Chapter 1

Trade

Gemma

Gemma Shepherd, (called 'Gem' by anyone who knew her well enough to understand that her given name was a great annoyance to her) was by no means, an average girl.

At nineteen she was the smartest girl of her age. She absolutely excelled in mathematics, sciences and reasoning. She was a trained athlete and showed remarkable potential as a soldier. But those were only the beginning of her strengths. She possessed one more, powerful, ability.

Gemma could read minds.

And it wasn't just that. She could make people do things. She could communicate with anyone, anywhere, without opening her mouth.

It was a power she'd been born with. Her parents, Mark and Carry, had noticed from the get-go that their daughter was different. They'd become aware of the abnormal things that happened whenever young Gemma was concerned. How they'd, as if compelled by some outer supernatural force, know when she needed something and what she needed.

It'd become apparent by the time she was in preschool, playing in the dirt box with the other kids, that she possessed a gift. But it wasn't one that her parents were proud of. They grew scared of their only child, a girl who, seemingly, could do as she pleased in the world. A girl who solved her own problems and childish desires through any means necessary. And when her classmate, Terry Westover went missing from the school grounds after a dispute over a plastic toy with Gemma, her parents knew they had to do something.

Mark Shepherd was a scientist and engineer. After doing some research he came in contact with a man called Nick Fury.

When Gemma was at the age of six the family packed up and moved onto the high security military and science base where Fury was located. He'd provided clearance for the family for a maximum of seven months, assuming that the situation with young Gemma would be quickly understood and harnessed. However, that proved, startlingly, to not be the case. At the end of the seven months, the team of highly trained professionals were stumped, thoroughly washed out and defeated.

Fury came to the decision that Gemma Shepherd was simply too dangerous to release into the world. Mark and Carry Shepherd came to an agreement with the corporation. Providing that S.H.E.I.L.D. granted the two of them money and credentials, Fury and his team would take over custody of the child in hopes that, with time and effort, they would be able to utilize her abilities.

And so it was.