It's Whumptober day 29!!! I'm trying to post on mobile so I don't have to wait until tonight to update...hopefully it works!

Seizure

Natasha Romanoff hadn't had any intention of becoming involved with Stark's little pet spider. Ever. The girl had joined them in Germany, fighting pretty well, but then Natasha had been on the run with Steve and she hadn't been able to give the girl much though. She knew almost nothing about Spidergirl except for what she saw on the news and what Stark had told her. It was a girl. She was on the younger side. That was about it. And that was all Natasha needed to know. She didn't really care. Stark could sort his own stuff out, and she would deal with hers. Including living in secret with Steve, Sam, and Wanda.

She missed Clint. They'd taken up residence in an abandoned building in the bad part of town, none of them too worried about people breaking in. She'd dyed her hair blonde to keep people from recognizing her, while Wanda just generally didn't go outside during the day. Steve was in an on-again, off-again relationship with that cellphone he'd given Stark, occasionally giving updates, and Stark had sent them some money a few times, usually cash in an envelope to a PO Box, and they used it to buy food and stay hidden. Stark was working on getting them an untraceable apartment but until then, they were squatters.

As far as she knew, Ross was still after them. Still wanted to lock them up on the Raft and kill them or torture them or something. She had contacts all over the globe, a thousand ways to disappear...and she was about fifty six percent sure that Stark was on their side and wouldn't let them die on a floating prison in the middle of nowhere, which weren't the worst odds she'd ever had to live with. So she dyed her hair and wore different clothes and didn't make eye contact with the hooligans that criminals that lived in their new neighborhood. She played cards with Wanda and strategized with Steve and Sam and read books in Russian and English and tried to pick up more Spanish. Anything to pass the time. Natasha Romanoff was an expert at passing time without being detected.

She was out on a walk. The apartment filled with their sleeping bags and meager possessions was getting too stuffy, even for her, so she left without a word, climbing out the window into a back alley and started to walk, feet taking her toward Queens. That's where the Spider girl was...right? Queens. It wasn't a conscious decision. She was just walking.

Who was she kidding? All her decisions were conscious. Thought out. Calculating.

It was nearing six o'clock, and she walked like a woman getting worried about being out late in the dark and the cold. To do otherwise would be to stand out. So she hunched and held her bag close and glanced into alleys, all the while looking up. She didn't care much about Stark's pet spider, but she was human, and humans were curious.

Curiosity killed the cat.

Satisfaction brought it back.

None of the others had asked where she was going. They never did. Sometimes she called Clint from a pay phone and listened to him grumble about Stark then talk about his family. He was her best friend, as far as she could have best friends, and so she didn't remind him that he'd made his choice. The same thing she'd told Steve a few times. They'd all made their choices and there were times when she wasn't sure whether or not she'd made the right one. She didn't like the idea of the Accords...but she also knew that they could have made them better. Maybe they'd still get the chance. She hoped so.

Someone was following her. She paused in her steps for just a second, turning just a little to glance behind her and then continued to walk. No one was in sight, but she knew better than anyone that that didn't mean anything. So she kept walking, fingers slipping under her coat to grab the gun and touch the trigger. She wasn't sure why they were following her, but it was never a good thing. Friends didn't follow at a distance and remain out of sight.

The van that drove past her was going too slow. She turned onto another road as they drove by, concentrating on the van. Walking quickly, she used the grid to her advantage, going north and east, then south, then west, walking in circles and trying to get another glimpse of the van. She was eerily alone. New York was never empty, but she'd found herself on an empty street. Sighing, she tried to figure out whether or not she should go back to the safe house. Hide with the others. But if they found them because of her...she couldn't risk it.

The van was parked up ahead. One part of her brain suggested that it could just be a normal person. Just a normal van. But of course she knew better. She'd spent her whole life learning better. Gripping her gun, she moved toward the van. There was only one way to know for sure. And as she approached, the door slid open. Five people climbed out, all staring at her, and she froze. She was screwed.

Guns lifted and she got ready to lunge into an ally and run when something slammed into one of the men and they were stuck to the van...stuck to it. By a spider web. She turned and found a red blur swinging by, bullets flying, and people were screaming, but all she could think of was getting out, so she aimed and managed to get one of them between the eyes, ducking into an ally as he dropped. Three left. Three people shooting and then a driver and something happened...a gunshot severed the web or hit the girl or something...the red blur crashed into the street, skull cracking against the pavement.

They ran toward the prone figure, guns drawn, making it almost easy for Natasha to pick them off as the girl pulled herself to her feet, moving unsteadily. Then the girl looked up, wide, white lenses meeting Natasha's eyes, and the girl raced toward her, wrapping an arm around her waist and shooting a web, propelling them both into the air and up to the top of a building. Acting on instinct, Natasha grabbed the girl, holding her tight around the shoulders as they moved, swinging from building to building around the back alleys of New York, then finally landing on the roof of a building not too far from their hideout.

Spidergirl stumbled when they landed, letting go of Natasha and crumbling to her knees, knocking them both to the ground. "They're after you...they're still...you have to go…" The girl slurred a little, and Natasha climbed to her feet. "Miss Romanoff...you have to…"

"Okay. I think we're far enough away." Natasha grabbed the girl by the shoulders, steadying her.

"No...they've been following you...we have to keep going."

"How do you know that?" The girl let Natasha pull her to her feet, stumbling a little but finally managing to steady herself.

"I've been following you too." Spidergirl admitted. Natasha just lifted an eyebrow and the girl sighed.

"I found you guys a while back so I just...I was keeping an eye on you. Making sure Ross wasn't getting close. Yesterday, they were. Getting close, I mean. So I was going to tell you but...they found you first."

"Okay…" Natasha sighed, not about to scold the girl for helping. Whoever she was, she was obviously on their side. As far as she could tell anyway...she reserved the right to change her mind. Then again, as far as she knew, the girl had never hurt anyone. "Okay. How many vans were there?"

"Um...three but…" The girl pressed a hand to her head, starting to sway, and Natasha gripped her arm. "Ow."

"You okay, kid?"

"My head...I...shit."

"Alright. You might want to sit down. You hit your head pretty hard."

"No...don't call...I'm fine." The girl slurred.

"What? Call who?" Natasha wondered.

"Karen...no."

Natasha had no idea who Karen was, but she obviously wasn't on the roof with them, so she eased the girl down onto the ground, a hand on her shoulder. "Okay, listen, you hit your head. You need to just...stay down. I need to take your mask off."

"Karen, stop. Don't...don't do that…"

"Kid, who's Karen?" Natasha asked, looking around and feeling more and more nervous. "How hard did you hit your head?" She muttered under her breath, slipping a hand under the girl's mask and easing it off. No one could see them. They were alone on a roof...the highest roof in the area. When she looked back down, she felt her heart stutter to a stop.

Natasha had seen plenty of injured children. Growing up the way she had...well, it was better that she didn't think about that. But this...this was Stark's Spidergirl.? This was a child. Maybe fifteen years old...small. And bleeding. The girl didn't seem to be aware that Natasha had removed her mask, as she stared up at the sky without seeming to actually see anything, pupils huge and unfocused. "Kid? Hey, Spidergirl?" She asked, shaking her a little.

"My head...Karen don't call…"

"Look, I don't know who the hell Karen is but…" Natasha cut herself off when the girl's eyes rolled back into her head and she went rigid, then started to jerk, Natasha just barely getting a hand behind her head in time to prevent her from smacking it on the ground. "Shit...shit shit…" Natasha hissed while the girl grunted and seized. Looking down at her watch, she took note of the time, then yanked out her burner phone. Steve answered after only one ring.

"Steve, I need you to call Stark. Now."

"What's wrong?" He asked, and she knew he was probably in full fight mode, motioning for the others to come.

"His Spidergirl found me. A couple of Ross's guys were after me and she saved me. But she hit her head...she's seizing. It's been almost a minute...get Stark. Her brain is bleeding and she needs medical now."

"Okay. I'm calling him…"

"Wait…". Natasha trailed off, staring up at the approaching suit and feeling herself tense before recognizing it. Iron Man. "He's here."

"Do you need backup?" Steve asked. She wasn't sure if he meant backup to help with Ross's men or with Stark.

"No. I'll call you back."

The Iron Man armor dropped onto the roof beside her, not opening quickly enough for Stark who practically clawed his way out, jumping out onto the roof and rushing over to where Natasha still held the girl's head...she was still seizing but the movements were slowing.

"Nearing two and a half minutes." Natasha informed him, knowing that he wouldn't care about pleasantries. She could see it in his face...he loved this girl. Loved her in a way Natasha had never seen him love anyone else.

Tony sat on the ground beside the girl, hand repacking Natasha's as he pulled her half into his lap, a hand stroking her hair, jaw tight. "Alright. There you go, kid. I'm right here."

"She found me...saved me from some of Ross's men." He gave no sign that he'd heard. "She's pretty badass." His lips twitched at that one.

The seizure stopped and the girl lay limp on the roof, eyes open but unfocused. "Alright, honey. It's over. Just breathe. You're okay." He kept stroking her hair, one arm wrapped around her and holding her in his lap. "I'm right here." He loved her.

Curiosity killed the cat. "Is she yours?"

Stark looked up at her then, his eyes telling her what she needed to know.

Satisfaction brought it back.

"I need to get her to the medbay. She has a healing factor but I need to get her head looked at." As if prompted, the girl in his lap made a noise...uncoordinated and weak. But immediately she had Stark's full attention. "Hey, kid. Stay still. You're okay."

"Mm...mssr...Sstrk."

"Yep. I'm here. Take it easy, Pen."

"Bla...bla...w..wid…"

"Yeah, that's Natasha. Black Widow. She's fine." He glanced up to check the accuracy of that promise and she nodded. "How about a trip to the Tower, huh?"

"Wha…". She blinked, sighing and swallowing. "What happened?" She focused on getting the words out as he stroked her hair.

"You fell, kid. Hit your head pretty hard. So we're going to get you to Helen and make sure you're okay."

"Okay." He lowered the girl carefully back down to the ground, easing his hand out from under her head, then climbed back into his suit.

"Will she be okay?" Natasha asked, voice soft.

"Yeah. She should be." He told her, lifting the face of his suit as he picked the girl up again, cradling her with one arm while the girl automatically wrapped her arms around the neck of the suit. "Thanks. For sitting with her." Natasha nodded.

"Of course. She helped me out of a jam."

"Yeah. She's good at that." He looked down at the girl in his arms, eyes soft and fond. "The apartment is ready for you guys whenever you're ready. Keys are in the P.O. Box. When she's feeling better, I'll bring her by. I'm sure she'd love to meet everyone. She has a pair of Black Widow pajamas." Natasha found herself laughing as the girl groaned, apparently aware enough to be embarrassed.

"Mr. Stark!" She moaned.

"I'll let Steve know about the apartment." Natasha turned to go, then paused at the edge of the roof where the fire escape would take her back to the ground. "Thank you, Tony."

The mask flipped down, covering his face, and the bright eyed of Iron Man stared back at her. "See you around, Romanoff." And with that, he and the Spider kid were gone.

Thank you for reading!!