Coulson | Ward.
No. It's not. That's not how you learn. You don't learn isolated, on your own, with nothing and nobody to fall back on. That's not how this works. That's not how SHIELD was supposed to work.
That's what you meant. That's what you meant by Garrett broke you down. I wondered, but I never actually thought...
You don't owe him anything, Ward. Not if an existence as an obedient puppet is what he foisted on you, you don't owe him a damn thing.