Pepper Potts was nothing like Penny had expected the CEO of a major company to be…or like Mr. Stark's girlfriend to be. She was just so...nice. It wasn't that Mr. Stark wasn't nice. He'd seemed friendly ever since she'd met him. But he had a…persona. A larger than life presence and a smile he gave to the public, and although he'd seemed more open with her since they'd first spoken in the library, and although he'd been kind to Tish and he'd made good on his promise to get her sister into a safe home, he also didn't seem interested in having the conversation she kept expecting: am explanation of why he'd done this.

But, a small voice asked in the back of her mind, did she want to talk to him? Could he see through her polite smiles and see the fear and shame that seemed to eat her from the inside. Did he know that she didn't even feel like a person anymore, much less the person she'd been before. She was Spider-Girl now. A superhero. She kept Tish safe and she made sure her grades were perfect and she pretended that she didn't feel like she'd been destroyed by a man that she had been forced to live with for almost a year.

Did Mr. Stark think it was her own fault? Had Skip been right?

Shaking that thought off, she tried to focus on Pepper who was walking her through a fancy looking store while Tish got her hair braided next door. "I thought we might get you some new clothes while we're here…just some basics you can wear to school. What do you think?"

"You really don't have to, Miss Potts…"

The woman's smile was kind as she turned back to her, pausing by a rack of jeans. "You can call me Pepper. And we already got some new clothes for Letitia. It's only fair." It was obviously a joke…something meant to draw her out a little, and she wanted to be drawn out. She wanted to accept this kindness when she'd had so few lately. But she couldn't help the way she shrank in on herself a little.

"It was only supposed to be Tish," she whispered, looking around the store and trying not to look as uncomfortable as she felt.

"What do you mean?"

"He was only supposed to get her out. That was the deal."

Pepper softened, reaching out and resting a hand on her shoulder.

"I was fine. I can take care of myself."

She nodded. "I know you can. You've done a good job keeping your sister safe. She told me a little about it. But Tony wants you to be safe too. So do I."

"I just…he didn't tell me and.."

She squeezed her shoulder. "Tony might not be the best at communicating sometimes. But I promise, he means well. He wanted to give the two of you a safe place to live. You deserve a safe place to live, Penny."

She didn't know if that was true. Tish deserved a safe place to live. She was still just a little kid. Penny…Penny didn't know who she was anymore. But Pepper looked sad at whatever face she was making so she nodded and tried to smile and she let her buy her a few pairs of jeans and tops and a new pair of shoes to replace her old scuffed ones and did her best to show that she truly was grateful.

If she messed this up, would Mr. Stark send Tish back?

She didn't think so. He didn't strike her as that kind of person, and Penny liked to think that she'd gotten very good at reading people over the last few months thanks to a combination of her new senses and being forced to live with a monster. But it also wasn't something she could risk. Not ever.

When they got back to the tower, Mr. Stark was still in his lab, and she and Tish headed back to their rooms to put their things away. It was a nice room…the nicest room she'd ever lived in. Maybe that she'd ever seen, even if it was kind of generic. She'd been too off balance the night before to take it all in…instead, she'd lay on the floor, ear pressed to the wall to listen for Tish's steady breathing…making sure her bedroom door stayed closed. And when it had, Penny had climbed out the window, crawling up the side of the building until she'd reached the huge circled A on the front of the building, making her way to the supports in the back and curling up into a ball.

No one could reach her there. It had been the safest she'd felt since she'd lost Ben and May.

Now she mechanically unpacked her clothes and hung them in the closet next to the new ones Pepper had bought her. Underclothes went into the drawers of her dresser, and on top of it, the scant makeup she still had from before her life had imploded a year or so ago. She tried not to remember the exact date. She almost never wore it, but it was from a kit May had bought her, and sometimes Tish borrowed it. Her handful of books went on the bookcase by the balcony door. Her backpack sat by the desk where her laptop and phone were charging.

The burner phone sat nestled in her pocket. Always.

The bedding was a generic blue checked pattern, the pillows thick and luxurious, and part of her wanted to slip under the comforter and nap…to lay in a bed for the first time in over six months. Instead, she skirted around it and headed over to the sitting area by the balcony where two wingback chairs sat by the bookcase and desk, marveling a little at the fact that her new bedroom had both a sitting area and a balcony.

She didn't live with Skip anymore. Just 24 hours ago, she'd been sure she would be going back to that apartment and the routines she'd built for herself to keep her and her sister safe only her sister wouldn't be there anymore and now they both lived with Tony Stark. At the Avengers tower. With him. And his girlfriend.

On the opposite side of the room was a door to a private bathroom, which looked just like Tish's. A toilet, double vanity, and claw foot tub seemed a bit extravagant for a guest room, much less two guest rooms, but this was Tony Stark. Under the cabinet were everything from boxes to pads and tampons to a whole pack of toothbrushes and toothpaste. Extra toilet paper. A basket of towels. A laundry hamper was in the corner. The rug on the floor was nicer than the memory foam one May had bought one year after Christmas on clearance.

Someone had set up this room for her. And for Tish. Tony Stark? Buying toiletries and new clothes and enough sodas and bottled water to stock the tiny table top refrigerator that sat on her desk would be nothing to him. A drop in the bucket. Had Pepper set up their rooms? They looked more or less identical although Tish's bedspread was pink.

The question circled her mind as she sat by the balcony door, curling up in one of the wingback chairs. Had Tony Stark really done all of this for her? Why? Because he thought she deserved a safe place to live? He'd barely spoken to her that morning, and the whole time she'd been eating pancakes Tish had made, she'd wondered, how long had he been planning to take the two of them in? Since meeting her? Why hadn't he told her? Why not say anything? Literally anything?! A quick "hey, what do you think about moving to the tower?" It would have taken less than ten seconds to say! And she knew he was busy but…

Penny closed her eyes and pushed it down…down into the same place where she kept memories of her aunt and uncle. Down where she hid the things that had happened with Skip. Down where she would never have to see them. Tony Stark had done what she'd asked. He'd saved Letitia. He'd made sure she was safe. Wasn't that all that mattered? And he'd saved her too! He'd gone above and beyond what she'd ever dreamed of asking him. So she would be good and quiet and stay out of his way so he'd never regret it.

She had no right to ask anything else of him, lest he take away what he'd already given her. He had all of the power here, she told herself, and she needed to remember that.

Full of nervous energy and wanting to talk to Ned, Penny peered out into the silent hallway. They were pretty far away from the living room, but she couldn't hear footsteps, so she slipped over to Tish's room and knocked on the door, opening it when she invited her in.

"Hey," she murmured, closing the door behind her.

Tish, with her hair in long, thick braids that now reached almost to the middle of her back, grinned up at her from where she lay in the middle of her bed, surrounded by pillows, a new phone in her hand as she presumably texted one of her friends. Pepper had given one to both of them, but Penny's was still in a box on her desk.

Her aunt and uncle had bought her the phone in her pocket... it had been her last Christmas present from them. An Android, not a Stark Phone like the one Pepper had given her. Not bought her…she'd just handed each of them a box that morning before they'd left to go shopping along with cards that had both Pepper and Mr. Stark's phone numbers on them, and Tish had barely been able to get out her 'thank you's' before squealing and opening it up. Penny had done her best to smile and had left it on her desk where it still sat

"Hey! Do you want to watch a movie? Pepper says Friday has almost all of them! We can watch Moana! I never got to see it!"

"Maybe tonight. I'm going out for a bit." It was code, if not a very good one. But it was how she always referred to her Spider-Girl patrols.

Tish nodded, a little disappointed. "Okay. Be careful!" And then she was on her phone once more as Penny headed back to her room.

Mr. Stark hadn't taken her suit away, and he hadn't exactly given her any ground rules for staying with him, so she decided she'd just keep living with the rules she'd lived with under Skip (basically none other than 'stay out of his way'). So, pulling her suit on and making sure she had both of her phones, Penny hopped onto the railing of her balcony and jumped.

Her balcony was higher than any building in Queens, and she couldn't help her squeal of excitement as she let herself fall for a few seconds before shooting an arm out and letting a web catch her. Laughing out loud, she swung and shot another, then another as she made her way back to the neighborhood where she'd grown up.

It wasn't too long of a trip back to Queens, especially since she could swing there and not have to dodge New York traffic like they had the night before. While they'd been out, Pepper had gotten them lunch, so she figured she was good to patrol for a few hours. Instead of searching for criminals though, Penny found the tallest building around and took a seat, pulling out her phone.

Ned answered on the first ring and Penny grinned at the breathless tone of his voice. She'd missed Ned. So much.

"Penny! Hey! How was the internship conference! Did you get to hang out with Iron Man? When do you get to go back? How often is the internship? Will you ever get to bring a friend?"

She laughed, feet dangling from the ledge, and pulled her mask up a little so he could hear her better. "The conference was amazing. I did get to hang out with Iron Man a little. I'll be doing the internship a couple of times a week after school." The lie felt like ash in her mouth. She'd been lying to him for so long. About so many things.

Suddenly she wasn't sure if she could do it anymore. Not about this.

"Oh my God Penny! That is the coolest thing that's ever happened! You have to tell me everything! Are you at the library?"

She hesitated, smile dripping. Right. Ned needed to know. "Actually, I need to tell you something."

His excited squeals cut off at her tone. "What? What's wrong?" he demanded, suddenly serious.

"Nothing. It's just…Mr. Stark…he actually is going to be…fostering us. Letitia and me. So…I'm living at the tower."

At least a minute of pure silence passed. But Ned didn't scream in excitement like she'd been bracing for. He didn't beg her to let him come over, which she'd been prepared for (and prepared to let him down…no way she was going to ask Iron Man if she could have friends over.) Instead, his voice was quiet. Hesitant. "Yeah? Why? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Everything's great. And I'll still get to go to Midtown…" There was no reason for tears to be filling her eyes. No reason for her to be upset. She was telling him something cool!

"That's…that's great, Pen."

They'd never talked about Skip. Never. Once, a week after she'd first moved in with him, Ned had asked, hesitantly, in the same tone he used now, if her new foster home was okay. And she'd lied through her teeth, telling him it was fine. As the weeks had gone on, he had to have noticed the change in her. The way she lost weight…the bags under her eyes. The fact that she stayed at the library as late as she possibly could and cringed away from people who got too close and how she'd just stared at her lunch instead of eating it.

At a sleepover about a week or two before she'd gotten bit, Penny had hidden her face in his shoulder and sobbed for almost an hour, gripping his shirt and biting her tongue to hold the words back. He hadn't asked…had probably known that there was nothing he could do. Instead, he'd held her. Tight and protective.

It was that thought that had her wanting to tell Ned the truth.

She'd just met Iron Man. And then she'd moved in with him. And Tish was safe and so was she but she didn't know why and she didn't understand anything that was happening and she'd met her hero but she couldn't enjoy any of it. Ned was her constant. The one person who'd been looking out for her since she'd lost her only family. Her best friend in the whole wide world. And she had a feeling that if she hadn't bitten her lip…if she'd somehow found the strength to sob out the truth, he would have done everything possible to try and help her. Just like she did for Tish.

"I asked him to help Tish," she told him softly, closing her eyes as she spoke like that might make it easier.

Everything was moving so fast and she couldn't control any of it but she could control this.

"What do you mean?"

"He…I have to tell you something. And you have to promise not to tell anyone. Like…no one at all. Ever. Please."

He hesitated for a second, and she could practically feel his worry through the phone. He'd been worried about her for so long. After the bite, she'd been better. She'd fought back and she'd stayed away and it had been more than six months now since Skip had bothered her. But Ned had still known that she almost never went to the apartment that was supposed to be her home. That she was practically obsessive about keeping an eye on Tish. Ned was smart. So smart. He had to know.

"Okay. I promise. I won't tell anyone." Ned could be silly. He loved to goof off and joke around and was rarely serious. But when it came down to it, she knew she could trust him.

"I…I'm Spider-Girl."

Whatever he'd been expecting, it hadn't been that, and his cry of 'What!' was so loud she jumped, gripping the ledge to keep from falling backwards. "You…you're what?" he hissed.

"You remember the trip to Oscorp?"

"Yeah!"

"Well…I kind of…found a room full of spiders," she started to tell him, then paused, suddenly realizing that she probably shouldn't be talking about this on a cellphone. Did the government really listen in on cell phone calls? She had no idea. But she didn't want to risk it. "Can I come over?"

"Uh…yeah! Of course!"

"I'll be right there."

Penny grinned when she tapped on his window, hanging upside down mostly because it was funny to see him jump and press his hands to his mouth to try not to shriek. He raced over, throwing the window open, then jumping back when she climbed in and onto his ceiling, hopping down easily and landing on her toes.

"Oh my god."

She pulled the mask off, grinning when he clamped his hands over his mouth.

"Oh my god…Penny…you're…Spider-Girl!" he ended in a hiss, and she nodded, feeling something in her chest loosen. She'd done this. She'd decided to tell Ned and she'd told him and it was all something she'd decided to do on her own…something she had control of.

"Yeah."

"Is that why you're living with Tony Stark?"

She could have lied. Hell, she almost did. But in the end, she shook her head. She didn't want to lie to her friend…not anymore. "Not really."

Together, they sat on his bed, her perching on the edge. She had her suit on. She could literally jump out the window if she needed to. There was no one she trusted as much as Ned. But even perching on the bed made her heart beat uncomfortably faster.

"Are your parents home?" she asked, not sure of how quiet she should be.

He shook his head. "They went to dinner."

"He needed my help. In Germany."

"With Captain America! That's where you were?"

She nodded. "He came to find me and asked for my help and…and I told him that I'd help him if he got Tish out of that apartment."

Ned went solemn then, and Penny wished she had her mask on to hide her face. "Just Tish?" he asked softly, and she nodded.

"Yeah." When he was quiet, she went on. "It's really nice of him…to let me live with him and…and it's such a nice room and…" her eyes were getting wet again and Ned gripped her hand. "He didn't tell me. You know? He didn't say anything and…and I thought he was going to drop me off at that apartment last night and…and then he just told me to pack my stuff and that he had custody of me and I had no idea!"

"But he's…okay? Like…he's nice and stuff?"

That wasn't what he was asking and they both knew it. But she nodded anyway. "Yeah. He's nice. I know it's stupid to be upset…"

"It's not stupid. Is Tish okay?"

"Yeah. She's so happy…I should be happy too! She's…she's safe!" Penny dropped her head on Ned's shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her, squeezing hard. "I don't want to make him regret it," she admitted.

"He won't. You're the best! And you helped him in Germany, right?"

"Yeah."

"What was that like?" He asked more like he was distracting her than like he really wanted to know, and she sat up with a grin and watery eyes.

"Do you want to see some videos?"

At that, his eyes went wide, and she pulled out her phone to show him, then told him all of the things that she was supposed to keep secret. Because he was her best friend and she trusted him and it felt like she needed this…she needed to talk to someone. The whole time he asked a million questions and she did her best to answer them instead of thinking about returning to the Avengers tower or the other apartment she'd never have to return to.

Penny made it home before dinner, although it wasn't a conscious decision. After talking to Ned for a while, then patrolling the city and promising to let him look more at the suit another time, she swung around the city until about 4:30, climbing back onto her balcony before 5. Her door was still shut, and all of her things were still in their places. She didn't hear footsteps, so she pressed a hand to her chest and changed back into her regular clothes, folding up her suit and leaving it on her desk chair. She doubted anyone would bother it, and everyone she lived with now knew who she was, so there wasn't really any reason to hide it.

The soft knock at her door came a few minutes later, and she opened it to find Tish. "Hey, you want dinner?"

Did she want to eat? Yes. Did she want to sit at a table with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts? No. But she had no idea if she would get another chance to eat and she didn't want to go through their kitchen and eat their food when she wasn't specifically invited…Iron Man probably had alarms on his cupboards or something that would tell him if she was taking something. So she nodded. "Sure. Then the movie?"

Tish lit up. "Yeah!"

Mr. Stark was at the stove when the two of them stepped into the kitchen, Pepper setting the table with four places, and Penny wanted to offer to help but she wasn't sure how. Before she could feel too awkward, though, Pepper looked up, noticing the two of them. "Is lasagna okay? We didn't see any food allergies listed."

"I like lasagna," Tish volunteered. "My mom used to make it."

Penny dropped her eyes. For as long as she'd known her, her sister had always been quick to tell anyone who would listen about her parents. About her mother who had been strict but loving and who had died a few years ago. About her father who'd never in his life done drugs, but who had been caught with them in his car somehow.

"Mine too," Mr. Stark told her with a soft smile that seemed genuine and unlike the smiles Penny had seen him give growing up watching him on TV. "Do you want garlic bread?" he asked, and Tish nodded, hurrying over and holding out her place to Iron Man to fill with food. Not seeing another option and trying to act like this was normal, Penny did the same, thanking him softly and keeping her eyes down while she carried it back to the table.

Her senses were quiet. Pepper and Mr. Stark were both nice. There was no reason for this to feel so awkward and strange. Tish was doing great here! She'd never been this comfortable at Skip's apartment…then again, that was her fault. Tish never would have known to fear Skip if Penny hadn't told her to. She seemed perfectly at ease eating dinner at Iron Man's kitchen table in the home he shared with his girlfriend.

But Tish was a little kid. Penny was…something else.

"Are you ready for school tomorrow? Do you need anything?" Pepper asked, looking between the two of them.

Tish shook her head. "I have everything. And there's a bus that stops really close," she told Penny, turning to her before digging into a slice of garlic bread. Penny tried to eat slowly, hoping she wouldn't eat too much.

"I'd rather have Happy drive you to school for the first week or so," Tony told them. "He's my head of security. He won't mind driving you."

Penny had met Happy and she was pretty sure he would mind, but she wasn't sure she was allowed to disagree.

"He doesn't have to. I can take the bus," Tish told him softly, eyes reading Penny's face before turning back to him with a little smile. Mr. Stark glanced at her too, a question in his eyes that he didn't ask.

"We're going to be announcing to the press tomorrow that Tony is fostering two children," Pepper put in. "He's in the public eye a lot, especially right now, and it's better to get ahead of the story and announce it ourselves so they don't find out and make up their own stories," she explained. "We won't tell them your names, and we'll request that they respect our privacy,"

"Which they won't," Mr. Stark mumbled, and Penny huffed out a soft laugh, staring down at her plate.

"But we're worried about them finding you and asking you questions. So we're going to have Happy take you to school and pick you up after. Do either of you have any plans for tomorrow after school? Are you in any clubs?"

Tish shook her head. "No. My school doesn't have any good clubs anyway. I wanted to join the robotics team, but I can't until I go to high school."

Pepper smiled a little. "If you want to go to a friend's house after school or anything, just let us know, and Happy can drive you and pick you up. What about you, Penny?"

"Just homework," she told her, trying to remember how to have a conversation like a normal human. With Tony Stark in the room. Her hero. The man who held her fate in his hands. She wanted to go on patrols too, but she wasn't sure if she was supposed to ask or just go once she got home.

"She quit robotics club! And chess. And band," Tish put in, rolling her eyes like Penny was insane. "She only does Academic Decathlon because…" The younger girl cut herself off when Penny cut her eyes over to her, remembering herself. "Because her friend Ned does it."

Penny didn't mind Tish teasing her about her crush on Liz. She did mind her outing her to Tony Stark when they had no idea how Mr. Stark and Pepper felt about things like that. The younger girl lowered her eyes in apology, going back to her lasagna, and Pepper looked between the two of them for a moment in confusion before asking, "Did you want to rejoin any of your clubs?"

She shook her head. "It's too late in the year. Besides, I quit so I'd have more time to go out as Spider-Girl after school." It was weird to talk about Spider-Girl out loud at the dinner table, but everyone in the room already knew, so she guessed there was no point in dancing around it.

Penny did the dishes after they finished eating. Tish dried them and Pepper put them away, and it was almost like they were a family while Mr. Stark wrapped up the leftover food and cleaned the kitchen. She told herself that this was good. Normal. She was going to be normal and grateful and she would behave and be quiet and stay out of the way and everything could continue on like this until she was old enough to go to college and everything would be fine.

There was no reason to be afraid. No reason to be wary of Mr. Stark. He'd done something kind for her. He was letting her live in his home! She needed to be grateful.

"Does Friday have Moana?" Tish wondered as she handed a glass to Pepper who was showing her where to put things in the kitchen.

"She does. Do you want to watch it tonight?"

"Penny said we could."

"Why don't you watch it in the living room? We can make some popcorn?"

The switch from 'you' to 'we' didn't escape Penny, and before she knew it, Mr. Stark and Pepper Potts were curled up on one sofa, Penny and Tish on another, the four of them watching Moana with surround sound under blankets with bowls of popcorn and…and this was her life. Disney movies with Iron Man who was holding a bowl of popcorn that Pepper Potts was eating out of, the two of them staring at the screen and smiling a little as the girl on the screen sang.

And Penny couldn't help a flicker of hope and a tiny smile as she turned back to the screen, wishing she could take a picture to send to Ned.

She'd just have to do her best to describe it the next day at school.