It was well after midnight when Tony drove the car into the garage and turned the engine off, looking automatically in his review mirror to check Peter. The boy was awake, but almost dozing, his cheek resting against the window. He lifted his head when the car stopped, though, and caught his reflection in the mirror.

"You awake?" Stark asked.

"Yes." He yawned. "Mostly."

Pepper turned and looked over her shoulder.

"You'd better get to bed, sweetheart. We're leaving at 8 o'clock."

"I will." He got out of the car, and waited for Tony to join Pepper so he could walk with them the short distance before their directions would change so they could go to their mutual quarters. He was sleepy, but he wouldn't miss a chance to find himself walking between them even for a few minutes. "That was fun. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Shuri looked like she enjoyed herself."

"Yeah. What did you guys do?"

"Spent time with T'Challa and Ramonda," Pepper replied. "Checked up on your zebra."

Peter smiled, putting an arm around her and leaning slightly against her as well as he could while walking beside her – careful not to trip her up.

"You did? How is he?"

"He's fat," Tony said. "And probably spoiled."

"He's still adorable," Pepper assured their son, rolling her eyes at Peter's amusement. "We uploaded some videos from the guides who watch the herds. They've been keeping track of him. I'll show you in the morning."

"Wow."

They reached the intersecting hallway and stopped.

"Do I need to come get you in the morning?" Tony asked.

"No. I'll ask Karen to wake me."

"We'll see you at breakfast," Pepper said, hugging him and pressing a kiss against his cheek.

He nodded, and smiled when Tony hugged him, too, clearly not willing to give up on the lovefest just yet, either. Maybe when Peter was in college…

"Good night."

They turned and headed for their quarters, and Peter turned for his – although he wanted to find Nutmeg, first. Then he could go to sleep without worrying what his crazy kitten was breaking – or stealing.

"I want you to sleep with Natasha, tonight," Alec said, suddenly, surprising Peter so much that he stopped in mid-step.

"What? Why?"

"Something has come up," the ancient being told him, sounding serious, but not concerned. "You and I are going to have to do some projecting, and I want you somewhere that you feel safe. Asking Tony or Pepper to allow you to sleep with them would have worried them – and that would have stressed you. I want you calm and relaxed for this."

"What are we doing?" he asked, curiously, walking toward his quarters, again. "What do you mean by projecting?"

"You know how the mind stone puts images in your head? Usually while you're asleep, but when you're doing homework, or playing trivial pursuit?"

"Yes."

"You're going to do that to someone else."

"But I don't know how."

"I can show you – and the mind stone will connect us."

"To who?"

"The Collector. He isn't human – although he looks humanoid. He's ancient, and powerful, and he's entirely too eager to meet you, and will stop at nothing to do it. Which means he could go overboard and do something foolish. And dangerous for him and for your world. So, we're better off if you allow him a chance to meet you, assuage his curiosity, and give us one less problem to solve in the future. If you're good with that?"

He knew that he was, though. Alec had Peter figured out well enough – easy to do from the inside, after all.

"Yes. Of course." Peter hesitated. "Does it hurt?"

"Nope. It shouldn't even wipe you out, since you're not exerting any energy. You're just going to appear to be standing in front of the guy – but you'll really be asleep in Natasha's bed."

"Okay."

He went to his quarters, first, looking for Nutmeg and to get changed into sweats and a t-shirt to sleep in. The kitten wasn't in his rooms, but a neatly written note taped to the TV where he couldn't miss it informed him that Nutmeg was with Natasha, and she could either keep him for the night, or he could come and fetch him, no matter what time it was when he returned. He knew she meant it, so once he'd changed and gotten ready for bed, he wandered to the rooms next to his own, and knocked softly on the door.

Romanoff answered almost immediately. She obviously hadn't been asleep, although she was dressed similarly to himself, sweats and a t-shirt. She leaned against her doorframe, his kitten tucked in her arm and a gleam of amusement in her expressive eyes.

"Hey, sailor. Looking for a good time?"

Peter grinned.

"I just came from a good time. In Africa. With a princess."

"A princess, huh?" She rolled her eyes. "I guess I can't compete with that."

"Ned and MJ were there, too."

Natasha moved to the side, to allow him to enter her quarters – although she clearly wasn't ready to give up Nutmeg, just yet. For a potentially deadly tentacle spewing alien creature, he was pretty popular with the people in the compound and Peter knew it.

"How did that go?"

"It was fun." He knew she meant how was his interaction with MJ, and they went over and sat down on the sofa. "We get along great, you know? It's just the boyfriend/girlfriend thing that doesn't seem to be in the cards for us."

"Yeah. How's Shuri doing?"

"She's still sick, but coming down from it, now. Just bored being stuck in bed. I know how that feels."

"I know you do."

He smiled.

"She liked the scavenger hunt."

"Who won?"

"Ned."

Romanoff smirked.

"Big shock there."

"Right?"

"You have school, tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Then you should probably get some sleep. You can tell me about your evening, later."

She started to hand him Nutmeg, but Peter hesitated, trying to figure a way to make his request without worrying her – or sounding like he was suddenly interested in her the same way Stephen was, and couldn't. Instead, he just blurted it out.

"Can I sleep with you, tonight?"

Not surprisingly, she frowned, looking concerned.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I mean… yeah. I just…" he reddened, slightly. "I… well, I kind of might be antsy."

"Spiderman antsy?"

"No. Nothing like that. I won't grope you. I promise."

He'd found out – not from Natasha – that he'd been pretty handsy with her (and Pepper) when he'd been in toddler form, and it was now a running joke with them whenever he was cuddling with her that she was going to pull out the duct tape.

The assassin chuckled, assuming that he had a reason and wasn't ready to tell her what it was, just then. She didn't mind. And she definitely wasn't worried about being groped. He'd had his chance to do that a million times, and only when he'd been two had he ever taken advantage of it.

"I could use someone to help keep my feet warm," she agreed, getting up. "Come on. Bedtime."

"If you wore socks, it would work better."

"They always get lost in the middle of the night, and then I have to tear the bedding apart looking for them. Too annoying."

Peter smiled at the truth of that statement and followed her into her room, feeling a little nervous about what this whole projecting thing was going to feel like, and knowing that Alec had made a good call, telling him to stay close by Nat, who always made him feel safe.

OOOOOO

Taneleer Tavin was practically an immortal. He'd been around a long time – almost as long as the universe, itself – and he didn't need to sleep to refresh himself as many of the creatures around him, both working for him and in his countless exhibits did. He liked that others did it, though, because they tended to do it at the same time, syncing themselves, and that gave him a quiet time when he could settle into his favorite comfortable chair and close his eyes and think about whatever his newest project was – or whatever rumor he may have heard that he was trying to solve.

This particular evening, it wasn't a surprise to him that his thoughts immediately went to the boy from the prophesy – the one that he'd seen on the video, kidnapping his servant and his stone. He knew there was a risk in trying to find him, but Taneleer took risks all the time, and he was still around, wasn't he? He'd faced eons filled with all kinds of threats. He'd even faced down Thanos when he'd come looking for his stone.

Surely he could figure out a way to make a meeting with the boy happen? A way that assuaged his curiosity and still managed to keep his skin intact. He wasn't afraid of the child, but he was definitely wary of the connection the boy held with the stones of power. They were something to be respected, if not actually feared. Even for a being such as himself. But the prophecy had been around for even longer than Taneleer had, and that was saying something. The universe knew the boy long before it knew him, and he couldn't help the driving desire to meet him.

Once he had the boy's home world located, he'd send some representatives to arrange a meeting. Perhaps Danvers could be a go-between Or the Guardians? They liked his money, after all. He could probably arrange something. Perhaps-

A flash of light interrupted his musings, and he sat up, suddenly wary. A slight tingle of warning was all he had, when suddenly there was a flare in the space in front of him. When his eyes cleared and he could see again, he realized that he wasn't alone.

Standing in front of him was the very boy that he'd been thinking about. Young, and nervous looking, and dressed oddly in thin materials that were extremely loose on his lithe frame, but were worn enough that he probably garbed himself that way, often. There was an odd contraption on the boy's right hand, running from forearm down to his palm, but he raised that hand when he realized Taneleer was staring at him.

"Hi. Um… I'm Peter."