It didn't take long for most of the teens in the room to gravitate toward Peter. It wasn't unexpected, though, really, and Natasha had pointed out the possibility to the boy long before. They all knew who he was, and who his father was, and they all were aware that he hung out with (and lived with) the Avengers. As far as most of them were concerned, Peter Parker was the reason they were going to be allowed a tour of the Avengers compound. That made him the most interesting 16 year old in the room – although some of them would avoid him for that same reason; as if to prove they were above that kind of thing. Or because their own teachers wouldn't allow them to do too much socializing since they were there to compete and they wanted them ready for that.

Luckily, few were like that. Peter deflected most of the questions about the Avengers (and Tony in particular) and was quick to turn the tables on those kids who asked about him by asking about themselves and their families. He was friendly, but he was also quick to introduce the other people on his team so everyone could be included.

Not surprisingly, Ned wasn't the only one on (any of the teams) who was interested in meeting the twin sisters on the French team. As if they'd planned it in advance, Flash and Ned both turned on the charm when talking to them and Peter exchanged an amused look with MJ when a seemingly innocuous query had both blonde girls telling the boys that they were dating twins that went to their own school back home.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Peter?" one of the Chinese boys asked.

"Yeah." He was relieved to be able to say it.

"Peter's dating an African princess," MJ said, smirking when her friend gave her a look. She knew that it wasn't a secret that needed to be kept and was surprised that Ned hadn't already managed to work Shuri into the conversation before that. "She might come watch the finals, if we get that far."

The boy was suitably impressed, but before he could ask about Shuri, Flash walked over with a member of the Japanese team in tow. The young man hung back, a little, but bowed politely when Flash introduced them.

"Hey, Peter… someone wants to meet you," Flash said, pulling him slightly to the side. He gestured to the boy. "This is Nico Ito. He's on the Japanese team."

The last part was somewhat unnecessary since the name tag he was wearing had the Japanese flag on it. Peter hesitated, uncertain about bowing or shaking hands, but Nico saved him the concern about maybe offending and offered him his hand.

"It is an honor to meet you, Peter Parker."

"Thanks." Peter wasn't sure about the odd look in the boy's dark eyes, but Alec was quick to send wordless assurance. He shook his hand. "You can call me Peter."

"Thank you." Letting his hand go, now Nico bowed, again. "I would like to speak to you, please," he told Peter. Then he looked at Flash before turning back to Peter. "Alone, please."

"What's this all about?" Peter asked Alec.

"I'll let him tell you. It isn't serious – at least it isn't worrisome."

With that reassurance Peter nodded.

"Sure." He looked around the somewhat crowded room, and gestures with his head. "This way…"

Leading Nico to the side of the room it was no coincidence that he ended up near where Bucky was leaning against the wall, keeping an eye on things without actually looking like he was doing more than sipping a cup of juice and enjoying the elevator music. With no earpiece and dressed casually in a pair of slacks and a polo rather than a suit, no one would think he was with SHIELD.

Nico sat down at a table and Peter sat across from him.

"What's up?"

"I must ask you a question first," the boy said, looking serious. A little nervous and a little excited. "If I may?"

"Sure."

"Was your grandfather's name truly Jefferson Patrick Parker?"

"What?"

That wasn't what Peter was expecting – although he really didn't know what he'd been expecting.

"Your father's father," Nico clarified. "Was his name Jefferson Parker?"

"Oh." Peter nodded. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Because my grandfather knew him. In the war."

"What war?"

The other boy didn't roll his eyes or look askance at the question – although Alec snorted in Peter's mind.

"World War II."

"Your grandfather was in the war?"

"As was yours, correct." Nico smiled. "My grandfather was Ichiro Ito. He was a pilot."

"Wow." That was always interesting, really. "Did he fly fighters?"

Nico looked pleased at the question.

"He was a skilled pilot, yes. But he was shot down toward the end of the war."

"Oh." Assuming the worst, Peter's expression lost its cheer. "I'm sorry."

"He didn't die," Nico replied. "Because your grandfather saved him."

"Really?" Peter was interested, again. "How do you know that?"

"My grandfather told me the story many times," Nico said. "When I was very young. But I still remember it. Jefferson Parker was a colonel – a lieutenant colonel – in charge of a large force of men who were responsible for protecting an island called Guadalcanal. It was a contested island during the war."

"I've heard of it," Peter told him, remembering the name because it was on the lighter that he had found in the same safe deposit box that had held the keys to his Pontiac. "Your grandpa was shot down on Guadalcanal?"

"He was," Nico confirmed. "And your grandfather was the one in charge when he was found."

"Oh."

"Grandfather was badly injured," Nico continued. "And would have died. He managed to eject, but he landed hard in the water and hit dome debris from his plane. He said that the only thing that saved him was that your grandfather swam out to the wreckage of his plane and rescued him. He always said that most would haven't bothered, and that the area was dangerous because there were sharks in the water and still some fighting going on at the time. Grandfather thought he was going to be eaten by a shark or just die from his injuries, but then he heard splashing and opened his eyes and saw an American marine untangling him from his parachute and telling him to hang on."

"Wow."

"He towed grandfather through the water and to the beach and then ordered his men to take care of him. Grandfather was on the island for many days while the Americans took care of the worst of his injuries and waited for transportation to take him to a POW camp, but your grandfather checked on him every day – as if to make sure he was being taken care of, properly. They did not speak, often, or anything," Nico added. "And they were not friends, of course, but my grandfather told us that we owed our existence to the American soldier who pulled him out of the water and saved him that day, so long ago."

"That's a great story," Peter told him.

"It is," Nico agreed, looking pleased.

"He was worried that you wouldn't believe him," Alec told the boy.

"You did not hear it from your grandfather?"

Peter shook his head.

"He died when I was a baby. He might have told my dad, but my dad died when I was pretty young, so he wouldn't have had time to pass it down to me."

"It's a story that was told often in my family. My grandfather said that he was always going to look yours up and hopefully meet him, but there was a lot of red tape and sealed records, and he wasn't able to. When grandfather grew sick, he made my father promise to carry on the search." Nico grinned. "Your grandfather was hard to find, I guess, because father wasn't able to find him before he died, and grandfather's request went unfulfilled. Until now. The odds of me being selected for the international competition are not so ridiculous, since I'm pretty smart and my school is one of the charter schools for these kinds of competitions, but the odds that we were going to meet your team, here, and that you're on this team are so insane that my family has decided that there is divine intervention involved. Whether that is true, or not, my father wasn't going to pass the opportunity to fulfil the charge that his father gave him."

"Did he come with you?" Peter asked, curiously.

"He could not. He is a judge and there are trials that he could not miss – even for his honor. So he passed the charge to me."

"Wow." Peter grinned, too. "That's crazy."

"I know." Nico hesitated. "I have something for you. It belonged to my grandfather and it is proper that it be passed down to you, since you're the oldest living descendant of your grandfather."

Pretty much the only one as far as Peter knew – although he decided that he might double-check that when he had a chance.

"What is it?"

Before Nico could say anything, they were interrupted by the small group of teachers walking up to the front of the room and waving for attention.

"Time for a mixer," Harrington announced, cheerfully. "Everyone form a circle."

Peter rolled his eyes. He knew that there were plenty of activities designed to get the kids from each country more comfortable with each other. They might even be fun. But the timing was bad.

"I will show you, later," Nico promised, standing up.

"Okay."