A Spider's Nest

It was Thursday night when Penny realized that Mr. Stark knew where she was sleeping. It had been a long day…a bad, long day. Some mornings, she woke up knowing that she was going to have a rough time. Lots of things could trigger that feeling. Nightmares that left her shaking and sobbing and curling into herself on the roof of whatever building she was sleeping on. An adult man who brushed too close to her or, god forbid, touched her as he moved past her, filling her with adrenaline and making her want to scream. Flash, who had proven himself an equal opportunity asshole when he'd continued to call her 'Penis Parker' and try to trip her when she passed only a week and a half after she'd lost her last remaining family members.

Flash had heard the stories that she had an internship with Tony Stark and he had to have seen the news that Iron Man had taken in two girls, but as far as her classmates knew, she still lived with Skip, and she wasn't about to advertise the truth. So Flash called her a liar and spread rumors that she was making up her internship and generally tried to make life worse for her.

Most days, she could get through it. Most days, she ignored him. But on Thursday, she woke up feeling tired and sad and afraid and it only got worse as the day went on. Nothing helped. Not talking to Tish in the morning or hanging out with Ned at school or swinging through the city. She bought a sandwich at Delmar's for dinner with the money Pepper had given her for lunch. She had given her twice as much as a week's worth of lunch would actually cost so she wasn't sure if the rest was spending money…she decided to risk not having enough money later to avoid dinner with Pepper and Mr. Stark. Then, at nearly eight o'clock, Tish had texted.

'Are you okay?'

Penny had sighed, dropping her head back against the ledge of the building she was sitting on and feeling like a jerk. Tish didn't deserve to suffer because Penny had had a bad day. So she had selected her sister's contact and pressed her phone to her ear.

It had only rang once.

"Are you okay?" she'd demanded again.

"I'm fine. Sorry. I was patrolling and lost track of time," she'd lied. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. We had stir fry for dinner. Mr. Stark let me help him make it." She had hesitated for a second before going on. "I think they were worried about you. They asked if I knew where you were and I told him you were probably out being Spider-Girl. He saved you a plate for dinner."

"I already ate," she'd told her, the thought of Tony Stark wrapping a plate of leftovers for her and worrying sending a pang through her chest.

It was nearly nine when she crawled through her window, tapping lightly on the wall between them to let Tish know she was home, then taking a long shower and changing into pajamas. Usually, she waited for Tish to fall asleep before she headed outside to curl into a ball and sleep behind the A on the front of the tower, but she was too tired tonight. Besides, she could hear a soft video playing in her sister's room so she figured it might be awhile.

So she crawled out the window a few minutes past ten. She was tired and sad and all she wanted was to fall asleep in the hopes that it might all go away…that she might feel better in the morning. So she climbed to her usual spot behind the A on the front of the building, then froze when she reached it.

There was a platform, just wide enough for her to crawl onto, a little narrower and longer than a twin bed, made of perfectly smooth planks of wood. And covering it was an awning with a metal roof. There was a metal sign affixed to the back of the A, the words 'The Spider's Nest' stamped into the front. In the corner was what looked to be a waterproof duffle bag attached to the platform by a tether, and inside she found two blankets, a pillow, a stuffed animal in the shape of a spider, a bottle of water, and a red post-it note.

'Sleep tight, Spiderling.'

She read the note three times before she noticed the tears running down her cheeks, a sob breaking out of her before she could stop it. Her whole body shook as she cried for reasons she couldn't understand, and she reached out and grabbed the stuffed spider, pulling it to her chest and squeezing it as hard as she could. Rocking back and forth on the little platform he'd either made or had made for her, she cried into the head of the spider, burying her face in its fur.

She wanted to go back inside. She wanted to find Mr. Stark and gather the courage to put her arms around him like he was the spider and thank him for understanding and for trying and for getting her out of that place and away from Skip…for saving her sister and, inexplicably, her too. But just the thought of his arms wrapping around her made her mind flash back to the last time a man had wrapped his arms around her and she wanted to scream and scratch her skin off and go back in time and keep a baseball bat under her own pillow.

So instead she curled up under the blankets and cried into the soft fuzzy head of a stuffed spider, the little red post it note folded up into a tiny square and clutched in her hand.

When she woke, feeling somewhat better than she had the day before and much better rested, she carefully folded everything up and put it back in the bag, carrying the note and the bottle of water when she crawled back into her bedroom. The water bottle she filled in her sink. The note she unfolded and placed on top of her desk next to the tiny refrigerator she hasn't yet dared take anything out of, smiling softly and resting her hand on the note. Then, getting an idea, she opened her desk drawer and pulled out an unused pad of blue post it notes,

Tish was still asleep when she made her way into the kitchen, fully dressed and ready for school an hour early. Mr. Stark was at the stove, his back to her, and as quietly as she could, she lifted his tablet from the coffee table in the living room, placed the note on the table, then replaced his tablet.

He didn't turn around until she stepped into the room, his face relaxed into a careful smile. It was so different than he appeared in public…so different from how he'd been when they'd first met. All week he'd been so careful, and she wanted to apologize and thank him all at once. She wanted to smother the tiny voice in the back of her head that kept reminding her that Skip had been nice at first too.

Penny didn't think Mr. Stark would hurt her. Or Tish. And even if he tried, she knew she was strong enough to fight back. But he was her guardian. He had custody of her. And he could always take this home he'd given her away. Just the thought made her heart give a sharp stab of pain as she made herself at least try to smile. "Good morning," she murmured, dropping her eyes.

"Morning." He was watching her and she couldn't stand it for reasons she hated and never wanted to think about.

"Can I help?"

He hesitated before nodding. "Uh…sure. I'm making oatmeal. You want to set the table and put some fruit out? I think Tish likes oranges, so we got some of those."

"Okay." So she did, reaching up and pulling out four plates.

"We just need three. Pepper got an early start this morning." Penny glanced at the clock on the microwave. It was only 6 in the morning. He noticed her looking and smiled a little. "Her meeting was virtual, and the other party is in India," he explained.

She nodded. That made more sense. Gathering her courage, she made herself ask another question. She knew Tish was always interrogating him and he never seemed to mind, so surely one more question from her wouldn't hurt. "Don't you have to go to meetings too?"

"Sometimes," he told her, adding milk and cinnamon into the pot as she cut an orange for Tish and placed it on her plate, arranging the pieces into a smiley face. It was something May used to do for her when she was a kid…maybe Tish was too old, but she still deserved someone to do silly, nice things for her. "She's the CEO, so she has more meetings than I do, but I still have to suffer through them occasionally."

She grinned down at the banana she put by her own plate, then grabbed bowls for the oatmeal. "Is that why you made her CEO? So you wouldn't have to go to meetings."

He turned to her with a smile, tapping the side of his nose. "You got it."

Before she could answer, Tish appeared in the doorway still in pajamas, yawning and going straight to her seat.

"What are we having?" she asked Penny, grinning a little down at her orange smiley face and grabbing one of the eye slices.

"Go find out," she teased, grabbing her own bowl and going to the stove. Mr. Stark moved out of the way, letting her ladle some of the hot oatmeal into her bowl, then poured himself a bowl and gave some to Tish. Penny was surprised to realize it had only been five full days since she'd come to live at the tower, and already, this felt almost normal.

The three of them ate breakfast in silence, Tish uncharacteristically quiet until Penny glanced over and saw that she was nodding off in her seat. Darting to speak again, she poked her with her unused fork.

"You wouldn't be this tired if you didn't watch videos on your phone until 1 in the morning."

Tish opened one eye just enough to glare. "How would you know? You weren't even in your room!"

Penny just smiled to herself, wincing a little when Tish poked her with her own fork, a little harder than necessary, letting Penny know she really must be tired. Mr. Stark was following their conversation with his eyes, looking right on the verge of concern that there might be an actual fight at the table, so Penny stopped teasing her.

"You don't have to leave for a while. You want to get some more sleep?" she asked, holding out a slice of banana on her fork that Tish plucked off with her fingers without hesitation.

"No," she grumbled. "I have to get ready."

"You can sleep in tomorrow?"

She just nodded, and Penny frowned down at her food, trying to figure out her sister's bad mood without altering Mr. Stark that something was going on. But after a minute, Tish spoke up and saved her the trouble.

"Will you be at dinner tonight?"

Penny hesitated, glancing down at her sister and trying to read her. She wasn't afraid. Fear was something Penny was hyper aware of. No…she seemed sad. And then it made sense.

Before, they'd spent tons of time together, mostly at the library. Now…now Penny could patrol more because Tish was safe and that's all Penny had wanted. For Tish to be safe. But she realized that wasn't all that mattered to her sister. They'd both lost their families, and some days it felt like they were all the other had left, and then they'd started this little routine where they all ate dinner together and Penny had skipped it.

Mr. Stark didn't interject. He didn't even act like he was paying much attention, but Penny wasn't fooled. This was Tony Stark. He didn't miss a thing.

"Yes." She didn't just mean that night. If her being at dinner was important enough for Tish to ask about it, she'd be there.

Her sister relaxed a little, a smile breaking through. "Yeah?"

"Of course. You want to do something after school?"

She perked up then. "Yeah! Can we go to Coney Island?"

They'd gone once before, right after Tish had moved in with her and Skip. In an effort to stay away from the apartment, Penny had taken her newly eleven year old foster sister, using some money she'd scraped together to buy them both hot dogs, and then they'd sat on the beach. It had been close to Christmas and it had been freezing out, but Tish had seemed to come to life, giggling when they'd built a sandcastle together and decorated it with whatever driftwood they could find.

That was the day Penny had won her the headphones she still used at a carnival game, and a week later, she'd scavenged up enough spare parts to put together the mp3 player Tish loved.

Now Tish looked at her pleadingly and Penny nodded, mentally calculating how much money she had. It wasn't much, but she figured if she skipped lunch, she could get them hotdogs. "Sure."

"Happy can drive you home," Mr. Stark told them, interjecting for the first time. He stood, grabbing his bowl and taking it to the sink, and Tish followed suit when she was finished, hurrying to her room to get ready. Penny followed more slowly, waiting until Mr. Stark was on the other side of the room to take her bowl to the sink and wash it.

He approached her then. "Here," he offered, holding out a hand, and she was surprised that her whole body didn't tense. She didn't think he would hurt her…she really didn't. Not wanting to push it, she took what he was offering without noticing what it was until she looked down and saw the fifty dollar bill in her hand, then nearly dropped it, jerking back in surprise like it was a snake.

"What? No…I don't…"

"You can use it for snacks today," he told her, reasonably. "It's for both of you."

She could argue if it was just for her…but he'd used the argument she couldn't refute…for Tish, she took the money, nodding and dropping her eyes, hating that she felt so indebted to this man she didn't quite understand. "Thank you."

"Alright, kiddo. You've got Happy's number, right?"

She nodded.

"Mine too?"

Penny nodded again.

"Call if you need anything."

And that was that.

Penny told Ned all about it while they were eating lunch, the two of them leaning close together and practically whispering, trying not to draw attention to themselves. No one knew yet that Penny had been one of the kids being fostered by Tony Stark, and she wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. He listened, wide-eyed, as she told him about the money Mr. Stark had given her.

"He just carries $50 bills around with him? I asked my dad for ten dollars for that Oscorp field trip and he had to go to the bank, get a twenty, and then go somewhere to buy something so he could break it. I don't think he's carried cash since I was eight."

Her lips twitched into a smile. "So do you want to go with us?"

"Tish won't mind?"

"No way. She thinks you're cool."

"At least someone does," he muttered. "You know, I totally get this whole secret identity thing, but we could be the coolest kids in school."

She grinned outright. "Absolutely not."

"You haven't even heard the plan."

"No."

"All we need to do is get invited to one party. Just one! Then Spider-Girl happens to show up…"

She rolled her eyes and pushed him a little, laughing when he did. "Are you coming with us or not?"

"I just have to ask my parents first."

His parents said yes, so the two of them headed to the library to work on homework until Tish got out of school, then picked her up and took the bus over to Coney Island. And, Penny thought with a grin as they all ate snacks paid for by Mr. Stark, it was great. She'd missed doing things like this…just hanging out with her best friend and her little sister and feeling like a normal kid. She didn't have to worry about going home, or about listening at the door to make sure Skip didn't enter her sister's room. She didn't have to worry about her teachers noticing how different she was now and getting separated from Tish. And she didn't even have to worry about having enough money to get Tish both a hot dog and a soft pretzel.

They headed to the beach next. It wasn't quiet warm enough to get in the water yet, and none of them had swimsuits anyway, but they all competed to see who could make the coolest sandcastle, then took turns destroying them before the water could. By the time they were done, their clothes were covered in sand and vaguely damp, and they knew it would be an uncomfortable trip home, but Penny didn't care because she was happy.

Maybe, she thought as she stared out at the water, it would be okay. Maybe Mr. Stark could be trusted and maybe she could actually be happy again. Maybe Tish would be safe. Maybe she could finally relax. She wasn't sure how, but she was willing to try.

When it was nearly five thirty, she pulled out her old phone and dialed Happy, heart clenching in worry. She knew he hadn't been thrilled to babysit her in Germany, and although he'd been mostly nice in the mornings when he drove them to school, and although Tish insisted that he was always nice when he drove her home, she still didn't like to talk to him unless strictly necessary. But he answered on the third ring, voice nothing but professional.

"Hey, kid. You ready to come home?"

She nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "Hi. Um…yeah, if you don't mind. Or we can take the subway."

"I'm on my way. I'll meet you by the road?"

"Okay. Thank you."

"No problem, kid."

They all stood, brushing their clothes off as best they could, and made their way to the entrance. She doubted it would take him too long to get there, and she didn't want to make him wait…no reason to upset Happy if she didn't have to.

Ned was in the middle of telling her about the new Lego Death Star he was hoping to get for his birthday when a camera flashed in her peripheral vision. That in itself wasn't that strange. People took pictures all the time. But she still felt a thrill of unease, and the look on her face made Ned fall silent.

"Pen?"

"I think someone just took…"

Another camera flashed, then another, and a woman hurried up to them, a digital recorder in one hand, and moved to stand in front of them, the recorder thrust into Penny's face. Behind her was a man with a camera that he immediately stuck in their faces, and she wanted to shove the woman away but other people were pulling out their phones and if videos of Tony Stark's wards attacking a reporter started going viral, surely he'd send them away. So she just put an arm around Tish, trying to steer her in the opposite direction as Ned froze behind her, looking around in bewilderment.

"Penny Parker?" the woman demanded, and Penny tried to keep walking but she jumped in her way again. "Is it true that you were adopted by Tony Stark?"

"No," Penny told the woman simply, trying again to steer Tish away, Ned following quickly behind her.

"Why did Tony Stark adopt you?"

"He didn't." Penny turned to guide Tish in the other direction.

"Are you related to Tony Stark?"

"No." She remembered seeing people say things like 'no comment' on TV and wondering if she should be saying that instead, but it was too late now.

"Can we get a picture of the two of you?" she asked without making it much of a question, and Penny felt tears building in her eyes as she tried to protect Tish, another camera flash going off on their other side. Everyone was staring and more and more people were pulling out phones to record and everyone was going to see this and know!

"No…just…let us go home," she all but pleaded, voice breaking as she tried to pass one more time.

The woman grabbed her arm then…that was what made her freeze, a tear spilling over and running down her cheek. Fingers tightening around her wrist and pulling back and Tish moved before Pnny could react, shoving the woman away and making Penny jolt back to attention.

"Leave her alone!" Tish demanded, moving to stand between them like she was ready to fight, and the woman stumbled back as cameras came up and flashed and Ned grabbed for Tish, pulling her back while Penny closed her eyes, another tear falling. Everyone would see her crying. Everyone would know she was the orphan Tony Stark had taken in and she was supposed to be a superhero but she couldn't even handle some reporter lady asking her questions but she just wanted to go home!

"Hey. Back off."

The voice took Penny by surprise, and she, Tish, and Ned all turned to find Happy Hogan moving to stand between them and the reporter, his arm out to block them from view.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he snapped, and Penny took the opportunity to wipe her eyes, hiding behind him and hoping no one saw her. Tish glanced up at her, looking scared, and Penny tightened the arm holding her.

"It's okay," she promised softly. "Are you alright?"

Tish nodded, not looking convinced.

Happy turned then, wrapping his arms around the three of them, making Penny's breath stutter in her chest, but she had to get out…had to get Tish out. "Come on," he urged in a murmur, guiding them towards the car as cameras flashed and another reporter screamed their names and shouted out questions and then, thankfully, they were in the back seat.

Penny curled up in the corner, trying her best to breathe normally. He'd had his arm around her and he'd touched her and and she was trying so hard to act like that was a totally normal thing…like someone harmless guiding her out of trouble was something that she could tolerate. She wasn't afraid of Happy! She knew he wouldn't hurt her and even if he tried, she was strong now! She could stop him!

"What's your name, kid?" For a second, Penny was confused, but then her friend spoke up beside her, sounding hesitant.

"Uh…Ned, sir."

"Where can I drop you off?"

Quietly, Ned gave his address, and from her spot in the middle, Tish scooted a little closer to her.

The rest of the ride was a blur, with Ned telling her he'd see her Monday and Penny doing her best to nod as her heart beat so fast it hurt, and Tish staying silent at her side, her worry unspoken and obvious. Then, finally, after what felt like hours, they pulled into the parking garage.

Penny bolted out of the car before it had even come to a complete stop, not about to break down in front of Happy and Tish. Her sister would understand. Racing into the elevator, she slammed her finger against the button over and over until the doors slid shut.

"Penny? You seem to be in distress." Friday told her, sounding gentle as if an AI could experience empathy. Then again, Penny thought, it had been built by Tony Stark…so maybe it could.

"Take me to the penthouse. Please," she gasped, tears running down her cheeks, and Friday obliged, letting her out at the penthouse where she ran straight for her room, dodging away from Mr. Stark who stepped out from the kitchen looking concerned based on the brief flash of him she saw.

"Kid?"

She didn't answer, shutting her bedroom door behind her, then launching herself out the window and climbing until she was in her nest. Curling up in the corner and grabbing her spider, she clutched it to her chest and closed her eyes, waiting for the tears to stop as hot embarrassment washed over her. What a stupid thing to panic about! She was a superhero! Mr. Stark would never take Spider-Girl seriously now!

She couldn't make it stop, though…not for a long time. So she just grabbed the blanket from the duffle bag and wrapped herself as tightly as she could in a cocoon that would keep her safe.

Thank you for reading!