Day two of being here at Xavier's school and nothing. We had nothing to go off of. I was glad we could rest up and gain some strength before charging into the next battle, but it was a lot of stress.

I sprawled out on the guest bed and tried to relax. I needed to calm my nerves. Everything was happening too slow. We needed to get out there already. Who knows what havoc Loki was planning next? I groaned and stared at the pale ceiling. Stop worrying. I thought to myself. We'll get through this.

Steve knocked on the door before entering and shut it behind him. His hands played with the hem of his blue shirt until he calmed down and stopped. Steve never really liked arguing, so the make up conversation almost always became awkward. His lips tightened into a straight line and he almost sighed. He locked eyes with me as I sat up, allowing him to sit. Steve didn't tear his sad gaze away. "I'm sorry about yesterday."

Steve Rogers, everyone. He did nothing wrong, yet he still apologizes. I frowned and shook my head. "It's okay. It's not your fault. I'm the one that got out of hand."

"I understand where you're coming from. It's difficult to handle all of the emotions and stress." Steve's rubbed the back of his neck and raised his eyebrows. "I'm surprised Peter and Bruce are doing so well."

"Yeah, they have their own way of dealing with fear and guilt." I paused and thought for a moment. This could either lead to another argument, or a calm conversation. 50/50 odds doesn't sound too bad. "Did you really mean what you said yesterday?"

Steve frowned and he tore his gaze away from me. He focused on the desk in the corner of the room and the villains' files scattered about. His voice grew wary for a second until he cleared his throat, "That you would turn against us? That you're no better than the villains?" His expression fell and a grave replaced it. He blinked a few times before responding with the word that stabbed me right in the chest. "Yes."

I bit the inside of my cheek and nodded slowly. I knew anger and guilt was getting to me. How could it not? It wasn't just impacting me, though. It hurt the others. I took it out on them. I worried them. My heart sunk a bit and I kept a straight face. What I was about to ask next determined my next move. "Do you still trust me?"

Steve replied without a second thought, "Of course I trust you, Lilly." He shut his eyes tightly and exhaled loudly. "I trust you. How could I not? You mean so much to me. But..."

When he trailed off, it only made me more eager to hear the rest of it. I tried to help him finish his sentence, "Buuutttt....?"

His blue eyes opened and peered right into mine. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself and took my hand in his. "Promise me you won't let your anger get the best of you. I know you, Lilly. You aren't like them. Everything is just happening so fast that you never got a second to yourself. Catch your breath."

"How can I catch my breath when..." I stopped myself and saw him lean his head forward like he was waiting for me to finish. I shook my head and squeezed his hand. "I promise. I won't turn on you guys or leave you behind. We're a team."

Steve's face soured. He sat up straighter and was reluctant to say anything. He finally came to a conclusion a minute later and declared, "I don't want to sound horrible, but I have to ask a question." I nodded and waited for him to ask. He glanced away and continued, "You can definitely catch your breath after this conversation, but I have to ask. Are the X-Men ready? We need to group together and come up with a plan."

"No..." I groaned and tapped my foot against the floor impatiently. "No one is ready. We're still running on fumes as is. I'm still waiting for the Professor to greenlight the plan first. Logan has started recruiting people already, but we need to know how many can go first. If this threat is as big as it is, we can only bring some of them. Once Loki finds out the X-Men are involved, they'll attack the school next. The children need to be defended too."

Steve almost laughed out of despair, "This whole thing is just one big mess, isn't it?"

"Yeah, and it's our mess. At least we won't be viewed as vigilantes anymore. If we take out Loki's group, we'll be heroes again." No. No more of this guilt feely crap. I wasn't going to wallow in it any more. Not until our lives were stitched back together and everything was okay. I stood up and dragged Steve up with me. "Come on. Walk around the halls with me."

We strolled around the empty halls for a few minutes in silence. The sounds of different lectures wavered through the air. The smell of freshly cooked lunch in the cafeteria moseyed on up from the first floor and into our noses. Our stomachs growled at the smell, but we continued on. We occasionally glanced into a few classrooms with the doors open. Students gave presentations with beautiful visual aids and demonstrated some of their projects. In others, the students would play with their powers when the teachers' backs were turned. Some would laugh and others would flirt.

Steve spoke up after a while and admired the surroundings, "So, this is where you grew up."

"Yup. This is my home," I answered simply. I was incredibly proud of this place and all it has achieved. It was a huge part of my childhood, thus a part of me. If I could just remember the feeling, this memory, this part of my life, then nothing could make me question what side of the war I was on. I am better than the villains. Siding with people who have kept the school running for so long proved it. All I had to do was apologize to them and make it up somehow.

Steve smiled softly. "I like it. It's simple and it helps children in need. I almost wish I had something like this back in the day. A shelter that provided food in a time of need or rooms for the homeless. You know?"

I nodded. "It's unfortunate that you didn't have many resources like that back then." I couldn't imagine living back then. The tough times, the wars, the whole world changed back then. Having Steve tell me everything he went through was on my bucket list. There had to be some awesome facts that you couldn't get in the history books.

"I can't wait to spend time with Amelia when we get home." Steve tilted his head back and smiled at the ceiling like a dork. Just the thought of that little girl made him happy. She helped him get through the toughest time after Peggy's funeral. I didn't think anything could get him to smile then, but she did.

"You miss her too?" I asked, a grin starting to form on my lips.

"She's an adorable kid. How can I not?" Steve shrugged and chuckled lightly. "Plus, we promised we would take care of her. I'm a man of my word."

I squeezed his hand and tried to keep the conversation on a light note. This was winding both of us down. It was helping. Even if we were lost in this calm world for five more minutes, it would be worth it. "We can get an apartment somewhere in New York. I don't want Amelia growing up in the Avengers tower. With Tony around in the lab, things could get dangerous."

Steve agreed whole heartedly, "Clint's always waiting to scare Tony and constantly throwing things. I understand why you would want to move." His eyes lit up at his thought and he turned to me. "We could get a place in Brooklyn around where I grew up. I can show you some of the old blocks and what stores were there. Little explorations down memory lane can be exciting."

I grinned and added softly, "I'd love that."

Before we turned around, we stopped at a classroom to see what was going on. Peter and Bruce were geeking out in the lab with a few of the students. Both of them were smiling like fools and laughing. Their eyes shined bright and they seemed so happy. This was the first time they could do something they enjoyed and dive right back into science.

Bruce took a portion of the students and spoke about nuclear physics. Some of the bored kids instantly became interested when they heard he was the Hulk. Bruce's smile swayed, but he always loved to meet people who thought he was a good guy.

Peter used his time to explain interesting concepts of biochemistry and biophysics to some of the students. The students seemed fully enraptured in his words and hung on to every last bit he had to say. His hand gestures sometimes went wild as he got too excited about a concept. He really enjoyed teaching. It was written all over his face.

Peter seemed to be enjoying the robot arm too. There were some times where he glanced down at it and it wouldn't work the way he wanted it to, or a flicker of sadness spread across his features, but he would immediately snap back into the real world when a student asked a question.

Steve wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we watched both of them teach. The children were so fascinated, so ready to soak up all of the knowledge. It only enhanced my faith and strength. We were fighting for them. Whether or not we would make it, we would do it for them. For their futures. There was hope for the future. There had to be. We just had to fight to secure it.