"Eye witnesses claim the assailant smashed through several walls before killing Colombia's most notorious drug lord, Alejando Castillo, aka El Dogo."

"Speculation continues as to whether this superhuman assassination was carried out by a man, monster, or machine."

The television buzzed off, just as Fitz leaned back upon his bench. Jemma was off to the right hand bed in the motel room, while Skye was taking notes on the left hand bed. "The correct answer is D." Fitz sarcastically answered the reporter's claims. "All of the above."

He turned back to the girls behind him. "What the hell is Deathlok doing in Bogata?"

"And why would he kill a drug lord with known ties to HYDRA?" Simmons added to their rampant curiosity.

"Well, if they really are in Columbia," Skye began, looking through her notes and code. "Then Garrett and our hijacked plane might not be in American airspace. I have to expand our search."

"Guys?" The young agents turned to find Coulson in the pathway connecting their rooms. "You wanna come in here for a minute?"

As the young agents filtered in the room, joined by Nick, Ella, Eddie and Zach, May and Coulson had propped up a flipchart with various names. "This is just about everything we've been dealing with." Coulson began, floating his hand over all the names.

He popped off an EXPO cap, and quickly scribbled the name CyberTek in the middle. "And this is what connects them all."

"CyberTek built Deathlok." Coulson drew a line towards the Deathlok circle, then pivoted towards Quinn. "Who shipped items to Quinn." He then quickly snapped it to the Clairvoyant tab. "Who was working for the Clairvoyant."

Another line to Ward and Garrett. "Who turned out to be Garrett, who planted Ward on our bus because he wanted to know why I didn't stay dead." Another line connecting to The Bus, and finally G.H. 325. Coulson observed the simple yet maybe complicated mess he had made. "Should've drawn another chart for this part."

"No, I get it," Fitz spoke up, hovering his finger over everything. "Garrett's been developing Centipede serum all this time."

"And he wants G.H. 325 as its final ingredient." Simmons interjected. "A way to stabilize and regenerate his Centipede soldiers."

"And it's why Ward came back for the hard drive," May pointed over Skye's Hard Drive. "It had all of your research about Coulson and Skye. It's all on there."

"Damn... I leave for a few months, and there's so much." Eddie held his hand to his head. "I'm still processing Ward being a traitor."

"Ain't we all..." Zach whispered. "Played us all like a goddamn fiddle."

"But that's not the only thing on there," Couslon proclaimed, and pointed the expo to Skye. "Skye left them a little surprise."

"A trojan horse." Skye excitedly grinned. "It's been slowly mapping every system they've uploaded it to." Her explanation received a great number of praise and accomplishments from her teammates. "Yeah, thanks!" She smiled, but was about to rain on their parade.

"Except it doesn't work that way because I didn't have enough time to build it." She added, just as she rustled around her pocket to reveal a simple flash drive. "So we need to plug this into one of their computers to activate it. Spoiler alert... we can't seem to find one."

Then came something very rare. May made a kind smile. "I think we have." The older agent proclaimed, grabbing everyone's attention again. "Garrett and Cybertek have been working together for years. If it's on Garrett's system..."

"It's on Cybertek's." Nick finished the sentiment.

May pointed back to the Cybertek circle. "Which is why we're gonna go into one of their offices."

Skye passed off the flash drive to Coulson. "We have no authority to do this." Coulson began. "We're no longer SHIELD agents, we're —"

"We're vigilantes." Both Nick and Fitz made a mad grin as they spoke in unison. The other agents made a curious and interesting look at them, almost saying "I guess they're right?"

Coulson just took his stride. "I was gonna say, doing this because it's the right thing to do... but yeah."

"So if you're with me, I'm gonna finish what I started." Coulson's tone audibly shifted back into seriousness. "I'll be damned if I'm gonna let Garrett and Ward get away with murder."

"And I want my plane back."

35,000 Feet above the Earth.

"I could have crossed off that drug lord without getting my picture taken." Ward complained to Garrett, who chugged a beer like it was the last one on Earth. "Single shot — half a mile away."

"You're missing the point." Garrett grumbled with a coy smile. "I didn't want to cross him off — I wanted to make a spectacle. People are killed by guns every day in Bogata, but how often does a monster punch a drug lord's head clean off?"

The mechanical whirs of Deathlok's legs calmly stepped through the gangway of the plane, just as Garrett grinned at his personal murder bot. "Hell, that's international news!" He exclaimed as he approached Mike with grand applause.

"Spectacular thing you did back there, Mikey." Garrett spoke with high praise, and the tone of a sociopath. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear you're starting to enjoy your job!"

He turned back to Ward, who only started daggers at Mike. He still wasn't over the feeling of getting his heart manually turned off. "Somebody does." Ward grumbled.

"Well, I'd like to think we all enjoy our work." Garrett said with conviction laced in each word. "And why not? These are exciting times full of rewards. Which reminds me..."

John whipped out a simple burner phone with a number ready to call. He took it up to his ear, and still continued to grin happily. "Zeller — yeah, it's me. Stream Mike Peterson some video of his son this afternoon."

He quickly ended the call, and looked back to Mike, still with a shit-eating grin. Mike only stared back at him with equal parts hate and acceptance. "Don't mention it." Garrett smiled as Mike stood still.

"How about that guy?" He laughed at Ward. "I've turned him into a new man."

"Is that what he is?" Ward questioned aggressively.

"Are you sore about what he did to you?"

"No, I'm sore at you for making him do it." Ward argued back.

"Look — we're on the verge of completing something I've been chasing for 25 years." Garrett's smile faded, replaced with a look of almost sincere and human dedication. "Can't you just be happy for me?"

The two passed through the lab doors of the BUS, where Raina and several Centipede scientists took residence and stock of their new grounds. Raina wore a happy smile on her face as she watched her benefactor walk in with an equally gracious smile. "See!" Garrett argued back at Ward. "That's what I'm talking about — Happy campers."

"I think you'll be happy too." Raina smirked as she crossed her arms. "We're close to replicating the drug that healed Skye and brought Coulson back to life." Garrett made solemn nods at her progress.

"And the data from Skye's hard drive, all that research — it's been a big help." Raina continued. "I've uploaded everything to the lab in Cuba. They'll have initial results by the time we land."

Garrett smiled yet again. "You never disappoint, do you, Flowers?" He turned back at Ward briefly, seemingly to sideline him. "Wish everyone on my team had the same success rate."

Motel Room 17

As Coulson and May managed to snag an interview with Cybertek's R&D department in Palo Alto, Trip had brought back some of his grandfather's Gabe Jones gear from his time serving with Captain America's Howling Commandos. However, Fitz was skeptical of both handing over their designs or if Ward had really betrayed them.

"Trip was generous enough to offer up some of his granddad's spy tech to help us out..." Coulson addressed the team as Trip unlatched the clasps of the yellow case, and pulled off the picnic blanket, revealing an assortment of common items, which were in fact, spy gear.

"So we should systematically take a full inventory of ev—" Coulson stopped midway as his eyes rested on an item that grabbed his attention. "Oh my god..." He gasped as he reached for what looked like a hair dryer. "Is that a handheld hypno-beam?!"

"One of the original betas." Trip excitedly announced. "See how it has the switch on the bottom?"

"The production models moved it to the side." Coulson explained as he observed the handheld. "This is amazing! Almost as cool as a —"

"Transistorized blast gun..." Both Trip and Coulson managed to utter in unison, before chuckling at the other.

"Haha... okay!" Skye chuckled at the boys geeking out. "The two of you can get a room later, but we have a plane to catch." Coulson just made a simple "no." as Fitz fiddled around with a gadget.

"Is that a UHF pin!" Zach was the next to geek out over the tech, as he reached for a small pin resembling Captain America's shield. "It's so retro! Ultra high frequency tech... I wonder if Howard made these!"

Ella only watched as Zach fawned over the old tech, and she couldn't help but giggle at his reactions, just as Eddie looked on to. "I remember you said he liked history..." Eddie remarked, watching Zach pick up a pack of what seemed to be cigarettes. "But dang... he, Coulson and Trip... vibing like crazy."

"Yeah — it's one of his favorite topics." Ella sighed, reminded of the good times they shared. "Even if it was history, I always listened — the twins get their love of history from him."

"Where did they buy this stuff?" Skye chuckled, looking through the tech herself. "From the book of a comic book?" Nick gently took what looked like a joy buzzer from her hand. "Wonder what this little guy does..." Nick remarked.

"Oh, man, you gotta watch out, that's a —" Before Trip could finish his sentence, Nick pressed on the switch of the joy buzzer. Suddenly, the lights quickly hummed and exploded into shards of glass.

"That's an EMP..." Trip explained as Nick humbly passed the buzzer back to him. "Knocks power out in about a 10-foot radius." Nick shook his head up and down, and whispered, "That's my bad... that's on me, y'all."

"Yeah, a lot of vintage SHIELD spycraft was designed to look innocent in case a spy was caught. Like, um..." Fitz explained as he eyed the pack of "cigarettes" in Zach's hand with an absurd part of goggles. "Like these smokes."

He took a single cigarette from the pack, twisting the end of it. The twist then activated a laser, which then Fitz mimicked the behavior of a smoker in a manner of puffing smoke.

"Thanks, Trip. This is a huge help." Coulson applauded. "Gives us a fighting chance against these bad guys." Just as all the agents smiled, they hadn't noticed the laser was already starting to burn the drapes behind them.

"Oh, Fitz..." Jemma sighed as they all turned to the fire, just as the smoke alarm went off. Fitz quickly twisted the cigarette off, and Zach went off to grab the fire extinguisher. May only sighed, returning back to her stoic face.

"Watch out, HYDRA. Here we come."

. . .
Cybertek Corporation
Palo Alto, California
. . .

Two senior Cybertek developers walked into an office boardroom, pen and file in hand. "Hi. Welcome to Cybertek." One of them speaks up to their two guests, who had their backs facing them.

"I'm Theo Tittle. This is Dr. Roum." Coulon began with a coy smile, and May made an unfamiliar smile and a small excited wave. "Thanks so much for seeing us on such short notice."

"We've met with a number of other former SHIELD scientists recently." Ott said, as a stenographer types aloud behind them. "And I must say — thus far — we're underwhelmed. Hydra, on the other hand? Less constrained in their thinking — and younger."

"Usually younger." Diaz added. May held a brief, unnoticed look of disdain on her face. Coulson's look just said, "You son of a bitch."

"Is this guy serious?" Zach spoke quietly into the comm set from inside a van parked outside. "He basically said he has a passion for Nazis."

"I told you we should have gone in." Fitz's voice followed, moreso a conversation with Jemma. "Nick & Ella would have worked too, Zach is a bit too famous..."

"Fitz, I can hear you."

"Oh hush, both of you!" Jemma scolded, paying her attention to feed information to May. "May looks barely over... 30! You're gorgeous!"

Through the bickering, May adjusted the UHF pin on her blazer, twisting it on so that in the front of the van, Skye, Trip, and Nick would be able to bypass the security systems. "Score one for the Howling Commandos..." Skye announced to Trip. "Your grandpa's pin should help me locate Cybertek's mainframe."

"I didn't know they had Wi-fi back in the day." Trip answered, squinting his eyes in doubt.

"They didn't. That's the beauty of the pin." Skye explained. "It uses UHF to search for data. Nobody's even scanning those frequencies for potential leaks."

On her lap, her computer began a trace for active data. However, within moments, the computer beeped with an irregular tone.

Unable to detect Data Signatures.

"That's weird..." Skye spoke up. "I'm not finding any digital data about anything, let alone a source for it. How is that possible?"

"Maybe it's protected?" Nick guessed. "Or... insulated somewhere inside?"

Skye immediately grabbed her radio. "Guys, keep them busy a minute longer." In the back of the van, Fitz, Simmons and Zach get back into consulting. "Okay, now show them the ICER Bullet." Fitz instructed to Coulson, who would echo his words. "I designed this to be —"

"Powerful." Coulson repeated in the boardroom, placing the same bullet onto the table. "Nonlethal, and to break — break up under subcutaneous tissue."

"And my challenge was that it could hold a dose of —" Jemma spoke to May.

"Eighty-five micrograms of dendrotoxin." May repeated in the most scientific way she could. "He should have run the specs by me before building the molds.

"But I think we can all agree that the..."

"That the true beauty is in my hyperconcentrated Dendrotoxin formula."

"My cartridge — cartridge case —

"Cartridge case ejection system, obviously."

"Guys — you're gonna confuse them." Zach radioed, as he noticed the overlapping between all four of the agents. In the boardroom, the Cybertek ops had noticed they were spiraling into a rabbit hole of bickering.

Ott held up the bullet in his fingers, gesturing to them to shut their mouths. "We've seen one of these bullets before." Ott explained, shooting their proposal down. "What – what did they use it with?"

"The sleepy-sleep gun, I think?" Diaz remarked. "The sleepy-sleep gun!?" Zach hissed into the radio, increasingly offended by the lack of originality.

"That's right. Our team took this rudimentary concept," Ott pronounced. "And converted it into an aerosol grenade. Much more useful."

"Much more useful — up your a—" Zach whispered, just as Fitz took over. "But this is an ICER!" Fitz exclaimed, with as much passion as Zach had seconds ago.

"Yes, but this is an ICER!" Coulson repeated, picking the bullet up. "Triple the stopping power and a much cooler... name."

"What else do you have?" Ott asked, leaning back in his chair. The two agents fell silent, as Coulson looked down in mock-shame.

"Here we go... building permits Cybertek's filed in the city." Skye exclaimed as she scoured the blueprints. Upon the screen, the layers of the building populated depicting each floor. On closer look, Skye found an irregularity on the fourth floor.

"There's something funky about the fourth floor. Only one way in or out. Extra-reinforced security door."

"That's got to be it, right?" Nick asked, surveying the floors along with her.

"Coulson, May, can you get to the fourth floor?" Skye questioned. Back in the building, the ops had escorted them out of the boardroom. "It's a shame it didn't work out." Coulson proclaimed, putting a false sense of disappointment.

"It is." Ott replied, not applying the same tone. His spoke more of "Goodbye, have a nice life."

"So lovely meeting you both." May said as they walked away, her face shifting more to her usual stoicism. An armed guard escorted them to the elevators, and upon its arrival, he inserted a key into the mainframe.

Just as the door closed, the guard was beaten senseless; a number of thuds and bumps were audible for moments before the elevator arrived at the fourth floor. His unconscious body fell to the floor of the elevator, and the two grabbed him by the shoulders.

They carefully dragged the man on the floor. "Does your sweater itch?" May spoke up.

"A little bit." Coulson answered truthfully. They entered a barren hallway, surrounded by beige walls, with the only object striking them visually was an emergency phone.

Just as they stepped down the hall, a guard walked out of the room, and suddenly made eye contact with them. His eyes darted to the phone on the wall, just as May did.

The guard rushed to the phone, but so did May. She launched into a set of cartwheels to gain more momentum; upon landing, she grabbed the phone and struck it hard underneath his chin, knocking him out whilst not killing him.

The phone fell back into her hand, where she delicately placed it back into the receiver. "I dunno if I've said it enough..." Coulson said as May turned to face him. "But I'm glad you're back."

May made a small glimpse of a smile, making Coulson make a small awkward one of his own. To curb the conversation away, he reached into his pocket, revealing the fake cigarette pack.

"Try not to set the drapes on fire." May teased with a small flirty smirk.

In mere moments, the reinforced door fell down, and Coulson quickly disengaged the cigarette. The two walked in to find themselves in a room full of files; not a single server in sight.

"Skye, I think I know why you couldn't find the mainframe." Coulson radioed in to the truck. "There isn't one."

"What do you mean there isn't one?"

"All the files are hard copies." Coulson answered, as May rolled her eyes. "That's why Granny was typing during our meeting."

"Well, we're here — might as well look around."

Aboard the BUS

In the lab of the BUS, Raina carefully looked through samples of blood contaminated with the Centipede serum. Visuals of blood cells filtered onto the screen, but Raina could feel the eyes burning a hole in her skull from behind.

"You're staring at me again." She spoke aloud to Deathlok, who watched mercilessly behind her.

"You gave them my son." Deathlok breathed dangerously, as his steps were mechanical, but quiet. "All I see are pictures of him in a cell."

"I was following orders." Raina whispered coolly, without turning around. "Just like you."

"So, is someone playing god with you too?" Deathlok seethed with anger, but curiosity. "Seeing everything you see? Waiting to push a button and blow a hole in your skull if you disobey?"

"Is there?" Deathlok slowly whispered away, into the remnants of what was left of Mike Peterson. Raina finally turned to face him. "No." She answered in a definite tone.

"Then why are you here?" Mike's voice deepened, urging back to Deathlok.

"For you and others like you — people with gifts." Raina explained without a single blink. "I'm waiting for what's inside to be revealed."

"The girl — Skye..." Raina prodded further, expecting an answer from the unwillingly obedient cyborg. "What do you know about her? Where does she come from?"

"Why do you care?" Deathlok breathed. Raina stared back at the blood cells, her interest piquing even more at the possibilities of what she knew.

"Because inside... I believe she and I have something in common."

. . .

"Hey, Coulson." May exclaimed as she rooted around a set of files, whilst she ushered him closer. "Mike Peterson's file."

Coulson walked closer, and looked inside the file cabinet. Inside were thousands of paper files stemming into the deep excess of the metal containers. Everything stemmed to Project Deathlok, over two decades.

"How can this all be Project Deathlok?" Coulson whispered, his fingers checking through all the files. "1990? How far back does this thing go?" He opened another file cabinet, spreading his fingers across each file. Suddenly, he stopped, as his eyes caught what they were searching for; how it all connects.

CYBERTEK — OPEN FILE

Model No. 01: Version V1.01 (1990)

JOHN GARRETT
RECONSTRUCTION SUBJECT
1990

The file illustrated a figure of Garrett's body, and the list of ailments he suffered and had reconstructed. On the diagram, he had inserted metal parts; one near his right shoulder, and the other at his left side of his stomach.

"Garrett was the first Deathlok." Coulson whispered. Just at the moment, radio noises were audible in the hallway. "Let's go —" Coulson advised and spoke to his comm.

"Skye, Nick, Trip — get ready for a large file transfer."

In the van, Skye adjusted her comm. "How large?" She asked. Right on cue from above, the windows smashed open, and the filing cabinet fell out and plummeted to the ground with a loud THUD.

Coulson and May looked down, just as Zach quickly got out, lifted the heavy object with one arm up onto his shoulder, and placed it into the truck. Trip and Nick ran back to the Howling Commandos kit, where Trip retrieved a harpoon gun, and tossed it over to Nick.

Nick quickly set into position, knelt on the ground, and fired right above the window frame, the arrow sticking into the pavement. As Trip fashioned a sturdy knot onto the truck, Coulson removed his belt, while May broke off a piece of metal, and the two quickly ziplined down.

. . .

A young Grant Ward sat solemnly in the rain in the middle of the woods, not knowing if his face was draining from the water or his own tears. His only companion; John Garrett's dog he had left behind by the name of Buddy.

It had been days since Garrett offered him an incredible opportunity; however he had stranded the young man to fend for himself in the wilderness with barely anything. No food, no tools, left to either stare or make a man out of himself. All with man's best friend.

Ward's family hated him; never wanted to see his face again. They couldn't care less if he died in the wilderness. But Grant wanted to prove himself to John; prove he was capable of being who he was needed to be.

But Garret... the bastard. He'd always let Ward snivel and suffer to bring out who he needs.

. . .

"You were gonna let me die!" Ward shouted at Garrett, as the older man painted a miniature, whilst using a magnifying glass for finer detail.

"Okay..." Garrett whispered, not taking his attention from the miniature. "First off, I think we should use our indoor voices."

"Since the day we met, I have done everything you asked!" Ward exclaimed, but now in a silent tone.

"Not sure we can say everything." Garrett remarked sarcastically.

"You were gonna let Deathlok kill me to get that hard drive?"

"Come on..." John smirked, finally giving Ward his undivided attention. "We both know the girl wasn't gonna let you die — you said yourself; Skye's a soft touch. Just like you."

Ward turned back to Garrett, his face grimaced with anger. He was grateful for every opportunity John had given him, but at the same time, he resented him for every single instance of pain he put him through.

"I am not that scared kid anymore!" Ward exclaimed, his voice brimming with rage.

"Then stop acting like it!" Garrett stood up from his chair, his voice hissing. "Stop being weak! All these years, and you're still playing the victim. Sometimes I ask myself why I ever bothered —"

Garrett finished, but he made a quick sputter. He strained himself, almost as if he was having a heart attack. It doubled down, and Garrett grabbed his left side, stemming with unbridled pain.

"John?" Ward asked, as Garrett braced himself on the side table. His balance was completely gone, and he collapsed to the floor. "John!"

Moments later, Ward held John's arm on his shoulder while another goon held his other, rushing him to the lab. "EVERYBODY OUT! NOW!" Ward exclaimed, before he and the man set John on the table.

Everyone had obeyed Ward's commands except for Raina, who quietly watched. "I said, get the hell out!" Ward exclaimed at her, where she eyed him curiously with a look that said, "Who do you think you are?"

"You heard the man!" A man yelled, grabbing Raina by the arm and walked her out of the lab.

"All right, hang in there." Ward whispered as he lifted John's shirt up to reveal the metal chestplate inserted into his flesh. He used a pronged tool to eject a small casing near his abdomen. "I'll get you stabilized." He said, plugging in three different colored serums into their plugs.

After minutes, the case with the plugs flashed green, allowing Ward to take a deep breath. "Biomechanics rebooting." Ward announced. "That should do it — you scared me. Hasn't happened like that in a while."

"Yes, it has." Garrett corrected with a grim look, staring into the ground and confronting his own mortality. "Been happening more and more — bio mechanics are fine."

"It's my organs that are failing."

Ward's face turned to disbelief. "W-What are you saying, John?" He asked quietly, somehow both hoping and not hoping for the worst.

"I'm dying. Cybertek team gives me a month — two tops."

. . .

"Garrett started Project Deathlok way back in 1990." Coulson explained to the team, as he rolled out a series of files, flipping the pages from case studies, to Garrett's ailments, to every piece and gadget inserted into Garrett to keep him alive. "Look at this — he was Patient Zero."

"We've been looking at all this backwards." Skye spoke up. "Garrett doesn't want G.H. 325 for his Centipede soldiers. He wants it for himself so he can become a real, live boy again."

"Then say hello to several programmed super-soldiers after that." Zach proclaimed, looking through his set of files. "Practically an army of Winter Soldiers — I don't want that experience again."

"How do we know Garrett didn't do that to Ward, too?" Fitz asked aloud, still clinging onto some hope Ward was a triple agent — that he was truly on their side. "Maybe he's been programmed?"

"Fitz, when are you going to stop clinging to the idea that Ward's the victim, and not the perpetrator?" Ella asked. "I'm sorry, bud, but there is no way that is even possible."

"When I see something that tells me I shouldn't with my own two eyes," Fitz argued back.

"She's right — Ward's been with him for years." Eddie added, just as Jemma patted Fitz's shoulder. "We know you both had a harrowing experience together, but let's face it — he was always HYDRA."

"We don't know all the facts."

"You want a fact, Fitz?" Skye snapped angrily, being the one to see Ward for who he truly was. "Ward murders people! I should have let Mike finish him when I had the chance  — I'm stupid and... weak."

"You weren't weak." Coulson disregarded. "You had compassion. That's harder — we'll find him." From behind Coulson, a pizza delivery man approached quietly.

"Pizza delivery for Pablo Jimenez?" He asked, making Coulson's head perk up, remembering the fake name he used. "That's me!" Coulson answered, standing to pay.

. . .
Havana, Cuba
.. .

"5 bucks? That's it?"

Ian Quinn asked as he received a nice and well done haircut from a local Cuban barber, Ernesto, who nodded humbly at his statement. "Same thing cost me $30 in Rome..."

Quinn stood up from the chair, and the door opened, accompanied by a chime of a bell, as Garrett, Ward and Raina walked in. "There it is... the face of our future!" Garrett greeted Quinn with a wicked grin, and turned back to his subordinates.

"Mr. Quinn's the poster boy for our new enterprise." John announced proudly, yet Ward remained unamused.

"Not sure how that's supposed to work." Ward addressed, eyeing Quinn up and down. The billionaire still remained slightly intimidated than him, despite them being on the same side. "He's also an international fugitive, accused of a laundry list of crimes."

"Accused by SHIELD, of whom I've been a vocal critic for years." Quinn began, yet struggled to slip on his blazer jacket. His arm still remained broken from months prior. "Now SHIELD's gone down in flames while I rise from the ashes, all charges dismissed, and my sterling reputation restored."

Ward only smirked in response. "That arm's still pretty broken." He whispered carefully. "Zach must have really done a number on it — broke it so bad it bent the other way."

Quinn groveled from the memory of the pain of that moment. "Good thing I didn't rip out that silver tongue of yours." Garrett said proudly. "Everything on schedule?"

"Your flamboyant display in Bogota got a lot of people's attention," Quinn answered. "I'll be in DC tomorrow, capitalizing on it."

"Good!" John exclaimed, sitting next in Ernesto's chair. A small beep emerged from Grant's pocket, as he pulled up a burner. "It's Raina." Ward announced. "Maybe she has news."

Ward walked away to the secret base hidden away under the barbershop, while Garrett prepared for a haircut. "Okay, Ernesto..." He smirked confidently. "Let's show them what handsome really looks like."

. . .
Under the Barbershop
. . .

Ward walked under the shop right to Raina and her group of scientists. The girl in the flower dress spotted him from behind the thick plastic sheets, and barged out. "Everything okay?" Ward asked.

"Everything's fine." Raina answered.

"Is there a problem with the drug?" Ward questioned. Raina stopped in her tracks, looking up at the agent. "This isn't about the drug."

"I thought Agent Garrett shared my... interest in special people, in transformation." Raina expounded in a quiet tone. "But now I realize he was just too afraid to die — so I'm not sure how interested he'll be in what I found out about Skye."

"Skye?" Ward questioned yet again, crossing his arms.

"I probably shouldn't even be talking to you about this." Raina huffed. "I should go straight to Garrett." As she began to step away, Ward forcefully grabbed her arm, holding her back.

"Garrett's got more important things to worry about." Ward quietly whispered. "You can tell me instead."

Raina took a deep breath before she started. "I've been looking through the files that Skye downloaded off the plane. And in addition to medical records, I found hospital files, adoption-agency searches..."

Ward squinted as if Raina were telling him new information. "Skye's an orphan — been looking for her parents for a while. It's not exactly a secret."

"But that's what intrigued me! That and her DNA." Raina whispered. "It appears to be a match for someone I heard about a long time ago. Maybe dead now — but close to."

"You know something about Skye's history?"

"I can't confirm it's her — but I  did hear a story about a baby girl." Raina elaborated. "Years ago, a village in the Hunan Province in China. It was destroyed. Every man, woman, and child was torn apart by monsters trying to find that baby."

"Did the monsters kill the baby's parents?" Ward asked.

"No — That's what's so interesting." Raina made a small smirk. "The baby's parents were the monsters."

. . .
CUBAN AIRFIELD
. . .

Trip had laid out the Howling Commandos kit once more, letting anyone take what they needed. "You sure you don't want anything else?" He asked one final time to Fitz, as he unrolled a roll of quarters. "How about one of these... quarter walkie-talkies?"

"They have a built-in homing beacon," he continued, as Fitz admired the small device. "Okay." He responded simply, as he and Zach each took one.

"I'll keep one too." Trip assured, much to Fitz's chagrin. The young Scottsman still felt an inch of jealousy that Simmons could possibly have an interest in Trip, ever since their traumatic experience from learning HYDRA was in SHIELD.

"Don't wanna be greedy," Fitz replied, trying to be humble. "We've already got the D.W.A.R.F.s"

Trip made a small chuckle. "No problem, all right?" He modestly answered, holding his arm out for a fist bump. Fitz, ever being the socially awkward nerd he was, simply clamped his hand upon his fist.

However, that didn't faze Trip; he smiled happily, and tossed quarter walkie-talkies to everyone. "Because we had to fly low, we had to search for our plane on the ground." Coulson addressed everyone, and turned to a small splinter group composed of Fitz, Jemma, Zach and Ella.

"You four, you have the maps." Coulson ordered quietly. "Do not engage under any circumstances. If you find the bus, call us and stand down or come back here and wait."

"We'll be careful." Simmons answered, while Fitz and Ella responded with "Understood, sir."

"Zach, you will only strike if it's a last resort." Coulson added in addition, for the Avenger nodded quietly, and slid up his gloves.

Moments later, the small team resided in a small booth on the airfield, where they had found the BUS. Jemma pulled out the SAT phone, and to dial Coulson, and he instantly answered. "Yeah?" He answered.

"Sir, we found the BUS." Jemma reported, looking on and off at the BUS. "It's on an airfield outside Abel Santamaria packing to leave."

"We're on our way." Coulson responded, and his voice turned away. "How far is that from our location?"

"About 3 hours — by then, they'll be long gone." Zach answered, while Fitz and Ella kept watch. "Coulson, what are our orders?"

"Get out of there now. Do not engage — wait for us back at the Jumpjet."

"Copy that, sir." Jemma responded, and sighed as she ended the phone, turning back to her team. "I know we've just been told not to engage," She sighed exhaustedly. "But if they get away, we'll be back to square one."

"And Square One means we gotta do this all over again." Ella sighed in response. "They're right there — with the right plan, we get our plane back."

"We have our orders," Zach answered silently, still watching out. "Only as a last resort; but I can't stand it either." He groaned in despair, staring the plane down as if it owed him money. "I want so badly to beat Ward's ass like a drum."

"Garrett's there too — so Ward must be." Fitz silently spoke, spotting the traitor on the tarmac. "We can finally get answers."

At that moment, Jemma's eyes widened, as a brilliant idea had lit the spark in her mind. "What if we send a dwarf into the plane from here?" She asked, turning back to them. "It can stow away inside so we can track where the BUS is going."

"Yes — Simmons, excellent suggestion." Fitz answered. "We can send Sleepy! He's our best listener — next to you, of course. Okay — I'll go get him from the car."

Jemma handed him a receiver, and Fitz turned around to grab the rest of the gear, as Ella and Zach looked between the two scientists. However, just before Fitz could leave through the door...

Grant Ward had just walked through the doorway. He readied his gun, and Fitz backed up in both fear and shock. His eyes were wide for now he saw Ward for who he truly was; a traitor, a murderer, a psychopath.

"Long time, no see." Ward muttered aloud. Ella had reached for her ICERS, but Ward raised his gun in response. "You don't want to do that." Ward whispered quietly. "Garrett knew you'd be here, so I won't kill. Just come quietly."

"I don't think we will." Zach stepped up in front of Fitz, pushing him behind him. "If you lay a hand on any of them, trust me; I will kill you." His fury grew with no bounds, and his eyes burned golden embers.

"He thought you'd say that," Ward shrugged, as a small disk flew through the air, locking onto Zach's body. He immediately seized in pain, and dropped to the ground, clutching his chest in pain. It was abysmal; he felt his veins and nerves immediately stop for a mere second, but the pain still lasted.

"Which is why Mike had to do that." Ward continued, as Deathlok followed after him, as he reduced the pain levels. "Trust me, he did it to me, it hurts like hell. So if you just as much as spark up —"

"Then your heart sparks up too." Mike spoke up in a cold, yet sympathetic tone. "I have my orders." Ella immediately ran over to Zach, but he immediately seized again, for Deathlok had to get his point across.

"So — hands up, and lose the guns."

. . .
ABOARD THE BUS
.. . .

Ward strutted back on the Bus, where the four agents were escorted by HYDRA agents dressed in casual clothing. Zach was pulled along by Deathlok, who held him by the arm, and was under threat of being given the pleasure of a mini stroke.

"Here they are," Ward announced, pointing back at them.

Garrett marched in, his lips pursed as he watched the agents in his custody. He eyed each one of them with a hint of malice towards the organization they held such blind faith in; the scientist, the engineer, the spy and the powerhouse.

"This is our plane," Fitz spoke up confidently for the first time. "We want it back."

Garrett smiled, and hearty chuckled. "Really? Just like that, kid?" He beckoned harshly, before turning to his other subordinates.  "Coulson probably figured out we're using the Barbershop — call Kaminsky, he'll know what to do."

"All right, let's close up the ramp, and get this bird off the ground," Garrett ordered, not noticing Fitz sneaking his hand into his jacket pocket. However, Ella had clocked his movement, but stood by, hoping that Fitz knew what he was doing. "Tell the pilot to keep it low in a harrier mode till we're out over the gulf."

Unfortunately, Ward had also noticed the movement, and grabbed Fitz's arm. "What's he got there?" Garrett questioned, not much caring as to what could happen. Ward jerked Fitz's arm out of his pocket, where he had revealed two objects within his palm.

A quarter and a joy buzzer.

"One of those prank joy buzzers." Ward answered. Fitz's heart beat fast; Zach could hear it pounding out of his chest.

"You know me..." Fitz whispered in a calm, yet somehow steady voice. "Always kidding around." Without another thought, Fitz applied pressure onto the trigger of the faux joy buzzer.

The lights broke and shattered, and small sparks pulsed off of Garrett's chest, making him seize in pain. Just behind them, the disk attached to Zach had fallen off, and he pushed Mike back into the other agents, but they had just grabbed him right back again.

"The hell was that?!" Ward furiously snapped at Fitz, before tending to John.

"An E.M.P." Fitz answered as if it were common knowledge. He marched forward, trying to tower over the fallen man, but the other agents had just pulled him back. "Looks like the joke's on you."

Ward rushed to the lab, and ran back in a matter of seconds with Garrett's silver case. Garrett was sat on the couch, clutching his side, and the SHIELD agents were held back by HYDRA agents, but now Zach was held back by Deathlok and other agents with ICERs claimed from SHIELD.

"I'm glad that I did it." Fitz taunted without a single care, unblinking at Garrett. "You hear me!? You lose, we win!"

"Maybe don't taunt him when we're still held, bud." Zach muttered, as the HYDRA grunts unsteadily shifted their guns. "Why are you all so startled?" He mused back at them. "I only spoke, I don't have ice breath; I'm not Superman."

"You're dead..." Garrett grumbled lowly, still clutching his side. "All of you... dead."

"Well, no worse than you!" Fitz snapped again, before turning to Ward, hoping to find some glimmer of hope from him. "And you don't have to take orders from him, Ward!"

Ward didn't listen. "Ward!" Fitz called, finally grasping his plea for redemption. "Let him die — he deserves to die."

Ward started for a moment, but made his decision instantly. "Get them out of here!" He commanded, as they were taken to the hull. Yet, more agents remained close by. "Clear! Everyone out!"

Years ago...

A now 22-year-old Grant Ward stayed down and behind a log in the wilderness, aiming a rifle at an unsuspecting deer. He had it lined up right in his crosshairs, and to his side, Buddy had remained perched and ready to retrieve anything he had shot.

It had been tough since Garrett had dumped him in the forest with nothing. He had to resort to raiding other cabins for supplies, hunting his own food, and planned to make his own cabin. From there, life was easier. Garrett came back months later, ready to take him on.

"I have some good news." Garrett had said proudly, sipping on a canned beer.

"Can it wait a minute?" Grant asked, his focus remained positively on the deer. He had grown older, more experienced in his surroundings. The deer stood quietly, unaware it would be shot dead within seconds.

"BAM!" Went the sound of Ward's rifle at the right moment. The deer dropped dead, but Buddy stood up, barking as he went running after the prey.

"Damn dog takes off every time I take a shot out here." Grant chuckled, turning back to John. "That deer's 1800 meters out; it'll take him a while to find it." he sat up, looking at his mentor, and steadied himself. "I'm all ears."

Garrett stood up in response, eyeing him with a glint of achievement in his eyes. "You've been accepted by SHIELD's operations division, effective immediately. We need to pack up."

Ward stood, amazed that he will finally be doing something worthwhile of what he was promised. "Thank you, sir." He responded calmly. "For everything."

However, Garrett's look turned stern. "Don't do that." He ordered. "You don't owe me or anybody else a thing. You earned it by being yourself."

"It's gonna be hard when you get there. If you're gonna work within SHIELD for HYDRA — you can't ever get attached to anyone or anything. You have to fight that weakness in you."

"Yes, sir." Ward responded, not so eager, making Garrett smile.

"Good." Garrett smiled softly. "Now take care of Buddy, and we'll get out of here." He walked off to the truck, but stopped. He didn't need to look back to know Ward was doubting what he was told.

"That's not a weakness, is it?"

"No, sir." Ward acknowledged. His orders were clear. "Good. I'll be at the truck." Garrett responded, leaving Ward with his objective.

"Internal battery must be fried," Ward diagnosed as he opened up the kit, with John laid on his right, so the left could properly be fixed. "I'm gonna have to open it up — see if there's a mechanical fix."

"I talked to CyberTek." Raina spoke up, just from behind Ward in a manner to fix their problems. "They're preparing a facility in Miami."

"Good — I need you to do something for me..." Garrett croaked as he pulled himself over to Ward." Ward sympathetically looked down to Garrett. "Yeah, anything..."

"Put down the four of them.

Ward stood there, internally baffled. "What?" He proclaimed silently, his eyes crossed in confusion. They were his enemies; yet Ward didn't want them gone. "There's plenty of time; I won't leave you."

"And I'm telling you to cross them off for me... the three will be easier to put down — Sparky's gonna be a challenge, but maybe get Mike on that..." Garrett grumbled. However, the glint in his eyes stared daggers back into Ward, and suddenly, he was 20 years ago again, faced with the decision that Garrett left him with back in the forest.

"That's not a weakness, is it?" He coldly pressed his teeth together, furious that Ward still held that internal, pathetic sense of attachment inside him, even after all those years of hammering it into him.

"...no." Ward answered quietly, like a child being scolded.

"Then take care of them." Garrett whispered. "I'll take care of me. I've cheated death plenty of times before."

. . .

Underneath the Barbershop. . .

The other agents pursued underneath the barbershop, now abandoned and barren than ever. It was empty, and held no promises of any threat or computer. Skye had hoped if there was a computer, the Trojan horse she programmed could still wipe them out.

However, the shop held no promises of a computer or cell phone service. Silence filled the room like a catacomb. "Trip, anything in your granddad's kit might help us out here?" Coulson asked aloud.

"Always," Trip answered, slipping off the pack. "Let me take a look." He pulled out a large bulky device, and handed it to Nick, who slowly spun himself around the room. "Come on... come on..." The device's beeping continued slowly, until he faced north, where it beeps erratically.

"Over here!" Nick called out to the other agents. "There's something behind this wall." The device detected hot red beams coming from the wall.

"Secret Door?" Coulson asked. "I got this; they're like my thing." He whispered, almost excitedly. The last time he did something interesting to a door was blowing the locks off of the Iron Monger's chambers. "Here we go."

Coulson felt around the texture of the wall, reaching upwards where he found an irregularity with the brick. With a simple push, the wall revealed itself as a door, pushing open.

The false wall revealed a cache of computers and servers, plenty of ones to finally finish the job. However, the lights suddenly shut off and from the shadows, a figure stood watching from the corner, with a long object.

It glowed orange in the shadows; the Asgardian Berserker staff.

From another corner, a singular eye lit up, and then several followed in the darkness behind it. They were surrounded and outnumbered by Centipede soldiers.

. . .

On the Bus. . .

Fitz, Simmons, Ella and Zach were all lead to the holding chambers by HYDRA soldiers, yet held slight optimism for their current circumstances. "Coulson will find us, won't he?" Jemma asked quietly.

"Man won't rest until every HYDRA agent is either dead or behind bars." Fitz spoke up loudly, hoping to irritate them enough as they were marched through the lab. Unpredictably, Fitz reached for the nearest chair and threw it down to obstruct their path, and the four made a mad dash away from the HYDRA grunts.

They split off into two; Fitz & Simmons, and Zach & Ella to further disorganize them. Fitz and Jemma ran through a corridor while Zach and Ella branched off through the hull.

Fitz pushed a door shut, and locked it so a bald grunt couldn't make it past, and they continued running. However, Jemma screamed as Ward made it down a ladder and right into their path. "Oh!" Jemma panicked, and turned around. "Oh, Fitz!"

"In here!" Fitz exclaimed, opening the pod door to a containment module, where Ward couldn't get inside of. Before Ward could grab him, Fitz slammed the door shut behind. Ward slammed his hand on the door, and a fierce, angered look flared on his face.

"Open the door, Fitz." Ward coldly growled, his eyes never leaving the pair.

"Ward, please..." Fitz begged from behind the glass, trying to hopefully, finally get Ward to change. "I need to understand."

"You need to accept the truth, Fitz!" Jemma argued. "He doesn't care about us — he doesn't care about anything!"

"NO! I don't believe that — we're friends, aren't we?" We've been friends." Fitz pleaded, trying so desperately to find anything to get him to change, to help them.

Ward remained silent; Fitz's word took him back to that fateful day. That day, he aimed a pistol right at Buddy's head, and Buddy didn't run from fear. He stood in place; somehow knowing that Ward couldn't do it.

Ward pulled the trigger that day. But he didn't aim it at Buddy. And Buddy ran. Ward was weak; he aimed the pistol into the sky. He couldn't kill the one being that got them through life in the woods.

"We've had laughs together — I know you're a good person, Ward! And you can choose to be good! It's a choice." Ward looked away for a split second, but looked back at Fitz.

"Found them near the hangar." Mike's voice emerged from the corner, his right arm grabbing Ella's arm, but his left held Zach by the neck. "What did Garrett order us to do?"

"Not now!" Ward snapped, and turned back to the scientists. "Open the door." His voice was now a plea on its own. He didn't want to kill any of them. In his mind, Fitz was right; he was their friend.

"No." Fitz whispered.

"Not a chance." Jemma seconded.

Ward took a deep sigh, and looked back at them disheartenedly. "Okay — have it your way." Ward turned away from them and towards the control panel, where he began the protocol.

To drop off dead weight.

"W-Ward — what are you doing?" Ella stammered, watching as Ward typed in combos of button presses. Zach watched panickedly, and tried to force himself out of Deathlok's grip.

Fitz and Jemma were pleading for their lives, watching as Ward never turned back. Ella continued to watch him finalize the plan, and without thinking, quickly reached for Mike's gun near his side, but just before she could pull the trigger...

KRAK.

Ella's body jerked back slowly, and silence filled the room. In mere seconds, blood ruptured out and slowly stained her clothes. Zach's eyes went wide at the sight of her blood, and his eyes slowly inched at Ward.

He made the killing shot.

Mike couldn't even believe it himself. His grip on her arm lessened, and Ella dropped to the ground. Ward fundamentally changed everything; he killed a mother to two children.

Now Zach was just like him.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(a/n: hey, haven't done these in a hot minute -- there are no gifs of this scene at all that i can find, so enjoy the ACTUAL SCENE.)

And without another moment, Ward finished the command. The vessel pushed back out of the silo, as Fitz and Simmons, eyes brawling and screaming, dropped into the sea.

Deathlok let go of Zach, who instantly pulled himself to Ella, who struggled to breath through choking on her blood. "Ellie — Ellie!" Zach shouted as he cradled her body in his arms, cusping her cheek in his arms. "Come on, stay with me – Ella! Don't you dare..."

Zach could care less about the spilled blood covering him. Through the blood and tears, Ella managed one final smile and cupped his cheek. "Z-Zachy..." She muttered with her smile, one that made even Deathlok's heart break.

"Ella, come on, don't you die on me, please —" Zach pleaded, holding her close. "Please — don't leave me. Don't leave our kids."

"Zachy — I need to tell you..." Ella whispered without fear, still clutching her chest with her other arm. "I — I wish you to know that you —" She continued to stutter through the blood. "You were the last dream of my soul..."

"You were everything to me — our kids are everything to me... take care of them for me — promise me, Zachy..."

"Of course I will, Ellie..." Zach answered through his tears. "What kind of question is that — they're ours."

"I love you — tell Ember and Rian Mommy will always love them." Ella whispered quietly, but Zach knew his words couldn't keep her tethered to this world anymore. She took two breaths, and welcomed what awaited her in open arms.

Her heartbeat went still, her eyes lost any meaning and grace behind them. Zach's hands remained stained with her blood and his own tears. He gritted his teeth and his hands shook furiously. Fitz and Simmons were probably dead. Ella was dead.

And he was still alive.

His hands gripped as tight as they ever could, set Ella's body to the ground and closed her eyes, and stood up with his head down. He slowly raised his head, and his eyes shone a more furious gold than ever before. He growled and charged towards Ward and his hands tightened around his neck.

"I'm going to kill you, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" His vocal pitch increased as he slammed Ward into the ground, and pummeled his face with his storm of fists.

"Garrett's little shit-errand boy!" Zach's anger grew with each impact. "YOU WANT TO TRY AND KILL ME NOW!? GO AHEAD AND TRY, YOU SQUID MOTHERFU–"

PHEW.

Zach's body slumped over onto the ground, and Ward groaned in pain, finding Mike with another gun in his hand; it was an ICER. "What did you do?" Mike wondered in an incredulous tone. 

Ward sighed and looked between the empty silo space, Ella's body, and Zach's unconscious form. He was an agent of HYDRA. Always has been. Always will be.

"I cared about them. It was a weakness." Ward muttered.

Moments later, Ella's body was placed in the holding cell, while Zach was constrained with multiple chains holding him in place with six Hydra agents surrounding him. Ward was nursing his injuries, and returned by Garrett's stead.

In the cabin, Garrett remained on his side with his internal organs exposed, leaving what remained of him inside, including Raina's own Centipede formula. Raina had managed to recreate a version of G.H. 325, which she prepared to inject him with to give him one final chance at life.

"I can't promise it will work," Raina advised as she lingered from injecting the rule into the Centipede core. "And once it's gone, I won't be able to create anymore. This is the end of the road."

"Without it, I'm dead for sure." Garrett whispered. "So... what the hell?" His hand weakly nudged Raina's arm forward toward the core, and without any more hesitation, she carefully jabbed the needle inside of the core, injected the blue serum directly within it.

The core now glowed a purple hue, which Raina took notice to admire. "That's it. The final ingredient." She remarked, placing the core back into Garrett, fixing the mechanics back.

Ward had walked back in with a sullen look on his face. "Is it done?" Garrett whispered softly. Ward gave no response; he felt both guilty and proud of what he had done. It was a price to pay for no more weakness.

"If the job was easy—" Garrett immediately gurgled in pain, shouting at the top of his lungs, as if he were choking on something. He convulsed painfully, and what showed of his skin glowed orange, and his fingers twitched erratically.

However, the effects faded away, and John's skin returned to it's normal tones. However, he was left with a dazed look in his eyes and a bigger shit-eating grin like never before.

Garrett now breathed steady, not feeling like he was constantly hooked to a ventilator. "What are you feeling?" Ward asked, kneeling down to his level.

John simply grinned, and stared deep into Ward's soul. "The universe."