April 5th. The war grew closer by the second, but we tried not to focus on it. We trained as usual, and Peter even got permission to finally join us. His wound finally healed. Well, not completely by itself. Bruce had his friend Dr. Helen Cho put Peter in a synthetic healing machine. It made skin cells and tissue for his wound and fixed it. He had to make sure not to strain it too much, but he could at least join us in training.

Tony made sure Pepper stayed away from Chicago and the Tower, so he sent her on a vacation with a few friends. Thor worried about Jane, but Coulson reassured him she was very far away. Steve practiced a lot more in the gym, while Natasha and Clint sparred one on one. Bruce stayed holed up in the lab trying to calculate where in Chicago Loki would arrive. Tony upgraded his suit and played chess with Jarvis. He didn't capitalize Jarvis' name anymore or care for the acronym because their connection grew on a deeper level. Jarvis was a part of the team like the rest of us, not some soulless robot.

Peter and I trained earlier. Now, we were on a break.

My cousin smashed the buttons on his controller in a panic. "Lilly, shoot at it!"

"I can't, I'm out of ammo!" I yelled back. This game was intense. The level started to fall apart, leaving us only a small arena to work with. The big Boss had four times our health amount and used a shield a lot of the time. He reigned fire upon us with a giant flame thrower and set my character on fire. "Shit...I'm going in for the big hit!" My character ran to the giant and used her power up. It was all going well.

Well, until that part of the ground crumbled underneath her and sent her to the fiery pits of hell.

I shrieked in despair and watched my character burn to a crisp. I threw my controller down in frustration. "That was so stupid!"

Natasha looked up to the screen from her seat. She stretched out on the couch while reading a book. She shook her head and clicked her tongue. "Shoulda gone in and gotten his attention while Peter attacked."

I rolled my eyes and grunted, "How about you try it, Nat?"

She waved it off and put her book down. "I'm good." She headed towards the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. "You guys want anything?"

"Soda," Peter answered.

"Chips," I replied. Both of our eyes stayed glued to the screen. Peter revived me and brought me back into the game. Natasha came back with the wanted items and laid them out on the table. I thanked her and added, "You know, Nat, I look up to you like a mother."

Peter raised his eyebrows in shock when he almost died. He chuckled, "Join the club. Everyone makes fun of us and calls us Mama and Baby Spider." He opened his drink quickly and took a sip before scrambling to get his controller.

Romanoff ruffled Peter's hair and smirked, "It's a lot safer than having children. Taking care of him has become a habit. Well...Peter is just the biggest child ever, so..."

"Hey!" Peter interrupted her and tilted his head to get away from her hand. "You know Tony is in the same boat with me."

"You've got that right," I agreed with a scoff. If those two had a fight for the biggest child title, it would definitely be Tony. He always told us not to touch or take his stuff. When he did, he would always throw a fit.

Tasha grabbed her book and walked passed us. "I'm going to my room."

"Okay," Peter and I simultaneously answered. We were too focused on the game to say something else. Ten minutes later, we finally defeated the boss. Both of us cheered and threw the controllers into the air in celebration.

Peter got up to get another drink. My phone buzzed and I noticed Tony was calling me. "What's up, Stark?"

"Hey, where's Romanoff?" He asked. A clicking sound came from the background and Jarvis started talking.

I thought for a moment. Where did she say she was going? I was too involved in the game to actually remember. I put my hand to my forehead, straining to figure it out. "I think she said she went to her room."

"Well, her phone is off. Can you tell her I need her down in the lab?"

I tilted my head back and groaned, "Fine." I hung up. My legs ached from the training, so I nearly dragged myself to her room. Clint was sleeping last time I saw him, so she must be in here. Nat usually doesn't go out alone. I contemplated. My knuckles hit the bedroom door a few times.

"Yes?" She called out.

I opened the door. "Nat..." I instantly shut the door and covered my mouth with my hand. My eyes burned from the new mental image forever cemented in my mind.

That wasn't an acknowledgement of 'Yes, come in'. That was a 'Yes!" as she was busy in bed with Barton.

I screamed internally. I wish Tony hadn't called. I really wish I hadn't gone in.

Natasha came out of her room and shut the door. She covered herself with a purple bathrobe and tied it. She adjusted her hair and ran her fingers through it a few times. "Don't you know how to knock?"

"I did!" I screeched softly. I blinked a few times, trying to get the picture out of my head. "You said yes, so I assumed that was for me. I thought you left the living room because we were too loud. I was wrong to assume you were reading a book, because instead, you were putting your hands all over Clint's body like you're reading Braille!"

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I'm sorry. What do you need?"

"Tony wants you to come to the lab. He needs you for some reason." I was about to walk away when I stopped myself. My hazel eyes locked onto her green ones and pointed my finger at her. "You need a code word for that! I do not want to walk in on that ever again!"

Natasha laughed and softly said, "If the door's shut, don't come in. I never have my door shut on a regular basis. Remember that."

I turned around and walked down the hall. My brain burned as the image instilled itself in my mind. I closed my eyes, rubbed my temples, and huffed. Out of all the things I've seen in this tower, that one was the worst. And that was saying something.

I accidentally bumped into something and immediately opened my eyes. I bounced backwards and Steve caught me. "Whoa, careful," he warned me. He observed my appearance and noticed I was as pale as a ghost. He raised an eyebrow and questioned, "Are you alright?"

I shook my head. "You don't wanna know."

Steve glanced over at the doors down the hall and noticed Natasha's was shut. His blue eyes widened and a terrified expression swept over him. "You didn't..." I nodded and felt a little piece of me die on the inside. "I'm sorry you found them...fonduing."

I looked at him curiously and giggled. Of all the things he could have said, he said that. I wondered what the story was behind that, but I didn't care to ask at that moment.

"Hey, do you want to go running with me tomorrow morning?" Rogers asked. He put his arm around me and led me down the hall towards the living room.

"Uh...yeah. That sounds great."

We passed by Bruce's room.

His door was open and I took a glimpse into the room. Bruce curled up into the fetal position on top the red bed sheets. His knees tucked up almost to his chest and he formed the tightest ball I'd ever seen. It almost looked painful on how tight he had his limbs locked together. A frown glued to his lips as he muttered to himself. His dark eyes were closed and twitching every few moments.

I wondered why he always slept all the time. He ate. Studied. Slept. In that order. Bruce seemed like a fun, shy guy. Why doesn't he do anything else? Questions for another day, I suppose.

Peter had to take a double take when he saw me and tilted his head in curiosity. His sparkling eyes narrowed and tried to figure out why I was so pale. "What's up with you? I know Steve's old, but he's not a ghost."

"Very funny, Peter. Your jokes are getting just as old as I am," Rogers shot back. He stretched his arms before reaching for his cell phone.

"Did you just burn yourself?" I wondered out loud. I threw myself on the couch and rested my legs on Peter's lap. That mental image wasn't going away soon. Steve shrugged and dialed a number. He put it on speaker and waited for someone on the other end to pick up.

"Captain America, always nice to hear from you," Coulson answered sweetly. He was always extra nice to Steve because he was his biggest fan. Coulson even had a vintage collection of signed Captain America cards. He was definitely proud of it.

Steve smirked and replied, "Hey, Phil. I wanted to know if I could get a status update on April 20th."

Coulson sighed. Rustling came from the background, like he was moving to get something. "I have agents ready at your disposal. Some of the best of the best. They'll help with the Hydra agents there."

"Okay. So it's just us in the center of all the action?"

"Yes. Unfortunately. I can call in a few favors and get you air strikes, if you wish." Coulson sounded tired and frustrated. Maybe he was stressing about the war like we were.

Steve rubbed his eyes and set his elbows on his legs to prop himself up. "We wouldn't want to risk more lives than we have to. If we get the area clear of civilians, we'll be sure to call you about that favor."

"Do you think you can really pull this off?" Coulson asked hesitantly. He didn't want to jinx anything, but this was a high risk mission. Anything and everything could go wrong or right.

Steve glanced at Peter and I. I could see the gears in his mind turning as he thought about it. He looked down at the floor and rubbed his hands together. "We can only hope."