"Anthony."
First of all, he would like to blame May, it was absolutely her fault from the very begging, she would always call him Anthony whenever she's annoyed. The first time Penny did the same she was eight and throwing a silent tantrum at the news of Tony heading to Afghanistan, and Ben thought it was hilarious. Tony has a different opinion.
...
"Time to take a bath, Squirt.", Tony said trying not to laugh at the sight of the little girl covered in glitter after their "fight", if you could even call it that, and completely ignoring the mess they both made in May's living room.
"No."
"Penny...", he tried to sound sterner, not that it ever worked before, according to Ben, Tony is the fun parent, so its harder for him to sound stern, "Penny. Penelope!"
"Anthony!"
He was stunned silent.
"...Did you just..."
Ben laughing in the kitchen was hard to miss.
...
But dear God... After the second week inside this cave, the only thing he could think of was those rosy cheeks and big brown eyes that would shine every time he walked into the room.
That was the first time he cried since being kidnapped, the night he was sure he wouldn't make it back home. Back to Penny.
-xxx-
Very early on in this "relationship", Ben decided he didn't like Stark on principle. It began when he was still dating May and one day he came by her house to find the young billionaire and his girlfriend asleep on the couch. May wearing a loose T-shirt and tiny sweat shorts, and the least said about Stark, the better. Ben and May almost broke up for good that time and it took days for Ben to agree to talk to them, and hours for May to explain and convince him that Tony is her childhood friend, or more like an annoying little brother she feels like she has to take care of. That Stark was having some troubles, and they (stupidly, one may add) decided to drink the problems away, curse some of May's teachers and cry in the most dramatic and cathartic way possible, and that the lack of clothes in Tony's case was thanks to him getting sick and throwing up.
After that, he got the chance to actually know Tony, and he wasn't half bad. Tony and May introduced Mary to Richard, and Ben was fine with it... Until Tony was chosen as Penny Godfather. He hated him again for some time, but it was hard to truly hate him when anyone could see how much he loves her.
It was clear as day in the way he would hold Penny as if afraid of breaking her somehow. How he wouldn't even bat an eye when Penny would drool all over his expensive shirts. Or how he didn't even blink when deciding to step-in when Richard and Mary were declared dead and Ben was too grieve-stricken to think clearly. That was how Stark and the Parkers ended up sharing Penny's guardianship. Everything tightly wrapped in NDA's and a mountain of paperwork so that the news wouldn't get out. Stark and May were decided that Penny get a normal childhood and Ben was all on board with the idea. His niece didn't need to deal with the pressure of being Tony Stark "adopted daughter".
But God.
He hated Stark.
He hated how inconsolable Penny was after seeing the news of him being kidnapped.
He hated how she would wake up in the middle of the night, crying for her "Daddy" to come back.
He resented Stark for taking Richard's place in Penny lives. It wasn't right to think like that, but it was impossible because if his brother were alive, he would be the one holding Penny's hands, teaching her about science and all those things. If Richard were alive, Penny wouldn't be so attached to Stark. She wouldn't be so hurt right now.
"Shh... It's okay, baby.", he watched from the door how May would stroke her curls, trying to calm her down.
"Daddy...", she kept crying for him in heartbreaking sobs.
"I know, baby. I'm scared too.", he could hear in May's voice how she tried to not cry herself, "But he'll come back. He always does."
Ben left the place he was standing and went to the kitchen, no one would be going back to sleep anyway so he decided to make some hot chocolate, it always helps his girls.
"Dammit, Stark.", he thought to himself while stirring the chocolate, "Just come back home..."
-xxx-
May knew it was bad right after Afghanistan when Tony came back and hid in hers and Ben's house for two weeks. She would find him every morning asleep on the couch with Penny tucked in his side, holding his shirt for dear life, the arc reactor turned into her personal night-light, and Tony... She would watch the fear in his eyes every time he woke up until he notices the tiny body nestling on his chest and the way he would card his fingers through her curls to calm himself and May didn't have the heart to make Penny go to her bed in all the times she sees the little girl sneaking to go and sleep with "her Anthony". Ben thought it adorable the way Penny would claim the people she loves as hers: her May, her Ben and her Anthony.
With a fond sigh, May went to the two fast asleep on the couch and adjusted the blankets so they wouldn't get cold.
"May...?"
"Shh... Go back to sleep, Tony. It's late.", she hushed him, the tips of her fingers ruffling ever so slightly his messy curls.
"I'll take Pen to bed first.", he tried to get up without waking the sleeping girl.
"And then what? She won't let you go, and I'm pretty sure you don't fit in her bed, no matter how much you try to stop growing taller.", she never missed a chance to poke fun of him, even when kissing Penny's forehead like she was doing now.
"Ha-ha.", it was hard to sound sarcastic or witty when you are sleep deprived.
"Now, shut up and sleep, I don't want my tiny baby nor my big baby cranky in the morning.", and to annoy him even further she left a kiss on his forehead in the same way she did Penny's.
-xxx-
She wanted to laugh.
However, it came almost like a sob.
Looking at Penny and Tony sitting side by side, both looking at her walnut date loaf as if it would attack them at any giving minute with suspicious brown eyes and those same wild curls made them look so much alike. Like father and daughter that for a second she forgot Penny was Mary and Richard's baby. But then again. Mary could very well pass as Tony twin, so was it really that surprising that Penny was growing up to be Tony's mini-me?
"God... That's so weird.", she heard Ben behind where she's standing in the doorway.
"Do they even realize how alike they are?", she whispered back.
"If I didn't know better..."
"I know..."
Meanwhile at the table...
"Wanna trade the fries for my date loaf?", Tony asked, probing the offending piece of food with his fork.
"No way.", the girl replied eyeing her plate warily.
-xxx-
Ben's funeral was a quiet affair.
Only close family and friends. Tony could count on his hand the number of attendees and if someone recognized him, no one said anything.
He was sitting in the back, one of his arms over Penny's shoulder keeping her close to him and his other hand was holding May's. The two have been crying for hours together, so Tony took it into his hands to organize the funeral. He wasn't the best when it comes to offering comfort for others, but God, if it didn't hurt watching your best friend and your daughter falling apart like that. He was hurting too. Ben had become one of those few constants in his action-packed life the same way May had become for him when he was a child in a loveless household.
He felt more than heard Penny sobbing on his side, her face hidden in his chest in the same way she did when she was ten and broke her ankle.
He would protect them.
He would pick up the pieces and fix them.
He always did.
He was an engineer. He was a genius, and now even a superhero (to May chagrin).
He could do it.
His eyes drifted to the fifteen-year-old sobbing on his chest.
At least, he had to try.