Part Two:

The Bus

Skye and Miles sat inside the holding room, and Miles pulled on his handcuffs, finding them secure.
"So… I guess due process isn't really S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol," he tried to start a conversation.
"They don't have time for it," came her short reply.
"Whoa. Are you defending them? These people are denying our basic rights."
"This isn't about us!" Skye snapped. "They're trying to save someone's life."
"Listen to yourself," he snapped back. "That's what they always say to justify invading privacy, Skye. These people stand for everything we despise, secrets, censorship –"

Finally, she lost her cool and leaned forward.
"Enough with the manifesto, Miles."
"We can't let them get away with it," he growled. "Manning, Snowden, Aaron Swartz, these are modern day revolutionaries."
"This has nothing to do with that. You leaked –"

In the control room, Ward hit a button, cutting off the feed. Fitz-Simmons and Sara were doing various things around him.
"Guy's hiding behind platitudes," he snapped. "He's dirty. I can feel it." Simmons let out a sigh.
"Scrubbed clean, actually. Nothing much on him. He's got no family record, his apartment is under an alias and he plays a lot of "Minecraft" where he runs a rather nasty mob." Sara and Fitz became interested.
"Is it – is it a zombie?" Fitz asked.
"Zombie pigmen," Simmons corrected. Sara and Fitz exchanged a serious look.
"Keep looking," Ward ordered.

Coulson stood inside his office, watching the feed from the holding cell. May walked in, looked at him, then the screen, then back at him.
"Go ahead, say it," Coulson muttered.
"I don't do petty," May shook his head.
"But you called it," he argued. "I trusted my gut even though you said she was a risk."
"When someone breaks into my house, I usually don't invite them to stay, but that's me."

With a sigh, he collapsed in his chair.
"That was me, too. Then that alien staff went through my heart."
"Sure it didn't go through the brain?" May teased. Coulson rolled his eyes.
"You don't really do comforting either, do you?"
May smirked, "What's your gut telling you now?" He looked at the monitor for a moment.
"That she's still hiding something." They both looked up as Simmons rushed into the room with a smile.
"Sir, we found some evidence."

Skye looked up as Ward marched into the room. She sat up straighter as he eyed Miles. He closed the doors behind him. He looked at Miles.
"She's been defending you. Saying you're a stand-up guy." He showed them an envelope. "So, I'm going to give you a chance." Ward set the envelope in front of Miles. "You want to tell her, or should I?"

Miles shot a look to Skye then up to Ward.
"I don't have to listen to you –"
"There goes your chance," Ward interrupted. He slid the envelope over to Skye before picking it up and opening it. "Your boyfriend here made a few deposits in the days following the leak." Ward started setting down banking receipts. "All said, it's about a million dollars."

Skye looked at the receipts then shot a glare at Miles.
"What?" she hissed.
"Real stand-up guy," Ward snarked.
"I can explain –"
"Did you sell information?" Skye asked. Her glare darkened as he said nothing. "Miles? Yes or no?... DID YOU?"
"Yes, but –"

He was cut off when Skye fought against her restraints trying to get at him.
"Ohhhh! You are so dead? What the hell were you thinking?"
"It was a million dollars!" he snapped. "A million dollars. It would change my life… our lives."

Ward looked over to watch Skye's reaction.
"And the woman was harmless," Miles continued. "I looked into it."
"No one with good intentions pay that kind of money for information," Skye said. "Did you ever think about that?"
"Of course I did. I never would have done it if I thought –"
"Who is the woman you referred to?" Ward questioned.
"A fan of the Rising Tide, some rich girl in a flower dress. She knew all about me, said I had a gift. She thought people like us deserved more."

Skye growled at him.
"Oh, you deserve more."
"She pointed me to a Chinese S.H.I.E.L.D. feed, wanted me to crack it," Miles told Ward.
"You thought that was harmless?" Ward asked with a raise of his eyebrows.
"I checked the data stream, it didn't seem like anything you and I haven't already put there, Skye. And I traced the account where the money came from to make sure it wasn't come evil corporation. It was just an Eco-Research lab. Otherwise, I would never –"

That grabbed Ward's attention and he leaned in closer.
"Ecological research?"
Miles nodded, "Yeah, insects, some study with centipedes." Skye's eyes went direction to Ward as he turned to face her. "What's more harmless than that?" Miles asked.

Secret Lab

Chan ran on a treadmill as a lab tech took data. Inside a room, Raina watched Chan through a window.
"It appears the volatility in the serum has been neutralized," Raina spoke to the other person in the room.
"I'm surprised you got him to cooperate," the woman spoke.
"He has dreams. I told him they'd come true."

The woman sighed, shaking her head.
"You gave him a name, didn't you?"
"Everyone wants to be remember," Raina shrugged. The woman picked up a tablet with Chan's picture showing and looked at the data. She rolled her eyes at his name. "
"Well, thank God no one's gonna have to actually call him that."

Raina laughed lightly, looking back at Chan.
"You were right. The platelets in his blood prevent the extremis in the serum from combusting."
The woman smiled, "That's fantastic. The others will be pleased. God work, Raina." Raina gave her a smile. "Now, drain him," the woman commanded.

She walked out, leaving Raina alone. Raina had her eyes downcast but looked up at Chan. Chan was off the treadmill and wiping a towel on his face. Raina hit a button on the counsel in front of her. A gas blast went out of the floor, hitting Chan and he immediately collapsed. Raina watched and gave a deep sigh.

The Bus

Coulson walked into the Planning Room with Ward behind him. Fitz-Simmons, May, and Sara entered from the other doorway and they met at the large tabletop monitor.
"It appears Centipede is responsible for Mr. Chan's kidnapping," Coulson said.
"First L.A., now Hong Kong. What kind of organization are we dealing with?" Ward asked.
"International, well-financed, interested in creating a super soldier," Coulson answered. "Let's hope finding Mr. Chan will provide some answers. Using the account information Mr. Lydon gave us, S.H.I.E.L.D. H.Q. believes he's being held there."

He pointed out an area on the map that was showing on the tabletop monitor.
"Any ideas what Centipede wants with Chan?" May asked. "
Hard to say," Fitz began. "But Sara and Simmons think that considering he's pyrokinetic –"
"There's a good chance his genetics could stabilize the Extremis element fo the Centipede serum," Sara added.

Fitz held his hands together, making a ball with them.
"Keeps their test subjects from going…"
"Boom!" Simmons exclaimed. Fitz moved his hands apart like an explosion at the word. Sara rolled her eyes at them, but had a small smile on her lips.
"If Mr. Chan is Centipede's lab rat, we need to get there before the experiment's over," Coulson said.

Secret Lab

Chan stared at the ceiling, strapped to a chair.
"This is no test, this is torture," he spat. He was slowly lifted upright and saw Raina and the woman doctor standing in front of him.
"Thank you for your participation," the doctor said. "Our group really owes you one." She walked over to a machine that had many large syringes in it. Chan started at her with anger.
"I won't let you!"

He lit his right hand an began to scream in pain. He extinguished the flames and found his hand burnt black.
"What have you done?" he panted.
"We don't understand what gave you this ability, but the reason you don't burn is because your blood platelets are fire-resistant."
"Which is why we're removing them," Raina said.

The doctor put a syringe inside some sort of canister that another lab tech was holding.
"Take those upstairs," she ordered. She started out of the room with Raina following.
"Raina, you said I had a gift!" Chan exclaimed. She turned and looked at him.
"And you're giving it." She started out again.
"Raina! Raina!" he screamed.

The Bus

Ward chambered a round into his gun then holstered it. He was dressed for the mission. Coulson walked up behind him.
"Agent May and I will be handling the field work," he told Ward. "You stay and oversee the prisoners." Coulson started to walk away, and Ward gave him a confused look.
"Sir?" Coulson stopped, turning back. "I was Skye's S.O.," he continued. "It was my responsibility –"
Coulson interrupted him, "It was my call to bring Skye onto the plane, and you warned me against it. My problem, I fix it."

Miles glanced at Skye in the holding cell.
"I'm sorry. I honestly didn't know," he told her.
"All our talks, did you mean none of it?" Skye asked. He looked at her, confused. "I risked everything to help you, and it turns out every word out of your mouth since we met is total crap."
"That's not true," Miles shook his head.
"Democratization of knowledge, "the truth will set you free". The truth sure as hell came out."
"I believe in all those things. I just don't know why they have to go hand in hand with barely scraping by. Come on, Skye. You lived in your van for the last two years."

Skye scoffed, "Now you're making fun of my van?"
"I could have funded us for years… Us. So you wouldn't have to sacrifice your principles, joining this corrupt institution to find what you're looking for. And what's wrong with me trying to do that?"
"I'll tell you what's wrong with that, an innocent guy might die – for money!"
"You know I'd never intentionally hurt anyone," Miles hissed. "I'm just trying to get my life together. At least you know what you're looking for. Me, I don't have that. For a long time, I thought it was you. I guess I was wrong." Skye nodded with tears in her eyes.
"I guess so."

Secret Lab

Coulson was outside the building housing the lab. May and Agent Kwan were there along with some soldiers.
"Building has five floors," Coulson began. At his words, May started away. "The first for are research," Coulson continued. "Fifth is listed as maintenance but uses half the building's energy."
"Either they're guarding the world's largest vacuum…" Kwan trailed off.
"Or that's where Chan's being held," Coulson nodded. "Send your "B" and "C" teams in through the tunnels to secure the lower floors. Warm them that the Centipede serum is highly explosive."
Kwan nodded, "Understood. Where do we go in?" May, standing off to the side, shot a grappling hook up and began to be pulled up.
"The roof," Coulson answered.

Inside the building, May led the way down a hallway with another soldier as Coulson and Kwan followed. May seemed to have some sort of indicator in her hands that beep and whirred as she moved it around. She turned and the machine beeped louder.
"Here," she said. "Heat signature confirmed."

Coulson started down the hallway indicated. He got to a set of doors and reached back over his shoulder. May dropped a device in his waiting hand.
"I love these things," he smirked. He pressed it against the door and pushed the center of the device. A red glowing light ring appeared around the device. It started to beep rapidly, and they all turned their backs to the door after taking a couple of steps away.

There was a small explosion and the door opened. May rushed past Coulson and kicked the door open. She grabbed the guard standing on the other side of the door and took him out. She then ran to the next guard and took him down as well. Coulson and Kwan entered the room and went over to Chan.
"Agent Kwan, it's you," Chan said.
"We're here to get you out," Kwan told him.

Chan nodded his head and Coulson went over to the machinery. Chan looked past Kwan, staring at the vials of the Centipede serum. An lab technician in a white hazmat suit hit a red button and an alarm began blaring out and the readout on the wall saying "LOCKDOWN".

Coulson walked over to the lab tech that hit the button. The tech grabbed a big piece of piping and lifted it to swing at Coulson. Coulson knocked him out before he got the chance. He lifted a finger to his earpiece.
"Strike team needs a security override, STAT. Kwan and you arrange –"

Turning around to look at Kwan, he found the agent with a surprised look on his face and smoke coming out of the mouth. He had a big hole in his chest, and he fell to the ground. Chan stood behind him, a smirk on his face. He pulled a needle out of his arm.
"Chan, what have you done?" Coulson asked.
"I've set myself free." Chan opened both of his hands and shot big flames toward Coulson.

The Bus

Ward slammed the door to the holding cell open and rushed inside. He looked at Skye.
"Coulson's in trouble." He hurried over to her and undid her handcuffs. He looked at Miles and frowned. "As much as I hate it, you need to come too." He grabbed Miles arms and pulled him through the plane with Skye following.

Chan screamed in pain, both of his arms up to his elbows were scorched black. Coulson and May were hiding behind some shelving units.
"Mr. Chan, I know you're in pain," Coulson consoled, peeking around the shelf. Chan gave him a crazy smile and pointed at his burned arms.
"This… this is nothing. You were the ones killing me, forcing me to keep this gift locked up inside."
"Chan, I'm sorry you lived a life you don't want," May spoke in Cantonese. "But violence will solve nothing."

Coulson shot her a look as Chan responded in Cantonese.
"It will keep me from being kept a prisoner. By you, by them, there's no difference. I was given this gift for a reason. To burn bright."
"There's no turning back," May warned.
"I don't want to go back!" Chan replied. May gave Coulson a disappointed look.
"So, we're good, right?" Coulson asked.

Sara was typing furiously on a laptop when Skye came rushing in.
"What's wrong?" she asked, instantly finding a spot at the monitor.
"The entire facility's been locked down," Simmons asked. "And Sara's mad at Coulson."
"I didn't say that," Sara muttered.

Fitz glanced at Miles then up at Ward.
"Are you sure about this?"
"No," Ward answered, setting a comforting hand on Sara's shoulder. Miles leaned over and whispered to Skye.
"This is pretty cool." She rolled her eyes and focused on the wall monitor.
"The alarms disconnected the system from all exterior servers," she told the team.
"Can you fix it or not?" Ward asked.
"Yeah, but you'd have to get her onsite," Sara said.

Both Ward and Miles made faces, clearly showing their disappointment.
"No way," Miles said.
"Not a chance," Ward said at the same time. They shared a glare.
"You're a hacker, Skye, not Seal Team Six," Miles reminded her.
"No," Skye agreed. She glanced at Ward, her eyes teasing. "But Sara is." Fitz-Simmons glanced at each other as Sara looked up from her laptop, a smirk playing on her face.

Ward grabbed Sara's arm and dragged her out of the room, glaring furiously at her.
"You are not going and that's final," he hissed.
"So, you'd rather me stay here with him?" she shot back. "I'm just as good as you Ward, and I'm fairly certain I still have higher marks." He huffed, tapping his foot impatiently. "Fine," he sighed. "Fine, fine, fine."

Secret Lab

While throwing flames at Coulson and May, Chan still screamed out in pain that he was causing himself. Coulson ducked out from behind the shelves he was behind and got closer to May when one of the flames got too close.
"His file say anything about him being homicidal?" May asked.
"Just said he was kind of a tool," Coulson shrugged.

Coulson raised his voice so Chan could hear.
"Mr. Chan, believe it or not, this can still get worse."
"You bend someone long enough and they break!" Chan snapped. "Poor little Chan Ho Yin may have believed your lies, but not Scorch."
"Who?" May questioned.
"Oh, crap. They gave him a name!" Coulson sighed.

Reaching into his coat pocket he pulled out a "night-night" gun.
"Get me a clean look," Coulson ordered. "I'll makes sure he wakes up in a S.H.I.E.L.D. containment facility."
"Waking is optional at this point," May said.

Heading in separate directions, May did a flip into Chan's vision as she made a loud noise, getting his attention. He prepared to throw fire at her, but saw Coulson behind him. He erected a wall of fire behind his back as a shield from Coulson's shot. The bullets incinerated on impact.
"I'm out!" Coulson called. Chan dropped the flame shield and turned towards Coulson, who began to run.
"Nothing can stop me!" Chan shouted.

Sara shot at a guard with a "night-night" gun as May's voice came through her ear.
"Where are we on the doors?" May asked. Skye ducked as Sara shot at another guard.
"Almost there," came her short reply.

Skye squeaked as a guard grabbed her. Sara barely blinked an eye, punching the guy in the face. He fell to the ground and she smirked at Skye.
"Come on," she said. They took off running down the hallway.

The woman doctor walked down another hallway, speaking on her cell phone.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has infiltrated the building… No, it's under control." Raina came up behind her, pushing a dolly. She spoke when the woman put away her phone.
"Didn't want to tell them?" she asked, coming to a stop. "That Chan's true nature has revealed itself?"
"Without his platelets, the serum will combust."
"Wouldn't be the first one to blow up on you." Rain started walking again. "I'm beginning to think you're bad luck."

Somewhere else in the building, Skye and Sara ran into a computer room. There were flashing lights and wires all around as Skye sat down behind a computer terminal. She started rapidly typing, while Sara stood guard.
"Done," Skye called.

Coulson ran through the lab.
"Doors are unlocked," he said."Where's Chan?" May ran to meet up with him.
"He's gone," May said.
"Damnit," Coulson cursed. He holstered his gun.
"That tranquilizer was his last chance. You know that," May reminded.
"I know, it's time to minimize the damage." He walked deeper into the lab and stared at a case holding the serum. "Simmons! Are the building's computers back online?"

The Bus

Inside the Planning Room, the little areas of red squares switched to green as the lockdown was lifted.
"Yes," Simmons answered.
"Uncuff Miles, Ward." Ward bristled at the order. "We're gonna need his help." Miles smirked, holing up both of his hands. Fitz-Simmons and Ward shared a look before Ward strode forward to unlock the cuffs.

Secret Lab

The doctor walked down a hallway. Raina was in front of her, getting onto an elevator with the dolly as the woman followed.
"You!" came Chan's yelling. The doctor turned and saw Chan, whose face and body was badly burnt. Raina hit a button on the elevator. The doctor turned as it dinged and ran to get in.
"I wish you all the best," Raina said, a playful smirk on her face.

The elevator closed as the doctor reached it, trapping her with Chan. She turned around, facing Chan, panting with fright.
"Please, look, we can fix you…" Chan was slowly walking towards her with murder in his eyes. "Make you stronger," she continued. "Take the name Scorch and make it mean something."

Chan collapsed to one knee.
"It already does," he said. He lit his hands on fire, made them into fists and punched the floor, sending fire towards her. She turned away from the flames as they circled her then engulfed her. She screamed in pain as she was burned alive, her body turning to ash before breaking apart.

Panting with pain and anger, Chan stood, looking at his hands. Coulson appeared behind Chan.
"Mr. Chan, we don't want to hurt you." Chan turned and faced Coulson. "But we have to." May came up behind Chan and shoved two large needles into his back. He depressed them both and he fell to the floor. "We got to move."

The two agents left Chan kneeling on the floor of the hallway and ran off. Chan began to shake as fire started to break open his skin. There was a loud whirring sound as he shook some more.

The Bus

In the Planning Room on The Bus, Miles was standing at the tabletop monitor, working on it.
"You need to drive the blast into the main ventilation shaft," Simmons told him.
"Yeah, and on up to the roof," Fitz added.

Secret Lab

Inside the building, doors were shutting, and vents were opening. Outside the building, Coulson, May, Sara, and Skye barely made it across the street as two flaming jets erupted above the building. They all took a sharp breath at the sight.
"Skye managed to extract some files from the building's mainframe," Sara said. "It's not much, but it could get us a fix on Centipede."
"Maybe."

May looked from the top of the building to Coulson.
"You can't save someone from themselves," she reminded him.
"You can if you get to them early enough." He looked down form the building to May then over at Skye. Skye could only look at him for a moment before she had to look away, ashamed.

The Bus

Coulson walked Miles down to the cargo hold, holding a small box. Miles passed by an unhappy looking Skye on his way to Miles. Coulson held up a box to Miles as he spoke. "You've got two choice: take what's in this box or we put we in a slightly bigger one. Although, it won't be for just criminal conspiracy, it will also be for kidnapping and torturing an agent." Miles rolled his eyes, looking at the box.
"You want to give me a hint?"

Miles's smirk dropped as Coulson's face stayed blank. Miles took the box out of Coulson's hands and opened it. Inside the box was a round metal ring, a bracelet.
"What's it do?" Miles asked. Coulson took the bracelet out.
"Whatever we tell it to do." He opened the bracelet and put it around Miles' right wrist.

When he clicked it closed, a blue light circled the bracelet.
"I'd try to avoid any unlawful activity and I think you'll find it hard to use electronic devices for a while." Miles looked from the bracelet to Coulson. Coulson took the box and snapped it closed. "You can go now."

With an amused expression, Miles pointed a thumb over his shoulder.
"Cool, but we're still in Hong Kong." For the first time, Coulson's face broke as he smiled and laughed a bit.
"Yep."
"I live in Austin, Texas," Miles said.
"I know. Oh, and Agent Kwan's family thanks you for the anonymous donation." Coulson let that sink in a beat then walked away. He spoke to Skye as he passed by her on his way to the stairs. "My office," he ordered.

As Coulson walked up the stairs, Skye walked over to Miles, giving him a sad little smile. He looked up to the steps when Coulson walked up then looked down at Skye.
"So… you plan to stay?"
Skye nodded, "If they let me."
"You've changed," he sighed.
"Good," Skye said.
"I mean, you're not who you used to be," Miles corrected.
"And you're not who I thought you were," Skye said, walking away. "I hope you find what you're looking for." He turned and started down the ramp in the cargo hold.

At the bar, Ward had his arms wrapped around Sara as May poured a drink for Ward.
"Make it a double," Ward told May.
"Is there any other kind?" May joked. Skye walked up behind them. The two agents were about to take a drink, but paused when Skye spoke.
"So, I'm going to Coulson's office now," she said. She glanced at Ward. "I figured you might want to be there, being my S.O. and all." Ward shook his head, not looking at her. "I'm off the clock." Skye lowered her eyes, disappointed.
"Right. Okay, then."

Coulson was standing in his office with his back to the door when Skye knocked. Skye entered without knocking. Skye entered without an answer from Coulson. She sat down on one of the chairs in front of his desk, looking sad and scared.
"I didn't want anything to –"
"Stop lying."

Turning, Coulson faced her, walking close.
"Since the moment you stepped foot on this plane, you've been lying to my face, to all of us."
"No, I haven't –"
"You're lying now. I stood up for you to my team down there. And some of us started to believe in you, risked our lives for you."
"I…"
"Why are you here? You've been keeping something from us, this whole time. And it wasn't just a boyfriend. You have a secret, Skye, and one chance to come out with it. That's now, or I'm done with you."

Skye looked down and away from Coulson, staring into space, thinking, then she closed her eyes. She reached into her bra and pulled out the SD card she took from her van. She set the chip on Coulson's desk.
"What is this?" Coulson questioned.
"It's everything I have."
"On us?" Coulson asked. She shook her head, looking up at him with tears in her eyes.
"On me," she corrected.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself as Coulson picked up the SD card.
"That's why I learned to crack systems, why I joined the Rising Tide…" Coulson fed the card into a reader attached to his computer. "To find any details I could about my parents," she finished.

The monitor on Coulson's office wall began to show all the different pieces of information. He saw various pictures, no faces, receipts, and a letter to St. Agnes Orphanage. Most of the letter was blacked out and there was also a large red S.H.I.E.L.D. stamp in the upper right hand corner that read:

Classified; redacted 04-23-89

Medical examination results regarding female infant Jane Doe expressing minimal... No... Notes filed by the resident pediatrician indicate... Blood pressure: Normal. Nutrition: Normal. Indication of Hearth Disease: None. Heart Rate: Normal. Checked for injuries or indications of... no malnutrition. To see the records regarding the situations discussed in this document, please contact...

Skye looked sadly up at Coulson.
"There's nothing. No records. There's no trace of them. My lifelong search has led to a single document, redacted." Her voice broke.
"By S.H.I.E.L.D.," Coulson said.
"No matter what you do, I'll never stop looking," she swore.
"You might not like what you find," Coulson reminded her.
"It can't be worse than what I've imagined.

Coulson softened, taking a couple of steps closer to her.
"Maybe I can help," he offered. Skye took a shaky breath and looked away for a second then back to him. He reached over to his desk and grabbed a box identical to the one he gave to Miles. He held the box out in front of Skye. She closed her eyes, then took the box from him. As he walked out of the office, Skye opened the box, took the bracelet out and clasped it on her wrist, turning it on.

Prison

Raina sat in a chair, wearing a red dress with white flowers. A man sat down in front of her. There was a layer of glass between them and he picked up a phone receiver.
"Well, you know I'm not going to do the talking," he said.
"The doctor is dead," she said. He looked up, a small smirk on his face.
"About time."
"Well, she did find the solution to our… combustion problem. We believe we'll soon have stable subjects. On to stage two."
"That mean my situation is going to improve any?"
"Other problems have surfaced… resurfaced I should say. The S.H.I.E.L.D. unit in Hong Kong, we've encountered them before. They… took our subject off the map in Los Angeles."

The man shook his head.
"Not much I can do about that in here. So, that's not why I'm getting the visit."
"We would like you to touch base with the Clairvoyant." The man's eyes had remained downcast, now they turned up to look at her. "See if any insights can be given, on stage three."
"The Clairvoyant doesn't like to be touched," he warned.
"We all have to do things that make us uncomfortable if we are ever to get our toy soldiers off the shelf."

Raina gave him a sly smile.
"You know that better than any of us." He looked down again as she stood.
"I like your dress," he commented. She waited a beat then spoke.
"I know." She hung up the phone and walked away. He watched her go before slowly hanging up his receiver as well.