"Please do not be angry…"

Peter sniffed, eyes bright with tears but able to look at Shuri, despite that. The young princess was wringing her hands, anxiously, and looking at him with eyes that were also wet.

"I'm not angry," he told her, mournfully. He was too young, yet, to be able to hide his emotions with any great success. "I'm upset."

And young enough to not be very diplomatic.

"Please do not be upset, either," Shuri said. "I am very sorry."

They were all in the game room, now, and the little girl had been freed of the metal suit that had encased her. Unfortunately, that had only been accomplished by Tony being forced to literally cut her out of parts of it. The now ruined

The suit in question was on the floor, and Peter had been gathered into his mother's arms to watch as Tony picked up the pieces and looked them over while Shuri had stepped forward, a little bruised from the extraction, but unharmed. And well aware that her eagerness to try on the suit had led to it being ruined.

"Perhaps we should go to the hotel, after all?" T'Chaka asked Tony, softly, as he assisted the billionaire in carrying the suit over to a corner of the room so it could be checked, later, to see if it was salvageable.

Stark shook his head with a slight smile.

"Peter would be upset if you did. I know he's looking forward to your visit. He'll get over it sooner than you think."

Tony knew Peter better than anyone, really, and knew that the boy wasn't good at hiding his feelings, but he wasn't one to hold a grudge, either. Shuri had apologized, and Tony had reminded the boy that he'd built the suit and if it was repairable, he could fix it. And if it couldn't be fixed, he could always make another one. Maybe even a better one.

"Are you certain?"

"Yup. You'll see."

The two men returned to the others, and Tony leaned down in front of his son, his expression unable to hide just how much he loved the little boy – even when he was upset.

"You know she didn't mean for it to happen…"

Peter sniffed, wiping his hand across his face, smearing tears.

"I know."

"Then why don't you let her show you what her mom and dad brought us?"

"What is it?"

"I'll let her show you," he said, smiling. He looked at Shuri, noticing that her eyes were weepy, too. "You know what the box looks like?"

Shuri sniffed, too, and nodded.

"Yes."

"I left it on the coffee table."

Understanding that he was giving her a chance to try to make it up to Peter she gave him a quivering smile.

"Thank you."

"Off with you both," Tony said, standing upright, again, and leaning against the pool table while the adults all watched the two walk out of the room and into the living room.

"Smooth, Tony," Romanoff said, approvingly.

He nodded, looking pleased with himself.

"Right?"

"Are you going to be able to fix it?" Pepper asked, softly enough that those in the room could hear, but the kids wouldn't be able to.

"Not a chance in hell," he admitted. "It's FUBAR, really."

"We will pay for whatever it costs to repair or replace it," T'Chaka said.

Tony nodded, again.

"I'll send you the bill."

Ramonda smiled, realizing that there really weren't any hard feelings involved. Which spoke well of the man since he clearly loved the boy and hadn't enjoyed seeing him upset.

"Fair enough."

"With that unpleasantness out of the way," Nick said, stepping up. "Why don't we find something to do that will make things a little less somber?"

"Pool?" Rhodes suggested.

"Why not?" Tony looked at his royal guest. "T'Chaka? Do you know the game?"

"I do."

Pepper rolled her eyes, but she moved aside as the king joined Tony and Rhodey, reaching for the cue that the man was offering over. Then she turned to T'Challa, who had been watching with a mixture of amusement and surprise.

"T'Challa? Do you know how to play foosball?" she asked, gesturing to the table that was against the wall opposite the pool table.

The young man shook his head, more than willing to be drawn into the occasion.

"I do not." He looked at the odd table. "Perhaps you can teach me?"

"It'll be my pleasure."

T'Challa turned to Ramonda.

"Mother?"

She rolled her eyes, but stepped up – as did Steve.

"Girls against boys," Rogers said, moving to the other side and gesturing for T'Challa to join him.

Romanoff watched as the group began interacting in as casual a setting as Fury could have hoped – even though she wasn't ready to relax, really, and she could tell Okoye and her companions weren't, either. Which was fine.

"I'm going to go check on Peter and Shuri," she told the woman.

"I will join you."

OOOOOOOOOO

"What is it?" Peter asked, curiously, reaching into the box and pulling out the black block that was inside. It was much lighter than he thought it would have been – even for someone as strong as he was. "Steel?"

"It is called vibranium," Shuri replied, taking the box and setting it back on the coffee table and watching as Peter examined it. "It is only found in Wakanda."

"It's metal?"

"Of a sort. But more malleable than most metals. And it has several characteristics that metal doesn't."

"Like what?" Peter asked, curious enough to be distracted from his damaged Ironman suit. "Is it bullet-proof?"

Shuri nodded.

"It is," she confirmed. "But not like you might think. It stores and absorbs kinetic energy. And will release it, as well, once you understand the properties of the metal."

"Really?"

Pleased that he was so interested she nodded, again.

"It is very rare," she told him. "And priceless."

"How much would this cost, then?" he asked, looking at it and weighing it in his hand.

"What part of priceless do you not understand?" she asked, smiling.

Peter rolled his eyes, an affectation he was learning from Tony.

"It has to cost something," he said, reasonably. "A hundred dollars? A thousand?"

"Much more than that," a new voice interrupted, and both of them turned to see Okoye and Natasha walking into the room. "The princess is correct," Okoye said, seriously. "Vibranium is the rarest substance on the planet."

"Even rarer than gold?"

"Much rarer," the woman assured him. "And far more interesting."

"What can you do with it?" Peter asked.

"Many things," Shuri replied.

"But that is something for you to discover on your own," Okoye said before the girl could say anything else. "Or for your father, since he is the one who is so well noted for building and trying new things."

Peter's eyes grew excited.

"Could he build an Ironman suit with it?"

"Not one for you," Shuri said.

That made the boy scowl, and his lower lip was suddenly sticking out when he turned to her.

"Why not?"

"Because I ruined your suit," Shuri told him. "It is my responsibility to build you a new one."

"You can't build an Ironman suit," Peter told her.

"Why not?"

"Because you're not Ironman," he said.

"It will not be an Ironman suit, then," she agreed, unwilling to argue. "It will be something different – but better."

Peter's expression darkened a bit at the thought that she thought she could make a better suit than Tony could, but Natasha caught the expression, immediately, and was more than ready to stop the potential argument before it could begin.

"I think that's a great idea," she told the girl, reaching over and taking the vibranium from Peter so she could put it back in the box. "But worry about that, later. You're supposed to be having fun." She looked at Peter, pointedly. "Right?"

He nodded.

"Yeah."

"Your dad is playing pool with T'Chaka," she told him. "Why don't you see if someone wants to play Giant Jenga with you?"

"What is Giant Jenga?" Shuri asked, curiously.

Peter smiled.

"Come on," he said, taking her hand. "I'll show you."

Okoye stood beside Romanoff as they watched them leave – again.

"That was well done."

She shrugged.

"Kids aren't really my specialty," Natasha admitted. "But I'm learning."