Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Previously on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D...

I swore an oath. We all did.

To protect the world against the much weirder world.

It's got to be some sort of activation signal

to HYDRA members within S.H.I.E.L.D.

We've had a wolf in the herd the whole time.

They've infiltrated the highest levels of our organization.

Ward!

Ward, you don't have to do this!

Fitz? Is he okay?

He's alive.

On behalf of the.

United States Armed Forces,

I order you to stand down.

We're not HYDRA, we're agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Well right now, to the rest of the world, that's the same thing.

Fury always said a man can accomplish anything

when he realizes he's a part of something bigger.

You want me to start over? Rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D.?

What is this place?

I call it the Playground.

It is an honor to meet you, sir.

I know we don't have much, but what we have is yours, Director Coulson.

I don't think I need to remind you that the clock is ticking.

We are almost finished loading.

- Herr Reinhardt, I fear Schmidt... - Oh.

No reason left to fear the Red Skull. He's dead.

However, his vision is not.

The work HYDRA has done will live on. The Obelisk?

- They're bringing it out now. - Carefully, I hope.

I don't understand.

I thought the stockpile held only artifacts.

Not everything we dug out of the ground was an antique, my friend.

Some of it was quite advanced.

- Is this the reason these men... - Hmm?

Ja. The Red Skull said it may hold the answer.

The answer to death itself.

I'll give 'em an "A" for effort.

Guten Tag, boys! All right, nice and calm.

No sudden moves or we'll tie a blasting cap to your...

Hey, Dugan, what's the German word for "nuts"?

I don't know, Jim.

But tie a blasting cap to 'em, I bet we'll hear it.

Put it down.

Down.

These assets are now under protection

of the Strategic Scientific Reserve.

They'll be relocated and hidden out of sight indefinitely.

As will you.

Cut off one head, two more shall grow in its place.

Then I guess we'll keep cutting them off.

Get him out of here.

All right, boys, let's pack it up.

Agent Carter, what the hell is all this stuff?

Dangerous.

Right now, we need to contain everything

and get it out of enemy territory.

Mr. Stark plans to go through it tonight.

And that we must never touch.

This is the last HYDRA site we know of.

- They're finally beaten. - You don't sound thrilled.

Well, these things can't simply be boxed up.

Someone needs to establish a permanent unit during peace time.

To keep dangerous technology contained.

And watch over people like Stark, who are toying with it.

Until then, all we can do is box it up, lock it up

and dedicate ourselves to making sure it never sees the light of day.

We've got ears on them. The package is in the open.

Don't engage until the deal's done.

Copy that.

- Trip, we got eyes? - Now we do.

That's what I'm selling.

I'm sure you'd like to see some credentials.

Agent Browning, for ex-S.H.I.E.L.D.,

you seem awfully indifferent to who we are.

What you are is the highest bidder.

Whether you're in it for profit or for HYDRA, it doesn't concern me.

Not anymore.

That's what we wanna hear.

What are they buying from him?

Intel. Not hardware.

The mystery I'd like to solve is, why should we be paying you so much?

This looks like a box. Sorry, a picture of a box.

A picture of a box you don't have.

The government has it.

Along with thousands of other assets they seized from S.H.I.E.L.D.

And they don't know what to make of half of them.

I worked in a S.H.I.E.L.D. containment facility

that had hundreds of boxes that looked just like this.

But this is the only one

that has a Level 10 classified file dedicated to it.

You're selling us a needle in a haystack.

Finding the haystack is up to you.

I know your reputation. I'm sure you'll be fine.

What I don't appreciate is you changing the terms on me now.

We're asking for clarification, Browning.

You're the one who changed the terms,

bringing more than the two guards we agreed upon.

I only brought two guards.

What the hell are you doing here?

Who was that?

A third party.

- A party's what you call that? - He's gone.

25-foot drop.

This was supposed to be an undercover operation.

You wanna explain why you're shadowing us?

We were your backup. Which you needed.

Yeah, so did he.

Sir, mark's down.

Third party, possibly HYDRA, and we're out in the open.

What are our orders?

Go dark.

They're fugitives. They deserve to be punished.

We witnessed the single greatest

intelligence collapse in recorded history, George.

We have a duty to the American people to hunt down those responsible.

So, no, I don't sleep most nights.

General Talbot, you said you have.

S. H. I. E. L. D. Personnel and weaponry locked in a secure facility.

So is it fair to say that S. H. I. E.L.D. and the HYDRA terrorists

who poisoned its ranks have been defeated?

The corrupt institution has been dismantled, yes.

We cut down the tree,

we pulled up the roots.

But let's just say I'll rest easier when we throw it all on the bonfire.

You didn't get them all?

Our black-market contacts

were the reason the guy believed we weren't with S.H.I.E.L.D.

Coulson knows Hartley.

She's the only person on your team he trusts.

But Why'd you break Silhouette Protocol?

- He ordered us to. - Orders.

We can't maintain solid cover with agents tailing us.

And we can't be sure you won't run off with the money.

Any idea how that freak show found us, Hartley?

- I have a theory. - Cool it.

The man said we were the highest bidder.

Means he sent the word out wide.

And he paid for that mistake.

- Yes, he did. - That's an understatement.

Agent May, Agent Skye,

Lance Hunter, Agent Hartley...

Operation didn't go well, I take it?

What gave you that idea?

That's a shame, man.

I was hoping that agent you were scoping out

would have some tech we could use.

Sorry, Mack. No new toys.

You get anything?

A new enemy.

I know. I know.

Director wants you for debrief.

The feeling is mutual. Throw him up on the big screen.

We'll tell him that his enemies have gone bulletproof.

He's in his office.

- Wow. - Coulson's here?

Kind of buried the lead there, Bill.

Just Agent May.

Copy that.

Really?

Well, tell him I'd like to voice my opinion, too.

On being kept in the dark. 'Cause I don't like being left out.

Get used to it.

So, the guy was bulletproof, huh?

That's sweet.

What, like, protective clothing or...

Maybe. We found these metal shards.

They broke off with the bullet hits.

I'm gonna take it to the lab.

I'll let Coulson know.

It'll be good to see him. If I see him.

He's a busy man.

Sorry, that's all I can give you.

Try to move up with your head down. And, hey,

only use the dead drop from now on.

There aren't enough pay phones left in this country.

Hi.

You're the man in charge, but I'm in charge of you, remember?

I had two rules.

Avoid field operations...

And check in with me every few days. It's been two weeks.

And I'm flying back out tonight.

I have to focus on recruitment. It's starting to wear me down.

- The hours? - The numbers.

Between the traitors, military detainees,

and the sellouts in the private sector,

the people who could possibly be considered loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Is not impressive.

And they're scattered all over the damn globe.

Well, you have no choice but to meet them face to face.

- Get a read on them. - I know. And I prefer it.

But flying economy blows.

Any progress on the cloaking equipment?

Like I can tell.

Well, we need it now. Badly.

Our plane's been gathering dust for months,

but I still can't risk a takeoff

with this guy trying to throw us on a bonfire,

so flying coach it is.

Though I did score an exit row on the way back from London.