Nothing Personal

Yeah, it went as expected. S. H. I. E. L. D. implodes, and everyone wants answers. The CIA, NSA, NRO -- them I can handle. But congress? Congress is like kindergarten. "Where is this fridge?" "What was in there?" "Who or what is a man-thing?" I swear I need a cocktail and a lobotomy. But apparently, my every move continues to fascinate them. Tonight's standard-issue surveillance package includes fake yuppie not checking her texts at the bus stop, imposter homeless man -- mildly offensive -- And the hipster following me looks familiar. I think he's Russian or gone. Pepper, I'll call you back in 10. We need to talk, Agent Hill. May. A phone call would have done it. But I appreciate the discretion. Thought you'd like the night off. They must hate that you're going to work for Stark. Most of the intelligence community would like to drop me into a dark hole, but even they can't mess with Tony's army of lawyers. So, for now, we're privatizing global security. - Want to join? - Coulson needs help. And he won't take it from me anymore. Where is he? Providence base. And he's got enough to worry about without obsessing over T. A. H. I. T. I. and who covered it up. You mean besides us. How much does he know? Enough. That they used alien biology, rewrote his memories, and that Fury did it under someone else's direction. I want to know who that was. You're afraid it was Alexander Pierce. Secretary Pierce was the man in charge -- The only person Fury took orders from -- and he was hydra. Having a man like that design your brain? You can understand my concern. Fury took his cues from pretty high up. That much I know. But when I asked him who it was, Fury said that he buried that intel when he decided not to bury coulson. Maria, this is not the time to wax poetic. Those are his words, not mine. You knew the man. Sometimes he spoke in riddles. Guess I'll have to solve it, then. Unless you want to ask Fury for me. Fury's dead. I'll believe it when I see it. Drop your weapon! If you were my agents, it wouldn't be for long. Play it again. It's the same every time, sir. Fitz. As I said, all internal camera feeds were erased, but the hangar's landing assist system is separate. The camera tracks movement. So, after we left, everything's normal until this. An entry log has may leaving the base a few minutes later through the front door -- only her. And then this. Holding hands. Soon after, the plane takes off. But that is all we've got. Where are they going? And Koenig? Koenig must have gotten onto the plane somehow. There's no other way in or out. The blast door and the hangar door are the only exits. And both are undamaged. So nobody attacked the place, and they weren't running away. - So why? - Maybe Koenig got orders. From who? Not Fury. Is there anyone left to give orders? Aren't we just improvising at this point? Still wouldn't explain why the communication lines were cut or why they left their phones or why May justLeft. May walked away because I told her to. I was mad, and I was mean. Then we don't need her sorry ass. Excuse me? With all the crap we're facing, this is not the time to pull the ripcord, bail out. I'll make us some food. We have to eat. Let me help. Uh, no, I'll get it, actually. You stay here. Simmons. For a minute there in the field, I thought things were normal again, and then Why do you think they left us in the dark? I don't know. But something will turn up. We just have to stay positive. For Coulson, yeah. I know. He's had a rough go of it. Yeah. Between Garrett and May and seeing Audrey and pancakes. Coulson's upset about pancakes now? That's one way to cheer everyone up a bit, don't you think? I'll see if we have any in stock. Yeah, I'll fire up the griddle. Night? Day? Sir, you're an expert on analysis. I can see you running scenarios in your head, So what do you got? Best case -- Agent Koenig knows something we don't. He took a team, kept us in the dark for our safety. Worst-case scenario? We've had a wolf in the herd the whole time. Fitz keeps the candy under his bunk. What are you up to? Just looking for the sat-phone to call the team, make sure everyone's all right, no one's blown up. I've got the phone. I just talked to Coulson a little while ago. - You did? - Yeah, sorry. Should have told you. They're okay, but the sooner we get to the location, decrypt that drive The sooner we can rendezvous with the team. Exactly. Seemed like a smart play at the time, geo-locking the drive. I didn't think it would backfire on us. It hasn't backfired. The drive is supposed to be impossible to crack. Pretty specific coordinates, though. You could have picked anywhere in the world. Why a random diner in L. A. ? It was already built into my encryption. Never changed it. But it's fitting. It's where I met Mike Peterson. It's where this whole S. H. I. E. L. D. roller coaster started. Plus, tactically, what do you look for in a dropsite? Public place, lots of people, multiple exits. Yep. Figured if I ever got in trouble, I'd be safe there. Oh, you'll be plenty safe. This, however, is not the answer. What's the matter? A girl can't defend herself? In this situation, the last thing we can afford is to get pinched on a concealed-weapons charge. You're right. Again. Couldn't find any rounds anyway. Hey. We are gonna be okay. I promise, until this thing is over, I'm not gonna let you out of my sight. Impossible. It can't be. No. No. I-I don't believe it. Take a breath, Agent Fitz. Don't tell me to take a breath. Who the hell are you? I mean, really. Come on. I don't even know who you are. - I just went through this, remember? - Don't touch me. My S. O. turned out to be a lying son of a -- Well, not Ward. Okay? Not ward. Do you know why? Because he's our friend. And Simmons will find something. Go ahead. Tell him, Jemma. Let me work, Fitz. Yeah, but tell him that Ward isn't -- Let me work. Something else is at play here, sir. Think about it. They're just trying to mess with our heads. They wrote that on the wall to scare us. - One step at a time. - We need to get out of here. Simmons will give her report. That's the next step. He died approximately 10 hours ago of asphyxiation -- after May left the premises. A thin wire was used to strangle him. His trachea is crushed, partially sliced through, So it was done in a hurry. Based on the angle of the lacerations, the killer was at least 6'2" and strong enough to lift him into Ward did this. Okay! Okay! We need to hold it together. Listen All that anger, all that pain, you need to hold it in and focus it on Skye. She's alive. And she just walked out of here hand in hand with someone she knows is a murderer because she's playing him -- just like he played us. Fitz, Fitz we have to fix the communications. We have to track that plane. Can you do that? Good. If I know Skye, she's got a plan. And we're gonna find her before Ward figures out what that is. Come on, Skye. What's your play? I can't remember the last time I sat in a restaurant. I know. It's been all tubes, tunnels, and plane food. Maybe I will get pie for dessert. Dessert? I was hoping we'd be done by the time I finished coffee. Do you have any idea how long it'll take to decrypt this drive? For you? I figured 10 minutes. Not even close. The GPS will take a hot second to calibrate, but I'm working on a laptop. So even at three cycles per byte, there are still terabytes of data -- Spare me the details. Give me the timeframe. An hour would be a miracle. Coulson needs this yesterday. My laptop's not a time machine, Ward. That's the science. Guess we're having dessert. Can you grab me a cable? Think there's one in the drawer. Thanks. That seemed to work. Fitz is using the jumpjet's relay to power it. He's like a ninja with this crap. - How's he doing? - Freaking out. But focused on the task, which was good advice. And you? Trust me, I'm gonna have a major freak out later. All right. Ward is hydra. You know what that means. Garrett is alive. - And Agent Hand is dead. - So they hit the fridge. It means they've got all the weapons they could possibly want. And we didn't have a clue. So why risk coming back here? It wasn't to cross us off. What do you have that he wants? I don't know. He had all our intel on that drive. All he had to do was make a cop-- He came back for Skye. She must have encrypted that drive, and she was the only one who could crack back into it. So they have to keep her alive. And she can stall for time. Our plane is in Los Angeles. Finally, some good news. Perimeter defenses activated. I should have knocked on wood just then. Multiple contacts on the ground. - They just triggered the gun turrets. - Come on. You're staring again. I'm not allowed to do that? I told you, it's a complicated hack. You've mistaken my admiration for impatience. No, it's impatience. Okay. Sorry. Didn't mean to stress you out. Maybe you should duck outside. Try again on the sat-phone just to make sure. No. We stick together and we stick to the plan. The sooner you decrypt this hard drive The sooner we get to them. I heard you twice the first time. Are you all right? You look nervous. How can you tell, superspy? Staying unnaturally still to keep from fidgeting, maintaining eye contact to give the impression of confidence. What's wrong? The last time I was in this booth, I was sitting across from Mike Peterson -- a good man, and now he's a murderer. And we are FBI's most wanted. It's just like any moment, something could go horribly wrong. Relax. You're doing great. Hiding what I'm thinking and feeling -- it doesn't come as easy for me as it does for you. Well, it comes with experience. Yeah, I guess it does. I wish this bunker had a bunker. These doors should hold. It'll take some major artillery to make a dent. Hangar door deactivated. How?! That's impossible! Take cover. Let's go. It's not Hydra. It's special forces. On behalf of the United States armed forces, I order you to stand down. I repeat, stand down. Colonel Talbot? There have to be better things for you to do than chase four S. H. I. E. L. D. agents. I wasn't a huge fan before chasing you to the damn tundra, Coulson. I wouldn't push it. I'm flattered you came in person. Fury's private base on North American soil? I just had to see it for myself. If I come out, will you shoot me? 'cause then I won't come out. Hold your fire, soldiers. This is one of the most classified facilities on the planet, Colonel. How the hell did you find it? I told them. My condolences. "Classified level 10. T. A. H. I. T. I. Project supervisor to Director Fury. " We're not criminals. Great. Then we'll take you in, and you can tell us all about it. At the very least, you're fugitives. And running away puts a bit of a guilty stink on it, don't you think? We're not Hydra. - We're agents of S. H. I. E. L. D. - That's the same thing. All right, I'm gonna tell you how it's gonna be. You give me actionable intelligence and I'll allow you to serve time awarded. Your other options are pretty much hell. Do your worst. We have told you of a known Hydra agent. He's getting away, and your little intimidation speech is keeping us from saving the life of a fellow agent -- a friend. Sister, you haven't seen intimidation. And right now I'm you're only friend. I'd be careful not to piss me off. The word "Agent" implies that your corrupt organization still exists. Your leadership abandoned you for the private sector, and we're gonna allow that in exchange for valuable assets like yourself. So right now I'd be thinking hard and fast about exactly what it is that makes you valuable. I am offering you a lifeline here, Coulson. Don't thank me. Just take it, and we'll be on our way. Don't see how thanks are in order, considering you just sold me out and led the U. S. Military straight to Fury's secret base. No, Phil. You led us straight to Fury's secret base as part of the deal we made. You can't be serious. You and I are gonna turn over these abandoned tunnels to the U. S. Government, who will be ever so grateful to take possession of an enemy stronghold in their backyard. What about my team? Well, they're gonna have to go through the system -- - Interrogations -- - Not gonna happen. Look, talk to Talbot. Cough up some meaningless intel about this place -- Nothing significant, of course, nothing about S. H. I. E. L. D. 's other installations. You're still protecting your secrets. Is there anything specific you're afraid I'll talk about? T. A. H. I. T. I. maybe? - Phil. - I'm a liability. - Is that it? - Grow up, Phil. Of course you're a liability. But I know you'll do the right thing. The right thing? That's funny coming from you. After everything you and Fury have done? Look, it was for your own good. For my own good. I know. I get it. You should have been straight with me. I would have kept your secrets like a good soldier. I always have. But instead, you were worried about me when you should have been worried about anyone else. You're right. We should have seen Hydra coming. But after D. C., they don't stand a chance. John Garrett does. Garrett? I heard Ward took care of him. Ward's his secret weapon. He killed Victoria Hand, then raided the fridge, and now he's got Skye, which is where we were headed until you so rudely interrupted to sweeten your deal. I vetted Ward. You want to make this right? Stop wasting time. Can we move this along? I'd like to tear this room apart. Sure, colonel. Knock yourself out. Get your people. We need to move. "We"? How much longer? Half-hour. You said that a half an hour ago. Weren't you the one who told me to relax? Those cops over there keep looking at us. They're just checking out the waitress. They don't know you're pretending to be someone you're not. Yeah, all right. Who am I pretending to be? My impatient boyfriend. I like that cover. What's the longest you've been undercover? Like, deep undercover? Uh, 16 months. When was that? Mm, about five years outside of the academy. I posed as a Russian attache at the embassy in Warsaw. That's got to be so hard, living a double life like that -- Getting close to people, only to turn on them. I don't know how Garrett did it. Garrett? Think about all that time he spent as your S. O. -- Getting to know you, being your mentor -- only to lie to your face, betray you like that. It was, uh, difficult to accept. But thankfully, that's over. Because you took care of him. Can we not discuss this right now? If you had one more moment before you shot him in the back of the head so heroically, If he was sitting right here - and you could say anything you want, what would you say? - Skye. Would you say he's disgusting? Would you tell him he's a disgusting, backstabbing traitor? Or to rot in hell? What are you doing? I'm just trying to have an honest conversation for once. They're starting to clear people out. We should go. No, I think I'm good here. Skye, we've been made. Come on. No. I tipped them off. Hail Hydra. You two, show me your hands! Now! Out of the booth, nice and slow. All right, turn around. - Hands on your head. - Just be careful. He's armed. Skye! Officers, I surrender! Slow down, ma'am. What are you talking about? No, no. I am an agent of S. H. I. E. L. D., a wanted fugitive. Take me in. Come on! What are you doing?! Get me out of here! That's it! I'll do whatever you -- Skye! Skye, don't run. You don't understand! I'm not trying to hurt you! You should be thanking me. I saved your ass. You didn't save my ass. You turned it into a public spectacle. You let her get one over on you. That's exactly what Garrett was afraid of. And Garrett told you to stay out of sight. He ordered me to shadow you. He knew you had a soft spot for Skye And she might take advantage of it. Well, he was wrong. We have her. And once she gives us a location, we'll be off. Yeah, that's not gonna happen. Take a walk. I can handle this. Can you? You haven't so far. Garrett says you have five minutes. I can explain. Lying bastard! Son of a bitch! You lying -- Stop. Stop. Stop! Calm down. Okay? Okay? It's over. You can't win. Okay? Stop. All this time, everything we've been through -- why? How could you? I was on a mission. It wasn't personal. "It was--" You did not just say that. "It wasn't personal"?! Skye, listen to me. God, I might actually believe that. You -- that I-- that is the twisted logic that they teach you when you sign up to be a Nazi. Stop. Wait. I'm not a Nazi. Yes, you are. It is exactly what you are. It's in the S. H. I. E. L. D. handbook, chapter one. The Red Skull, founder of Hydra, was a big, fat, freaking Nazi. That has nothing to do with today. You know, you always had that Hitler youth look to you. So it's really not that surprising. It's not like that. I'm a spy. I had a job. You've killed I don't know how many people. You gonna kill me now? No. I would never hurt you. Once I crack the drive, are you just gonna shoot me like you did with Thomas Nash, Or are you gonna have someone else do it, like you did with Quinn? I didn't know that was gonna happen. That was all Garrett. Oh, of course it was Garrett's fault. That was part of the mission, right? Just gonna kick back and watch me bleed until it's your turn to pull the trigger. You think I had a part in that? That I would let that happen to you? You know how I feel about you, Skye. Wait. So even though you've been lying to everyone about everything, you're saying that your feelings for me -- They're real, Skye. They always have been. I'm gonna throw up. Do you -- do you think this has been easy for me? Do you have any idea how hard it was? The sacrifices, the decisions I had to make? But I made them. Because that's what I do. I'm a survivor. You are a serial killer. And you know what? You were right about one thing. I wouldn't like the real you. Someday Someday, you'll understand. No. I won't. And I will never ever give you what you want. Time's up. You can tell me where to unlock the drive, or you can tell him. Mike Please. I know you don't want to do this. It's not up to me. Yes, it is. I don't care what they did to you. You're still Mike Peterson. You're still a father. You have a son. Who I left in your hands. I asked you to look after him, Skye. Where is he now? He's with his aunt, under the protection of a S. H. I. E. L. D. team. And what is S. H. I. E. L. D. today? Hydra can hurt my son anytime they want, and if I get any funny ideas about rescuing him, they push a little button and blow a hole in my skull. Fitz-Simmons will figure out a way -- No. There's no way out of this, Skye. Tell us how to unlock the drive. No. - Damn it, Skye. - You could have shot me back in Italy, but you didn't. They made Quinn do it because there's still good in you, Mike, And I don't think you're gonna hurt me. You're right. I won't hurt you. What -- what -- what did you do to him? Stopped his heart. His heart Isn't beating. He's having a heart attack. I can restart it or not. -It's your choice. - Skye. You think I don't want to watch him suffer? Not suffer -- die. Garrett doesn't think you're gonna let that happen. He's a murderer. Yes, he is. Are you? - Okay, stop. - Where do you unlock the drive? - Bring him back! - Where? on longitude and latitude. - It's altitude. - You're lying. I'm not! You -- I put the password in and I -- I start the hack. And once we reach altitude, it unlocks. Now bring him back. Put the password in. Start the hack. No tricks. You -- you son of a bitch. Now get the plane in the air. I can't. I can barely stand. That should help. Maria Hill to S. H. I. E. L. D. 6-1-6. You have 30 seconds to stand down and surrender. I repeat, stand down and surrender. You gonna answer me, Ward, or do I have to come over there? Maria Hill. I kind of hoped you went down with the Triskelion. And I hoped you weren't the duplicitous lowlife you turned out to be, but here we are. Gonna be honest with you, Hill. I'm having a pretty bad day. So if I were you, I'd get the hell out of my way. Mm, give up Skye, and we'll talk about it. Yeah, that's not happening. You know, I never liked you, Ward, not since our first sit-down, but I never figured you for john garrett's lapdog. A lot of us lost respect for Fury when he picked you as his second. If he needed eye candy around, he could have at least picked Romanoff. That's funny. I'll tell her you said that. Now hand Skye over, or I'll have a squad of f-16s knock you on your ass. Even if you had that kind of pull anymore, which you don't, Coulson would never let you do it. He would never sacrifice Skye like that. But you know Garrett would. So don't try and follow us. This doesn't have to go down like this, Ward. You don't owe Garrett anything. You're wrong. You want me to pursue? No. Their tracking systems are up and running. Just hope we bought enough time. Are you okay? Did Ward hurt you? No, I'm okay. But the encrypted hard drive -- I unlocked it for them. Forget that. We need to move. We got to take the cockpit. Wait. You came alone? It's okay. I can take Ward. No, I know, but how did you get past Deathlok? Deathlok's here? On the plane? Yeah, you didn't take him out? New plan -- run! W-what about you? Get to the cargo hold -- now. I can't let you leave, Agent Coulson. It's still my plane. I don't need your permission. I've never used a parachute before! Forget that! Get in the car! Down! Get down! Buckle up! I told you to buckle up! Come on! Must hit the frosters! That'll be 20 bucks. I'm putting the plane down. We need to go after them. No, we don't. We stay with the plan. I don't answer to you. Coulson and Skye don't matter anymore. We have the data and Garrett wants us back right now. Listen, I'm not just gonna forget what you did to me back there. You try anything like that again, I will kill you. Wasn't personal. I was just following orders. Wow. I can't believe he shot lola. I can't talk about it. Don't blame you for going after him. We'll need a base of operations, weapons, tactical backup. Who do you have working for you? Okay, wait, wait. Hold on, Coulson. There is no more backup. No more hidden bunkers. Oh, come on. I know Fury has others. There's no Fury. We're not bringing the band back together again, Coulson. It's over. There is no S. H. I. E. L. D. anymore. Wellnot officially. Look, I get it, okay? You have to take Ward and Garrett down. But don't act like it's some officially sanctioned mission. It's a personal vendetta, and when it's done, you should walk. Let your people go their separate ways. And what? Turn themselves in? Cut a deal? Work in the private sector? You know Stark would take you in a heartbeat. It's not my style. I should go. You know where to find me. Say hello to Stark for -- Oh, yeah. Never mind. He thinks I'm dead. Must be some reason why Ward did it. Maybe they brainwashed him. Don't know. Some people are just evil. I'd rather not believe that. It's true. I just assumed we'd be better at spotting it. Tell me that you're not Hydra. What? I know that it's ridiculous, but I just need to hear you say it. I'm not Hydra. Yeah, good. Good. And I -- 'cause I'm not, either. - Of course not. - Yeah. Because if -- if you ever did - I wouldn't. - I don't know what I would do. You'll never have to find out. Thought you didn't eat junk food. I'm on vacation. Until? Until that man tells me it's time to work. Not tonight. Live a little. That case, I'm gonna go crazy. Maybe have another bag. Never been homeless before. It's not fun. At least we have a pool. We'll get him. I know. I left them a little present when I encrypted the drive. Should help. Thanks. Nice night. We'll return in a moment. I was hoping you'd come back. - Ward is -- - I know. Hill told me. There's something you need to see. You wanted to know who was behind T. A. H. I. T. I. ? This is what I found out. Good morning, director Fury. I regret to inform you that I'm handing in my resignation. I know you brought me on to project T. A. H. I. T. I. because you trusted my judgment, And it's that judgment that's telling me I can no longer, in good conscience, let the testing continue. I understand you started the program to potentially save a mortally wounded avenger, but the side effects are too extreme. We had initial success with the regenerative properties of the guest-host tissue, but after the initial physical recovery, the subjects began to deteriorate mentally, displaying hypergraphia, aphasia, catatonia, or just complete psychosis. We don't know if it was the biology at play or simply the awareness of what was done, but the only course of action that showed any promise of stemming these side effects was memory replacement -- erasing completely the awareness of what they'd been through. And even those results were very inconsistent. To be clear, I'm recommending the termination of project T. A. H. I. T. I. Under no circumstances should these procedures or drugs be administered to anyone ever. The cost is far too great. Thank you, sir.