The prize to pay for the lost souls

2

Peter was currently curled up in a cocoon of eight layers worth of blankets, brown, tussled hair sticking out in one end and bare toes sticking out in the other. The sun was tickling the skin on his nose, shining through a stripe of uncovered window. He vaguely recalled Karen mentioning a call from a certain Captain, but before he could even grunt an answer he was met with the amused face of said captain, sending a blue glow across his face, blinding him momentarily.

"M'busy. Call back" he mumbled and turned his face around. What time was it anyways?

"Yeah. No. Rise and shine sleepyhead. We could kind of need your help with this dr. Doom guy."

"Did we somehow travel back in time? Didn't we take care of that two days ago?" He turned back, squinting. The gears in his brain working overtime for a not yet awake state of mind.

"Yeah. Fury thinks there might be more to it. And you did such a good job ripping them apart the last time, and we are kind of short staffed at the moment." Sam was not one to beg. He was no Steve Rogers, but he tried to keep up the legacy none the less. But with most of the originals dead or retired, and the new recruits being exactly that, new recruits, he needs to gather forces elsewhere when needed.

Peter Parker knows how to be a brat though. And when he is so abruptly awakened from his much needed rest, he doesn't hesitate to use his genius mind to fuel his underlying evil heart.

"And why should I get out of my perfectly temperated nest to swing around in the cold for you? I bet Deadpool would love to be an avenger for a day." He smirks, studying the look on Sam's face as he scrunches up in disgust.

"No. No way am I spending a whole day listening to him bullshitting around and waving his katanas like he's alone in the whole world. I have no idea how even you survive that."

"I happen to enjoy taking down bad guys with spice girls blasting, dancing and annoying the shit out of them. Makes it more fun. Maybe they think twice before lurking around with loaded guns the next time."

"I'm not taking Deadpool to a dance off with five hundred robots. might as well call Quill and his team of misfits."

"Good idea. You do that. It's like 5 in the morning. I would very much like an hour of beauty sleep before I have to point out every mistake Mr. Hulk made on his new vaccine."

"No. Okey. Okey. Please. I need help. I got Barnes, but that's it." Sam completed the request with begging hands and puppy eyes, and Peter considered his mission accomplished. Just to make sure, he had Karen screenshot it - definitely not for blackmail purposes - before ending the call. But by then his brain was starting to wake, and screamed for coffee to oil the rusty gears.

He shuffled out to the bathroom, asking Karen to get the coffee started as he got ready for his day. He had a meeting about one of his web fluids, and the possible use in the medical field at 9, and then a meeting with Bruce at noon before he had to get to the compound up state for the mission briefing.

Entering the living room, he was met with a snoring Ned, halfway off the couch. He snagged a picture, silently laughing and shaking his head before he went on his way to the caffeine screaming for him on the counter, and made a mental note to thank Stark for the coffee machine again.

"Hey, dude." Peter poked Ned's cheek, deliberately placing himself as close to his face as he could, just to top opp his asshole behavior on this particular morning. Ned stirred, blinking his eyes open, and shrieked like a girl, jumping up, and tipping back, landing on the floor behind the couch with a loud thud, tangled up in blankets. Peter fell backwards, clutching his stomach as he laughed, tears crinkled in the corner of his eyes, his belly hurt, and when he managed to calm a little, he looked up, and saw the very confused face peeking up from behind the couch, black hair sticking out everywhere, and Peter all but jumped back onto the floor laughing so hard he couldn't breathe.