To Last Forever

Ch. 3

Tony's POV

After sending Ross some lovely little poems Peter and I found online, we destroyed each bug. We dumped the remains in the dumpster behind the compound just to be sure Ross couldn't overhear anything then went back down to the lab. We brought the Thai take-out we had ordered, too. I unlocked the door but made FRIDAY keep the black-out screens all around so no one could see in. Steve and his team came out from the emergency room I had put in the lab in case we were ever attacked. As soon as they saw all the bags of Thai, they swarmed the desk we had put them on.

"What did Ross want?" Steve asked, joining Peter and I on the lab couch. Peter glanced up at Steve but continued eating his food happily.

"He knows you guys are here," I told him quietly so the others wouldn't hear. "He got a tip somehow. I got him to leave, but I wouldn't put it above him to check every inch of this place as soon as we disappear." Steve nodded, putting on his I'm-Steve-Rogers-And-I'm-Coming-Up-With-A-Plan face. I rolled my eyes as he begin to think and turned to face Peter. "You remember Prince T'Challa?" I asked. Peter furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. I had forgotten he never officially met the others, just got thrown into the battle. "Right, he was the giant black cat with the sharp claws." I made a claw with my hands and Peter snorted.

"What about him?" Peter asked.

"He's flying in soon," I answered. Peter didn't seem surprised. I mean, I guess I had brought the rest of the team here. I doubted much could surprise him in terms of bringing people to the compound. "He's bringing his sister, she's about your age. Said she was tech savvy and could probably help us out. Be nice to her, she's a princess and I don't need foreign ambassadors calling to say my kid offended the Wakandan princess." Peter rolled his eyes but nodded.

"Sure," he agreed.

We had all finished our food within the hour. We were catching up on all that had happened when FRIDAY alerted me T'Challa had arrived. I motioned for Peter to come with me and he slumped against the couch.

"Fine," I said, standing up. "Don't come meet them. Remember, if you offend them, I'll disown you." It was an empty threat and Peter knew that, so I didn't worry about it as I walked out of the lab and up to the landing pad to greet T'Challa and his team. If their jet was any indication on how tech savvy this princess was, I knew it was a smart move to bring them in. "Your highness, welcome," I greeted. T'Challa smiled and nodded, glancing around the compound grounds.

"Thank you for inviting us to join," he replied. He glanced at the two women on either side of him. One was wearing a white dress while the other wore a more traditional African dress with bright colors and patterns. "This is my little sister Shuri and this is Nakia," he introduced. I nodded at both of them. T'Challa never got offended when I didn't bow, so I didn't bother. "Okoye is flying our jet back to Wakanda."

"Great," I said. "I'm Tony Stark. Follow me and I'll introduce you to the rest of the team." I walked back down into the compound and led them to the lab, telling FRIDAY to give them access to the lab. The door slid open and I walked in to see everyone just how I had left them: talking among themselves and food containers littering the lab. I'd have to remember to have Dummy clean those up. "Attention!" I called. Everyone stopped their conversations and turned to look at me and the three Wakandans. Only Wanda seemed apprehensive to see T'Challa again, but I hadn't expected anything different. She wasn't one who was quick to trust people. Especially those that had previously tried to hurt her no matter if it was unintentional or not. "This is Prince--"

"King, now, actually," T'Challa corrected. I hid my surprise and continued.

"Fine, go ahead and introduce yourselves," I said, stepping back so they could have front stage.

"Hi, my name is Shuri with a B and I've been afraid of insects my entire--" Against everything I had told him in the past two hours, Peter interrupted the princess with a grin.

"Stop, stop, stop. Where?" Peter asked. I mean, sure, Shuri probably didn't have a 'B' in it, but Peter shouldn't have interrupted! Now I'm gonna have a grumpy princess and her equally upset brother on me for the rest of this mission.

"Hmm?" Shuri hummed, grinned just as big as Peter. Something was up and apparently I wasn't in on it. I glanced at the others, but they all seemed just as confused. T'Challa looked more irritated than confused.

"Where's the B?" Peter asked.

"There's a bee?" Shuri replied. Suddenly, they broke into laughter and pointed at each other. "Hey! I like you!" Shuri exclaimed. Peter grinned.

"Yeah, right back at 'cha," he replied. T'Challa took a deep breath then continued the introductions.

"I'm King T'Challa and this is Nakia," he said, motioning towards Nakia. Steve introduced his team and that just left Rhodey and Peter. Rhodey introduced himself and everyone looked at Peter who had been animatedly talking to Shuri ever since their strange greeting.

"This is Peter," I told T'Challa and Nakia. Shuri obviously wasn't paying attention and I figured she already knew his name anyway. They were probably in the same cult together. "He's my kid and he'll probably be working with us in the lab." Nakia nodded, but T'Challa looked quite puzzled.

"I did not know you had a son," he told me. I shrugged, stuffing my hands in my pockets and looking back over at Peter. I smiled, seeing him talking happily with Shuri. He had slowly become happier since May's death, but I still enjoyed seeing him happy whenever he was even if it was just for a second.

"Adopted," I clarified, not taking my eyes off of Peter for a few more seconds. When I did, I noticed T'Challa smiling at his sister as well. "Well, we should probably talk plans," I said, clapping my hands together to get T'Challa's attention.

"Yes, let's."