Peter stopped to give the guardians a chance to reach them, putting a steadying hand on Ned's shoulder – just to make sure his friend didn't faint or something. He wasn't worried about him running away; Ned had already seen more weird things hanging out with Peter than anyone outside of magicians and Avengers had, and had handled it all with the same aplomb that he handled everything else that came with being Peter's friend.

This one might be a little harder to ease him into, however.

"Hey guys," he said. "This is my friend, Ned. Ned, this is Drax – the Destroyer – and Mantis and Groot. They're visiting here with a couple of others."

Ned offered Mantis his hand, first, being that she was female. He'd seen Tony interacting with the women around him enough to have learned a few things, after all. He even managed not to stare – too much.

"Nice to meet you. You're from space?"

"We travel through space," Drax corrected. "We are from various worlds. You are from earth?"

"Yeah. Queens. Like Peter."

"I am groot?"

Ned couldn't help but stare at the tree. It was just a little more than even he could take without a second look. Peter answered the question.

"Yeah. He's pretty good at them, too." At Ned's glance, his friend smiled. "He asked if you play video games, too."

"He plays video games?" Ned asked, eyes wide.

"It is all he does," Mantis confirmed.

"Are you guys going to the lounge?"

"We're looking for Peter," Drax said. "He and Rocket are going to ask you to take them to get more sweets from the merchant and I wanted to find out what other options there are aside from the protein and bread on the stick."

Ned frowned.

"Corndogs," Peter translated. "Rocket's on the roof, but Peter is flying with Tony and Rescue and Carol. They were going to meet me in the lounge when they're done. You can come, and Ned and I can tell you what else the gas station has to offer."

And Ned could have a chance to check out the aliens before Tony and Pepper sent him packing, because Peter knew that his friend wasn't going to be allowed to stay. As much as his folks both liked Ned, they would be concerned for his safety, first, and wouldn't want him to know what was going on. Ned could keep a secret; he proved that by not telling anyone that Peter was Spider man, after all, but this one was even scarier.

"A good plan."

"You don't like corndogs?" Ned asked, incredulously. "Why not?"

"They are questionable," Drax replied as they all turned and headed for the lounge.

"Well… yeah. But they're good."

Drax didn't look convinced.

OOOOOO

They landed in the field, and all four of them were smiling. There was nothing like a wild flight to make the heart beat a little faster, after all. Pepper retracted the helmet on the rescue suit just as Peter's mask came off and Tony's nanotech bared his head and face. He had been watching carefully to his systems, which had been monitoring Rescue's, of course, and he'd been suitably impressed.

"That was exhilarating," Pepper said, looking at her husband.

Tony nodded his agreement, his eyes lit up with pride at just how amazing she'd done the first time out. And just at how happy she looked, just then.

"Yes, it was."

"You looked great," Peter complimented her, with Carol nodding her agreement.

"First flight, right?"

"Yes."

"You did good."

Pepper looked at Tony, who nodded his agreement.

"My first flight I crashed and burned. You're a natural."

She couldn't lose the smile, even as they all turned toward the building.

"Did I see Ned arriving?" she asked, not as good at multitasking with the suit and flying and communications. Of course, very few people were as good as Tony was when it came to that.

"You did."

"Who's Ned?" Peter asked.

"A friend of Peter's. We were keeping him away for a reason…" Tony replied.

Pepper shrugged. She knew Ned better than Tony did – she spent more time with him, after all.

"We should have known he'd come looking for answers. Not only is he curious by nature, and almost certainly worried about Peter not being in school, but we haven't really allowed Peter to give him any real explanation."

Tony rolled his eyes.

"Not to mention, we have all the cool toys."

She laughed.

"True." The suit she was still wearing definitely qualified as a cool new toy, she supposed. "Where did you tell him to take him?"

"To the lounge."

"Does this Ned know about us?" Peter asked, curiously, watching as the people on the roof started dispersing as well as he could see.

"He probably does by now," Tony replied. "Rocket's on the roof with Gamora, but Drax and Mantis are with Groot and they were heading toward the lounge when Friday checked, last, for me."

"Is he going to freak out?"

Tony shrugged.

"Probably. But in a good way. Ned's level-headed and intelligent."

"That pretty much describes everyone around here," Carol said, amused. "Thanks for the flight, Pepper. I'm going to go see where they end up putting the rail guns."

She took off, again, with a flourish, and they watched as she streaked up to the roof, landing close to the edge, but near Steve.

"I enjoyed it, too," Peter said. "I'm going to check out the railguns, too. And then I want to talk your son into more junk food from that gas station. Is that a possibility?"

Tony looked at Pepper, silently telling her that it was her decision. There was only the slightest hesitation, and then she nodded.

"I don't see why not."

Quill's eyes lit up, and he looked almost like a little boy, she decided, smiling.

"Thanks! I'll meet you guys in the lounge."

He took off – literally – as well, heading for the roof, and Tony opened the door for Pepper.

"You're okay with Peter leaving the compound?" he asked, somewhat surprised.

Pepper nodded.

"He'll take his car, and take Shuri with him. She loves riding in the Pontiac and a ride is the least we can do after all the hard work she's put into getting the shield and the canons on the roof up and running for us. He'll take Ned, as well, which will soften the blow when we send him home without telling him everything that's going on out here, and it'll give Peter a chance to spend a little time with people his own age."

"What about Quill?"

She shrugged.

"He's the adult supervision."

The billionaire rolled his eyes, amused.

"Are we sure he qualifies?"

They'd both seen the pile of junk food that Star Lord brought back from the gas station the last time.

Pepper chuckled.

"He's like you; acts like a kid, but has a lot more going on under the surface than is expected. I think they'll be alright for an hour, or so. Besides, Peter will be the better for it."

And that's what it always came down to for her, Tony knew.

"If you say so, momma," he agreed, readily. Of course, he agreed with what she was saying, anyway. "The racoon doesn't go, though. We're going to have enough curiosity about what's going on around here without risking Rocket being found out."

"Agreed." She looked down at herself, and tapped the metal that was covering her chest and belly. "I'm going to go take this off. Why don't you go see what Ned's learning – and try to keep him from finding out any more than we want him to know."

"You don't need help?"

"Vision can help me. We'll meet you in the lounge in half an hour, or so. Don't let him go until I have a chance to talk to him, though."

"Yeas, dear."

She smiled, and put her arms around him, metal suits and all.

"Thank you for the suit."

Tony kissed her.

"You look amazing."