The Centipede and the Sound Ninja's Deal (Monthly Ticket Bonus Three)

"Miles?"

"Yes or no?"

"Is it true?"

Seeing how angry Skye was, Miles Lydon explained, "Yes, but..."

Skye shot to her feet in fury, wanting to hit Miles Lydon, but her arm was cuffed to the table.

"You're dead."

"What the hell were you thinking?"

Miles Lydon said, "One million US dollars."

"One million US dollars. Enough to change my life. Our lives."

"And that woman didn't have any malicious intent. I checked her out."

Skye snapped, "If she didn't have malicious intent, who would spend that much money buying that information? Did you ever think about that?"

"Of course I did. If I'd known she had ulterior motives, I never would've..."

At that moment, Ward spoke up. "Who is this woman you're talking about?"

Miles Lydon said, "A fan of the Rising Tide organization. Some rich girl in a floral dress."

"She knew me, said I had talent. She thought people like us deserved more."

Skye said furiously, "You deserved more?"

Miles Lydon glanced at Skye and continued, "She gave me a transmission signal from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Peru division and wanted me to crack it."

Ward looked at Miles Lydon. "And you thought that wasn't malicious?"

Miles Lydon looked at Skye. "I checked the data stream. It was about the same as the information you and I used to release, Skye."

"I also checked the account that wired me the money, to make sure it wasn't some evil corporation."

"It was just an ecological research Laboratory. Otherwise, I never would have..."

Ward planted both hands on the table and looked at Miles Lydon with a grave expression. "Ecological research?"

"Yeah. Studying insects, centipedes, that kind of thing."

"Studying that shouldn't be harmful, right?"

Ward and Skye met each other's eyes. In that moment, they both thought of the Centipede organization