three.
It was hard enough trying to get some sleep with all of your parents on base, but it was another thing entirely for all four of them to be away at once.
Peter was getting frustrated by his lack of sleep. It made schoolwork hard to focus on and it made training difficult. He felt like there was something wrong with him, that he was a freak that couldn't ever get any damn shuteye. He felt like the others were judging him, Mr. Banner, Wanda, even Scott when he was on base.
Tonight was one of those nights that everyone was gone. Nearly the whole team was away and it left the base eerily silent. Peter sat up from his bed and pulled his blanket tight around his shoulders. He clutched his pillow to his chest and went in search of a different place to sleep.
He was trying an experiment. He thought maybe sleeping elsewhere might help him sleep better.
So he roamed the halls for what seemed like hours. He twisted and turned through different floors and passed through enough doors he figured he'd be lost from now on. He strolled right up to a glass wall that he felt he only recognized from what seemed like a dream he'd been in so long ago.
He almost didn't remember coming here at all. But the longer he stood in front of the glass, watching the man in red, the calmer he felt. He couldn't put his finger on it.
"Does the Little Spider have troubles sleeping?"
Peter felt for sure that the Merc was going to make fun of him, and as he turned to leave, he heard, "Wait. Despite my steely exterior, I'm actually bored as fuck down here by myself."
Peter sat down on the floor in front of the wall and hugged his pillow tighter.
"You have nightmares?" Peter just nodded.
"It's alright. I get them too."
Peter looked up. "What are yours about?"
"Not really important, Spider-Babe. You should try and get some rest. You look like shit. Everything is going to be okay."
Too tired to give a damn about any kind of comment made about his appearance, he nodded and put his pillow on the floor. He curled up and pulled his blanket so it covered his whole body, just the way he liked and let his eyes droop closed.
Somehow he felt more relaxed. "My name's Peter."
He heard the Merc laugh before letting out a breath. "I'm Wade. Good to meet you Petey."
----
When Peter woke, he was tucked safely in his bed and for once he felt well rested. He changed and ventured out into the hallway to see Sam coming, looking battered and bruised. Sam looked... Almost frightened.
"Sam! Sam, hey, what happened?"
Sam shook his head but allowed Peter to run beside him. "Gotta find Banner, Bucky's hurt real bad."
Peter stopped running with Sam and did a complete 180 to go back the way Sam came from. He didn't think he'd ever run faster in his life. Right now nothing scared him more than Bucky being hurt.
He made his way outside to where the jet was and pushed his way past Scott and Wanda. Nat was in the process of standing Bucky up, letting her body take the weight off of his injured leg.
He looked like hell, but then again so did everyone. Peter stood on Bucky's other side and helped take the rest of the weight. The 90-year-old granddad was nothing between the two of them. They got him inside and onto Tony's makeshift stretcher. From there they took him to the infirmary where Vision and Mr. Dr. Strange were waiting. Peter thought it was nice to have an actual Doctor on the team now.
The adults, like always, pushed Peter from the room so they could do what they had to do, but Peter sat outside the door the whole time. He almost wanted to cry, but he knew that Bucky would want him to stay strong... Especially since Steve was already crying.
Steve, despite his steely exterior, had a very soft heart. He never let his emotions show on the surface until it came to his family. Tony called Bucky 'Tin Man' once and, let's just say he never made that mistake again. Steve has always felt very deeply, and he's always tried to hide it. But everyone knows that when it comes to the people he loves, Steve is an emotional mess.
So is Natasha. To be clear, she pretends not to have any feelings whatsoever. She puts up a front, a wall, a shield. She hides her emotions away because she was trained not to feel anything at all. The Red Room stripped her of everything that she once was or ever could have been. Natasha never told anyone in detail about The Red Room, but Peter read all kinds of stories about a myth of an experiment and he knew it was true. And Bucky had been there once upon a time, and saved Natasha from whatever fate staying would have held for her.
Bucky, being the oldest of them all, took on a caring role. Once upon a time, he was also a brother, and that really showed through sometimes when he let it. As Peter thought of all of the people living on base, he couldn't help but wonder about the Butterfly Effect and where each of these people would be if it weren't for James Barnes.