Chapter 7
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July 4th 2016. Parker Apartment.
Morning.
Having no idea just how many times he has made this walk Tony is walking up the door of the Parker Apartment, but this time he is holding the information packet for the 'internship' Peter is going to be doing. Honestly he tried to keep it as close to the truth as possible, and honestly Tony's pretty confident that he managed to succeeded.
Arriving to the door Tony reaches out and knocks and about a minute later the door opens to reveals May Parker.
"Tony." She greats with a polite smile.
"May." Tony responds, returning the grin.
"Come in." May says, allowing him inside.
"Thanks." Tony responds.
"Can I get you a drink?" May asks curious.
"I'd take a coffee if you're offering." Tony responds.
"Sure." May responds and as she does Tony hears footsteps and Peter comes into view.
"Hey, Tony." Peter greats with a grin.
"Hey Kid." Tony says as he heads over to the couch.
"So Peter was telling me that you've offered him a summer internship." May says as she pours two cups off coffee.
"Yep, it's at the Avengers Compound. It will be three days a week, in the labs there working with just not me but the other scientists too. He's going to learn a lot." Tony explains.
"It's really cool Aunt May." Peter says with a grin.
"It sounds like it, but I have a couple of concerns." May admits as she hands Tony his coffee.
"Thank you."
"Like that facility is upstate right? How will he get there?" May asks concerned.
"As part of the internship Peter will be picked up and brought home." Tony explains as Peter's either going to be picked up by him, Natasha, or Hope every day.
"How many others have gotten this internship?" May asks curious.
"Two others." Tony says, partly lying as Selvig and Helen are both taking on interns for the summer, but they will be in the less restricted area of the Compound, not the Avengers only area like Peter.
"Okay." May says with a nod, "Is the Compound safe? I saw the news yesterday; you were fighting in Canada." She says, there being worry in her voice.
"The Compound is one of the safest places there is." Tony explains, "I can personally guarantee that Peter will be as safe as possible." He says, telling the truth as he will do everything he can to make sure that Peter is as safe as possible, even with what he spends his nights doing.
"I really want to do this." Peter says, looking at his aunt with wide eyes.
"Do you have information on what Peter will be doing?" May asks as she doesn't want to say no to her nephew she would just like to know more about what he will be doing.
"Of course." Tony says, handing the information packet he came up with over, "If it works for you I was thinking that Wednesday, Thursday and Friday be the days Peter comes to the compound."
"That should be okay." May says as she starts to read the information Tony has given her, information that is basically truth, just without certain details.
July 4th 2016. Avengers Compound.
Night.
Hours after going to see May Parker, and getting her to agree to let Peter do an 'internship' at the Avengers Compound three days a week, Tony is sitting in his office. To most it would look like he is staring out into space as he's basically as still as a statue and staring at one thing, but the truth is that he is trying to figure something out.
"There you are." Natasha says as she walks in, "We've got to do something about Rhodey and Hope." She says as she walks in and sits down across from him, "This is getting ridiculous." She says and as she does she realises that Tony hasn't said anything, "Tony?" she asks and once more Tony doesn't respond, "Tony." Natasha says, raising her voice a little causing him to jump.
"Nat, sorry, did you say something?" Tony asks confused.
"Just that we should do something about Hope and Rhodey and the fact that they've been dancing around each other for what, nearly a decade? But I'm thinking you've got something bigger on your mind." Natasha realises.
"Yeah, I'm concerned about Ross, about what he's going to do." Tony admits.
"Has he been heard from since the UN meeting?" Natasha asks.
"No, and that's the problem." Tony admits, "Ross isn't the kind of person to react to loosing that much power lying down, I mean he used his own daughter to try and get the Hulk. I can't help but think he's planning something, something big."
"Any theories on what?" Natasha asks, being pretty sure that Tony would have thought about it.
"My first thought was that he'd do something here, but I've already increased security and made it clear that Ross isn't allowed to set foot on this compound, which he would have known I would do, and Rogers and the others, wherever they are, are out of his reach." Tony explains, leaving out that he has a suspicion about exactly where they are, "I'm worried about Laura and the kids, them being so far away, but I keep coming back to the fact they wouldn't know about them." Tony admits, although he has a nagging feeling that he's forgetting something, something important, but he can't figure out what.
"He might." Natasha admits, a frown coming to her face, causing Tony to look at her, wondering if what Natasha is about to say is what he's forgotten, "There was one place that Clint having a family was written down, his level ten S.H.I.E.L.D file. I deleted from the information released as soon as I could after, but there is still a chance that people copied or saved it before I did." She says.
"Which means Ross could know." Tony realises, his frown increasing, "And both of us have flown to the farm since the fight. With the right connections, which Ross has, he could track us, find out exactly where they are." He realises, becoming more worried, "What do you think about getting Laura and the kids to move in here?"
"I think it could be a good idea, but I also it's not either of our choice." Natasha reminds Tony.
"It's Laura." Tony realises and Natasha nods.
"We should head out there tomorrow. Tell Laura everything we know, give her the choice. If you're right about Ross, which I suspect you are, then we need to figure something out, fast." Natasha admits, wanting to do whatever she has to do to keep Laura and the kids safe.
"Yeah." Tony says, as he attempts to keep in a yawn.
"Okay, that's it. You need to go get some actual sleep." Natasha tells him.
"I'm fine. I've got to go fix my suit." Tony says as he stands up.
"Not right now you don't." Natasha says as she stands up to, "Look Shellhead, I'll give you two choices you can either go to your room and get willingly getting some sleep or I'll drug you and drag you there myself, we both know it wouldn't be the first time, your choice."
"Tash…" Tony starts to say, giving his most charming grin that has never worked on Natasha.
"I'm not bluffing Tony. It's been weeks since you've actually slept in a bed. You need to really rest, especially with what we have to talk to Laura about tomorrow." Natasha admits, "Which by the way I think it would be best if we drove."
"I agree there." Tony admits, "Fine. I'll go sleep in my bed, but just because I know you're not bluffing." He admits.
"Good." Natasha responds, "FRIDAY please inform me if Tony doesn't head to his bedroom and doesn't actually sleep."
"Yes Miss Romanoff."
"Mean." Tony says as he walks across the room.
"Necessary." Natasha corrects as she follows and Tony just rolls his eyes, honestly tempted to just see if Natasha would actually drug him, though experience tells him she would so he doesn't try.
July 5th 2016. Barton Farm
Lunchtime.
To the relief of not just Natasha but everyone who has beginning to get concerned about Tony's behaviour Tony did sleep in his bed and did get a pretty decent amount of sleep, but even with that Tony and Natasha still got up pretty early so that they could drive to the Barton farm, having decided to take a pretty large SUV as it is the most inconspicuous car.
"I think we're good." Natasha says as he pulls into the Barton property, "I haven't noticed any tails."
"Which means there weren't any." Tony says, "Plus with the amount of back tracking you did even Ross would have a hard time tracking us."
"Here's hoping." Natasha responds as she drives up towards the house and honestly neither of them are surprised to see Laura and the kids standing on the porch as they told her when they would be arriving.
"AUNTIE NAT. TONY." Lila yells, sounding thrilled, about a minute later as the two of them get out of the car.
"You two made good time, just in time for lunch." Laura reveals as she walks over.
"Great." Natasha says with a grin.
"I'm starving." Tony admits, both he and Natasha deciding without words that they'll talk to Laura after lunch.
"Good, there's plenty of food." Laura says as Lila jumps up into Tony's arms and Cooper hugs Natasha.
"Great." Natasha responds as the group head inside.
After a quite enjoyable lunch Laura has sent the kids upstairs while she, Tony and Natasha do the washing up.
"Something's happened, hasn't it?" Laura asks worried, "You two wouldn't have driven unless you were worried about our safety." She says, knowing that.
"Nothing's happened yet, but we're worried that it might." Natasha admits.
"What do you mean?" Laura asks curious, feeling her own worry starting to increase.
"We're worried about what Ross might do in retaliation for getting him removed from the Accords." Tony explains, "We think there's a chance that he could find out about you and the kids, which would put you in even more danger, maybe more danger than the robots I left could protect you from." Tony explains, causing Laura to look worried, "We don't know anything for sure, but it's what we're suspecting."
"What should we do?" Laura asks, being willing to do whatever she has to do to protect her kids.
"It your choice, but Tony and I were thinking that you and the kids should move to compound, at least until we know Ross is no longer a threat. There's plenty of room and you and the kids will be safe." Natasha explains, "But of course it's up to. If you'd prefer to stay here we'll come up with something else, either way we'll make sure you're all as safe as possible." She assures Laura.
"Ever since S.H.I.E.L.D fell I've been worried about the wrong people finding out about this place, but when Clint was here it was different." Laura admits, "I felt safe, but I don't feel safe anymore; even with the bots here." She admits, "And I think it would be good for the kids to have more than just me around all the time. How many people are at the compound?' Laura asks interested.
"You and the kids will be living in the Avengers only part. It's huge and basically anything they need, very few people currently have access to it, me, Nat, Vision, Rhodey, Hope, Fury and Hill whenever they get back from where they've been for a while, T'Challa, a young boy by the name of Peter, Melinda May, Thor and Doctor Banner if they ever come back. I've recently changed who can access it." Tony explains and Laura nods, looking deep in thought.
"I think it might be best if we move to the compound, at least for a little while." Laura admits.
"Okay." Tony says with a nod.
"Well help you pack up everything you and the kids want to bring with you." Natasha tells her, "We brought boxing and packing stuff just in case." She explains "The bots can help too, right?" she asks to Tony.
"Yeah, they can." Tony admits.
"I need to talk to the kids." Laura says.
"Okay, how about we get started on packing things down here. I'll call the boots too." Tony offers, being pretty sure he'll call a third to help.
"That would be good, thank you." Laura says before getting up and heading upstairs.
A couple of minutes later Laura is in hers and Clint's bedroom and the kids are sitting on the bed.
"What's going on Mom?" Cooper asks, sounding worried.
"We're going to go stay with Tony, Auntie Nat and some other people at the Avengers Compound." Laura reveals.
"Why?" Lila asks, sounding confused.
"Because for now it's for the best." Laura admits.
"Dad's not ever coming home, is he?" Cooper asks, pain in his voice.
"Honestly Coop, I don't know." Laura admits sadly as she walks over to her son, "I know that right now he can't, and I know that that could change soon, but I don't know when." She says as she sits down next to him.
"I miss him." Cooper admits.
"Me too." Laura says as she puts her arm around him.
"Me three." Lila adds as she climbs over her brother to sit down on her mother's other side, causing Laura to put her arm around her daughter to.
"When are we going to go?" Cooper asks as the family sit in silence.
"Today I think." Laura admits.
"Will we come home sometime?" Lila asks curious, looking upset.
"I'm sure at some point we will." Laura says, even though she knows it may never be safe, "I want you both to go into your rooms and start putting what you want to bring with you into your different bags. Auntie Nat, Tony and I will help." She explains and both kids get up and head to the door.
"Mommy can we call Tony Uncle Tony?" Lila asks, turning back around to face her mother.
"You know I think that's a very good idea." Laura says with a smile and Lila, and Cooper, look quite happy at that as they head out.
It takes two hours but finally everything that the Barton family wants to bring to the compound are spread out between the car that Tony and Natasha drove and the two Barton family cars.
"Mommy can I drive with Auntie Nat?" Lila asks curious.
"If that's okay with Auntie Nat."
"It is." Natasha answers.
"Then okay." Laura answers causing Lila to smile.
"Mom can I go with Uncle Tony?" Cooper asks, causing Tony's heart to skip a beat as he is completely shocked by that.
"It's not me you have to ask." Laura responds.
"Uncle Tony, can I go with you?" Cooper asks.
"Sure Kid." Tony responds, an amazed look on his face, "I was going to just send the bots back to the Compound but I think it might be best if one rides with each of us." He explains to the others.
"Yeah it would be." Natasha says with a nod.
"I agree." Laura says, as that would make her feel more comfortable.
"We should go." Natasha says, looking at her watch and both Laura and Tony nod and so they help the three kids into three different cars before Tony gives instructions to the robots and then the three adults get in the cars too.
July 5th 2016. Avengers Compound.
Night.
Hours later Natasha, Tony, Laura and the kids have arrived at the Compound and they are carrying the bags that they need for the night inside while leaving everything else out in the cars for the night, Tony having been surprised that he wasn't annoyed by Cooper at all during the drive, instead Cooper asked him a lot of questions that he was quite happy to answers.
"Welcome home Boss." FRIDAY says as the group of six walk into the Avengers only area.
"Thanks FRIDAY. This is Laura, Cooper, Lila and Nathaniel Barton, they are to be allowed full access and help whenever needed." Tony says.
"Of course." FRIDAY responds.
"If any of you need anything just ask out loud and FRIDAY will either be able to help or help you find someone who can." Tony says to the group, realising that he is going to have to change a few things to make sure that the kids can't get into anything dangerous, something which he will do while everyone else is sleeping.
"Is FRIDAY a guardian angel?" Lila asks, curious
"Kind of." Natasha says as they approach the living room where they aren't surprised to find three people waiting.
"Okay time for introductions." Tony says, "This is Hope, Rhodey and Vision they live here too, you'll be seeing a lot of them." Tony explains, "And this is Laura, Cooper, Lila and Nathaniel, they're be living here from now on."
"It's really nice to meet you." Hope says with a smile.
"Really is." Rhodey adds.
"You're red!" Lila says to Vision, looking like she isn't sure whether to be scared or amazed.
"Yes, I am." Vision answers, "But I promise you have no reason to be frightened." Vision assures the young girl.
"You're cool." Lila says, looking at Vision in amazement, and Tony can't help but laugh at that.
"I'll give you a quick tour tonight and then we'll figure everything out properly tomorrow." Tony explains to Laura and the kids, "Did you set up the rooms I asked?" he asks, looking at Hope, Vision and Rhodey.
"Yep, three rooms have been made suitable in the corridor near Nat. We weren't sure if you wanted Nathaniel to have his own room so we set him up in yours, but there is an empty room for him to." Rhodey explains to Laura.
"That's great, thank you." Laura says gratefully.
"Not a problem." Rhodey says with a supportive smile.
"Mom, I'm tried." Cooper comments, looking like he is struggling to keep his eyes open.
"Okay, I'll show you your rooms." Tony tells the family and he and Natasha lead the way to the rooms where the Barton family will be staying while they are at the compound, Tony knowing that once he has done that he will get to work on making sure that things are as safe as they can be for the three children.
July 6th 2016. Avengers Compound.
Morning.
Having spent all night making sure that the kids wouldn't be able to get into anywhere dangers as well as making sure that there are rooms where they can play in, something which has made Tony realise he may have to change the layout of the Avengers only area at some point, Tony is amazed by his own sense of timing when he finishes what he had to do just as breakfast would be starting.
Walking into breakfast Tony finds Lila happily talking to Vision, Cooper talking to Natasha and Hope and Laura talking to each other, while Laura feeds Nathaniel, so he walks over and takes his normal seat.
"Morning Tone." Hope greats as he sits down.
"Morning." Tony responds, "How'd you sleep?" he asks Laura.
"Good. It was strange being somewhere new but I actually felt safe." Laura admits.
"That's good, I'm glad." Tony says and as he does he looks around the table, "Where's Rhodes?" he asks looking at Hope in particular.
"Why do you assume I know?"
"Hope." Tony says with a sigh as he is actually worried about his friend so he doesn't want to get in the, 'you and Rhodey tend to know everything about one another when you're together', discussion.
"I don't know." Hope answers.
"Tony." Natasha says, Tony being able to hear the smile in her voice before he looks at he and as she does she monitors her head in a direction and Tony turns to see Rhodey walking in the room using his invention.
"Well, well, well, if this isn't a sight for sore eyes." Tony says with a grin, "How they feel?"
"Good, they're getting less tiring to use." Rhodey admits as he walks over to one of the empty seats, "I'm not quite ready to use them all the time, but I'm getting more use to them."
"That's great, Jim." Hope says with a smile.
"Really is." Tony adds.
"But you know, take your time. There's no point in trying to push yourself too fast." Natasha reminds him.
"I know, thanks." Rhodey responds, giving her a half smile.
"Mr Rhodey why do your legs look like robots?" Lila asks, her voice being full of childlike innocents.
"Lila." Laura says in a warning tone of voice, "I'm…." she starts to say.
"It's okay." Rhodey assures her, "Why don't you call me Jim or Rhodey, not mister." Rhodey requests, "And I was hurt recently, pretty badly. these robot legs are helping me to be able to walk again, though sometimes I'm going to be in the chair with wheels like you saw last night." Rhodey explains to her.
"Okay." Lila says with a nod.
"Does it hurt?" Cooper asks interested, looking a little nervous.
"No, I can't feel anything in my legs." Rhodey explains.
"That must feel strange." Cooper realises.
"It does." Rhodey responds and now that their questions have been answered Cooper and Lila happily go back to what they were doing.
"I'm sorry if they overstepped." Laura says to Rhodey in a quiet voice.
"It's okay. I'm okay with answering their questions, I'd prefer it actually." Rhodey answers.
"Okay." Laura says with a nod, "You were hurt during the battle, weren't you?" Laura asks.
"Yeah, I was." Rhodey confirms.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Rhodey assures her.
"As much as I'd like to stay and chat with you lovely people I've got to go pick up Peter." Tony says, standing up.
"If he gets sometime today asks him to come to the gym, there's a couple of things about his fighting style that I want to talk to him about." Natasha comments.
"Will do." Tony says, "See you all later." He says before walking out.
July 6th 2016. Parker Apartment.
Morning.
A little while after Rhodey walks into breakfast Tony arrives at the Parker apartment building and May and Peter are both waiting outside.
"You ready to go kid?" Tony asks, rolling down the window to talk to May and Peter.
"Yep. Bye Aunt May." Peter says hurrying to the car.
"Have fun, learn lots." May tells him, "What time will he be home?" May asks curious.
"Well if it's okay Peter can have dinner at the compound and then I'll bring him home after." Tony suggests.
"Sure, that sound fine." May responds.
"Good, I'll see you later." Tony says with a grin, before driving off, after making sure Peter has put his seatbelt on, "So when we get to the Compound there are more people there now." He tells Peter once they are about a block away from Peter's house.
"More superheroes?" Peter asks, looking excited.
"No. Do you remember the Arrow guy from the airport?" Tony asks curious.
"Yep." Peter says with a nod.
"Well it's his wife Laura and their three kids, Cooper, Lila and Baby Nathaniel." Tony explains, "I became worried that their home wasn't safe anymore so I suggested that they move to the compound, at least for a little while, Laura agreed." Tony explains to Peter.
"Okay." Peter says with a nod.
"At the moment they only know that their father isn't around, they don't know about the airport battel and Laura wants it to stay like that." Tony explains to Peter.
"I won't mention it, promise." Peter assures him, "How old are they?" he asks curious.
"Cooper's almost twelve, Lila's six, Nathaniel is one." Tony reveals.
"Okay." Peter says with a nod.
"So, if you're willing Natasha wants to talk to you about a couple of things about a couple of aspects of your fighting style." Tony explains, "Knowing her like I do I'm pretty sure that means she wants to give you some tips and practice with you."
"Cool." Peter says with a grin.
"You might not be saying that in a few hours, trust me I've trained with Nat." Tony reveals.
"Really?" Peter asks surprised.
"Yep, her, Hope and another close friend of mine who you haven't meet, kind of insisted on me doing some training with them when I first became Iron Man, and even before that actually." Tony says, not being able to help but remember all the times his friends, including Rhodey felt he needed to learn more self-defence so they made him practice.
"That's so cool." Peter says with a grin and the two of them drift into silence.
July 6th 2016. Avengers Compound.
Morning.
"What would you like to do first, talk to Nat or head to the lab?" Tony asks curious.
"Honestly I kind of want to talk to Natasha." Peter admits.
"Okay. FRIDAY where's Nat?" Tony asks curious.
"Miss Romanoff is showing Cooper, Lila, Laura and Nathaniel around, they are currently in the Library." FRIDAY answers.
"Thank you." Tony responds, "Come on." He says to Peter and the two of them start to walk.
"Can I borrow books from the library sometimes? I'm promise I'll take very good care of them." Peter assures Tony.
"Of course you can." Tony says, causing the entire boy's face to brighten up.
"Awesome." Peter says with a grin and Tony just smiles.
A couple of minutes later Tony and Peter arrive at the library, just as Natasha and the Barton family are walking out.
"Uncle Tony." Lila says happily.
"Hey Kiddo." Tony says with a smile, "Peter this is Laura, Cooper, Lila and Nathaniel Barton." Tony says pointing them out as he introduces them, "Everyone this is Peter, he'll be around a lot."
"Glad to meet you all." Peter says with a smile.
"We're going swimming here after lunch, do you want to join?" Cooper asks, already liking the idea that a boy who is closer to his age is going to be around more.
"Um, I don't have any bathers." Peter admits, looking torn as he'd like to swim, but doesn't have anything.
"We'll have something you can use." Tony assures him.
"Then sure." Peter says with a grin.
"Nat Peter wanted to talk to you about what you mentioned at breakfast." Tony explains, "So how about you do that and I'll finish the tour." Tony suggests.
"Sounds good. Come with Me Parker." Natasha says.
"Okay." Peter says, becoming a little worried about his idea.
"Don't worry, despite what I said earlier you'll be fine, and Nat's the best person to learn from when learning to fight." Tony explains, being able to tell that the teenager is worried, "Don't tell her I said that." He quickly adds.
"I won't." Peter says with a smile.
"PARKER." Natasha calls.
"COMING." Peter calls and he hurries after her.
A little while later Peter and Natasha walk into one of the gym, which Peter quickly realises has been set up with things that are supposed to be structures, like buildings.
"I was able to watch you a couple of times at the airport; you've got skill." Natasha informs Peter.
"Thanks." Peter says, his entire face lighting up as he smiles.
"But you're green, you need more practice, and even though talking can be an effective distraction technique, people tend not to talk as much in fights as you were." Natasha explains to the teenager.
"I was told that." Peter admits.
"Tony and I re-watched the footage from the airport and we came up with this just for you. Whenever you want you can come in here with me, or Tony, or one of the others if they are willing, and practice. You can test your skill figure out the just what you can do with your abilities and the best way to use them." Natasha explains to him.
"Wow, thank you Natasha." Peter says, sounding amazed, making a note to thank Tony to.
"You're welcome. Let's get started." Natasha says as she shoots a hook into the roof to swing on and realising that he should do the same Peter shoots a web and the two get started on some, rather unconventional, training.
July 6th 2016. Avengers Compound.
Afternoon.
After having spent a couple of hours training with Natasha Peter is pretty sure that he has learnt a lot and as fun as it was he is truthfully very much looking forward to swimming in the pool, something which he, Cooper, Lila, Laura, who is holding Nathaniel, Natasha and Tony are on their way to doing half an hour after finishing lunch; Vision said he watch and Hope and Rhodey said they'll be there soon.
"I bet I can make a bigger splash than you." Cooper tells Peter.
"You're so on." Peter responds and the two boys run towards the pool.
"DON'T RUN." Laura calls after them and both boys slow down a little, but then speed up again as they get closer to the pool.
"Hey, Lila, come here." Tony says, getting an idea and Lila walks over.
"Yeah, Uncle Tony?" Lila asks curious.
"You know what I think will be very fun?" Tony asks the young girl as he crouches down to her height.
"No." Lila says confused.
"If you push your Auntie Nat into the pool." Tony explains and Lila's eyes widen and she gets an amazing grin on her face.
"Okay." Lila says before hurrying off over to where her Mother is with Natasha.
Walking slowly towards them Tony watches in amusement as Lila gives Natasha a gentle push and she purposely, clearly realising what the young girl did, falls into the pull, though Lila doesn't realise that and she laughs.
"Uncle Tony told me to do it!" Lila explains as Natasha comes to the surface.
"Really? I thought we were a team." Tony says with a teasing grin.
"Sorry Uncle Tony." Lila says with an innocent grin.
"Don't worry Honey, I knew it was him." Natasha assures her and from the look she is giving him Tony is positive that she is going to make him pay for that later.
"Come on Tony, you should get into the pool." Peter says as Natasha swims over to the edge to help Lila in.
"Okay." Tony says as he just hurries over and jumps into the pool.
A few minutes later Cooper and Peter are throwing a ball, that Tony isn't exactly sure how they got, back and forth, Lila is swimming between him and Natasha, showing them how good she is, while Laura, is holding tightly onto Nathaniel as she slowly walks more into the water.
Looking around Tony smiles and nods at Vision who has just came into the room and looking to the other end he sees Rhodey and Hope heading towards the shallow end which quickly makes him realises something.
"Cooper, Peter." Tony says, causing both boys to stop what they are doing and turn to look at him,
"Rhodey's getting into the pool now, you need not to try and make a lot of splashes and be careful around him, okay?" he asks.
"Yes, Tony."
"Yes, Uncle Tony."
"That goes for you too." Tony tells Lila.
"Okay Uncle Tony." Lila responds happily.
"Go help. I'll watch the kids." Natasha says, being able to tell that that's what Tony really wants to do, even though he completely enjoys spending time with the kids.
"You sure?" Tony asks, worrying that three very excited kids may even be too much for Natasha.
"Positive, go." Natasha responds and Tony just gives him a half smile before swimming over to Hope and Rhodey.
"You good Honey Bear?" Tony asks, about ten minutes later when Rhodey is in the pool, though clearly not completely comfortable.
"Yeah, I think so." Rhodey says, sounding nervous, "I just need to get used to it."
"Okay." Tony responds, "If you want to get out just let me know and I'll help." He says, making a note to build something to help Rhodey in a pool.
"I know." Rhodey assures his friend, "But right now I think you should go help Nat wrangle the kids." He says, some amusement in his voice and looking across the pool he sees Cooper and Peter playing some kind of game with Natasha in the middle holding Lila
"I think she's got it covered." Tony says, sounding amused as Peter and Cooper quickly stop what they are doing, after Natasha says something, "But if you're okay I'll head back over."
"I am, go." Rhodey assures him and Tony nods and swims back over.
"You sure about that?" Hope asks once Tony is out of hearing range.
"I'm not sure." Rhodey admits, "Keep me from drowning?" he asks, looking at Hope.
"Of course." Hope responds and the two of them take to just staying while they are while watching the others who seem to be having a lot of fun.