Chapter Text
It was the middle of the night. The sky was a shade of obsidian, contrasting the bright lights dotting the city skyline. Even in the deep of night it never was truly dark in New York City. For once the Tower wasn’t one of the buildings lighting up the skies. Normally it would be a beacon of light. As the Tower, like the city in which it stood, never slept. Today there was no mission. No emergency that kept earth’s mightiest heroes awake into the early hours of the morning. No flash of inspiration that would keep some of them in the laboratories until the edge of dawn. It was quiet and peaceful.
The light of the moon - for the surrounding buildings weren't tall enough to reach this level - shone in. It spread through the big open windows that adorned the outer walls of the room. The faint rays of light traveled and stretched over the floors, missing the bed in which its occupants slept.
Y/N and Steve were a tangled mess of limbs, their chests softly raising with each breath. Y/N lay facing the windows, while the super-soldier had himself wrapped around her back, holding her close to himself. One of her hands was resting beside her face on the pillow. The other one she had placed on top of Steve’s strong forearm resting over her middle. He had pressed his face against her neck, hidden in her mob of hair. With each breath, the tips of her hair swayed.
The exhaustion from the last couple of days consumed them. One mission had followed the other with next to no room for a break. So when there had been no more missions to go on and no emergencies called in, they all but fell into the bed.
Yet the night wasn’t supposed to stay calm. Their rest was only so short when a noise broke the silence in the room. The phone with its display turned upside down on the bedside table started to shake. The vibration of an incoming call shook it. It jumped around the wood as the ringtone started to rip through the silent air.
Y/N and Steve roused, both so rudely pulled out of their slumber. While Y/N opened one glowing eye, Steve grumbled behind her. He murmured an incoherent complaint and buried his head into his pillow to try to sleep through it. The man made it rather difficult for her to reach out to the blaring phone. Especially with the way he tightened his arms around her middle so she wouldn’t leave his embrace. Any other moment Y/N would have loved the way he tried to keep her in his cocoon of warmth. If it wasn’t for the tedious ringing she would have loved getting pulled back. Now, however, she strained against his grip, prying herself away from him enough to reach the phone. Once the mobile phone was securely in her hand, she fell back against her boyfriend’s warm chest evoking a small ‘oof’ out of him.
“Yes?”, she asked, a yawn escaping her mouth. The other end of the line was silent, though a faint rustling reached her.
“So, uhm, I need help.” Peter sounded sheepish and flustered. There was once more silence, before he added, “Steve's help.”
He stumbled over the name. Y/N cracked a small smile over his antics. Peter was still in such awe. Whenever he saw Steve, whenever he interacted with the Captain America. It was hard for him to drop the starstruck feelings. But he was making progress since Steve had asked him to drop the formalities. He thought that they should be casual with each other. Since he was dating Peter’s sister and he wanted to get closer to the teen too.
Y/N screwed her eyebrows together and opened her eyes once more. Pulling the phone away from her face she looked at the much too bright display for the first time since waking up.
“Peter it’s 3 am, what’s going on?” While she felt tired at such an ungodly hour, him needing help had woken her up and made her alert. “Where are you? Are you in trouble? How serious is it?”
Once more there was rustling on Peter’s side of the conversation. It sounded like Paper and the squeaking of a chair to her.
“At home.”, came the mutter of the teenager and then a heavy sigh. “Can you maybe just come?” And then, in the tiniest voice a small but desperate “Please.”
Y/N yawned once more and thought about it. It didn’t sound like he was in danger, so there wasn’t an enemy. She was still far too tired to reach out with her powers to see where the problem lay. Whatever the matter, it had to have enough importance that he would call and ask, even if it wasn’t a threat per see.
She turned her head and peeked over her shoulder, nudging Steve. Nothing. When she gave him another nudge - this time with her foot - he reacted. Another grumble came from him before he lifted his head and looked at her. He was completely disheveled. His hair stuck out in all kinds of directions, and the way he had his eyebrows furrowed made him look very cute. The way his eyes drooped suggested that he felt as tired as her. She thought to even see the remnants of some drool on his chin. It made her heart swell and elicited a small smile.
“We’ll be there. Give us twenty minutes or so.” All she heard was a gasp of relief from the other side, followed shortly by a small “Thank you.”
Y/N ended the call and let her phone fall beside her onto the mattress. Steve went in to lean his chin on her shoulder, nuzzling her neck as he woke up further. A little sigh left his lips. He didn’t need to know the exact time to know that it was way too early for them to be up.
“What’s going on?”, he asked her, voice soft, and pressed a tired kiss on her cheek.
“Peter needs your help. I don’t know with what but it seems urgent.” The teen was still hesitant to call her whenever he needed something. Even though Y/N told him time and time again it was no trouble. For him to call meant it had to be important.
“Can’t we have five more minutes?” Steve’s whine made her laugh. She didn’t turn her head but knew anyway that he was pouting at her. It was impossible for her to be even closer to him but that didn’t stop him from trying to pull her further into his chest. His hands were warm on her stomach and hip. Damn him. Normally Steve was the voice of reason while she tried to allure and seduce him. He was the one to stay strong and not get persuaded.
“I told him we would be there in twenty minutes.”, she said, giving his forearm a soft squeeze.
“Please Sweetheart.” The way his breath hit her ear made her shiver. She had half a mind to give in. A couple more minutes of cuddling with her boyfriend sounded wonderful. Yet, she didn’t fall for his attempts. Her brother’s need for help pulled her in the opposite direction of Steve’s inviting warmth
“No, come on.”
Steve protested as she climbed out of his embrace. In an instant, he missed the feel of her body and the softness of her skin against his. His eyes followed her form through the darkened room. With a sigh, he too climbed out of bed only moments later.
Meanwhile, in Queens Peter was mindlessly spinning in his chair and staring ahead. His room was dark, safe from the little lamp he had on his desk and the lit-up display of his laptop. Open on it was a writing document. An empty writing document. One whose emptiness seemed to be accusing him.
With a sigh, he pulled the display of the laptop closer, minimizing the accusing blank slate that he should be filling with words instead. But there was nothing. He didn’t know where to start, he didn’t know what to write about.
It was way too late for him to be still up with this. Yet here he was, getting more desperate with each turn he made on his chair. Each time the soft glow of his laptop came into view he felt himself get more stressed.
The Teen did only stop his spinning when he sensed something. It was an abrupt halt, one that almost sent him crashing into his table. There was the tingle he should have become accustomed to already. The hairs on his arms stood up in something that a normal person would consider to be goosebumps. When the top of each little hair started to point in the direction of his door there was nothing normal about it anymore. His spider-senses were there to keep him safe. Peter stared into the darkness of the hallway and listened.
The ringing of the doorbell a second later had him scrambling out of his chair. Almost toppling over and face planting on the floor. Peter sped through the dark hallway while trying to be as quick yet as silent as possible.
The door came into his view and as he stood in front of it, he paused. Peter remembered the many talks with Happy about safety and took a peek through the peephole. With his heart hammering against the inside of his chest he unlocked and opened the door. In the hallway before the apartment stood Y/N and Steve.
Both appeared in casual clothing. He hadn’t seen the captain in leisurewear before. The sweatpants and the thin long-sleeved henley were new for Peter. It was a big contrast to the tactical suit he was the most familiar with. Even to the jeans Steve wore outside of his uniform. Y/N looked like she had rolled out of bed a moment ago. She had thrown her hair up in a quick and messy way, the pants and shirt sat crooked.
He opened the door with such momentum that he had to scramble to stop it from hitting the wall of the Apartment. Aunt May wasn’t home so he didn’t need to worry about waking her up. But he didn’t want to get a noise complaint from one of the neighbors.
“Thank you for coming.”, he mumbled as the two Avengers entered the living room. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
“No Problem kid,” Steve reassured him with a small smile and an encouraging nod as he stepped in. Y/N sent him another smile as she entered the apartment. Her hand briefly went to his head to ruffle his hair.
“How was your trip?” Instead of asking the obvious first, she asked a question Peter would be more comfortable with. She could feel the anxious energy radiating off the teen and sought to make him more relaxed. Whatever it was that he needed help with, they could tackle it once Peter wasn’t about to bounce off the walls.
“It was good. We came back this morning.” He was still rather exhausted from the long drive with the bus and the exciting yet nerve-wracking days.
“What trip?” Steve looked between the two siblings, a quizzical look on his face. He had no idea what kind of trip they were talking about.
“The Decathlon Team went to the Regionals.”
“Oh was this the competition thing you told me about?” Steve turned to Y/N who rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. Steve furrowed his brows.
“Yes, exactly that. Didn’t I tell you about the trip?”
“I don’t remember you mentioning this to me Sweetheart. You talked to Tony about something like that I believe.” He would have remembered if she had told him about that. Steve made a point to be involved and interested in Peter’s doings.
“Huh, I thought I did,” she mumbled before turning back to Peter to inquire further, “It went just good? How did the team do? Did you have some time to relax or sightsee?”
Peter’s nerves started to ebb away. He appreciated Y/N’s subtle ways of helping him. She didn’t point out the obvious and didn’t make him feel bad for feeling the way he did. Truth be told, ever since he got bitten by that spider he had been feeling more anxious. He wasn’t sure if it came with his heightened senses or from the experiences - good and bad - he had made since then as spiderman.
“We got in the first place and won a big trophy. Mr. Harrington said the school will put it into the big showcase for everyone to see.” The smile that spread over Y/N’s face made him stutter for a moment. The next moment he felt encompassed in a big hug from the woman.
“Peter that’s great! Congratulations!” The warm gesture made him smile and after he got over his surprise he returned the hug as well. Over his sister’s shoulder, the Teen met Steve’s eyes. The happy and somewhat even proud look on Steve’s face made him blush.
“We didn’t have much free time. Jacob dragged me along to a comic book store and we got some pizza, but that’s pretty much it. The pizza also was disappointing.”, he continued once the hug had ended.
“You New Yorkers and your obsession with New York pizza.” Y/N rolled her eyes once more and snickered. Peter and Steve looked at each other before they broke out in grins and chuckled. The tall blonde walked over to his girlfriend, pressing a soft kiss to her temple, still rather amused. Once it had waned he turned to Peter. It was time to address the reason both of them were here.
“What’d you need help with, kid?” Peter started blushing, instantly becoming embarrassed and shy.
“Uhm…I-I kinda forgot that I needed to write an essay for history class. I was so busy with the Decathlon and then I forgot and now I need it tomorrow..”
“And what’s this essay supposed to be about?” The supersoldier inquired with curiosity.
“The Howling Commandos.”
Steve was taken aback by this answer. He looked at the Teen with surprise on his face, his eyes big and his mouth opened in a small o-shape. Peter thought it was a bad sign how speechless the Captain was. He was about to start apologizing again. Rambling about how many sources there are online but it was so late and he didn’t know where to start. Before he could, however, he watched Steve’s face light up, his mouth forming into a soft grin. A warm and somewhat proud glimmer in his eyes. Then he was nodding and walking over to Peter. The pat on his shoulder was such a simple gesture but one that conveyed a lot.
“Of course, I’ll help you with that kid.” “Really?” Peter nearly didn’t believe it was that simple.
“Sure do.”
“Then let’s not waste time, shall we?” Y/N interjected and smiled at both her boys. Peter nodded. He blinked once, twice before he realized that they were still standing in the living room. So he motioned for them to follow him down the hall and into his room.
Peter never thought he would have Captain America sit in his bedroom in the middle of the night. Ever. He would have never imagined showing the icon of the nation his simple bedroom. Yet here he was. Y/N he had already shown the room. Actually, since that first time after the school festival she had been over a couple more times. So that wasn’t a concern to him anymore. While both Avengers trailed behind him on the very short walk to his room, his nerves got the best of him once again. Had he cleaned up his room? What would the Captain think of his room? Would he judge him for the organized chaos Peter kept or for all the bits of electronics strewn across his desk?
Oblivious to the young superheroes' inner tumult, Steve followed. He was curious to see the teen's room if he was honest. Surely it looked different from the room he had as a teen. Between his teenage years and today lay 70+ years and the great depression. It fascinated Steve to see how much had changed and how different people decorated their homes nowadays. There was so much you could do today, for relatively little money too. His mother and he had only had the bare minimum, some old furniture they got and the odd bit of memorabilia that his mother had brought to the US with her. They hadn’t had much but it had been enough and Steve still remembered his childhood home with a certain fondness.
The room was dark like the hallway they had passed through. It amazed Steve how easily Y/N managed to navigate through the dark room. He knew she had been here multiple times.
At the same time she reached the bunk bed, Peter had turned on the lights, blinding all three of them. A chorus of groans came from each of them.
“Sorry.”, Peter mumbled as they all squinted their eyes. The next moment the big headlight flicked off again. Two smaller lamps - one in the corner of the room and the other one on Peter’s desk - flicked on to replace the bigger light.
“That’s much better. Less blinding.” Y/N’s eyes, who had glowed in the fractional moment of darkness between the light's change, slowly turned back to normal.
The creaking of a bed was the next thing that reached Steve’s ears. He opened his eyes again, much more comfortable with the new light setting than before. Y/N had sat down on the lower of the two bunk beds and leaned down onto her hands on the mattress behind. The way she had to still duck her head a bit to not hit the underside of the upper mattress made him smile.
“Uhm, right. You can sit there.” Steve followed Peter’s pointing finger to the desk chair. Before Steve could ask where Peter planned to sit, there was only one chair in the room, the teen grabbed his laptop and sat beside Y/N on the bottom bed. Steve nodded and sat down. The chair was a bit small, as most things were for him, but he managed as he leaned his elbows on his knees.
“What have you gotten so far?” The teen blushed again and started squirming. Y/N cocked an eyebrow. She leaned down to take a peek over her brother's shoulder.
“Nothing.”, she concluded with the raise of an eyebrow. Steve knitted his brows, when he looked at Y/N she only shrugged. So he looked back at Peter. He looked uncomfortable, guilty even if Steve read it right.
“I don’t know where to start,” Peter confessed. “Our teacher suggested some things we could focus on. Mostly about the achievements of the Howling Commandos and their role in winning the war. But I don’t want to do that.” He placed the laptop on the bed and stood up. Slowly pacing his room and wringing his hands, he tried to explain to them what he had in his mind. “Everyone will write about that.”
“Then write about something different,” Y/N concluded matter of factly. Peter stopped for a moment to look at her. He blinked, nodded, and then continued his pacing.
“Right…I’d like to focus more on the members themselves and who they were. Make it more personal…They were their own people after all. Not just the disembodied heroes that are written about in history.” That’s when he stopped again to look at Steve. He looked shy, almost careful as if his words could have been insulting to the veteran that lived through textbook history.
At first, he frowned. But then Steve’s face blanked, deeply in thought. The change lasted only a couple of seconds before he nodded - more to himself than anyone else - and focused back on Peter.
“Sure.”
“Yeah?” Peter gasped. It caused the blond super-soldier to crack a smile.
“Yeah kid.”
Yet he could still sense some apprehension from the teen. It prompted Steve to add, “You surprised me. Most people forget that behind the stories and figures stood real people with lives. I didn’t think you would want to write about that.”
Peter blushed again and smiled at Steve. Slowly he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to find the next words.
“Well, yeah…But I want to. Because I know and I want the others to know that too.” And in a much quieter voice, he mumbled, “I want them to see you and Mr. Barnes as I do. Like real people, that are more than their titles and achievements.”
Steve’s heart swelled. It moved him, made him even choke up a little. He spluttered, trying to find his words. They failed him. Instead, the blond nodded again, the burn of his eyes prominent as he looked at Peter.
“Y-yeah, we can do that,” he croaked out at last, voice thick with emotion. It was hard being Captain America sometimes. The public saw him only as the famous symbol, yet he wasn’t all that. He was just Steve, the small kid from Brooklyn. It had taken him a long time to find some people who understood that after he had woken up 70 years in the future.
“How about you two concentrate on what you want to write down, while I’ll cover the sources,” Y/N suggested. As much as she wanted her two boys to have their emotional bonding moment last longer, it was already late and they hadn’t written one word. Time was dwindling. Peter nodded and flopped down on the bed beside her again, pulling the computer back into his lap.