This story is a sequel to Mini-Vengers. I recommend you read that first if you haven't already. It's not entirely necessary, but you'll understand and get more out of this story if you read that one first :)

Enjoy!

There's an abandoned warehouse in Queens, New York, with more broken out windows than whole ones and the front door falls off its hinges whenever you open it. It's overrun by rats and crabgrass and on any given day there's three homeless men squatting there that'll riddle you with tall tales of government conspiracies and secret government agencies. Those gullible conspiracy theorists don't know they're actually huddled over a secret government agency. It's all hush-hush and need-to-know, but those with the clearance know that beneath that dilapidated building is one of the largest training facilities on the eastern seaboard- and maybe even the world. It's a S.H.I.E.L.D. training facility, home to The Next Generation, a group of trainees of varying ages and backgrounds with one sole purpose: Train. Learn S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ways and become the best agent possible. It's only for the elite and the special. That's how three special kids got there.

To the outside world they are just celebrity kids, daughters and sons of Earth's mightiest heroes. To those closest to them and those within S.H.I.E.L.D. those three kids are known by a different stereotype. They each have a manila folder a few inches deep- some with glorious performance reports and others with less than satisfactory public conduct. But they are The Next Generation's finest; hell the entire program was created specifically for them. It was Director Fury's idea to prepare for a generation younger than his current crew of superheroes. He'd later look back on that decision and pat himself on the back. Because even though those three damned kids put up more trouble than their worth, they worked just as hard. And they got the job done. No matter what.

XXX

JARVIS is programmed in every room within Avengers tower, from every kitchen to every bedroom and even the bathrooms. The AI can perform numerous tasks simultaneously from security to flipping the channels on the television; but most mornings he acts as an alarm clock. Anya Barton preferred the gentle British voice to the screech of a store bought alarm clock. But even the sweet, "Good morning, Miss Barton." of JARVIS's wake-up call couldn't put a smile on Anya's face at five-thirty in the morning. That is probably why she rolled over in bed with a grunt, throwing a violet colored pillow over her head.

"New York is particularly hot this morning with a low of eighty-nine. Though this heatwave has not broken, the B train has; but your car is fueled and ready for you, Miss Barton. Shall I open the gym for you, Miss?" JARVIS informed her; all the while she rolled about the bed trying to wake herself up.

"Yes, please. Thank you, JARVIS." Giving in, Anya sat up and threw her crimson and violet flower printed comforter off her legs. Rubbing the back of her hand against her eyes, Anya cracked her neck and then her back with a satisfied smile before actually getting out of bed. She dragged her feet all the way to her bathroom where she flicked on the light and cringed at her own reflection.

"JARVIS," she said to the AI, her voice still rough from sleep. "Remind me not to sleep with my hair down anymore." She mumbled sarcastically as she examined the mess of curls that make for her hair. Ever since she was a little girl Anya's curls were unruly but she's since gotten the hang of taming them. It took a little extra time in the morning and some maintenance throughout the day but she learned to straighten the mess of curls into a more formal and tamed version.

But she didn't bother with her hair in the morning, just twisted the strawberry blond curls back into a French braid in order to get it out of her face and off the back of her neck. Mornings were the only time Anya didn't look like a million bucks, mainly because the only people who saw her in the morning were family members and they couldn't care less how she dressed. So Anya made her way out of her bedroom and down the hall to the kitchen where a fresh cup of coffee was waiting for her.

"Ahh, thank you, JARVIS." She said sweetly as she grabbed the cup to warm her hands before taking a sip. The warm liquid flowed down the back of her throat, literally warming her from the inside out. Some might say she's addicted to the beverage but what did it matter either way? So long as she had one cup a day she'd be fine.

"Good morning, Little Bird." Clint mumbled as he turned the corner into the kitchen. Anya looked up at her dad and smiled warmly at his tired face and messy hair. She grabbed a mug and poured him a cup of coffee as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and rested his head on her shoulder. "Headed to the gym?" he asked, not bothering to move his head from its spot perched on her shoulder like a bird.

"Yep, wanna come spar with me?" Anya replied with a wicked gleam in her big blue eyes. Clint cringed immediately as he took the mug she offered him. "Oh c'mon, it'll be fun. I might actually let you beat me this time." Anya teased as she hoped up onto the kitchen counter in front of him.

"It's not a game if you let me win." Clint retorted. "And besides, you didn't beat me last time you cheated."

"You can keep singing the same old song if you want, Dad, but facts are facts and the fact is I beat you fair and square. You're just a sore loser." Anya said softly, her voice carrying an air of innocence her words did not. Clint just grunted in response, shooting a sour look her way as he made his way to the fridge in search of breakfast. Looking at him then you'd never guess he was an Avenger or an ex-spy. In that moment he was just a shirtless dude in sweatpants riffling through the refrigerator for food he wouldn't find.

Anya smiled at him before hopping off the counter. "There's milk for cereal but at this hour you're not gonna find much else." She said to Clint before kissing his cheek and sauntering back to her bedroom with her coffee cup still in hand. She set the owl shaped mug on her desk and opened her laptop, letting the computer boot up while she went to her closet for a pair of sneakers. Anya had a small obsession with shoes and possessed more than any sane human being should, but her obsession didn't stop with heels or boots. No, she also had a bin overflowing with sneakers in her closet that she all but had to dump in order to find her Adidas workout sneakers.

By the time she found her shoes her computer was running so she brought the sneakers to her desk where she opened her email account while simultaneously trying on her sneakers. She took a minute to throw out the junk mail and filter out the spam before checking her secure S.H.I.E.L.D. email address. Figures it'd be empty but it reassured her to at least check it. After logging back out, Anya closed the laptop and headed back out of her bedroom.

"Have an apple, Clint, it's good for you." Natasha's voice carried from the kitchen over to Anya as she stood by the front door of their apartment.

"Good for me is the last thing I want." Clint replied sarcastically and Anya smiled. "I want sugary shit that's gonna rot my teeth and give me a fat belly. Would you still love me if I had a belly out to here?"

Anya could just picture her father holding his hands out in a circle around his midsection. She had to laugh at the mental image especially considering her parents were in better physical shape than even she was. It sometimes frustrated her that at eighteen she was still not as fit as either her parents.

"I would love you even if you were a five-hundred pound bald man with a hairy back; so long as you remain mine." Natasha replied sweetly. Anya could hear the two kissing and rolled her eyes. Sometimes they were teenage lovebirds so grossly smitten with each other it made her want to vomit.

Anya traveled a few levels alone in the elevator before arriving at the gym. Well, it wasn't just a gym. It had every work out machine on earth as well as a sauna, locker rooms, an indoor pool and a giant padded room perfect for sparring, training and boxing. It was a little excessive- as is everything associated with Tony Stark- but it damn sure came in handy.

"Well aren't we looking rather alert this morning?" Ryland Stark mumbled as he appeared behind her. Anya swiveled and smacked right into his sweaty chest. Of course he was already awake and training. Kid was like a machine, a very tall and lean muscular machine. "You're usually so dull eyed in the morning, what gives?" Ryland asked as he made sure she wouldn't fall over then moved past her. He was just wearing a tee shirt and sweatpants but he was already a sweaty mess and his dark brown hair was sticking up in every direction possible but he didn't care if Anya saw him that way.

"JARVIS woke me up and I got a good cup of coffee. Not to mention I slept really well last night." Anya replied as she followed him to a bench where he sat down and she started to stretch. "Care for a match?" she asked challengingly, eying the sparing materials across from them.

Ryland unleashed a shit-eating grin and said, "I thought you'd never ask." before grabbing her hand and literally pulling her to the sparring room. Anya chuckled but got real serious once their match started and soon enough their fighting went from innocent training to full on trying to hurt each other. From an onlookers point of view it probably looked like Anya and Ryland hated each other but leaving each other bruised was the equivalent of a hug between Anya and Ryland. However, an hour later they both seriously needed a break.

"We'll call this match a tie." Ryland suggested as he leaned over and braced his hands against his knees, sucking in air desperately as sweat dripped from every inch of his body. "But next time I'm not going easy on you."

"Oh shut it, Stark, I could take you down with one arm tied behind my back. I just don't want to hurt your precious pride." Anya retorted mockingly as she sprawled across the floor also panting pretty hard. Ryland mock laughed as he threw a towel and a water bottle at her and fell to the floor beside her.

"One of these days we're actually going to kill each other fighting like this." Ryland noted as he placed a towel over his face and left it there. He honestly couldn't feel his legs and his arms were shaking pretty bad but it was a good feeling. The soreness of a good hard fight was a feeling Ryland loved; not just because he'd met someone he could go toe-to-toe with, but because that feeling was a symbol of his best efforts. He fought long and hard and the quaky muscles throughout his body were not only a direct repercussion of that, but a celebration of it.

"Not a bad way to die." Anya retorted as she drank the entire water bottle in one sitting. She was also drenched in sweat and her hair was falling out of its braid but she didn't really mind that Ryland saw her so. They grew up together- they've seen each other that their best and their worst- neither really cared how they appeared when they were together. But that didn't stop Anya from quickly pulling off the sticky shirt and trying to make herself seem less grotesque.

"I'm gonna shower and change. Wanna grab a bite to eat?" Anya said as she balled up the sweaty black tee shirt and threw it in the hamper by the door. Ryland reached out a hand to her and so she helped him stand up where he followed suit and threw his tee shirt in the hamper along with hers.

"Meet me in the garage in twenty." he told her as they rode the elevator down to their floors. Ryland got off first with a wave as the doors closed on Anya. Each floor had been remodeled a few times to accommodate growing families and different needs but the Stark's floor hadn't really changed much.

"The prodigal son has returned from battle!" Tony shouted in a terrible mocking of Thor. Ryland laughed even as he gave his father a weird look. "How doth the fighting goeth?"

"You can stop that any time you want." Ryland replied sarcastically as he walked up the metal staircase to his bedroom. "Sparing with Ace went well. We tied after an hour though we'll rematch tomorrow probably."

"Remember, Son, don't let a woman best you in combat or else I'll be forced to disown you." Tony told him jokingly, the fake accent slipping until he finally gave in entirely and said, "You staying here for breakfast or heading out?" in his normal voice.

"I'm meeting Ace for breakfast in twenty minutes but I gotta shower firsts." Ryland yelled through his bedroom wall as Tony stood halfway up the stairs, fidgeting with a picture frame on the wall. "Why don't you swing by campus and take me to lunch, huh?"

"I'll be there," Tony swore. Ryland smiled as he stripped from the rest of his clothes and stepped into his shower. He made quick work of cleaning up but the entire bathroom got foggy nevertheless so when he stepped back out of the shower he could barely see to grab a towel off the rack beside the shower. He managed to find one and wrap it around his waist before cracking the door to let some cool air in.

Ryland's hair was naturally dark brown and straight and it had the tendency to stick up in at least six different directions at all times. For special occasions he'd comb it flat but usually he just ran a brush through it and let it lay however it pleased. It usually didn't wind up looking that bad anyways. So that's exactly what he did before exiting the bathroom and heading to his closet.

Ryland's fashion sense as a child was something to be envious of but as he grew up he also grew out of his constant need to look stylish. Nowadays it was all jeans and tee shirts but every now and then he'd dress himself up to the nines and shock everyone around him. But today wasn't one of those days so he grabbed a pair of dark wash fitted jeans and a gray V-neck tee shirt and threw them on. Something Ryland hadn't grown out of was his love for Converse high-top sneakers so he fished a red pair out of his closet and pulled them on as well.

His vision also hadn't gotten any clearer but it didn't bother him much. So long as he could wear contacts during training he was fine wearing his black large framed glasses every day. Aside from growing in thickness and in size, Ryland's glasses hadn't changed in style at all. So he switched his contacts for his glasses, grabbed his green army rucksack backpack off his desk, and headed back downstairs and to the elevator.

Anya was never very punctual so it was no surprise at all that she wasn't waiting downstairs in the garage like they'd agreed but Ryland didn't sweat it. He just unlocked his Camaro and climbed inside, cranking up the air conditioning so it would be nice and cool by the time Anya was ready to go. It took her an extra ten minutes but eventually she came downstairs in red jean shorts, a denim button down tied at the bottom and crochet lace TOMS.

"You're late," Ryland noted with a chuckle as she entered his car. Ryland didn't miss that she was wearing his gold watch around her left wrist.

"Where do you wanna eat?" Anya asked as she leaned back in the seat beside him. Ryland was a great driver- even if he had a tendency to speed- and she completely trusted him. She did so desperately wish to drive his black Camaro for him but since that wouldn't happen in this lifetime she just sat back and appreciated the inside view of the beautiful car.

"Lee's Dinner is open already if you wanna steer clear of the paparazzi." Ryland replied as he drove through the busy New York streets.

"Yes please," was Anya's only reply. She didn't mind the paparazzi when they kept their distance but they seemed to always interrupt her whilst eating and that pissed her off nine times out of ten. She'd rather not take the chance. "What time is your first class?" she asked conversationally. Ryland's schedule changed almost every day, dropping classes and picking them up all the time. When your I.Q. is all but off the charts it wasn't hard to skip a class or drop out in the middle only to take a test and make up the credits in twenty minutes.

Ryland was almost six before he finally started school but when he did start at an all boys private school he skipped straight to third grade. He quickly flew to the top of his class and from there went on to The Bronx High School of Science. Graduating at seventeen, Ryland had the top pick of almost any college in the world but he decided NYU would be best suited to his needs. And it was close to home.

"I don't have a class until nine." Ryland told her as he effortlessly navigated the crowded New York streets. "What are you up to today?"

Anya hadn't had nearly the same success at school. She struggled a lot, not with the materials but rather the authorities. By the time she hit eleventh grade Anya had been kicked out of almost eight schools and banned from an all girls Catholic school. She had a little too much of her parents' genes to idly sit by and let other people boss her around. She skipped more days than she attended but her grades never slipped below the nineties. She graduated the summer before her eighteenth birthday and even though that was last year she hadn't really done anything to further her education. All the years she spent around Bruce Banner, Tony Stark and his crazy genius son taught Anya more than any school ever could. Not to mention her parents and the rest of the Avengers were better teachers than nuns and professors. Anya figured she knew all she needed and the rest would come to her when the time came.

"Mickey promised to take me out today but I doubt that'll happen." Anya replied, only allowing a slight bitter tinge to her voice because she trusted Ryland not to say anything. It wasn't that Anya was jealous of the five kids that came after her or how quickly she went from the youngest to the second oldest. She just didn't appreciate everyone's constantly divided attention.

"The twins are at school, nothing's stopping Mickey from showering you with attention. Don't be a Bitter Betty." Ryland retorted with an infectious grin. He understood Anya's feelings better than anyone. He'd been the favorite before she came around and quickly after Anya was born more and more kids kept coming and pushing Ryland into the background. There was never a single doubt in his mind that his parents and the entire team loved him, but going from the center of attention to the oldest of six was hard.

Anya dismissed his comment and changed the subject just as they pulled up in front of the restaurant. Luckily there were no paparazzi around the restaurant so they grabbed a table by the window, both fighting over who got the wall seat. When they finally sat down they ordered coffee and breakfast, enjoying casual conversation without worrying about someone snapping a picture and plastering it all over the newspapers. Halfway through their meal Ryland's phone started ringing and he smiled as he answered.

"Get me home, Ryland, I am begging you!" Dahlia's voice came through the receiver before Ryland even greeted her. He chuckled and put it on speakerphone so Anya could hear.

"How's Asgard treating you, Lia?" Anya giggled upon hearing Dahlia's loud and exasperated sigh.

"I just want to go home where there's WiFi and people use contractions. Seriously, this place is pretty and all but I really need someone to call me 'dude' instead of bowing in my presence."

"Awe, it can't be that bad. You're royalty up there and I'm sure they treat you better than the paparazzi treat Ace and I down here." said Ryland.

"No, it's not that bad. I'm just crotchety and homesick. How is everyone? Don't you have class soon? Of course I wouldn't know because there are no clocks here." Dahlia complained, her voice taking on a whiny tone very familiar to everyone close to her. There was a sound in the background and Dahlia whispered to someone but quickly returned to the phone call.

"I don't have class for a little while longer. What was that?" Ryland replied as he finished the last of his coffee.

"Oh just Kellen being his usual annoying self." Dahlia said sarcastically followed by the distinct sound of a pillow being thrown- most likely at her little brother's head. Even though Dahlia and Kellen were a year apart they fought like twins and acted like their age gap was seventeen years. "If I could kill him and get away with it I wouldn't even bat an eyelash."

"You're bluffing and we all know it." Anya pipped in with a smile, leaning across the table. "But if you need help hiding the body I'm willing and able."

"Hey!" Kellen cut in after a small scuffle and laughter. As often as Dahlia and Kellen fought, their laughter was more often and even more infectious. Anya couldn't help but giggle a little as she listened to Kellen and Dahlia laugh and fight at the same time.

"Get home safe and soon." Ryland told them when they were near the end of their conversation.

"Give everyone hugs for us." Dahlia replied before a quick goodbye. Kellen yelled his own goodbye as did Anya before the phone call disconnected. Even though Asgard was still largely unknown to the population, it was a second home to Dahlia and Kellen. They grew up on both earth and Asgard, traveling between the two like kids often travel to their grandparent's home. However instead of a car or a plane, they used the rebuilt bifrost. Tony and Ryland created a means of communication between the two worlds when Ryland was in sixth grade- a mode of communication still wildly in use.

"One of these days I'm gonna stow away in Lia's suitcase and finally see what she's talking about." Anya mumbled as she tossed back the last of her muffin and swallowed the last drops of coffee. She waved over the waitress for the check which she and Ryland split evenly.

"As much as I'd love to finally see Asgard I think the jet lag would kill me." Ryland joked. When they were finished their meal they exited just in time for a few paparazzi to show up late to the party. They hurried into the shelter of Ryland's car long before any photos were snapped. "Where to, miss?" Ryland asked grandly as he started the car and threw it in gear.

"Drop me somewhere between a Forever 21 and a subway station and I'll find my way."

Ryland chuckled and pulled out onto the busy streets. "You'll never change will ya, Ace?"

"Why would I change something that's already perfect?"

Author's Note: So how you liking the sequel so far? It'll take a few chapters to get acquainted to these characters- as adults- then the action will start! Be sure to check out my Polyvore as well (samitballi. polyvore. com) for sets from each chapter :)

*Dahlia's name is pronounced Da-lee-ah so whenever someone refers to her as Lia it's pronounced Leah (lee-ah)*

Drop me a line and let me know what you think! ~ Thanks!