All in all, considering they were preparing themselves to say goodbye to Pete, it was a good evening. Aware of why they were taking the photos (and videos) all of them were willing to allow the boy almost unlimited access to them for a couple of hours. Long enough to get pictures that no one else would have ever been permitted to have. Pictures with Tony (in the Ironman suit and out), with Steve – also dressed in costume and holding his famous shield – and with most of the avengers and even some SHIELD members. He even had a few with Nick, who determined that if his other self saw the photos he would be forced to believe that they were pictures of a different reality, since there was no way someone would dare photoshop him into any picture.
Pete enjoyed it – as they'd intended – and was holding Steve's shield for a few pictures as things were winding down – when Strange pulled Peter off to the side, along with the cloak, which was wrapped firmly around the boy's neck and shoulders as it had been most of the evening. Peter went, glancing to see if Tony was going to join them, but while his adopted father noticed them going, he didn't follow.
"What's up?" he asked, curiously, when they were out of sight and out of earshot.
"How are you feeling?" Stephen asked him, his expression intense, as usual.
"About Pete leaving, you mean?" Peter shrugged. "It's fun having him here, but he really doesn't want to stay, and I-"
"No." Strange interrupted him with a slight smile. "I meant, how are you feeling? Anything we need to know about?"
"Like what?"
"Like the mind stone maybe sending you images of what we need to do, next, to get him back where he belongs?"
"You mean you don't know, yet?"
The sorcerer supreme rolled his eyes, amused rather than annoyed.
"We don't have a clue, Peter. The figurine doesn't come with instructions, and from what Pete told us, all he did was touch it. That isn't enough for us to go on that we're willing to let him try just touching it, again, and hoping that he ends up where he belongs. Wong and I are hoping that we get some guidance from the mind stone. A spell. Or some kind of nudge in the right direction for our research."
"Oh." Peter shook his head. "I haven't been shown anything, yet, but it has to have been used, before, right?"
"We'd assume so, yes."
"Then somehow it must be able to be used to get back."
"So we deduce." The sorcerer sighed. "You're going to the tower, tomorrow?"
"Yes." He hesitated. "Do you think I should?"
"I expect it would be fine. But we've already told Tony to keep Pete here."
"Right. We know. Is there anything I should be doing?"
"No. Wong and I are on it, too. We'll figure it out, eventually. But the sooner the better."
"Yeah. Definitely." He looked over at the others. "We're not telling him about the mind stone, though, right?"
"No need for him to know," Stephen replied. "Besides, we don't want to send him home thinking about the possibility of the infinity stones if they aren't going to be gathered in his reality."
"Why not?" Peter asked. "You don't think he'd try and get them, do you?"
A smile, and a shake of the head.
"No. he isn't exactly you, despite appearances, but he definitely doesn't want to rule the universe any more than you do. The main reason to keep him from that particular knowledge is so that no one else can glean it from him," Strange told the boy. "If someone who really wanted them thought there was the chance of using Pete to get them –"
"It'd put him and May in a lot of danger."
"And the Earth, as well," Stephen added. "Exactly. Pete doesn't have the Avengers, Shuri, and Wakanda's tech to help him, and by the time the guardians of the sanctums realized what was happening – if it did – it's possible that they wouldn't be able to marshal enough resistance to stop things."
"That's scary."
"Yes." Strange smiled when the cloak rubbed dual corners of cloth against the boy's cheeks, looking like one of those aunts who would come for the holidays and make a similar gesture. "So if you do happen to get any ideas, keep them to yourself until you have a chance to tell Tony or myself."
"Alright."
"Let's go back," Stephen told him, slapping his shoulder. "I want to make sure he gets a picture of my tattoo."
"Why?" Peter asked as they turned to go back to the little group gathered around the rear of the jet, still.
He winked, cheerfully.
"Because there's no way in hell my alternate doppelganger is ever going to believe that there's a reality where he has an Avenger themed tattoo. I just wish I could be a fly on the wall when Pete shows him the picture."
The boy laughed at that and was still grinning when he walked over to stand by Tony, silently reassuring the man – and Pepper – that everything was fine.
Or at least, it wasn't terrible, or anything.
OOOOOOOOO
"I can't believe you let him take a picture of your ass…"
Tony smirked, looking over at Pepper, who was getting ready for bed. He was already changed into the sweats and t-shirt that he tended to sleep in when things were happening around the compound. There was always the chance that he would be called out of bed for an emergency and scrambling for clothes in the dark and half asleep was never fun.
"If that doesn't give my other me the proof that he needs – if Pete needs it – then nothing will," he told her, flipping her side of the blankets back for her. "No one but you and the tattoo person knows about that tattoo, after all. Right?"
"Right," she smiled and slid into their bed. "And he almost certainly didn't believe you were really Tony Stark."
"Probably not." He pulled her into his arms. "Friday? What's Peter doing?"
"Peter is in his quarters on the phone with Shuri, according to Karen. Pete is in his rooms but I can't tell you what he's doing."
There weren't any cameras in the VIP rooms, either – and no helpful AI to tell anyone who was interested what was going on in them.
Pepper smiled at that – and at the fact that Tony was checking on the boys. Such a micromanager. She kissed him.
"Have Karen remind him that we're leaving at 7:30, tomorrow, will you?"
"Of course."
"We could always let him sleep in and fly you guys to the tower in the morning," Tony told her, shifting so that he was more comfortable, but still had her cuddled up against him.
He knew her reply before she even opened her mouth.
"We are not going to disrupt the morning schedule just so he can stay up late talking to his girlfriend."
The billionaire smirked.
"Yes, dear."
"The phone call has ended."
Friday didn't need Karen to tell her that, since she had total access to all things electronical and all communications.
Another smile, and Tony turned out the lights.
"I always knew he was a smart kid."
"Yes."
OOOOOOOOOO
Grumbling good naturedly to himself, Peter changed into sweats and an MIT t-shirt that he'd long since stolen from Tony and sat down on the edge of the bed, Nutmeg already asleep on his pillow.
"Smart of you, though," Alec told him, amused. "Shuri can hold your attention for hours, and you know it."
"Yeah." He'd pretty much intended to ignore Karen's reminder of their departure time for the tower the next morning – Shuri was telling him about a new project that she was thinking about starting and it was pretty interesting – but his princess girlfriend had good hearing and had smiled, cheerfully, at him, telling him that she could give him the details, later. "It'd have been worth it."
"You say that, now," the ancient sorcerer replied. "But tomorrow you'd have been grumpy and tired."
"Maybe," Peter conceded. He flopped backward on his bed, stretching and feeling pretty good. Talking to Shuri did that for him, usually. "Pepper wouldn't have minded if I slept on the way to the tower, though."
Before Alec could reply, Peter saw a flash of light. He sat up, glancing toward his window, but he knew it hadn't come from that direction, since it had been in the entire bedroom and the bedroom window was partially blocked by the tubing that led to Nutmeg's cat balcony. Frowning, and feeling just the slightest tingle in his gut, the boy turned toward his bedroom door, and stopped short.
Standing in front of him was the Collector, looking slightly rumpled and a bit annoyed.
"Taneleer?"
"Peter." The ancient being looked around, curiously. "Is this where you live?"
"What are you doing here?" he asked, somewhat alarmed, but more confused, really.
His gut wasn't screaming at him that there was danger, and there was an immediate presence in his mind that was casting images of planets drifting lazily in their orbits – the mind stone's favorite way of keeping him calm.
He looked back at Peter.
"Apparently I'm supposed to remind you that you control the reality stone – and that means you control the realities."
"What?"
The Collector shrugged.
"That's the message."
He snapped his fingers, theatrically, and vanished in another flash of light.