"I'm busy," Tony said, ignoring Pepper and focusing on a hologram of the latest model or the Iron Man suit. He flicked his wrist and watched as the hologram spun around, trying to think of any improvements he could make.

"But it's important!" Pepper replied, trying to hand Tony a folder.

"So?" Tony countered.

Pepper tapped a button on the side of the desk, turning off the hologram. Tony glared at her, and Pepper shoved him the folder. Tony flipped through it.

"This is just talking about that Dr. Horrible incident. What's important about it?"

"She," Pepper said, tapping a small photo in the corner of the folder, "is Captain Hammer's ex-girlfriend. Her name was Penny Lewis, and she was in the room when the death ray exploded."

"And?"

"She was hit by some shrapnel. They were able to save her and get the larger pieces out, but she has some heading to her heart. She has a week, Tony."

Pepper carefully watched Tony's reaction, hoping it didn't trigger another flashback. Tony lost his bored look and turned more serious.

"They want me to make her an Arc Reactor," he said, understanding.

"Yep. Will you do it?"

"I don't know."

Pepper was surprised at her boss's uncaring reaction. She thought he would be a little more sympathetic since he was in almost the same situation several years ago.

"Pep, I want to help, but do you know the problems that it'll cause? Everyone wants this," here he tapped his arc reactor, "Did you learn nothing with the Obi incident? Placing it in a civilian would cause tons of baddies to go after her."

"So you're just going to let her die?"

"Unless she can afford more than half a dozen bodyguards, she'll probably be dead soon after she gets a reactor."

"You could let her stay here."

"Why?"

"The Avengers are here, and that's more than enough protection. And she doesn't live that far away, so she probably wouldn't mind."

"But-"

"No buts."

"Fine."

Pepper left, leaving Tony alone with his gadgets. Setting the folder on his desk, he set to work.

When Penny opened her eyes, she was met with bright light and the familiar smell of a hospital room.

She lazily opened her eyes, and looked around. This wasn't the room she was previously in, the one where they told her that she had shrapnel headed to her heart and only a week to live. This room was different.

Penny made an attempt to sit up, and in doing so felt an unfamiliar weight on her chest. Looking down, she noticed something strange.

Her chest was glowing.

Through the thin hospital gown, she saw a small, blue, glowing circle. She carefully tapped it, feeling the cool metal.

"Whadda think?" said a voice from the other side of the room. Penny whipped her head around, and let out a gasp.

Tony Stark. The Tony Stark.

Sitting in her hospital room.

Looking back at the glowing circle, she remember where she'd seen something like it.

"It's an Arc Reactor," Tony said, noticing her confusion, "It'll feel funny for a few days, but you'll get used to it."

"Wait, what's going on?" Penny said, confused. This all seemed too much to process so soon after waking up.

"They told you, did they? About the shrapnel?"

Penny nodded.

"They said I only had a week before it reached my heart," she said, trying to keep her emotions under control. She hadn't fully accepted it yet, and didn't want to break down in front of someone like Tony Stark.

"Well, that's the purpose of the reactor. It's a magnet of sorts, and it keeps the shrapnel away from your heart. Looks like you have longer than a week."

Penny let out a breath. So she wouldn't have to accept her death quite as soon as she thought.

"Thanks," she said awkwardly, though a simple thanks felt really inadequate.

"But, there is one thing," Tony began, "The reactor is a very valuable piece of tech-"

"I-I'll try to find some way to repay you."

"Oh, that's not the thing. If I did want payment for that, you would never be able to afford it anyways. That thing cost millions."

Penny's eyes widened, and Tony smirked at her reaction.

"But that's not the thing. There are some people who really would like to get their hands on that, and you being, how do I put this nicely, a defenseless wimp, would probably get into trouble as soon as you walked out of this room. There are people willing to kill for that."

"What's going to happen to me?"

"I have one suggestion. You could stay at Avengers Tower."

"R-really? With the Avengers?"

"It's the safest place in the world, but it's up to you," Tony said with a shrug, and stood, "I'll give you some time to think about it."

He exited, and Penny let out a deep breath.

She now was relying on a circle in her chest to keep her alive, and she might possibly be moving in with the Avengers. On top of everything else, all of that seemed like a lot to deal with.

Well, at least life won't be boring.

A/N: So, I watched Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog for the very first time today, and I loved it. But I couldn't just leave things where they left off, so I wrote this. I'm not quite fully satisfied with how this came out, I may or may not rewrite it later.

Anyways, some things first. I've changed the location of the Dr. H movie from LA to New York for this fic, for reasons. And I get I'm pushing the limits or reality with Penny surviving the explosion, but I just had to make her live. We should be seeing where Dr. H is soon, and maybe see some other Avengers.

Also, reviews are appreciated. I don't really think I nailed down Tony, Pepper, or Penny's personality that well, so any comments on that would be lovely.