Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to Marvel Studios, Disney, and/or their otherwise respective owners.

Author's Notes: Hi, guys. Yes, I'm posting this early. I have had a rough week, TLDR probably one of the worst weeks of my entire life, and I think I need a short – emphasis on the short this time – breather, a chance to catch up and etc. Next update will be on the 25th, dw. Just need some time to recoup and lick my wounds. Probably not the best chapter to do this with, though. XD

Chapter title comes from Over My Head by Fleetwood Mac.

As always, hope you enjoy,

~TGWSI/Selene Borealis

~primis, omega, superhero, genius~

~somebody to love~

~chapter 20: over my head~

There were times when Penny knew the sleep she was getting wasn't enough, even for her.

She wiped at her mouth with a piece of tissue paper the best she could as she leaned her forehead into the cold porcelain of the toilet seat. This was only the third time the nightmare had made her throw up ever since she'd moved into the Tower, the first being the first night she'd slept here and the second a time in between that one and this one. She supposed she should be thankful for that. If the nightmare and along with it, the vomiting, hadn't come at a more inopportune time, she probably would've been, too.

She had only gotten two hours of sleep last night, three hours of sleep the night before that. The nightmare had woken her up again two hours of sleep into this one. She was running on fumes, metaphorically speaking. She knew she couldn't keep doing this.

And yet...

She knew she didn't have a choice. Once she had the nightmare, she was doomed to not get anymore sleep for the rest of the night.

Throwing the toilet paper into the bowl and closing the lid, she lifted a hand to flush it before she turned around so she could rest against the throne. She closed her eyes as she tilted her head back towards the ceiling, but it was of no use. Even with the lights being on at thirty percent, even through her eyelids, she could see the light. It seared her retinas.

"...Miss?" JARVIS said after several moments, always caring for her, always looking out for her.

Penny was too tired to formulate a proper response. "...Mmm?"

"I do not think that the bathroom floor would be a good place for you to fall asleep."

He still didn't have the cameras on in her apartment, even after all this time. It just spoke to how well he'd come to known her that he knew what she was doing.

"Not...sleeping, JARVIS," she said. She yawned. "Just...resting."

She didn't have work tomorrow...or, well, today. It was after midnight now. That was the one and only bright side to this: at least she would be able to rest for the rest of the morning, since sleep was out of the question. Then she could go out on patrol...provided that she didn't think she would wind up killing herself somehow.

Oh, what it was like to be the only human arachnid in the world, with a suffering from night terrors for over a year at this point.

"But you do need sleep," JARVIS pressed. His voice was currently like nails on chalkboard to her ears, due to her sleep deprivation, but she didn't have the energy to so much as wince at the pain. Doing something like that could wait for a few hours. "Delilah, over the past three days, you have gotten only – "

"Seven hours of sleep," she muttered. "I know, JAR. I'm tired, but that doesn't make me stupid. I can still...do math."

Penny could do math all day, every day. Even in her sleep.

Formulating sentences in the English language...not so much. Maybe Italian, on a good day.

This was not a good day.

But that didn't need to be said.

"That is only a third of the time of what is recommended for the average adult," the British AI continued. "With your night terrors, I have been lenient, Delilah, but – "

"Lenient?"

Was he seriously trying to act like he had any control over her?

...Well, he probably could, if he wanted to. He was the most intelligent and complex AI she had ever come across before.

She pushed the frankly horrifying thought of what JARVIS would do if he decided to take over the world aside. "Get to the point, JAR."

"I have an idea that might be able to get you to fall back asleep, but it is not one that I think you are going to like."

"...What is it?"

"I would rather not say."

She moaned. "JARVIS."

"Please, if you would allow yourself the notion of 'humoring me,' as the saying goes," he replied. "Can you get up from the floor, Delilah?"

Turning herself around again with an incoherent mumble about meddling AIs, she put her hands on the toilet seat and pushed herself up off of the ground. She was too tired to go about it any other way.

"Now, if you would go to your bedroom and collect a pillow and a blanket."

She did that as well.

"Next stop is to go to the elevator, Miss."

That gave her pause. She felt the space between her eyebrows crinkle. "What are you wanting me to do, JARVIS?"

"What I believe is best for you," he responded cryptically. "Studies have shown that, while one can not sleep as well when sleeping in a new place, sleeping in a different one than usual can be beneficial to those with night terrors."

"...I have a feeling you're BS'ing that."

"I would be happy to show you the studies when you have slept for some additional hours."

"...Sure you would," she said under her breath. "Once you've probably written them up."

If he heard her, and he probably did, he didn't deign her with a response.

Still, like an obedient and meek omega, she went to the elevator. She nearly tripped over her own feet getting into the thing, and swayed as it went down only one floor, her pillow tucked under one arm and her other holding her blanket. It made her feel like she was a little kid again, back after her parents had died, and she couldn't shake the images of their dead bodies out of her dreams. Uncle Ben and Aunt May had always accepted her into their bed gladly, even though she'd been eight years old, old enough that in her mind she shouldn't have been doing such a thing.

Sleeping in between them, her aunt and uncle instead of her mother and father, of course hadn't been the same. Her aunt had been a beta, while her mother had been an omega. But sandwiched between a maternal figure and her uncle, who had smelled so similar to her father, she'd been comforted all the same. She missed those days.

She missed her aunt and uncle.

Of course, Penny didn't realize her fatal mistake until the elevator doors had closed behind her. She wasn't the only one in the communal floor. The lights were at a dim percentage, but they were still on. The TV was playing. The smell of popcorn was in the room.

And sitting either on all but one of the couches or in armchairs were the rest of the (on-world) Avengers.

JARVIS, you bastard, she thought.

Oh, he was so going to pay for this later.

Tony, Natasha, Steve, Clint, and Bruce (and it pained her still to be thinking of them in this way, but she was too tired to get into it with her brain again) all looked up at the sound of her arrival. Her cheeks instantly flamed something awful. This was even worse than Stark seeing her in her pajamas with her necklace still out before she'd decided it was okay like that – at least then she hadn't been standing with a pillow and blanket in her arms, looking like a little kid.

"Fuck this," she hissed. Her voice was so low, only Steve heard her, which caused him to make an interesting face that she totally didn't look at. Pivoting on her foot, she glared at the elevator. "JARVIS, take me back upstairs."

He remained silent.

The childish nature came out within her as she stomped her foot down on the floor petulantly. "JARVIS."

Nothing.

Just when she was really about to make a scene, with her being as sleep-deprived as she was, Tony said, "...Everything alright, Spidey?"

She growled, the un-stereotypical sound for an omega rumbling in her throat, and whirled around. "Your AI is committing mutiny against me," she told him.

"I am doing no such thing."

"Yes, you are," she spat, casting her eyes up to the ceiling. "Don't even bother trying to deny it."

Someone made a sound like a snort. Looking back at the others, she saw it was Clint. Typical.

"I am simply trying to do something that is in your best interests."

"Yeah, well, you can take your thoughts about my 'best interests' and shove them up your nonexistent – "

"Okay," Tony cut in. Steve was gaping at her, like he was surprised she could be so vicious. "How much sleep have you gotten in the past seventy-two hours?"

Penny bristled. "What does it matter to you?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't really matter anything to me, really." His heart remained steady throughout the statement, the same quick speed it was as always, so either he was telling the truth or was just really good at lying. It was hard for her to be certain of which, given his upbringing in the spotlight. "But JARVIS likes to override people if he thinks that what he's doing can help. I can override him, if you want."

The AI said nothing, but she got the distinct sensation he was simmering with disapproval at that.

"Or you can do what he wants, and come hang out with us. That is what you want, right?"

JARVIS kept it simple: "Yes."

Traitor, the rational part of her mind raged. Fucking traitor. He promised not to tell. Now what is he doing? Fuck him. Fuck fuck fuck –

But her instincts, the one she tried so hard to suppress, had a different idea.

Alphas, they said. Strong alphas. Our alphas. Our mates. And friendly, kind omega.

It was a push and pull between the two, and it was hard to tell which side was going to win. She was sleep-deprived, but she still had her strong will. That hadn't broken down completely yet.

Her rationality was just about to overcome her instincts in the shortest but most difficult mental battle of her life when Natasha subtly gestured her head towards the one free couch and said, "There's a space there, if you want it."

And she...

She seemed to know just exactly what button to press with that statement.

Penny's body moved of its own accord. The rational part of her mind tried to rebel, because this was a very bad idea, it was stupid, but all it succeeded in doing was making her clench her jaw as she went over to the one couch. Well, it also succeeded in making her throw her pillow onto the couch angrily, but there was nothing more it could do as she laid down and pulled the blanket over her.

Ignoring the others, because she knew if she saw their faces she might just break, she pointedly looked at the TV. "What are we watching?"

Naturally, she realized what it was as soon as she'd spoken.

"The Dark Knight Rises," Clint said. "You haven't seen it yet?"

All this earned him in response was, "Mmph."

It seemed paradoxical to her, that they could watch superhero movies while being superheroes themselves. She'd sort of been into superhero comics, back in the day. Ned had always been into them more than she had, and MJ hadn't cared for them at all. Her favorite had been Captain Marvel, the Captain Marvel that wasn't the real-life beta woman Carol Danvers but the fictional omega kid Billy Batson instead. Though he would probably start to be called Shazam, once the world found out that Carol existed as the intergalactic guardian that she was.

But then she'd became a real-life superhero, and she'd found out it was nothing like what the comics made it out to be. Even when they tried to be as "realistic" as possible, no comic could accurately portray all of the pain and suffering that either happened to others or happened to you, when you were a superhero. The tragedy. The heartbreak. The sheer amount of death and blood on your hands, including of the ones you loved most.

No, she didn't care much for superhero movies or comics now, hadn't ever since shortly after putting the Spider-Woman mask on for the first time back in 2006.

"The movie is almost over. Don't worry, you haven't missed out on much," Natasha remarked.

"Nat!"

The alpha woman flicked a piece of popcorn from a mostly-finished bowl at him. "I'm speaking only the truth."

Penny didn't pay attention to the movie. It was almost over, and she was past the point of even pretending to be polite. She simply closed her eyes and burrowed her face into her pillow, drowning out the noises of the movie just as she did the sounds of the city on a regular basis at night. It was a learned trait, being able to do this with enhanced senses.

But she didn't fall asleep. Exhaustion dragged at her eyes, keeping her eyelids shut like glue, but she didn't sleep. She never was that lucky.

At the end of the movie, she heard whisperings, unable to ignore them. When she heard one of them say, "Spidey," she grunted.

"I'm not asleep," she grumbled, blearily opening her eyes. Only Natasha and Clint were unsurprised by this, of course. They were spies, and even if they'd had enhanced senses would not have been fooled by her consistent heartbeat and steady breath. "What do you want?"

"Do you want to watch something?" Bruce asked softly.

"Are you guys...going to bed sometime soon?"

In her defense, it was a weeknight, and it was almost two o'clock in the morning. She might not have had anything to do tomorrow besides patrol, but that didn't mean the same for them.

Except, none of them showed any signs of going anywhere. "I'm not at the point where JARVIS will harass me yet," said Tony.

"We've got nothing to do," Clint said for him and Natasha.

Bruce just shrugged, while Steve smiled. "I've been introduced to current cultures enough by these guys," he told her. "I'm interested in whatever it is you watch."

...Penny supposed she couldn't pass up the opportunity for comfort. "Have any of you guys seen House?"

To her surprise, they all either said or gestured that they hadn't.

"How?" she said. "It was one of the most popular shows of the 2000's!"

Steve didn't answer her, since they all knew he'd been in the ice at that time.

Bruce gave a bittersweet smile. "The countries I was in didn't really play American shows."

"I was busy undercover, he was busy with missions," Natasha said, pointing at Clint.

Tony leaned back in his seat. "Just something I didn't think I would be interested in."

Penny was suddenly wide awake, at least enough to say to him, "Blasphemous. Blasphemer. Heresy." As Steve started to crack up, belting out a laugh deep from within his belly, she asked JARVIS, still too tired to grab the remote off of the coffee table, "House, season 1 episode 1, please, JAR."

Usually, she liked to watch the TV show as it came on the cable, since the episodes were often not in succession and for some unfathomable reason she just preferred them that way – probably because it was how she was used to watching the show. But she knew JARVIS had downloaded the show into his hard drive just to have on hand for whatever reason, without the ads or any other interruptions.

JARVIS began the first episode with the captions on, as she always preferred. Just the first couple of minutes of the show were enough to calm her down, her shoulders releasing their tension and the rest of her body relaxing. She couldn't help it; House was one of the few constants in her life, when so many things weren't. Even if the world ended today and she was the only survivor in a post-apocalyptic world, she would still find a way to watch it while working on saving the remnants of humanity, as was her job. Her duty.

None of the others really spoke for the first quarter of the episode. "He's an ass, isn't he?" Clint muttered, but it wasn't in a condescending way as he shifted in his seat.

Even if it had been, Penny wouldn't've cared.

When they got to the conversation between Cuddy and House at about seven and a half minutes in, she scooted up on the couch. Her eyes were rapt with attention as she waited for the right moment, the line that she practically swore by:

"As the philosopher Jagger once said," she quoted, perfectly in beat with House. "'You can't always get what you want."

It was only when everyone turned to look at her, not just Steve or Bruce, who was closest to her, that she realized she'd spoken louder than she'd thought. Her cheeks reddened. "...Sorry."

Bruce chuckled. "How many times have you watched this, again?"

She'd never said. "More times than even you could probably count."

"It sounds like it."

His was the reaction that cracked her up the most as the episode played. She heard him lean forwards, trying to figure out just like the doctors on the show what was wrong with the patient. "Cerebral vasculitis," he whispered just before Foreman said it, only to shake his head afterwards. "No, that can't be it...this is completely unethical...is it really cancer...?"

He got progressively angrier and angrier with House. He tried to hide it, but she could hear his quiet sighs, his nearly silent noises of disgust. It made her hide a smile. Was House an ass? Yes. Did he get even worse over the course of the series? Also yes. But he was one of her two favorite characters on the show, the other being Thirteen. She didn't think she would be able to love it as much as she did if he wasn't.

"...I'm never eating ham again," Clint declared when the episode was over, his cheeks tinged green.

"That sounds like a 'you' problem," she quipped.

He blinked in surprise. "You don't eat pork?"

"I'm ethnically Jewish. Was religiously, too, but." She yawned. "Not anymore."

Bruce stood up. "I'm going to bed," he said. He waved a hand at all of them. "'Night."

He received a chorus of, "'Night," in response, her being the only exception to the rule. But he didn't seem to be offended by it.

"Would you like me to play the next episode?" JARVIS asked after he was gone.

Penny didn't look at the others this time. "Does anyone else want to...watch?" she asked.

"I'm good. This is pretty good," Stark admitted. "I like the Rolling Stones addition."

"We're good, too," Clint spoke.

Steve made some sort of movement, which she heard. "I think...I'm good, too."

JARVIS didn't ask for her input again, just started the next episode right away.

With the familiar sounds of House continuing to play, and without the amusing reactions from Bruce, she felt her eyelids drift back shut. Her heartbeat slowed, her breath evened out. And this time, it wasn't just because she was relaxed.

This time, she was falling asleep. She didn't know why.

(Safe alphas keeping watch you can sleep they'll keep the night terrors at bay just like they're – )

The last thing she heard before her mind drifted off entirely was one of them saying, she wasn't quite sure who, "I know you said her night terrors were bad, Tony, but this is..."

. . .

Sleep.

Penny woke up groggily to sunlight streaming through her eyelids. Making a pathetic sound, she blearily opened her eyes.

Almost all of the other Avengers were gone. The only one still in the room was Natasha, but she must've been back to her room or somewhere else at some point. She was reading a book – no, not a book, a play. It was the Twelfth Night.

Penny groaned. "What...what time is it?"

"A quarter after three," said Natasha.

...Wait, what?

Her eyes widened. She'd slept the clock around! How on Earth had she managed to do that?

In a rush, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She needed to get a shower, and get something to eat. She needed to go out on patrol. She needed to –

"You needed the sleep," the female alpha interjected, like she was peering directly into her brain. She didn't look up from her reading. "Also, if you're thinking about going out on patrol, I – or rather, we – have a proposition for you."

Penny stiffened. "What?"

Now, Natasha closed her book to look up at her. "The team's going out to dinner tonight, six o'clock. Tony rented out an entire restaurant, just so that nobody else will be there. We want you to come," she said. "Don't worry, they have kosher options. Additionally, I'd recommend you talk to Steve. His worrying is getting ridiculous."

Fuck. "What do you know?" she asked, fear seeping into her voice.

Did Natasha know about what had happened in the gym? Of course she had to know, she was a spy. There was probably much about Penny she'd figured out but wasn't commenting on.

"I don't know the specifics," the alpha replied. "What I do know is that it's been almost two months since whatever happened and he's still nervous around you, but he doesn't want to broach you about the subject because he doesn't want to offend you. Talk to him, please. It'll make all of our lives easier." She stood up and started to walk away, only glancing at her behind her shoulder long enough to say, "And consider coming to dinner with us. We'll be leaving at five-thirty."

Word Count: 3,647

Next Chapter Title: you make loving fun