MANHATTAN

AVENGERS TOWER

Steve was usually an early bird. A man of strict routine and schedule

Everyday he'd wake up at 6am for a run everyday. Or at least be the early bird of the Avengers from within the tower.

While everyone was still usually asleep or barely waking up Steve would be the first one up. Bright and early

Well he would be, but some days he'd partake in the laziness and find himself stuck in bed

It wasn't his fault though…well maybe it was

The Avengers were called to help in a raid against Mojo in the Mojoworld. After the heroic fight Steve and Natasha figured they had enough Avenging one for one day

And their way of celebrating usually ended up with their gear and clothes pooled all around the floor. And early morning conversations with them laying in bed naked with the sheets covering them frame

And that's exactly how this morning went as currently at 8:16 in the morning Steve stroked Natasha's hair softly while she laid on his chest feeling his bare bulky skin with her hands as they watched the sunrise from the Towers window

"You know we're too old to be looking at the sunrise right" Natasha joked making Steve laugh

The rumble of his gut made her smile as she continued to stroke his chest feeling up to his shoulders

"We're two really old people who look like they're in their 20's when really we're both over 90, I throw around a patriotic red white and blue shield and represent America. While here I am laying in bed with russia's most notorious spy"

"What a terrible life you live Mr Rogers"

A smirk coded Natasha face as she leaned up to place a solicitous kiss on his lips before moving to sit up on top of him letting his hands lazily go to her waist

Teasingly Natasha moves her hips. Soaking in Steve's soft moan as she placed her free hands on his burly chest

Leaning down to claim his lips once more the passion and fire between the two grow as Steve soon takes charge bringing them both back up as he grips her hips and back holding her tightly while her hands rest on his shoulders

They kissed each other like they were hungry, Like they absolutely needed one another and they couldn't live without the other. They kissed one another in a sensual and passionate manner. And they didn't pull away until it felt like their lungs burned for air

Even when they did they didn't strive too far from one another. Only breathing heavily as they rested their foreheads to one another practically feeling each other's heavy breathing

Stroking the back of his neck so she could run her fingers through his short blonde hair. Natasha found her new target to attack upon going to the crook of his neck to place multiple sensual love bite and kiss around his shoulder and neck as she softly spoke

"When are we going to talk about him" Natasha mumbled from his neck

Immediately Steve's hand gripped Natasha's waist tighter making her gasp in pleasure

Steve knew exactly what she was talking about. So much so that every time she tried to make conversation about it. Or she tried to bring him up there was nothing but off silence or avoidability from Steve

And it was happening again as when Natasha pulled away and cuffed his face trying to get a conversation out of him Steve immediately went to attack her lips once more

But the redhead just swerved her head to the side dodging his kiss

"We're going to talk about him" she said and a slight groan came from Steve

"Why do you keep avoiding it ?"

"I'm not avoiding it"

"Steve, so help me if you lie to me again" she said but Steve replied even faster

"I'm not lying Nat" he said which only made her purse her lips

Sexy time was over

Getting off of her lap Natasha took the sheets with her. Holding the fabric above her chest before placing herself on the edge of their shared bed

She didn't move. Didn't get up or say anything. She just sat there and rubbed her head which shook a portion of her hair. The sight made Steve groan up at the ceiling before shaking his head

That last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt her

She's already been through that enough. And Kids…..well kids have always been a sensitive subject with her

"Clint and Bucky told me what happened to you" he began as he made his way towards her

"After you died, when you were forced to live in that reality with your husband and child…."

"Steve…"

Wrapping his arms around her Steve didn't hesitate to press a kiss to her neck

"I'm sorry that happened to you" he said giving her another kiss this time the temple

Small tears started to flake from her face. As she dropped back to his chest letting him consume her

"We both have terrible luck with kids Steve" she cried intertwining her hands with kids

"First Ian, then Stevie. I….god for someone who can't seemingly get pregnant I seem to have a lot of problems with children"

Holding Natasha tightly as she continued to silently cry Steve just buried his face in her neck as he continued to kiss her softly

"It feels like I've been trying to avoid…James. Im sorry" he said as he grabbed Natasha's chin making her look at him

"Obviously this whole, kids from the future thing has been pretty weird to say the absolute least" Steve said making Natasha laughingly cry which made him smile

"But you're right. Just because we both have bad luck with Kids doesn't mean I should feel some type a way towards our potential real one"

Causing a smile to take place on her face Natasha wrapped a hand around the back of his head to pull him down into a deep sensual kiss

"I love you" she smiled making a warm feeling within Steve's chest rumble as he kissed her back

"I love you so much more" he said before suddenly yanking her back making Natasha yelp Steve's name in a sensual laugh

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AVENGERS ISLAND

"Elimination" J.A.R.V.I.S. announced as Pym dropped to the metal ground of the training room

Blocking Azari's kick James quickly side flipped dodging Francis's staff swing before kicking Azari in the chest knocking the Wakandian to the ground making J.A.R.V.I.S. speak once more

" Elimination"

Banging the ground with his palm in frustration Pym, Torunn, Azari, and Bobbi watched James and Francis go back and forth with one another

Blocking and dodging his plethora of Staff attacks James grabbed Francis's Bo mid up strike before doing a flip drop kicking Francis straight in the chest before flipping to land on his feet as he held onto the staff

" Elimination" J.A.R.V.I.S said

Letting out a groan Francis ran his fingers through his hair

"Well that wasn't very fun"

Twirling Francis's staff in his hand James smirked before standing it upright as he began to lean on it

"Ok this isn't really fair, James has been kicking our ass since he was in dippers" Pym said making James chuckle a little

With a smirk Bobbi helped the kid genius up before beginning her speech

"You think other heroes don't face opponents or enemies who are stronger than them ? faster than them ? smarter than them ?. One time I had to defeat a robot who had the strength of Wonder man and the speed of Tigra before with nothing but my staff"

Helping Azari and Francis up as well the team continued to listen to the blonde hero

"In the art of fighting an opponent stronger than you, there are a lot of things to be learned about within the fight, or even after the fight. For the fighter it's the motion, the techniques, your choices. The things that usually knock down your opponent don't work. So you are forced to get out of your comfort zone and try new elements. Come up with new tactics, make new tactics, every choice you make in battle is more important than ever because when you are out there it's life or death no matter who you are facing." she said as she looked at Francis, Pym and Azari

"But sometimes you are the one with the upper hand. And sometimes the fight may feel easy" she said before looking at James

"But just because a fight feels easy-" Bobbi began before unexpectedly tripping the staff James was leaning one causing him to fall on the training ground as she caught it

"Don't ever underestimate your opponent" she smirked at James before throwing Francis his staff back and helping the red head up to his feet

"Alright guys, class is over. You all go hit the showers" Bobbi stated in which the team listened as they all began to head towards the training room's exit

"Hey Francis" Bobbi announced stopping the platinum blonde in his tracks. He turned his head as he was breaking apart his staff splitting them into two poles

"Yeah Mo-..." he stopped himself

"Yeah, that's kinda what I wanted to talk about" she said

Noticing the training room was cleared out by the other team members Bobbi clasped her hands together and took a deep breath before looking down at her…her….her son

"We haven't really gotten a chance to talk or get to know each other that much ever since you got here. Granted you probably know a lot about me. But I'd….I'd love to learn a lot about you" she said with a soft smile

"I-I know, I…I know you were probably raised differently. Raised knowing my and Clin-" this time Bobbi stopped herself

"Raised knowing your father and I were together, But I wanted to tell you that. That's not how things are"

Francis obviously had a face of disappointment. I mean wouldn't anyone ?

"His name is Lance and even though he isn't the man you know….I…I still want you and me to have a relationship of some kind. I…I want to get to know my son" she admitted

Staring at the ground for a little while thinking over the words she said. A small smile began to form on Francis's face as he looked up at her

"I'd….I'd like that" he admitted making Bobbi smile brightly

"Great ! how about tomorrow night, we can go out for burgers, I know this great spot in the city"

Nodding his head Francis genuinely thought that was a greek idea

"I'd love that….Mom"

Bobbi couldn't keep her smile from being hidden as soon enough the two wrapped in a tight hug

Hiding his face within Bobbi's neck Francis hid his smile from the blonde woman as he knew this was all he ever wanted in life

A chance to hug her again

And he finally got it

And he was never gonna let go

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Stepping out of his room's bathroom Pym continued to dry off his hair as he let out a yawn

"Ms Morse was working us for hours, I feel like I could sleep for days" he said before dropping the towel on his bed before heading to his work bench

"But Crime never sleeps and sadly neither does A.I.M. and I've got to figure out what A.I.M.'s new superweapon is and how we can stop it" he said before yawning again

Pulling up a giant hologram that had all his notes he had taken since he got here on various situations Pym let loose another yawn before scrolling

"So if we destroyed A.I.M. 's star project, and Roxxon and friends are beginning to get boiled up about it. They would need an equally bigger rebound to keep their so and so shareholders beyond happy….. YAWN ….and satisfied, but what would that be ?"

The more Pym began to think, staring at his Holographic notes. The more he was using his brain. And the more he was using his brain. The more he was growing more and more tired. As more and more yawns began to pile on

"There's just not enough evidence to continue this ? There's still more missing to this equation and the more I…. YAWN …continue to think about it, the more I'm starting to get….. YAWN …tired"

Resting his head down on the table Pym figured a quick 10 minute cat nap wouldn't hurt anyone. Especially him

Letting his mind drift off into the sleepy void a smile plastered on the genius face as he sighed

"What could, go wrong"

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"So I don't get it. Your mom admitted to wanting to spend time with you. She wants to get to know you" Azari said before striking the pool stick starting the game

Leaning the stick a little to scratch his temple Francis gave a concerned look

"Yeah, but. It's different you know, She's my mom but…she's not really my mom" Francis said before yawning

"I mean she is my mom but…. GAH ! it's too complicated"

Lining up his stick Azari took another shot knocking 2 striped balls in the hole

"I feel like you're taking this out of proportion, This is finally your chance to bond with your mom. You've wanted this for so long, why are you hesitating now ?"

"Because that's just it" Francis sighed

"Everything I know about my parents, their marriage, their relationship. It's all defined in the future, where her name is Barbara Bobbi Barton. But now I'm stuck in a moment where my parents are on their second divorce, My Mom is dating someone who isn't my dad and…. YAWN …God man I'm getting really tied"

Missing his 3rd strike by getting no balls in the holes Azari clicked his tongue

"You sure your brain isn't just telling you to calm down and stop overthinking so much ?"

Giving the white haired prince a glare Francis suddenly lined up his Pool stick with the cue ball before seconds later hitting the ball with quick force

With a single hit all 8 solid balls scattered around the table before they all were knocked into each individual hole ending with the black 8 ball ending up in the hole right next to Azari

Slamming down his pool stick on the table Francis muttered "Game over" leaving Azari to just sigh as he dropped the stick on the table as well

"Why did I think playing pool with him was a good idea ?" Azari questioned himself

Letting out another yawn, Francis made his way over to the nearby couch, finding Torunn who was fast asleep. Her head was laid on one of the couches throw pillows and by the quick examination Francis gave her she fell asleep not to long ago

He knew she was asleep, and quite frankly she looked beautiful even when she was asleep. But he could really use some of her loving advice right about now

"Hey babe" Francis lightly said with a yawn as he lightly shook her

Getting no response Francis raised an eyebrow as Torunn wasn't one to be a heavy sleeper

"Babe" he tried again trying to wake Torunn but with no use

"Torunn, wake up" he said a little louder this time. But still no response

Pressing his hand to his face Francis let out another Yawn in deep question to himself as he was wondering where this huge muster of sleep came from it was barley 4 in the afternoon

"Hey Azari" Francis spoke before suddenly dropping to the floor with a thud grabbing the Wakandian's attention

"Francis ?" Azari said as he made his way towards him rather quickly

"Francis ?" Azari tried again shaking him a little as the archer began to drift asleep

"Just a 5 minute nap" he muttered quietly before soon enough he was fast asleep

"Francis ? Francis ! dude wake up !"

Looking up at the couch Azari noticed Torunn was out cold as well

"Ok 1 person is fine, 2 could be a coincidence…."

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"But 3…..something is definitely going on here" Azari said as he saw Pym completely knocked out sleeping on his work bench

A yawn slipped out of Azari's mouth which caused his eyes to go wide

"The hell is going on around here ?" he asked himself before leaving Pym's room

As Azari began to walking around the Island to try and find James immediately a rush of insomnia hit him like a punch to the gut as his vision begun to get blurry and his body began to ach

Leaning himself against the nearby wall Azari shook his head aggressively as he tried to stay awake but his eyes were getting heavier and heavier, slowly losing himself to sleep

"AZARI !" James yelled suddenly behind him making him jump and yell back awake

"AH !"

Turning around Azari found James giving him a more than confused

"James….man. I'm….I'm glad to see you" he began the verbal tiredness could be heard in his voice

"I think something's wrong"

"I think so as well, I came to the common room and saw Torunn and Francis laid out fast asleep. I tried to wake them up with my widow bites but it was like they didn't even feel it"

"I just checked on Pym and he was out cold….You think….you think someone's up to this ?"

"I don't know but we better find out soon because 60 % of or team is currently out of commission and if something goes down we'll be the only ones available" he said before looking at Azari who just continued to lean against the wall fighting off his tiredness

"Hopefully…." he muttered as his concern towards Azari only grew

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After suiting up Azari and James had figured this has now become a more than them problem and that they would need help just outside their team

They headed towards the command room and begun to try and contact other heroes for help using the holographic panel

"What would this category fall under ? magic ? gas leak ? chemical compound ?"

"I'm leaning more towards magic really" Azari suggested making James shrug his shoulders

"Alright then, Doctor Strange it is" James said before pressing the buttons on the holographic keypad ready to contact him

"Don't bother trying" a voice said making James and Azari turn their heads

ENTERING: CAPTAIN ROGERS, MS ROMANOV

"We're pretty much on our own" Steve said

Immediately James's heart dropped at the sight of his parents. He didn't know what to say or even know where to begin

But Azari definitely did

"What do you mean ?"

"Whatever's happening, it's happening fast and spreading even quicker" Natasha began

"It happened earlier today…."

Entering to main lobby of the Tower Steve and Natasha were greeted with the sight of what it was like to be an Avenger

Having all their following teammates and friends doing their own morning shenaniganz

With Clint working on his arrow's having his different utilities and materials scattered all around the table

Tony tinkering with what seemed to be the….coffee machine ?

"Tony what are you doing ?" Natasha said

Letting out a yawn Tony replied

"I think something's wrong with the coffee machine ?" He stated as he scratched the back of his head confusingly

"When I drank it today I got no buzz that it usually gets me ? In fact it almost did nothing to me"

A loud snore and bang immediately made everyone in the tower jump as Steve and Natasha spun their heads to find Thor on the couch snoring loudly with his hands crossed

Giving a confused look Steve looked at Tony

"What's wrong with Thor ?"

"Big guy was mumbling about something was wrong with the Odin Force, and he needed to rest in Odin Sleep, but he FORGOT TO MENTION HE SNORES LIKE SNORLAX AFTER A 900 POUND MEAL !"

Waking over to Clint Natasha raised his head to find him face down buried in his breakfast with droopy eyes

"Clint ? Hey where's Bobbi ?"

Letting out a slur of mumbles Clint finally got to speaking

"Beautiful's training the new kids at their private Island" he said before quickly falling asleep

Nodding her head in acceptance Natasha put his head face down on the plate again before patting the back of his head

"Ok Clint's out like a light and Thor's snoring up a storm and it's barely 10 yet, what the hell is going on ?"

Looking over at Tony Steve raised his eyebrow when he found the genius laying against the fridge snoring

"STARK !"

"AH GAMORA PUT THAT AWAY !" He yelled before waking up again

Rubbing his eyes Tony slapped himself a couple of times before speaking

"Ok somethings going on because I haven't been this tired since my hangover after my 25th birthday" he groaned

"J.A.R.V.I.S. Will you please tell me what's going on and why….. YAWN ….why do I feel so tired. AND WHY THOR IS SNORING SO LOUD"

All 3 of them were left looking up at the ceiling waiting before the A.I. responded

"I'm detecting high levels of glutamate function traveling from all 3 of your brain receptors. Most notably you Mr Stark"

Tony visibly reeled back

"Ho…how ? I'm just standing here ? how could my neurons possibly be firing up so much to create stimulated brain activity to the point where 9 am coffee can't wake me up ?"

"Ok, Tony, English for god sakes"

Letting out a visible sigh Tony was about to speak before the loud sound of baning was heard making the 3 of them jump as Bruce came barging into the room looking as if he was fresh of destroying some type of…well anything

Ruffling his hair Bruce sighed

"Someone's poisoned the atmosphere with some sort of…. YAWN… somnolent elemental compound in the air which is causing everyone to…. YAWN ….fall asleep"

Trying to walk forward Bruce soon suddenly fell forward on a chair before tumbling to the ground just barley caught by Steve and Tony

"Alright, Bruce hey man. Not doubting you or anything but it might be time to let the big guy loose for a while"

"Can't. Hulks currently…..sleeping right now"

"Alright, this is officially an Avengers problem" Tony said before looking up

"J.A.R.V.I.S…..sing me lullaby" Tony said before immediately crashing out falling flat asleep on the ground with his butt sticking in the air

"Cap" Bruce mumbled as his eyes were dropping heavily

"Go to Reed, Tell him-him intellect is the matter of this equation and the….the.."

Shaking him lightly Steve spoke

"Bruce ? Bruce ! tell him what"

"Tell him…..I'm sorry Cap, I'm so so tired…" Bruce said before finally falling asleep leaving Steve and Natasha to be the only awake Avengers

"What about the other Avengers ?" Azari asked but Natasha just shook his head

"We checked on them too all fast asleep, Jen, Carol, Walters, Even Vision's found himself powered down"

"After we found them in the same state as everyone else we figured coming here was the next option. Try and see if the infection has gotten to you all as well"

Letting out a yawn Azari replied

"Torunn, Pym and Francis all went down. Besides the occasional yawns I'm still James here hasn't shown a sign of sleep urgence ever since this whole thing went down"

Nodding his head in relief Steve spoke

"Well at least two of you are still awake, so that means you can try and help us prevent anymore of us from falling under" he began before he and Natasha took their places at the Holographic menu

"We were gonna try calling Doctor Strange-"

"Strange fell asleep not to long ago, We checked out the Sanctum Sanctorum" Natasha stated

"Ok and what about Pym's dad ?"

"Hank's out as well" Steve stated

Blowing a breath of air james ran his fingers through his hair

"So we're really on our own with this one ?"

"Not exactly, Bruce told us to go and visit Reed. Maybe he can help us piece together what's going on, in fact we were gonna head there after we found you guys"

"Then what are we still doing here ? let's go" James exclaimed

"We'll take out team jet" James said and everyone seemed on board with the plan as soon enough they followed him to the hanger

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MANHATTAN

BAXTER BUILDING

"I've never seen anything like it truly" Reed stated making the 4 heroes drop and sigh

"You sure ? Bruce specifically said Tell him-him intellect is the matter of this equation before falling asleep"

With his hands rested on his chin Reed thought long and hard

"You all weren't the only ones who have questions about this sudden weakening. I myself find my family being casualties of this conundrum as everyone else is sleep as well" Reed said before showing the feed of everyone still in bed fast asleep

James's eyes more so went to the future Franklin who seemed like he was settled in quite comfortably as he even had his own living space

He made a quick mental note to remember to catch up with him when this was all over

"Originally I thought to have been some sort of virus from Victor I soon found that this inception has spread to Latveria as 95.43 % of Doom's Latverian's have fallen under the sleep hypnosis, Whatever's happening it's happening fast"

"This seems like it's taking a heavy toll on you Reed, are you feeling tired in any way ?"

Letting out a chuckle Reed continued to stretch his arms

"Don't mind me Ms Romanov. I assure you fighting the deprivation of sleep is not a new core concept of mine" he said before finally grabbing what he needed and bringing his arm back as he held out 4 wrist devices

"Once I began realize the true true probability of this die situation I made tend to keep watch of the earth's intent to see just how much this situation has been affecting people" he said as he handed the devices to Steve, Natasha, James and Azari

"There indicators to tell you just how much of the population has fallen asleep, I will warn you though the numbers….their quite shocking"

Wrapping the device around their arms James turned it on before his eyes went wide

"87.43 !" he yelled before looking up at Reed who cringed

"I told you…shocking"

Looking at the numbers everyone knew this situation was more than serious and It needed to be attended to now more than ever

"Now on the bright side I can say that Captain, due to all of your serums and Ms Romanov due to your well trained mental psyche you two have more control over your bodies. The sleep affect won't hit you the same it would hit an average human as I suspect you have 2 maybe 3 days tops before the sleep begins to sustain you"

"Well that's great to here, we're somewhat immune for a while" James said

"Always a silver lining Mr Rogers"

"Well now we're back at square one. Trying to figure out what is causing this and who do we even stop ?" Azari said trying to fight back the yawn that was slipping

"I wish I could be of more assistance, but I must stay here and tend to my family. But my line to the Baxter building is always open, and you 4 can contact me anytime you need"

Nodding their heads Steve shook Reed's hand

"We appreciate your help Doctor Richards"

"No problem Captain"

Shaking his head a little as he continued to think a light bulb flickered in Azari's head

"Hey…..if Doctor Banners said that the atmosphere was affected by the sleep pollution, than that means whoever or whatever is doing this had to have created something to affect the atmosphere and ozone layers"

Raising his eyebrows James kept Azari stable as he started to wobble back and forth a little

"Azari, what are you getting at ?"

Gripping James tightly to try and look at him in his perfect sea blue eyes Azari spoke

"I'm saying what evil corporation has their hand to due with max chemical reproduction and other science…shit like that"

Taking a second to think about everyone immediately said at the same time

"Alchemax"

"Alchemax, is one the list of names A.I.M. was working with" James said

"Their main tower is in the heart of Manhattan" Natasha stated

"If Azari's right, we could figure out what chemical production was used to cause everyone to fall asleep. We could get Reed the formulas he needs to possibly make an antidote ?"

All looking at the stretching man Reed thought it over before looking at the heroes

"Go to Alchemax. Find me what you can I'll see what we can do from there"

James, Steve and Natasha nodded their heads before benign ready to head off but Azari wasn't truly on the same page

He tried to move on his own but quickly found himself leaning against a nearby wall as he was heavily sleep deprived

"Azari, hey man whatcha doing ? we gotta go"

Letting out a slight chuckle the wakandian just waved his hand a little

"Nah man…I….I think I'm gonna just chill here for a little while..go ahead and re-r-..rest my eyes"

Bending down to shake Azari the white haired prince was already drifting to sleep

"AZARI ! AZARI ! COME ON MAN WAKE UP ! AZARI !"

"Mr Rogers, please you have no time to waste on your friend" Reed said as he stopped the young teen

"The sun's already starting to settle and the effects will only get stronger the longer you stay awake, your body is already pushing so much for being awake for so long, you have to move now"

Letting out a contempt sigh James shook his head as Reed Picked up the now sleeping Azari

"I'll watch over your friend, now go !"

Giving Reed a concerning look Reed pushed him on making James groan before soon enough he Steve and Natasha raced out the building's floor

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MANHATTAN

ALCHEMAX TOWER

None of them had seen the streets this empty before, this wide everything and everyone was gone as they either didn't get the chance to leave their home this morning or the poor ones were sleeping all along the ground people who tried to get on with their day

But Azari's suspension was thankfully right as when the approached the Alchemax building a great big whole was blown right into the front entrance

"Well that's a sight for sore eyes" James said as they all stepped inside

Walking through the main section entrance the 3 heroes got a first hand glance at the destruction of what seemed to be whatever broke in

On the first floor, views of destruction and chaos erupted as that's all they walked through. Pure destruction

"Azari was right. Someone caused all of this"

Trying to pull up the security footage Natasha found it was a dead end

"It looks like a wrecking ball caved through here but there's no footage of it ?" that seemed suspicious to her

Placing down a set of debris James shook his head before looking back at Steve and Natasha

"Anyone in your time capable of doing this ?"

Steve snickered

"Nowadays ? who isn't the list is to long" Steve mumbled before bending down as he noticed some type of green liquid he touched before rubbing with his hands

"But I might've dumbed it down a little…"

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Zipping up the building from the elevator shaft James pried the door open before immediately a security bot fired at him

With quick reaction time Steve protected him with his shield from the laser fire before Natasha rolled under him firing at the robot destroying it completely

James was left in shock at how quick it all happened

"Looks like the security bots are still pretty jumpy up" Steve said

"whoever came through here must've been on a tear. Because everything around this building is still in affect"

Moving to the giant lab station on the floor James took notice of the damage caused granted the broken sliding doors that lead to the room should've been a warning sign to begin with

"Ok I'm not a science guy as that's Pym's thing but I feel like all these broken chemicals and vases shouldn't be mixed together" James said as they all had tiptoed around the destroyed lab

Looking around the lab Natasha radioed in her wrist device

"Hey Reed I got some chemicals here I don't know the meaning of that you might be interested in"

" Listen them out"

Grabbing some of the Lab tubes she found Natasha read them out

"Halothane, Isoflurane, Desflurane, Sevoflurane-"

" Every single one of those chemicals you named mix up to creating a sleeping nerve agent-"

"It's also very illegal in the US" she said making James and Steve turn their heads

"Of course I know" she said with an eye roll

Bringing his wrist device up James joined the conversation

"So if our key target here just essentially made one giant knocked out gas bomb and released it into the atmosphere, how do we counteract it ?"

"we can't" Steve said making James turn his head

Both James and Natasha got off their wrist devices and approached Steve who held a worried look on their face as he was holding a giant bottle of something

Surrounding around him the worried expression grew on them as well as slowly James brought his wrist device up

"Professor Richards….what do we do if this gas bomb contained a weaponized ? Neuro-Gas in it ?"

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AVENGERS TOWER

4 DAYS SINCE EVERYONE'S FALLEN ASLEEP

Dumping Francis's body in the middle right next to Clint and Bobbi within the lounge room that completed the list of Avengers James, Steve and Natasha all gathered

Ranging from James's team to their including the Young Avengers the 3 of them thought it'd be better if they grouped everyone together so they could always know where everyone was at all times

Looking down at his wrist device James saw the population number on his watch increase 3 days ago it was at 87 %

3 days later over 97 % of the population is in deep sleep

A yawn escaped James's lips before he ran his fingers through his hair

Reed predicted that they only had 2 1/2 days of immunity before the sleep prevention would get to them

Their going on day 4 right now and the bags under each of their eyes were getting more noticeable

They all looked physically tired. James's sleeves were rolled up on his suit jacket as his hair was ruffled and deranged

He still tried to stay strong, mostly because these past 4 days in this apocalypse type atmosphere he's more so been focused on distancing himself from…..them

They were the only people on earth really that he could talk to

But just his luck

He didn't want to talk to them

"Hey" a voice said making him jump as immediately he spun around and raised his fist

But he soon unclenched them when he saw it was just Natasha

She didn't look any better than he did

"Oh…so-..sorry just a little-"

"No, no. It's fine I..I understand" she said before biting her lips trying to break the awkwardness

She tried to focus on the conversation at hand but she could divide her attention from the red hourglass necklace that was around her….her son's neck

Her son

For the past 4 days she's been stuck in some sleepless apocalypse with her son

Examining his rolled up sleeves arm Natasha noticed a cut that was on his forearm immediately going to take hold of it but he flinched

"What happened there ?" she asked as James tried to hide it

"Alchemax laser skinned be on day one, burns guess it took my body harder to heal"

"Well it looks like it should be bandaged here come on" she said before grabbing his arm and pulling him to the Tower's kitchen section

James couldn't fight back as quicker than he could complain not to Natasha was already sitting in front of him applying the cotton balls and wrappings

Dipping her hand gently upon the cut James winced at the feel of the healing alcohol

"Sorry, sorry" she said but James shook his head

"It's fine. I can take the hit"

Natasha smirked

"Yeah, sometime the alcohol hurts more than the actual attack" she said in which James nodded in agreement

There was heavy awkward silence between them as Natasha continued to tend to James's wound. Knowing he probably wouldn't need it as it was stated time and time again he's supposed to be more superior than them combined

But she just couldn't stop herself from acting on it

Call it…mothers instinct

Finishing with the cotton swab

Natasha placed it down on the table before lightly blowing on the already healing cut

The light air on his arm made James smile a little

"You know I'm 19 right ? not 7"

Shaking her head of embarrassment Natasha checked herself

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry. It's just….ah…I…..I'll be completely honest I'm not really understanding what this is" she admitted

"I mean your my son from the future, for the past 19 years your used to someone who isn't me" she said in which James looked down at the floor

"She's probably kissed a thousand boo boo's and sung you so many Russian lullabies by now that you would know them by heart"

"I'm sorry I've been making this so awkward and-"

"You're not making this awkward, trust me" he stopped Natasha with a slight smile

"And I actually only know one Russian lullaby" he said which made Natasha laugh

"Oh really. Which one"

"Good evening to you" he said with red cheeks which made Natasha break down in laughter

"Your telling me the only Russian Lullaby I sung to you in the future was a Christmas Carol"

"No, it wasn't your fault. It's just happened to be the only Lullaby you got to before-"

Immediately James stopped himself which confused Natasha as slowly her expression changed

"Before what ?" she chuckled

Shaking his head James moved from the subject

"Nothing, Nothing…I uh. Think my hand needs to be wrapped now" he said in which Natasha jumped immediately

"Right, right. Sorry here" she said before beginning the process of wrapping the cut

"Hope I'm not intruding" a new voice spoke grabbing their attention as Steve made his way into the lounge area

With a smirk Natasha replied

"Not at all. Just having a little Family time"

"Yeah, nothing like fighting off 4 days of needed sleep while trying to save a world where…..98 % of the population is sleep gets the blood pumping"

With his mask off Steve held his hands on his hips as some form of stubble began to add on to tired look

But that was going around a lot lately as he wasn't the only one

"Anyone been able to contact Professor Richards ?"

"I just tried, he's still AWOL, no contact since day 2" Steve stated as Natasha finished up James's wrapping

"Ok maybe It's the sleep getting to me but maybe we should try going back ? I mean what if the security protocol is down by now ?"

"Trust me, Reed Richards is just as paranoid as Tony is. He wouldn't allow for his security protocol to be down by now. The best situation we can do in the meantime is try and do what we've been doing"

Getting out of his seat James let out a groan

"And what is that ? stand around and fight off our sleep while we still have no clue on whoever the hell did this ? It's been 4 days since the world's gone quiet. We are a handful of the last full people that are still awake within the earth's population. We need to act now before….before…."

Shaking his head a huge wave of nausea hit James as he started to feel his head

Immediately Steve and Natasha jumped to his aid as he got on one knee

"JAMES !" they both yelled before catching him

Letting out a groggy groan James's head started to throb and his body was yelling at him to fall asleep but he knew he couldn't as he smacked himself in the face a couple of times before waking himself up and looking up at Steve and Natasha

Both the adults looked at James with distress but he found himself to be fine as slowly he got up

"I'm…ok, I'm ok. Just a little…yeah you all get it"

"Yeah we do" Natasha said before biting her lip

"Which is why I think we could use a little boost if we're gonna follow your idea"

Leaving James in Steve's hands Natasha went around the Kitchen counter and opened a secret compartment before grabbing a block case

going back around to James and Steve Natasha whisked her hair back before she showed the boys the case

Flipping the switches Natasha revealed 3 different syringes that were filled with some sort of yellow liquid inside of it

Steve went to grab one but Natasha immediately slapped his hand away

"This BW340, a secret highly addictive and very effective adrenaline boost. The Red Room used to give it to widows when we had longer missions or found ourselves in moments that were….dire"

Steve didn't like the way she said that. Then again he didn't like a lot of things in Natasha's past

"One dose will have your heart beating so fast someone 30 meters away could hear it. But the crash is even harder as once the buzz is over you feel like you wanna sleep for years"

"Well were already at that point so let's get this show on the road" James said before Natasha closed the case and Steve backed his hand away

"Natasha, I don't know about this. I mean ... .I-I know we're fighting sleeping but shooting adrenaline into our veins. Especially something the Red Room made-"

"I wouldn't have kept it if I didn't know it was safe" she convinced but Steve sighed

"I know but Nat-"

"Steve do you trust me"

"Oh come on-"

"Steven Grant Rogers" she said again more stern this time

"Do you trust me"

Letting out a sigh Steve clicked his tongue before taking Natasha's hands in his and kissing her knuckles

"Natalia Alianovna Romanova, I trust you with my life" he replied making Natasha smile before grabbing the case

"Good, Because I have an Idea on how we can finish this. Follow me boys" she said before walking off leaving James and Steve to look at each other in confusion

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Loading onto the Avengers Quinjet Natasha took place in the pilot seat as Steve and James sat behind her

"James, tell me the percentage of people that are currently asleep"

Looking down at his wrist device James reported

"99.23 % numbers getting lower and lower by the hours"

"Ok if Reed gave us these devices to report the populations watch I'd bet a shiny bottle of Vodka Reed put some type of bacon to report who's awake and whose sleep"

Looking back down at his wrist device James's eyes went wide to find out she was right as more on as he explored the wrist device he found sonar beacon reporting the worldwide command of every person

"You're right" he said making Natasha smirk before looking down at her own

Scrolling around through the radar beacon Natasha singled down the percentage and likelihood locations of where someone would be in this die situation to zero in on a point northbound of Chiapas

"I found our guy" she said as she pulled up the pinpoint location on the quinjet's holographic map

"It's the only isolated dot on the radar beacon and it's surrounded in an already isolated population whoever is causing this has to live here"

For once in the past 4 days Steve, James and Natasha found some sort of excitement as they could finally end all of this and save everyone

"Well then what are we waiting for ?" James exclaimed

"Let's do this !" he said before pulling back the level and blasting the Quinjet off from the Tower's hanger

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Piloting the ship with a steady grip Natasha continued to force herself to stay awake

Usually it was a simple and painless task. She's endured too much and this was too easy as it was nothing more than piloting a ship

But with the jet's force of heavy rocking and the somewhat soothing sounds of the ship's high intensity engine. Along with the obvious fact that she was on 4 days of sleep deprivation Natasha's eyes started to falter as slowly she started to fall asleep

And in control Natasha's grip loosened leaving James and Steve not to catch her as they as well started to drift off slowly

That was until the ship started to plummet into a heavy freefall and the alarm began to ring making them all jump in shock and fear before Natasha yanked back the piloting stick grabbing them back on course

Everyone started to huff and puff their breaths. Quick calculations running through their head to try and grab their mind back in orbit before Natasha sighed and strained up as she felt her body begin to fail her

Pressing the auto pilot button Natasha sprung from her seat and went to her bag within the jet where she brought forth the small box making Steve's heart hesitantly drop

And his eyes didn't falter as he watched her with the box within her hands all the way back to her seat where she spun around to face them both

"If we're gonna do this we need to be focused and ready and we can't do that if we're drifting off every….every…EVERY THREE SECONDS !" Natasha stated shaking her head near the end as she was running off pure will right now

Opening the box the 3 syringes presented themselves causing James and Steve to look at one another in glint hesitation before looking back at Natasha who gave a look of reassurance

But James was the first to make a move as he took the first syringe

Natasha took the second right after him leaving Steve to be the last choice at hand as James and Natasha already made their choices

Letting out a sight Steve threw all caution to the wind and grabbed the 3rd syringe before Natasha closed the case sealing the deal

" Arrival up ahead" The A.I. reported making everyone look out the window to see the view of an open field within a grassland that had a singular built building inside of it

"Well you were right" Steve began

"Our guys definitely here"

Looking down at the syringe within his hand James held a tight clasp on it before the jet began to blare making him raise his head again

Squinting his eyes the cause of the jet's reaction was none other than a incoming call

Playing the feed it was none other than Reed Richards who just like Steve seemed to be rocking some pretty light stubble

"Reed ?" Steve said in shock

"We…we thought you-"

"Fell asleep, please. I'm a world's smartest man Captain, So smart in fact that I figured it all out, and I know who's behind this all"

Steve, James and Natasha's eyes went wide

"Seriously ? Who is it ?"

"Doctor Samuel Sterns"

"The Leader ?"

"Precisely Captain"

Feeling left in the dust James asked

"Who's the Leader"

"He's the world's ranked 7th Smartest man, Samuel Sterns, once a brilliant doctor, was exposed to Gamma Radiation which turned his skin green and boosted his intelligence 10 fold. Now I don't know how or why he would do this but I think I figured out where he is"

"No need Richards" Natasha said

"We're already approaching The Leader's location"

"Ohh…well that's great news then. Keep me posted if you will and good luck you all" he said before ending the call

"Well boys squat your butts and hold on because we're about to land"

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Staying above ground Steve, James and Natasha landed on 3 opposite sides from one another all landing on different ceiling beams

Looking down below just like Reed had reported the big headed Gamma ridden genius was standing dead center in the middle of the room

"James you search the building and try to find whatever tool or device The Leader is using" Steve said quietly through their comm link

Nodding his head James disappeared in the shadows leaving Steve and Natasha alone with the Villain

Maneuvering themselves quietly above him to try and keep their element of surprise Steve continued to slow walk through the ceiling beams to try and end up behind him as Natasha kept herself at a safer distance ready for Steve's signal

When the super soldier had gotten into position and climbed down from his obscure height he slowly begun to creep towards The Leader

More and more his pace began to quicken before soon enough he lunged at the man in an attempt to tackle him

But right as he leaped he was quickly caught in the air

"Notable attempt Captain" The Leader spoke as he raised his head and turned around to Face Steve

"But I already saw that coming. Along with this" he said before he raised his hand to freeze Natasha mid air dropping Steve

Letting out a groan Steve jumped up immediately going for a punch but The Leader effortlessly dodged the attack with ease dropping Natasha

Letting out a sinister laugh The Leader pinned his hands behind his back

"Fancy my new crown Captain ? hmm" he smirked leaving the 2 Avengers to notice the set of technology that coated his upperhead

"It was a gift from a friend. With it I've become completely unstoppable. As you 2 can already tell I've used my newfound intelligence to make hmmm 99.5 % of the population fall asleep" he said before laughing once more

"And the numbers are only growing by the minute now OH ! 99.6 %"

Letting out an annoyed groan both Steve and Natasha charged at the Gamma villain attacking in pure unison

"Oh have I forgot to mention I can read your attacks" The Leader spoke proudly as he blocked Steve's kick with a singular hand

"Watch" he said as he stood dead center letting them attack him as he dodged

"Oh Roundhouse, Back Kick, Spinning Back kick, 3 set upper jab, attempted suplex"

Moving out of the way dodging Widow's attempted attack The Leader closed his eyes and smirked as he stuck his hand out and blocked all of her attacks with one hand

"Left Swing, Right Swing, High Kick, recovery high Kick, leg sweep, ground kick, cartwheel kick"

Ducking under Steve's high kick the Gamm villain smiled

"Alright speed round !"

"Right hook, Axe kick, side flip kick, left leading uppercut, Elbow strike, Right Hook leading into left hook, twisting back kick, combined punch"

Slapping both their hands away The Leader tapped a series of pressure points along both their torsos before flicking them sending them flying to the ground

Both of them tried to get up but their bodies felt to weak to even breathe let alone try and stand up

With his hands behind his back The Leader laughed as a series of floating objects begun to spin around him

"Captain, Widow. It will be an honor killing you" he said before sinisterly laughing

But before he could attack all the floating objects around him were dropped as he caught a certain red white and blue shield that was mere inches away from him

Confusingly the Leader looked at Steve to confirm his suspicions but there on his back stood the same shaped shield

"What trickery is this ?" The Leader questioned before suddenly he was kicked to the ground

Sliding along the ground as he tumbled on The Leader's back James slapped the gamma's face into the ground before flipping off of him landing right in front of Steve and Natasha

"Sorry I'm a little late"

"No it's fine we weren't doing anything important anyway" Steve rarely quipped

Getting up in an angered groan The Leader examined James before rolling his eyes

"Children"

"Can you guys get up ?" James asked

Crunching their fist both Steve and Natasha begun to feel their blood circulation start to move again

"A little bit"

"Good because I found The machine he's using. Back room 2 halls down"

Getting herself up Natasha began to help Steve up as she wrapped his arm around her shoulder

"We'll deal with the machine. Are you sure you can handle this ?"

Cracking his neck James only clenched his fist some more before nodding his head

"I got this"

Trying to bring his hand up to stop Steve and Natasha James fired a widow bite at the genius villain forcing him to divide his attention to him giving the two the chance they needed to escape

Gritting his teeth in anger The Leader's attention was snapped to James as the young red haired teen just smirked

"Is that forehead real ? or am I just imagining it ?"

"Disrespect will not be tolerated within my vicinity, It's time you learn some manners young man"

"What are you, my nanny ?"

Raising a series of debris to float around him James just grabbed his shield before shaking his head

"Alright then, let's do this"

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Barging into the room James told them immediately Natasha laid her eyes on the sleep machine

There was a giant hole within the skyline of the room that the machine seemed to sending different waves into the atmosphere with

"God Tony why couldn't you just stay awake" she groaned before moving her and Steve towards it

With sluggish movement practically dragging themselves to the machine Natasha groaned before soon enough the fell a meer 10 inches away from the sleep machine

"God the adrenaline must be wearing off" she said as she began to feel her body crash hard

Letting go of Steve Natasha started to crawl her way to the machine as she pressed on her wrist device

Seconds later Reed picked up on the other side

"Ms Romanov ? what's happening"

"We….found….the…machine" she mumbled in a tired manner

Powering through her sleeping body that was already starting to shut down Natasha found herself at the machine

"How do I shut it down" she said as she had lifted herself up

On the other end Reed had began to rummage through a pile of papers and notes he made this past few days that lead him to the The Leaders plans

"Ok, Back panel there should be board that contains a set of wires it's on the side of the machine"

Going to the side of the machine Natasha punched the panel open and tore of the metal board finding the set of wires

"Go…got it"

"Alright great, now all you need to do is simultaneously cut the blue and green wire. That'll shut the machine off completely ensign this once and for all"

Expecting and waiting for a response Reed raised an eyebrow

"Ms Romanov…?...Ms Romanov ?"

On Natasha's end she held the set of wires together ready to cut with a knife but there was a small problem

Her eyes were closed

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Sending a series of heavy strikes at The Leader the villain continued to laugh as he effortlessly dodged them all

"I must say I'm rather intrigued" The Leader said before dodging James's last punch and pushing him back

"I have no clue who you are, or how you got a replica of The Captain's shield but must I say you are mighty fun, you remind me of both the Captain and Widow"

A light bulb flickered in James's head as he had remembered something Bobbi said when she was training his team days ago

The things that usually knock down your opponent don't work. So you are forced to get out of your comfort zone and try new elements. Come up with new tactics, make new tactics

Clenching his fist James changed his usual fighting stance. Usually more loose and fluent, ready to use the years of film he's studied from both his parents, James's new stance was firm and heavy. Stronger and more sturdy as he just cracked his neck before sending a heavy strike towards The Leader

Feeling the wind rush past his punch The Leader could feel the ferocity behind James's fist

"Woah, Stronger punch you-" he said before weaving another one of James's strike

More power and fury were the victims behind every single one of James's strikes a sweat gland well from The Leader's forehead as he started needing to read James's speed of the strikes

"Left hook !, Right Hook !, Left uppercut !, right hook !, Left hook !, Right Uppercut !, Left Jab ! Right-"

Hesitantly blocking James's next strike James hit The Leader with an immediate left hook to the dome knocking the crown right of his head adding a cut to surface upon his left cheek as he found green blood persuade his knuckles

Reeling back The Leader felt his face as he grasped his skin seeing the blood on his hand made him flinch before he looked at James

"You…you hit me ? you actually landed a hit on me ?"

"Learned It from my Uncle" James huffed

"Also I think you might be needing this" James stated as he showed The leader's new found crown making him go wide eyed

"MY CROWN ! GIVE THAT BACK RIGHT-"

Giving the villain an inmate roundhouse kick when he stepped towards him The Leader had dropped to the ground being knocked unconscious leaving James to look above him

"That one was just all me" he said with a smirk before looking down at the crown

"Mr Rogers !"

Bringing up his wrist device James raised it up

"Professor Richards ?"

"The Captain and Ms Romanov acquire immediate assistance"

Nodding his head James replied

"I'm on my way"

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Barging into the room

James immediately found the sight of both Steve and Natasha fast asleep making him go wide eyed

"MOM ! DAD !" he cried before immediately checking both of them

He groaned as he examined their bodies to find that they were both heavy and fast asleep

"Shit, what do I do…" he questioned not know what to do or how to wake them up

Running his hands through his hair in pure question a last minute idea flickered in his mind as immediately he went through his pouch and grabbed the Adrenaline Syringe

Grabbing his Mom's arm James looked at her sleeping expression and face

"Sorry Mom" he said before sticking the needle in her arm

Immediately Natasha woke up her face gasping as if she had just coughed up a bunch of water that coated her mouth before she looked at James

"James ? James. Where's…"

Looking over at Steve's sleeping frame she gasped

"Steve ?"

"He's fine just asleep, I stuck you with my syringe and I dealt with The Leader now all you have to do is power off the machine…." he exclaimed before letting out a loud yawn

"James ?...James what's"

"Ohh I'm crashing out badddddd" he said before suddenly he fell on her lap

Looking over at the machine's panel Natasha found the Green and Blue wire and hastily cut them both at the same time with her knife

The Machine began to rumble furiously before soon enough sparks started to fly and the Machine itself shut off as a whole as the waves to the atmosphere stopped being sent

Looking down at her wrist watch Natasha watched the 99.7 % started to deplete as slowly people all around the globe started waking up

Letting out a small sigh of relief Natasha felt James only continue to stir in her lap as Steve started to grumble as he began to get up

"Mhmmmm, Mommy…Mommy did you win ?" James mumbled in Natasha's lap

"Did you and Daddy beat him ?"

Letting out a small smile Natasha began to softly stroke James's hair

"Yeah…yeah we did" she said making James smile as he started to fall asleep

"good…I knew you could do it mommy….I-...I love you"

Hearing the words come out of Her son's mouth Natasha let a small tears fall down her face as she half gasped

"I..I love you too" she said being the last thing James heard before he completely fell asleep

Finally finding himself Steve walked his way towards them and softly smiled at the sight. Watching as James softly slept in Natasha's lap

"How are you feeling ?" he asked leaving Natasha to wipe a tear away before replying

"I love our son"