Authors note: hi, this is F speaking. Here's chapter 4. If you like this story at all, please favorite/follow/leave a review. Adios amigos~

Sage sat down nervously in the black-leather-and-stainless-steel dentist chair. There was a metal band that circled her head, tiny cameras monitoring her eyes and heat of her skin. She squeezed the armrests with both hands, taking a deep breath and trying to calm herself down. Relax, Sage. You can do this. Sage commanded herself mentally. Pull it together. What's the worst that could happen? Another little voice in her head said, Well, your new friends could find out who you really are. Or they could decide to kick you out.

"Shut up." I muttered.

"What was that?" Sky asked. She stood next to a control board covered with scanners and graphs and charts, monitoring Sage's heartbeat and breathing time and what looked to Sage like at least two dozen other factors.

"Wait, so all this thing does is tell when you're lying? I can do that." Jackson bragged. "Probably better than this thing, too."

"What did you say, Sage? Sorry, wasn't listening." Sky said, looking up from the control board.

"Um, nothing. We gonna do this, or what?" Sage tried to crack a grin, but it felt painfully fake. The other young agents, standing behind Sky, gave her thumbs up.

"Yep. So, I have a list of questions here that I have to ask you. We'll start with the boring ones; What is your full name?"

"Sage Jane Cole."

"Eye color?"

"Brown."

"What's the difference between an egg and a rock?" Sky asked.

Sage laughed. "Are you kidding? They're, like, total opposites!"

"Please list your immediate family." Sky said.

"Don't have any. Grew up on the streets. I can take care of myself." Sage glared at them all as if warning them not to protest. Sky looked sympathetic, but didn't say anything. Sage breathed a sigh of relief. If the questions don't get any worse then that, I'll be fine. Sage thought with another fake grin. "Bring on the next question."

"Imagine you're on a deserted island. On the shore is a box. What is in that box?"

"A knife." Sage said immediately. The questions went on like that for a while, until Sky asked one that made Sage want to melt into the floor and disappear.

"Why were you in jail when SHIELD agents found you?"

"I, um, shoplifted." Sage lied through gritted teeth. "Shoplifted a phone." Sky frowned down at the readings on her monitor.

"Don't worry Sage. Nobody will think any different of you, but you do have to tell the truth. Why were you in jail when SHIELD agents found you?"

"Because…." Sage's mouth tasted like lead. She wished the others would stop staring at her. "I robbed two armored cars. Pickpocketed. Did do a little shoplifting. Once I held up a convenience store. Robbery. Carjacking, once." The worse spilled out of her mouth before she could stop them. There was a heavy silence in the room. Sage kept her eyes closed. She didn't want to see their faces. She wasn't proud of her past. Not by a longshot.

"You're not lying." Jackson said after a little while. "I don't believe it."

"You r-really d-did that stuff, Sage?" Julie asked. Her eyes were wide with shock. She couldn't believe her friend would do things like that.

Sage just nodded.

"Um, okay." Sky said. "Next question. Why are you here, working with SHIELD?"

Sage shrugged, but she kept her eyes on the floor. "Didn't have anywhere else to go. No family to take me when I got out of jail, and you guys busted me out, figured you deserved my time. Didn't have anything better to do."

"Okay." Sage pressed a couple of buttons on her control board and a lanyard popped out of the side of the chair with Sage's picture on it. "Welcome to SHIELD, Sage."

The rest of their tests went more smoothly. The only really interesting things Sage learned was that:

A- Jackson's middle name was actually "Rose", something Sage found quite funny,

and B- Julie had an older brother.

When they all had their lanyards, Sky told them that they could just relax for the rest of the day. "You'll start the hard stuff tomorrow." she said. The four youngest agents of SHIELD plopped down to play videogames and watch TV. "Was that really all true? What you said in there, Sage?" Tobias asked. Sage didn't answer right away. She could tell that her friends weren't sure what to think about her right then.

"Yes. It was true. All of it. But I didn't tell the whole truth to Sky, on that last question." She quickly added. "I'm not just here because I don't have anywhere else to go. I'm here to be better. I'm an agent of SHIELD now, so…. I can help people. Make up for all of that."

What Sage didn't know what that, next to her on the couch, the other three were starting to smile.

Ok, sorry that chapter was pretty short compared to the others, and not a whole lot happened (although we did learn more about Sage) but I promise the next chapter will have a bit more excitement. ('cause this one was kind of sappy at the end)

Later-