"So, you don't think Peter could handle the trip to the jet – much less the flight home?" the colonel asked, just to clarify, once Stark had explained what had happened and that Strange was more experienced than the colonel's medic and more than qualified to make the assessment of Peter's medical condition.

"It's not a risk I want to take with him," Tony replied, looking over at Peter for a moment before turning his attention back to the colonel. "I want to get everyone else out, though, and would appreciate the assist."

"How are you planning on getting him home, then?"

Stark might have been annoyed at the line of questioning, but he wasn't. It was obvious that the colonel liked Peter and was genuinely concerned about his wellbeing.

"Stephen and I are going to keep him right here," Tony told him. "We'll convalesce him a few more days, and then when he can handle the trip, we'll take him out on a snowmobile and have the jet come back for us."

"I could leave a few men with you."

"That's not necessary, colonel," Stark replied. "We'll be fine."

Grady nodded his acceptance of that. It was Ironman, after all. Who was he to doubt him?

"And the guy that shot Peter? Are you planning on pressing charges?"

"It was an accident," Peter said, speaking up.

Tony nodded.

"He's right. Rupp was in a bad spot and we startled him. I'm not planning on pursuing any legal action."

Grady nodded again.

"I'm going to go check on my people," he said, standing up. "We'll want to move out as soon after lunch as we can to make sure we have plenty of daylight to get back."

"You'll make sure Elmer gets home?" Pepper asked. "He drove up in a truck, but it's going to buried under all this snow. He'll need a ride."

"I'll see to it, personally," Grady promised.

"Can I come outside with you?" Peter asked.

The colonel smiled, but looked over at Tony – in case Stark preferred the boy to stay inside. Tony's shrug indicated that it was up to him. If he didn't mind Peter's company, then Tony wasn't going to make him stay away.

"Of course."

The boy got up a little stiffly, and headed for the door with the colonel and Polly, limping a little, and Natasha made rueful face.

"Well… now we know what he was doing last night."

"Yes." Of course, Fury was the one who had put things in motion, so Peter's call had simply been coincidence – maybe. With the Mind stone, it was impossible to tell, really. "I'm going to call Steve and get them back here to start packing."

OOOOOOO

While they'd been talking in the cabin there had been a lot of activity going on outside. The snowmobiles were already almost completely dug out, and with the tracks in the snow from those coming in, there wouldn't be any problem getting everyone out in the snow machines and the snowmobiles.

Bundled in his coat and boots, Peter walked beside Grady as the colonel checked in with the activities of his men, slowing his normal pace to match the boy's painful limp. They caught up on what had been going on with Peter – mainly his adoption by Tony, which Grady had heard of, of course.

"He's treating you right?" the colonel asked.

"Yeah."

"Are you living at the tower or at the Avenger facility?"

"The Avenger facility," Peter told him. "It's a bit of a commute to school and for Pepper, but I like it there so I'm not complaining."

"I imagine it's an exciting place to be." He grinned and slapped the boy's back. "Happy birthday, by the way."

"Thanks."

OOOOOOOO

Peter was ready to get off his feet by the time Steve and the others returned from their snowshoeing excursion. He went into the cabin, pulled off his boots and coat and eased himself down into the sofa to sit next to Natasha, who was very good at packing and had her bags ready to go. She smiled a greeting, and put an arm around him, pulling his chilled body up against her side.

"Anything interesting going on out there?"

"They dug out the snowmobiles," he reported. "I think some of them are sledding, now, killing time until lunch."

She laughed at that.

"What's Grady doing?"

"Steve just got back. They're going to load up the drop crate once he tells them what goes in it."

Sure enough, the door opened and not only did a lot of cold air come into the cabin, but so did Ned, MJ, Clint, Bruce and Elmer. They all looked chilled but Ned, especially, looked excited by all of the military activity that he'd seen – or maybe just the big snow machines. Tony met them all in the living room and sat on the arm of the sofa to catch them up with what was going on. Which didn't take long.

"So. We're going to pack all our things and get them ready to go. Then we're going to eat lunch before you guys head out. He turned to MJ and Ned. "Pepper is going to make sure you guys both get home, safe. Elmer? Colonel Gradymatson is going to make sure you get home. You'll probably have to wait until spring to get your truck, though, from what they're saying."

They all headed for their rooms to pack. Peter went up the stairs with an assist by Clint on one side and Ned on the other, but he wasn't in any real hurry to pack, since he, Tony and Strange would stay in the cabin until the next morning and then Strange would just jump them home, or portal them. Either way, he wouldn't have to worry about snowmobiles or a flight on the jet. He helped Ned find all his stuff and shove it back into his bags, and then Ned helped him pack up most of his.

"This was a good idea, Peter," his friend told him. "I really thought we were going to go to Hawaii or something, but Montana was a good choice."

"Thanks for coming," Peter said. "I'm glad your mom let you. Sorry we got stranded."

"I'm not. It's like Christmas break or something, only hanging out with the Avengers."

"But now you're going to be behind."

"It's no big deal. Besides, everyone is going to ask where we've been, and MJ and I can tell them stranded in the mountains with Ironman and the others. Where were they on their birthdays? Who cares? It wasn't hanging out with Tony Stark and then being rescued by the Army."

"Don't tell anyone I got shot, okay?"

"Yeah. Think you'll be in school on Monday?"

"I'm going to try to convince Tony and Dr. Strange to let me, yeah."

"Good." Ned grabbed his bags and headed for the stairs, unwilling to allow Peter to help him carry them.

Peter walked over to MJ's room, tapped on the door only opening it when she gave him permission. She was sitting on the bed, trying to stuff a sweater into her bag without folding it. It wasn't working.

"Do you need help?" he asked, leaning against the door frame, his arms awkwardly crossed over his chest.

She shook her head.

"I need to remember how I got everything into the bag to begin with and them replicate that."

"Yeah. I'll need to do that, too."

"Thanks for inviting me," she told him. "I had a good time. It was amazing."

"Thanks for coming," he said. "It wouldn't have been as much fun without you here."

She blushed at the sincerity of the compliment and got up, picking up her bag.

"Are you and Mr. Stark going to be alright here by yourselves?"

"Dr. Strange is staying, too. I think he's worried we'd starve to death if he's not here to cook."

She smiled at that and walked over to the door with her bag in one hand.

"You're coming back to school, soon?"

"Yeah."

"Good." MJ gave him a one-armed, awkward hug and then kissed his cheek. "I'll see you downstairs."

He stared at her retreating back, his face burning and his ears practically on fire. He was still in the same position when Clint walked by, holding a bag and talking to Bruce, who also had a bag in his hand. It hadn't taken either of them long to pack since they'd only been there a couple of days.

"What's wrong with you?" Clint asked, curiously.

"What?"

"I said, why do you look like someone hit you in the back of the head with a board?"

"I don't. I mean, I'm fine. It's nothing."

Both men gave him an odd look, but then just shook their heads.

"Come on, Peter. I can smell lunch – and I'm hungry."

"Yeah."