1x08 - The Well

Outer space. We hear a voice over.

SIMMONS: In ancient times, people believed the heavens were filled with gods and monsters and magical worlds. Then, as time passed, those beliefs faded into myth and folklore.

We see what is apparently the area that the ??? elves ??? inv*de in Thor: The Dark World (I have not seen Thor: The Dark World).

SIMMONS: But now we know the stories were true.

As she speaks, we see Asgard, other worlds, the Rainbow Bridge being used, an elf ship entering Earth, etc.

SIMMONS Other worlds, with names like Asgard, do exist. And beings once revered as gods, like Thor, have returned, leaving us with more questions and... 

INT: a room somewhere.

SIMMONS: ... an enormous mess to clean up.

A box drops, spilling out metal. Ward is emptying it.

WARD: Don't say I never gave you anything.

We're inside, in  what the screen tells us is GREENWICH UNIVERSITY, LONDON, ENGLAND.

FITZ: Checking for alien spectrographic signatures one teeny rock at a time.

Fitz is screening the parts that Ward dropped off with a tablet.

WARD: Necessary precaution. We don't want anything alien getting in the wrong hands.

FITZ: Still, this is definitely the type of work a monkey could easily do.

WARD: You're our little monkey.

[cellphone rings]

Simmons pulls out her phone. "Mum & Dad" are calling. She mutes the ringer.

[cellphone beeps]

Fitz gives Simmons a look.

SIMMONS: Don't give me that look. I'll talk to them when I talk to them.

WARD: Talk to who?

SIMMONS: Mum and Dad. They want explanations and answers for... well, all this. But I don't have any answers. And, more importantly, I haven't talked to them since I was ill. And if they knew that, they'd be even more terrified. So, you know...

[cellphone beeps] and Simmons declines again.

SIMMONS: ...why waste any of our time, really?

INT: another part of the university. Skye and Coulson are walking.

SKYE: You guys may think it's old news, but it's new... news to everybody else. So, Asgardians are aliens from another planet that visited us thousands of years ago?

COULSON: Or more.

He deposits a piece of debris into the box of pieces of debris that Skye is holding. 

SKYE: And because we couldn't understand aliens, we thought they were gods?

They pass by May, testing an artifact on the floor.

COULSON: That's where our Norse mythology comes from.

SKYE: [sighs] That's too crazy. Do you think other deities are aliens, too? Vishnu for sure, right?

Coulson continues gathering debris and putting it into the crate Skye is holding.

COULSON: You know, it'd be nice if, for once, Thor and his people sent down the god of cleaning up after yourself. They probably have a magic broom for this kind of thing.

SKYE: I just wish they'd left their alien ship behind.

MAY: So we can clean that up, too?

SKYE: So we could go inside, take a peek under the hood, maybe take it for a spin. Come on, you're telling me piloting an alien ship isn't on your bucket list?

COULSON: I can't think of a single time when anything alien in human hands ended well.

SKYE: Wouldn't mind getting my human hands on Thor. He's so dreamy.

COULSON: Sure, he's handsome, but—

MAY: No. He's dreamy.

[device beeps]

SIMMONS: Fitz, is that, um —

FITZ: Definitely not from here. Another piece of the ship. (to Ward) What are you doing?

Ward is spraying the piece in question with an aerosol can.

WARD: Out of sight...

Ward puts the piece in a case and closes the lid.

WARD : ...out of mind. That's why we're here. Keep everything under control.

Outside, in what we're told is TRILLMARKA NATIONAL PARK, NORWAY. A Jeep enters. Two rangers are inside. They get out and stare at the sign for the park, which has a red symbol—kind of like an X with a triangle on top—painted over it.

RANGER 1: Now, who would do something like that?

RANGER 2: Ah, who knows.

[vehicle doors close]

Outside, in another part of the woods. We see a couple backpacking, holding hands. They come into a clearing.

WOMAN: Baby, look.

They're looking at a large tree ringed by blue bolders. The man looks down at a notebook he's holding.

MAN: "South of the water, North of the hill..." "...a halo of stones ..."

WOMAN: "protect the tree still." Jakob, is this it?

He nods. We cut to a chainsaw starting up.

[engine turns over]

[chainsaw revs]

He approaches the tree and starts to cut.

We cut back to the rangers.

[chainsaw whirring in distance]

[wood splinters]

RANGER 1: We should check that out.

Back with the couple, the tree has been felled. Jakob dissects it a bit and, with gloved hands, pulls out a piece of a broken metal rod and comes back to the woman.

JAKOB: Finally, after all this time.

They kiss.

WOMAN: I can't wait to tell the others.

JAKOB: I told you it was real... and that I would find it. Are you ready?

He hands her the rod. She grabs it with her bare hands. A red glow comes from inside the rod and symbols appear on the rod and on her hands.

[she gasps]

[grunts]

[groaning] 

The glowing and symbols fade out. She falls to her knees.

JAKOB: What you're feeling, don't fight it. That rage, it's already inside of you. Don't be afraid of it. Don't hide from its power. Embrace it. Embrace it!

[woman screams]

The rangers enter.

RANGER 2: God! What have you done?

The woman looks up at the rangers angrily.

[she screams]

She punches Ranger 1 in the chest and sends him flying an unnatural distance away.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. logo title card.

In the woods, but our team is there now! Simmons and Ward stand at the base of the felled tree. Simmons is hooked up to a belay contraption.

WARD: I can climb it if you want. Just talk me through what to do with the... doodads. Yeah, it's only about 15 feet.

SIMMONS: I'll be fine. I'm — I'm just a bit more wary about the height thing since falling to certain death.

WARD: You're afraid. Hmm? Shaken up? It's normal. But some feelings will take over if you dwell on them. Especially fear.

As Ward is talking, he takes Simmons by the hand and leads her onto the tree.

WARD: Now, keep your eyes ahead. Focus on what you like to do best.

SIMMONS: Yep. Not falling.

Simmons starts to inch her way up the tree.

WARD: No, research. You're a scientist. You like to figure things out.

SIMMONS: Yes. With my doodads.

WARD: I'm curious. Whatever was up in these trees had to be there for centuries, right?

SIMMONS: At least a millennium. Radiocarbon-14 dates some of these trees at 9,000 years old.

WARD: That sounds impossible. Think the tree grew around it?

SIMMONS: I'd have to check the dendrochronology first to know for certain.

Simmons starts to walk up the tree faster. Ward, on the ground, tracks behind her with a hand up as if to catch her if she falls.

WARD: Uh-huh.

SIMMONS: But, I mean, the Norway spruce is a rather fast-growing coniferous, and I know you're trying to trick me into going up, but I'm going up anyway, so—

WARD: I'll catch you if you fall.

We cut over to see Coulson talking to Ranger 1.

RANGER: Screaming, and so much hate in her eyes.

COULSON: And you said she had a silver stick?

RANGER: Steel, maybe. I-I don't know. It, uh, had decorations on it.

COULSON: Could you describe or draw them?

RANGER: I didn't get a good look. I [sniffles] I just ran. [sniffles] [crying] Who would do something so evil?

COULSON: I'm sorry for your loss.

Back with Simmons, she's scanning the hole in the tree with her tablet.

[device beeping]

SIMMONS: Oh, um, whatever was in here was definitely not from this world. Fitz, you getting this? It's not Chitauri, is it?

FITZ: No, no, no. Don't worry.

INT: the lab on the Bus

FITZ: This isn't another viral thr*at. Um, hang on.

[device beeps]

FITZ: Spectrographic signatures match readings from... Thor's hammer. Simmons, whatever was in that tree is Asgardian.

SIMMONS:  I-I can see an imprint of what was embedded. [sighs]

Simmons takes out another device that scans the innards of the tree with a red laser.

SIMMONS: Scanning for three-dimensional restoration. Tell me when.

[beeping from the lab holocom]

FITZ: When.

What Simmons scanned in starts to show up.

FITZ: Um, looks like a staff or a rod. Well crafted. Engraved. I'll convert it, print a 3-D model.

Cut to Coulson and the Ranger.

RANGER: This forest is a protected reserve. I mean, who do they think they are?

COULSON: Anything else? Details? Anything that might help us to find these people or where they might be hiding?

SKYE (over comms): Sir, doesn't look like they're hiding.

INT: Bus briefing room. Skye is watching a news broadcast of what looks like a riot. We're told it's in Oslo.

[indistinct shouting]

MAY: Sending to your devices now.

FEMALE REPORTER: ... raiding has left 20 injured, 3 in critical condition. Reports indicate that the group of about a dozen was led by this man and woman, and though their motive was unclear, their message was hauntingly spelled out on the streets of Oslo.

On the screen, we see the couple.

Coulson walks up to Ward and shows him his phone.

COULSON: Well, I guess we know who they think they are.

[indistinct shouting, f*re crackles]

On the news feed, a f*re on the street spells out: We are Gods.

INT: the lab on the Bus. Ward is in front of a screen looking at info on the couple. According to the data on the screen, they're part of something called the Norse Paganist Hate Group.

WARD: Jakob Nystrom, 30. Girlfriend, Petra Larsen. Leaders of a Norse Paganist hate group.

SKYE: And their numbers are growing, thanks to what happened in Greenwich and thanks to the internet. Yay, internet, she said sarcastically.

SIMMONS: Norse Paganist?

SKYE: Obsessed with anything derived from Norse mythology ... stories of Asgard.

Ward picks up the 3-D model of the rod that Fitz had printed out.

WARD: And now a w*apon.

FITZ: The scan only accounted for one side. Too much damage to the tree for complete reproduction.

SIMMONS: But see here ... it's clearly broken on both ends.

WARD: So there are more pieces?

FITZ: Yeah. Two at least.

WARD: Which means Sid and Nancy may be looking for a complete set. And markings? 

[door opens] as the team parents walk in.

COULSON: Asgardian symbolism. Hard to translate with our limited knowledge.

SKYE: You should give your buddy the god of thunder a shout. He gets his power from his hammer, right? What if this is his nail to the hammer?

COULSON: I already did. Director Fury told me he's off the grid. And if he has a cellphone, we don't have the number.

MAY: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s investigations are on the trail of Nystrom and his followers.

COULSON: We're charged with identifying the object and finding any other pieces before they do.

WARD: They seem to have some advantage. They found this thing in 150 square kilometers of Norwegian forest.

SKYE: Guys. What if it called to them with magic?

MAY: Called to them.

SKYE: We know it's Asgardian, so the rules are a little bendy here.

SIMMONS: Just because we don't understand something yet doesn't mean we should regress back to the dark ages, talking of magic and fairy tales.

COULSON: Actually, that's exactly what we're going to do.

SIMMONS: Excuse me?

SKYE: Really?

COULSON: When we first found the hammer in New Mexico, I consulted one of the world's leading experts on Norse mythology — Elliot Randolph, a Professor at a university in Seville. We'll leave immediately. Maybe he can tell us more about these markings.

SEVILLE, SPAIN. INT: an office at a university. Randolph is scrawling on a paper. A student is in front of him.

RANDOLPH: Well, one must adapt, Elena. Recent events have thrown us all for a loop. I thought I was teaching Norse mythology. No, turns out I'm a history Professor.

ELENA: So, you're not going to change my grade?

RANDOLPH: No. I will give you a week to rewrite it. I think, in general, little more history, less lit crit. But I do hope we're still on for dinner tonight. I've included a list of books there that might help you. I'll see you later.

She exits. Coulson enters.

RANDOLPH: Oh!

COULSON: Professor Randolph.

RANDOLPH: Agent Coulson. Come in, come in.

He does. They shake hands. Fitz walks in, too. Coulson points to the pen in Randolph's hand.

COULSON: Waterfield 44. 14-karat-gold nib with mother-of-pearl inlay.

RANDOLPH: [chuckles] That's quite an eye you've got. I didn't know you were a collector.

COULSON: On a government salary, not quite.

RANDOLPH: Well, I'm assuming you found something on the ground in London.

COULSON: In a tree in Norway. And, unfortunately, we weren't the ones who found it.

We can see that Simmons is there, too. Coulson opens up a case and pulls out Fitz's rod (not making a joke not making a joke).

FITZ: It's a 3-D model.

Fitz hands the rod to Randolph.

RANDOLPH: Oh, that is amazing. Now, based on these runes, I'd say I'm looking at a piece of the Berserker staff. Let's have a look.

[grunts] as he gets a book and starts flipping through it.

RANDOLPH: Yeah, the myth dates back to the late 12th century. It's all about a powerful warrior from Asgard. Here. A soldier in the Berserker army.

We see on the page a drawing of a man holding up the rod, albeit considerably longer.

FITZ: Berserker army?

RANDOLPH: Oh, yeah. A powerful army. Fierce army, it was. Berserkers battled like raging beasts, destroying everything in their path. A single Berserker had the strength of 20 warriors.

COULSON: So whoever wielded the staff got superhuman strength?

RANDOLPH: Fighting with it put the warrior into a state of uncontrollable rage. The staff contained a very powerful magic.

SIMMONS: Or a scientific attribute we've yet to discover.

RANDOLPH: Analytically minded and pretty as a peach.

FITZ: The warrior in the story?

RANDOLPH: Well, in the story, he came to Earth to fight, but he ended up falling in love.

SIMMONS: With whom?

RANDOLPH: With life on Earth. Humanity. He fell so much in love that when his army returned to Asgard, he stayed behind.

FITZ: What happened to the staff?

RANDOLPH: Well, he didn't want its dark magic falling into the wrong hands, so he broke it into three pieces and hid each one in a different location.

COULSON: The manuscript wouldn't happen to say where he hid them, would it?

RANDOLPH: Actually, it does. 

Randolph picks up the book and walks around to the other side of his desk.

RANDOLPH: In three verses. Now, let's all bear in mind these are poetic abstracts from long-lost ancient texts. So, there is one about a tree, which they've found, it seems. Another is, "East of the river, sun overhead, buried in Earth with the bones of the d*ad." That's a bit macabre, isn't it? There's another here. Well, this one doesn't even have a rhyme. But the gist of it is "close to god." That could be anything, then.

SIMMONS: It could also mean nothing.

COULSON: I was hoping for less metaphor, more longitude and latitude.

RANDOLPH: Well, I mean, it does stand to reason to search near Viking raid routes, doesn't it? Now, there have been some recent interesting findings of Norse relics on Baffin island off the coast of Canada. Yeah, virtual treasure trove of new artifacts.

COULSON: We'll start there, then. Thank you, Professor.

INT: the lounge area of the Bus. Coulson and Ward are walking towards the briefing room.

COULSON: Did you know there's mount Thor on Baffin island?

WARD: I did not.

COULSON: Do you know what's not on mount Thor? Anything Asgardian at all. Our agents on the ground haven't found a thing.

They enter the briefing room. Skye is inside.

COULSON: What about you?

SKYE: Nystrom's deep-web message boards are just abuzz with psychos. 

On the holocom, we can see the message boards. The messages on these boards include things like "We must start an army of super warriors to combat the oppression that has haunted the Master Race since the dawn of time!! All those who choose to oppose us must YIELD!" and also messages such as "I rode a horse today. :]"

SKYE: They believe they're gonna ascend to be the gods of destruction and death. People suck, sir.

WARD: That's your progress? "People suck"?

SKYE: These people do. And there's also chatter about going underground.

WARD: Could mean going incognito or ...

COULSON: Or searching for the next piece.

WARD: Randolph said to check Viking routes. Find any others?

SKYE: There's some sites along the Volga river in Russia, some in Kiev, and weirdly, here.

Skye taps a location on the map on the holocom.

COULSON: In Seville, Spain?

SKYE: It's a long sh*t, but Vikings sacked Seville twice.

May enters.

MAY: We found one promising location with Viking relics — El Divino Niño. A church built on the ruins of an 8th-century crypt built on Roman ruins from 206 B.C.

WARD: East of a river.

COULSON: And lots of bones. Let's see what we can dig up. See what I did there?

Seville. INT: an SUV. Coulson and Fitz are sitting there.

FITZ: Must be nice ... have a mandatory nap time.

COULSON: Siesta isn't mandatory. Just very pleasant.

Underground somewhere. Ward is walking. The ceiling is very close to his head.

COULSON: How you doing, Agent Ward?

WARD: Wishing I was shorter. Nothing yet. All my readings are normal.

COULSON: What about you, Skye? Any luck?

Underground, but in a slightly different part.

SKYE: I'm lucky my S.O. volunteered to take the super-creepy hallway instead of the slightly less-creepy dungeon-room place. I got nothing. Sorry — nada.

FITZ: Ward, your spectrograph is reading something near you.

We see Fitz is looking at a tablet. On it, we can see the locations of Ward and Skye, labelled "AGENT WARD" and "SKYE" and marked with a little S.H.I.E.L.D. eagle. A small red dot is approaching Ward.

WARD: I don't see anything.

FITZ: Well, it's right in front of you. Oh, wait. No. Uh, okay, hold on. It's moving. Northwest.

Ward sees someone starting away from him. He chases.

WARD: Visual contact.

FITZ: Okay Ward, turn left.

Ward catches up to the person. It's Randolph. 

RANDOLPH: I have a wonderful explanation.

WARD: Ran into some unexpected com...

[Ward gasps]

As Ward reaches out to grab Randolph, he actually grabs a part of the rod that Randolph had been holding. It's glowing like before. Ward is in pain and falls to his knees.

Flashback/vision sequence: a little boy in the bottom of a well struggles to keep his head above water. 

[Ward groans]

COULSON: Ward, what's happening?

Fitz shows Coulson his tablet.

FITZ: His device just went down.

COULSON: Skye, can you get —

SKYE: Already on it.

Skye turns a corner and rushes forward.

SKYE: Ward. Are you all right?

Skye reaches towards Ward and he scrambles away.

[Ward gasping]

SKYE: Hey, hey, hey. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Grant, calm down. Calm down, please. Calm down. [sighs]

[Ward breathing heavily]

WARD: [shakily] The staff ... he has it.

SKYE (into comms): Something's wrong with Ward. The staff's gone. Someone took it.

Outside, Randolph walks down the sidewalk, glancing over his shoulder. His part of the staff is sticking out of a bag. He walks by a group of people and jostles them in the process. They turn — it's the couple from earlier (Jakob and Petra) as well as two other men. Randolph makes it to his car and fumbles to unlock it. He looks up to see the little group.

JAKOB: I have one, too.

He holds up his piece of the staff.

Outside, Fitz and Coulson exit their SUV

COULSON: He can't just disappear. He'll have to turn up some...

[whoosh, scream]

COULSON: ... where.

A car is tossed into the street.

[metal crunches] 

COULSON: There we go. A block south of the church.

Coulson runs off in that direction. He gets to Randolph, who is picking up his things off the pavement and putting them in his bag.

COULSON: Professor.

RANDOLPH: I screwed up.

INT: the lab on the Bus. Ward, shirtless (nice), is being monitored by Fitz-Simmons. Skye hovers nearby.

WARD: This is ridiculous.

SKYE: It's anything but. Ward, you passed out. And you were acting not right.

SIMMONS: Coulson ordered me to give you a full work-up, and that's exactly what I'm doing. Um, before you lost consciousness, were you feeling claustrophobic?

WARD: Why?

FITZ: She's ruling out a panic att*ck.

WARD: I don't panic. Ever.

SIMMONS: There we go. Ruled out.

SKYE: Touching the staff caused it, right?

Ward nods.

SIMMONS: Any residual effects? Are you exhibiting any extra s-strength?

Ward looks at a feed on a nearby screen of the Cage, within which are Coulson and Randolph.

WARD: Why don't I find out on that guy?

SKYE: Why don't we not do that?

FITZ: What's the last thing you remember before you lost consciousness?

WARD: This is a waste of time.

Ward pulls off his blood pressure cuff and gets up out of his chair, characteristically broody and ready for business.

SIMMONS [softly]: Um, uh...

WARD: We need to find the staff.

FITZ: What exactly did you remember?

WARD: Something I hadn't thought about in a long time.

SKYE: Why don't we leave it alone?

SIMMONS: Well, I mean, he just pulled his arm out of this...

[Fitz-Simmons dissolve into whispering indistinctly]

WARD: Quiet!

They fall silent.

WARD: I want to hear this.

[beeping] as he turns up the volume on the feed of the Cage, which the camera then goes inside.

COULSON: One of my men is hurt. The staff is gone.

RANDOLPH: I didn't want any of that to happen.

COULSON: What did you want? The staff's power for yourself?

RANDOLPH: Nothing like that. [sighs] You know, I just wanted to be the first to study it, to prove that the Berserkers were actually here, a part of history. You think about that.

COULSON: Oh, I'm thinking about it.

Back inside the lab, the feed cuts off suddenly. 

WARD: What are you doing?

SIMMONS: Your heart rate's rising. Adrenaline's spiking. You need to calm down, not get worked up.

[Ward sighs, breathes deeply]

SKYE (quietly, aside): The memory ... was it about your brother?

WARD: Drop it.

SKYE: Ward, if you need to get it out, I am here —

WARD: Right. To talk. Because that's what you do ... talk... and talk. Don't you ever get tired of hearing your own voice?

By the time he's at the end of his sentence, his voice has risen from a whisper to above normal volumes.

FITZ: Ward, stop.

Fitz pulls Ward away from Skye, whom he'd been advancing towards. Ward shakes off Fitz's hand.

SIMMONS: Well! This makes more sense. Ward, what you're experiencing, this feeling — it's chemistry.

SKYE: Hope so.

SIMMONS: Yeah, spikes in his adrenocorticotropic hormone. It's like those stories you hear when a mother is able to lift a car to save her baby. An adrenaline surge can create a massive —

WARD: Stop talking! Just fix it!

SIMMONS: I wish I could. We can relieve some of the symptoms. I'm going to give you 10cc of benzodiazepine.

[Fitz makes sounds of agreement; Ward makes sounds of disagreement.\]

SKYE: Chill pill. Good idea.

WARD: A sedative? Not gonna happen.

FITZ: Yeah, well, be reasonable. Look how you're behaving.

As Ward talks to Fitz, he gets closer to him, invading his personal space in a (very successful) attempt to freak him out.

WARD: And if I'm sedated and we cross paths with those juiced freaks, the ones who flip cars and smash people up, are you gonna take them on? Keep us safe? Or am I gonna have to save Simmons' ass... again?

Ward snatches his shirt off a table and exits the lab. The Bus kids look at each other in scared silence. When Simmons finally breaks the silence, she's a little teary.

SIMMONS: That was just a biochemical reaction. He didn't mean all that.

SKYE: No, I know.

FITZ: No explanation necessary.

The Bus kids break apart to do their own things and distract themselves from their feelings.

INT: Cage

COULSON: How'd they find it?

RANDOLPH: I have no idea how they found it. They may have the original texts. I wasn't involved. You know, it was just a chance to uncover something that the gods brought down from the heavens.

COULSON: Aliens brought it. From space. I've spent some one-on-one time with aliens before. Didn't work out too well. So cases like this are personal to me.

RANDOLPH: That's all I know.

Coulson gets up to leave and then pauses by the door.

COULSON: Get comfortable.

INT: cargo hold. Ward, earbuds in, is beating the hell out of a punching bag. As he does so, we see more cuts of the flashback to the well scene. These memories are obviously enraging him, causing him to get more violent. 

[grunting]

BOY: Help me!

The boy is bobbing up and down in the water. Another boy stands outside the well, looking down, doing nothing.

BOY: Please! Help me! Help me!

The cutting back and forth between Ward destroying a punching bag and the well increases to a very rapid pace.

MAY: Ward!

BOY: Please!

MAY: Hey, Ward!

May touches Ward on the shoulder, breaking him out of his flashbacks. He turns and swings at her. She easily sidesteps it.

WARD: You should be more careful.

MAY: I'm fine. You?

WARD: I'm working it out.

[grunts] as he hits the bag.

MAY: You're punching things. The last thing you need is to punch things.

WARD: You got a better idea?

MAY: Let me help you.

WARD: The only help I need is to stop those guys before they hurt somebody else.

Ward goes back to doing v*olence therapy.

INT: a tunnel somewhere. Petra and co are moving around. They enter a larger portion of the tunnels. We see Jakob in the center of a crowd.

[crowd cheers]

JAKOB: We are the new order! Our world is being taken by gods! We will become gods and take it back! This is the new order!

Jakob goes to stand beside Petra. He's holding two pieces of the staff. He holds them forth to two men.

JAKOB: Are you ready to take back the power?

Both men take a portion of the staff, which glows. They [grunt and groan in pain] and fall to their knees.

[cheering continues]

INT: Coulson's office on the Bus. He's watching the feed of Randolph in the Cage.

[knock on door]

WARD: A moment, sir?

COULSON: Come on in.

Ward comes on in.

WARD: I'm concerned that my exposure to that w*apon has compromised my ability to do my job.

COULSON: Go on.

WARD: You're familiar with my family history.

Coulson nods.

WARD: So, for obvious reasons, I don't think back to childhood. Ever. There are things I put away a long time ago. On lockdown. Because to do this, I have to be focused, tactical. I can't be distracted. Especially by things that happened a lifetime ago.

COULSON: You're saying touching the staff unlocked certain memories.

WARD: My worst memory. [voice breaking] The first time I felt... hate. And it won't go away. I don't trust myself. The way I went off at Skye and Fitz-Simmons in the lab —

COULSON: Grant... you telling me this makes me feel I can trust you. (about Randolph) Him, on the other hand... I can't get the Professor to talk. (to Ward) You've got some rage built up. Maybe it's time to let it out.

INT: Cage. Ward enters.

WARD: You need to start talking.

RANDOLPH: I told Agent Coulson everything I know.

WARD: You're lying. Tell me what that thing did to me and how fix it.

RANDOLPH: I swear I don't know.

Ward produces a blade.

WARD: Okay, then.

Ward goes to s*ab Randolph in the shoulder. At the last second, Randolph grabs the blade and bends it. Ward pulls the blade back and examines it in awe. 

[door opens]

WARD (to Coulson): You were right. He's Asgardian.

COULSON: Good thing. Otherwise, that would have been awfully embarrassing.

Cut to commercial. When we come back, the setup is the same. Randolph easily snaps the handcuffs holding him.

RANDOLPH: Okay, I have to know. How did you figure me out?

COULSON: Did the math. One, you're not the first Asgardian I've had in custody. You guys don't flinch or panic in captivity. Two, a Waterfield 44? On a lit Professor's salary? I don't think so. And lastly, when I tell someone I've had some one-on-one time with an alien, they tend to be a little curious.

RANDOLPH: Well, you're certainly more observant than most, Agent Coulson.

COULSON: So, you're the Asgardian warrior who stayed.

RANDOLPH: Please don't tell anyone.

INT: the Bus briefing room. Fitz-Simmons and Skye, the Bus kids, are watching the feed of the Cage.

FITZ: I had no clue. Did you?

He looks over at Simmons, naturally. She shakes her head.

FITZ: Hidden in plain sight — an actual Asgardian. Brilliant.

SKYE: How long do you suppose he's been on our planet?

SIMMONS: A thousand years. Maybe more. If we could just cut him open a little bit, get some tissue samples, maybe some bodily fluids, we could find out.

Fitz nods along with his other half in happy mad scientist agreement.

SKYE: Or we could just ask him, weirdo. This is way, way better than the History channel. I mean, this guy has lived through all the scary stuff — the crusades, the black death, disco.

May enters, holding a tablet.

[device beeps]

SKYE (to May_: What are you doing?

MAY: Sealing the interrogation-room door. Coulson's orders.

INT: Cage

[lock engages]

RANDOLPH: Ah, locking me in. Well, I've been in tighter spots.

WARD: This room is made of a silicon carbide-coated vibranium alloy. Meant for prisoners like yourself.

RANDOLPH: But you're in here, too. And eventually, somebody will open that door.

COULSON: Not if I tell them not to. So, the myth is your autobiography.

RANDOLPH: I didn't write it. I didn't want anyone to know about me. Then I had to open my big mouth.

WARD: Were you captured? Tortured?

RANDOLPH: Horny. I met a French girl in 1546. Ah, she loved stories. So... I told her a great one, all about the peaceful Asgardian warrior who stayed. Now, how was I to know her brother the priest would write it all down and turn it into, I don't know, a thing?

COULSON: Do you know Thor?

RANDOLPH: Oh, sure, I spent all my days palling around with the future King of Asgard. No, I don't know Thor. I was a mason. I broke rocks. Mmmhmm. [chuckling] For thousands of years. If you can imagine that. So when they came, asking for people to fight, yes, of course I signed up. I think, really, I just wanted to travel.

WARD: But you had the staff.

RANDOLPH: I hated that thing. Other guys loved all the power that comes with the rage. No, I didn't like it at all. And you don't, either, it seems.

WARD: What did it do to me?

RANDOLPH: It shines a light into your dark places. Doesn't matter if you're human, Asgardian. The effect is the same — unpleasant.

INT: Bus briefing room. The g*ng continues to watch the feed of the Cage.

SIMMONS: "Shines a light." That's no explanation.

RANDOLPH: It was forged from a rare metal and reacts to whoever is holding it. Or interacts.

As he speaks, we see Jakob looking at the pieces of the staff, then a bunch of people from his crew in a bunker pouring over books to locate the third piece. 

RANDOLPH: I went to such great lengths to make sure that the staff wasn't found. Unfortunately, since the myth was written down, people have been searching for it for centuries.

We cut back to the Cage.

COULSON: I need your help to stop them before they get the last piece of your staff.

RANDOLPH: Oh, I am a pacifist now.

COULSON: And you don't want to risk your identity being discovered.

RANDOLPH: Listen, I wouldn't worry too much about these angry youths.

Cut to Jakob's crew all screaming and carrying on, then back to the Cage.

RANDOLPH: They always calm down, and eventually, they die of old age. And that is one of the pleasant aspects of life here. [taps table] Everything changes.

COULSON: I'll tell you what's gonna change — your anonymity... unless you help up find the final piece of your staff. You may not know Thor. But I do.

There's a pause.

RANDOLPH: My first love on this planet was Ireland. There was a monastery, and the monks gave me a nice, warm place to sleep, some soup, and some mulled wine.

COULSON: "Near god."

Randolph points at him in affirmation. Bingo.

The Bus lands on a runway, and then we cut INT: Bus cargo hold. Randolph stands there. May passes him. Ward walks up to Randolph and opens a small case. Randolph starts taking things out as Ward speaks to him quietly.

WARD: The effects of the staff... are they permanent?

RANDOLPH: The strength wears off. You will feel exhausted afterwards. You'll need sleep.

WARD: What about... [voice lowers further] the other effects?

RANDOLPH: Oh, that dark, nasty ache in the pit of your stomach, the rage in your chest that makes you feel as if your heart's about to explode? It's worse on humans. But give it a few decades, and it'll wear off, too.

WARD: Great.

[case slams]

The noise causes Skye to jump. She's standing with Coulson, and they watch Ward stalk over to the SUV.

SKYE: Are you sure Ward's okay to go into the field?

[vehicle door slams]

SKYE: He's not exactly acting like himself.

COULSON: But he knows it. He'll be fine.

Coulson walks off. Skye looks to May.

MAY: I'm with Coulson.

EXT: monastery, and then INT: monastery as the group walks inside.

RANDOLPH: Well, it's been a while. I wonder ... Ah, yes. There it is. Still here.

He walks to the front where a book is set up on a stand. The rest follow.

RANDOLPH:  Well, the nose isn't quite right, but —

There's a drawing of a man holding long robes and holding the full staff.

FITZ: That's you?

RANDOLPH: Yeah. They venerated me a bit as a saint.

WARD: They're idiots. Where's the staff?

RANDOLPH: It's upstairs.

Randolph leads the way and the others follow. Skye and Coulson trail in the back.

SKYE: Is that the normal Ward or the new, angrier Ward? I can't tell.

Upstairs.

MAY: It's quiet.

RANDOLPH: Why do you think I trusted them with my secret? They take a vow of silence.

Randolph is standing in front of some sort of cabinet and is working on getting it open. Jakob appears from behind one of the walls. He's holding the staff.

JAKOB: But when you get them talking... they squeal.

He s*ab Randolph in the chest with a piece of the staff. Randolph goes to the ground.

[grunts]

JAKOB: If you want to defeat a god, you must become one.

Ward bends down to pull the piece of the staff out of Randolph's chest. It glows again. There's a brief flash to the well.

[screams]

Flashes of the well. Ward throws himself at Jakob and they both go over the baniester to the floor below. They fight.

[both grunt]

[both grunt]

[both scream]

SKYE: We need to help him!

Skye runs off.

MAY: I'll get her.

We cut to Fitz-Simmons standing over Randolph trying to save his life. Simmons does chest compressions. Fitz looks on. Coulson walks up.

COULSON: How is he?

SIMMONS: I don't know what to do. He's not human.

COULSON: He's dying.

FITZ: Yeah. We know, but she doesn't understand his anatomy. And I'm even w—

Coulson shoves his hand into Randolph's chest.

SIMMONS (at the same time as Fitz): What in god's name?

FITZ (at the same time as Simmons): Oh, my god.

COULSON: Sometimes, you have to just jump in and figure things out. Now, Asgardians regenerate faster than we do. Maybe we can keep him alive long enough —

SIMMONS: For his body to heal itself.

COULSON: Okay, what am I looking for?

SIMMONS: His heart.

Downstairs, Ward is getting the crap pretty summarily kicked outta him.

[grunts]

Flashes of the well.

BOY: Help me!

Ward starts to put up more of a fight and eventually sends Jakob into a wall, ostensibly knocking him out cold. 

We cut back to Coulson and Fitz-Simmons.

COULSON: Oh, okay. I think I got it. Heart.

SIMMONS: Oh, yeah.

FITZ: Can you feel a tear or rupture?

SIMMONS: Clamp down hard on his heart. Try to slow the bleeding.

Downstairs, Ward is panting hard.

SKYE: Grant, drop the staff.

WARD: Get away from me.

MAY: Agent Ward!

SKYE: This isn't you.

[door opens]

The rest of Jakob's group enters. 

WARD: Get back.

Ward bends down and gets the section of the staff that Jakob dropped. He's now holding two parts. The memories of the well increase in strength. 

More men fill the room and start to fight Ward, who pretty easily beats them.

[indistinct shouting]

BOY: Please! Help me!

The flashbacks and fighting continue. And then we suddenly snap to fully being immersed in the flashback.

BOY: Please! Please! Help me! Please, help me!

[boy gasping]

The boy goes under for a second. He resurfaces and sees the other boy at the top of the well and reaches out for him.

BOY: Grant! Help me!

[crying]

BOY: Grant! Please! Help me!

Young Ward disappears from the edge of the well. When he comes back, he's holding a rope.

BOY: Please! Grant!

An older boy walks up behind young Ward.

OLDER BOY: Not yet, Grant.

BOY: Help me!

YOUNG WARD: But he's gonna —

OLDER BOY: Not yet! Throw him the rope, and I'll throw you in there, too.

[Boy cries]

[young Ward sniffles]

BOY: Please!

The older boy walks away.

BOY: Grant!

Young Ward looks around and then throws the rope down. The boy goes under a few times as young Ward looks around.

In the present, Ward is kneeling, holding two pieces of the staff. Men are in a heap around him. Ward drops the staff and collapses to the floor. Skye hurries over to him.

[breathing heavily]

SKYE: Oh, my god. Are you okay?

Skye puts Ward's arm over her shoulders and helps him up. May comes over. Behind her, the doors open. Petra is there with the third piece.

SKYE: Oh, you've got to be kidding me. 

[Ward sighs] and moves to grab a piece of the staff. May stops him.

MAY: This time, let me help.

WARD: Okay.

SKYE: Come on.

Skye helps Ward away. Petra discovers Jakob's body.

[gasps]

May goes to the two pieces and grabs them. They glow. The man who entered with Petra comes up to May.

[May screams]

[grunts]

May easily kicks his and Petra's asses. Petra's piece joins with the piece in May's left hand. It glows. May tops off the staff with the piece in her right hand. Petra gets to her feet.

PETRA: I am not afraid of you.

Petra starts towards May.

[May roars]

May hits Petra in the face with the staff.

Once Petra is taken care of, May kneels and drops the staff. Her hands are shaking. She looks over to Ward and Skye. Ward nods at May, and May nods back.

Cut back to Fitz-Simmons, Coulson, and Randolph.

[groans]

RANDOLPH: [gasps] Am I d*ad?

Coulson takes his very gross-looking, gore-coated hand out of Randolph's chest.

COULSON: Apparently not.

[Fitz-Simmons laughs]

RANDOLPH (to Simmons): You are easily the most beautiful thing I've seen in a thousand years.

[Simmons sighs]

INT: monastery, but it's the next morning. Skye and Fitz-Simmons stand together (yay, Bus kids!). This isn't relevant but Fitz is wearing a super gay coat.

[birds chirping]

SKYE: Coulson did that? He just shoved his hand inside?

SIMMONS: Well, he had to. I froze, didn't know what to do.

FITZ: Hey, you didn't freeze. You just weren't up for the ... 

[Simmons scoffs]

FITZ: ...idea of putting your ...

[Simmons' cellphone rings]

FITZ: ... hand inside somebody else's chest.

Simmons pulls out her phone and looks at the display. It's her parents.

SIMMONS: Maybe I should jump in.

FITZ: Yeah.

[cellphone beeps]

Simmons puts the phone up to her ear and ambles away from Fitz and Skye.

SIMMONS: Hi, Dad. Yeah, it's great to hear your voice, too. I've been meaning to call you for a couple of days. It's been a difficult few weeks.

Simmons walks past May and Ward, both looking drained from their ordeal.

WARD: When you held it, did you see anything?

May nods.

WARD: Then how? How did you hold all three?

MAY: Because I see it every day.

May walks away.

Coulson is kneeling over the completed staff. It hasn't moved from where May left it last night. Coulson hovers a hand over the staff as Randolph walks up behind him.

RANDOLPH: I know that look. You tempted? Now, what is it you want to see?

COULSON: You and I have a lot in common. We've both been s*ab in the heart.

Coulson stands up. 

COULSON: I was k*lled. Well, almost. I'm hazy on that. Afterwards... it's kind of a blank. I have no memory of being revived, of being in a hospital. Just... woke up a few months later.

RANDOLPH: And are you haunted by it, Mr. Coulson?

COULSON: No. Not exactly.

RANDOLPH: Then what's the problem?

Coulson looks at Randolph and then back down at the staff.

COULSON: I suppose you're right.

Coulson steps away from the staff as others come to contain it.

COULSON: Can we give you a lift back to the university?

RANDOLPH: Well, you know, with Europe's new fascination with all things Asgardian, I'm wondering if it's time to start over somewhere else.

COULSON: Nice beach? Life of tropical drinks and massages?

RANDOLPH: Mm, oh, I'd get bored.

COULSON: You should consider the American Northwest. Maybe Portland. Good food scene. Great philharmonic.

RANDOLPH: Well, if you would, come and visit. It's not everyone I get to share my stories with.

COULSON: Sure. And if Thor's in town, I'll introduce you.

They walk out of the monastery

[insects chirping]

Establishing sh*t of a street at night, and then INT: a bar inside a motel. Ward sits, broodily contemplating instead of drinking his alcohol. 

[mid-tempo Celtic music playing]

Skye walks up to the bar and stands next to Ward.

SKYE: Hey. I could get used to turndown service and little mints on my pillow.

WARD: Overnights aren't standard.

SKEY: We deserve a nice night. You especially.

Ward shrugs. Skye looks Ward over.

SKYE: How you feeling?

WARD: Not great.

A b*at.

WARD: I'm sorry. For before. I'm... I'm not that guy.

SKYE: When you're a guy who saves lives, I can overlook a little Hulk rage. No harm, no foul.

WARD: Does everything just roll off your back?

SKYE: No. If it helped, I'd rage all the time, but it doesn't.

WARD: What I saw... [voice breaking] it was about my brother.

SKYE: I figured.

Skye puts a hand on Ward's arm.

SKYE: I know you're not one to talk, but, like I said, I'm here. My shoulder's free.

WARD: [inhales deeply] I'm b*at. Another time, maybe.

SKYE: Well, you know where I live.

They smile at each other. Ward downs his drink and then walks away from the bar. Skye turns and watches him go.

INT: motel hallway. Ward stands outside his room. He puts the key against the lock and it [beeps]. He looks down the hallway and sees May going to her room. May turns and looks at Ward for a long moment. May opens the door to her room and walks in, bottle of liquor in hand. She leaves the door and the possibility of having sex with a co-worker open. Ward looks at his closed door for a moment. And then, because this show is awful and also sucks, we see him enter May's room.

[door closes]

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. logo end card. 

We're on a bright, tropical beach, and then we pull INT: some sort of bungalow on the beach. Coulson is laying on a massage table getting his back rubbed. His eyes slowly open.

[soft music playing]

COULSON: Did I fall asleep?

MASSEUSE: For a little while. But, uh, that's good. It means you are relaxed.

COULSON: That's precisely how I'm feeling — relaxed. Honestly, Tahiti's too good to be true.

MASSEUSE: I know. [echoing] It's a magical place.

We cut to Coulson waking up in his bed.

[gasps; breathing heavily]

Despite the fact that his dream was quite tranquil, you'd think he was nightmaring something fierce from how terrified he looks.
{"type": "series", "show": "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", "episode": "01x08 - The Well"}