The next morning, Steve came down to the kitchen to find Tony humming to himself as he spread mustard on a slice of bread.

"Uh, Tony, what are you doing?" They were all doomed if Tony was so tired that he was making toast with mustard and jelly.

Tony snorted. "Making sandwiches for the picnic, of course." He froze. "We are still having a picnic, aren't we? Don't tell me I did all this work for nothing."

Steve laughed and kissed Tony's forehead. "Yes, we're still having our picnic. You earned it."

"Hell yes," Tony said proudly. "And it's going to be the greatest fucking picnic in the world. Because we have the best food."

"Speaking of food, did you have breakfast yet?"

"Sort of. I had coffee."

"Go make yourself something to eat. I'll finish these sandwiches."

"Make sure you put extra Swiss cheese on Clint's," Tony said. "And pickles on Natasha's."

Steve chuckled. "Yes, dear."

"Laugh all you want, but when Natasha comes for blood, I'll tell her you forgot the pickles."

"I won't forget," Steve said. He pulled the jar of dill pickles out of the fridge and began unscrewing the lid.

Tony dumped an egg into one skillet and a couple slices of bacon into another. "Want me to make you something for breakfast, too?"

"Nah, there's still some leftover muffins from the other day." Steve popped one of the mini muffins in his mouth and layered pickles across Natasha's sandwich.

The vent above the fridge opened and Clint somersaulted down into the kitchen."I smell bacon," he said excitedly.

Tony swatted his hand with a spatula. "Back off. Those are for sandwiches."

Clint brightened. "Turkey, bacon, and Swiss?"

"Only if you don't eat it all now."

Clint let out a long-suffering sigh. "I suppose I can make that sacrifice." He shuffled off to poke around in the pantry.

"How many should I make for Thor?" Steve asked.

Tony frowned. "Four...no, five. Five. With roast beef, salami, the mesquite turkey, pastrami, honey ham, bologna, cheddar, and jalapeno jack. And that nasty hot sauce that only he likes."

Steve was amazed that Tony had memorized that whole list of ingredients. It was a struggle for him to grab everything out of the fridge as Tony mentioned it.

"I'm having a BLT," Tony said. He flipped the egg onto a plate and pushed it to the side. "There's enough bacon left over if you want to make yourself a chicken club."

Steve blinked. "That's my favorite. How did you know?"

Tony shrugged. "Lucky guess, I suppose. Hey, can you see if we have any more hummus in the fridge? I'm going to make Bruce one of those chicken wrap sandwiches."

"You're getting way too good at this. You're not having Jarvis spy on us, are you?"

"The only spies in this place are the wonder twins," Tony said. "I've just seen you eating a chicken club before. No big deal."

Steve frowned. There was a lot more to it than that, but if Tony wanted to play dumb, he'd let it go for now. Maybe Tony wasn't even aware of how well he knew everyone's routine. At this point, it might be just an instinctive knowledge that he couldn't explain.

Clint wandered back out of the pantry with half a granola bar in his mouth. "We're bringing chips and shit, too, right?"

Tony snorted. "Since you were just in there stuffing your face, you should know whether we have chips or not."

Clint rolled his eyes. "I'll let the sass slide since you're making me bacon."

"Damn right I am. So you can stop whining about wanting chips and grab them yourself."

Clint sighed and headed back into the pantry. "This sandwich better be fucking worth it."

Steve steered Tony away from the stove and plopped him down into a chair with his plate of eggs in front of him. He knew Tony would be a lot more reasonable once he had his breakfast.

"Thanks, babe," Tony said. He devoured the egg in two bites.

Before Tony could get up and harass Clint again, Steve put a piece of toast on his plate. "Keep eating. I'll finish getting everything ready."

Of course, Steve couldn't keep Tony out of the action for too long. The toast was gone almost as quickly as the eggs and then Tony was back out of his seat rummaging around in the fridge for veggies for Bruce's sandwich. But at least he seemed to be in a better mood now that he had food in his stomach.

With all of Tony's energetic bustling, the sandwiches were made up and stuck in the fridge by the time the rest of the team came down for breakfast.

The plan was to head to the park a little after ten so they could get in a few hours playing catch and enjoying nature before lunch, maybe an hour or so afterward, and then head home. But by nine, Tony was getting restless, and since everyone had already had breakfast anyway, Steve figured it was pointless to wait any longer.

Tony dumped a bag of ice into a large cooler and then layered in water bottles, cans of soda, iced coffee, and the sandwiches. In one large shopping bag, he dumped granola bars, chips, apples, bananas, and cookies. In another bag, he gathered up all the soccer balls, frisbees, and tennis balls that had been stowed in the sports closet. And then there was the diaper bag filled with supplies for Stephy, a picnic blanket, and a couple mesh folding chairs.

Steve shook his head as he looked at the mass of supplies piled by the door. "It looks like we're going on a three-week roadtrip instead of a picnic."

"The food is all going to be gone by the end of the afternoon," Tony said. "Trust me."

"I trust you," Steve said. "But this is still a lot of stuff." He didn't remember picnics being this complicated back in his day.

"There's a lot of us," Tony said. "Therefore, a lot of stuff. So grab a couple bags, muscles. That means you, too, Thor. You're going to be eating half of this shit, so you better carry half of it."

Everyone began grabbing bags and hoisting them on their shoulders. By the time they were ready to go, Tony was back downstairs with Stephy, dressed in a red sundress with black polka dots.

"Dude, you have to put a green hat on her," Clint said. "She'll look just like a little watermelon."

"She doesn't like wearing hats," Tony said. "I tried to put a little bow on her the other day and she just yanked it off."

"She doesn't like sunglasses either," Clint said. "Or at least she doesn't like when I wear them."

"Or maybe she just doesn't like you," Natasha said.

"She will," Clint said. "I have my ways."

"Less talking, more walking," Tony said. He propped open the front door with a hip and motioned everyone through.

Steve was a little amused by how eager Tony was for this picnic. Sure, the two of them walked around the park almost every morning, but Steve hadn't thought Tony liked being outdoors all that much. But if a picnic made Tony happy, then he was going to get his picnic. And it would be good for the rest of the team to have a chance to relax and spend time together. The team needed to bond together more outside of battles to form more familial pack bonds. And there was no better family-bonding activity than a picnic.

Tony led the way, the baby strapped to his back, and a bag in each hand. There were a couple of other small family groups scattered throughout the park, but Tony skirted around them until he found a grassy area close to a large shade tree. Steve couldn't have picked a better spot himself.

Once Tony spread out the picnic blanket, he put the baby down on her tummy with one of the frisbees in front of her so she'd have something to keep her occupied. And then he threw himself into the rest of the preparations, either not hearing, or more likely, ignoring Steve's repeated attempts to tell him to sit down and let the rest of them finish up.

In the end, Steve had to drag Tony down onto the blanket while Bruce and Clint finished setting up the rest of the chairs.

"I can do that, you know," Tony said. "My workshop might be a mess most of the time, but I do know how to organize things."

"I know," Steve said. "But you made the sandwiches and packed everything up. And if we don't stop you, you'll probably try and pack everything up at the end of the day. So just sit back and enjoy for a little bit. You've earned it."

Tony reluctantly settled down on the blanket and Steve lay down beside him. "Is there a reason you all wanted to have a picnic or was it just another excuse to get me out of the house? Not that I mind, either way."

Natasha took a sip from her water bottle. "Well, we just thought you might like to do something to celebrate the baby being with us for a whole month."

"Wow," Tony said. "Has it really been a month already?" He reached out to bop the baby's head. "Can you believe it, Stephy?"

The baby squealed and played with the hem of her dress.

Tony smiled. "Exciting, isn't it? If you would let me put a party hat on you, then we could really celebrate." He rolled onto his back and settled the baby on top of his chest. "But we know how to have a good time anyway."

Stephy giggled and squirmed as Tony peppered her with kisses.

"I love that you guys wanted to celebrate the baby," Tony said. "And I do appreciate it. But if I knew this was supposed to be a party, I would have gotten a cake for her."

"I don't think she's ready for cake yet," Steve said.

"No, you're probably right. But she will be soon." Tony smiled fondly as he stroked a wispy tendril of the baby's hair. "She's getting so big. Soon she's going to be crawling and walking and eating Cheerios and drinking out of juice boxes."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Steve said.

Tony sighed. "I know, I know. If the baby's parents come for her, I won't get to see any of that. But it's been a month. You'd think they would have shown up by now."

"You'd think," Steve agreed.

"Don't get him all worked up," Natasha said. "He's insufferable when he starts moping."

"I am not," Tony said indignantly. He tossed a tennis ball at her.

She caught it and threw it right back, bouncing it off the top of Tony's head.

"Oh, now you're gonna get it," Tony said. "Honey, get the baby to safety. Mama's gonna go to war."

"Easy, easy," Steve said. He shot Natasha a look. "Can we all get along for one afternoon?"

She smiled serenely. "Where's the fun in that?"

"I know we can have fun without killing each other," Steve said firmly. "Just look around you. There's so much going on in a park."

"Absolutely," Tony said. "Fruit, sticks, leaves, bugs, squirrels, dogs, women in jogging pants. All sorts of fun things."

"So, do I have permission to hit him now?" Natasha asked.

Steve heaved a sigh. "Go ahead."

Tony yelped as she pelted him with tennis balls. "Take it easy. Jesus. What happened to the whole not murdering each other thing?"

"I'll save you, buddy," Clint declared. He deflected one of the tennis balls back at Natasha with a frisbee.

"Nice," Tony said. "But saving me is supposed to be Steve's job."

Steve laughed at the pout in Tony's voice and pulled him into a hug. "So, women in jogging pants, huh? What about men?"

Tony licked his lips. "Yeah, you'd look pretty hot in tight pants, too."

"Let's keep it clean, kids," Natasha said. "Think of the baby."

Tony snorted. "Oh sure, we're going to traumatize the baby with our cuddling. Because it's so much worse than subjecting the baby to your violence."

"She'll be fine," Steve said. "Nobody is going to traumatize her"

Stephy had gotten into the frisbees and was happily drooling all over the rims and banging them together, completely oblivious to everything around her. It was a good thing Tony had brought so many. The baby was going to have no shortage of things to play with.

Tony cooed over the baby, his brief feud with Natasha totally forgotten.

Now that the obligatory squabbling seemed to be out of everyone's system, Steve managed to coax everyone into playing a few simple games together. A relay race while balancing a cup of water on their heads, tag, and a quick game of keep away.

In the end, everyone was all smiles when they collapsed back on the picnic blanket for a break.

Tony stretched out and took a big gulp of his iced coffee. "I feel like I've somehow been tricked into doing one of Steve's training exercises, and liking it."

Clint snorted. "If this is all it takes to wear you out, you're really out of shape. Maybe you should let Steve train you."

"Absolutely not," Tony said. "My body is a finely tuned machine. Take this orange, for example."

"We are not throwing fruit at Clint," Steve said. He stuffed half of a sandwich into Tony's mouth.

Tony chewed thoughtfully and swallowed. "Wow, that is good." He reached for the other half of his sandwich. "Whoever made these things deserve a medal. Oh wait, that was me."

Steve swatted him upside the head, but as he dug into his own sandwich, he had to admit Tony had a point. He'd eaten plenty of sandwiches in his months in the Tower, but this was probably the best sandwich he had ever eaten. It wasn't quite medal-worthy, but boy was it good.

After lunch, the team drifted apart again. Clint and Bruce were attempting to teach Thor how to play catch and Natasha stretched out on a lounge chair to get some sun. Steve saw no reason why he and Tony shouldn't be able to go off and do something too.

"Hey, Tony, you want to go for a walk?"

"Sure. Let me grab Stephy." Tony strapped the baby back into the carrier and settled her securely against his chest. "She's due for a nap in a little bit, but a walk will probably settle her down."

He was probably right. It wasn't much different than pushing the baby around in the stroller every morning. And Stephy had certainly napped her way through most of those walks. Being cuddled against Tony's chest would probably be even more relaxing to the baby.

They agreed on one lap around the central park facilities, skirting the bathrooms and the picnic benches and then a loop around the playground before they headed back to the blanket. It seemed like the perfect route. It would only take about twenty minutes to walk, but there would be plenty of things for Stephy to see along the way.

Tony had his phone out, set to an app that identified any rock, tree, or flower he snapped a picture of. Even in the more developed section of the park, there was still plenty of wildlife for Tony to point out to the baby. And the baby was learning all about architecture as Tony let her feel the difference between a metal pole and a wooden bench.

As they made the loop towards the playground, Tony could point out all the colors of the jungle gym and let the baby watch a bird land on top of the swing set.

"Guh," Stephy said, pointing upwards at a neon green kite.

"Close, but it's not actually a bird," Tony said. "People make kites to look like all sorts of things. If you're still with us when you get older, we'll make one ourselves."

Steve squeezed Tony's shoulder comfortingly. It had to be so hard for Tony to cope with the uncertainty of the situation. But he was doing so well making the baby comfortable with them.

Tony cleared his throat. "Who needs kites anyway? Come on, Stephy, let's see if I can find you another real bird." He hurried on ahead.

On the home stretch, they passed an old woman sitting on a park bench. She smiled at them. "It's so good to see young people out enjoying the sunshine."

Tony made a show of looking around as if he wasn't sure who she was talking to and Steve elbowed him in the side.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," he said. "Nice day out, isn't it?"

"A very nice day," she agreed. "Perfect for taking the little one out for a stroll."

Tony beamed and scooted closer. "Oh yes. Stephy loves going for walks in the park. We try to take her out almost every day."

"What a lovely idea," the woman said. She waved at the baby. "And what a beautiful little girl. She looks just like her daddy."

Tony grinned. "She does, doesn't she?"

Steve rolled his eyes. There were some battles he just wasn't going to win.

"Is she your first child?"

"Yep," Tony said proudly.

The woman smiled. "Ah, I remember those days. The first time I held a baby in my arms felt so magical. I didn't really know what I was doing until I had my second child, but there was something about that first baby, and figuring everything out as you go. There's nothing more exciting than seeing your baby blossom right in front of you. Just keep doing what you're doing, my dears, and it'll be the most rewarding thing in the world."

Tony grinned from ear to ear. "You hear that, Stephy?"

Stephy whined and grabbed hold of the front of Tony's shirt.

"Oww," he said. "Let go, baby. Mommy wants his skin back." He gently pried her hands off.

"There is a family restroom up ahead if you need to nurse her or change her," the woman said.

"Thanks, but she's just ready for a nap." Tony bounced the baby a little. "Someone was a little too excited about seeing all the birds fly by and didn't want to sleep."

The woman chuckled. "There's no end to excitement for a little one here. Good luck."

They said goodbye to the old woman and continued back towards their picnic site at a slightly faster clip because being around a fussing baby was not fun for anyone. But Tony was lagging behind and when Steve turned around to check on him, Tony was rubbing his chest with a pained expression.

Steve sighed. "The baby didn't pinch you that hard, did she?"

"Nah, I think I pulled a muscle doing one of your silly exercises." Tony grimaced and shifted his weight to one side. "And toting Stephy around probably isn't helping."

"I'll carry her for a bit," Steve offered.

The baby sling didn't fit him as well as it fit Tony so he had to settle for just carrying her in his arms. Stephy didn't seem thrilled with the change. Her wailing intensified.

"Oh, I know," Tony said soothingly. "We're almost there."

But when they got back to the picnic site, nobody was sitting by the blanket. Instead, everyone was gathered a few yards away around a sapling that looked like it had been snapped in half.

"Okay, what's going on here?" Tony demanded.

"That's what I'd like to know," Clint said. "How the hell do you manage to cut down a tree with a plastic frisbee?"

"I am truly sorry, my friends," Thor said. "I did not mean to throw it that hard."

Tony doubled over laughing. "Oh my god. I can't take you guys anywhere."

"Fear not," Thor said. "I shall make things right with the groundskeeper." He trudged off in the direction of the restroom, loudly calling for the groundskeeper. Clint and Natasha hurried after him and steered him in the direction of one of the maintenance workers.

"I'm sorry we always do this to you," Steve said. He knew full well that Tony was responsible for paying for everything that got destroyed when one of the Avengers got a little too rowdy.

Tony shrugged. "It's just one tree. Probably not more than a couple hundred dollars to replace. My bank account will survive."

"You shouldn't have to pay for the rest of us," Steve said. "It's not fair that you have to take the hit when we mess up."

"Life isn't fair," Tony said with a rueful smile. "But don't worry about it, Steve. I don't mind doing things for the good of the pack. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get the baby to stop crying for the good of the pack." He patted Steve's shoulder and swooped the baby out of his arms.

Steve followed him back to the blanket and watched as Tony rocked Stephy and sang lullabies to her. The baby wasn't screaming, just whimpering, but Steve was pretty sure if she didn't get some sleep soon, she was really going to start crying.

Tony finally stretched out across the blanket with Stephy next to him. "Look, Mommy's going to take a nap, too. I'm closing my eyes and going right to sleep." He pretended to snore.

Stephy stared at him with a furrowed brow. She clearly wasn't buying his act, but at least she had stopped crying.

Tony yawned and rolled onto his side, curling closer to the baby. "Such a nice warm day. Perfect for relaxing and being lazy."

The baby whimpered, but her eyelids were already drooping.

Tony opened one eye. "Is it working?" he whispered.

Steve smiled. "Looks like it."

"Good. Let me know when she's asleep."

Steve watched as the baby went through stages of yawning, blinking, and rubbing at her eyes. Tony stayed still the entire time, eyes shut, breathing quietly like he was asleep. And eventually, the baby closed her eyes, too.

"I think she's asleep now," Steve said quietly.

Tony didn't answer.

"Tony?" He gently prodded his shoulder.

The genius only snuffled and burrowed further into the blankets.

So, Tony had fallen asleep, too. But a nap would probably be good for him. Especially if he really was injured. Tony didn't like to stop working when he was hurt, but he healed so much faster when he was forced to take it easy. So Steve was going to let Tony rest as long as possible. And when they got back to the Tower, he was going to sit Tony down with an ice pack and a movie and hopefully keep him from overexerting himself until he healed.

The baby slept for another hour and then woke up crying because she needed her diaper changed. Steve was a little disappointed to see Tony's nap ending so soon, but he did love seeing Tony sleepily cuddling her after she was changed. He took full advantage of Tony's drowsiness, pulling him into his arms and coaxing him back to sleep with little effort.

Bruce and Natasha were perfectly willing to look after the baby for two hours until Tony was fully awake.

"Jeez," Tony muttered, his voice still husky with sleep. "That was a really long nap."

"Well, you needed the rest," Steve said.

As much as Tony liked to brag about functioning for days without sleep, Steve knew Tony couldn't go on indefinitely. He had done a lot of hard work yesterday and although Tony had had fun with the picnic, he had done a lot of hard work getting everything ready. So Steve wasn't actually surprised that he had strained himself. It was a good thing Tony had gotten in the habit of coming to bed every night or he would have been in even worse shape.

"So, all I've done today is sleep and eat. Such a productive day. Remind me why I came all the way to the park to do things I could have done at home."

"That's not all you've done, silly. I think you're forgetting something."

"Oh, yeah. Getting injured. How could I forget that?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "I meant walking with the baby. I know she loved exploring the park. Well, right up until she got tired."

"And you've accomplished something else," Natasha said with a faint smile. She held out her phone so they could all see the text from Fury that said, "This is going to be the only time I say this, but Stark's doing a good job today."

"What is he talking about?" Tony said. "I didn't even do anything today."

Clint snorted. "Exactly."

Natasha held up a hand before Clint and Tony could start squabbling. "There's an attachment."

Steve stared at the attached article from some gossip website. There were several pictures of him and Tony with the baby at various points along their walk. He didn't know how the site had gotten those pictures since he hadn't seen any paparazzi, but the sneaky picture-taking was preferable to the mob ambush.

"This is going to be really good publicity," Natasha said. "The baby looks so happy in all the pictures, Tony looks involved, and Steve looks supportive. One big happy family."

Tony beamed.

Steve considered the day worth it, just so Tony could have that rare bit of praise from Fury. Tony might not believe the team when they told him he was doing great with the baby, but he would definitely believe Fury.

Tony was in high spirits as they made their way back to the Tower. He claimed his chest was still aching, but it seemed like he was in too good of a mood to let the pain effect him.

Back at the Tower, Clint dragged Thor into the den for some Wii games. "If you can throw hard enough to cut down a tree, this should be a piece of cake for you."

"I can't wait to see what he can manage to break playing Wii," Natasha muttered.

Before Tony could follow the rest of the team into the den, Steve pulled him aside into the kitchen. "You need to ice your muscles," he said.

"Yeah, yeah," Tony said dismissively. He shifted the baby on his hip as Stephy squirmed and reached for the counter. "Kinda busy here, Steve."

"It's not going to get any better if you ignore it."

"It's no big deal. Just gotta avoid any heavy lifting for a day and I'll be fine."

"You really need to start looking after yourself like you take care of everyone else."

"And you need to-"

Stephy wailed.

Tony froze, his eyes wide.

"Tony?" Steve asked gently. "Are you okay?"

"Just...just take her for a second." Tony thrust the baby into Steve's arms and headed down the hallway. "Jarvis, full body scan. Right now."

"Tony!" Steve said with alarm.

He hurried after him, but the genius was running now, flying down the stairs to the lab. Before he could catch up, the lab doors slid shut and the blackout curtains came down.

Steve sank slowly to the floor. He had no idea what was going on. And until he did, he was just going to wait outside the lab.

The baby whimpered.

"He's going to be okay," Steve said. "Everything's fine."

He wasn't sure if he was trying to convince himself or the baby.