Coulson Squared

Enter the Asset

"How will you come at us?" the girl in her van said. You had gathered that she was recording a new something-or-other for the Rising Tide, obviously meant for the people that were standing outside. You were halfway between impressed and amused with the fervor in which she spoke.

"From the air?" she continued. "From the ground? How will you silence us this time? How can you? The truth is in the wind. It's everywhere. You cannot stop The Rising Tide. You will not find us. You will never see our faces. But rest assured We will rise against those who shield us from the truth. And nothing--nothing!--can stop us in the--" Agent Ward had had enough, and slammed open the door, catching her red-handed.

"Hey," she greeted the three of you uneasily. "What up?"

Ward forced a bag over her head before she could do anything else. She tried to resist, but after he threatened her, she made the smart decision and stayed quiet. Ward drove the dinky van back to the plane, where she continued to struggle until you sat her down in the dimly lit interrogation room.

"You guys are making a big mistake," she said as the bag was lifted from her head. Her hair was kind of a mess.

"You don't look that big," Ward commented.

"Hey, uh, sweetheart? Your hair is, well," you exchanged glances with your father. "It's been compromised, so to say."

"No thanks to you," she mumbled, trying to fix it.

"Sorry for the lack of finesse," Phil apologized. "Agent Ward here has had a little history with your group--The Rising Tide."

She tried to play it off. "I don't know what you're--"

"Okay, there are two ways we can do this," Ward interrupted her.

"Oh," she smirked. "Is one of them the easy way?"

"No," he stated.

"Oh."

"What's your name?" Phil asked.

She waited a moment before answering reluctantly, "Skye."

"Skye," you repeated. "I like that. It's a nice cover name."

"What's your real name?" Ward questioned, placing a lot of emphasis on 'real'.

"That can wait. It's another name we need--a certain hero," Coulson the Elder hinted.

"What makes you think I know that?" This chick was a terrible liar.

"Well, you made a little mistake. The phone you filmed the hooded hero with had the same cryptographic signature as a few of The Rising Tide posts," he pointed out.

"It's okay, 'Skye'," you comforted her, putting air quotes around 'Skye'. "It happens to the best of us."

"Wow," she muttered. "Yeah. Was that a mistake? Or am I now sitting In the center of your secret headquarters? What is this?" She looked around the room, as if it would help her identify what she was inside of. "A plane?"

"Good guess," you nodded quietly.

"I got inside. And by now, you've discovered you can't beat the encryption on my equipment, so," she shrugged, "you got nothing."

"We have a fairly strong coincidence--you being on the scene right before it went up in flames," Phil pointed out. "Want to tell me what my team is gonna find out? How did you know the hooded man was in the building?"

"Did you blow it up to draw him out?" Ward inquired threateningly.

"Did you?" she returned quickly.