Thank you so much to everyone that has been reading and reviewing! I appreciate you all so much! I hope you like part 2 to yesterday's prompt!
Psych 101
Tony was gonna kill this kid.
No. Even that thought made a shudder run through his entire body, mind flashing back to the basement. To when Sam had found the girl, covered in blood, drugged and tied up in the basement of a veterinarian's subdivision house. So no, he couldn't think about Penny dying. Not even as a joke. Not after what she'd been through. Not after he'd sat at her side for house while she'd come off of the drugs, shaking and throwing up and hooked up to IVs to keep her hydrated. Not after she'd woken up screaming over and over those first few days, eyes wild and horrified as they darted around the room, as though she expected herself to be there again. Not after he'd climbed into the bed beside her, pulling her into his arms and rocking her back and forth and murmuring, over and over, that it was okay. That she was safe. And then he'd scooted over to make room for May to do the same, shushing her and kissing her forehead and promising and promising and promising. Penny would be okay. Penny would be safe. They had her. She was in the tower.
That man couldn't hurt her again. Natasha had taken care of him.
It had taken a week for Penny to open her eyes and make it through a conversation or choke down a meal without breaking down. To sleep through a single night without nightmares. Sam came into her room in the medbay where she stayed for observation every day, and Tony and May took a break to eat and talk and try to feel normal while the two of them did something like therapy, even if he never called it that. Tony got some work done and May made phone calls to work and to friends, then joined Pepper for walks. Sometimes they took naps. But they almost never left the building. It had felt impossible to leave the tower...to be so far away from her when it felt like she could have so easily slipped through their fingers.
It had taken two weeks for her to go back to school, which now had a new security company that was vetted by Happy Hogan, with each guard being hired directly by him.
A month for her to be cleared for Spider-Girl. For Helen to run her through a myriad of physical tests and for Sam to give her a psychological evaluation and for both of them to agree that she could go back to patrolling, as long as it was nothing serious. Traffic control. Giving tourists directions. Stopping muggers and maybe shoplifters.
And Penny had agreed.
She never spoke to Tony or May about what had happened, beyond whispers after nightmares that she was scared. That she didn't want to go back. Otherwise, she didn't speak a word of it, except, presumably, to Sam during their almost daily therapy sessions that slowly tapered off into weekly sessions, and then, by the time three months had passed, they were more like occasional texts and phone calls. And Tony didn't ask. As far as he knew, May didn't either.
He knew there were lingering effects. PTSD. He'd catch her rubbing at her wrists sometimes where the scars could still be seen. Faint, but still there. She didn't like to be in dark rooms, and didn't like closed doors. May had told him that she now slept with a night light plugged into her wall, and he'd sent an intern out to buy one for her room at the tower. She had to sleep with background music playing...the silence was too much for her. Too much like that basement. He never asked her about any of it. Couldn't bring himself to. Because it was his fault. He'd gotten those pictures and what had he done? Nothing. Nothing concrete. He'd warned her about them, sure. He'd investigated. He'd increased security.
But he hadn't told her how serious this was. Hadn't taken the time to really drive it home. He'd never, not once, thought to tell her not to go after the New York Lady Killer. Because he'd just assumed that she knew better! Spider-Girl went after local criminals, sure, but not serial killers. She helped tourists find the Statue of Liberty and rescued runaway cats. She stopped muggings and small-time bank robbers.
The Lady Killer had killed six women. He'd almost killed seven.
And now he had a copycat.
Tony hadn't told Penny. As far as he knew, no one had. The first woman had been killed a week after Penny had been rescued from the basement, and Natasha and Steve had been the first ones on it, scouring the city for the person who had taken it upon themselves to try and copy the man who had met his end at the hands of Natasha Romanoff. Sam was working with them, as was Wanda, but Tony hadn't told Penny because he didn't want her to be afraid. Didn't want her to know that more women were being killed. Didn't want to talk to her about serial killers because he was afraid of talking to her about what had happened in that basement. Or about the fact that she'd been kidnapped and tortured while trying to apprehend a serial killer that he should have told her not to go after.
It was his fault and it was her fault and it was the serial killer's fault but the serial killer was dead and he couldn't bring himself to scold her so it was just his fault.
And now she'd gone after the copycat. He'd gotten the call from Sam once again, only this time, Penny hadn't even been missing. As far as Tony had known, she'd been at Ned's. And he'd thought that because she'd explicitly told both him and May that she was going to Ned's. Tony's hands shook as he landed beside the warehouse, glancing over at Sam who gave a quick nod.
"Where is he?"
Sam grimaced a little. "It's a woman. Registered nurse. She works at the hospital with May. Natasha has her in custody."
"Custody?"
"We figured flat out killing a second one might be pushing it a bit."
"She's killed three people."
Sam just nodded, lips pursed. Tony took a deep breath, meeting his eyes.
"Where's Spidey?"
"Penny followed her from the hospital."
"Penny," Tony repeated. Because there was a difference. So she hadn't been in her suit.
"She was trying to avoid detection. Apparently she's suspected this woman for a few days."
"A few days," Tony repeated, voice dangerously soft to his own ears. She'd suspected for a few days. "And she didn't say anything?"
"Not to me," Sam confirmed, looking surprisingly calm.
"Is she hurt?"
"Not a scratch on her," Sam told him, shaking his head.
Good, Tony thought. It was good that she wasn't hurt because he couldn't see himself telling her how stupid all of this had been had she been hurt. He started to push past Sam, but the man held out a hand, clearing his throat softly.
"Tony…"
"Move."
"Tony, she…"
"She's not hurt?" Tony confirmed.
"She's fine."
"Then move."
Sam stared at him for a moment, then nodded, stepping to the side. "Just...go easy on her," the man urged, but Tony ignored him, storming into the warehouse and pausing when he saw the woman laying on the cot on the floor, Steve kneeling at her side and helping her sit up. She looked dazed, and there was blood staining the mattress, so Tony stopped himself from yelling, eyes immediately cutting away from her. That had been Penny less than two months ago. He could have lost her. She could have been killed.
Again.
Penny was standing in the corner on the other side of the room, arms crossed, face pointed to the ground like a child waiting for a scolding. She knew what she'd done. She knew that she was in trouble. Good. She was in trouble. She should feel bad.
"Kid," he ordered, and she looked up at him, face in shadow. Jerking his head toward a side door, he headed straight for it, not looking back to see if she was following. Of course she was.
As soon as they were outside, he engaged his repulsors and headed for the roof, waiting for her to crawl up to join him in her jeans and t-shirt. It was quiet. Almost silent, or as silent as New York City could get. They were close to the river. Close to where the Lady Killer had dumped his first victim. Close to where they'd found Penny's phone. The first victim had her throat slit. She'd been drugged, and tortured. And that could have been Penny. Penny's feet touched the ground almost silently, and he watched as she approached, her head still downcast, arms at her sides. Shoulders back. Face blank. Ready.
So was he. His anger was like ice, making his hands shake, his heart race, his skin break out in goosebumps.
"What in the everloving fuck were you thinking?" he snapped, his cold voice breaking the silence. Not giving her a chance to answer, he went on. "Less than two months ago, you were nearly killed. Do you get that? You were almost killed and..."
"I know…"
"No you don't!" he shouted, voice too loud, but he couldn't stop because her wrists had been bleeding and she'd been so full of drugs that her lips had been blue and she'd woken up crying or screaming for so long. "You don't know! You don't fucking know Penny! You don't know what it was like to find you in that basement! You have no fucking idea what it was like to almost lose you because you had to run off and play at being a hero! You went after a serial killer! A serial killer that you knew had targeted you! That took photos of you and mailed them to me! That you knew went after women! And then, after that one almost kills you, you go after another one? Without your suit?"
"Mr. Stark…"
"I can't believe you would do something so stupid!"
"She worked with my aunt! I stopped her from killing that woman! I had it handled!" Penny shouted back, taking a step forward, her own fists clenched at her sides, and he couldn't stop himself. Wasn't thinking as he stepped forward, towering over her, fists clenched at his sides.
"You did not have it handled! We found you tied up and drugged in a basement! He was going to kill you! It took you a week to come down off those drugs! You still have scars on your wrists! You can't even sleep without a nightlight! And then you do it again? You find another serial killer that's going after women and you decide, what the hell, I didn't mind being tied up in a fucking basement the first time! Why not try it again?"
And then Penny's breath caught, eyes shutting tight to keep tears from falling as she turned her face away. And, watching her stumble back a step, crouching and crossing her arms over her chest as if to make herself smaller...as if to protect herself, Tony felt every ounce of anger drain away, along with the blood from his face. "Shit," he hissed, looking away, swallowing back bile. "Damn it…" Bringing a hand up to his face, he felt the tears he hadn't even realized he was shedding as they ran down his cheeks.
That man had almost killed her. He could have lost her. And now he was screaming at her because she hadn't wanted to let another woman get hurt.
Part of him wanted to keep going. Wanted to tell her that she should have come to him with her suspicions. That she should have told one of them...any of them, about this before going after this woman by herself. But she was staring at the ground, shoulders shaking with silent sobs, chin tucked to her chest, arms wrapped around herself as if to keep herself safe, and he couldn't do it. He couldn't yell anymore. Because every time he closed her eyes, he saw her in that basement. He saw her blue lips and Sam frantically rubbing at her pale feet. He saw her in the medbay, screaming in her sleep or sobbing in his arms or staring into space as she came down off those drugs before heaving into a bucket and shaking so hard her teeth chattered even though she was covered in the thickest quilts Tony had been able to find.
Tony gestured for the suit to open, climbing out and wrapping his arms around her as quickly as he could, biting down hard on his lip when she threw her arms around him. It didn't take three seconds for her to let go, sobbing into his shirt, her whole body trembling as her fingers clenched in his shirt. "I'm sorry," he whispered, closing his eyes.
"I...I didn't...mean…" she choked out, unable to get the words out through her sobs.
"Shhhh, it's okay. I'm sorry. You're okay."
"Sorry...sorry, I didn't…" He waited, rubbing her back and trying to breathe calmly, hoping to get her own breathing under control. "I wanted...wanted...to...prove…"
"You wanted to prove that you could do it. That you could save her," he murmured, rocking them back and forth a little. He understood it, because he would have done the same thing. Hell, hadn't he gone right back to Afghanistan after getting out? Granted, he'd done so with a suit. Still.
"I couldn't let her hurt someone else."
Tony pulled back a little, cupping her face in his hands and feeling his heart clench painfully when he saw the tears and her red-rimmed eyes. "Penny...kid, you can't do this kind of stuff alone. You just can't." He wiped a thumb under her eye. "I know that you're capable, Pen. I swear, ask anyone. I won't shut up about how you're going to be the best of us. But this kind of stuff...you've got to call for backup."
"It was my fault. The first time," she whispered, the words bursting out. "I wasn't paying attention. I was texting Ned, and my senses went off…"
"Penny…"
"You were right! He took me by surprise and...and he drugged me and he kept drugging me and I couldn't think but I should have…"
"Hey, stop," he murmured, shaking his head. "No. I was not right. I shouldn't have been yelling at you in the first place. And it wasn't your fault that he attacked you. It wasn't your fault that you couldn't get away. He had you so full of drugs it's a wonder he didn't kill you."
"He said he would," Penny told him in a voice so soft that he almost didn't hear. "He...he said he was going to leave my body by the tower. So you'd find me."
Tony shook a shuddering breath and pulled her close again, feeling his heart race in his chest as he pressed his lips to the top of her head.
"I couldn't move. I couldn't think. But I knew he was going to kill me. And...and I couldn't let someone else go through that. Not when I could stop it."
Tony squeezed her hard and nodded. "I know."
"I didn't want someone that loved her to find her in an alley."
"I know, honey," he whispered into her hair. "I get it. Hey," he pulled back and tilted her chin up, giving her a tenuous smile. "I'm not mad. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled like that. I was...I was freaking out. When we found you...I was so scared, Pen. I thought we were going to lose you. And...and I know that you're a hero in your own right. I know that you can handle yourself. But...please. If you run into something like this again...please, for me...call for backup."
She nodded immediately, wiping at her cheeks. "I promise."
He smiled, resting a hand on her shoulder, trying to slow his still-racing heart. "Alright, Pen. Let's get back to the tower." And then he climbed back into the suit, gestured for her to climb on, and flew back towards safety, knowing he'd want to keep her in his sight for the foreseeable future, but also knowing that was impossible. So he'd just have to trust her to call for help if she needed it.
And if that failed, he'd put more trackers in her stuff.