Tony smiled, hugging her close for a moment.

"You're welcome. Pepper and Peter helped pick it out, though."

The girl hugged Pepper, too, and then Peter. When she pulled away, she looked at T'Challa, hopefully.

"May I take it for a drive?"

Ramonda shook her head before her son could.

"You were just reminded that you have a 100% crash rate. An unknown road? At night? No. We are having a track built at home, and you may perfect your driving there."

There weren't a lot of actual roads in Wakanda, but there were some, and Shuri would get some fun out of the car. Tony had checked with T'Challa and Ramonda before they'd even considered going around looking for the perfect car for the girl.

Her smile vanished.

"But-"

Her mother smiled, reminded of all the times she'd looked like that when she was so much younger.

"You may ask Peter to take you for a drive in it," she interrupted. "To get an idea of how it will be."

Shuri turned to Peter, and now he was subjected to those hopeful brown eyes.

"Please?"

The boy smiled, awkwardly, and nodded, glancing over at Tony and Pepper to make sure it was alright. When they didn't make any immediate objection, he nodded and held his hand out.

"I'll need the keys."

Shuri squealed and handed the key over to him, and then rushed to the car without a backward glance, opening the passenger door and getting it. The top was already down, and the night was balmy, so she just turned and looked at him, expectantly.

"Sweet!" Ned said, turning toward the car, too.

"Nope." Tony was quicker than T'Challa. "I don't want a lot of distractions. Peter's a good driver, but he's only driven the Mustang, once, and it isn't like it would be in his own car. If Shuri wants another ride in the morning, then you guys can go with them, then. Before we go to brunch."

"Aww…"

Ned grumbled, good-naturedly, but he didn't actually argue, of course.

Tony looked at his son.

"Don't be gone too long," he said. "And no speeding."

"Of course not."

Ned held up his phone and took a couple of pictures of Shuri sitting in the car, and then of Peter joining her, getting behind the wheel.

"I prefer red, myself," Ned said, looking pointedly at Tony and Pepper. "I'm just sayin…"

T'Challa chuckled, and Pepper rolled her eyes. Tony smirked, and looked at MJ, whose smirk was just as amused as his own.

"I like the yellow," she said. "But I want a Beetle. They're cute."

"Duly noted."

OOOOOOOO

"Put your seatbelt on," Peter reminded Shuri.

That was a lesson learned – and learned the hard way.

The princess nodded, running her hand along the dash of the car, and doing as he'd told her.

"It is beautiful."

"Yeah." He started the engine, which roared to life with a touch. "Tony thought maybe something little and dainty, because you're a princess, right? But Pepper said bigger and more powerful."

"I love it. Did you really help pick it out?"

He smiled.

"Yeah. I went with them. The salesman thought it was for me, and kept telling them how safe it was, and all about the other features – while he's pointing out to me how cool it looks, and how it's a classic design."

"Did you show him a photo of your car?" she asked.

"Yeah. He was drooling. We considered a classic muscle car for you, but Pepper thought it would be more fun if you had something that's more contemporary. Especially since Tony pointed out you'd probably end up converting it from a gas engine to something less polluting. Like electric, or something."

"I probably will."

She fell silent as he put the car in gear, and smiled over at the others as Peter pulled them out of the front drive and turned the car toward the service road.

"We'll go to the truck stop," he told her. "That'll give you a chance to feel it open up a bit, before we come back."

"I would not tell on you if you were to speed," she said, conspiratorially.

"Not a chance."

He smiled at her grumbled response, and they were silent as he drove along the service road that led to the highway, watching for deer and listening to his belly for any warning that one was laying in wait to run out in front of them. He relaxed a little when they reached the highway, and allowed the engine to rev a little as he put the car into a higher gear. The wind was whistling loudly, now, with only the windshield to buffer it, but when he looked at Shuri to make sure she was okay with it, she was smiling, broadly, and her hand never left the dash.

It wasn't a long drive to the truck stop, and they pulled into the parking lot to turn around.

"Park for a moment, Peter," Shuri requested. "I am not ready to go back to the compound, yet."

"You're not having a good time?" he asked, pulling into a parking spot off to the side of the other cars and tractor trailers that were parked at the busy place.

"No. I am," she assured him, her hand patting his knee. "But there are a lot of people, and it has been an active day. I want to catch my breath without anyone knowing that I needed to." She touched the dash, again. "Besides, I want to admire my new car without an audience."

"I understand."

Shuri looked over at him.

"You do, don't you?"

The boy smiled.

"I'm living with the ultimate micromanager," he pointed out. "And I've given him plenty of reason to worry about me in the past, so he watches me pretty closely – and so do the others, for the same reason. Not to mention, I have an AI that is constantly looking over my shoulder. She's not there to spy on me, I know that, but she's still a constant presence in my life. Of course I understand."

Not to mention the ancient alien sorcerer in his head, but he didn't mention Alec, and there was just the faintest feeling of amusement, which told him that the thought had been heard, but that Alec was hanging back like he normally did unless Peter actually needed him for something.

"How do you deal with that?" she asked him. "Being constantly under surveillance like that?"

"I remind myself that I'm lucky to have them, and that they aren't spying on me; they love me." He smiled, and shyly took her hand, squeezing it for a moment, before letting it go. "And then I take my car for a drive and find someplace to be alone for a while and call you – or Ned, or MJ," he added, hoping that he didn't sound like he was trying to smooth-talk her.

Her smile was bright, even in the dim light of the parking lot.

"Now I have a car and can do the same."

"That was the idea," he agreed. "I-"

A sudden tingle was all the warning that he had before a spotlight was suddenly flashed into their eyes and there was the sound of tires crunching the gravel of the outer parking area for the truck stop. The teens both brought a hand up to shield their eyes, and they heard a car door open. Shuri tensed, but Peter had seen all he needed to before he was hit by the beam to know there was nothing to worry about.

The state trooper tilted the beam away from their faces before he walked over, and he stopped on Peter's side of the car, looking the car over with interest.

"Did you trade in the other one?" he asked, curiously, smiling down at the boy, who grinned, sheepishly, as he realized what it must look like to the officer.

Him sitting in the dark with a girl.

"This isn't my car," he replied. "It's Shuri's. But she doesn't have a license, so we're out for a test drive."

The officer had seen them together, before, and smiled at the princess, tipping his hat in greeting.

"Your dad know you're out here?" he asked, slyly.

"He is the one who gave me the car," Shuri replied, smiling. "It is nice, isn't it?"

"It's pretty, that's for sure." The trooper looked the car over, but didn't bother to ask Peter for his license, since he knew he had one – and had known since the day he got it. "Don't hang out in the dark too long," he advised the teens, his hand on Peter's door. "There are a lot of strangers in the area, lately, and I think your pa would rather you were a little closer to home."

"Thanks," Peter said, nodding his agreement. "We'll head back, now. It's Shuri's birthday."

"Happy birthday, little lady," he said, stepping away from the car as Peter started the engine back up.

"Thank you."

Peter waved goodbye and turned the car back toward the compound, and Shuri turned to him.

"Do you think you mention his warning about strangers to Tony?" she asked, looking around, as if expecting to find people hiding behind every tree. "Or to Natasha, perhaps?"

Peter put the car into a final gear, and reached for her hand, again, squeezing it to reassure.

"The place has been swarming with Wakandan security," he reminded her. "They've been pretty much all over, checking everything and every store and anyplace else where someone might be lurking. Since they haven't bothered to change into casual clothing while they've been looking around, it's a sure bet that he was talking about them."

She smirked, and settled into the leather seat, relaxing and enjoying the ride.

"I did not think of that."

"Because you haven't been here to see it."

Peter had – and it had been pretty fun to watch the preparations.

Just in case, though, he'd mention it in passing to Natasha, or Steve.

It never hurt to be sure, after all - even though his spider senses weren't tingling, at all.