My whole life I wanted to know who my parents were and why they gave me up. My search has taken over my whole life, it stopped me from really living. Then I met the team and they gave me something to live for, the family I never had. I could truly be myself without hiding behind the mask I always used to wear. Now my smiles aren't faked. Now I have a reason to smile.
When I was little I always dreamed that my parents would come for me, but they never did. I grew up in a world of hate. The slightest thing you did wrong and the punishments would be severe, the foster families would see the scars and think it was okay, that we deserved it and why wouldn't we, we were orphans. Unloved. Unwanted. It got to the point where you felt you deserved it, that you could never be normal. I used to be ashamed of my scars but A.C taught me different, they were a badge of honour. I walked through hell and I'm still standing. He told me that sometimes the real heroes aren't always shown on TV or social media, their the ones who go through so much pain but don't let it define who they are. He called me a hero for surviving all the abuse that no one should live through and the ridicule for something I might have become, I told him he was wrong, that I was no hero, he just said that that's what heroes usually say.
It was not long after that I decided that S.H.I.E.L.D wasn't so bad, after all, they protect those who can't protect themselves. I spent so long searching for the family that gave me up that I missed out on the fact that I had made one for myself. They saw something i me that i hadn't, potential. Sometimes it's nice to know where you came from but it's not as important as where you have been. I think it's time to stop looking back when I could be looking forward. I realised that I can't change the past but I can shape the future. With my family at my side, I feel that maybe, maybe tomorrow won't be so bad.