<<basically like a real-life version of the group chat chapter, but a lil different>>
Sleep? You didn't know who that was. Ever since you had first been recruited to the Avengers Initiative along with the six other people you were now proud to call some of your closest friends, you were constantly up and about and would never be able to get an adequate amount of rest. Either you were busy with missions that Fury assigned you to, whether that be solo, duo, or with the entire group, or you just couldn't sleep.
So here you were up at 3 in the morning mindlessly wandering around the compound, the only thing accompanying your sleeplessness being the soft chirping of the crickets outside. You'd expected New York to be more noisy, as it was dubbed 'the city that never sleeps' but apparently, it turned out to be otherwise.
T'Challa and Shuri had come to visit and they, too, were suffering the consequences of a lack of sleep not only because they just never went to bed at a decent time, but because they'd flown halfway across the world without getting a wink of sleep on the flight over. That was one thing everyone had in common with one another---insomnia.
There were times in which the team would get more than four hours of uninterrupted sleep a night, but such cases were extremely rare. Though it seemed as if you were the only one awake at the moment.
You rubbed your eyes and wandered into the lounge, seeing T'Challa typing away on his computer while trying his best to stay awake.
He looked up and noticed you standing there, and gave you a curt nod. "Hey, Y/N."
"Hey yourself," you yawned, stretching your arms up in the air, "what are you doing up this late?"
"Work. I'm running on fifteen minutes of sleep and half a granola bar, because this stupid thing called different time zones had to exist," he sighed, taking another bite out of the granola bar he had in his free hand. "What about you?"
"Couldn't sleep, either. You want some coffee or something?"
"That sounds nice."
You nodded and went to the kitchen, to be met by Steve sitting at the island on a bar stool and staring down at his phone with a blank expression on his face.
"Steve...are you...okay?" You looked down at your best friend in concern. "What happened to you?"
"Can't sleep," he responded, looking up at you, and that was when you saw how exhausted he really was in making efforts to actually fall asleep. His normally bright eyes were clouded over with sleeplessness and were bloodshot, red-rimmed and heavily lined with dark circles.
"Oh my god," you furrowed your brows together in concern at the sight of how he looked, "are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm slowly losing my sanity," he mumbled as he laid his head down in his arms against the marble counter, "I am spiraling downward into a never-ending rabbit hole of insomnia and ultimate destruction."
You turned and walked over to the cabinets, pulling out the supplies and beginning to brew the coffee for the tired Black Panther and a sleep-deprived Captain America.
The sounds of coffee spitting and bubbling soon filled the kitchen along with its musky, strong scent that wafted through the air, and you heard footsteps approaching from behind you once it began to do so.
"Hey, Y/N," Bruce and Tony, your father, greeted.
They didn't look even the least bit tired at all, and you wondered how such a thing was possible after spending all night in the lab for days on end, with barely any breaks in between.
"Hey," you waved tiredly, rubbing your eyes before pouring the coffee into several cups, sliding one of them across the counter to a still weary-looking Steve, who took it gratefully, and taking another and handing it over to T'Challa. "You guys want some coffee?"
"We're good," Bruce declined politely, "but what's up with you three? You guys look like you haven't slept in ages."
"That's because we can't sleep, Bruce," Steve spoke up, voice sounding husky and scratchy from the lack of sleep, "Insomnia has taken over."
"We're hungry," you heard Pietro and Peter announce from behind you.
"Where'd you guys come from?" you questioned. "Aren't you kids supposed to be in bed?"
"We're superheroes," Pietro scoffed, rolling his eyes, "we don't need bedtimes."
"I want waffles," Tony declared. "Y/N, honey, you make some nice waffles. Do us all a favor, please."
"Alright," you let out a sigh, pulling out the waffle maker from the cabinets below you, "fine. Waffles it is."
...
By now, Natasha, Wanda, and everyone else had made their way downstairs and you were all gathered around in the living room together, quietly munching on waffles, with the toppings and syrup in the middle laid out on the coffee table.
T'Challa had finally finished up his work and was now engrossed in watching Supernatural with Peter, Shuri, and Pietro. Bruce and Natasha were speaking in hushed whispers with Wanda and Vision, while Clint mindlessly twirled his drumsticks and the others curled up in fluffy blankets and pillows across the couch and floor.
You added a few blueberries to your waffle along with some syrup, and took a small bite before setting your plate down on the table and leaning back into the sofa, wrapping the blankets tighter around you to preserve your body heat.
Suddenly you felt something weighing heavily down on your side, and when you looked over you noticed that Steve had finally fallen asleep, his head resting against your shoulder as his chest gently rose and fell with every breath he took. When you tried to gently shift him off, he moved over so that his head was completely in your lap, one arm across his face.
Shuri and Peter took notice of this and giggled.
"So, they're a thing now, right?" T'Challa poked Tony in the shoulder.
"Hm?" He looked over at where Steve was fast asleep, head resting in your lap as you tried to casually play it off. "Oh. Definitely. We've all been shipping them since day one."
"You good over there, Y/N?" Sam smirked as he watched you.
"Huh, what, yeah, I'm good," you squinted at him, shaking your head before looking back up at the TV screen, not even noticing that you were beginning to run your fingers through Steve's hair.
"Date already. Please," Peter and Pietro said at the same time. "You're killing us all."
"And there's another reason added to the long list of reasons of why I am slowly losing my sanity," Clint nodded, exchanging knowing looks with Bucky and Natasha.
"Waffle, anyone?" you suddenly spoke, holding up a waffle and trying to ignore the fact that your face was on fire.
"I'll take that, Lady Y/N," Thor grinned, plucking the waffle out of your hand and munching on it happily. "Why are you Midgardians so tired? I do not comprehend."
"Exactly my point!" Bruce exclaimed, pointing over at him. "You guys are weak."
"Hey, guys," you heard a whisper from behind you, and Bucky had to clamp a hand over your mouth to prevent you from screaming out of sheer terror.
You whipped your head around as soon as you heard the person's voice and your shoulders sagged in relief when you saw that it was only Phil.
Phil noticed Steve who was still asleep in your lap and a smirk formed at the edges of his mouth before he pressed his comm on, speaking into it.
"Hill, you owe me twenty."
"Dammit," you could hear her curse under her breath in a hushed whisper on the other line.
"Will you guys please be quiet?" you hissed, placing a finger over your lips and pointing down to a still-sleeping Steve, "he's going to wake up!"
"Awww, someone sounds embarrassed," Shuri and Wanda cooed, grinning widely.
"My god, Y/N," Bruce shook his head in disbelief. "You're such a child. When are you going to tell him that you love him, anyways?"
You felt Steve stir slightly at those words and suddenly froze in your place, feeling a sudden chill run down your spine when he did so. "Bruce!"
Steve rubbed his eyes and stretched out his arms, blinking a few times before looking around the room at everyone, who seemingly had their eyes all on you and him.
Were Wanda and Natasha really...secretly taking pictures of the two of you with a Polaroid?
And were you hearing Bucky giggle, or did you just have bad hearing?
"What's going on? Did I hear something?"
"Yes, Captain Rogers," Thor nodded proudly, "in fact, Lady Y/N has something she would like to say---"
"NO!"
"Shhh, it's 3 am," Tony imitated your voice in between bites of another waffle.
"Dad," you sent him a warning glare. "No."
Now it was Steve's turn to smirk. "What? Was I that heavy?"
"No..." you gave him a weird look, "why?"
"Why's your face red?"
"It's natural," you replied a little too quickly, making him look at you with a confused expression on his face. "My face is naturally slightly red."
"That, my friend, is a big fat LIE!" Clint exclaimed, pointing at you. "LIE!"
"Lie detected," Vision spoke in his usual, calm voice.
"Since when did you become a lie detector, Vis?"
"Miss Y/N, if you go off topic one more time I have been granted permission to use FRIDAY's lie detector system by Mr. Stark," he reminded you, and you groaned.
"She likes you. Simple as that," T'Challa shrugged. "Couldn't you see it from the start? We all did."
"Is that why you were barely talking to me for a week straight?" Steve turned to you, gaze unmoving. "That must explain why."
"Uh...what...I haven't..." you began, struggling to find the right words to use, but failing. "Sorry for not...talking to you enough...Steve....?"
"Sorry's not gonna cut it," he said in a sudden serious tone, almost causing you to flinch.
"What do you want?"
"Oooooooooh..." Peter and Shuri whooped and whistled, and Clint, Bucky, and Sam raised their eyebrows up and down suspiciously.
"I don't know."
"Not helping!" you said in between gritted teeth, angrily tearing a piece off a waffle and shoving it in your mouth, swallowing in just a couple of bites. "What do you want, you picky ass?"
"Language. I don't know."
"Kiss kiss kiss kiss kiss!" Pietro and Peter began to chant and soon enough, everyone had joined in on it all.
"No, I'm not going to---"
"That's not what I meant---"
"There's no way in hell that I'm kissing him---"
Steve turned back to you again, pouting in mock-disappointment. "Come on, I can't be that bad."
"Shut up," you muttered under your breath, looking down at your hands and trying to ignore the blush creeping up your cheeks. "I'm not going to kiss you."
"Then maybe I will," he raised an eyebrow at you.
"What do you mean---" you began but before you could finish your sentence, he tugged you towards him and pressed his lips against yours.
"THAT WAS REALLY SMOOTH!" Peter squealed, jumping up and down as he and Shuri hugged each other in excitement. "My ship has finally sailed!"
The two of you broke apart after what felt like forever, and you couldn't help but notice how Steve's cheeks were bright pink as well.
"And what was that for?"
"Just felt like it."
"Cap, for someone's who's been iced for 70 years, that was really smooth," Tony complimented. "But no nasty business with my precious daughter or I'll make sure you'll go to sleep for the rest of your life."
"Dad!" you exclaimed, rolling your eyes.
"No fondue," Sam and Bucky warned. "We don't care if we're your best friends, because if you break Y/N's heart, we'll be glad to break your face."
"Guys? He didn't ask me out yet," you reminded them. "I don't see why you're telling him all this?
"Yet, my dear, sweet Y/N," Natasha corrected you, "yet. Right, Steve?"
"Yet," Steve nodded before quickly looking at Tony, confused.
"Go for it, Capsicle," he mouthed.
"How about dinner tomorrow at 6?" he offered after taking Tony's advice. "Actually, tonight at 6. Seeing that it's almost 5 am."
"Sure," you shrugged, trying to hide the smile creeping up your face, "why not?"
"FINALLY CAP IS GETTING SOME ACTION!" Clint exclaimed. "Do you know how long we've been waiting for this monumental moment to occur?"
"Six years!" Bruce sing-songed, before his tone turned serious all of a sudden. "Six years. Six. Years!"
"You guys better shut up or none of you are making it out of here alive," you threatened.
"Did we just spend all night obsessing over a ship?" Wanda spoke up.
"I believe so," Phil responded, giving Peter and Pietro high-fives. "Fury, the mission has been completed."
"Fury was in on all of this too?" Steve questioned. "How much time have you guys wasted putting your effort into this thing?"
"A lot. Superheroes get bored, too," Pietro explained. "We had to do something, and Phil knows that everyone ships you two. And that includes Fury. Although he never admits it himself."
"Good work, Coulson," Fury's voice crackled through the comm. "And if Y/N is hearing this, let her know that I better be invited to the wedding. See you at a more reasonable hour. I need to go get some sleep."
"Oh my god," you face-palmed yourself.
Steve patted your shoulder reassuringly. "Hey, at least he isn't threatening us."
"Touche," Sam pointed out. "And I also better be your best man, Steve."
"We haven't even gone out on our first date yet! Why are you planning the wedding?" you sighed, falling back against the sofa and sinking into the cushions.
"Fast forward two years and you'll see, sweetheart," your dad grinned. "You're gonna realize that you'll want to spend the rest of your life with---"
"Tony."
"Really, Dad?"
You had no idea how true Tony's statement was going to become in two year's time, though.
Who knew that waffles and a group of superheroes with insomnia problems could lead to planning for a wedding in the future and coming up with ship names?