It was sunny and bright when Natasha came out of the tent the next morning. She stopped at the entrance, watching the activity around her as she leaned on the pole that was responsible for holding the front of the tent upright. Despite the sun there was just a touch of chill still in the air, and she was glad that she had a sweatshirt on.

Peter was at the fire, crouched down and obviously tending the skillet that breakfast was cooking in. Natasha had discovered early on when she'd joined the guys that when it came to cooking, camping didn't really afford a lot of opportunity for creativity. Breakfast was going to be scrambled eggs and sausages – all in the same pan and most likely scrambled all together since Peter's culinary skills were fairly limited.

Stephen and Tony were loading the truck bed with the now empty coolers and the boxes of canned food that hadn't been used. The shower had vanished in the dark of the night and was completely gone, unlike the rain shelter which was packed up and stored in the truck to be used again the next time there was a camping trip. All the firewood that hadn't been needed was also being loaded. They'd let the fire burn down once breakfast was ready and wouldn't need to reignite it.

By the time they were done, all that would be left to load were the personal items in the tent, the sleeping bags, pillows, the chairs and cooking gear.

She knew that they would have already had all of the items in the tent packed up if not for the fact that she had allowed herself to sleep in a bit. Not that she'd slept poorly the night before, because no one had kept her awake. Stephen had helped her into her sleeping bag when they'd gone to bed and she'd woken slightly when Peter had settled in beside her, just long enough to brush her hand against his cheek before dozing off once more.

Stark and Strange both saw Natasha at the opening to the tent and walked over.

"Need a lift?" Tony asked, taking one side and offering her a shoulder, while Strange did the same on the other side.

She took them up on the offer, putting a hand on their shoulders and let them support her to the chairs, although her knee felt better that morning and she probably didn't really need the help. Better safe than sorry, though. They settled her in the same chair the cloak was draped over, obviously avoiding the smoke from the fire which was inundating Peter. The boy smiled up at her from where he was stirring the scrambled eggs while Stark poured her a cup of coffee.

"How's the knee?" Peter asked.

"Not too bad. How did you sleep?"

"Great."

Of course, he'd been right up against Natasha while he'd slept, and even Stark had stayed close – despite the lingering skunk odor that pretty much permeated the tent. How could he have slept any way but great?

"How long until breakfast, Peter?" Strange asked, a hand resting on Natasha's shoulder.

"Pretty soon. The eggs aren't quite done."

"We're going to pack up the tent, then. Do you need anything out of it?"

"No."

"Natasha?"

She shook her head.

"Thank you, no."

The two men left them alone, and headed to the tent, pulling all the sleeping items out, first and rolling the sleeping bags and folding all the blankets. These went into the trunk of the car where they'd be safe, and then were followed by the bags.

"Do Avengers do a debriefing on a camping trip?" Peter asked her, looking up from the fire.

She smiled.

"We'll have to ask Tony. I'm not sure what the protocol is on that. I hope not. We probably failed with the whole skunk thing."

Peter had to agree.

When their breakfast was done, he carried the skillet to the picnic table where their plates were set up, along with the coffee pot. Then he assisted Natasha to the table while Strange and Stark finished taking down the tent before they came over and settled in to eat their last meal at the campsite.

"I was thinking I'd take walk out in the woods when we're done eating," Tony said, sipping his coffee. "I haven't really taken much of a look around and I'd like to be able to say that I did when Pepper asks. You guys interested?"

"I'm not going anywhere but back to the fire," Natasha said, not surprisingly. Her knee was better, but there was no reason to tempt fate.

"I'll go," Peter told him, more than willing to spend a little more time with him.

"Stephen?"

Strange shook his head.

"I'll take care of the dishes, and then keep Natasha company."

When they were finished, then, Stark and Peter headed off into the woods, cameras at the ready, leaving Natasha and Strange sitting at the picnic table, with the cloak in its normal place on Strange's collar. It had apparently seen just how messy Peter had been when he'd returned from the woods the last time and was not going to risk the need for a last minute cleaning.

Strange waved his hand slightly and all the dirty dishes were suddenly cleaned and neatly stacked. Including the skillet, which had promised to be a beast to clean.

Natasha raised an eyebrow at that, giving the doctor a look.

"What?" he asked, giving her an innocent look. "I said I'd take care of them. I didn't say I'd wash them."

She shook her head, amused, and as always impressed by his casual use of magic.

"I'm going to go sit in a chair and soak up some last minute mother nature."

"Let me give you a hand."

He didn't carry her, but he did give her his shoulder to lean on, and an arm around her waist to steady her until she was ensconced in one of the chairs. It was warm enough by then that she didn't need a blanket. Strange kissed her lightly, then carried a chair over next to hers and sat with her, staring out over the lake and thinking that camping wasn't so bad, after all.

But it was probably the company, most likely.

OOOOOOOOO

"You think those deer will be at that clearing?"

Peter shrugged, uncertainly.

"We can look if you'd like."

"Think the skunk will be?"

"I hope not."

Stark chuckled and shook Peter's shoulder, pleased to have him to himself.

"Best part of the trip?"

"Spending time with you."

"Good answer."

"How about you?"

"Ditto. No contest."

Which made the boy smile.

"Fishing was fun, too."

"Yeah. Even in the rain."

They walked in companionable silence for a while, every now and then stopping to take a picture of something that they thought Pepper or May might be interested in seeing, and occasionally seeing something more interesting than a squirrel. Luckily, none of it was poison ivy.

Peter was starting to become pretty familiar with the area, and had no trouble leading Stark to the meadow clearing that he'd seen the herd of deer in, but right as they reached it, he hesitated.

"What?" Tony asked, well aware that Peter would see something before he would most of the time. Or at least feel something coming.

"I don't know," Peter said, looking around and trusting his senses to point him in the right direction, at least.

"The deer?"

The boy shook his head, camera in hand. He turned just as something rustled in the brush and two men in camouflage broke cover right in front of them. And froze, just as surprised to see Tony and Peter as they were to see them.

Both were holding bows in their hands.