Penny unlocked her front door, swinging it open with a little too much enthusiasm, making as much noise as she could to alert the two love birds on the couch of her presence. She stomped her feet a bit and loudly unzipped her jacket, smirking when she heard rustling on the couch. "This is me giving you guys time to make things rated G again; I don't want a repeat of last time." The girl laughed, ducking just in time to avoid being smacked in the face by a decorative pillow.
"Very funny kid, I thought you were going over to Ned's after school?" Happy said, making his way to the kitchen with May following behind.
"I was, but he started to not feel well at school, so we decided to just hang out another day." Penny grabbed a water from the fridge, downing half of it in one go before turning back to the adults in the room. May looked to be preparing some sort of sandwich, while Happy stood brooding with his ever present frown.
"I could have come to pick you up from school, kid." Penny waved off the man's concern, smiling at May when she handed her the sandwich.
"It wasn't a problem Happy, I just took the subway home then walked from there. I used to do it all the time before you started to pick me up from school—" You shoved a corner of the sandwich in your mouth, swallowing before continuing— "Besides, you and May barely get to spend anytime together as it is." May smiled, reaching over to run a hand through her niece's hair.
"Thank you, baby. Are you going to head over to the tower tonight?" Penny nodded, shoving the rest of her sandwich into her mouth before bounding out of the kitchen and into her room.
"Yeah, I'm going to swing over and get some patrolling in along the way." The young hero quickly changed into her suit, grabbing the mask before rushing out of her room as quickly as she entered. She gave May and Happy equal kisses on the cheek, laughing at the man's rosy blush before jumping out the window. "Don't wait up for me!"
And with that, she was gone. ——
Karen greeted Penny as soon as she slipped on her mask, stats and displays filling her sight as she swung further and further away from her apartment building.
"What's up Karen! What do you got for me tonight?" Penny kept up a quick pace to the tower, keeping her senses alert for any signs of trouble.
"Good afternoon Penny, it seems to be a quiet night, no criminal activity worth mentioning from the police scanners or scans." Her AI said.
"Well that's good, maybe I'll actually make it to the tower on time for once." The girl weaved through buildings with ease, her chosen path to the tower engraved deep within her muscle memory, and before long she was halfway there, just barely being able to see the tower as it poked through New York's skyline.
"Hey Karen, do you think—" Penny stopped abruptly, feeling a sharp sting on the back of her neck. She landed on the nearest roof with a less-than-graceful roll, her usually impeccable coordination leaving her— "What the—" She brushed the hair off the back of her neck, reaching behind and grabbing what seemed to be a small dart.
"Karen?" She was losing her balance fast, widening her stance to compensate for the lack of coordination. Her A.I. was calling her name, trying to grab her dwindling attention, but all she seemed to be able to focus on was the black dots filling her vision, and nausea rolling around like a rock in the pit of her stomach.
A body landed beside her suddenly, and it took everything in her to sidestep the incoming blow to the head that would surely leave her face down on the concrete. The man was persistent though, swinging again, and managing to smash a clenched fist into her ribs. The blow was enough to knock her onto her back with a shocked gasp, squirming around in hopes of gathering enough strength to get back up, but she didn't have the time. The man kneeled onto the ground next to her, pressing a bony knee into her already cracked ribs, before speaking into his coms.
"Target secured." With that, he brought a fist down, breaking her nose with one hit and succeeding in knocking her out cold.
And with that, she was gone.
——
"Penny?"
Someone was calling her, but she was too deep within the darkness to try and figure out who.
"Penny?!"
The voice was getting louder, more persistent in its callings, and more distinguishable, succeeding in pulling her from her haze.
"Penny, wake up!!"
The young hero woke with a start, head shooting up and eyes bouncing around in her unmasked skull. Where was her mask? It took her a moment to focus in on one thing, but when she did, she froze. That... that couldn't be right. She blinked a few times, scrunching up her eyes and trying to shake the image from her head, but it still remained when she opened her eyes once more.
"Morgan?" She whispered, still trying to wrap her head around seeing the five year old bound to a foldout chair by much-too-tight rope, her eyes bloodshot and teary and glowing with a look of absolute fear.
"You're awake. You've been asleep for so long, I didn't think you were actually going to wake up—" She glanced down at her lap, and Penny could just make out the shine of a few teardrops as they fell— "I thought you were dead."
The young hero's heart broke, and she was quick to try and reassure the young girl she called her sister. "Hey hey MoMo, I'm okay, see? I just had to take a little nap, but I'm all better now." Morgan looked up, giving her a look that was so 'Tony Stark' she would have laughed if the situation wasn't so bleak.
"You don't look all better. There's blood all over your face, and you look hurt." Penny cringed, very aware of her extremely broken nose as well as the blood that she was sure made her look like something out of a horror film.
"I know I don't look too good right now, but I'm okay, and I'm going to get us out of here. I promise."
"Do you now?" Penny jerked to the left, spying a man that had somehow snuck into the room without her knowledge. She blamed it on the concussion, and whatever they shot her with, but the act still scared her, not that she would show it.
"What do you want?" She snarled, keeping a bite in her tone to make the man pay attention to her and not Morgan. It worked.
The man walked over to her, roughly grabbing her chin and forcing it up to look him in the eye. "What do I want? Well... it's simple really. I want to see Tony Stark suffer."
Penny scoffed. "Unoriginal, try again."
The man's eyes narrowed, and before Penny could react, he lifted a hand and slapped her harshly across the face. Still, even with the surprise, and a freshly broken nose, the hero didn't make a sound, just continued to stare straight ahead in defiance. Morgan let out a choked sob, and Penny couldn't help but bristle. "I'll ask again, what do you want? Ransom, weapons, world domination? Everyone's got a gimmick."
The man laughed, moving away and stopping in front of a video camera that she was just now noticing. Seriously, what was going on with her?
"I could care less about Tony Stark's tainted money, or his weapons, I simply want him to suffer in the worst way imaginable." Penny stared at the blinking red light emitting from the camera, and the laptop that it was hooked up to. Everything started to fall into place.
"Oh I see, you get off on torturing little girls and couldn't help but keep such a trophy to yourself, could you?" The man's eyes darkened, but Penny couldn't care less. She knew that the footage was really being broadcasted back to the tower, and Mr. Stark and Pepper and everyone else were most likely watching the footage.
Mr. Stark was about to watch his five year old daughter get tortured.
Penny glanced over at Morgan, seeing the ever- present fear in her eyes, and quickly decided that she couldn't let that happen. The man walked towards the door, opening it a crack, but speaking loudly to the person behind the threshold.
"Bring them in."
A spike of fear dwelled up inside her, but she squashed it for the sake of the child before her.
"Look at me, Morgan—" The girl did, tears falling from her eyes, oblivious to what was about to happen— "I need you to close your eyes for me, alright? Can you do that?" Penny waited for her to nod before glancing back at the door, hearing heavy footsteps approaching. "Don't open them for anything, alright? Promise me that you won't open your eyes." Morgan was crying in earnest now, shaking uncontrollably in her bonds.
"I promise, Penny. I promise." She shut her eyes tight, tilting her head down until her chin was touching her chest. Penny nodded.
"It's going to be okay Morgan, it's going to be alright." Satisfied that the girl was obeying and keeping her eyes shut, Penny once again turned towards their captor. Two other men joined him, one she didn't recognize, and the one that initially knocked her out on that roof.
"That's brave of you, protecting the girl like that." The man walked closer to Morgan, and Penny screamed before he could even think about laying a hand on her.
"You stay away from her! She's fucking five years old, you asshole!" Penny felt unhinged, but the thought of them laying a single hand on Morgan made fierce protectiveness bubble up inside of her.
The man paused, turning back just enough for Penny to spit right in his eye, no matter how gross it was. Anything to keep his attention on her. He wiped his eye unceremoniously, looking at the saliva that came away onto his hand. He smirked, nodding his head to the two lackeys that haven't moved since entering. Penny squared her shoulders, determined to not show any weakness to these idiots.
"Are your eyes closed, Morgan?" She asked even though she could see that they were. The girl nodded nonetheless, and Penny couldn't help but smile. "It's going to be okay."
The first hit came straight to her ribs, and not a sound came from her despite the fire that erupted from her already bruised bones. She wouldn't cry out, not in front of Morgan, and definitely not in front of these assholes. It continued for what felt like hours, the two goons taking turns laying it on her, switching from assaulting her ribs until they felt like nothing more than broken pieces swimming around her chest, to bruising both her eyes and cracking her cheekbone. Still, she persisted, biting down on her tongue until blood was dripping down her chin, and not making a sound. Brute number two grabbed her arm suddenly, and snapped it back with force, and she couldn't help the choked sob the snuck past her defenses. He dropped it unceremoniously, a final blow before they both stepped back. Clapping filled the confined space, and Penny shifted just enough to see the boss smirk.
"I'm impressed."
Penny breathed heavily through her nose, waiting out the fresh blinding pain that capsulated her whole body before speaking. She had to get her and Morgan out of here.
"Typical." She said with as much power behind her tone as she could.
"What was that?"
"I said—" She slipped her good hand quietly from it's restraint without any of the men noticing— "I said you're typical. There's nothing unique or special about you! You stand on the side lines, acting all high and mighty, but in reality, you're the weakest one in the room! And that includes the five year old." Penny waited, watching his anger and frustration grow until he was reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pocket knife. He swiped out the longest blade, and glared down at her. Penny smirked.
"Want to say that again?" Penny glanced at Morgan to make sure her eyes were still glued shut.
Almost.
The man stepped right up to her face, intending to press the blade to her neck in intimidation, but Spider-Girl acted before he could. She ripped her good arm from where she was hiding it in the handcuff, reaching over and grabbing his wrist before he could snag her with the knife, and flipped him over her in one fluid motion, locking his wrist in the empty restraint before he could even blink. She reached down and grabbed the knife from his hand before unlocking her other cuff, whispering as she slowly rose to her feet.
"I won't have too."
The next few moments went by in a pain-induced blur. The two brutes charged at her, fist raised with two equally dumb expressions on their faces. She knew she had to end this fast, so she dug the knife deep into the first guy's thigh, waiting for him to fall below eye level before clocking him as hard as she could in the side of the head, effectively knocking him down in a matter of seconds. She turned to the last guy, clutching her broken arm in a false display of defeat. She let out an exaggerated gasp before falling to her knees and lowering her head, so he couldn't see her smirk. He approached just like she knew he would, reaching down with the intentions of grabbing a fistful of her hair, but she didn't let him get that far. She kicked his legs out from under him, using his large stature against him and watched as he crashed to the floor with a bang. She quickly got above him before he could even react, and knocked him out much like she had the others. She paused for a moment, breathing heavily and letting the pain she was feeling catch up to her, but she couldn't stop. She turned to Morgan who was still faithfully following orders, and walked up to her side.
"Hey, Morgan? You can open your eyes now, baby." Penny kneeled down at her side and slowly undid the rope that bound her, untying the knot and letting the girl fall right into her outstretched arm. She bit back a curse at the sudden weight on her broken ribs, and let the girl cry into her shoulder. "It's okay, Morgan, it's alright." She sat for a moment, clutching her sister in her arms before standing. She turned to the camera with Morgan attached to her good side, and addressed it for the first time.
"If you guys are really watching this, then we're heading back towards the tower, and we could really use a ride." Her words were choked with pain, but she still managed to keep her tone light and airy for Morgan. "You ready to go home, Morgan?" The girl nodded against her shoulder, and she smiled, making her way towards the door.
——
Tony, to put it lightly, was losing his fucking mind. He paced back and forth in his lab, ripping his salt and pepper hair out as he tried to think of a plan.
"Tony—" Someone said behind him, but he cut them off without a care to who it was.
"How could they have taken them both!? They took Morgan from right under my nose, and that's on me, but Penny too!?"
"Tony, you were at the grocery store—" Rhodey tried to reason, but it was like his best friend didn't even hear him, or just selected to ignore him, which was highly more likely.
"I should have been paying more attention; I should have never had her out to begin with!" The man was spiraling, yelling at every word of reason anyone tried to offer, while his wife was the complete opposite. She was quiet, eyes downcast and clouded over, the perfect picture of a grieving mother.
May was no different, biting at her nails until they were nothing but stubs of skin, but not fighting Happy when he gently took her hands into his own. The man acted strong, tough, unaffected for the sake of everyone else, but you could tell it was all an act. His eyes shone with nothing but worry and fear.
Rhodey, quite frankly, was at a loss of what to do. There was no phone call, no note, no contact at all from the kidnappers—
Until that moment.
"Boss, I'm receiving an email from an unknown user containing a link to a livestream." Everyone in the room froze, looking at one another and not wanting to be the first to make a move.
Tony's head suddenly jerked to his computer, flying towards it and typing out commands before anyone could say anything. "Open it, Friday!"
A live video started to play on the large holographic display before them, showing both girls bound to chairs and Penny already looking worse for wear. She must have put up a fight when they first caught her.
"I'll ask again, what do you want? Ransom, weapons, world domination? Everyone's got a gimmick." Penny said on the screen, and everyone cringed when the man slapped her clean across the face, laughing before taking a step back. Tony growled, hands clenched so tightly into fists that they could hear his bones creaking beneath the force.
"Friday!"
"The signal is bouncing across multiple servers, Boss. I'm trying to triangulate a location, but it's proving difficult."
"I don't care how many fucking servers there are! Find my fucking children!" Steve walked up to the man's side then and rested a hesitant hand on his shoulder.
"Hey. We're going to find them Tony, you know we will." Tony deflated some, but didn't acknowledge The Super Soldier.
"Oh I see, you get off on torturing little girls and couldn't help but keep the trophy for yourself, could you?" Both men tuned back in at that, anger rising off both of them as the man walked off screen. They couldn't hear what was said, but Penny turned to Morgan suddenly, grabbing her attention, and making her promise to keep her eyes shut. Both Tony and Steve looked at each other then before turning behind them.
"May, Pepper, maybe you guys should wait outside." May bristled at that, planting her feet like roots of a tree and refusing to move.
"I'm not going anywhere. That's my baby, you've lost your mind if you think I'm moving a damn inch from this spot." May growled, relaxing only once Happy wrapped his arms again around her form. Tony walked up to his wife, taking her hands and waiting for her to look up at him. A simple shake of her head told him that she wasn't leaving either.
The first hit came, then the next, and the next, and it seemed like it was never going to end. May buried her head deep into Happy's shoulder, the man all too ready to let her, while Pepper stared straight ahead, clutching her husband with a grip strong enough to bruise.
They expected screams of anguish, piercing and pain- filled, but instead they got silence. Tony glanced up at the screen, stilling at what he saw.
She was holding back for the sake of his daughter; holding back so she wouldn't frighten her anymore than she already was. The thought made a tear leak from his eye.
The sickening snap of her arm was enough to make May start sobbing, not a dry eye left in the room.
"Typical." They all looked up, staring in awe at the girl on the screen. "There's nothing unique or special about you! You stand on the side lines, acting all high and mighty, but in reality, you're the weakest one in the room! And that includes the five year old."
They all watched as the man reached into his pocket, and pulled out a pocket knife, holding their breath when he started to inch forward. Penny showed no reaction, waiting.
"You want to say that again?" Natasha moved closer to the screen, arms crossed tightly over her chest, an almost invisible smirk gracing her lips.
Penny leaped into action, ripping her good arm from her cuffs and taking the guy down in a matter of seconds, much to the absolute amazement of everyone in the room.
"I won't have to."
They watched in awe and a little bit of fear as Penny took down the two men three times her size in seconds, all while beaten and bruised, with nothing but her fierce determination pushing her forward.
"Holy shit." Sam whispered to Buck, but no other word was spoken.
Tony and Pepper watched as Penny slowly approached Morgan, gathering her up in her arms with a pained wince before facing the camera for the first time. "If you guys are really watching this, then we're heading back towards the tower, and we could really use a ride."
And with that, they were gone.
Tony jumped to attention then, about to command Friday for a location, but she was already one step ahead of him.
The Avengers in the room, minus Bruce who decided to stay behind to prep the medbay, leaped into action, running towards the exit and not even bothering to change into their suits. Tony quickly kissed Pepper, promising to bring both their girls home, before following closely behind The Super Soldiers.
"I'll follow behind you guys in a car." Happy said, pausing just long enough to pacify May much like Tony had to Pepper.
It took no time at all from them to start pursuing the streets, The Super Soldiers on motorcycles, Clint and Natasha speeding behind with Happy, while Tony and Sam flew above, all honing in on the same location. It didn't take long for Sam to call out that he had eyes on the girls, diving down with Tony right on his tale. They landed on the rooftop with a crash, startling Penny enough to almost make her drop Morgan. She leaned down into a crouch, sitting down on the concrete with a pained exhale.
"Holy shit, Dad, you scared the crap out of me!" The older girl exclaimed, but Tony froze.
Dad. She called him dad. Not Mr. Stark, not even Tony. Dad. Dad. He jumped out of his suit, dropping down onto his aching knees and bringing both his girls in for a crushing hug. He kissed both of them on the temple, resting his head on top of Penny's and breathing for what felt like the first time in hours.
"Oh my god. Oh my god. You're okay, I've got you." Penny leaned into his touch, letting her tears fall for the first time since this whole ordeal began. Tony could hear the others coming up behind him, but he only had eyes for his girls. "It's alright." Penny's eyes were closing, either from an adrenaline crash or a concussion, he wasn't sure, but he knew he had to keep her awake.
"Hey, hey, Penny, kid you got to stay awake for me, alright?" He took Morgan out of her arms and clutched her to his chest. Sam kneeled down beside him, catching the older girl when she started to tip.
"Penny, can you hear me kid?" He tapped her cheek lightly, "You got to stay awake kid, just until we can check you out."
"Daddy?" Tony looked down at his daughter clutched in his arms, pushing her head back into his shoulder when she started to look around.
"It's alright, baby. It's okay."
"Is Penny okay? She told me not to look, but I know the bad guys hurt her." More tears slipped from her eyes, and all Tony could do was slush her.
"She's okay Morgan. You did so good listening to your big sister. I'm so proud of you baby." Tony looked back over at Sam, who seemed to be losing the battle of keeping Penny awake. Tony moved closer, running a hair through the girl's blood-matted hair and tapping her cheek.
"You got to stay awake, Penny. Come on kid!" It was no use, her eyes had slipped shut, and no amount of pleading and prodding would open them. Sam scooped the girl easily into his arms, running for the stairs the others were just now bounding up. Tony followed behind, keeping a firm hold on Morgan while he kept his eyes locked on Penny's still form.
"We gotta get her to the medbay." Sam slid into the backseat of Happy's car with Penny in his lap, cradling her head. Tony slipped in beside him, each man holding the children all the way home.
"We'll meet everyone back at the tower." He remembered to send the suit home as an aftermath right before Happy was speeding out into the desolate streets.
——
Penny stirred, a haze filling her mind for the second time that day. She squirmed a little on the bed, not her bed, but a comfy enough mattress that would have lulled her back to sleep if it wasn't for the voice calling her name.
This seems familiar.
"Penny?" The girl could recognize her aunt's voice anywhere, reaching out a hand for her to take before her eyes could even open. She blinked, squinting up at the light for a second before it was dimmed.
"There you are, kid." She turned, finding Tony and Happy both at her bedside, Morgan attached to her father's hip. She immediately scrambled out of her dad's hold and carefully moved on to the bed once she saw Penny's eyes open, snuggling into her good side.
"Are you okay?" She whispered, playing with one of Penny's fingers.
"Always."
Tony waited until Morgan had fallen asleep to confront the girl. "Thank you." Penny looked up, confusion lining her features.
"What for?"
"You protected her when I couldn't." Penny looked down, smiling at the sleeping body tucked into her side.
"She's my little sister, I'll always protect her, just like you'll always protect me." Tony smiled, a little teary eyed, pressing a lingering kiss into the girl's hair.
"I know you will. Get some rest, I love you." Penny smiled. "I love you too."