"This is pretty cool…"

MJ nodded her agreement, looking down at the little pile of semi precious stones she'd accumulated. Nothing large, and all of them would need to actually be cut and polished before they would look anything like the stones they'd find on jewelry, but the thought that they had mined these gems themselves was pretty neat.

"Yeah." She held up two similarly sized rocks that Chai had confirmed were sapphires. "I wonder what it will cost to make these into earrings…"

"You would look good in them," Shuri told her.

MJ smiled at that but shook her head.

"I'd give them to my mom for her birthday."

"She'd like them," Peter agreed. "I made the bracelet I gave Pepper, so I don't know what it would cost." Tony had had the earrings he'd given Pepper done professionally and he'd almost certainly spent a fortune going all out for her. MJ wouldn't have those resources, but he did have a suggestion. "I suppose you could always give the jeweler some of the other stones if it costs more than you have."

"That's a good idea."

"That's a pretty good diamond, Shuri," Ned said, reaching over and picking up the stone that the princess had found. It was large, now, and would lose some of the size being cut, but it was still going to be a nice rock. "What are you going to do with it?"

Shuri smiled.

"I may have something commissioned for my mother." She had a suggestion, as well, though. "The mining tribe have many skilled artisans," she told MJ – and the others. "A commission with them may take longer than having it done at home, but the workmanship would be well worth the wait."

"Not to mention they would give you a better bargain because you are part of the new tribe," Chai added.

"I wouldn't mind waiting," MJ said, looking at Shuri. "How would I get in touch with someone from them to ask?"

"And what doo you think it would cost?" Ned added. "I don't have any goats but I did save some Christmas money so I could have someone buy some for me."

"It would depend on what you want," Shuri told them all – including Peter, since she knew he had a few potentially nice gems in his stack. I could contact T'Challa or mother and ask one of them to contact the tribe and request a representative or a craftsperson to meet us at the palace when we are done with our safari. That would give them time to get there and not feel as if they are being summoned."

Which would not be the best way to begin a business deal, Peter knew.

"That sounds like a good plan," Ned agreed. "If it takes awhile and it's more than I have, that'll give me time to earn some money doing some odd jobs, or something."

"Nick could probably find something to around the compound," Peter told him – and MJ, in case she was interested. "If it's a commission for your mom you don't want to make the money from her, or it would be like she's paying for it."

Peter would just offer to give them the money they would need, but he knew that if it was him, he'd want to pay for a gift himself. It meant more that way.

"True."

"Think he will?" Ned asked.

"I'll ask him when I talk to him, next."

There was little doubt that something could be found to be done. Even if it was helping in the kitchen or something like that.

"Sweet." Ned looked at Shuri. "You'll ask?"

She smiled.

"As soon as we are finished eating dinner."

Since they'd only just had lunch, it would still be a while, but that was fine for all of them. Once they were done with their bags of loot from the mine they planned on going hiking and taking a look around. They wouldn't be under the shield the entire time, but they would be with the guides who were armed with enough firepower to keep them safe from anything that might come up and were experienced enough to know how to avoid the foreseeable dangers.

"Thanks."

"Yeah, thanks."

OOOOOOOOOO

"How often do you guys do something like this?"

"Not as often as you might think," Steve told Bucky. They were sitting in a small room, apparently lounging and relaxing from their trip – although all of them were very aware of their surroundings. Even when they were in what should be a safe house. "We try to maintain contact through media; phone calls, emails, and texts. But sometimes face to face becomes necessary, and it's safer for our people for us to go to them, at times."

"And Steve doesn't know how to use his email account," Clint added from the other side of the room where he was working his way through a loaf of fresh bread that he'd bought from a vendor just outside the airstrip where they'd landed the jet when they'd arrived. It was still warm from the oven and he liked it best that way. "So it's easier for him, most of the time, to just come and talk to his people."

"I know how to use my email account," Steve protested.

"It's the cell phone that gives him troubles," Natasha said, smirking at the way Rogers scowled – even though she knew he didn't mind being teased.

Especially when there was a little grain of truth to it.

Barnes smiled at his friend, amused.

"And if something comes up and it turns out to be serious?"

He wasn't really concerned – because none of them seemed to be. However, he knew that they were very good at what they do – and so was he – so it didn't hurt to know what they would consider their next step if things were more than they appeared.

"Then we take care of things."

"Without force if we can," Romanoff added. "We're not down here to start any wars. I just want to make sure my people are safe and can continue doing what they're doing."

"Gotcha."

"The meeting is in a few hours," She told him, unnecessarily. "I'll have you and Clint be backup."

"Nat likes to intimidate, so she'll play bad cop to Steve's good cop," Clint explained. "Usually she doesn't need to once they see Steve. Then they're usually falling all over themselves to get a photo or an autograph. You know how that goes."

Bucky smirked.

"I do, indeed."

OOOOOOOOOOO

"The guides aren't nervous about being outside the shield?" Ned asked, looking around as he and Peter walked next to each other.

They were outside the shield, now, and walking as a group – although they didn't have any particular destination. They were simply trying to get a chance to see anything interesting before the sun started going lower and would force them back under the protection of the shield that protected them – mostly at night – from anything that might be attracted to their fire.

And anything else that might pose a danger to the princess of Wakanda and three of the members of the newest tribe.

"I think they're more worried about having us outside the shield," Peter said, reaching a hand out to catch Shuri's arm right before she stumbled on a bit of uneven ground. "They're responsible for us, after all, and I imagine it wouldn't go well for them if something eats us."

Shuri smiled a thank you for the assistance and nodded her agreement.

"It is a great honor for them, of course," she said. "But I am certain that you are correct. If they had their way, I am sure we would have stayed at camp."

"Boring," MJ said, waling over in time to hear the last part – if not the rest of the conversation. "Check this out."

Ned rolled his eyes but took the stone from her.

"What is it?"

"Shark tooth."

Peter was interested, immediately.

"Really? In the middle of Africa?"

"There used to be a prehistoric lake here," MJ said, looking impressed with herself. "Chai said that it's not so uncommon to find fossils from sea creatures if you get lucky and find the right spot."

"That's cool," Peter said, reaching for the tooth. "You can start some kind of collection, or something."

"Yeah." She frowned, just as Peter heard a noise that seemed to be coming from a scattering of low-lying bushes. "What was that?"

The others all stopped – including the guides, of course. They had all heard the soft noise.

"Think it's the bull elephant?" Ned asked, stepping up and making a motion that put Shuri and MJ behind him.

Something Peter did, as well. Of course, he had a vibranium suit if he needed it. Ned didn't.

"No. We'd know if it was the elephant," Peter said, looking over as Chai stepped forward, unslinging the energy rifle he was carrying. "Right, Chai?"

"It is not an elephant," the older man agreed. "Stay here."

The teens watched as the Dora Milage formed a guarding barrier between them and whatever the potential threat was, and two guides moved forward, carefully, weapons at the ready. Chai vanished behind a brush as he knelt down, and the other guide remained standing, now looking around, carefully.

"What is it?" Shuri asked, stepping up since the guides didn't seem to be too concerned about danger.

They weren't rushing them back to the camp, anyway.

"Looks like an injured lion cub," came the reply.