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The People With Whom He Once Was Chained

As it turned out, homework was, for the most part, no harder than the work Penny had been doing before. Before long, her life was once more a routine. School every weekday, spent with learning from real teachers and talking to Ned. She ate lunch at the school, usually greasy foods that were surprisingly good after what she was used to, even though the other kids complained. Sometimes Ned brought his own lunch, something she hadn't thought to do, but she never asked Tony if she could too. She figured he was probably glad to have time to himself once more, and honestly, although there were times she missed Tony, it was a nice feeling, being on her own like this. Going to a real school and learning from real teachers and being with people her own age.

It was almost strange being in a place where the people, with the exception of the armed guard in the front of the school, didn't have guns and no one threatened them. It wasn't long before she thought of Ned as her friend, although Michelle was nice too, and one Thursday, about a month after she started school, she asked Tony, sheepishly, if Ned could come over and watch the Star Wars movie that he kept talking about. Tony agreed easily, suggesting he come over that weekend, and so, the next day, Penny waited until they were sitting together at lunch to ask.

"Ned?" The boy looked up from his slice of greasy pizza. "I asked Tony if it was okay, and he said yes…" Ned narrowed his eyes in confusion so Penny went on quickly. "Would you like to come over to the tower tomorrow and watch the Star Wars?"

Ned most certainly did. She'd never seen her friend's eyes get so big before, and his jaw literally dropped before he nodded so quickly she wondered if he was hurting his neck. "Yeah! That...that would be amazing! Oh my god...the tower? The Avengers tower?"

Penny didn't know why she was nervous to have Ned over. Tony had said that it was okay. Pepper had set up one of the spare rooms that had a sofa and a TV that they could use to watch their move, and said she would order them pizza for dinner. Still, when school was out and Penny and Ned headed for the familiar black car, her heart was fluttering a little, stomach swimming in fluttery nerves. Ned, oblivious to her worry, chattered non-stop about how he couldn't believe he was going to meet Iron Man and how cool it was that she lived with him and he was like her dad.

Other kids had, over the last month, come up to her at lunch or between classes, demanding to know if she really was Tony Stark's kid. Since he had adopted her, she usually nodded and told them that yes, he was her dad. A few people seemed to think she was lying, mostly friends of a boy named Flash that Ned told her was just a bully and that she should just ignore him. Others wanted to talk to her about Tony, even though they'd never spoken to her before. None of them were like Ned, who seemed to actually like her, so she mostly gave them short, one word answers or shrugs until they went away.

It was something she'd brought up after sparring with Steve one Saturday morning, the two of them sitting on opposite sides of the mat, drinking from bottles of water kept cold in the small refrigerator in the corner of the gym. "Steve?"

"Yeah?" he'd asked, taking a swig of water and wiping sweat from his forehead with a small red towell that he held balled up in one hand.

"Is Tony really as famous as he thinks he is?"

For some reason, the question had made Steve bark out a laugh, head dropping as he'd chuckled. Penny had just tilted her head, which had set him off again until a tiny smile was on her face too. She wasn't sure what was so funny, but it had been so rare for her to hear laughter before. Now she heard it all the time. It made her relax...surely someone laughing wouldn't hurt you.

"He, uh...yeah, Penny. I think he is," Steve had finally told her. "We're all pretty famous. Comes with being superheroes I guess. Why do you ask."

Penny had taken a drink of her own water, embarrassed for reasons she couldn't articulate. "Kids at school talk to me because of him."

Steve had narrowed his eyes, sitting up and crossing his arms. "What do you mean?"

"Not Ned...but some of them just want to ask me about Tony."

He'd nodded his head, looking kind of sad before smiling. "Yeah, some people are like that. What about Ned?"

"He really likes Tony too...he calls him Iron Man. And he thinks you're really cool. He asked me if I could get your autograph and I said probably not but I didn't know what it meant so I had to ask Friday when I got home," she had admitted, and he'd laughed again before softening.

"But does he talk to you about other things?"

"Yeah." Penny had nodded quickly. "He talks about Star Wars and the club he's in, and he asks me about my other school…" She'd shrugged. "I told him it was a private school that was really religious...I have to make things up. I wish I didn't."

"Have you talked to Tony about telling him the truth?"

She'd shaken her head. "No...I don't think he would like it."

"Maybe after you know Ned for a little while longer, you can ask Tony about it. Maybe not about your mutation...but you could tell him a little about the school. If you wanted."

Penny thought about that as she and Ned climbed into the back seat of the car, and Tony turned around, draping his arm on the seat. "Hi, Ned. Nice to meet you," he'd greeted, offering a hand that Ned gripped in his own, and her usually chatty friend was suddenly struck dumb.

"I...Mr. Iron Man...sir…"

"Tony," the man had corrected, his eyes nothing but friendly.

"Mr. Tony, sir...it's...it's an honor!"

"We're glad to have you over. Pepper's ordering pizza for dinner. Is that okay?"

"Oh, yeah...yeah, of course!"

Penny gave him a look and he gave one back. By this point, she knew him well enough to almost read it, and had he been able to talk, he would have been telling her how amazing it was that he was finally meeting THE Iron Man and how cool he was and how this was possibly the best day of his life. The thought made her smile, and she turned away to hide her laugh.

"So, you kids have homework?"

When Ned just stared, wide-eyed, as if he'd somehow forgotten what those words meant, Penny snorted under her breath, then tried to compose herself. "Not much. I have to finish reading a book for English, and I have to do some math problems too."

"That's not too bad. What about you, Ned?" The gentle, pointed question seemed to finally pull her friend from his stupor, and in a halting voice he told Tony about his own homework, not relaxing until they were nearly back to the tower.

Once the two of them were set up in the spare room, the movie up and ready to play, and two boxes of pizza and two liters on the table, Ned finally turned to her, wide-eyed. "I just met Tony Stark!"

She had to smile, nodding a little. "Yeah."

"He's...he's...like...a normal dad?"

"Most of the time. Sometimes he goes out in the Iron Man suit or has meetings with the Avengers...but I think he's normal." She didn't have much to compare him with, really. She'd never had a dad before. But she'd watched TV shows a few times now, and sometimes there were dads on TV. He kind of acted like some of them.

"He asked me about my homework! And he knew my name!"

"I told him about you," Penny explained, then went on when he just stared at her, apparently stunned. "And Steve too. He said you sound nice. Oh, and he said that if you wanted, he would sign his name on something for you." She shrugged, not seeing the appeal herself. When she'd told Steve as much, the man had laughed again.

Ned just blinked for a moment, then shook his head. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Maybe he'll be around after the movie." She wasn't sure...he and Sam had been talking about something important sounding that morning after they'd sparred, so she'd left them to it without getting the chance to ask.

"Do you get to spend a lot of time with Captain America?"

The name still sent a thrill of residual fear down her spine...Captain America, the man that would tear her apart if he ever found him. So instead, she thought of him only as Steve. "We spar every morning."

That made him nearly drop the slice of pizza he was holding, jaw dropping. "You spar with Captain America? Like...you fight him?"

"Yeah...I mean, we don't hurt each other...not on purpose. I accidentally hit him one time…" She trailed off when he just stared, cheeks heating up a little. "What?"

"You hurt Captain America?"

"I...I mean, I didn't mean to."

"Are you...do you have superpowers?" He hissed, leaning in, eyes going so wide she wondered if they would pop out.

Penny felt her heart pound in her ears and she shook her head, air coming in a gasp that made her chest hurt. She hadn't meant to tell...hadn't meant for him to know. She wasn't supposed to tell! Tears sprang to her eyes as she scooted away, biting into her lip, and a hand came up to cover her mouth. "No...no, I…"

"Penny?" He reached out for her and she had to force herself to stay still...to squash the urge to shove him away. He was okay. He was safe. But Ned wasn't supposed to know!

"Please...please don't say anything," she whispered, a tear dripping down her cheek. Tony would be so angry. Would he yell at her? Stop letting her go to school? He'd asked so little of her and in return he'd saved her life. Given her a life. And she couldn't even keep this one secret.

"Okay...Penny? Don't...don't cry!" Ned hissed, looking around wildly as if Tony would magically appear. "I'm sorry...it's okay. I won't tell! I promise...I won't tell anyone. Please don't cry."

She tried to stop, turning away from him, but his hand landed on her shoulder in a clumsy form of comfort. "I wasn't supposed to tell," she confided, wiping at her eyes and looking around, hoping Friday wouldn't tell on her. "It's a secret."

"That you have superpowers? That's, like...the coolest secret ever," Ned murmured, leaning in and looking so earnest. Do you help people? Like...do you wear a costume and go out and save people? Are you one of the Avengers?"

Penny narrowed her eyes, shaking her head. It had never even occurred to her to put on a suit like the other people she lived with...to go out and help people. But that's when she realized...she liked the idea. She liked it a lot. Tony had done so much for her...the Avengers had. She was strong like them. She could climb walls and stick to things and, most importantly, she could fight. So...could she be an Avenger too?

"Well...anyway, it's really cool that you have superpowers. And I won't tell. Your secret is safe with me."

Looking into his eyes, Penny knew that he was telling the truth. That her secret really was safe with him. Still, she had to make double sure. "You promise?"

He held out his little finger then, and she stared down at it, perplexed. Shaking hands meant a promise or a greeting. What did holding your little finger out mean? "It's a pinky swear," he prompted, and she tilted her head.

"What?"

"It's...it means that I swear not to tell anyone. Here, give me your pinkie."

She did, holding her little finger out, and he wrapped his around hers, shaking her hand up and down.

"A pinkie swear," she repeated slowly.

"Yeah. It means that I'm making you a promise that I can never, ever break. Like a blood oath. But...no blood."

Penny wasn't sure what a blood oath was, but considering the name, she thought she'd rather not know. So she just nodded. A pinky swear would have to do, and she would just have to hope that Tony never found out. It seemed that the list of things she was keeping from Tony was starting to grow...first Susie, and now this. But, she reminded herself, Susie was gone. It hurt, but she had to face it. Susie was gone and the person she'd seen was just someone that looked like her. There were so many people in the world...some of them were bound to look alike.

Pinky swear completed, Penny and Ned started the movie, and Penny found herself enjoying both it and the commentary that came with it via Ned. He told her all about the actors and how it was filmed and even though she didn't totally understand everything, it was fun to spend time with Ned in the tower, just the two of them. They ate their pizza and drank soda and occasionally talked about school and watched the movie and Penny found herself smiling nearly the entire time. Still, though, in the back of her mind, she wondered if she and Susie would have done this. Would her friend have liked Star Wars? Would she have understood it any more than Penny? Would she like Ned as much as Penny did?

Had Penny really seen her?

The weekend passed in a blur of waffles for breakfast and homework and sparring with Steve, and then the week came and went. Then another. Her life felt almost normal. It felt almost normal to be able to leave her room whenever she wanted...to be allowed to climb up the side of the tower and rest on the letters, legs hanging off the sides. It felt normal to take walks with Tony and Pepper who taught her how to ride the subway, which she loved, and how to take the bus. They taught her which streets to look for that were close to home, and how to find her way from school to the tower if she needed to.

Not too much later, she was allowed to go home with Ned after school for the first time, with Tony agreeing to pick her up when they were done hanging out, and for the first time, it was just her and someone her age on the subway. Ned lived in a part of town called Queens, and she met his parents, both of whom were just as nice as he was. They watched the rest of the Star Wars movies in the order Ned insisted, and Penny screamed when she found out that Darth Vader was actually Luke's father.

The next day, she asked Tony and Pepper if she could take the bus home from school instead of having him pick her up.

They agreed, with the stipulation that she texted them when she was on her way home, and that she come straight to the tower unless given permission to go somewhere else.

Two months after having Ned over to the tower found Penny taking the bus to and from school every day, carrying her student ID and money in her backpack along with her pass to get into the tower if she ever took the side entrance. School felt easy. She was even thinking about asking to join Academic Decathlon next year, which would be her sophomore year of high school, or tenth grade, apparently. She had asked Tony why the grade had both a number and a name and he'd shrugged before asking Friday to look it up. Penny spent her days in school, or spending time with Ned, or sparring with Steve, or working with Tony in his lab, each day thinking more and more about Ned's question. Why didn't she help people too? Could she be an Avenger?

This question was at the forefront of her mind one warm day at the end of the semester. Finals were coming up, and Tony had promised to take her to the Compound plenty of times in the summer, and that they would swim and spend time outside. It would be just her and Tony and Pepper...her and her parents, and she found herself excited for something...actually excited. Before meeting Tony, the only thing she'd ever been excited for was going home. Meeting her parents. Leaving that place when she turned eighteen.

She and Ned had talked more about her mutation...about the school and about her family. She'd told him nearly everything in bits and pieces, up to and including the part where she'd seen Susie in the city. Ned had been aghast, insisting that they look out for her every time they went out somewhere. And so she obliged, giving him a description that they both kept an eye out for whenever they stopped at Ned's favorite sandwich place, Delmar's, or rode the bus or the subway to a store or movie theater or wherever Ned wanted to go. Penny felt like she was just along for the ride most of the time, but she enjoyed their excursions into this city that she was starting to love. They were fun, and she felt so...so alive, surrounded by people. It would hit her sometimes, that she was outside. Among people. Real people. That she was free.

Penny was on her way home when it happened. She and Ned had split up at the school gates, him waving over his shoulder and her telling him that she'd see him the next day. She sent a text to Tony like she always did, letting him know that she was on her way home. And as she walked, her mind was on the Avengers. On superheroes. Maybe she could ask Tony if she could help people too. If she could have a suit like he did. Not a robot suit...just, something to keep people from knowing who she was. He might even help her build it. She and Ned had been talking about the fact that her mutation had come from a spider bite, and he'd suggested figuring out how to shoot webs like a spider did, and her mind had been stuck on that for days.

Webs. She could shoot webs...use them to get around! Or she could use them to tie up criminals! She wouldn't hurt people, she knew. Not unless she had to. But she could tie up bad guys until the police could arrest them.

But what would Tony say?

If she didn't ask, he couldn't say no.

She was lost in thought, heading for the bus stop where she waited every day for about seven minutes until the bus that always took her by the tower stopped for her and anyone else waiting, when she saw it. A flash of long black hair...that alone wouldn't have stopped Penny in her tracks. Their hair had been short at the school. Short and choppy...the people in white coats had cut their hair every few weeks with blunt scissors, nearly shaving the heads of the boys. Now Penny's hair was almost to her shoulders, and Pepper had taught her how to brush it back and put product in it, to spray hair spray to keep it in place and how to use a flat iron and a curling iron. It stood to reason that Susie's would have grown out too.

It wasn't just the hair. Wasn't just the posture. No...it was the eyes. Those bright green eyes locked in on her from across the street. Penny felt herself stiffen, jaw dropping. Susie...it was Susie. Susie was alive. It wasn't a flash or a glimpse...there was Susie, her best friend, standing across from the bus stop where Penny always waited for the bus.

They locked eyes. Susie stared at her, eyes narrow as if she were confused, and then she spun on her heel, taking off in the opposite direction.

Penny didn't even think. Barely checking to make sure there were no cars coming, she sprinted after her friend, gripping the straps of her backpack where she'd just shoved her phone. Susie...Susie was alive. They'd been wrong. Those people hadn't killed her. "Susie!" she called, brushing past a man on his phone that almost didn't step out of her way in time. The girl kept walking, taking a sharp right turn into an alley, and Penny raced after her, heart pounding. She could take Susie to Tony...he would take care of her! The Avengers would protect her! Where had she been? Had someone saved her? Had someone gotten her out of that place? Had her parents really picked her up like that soldier had said?

"Susie, wait, it's…"

Her words cut off as the ice cold feeling tricked up and down her back. She knew that feeling...it was the feeling she got right before a punch connected with her body, but stronger. Danger! There was danger! Susie was waiting at the end of the alley by a dumpster, cold green eyes trained on her, and that was the last thing Penny saw before something pricked her in the neck and her world went dark.