Peter squinted as he looked up at the sky. He could hear the Quinjet's engines. He looked back down at the roof he was sitting on. He was pretty much done. Which meant the rest of the team could start working on the water filtration system. He stood up and flipped off the roof. MJ had asked him once why he insisted on flipping instead of just jumping off. The reality was that he just really liked flipping. It was kind of like free falling. He landed on the ground as the Quinjet appeared in the sky. It would be good to see everyone. After everything with Zeke they had spent a couple days at the compound but then Bobby and Davis had returned to Xavier Institute and Johnny and Wyatt had returned with Reed, Sue, and Ben. That was two weeks ago. Peter missed his team. But being able to decompress had been good for him and in order to do that, he needed the space. He knew they all understood.
The Quinjet landed in the same area the Wakandan shuttle had landed last night. Ramp lowered Johnny and Bobby were the first two down the ramp, followed in short order by Davis, Wyatt, Jen, Tony, Pepper, and Morgan. Tony looked at the completed school building and recognized it for what it was...Peter was too much like him. He watched the boys hug each other in turn then watched Morgan run full steam into her brother's arms. Pepper stopped next to Tony and looked at him. "Do we need to be concerned about the fact that he built a complete school in four days?"
Tony shrugged. "I'll let you know later on today." He hoped Peter was handling things. He had agreed for him and MJ to head over to Wakanda early because Tony had been completely aware of how stressed Peter had been. He also knew T'Challa would keep an eye on him. He and Pepper walked towards the group.
Wyatt stood back and looked at the building. "I can't believe you finished the school."
Peter shrugged. "It's not like it's that big. It's really just one big room."
Johnny leaned over as everyone else walked into the school building to check it out. "You good?"
Peter nodded. "I'm good. Decompressed. I'm glad you all are here though. It's good to see you."
"Good. Because you built an entire building. In four days." Johnny had often been accused of being self absorbed. After the accident that gave him his powers he had become a little more 'aware' of others. Sue had called it a rare opportunity for introspection.
Johnny had realized early on in their team formation that he was essentially Peter's second in command. Wyatt had never wanted leadership. It was the reason he had been at boarding school. He might grow into it one day but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Bobby Davis might also get there one day but right now they were more than willing to follow Peter and to a certain level Johnny. They all instinctively looked to Peter for leadership. Initially it was because he had been doing it longer than they had plus he had the benefit of the Avengers. Johnny wasn't even sure if Peter was aware that he also had a natural ability to lead. Not just because he had experience but because there was something about Peter that made you want to follow him. He had heard Peter say more than once that he was simply leading by default so Johnny was pretty sure Peter had no idea. But, in the moments that needed action, Peter always acted. He was strategic in his plans which gave everyone the confidence they needed. Those times when Peter wasn't available Johnny had realized that the rest of the team was turning to him. So instead of shirking the responsibility Johnny found himself embracing it. Which meant that Johnny felt like it was his responsibility to also make sure Peter was ok.
Satisfied that Peter wasn't on the verge of some kind of breakdown he looked around the area. They had all seen the plans for the water filtration system. He knew there was a small river not too far away that the village used for water. The goal was to place an intermediary site that was tapped into the river that could be filtered. Overall, it wasn't too complicated. And it was something that with their particular skill sets, could be knocked out in a couple days.
The boys spread out into two other tents that T'Challa had provided. Tony and Pepper were planning to head back to Wakanda's capital city with Morgan. They planned on staying in Wakanda until MJ and Peter headed back at the end of the week and then they'd fly home together. Tony had come out to the village to specifically check on Peter. MJ had taken almost everybody into the village. Bobby and Davis had opted to get both of the tents set up so Tony had Peter to himself. "How are you doing kid?"
Peter shrugged. "T'Challa tell you about what happened last night?"
"Yes, but that's not what I'm talking about." After all this time Peter's first response was always the mission at hand...never himself. "How are you doing? You built a school by yourself in four days."
Peter looked at the building. It truly wasn't that big. "It helped. I feel better."
Tony studied Peter. Sometimes he enjoyed seeing glimpses of himself in his son. It was affirmation that he wasn't his father. This was not one of those times. But, there were worse ways to deal with stress. He knew because he had tried them all. Throwing yourself into a project did help. Tony knew that first hand. "Are you sure you're feeling better?"
"I'm fine Dad."
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Peter looked at the group seated in the middle of the three tents. He felt like a normal college student. He enjoyed those moments because they were few and far between but he wouldn't give up the other moments for anything. The moments of adrenaline fueled action punctuated by moments of brief panic. He truly loved those moments. It was part of who he was. He couldn't imagine himself without those moments. He looked over at Johnny who was sitting next to him. "You're telling me there's been no sign of Ross?"
"None." He looked over at Bobby. "I don't know how you lose a red, hulk-sized maniac."
"Hey...we had other priorities at the time. Plus, it's not like we knew it was Ross." Bobby looked over at Peter. They had pieced together that Ross must have been hit with gamma radiation when the lab exploded. All it took was Bobby relaying the message the red giant had given them for Peter to realize who it was.
"Are we assuming that Abomination probably hooked up with him?" Peter looked between them, smirking. He had already given everyone a hard time about letting Abomination get away. Davis was definitely giving him the look that said 'don't start'.
Johnny nodded. "Everyone has gotten the memo to keep their eyes open. I don't understand where two giant monsters can be hiding."
Peter shrugged. "Ross has deep resources. If he doesn't want to be found yet, he won't. I'm just worried about what he's planning with his new powers."
Jen looked at the group. She was trying to ease into this life. The life that was perfectly normal talking about gamma mutated villains because half the people you were sitting with were mutated themselves. It was still unnerving at times. "Hey, I though I heard Mr. Stark mention some of the people that are bringing teams over." She looked over at Peter and MJ. "Is Elon Musk really bringing a team over?"
MJ smiled. "Several teams. The guy is almost as amazing as Tony is." She had accompanied Pepper to some of the prep meetings for the initiative. Meeting Elon Musk had been a surreal experience but then she realized once again that she and Peter were no longer just kids from Queens. They were poised to take the reigns of a multi billion dollar tech company in a couple of years and she found that the idea humbled her beyond belief. "There are so many groups coming over that the initial timeframe has been cut in half. It's the trading between villages that's going to be hard to solidify. There's hope that the warlords start losing power without having to force confrontations but they're prepping for a worse case scenario."
Johnny glanced over at Peter. "Have you heard anything about the group from last night? Have they learned anything?"
"I haven't heard anything." Peter had mentioned to his dad that if T'Challa opted to act on any intelligence they received they wanted in on the op but he wasn't sure what if anything would actually come out of the intel. They'd just have to wait. Meanwhile they had a water filtration system to build.
