Hi Everyone! This was written months ago but got lost in my documents. I wasn't sure where to put it because I did write it for Whumptober so I decided to put it here!

This is an alternative prompt fourteen: Touch-starved.

Summary: Penny Parker is withdrawing away from everyone. No one knows what to do.


She was infected.

That thing had attacked Penny. Penetrated its elongated pincers into her flesh, injecting it toxic virus into her veins, searing away everything she was. Months later Penny could still feel the creeping sludge beat through every cell, disturb every particle leaving nothing of the Penny Parker she once was remaining.

She could climb walls, hang upside-down like some creature of darkness. This was to say nothing of her strength. It was nothing she'd ever seen before. There were these rushes of power when she used her abilities, leaving her so ashamed that she'd succumbed to them again. But that twinge of exhilaration – of triumph - which left her stomach in knots was addicting.

It could all go so wrong. Someone she loved, May maybe, could be hurt… All because of her affliction.

Those thoughts left her bereft of sleep. She spent restless hours dedicated to finding out what exactly was inside her. What she was now.

Time and again she was left running to the tops of the city, needing a place to vent all her rage. Her screams wouldn't bother anyone up there. Only the wind howled back, sometimes with her.

Penny could now tell anyone about the majority of known types of spiders and their venom if necessary. All other arachnid knowledge was on the table too but it would never help. It wasn't like she could walk back into Oscorp and demand to see their notes on the experiment.

There was no Oscorp to walk into anymore.

The problem wasn't that simple. Nothing in her life was simple anymore.

She was changed, infected, and consumed with that thing. Would she become more dangerous? Worry gnawed at her every waking moment that she would hurt someone. Maybe it would happen through some newfound strength or maybe it would be through what flowed through his veins. There might be some accident and someone could be infected. What if they didn't react the same and hurt them instead of making them stronger?

Like the venom her worries sunk into Penny, infecting her with another burden. She went from cringing back when someone brushed her shoulder and avoiding a handshake when Mr. Stark introduced her to someone to blatantly not allowing any touch. From anyone.

The worst day was when she rolled her eyes at May. Maintaining a cold tone in her voice she told her aunt she was too old for coddling and hugs. Her aunt's expression haunted her while she cried in the shower after. Not even the scorching water was enough to burn away the memory. She even began sidestepping Ned when her friend begged to do their secret handshake.

Mr. Stark hadn't noticed or if he had he hadn't said anything. The man wasn't the most touch driven person anyway. Pepper, though, would give her these lingering looks. At their weekly dinners her eyes followed Penny when she dished herself more or went to do the dishes. She was always careful to have someone set a dish on the table before she picked it up again.

Sometimes it was too much. The paranoia and all the disappointed looks haunted her, burning her no matter what she decided.

Patrols were the best way of controlling herself. It was all too easy to see herself truthfully when his blood painted his skin.

She continued strong in her decision, squashing down the urges to tap someone's shoulder or to hold someone, anyone's hand.

It's strange how you don't miss something until it's gone. Then when it disappears you are so grotesquely aware of its absence. Penny never realized how much touch was a part of her life before. Though on the more socially awkward side, which was normal May reassured her for her age, she was a hugger. And now she wasn't. She couldn't be.

Not even the criminals she fought against could touch her.

No one else deserved to be so alone.


"Are you alright, kid?"

Her pencil clattered onto the table as she was transported back to the lab. She was working on homework while Mr. Stark fiddled with some project of his.

"Yeah… Yeah, Mr. Stark. I'm fine."

"You look like shit, kid."

She ran a hand through her hair, hoping the blush she could feel creeping up her cheeks wasn't so obvious to the other person in the room. If his smirk was anything to go by it was quite obvious. Mr. Stark took a step closer to her.

"I'm just tired today. No big deal." She said flatly turning back to her work, holding her breath in anticipation. She winced at the steel tone of warning to crept into her voice.

Penny wasn't sure what had gotten into Mr. Stark today. He was being especially obtuse or just didn't see the annoyance in Penny's eyes as he stepped closer again bringing his hand up.

The pen snapped in her hand, coating her fingers in gel. Penny dropped her head down to the table with a groan.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark. Can we get back to work?"

The week had been rough. She was going on extra patrols because she wasn't sleeping well and she wasn't sleeping well because she kept thinking about the extra patrols. Ned was mad at her because Penny bailed on one of their movie nights and even MJ was upset because she skipped a decathlon practice and might as well skipped the rest of them she was so distracted.

Now Mr. Stark was staring at her like he'd grown another head.

"Penny Parker giving out some sass? Now there is something I never would have guessed."

Penny refused to look. She stared at the broken pen parts, willing them to go back to normal - to before.

Nothing happened.

"It's okay, Penny. I'm just kidding."

His hand landed on Penny's shoulder and warmth ignited under it. Penny startled back, not realizing how close Mr. Stark had got, but the hand stayed firm.

She couldn't remember the last time someone comforted her. She couldn't remember the last time she'd allowed it.

Penny sighed and her body betrayed her. Her shoulder relaxed under the touch, the warmth spreading like the venom had, although this time it didn't burn. This foreign sensation was full of comfort and all Penny wanted to do was turn around and throw her arms around her mentor. For a moment she let herself bask in the comfort.

Then her eyes snapped open, unaware they had been closed.

Her spine straightened and Penny all but fell out of the seat. She scrambled back until she was safe. All the blood and venom pounded inside her blood looking for an escape.

The ground became infinitely more interesting as she felt Mr. Stark's eyes on her. She wasn't sure how long she stood there but her breath wouldn't slow from short, staccato bursts.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Mr. Stark." She finally spoke having to stop and gasp for breath. "I think I should go."

"Kid… What's the matter? You can tell me."

Penny shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself trying to stop any of herself, her infection, from seeping out somehow.

"I, please, can I go home?"

She heard Mr. Stark sigh and self-hatred coated the back of her throat.

"Sure, kid. Happy will take you home."

Penny nodded releasing her breath and went to get her coat. She couldn't look Mr. Stark in the eyes and was through the door when she was called back. Penny stared at her hands not wanting to see whatever emotion was in the man's eyes.

"Call me if you need anything at all. Will you promise me that? It could even be for chemistry homework. Not that you need help with that but you know what I mean. I'm here for you."

"Sure, Mr. Stark. Thank you."

She spun around and marched out the doors running to the nearest alley so she could get to the top of a building. Her throat was hoarse by the time she was done releasing everything. The dry tracks running down her face told of her despair but they were gone by the time anyone saw her.

That night Penny avoided May, eating nothing and locking herself in her room. After she heard May's light snoring she snuck into the bathroom to take a shower. The water rushed over her body, working hard to warm her limbs into life. Penny found herself turning the handle until it wouldn't move any farther. Steam rose inside the shower curtain. Penny stared at the white tiles, memorizing their pattern until the water ran cool again. She was still shivering.


Pepper looked at him with pursued lips.

"What was I supposed to do? Force her to stay and share our secrets with each other? She's a teenager and I don't think I ever was one."

She wasn't deterred. Her hand reached out to grasp his and he turned his hand to lace their fingers together.

"She's hurting Tony. You're like a father to her and you should find out what's wrong even if it's hard."

He froze. Their eyes met and he knew she was thinking about his own father. How difficult that advice was for him to hear.

"Of course, I want to know what's wrong, Pep. I just don't want her to feel like she has to tell me. I would never want to force the kid into anything."

Her eyes softened as she looked at him, taking in the dark circles and patches stubble on his neck.

Weeks had passed since Penny stormed out of their work room and Tony was at his wits' end.

In all his years solving problems, nothing and nobody had taking so long to figure out. He called May, feeling like a snitch the whole time. She didn't know what happened only saying Penny was in more of a mood than usual. Tony was surprised to find out this 'mood' began around the time Penny would have acquired her powers. Ned's phone was easily hacked into and so far, their communication was entirely one sided.

It seemed no one knew what was wrong with Penny Parker.

The girl was getting worse. Tony had caught a glimpse of her on some kid named Flash's snapchat the other day. There were bags under her eyes and her movements which always were so careful and confident, now jerked in what looked like spasms. Like she was battling something unseen.

Penny was skipping out on their afterschool workdays which meant she was avoiding Tony. But what really threw him into a mood is when he found out Penny wasn't coming for help after she'd been hurt on one of her patrols. The only evidence was an absence from the school the next day. That was the only way Tony knew something had happened and it made him sick to his stomach.

His days were filled with worry, which turned into planning and then implementing. His calls were being ignored so he talked through May. They found a therapist for Penny, making sure she knew it was optional. Both of them felt a flicker of hope when she went to the first meeting, even stayed through the whole appointment, but she never went back. May said she wouldn't talk to her for a week after that. The tickets to a spa day had resulted in silence for two weeks.

His girl was pulling away from everyone, from him, and he was helpless to stop it.


Her hand snapped up to cover her mouth as a cough wracked through her chest. The webbing shot out of her other hand, swinging her around the side of the building. The cough died down and she gripped the rope of web with both hands, noticing a tinge of maroon tainting the material where her gloved held on.

Penny had to get home to her room so she could assess the damage. She could feel a piercing sting in her side with every rush of the wind against her body. At least the pain was distracting her for what a total shit show patrol was.

Trickles of liquid seeped out of her side and soaked into her suit. She looked down to see how far the patch stained the material. It was larger and misshapen, with tendrils going down to her thigh. Every burst of air, every movement in the sky on her escape through the city had her suit stuck to patches of her skin, pulling off in an obscene squelch. Back and forth. Stuck to skin and torn off again.

Her head snapped up as the back of her neck tingled. Not soon enough. A building wall rose up before her. Her body spasmed in response, arms flaying in the air trying to take purchase of the brick but they missed their target. Her side was bathed in pain at the unexpected movement and down she was falling. The air whipped up around her trapping her screams inside her throat.

She fell onto something with a thud. Metal dug into her side and she rolled over to find she was on the edge of a fire escape. Using slow movement, she tried to roll back over to the middle of the platform. The metal dug into her side allowing more blood to run down the side of her body. She fell back with a cry and lost balanced. Her hand grabbed the edge and Penny dangled there.

The metal was slick under her fingers. If she was in normal condition she could hang there all day. If it was a regular day she would pull himself up and be on her way. Unfortunately for Penny, the sweat and grim covering her face, the stabbing pain in his side, and the weariness ingrained into her body all pointed to a resolutely abnormal day.

Her fingers curled tightly over the metal grate, unwound and she was falling again. This time she uttered nothing besides a grunt on impact. She didn't even have the strength to brace her landing. Her arm landed painfully underneath the brunt of her chest, trapped between cement and flesh.

Another groan slipped into the night, echoing up the bricks in the alley. Tears filled the creases in the corner of her eyes and tracked down her cheeks, mixing with the dirt and sweat already there.

She didn't bother to wipe them away, not even when they blurred her vision. No one could see them under the mask anyway. No one could ever see them.

Her hand gripped the wound in a last effort to stanch the bleeding. It was odd, she thought. She couldn't feel the bullet lodged inside her body, but all the same knew it was there.

Her thoughts turned toward the infection as they often did of late. It was much the same thing. She couldn't see the infection. She still looked like Penny, still talked like her but underneath it all was deep and gaping wound. A bullet in the form of the spider bite, slowly eating away at her like lead poisoning.

"I've called Mr. Stark. Your heart rate is too fast."

"No! Karen. I thought we agreed you wouldn't call Mr. Stark unless it was an emergency."

"You have severe blood loss." She said and added when she went to protest. "You just ran into a wall and fell down the side of a building."

"It wasn't a straight fall. Karen, he shouldn't be here. I – I don't want him here."

Karen stayed silent and she knew she wouldn't get any more help from her. She couldn't stay there any longer. Gritting her teeth, she tried to sit up.

The bones in her arm and ankle ground together and she collapsed back down. Water sloshed around onto her clothes and the puddle settled to ripples around her limbs.

"He's on his way."

She bit back a scream of annoyance. She didn't need help. She was fine. Everything was fine.

Penny sighed and closed her eyes, tired of watching the water turn murkier and red. Her head spun and she could feel her heartbeat thumping through her body.

All she wanted to do was lay there forever, but that wasn't right, was it? She had to leave. She was supposed to be leaving, going somewhere, but where?

Lights flashed from above blinding her as they got closer. A humming sounded and she wasn't sure if it was coming from inside of her head or out.

"Penny?" Mr. Stark rushed over to her side, his hands hovering over her body to assess the damage. There was metal in the air on her tongue. "Kid? Oh my god. What happened?"

"I'm fine."

"No you're not." Penny snorted, grimacing as it reverberated through her torso. She cracked her eye opened to see Mr. Stark reach out again.

She couldn't think straight. Everything was slowing up and then speeding by too fast. She saw Mr. Stark's hand descending down to her side. Cold ran through her body. It didn't matter she was in her suit or Mr. Stark was in his. All she could think about was the blood covering her. The infection that would taint Mr. Stark. Someone who was good to her. Who cared about her.

Mr. Stark was going to…. Penny moved. She found her back against the wall, fingers sticking up the wall so her head was higher than Mr. Stark's.

"Don't," she said.

"Penny, get down from there. You're hurt. Do you hear me?"

"Don't touch me."

Mr. Stark put his iron hands up.

"I would never do that without your permission, Penny, but I have to make sure you're okay."

Her stomach strained under her weight. Another drizzle of liquid ran down her side.

"Penny come down, your tearing the wound open more."

"I can't, I can't"

"Yes, you can. Trust me."

She stared down at the man with large eyes. It wasn't a question really. She trusted Mr. Stark with everything. She trusted him with her life, but it was herself she didn't trust. She couldn't trust. How did she explain that?

Fortunately, or not as it was, Penny's fingers slipped against the wall in her lack of concentration. She fell forward as her eyes rolled back, covering her world in darkness.

Mr. Stark rushed forward. Penny felt her heart lurch and she was lost to the darkness.


Hope you all enjoyed.

As always, I would love to hear what you thought.