"I don't understand why my mom and dad couldn't come to the airport to see us off…"
Ned grinned, but Peter shook his head and put his hand on Ned's leg, silently telling his friend not to answer MJ. The run up to Spring break – and the much-anticipated trip to Wakanda – had been exciting and fun for the boy. He'd sat in on the conversation with Ned's mom and MJ's folks after they'd agreed to allow his friends to come with him, and there had been plenty of discussions about the itinerary and necessary security.
For MJ's parents it had been more about safety; it was Africa, after all, and they knew that the trip was going to involve a safari. Which meant they also wanted to make sure the guides would be experts in the field of keeping charging rhinos or hippos away from their charges. Tony had assured them that the same guides that he and Pepper had utilized on their honeymoon were already being procured, and with Shuri along, it was a good bet that they were going to be even more vigilant than before.
With that most urgent of concerns addressed, the rest of the discussion was what to bring and exact times and dates of departure and return. It had been a long conversation, but not a worrisome one. There were marketplaces in Wakanda, Pepper had reminded the parents, and places to buy gifts – as they already knew since all of them had received wood carvings and other souvenirs from the isolationist country. Tony and Stephen – mostly Stephen – had decided that it was going to be alright (and necessary) to let MJ in on the secret of portaling, but if they could avoid letting the parents see it happening, he'd prefer it that way.
"Less questions I have to answer," Strange had said – and the others had agreed.
She might look at the portal like Shuri did – as a form of alien technology – and that was fine, but he didn't want to have the general public aware of the capability of instant access to far flung locations, and the best way to keep people from banging on his door asking for him to portal them to a relative in a distant land was to make sure the fewer people who knew about it, the better.
Parents were convinced to say their goodbyes when Tony and Happy picked the kids up from their homes the evening before they were supposed to 'fly out'. To make the trip that much more first class, Happy brought out the limousine. Not only because it was flashy and impressive, but also because it had room for all the luggage that was going to be needed for the trip. Peter went with Happy and Tony to help carry any heavy bags, and they'd picked up Ned, first.
The boy had been excited and talkative, and he and Peter had loaded the limo while Tony chatted, casually, with Ned's mom. When the boys returned from the street, Ned's mom hugged her son, tightly, reminding him to check in, often, and then hugged Peter, and pointed out to Tony with a smile that if Ned acted up, he could just send him home on a slow camel caravan, or throw him in a box and airmail him back home. Another hug – and maybe a few tears – and they left. Tony assured Ned that he and Pepper would keep a close watch on his family while the boy was gone.
Then they'd gone to get MJ, with similar conversations, hugs, and a promise from Tony to keep an eye on things while the girl was in Wakanda. Now on the way back to the compound MJ was voicing the question that she'd asked a few times during the run up to the trip.
Tony smiled, too. He was sitting across from her, since all three teens had elected to sit beside each other, and he was enjoying the excitement that he could see in their expressions – although he wasn't looking forward to seeing his son leave, even if it was only for six days.
"We'll explain it, later," he promised. Then he changed the subject. "What is Brad going to do over Spring Break without you?"
The girl smiled, rolling her eyes.
"He wanted to come, but he couldn't."
"Flash wanted to come, too," Ned said, grinning. "But we told him that it was limited to just the three of us because T'Challa doesn't want to be responsible for so many foreigners in his country at one time."
Tony knew about Flash, because Peter had told him the same.
"They have to be part of the tribe," he pointed out, amused.
"But we can't tell them about that, right?" Ned replied. "We just tell them that Peter was accepted as a Wakandan because of what he did for Shuri in Syracuse, and no one says anything. Then we point out that I'm Peter's best friend so when he got invited it only made sense that I was invited, too."
"And MJ?" Tony asked.
"Shuri needs to have another girl, there. MJ was a natural choice."
"Brad is going to a band camp thing."
"Band camp?" Tony raised an eyebrow. "That's really a thing?"
Which made all of them smile.
"It is," MJ confirmed. "Brad wants to go to Julliard so he has to go to all the extra classes that he can."
She sounded like a suitably proud girlfriend, and that made Stark smile.
"Well, if he needs a good word when the time comes…"
"You have pull at Julliard?" Ned asked.
The billionaire's smile widened, slightly.
"I have pull everywhere."
MJ snorted.
"I'll remember that."
OOOOOOOOOOOO
Pepper was waiting when the limo pulled to the front of the compound rather than directly into the garage. She smiled at Happy when he stopped the car.
"How was the drive?" she asked, stepping up when he opened his door.
"Quiet," came the smug reply. "I had the partition raised."
She chuckled and reached for the back door just as Tony opened it and smiled at her as he got out.
"Hello, wife."
"Hello, husband."
"Where's my pig?"
"In the lounge having his dinner." She smiled at Peter, who had followed Tony out of the car. "With your cat. Who stole Nick's wallet, by the way, so you need to find it before you leave, this evening…"
"This evening?" MJ echoed, hearing the comment as she and Ned got out of the car. "I thought we were leaving in the morning."
"Depends on Stephen," Tony said. "And T'Challa. He suggested having you guys arrive early morning, Wakanda time, so you might be going this evening."
"If we leave, tonight, we're not going to make it to Wakanda by morning, their time…"
"Sure you are." Stark held up a hand to stop the discussion. "Which we will explain, later. Right now, we need to get your stuff out of the car and into the lounge." He looked at his son. "Peter?"
"I'll take care of it."
"No. You go find Nick's wallet. We'll meet you in the lounge for dinner."
Peter smiled.
"Okay."
"Happy?"
The driver rolled his eyes, but nodded.
"Yeah, I'll take care of it."
Ned grinned.
"I'll help."
"I'm going to go call Stephen," he told the kids – and Happy. "I'll be I the lounge soon."
"Okay."