I'm sorry about the delay on this chapter. I returned to work full time and things have been a bit hectic. But I hope you enjoy the chapter!
25. Adjustment
Penny felt like she was dozing. Not completely asleep, but not awake either. In some strange, in-between place where she was warm and comfortable and safe. Finally, finally safe. Pepper had helped her change into sweatpants and a familiar shirt, both thick and warm and smelling like home, and now, for the first time since she'd been in that place, she could relax. Her head was pillowed in Pepper's lap, and her mother's hand was stroking her hair, gently working through the knots and massaging her scalp. Curling her legs up on the bed, Penny snuggled up under the blanket that they'd thrown over her, and took deep, even breaths.
It had been so long since she'd been warm. So long since she'd been touched by someone that didn't want to hurt her. And Pepper was holding her like she was her daughter and it felt safe and it felt comfortable and it felt perfect. The world spun around her and she didn't mind because she was finally home and Susie was okay and they'd gotten out and Norman Osborn had been captured. And she would never have to go back to that place.
The door to her room opened but Penny didn't bother opening her eyes. Not when she was so warm and comfortable. Not when her mother was holding her like this. She didn't want to leave her warm, safe cocoon. So she kept her eyes shut, nuzzling her face into Pepper's leg as she tried to drift away. Sleeping in that place had been so miserable and so hard and now she just wanted to sleep for a week. Familiar footsteps approached and a new hand landed on her hair. A hand she knew.
"Is she asleep?" Tony asked, voice pitched soft as it broke through the fog surrounding her, and she knew that he was wearing a fond smile that she'd seen so often.
"I think so. She's exhausted. Do we need to wake her?"
"Helen needs to look her over."
More footsteps came into the room, and Tony's hand moved to her shoulder, shaking gently. "Penny?"
She hummed under her breath, not wanting to wake up. Not wanting to face any of it. Tony just chuckled though.
"Come on, kiddo. Open your eyes for a minute," he urged, shaking her again, and Penny sighed, looking up at him and blinking slowly.
"Hi, Tony."
He grinned. "Hi, Penny." Ruffling her hair, he held out a hand and helped her sit up. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired." It was mostly true. She was exhausted, her whole body heavy and useless.
"I'll bet. Helen wants to check on you, and then we'll get you up to your room. Okay?"
She nodded, rubbing her face and smiling when Pepper wrapped an arm around her, supporting her when she started to list sideways. And then Helen was stepping into her line of sight, her white coat clean and crisp and so like the scientists that Penny felt herself flinch back before she even knew what she was doing. Helen, she reminded herself. That was Helen! She knew Helen. Still, her whole body went stiff and she leaned back until Tony's hand on her back was the only thing keeping her from scooting all the way to the wall.
"Pen?" Tony asked, his thumb rubbing back over her shoulder blade.
Helen had frozen in place, her eyes wide as she stared at Penny, and then she put her tablet down and pulled the coat off, draping it over a chair. "Is that better?" the woman asked softly, her voice gentle. Penny nodded, forcing herself to take a breath. To unclench her hands in her lap and bring her shoulders down from her ear. "Those people, they weren't doctors. Not real doctors. Real doctors don't hurt children. And I'm not going to hurt you."
Penny nodded. "I know. I…" She swallowed hard. "I know."
Helen smiled, face soft. "I wanted to check your leg and draw some blood, if that's okay. I'll be quick. I know you want to get back to bed."
The doctor was quick. After drawing blood and giving her a bottle of pills for the pain from the wound in her leg, Penny was helped to her feet by Tony who kept an arm wrapped around her. "How's Susie?" she asked before they even made it out the door, and he smiled.
"She's fine. Rhodey's with her, and the other kids are all fine too. The Avengers have been roped into babysitting. Friday is looking for their families as we speak."
"Do you think they have families?"
"I'm sure that some of them do," Pepper put in from her other side, the three of them stepping into the elevator. "And we're going to make sure the ones that don't go to good families."
"Susie...she told me that her dad took her to the school. Do you think...do you think he's still alive?"
"Friday will find him if he is," Tony promised, leading her out of the elevator and into the kitchen of their home. Home.
The first time Penny had stepped into this room, she'd been so afraid. So confused and uncertain and...and she hadn't even been outside yet! But now, stepping into the kitchen and walking through the living room, this was her home. The first home she'd ever had. And she'd never been so happy to be there.
Tony helped her sit, Pepper easing a pillow under Penny's knee, and then one of them pulled the blankets up to her chin but Penny wasn't sure which one of her parents was tucking her in because her eyes were weighted down and her body knew that she was safe...that she was home. That she didn't have to be afraid. The minute her eyes shut, she was sound asleep, and the last thing she was aware of were two gentle kisses on her forehead.
When Penny woke, it was like she'd finally emerged from her fog. Her leg ached, a dull throbbing that pulled her from a deep sleep, and her mouth felt dry and her head gave a dull throb that matched her leg as she started to sit up. Rubbing a hand over her face, she sighed, stretching and looking around, taking in every detail of her room. The comfortable bed she'd missed so much, piled with thick, cozy blankets and five pillows, along with a special long one that she usually ended up holding. The desk and her backpack, which she'd thought she'd lost, and the mini-fridge and the bookcase with books she loved to read now.
Her room. Hers. Her very own home and her very own room where she was safe. Stretching and ignoring the sharper pain in her knee, she swung her legs over the side and, as carefully as she could, she placed her feet on the ground. Doing her best not to put too much weight on it at first, she stood gingerly on her good leg, then carefully shifted her weight. Her bad leg hurt, but she could stand, and when she took a step, that worked out okay too.
Making her way over to the balcony, she pulled the curtain back and watched as the sun started to disappear over the horizon and the buildings. Pulling the door open, she stepped out onto the balcony and took a deep breath of the fresh air she never thought she'd get to smell and felt a tear fall down her cheek.
There had been times when she'd been so sure...so sure that she would die in that place. So afraid that Tony would never come for her. Gripping the balcony railing, she dropped her head onto her hands and tried to breathe. Tried to remind herself that she was free now and that Tony had come but her heart kept speeding up and her fingers dug into the metal, warping it, until a gentle hand rested on her back and a familiar pair of house slippers came to stand beside her. For a moment, it just rested there, then started to rub circles on her back.
"I didn't think I'd ever get to see this again," Penny whispered through her tears after a moment. The hand stilled, then came to rest on her shoulder. "I didn't think I'd ever get to see you again." She stood straight, putting most of her weight on her good leg before throwing her arms around him. "I was afraid you wouldn't find me."
"I didn't stop looking. I swear, from the moment you didn't come to, to that phone call...and then...Friday finally, finally tracked the signal…" Tony shook his head. "I'm so sorry, Penny. I'm sorry it took me so long…"
"I saw her!" Penny cried, pulling away just a little but keeping her arms around him. "I...I saw her the first time we went outside with Pepper in the city and...and I thought I saw her another day and...I should have told you! I should have told you that I saw her!"
Tony sighed and gave a barely-there smile. "Probably," he agreed, closing his eyes for a moment. "I wish you had. I wish…" Shaking his head, he squeezed her arms. "Just...promise me something?"
Penny nodded.
"Promise me that if something like this ever happens again, you tell me. First thing." His face was as serious as Penny had ever seen it, but at least he didn't look angry. That, at least, made it easier.
"I promise." She meant it. She really did, despite that voice in the back of her mind that was still afraid...that still felt like she needed to be on the lookout for the next terrible thing that would happen to her. That she needed to take care of herself just like she always had…to fight to keep herself safe. But Tony loved her. She knew that.
The man who was like her father gave her a gentle smile, still holding her arms. "It's okay. It's over now. Osborn is locked up and Susie is safe."
She sniffed again, wiping a hand over her face to try to stop the tears. "Is she okay?"
"She's going to be fine. I just checked on her...she's still in the medbay. Rhodey's been staying with her. Friday found the families of the two older boys and three of the younger children and we're contacting them now. Natasha got Osborn to tell us where the other facilities are, and we're going to find the rest of the kids."
"Does she have a family?"
"I don't know. Friday is still looking." But Penny could see in his face that the search hadn't been going well.
"What if she doesn't?"
"Then we'll find her a good family. I promise, Pen. We're going to find her a family. A family that will love her."
She swallowed hard, trying not to remember dragging her friend through the water. Trying not to remember the fear that her friend was dead...that she was dragging her friend's body away from that school that wasn't a school...hadn't even pretended to be a school this time.
"Can I see her?"
"Yeah, kiddo. We can go down to the meday for a visit as soon as you eat something. Are you hungry?"
Now that she thought of it...yes. She was starving. And dying for something to drink. So...despite her desperation to see that Susie was, in fact, alive and okay, she nodded, and Tony put an arm around her shoulders, leading her into the kitchen...the first one she'd ever been in. She was home. She was truly home. But now, just like the first day she stepped into the kitchen, it all felt so shaky. Like it could all be taken away again.
She didn't want it to be taken away. Didn't want to be yanked away from the only home she'd ever known. She felt like she could fall apart at any moment...like she might crumble. And Penny suspected that Tony understood, because he pulled out the waffle maker and a bag of chocolate chips and ushered her over to help him make the batter she'd made so many times before. As she mixed it, he kept a hand on her back, protective and steadying all at once, and it helped. It made it so much easier. Because Tony was there and Tony had never done anything but protect her...try to save her. Try to keep her safe. From the day she'd first met him in that cage to now.
"You know that I love you, kiddo?" Tony asked as she mixed, and she nodded, glad the tears had finally stopped.
"I love you too," she whispered, the words catching in her throat. "I just…" She swallowed hard, shaking her head and staring at the waffles. "It feels weird. Being back. Like…"
"Like you're not sure if it's real? Like it could all be taken away at any moment?"
Penny nodded, wide-eyed. He gave a sad chuckle.
"Remember when I told you that I'd been kidnapped?"
She nodded again.
"I felt the same," he confided. "Like...like I might just close my eyes and I'd be back in that cave." He poured the batter onto the waffle iron and closed it, the sizzle of the batter a wonderful, comfortable reminder of happier days. Penny took a deep breath, smiling a little at the familiar smell. "It gets better. It takes a while, but it does."
"How long?"
His answering smile was sad. "For me, it was years before I stopped having nightmares...but that could have been because of the traumatic shit that happened to me every couple of months." As the waffles cooked, the smell of chocolate filled the room, and Penny's stomach growled. "But that's not going to happen to you. Not if I can help it. You're going to be safe, Pen. We're going to get the other kids, and they're going to be safe too."
Could he really promise that? Looking up at Tony as he flipped the waffle maker, she decided that it didn't matter. She didn't care if it was true. She just wanted to believe it. Wanted to believe that Tony could actually protect her from all the terrible things that might wait for her outside of the tower. So she just nodded, throwing her arms around him, and Tony held her close, resting his cheek on the top of her head. It felt safe. Tony felt safe. He always had. So she let herself believe it, if only for a little while.
She scarfed down the three waffles he made her, along with the syrup and strawberries and bananas, all of it fresh and delicious and it made her feel like she was alive again. The food in that place had been the same every day and that alone had felt like it might be the end of her. Now, though...now she could have whatever she wanted. Waffles and fruit and pizza and salad and ice cream...all of it.
The medbay was quiet, especially considering all the children inside. But Penny wasn't surprised. She knew these kids...or...well, she knew what they had been through. Knew what it was like to be them. And she knew that, had she been taken away from the place where she'd grown up, she would have been quiet too. She would have been too terrified to make a peep.
Tony led her straight to a room that was a few doors down from where her own had been, tapping his knuckles softly against the wood. It was Rhodey who answered, nodding to Tony, then smiling down at her. "Hey, Penny. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine. Is she okay?" Penny blurted, her heart beating too fast. Susie was in there. She was in there and she was okay and Penny needed to see her!
"She's going to be fine," Rhodey assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing. "How about you?"
Despite the fact that she thought she'd just answered that, she nodded. "Yeah. I'll be fine."
Rhodey shared a look with Tony, the two of them seeming to communicate something she didn't understand. But it didn't matter. It didn't matter that she still felt like all of this might turn out to be a dream, and it didn't matter that she felt like she might shatter at any moment. All that mattered was the fact that Susie was in that room. And Penny needed to see her. So, slipping past Rhodey who took a step to his left to get out of her way, Penny hurried into the room, then froze when she caught sight of her friend.
Susie way laying in the hospital bed, a bandage wrapped around her shoulder, an IV in her arm. She looked...overwhelmed. Afraid. But she was alive. It was true. They were both out and Osborn was locked up and her friend...her friend was alive and okay. Hurrying the last few steps to the bed, Penny threw her arms around her friend, careful of the IV, and Susie returned the hug, her shoulders shaking as Penny held her.
"You're okay," Penny whispered, another tear running down her cheek. She didn't know why she kept crying...she hadn't cried this much in her whole life, but now she felt...fragile. Like any moment she might just shatter. But Susie's arms were just as tight around her, their cheeks pressed together, and Susie's shoulders shook too. "I was afraid...I thought…"
"I'm okay."
Susie had been her first friend. For most of her life, she had been her only friend, even though they hadn't been allowed to touch or talk openly or even whisper to one another. They had still been friends. And now...now they were free. Climbing the rest of the way onto the bed, Penny lay beside her best friend and rested her head on Susie's shoulder. Forgetting all about Tony and Rhodey, the tower and the Avengers and Osborn and the school that wasn't a school, she held her best friend and felt more tears fall, but it didn't matter because they were finally, finally safe.