As the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. find their place in the future, one character continues to be a mystery for Director Phil Coulson and the team: Deke. Introduced in the Season 5 premiere, Deke has stuck by the team since they first arrived, but his methods and morals have left them all -- and Daisy in particular -- in precarious positions. However, if the flashback episode "Rewind" was any indication, Deke may be a lot closer to the team than anyone (including himself) realizes.

In "A Life Earned," Deke offered the first real clue about his parents and their role in the True Believers. "I was nine... when my mother got dragged away and murdered," he revealed. "Kasius got rid of all the elders, all the smart people, and she was one of them. And after she was gone, my dad took up the cause. He carried the torch for her and, as I got older, I begged him not to. I said that they were going to get him too, and I was right. He got sent to the roaches, just like the rest of them."

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Here, Deke makes it clear that his parents were the staunchest of True Believers, so much so that it led to their deaths. His character looks to be in his late 20s or early 30s, which may indicate that he is only two generations removed from those who lived on Earth before it was destroyed. If that's the case, his parents may have interacted with -- or perhaps are even the children of -- a generation that grew up on Earth when it was whole.

Per "Rewind," Lance Hunter knew of the cataclysm to come and promised Fitz that he would stick around to take care of Robin Hinton, the young Inhuman girl who made the dire prediction. What's more, he said he'd bring his on-again, off-again partner Bobbi "Mockingbird" Morse into the fold. "We'll look after those two. Bobbi could use a good cause," he told Fitz, just before Fitz went into a cryosleep that lasted until the year 2091.

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With foresight like that, Hunter likely stuck around the bunker. If he followed through on his promise to Fitz, that increases his chances, since he would have literally protected Robin from the end of the world by keeping her there. This suggests that Hunter -- and Bobbi by extension -- would have survived Earth's destruction, living out the rest of their days in the Lighthouse.

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If Hunter and Bobbi were around for the formative days of the Lighthouse's society, then, they likely had a hand in crafting the True Believers. After all, they not only knew Coulson and his team first-hand but were also aware of how and why they were sent forward in time. That, combined with their relationship to Robin Hinton, would lead to the perfect storm in which the True Believers were created.

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Should this be the case, anyone who knew Hunter and Bobbi personally would be very dedicated to the cause. What's more, the on-again, off-again couple would certainly have had the time to start a family while stranded in the Lighthouse. If they did start a family, any child of theirs would have very personal stakes in the fight -- enough so that they would bet their life on it, just like Deke's parents did. If Mockingbird and Hunter's potential child became a parent to Deke, that would explain why they would risk it all for the True Believers.

Hunter and Bobbi may not have even needed to have a child of their own to directly impact Deke. By agreeing to watch over Robin, they may have essentially "adopted" the young clairvoyant. It's possible that, over the years, Robin came to terms with her abilities and how to use them, paving the way for a semblance of a "normal" life in the Lighthouse. If that's the case, she may have grown up and had a child of her own: Deke. However, this seems less likely, as Deke would have undergone the Terrigenesis process at 18 like the other children of the Lighthouse and he does not appear to have any Inhuman abilities at this time.

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For now, Deke's parentage remains a mystery -- but it won't be for much longer. In "A Life Earned," Deke revealed that he heard his father's voice calling for Virgil on the broadcast sent from the Earth's surface. After he explained that his parents were killed, he continued, "That's why it was pretty strange to hear his voice... If he's alive out there, I don't just want you to succeed. I need to be there when you do."

Seeing as May was sent to the Earth's surface, it seems likely that Coulson and the rest of the team will follow suit in an effort to rescue her. Since Deke's father has been established as not only alive but surviving there, they will probably run into him as they head into the unknown. If that's the case, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will reveal the secret behind Deke's parents sometime very soon.

Airing Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5 stars Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Chloe Bennet, Henry Simmons, Ian De Caestecker, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Elizabeth Henstridge, Nick Blood, Jeff Ward, Eve Harlow, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Coy Stewart.