"This is ridiculous."

Peter grinned at Ned's annoyed grumbling, well aware that his friend wasn't serious.

"You wanted to do the simulator," he reminded him, leaning against the wall of the room they were in. Benjamin was pulling off the headset of the other simulator, and both boys could see the flaming wreck of Ned's jet on his screen. "We offered to play video games."

"I know." He shrugged good naturedly. "I knew you were probably going to beat me, but I figured I had a chance against Benjamin."

The other boy smiled.

"That thing is awesome…"

He had Peter's reflexes (obviously) and was quickly getting good at the simulator, so while he didn't have the skills, yet, he was quickly gaining them. As Ned and Peter already knew, the simulator was a lot like a complicated video game, and Pete excelled at them.

He'd eaten dinner with the others and then they'd all gone to Peter's quarters to look at all of the pumpkin thrower prototypes. Pepper hadn't stayed long; she'd been impressed by everyone's designs but she had a few things that she needed to do before she could start her weekend, and knew that the finished products would be more impressive so wasn't concerned about missing out on what they were doing, just then.

All three boys discussed with Tony sizes and materials, and even Peter (who had worked with his adopted father on a few different projects, now) was amazed at the idea of having Tony Stark and his broad scope of knowledge, tech, and creativity at their use. Pete was even more amazed than Peter and Ned, he was sure, because he hadn't known the man that long and was still trying to keep from fanboying every time he walked into a room.

When they were done with that, Tony left to go spend time with Pepper, and Peter, Ned, and 'Benjamin' had decided to go play with the Quinjet simulator, and it was getting pretty late by the time they'd finally called it a night. At least, they were going to call it a night as far as the simulator. There were plenty of other things that they could do. It was the avenger compound, after all, and despite the serious work done at the place, it was also very much geared toward Peter – and to a certain extent – Ned. The boys weren't going to be bored.

"You're pretty good at it," Ned told him as the three turned toward the exit and then entered the corridor.

"Thanks." He grinned. "You're great."

"Because I use it all the time," Ned replied. "I could fly the jet, now, I bet."

"I bet you could, too," Peter agreed. "Landing might be another matter, though. I haven't even done it."

"Well, all the more reason for me to do it, first," his friend told him.

Peter snickered.

"I get to be hanging around when you tell Natasha that."

"She loves me."

"Not that much."

"Pfft." He shrugged, and then smiled. "Maybe I'll ask Nick."

"If you can take the Avengers' billion-dollar jet out for a spin…?" Pete asked.

"Nothing to it," Ned assured them both as they headed down the corridor towards Peter's rooms. Ned was staying there that evening, and while Pete planned on sleeping in his own VIP room, he was enjoying spending time with Ned – even if it wasn't (technically) his Ned – they had plenty to do, still. "I'll just figure out a way to butter him – or have Peter do it."

Another amused snort and they changed the subject to what Peter had in his fridge to eat.

OOOOO

"You look tired…"

Peter forced his eyes wide and sat up a little more.

"What? No, I'm fine."

Pepper smiled, and looked at Ned who was also seated at their regular table in the lounge, his head resting in his hand and his eyes closed. He looked tired, too. Her gaze went to Tony, who smirked, glancing over at Pete who was still wearing the Benjamin mask – which did nothing to hide just how tired he was, too.

"What did you guys do last night?" he asked. "After I left, I mean."

"We did the simulator," Peter answered. "Then we went to my rooms and we played video games."

"Until…?"

"I don't know."

"I think it was about 4…" Ned said, not bothering to open his eyes.

"Yeah," Pete agreed. "Right after Shuri called and Peter vanished into his bedroom to talk to her."

Ned opened his eyes, and now he grinned.

"He closed the door."

Pepper wasn't the only one to smile at that. Especially when Peter's ears turned a faint red.

"What's new in Wakanda?"

"She's finished her prototype and is beginning construction."

"So she'll be ready by Friday?" Tony asked.

Ned snorted.

"It's Shuri," Ned said, starting to look like he was waking up a bit. "She'll be ready tomorrow."

Peter smiled.

"She said she'll be ready. She has a couple of official ceremonies, this week, and a trip out to the border tribe to officiate some battle rhino thing. But she'll be ready."

Pepper looked at Ned.

"And MJ?"

With Peter not in school, she knew Ned was her best resource for information on MJ's progress. Besides, engaging all three boys would help wake them up, a little.

Ned rolled his eyes, cheerfully.

"She's ready to start manufacturing."

"Already?" Tony asked, surprised – and maybe a little annoyed that he didn't get to help her with her design. MJ was a brilliant young woman and he enjoyed watching how her mind worked. "She's sure?"

"Yeah."

"You can still help build it," Pepper pointed out.

He perked up, immediately.

"Good point." The billionaire looked at the boys. "After breakfast I want you all in the garage. We'll start building."

There were assorted nods, and all three boys looked excited.

"Let's eat, then," Pepper told them.

She was looking forward to seeing the finished results later that day – although they wouldn't actually be trying to toss any pumpkins. They'd save that for the farm where there was less chance of injury – or something going wrong and a pumpkin coming back at them and maybe damaging the building.

"Yeah."

OOOOOOO

"How's it going?"

Pepper turned to see Natasha and Stephen had walked up behind her. Not that difficult since she'd been concentrating on watching as Tony showed Ned how to use the bandsaw. Peter and Pete were both watching, as well, and none of them looked over at the newcomers – or heard Natasha's question.

"Well," she said. "No one has sliced a finger off, yet. So that's a good start, right?"

"Don't tempt fate, Pepper," Strange complained. "Not with two of them present."

She smiled at that.

"Sorry." Another glance at the boys before looking back. "What are you two up to?"

"Wong is in London looking for answers," Strange replied. "I'm trying something of a different approach."

"Oh?"

"He's working on the theory that if he stops trying to solve the problem, the solution will magically hit him in the head," Romanoff said.

Stephen rolled his eyes, because she was teasing him (the magically part was a sure indicator) but he also nodded.

"Something like that. Natasha suggested we come and see what's going on here."

"They all have their designs and they're starting to build their machines."

"Looks like Tony's having a great time."

She nodded.

"He's building and he's spending time with Peter," she pointed out. "How could he not be?"

"Even better to have two of them, I imagine," Natasha said, knowing that she was right."

"Yes. And Ned, of course."

"How is Pete doing?"

"He says he's fine." Pepper had asked him that same question only an hour before when she'd pulled him aside. "The tech doesn't bother him."

Natasha had been watching the kids, and she frowned, slightly.

"You might remind him that he isn't supposed to be himself," she said. "He and Peter are standing the exact same way…"

Something she would notice, of course, but most wouldn't. Pepper looked over and frowned, also, when she saw that the superspy was correct. They were side by side and there was the same tilt of the head, and the same way the one hand hooked on the beltloop of the jeans. It was uncanny when she realized what they were doing – and without noticing, she was sure.

"I'll talk to him about it," she said. "They're taking Ned home after dinner, so it won't be much longer. Then he can drop the tech."

"Are they swimming?"

"After lunch," Pepper confirmed. "Are you going to be there?"

Natasha nodded.

"I think so. Unless something comes up."

"Stephen?"

The sorcerer supreme forced himself not to frown and didn't succeed completely. Both women knew that he wasn't a huge fan of the pool – although he could swim.

"We'll see."