Leading a new employee around, a manager at Cybertek’s office talks to him and asks why he decided to work there. The new recruit states the incentive program. The manager is notified about an alarm. He states to the recruit that it is good for him to see this on his first day. He leads him to a console of monitors and states that they don’t like these guys, and we see Coulson, May, Skye and Triplett at the barber shop in Cuba. The manager then announces to “let them have it.”
At the barber shop, the team quickly take care of the super soldiers, giving Skye enough time to plug in the USB drive and so they can track Garrett and Ward. May disarms the soldier with the Beserkker staff and literally brings the house down on the soldiers as the team escape.
On the bus, Garrett is notified that Coulson and the team got away. He doesn’t care and abruptly rips off the door to the lab. Quinn and Raina discuss Garrett’s sanity and well-being. Quinn is worried about not having a formula to produce a super soldier for his government tour, since Garrett took it all. Raina states they have more than enough Hydra members to demonstrate on, and if not, bringing people in with their incentives program should be more than enough.
Ward tells Garrett he’s worried about him but Garrett insists that he is more than fine after taking the drug. He begins to draw something on the glass door. They talk and Ward states that they finally have what they’ve been working for, a cure. Garrett tells Ward that he’s stuck with him and done everything he’s asked, and tells him it is his turn to get what he wants.
Skye tells Triplett and May that the virus worked and they have eyes on everything Ward and Garrett are doing. Coulson walks in and tells the team that Fitz-Simmons got the tracker on the plane but they are missing.
Simmons wakes up as she and Fitz are at the bottom of the ocean where Ward released their container. Fitz explains he rigged an EKG monitor to send out a rescue signal, but no one is listening since it is a S.H.I.E.L.D. signal. In lengthy mathematical detail, he states that there really isn’t a way out, and Simmons realizes they are going to die down there.
On the plane, Coulson goes over the plan to infiltrate the Cybertek office where Garrett is headed. He tells the team that what they do now can change the world, and asks if they want to be part of that. May quickly says “no”, but she’ ready to kick some ass.
Ward talks to Raina as she is walking in the bus, stating he’s worried about Garrett’s frame of mind. Raina goes to the holding room where Garrett is there with the Gravitonium. She tells Garrett that he should give it to Quinn as payment when he’s done with it. Garrett tells her not to be coy, that he knows she really wants it, and understands now with his new found clarity. She states she has no allegiance to Hydra, Centipede or even him, and was disappointed when she found out he wasn’t clairvoyant because she wanted to ask a question. He tells her he can see everything clearly and for her to ask. She asks, “What will I become?”
At the bottom of the ocean, talk about death, and what happens after. As Simmons goes over what they may become after, sea life, a burning star, animals, and just as Fitz is about to say something, she realizes, using the defibrillator, they can blast the window open and escape.
At the Cybertek office and base, Quinn shows around the Army General and Navy Admiral, along with other military and investors, where they make the soldiers. The General states he’ll need proof of what they can do before opening Uncle Sam’s checkbook. Quinn states that the soldiers will not just replace regular soldiers for dangerous missions, but protect them against everything else as well.
Outside the base, Triplett and Coulson use one of Triplett’s Grandfather’s gadgets to distract guards in an armored vehicle, and quickly take them out. The use the vehicle to storm the base, blowing up anything in their way, and creating an entrance for May and Skye to get in the office building.
At the same time, the General is concerned about the explosions outside, and tells Quinn to tell them what is going on. Garrett, Ward and Deathlok come in. Garrett tells the General to shut up and Quinn tries to defuse the situation by telling Garrett he should give them a demonstration. Garrett is more than happy, using his new strength to reach into the General, and taking out one of his ribs. Garrett states that evolution is coming, and this is the beginning. Ward, disgusted, asks what is this the beginning of. Garrett states, “The end,” and stabs the General with his own rib.
As Quinn is loading up the Gravitonium, and all his bags to leave. Ward talks to Raina about what she and Garrett talked about, and that he thinks Garrett has completely lost his mind. Raina states he’s more aware now, and Ward questions this “evolution”. Raina states Skye is an important part of this evolution, and that he needs to follow Garrett on this. She tells him to get Skye, but he says she thinks he’s a monster. Raina asks if he really is, or only acts like one because of Garrett’s teachings. She states they know about Skye’s parents, about the darkness that hides inside her. Raina states Skye’s true nature will come out, and when that day comes, maybe Skye and Garrett can be monsters together.
In the vehicle, Triplett and Garrett reach the entrance to the offices but are quickly trapped with soldiers attacking and another vehicle behind them. At that moment, Skye and May are inside, icing the guards and get inside the main office. Skye holds up a backpack and threatens a bomb is inside. The manager quickly gets behind a desk, stating they have taken precautions for any situation, including this one. May says, “Don’t tell me you’ve switched the soldiers to ‘default directive’?” The manager states he did…and then asks how she knew about that.
The soldiers outside of Coulson’s vehicle suddenly stop, and through their eye are ordered the default directive, and to “defend John Garrett at all costs.” Coulson jumps out, knowing the soldiers will now lead him directly to Garrett, and tells Triplett to call Armed Forces.
Ward goes to Garrett, asking what are his orders. Garrett tells him that’s up to him, and Ward yells at him to give him orders. Garrett receives a call, looking at Deathlok saying it is his handler, but when he picks up the phone it is Skye. He tells her that Fitz-Simmons were brave until their last breath, and hangs up the phone. Garrett then tells Ward he has his orders, go get Skye.
Fitz talks to Simmons about what will happen when the blow the window. Fitz states that the impact of water rushing in will be like getting hit in the stomach, 95 times, but he’s come up with a device which will give her a big enough breath to get to the surface. Confused, she asks, “What about you?” Fitz states she has to make it, and that she is a better swimmer anyway. No upset, Simmons tells him that he’s her best friend in the world and that she can’t leave him. Fitz admits that she is more than a friend to him, and that he didn’t have the courage to say it. Simmons cries, hugging and kissing his face. Fitz quickly blows the window. After a moment, Simmons comes out, pulling an unconscious Fitz up to the surface. In the middle of the ocean, she looks around not seeing anything, bobbing up and down, trying to keep them above water. Then a helicopter appears above her with Nick Fury reaching out his hand to rescue them.
Simmons wakes up in a tube and Fury tells her she is decompressing, on a jet back to land. Fury tells her Fitz is alive and just barely breathing. He tells her they found them through the make-shift beacon, and is really looking for Coulson. He asks for her help to find him.
Skye talks to the office manager, who she has her backpack duct taped to. She asks why he works for them, is it Hydra, or maybe the incentives program. Ward comes up behind her, gun drawn. He tells her that she’d never use a bomb, and she states she has something else that will destroy him. He asks why is that, and she says because you slept with her, and she’s really pissed off. May jumps in and knocks Ward down, and they begin to fight. Skye takes the office manager to help her with the incentives program.
Garrett hears a noise and sends Deathlok to check it out. Coulson appears behind Garrett and punches him. Garrett, unphased, hits Coulson, sending him about 20 feet back. As Coulson tries to find his gun, he sees someone standing in front of him. He looks up and it is Fury. Fury states he went to great lengths to keep him alive, and Coulson states he needs to talk to him about that. Fury understands but states they need to give Garrett a good punch in the teeth. Fury hands Coulson the gun he fired at Loki. Coulson shoots all the super soldiers, and Fury comes around the corner and fires several shots into Garrett. Unfortunately, the shots don’t do anything to Garrett.
May and Ward continue to fight in a construction area, trying to kill each other with various tools, until May is able to use a nail gun and nails Ward to the ground through his foot. She then gives one last kick to his face and knocks him out.
At the same time, Garrett tries to explain to Fury about the bigger picture and evolution. Fury can’t believe that Garrett had gone this crazy.
Down a hallway with several doors, Skye opens one of them with the manager still with her. When the door opens, it is the manager’s loved one. The “incentives program” is forcing people to work for them while they have their loved one locked up. Skye opens another door and it is Mike Peterson’s son, Ace.
Garrett tries to repeat Fury’s speech back to him, about becoming something bigger, but of course gets his quote wrong. At the same time, Skye asks Ace what she can relay to his Dad that only the two of them know. The manager says that they can’t communicate to Deathlok from there. Skye reveals her virus hack enabled her to become Deathlok’s handler.
Garrett orders Deathlok to kill Coulson and Fury but then Deathlok sees the message “What are we Dad? We are a team.” He then turns his gun onto Garrett and blasts him. Slightly burned and winded, Garrett tries to order Deathlok to stop. Coulson tells Deathlok he can make his own decisions, and he stomps Garrett.
Garrett is put in a steel coffin, and the military have come in to help clean up, with the super soldiers back to normal, not having received an injection, and doctors will have to remove their cyber-eye. Coulson confronts Ward, telling him among being tortured for Hydra information, Ward will have to figure out who he is without Garrett.
Deathlok watches his son from a distance. Skye comes to him and asks why he didn’t go to him. He states he didn’t want Ace to see him the way he is now. Skye tells him that Coulson is asking for him to come in. Deathlok states he has to make amends for everything he’s done.
Garrett escapes out of the coffin, and makes his way to the chair where the cyber soldiers are made. He presses the button and he, painfully, is covered in body army. As he yells in victory that he’s unstoppable, Coulson blasts him into dust with the 0-8-4 the team first recovered in Peru.
On the bus, Coulson yells at Fury about bringing him back using T.A.H.I.T.I., that it was meant only for an Avenger. Fury says, “exactly.” Fury goes on to say the pureness and entire reason for S.H.I.E.L.D. lives inside Coulson. Fury then hands Coulson a small black box, a Toolbox, and tells him he needs to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D. from the ground up. Coulson asks how to proceed and Fury tells him that’s up to him, holding out his hand calling Coulson “Director”. As Fury leaves he says it will be the last time they will see him. Coulson states probably never to be found. Fury laughs and lowers his sunglasses saying “I’ll be everywhere.”
The team open the cargo door to the bus and see Simmons. Skye asks about Fitz and Simmons states he’s alive. Coulson isn’t sure where they are but states he found the coordinates for it in the Toolbox. Suddenly someone speaks up saying that it is called The Playground. It is Koenig’s twin brother, who is just as quirky as his brother.
Raina is led down a dark hallway. A door is opened for her and she approaches someone sitting, facing the opposite way. She pulls out a picture of Skye and tells the person that she’s found their daughter.
Coulson wakes up in the middle of the night, and walks down to the lab. He touches the drawing that Garrett made on the lab door. He grabs a knife and begins to draw something similar on a wall. After sometime Coulson has filled up an entire wall with the drawing.