"Are you sure you have everything you need?" Tony muttered, flitting around the room slightly maniacally. Steve stood back and watched him with a bemused look on his face. Somehow Tony was more nervous than he was.

"I think so," Steve chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.

"You think so? That doesn't really inspire confidence," Tony grumbled, pausing as he tried to think up another thing to check.

"What else do you think I need? I'm just going to sleep," Steve sighed, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

"Yeah, in your bed, on your floor, alone, for the first time since-" Tony stammered before cutting himself off. He didn't like to bring up the bad memories, in fear of triggering Steve.

"I know, but I think it's time to try. At least for one night," Steve said. He'd had a whole session with Dr. Charles about it and he felt confident enough now to try. They had no idea of knowing if the nightmares would come back, but Steve felt better equipped to handle them if they did.

"I feel like I'm dropping my kid off for their first sleepover," Tony whispered, running a weary hand down his face.

"But you're not," Steve chuckled, waving him over to sit next to him on the bed. He gently bumped their shoulders together, giving him a small smile. "I'm already home." And he really was. Those plastic shelves were sitting empty in his closet and his dresser was full. His latest knitting project was sitting on his bedside table, next to a picture of the team all together that Jarvis had taken on Christmas day. Clint's needlepoint butterfly was hanging on the wall.

"Can you say that again?" Tony mumbled, leaning over to rest his head on Steve's shoulder.

"I'm home."

Steve crawled into his bed, smirking as Tony went back to nervously flying around the room. He explained the lighting system for the billionth time, telling him that Jarvis could adjust it to any setting he could dream of. He sprayed the relaxation concoction Bruce and Natasha had cooked up in his lab, which was mostly a mix of lavender, chamomile, and a little bit of rose. Thor had taken to it like crazy, setting up diffusers of the stuff to put around his floor as he worked on his collection. It wasn't uncommon to find him sprawled out on the floor asleep in the middle of the chaos at any given time.

"Which podcast are you going with tonight?" Tony asked.

"Good Night, Sleep Right," Steve replied. He found it was much easier to fall asleep to the sounds of the television in the background, but the brightness from it could get a little annoying. So Bruce did a little research and found podcasts that were people talking in soothing tones about nothing in particular and Steve had latched onto them right away. This one was his favorite, so he figured it would give him the best chance for success during this trial run.

"You know you can have Jarvis call me, for anything? No matter what time," Tony reminded him, wringing his hands as he stood at the foot of the bed.

"Of course, Tony," Steve said, giving him an appreciative smile.

"I guess I'll leave you to it then," Tony sighed, walking over to tuck the blankets securely around Steve's body. Steve let him do what he wanted, knowing the actions were helping Tony soothe his nerves. He ruffled Steve's hair before he stepped away, smirking at Steve rolling his eyes. "Good night Steve."

"Good night Tony," Steve replied, laying his head back on the pillow. He watched Tony leave the room, looking back one last time before closing the door. It was kind of ridiculous how much of a thing this had all been built up into. Steve had been sleeping alone most nights on random couches in the tower, so this shouldn't be much different.

An hour later without a wink of sleep and he had to admit it was different. But he'd been prepared for something like this. Steve had been scared of this exact thing happening and talked to Dr. Charles about it. They'd worked on some techniques for him to use in case he had trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Nothing that involved exercise, since that would be too similar to his coping mechanisms in his apartment.

Steve took a few deep breaths, trying to center himself. He clenched and unclenched each muscle group one at a time, letting his body fully relax. He reminded himself that he wasn't alone, that the rest of the team was just floors away, sleeping soundly like he was about to be soon.

Steve chuckled as he thought back to a few days before, when they were all down in Tony's lab. He'd gotten jealous of all their new hobbies, so he wanted to share one of his. Steve didn't think it was a good idea, knowing the team, but Tony was convinced it would be a good idea. No one really knew how Clint managed to burn the ends of Thor's hair, but now he had a stylish trim thanks to Natasha and Clint wasn't allowed near fire for the foreseeable future. Thinking of the good memories and the experiences to come soothed him more than he ever dreamed it could. Before it would terrify him, reminding him of loss. But now it just made him look forward to what was next. Steve fell asleep to those comforting feelings.

Steve wasn't sure what woke him up, but it was nothing unpleasant. Usually it was a loud commercial or his bedmate moving around, but this time he was asleep, and then he just wasn't. He looked around, trying to see if anything was different. The podcast was still playing and the lights were still dimmed to just above pitch black. Had he just woken up naturally?

"Jarvis, what time is it?" Steve asked, rubbing the side of his face against his blanket.

"It is currently 8:22am," Jarvis replied.

"Do you know what time I fell asleep?"

"You entered the first stage of non-REM sleep at approximately 11:37pm."

Steve flopped onto his back to stare at the ceiling. Had he really gotten almost nine hours of uninterrupted sleep alone on his floor? And on the first attempt? He couldn't wait to tell Dr. Charles. He couldn't wait to tell the team. He couldn't wait to tell Tony.

Steve rolled out of bed, needing to spread the good word before he could even think about taking a shower and getting dressed. The team probably wouldn't mind being woken up for this, especially when he told them he was going to make them all breakfast. Steve threw open the door and almost face planted when he tripped over something on the floor outside his room.

"Tony?" Steve exclaimed, staring down at the lump of man who was looking up at him sheepishly.

"Oh, hey Steve. What's up?" Tony said brightly, as if he wasn't in a pile on the floor.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Steve asked, helping him to his feet.

"I just came to check on you."

"Just now?"

"Yep."

"You're sure you weren't here longer?"

"Nope."

"Really?"

"I might've accidentally fallen asleep."

"A completely unplanned thing?"

"Uh huh."

"Why do you have a pillow?"

"So, maybe I was down here a bit longer than I let on," Tony admitted, grimacing a little.

"You slept outside my room all night, didn't you?" Steve asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep all the way on my floor last night and I just wanted to be nearby in case you needed something," Tony sighed, staring down at his feet. "Are you mad?"

"Of course not," Steve chuckled, putting a hand on Tony's shoulder. "I think I'm too well rested to be mad at anything right now."

"So you're saying it went well?" Tony asked, smiling up at him.

"You'd have to ask Jarvis to be sure, but I don't think I even snored last night," Steve laughed. Tony flung himself at him, wrapping him up in a celebratory hug. Such a small thing, but appreciating the small things never hurt.

"Shit, I feel like I'm about to cry," Tony mumbled into his shoulder.

"No, none of that. You want to go with me to tell everyone and then help me cook breakfast?" Steve asked, breaking apart to gesture toward the elevators.

"There's nothing I'd rather do," Tony said, leading the way down the hall. Steve followed, bumping into his back as he stopped abruptly in the doorway to the living room. "Uh, I don't think we'll have to go far." Steve looked up, staring in surprised disbelief to find the rest of the team sprawled out across his furniture asleep.

"What the?" Steve mumbled, shaking his head in fond exasperation. He couldn't ask for a better group of people to be his friends. Tony strode over to where Bruce was sprawled out on a couch on top of Thor, poking him in the stomach. He jerked back, headbutting Thor in the chest.

"No Bruce, we sleep," Thor rumbled under his breath, clutching Bruce to his body like a teddy bear.

"Time to get up!" Bruce gasped, trying to escape Thor's hold.

"Too early!" Clint moaned from his spot next to Natasha. They had been sleeping on opposite ends of another couch with their legs intertwined in the middle.

"You all had a sleepover and didn't tell me? Where was my invite?" Tony scoffed in mock offense.

"You were down here before any of us," Natasha said, stretching her limbs like a cat.

"Maybe so, but that hardly matters," Tony brushed off.

"What are you all doing here?" Steve asked, stepping into the room to stand beside Tony.

"I got confused and thought this was my floor. Decided to just go with it," Clint shrugged.

"We wanted to be closeby, just in case," Natasha said.

"We support our brother," Thor added.

"Well, I guess it worked. I slept great," Steve grinned. He barely had time to brace himself for the onslaught of joy. Clint reached him first, practically jumping into his arms. Bruce was herded in by Thor, who smushed him into the middle of the group. Tony and Natasha wrapped around him from the back, completing the circle of hug. Steve remembered the hug similar to this one, right after he'd slept the first night in the room with the whole team. They were somehow still celebrating his sleep.

"I think it was my tuck job that made the difference," Tony bragged.

"Get over yourself. The spray Bruce and I made can't be topped," Natasha scoffed.

"It is a powerful elixir," Thor agreed.

"My butterfly exudes calm," Clint piped in.

"No guys," Bruce said, silencing everyone, "it was all Steve."