[flight attendant hands Ward two bottles of alcohol]
Thank you. These should keep me warm. This gonna get you in trouble?
FAFlight Attendant
Up here, I control everything.
Always? You ever find yourself completely out of control?
FAFlight Attendant
I'll be in Moscow soon enough with a day off. Come see for yourself.
I wish I could, but I'm not going to Moscow. This was the only flight I could find passing over Zepkow. [whispers into her ear, she backs away in terror] [on intercom] Ladies and gentlemen, please return to your seats and keep your seat belts fastened. You may experience some turbulence coming up. Don't be alarmed. That's just your pilot diving to equalize cabin pressure before you freeze to death. Oh, and, uh... from all of us here at Hydra, thanks for flying the friendly skies. [clicks detonator, explodes out of airplane]
I don't know. I think... yes.
Yeah, of course you do. He's strong and smart. And you gave each other hope on the edge of nowhere.
You think I didn't look for dirt on him? I did, and there's nothing. I can't hate him, he's great. Why else would you fall for him? He did everything right.
And you dove through a hole in the universe for me.
I know you're all about rebooting Hydra and all that. But do you know much about our history, our origin?
Yeah, World War II, Red Skull used Nazi funding to build this old empire...
[laughs] Red Skull was following the principle that Hydra was built upon, that the ultimate power was not of this world, but Hydra... well, we're much, much older than that.
Thousands of years ago, an Inhuman was born on this planet that was destined to rule it, so powerful, so fearsome that others were consumed with dread, and so they banished it from the Earth, sent it through the portal to a distant planet. Hydra was founded with the sole purpose of engineering its return. Over generations, Hydra's taken different shapes. The entity has been given different names. But every generation has sent men through the portal, hoping to save or at least serve our leader on the other side. Now we're building an army for it to command when it returns, and you and I will rule beside it.
Okay. That's, uh... a lot to take in.
[chuckles] Well, it's a tall tale. I know.
And why exactly should I believe a word of it?
Because we're closer than ever to the final chapter. We're gonna write it ourselves. But you don't have to believe me. I know you want revenge, to cut the head off of S.H.I.E.L.D., to watch it writhe. I'll help you do that.
You'll help me learn how S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to achieve something with the portal that Hydra, in thousands of years, has never been able to accomplish.
They brought someone back.
[Coulson, Hunter and Bobbi have kidnapped Grant Ward's younger brother, Thomas Ward, and taken him prisoner aboard the Quinjet]
TWThomas Ward
Please don't kill me.
That's not very reassuring when he's got a gun to your head.
I hate to break it to you but your brother isn't a very nice guy.
You're the one who just kidnapped me. What's wrong with you people?
Ward hurt someone I care about. And as far as we can tell, you're the only thing left in this world that he cares about. Which means, you're the only way I can draw him out.
Okay... but you better finish him off when you do.
[surprised] Honestly I wasn't expecting that.
It's what Grant's always done; hurt people and lie to himself about it.
So all that talk about a "traumatic childhood" is... just rubbish then?
Sure, whatever he told you about our parents is true. See my Dad, he had some... real anger issues, and my Mom... well she had Dad issues. So they spent most of their time taking those issues out on us.
What about your brothers, you're close?
Christian was a lot older, so we never really hung out much, but Grant... he was my best friend. Protected me from Mom and Dad, and Christian. Then one day he... didn't.
The day he pushed you down the well.
Grant totally changed after that. It was like he felt guilty but couldn't admit what had really happened. Instead he kept promising never to let anyone hurt me again.
Slightly unnerving coming from the guy who just chucked you down a well.
You two keep in touch? Family reunions, holidays, that sort of thing?
Grant was 17 when he burned my parents house down with Christian inside. Ever since I've made sure to give him a pretty wide berth.
[to Coulson] Pretty sound logic actually.
Well, you don't really seem like your brother.
Just because you grow up in a family of abusive monsters doesn't mean you have to become one.
Is everything they're saying true?
Don't listen to them, they're the bad guys. They killed someone I love very much.
Then why is this happening?
They know how much I care about you. They wanna hurt me.
It's been almost 15 years.
I tried to see you, Mom and Dad made that impossible. They kept you hidden.
That wasn't Mom and Dad, that was me. I changed my name and moved so you'd never find me.
'Cause I didn't wanna let you hurt me again!
Really? One time? Then explain what the hell you did to Mom and Dad!
No you killed them! And Christian too!
You know what type of people they were, they hurt us both, I couldn't let that happen again.
Dad needed a walker to get around, who was he gonna hurt?
I know this is tough to hear, but sometimes you gotta do a bad thing for the right reasons.
Stop trying to justify what you did, just stop! You know they were my parents too? And yeah, they were horrible people, but you are so much worse! You set them on fire!
Thomas, calm down, listen to me for a second...
[Coulson takes the phone from Thomas]
All we have to do is take control of the castle and open the portal so they can return.
So, just take the ultra-fortified Hydra castle and open the alien portal. That's it? You know, you're wired different than most folks.
I'm not saying it'll be easy.
I wouldn't mind hearing it's gonna be easy.
Doesn't work if I know you're lying.
[Fitz and It discover the ruins of an ancient city on Maveth]
Jemma never told me there was an ancient civilization here. [takes pictures with his phone]
She never saw it. We're still in the No-Fly Zone.
[they continue walking]
What else do you know about the ancient city? What happened to it... [It collapses on his damaged leg] Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, hey, hang on, [helps It up] hang on. Let me fix that. [takes off his backpack and begins searching in it]
There used to be nine cities on this planet. The beings who lived there were fairly advanced. But they feared change, they were easily divided. They warred among themselves, destroyed their entire race.
You seem to know a lot about them. [pulls out a first aid kit and prepares to tend to It's bandaged leg]
They had a chance, to become something great, something beautiful, but, in the end...
How do you know so much about... [pulls aside the bandage to discover that Will's leg has rotted to the bone]
IIt
No. Will died saving Jemma. From me.
Saw something terrible today. When I say "terrible," I mean ancient and powerful. It's changed how I see things. I've never believed I was worth anything... that what I said or did had any meaning. Maybe that's why I'm a spy. Or why I agreed to come here.
If you're trying to talk me out of this, you can save your breath.
I'm not looking for mercy or absolution. I just want you to know, I've been where you are right now. Filled with rage, wanting revenge... I chose Hydra for petty, personal, selfish reasons... for a father figure, for vengeance... for closure. But what I saw today gave my life meaning. For the first time ever, I have a sense of satisfaction that I never experienced when I was seeking revenge.
[shoots Ward in the arm] Gotta say, feels pretty satisfying to me.
