Steve finished a sketch of Clint drawing back his bow and stowed away his pad and pencils. He looked around the quinjet, still impressed by how much the field of aviation had improved since he'd last been at the controls of a plane.

Suddenly the jet was buffeted by strong air currents and Steve gripped the armrests of his seat. Automatically, he glanced at his team to check their status.

Tony's dark head was bent over the gadget on his lap and his only reaction to the turbulence the quinjet was experiencing was to grab his tablet before it slid to the floor.

From the pilot's chair, Clint said, "Heads up, guys. We're probably going to be experiencing more turbulence for a while since there's a big stretch of cirrus clouds ahead. Put your seat belts on."

"How long before we reach the helicarrier, Clint?" Steve asked, raising his voice.

"ETA is fifty minutes, Cap."

Tony ignored them both. His seat belt remained unfastened. He probably hadn't even heard Clint, as he was listening to music through the little speakers in his ears as he worked.

Occasionally he would look up, dark eyes blankly staring. Sometimes he would run his hand through his hair and mess up his fancy hair style, leaving locks of hair to flop on his forehead.

He was obviously engrossed in calculations and measurements, because he'd type rapidly and then make sudden movements with his hands. The air in front of him would be filled with designs and he would move them around, sometimes magnifying them or discarding parts.

Steve wondered if Tony even remembered he was on a quinjet. "Tony." No response. He tried again, louder, to get Tony's attention. It was as successful as his first attempt.

Sighing, Steve unfastened his own seatbelt, balancing easily through the next wave of turbulence, and dropped quietly into the seat next to Tony. He reached right across Tony's lap and grabbed the seat belt and fastened it for him, then secured his own.

Tony never even noticed. Well, that was better than Tony taking offense and the two of them having another go around with each other like they'd had three days ago. Tony had returned from his self-appointed mission to destroy Stark weapons that had fallen into terrorists' hands and, well, his mother would have called the words they'd thrown at each other a real donnybrook. She'd have told him to use his head, find another way to get through to the boy.

At least they hadn't traded punches, although Steve would never try to flatten Tony unless he was in his Iron Man suit. Being the Avengers team leader wasn't like being in the Army; the only reason Tony Stark and the others followed his lead was because they willingly ceded that authority to him. He wouldn't abuse it. But Tony had taken unacceptable risks with that solo mission. After three days of mulling it over – and learning as much as he could about Tony from JARVIS and Miss Potts – Steve thought the reason why Tony had done that was a combination of Tony's arrogance and confidence in his own abilities and something else that Tony put up a pretty good smokescreen to hide. Tony Stark had a problem trusting other people. Steve suspected he didn't risk asking for help to avoid being rejected. That needed to change.

Tony was unbelievably generous, in a usually careless, off-hand way. Steve knew that Tony would back him or any of the team. He could be trusted to put himself on the line. He would ask for assistance, if it was to save other people. But just for him? Steve doubted that Tony would do that. He was stubborn. He'd been dying from his earlier version of the arc reactor in his chest and he hadn't asked for help. He'd tried to fix the problem himself. Despite the flamboyant rich brat behavior he knew Tony had excelled at showing to others, Steve didn't think Tony valued himself very much. His technical skills, yes. Tony as a person, no.

Steve had to find a better way to handle Tony. He really didn't like being at odds with him. Tony was, to use S.H.I.E.L.D.'s terminology, an asset. Besides, he'd be a poor friend if he didn't look out for Howard's boy. Even if it seemed Howard hadn't done such a great job of it himself.

It was amazing watching Tony concentrate like this. Howard had probably fit the definition of a genius, but he'd never seen Howard go so deep into thinking that everything else around him dropped away.

Tony brought up another screen of designs and with one hand flicked through it, magnifying what looked like engine parts to Steve. With the other hand, Tony absently reached into a pocket and brought out a package of dried cherries. He tried to thumb it open but the package wasn't cooperating. Steve opened it, then shook his head, smiling, because Tony still hadn't realized Steve was doing things for him. Tony ate some of the cherries and left the package balanced on his thigh.

At least Tony did remember to eat when he was on one of his science or engineering benders. Miss Potts had told Steve that while Tony might not leave his lab or workshop for days, he did munch on snacks or drink health shakes, just as long as he could have at least one hand free for working. Getting him to sit down to a meal when he was in that frame of mind was practically impossible, though. Tony's sleep patterns when he was focused so intently on a project were erratic. He had nightmares sometimes. Miss Potts had told him that, too, when Steve had asked for her help in understanding Tony when they'd both been alone in the Avengers' kitchen.

She'd looked at him for an awkward minute before answering, though, her blue eyes intent. "He's going to keep being an Avenger and being Iron Man," she'd finally said. "He's trying so hard to be a good person, Steve, and this is how he thinks he can do it. I've accepted that about him. I love him for it. I don't love the danger he'll be facing. So, I'll tell you what you want to know. Maybe it will help you keep him safer."

"Thank you, Miss Potts. I'll keep what you tell me to myself."

"I won't lie to Tony. I'm going to tell him that we talked. He's going to resent that, at least for a while. Hold your ground with him, and don't let him bait you. Be his friend. He's worth it."

She'd patted him on the arm, and they settled down at the kitchen table for a long talk. She'd wished him luck when they'd finished. He had thanked her wryly. He'd been sure he was going to need it to help his old friend's son.

They went through several more bumpy patches, the jet shaking off the effects like a dog shaking off the rain. Tony apparently finished his work on improving the helicarrier and shut down his project, took out the little speakers from his ears and startled a little when he realized that Steve was sitting next to him. Steve smiled at him, gave him a friendly nudge with his elbow.

"Cap?" Tony seemed a little flustered. He picked up the package and offered it to Steve. "Want some?"

Steve took it and helped himself. "Thanks." He wasn't sure Tony even knew what he'd been eating, but asking him to name the fruit would only make Tony react defensively. "We should be at the helicarrier soon."

"Right. I've got engineering to do. It's gonna take me at least a couple of hours." Tony knuckled his eyes and arched his back, then relaxed against the seat.

"Clint and I will keep busy after my meeting with Fury and his therapy session. Maybe the gym, or some flight training. You take as much time as you need to do your work." So far, Steve thought, things were going well between them.

"Any word on our lovely assassin?" Tony drummed one hand against the armrest for a moment.

"Natasha is en-route from her mission. We'll take her home with us when we leave." It would be good to have her back with the team; Steve was looking forward to doing some training with her.

"Well then, the band'll be back together," Tony said. "Except for one storm god, and one large green member and one short, curly-haired smart guy."

"I'm sure Fury's going to bring Bruce up. Or at least, our work in improving the Hulk's image." If Fury didn't, then Steve planned to do so.

"Yeah. I'm going to send Fury one of the Hulk plushies. Maybe Hill, too." Tony said, sounding absolutely sincere.

Steve laughed, and Tony grinned. Steve handed him back the package and Tony absently ate a few pieces of dried fruit.

"Oh. Cherries."

Steve laughed again and this time Tony joined him. Tony didn't hold onto grudges, it seemed.

Tony yawned and slid down in his seat. "I'm gonna catch a few winks, Cap. Wake me when we get there." He was asleep in less than a minute.

Steve made his way up to the cockpit and slid into the co-pilot's seat. One of the things he was working on was getting certified to fly again. That would give them three pilots for the team, not just Clint and Natasha.

"How's our time and fuel, Clint?"

Clint glanced at the controls. "We've got more than enough of both to spare, if you're thinking what I'm thinking."

Steve asked, "Are you thinking that we take the scenic route and let Tony sleep a little longer?"

"You're right on the money, Cap."

"Let's do that, then. And let's keep it to ourselves."

Clint shrugged. "Fine with me. Tony'll probably wonder why the flight took longer, though."

"If he asks, I'll tell him the truth: that he looked like he could use the extra sleep. I just hope it won't start another argument between us."

Clint looked intently at him for a long moment, a thoughtful look on his face. "Well... Depends on how you make it sound. If he thinks you did it because otherwise he's a sleep deprived menace to the team, then yeah. He's gonna go into Tony Stark attack mode. The insults will be flying by so fast that they'll break the sound barrier."

Steve made a rueful expression. Tony could gut you with his wit and by the time you figured out just how badly he'd insulted you, he'd left you behind in the dirt. He'd done it on the helicarrier when they'd first met and again when he'd returned from his solo mission.

Clint glanced at him and nodded his head slowly. He said, "But I understand that this is the real deal; you know he works his ass off for the team and S.H.I.E.L.D. and that letting him sleep is something you could do back for him."

"Yes. You got me figured out." Steve rubbed an eyebrow thoughtfully. "Any other advice?"

Clint gave him a sideways look. "Um... smile at him like you were earlier. He'll be kind of flustered again that way and probably won't get defensive. People always want things from Tony. He's not really used to it being the other way around, except from his real friends. Pepper, Rhodes, his chauffeur. And living up to Captain America's standards can be kind of intimidating, Cap. Be Steve, be his friend."

"You... You've got a knack for reading people, Clint." Steve touched the controls, running a finger across the different instrument panels.

Clint grinned, "I kind of do. I'll tell you about it sometime."

Steve brought his hand back to his lap. "'Be his friend.' That's what Miss Potts said, too." Steve wanted that, anyway. Not just because of Howard, either. Tony was a lot of work, but Steve was sure his friendship would be worth it.

"She's had years to study him and figure him out. You got thrown in the deep end. But I think he's gonna learn to trust you and our team. I mean, he's let himself sleep right now. He trusts us to not hurt him or try to take the arc reactor out of his chest. For Tony, that's progress." Clint made a slight course correction, while Steve considered his words. He needed to be patient with Tony, and not trigger the other man's defenses.

"I suppose it is." Steve waved at the instrument panel. "How about you give me a crash course on these, Clint."

Clint had been right on the money about how to deal with Tony, Steve thought. After Steve had shaken him awake once they'd landed, Tony had checked his watch and his face had tightened. Here we go, Steve had thought, but he'd smiled at Tony and patted his shoulder before saying anything to him.

Funny how changing one word from, "You needed the extra sleep" to "You deserved the extra sleep," had resulted in Tony looking up at him in puzzlement, instead of blowing up. Then he'd shrugged.

"I was kind of tired. Thanks, Cap, but you didn't have to do that." Tony's eyes were calm, his body relaxed.

"Clint gave me some flying lessons, so it worked out for all of us. And we're still early to our meetings."

Tony motioned for Steve to sit down and said quietly, "Clint hasn't been back here since he blew half the place up. Between him and Bruce they really did some damage. Before he has to go see his shrink, maybe we should do a walk through with him. You know his shrink wants him here to gauge how he's handling returning to the scene of his... not-crime."

"That's a good idea, Tony. If Clint will go for it."

Tony just raised his voice. "Hey! Robin Hood."

Clint turned around in the pilot's seat. "What, Stark?"

Steve stood up and Tony followed him, his Iron Man suitcase in one hand and his tablet in the other. Steve grabbed the bag that held his shield. He was dressed in civies, but leaving his shield behind was not optional. Clint stood up as they walked up to him.

"We wanna be your Merry Men," Tony offered.

Clint stared hard at Tony for a moment and then glanced up at Steve.

"And what exactly will my Merry Men be doing?" Clint asked, wary.

"Clint, we-" Tony interrupted him.

"We're gonna hang with you till your shrink can see you. Go on safari, check out the jungle, that sort of thing," Tony offered nonchalantly.

"That sort of thing... Did I mention I'm supposed to walk through the helicarrier with my shrink so she can see if I'm going to have flashbacks, or fall down weeping?" Clint said, making a face.

"No, but that's why your appointment is here, isn't it?" Tony said, serious for once.

"So you guys'll be my posse? Do a run through first, just us?" Clint quirked an eyebrow, inviting a response.

"Yes. If you want us to be with you." Steve said.

"Well, okay. But you have to wear tights and feathered caps." Clint gave them a mischievous grin, but Steve saw past that. Clint's eyes were showing trepidation.

Tony gave Clint a friendly nudge with an elbow as Steve arched an eyebrow and said, smiling, "Not a chance, Clint. We ready?"