Skye: 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.
Mike: Thanks Bernie.
Bernie: Yeah.
Mike: Ace, come and get it.
*Ace is staring at superhero action figures in the window*
Mike: What do you say we go out to your Aunt Mindy's this weekend? You and Keisha 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.
Mike: Hey. Things are tight right now, but I'mma find something. Not back at the factory, but I got prospects. You and me, what are we?
Ace: We're a team.
*Mike and Ace bump fists*
Mike: *laughs* That's right. So, who do you-
*Explosion goes off in the background. Mike Covers Ace as debris falls from the sky*
Mike: *to Ace* Are you okay? Alright 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!
*Mike runs towards the back of the building. He looks up*
Debbie: Help me! Help me!
*Mike looks around to check if the coast is clear. He punches the wall and climbs it with his superhuman strength. He puts on his hood and climbs in through the window. He kicks over a burning shelf*
Debbie: Help me! Help me I'm-
*Debris falls all around Mike. Outside the building people are recording the entire event on their phones, including Skye. Mike jumps from the building with Debbie in his arms. He lands on the ground safely. Debbie coughs, shaken from the fire. Skye looks at Mike in shock and Mike, startled, runs away. Skye goes to chase him, but stops to make sure Debbie is okay*
Skye: 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?
*In Paris, 3 cars pull up. An agent gets out of one of the cars*
FBI Agent: *into walkie-talkie* Agent Ward. There's been a development, it's the Rising Tide. Pin down the location of the package, we need to abort.
Grant: I'm 5 minutes away from retrieving it.
FBI Agent: So is everyone else. You posted the coordinates online.
Grant: If the job was easy...
FBI Agent: Yeah, it wouldn't be any fun. Watch your 6
*Grant pulls up to a restaurant on his motorcycle. He pulls a serving plate out from his coat and walks in through the back. Dressed as a server he walks over to a man in a red tie*
FBI Agent: Red tie, by the window.
Grant: *in French* May I take your gla**, Sir?
Man: *in French* Yes.
*Grant takes his gla** and rolls it across the serving plate be brought to get the man's fingerprints. He walks upstairs into a room where music is playing. Grant uses the serving plate to scan the room with x-ray vision. He lifts a painting and behind it is a scanner of some sort. Grant enters a code and places the cloth with the man's fingerprints against the handprint. The wall lifts upward and Grant walks into a safe and takes a bag of j**els. As he walks back out a woman is standing there in a robe*
Grant: Your fireplace is broken.
*2 guards enter the room*
Guard: *something in French*
*Grant throws his serving dish at the first guard then fights them both while the woman walks away*
FBI Agent: Ward, just a heads up, we've got possible hostiles in your vicinity.
Grant: Really?
*The woman puts her clothes on and exits the room as Grant continues to fight the 2 guards. After beating them, Grant heads to the roof where a helicopter approaches with a rope hanging down. Grant grabs the rope and gets away with the helicopter*
Maria: What does S.H.I.E.L.D. stand for, Agent Ward?
Grant: Strategic homeland intervention enforcement and logistics division.
Maria: And what does that mean to you?
Grant: It means someone really wanted our initials to spell out "shield."
*Maria looks at him unenthused*
Grant: It means we're the line between 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, like this Shatari neural link, we get to it before someone bad does.
Maria: Any idea who Vonchat was planning to sell it to?
Grant: I'm more interested in how this Rising Tide group found out about it. I thought they were just hackers. What changed?
Maria: Everything's changing. 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 we're being backed by, among others, a giant green monster, a costumed hero from the 40s, and a god.
Grant: I don't think Thor is technically a god.
Maria: Well, you haven't been near his arms. 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.
Grant: Why was I pulled out of Paris?
Maria: That you'll have to ask Agent Coulson.
Grant: Uhh, yeah. I'm clearance level 6. I know that Agent Coulson was k**ed in action before the battle of New York. Got the full report.
Coulson: Welcome to level 7. Sorry, that corner was really dark and I couldn't help myself. I think there's a bulb out.
*Mike is walking down the street looking at a newspaper. Skye, sitting on a bench, gets up to follow him*
*Coulson, Grant, and Maria step out of an elevator*
Grant: Director Fury faked your d**h? To motivate the Avengers?
Maria: Well, the d**h of a common ally is a particularly effective team-builder.
Computer: Say cheese.
Coulson: Plus, it wasn't that much of a stretch. I stopped breathing for about 40 seconds.
Maria: 8. It gets longer every time you tell it.
Coulson: Yeah well you get shanked by the Asgardian Mussolini you can tell it your way. I was looking at the white light and it felt like a lot longer than 8 seconds.
Grant: Do they know? The Avengers. That Fury played them.
Maria: They're not level 7.
Coulson: Got out of the ICU, Fury stuck me in a gra** shack in Tahiti. Rough gig. Mai tais, Travis McGee novels, and a physical therapist whose command of English was irrelevant.
Grant: Wellm something put you back in the game. *points to screen* What's that?
Coulson: That's a superhero Agent Ward.
Maria: An unregistered gifted. Identity unknown.
Skye: *recording* The secret's out. For decades your organization *fades out as other audio plays over it*
Coulson: Another little present from the Rising Tide.
Grant: How are they getting this stuff before us?
Coulson: Same way they cracked our RSA implementation. They're good. So I need better.
Maria: Agent Coulson has requisitioned a mobile command unit which you are a**igned.
Coulson: Rising Tied is trying to draw us out. I think it's time they succeeded.
Grant: You want me to cross 'em off?
Coulson: Wow...no...I want to use them to get to him *nods towards screen*. This man's world is about to get very weird. He's gonna need some help.
Grant: I'm sorry. I was trained from day 1 as a specialist. I go in alone, I get it done. Defusing a nuclear bomb, I'm your guy. A welcoming committee? Not my speed.
Coulson: I know it's not what you want. Agent Hill did a very detailed a**essment of your last 3 missions. Combat? Top grades. Espionage? She gave you the highest marks since Romanoff. Under people sk**s she drew a...I think it's a little poop. With knives sticking out of it.
Grant: What?
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: Team's approved. Physicals are all fine. Fitz-Simmons is not approved for combat, I'm told that won't be an issue. Agent Ward here, he's almost too fit.
Grant: That's an issue. That should be an issue. Maybe I can't join the team because my-
Maria: God...are you dismissed...
*Grant leaves the room*
Maria: It was a porcupine. It was not a poop. It just means that you need to-
Coulson: No, I'm pretty sure.
Maria: And it's not just Ward. Your whole roster is sketchy.
Coulson: Well, they're cleared.
Dr. Streiten: I would've 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.
Maria: You sure?
Coulson: You should go sometime.
Maria: Where?
Coulson: Tahiti. It's a magical place.
Maria: 3 days in I'd be begging for an a**ignment.
Coulson: Exactly.
*Coulson turns around and leaves the room*
Dr. Streiten: *to Maria* Tahiti. He really doesn't know, does he?
Maria: He can never know.
*Mike is sitting in a diner watching TV*
Debbie: *on the TV* IS there any way I can thank him? Are you sure nobody saw him?
Reporter 1: *on the TV* So the identity of the hooded hero remains unknown.
Reporter 2: *on the TV* Researchers at UCLA medical center released a study today that shows *fades into background*
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.
Mike: I don't even know who's talking.
Skye: I'm Skye. And you're the hooded hero. Please tell me that you're not staying with that name.
*Skye grabs 3 packets of Splenda*
Mike: Wait, what? I'm not...I'm a factory worker.
Skye: *laughs* 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 oh my God! That is so cool. Okay, okay, chill, just don't. Don't draw attention. You're in danger.
Mike: You've 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...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.
Mike: What do you mean about danger?
Skye: S.H.I.E.L.D.
Mike: Shield what? I should carry a shield?
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 would take for them to clean you up?
Mike: And you wanna 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?
Mike: I'm just a guy.
Skye: Well a guy like that gets work. *Sky switches around the sugar packets* Gets perks. I can help. I'm great with computers, like weirdly great. I can help you create a whole new...identity. A mask.
Mike: Okay...
*Mike gets up to leave, Skye follows him and stops him*
Skye: We could just also, we could just stick with the 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-
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 right around the corner. Free wifi and you can come by anytime.
Mike: Thank you.
*Mike walks away*
Skye: *while waving and smiling* They're coming for you...
*Skye looks down at Mike's ID which she lifted*
Skye: ...Mike
*Melinda is sitting in her cubical doing paperwork*
Coulson: Agent May.
Melinda: No.
Coulson: So you've been briefed.
Melinda: I'm not going back in the field.
Coulson: Yeah, you've got such a nice setup here. You ever think about adding a moat? We just need you to drive the bus. Liais, ground transpo, some onside supervision. This isn't a combat op.
Melinda: Then you don't need me.
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...Melinda.
Melinda: You're really just asking me to drive the bus?
Coulson: I'm not asking. But it's a really nice bus.
*Grant wakls up to the ma**ive plane in the hangar. Inside Fitz and Simmons are arguing*
Fitz: *to Simmons* Woah woah woah, watch it! That's the night-night gun.
Simmons: It's on my stuff and it doesn't work and there's no way we're calling it the night-night gun.
Fitz: The bullets work. Non-lethal, heavy stopping power, break up under the subcontanious testion?
Simmons: With a dose of only .1 microliters of dendrotoxin. I'm not Hermione, I can't create instant paralysis with that.
*They argue. Grant drops his bag*
Grant: Fitz-Simmons?
Simmons: *points to Fitz* Fitz.
Fitz: *points to Simmons* Simmons. I'm engineering, she's biochem. Agent Ward?
Grant: Coulson said I'd need my com receiver encoded. Don't know if you've worked with that model before. It's-
*Fitz smashes Grant's com with a hammer*
Grant: -brand new...
Simmons: He'll repurpose the IS chip.
Fitz: Don't need the external receiver for the inner-ear coms anymore.
Grant: So how does it-
*Simmons runs over to Grant and swags his mouth*
Simmons: Embedded sensory neural silicon matched to your DNA. It's very posh. So, are you excited to be coming on our journey into myster?
Grant: Like Christmas.
*Coulson pulls up in an old red car*
Fitz: One of Coulson's old S.H.I.E.L.D. collectables. Flamethrowers, modified GPS, he's mad for this crap.
Coulson: *to Grant* Don't touch Lola.
Fitz: And he calls it a girl's name.
*Coulson and Grant walk upstairs*
Coulson: Lola's not just a collectable you know? People tend to confuse the words "new" and "improved". 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?
Grant: 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.
Melinda: *to Grant* If you plan to unpack, make it quick. Wheels are up in 5. *to Coulson* We may have a hit on one of the Rising Tide's routing points.
Coulson: Good. We need to do some catching up.
Grant: Is that who I think it is?
Coulson: She's just the pilot.
Grant: Melinda May is just the pilot. Come on sir, what game are you really playing.
Coulson: Better store your gear.
*Coulson goes upstairs. Melinda starts to fly the plane*
Skye: 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 faces, but rest a**ured. We will rise against those that shield us from the truth. And nothing. Nothing! Can stop us in the-
*Coulson opens the door to Skye's van*
Skye: *to Coulson* Hey...whattup?
*Grant puts a black bag over her head*
*Coulson and Grant bring Skye back to the plane and sit her in an interrogation room*
Skye: You guys are making a big mistake.
Grant: You don't look that big.
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-
Grant: Okay there are two ways that we can do this.
Skye: Wow is one of them the easy way?
Grant: No.
Skye: Oh...
Coulson: What's your name?
Skye: Skye.
Grant: What's your real name?
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 signatures 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? Is this a plane? I've got inside and by now I've discovered you can't beat the encryption so, you got nothing.
Coulson: We have a fairly strong coincidence. You, being on the scene. Right before it went up in flames. Wanna tell my what my team is gonna find there?
*Melinda, Fitz, and Simmons roll up to the building that caught on fire earlier. Melinda walks over to where Mike landed on the ground*
Coulson: How did you know the hooded man was in the building?
Grant: Did you blow it up to draw him out?
Skye: *to Grant* Did you?
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.
*Grant backs away and mouths to Coulson "centipede"*
Skye: Holy no way. 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: 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, yeah.
Grant: What is centipede?
*Mike is on the phone with a notice to vacate form in his hand. Ace is watching TV*
Mike: *into the phone* 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...
*Mike lifts sleeve to reveal a centipede looking device on his arm. He itches it*
Mike: Yeah, yeah, I know what I signed, but if we got out in front of this, maybe...then what? You want me to go crawling back to the factory? I couldn't even get worker's comp from those crooks, I don't think...yeah, yeah, doctor I just though...okay.
*Mike hangs up his phone and looks over at a photo of him and his wife. He throws his phone at the picture*
Simmons: This was a lab. Was this leased as a lab?
Melinda: Self-empowerment center. With a top of the line motion sensor security system.
Simmons: Ahh, so a secret lab.
Melinda: And a superhero. Not a coincidence. So was this explosion sabotage, was it meant for him or are they just in over their heads?
*Fitz enters nervously*
Fitz: Yeah, work on the problem ladies. If you'll just, sorry.
Melinda: If you're going to be in the field, Agent Fitz, you have to get your hands dirty.
Fitz: No...I don't.
*Fitz starts up 8 mini helicopters*
Fitz: Hi-ho, hi-ho. Off to work you go.
*The helicopters scan the room*
Skye: Centipede, it was chatter on the web and then gone. I traced the access point Mac address to that building.
Grant: What were you after?
Skye: The truth. What are you after?
Grant: World peace. You pseudo-anarchist hacker types love to stir things up, but you're never around for the fallout. People keep secrets for a reason, Skye.
Skye: Well just because you're reasonable and...*pokes Grant's chest* firm...doesn't mean that you're not a evil faceless government toolbag.
Grant: Just give us your guy's name.
Skye: He's not my guy!
Coulson: You understand he's in danger?
Skye: Then let me go! Let me talk to him, not the T1000 here.
Grant: You wanna be alone with him. Of course. 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...
Coulson: *to Grant* Ward.
*Coulson and Grant leave the interrogation room and walk down the hall*
Coulson: Is it the girl? She getting under your skin?
Grant: Sir.
Coulson: Or is it the a**ignment? Are you so anxious to get out of this that you'd deliberately blow an interrogation?
Grant: Give me a minute alone with her, you'll have your answers.
Coulson: She's an a**et.
Grant: She is such an a...wait a**et?
Coulson: We don't know anything about her. Do you appreciate how often that happens? That never happens. We need what she knows.
*Coulson opens up a box that contains a gun with a needle*
Simmons: See we designed each with their own capabilities. So, umm, some are recording the dimensions and textures of the room and then some testing the matter density, radiation, I mean one is basically just smelling.
Fitz: Woah woah woah, I've got something in something.
Simmons: Whose got it?
Fitz: Ummm, Bashful.
Simmons: Aww.
*Melinda walks over to where Bashful was scanning and picks up a busted camera*
Melinda: Surveillance camera. Deep fried.
Fitz: Yes, but that model has flash memory in case of fried. 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: [?], Snow is reading some compounds that are...oh my God...
Melinda: Explosive?
*Simmons walks over to where Snow was scanning and picks up a broken centipede device*
Simmons: Not of this earth.
*Coulson is holding up a vial*
Coulson: This is QMBTC16. It's the top shelf martini of sodium pentathol derivatives. It's a brand new and extremely potent truth drug. Don't worry, the effects only last about an hour.
Grant: And you'll have a nice little nap. And we'll have all the answers to our-hey!
*Coulson shoots Grant with the truth serum*
Grant: God, what the hell?
Coulson: I'm sorry, did that hurt?
Grant: 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 to mask my pain in front of beautiful women because I think it makes me seem more masculine...my God this stuff works fast.
*Grant sits down in the chair*
Coulson: Don't trust us? Ask him whatever you'd like.
Grant: Wait a minute. Wait, you can't just...this is definitely not protocol.
*Coulson leaves the room and shuts the door behind him. Skye removes her coat*
Skye: You seem nervous Agent Ward.
Grant: I'm calling to mind my training. There's no way I'm gonna reveal cla**ified secrets to a girl who's hellbent on taking us down.
Skye: Have you ever k**ed anyone?
Grant: Yes a few...high risk targets. But they were terrible people who were trying to murder nice people. And I didn't feel good afterwards.
Skye: And does your grandmother know about these things?
Grant: Gramzy?
*Mike follows his ex-boss Gary through the factory*
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 have no choice it's just me and my boy now.
Gary: There's no openings, Mike. And even if there were I've got 100 guys standing in line that are just like you only they won't b**h when their back hurts.
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 things-
*Mike pushes a stack of two large containers aside like it's nothing*
Mike: Like that?
Gary: Are you out of your mind?!
*Mike grabs Gary by the face and tosses him aside like a rag doll. He lands in a stack of pipes*
Mike: These are people, Gary. Men. Not parts you replace when they break.
*Mike rips a metal container off*
Gary: It's not me man, it's the company. 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. And I'm the hero.
*Mike slams the metal container down onto Gary*
*Grant is seen on the screen asleep in the interrogation room*
Coulson: *to Skye* 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'd stayed in Tahiti.
Coulson: It's a magical place.
Skye: Ward doesn't like your style, I kinda think I do.
Coulson: What about his?
*Coulson flicks his hand across a screen to begin playing a news report*
Reporter 2: ...remains in critical condition. Employees could not identify the attacker, but security footage confirms that this man a**aulted the factory foreman before damaging thousands of dollars worth of company property with his bare hands. *fades off into the background*
Skye: This is wrong, this isn't the guy I met, he was...he just needs a break.
Coulson: Then give him one. What have you got?
*Coulson places Mike's ID on the table which scans it for information*
Coulson: Michael Peterson. Factory worker. Married, 1 kid. Gets injured. Gets laid off. Wife jumps ship. Good guy, bad breaks. Best guess is, somebody tells him they can make him strong again, make him super.
Melinda: Who has the tech to do that and why would they want to?
Coulson: Fitz, what do we have from the security footage before the blast?
*Fitz puts an image up on the screen*
Melinda: What are we seeing?
Fitz: Well the...man is angry at the other man...
Simmons: The data is very corrupt.
Fitz: Yeah, like Cold War Russia corrupt. I can't sync the time code without-
Skye: What if you had the audio? I was running surveillance on the lab, I had my shotgun lab 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: You could clean that up can't you? Find a sync point and use cross-hole validation.
Fitz: I can't scrub for expression patterns when the vet CU is gone.
Simmons: Is there a cremlin sub-carrier?
Fitz: Yeah attached to the back porch, brilliant! That would be great, thank you very very much.
Simmons: We'll take the audio please.
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.
Coulson: Agent May will escort you. And on your way out, wake up Ward.
*Mike enters the hospital room holding flowers*
Debbie: You...uh, wow, you're him...
Mike: Uh, glad you're doing okay.
*Mike hands Debbie the flowers*
Debbie: Uh, yeah, thank you. They're beautiful...what the hell are you doing here?
Mike: I don't know where to go, doctor. Everything's getting...I know what's right, I do, but no one will listen to me. I volunteered because you said things would change.
Debbie: You said you could keep it together. Our first subject lost it, walked into the lab with a fricken bomb.
Mike: I'm not like him.
Debbie: Tell that to your foreman in the ICU.
*Mike grabs Debbie's arm*
Mike: I saved you!
Debbie: You exposed me. You exposed the program. The people who gave me this technology, they are very serious and they do not wanna be revealed. Mike Peterson needs to disappear.
Mike: You're right. I'm not him anymore. I'm someone else now.
Debbie: Please, you're juiced, Mike and you're losing it, just like the last guy. Ugh, this is a disaster.
Mike: No. It's an origin story.
*Mike jumps down out of the hospital window*
Skye: Audio file should be coming through, it's not compressed so it might take a minute.
Fitz: Uh, yup. Yeah yeah yeah yeah, I'm getting it. So, uh, when you get back I'll show you my thing. Ah, thing, it's not, it's-it's my hardware. My equipment! Let's...just hang up.
Coulson: So the alien metal wasn't the explosive?
Simmons: Well, I a**umed from the break pattern and the dispersion that it was, but it's just dripping with gamma radiation...ugh, now it's actually dripping! Fun.
Grant: So what'd that get us?
Fitz: Skye's sending us the rest of her decryped files on centipede, but we have her audio. I've loaded it up.
Coulson: *to Grant* Nice work.
Fitz: By using motion estimation, basian inference, a beam splitter, and a little defraction theory, our mystery man appears.
*Fitz loads a 3D model of the happenings within the lab*
Fitz: It's like magic. But it's science.
Coulson: Explosive's in the case?
Doctor: *in recording* Please, calm down, let me check your vitals!
Angry man: *in recording* I feel fine. I want to feel more. Where's the doctor? Where is she?
Doctor: If you don't settle down, I'll have you sedated.
Angry man: *in recording* Where is she?!
Fitz: Did you see that on his arm?
Coulson: *to Grant* What does that look like to you?
Grant: A centipede.
Simmons: It's an intravenous filter for it's 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 super power thrown in a blender.
Coulson: We need to see the origin of the blast. *to Fitz* Run it back from the last point recorded.
*Skye takes one of three hard-drive looking things and places it in her bra*
Skye: That should do it.
Melinda: Let's head back.
Skye: Alright.
*Mike jumps down from above and throws Melinda against the wall, knocking her out*
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 Ace out from hiding*
Mike: *to Ace* Don't cry okay? Stay strong for me, Ace. What are we?
Ace: We're a team.
Mike: That's right. *to Skye* No drive.
*The 3D recording is playing in reverse from the blast*
Coulson: Extremis. It's new. Completely unstable.
Simmons: Poor man didn't bring an explosive. And Mike has the same stuff in his system.
Grant: And judging by his strength he'll have a lot more.
Fitz: So any minute now Mike is gonna...
Simmons: He'll take out anyone within a 2 block radius.
Coulson: Well *to Grant* you wanted a bomb.
*Flash to Mike's face which is pulsating*
Simmons: Sir. He didn't explode because he was angry. The two are connected. 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.
Simmons: If he's dead this irradiated metabolic process will stop.
Coulson: You need to come up with a third option. What 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 that there's no way! It's on you! Get it done.
*Fitz and Simmons walk away while Coulson enters the room Grant has been building his sniper in. Coulson talks into com*
Coulson: May.
Melinda: He took Skye.
Coulson: Are you alright?
Melinda: We'll deal with that later, at length. Right now we need to figure out where they went.
*In her van, Skye is erasing Mike's identity*
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 bypa**ing the license bureau's AES protected data stream, so chill.
Mike: How do I know you can really do this?
Skye: I've done it before.
*Fitz and Simmons are in the lab frantically trying to figure out a third option*
Fitz: Give me more paralysis. Less rigor mortis! Aw come on. No no no no no no no no.
Simmons: Just pretend it's an exam. We're taking an exam.
Fitz: An exam. Okay. Don't want an F. F equals a ma**acre.
*Security breach pops up on the screen*
Fitz: Woah.
Simmons: Oh no. What is this nonsense? Why are you making nonsense?
Fitz: This isn't me! It's noise, someone's hacking our secure channel.
Coulson: It's longitude and latitude. Mike took Skye. She's telling us where.
*Grant backs out of the plane with Coulson*
Mike: We'll take the nice lady with us. We can't go to the airport so 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.
*Coulson and Grant pull up to the station that Skye's van is parked out of*
Grant: Look at this place. You're gonna risk thousands of lives over some nobody?
Coulson: Nobody's nobody, Ward. Fitz-Simmons will come through. *into megaphone* 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?!
*Mike slams open the van doors knocking over the two policemen standing nearby. He grabs Skye and Ace and runs into the station. Grant gets up and picks up his gun. Mike, Skye, and Ace walk quickly through the station. Skye kicks some guy in the nuts*
Skye: You're right, he is a little b**h.
*His friends rush at Mike*
Mike: Ace, get back.
*Mike fights off the men easily with his superhuman strength. Ace runs away*
Mike: Ace!
*Mike tosses the last guy in the air after getting hit. Debbie and some guy with a shotgun are in a car outside the station. The guy with the shotgun gets out and goes into the station. Coulson finds Ace*
Coulson: *to police officers* Hey, let's get him out of here.
Ace: I want my daddy.
Coulson: I promise.
Mike: Ace! Ace!
*Grant comes from behind and knocks Mike down. He begins choking him out*
Grant: The stuff that's inside you is unstable. It'll k** you and everyone in here.
Mike: Who's gonna miss us?
*Mike gets up and slams Grant against a sign then flips him onto the ground. Mike sees Skye running. The man with the shotgun enters the station and begins shooting at Mike and Skye. Melinda arrives at the station*
Coulson: We're at the north entrance, May.
Grant: You told them to hold fire.
Coulson: I don't think that's us. *to Melinda* We may have a third party here. *to Grant* 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!
Grant: If I have to.
*Mike brings Skye to the top floor. Skye rips her arm away from Mike*
Skye: You've gotta stop. These people can help you.
Mike: The men in suits? These people your buddies now? Where'd they take my son?
*The man with the shotgun shoots Mike, who is standing by the edge with Skye. Mike tosses Skye to the side to save her*
Mike: *to Skye* Get down.
*The man shoots Mike and Mike flips over and falls off the balcony onto the station floor. The man reloads and gets ready to shoot Skye. Melinda takes him out with ease. Skye looks at her, impressed. On the station floor, Mike has gotten up and stands watching as Coulson walks toward him. Coulson places his gun on the ground*
Mike: You think that means anything? I know you've got men everywhere waiting to put me down. I know how this plays out.
Coulson: I don't. I know you've got poison in your system. I know it's burning you up. Mike, the last guy that 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.
*Grant is above with his sniper*
Grant: *to Coulson* I've got 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! You took my wife, my job, my house. You think this is k**ing me? All over there's people being pushed down, being robbed. One of them tries to stand up, you've gotta make an example out of him.
Coulson: You bring this building down on us, will that help him?
Mike: That's a lie. All you do is lie! You said if we worked hard. If we did right. 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 and we don't. It's what they do with it. You're right, Mike. It matters who you are.
Mike: I could, you know? Be a hero.
Coulson: I'm counting on it.
*A bullet fires through the air and hits Mike in the head. Mike's body falls to the ground. Coulson looks up as Simmons runs over to Mike's body. Mike's forehead is blue and the poison in his body dissipates. Grant lifts up the night-night gun. Coulson looks over at Mike's body as Simmons looks back and smiles. Fitz gives a thumbs up. Everyone is happy*
Coulson: Subject is in stable condition. All clear at Union Station.
*Skye and Coulson drop Ace off at his Aunt Mindy's*
Skye: I told him his father was coming home.
Coulson: He will. We have some experience with this.
Skye: He almost blew. We almost died.
Coulson: We have some experience with that too.
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 and a really old car.
Coulson: Lola can keep up. What about you? Have you thought about the offer?
Skye: Hitching a ride on the crazy train? Not exactly a team player.
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 and 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. Are you gonna show me something new?
*Coulson's phone beeps*
Coulson: Go.
Grant: Sir, we've got an 084.
Coulson: Is that confirmed?
Grant: They want us to go in and confirm it.
Skye: What's an 084?
Coulson: You've got exactly 10 minutes to decide if you really wanna know.
Skye: There's no way we can make it to the airfield in...10 minutes...
*Coulson presses a bu*ton and the car lifts off into the air*
Coulson: The tide is rising.