Coulson is quickly thrown onto a chair, paper sack taken off his head and is standing about to be interrogated by Russian military. The interrogator steps in, checking his medical tools. Coulson looks at him and asks if he has the intel on him. The interrogator looks at him and Coulson states, “They know. Agent Shaw we have three minutes.” Before Coulson finishes Melinda and Ward come in and rescue them, taking them back to the bus.
Simmons extracts the intel Agent Shaw had, a tiny capsule, which was lodged up his nose. Coulson advises Shaw that they are headed to “the hub”, and Simmons is excited to hear the news.
As Coulson walks through the resting area on the bus, the team asks Coulson what they need to do with the intel. Coulson states that it’s classified, and this is a Level 8 mission. Everyone disperses except Skye, who is left wondering why they can’t know. The rest of the team explains there is a hierarchy for a reason, and that all Levels can’t know everything.
At the hub, a giant office complex (much like Men In Black’s HQ), Coulson and the rest of the team head for their destination. Picking up badges, Skye does not get one yet, advised by Coulson that she isn’t even at Level 1 yet. Agent Sitwell leads Coulson, Melinda, and Ward, into a secure area to meet with Agent Victoria Hand.
Agent Hand advises the intel recovered reveals a weapon that can activate another weapon, including nuclear warheads, and the Russian rebels plan to use it within the next 24 hours to claim independence from Russia. Agent Hand asks Coulson and his team to go in and dismantle the device. The problem being, they don’t have specs on the device so one of the two people to go on the mission has to have the know-how to dismantle it on site.
Coulson and Ward go to tell Fitz that he is needed on the mission, as he fumbles around a sliding door, trying to simply get a cart through, making Ward all that more hesitant.
Simmons tells Fitz that she’s worried about him going on the mission as he packs. She made him his favorite sandwich to take with him.
Melinda goes over the mission details with Coulson and Ward, advising they need to dismantle the device by 6am the following day in order to stop the rebels attack. Coulson advise Ward to use the beacon for the extraction team to come get them, and to take care of Fitz. Fitz walks in and tells Ward they need to go. Simmons gives Fitz an uneasy smile and he smiles back, and leaves. Skye is left with Coulson and she asks if they should be going with them. Coulson advises that the people who put the mission together know what they are doing.
Ward and Fitz drive to see Ward’s contact at a bar in Georgia, Russia, as Fitz rambles on about a story Ward has no interest in. Ward sets down the beacon, which unsuspectingly looks like a rock. They go in to seek Ward’s contact, Uri, but a man pulls out a gun and states he’s dead, and Ward has no friends there.
As people are resupplying the bus, Skye can’t help but wonder what is going on. Simmons puts the “night night” gun in her purse as one of the people almost knock it down. Melinda advises they need to get off the bus. Skye wants to find Coulson for answers on status of the mission.
At the Hub, Coulson and Victoria monitor the operation. She comments that it must be good for him to get off the plane, and notes that Fury has a soft spot for his favorites. When Victoria comments on Coulson going to Tahiti, he starts to say that it's a magical place, and then assures her that his people can handle it.
Tied up in the back room of the bar, Ward asks Fitz a series of questions involving worst cast scenarios for their escape. A woman comes into the room and asks if there are separatists, like Uri was. Ward states that they are there to stop them. Just wanting to get back to a game in the other room, the woman’s henchman is about to shoot Ward when the lights go out.
Skye finds Coulson and asks for an update, worried after seeing armed squads leaving. Coulson advises her to trust the system. Simmons walks up to Skye to see how it went. Frustrated, and worried, Skye convinces Simmons to use her clearance to possibly get answers.
Fitz repairs the power for the bar and the woman is very grateful. Fitz, gaining their trust, asks them for their help to get across the border.
In the back of a truck going across the border, Fitz admits he had a gadget on him that shorted the fuse in the bar, and had planned the whole thing. The truck stops and they hear gunfire. Ward is able to take out two border patrolmen, giving them enough time to run away as more start to arrive.
Through the security door, Skye directs Simmons via a communication earpiece to put in her USB drive into a high level panel, which will give her access through her laptop. Agent Sitwell sneaks up on Simmons.
Ward and Fitz find a drainage pipe to hide in.
Agent Sitwell questions what Simmons is doing. After fumbling her words, Simmons panics, pulls out the “night night” gun and knocks out Agent Sitwell. Simmons puts in the USB drive and she and Skye go to find Melinda for help.
Fitz and Ward wait in the pipe. Fitz is about to eat the sandwich Simmons made but Ward throws it into the water, stating that there are dogs looking for them. Ward also tells him and Coulson told him to take care of him, and that’s what he’s doing.
Skye is able to get on the system. She stumbles on “redacted documents” and tries to bring up the file about her parents. With almost no time left, she closes the file and tries to find Ward and Fitz location. What she finds out is that there is no extraction plan. Just then, Coulson closes here laptop. Skye tells Coulson that they were sent on the mission to die.
Coulson tells Skye that he was going to look for the file on her parents and Skye explains she was looking for Ward and Fitz location, finding out there is an aerial assault planned and there was no extraction plan. Coulson tries to tell her to “trust the system”.
Having secretly hitched a ride underneath a truck, Fitz and Ward are in the compound where the weapon is kept. Ward advises he’ll signal for the extraction. Trying to use the signal, Ward realizes, there isn’t one. He takes out two guards gaining them access to the weapon. Fitz opens the shell to get to the core to disarm it.
Coulson confronts Agent Hand about there being no extraction plan. Emotionally fired up, Coulson states his men deserved to know. Agent Hand tells him to trust the system.
Ward tells Fitz there is no extraction plan, and that he wants to take over dismantling the weapon, know what an air strike will come soon as it’s disarmed. Fitz stands his ground and says Coulson told him to protect Ward and that’s what he intends to do.
Melinda, Skye and Simmons make their way to the bus to go extract Fitz and Ward. Coulson joins them as well.
Fitz dismantles the weapon and Ward sets off the beacon, notifying the hub and beginning the air strike. Fitz takes out the core and rewires it to disarm weapons he points at with hit. He disarms guards as Ward fights and takes them out.
They run outside, but are now surrounded by guards. The cavalry, or Melinda, shows up in the bus. She points one of the jets towards the guards and blows them away.
At the hub, Agent Hand asks Agent Sitwell if Coulson’s team is clear so they can finish. She smiles at the fact that Coulson’s team saved their own people.
Back on the bus, Fitz tells Simmons about saving Ward. Smiling he asks how the hub was. Simmons states she shot a superior officer, and Fitz smile quickly disappears.
Coulson goes to Skye’s bunk and lets her know he found the redacted file. He states that the file wasn’t about her but about a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who dropped Skye off at an orphanage. Skye hugs him and Coulson, almost teary-eyed, does his best to keep his composure.
Coulson goes to his office and Melinda is there reading the redacted file. Coulson states he told her the truth about an agent dropping her off, but didn’t tell her way, stating that he can’t. “Some secrets are meant to be kept secret” he says. He asks for Melinda’s help to find out what really happened. Melinda stares down at the file which reveals a woman’s face, and a picture of a body dead on the ground.
Alone in his office, Coulson tries to call and check the file on himself, his recovery file but the person states he doesn’t have clearance.