"You okay?"

Peter nodded, looking over at Clint. There was a fair-sized group of them standing on the roof of the compound, just then. Clint wasn't the only Avenger; Natasha, Steve and Nick were there, as were all the guardians except Groot. Wong was on the roof, too – although Stephen wasn't. The sorcerer supreme was in the gym, setting up the portal trigger that would open to Asgard should it ever become necessary.

"Yeah." He looked up into the afternoon sky, watching Tony in his Ironman suit and Carol – who was just hovering like a boss – and wondering if they were high enough to avoid the shield when it was activated. "It's kind of exciting, isn't it?"

Clint nodded, too.

"If not for the reason for making sure we have a shield."

"True."

They were waiting for the initial test of the new shield. Shuri was in the workroom and not in the roof, but she didn't need to be. She was interacting with Tony via Friday in the workroom, and Tony was in contact with Steve, who was on the roof. Along with Grady and Lyle, who were in constant contact with the various commanders of the national guard units who were charged with the simple task of making sure that no civilians drove into (or walked into) the shield when it went up – and stayed clear during the duration of the test.

This wasn't a huge deal; the Avengers compound had undergone a few somewhat similar testing processes, which had required some crowd control with the civilians, so no one was going to be suspicious – or even nervous – about the military presence. At least not yet.

Carol and Tony were going to watch for anything out of the ordinary, since they were both flight capable and Tony wanted everything on video, anyway, so that he and the others would have a better idea of what the shield would cover once it was up. Friday was recording everything from several different angles. Not just from the suit Tony was wearing, but from various security cameras.

"Are we ready?" Peter heard Tony ask from the communicator in his watch.

Shuri's reply wasn't audible to him – he didn't have his own suit activated, after all – but he did hear as Steve and the military guys interacted with their own people, making sure that the civilian population (sparse though it was) were out of the way, as well.

"Ready," came a reply from several military checkpoints within a five-mile radius.

It wasn't just the roads being closed for the duration of the test, but it was all along the perimeter of where the shield would be activating. Keeping people and animals clear while giving the onlookers an idea of what the shield would look like, and what to expect – and to give Shuri a chance to make sure it was doing what it was supposed to be doing, and Tony a chance to make sure there wasn't anything unexpected happening.

There was a pause, and suddenly the sky around them was glowing, slightly, as they watched the shield go up without hesitation.

Now Peter did activate his suit, as well, knowing that Tony wanted recordings from his angle as well. The HUD came up and he had a better view of things from every spectrum, and he was still able to listen to the comments of the people around him while Karen was recording – as well as both sides of the conversation Tony was having with Shuri.

"How does it look?" Natasha asked, knowing that he was just listening in and not a part of any conversation.

Peter looked at her and then looked up at the shield.

"It's doing exactly what it's supposed to do. And there isn't any fluctuation."

"Good. How long will they keep it up?"

"About half an hour."

Which would give them plenty of time to make sure the power didn't surge or surprise them.

"We can go over the results after lunch," Steve said, looking over at them and proving that he was paying attention to everything going on around him.

Romanoff nodded and they all turned their attention back up to the shield.

OOOOO

"How did it go?"

Tony shook his head, smiling, and coming up to Pepper so he could put his arms around her.

"It looks exactly like the one that protected our honeymoon villa – only bigger and more powerful. No energy issues, and no flickering, as far as prelims showed. How was the simulator?"

Now it was Pepper's turn to smile.

"Is the suit really going to have a laser beam?"

"Eventually. But not initially."

"Too bad."

He hugged her.

"I'm not ruling it out. Are you ready for lunch?"

"Yes." She wasn't, really – she wanted to have another go in the simulator that he'd cooked up in only an hour of so in the same workroom that was actually building the suit – but she was well aware of the need to set an example and keep things on schedule. That meant eating and making the others eat, and showing them that family time was still needed (and really was probably needed more) just then. "What's Peter doing?"

"He went to get Shuri – they'll meet us in the lounge."

"She really is a genius, isn't she?"

"Yeah. Between her and Peter, and Ned – of course – our future's in good hands."

They both smiled at that.

"Message coming in from Wanda Maximoff."

Tony pulled back from Pepper – after stealing a quick kiss.

"Are they coming?"

"They're at the six-mile mark," Friday responded. "And are waiting for clearance to proceed."

"Where's Peter?"

"Just entering the lounge."

"Call him for me."

A moment later it was Peter and not Friday who responded.

"Everything okay?"

"Wanda and Vision are on their way in from about six miles out. How do you feel? And can I tell them to keep coming?"

There was a short hesitation.

"Yeah. I'm okay. We're in the lounge."

"We'll be there in a minute." He changed his conversation to Friday. "Tell Wanda to come on in and ask them to meet us in the lounge."

"Will do."

OOOOOOOO

For all that she was incredibly powerful, and Vision wasn't even human, both of them hesitated at the edge of the tables as they walked into the lounge and headed for the tables where Peter was sitting with several others. Some were already known to them; the avengers, of course, and even Carol. Stephen and Wong, too. Others were strangers – and neither had seen a woman with antennae, a person that looked like Drax, a living tree or a talking racoon, so they definitely took a second look at them as they greeted the others.

"Peter," Wanda said, taking the seat beside Natasha. "You look good."

Of course, it seemed like every time she saw the boy (and yeah, he was only a couple of years younger than she was, but that didn't matter, right?, he was still a boy – technically) he was hurt, or had been. This time, though, he looked a little tired and a little worried, but there wasn't any blood or bandages. She couldn't read him like she could the others, so she couldn't know immediately what was going on in his head, but she was pretty good at reading people's expressions to go along with the emotions and thoughts that she felt from them, and he didn't look any more distressed than most of the others.

"Thanks, Wanda," Peter replied with a smile. "You do, too."

As he made introductions to the others around the table, though, he decided that she looked upset. Not oh no the mad Titan is coming at the planet and everyone is in danger kind of upset that he could read on other expressions, but something different. Something even more near and dear to her. He didn't ask, though – not even Alec – since it wasn't right to snoop when it wasn't any of your business. The ancient sorcerer in his head was quiet, too, as if respecting that. Or maybe he was just too distracted by the cloak, which had once more wrapped itself around Peter when it had arrived that morning with Wong and Stephen, and hadn't shown any indication of changing positions until Strange was ready to go.

Which wasn't happening any time soon, Peter knew.

Quill and Gamora were explaining what they were doing on earth when Tony and Pepper made their arrival into the lounge, as well. Peter glanced over at them, a smile already on his face as the two walked over and took the seats that the others had left empty for them. With Shuri on his right, and Pepper now on his left, Peter had to admit as he looked around the tables that had been pushed together for them all that there was a lot of concentrated power in that one room.

"It's definitely a start," Alec agreed. "If anyone has a chance at stopping this guy, I'd have to say that this is the core of that group."

That made Peter feel a little less scared and maybe a bit more confident. Well, less terrified and more hopeful, maybe.

Tony looked at Peter, reaching across Pepper so he could brush a hand across the boy's forehead, breaking into his contemplation.

"Are you handling the mind stone alright?" he asked.

Peter nodded, smiling. The world could stop spinning on its axis, a volcano could go off somewhere and cause worldwide winter, and Tony's first reaction would be to palm Peter's forehead and ask how he was feeling.

Some things never would change. And he was glad.

"Yeah. I'm okay."

"Good." Tony looked at the others, letting Peter's forehead go. "Lunch, first, okay? Get to know the new people and let them get to know you – we probably don't have time for a full on company retreat or teambuilding trust-falls – but it'll be better all around if everyone knows at least a little about each other."

They all knew him, so he didn't need to speak up. Which would free him to eat, and to watch Peter and make sure he was really not taking any harm from being so close to Vision.