Prompt: Penny saves Tony at a Gala
Penny Parker had never been a fan of Tony Stark.
Her Aunt Pepper, related to her by friendship rather than blood, assured Penny when she came to live with her at thirteen at that she wouldn't have to deal with paparazzi or the antics of the Avengers or anything like that...that she and her boss-slash-ex-boyfriend were on a break and that they would live in Pepper's apartment and that everything would be fine. That Penny could live a normal life.
And it wasn't that Penny hated the Avengers or even Tony Stark. She knew that they were superheroes, and that was pretty cool. But she also had years of memories of her godmother and best friend of her uncle Ben, who she'd lived with up until his murder in an alley in Queens, missing birthday parties and school concerts and academic decathlon meetings and graduations to cater to her boss's every need. Pepper had also never brought Tony Stark to any of these events, leaving Penny to assume that the man had no interest in her Aunt Pepper's family or friends even after they started dating. So yeah, the Avengers were fine and Iron Man was important and all that...they were heroes or whatever. But Penny wasn't a huge fan of Tony Stark.
When she first came to live with Pepper, it had taken two months for her to officially meet the man, the myth, the legend. Pepper had been working late and had texted her after school to ask her to come to the Tower instead of going back to their apartment. Immediately, Penny had called her instead of texting back.
"Avengers tower?" she'd asked the moment her aunt had picked up the phone, a whine in her voice that she'd tried to hide.
"What...give me just a second, Tony," her aunt had murmured before answering. "Yes, Avengers tower."
"Do you want me to send someone to pick her up?" Tony Stark has asked from the background.
"No, that's fine!" Penny had assured her quickly, tugging her sleeve over her webshooter as she'd slipped between people to get to the subway stairs. "I can just go back to the apartment! I'll lock the doors..."
"Penny, I'm going to be late and I don't want you staying in that apartment by yourself all night." Her aunt's tone had been serious and apologetic, and Penny had sighed, knowing that this wasn't an argument she could win. So much for patrols, she'd thought with a sigh. "I'll be right there," she'd grumbled a little, taking her webshooters off and stuffing them into her backpack.
That was another reason she didn't really want to meet Tony Stark. She had no idea if Spider-Girl had even registered on his radar yet...but her aunt had no idea and she didn't want that to change. And she was certain that Tony Stark wouldn't keep her secret. He had only been able to keep his own secret for, what, two weeks? And if Tony told Pepper...well, it wouldn't go well, she was sure. As it was, she was getting away with patrolling after school on days when her guardian worked late. And Pepper usually worked until 7 or 8, giving Penny plenty of time to patrol and get home in time to make dinner for when her aunt got home. In fact, Penny was starting to think it was the perfect arrangement. Until Pepper decided to stay extra late to get more work done.
So she had gone as requested.
As soon as she'd stepped into the building, a woman from reception had been there to escort her to the elevator, and then up to the floor where her aunt was working. Pepper had looked up from her tablet and had immediately left Tony Stark's side, hurrying over to wrap her up in a hug with a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry. I promise, I'll try to get everything finished by midnight so we don't have to stay over."
"It's fine." Penny had hugged her back and shrugged, trying not to appear ungrateful. The woman had taken her in, and Penny was well aware that Pepper hadn't asked for a kid. Had only agreed to take her in because of Ben. The last thing she wanted was to make Pepper mad...to make her regret any of it. "Tomorrow's Saturday anyway so…"
"I promise, tomorrow, it's just you and me. We'll get Thai for lunch and watch movies or go shopping...whatever you want. Promise. Pinky promise." She had held out a pinky and Penny had laughed, wrapping her own little finger around it.
"Okay. Sounds good."
Penny hadn't been upset about coming to the tower, exactly. She just would have preferred patrolling. And not meeting Iron Man. Because as cool as Avengers tower was, and as much of a hero Tony Stark was, the last thing she needed was to get on his radar. Not now. Not when she was hiding the biggest secret of her young life.
Hovering behind her aunt's shoulder had been Tony Stark himself, and her aunt had turned around, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and smiling a little ruefully. "Tony, this is my niece, Penny."
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you," Tony Stark had greeted, holding out a hand that she'd taken, doing her best to make sure she didn't squeeze his hand too hard...or stick to him. He'd seemed genuine, though...like he really was happy to meet her, and Penny had wanted to ask, if he'd been so anxious to meet her, why he hadn't come to any of their family events? Why had he kept her aunt from attending so many birthdays and decathlon meets and graduations? Of course, she hadn't said any of that. Instead, she'd tried for a natural looking smile that didn't show how much she was dreading this.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Stark."
His eyes had been soft and surprisingly kind as he'd shaken her and. "Mr. Stark was my father. It's just Tony. Any family of Pepper's is family of mine."
Penny had seriously doubted that, considering the lack of evidence, but she'd just tried to maintain that smile as she'd nodded.
"We're going to be doing paperwork...Penny why don't you work on your homework in the kitchen? Did you get something to eat after school?"
She'd shaken her head, and Tony Stark had stepped in once more. "There's plenty of leftover lasagna in the fridge. I can throw it in the oven." He had said it with such finality that Penny hadn't argued, instead putting her backpack on the kitchen island and setting up her homework, thanking him without quite meeting his eye when he placed the plate in front of her. Later, as she'd been working on her homework and eating the (delicious) lasagna, Steve Rogers had shown up, and Penny had tried to make herself as small as possible in the kitchen. The last thing she needed was more contact with the Avengers. What if she ran into them on patrols? Not that that had happened yet, but it could! And what if they recognized her voice? So when Steve Rogers had held out a hand and smiled that earnest, all-American smile, Penny had given a quick 'nice to meet you' before going back to her homework.
In the months since, Penny had been to the Avengers tower almost every Friday when her aunt was most likely to work late, and she'd met Sam Wilson and Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff and James Rhodes, who everyone called Rhodey but who she insisted on addressing as Colonel Rhodes. And she was always polite, but also always standoffish. She didn't want them remembering her voice, or connecting it with the voice of a vigilante who was getting kind of famous on Youtube. Penny would rather them assume she was rude than figure out who she really was. So she smiled and told them she was fine and that school was fine and asked how they were and disappeared to do her homework whenever possible in the guest room that Tony had offered to let her use.
And then it was time for one of Stark Industries charity galas, and Pepper insisted that Penny come. They were standing in the kitchen of the tower after school on a Friday, which had become a day that Penny always spent at the tower. And she wasn't thrilled, not with the pattern of staying at Avengers Tower every week, sometimes overnight, and not with her aunt's insistence that she had to spend all night at this fancy party.
"I can just stay home. Or I can go to Ned's!" Penny cried, trying to keep her voice down. She knew that Tony and Steve Rogers were around somewhere, and she didn't want to draw attention.
"Penny, it'll be fun," Pepper tried to coax, and Penny felt like an ass. Her aunt Pepper looked tired. Worn down. And she was probably excited about the gala. Penny hadn't been able to help noticing the way that Tony and Pepper had been acting, and she had to wonder if they were going to be getting back together soon, which was the very last thing she needed right now. And she felt horrible for even thinking that. Her aunt deserved to be happy! But...but if she lived at the tower...Tony Stark would find out. He'd know that she was a mutant and that she was sneaking out of the house and he'd find out about Spider-Girl.
And then he'd make her stop.
"Look, I know that things...that this isn't what you were expecting when you came to live with me but…" Pepper trailed off and Penny felt tears of frustration fill her eyes. She didn't want to do this. Didn't want to fight with Pepper. "Baby…" the woman murmured, taking a step forward just as Tony turned the corner, hesitating in the doorway as though he'd stumbled upon something he wasn't supposed to see.
"Oh...I, um...is everything…"
Penny pulled away from Pepper and took a step toward Tony. "Can I go lay down? I don't feel good," she muttered, not meeting his gaze and instead staring at his ear, ever to to the left of his eyes.
The man stammered for a minute before nodding. "Um...of course..." He trailed off as Penny brushed past him, knowing that she was being rude and hating herself for it.
This was Iron Man. And as much as he'd kept Pepper away from her for so long, Pepper loved him, and he was a superhero, and...and in another life, this could all be so cool! It would be so fun to meet the Avengers and to get to know Tony Stark and maybe even be related to him! Maybe find out why he hadn't been a part of her life when he was so close to her aunt and actually get to know him. Instead, because of this secret...because of one stupid decesion on a field trip that she alternatively regretted and thanked God for, she had to avoid him at all costs.
She was curled up on the bed when she finally heard him speak, his voice soft and wry. "So...she, uh...she really hates me, huh?"
"She doesn't hate you, Tony." Pepper, on the other hand, sounded tired. Penny was making her tired. Was causing her all this stress. "She's...she's just going through a rough patch. She just lost Ben and she's living in a strange place and now I'm working all the time and I'm making her come here and...and she was worried about being able to just...just have a normal life."
"If you need a vacation, you know you can have one."
"I know…"
"Hell, why don't we all take a vacation? The three of us? Go to the new beach house in Malibu and...and maybe we can get to know each other."
That's when it clicked for Penny. They were already back together.
"I mean," Tony continued, "I want to try and make more of an effort. She's your family."
"It's not your fault that you don't know her," Pepper sighed. "I'm the one who tried to keep...this, all of it, separate."
Penny furrowed her brow at that, sitting up in the bed. Pepper had been the one to keep Tony Stark out of her life? Why? Why hadn't she wanted to introduce her boyfriend to her family?
There was the soft sound of a kiss in the other room, and she put her hands over her ears, shaking her head and sighing. She didn't want to eavesdrop anymore. Not on this.
"Miss Parker?"
Penny jumped before remembering Friday, then removed her hands for a moment. "Um...yes?"
"You appear to be in some distress. Would you like me to soundproof the guest room?"
"That...yeah, actually. That would be great. Thanks."
In the end, she went to the gala.
As she stood there on the sidelines and watched the Avengers chat with members of the Stark Foundation, and watched her aunt as she played hostess to everyone who had been invited, she wondered if she might have misjudged Tony Stark. Sure, she'd known he was Iron Man. And she'd known that he did great things. But...but maybe he hadn't kept Pepper away for all of those years. Maybe...maybe Pepper had her own reasons for keeping him away. And maybe...what if he did find out who she was? What could she do?
Would he help her?
"Drink?"
Tony's voice startled her, and Penny looked up to find him standing close, the crowd pressing in around them, a glass of something in each hand. She started to make a joke, something about underage drinking coming to mind, before she reminded herself who this was. That she still didn't know how he fit in her life, and how she fit in his. "Oh...um...thanks," she stammered, taking it, and making sure not to spill any of the sparkling grape juice on her red dress. It was a nice dress...part of living with Pepper meant having really nice clothes sometimes, and it still felt strange to open her closet in her new room and see them.
"Sure. I'm sorry you got roped into coming."
"That...it's fine. It's…" She shrugged. "It's not bad."
"If you get bored and want to sneak back upstairs for a while, I'll cover for you with Pepper."
That brought a little smile to her face, and she huffed out a laugh. "She'll see right through you. No one can lie to Pepper. Not even Iron Man"
He tilted his head with a small smile of his own, conceding the point. And then there was silence between them, heavy and a little awkward, and Penny wished she could escape. He was her aunt's boyfriend. It was weird. And he was also Iron Man, and the person who, if he found her out, would hold her fate in his hands. What if he stopped her from being Spider-Girl?
"I'm not sure if you know this, but...your aunt and I...we're…"
"I know." Penny Parker wondered if she'd ever seen the man so uncomfortable when his eyes went wide, and she cursed herself for just blurting that out. She could have at least pretended to be surprised. Still, she went on, not wanting to arouse suspicion. "I saw you kiss her."
"Right." The man pressed his lips together and nodded, sighing softly. "I just want you to know, I...I really...Pep is...she's really important to me. And I want to ask her to marry me. And I know that that would mean making you a part of my family too. And…"
As he stammered on, Penny felt her skin grow cold, a warning shooting up and down her spine as she stiffened.
Spidey sense.
Something was wrong.
"...and you would also be a part of that family…"
She was gripping his arms before she knew what she was doing, shoving him backward, dropping her own glass and making him drop his own. His eyes went huge, widening in confusion before cutting over to the person approaching from their left. And she knew he was going to try and stop it but it was happening too fast and she'd only had two options.
Watch him get stabbed or get him out of the way.
The knife plunged into her stomach, stabbing her twice in quick succession before the man dressed like a waiter stumbled away. She turned, kicking a foot out and swiping it under his feet, not thinking about how fast she was moving as she sent him tumbling to the ground. He started to scramble up, but Natasha Romanoff seemed to materialize from nowhere, a foot placed firmly on his chest. "Tony? Are you hit?" the spy demanded, but the man didn't answer, only stared at Penny who felt suddenly strange.
He shook his head when she looked down at her dress, and at the blackness consuming the red. It had all been so fast. So close. There were so many people around them, all of them backing away as Tony reached out for her. She didn't know what he was doing until her knees buckled and he was lowering her down to the ground, one hand gentle under her head. That's when she saw it.
"Your shirt," she whispered, breathless, looking at the red splotches there. Her blood had gotten on his shirt. How much did Tony Stark pay for a shirt? And what about her dress? The nonsensical thoughts flashed through her mind as she felt herself grow cold, and the pain in her stomach made itself known through the adrenaline and the numbness.
He ignored her, whipping off his suit jacket as Sam Wilson, who she'd met exactly once while doing her homework and who she'd exchanged less than six words with, dropped to his knees beside them. She could hear Natasha leading people away...it was so quiet. Everyone was so quiet, even though it sounded like, far away, someone screamed.
"...got her twice…"
"...lot of blood...need…"
"Ambulance?"
Why was everyone whispering? There was blood roaring in her ears and she was suddenly so cold. There was something under her head...the suit jacket, she realized when her breath caught, tears that she didn't remember shedding leaving cold tracks on her cheeks. Tony's suit jacket. It was under her head. He'd put it under her head.
"Tony?" she asked, knowing that Pepper had to be nearby. That she had to be on her way over.
"Right here, kid," he murmured, words almost too faint for her to hear, asd she focused on him. Sam was pressing his hands on her stomach, making it hurt worse, and more tears fell. His face was closer than Sam's, and she realized he was leaning in, his hand holding hers. "You're okay. We're going to get you to the hospital. You're…"
"No...no hospital," she urged, shaking her head. She couldn't go to a hospital. People couldn't know. And if it took trusting Tony Stark to make that happen, then she'd have to risk it. "I'm…" Her eyes started to close but she couldn't let that happen. Couldn't fall asleep before telling him. "Spider-Girl...I'm...mutant...don't tell...please…"
His huge, shocked brown eyes set in a face that seemed to be drained of blood were the last things she saw before the world drifted away and she was asleep.
Penny heard voices before she woke up. The voice of her aunt and Tony...but she had no idea what they were saying, or how to make sense of the words being murmured back and forth. She thought she made out the word hospital, and for a moment, she was confused. Was she in a hospital? That thought seemed strange before everything clicked. Hospital. Mutant. She was a mutant. She couldn't go to the hospital!
Suddenly there was a soft noise, like an alarm, and a hand slipped into her her's. Pepper's.
"Penny? Baby, can you hear me?"
"Pepper?" she murmured, voice slurring.
"I'm right here, honey. You're okay. Everything's okay. You're in the medbay. At the tower."
Right. Tower. She'd told Tony. She'd told him who she was. And now surely Pepper knew too. But Penny couldn't stay awake. Couldn't even get her eyes to open. So she drifted back into darkness.
The next time she woke, it was almost instant, her eyes opening before she had realized that she was awake. The first thing she saw was the ceiling, and she stared at it for a moment before turning her head and finding Pepper in a recliner that was laid all the way back. Her aunt was sound asleep, her face scrubbed of makeup, and instead of the blue dress she'd been wearing the last time Penny had seen her, she was in sweats and a t-shirt that looked too big for her.
"Penny?" The voice was soft but it still startled her as she turned her head to find Tony Stark in another chair at her bedside. She started to sit up, but the pain in her stomach forced her back down onto her back, and his hand moved to rest on her shoulder, holding her down. In her state, she realized she was weak enough that it worked. "Easy, kiddo. Just stay still, okay? Your healing is pretty impressive, but it's only been a few hours."
That had Penny closing her eyes, a sigh of defeat escaping her. "Does Pepper know?"
"Yeah. Sorry, Penny. Really...I am. But I couldn't keep her from taking you to the hospital without telling her why."
Penny sighed again, wishing she could go back to sleep. Wishing she could deal with all of this later when her stomach didn't hurt and when she didn't feel so tired. But the man continued to talk.
"How did you know that man was going to try and attack me?"
She shrugged, not seeing any reason to lie anymore. "Weird sense. Tells me when bad things are going to happen. The same thing happened with Ben." Her voice was flat. Dead. And the man reached out, resting his hand on hers. She allowed it, even found herself feeling comforted. He'd been nothing but kind to her so far. Had so obviously been trying to connect with her. And she'd turned him away every time. "I'm sorry."
"What for?" he asked, sounding confused.
"You kept trying to be nice. But...I was afraid that you would find out."
"That you were Spider-Girl?" She nodded. "Yeah...well, that...that was a shock," he admitted. "I assumed you just hated me on principle, so…"
"I didn't hate you." Penny reached up with her free hand, wiping absently at her eyes. "I...I thought you didn't want anything to do with us. With Ben and me." Penny stared at the wall as she spoke, not sure why she was confiding in him like this, but not putting a stop to it. "You were never at family things. Even when you guys started dating. So...when I went to live with Pepper...I don't know. It just seemed easier to stay away. But then I heard you and Pepper talking. And she was saying it was her that kept you away."
She saw him nod in the corner of her eye, his own face just as tired as Pepper's had been. "She was worried for your safety. And for Ben's. She was afraid that if someone found out that you knew Iron Man…" he trailed off, waving the hand not resting on hers, and Penny turned to look at him, surprised. "She never told me before. Every time I asked, she'd give some excuse. I don't blame her, though. It's dangerous, being close to a superhero."
"Wait, you asked?" Penny turned to him, surprised making her forget to keep her voice down. He just nodded.
"Of course I did. I'm sorry I never got to meet her brother." Penny started to say that Ben hadn't really been her brother, but in every way, he had. He had been Pepper's brother. And just that thought made Penny's chest ache. Pepper had lost him too. "But, I'm glad I got to meet her niece." His smile was genuine as he squeezed her hand, and she tried for a smile despite the pain and the uncertainty.
"Is she mad?" Penny all but whispered, and he gave her hand another squeeze.
"At the man that stabbed her niece? Yes. Very much so. As are the Avengers. Turns out, they're all pretty fond of you. But at you? No. She's not mad."
"I lied to her."
"Yeah...you did. And she's scared out of her mind that something could have happened to you before...that something could still happen to you. And somehow, reminding her that her boyfriend was also a superhero didn't help." Penny snorted a laugh at that. It hurt, but it was worth it. "But Natasha offered to do a little training with you, if that was okay, so you'd be better at defending yourself. And Sam said he might join you on patrols. Steve told her that he'd been thinking about inviting Spider-Girl to join the Avengers anyway, which was a lie, for the record. It was my idea to recruit Spider-Girl. And I told her that I saw what you could do on Youtube...that you had some serious skills. But that you needed a complete redesign, and that maybe, when you were feeling better, you could give me a hand in the lab. That we could see if we can design you something a little more substantial than a onesie."
"It's not a onesie!" Penny muttered, barely noticing the words. The Avengers had offered to get behind her...train her. Help her. "What...what did Pepper say?"
"She said she'd think about it." Tony smiled with a half shrug. "Either way, I've got your back kid. You saved my life, so the least I can do is try to get Pep on our side." He reached out, ruffling her hair. "I owe you one, kiddo. Seriously. I mean, you shouldn't have done it. And you practically gave me a heart attack. But still. I owe you one." He seemed to notice her eyes drifting shut, despite the fact that she wanted to stay awake for this...that she wanted to know what the Avengers had said and how exactly her Aunt had reacted. Instead, she found herself drifting off once again. "Ah. That would be the pain medicine kicking in. Don't worry, kiddo. We'll both be here when you wake you."
And that was how Penny Parker realized that maybe Tony Stark wasn't so bad after all. In fact, she thought as she drifted away, she might even be able to see him as family one day.