Maximum Ride, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel swooped around each other in wide arcs, laughing. Two red-tailed hawks flew in smooth loops, scanning the ground for prey.

Max looked down. The valley and their house were far below, but her keen eyesight could still make out the black SUV making its way toward the house.

"Guys," she said, and pointed down. "Intruder alert."

One of Fang's dark wings brushed hers as he drifted to fly directly above her. She blushed, suspecting that the small touch wasn't an accident.

"Angel? Getting anything?" Max asked the youngest flock member.

Angel concentrated for a moment. The sunlight glinted off her white wings, making her look even more like an angel.

"They don't seem dangerous, but they mean business," she reported.

"Let's check it out," Max said, then she and the rest of the flock folded their wings against their backs and aimed downward. They sped to their house's front porch in seconds and snapped out their wings, landing with soft thuds. The SUV had reached the house and the doors were opening.

Two people stepped out, one carrying a briefcase, one with an eye patch over his left eye. They wore serious expressions and didn't show the slightest bit of surprise when they saw six winged kids.

"Maximum Ride?" the one with the briefcase asked.

"That's me." Max stepped forward. "Who are you, what do you want, and do you have a death wish?"

If either of them were surprised by Max's version of a simple "hello," they didn't show it.

"We are both agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Briefcase said in a monotone. "There are some things we would like to… discuss with you."

"Things like what?" Max asked, intrigued, but not letting her guard down. "And what does S.H.I.E.L.D. stand for?"

"We would rather talk inside," Eye patch spoke for the first time. His voice had more feeling than Briefcase's, yet was still business-like.

Max, getting impatient, said, "We aren't stupid. If this is a trap, trust me, it won't work."

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents' expressions didn't change, but Briefcase's voice was more questioning when he replied, "This isn't a trap. We aren't looking for trouble."

"Then what are you looking for?" Max asked sarcastically. "A friendship?"

"More of… an alliance."

Max narrowed her eyes suspiciously and turned to the flock. They spoke in whispers while the agents waited.

"I think we should see what they want," Nudge said, sounding excited.

"This could be dangerous," Fang pointed out. "We have no idea what S.H.I.E.L.D. is, or what it stands for."

Max looked at Angel, who didn't look like she was paying attention. "What is it, Angel? Are you picking something up?"

Angel was silent for a moment. "Yeah. Eye patch keeps kind of rethinking things, like he doesn't know if it's a good idea or something."

"If what's a good idea?" Fang asked.

A pause. Then, "Something about bringing a bunch of people together. He keeps picturing a group of four people, a robot, and a big green thing…."

Confused, Max looked down at the agents. They were waiting patiently, not even talking into their earpieces. That immediately set off alarms in her head.

"How about the other guy?" she asked.

"He's thinking about someone specific," Angel said, then stopped. "Wait a minute, he just pictured something."

She concentrated for a moment longer, then her expression changed from concentration to shock.

"What is it? What did you see?" Max demanded.

"It was a person… a man. But he had knives practically built into his hands," Angel said. "Like retractable metal claws."

The flock glanced at each other nervously.

"Maybe we should just see what they want. They seem friendly," Nudge suggested.

"'Friendly' has never really been a good descriptive word for anyone we meet," Fang said. "Max? What do you think?"

Max was running through everything in her head. Fang was right, 'friendly' was never a good word. Angel's description of what they were thinking about didn't sound good. And yet, it was still tempting to see what in the world this was all about.

"Sure," she said slowly, wondering if she should change her mind. "I guess we could hear them out."