The newcomers looked around the lounge with interest as they entered the room, and Quill's eyes lit up.
"This is nice."
"I've seen better," Rocket said, although he was obviously impressed with the quality and cleanliness of the place.
It was empty at this time of the night, which was probably just as well, since the people walking into the room were more diverse than anyone ever seen in the room before – and that was saying something since there had been royalty, sorcerers, and even a god. Not to mention superheroes.
But they weren't a green woman, a talking racoon, a woman who looked right out of something from Star Trek with the antenna and fairly alien face.
And a talking, walking, tree, of course.
Strange led the way over to the corner table, pushing it against another to make more places for the newcomers to sit at, and he politely pulled a chair out for Gamora, and then the next for Mantis.
"Thank you," Gamora said, politely.
"Can I get you something to drink?" he offered as the rest of them sat down. "Coffee? Tea? Something stronger?"
"What do you got?" Rocket asked, perking up at the something stronger comment.
"We have everything," Tony replied, standing beside the table and watching as Peter and Groot walked around the room, the boy showing the tree the dart board, the TV and the video game systems. "Peter?"
The boy turned toward him just as Pepper walked into the room, and stopped at the entrance, her eyes taking in everything in front of her and her face plainly showing the shock she was clearly feeling. Then she saw Peter standing with Groot and she froze, looking at Tony, immediately, as if to ask what their son was doing with whatever it was he was standing beside.
The billionaire noticed her entrance immediately, and gestured for her to join him. As she walked over, Peter walked over, as well, intercepting her and giving her a reassuring smile.
"It's okay," Peter told her.
"What's…?"
"Pepper." Tony reached for her hand, and she noticed that he was wearing the Ironman armor that had activated as he'd initially reacted to FRIDAY's first warning about the strangers forcing their way into the compound. "Come meet our guests."
She looked at them, and they were watching her, all of them noting that Stark was still somewhat keeping his armored body between them and his family. Strange wasn't surprised by the action, but he did wish that Tony would lose the armor. The sorcerer understood where he was coming from, but it didn't show a lot of trust on his part.
However, the very fact that he'd invited them to meet Pepper at all was showing that he was willing to think about it.
Pepper looked at them all, waiting for introductions, and Tony did the honors. He pointed to each as he said their names, and Stephen was impressed that he didn't stumble over any of the names. The man was a genius, after all.
"Gamora, Mantis, Rocket, Peter Quill, Drax – the Destroyer – and the tree is Groot."
Each lifted a hand, or made a motion of their head when Stark said their name, and she lingered on Groot for a long moment before realizing she was being rude staring.
"It's a pleasure…" she told them, trying to make it really sound that way.
"This is Pepper," Tony told them all. "My wife, and Peter's mother."
"He does not look much like either of you," Drax said, looking at the boy and then the two standing next to him. "Are you certain she did not fornicate with someone else who fathered the boy?"
Gamora rolled her eyes, clearly wondering if Drax was trying to start a fight with these people. Pepper, however, smiled – and even Tony managed not to scowl at the question.
"Yes," he answered, succinctly. "Pepper? They're here because of Peter, so I wanted you to be here, too."
"What about Peter?" she asked, looking at the boy, as if worried that he'd taken injury.
"Gamora dreamed about him," Peter Quill answered. "So I thought we should come and find him. To deliver the warning that he's in danger."
"By abducting him?" Strange asked.
Quill made a face.
"Well, I thought it'd be a good idea to come in low key… grab the kid and see what he was doing that was so dangerous, tell him not to do it, anymore, and then let him go and leave."
"That was your plan?" Stark asked.
"Not a good one, was it?" Drax said. "I told him to let me come and take the boy. I would not have been caught, and you never would have known we were here."
Pepper frowned, and now she was the one who moved between her son and the strangers, probably without even realizing it. The action wasn't missed, though, and before she could say anything, Gamora spoke up.
"We wouldn't have hurt him," she told Pepper. "And we would have done anything we needed to do to keep him from being afraid."
She looked at Peter, who nodded. He had Alec, she knew, and apparently the ancient sorcerer was confirming the fact that the strangers didn't have anything nefarious planned as far as Peter was concerned.
"What kind of danger?" she asked.
"I don't know," Gamora admitted. "That's why we're here."
"What kind of dream was it?" Strange asked. "How did you know it was Peter and not some other kid from Earth? Or on some other planet, for that matter?"
"Something told me. Something in my mind. I saw his face, and just knew where to find him."
"She was able to lead us right to this place," Quill added. "Where are we, anyway? Who are you people?"
"How did you take Rocket and Quill down so easily?" Gamora asked, curiously.
"It wasn't that easy," Quill objected. "We just got caught off guard. The kid – "
"Kicked your asses, single-handedly," Tony said, feeling just a little smug and not bothering to hide it.
"I am groot?"
Rocket scowled at the tree.
"I don't know. It was some kind of light."
Pepper's gaze was alternating from the talking racoon to the talking tree and Peter could understand completely. The evening was crazier than anything that he'd ever had before, but he had a dead alien sorcerer hanging out in his mind and a flying magical carpet cuddling his ear even as he was thinking it.
It was amazing what you could get used to.
"You're in New York," Tony answered, ignoring the questions about how Peter had beaten them down. "At the Avenger's compound."
"Who are the Avengers?" Gamora asked, looking at Tony and then turning to Quill, who shrugged.
"I've never heard of them."
"You're from earth?" Stephen asked.
"Yeah. Kind of."
"How are you kind of from earth?"
Tony wasn't the only one confused by that statement.
"It's a long story."
"And he doesn't want to talk about it," Mantis said, speaking up from the other side of the table. "It is personal."
"He was abducted by his father who is – was – a demigod," Drax added.
"But his mother was –"
"We don't need to talk about my mother," Quill interrupted Mantis before she could add anything else.
Peter's eyes widened, slightly, but Alec suggested that he not say anything, and Tony looked at him, as if waiting to hear what he was going to add. The boy shrugged, and Tony looked back at the people gathered around the table, and his armor suddenly retracted, leaving him dressed in the sweats and t-shirt that he'd been wearing, earlier.
"We can discuss this later," he said. "Right now, we should –"
Before he said anything else, there was another commotion at the entrance, and everyone turned toward the door.
"Oh…" said Mantis, looking suddenly alarmed.
"What's wrong?" Quill asked, curiously, just as a group of newcomers walked through the entrance.
There were three of them; two men and a woman. All in the same uniform and definitely with a military bearing and none of them smiling. Led by the woman, they walked over to the tables, intense gazes taking in everything – and everyone – in the room.
The men went to the table, the woman went to Peter Parker, who smiled, almost cheerfully, when he saw the serious expression on her pretty face turn to confused at the sight of the tree – and the other odd figures in the room.
"You okay?" she asked the boy.
"Yeah, Natasha. I'm fine."