PROLOGUE

[THE NIGHT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING]

1988

TWO CHILDREN SAT IN the waiting room of a hospital, both listening to a mixtape on their walkmans. Penelope Quill bopped her head to the chorus of Hooked On A Feeling, one of her favorite songs on the mixtape that her mother had made for her. Meredith Quill had always loved music, it had been the only good thing in her life until she had her two children. Once Peter and Penelope we're old enough, Meredith played all of her favorite songs from when she was their age, and just as their mother had loved them, the twins loved them as well.

Penelope looked over at her twin brother, a bruise surrounding his eye. Her brother was a sweet kid who struggled to get along with the other boys his age. She once shared her concerns with him, saying that he should at least try to see eye-to-eye with their fellow classmates, but Peter has dismissed her and said that he didn't need any friends when he had her, his twin sister, the person who understood him more then anyone else.

She couldn't fight him on that. She didn't feel the need to have any friends either. She had Peter and her mother, and to her, that was enough.

But the way things were looking, Penelope wouldn't have her mother by her side much longer.

Penelope could still remember the day her mother told her she was sick. She had sat her and Peter down on their living room couch and had told her children that she had cancer. She had told them that this didn't mean that they were going to lose her. Meredith had told her kids that she was going to fight back against this disease and win.

A few months later the doctors had determined that her cancer was terminal and that Meredith was not going to win this fight.

It had only taken a few days for Meredith to be on the verge of death, which was why Penelope and Peter were currently sitting in the waiting room, waiting for their grandfather to come and tell them it was time to say goodbye. They had been waiting for days, anticipating the impending death, but none of them were ready to say goodbye. Meredith was the light in all of their lives. The person that was the glue holding this family together and without the glue, they would all fall apart.

Penelope watched as their grandfather walked out of their mother's room, a somber expression on his face. She took the headphones off her head and turned her Walkman off. She turned towards her brother and tapped his shoulder, letting him know it was time. Peter took his headphones off his head and grabbed his sisters hand, clutching it for dead life.

Their grandfather studied the twins and sighed, "Peter, Penelope, your mama wants to speak with you two." Peter and Penelope got up from their seats, still clutching to each other's hand, and followed their grandfather into their mother's room.

When Penelope saw her mother, she gasped. The last time she had saw her mother, Meredith still had color in her cheeks, a warm smile gracing her lips. But now Meredith was lying down on the hospital bed, pain crossing her features. When she saw her children, she tried to bring a smile to her face, but Penelope thought it looked more like a grimace.

Her mother took in both of their appearances and sighed when she saw her brothers bruised eye. "Why have you been fighting with the other boys again, baby?"Peter shrugged his shoulders and took a step towards their mother. "Peter?"

"It wasn't his fault, mama," Penelope quickly came to her brother's defense. "Those boys killed a frog. The squished it with a stick."

Meredith held out her hand towards her daughter and Penelope carefully took it. "You're both so much like your daddy," Meredith said thoughtfully. "You even look like him. And he was an angel. Composed of pure light."

Penelope watched Meredith close her eyes in content, remembering the twins' father. Penelope had always asked her mother about the man who had abandoned her, but Meredith was still hurt over the situation and refused to answer any questions her kids had.

"If he was an angel, then why did he leave us behind?" mumbled Penelope. Meredith still had her eyes closed and she knew that her mother had not heard her words. Behind her, her grandfather had cleared his throat and gave Penelope a disapproving look.

"Mer? You got presents for Peter and Penelope, don't you?" reminded her grandfather. Meredith opened her eyes and nodded.

Penelope watched as her mother grabbed two wrapped presents and set them in her lap. She watched as her grandfather took the presents from their mother and put them in their backpacks. "There, I've got you both covered."

Meredith looked at her children, tears in her eyes. She clutched tightly to their hands, almost like she was afraid that she was going to lose them both if she let go.

"You both open them when I'm gone, okay?" Penelope felt her eyes swell with tears and she looked away. She noticed that her brother was feeling the exact same was that she was. This was the goodbye they both had been dreading. A goodbye they were not ready for. "Your grandpa is going to take such good care of you both. At least until your daddy comes back to get you."

Peter let go of their mother's hand and began to cry. Their mother still held her hand out, waiting for him to take it again. "Take my hand," she said. Her voice had begun to grow quiet, showing that their mother was growing weaker. "Peter."

"Pete, come on," said their grandfather. He took a step towards the three of them.

"Take my hand," whispered their mother. Penelope watched as their mother's eyes closed, her hand dropping down beside her.

Penelope's eyes widened and the heart monitor that was hooked up to their mother was no longer showing a pulse. Penelope let out a scream and rushed towards her mother. She wrapped her arms around her mother and refused to let her go.

In the background, she could hear her brother's screams of no. Neither had been ready to lose their mother. Neither were ready to say goodbye. But now that she was actually gone, it felt like a part of them had died too.

Doctors rushed into the room, and Penelope felt someone wrap their arms around her waist, trying to get the girl away from her dead mother. But she wouldn't let go, she just couldn't.

"Come on, Nellie," her grandfather said. She could hear the sadness in his voice. "You gotta let her go."

"No!" she screamed. Tears were falling down her cheeks and soaking her mother's hospital gown. Her grandfather pulled her against him and she felt her grasp on her mother loosen. Penelope flailed against the older man, but it was no use to fight back.

Her grandfather took her out of the hospital room and set her down on the ground. He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him.

"I'm going to go back in there, okay?" he said. Penelope tried to get around him to go back into the room, but his grip on her stopped her. "Pete is around here somewhere. I want you to go find him and stay with him."

Penelope nodded her head. Her grandfather left her standing in the hallway outside of her mother's room. She could hear the doctors and nurses speaking inside, but she couldn't make out their words.

She went back to the waiting room, and searched for her brother, but there was no sign of him. She knew that whenever he was upset, Peter always went outside to try to calm down, so she went outside the hospital to try to find him.

Once she was outside, she looked around. She spotted her brother on his knees, sobs racking his entire body. She began to walk towards him, but stopped in shock as a light surrounded him. Penelope watched as Peter began to rise in the air. His screams of help broke her out of her trance and she began to run towards him. But it was futile. There was no way she was going to get to him in time.

Penelope watched as her brother disappeared into what seemed to be a spaceship. She watched as the spaceship took off with her brother inside. She dropped down to her knees, tears streaming down her face.

"PETER!"

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed! This is slightly better then the summary, but it's still not my best, so I might rewrite this later. This chapter was sad to write, but also necessary because in order to understand Penelope, you have to understand her backstory. The next chapter will be the beginning of Thor, and I cannot wait for Penelope and Thor to meet. P.S. this chapter has not been edited yet, so I'm sorry for any mistakes.