Notes: I tired something different for this chapter. If you wanna know a bit about it and don't mind spoilers, carry on. If you don't want spoilers, then skip the rest of the note.SPOILERS: so in this I decided to do something unusual and make Ben the bad guy. Yes, I know, how could I? But I was listening to Kelly Clarkson while thinking of ideas for this and this is what happened.Basically, Ben slowly becomes a douche and leaves. It's based on the song Piece by Piece - Kelly Clarkson.Hope you guys like it.
And all I remember is your back
Walking towards the airport, leaving us all in your past
I travelled fifteen hundred miles to see you
I begged you to want me, but you didn't want to
Watching her uncle walk out the door, suitcases pulled behind him, Penny wondered why she wasn't enough. Wondered if she could have done something different that would have stopped him from leaving her and May. She felt like she was cursed. First, she'd lost her parents and now she'd lost Ben too.
Later, when she asked May, her aunt would say that she knew it was coming, and that she'd made peace with it. When Penny was older, she asked again. Desperately wanting to understand why he'd just left.
May said that the Ben they used to know didn't exist anymore. That he slowly changed over the years. She would insist that he'd already started changing before Penny was placed with them, but the girl knew her aunt was lying.
Ben went from a man who only had one or two beers on the weekend, to drinking every day. From a respected cop who did as much good as he was able, to someone who did as little as possible even when he was on patrol or during work hours.
Little things changed first. The notes he would leave for May, and then Penny when she came to them, stopped first. The often said 'I love you's' became less until they were only said every few days. Days that turned to weeks, months, and somehow over a year has passed before Ben said that he loved them. Physical contact ceased too. He still gave May cheek kisses or a quick hand grasp but he never showed Penny affection. Barely even looked at her unless he wanted her to do something for him.
May tried to convince herself that it was because of the extra work he'd taken up since Penny came to them. That he just had less time.
She knew she was wrong. And she knew Penny did too.
When Ben left, it broke May's heart that Penny blamed herself for it. The woman loved her niece so much. She just wished that Ben had been able to as well.
But piece by piece, he collected me up
Off the ground, where you abandoned things
Piece by piece he filled the holes that you burned in me at
Six years old and you know
He never walks away
He never asks for money
He takes care of me
He loves me
Piece by piece, he restores my faith
That a man can be kind and the father could, stay
It took them a while but they moved on. They had each other and that was enough for them.
May got a big promotion that set her up for a new position in the hospital where she worked. It gave her more money and fewer hours that she needed to work. They were able to get a new apartment closer to Penny's school and May was even able to get a car.
Immediately after Stark Industries stated they allowed high school students (with certain scholarly requirements) the opportunity to get an internship, Penny applied for one. To her surprise, she ended up being noticed by the one and only Tony Stark. The man, being impressed with her knowledge and abilities, asked her if she would be open to working as his personal intern/assistant. Needless to say, Penny jumped at the chance.
One day, a few months into her internship with the billionaire, he suddenly asked her a question she'd never been expecting.
"Parker," he'd mumbled to himself, "Where have I heard that name recently?" He glanced around in thought. Eyes falling on a while at the edge of his one desk, it came to him.
"Aha!" He cried, but Penny, now used to the randomness of her mentor, didn't react until he spoke to her. "Hey, Pen, your aunt is May Parker, yes?"
The girl looked up, slightly caught off guard by the question. "Yes, why?" She asked curiously.
"Doctor Cho gives me the profile of potential medical professional she'd like to hire. I run background checks for her and then get back to her with the results." He explained. "Cho requested for one particular candidate to be checked first as she looked incredibly promising. That person is your aunt."
Penny looked gobsmacked. "Are you sure? Because I know for a fact that May hasn't applied for any new jobs or promotions."
"Yeah, I'm sure. As far as I know, Cho only has scouts and doesn't accept actual applications. It's why her team is so diverse and brilliant. If your aunt is top of the selected candidates then it's her own work that got her there."
May's new job on Helen Cho's team came with more time spent at the tower. Often times she or Penny stayed the weekend on a floor that Tony had set up for them. Since both of them needed high-level clearance to be wherever their respective bosses needed them to be, they would often visit each other if they had a free moment when they were both there. As a result, Penny got closer with the medical team that had become her aunt's friends over the time she'd worked there. Likewise, May even became closer to Tony Stark and the small found family that surrounded him.
Somehow Tony and May started having coffee together once a week. Later turning to a full dinner. Penny and Rhodey had a bet on when they would get together.
It was the week after Penny's graduation when Benjamin Parker showed up. He'd heard of her and May's success and wanted money from them. He claimed it was to pay him back for all that he did for them.
Tony, her father in everything but blood, cheered her on when she punched the man that was once her uncle. It didn't help anything butdamndid it feel good.
"You sure you two are going to be okay?" May asked the two bundled up in the blanket nest they'd made on the couch.
Tony waved a hand at her, "Well be fine. I cancelled all of my weekend appointments so I'm free for Pen all weekend. I also have FRI keeping an eye on her vitals for me."
A groan and a thumbs up followed by a sneeze were the only answer that May got from the girl practically on top of Tony. "Okay, but you have to call me if you need anything!" She said before giving her fiance a quick peck and then giving Penny a hug. "Feel better sweetheart!"
Tony looked down at his mentee turned daughter with a frown. "You want to eat now or later after a nap?"
Penny only burrowed more into his side with a mumbled "Nap."
The billionaire shifted to make them more comfortable. He gestured for FRIDAY to put a movie on and lower the lights. He'd let her sleep then get her some food and more medicine. He had a daughter to look after. Doesn't matter how old she was or if she'd just come back from her first semester of college. She'd always be his kid.
But piece by piece, he collected me up
Off the ground, where you abandoned things
Piece by piece he filled the holes that you burned in me
Six years old and you know
He never walks away
He never asks for money
He takes care of me
'Cause he loves me
Piece by piece, he restored my faith
That a man can be kind and a father could, stay