FicWad

Hello! Sorry it's been a while since the last chapter. We had some issues with this haha. I'm also sorry it's so long! It's just a ton of training and evaluations. AND AVENGERS!! This is probably the last chapter with so much detailed training regimes. Enjoy!

I would appreciate some reads and reviews, thanks so much! :P

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

After heading down the mysterious hallway, the team arrived at an elevator. Once they were all inside, Director Fury pressed an illuminated 5 on the control panel.

"What's on level four?" Matthew asked.

"Interrogation rooms, sick bay, and some labs." Agent Kelson answered dutifully. The team nodded, filing this information away for later.

"And level five?" Alex asked.

"Training facilities. More importantly, level five contains the cultivation chambers." Fury told the members. The team grimaced at hearing the creepy name of the rooms. "We usually just call them training modules."

Once the elevator reached Level 5, they all filed out. Fury led them down a long hallway. As they walked, he would nod occasionally to fellow agents or pay them a respectful greeting. They eventually stopped farther down the corridor, in front of a series of nondescript metal doors.

"Now," Fury started, "Each of you will have your own separate room. Each one is tailored to fit your individual needs with one of the Avengers will be waiting for you inside. We tried to pair you up to match your skill sets as best we could." Fury then turned away, clearly finished speaking.

"Good luck!" Agent Kelson whispered to the team before following her boss down the hallway. They left the teens standing awkwardly in front of the doors. The team members looked at each other in utter confusion. They hadn't been told what room they were supposed to be in.

"I suppose we'll just have to guess," Kendall said, shrugging. Each team member hesitantly stepped towards a door.

Matthew scoffed. "I can't believe we're doing this," he said exasperatedly.

"Nor can I." Alex said as she experimentally opened the door closest to her. She took one peek inside and then jerked her head back out, closing the door behind her. "Definitely not my room," she said with a bit of a laugh.

Matthew raised an eyebrow at her. "Honestly, I think that's your room." Alex said, gesturing to Cadel.

"Okay," he said nonchalantly, turning the knob. He took one peek inside and said, "Yup, you're right." With that he went inside and closed the door behind him.

"What was in there?" Ethan asked Alex curiously.

"It was crazy!" She said excitedly, her hands moving wildly in the air. "Captain America himself was in there! And on top of that the room was huge! There was a desk with a computer on it, and then a table on the other side with all these random things on it- I saw a soda can and car tire!"

Matthew nodded approvingly. "They sure know what they're doing." He turned to the door on his right and opened it. Inside he found Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow, and a room full of weapons. "Erm…excuse me," he started timidly, "Who's supposed to be in here with you?" he shifted from foot to foot, nervous in the presence of the master assassin.

Natasha smiled at him as she sat up straighter in her chair, and then looked down at the papers strewn in front of her. She knew very well who she was paired with, but she decided to play dumb. "Kendall Lee. Would you please send her in?" Natasha asked with a smile.

Matthew walked away, leaving the door slightly ajar. Natasha could hear murmuring in the hallway. Seconds later, Kendall walked in. She gave one last wave to the team and then shut the door behind her.

"So...I guess we move on?" Matthew said once the door had closed.

After a few more minutes of guessing the remaining three finally sorted themselves out. Ethan found his door next. In his room was none other than genius billionaire playboy philanthropist himself, Tony Stark. The room was decked out with a miniature track, some heavy looking weights, and a whiteboard.

After Ethan found his room, there were only two left. Alex and Matthew each chose one, figuring there was a 50/50 chance of getting it right. Fortunately, they did. Waiting for Alex in her room sat Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye. Alex saw some targets along the walls along with a bow and arrow. On a table, there was also some standard equipment you'd see for a checkup at the doctor's office. There was a modified eye chart, a hearing machine, and, oddly, several vials. Alex hesitated at the door, but walked in reluctantly when Clint sent her a friendly smile.

Matthew's room was at the very end of the hallway. He seriously debated just turning around and walking away. There was no one in the hallway. No one would notice if he left. Well, the person behind the other side of the door would, but no one else. It wasn't like he really wanted to be here, anyway. He had pretty much been forced by Natasha and Director Fury. After a few long seconds of internal debate, he made up his mind. He took a deep breath and walked hurriedly through the door. He found none other than Bruce Banner awaiting him. Matthew's eyes grew as wide as saucers. 'Good thing I didn't skip out,' he thought to himself.

"Hi," Bruce said, standing up and moving towards Matthew. "I'm Bruce." He extended his hand and threw the teen a warm, disarming smile.

"Matthew," the boy said, shaking Bruce's outstretched appendage, "but you know that already."

Bruce just smiled in response. "Well, why don't we get started? No point in wasting anybody's time."

Matthew nodded, and then they both took their seats. He was still on his guard, but decided to loosen up. Better to take an evaluation test while relaxed. It allowed fewer margins for error.

"I see in your file that you're pretty good at math problems?" Matthew almost laughed at that.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Let's test it, shall we?" Bruce said while heading over to a set of white boards behind Matthew. Matthew followed him and stood before the board. Bruce was hard at work writing equations and calculations in a frenzy, spreading a slur of numbers and symbols across each board. Once he was finished he spoke up again. "Now I'm going to time you. All you have to do is complete the equations. You can do them short-hand if you want to. When you're finished, let me know so we can move on to the technical part of this little test. I wouldn’t worry about that though; all you have to do is defuse a live bomb."

Matthew's jaw almost hit the floor. His nerves went into overdrive and his heartbeat sped up to a staccato rhythm. He approached the board and attacked the first problem with vigor. This was going to be a long day.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

In the room across the hallway from Matthew's, Ethan was idly chatting with Tony. Both were casually slouched in their chair with their feet up on the table. They didn't talk much about themselves. After sharing a slew of inappropriate jokes and embarrassing stories about the rest of the Avengers, Tony got down to business.

"Look, after last time we met, you owe me. Sooo…let's get this little exam over with so we can both leave."

"Agreed," said Ethan gratefully.

"If you would be oh so kind as to follow me over to the conveniently placed weights," Tony gestured towards them, "we can get this show on the road."

Ethan stood and followed him. He was ready to make some sarcastic comment about the whole ordeal, but refrained. He examined the weights and noticed the first set weighed 500 pounds. Inwardly Ethan shrugged. That was nothing to him. As he looked up the line he noticed the weights became more and more heavy. Sighing he stepped up to the first one. He looked over at Tony expectantly and noticed he had obtained a clipboard and appeared to be writing things down before Ethan had even begun.

"All systems go. You can start when you're ready." He said, not looking up from the clipboard. Ethan was almost positive Tony was doodling and scoffed. After a look from the Avenger, he lifted the first weight. He found it about as easy as lifting a laptop. After placing it none too gently on the floor, he picked up the next one. That one was a tad heavier, but not by much.

Ten weights later, Ethan was starting to struggle. He finally had to stop at 2,000 pounds. He managed to get the weight a couple inches off the ground, but then dropped it. At this point a thin sheen of sweat was coating his skin and he wasn't in the best of moods. He impatiently stared Tony down until the man finally looked up from his drawing.

"Ah, you're done," he said, clapping his hands together as he stowed the clipboard under his arm. "Not bad for a rookie. You'll get better with time. Hopefully. Now, on to phase two!"

Ethan rolled his eyes. "How would you feel if I just walked out?" he asked sullenly, annoyed that Tony wasn't even feigning interest in the test.

"Well…personally, I wouldn't care much. It doesn't make a difference to me what you do or don't do. Just makes my job easier. I would highly recommend staying, though. This is a once in a lifetime chance, kid. I'd take it. Especially after seeing the way your old life was," he said, hinting at where he had found Ethan all those years ago.

Ethan contemplated this for a moment. He started towards the door, but changed his mind upon seeing Stark's face.

"Good choice," Tony said as he walked towards the mini track. "Now, you're going to run for oh, I'd say ten minutes. I'll wait a bit until you get up to full speed and then clock you."

Ethan snorted. "You gonna use one of those thingys the cops do on cars?"

"No, I'm going to use something much more high tech then those 'thingys'."

Ethan shrugged once more and walked onto the track. He stretched dramatically and over exaggerated his warm-up just to make Tony wait a little longer. Once he was ready he gave the man a nod. Wanting to impress his temporary mentor, he sped off. Running felt natural to him. He could go on forever and seemed to never tire. He had never pushed his limits before and wasn't too keen on trying it anytime soon.

After around ten minutes of running, Tony called him to a stop.

"What was my speed?" Ethan asked impatiently.

"Uhh…" Tony checked his device. "Around 65 miles per hour, give or take a few. I think there's room for improvement."

Ethan gave him a scowl.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

A few doors away from Ethan, Alex was hard at work. She had taken some time in the beginning to talk to Clint a bit in order to ease the tension in the room. She found that he was really interesting. At first she had pegged him as a loner who disliked social interaction, but apparently if you got him talking he actually enjoyed it. While she told him of her brief life in China as a toddler and her adjustment to life in the States, he told her stories of his life before S.H.I.E.L.D. After they shared bits and pieces of their backstories, they began to discuss likes and dislikes. After that they got serious about the task at hand.

"I saw you shooting at the target range earlier. It looks like you're pretty handy with a bow and arrow," Clint said as they approached the targets.

"Yeah, I've had some experience," Alex said indifferently.

"Well, for this test I'm going to have you try again, only this time you'll be timed. I'll be seeing how many arrows you can fire accurately with distractions and in a limited amount of time," he said.

Alex just nodded. She really didn't mind what happened as long as she got the opportunity to shoot targets. She picked up the bow in front of her and slung the quiver over her back. Lining herself up with the target, she judged them to be about 28-30 meters away from her. She really hadn't thought the room was that big from the outside, but she didn't dwell on it for long.

As Alex set up her stance, she nodded towards Clint to signal that he could begin to time her. Just as she was about to draw back, lights started flashing and sirens blared around her. She jumped in surprise and the bow went slack.

"What is all this?!" She shouted over the noise.

"I told you you'd have distractions!" Clint shouted back, making a note on his clipboard. Alex exhaled deeply, blowing her bangs out of her face. Taking her stance again, she briefly nodded to Clint as she began.

She had five minutes and a full quiver. After the first two minutes, the noises and lights faded into nothing. It was just her and the target. By the time Clint called for five minutes she had used all of her arrows. She and Clint walked down to the target and examined it. Alex's heightened eyesight gave her an advantage over normal archers. She had tried to keep her arrows spaced neatly so they wouldn't hit each other, and had managed to make a crude ring in the center of the target. Only one of the arrows had gone astray.

"Impressive," she thought she heard Clint say.

"Well thank you!" She responded.

"I didn't say anything…" Clint said in a confused tone.

"Oh… Um, never mind," she said awkwardly.

"Anyway, now we have the second part of the test. Stay here," he said, walking away from Alex towards the front of the room. He grabbed something from the table and advanced towards her, stopping about twenty feet away. He held up a paper with several sentences written on it and asked her to read them back to him. From what she could see, the sentences were written in standard 12 pt Times New Roman font. She did so with ease, and he started moving backwards. After the distance had increased to about sixty feet, the words on the page started to blur. Clint wrote down her results and offered an encouraging smile. After that they moved on to other tests that would gauge her hearing and smelling. They established that her senses were about 3 times as powerful as those of a normal person.

By that point, Alex was ready to go to bed- but they still had to test her mind reading skills. She sighed and slumped in her seat.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

At that moment, Cadel and Steve were getting along just fine. Cadel apologized once again for accidentally wiping the captain's memory. Steve assured him that he harbored no hard feelings. With that out of the way, they began talking about absolutely nothing important. Steve didn't mind that Cadel occasionally went on long, rambling tangents, and Cadel didn't mind that Steve couldn't understand half of his references. Steve would occasionally ask about his life, or how his sister Delyth was doing, or talk about what it was like in the 1940's. After about forty minutes of idle chat, they started the exam.

For the first half of Cadel's test, Steve sat him down at a computer. Consulting his notes, he told Cadel that he was supposed to clean the hard drive of all viruses and solve a string of encryptions.

Steve sat patiently next to Cadel and watched him work, taking notes as he progressed. Cadel's green eyes frantically scanned the screen. The two made very little small talk while he worked. About half an hour later, Cadel was finished. Steve stopped his stop watch.

"Good job!" Steve told him with a smile of genuine congratulations. "Even though I have no clue what you did or if that's even a good time or not."

Cadel laughed as they moved to the next portion of the test. They stood in front of a table full of objects. The first was a can of soda and the last was a car tire. In between were things ranging in all sizes. Steve told him to go down the line and use his abilities to crush the objects. Cadel smiled to himself- this would be a piece of cake.

As he concentrated his mind on the can, his pupils expanded ever so slightly. The can suddenly turned in on itself, as if crushed by an invisible hand. Steve nodded as he jotted things down and Cadel smiled, impressed at his own ability.

By the time he had moved down the entire line and reached the tire, he was mentally exhausted and ready for a good nap. His pupils had grown wide from all his efforts and the veins on the side of his forehead were showing ever so slightly.

"Come on, son, you only have one more to go," Steve told him encouragingly.

Cadel flopped down into the chair nearest to him and stared intently at the tire. He successfully inverted it, but failed to crush it completely. He was a bit disappointed with himself.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

In the last room was Kendall. Since both she and Natasha were assassins their initial conversation was somewhat terse and blunt. They were wary of each other and not really up for sharing, especially Natasha, who wasn't very good with children.

After some brusque small talk, Kendall was the first to really open up. She told Natasha how her parents had died when she was young, and spoke very highly about her brothers. In return, Natasha dropped some hints about her life in Russia and many other nations before joining S.H.I.E.L.D. Neither one pushed the other, each just content to enjoy the company.

Natasha eventually decided she had done enough talking for one day, and walked towards a small target range inside the room similar to Alex's. Kendall followed her, brimming with curiosity. On the table in front of her was the same Glock 19 they had used earlier in the gym.

"In this portion of the test, you'll be shooting moving targets. Try to shoot as many as you can, but keep in mind that we're looking for precision as well as the simple ability to hit a moving object."

Kendall nodded in response. "I'll do my best." She put on her safety goggles and took her stance. Natasha gave her a curt nod, and then started the assessment.

There were about twenty human-shaped targets. They all moved at a rapid pace, zigzagging their way in front of each other. As their speed increased ever so slowly, they started moving towards Kendall. They started roughly thirty feet away. At twenty feet she had shot down seven. Once it reached the ten foot mark she had hit all but five. Once they were five feet away from her, they stopped moving. All but one had a bullet hole through its paper head.

Kendall put her gun down and smiled at Natasha, who shot her a small grin. They moved on towards the second part of the test- poison identification.

"I heard you like your poisons." Natasha said in a bland voice.

"I guess," Kendall responded, carefully keeping her voice just as devoid of emotion.

Her mentor led Kendall over to a table. On it were ten vials lined up in a row. "Only one of these vials is safe. The rest are toxic. You have to find the correct one."

"Simple enough." Kendall said with a nod of her head.

"We'll see about that."

Kendall picked up the first vial and looked at it carefully. On the back of each the ingredients were written. Some were obvious as to what was inside. In the case of others, you needed to know the scientific compounds of each and how they mixed. It took Kendall about a good half hour or so to find the right one, but at last she held up a vial triumphantly. Natasha looked pleased as she took note of the girl's progress.

"Alright, onto part three, hand-to-hand combat."

"I'm going to be fighting you?" Kendall asked in disbelief. This woman had a good ten or more years of experience on her.

"Don't worry, I'll go easy." Natasha said with a crooked smile.

Kendall shrugged and took a stance. Natasha followed suit. They had moved into a little boxing-like ring in the corner of the room. For the first part of the fight, they watched each other and judged the other's movements. Once they started throwing punches, things got a lot more exciting. Both of them were itching to fight. You could see the fire in their eyes.

Natasha was far more superior to Kendall, but the girl put up a good fight. The fight ended when Natasha flipped Kendall onto the mat. They nodded towards each other and shook hands, the fire dying down in their eyes. Kendall thanked Natasha and then turned to leave. Natasha just sat back down and continued filling out her forms.

Kendall found the hallway to be empty once again. She pressed an ear against the doors of her teammates and listened intently, checking if anyone else was finished. Two of the four doors were silent. She could hear muffled voices resonating from behind the others.

Kendall walked slowly towards the elevator that could take her back down to her room. She desperately wanted to shower and get some dinner.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Level 2, Commissary

17:49

By the time Kendall had showered and made her way to the cafeteria, almost all of her team members were there already. She noted that the only one absent was Matthew. She grabbed her food and hurried towards the table. Alex gave her a warm smile as Cadel moved aside to make room for her.

"That was exciting, wasn't it?" Alex said enthusiastically.

"No kidding! Steve was honestly the coolest guy ever." Cadel said as he wolfed down his food, his metabolism raging.

"Yeah, Tony was alright for a rich guy," Ethan stated, feigning indifference.

"Natasha was nice. She seemed kind of standoffish though."

"I still can't believe we met them." Alex said, a big, goofy grin spreading across her features.

"I think I'll sleep like a log tonight." Cadel said with a smile.

Just then Matthew stumbled towards their table. He looked as if he was about to pass out.

"Whoa, what happened to you, man?" Ethan asked as he looked his teammate up and down.

"Bruce decided to make me defuse a live bomb right after I had completed a few hours' worth of mathematical equations," Matthew said as he flopped down at the table.

"Well, at least the bomb didn't go off," Alex said with a shrug.

Matthew scoffed. "It was three seconds away from detonating. Bruce was in no way about to stop me. He can Hulk out all he wants and walk away with hardly a scratch on him. Too bad I can't do that…" he said, trailing off. Ethan laughed rather loudly at his dilemma.

"I think I would take those exams over morning boot camp any day," Kendall said with a grimace. As the team laughed, an unexpected visitor walked up behind them.

"Director Fury and I received your results from the team. They all spoke very highly of you." Agent Kelson told them. The team turned to face her. "For the rest of the month you'll do your scheduled morning training every day. We'll schedule some more training with the Avengers again periodically until you're in longer no need of the training." She smiled sweetly at the kids, then hesitated, the smile leaving her face as quickly as it had come. "I know this will be hard for all of you," she said quietly, "but you are our hope for the future. We're going to need you, and probably sooner than you would think- or I would wish." She paused, blinking rapidly. "No matter what happens, never forget that we are proud of you for doing this." She swallowed heavily, turned on her heel, and walked away.

After dinner, with this strange news and their own exhaustion weighing them down, the team went straight to bed. No exploring the helicarrier or chit-chat. They went straight to sleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.