"Previously on "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."..." "I've asked Agent Nathanson" " to accompany Aida back to your lab." " Oh, my God." "What the..." "This is clearly the Darkhold's fault." "You're not getting that book." "Yes, I am." "Your previous model had the Darkhold book in her hand." "And all the answers it holds." "You'll have to stay here for now until your substitute has served her purpose." "I said the new Director should be a powered person the public could trust." "And they came up with you." "Look, we're both Inhuman." "Why not make the most of it?" "The public was turning against you." "Now they look up to you." "Seems they look up to you, too... the hero of Vienna." "Not as big a deal as they made it." "They gave me too much credit." "No, a true hero's not in it for the glory." "Some seek out justice in the face of danger even if it means living life in the shadows." "But I'm proud to announce that Daisy Johnson..." "One of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most dedicated agents..." "Can finally step into the spotlight and get the recognition she deserves." "During her time undercover, she risked her life to protect everyday citizens." "When Watchdogs targeted the Edison Bridge," "Agent Johnson held off the collapse until everyone was evacuated." "Now, she fled to protect her cover, but today, we finally get to say... thank you." "Right now, I would like to invite" "Sunbury's own Michelle Caldwell up to tell the story in her own words." "Thank you, Director Mace." "It's hard to remember details from that night, but three things stand out clearly... fire, falling... and Agent Johnson saving my life." "I was heading home on the Edison Bridge..." "Looks like Director Mace is enjoying this more than Daisy." "Know who's more excited about it than either of them?" "General Talbot balls us out one time, then acts like we owe him a damn parade." "Yeah, he did what he had to do." "Though it didn't reduce his ego any." "Burrows isn't helping, either." "If he gets any further up Talbot's ass, he'll need a snorkel." "And there they go again with the world's most conspicuous briefcase." "What do you think's in there?" "Could be anything..." "Nuclear codes, hush money," "Girl Scout Cookies..." "What's up?" "We're supposed to have an agent on that roof." "My son still has his mother, thanks to Agent Johnson." "Thank you." "Thank you so much." "Oh." "Yeah." "Okay." "Sniper!" "Get down!" "Stand clear!" "I've got eyes on the shooter." "Sir, wait!" "You're on the clock." "Coulson, we're initiating Contingency Plan Foxhole." "Get the Director out of here, pronto." "Already on it." "Sir, we need to get you to a safe house." "We have a Quinjet standing by." "Lead the way." "Burrows, with me." "What is that doing out?" "Um, Agent Fitz asked us to keep it out for a few tests." "The only test anyone should be running is how best to destroy it." "That thing killed Nathanson." "Could've killed us all." "I'll talk to Agent Fitz, make sure he hasn't forgotten that." "And in the meantime... don't go near it." "What now?" "How did the shooter get close enough?" "What's going on?" "There was an assassination attempt on Director Mace." "What?" "Is he..." "He's fine." "Coulson and Mack are following protocol, taking him to a safe house." "What do we know about this guy Daisy grabbed?" "Who's he working for?" "Would you stop hounding me with questions?" "Get in there and ask him yourself." "I need you in the interrogation room." "I don't trust Little Miss Richter Scale to handle it herself." "I take orders from the Director, not you." "May's right." "Maybe we should check with Director Mace." "Well, he's not gonna get here in time, so I'm taking the reins." "And here's how it's gonna go down." "You... get Lee Harvey whatever to talk." "You... find out if Burrows was on the Quinjet." " Excuse me?" " And you... hey!" "... with the hair." "Get me a coffee." "And don't forget the French vanilla creamer this time." "Agent May, with the possible exception of my mother, you are the single most intimidating woman" "I have ever met." "We need answers." "You can get them." "Fine." "She was designed for this very purpose." "Aida was meant to save lives..." "Prevent assassination attempts." "But instead we just had a funeral for Agent Nathanson." "Yeah." "A painful loss, we all agree." "But look, I can figure out what went wrong." "Let me examine her!" "I'll pinpoint the problem." " Radcliffe." " We can sort it, restart the program." "I don't think that's the best idea just now." "Tempers are running high after... the incident." "I think you should steer clear of HQ for a few days." "Who's this coming from?" "The Director?" "Agent Coulson?" "Yep and yep." "Along with everybody else." "But it'll blow over." "And in the meantime," "I'll still pop 'round for football matches." "Well, if you think it's best." "All right." "This is not good." "Not good at all." "Aida!" "Get me two..." "No, four aspirin." "If you have a headache," "I could get the acupuncture needles." "No, the pills are fine." "We have a problem with Agent May." "She's in a better place now." "No, the... the May LMD." "Apparently, I am unwelcome at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, so she's all on her own." "This is unprecedented technology at play here." "I need to keep an eye on her." "The slightest miscalculation could reveal her true nature." "I have confidence in you, Doctor." "Of course you do." "But if she draws suspicion, this is all for naught." "Yuri Zaikin." "Russian national." "Ex-KGB." "Ex-Hydra." "S.H.I.E.L.D. thought you died in the battle over the Fridge." "Well, it's too bad you didn't." "You killed a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, tried to kill the Director with exploding bullets." "They don't sell those at Walmart... yet." "Who's your supplier?" "You just don't shut up, do you?" "You've got an angle here?" "When they don't talk, usually means they have someone to protect." "So he's just a lackey." "Probably why there wasn't an extraction plan." "Send in the dumb guy they can afford to lose." "No wonder he failed." "We didn't fail." "Phase One only ever had a 13% chance of success." "Doesn't make any sense." "We had agents all over the place, not to mention two Inhumans." "Who would send a sniper in there and think they could get away with it?" "Smart money's on the Watchdogs." "Though Senator Nadeer may have pointed them in my direction." "She's on the Intelligence Committee, so she had access to my event schedule." "Nadeer has motive, but she's too smart to tie herself to the assassination of an American hero." "And Mack's right..." "Their plan was sloppy." "The silver lining..." "The Director looked like a total hero, throwing that podium." "I bet every network is covering it." "There is no silver lining for that dead agent's family." "Agent Mackenzie has a point." "McCafferty, can we get HQ on the line?" "Working on it, sir." "There's some interference." "I'm having the same problem." "If I could just get a couple of bars, see if we're trending..." "No." "We've lost the port engine!" "Everybody hold on!" "Everyone okay?" "Still breathing." "I'm fine." "McCafferty, you all right?" "McCafferty?" "!" "He's dead." "The assassination attempt, this crash..." " It's not a coincidence." " No." "Whoever came after us anticipated the protocols, knew we'd fly to safety." "The sniper was just their first move." "Sabotaging the Quinjet was plan B." "There's no comms." "Crash must've cut the power." "Can still try to fix it." "HQ can still track the transponder signal." "Search and rescue should already be on the way." "May not be that easy." "_" "Damn it." "Can't be another EMP." "Our tech is working." "Just can't get a connection." "If this was their plan B, we can only assume plan C isn't far behind." "Yep." "I don't feel like sticking around to find out what that is." "We're sitting ducks here." "We need to get to high ground, try to get a signal for this sat phone." "First, we find Burrows." "Burrows?" "Sir, the chance of him surviving is practically..." "S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't leave a man behind." "You really think this is our best move?" "You know the saying..." "If a jet crashes in the woods and there's no one there to hear it, stay close to the guy with super-strength." "I thought this scenario was supposed to keep her calm." "It's unclear why her neocortical activity is so erratic." "The environment is quite peaceful." "We're gathering very useful data." "Well, as long as we're not causing the poor woman any undue harm." "There's been enough of that around." "Last thing we need is another incident." "You're referencing the actions I took to protect your secret?" "Well, the protection I appreciate." "The homicide was a bridge too far." "My parameters place your security above all others." "You would have been exposed." "I was exposed when they found a corpse!" "If I terminate anyone else for your protection," "I will dispose of the body more discreetly." "No..." "Don't terminate anyone." "I have to calibrate your settings down to something a little less lethal." "My apologies." "I only follow your directives." "Yeah, well, sometimes you follow them a little too well." "Agent Simmons knew what you were immediately." "Agent May's decoy will be more convincing." "She's more advanced than I am." "Yes, and you know what you are." "She doesn't." "Her programming operates on a subconscious level." "And you believe this will keep her from being noticed?" "If Agent May isn't aware of her mission to retrieve the Darkhold, then she won't be able to reveal herself." "Her programming will present as human emotion." "She'll instinctively climb the ranks, gain access, and get closer to Agent Coulson, the man who knows just where this book is." "It might be quicker for me to search the base myself." "No, I've tried the quick way." "Now we're playing a longer, more nuanced game, hopefully with less violence." "But isn't the real Agent May already prone to violence?" "How do you lose a damn Quinjet?" "Simmons, tell me they're alive." "I don't know." "We lost contact approximately seven minutes ago." "Zaikin said he wasn't alone." "This must be Phase Two." "Then we may need more than the standard rescue team." "General, have we made contact?" "They just dropped off the map..." "No signal, no emergency beacon, nothing." "It could be an equipment malfunction." "When have we ever been that lucky?" "If we want our team back, we're gonna have to act fast." "Daisy and I can take point on the rescue mission." "Coulson would want me to take command of Zephyr One." "Simmons, I need expanded clearance to do that." "I'll take care of that." "I'll make you..." "DayGlo pink, or whatever's high enough." "If we find them, they won't be alone." "Zaikin had partners." "I'm the highest-ranking agent here, and contingency protocols grant me greater access if the Director is missing in action." "I know that." "I wrote the damn protocols." "Besides, I have an assignment for you." "But I could look through Mace's file for any leads." "If we've overlooked any enemies he might have..." "I'll handle this." "I'm gonna squeeze our prisoner like a lime wedge on dollar beer night." "Now, find me some science-y way to regain contact with our men on the ground." "But we..." "You all have jobs to do." "If you'll excuse me," "I need to update the leader of the free world." "Mr. President." "We don't know who survived, but I've got our top agents searching for the Quinjet." "Agent Burrows has the package, but we don't know if he was onboard." "Yes, sir." "Let's hope for all our sakes that Director Mace got it." "Burrows should have landed... northwest of here." "Director, we may want to consider our options here." "Given our altitude when the door blew, the chances that Burrows survived that..." "I know we're only looking for a body at this point, but it's still the right thing to do." "Or you really need that briefcase." "All you need to know is it's classified." "You know the drill." "All too well, but I still don't know..." "Wait." "Hold up, hold up." "You hear those engines?" "That truck must be scrambling our communications." "I've seen tech like that..." "When we took out a Hydra stronghold in Argentina." "Can't be Hydra." "I thought you and Talbot put those guys to bed." "We dismantled their network, but that just sent the rats scurrying off the sinking ship." "From squid to rat to mutt." "Perfect Watchdog material." "Priority one is to destroy that truck so we can call for backup." "No." "Too risky." "What?" "We stick to the plan." "Find the case." "Like it or not, he's in charge." "Keep me updated, Agent Crawford." "Coulson?" "We don't know." "Daisy and May are looking while I try to restore communication." "And General Talbot's here... "helping"?" "In his own way." "Soothing as sandpaper, that guy." "You collected your stuff from Radcliffe's place?" "Yeah, I did." "And, uh, hopefully, he takes my advice" " and lays low for a while." " It's for the best." "Yeah, absolutely... even though the program did show promise." "Well, promising or not, it was a mistake." "You're right, you're right, but..." "I mean, just to be clear, the mistake wasn't the program," " it was keeping the program from you." " Fitz, let's not." "I know, but you were the brain we needed on this." "So maybe we could just reboot the head..." "In a controlled environment..." "And then we could diagnose the problem together." "Please!" "Drop it." "Can we just let it go?" "Our friends are missing... maybe dead." "Yeah, as always." "I just want you to understand that I only wanted..." "To prevent this very thing." "I know." "You're trying to protect..." "To protect you." "We'll find them." "Daisy's back on the team." "And, uh..." "May's too stubborn to give up." "Aida, no!" "I knew it wasn't real." "Aida, don't kill her!" "Aah!" "Unh!" "The syringe, Aida." "We have to sedate her." "You bastard." "What was that?" "She was supposed to be in a relaxing simulation." "She was in a day spa, getting a hot-stone massage." "How hot did you make the stones?" "I did exactly as you asked." "Well, at least you didn't snap her neck, so that's an improvement." "Fetch some restraints." "We may have misjudged what it takes to keep Agent May comfortable." "So you're allowed to touch Lola?" "Wanted to let you know we're a few minutes out from the crash site." "Did he ever let you drive her?" "I have this one image in my head..." "An early mission of ours." "Maybe in Madrid?" "Coulson had a mustache." "He gave me the keys and told me not to let anyone else know." "We're gonna find them, you know." "I know." "I just can't shake this feeling." "Something's off." "Off how?" "With the mission or between you and...?" "Did I miss something while I was gone?" "Like what?" "You know like what." "Agent May!" "We've reached the crash site, but we scanned for 100 square miles and there's no Quinjet." "Someone must have hijacked the transponder signal." "So where the hell are they?" "Well, this is a fly in the ointment." "This squad must've been searching the debris trail." "Who knows how many others are out there?" "How worried should we be about them getting into that thing?" "It's biometrically locked." "Only I can open it." "Unless they use explosives." "Still don't feel like telling us what's inside?" "Then I guess we're doing this." "Mack and I can go around, ICE the three on the far side." "Director, you take out the two by the case." " Are we sure there aren't more inside?" " If there are, you can always shot put them with your super-strength." "Yeah." "I'll make it work." "We have to move now." "You need a new strategy, son." "This silent treatment isn't working for you." "I'm gonna ask you one more time." "How did you know the Director was going to get on the Quinjet?" "Probability." "We considered every scenario, and all eventualities lead to our target's death." "This little mathlete stunt what kept you alive when I wiped out Hydra?" "That's right." "I personally had the pleasure of putting your outfit down." "And believe me when I tell you..." "I can make Siberia feel like a luau if you don't start giving me some answers." "The hammer shatters glass but hardens steel." "You are glass." "Okay, Pushkin." "I'll go get a hammer." "I miss the Cold War." "A man could do his job without one hand tied behind his back." "What, you've never been tempted to use every tool in the box?" "A spud wrench?" "Hay hook?" "Plugging chisel?" "Are you speaking English?" "Never mind." "How's, uh, the location on Mace?" "Tracking the Quinjet's proving near impossible." "The saboteurs have projected a false transponder signal while simultaneously jamming the real one." "We have no way to contact the Director or the Quinjet while this jamming equipment is still active." "This is clearly more than some pissed-off former squidheads." "Someone with means is backing them." "And someone with motive." "Could be Watchdogs, Senator Nadeer..." "Again, why I should perform a thorough analysis of Mace's file." "Leave the who and the why to me." "Just keep working." "Every minute we waste places our friends in greater danger." "I told you, I've got this." "You may mean well, General, but you are impeding my ability to... _" "What is it?" "This section of Mace's file..." "Project Patriot..." "The only people who have access are Director Mace, General Talbot," "Agent Burrows, and now me." "You mentioned Burrows earlier." "Any chance it's because of this project?" "Not relevant." "Burrows is always following the Director about with that briefcase." "It's not very subtle." "What aren't you telling us, General?" "You two do not want to get into this right now with me." "You knew I had access." "You wrote the protocols, right?" "And have been intentionally steering me away." "You want to tell us why?" "Or should I just read the file myself?" "Aloud." "Clear the room." "Hey, everybody out." "There's a very good reason Director Mace is never too far away from that briefcase." "Man down!" "Nice shot." "Hey!" "What the hell is he doing?" "I don't know." "No, no, no, no." "Aah!" "What happened?" "It was just one guy." "You could've crushed him." "No, he couldn't." "He doesn't have Inhuman powers." "He doesn't have powers at all." "Thanks." "This is what gave you your super-strength?" "What is it?" "Some sort of drug cocktail." "So steroids on steroids?" "Yeah." "You probably should've asked for more specifics." "I know it was uniquely calibrated for my DNA." "They told me it would make me strong, and it did." "I never questioned the science behind it." "And who exactly is "they"?" "Talbot." "Look, it's not like we gave him cancer." "He's a superhero now." "But you lied to all of us." "It's a choice I stand by still, 100%." "You didn't need to know." "Why did you fake his abilities?" "Well, the decision was made that the new Director had to be enhanced." "No candidate fit that criteria." "So we made one." "You restarted the Erskine program." "There's no program." "Just took a very well-vetted candidate and turned him into the hero and leader that we needed." "So how'd you do it?" "Targeted gene therapy?" "Biomechanical implants?" "Actually, we used a modified version of that formula you confiscated from Agent Johnson's father." " That's horrible!" " Are you mad?" "Think of the formula's side effects..." " aggression..." " You never fought a juiced-up Cal." " ...mood swings." " The guy nearly killed us." "We're not idiots." "We took the bad stuff out." "Most of it, anyway." "Oh, oh, okay." "So you're just..." "You're just mostly idiots." "Mostly." "We only gave it to him when he needed to put on a show for a congressman..." "Say, lift a car, something like that." "He was coming off the final dose when Zaikin took a shot at him." "We don't know if he got the next one." "Which is what Burrows had in that briefcase." "Without it," "Mace is about as strong as a paper bag in a rainstorm." "Explains why you were so eager to find Burrows." "God, I shouldn't have dragged him into this." "And you two..." "I hate that you're out here without protection." "What, you think we need you to protect us?" "No, I..." "No." "And I only lied 'cause those were my orders." "When your country calls, you answer." "Yeah, well, you won't be answering anything if we don't get that bullet wound patched up." "Maybe there's a first-aid kit in that ranger station." "Not a great time for round two." "So even if they survived the crash, they could be stranded in the wilderness, on the run from a band of ex-Hydra thugs, unaware that their enhanced asset is a charlatan." "No need to be melodramatic, Poppins, but yeah, that's it." "Fitz, is there any other way to fix the transponder signal?" "Scrambled." "If I had a day, maybe I could find a workaround, but in an hour, not so much." "Then we need to break Zaikin." "There's no time for anything else." "What do you think I've been trying to do?" "The Russki isn't talking." "Yeah, all right, well, we need to come at it from a different angle." "We have to try and find a way to motivate him." "I know that look." "I don't." "What are you thinking?" "I've seen American movies." "Good cop, bad cop, no?" " I told you I'd bring a hammer." " Mm." "It wasn't just Hydra who had operatives within S.H.I.E.L.D." "It was the other way around, too." "I learned a lot undercover." "I can't deny" "Hydra had some very persuasive interrogation methods." "You like statistics." "Here's one for you..." "There's a 100% chance I get inside your head." "The question is how long you'll live afterwards." "You're so weak." "You bring in this woman to scare me?" "The last Hydra operative we captured didn't take Agent Simmons seriously, either." "What's that saying you're so fond of at Hydra?" "Zaikin admitted to being hired by the Watchdogs." "Their plan was to take down the Quinjet in rural West Virginia." "We weren't even searching in the right state." "The comms are still jammed, but at least we've narrowed down the search area." "Well, hopefully Mace can hold these guys off until we find them." "Yeah..." "Um, I'm not so sure about that." "Won't be long before they find the other guys we ICE'd." "What's the situation?" "We got good news and bad news." "The good news is, the transmitter truck's parked out by that tool shed, so we've got a chance to disable it." "But the bad news..." "There's a squad of heavily armed mercs guarding it." "And it's only a matter of minutes till they bust down that door." "Should've left me in the woods when you had the chance." "Not helping." "What's the plan, sir?" "Time to suit up, Director." "You heard the part where I don't have powers, right?" "Yeah." "But they don't know that." "You know you're being lied to, right?" "I can only speculate as to who hired you..." "Probably some burly guys in dog masks..." "But they're working for Senator Nadeer, and what she really wants is inside this case." "It's a cure..." "For Inhumans." "Hold your fire." "I don't suppose she told you how much this was worth." "Probably a lot more than she's paying you." "If you're making me an offer, get on with it." "Looks like we got two choices here." "Either I crush this case down to the size of a baseball and nobody gets what they want, or..." "Or we could kill you and take it." "Try if you want." "I'm ready to go toe-to-toe all day." "But I'm the only one who can open this case." "I'd rather end this without any bloodshed..." "By which I mean yours." "So why don't you just put your guns down and, uh... we'll talk this through." "I don't think they want to talk." "You distracted them long enough." "Mack made short work of that truck." "So what do we do now?" "Survive." "It's not an axe, but I'll take it." "I'm running out." "Yeah, I'm running low, too." "Help me get this table." "They're about to breach that door." "How's your aim?" "Talbot ran me through some basic training when I got this job, but I didn't think I'd need it..." "With the super-strength and all." "No better time to practice than when your life depends on it." "Is that...?" "Where's Mack?" "I'm gonna make this hurt!" "About damn time." "You okay?" "Yeah." "Fine." "All right, let's get the hell out of here." "Agent May is resilient." "She never stops fighting, yet she showed more distress before she woke than during the fight." "That's odd." "No." "It makes perfect sense." "The flaw isn't in the hardware." "It was in May herself." "The simulation was rejected because Agent May thrives in conflict and chaos, not tranquility." "She's a warrior." "You're saying fighting against me stabilized her?" "Precisely." "If we want her to accept the simulation, we need to give her an opponent to fight, an enemy to vanquish, a dragon to slay." "Shall I design a dragon?" "No." "I have something else in mind." "Don't worry." "I'm gonna figure out what broke you." "Thank you, Fitz." "Thank you." "Fitz?" "Ah." "There you are." "You hungry?" "Yeah." "Famished." "I was, um... just locking away Aida's head... for good." "Let's never look at that awful thing again." "Yeah." "Well, you never know." "You might want to go all "Godfather" on somebody else." "Is it weird that I found that attractive?" "Yes." "You handled Talbot like a pro." "Oh, please." "Coulson always made it look so easy." " Really, Glenn?" " You should be thanking me." "We're in the middle of an arms race." "World War III is gonna be decided by whoever has more enhanced assets." "You need Inhumans to trust S.H.I.E.L.D." "And your plan to earn their trust was to lie to them?" "If you'd consulted me," "I probably would have advised against that..." "Which is exactly why I didn't." "Keep digging that hole, see how that works out for you." "You needed a face for your poster." "Fine." "Your girl Daisy went rogue." "The President tasked me with finding the next Captain America." "Not an easy job, but I did it." "I delivered a patriot..." "A bona fide American hero!" "That man could have done anything after Vienna." "General?" "Could we have the room, please?" "What?" "You're taking his side?" "After everything we've done for you?" "Please." "You'd think a damn spy would understand the need to keep a secret." "After the explosion, everything was... chaos." "People were screaming." "I had smoke in my eyes." "I wanted to get to safety." "And..." "I tripped." "I didn't even know she was there." "Someone snapped a picture." "So you just went with it." "I tried to deflect." "Everyone thought I was being modest." "But they were treating me like the man I always wanted to be." "Few months later," "Talbot came to me with an offer." "I thought I could be the face to end Inhuman prejudice." "And you wanted to help." "I thought I could." "I believe... that Inhumans deserve the same rights as anyone else in this country." "I'll call a press conference... resign... reinstate you as Director." "You're not going anywhere." "Excuse me?" "S.H.I.E.L.D. still needs a face." "Sure, you lied, but you were good at it, even with a gun pointed at you, and that's not nothing." "So..." "So what do you..." "What do you want me to do?" "Same thing you've been doing..." "Defend S.H.I.E.L.D. to the public, play the hero." "Keep the title, handle the politics." "I never loved that part, anyway." "But when it comes to operations, make no mistake..." "From now on, I'm calling the shots." "We'll return in a moment." "Aah." "Hey." "Hey, you need help with that?" "Uh, no, it's, uh..." "It's just a scratch." "Um, Coulson's gathering everyone in the Director's office." "I'll see you in there." "Are you sure you're okay?" "Never better."