This takes place after the Age of Ultron in the MCU universe and Coulson is still alive.

Three knocks at the door, crisp and clear.

Cat could hear it from the kitchen, where she was making a tilting tower out of her books. It was weird that they hadn't used the doorbell. And she wasn't supposed to answer the door without her uncle giving her permission to, but who cared about what Uncle Kyle thought anyway? It wasn't like he was at home. She jumped up from the table and ran to the door.

She opened the door with a screech. A woman stood in the doorway, holding a clipboard and looking very official. Her suit didn't have a single crease and her posture was like she had a rod jammed up her spine. She smiled at Cat but it didn't look very real.

"Hello, sweetie. Are your parents home?"

Cat rolled her eyes. She was in a bad mood. "Do I look stupid to you, lady? I'm not gonna tell you that, you might be a robber."

She continued to smile pleasantly, but it didn't look very natural. The smile had gained a creepy look. She kind of looked like a talking doll in a horror movie. Smile fake, eyes wide and kind of bulging, like fish eyes. "Sweetheart-"

"Don't call me that."

"Sweetheart," Fish Eyes said, "do I look like a robber to you?"

"No offense, lady,"-Cat raised her eyebrows at a level of skepticism that an eight-year-old should never have been able to achieve-"But you kinda do."

The woman looked nothing like a robber, but Cat had said that to piss her off.

She mumbled something that sounded a lot like 'little kids' but said, "Can you tell me your name, at least?"

"Sure can," Cat said brightly, "But I'm not going to."

The robber kept smiling, which was infuriating. "Okay, let's try this another way. How does ten dollars sound to you?"

"Like bribery," Cat answered honestly. She crossed her arms over her chest. "So make it twenty and I'll answer your questions." To be honest, she wasn't really sure why she was just trusting this random woman she just met to give her money so that she could answer questions, but hey...twenty dollars was a lot of money, at least in her book.

"It's a deal." The woman smiled again. "How about we go inside first, and then you can tell me your name?"

Cat nodded eagerly. "'Kay, but first you gotta tell me your name."

"My name is Katherine, and I'm a Social Security worker. You know what that means?"

She sized up Katherine the Social Security Worker unsubtly. She hated it when adult only told her their first name. First names meant they expected her to be friendly, and Cat didn't like making friends. Cat showed her in the door. "Nope." She popped the 'p'.

"It means I protect people." Katherine entered the door, her heels clicking noisily on the floor. She looked around, eyes widening a fraction as she took the sight in. A slight "oh" escaped her mouth. Her voice was obviously forced when she said, "This is a... nice place."

It was anything but nice. The walls were peeling, the floor was scratched up, and the entire place smelled like smoke and liquor. Was she making fun of her? Cat shrugged and told her, "Not really."

"So, now that I've told you my name, what is your name?"

"Cat."

Katherine beamed. "Really? That's a wonderful name. Our names kind of match. You know. Katherine. Cat."

Cat shrugged again, not really seeing it. She led Katherine into the kitchen and clambered back on the table with her book tower. "My full name is Catalina Gray, but Cat's simpler."

Katherine took a seat at Uncle Kyle's seat. "And how old are you again?"

"Eight years old. May I have my money now, please?" Cat asked politely. Uncle Kyle always told her to be polite. Then again, he also drank weird smelling liquids and injected himself with stuff on purpose, so why should she listen to him?

Katherine rustled in her clipboard and placed a crisp twenty on the table. Cat looked at it with wide eyes. She had never had money of her own. Uncle Kyle didn't like spending things on her that were unnecessary like toys or fancy clothing. She never got to try ice cream or candy, which in her point of view kind of defeated the entire purpose of existing. Katherine said, "This will soon be yours, as long as you answer all of my questions."

Cat tried to act nonchalant. "Alright-y then. Ask away."

"Where are your parents?"

Cat's throat closed up, her body going stiff. But she forced a casual expression, forcing her voice to remain calm. "Oh. They're dead."

Katherine's face scrunched up in unneeded sympathy. "Oh, sweetie. I'm so sorry."

"It's fine." Lie. It wasn't. "It happened a long time ago." Lie. "I don't even remember the details." Lie. She could remember every single thing that happened on that fateful day.

"Who do you live with now?"

"My Uncle Kyle. He's dumb."

Katherine leaned forward, eyes interested. "Dumb, like not smart?"

"No, just dumb. Like I hate him."

"Why is that?" Katherine eyed the beer bottles and the syringes laying around the floor with great precision. Cat suddenly felt shame shoot through her veins. She was uncomfortable about how closely Katherine was studying them. The look in her eyes was nearly judging. She moved slightly in front of her so that she was blocking Katherine's view. "Does he drink that stuff?"

Cat stacked another book, debating for a second whether or not to tell the truth. "Yup. A lot. Sometimes he just lays on the couch and yells at me when I do bad stuff. He smokes too. Two of those boxes a day. He throws up in the bathroom." The truth just slipped out of her mouth. The words felt alien on her tongue. She couldn't remember the last time she told someone something this personal. Cat wasn't about to tell this random stranger that she felt frightened when Kyle got all red and angry. She was tough, she could handle it.

Katherine scribbled on her clipboard, which made Cat slightly worried. Why was she filing down this information for later? "Hm. Where is your uncle at the moment?"

Cat pulled a book out from the bottom, feeling suddenly angry. Why did Katherine care if her uncle was out? She watched the books tumble onto the table and spill over the floor. Katherine's eyes softened, bending down to pick one up. "Oh, here you go," she said, "I'll help you pick these up."

"Out, I guess."

Katherine paused in the midst of picking up a book that read Alice in Wonderland. "You mean you're alone in your house right now?"

Cat saw the panic in her eyes and denied. "No. I mean, kind of."

Katherine straightened her clipboard, not looking at all convinced. "I see...Cat, it's very important that you answer this next question truthfully. Does he ever hit you?"

What kind of question was that? "Um, sometimes. But not that hard. He swings at me but he misses most of the time. And it's only when my teachers complain or something."

"Do your teachers complain often?"

Cat met Katherine's eyes. She was beginning to feel like she was in a therapy session. "Sometimes. But usually they're wrong about the things I did. One time our fish died and Billy blamed me for feeding the fish too much food, but he was the one that took it out of the water."

Katherine frowned and muttered a lot. She was silent for the next two minutes, where she scribbled away on her clipboard and Cat played with her books silently. Cat spoke up.

"Why are you asking so many questions anyway? If you're worried about Kyle being dumb, don't."

"I don't doubt that, but this can turn out to be a problem later." It was the first time Katherine spoke to her like she was an actual adult and not some dumb kid. Cat's little respect for the woman rose. But just a little.

"'Kay then."

"Okay, Cat. That's enough questioning. Do you mind if I stay with you, just until your uncle Kyle comes back?"

She didn't care, as long as she got her money. "Okay."

Katherine slid the twenty dollar bill to her, then winked as if they had some sort of secret. Cat snatched it up and ran her finger against the edge. Katherine leaned forward and dropped the volume of her voice. "Let's keep this between us, shall we?"

Cat nodded. "Sure."

The woman studied Cat for a few seconds. Cat recognized the pity in her eyes, but she bit her lip to stop herself from saying she didn't need it. Instead of saying that she felt sorry for her, Katherine said, "You know, you're unusually mature for someone who's eight years old."

Cat dropped her eyes to the ground where a shattered beer bottle laid. I had to grow up fast.