01x04 - Eye Spy

[bunniefuu]

1x04 - Eye Spy

Outside, in what the screen tells us is Sergel's Square in Stockholm.

[indistinct chatter]

[music]

We see the busy goings-on of a public place, including a small group of people drumming. Men walk into the square. They are all wearing a bright red mask over their face and are carrying a suitcase. They walk through the square and past a woman with headphones in. Her eyes are closed.

[drumming continues in background]

[whispering sounds]

INT: subway station

[brakes squeal]

The woman follows the men into the station.

[camera shutter clicks] as someone waiting for the train snaps a pic of the men on her phone.

The woman follows the men onto the crowded subway.

INT: subway car

[doors sliding]

[beeping, indistinct overhead announcement in Swedish]

[indistinct conversations]

The woman watches the men; they notice her. We see that the briefcases are actually handcuffed to their wrists. The woman closes her eyes and then smashes her elbow into the firebox.

[glass shattering]

The lights go out.

[indistinct shouting]

[screaming]

INT: next subway station

[brakes squeal]

[door sliding]

INT: subway car

People pour out of the subway. A police officer enters the train. All the men are apparently unconscious. Their hands are severed, and the briefcases are gone.

INT: subway tunnels

The woman enters a combination into the lock of the bloody case.

[clicking]

Inside are diamonds. The woman is sitting on a rafter in a subway tunnel.

[train approaching]

And then she isn't.

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

We see the Bus flying through the sky before zooming in to INT: Bus cockpit

COULSON (to May): Maybe I should learn to fly. It's not too late, right? I could learn.

[silence]

COULSON: What do you like best... the freedom? The view?

MAY: The solitude.

Coulson nods.

COULSON: Got it. See you in Sweden.

[door closing]

May smiles.

INT: Bus lab. Ward is holding up a capsule of some sort.

WARD: I only get one sh*t. And it has to knock a person back, as well as out.

FITZ (holding a g*n): Which is why we're perfecting this little beauty. .45-caliber cartridges, semi-a*t*matic. Each mag...

[clicking of magazine being loaded into g*n]

FITZ: ...contains eight therapeutic rounds of dendrotoxin.

SIMMONS: In case you miss!

Ward gives her A Look.

SIMMONS: Or have multiple assailants.

FITZ: Yeah, w-we're gonna have this new night-night p*stol working in no time. Okay?

WARD: Great. One thing... we're not calling it that.

SIMMONS: [gasps] Ah, told you.

FITZ: Yes, we... yes, we are.

INT: cargo hold/makeshift training area (which, as we know, is literally five inches away from the lab, which honestly seems kind of dangerous? Whatever. There's glass dividing the lab from the non-lab parts. Can't wait for this to come into play in a few episodes.)

Coulson comes down the stairs and Ward goes to meet him.

COULSON: Have you seen Skye?

WARD: Not since weapons training.

COULSON: Has she stopped saying "bang" when she pulls the trigger?

WARD (going up the stairs): Mostly. Now, if she can just learn the difference between the safety release and the magazine release, we'll be making real progress.

Coulson goes over to one of the cars in the hold.

[knocking on car]

[window rolling down]

SKYE (inside car): What's up, Phil?

COULSON: I'd prefer you not call me "Phil."

SKYE: Okay, you're the boss... A.C. Just missing my van a bit, taking a little me time.

COULSON: I want your help with something.

SKYE: [inhales sharply] Hit me with it.

COULSON: You ever rob a bank?

SKYE: No.

COULSON: An armored car?

SKYE: Nope.

COULSON: How about a casino?

SKYE: Should I be offended?

COULSON: Somebody's stealing millions of dollars in diamonds. They've found a way to cr*ck the security systems. I want you to figure out their exploit.

SKYE [intrigued]: Hmmm.

INT: Swedish subway station. May, Coulson, and Skye are walking down the station.

COULSON: Yesterday, 55 men, all m*llitary, were hired by one of the largest gem brokers in the world. They dressed the men in identical outfits, gave each one a randomly assigned briefcase, and sent them along 25 different routes here in Stockholm. No one knew which briefcase contained the diamonds, but they were still stolen.

Coulson signs something given to him by a Swedish police officer.

COULSON (to officer) [in Swedish]: Thanks.

MAY: Why the Kabuki theater?

The trio enters the docked subway car.

COULSON [back in English]: They were afraid because somebody's targeting diamonds ... an armored car in Milan, a safe in Monte Carlo, and now this — over $30 mil total. Each theft occurred despite heavy security.

Coulson crouches and examines blood splatters.

MAY: They sound like inside jobs.

COULSON: A lot of people share that opinion.

SKYE: You don't.

Coulson gives her an approving, affirmative look.

SKYE: CCTV cameras catch any of the action?

COULSON: Fitz-Simmons is checking. The system went dark for an hour. They think it was hacked.

Coulson gets back up.

MAY: It was the same thieves each time?

COULSON: Yes, but it was just one thief — a woman. And she did it all with her eyes closed.

MAY: Eyewitnesses I.D. her?

COULSON: Black, athletic build, late 20s, early 30s.

SKYE: So, you asked how she could have cracked the system. I have a pitch, but it's way outside the box.

COULSON: I live outside the box.

SKYE: There are people in the world with superpowers, right? What if this woman has ESP or something?

MAY: There are no credible studies that support precognition, telepathy, or extrasensory perception.

SKYE: Okay, so science says "no". But this woman knew impossible things. And why did she close her eyes? That's either random or totally important. Was she listening...

Skye taps her temple and gives the team parents a wildly undeservedly smug look (I am in love with her).

SKYE: ... or was she reading minds?

[silence]

SKYE: ... I'm gonna go ... play with my phone now.

She sits down and plays with her phone.

MAY (to Coulson): Why does H.Q. want us to investigate these heists?

COULSON: They don't. I picked this op. (to Skye) Any luck?

SKYE: Yep, I'm getting full bars, which means if I was down here and 55 guys were in scary red masks, you know what I would do? Instagram.

She shows the two of them her phone screen. On it (and clearly on someone's Insta), we can see a guy in a red mask.

INT: Coulson's office on the Bus. May, Skye, and Coulson stand in front of a screen that is flicking through the Insta pix and doing some sort of scan on the images.

[screen beeping]

COULSON: It's amazing. Every year, this part of our job gets easier. Between Facebook, Instagram, and Flickr, people are surveilling themselves.

SKYE: With many filters to choose from. I could do this pretty well when I was hacking for the Rising Tide, but you guys tag and search in ways the rest of us never dreamed of.

MAY: I can run facial-recognition software on the photos, cross-reference them with our criminal databases.

COUSLON: You don't have to.

[beep]

He pulls up an image of the woman we saw at the start of the episode who fits the description of the eyewitness I.D.

COULSON: That's the thief. Her name's Akela Amador.

MAY: You're certain?

COULSON: I should be. I trained her.

INT: Bus. Coulson, Skye, and May are walking out of Coulson's office and down the stairs through the lounge and to right outside the briefing room.

COULSON: Akela Amador was a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent. Seven years ago, she led a raid on one of Vanchat's gulags. Everyone believed that she and the two other agents on the mission were k*lled. I had my doubts. So I sent in a second team, just in case. They found a lot of carnage but couldn't confirm that any of it was Amador ... left the possibility open.

MAY: That's why you chose this op — when you heard about the heists.

COULSON: There are only a few women in the world who could pull off something so impossible. Since you're on the bus, I thought it had to be her.

Skye gives May a look that says 'damn! nice!'. The three of them enter the briefing room, which Ward is already inside.

WARD: Swedish customs confirmed that Amador left the country using an alias on a Swedish passport.

He points details out on a screen that shows Amador's old S.H.I.E.L.D. I.D.

WARD: She flew into Belarus, bought a train ticket to a town called Zloda. I've also put together a list of individuals who could fence that many diamonds.

[beep] as the screen pulls up a map.

WARD: There's been no contact or activity.

COULSON: Maybe she's saving them for a rainy day, buying something special. Let's focus on finding Amador.

MAY: I'll let H.Q. know she's alive so they can assist with the manhunt.

COULSON: I'd like to hold off on that.

b*at as Skye and May give him a 'wtf' look.

COULSON: Until we know more. Contact Belarus authorities. Find us a place to park the bus. (to Ward) Put together a list of inns, hotels, and pensions near Zloda. There can't be that many of them. We'll find her.

May and Ward leave.

SKYE (to Coulson): I'm not so special after all. I'm not your first protégée. Relax. I'm teasing. I know I'm not a protégée. Hell, I'm not even a real, live S.H.I.E.L.D. agent yet.

COULSON: You two couldn't be more different. Amador was smart, talented, fearless.

SKYE [dude, what the hell]: Wow, there's nothing in common.

COULSON: Let me finish. She didn't play well with others, found little value in teamwork. I thought I could instill those qualities in her, so I pushed her ... maybe too hard.

SKYE: Don't blame yourself because this chick went to the dark side. Whatever path she went down, whatever weird stuff she got into, it's on her.

INT: Hotel room in Zloda. Amador is there. She closes her eyes.

[whispering sounds]

Her eyes snap open. She grabs a golf club and opens the door and seizes the man standing behind it.

[man gasps]

She throws him onto the bed, pinning him down with the club across his chest.

AMADOR: The agreement was to come alone.

MAN: I did!

AMADOR: What about the man in the next room? Or the one by the stairs?

MAN: They're here to protect me ... for when I leave ...with the merchandise! Please. [breathing heavily]

She lets up. The man gets up.

MAN: I'm sorry. I've never done this before. May I see them?

She sheathes her club and pulls out a three-pack of golf balls. She puts one in his hand and pours water over it.

[fizzing]

Golf ball melts to reveal ... diamonds!!!

MAN: The rest– they are—

AMADOR: In the bag. You can carry it through customs. No one will know. Now... it's your turn.

He pulls out a keycard.

MAN: When I said 30 million dollars, I never thought anybody would—

She takes the keycard.

AMADOR: If it fails, I will find you.

MAN: It will access all the levels, as promised.

[Amador sighs]

MAN: But once you're inside, do you have a plan?

AMADOR: It'll come to me.

Establishing sh*ts of Zloda, Belarus

[music] [birds chirping]

INT: innocuous-looking white van. Ward is at the helm, with Coulson riding shotgun. The Bus kids are in the back, all clutching various packs of gear.

SIMMONS: How exciting. I've dreamed of visiting Zloda since I was a schoolgirl.

FITZ: Zloda, Belarus? A dream come true? Really?

SIMMONS: It's the birthplace of Nobel physicist Zhores Alferov! I mean, technically, he's from Vitebsk, but that's less than an hour from here, and I'm a bit disappointed that you didn't know that.

FITZ: Well, no, of course I know who that is, father of heterostructure transistors, thank you very much. We're all well aware of that.

Ward and Skye were very clearly not even a little bit aware of that.

FITZ: I'm just a little bit preoccupied. Our first and only other time in the field wasn't exactly a picnic, was it?

COULSON: You guys are only here to search for Amador electronically. You won't even need to leave the van.

MAY (over radio): Bus to short bus.

WARD: Go for short bus.

COULSON: Next time, I'll decide what we call ourselves, okay?

Ward makes a gesture, wordlessly asking Coulson what's wrong with the name.

MAY: H.Q. has requested a status update.

INT: Bus briefing room. You know the drill. When May's lines are italicized, we're somewhere else. When they're solid, we're in here. Same with everyone else and their respective locations.

COULSON (over radio): What'd you tell them?

MAY: That we're tracking a potential suspect — nothing more.

COULSON: I owe you one.

MAY: More like three.

The van pulls to a stop.

COULSON (to the Bus kids): If Amador's here, she'll have to contact her buyer. Scan for cellphone transmissions, encrypted e-mails, anomalous broadcast signatures. Call us if you find anything that indicates her presence.

WARD (to the Bus kids): Maintain radio silence unless you really need help.

FITZ: Well, what exactly defines needing help?!

[door slams]

Outside. Ward and Coulson walk through a street.

WARD: I can only imagine how painful this must be for you, sir — betrayed by someone you trained and believed in.

COULSON: We don't have all the facts yet.

WARD: True, but I have to assume the worst: that Amador sold out the other two agents on her mission. Wonder what she got in exchange.

COULSON: I don't know, but until we do, I'm not gonna assume anything.

INT: Van. All the Bus kids are fiddling with their equipment. That is not a euphemism.

SIMMONS: There's barely electricity in this town. Can't be too hard to find our mystery woman.

SKYE: Unless she already knows we're here.

SIMMONS: No, you're not suggesting some sort of precognition or telepathy because—

SKYE: I know, it doesn't exist. And not long ago, I would have dumped ESP in the "aliens and portals are for crazy people" pile. But now...

[beep]

SKYE: Found a server.

In town

[Ward's cellphone ringing]

COULSON (to man he's talking to) [in Russian]: Thanks.

MAN: Da.

WARD (into phone): Did you locate Amador?

SKYE (over phone): What? No, not yet. But we've found a broadcast with some weird signal encrypted into it.

[laughter, background chatter from town]

WARD: You think Amador might be communicating on that signal?

SKYE: Maybe, but I called with an equally pressing question for you, my S.O. what are we supposed to do if we have to pee?

WARD: You broke protocol because you need a bathroom break?

SKYE: It was a really, really long drive, and everyone's nervous.

WARD: There's a container in the bottom of the blue chest.

SKYE (to Simmons): Bottom of the blue chest.

[background chatter and laughter from the town continues]

Simmons holds up a water bottle. All three Bus kids look as if they have d*ed inside. Just a little bit.

SKYE: Not the water bottle?

WARD: That's the one.

SKYE: Did you never learn the thing that boy parts and girl parts are different, and our parts aren't penises?

WARD: Agent Coulson and I are trying to find a dangerous criminal. If there's nothing else pressing—

SKYE: Well, one second, Fitz wants to know if you packed any snacks.

FITZ: Yeah, I'm feeling a bit peckish.

[click]

SKYE; Uh... hello?

[static]

SKYE: He— he hung up.

INT: Hotel lobby

COULSON [in Russian]: Good day.

RECEPTIONIST [in English]: Good afternoon.

COULSON: I'm Agent Coulson. This is Agent Ward. We're looking for this young woman.

Coulson shows a picture of Amador.

RECEPTIONIST: Oh, she's my angel.

WARD: Why do you say that?

RECEPTIONIST: She has gift... knows things. She told me to go to doctor. He found a tumor. I'm having surgery next week. This girl saved me.

Inside the van, the screen of the feed is showing chaotic static and colors.

[static, chatter]

FITZ: I can't stabilize it. There's an encrypted local signal competing.

SKYE: Mirror it over. I have a couple of Rising Tide exploits that might work.

[static, chatter, laughter continues]

[beeping]

[keys clacking]

SKYE: One last thing.

[chatter clears up]

SKYE: Ta-da, and you're welcome.

INT: Hotel lobby

COULSON: It's very important that we talk with her.

WOMAN: With her gift, I'm sure she knows you're coming.

INT: Van

On the cleared-up screen, we see a view of an innocuous-looking white van.

SKYE: Russian TV's kind of boring.

FITZ: That looks a bit like our van.

The screen switches to backscatter.

SKYE: What are we looking at?

Fitz stands up and waves his hands around. As he does this, one of the images in the backscatter vision of the van does the same.

FITZ: Us.

The view on the screen gets closer.

[crashing]

We see another van hit the van housing the Bus kids.

SKYE: Let's get out of here!

[car roaring] as car that hit van backs up.

Skye gets to the driver's seat and turns the key in the ignition.

[engine sputters]

Her feet do not exactly "reach" the "pedals".

SKYE (to a Ward who drove the car and is not actually there): Oh, stupid tall person. (to Fitz-Simmons) Call Coulson. Get the g*n.

Simmons, from the floor, hands Skye a g*n.

SKYE: It's her. (to herself) Safety off.

Amador starts to drive forward.

[g*n clicks] as the magazine falls into her lap.

SKYE: Bang?

[car crash sounds]

INT: Bus

[footsteps approach] as everyone sans May, who is standing on the mez above the bottom floor of the Bus, enters the Bus. May and Coulson share A Look. A Meaningful Look.

INT: Bus briefing room

WARD: Sir, Amador att*cked you and your people. Whatever regard you hold for her isn't reciprocated. She just kicked us in the teeth.

COULSON: How's the team?

WARD: Rattled. No broken bones. We're lucky she just knocked the van over so she could get away. Probably take a while for our folks to refocus.

SKYE: I think I can recover the data signature of that encrypted broadcast. I don't understand it yet, but that's how she was watching us. Give me an hour. Maybe we can start watching back.

INT: Bus lab

SKYE: Something's wrong. It's the same feed that was watching us in the van. Uh, put it on the big monitor.

SIMMONS: M-maybe the lens broke when the van rammed us.

SKYE: I hope she broke more than that.

[beep] as the screen fires up. We see Amador's hand wipe away condensation from a mirror.

COULSON: It's a mirror. Are we recording this?

SKYE: Uh...

[beep]

SKYE: We are now.

FITZ: Whoa.

COULSON: How are we seeing this? Where's the camera?

On the screen, Amador reaches for a set of tools in front of a hand mirror. She pokes one into her eye. Everyone winces to some degree except for Simmons and May.

MAY: It's her eye. She's the camera.

Amador closes her eyes, and the view goes to backscatter.

FITZ: It switches to backscatter when she closes her eyes.

SKYE (to Ward): You're a robot. Can you do that?

WARD (to Fitz): Who has tech like this?

FITZ: We don't — not like this. That's not small and internal. That's at least a decade ahead of anything I've seen.

Amador tightens up some screws in her eye.

FITZ: Though, now that I've seen it, I could maybe approximate it... the backscatter x-ray, a micro-transceiver that somehow doesn't fry her brain, an internal power source—

SIMMONS: All miniaturized. Honestly, it's...

FITZ (talking over Simmons): That's genius.

SIMMONS (talking over Fitz): ...Genius.

Amador opens her eyes and the view goes back to normal.

COULSON: We have to bring her in.

MAY: We have to take her out. She's a w*apon. I'll call H.Q., see if we can bring a task force in to help us.

COULSON: Our team can handle this.

MAY: I get it. You feel responsible ... maybe you pushed her too hard. But she tried to k*ll three members of our team.

COULSON: If she wanted us dead, we'd be dead.

MAY: We got lucky. You want to risk our lives again?

COULSON: You told me you were ready for combat, that you had my back.

MAY: Don't ever doubt it. But you are defending this girl at the expense of the team.

COULSON: Because we protect our own.

WARD: With all due respect, sir, she's not one of our own.

SKYE: Guys.

On the screen, Amador writes, on a piece of paper: CAN I SLEEP?

SIMMONS: Why does she have to ask for permission?

On the screen, words are typed into the bottom of Amador's eye feed. They say: STAND BY

COULSON: She's not being watched. She's being controlled. We have to find her. We'll take shifts watching the feed. Sooner or later, she'll look at something that will clue us into her location.

MAY: I'll take the first watch.

EXT: Hangar where the Bus is parked

[insects chirping]

[knock on door]

INT: Coulson's office on the Bus

[door slides open]

SKYE: I just wanted to give you a quick update. She's still at the hotel, so... and that's the update. It's a pretty weird day, huh? It's like we were trapped in a van-shaped pinata.

COULSON: That should never have happened.

SKYE: It's okay. It wasn't nearly as terrible as watching mom and dad fight downstairs.

COULSON: That shouldn't have happened, either. You regret coming along?

SKYE: It was pretty impulsive, even for me. I still don't know much about you... Except for you value really old stuff. And you value me. First person to do that in a long time. So I happen to believe you're an excellent judge of character. If you think this woman deserves a second chance, we should give it to her ... even though she tried to k*ll me and I kind of hate her guts.

[door closes]

INT: Bus lab. Fitz is passed out in front of a set of glasses with a ton of wires attached to it.

COULSON (tapping Fitz): Fitz.

Fitz hurries awake.

FITZ: What?

COULSON: What happened? Where's May?

FITZ: Uh, I don't know. She was watching the transmission. Amador must be sleeping.

COULSON: Play it back.

[beeping]

It plays back. On the screen, the message says: TODOROV BLDG. PROX CARD TO DELTA S. 9:00.

COULSON: There. She got another message — Todorov building.

In Amador's view, she's looking at some room service, complete with a receipt.

COULSON: Wait. Stop.

[beep]

COULSON: Can you get closer on that receipt?

Fitz gets closer on that receipt. It shows the name of the hotel she's at (the Crown Regent hotel in Minsk, Belarus).

COULSON: Damn it, May. (to Fitz) Wake the others.

INT: Room where Amador is sleeping

[light switch clicks]

Amador wakes up and sits up with a [gasp]. She looks at the floor, and not at May, who is in the room with her.

MAY: Whoever's monitoring you, do they have audio?

AMADOR: No. But they'll use facial recognition to determine you're a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

MAY: So I don't have to introduce myself.

AMADOR: Did Coulson send you?

MAY: No. He feels sorry for you. I don't. I'm bringing you into S.H.I.E.L.D., you'll get a fair trial, and no one else gets hurt.

AMADOR: You have no idea, do you?

MAY: We know that you receive orders.

AMADOR: Then you know that once they see you, only one of us gets to walk out of here. They built in a fail-safe.

Amador looks up at May.

AMADOR: Either I k*ll you... or they k*ll me.

MAY: You should have stayed in bed.

They fight.

[grunting]

[plates clattering against floor]

[Kn*fe whistles through air; Kn*fe sticks in door]

Amador smashes the lamp and her view switches to backscatter. She grabs a g*n on the ground. Just as she's about to fire, her room door flies open, and Coulson enters.

[sound of night-night g*n going off]

INT: The Cage on the Bus

Amador wakes up.

[panting]

COULSON: Hello, Akela. You're safe now. Give it a minute. I hit you with a powerful dendrotoxin.

AMADOR: [breathing deeply] There's a k*ll switch in my eye. Why hasn't my handler blown it yet?

COULSON: As far as your handler knows, you fought Agent May, you both went down, then you got up and left the building to complete your mission.

AMADOR: How?

COULSON: We h*jacked your feed.

INT: Car. Ward is driving, wearing the pair of glasses we saw Fitz passed out at earlier. Skye is in the backseat, doing her Skye computer thing.

COULSON (heard as voice only, we're still looking at Ward): One of my Agents is wearing a set of glasses mimicking your implant. Right now, it's transmitting his point of view as if it was yours. It even has backscatter imaging.

AMADOR: I get messages from my handler.

COULSON: We're receiving those, as well.

INT: Bus briefing room. May stands in front of the video feed of the Cage.

COULSON: My agent's on his way to the Todorov building completing your mission while we disable the fail-safe in your eye. I promise. They can't see you. You're okay, Akela. Look at me.

Slowly, emotionally, she does.

COULSON: How long have they been monitoring you?

AMADOR: Years. Why are you doing this, Coulson?

COULSON: I need to know why a prox card is worth $30 million—

AMADOR: No. Why are you doing this? Why are you helping me? Where's the "I told you so"?

COULSON: [sighs] That's not me anymore. I'm just glad you're alive.

AMADOR: Vanchat would have never caught us if I'd just done my job. I should have listened to you...

May, as she watches, is visibly emotional and moved.

AMADOR: trusted my team the way you insisted. [voice breaking] If I had ... they might still be alive.

EXT: Todorov building.

[engine shuts off]

INT: Car

SKYE: Where are we?

WARD: Todorov building. I think it's research, not m*llitary.

SKYE: Looks like a prison.

WARD: We wireless yet?

[keys clacking]

SKYE: Yep. Ready to detach.

Skye reaches forward to detach his glasses from the wires connecting it to his computer. Ward flinches, big time.

SKYE: Don't look at me! They need to think you're her.

As Skye works, Ward makes noises. Many a noise.

SKYE: And, oh, my god, super spy is ticklish.

INT: the Cage on the Bus

COULSON: How did you manage to escape?

AMADOR: I didn't. Got caught in a crossfire, went down. Woke up in some half-assed triage bay, blind in this eye. Spent the next four years alone in a cage at the bottom of a copper mine.

COULSON: We looked for you. Heard rumors you'd been taken to ShanXi province.

AMADOR: When a team finally came, I thought it was S.H.I.E.L.D. at first, but—

COULSON: Who were they?

AMADOR: Don't know, even to this day, but they were organized. They took me to a clinic. I had multiple surgeries. Until one day, I could see out of both eyes again. I was so grateful... until I realized what they'd done.

COULSON: Somebody was watching.

AMADOR: My every move. I had no idea until they sent the first message. Then the assignments started. Mostly, it was "steal this," "follow him," "break into there." I just tried to ignore them. But when I did, I'd get this pain, like an electric migraine.

COULSON: The fail-safe.

AMADOR: Polite way of putting it. Now, when I think about my years in the cage... I miss it. I wish I could go back, be alone, sleep in peace.

COULSON: I know you're tired, but I need your help.

AMADOR: If you want information on the prox card, you're out of luck.

COULSON: You can't go on missions without intel.

AMADOR: It comes in pieces — a name, an address.

INT: car outside Tolodov building

[beeping]

On Skye's computer, the feed says: LOCATION CONFIRMED. PROCEED TO DELTA S.

SKYE: It would suck to live like this, wondering if someone's watching.

WARD: Testing backscatter.

He presses glasses.

[glasses beep]

Backscatter.

[glasses beep]

SKYE: Good to go.

WARD: Remember, I can't look at you, much less help you.

SKYE: Got it. Don't count on you for help.

[door opens, closes]

SKYE: I'll be watching.

INT: Bus Cage

COULSON: Come on, Akela. You've never spoken to or met anyone in person?

AMADOR: No. Only contacts are the messages I receive from the Englishman.

COULSON: The Englishman... your handler? How do you know he's English?

As Amador talks, we see flashes of fingers typing and examples she gives being written as info that showed up on her feed.

AMADOR: The way he refers to certain things. He uses "lift" instead of "elevator," "boot" instead of "trunk."

COULSON: Think about the messages. What else do you know about him?

AMADOR: He's late 30s, early 40s. Uses dated references — "Disk drive" instead of "flash drive," "Burma" instead of "Myanmar."

COULSON: How's his typing?

AMADOR: Clumsy. Makes a lot of mistakes.

COULSON: Thick fingers, maybe heavyset.

AMADOR: I forgot how good you are.

SIMMONS (over intercom): Sir, we're ready down here.

INT: Tolodov building. Ward is walking in.

[mid-tempo music plays]

SKYE (over comms): Fitz and Simmons are prepped for surgery. It should be any minute now. Hey! Remember, you have man hands, so don't look when you scan the card.

WARD: I know.

INT: Bus lab

COULSON: Ward's on-site, so we don't have much time.

FITZ: To remove her eyeball.

SIMMONS: Yeah, ocular surgery is not really my field of expertise.

COULSON: We've got no other choice. There's a k*ll switch inside Akela. Could be a poison, could be an expl*sive. Either way, if Ward's caught, they'll k*ll her instantly.

He starts to walk out.

FITZ: Where are you going, sir?

COULSON: To find out whose finger's on the trigger.

[lab door opening]

INT: Tolodov building

[beeping]

[general sounds of hustle and bustle as people walk about the building]

WARD (into comms): Approaching Delta 3.

[scanner beeps]

INT: Car. We know the drill. Italics when our view is on a diff character than the one speaking in comms, solid when showing a character is in the room they've been pre-established to be in.

SKYE: Careful! Mirror.

Ward turns his head away from the mirror.

WARD: Don't need your help.

INT: Bus briefing room

MAY: Handler's definitely local.

COULSON: Any idea where he's transmitting from?

May waves at the projected map on the holocom table.

MAY: Somewhere here. Every time he sends a message, we get closer.

COULSON: Keep me updated on comm 3. I'm headed out now.

MAY: I'll track him down if you want to stay here and oversee the op.

COULSON: Thank you. This one's mine. And about earlier—

MAY: Go. Find the guy.

INT: Bus lab

[monitor beeping]

[snap] as Simmons pulls on latex gloves.

SIMMONS (to Amador, who is lying out on a table): I may need your feedback during the operation, which means I have to inject a local anesthetic into your eye rather than putting you under.

AMADOR: Whatever's necessary.

SIMMONS: Right. Let's begin, then.

She holds a syringe over Amador's eye. Fitz cringes, hardcore. Amador grabs Simmons' arm.

AMADOR: [chuckles] Let me.

Fitz cringes way, way harder core.

[squish]

INT: Tolodov building

On Skye's feed, it says: TARGET CONFIRMED>

SKYE: What do they mean, "target"?

WARD: It's never good, especially for the target. Let's hope it's a knockout and not a k*ll.

SKYE: You should get out of there.

WARD: I've come this far. I'll finish, whatever it takes.

[beeping]

Ward receives instructions over his eyeball-cam feed that are in his glasses. The instructions read: SEDUCE HIM.

Ward looks so, so, so pained.

WARD: Help.

SKYE: I'm sorry. Did you say "help"? Because a minute ago, you said you didn't want or need my help.

WARD: That was before they asked me to go all Mata Hari on this guy. [sighs] I'm just gonna knock him out.

SKYE: Ward, wait. We may need them to get through the next door. Remember, it said seduce, not k*ll.

WARD: [sigh] I don't think I'm his type.

SKYE: Let me see. Cheap haircut. 5:00 shadow. Nope. Odds are you guys play for the same team. You're gonna have to bromance him. Talk sports, Vodka, the Victorianov secret catalog. Be friendly, Agent Ward. Can you be friendly?

[Ward sighs]

SKYE: Please don't die.

[Ward sighs again]

[scanner beeps] as Ward enters the room and goes up to the guard.

There's some Russian that the subtitles do not translate and that I don't understand, but I'm just going to assume it's pleasantries, until we get:

WARD [in Russian]: How about that game last night?

GUARD [in Russian]: Your I.D.

Ward makes a show of patting himself down. [patpatpat]

WARD: [groans] I think I left it at home. Had a wild night. Met these two Ukrainian girls... [chuckles] didn't sleep much. You know how it is, right? Yeah? Yeah?

The guard does not react.

WARD [in English]: Guess not.

They fight.

[slamming]

Ward wins.

[scanner beeps]

Ward enters a room with two men at typewriters. On the chalkboard walls, many mathematical equations are written.

SKYE: What now? Are you supposed to grab one of these guys?

[keys clacking]

Ward examines the chalkboard closer. There is a sprawling array of lines and circles drawn in an almost circuitboard-like pattern, albeit solely straight, perpendicular lines

[beeping]

New message on the feed reads: MISSION COMPLETE. GOOD LUCK.

MAY: [i[They just sent another message.[/i] Coulson, he's close — only a few blocks from you.

Outside, on the street, Coulson runs

MAY: He's somewhere in Victory Square. One more message should lock in his precise location.

Ward goes back to the knocked-out guard and sees a countdown on the screen.

WARD: Figured out what I needed the guard for — his password.

SKYE: Maybe I can talk you through a hack. Just give me a minute.

[beeping] as the timer hits zero.

[alarm blaring]

WARD: No more minutes. Meet me on the south side of the building, A.S.A.P.

SKYE: Gotcha.

[car door opening]

SKYE: Which way is South?

[car door closing]

Ward walks down a hallway with increasing speed. He passes a guard.

[guard's walkie-talkie makes noises]

GUARD [in Russian]: Stop!

[racing footsteps]

Fitz continues cringing so very hard. Fitz is clearly a proxy for the audience in this episode. Eye trauma absolutely sucks.

[squishy squish squish]

FITZ: Please tell me it's out already.

SIMMONS: It's ... mostly out.

AMADOR: What's wrong?

SIMMONS: Nothing.

She pulls up the eyeball with tweezers.

SIMMONS: But Dr. Fitzy needs to step in now.

Fitz looks as if someone just sh*t his puppy in front of him.

SIMMONS: This is his area of expertise, not mine.

Fitz stares at the eyeball, looking royally grossed out.

SIMMONS [sharply]: Fitz!

Fitz drags himself over to the eyeball and takes the tweezers from Simmons.

FITZ: [inhales sharply] All right, then. Most likely, both the power source and k*ll switch are located within the eye itself. So, how to disconnect without triggering the k*ll switch? Oh. I know what to do. Um... [clears throat] I just need to clarify one thing.

Ward races down the hall, g*n out.

[telephone rings]

[glasses beep]

Backscatter shows figures inside in the next room over.

[g*nshots]

The figures are no longer a problem

FITZ: Ward.

WARD: What?

FITZ: You sound winded. Is this a bad time?

WARD: Little bit.

FITZ: Well, not so good for me, either, considering I'm holding a still-attached prosthetic eye that could explode at any second.

WARD: Are the wires exposed or shielded?

He walks in front of a mirror and sees his very white, very male, very not Akela Amador reflection.

WARD: Cut it now. Cut the wires now!

AMADOR: What's happening?

FITZ: Oh, no problem. Ward explained the sitch.

[wire snip]

[thunk of top of container closing down]

[small expl*si*n]

WARD: Coming your way.

SKYE (in the car that is now driving): I don't know what that means.

[shoes squeak]

[g*nshots fire]

[glass shatters] as Ward leaps through a window.

[tires screech] as Skye pulls to a halt in front of him.

WARD: Let's go.

[door closes]

COULSON (into comms): He probably left as soon as he threw the k*ll switch.

MAY: He's there, 20 meters from you.

We see a heavyset, British kinda looking guy exit from a door just across the way from Coulson.

COULSON: I think I've got him. (to man) Excuse me, sir.

MAN [with a British accent]: I'm sorry, but I'm very late.

COULSON: I'm with S.H.I.E.L.D.

MAN: Oh, god.

[small fizzing noise]

[small expl*si*n]

The man's eyeball goes bloody, and he drops dead.

INT: Bus lab. Amador has a patch over her eye, and she and Coulson are walking into the cargo hold where a group of agents are waiting.

COULSON (to Amador): He was a former M.I.6 officer who fell off the grid a few years ago.

INT: the Bus

AMADOR: My handler was as trapped as I was.

COULSON: Which means the real thr*at's still out there. Big S.H.I.E.L.D.'s still trying to decipher what was written on that chalkboard. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. Couple of people think it might be alien — possibly an equation. Must be important if it's worth $30 million. We'll figure it out. (to Amador, about how she's being taken in by these agents) You'll get a fair trial. I plan on testifying. I know people. You deserve a second chance.

AMADOR: You already gave me one. Doesn't matter how it plays out from here. I'm free. Thank you.

COULSON: Good luck.

Coulson goes upstairs. May nods to him as she passes.

AMADOR (to May): What happened to Agent Coulson? He's different.

MAY: Well, he's loosened up a bit. He nearly d*ed before the battle of New York.

AMADOR: But what did they do to him?

MAY: I'm sorry?

AMADOR: Never mind.

Exterior sh*t of the Bus in the night sky.

[engines roar]

INT: Cargo hold

[car door opens]

COULSON: Are you still needing your you time?

SKYE: There's always room for A.C. Slide on in.

COULSON: What's wrong with...

[door closes]

COUSON: ... "Agent Coulson" or just "Coulson"?

SKYE: Nothing, I guess. A.C.'s just way cooler.

[both chuckles]

SKYE: 'Cause you are. Cool. Not many people would have made that call to give Amador a second chance.

COULSON: I got one. Seems only fair I extend the same opportunity to others. [sighs] I see why you like it in here.

SKYE: Yeah. It's kind of like my van. [chuckles] Without all the bums trying to break in.

[Coulson chuckles]

SKYE: I don't miss that. It's more peaceful here.

Amador, in a prison cell, patch over her eye, lies down to go to bed.

SKYE: It's also cool knowing that someone has my back... no matter what.

COULSON: Peaceful's good.

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

INT: Bus lounge area. Fitz and Ward are playing cards. Fitz is eating pretzels in an inhumanly annoying way. (I am in love with him).

[slow, obnoxious crunching]

[finger tapping against cards]

WARD: I call. And raise 100.

[poker chips clatter]

FITZ: Hmm. You know how I know I'm gonna b*at you?

WARD: By losing?

[cards hit table]

FITZ: You have a tell, a psychological tic that lets me know you're bluffing. If I watch you carefully... [louder] If I watch you carefully...

INT: Skye's sleeping quarters

SKYE (into comms): Oh, sorry. Hang on. You know if I do this, that not only will I see Ward's cards, but I'll see you without any clothes on?

FITZ: I fold. You win.

He gets up from the table and scurries away. Skye, in her room, puts on and presses the backscatter imaging button on the glasses.

[glasses beep]

SKYE [satisfied]: Hmm.