The night was cold and the sky was dark, but Peter didn't feel anything but the warmth of the huge blaze as he stepped up onto the 'stage', which was a simple wooden platform that was cleverly camouflaged by Wong to look like it was part of the woodpile behind the bonfire. The fire was dying, just a little, and he was able to see beyond it, now, and could see the faces of those who were watching as he turned to address them.

"There's no need to be nervous," Alec reminded him before he could have a chance to feel just that. Peter wasn't a public speaker by nature. "You know most everyone here – by face, anyway."

That was true. He gave Natasha a slight smile, when she winked at him, obviously trying to bolster his confidence, much like Alec was. Shuri was sitting beside her, watching him, intently, and holding a small cameral that he knew was recording. The crowd had been murmuring gentle conversations to each other, but when Peter stepped up on to the stage, they fell silent, waiting.

He didn't make them wait too long.

"When I was a little kid," he began. "No older than Maren, there," he said, gesturing to an eight-year old who smiled, excitedly, at being pointed out as part of a bonfire story. "My aunt took me and my best friend Ned to an expo." He glanced at Natasha, who was the only one who knew the story. "It was a celebration of technology. A glimpse into the future, the advertisements said. More of a glimpse than I ever would have suspected."

"Good opening…" Alec approved.

Of course, the ancient alien in his head already knew what he was going to say, since Peter had – somewhat – been rehearsing it for the last few days.

"There was a special presentation to culminate the event," Peter told them. "A large group of giant machines – robots – that were designed for our government to use to protect us. Only they malfunctioned and things went wrong, very quickly."

He had all of their attention, now, and Natasha wasn't the only one to frown when she realized that Alec was helping Peter tell his story, by actually implanting a gentle visual of what the robots looked like. The ancient sorcerer had no problem pulling the memory of what the machines looked like from Peter's mind, after all, and it was easy enough for him to share it – although only with the adults and not the children. The idea wasn't to frighten, but to make sure the audience understood the peril Peter had been in at the time.

"I was separated from my aunt, and from my friend, and found myself standing alone in front of one of them. It had a gun on me and I'll never forget the way I felt, because I knew that I wasn't going to be able to escape."

Peter smiled, though.

"I was wrong. I heard a thruster, and then something metallic land behind me, and the next thing I knew Ironman was blowing the thing up and rescuing me. He even took the time to reassure me, and make me feel like a hero, too."

There was an appropriately impressed noise from many in the crowd and Peter waited until it died down before continuing.

"Go forward a bit," he said, reminding Alec that no one in the crowd needed to feel the same things that he'd felt. "I was fifteen, now, and my friend Ned and I were playing in a garden. Seemingly harmless," Peter said. "Only it wasn't. I had a bad reaction to one of the plants and it made me really sick. I didn't understand just how sick, though. I went to the river, delirious, and thought I'd cool off the fever that burned inside me – only to pass out."

Another gasp from the crowd, and worried expressions – even though the fact that he was standing in front of them was proof that he hadn't succumbed to the illness.

"When I woke up, I was looking at Tony Stark. The other incarnation of Ironman, as all of you know. He found me at the river, almost dead. He took me to the Avengers compound and brought in the help that was needed to cure me." Peter smiled. "He saved me, again."

With a lot of help, of course, but that was a given.

"Not long after," he continued. "My aunt became ill. A disease that couldn't be cured. The best doctor in the world was sitting beside her when they told me that she was going to die in a terribly short time." He felt a pang of sorrow at the memory, but Alec didn't share that sorrow with the crowd. He didn't need to, though. They could see his expression, and could see the ache that – while dampened by time and some past event – would never fade, completely. "She was my only family. All that I had left after my parents were killed when I was a little kid, and I was going to lose her, too."

His sharp eyes noticed that the tear going down Shuri's cheek wasn't the only one in the crowd.

"Then, sure enough, there was Tony Stark. Stepping up to rescue me, once more. He told my aunt that he'd be my guardian. That he would take the burden of raising me. He promised her that he'd take care of me, and that he'd be the one I could turn to if I ever needed anything. When she died…" he had to pause for just a moment, because there was suddenly a lump in his throat that needed to be cleared. "When she died, she went peacefully, because she knew that he was going to care for me."

There were many soft sniffles in the audience. Peter didn't want to make them sad, but the story was a sad one, he knew.

"Time to cheer them up, then," Alec told him, brightly.

Peter smiled, again.

"She was only partially right, though," Peter said to them. "Tony did take over raising me. But he went the step further and asked me to be his son. He adopted me, to make sure that I understood that not all roots have to come from the same tree to form one solid one. And then, as if I wasn't already the luckiest unlucky kid in the universe, Tony married Pepper, and suddenly I – who hadn't had parents since I was five – now had a mom and a dad. Parents to call my own, as I could only barely remember doing, before.

There were smiles in the crowd, now, but Peter wasn't done.

"And then… the other avengers stepped up. They were suddenly the aunts and uncles that I needed. Were there to make me understand that I was never going to find a challenge that I would need to face, alone. Stepped up to teach me how to be a good man. How to love, and to be loved, when I was afraid to ever love again. And then more than the Avengers," he told them. "People who had abilities so fantastic that I could only call it magic. Incredible people."

He looked at Natasha, who surreptitiously wiped her eyes.

"Peter Parker was never going to be alone, again. Not even when the entire universe came crashing down and a monster tried to take it all away from me, again. This time, it didn't happen. All of those people I loved were still there when I opened my eyes and looked around the days after the battle had been waged."

Peter's gaze took in all of the Wakandans, now, who were gathered, and he raised his arms, ignoring the ache of the shoulder Shuri had stabbed.

"And not only were they there, but suddenly, I found myself adopted, again. This time by an entire country. An incredible country filled with amazing people who are selfless and willing to share their ways and their culture with me."

Everyone was smiling, now, and sitting up straighter, the sadness from before forgotten as Peter wound down the tale.

"When I was a little kid," he said. "My aunt took me to an expo to show me what the future could hold. The fact is, I saw my future. With Ironman – and Tony Stark. And with the Avengers, and the rest. And with Wakanda."

He stopped, then, finished, and there was a moment of silence as they waited for more. But then the group around the bonfire roared their approval of the story, sending up a cheer that Peter was certain could be heard halfway across the country.

He just hoped that Tony heard it.