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9. The Vulture

Penny's heart was racing as she pulled the row of lockers up off of their foundation and grabbed the old bag she'd stashed her things in, racing towards the women's bathroom and praying that Harry and Ned were able to get to a computer and track that car somehow. The last time she'd worn this suit had been the day before Mr. Stark had come to her apartment…it had only been a couple of months ago, but it felt like a lifetime. She didn't stop to look at the makeshift mask she'd sewed herself…didn't let herself think about how ridiculous she would look in this 'suit' looked compared to the one Mr. Stark had given her or even the one she'd made with Harry…all she allowed herself to think about was the Vulture.

They had his name…there had to be DMV records that they could access, and traffic cameras…if anyone could do it, it was Ned. She pulled the hoodie and sweatpants on over the dress, praying she didn't rip it somehow. She didn't think Norman would make her pay for it, but if he did, she would be screwed. Yanking her phone out of her bag, she brought up her messaging app and, hesitating for only a second, she clicked on Mr. Stark's number and typed out the fastest message she could manage.

"Found Vulture. Adrian Toomes. Following now."

It didn't make a lot of sense but she didn't have time to try and explain. Besides, he hadn't listened to her before and she couldn't rely on him now. She was going to catch the Vulture and put a stop to his operation, once and for all. She didn't need a fancy suit or help from Iron Man…she was Spider-Girl.

Dialing Harry's number, she pulled her webshooters over her wrists, the mechanism snapping into place as she sandwiched her phone between her ear and her shoulder. He answered on the first ring, not wasting a second on pleasantries. "We're in the computer lab. Ned's working on it. Where are you?"

"Got to find a window…" she muttered as she burst out of the bathroom and sprinted to the nearest classroom. She threw the door open, racing across the room to the window and yanking it up, wincing when the glass cracked. It didn't matter…she had to get out without anyone seeing her. She leapt without looking, shooting a web and swinging around the side of the school. "I'm out. By the back parking lot. Any luck?"

Ned's voice came then, and she could hear his fingers flying over the keyboard. "Working on it. Should we call Mr. Stark?"

"Just track that car."

"But…"

"I already texted him. If he wants to show up, he will." Never mind the fact that she hadn't told him where she'd found the Vulture. Now he had his name. He should be able to figure the rest out from there.

There was silence on the other end of the line as Penny swung in the direction the Vulture's car had gone. She couldn't see it anywhere, but all cars basically looked the same to her anyway, so she just circled the area, keeping an eye out and listening to her senses, trying to figure out where he might be going…which direction she should head in.

She almost expected Ned to argue…or for Harry to chime in, but they were both quiet. She wished her senses were more useful…that they could tell her which direction she needed to go. She wished she still had Karen to help her track him…hell, she wished she had her own suit...the one her and Harry had made. She wished she'd been able to get her phone into that car…at least then, they'd have an easier time tracking it. She wished Liz wouldn't be hurt by all this.

She wished she could still trust Iron Man to help.

But, she reminded herself firmly as she kept an eye out, she had to work with what she had.

What she had was a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants, her cellphone, and the knowledge that Adrian Toomes was the Vulture. All in all, it wasn't much.

"Ned?" she asked.

"I'm working on it! I've got the license plate…I just have to get into the traffic cameras and…" he trailed off, muttering to himself. "Almost there…"

What was she forgetting? Where would the Vulture be going?

"Got it!" Ned's voice broke into her thoughts. "Okay…where are you? Closest intersection!"

She found a street sign and told him.

"Okay…um…left…keep going. He's moving fast…how fast can you swing?"

She worried that she couldn't swing fast enough, but taking the bus wasn't exactly an option and it wasn't like she could steal someone's car. She didn't even know how to drive, much less hot wire a car! So she ignored the question, shooting a web and propelling herself forward as fast as she could.

"Just tell me where to go!"

For the next few minutes, Penny moved like her life depended on it, shooting web after web and praying she didn't run out of fluid. She didn't have any extra…all she had was what she'd stored under the lockers weeks ago…back before she'd lost her internship. Her arms started to burn and it was harder and harder to catch her breath but she didn't dare stop as Ned barked out directions in her ear.

And then, suddenly, Ned's tone changed, his voice going soft like the Vulture might overhear. "He stopped…where are you?"

She glanced down, naming the closest intersection she could see.

"You're close. Maybe two miles." He gave her the address and she put it into her phone, putting them on speaker.

"I think it's an old office building or something…nothing about this place online. It's abandoned," Harry put in.

"I'm on my way."

"Pen…are you sure you don't want to call Stark?" Harry asked, voice soft.

"I already texted him."

"What's his number?"

"Harry…"

"Just…give me his number, okay?"

She hesitated, about to argue, but she didn't have time, and what could it hurt anyway? Tony Stark wouldn't come unless he wanted to. There was nothing Harry could do to change that. So, still swinging, she opened Mr. Stark's contact information and texted it to Harry. "There," she told him softly. "You've got it."

She had no idea if she was supposed to share that number, but she figured Harry wouldn't be prank-calling Tony Stark anytime soon. And if he did, Mr. Stark kind of deserved it.

"I'm here," Penny told them when she arrived, landing on a lamp post outside the building. Harry had been right…the only vehicle outside was the car the Vulture had come in, sitting neatly between two yellow lines at the far end of the lot right by the road…he'd parked as far away from the building as he could get. "I'm going to hang up…I'll call you after I get him."

"Pen…" Harry started, sounding suddenly afraid, but she spoke over him, not letting him finish…not wanting to admit that her hands were shaking and she didn't know if it was adrenaline or fear.

"I'll talk to you soon."

"Be careful, Penny."

"I will," she promised them. "Love you. Both of you." Then she hung up, tucking her phone into the pocket of her sweatpants. She wasn't sure why she'd said it…all she was doing was bringing the Vulture in. She was going to be fine.

Penny checked the basement first, since it had seemed the most likely place that a supervillain would have a secret lair, and lo and behold, there he was. The room was dimly lit by a handful of fluorescent lights, and was packed with machinery and what looked to be parts for more weapons. Adrian Toomes stood with his back to her at a table of monitors, one of which showed a blueprint of what looked to be Stark Tower. She crept closer crawling along the ceiling and spotting another blueprint…this one of a plane.

And that's when it hit her.

Moving day.

She dropped to the floor, landing silently in her dress flats. Bringing up a hand that only trembled a little, she aimed at his arm and fired, webbing him to the table. "Hey! Surprised?"

"Oh. Hey, kid. Didn't hear you come in," Adrian Toomes greeted, not sounding nearly as afraid as she'd been hoping.

"It's over! I've got you," she told him, proud when her voice didn't shake.

He chuckled to himself, turning to face her and leaning casually against the table, not seeming bothered by the fact that he was webbed to it. "I've got to say kid, I admire the grit. Really. When Norman told me about you, at first, I have to admit, I didn't think you'd be much of a problem."

For the second time that day, time stopped, and Penny's heart dropped into her stomach. All around her, the room seemed to lose all color. "What?" she whispered, even though she'd heard him…of course she had. "Norman?"

"Yeah, kid. Who do you think's helping me fund this? I mean, he's a son of a bitch just like Stark, don't get me wrong, but when he offered to help me take care of you in exchange for some of those weapons…" He shook his head, chuckling again. "I couldn't exactly say no to that."

"What are you talking about?"

He sighed. "Look, kid, you're what, sixteen?"

She didn't answer…couldn't make her mouth work.

"You're about my daughter's age. And you saved her life in DC. So I'm going to give you a chance, alright? Turn around and walk out of here. Go back to your dance and your boyfriend, and just forget you ever saw me. You're so young…you don't even know how the world works."

"I understand that selling weapons to criminals is wrong!" she cried, head spinning. Norman. Norman Osborn had been helping the Vulture? Why?

"How do you think your daddy got all his money? How do you think he paid for that tower or any of his other little toys? Those people, the ones with all the money in the world, they do whatever they want. You think they give a shit about us? The people that build their roads and fight their wars? They don't. Trust me. I've seen how this works, Penny, and you know I'm right."

"My…my dad?" she whispered, shaking her head. There was no way. He couldn't know. Her whole body felt cold as she took a step closer. How would he know? Penny shook her head again as if to clear it. Him knowing about her biological father didn't matter. This…stopping him, was the only thing that mattered. "You…no. No, just because rich people do bad things doesn't give you the right to…to steal alien technology and sell enhanced weapons to criminals!"

He sighed, shrugging to himself. "Ah well. It was worth a shot."

And that's when Norman Osborn appeared at the top of the staircase, making his way leisurely down the stairs.

"Hi, Penny."

"Mr. Osborn…"

"I didn't want to have to do this." Norman shook his head as he reached the bottom of the stairs, looking genuinely sad. "I was hoping that you'd just go home. But you always were a stubborn kid. Smart too. Just like my son. Hell, better than my son!"

"How…" There were too many questions, one popping into her mind after the other, for her to focus on what he'd said about Harry. She'd just have to be angry about that later. How did he know who she was? How did the Vulture know about her father? How had Norman known she was here?

"I had my suspicions from the beginning," Norman told her with a sad smile.

"But…how?" Penny cried, voice shaking. This didn't make sense…how could he have known?

"For such a smart girl, you can be incredibly stupid, can't you? I have cameras in every room, Penelope. Including the lab you snuck into on your little school field trip."

"I didn't sneak in! The door was open!"

"I saw that spider bite you. I was worried that I'd have a lawsuit on my hands. Instead, Queens got a new superhero. And then Stark caught on. Of course, when you started interfering in my business, I was worried that I'd have to have you taken care of, but Stark put a stop to you himself. When you started working on a suit again, I thought you might need a distraction."

"You," she whispered. "You're the one that sent the envelope."

"Funny enough, the head of my legal team used to work for Stark, back in his wilder days. I always knew it would be a good idea to poach his legal team. It really is a small world." He huffed out a little laugh. "Really, I never thought I'd need to use that little tidbit. But I was hoping that little betrayal might keep you off the streets for long enough that we could finish this job. Or, even better, that it might turn you against Stark…maybe bring you to our side. But you just don't know when to quit, do you?" Norman crossed his arms. "You think I don't have cameras equipped with audio in all of the labs? That I can't access everything you do on your tablet?"

"Harry said…"

"My son doesn't know everything about Oscorp, Penny. Honestly…you thought I wouldn't notice materials going missing?"

That, for some reason, made her cheeks flush with shame. "Harry said it was okay."

"Don't worry. I'm not going to make you pay for the things you stole," he told her wryly. "That suit was almost as good as the one Stark made. I have to say, I was impressed. Still, I knew I had to find a new way to get you to stop. But even interfering with your internship didn't slow you down enough."

"The internship…"

"I'll admit, you and Harry really are doing a good job of keeping up. I thought for sure you'd quit your little superhero gig when I started giving you graduate level work. But the two of you…you're a good team. I really do wish things could have been different. Harry adores you. You would have made a great asset to my company."

Would have. Her brain snagged on that little phrase, stomach sinking. "Why are you telling me this?"

But she knew. She knew about his plans and she knew what he was doing and there was no way he could let that stand.

"Because I wanted you to understand. You're such a smart girl…a good kid, too. You deserved to understand. And besides, my friend here needed a little more time to get some things in place."

Behind him, Toomes moved, and she just caught the sight of a knife cutting through her webbing when something came flying at her…the wing suit! She jumped out of the way, gripping the support beams and trying to shoot a web at it, but it was too fast, taking out the beams as it followed her, so she focused on avoiding it. Chunks of concrete flew through the room as it broke through the walls and beams, but she managed to stay ahead of it, figuring that if she could just get close enough to Toomes…

Then, as suddenly as the attack had begun, it stopped, flying back to where the Vulture and Norman were standing.

"I truly am sorry, Penny," Norman told her, actually sounding it. "I never wanted things to end this way."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, catching her breath as she landed on her toes, taking a step toward the two of them as they backed out of the room. "The suit didn't touch me!"

In a motion so smooth, she felt he must have practiced it, Norman pulled out a black pistol, bringing her to an abrupt halt as Toomes disappeared out the door. Her mouth dropped open. Somehow, she hadn't thought that he'd resort to shooting her! She'd known Mr. Osborn since she was six years old! She'd stayed over at his house and he'd made her breakfast and…and she was dating his son!

Well, as far as he knew.

"My dear, it wasn't trying to."

She looked around the room as he took another step back, realizing suddenly that the whole building was groaning and shifting around her. The beams…it had taken out all of the support beams!

Penny took a lunging step toward where he stood at the door that would lead her to freedom.

And then the whole world crashed down around her.

Penny didn't know how long she was out, but when she opened her eyes, all she could see was darkness. Moving was impossible…she was trapped. She was trapped! Penny gasped, choking on the dust from the rubble that surrounded her, all of it coming back so quickly it made her head spin…or maybe that was the head trauma.

The Vulture. Norman.

Moving day.

The Vulture was going to hijack Mr. Stark's plane!

Penny pressed her hands into the ground, flinching when it made every inch of her body hurt. Huge pieces concrete pressed down into her, and she could feel blood running down her side, but she kept pushing, gasping for air as she fought to push herself up.

"Come on," she whispered. "Come on, Spider-Girl. You can do this. Come on!" her voice broke, a sob bursting out of her, and she dropped back down, forehead pressed to the ground.

She was trapped. Her phone had to be broken. Only Ned and Harry knew where she was and neither of them could help her.

"Hello!" She screamed. "Hello! Please? Help! I'm trapped under here! Please help!"

The world around her was silent other than the constant ringing in her ears. There was no one around…no one to come and save her. She wished for Mr. Stark then, with a fierceness that surprised her. He'd taken her suit away and he hadn't listened to her, but he would save her. He wouldn't let her die under here!

Was she going to die? Without ever getting to talk to May again? Or Harry or Ned. She'd told her friends that she'd loved them before she'd hung up the phone. What was the last thing she'd said to May? Hot tears ran down her cheeks, and she managed to get a hand up to her face, yanking the mask off and gasping for air as she stared at her reflection in the puddle of water a few feet from her face. Water dripped down through the rubble, a sound she should have been able to hear, but all she could hear for the moment was the constant ringing and her own gasping breaths.

Her lip was bleeding, and little cuts and scrapes covered her whole face. She could practically taste the dust in the air as it seemed to clog her lungs and make breathing even harder. She looked awful. She was wearing a hoodie and sweatpants over a dress that cost more than her aunt's monthly rent. Her hair was matted with what had to be blood and she looked half dead.

But the Vulture was going to hijack Mr. Stark's plane, and someone had to warn him! Someone had to stop the Vulture from getting more of those weapons on the street. Someone had to stop Norman Osborn from getting his hands on those weapons, no matter what he wanted them for.

There was nobody else to do it. She had to get up.

Because she was Spider-Girl. Even without Mr. Stark. Even with no technology and no backup and no suit.

Penny placed her hands on the ground, bracing herself and glaring at her own reflection. "You are a badass," she whispered, looking into her own eyes. "You are Spider-Girl. You're a superhero. And you are going to get up. Come on, Spider-Girl," she ordered softly, teeth gritted as she started to push herself up. The concrete was impossibly heavy. Her whole body hurt. Her ears were still ringing. But that didn't matter because she was Spider-Girl and she had to get up!

"Come on, Spider-Girl!" she cried, pushing. "Come on! Get up! Let's go!"

Slowly, the rubble around her started to shift and somehow, her arms held as she pushed and pushed, forcing her way through the concrete piled on her back.

"Come on, Spider-Girl! Come on, Spider-Girl!"

Her arms shook but she pushed anyway, not stopping as she forced herself to her knees. Iron Man was relying on her, whether he knew it or not. The people of New York were relying on her!

"Come on, Spider-Girl!"

And with one last push, she was free, climbing shakily to her feet among the pile of the ruined building as she gasped for air, bringing a hand to her side and wincing when it hurt.

But that didn't matter.

She had a plane to catch.

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