T'Challa couldn't stay. He was king, after all, and had a lot of other things that needed his attention. When he and Tony (and Okoye) stopped in at the workroom, next, Shuri and Peter were manipulating some data fields, heads together in front of a display, while Peter's hand was moving, swiping first one set of variables, and then moving them to make room for another.
"They are certainly well-matched, aren't they?" Tony asked, feeling a surge of pride at the fact that Peter was smart enough to keep up with someone as intelligent as Shuri.
T'Challa smiled.
"Do not say that around my mother, Tony. She is already interested in stealing your son, and reminds me, almost daily, that I can be replaced."
Stark chuckled at that.
"Mom's are like that, I suppose." They moved into the room, catching the teens' attention. "How's it going in here, kids?"
"The shield is ready, Tony," Shuri told him.
"So soon?"
She smiled, pleased by the fact that he looked impressed. There were very few people that Shuri looked up to, intellectually, and Tony Stark was right at the top of that short list. She'd always been a fan, of course – the guy was Ironman, after all – but now that she'd met him and had spent time with him in a regular setting, she was even more amazed by his intelligence and sense of humor. Not to mention just how nice he was, really.
And Peter was basically a mini me of his, in pretty much every way.
"It isn't as if I had to start from the beginning," she pointed out. "The technology is already there. Now it is just a matter of deciding how you want to arrange it, and where the points of contact will be – and who has the authorities to raise and lower it."
"And do we want our shield to have sectors?" Peter added. "Like the Wakandan shield does. Theirs is a fair bit larger than ours is going to be, so that's pretty much going to be up to you and the others, to decide."
"Once you do, it will be a simple matter to set up each point – although it will require actually going out to that particular place to install it."
Tony shook his head.
"So, let me talk to Steve and Nick about that, and I'll let you know."
"I am going home," T'Challa told his sister. "Do you need to stay?"
"Yes." She smiled at her friend. "Not that Peter couldn't do the installation himself, but I would feel better if I was here to assist."
"So would I," Peter admitted. "She's more familiar with the technology than I am."
"If you're almost done, here," Tony said. "Why don't you guys call it a night? It's dinner time, and you've been working pretty steady. Do something more relaxing for a while so your mom doesn't come looking for me talking about child labor laws?"
T'Challa smiled, but his sister was an independent young woman, and he didn't say anything, knowing that Tony had a better chance of making her listen to him than he did.
"I am going home," he repeated. "Do not make me send mother to come talk to you."
He and Tony left, since Wong was waiting to portal him and Okoye back to Wakanda, and Shuri looked at Peter and Groot.
"What do you think?" she asked. "Would he really tell Pepper to come make you stop working?"
"He probably wouldn't need to," Peter pointed out. Pepper already had the mom instincts going all out when it came to Peter. "We can stop for a while, though." Now that he wasn't focusing on the shield tech, he was aware of being hungry. "Let's teach Groot how to play chess."
She rolled her eyes.
"I'm not that good."
"I'll teach him, you just need to play me."
"I am groot?"
"It's great," Peter assured him. "You'll like it. I won a jet, once, playing it."
Shuri smiled.
"He didn't get to keep it, though."
"Come on," Peter said, reaching up and plucking Nutmeg from Groot's head. "Pepper likes to eat in the lounge, so we'll make sure we're there when she comes looking for us."
OOOOOOO
"What are you playing?"
Peter looked over at Rocket, who was fairly silent on his feet (not surprising, since they were soft little paws) but still hadn't actually managed to sneak up on him – even though Shuri and Groot both looked surprised by his seemingly sudden appearance.
"I am groot."
"What do you mean it's complicated?" the racoon asked. "That doesn't mean anything. If you can learn it, I can, too."
Quill had walked up the table only a few steps behind Rocket, and Gamora was with him. Drax and Mantis were at the bar, Peter saw, talking to Clint and Steve. Tony and Pepper hadn't made an appearance, yet, but Peter expected them any time, really.
"Oh, chess." His eyes lit up. "I've played that. My grandpa taught me."
"I am groot?"
"No, my grandpa. My mom's dad," he told the young tree. Then he looked at Peter, hopefully. "Can I play winner?"
"Sure."
"Just don't let him con you into wagering anything," a new voice said, as Tony and Pepper walked up to the table, holding hands. "He hustled me out of a camping trip, once."
"I didn't hustle you," Peter corrected, smiling a greeting to Pepper. "You wanted to wager. I'm always willing to play for fun."
"It isn't fun if you're not gambling on the outcome," Rocket said, still eyeing the board, obviously interested in learning the game. "What are you and Groot betting?"
"Nothing," Shuri replied for him, holding Nutmeg, who was sleeping in her arms, purring on every exhale. "Groot is still new at the game and Peter would not take advantage. He is just teaching him the moves and how to play."
"We have another board," Pepper told Quill. "If you want to play, I'll play with you after dinner."
"What about me?" Rocket asked.
"I'll teach you," Tony offered.
Rocket looked at Peter.
"Is he any good?" he asked the boy, skeptically.
Peter smirked.
"He has his moments."
Tony rolled his eyes, amused.
"Finish your game and come eat."
"Okay."
OOOOOO
The being was immense. Ancient, and radiating power, it held not one infinity stone in its hands, but actually had two; one in each hand. The colors made it easy to see which ones they were, and Peter saw that the Mind stone was in its right hand and the Time stone was in its left.
"What is it?"
"Watch," said a soft voice.
Peter shivered, and turned his attention back to what he was being shown. There was a flare of green, and suddenly it seemed everything was going in fast forward. Extreme fast forward. Planets were forming, and exploding, but so quickly that it wasn't even the same as when Peter had had the scary dreams. It was too fast for him to keep track of what was going on.
Then a stoppage. Things slowed down. A blue and white world appeared, and an armada of ships appeared. A strange creature; humanoid but larger than any Peter had seen. A battle – and Peter recognized the shield that was being attacked by a vast army, and the city that the shield was protecting. He recognized Thor. He saw Steve, and T'Challa – and even Wanda. The battle was waged, and suddenly the battle was lost in a flash of every color. Vision sprawled lifelessly on the ground, his head mutilated, Wanda thrown back, and Thor throwing his hammer – only it was an axe that he wielded.
A smirk, despite the terrible wound in its chest, and the creature raising its hand, showing the gauntlet with every colored stone on it. A snap of its fingers, and the world lurched, the stones blazed, furious, but focused in the touch of the being that held them.
Peter quailed from the sight as he watched people that he knew – and a multitude of those that he didn't – all turning to dust.
"This must not be," the voice said into Peter's mind. Into his dream. "Watch, son of the man of Iron."
As Peter watched, the time stone flared, again, and brilliant green filled his vision until he blinked his eyes clear and found the original being still holding both stones; one in each hand. Again, time moved forward. Again, it seemed as if countless eras passed in only moments, until once more there was an armada of ships around the small blue and white world.
This time, however, it wasn't Wakanda that was being attacked, and this time the vast army was facing one that wasn't as large – nothing was as large – but was much better prepared than what he'd seen before. The battle waged, and Peter watched – and saw a form standing on the roof of the compound. Flanked by the Ironman suit and another suit of blue and silver, covered in black and holding – impossibly – a somewhat orange colored stone that Peter knew instinctively was the soul stone.
The creature came, again, as it had in the other vision, only this time there was only one stone on the gauntlet on its hand. Peter saw the black-clad form leap effortlessly from the protections around him and go to face it.
Then the vision stopped, flaring once more a brilliant green as he was once more brought back to the beginning of time.
"Wait… what happens?" Peter asked. "Do we win?"
"The universe does," came the somewhat evasive answer. "Because of you. Thanos is coming, and he must find you."
"But…"
"You're the hope of not only your own world, but all of the rest."
Peter felt himself shudder, and the vision faded, leaving him alone.
"Not alone," Alec told him, speaking up for the first time since the dream started.
"That was scary…"
"I know. Go find Tony and Pepper. They'll keep you safe."
He did what he was told, not stopping to find clothes and not even close to being awake.
OOOOOO
"Peter just entered – never mind."
Friday's warning was unnecessary, as Pepper and Tony both felt the boy joining them, climbing silently in between them, shivering, either with fear or with cold; it was hard to tell with him. Pepper murmured something soothing and flipped a blanket up over him, while she and Tony pressed up against him, sharing their body heat and comforting him. Tony opened his eyes, but Peter's were closed, and then he lost sight of them, completely, when he tucked his face against the man's shoulder, his hand finding Pepper's and holding it, tight.
He didn't say anything, though, and without any further ado, he went to sleep, tucked safely between them.