Coulson turned to Skye and said, "I understand, which is why I had May follow you."
"Looks like it wasn't for nothing."
Skye glanced at Ward, but he ignored her. She looked toward Killer Bee, but he didn't even glance in her direction.
It was clear Skye was unaware of how traitors were treated in the Ninja Village.
Quietly, Fitz asked Simmons, "Why would Skye do this to us for him?"
"I thought we were friends."
Simmons glanced at Skye, who was sitting on the couch, and replied, "I think we are."
"But he's obviously more than just a friend."
Fitz looked puzzled, "But we've been through so much together, and she didn't even tell us she had a boyfriend."
Simmons reasoned, "Who knows what they've been through together?"
…
Meanwhile-
May was interrogating Miles Lydon.
"The classified information you stole from us—who did you give it to?"
Miles looked at May and replied, "It's information. It belongs to no one."
May pressed on, "Why did you contact Kabuto Yakushi?"
"I don't know who that is. Why don't you tell me?"
Hearing noises from the living room, Miles glanced in that direction, then looked back at May and said, "Are you planning on smashing all of my things?"
May responded without a care, "Yes."
At that moment, Coulson walked in and asked, "Any leads?"
May shook her head.
Miles spoke up, "I don't need to explain anything to you."
Coulson, unmoved, said coldly, "Take him in."
May grabbed Miles and dragged him out. Coulson turned to the rest of the team and said, "Gather all the evidence and secure the suspect."
"We've found what we needed here. Let's head back to New York."
At this point, Ward, holding handcuffs, walked toward Skye.
Skye, feeling regretful, said, "I'm really sorry, Ward."
"It's not what you think."
Ward didn't respond, "Hands out."
Skye said nothing more, extending her hands as Ward cuffed her.
"Get up."
Skye stood up and followed Ward outside.
Simmons came over and whispered, "You missed a button."
Skye glanced down at her shirt, sighed, and didn't say anything further.
…
San Francisco-
Inside a research facility, Raina looked at Kabuto Yakushi and said, "I hope this lab will meet your expectations."
"The entire building will be your private domain, including the underground levels and all the lab equipment. It's all yours if you help us develop the stabilizer."
Kabuto glanced around. The building had five floors above ground, each covering 4,000 square meters, plus two underground levels. With all the equipment, it was a considerable investment.
"No problem. Let's sign the contract."
Raina's secretary immediately produced the documents for Kabuto to sign. After checking the contents, Kabuto signed his name.
"From today, this place is yours," Raina said, taking the signed documents and leaving with her secretary.
…
On an Airbus plane-
Miles Lydon sat in the interrogation room, across from Skye.
"Looks like due process isn't really S.H.I.E.L.D.'s style," Miles said.
Skye responded, "They won't waste too much time on you."
Miles, surprised, said, "Are you defending them?"
"These people trample over our basic rights."
Skye sighed, "This isn't about you or me. They want to know who's behind this."
Miles glanced at the camera on the wall, "Listen to yourself. That's their usual excuse for invading privacy, Skye."
"These people represent everything we despise."
"Secrets, censorship."
Skye snapped, "Save your words, Miles."
Miles raised his voice, "We can't let them get away with this!"
"Manning leaked military documents to WikiLeaks, Snowden exposed CIA secrets, Aaron Swartz fought against online censorship. They are modern revolutionaries."
Skye shouted back, "This isn't the same! You leaked—"
…
Meanwhile-
Outside the room-
Ward watched the video of their conversation, frowning slightly. He turned to Fitz and Simmons and said, "This guy is being evasive."
"There's definitely something wrong with him. I can feel it."
Simmons, scanning through documents, replied, "But we don't have much on him. No family records, his apartment is listed under a fake name."
"He also spends a lot of time playing Minecraft, where he runs a crime syndicate," Simmons added.
Ward ordered, "Keep digging."
…
Elsewhere-
Coulson watched the interrogation video in his office when May walked in.
Coulson noticed May's silence and said, "If you've got something to say, just say it."
May replied, "I'm not that petty."
Coulson looked at her, "But you saw it coming. I trusted my instincts, even though you saw her as a liability."
May said, "If someone breaks into my house, I usually don't invite them to stay, but that's just me."
Coulson nodded, "I used to feel the same way, but then an alien staff pierced my heart."
May quipped, "Are you sure it wasn't your brain?"
Coulson stared at her, "You're not great at comforting people, are you?"
May shifted the topic, "So what's your instinct now?"
Coulson paused for a second before responding, "She's still hiding something."
Just then, Simmons rushed in, "Sir, we've found evidence."
Ward entered the interrogation room, standing between Skye and Miles. He looked at Miles and said, "She's been defending you, saying you're an honest man."
Ward threw something onto the table, "So I'll give you a choice. You tell her, or I will."
Miles scoffed, "I don't owe you an explanation."
Ward grabbed the item from the table, "You're out of chances. I'll do it."
Ward opened the envelope, pulling out the contents as he spoke.
"Your boyfriend made several deposits in the days following the data leak."
"The total was around one million dollars."
As Ward laid the deposit slips on the table, Skye turned to Miles and asked, "What's going on?"
Ward added, "Quite the stand-up guy."
Miles, trying to explain, said, "I can explain."
Skye looked at him with disappointment, "Are you selling information?"