Tony worked uninterrupted for hours, ironing out some of the kinks on the one project, then trying a few things for the new Iron Man armor. He still wanted to figure out a monitoring system, but trying to develop a sensing mechanism that could take the right type of readings without requiring contact with the skin was harder than it seemed. Still, those crashed helicarriers could identify individuals from a great distance; there had to be a way to see into the human body without hopelessly irradiating it.

He was in the midst of experimenting with recalibrating the sensors used in both the Iron Man suit and Wilson's upgraded tech, then having Friday scan him as a test subject when Friday interrupted his train of thought. "Boss, Captain Rogers is at the door."

"Let him in." Tony's fingers flew across his keyboard a moment longer, then he held up his hand as Steve's footsteps approached. "Stop right there. Do you mind being scanned?"

"Scanned for what?" Steve replied.

"To see if you have a heart," he said with a smirk, glancing up at him.

"All right," Steve agreed hesitantly.

"Friday, give it a go." Steve looked toward the ceiling, but the scan was already over and Tony was studying the readings. "There are too many squishy bits. I'm no good with squishy bits. Where is Bruce when I need him?" he complained. "Friday, study all the data you can find about the heart and imaging method. Is there any way to make this work without using contrast?"

"Study in progress," Friday said compliantly.

Tony turned his attention to Steve. "You want to see?"

Steve finally moved and came around the table to look at the screen. He could identify the rough outlines of the bones and organs in his chest and he was impressed. It looked almost like an x-ray.

"Not bad, right? I can manipulate this and isolate whatever parts you'd like." He demonstrated by peeling away the bones and lungs and pulling forward the heart. "But I'd like to be able to isolate it automatically and, even better, get a look at the individual chambers without requiring the process they have to do now. It's . . . intimately unpleasant."

"A look at the outside isn't enough?"

"Not for what ails me." Tony tapped his second screen and brought up two images. "The image on the left is my heart, the right is a normal heart. See the distortion in that area? That's the sort of thing I'd like to be able to detect on the fly. The uses of this technology would extend much farther than that, of course, provided I can make it work."

Steve studied the images, then the scan. He had no expertise in the so-called 'squishy bits' either, but he thought he understood what Tony was trying to do and had no doubt he'd manage to figure it out eventually.

"Anyway, I'm fairly certain you didn't come down to get a progress report on my little project. What do you want?"

"I was appointed to retrieve you for lunch," Steve admitted.

"Yeah? Who appointed you?"

"Laura."

"And if I don't want to come?"

"I'm to carry you upstairs," Steve said sheepishly.

"Right." Tony gestured and the screens went black. "Guess I'll come willingly, then." He led Steve out of the workshop and toward the stairs. "Why no room service today?"

"She wanted to talk about something, said you'd suggested it?"

"Huh. Word travels fast."

They didn't speak again as they climbed the stairs to the common area. Everyone else had already gathered and loaded their plates, so as soon as Steve and Tony were present and within earshot, Laura spoke. "This babysitting thing. Are you serious about it?"

"Absolutely," Tony said immediately. "Just pick a day and a time and we'll do it, provided we don't have to go save the world or something."

"Wait, what are we volunteering for?" Sam asked.

"Watching the kids so Clint and Laura can have some time to themselves," Natasha said. "It's a good idea. You'd never believe it was Tony's."

"Stark, man, when did you become a decent human being?" Sam teased.

"Pepper's been working on me for a while," Tony said easily as he took a seat next to Wanda.

"How about on Friday?" Clint said.

After a brief discussion, they agreed on Friday evening and the conversation turned to jokes about how they might spend the time. Laura blushed while Clint laughed and returned the jibes.

Tony didn't participate in the teasing, knowing quite well what they were likely to end up doing and not blaming them one bit, and finished his lunch fairly quickly. He rose and started cleaning up in the kitchen. Wanda joined him after a few minutes. "You do not need to be doing this," she told him.

"Why the hell not?" he retorted fiercely. "I'm trying to be a team player here, and everyone seems to think I shouldn't touch the goddamn dishes. I'm not going to make them explode, for fuck's sake!"

By the end of his outburst, everyone was staring at him. Evidently he'd been louder than he intended.

"If it means that much to you, you can be on dish duty all the time," Clint said, breaking the silence.

"Tony, we're only trying to help you take it easy," Rhodey said placatingly. "And you could make them explode if you wanted to."

"Of course I could, but I wasn't planning on it."

"You can be on dish duty for dinner, if you'd like, but right now Steve and I need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"The meeting tomorrow."

Tony set the plate he was holding into the dishwasher, then wiped his hands on the dishcloth. "Right. All yours, Wanda."

Steve mostly wanted to clarify the logistics of how to get there, where to go, and at what time, and verify the appropriate attire. Tony gave them the details they needed and permission to use his self-flying helicopter to get there, then added, "Rhodey, it would be better if you didn't wear your legs. I don't want anyone beating you up for them."

"So I get to play the helpless cripple. Got it."

"They might be nicer to you that way."

Lila was the next demand on his attention; they read outside because it was a nice day and Laura thought the kids could use some fresh air. Afterward Lila ran off to play with her brother and Tony remained seated in the grass and watched. He had nowhere to be.

He was startled by something bumping into the back of his shoulder. He turned quickly, arms up in defense, and landed a square blow on Redwing, Sam's drone. It wobbled but stayed aloft. He patted it in apology. "You shouldn't sneak up on me like that."

It hovered there and angled itself as if beckoning him, then the grappling hook lowered from its body.

Tony leveled a forbidding look at its camera. "No," he said, sure that Sam could tell what he said even though he wasn't wearing an earpiece.

Redwing drooped as if disappointed and the hook disappeared back into its belly. A few heartbeats later, Sam swooped down from the roof, landing neatly in front of him. "Don't you trust Redwing?"

"It has nothing to do with trust and everything to do with not wanting to be dangling by one hand," Tony retorted.

"Yeah, sure, I see how it is." Sam tapped a command into his bracer and Redwing neatly tucked itself back into his jetpack.

"Everything working as it should be?" Tony asked with interest.

The gear had still been with Ross even after Steve rescued the others from the Raft and Tony's negotiations for its return had gone nowhere until he'd threatened to sue. He personally retrieved and inspected each piece before taking it all back to the compound about a week before Steve and the others arrived. The fact that he had gone to such lengths to retrieve the Ant-Man suit and did not immediately try to reverse-engineer it helped change Pym's opinion of him, though Pym still held a significant grudge against Howard Stark. Tony could sympathize.

"Seems to be," Sam said, settling on the grass near him. "It's good to be flying again."

"I'll bet."

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes. Tony wasn't sure why Sam had sought him out, and Sam wasn't saying, so he decided to speak instead.

"Has Steve said anything about why he won't use the shield?"

"What do you mean, he won't use it? I thought he didn't have it."

"It's in his equipment locker, like always. I made sure of that."

"Huh. He definitely misses it-I've seen him reach for it during training," Sam said, shaking his head. "Are you thinking it's because of what he did with it?"

Tony paused. "What do you know about that?" he asked carefully.

Sam briefly described what Steve had told him and the others, then what Rhodey had revealed at the hospital and why. Tony leaned back on his elbows and studied the sky so he wouldn't have to look at Sam while he talked about it. The way Sam methodically described it didn't send his heart racing the way his memories did, which was interesting. "So I know enough," Sam finished.

"You know all there is to know," Tony confirmed.

"I'm thinking it's good we have Dr. Thomas coming. She'll start tomorrow, by the way. That's what I meant to tell you."

"Good." Tony slowly stood up and brushed the grass from his clothes, then offered a hand up to Sam. "See you later, alligator."

"After a while, crocodile," Sam responded, then took off, his wings snapping out as he gained altitude.

Tony went inside and wandered back down to his workshop. He turned his attention to his secret project and made some headway, which was satisfying, and managed not to think about why he was doing it, which was a relief.

.

After loading the dishwasher with the dinner dishes, he sat down with Steve and Rhodey again to make sure they remembered everything for the meeting, since they'd have to leave right after breakfast in the morning. He concluded they were freaking out less than he was, which was probably a good thing. "Keep me posted," he requested.

Rhodey squeezed his shoulder. "It'll be fine."

"Yeah, I know."

He could tell himself that, but his brain didn't believe it and he didn't sleep well as a result. He was awake and out of bed before everyone except Steve, who had left for his run at the usual ungodly hour.

Since he was up before everyone else, Tony figured he might as well start breakfast.

He was putting an egg dish into the oven when Natasha appeared. "You're going to make everyone wonder what you did that you're trying to apologize for," she said as she perched on one of the stools at the breakfast bar.

"Is me being helpful really such a surprise?" he asked sourly, setting a cup in front of her and pouring coffee from the pot that had just finished brewing. The agave syrup, sugar, and creamer were already on the counter.

"Visibly helpful, yes," she said, stirring a squirt of agave into her coffee. "Most people believe the careless playboy facade you've put on in the past."

He began forking slices of bacon into a large pan. "I would have thought the Avengers of all people would know better."

"Some of us do. A few are still getting to know you. And sometimes we just like to tease you."

"Yeah, I get it. I'm good at being the butt of people's jokes."

"I can tell Clint to cool it for a while, if that would help."

"Nah, it's good to have that back to normal." He moved the first round of bacon onto a plate and slid it into the warming drawer, checking on the egg bake as he did so. When a new round of bacon was in the pan, he began whisking eggs and milk for french toast.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Natasha asked.

"I'm good here."

"I didn't mean for breakfast."

He looked up at her and his hands stilled for a moment. Her expression was inscrutable, as always, but there was a note of concern in her voice. "I don't think so." He returned his attention to the sizzling bacon.

Other team members began filtering in at that point, so Natasha didn't push the issue.

Tony stayed busy keeping the french toast and bacon stocked as everyone filled their plates and started eating. Steve and Rhodey were finishing as Tony sat down with his food, so he could only give them a wave as they left the room; he'd considered going down to the chopper to see them off, but it was probably better this way.

After breakfast was reading time with Lila, which distracted him until it was almost time for the meeting in New York to start. Rather than go to his workshop and fret, he went in search of the others and found them at the outdoor shooting range.

There was also an indoor range, but Clint preferred the outdoor one as a better reflection of actual fighting conditions. Having tested his suits in unpleasant weather just to see how they'd fare, Tony completely understood.

As expected, Clint was working with his bow; a few targets down, Vision was practicing with bolts of energy at various strengths and distances. Natasha and Sam were on Clint's other side, working with Wanda on her accuracy with a handgun and one of the rifles. It was the same sort of rifle Barnes had been carrying, Tony remembered, though he couldn't remember him ever firing it.

Tony stood at a safe distance and watched for a while, making a mental note that they'd need a new set of targets soon. Natasha motioned for him to join them, but he waved her off. Wanda was getting frustrated enough about her aim, and having him stroll over and show her up wouldn't help.

"Why are we doing this? I can aim better without the gun," Wanda said finally, picking up and flinging a bullet at the target with a flash of red energy. It was a bullseye.

"You need to be able to handle and use common weapons," Natasha said patiently. "If you're grabbing an enemy's gun, it's faster to shoot it than to take the bullets out and do it your way."

"Why isn't Vision practicing this?"

"Because he can already shoot well," Natasha said. "We've tested him."

Wanda seemed unconvinced. Natasha took the handgun over to Vision and spoke to him quietly. Clint stopped his own shooting to watch. Vision nodded then took the gun, aimed it at the target Wanda was using, and fired, neatly putting his bullet into the hole she had made in the center of the target.

Tony was as impressed as Wanda, who seemed to notice him for the first time. "What about you?" she challenged.

He shrugged and picked up the rifle, briefly checking it over before bringing it to his shoulder and firing. His shot was slightly to the right of Vision's but still within the bullseye circle. "I didn't just make missiles," he said as he set the rifle down. "Life is unpredictable and we want to make sure you're as safe as possible given the crazy shit we do. That's all."

Wanda somehow seemed a little less frustrated after that. Clint came over to try coaching her, so Tony tried out Clint's bow. He definitely wasn't good with a bow and arrow. Natasha tried next, with more success; he was fairly convinced she'd never met a weapon she couldn't shoot to kill on the first try.

Tony completely lost track of time and was startled when his phone rang. "Hey, done already? How'd it go?"

Rhodey scoffed. "Dude, we were in there almost two hours, but yeah, it went well. We'll fill everyone in at lunch."

"Fly safe."

The phone call served as the unofficial signal to break for lunch. They traipsed inside to clean and store the weapons before heading upstairs; Tony waited until the others left, then went to Steve's locker. The shield was right where he'd left it, still bearing the scratches from T'Challa's claws and a slight discoloration in the paint where it had breached the arc reactor. He closed the drawer again, his curiosity satisfied.