Thank you so much to all of my reviewers and to everyone who has been reading this story! I hope to have the final chapter up within the next two days. :)

Almost a Date

Penny placed all of her weight on her toes, then brought it back, watching the other woman circle around her. Some part of her wanted to close her eyes...she knew that if she watched her feet or her shoulders too careful, she might get misled...she might fall for one of her many tricks. It had been two hours and she'd already fallen prey to the Black Widow, and she was pretty sure her back was covered in bruises to prove it. But she also knew that Mr. Stark was probably going to call time on them pretty soon. He'd been watching from the sidelines with Steve Rogers, the two of them talking softly about an upcoming meeting with someone whose name didn't sound familiar. Ross? Apparently they'd met with him a few months ago...back when she'd still just been a normal intern, and had managed to negotiate something called the Accords, although she wasn't sure what exactly those were or why…

"Focus." Natasha's words were accompanied by a swing of her fist that Penny dodged easily, turning to the side and reaching for the arm. Of course, Natasha was faster, and she had to duck and prance away again to avoid an uppercut to her nose. The woman hadn't landed a blow on her face yet, but Penny had an idea that she would if Penny gave her the chance.

"Don't break my intern!" Mr. Stark called almost lazily, but when Penny dared to glance at him, there was something serious in his eyes. Her senses went off before she could think more on that, and she dropped to one knee, ducking easily under the punch thrown her way, then spun, hooking her knee around Natasha's and pulling, standing up as the woman went down. The spy recovered of course...she doubted she'd ever be able to bring Natasha down in a friendly fight. But she was smiling now.

"There you go, little spider," Natasha said, her voice warm with approval.

"And with that almost victor, how about we call it a day?" Mr. Stark suggested in a voice that made it clear it wsan't really a suggestion. Penny wiped a hand over her brow, smiling up at Natasha when the woman put a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll go get cleaned up before dinner." She told him, leading Penny to the other side of the padded boxing ring. Natasha ducked through the thick blue cords that formed the barrier while Penny just hopped over, landing easily on her toes.

"Penny?" Steve called, and she turned to face him through the wires. He was approaching, walking around the mat so that he didn't have to call out to her from the other side of the room. "What do you do on Sunday evenings?"

"Um...homework?"

His lips twitched into something like a fond smile. "Do your homework on Saturdays. Team training starts at four."

"Wait…" Penny shook her head a little. "Are...are you saying that I'm an Avenger?" It was one thing to hear it from Mr. Stark...but this was Captain America!

"Avenger in training. Junior Avenger." Mr. Stark cut in. "Avengers Mascot."

Steve chuckled. "Four sharp. If you're late, you have to train with Vision and he can walk through walls."

"Go on, kid. Get cleaned up for dinner, then I can take you home." Mr. Stark urged with a laugh, and she shook herself out of her daze, racing to catch up with Natasha.

"She's good." Penny heard Steve say, and her cheeks flushed a little as she stepped into the shower room, the closing of the door blocking out the rest of their conversation. The shower was running, and Penny found a bag with a spider embroidered on the front. Picking it up, she looked inside and found a set of clothes in her size.

"Are these for me?" She asked Natasha, calling over the sound of running water.

"They are."

"How did you know my sizes?" There was skeptical silence and Penny rolled her eyes at herself. "Right. Spy."

"I also know all of your aunt's sizes."

"That's creepy," Penny told her with a laugh, stripping out of her sweaty clothes and climbing into the shower.

"I was following her," Natasha told her from the other side of the shower wall, voice softer than before.

"Following her?" Penny repeated, stepping out of the spray to hear her better. The other woman was quiet for a moment, and Penny rinsed her hair off, then leaned against the shared all. "Natasha?" She asked.

"You were his intern...he felt responsible for you. We both did." She told her softly. "You kept showing up with bruises...he was worried. We both were. So I did background checks. I was trying to figure out who was hurting you. Somehow, I missed the fact that you were being injured by the criminals of New York." She said with a smile in her voice. Penny didn't answer, so Natasha went on. "He was covering his bases. Making sure that your aunt wasn't th4e one hurting you."

"She wouldn't."

"I know," Natasha assured her. "We both do. It was a miscommunication. That's all."

Penny closed her eyes, stepping back into the spray of the shower, then, after shutting it off, she grabbed a towel to dry off. Pulling on the clothes from the spider emblem bag, she stepped into the larger, still toweling off her hair. It made some sense, she guessed. Really...it did. Mr. Stark had seen her, who he had assumed was just a normal teenager, with bruises and possible broken ribs. She'd told him more than once that she'd 'fallen down.' So...yeah...it made sense.

"May's never hurt me." She told Natasha as soon as she stepped out of her dressing room. She needed to say it. Needed everyone to know. "Never."

"I believe you." Her lips turned up a little. "We were trying to figure out who was. But you didn't exactly fit any of the stereotypes of an abused child. He wanted to help you."

That made sense...of course it did. But it was still disconcerting to think about.

"So...Sundays at four?" Natasha asked, obviously as ready to change the subject as Penny was. "Will you be joining us?"

"For Avengers training." Penny still couldn't quite believe it, and the woman smiled, tossing her towel over the curtain rail of the dressing room she'd stepped out of. "Yeah...yeah, I'll definitely be there!"

"We'll be glad to have you. Everyone's ready to see what Spidergirl can do."

Penny gave a somewhat worried smile. "Yeah...it'll be great."

"You'll be fine." She promised. "They already like you."

As they were heading to the elevator to meet the others for dinner, Penny managed to gather the courage to ask. "And...the bugs in Norma's office?" Natasha glanced at her, eyebrows raised. "You haven't heard anything from them?"

"Not yet. But don't worry. We'll tell you as soon as we do."

"And...will you need Spidergirl to take him down?"

They stepped into the elevator and Natasha crossed her arms, leaning back against the wall. "You want revenge for what he did to you?"

"No!" Penny cried. "Of course not. I don't...I just don't want him to hurt anyone else."

The woman stared at her for a long time, lips pressed together as she considered it. Then she nodded. "I don't know what Steve will want to do. It'll be his call. His and Tony's. But we'll take him down. Don't worry about that."

Penny believed her. She fully believed that the Avengers could handle Norman Osborn. But there was a part of her, a small part of her in the very back of her mind, that wanted to be the one to do it. That wanted to be the one to take Norman down. Not because she wanted revenge. At least...not for herself. But if she closed her eyes, she could still see Mr. Stark's face when he collapsed...could still feel his hand on her arm and the way she'd been pushed backward by the paramedics...and the way her uncle had looked...the way she'd reached for him only to be pushed away by the paramedics.

Maybe..maybe she wanted revenge. Just a little. But she didn't think she could ever say that out loud...wasn't ready to really face how she felt about Mr. Stark...how it had made her feel to see him collapse at the gala. She couldn't imagine how she would dope with losing him, a man who was something like another father figure. And so she didn't think about it. Refused to face it.

After dinner and her check-up with Helen, Mr. Stark took her home. Homework and sleep and more school, repeat, until Thursday when a different man stood outside her school gates. Well... a teenager. But whatever.

Harry leaned against the gate, eyes on his phone as she left the school with Ned, the two of them pausing like almost every other academic decathlon team member that passed him. He didn't look up at them, though, not even when Abe turned to another girl on the team and asked if that was Harry Osborn. Penny glanced over at Ned who lifted his eyebrows in a silent shrug. Pulling out her phone, she shot him a text.

"What are you doing here?"

His head came up at that, a slow, amused smile on his face. But there was something else. Something a little sad in his eyes when he saw her. He seemed to brush it off, though, pocketing his phone and heading straight for her.

"What the hell does he want with Penis Parker?" Flash asked, his voice loud enough to carry to Harry who paused, faltering a little in his steps and turning to face him, eyebrows lifted. Flash swallowed so loudly that Penny thought even Harry could hear it.

"The hell did you just call her?" He asked, crossing his arms again, and Penny hurried forward, grabbing his elbow.

"Come on." She muttered, dragging him away from Flash.

"Did you hear what he just called you?" Harry seemed torn between irritation and amusement, but irritation seemed to be winning, and the last thing that Penny wanted was for Harry to yell at Flash in front of everyone.

"What are you doing here?"

"Aren't you happy to see me, Penny Parker?" He asked, his smile slowly growing as she tugged him away from the crowd growing in front of the school.

"I'd be happier if I knew why you were here"

"We need to talk." He told her as they strolled down the street, their hands shifting so that hers was hooked over his arm, although she had no idea how that had happened...still...she didn't hate it.

"You couldn't text me?"

"No."

Penny frowned then, feeling her stomach clench a little. "What's wrong?"

He gave her a weak smile, pausing in the middle of the sidewalk and almost causing a woman with arms full of shopping bags to run into them. She tugged him forward again, and they moved toward a pizza place, stepping inside as if by silent agreement. Harry led her over to a table and they waited until the waitress sat two menus in front of them, Penny shooting a quick text to May to tell her that she would be late, before picking up their conversation again.

Their backpacks were by their feet, but Harry grabbed his, pulling out a manilla folder like they were in a spy movie.

"What's that?" She asked, not sure she wanted to know.

"I snuck into my dad's office."

"You what?" Penny dropped her voice to an almost hiss, leaning in.

"Here." He pushed the folder over toward her, and she took it, opening it up to reveal a photograph of a man...she'd never seen him before, but he was bald..just a normal-looking middle-aged white guy. Penny picked it up and flipped it over, but the back of the paper was blank. The next document was a printout of an email...which mostly consisted of times and dates next to coordinates. The last one was a printed out photograph of a gun...or...well, it kind of looked like a gun.

"What is this?" She asked, struggling to put the pieces together.

"The printouts are from his computer...he's been working with this guy. His name is Adrien Toomes, but he calls himself the Vulture. They're arming local gangs with alien weapons."

"So the attacks on the city…" She whispered, looking up at him wide-eyed.

He nodded. "Yeah. They're working together."

"Why?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. But if I know my dad, he's making money off of it somehow."

"Okay…" Penny put the printouts down and put them back into the folder, starting to push it back, but he shook his head.

"Keep it. Show the Avengers. Take him down."

"He's your dad." Penny didn't know why she said the words...she regretted them as soon as they came out of her mouth, but he just gave that same sad smile.

"Yeah...that's why I know he needs to be stopped."

For the first time, Penny wondered, really wondered, what it was like to have this man as your father. To know that your father was a bad person, but to still be a good person. Why hadn't Harry followed in his footsteps? Or, a small part of her wondered, what if he had? What if he'd followed in his footsteps and was manipulating her and…

No. Penny had decided to trust him. She would trust him.

"He hurts my mom sometimes," Harry whispered then, eyes on the table, hands in fists in his lap. "He...used to do it more but...but when I started stepping in, he...he doesn't do it in front of me anymore."

"Oh," It was an inadequate word. A stupid, nothing word that did nothing to help her explain the sudden rush of sadness and pain she felt now. To know that your father hurt your mother...and you too probably. She knew that no amount of comforting words or kindness would fix this. So she said the words that she knew she could be responsible for. "We'll stop him."

She waited for him to laugh. To ask if she was using the royal 'we.' To ask who she thought she was, aligning herself with the Avengers. Instead, he gave a real smile. One that told her exactly how much he believed in her. "I know. That's why they call you superheroes." For a moment, their eyes held onto one another, and there was a strange silence surrounding them, almost like they were in a bubble. But then the waitress came back to take their order, Penny's phone rang, and the bubble burst.

It was May on the phone, and as Harry ordered them a pizza to share, she turned away from the table a little. "Hey, May."

"Why exactly are you going to be late?" Her aunt wanted to know, sounding suspicious.

"I'm having dinner with a friend."

"Because Tony said you weren't cleared to go out patrolling and…"

"May," Penny cut her off, flushing a little. "I'm not...I swear, I'm having dinner with a friend. Really."

"Who?"

"Harry." She half-whispered the word, and for a moment, there was silence.

When her aunt spoke, there was a smile in her voice...no, not a smile. A smirk. And Penny could picture it perfectly. "Oh. Well, that's different."

"I have to go, May."

"I didn't know your date was today."

"It wasn't! I mean...we just...he showed up at my school to talk and we ended up getting dinner. It's no big deal."

"Mhm."

Penny rolled her eyes, refusing to look at Harry who wasn't even pretending to look at his phone and was instead watching her with what she was sure was rapt attention.

"So, where did he take you for your first date?" May asked.

"Its not a…" She finally glanced at Harry whose grin widened a little. "I have to go."

"When do I get to meet him?"

"Love you, May. See you later." And, to the sound of her aunt's laughter, she hung up the phone.

"It's not a what?" Harry wanted to know before she'd even put her phone away. She refused to answer, cheeks hot. "Not a date?"

"What kind of pizza did you get?"

"Extra cheese, half pepperoni, half ham and pineapple. Now stop dodging the question, Parker. Is this not a date?"

"No it's not a date." She hissed, uncomfortably aware of the other people eating nearby.

"How is this not a date? I picked you up from school…"

"Showed up unannounced," She clarified.

"And then I took you to dinner…"

"We stopped by a pizza place on our way home."

"And at the end of the night...who knows." He shrugged, and she felt her face blush even more.

"At the end of the night, I'm going home." She whispered, glaring to try and hide her blush.

"I was debating more about the kiss."

"What kiss?"

"The one I was thinking about giving you as I dropped you off at your place."

"Is it really considered dropping me off if you don't have a car?" She asked, trying to distract him.

He gave her a playful grin. "Come on, Penny Parker. Admit it. This is a date?"

Penny rolled her eyes, feeling her own smile tug at her lips. "It's not a date."

He sighed, almost looking actually sad about this, and she decided to throw him a bone. No...not just him. Maybe...maybe she kind of wanted it to be a date too.

"But it's almost a date."

Harry's eyes shot up to hers, that grin coming back. "Yeah?"

"Sure. Almost."

He grabbed his cup of water then, holding it up to hers, and, with a laugh, she clinked her plastic cup against hers. "To 'Almost a Date.' May there be many more."

Thank you for reading.