Thanks to Stewart and Tracy for beta-ing this for me.

"Sometimes it feels like we're living on this damn plane," Mack said to Coulson as they sat next to each other on Zephyr One. "I can't wait to get back to the base."

"Looking forward to seeing Agent Rodriguez?" Coulson teased. "It seems like you two are getting along well these days."

Mack tried and failed to hide a smile. "Yeah. Well, we're not the only ones."

Coulson nodded. "I'm happy for Fitz and Simmons. It's been a long road for them, but they're in a good place now."

"Agreed...but I wasn't talking about FitzSimmons."

"Oh. So...who were you talking about?"

"You know who."

"Voldemort?"

"Come on, Coulson! What's going on with you and May?"

Coulson hoped he wasn't blushing. "May and I are just friends. Good friends. We've known each other a long time."

Mack laughed. "You're going to pretend that lately you two haven't been-" Coulson's ringing cell phone cut him off.

"Duty calls," Coulson said, smiling as he answered the phone.

"Hey, Phil." It was the director. "I need you and Mack to make a slight detour to Massachusetts. We received a call from a small town police station saying they have an inhuman in custody. I want you two to pick her up. I've already alerted your pilot to the change in plan."

"Yes, sir." Coulson ended the call. "Sorry, Mack. We have to make one more stop."

Twenty minutes later, Coulson and Mack were walking into the Marion, Massachusetts police station. They were greeted by a muscular middle-aged woman who identified herself as Chief Thompson.

"You must be from S.H.I.E.L.D.," Thompson said, looking at Coulson and Mack with contempt. "One of my officers told me he called you. I'm sorry you wasted your time coming out here, but I can't give you the inhuman. The girl hasn't done anything wrong. She doesn't deserve to be treated like a criminal."

"Chief, I can assure you that we have no intention of harming this girl," said Coulson. "S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to protect inhumans. We can help her learn to control her powers so she doesn't hurt herself or others."

"Or you could force her to be a weapon. I've heard about what you people do."

"There are inhumans who work for S.H.I.E.L.D., but because they choose to," said Coulson. "We don't force anyone to join us."

"And I'm just supposed to trust you on that? Gentlemen, I've had some experience with Feds. You'll say anything to get what you want."

"I appreciate your concern for the girl's well-being," Coulson said. "Legally we have the authority to take the inhuman but, in the interest of putting your fears to rest, I can give you a list of the names and numbers of some inhumans we've helped. Maybe they can convince you that our intentions are good."

Coulson and Mack sat in the lobby of the police station. Mack fidgeted in a plastic chair that was obviously designed with someone smaller in mind. "So...we're just supposed to sit here while she calls all the inhumans on that list?" Mack asked his partner.

"I suppose we could use our ICERS on every cop in here and just grab the girl," said Coulson. "But that wouldn't help S.H.I.E.L.D.'s reputation."

"It would be nice if people could trust us again," Mack grumbled.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," said the receptionist, a brunette in her twenties. "I hate to enforce the cop/donut stereotype, but we have a box of Dunkin' Donuts from this morning. Can I offer you one while you wait?"

"Thanks, but I promised myself I would eat healthier this year," Mack said.

"So did I," said Coulson sadly. "...Is there a chocolate one with sprinkles?"

She opened the box and looked inside. "Yes, sir, there is."

Coulson turned to Mack. "What if we each had one donut, and then we'll do some push-ups on the ride home?"

Mack smiled. "I like that plan."

Several donuts later, Chief Thompson returned. "Alright. After talking to the inhumans on your list, I'm willing to let you talk to ours. Follow me."

"What can you tell us about her?" Coulson asked as they walked through the police station.

"Her name is Grace Milstein. She's six years old. She's a first grader at Sippican Elementary. Her teacher says she's a bright kid."

"I'm sorry," said Mack, exchanging a confused glance with Coulson. "Did you say she's six years old?"

"Yes."

Coulson frowned. "We've never seen an inhuman that young before. The terragenesis process is scary enough for an adult; I can't imagine what it felt like for a child. Are the parents inhumans?"

"Not that we know of. Parents were junkies. They lost custody of her soon after she was born. Mom OD'd a few years later. Dad is still alive. He's been in and out of the system. Doesn't see the kid. She was raised by her grandmother until she passed away two months ago. Since then, the girl's been living with foster parents, Tom and Sally Wheelock. This morning the Wheelocks saw her go through...what did you call the inhuman process?"

"Terragenesis," Coulson and Mack said in unison.

"They freaked out and brought her here. I hope you can help her. She seems like a sweet kid." Thompson opened a door at the end of a long hallway. "Grace, these men are from S.H.I.E.L.D.. They want to talk to you, okay?"

A little girl looked up from an iPad. Colorful shapes spun on the screen in her lap for a moment before she switched off the game. "Okay," she said in a small voice.

Mack and Thompson stood against the back wall while Coulson sat down across from Grace. She looked like a normal child- brown curly hair in a ponytail, brown eyes behind purple glasses, purple t-shirt, blue jeans. Whatever the terragenesis process had done to her, it didn't seem to have affected her appearance. "Hi, Grace. I'm Agent Coulson, and this is Agent Mackenzie. I'm guessing you like the color purple."

"Yes. It's my favorite color."

"I like purple too. I've been thinking that I should wear more purple shirts."

Grace laughed. "Boys don't wear purple!"

"I think boys—and girls—should wear whatever they feel comfortable in. Do you agree, Mack?"

Mack froze for a second; he hadn't expected to be involved in the conversation. "Uh...yeah. Purple is a good color on you, Coulson."

"Thanks, Mack. So, Grace, Chief Thompson told you that we work for S.H.I.E.L.D.. Do you know what that is?"

Grace shook her head.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is an organization that works to protect people. We're here because we heard that you've had a pretty crazy day. Can you tell us about it?"

Grace lowered her eyes. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, you're not in trouble. We just want to know what happened."

"I was getting ready for school and this...stuff...it looked like black rock...started covering up my legs. I was screaming and Sally and Tom ran into my room. The black rock went all the way up to my face and I couldn't see anything. Then it went away and my foster parents were yelling. They said I was an alien. They were really mad. They said I had to get in the car….and then we came here." Tears welled up in her eyes. "If I'm an alien, does that mean I'm bad? Aliens in movies are always bad."

Coulson smiled at her. "You're not an alien, Grace, but you do have some alien DNA in your body. You're what we call an inhuman, and that doesn't make you bad. Some of my friends are inhumans. They use their powers to help people."

"Powers?" Grace frowned. "I don't...I don't have powers."

"Maybe not yet. But you will."

Her eyes widened. "Do I get to pick which power I get? I think it'd be fun to fly. Or run really really really fast."

"My friend Elena's an inhuman," Mack interjected. "And she can run so fast that you can't even see her."

Grace smiled. "Awesome."

"Grace, we'd like to take you with us," said Coulson. "We have people at S.H.I.E.L.D. who can help you adjust to life as an inhuman. We can stop at your foster parents' house first to pack up your clothes and any other personal items."

"I don't think they want to see me again," Grace said, looking uneasy. "I don't want to go back there."

"That's okay. We can get you new clothes and anything else you might-"

"Sara's still there!"

"Who's Sara? Another foster child?"

"No. Sara's not a person. She's my triceratops stuffed animal. Grandma bought her for me when I was little and I sleep with her every night. I can't sleep without her!"

"Alright then." Coulson stood up. "Let's go get Sara."

"No way is that little alien freak coming back in this house!" Tom Wheelock was leaning out the front door of his house and into Coulson's face.

Coulson took a few seconds to study the man in front of him. Wheelock was in his thirties, skinny, well groomed and well dressed. Coulson decided that he was unlikely to resort to violence. In case he was wrong, he stepped in front of Grace. "She's not a freak, Mr. Wheelock. She's just a child, a child who needs to collect her belongings. We can be in and out in five minutes."

"That's five minutes too long," countered Wheelock.

Mack glared at him. He was easily five inches taller and fifty pounds heavier than Wheelock; he was confident he could take him in a fight. "If you don't want her in your house, YOU can get her things and bring them to her."

"Or, if that's too much work for you," Coulson added, "we can have a S.H.I.E.L.D. team here in five minutes who would be happy to assist you."

"I'll get her stuff," Wheelock muttered. He closed the door on his visitors.

"That guy's a jerk," Mack said under his breath.

"He wasn't a jerk yesterday," said Grace. "He was nice to me. So was Sally."

"Unfortunately, a lot of 'nice' people are scared of inhumans," said Mack. "And guys like your foster dad mask their fear with anger. Yo-Yo has to deal with that kind of crap all the time."

"Who's Yo-Yo?" Grace asked.

"My friend Elena. Yo-Yo is her nickname."

"Actually," said Coulson, bending down to whisper in Grace's ear. "She's more than a friend. She's his girlfriend."

Grace giggled. "Are you and Yo-Yo going to get married?"

"Uh...well...I don't know...we just started dating...maybe...but it's way too soon to think about that."

Coulson laughed.

"Coulson has a girlfriend too," Mack shot back. "Her name is Melinda."

"Hey! May is not my girlfriend!"

"Are you sure?" Mack grinned.

Before Coulson could respond, Wheelock opened the door and dropped a black garbage bag on the doorstep. "This is everything she came with. Now get off my property." He slammed the door shut.

"That was fast." Coulson turned to Grace. "Before we go, why don't you look through the bag to make sure he didn't forget anything."

As Grace pulled armfuls of clothes out of the bag, Coulson said, "If Sara's not in there, we're sending a team in."

Mack's eyebrows jumped. "You would send in a tactical team just to retrieve a stuffed animal?"

"Didn't you ever have a favorite stuffed animal as a kid?"

Mack was silent for a few moments. "I'll lead the team."

Grace had reached the bottom of the bag. Smiling, she pulled out a purple triceratops. "Sara!"

Breathing a sigh of relief, Coulson helped Grace put her clothes back in the bag. "We'll take you to S.H.I.E.L.D. now, Grace. I'll introduce you to my friend Dr. Simmons. She'll be excited to meet the youngest inhuman we've ever known."

"I thought Fitz and Simmons were still on their honeymoon," said Mack.

"They just got back."

Tom Wheelock watched from a window as Grace and the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents got into the police car waiting at the end of his driveway.

It was too bad. Grace had been a cute and obedient kid. He and Sally were going to adopt her. How lucky they were that they had found out what she really was before they finished the paperwork!

What dangerous powers had she been given? Could she start fires? Melt metal? Make earthquakes like that vigilante he'd heard about on the news?

It would be safer for everybody if she never had the chance to master those powers. If she was stopped before she became a killer.

He picked up his phone.

"Hey, Tom," his friend answered. "How's it going?"

"I need your help."

"Sure. What do you need?"

"Tell me how to contact the Watchdogs."

Thanks for reading! Any comments are greatly appreciated.