6554

by nathoslab1

22434

Infinite Divinity

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/30346110.

Infinite Divinity

by SpiderWidowFam88

Summary

"You are young, younger than most, but still the only one worthy enough to carry out this mission. If you do this, we are giving you the chance to fix things, because we know that deep down, you are the only one that would survive the journey, both physically and mentally."

What happens when Penny snaps instead of Tony? The infinity stones have never met someone who has been worthy of them all before, let alone that person be a child. So what happens when Penny gets sent to the beginning of time itself? Where she learns the ways of the stones, and eventually, sets out on her mission to fix things, to make sure that all the heroes get their happily ever after. But she has a long wait ahead of her...

After all, her mission begins in 2008... Notes

Hello everyone, I have another story I'm working on at the moment so I'm gonna work on this one whenever I get the time.

After I finish my Assassin Peter story though, I'll come to this one full time. So this might be the only chapter for awhile but I hope you all enjoy it. Comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated! I just wanted to say that I got my inspiration to make this story by Erica45 and her story, Long Time Coming and midnightwolf2192's story, Infinity Redux.

See the end of the work for more notes

A Hero's Last Stand

The First thing that Penny got back as her atoms were reformed on the planet known as Titan, was her sight. Penny could feel as her body was slowly, and painfully putting itself back together. As she was laying on her back, she was watching what could only be described as the most beautiful colored sky she had ever seen.

The sky, by itself was colored a nice mix of purple and blue, but she could also see a tint of gold mixed into the mess of colors that was above her. She couldn't quite understand why, but the sky was strangely calming to her. Not even the sky, sunsets, or sunrises on earth could compare to what Penny is seeing in front of her now. It looks beautiful, magnificent even. And somehow she wished she could watch the skies all day.

Then Penny's sense of touch came back to her full force. She could feel the slow but steady thump of her heart against her rib cage, pumping blood throughout her whole body. She could feel the slow cool breeze of the wind against her face. She also felt this slight painful throbbing against the back of her neck. It felt like when her spider sense was warning her of danger...but there was no danger around.

Then hearing—she could hear the chatter of the others around her, she can hear the breeze whistling past her, she can hear the heart beats around too. The calm, steady pace of Mr. Doctor, the slightly faster pace of Star-man's heart, and the slow and rhythmic beat of that Drax guy.

One by one she could hear everyone's heart beat, except for 2 people that should be there. That blue lady, she couldn't hear her heart beat, and Mr. Starks. She couldn't hear Tony's heart beat.

Penny bolted up right with a gasp. Taking in all the air around her like she hasn't breathed in years. Their was a gentle but firm hand pressed against her shoulder, grounding her. Penny looked up and saw everyone was standing waiting for her.

Mr. Doctor had his right palm pressed to her right shoulder. He gave Penny a warm smile and nodded his head. Penny did a double take on the people surrounding her and saw that she was right. The blue lady and Tony were no where to be found.

"T-tony, where is Mr. Stark?" Penny said, her voice coming out a little more panicked than intended.

"It's been five years kid, Tony is on earth. We gotta get going. Come on, up you go." Strange said while guiding Penny back onto her feet.

"W-what, f-five years? What do you.." Penny stuttered, still slightly confused at what was happening. Strange turned to Penny, suddenly looking very serious, and with a certain glint coming from his eyes.

"Listen very closely Penelope, we're about to go head first into battle ok? I need you to give it all you got when we get there.

We can't lose Kid, you understand right?" Strange said while resting both his hands on her enclosed metal shoulders.

Penny looked up at Strange. She is not sure why he is telling her this, but she still listens to the man. Penny knows how important this battle is going to be. She can worry about everything else after they win.

She locked eyes with Strange and gave one nod of her head. "I understand sir, I'll try my hardest."

"Good, cause we're gonna need it." Strange muttered to himself, which Penny still heard because of her enhanced hearing.

Suddenly in front of them, Strange opened a portal to somewhere, Penny didn't know where but was hoping it was earth. When the portal opened she could see Captain America standing there with a half broken shield, and more portals opening up around him.

Strange and the others went through the portal while Penny swung off a piece of floating debris before launching herself through the portal. Penny landed in her signature Spider-Girl pose before slowly retracting her mask.

She looked around at all of these heroes before her. She would totally be freaking out over this if this wasn't such a serious situation. She calmed down her excited thoughts and looked straight ahead of her.

Focus Penny...

There in the middle of his army, stood Thanos with golden armor and a double bladed sword, Well that's new.

Suddenly, everyone was getting into a battle ready stance, so Penny commanded her suit to reform the mask over her face again and got down into her Spider-Girl pose.

That's when she heard Captain America.

"AVENGERS!...Assemble" Penny was surprised people heard that last part considering she could only barley hear it with her senses. But it didn't really matter cause in a matter of seconds every hero was rushing towards Thanos and his army. Ready to give the genocidal, alien, maniac the fight of his life. And together, they would all win this war.

Whatever It Takes...

—

Penny had no idea how it happened so fast. One second, they were winning and Thanos didn't have the gauntlet. Then she

woke up after she gave the infinity stones to the glowing lady, and suddenly everyone was on the ground around the Titan's feet.

Thor lay on his back completely knocked out, Captain America was on his hands and knees panting heavily, the glowing lady was sitting down clutching her side, and Mr. Stark just got blasted a mile away.

Thanos stood with the stones in his hands and looked around, savoring his victory, again.

Penny looked up to see if she could find anyone when her eyes landed on Dr. Strange. Coincidentally, Strange was staring right back at her.

Penny tilted her head in confusion and mouthed 'is this it...the time line we win?' .

Strange must have know what she was asking, even if he was a little far away. His answer was lifting up one finger, and staring her directly in the eyes.

Penny was confused for all of one second before she suddenly tensed and her eyes widen in realization. Strange's eyes held the answer, 'yes...but you better hurry'.

Penny quickly stumbled to her feet and raced to the mad Titan. She could feel all the questioning and horrified glances the other heroes were sending her but she couldn't care at that moment. She had a mission, and no one was getting in her way.

She launched herself at Thanos and reached for the gauntlet. All she had to do was get the stones and she could end this, end the war, end this maniacs life once and for all.

Her right hand came in contact with the stones and she could feel them transferring from the gauntlet to her suit. Suddenly, she was thrown off the mad Titan's shoulders and got thrown back into a hard piece of concrete.

"Insect!" Thanos spat.

She looked back up to see Thanos glaring daggers at her as he raised his hand getting ready to snap. When in reality he looked really stupid. But no one knew that except Penny for the moment.

"I..am...Inevitable," Thanos said while glaring at the young girl. Suddenly he snapped and the whole battlefield was silenced.

Thanos looked around hopping to see dust fly, when nothing happend though, he looked down at the gauntlet and recoiled in shock. He finally realized he don't have the stones.

He swiftly turned to the girl, only to be met with a terrifying scene.

Penny was on her knees panting, out of breath. The stones were quickly moving into place on her right hand. They finally settled and the power surged through her body. Penny held back a grunt of pain, and stared Thanos directly in the eyes.

She ignored the panicked shouts coming from Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, and the other Avengers to focus on her main goal. Kill Thanos and his army and bring back those we loss during this battle.

She raised her right hand when the power settled down and glared at Thanos before speaking again. "Just for the record...spiders aren't insects, we're arachnids..." And with her final words said...

Penelope Mary Parker, Spider-Girl, Snapped.

—

Tony doesn't think that he's ever been this scared in his life.

Not when he was stuck in that cave in Afghanistan, not when Hammer and Vanko tried to kill him, not even in the battle of New York...

This, right here, trumps all of that...

Watching his daughter, biology be damned, take the stones and snap her fingers to save the universe.

He's never felt that much fear, dread, or sadness run through his body at once.

He woke up, disoriented from being kicked around by Thanos, and low and behold, he wakes up to see Penny grabbing the stones.

He tried to call out to her, to tell her stop but she couldn't hear him, he was too far away from her. He watched as all the other heroes tried to tell the girl to stop, to let someone else do it, but she had tunnel vision. She wouldn't listen and Tony knew his daughter, she would never willingly put someone else through harm if she could do it.

Like she always says, "If you have the power, and the bad things happen...they happen because of you." He knew she'd never take that risk...

So, all Tony and the surrounding heroes could do, was watch as Penny snapped her fingers as they tried to race to the girl.

No one paid any attention to how Thanos sat down and disintegrated right after his army did, they had something else to focus on.

When the heroes got over to where Penny was, they were surprised to see two figures already standing over her. When they got closer both Clint and Wanda gasped.

"Nat?"

"Vis?"

Vision, in his human form, turned to look at everyone. He smiled a little sadly at them before speaking, "Hello Wanda."

Natasha still didn't look back, keeping her eyes on the teenager that saved her life. For some reason, she felt a connection to the girl. She has no idea why though. She's heard stories about the girl from Tony in these past five years, but she's never had a full conversation with her.

Natasha didn't move as both Tony and Pepper made their way over to the girl though. She stayed right there, keeping her hand on the girls unburnt cheek, running it up through her hair.

Tony crouched down to be eye level with the girl, "Pen? Can you hear me?" He asked, with tears glistening in his eyes. He got no response from the girl though. Tony looked over Penny and his heart broke even more.

Her whole right arm was mangled and some places were even burnt into the suit. It was all charred, up until her cheek where he could see lightning like scars going up and past her hairline. Her right eye was bleeding profusely too, there was even blood leaking out of her mouth.

Her hair was all greasy and tangled up, coming out of the bun that it was in originally. He could see the stones still glistening in what was left of her suit. He realized with growing horror, that she most likely wouldn't make it.

But that didn't mean he wasn't gonna try...

"Hey, p-Penny? You're gonna be alright Underoos, w-we're gonna fix you up and you'll be swinging around N-New York in no time." Tony finally let the tears fall.

"Tony..." Rhodey said, trying to step forward but backed off when Tony spoke.

"N-No! She's gonna be fine, please, I can't lose her again."

Pepper then crouched down next to her husband with tears already streaming down her face. Penny then, to the surprise of all the heroes, looked over towards the woman, but not straying away from the comfort offered by Natasha's hand.

"H-hey...m-Mrs...p-Potts..." she spoke so softly that everyone had a hard time hearing her, but since it was so silent everyone did hear. The girl smiled up at the woman and Pepper smiled back.

"Hey Sweetie, you did it, you saved everyone." She said, trying not to choke on the sob that was building up in her throat.

Her gaze then traveled to the man next to her, and her smile dropped a little bit and turned more sad.

"Tony." She smiled sadly at him.

That was the first time she called him that...

"Hey Pen, I'm gonna fix you up ok? You're gonna be ok, I promise." He sobbed, knowing it was a lie but not having the heart to tell her that she wasn't gonna make it. Luckily for him though, he didn't since his kid was a genius.

She already knew...

She smiled one last time before turning to the woman on her left. When her eyes met Natasha's, she smiled up to the older woman. Nat smiled down at the girl, keeping her hand on her left cheek, watching as Penny leaned into the touch.

"Thank you, for saving me, saving all of us." Nat said sincerely. She doesn't know what it is about the girl, but she's drawn to her, and it seemed the same for the teenager.

And if the girl wanted Natasha to stay close for the last few moments of her life, who was Natasha to deny that to her?

"H-hello...m-Mrs...Romanov..."

Nat huffed, "Hey yourself," she looked at the girl with sadness in her eyes. She knew that she was waiting for someone to tell her, so it might as well be her, "You can rest now, we're gonna be ok, I promise." She could see how Tony was about to deny it, but his voice got caught in the sob that made its way through instead.

Penny looked up into Nat's eyes for one last time though, "M-message...k-Karen...s-Suit..." she stuttered. It seemed as though Nat was the only one to hear it. She nodded at the girl, to tell her she'd look into it, before the girl smiled up at her one last time, before her eyes became hollow, devoid of life.

Natasha reached up to close the teens eyelids, letting a few stray tears leak out of her eyes for the girl they all just lost, to the hero, the savior of the universe.

She got up and moved over to Clint, letting the parents grieve themselves. When she got to Clint, the man brought her in for a hug, letting more tears out for having his best friend back.

Thor looked at the body of the girl who saved them all. He couldn't believe that they, the adults, let the kid get that close to Thanos. He couldn't believe that she snapped her fingers and saved everyone, in exchange for her own life. Thor then, decided that from that moment on, he'd tell everyone he met about the story about the savior of the universe, about the girl who gave up everything. He looked around and realized everyone was crying, he decided that he'd honor her in a true warrior fashion.

He kneeled for her, showing his respect for her...

Soon, all the heroes took a knee too. Everyone that was left got down onto their knees and bowed their head in respect for her.

A girl from Queens...

A Vigilante of New York...

An Avenger...

The savior of the Universe...

—-

They all gathered at the lake house for Penny's funeral...

Everyone was there, May, Michelle, Ned, Harry, Gwen, all the heroes that were on the battlefield that day, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and even her childhood best friend, Mary Jane Watson.

May, Mary Jane, and Tony all walked out of the cabin with a wreath of flowers for her, so they could place it in the lake.

Everyone had tears streaming down their face. Surprisingly, May was keeping it together the best.

It's probably a Parker trait being mentally strong like that.

Just like Penny was...

The three of them placed the wreath on the lake, watching as it floated out towards the middle. The wreath was surrounded with Magnolia flowers with a couple roses spread out on it too. In the middle of the wreath though, sat a picture of the girl. It was a picture of Mary Jane and Penny at Central Park, sitting down onto the grass while both were in the middle of laughing from a joke that was said.

When Mary Jane was given the honor of picking the photo, she instantly picked that one. It's the happiest photo she has of her best friend.

It always warmed her heart to realize that she made her friend that happy...

Everyone stood back and watched as the wreath made its way out to the middle of the lake. Fury stood up on the porch, wondering how a girl could get a reaction like this out of all of the heroes, even Danvers had tears in her eyes. Hell, he could tell even Romanov was fucking sad.

After a few more minutes of respectful silence, the others started to make their way over to the cabin when Natasha stopped them all.

"Her last words, were something about Karen and a message she left. I don't really know what that means, I has hoping you did Stark." She admitted, looking the man in his eyes.

She could see that piece of information crushed him, knowing that this teen knew the dangers of this job and left a message incase she never came back.

All the heroes and family quietly made their way back into the cabin and waited for Tony to find the message and pull it up.

After a few minutes, Tony found the file, opened it up, and let it play out.

A hologram of the girl, looking very much alive, was projected from Tony's sensors in his living room. The hologram of the girl smiled at them before starting to talk.

"Hello, if you're watching this, that means I've sadly passed away. I wanna start this off by saying that I know that the first thing people say when they look at me is how young I look, how I'm too young to do this, how I shouldn't be anywhere near a fight. But the truth is, I haven't felt like a kid since my uncle died in my arms. That's why I do this, I try and make sure that everyday people don't have to go through the shit I've been through." She started off, smiling at everyone in the room even if she wasn't actually there.

"The one thing about a hero that some people don't realize, is they don't start off a hero. Everyone has their tragic backstory, but that's what makes them a hero in the end, it's what shapes them into who they are. Being a hero, when you go out to fight, you never know for certain that you'll make it back. The only thing that's a guaranteed, is eventually, you're gonna get knocked down, and one day, you won't get back up." She admitted. Tony sobbed harder, knowing that his daughter knew that she'd die one day on the job, really stung. Knowing that she didn't see a future for herself.

"You know, when I get to thinking about it, all these stories are told about heroes winning the battle and then living happily ever after when the day is saved. But, in reality, the hero is the one to make the sacrifice in the end, they don't ever know if it was worth it, if they died for nothing or if they actually made a difference. At the end, they just have to have a little faith. Faith in the ones they leave behind." She smiled at them, sitting down in a chair with her legs crossed. It looked like Tony wasn't gonna stop his crying any time soon.

"I'm filming this currently at 3:25 pm, on March 6th, 2018. My...senses have been a lot more sensitive this past week. I don't really know why, they usually only go off when I'm in danger, but recently...it's like warning me of something that's coming. If you're watching this in response to what's probably gonna happen in the next month, I want you to know that whatever happened to me, wasn't your fault. I know the dangers to this job, and I choose this life when my uncle was shot, that's not on you." She said, shocking everyone. They didn't know that her senses were that strong. To predict something as big as Thanos a month before hand, there was no denying that this girl, was very powerful and would have been the best of them all...She is, the best of them.

"May, I know that, you never liked it when I went out to patrol New York, but I also know that you would support me on whatever decision I make. You knew that you wouldn't be able to stop me, so you supported me, thank you for that, and thank you for looking out for me, for raising and supporting me. It means the world to me."

"Tony, thank you, for being one of the only ones who believed in me, even when you knew my age. Thank you for all those lab days, for those movies nights, for...everything. That meant the world to me, thank you...I love you dad, and I always will." Penny smiled with tears in her eyes. Tony sobbed again, loving how she called him dad.

Too bad he would never hear that again...

"Umm, this last message, is to my best friend, my partner in crime, my sister...my soulmate, Mary Jane." Penny sniffled as she rubbed her eyes, trying to get the tears out of her eyes. Mary Jane was crying openly now, tears streaming down her face, honored that her last message was for her.

"I, don't know how to start this off. You've been by my side for years, ever since I was a kid. You were the first person I told about the spider bite, the one I told about Spider-Girl, the one who would comfort me when I was scared, the one who always had my back, no matter what. When I first saw you, I knew that we'd always be together. I believe that soulmates don't have to be romantic partners, they can also be siblings. You are my soulmate Em, and I don't think I could've survived without your support. Thank you, for being my sister, my best friend, my everything." Penny was full blown crying now and so was Mary Jane. It hurt them all to see their bond separated by death. They knew that Mary Jane would be hurting for a while, if not for the rest of her life because no one just gets over the death of their soulmate.

Penny pulled herself together before looking back up at the camera and started to talk, "I know it's gonna hurt for a long time, but I don't want you guys to stop living your life just because I'm not there anymore. Live for me and remember all the good moments that we had, not about how I'm not there. I love you all so much, and I wish things could play out differently, but I'm a Parker, our luck isn't that great. I may be gone, but my love for you guys is infinite, don't ever forget that...This is Penelope Mary Parker, signing off." With that, she winked one last time before the hologram shut off.

Everyone sat there, and cried for the girl who died too young, who had too much trauma for someone her age, who was by far, the best of everyone in the whole universe.

Too bad said universe hated Penny Parker...

—

The whole world...no, the whole universe mourned for their savior, Spider-Girl. All the heroes that were capable of space travel, went all across the galaxy, spreading word that the person who saved them, was a girl from earth, Spider-Girl.

Monuments were erected in her honor, for the Local Queens hero that saved everyone in exchange for her own life. All over the universe people build statues in honor of her.

Every time The Guardians, Thor or Captain Marvel came back and told them about a new statue, Tony's heart warmed to know that his daughter would be remembered for centuries after their time.

She deserved it...

Surprisingly, Natasha was the one who suggested something that kind of peaked Tony's interest. She said that they should tell the world who was actually behind the mask, so everyone knows exactly who sacrificed their whole life so others could live.

Everyone would know that Penelope Parker was Spider-Girl...

It took some convincing, but two months after her death, all the Avengers were up on stage in front of hundreds of cameras, ready to tell the world what really happened.

They told them about the story of a girl from Queens, who would grow up into the most amazing young woman that had ever lived. They told everyone about how she got her powers, how she used them for good, how she paid the price for them at the end of the day.

The world finally knew the truth of their savior, and everyone was saddened to realize that Spider-Girl was a child, a child that died to protect them.

The universe mourned for their hero, but they also mourned for the girl who lost her life

With time though, they knew I'd eventually get easier. They'd never forget her, but they would all have to learn to move on with their life, and live in memory for Penny.

—

Penny didn't expect to wake up...

She slowly opened her eyes and came face to face with a sky that was pure orange. She slowly got up from her position on her back, groaning as she did so. It felt like she's been asleep for years with the way her bones were cracking.

She finally stood up and looked around the area. There was nothing but orange and a little gazebo looking place with a table and a set of chairs.

Weird...

"We've been waiting a long time to meet you Penelope."

It wasn't that surprisingly to her that she heard a voice, the surprising part was that voice sounded very familiar.

Mary Jane...

She turned around and came face to face with six faces that were familiar, but definitely looked different. They were standing behind the table, all smiling at her.

Mary Jane...

Gwen...

Michelle...

Ned...

Harry...

Liz...

"Em?" She said, not believing that she was there.

Mary Jane looked at her with a small smile, but her eyes where looking at her in sadness, "No, I'm sorry. I'm a representation of the person who has the strongest bond with you, a soul bond. I'm soul." She admitted.

"Like...the soul stone?"

"Yup, that's us Pen." Harry said with a smirk.

Penny looked at all of her friend with a tilited head. Now that Mary Jane said that, she could see a bit of orange glow behind her eyes.

Yellow behind Ned...

Purple behind Harry...

Green behind Michelle...

Red behind Liz...

Blue behind Gwen...

Holy shit!

"So, let me get this strait, you guys are the infinity stones, and you all so happen to take the form of all my friends." Penny asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, pretty much." Gwen said, or space said.

Penny frowned, "I'm dead, aren't I?"

At her words, all the stones grew somber looks across their faces and nodded. Penny sighed, of course she did, it was just her luck.

"So what, do I just stay here for the rest of time?"

"Actually, we have another option for you, a choice that you can make." Soul said.

"What is it?"

The stones all looked at each other before soul decided to continue on, "You can either stay here with us for the rest of eternity, or...you could fix, everything." She said, catching Penny's interest.

"What do you mean, fix everything?"

"Penny, you have to understand that we had no idea that you'd be the only one worthy of us, I never even foresaw this outcome, so we're sorry for this, but you have the ability to travel to the beginning of time, watch as the world, the universe grows, and when the time comes you can save everyone from the same fate that happens in your universe." Michelle or Time said.

Penny was shocked, what do they mean that she was worthy? That she could go back in time and fix things? She was only Penny Parker, there wasn't anything special about her.

"Hey, stop thinking like that. You're amazing, and the universe now knows that." Soul said.

"I mean, this is a lot to process. Apparently I'm dead, and I'm trapped here for eternity unless I take up this crazy mission to the beginning of time! I mean, do you know how crazy that sounds?"

"We know it sounds implausible, but we are telling you the truth, we have no reason to lie to the savior of the universe." Ned, Mind said.

"But why me? There has to be someone with way more experience than me you can pick! I mean, I'm only a 16 year old girl, I mess up everything I do!" Penny exclaimed, not knowing if she was ready for this type of responsibility. Soul frowned at her, where she may not be the real Mary Jane, considering what she is, she can feel the bond from Penny. She doesn't want those thoughts to go through the girls head.

"You are young, younger than most, but still the only one worthy enough to carry out this mission. If you do this, we are giving you the chance to fix things, because we all know that deep down, you are the only one that would survive the journey, both physically and mentally." Soul said, walking over to Penny to place her hands on her shoulders.

"What's that thing you always say? With great power, comes great responsibility." Liz or Reality smiled at her.

Penny looked into the eyes of her soulmate, who was actually the soul stone. Even though it wasn't the real Mary Jane, she could feel apart of her soul inside of the stone. Maybe that was just her imagination, but Penny didn't mind, as long as she felt this close to her all the time, she'd be ok.

Penny frowned when a thought popped into her head, "Will I ever get to see my family again?" She asked. She didn't know if she could stand the thought of not seeing Mary Jane again.

Time frowned at her, "Eventually, when you've completed your mission, we can offer you a chance to see them again. But for them, it will be years later, for you, even longer."

"That's fine, as long as I get to see them again, I'll be fine." Penny nodded her head. Her resolved hardened, she'd complete this mission, however long it took and then, at the end, she could be reunited with her family and friends.

With Pepper...

With May...

With Tony...

With her real friends...

With the real Mary Jane...

Soul smiled at her, "Great, now this might hurt a little ok? But I'm gonna have to ask you to trust me. Our powers will reside in you and after this moment, you'll be the most powerful being in the universe. Are you ready?" She asked.

Penny took a breath before giving a small smile to the stone, "Yeah, I am."

With that, Penny and the stones were sent back to the beginning of time itself, where she'd start her long journey to the modern present, the one she knew.

That, is when her mission would start.

In 2008...

The rise of Iron-Man...

The Rise of Iron-Man

Chapter Summary

It's finally time for Penny to watch the rise of her family members again. And it all starts with her father figure and his climb to glory as Iron-Man.

Chapter Notes

Hello everyone. Yes I know it's been awhile since I've updated this one but I'm glad I waited as long as I did because now that I've seen Eternals, I've added a few things to the plot and changed it up a bit to fit into the MCU.

I have no idea why people don't like that movie, it's honestly not that bad. It's different, but not bad.

I already have the next few chapters planned out but I have no idea when I'll get to writing them.

I also happen to feel like shit at the moment because I've got the VID. So…there's that.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this really long chapter and tell me what you think by leaving a comment, I'll defiantly appreciate it.

Now, I'm gonna go back to sleep

Penny walked into her apartment in California and sighed when she shut the door behind her.

She quietly removed her shoes and light jacket and put them in their respectful places. It may be California, but it still got a little chilly in the winter months during the night.

She walked over to her kitchen to grab a bottle of water. She leaned against her kitchen counter and as the cool water slid down her throat, she sighed in contentment and closed her eyes. After a long day of walking around people and trying to make sure things were all going according to plan, she was exhausted.

She moved over to her couch to sit down and relax for the short time she was gifted.

Because god knows she'd have to do all again tomorrow.

Man, being the Goddess of the universe sure was tough work.

You know, since her big mission has started, all those billions of years ago, she has had to get used to all the primitive technology that the past had to offer her as well.

She knew that what she considered modern technology, would only came back after she was already billions of years old.

So it was kind of a long wait for her just to have a mobile phone in her hand again.

But now that she had phones and tv back, it took her some time to get used to them again, after so long without them.

Now, she did have access to more advanced technology out on other worlds, but to her, something felt right with holding earth technology.

It made her feel nostalgic...

She picked up the tv remote and turned it on and let the channel play in the background while she sat on the couch and just rested, thinking about everything she's been through, all to make it to this moment.

All the people she has met...

All the things she has experienced...

All the stories about her...

All the new relationships she's made...

Yes, that's right. She's met a few people who she has stayed in contact with. After she helped them out with certain problems they all had, their interests were peaked by her, which she couldn't blame them, she was quite a sight to see.

She just didn't imagine that she'd make friends with different versions of her heroes.

But, that's a story for another time...

When she first got transported back, the stones warned her how she couldn't change major events or get in the way of them.

She'd have to sit and watch as some of her old family members got hurt.

Because, no matter what people thought, the world needed superheroes, and you couldn't have a superhero without a tragic backstory.

The stones however, never told her that she couldn't meet them and help them out a bit, make it a little easier for them all.

So, that's what she did...

She has helped Steve and Bucky during the war, she's helped Carol and Fury with the skrulls, and she helped Barton and Tasha while escaping Budapest.

Yes, she knew what happened in Budapest and was on first name basis with Natasha.

After she helped out Rogers and Barnes during the war, she knew that Natasha was next with her rise to glory and some bad things had to happen for her to become The Black Widow.

She knew she couldn't intervene because no matter what Nat thought, the world needed The Black Widow. But in order for her to become that hero, she needed to face all the pain and hardship that comes with the package.

Anyways, while Tasha was in the Red Room, she'd send the girl visions, visions of herself talking to the girl. Giving her encouragement and being nice to her when she needed it.

Every time she saw Natasha's lips move up into a smile back then, every time she made young Natasha Romanoff happy rather than an emotionless shell of who she could be, it made Penny feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Her last vision to the young woman was right before a big assignment, which Penny basically told her to run away, and never look back.

Natasha did so without any hesitation, trusting the voice in her head.

That's where she actually met the woman, in Budapest while on the run with Barton.

Good old Barton, she kind of missed him, she might have to visit him and his family soon.

Penny snapped out of her daydream when she felt the presence of another soul in her apartment. Now normally this would have caused all of her senses to go haywire.

But she knew this soul...

"Come to see your favorite goddess, or are you just here to steal my gourmet steak recipe?" She called our sarcastically, knowing that the spy would come out.

"You've gotta admit, you make the best steak in the whole universe Seph." Natasha Romanoff made her way from her spot in the corner and gave the woman a warm smile.

Penny rolled her eyes at the nickname. When she was back in ancient Greece, people there had saw her once, once...and they had given her the nickname of Persephone, the Goddess of Spring Growth and Queen of the Underworld.

A group of scholars saw her in the middle of the forest sitting down on her knees with her eyes closed. Now that wouldn't have been a problem, but that day she was practicing her connection with reality.

So needless to say that when they saw how the flowers were leaning towards her and butterflies were appearing out of nowhere, some of them jumped to conclusion about who she was.

It probably didn't help her case how it had just turned to spring...

"How many times do I have to tell you, that's not my name."

"Well seeing as how you tell no one your real name, not even me, I fell like we have to call you something. And don't act like you don't love the name, I know you do." Nat said as she walked over and sat down next to her on the couch.

Penny smirked at her, "What? You're telling me that if people started calling you the Queen of the underworld and the Goddess of Spring Growth, you wouldn't let that go to your head, just a little?"

"I didn't say that." Nat smirked right back at her.

Penny laughed and a warm feeling spread through her chest when she heard Tasha chuckle too. She's glad that she isn't closed off with her, that she's this open.

She has the honor of being literally the only one in the world to see this side of Natasha Romanoff.

"But, let's be honest here, you're way more powerful than any of those fake gods or goddesses." Nat said knowingly.

Penny hasn't told her everything, but she has told her that she was gifted these cosmic powers to protect the universe, how she's practically immortal, and how she's been around since before the dinosaurs.

For some reason, Nat is the only one that Penny would trust with that information.

She definitely wouldn't tell that shit to Fury...

Penny shrugged, "Well sure, I'm the most powerful person in the universe. You want me to go around and brag about it?" She raised her eyebrow.

"No, simply just stating a fact."

They sat in comfortable silence for a couple minutes before Penny broke it, "So, did you come just to hang out, or did a certain Director send you over to try and siphon information from me?" She saw how Natasha winced and she instantly knew the answer.

"Sorry, he's been asking a lot of questions recently, wants to know why you're stalking Stark." She said. Penny wouldn't say this, but the reason she was watching him closely was because Stark was just two weeks away from being captured by his mentor, Obadiah Stane, which would start his journey of becoming Iron-Man.

She had to make sure things went according to plan.

She looked at Nat with a playful pout, "Aww, and here I thought that my favorite spy was here to spend time with me. I feel like we haven't seen each other in so long." She whined with a mischievous look behind her eyes, causing Nat to raise an eyebrow with a smile.

"Oh, and that's my fault? If my memory serves me correct, you're the one that hasn't answered anyone's calls for four months.

Barton was starting to worry about you, so was Laura," her eyes then grew a softer look in them, "I missed you."

Penny dropped her playful attitude and brought Natasha in for a side hug, "Hey, I'm sorry it's just I've been so busy with all this protecting the universe crap. I have to make sure certain things are happening, not just on earth, but on other planets too." Penny said regretfully. She hated it when she couldn't spend time with them, but being the stones was tough work, she didn't mean to make the few people who actually knew her, worry.

Damn, she was getting really fucking attached...

Natasha sighed, "I know, and I don't want to make you feel guilty, but would it kill you to answer a text from me?" She asked teasingly. Penny breathed a silent sigh of relief, glad that she wasn't too mad at her.

"I'm sorry Tasha, but when the universe calls, I've gotta answer. I promise when all this craziness passes by, we'll all have time to meet up again. I've missed the Barton's too, you all are literally the only ones I have." She said a little sadly at being alone.

Besides Tasha and Clint, Penny really doesn't have all that many people who know about her. The only other person who knows that she isn't who she seems to be is Fury and Carol since they were there during the invasion.

Natasha laid her hand on the girl's shoulder, "Well, you have me and the Barton family, always. Don't you ever forget that Seph." She said before leaning forward and placing a kiss on her forehead lovingly, causing a smile to spread across Penny's face.

She remembers, years ago when she would do that same action to the spy sitting next to her, always telling her how she'd never leave her side.

She hasn't done so yet, and Penelope never plans to do so in the future...

Penny sighed and smirked at the taller woman, a fact that she still gets a little upset about to be honest, how even after all this time, she still hasn't grown that much up in height.

In the billions of years since the stones have settled with her, she had stopped aging when she had hit her early twenty's and by then, she had only grown a few inches since she had died on that battlefield, making her a whopping five foot two inches.

Making the Black Widow an inch taller than her...

A fact that Natasha always finds so fucking hilarious whenever it's brought up.

"So, what're you planning on telling the pirate, hmm?" She mentally shook herself from her head and brought her full attention back to the spy.

Natasha sighed and glared at her with no real heat behind the look, "I don't suppose you'll tell me something useful I can give him?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

All Penny did was smile in amusement at the woman, causing Natasha to roll her eyes.

They spy got up from the couch and started to walk towards Penny's apartment door. The cosmic powered spider followed after her and leaned against her doorframe when Natasha was out in the hallway and she turned to look back at her immortal friend.

"Something's gonna happen to Stark, isn't it? Something important or else you wouldn't be watching him so closely." Natasha stated.

Penny shook her head fondly, "You know I can't tell you." Penny said in a song song voice, smirking at the woman when she glared at her.

"Has anyone ever told you how annoying you are?" The spy asked in exasperation.

"Nope, I think you're literally the only one." She replied cheerfully with amusement laced behind her gaze.

Natasha sighed, "You, my friend are lucky that you're sometimes useful."

Penny gasped and placed a hand over her heart for dramatic affect, "Sometimes? Well, I've never been so insulted in my whole life before...Only sometimes, unbelievable." She muttered the last part under her breath which caused Natasha to snort in amusement.

"You're not helping me now, are you?" She asked and only received a shrug from the woman and a wink.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." She said but before she turned away, she gathered Penny into her arms and embraced her.

Penny sighed and wrapped her own arms around the spy's waist and rested her head on her shoulder.

"Stay safe yeah? Whatever's happening, I have a feeling you're gonna be right in the middle of it." Natasha muttered in her ear.

"Don't worry about me, I've been around for Millenniums, ain't nothing gonna hurt me. Hell, I've lived through and seen so many extinction events that I don't think anything fazes me anymore. I promise, you don't gotta worry." She whispered back to the woman, hoping to give her some sort of comfort.

After another moment of embracing each other, they pulled apart and Natasha fixed Penny with her famous glare, "I expect you to answer Clint and Laura within the next week, yeah? Don't make me come back here."

She gave the spy a giddy smile in return, "Maybe I won't answer them just so you can visit me again."

Natasha smirked, "That's if you're even still here by the time I visit next."

"That's not fair!" Penny whined, "You know how busy I am."

Natasha smirked again before she shrugged her shoulders and walked down the hallway without another word. Before she turned the corner though, she winked at Penny before she disappeared down the corridor.

Leaving Penny to stare fondly at her retreating form.

After a moment, she shook her head and walked back inside. She had a long few weeks ahead of her and she needed to be well rested.

It was gonna be a long year for her.

Pepper Potts was not having a good day.

Her boss, or should she say her infuriating man child of a boss was almost late for his plane to Afghanistan for the new weapon presentation, she was now stuck rescheduling some of the meetings that Obadiah wanted moved and to top it all off, Happy was stuck driving the man around while leaving Pepper by herself in the middle of Los Angeles.

It was also her birthday.

Yeah, not the best one she's had in her life, but also not the worst.

As soon as that thought hit her head, she physically ran into someone on the sidewalk, causing said person to stumble on the ground and fall down on her butt.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you up." Pepper said as she offered her hand to the young woman on the ground who couldn't be older than twenty one. The girl offered her a grateful smile and Pepper was suddenly lost in her gaze for a moment, staring into the young lady's eyes.

They seemed to fluctuate between colors before they settled on a rich honey brown but Pepper swore that she saw her eyes flicker with the all the different colors of a rainbow before they settled.

It was probably just her head messing with her...

"Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to run into you." She said apologetically with a worried frown across her face as she carefully pulled the girl up from the ground.

"Nonsense, it was my fault to. I should have been looking where I was going, no need to apologize." The girl practically radiated warmth and happiness from her spot standing in front of Pepper, she looked to be just a giant ball of energy. The way her feet keep moving or how her fingers kept twitching but the bright smile never left her face.

Pepper smiled, "Doesn't mean I can't be sorry for my clumsiness, I've just had a bad start to my day is all."

The girl shrugged her shoulders, "That's fine, we all have days like that." She said and Pepper saw that when she knocked the girl down, she had also spilled her coffee which instantly made her feel ten times worse.

"Your drink, oh I'm so sorry." She said but the girl only smiled in response.

"Don't even worry about it, it's fine, I'm serious. No harm done." She replied.

"Except to the coffee." Pepper pointed out.

The girl smirked in amusement, "Except the coffee." She reiterated before she broke out into a fit of giggles which caused Pepper to laugh as well.

"Well, there's this pretty good coffee shop around the corner, allow me to at least pay for a new one. It's the least I can do." She offered, trying to do something that might ease the slight guilt she had for bumping into this nice young lady in the first place.

She huffed, "You won't take no for an answer, will you?"

It was Peppers turn to smirk, "No I won't."

The girl sighed in resignation, "Thought so."

Pepper dropped the smirk and smiled warmly at the girl and offered her hand for a shake, "Pepper Potts."

She smiled in return and gently grasped her hand, "Stephanie Tremaine, it's a pleasure to meet you Miss Potts."

"Oh please, just call me Pepper. It's the least I can do after ruining your coffee."

"How many times do I have to tell you it's fine." Stephanie laughed, "I once knew a woman who always told me to quit apologizing for things I didn't do or had no control of, so I'm going to say the same thing she told me. Stop it." Stephanie smirked at the other woman.

She rolled her eyes, "Oh haha very funny. Your friend sounds smart though, I bet she knew what she was talking about."

The girl's eyes glazed over for a fraction of a second, so fast no human eye could see it before she responded, "Oh yeah, she was the smartest woman I had ever met."

With that said and done, the two ladies walked down the sidewalk towards the coffeeshop so Pepper could buy the girl whatever she wanted.

She would also probably get herself a cup since she knew it was going to be a long day.

When they got up to the counter, Pepper was surprised when the person working the register recognized the girl, "Stephanie!

How've you been? I haven't seen you in a few weeks." The young man said when he saw who was next in line.

"That's because you only work a day every week kid. Maybe if you came by more often, you'd see me." She smirked at the boy who was probably around her age. Pepper found it a little odd how she called him kid, but decided to ignore that fact, since it was probably a joke between the two.

The boy, who's name tag said his name was Doug, scoffed, "Wow, okay rude much? Is that how you treat your friends? I'm hurt." He placed a hand on his chest like he was in pain which only caused Stephanie to roll her eyes.

"Get over yourself drama Queen, how about you do your job and take our orders Hmm?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

He waved her off, "Yeah yeah yeah, what can I get for you both?" He asked.

"Can I please get a Vanilla Latte."

"Iced or hot?"

"Hot thank you." She said. Doug typed into the register before he turned to Stephanie, "The usual?"

She smirked, "Oh you know me so well." She pretended to swoon which caused the man to roll his eyes.

"You're an ass."

"And you're a bitch but you don't see me preaching that to the world." She sassed right back at him which caused him to huff.

"That will be $15.25." He said, ignoring the younger woman for now. Pepper pulled out her wallet and handed the man the money. Once he was done, he turned to look back at them.

"Your drinks will be out shortly, you fine ladies have a nice rest of your day now." He said with a friendly smile.

"Oh stop it, you'll make me blush." Stephanie said before walking off to the side and allowing the next person in line to order.

"What was that all about?" Pepper asked once they were out of the way.

She shrugged, "I frequent this place a lot in my spare time. I've gotten to know the owners and all it's employees pretty well."

"You two seem pretty close." She teased the younger woman.

Stephanie rolled her eyes but she had a smile on her face, "It's not like that. Doug's not my type, I tend to look for more estrogen in a partner." She said.

"Nothing wrong with that." Pepper said with a smile.

"Oh I know, I used to like both boys and girls but events in the recent years have caused me to reevaluate a few things." Stephanie said with a small amused smile, like what she had just said was some sort of joke that only she understood.

"Well I hope you find what you're looking for."

Stephanie smiled, "Thanks."

After the two of them had gotten their drinks, they walked back out into the bustling streets and started to walk along the sidewalk and sip their drinks in comfortable silence.

Suddenly after five minutes of walking, Pepper sighed, "I should really get going. I have a ton of work to do now that my boss is away on a trip over seas. This was really nice, we should do this again sometime." She smiled.

Stephanie smiled back, "I'd like that."

The two women traded numbers before they walked their separate ways, one going to work and the other staring at the woman who she used to call a mother fifteen billion years ago walk away.

Man, she can't believe she's been in this universe for 15 billion years, it seemed just like yesterday she was grabbing that gauntlet and snapping her fingers.

Time flies when you literally control time she guessed...

She shook her head and started to walk away but before she took even ten steps, Soul whispered to her in the back of her head.

"It's done, Tony Stark has been captured. Iron-Man will soon rise." She said which caused her to smile to herself.

She knew she couldn't intervene, the world needed Iron-Man, it needed it's best protecter but she couldn't stop the wave of guilt that passed through her.

She was subjugating her father figure, even if it was a different version of him, to that torture, that hell for three whole months.

It hurt.

She hummed and whispered so softly no one would be able to hear her, "Any word about those Celestials? How much longer till one emerges?" She asked. Penny didn't really want to think about her father figure being tortured in some random Afghan cave, she needed a distraction for the moment.

"One will emerge in six months on a planet on the outer reaches of the universe." Time piped in.

"What about the one in earth?" She asked.

"Tiamut won't rise for at least another decade. We will warn you a year in advance though, so you still have time to focus on your main mission...there's no need to worry." Mind said, trying to soothe the girl's worries as best he could.

She scoffed, "There's always reason to worry when the Celestials are involved. There's a reason we hunt them down after they make new galaxies."

"When you say hunt, you actually mean kill and absorb their power." Power said with amusement clearly in his tone.

"Whatever, I've been here longer than all the Celestials combined, and they don't keep the balance of the universe, they destroy whole systems without a single thought to the trillions of lives they kill. They're no better than Thanos." Penny muttered angrily under her breath as she started to walk back towards her apartment.

"Which is why, you've dealt with the vast majority of them. The only Celestial that's even alive and has been for billions of years is Arishem."

"That's because I need the power from the others in order to kill him for good." Penny pointed out.

"Kid, you're literally the most powerful being in the universe. You could render this whole place to nothing but a memory if you really wanted to..."

"Which you shouldn't."

"And that's just from the powers we gave you. With the amount of Celestials you've killed and absorbed, you are literally unstoppable. Plus you're immortal." Power said, completely ignoring Soul who interrupted him.

Soul though must have still sensed her discomfort because she spoke up next, "Penelope, you have nothing to worry about. Deviants and Eternals can no longer be made anymore after you destroyed the World Forge so Airshem has no power over worlds anymore, he lost control of this galaxy the moment you started to kill his Celestials."

"There's still a team of Eternals on earth though. Ajak, the Prime Eternal knows of my existence. They could cause a problem." Penny pointed out.

"They are nothing compared to you kid, stop worrying so much and live a little." Power stated flippantly which caused her to roll her eyes.

"I have, for fifteen billion years." She deadpanned, which caused the Stones to softly chuckle which made a small smile break out across her face.

It's been a long fifteen billion years, that's for sure but she's glad that she hasn't been fully alone for it all.

Her new family will always be there for her.

"Alright well, we've got another three months to wait before Iron-Man is officially introduced to this universe. How many times do you think we'll get a visit from Shield during that time?" She asked with a small smirk.

"Too many to count." Time deadpanned which caused the rest of the stones and Penny to laugh.

That first visit from Shield came literally less than twenty four hours after the man had got kidnapped.

She shouldn't have been surprised but honestly, can you not give a gal a break?

She was walking down the street of downtown Los Angeles when suddenly she was surrounded by three black SUV's that had trapped her on the sidewalk with no escape.

"Couldn't have given me a warning could you?" She muttered to Time.

"Where's the fun in that?" She muttered back which made Penny huff in frustration.

The front vehicle doors suddenly opened and she watched as Fury, Coulson, Hill and Romanoff walked out and surrounded her.

"Oh this is a nice reunion. How've you been Phil? I haven't seen you since the 90's."

Phil smiled, "Not bad, how about you?" He asked, ignoring Fury's disapproving glare.

"Not bad, thank you for asking. Oh and how could I forget about you Maria, I see you're slowly climbing your way up that ladder in Shield." She winked at the woman which caused her to smirk back.

"Something like that."

Natasha huffed, "Okay I see how it is. You're not even going to greet me? Your best friend, I'm hurt, really I am."

Penny rolled her eyes, "I literally saw you two weeks ago."

"We'll maybe I just missed you Seph." She shrugged her shoulders and to any other person, they wouldn't be able to see the slight downturn of the woman's lips, which meant she wanted to pout but she wouldn't dare do so in the company of other people.

Especially her boss.

"I'm sorry to interrupt this touching moment but you need to come with us." Fury said as he glared daggers at her.

"Nope, sorry I've got a really busy schedule and I can't at the moment. I'll get back to you though and see when I can fit you in.

Maybe sometime next week?" She smirked at him which only made him grit his teeth in anger.

"I'm not taking No for an answer."

She shrugged, "Then you're welcomed to try and take me in. But, I feel like you don't want to make more of a scene than you already are. And you've seen me in action before, I don't do anything I don't want to...and you know that." Her playfulness was now wiped off her face and instead was replaced with a glare that could rival Natasha's any day of the week.

The others realized that too and quickly backed off though Penny knew Fury wouldn't be as easy to convince, it wasn't in his nature to take no for an answer.

But there was absolutely no way she was stepping foot in a Shield base.

At least not until Hydra was flushed out for good.

She wasn't willing to risk the chance of them trying to capture her.

The two of them had a stare down before Penny saw that they had gathered a group of people around them, the citizens trying to see what all the fuss was about.

She silently sighed under her breath, Penny didn't like using her powers like this, but she couldn't have the world now of her existence yet, it was too early for that.

She tapped into her power and focused on every civilian around her. She raised her right arm and lazily flicked her wrist towards them, "You didn't see anything. Leave."

The Shield agents all looked around in shock as the bystanders started to do what she asked of them. Natasha seemed to be the least bit surprised though, only raising an eyebrow at her.

Penny shrugged, "They would have found out about me. I've hidden my actual powers from the people of this world ever since the first humans appeared, I'm not going to have my identity outed because you decided to corner me on a public street."

"And what are all your powers? Because I just saw you mind control about a dozen people with a flick of your wrist." Fury asked with a raised eyebrow, completely ignoring the fact that she had just said a vital piece of information about herself.

Penny smirked, "Don't forget wiping all camera footage that saw the exchange and placing a reality bubble around us so others can walk by without seeing us. But nice try Nick, never can go a second without trying to gather intel, can you?"

"My whole job relies on gathering intel, especially about people who might be a threat." He said flatly.

Penny gasped and placed her hand on her chest, "Are insinuating that I, am a threat?"

"I've seen you destroy a spaceship with your bare hands before." Fury deadpanned.

"Hey, I helped both you and Danvers with that little problem of yours back in 95." She pointed her finger at the man.

Natasha raised an eyebrow at the director, "Who's Danvers? And What happened in 95?" She asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about."

Penny shrugged, "I'll tell you later Tasha." She said which caused Natasha and Maria to smirk at her while Coulson tried to cover his chuckle up with a cough.

Fury glared at her, "What do you know about Stark?" He asked, finally fed up with her and trying to at least get some sort of information from her about their current situation.

"Who, Tony? He makes weapons for the government, why?" She said.

Fury's glare hardened, "You know damn well what I mean. There was a reason you kept an eye on him. The last time you popped up we had aliens hidden among us. We also have photographic evidence that you fought alongside Rogers and Barnes in World War II. Who knows what else you're responsible for."

"Believe what you want to believe I guess." She smiled at him and leaned against the wall behind her.

"Where's Stark located. And don't bullshit me, I know you know where he is."

Penny clicked her tongue, "I can't tell you."

"And why the hell not?!"

"If you want your Avengers, than you best leave things alone. When it's time, Tony Stark will be found, I assure you." She looked the man in his eye to try and convey her seriousness.

She couldn't offer the man much except for her word that everything would work out, but he really didn't have that many reasons to trust her.

But there was nothing she could do here.

After a moment, Fury scoffed, "If I find out that you're behind this..."

Penny huffed, "Yeah, I fought in World War II, stopped an alien invasion and much more that you don't even know of and I choose now, after so many years of protecting this planet to betray this place. Because that makes total sense." She rolled her eyes.

"You can never be too careful in a world like this."

Penny scoffed, "I'm literally older than you, didn't your parents ever teach you to respect your elders?" She teased the man which only caused him to glare at her one last time before he walked back towards the SUV.

"Well he's in a stellar mood." Penny nodded with an amused tilt to her voice.

Maria scoffed, "Yeah that mood, is because of you."

"Oh, well I fell just so, honored."

"You may feel honored, but the rest of us, have to deal with that mood." Coulson grimaced.

"Are you telling me you can't deal with your boss when he's annoyed? You all must suffer constantly then, since I make him annoyed pretty frequently."

"Yeah, thanks for that." Natasha said dryly while slightly smiling.

Penny smirked before she sighed in resignation, "Well as much as I've enjoyed our little meeting, I'm afraid I've got places to be and people to see. I wouldn't keep your boss waiting if I was you."

The three agents shook their head at the girls antics and turned around to get into the vehicles. A second later the three of them pulled out and Penny dropped their illusion.

She stood there on the sidewalk for a minute watching as they drove off into the distance before she decided to speak up.

"You guys are assholes." She spoke to the stones.

"Oh don't blame us you little seductress! You could easily have sensed their arrival. You did nothing because you wanted to see a certain spider." Power said. Even though she couldn't see his face, she knew he was smirking at her.

She rolled her eyes, "Shut the Fuck up."

"It's been three months since the disappearance of Tony Stark and everyone is starting to wonder if this is the end of..." Penny clicked the TV in her apartment off as she settled back down next to Pepper.

Since the disappearance of her boss, Pepper and Penny have gotten a lot closer. She needed someone to vent to and Penny didn't mind it when the woman went off an a tangent.

She quite enjoyed her company.

"Don't listen to them Pepper, he'll be okay." Penny whispered to the woman while laying one of her hands on Pepper's shoulder.

"It's just...it's been three months Stephanie. I-I don't know if..." Pepper sniffed and tried to hide her tears from her but it was no use, Penny already saw them.

"Don't give up hope Pepper. He'll be okay. Then, when he gets back, maybe you can tell him how you feel." Penny said softly with a small smile causing the woman to huff.

"How'd you know?" The future CEO of Stark industries asked.

"The way you talk about him. You care too much for him just to be your boss Pepper. You want him to see you as more than just a woman though, someone who could possibly be a partner for him in the future." She smiled at her.

Pepper scoffed, "Of course you'd be the one to pick up on it."

Penny shrugged her shoulders, "I'm just good at that sort of thing."

The two of them sat on the couch and Penny offered as much comfort as she could. There wasn't really anything she could do at the moment. But Pepper shouldn't have to worry about it since tomorrow morning she'd be getting a call saying they had found him.

And then, when he got back, he'd hold that press conference that would change his path for the rest of his life.

The very beginnings of Iron-Man.

When it was time for Pepper to leave, Penny embraced the woman and squeezed just slightly to tell her that she'd be there for her, no matter what. Pepper seemed to understood though because she squeezed the shorter girl back and buried her head in the crook of her neck.

Honestly, it was almost embarrassing how tall everyone else was compared to her.

It wasn't fair.

She was supposed to be the most powerful being in the universe and she was five two.

She heard as Power snickered quietly in her head but she chose to ignore him for now and instead focus on saying goodbye to her friend.

"Call me if anything changes okay? You know where to find me." She said. When she felt Pepper nod against her neck, she pulled back and smiled at her.

After Pepper had gathered both her purse and jacket, Penny softly shut the door behind her as the other woman walked out into the hallway.

She sighed, "It's gonna be a long week."

Just like she predicted, the next morning Penny had gotten a frantic phone call from an equally frantic Pepper saying how they had found him and he was scheduled to arrive back in the states in less than an hour.

Once she was off the phone with the woman, Penny calculated that she'd have enough time to take a real quick shower before Tony got back into the states.

Because there was no way in hell she was missing the event where Tony Stark renounced the weapon building faction of his company.

But, she still wanted to look professional. She'd probably get a lot of weird looks if she just showed up wearing a t-shirt and jeans.

Thirty minutes later, Penny walked out of her bathroom in just her undergarments with her hair still slightly damp. She moved over to her walk in closet and grabbed two outfits that caught her attention.

Now she knows that she could easily flick her hands around and the outfit she thought of would appear on her body, but she liked to actually do things the normal way.

It made her feel a little bit more human, even though she knows she hasn't been one for a long time.

Her eyes suddenly changed from their normal honey brown color to a rich royal purple and she instantly knew what that meant.

"You shouldn't think about yourself like that kid, you're more human than a lot of people on this planet." Power said from behind her. Penny glanced over her shoulder and saw that he had sat down at her desk with his legs propped up on the old wooden furniture while smirking directly at her.

She still sometimes finds it weird how the stones took on the form of all her friends, but after the first million years she had grown accustomed to their sporadic visits once every blue moon.

They don't usually project themselves out of her body unless they want to talk one on one.

It's also not usually Power who does so, that job usually gifted to Soul. But it was definitely him this time.

She'd recognize Harry's voice anywhere, even if it wasn't actually him.

She scoffed and turned back towards the two outfits laid out on her bed, "Can't you give a girl some privacy? I'm literally almost naked."

All he did was laugh, "I've seen you do a lot more embarrassing things while I've been in your head, and this is what your worried about? How I saw you in your underwear?" After he was done he started to chuckle even after she threw him a nasty glare.

"Whatever, while you're out here how about you do something useful and help me pick out which outfit to wear." She rolled her eyes as she settled her eyes back on the clothes.

Power snorted as he got up and started to walk over to her, "Me? I'm not really the expect on fashion kid, you do know that right? My area of expertise mostly falls under the category of destruction, fire, you know, the good stuff." She could hear the smirk in his voice and she didn't even need to turn to see it.

When he walked and came up to the side of her, he grabbed her shoulders and brought her in for a side hug, "Besides, if I was you, I'd wear my cool ass Celestial armor you made from the dead bodies of those pricks."

Penny scoffed, "Yeah, I'm trying to hide my identity, not show the whole world that I'm a goddess with unlimited power."

Power shrugged, "What can I say, I like to make a statement when I arrive short stuff, not play dress up with the press."

"If you're gonna be no help you can leave now. Actually, when you go, Soul can take your place, since she actually gives me good advice." She replied, totally done with Power's teasing.

Power placed a hand on his chest, "Ouch. You know, words hurt kid. If this is about busting in on you half naked, I'm sorry but you still shouldn't be embarrassed. Not after that time we were over in London and you and the Princess got down and dirty. I mean, I didn't even know a human could bend like that! And let me tell you, I'm pretty sure the two of you invented some new moves in the bedroom. Oh! And what about that time back in the middle ages with that...crap what was his name?" Power said and only stopped when Penny pushed him away which caused him to laugh.

Penny smiled sarcastically, "Oh yeah, haha very funny." She said as she stuck her middle finger up at him, "You can leave now since you're obviously no help whatsoever."

Before he had a chance to say anything else in response, his form suddenly vanished and she could tell her eyes were switching from the purple hue to a more orange hue she was oh so familiar with.

Once it was done, she smiled at the figure in front of her, "Hello Soul, come to take the place of the annoying little brother?" She smirked.

Soul smirked back at her, with the face of her long time best friend, Mary Jane Watson, "Well someone has to help you get ready, might as well be me." She said as she walked over to the other girl in the room to look at what she had laid out.

After a moment of thought, Soul clicked her tongue and picked up the formal dress blazer with her right hand, "This is the one." The dress itself was just a plain white color but the blazer had some black accents that ran over the collar and down the middle of the blazer. The only other color was on the pockets which were also outlined in black.

"Thanks."'Penny smiled as she took the clothing form Soul and started to get dressed.

Soul raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest, "You do know you don't have to ask us stuff like that right? I know you don't really need our help with something so trivial."

Penny shrugged as she slipped the dress over her body, "Maybe I just want to include you guys. You were alone for so long, split apart with no one to talk to for centuries. I'm just trying to make you feel more human."

Soul smiled in gratitude, "Thank you, for everything Penelope. Honestly this is something none of us ever dreamed of, but it's perfect."

"There's no need to thank me Soul, I'm just trying to repay you all for everything you've done for me." She said as she walked back over to her closet to grab her heels.

"We were alone for so long...Then, when you picked us up, we felt...complete. Like everything would be okay just as long as we stayed with you. Penelope, you gave us a purpose, you gave us a physical body but most importantly, you gave us a family that we never even knew we needed." She said as she walked over to the bed and sat down next to Penny who was bending down to place her heels on her feet.

Penny looked back up at her with a faint blush before she scoffed and light pushed Soul's shoulder "Stop it, I'm just trying to help out where I can." She said rubbing the back of her neck.

Fifteen billion years and she still has trouble with people praising her.

Somethings never change.

Soul shook her head with a smile but dropped it before her face broke out into a teasing smile, "Heels? Really Pen?" She asked which only made Penny glare at her with no real heat behind the look.

Penny shook her head and got up from the bed with the blazer in her hand, "Really Soul? You going to stoop down to Power's level? I didn't know you had it in you." She smirked at Soul and it was now her time to glare at the girl.

"Watch it Pen."

Penny laughed before she slipped the jacket over her shoulders, "Alright, I should probably get going. Don't want to miss the big announcement."

Soul rolled her eyes, "Yeah, well you know were we'll be if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." With that said, Soul disappeared and the glow in Penny's eyes faded back to her natural honey brown eyes.

Without wasting another moment, she thought about the place she wanted to head and opened up a portal to where Tony would hold the conference and stepped through the portal.

Forty minutes later, she walked into a room filled to the brim with reporters of all kinds. She walked over and stood in the back corner of the room with her own little reality bubble around her so no one would take notice of her.

A few minutes later the man walked in and she watched in amusement as the whole press conference sat down on the ground just because he asked them to.

"Behold the Power of Tony Stark." Space said dryly.

"Capable of rendering reporters down to their knees in a matter of seconds." Reality continued sarcastically which caused the others to chuckle in amusement.

As soon as Tony announced that he'd no longer be making weapons, the whole crowd went into an uproar, including Rhodey, Pepper and Obadiah.

The last one being more frantic than the first two.

If you weren't looking for it, then you wouldn't be able to see the hidden emotions behind the older man's gaze. How he tried to hide his distaste towards Tony and how much he actually wanted to take control over Stark Industries and get rid of the only living Stark on the planet.

And he was pissed his plan to get rid of him failed.

Penny scoffed, "It's times like this where I lose just a little of my faith in humanity."

"Tell me about it. Over the course of history, we all have had to watch some...truly disturbing things. But we had to allow humans to advance on their own, you know this Penelope, even if you dislike sitting on the sidelines there's nothing we can do but allow them to, hopefully, learn from their mistakes." Mind supplied with a somber note to his voice.

That was the understatement of the century. There has been very few times where Penny has been truly disturbed with what she has saw, but to her, nothing could compare to The Black Plague.

More commonly know as Black Death.

The pandemic itself only lasted seven years, but it was one of the most horrific, gruesome seven years that she has ever experienced while on earth.

So many lives lost, men, woman and children alike.

She couldn't tell you how many children she held as they died in her arms, unable to help them except ease their pain and allow them to drift off peacefully.

She shook herself out of her head and sighed, "Some humans aren't capable of learning. They make the same mistakes over and over again and leave death and destruction wherever they've been." She said, thinking about all the petty wars she's experienced.

Men who take and kill without reason for their own personal gain.

Men who pillage villages and rape women and children for their own pleasure.

It utterly disgusted her just thinking about all those things that happened in the past.

"But you still hold out faith." Time stated.

"I have to. Earth is a focal point for every single universe and so many of the heroes are born here. A place that can house so many heroes, both superhero's and Vigilantes, it deserves my protection."

"Plus your friends live here."

Penny hummed, "That too."

She watched from a distance as Tony was escorted out of the building and she waited a moment after Pepper had walked away from Coulson before she dropped the bubble and walked over to the agent.

"What a wonderful press conference, don't you think so Phil?" She said walking up to the man. He whipped his head around and stared at her in shock for a second before he shook his head with a half annoyed half amused expression.

"You knew he'd do this, didn't you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow but they both knew the answer already.

Penny shrugged, "I had a hunch."

Phil scoffed as he rolled his eyes, "Yeah, hunch."

"Hey, I take offense to that tone you're using. It's not nice to mock people A.C."

Coulson shook his head, "What's with that nickname?"

Penny smirked, "You'll find out in a few years, don't you worry." She said before she started to walk away.

"You know the boss isn't gonna be happy when he finds out you were here." He called out to her before she left the building.

"It's a good thing I don't care what the pirate thinks then." Penny said and without another word, she walked out the door and into the chaos that was left behind from the conference.

Now, she had to plan on what she'd wear to that party in a few days.

Penny walked over to the nearest waiter and grabbed a glass of champagne before thanking the man and wandering back around the party.

Tony was scheduled to make an appearance any moment now and she wanted to see Pepper's reaction to that.

She had chosen to wear one of her favorite dresses that she's bought. It was a navy blue satin ballgown with a plunging V neckline, an open back, sleeveless and there was a thigh high slit going up her left leg.

She also had some jewelry on which was a different approach for her, since she usually doesn't mess around with things like that but she decided to switch it up for a change.

Her first necklace was a silver chain that connect to a perfectly cut Peridot which was also surrounded by a silver casing.

That specific stone picked since it was one of the gemstones for the month where her birthday fell under.

The next necklace was a full golden chain that was connected to an equally golden pendant with the symbol of Leo, her zodiac sign. The L was also covered in little diamonds that glittered whenever the light bounced off the piece.

The other things she was wearing were a few rings. On her left hand, she had a pure silver colored spider that sat on her ring finger. She modeled it after her old spider insignia but extended the legs which made it look like the spider was curled around her finger.

It was made from Vibranium though.

As a being of infinite power, it certainly does have its advantages.

The last and probably the piece that was the most eye catching was on her right hand. She had on a gold bracelet that was connected to five different rings that went on each one of her fingers. On the rings though, had a different colored stone that represented the infinity stones and the gauntlet she had wielded so long ago.

Garnet for Reality.

Emerald for Time.

Amethyst for Power.

Aquamarine for Space.

Topaz for Soul.

Citrine for Mind.

The Topaz one for Soul was connected to the bracelet while the other gemstones were on the rings and it made it look like she was wearing the infinity stones.

Which amused the real stones to no end.

Penny could only hope that none of the heroes would make the connection in seven years when they actually encountered their

first infinity stone.

She still had to figure out what she'd do with this universe's version of the stones.

She was broken out of her thoughts when she sensed the presence of another person slipping up next to her. She didn't even need to look to know who it was.

"Good evening Miss Romanoff, or should I say Natalie Rushman." She smirked which made the woman to her left huff.

"Funny, coming from you Miss Tremaine." Natasha smirked back at her.

"That's been my name for hundreds of years Tasha."

"Yeah, because having the same identity for over a hundred years is totally a good idea." Nat said sarcastically with a roll to her eyes.

Penny scoffed, "What're you even doing here?"

"Same reason you're here. I've gotta keep an eye on Stark. It's gonna be my next assignment so Fury wanted me to gather more

intel."

"Really, cause I swear it's like you guys are following my every move. It's like you've placed a tracker on my phone or something." As soon as the words left her mouth she felt as Natasha tensed right next to her and she knew that she hit the nail on that one.

"Seph I'm..." Penny didn't even allow her to finish.

"I get it, I really do Nat. You don't work for me, you have a job to do and you have to follow those orders, I understand." She said as she finally turned to look into her eyes.

"I'm sensing a but coming along." Natasha commented with a slight grimace.

"But, I've known since you first put it on my phone. I knew what Fury was like before you even met him Tasha, and he's never changed. I always knew you'd put that tracker on my phone." She admitted.

"If you knew, why didn't you ever take it off?" She asked.

Penny snorted before reaching up to brush a stray strand of red hair out of Natasha's face, "Do you honestly believe that if I wanted to, I couldn't make it so no one would ever find me?" She raised an amused eyebrow at her.

Natasha smiled up at her with a very slight coloring of her cheeks that Penny took notice of, but otherwise didn't make a comment on.

After their little moment, Natasha smirked up at her, "You've seem to have grown a few inches."

Penny scoffed, "What is it with people and my height? I'm only an inch shorter than you."

"That still makes you one of the shortest adults I've ever seen." She teased the immortal while trying to keep the wide smile off her face but she was failing miserably.

Penny rolled her eyes and gently shoved her shoulder, "If you wanna dance with the most powerful woman in the world, then you best behave yourself."

"Oh, and that's you?"

"You're damn right I am."

"And what makes you think I wanna dance with you, hmm?"

"Oh that's fine, if you don't want to dance with me that's cool. I'll just head on over to the bar and grab another drink. Maybe someone over there will dance with me..." She wasn't even allowed to finish her sentence before Nat rolled her eyes and grabbed her hand, dragging her towards the dance floor.

"Shut up and dance with me."

Penny giggled as she fell into step beside Natasha. The two of them flowing across the dance floor with practiced ease that only comes from years of experience.

Natasha from her training and Penny from literally traveling to all different types of cultures around the universe and learning from them.

There were some excellent dances that have been lost to history.

It was rather quite sad.

The two of them didn't know how long they were dancing for, but they were suddenly aware of the fact when Pepper Potts and Tony Stark glided past them on the dance floor.

Natasha looked at her, "You knew he'd show up didn't you?" She asked in resignation, already knowing the answer to her question.

Penny smirked, "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Hm-mh, keep talking smartass."

Penny gasped and if her arms weren't around Natasha's shoulders, she would have placed them on her chest in mock outrage, "Smartass? You know, words hurt Widow."

Penny was rewarded with a soft chuckle in return which made her smile widely. She always enjoyed it when Natasha actually showed that she was human. When she'd show that she was happy or annoyed or even mad.

It was just proof that she was indeed human, no matter what Natasha thought about her past actions.

Natasha gently squeezed the sides of Penny's waist, right where her hands were resting and smiled warmly at her, "You know I'm joking. You, are probably the most important person in my life. I would never willingly hurt you." She whispered like it was a secret.

Penny's heart jumped up into her throat from her chest, wildly thumping and she could feel her checks start to change into a soft pink color too, "I, um, what about Clint and his family? He's your partner, I'm just...me."

"Clint is, the man who helped me get out of that lifestyle I oh so hated. But you, you're the woman who guided me throughout my years there. Who gave me hope that one day I'd get out and I'd be more than just a weapon for someone else to use. You, are the one who saved me Seph, and there is no way I could ever repay that."

Penny gulped and tucked one of her stray brown curls behind her ear, "You don't owe me anything Tasha, really I don't want anything in return. I'm just trying to help out where I can." She saw how they were slowly leaning closer to one another but Penny didn't dare try and stop it.

Not when her heart was racing in excitement about the thought of kissing her.

"You've always been there for me." Nat whispered with a soft smile.

"Hmm."

"And...maybe I want to return the favor."

They were so close, so goddamn close to their lips touching but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

At least not yet.

Someone had come up from behind Penny and accidentally bumped into her which caused her to stumble and she would have fell down on her butt if it wasn't for Nat keep a steady grasp on her hips. The spy in question though was internally fuming at the person who interrupted her moment.

She was so close!

The two woman were suddenly aware of their position and slowly, but reluctantly, split apart from the other.

The moment ruined and leaving a mountain load of tension in the air between the two of them.

"I umm, I should probably get going. You know, have to make sure things are going to plan." Penny said awkwardly while rubbing her hand across the back of her neck.

Natasha nodded with a slight blush on her cheeks, "Yeah, yeah I should probably check in with Fury before he gets suspicious." She said while absently rubbing her right hand along her left arm.

"Good, yeah...so I'll see you later?" It came out more like a question than a statement, but Natasha nodded her head.

"Yeah, I'll see you later." Penny offered her a small smile before she turned and started to walk towards the exit but before she got far, Natasha called out to her.

She turned around and saw that Natasha was looking around until her eyes landed on a random guest. Penny made sure not to eavesdrop on their brief conversation but after they were done talking, Natasha handed the lady her phone before walking towards her and grasped her hand once she got close enough.

"I want a picture of just us." She said. Penny looked at her amused but didn't resist.

"Okay?"

She stood in front and was confused for a second before she was suddenly aware of Natasha's body pressing up against her back.

She could feel as the woman's curves molded right into her back, could feel the satin of her own dress against the skin that was exposed on her back.

And it might have been her, but she could have sworn as Natasha's hands wrapped around her waist, she squeezed and brought her back so there was no space between the two at all.

She could feel all of the woman, softly and snuggly pressed against her backside and it was doing wild things to her body.

She shook her head when Natasha rested her chin on her shoulder and realized that the lady was waiting for them to be ready so she could take that picture.

Banishing those thoughts to the back of her head for now, she smiled radiantly at the camera, making sure that she didn't outwardly react to the closeness between her best friend.

After the picture was taken, they quickly split apart and the lady handed the phone back to Natasha before she walked off.

Penny walked over to Natasha once she had the phone again and looked over her shoulder once she had the photo brought up.

"You should send that to me." Penny whispered right in the woman's ear which caused a shiver to run down Natasha's spine. "As soon as I get back." She confirmed.

Penny smiled and after a second of careful consideration, she hesitantly leaned forward and placed a soft kiss at Tasha's earlobe.

"Penelope, my name's Penelope." She whispered and without another thought, she turned away and walked out the exit.

Leaving an oddly flustered Natasha Romanoff in her wake...

"Fuck." She muttered under her breath before she too took her leave.

Twenty minutes later, when Penny was getting ready to head to bed, her phone pinged which instantly made her grab the phone to check it.

It was Natasha, she had sent the picture and she had a really good look at the expression across her face.

She was happy, truly undeniably happy.

She doesn't remember the last time she smiled like that.

"You look like you're glowing." Soul whispered to her with an evident smile in her voice which made Penny smile as well.

Penny sat up on top of the nearby rooftop and watched as Tony killed Obadiah.

The man who had tried to kill him by orchestrating his capture.

The man he was supposed to trust with his company in his steed.

She's glad that the fucker is dead now.

"Wow, violent much?" Space asked with barely contained amusement.

"Can you blame me?"

"Hmm, I guess not."

"Now comes the fun part. Watching that glorious clusterfuck of a press conference tomorrow afternoon." Power snickered causing Penny to snort.

"Oh it's going to be great." She said as she quickly left the area and teleported back to her apartment to get a little shut eye before the conference.

When she woke up the next morning, it was already almost time for the conference and when she looked at her phone, she saw she had gotten texts from both Pepper and Natasha about last night but she decided to ignore them for a little bit.

She knew she'd probably pay for it later, but she sometimes loved to push her luck.

Especially when it wound up Natasha as much as it did.

She put on the clothes that she had worn to Tony's original conference from when he had got back from Afghanistan before she left and made her way towards the building where he was going to hold the conference that would change his life forever.

Once she got there, she quickly got past security before she took her seat in the back towards the reporters. It was going to be a hassle for her with her senses and everything, but it was better than being spotted by the man.

She didn't know if she was ready to talk to the man she used to call her father figure.

Ten minutes later Colonel Rhodes came out on stage and started to talk about the attack from last night but she spaced out, not really keen on listening to a bunch of baloney fed to the media.

Honestly everything out of the man's mouth was such a lie, she didn't understand how other people didn't see that.

The fun part happened another five minutes later though when Rhodey finally stopped yapping Lies and introduced his friend.

"And now, Mr. Stark has prepared a statement." Rhodey said as he gestured to the man who had just walked into the room. "He will not be taking any questions, Thank you." He clarified before he allowed his best friend to have the stage.

"Been a while since I was in front of you, I figure I'll stick to the cards this time." Tony said which made the audience softly chuckle.

"There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop..." He wasn't even allowed to finish before a reported cut him off.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, but do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared, despite the fact that you..." She said but Tony wasn't having any of that.

"It is one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations,

or insinuate that I'm a superhero." He scoffed but was a second too late to realize his mistake.

"I never said you were a superhero." The reporter pointed out with a smug tone in her voice.

"Didn't? Well, good, because that would be outlandish and...fantastic." He muttered under his breath, "I'm just not the hero type.

Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, all largely public." Tony rambled on and only stopped when Rhodey leaned towards his ear and whispered to him.

"Just stick to the cards, man."

"Yeah, okay. Yeah. The truth is..." Penny watched as so many emotions passed through his face but ultimately, his face settled on a determined look that could rival Pepper's.

After another second of hesitation, Tony Stark said the words that would change his path for the rest of his life.

The four most important words of his life.

Well, that along with another group of four words, but he wouldn't be asking Pepper that question for at least another decade.

"I am Iron Man."

"Sometimes she's a pain right in my ass." Natasha muttered under her breath as she sat down on her apartment couch.

The only response she received was a snort from her partner who was in town again after visiting his family for a few months. He was leaning against her kitchen counter and looking at her with amusement leaking out of his gaze.

"Not a word." She said between gritted teeth as she glared at him.

But Clint didn't listen to her warning, "You have the hots for the most powerful woman in the galaxy, what do you expect me to do, not make fun of you? She's literally the only person in the world who can make you, The Black Widow, blush like a schoolgirl." He smirked but quickly ducked when she chucked a couch pillow at him.

"Fuck off." She muttered under her breath which only made Clint laugh all that much harder.

"You we're going to kiss her weren't you? At that fundraiser party Stark was hosting back before Iron Man popped out the water works."

Natasha grumbled something under her breath but Clint couldn't hear her, "I'm sorry, what was that?" He asked with an eyebrow raised in amusement.

Any day he could see his usually so closed off friend act like a normal fucking human being was a good day for him.

And the goddess was the one who brought that side out of her.

"She was gonna kiss me, then some asshole bumped into her." Natasha muttered angrily under her breath.

"I bet you wanted to murder the bitch who did so." Clint said knowingly which caused her to scoff.

"I was five seconds from doing so, but she was standing right there." She sighed.

"Hey that's a good sign then! If she was gonna kiss you that means she wants to." Clint said as he walked over and sat down next to her.

"I swear she does it on purpose. Just to tease me."

"You know, there was that old Greek goddess of sexual love and beauty. I think her name was Aphrodite or something.

Anyways, If she's as old as we predict she is, that could easily be her as well. Hell, she could be the basis of most of the old Greek goddess for all we know."

"What's your point?" She impatiently asked.

"My point, is the Goddess of Sexual love and Beauty must be great at seducing the ones she loves. Who knew that The Black Widow could be out-seduced." Clint said with a teasing smirk.

"Oh haha laugh it up." She rolled her eyes, "We have no idea what happened back then though, so you can't make assumptions like that. The only one who'd be able to tell us exactly what happened would be Seph."

Clint raised an eyebrow, "Seph?"

She scoffed, "Her nickname. Short for Persephone, keep up Birdbrain."

"As in Goddess of the underworld?"

"Yup, that's the one." She confirmed.

"Man, you've got it good for that goddess Nat...All joking aside I hope it all works out for you." He said sincerely with a small smile.

"Yeah well, I've never done something like this before. I've never dated anyone in my life...How'd you feel when you started dating Laura?" She asked.

Clint sighed, "It felt, exhilarating, amazing, like nothing could ever come between the two of us. I knew that there was never going to be another woman I'd love like her, she was the one for me, and I knew that."

Natasha clicked her tongue before she blew out a frustrated breath, "Whenever I'm with her...I just feel like, I can finally be myself you know? I know from experience that she won't judge me for my past, and the little information she gives me about her personal life I make sure to keep it to myself. She's done so much for me I feel like I owe her at least that much, even if it goes against a direct order from Fury. She...makes me smile, happy even. No offense to you, I think she's the only one who's ever been able to make me genuinely happy." She said and by the end of her little speech, she had a soft smile across her face.

"You love her." Clint breathed out in shock.

Instead of answering him, she handed him her phone and opened up the photo of her and Penelope from the night of that party.

In the picture, it's a clear image.

Penelope smiling so radiantly at the camera and Natasha, she had a soft smile across her face that has never once been spotted on the woman in question. But Clint looked at the eyes, her eyes showed so many different emotions captured in that one moment that he had a hard time deciphering all of them.

But the one that stood out the most was the love radiating out of her gaze.

The look of utter contempt on his partner's face.

"Damn, that's one fine picture. If I was you I'd keep that on me for the rest of my life."

"That's what I plan on doing." She said as she stuffed her phone back into the pocket of her jeans.

"Well, there's not much I can do for you except offer my support. You said she was gone till August now right?" He asked.

"Yeah, she said something about dealing with a problem off planet before it got too risky for whoever it involved. I don't know the full details but she seemed pretty focused on whatever it was." She said.

"That's great! That gives you a little less than three months to figure out how you're going to tell her about your feelings." Clint said with a wide smile causing her to groan.

"You're not gonna leave me alone about this are you?"

"Nope I am not." He smirked which caused him to get a face full of pillow.

God, it was gonna be a long three months till Penelope got back...

The Celestial Killer

Chapter Summary

Penny goes on her mission to get rid of another Celestial after Tony Stark reveals he is Iron-Man.

Chapter Notes

Surprise! Two chapters in one day!

I decided I'd surprise you all and give you two instead of one since this one was already completed and I still feel bad for leaving this story for so long.

I hope you enjoy!

"I still don't understand why we let them destroy the planets they host. You could easily absorb their power while they're still nestled down in the core kid." Power rolled his eyes from his place leaning against a table.

She was currently resting her physical body, tired from all the space travel from earth all the way to the outer reaches of her home galaxy.

She was currently staying on the planet that was destined to be destroyed in less than twenty four hours. The people here welcoming her with open arms and allowing her to seek refuge among them until they had to leave tomorrow.

They actually took the news pretty well.

While her body was resting though, she escaped into her mind, where she could openly communicate with the stones in her own little dreamscape that she has had for billions of years.

Right now, she modeled it after the old common room in the tower, back before she had died fighting Thanos.

The first time.

Power was leaning against the table next to the couch, while Soul, Reality, Space and Time all sat down on the comfy piece of furniture and Mind was simply sitting down in the armchair, closer to Power.

Meanwhile Penny was sitting on the ground in front of the couch, resting her head back against the stones legs.

Penny huffed but calmed down when Space started to run her fingers through her brown curls, "It's not like we destroy the civilizations on them. I relocate them to another planet so they can live their lives peacefully, unless they deserve to die."

"Yeah but still, you have the power by yourself to create new galaxies whenever you want. We don't need to wait for these assholes to rise after a billion years of slumber, kill off a civilization, then make one galaxy before fucking off to god knows where. It's stupid!" Power exclaimed while throwing his arms up in the air in frustration.

"Stop it, you know how she feels about that." Mind warned his brother causing him to scoff.

"I know how she feels, I'm in her head constantly. I just don't understand her trepidation with the concept. I've seen her level whole planets to the ground before, kill almost all the celestials in the universe and on top of that, she has to make sure everything happens on earth correctly for the heroes to rise. It's already gonna be hard enough to watch the invasion in a little over a year, when the Avengers assemble for the first time. She doesn't need to worry about these dicks destroying the universe too, which is why we should just go after Airshem now and get this shit over with." Power rolled his eyes.

"No, we can't. We need the Eternals on earth to understand the truth before we kill him. There is already seeds of doubt planted in their minds, we just need to make sure Ikaris doesn't get in the way. His judgment is clouded by his loyalty to the Prime Celestial, but his love for Sersi might be enough to stop him. Because we all know that woman loves that planet too much to ever destroy it." Time said while slightly glaring at her brother, which had zero effect on him.

Power shrugged, "Whatever, still think it's stupid."

"I've never created a new galaxy before Power, I have no idea where to start with something like that. Let's say that I did kill Airshem, and after I wanted to make a new galaxy and I couldn't figure it out, I would be condemning the universe to eternal darkness. I can't do that...I have to be sure of this before I kill him off." Penny said, her eyes still closed as Space's hands drifted through her hair.

"I am confident...We are confident in your ability to make galaxies kid, that's all you need. I promise we wouldn't make you do something if you couldn't do it." Power said after a moment of silence.

Penny opened one eye to look at him and smiled, "Big softy." She murmured before she closed her eyes again which only made him scoff.

"I'm not a softy, the ladies are the softies. I'm a stone cold killer kid, I don't know where've you been for the last fifteen billion years." Power rolled his eyes but there was amusement leaking out of his gaze as he spoke.

"No, the stone cold killer award would have to go to either Space or Time. You're too much of a sweetheart deep down to have that title." Penny sassed back which only made him glare at her while the others laughed.

"No, you see Reality is the goofy innocence of the group, Power is the softie sweetheart with an anger problem, Time is the blunt bitch with an unhealthy addiction for dad jokes, Space is the stone cold killer who things it's hilarious watching other people fall flat on their faces, Soul is the mother hen of the group who'd do anything for Penny, but not us, and I am the smart, calculated one of the group. I try to bring common sense into the mix." Mind said with a smirk.

While the others started to argue about their titles, Penny just started to giggle, "You know, that's a pretty accurate description of you guys." She said, smirking and making eye contact with all of them.

The girls above her glared down at her except for Space who only smirked. It was Soul who spoke up though, "I am not a mother hen, thank you very much."

"How about that time back in 480 B.C in the Battle of Thermopylae? You know, when Penny got stabbed through the chest after she tried to protect Leonidas and she had to come into the dreamscape for her physical body to heal and you wouldn't let her go a foot away from you. Always had to have her tucked under your side." Space smirked.

Before Soul could rebuttal her evidence, Power carried on, "Or that time in 331 B.C when Penny and Alexander the Great fought along side by side and won against the Persian Empire, which then allowed them to take control. She came back with a lot of bruises and burns and cuts, you practically wouldn't let her leave the dreamscape for a whole day!"

"There was also that time in 260 when she helped defeat the Roman army and she had a mild concussion and Soul wouldn't leave her alone for a whole week."

"Also, that one time..." Before Time could continue on, Soul placed her hand over her mouth and glared at everyone.

"Alright, I get it Jesus, you guys are mean today." She pouted a little before turning her head away from them which only made the others laugh.

Penny smiled softly and reached up to place her hand on Soul's leg to let her know that their teasing was all in good fun, "You all, are perfect, just the way you are. There isn't a damn thing I'd change about any of you." She said.

The Stones all looked down at their charge and smiled, their eyes radiating love and devotion that they had never felt before, not even towards their other carriers.

There was no one else in the universe quite like Penny Parker. She was unique and one of a kind. Her heart so pure, her need to help so strong, her morals...

Well, her morals may have been a little off kilter thanks to them, but still.

The Stones had never known what love felt like before meeting Penny. Sure, they understood the concept of it, what love could do, how it was one of the most powerful forces in the universe, but they never got to experience it before Penny.

They love her, there's no doubt about it, she's their little savior and they'd all do anything to see her happy.

Penny's mission has always stayed the same after all these years, prevent the destruction of the universe, save this one like she could have saved her previous one.

The Stone's though, their mission has slowly changed from protect the universe...

To protect Penny.

And they'd make sure nothing ever happens to her for as long as they're sentient.

That's a promise all of them will make sure to keep...

"Are all the ships off planet?" Penny exclaimed as she made her way through the crumbling down buildings, trying to avoid all the sinkholes popping up out of nowhere.

"The last one is making its way off planet as we speak, it's safe." Soul said. Penny nodded to herself before she decided it was time to get the hell out of dodge.

She jumped up onto the closest building and launched herself into the air and allowed the power of Space to wash over her frame. Her body glowing like a shinning star, her eyes taking on the same glow as Carol does whenever she uses her powers.

Without a second thought, she blasted off into the sky and got as far away from the planet as she could before the Celestial bursted through the crust of the planet itself.

Once she was a good enough distance away, she turned back around and slowly watched as their ships evacuated and jumped to another solar system where Penny had told them to go towards, for there was a planet there that would be perfect for them to start their new civilization.

Once the last ship jumped, she breathed a sigh of relief and turned back towards the planet to watch as the new celestial emerged.

"So, what's this one's name?" She asked the Stones.

"Exitar. If he would have been allowed to live past what we have planned for him, he would have earned the name Exitar The Exterminator. In other universes, he goes from planet to planet who fails the celestial's test and destroys everything." Time said

flatly.

Penny scoffed, "Of course, if killing trillions to be born wasn't enough, now you have to go to different planets and destroy them just because you don't like how they fail your vision of what the universe should be." Penny said sarcastically as she watched more cracks spread across the planet's surface.

"That's the celestials for you. A bunch of assholes, the lot of them." Power said with anger in his voice.

Penny knew that back in her universe, Power had been used by one of the Celestials. He went by the name of Eson The Searcher.

Power took great satisfaction when Penny had killed him in this universe...

Penny stayed there, floating in place and watched as the planet slowly started to split open, magma leaking out of the core and after only five minutes, she watched as the planet exploded out causing her to wince and place a hand over her eyes.

As the shockwave dissipated, she saw the celestial was there in front of her, not even paying any attention to her.

Apparently she wasn't worth the false God's time.

When she saw that he was getting ready to leave, she speed off after him towards the jump point he was heading towards.

She didn't know how long this one was going to go before making a new galaxy, but all she had to do was now wait until he did so, then she could absorb his power and kill him off for good.

Piece of cake.

She didn't keep track of the time while following him, but according to Time, once they reached the Celestial's stop, it had been three weeks of nonstop space travel.

She was going to pass the fuck out once she got back down to her apartment on earth.

"Get ready, he's about to complete the process." Space muttered to her. Penny absently nodded her head and her eyes hardened in determination as she watched the celestial gather all of its energy it had stolen from the civilization in its hands.

She has watched this process happen so many times before, but she still couldn't get over the fact how beautiful it truly was.

At heart, she was still a science nerd and to watch a new galaxy be born from literally nothing but energy, it makes her inner fan girl go wild.

Suddenly, everything around her was surrounded by a giant white light and she could feel all the energy pulsating through her body from the aftershock of the process.

She blinked her eyes to clear them from that sudden light show and saw right in front of her, there was a new Irregular galaxy right there. The coloring of the galaxy was beautiful, a deep crimson red with a pinkish color outlining the darker parts.

Even after so many years, the process still renders her speechless.

"It's time kid, knock him dead." Power said, the glare evident in his tone of voice.

"You got it pumpkin." She smirked as she listened to his annoyed grunt and the laughter from the others.

She quickly shook out of it though and got her game face ready.

She had a Celestial to kill.

"You know, it's not nice to destroy planets just to serve your biased vision of what the universe should be, you do know that right?" She said when she flew in closer to the giant, making her voice louder than it usually was.

"Who dares speak to me like that?" The Celestial boomed as he slowly turned around to stare at the glowing dot that she probably looked like compared to him.

"It's me, Penelope. Goddess of the Universe, protector of the people, Queen of the Underworld. I have a lot of names." She shrugged her shoulders.

"You are no Goddess fleshling. Did you not see what I just accomplished? You are nothing."

"God I forgot how arrogant they were." She muttered under her breath which caused the Stones to snort in amusement, "You know, there's actually another name you might recognize." She suddenly said.

"And what would that be?"

Penny smirked, "Annihilator of Celestials."

Now, Celestials didn't have facial expressions, but Penny liked to believe that if they did, this one would have had his eyes wide open in shock and his mouth hanging open.

"Impossible." The giant muttered.

"Nope." She said jovially, "I kill them, absorb their energy and whatever I can't absorb, I put it into the armor I make from their dead bodies." She smiled at him.

"Airshem warned me about the killer. Said that they've been here, in this universe longer than even him. You destroyed the World Forge, you killed my siblings, you have been thwarting Airshem's design for this universe." He said with growing anger in his tone.

"Yeah, and I'll keep doing so until this universe is finally rid of you assholes."

"Your reign of terror across this universe ends today demon. I will kill you myself and bring your dead corpse to Airshem, to show him I am the worthiest of them all!" He bellowed before he rushed toward her.

"Demon? That's a new one. Never heard that one before." She muttered thoughtfully to herself as she flew out of the way from the giants first move.

It was going to be rather easy to kill this one if he got this upset over a few words she had said.

Honestly, who knew Celestials could be so sensitive.

She flew around the giant's body and stopped when she got to his back. She smirked to herself as she landed and used her original spider powers to stick to the hard metal surface.

She then placed her hands on the Celestial's back and focused on all of her power. Everything that she has gathered from years of killing these monsters, years of training with the guidance from the stones and most of all her need to protect this universe.

She couldn't save her old one from everything bad happening, but now she had a chance to save this one, and she actually had the power to do so.

She'd be damned, if she failed again.

Her eyes suddenly exploded with all the colors of the rainbow, quickly changing from red, to blue, to green, to purple, to orange and to yellow. Cycling through all the colors of the stones before they stopped and settled on white, all of her power now coming up, flowing through her body and allowing her to siphon the energy from the Celestial.

She watched as the giant tried to get her off his back, tried to wiggle his massive arms around to grab her and chuck her off but it was no use, Penny wasn't a mere mortal anymore.

She had transcended that title a long time ago...

She felt as the process started, the energy drain on the Celestial. It would defiantly put her out of commission for at least a week but it was all worth it in the end.

She grunted as she felt all it's power rush into her body, the pure form of energy rushing through her veins, her bones and every little pore in her body.

She watched as the Celestial started to lose its power, lose its strength and overall she felt as his body weakened and he started to lose his will to continue.

In a battle of the wits, Penny was superior.

In a battle of Strength, Penny was stronger

But overall, In a battle of life and death, life would always choose Penelope Parker.

She felt as the process completed, her body sagged and she let out a sigh of relief. No matter how many times she's done this, it always takes it out of her.

It's one of the reason why she couldn't keep all this power inside of her.

The abilities she got from the stones were fine and the abilities she gathered after destroying the world forge were also fine, but the raw energy from one Celestial alone was almost enough to overload her.

Almost.

Which was why after every time she killed one, she traveled to her own secret base in between dimensions where she stored different artifacts that she found cool or dangerous weapons that she encountered that don't deserve to be in anyones reach.

And in this case, it's where she stored her Celestial armor, forged from the dead bodies of other Celestials, which was how she was able to store that much energy.

For only a Celestial could hold that much energy, which was why the Stones advised her to make it out of their corpses.

As morbid as that sounds...

She lifted her hands off the now dead corpse and sighed again, allowing her body to slightly relax and her eyes to go back to their normal color as she stayed floating there, catching her breath.

Even though there was no oxygen in space.

Yeah, there were somethings that she still didn't understand...

"You did it." Soul said with evident pride leaking from her voice.

"I did." She muttered.

"He was a lot more arrogant than the others." Mind noted with a slight curious tilt to his voice.

Power snorted, "A little too late to ask him about that."

Mind hummed but before he could talk again, Space interrupted him, "I don't mean to butt into this stellar conversation, but she's about five seconds from passing out. We should head to our dimension, drop off the energy and head back to earth so our girl can get some rest." She said.

"Agreed." Penny muttered. She waited to hear all the Stones approval before she opened up a portal to their dimension and portaled herself along with the dead corpse with her.

Their dimension was formed by the amount of power Penny had accumulated once she had killed her first Celestial. She was able to make a crack through the universe which opened up to a dimension similar to the dark dimension, only minus all the bad things floating around.

There were stars and very distant galaxies in the sky that she could just make out their shine. The floor was a dark midnight purple that also had a few stars reflected from it.

It was like she was walking on a floor made entirely from the universe itself.

It seemed to go on for miles but what really caught your attention when you first entered was the dead corpses of Celestial's standing upright, their bodies stored and preserved in her dimension.

They were lined up to the right of her, on what she considered the right wall. The line went on for miles, the towering bodies looming down at her with hanging heads, hundreds of dead bodies lined up.

And right smack dab in the middle of them, closer to the center of the "room", sat a pedestal that her armor rested on.

Well, one of her armors anyways.

She usually made an armor set from each celestial she killed, but the one in the middle is a mixture of five different Celestial's.

Her first Celestial's that she had ever killed.

Her other armor was against the left wall, each set having a different design choice uniquely from the Celestial that was killed.

She sighed and levitated the body of Exitar towards the right wall until he was in his final resting spot before she moved towards an empty armor set that she had made a decade ago and released all of the energy into the newest set.

Once all the energy had traveled from her and into the armor, she sighed and rubbed her eyes. She was so damn tried she could probably sleep for a whole month.

She'd be surprised if she didn't. She looked around and made sure everything was how it should be before she walked back towards the front of the room.

It's not like anything could go missing in her dimension anyways, the only one able to move in here was her, for anyone else who was foolish enough to try would be frozen in time.

Which was also why it was the safest spot to house the corpses.

Because if they had ever got into the hands of Airshem...

Yeah, it wouldn't be pretty.

"Let's get back down to earth. I'm so tried." Penny said as she opened up a portal to her apartment building back in California.

She stepped through the blue vortex and the comforting smell of her apartment, her home greeted her. She relaxed even further as she walked into her bedroom and saw everything the way she left it.

She moved to her dresser and got out a pair of clean underwear along with grabbing a plain blue tank top before moving into the bathroom to change.

Once she got out, she moved over to her bed and laid down, nestling down into her comfy blankets and her fluffy pillows for the first time in months.

Which reminded her, "What's the month?" She muttered.

"It's the middle of July." Mind supplied her in a whisper, knowing that she needed her rest and not wanting to disturb her.

Penny hummed as she snuggled down into her pillows even more, "That means Tasha already had her interview with S.I. She'll be working for them by the New Year."

"I bet you missed her." Soul said knowingly.

Penny grunted as she drifted off to sleep. Dreaming of soft, red hair, plush crimson lips and piercing emerald green eyes.

The Goddess and The Spider Chapter Summary

Natasha finds out Penny is back and decides to finally act on her feelings towards the immortal. Chapter Notes

HOLY SHIT!

I watched No Way Home last night and that movie made me so happy and so goddamn sad it hurts!

Fuck! Peter just can't catch a break can he?!

I'm so fucking happy that Tom is sighed on for more Spider Man movies in the future though.

Man, that movie broke my heart, but it gave me inspiration for another story I might be writing now, so, yah… Also, can we please talk about how Peter definitely needs a therapist after all the shit he's been though.

Anyways I'm rambling, I hope you enjoy this chapter while I go cry myself to sleep again tonight

Penny slept for a good eight days before she finally left the dreamscape and went back into her physical body fully rested and ready to start her day.

Her eyes fluttered open as she lifted her hands to rub her eyes. She groaned softly and stretched out her limbs, yawning in the process.

"I'm so glad I don't have to do that for another decade." She muttered under her breath, getting noises of approval from the stones as she pushed her blankets off of her body and walked over to her bathroom to clean up.

Once she tried to tame her wild curls and washed her face, she walked back out and into her kitchen to grab a bite to eat.

Since the stones have gifted her this power, she doesn't need to eat as much as a normal human would, or as much as she used to eat but she still likes to do so.

For old times sake...

She walked over to her cupboard and grabbed a bowl and a box of cereal. She poured it into the bowl before moving towards her fridge to grab the milk and sat down at her table.

After she finished her food, she got up and placed the bowl in her sink before she moved to her couch.

Before she sat down though, she grabbed her red silk nightgown that was hanging off her armchair and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Once she was settled down onto her couch, she sighed, "Space, can you show me where Danvers is? I'm kinda curious." She asked.

"Ohh, are you cheating on your girl with the blond? I don't think Natasha would approve of you seeing any other pretty female

that isn't her." Power teased her, causing Penny to roll her eyes.

"Shut the fuck up dude, she's my friend I just want to make sure she's okay."

Without a word, Penny extended her hand and in the palm of her hand, she watched as a holographic Carol walked around a bustling street on some planet.

"She just got back from helping the Skrulls with a problem they had. She's now looking for a place to find a drink." Time told her.

Penny snorted, "That's Carol for you." Before another word could be said though, a sudden noise from the outside of her apartment door caught her attention. But the worst part was, it didn't sound like knocking, not really it was more of a scratch then anything.

"What the hell?" Penny muttered to herself as she slowly got up and started to move towards the door.

"Be careful." Soul whispered to her.

When she got right in front of her door, she braced herself for a fight and slowly grasped the handle to her door and opened it.

She didn't need to get all worked up though because once she saw what was there, her heart instantly melted and all her defenses crumpled.

"Oh my god! You're so adorable! What're you doing here baby?!" She exclaimed as she got down onto her knees so she was eye level with the dog which was laying right outside her door.

"I...did not see that coming." Time muttered to herself.

Penny looked around the hallway to see if anyone was there but she saw no one so she looked back down at the dog, "Are you here by yourself? Do you have any owners I can call? How did you even get up here?" She asked the dog, obviously receiving no answer in return though.

"Uhh, You might wanna get out of the hallway kid. Don't know if you've realized it, but you kinda only have underwear, a tank top and a silk gown covering you up." Power pointed out which made the tips of Penny's ears turn a slight pink.

"Right, come on you, let's get you inside." She said as she tried to coax the husky into her apartment. Once the dog trotted in, the animal walked over to her carpet near the coach and laid down on its stomach, stretching its frail limbs out like a starfish.

Penny frowned, "It looks starved. Dogs aren't supposed to be that frail."

"There's also some wounds under the fur. Wherever this dog was, it wasn't pretty." Reality said with a somber tone in her voice.

"You poor thing." Penny cooed as she walked up to the animal and sat down right next to her, hesitantly reaching her hand out to run her fingers through the dog's fur.

The husky looked up at her with big wide eyes and that's when Penny took notice of the mis-matching eye color of the dog.

One eye was sapphire blue and the other was honey brown.

"Aww, you are so damn cute!" Penny exclaimed while smiling softly at the mistreated animal, her eyes glowing with how much love she already felt for the animal.

Now all the Stones know this but have never told Penny it, since they don't want to be glared at and ignored for embarrassing her.

Trust them, there was a time where she ignored them all but Space for six months.

Worst six months of their life.

Anyways, whenever Penny is around things she loved with a hundred percent of her heart, her eyes would actually physically glow. Her irises would change from her honey brown to a slightly lighter shade of brown, mixing a little white into her original eye color.

There was only two things that had ever gotten her eyes to change like that though.

One was animals, any type of animal throughout the course of history.

And the second, was a certain red headed assassin.

Much to the amusement of the Stones.

"You know what, you're mine now, I'm adopting you. Stones, say hi to our child!" She said with a wide smile as she glided her hand up to the dog's ear, watching as she waggled her tail in excitement.

"I'm glad it was a unanimous decision." Time said sarcastically.

"Oh hush you, I know you find her just oh so adorable." Penny pouted with a teasing look behind her gaze.

"Whatever." Time rolled her eyes.

Penny smiled softly before she tapped into her powers, "Let me help you out with those wounds baby." She said softly as she ran her hands across the dog's cuts and scratches and scars, her power running through her hands and into the dog, healing the poor husky of all its past scars and everything.

Leaving only perfectly healed skin in its wake.

The husky seemed to get even more excited if that was possible, looking up at Penny with a curious tilt to its head, with her tail still waggling back and fourth.

"I can't help you with the other problems at the moment, you're just gonna have to keep eating healthy and hopefully you can gain back your weight sweetie." She said as she summoned a bag of dog food out of thin air. She walked over to her cupboard and grabbed a spare bowl for the food and the water.

It wasn't much but it'd have to do until she went out and got her more things sometime today.

"You know, you're gonna need a name." Penny wondered out loud as she poured some food into the bowl for the husky who had moved from it's spot on her red carpet and decided to sit down right next to her bare feet.

"Name her after one of the goddesses based off of you." Mind suggested.

Penny hummed, "But which one?" Penny filled the second bowl with water before she bent over and placed both the bowls on the ground, allowing the husky to eat and drink.

As she watched her new dog eat like she never had before, a name suddenly popped up in the front of her mind which made her smile.

"Iris, I think I'll name her Iris."

"Iris? Nice name." Power approved.

"Why Iris though?" Reality asked, curious.

"Well one, for obvious reasons her eyes are different colors, two, in ancient Greek, Iris is derived from the word rainbow and I don't think I need to explain it for you to understand the last reason I chose it." Penny smiled down at Iris.

"Okay yeah sure that's great and all, but I'd still like to know where the fuck she came from." Space said with evident confusion in her voice.

"Time?" Penny questioned.

"Why do you still ask me when you could easily go through time to find the answer yourself?" Time asked in exasperation.

Penny shrugged, "I don't want you guys to feel left out. I don't alway have to do everything, we're a team." She explained which caused love to flow through all the stones.

This fucking girl...

Time huffed before she did what was asked. It took a few seconds but she found what she was looking for.

"Apparently, some asshole didn't want his dog anymore after neglecting her for months. It was his ex-girlfriend's dog and they broke up so he decided to ignore the animal just to spite her. He finally got sick of its whining and dropped her off here, where his girlfriend used to live."

Penny frowned, "Then why didn't she take her back?"

"She died a month ago. A speeding car ran a red light while people were crossing the road...She died on impact." Time said somberly.

Penny closed her eyes in pain, hating how she couldn't do anything to save the poor woman, "I should have been here." She whispered guiltily.

"There was nothing you could've done Pen, nothing." Soul whispered to her.

Penny shook her head, "Doesn't mean I don't wish I could change it."

After a moment of silence, Mind spoke up, "Well, it seems that Iris is in better hands now. We won't let anything else happen to her." He said.

Penny smiled, "Yeah, she'll be okay now."

Natasha was sitting on her kitchen counter going through some files when she got the message.

She absently picked up her phone and after she finished reading the paragraph, she looked down and her heart jumped into her throat when she saw who it was from.

She quickly set the file down and opened up the message but nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.

Penelope had sent her a picture, and considering the camera quality of mobile phones, this one was ten times better than that of a phone, but Nat didn't know how she did it.

To be honest, she didn't know how she did a lot of things.

What was surprising to Nat though wasn't the great quality of the picture, it was what it showed her.

Because the picture was of Penelope in nothing but a tank top and a red silk nightgown. She was sitting down on the ground in a kneeling position and she was smiling radiantly at the camera. Her toned, bare legs were completely showed off, definitely catching Natasha's attention.

But the main thing she was focusing on was the sight of Penelope's black lace underwear, the most noticeable thing to the assassin at the moment.

When she saw how the lace undergarment clung to Penelope's frame, her perfectly curved frame, it made her stomach do summersaults and heat start to pool in the pit of her stomach.

Jesus, no one had the right to be that sexy this early in the morning.

Once she spent an embarrassingly amount of time ogling her best friend, her attention was then brought to the other thing in the picture with her.

There was a husky who had laid down on the floor next to her, cuddling right up to Penelope like it was the most normal thing in the world.

There was also a message right under the photo that she had sent her.

"Hope you don't mind sharing, my child needs a lot of my attention at the moment. You're welcome to stop by if you want later today though. I have to go out and grab some things for my baby!"

"Jesus, I swear one of these days she's gonna kill me." Natasha muttered under her breath as she started to rearrange her plans for the day.

If this little cat and mouse teasing game of theirs continued, it was only a matter of time before Natasha snapped.

But, she needed to see her best friend today, she hasn't seen her in months and she was feeling especially deprived of her comfort.

The last time they saw each other was at that party and they had left with many things unsaid.

Natasha wasn't gonna stand for that anymore, she was going to get what she wanted even if she had to corner Penelope herself.

She couldn't keep living with this much tension between them, she needed the air clear.

And she knew just the way to do so.

Penny walked back into her apartment with a bag full of a variety of different items for her new dog.

She had left Iris here though. It's not like she wanted to though, but she didn't want people to think that she was the one abusing the animal so until it was in a healthy condition, it would stay indoors.

She had bought Iris her own food and water bowl, a nice comfy dog bed with a couple chew toys for her as well. She had also gotten a mat for her to go to the bathroom on and with a couple waves of her hand, she could make the mat automatically clean up after her.

She was the most powerful being in the universe after all, a simple spell on a dog mat wasn't difficult.

Anyways, as soon as she walked into her apartment and closed the door, she became aware of another's presence in her apartment.

She leaned over the wall and smirked at the figure sitting on her counter, "You just couldn't keep away could you?" She smirked.

Natasha looked up with a raised eyebrow, "You've been gone for two months, I wanted to see you."

Penny smiled at her, "Well I'm just honored." She said as she moved over to the kitchen to empty out her bags. When she walked by Natasha though, the assassin took notice of the very form fitting sundress she was wearing before she quickly snapped out of it.

"So, I heard you're a mother now." She said, gesturing her head over to the sleeping form of the husky on the red carpet.

"Yeah, some asshole decided he didn't want the poor thing anymore after neglecting her for months." Penny said with evident anger in her voice.

"Do I need to track someone down and kill them?" Natasha asked amused.

Penny snorted, "You can't kill someone just because they mistreated my new dog."

She shrugged, "I can if it'll make you feel better." She said with utmost confidence.

"That's probably illegal."

"Somethings are worth the risk." She stared pointedly at Penny, but her only response was to hum in agreement.

Natasha glared in irritation, but Penny was either too engrossed with her new dog to notice, or ignored her.

For her sake, it had better be that first option.

"So, what have you been up to while I've been gone?" Penny asked as she dumped Iris's food and water into her new bowls.

Natasha shrugged her shoulders, "Not much. Couple Shield Missions every now and then, I've mostly been studying up on what I'll need to do once I start to work for Stark though."

"Natasha Romanoff studying?" Penny teased.

"Fuck off." She said while trying to keep the smile off her face.

She has missed this, their banter.

Just being near the other woman to be honest.

"So, what's the real reason you're here, hmm?" Penny asked as she moved over to her couch and patted the seat next to her, gesturing for Nat to take it.

"What? I can't miss my best friend?" She asked as she gladly took the seat next to her.

"Come on, I know you Tasha. You miss me every time I leave for an extended amount of time, but this time it's different. I don't know, I can't place it but...somethings wrong." Penny frowned in thought, trying to figure it out.

Natasha looked at Penny and her slight frown that was almost a pout and barley had enough self control to stop herself from pouncing on her and kissing those plump lips of hers.

God, if Yelena saw that she had become as bad as a mushy teenager, she'd never let her hear the end of it.

"Do you have any idea how insufferable you are?" Natasha whispered, catching the girl's attention.

Penny was shocked for all of two seconds before a smirk made its way across her face even though the tips of her ears did turn pink.

"There's been a few times over the course of history where people have said the same thing, why?" She asked.

"You're doing this on purpose." Natasha accused.

"Hmm, I don't know what you're talking about." The both of them were still whispering, slowly leaning towards one another but neither cared at the moment.

"You've been such a tease, you know how much I hate that." Natasha exhaled a breath which made Penny shiver in delight.

"Yeah I do, what're you gonna do about it?" Penny said with a smirk before Natasha suddenly lunged for her mouth. Grabbing the sides of her face and smashing their lips together in a heated kiss.

Natasha doesn't think she's ever experienced a more enjoyable action in her entire life than kissing Penelope. Her lips were so soft and tasted like cherries, she smelt like vanilla and Natasha was having a hard time refraining from pushing the girl down and taking her right then and there.

On the other hand, Penny was content that if she were to ever die, even though she couldn't, she could now die happy knowing that Natasha felt the same way she did. She quickly bit down on the assassin's lower lip which caused her to groan and allowed Penny to suck her tongue into her own mouth, causing both of them to moan in pleasure.

The assassin's lips tasted of apple and cinnamon, the scent coming from her too was the same. Penny grasped the back of her neck and tried to bring her in even closer than before.

She needed more.

Natasha's hands dropped to her shoulders as she climbed over Penny's lap and straddled her. Penny moaned as one of Tasha's hands crept down her back and started to rub circles there.

If only her hands were under her dress...

After a full minute of kissing the two broke apart due to the need for air. Both of their lips were swollen and there was a trail of saliva that still connected their mouths.

"I guess you liked that picture." Penny whispered into Nat's ear.

"Such a fucking tease." She bit down on her neck causing Penny to gasp in surprise but pleased by the action nonetheless.

"Look at yourself. Do you realize how beautiful you truly are? I have to physically restrain myself when I'm around you." Penny moaned out as Natasha started to suck on her pulse point and ground her hips down into Penny's.

The assassin pulled off of the immortal's neck to look down at the woman underneath her, "I'm glad that feeling is mutual." Without another word, Natasha leaned back down to capture Penny's lips again.

The woman in question moaned once Natasha's tongue pushed passed her lips, an action that Penny was all too okay with. But it wasn't enough for The Black Widow. For all of a sudden, she pushed Penny down into the couch, the immortal's back hitting the fluffy pillows while Natasha stayed on top of her.

"I'm gonna show you what it's like to be constantly teased, then we'll see if you like it." Natasha whispered into her ear as she released Penny's lips for a second before moving them towards her exposed collarbone.

Penny groaned in pleasure as she felt Natasha's hands slide down her body towards the end of her dress. Once the assassin was there, she hiked the dress up a bit before her hands dipped under the clothing and slid up her soft stomach, rubbing up her legs towards her naval then back down.

Teasing her like no tomorrow.

Suddenly, Penny's legs wrapped around Tasha's waist and brought her in even closer to her, making her dress slip up her legs even more due to the angle, exposing more of her toned thigh muscles for the assassin's pleasure.

"Come on then, show me what you've got. But fair warning, no man or woman has ever been able to break me before. You up for the challenge?" She smirked sexily up at her partner.

Natasha smirked back down at her with desire clearly in her gaze, "That's because they weren't me." With that said, Natasha leaned down again and connected their lips.

The both of them skipped lunch and dinner.

Not even falling asleep till early the next morning...

When Natasha woke up twelve hours after they had fallen asleep, she didn't remember anything about the previous night or day, still too exhausted from their activities.

That was until, she looked down and saw who was laying on her chest.

Right there, using her breasts as a makeshift pillow, Penelope was there. Her short curly brown hair even more messed up than it usually was, her breath coming out slowly but in a steady pace as she snuggled down into the assassin's chest.

Natasha smiled down at her and reached over to pull the blanket higher up both of their equally nude bodies. Once that was done, Natasha looked around Penelope's room and saw that both of their clothes from yesterday were still scattered across the floor from when they had barged into the room the day before. The sun was high in the sky and peeking through the curtains telling Nat that they had both overslept.

Like, a lot.

It wasn't much of a surprise considering how long they had gone on for yesterday, but damn.

It's not like she knew Penelope had outstanding stamina when she walked into the apartment yesterday, hell she didn't plan on having sex with her, she had just wanted to clear the air between them.

I guess this was one way to do that though.

"Hmm, morning." The sudden voice of Penelope caught her attention and made her look down at the woman who had barely opened her eyes yet, still half closed.

Natasha smirked, "Afternoon actually."

Penny hummed before closing her eyes and snuggling down into her chest again, "Same difference."

"I've never understood that phrase." Natasha murmured as she leaned down to kiss Penny on her head, letting her hand gently brush the unruly strands of hair aside.

"Hmm, some people understand it, others don't. It's kinda hard to explain." She replied, her words being muffled by the blanket which was right next to her head.

After a moment of silence, Natasha's eyes grew a mischievous glint in them as she smirked down at Penelope, shaking her shoulder a bit, "So, how was I?" She asked with obvious smugness in her tone.

Penny scoffed but buried deeper into her hold. She mumbled something against her skin which caused goosebumps to form across the assassin's limbs but she wanted to milk this for as long as she could.

"I couldn't hear you." She said in a sing song voice.

Penny looked up at her and glared once which gave Natasha a clear view of the blush now dancing across her ears and cheeks.

She looked so adorable when she blushed.

After a second of their little stare off, with Penny glaring and Natasha smirking, Penelope huffed and laid her head back down, "As much as I loathe to admit it, no one has ever made me feel like...that, before...In my whole fifteen billion years in this universe, you have been the only one who has actually, as much as it pains me to say it, tired me out." Natasha didn't need to see her face to know Penny rolled her eyes but the assassin just preened at the complement.

"It's good to know I've got the most powerful being in the universe under my thumb. It's also nice to know you've never fully submitted to anyone but me before." She whispered right into the immortal's ear causing her to shiver.

"Okay okay okay, I didn't "submit" to anyone, and that includes you. I'm Penelope, Goddess of the Universe. I don't submit to people." She said but Natasha could hear the amusement in her voice, "And second, I'd literally burn down the entire world for you, you wouldn't even need to ask me."

"Like I said, under my thumb."

Penny scoffed and slightly shook her head but otherwise didn't make a comment about it.

After another few minutes of just soaking in the comfort from one another, basking in each other's presence, Penelope spoke up in the most scared tone of voice Natasha has ever heard from her.

"What does...what do you, want this to mean Tasha?" She asked not even above a whisper.

"What do you mean?" She replied softly.

"This...us." She asked in the same scared tone which made Natasha feel sad and a little touched.

Sad that Penny would think she'd ever reject someone as beautiful as her, and touched that the only time she has ever heard her sacred, was when she was in front of her, allowing the assassin past her many walls she kept when around others.

Natasha brought her hand down and grabbed the woman's chin, gently forcing her to look into her piercing emerald gaze, "I want to be with you." She said with utmost confidence, "You're the only person who makes me feel this happy Seph. The only one who's been there for me through everything in my life. I know you won't judge me on my past mistakes, and you know I'd do the same for you." She smiled gently at the immortal.

"And...my powers, my abilities... You don't, they don't, I don't know, scare you or weird you out? Cause I promise there is a whole bunch of shit about me behind the scenes that no one knows about and if you and I are really going to be, um doing this..." Natasha didn't allow her to continue rambling, silencing her with a finger to the lips.

"Your powers are beautiful and amazing, don't downgrade yourself like that. Also, nothing you could do would ever weird me out, I know Clint." She the last sentence flatly while staring at Penny, causing her to snort and start to giggle.

When Penny was done, she looked up at Natasha through her eyelashes, her expression was a tad bit shy but there was excitement growing behind her eyes, "So...?" She asked, hoping Natasha would do what she was hoping for.

Natasha smiled fondly down at her with a slight roll to her eyes, "So, Penelope, would you like to be my girlfriend?" She asked with her right hand going down to cup the woman's cheek.

Penny beamed up at her with a wide smile, "Yes Tasha, I'd love to." She leaned up to place a soft, gentle kiss on the other's lips. A kiss that Natasha returned all too eagerly.

Once they broke apart, Penny sighed happily as she laid her head down, allowing Natasha's hands to go back to work on untangling her mess of a hair, "We should probably get up. My baby is all alone out there." She said which caused Nat to snort.

"We've been in here for over twenty four hours Seph, you do know that right?" She asked, mirth dancing behind her eyes.

"And who's fault is that? I simply came home from a shopping trip and found you in my apartment. And if I remember correctly, you initiated the kiss first." Penny pointed out.

Nat raised an eyebrow, "Who sent that photo, hmm? I'd say you are the one who started it."

Penny huffed, "Semantics semantics my dear."

Natasha rolled her eyes but slowly started to sit up with Penelope still clinging onto her body and her head still resting on her chest.

"Wanna use the bathroom first or can I steal it?" She asked, placing kisses all along the top of her hair.

Penny hummed, "You can. Got to make sure Iris is still alive."

Natasha snorted before she untangled herself from Penny and slowly slid off the bed, grabbing her bra and underwear from the day before but Penny called out to her.

She turned around and saw that Penny was sitting up on the bed with a new pair of undergarments on and that red silk nightgown around her shoulders. Without a word, Penny waved her hand towards Natasha and suddenly, the pile of clothing in her arms changed to a new, clean pile. New bra, new underwear, a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt that looked suspiciously familiar.

She looked up at Penny with a grateful smile, "Thanks."

Penny winked, "Not a problem. I'm gonna see if Iris is doing any better and start on some food. Anything you want in particular?" She asked as she stood up and closed up the front of her nightgown.

Natasha shook her head, "Nope, just make sure it's edible." She joked.

Penny huffed, "Do you know me? Everything I make is edible."

Natasha smirked devilishly, "Oh trust me I know, I just spent the last twenty four hours eating..." Penny didn't even allow her to finish her sentence.

"Okay okay, stop please! Thank you!" She hurriedly cut her off with a blush quickly spreading across her cheeks.

It was now Natasha's turn to wink before she turned around and walked into the bathroom.

Penny shook her head and sighed before walking out into her living room and she saw Iris was simply laying down on her couch, sprawled out like she already owned the whole place.

Penny scoffed, "Glad to know you didn't miss me at all. I only gave you a home." She said flatly.

"Oh don't be so mean to the poor animal. It had to listen to your moans and groans and cry's of pleasure all of yesterday and into the early morning." Power teased her.

"Not now Power." She quietly hissed at him before turning toward the kitchen to make sure she had everything to make French toast.

On her way she saw that Iris's bowl has still half full so at least she didn't starve the animal while she was...distracted.

God she would have never forgiven herself.

She walked towards her cupboards and got out the ingredients and the tools she'd need to make the food before heading over to the counter to start the process.

She heard as Natasha turned on the shower from the other room so Penny knew she'd have time to get all this done and cooked before the spy even got out.

She busied herself with her task, trying not to let her mind wander too far away from her but she couldn't help it.

She has a girlfriend.

Natasha Romanoff is her girlfriend.

If someone had told Penny that back in 1995 when she had first visited the young assassin, she would have scoffed in your face and walked off like you were the crazy one.

Man, she remembers that day like it was yesterday...

March 21st, 1995

Cuban Transportation Dock

Natasha didn't move, she didn't blink, she just stared at the opposite wall from where she was sitting.

She was stuck in some old, dark shed, chained to a wall while the others got the other girls ready for transport.

One of those girls being her sister.

She didn't know how long she had been locked in the small musty building but she didn't have enough energy to care.

Because her mind was constantly turning over the fact that she'd have to return to the place she hated most on this planet.

The Red Room.

Her sister, gosh her baby sister was going to go through the same exact torture she had been subjugated to.

And she couldn't do a damn thing to stop it.

"You know, it's always hard sitting on the side, knowing something bad is going to happen...yet not able to step in and change it, no matter how much you want to." The sudden voice caught Natasha so off guard it took her a second for her eyes to register the figure walking out of the shadows.

"Who are you?" Natasha asked, glaring at the woman who stood in front of her.

The girl smiled softly at the child before she walked a little closer and kneeled down on the ground, "Who I am is no importance to you at the moment, you should be worried about yourself."

Natasha scoffed, "I'm not."

The woman's smile grew a little more sad, "I bet your sister is. Actually she's terrified for you."

Natasha's face crumbed just a bit before she shook her head from those thoughts, "She'll get used to it." The child said with so much acceptance and fear in her voice.

Acceptance at her situation, fear for her sister...

Penny silently sighed to herself. She looked at the future Black Widow, the future Natasha Romanoff she heard stories about from Tony and could barely see the resemblance to the one sitting in front of her, so broken already.

She wished she could change this, but the world needed her, the world needed The Black Widow.

Because the good she'd do in the future, outweighed the bad she'd do as a kid.

Penny smiled softly at the girl, "You'll get through it, you always do."

Natasha rolled her eyes, "Whatever, I don't even know you."

Penny shrugged, "That's alright, you don't need to know me. I'm just here to help you, nothing more, nothing less."

"Yeah, they all say that."

Penny smiled softly one more time before she stood up from her spot on the ground and walked back over to the corner. Before she was fully consumed by the shadows of the corner, she turned back around and smiled one last time, "Whenever you need me, I'll be there."

Without another word, Penny walked into the corner and teleported away, without the big crazy space portal which would have freaked out young Natasha for sure.

Meanwhile Natasha was still chained to the wall pondering if she had finally gone mad...

Present Day

Arms around her waist suddenly broke Penny out of her head. She smiled softly and leaned back into the touch while she watched the French toast and made sure it didn't burn.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Natasha softly asked, resting her head on her shoulder.

"The first time I ever saw you." She replied just as softly.

Natasha huffed, "I thought I had finally gone insane when I saw you one moment, and the next you just disappeared."

Penny snorted, "You were eleven. It was bound to freak anybody out."

"I feel like I kept it together pretty well." Natasha said, placing a soft, gentle kiss on her neck.

Penny hummed as she absently flipped the French toast, making sure she didn't mess it up as she relaxed back into the assassin's hold.

"I absolutely love the smell of my shampoo on you." Penny whispered as she inhaled the scent of vanilla coming from Natasha's damp red locks which were up in a messy bun.

"You would, wouldn't you?" She teased.

"Okay, go and behave. If you want to eat anytime soon, I've gotta finish this without burning down my apartment." Penny said while pulling apart from Natasha and focusing on the food.

Natasha just smiled and shook her head before pulling herself up and onto the counter next to her new girlfriend. All the commotion must have caught Iris's attention because she suddenly popped her head up from her spot on the couch and hopped down to trot over to her new owner.

Penny looked down for a second with a smile before she rolled her eyes and turned back to the stove, "I see how it is, you get up once you smell the food. You have a perfectly full bowl right over their baby."

"Technically it's only half full." Natasha pointed out.

Penny turned and pointed the spatula at her, "Who's side are you on here?" She accused.

Natasha smirked, "Depends on my mood." She said as Iris walked up to her legs which were dangling off the counter and brushed across them, rubbing her head along her calves.

Penny scoffed, "Unbelievable. My daughter already likes my girlfriend more than me."

"I'm just that likable. We all know who the favorite parent around here will be." She sassed back with an amused look behind her eyes.

Penny hummed as she placed the French toast on a plate, "Now that I think about it, we're doing this whole thing totally backwards." Penny remarked as she grabbed the bottle of syrup and set the plate down next to Natasha.

"What do you mean?" She asked as she grabbed a fork and started to cut up a piece of her toast.

"I feel like you're supposed to date someone first, which then would lead to sex, and then down the line that would lead to a kid. We on the other hand, got a kid, had sex and then started dating. Kinda backwards if you ask me." Penny smiled in amusement which made Natasha snort at her description.

"You're not wrong, but would you change a thing about it?" Natasha asked, already knowing the answer.

Penny smiled at her and leaned over to place a kiss on the assassin's cheek, "No, No I wouldn't."

Birthday of The Goddess

Chapter Summary

It's a certain Goddess's Birthday

Chapter Notes

Hello everyone, here's the next chapter to this story, I hope you enjoy!

If you're waiting for my Watching Spider-Man No away Home story, I'm currently working on the next chapter so hopefully it will be out by the end of the week.

"Clint, I need your help." Natasha said as she barged into his room at the Shield facility they were staying at. It's been three weeks since Penelope and the assassin had gotten together and so far it's been the best three weeks of Natasha's life.

She hasn't told anyone yet, not Clint, his family and especially not Fury.

She did not want to deal with that can of worms yet.

But that lead her to her current problem, Penelope's birthday was next week and she was starting to get a little frantic, not worried, she was never worried but she wanted it to be perfect for her girlfriend.

It had to be perfect.

She remembers all the times while she was in the Red Room, all those years completely alone with no one to talk to.

Except for Seph.

After that first meeting in Cuba, she never left her side, always making sure to pop in whenever the assassin needed her and she never failed her.

Especially the day of her birthday.

The only other person she had ever told her birthday to was Clint, but the first person to know the birthday of one Natasha Romanoff was Penelope.

December 3rd, 1984...

It's one of the only things she remembers about her past, the day she was born. She doesn't know why, but it has always stood out to her when she tried to think about her past, her parents or anything.

She could always remember her birthday, and Penelope always did to.

So when she had gotten out, she had asked the woman what hers was and she had told her beginning of August, the tenth.

She repeated that date until it was engraved into her brain and she made sure she never forget it...

Which is why she wanted to surprise her with a party with some of the only people who know her as a person.

"What Nat? Can't you seem I'm extremely busy at the moment." Clint sighed in resignation from his spot on the bed cleaning his bow which made her roll her eyes.

"This is serious, it's about Seph." She said, impatiently tapping her foot on the ground with her hands on her hips.

Her word though made the man perk right up, "Oh, she's back!? Cool, cool...what's the problem?" He asked.

"I wanna throw her a surprise party, the tenth of August is her birthday and I was wondering if you and the family would like to join in. We could do it at your farm so they wouldn't have to come over here." She offered which made a wide grin stretch across his face.

"Yeah that sounds awesome! I know my kids and Laura have missed her a lot, especially Lila." Clint said, getting off the bed and placing his bow down before walking up to her.

"Good, it's on a Saturday so we could stay for the whole weekend before we'd all have to leave again and come back to LA." Natasha said, letting a small smile spread across her face that her plan was coming together.

"Woah woah woah, what's that smile for? I've never seen you look that happy for something so trivial." Clint questioned with a raised eyebrow. Natasha internally cursed herself for letting her emotions show but realized that this was her friend, her best friend only second to Penelope.

He could be trusted.

"Seph came back a few weeks ago and...I've been staying with her since then." Natasha admitted.

Clint smirked at her, "Ohhh, I understand."

She glared back, "She uh, sent a certain...photo of her and I couldn't take it anymore so, I went over there and...we had a little chat."

"And by chat, you mean the two of you spent the rest of the day fucking each other." Clint stated with mischievousness dancing behind his gaze.

"Maybe a little more than that." She muttered under her breath but Clint didn't seem to hear her.

"I mean honestly, It took the two of you long enough." Clint shook his head, "I've been waiting for this moment for years."

Natasha scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, "My life isn't for your personal enjoyment Clint."

"It is now. I finally get to tease you with something and you won't be able to do a thing about it."

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh really, what makes you think that?" Natasha said sarcastically.

Clint smirked, "Simple, if I tease you when Steph is around, then she'll calm you down and make sure you don't try and kill me."

"First of all I wouldn't be too sure of that, she can be pretty vindictive when she wants to be," she smirked, "Two, Steph? What's with the name?"

"Well I thought that Seph is your name for her and thought the both of you probably wouldn't appreciate it if I stole said name, so I made my own." He shrugged.

Natasha smiled, "Maybe after this, she'll tell you her real name."

Clint gasped and placed a hand on his chest, "Are you telling me she told you, her real name before me? I'm hurt."

"I'm her girlfriend and her best friend, of course she told me her real name." She deadpanned and raised an eyebrow at her partner.

"Still, it's unbelievable."

"Hmm, not really."

"Rude. The disrespect I get on this rock is criminal, criminal I tell you!"

"You'll get over it." She said before she turned around and walked out of his room, but not before Clint spoke up.

"In all seriousness Nat, I'm happy for you. I hope you and her go all the way someday, I can see how much she means to you." He said with a soft smile which made her smile in return, "I'll go home tomorrow and make plans for next week, tell Laura and the kids to expect visitors. Don't worry about anything else alright? I'll take care of it." He finished with a nod.

Natasha smiled at him again and nodded her head, grateful she had such a great friend, a great brother that she could rely on.

"Vanilla Strawberry Sponge cake. She will literally love you forever if you get her a cake like that." Natasha said, thinking back to two weeks ago when they had walked around Los Angeles and saw a five tier sponge cake that was, according to her girlfriend, made with vanilla and strawberries.

Her eyes had lit up, her eyes shinning and the assassin had sworn that she had seen her eyes glow a soft blue for a split second before they went back to normal.

She had never seen that look on her face in all the years that she had known her, so she had stored the information in the back of her mind for a later date.

That date, being right now.

"Consider it done." Clint said. She offered him one last smile before she walked out the door and closed it behind her.

This birthday, would be the best birthday Penelope had ever had, Natasha would make sure of that.

Penny was leaning against her balcony railing at five in the morning, staring at the first signs of light starting to peek over the horizon line.

Over the past billions of years, she had stopped keeping track of her birthday mainly after the first two years, seeing no point in caring about the date if she was destined to live forever anyways.

In the grand scheme of things, one day out of the whole year, is nothing to celebrate when you literally never die.

Standing on the balcony though, staring off into the quickly brightening sky, she couldn't help but think about today.

The day she was born over fifteen billion years ago...

Memories started to surface in her mind, memories of her previous life that she was pretty sure Time had helped bring back to the surface.

After fifteen billion years, you tend to forget certain things...

Memories of her aunt giving her this beautiful pair of earrings on her thirteenth, uncle Ben giving her the new pair of shoes she had been eyeing for months, the last birthday she had ever spent with the man.

Memories of Mary Jane, giving her a new backpack that was embroidered with both of their initials, Ned buying a new Star Wars Lego set for her, Michelle getting her the next book in the series she was reading, Harry buying her some more fabrics to sew with, Gwen gifting her a chemistry set that she had barley used, which made making webs a whole lot easier.

Memories of calm Saturday nights, cuddled up on the couch in the Avengers tower with both Pepper and Tony, watching one of her favorite movies after a long day of work. Whispered words of I love you's, and happy birthday's.

Ever since Thanos, she hasn't had a memorable birthday and the more she thought about it, the more she got upset.

Now don't get her wrong, being able to talk to the stones was her one saving grace these past few billion years, but they could only do so much.

But she appreciated their efforts nonetheless.

"Come on kid, let's head inside and get ready for the day yeah?" Power said in a gentle voice, so unlike him that if she hadn't had so many years to get to know him, she would've though something was wrong.

But Penny's eyes narrowed at his words, "What do you mean get ready? We don't have anything planned." She said.

"Correction, you don't have anything planned." Mind said patiently. Penny was about to speak when she shut her mouth and shook her head with a slight smile and a roll of her eyes, walking into her room, trusting they knew what they were doing.

"What should I wear?" Penny asked, knowing that they'd have to be the judge today, since she had no idea what they had planned.

"Nothing fancy, jeans and a normal blouse should be fine." Soul remarked.

Penny looked through her clothes and decided to pick a pair of light blue jeans that had a single rip right above the knee, her brown leather belt and a button up, pastel yellow puff sleeve blouse along with her white converse that had a simple red line outlining the bottom.

When she was done, she stood in front of her mirror while she put on a necklace she had gotten as a gift back in Athens in Ancient Greece, "So what exactly are we doing today?" She asked, still slightly confused. Usually the stones just said happy birthday to her and made stupid jokes all day long, they had never done anything remotely close to this.

It was kinda weird.

"Oh we have nothing planned for you, we just wanted you ready for when your girlfriend comes through your front door in about two minutes." Time said with a smirk in her tone.

Penny scoffed, "You couldn't have just told me that?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Space asked. By the tone they were using though, she could tell there was more to the story then that, but she didn't want to look forward to see what it was, trusting that if it was anything dangerous they would warn her ahead of time.

She trusted their judgement, so she would go along with whatever they had planned.

For now at least.

"It's not our plan Pen, but we do approve of it." Soul said which confused her.

If it wasn't their plan to do...whatever this was, then who's was it?

She got her answer when less than a second later, she heard her front door open and shut just as quietly. She also heard as Iris hopped off the couch and started to trot her way over to the visitor, her nails scratching against the wooden floor.

In the past few weeks, Iris has slowly gotten her weight back and she looks a lot more healthy then she did when Penny had first found her.

She's also one energetic dog, that's for sure.

As she walked out of the room, she came face to face with Natasha kneeling on the ground and scratching Iris behind her ears. She raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend with a small smirk, "And what are you doing here this early, hmm?" She asked, announcing her presence.

"Great, you're already up. That's half my job already done." She smiled up at Penny before getting up and walking over to her girlfriend.

Once the spy got over to her, she wrapped her arms around the shorter woman's waste and brought her in close, gently placing her lips on Penelope's, kissing her softly.

Penelope quietly groaned and wrapped her arms around the spy's neck as she kissed her girlfriend back, lightly playing with the woman's strands of red hair at the back of her head, scraping her nails gently up her scalp.

After a few seconds, they pulled apart and Natasha leaned her forehead on Penelope.

"What was that for?" The Goddess whispered, into the spy's ear.

"Just me trying to give you a nice start to your birthday." Natasha replied gently which caused Penny to slightly tense in shock.

She had forgotten that she had told Natasha her date of birth all those years ago. Usually, she are sure to stay off planet when the date arrived since it had brought back too many memories of her past, but she stayed this year for Natasha, because she didn't really want to leave her girlfriend.

She didn't expect the spy to do anything special for her, that was for sure.

"You don't have to do that, you know right? I mean, I'm perfectly fine with staying here all day and just lying in bed with you." Penny replied gently, looking up into the emerald eyes of Natasha.

She shrugged he shoulders though, "I wanted to, plus it's your first birthday with us as a couple, I wanted it to be special."

"I hope you know if it's something big and extravagant, I'm gonna do the same on your birthday, fair warning." Penny smirked which made the other woman smirk back.

"Ohh I know, I'm not stupid enough to invoke the wraith of the Goddess of the universe Seph."'

Penny rolled her eyes with a smile, "So what're we doing?" She asked.

"We, are going on a field trip."

Penny's eyes furrowed, "To where?"

Natasha's smirk only widened, "Missouri."

Penny, Natasha and Iris all appeared right outside the gate of the farm house that belonged to Clint and his family.

Penelope barley batted an eyelash when they appeared but Natasha wasn't used to anything like that, the blue vortex that transported them half way across the country made her head spin and even after it disappeared and she was suddenly outside of Clint's house, standing on her own two feet again, her head hurt like hell.

"How the hell do you stomach that?" Natasha muttered with her hand on her head as she tried to will the earth to stop spinning.

Penny shrugged with a teasing smile on her face, "You get used to it after a couple years. It seems though, Iris isn't affected at all, aren't you girl?" She said, looking down at her dog who looked like teleporting was just a normal experience.

"That dog is not normal." Space muttered to her in her head, though Penny decided to ignore the stones for the time being.

She didn't know how Natasha would take it if she told her that she had six other voices in her head.

Natasha rolled her eyes, "Whatever, we all still know who the favorite parent is."

Penny gasped, "How dare you say something like that on my birthday. How will I ever go on?"

"You'll find a way." Natasha deadpanned while trying to fight the smile threatening to make its way across her face.

Penny smiled as she bent down to unleash Iris from her leash and allowed the dog to run free and stretch her legs. She offered her arm up to Natasha which the spy gladly grabbed ahold of her hand and interlocked their fingers as they made their way towards the house.

It was around seven in the morning here, since Missouri was two hours ahead of California so the Barton's should be up already and if Clint kept his part of the deal, then everything should be ready for them.

As they got closer to the house, Penny could hear both four year old Lila and six year old Cooper inside the house, running around and playing which made her smile.

She hasn't seen the Barton's in awhile and that was partly her fault, but she was happy that she'd be spending her birthday with them.

With her family.

Natasha, Penny and Iris walked up the front steps to the house and as soon as Penny got to the door, she could hear how the house suddenly grew quiet, which was definitely weird for a house with a six and four year old.

She turned to look at Natasha and saw that she was already smiling at her. The spy gestured to the door so Penny extended

her right hand towards the doorknob and grasped the cool metal and turned it.

As soon as she opened the door, her senses buzzed and not even a second later, her eyes widened when she saw what was in

front of her.

"Happy Birthday!" The Barton's exclaimed standing in their front hallway with wide smiles.

Penny looked around in shock. There were balloons floating from the ceiling, confetti around the ground and right above the doorway to the living room, there was a giant banner that had "Happy Birthday Steph!" Written across in all sorts of colors, most likely due to the kids helping make the object.

The Barton's themselves were all wearing party hats with those party blowers in their mouths, the kids having a blast blowing air through them but after a minute, Lila couldn't hold herself back any more.

The little girl ran and almost toppled the older woman over, breaking her out of her head and smiling down at the little girl with adoration shinning in her eyes.

"Hey little one, I missed you." She said while bending over to pick the little girl up and peppering her face with kisses causing Lila to laugh and giggle.

"Auntie! Stop it!" Lila giggled as Penny rubbed her head against hers, causing her parents and Natasha to smile at the cute scene.

"Stop what? Didn't you hear, it's my birthday so I, can do whatever I want. That means, if I want to tickle you till you pee your pants I can!" She exclaimed with a smirk as she started to poke and tickle Lila's sides.

As Lila started to laugh with renewed vigor, Cooper ran over and clung onto Penny's legs, causing her to look down at the young boy.

"I'll save you Sis!" He said which made Penny smirk.

"Oh really, big hero huh? Not for long!" She then bent down and grabbed Cooper by his leg and threw him over her shoulders as she made her way over to the couch and laid both kids down.

"You think you can get the better of me? I don't think so!" She said, tickling both kids as they continued to laugh and chuckle as the others watched from the doorway.

Clint and Laura were looking at the scene with fondness in their eyes, glad that their kids were so happy with their Aunt coming back, on her birthday no less.

Natasha though, her eyes softened as she watched her girlfriend interact with her niece and nephew. She looked to be a natural with them, knowing exactly what they needed while making them happy.

It made so many different feelings swirl deep in the pit of her stomach she had a hard time deciphering all of them.

Clint leaned over, "Look at her go, she's a natural, isn't she?" Clint stated knowingly with a smirk across his face as he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

She almost, almost blushed, "Shut it."

Clint raised his hands in the air, "I'm just saying, you aren't gonna live forever Nat. Life's too short."

"We have a kid already Birdbrain." She said as she rested her hand on top of Iris's head, the dog deciding to sit next to her until the kids undoubtedly gave her the attention she wanted.

"Not the same."

"Plus we've only been together a few weeks, it's way to early to be thinking about a real kid." Nat rolled her eyes.

"Yeah but sooner or later it'll come along. You know the saying, first comes love, then comes marriage then comes baby in a baby carriage." Clint smirked which caused Natasha to glare at him.

"Stop it Clinton." Laura said as she smacked the back of his head which made him whine and rub his head.

"Yeah, stop it Clinton." She smirked at her partner which made him glare but a sudden question from his daughter made them all stop and look at the three individuals on the couch.

"How old're you gonna be? I'm four, but you're older than me." Lila asked with a tilted head. The adult stopped to listen, curious themselves with exactly how old the goddess was.

Penny smiled softly down at the little girl with a teasing glint in her eyes, "Can you both keep a secret? You can't tell anyone." She asked which caused both the children to nod their heads.

She smiled gently down at them while softly playing with Lila's hair, "I am currently, fifteen billion and seventeen years old." She mock whispered to them, knowing the others would be able to hear her.

"Woah! You're old." Cooper exclaimed which made Laura huff.

"Cooper, we don't talk about women's ages okay? You can't say that." Laura said, exasperated.

"But, she is!" He pouted.

"It's okay Laura, I don't mind." She smiled at the kids, pressing a kiss to both of their foreheads before letting them down to play with Iris while she walked over to the adults.

"That's a lot of years Steph, how'd you survive that long?" Clint asked with a raised eyebrow.

Penny smiled mysteriously, "I've had some help over the course of history."

"Isn't our galaxy like, thirteen billion years old though? How are you older than the universe itself." Laura asked with her

eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"Not to mention the earth is like, only four and a half billion years old." Clint pointed out.

Penny shrugged, "There are other places to go beyond our universe. I spent close to two billion years exploring and Uh, training with my powers, making sure I knew everything about them and you know...other cool stuff that you probably all wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Ooh really, like what?" Clint asked, his eyes glinting in excitement which made Nat and Laura roll their eyes at his behavior.

Penny smiled, "Well there are like, other Dimensions. Usually it takes spells to open the doorways but since I am who I am, I can just transport myself to them whenever I want."

"Wait, hold the phone, are you telling me that magic is real? Like, real spell magic?" Clint asked with wide eyes causing Penny to smirk.

"Oh yeah, except the sorcerer's call it the mystic arts."

"Sorcerers!? Are you telling me we have Wizards?!"

"No, I said Sorcerer, they hate it when you call them wizards." Penny said.

"Are they like the Harry Potter wizards? Like the whole Wingardium Leviosa shebang." Clint asked completely ignoring her previous comment which made her roll her eyes.

"You do know that I can literally make anything in this room float without saying some fancy words right?" She raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the archer.

"Bullshit, do it, right now." He said crossing his arms while narrowing his eyes at her.

She snapped her fingers and one of the kid's toys that was laying on the coffee table suddenly levitated off of the wooden piece of furniture and floated right over to her and landed in her hand.

She looked back at Clint, "That enough proof for you Robin Hood?" Penny asked which caused both Laura and Natasha to laugh at Clint's offended look.

"Excuse me, I'm way better than Robin Hood, thank you very much."

"He was literally a man who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. I actually helped him a few times, not a bad man, had a wicked sense of humor too." Penny hummed.

"Wait a minute, you're telling me, that the legend of Robin Hood, he's real?"

"Well not the legend no, that's way over exaggerated, but the man was real and he did steal from the rich and gave to the poor.

He never got a happy ending though sadly, he gave his life up to save someone."

"How do you know?"

"Because I was there, it was truly a tragic day for all those poor people. As soon as he died, they all lost hope and things went back to the way they always were, fucking Monarchs." She shook her head, ignoring the shocked looked on Clint's face with a bomb that big being dropped on him.

Laura giggled and grabbed her husband's arm, "I think you broke him."

Penny smirked and shrugged, "Hey, he asked, I answered."

Natasha smiled fondly at her girlfriend before walking up and wrapping her arms around Penny's waist, "Come on, we've got a full weekend planned out just for you."

Penny looked up and smiled at Natasha, "You didn't have to do all this for me." She said softly.

"Of course I did. You've helped me so much in my life it's the least I could do Seph." She pressed her lips softly against her forehead which caused the goddess to shut her eyes in contentment.

Laura and Clint both smiled at the scene, glad that Natasha had found someone she trusted enough to open up to. One of the only times they had seen her happy was when she was with Lilia and Cooper, or when she was talking about her best friend.

Now, her lover.

"Penelope." The goddess suddenly said which threw the Barton's for a loop while Natasha smiled knowingly.

"Pardon?" Laura asked.

"I just thought...you're doing all this for me too so the least I can do is tell you my real name." Penelope smiled at them which made them smile back.

"Well, Penelope, let me officially welcome you to the Barton household. You and Nat are our honorary members here, you're always welcomed in this house." Clint said with a wide smile.

"Thanks, that means a lot." She said quietly, but she was beaming up at them, her eyes shinning with how thankful she was to these people in her life.

"Now, how about we go and make breakfast yeah? I'm starving!" Clint clapped his hands and started to move towards the kitchen.

Nat rolled her eyes, "You're always hungry."

Natasha and Penny didn't get back to her apartment in California till late Sunday night, teleporting in with Iris right by their sides with a handful of goodies.

Clint had allowed Penny to take the rest of the cake back with her, after keeping a quarter of it for them. She had literally almost tackled the man when he had brought it out after dinner.

While Penny had the cake in her hands, Natasha was carrying a bag filled to the brim with stuff that was there's. Presents from the Barton's, even though she had told them she didn't need anything, or just random items the kids had made for their two favorite aunts.

While Penny went to the kitchen to put the cake away and make sure it wouldn't go bad, Natasha walked into Penny's room to drop off the bag with Iris quickly following behind her.

As she walked in, the husky walked towards her corner where her bed was and laid down, settling down for the night trying to get some rest after a full weekend of running around with two energetic kids and an equally energetic mother.

Not even a minute later, Penny walked in and wrapped her arms around the spy's waist and placed a gently kiss on her neck, causing Nat to lean back into her hold.

"You didn't have to do this for me, you know that right?" She murmured quietly.

"I know, but I wanted to." She answered back, wrapping her right hand around Penny's which was resting on her stomach.

Penny huffed and shook her head, "And to think people call you the most dangerous woman on earth. You're nothing but a big softy on the inside."

"Only for you Seph." Natasha whispered as she finally turned around and slowly kissed her girlfriend on the lips.

When they pulled apart, Natasha grinned at her, "I don't think I'll ever get over that feeling."

Penny smirked, "What feeling? You kissing the most powerful woman in the universe? That feeling?"

Natasha smirked back, "You know it."

Penny softly chuckled before she moved out of her girlfriend's hold and walked over to her dresser to find some night clothes.

"Are you staying over?" Penny asked Nat while looking through her drawer for a new set of undergarments.

"If you don't mind."

Penny smiled back at her, "I don't."

Twenty minutes later, Penny was in a silk night gown which was slightly see through, much to Natasha's enjoyment while the spy was wearing her underwear and a slightly too big sweatshirt that came from Penny's closet.

The two of them were getting comfortable in bed, with Natasha laying on her back and Penny nuzzled right up onto her shoulder when the goddess spoke, "Best birthday ever." She muttered while nuzzling her neck.

Natasha smiled in triumph, "Yeah? I'm glad. I wanted it to be special for you."

Penny hummed, "You did, you definitely did...Scored some brownie points for yourself too."

Natasha smirked, "Good to know what gets me extra pints with you." Natasha leaned down to press a kiss on her head which made Penny sigh in contentment.

Natasha then, after five minutes, turned both of them around so she was spooning the slightly shorter girl.

Penny smiled, "You're lucky I like you so much. If literally anyone else tried what you're doing right now, they'd be on the floor crying for their mommy right about now."

"Well then I'm glad you like me enough so I can be the big spoon." The spy purred into Penny's ear which made the goddess slightly shudder at the pleasant feeling traveling down her spine.

In retaliation though, she rubbed back against the assassin's nether regions and Natasha could for sure feel every perfect curve of her body as it rubbed against her through the silk night gown, making desire pool in the pit of her stomach but she quickly snapped out of it, they were both exhausted and now was not the time for stuff like that.

"Goodnight Seph, see you in the morning." She whispered before she settled in for the night.

"Night Tasha." Penny murmured, knowing that their playful teasing would get them no where tonight due to exhaustion.

She snuggled deeper into the spy's hold before the both of them drifted off into the land of dreams for the night.

The Perfect Twenty Fourth

Chapter Summary

It's Natasha's birthday and Penny finds her the perfect gift of all, the truth.

Chapter Notes

Hello everyone, I'm going to be switching my attention to this story and my Biological mother story for the next few months so if that's what you're here for then I hope you're excited.

Here's the next chapter of this story though, I'm already working on the next part for both of these stories, enjoy!

December third...

Such a simple date that any normal person probably wouldn't think much of it.

But to Penelope, that date was probably the most special day of her whole year.

It was the date of her best friend's, now girlfriend's birthday.

And she intended it to be the most special birthday the spy had ever had.

Penny walked along the busy sidewalk along hundreds of people in New York City, her old home. It was the day before Natasha's birthday, the second and her girlfriend was in some Shield briefing until later in the evening so she had portaled to New York to grab one last thing for her.

She had already made a matching pair of earrings to go along the the necklace she'd give her but she wanted to get her one small thing she knew the woman would just adore.

But she needed a cover first.

The necklace wasn't all that special, it was only a small pendant of a spider logo that matched her new suit colored with all the colors of the rainbow or as Power liked to point out, their colors.

Now her suit wasn't going to be used for a few years at least, but she wanted to be ready and all that jazz so she made herself a comfy silk spider suit that was in her original red and blue colors with a modified spider in the middle of her chest, different from the design Tony had made he all those years ago.

She even put some space magic shit interwoven into the suit that made it ten times more stronger than any other costume she had ever had.

Infused, of course, with the power of the celestial she had killed during the summer.

Back on track, the earrings were matching to the necklace but they gleamed with more red than the necklace. She made them

that way though because of Tasha's hair, her beautiful, silky strands of red that she could just get lost in if...

Right, get it together Penny, focus...

Anyway, she needed to get to the store she was looking for because she had ordered a customized scrap book and she needed to fill it out before Natasha got out of that meeting.

But she had time to spare, since it was currently only four o'clock in New York, and one o'clock back in California.

She had hours before she was released.

Penny raised her hands which were in her mittens and tried to warm them up by blowing in them while she walked across the road. No matter how much she missed her home, she'd never miss how much it snowed in New York.

In California you're lucky if there's a day below fifty degrees out, but over here it literally snows for half the year.

That's one thing about the state she doesn't miss.

The stones have told her thousands of times that she could literally warm herself up with their power, but she doesn't want to do that, saying that it's such a simple task and she doesn't want to use them for something so trivial when all she needs to do is wear extra clothes.

The stones have told her countless times that she's being unreasonable, and they gave her permission to use their power for whatever when they sent her into another universe, but still she refuses.

Much to the annoyance of some of them.

After another ten minutes of walking around the snowy streets of the city, she finally came across the story she was looking for and she walked in and instantly sighed in relief when the warmth hit her skin and started to warm her chilled body.

"Ah, sweet relief." She muttered under her breath, taking off her beanie and shaking off some of the snow flurries that stuck to the article.

"I hate you." Power deadpanned which made Penny softly snort in amusement.

"What? I'm only trying to be considerate." She said innocently, but the stones weren't convinced due to the small smirk threatening to break across her face.

They knew how truly devious their charge could be and trust them, they've been on the receiving end of that for billions of years.

They think she does it on purpose sometimes.

Power knows, she does it on purpose sometimes, just to get under his metaphorical skin.

It never fails to get a rise out of the cosmic stone.

Power grumbled and pulled his connection back from her mind, going to "sleep" while Penny was in her "mood" which made all the stones make sounds of amusement at their brother while Penny finally let the smirk slide across her face.

Penny stuffed her hat into her coat pocket before lightly stomping her boots on the rug before she made her way over to the register to grab her order.

She rang the bell to let the people know in back she was up at the counter and not a second later, a young woman popped out from the back door and smiled politely at her.

"Hello ma'am, what can I do for you." She said with a wide smile. Penny smiled comfortably back before speaking.

"Hi I'm here to pick up a order I have for a custom scrapbook. The name should be under Stephanie. It's sort of my gift for someone special." She said while pulling out her little handheld purse and taking out the money she knew she needed.

"Alright, just give me one second to look through them and I'll get right back to you." She said as she moved over to the side where the orders were stored. A second later the woman had found the right one and came back with her scrapbook all wrapped in plastic covering.

"Alright, that'll be $47.89. Cash or credit?" She asked.

"Cash." Penny smiled as she gave the woman two twenty's and a ten and told her to keep the change.

"You're all set Stephanie. I'm sure whoever you give that to will love it. I caught a glimpse of it when I was packaging it, such a lovely book." The young woman gushed which made Penny smile.

"Thank you, I hope she likes it too."

"Oh she will, trust me." With their words said, Penny grabbed her hat from her pocket and placed it on her head before picking up the bag and walking back out the door.

Once she was out, she got a face full of cold air which made her brown curls sway in the wind as it hit her body. She closed her eyes briefly before she started to walk down the sidewalk to find an alleyway so she could teleport out of the city.

She was almost about to go into an alleyway to teleport back to her apartment when her hearing caught wind of a startled sound originating from said alleyway.

She quietly snuck in and ducked under a dumpster and observed what was going on. There was a little boy that was on the ground in the fetal position while two men from above were kicking him down on the ground which from the looks of the strength of the two men, it would probably bruise or even break some of the bones if they continued.

Not on her watch though...

As swift as a cheetah, she jumped from behind the dumpster and chucked a stray rock she found on the ground, hitting one of the men on the back of his head.

"How about you pick on someone your own size assholes!" She exclaimed while glaring at the big bullies.

They all turned around and the men looked her up and down but their gazes lingered too long over her figure which made her shiver is disgust.

Perverts...

The boy though, he looked up at her with fear and gratitude in his gaze but she could also read that he was frightened about what would happen to her.

A sudden snort brought her attention back to the men, "You? Hate to break it to you hottie, but you're not all that much. How about you shut your mouth and wait your turn, I'm sure my friend and I could give you a good time after this." The guy said suggestively which made her internally gag at the mere innuendo of what he wanted her to do.

She wouldn't even stoop that low for quick fuck, let alone let this man, who was a criminal, willingly fuck her with his creepy friend.

God, men...

"I have a better idea, you get the fuck away from the kid and I call the cops on you for being a dick." She smiled at them but anyone could hear the hidden warning in the words, promising pain if they didn't do what she wanted them to.

Apparently these two were denser than the usual criminals though.

"Yeah that's not gonna work with us, either you shut you trap or we'll do it for you, but you may not like the way we do that." The men smirked which made her roll her eyes.

Playtime was over.

"Okay, have it your way. Just don't say I didn't warn you." She shrugged her shoulders and before either of them could react, she shot out a web from her wrist band.

Years ago she had made this device and made it look like a normal bracelet but it was really a fancy web shooter made to look like a bracelet thanks to the power of reality. All she had to do was flex her wrist and the band would shoot out webs.

Also thanks to the power of reality, she now had infinite webs whenever she needed them, not that she used them a lot, but it was still nice.

Especially if she was in a nostalgic sort of mood...

As soon as the web hit her first target she pulled him towards her and kicked him in the head as soon as he got close enough.

Her kick having so much force that it made the man fly back into the wall and make a visible imprint of where is body landed.

He was out cold.

The second man tried to escape but she didn't let that happen, she webbed his feet and yanked the web and pulled his legs out from under him, making him face plant on the ground and most likely break his nose.

As she walked closer to him, she could hear his groans of pain but she didn't care at the moment, this asshole was talking about beating this kid to a pulp and raping her like it was a normal Saturday.

She hates two things the most about this city, rapists and people who take advantage of people who can't protect themselves.

She guessed rapists were also a part of that group, but you get the gist.

As she got up to the man, she pulled his hair up and whispered into his ear, "You're lucky my girlfriend wasn't here. She would've been far less forgiving." And with her final words said, she slammed his face into the pavement, knocking him out.

She then switched her attention to the kid and she hesitantly walked up to the beaten down kid and made sure all traces of anger was concealed off her face for the poor boy.

She kneeled down next to him and he looked up into her honey brown eyes. She could feel the wet snow leaking into her black jeans but she didn't care right now, this boy needed her and she'd help him before she left.

It was the least she could do.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked with a small friendly smile on her face, trying to keep the boy at ease.

The boy hesitantly nodded, "Y-yeah, I-I'm okay." He sniffed and wiped the tears that were leaking out of his eyes, "A-are you okay?" He asked with innocent eyes which made her soften just a bit.

She loved kids.

"I'm good, I'm more worried about you at the moment sweetheart." She said, gently resting her hand on the kids shoulder, who had now sat up and was leaning against the wall.

"I'll be okay." The kid said which made Penny frown in concentration for a few seconds before an idea popped into her head.

"Can I touch your ribs?" She asked. Once she received a nod from the boy, she placed both her hands on either side of him and let her powers flow into her hands and through his body, healing his ribs.

The boy instantly felt the effects of the healing because he gasped when the pain just disappeared. He looked up at her with clear wonder in his gaze which made her smile down at him.

"There, all better." She said, ruffling the kid's hair as she got back up and onto her own two feet.

"How did you do that?" He asked with stars in his eyes.

Penny snorted, "Can you keep a secret?" She whispered to him.

The boy nodded his head enthusiastically so she continued, "I'm magic, and I've been magic for a very very very long time."

The boy, If it was possible, widened his eyes even more, "Really?!"

Penny smirked, "Really. But it's a secret so you can't tell anyone." She said.

The boy nodded his head, "I promise, I won't tell anyone...what's your name though?"

Penny huffed with a smile, "How about you call me Spider-Woman and you tell me your name, yeah?"

"M-miles, Miles Morales."

"Well hello Miles, where are your parents? Can I call someone for you? What happened?" She asked, trying to figure out why this eight year old was by himself in the middle of the city.

"I-I got separated from my parents and I tried to a-ask for help when those two men found me." He admitted.

"Do you know their number? I can call them for you." She asked getting a nod from the kid. She took her phone out of her back pocket and dialed the number he told her and waited for the person on the other end to pick up.

"Hello? Who is this?" The man on the other end of the line said. Just by four words, she could tell he was frantic which was no doubt from his missing son.

"Hi my name is Stephanie and I have your son here. He said he lost track of you and couldn't find you again." She said, informing the worried father that his son was okay.

"Oh thank god, where are you!?" He exclaimed through the phone which made her slightly wince at the volume of the voice.

"There's an alleyway right next to an analysis building on 43rd Avenue. We'll be right outside waiting for you there." She informed

"Alright, my wife and I will be right there. No more than ten minutes. You'll stay with him right?" He asked.

"Of course sir, I'm not going anywhere."

"Thank you so much." With that said the phone went dead and Penny was alone with Miles again.

"Alright, your parents are on their way here as we speak, we should probably go out to the entrance and wait for them there."

She offered and extended her hand down to Miles, letting him grab ahold of her petite fingers as she hauled him up on his feat.

"When they get here you probably shouldn't mention anything about what happened, it'll raise too many questions okay?" She said as she pulled the kid along towards the entrance.

"But, why?! You saved my life, y-you're a hero!"

She was about to say something when he cut her off with an excited gasp, "Are you a super hero!? L-like Captain America and Iron-Man?!" He asked which made her smile in amusement.

"What if I told you I knew both of them? Would that keep you satisfied?"

She looked back and saw that he was staring at her like she hung the stars and moons in the sky.

She snorted before shaking her head, "Come on kid, let's go wait for your parents."

"B-but how do you know captain America!? He's d-dead!"

Penny smirked, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Miles groaned which made her smile to herself, glad that she got the boy to relax with her after something so traumatic like this.

Once they got out there, they waited for about seven minutes and the whole time Miles tried to gently interrogate her about everything she knew but she gave him vague answers and amused looks, not bothering to answer about any superhero questions.

He didn't need to be mixed in with all that bullshit.

At the end of the seventh minute, she could see with her enhanced senses how two people were quickly making their way down the sidewalk, looking around wildly to try and find them.

She raised her hand and waved to let them know where she was and sure enough, the man spotted her and he basically dragged his wife along with him he was going so fast.

As soon as Miles saw his parents, he sprinted away from her side and launched himself at his parents, instantly getting caught by his mother and the both of them being surrounded by his fathers arms, making one big family hug.

Penny smiled as she watched the reunited family embrace, this was one of the many reasons why she started being SpiderWoman in her previous life, because she hated watching families get torn apart and this right here, was a prime example of why she fought for the little guy so hard.

After a minute of the family hugging it out, the father straightened up and looked her right in the eyes and after a few seconds, he extended his hand out to her.

"Thank you ma'am, you don't know how truly grateful we are that you helped us find our kid." He said as she shook his hand.

She smiled up at him, "It was no problem sir, just doing the right thing, you have an excellent son, he's great company." She said with a teasing smirk directed at the boy as she offered him a wink which made him giggle from within his mother's hold.

The man laughed, "Yeah, that's Miles for you. Always the chatter box." He shook his head fondly before smiling at Penny, "Name is Jefferson Davis, I'm one of the Captains here at the police force in Queens. I was about five seconds away from calling my buddies to get a city wide search before you called."

Penny smiled warmly at the Captain, "It's no problem Mr Davis, really I'm just trying to help."

"Well we thank you all the same, truly." He said

"Like I said, it's no problem. Glad I could be of help." She said and shook the man's hand one last time before being pulled into a quick embrace by the mother which she allowed, letting the woman express her gratitude.

After the parents goodbyes, she walked by Miles and ruffled his hair one last time before winking and walking back towards the alleyway to grab the bag that had Tasha's gift in it.

Once the bag was in her hands, and she was sure that no people and no cameras could see her, she portaled back to her apartment in California where the weather was a lot hotter and she didn't have to bundle up in thirteen layers.

She had work to do for Tasha's main gift, and it sure as hell wasn't going to get done by itself...

Natasha woke up with an armful of her girlfriend the next morning.

She had gotten back later then excepted last night from her meeting with Fury and she had missed lunch and dinner due to that fact. But when she had gotten home, glad that she could finally see her girlfriend after a long day, she opened their apartment door and on the kitchen counter, there was a note that told her that dinner was in the fridge and she better eat the food or else.

When she read the note, her heart softened like it did every time Penelope did something romantic, even if it was as small as making dinner and placing it in the fridge for her when she got back.

She loved her girlfriend, so damn much that it was like an all consuming fire just waiting to engulf her.

These past few months have been literally the best in her life. She never thought she'd be where she is today, no longer working for the Red Room, killing innocent people but instead, she's here in America working as an American spy and she's in a stable relationship with a goddess.

She wouldn't change it for anything.

She just wished her sister was here to see her now...

"Hmm, watcha thinking 'bout birthday girl?" The sudden voice of her sleepy girlfriend broke her out of her trance and she smiled down at her, gently moving her hand through Penelope's brown curls which were standing up in every direction.

"Nothing, just these past few months, how everything is so different from what I imagined my life would be." She replied, leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead.

Penny hummed with a smile across her face and snuggled deeper into the spy's embrace, "I bet...happy birthday Tasha."

"Thanks Seph."

After a couple minutes of peaceful silence, Penny yawned and blinked her eyes open, " Wanna get up so I can give you your present?" She asked.

Natasha smirked, "I've already got a present here." She said and continued on when she saw the confused look her girlfriend had on her face, "I get to unwrap her right here in my arms, and I can promise you what she'll let me do to her, is the best gift of all." The spy whispered down into Penny's ear causing a blush to spread across the goddess's face but before she could respond, Natasha lips were pressed against hers, initiating the most heated kiss they've ever had this early in the morning.

"I guess your actual gift will have to wait." Penny mumbled against her lips as she threw her leg over Natasha's lap and started to grind down against her crotch while the goddess's hands wrapped around her neck and brought the spy even closer, keeping their mouths locked together.

"I guess it will." Natasha groaned.

An hour and a half later, the two women lay in their bed with their birthday suits on, both on their back and breathing heavily. Well, Natasha was, Penny was on her side with a hand under her chin with her elbow propped up onto the mattress, smirking at her girlfriend.

"If you're done using me as your sex toy, I'd really like to give you your actual present." Penny said with amusement leaking from her tone which made Natasha snort.

"Maybe after another round, I wasn't done with you yet." Natasha pouted which made Penny roll her eyes as she moved to grab her underwear which was on the ground next to their bed.

"You're insufferable, you know that right?" Penny raised an eyebrow.

Natasha smirked, "Only for you baby."

Penny laughed as she started to move around the room to grab some comfy clothes for the day while Natasha also got up to get dressed.

The spy grabbed a simple pair of maroon leggings with a black t-shirt and some fuzzy socks and on her way out to their living room, she smacked her girlfriend's ass which made said goddess jump and make a sound of surprise before she glared halfheartedly towards her but Natasha could see the amusement in her eyes so she knew she didn't overstep.

Natasha smirked, "Come on, don't leave the birthday girl waiting."

Penny huffed, "I'd hurry up if you left the room faster. I can't have you see what the gifts are."

Nat chuckled, "Alright I get it I get it, I'm leaving." She said, closing the door behind her and walking to the couch to wait for Penny, sitting to the right of Iris who was fast asleep on a blanket which was draped over the couch. She let her hand rest in the dogs fur and gently weaved her fingers along her back, making the husky lean into her touch.

After a couple minutes, Natasha heard the door to their bedroom open and Penny walked into the living room not a second later looking kind of nervous which made Nat frown.

"Hey, what's the matter?" She asked.

"Oh nothing it's just...I really have like, three presents for you and two of them are physical objects but the last one...well it's just, I trust you the most out of everyone else on the planet, so I thought, that you know, maybe I should...tell you my story...how, how I became, the way I am." By the end of it, Penny was talking barely above a whisper but Natasha still heard her.

"Hey, you don't have to tell me anything you're uncomfortable with." She said, standing up and walking right in front of her girlfriend, placing one of her hands on her shoulder while the other went to her cheek, "You don't have to say anything you don't want to."

Penny huffed and leaned into her touch, "Don't lie, I know you're curious."

Nat smirked, "Okay, you've got me, but I can wait until whenever you're ready, you and how you feel is more important to me then your history." She said.

There was a time where those words would've never come out of The Black Widow's mouth.

But that was before she met Penelope Parker...

Penny nodded her head though and smiled softly at her, "I promise I'm ready, it's just...a lot to take in. But, I...I want to tell you this because, well we're starting to get serious with this and, I don't want to lie to you anymore Tasha, I don't." She said truthfully, making her expression as open as she could to show her girlfriend she meant it.

Natasha smiled gently at her before dropping her hands and pulling her to the couch to sit down next to her, "Okay then, whenever you're ready, I'll listen."

So, Penny told her, everything.

From the start of her previous life, to how she lost her uncle and got her powers, to how she met her Tony Stark and how she saved his plane from the vulture, which then led to them getting closer and inevitably brought her fighting an alien on a distant planet and dying.

Fast forward five years snd she's suddenly back alive and fighting another war against the same alien, she grabs the stones and snaps herself, extinguishing the universe of Thanos' tyranny, but in exchange, sacrificing her own life.

How she woke up in the dreamscape, with the stones telling her of a choice to make, immortality to save another universe, or death.

She travels to another universe, before the creation of their galaxy and the arrival of celestials, before the stones.

Billions and billions of years, condensed into a three hour talk while Natasha just sat their and listened to her.

She listened to her girlfriend's story, her past and everything she's been through and through the whole three hours, her love and admiration for the woman in front of her only grew the more she listened.

Penelope has been through so much, she was only a teen when she died, twice and was given this giant mission to save another universe.

Her universe.

But without it, she would never have met her...

"Wow, that's...that's a lot." Natasha admitted.

Penny huffed, "Yeah, yeah it is."

"So, you died when you were a teen, fighting a war against an alien who wanted to destroy the universe, then came here to this universe and tried to help things move along how they should, helping humans in the shadows for years, all while trying to protect us from other worldly threats and inevitably stop what happened to yours." Natasha said.

Penny nodded, "Yeah, I know what things are supposed to happen, but I don't know if they will since my presence has changed some things since coming here. Now that I've gotten this far though, I'm gonna take it a day at a time and not make any big decisions until I need to."

"Is there anything big that I should know of? Something we should get ready for now besides the obvious?" Natasha asked. She narrowed her eyes though when Penny hesitated for a second.

"You know something else don't you? What about Thanos? Can't you stop him now?" She asked.

"Do you trust me?"

The sudden question caught the spy off guard for a second before her eyes softened and she placed her hand on Penelope's lap, "Of course Seph, with my life." She replied seriously.

"Then I need you to trust me when I say I know what I'm doing. There are certain things I can't change, they need to happen and I'm so, so sorry for that, but there's nothing I can do." Penny said while biting her lip and staring into Nat's eyes, trying to convey how sorry she was about how things had to play out, but there was nothing she could do.

Natasha sighed after staring into the eyes of her girlfriend, she could tell Penelope was upset about not being able to help, so she knew it wasn't her fault but it didn't stop her from feeling guilty for knowing something bad was gonna happen, and knowing you couldn't do anything to stop it right now.

"Okay, okay we'll play this your way. You're the expect after all." She slightly smirked which made the woman next to her huff in amusement, "But you wanna know what I'm still hung up on?"

"What?" She asked.

"One, how you apparently have six other voices in your head, two, you have your own pocket dimension, and three, how you were basically siblings with Captain America and his best friend." She teased Penny which made her roll her eyes fondly with a small smile.

"Oh trust me it's not as amazing as it sounds. Did you know Captain America really had a potty mouth? Used to swear like a

sailor back in the war, also when he tried to pick fights with bullies. I used to make jokes about how I'd wash his mouth out with soap." Penny admitted.

Natasha smirked, "He sounded like a funny guy."

Penny smirked back though with a mischievous glint in her gaze, "He is a funny guy." She corrected and it took Natasha a second to catch onto the hidden meaning but when she did, she narrowed her eyes.

"Are you implying what I think you're implying?"

Penny smirked and shrugged, "Perhaps, enough talk about the past though, it's your birthday and I still have to give you two other gifts."

Natasha glared, "We're not done with this conversation Seph, but I'll allow this one pass because I am curious about the other gifts, but after dinner we will be coming back to this."

Penny playfully pouted and nodded her head in mock seriousness, "Of course your Highness, of course. Whatever M'lady demands."

Nat smacked Penny's knee, "Don't be a smartass and give me my gift you peasant."

"Oh where are my manners, please accept my humble apologies your majesty." Penny got up and mock bowed which made Nat chuckle before she snapped her fingers and two wrapped gifts appeared in her hands.

"For the lady of the hour." Penny said as she handed the little one to Natasha first before sitting down next to her again with the other present resting in her lap.

"I'm pretty sure I'd be the lady of the day." Nat said before going back to opening her present. When she got the wrapping paper off and opened the box, she came face to face with the matching rainbow spider necklace and earrings.

Natasha smiled and picked up the necklace first, admiring how it looked before she handed it to Penny, "Put it on please?" She asked while twisting her body so her back was turned to face the goddess while she held her hair to the side, allowing Penny to clip the necklace around her neck, resting right next to her arrow necklace that Clint had given her a few years ago after they first met.

"There." Penny murmured before withdrawing her hands and smiling at the spy.

"Thank you, it's beautiful." Natasha said.

"You don't have to put the earrings on yet, but I wanted to get you a matching set." Penny shrugged.

"You mean a matching set to your suit Spider-Woman, hmm? Trying to lay you claim on me I see." Nat teased.

"Oh please, you're already mine and I'm already yours. If you want though, for my next birthday you can get me a shirt that says "Property of The Black Widow" and I'll wear it everyday." Penny smirked.

"I might just do that." She said mischievously before leaning down to place a chaste kiss on the goddess's lips. Penny hummed in contentment before pulling away a few seconds later and shoving the next present in her lap.

"Come on, open the last one. I promise you'll like it."

Natasha shook her head with a smile as she opened up the next one. When it was in her hands, she held it like it was the most precious thing in the universe.

On the cover, it was the picture of the two of them at the Stark Fundraiser with the both of them in their dresses, smiling at the camera with wide smiles.

The one before Iron-Man was officially announced.

She looked up at Penny with a tilted head, "What is this." She asked quietly.

"Let's just say it's a book of all our memories so far. I did some cool space magic on it and basically put some memories in the book, in layman's terms. It's like a scrapbook, but with literal memories instead of pictures. If you want to add your own memories eventually, there's a page at the very end of the book where if you lay your hand on it and think of the memory, it'll add it in." Penny said.

Natasha smiled before she opened the book and saw all the memories that Penny had already added. Some of them were dates the two had been on, some were before they got together and there were even a couple when Natasha was still a kid in the Red Room.

After she was done looking through the book, the spy looked up at Penny, biting her lip trying to contain her smile, "Thank you, this is the best present anyones ever given me." The spy admitted with her ears slightly colored, the only thing signaling the woman's embarrassment.

Penny was secretly glad that she was the only person in the world who could make the Black Widow blush.

While Penny sat in triumph next to the spy, Natasha was admiring the book in her hands. She was reminded of a time back in 1995 when her "family" had a scrapbook to keep memories in, to make it look like they were a real family while undercover.

She secretly loved that scrapbook, it having all the memories of her sister, her little six year old sister who had no idea what would happen when they went on the big adventure.

She missed her sister so much.

"Your welcome, it's the least I can do for you." Penny shrugged with a beautiful smile across her face which made the spy just want to kiss her.

Natasha though, thought for a moment before deciding that she was ready to take that next step in their relationship, her emotions having been certain from the very beginning.

She took Penny's hand and laid a gentle kiss on her knuckles before smiling up at her, "I love you." She said, with utmost certainty in her tone.

Natasha watched as Penny's face turned a brilliant shade of pink as her eyes slightly widened when the words came out of her mouth. She stared down at her hand which was still in the spy's before looking back up to her with a smile and eyes that radiated pure adoration.

"I love you too."

The two quickly found each other's lips and they could both feel the passion behind the action itself, the love, the loyalty and devotion to one another pouring into the others body.

Their relationship was strong, and they knew it'd only keep on growing stronger as time went on.

After a full minute, their need for air become unable to ignore any longer so they split apart with swollen lips and wide smiles.

"I've wanted to tell you that for weeks now." Natasha admitted.

Penny smiled and laid her head on the spy's shoulder, inhaling her scent before she responded, "Me too, it's uh, well it's a lot for me you know? I've never felt like this towards anyone in my time in this universe. And sure I've slept around, but I've never been in an actual relationship before." Penny admitted.

"What about back in your home universe?"

"I was a sixteen year old vigilante, I didn't do, dating." Penny deadpanned which made Natasha chuckle.

"So I'm your first girlfriend?"

Penny rolled her eyes, "Yes you are, why are you so smug about that?"

Natasha mock gasped, "Me? Smug? Never."

"I can feel the smugness radiating from your body. I can also sense it." Penny said with a smirk.

"Well I'm sorry if I'm the only one in the universe who can say their girlfriend is a goddess. Plus I get to bed said goddess like, every night." She smirked back.

If it was possible, Penny's smirk widened and her eyes got a teasing glint in them, "But you weren't the first to bed said goddess."

Natasha's smugness was instantly wiped off her face and instead she glared at her girlfriend which made Penny laugh at the look she was giving her, causing Nat to scoff.

"Well Mrs All Knowing-and-Powerful, I may not be the first to have sex with you," When she said the words, she basically spat them and glared even harder before continuing, "But I am the first one to show you who's the boss in the bedroom." By the end, Nat was smirking again.

It was Penny's turn to glare, "Tell anyone, and I will deny it."

"Oh I know you will, but I'll keep it to myself. Who knew the goddess of the universe loved to be dominated by a mere mortal."

"With a body like that, who could resist?" Penny rebutted with a small shrug to her shoulders which made Natasha softly chuckle.

"Keep flattering me and it'll get you back in that bed underneath me, exactly where you like to be."

Penny rolled her eyes, "A woman has her own wants and needs Tasha."

"And yours, just so happens to be being dominated by the Black Widow."

"Can you blame me? You're an excellent example of a perfect woman." Penny purred in the spy's ear which made her shiver in delight.

"You're not half bad yourself. I'm surprised you weren't named after the goddess of beauty." Nat whispered back while biting Penny's ear.

"Well..."

"Don't even start with me."

"Alright, shutting up now."

"I have a better idea about what I want that mouth of yours to do," Nat smirked, "How about I drag you in our bedroom and we get all nice and cozy without our clothes while I lay down, and you show how much you really love your girlfriend, yes?"

As the two quickly raced off to their room for another round of passionate birthday sex, Iris looked at their retreating forms with an unamused glint in her eyes before she yawned and laid her head back down to go to sleep.

Humans were weird.

Palladium's a Bitch

Chapter Summary

Time for Iron Man 2!

Chapter Notes

Here's Iron Man 2, hope you enjoy this chapter, I know I had fun writing it! Let me know what you think about it and hell, even put down some of your predictions In the comments.

Who knows, you might be right ;)

"The notary's here! Can you please come sign the transfer paperwork?" Pepper said as she walked into the boxing room where her infuriating boss and his bodyguard were boxing.

"I'm on happy time." Tony Stark replied before he hit Happy in the face with his elbow, "Sorry." He said, but not at all very sorry.

"What the hell was that?"

"It's called mixed martial arts. It's been around for three weeks."

"It's called dirty boxing, there's nothing new about it."

"All right, put them up. Come on."

Just then, Natasha decided to make her dramatic entrance and enter the room. She was wearing her business attire which consisted of black business pants and a formal white blouse with black heels.

Heels which made Penny snort when she saw her put them on this morning, but that was a detail that didn't need to be shared.

"I promise this is the only time I will ask you to sign over your company." Pepper said as Natasha walked over to the woman to have her sign the paper work in her hands.

"I need you to initial each box."

Meanwhile, Happy tapped Tony on the back of his head with a light punch, not enough to hurt him though as the man was too distracted openly ogling the new woman in front of him.

Like he even stood a chance with Natasha against her own girlfriend...

Penny was the most beautiful, kind and loyal human being in the universe.

Natasha couldn't do any better than her.

"Lesson one. Never take your eyes off..." Before the man could even finish his sentence, Tony kicked him and the man went crashing into the opposite corner of the ring while Pepper and Natasha tried to sign the paper but both of them couldn't help the annoyed look that made its way across their face as the bell to the ring kept on dinging.

After a second more of that, Tony looked over to the two women, "That's it. I'm done. What's your name, lady?" He asked.

Natasha put on a fake friendly smile, "Rushman. Natalie Rushman" she said, having crafted this identity over the past year, making sure this would be perfect.

"Front and center. Come into the church."

Pepper's eyes widened before she started to shake her head, "No. You're seriously not gonna ask..."

"If it pleases the court, which it does."

Natasha turned to look at the woman, "It's no problem."

"I'm sorry. He's very eccentric." She said which made Natasha snort quietly to herself.

That was an understatement.

Natasha walked over to the mat and slipped her heels off before slowly ducking under the rubber bands to the arena and she made sure to keep eye contact with the man as Tony just kept on taking gulps of the green liquid in his water bottle.

The green liquid he believed would save his life.

After a mini staring contest between the two, Tony looked over to his bodyguard and nodded his head, "Can you give her a lesson?"

"No problem."

Tony stepped out of the ring and quickly made his way over to Pepper, who was sitting down on a white chair, waiting for him, "Pepper."

"What?"

Tony took the empty spot next to the woman before answering her, "Who is she?"

"She is from legal. And she is potentially a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you keep ogling her like that."

"I need a new assistant, boss."

"Yes, and I've got three excellent potential candidates. They're lined up and ready to meet you."

"I don't have time to meet. I need someone now. I feel like it's her."

"No, it's not."

Back in the ring, Natasha could over hear everything they were saying but gave her attention to the man in front of her as he asked his question, "You ever boxed before?"

"I have, yes."

"What, like, the Tae Bo? Booty Boot Camp? Crunch? Something like that?" Natasha couldn't stop the slight annoyance that flicked across her face at his statement but before she could say anything in response, Tony called out to her.

"How do I spell your name, Natalie?"

"R-U-S-H-M-A-N."

"What, are you gonna google her now?" Pepper asked in exasperation with a slight glare directed at him.

"I thought I was ogling her." He snarked back at her while typing in the name Natasha gave him on the table beside them, which doubled as one of his fancy holographic computers.

There were a few pictures of her in undergarments, modeling which were taken by Penny to help craft up her identity, making the whole world believe that Natalie Rushman was a twenty five year old woman who had made a name for herself.

Natasha from her spot in the ring had to physically stop herself from rolling her eyes when she heard Tony's thoughts about said pictures, "Wow. Very, very impressive individual."

"You're so predictable, you know that?"

"She's fluent in French, Italian, Russian, Latin. Who speaks Latin?"

"No one speaks Latin."

"No one speaks Latin."

"It's a dead language. You can read Latin or you can write Latin, but you can't speak Latin."

"Did you model in Tokyo? 'Cause she modelled in Tokyo."

"Well..."

"I need her. She's got everything that I need." He said but a picture from the corner of his eye caught his attention. He narrowed his eyes and clicked on it and enlarged it on the screen.

"You've got a special someone Rushman?" He asked with a raised eyebrow definitely catching her attention.

She looked over at the man and saw that he had somehow found the picture of Penny and her at his fundraiser, the one that clearly made it look like they were a couple with the love radiating from each of their eyes.

A picture that was supposed to be private.

"That's none of your business Mr Stark. If I do, or if I don't doesn't concern you." She said, trying to keep how she really felt about him finding out to herself.

She didn't know how he found that picture, but she'd find out and make sure no other photos of them were leaked onto the internet once she got back home.

"Well I'm just curious. You don't see many people come out of the closet, especially people who have such a background as yourself." Tony said.

"Tony!" Pepper hissed from her spot next to him, smacking the side of his head, "She's from legal need I remind you, so I'd watch your mouth if I were you." She said but her eye caught the photo too and when she saw the other person, her eyes widened.

"You know Stephanie?" Pepper asked which made Natasha stop and narrow her eyes.

"How do you know Seph?" The nickname slipped out before she could stop it but the three others didn't miss it and while Tony smirked smugly at her, Pepper answered her.

"Before this one became Iron-Man, the day he was captured I literally ran into her on the sidewalk and I felt so bad because I made her drop her coffee so I offered to buy her one as an apology. We've talked a bit since then but I haven't seen her in a while. She did mention she preferred women more then men though during our first meeting." Pepper said which made Tony narrow his eyes.

"How come you never told me you met a new friend? I'm hurt." He said, placing a hand on his chest in mock offense.

"Because it didn't concern you." Pepper said back with a slight glare.

"What's her name? What she do for a living? Hmm?" Tony asked which made Natasha glare at the man and Pepper to shoot him a disapproving look.

"None of your business." Natasha gritted out. Tony was about to respond when Pepper stopped him, must have seeing it was a subject not to be touched with the woman so she distracted him with another paper that needed to be signed.

Happy decided now was the right time to strike though with his teachings which, any other time she wouldn't have been this heated, but the thought of Stark digging into Penny's life just pushed all the wrong buttons.

"Rule number one, never take your eyes off your opponent." He went in to take a swing at her but Natasha decided that this would be a good way to release some of her pent up anger so she grabbed his hand and flipped him over while her legs wrapped around his head to help bring him down on the ground, hard.

Maybe that would show the man that she wasn't messing around when it came to her girlfriend.

"Oh, my God! Happy!"

"That's what I'm talking about."

"I just slipped." The man replied, trying to gain back all the dignity he just lost while Natasha got up and easily sauntered away.

"You did?"

"Yeah." Happy said painfully.

"Looks like a TKO to me." Stark said as he walked over and rang the bell as Natasha climbed out of the ring and slipped on her heels.

"Just... I need your impression." She said, trying to control her emotions and not kick the man where the sun doesn't shine.

"You have a quiet reserve. I don't know, you have an old soul."

"I meant your fingerprint." She said with a fake smile, grabbing the binder off the ground and opening it up for him.

"Right." He said as he took his boxing glove off and placed his finger on the little box.

"So, how are we doing?" Pepper said as she came and walked up to them with a smile across her face.

"Great. Just wrapping up here. Hey. You're the boss now." He said as he gestured to the paper, making Pepper's smile widen.

"Will that be all, Mr Stark?" Natasha asked with her business smile on her face with the binder against her chest, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"No."

"Yes, that will be all, Ms Rushman. Thank you very much." Pepper said and Natasha nodded once more to the woman before walking out the room.

Natasha heard one last thing before she left though which made her roll her eyes and continue down the hall. She didn't need to worry about that now, she knew she'd get the job, she had to get home though to ask her girlfriend some questions about the new CEO of Stark industries.

"I want one."

"No."

"I can't believe you never told me, I'm hurt."

Penny rolled her eyes fondly, "Quit your whining you big baby."

Natasha playfully pouted at her girlfriend, "You know, words hurt Seph."

Penny snorted, "Don't I know it. But, I know you. I know for a fact, you weren't hurt by my words. So, I'll restate my previous statement, stop whining." She smirked.

Natasha huffed, "You know you're mean today, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"No, I woke up on your side, remember? You were cradling my body against yours. We fell asleep like that after we..." She didn't even get to finish her sentence before they were interrupted by Pepper coming up to them.

"Sorry to bother you two, I just wanted to come and ask if you've seen Tony, Natalie. I can't seem to find him anywhere." The CEO said and both woman could hear the frustration in her tone.

Natasha sent a warning look to her girlfriend, ignoring her shit eating grin which was across her face before she turned to look at the CEO, "No Miss Potts, I haven't seen him recently." Natasha said politely with her hands behind her back which made Penny softly snort in amusement, finding the part her girlfriend was playing hilarious.

"God that man is gonna be the death of me." Pepper muttered.

"Maybe he'll show up eventually, he couldn't have gotten far Pepper." Penny said, trying to comfort the woman in anyway she could.

The CEO smiled in thanks and was about to say something when they all heard some noise coming from the other end of the bar. They looked over to the TV screen and saw that Tony was on the racetrack, in a racing suit getting ready to jump in a car and participate.

"Oh no, this can not happen." Pepper said staring at the screen worriedly.

"How can I help you Miss Potts?"

"Where's Happy?"

"He's waiting outside."

"Okay, get him please I need Happy."

"Right away." Natasha said as both she and Penny turned to go outside to find the man.

Once they were far enough away from the woman, Penny slid her hand down across Natasha's covered back, running her fingers along her shoulder blades and down to the middle of her back before drifting dangerously close to her butt.

"I love seeing you play the assistant who does whatever is asked of her. It's definitely a new look to you." Penny whispered.

Natasha glared with no real heat behind the look, "Don't get used to it, Its just a part to play. I have to make sure Stark doesn't kill himself before he finds a cure for himself."

Penny smirked, "Still, it doesn't make me want to fuck you any less. Make you do whatever I tell you to do."

Natasha huffed and tried to fight off the heat threatening to pool down in her nether regions, "And you call me the insufferable one."

"Oh you are, you're like constantly horny around me. I just have these momentary lapses in judgment, where all I can think about is you and how you'd look naked. You on the other hand, always think that."

"I don't always think that."

"Yes you do."

"No I don't."

"Hmm, I think you do."

"Well, I know I don't so, you lose."

"No, I'm pretty sure you do."

"No, I'm pretty sure I don't," She said, leaning over to place a small kiss on her lips before pulling back, smirking at the pleased, dazed look across her face. Before she could finish her thoughts though, Natasha's eyes narrowed and she turned to look at her girlfriend, "You knew he was going to race today." She accused.

All she got was a smirk in return from Penny.

She glared before smacking Penny's ass and turned to walk in the opposite direction, silently pleased with herself with the embarrassed squeak that came out of her mouth once the spy's hand came in contact with her butt.

She smirked to herself as she kept on walking, she needed to find Happy but she also just wanted to stay with her girlfriend and embarrass the fuck out of her whenever she had the chance.

God, her Girlfriend was just too easy to get a rise out of, especially when it came to public displays of affection, mostly consisting of butt smacks.

And the flush along her checks were always a nice bonus too...

It always proved that she and she alone was the only person on earth that could get a reaction like that out of someone as powerful as Penny.

It was exhilarating…

"That's not looking so good." Fury said from his spot across from the billionaire at the donut shop that they were current inhabiting.

Tony shrugged and stared at the man with a bored, yet somewhat tired expression, "I've been worse." He said and it was now, that Natasha decided to make her dramatic entrance, walking up to their table and standing right next to them both.

Penny would be proud that she had learned something from her.

Her girlfriend was the Queen of dramatic entrances so god knows that she's jumping with joy from her spot a few blocks down making sure the perimeter was clear for her.

"We've secured the perimeter but I don't think we should hold it for too much longer." She said to her boss, knowing that Penny would make sure people stayed away from this shop until they all had left the area.

Tony looked up and over the top of his glasses at his personal assistant with a raised eyebrow, "You're fired." He deadpanned with slightly narrowed eyes.

Natasha tried to hide her smug smile as she responded, "That's not up to you." She said as she sat down next to Fury.

"Tony, I want you to meet Agent Romanoff."

"Hi."

"I'm a SHIELD shadow. Once we knew you were ill, I was tasked to you by Director Fury." She said, folding her hands across her lap.

"I suggest you apologise." Tony said with a raised eyebrow, taking his glasses off and pointing them directly at his personal assistant.

Instead of herself answering though, Fury did that, "You've been very busy. You made your girl your CEO, you're giving away all your stuff. You let your friend fly away with your suit. Now, if I didn't know better..."

"You don't know better. I didn't give it to him. He took it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He took it? You're Iron Man and he just took it? The little brother walked in there, kicked your ass and took your suit?" Fury turned to his her, "Is that possible?"

"Well, according to Mr Stark's database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorised usage." She said in a slightly mocking tone of voice, not able to help herself from feeling satisfied with the annoyed look he was giving her.

Call it payback from their first meeting, all she knew was she was enjoying every single second of it.

The man deserved it for trying to dig into Penny's life...

"What do you want from me?" He said in exasperation.

"What do we want from you? What do you want from me?" Fury subtly nodded to her so she got up and moved over to the brief case which was on the counter with the injection that would help him not die while Fury continued, "You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with. Contrary to your belief, you are not the center of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with." After he was done, Natasha had walked back over with the needle so he nodded his head, "Hit him." She stepped forward and stuck the needle in his neck, causing Tony to groan.

"Oh, God, what're you gonna do, steal my kidney and sell it?" He hissed but his rash was starting to go down, whatever was in that injection counteracting the palladium trying to poison and kill him, "Could you please not do anything awful for five seconds?

What did she just do to me?" He asked, glaring at the two secret agents in front of him.

"What did we just do for you? That's lithium dioxide. It's gonna take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work." Fury said, completely done with the man's bullshit.

"Give me a couple of boxes of that. I'll be right as rain."

"It's not a cure, it just abates the symptoms." Natasha said. Last night Penny had tried to explain the whole science aspect behind the injection but to be one hundred percent honest, Natasha didn't really listen to the words, too busy admiring her girlfriend as she rambled on about science.

She couldn't help it, she was just too cute when she rambled.

"Doesn't look like it's gonna be an easy fix."

"Trust me, I know. I'm good at this stuff. I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I've tried every combination, every permutation of every known element."

Fury smirked and leaned against the table, "Well, I'm here to tell you, you haven't tried them all."

Stark scoffed, "Bullshit, how can I trust anything the two of you say anymore? You literally sent your secret agent in to spy on me."

"Don't flatter yourself, I very much didn't want to be there either." Natasha rolled her eyes.

Tony smirked, "Hmm. You wanna know something, agent Romanoff was it? I know your little secret, and you know that don't you? I wonder, does your boss know about your significant other?" Tony baited her which made her eyes narrow at the man.

Oh he wanted to play that game did he?

"What the hell is he talking about?!" Fury exclaimed, turning to look at her.

Her glare didn't waver though as she stared daggers at the man, "I'd tread carefully if I were you Stark."

"Or what? Gonna infiltrate my company again? Already did."

"Oh I'm still going to infiltrate your company, someone's gotta babysit your ass, I still have a cover to maintain after all but I promise you, I will make your life ten times as miserable as it already is." She warned.

"Let's rewind to the part where you apparently had a significant other." Fury raised an eyebrow, "There's no way in hell that you've got a boyfriend. The only person you're that close with is..." He didn't even get to finish before he narrowed his eyes and pointed at her.

"Don't even tell me it's who I think it is."

Natasha shrugged, "All right, I won't." She replied coolly, standing up and staring out the window with a neutral expression across her face.

"You're sleeping with the goddess? Are you shitting me?" Fury deadpanned, "I thought you didn't do relationships."

"Wait a minute, let's back this up for a second. Goddess? Did you just call her girlfriend, that short little brunette I saw, A goddess?" Tony scoffed, "I don't buy it."

"Believe what you want Stark, it wouldn't be the first time you were wrong." Natasha replied flippantly with a slight roll to her eyes.

She didn't like how he had outed her to her boss, but she'd get her revenge the next time she saw him at Stark Industries.

That, she'd make sure of.

"We'll be having a little meeting about this after we deal with him, understand Romanoff?"

Natasha gritted her teeth, "Yes sir."

"We've disabled all communications. No contact with the outside world. Good luck." Natasha said as she instantly turned around from where Stark and Phil were and walked out the door to Tony's mansion.

She had things to take care of at S.I, she knew that Phil wouldn't let Stark out of the house.

As soon as she was out of sight and gone, Tony turned to look at Coulson, "Please. First thing, I need a little bodywork. I'll put in a little time at the lab. If we could send one of your goon squad down to The Coffee Bean, Cross Creek, for a Starbucks run, or something like that, that'd be nice."

"I'm not here for that. I've been authorised by Director Fury to use any means necessary to keep you on premises. If you attempt to leave or play any games, I will tase you and watch Supernanny while you drool into the carpet. Okay?" Coulson said completely seriously which made Tony raised an eyebrow at his cool attitude.

"Yeah, I think I got it," He muttered. Just as Coulson was about to turn away from him, Tony spoke up though, "Actually do you think you could answer like, a singular question that I have? It'll be real quick." He said.

Phil turned back and narrowed his eyes at him before hesitantly nodding his head, "Alright, what is it?"

"Romanoff and her girlfriend. She's, she's not really a goddess right? I mean that's stupid, there's no such things like gods and goddesses." Tony rolled his eyes.

Phil smiled in amusement, "I wouldn't be so sure about that. She's, well she's quiet special. Definitely smarter than you too." He teased.

Tony scoffed, "Bullshit, no one's smarter than me."

"Hmm, don't let that ego blind you Stark. It could get you into trouble someday."

"Don't need to worry about that, it's gotten me into trouble plenty of times before."

"Then you should learn from your mistakes."

"I do, how dare you accuse me of not. I should feel insulted with your lack of faith in me."

"Yeah, but since when do you care about other peoples opinions?" Coulson asked rhetorically.

Stark hummed and looked at the box in front of him, noting that he probably wouldn't be getting anything out of the man in front of him.

If we wanted more information, he'd have to go to the source.

"Enjoy your evening's entertainment." Coulson said, noticing the man staring at the box. He left the room and allowed Tony to have his privacy.

The man had a lot to think about anyways, like how the hell he'd get information about the mysterious woman who was dating Romanoff who was apparently a goddess.

He was still calling bullshit on that.

"People are relying on you to be Iron Man and you've disappeared, and all I'm doing is putting out your fires and taking the heat of it. I am trying to do the job that you were meant to do." Pepper looked down at the basket that Tony had brought her and raised an eyebrow at him, "Did you bring me strawberries? Did you know that there's only one thing on Earth that I'm allergic to?"

"Allergic to strawberries," he finished, "This is progress Pepper. I knew there was a correlation between you and this."

"I need you..."

"I need you too."

"..to leave now"

"That's what I'm trying to..."

Just then Natasha walked through the door with Happy not far behind, "Ms Potts?"

"Hi, come on in."

"Wheels up in 25 minutes."

"Thank you."

"Anything else, boss?" Happy asked.

"I'm good, Hap."

"No, I'll be just another minute." Pepper responded to the man which made Tony throw his arms up in exaggeration.

"I lost both the kids in the divorce." Tony said, looking over to Happy who merely shook his head at his friends behavior. Tony then turned his attention to the double agent in the room, or would she be a triple agent?

Who knew anymore...

"Are you blending in well here, Natalie? Here at Stark Enterprises? Your name is Natalie, isn't it? I thought you two didn't get along?" Tony said, gesturing between Pepper and the spy.

"No. That's not so."

"Is it just me you don't care for. No? Nothing?"

"Actually, while you're here maybe you and Natalie could discuss the matter of the personal belongings."

"Absolutely." Natasha smiled as Pepper and Happy walked to the door and went outside. As soon as the door closed, she wiped the smile off her face, "I'm surprised you can keep your mouth shut."

"Boy, you're good. You are mind-blowingly duplicitous. How do you do it? You, You're like a triple imposter. I've never seen anything like you. Is there anything real about you? Do you even speak Latin?"

Natasha smirked at the man before talking, "Fallaces sunt rerum species." (The Appearances of Things are Deceptive)

"Which means? Wait. What? What did you just say?" Tony asked with narrowed eyes.

Natasha shrugged before responding, "It means you can either drive yourself home or I can have you collected." She said, making her way towards the door but what Tony said next stopped here dead in her tracks.

"Nah that's fine, I'll just ask your girlfriend what it means when I find her." He said offhandedly, knowing it would get a rise out of the woman.

Natasha turned around with a glare that could cut through vibranium, "Watch what comes out of that mouth Stark unless you want me to cut your tongue out and feed it to my dog."

Tony raised an eyebrow, not wanting to show how scared he was at the woman's words, "You've got a dog?" He asked instead.

"Yeah, and she'd gladly help me murder you and make sure no one ever found your body. Now, if we're done trying to pry into my personal life, I really need to get back to work, and so should you." She smiled but Tony would be a fool if he didn't see the fire behind her gaze so he did the right thing and shut his trap as she turned back around and slammed the door behind her.

He couldn't stop his curiosity though about the mysterious girlfriend.

He needed to find out who the fuck she was.

Because god damn, there was something in the back of his head telling him he knew her. She looked so fucking familiar and Tony, for the life of him didn't know why.

Coulson walked over to Tony and handed him the half finished, fake Captain America shield, "It's exactly what I need to make this work. Lift the coil. Go, go. Put your knees into it. There you go. And... Drop it. Drop it." Coulson pushed the shield under the coil and made sure the foil was stable.

Tony picked up a tool and measured how level it was and nodded his head once he was satisfied, "Perfectly level. I'm busy.

What do you want?" He asked.

"Nothing. Goodbye. I've been reassigned. Director Fury wants me in New Mexico." Coulson said with the small smile he always seemed to have on his face.

"Fantastic. Land of Enchantment."

"So I'm told."

"Secret stuff?" Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Something like that. Good luck."

"Bye. Thanks." The two men shake hands and Coulson nods at the billionaire.

"We need you."

"Yeah, more than you know."

"Not that much. At least not with The Goddess looking out for us." He said and winked at him before leaving Tony to go back to his work, leaving him in his lab by himself.

"Still bullshit, there's no way in hell she's a goddess." Tony murmured to himself, shaking his head in denial.

No fucking way.

"Who's locked you out of the mainframe?" Pepper asked as she and Natasha came up on the man who was sitting at a computer, trying to gain access to his technology.

"Please, please, go away. Go away. I've got this handled." Justin Hamer said, raising a hand to try and cut her off, not needing anymore prying eyes on what he was doing and what he had already done.

"Have you now?"

"Yes, I do. In fact, if your guy hadn't showed up, this wouldn't be happening. So, please, now go away. Thank you." He said before running to his men and muttered to them, "Listen, we got to get these bitches out of here. What?"

Natasha though was having none of that and instantly stalked up to the man and grabbed Justin and held him down on the desk, "You tell me who's behind this. Who's behind this?"

"Ivan. Ivan Vanko." Justin groaned out in pain, wincing at the strength she was putting on his arm.

"Where is he?"

"At my facility."

Without another word, Natasha let go of the man and stalked away to find Happy while Pepper dialed a number on her phone.

"I need the police please." Pepper said into her phone which made Justin and his goons panic.

"No, no, no!"

"Command Central."

"No, no, honey. Don't call the authorities." He groaned.

"Okay. Right away. Right away. Step aside. Step aside. Tell me everything you know. Go."

Back with Natasha, she was quickly making her way out of the building and trying to dodge all the screaming people but she was surprised when she got out there and found her girlfriend waiting for her.

"Hey, what's the sitch?" Penny said as she ran forward and laid her hand gently on Natasha's shoulder.

The spy smiled at her and placed her hand over hers, "Nothing, just got a date with Vanko over at Hammer Industries."

"A date? Should I be jealous?" Penny lightly teased her, knowing what she actually meant.

Natasha smirked, "Nah, you're still the only one for me." She said as she leaned forward and brought their lips together.

"So fucking cheesy." Penny murmured against the spy's lips but Natasha only snorted softly before pushing her lips more firmly against her girlfriends.

After a few moments, the two pulled apart and panted from the lack of air, "You know you love it."

"Hmm, our little secret." Penny murmured with a Smokey look behind her gaze, softly brushing her lips against Natasha's ear lobe, laying a light kiss on her neck before pulling away.

Natasha sighed, "Except it's not. Clint knows, Fury, Coulson, Maria, Pepper hell, even Stark knows. Not that he'll ever find information about you, but still."

Penny shrugged, "I've learned you can't control everything Tasha, just got to let things flow sometimes."

"Yeah, so I've heard." Natasha shook her head with a smile across her face, "Now, I've got places to be. Someone's got to stop Ivan while Stark and Rhodes are dealing with the drones."

"We can catch a ride with Happy, I told him to wait out front while I went and got you."

Natasha raised an eyebrow, "And he listened to you."

Penny smirked, "Kind of."

Natasha rolled her eyes before grabbing Penny's hand and leading her out towards the car, "Honestly I can't take you anywhere Seph."

"You know you love me." She smirked, using the spy's own words against her.

"You're very lucky I do."

The two walked over towards where Happy was parked and Penny took the lead which gave Natasha the opportunity to openly

ogle her girlfriend's outfit.

She was wearing a skintight suit which was all black. The outfit really did a wonderful job at hugging all of her curves. She was wearing a pair of combat boots with a utility belt along her waist and the most noticeable thing was the insignia that was on her back and right above her left breast.

It was almost an exact replica of her own black widow suit, just a few modifications different.

Back to the logo, It was the same spider symbol that Natasha has seen in a lot of different places in their apartment but she knew it was from her girlfriend's previous life as Spider-Woman. She knew how much that one symbol meant to her.

And Natasha was happy to see her fully embracing it once again after so long.

"I can feel your eyes on me." Penny suddenly said with an amused laced voice.

"Can't help it." Natasha shrugged. Before Penny could respond they had already arrived next to Happy and the man had come out of the car to talk to them quickly.

"Nobody's answering the phone. What's going on?"

"Get in the car. Take me to Hammer Industries." Natasha said.

Penny lightly scoffed and hit her shoulder, "Be nice."

Happy shook his head, "I'm not taking you anywhere." He said, ignoring Penny for now.

"Fine. You want me to drive?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

After a quick second of thought, Happy responded, "No, I'm driving. Get in the car." Natasha and Penny smirked at each other before they both slid into the back seat and sat down.

As soon as they were in, Happy got into the front seat and started to drive down the road.

"When we arrive, I need you to watch the perimeter." Natasha said as she grabbed her bag from the other side of Penny, making sure her suit was in the bag, "I'm gonna enter the facility and take down the target." She turned to look at her girlfriend and gestured to the open divider of the limo, "Do you mind?" She asked.

Penny smirked before waving her hands, instantly closing the divider, closing them off from the prying eyes of their driver, "There, happy?" Penny said.

"Yeah, there's only one person in this world who gets to see me undressed." Natasha responded before she started to peal off her dress, showing off her black bra to Penny.

"Hmm, she must be one lucky lady." Penny commented, taking her dress and stuffing it into the bag.

Natasha smirked before laying down in Penny's lap, extending her leg up in the air so she could pull off her underwear. After they were off her legs, she threw them at her girlfriend before putting on new ones and started to slip into her outfit.

"Damn, we should head back to our apartment after this whole mess. I can smell you from here." Penny purred in the spy's ears which made shudders go through Natasha's back.

"Please don't work me up right before I have to infiltrate Hammer Industries to stop a crazy Russian." Natasha groaned but really it was more like a whine.

Penny smirked, "Just a little teaser about what will happen tonight. So the quicker you get this done, the quicker I can fuck you in the comfort of our apartment."

"God I hate you."

"Love you too."

States away, down in New Mexico, Phil Coulson just arrived at the crash site.

He got out of his SUV and walked over to the edge of the cliff and looked down. He took off his glasses and stared at the hammer that was protruding out of the ground.

In all his years, he's seen aliens, goddesses and flying women but he's never seen a hammer that apparently crashed landed in the middle of a desert, falling down from space.

What has their world come to?

He touched his ear after a moment, activating his com, "Sir, we've found it." He called into the device.

"So you're dating my top agent?" Fury said as Penny walked into his office and sat down right on top of his desk, not even bothering with a chair.

"Yup," she said popping the last syllable, "What's it to you Nicholas?" She smirked.

"First, don't call me that. Second, she's my agent. It's kind of my job to know everything that can give us the advantage."

Penny scoffed, "Oh please old man, we both know who's she really loyal to, don't even pull that card. If I asked her to leave

Shield, she'd do it with no questions asked. You, my friend are just a control freak."

Fury glared before rolling his eyes and sitting back in his chair with narrowed eyes, "What do you want? You usually never show up here at headquarters, which either means something bad is happening, or you want something."

Penny pouted, "Ouch, rude."

Fury raised an eyebrow at her, "Am I wrong?"

Penny shrugged her shoulders after a moment of hesitation, "No, you're right. I need something of you."

"Thank god nothing bad is happening. Don't know if I can handle anything else at the moment." He muttered which made Penny softly snort.

If only he knew he'd be getting a visit from a god of Thunder very shortly.

But that was a story for another time.

"Right, well I need a huge favor. Not really huge in the grand scheme of things, but still it's gotta stay on the down low. You know the drill, can't put it on any of your servers and you can't tell anyone about anything I say." Penny rambled on.

"Which I still don't understand, our servers are the most secure in the world." Fury cut her off.

Oh if only he knew how unsafe they truly were...

"Hmm, call me paranoid, but I'm not a big fan of the Pierce dude. Kinda shifty if you ask me. Might, wanna keep an eye on him.

Just a suggestion." She hinted with a pointed look thrown at the director, knowing he'd understand.

His eyes widened, "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"You tell me." She shrugged, "I never liked those Germans that much, too violent if you ask me. Always, so loyal to the cause." She said again, pointedly, hoping he's understand her hidden meaning.

Hydra was in...

He slightly nodded his head after a few moments of digesting the information, signaling her to continue on but his gaze was thankful, "What do you need?"

"I want a safe house up in Alaska. A nice modern log cabin that can fit a whole hell of a lot of people if we ever need someplace to hide from bad guys. Out in the wilderness where no one but us knows where it is. A place, where it can also work as my house." She said.

He raised an eyebrow her, "You want a house in Alaska?"

"Technically it's a safe house for everyone if something bad happens."

"A safe house that you'll be living in when it's not used for that?"

"Well, yes."

"Any, specific reason I should know about for why you want it in Alaska?" He asked.

"No, actually there isn't, just that it's far away from the rest of the states and it's literally the last place on earth anyone would look for us."

"Fair enough, consider it done." He nodded his head.

Penny smiled at the man, "Thanks." She said and was about to teleport out of the room when she remembered something else.

"Oh, before I forget, I might as well give you a hint."

"A hint for what?"

"Only he, will be able to wield it." She said cryptically.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh you'll know when it happens, till then, bye! Oh, and you can tell Tasha whenever the safe house is completed, she knows where to find me. Okay, bye!"

With that said, she teleported out of the office and back to her apartment.

Fury sighed and rubbed his hand down his face, "Motherfucker."

Tony knew that Romanoff's girlfriend looked familiar, he just couldn't place it until he started to dig through his fathers old shit.

Buried underneath all the old ass photos, the broken inventions and the really fucking old antiques, he had found his fathers super secret box about his Captain America shit.

Tony didn't know what caused him to open it, but he did and when he did so, the first picture on the top of the pile of shit made his eyes widen in shock.

Because staring right back at him, in black and white, was a picture of Romanoff's girl, who looked like she hadn't aged a day, standing in between Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers.

"Holy shit." Tony muttered to himself.

Maybe he should have listen to Coulson when he said she was a goddess, because there was no other option that his brain could think of.

Since he knew being immortal was definitely not possible, the only viable option was she was some sort of goddess or deity from ancient time, come to help human kind fight back bullshit like the Germans and apparently, fall in love with a drop dead gorgeous spy.

Stephanie Parker, only woman on the Howling Commandos, best friends to Barnes and Rogers, supposedly, went down in the ice when Captain America did.

But apparently not, because she was very much alive and still looking like she did in the photo which was currently in his hand.

What the fuck was even happening anymore, was he dying again? Was the poison making its way through his body once more and he just didn't realize it yet?

One thing was for sure, something fishy was going on with mysterious goddess lady, and Tony was gonna find out what it was.

No matter how long it took him.

Sword Of The Cosmos

Chapter Summary

Penny meets with Death to talk about a sword.

Chapter Notes

Hello everyone, here's another chapter to my Goddess Penny series, I hope you enjoy this chapter, I spent a good while trying to research all the higher powers of the marvel universe so enjoy!

Penny has traveled to many places in her billion year life span, but there were a few places that she dared not cross into.

She knew the stories of course, the legends and myths surrounding the cosmic entities of the universe, the multiverse really.

She knew of them all, her having all the knowledge in the known universe due to her powers helped her of course, courtesy of Mind.

She knows of all the most powerful beings.

Some of which, whom she never wants to meet.

But, you can't always get what you want in life, Penny knows that more then anyone else in the multiverse.

She knows of the One-Above-All, the "God" of the multiverse. The being who's rumored to have made everything that existed in the whole world.

Then there's his counter part, the One-Below-All who's basically the living embodiment of everything evil in the world. If he were to ever decide to wipe the multiverse clean of all life, well he'd be one of the few who could do it.

Good thing he's been banished for a long, long time...

Then there was the Living Tribunal, who was the general personification of the multiversal law. The entity whom basically created the mentality she lived by. That with great power, came great responsibility.

And little happiness...

But Penny usually didn't say that last part, even if it was true...

Don't even get her started on Eternity, Infinity, Galactus, Oblivion, Era, Abraxas, The Watcher and The Beyonders.

But, the one being she was actually after, was the sister to the first four. She's been called many names throughout history. The

Dark Beauty, Dark One, Grim Reaper, Spectre of Death.

Or simply put, her name, Death.

See while her sibling, Eternity embodied life and growth when the One-Above-All created them, Death was the sister who embodied decay and destruction.

Because after all, the universe needed to be balanced and you can't have growth without decay.

But since becoming a cosmic entity herself, merging with the stones and killing all these Celestials roaming around, she's learned that sometimes, these entities gather, they gather to discuss matters of the multiverse as a whole but that wasn't the important part.

What was important, was the rumor she heard that the beings created a mold, a weapon that held immense power, that could power the wielder like nothing else.

The One-Above-All had made the blueprint incase of emergencies, incase the One-Below-All ever decided he wanted to no longer play nice with the known universe.

The Sword of The Cosmos...

Which was why, Penny was at the doorstep to the Realm of Death, knowing that if the weapon did exist, "God" would hide it with his most trusted creation.

Because even if Death was, well, Death. She still didn't try to cause mayhem and oblivion wherever she walked.

That was her brother's job.

And in Penny's opinion, all of the other children of the One-Above-All, well they weren't all that great.

Death was most likely the best choice, which was saying something about God's children...

"Okay Penny, you got this." The goddess sighed and tried to get herself ready before finally crossing over into Death's Realm, instantly acknowledging the difference, causing her to groan in discomfort and almost buckle at the weight of the atmosphere.

It reminded her of the Shadow Realm a bit, with all the black and white or shades of those colors. But unlike the shadow realm, she didn't need to activate her powers to keep from losing her color, she was still the same old Penny but she just felt...heavier, if that was the right word.

Like the air was thick with darkness, and it caused her to exert herself ten times the amount she'd usually have to just to lift one of her feet.

She now understood why Death didn't get that many visitors.

"I've been waiting for you."

Penny tuned around and she was suddenly in front of a throne, a throne with a woman sitting down staring directly at her.

Even though there wasn't light in the realm, for some reason Death's face was illuminated from her place on top her throne. Her purple eyes shone and switched from a deep midnight purple to a light lavender the next, looking Penny up and down.

She had to admit, Death did look stunning, having being attracted to women she was no fool to her looks and even if she was happily in a relationship, she was allowed to admire other people, it's not like she loved them like she did Natasha.

Death herself wasn't actually wearing much, she had on a silky black cloak that draped across her bare shoulders, her naked arms leaning against the arms of her throne while her bare legs were crossed as her shirt flap was down, covering what would've been where her private parts had been.

But Penny didn't want to assume she had the same parts as any other mortal.

Her chest though was only covered in a crop top, showing off Death's hour glass figure. Along the clothing she did have on, Penny saw there were what looked to be metallic looking bones embroidered onto the clothing itself.

Other then that though, she looked to be a normal human, perhaps a bit bigger then a normal human, looking to stand around ten foot tall, but her form definitely represented human kind.

After Penny was done looking her over though, she looked back up to the raven haired being with a raised eyebrow, "How long?" She asked casually with a small smile.

Death's black lips curved upward, just a little, "Millions of years. I didn't know when you'd arrive though."

"But you did know that I would, at some point, right?" Penny smirked.

Death hummed before gracefully standing up from her throne to walk towards Penny, slowly placing one foot in front of the other walking down the stairs, swaying her hips in a provocative manner and Penny knew without a second of doubt Death was doing so on purpose , "You are an oddity, Penelope Parker. A mortal gifted with cosmic powers. Gifted the ability to rule everything she ever wanted, yet...uses said powers to help. Most people wouldn't do that, you understand." Death said, coming to circle the goddess who was at least five feet shorter then her.

If Penny was anyone else she'd probably be intimidated but she knew how much power she really had, she knew it was nothing to scoff at, even though this was Death circling her like she was her prey.

"Oh trust me, I know. I've encountered enough bad people in my billions and billions of years alive in this universe. But..." She shrugged, "I guess somethings you just can't change."

Death huffed and stopped and stood right in front of Penny, looking down at her with now dark lavender eyes and a smile.

Penny could have also sworn she saw stars dance within the purple irises of the entity.

But that might've been just her imagination.

"Indeed, people can't change who they are, they only revel their true selves when gifted power such as yours."

Penny smiled but didn't waste another second before getting right to her point of crossing into her dimension, "You know why I'm here. I need the mold for The Sword. I need to craft it so it can house all the extra power I've accumulated throughout the ages. You know as much as I that power not contained is vulnerable. If the wrong person ever found out where I hid that much power, the whole multiverse would be at risk." Penny said.

Death narrowed her eyes down at her before tilting her head after a second of consideration, "Everything comes with a cost, I'm sure you know this by now." She said, causing Penny to nod.

"I know, name what you want, and I'll willingly give it, to this I swear." She said.

Death smiled, "You shall become my Champion." She said the fateful words which was no surprise to Penny.

The Stones had warned her that Death liked to gather champions, people who could fight for her, that would be an extension of her will if she ever needed extra help.

For whatever reason...

"Hmm, and what would that entail for me, exactly?" Penny asked with a raised eyebrow, staring up at Death.

"Not much." Death shrugged, "You would mainly just be labeled under my name. You'll be my champion, my warrior incase I ever need something done. Instead of doing so myself, I'll call upon you."

"What's the catch?"

Death smiled, "Nothing gets by you, that's for sure."

"Please just answer the question."

Death hummed before she turned around and started to walk over to a table that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Before she reached it though, she looked behind her shoulder and waved her fingers, gesturing Penny to follow which she did.

"The path you're on is a dangerous one, trying to prevent Thanos from snapping, trying to prevent everything that happened in your universe. I understand why you do what you do, but Thanos is not even the closest to the biggest threat out there, and you know that." She said, coming to stand at the head of the table with Penny at the other end.

"So why do you need me?"

"Once you have done what you came here to do, it will open up the opportunity for others to rise and try to claim said power. You accepting my offer will entitle you to a protection your powers can not give, a protection against my siblings, incase one of them ever decides to strike against you. By accepting, you will be given a fraction of my cosmic power so I, will always be with you."

"So I'll be your Agent of Death, right? And the power you give me will protect me from your siblings plus a part of you will always be with me, like the stones are, yes?"

Death nodded, "Correct."

"And after defeating Thanos, you think someone bigger will try to imbalance the universe so that's also why you want me to become an Agent."

"Correct again. You've already done an excellent job with taking the lives of other beings. What you do pleases me. Now all I ask in return, is when I call you in the future, you will, answer me." Death said with a serious gaze locked onto Penny's form.

Penny nodded her head in acceptance, knowing this was the only way she'd get the mold from Death but at the same time, there was a voice in the back of her head that sounded a lot like her girlfriend, telling her not to make the deal, not to tie herself down and become an agent of someone else, a pawn for someone whom she doesn't know the agenda of.

But she needed that sword...

"Deal, now where's the mold?" Penny said, consequences of the future be damned.

That sword was a necessity to her plans. She needed the sword to hold all of her power she's taken from the Celestials and once she collected the rest of them, she'd use the sword to hold the stones which were in this universe.

Legend says that the sword itself could also summon the Bifrost, cut into other dimensions and with enough power, could even cut a route into another universe if the wielder so wished.

She needed that sword...

Death smiled and snapped her fingers which made a giant metal mold crash down onto the table, "You should know a few things about this weapon that you don't already know."

Penny raised an eyebrow, "And that would be?"

"The sword has a special feature that we told no one about. I'm sure you'll be able to add in whatever features you wish, but take note when you do that the sword can split into two swords when wanted. Just thought I'd warn you." After she was done speaking, Penny suddenly found herself in front of Death's throne with said woman sitting back onto the chair and her standing five feet in front of her with the mold in her hands now.

"I'll be sure to remember that." Penny nodded.

Death smiled one last time before nodding at her with her eyes now shinning a royal purple, "Go then my champion, complete what you were destined to do."

Without another second of hesitation, Penny used the power of the Space stone to get the hell out of dodge, teleporting herself into her very own Realm where the bodies of the Celestial's were stored.

As soon as she stepped foot into her realm, she breathed out a sigh of relief at the heaviness now gone from herself, no longer feeling the pushing force of all that darkness.

"Well she was stellar as ever." Power muttered which made all of his siblings roll their eyes at his behavior.

"We all knew that was what she'd want from me, and we were prepared for it. Let's just take a five minute breather before heading to Nidavellir to talk with the Dwarfs though." Penny said, "Hopefully once they hear me out they'll build me my weapon."

"I'm telling you, first it's your cosmic powered girlfriend, then the literal God of Thunder falls out of the sky with his trusty Hammer. I mean seriously, what's with all these gods just popping up?!" Clint exclaimed with a groan as he and his partner walked the hallway down to Fury's office.

Natasha smirked at him with a raised eyebrow, "What? You jealous that you've only got a bow and arrow while they have godly powers that could crush you without a second thought?"

Clint gasped and placed a hand on his chest, "Ouch, how dare you. I thought we were partners, friends!? What happened to the loyalty, the trust we share? Hmm?"

"It all vanished and transferred over to a certain goddess." Natasha shrugged like it was no big deal.

Clint huffed, "Well I have never been so disrespected in my entire life before. And here I thought we were friends."

"We still are, you're just a baby." She said before pushing open the door to Fury's office, allowing her gobsmacked partner to follow a few seconds later.

There was already three people in the room though, Fury being one of them and Coulson and Hill being the other two.

When Natasha and Clint entered and took their spots standing next to the other two, the director finally started to talk.

"You know it's funny that whenever we could really use her, your girlfriend is no where to be found." Fury started off, staring directly at Natasha which made her insides boil.

Her girlfriend wasn't a weapon to be used, she was a person with emotions and feelings of her own. No one "used" her, she decided what she wanted and didn't want to do.

She made her displeasure known at her boss by glaring daggers at the man, "My girlfriend, is a person who can make her own decisions when she wants. Something off world needed her attention, which you know. Seeing as before she left you and her had a little meeting. Don't come crying to me because you didn't deal with the situation as well as she would've." She finished her rant, still glaring at her boss which would have made her look like a crazy person to anyone else who dared talk back to Fury.

But this was Seph, no one spoke bad about her when she couldn't defend herself, not even her boss...

Fury merely scoffed at her attitude, "Whatever, now we've got bigger problems to worry about though. As in, what to do with the growing population of powered individuals popping up."

"Sir? May I suggest something?" Coulson asked, stepping forward.

"You may agent."

"Maybe it's time to active the Avengers Initiative, sir." Coulson said which made the director nod his head in agreement.

"I was thinking the same thing. We know Stark says he doesn't wanna be in it, but maybe he'll give it another shot. There's also now Thor, who could be a potential candidate for the program along with Banner if we find him from whatever hole he's dug himself in. Then there's the matter of Mr Rogers. Our team is getting ready to thaw him out soon. We just need to make the final preparations before..." Fury though was interrupted by Natasha before he could finish.

"With all due respect sir, it may be wise to not thaw him out until Seph gets back from her mission. After all she did fight in the war with him, so a familiar face might be able to break the news better then any one of us." Natasha said, which brought up a very valid point which the director couldn't really dispute.

Fury grumbled for a second before nodding his head hesitantly, "You may be right on that Romanoff. Fine, we'll wait until she gets back for that. So that leaves us with four potential members plus the two of you which makes it six." The director said which made Natasha pause for a moment.

She knew about the Initiative, hell she was the one tasked with seeing if Tony would be a good fit for it but never did she think she'd ever be considered a part of the team.

After all, her ledger was coated in blood. Who would want someone with a background like hers, on a team full of heroes? It just didn't make sense to the young woman, not one bit.

But, she bit her tongue and nodded along, not believing she deserved the spot, but not saying anything against it.

If her boss wanted her on the team, then she'd be on the team, simple as that.

"Do you think she'd even consider being an Avenger? With someone as powerful as her, she'd be a great help at protecting peoples lives out there." Fury said which broke Nat out of her stupor.

She hesitated for a second before responding, "With all do respect, she doesn't really take orders that well. She's more of a "I'll do it myself, don't tell me what to do" type of person. Doesn't take well to authority figures."

Fury scoffed, "Figures. The one goddess I have on standby and she won't even listen to me, great." He rolled his eyes which made Clint smirk over towards his partner. Natasha saw said action out of the corner of her eye which in turn, made her glare back at him.

"I know a certain red headed spy who she does listen to though. All Natasha would have to do is flash her pretty little eyelashes at Seph and she'd practically do anything she asked." Clint laughed which made Natasha stomp down on his foot really hard, making the man cry out in pain and caused the other two agents to softly laugh under their breaths at the man's misfortune.

"Say another word and I'll make sure you never have any more kids, yeah?" She said as calmly as she could while staring the man in his eyes, showing him just how serious she was which made him gulp and nod his head.

"Course Nat, yup, right umm, I'll just shut up now if that's alright with you." He mumbled while subtly trying to hide his groin away from the spy which made her laugh internally at the man's fear.

It's not like she'd actually do it, she cared about Laura too much to get rid of her friend's boy toy.

Plus, they did make cute kids, she'd give him that.

"Alright, you're all dismissed. Romanoff, I expect to know when the goddess gets back understood?" He called out as she walked out the door but Natasha didn't even look back as she answered, trying to keep the snark and the anger out of her tone of voice as much as she could.

"Yes sir."

Was she petty and slammed the door on her way out?

Well, maybe just this once.

"What brings you here to our realm, oh great one?" The voice of Eitri, the dwarf king called out to her as she was escorted by two other dwarfs towards where he was located in his own throne room.

Over the course of the past few millenniums, she's helped both Asgard and Nidavellir prosper in its golden age.

She's basically Family towards Thor and Loki for heavens sake, there when they grew up, watching as they both turned into fine young men.

Albeit, one very mischievous boy and one very arrogant boy, but both were someone she considered apart of her family nonetheless.

Hell, even Loki liked her, which was definitely saying something.

But that's a story for another time she supposed, now she had to get down to business.

"I'm in desperate need of help Eitri. You see I have this mold for a weapon that I need crafted. It's a weapon like no other, more powerful than any you've ever made in the past. Believed to only be rumor until I found it." Penny said materializing the mold into her hand, allowing the dwarfs in the room to see the symbol plastered onto the front of the mold itself.

The symbol, which was essentially a bunch of ovals overlapping each other, but that one symbol spelt out one thing.

The Cosmos.

And there was only one weapon rumored to ever wield that symbol and it seemed the dwarfs knew that too.

"The sword...of the cosmos. Where did you find that, oh great one?" Eitri muttered in disbelief at what he was staring at.

"Death was nice enough to give it to me. I drove a hard bargain but that's not the important part now, what is, is the fact I have it now, and require the best forge, the best metals and the best blacksmith to craft it for me. Are you up for the challenge, Eitri?" She gently teased the dwarf with an amused smirk across her face.

Eitri looked at her and the towards the mold, back and forth a couple times before he suddenly smiled at her and kneeled down in front, signaling all the other dwarfs to bow to her as well, "It would be my honor."

Penny smiled, "Great, let's get to work."

It took no time at all for Eitri to get to his forge with Penny trailing behind and the mold safely in her grasp.

As they walked the halls of Eitri's home, she looked out to the horizon and saw the blazing neutron star in all its glory, shinning and glistening with oranges and yellows and purples. All of the colors mixing together to form a truly beautiful sight.

Man what an amazing sight to see everyday when you wake up, she had to find a way to show Natasha all these sights, they truly were so gorgeous you had to be there to see their true magnificence.

"Can I have the mold, oh great one?" Eitri asked with his arms outstretched but Penny rolled her eyes as she handed it to him.

"Of course Eitri but how many times have I told you to stop calling me that, Persephone is fine." She said, watching as he walked over to his machines and placed the mold inside the caster.

"Sorry, Persephone. That'll take time to get used to, for sure." He said as he walked over to his instruments to make sure everything was set and ready to go while Penny sat back and watched the master work his magic.

"Alright, prepare yourself everyone, things might get a little bright in here." He said after a few minutes when he was sure everything was checked and double checked, not wanting to take the chance at messing up a weapon such as this one.

He walked over to the handle and pushed the lever down, opening up the gateways for the neutron star's energy to shoot through the machine and the rings, hitting the spot it needed to in order to melt the metal for the sword itself.

Penny watched the process in fascination, looking at how the metal slowly melted and as the dwarfs carefully poured the liquid into the molding.

The liquified metal slowly entered the mold and while doing so, Penny had time to reflect on what she'd do first with the sword once she had it.

The most logical thing that needed to happen was she needed to transfer all the raw power she stole from different Celestial's into the weapon.

After that she could also get rid of all the armor she had in her realm and just make one suit for everything out of all the bodies.

She would no longer have to keep more then one armor so that would be fantastic.

Once all the cosmic power and raw energy from the Celestial's were embedded into the sword, making the weapon all the more powerful, she could work in how she'd be getting the stones of this universe into the sword.

She had already nabbed the Soul Stone, it being the easiest one for her at the moment since Thanos wasn't destined to find it for a good few years and not having to say much to Red Skull for him to hand it over.

She was the Stones after all, she was now a cosmic entity herself so if she wanted the Soul Stone, she'd have the Soul Stone.

It probably also helped that she was technically part Soul anyways, so that's another reason why it was probably so simple.

But she had to plan for the others ones. She knew the Tesseract was still on earth in Shield's possession, the Power Stone was no doubt still on Morag, Loki would be given the Scepter by Thanos very soon, the Aether still housed the Reality stone and the Ancient one was safe keeping the Time Stone for now until Strange got his hands on it.

Most of those Stones though were needed to help shape the heroes of the universe so she couldn't take them too early, she'd have to wait until the opportune moment.

She was patient though, she could wait.

Back to the present, after only a few minutes Eitri turned the machine off and walked over to the mold to crack it opened and when he did, Penny laid eyes on the most beautiful piece of weaponry she's seen in years.

The whole weapon was made out of the same metal, so there wasn't really much difference but Penny could see the detail along the handle and hilt of the sword itself.

She saw the embroidered ruins along the hilt as well as the handle too but what caught her eye the most was the six places on the hilt of the weapon which would house the stones and the lines that ran up along the blade.

The sword looked perfect.

"Legend says that only a true being of power could wield such a weapon like this. If you are positive Persephone, that you are worthy, hold out your hand and let the weapon come to you." Eitri said, nodding his head towards the goddess which made her nod right back.

She inhaled before exhaling the air a second later and extended her hand out towards the sword, allowing her eyes to close and her power to wash over her like a warm shower. Feeling her cosmic energy flow through her being she reached out and tried to summon the weapon to her with only her Will.

She heard a whooshing noise before suddenly there was a weight in her hand. She opened her eyes just in time to watch as the sword settled into her hand and saw her own cosmic power transfer into the blade itself.

All sorts of colors ran up the lines along the blade. There were reds and purples and yellows and greens, all the colors of the rainbow plus Penny could see a shimmer to them as well, signaling how truly powerful her energy was.

"Would you look at that." She muttered under her breath as she turned the sword around in her hands, letting the power imbued inside wash over her. She couldn't believe how much power this one sword had, she could feel it, swirling around within the weapons itself, waiting to be used whenever she was ready.

Penny smiled and turned to look at Eitri and the other dwarfs, "Thank you, all of you for this. You have no idea how much this will help me in my journey."

Eitri smiled back at her and shook his head, "There's no need for thanks. You protect us from evil, it is the least we could do for you."

"And I'll continue to protect you all. Which is why I had those sensors built into your realm. The minute Thanos tries anything, I'll know it and I promise to get all your people out as fast as I can." Penny said.

"Again, I Thank you for warning me in advance. When Thanos arrives I'll be ready, the mold for the gauntlet is already made but, I do have to ask. If you know Thanos will try to collect the stones, why don't you track him down and kill him before he starts his crusade? I know you're fully capable." Eitri asked with a tilted head, no accusation or anger in his tone, just curiousness.

Penny sighed, "Because certain events need to happen. I wouldn't expect you to understand my actions Eitri, all I ask is you trust me."

Eitri sighed at her answer but nodded his head, "Alright, I can do that. You've proven yourself time and time again to me, so I'll trust your judgment…You know if you need any help, I'm always open though."

Penny smiled up at him, "I know, and you have no idea how much that really means to me. If I ever need you, I'll be sure to ask, I promise. Now, since we're all done here, I really should be getting back." She said as she materialized a sheath for the sword across her back and placed the weapon in the holster.

Eitri nodded his head and slightly bowed, "Till next time."

Penny sighed as she teleported back into her apartment, instantly getting bombarded by her very playful dog.

"Okay, yes yes I missed you too baby!" Penny chuckled as she got down onto one knee to give her love to her companion.

"Hey you." The voice of her girlfriend called out as she walked up to her cosmic powered lady friend. Penny smiled and got up onto both her feet just in time to circle her arms around Natasha's shoulders as the spy circled her's around Penny's slim waist.

"I missed you." Penny murmured into Natasha's neck which made her smile and squeeze her girlfriend just a little harder.

"I missed you too." She replied before pulling away to raise an eyebrow at her, "You also missed a whole load of shit, you know that right?"

Penny merely smiled up at her with mischief dancing behind her gaze, "Oh I know, but I couldn't have Thor learn that his Aunt Persephone was on earth, it was too early for that."

Natasha raised an eyebrow at her, "Aunt Persephone?"

Penny shrugged, "Well yeah, I know all the gods of the universe. There's the Egyptian gods and goddess which are just a blast to hand out with, especially Khonsu. Then there's the Greek gods such as Zeus and Hades. They aren't as fun as you'd think, they kind of think down on like, everyone else in the universe. Asgard has probably the best gods and goddesses out there to be honest."

"Wait, isn't Persephone the wife to Hades in Greek lore?" Natasha asked and continued when Penny nodded, "So doesn't that mean there's actually a Persephone out there?"

Penny chuckled, "Actually there isn't. Apparently in this universe the real Persephone was never born. That's why I adopted the name, because the humans still needed a person to model Persephone for their beliefs and once they saw what I did back in that forest, well there wasn't really much I could do to persuade them otherwise."

"So I don't have to worry about an angry Hades coming after me for stealing his wife, right?" Natasha asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk but Penny could here the emotions behind her tone, could hear how serious she was being.

Penny's face softened and she rested her hand across Nat's shoulder, "I promise nothing like that will happen. I've never married anyone in my billion year life before, I promise."

For some reason, that kind of shocked the spy, "Really? You never found one person that you loved throughout the ages?" Natasha asked.

Penny though shook her head, "Nope. I mean I've had plenty of flings with very famous people in history, but I've never really loved anyone before. Not till, well not till I met you." She add shyly at the end of her sentence with a slight blush to her cheeks and ears, making the spy smile.

For some reason, hearing that throughout history, she had been the only one to really catch Seph's interest, well that made her feel larger then life itself.

How she had been the only one to invoke feelings into such a powerful being as Penelope.

Natasha smirked and leaned forward to capture Penny's lips with her own, causing the goddess to moan in surprise before her eyes fluttered shut as she gently recuperated the action.

After a few moments the two pulled apart and smiled at each other, "So, what have you been up to while I've been gone?

Besides Thor making a guest appearance." Penny asked as she led her girlfriend and dog towards the couch to sit.

"Well, Fury wants to get the Avengers together soon. He wants Stark, Banner, Thor, Clint, Rogers and I to be apart of the first six apparently. He also asked me to ask you if you wanted a place, but I told him fat chance." Natasha said with a small smirk but something in her tone caught Penny's attention.

When Natasha said that she was gonna be apart of the first group of Avengers an emotion passed through her gaze that Penny

did not like at all.

It looked like guilt or shame, something like that but to Penny neither of them were good so she had to do something about that real quick.

"What's wrong?" She asked, staring directly at Nat with a worried frown across her face, completely changing the subject.

"What?" Natasha blinked at her in confusion, not knowing where this was suddenly coming from.

"I said, what's wrong? Somethings bothering you, I can tell." Penny said which made Natasha bite her lip and slightly turn away from her but Penny was having none of that.

She reached over and hooked her finger under Natasha's chin to angle her face towards her. She smiled gently at the spy and fluttered her eyesbrows at her.

"Naaaatt."

Said spy snorted, "Nope."

"Tashaaa? Pleeeeeease?" Penny playfully pouted at her.

"Nothings wrong."

"You are lying." Penny said in a sing song tone of voice, still staring directly into Nat's eyes, making sure she kept an open expression across her face.

Natasha tried to fight her on it, not in the mood for spilling her secrets but looking into Penny's eyes, there was no hope in fighting her, she knew Seph wouldn't judge her on her feelings.

"I…why would he want me on the team? He knows of my past, how much red is on my ledger. Yet he wants me on a team full of heroes." Natasha whispered staring into Penny's eyes. "I'm no hero."

Penny herself felt a wave of sadness wash through her at the vulnerable tone of voice her girlfriend had. Even after all this time of trying to convince her otherwise, there were still moments where Natasha thought she wasn't worthy of love, wasn't worthy of praise when she's done so many bad things in the past.

It never fails to sadden the goddess.

"Look at me." Penny whispered, "There is nothing about you that I'd change. Everything you've been through, has led you to where you are today. It's shaped you into this beautiful young woman in front of me. You've done bad things, so has everyone including me, but those actions don't define you unless you let them. I think you'd make a pretty damn good hero." Penny smiled before chuckling a little, "But I could be biased."

Natasha softly chuckled and shook her head, "You're unbelievable. How do you always do that?"

"Do what?" Penny asked tilting her head.

"Make me feel better with just a few words and a smile. It's scary how much power you actually have over me."

"Well you should be relieved to know that you have just as much power over me, if not more." She said before lightly scoffing with a teasing smirk, "If anyone in this relationship should be scared of that, it should be me." Penny finished which made Natasha snort.

"In your dreams Seph." Natasha said with a smile now across her face.

Her girlfriend always knew what to say to make her feel better.

After a couple more minutes holding each other, Penny suddenly froze and pulled back from the hug to stare incredulously at Nat.

"Did you say Rogers?" She asked with a raised eyebrow which made Nat smirk.

"How do you feel about waking up your old war buddy?"

Steve didn't know what was happening.

One second, he was on the plane getting ready to crash it into the ice, talking to his date and sister from over the coms then the next, well he was waking up in what looked to be an infirmary but there was a pit in his stomach that gave him a bad feeling.

That was, until he heard her voice…

"You've been sleeping awhile bro, I was starting to get worried about you." The voice of his sister called out to him which made the man smile as he looked up from his bed to see Stephanie, his and Buck's basically adopted sister since childhood.

At the mention of his best friend, a wave of sadness washed over him but he put it aside for her.

He could deal with his grief later.

"Hey. How long have I been out?" He asked but paused when emotions passed through her gaze, emotions that he did not like what so ever.

"What? What's wrong?" He asked with growing dread.

She sighed and started to walk over to his bed from her spot leaning against the doorframe. She sat down on the edge of his bed and placed her hand on his knee which was now uncovered from the thin blanket before she spoke up, "We have a lot, to catch you up on little bro."

End Notes

Like I said, it might be awhile until I update this but I hope you have enjoyed the first chapter and I hope you stay around for more, because I promise, I won't ever abandon a story, I'm just gonna finish my other one first. If you want to read something, go read that one until it's finished. Comments, Kudos, and suggestions are appreciated.

Please drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!