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This is Toynbee, Deseret. It's a small town on the frontier. And for the time being, SHIELD is its sheriff. Its guest of honor stays in a classified place far south of town.
The wind blows a tumbleweed through the streets. Much is quiet and monotonous.
This is the local LDS chapel. Two SHIELD agents stand guard outside. Another pair stands guard on the roof. Someone inside is very safe.
Peter's aunt is inside, exchanging with the priest. He's in the confessional; although naturally, May isn't confessing.
The priest listens as she discloses how she feels about her husband's passing, as well as the passings of her nephew's parents, and the hardships of raising an orphan on her own. She admits that she knew something like this would happen to her one day, as long as her late husband's brother and sister-in-law were involved in a secretive life.
Inside, the priest sometimes yawns. Nonetheless, he is interested in what May discloses.
"Your nephew sounds exceptionally talkative, Ms. Reilly," he says. "I'm sure Queens won't take long to find him...if he's out there."
May comes out here a lot. She's no Mormon, but this beats spending time alone worrying about her late husband's nephew nonstop.
Near Toynbee sits its twin town, Humboldt. Ironically, SHIELD is the sheriff here, too.
Liz walks down a lonely path, towards Toynbee. Quake, a SHIELD agent, stays close to her.
Liz looks her up and down. "You're unarmed."
Quake chuckles. "I take it you haven't heard of me."
"You're a spy. Why should I have?"
Quake and Liz arrive. A few of the local men stop and look.
At the saloon, an outlaw prepares to get on his horse. He sees Quake and Liz, and stops. He grins; he's got more gold teeth than he's worth. He approaches them.
He hits on Liz. Liz isn't interested.
With a mighty seismic blast, Quake blasts the outlaw away. He, and a few other local crooks, scream like women, mount their horses, and ride out.
Liz gapes. "You... How can you do that?!"
Quake smiles, and slaps Liz on the back. "We're called Inhumans. You should learn about us sometime."
They stop at the chapel. Quake relieves the SHIELD agents at the door. Liz goes in. All around, the locals are staring at Quake-men AND women, single and married, pre-pubescent and post-pubescent...
Inside, Liz sits in a pew, and waits for the confessional. That's when she sees who's already there.
"Ms. Reilly?!"
May sees her. She begs the priest's pardon, and attends to Liz. May sits, and they talk. They're both surprised to meet each other out here, far from Queens and Oregon City.
They find out that they're both in witness protection. They find out that they both witnessed a pair of villainessses kill an old man. They both admit that the old men they saw get killed reminded them of foreigners. May's amused; she could've sworn hers was an actual Italian immigrant.
And then May tells Liz the less fortunate circumstances of the former's custody: Spider-Man's dead, and Peter's missing. Liz is scared. She hugs May, and tells her she hopes Peter's all right. May shakes her head, and admits she doesn't know what to think.
Then, a shadow passes over her face. She isn't sure how...but she has a hunch that if Spider-Man is really dead, her late husband's nephew is too.
Liz chuckles. "I love Peter more than any girl I've known. But your nephew's clumsy, Ms. Reilly. There's no way in hell your nephew's Spider-Man."
Outside, Quake snickers. Inside, May and Liz look around, as if they heard her.
"Agent Johnson," Liz shouts, "is there something out there we should know about?"
"Nothing scary," Quake replies, trying not to laugh. "Please, go back to your girl talk!"
May confesses that Peter still loves Liz. She tells Liz that when she grows up, she might consider moving back to New York, for his sake.
Liz grins. As much as she'd love to, her father's prison is also in New York. Reuniting with Peter that way would require her to forgive her father. And she's not ready to do that yet.
Liz does tell May, though, that she thinks she's met a new boy in Oregon City. May beams, and leans in to listen.
