Steve looked around the table at the combined group. It had dawned on him last night that they were in the process of preparing the next group of Avengers. When Sam and Wanda had joined it was just adding new recruits into the mix. For the first time since coming out of the ice, Steve felt like there would people to fill his shoes after he was gone. The Super Soldier serum that flowed through his veins slowed his aging but it didn't stop it completely. He wouldn't be able to do this forever, nor did he want to. There were times when he was just tired. But, while part of him relished the time when he could just stop, he also hated the idea of the burden falling on anyone else. The talk with Peter during their sparing match yesterday had just reminded him that he would still rather sacrifice himself than others. He always would.

Tony pulled up a hologram at the center of the table. "The prison that suffered the breakout was East Coast Vault." He glanced over at Peter, "For those of you who don't know, there are multiple classified prisons across the world designed to hold enhanced or mutated individuals and creatures of alien origin. Originally it was just the original Vault in the Rocky Mountains and the Raft which is in the Atlantic but it became evident that a second Vault was needed on the East Coast. In what can only be described as an monumental error in judgement they put it on Rikers Island."

Clint piped up from the side. "Your tax dollars at work. Let's put the most dangerous criminals next to super-villains. What could go wrong."

"Apparently a massive breakout." Sam chimed in from next to Bucky.

"Out of the 74 inmates of the Vault, 44 were recaptured, 18 were killed, 12 remain at large. The most dangerous of the 12 is Abomination. SHIELD is handling. When they locate Abomination they'll let us know."

"You know we could eliminate the need for prisons and the risk of escape...I'm just sayin'. I still have the scars from capturing some of these guys." Clint leaned back and looked at the rest of the group.

Steve shook his head. "It's not our style."

Bucky leaned forward. This was a conversation they had multiple times. It always ended the same which meant it was pointless to have it again. "What about Ross. He had ties to Abomination before. I don't think any of us bought his gratitude as being sincere."

Wanda shook her head. "His comments left me with an odd feeling. There was something off about it I just can't figure out what it is."

Tony turned off the hologram. "Yeah, none of us trust Ross." He looked directly at Peter. "Which is why it's imperative that you five keep your identities a secret. If even one of you gets blown, the rest of you are exposed. It's nothing short of a miracle that Peter's hid Spider-Man as long as he has."

All five nodded. They understood what was at stake. Spider-Man had a reputation as a good guy. The rest of them didn't have a resume and for Johnny and Bobby, having non-human looking forms wasn't going to endear them to most of the world.

xxxxxxxxxx

Tony sat next to Steve and Natasha in one of the many conference rooms. After the breakout briefing, Johnny, Bobby, and Davis had been dismissed to MedBay. Peter and Wyatt had accompanied them since Peter could tell Davis was a little hesitant.

Across from Tony sat Reed and Sue Richardson and Charles Xavier. The combined IQ currently in the room wasn't lost on Tony. It was an impressive group.

Charles rested his elbows on his chair. "So how did they do last night?"

Steve spoke first. "Better than I anticipated. Bobby's been training with Peter for almost a full year and it shows. Davis doesn't have much training but he's scrappy. Johnny is naturally athletic. He just needs some direction."

Sue stifled a laugh. "That's an understatement."

Steve smiled in response. "Nat, how did Wyatt do?"

"He scored a couple hits." She rubbed her jaw. "Doesn't volunteer a lot of information but I finally got out of him that he's a full blooded Comanche and is the eldest son of their tribal chief. He really doesn't want to become chief."

"You got all of that in a couple hours? We had known him for something like six months before knowing he was Comanche." Sue looked over at Reed. Wyatt and Johnny had been friends since boarding school. It had taken almost a year to find out that Wyatt was at boarding school because of how rebellious he had been at home. Another year to find out it was because he really didn't want to ever become Chief of their tribe.

Tony shook his head. "It's what she does." He looked at the entire group. "Ok, first impressions. Are they going to get themselves killed if we let them continue to function as a team on their own?"

Steve and Natasha both shook their heads. "They're young but none of them are stupid. We need to help them learn how to use their abilities better. Sam said Davis barely talks about his ability."

Charles leaned forward. "Davis has a lot of fear when it comes to his abilities. When they triggered, no one around him understood it. His father saw it as something he could use." Charles paused, "His father is not a good man. Logan was the one that brought him in. I'm not sure anyone else would have been able to retrieve him safely."

"I've got someone coming in later this morning who makes similar portals. Hopefully between his knowledge and ours we can help him. And hopefully he understands that there are plenty of people who can protect him from his father."

Reed shook his head. "Are we really considering letting five 19 year-olds form a superhero team and function on their own?"

Tony fought off a laugh. "You think Johnny's going to listen if you say no? They're going to do it with or without our help. The only reason Charles and I got involved with the arson thing was that Bobby asked if anyone had ever heard of a fire mutant and Peter's suit automatically reports data."

"Tony is right Reed. I'd rather they get some decent training instead of making it up as they go." Sue reached over and grabbed Reed's hand.

Charles cleared his throat. "I am also concerned that they soon won't have a choice. I believe Ross's comments after the prison break were specifically laying groundwork for an anti-mutant movement."

Tony nodded. "Wanda thought it was off too. We've been watching him for a while. None of us trust him." He looked around the room. He had come a long way since Fury had originally approached him about the Avengers. He was more than willing to function on his own back then. Now, he welcomed outside input. "Shall we go see how the boys are doing?"

xxxxxxxxxx

Dr. Strange had portaled directly into MedBay. "Peter, I can't tell you happy I am that I'm not here making a house call because you're hurt...again." He looked at the rest of them. "I understand one of you has the ability to make portals." Tony had given him what data he could as well as video from the battle a couple weeks ago. Tony had also told him he had to find some kind of bedside manner in order to deal with Davis. The kid was beyond skittish. He smiled. "Let me show you what I can do and explain to you how I make mine and we can compare notes."

Peter leaned against the doorframe watching Davis. He had spent the weeks since the breakout gaining Davis's trust. He thought he had made a decent amount of progress but Davis still looked like a deer caught in headlights. He thought it probably helped that Professor Xavier was also in the room. The man had a calming affect on Davis. Once he was convinced that Davis was ok, he left to seek out Steve.

xxxxxxxxxx

"So, what do you think?"

Steve and Bucky were in the common area on the Avenger's floor. Bucky smirked at Peter who obviously wanted their blessing. "I think with a little training they won't get you killed."

Peter looked over at Steve expectantly.

"I think it's a good group. You all are young so I really don't want you doing much on your own yet. Just like you started out with us on containment, you all need to get some low risk ops to get experience."

Peter frowned. "How is that going to work?"

"We'll see if we can loop you in on something." Steve paused and looked at Peter. He could tell he was genuinely worried about what everyone thought. "Relax Peter. It'll be fine."