Day 19 ½ We talked…well really they talked mostly I got to listen. They didn't really listen to me very much. Yeah, they agreed I probably did remember a lot of stuff but then Coulson said things changed a lot since I went to school. May didn't appreciate me saying it changed even more since they went. I didn't even think she heard me. I really thought she was gonna clobber me, but Coulson told me it wasn't wise to be so snarky before she got up. I guess it was enough but, I think it was his only warning to both of us and since my butt is still vividly remembering what happened last week…I zipped my lip.

Coulson pointed out that they really couldn't just ship me off to some school in River's End. He said it wouldn't be safe since someone was still out to get us. I guessed it was that Hale person but he wouldn't say any more. I was gonna tell I already knew a lot from hacking into the main system but again my butt said 'shut up'. Even though nobody would recognize me, somebody would have to get me there and explain how all of a sudden I just showed up. I agreed and thought that was it but May just gave me a 'sit down' look and I flopped back on the chair. He just gave one of those I'm sorry smiles but also said it wouldn't be so great if I popped back to normal in class or even at home cuz then they'd have to explain what happened and that wouldn't be too easy. I said it might start some kinda missing kid thing and put them even more in the lime light. I guess they didn't think of that cuz they looked at each other and I knew their eyes were saying 'the kid has a point'. Everything got really quiet. I figured I just blew the whole plan out of the water, so I just waited. Then…

May said it was time to say good night.

I didn't get to hear the rest of the conversation.

Day 20 I thought Jemma was my friend until right after breakfast this morning. I also forgot that emotions make my quaking quake. She showed up with a whole bunch of stuff about Cyber School! Whose dumb idea was that? She must have been up all night collecting it and was more excited than she's been in forever. Fitz once said she loved homework more than life itself. I thought he was exaggerating but I think he was under-agerating. She had forms and lists and even made a chart to show which one she thought would suit the purpose best.

That's when it started. I was so mad the whole table started to shake, then bounce and everybody looked at me and well, it wasn't a secret anymore. May yelled stop and I did cuz I can control things better now but it was really all I could do. I didn't tell them that. I let them think I could do a lot more and almost smiled when they all looked terrified…until I got sent to my bunk until they could talk some more.

Day 22 I don't know what they talked about but it's been 2 days and nobody has even mentioned school. I am not going to ask cuz maybe it just blew over and they realized what a dumb ass idea it was. I couldn't help smirking at Davis every time I saw him but he just wriggled his eyebrows at me and smiled like he knew something I didn't. I don't know why he makes me so angry. He never did before but since I shrunk he's like some big kid that takes pleasure in getting my goat. I quaked his chair away right before he went to sit then wriggled my eyebrows at him when he bounced on the floor.

I was sure he'd go right to May and I'd be in hot water again, but he just got up and ignored me. Which made me even madder….

Day 23 Well they didn't forget and it didn't blow over because now I get to spend 3 hours a day in Cyber School. I guess they figured it was pretty safe and Fitz made up a whole bunch of school records about me being a military brat bouncing around the globe and private tutors. He let me look at everything before he sent it with the damn application. The places he mentioned were actually places May and Coulson had missions all those years ago, well actually long before I was even a sparkle in their eyes. It was pretty interesting. They only thing I wasn't mad about was that he didn't make my records as crummy as they really were. It looked good to have me be a C+/B student instead of the D-/F dope I really was back then. Of course I never really cared and never really tried. The teachers used to say I didn't apply myself, but I mean who cared anyway? The nuns just thought I was stupid or lazy. Well, maybe I was a little lazy or a lot but I wasn't stupid…school was.

I did a lot of whining and pouting and telling them I just wasn't gonna do it. I knocked a chair across the room, with a kick not a quake which was pretty dumb and earned me a swift swat. Damn, I didn't even see it coming but the added fact that there was more if I didn't get my head on straight changed only one thing. I stopped telling them I refused. I kept my angry face and I figured I'd just do nothing and flunk out. They couldn't make me so a good job, they couldn't make me care about school or the dumb work I'd have to do. I didn't even care if the cost of that was a purple backside. I was so angry I wanted to fling the chairs and the table right across the room. Instead I shattered May's tea cup with one little finger flick.

Yeah, I didn't sit very comfortably for about two hours. Even Coulson was mad. He didn't even say anything when she dragged me off to my bunk. I got to spend the rest of the day there too…thinking about adjusting my attitude.

Day 25 Just when I thought I might decide to hide somewhere in the bowels of this place until I grew into myself, Fitz showed up with the best system I've ever seen. The whole shebang and it was all for me. He set it up in my bunk…with my help and explained the additional power it had to reach all the way up to the surface to get a signal. It was like a super computer. Hell, I could look into the Kremlin if I wanted to or even peek in on that whacko in North Korea. He used a lot of Fitz-terms that meant nothing to me but the fact I had my own system was funominal. I think that's spelled wrong but spelling is not my best subject. When he told me the whole thing was for school I almost told him to take it away and burn it but when I thought about how much I could do with it, I kept my mouth shut. I think I've been doing that too much lately.

It took all morning to get everything connected and make sure all the components worked but by lunch time it was up and running. It even had a cloaking device so no one could trace it back to the base. I was impressed. I could skulk around anyplace I wanted and no one would be the wiser. He didn't even attempt a net-nanny since I'd already disabled his best. He knocked on my head and said he was tied of playing 'wack-a-moley' with me. Then we both laughed. It felt good to laugh since I'd been gritting my teeth and growling to let everyone know my opinion for the last few days…not that it meant a puddle of piss.

Fitz said I could spend the afternoon and all day tomorrow tinkering with the system, just to get comfortable and set things up the way I liked. He gave me a funny wink before he left and I hope May didn't notice cuz it probably meant he left some 'doors' opened for me. I might actually get to have some fun.

Day 27 I spent almost all day yesterday 'playing' with my new 'toy'. It is super amazing. I did a three D cyber tour of Fort Knox! I actually tapped into their surveillance cameras and watched for about twenty minutes. Actually it was pretty boring, but no one even suspected I was there. I even remembered to erase every footprint I left just incase someone is surveiling me. Mostly I looked for junk on this Hale person and found out it's a she! She is some kind of muckity muck colonel who's got it in for S.H.I.E.L.D. for some reason. The team thinks she's HYDRA. Big joke huh, Hale Hydra! I almost spit all over the screen, but it kinda made sense since she's all over everything and very anti-everything S.H.I.E.L.D. has accomplished up until the AIDA disaster. I was almost to the real core of the whole thing when May decided I'd been connected long enough and forced me outside.

I was mad again, but this time cuz I couldn't be a cyber student…even though I was really teaching myself. I had to flick it off so fast I'll have to find my way back because I set it to shred everything as soon as I turned it off…well except all the damn school work but I set up a second parameter for that.

Being outside wasn't too bad. I got to climb to the top of the lighthouse…it's kinda my space. The weather's getting better and it's not so cold up there. Coulson said in about a month we can maybe have a night time picnic and look at the stars up there. I haven't seen them from here cuz they won't let me up here by myself at night but from the ground it is great. There's a lot more stars here than in the city and everything is so clear. Went for another walk along the shore with May and Yoyo. They insist I need fresh air but I think they just want to get me out in case I explode into the real me with some kind of massive shake. No really, that's what I'm afraid of and the dreams are getting bad but I didn't wake them up since the first time it happened.

Today I met Mrs. Taverez. She's the one that decides what I do on this cyber school nonsense crap. She wasn't too bad. She didn't ask all the dumb questions like what subject I liked best or what my last school was like. BTW it wa and I hated it…thank you very much. She asked what interested me and I said…of course…nothing because this is so very dumb and I just can't see any purpose in it except keeping me busy THREE HOURS every day. At first I thought that was not much but it didn't include the time I'd have to spend actually doing the work that the teachers went over for THREE HOURS! So I told her I didn't have any interests and hoped she'd just give me the general bla-bla then leave me alone.

HA!

She asked if I'd do a survey. Yeah, she thinks I'm a do-do already. Survey, test what's the difference? Same old, same old. They give you some damn dopey test just to tell you how stupid you are. I was ready to just flick off what ever and be done, but it wasn't like anything I did before. It was totally on my screen and it was like my answers took me to something different than just the next question. By the time I was done, Mrs. Taverez' smiley face was telling me I showed a great interest in technology, justice and self defense. Oh boy, here it comes. I was sure she'd ream me out for being so goofy but she didn't. She told me it would take a couple days but she would talk with her staff and make up a curriculum just for me using the things that would hold my interest. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad. She already told me I was very advanced…no duh, lady. I almost said it but since the door to my bunk was opened and old 'I can hear a rabbit fart two miles away' was keeping a close eye (and ear) on my every move and every word. I already got warned about snarkiness and attitude and what the consequences might be. But come on, I am almost three times as old as this lady thinks I am and I've done a lot of learning in those years. With what she was saying this would be a breeze. Guess I'll just wait and see.

Day 29 Freaky situation today… Yoyo was off to town for some supplies. I couldn't imagine what we needed cuz those storage rooms have enough for us to survive Armageddon. Maybe who ever built this place forgot something…hmmm, like lady needs or deodorant or Snicker's. Yeah, I could use a couple Snicker's. Of course maybe somebody needed socks or underwear…you can't hear me laughing, but hell who'd think of underwear when they were planning to save the world. I mean do they have a department that does that and how would they know sizes and styles and hell, it was the seventies. Those gawchees are probably full of holes by now even if they were stored away. I shouldn't complain, though, cuz they did manage to find a bunch of kids' clothes and let me pick out what might work. Jeans are jeans and so are sneakers so I didn't do too bad, but hell I am not wearing those bloomers. Who knew where they'd been and believe me I have been where you don't get to say what's gonna cover your keister. It was a pretty big battle with me and May when it first came up but Piper saved the day when she made a quick trip and came back with a bunch of packs just in time. I was commando up til then.

But today Yoyo was doing the trip and showed up at breakfast to ask if I could go along. May and Coulson just looked at each other and didn't say anything. I was begging before they had the chance to say 'no'. May was shaking her head and Coulson looked like he just dropped eggs all over the floor – it actually happened a couple days ago, wasn't pretty. Yoyo assured them she'd be totally responsible and would keep a close eye on me. Like she'd even need to, what the hell did they think I was gonna do? Steal a car? She said she'd keep a low profile and nobody would ever recognize me. Of course there was always that 'what if she changes' thing but since I hadn't changed one iota since the tiny growth spurt a couple weeks ago I figured it was safe. I promised to listen and follow all orders – even though technically I outrank Yoyo but she definitely out sizes me not to mention she's a zillion times faster. I thought I would actually cry when May said they had to talk about it (when is that ever a good thing?) and sent me on some cockamamie errand to fetch pancake syrup from the storage room. Yeah it was like 6 floors away and on the other side of the base AND I'd have to look all over and then need a ladder to get to it and find somebody big enough to help. Just my luck it would be Davis! I said every swear word I knew all the way there and all the way back and in the halls where there was nobody I screamed them at the top of my lungs. I tried to tell them we had two bottles of the damn stuff in the cabinet but May looked at me and said 'GO' while she pointed to the door.

Hell, why press my luck….

I slammed the damn syrup on the table when I got back. First cuz I was super aggravated I had to go get the stupid stuff we did not need and second because Yoyo was gone and that only meant the answer was 'no'. May just looked at me and I glared right back cuz two can play that game. Then she said maybe she made the wrong decision and I'd rather have another day looking at the four walls in my room. Hell there aren't even any ceiling blocks to count. I apologized a million times and couldn't believe I was crying over the damn thing. The more I tried to stop the worse it got. Coulson came to the rescue and just hugged me back together like he always does. May said I was lucky Yoyo made a good point of saying I was looking a little pale and needed some sun, fresh air and a change of scenery. Yay, Yoyo…the only one that didn't think school was the solution.

The gave me 10 minutes to get ready…I was done in 5

I think I wrote more today than ever before and right now I'm supposed to be sleeping. Really, it's hard to keep my eyes open but I got this hiding under the covers with the flashlight thing down. Done it hundreds of times and putting a ½ cup of pennies near the door warns me if anybody's sneaking in to check on me.

But, wow! I got to go into town!

I thought we were gonna drive but Yoyo took me down this long hallway and there were these little cars like the kind golfers use. We went down a big tunnel for a while then walked to one of those special elevators that took us up to a factory of some kind, but it looked like nobody worked there forever. This guy just nodded and we walked out into some ally. It was so bright I thought my eyeballs would melt. I mean I've been out before but after being in the dark tunnel for so long it was harsh. Luckily it didn't last long.

I was ready to take off but Yoyo grabbed my arm and pulled me back. She reminded me she had my mama's permission to darte una buena patada en el culo…which roughly translates to how she'd apply her foot to my backside if I didn't straighten up and fly right. I started to laugh but she wasn't kidding. I am so sick of all of them treating me like a kid! Problem is there's nothing I can do about it and anyway I wasn't doing anything to ruin this day so I just nodded and planted myself right next to her.

For a while we just walked around the little town. It was kinda different than all that big city stuff. People smiled and said hello instead of just bumping into you, grumbling then walking away. We did some window shopping too and Yoyo told me about how she used to go to the market with her mom when she was a kid. I kinda never think of any of our team as being kids so it was interesting to hear her talk about stuff that wasn't all mission-y and save the world stuff. She said it was a good idea not to pick up too much stuff too early cuz we'd have to drag it around all day so it was also a good idea to look around for the best bargains and grab them on our way back to the factory tunnel place.

The town had a park right in the middle and there was this little zoo kinda place with only the kind of animals you can hold or pet, like these itty bitty goats. They were the cutest things ever and the guy let me hold the tiniest one then give it a bottle. Yoyo wasn't impressed. She said she'd had her share of goats a long time ago and as far as she was concerned they were far from cute. She wasn't really happy with me after cuz I smelled just like the little critters which wasn't the best smell. So we went to this shop and she bought me new jeans and the best T-shirt with Capt's shield on it. Coulson was soooo jealous. I even got new underwear cuz that smell goes right to your skin. She told the sales person I would wear the new stuff then shot the bag of smelly clothes into the next dumpster we passed.

That was the first time I saw him…I'm just soooooooooooooo tiredddddddddddddd…

Day 30 It's one whole month today and I'm still temporarily a kid. Dr Liu promised it wouldn't last but it seems like it's been way too long and the longer it takes the more I think I'm just stuck. I really don't want to grow up again but what if this is it? What if I just get this and I never grow up like some damn Peter Pan curse?

May came to wake me but I was already crying like a damn fool and I told her why. She just held me like a mom and kissed my head and just listened. I mean what could she say? She knows as much as I do about this stupid situation. I think she was gonna yell at me about writing til I fell asleep cuz my diary was on the desk, not where I usually stash it and I must have laid on the pen cuz there was ink all over my PJ's and the sheets. But she didn't yell, not even a little, just sat there with me until I got over the silliness of feeling sorry for myself. I don't do it very often but sometimes I just can't help it. Being nine all over again was one of those times.

Then I remembered yesterday and seeing him. He was across the street just watching us but spun around and pretended he was looking at ladies shoes when I spotted him. Amateur! I figured it was just my imagination until I saw him a little while later. This time he was pretending to tie his shoe while Yoyo and I were checking out the menu outside a corner diner. I stared at him the whole time and he never once picked up his head or looked at us. Damn it wouldn't take a kindergartener that long to tie his shoe. I thought about telling Yoyo but she'd probably tell me it was just a coincidence.

Damn…May's calling cuz I gotta have breakfast then spend three hours with Mrs. Tavarez. I wonder what she came up with…