"Mary Muller?"

"Yes. Mary Cresta Muller." The thin woman answers crispy, with no hesitation as she motions at the seated twenty-two-year-old. Penny's hands clenched into fists against her lap as she tries to keep her expression friendly to neutral. Claudia, the woman in charge of this part of the ring had expectations of friendliness, even if a girl was bleeding out. if you didn't smile, she would make you regret it. Claudia would also make her pay for any blood she got on the nicer clothes the girls were cycled through.

"How old is she?"

"Twenty-four. She is in the prime of her youth. Looking for a new lot in life." Claudia continues, reaching out to place a hand against Penny's arm. The touch was a warning. If she scared the man away from the other girls on sale, much less herself it wouldn't end well. She already scared away more than a few buyers, pushing away this one would only guarantee a beating far worse than the last one. The man was clearly rich given the way he carried himself. He also seemed familiar in a way Penny couldn't quite pin down. Claudia drops her voice, giving a demure kind of smile as she adds. "A virgin."

"Virginity doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things." The man answers easily enough, though he seemed more than taken with Penny given the way he was looking her over. He has yet to sit down across from her. If he didn't sit down soon, he would be led to the next girl and next table. He was rich enough he was getting his own private showing of girls.

"What are you looking for in life?" The man questions of Penny directly, surprising her somewhat.

She pauses, wondering if she should babble about wanting to see the world and have a good place to raise children. That was the usual line they were given. "To learn as much as I can about the world and everything beyond it. There is so much to know and so little time to know it." Honesty spills out of her. She has suppressed so much of herself, that the honesty even surprises Penny herself. Claudia's grip tightens on her arm. Penny can tell the older woman wanted to haul her up by the elbow and trade her for a more compliant girl. Penny had been nothing but trouble.

The man seems delighted by her response, a genuine smile curling across his tips. "That is an admirable goal, I feel the same way." He finally reaches out to pull the chair on the other side of the table back so he can sit down across from her.

He starts peppering her with questions, some Penny answers relatively honestly. Her interest in science, engineering and chemistry are hard to deny, even if Penny can tell Claudia would prefer if she played stupid. The man, Penny learns, Norman Osborn, stays for the full hour only with her.

--

"I don't know how you deal with him just being gone."

Harry's voice startles Penny out of her wandering thoughts. She looks away from the window back to the other college student. He walked into the living room and Penny hadn't even realized. Her thoughts had been focused on MJ.

"He literally just leaves you here." Harry continues, clearly building up a rant. "Like, what the hell. He hasn't changed at all!"

Penny toys with the golden metal inhibitor cuff on her wrist idly. "I don't mind. The quiet gives me time to think." She starts to smile just slightly.

"Think about what exactly? Gucci?" Harry questions a little sharply with a roll of his eyes. Penny opens and closes her mouth before letting her gaze shift back to the window. Her expression flattening out.

"Believe whatever you want to believe about me." She answers quietly back, staring at the street below.

Harry doesn't say anything else, but Penny can feel his eyes on her back. The creak of his sneakers against the floorboards is enough of a sign he's left.

--

Penny knows she's arm candy. That much isn't a surprise. When she is allowed out with Norman, her arm is looped in his, and she's smiling at everything. It feels more and more obvious that's all Norman really wants when they go to business functions. She's dressed like a prize he's won. He's purchased all of her clothing, and all of it is clingy in a way that makes the twenty-two year old's skin crawl. Her Spider-Suit was body tight, but it never made her feel like this.

She smiles at paparazzi when they take pictures. She bashfully tucks her face against Norman's shoulder when they stand close together. He looks so pleased with himself when he wraps an arm around her waist to hold her close and shield her from the paparazzi with his jacket. Even then, Penny knows they have pictures of her face. There is no escaping that. Tony could never dodge the paparazzi completely, and Norman isn't even trying from the looks of it.

Penny wonders if Norman Osborn knows who she is?

If he did, he wouldn't be flaunting her so openly. She'd be a well kept secret hidden away from prying eyes. Not the pretty new trophy wife to a famous man.

Penny is counting on Ned or MJ to seeing the photos. She knows even if Tony ignores everything Oscorp, he won't miss this. Hell, even her friends from MIT could pick her face out.

At least she hopes so.

--

"Ugh, for god sake put some clothes on!"

Harry's irritated groan startles Penny from her thoughts as she turns around to stare at him. All her thoughts of sneaking in an actual snack drop away to a disquieted kind of mortification. She had thought Harry was finally asleep.

The other twenty-two year old is scowling at her from the kitchen doorway. Penny closes the fridge door awkwardly, leaving the room dark all over again. Neither of them move to get the light switch. Penny feels a bit too awkward to even try it. Norman seeing her like this was one thing, Harry felt wrong in a way she couldn't properly articulate.

The slip she wore wasn't particularly covering. Nothing Norman gave her was made for that. The sheer silky fabric clung to her body tightly and made every dip and curve obvious. The closer they got to New York, the more she missed what her life was before.

"I- didn't think anyone was up." She mumbles awkwardly.

"Do you have anything else that's not this?" "...No."

Her admittance makes the other college student pause. Penny isn't sure if her tone is a give away to how she is feeling or if he can see her expression in the dark. "...Oh."

The two stare at each other for a moment before Harry awkwardly shrugs off his robe. "Here."

Penny stares at it, hesitantly accepting it. She pulls it on, tying it off quickly to cover herself. "...Thank you."

Harry grunts a little. "Whatever." He moves past her to open the fridge, bathing the dark kitchen with light again. "What do you want to eat?"

Penny blinks a little, "Um."

"Leftovers are here." Harry continues as if she wasn't so unsure. "I could also probably throw together a sandwich for you or something." He glances back over his shoulder at her. "Unless you're eating limited calories?"

"I... a sandwich would be good. Thank you." The fact Harry is offering her food is beyond baffling. She was sure he hated her.

"Sit down." He motions vaguely at the table. Penny robotically follows the order to sink down in one of the wooden chairs at the table. She watches Harry's movements the best she can in the dark as he puts together a sandwich for her.

Penny burrows a bit more deeply into the borrowed robe as she listens to him move around. The chill creeps up her bare feet against the floorboards. Her fingers tighten at the edge of the too long sleeves as her gaze grows more unfocused.

"You're a freak!" Cold hands grab at her wrists hauling her back as her voice wobbles and shakes. All she can do is cry out. Fingers twist in the curls of her hair, yanking her head back.

The plate clicks against the wood table top in front of her, pulling Penny back to the present. "Here."

"Thank you." She mumbles quietly back, ducking her head as she stares at the tabletop. "Sorry, about... earlier." Harry offers lowly. "I shouldn't be taking this out on you."

Penny just stares at his shape in the darkness for a moment, clearly at loss. No one has apologized to her in nearly a year at this point. Even the other girls felt an apology was a weakness. "I... apology accepted."

"This is my dad being weird, you're kinda just..." He trails off, not sure what to say. Penny doesn't push it, just picking up the sandwich to start eating. The silence settles over the two, and neither are inclined to break it.

Once she's finished she rises to her feet, moving to place the plate in the sink.

She sheds the robe once she leaves the kitchen, holding it out. "You should- have this back. Your father... wouldn't like me wearing another man's clothes." She knows she has said a little too much given the tension that settles in Harry's shoulders.

Harry takes it without a word, and Penny leaves. She doesn't hear him leave the kitchen as she makes her way to the guest bedroom.

She crawls back into bed with Norman, staring at the ceiling for a long time before she eventually falls asleep. Her dreams are fitful, old fights and old memories melding together with her current life.

When she wakes up again, she can feel Norman's hands settled at her hips possessively, his breath hot against the back of her neck. She squeezes her eyes shut, gritting her teeth as she pushes away from him to get out of the bed.

Penny hides in the bathroom until she calms down enough to not scream in Norman's face.

--

Penny finds herself being dragged away from the usual area she and the other girls were kept. Claudia's grip is tight, and the blonde woman is too impatient to let Penny walk normally to keep up. The brunette keeps tripping over her own bare feet.

Penny keeps glancing back at the usual turn that would take her back to the enclosed areas. She expected to be locked in the room with Katrina and Belle. Their shared room is too small for all three of them, but they make due.

Penny has never seen this side of the building. It is too polished and nice to even feel like the same place. Penny can guess this is where the customers go to when they need to wait. Claudia stows to a stop in what looks like some kind of waiting room full of hard plastic chairs, and tables layered with magazines.

Claudia leads Penny over to a hard plastic chair, forcing her to sit down. "Behave." is the warning she gets as the woman locks her cuff into one of the hooks on the wall behind the chair. Penny doesn't argue, though she does frown back at Claudia. The thin blonde woman ignores her and disappears back the narrow hallway she came.

Penny tests the strength of the cuff once she is sure she's alone. The brunette bites the inside of her cheek as she starts trying to re-find the weak point in the cold power inhibitor cuff, she's been put into. The cuffs themselves are expensive in the inner workings, but Penny can tell it wasn't put together well. If she has the time to test it, she could find a way to break it. The sound of footsteps approaching down the hall is enough to make Penny stop. She drops her gaze back to her lap, trying to keep her expression unreadable.

Penny looks up once the footsteps are loud enough for anyone else to hear. Claudia and Doru walk together. Doru sneers a little at the sight of her, waggling a manilla envelope at her. "Good riddance we're finally getting rid of you, brat." He laughs at her as he drops a manilla envelope onto her lap.

Penny blinks a little in confusion, picking the envelope up uncertainly with her free hand. Not that she has a chance to think about opening it as Claudia snatches it away from her.

"That is for your husband."

"My- what-?" She croaks out in confusion and growing horror.

"Mr. Osborn decided you were the one." Claudia continues simply, "All your science babble won him over I suppose. I don't see the appeal."

"Hopefully, he'll knock you up soon." Doru adds with a grin, happy to tease at a fear of hers he's aware of. Throughout all the training she fought against sex no matter how exhausted she was. "You being fat with his children would finally keep you well behaved little girl. Maybe even put you in your place."

Penny grimaces at that, her stomach twisting uncomfortably at the thought. She strains against the restraint holding her hand up, wanting to deck both of them. Her clear discomfort just makes Doru and Claudia share an amused look.

"Once we have all the paperwork, you'll be cleared to go with your husband, Mrs. Osborn." Claudia laughs easily, "She is all yours Doru, take her back to her room while I get things set up." The pale skinned man doesn't hesitate to haul Penny forcibly to her feet before he uncuffs her from the wall.

It takes a full night before the paperwork is cleared and a ceremony is thrown together.

The gown she is shoved into is a well-worn wedding gown that clings to her body in ways that leave Penny vastly uncomfortable. She stares at herself blankly in the mirror, trying to come to terms with the white chiffon monstrosity she's wearing being her wedding gown. Anca tuts at Penny, forcing her to finish dressing before hauling her out to a grander room in the building where Norman is waiting.

The realization she's been sold to Norman Osborn of all people is finally hitting her and the twenty-two-year-old feels sick.

She all but disassociates her way through the actual ceremony, prodded into compliance when her responses aren't quick enough.

Norman has her paperwork in hand by the time they leave the building together to walk the streets of Cluj-Napoca. Norman carries the conversation entirely whilst Penny tries not to vomit.

As far as the world knows now, she is Mary Cresta Osborn.

Penny just wants to scream she's Spider-Woman, Penny Parker, not- this. Not some rich man's trophy wife he bought.

--

"Excited to go to New York?" Norman questions with some mirth as he shuffles through his luggage. "We're nearly home, dear."

Penny's smile is more sincere than it has been in a very long time.

"Very excited." She says with a slow sigh. She walks over to wrap her arms around Norman's waist. She squeezes herself against his back as she rests her chin on his shoulder. "Normie... I have an idea."