Girl in the Flower Dress

Mick landed flat on his back on the sparring mats sprawled across the cargo hold. Sweat poured from his body, his muscles ached, so badly he wanted to quit. He looked up to see May shaking her head in disappointment. "The way Coulson talks about you, I thought you'd be much better than this." 

Mick glared at her, wincing slightly as he struggled to his feet. "If it weren't for these stupid wristbands, I could really show you my moves," he called out loudly, knowing Fitz and Simmons we're watching from the lab. 

"Aren't you supposed to keep the powers quiet?" May asked as she took a fighting stance, balanced wide spread, awaiting for Mick to make a move. 

"Yeah, but they're a huge part of my fighting skills," Mick groaned, taking a much less balanced, heavily leaning on his back leg. 

"And that's why Coulson wanted you to train with me," May dodged Mick's swing, sweeping Mick's back leg, leaving him crashing on the floor once more, then a quick tag with her fist to his chest. 

"I think I'd rather spar with Ward," Mick glowered. 

"You just want to hit him because of Skye," May taunted as Mick's eyes widened. 

"What?" Mick huffed as he struggled trying to convince himself to stand upright just to be knocked down again. 

"Don't act so surprised. You might be able to keep it from her, but that's only because she doesn't want to see it," May said as Mick continued to glare. 

"We're just friends!" Mick called as May smirked. 

"Whatever you say," May took her stance once more, then taunted Mick by motioning for him to try. 

He moved quickly, kicking high, only for May to back step. He then swung his right arm forward, she dodged, spinning around him, clearly toying with him. He kicked once again, this time she caught his leg, and using that momentum to flip him, landing on his chest. He slammed his hands on the mat, sweat pouring from his face. 

"I think we're done for the day," May teased as she grabbed one of the bottles of water she had on the hood of the Jeep. 

"I can go one more round," Mick lied as his muscles trembled as he managed to bring himself to his knees. 

"I don't think so. Besides, I'm tired of winning," May smirked as she tossed the other bottle to Mick.

They made their way upstairs, pausing only behind Coulson who had been watching Ward and Skye playing Battleship. "How'd the training go?" Coulson asked smirking at the bruises forming on Mick's face and arms. 

"Kid is useless without his powers," May said as she looked at Skye curiously. 

"Well, he'll get there," Coulson said with a grin. 

"Not if she kills me first," Mick sneered as May smiled. 

"What about her?" May asked gesturing to Skye. 

"She's fitting in quite well," Coulson smiled. 

"If you both don't mind, I'm hitting the showers," Mick said in annoyance. 

"Wash behind your ears, you're looking kind of green," Coulson teased as Mick reached behind his head, deciding not to flip the bird as bad as he wanted, rather rubbing the sweat from his hair.

His shower was cut short by the mission alert, so he quickly got dressed in a pair of loose shorts and a tee, then ran upstairs. Coulson hadn't already started the briefing, just pulled up a picture of an Asian looking man, with everyone else around the holotable. 

"Still got some soap in you hair," Coulson teased as Mick shook his head with a grin. 

"This is Chan Ho Yin. He's a struggling street performer until a few years ago, when Mr. Chan began to exhibit moderate pyrokinetic abilities."

"Awe, you're not alone in the world with your powers," Skye teased as Mick nodded and rolled his eyes with a grin, taking his place on the other side of Jemma. 

"How'd he get his powers?" Fitz asked.

"It's still under investigation," Coulson paused briefly looking over the team. "But Chan did live near the decommissioned Wan Tai Nuclear Plant when it caught fire. To our knowledge, no other nearby residents have exhibited similar traits."

"So how did we find out about him?" Jemma questioned. 

"An agent saw him lighting lanterns," May stared at Mick with a you know who it was glance.

"So, what's wrong with that?" Skye asked as Mick smirked. 

"It was with his pinky," Mick said as Skye seemed quite impressed. 

"That'd do it," Ward said with a smirk. 

"We told him to keep his abilities under wraps. He's been on The Index ever since," Coulson said as the smile left Mick's face, which caught Skye's attention. 

"What's The Index?" She asked harshly as Mick frowned and stared at the floor. 

"It's a list of people with powers that Shield watches," he replied solemnly. 

"Not just people, but items too," Jemma added. 

"Wait? What?" Skye said smiling as if she found treasure. "How many people are on that list?" 

May scoffed, "Not many."

"He doesn't seem to happy about that," Skye pointed at Mick. 

"Cause I was on the list," Mick grunted.

"Can we drop the list?" Coulson asked trying to refocus the team. "It's really just there to protect those individuals."

"Or terminate them," Mick said callously. 

"That's only in extreme cases," Ward added. 

"How do you know when those cases show up?" Skye asked as Mick turned away, and everyone glanced around the room unwilling to answer. 

"Well that's drastic with a side of creepy," Skye stayed sarcastically. "How are they monitored? Tapped phone lines, satellite surveillance, body probes in dark, unpleasant places?"

Coulson, Ward, and May kept a straight face while Jemma and Fitz grimaced, all the while Mick chuckled. 

"Body probes?" Fitz said sarcastically. "Shield doesn't do that," he sounded quite confident, until he looked around at Coulson and Ward's straight faces. "Do we?" 

"Methods vary," Coulson said with a stone expression, only for Fitz to shiver with a grimace. 

"Usually surveillance, in some cases you get a tail," Mick said breaking the tension, met by a nod from Coulson. 

"Back to the point," Coulson took in a deep breath. "Mr. Chan was low risk. He was assigned a case agent who checked in with him every few days." 

May then began messing with the holotable, which blacked out the screen behind Coulson. "That's how we found out he was missing," Coulson finished as the image of a recon team scouting a messy apartment opened, with an older Asian Agent standing in the center. 

May began speaking a foreign language, and the man answer, while Mick glanced curiously at Jemma and Fitz hoping for an answer as to what they were saying. They replied with a shrug as Mick looked at Ward, who only shook his head. 

"Team, this is Agent Kwan," Coulson said, before turning his glance back to the screen. "Chan Ho Yin's case agent." 

The man politely waved at the team, and they returned the favor. 

"What can you tell us?" May asked sharply. 

"Not much, I'm afraid," Agent Kwan sounded exasperated. "Chan is a magician, so at first I thought he'd made himself disappear."

"That's a bit far fetched, Magic isn't real," Fitz muttered.

Coulson glanced at Fitz who stared at the table and bit his lip nervously. "The file says you'd caught him violating his Index Agreement before."

Kwan nodded as he continued to rummage through the apartment. "On two separate occasions," Kwan looked up with annoyance on his face. "Claimed we were hampering his artistic expression." 

"Artistic expression? More like con game," Ward mumbled, only to receive an angry glance from Coulson. 

"Be that as it may," Agent Kwan smiled. "Last night, he was taken by professionals. The only thing they left behind was this scrap of aluminized material." He held up a shimmering piece of cloth in an evidence bag. 

"Fireproof clothing?" Jemma asked, leaning forward, hoping to see the image better. 

"So they knew about his powers?" Ward asked. 

"Yes, and we think we know why," Agent Kwan laid the bag on the table beside his screen. "Over the last few days tech division discovered a crack into our data stream. It's the same cyber punks who hacked us before."

Immediately Mick looked over to Skye who now had her head hung nervously. "Somehow, they got in again. It's the Rising Tide." Kwan's word brought stares and silence into the mission room. 

Coulson ended the call, dismissing the team, and giving Skye a follow me glare. Ward and May followed behind with a very stern look plastered on their faces. 

"You don't think?" Jemma started as Mick shook his head. 

"No, she wouldn't do that," Mick said firmly. 

"How well do you really know her?" Fitz asked as Mick raised an eyebrow. 

"Enough to know she didn't do it," Mick walked away without another word. 

"Oh no, you're not getting involved in this," May caught him before he could walk up the spiral stairs. 

"Someone has to defend her," Mick had a stern tone. 

"Then let her S.O. do it," May said just as stern. 

"What if he doesn't trust her?" Mick snapped. 

"Then that's on her," May stared stoically, stepping between Mick and the stairs. "You're too close to this Bellouve. You need to step back." 

Mick took in a deep breath, then a step back. Maybe May was right. He rubbed his face before shaking his head. "Then how to I make this stop?" 

"You just need to refocus your mind," May said as if it was extremely simple. 

"I thought I was focused," Mick groaned. 

"It's not going to take away your feelings, but you'll certainly be able to control them better with discipline," May said as Mick nodded. 

"Then you can train me in this too?" Mick looked up at her. 

"I can try," May smirked.

It wasn't long before Mick joined Jemma and Fitz in the mission room, where Skye was working on something quite diligently. He shook his head, trying to keep his mind on the mission rather than how beautiful she looked while focused. 

"How much longer?" Coulson entered the room, clearly still angry. 

"Almost AC," Skye said, followed by a few more clicks. 

"She's identified the remote access Trojan and the infected endpoint," Fitz started then took a breath.

"Yeah, and she's searching for a TCP to correlate the hypertext with signature information and then," Simmons picked up as if they were sharing a thought process. 

"And then she's in?" Mick finished curiously as Coulson chuckled. 

"So you understood that?" Coulson teased. 

"Not a word," Mick smiled, then glanced at Ward, nodding in agreement. 

"Done," Skye said proudly. "Hacker is in Austin, Texas." She seemed rather bothered by this, but only briefly. 

"Got a name for me?" Coulson asked as Skye shook her head. 

"Just the cafe he was working out of," she said as Coulson glanced curiously. "But I will run a check to see if any credit card charges from that day match up with any known hackers." 

A brief pause, followed by a few beeps coming from Skye's tablet. "Got something I take it?" Ward asked as Skye streamed her screen to the monitor. 

"Miles Lydon?" Mick said curiously, which caused Skye to look up at him nervously. 

"You know him?" Coulson turned to Mick. 

"Yeah, ran into him a few years ago while I was chasing Wren Hightower," Mick said as Skye's eyes widened. 

"Yeah, he's an amazing hacker. I'm surprised you hadn't heard of him," Skye said as Coulson raised a brow. 

"He infiltrated the Kremlin," Jemma sounded quite impressed. 

"Yeah, the picture of, uh, Putin shirtless on horseback, that was his hack," Fitz added as he and Jemma began to chuckle.

"Sounds like an upstanding guy. It's also his back that got Chan inducted," Ward grunted, met by a nod from Mick. 

"Sounds like we know where to start," Coulson said sternly. "May." 

"Already taken care of," May said with a smile. 

"What about Chan?" Skye sounded nervous. 

"They have a team on the ground there already," Coulson stated. "So we'll go find Mr. Lydon, and see what he can tell us."

It didn't take long before the Bus touched down in Austin. Ward, Coulson, May, and Skye went to search for Lydon, leaving Mick with Fitz and Simmons to monitor for any movements on any of Lydon's accounts. Like any great hacker, the man seemed to cover every step with a fine tooth comb. "So you dealt with this guy before?" Fitz asked as he looked up from his tablet. 

"Yeah, he was one of Wren's trusted guys," Mick sighed. "Dude could crack just about anything." 

"Like Skye?" Jemma asked as Mick raised a brow. 

"On par for sure," Mick said looking over his tablet. 

"That means we probably won't find anything huh?" Jemma asked as Mick looked up once more. 

"If Skye can track him, then we can follow her lead," Fitz said confidently.

They worked silently for a few moments before the comms buzzed, showing Coulson calling the Bus. "What's wrong, Boss?" Mick answered.

"Do you have a track on Skye's location?" 

"No? I thought she was supposed to be with May?" Jemma answered as she quickly pulled up the GPS system. 

"She was, then sometime after Skye left the diner, she gave May the slip," Coulson said as Fitz took over on the desk. 

"I see May, but she looks to be in a residential area, no businesses anywhere," Fitz said as Mick began to grow frustrated, more than likely the same as Coulson. 

"I've got Skye and Lydon. You we're going to need the team," May's voice came over the comms. 

"You heard her, load up in the SUV and head to her location," Coulson said. 

"How fun!" Jemma said with a smile, as Mick simply stared at the map curiously. 

"Fun," he muttered. "Right."

Mick followed Coulson into the apartment to see May glaring at Skye who wore a very concerned and remorseful expression. Once May noticed Mick, she switched places with Coulson and pulled Mick towards the door. "You need to tell me now if you knew anything about this," May was seething. 

"This what?" Mick stared blankly. 

"So you're not covering for her?" 

"Covering what?" Mick snapped. "I'm still not sure what's going on here." 

"So you didn't know about Skye's boyfriend?" 

Mick's eyes widened. He let out a painful sigh, then stared at the floor. Then looked back up to May. "No," Mick shook his head in disbelief. "She wouldn't," he refused to believe that. 

"May, see what you can get out of our little hacker friend," Coulson said as May nodded. "Help Ward go through this stuff." 

"Yes, Sir," Mick said breathing out the pain in his chest. He walked over to Ward, glancing at Skye, in disbelief. He tried not to eves drop on Coulson's lecture, but it was quite hard considering how loud he was. She was also quite apologetic. 

Mick rummaged through a drawer back to back with Ward as the only noise was Fitz and Simmons typing. Coulson walked passed them into the room where May had Lydon. "You look rough," Ward turned his head toward Mick. 

"Just a bit concerned," Mick said as Ward nodded in agreement. 

"You two were friends before, right?" Ward asked as Mick scoffed. 

"I thought we were," Mick sighed. 

"Gather all the evidence and secure the prisoners. We got what we were looking for here. We're going to Hong Kong," Coulson's tone spoke volumes about his state of mind. Mick hadn't seen Coulson so mad in many years. 

"Don't worry, I'll deal with Skye. She was my trainee," Ward patted Mick's shoulder before walking over to her with cuffs. 

"Guys, I'm so sorry," Skye said as Ward brought her outside. 

Mick shook his head, looking at a small book tucked under the couch where Skye had been. He reached down opening it up, seeing for transaction receipts with large amounts of money on them. "Coming?" Jemma asked as Mick nodded. He'd give this over to Coulson when they returned to the Bus.

Mick walked up to Coulson's office, seeing him propped up watching the feed of Lydon and Skye in the holding room. "What, coming to tell me you're leaving?" 

"No," Mick said firmly as Coulson smirked, then noticed the notebook in Mick's hand. 

"Taking notes then?" Coulson asked.

"Not mine," Mick said coldly, looking up at the monitor. "It's his." 

Coulson opened the book, seeing the four receipts. "Where did you find these?" 

"They were under the couch," Mick said as Coulson looked at him curiously. "Saw it when we were leaving." 

"Get these to Fitz and Simmons to verify the accounts belong to our guy, and use your discretion," Coulson smiled, met by a nod from Mick. 

It didn't take long to verify the accounts, which brought a smile to Mick's face. "You want to handle this one, or can I?" Mick asked Ward showing him the blacked out folder's contents. 

"As her SO, I want to, but I'm sure you want to as well," Ward teased. 

"As her friend, yes. I want her to know the scum she's dating is a complete fraud," Mick said. "So why don't we go together?" 

"You sure?" Ward asked with a raised brow. 

"Good cop, bad cop," Mick smirked. "Always wanted to play that game on someone." 

"Sounds fair," Ward said. "I'm bad cop though." 

"Yeah, with your people skills, I'd have a hard time believing you to be nice," Mick teased as Ward chuckled.

They walked together into the holding room, both Mick and Ward wearing the same stoic expression.

"I always knew you shouldn't be trusted," Lydon growled. 

"Funny, I'm the trusted one here and you're the prisoner," Mick sneered. 

"More like a traitor to the cause," Lydon glared. 

"Traitor? Really?" Mick smirked, as Ward stepped forward with the folder in hand. "How about we give you one chance to come clean about who the traitor really is." 

"Or we'll just show her ourselves," Ward said coldly. 

"I'd never betray the Rising Tide!" Lydon barked as Ward shrugged.

"There went your chance," Ward said setting the folder in front of Skye, then pulls out the four pieces of paper, laying them out for her to see them clearly.

"So much for your precious information is free crap," Mick sneered as Ward rolled his eyes. 

"See your boyfriend here made a few deposits, all totaling up to one million dollars," Ward stepped back as Skye stared at the receipts in disbelief. 

"What?" She snapped, if her stare could kill, then Lydon would've been dead three times over. 

"What a catch," Mick glowered, as Skye looked at Ward and Mick apologetically. 

"Look I can explain!" Lydon cried out. 

"Good luck," Ward and Mick said simultaneously. 

"Did you sell information?" Skye growled furiously. Lydon seemed to debate on how to answer, refusing to say a word. "Answer me!"

Ward began to crack his knuckles, which much to Mick's surprise was quite intimidating. "Yes or no?" Skye demanded as Lydon shifted nervously in his chair. 

"Yes, but," his words were cut off by Skye's attempt to lunge at him. 

"Oh you are so dead!" She yelled continuing to fight her restraints. "Why? What the heck were you thinking?" 

"It was a million dollars! A million dollars," Lydon kept repeating as if it would calm the rage in Skye's eyes. "It would change my life, our lives.

Both Mick and Ward stare at Skye curiously waiting for some kind of reaction. Her face remained the same, rage burning in her eyes. 

"Plus that woman was harmless," Lydon said deflated. "I looked into it."

"No one with good intentions pays that kind of money for information. Did you ever think about that?" Skye snapped as Mick and Ward looked at each other curiously. 

"Of course I did. I never would have done it if I thought," Lydon started only to have Ward interrupt.

"Who is the woman you referred to?"

"A fan of the Rising Tide, some rich girl in a flower dress." Lydon explained. "She knew all about me, said I had a gift. She thought people like us deserved more."

"Oh, you deserve more," Skye grunted. 

"She pointed me to a Chinese .S.H.I.E.L.D. feed, wanted me to crack it," Lydon said exasperated.

"You thought that was harmless?" Mick sneered. 

"I checked the data stream, it didn't seem like anything you and I hadn't already put out there, Skye," Lydon smiled. "And I traced the account where the money came from to make sure it wasn't some evil corporation. It was just an Eco-Research lab. Otherwise, I would never," he was cut off by Ward.

"What kind of Ecological research?" 

"Odd things, insects, some study with centipedes," Lydon said curiously as Ward and Mick stared at each other. "What's more harmless than that?"

"Not as smart as you thought you were," Mick glowered as he followed Ward out.

Coulson was already in the mission room when Ward and Mick arrived. "So it was Centipede?" Coulson asked as Mick nodded. 

"First LA, now Hong Kong. Just what are we dealing with here Sir?" Ward asked as Coulson frowned. 

"International, well-financed, interested in creating a super solider. Let's hope finding Mr. Chan will provide some answers. Using the account information Mr. Lydon gave us, S.H.I.E.L.D. H.Q. believes he's being held here," Coulson pointed at a map displayed on the monitor. 

"Any ideas what Centipede wants with Chan?" May asked with a frown. 

That's hard to say, but Simmons thinks that considering he's pyrokinetic," Fitz turned to Simmons. 

"There's a good chance his genetics could stabilize the Extremis element of the Centipede serum," she explained as Fitz made a ball out of his hands. 

"To keep their test subjects from going." 

"Boom!" Jemma interrupted Fitz, while Fitz mimicked and explosion with his hands

"If Mr. Chan is Centipede's lab rat, we need to get there before the experiment's over," Coulson said in exasperation.

Mick was finished tucking his clip and saber under his coat, with Ward in the lab gearing up as well, when Coulson walked in. 

"Sorry, only one of you gets to go," Coulson said as the boys eyed each other. "Guy with powers, probably should bring our guy with powers." 

This made Mick smile. "Sorry, looks like you drew the short straw this time," Mick smiled. 

"I can hold down the fort," Ward said. "This time. Good luck." Ward held out his hand as if they could arm wrestle in mid air, Mick reached up grabbing Ward's hand. And with a nod, Mick climbed into the back of Jeep.

May parked about a block away, as not to draw any attention to themselves. "Be discrete," Coulson eyed Mick in the rear view. 

"Yes Sir," Mick saluted with two fingers from his forehead. 

"Let's go," Coulson lead the way. They met up with Agent Kwan's team, and Coulson quickly began explaining the plan. May motioned for Mick to follow her. 

"Want a ride?" Mick teased as he looked up the side of the building. 

"Absolutely not," May smiled, aiming her grappling hook. 

"Fine then," Mick teased. "Race you then!" Mick shot a web from each wrist, then began sprinting up the building. Mick watched as May's hook blasted past him, landing on the roof. It was quickly followed by May in tow. After reaching the roof, Mick frowned. 

"No fair, you didn't tell me it was automated!" Mick fussed. 

"You didn't ask," May grinned as they waited for Coulson and Kwan to reach the roof.

It was clear no one expected anyone to break in from the roof, as there were no guards anywhere in sight. They made their way through the empty corridors with Fitz and Jemma guiding them over the comms. They reached a heavy steel door, when May pulled out a heat scanner. 

"We've got signatures on the other side of the door," she said folding the machine and placing it back on her belt. 

"I love this part," Coulson smiled as he pulled a small cylinder explosive from his pocket, placing it just above the handle. He turned it, before the four backed away, then a small explosion. 

May kicked the door open, two guards lunged at her, she punched one, Mick kicked the other, sending him flipping over a strange looking machine. 

"Ah, Agent Kwan, it's you," Chan said as Coulson and Kwan walked over toward him. 

"We're here to get you out," Kwan said as he began to unlatch Chan. 

"What is all of this stuff?" Mick asked as he stared at the computer screens and empty vials. 

"Nothing good," May responded. 

The doors then all slammed shut on their own. Mick turned to see Coulson take down a lab technician, then Kwan standing with a horrified face, before fire burned through his chest. 

"Coulson!" Mick called out as Coulson ran to Mick and May's side, with a large fireball changing him. 

Mick tried shooting webs at Chan, only for him to burn them upon impact, while Coulson called for backup. Chan then threw several fireballs at the steel racks Coulson and May had ducked behind. 

"Chan! We can save you!" Coulson cried out.

"I've already done that!" Chan called out. "I've melted my shackles, now I'm a free man!" 

May then began speaking a foreign language, which Mick assumed was Chinese, only for Chan to laugh. 

"So we're good right?" Coulson asked as Mick pulled him backwards with a web line as a fireball slammed into the rack, melting it. 

"I take that as a no!" Mick huffed. 

"There's no going back from this!" May yelled. 

"Chan may have gone back, but I'm not Chan anymore! I'll be forever Scorch!" Chan called out furiously, sending more fireballs at the team. 

"Oh crap, they gave him a name," Coulson groaned. 

"Are they getting the doors unlocked?" May asked as Mick and Coulson scurried around fireballs, from Chan. 

"Any minute now!" Coulson said quite flustered. "I hope." 

"Did his file say anything about him being psychotic?" Mick asked as Coulson glanced at him, shaking his head. 

"Nope, that's new," Coulson replied, loading his dentrotoxin pistol. "Think you can get me a clear shot?" Coulson asked as Mick shrugged. "If I can hit him, he'll wake up in a Shield facially."

"Waking up is optional at this point," May replied. 

"Everyone deserves a chance," Mick ducked under a fireball when he tried to get a feel for the area. "But maybe he's burned that one."

"Oh hah hah," Coulson smiled as May scowled. 

"Don't encourage that," May growled. 

Mick followed May's mark, drawing the attention of Chan, only for him to realize the trap, shielding himself with a wall of fire, melting every shot Coulson fired.

"Where are we on those doors?" May yelled as Mick drew his pistol, firing at Chan to keep him from launching more fire at Coulson. 

Chan screamed in agony as his flesh continued to burn under the heavy usage of his ability, but refused to relent his assault. 

"I'm out!" Mick called out ducking behind a pillar as fire flickered around him at incredible heat. 

"Doors are open!" Coulson yelled as Mick turned to see Chan escaping. 

"Our guy's on the run!" Mick said running to Coulson's side. 

"Great," Coulson groaned. 

"You know those tranquilizers were his last chance, right?" May asked as Coulson's face contorted, before landing on a frown. 

"Yeah," he sighed. "Now it's time for damage control." 

"What's the plan?" Mick huffed, bolstering his pistol. 

Coulson reached up, tapping his earpiece. "Fitz, Simmons. Do we have control of the computers?" 

"Not exactly, but we can see them," Jemma replied. 

"Uncuff Miles, we're going to need his help. We need to route Chan's explosion through the vents in the ceiling or it'll destroy the whole block," Coulson's plan was odd, but seemed to be decent. 

"And how to we stun Chan long enough to escape?" May asked.

"With these," Coulson picked up two syringes, handing them to May. "We better start moving before he overheats on his own."

There was screaming down the hallway, and nothing but ash and scorch marks when Coulson and the team arrived. 

"Mr. Chan, I didn't really want to hurt you," Coulson said calmly. "But you haven't really left us a choice. Mick now!" 

Mick started launching webbing at Chan, causing him to block it with his fire, leaving himself completely open to May slipping behind him. She quickly slammed the needles into Chan's shoulders, then pushed the liquid through. Chan fell to his knees, with a look of agony. 

"We need to move," Coulson urged as they sprinted for the stair well. 

Mick was quite surprised to see Ward and Skye outside the building when they finally escaped. His happiness was short lived when the explosion shook the ground, blowing out the windows of the lab with the force, but the flames flying high into the night sky. 

"If it's any consolation, Skye managed to steal a few files," Ward said as Coulson stared at the building, his face looked of regret. 

"It wasn't much, but it's at least a start in tracking Centipede," Skye tried to cheer him up with a smile. 

"Maybe," Coulson sighed.

"We can't save them all Boss," Mick grimaced.

"Especially not from themselves," Ward added. 

Coulson looked at the two of them, then at Skye. "You can if you get to them soon enough." 

Mick pondered that thought the entire ride back to the Bus. Could he have saved Wren all those years ago? What about Jake? Maybe even Reigns? 

Much to everyone's surprised he joined May and Ward at the bar in the lounge, and actually drank. "You never drink," Ward noticed as Mick downed the double shot. "Are you sure you should be doubling?" 

"Two numbers I hate changing have changed," Mick said with remorse. "My body count went up, and my friend count went down." 

"You think we're going to lose Skye?" Ward asked. 

"I really don't know," Mick handed the glass back to May who shot him a curious glance. No sooner than she picked up the bottle Coulson passed by alone. 

"Huh," Ward peaked around the corner shaking his head. 

"Hit me again," Mick groaned as May smirked. 

"Don't count her out yet," May seemed fairly confident, but still poured the shots. 

Mick lifted his cup, pausing we he caught her out the corner of his eye, standing behind Ward nervously. 

"So I'm going to Coulson's office now. I figured you might want to be there, being my SO and all," her tone was just as nervous as her mannerisms. 

"I'm off the clock," Ward drank his shot without even a glance. 

"Right," Skye bit her bottom lip then closed her eyes shaking her head. She started to walk away when Mick sighed. 

"You can save them if you get to them early enough, right?" Mick asked, looking at May for approval. May shook her head with a unsurprised grin. The then motioned for Mick to go. He quickly downed his shot before following after Skye. By the time he reached Coulson's office, the door was closed. He could hear Coulson's loud tone but couldn't make out the words. 

His head was spinning, perhaps he shouldn't have had the second double. He leaned against the wall until things fell quiet. The door to the office opened as Coulson stared at Mick curiously. "Eavesdropping?" 

"No, following your advice," Mick said as Coulson half smiled, then passed by.

Mick saw the tech band around Skye's wrist and the tears in her eyes. "So you're staying?" 

"Yeah," Skye wiped her eyes. "As long as they'll have me," 

"I was so mad earlier," Mick said, only to see Skye look down in shame. "Not because of why you think."

"So you didn't think I was a traitor?"

"No," Mick said as Skye looked up at him, wiping her eyes once more. "I was mad because I thought we the kind of friends that told each other everything." 

"I'm sorry," Skye sighed. 

"Then it hit me," Mick knelt down by her. "I wasn't honest with you in LA, and you weren't honest with me either. We were just two people in a coffee shop talking over Recluse." 

Skye chuckled, "Yeah, that we were." 

"Let's start fresh, no secrets this time," Mick held out his hand. "I'm Mick Bellouve, I work for SHIELD and have the ability to shoot webs from my wrists, and occasionally I don a costume and go by Recluse."

"Sounds fair," Skye stood up with a smile. "I go by Skye, because I refuse to use the name my adoptive parents gave me. Don't ask, I won't tell you. I am hoping to work for Shield, and maybe find out about my real parents along the way." 

"It's nice to meet you Skye," the two shook hands and for the first time, Mick felt as if they were simply just friends.