Disclaimer: Nope, just a fanfiction writer. I would be a man, if I owned it, wouldn't I? So nope.
Story: Penelope Parker had a habit of picking up strays and attracting the wrong kind of men.
Set after various episodes.
Spoilers: Probably.
Warnings: Cursing and violence for now…hm, just in case since I'm usually writing it, bit of crazy humor, perverted humor, morbid or sarcastic humor, and maybe some sexual situations…
Pairings: Features Fem!Peter/Various Others, (main) Fem!Peter/Flint Marko (Sandman), Fem!Peter/Norman Osborn, Fem!Peter/Dr. Connors, Fem!Peter/Kraven

Love in Hopeless Places
Chapter Two: Strange Magnetism

Amadeus Cho was the seventh smartest person in the world. So, for once, he was very stumped.

Penny Parker was somehow magnetized. That's the only explanation he could give as to why she attracted the unlikeliness of people to her. It wasn't that he didn't understand the appeal or found himself drawn to her as well…

Penny was kind, smart (he was surprised in that while she didn't get it as fast as he did, she always seemed to understand in the end), sweet, and almost always understanding. He was tempted to call her a Mary Sue if it weren't for the fact he knew her glaring errors –she was too trusting, naïve sometimes, tended to be selfless to the point of dangerousness to herself, and very impulsive in regards to things. She could be pretty cocky and overconfident (and joked around too much, especially around villains), but she was also able to admit she was wrong more easily than Amadeus could. She knew how to be humble and to accept her mistakes, and it was something he was both admirable and envious of her for.

But what Amadeus meant, in any case, was that there were certain people (a certain type) that seemed to be softened by her when they really shouldn't be (nor could he –or anyone else –expect it of them).

Of all the heroes, Penny seemed to get the strangest villains.

Villains that tended to give her slack or even soften up towards her. Not all of them, mind you. But enough to be noticeable to Amadeus. Vulture for instance. Something Penny had said or done (or both) in the past to him had reached him enough that even through Doc Ock's mind control, he managed to break through and get them to save Sandman.

Who was a whole other story.

There was Rhino, currently traitor and villain, but still someone who heeded and cared about Penny even from the other side. He had also heard rumors of something of Electro too. And don't get him started on the non-villains, like he heard of Iron Man and Captain America! And getting back to Sandman…

There was something in the way Flint Marko acted towards Penny and the way he talked to her and about her that made him tilt his head and examine the situation a little more. Back on that island where Doc Ock had been keeping Flint captive, the man seemed completely unlike the files he'd read up on. And when Penny came into the hidden base, there was a different light to the man's eyes, while simultaneously his whole demeanor became more confident and happier and with his face brightening up slightly.

He didn't need to be a genius to figure that one out.

Penny also seemed to hold a connection to Norman Osborn, who tended to drop by the base these days to check up on his comatose son a lot. Penny as herself seemed to come close to the usually stern (sometimes caustic) man, who only seemed to soften up and let down his guard around her. And well, Amadeus could already remember the way Harry Osborn was around Penny back in school. The apple didn't fall far from the tree, it seemed.

There was also Flash, who had become amusingly and entertainingly competitive with Osborn Jr. when Harry had been recruited and was being shown the ropes of being a junior hero. Flash's jealousy when it came to Penny only showed just how much the blond had gotten attached to his former bullied victim.

He also couldn't help looking close at her and Dr. Connors, who seemed to have some sort of special relationship with Penny and was close enough to her that they were able to work together seamlessly in the lab whenever Penny seemed to be with him and would even help out.

And all that was nothing to say on the strange connection she had to The Collector. Now that was something he had to take a step back and stare at, because having one of the Elders of the universe simply be so attached to a person was nothing to scoff at. The Collector, during the events of the Contests of Champions, hadn't bothered to hide his attachment and favoritism of Penny, and his brother hadn't bothered to keep quiet about it either. In fact, The Grandmaster explicitly commented several times on Penny being The Collector's favorite and how much he seemed to adore her.

But Amadeus could at least feel some sympathy for her, since the draw to her wasn't always a good thing either. Sometimes it was uncomfortable or even downright creepy. After all, Doc Ock's persistent attention on her must be both exasperating and probably disturbing. Kraven the Hunter too –who while might be a personal enemy of White Tiger, seemed to have an unhealthy interest in Penny. He tended to be unnecessarily tenacious coming after Penny in their encounters, and of which sometimes seemed too…intimate? He wasn't sure if he should (or wanted to) use that word, but it was what he could think of then.

It really didn't even matter if the draw to her was platonic or infatuation (worse if it was obsessive and creepy-like). Penny just seemed to be cursed in this way, and didn't even notice it at all.

Sometimes he just wanted to shake her and point it out to her, so that she wouldn't get herself into these kinds of situations or get herself in trouble because of all these connections she inadvertently created with so many unlikely characters.

He also realized that it was probably for the best that she didn't know or find out about it either. Who knows what would happen, and he didn't want her feeling in any way bad for things becoming like they were or to freak out about it either.

He also had a feeling the others were content in her not knowing moreover. After all, it meant she didn't have to act or choose, confront any of them, and they certainly wouldn't want her to feel upset about any of it themselves.

But if it were him…

"Amadeus?"

He really like the way his name came out of her lips. He tapped his fingers against the monitor and watched as it added her score, before getting up and getting his bowling ball.

"Don't lose, Penny," he smirked at her.

The brunette laughed and gave him a challenging grin. "Me? Lose? As if!"

Yes, he knew that it was for the best. If she did ever find out about the way things were, it might just change things for everyone. And he was sure the others wouldn't be happy about that at all, and who knows what that would mean for the future and for Penny and everyone.

She was oblivious, but that was probably a good thing.

Amadeus had put his thoughts on Penny's strange pull out of his head after that, but couldn't help thinking about it once more when he came to Dr. Connors' lab a few days later and saw the two of them together. It was like he had noted before and had thought about.

Dr. Connors had his hand at the small of her back as they bent their heads together to examine whatever it was between them on the table. Their voices were low and soft, and barely any space was created between them.

It seemed innocent enough, but there was just this feeling of intimacy in the air that was hard to ignore.

Amadeus obviously felt like an intruder and kept quiet, not allowing any sound to betray his presence and bring their attention to him. Instead, he quietly backtracked and then left the two to their own devices once more as he fled from the lab.

That hadn't been the last of it either. It seemed like he kept running into these situations over and over. The next time he witnessed something like this, he saw Penny and Flint to the side of the Triskelion, where the area that once housed Flint had been. They were speaking, but he couldn't make out what they were saying.

Flint lifted up a hand, transforming it into sand and then creating something out of it. It took a few moments, but when he was done, there was a lemur-ish monkey form that had Penny bursting out laughing while Flint looked amused and was grinning. Amadeus was confused and was practically dying to find out what they were saying to each other and to what led to this moment, more so when Flint ended up using his other hand to create a sand figure of Penny as Spidergirl.

It made him want to come over and ask what they were doing. He almost did too, right up until Flint's face changed into a softer look and the man was murmuring something that had Penny looking at him in surprise and a light blush decorating her cheeks. Amadeus took an involuntary step back as he watched Flint lean forward and place a soft kiss on a bewildered Penny's forehead. He watched them locked in that pose for a moment, before he turned on his heel and walked away.

When he saw Penny later, she was training and doing a good job at dodging without attacking back. He almost interrupted and wanted to reprimand her for not attacking, when he realized that the more he watched the more he realized she was purposely sticking to this method. She was working on her evasion skill and seemed to be getting more and more impressive with each movement she made to escape the blasts her way. It almost looked like a dance.

"Penny, you got a minute?" he asked when she stopped and was panting a bit as she started to reassess her success at the battle simulation.

Surprised but not off put by his presence, Penny turned around and faced him. "Amadeus! Hey! What's up?"

"I wanted to ask you about something," he asked quietly, and at her encouraging nod, he tried to gather his thoughts. "Do you ever notice…"

Amadeus wasn't sure what to say. How to actually ask what he wasn't even sure how to put into words.

"Amadeus?" Penny prompted and he looked to her to see one of her usual happy, bright smiles and he backed down again.

He forced a smile out, deciding on switching to talking about what he just noticed. "Do you ever notice how much you put into dodging your opponent's attacks and attacking as non-lethal as possible? You really should put more effort into defending and attacking aggressively, Penny!"

"Lecturing me about that again?" Penny took it good-naturedly, her grin strong on her face. "Ah, come on! I thought we went over this already!"

But then her face grew serious and her grin went softer on him, and he felt himself stiffen up.

"If I did so, could some of them have had the second chances they needed?"

That took him aback and he found himself trying to reply but having nothing to say. Penny didn't wait for him.

"Every villain has their own stories to be told," Penny started wisely. "Not all of them started out bad, and sometimes they just need a chance taken on them. It may take some time, but there are those who will want that second chance, Amadeus."

Amadeus uncomfortably nodded. "Yeah, I know. I should have learned my lesson with that with Flint, huh. It's just…a strange concept."

Penny lightened up and started to laugh a bit, shaking her head at him.

"It probably is! But sometimes you just gotta find it in you to believe in yourself and others!"

And that was probably the most beautiful thing about Penny. Her ability to believe in others, even those who would be believed too far gone.

Started 4/29/16 – Completed 5/1/16

A/n: Aw, you guys are awesome! I'm really happy to know people are interested. I always gauge the interest in a story/chapter by reviews, so please keep it up and remember to review! They always motivate me and make me giddy to read!

Quick Points:

1. Planned guys so far: Flint, Dr. Connors, Norman Osborn, Kraven (the main focuses), and then there's Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Harry Osborn, Flash Thompson, and with many others in thought (and requests pending).

2. This chapter: was my original idea for this story and was going to be the first chapter since it conceived the whole thing (minus the slight hint of Amadeus/fem!Peter), but I like Flint way too much and was eager to write about him since there's nothing in the archive.

Anon Reviews:

1. Guest 1: I already had Agent Venom/Flash in mind so you can definitely count on that, but I'll try to come up with something (though it might be a bit hard for me, considering I was introduced to the concept that he might be Peter's long lost brother or something early on, so that's sort of stuck in my head) for Scarlet Spider.

2. Leska: Thanks! I'm definitely continuing~

3. Guest 2: Thank you~ More is definitely coming right your way.