"What are you doing?"

If he was annoyed by the constant contact and checking in by Tony, Peter didn't show it in his smile, the billionaire noticed. It was a good thing, because even though he knew that he was being the epitome of a helicopter parent, he couldn't help himself. There had just been too many issues, too many dangers. Peter was almost always on his mind and so was his safety. Maybe when the boy was 40, he would loosen that hold a little – but probably not.

"We're looking through the stuff we found in the mine." To emphasize that, he held up a little bag. Which Tony recognized from their time searching through the mines, before. "And hiding from an elephant," Peter added.

"The bull elephant?"

"Yeah. He's in the area and is the reason we had to come back here to for the rest of the day instead of eating at the mines and then coming back at our leisure. Chai and the others are worried that he might come after someone if we get too close."

"I didn't realize elephants are so dangerous," Pepper said, looking a little confused – and worried. "We didn't have anything like that happen when we were there."

"No," Peter shrugged, and he didn't look worried at all. Or annoyed to have the interruption in his trip. "I guess it doesn't happen all that often like this. But it's not really a big deal. We can keep clear of it when it's around, and we can still do the stuff we're scheduled to do – for the most part."

"They can't just move it?"

Peter smiled.

"Not really. It isn't like the elephant is doing anything wrong; that's just how they get sometimes. And it'd be pretty dangerous to have someone come in and try to tranquilize it to be able to get close enough to move it. Not to mention it weighs a lot. Besides, Chai said it would just come back, since this is where all the girl elephants are."

"You don't want me to come out and clear it?"

"No."

Not only because it was risky to Tony, but because he didn't want to risk the elephant being hurt, either.

"What did you guys find in the mine?" Pepper asked, ready to change the subject.

"We're still looking through it all," their son told them. "But Ned found a lot of stuff. He's pretty good at mining, apparently."

"A skill to fall back on if guy in the chair doesn't work out for him, huh?" Tony asked, smiling.

"Right."

"Are you having a good time?" Pepper asked.

"Yeah. Are you guys working, today?"

"I'm going to the tower," Pepper replied. "Tony will be here."

"Have you heard anything from Natasha and the others?"

Tony was the one who shook his head.

"They've landed," he told their son. Then he frowned. "Have you been getting any vibes?"

Peter didn't need to know it, but one of the reasons Tony wasn't going to the tower was because he wanted to be available in case something came up and he was needed in Columbia. Not that he didn't trust that Romanoff could handle herself – especially with the people that she'd taken with her – but he liked to be ready for anything.

She'd taught him that, after all.

Peter's smile told them he wasn't worried, and he shook his head.

"No. Nothing."

"Go finish looking through your booty, son," Tony told him, cheerfully. "We're going to go have some breakfast and get ready for our day."

An amused snort.

"Chat with you later."

The call ended and Tony looked at Pepper.

"Feel better?"

She rolled her eyes, amused, since he'd been the one that suggested they call Peter before beginning their day.

"Yes. Thank you."

He pressed a kiss against her cheek and got to his feet.

"I'll go get breakfast ordered."

"Thank you."

OOOOOOOOOOO

Peter walked over to the table that had been set up near the fire – although at the time the fire wasn't lit since it was still warm. Warm enough that there was an large umbrella set up, as well, to block the bright sunlight. Ned, MJ, and Shuri were all sitting at the table, with Chai and another guide looking over their shoulders as they sorted through the piles of dirt and rock that had come from their bags. Peter seated himself beside Shuri and pulled his bag out to dump it on the table as well.

"What are Tony and Pepper doing?" Ned asked, looking up when Peter sat down.

"Pepper's getting ready to go to the tower. Tony's hanging out at the compound, today." He smiled. "He offered to come and move that bull elephant for us."

Ned wasn't the only one to grin at that.

"Move it where?"

"Wherever we aren't. I told him not to worry about it," he added, knowing that they all knew that Tony wasn't above doing just that – and was more than capable of the attempt. "What are you finding? Anything good?"

There were murmurs of excitement as they all started sifting through their piles, again, and showing Peter – and each other – what they'd pulled out of the various areas of the mine that they'd explored. For the most part everything looked like rocks to the kids, but shaped in a manner that had suggested it was worth digging out of the rock walls – or just picking up from the floor of whatever tunnel they'd been in. Peter was looking forward to sorting through the bag he set on the table. Not so much for the value of whatever he found, but because he was hoping to find more gems and maybe trying making more jewelry, like the bracelet that he'd made Pepper.

Only this time something for Shuri.

He dumped his bag on the table in front of him and started sorting, too.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Have you heard from Natasha?"

Stephen shook his head, setting the paper down and looking at Wong.

"Not, yet. She told me that I most likely won't. To avoid being a distraction when she doesn't need one."

It wasn't the first mission that she'd gone on since the two of them had started seeing each other, so he wasn't too concerned that she would be distracted by him, but he would wait until she called him.

"Sounds right." Wong sat down at the breakfast bar.

"Have you heard from Peter? Or Tony?"

"Peter, no. Tony called a half hour ago and asked me if I knew a way to move an elephant without hurting it – and without letting Peter know that I did it."

The magician frowned.

"Why did he ask you that?" he asked. "Did you ask him?"

"Of course I did." The sorcerer supreme smirked. "Apparently there is a randy bull elephant in the area where Peter and company are having their safari and it's posing something of a problem to their schedule. Tony told me that he offered to come and relocate it, but Peter already told him it's fine and they're still having fun, even confined to their shielded area like they are."

"Randy elephant, huh?"

"Apparently so."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him that moving the thing would be simple. Hiding that from Peter would most likely be impossible."

"True. What are you doing today?"

"I'm going to stick around here – in case someone needs me."

He obviously meant Peter or Natasha but didn't mention either by name.

"I'm going to go to China," Wong told him. "In case you need me."

"I appreciate that."