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: Okay, shorter chapter today, but I don't think you guys will mind after you're done reading it. :P

Chapter title comes from Tear It Up by Queen.

Next chapter is going to take place after a time-skip, just fyi. Should get it posted sometime this weekend. And oh my Goddess, that feels weird of me to say! One more chapter left, guys. So incredibly bittersweet to think about, even with the sequel .

As always, I hope you all enjoy,

~TGWSI/Selene Borealis

~primis, omega, superhero, genius~

~somebody to love~

~chapter 39: tear it up~

Tony and Nat got to work that night on a) figuring out Iron Lad's identity with the additional boost of information that they now had and b) tracking him down and bringing him in, though not specifically in that order.

They didn't have any luck for several days. Even with the added help of Clint and Steve and the help of her sketch, it was hard to track down a person who had erased themselves from government records. The pair of them slowly got more and more frustrated because of it, but they were persevering. They would find Iron Lad, one way or another. He couldn't hide from them forever.

As they got progressively more annoyed, though, Penny got more nervous. Her stomach kept on turning into knots, which made it hard for her to eat and thus put back on the pounds she'd lost unless she was around one of the others, including Bruce. Thankfully, now that they were all fully acclimated, that was pretty much every meal, save for her snacks while on patrol. It didn't escape her notice that Iron Lad wasn't following her anymore. She hoped that meant she hadn't fucked up the tentative alliance with him the last time they'd talked – stupidly, because if that hadn't, what was going to happen next definitely would.

"Relax," Clint told her the one day they shared lunch together alone. "Everything's going to be fine."

"You sound so confident about that," she muttered, moodily picking at her salad.

"I do," he agreed, "because I am. Nat's talking the big talk right now, but she just wants proof. She..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "She thought when I gave her an out from the Red Room and the KGB that she was leaving that life behind, giving herself a chance to get the red out of her ledger. Finding out that the organization she joined has probably been even worse than them all along is not...sitting well with her."

That was probably an understatement, to say the least.

Penny quirked an eyebrow. "And Tony?"

"It's hard to ever really know what Tony's thinking," he quipped, which made her laugh. "I think he just wants to pick this kid's brain. He's been pissed ever since he found those backdoors in JARVIS' system."

"Yeah," she said. Her other mate had just about blown a gasket when she and Bruce had helped him discover them after spending hours pouring over the AI's code. Nobody should have been able to hack into JARVIS to do that in the first place, to do anything at all, without him noticing. It'd been an easy enough fix with three of them working on it and they'd installed some several dozen lines of code more to fix the loopholes that had allowed this problem to happen, but the alpha's fury was plain as day to see. It didn't help that, although they had their guess, they hadn't been able to definitively prove that HYDRA had been the ones to harm his creation and spy on them. "But also, Iron Lad's not a kid. He's barely any younger than me."

"So you think. Looks can be deceiving."

After she'd eaten a couple bites of food, she asked, "So, you believe that HYDRA is SHIELD after all? Don't need the extra proof?"

Clint shrugged. "Honestly...it's not that hard to believe," he spoke. "When you become a spy, you get used to not trusting anybody 'cept for the ones you can." He prodded at her shoe with his for emphasis. "And besides us, I think the only people that I do are my sister and her family, Fury, and Hill."

"Hm," she replied noncommittally. "Makes sense."

Finally, after those aforementioned several days, Tony was able to get a lead. "I don't know how I didn't realize it sooner, especially when you did that sketch," he bemoaned. "I thought he looked familiar. It wasn't until I was dicking around in the assorted files I had about the AIM incident that I figured out where I knew him from."

Bruce made a face at the "dicking around" phrase, but didn't comment on it. "You know Iron Lad?"

"In a matter of speaking," Tony replied evasively. He clicked a button on the remote to the projector in the conference room, revealing a picture of a woman and a young girl, both with light blonde hair, and a teenage boy. He was wearing a red beanie to hide his lack of hair, his face gaunt from the identifiable sickness. But, he was most certainly a younger version of Iron Lad. "Meet Harley Keener, Abigail Keener's older brother."

"You mean the girl whose garage you stayed in that December?" Steve asked.

Tony nodded. "Yep. She talked about him a lot while I was staying there. Six months before that fiasco, he went missing, which was just another six months after he'd finally gone into remission from stage IV osteosarcoma. The doctors hadn't been expecting him to make it, but Abigail said her older brother had promised to pull through, and he'd done it. Then he dropped off the face of the earth."

"To become one of AIM's recruits," Natasha went, saying the implication out loud. Her eyes darted downwards as she briefly shook her head. "He was a prime target. Mother had to pay off all of his medical bills, years of bad health. It takes its toll."

"Mmhmm," Tony hummed. Then he cleared his throat. "Plus, Harley had something going for him that none of the other applicants for AIM had, military or otherwise: he's a male theta."

Bruce straightened in his seat. "What?"

Penny almost said the same thing.

"You heard me," Tony stated. He raised his right index finger, pointing it at the projected image. "I think that's how he was able to weasel his way into getting a spot for the trials. Otherwise, with his health, he never would have stood a chance. Also, if we needed any further proof for Iron Lad being this guy, there's no government records of him outside of the census. His birth certificate, social security number, driver's license – all gone."

"He's thorough," Clint noted, "but not thorough enough."

Tony grinned. "They almost always leave something behind." His eyes darted over to her. "Almost."

She knew he was teasing her, and she wasn't offended in the slightest. Really, it was a good thing that they'd reached the point where they could joke about it now. But the smile she managed in response felt more like it came out as a grimace.

It wasn't about the theta order Iron Lad had given her. Thetas were just as capable as giving orders as alphas, although supposedly, they felt slightly different. She hadn't noticed any difference at the time, partially because giving alpha/theta orders was taboo in most of Western culture, and she'd only experienced an alpha order three times – Natasha's included – and a theta order now once, apparently. But also, mainly because she hadn't thought to try and notice any difference.

Male thetas were rare. Not one-in-a-hundred-million rare, like being part of a scent-match or pack, but still rare. Biologists weren't sure why. There was simply something about the ΘΘ gene, which was already the most recessive out of all of the genotypes for the secondary genders/designations which just made it much more unstable in male fetuses. Usually, in most circumstances, a male theta fetus would be miscarried in the womb. Or, among a not-so-small population of those that were genetically male thetas, they wouldn't present at all. They would be deltas, and their genotype wouldn't be revealed unless a DNA test was done and/or an autopsy was performed after they died.

And yet, despite the fact that presented male thetas accounted for somewhere between 7,000 to 70,000 (at best, it was hard to know for sure how many there were due to not all countries keeping records of them) individuals of the globalpopulation, she'd met two of them in a span of less than two years, because she hadn't forgotten that night at Sister Margaret's with Lance.

Maybe, it didn't mean anything. Probably, it didn't mean anything. There were such things as coincidences.

But somehow, she didn't think this was a coincidence at all.

With them now knowing Iron Lad's identity, it didn't take long for them to figure out where he was living. Hacking into various databases, JARVIS was able to find an alpha "named" Hadley Cassidy living in the Bronx with the same birth year as the census records listed, 1992; she'd been right about him being a couple years younger than her. He didn't have a license or anything else that provided his picture in the databases, but Natasha and Clint did some sleuthing of him and quickly identified him as Harley Keener. He worked the 12 AM-9 AM shift as security for some building, which explained how he was making a living. According to the two spies, it additionally meant that he was asleep by noon – which was the time that they and Tony decided to bring him in for questioning.

Penny wasn't sure how they were able to have done it during the literal middle of the day. But, however they had, they were successful at bringing him in with mild injuries.

And thus, the interrogation was set to begin.

"Where's Spider-Woman?"

"Spider-Woman isn't here right now," Natasha said, nonplussed as she stared at Harley Keener, who was dressed in a faded red t-shirt and plaid flannels – his pajamas – and looking like he was about ready to blow a fuse, her arms crossed. "You have to deal with me and Rogers instead."

Steve seemed prone to agree with her, a scowl set into his face.

"And what if I don't want to deal with you?"

"Tough. You gave Barton a black eye."

"You kidnapped me!"

"Because all we want is some information," Steve cut in. "Specifically, something more to back up your claims."

Harley scoffed, falling back into his seat as he mirrored Natasha's expression. "Yeah, well. Good luck getting that. You can go through my apartment all you want, ripping up the floorboards and checking and the vents and all. You ain't gonna find anything, and I'm not spilling." He looked over to the one-way mirror. "Not until you get Spider-Woman in here to clean up y'all's mess."

"Why is he so focused on you?" Bruce murmured to her.

Penny kneaded her fist at the spot where her cheek, the edge of her mouth, and her jaw all met. "I...don't know. I mean, he trusts me, as much as I guess he can at least. But he said he thought the rest of you were clean of being part of HYDRA as well."

"He has a connection with you," Clint spoke up. He was sitting in one of the armchairs of the viewing room, holding an ice pack to his eye. Mild injuries, Penny had said, she just wanted to be clear on that. That didn't mean there hadn't been none – quite the opposite. "Sometimes, suspects will refuse to talk to anybody except the people they think they have a connection with or who understand them."

"But he's not – " she started to say, only to stop herself. Keener very much was a suspect at this point in time, even if she didn't view him in that way. Because the others definitely did, even if it was to varying levels. Shaking her head, she turned away from the one-way window, sucking in a deep breath as she walked across the room. Focus. "JARVIS, can you give me an update on how your and Tony's dig into the hard drive of his laptop is going?"

"Not well," the AI informed her. "It seems that, whatever the information Keener has is, it is either stored internally or located somewhere hidden even to my sensors. We are going through the code now to be thorough, but the results are not promising."

Her breathing hitched.

" – Maybe you can give us some other information besides what you know about HYDRA," Steve suggested. Keener probably thought he was calm, but Penny could hear the irritation in his voice. He just wasn't showing it as much as Nat was, which was a weird sort of turnaround from how they usually were. "You made your suit yourself?"

"Who else do you think made it for me? Barney?"

"So, that's a 'yes,'" Natasha went.

"No shit."

"What about your leg?" That had been the biggest surprise for them to discover when Tony, Natasha, and Clint had picked him up. They'd known what Tony remembered Abigail telling him about her older brother that he'd had stage IV osteosarcoma, the cancer originating in his right leg below his knee. He'd had to have it amputated, since that was often part of the standard treatment for that type of cancer. But what they hadn't been expecting was that Extremis hadn't regrown that limb like it had for everyone else who had been injected with the serum. No, instead he'd had to make his own prosthesis in the form of a robotic leg. That probably explained his comment about how Extremis hadn't been able to "fix" everything. "Did you make that yourself, too?"

"Need a way for walking around somehow, don't I?"

"But what about the adamantium that powers your suit?" Natasha demanded. "Did you make that on your own, too?"

"'Think that's a question I'd rather wait for Spider-Woman to ask."

She looked up at the sound of her name and saw that Keener was leaning forwards again, his arms crossed on the table.

"Maybe you should go in there," Bruce said, turning away from the window to face her. "If Clint is right and he's not going to talk until you do, maybe that's the best solution."

"I didn't say that," the alpha responded, adjusting his ice pack. "But...yeah, I agree. It's not like he's wearing his scent-blockers anymore or anything." Steve and Natasha had ripped those off of him the second they'd gotten him into the interrogation room and sitting on his chair. No handcuffs or power-suppressors had been involved; Penny was kind of surprised he hadn't tried to escape from the get-go. "So you'll be able to detect the changes in his scent that even Nat and Steve can't."

...Wait.

Penny froze. She stiffened, her spine straightening and every muscle in her body tensing. She locked eyes with Bruce as she did this, and he looked pretty darn confused. The expression on his face, in fact, was almost comical.

But, she couldn't laugh about that right now.

"...Say that again," she said to Clint.

He did as told, though this time he phrased it as a question. "'You'll be able to detect the changes in his scent that even Nat and Steve can't?'"

Her heart skipped a singular beat, and then it started going at the pace of a mile per minute.

Suddenly, she knew why Keener wanted to talk to her so bad. She knew why he'd made his comment of "That makes a lot of sense" the last time she'd met with him before now. She knew why he'd been stalking her for two weeks almost before that. She knew why he trusted her more than anybody else now besides his initial reasons. And she knew why he'd been freaking out so much when she'd taken off his face plate besides just having his identity revealed.

"And you're my – ?"

"Penny?" Clint got to his feet and stood in front of her, his blue eyes full of concern. "You alright? What you thinking?"

She breathed a few shaky breaths. In, out. In, out.

"I think...I need," she corrected herself with the emphasis, "to get in there."

The way she said it gave Clint pause. His eyes flitted from the window back to her. "Are you sure?"

She didn't think she was the only one speaking in implications anymore.

She swallowed nervously. "Yeah, pretty sure."

Because this explained far more than just Keener's actions in the aftermath of the Grand Central Station attack. Now that the answer was in front of her, she couldn't help but think to that abstract thought she'd had during her heat. She hadn't thought much of it at the time, of course, nor afterwards.

Obviously, that had been a mistake.

Bruce's eyebrows furrowed. "Guys, what's going – ?"

"JARVIS, can you get Tony to come down here, please?" Penny requested. "Tell him that it's important. More important than what you guys are doing now. And don't – don't take 'no' for an answer."

"Boss is on his way now," JARVIS said after a few moments.

Her palms were sweaty. Anxiously, she wiped them off on her jeans. The action was soothing, but also –

– Not soothing enough.

When Tony popped into the room with a bemused look on his face, she almost revealed it to him right then. "What's so important that you needed me down here for it?" he asked, glancing at the window. "Steve and Nat seem like they got Keener pretty down pat."

Clint took over for her, thank God. "Penny's going in there. Keener's refusing to talk about anything useful without her."

Tony frowned. "You really think that's a good idea?"

"It'd be quicker than letting Natasha do whatever she's planning on next to get him to talk." She focused on keeping her voice level. "Easier, too."

"Alright. If you're sure," he agreed easily enough.

She wasn't, and yet she was.

She went over to the door that connected the viewing room with the interrogation room and knocked on it. Nat, who had been in the middle of asking another question, went silent. Steve shifted in his seat so he could get a better view at the door. Keener, meanwhile, sat up straight, what could only be described as a "shit-eating" grin spreading across his face.

Penny opened the door. Even before she walked inside, the scents of her mates hit her: oak and honey, patchouli and gunpowder, and...one she had never smelled before, but she knew that was what it was. What it had to be. The scent was too natural to be any sort of cologne or perfume. It was a combination of something that smelled a lot like the magnolia flower, but spicier, and something else that was distinctively citrus but not orange or lemon. Bergamot, maybe?

Whatever. She could think about it later.

You told me that all of my mates were going to be alphas, Harry, she thought as she locked eyes with Keener – Harley. And you didn't tell me that there was going to be more, much less that one of them would be him.

That was like Harry, though. Making sure that fate would have at least one more surprise up its sleeve for her.

"Sp – Penny," Nat started. "Are you sure that coming in here right now – " "like that" was what she meant " – is a good idea?"

"Oh, she knows that it's a very good idea," Harley purred. Then he winked at her, much to Steve's not-so-subtle displeasure because he didn't get it yet. "I'm still mad at you for letting them bring me in like this, but I'm not gonna lie and say I'm not glad to see you without the mask. 'Means you finally get it now. This part of it, anyways."

Word Count: 3,258

Next Chapter Title: i feel the earth move