Episode 1: Pilot
Part One

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.

Staring into the store window, a young boy stared at action figures of Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, The Hulk, and Hawkeye. Behind him, a man paid a hotdog vender.
"Thanks, Bernie," he said.
"You bet."

The man walked to the boy, holding two hotdogs in his hands.
"Ace, come and get it." The boy turned around, taking the hotdog as the man put his hand on the boy's head. "What do you say we go out to your Aunt Mindy's this weekend?"

Ace didn't pay attention, turning his head back to the action figures.
"You and Kisha can swim in the pond."
"Sure…" The man noticed what had the boy's attention and looked at the figures too. He took a deep breath as he looked at them all.
"You know, you've got a birthday coming up in a couple months. Who's your favorite?"
"I'm okay," Ace said softly.

The man kneeled down to look his son in the eyes.
"Hey, things are tight right now, but I'm going to find something. Not back at the factory, but I've got prospects." The boy looked doubtful, but the man kept optimism on his face. "You and me – what are we?"
"We're a team," Ace answered.
The man nodded, "That's right." He turned back to the storefront. "So, who do you—"

His words were cut off as a big explosion happened in the building across the street. He wrapped himself around the back of Ace to protect him, then looked up at the building. People on the street were screaming and shouting as they ran away from falling debris. The man turned Ace around to face him.
"Are you okay?" Ace nodded furiously."All right. 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!" He pushed Ace closer to the hotdog vender, who put his arm around Ace, protecting him as the man ran off. "Watch my boy!"

The man ran to the building and paused for a second, looking up to assess the situation. He ran around the building before stopping and looking at a smoking window. He could hear a woman's voice.
"Help me! Help me!" Looking to the left then right then at the wall, he took a deep breath before punching the bricks.

His hands embedded into the wall. He kicked the wall with his right foot making a foot hold as well. Slowly he punched and kicked holes into the wall allowing him to climb up to the window. He could hear voices inside the building, telling people to get out and asking if anyone was still in the building.

He had to make a few big leaps, but finally, he made it to the window ledge. He hung there for a moment, coughing at the smoke, and putting the hood up on his sweatshirt. He made a mighty heave and landed inside the room.

Using his arm to block his face from the smoke, he kicked over something that was blocking the door, then he heard a woman speak.

"Help me! Help me!" He turned toward where the voice was coming from. "Help me! Help me!" The man started to move closer to where the voice was coming from, only to have pieces of the ceiling to cave in, causing him to back away.

Outside, people were standing around looking at the building with shocked faces, a few of them even had their cellphones out, taking photos and videos. The man appeared in a window with a woman in his arms. He jumped just as larger flames erupted behind him. The crowd gasped and screamed when he jumped, however, he landed easily with the woman still in his arms. He panted heavily as a woman from the crowd, holding her cellphone up recording, walked closer.

The man gently set the hurting woman onto the road. She coughed as she looked around. He stood, and made eye contact with the woman, who was recording him. He pulled his hood lower under his face and ran away.

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?

Three black SUVs raced down the street. When they stopped, a man got out of one SUV and pulled a walkie-talkie to his mouth.
"Agent Ward, Agent Reyes-Fitz, there's been a development. It's the Rising Tide. They've pinned down the location of the package. We need to abort."

Sara's arms tightened around Ward's middle as he sped down the street on a motorcycle.
"We're five minutes away from retrieving it," Ward said, his voice slightly annoyed.
"So is everyone else. They posted the coordinates online."
"If the job were easy…" Sara began.
"… it wouldn't be any fun," Ward finished. He parked the bike, taking off his helmet.
"Watch your six," Sara said, sliding forward.
"See you soon," he said, kissing her forehead.

Sara sat beside Ward at a table as Agent Maria Hill spoke.
"What does S.H.I.E.L.D. stand for, Agent Reyes-Fitz?"
"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division," Sara answered without blinking an eye.
"And what does that mean to you, Agent Ward?"
"It means someone really wanted our initials to spell out shield," he joked. Sara had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Agent Hill raised an eyebrow, her eyes unamused. Ward sobered, "It means we're the line, between the world… and the much weirder world. We protect people from the news they aren't ready to hear. And, when we can't do that, we keep them safe."

Pulling a piece of metal from the inside of his coat pocket, he set it on the table as he continued.
"Something turns up… like this Chitahuri neural link… we get to it before someone bad does." Agent Hill picked up the artifact, and looked at it a moment before standing.
"Any idea who the Vanchat was planning to sell this to?"
Sara shook her head, "I'm still working on it." Agent Hill set the artifact into a case and a man quickly strolled out of the room with the closed case.
"I'm more interested in how this Rising Tide group found out about it. I thought they were just hackers. What changed?" Ward asked.
"Everything's changing."

Sara watched as Agent Hill circled around them before stopping opposite them.
"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."
"I don't think Thor's technically a god," Ward said.
Sara leaned back in her chair, "You haven't been near his arms."

Agent Hill smirked inwardly at the look Ward sent Sara before continuing.
"Look, 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 leaned forward, trying to figure out why she was telling them things they already knew.
"Why were we pulled out of Paris?"
"For that, you'll have to ask Agent Coulson." Sara's eyes darkened as Ward's faced turned confused.
"Uh, yeah, I'm clearance level 6. I know that…" He glanced at Sara momentarily before continuing. "… that Agent Coulson was killed in action. Before the battle of New York… Got the full report."
"Welcome to level 7."

Sara jumped up, spinning around at the sound of Coulson's voice. He smiled slyly.
"Sorry, that corner was really dark, and I couldn't help myself. I think there's a bulb out."
"You're dead," Sara said flatly. Coulson's smile dropped and he took a step towards his daughter, who instantly back-up. Ward wrapped a hand around her wrist, pulling her slightly behind him.
"Is this a trick?" Ward asked.
"Nope," Coulson said, his eyes concerned."Not at all. Sara, it's me. You can ask questions on the way."

Ward frowned as the elevator doors opened and they walked out.
"Director Fury faked your death, to motivate the Avengers," he said.
Agent Hill nodded, "The death of a common ally is a particularly effective team builder." They stopped in front of a sealed door and turned towards a wall. A female computer voice spoke.
"Say "cheese"." Their badges flashed on the screen and the doors unlocked.
"Plus, it wasn't that much for a stretch. I stopped breathing for about 40 seconds." The two boys held a door open for Agent Hill and Sara to walk through the doors.
"Eight," Agent Hill corrected when she saw Sara's horrified face. "It's gets longer every time you tell it."
Coulson rolled his eyes, "Yeah, well, you get shanked by the Asgardian Mussolini, you can tell it your way." Sara smirked lightly and he winked.

They entered a reception area and Coulson continued.
"I was looking at the big white light and it felt like a lot longer than eight seconds." Being handed a badge, Sara clipped it to her jacket, momentarily letting go of Ward's hand.
"Do they know?" Ward asked. "The avengers, that Fury played them?"
"They're not level 7," Agent Hill said.
Coulson nodded, "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."

Sara glanced around as they entered a room filled with computers and monitors.
"But something put you back in the game," she remarked. She stared at a screen as a video played. It was footage of a man jumping out of a building.
"What's that?" Ward asked.
"That's a superhero, Agent Ward," Coulson answered.
"An unregistered gifted," Agent Hill corrected. "Identity unknown."
"Another little present from the Rising Tide," Coulson said.

Even though she was a highly trained agent, Sara couldn't help but shiver at the words. She hated them. Had quite a few scars from being kidnapped by a few.
"How are they getting this stuff before us?" Ward asked, his thumb moving slightly over her hand in a comforting motion.
"Same way they cracked our RSA implementation," Coulson said. "They're good. So I need better." Agent Hill nodded and turned to her two agents.
"Agent Coulson has requisitioned a mobile command unit, to which you are assigned." Sara's ears perked up slightly.
"The Rising Tide is trying to draw us out," Coulson said. "I think it's time they succeeded." Ward nodded his head, thinking he understood where this was going. He spoke as Coulson walked over to a desk to pick up a binder.
"You want me to cross them off?"

Coulson's face turned shocked, "Wow. No." He looked over to Agent Hill, but she merely looked away. "I want to use them to get to him," Coulson told Ward. He nodded towards the screen where the man's picture was still visible. "This man's world is about to get very weird. He's gonna need some help."

Ward looked at the screen, then to Agent Hill.
"I'm sorry, I was trained from day one as a specialist. I usually go in alone, I get it done. Defusing a nuclear bomb – I'm your guy." He looked at Coulson. "A welcoming committee? Not my speed." Coulson opened the binder.
"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 second highest marks since Romanoff."
"Second?" Ward asked. "Who had the highest?" Coulson ignored him as he continued.
"Under "people skills" she drew a – I think it's a little poop."

He turned the binder and held it up a bit higher for Ward to see. The agent's eyes drew down in confusion and he stepped closer to look at the drawing. Sara couldn't help but laugh.
"With knives sticking out of it," Coulson added.
Agent Hill held up a hand, "What?"
"That's bad right?" Coulson asked. "And given your family history, I'm surprised it's not worse." Sara's cheerful mood suddenly dissipated as she glanced side-ways at Ward. His jaw was clenched, his grip on her hand growing tight. Coulson didn't notice and closed the binder, holding it to his chest again. "I think you're the guy for this. If I'm wrong, you go straight back to your bombs."

An older man walked into the room wearing a lab coat, holding some files.
"Teams approved," he said. "Physicals are all fine." He passed the files to Agent Hill. "Fitz-Simmons is not cleared for combat. I'm told that won't be an issue." He turned to Sara who's eyes had lit up at the mention of Fitz-Simmons. "Make sure you have an inhaler, young lady," he scolded. "We don't need another…"
"I know, I know," she cut him off. "Fitz-Simmons keeps reminding me." He smiled, turning back to Agent Hill.
"Agent Ward here, he's almost too fit."

Ward stepped forward.
"That's an issue," he tried. "That should be an issue. Maybe I can't join the team. Because my –" He was cut off by Agent Hill.
"God, you are dismissed."
"Fine. But why second? Who got first aside from Romanoff?"
"You should know," Coulson said with a light smirk. Ward's eyes dropped to Sara. Sara shrugged at him. "Get out of here," Coulson told the two of them. "We leave in the morning."

Agent Hill turned to Coulson as her two agents left the room.
"It was a porcupine, it was not a poop," she told him. Coulson's brow drew in confusion and he opened the binder again. "It just means that he—"
"No, I'm pretty sure..." Agent Hill rolled her eyes.
"And it's not just Ward, your whole roaster is sketchy."
"Well, they're cleared."
"I would've been very happy not to clear you, Phil," the doctor said. "I'd love for you to rest up some more."
"I've had plenty of that, but thank you."
"You sure?" Agent Hill asked.
"You should go sometime," Coulson told her.
"Where?"
"Tahiti. It's a magical place."
She laughed softly, "Three days in and I'd be begging for an assignment."
"Exactly," Coulson agreed. He gave her a smile before walking out of the room.

The doctor stepped closer to Hill.
"Tahiti. He really doesn't know, does it?" Agent Hill looked down, guilt tugging at her.
"He can never know." She walked away and the doctor watched her leave.

Inside a diner, the man sat in a booth, drinking a cup of coffee and watching the news. The report had a runner at the bottom that said: Who is the hooded hero? They were talking to the woman that he saved in the building.
"Is there any way I can thank him? Are you sure nobody saw him?" The man smiled as he looked down to the paper in front of him. It was a list of jobs. Some were circled while others were crossed out.

He looked up when he saw someone slide into the booth with him. It was the young woman with the cellphone. She looked around as he looked up at her.
"Just act natural," she told him.
"What?"
"Just pretend that we're talking."
His confusion grew, "We are."
"Good, cause you never know who's listening."
"I don't even know who's talking." The young woman gave him a big smile.
"I'm Skye and you're the hooded hero."

The man looked down.
"Please don't tell me that you're not staying with that name," Skye questioned.
"Wait, what? I'm not – I'm a factory worker." Skye took three packets of sugar out of the holder and set them flat on the table. She scoffed at his assertion.
"Sure, by day. I saw you. You're a hero. Like a for real superhero – which is – I'm not, a groupie, stalker type, but…" He stared at her as she began to giggle with delight.

She took a second to compose herself. She took a deep breath and sighed.
"You're in danger."
"You got the wrong guy, lady," the man said.
"No, you've got the wrong approach. The cute girl from the hospital is dying to thank you, and possibly thank you. 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."

With a sigh, his eyes looked down at the list of classified ads before sitting back in his seat.
"What do you mean about danger?" the man asked.
"S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Shield what? I should carry a shield?"
"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 real questions – overnight. How long do you think it'll take them to clean you up?"
"And you want to know why I'm hiding," he mocked.

Skye looked at him thoughtfully.
"What if you didn't hide? What if you got in front of this and let people know that you're a hero."
"I'm just a guy," the man said softly.
"Why, a guy like that gets work, gets perks." She started playing with the sugar packets, moving them around. "I can help. I'm great with computers – like weirdly great. I mean, I could help you create a whole new identity or…" Her eyes widened and she gasped in delight. "A mask!"

The man grabbed his paper and prepared to leave the table.
"O-okay." He got up and Skye scrambled out of the booth to follow him.
"Well, you could just – also we could just stick with the…" She quickly got around him, standing close by his side. "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 –"
"You have an office?"

Skye's face turned offended.
"Yes, I have an office." The look dropped off her face. "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."
"Thank you." He gave her a slight bow and then walked away. Skye gave him a big smile and waved cheerily to him.
"They're coming for you." He shot her a look, but continued out of the bar. She lifted up the man's driver's license that she 'borrowed' His name was Michael Peterson. "… Mike."

Ward zipped up a bag, tossing it angrily to the ground.
"Hey!" Sara yelped. He looked down to see the bag had landed on her lap. "What do even you have in here?" she asked, pushing the heavy object off her bag.
"Stuff," he shrugged. He collapsed on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Standing up, Sara headed to the kitchen. Left over Chinese cartons were sitting on the counter from dinner. She picked up a box of Chow Mein, tiredly twirling her chopsticks in the noodles. She stared out the apartment window, looking at the busy city lights.

A pair of arms wrapped around her waist and she leaned back against Ward's chest.
"Are you okay, Grant?" she asked softly. He kissed the top of her head.
"I'm fine, Sara." She smiled faintly. "I love you," he muttered.
"I love you too."

Coulson walked into an office, stopping by a woman sitting at her desk assembling memos. She stopped her work when she heard Coulson's voice.
"Agent May."
"No," May said instantly. Coulson smiled at her denial.
"So, you've been briefed?"
"I'm not going back in the field," May told him.
"Yeah, you got such a nice setup here. Ever thought about adding a moat?" She glowered at him. "I just need you to drive the bus, liaise ground transport, some on-site supervision. This isn't a combat op."

May looked away, continuing to staple her paperwork.
"Then you don't need me," she muttered.
"I do. 'Cause we'll be running ourselves. Picking the ops, making the calls." That got her attention and she looked up at him again. "No red tape…" A though occurred to him and he looked around for a second. "This is where they actually make the red tape, isn't it? I always wondered." May finally cracked a smile and Coulson looked back at her. "Melinda?"
"You're really just asking me to drive the bus?" she asked with a small sigh.
"I'm not asking," he told her. He started to walk away, but stopped, turning back to her. "But it's a really nice bus and Sara's co-piloting."

Inside a hanger, a large plane was waiting inside. People were milling about the plane as other soldiers stood guard. Ward walked to the plane holding a bag. Once inside the hanger, he took of his sunglasses to stare at the plane and continued to walk to it. He walked onto the ramp where people and supplies were being loaded. He saw Sara and two other young adults with her. Sara's eyes widened as a young woman picked up something.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, watch it!" she exclaimed. She rushed to the young woman, taking the device out of her hands.
"Yeah!" a young man said. "That's the Night-Night Gun!" The young man had a Scottish accent, that matched Sara's almost perfectly.
"Well it's on my stuff," the young woman said in a British accent. "And it doesn't work, and there's no way we're calling it the Night-Night Gun."

Sara shook her head as she carried it into a lab, paying no attention to Ward.
"The bullets work. Non-lethal, heavy stopping power and they break up under the subcutaneous tissue –" The young woman interrupted her. This was a figh they'd had before.
"Oh, with a dose of .1 microliters of Dendrotoxin. I'm not Hermione. I can't create instant paralysis with that." The young man spoke over her as they talked. "You should have run the specs by me before building the molds!" she said.
"The bullets are hollow. It's a marvel I can keep them from breaking apart in the chamber," the young man told her.
"Or used a higher caliber round or read a book."
"Have you ever heart of physicist or – uh, what's the other one? Inertia!" the young man snapped. Sara had a hand to her right temple, massaging it gently.
"It's not particularly difficult!" the young woman said.

The heavy crash of a bay being dropped on the floor, brought their argument to an abrupt stop. They looked over to find Ward standing in the doorway.
"Fitz-Simmons?" The young woman pointed at the young man.
"Fitz." Fitz pointed at the young woman.
"Simmons. I'm engineering, she's biochem. Agent Ward?"
"Duh," Simmons remarked. "He's exactly like Sara described." Ward sent his girlfriend a look before pulling his comm receiver out of his jacket and held it out to them.
"Coulson said I'd need my comm receiver encoded."

Quickly, Fitz walked over and took the device from him.
"I don't know if you've worked with that model before. It's –" He stopped as Fitz passed it to Sara, and she smashed it with a hammer. "… brand new," he finished.
"They'll repurpose the I.D.I.S. chip," Simmons told him. Sara held up a small piece with a set of big tweezers.
"Don't need the external receiver for inner-ear coms anymore," Fitz said.

Ward fiddled with his ear as Simmons took his head.
"So, uh, how does it –" Now it was Simmons turn to interrupt him, she grabbed his face and shoved some sort of swab into his mouth. Sara chucked at his expression.
"Embedded sensorineural silicone matched to your DNA," she told him. "It's very posh," Simmons said. She took the swab out of his mouth, closing it up as he made a face. "So, are you excited to be coming on our journey into mystery?"
"It's like Christmas," Ward said dryly. She gave him a smile and walked away.

Sara walked over to him, standing beside him as a shiny bright red Corvette rolled onto the plane.
"One of Coulson's old S.H.I.E.L.D. collectables," Fitz whistled. "Flamethrowers, world's, first GPS. He's mad for this crap."
"Yep, and guess who 'inherited' all of it," Sara teased.
"You didn't even touch the stuff," Fitz accused. Coulson got out of the car, closed the door and walked over to them. As he walked, another man in an orange vest walked to the car. Coulson's voice went low in warning.
"Don't touch Lola." The worker quickly backed away. Fitz and Sara exchanged grins.
"And he calls it a girl's name," Fitz chuckled. He walked back into the lab, laughing quietly.

Coulson led Ward up a spiral staircase, Sara following as she scrolled through something on her phone.
"Lola's not just a collectable, you know," Coulson told Ward. "People tend to confuse the words "new" and "Improved"." They entered the heart of the plane where there was a conference room and a sitting area. "This is 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?"
"I've don't a night jump into a drop zone under heavy fire, sir. I can handle it."
Sara rolled her eyes, "He was attempting a joke, Ward."
"Oh." Ward turned back to Coulson. "I'm sorry, go ahead."
Coulson shook his head, "I'm not gonna tell it now."

Sara smiled as a familiar face walked towards them. May addressed Ward, wrapping an arm around Sara.
"If you plan to unpack, make it quick. Come on Sara, wheels are up in five."
"I'll be right there," Sara promised. May handed some papers to Coulson.
"We may had a hit on one of the Rising Tide's routing points."

Coulson glanced down at the stuff she just gave him.
"Good, we need to do some catching up." She nodded and walked away as Ward watched her go.
"Is that… who I think it is?"
"She's just the pilot," Sara told him firmly.
"Melinda May is "just the pilot"?" Ward looked at Coulson. "Come on, sir, what game are you really playing?" Coulson looked at Ward's bag.
"Better stow your gear." He walked away up some stairs, leaving Ward and Sara alone.

Ward looked down at Sara.
"Where are you?" he questioned.
"You really want to share a teeny-tiny bunk?" she teased.
"Anything to be close to you," he teased back. She smirked, pointing a small door.
I've got to…" He grabbed her, pressings his lips to hers.

How will you come at us?
From the air?
From the ground?
How will you silence us this time?
How can you?
The truth is in the wind.
It's everywhere.
You cannot stop the Rising Tide.
You will not find us.
You will never see our face. But, rest assured, we will rise against those who shield us from the truth.
And nothing – nothing – can stop us in the –

Skye's words were cut off as the door of her van suddenly opened. There stood two men in dark suits. One was older with a smile on his face. The other was tall and brooding. She took a deep breath and looked at them with a smile.
"Hey. What's up?" The tall one rolled his eyes, throwing a black bag over Skye's head.

Sara watched on a monitor as Ward led a hand-tied, head-bagged young woman into the plane with Coulson following. She swiped through several screens until she reached the one for the holding compartment.

Ward took the hood off the woman's head as he sat her down in a chair. He'd already untied her hands. Coulson shut the door behind them.
"You guys are making a big mistake," the woman told them.
"You don't look that big," Ward told her.

She smoothed her hair, composing herself while Ward walked away.
"Sorry for the lack of finesse," Coulson said. "Agent Ward here has had a little history with your group –" Ward's face turned annoyed and Sara rubbed her eyes tiredly. "The Rising Tide," Coulson finished.
"I don't know… what you're…"
"Okay," Ward interrupted. "There are two ways we can do this."

The young woman didn't look intimidated, she gave him a teasing smile when she spoke.
"Oh, is one of them the easy way." Ward's face showed no levity.
"No." The woman's smile faltered slightly.
"Oh."
"What's your name?" Coulson asked. She looked at Ward, then back to Coulson.
"Skye."
"What's your real name?" Ward asked. She shot him a look, but Coulson spoke first.
"That can wait. It's another name we need, a certain hero."

Skye instantly looked away.
"What makes you think I know that?"
"Well, you made a little mistake." Coulson sat in the chair opposite her. "The phone you filmed the hooded hero with had the same cryptographic signature as a few of the Rising Tide posts." He dropped a folder in front of her.
"Wow. Yeah," Skye nodded. "Was that a mistake? Or am I know sitting in the center of your secret headquarters? What is this?" She looked around the small lightly dimmed room. "A plane?"

Ward shot a look over at Coulson.
"I got inside. And, by now, you've discovered you can't beat the encryption on my equipment, so you got nothing." Sara rolled her eyes. She wasn't wrong. Probably GPS encrypted.
"We have a fairly strong coincidence," Coulson shrugged. He opened the folder and showed her a picture. "You, being on the scene right before it went up in flames. Want to tell me what my team was gonna find out?"

A S.H.E.I.L.D. SUV pulled to a stop outside a tall structure. Fitz and Simmons got out, staring up in excitement. Simmons had a big smile on her face and gripped Fitz's shoulders tightly, trying to contain her excitement. May got out of the driver's side and looked up at the blown up windows. She then looked over at the crumpled ground where the superhuman had landed.

Sara spun around in her chair as she listened to Ward question Skye.
"Did you blow it up to draw him out?" he asked. The woman looked at him with shock.
"Did you?" Sara scoffed, who did Skye think they were?
"That's not our style," Coulson said.
"I was just kidnapped by your "style"," she quipped. Sara clicked her tongue. She wasn't wrong. "S.H.I.E.L.D covered up in New Mexico, Project Pegasus. Of course you'd be covering up centipede."

Freezing, Sara leaned closer at the monitor. There was a brief smirk on Coulson's face and Ward took a step back. He mouthed the word silently. What the bloody hell was centipede? Skye caught Ward's confusion, her smile growing.
"Holy, no way." She laughed, "You don't know what that is. Billions of dollars of equipment at your disposal and I beat you with a laptop I won in a bet?"

Coulson frowned at her, "You need to think about your friends. 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." Ward walked closer to Skye and leaned down close to her.
"What is centipede?"

Mike sat staring at a piece of paper, a Notice of Eviction. He sighed and spoke into the phone he was holding. His son, Ace, sat not nearby, throwing a ball into the air.
"Yeah, I get it," he spoke into the phone. "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 paused and looked down at his arm. There was a piece of tech attached to the inside of his forearm. There were at least six yellow gem looking things segmented like a centipede. "Yeah, yeah, I-I-I know what I signed, but if we got out in front of this, maybe –"

He listened for a few seconds, growing angry. "Then what? You want me to go crawling back to the factory? I couldn't even get workmen's comp from those crooks. I don't think – Yeah, yeah, doctor, I just thought – okay." He pulled the phone away from his ear and shut it off. He looked over to the side and saw a picture of his wife. He threw the phone and it smashed into the frame, breaking the glass.

Fitz-Simmons, and May stood inside the charred remains of the room where the explosion went off.
"This was a lab," Simmons said. "Was this leased as a lab?" Fitz pulled his phone away from his ear.
"Sara says Self-empowerment center."
May chuckled, "With a top of the line motion sensor security system."
"Ah, so a secret lab." Fitz put his phone on speaker, setting on a charred table.
"You're on a speaker," he said.
"Cool!" Sara's voice buzzed through the phone.

Simmons knelt next to a body, taking a sample from it.
"A secret lab and a superhero, not a coincidence," May said. "So, was this explosion sabotage? Was it meant for him? Or where they just in over their heads?"
"Yeah working on the problem," Fitz said. "Ladies, if you'll just…" He walked in-between then and set down his case. He opened it and May frowned.
"If you're gonna be in the field, Agent Fitz, you have to get your hands dirty."
"No, he doesn't," Sara said.
"Yeah, I don't," Fitz agreed.

He looked down at his tablet and pressed a button. The small buzz of a whirring sound filled the room. Small little drone plans flew up around him as he quietly whistle the "Off to Work" song from Snow White. He hit a few more buttons and the drones emit some sort of laser grid to map the room.

In the containment room, Skye paced around as Coulson and Ward, sitting down, watched her.
"Centipede, it was chatter on the web and then, gone. I traced the access point MAC address to that building," she told them.
"What were you after?" Ward questioned.
"The truth. What are you after?"
Ward pursed his lips together, "World peace. You… pseudo-anarchist hacker types love to stir things up."

Ward stood as Skye gave him a surprised look at his words.
"But you're never around for the fallout. People keep secrets for a reason, Skye." He towered in front of him, but to her credit, she didn't back down. Instead she put one of her hands to his chest and pushed him back a step.
"Well, just because you're reasonable and…" She paused, pushing him again. "Firm… doesn't mean that you're not an evil, faceless government too bag."
"Just give us your guy's name," Ward said exasperated.
"He's not my guy!"

Coulson looked at her firmly.
"You understand that he's in danger, right?"
"Then let me go! Let me talk to him. Me, not the T-1000 here." She motioned to Ward with her insult. Sara smirked at that. Once more, she wasn't wrong.
"You want to be alone with him, of course!" Ward snapped. He turned away from her and looked at 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's face turned insulted as Coulson stood up.
"What? I would –" Her face went from indignant to resigned. "It was one time." Coulson walked to the door and opened it, then he turned and looked behind himself.
"Ward."

Sara frowned as they left the room, but didn't switch the monitor. She instead looked down at her phone.
"Anything?" she asked. She could hear Fitz drones.
"What do those do?" May asked, indicating the drones.
"Well, see," Sara continued. "Fitz and I designed each with their own capabilities, so, some record the dimensions and textures of the room and some testing the matter density, radiation. I mean, one is basically just smelling."

Fitz saw something on his giant tablet and called out.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I've got something in something."
"Whose got it?" Simmons asked. Fitz turned around and pointed.
"Uh… Bashful." May walked over to where the drone was moving things around. She found a black cylinder and picked it up.
"Surveillance camera," May said. "Deep fried."
"Yeah," Fitz agreed, "but that model has flash memory in case of brownouts. Now, Sara and I could sync that data from the motion detectors and, with a little luck, get some images from before the blast."
"And by "luck" he means "unappreciated genius"," Sara quipped.

May smirked at the phone as Simmons walked closer to her and Fitz.
"Yeah, we'll need it, Sara. Snow's reading some compounds that are – whoa. My God!" She walked over to another section of the room and looked down, then bent down.
"Explosive?" May asked. Simmons found something on the floor and picked it up.
"Not of this earth," Simmons answered.

In the hallway, Coulson frowned at Ward as he closed the door behind them.
"Is it the girl? Is she getting under your skin?"
"Sir?" Ward's brow furled in confusion.
"Or is it the assignment?" Coulson continued. "Are you so anxious to get out of this that you'd deliberately blow an interrogation?"
"Give me an minute alone with her, you'll have your answers."
"She's an asset."
"She is such an a—"

Ward stopped as what Coulson said sunk in.
"Wait, asset?"
"We don't know anything about her," Coulson told him. He opened and took and took out a small case. He put the case on the table. "Do you appreciate how often that happens? That never happens. We need what she knows." He opened the case to revel a small tech gun sitting inside.

Walking back into the room, Coulson held up a tiny vial of green liquid before Skye.
"This is QNB-T16. IT's the top shelf martini of sodium pentothal derivatives." Skye squirmed in her seat, but Ward put a hand on her shoulder, restraining her. "It's a brand new extremely potent truth drug. Don't worry. The effects only last about an hour."

Sara's ears perked at the mention of the drug. She's created that… she and Simmons. What was Coulson thinking? Ward released Skye and went to stand next to Coulson.
"Then you'll have a nice little nap," Ward informed her. "And we'll have all the answers to our – Hey!" Sara's jaw dropped slightly as she watched Coulson shoot Ward with the drug instead of Skye. "What the hell!" Ward exclaimed. His hand went to the spot on his arm that Coulson had shot him.
"I'm sorry," Coulson said insincerity. "Did that hurt?"

Ward took his hand away from his arm, putting on bravado.
"No. But you've lost your mind. You should never do that to a member of your team. And yes, I did hurt a little bit. But I always try to mask my pain when my girlfriend's watching." Sara let out a small laugh. "Because I think it makes me seem more masculine… My God, this stuff works fast!" He sat down in the vacant chair across from Skye.
"Don't trust us?" Coulson asked. "Ask him whatever you'd like." Coulson started to move towards the door.
"Wait a minute!" Ward snapped. "Wait, you can't just – this is definitely not protocol!" Coulson shut the door in Ward's face.

Skye cocked her head, looking at Ward. She slowly took off her coat. Ward's eyes glanced down at the table then focused on her eyes.
"You seem nervous, Agent Ward," Skye told him.
"I'm calling to mind my training." Skye stood up. "There's no way I'm going to reveal classified secrets to a girl who's hell bent on taking us down." She stood right next to Ward and leaned down a bit, putting her hands on the table.
"Have you ever killed anyone?"
"Yes, a few."

Closing his eyes in frustration, Ward couldn't help but continue.
"High risk targets. But they were terrible people who were trying to murder nice people and my girl. And I didn't feel good afterwards." Skye nodded slowly.
"And does your grandmother know about these things?" Sara smirked as Ward's face went sad. He looked up at Skye, when he spoke, his voice sounded like that of a child.
"Grammy?"