SKYE (in voiceover, while a montage of city life plays): The secret is out. For decades, your organization stayed in the shadows. Hiding the truth. But now we know— they're among us. Heroes... and monsters. The world is full of wonders.

East Los Angeles, CA. Exterior of a store. A little kid is looking at superhero action figures.

[indistinct conversations]

MIKE: Thanks, Bernie. 

BERNIE: You bet.

MIKE: Ace, come and get it. [Mike hands Ace a hot dog.] What do you say we go out to your Aunt Mindy's this weekend? You and Kisha can swim in the pond.

ACE: Sure.

MIKE: You know, you got a birthday coming up in a couple of months. Who's your favorite?

ACE: I'm okay.

MIKE: Hey. Things are tight right now, but I'm gonna find something. Not back at the factory, but I got prospects. You and me... what are we?

ACE: We're a team.

MIKE: [chuckles] that's right. So, who do you...

[expl*si*n; people screaming; indistinct shouting; car alarms blaring]

MIKE: Are you okay? All right, Ace, look at me. I need you to stay here with Bernie, okay? People might be hurt, and I'm gonna see if they need my help. Stay with Bernie. (to Bernie) Watch my boy!

[indistinct shouting]

[Mike runs towards site of expl*si*n]

DEBBIE: Help me! Help me!!

[indistinct shouting]

WOMAN: Come on! Come on!

[Mike punches fist into side of building and begins to scale it]

WOMAN: Come on! Get out! Get out! Come on!

MAN: Anybody in the building still?!

MIKE: [grunting, grabbing onto window sill] Aah!

[coughs; grunts; Mike throws himself into building and glass shatters]

DEBBIE: [whimpers] Help me! Help me!

[Mike grunts, searching around for Debbie]

(outside building) MAN: Keep going.

[indistinct shouting. Skye films building on phone.]

[Mike jumps out of window, expl*si*n behind him; he lands with Debbie; people gasp; Skye continues filming]

[siren wails in distance]

[Debbie coughing]

[Mike dashes off]

[as Skye speaks in VO, Skye in real time checks on Debbie. Mike disappears into the crowd and gets back to Ace.]

SKYE (V.O.): We can't explain everything we see. But our eyes are open. So what now? There are no more shadows for you to hide in. Something impossible just happened. What are you going to do about it?

[BOOM. AoS title card.]

Outside. Paris, France.

[tires screech; cars pull to a halt]

DUMONT: (into walkie-talkie): Agent Ward, there's been a development.

DUMONT (V.O. now): It's the Rising Tide. They've pinned down the location of the package. We need to abort.

[Ward drives a motorcycle. When SHIELD Agent is in VO, we're looking at Ward.]

WARD: I'm five minutes away from retrieving it.

DUMONT: So is everyone else. They posted the coordinates online.

WARD: If the job was easy... [parks motorcycle]

DUMONT: Yeah, it wouldn't be any fun. Watch your six.

[siren wailing; conversations in French. Ward takes off his helmet and heads into restaurant, wearing waiter disguise.]

DUMONT: Red tie, by the window.

WARD (in French): May I take your glass, sir?

MAN IN RED TIE: [says something of the affirmative in French]

[Ward walks up the stairs and waves the glass over his tray. Some high-tech shit happens with blue lights on the tray.]

[Ward enters an apartment]

[Woman singing in french]

[door creaks]

[Ward uses his tray (which is clearly more than just a tray) as an x-ray to search around]

[Woman singing in French]

[beeping as Ward finds a keypad and scans his cloth-covered hand]

[secret door opens in the fireplace area. Ward looks around. There's money in there.]

[Ward turns around to see a woman standing and looking at him]

WARD: Your fireplace is broken.

[door closes]

[man shouts in French]

[Ward jumps at man (and his buddy, backup man). They fight. The woman leaves.]

DUMONT: Ward, just a heads-up. We've got possible hostiles in your vicinity.

WARD (being choked by the aforementioned hostiles; sarcastically): Really?

[more fighting, still to the sound of French singing on the V.O. Ward wins, knocking his assailants unconscious, and leaves.]

Outside. Ward is climbing up to a rooftop. A helicopter is approaching.

[Ward grabs a rope dangling from the helicopter, and they're off.]

INT: Agent Hill's field office. The location card reads "Location: classified."

HILL: What does "S.H.I.E.L.D." stand for, Agent Ward?

WARD: Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.

HILL: And what does that mean to you?

WARD: It means someone really wanted our initials to spell out "SHIELD."

[Hill gives him A Look]

WARD: [sighs] It means we're the line... between the world and the much weirder world. We protect people from news they aren't ready to hear. And when we can't do that, we keep them safe. Something turns up... [takes thing out of suitjacket pocket] like this Chitauri neural link... [slides it across table to Hill] we get to it before someone bad does.

HILL: Any idea who Vanchat was planning to sell it to?

[Hill gets up and starts to walk around]

WARD: I'm more interested in how this Rising Tide group found out about it. I thought they were just hackers. What changed?

HILL: A little while ago, most people went to bed thinking that the craziest thing in the world was a billionaire in a flying metal suit. Then aliens inv*de New York and were beaten back by, among others, a giant green monster, a costumed hero from the '40s, and a god.

WARD: I don't think Thor's technically a god.

HILL: Well, you haven't been near his arms. The battle of New York was the end of the world. This... now... is the new world. People are different. They have access to tech, to formulas, secrets they're not ready for.

WARD: Why was I pulled out of Paris?

HILL: That, you'll have to ask Agent Coulson.

COULSON: Uh, yeah. I'm clearance level six. I know that... Agent Coulson was k*lled in action before the battle of New York. Got the full report.

[Coulson, clearly not d*ad, steps out of the shadows]

COULSON: Welcome to level seven. [b*at] Sorry, that corner was really dark, and I couldn't help myself. I think there's a bulb out.

Outside, on the streets of L.A.

[horn honks]

[Skye, clearly trying to be covert, is trailing Mike]

INT: Hill's field office. Hill, Ward, and Coulson step out of an elevator and walk to a room.

WARD: Director Fury faked your death to motivate the Avengers.

HILL: Well, the death of a common ally is a particularly effective team-builder.

[they stop at a door]

ROBOTIC FEMALE VOICE: Say "cheese."

[I.D.s and clearance flash across a screen. They're granted entrance to the room, and they go in.]

COULSON: Plus, it wasn't that much of a stretch. I stopped breathing for about 40 seconds.

HILL: Eight. It gets longer every time you tell it.

[they walk into an office space full of people

COULSON: Yeah, well, you get shanked by the Asgardian Mussolini, you can tell it your way. I was looking at the big white light, and it felt like a lot longer than eight seconds.

WARD: Do they know? The Avengers... that Fury played them? 

HILL: They're not level seven.

COULSON: I got out of the I.C.U., Fury stuck me in a grass shack in Tahiti. Rough gig. Mai tais, Travis McGee novels, and a physical therapist Whose command of English was... irrelevant.

WARD: But something put you back in the game.

[they stop in front of a screen playing the footage Skye captured of Mike]

WARD: What is that?

COULSON: That's a superhero, Agent Ward. 

HILL: An unregistered gifted. Identity... unknown.

SKYE: The secret's out. For decades, your organization...

[woman speaking french]

MAN: On May 2nd, an unidentified object...

COULSON: Another little present from The Rising Tide.

WARD: How are they getting this stuff before us?

COULSON: Same way they cracked our RSA implementation. They're good. So I need better.

HILL: Agent Coulson has requisitioned a mobile command unit, to which you are assigned.

COULSON: Rising Tide is trying to draw us out. I think it's time they succeeded.

WARD: You want me to cross them off?

COULSON: Wow. No. I want to use them to get to him. [nods towards Mike on screen] This man's world is about to get very weird. He's gonna need some help.

WARD: I'm sorry. I was trained from day one as a specialist. I go in alone. I get it done. Defusing a nuclear b*mb... I'm your guy. A welcoming committee? [inhales sharply] Not my speed.

COULSON: I know it's not what you want. Agent Hill did a very detailed assessment of your last three missions. Combat— top grades. Espionage— she gave you the highest marks since Romanoff. Under "people skills," she drew a– I think it's a little poop. With knives sticking out of it.

HILL: What? It...

COULSON: That's bad, right? And given your family history, I'm surprised it's not worse. But... I think you're the guy for this. If I'm wrong, you go straight back to your b*mb.

[Dr. Streiten enters with some files that he hands out]

DR. STREITEN: Team's approved. Physicals are all fine. Fitz-Simmons is not cleared for combat. I'm told that won't be an issue. Agent Ward here... he's almost too fit.

WARD: That's an issue. That should be an issue. Maybe I can't join the team–

HILL: God, are you dismissed. 

WARD: –because my...

[Ward walks away in frustration and through a door]

HILL: It was a porcupine. It was not a poop. It just means that he–

COULSON: No, I'm pretty sure.

HILL: And it's not just Ward. Your whole roster is sketchy.

COULSON: Well, they're cleared.

DR. STREITEN: I would have been very happy not to clear you, Phil. I'd love for you to rest up some more.

COULSON: I've had plenty of that. Thanks.

HILL: You sure?

COULSON: You should go sometime.

HILL: Where?

COULSON: Tahiti. It's a magical place.

HILL: [chuckles] Three days in, I'd be begging for an assignment.

COULSON: Exactly.

[Coulson walks out of the room]

DR. STREITEN: Tahiti. He really doesn't know, does he?

HILL: He can never know.

INT: a diner in L.A. Mike is sitting at a booth.

DEBBIE (on the T.V.): I-is there any way I can thank him?

[background noises of city and restaurant goings-on]

DEBBIE (on the T.V.): Are you sure nobody saw him?

MALE REPORTER (on the T.V.): So, the identity of the hooded hero still remains unknown.

FEMALE REPORTER (on the T.V.): Researchers at UCLA Medical Center released a study today which shows that supplemental...

[Skye slides into the booth across from Mike]

SKYE: Just act natural.

MIKE: What?

SKYE: Just pretend that we're talking.

MIKE: We are.

SKYE: Good. 'Cause you never know who's listening.

MIKE: I don't even know who's talking.

SKYE: I'm Skye. And you're the hooded hero. [chuckles] Please tell me that you're not staying with that name.

MIKE: Wait. What? I'm not... I'm a factory worker.

SKYE: [scoffs] Sure, by day. I saw you. You're a hero. Like, a for-real superhero, which is– I'm not, like, a groupie, stalker type, but– [laughs] Oh, my God! That is so cool! [calms herself the hell down] Okay, okay, chill. Just don't... don't draw attention. [sighs] You're in danger.

MIKE: You got the wrong guy, lady.

SKYE: No, you've got the wrong approach. The cute girl from the hospital is dying to thank you—and possibly "thank you"—[clears throat in a way that means She Would Totally f*ck You, Dude] And you're hiding. The clip of you rescuing her has had the most hits since that puppy with vertigo. And you can't even find a job.

MIKE: What do you mean about danger?

SKYE: S.H.I.E.L.D.

MIKE: Shield, what? I should carry a shield?

SKYE: S.H.I.E.L.D. Government. Scary men in dark suits who come after guys like you. They knew about the battle of New York before it even happened and then cleaned it up before anyone could ask any real questions. Overnight. How long do you think it'll take for them to clean you up?

MIKE: And you want to know why I'm hiding.

SKYE: What if you didn't hide? What if you got in front of this and let people know that you're a hero?

MIKE: I'm just a guy.

SKYE: Well, a guy like that gets work, gets perks. I can help. I'm great with computers– like, weirdly great. I mean, I could help you create a whole new identity or [gasps] a mask.

MIKE: Okay. [gets up]

SKYE: Uh, ok– well, you could just– also, we could just stick with the– [stops him] hood. Listen, you cannot walk away from this. With great power comes... a ton of weird crap that you are not prepared to deal with. Now, my office is–

MIKE: You have an office?

SKYE: Yes, I have an office. It's a mobile... office. It's a... van. I live in a van... by choice. But it's always in the alley around the corner... free wi-fi... and you can come by anytime!

MIKE: Thank you. [he leaves]

SKYE (calling after him): They're coming for you. [she looks at the I.D. she snatched from his pocket] Mike.

INT: the same S.H.I.E.L.D. facility as before, except now we're in an individual office, and a woman is dealing with papers.

COULSON: Agent May.

MAY: No.

COULSON: So you've been briefed.

MAY: I'm not going back in the field.

COULSON: Yeah. You've got such a nice setup here. You ever thought about adding a moat? [b*at, wherein May glares at him] I just need you to drive the bus, liaise ground transpo, some on-site supervision. This isn't a combat op.

MAY: Then you don't need me.

[stapler clicks]

COULSON: I do. 'Cause we'll be running ourselves. Picking the ops... Making the calls... No red tape. This is where they actually make the red tape, isn't it? I always wondered. [b*at] Melinda.

MAY: You're really just asking me to drive the bus?

COULSON: I'm not asking. But it's a really nice bus.

A hangar. There's a sick-ass plane.

[indistinct conversations]

MAN: You need to know?

MAN 2: Yeah. ASAP, please.

[indistinct shouting]

[Ward strides into the hangar, taking off his sunglasses.]

MAN 3: That's gonna be on a secondary. 

MAN 4: Yeah, got it!

[Ward walks onto the plane (the door to the cargo hold is down)]

FITZ (while rushing over to Simmons): Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Watch it! That's the night-night g*n.

SIMMONS: Well, it's on my stuff, and it doesn't work, and there's no way we're calling it the night-night g*n.

[Fitz-Simmons gather their things and head into a small lab a few steps further into the plane]

FITZ: The b*ll*ts work. Nonlethal, heavy stopping power, Break up under the subcutaneous tissue–

SIMMONS: Oh, with a dose of only .1 microliters of dendrotoxin. I'm not Hermione. I can't create instant paralysis with that. [they unload their things as they talk] You should have run the specs by me before building the molds. 

FITZ (talking over her): The b*ll*ts are hollow! It's a marvel I can keep them from breaking apart in the chamber!

SIMMONS (talking over him): Or used a higher-caliber round. Or read a book. 

FITZ (talking over her): Have you ever heard of physics or– What's the other one? Inertia? 

SIMMONS (talking over him): It's not particularly difficult!

[loud thud as Ward drops a duffle bag to the ground. Fitz-Simmons falls silent.]

WARD: Fitz-Simmons?

SIMMONS: [points to Fitz] Fitz.

FITZ: [points to Simmons]. Simmons. I'm engineering. She's biochem. Agent Ward?

WARD: Coulson said I'd need my comm receiver encoded. [gives Fitz the comm receiver] Don't know if you've worked with that model before. It's—

[Fitz beats the everloving hell out of the receiver, smashing it to bits]

WARD: ...brand-new.

SIMMONS: He'll repurpose the I.D.I.S. chip.

FITZ: Don't need the external receiver for the inner-ear comms anymore.

WARD: So, uh, how does it–

[Simmons sticks a swab into Ward's mouth, around which he makes noises of general displeasure]

SIMMONS: Embedded sensorineural silicone matched to your DNA. It's very posh. [she removes the swab] So, are you excited to be coming on our journey into mystery?

WARD (sarcastically): It's like Christmas.

[Simmons gives him a cheeky little grin like the absolute angel that she is]

[a vintage-looking red car pulls up into the belly of the plane]

[tires screech]

FITZ: One of Coulson's old S.H.I.E.L.D. collectibles. Flamethrowers, world's first GPS. He's mad for this crap.

[Coulson gets out of the car and walks past]

COULSON: Don't touch Lola.

FITZ: And he calls it a girl's name.

[Fitz slaps Ward on the... look I honestly can't tell if he slaps Ward's back or Ward's ass]

[Fitz chuckles. Ward looks unamused]

[Coulson, with Ward behind him, climbs up small spiral staircase to the upper level of the plane (the plane is the "bus" in question that May and Coulson were talking about previously. From here on out, the plane will be referred to as the Bus.)]

COULSON: Lola's not just a collectible, you know. People tend to confuse the words "new" and "improved."

[they walk through the upper level of the Bus]

COULSON: This mobile command, they were in heavy rotation back in the '90s, but then we got a heli-carrier. Hey. Did you hear the one about the guy who's afraid of flying?

WARD: I've done a night jump into a drop zone under heavy f*re, sir. I can handle it.

COULSON: That was a... joke. The first part of a... I'm not gonna tell it now.

[May, who was already on the Bus, steps towards them]

MAY: If you plan to unpack, make it quick. Wheels are up in five. We may have a h*t on one of The Rising Tide's routing points.

COULSON: Good. We need to do some catching up.

[May nods, walks away]

WARD: Is that... who I think it is?

COULSON: She's just the pilot.

WARD: Melinda May is "just the pilot." Come on, sir. What game are you really playing?

COULSON: Better stow your gear.

[engines whirring]

[Coulson goes up another tiny spiral staircase, this one leading to his own little office space]

[the cargo hold door closes as the Bus prepares for takeoff]

[May does some pilot-y stuff in the cockpit. Radio chatter.]

[the plane starts to taxi as the V.O. starts]

SKYE (V.O.): How will you come at us? From the air?

[In L.A., we see Skye's van in an alley]

SKYE (V.O.): From the ground?

[we see the interior of the van]

SKYE (V.O.): How will you silence us this time? How can you?

[the Bus achieves liftoff]

SKYE (V.O.): The truth is in the wind.

[int van]

SKYE (V.O., until it isn't): It's everywhere. You cannot stop The Rising Tide.

SKYE (V.O.): You will not find us.

[Coulson on the Bus]

[back to Skye]

SKYE: You will never see our faces. But rest assured... We will rise against those who shield us from the truth. And nothing... nothing can stop us in the–

[van door opens. Coulson is on the other side with Ward next to him]

SKYE: Hey. What up?

[Ward puts a bag over her head. Blackout.]

[Ward and Coulson lead a bag-headded Skye onto the Bus]

INT: Bus's interogation room.

[Ward manhandles Skye, head free of bag, into a chair]

[Coulson closes door behind him]

SKYE: You guys are making a big mistake.

WARD: You don't look that big.

COULSON: Sorry for the lack of finesse. Agent Ward here has had a little history with your group... The Rising Tide.

SKYE: I don't know... what you're–

WARD: Okay, there are two ways we can do this.

SKYE: Oh. Is one of them the easy way?

WARD: No.

SKYE: Oh.

WARD: What's your name?

SKYE: Skye.

WARD: What's your real name?

COULSON: That can wait. It's another name we need... a certain hero.

SKYE: What makes you think I know that?

COULSON: Well, you made a little mistake. The phone you filmed the hooded hero with had the same cryptographic signature as a few of The Rising Tide posts.

SKYE: Wow. Yeah. Was that a mistake? Or am I now sitting in the center of your secret headquarters? What is this? A plane? I got inside. And by now, you've discovered you can't b*at the encryption on my equipment, so you got nothing.

COULSON: We have a fairly strong coincidence... you being on the scene right before it went up in flames?

[In L.A., a S.H.I.E.L.D. van pulls up outside the building at which the events of the start of this episode took place]

COULSON: Want to tell me what my team is gonna find out?

[Simmons gets out of the van. Fitz does, too, and she grabs his shoulders playfully. May gets out from the driver's seat. They all look up at the building.]

[May walks to examine the dent in the ground left from Mike jumping and landing]

COULSON: How did you know the hooded man was in the building? 

WARD: Did you blow it up to draw him out?

SKYE: Did you?

COULSON: That's not our style.

SKYE: I was just kidnapped by your "style." S.H.I.E.L.D. covered up New Mexico, Project Pegasus. Of course you'd be covering up Centipede.

[Ward looks at Coulson like "what the fuuuuuck is she talking about"]

SKYE: Holy no way. [laughs] You don't know what that is. Billions of dollars of equipment at your disposal, and I b*at you with a laptop that I won in a bet?

COULSON: You need to think about your friend. We're not the only ones interested in people with powers. We'd like to contain him, yeah. The next guy will want to exploit him, and the guy after that will want to dissect him.

WARD: What is Centipede?

Inside Mike's home

[Mike is on the phone. Ace is sitting nearby, tossing a basketball up and down.]

MIKE: [sighs] Yeah, I get it, but... Listen, doctor, people saw me. They saw what I can do. If I went public, that might be good. I mean, your product works. It works amazingly, and... [he scratches at a mechanical, bug-shaped device attached to his forearm] yeah, yeah, I-I-I know what I signed, but if we got out in front of this, maybe [the person on the other end says something] Then what? You want me to go crawling back to the factory? I couldn't even get workmen's comp from those crooks. I don't think– [person on other end] Yeah, ye– Doctor, I just thought... [collects himself; nods] Okay.

[hangs up phone]

[punches photo of himself and a woman (probably his wife?)]

INT: now-destroyed building in L.A.

SIMMONS: This was a lab. Was this leased as a lab?

MAY: Mnh-mnh. Self-empowerment center. [ha] With a top-of-the-line motion-sensor security system.

SIMMONS: Ah. So a secret lab.

MAY: And a superhero. Not a coincidence. So, was this expl*si*n sabotage? Was it meant for him? Or were they just in over their heads?

FITZ [approaching]: Yeah, working the problem. Ladies, if you'll just– [walks around Simmons] Sorry.

MAY: If you're gonna be in the field, agent Fitz, you have to get your hands dirty.

[beeping as Fitz sets some drones up]

FITZ: No, I don't.

[drones whirring as they go into the air]

FITZ: ♪ Heigh-ho, off to work you go ♪

INT: Bus interogation room

SKYE: Centipede– it was chatter on the web And then gone. I traced the access-point MAC address to that building.

COULSON: What were you after?

SKYE: The truth. What are you after?

COULSON: World peace. 

WARD: You pseudo-anarchist hacker types love to stir things up. [approaches Skye] But you're never around for the fallout. People keep secrets for a reason, Skye.

SKYE: Well, just because you're reasonable and... [pushes his chest] firm... doesn't mean that you're not an evil, faceless government tool bag.

WARD: Just give us your guy's name.

SKYE: He's not my guy!

COULSON: You understand he's in danger.

SKYE: Then let me go. Let me talk to him. Me, not the T-1000 here.

WARD: You want to be alone with him. Of course. (to Coulson) She's a groupie. All this hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D., tracking powers... she might as well be one of those sweaty cosplay girls crowding around Stark Tower.

SKYE: What?! I would... It was one time.

COULSON: [opens door] Ward.

[the men step outside and walk through the Bus]

COULSON: Is it the girl? She getting under your skin?

WARD: Sir?

COULSON: Or is it the assignment? Are you so anxious to get out of this that you'd deliberately blow an interrogation?

WARD: Give me a minute alone with her, you'll have your answers.

COULSON: She's an asset. [gets a case]

WARD: She is such an a... wait... "asset"?

COULSON: We don't know anything about her. Do you appreciate how often that happens? That never happens. We need... [opens case to reveal a g*n] what she knows.

INT: destroyed building in L.A.

[Fitz's drones are flying about]

SIMMONS: See, we designed each with their own capabilities, so, um, some recording the dimensions and textures of the room, and then some testing the matter density, radiation. I mean, one is basically just smelling.

FITZ: Whoa, whoa, whoa. I've got something in something.

SIMMONS: Who's got it?

FITZ: Uh... Bashful.

SIMMONS: Aww.

[May goes over to check what the drone is looking at]

MAY: Surveillance camera. Deep-fried.

FITZ: Yes, but that model has flash memory in case of [walks into something; clang] brownouts. Now, I could sync that with data from the motion detectors and, with a little luck, get some images from before the blast. And by "luck," I mean "unappreciated genius."

SIMMONS: Yeah, we'll need it. Snow's reading some compounds that are... [she notices something] Whoa. My god. [she rushes over to the something]

MAY: expl*sive?

SIMMONS: [holds up metal] Not of this earth.

INT: Interogation room

COULSON: [holding up vial] This is QNB-T16. [sticks it into g*n] It's the top-shelf Martini of Sodium Pentothal derivatives. It's a brand-new and extremely potent truth drug. Don't worry. The effects only last about an hour.

WARD: And you'll have a nice little nap. And we'll have all the answers to our...

[Coulson jabs Ward with the serum g*n]

WARD: Hey! What the hell?!

COULSON: I'm sorry. Did that hurt?

WARD: No. But you've lost your mind. You should never do that to a member of your team. And, yes, it did hurt a little bit. But I always try and mask my pain in front of beautiful women 'cause I think it makes me seem more masculine. My god, this stuff works fast.

COULSON: Don't trust us? Ask him whatever you'd like.

WARD: Wait a minute. Wait. You can't just...

[Coulson leaves the room]

WARD: [calling after him] This is definitely not protoco–

[door slams shut]

SKYE: [takes off her jacket seductively] You seem nervous, Agent Ward. [she leans over the table]

WARD: I'm calling to mind my training.

[Skye gets up]

WARD: There's no way I'm gonna reveal classified secrets to a girl who's hell-bent on taking us down.

[Skye leans over next to him]

SKYE: Have you ever k*lled anyone?

WARD: Yes, a few. High-risk targets. But they were terrible people... [Skye moves to the other side of him] Who were trying to m*rder nice people. And I didn't feel good afterwards.

SKYE: And does your grandmother know about these things?

WARD: [voice breaking] Gramzy?

INT: factory at which Mike works. Mike and his boss are walking on the factory floor.

[indistinct shouting]

GARY: My hands are tied, Mike. It's company policy. You didn't meet quota. I had to let you go.

MIKE: Gary, look, I got no choice. It's just me and my boy now.

GARY: There's no openings, Mike, and even if there were, I got a hundred guys standing in line that are just like you, only they won't bitch when their back hurts.

MIKE: I was injured, but I'm stronger now. I can handle twice the load I used to.

GARY: What are you not hearing? You don't cut it. When I say I need things moved, I need–

[Mike, with superhuman strength, pushes a nearby load super far]

MAN: Oh, hey! Hey!

MIKE: Like that?

GARY: Are you out of your mind?!

[Mike pushes Gary violently away by the face. He goes flying into a stack of metal tubes]

MIKE: These are people, Gary. Men! Not parts you replace when they break.

GARY: [shakily] it's not me, man. It's the company. I'm not the bad guy. I'm not the bad guy, man.

MIKE: Yes, you are. It's simple now, just like we used to read about. You're the bad guy.

[Gary grunts]

MIKE: And I'm the hero.

[Mike swings a metal tube down at Gary (and at the camera). Blackout.]

INT: Bus. They're in what looks like a briefing room.

COULSON: Did Agent Ward give you anything?

SKYE: He told me he's been to Paris, but he's never really seen it and that he wishes you had stayed in Tahiti.

COULSON: It's a magical place.

SKYE: Ward doesn't like your style. Kind of think I do.

COULSON: What about his?

FEMALE REPORTER (on T.V.): ...remains in critical condition. [TV is playing footage from the factory] Employees could not identify the attacker, but security footage confirms that this man as*ault the factory foreman before damaging thousands of dollars' worth of company property.

SKYE: This is wrong. This is not... the guy I met. He was...

FEMALE REPORTER (on T.V.): With us here on KZQM25.

SKYE: He just needs a break.

COULSON: Then give him one. What have you got?

Briefing room. Everyone is there (except Ward). Skye is pacing.

[beeping as the briefing table scans Mike's I.D. and starts to lay out information]

COULSON: Michael Peterson... factory worker, married, one kid. Gets injured, gets laid off. [Skye stops pacing] Wife jumps ship. Good guy, bad breaks. Best guess is, somebody tells him they can make him strong again, make him super.

MAY: Who has the tech to do that? And why would they want to?

COULSON: Fitz, what do we have from the security footage before the blast?

[beeping as Fitz pulls things up]

MAY: What are we seeing?

FITZ: Well, the man is angry at the other man.

[long (and long-suffering) b*at]

SIMMONS: The data is very corrupt.

FITZ: Yeah, like cold w*r Russia corrupt. 

SIMMONS: Yeah.

FITZ: I-I can't sync the timecode without–

SKYE: What if you had the audio?

[b*at as they all turn to her]

SKYE (a bit defensively): I was... running surveillance on the lab. I had my g*n mic pointed at the window before the blast. The digital file's in my van. There's too much background noise for me, But you could probably–

SIMMONS (to Fitz): You can clean that up, can't you? Find a sync point and use cross-field validation to find–

FITZ: But I can't scrub for expression patterns when the vit-c is all– 

SIMMONS: Well, is there a chrominance subcarrier?

FITZ: Yeah, attached to the back porch. Brilliant. (to Skye; at the same time as Simmon) Um, that audio would be great. Thank you very, very much. 

SIMMONS (at the same time as Fitz): We will take that audio, please.

COULSON: Your van's here, but you were right. We couldn't decrypt the files.

SKYE: The encryption's coupled to the GPS. Get my van back to that alley, and then I'm in business.

COULSON: Agent May will escort you. (to May) And on your way out, wake up Ward.

INT: hospital in L.A. Debbie is lying in bed. Mike stands outside her room with flowers.

WOMAN ON P.A.: Volunteer services to Oncology 1. Volunteer services to Oncology 1.

[Mike opens door and steps into Debbie's room]

DEBBIE: You're... Oh, wow. You're... him.

MIKE: [chuckles] I'm glad you're doing okay. [hands her the flowers]

DEBBIE: Oh, yeah. Thank you. They're beautiful.

[nurse leaves the room and closes door behind her]

DEBBIE [dropping the charade]: What the hell are you doing here?

MIKE: I don't know where to go, doctor. Everything's getting... I-I know what's right. I do. But no one will listen to me. I volunteered because you said things would change.

DEBBIE: [gets up out of bed] And... you said you could keep it together. Our first subject lost it... walked into the lab with a fricking b*mb.

MIKE: I'm not like him.

DEBBIE: Well, tell that to your foreman in the I.C.U.

MIKE: [grabs her] I saved you.

DEBBIE: [wrenches free from grasp] You exposed me! You exposed the program. [checks out window; exhales sharply; turns back to Mike] The people who gave me this technology... they are very serious, and they do not want to be revealed. Mike Peterson needs to disappear.

MIKE: You're right. I'm not him anymore. I'm someone else now.

DEBBIE: Oh, please. You're juiced, Mike. And you're losing it, just like the last guy. [sighs] This is a disaster.

MIKE: No. [goes to open window] It's an origin story.

[city noise in the background]

[Mike jumps out the window]

INT: Skye's van. When Skye or May is speaking, unless their line is in italics, we're seeing in here.

SKYE: Audio file should be coming through. It's not compressed, so it might take a minute.

INT: the Bus lab. When Fitz, Simmons, Ward, or Coulson are speaking, unless their line is in italics, we're seeing in here.

FITZ: Uh, yeah.

[machinery beeping]

FITZ: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm getting it.

[Fitz runs over to a keyboard and clacks around on it]

FITZ: So, uh, uh, when... when you get back, I'll show you my thing. A thing. It's not... I-it's my hardware. My equipment. Let's... hang up.

[nearby, Coulson is watching over Simmons' shoulder as she toys with her find from the building]

COULSON: So, the alien metal wasn't the expl*sive?

SIMMONS: Well, I assumed from the break pattern and dispersion that it was, but it's just dripping with gamma radiation and...

[the thing starts dripping yellow goo]

SIMMONS: Oh! Now it's actually dripping. [chuckles] Fun.

[Ward walks in]

WARD: So, what did that get us?

FITZ: Skye's sending us the rest of her decrypted files on Centipede. But we have her audio. I've loaded it up.

COULSON: Nice work.

[keyboard clacking; Fitz rushing about. He ends on the stairs.] 

FITZ: Now, using motion estimation, Bayesian inference, a beam splitter, and a little diffraction theory, Our mystery man... [presses some buttons; machine generates an image] appears. It's like magic. But it's– it's science.

WARD (about the scene going on in the generated image, soon to be a video): expl*sives in the case?

[Fitz presses play]

DOCTOR (in video): ...to please calm down. Just let me check your vitals.

MAN (in vid) I feel fine. I want to feel more. Where's the doctor? Where is she?!

DOC (in vid): I-if you don't settle down, I-I'll have you sedated.

MAN (in vid): Where is she?!

[Fitz pauses the generated video]

FITZ: Wait. Did you... did you see that on his arm?

[beeping, rewinding]

COULSON: What does that look like to you?

WARD: A centipede.

SIMMONS: It's an intravenous filter for his blood. This goo, sir... very similar to the serum Dr. Erskine developed in the '40s for the–

COULSONL: Super soldiers.

SIMMONS: I'm reading alien metal, gamma radiation, the serum... every known source of superpower thrown in a blender.

COULSON: We need to see the origin of the blast. Run it back from the last point recorded.

[Skye slips a memory card or something into her bra while May isn't watching]

SKYE: That should do it. [closes computer] 

MAY: Let's head back. All right, let me just–

[Mike shows up and att*cks May. They fight. Mike knocks May down.]

SKYE: Mike. What are you doing? 

MIKE: Saving you. From the scary men in dark suits. And you're gonna help save us.

SKYE: "Us"?

[Mike pulls out Ace]

[Ace whimpers]

MIKE: Don't cry. Okay? Stay strong for me, Ace. What are we? 

ACE: We're a team.

MIKE: That's right. (to Skye) Now drive.

[the generated image rewinds; we can see the blast originating from the man in it himself]

COULSON: Extremis. It's new. Completely unstable.

SIMMONS: Poor man didn't bring an expl*sive. And Mike has the same stuff in his system. 

WARD: And judging by his strength level, a lot more.

FITZ: So any minute now, Mike is gonna–

SIMMONS: He'll take out anyone within a two-block radius.

COULSON (to Ward) Well... you wanted a b*mb.

[close up of Mike's face. Blackout.]

[Ward fiddles with a g*n]

[Coulson examines a screen]

SIMMONS [walking up to Coulson, Fitz behind her]: Sir? He didn't explode because he was angry. The two are connected. It... it's kind of a chemical surge. But calming him down will buy him a minute at most. He will detonate within the next few hours.

COULSON: Solution?

SIMMONS: Isolate him, get him away from people.

COULSON: Or?

FITZ: Put a b*llet through his brain.

SIMMONS: If he's d*ad, this irradiated metabolic process will stop.

COULSON: We need to come up with a third option... one that doesn't involve Mike's son losing a father.

SIMMONS: We have a couple of hours at most. There's no way that we could possibly–

COULSON: Don't ever tell me there's no way! It's on you. Get it done.

[Ward shoulders the g*n and looks really hot while doing so]

COULSON (on the phone): May?

MAY (on the phone): He took Skye.

COULSON: You all right?

MAY: We'll deal with that later... at length.

[Coulson looks concerned]

MAY: Right now, we need to figure out where they went.

EXTERIOR: A train station in L.A.

[indistinct conversations]

INT: Skye's van

[keyboard clacking]

[beeping]

[info on Mike running across the screen]

MIKE: How long is this gonna take?

SKYE: This is top speed. Trust me. It's not like I'm deleting a Facebook page. I'm bypassing the license bureau's A.E.S.-protected data stream. So chill.

MIKE: How do I know you can really do this?

SKYE: I've done it before.

[beep]

[on the screen, it says "all files deleted"]

FITZ [standing in front of a screen running simulations]: Come on. Give me more paralysis.

[beeping]

FITZ: Less rigor mortis! Oh, come on! 

[screen reads "simulation fail"]

FITZ [running over to computer]: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

SIMMONS [fiddling with night-night g*n serum]: Just pretend it's an exam. We're taking an exam.

FITZ: An exam... yeah.

SIMMONS: Yeah. 

FITZ: Okay. I don't want an "F." 

[Simmons puts vial of serum into a machine]

FITZ: "F" equals a m*ssacre.

[Fitz breathing heavily]

[computer beeping; screen reads "security breach"]

FITZ: Whoa.

SIMMONS [running over to Fitz]: Oh, no! What is this nonsense? Why are you making nonsense?! 

FITZ: This isn't me! It's noise. Someone's hacking our secure channel.

COULSON [walking in]: It's longitude and latitude. Mike took Skye.

[engine turns over]

COULSON: She's telling us where.

MIKE: We'll take the nice lady with us. We... we... we can't go to the airport, So we'll... we'll take a train. And there, she'll... she'll help us start over, Make a new life... A better life, like I always said.

EXT: train station. A car with Coulson and Ward pulls up.

[indistinct conversations]

[they get out and start walking]

WARD: Look at this place. You're gonna risk thousands of lives over some nobody.

COULSON: Nobody's nobody, Ward. Fitz-Simmons will come through. [through megaphone, at Skye's van] Mr. Peterson, good morning. We're not a thr*at. We're here to help. But you're in danger, and we need to take you in.

MIKE (to Skye): What did you do?!

[police radio chatter]

[Skye's van door goes flying off its hinges; everyone ducks/scatters]

MAN: Whoa! Get down!

[ people screaming ]

MIKE [pulling Skye out, running for train station]: Come on. Come on.

[Ward rushes after them]

[Mike leads Skye through station]

WOMAN ON P.A.: Please return to check-in counter.

[ speaking spanish ]

[ Indistinct conversations ]

MAN [passing by]: Yeah, we won't.

[Skye whirls around and kicks man in the dick]

SKYE (to Mike): You're right... he is a little bitch.

MAN'S FRIENDS [charging Mike]: Yo, get him! Get him!

MIKE [putting Ace behind him]: Ace, get back!

[Skye runs away]

MAN AND FRIENDS: Get out the way, man! Come on! Come on, now!

[Mike fights man and friends]

[ Screams ]

[ man's bones crack ]

MIKE: Ace!

[man's friend hits Mike over the back with something metal; it clangs; it bends]

[Mike turns to face him]

[wide sh*t of man flying up in the air, yelling]

EXT: train station. Debbie is in a car.

POLICE: Tell dispatch we'll need backup!

[ siren wailing ]

MAN 2: I don't know. Just go. Just keep going to the other side.

[ Indistinct shouting ]

[Debbie's buddy gets out of the car]

[ Engine turns over ]

MAN 2: You need to get inside.

INT: train station

COULSON [bringing Ace over to a police officer]: Hey. Let's get him out of here.

ACE: I want my daddy. I promise.

MIKE: Ace! Ace!

[Ward grabs Mike from behind and begins choking him]

MIKE: Ohh!

[ Chokes ]

WARD: Look... the stuff inside you is unstable. It'll k*ll you and everyone in here.

MIKE: Who's gonna miss us?!

[Mike throws him off]

[ Groans ]

[ Police radio chatter ]

[ Indistinct shouting ]

[Skye tries to escape; Mike grabs her]

[Debbie's buddy sh**t at Mike]

[Mike and Skye run outside]

[ People screaming ]

[ Alarm ringing ]

[ siren wails ]

[May pulls up]

COULSON (into earpiece): We're at the north entrance, May.

[Coulson picks Ward up off the ground]

WARD: You told them to hold f*re.

COULSON: I don't think that's us. We may have a third party here. He's gonna head down to the tracks. You stay high. I'll go low. Only take the sh*t if you have to, Ward. 

[Ward starts walking off]

COULSON: Ward!

[Ward looks back]

WARD: If I have to.

[ Train whistle blows ]

[ Skye breathing heavily ]

SKYE: You got to stop! These people can help you.

MIKE: The men in suits? They're your buddies now? Where did they take my son?!

[Mike pulls Skye to the balcony of an upper second level of the station overlooking the ground floor]

[ Police radio chatter ]

[Debbie's buddy sh**t at Mike]

MIKE: Get down!

[Mike throws Skye to the floor]

[ g*n cocks ]

[Mike is sh*t]

[Mike goes flying over the balcony]

[Mike lands. Hard.]

[g*n cocks]

[May appears and kicks Debbie's buddy's legs out from under him]

[They fight. May summarily kicks his ass.]

[Mike, glowing red, pulls himself up]

[Coulson approaches]

[Coulson puts his g*n down]

MIKE: Think that means anything? I know you got men everywhere waiting to put me down. I know how this plays out.

COULSON: I don't. I know you got poison in your system. I know it's burning you up. Mike, the last guy who wore that exploded.

MIKE: I'm not like that other guy. I'm... It matters who I am... inside, if I'm a good person, if I'm strong.

WARD (through earpiece) [sn*per g*n trained on Mike from afar]: I have a clear sh*t. Do you copy?

COULSON: I know you're strong. Your boy knows it. He needs you to let us help.

MIKE: You took him! [ Voice breaking ] You took my wife, my job, my house. You think this [gestures to Centipede on arm] is k*lling me?! 

[Skye and May run up]

MIKE: All over, there's people being pushed down, being robbed. One of them tries to stand up, you got to make an example out of him.

COULSON: You bring this building down on us, will that help them?

MIKE: That's a lie! [grabs some heavy looking debris] All you do is lie! [throws down debris] You said if we worked hard... if we did right... 

[Ward's finger tightens on the trigger]

MIKE: ...we'd have a place. You said it was enough to be a man. But there's better than man. There's gods. And the rest of us... What are we? They're giants. We're what they step on.

COULSON: I know. I've seen giants... up close. And that privilege cost me... nearly everything. But the good ones... the real deal... they're not heroes because of what they have that we don't. It's what they do with it. You're right, Mike. It matters who you are.

MIKE: I could, you know? Be a hero.

COULSON: I'm counting on it.

[ Silenced g*n as b*llet hits Mike in the head]

[Simmons rushes over to him]

[Ward, from afar, shoulders night-night g*n, Fitz next to him]

[Simmons quickly checks Mike over (he is turning a little bit blue but no big deal) and smiles up at Coulson. Mike's okay.]

[Skye sighs in relief]

[Fitz, from afar, gives Simmons a thumbs-up and a wink. It's really cute.]

[Simmons sighs in relief]

INT: S.H.I.E.L.D. H.Q.

COULSON'S VOICE: Subject is in s*ab condition. All clear at Union Station.

[ Beep ]

[Hill smiles, walks out of room]

EXT: a cute looking house somewhere

[ Dog barking ]

[ laughter ]

[ Skye sighs ]

[Skye and Coulson walk away from the home]

SKYE: I told him his father was coming home.

COULSON: He will. We have some experience with this.

SKYE: He almost blew. We almost died.

COULSON: We have some experience with that, too.

SKYE: Don't have it all mapped out.

COULSON: True. We didn't cut off the head of the Centipede. Whoever sponsored that little experiment is still out there, among other things.

SKYE: It's a brave new world.

[they stop at Lola]

SKYE: And a really old car.

COULSON: [chuckles] Lola can keep up.

[they get into Lola]

COULSON: What about you? Have you thought about the offer?

SKYE: Hitching a ride on the crazy plane? I'm not exactly a team player.

COULSON: We're not exactly a team. But we're in a position to do some good. You'd be a great help. And you'd be front row center at the strangest show on earth, Which is, after all, what you wanted.

SKYE: I was able to hack S.H.I.E.L.D. from my van. You're gonna show me something new?

[ Coulson's cellphone rings ]

COULSON (into phone):  Go.

INT: Bus lounge area. Fitz is eating Chinese takeout. Ward has a beer next to him, just in case we all forgot he's the epitome of manliness. Simmons is there too.

WARD: Sir, we've got an 0-8-4.

COULSON: Is that confirmed?

WARD: They want us to go in and confirm it.

[Fitz gives him a Bro Slap on the shoulder. Ward is not happy with this.]

SKYE: What's an 0-8-4?

[ Engine turns over ]

COULSON: You've got exactly 10 minutes to decide if you really want to know.

SKYE: There's no way we can make it to the airfield in–

[Coulson flips some switches]

[ whirring ]

[Lola starts to levitate]

SKYE: ...10 minutes.

COULSON: The tide is rising.

[Lola takes off]

[BOOM. S.H.I.E.L.D. logo end card.]
{"type": "series", "show": "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", "episode": "01x01 - Pilot"}