Should have figured you guys were able to work something out. Wasn’t too sure about Ward though.”

[Skye sighs in relief] [Fitz, from afar, gives Simmons a thumbs-up and a wink.] [Simmons sighs in relief] 

INT: S.H.I.E.L.D. H.Q. 

COULSON'S VOICE: Subject is in stable condition. All clear at Union Station. [ Beep ] [Hill smiles, walks out of room]

“You know you did good if Maria’s smiling,” Coulson stated.

EXT: a cute looking house somewhere [ Dog barking ] [ laughter ] [ Skye sighs ] 

[Skye and Coulson walk away from the home] 

SKYE: I told him his father was coming home. 

COULSON: He will. We have some experience with this.

Skye smiled. She should check in on Mike and Ace after this. See how they’re doing.

SKYE: He almost blew. We almost died. 

COULSON: We have some experience with that, too.

Daisy snorted, “Too much experience really.”

SKYE: Don't have it all mapped out. 

COULSON: True. We didn't cut off the head of the Centipede. Whoever sponsored that little experiment is still out there, among other things. 

SKYE: It's a brave new world. [they stop at Lola] 

SKYE: And a really old car. 

COULSON: [chuckles] Lola can keep up. [they get into Lola] 

COULSON: What about you? Have you thought about the offer? 

SKYE: Hitching a ride on the crazy plane? I'm not exactly a team player.

Coulson said, “You’re better at it than you think.”

Skye grinned. “Thanks AC.”

COULSON: We're not exactly a team. But we're in a position to do some good. You'd be a great help. And you'd be front row center at the strangest show on earth, Which is, after all, what you wanted. 

SKYE: I was able to hack S.H.I.E.L.D. from my van. You're gonna show me something new?

Daisy smiled and turned to Phil. “You’ve shown me almost everything I could and could not imagine,” she shared quietly. He smiled back, but the words weighed heavy on his heart. Most of those new things were not good. If there’s anything this first bit has shown him, it’s how much bringing her into Shield has changed her.

[ Coulson's cellphone rings ] 

COULSON (into phone): Go. 

INT: Bus lounge area. Fitz is eating Chinese takeout. Ward has a beer next to him. Simmons is there too. 

WARD: Sir, we've got an 0-8-4. 

COULSON: Is that confirmed? 

WARD: They want us to go in and confirm it. [Fitz gives him a bro slap on the shoulder. Ward is not happy with this.]

Skye snorted.

SKYE: What's an 0-8-4?

Daisy mumbled, “Oh I know what it can be all too well now.” Jemma nudged her.

[ Engine turns over ] 

COULSON: You've got exactly 10 minutes to decide if you really want to know. 

SKYE: There's no way we can make it to the airfield in– [Coulson flips some switches] 

[whirring ] [Lola starts to levitate]

Mack whistled. Man, he loves that car.

SKYE: ...10 minutes. 

COULSON: The tide is rising. [Lola takes off] [Boom. Screen goes black.]

Phil paused the screen before the next episode could play. The room was silent. He looked around at everyone. “I’m sure everyone wants to get through these as quickly as possible considering we each have our own…timelines to get back to. Does anyone want to have a break or ask any questions?” 

Daisy could only give him a look as he uttered the last part of his question. She felt eyes on the back of her head and resigned herself to what he just unleashed when she heard her own voice speak up behind her.

“I mean, I could think of a few.”