Prompt: The Avengers think Penny is Tony's daughter because she is at the compound.

In Tony's defense, it had been a very, very busy week.

A very busy week.

Pepper had told him under no uncertain terms that he couldn't skip the meeting on Monday, so he'd dressed in his newest suit and showed up to pretend to take notes, make snap decisions, and generally annoy Pepper when he pulled his phone out and blatantly texted Rhodey. The other people in the meeting shot him uncomfortable, somewhat aggravated looks, but they never dared say anything to him. So he texted and tried not to pay too much attention.

Tuesday was also full of meetings, these about the Accords. Things had been...better. Ever since Steve had gotten back in contact with him. The team was working together again. Sort of. They were having meetings, anyway. Trying to sort out the Accords. Trying to come to some kind of agreement. And that meant that they were spending hours every week going through pages and pages of fine print. So far, they'd only had one serious argument. Granted, it had been two weeks, but still.

Wednesday was training day. As in, Steve wanted to get the team back together which meant he wanted them to train together every week. So on Wednesday morning, all of the Avengers met at the compound and, dressed in fancy workout gear, they sparred and practiced shooting at targets with various weapons and generally got sweaty and by the end of the day, Tony's muscles were aching and he was ready for a shower.

He spent Thursday in the lab, trying to get caught up on everything that needed fixing, from Stark phone prototypes to the Iron Man armor. Pepper was also busy with meetings all day, so he made sure to take her out to dinner that night...somewhere nice and fancy where the two of them could spend some actual time together. It had been nice, despite the occasional person taking a picture with their cellphone. He'd just given them the finger, ignoring Pepper who scolded him, and tried to enjoy a normal night with his fiancee.

And then it was Friday, and the Avengers were coming back over to the Compound for...okay, Tony wasn't 100% sure. He didn't want to call it a bonding session. But….that's kind of what it sounded like. Instead of going to the training room, they were headed to the living room to have dinner together...talk over some of the paperwork and probably watch TV...Steve was trying to make it like the good old days again.

And even though Tony wasn't sure they remembered the 'good old days' the same way, he was willing to give it a try. Be a real team again...even if Spangles could be annoying and Sam could be kind of an ass and Clint drank all of his soda. It was still...well, it was fine. He was working on being fine with all of it. So after a meeting in the city, he and the others were headed back, Tony driving with Nat, Clint, and Rhodey, and Steve driving with Sam, Wanda, and Vision who was learning what it meant to ride in a car and why he couldn't just fly everywhere. Well...so he could have, but Tony figured that he and Wanda just wanted to spend more time together.

Tony had a feeling that he was forgetting something, that he had missed a meeting or...something. But he couldn't be sure, so he checked his phone at a stop light. No meetings...no texts from Pepper. No calls. Nothing. A horn honking behind him jerked him back to attention, and beside him, Rhodey lifted an eyebrow. "You waiting for a text?"

Tony put his phone back on the console, shaking his head. "Nope. Just making sure Pep didn't try to call.." He dismissed his own behavior, turning up the radio and smirking a bit when, in the rearview mirror, he saw Natasha lay her head back on the headrest and close her eyes, looking at peace. Comfortable. Safe. It was rare that Nat let her guard down like that. He was glad that she felt like she could do so with him. With them. Beside her, Clint rested an arm on the window ledge, watching the scenery pass...it really did almost feel like the good old days. Whatever the hell those had been.

When they arrived at the Compound, Tony led the group straight up to the living area, stopping short when he realized exactly what it was he'd forgotten.

Penny had been waiting for him. It was almost four o'clock...he'd left her waiting for over an hour. The girl had obviously started on the sofa, her homework spread out on the coffee table. Textbooks, notebooks, pens, and a calculator were strewn across his coffee table and floor, and the girl was curled up on her side, wrapped in a blanket, head resting on a cushion. The sight made Tony smile before he was even aware of it. On the floor by her hand was a book laying face down, the cover showing a title by Jane Austen. He knew she hated those books. He also knew that she had a paper due the next week. But he'd forgotten about lab day.

"Uh...Tony?" Steve asked, and Tony realized that they'd all come to a halt around him and that Steve was looking from him to Penny.

"Right...uh...I forgot the kid was going to be here this weekend." He scratched at his neck, shaking his head and trying to wipe the smile off his face. As he spoke, the girl started to stir, and he moved over to the back of the sofa, leaning over to look at her. "Hey, kid. Have a good nap?"

She muttered something he couldn't catch, then opened her eyes. "Mr. Stark?" She asked, narrowing her eyes but not seeming startled. "What...did I fall asleep?"

"Yep. DIdn't know Jane Austen was that boring." She groaned, throwing her arm over her face.

"That paper is due Tuesday."

"Don't worry, kiddo. You've got this." He grinned, reaching down and ruffling her hair. She swatted him away with a lazy smile, sitting up and then freezing when she caught sight of the Avengers on the other side of the room. Rhodey, she knew. And Vision. But that was about it.

"Um…"

"Right." Tony clapped his hands, gesturing to the girl who jumped to her feet. "Everyone, this is Penny. Pen, I'm sure you know who all these people are."

"Yeah...hi. Nice to...uh...to meet you." The girl stammered a little, glancing over at Tony as if unsure what she should do.

"You too." Steve stepped forward, the first to recover, his smile surprised and gentle and very Captain America. "Steve Rogers." He introduced himself unnecessarily. "Tony didn't tell us that you would b here…"

"Oh…" She glanced at him again, this time with hurt clear on her face, and Tony reached out, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, kiddo. Got a little caught up with meetings today and it slipped my mind." She forgave him instantly, of course, her face turning to worry.

"Oh, I can go home…" He shook his head immediately.

"No. Stay. We weren't doing anything important." Steve lifted an eyebrow and Natasha grinned a little.

"It's nice to meet you, Penny." The woman held out a hand as well, and then she was greeting all of them, smiling and excited once more. No one asked who exactly she was, which Tony found strange until later after they talked about the Accords in the living room while Penny finished up her homework and pretended not to listen from her spot at the table. Over dinner, they all asked the girl the normal, mundane questions that people asked teenagers. Where did she go to school? Favorite subject? Had she thought about college? All that stuff.

After dinner, they settled themselves around the living room, with Penny at Mr. Stark's side, Rhodey on his other side, and watched a movie until Penny was yawning. "Alright, kid. Why don't you head to bed?"

"I can just go home…"

"Nah. Just stay the night. We'll work in the lab tomorrow, okay? Promise."

"Okay. I just have to tell May." She gave in easily, rubbing a tired hand over her eyes. Tony had known that she would...about half the time, she stayed the night in her bedroom and they would continue their lab sessions the next day. It was how they got so much work done on both her suit and the robot he was helping her build, complete with an actual personality. But it was kind of odd for her to be so tired before midnight, and he had a feeling it might have something to do with nightmares. He would ask her the next day when there weren't so many people around. "Night." He smiled, reaching out and patting her on the arm as she passed.

"Night, kid. See you in the morning. We'll sleep in tomorrow."

The other Avengers sent her off with various 'it was nice to meet you's' and he heard her bedroom door shut. Pepper had been the one to decorate the girl's room, and Tony had had clothes ordered to fill it, just in case she ever needed to say over. Pepper had called it overkill to stock her entire closet and dresser with clothes...and, okay, there were some books and a LEGO set and extra notebooks and paper and a laptop but...whatever. He wanted the kid to be comfortable there.

"Tony...why wouldn't you tell us that you had a daughter?" Steve asked, eyes wide as he leaned toward Tony and whispered. Beside him, Rhodey almost choked on his beer, and Natasha lifted an eyebrow, looking intrigued as her eyes went from Tony to Steve.

"What?" He asked, incredulous.

"Penny. Why wouldn't you tell us about her?"

"Man, I knew it." Rhodey murmured, and Tony elbowed him hard.

"Penny isn't my daughter. She's…" Okay, so he couldn't tell them she was Spidergirl. It wasn't exactly his secret to share. "She's my intern." Rhodey rolled his eyes but Tony ignored him.

"Your intern?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "Your intern spend a lot of nights in the Avengers Compound after falling asleep on your sofa?"

"She comes over every week for her internship…"

"Which you personally oversee…" Clint cut in. Tony sighed.

"And sometimes we go too late, so I had a guest room set aside for her. Just in case she needed to stay over."

No one looked convinced by this story. Then Vision spoke up. "It is true. Miss Parker spends many weekends here after she and Tony work together in the lab all evening. He often takes her out for ice cream afterward." Tony ran a hand over his eyes.

"Not helping, Vis."

"You take all your interns out for ice cream?" Natasha wondered.

"Tony only has one intern." Vision informed them. "All other Stark Industries interns are graduate students. Penny is Tony's only personal intern, and the only intern he allows into her private lab." Everyone was smiling at him then, and he rolled his eyes again, leaning back against the back of the sofa and dropping a hand over his face.

"Thanks, Vision. That's enough information."

"So...how long have you known about her?" Steve asked, voice gentle and coaxing. "She seems like a great kid...I'm assume you didn't always know."

Deciding that they weren't going to believe him, and not wanting to tell them the girl's secret, he decided that he'd let them think whatever they wanted. "I'm going to bed. Feel free to see yourselves to your rooms."

"Did you always know about her, Tony?" Clint wondered.

"There's food in the fridge. But keep it down. The kid's asleep. And I'm about to be too."

Ignoring the questions coming from the living room, he headed down the hall. "Fri, is Penny asleep?"

"Yes, boss."

"Soundproof her room, would you. Until tomorrow morning. And don't wake me before ten unless she needs me." Stepped into his bedroom, he found Pepper in bed already and crawled in beside her, closing his eyes and wondering if the girl would want to tell the Avengers who she was or let them keep making assumptions.

He was fine either way.

Thank you for reading!