The Unknown Variable

(Beta'd as of 1/25/14)

I shall send Pen, Mortem, and even Fati after you if you think I own anything I have not thought up myself.

I might even as Tony, Thor, the Big Guy, and Natasha to contribute if you still don't believe me. *evil grin*

Tony's POV

My breath caught as Stane walked back in without Penny, and I wanted to kill him.

'If he hurt her…' I threatened silently. My eyes widened as I saw some red smeared on his hands as he reached down to retrieve my Arc.

'Oh my! Is that blood!' I thought to myself, although my brain was still just as sluggish as it was before.

"I'll make a whole new generation of weapons, with this at its heart." Stane stated to himself. He acted like Penny hadn't just walked in here, and he hadn't just confessed to screwing both of our lives up.

"Weapons that will help steer the world back on course, put the balance of power in our hands."

I personally was trying to block out Stane's continued villain speech, and focus on breathing…something that was becoming incredibly hard.

"The right hands…" Stane whispered, as he picked up his briefcase and placed the Arc inside.

"I wish you could've seen my prototype. It's not as… well, not as conservative as yours."

Stane stated coldly as he stood up, briefcase in hand. "Too bad you had to involve Pepper in this. I would have preferred that she lived."

Stane walked towards the door, he paused as he passed the hallway where he had taken Penny and said, "A pity about your daughter though, parents should never outlive their kids…even if only for a short time."

What Stane was hinting at hit me full on as he exited my house.

'No,' I cried, tears welling up in my eyes, 'Not Penny too!'

I slammed into the elevator that was across from the stairs.

Once the paralysis had worn off, I had to force myself not to go and cradle Penny's body. It took every ounce of my self-control to not go crawling down that hallway looking for her.

Part of me was practically deteriorating at the thought of losing Penny, while the other part was hoping; insanely hoping that she was still alive.

I staggered out on unstable feet as the elevator opened into the lab. I gritted my teeth and leaned on the wall against the pain.

Sweat drenched my shirt as I practically fell through the doors into the main room of the lab.

My teary eyes narrowed on the small glass box that Pepper had given me. That was my destination. That was what I had to get.

Then I could get to Penny.

Gritting my teeth, ignoring the tears streaming down my face and blocking out as much of the pain, I took a step forward only to fall flat on my face.

I bit my tongue to stop of screaming out, as I slowly started to drag myself over to the desk. I had to push past various tools that had been left lying around, and pass all of the cars.

My breathing became incredibly labored as I finally reached my desk. My thoughts were slowing and I could feel my muscles failing, along with everything else in my body.

Side effects of not only the missing Arc, but the paralysis device as well.

My legs failed to even move by the time I got to the desk. Grabbing hold of a tub of tools, I tried to lift myself up to each the box, but all I managed to do was brush the glass with my fingertips before I collapsed.

I laid there on the ground, my head resting against the large tool cabinet, and I sighed.

'Pepper…Penny…I've failed you both…' I thought quietly to myself as my vision blurred and the pain flared.

Suddenly, I heard the tell-tale whistles and chirps of one of the bots, and my eyes flickered up to see the case holding the old Arc being lowered down to me.

I weakly grabbed it, taking it from the robot's claw.

"Good boy." I said to Dummy, as determination filled me. I had a chance; and I wasn't going down without a fight.

I weakly lifted up the case as high as I could before rolling and tossing it to the ground, while shielding my face with my arm.

The glass shattered, and the Reactor rolled free of the encasing.

No one hurt Penny or Pepper. Ever. And I was going to remind everyone that.

Rhodey ran into the dark house, and Jarvis' lack of welcome instantly set off warning bells. Jarvis was always there, something must be wrong.

"Tony?" he called out, as he entered the living room. There was an odd, familiar smell in the air but he couldn't place it.

"Tony?" He called out again, reaching the top of the stairs, giving the living room one last glance, noticing the shattered glass and broken windows, he raced down the stairs. "Tony?"

"Tony?" He repeated, as his eyes widened, taking in the missing glass panels and more shattered glass littering the floor.

Looking around, it took him half of a second to spot his friend lying on the floor on top of more broken glass.

"Tony!" Rhodes exclaimed in worry as he rushed over to his friend.

"Tony! You okay?" Rhodes asked, rolling his friend over onto his back, causing him to regain consciousness.

Tony's eyes went wide as e say his friend and he grabbed onto his jacket, trying to pull himself up.

"Where's Pepper and Penny?" He asked, his voice filled with worry and urgency.

"Pepper? She's fine, she's with five agents, they're about to arrest Obadiah. And Penny… I thought she moved to New Mexico?" Rhodes said relief in his voice at seeing his friend alright; although he became confused at the mention of the red haired teen.

"No," Tony said, struggling to sit up, his eyes wide.

"Upstairs… kitchen hall… Stane…!" Tony managed to get out, gripping Rhodes' black leather jacket tightly.

Rhodey's eyes widened and he quickly took off upstairs. Not completely sure what was going on, but worried all the same.

"Penny!" He called as he rushed back up the stairs; he frantically looked around before rushing into the hall. He became panicked as he finally recognized the smell drifting through the house…it was blood.

He slid to a stop as soon as he entered the hall. There, lying in a large pool of blood was Penny.

She was completely soaked in blood, and her abdomen was dark her shirt stained with blood. Her hair was spread out behind her life a fan, and she laid their eagle spread on the ground.

Rhodey quickly swallowed his new hatred for Stane and gingerly checked for a pulse.

He sighed in relief as he felt a faint pulse. Now that he was closer, he could see that she was breathing, just barely. It was shallow, and ragged, but she was still alive.

Tearing off part of his shirt, (silently cursing the need to ruin his new clothes) he made a makeshift bandage before carefully lifting the bleeding teen into his arms and rushing back down the stairs.

"Tony!" Rhodes yelled before he was even down the stairs.

"Rhodey, did you find….Oh my God, Penny!" He exclaimed as he saw his daughter in Rhodey's arms.

"First aid kit! Where is it?" Rhodey asked, looking for a place to put the dying girl.

"Kitchenette, top shelf, left cabinet." Tony replied quickly as he slowly limped over, motioning for Rhodey to put her on the couch.

Rhodey quickly set the teen down on the brown leather before rushing over and grabbing the kit.

While Tony cradled Penny's head, Rhodey set to work wrapping and cleaning her wound.

"Thankfully, it seems to have missed everything important. But she still needs to go to the hospital." Rhodey said, being in the military, you get some medical training.

"No." Tony said, staring at the girl in his lap.

"No? Tony! She's hurt, I'm no doctor. She needs the hospital." Rhodey stated, trying to convince his friend.

Something unusual flashed across Tony's face as he stated, "No, she's staying here."

"Tony! She could die…now I have clue what's going on between the two of you…" Rhodey started cautiously, but Tony's furious gaze silenced him.

"Will everyone stop saying I'm in a relationship with my daughter!" Tony yelled, taking his frustration out on his friend.

Tony froze, realizing what he had said, and Rhodes froze, not believing what he just heard.

"Did you just say daughter?" He asked, not believing what he was hearing.

Tony remained silent for a moment, thinking about what he should say, before he sighed and nodded.

"Mine and Evanna's." Tony stated softly, looking down at the said teen worriedly.

"My God." Rhodes stated, staring at the teen in shock, before looking between the father and daughter. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Tony shrugged, not bothering to answer, "Didn't tell anyone."

Rhodes looked at Tony in shock and said, "Not even Pepper?"

Tony snorted and replied, "No, not even Pepper; and you can't tell anyone. No one knows she exists. Stane did, and look where that got her?"

Rhodey opened his mouth to protest, but stopped himself and sighed, it wasn't his secret to tell. Tony was his best friend; he would do anything to protect him…and his new daughter.

Tony turned his head quickly, thinking that he saw something. Realizing that it must have been a trick of the light, he turned back to Rhodey and said,

"Didn't even know about her until Afghanistan….OUCH!" Tony exclaimed as Penny sat up quickly and smacked her head into his.

"Ow…" Penny moaned one hand on her forehead, the other wrapping around her stomach.

"Penny! You're okay!" Tony exclaimed and wrapped his arms around his daughter.

"Daddy!" She said, returning the hug. "You got the other Arc! It'll take more than a puny knife to take me down."

"I'm so glad you're okay…" Tony murmured into his daughters hair, as Rhodey watched, bemused at his friends behavior.

This was a side of Tony he had never seen before today, it was … strange to say the least.

"Where did you say Pepper was?" Tony asked, after a moment of silence.

"With five agents…they're about to arrest Obadiah." Rhodey said again. Unlike last time, Tony was actually paying attention, and as he pulled back from his daughter, his face paled and he said,

"That's not going to be enough."

Hehe, how many of you thought Pen was dead? Probably not a lot but hey! I'll tell yah, it was weird having almost a whole chapter without Penny…. Sorry if it came out weirdly… I'm not the happiest with it but oh well.

Anyway, being sick really stinks. Hope you are all enjoying the story. Thanks to everyone and Espacole.
Cp