This chapter is filled with fluff, and so much comfort it will make you throw up...

I've got to be honest, I am a little jealous of Peter is this chapter...(I live vicariously)

Sorry, it's a bit late, but this chapter is over 1000 words longer than most other chapters, so that should make up for it. ;)

Chapter 36:

"No, no, no, his head is waayyy bigger than that," Tony exclaimed with a click of his tongue. Flapping his hands around as he glared up at Clint.

Clint huffed from his perch on Thor's shoulders, crossing his arms like a petulant child as he sat on top of the Asgardian. "Well, you know what Tony, if you wanted to be in charge of the head you should have climbed on Thor's shoulders."

"Aye, the bird man is right." Thor agreed, and the Archer, in turn, patted the prince's head in thanks. Peter couldn't help but think they looked a little cute, ridiculous, but cute…In a very weird superhero way, that is.

"Tony's right, though," Steve said, his head cocked to the side as he examined their snowy creation. "Hulk's head is much bigger than that." He told them, one of his hands holding his chin, his elbow rested on his crossed arm.

Clint spluttered, "Well someone else come up here and help me then."

Peter bit his lip to suppress his laughter. Their Snow Hulk was coming out fairly decent. But it was hard to make something of this size. When Bruce had suggested building in the snow Peter had assumed the man had meant something simple, like a snowman. But then Tony had gotten a bright smile on his face, and well, you can guess the events that unrolled from there.

"Fine I will," Tony said, raising his eyebrows and spinning around before whipping a finger out and pointing at Steve, "Hey, grandpa," He called, "help me out over here."

Steve did not look all that enthused about the nickname. "Yes, Tony." He grouched before slumping forward and crouching down so the other man could get on his shoulders. "How's this, your highness?" Steve asked after Tony had climbed on, his voice devoid of any and all emotion.

"A bit drafty." Tony snarked, before pointing at the Snow Hulk and yelling "Onward my noble steed!"

Steve tipped himself forward a bit making Tony lose his balance and have to hold onto Steve's shoulders to keep from falling. The billionaire let out a squawk of surprise before glaring down at the blonde. "You can't see it Steve, but I'm glaring at you menacingly," Tony told the other man.

"Wouldn't doubt it for a second Tony." The Captain deadpanned, although his smirk was evident in his tone.

While those four worked on the shoulder and head area, Peter and Sam were finishing up the legs, making sure that Snow Hulk's feet were about the size of their torsos, and that his legs were as large as Steve at least.

"What are you working on Bruce?" Sam asked as he patted down one of Snow Hulk's knee caps which was about the size of Sam's head. Peter and Sam's legs were spread out together, one of Peter's legs pressed against the other man's white cast.

"The uh, behind area," Bruce said, sounding a bit awkward as he shifted from foot to foot.

"He's working on the ass," Tony said from above, Steve smacked his leg in a way of scolding. "Oh, sorry Steve didn't mean to offend you with my bad language words."

Bruce glared up at Tony, "Yes I am working on Hulk's butt." He said turning back to his work.

"How can you be sure you are doing it justice, though?" Clint asked.

"What?" Bruce looked thoroughly confused by the question, all eyes turned up to the Archer.

"I mean, Hulk's got a pretty smoking butt," Clint said as he continued to work on Snow Hulk's face. "And you've never even seen it Bruce, how can we know you are doing the Hulk butt the justice it deserves."

Sam coughed into his elbow to cover up a snort of laughter and Steve looked thoroughly amused. Bruce was gawking up at the Archer, "I think I know how to form a butt thank you very much."

"But it's not just a normal butt, this is a very important part of Hulk we are talking about here."

"It is one fine butt, maybe you need help."

"Honestly it is a masterpiece of two muscles,"

"It's true Hulk has buns of steel."

Bruce's cheeks were slowly turning red as the whole team began talking.

"I think forming those tight glutes is at least a two-man job."

"I'm pretty sure I speak for all of us when I say Hulk has the best butt on the team."

"Hey!"

"Oh come on Tony you know it's true."

"Okay…Yeah, mean greens got a fine ass-Ouch! Steve would you stop hitting me! I'm a grown man!" Tony squirmed on top of Steve's shoulder, rubbing at his sore thigh.

"You are literally on my shoulders so you can build a Snow Hulk, Tony." Steve looked up at the billionaire with a raised eyebrow.

Peter laughed into his hand then, avoiding eye contact when Tony glared down at him. Sam nudged Peter's leg, his own face lit up with a bright smile.

"You know Bruce if you want a hand," Natasha said as she walked around the Snow Hulk. "I know I would be more than willing to help you out." Her eyes were daring and her tone made Bruce blush even further.

"I think I should be the only one to touch Snow Hulk's butt," Bruce told the redhead.

Natasha pouted at him, before "I've been wanting to get my hands on that green ass for a while now." The spy winked at Bruce then, and if Bruce's cheeks hadn't been red before, they sure were now.

Peter made gagging sounds into his hands, hunching over himself, a moment later Sam and Tony joined in, and then pretty soon all the Avengers were pretending to throw up, all falling onto each other and covering their eyes as they spluttered and moaned in fake disgust.

"Oh god! Make it stop!" Tony cried out, covering his ears before making 'lalalalalalala,' sounds.

"My eyes! My eyes!" Sam yelled, falling backward into the snow and pressing a hand to his face.

"Oh god, it's so bad. I think I'm going to choke myself with my own hearing aids." Clint went on.

Natasha smirked at all of them, putting a hand to one of her hips before saying "All you boys are just jealous."

After the team had finished their Snow Hulk everyone had rushed inside, all shivering and freezing from being out in the cold in nothing but their normal clothes. Peter was having a bit of trouble feeling his legs at the moment, and it seemed like a few of the others were having a bit of trouble moving too.

"See you guys later I'm taking a bath," Natasha said with a wave of her hand, disappearing down the hall before she even finished her sentence.

There were grunts and huffs of agreement from the other frozen team members. Peter hobbled his way down the hallway, Clint on his heels headed for his own room. "You need help there gimpy?" Clint asked.

Peter glared at the man from over his shoulder, watching the Archer rub at his probably numb arms as he walked forward. "Was that an invitation to come help me bathe?" Peter asked with a raised eyebrow.

Clint gave Peter an unamused expression, "No. It was a threat."

Peter barked a laugh before making it to his room and shutting the door. Peter was pretty sure that parts of him were frozen solid, and that needed to be rectified.

With numb and uncoordinated movements Peter dumped his slightly damp and freezing clothes off of himself and ran into the bathroom. The bathtub was just as big as he remembered it…Well, duh, because Peter had only first seen it a few hours ago. But still, it looked amazing.

Peter turned the water's temperature up as high as he could bear, waiting for the bath to fill he rubbed at his arms and he bounced up and down on his feet trying to get his blood flowing again.

As the teenager waited for the monstrous bathtub to fill he rummaged through the bath bombs, soaps, and other weird things that Peter wasn't even sure what their purpose was for.

Peter spotted some bubble soap that claimed to smell like lavender. The teenager bit his lip, looking at the girly designs on the bottle, before saying "screw it," and dumping a good portion into the bath. It wasn't like anyone was going to know he was taking a bubble bath. He could do what he wanted.

Peter then grabbed a bath bomb that said 'shoot for the stars' on it and threw that in there too. Might as well go all the way while he was at it. Soon his bath was a purple color with bubbles and different colors swirling around in it…

Ah yes, Peter could get used to this.

The teenager climbed into his colorful water, his face scrunching up as his numb limbs tingled. Peter's legs felt jittery and that annoying sharp pain that you got when the feeling was coming back to you was shooting up his body.

Peter settled, letting himself slide down until only his nose and up was sticking out of the purple bubbles. The bottle had been right, it smelled like lavender, but the bath bomb smelled kind of fruity. Peter was going to smell like a very pretty girl after this…But he couldn't say he really minded.

Peter sat there for a moment, letting the hot water bring life to his limbs again. Before he remembered, this thing had jets, right?

Peter found the button, and then his purple bubble bath was swirling all around with the push and pull of the jets…

Oh yes…Yes, this flabbergasting bathtub could devour Peter at any time. It would only mean Peter would die a very happy man.

The cabin was quiet. Only the creak of the wood and the breeze blowing against the house accompanied the sound of Peter's breathing. The teenager shifted in his sheets, borrowing in deeper as he let out a sigh.

After everyone had emerged from their own bath/showers the group had eaten dinner and played a game of pool in the entertainment room. It had been fun (even if Peter wasn't the best at pool) And then he and Clint had gone at it, playing a game of table tennis that lasted far longer than any other game of table tennis had ever lasted in the history of all time!

But after Steve had broken up the tournament saying it was a 'ty', the group had said their goodnights and headed off to bed. Clint leaving with a whispered promise to beat Peter later, and Peter pointing to his eyes before pointing at Clint with a jab of his finger, a wordless threat.

So here Peter was again, on silky soft sheets, under thick warm blankets that probably cost more than Peter himself, on a bed that could feed a whole village in Africa (or something that made sense)…not sleeping…again.

Peter huffed kicking his feet in a bit of frustration. Why couldn't he sleep? He was tired, he had been tired for days, but the last good night's sleep he had gotten was when his body decided that on top of a dumpster was the best place for a nap.

But for some reason every time Peter's body would start to relax and his mind would drift off he would jerk back awake with a gasp. It could be the nightmares, Peter guesses, but wasn't he used to those by now? He had been dealing with bad dreams for years.

No, he didn't really think that was the problem.

The cabin gave another lonely creek, jarring Peter out of his thoughts. His room was huge, well, of course, it was because everything was huge here. But for some reason in the darkness, it felt more daunting.

The teenager flipped his blankets off of himself, rolling out of bed. Or well he tried to roll out of bed, but one of his feet got caught in his bedding and he all but faceplanted out of bed. Peter blinked down at the floor in surprise for a moment…Thank god Clint wasn't here to see that.

The teenager walked to his door, poking his head out into the darkened hallway before bouncing his way down the hall. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but maybe someone else was awake to hang out with?

Peter made it to the railing overseeing the Livingroom and let out a sigh when he found no one else there. The teen sat there (not pouting) for a moment before something green caught his eye.

Peter walked towards the windows looking out onto the lake, squinting so he could make out what that green light was…It kind of looked like eyes, but the teenager couldn't be sure. Wait was that-?

Peter looked back and forth for a moment, swiveling his head in the darkness, making sure that no one had magically popped up behind him. Before he climbed onto the wall so he could crawl over to the window.

Peter refrained from climbing onto the actual glass because if he left marks on the large windows (that were at least fifty feet of the ground) it would be pretty obvious who had left them there- (Clint, clearly. He was always crawling onto everyone's windows...It was really inconsiderate of the man; I mean honestly!) But Peter needed to make sure his suspicions were correct.

The teenager squinted into the darkness, trying to make an outline with that faint green light, and sure enough, there it was. Someone had put green glow sticks into Snow Hulk's eyes. Peter slapped a hand over his mouth as a bark of laughter threatened to burst from his lips.

For some reason, Peter's gut was telling him that a certain redheaded spy had been the one to do it. Uh, Peter wished he had thought of that. The teen slipped back to the ground a moment later, shaking his head at Snow Hulk as he turned around.

The front of the cabin was lit up, the lights all dangling in the wind as they casted yellow shadows over the snow. Peter let out a hum as he walked to the door, maybe he'd hang out there for a while.

Peter slipped someone else's coat on, he was going to guess either Sam or Steve's, since it was huge on him. And then Peter stole someone's shoes, probably Tony's, because they were a bit snug. And headed out the door.

It was just as quiet out here as it was inside. The light breeze didn't disrupt the silence whatsoever. Peter glanced up watching the lights as he let soft snowflakes fall onto his face. It was freezing, but the lights made it seem as if it were warm.

The teen sat on top of a picnic table a moment later, catching the powdery snow in his palms and watching it melt as it his warm skin. His nose was getting tingly and so were his ears, they'd be numb soon, but Peter didn't care.

If you had told Peter that he would be living with the Avengers and then taking a vacation to Greenland with them, a few months ago Peter probably would have made you a straightjacket out of webbing.

But here he was, a world away from New York with a bunch of people that he really liked, building Snow Hulk's and having snowball fights, really just getting to be a kid again. The fact made something akin to butterflies burst in Peter's stomach. It felt unreal, and sometimes Peter was scared that it wasn't.

"Peter?" Someone asked from behind the teenager, and Peter whipped around to the person.

"Oh, hey Thor." Peter greeted with a soft smile. He should have figured that Thor would be awake, how much sleep did an Asgardian's even need?

"What brings you out here?" Thor asked, walking closer to the teenager. "Was it the terrors of the night?" He asked with concern, sitting next to Peter on the picnic table, their feet were on the actual bench part, because they could sit how they wanted, and because they were barbarians.

Peter smiled down at his hands, "No buddy. Just…" Peter looked back up at the lights again, it was just so darn pretty, why couldn't everything look like this all the time? "couldn't sleep for some reason."

"Ah," Thor leaned back on the table, making the wood creak under his mass. "I see." The two sat in silence for a moment, both just enjoying the peacefulness of the night. "Too much on your mind?" Thor asked a minute later.

Peter hummed, "I guess. It's just been a bit crazy these past few days." Peter admitted, looking back down at his lap, "I'm just…" Peter didn't know how to finish that sentence, he didn't know how he felt about all this change, and he was afraid to look too deeply into his feelings for fear that he would realize he had made the wrong choice in staying. He didn't want it to be the wrong choice, he wanted to be here, but what if he had made the wrong decision?

"A young and growing boy must rest in order to become a man," Thor said into the wind, his blond hair whipping behind him. Peter nodded down at his hands, when Thor referred to him as a 'boy' it didn't feel condescending like it did when other people said it. For all Peter knew Thor could be a five-hundred-years-old, and if you were that old you had the right to call anyone you wanted a child.

"How old are you Thor?" Peter couldn't help but ask. The teenager turned to Thor then waiting for an answer, as he rubbed his cold hands together for warmth.

Thor hummed, a smirk playing on his features as he turned to face Peter. "I am 1742 of Midgard's years." The Asgardian stated.

Peter felt his mouth drop open, his eyes wide and his brain turning to mush. "Wow…" He said a bit lamely, because what do you say to that!? Yeah, Thor definitely had the right to call him a boy…a child even…because in all honesty Thor had the right to call Steve a child…and that was some crazy power right there…

Thor laughed, his chest rumbling with the act. "Ah yes, we Asgardians live long lives." He told Peter looking back out to the snow, he didn't look at all fazed by the cold.

Peter realized with a pang of sadness that Thor would most likely outlive them all. I mean the man looked so young and he was already over a thousand years old, that must have meant he would live for a very long time. But that also meant that Thor would have to deal with losing all of them, had he already had to deal without living other teammates before? Peter wondered.

Those thoughts made Peter scoot a little closer to the larger man. That must have been terrible…Peter could sympathize. Thor must have thought Peter was cold (he was) because the prince wrapped an arm around Peter a moment later, bringing the brunette so close their hips were touching.

At first, Peter froze at the contact, images of Thor on top of him, hitting him, punching him, throttling him, and grabbing a needle-

Peter shoved those thoughts away. That hadn't been Thor, that had been Hydra. Thor would never do those things to him. Peter took in a deep breath before letting himself melt into Thor's side.

The wind was slowly growing stronger, and the snow fell harder, Peter shivered, pressing a bit further into Thor's side. "Let us venture back inside," Thor said a moment later, his voice was as soft as Peter had ever heard it, maybe the prince also did not want to break the tenderness of the quiet.

"Okay," Peter sighed, glancing one more time at the lights blowing in the wind before he crawled off the table. Peter walked behind Thor, watching as the man left large footprints in the snow, Peter stepped into a few of them raising an eyebrow when he found his own foot so much smaller in comparison.

The two tiptoed inside, slipping off their shoes before heading down the twisted stairs. Peter opted to keep his stolen jacket for a while, though, just until he warmed up. The two settled onto one of the couches after Thor had started a fire (Peter had a feeling that was more for his benefit than Thor's) and Peter let himself sink into the cushions.

Peter listened to the crackle of the fire for a moment, until Thor spoke quietly. "What did you do when you could not sleep before?" Thor asked, his blue eyes settled on Peter.

Before, what had Peter done before?

When Peter had been unable to sleep a handful of months ago sometimes he and his Aunt May would watch movies together as they lay on the couch, pigging out to some homemade cookies, the presence of his Aunt would help settle Peter and they would end up a tangle of limbs on the couch…But that had been before.

Almost two years ago Peter would have called Gwen. The two would talk on the phone about nothing and everything, promises, and dreams, realities, and expectations. It would take Peter's mind off of whatever had been bothering him. And the two would end up with slurred speech and whispered words until the both fell asleep. But that had been before.

Three years ago, Peter and his Uncle Ben would climb out onto the roof. They would glance up the sky, wishing to see the stars, and imagining them instead. The two would sometimes just sit in silence enjoying the other's company. But other times Uncle Ben would let Peter talk, and he would sit and listen, allowing Peter to get whatever was bothering him off his chest. And then Uncle Ben would give soft and gentle words, ones that always made Peter feel better. But that had been before.

"Uh," Peter swallowed hard, leaning back so he was laying on the couch and hugging a pillow to his chest. His eyes were burning ever so slightly he blinked them a few times glancing over to the warm flames. "When I was little, and I had a nightmare or couldn't sleep." Peter swallowed again, pressing that lump in his throat down. "My Aunt, Uncle, and I would build a blanket fort in the Livingroom." Peter huffed a laugh at the memories. "We would play games or watch a movie, and then we would all end up falling asleep. It was great." Peter could remember those times so clearly, laughing as they told scary stories, cuddling up together as they watched movies and ate cookies under the protection of their blankets.

A moment passes before Thor asked, "Please, what is this fort of blankets?"

Peter gave a soft laugh, "It's pretty much exactly what it sounds like. You get all the blankets and pillows you can find and then build a fort (or fortress I guess) out of them and then you just sleep in there. Most kids on Earth have done it at least once."

Thor gave a soft hum, seeming to be thinking about something before asking, "And this made you feel better? It helped you to sleep within this blanket fortress among your Aunt and Uncle?"

Peter gave a soft laugh again, "Yeah. It did. It's really comforting."

Suddenly Thor was on his feet clapping his palms together loudly, disrupting the perfectly constructed quiet, before cupping his hands around his mouth and yelling "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!"

Peter yelped in surprise, smacking his hands over his ears and squinting up at Thor. What was the man doing?!

A moment later there were shouts and booming footsteps as people came rushing out of hallways and down the stairs. And then there they all were, the Avengers clad in their pajamas and their hair mussed and fluffy, all looking frantic and ready for a fight.

"What is it, Thor?" Steve asked.

"What's going on?" Tony shouted a moment later.

Thor smiled brightly at the other's again clapping his hands together before announcing, "We are going to construct a fortress of comfort from our various bedding."

The whole group stared opened mouthed at the Asgardian for a moment before Clint said, "Hold on a second, are you telling me you just woke us all up so we could build a blanket fort?"

"Aye," Thor nodded vigorously, "Young Peter could not sleep and I asked him what he used to do to remedy this problem. He informed me that he and his family used to construct fortresses of comfort in time of need."

Peter was going to kill Thor. He was going to murder Thor the thunder god. Peter was going to smother him with a pillow in his sleep, no, no, he was going to snowball him to death, he was going to-

"What's going on?!" Sam yelled a moment later just now hobbling his way out of his room. Everyone glanced up to the man, before-

"We're having a blanket fort in the Livingroom," Clint informed Sam. "It was Thor and Peter's idea."

"Alright," Tony said through a yawn, "everyone go grab your pillows and blankets, and uh, someone help Wilson down the stairs."

"I'll make the popcorn," Natasha said a moment later, walking off into the kitchen.

"Make hot chocolate too," Bruce told her.

"Will do."

And with that everyone started walking back to their rooms to grab supplies for a blanket fort. Peter's mouth was hanging open, his eyes wide as he watched these grown men and women sleepily stumble back up the stairs so they could grab their blankets. What-what just happened?!

"Hey Peter," Natasha called, the teenager picked his jaw off the floor and glanced too her, "come help me make the hot chocolate." She requested. Peter stumbling his way into the kitchen still feeling very, very, confused.

A moment later, as Peter was heating yet another bag of popcorn, Thor and Clint came to the railing that overlooked the Livingroom and threw down dozens of pillows and blankets. Then they turned back around without a word, probably to find more bedding.

Peter watched flabbergasted as then Steve helped settle Sam onto the couch and proceeded to grab Bruce so that they could begin to organize the blankets. Okay, yeah, Peter must be going crazy, or this was just a dream, his exhaustion had finally caught up with him and he was hallucinating a reality in which the Avengers had blanket forts.

"Alright, I've got some Stark tech that should help," Tony announced a moment later coming from within the hallway and walking over to Steve and Bruce. Peter blinked at them, yeah, Peter had gone crazy.

After a few minutes, Natasha and Peter had eight steaming cups of coco, and a few bags of popcorn. The two set them down on the island right before Thor and Clint came back for the sixth time throwing down yet another load of bedding, before Clint yelled, "That's the last of it." And the two blonds walked down the stairs.

Peter was gawking at them again; he was sure his brain was complete mush by now. Nat flicked him in the forehead jarring Peter out of his boggled thoughts before she grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him forward, "Com'on, let's help," she sighed as she dragged Peter forward.

"-so we just attach these to a flat surface where they can connect with one another and then you turn them on-" Tony was demonstrating how his tech worked, placing what looked like a disk on a wall opposite from another disk, and then turning it on. With a click of the button a blue string of light connected from one disk to the other. Tony reached up and tugged on the string, showing that it was more than just projected light. "And there'ya go, we have ropes."

"Nice Tony," Steve said blinking up at the blue glowing string before flicking it himself. "Alright team, grab the biggest blankets you can find." And without a word everyone yet again, went to work.

The taller people hung the blankets over the different blue strings, which were all overlapping one another, almost like the shape of a star. While the shorter people began to pile the blankets and pillows together on the floor making a humongous bed over the carpet. Bruce pushed the couch that Sam wasn't on, closer so that the two L-shaped couches were almost boxing in the fort. But he angled them just right so that the fire was still visible within the fort.

About a half hour later the group was left with a huge fort, the blue glow from the strings gave off enough light to see by, and the fire (even though it was dying down) still gave off a warmth and light from just outside the fort. The floor was no longer visible due to all the bedding and once inside you could see nothing outside of the blankets.

Peter sat crisscross in the middle of the bedding, waiting for everyone to pile in, the popcorn and hot chocolate had been kept warm in the oven (Natasha's a smart lady) and that was waiting by Sam's feet to be eaten.

Once everyone was more or less settled Thor closed the 'door' of the fort and everyone glanced happily at their work, "Aya, it has been a pleasure building this fortress of comfort with you all." Thor told them, a broad smile on his face.

"I can't believe we're having a blanket fort," Peter said a bit astonished, glancing up at the lights once again.

"Who needs sleep at 2:00am anyway?" Clint asked, "All self-respecting adults build blanket forts with their friends." Peter knew it was a joke, but there was no humor in Clint's voice.

"Haven't done this since I was a kid," Steve said a moment later, he was leaning back his head pressed to the cushion Sam was lounging on. A look of longing came into the man's eyes then, and Peter couldn't help but wonder why.

"Bruce and I have blanket forts all the time in the lab, right Bruce?" Tony asked, a grin spread across his face.

Bruce hummed into his chocolate, "Yes. All the time." He agreed, his voice flat.

Peter snorted into his own chocolate, covering it up as he took a sip. "Well, I haven't done this since I was like twelve." He told them, grabbing a handful of popcorn and stuffing it into his mouth.

"I've never done it," Natasha spoke a moment later, all heads snapped to her.

"Aye, this is not an Asgardian tradition." Thor agreed.

Clint clapped his hands together, "Oh that is not cool." He said sounding very displeased with the fact.

"We've got newbies," Sam spoke through a mouthful of popcorn, "Gotta show them the ropes." There were many grunts and words of agreement at that.

The group decided to tell scary stories, with the stupid flashlight under your face and everything. But slowly that turned from telling scary stories to telling embarrassing stories and soon the fortress of comfort was filled was laughter.

Steve told a story of how he was chased down and then unclothed by a group of very excited woman in the middle of a street. Clint told them of a time he had 'accidently' pulled off Nick Fury's eye patch and ended up having to scrub down the tri-carrier with nothing but a toothbrush. Sam told them of how he had crashed through a window when he first got his wings. And Peter told a story of how he been caught by his Aunt one night coming home from patrol, and when she asked if he had been with a girl, how he had frantically said 'no it was a guy', and then how his Aunt had thought he was gay for the following month.

There were other stories, but they were all sworn to secrecy so Peter wasn't allowed to recap on those particular ones unless he wanted to be hunted down by Bruce or Natasha and hog-tied to a poll, outside, butt naked…That's what Natasha said she would do if anyone spoke a word of what she had said to anyone else. And Bruce had said he would do the same…Peter believed them.

Soon enough the hot chocolate was sipped away and the popcorn devoured into oblivion. Someone (Clint) threw a pillow at Sam, and then a pillow fight to the death ensued. It ended when someone hit Tony in the face and his hair had stuck up so widely everyone lost it and fell into fits of laughter…Tony had not been amused.

Someone (Tony) had had the idea to decorate Sam's cast, so Peter and Tony had gone off on a search to find any and all pens within the cabin. They came back with a container the size of a shoebox full of different colored sharpies, and everyone excitedly dug in.

Soon Sam's once white cast was covered in different drawings. Instead of signing their names to the cast everyone drew their superhero. Spiderman was swinging from a skyscraper about to kick Hawkeye, who was shooting an arrow at Iron Man, who flew over the buildings next to Flacon (Sam drew himself) and he did a pretty good job considering that he had to draw it upside down. Captain America and Thor were on the ground, and Black Widow was doing a flip somewhere over a car. Hulk was in the background holding a giant ice cream cone (Clint had added the ice cream cone) and soon little silly things were added everywhere.

Thor was not holding his hammer…What he was in fact holding, Peter could not say. But we'll just leave it that when Sam and Thor had seen it they had both been mortified. Captain America's shield was instead covered with the Canadian flag, Iron Man's blasters shot rainbows, Black Widow was throwing what looked to be a Bater-ang and someone had made it look like Spiderman was riding a flying cat…

So to say that Sam's cast was going to be a conversation piece in public would be a bit of an understatement.

The group began to settle down around the same time that the sun was coming up. Tony was playing a movie on a projected screen up on the blanket roof, and everyone settled down to watch it. They had discussed what kinds of movies they had watched while in a blanket fort before, and when someone (Natasha) had said she liked the Princess Bride, and half the group had mumbled about not having seen it, it had been decided what they would be viewing.

Tony had said that it was the most quotable movie ever and therefore everyone must see it at least once, Sam agreed, and Natasha nodded her head vigorously. Peter wouldn't have thought the master assassin would have liked such a silly movie, but he also would have never guessed he would be in a blanket fort with the Avengers, so, you learn something new every day Peter guesses.

The fire had gone out quite a while ago, and the wind outside was soothing to Peter's ears. The smell of buttery popcorn and warm chocolate still filled the fort, and the softness of the blankets made Peter feel content.

Natasha sat on the couch by Sam slowly making little braids into Thor's blond hair as he sat in front of her engrossed in the movie. Bruce had fallen asleep on the other couch, and Peter could just make out his even breathing. Steve was laying close to Peter on the floor, and Tony's legs were draped over Steve's as he sat watching the movie. Clint was on the other side of Peter, his hands pillowing his head as he watched Indigo Montoya and Wesley flip about fighting left handed with their swords.

There were a few quiet snickers here and there, shifting within the blankets as stupid little jokes fell on tired ears. Peter could feel himself drifting, his eyes drooping, his breathing evening out.

He was tightly wrapped in a fuzzy blanket, only his head poking out. Tony turned the volume down a touch, the sound now in the background and soothing everyone into a well-deserved slumber.

Peter let his eyes fall shut, felt Clint softly ruffle his hair in the same moment. Steve was a warm body next to his, letting Peter know that he was there. Natasha let out a soft snort of laughter at whatever was being said in the movie.

It was in that moment, here in this fortress of comfort surrounded by his friends, right before Peter fell into sleep, that the teenager realized he had made the right choice in staying. That it wasn't selfish of him to be here. He deserved to have a home too. He was allowed to have friends, he was allowed to be a kid for just a little while longer, he was allowed to rely on others.

And who better to be with, to rely on, then the very people that could understand every aspect of who Peter was?

Yes...I gave you Snow Hulk, a Fortress of Comfort, and Nat braiding Thor's hair all in one chapter...Wishes do come true...Yes, yes, feel free to sob your gratitude to me... ;P

We have the epilog next week, and then Reintroducing Hope will be all wrapped up guys! Can you believe it?! I find it crazy that we are almost done...

I just wanted to thank all of you (again) for commenting on this story, for encouraging me to continue writing, and for being understanding and supportive when it comes to my health problems. :) I feel like I've got this little family now, makes me feel less alone, so thank you all so very much.

I am both sad and excited that this story is coming to an end, and I am very glad that so many of you guys have continued to follow this story with me.

Until next week my little dork-balls (and I say that in the kindest way)-

~Fernandidilly-yo out!