AN: This chapter is dedicated to @sweettartgotswag for voting and commenting so much! Thank you for your support and amazing feedback. :)

Logan yelled up from downstairs with urgency, "Lilly! Come here!" I sprinted downstairs as quick as I could. This had to be bad. I turned around the corner and into the entertainment room to see some students staring in horror at the television screen. Some whispered to themselves and others had to leave the room. Logan sat on the edge of the couch and pointed at the screen, "Is that your guy?"

I turned to the television and my stomach began to churn at the sight. The blood, the destruction, the people screaming and getting slaughtered, I took my eyes off of the screen and grimaced. "Yeah, that's him."

Steve ran into the room with my cell phone to his ear. He put the phone away from his mouth and motioned to me, "Are you watching it?"

I nodded and ran my hands through my hair stressfully. I put my hair into a ponytail and replied, half in thought, "We need a plan, and fast."

Steve clicked a button and took the phone away from his ear. He spoke louder than usual, "Barton, you're on speaker. Lilly, how fast can the Professor get the team together?"

"Five minutes maybe. Want me to try?"

"I'll do it," Logan took initiative and walked quickly out of the room.

"So where exactly is this?" I asked as I glanced around the room. The students watched us worriedly and turned off the news broadcast. Their country was crumbling before them and they didn't know what to do. I motioned them to just breathe in and out and go do something productive to get their minds off of it.

Barton huffed and answered, "Downtown DC. There's so much damage...We've tried to set up a safe shelter for the survivors, but the majority of them are wounded. We're calling in medical help now."

I dragged my hands down my face in frustration and tried to not overthink the situation. It was simple. Get the bad guys. Save the world. No pressure. "I'm glad you guys are on it. We'll be there in a few to observe the rest of the area and sweep the perimeter."

Steve glanced at me worriedly with his blue eyes and replied to Clint, "Stay safe, Barton."

Barton answered with a hint of exhaustion in his voice, "Will do, Captain."

Steve hung up the phone and handed it to me. He patted me on the shoulder and waited to see if I was okay. I nodded and ushered him out into the hallway to get dressed. Can't fight a war without a uniform.

Peter and Jake walked down the hall, talking and laughing about a show they both watched. Peter glanced up at us and had to do a double take when he saw our faces. He stopped walking and raised both of his eyebrows. "What's going on?"

"We have a problem," I responded and motioned him to our rooms. He got the hint, almost like we talked telepathically, and his smile disappeared. Peter's brown eyes darkened and he looked down at his arm in an unsatisfied way. He never worked it in the field, so this would be an interesting test run.

Jake looked over all of us with curious blue eyes and questioned in an excited fashion, "What kind of problem? Can I help?" His smile grew and he nearly bounced up and down.

Peter saw his excitement and shook his head, "Jake, buddy, you have to stay here. We'll go check it out." If this kid couldn't fight off a school bully, he'd die out there in the field. None of us wanted another innocent fatality on our hands.

Jake slumped over and motioned his unbelief by throwing his hands out. "This is an opportunity to fight with the Avengers and some of the X-Men! I can't pass this up."

Peter peered down at Jake and his lips formed a tight line until he thought of what to say. This kid looked up to him. Maybe he could convince him to stay. "You have to. We don't know what's out there."

Jake's smile fell and he almost whined, "But you've taught me so much already! I can do it!"

Peter appeared torn, but shook his head once more. If anything happened to him, he would never forgive himself. He set his hand on Jake's shoulder and offered, "Maybe next time, Jake. I'll come back and we'll complete our lesson for the day. Alright?"

Jake's expression swallowed itself in pain and he replied with a simple okay before leaving. He trudged off into the kitchen in a depressed manner. We just ruined his dream of fighting with us, but it was for his own good. I reassured Peter, "He'll be fine."

"I know. I just want to protect him, you know? He's like a little brother to me. He's such a smart kid," Peter replied and rubbed the back of his neck guiltily. Letting his dream crumble was better than getting him killed. He groaned and walked with us to our rooms.

Steve filled both of us in on the situation so far, "Loki destroyed a major part of downtown DC. Barton, Romanoff, and Stark are already there taking in survivors and protecting the untouched part of the city. We're going in to the damaged portion to see if anyone still needs help. If Loki and the others are still there, we'll take them while we have the upper hand."

I scoffed and added, "Yeah, well let's hope we have the upper hand. I'm not sure how many of the group is still here. Some went out to do business for the day, remember? Jean had that important government conference meeting and Scott and Kitty went to back her up. She wanted the government to know that the X-Men were siding with us in defeating Loki to assure some public hope."

"We'll just have to make due with what we have," Steve huffed, his face fell and was replaced with determination.

"Are we bringing Banner?" Peter walked backwards and looked at us.

I disagreed with the possibility of that. That was too dangerous, especially since we fought them a few days ago. "No. Not yet. He still hasn't rested over the last fight. We need Hulk at his greatest when we go back in."

"Okay. I'll see you guys in a minute then." Peter entered his room to go get changed and closed the door behind him.

Steve entered our room and grabbed his suit. He set his shield on the bed before going to the bathroom to change. "You nervous?"

I chuckled lightly, "You ask me that every time we're about to get into a fight." I stepped into my suit and zipped it up when it was ready. I noticed the holes and blood still on the suit and cringed. Need to get this stitched up. I set up a sticky note in my mind for later.

"I like to reassure you that it will be okay. I don't want you going in there with your nerves on end."

"I'll be fine, Steve." I finished getting dressed and put in my contacts slowly. I tilted my head back and commented, "You worry too much about me."

Steve came out of the bathroom and picked up his shield. His red, white, and blue suit was bloody in a few places and burnt slightly in others. He kept his blue eyes locked on the shield to avoid eye contact with me. He really was worried enough to avoid showing me. "I have a right to be. I don't want to lose you," his tone softened as he replied.

I blinked a few times to make sure my contacts stayed in place and turned to face him. I set my hands on his slender face so he could look at me and smiled a bit. "You won't lose me. I can't die, remember?"

His eyes shifted between both of my hazel eyes and he bit the inside of his cheek. He quietly stated, "I don't want to lose you to anger or anything like that. I don't want you to change and become someone else."

My eyebrows knit together as I thought for a moment. Maybe he was right. Maybe this battle would change me. Maybe my grudge against the villains would drive me bloodthirsty with anger. I was going to reply until Peter knocked on the door. I dropped my hands to my side and repeated myself, "You won't lose me."

We met Peter out in the hall as he was adjusting his suit. He stretched his left hand in his stitched up suit, trying to see if his metal arm would break right through it. He was the only smart one and actually stitched up his suit before he needed it.

I led the way down to the underground base. Kids stared in awe as we passed by and others talked to their friends about the situation. The whole school seemed quiet for the most part. News traveled fast around here, so I was sure they were all worried about what had happened in DC.

We met up with Logan, Bobby, and Storm in the hall before the vehicle room. Their yellow and black suits seemed to give some color to the bright, metallic hallway. Bobby stretched and watched us enter the hall. Logan made sure his mask was firmly on his head. Storm's cape followed behind her as she lead the way to the X-Men's Blackbird.

The Blackbird was slick around the edges and newly painted black. It was twice the length of the regular S.H.I.E.L.D. jets, and much roomier for that matter. The Blackbird was fueled and warming up for take off. We walked up the ramp and the X-Men sat down in their designated seats. Steve looked around for a minute while Peter gawked at the technology. He looked at all of the buttons and consoles up at the front, almost giddy with joy. The monitors lit up blue and showed us our destination.

I showed Steve to an empty seat and yanked Peter away from the consoles at the front. Once we were all seated, I finally exhaled nervously. My eyes fell on the occupied front seat. I looked confused and called out, "Are you sure you want to join us, Professor?"

He turned slightly back to glance at me and agreed, "You are short staffed. If you need the help, I will be there." He told Storm to start take off and looked forward out of the windshield.

I waited patiently and hoped everything would work out in my mind. Thoughts ran through wild and impatiently as we got into the air. The ride started off as a little bumpy, but soon, we were smooth sailing through the sky. I glanced over at Bobby and asked, "Have you looked at surveillance of the area yet?"

"Loki and the majority of them are gone, but there's someone still terrorizing people in the streets," Bobby observed as he pulled it up on the computer. He pointed at the screen, which showed up on all of our monitors, "See that red dot? That could be one of them or a few of them, but I can't pull up the camera feed. Something is really wrong here."

Steve and I glanced at each other. He spoke up before I could, "Then let's go find out who it is and take them in."