A/N: I'm going to start throwing rough titles on these chapters so you (and I!) can more easily figure out what's in each section. At some point I'll go back and add titles to the earlier chapters as well.

Also, with this chapter we're caught up to what is on AO3, so new chapters won't be up quite as frequently as has been the case. My goal is a chapter a week.

Steve and Rhodey arrived just in time for lunch, so Steve was still wearing his suit and Rhodey was in his uniform as they sat down at the table. Once everyone had their food, Steve said, "The meeting went well. The chairwoman would like to see our fully revised version of the Accords before sending it to the rest of the committee."

"Just like that, she agreed," Natasha said doubtfully.

"There was a considerable amount of discussion first, but yes," Rhodey confirmed.

"We have to make absolutely sure it says what we want it to say before she sees it, then," Sam said.

"You've all read it at least once," Tony commented. "If there's anything you want to change, now's the time. We'll want to run it by the lawyers before we send it out, too."

"After lunch," Laura said mildly with a glance at the kids. "Eat, then work."

"Yes, ma'am," Sam said with a grin.

After eating, they gathered at the conference table so the text could be projected on the screen during the discussion. They kept at it for hours and would have gone longer had Friday not interrupted. "Boss, Dr. Thomas would like to officially meet the team when it is convenient."

Tony glanced around the table. "Anyone mind if we do that now?"

"It will be a nice break," Clint grumbled, making a show of rubbing his eyes.

"Friday, tell her she's welcome to come up." Tony stood up and stretched, groaning as his back popped. "Anyone else need some coffee?" he asked, heading for the kitchen.

The suggestion prompted a general movement toward the kitchen for beverages and snacks and in the hubbub Dr. Thomas' entrance went almost unnoticed.

Vision, who stayed out of the fray since he didn't need to eat or drink, was the first to acknowledge her presence. "Welcome, Dr. Thomas," he said sincerely, shaking her hand. "I am Vision. We met last week."

"Yes, I remember," she said warmly. "And, please, call me Dr. Tanya."

Slowly the others noticed she was there and introductions were made as everyone made their way back to the table. As he offered her a chair, Tony said, "So, Dr. T, was there something you wanted to find out right now, or what?"

Dr. Tanya smiled at them and folded her hands on the table. "What do you think I should know?"

Silence followed her question as they looked at each other uncertainly. "The Avengers were created to make the world a better place," Steve started.

"Recently we haven't been much of a team, but we're working on that," Tony said.

"Some of us are . . . under observation," Clint added slowly. "Because we didn't agree to the Accords."

"Which we're trying to make better," Rhodey put in. "Steve and Tony both have been working on getting a more reasonable version approved by the U.N."

"And if it is, will all of you agree to it?" she asked. "Or will that continue to be a point of contention?"

"We don't know. It depends on what changes," Sam said.

"And if you don't, what will happen?"

"Those who don't will be arrested or become fugitives," Tony said flatly, studying his coffee mug rather than look at any of the others. "We're hoping to avoid those being the only options."

"I see," Dr. Tanya said. "Anything else?"

"There were other factors in our dispute," Steve said hesitantly. "But the Accords were the primary issue."

Tony glanced at Steve, a little surprised he'd bring that up already and in front of everyone, but Steve was looking at her and didn't meet his gaze.

"And these other factors were . . . personal?" she asked in clarification.

"Yes."

When it became clear he wasn't going to elaborate any more than that, Dr. Tanya looked around the table again. "I look forward to meeting with each of you individually. I will have a calendar you can use to schedule time to talk, or you can ask me in person. My office will be on the floor below this one in the east wing of the building. Appointments are available starting tomorrow morning."

When she stood, Tony followed suit and escorted her back to the hallway to make sure she could find her way. She assured him she would be fine. "Thank you, Dr. T, I think you'll be good for us," he said. "I will see you soon-ish."

"So I won't see you tomorrow?" she asked lightly.

"Nope."

"You know where to find me when you're ready."

He waited until the elevator doors had closed behind her before speaking. "Friday, Dr. Tanya has permission to access all Avenger common areas at will."

"Yes, boss."

After dinner they continued reviewing the Accords and managed to finish wading through the whole thing by midnight. Tony had Friday send the latest version to the lawyers who'd been reviewing it all along, then stumbled to bed.

He slept restlessly, waking often, and when he got up the next morning he was out-of-sorts and irritable. His first priority was coffee; nothing and no one else registered as he headed straight for the kitchen.

He was nearly to the coffee when he was stopped short by a mug being shoved at his chest. "Good morning, sunshine. We already made your coffee," Clint said when Tony finally looked up at him, then he set the mug on the nearest counter.

"That is uncommonly decent of you," Tony mumbled, taking the mug and drinking from it, not caring how hot the coffee might be. Fortunately for his mouth, it wasn't scalding.

"Are you even awake?" Rhodey asked.

"Barely," Tony grumbled. "This will help." He nodded to Clint, who nodded back and returned to the table. He surveyed the food arrayed on the counter and took some sausages and a bowl of oatmeal that someone had spruced up with nuts and apples.

After he'd sat down and eaten a few bites, Natasha said, "We're going to do morning workouts in the pool. You're welcome to join us."

He considered that as he ate a sausage. He wasn't always a fan of water, not since Afghanistan, but the passage of time and developing even bigger hangups over other things meant it wasn't nearly the issue it had been at first. He could take baths now, for instance, and had been swimming once or twice, which was fine so long his chest was covered (which was weird, but whatever worked). "Yeah, I can join you," he said finally. "What time?"

He showed up at the pool a few minutes early, dressed in one of the wetsuits he still owned despite not having surfed in years. It only came down to his elbows and knees, so it didn't look completely ridiculous. He hoped.

Natasha and Wanda were already there and in the water, Wanda in a modest one-piece with her hair tucked up in a swim cap and Natasha in a sleek suit that covered almost as much as his did.

Rhodey and Vision arrived and sat on the bench along the wall to watch. Tony supposed that answered the question of whether Vision could swim. Steve, Sam, and Clint appeared within moments of each other, all wearing some variation of skin tight swim trunks.

After everyone had taken turns to do a few laps as warmup, Clint suggested trying water polo since they had enough people for teams. The others were willing to make an attempt, so they moved the lane lines out of the pool and used towel baskets from the changing rooms as makeshift goals. Clint found a hard plastic ball, likely left behind by his kids, and decided it would work well enough.

They decided the goalkeepers could stand on the bottom of the pool so that Tony could play without exerting himself more than was wise. Wanda was the opposing goalie; Clint and Steve were on her team while Natasha and Sam were on Tony's.

The ball wasn't the best for throwing, so there weren't many successful shots at the goal on either side. After a while, Natasha and Sam figured out how to keep the ball away from Clint, who tried to get even by sneaking up on Nat and pushing her underwater.

Tony witnessed this maneuver and his heart clenched when Nat finally surfaced, sputtering and coughing. "Barton!" he bellowed, wading toward him. "Get out of my pool right now."

Clint gave him a questioning look. "What?"

"Get out. Now," Tony hissed through clenched teeth.

Clint backed away and Tony followed until Clint's back hit the pool wall. "What's your problem?" he asked, scrambling out of the water.

"The one thing I cannot tolerate in my pool is forcing someone underwater," Tony said vehemently. He was starting to tremble, the water no longer something he could tolerate. He moved climbed out of the pool and headed for the adjacent hot tub room.

"What's his problem?" he heard Clint ask, and clenched his fists. He needed to be away for a minute, needed to expend the adrenaline that had surged through him in sympathy as he saw Natasha go under. He stalked around the hot tub several times, taking deep breaths, before his heart rate began to slow and he was no longer shaking like a leaf.

"Hey, you all right?" Rhodey asked from the doorway.

"Yeah, I just-"

"I know, but Barton forgot. We've reminded him."

"It's not just about that. You don't do that shit, especially not to a teammate."

"Natasha has made that perfectly clear."

Tony took another deep breath, decided he had calmed down enough to manage, and returned to the pool area. Vision was quietly observing Steve and Sam putting the lane lines back into place but there was no sign of the other three.

"The ladies left to shower," Sam said from the end of the pool closest to Tony. "Clint is putting away the goals. We'll be headed out as soon as we're done here."

Tony nodded and went to change. He was unsurprised to find Clint was already stark naked in one of the shower cubicles. He passed him without saying a word and headed for the shelf where he'd stashed his clothes. He'd shower later, when the smell of chlorine was an irritant rather than a comfort-the water in Afghanistan had smelled nothing like chlorine.

"Tony," Clint said, coming up behind him as he began to peel off his wetsuit.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out."

Tony turned around. "Did you apologize to Nat?"

"Yeah, after she told me off."

"Then we're good. Don't pull that shit again."

"I won't. It was a dumbass thing to do."

"Damn right it was."

Clint went to get dressed and Tony finished doing the same. He rinsed out the wetsuit and left it hanging in the corner; he'd retrieve it later or maybe even use it again.

When he arrived upstairs, Natasha was there with Laura, cutting up apples and carrots for lunch. The Barton kids were already eating and Lila waved enthusiastically when she saw him. Nathaniel started waving from his booster seat in imitation of his sister. "Come eat lunch with us, Uncle Tony, and then we can read!" she said.

"All right, honey, I'll be there in a minute," he said. He joined Natasha and Laura in the kitchen to get the lowdown on the plans for the rest of the day. There wasn't any training planned for the afternoon and Laura was more than happy to leave Lila with Tony while she put Nathaniel down for his nap.

He sat next to Lila and listened to her account of their morning with some interjections from Cooper when he felt she wasn't telling Uncle Tony the full story. Then Lila commented that how he smelled like the pool and he had to explain what he had been up to that morning. He left out the part about Clint, of course; no need to give the kids any ideas.

When Tony finished eating, Lila eagerly led him in taking their dishes to the sink, then retrieved the book and picked a place to sit. They did two chapters again; when they'd finished with the allotment, he flipped forward to find out how many more chapters were left: just four. Lila would have to pick a new book very soon. "I think we'll go back to one chapter tomorrow," he said as she climbed down from his lap.

"I think we should read two until the book is finished."

"But we've caught up for the days we missed."

She gave him a beseeching look. "Please?"

Tony sighed. "All right, but you're going to have to pick a new one even sooner that way."

"That's okay!" she said happily.

Just don't pick The Lord of the Rings this time, he thought.

While Lila put her book away, he wandered over to the table where Natasha and Wanda were playing go fish with Cooper. Lila wanted Uncle Tony to play too so she could 'help' him while sitting on his lap. They played a few rounds; Lila had an uncanny ability to ask for cards one of the other players had only just fished for, so they won easily three different times.

By that point, Laura came back down from putting Nathaniel down for a nap, and she collected the older two for some quiet time in their rooms. Lila wanted Auntie Nat and Wanda to go with her, so Tony was left alone. "Friday, where is everyone?"

"Clint Barton is in his family's quarters. Colonel Rhodes and Sam Wilson are in the workout room. Vision is reviewing a communication from your lawyers. Captain Rogers is meeting with Dr. Tanya."

Interesting. "How long has Steve been meeting with Dr. Tanya?"

"Thirty-five minutes."

While he sometimes enjoyed snooping into things people didn't want him to know, meeting with the therapist really shouldn't be something that anyone could ask about-and not just because he didn't want the others to know if (when) he decided to talk to her. "Friday, treat one-on-one meetings with Dr. Tanya as confidential and do not report their length."

"Yes, boss."

Time to test it. "Where is Steve?"

"Captain Rogers is in a meeting."

"And Doc T?"

"Dr. Tanya is in a meeting."

That would do.

Then something else occurred to him. "Redirect all recordings from that room to the private server that only Dr. Tanya can access and make a note that I should talk to her about how to disable the recording entirely." The Avengers' bedrooms and workspaces he'd intentionally left bare of security equipment, but the office Dr. Tanya was assigned had been intended for visitors and Tony had wanted to be able to eavesdrop on them at any time. With all the trouble with Ross, it had been a good idea. Now, not so much.

Tony ran a hand through his hair and decided it was time to wash off the chlorine. After a brief shower, he went down to his workshop and skimmed his new messages. He read the one from the lawyers; they were again assuring him the lawsuit wasn't anything to worry about. The other lawyers hadn't yet responded about the Accords edit, so he dismissed the message list and turned his attention back to his secret project.

As much as he tried not to wonder what Steve was talking about with Dr. Tanya, his mind kept wandering back to that very subject. It didn't concern him, except that it might. He located and opened Dr. Tanya's calendar, noting absently that it only showed available times (no privacy problems there), and closed it again. It could be so easy to drop his name into one of the many available timeslots, it's not like he had anywhere else to be, but he hesitated.

"Friday, show me what you found for the monitoring system," he said, forcefully turning his attention to something different. This time it worked, as he systematically tweaked and tested his scanning mechanism. He still wished for Bruce's help with the squishy bits, but he was getting there.

He worked steadily until Rhodey came down to find him. Tony tested the scan on Rhodey, pleased when it showed vague outlines of the heart's chambers without any manipulation of the image. The resolution wasn't sufficient for his purposes yet, but he was making progress. On a whim, he zoomed in on Rhodey's spine.

Rhodey watched curiously, nodding. "Looks like my last set of scans," he said. "Does this mean I won't have to suffer that loud machine again?"

Tony chuckled. "I don't think your doctors will trust this over their own machines, but we can certainly show them and see what they think."

Rhodey had, of course, not come down to see what he was doing but to fetch him for dinner. Again with the emphasis on food; Tony didn't think he'd eaten three meals a day this regularly in years. If Pepper had been right about him losing weight (he still hadn't checked one way or the other), that wasn't going to remain the case for long.

After dinner Rhodey convinced him and Steve to teach Wanda how to play five-card draw poker while everyone else was busy. Wanda was a quick study with one hell of a poker face and soon had a pile of the peanuts they were using in place of poker chips. Rhodey won just about every hand that Wanda didn't, until Tony complained, "I'd think she was in my head, but what's your excuse?"

"I've already said I can read you like a book," Rhodey said with satisfaction, sweeping his winnings into his pile. "And Steve either can't bluff or has decided not to."

The game got more interesting as some of the others were dealt in, until all nine of them were trying to outmaneuver each other. Vision played for a while but didn't seem to have a taste for the game; while he knew perfectly well which hands were better and that bluffing was essential, he didn't particularly like lying. Tony wondered if that was the influence of the gem, since the part of Vision that had been Jarvis was able to stretch the truth like taffy-he'd witnessed Jarvis do so on an impressive number of occasions.

After Vision bowed out, preferring to watch, Tony noticed that Laura was winning a surprising number of hands. He decided that no one was expecting her to bluff as effectively as she was. That's what came of being an untrained, regular human at a table of superheroes, he supposed, though technically the same could be said of him. It's just that everyone expected him to be full of bluster, he'd kind of built a reputation on it.

Then someone offered to serve drinks, which was met with general approval, though Tony, Steve, and Vision abstained. Tony never expected to be one of the teetotallers, but the past year or so had blown up all sorts of expectations. He was almost getting used to it.

When Tony and then Steve ran out of peanuts, Clint asked with a grin, "Who's up for strip poker?"

"Depends on the rules," Rhodey replied.

There was spirited debate about the proper way to play strip poker, but Laura took charge of hammering out a consensus since it was her turn to deal next. "So we're all clear: no folding, one item bet per round, and only the worst hand in the round has to strip. Who's in?" Everyone but Vision was game, so she began dealing.

"Vision, man, I need to ask you a question I've been wondering about," Sam said abruptly. "Are your clothes real, or do you just . . . project them? Like, would you even be able to strip?"

Vision didn't answer immediately and then the sweater he'd been wearing vanished. "Does that answer your question?"

Tony didn't think it was a big deal-perhaps because he'd seen Vision sprout a cape out of nowhere not long after he was, um, born-but Sam was staring at Vision with something like awe. Clint elbowed him and laughed. "You mean you didn't realize that Vision is always naked?"

"Are we going to play, or should we give you boys some privacy?" Nat asked, her smirk almost hidden behind her cards.

Sam shook his head and shuffled through his cards. "Nah, I'm good, that just blew my mind a little, which is more than I can say about these cards."

"Table talk," Laura said reprovingly, and the game officially commenced.

The rest of the evening reminded Tony more of a frat house than a gathering of respected superheroes. He was, predictably, the first one to lose all of his clothing and he chose to be done rather than continue playing in the nude.

Steve was out shortly after Tony, followed by Clint and Rhodey, and at that point it was late enough that Sam suggested they turn in. "You just know you'd lose next round," Tony pointed out; Sam was down to his briefs and having a run of bad cards.

Sam shrugged. "So?" he said with an easy grin. "We can all recognize that the ladies are the winners this time. I don't need to lose to confirm it."

Natasha agreed on account of needing to be alert for several PR interviews the next morning, so they cleaned up and collected the clothing shed during the game. Tony was the last one out of the room and did a final sweep for any items left behind; he didn't want Cooper or Lila to find anything that would be difficult to explain in the morning.