Avengers Fluff

Author: Inspired by an adorable Walking Dead fic called Tangled by The Readers Muse here on FF. Started
writing on this one several days ago after taking a nap with my pup & the next morning seeing my crush looking
like he had just crawled out of bed (which he probably had). No slash, just lots of cute fluff. I own nobody.

None of them knew exactly how it had happened.

Captain America sure as hell didn't.

One day they had been arguing over what being a team meant and the following night... it happened.

The table in the center of the room got moved to the side and the lights got dimmed very low. Then everyone began to congregate to the open space, dragging pillows and blankets with them.

Some silent agreement amongst them had been made that this was okay.

The rest of the world might not agree.

But they weren't like the rest of the world, were they.

They fought like a pack of starved dogs during the day as they tried to figure out how to get along with all their various personalities and egos.

But they got along so much better asleep than awake.

Imagine that.

Clint shifted in his sleep, tossing an arm over Dr. Banner's side. The archer, who Steve knew could sit still for hours on end, was never still in his sleep. He was always tossing, turning, rolling, twisting, etc... Nobody was for sure but they assumed nightmares were to blame. As to what exactly haunted him in his sleep, Clint never said. But it was certainly bad enough to wake him up in a cold sweat with blankets at his feet several times a night.

"Sleep friend... all is well." came Thor's throaty rumble from under a pillow. One of his hands snaked into view and rested against Clint's trembling arm gently. Thor wasn't a particularly heavy sleeper, usually the first one awake whenever someone else woke up or moved. He had admitted that more than once he had just laid there lost in thought.

Either Thor's movement to comfort Clint or his voice pulled Agent Romanoff back towards the world of wakefulness. Natasha had odd sleeping habits. No matter where she feel asleep, she ended up curled up on top of Clint, Thor or (occasionally) Steve himself. Tonight it was Thor's back with her face buried in his long hair. Not that he seemed to mind though. She grumbled softly and reached out, pulling a blanket up over her shoulder.

Banner didn't stir when Clint's arm landed on him. In fact the scientist seemed to be the heaviest sleep of the entire group. He mumbled something that sounded (at least to Steve) very sciency before burying himself further out of view. And once he was buried down under a blanket with just his hair sticking out, that was all she wrote until dawn. Or until Tony woke up.

And where was Stark?

The man was (as Clint had described him) as hyper active as a ferret on crack. Even in his sleep.

Everyone thought Clint had been joking... until he provided them with proof.

None of them were sure they wanted to know where he had gotten that video.

Steve glanced at the bottle of Scotch on the counter, considering opening it. And pouring it down the drain.

"Come out... come out where ever you are Stark. I'm about to take your scotch hostage." Steve sang very softly. Thor chuckled quietly and shot a grin in his direction.

A wiggle between Thor and Clint revealed the arc reactor and part of the billionaire's shoulder. While Natasha always ended up on top of one of them and Clint sometimes ended up stretched out across them all, Tony ended up buried beneath them every night. How or why, none of them knew nor could they figure it out. But it seemed that tonight he had his head resting somewhere near Thor's shoulder, one of his arms was tossed across Clint's stomach and his feet were tangled in a blanket somewhere near Banner.

"Can't sleep Cap?" came Clint's voice (half muffled by a pillow). One of his eyes was open, watching him in the darkness.

"Got up for a drink." Steve whispered, holding up his now empty glass for the archer to see.

"Spangles stay away from my scotch." Tony's voice came from somewhere closer to Thor's elbow than shoulder. The Asgardian snorted into his pillow, biting back laughter.

Banner grumbled and reached over his shoulder (across Clint's chest) to give Tony a couple of smacks on the shoulder. That was his way of telling Stark to go back to sleep.

Steve chuckled, set his glass in the dishwasher and headed back to the now busy group. Tony had slid out from under the others and was crawling over Clint to lay down on Banner's free side. Steve grabbed the pillow Tony had abandoned and slipped in between Clint and Thor. Clint blinked sleepily at him once before closing his eyes and Thor watched them both silently as he got himself situated. There was a strong sense of comradery between them. In different ways they were all soldiers.

Clint was a soldier of the shadows. Unwilling to lead and preferring to blur the lines between right and wrong. He was unafraid to take a life if he felt he had to.

Thor was a soldier of the very old days. Fearless. Almost blood thirsty. And certain had no qualms with being covered in his enemies blood.

Steve was a soldier of honor. Unafraid of any situation. A nature leader. And he always tried to lean towards the side of justice.

Natasha startled them when she moved, stretching out across them like a cat. From the waist up she settled against Clint, whose slid an arm around her back to hold her gently. Her hips and legs were pressed against Steve, innocently but seductively all at once. Her feet were tangled with Thor's legs where they would be warmest because he gave off heat like a furnace.

"Go to sleep Cap." she whispered, resting one of her hands on his heart gently. Her eyes were already falling shut again.

Thor's hair brushed his neck as the Asgardian turned his head to settle back down and maybe sleep. Banner's deep, slow breathing and the very dim glow of Tony's reactor assured him they were already asleep again. Clint's breath, still smelling like cigarette smoke, ghosted his shoulder as he drifted off again.

A few of them (if not all of them) would be up again when someone else got up or Clint's nightmares resurfaced again.

But for now... all was well in Avenger's Tower.