Sorry for the delay! I hope you enjoy the new chapter :)

Merely Reflections and Shadows

Tony looked up from the phone he was staring at, eyebrows raising as he caught sight of the boy walking along beside her. Penny glanced at him, then at Tony, hoping she wasn't doing something wrong. Beside her, the boy who had been at her side since first meeting her was practically vibrating in excitement, and when she looked back at Tony, he looked...not quite upset. But something like it.

She turned to Ned, pausing mid-step, and he paused with her, confused. "Penny?" he asked, eyes dating back to Tony who was watching their interaction, an elbow resting out the car window.

"Do you know Tony?"

The boy's eyes widened. "Do I...uh...no, I've never...I mean, he's Iron Man so...so yeah, I know who he is! He's a superhero!"

Penny crossed her arms, well aware that Tony was watching and feeling a prickle of discomfort at feeling on display. She'd been on display before. She'd been on display so many times. Her whole had been on display. And now, as she stood in the school parking lot, her arms tight across her chest, feeling disappointment and nerves mix in her stomach. Was she doing this wrong? Was she making a mistake? Did Ned just want to talk to her so that he could meet Tony?

The thought made her stomach hurt.

"Is that...is that why…" She wasn't sure how to ask and Ned's eyes widened.

"What? No...no, that's…" He leaned in, lowering his voice, eyes impossibly wide and earnest. "I didn't talk to you because I wanted to meet Tony Stark. I mean, it's super cool that you're his kid and stuff but…" He shrugged, looking right at her. Not glancing at Tony in the car or the other students walking around them. And she knew that she might have it wrong but she believed him. She thought that he was telling the truth.

A tiny smile curled the edges of her mouth and she dropped her arms. "Really?"

"Yeah, of course." Ned hesitated, looking once more at the car, but Penny kept her eyes on him. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Penny nodded. "Okay." And then he was walking away, throwing a wave over his shoulder and heading in the opposite direction toward the street. Penny wondered if she could do that too. If she could walk home. If she was allowed to. Would she be able to find her way home? Would she be able to take the trains or a bus or just walk? Finally, realizing where she was, Penny gave her head a short, sharp shake, pulling herself out of her thoughts and turning back to Tony who was once more looking down at his phone.

As soon as she slid into the passenger seat, placing her backpack onto the floor between her feet, he looked up. "Hey, kiddo. Everything okay?"

Penny nodded, feeling some tension in her melting away. She was with Tony. She was safe. He was...he was like her home now. She had a home. "Hi, Tony."

He chuckled a little, reaching out and putting an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a half hug. She leaned into it, closing her eyes and letting herself be held. For a moment, they just stayed there, oblivious to the people walking around their car. "Hi, Penny." He rubbed a hand up and down her arm, then patted it. "How was it?"

"It was…" she hesitated, trying to find a word. "It was not like school."

He snorted. "I should hope not." He placed his phone in the cup holder then put the car in drive. "Who was that?" He jerked his chin in the direction that Ned had gone in.

"Ned Leeds."

"Did he show you around today?"

"No. Um...not at first. Michelle did first, but then he was talking to me and he showed me the rest of my classes."

"Yeah? What's he like?"

"He's nice. He really likes an old movie. It's called Star Wars." She pronounced it carefully and Tony laughed. "Have you seen it?"

"Yeah, Pen. I've seen Star Wars. It's a pretty good one. You might like it." He hesitated, then, as he pulled up to a stop light, he turned to her with a grin. "Maybe you should invite him over some time and you can both watch it."

Penny tilted her head, thinking it over. "I can...I can invite him over?"

Tony lifted his eyebrows as he pushed the gas pedal, driving the car forward. "Of course you can, Pen. That's your home, too. You can have people over. Just, let me know first."

"Oh."

He smiled over at her. "So, what about your classes?"

"They were better than my other school. The teachers talked to us. At the other school, they didn't want us to ask questions, but they let us here."

"You can always ask your teachers questions. That's what they're there for. Me too...and Pepper. You know that, right?"

Penny nodded. She did know that now, despite the fact that it had taken her a long time to believe it.

"Do you have homework?"

"Yeah." Penny nodded as they pulled into the tower's garage, and together they climbed out of the car, her throwing her backpack over her shoulder.

"You can get that knocked out while I make dinner. How about you choose tonight? In honor of your first day?" Tony asked, bumping his shoulder against hers. Penny thought for a moment, then smiled.

"Mac and cheese?"

He grinned. "Really?" Penny nodded. "Alright, but I'm making it from scratch."

"You can do that?"

Tony snorted. "I can. When you don't have so much homework, I'll show you." In his pocket, Penny heard his phone chime, but he didn't check it, instead leading her to the elevator. "All you have to do is…"

"Boss?" Friday interrupted, and the elevator slowed down. Tony put a steadying hand on her shoulder, squeezing reassuringly.

"What's up, Fri?"

"Miss Potts wanted me to inform you that you have a guest in the penthouse."

"Don't leave us in suspense here, Friday. Who's here?"

"Nick Fury, sir." Tony went still and immediately Penny felt her heart rate spike. She stared up at him, watching the indecision play across his face, his hand resting lightly on her shoulder.

Finally, Tony spoke. "Did he say why?"

"He did not. He, Miss Potts, and Captain Rogers are speaking in the penthouse."

"Okay…" Tony glanced at her, then made an effort to smile...to project calm. But she could hear how his heart sped up and could tell that he was nervous. That Nick Fury wasn't someone he wanted to talk to. But why? Since coming to live with Tony, he'd never had a visitor besides the other Avengers...at least, none that she knew of. And she'd been at his side for the majority of the time. "Alright, kiddo. I guess it's time you met Nick Fury."

"Who is he?"

"He's the director of Shield. The organization your mother works for. Well...officially Shield has disbanded, but he's still plenty powerful, trust me." The elevator stopped at the penthouse, the doors opening slowly and revealing the familiar rooms. He stepped out first, and Penny listened for unfamiliar voices, which she heard after a moment.

"Thank you, Miss Potts."

"Of course," Pepper told the man that Penny couldn't see yet. "Tony should be here any minute."

"With the girl?"

His voice was more curious than hostile...still, Penny wanted to balk in the doorway. To take the elevator back down to the street level and leave the tower...find a place to hide and stay there until Nick Fury was gone. Even his name was scary. But Tony had rested a hand on her upper back and was ushering her forward with him.

"It's okay. We're just going to have a quick chat with him. He's not going to hurt you, promise."

"Does he want to take me away?" She remembered him talking about the people who wanted to take her...who wanted to have her stay with them. But Tony shook his head.

"Doesn't matter. He's not going to."

Penny hesitated a little, wanted to ask if she had to do this. If it was absolutely necessary. But Tony looked serious and determined so, she thought, it seemed she did have to do this. She wasn't going to be a baby, she told herself. Wasn't going to whine or fight him on it. She'd gone to school by herself. She'd met new people and stayed in a building without Tony all day. Now she would meet a man named Nick Fury. Besides, Steve was there too. That's what Friday had said. Between Steve and Pepper and Tony, she would be fine.

Everything would be fine.

Penny followed Tony into the living room, forcing herself to step forward when the man who must have been Nick Fury stood, along with Steve. The man was bald with a black eye patch over one eye, and as soon as he caught sight of her, he lifted his eyebrows, glancing at Tony who moved to stand slightly in front of her. "Nick. I didn't know you were stopping by."

"I was in the neighborhood." The man reached out a hand that Tony shook as Steve gave Penny a small smile. They hadn't trained that morning since Penny had been getting ready for school, and she'd missed it. "And you must be Penelope."

"Penny," Tony corrected, stepping a little to the side as Nick reached out a hand to her.

"Nice to meet you," Penny told him, even though it wasn't, reaching out a hand to shake his. She was always careful when she shook hands, not wanting to hurt the other person, but with Nick, she squeezed just a little, wanting him to know that she was strong. That she would defend herself if she had to. He smiled a little, though, lifting an eyebrow.

"It's nice to meet you too. That's quite a grip you've got there, Penny." He gave a nod and pulled his hand away, crossing his arms over his chest. "So, you started school today?" The man sat back down and Penny did the same, following Tony and sitting beside him on the adjacent sofa. Tony and Steve were both between her and Nick Fury, and as soon as she sat, Pepper came to join her, sitting on her other side, a hand coming to rest lightly on her back.

"Yes."

"What did you think?"

Penny wondered what he meant. What did she think? She thought that school was nothing like what she'd been led to believe, and that other kids were allowed to be her friend and it was strange but good. She thought that teachers that actually taught her were amazing and wondered what the purpose of the teachers at her old school had been. Why bother teaching them when they were just going to kill them? But she didn't say any of this. She might tell Tony one day. But she didn't know Nick Fury. Didn't trust him. Not yet. So she just shrugged a little. "It was good."

"Speaking of school…" Tony started, but Nick Fury went on.

"I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about the place you were in before. The school."

Penny stiffened a little, and Pepper continued to rub her back. Beside her, Tony clasped his hands in his lap but didn't speak.

So Penny nodded. It would be fine. She was safe. "Okay."

Steve sat back a little, hands clasped in his lap, and Tony sat back as well, giving Fury a better view of her. "I was wondering if you knew the names of any of the people that worked there? The teachers? The soldiers?"

Penny shook her head. "The teachers didn't tell us their names...we just called them whatever badge color they had. Like Helen was Ms. Blue."

Nick Fury nodded. "Okay. So you didn't speak to the guards either?"

She shook her head again. "We weren't allowed." That was true. They hadn't been allowed, and the consequences had been dire.

"What about the other children?"

"We have files on the other children. Natasha gave them to you," Tony put in.

"So you didn't know about their families? Last names?"

"We had numbers," Penny told him simply.

"Numbers?"

"We weren't supposed to use our names. I was 024."

Like Tony had, Nick Fury repeated the numbers. "Zero Two Four?"

Penny nodded. "We weren't supposed to use each other's names. I didn't know anyone's last name...I didn't even know mine."

"Like we said, the children weren't given any information," Steve put in, giving Nick Fury a look as he sat forward. "We gave you all of the information we have on Osborn's facility."

There was a tense moment of silence, and Penny wondered what these men really wanted to say to each other...what they were holding back. Finally, though, Nick Fury gave a terse nod, turning to her with what appeared to be a genuine smile. "Sorry for dropping in." He held up his hands, nodding to Tony.

"You're welcome to stay for dinner if you can refrain from being a spy for a few hours," Tony offered. "We're having mac and cheese, made from scratch. Stark family secret recipe."

Nick Fury chuckled them, relaxing a little. "Thanks, but I've got another stop to make before I call it a day." He placed his hands on his legs. "It was nice to meet you, Penny." He started to get up, then hesitated. "One more question?"

"She's got homework, Nick," Tony told the man, his voice a warning.

"I know, but it's a fast one." He turned back to her. "Since you've been living in New York, have you seen any of the people from Osborn's facility? Teachers or guards or scientists? Any of the other kids?"

Penny had plenty of practice making her face blank. Every time Susie had dared her to do something, be it take an extra roll at dinner or sneak a book out of the classroom, she'd gotten a chance to perfect a bland, pleasant smile. So she did that now, not letting her mind wander to the flash of familiar hair she'd seen only a few days ago. Because it couldn't have been her. Susie was gone. She had to be.

"No. I haven't seen anyone."

As the adults all stood, saying their goodbyes, Penny fought to keep her expression normal. Fought to keep her smile sincere as she told Nick Fury goodbye and headed off to do her homework, managing to keep up the facade until she reached her bedroom, shutting her door and dropping onto her bed. There, finally, she dropped her face into her hands and took a dee breath.

It hadn't been a lie because Susie was dead. The guard had so much as told her so.

So why did she feel guilty?

Thank you for reading!