As Coulson turned to leave the interrogation room, Ward quickly spoke up, "Wait, you can't do this…"
"This definitely isn't by the book…"
But before Ward could finish, Coulson had already closed the door, leaving the room.
Seeing Coulson leave, Ward internally sighed with relief.
However, he knew he still had to put on a good act, knowing there were cameras in the interrogation room.
He understood Coulson's strategy—he needed to play along to earn Skye's trust without giving himself away.
With Coulson gone, Skye's interest was piqued. Recalling Ward's earlier comments, she removed her jacket, revealing her figure.
"You look tense, Agent Ward," she teased.
Ward glanced at her, then raised his head, saying, "I'm recalling my training."
As an agent, he had undergone training on how to handle truth serums.
"I would never reveal any classified information to someone who's out to sabotage us."
Skye stood up from her seat and moved closer to Ward, leaning in and whispering, "How many have you killed?"
Ward hesitated briefly, then closed his eyes as if trying to recall something difficult. Eventually, he responded, "High-risk targets. But they were all bad people."
Skye circled around him, leaning forward on the table, looking at him closely.
Ward continued, "They were trying to kill good people, but even after that, I didn't feel great."
Skye asked, "Does your grandmother know about these things?"
Ward looked at Skye with a pained expression, "Grandma?"
The two then engaged in a long conversation that lasted for an hour.
…
Meanwhile-
Michael Peterson returned to the factory where he used to work, pleading with his supervisor to give him his job back.
However, the supervisor, while inspecting the workshop, paid little attention to Michael and said, "There's nothing I can do, Mike. It's company policy."
"You didn't meet the workload requirements, so I had to let you go."
Michael walked alongside the supervisor, pleading, "Gary, I've got nothing else. It's just me and my son."
"I need a job to support us."
The supervisor stopped walking and once again refused, "There are no positions available."
"Even if there were, Mike, there are a hundred other guys just like you waiting in line, but they don't complain when their backs hurt."
Michael tried to explain, "I was injured back then, but I'm much stronger now."
"I can do twice the work I used to," Michael offered, desperate to get his job back.
But the supervisor wasn't convinced and responded, "Didn't you hear me? You're not up to the task. When I say push the stuff away, I need…"
At that moment, Michael glanced at a cart stacked high with goods and, in a show of strength, shoved it several meters away, knocking over a shelf.
"Like this?"
Seeing Michael's display of power, Gary yelled in anger, "Are you out of your mind?"
Hearing the supervisor's scolding, Michael placed his hand on the supervisor's face and pushed him with such force that the supervisor was sent flying.
Gary tumbled through the air and crashed into a stack of steel pipes, knocking them over as he hit the ground, unconscious.
Looking at the fallen supervisor, Michael pointed to the nearby workers and said:
"These are people, Gary."
"People."
"Not parts you can just replace when they're broken."
As he spoke, Michael grabbed an oxygen tank from nearby and held it in his hand.
Gary, lying on the ground, pleaded, "It's not my fault. Blame the company—it's the company's policy."
"I'm not a bad guy, I'm not the villain here."
Michael stared coldly at the supervisor and replied, "No, you are."
"It's simple, just like the stories I used to read—you're the villain."
"And I am the hero."
With that, Michael swung the oxygen tank and brought it down on Gary's head.
…
An hour passed, and as the effects of the drug wore off, Ward passed out in the interrogation room.
Skye had already left and made her way to Coulson's command room.
Coulson glanced at the screen showing Ward and asked, "What did Ward tell you?"
"He said he went to Paris but didn't see anything."
"He also said you should have stayed on Tahiti."
Coulson chuckled and replied, "It's a magical place."
Skye looked around the room and then said, "Ward doesn't like your style, but I do."
"And what about his?"
Just then, Coulson received a message, and with a wave of his hand, he projected the video onto a nearby screen.
A female reporter appeared on the screen, saying, "The situation remains critical. Employees didn't recognize the attacker, but surveillance footage confirmed it."
"This man assaulted the factory supervisor and then caused thousands of dollars in damage to factory equipment."
Soon, Michael's image appeared on the news, along with footage of him damaging the equipment.
Seeing this, Skye froze, then turned to Coulson and said, "This isn't right."
"This isn't…"
"The man I met—he just needed a bit of luck or a job."
Coulson looked at Skye, nodded, and said, "Then let's give him some luck."
"What did you find?"
Skye, realizing that there was no longer a need to keep secrets, handed over the employee ID she had stolen from Michael.
…
At the same time-
May, Fitz, and Simmons, who had been investigating the explosion site, had all returned to the plane.
Coulson pressed his earpiece and said, "May, Fitz, Simmons, come here."
The three of them quickly entered, and Coulson handed the employee ID to Fitz.
"Fitz, check his records."
Fitz took the ID and placed it on the workstation in the command room for scanning.
Soon, all of Michael's information appeared.
"Michael Peterson, factory worker, married, has one child."
"Injured, laid off, wife left."
After hearing Fitz's report, Coulson said, "He's a good man, just had a bit of bad luck."
"The most likely scenario is that someone told him they could make him stronger, give him superpowers."
May then asked, "Who would have that kind of technology, and what's their purpose?"
Coulson didn't answer immediately but instead asked, "Fitz, any clues from the surveillance footage before the explosion?"