"I killed Loki." he said simply. "He's here, from before New York. Before New Mexico even. Made a lot of friends, they say he helps them. I say he's as arrogant as the rest of his people. I got here, I told him I'd never trust him, never forgive him, because whatever else I am, if you think I betrayed Coulson, I didn't do to him what Loki did, and what happened in New York, what he did, its beyond anything I'm capable of at my worst. He used our world as a plaything. Used it to hurt his brother. And you don't just wake up one day like that, its in you. So the seal, it took us away, to a world where those with power had it taken from them. They wanted us to fight, to die. Wanted one winner. For the most part we played it safe, but I could see it then, the arrogance. And I thought maybe, if he was humbled, if he understood what it was to suffer then maybe that would stop. I knew there was a possibility he'd come back, the seal it sometimes decides its not your time. But I knew for a fact he'd suffer. And so I convinced him I was willing to work with him, grudgingly, I fed him poison berries and I watched him die. No orders to do it, no one else. I decided. Followed my heart. So tell me Captain America, still think I have a heart worth a damn?"
Part of him wanted Rogers to take it all back, to tell him there was no redemption, no coming back from it. No heart worth saving. No chance with Skye. Fighting him would hurt, he'd lose, he knew that. Maybe, just maybe he'd go a round or two before. But he couldn't win, it would be inevitible and it would be familiar. You fail, you survive until you learn. You let them hit in the hope you'll learn to hit harder one day. It was easier than believing he was worth saving. Than thinking Skye would ever look at him and not see a monster.