The Internship

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. Penny Parker!"

Penny forced herself to smile…to open her arms and accept the hug that Norman Osborn insisted on giving her as they stood at the entrance to the internship labs. For a long moment, he held her close, his hand patting her on the back. As a kid, she'd been kind of afraid of him. Norman was the richest man she'd ever met in her life, at least before Tony Stark had showed up at her apartment, and the most powerful too. Harry's dad had never overtly tried to make her feel lesser than, but it had been apparent every time she'd stepped into their home. Every time he'd offered to have their cook make her something to eat. Every time he'd sent her aunt flowers or an expensive bottle of wine as thank you for the times Harry had stayed with them. From the time she'd been six years old, Penny had known that this man could ruin her if he so chose.

He never did, though. He would just smile at her and ask about school. He'd talk about her extracurriculars and college plans, focusing only on her and shutting his son out of the conversation more often than not. And Penny would never know how to make any of it better, so she'd just answer his questions and make small talk until she could get away and go to Harry's room, the two of them working on projects or playing video games and never talking about the elephant of his father in the other room.

Now, she wondered how he had always been so intimidating. He was powerful, sure, but when she made herself hug him, he felt all too frail and human to her. She could snap him in half if she wanted to. And she had to admit, it was a good feeling. This man had always wielded his power to get whatever he wanted, both with his business and in his personal life. She would never use her powers that way, but just by agreeing to pretend to be Harry's girlfriend, she knew she was shielding him. Protecting him from his father in the best way she knew how. And if it came to it, she was stronger than Norman now.

Even if he couldn't know it.

He released her from the hug after what felt like a very long time, putting his hands on her shoulders while Harry stood awkwardly off to the side. "It's so good to see you again."

"Hi, Mr. Osborn. Thank you again for this."

He waved a hand. "Nonsense! If anyone deserves this internship, it's you, Penelope. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you're one of the most brilliant young minds I've ever come across. I'd be honored to have you working for me. And I have to admit, I can't wait to rub it in Stark's face. He has no idea what he's lost out on."

Penny flinched, but did her best to smile and hide her reaction. She didn't want to talk about Mr. Stark, especially not with someone that hated him. Because as much as he'd hurt her, and as upset with him as she was, he had still been her idol. He'd been the person she'd looked up to more than the world. Still, there was no way she could say that to Norman, so she made herself keep smiling, glancing over at Harry who was staring at the floor, hands shoved in his pockets.

"Please, call me Norman, Penny. Mr. Osborn was my father." That was something he'd said to her dozens of times over the years, but it had proven a difficult habit to break. "It's been too long! I've seen your grades, so I know how things at school are going. Impressive as always. How is May?"

"She's good. Busy at the hospital."

"I'm sure." He gave an appropriately sad smile. "I've been thinking about her. Especially after what happened with Ben. I know that was so hard. I'm glad to hear she's doing well."

Penny nodded, swallowing the lump that risen in her throat. "Thank you," she whispered, not sure what else to say. She never knew how to talk to people about her uncle…never wanted to.

"Do you have the papers I sent you?"

She pulled them out of her backpack and handed them over, watching as he flipped through them, nodding to himself. "Did you or May have any questions?"

It hadn't been difficult to get May to agree to this internship. Her aunt had never made a secret of the fact she didn't trust Mr. Stark, and they'd known Norman Osborn for years. May might not like him all that much, but at least she trusted him. "It might even be better, honey," May had told her, brushing her hair back and kissing the top of her head as she'd pulled her into a hug the night before.

Ned, too, had been excited, despite the fact that he didn't know all the details. Earlier that day, while the two of them had been at lunch, Michelle Jones a few stools over, engrossed in a book, Penny had leaned in, her voice barely above a whisper. "I have to tell you something."

He'd perked up, leaning close so their foreheads almost touched. "Yeah."

Grinning, she'd pulled back a little. "Well…you know how I…I don't have the Stark Internship anymore?"

"Yeah…did you talk to Mr. Stark? Did he give you back your su….internship?" he'd asked, voice a little too loud.

"No…um…I actually…got another internship."

"What?"

"Actually, Harry helped me get it."

Ned's eyes had gone wide. "No."

"Yeah." She'd shrugged. "I start today. May signed all the papers and everything."

"Penny, you can't work for Osborn! That's like…like…working for the Empire!"

"It is not!"

"Yeah it is! That guy is straight up evil!"

"He's not…evil," she'd tried to argue, but her voice had been weak.

"He has radioactive spiders in his lab!" he'd hissed.

"So? He was probably researching…"

"What? How to become a super villain?"

"No…radiation. Or…just…spiders," she'd trailed off lamely.

"He looks like he eats kittens."

"Ned!" she'd laughed, smacking him in the arm. "He does not."

"You can't prove that."

"Come on. It'll be fine. I'll be in the lab with Harry. And maybe," she'd lowered her voice back to just above a whisper, "Harry and I will be able to build something like what I had for my other internship."

His eyes had gone wide. "Wait…seriously?"

"Maybe."

"But…won't Mr. Stark be mad?"

"Why should he care? He's not my boss." Before he'd been able to ask any more about that, she'd gone on. "And if we do…maybe you can help us with writing some of the code?"

And that had been all it had talent to get Ned on board with her deflection.

Penny was trying to be hopeful. An internship at Oscorp would be better than her Stark internship…mostly since the latter hadn't even been real, but would she be able to build her own suit? Even with access to the materials and with Harry's help, she worried that they wouldn't be able to do it. Or what if Mr. Osborn caught them? What if he figured out who she was? Then what?

Despite having known him for years, she still didn't know exactly what Norman Osborn would do if he found out that she was Spider-Girl, and she didn't think she wanted to find out. But she had to try. Besides, an internship would look great on her transcript. And maybe Mr. Osborn had pull at MIT too. Mr. Stark hadn't had any interest in mentoring her or even talking to her. Mr. Osborn might be kind of shady, and he was a jerk to his son half the time, but he could help her, and she didn't think she could afford to pretend she was above taking that help.

As the three of them strode through the internship labs, Penny watched the occupants of the stations they passed, all of them hard at work.. There were other high schoolers, but most of the people in white coats and safety goggles looked like college students…or maybe even grad students. She really hoped none of them found out that she was only really here because Mr. Osborn thought she was dating his son or suspected her of special treatment, but her hopes were dashed when they walked right past the other labs and to a door at the end of the room. Inside was a smaller, apparently private lab, outfitted with only two desks. One was covered in neat piles of papers and folders, a family photograph of Harry as a baby along with his mom and dad the only personal touch, and the other was absolutely empty apart from the tablet charging on its stand.

"The two of you will share this room. I assumed you wouldn't mind."

"Of course not." On one hand, it certainly would be easier to keep their project secret if they were the only ones in the lab. On the other, this seemed like a surefire way to make the other interns hate her.

"This is your desk. There are extra supplies in the closets. Luka is the head intern for this floor, and he'll walk you through all the rules and protocols. I'm sure you know all this from working with Stark, but it's procedure. The legal team will have my ass if we don't check all the boxes." Norman gave her a conspiratorial smile that she did her best to return, wishing he'd stop bringing up Mr. Stark. "All projects assigned to you will come through on the tablet. It's yours to keep, so you can take it home if you want. The labs are always open, and you can come and go as you please as long as you get your hours in. Your intern ID will get you in the building so don't lose it, and let Luka know if you do so we can get you a new one." Norman hesitated for a moment, looking around the room. "Alright…I think that's just about everything." He snapped his fingers. "Oh! Harry, I set aside a lab coat and safety goggles for her. Would you mind grabbing those?"

Harry nodded, sending her a quick smile as he hurried to do as his father had requested, and as soon as the door was closed, Norman turned back to her, smiling and taking her hand, giving it a fatherly pat.

"I just wanted to say, on a personal note, that I'm glad my son finally came to his senses."

"I…I'm sorry?" she asked, but he just kept smiling and holding her hand.

"I always hoped the two of you would end up together. I tried telling him that the whole 'being gay' business was just a phase, but you know how Harry is. He just had to find the right girl."

It was hard to smile…hard to make herself drop her eyes in feigned embarrassment instead of drop kicking him into the wall. Just when he did something nice…just when it seemed like he really was the kindly man he pretended to be around her, he'd always remind her of what he really was.

"Harry's great. I've always loved him." That, at least, was true. She loved Harry. Enough to want to protect him from his father.

"I know. There's no one I'd rather see help my son run this company than you."

By the time Harry returned with her lab coat and a box with a pair of unopened safety goggles, she'd already decided to never tell him about that conversation. There wasn't any use in it and besides, it would only hurt him more.

Norman left them then, insisting she let him know if she needed anything, and Harry gave her a tour. They started with the main lab which was set up with a dozen workstation scattered throughout the room. A few other interns gave her nods hello or waved, but most seemed to focused to even look up from their work. Next was the supply closet, which held everything from boxes of scrap metal to things like drills and even a sewing kit. The vending machines (all of which were free, which Penny hadn't even known was a thing) and the little cafeteria were open 24/7, and apparently Penny was allowed to get food there whenever she wanted. Then there was another supply closet, this one more of a tiny lab filled with dozens of containers and beakers filled with various chemicals. Next was an introduction to Luka who spoke in a barely there Russian accent and who wore a star of David on a gold chain around his neck, just like the one her uncle Ben had left her. And then, finally, the two of them were alone in the lab.

They wasted almost no time in pushing their desks together so they could sit side by side, and he pulled a rolling cart full of supplies and a couple of books behind them. "Just in case someone comes in," he explained in a low voice. "The door doesn't lock or anything, but people usually knock first."

She nodded. They'd have to be careful when they started making plans for her suit if people could just walk in any time. "Are there cameras in here?"

"Just one. It doesn't have audio, and I don't think my dad ever really checks it. He's the only one with access to the footage. We can take our tablets back to your place too, or to my room."

"Who has access to them? Do they back up to a cloud or anything"

"It's password protected, and you set up the password when you log in for the first time. You can disable any kind of sharing on them. It's all pretty standard. He isn't expecting any of his interns to go rogue and work on their own stuff. They're all too scared of losing their internship."

"Could we?" As much as she wanted to build her own suit, she also didn't want to risk having to explain in future college interviews why she'd lost two internships with two separate, high-profile tech companies in the span of a couple of months. But Harry didn't look worried.

"Nah. This is the first time he's been down here since I started working here almost a year ago. Luka is the one in charge of us, and a woman named Carla is his boss, but she's in charge of all the interns and everything in research and development, so she's never around either. No one cares what I do as long as I meet the minimum requirements for the internship. It'll be the same for you. Don't worry."

She wondered if that was true…if all the privileges he enjoyed would extend to her now that they were 'dating.' But the moment she powered on her tablet and set up a password, that train of thought went right off the tracks. Already she had five assignments, ranging from a quiz on basic safety protocols to a questionnaire all about the types of projects that interested her. So, figuring the suit would have to wait until she was at least somewhat caught up on actual internship work, she got started.

The two hours she'd planned on spending at Oscorp flew by, and before she knew it, it was nearly five o'clock. Stomach growling, she put her tablet in her backpack, along with the notebook she'd started taking notes in. Apparently Luka was in charge of grading her quiz and giving her feedback on her answers to the questionnaire, and more assignments would come soon. Harry had told her he was working on building a robot whose eventual function was supposed to be an assistant for anyone that might need help picking things up off the floor, and she wondered if he'd let her help. When she thought about getting to do things like build actual robots and maybe even work on programming an AI, she had to admit, she was kind of looking forward to this internship.

And maybe she'd get more out of it than just the opportunity to build a new suit.

Harry wanted to take her home in his car (well, his driver's car. Like her, Harry was only 15, and even his father couldn't pull enough strings to get him a driver's license just yet) but she insisted she could take the subway. He relented, but he did walk her out, making sure to give her a kiss on the cheek before she left, making sure at least some of the other interns saw. After all, they had to keep up appearances.

It was a short ride home, and the moment she stepped through her front door, May jumped to her feet, a big, hopeful smile on her face. "Hey, baby!" she cried, jumping to her feet and putting her hands on Penny's shoulders. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, but she let it go to voicemail.

"Hi, May."

"So…."

Penny just grinned at her, and May shook her a little.

"Come on! How did it go?"

"It was…really good," she admitted. "I get to work in a lab with Harry and we can do projects and stuff together. It's nice."

"Yeah?"

Penny nodded. "Yeah. Mostly I just got a tour of everything and met people and stuff today but…yeah, it was great."

May pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, making her laugh as she returned the embrace. "I'm so glad," she whispered, cheek resting on Penny's hair. "I think this is going to be really good for you, you know? After everything with Tony Stark." As always, she grimaced when she said his name. "I think this is going to be a better fit."

She sure hoped so.

"Alright. We have to celebrate."

"I haven't even done anything yet!"

"We're celebrating your first day. How about pizza?"

She grinned. "Pizza sounds good. Thanks, May."

"The usual?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Go. I'll call you when it gets here."

Penny grabbed her phone the second she closed her bedroom door behind him, tapping his contact and pressing her phone to her ear as she dropped onto the bottom bunk of her bed. He answered before the second ring could even finish.

"How was it?" he demanded, sounding breathless. "Did you get started on the suit? Is Harry going to help? Does he know everything? What about Norman? Was he there?"

"Slow down," she urged with a laugh, keeping an ear out for May. Thankfully her aunt had turned the TV on, so Penny doubted they would be interrupted until the pizza came, which meant they had about 40 minutes. "It was fine. All I did was tour the labs and see where I'd be working. I'm in a lab with just Harry, so hopefully as soon as I get caught up on everything, we can get started. Norman was there for a while, then he left." She hesitated, shifting on the bed so she could rest her head on her pillow.. "And…yeah. Harry does know everything. I told him."

"You told him?" Ned asked, disbelief heavy in his voice, along with a little hurt. She couldn't really blame him. Harry had always been a bit of a sore spot with Ned. Harry was her oldest friend, and although she and Ned went to school together, she thought Ned might be a little jealous of the time she spent with Harry. And it wasn't even that Ned and Harry didn't get along…they just didn't spend a lot of time together. Still, she wanted to explain.

"When Mr. Stark dropped me off…after he got me new clothes and took the suit and stuff…I was really upset, you know? He'd yelled at me and…then he didn't talk to me or anything. And I just…called Harry. I didn't want to keep this from him anymore. I didn't know he'd offer to help me get another internship or anything. I just wanted to talk to him."

"Mr. Stark yelled at you?"

After Harry had left, she'd thought about calling Ned and telling him the full story. She hadn't, though. When he'd texted later, asking if she was okay after seeing what had happened with the ferry on the news, she'd just assured him that she was okay, but that Mr. Stark had taken her suit away. She'd been too embarrassed to say anything else, and the next day at school, he'd seemed to understand that she didn't want to talk about it, so he hadn't asked. But, she thought, he was her best friend, and she wanted to tell him the rest of it.

So, for the second time that week, she rehashed the events that had led up to her calling Harry while crying in her bedroom a few days ago. Ned knew a lot of it, so she started at the ferry. She told him about the Vulture and holding the boat together. She told him how scared she'd been, and how Mr. Stark had shown up just in time to save the day. Then she told him what he'd said. How he'd called the FBI but hadn't told her. And how he'd taken the suit, buying her a stupid, embarrassing outfit and dropping her off without so much as a 'thanks for the memories.'

"I'm sorry, Pen," he murmured when she was done, and she wiped impatiently at her eyes.

"I just…I wanted to be like him. You know?" she asked, her voice soft and weak.

"I know." She knew he did, too. If anyone could understand how much she'd looked up to Tony Stark, it was Ned.

"And…it's stupid. Right?" she went on. "Like…he never even talked to me unless he had to. He just had me reporting to Happy. And it's not like Happy liked me or anything. So…I'm better off. Right?"

"Right." Ned didn't sound convinced, but neither did she, so she couldn't blame him.

"Actually…there is one more thing." She cleared her throat, heart pounding. She didn't think Ned would judge her, but she couldn't help being nervous. Still, she figured he'd see it in the press eventually. "I'm…kind of pretending to be Harry's girlfriend."

"What? Why?" he demanded after a moment of stunned silence. "I thought you liked…I mean…I just thought you were…since you like Liz…"

"I am!" she hurried to assure him, not sure why that part was so important to her. "I mean…yeah, I'm a lesbian," she told him, the word feeling strange in her mouth, and she wondered if this was the first time she'd said it out loud to someone. "And Harry is too. Gay, I mean. He only likes guys. But his dad is…well…you know."

"A kitten-eating supervillain?"

"A homophobe," she corrected, fighting a smile. "He's always so hard on Harry and…he asked me to help him out. I don't mind…I do love Harry. Just not like that. Anyway, we're helping each other out, you know? He helped me get an internship and I helped him get his dad off his back."

Ned's silence was skeptical. "So…you have to be Harry's fake girlfriend to get an internship?"

"No!" she cried, somewhat offended. "I earned the internship because I'm smart and awesome and I'm being Harry's fake girlfriend."

He snorted. "I think people used to call that being a 'beard.'"

"Well, the past was weird and me pretending to date Harry has nothing to do with the fact that my first day at my internship was good and hopefully we can get started on the suit soon."

She could hear a smile in his voice when he answered. "Cool. I'll go ahead and start figuring out some of the programming. I think I saw enough of the code from your old suit to at least get started."

"Thanks, Ned. You're the best Guy in the Chair a girl could ask for."

Thanks for reading!