AN: PLEASE READ!

Summary: The Avengers are asked to become mentors to a group of young 'soldiers'. Unknown to them, they are being dragged into an ever brewing war, and they become the ones needing mentoring. CHARACTER DEATH in later chapters, swearing, violence... possible ooc because I can't seem to write Fury to save my life. Set after Avengers Movie.

This is kind of a crossover. I will be using characters from The Inheritance Cycle, Resident Evil Movies, and the Frankenstein Series by Dean Koontz. You do not need to be a major fan of any of them to get this story, and their actual story lines are not heavily played upon in this story. They're just kind of dragged in kicking and screaming to enjoy the party.

This is the Third in my "Haven" Series, but the other two are not up anywhere. HavenBlood is written in a way that you can start with it, and it'll make a fair amount of sense.

Rated T mostly, but some chapters involving disturbing content will be rated M. I don't focus on pairings too much, so there won't be any need for those warnings.

...and I hope you have fun.

You'd be hard pressed to find a vantage point higher than Hawkeye at that moment, but they had managed to snag space at a level building a block from the action. Being used to battle themselves, the distance made the fight below seem strangely muted. The effect was strengthened by the silence that rested between the members. There was no need for words at the moment as they each made their own observations.

Eventually a point was made.

"Hawk's going to be a liability."

"Why? 'Cause he's Norm?"

"No, because of what happened with him and the Trickster. He's not 100% on the mission, he's got baggage."

The second voice gave a chortle,

"And we're baggage free?"

"That's what I'm saying; we're already full of that shit, why do we need more? We can at least… we…."

"We were designed to do this." A third voice cut through. Silence fell again as the thought sunk in. In the distance there was a roar as a green beast flipped over an empty bus onto the enemies below. A mechanical whine echoed through the canyon of buildings as a streak of Red and Gold light the spilt gas and scattered foes.

The defender of Hawkeye spoke up again.

"So what does that make the TinMan, and the Demi God? All the others, what does this all make them?"

The first voice shot back.

"Big Damn heroes, that's all they are. And when shit goes down, they're gonna be the first to fall. Big Heroes are always the first to go down…. They're going to be cannon fodder when we get down to it. And the Dragon's not going to let them in for that reason. Dragon hates using people for cannon fodder."

"What other option do we have? If the Keeper's right, they're going to learn about this all eventually."

Silence descended again. A moment later, a bolt of lightning streaked from the sky and dispersed across the street. The City went dark for a moment. When the lights returned, the only evidence of the occupants was quickly cooling spots on the roof.

"It hasn't even been Twenty Four hours, and he's already barking at us?"

The ever present Stark Channel was the only sound in the air ship as the team rocketed off. It had been a long couple of days, and the crew was getting worn down.

"Is it too much to ask for some 'me time'? I'm dying for a get away, and I have a business to run. Doesn't he know that?"

The continuous drone of Tony did not help the situation.

"I for one am glad for the need of us. It gives me reason to stay on Midguard. Does that not gladden you friend?" Thor tried to lighten the mood, although even the Demi God was starting to tire of the onslaught recently. The Avengers were supposed to establish a sense of "don't even think about it" in criminals. Instead- ever since the battle with Loki and their 'unveiling'- every two bit criminal had amped up their antics, hoping to take on the team.

There was no honour in fighting enemies less than you. There was no glory in killing people that had no true reason to be fighting the Avengers. Thor knew that these thoughts also weighed on his team mates. For this, he was glad. At least he fought alongside people with honour, people that had no love for this bloodshed. They did it because they were called to do it, and that was all. That gave Thor hope. That gave him pride.

The rest of the flight was spattered with Tony's banter, along with comments from the rest of the team every once in a while. When they landed though, all comments dried up. Agent Hill met them at the deck of the Helicarrier, grim faced and short on words.

"Fury wants to see you. Something's come up." With that, she turned and stalked off to the front of the ship. When they neared the nav deck, Hill gave a sharp turn and led them down a side hall. Captain Rogers glanced over at Banner, a look of question. Every meeting they'd received from Fury was at the table on the nav deck.

This wasn't right.

"Agent Hill…?" Cap started, and then tried to figure out how to say what was on his mind.

"Whatever Fury has to share with you, it's been cleared for you six and him only. Too many ears on the deck for this."

Various glances were thrown around. After Coulson's funeral, Hill had tried desperately to fill in his spot. It had worked well, so for her to be excluded from this was a red flag. The Agent also seemed to feel this, as it didn't take a social genius to notice she was fuming.

The team piled into a small conference room near the Port side of the ship. It rested under one of the engines, and the back noise was low enough to not impede conversation, but strong enough to probably mess with any planted bugs. Thick files were spread around the table, each stamped with the needed warnings of "classified" "Top Secret", etc.

At this point, they all knew the drill. Fury wouldn't acknowledge them till he was damn well ready. Best to sit and wait. Even Tony had gotten used to the varied lengths of silence that would ensue.

Fury clocked in at three minutes and twelve seconds this time –Barton would inform the others later. It was his habit to track the time- before he turned and looked at the group.

"I received this information a little over four hours ago. Bear with me as I try and figure this out myself.

"In the files you have is information about a dual Government run project that has been held in the tightest security grip I've ever seen. It was a union piece between the US and Canada, titled the 'Haven Project'. Take a look if you want, but I'm not waiting for you. I've been instructed to give you the bare bones, and let you work out the meat yourselves."

Romanoff flipped the folder open, confident she could still keep tabs on Fury. After reading the summary paragraph though, she slammed it shut, staring straight ahead. Barton sat across from her, and gave her a questioning look, but she wouldn't return his gaze.

"A little over a year ago, members of the US government noticed that there seemed to be a discrepancy between financial and energy reports throughout the country. More digging revealed recourses moving in areas of the country that could not be accounted for. Eventually it was discovered that a number of unlicensed medical facilities were hidden in the country. They were performing illegal and twisted experiments on a number of subjects, most notably human.

"A couple of these facilities were shut down, and the subjects removed. Whatever staff members found on site were taken into custody. Canada also found a few of these operations, and both countries decided to try and set up a program that would track down the rest of them, apprehend the leaders for these operations, and try and care for the subjects that survived.

"The care for the human subjects was called the "Haven Project" and was run in Canada. It offered a residence where they would receive aid transitioning back into the real world, medical support, and shelter."

"But that didn't work as well as they were expecting." Banner tapped the folder. After Romanoff's reaction to it, no one else had opened it. The room had grown more and more tense with the information Fury had provided. Romanoff still had not looked at anything but the spot on the wall her eyes had first landed, Barton had snapped whatever had been in his hands in half from the force of his clenched fists, and the rest of the team had varying looks of weary shock on their faces.

"No." Fury gave the curt reply that was expected, "Many of the subjects have been escaping and performing… their own hero missions. Putting not only themselves, but the whole project in jeopardy. We've been called in to provide support and mentorship to them."

"We're being asked to babysit some loose cannons?" Stark shot.

"Negative, we're being asked to put a leash and muzzle on an untrained dog before it bites the wrong thing." Fury glared at Stark with his one good eye, daring for a challenge to the statement.

"What have they done that would cause us to be brought in?" Rogers asked, trying to diffuse the brewing show off between Fury and Stark. The two stared off for a little longer before Fury turned to address the Captain.

"They're behind the CHLI bombing that happened a couple of weeks ago."

"What do you mean behind?"

"What I mean, Captain, is that they're responsible for the rising damage costs and three injuries." Fury snapped. Fury doesn't snap at Rogers. Everyone stopped, letting it all sink in.

"So, what do you need us to do?"Barton spoke, glancing at Fury. The Director paused before answering, trying to level himself out. Being a man of many secrets, he wasn't a fan of when secrets were kept from him, and there were still layers upon layers about this whole thing he had no idea about.

He was sending his team in blind.

"A meeting between the two teams has been set up at a neutral and open location. They have asked for our help in a mission of theirs. You are to assess not only the mission, but the team. Report back to me before accepting or agreeing to anything."

Some of them nodded. That was all he really had for them. No other info then what was already in the files.

He was sending his team in unprepared.

"Dismissed."

Nat was the first to leave, storming out of the room. She had left the folder behind, so Clint grabbed it before heading after her. He had never seen her this frazzled by a mission before it had even started. Sometimes after, there was once during. But at the beginning, she was still able to see it as another "ABC" Job. There were no emotions in it yet.

Obviously there were some here. There was a lot here.

Nat didn't like showing too much emotion in front of the rest of the team. There were times here and there, when they all just let go and tried to live completely in that moment. Those moments were usually aided with a couple shots of harsh Russian Liquor. But this was harsh, open, and completely independent of any alcohol.

The others at least had the brains to hold back as he walked after her.

"Nat."

Nothing.

"Nat!"

Still nothing, and if she got to the bridge before he got to her, something was going to blow up. Their luck was just like that.

"Natasha!" He reached out and grabbed her shoulder –stupid idea- and before he could react, she had twisted his arm around and slammed him into a wall. He whipped around only to stop as she shot forward.

"They're kids!" Natasha hissed. For half a second Clint was scared of the redhead in front of him. She pulled back slightly, shaking from the anger.

"They're kids. Did you read the file, did you see how young some of them were?"

"No one else opened the file after you did Nat." Clint said calmly. She didn't seem to hear his comment.

"They keep telling us that this won't ever happen again. But yet every time you blink, it's getting worse. I thought we were supposed to make sure this doesn't ever happen again. I thought we were supposed to keep people safe. I thought we were supposed to stop all of this."

"Nat… you know we can't be everywhere." A dangerous thing to say, but she needed to hear it. It stopped her for a moment, and she stood in the hall trying to control her breathing.

"They're kids, Clint. Kids." With that, she turned and walked off. She at least had the thought to turn early and take the back halls to her quaters on the ship. Clint watched her go, then opened the folder. The first page was bio sheet with a picture. It showed a small blue eyed boy with Military buzzed hair, and a look of obedience that barely covered a look of fear.

Alias: Shay

Age: 5