Awakening

*Cp appears and bows*

*Insania appears and pushes her out of the way.*

"Why do we need a disclaimer again?" Vindicta asks with a drawl and raised eyebrow.

*Cp pouts*

Penny's POV

I wasn't really sure what I was expecting when I appeared on Jane's doorstep. For them to be asleep, not home, or something.

But I definitely wasn't expecting Darcy to tackle me before I even got to knock on the door.

Apparently I appeared as soon as she and Jane got out of their car. I didn't even sense them behind me...I blamed the mess that was my head.

Either way, that was pretty damn good timing on my part; if you looked at it that way.

"Penny!" Darcy exclaimed as she tried to squeeze the life out of me, while lifting me into the air. I tried not to wince as my head throbbed, and silently wondered why I was hiding from Dad here of all places.

Well, too late to leave now.

"Hey Darcy, Jane," I nodded in greeting as Darcy finally set me back down, and Jane gave me a much gentler hug.

"It's good to see you Penny," Jane smiled at me and I found myself smiling back.

Jane was such a nice soul, even if she could be a spitfire when she wanted to be. I really wasn't surprised that my godson had fallen for her.

"What are you doing here anyway? I mean, not that we aren't happy to see you, because we are, but it's like….almost one over here* and from what I've heard things have been rather busy back in the US...did you really have an alien invasion? We saw on tv of course, but Jane isn't sure if she believes it, because that would mean that Thor is back on earth and yet hasn't come to see her. She's been pouting about it almost nonstop since yesterday…"

"So, is there a reason you've been pouting non stop since yesterday?" Sam drawled with a raised eyebrow and I glared at the black haired girl.

"I am not pouting!" I protested, slightly horrified at she would suggest such a thing.

I placed my hand over Darcy's mouth to get her to shut up, blinking a few times to clear my vision.

Don't get me wrong, I love Darcy, but her constant blabbering wasn't helping my head right now!

"I have not been pouting!" Jane protested, her voice sounding very similar to my own that had just floated through my mind.

I really needed to get my head sorted out. I wasn't sure how many more days I could handle of this.

Seriously, had it only been one?!

"I really don't care," I snapped, before wincing. I didn't mean for that to come out so harsh. "Sorry," I apologised seeing Jane and Darcy's surprised faces. "I have a slight headache at the moment... and am a bit on edge."

That wasn't exactly true. The truth was a lot more extreme, but that was alright.

Jane gave me a soft smile as she unlocked the door and waved us inside. "That's alright, everyone has their days."

Silence stretched on as Darcy dragged me into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. Why she wanted to drink coffee when it was after midnight here I had no idea.

"So, what have you been up to recently?" Jane asked as she sat down at the kitchen table.

Shrugging, I took the seat across from her and sighed.

"Last few days have been busy. Dad and I are still trying to deal with the whole Chitari thing and the aftermath that came with it…" I trailed off, feeling slightly guilty that I hadn't really been helping. Sure, I had pretty much taken care of the situation, but still. I could have done more.

Jane stared at me with wide eyes, while Darcy dropped the coffee pot full of water she had been holding.

"Your father!?" They both exclaimed together and my stomach dropped.

Crap! I had been avoiding the subject of Tony since he had talked to Jane three months ago. Both women tried to pry information about him from me, but my lips had been sealed.

Of course it was today that I had to screw up the last three months of my hard work!

"Um…" I said hesitantly as I rubbed the back of my head. I could always just wipe their memories, but to be honest it was probably about time they learned the truth.

Especially since I knew Thor was planning on dropping in sometime soon, and he would definitely mention me.

I sighed, oh well. I guess I couldn't very well leave them in the dark for much longer. Especially since more and more people were finding out about me.

"Alright," I said leaning back in my chair. "You two deserve the truth."

Darcy immediately sat down, her eyes wide and her mouth partially open.

"Seriously?!" She squeaked and I nodded, slightly amused.

"...please tell me you're not being serious?" Dean begged, his eyes wide as Sam stared in shock.

I chuckled, oh this was totally worth it. "I'm deadly serious boys."

Thankfully the memory faded as I blinked, and it appeared that neither woman noticed a thing.

"So, you two already know that Telnets was an alias." I started out slowly and both scientists nodded. "What you don't know is that my father is rather well known. We only met each other last year and since he found out he was my father...he's been rather protective of me. The only reason I am even bringing this up without talking to him first is because a rather large group of people found out about me in the last few days, and I think you'd rather hear it from me."

Jane and Darcy were both staring at me wide eyed, though I thought I saw a small knowing glint in Jane's eye. I wondered how much she had put together.

Putting the thought out of my mind I continued on. It was no or never.

"I should probably introduce myself properly. My name is Penella Piper Maria Stark, and it's nice to meet you."

I couldn't help but smirk as I crossed my arms over my chest, causing the shirt I was wearing to press against my Arc. I hadn't bothered wearing my little cover for it in a while, and I hadn't placed a invisibility field around it either. So basically, whenever the two snapped out of their shock, they would notice the very familiar light in my chest.

(We had tried for a while to keep Dad's Arc from being discovered, and while it isn't common knowledge, it's far from a secret.)

Jane and Darcy were openly gaping at me, their eyes wide, mouths open, and shock painted across their faces. It was actually quite comical.

"Your Dad's…" Darcy started at a whisper, as if she couldn't believe it. Which she probably couldn't.

"Tony Stark!" Jane squeaked. I raised an eyebrow in surprise, that was a sound I had never expected to hear from the astrophysicist.

"Yup!" I confirmed, popping the "p". Oh, this was so much fun! "Bet'cha didn't see that coming!"

I gazed up at Mortem, shifting my weight around under his piercing gaze. He hid his shock well, but I could read him better.

"Well, I didn't see this coming." He commented with a drawl. A small puff of smoke drifted into the air as I tilted my head at him.

I would've been surprised if he had guessed that his Bonded would be a dragon.

They both just blinked at me slowly, and I was glad for the fact that they were probably too out of it to notice my random little drift offs.

"Ok," Jane said as she took a deep breath and tried to pull herself together. "Why don't you start from the beginning."

I raised an eyebrow but nodded.

The beginning, to be honest I wasn't even sure where to start for the beginning.

But I guess when Howard forced Mom to move away was as good of a place as any.

"You'd better put some more coffee on Darcy," I commented lightly, and the girl nodded slowly before standing up to do just that.

I was going to be here for a while.

So, really short chapter, but I thought that this was a pretty good place to stop. I'd write more but I'm cold (writing while waiting for my wayward ride to show up, outside…) and yeah.

*According to the internet, London is 5 hours ahead of New York, so I just did my best with estimating the time. If I'm wrong…eh, I don't care all that much.

I'll try to get the next one up soon!

You all rock!
Cp