The Unknown Variable
If you think I own anything, I will lock you in a closet with Insania and Hel for a day. Challenge me if you dare.
"PENNY!" Darcy and Jane yelled again as they both hugged the life out of me. "YOUR OKAY!"
"Not…if you…don't get…off of me…" I managed to gasp out and thankfully, the two scientists got off of me.
"Oh, I'm so glad to see you! We were all so worried! Jane talked to your father…why didn't you tell us that you found him? Well, anyway, he told us you were dead! And now here you are! Was he lying? Was he really your father? Are you alright?"
My eyebrow twitched with Darcy's rambling, I noticed that her eyes were red and puffy but she looked thrilled to see me.
I did not need this on top of Insania's ramblings….I wonder if she messed up my traveling somehow…I couldn't really call it Flashing anymore…I could still Flash…but this was different…
Now I was rambling, great. Insania was already rubbing off on me.
"SHUT IT!" I yelled when Darcy wouldn't shut up.
"Now," I stated as I got to my feet and glared at the dark haired girl. "I will answer your questions, but I will shut you up if need be. Understood?"
Darcy nodded sheepishly as Jane rolled her eyes at the younger girl.
"When did you talk to my Dad?" I asked Jane, Dad hadn't mentioned that…
"A few hours after …Death?... took you wherever he took you… I called your phone and he answered…." Jane told me and I sighed, it was probably when he was in the suit…sometime during that night.
"Did he mention a name?" I asked, I seriously doubted that he gave him his identity but I was being careful.
"No…now that I think about it…he didn't." Jane said, looking puzzled.
"Okay, I didn't tell you because we're trying to keep it a secret, so don't mention it to anyone. Yes, the person you talked to probably was my father, since he is the only one with access to my phone. No, he wasn't lying…I died for a few hours…" something that I had failed to mention to Bruce, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. "But I'm fine now; I've just been sleeping a lot the past day or so."
Jane nodded, and Darcy pouted…though I wasn't sure why.
"So, where's Selvig?" I asked, glancing around. It looked like SHIELD gave them all of their stuff back, as it was back to looking like it was before. But I didn't see the old doctor anywhere.
Jane frowned and glanced at Darcy before replying, "He's not working here anymore. SHIELD offered him a job…and since he took the news of your….well….anyway, he took it hard, and now he's doing some top secret research that we're not allowed to know about."
I frowned, my death really had messed people up…I sighed, "Next time you talk to him, pass on my health status, will you? But be discreet about it…I don't think Telnets is coming back."
This caused the two girls to look perplexed and confused, "Huh?"
I sighed; I had forgotten that they didn't know that Telnets was only a cover. "Piper Penelope Telnets is a front. I'm still Penny, but for reasons I'm not going to mention, I needed an alias. Everything I've done is real (mostly), I just haven't been completely honest with my past…"
I looked at them nervously and was surprised when Jane wrapped me in a hug. "It's alright…if what we saw the other day shows anything, it's that you have plenty of reason for it."
"Just…if you do decide to disappear…don't ditch us okay?" Darcy pleaded with me.
"Alright, I won't." I promised.
I was done living a double life…especially now with all of the Immortal stuff going on. The cover was nice while it lasted, but I didn't really need it now. I could let the world think that Telnets was dead, and that was fine with me.
Hopefully, it was with Tony as well.
"And," Jane threw in, "We want the truth…not now necessarily…but someday."
Darcy nodded and I sighed, "I think I can do that. If it ever goes public, you'll be the first to know."
This got the two girls to nod happily, and then they went on to explain how they were moving anyways, and that SHEILD was now funding their research into the bridge that had opened up between us and Asgard.
"How did you know so much about Asgard anyway?" Jane asked after a while.
It was funny, they took my whole 'you never really knew me' thing, and the fact of my powers really well, along with the whole, 'I'm not going to tell you anything really, right now'. But they were jumping down my throat about my knowledge on the Asgard.
"I really, really, like Norse mythology…and have always believed in the chance that there's more life out there than ours." I answered, I mean, it was a bit hard not to when you're practically not human yourself…
I also think they forgot the fact that I knew Death…
"And how did you know the 'Lord Death' they kept talking about!" Darcy asked and I rolled my eyes… "Was he really death?"
"Well yeah, I think I'd know if my boyfriend wasn't Death." My eyes widened as I realized just what I had said….in front of Darcy of all people.
Shoot, I was going to be here a while.
It had taken over three hours until Darcy finally let me leave; and by then I was red faced and so embarrassed I wanted to blow something up.
Let's just say that Darcy was very interested in Mortem's and mine person lives….
Yeah, it wasn't pleasant.
Then, of course, I realized that I had been gone for over six hours…and that Dad was totally going to kill me.
Well, I was right…he was furious…well; he was more worried than furious.
"Where on earth have you been!?" Dad yelled the moment I appeared, apparently he had been pacing in the living room since I left.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Bruce took my death hard…tried to kill himself…then my sparks decided to throw a fit, and I landed in front of Jane and Darcy…when were you planning on telling me that you told Jane I was dead by the way? Anyway, they grilled me for answers for hours, and then my brain decided to fart and I mentioned dating Mortem…and then Darcy refused to let me leave!" I exclaimed in one breath before collapsing on the couch.
I had left out everything about Hel and Insania for obvious reasons…
"What?" I turned to see that it was Pepper who had asked the question. I had forgotten, we didn't mention Jane, Darcy, Selvig, or Bruce to her when we explained things…
"They're my friends…Darcy, Jane, and Selvig are all astrophysicists who I met when I set up my Telnets life in New Mexico. Which, by the way Dad, can we kill off Telnets? I'm sick of dealing with it. Anyway, a few months ago, my powers went crazy and I fell out of the sky over South America where Hulk caught me." I explained how I met all of my friends…none of them my age I realized…well, Hel and Insania don't count…sorta…
"Wait, you mean Bruce, as in Bruce Banner, the fugitive, is your friend?" Pepper asked wide eyed.
"Ah…yeah?" I said, hoping that I could trust her…
She sighed but smiled, "Is it just a Stark thing to do weird but amazing things daily?" she asked.
I laughed, to her confusion, as Tony sighed and said, "You haven't seen anything yet. Wait till you meet her boyfriend…which by the way we still need to talk about."
Tony glared at me and I winced…I wasn't looking forward to that conversation.
"Can we do that later? I've starving." I stated, and noticed that there was a huge plate of pastries on the coffee table.
"We are having that discussion though." Tony stated and I rolled my eyes as I bit into the pastry…
Tony's POV
"We are having that discussion though." I told Penny though I didn't want to think about her dating at all. I watched as she rolled her eyes and took a bite of the pastry, all of the sudden she froze and I saw her grab her throat.
"Penny!" I exclaimed in concern. The pastry dropped to the floor and Penny started coughing harshly, and I rushed to her side.
"Pen, what's wrong?!" I stated as her coughing froze and she stopped breathing.
"PEN!" I yelled and my eyes widened and I picked up the pastry with blue filling spilling out…
"Damn…blueberries!" I exclaimed, I opened her mouth, and although I was no doctor, her throat looked swollen shut.
"Penny…Penny…can you hear me?" I exclaimed, as her eyes rolled back into her head.
"Jarvis, Dial 9…" but a cold hand on my shoulder caused me to stop mid-sentence and turn around.
Mortem stood behind me, his face stony and in my opinion, furious. I stepped back and let the Entity…guy…whatever he is…take his place besides my daughter.
"Tony! what are you doing!" Pepper exclaimed, and part of me wasn't surprised that she couldn't see Mortem…if what he said was true, then usually, people only see him before they die.
"It's alright," I tried to calm my new girlfriend down, though the words sounded empty even to me.
I had no clue if Mortem could get Penny back to normal…but if anyone could, it was him.
I had to hold Pepper back as she tried to interfere. "Pepper calm down."
"Calm down? How can you tell me to calm down? You're daughters having an allergic reaction to something that I gave her and you're telling me to calm down?!" Pepper yelled, and I sighed.
"yes." I said, causing her to freeze and look at me in shock.
Mortem's hands, which were glowing with a silvery light, dropped back down to his sides as Pen gasped back into consciousness.
"Thanks," Penny croaked, rubbing her throat and looking at Mortem gratefully.
"Thank you." I thanked him myself; he nodded to me, and said something to Penny before vanishing.
"What on earth was that about?" Pepper exclaimed, causing a tired looking Penny to say,
"That, whether you saw him or not, was my boyfriend…Death."
Both of us turned to see Pepper staring at Pen in shock before saying simply, "Huh?"
We turned to each other and sighed, this was going to take a while.
"No more blueberries for you." I stated, and knew that this had not helped my nightmares at all.
Pen nodded and I sighed, I almost lost her to a pastry…that was just sad…
Very very sad.
Short little Chapter, I know that throwing the whole blueberry thing in this chapter, so soon after she almost died wasn't the best idea, but it doesn't fit in any other chapter…and I wanted to write it really really badly. *pout*
I might or might not write the scene where Pen and Tony sit down and talk about Mortem…
It is a possibility.
Tony meets more people from Pen's Immortal side next chapter.
Thanks to everyone…
Cp