Coulson did not need to explain; Constantine could see what was troubling him.
The operational logic of this mission differed from every mission Coulson's team had undertaken after the Hydra Rebellion. Back then, they discovered or encountered threats themselves and dealt with them for the sake of the friends around them. They could see their objectives and knew who they were fighting for. But this time, they could not see the objective. Their orders came from the Emperor and the Praetorian Guard, and one of the most important members of S.H.I.E.L.D. now stood against the bonds they had built together. Unless they were actively carrying out the mission, none of the agents could know any details—orders were issued, received, and carried out, with no questions and no openness or honesty. That had been how S.H.I.E.L.D. operated in the past, a model Agent Coulson had rejected. He had once sworn to his team that he would make S.H.I.E.L.D. a real S.H.I.E.L.D., not a cold and merciless intelligence agency.
"You want to be a vigilante instead of an agent because you don't want to take responsibility." There was no chair in the room suitable for Constantine, and he preferred standing anyway. He liked looking down on the troubled Agent Coulson, creating in conversation a pressure as sharp as the Spear of the Garrison in his hand. "If you want to be a vigilante, then go fight crime in the streets and leave saving the world to people who are more professional. Professionals know how to reduce casualties, and they have to answer for them. Vigilantes don't. Vigilantes can throw away every rule and do whatever they want."
"This is about upholding S.H.I.E.L.D.'s justice," Agent Coulson shot back without hesitation. "The S.H.I.E.L.D. under Nick Fury was too massive, too bloated. Back then, S.H.I.E.L.D.