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"Ooooooohhhhh!" Logan and I exclaimed and clinked beer bottles together.
Bruce had just died on a video game against Peter. The game was so intense that we started to make jokes, bets, and become the narrators of what was going on. The boys enjoyed every minute of it, even if they had to concentrate. Peter and Bruce sat forward with their elbows rested on their knees for better concentration.
I took a sip of beer and watched their movements. Both of their faces lit up, darkened, scrunched up in confusion, and go blank again all in a matter of thirty seconds. It was a delightful thing to witness. I had never seen so many emotions in such a little amount of time. I glanced over at Logan, who was watching the screen intently. Thirty bucks were on the line, and if Bruce died one more time, he would lose out on money. I knew Peter was great at video games, but Logan didn't.
"No!" Bruce yelled out in frustration. He threw the controller and threw his head back on the couch in defeat. He closed his eyes and groaned. Now he had to do dishes for the next week to take over Peter's shift. "I thought I was going to win..."
"Woo!" Peter got up and started dancing his victory dance. He performed several good moves before messing up and hitting his shin on the coffee table. "Ah, God, ow!" He hopped around on one leg until he sunk into a chair.
Logan handed me thirty dollars reluctantly. His brown eyes flickered to Peter quickly and he took in the moment. "You know kid, ya remind me of someone."
"A hilarious and smart person? Lilly thinks that all the time," Peter replied sarcastically. He shot a look at me and wriggled his eyebrows. I simply rolled my eyes.
"No," Logan chuckled and continued, "a jackass."
I immediately knew who he was talking about. This person was the most considerate, sick humored, famished, horny, and the most insane person I ever had the pleasure of meeting. He was one the only other person I knew other than Logan and I that couldn't be killed easily... "Wade?" I inquired with a confused look. Logan nodded in return. I thought about it for a second. Peter did have some of those qualities, except he was hungry for knowledge. Well, then again, Peter looked for meaningful relationships while Wade, on the other hand, looked at the short term most of the time. "I do see some resemblance. I think they would make great friends."
"Hey! Don't compare me to somebody I don't know." Peter messed up his short brown hair and made it look like he had bead-head.
Banner played along, not even knowing who we were talking about, "I don't know. I think I'm starting to see it too."
"Deadpool is such a jackass, but he has a giant heart of gold." I sat quietly for a second before adding, "He used to bring me food when I was sick and put on movie marathons."
Peter jut his hands out in sudden realization. His left eye twitched out of sheer excitement and his glasses slid down his nose as he gave me a grave look. He, very calmly and collectively, asked, "Wait...the Deadpool? You know him?"
"Yeah," I stated nonchalantly. I didn't even think about it, until I remembered that Peter idolized Deadpool. He had him on a pedestal. The first time I saw him again, he was even wearing Deadpool pajamas. How could I forget such a memorable thing? Oh...crap. I contemplated.
"I...I can't believe you haven't told me that important information!"
I shrugged in defense, "I didn't think it was important."
"I'm his biggest fan," Peter declared and set his hands down. He sat up in his seat, cracked his knuckles, and looked at all of us with a smug look on his face.
I massaged my forehead with my hand, awaiting the impending headache. "Oh, no. Here we go."
Peter went on a thirty minute spiel about Wade Wilson. He stood up at times, moved around the room, pretended to present with an imaginary board with statistics on it, and acted out a few stories he had heard in the news about Deadpool. Bruce, Logan, and I appeared interested at first, but as time went on, it got a little bit overwhelming. I learned things about Wade that I hadn't known before. He never told me about his adventures outside of the school, so I was always in the dark about things. Bruce massaged his temples and leaned back in his seat. He rested his head against the couch and closed his eyes. Logan contributed a few comments here and there, and told small stories of his own. By the end, Peter slunk down in his chair from oxygen deprivation.
"Calm down, Peter. You're going to give yourself a heart attack," Bruce commented after he woke up from a ten minute nap. He rubbed his eyes and yawned when he stretched.
I snickered and joked around, "Yeah, and your tombstone will be engraved: Peter Parker. Died from fanboy overload."
"Whatever," Peter brushed the conversation off and brought up a new one. "You know, if I was invited to the battle of New York, everything would have changed. We would have defeated Loki earlier in the battle and destroyed the portal before the nuke was even sent out."
"You're giving yourself too much credit, Kid. Just think to yourself for a moment..." Logan trailed off and continued after taking a drink of his second beer, "If these guys barely handled it, one more person wasn't going to change anything."
Peter's brown eyes widened and snapped his fingers when he came to a realization. "But, if they had a whole team of members, like the X-Men, my thought would be true. There wouldn't have been as much destruction or near death experiences."
The three discussed how improbable that all was and how it could have created more chaos, if anything. I wandered off in my thoughts for a few moments. Loki's name seemed to trigger my thought process lately. Loki and Red Skull are working together. They still haven't done anything. What are they waiting for? Why are they waiting? So what if their soldiers aren't immortal. They had a bigger advantage than they thought. I rubbed my chin slowly and pretended that I had a beard for just a few seconds. It helped me think. But where would they do this? They have to have a base somewhere. Looking back at every Hydra facility...facility... Something clicked in my mind, like a bright light bulb being turned on.
I got up and immediately walked to the elevator. I pushed the button a few times impatiently, having the insane need to tell someone the news. I tapped my foot against the tiles and noticed Steve walking towards me. "Perfect! Just the man with the plan that I want to see."
"Why does everybody comment on that?" Steve shook his head in slight embarrassment at the distant memory. He raked his hands through his blonde hair and his face became a blank slate. He pushed it aside and questioned, "Why did you want to see me?"
The elevator arrived, so we hopped inside and Steve pressed the button for the floor below. I started my thought process out loud, "So, I was thinking about the Hydra facilities, something I haven't done in a long time. Then, I look back at all the..."
Steve cut me off, "Get to the point, Parker." He knew I would talk for a whole ten minutes if he didn't say that. I wouldn't mean to, but I loved explaining things to my peers.
Smart man. "Anyway...My boss was having me work hard because a position opened up at a higher facility. He showed me a map of where it was and told me I would live in that general area until I was a high enough rank to work underneath Red Skull. I wouldn't have known about it if it weren't for him, and I could tell you right now where it is." The elevator door opened and we walked into Tony's lab. I continued, "That's got to be where Red Skull and Loki are scheming their End-of-the-World Plan. We have the advantage here."
Steve was about to say something until Tony intervened, "I found where Loki's scepter is located." He clapped his hands together, rubbed them, and created a drum roll.
I rolled my eyes and said it along with him simultaneously, "In a Hydra facility stationed in Germany." Tony furrowed his brow. He narrowed his eyes and pointed at me, but failed to say anything.
"I guess Schmidt wanted to go home," Natasha commented from behind one of the computer screens. She clicked the exit button and hopped off of the counter that she was sitting on. Her short red hair flopped around for a second and her sharp, green eyes glanced at all three of us. "I looked in the file you gave us again and the location was coded. I decoded it, and voila, magic happened. We now have the location and the map of the outside area."
I leaned up against the counter and folded my arms across my chest. I bit my lip. "The serum has to be there, along with the soldiers. Right? Something is going on here and we can stop it!"
"Not without a plan," Steve eyed me to make sure I understood.
"This is why we make references to your life, Steve. You're always giving us a reason to. Like right now, Man with a Plan," Tony chuckled and turned off all the screens in the lab.
We all stood in place for a minute in silence. There were imaginary thought bubbles over everyone's heads; maybe they were searching for a plan before Steve could think of one. The group always tried to do that, but Steve's plans were always better. No surprise there. This man lived to fight, and knew how to do it right.
"What are we waiting for?" I asked. I stood up straight and got ready to leave. "We have to move now if we're going to use the element of surprise!"
"We have the advantage. You said so yourself. Let's at least know how to invade before we commit to attacking," Steve replied in a stern tone.
I groaned. Nothing was ever good enough for Captain America. "Loki and Schmidt are both there. Why are we waiting? Let's fucking bomb the place. That should cause a little chaos before we corner them outside."
"No," Nat cut in, "Steve's right. We need a plan, Lilly."
I nodded and followed everyone out. Knowing everyone in the group somewhat decently, things weren't going to go very well. We couldn't agree on what type of ice cream to get, how were we supposed to decide on this? I mentally shook my head and prepared for a fight. This is not going to end well...