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Five minutes later.
Skye walked into Boss Anthony's office.
She wore a hoodie and the battered backpack she never parted with; she still looked like a van-dwelling hacktivist, completely out of place here.
But her eyes betrayed deep exhaustion and anxiety.
"What's up, our genius hacker?"
Anthony stood up, struck the pose of a caring big brother, and walked to the bar. "Drink? I've got top-shelf bourbon."
"No thanks."
Skye tossed her backpack onto the sofa, voice hoarse. "I… I've hit a wall."
"Oh?" Anthony leaned against the desk, glass in hand. "There's a wall in this World that can stop 'Rising Tide'?"
Skye bit her lip, eyes full of frustration. "I found… I found a lead on my parents. A 1989 file, codename 084."
"But the rest is locked inside S.H.I.E.L.D.'s core database—physically isolated. I can't get in."
Skye lifted her head, big eyes glistening with tears, and stared straight at Anthony.
"Anthony… you said you're after the truth. You said you'd help me."
"I want to know who I am. I want to know whether my parents… really abandoned me."
Anthony looked at her in silence.
Of course he knew who she was.
Daisy Johnson, Quake, an Inhuman.
When you thought about it, the Kree had really gone to great lengths for Earth.
The Obelisk, Terrigen Crystals, the Kree temple.
Every powered person they'd engineered—including Captain Marvel.
Anthony was extremely interested in those Terrigen Crystals.
If he could control the Inhumans… Vought's map would no longer stop at Earth.
"You want in?" Anthony stepped up, bent slightly, bringing his gaze level with hers.
"More than anything."
"Then stop knocking on the door from the outside." Anthony pointed toward the window—toward S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Triskelion. "If you want to crack a vault, don't bring dynamite; get the bank manager to open it for you."
Skye froze. "Meaning?"
"Trojan horse, Skye."
Anthony's smile turned meaningful.
"What does S.H.I.E.L.D. need most right now? Your leaks have them frantic, HYDRA moles have them paranoid. They need talent—especially a squeaky-clean tech prodigy."
"You mean…" Skye's eyes widened. "…walk right into the trap?"
"Strategic deep cover."
Anthony straightened and poured himself a glass of milk.
"Nick Fury's a suspicious old fox, but also a madman who cherishes talent. If they catch the Rising-Tide hacker, odds are they'll recruit you. Sure, they'll watch you—but they'll believe they can control you."
"Once you're inside, with an internal interface…"
Anthony tapped her temple.
"…what firewall on Earth could stop you?"
Skye's heart pounded.
It was an insane plan.
But this was S.H.I.E.L.D.—Agents, assassins, super-prisons.
"What if… what if they don't play by the book?" Skye's voice trembled. "What if they decide I'm too dangerous and just eliminate me? Or lock me up in some secret S.H.I.E.L.D. prison?"
"After all… lately I've been stripping them bare every day."
Fear.
Normal.
Anthony looked at the girl whose voice was shaking.
Right now she wasn't the Quake who could shatter cities—just a runaway hacker craving the truth.
"Skye."
Anthony suddenly reached out and clasped her ice-cold hand.
That warm, strong touch steadied her trembling body.
"Look at me."
Skye lifted her gaze into those sea-blue eyes.
"Do you know who I am?"
"You're… Homelander."
"Exactly." The corner of Anthony's mouth curved in arrogant confidence. "I'm Homelander. I'm the most powerful being on this Planet."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has helicarriers, Quinjets. But to me…"
He chuckled, dripping disdain.
"…they're nothing."
He squeezed her hand, voice low.
"If they dare lay a finger on you."
"If they dare lock you in any cage."
"I'll rip open their helicarrier, crush their Triskelion. I'll find you and take you home."
On this Earth, no person, no place, no wall can stop me."
Understand?"
Buzz—!
Skye's mind went blank.
The words were domineering, outrageous—yet so reassuring.
In a World of lies and schemes, a living god had promised her absolute protection.
Skye looked at Anthony, nose stinging, fear fading from her eyes.
"…Got it." She drew a deep breath and broke into a bright smile—one she hadn't worn in ages. "Then you'd better keep your word, boss."
"I never break a promise."
Anthony let go, pulled something from a drawer, and gently fastened it around her slender wrist.
It looked like an ordinary mechanical watch.
"This is?" Skye brushed the dial.
"Your insurance."
Anthony pointed to a tiny stud on the crown.
"Fresh from Vought Labs, custom for the Seven. No network, no signal—S.H.I.E.L.D. scanners will read it as a regular mechanical watch."
"But twist this knob, and—"
He tapped his own ear.
"—it emits a special ultrasonic pulse. Humans can't hear it, dogs can't, S.H.I.E.L.D. gear can't detect it."
"Only I can."
He bent to her ear and whispered.
"Wherever you are, whenever you call me… I'll come to take you home."
Skye caressed the watch; the cold metal now felt almost burning with warmth.
"All right." She lifted her head, eyes bright. "I'm in."
Smart as she was, she knew this wasn't charity; Homelander wanted something in return.
That didn't matter.
What mattered was that she finally had someone at her back.
"Ding! Special popularity +10,000 (from Mary Sue Potter)."
The system alert echoed in Anthony's mind.
"Excellent… Mary Sue." Watching Skye's departing figure, Anthony's smile turned meaningful…