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: Hi, y'all. Sorry for the late update. I had to take a week off due to health issues, and this chapter was giving me the biggest writer's block for some reason, I have no idea why. I wrote it like 5-6 times and I'm still not completely satisfied with it, but oop. I also owe you guys an extra chapter to make up for the week I didn't post without taking a week off, but uh, that might have to take a couple weeks to do while I play catch up.

Chapter title comes from Sparks by Coldplay, btw.

As always, hope you enjoy,

~TGWSI/Selene Borealis

~the heavy souls 'verse~

~life in technicolor ii~

~chapter 6: sparks~

Let it never be said that Tony would always refuse to do something that he didn't want to, especially at times when it wasn't exactly necessary. Like this one.

"Do we have to?" Penny asked him in between worrying her bottom lip nervously.

"Come on," he protested lightly. "It's not gonna be that bad."

"Then why do you have your sunglasses on when it's night and you're indoors?"

"...I don't have them on anymore. See?" He took them off just to prove his point. Penny rolled her eyes in that way all teenagers did as she sat on the back of the couch, her arms crossed and her socked feet swinging back and forth in the air. "You should put on some shoes."

"We're just going downstairs, aren't we?"

"...Fine," he allowed. Under his breath, "I'm raising a little hellion."

He knew she of course was going to hear it, and it made him smile as he watched her snort. "I was a hellion long before I met you, Dad," she informed him, jumping off of the couch. His smile widened, turning into a light grin as she came over to him and gave him a brief side-hug. "I love you."

"Love you too, honey," he said. "You sure you're alright with this?"

"Yeah." She looked up at him with those doe eyes of hers. "Are you?"

It had been a month since the resigning of the Accords. A month, and outside of that one occasion in the greenhouse garden when he'd yelled at him before he'd run away, he'd only seen Steve a handful of times. His ex-fiancé seemed to have gotten the blatant "hint" that he'd needed and had been giving him a wide berth since, or maybe Tony had just become the master of isolating from him – it was hard to say. Either way, he was glad for it. It was making his life just a little bit easier right now, or so he was telling himself.

Unfortunately, Natasha and Matt hadn't gotten the memo. No, that was a cruel of thing of him, trying to assume the worst. In reality, he knew they'd wanted to have some bonding between their splintered team and Penny ever since the others had come back, and a week ago had proposed the movie night for tonight. Attendance wasn't really an option for him, since he wanted to set a good example for Penny and all that jazz. And naturally, Steve was going to be there alongside them, since he was a member of the team. It'd be silly for him not to.

("It wouldn't be that ridiculous for him not to come if you're too uncomfortable with it," Natasha argued, her green eyes never leaving his face. "You know Steve doesn't want to tread on any boundaries, and after the last time Penny saw him – "

"Penny isn't going to want to feel like we're leaving him out because of her," he retorted. He felt like he was repeating himself way too much on this. "And really, Nat, I'm – ")

Also of course, despite what he had told Nat, he wasn't really okay with it. But Tony was willing to put on the brave face for Penny, because that misstep with Steve aside, she wanted to and should get to know the Rogues better, especially Pietro and Wanda. He knew she wanted to be friends with them, her anxieties were just making it hard as always for her to come out of her shell. And along with this, by setting a good example with her by showing up, he hoped he would be able to show her some healthier habits, all of which were basically centered on how to not be like him.

Thus, this bonding exercise was a necessity.

Besides, it wasn't like anybody else was around for them to spend time with tonight – "anybody" being one certain blonde/brown-haired teenager, since Rhodey wouldn't mind ditching the movie night for them, that went without saying. With school having let out for the summer for both of her children, Evelyn had decided to take them back to Rose Hill, Tennessee for the week, so she could check in with her old friends and they could all enjoy the country life and fresh air they'd been without for the last couple of years now. They wouldn't be back until tomorrow.

Tony didn't blame her for the sudden vacation. If it wasn't for Penny being Spider-Woman, he would've moved the two of them up to the Compound to be with Rhodey and get some fresh air for the summer. Or maybe, if he'd had the foresight, he would've built them a cabin in the middle of nowhere for them instead.

Now, there was a thought...

But, he was getting away from himself. "I'm fine," he told Penny. He wasn't sure if she caught on to his life, but if she did, she didn't comment on it. He jerked his head towards the bar counter. "You should probably grab your thermos and one of the cartons and bring them downstairs with us."

She pouted. "I'm not going to need them. The smell of popcorn's going to be everywhere." Popcorn was one of the few foods she couldn't bear to so much as be in the vicinity of when drinking her substitute, the scent being too overpowering, so they'd learned.

"Humor me, just in case," Tony said. "That way, if you get hungry, you won't have to come all the way back up here to eat. I mean, you could, if you wanted to, but – "

Another eye roll. "You're such a dad," Penny grumbled, heading into the kitchen to go to the pantry allotted for her and grab a carton.

The "insult" made warmth bloom inside his chest. "You're right," he shot back, watching as she grabbed the thermos off of the bar counter and came back to him. "I am such a dad. I'm your dad, and don't you forget it."

It was the simple ribbings like this that even six months ago, after she'd first come back home and they'd found themselves trying to figure out just how to be father and daughter, he couldn't have imagined having. It was simply something so mundane, so pure, and so unequivocally wholesome.

"Ready?" he questioned.

She nodded, although her eyes contained uncertainty. "Ready."

In the elevator, like the child that she was but thought she wasn't anymore, she repositioned her hold on her thermos and the carton so she could hold his hand, her cold skin meeting his warm. It made his breath catch, but he didn't say anything about it.

Tony's mind went back to the cabin idea that his brain had just concocted up on the ride down to the communal floor. The more he thought about it, the more it became appealing to him. It'd have to be upstate, as he wasn't sure if Penny would be willing to leave the state again yet. The one and only time she'd done it had been for the whole Washington DC fiasco and her month on the run, and they all knew how those had gone. But, that was alright. He'd want it to be right on a lake, because lakes were nice. It'd have to be somewhere in the sticks, to make sure nobody would intrude on them and prematurely discover she was no longer missing and Lolita on top of that. Something like four bedrooms in case the Keeners would come (Evelyn and Abigail would have their own, it being unsaid that Harley and Penny would share) or anybody else, four-and-a-half bathrooms, and a basement or a garage. That could be where he, Penny, and Harley could work on lab projects. He wasn't so naïve as to believe they could leave civilization behind entirely...

By the time the elevator stopped at the correct floor, he practically already had the initial blueprints for the cabin in his mind. Penny let go of his hand right before the doors opened, but he'd never be bothered by that age. At her age, even without her trauma, he would have just about died if anybody had caught him holding his mom's hand. It hadn't been until much later he'd realized how many times he should've done it, uncaring about what others might've thought. How many more precious memories he should've made with both of his parents.

But, Penny wasn't him.

That was a good thing.

The others were all already here. Natasha saw them first, stopping everything she was doing to come over. "Glad you could make it," she said, kissing the air right next to his cheek and taking the thermos and blood substitute carton from Penny, who mildly protested the action but nevertheless allowed it.

"It's not a party if I'm not here," he quipped.

"It's not a party, it's a movie night," Matt corrected. "And I've seen some parties you wouldn't believe."

Almost everybody groaned, Penny being the only exception as she snickered and flounced over to him. The two of them did the handshake that only they and Natasha knew, going through the motions fluidly. "Hi, Matt," she said.

"Hello, Penny," he returned.

"One of these days, I'm going to kill you, Murdock," Sam muttered at the same time.

Penny turned around to stick her tongue out at him. "Only over my dead body."

Besides Pietro letting out a snort of disbelief, there was a moment of silence.

His daughter's cheeks flushed. "...Oh," she breathed. "Sorry."

Things had gotten a lot better since December, but they hadn't gotten that better. Tony didn't think they ever would.

...Christ, he'd never be able to forget it: the light leaving her eyes while her blood had coated her chin, the realization that –

Matt cleared his throat. "Do you know what movie we're watching, Penny?" he murmured.

Her face brightened considerably as she went back to facing him. "Star Trek: Beyond," she said, rolling on the balls of her feet. "I love it! I swear to God, it's better than – "

"Don't say another word!" Pietro cried dramatically, placing his hands over his ears. "We haven't seen it yet! I don't want to know anything about it that I don't already know!"

Penny made a face. "You've been here a month and you haven't seen it yet?"

Even through his hands, he heard her. "I've been busy!"

"Busy with what?"

"Being an idiot," Wanda supplied deftly, in the way only a sister could.

Pietro glared at her, drawing his hands away. "Why, you – "

"Alright, who else wants to watch this movie?" Rhodey cut in. "Tones, you're sitting next to me."

It seemed like some sort of seating arrangement had been devised beforehand. Penny got to half-lay down on the couch that she always preferred on the communal floor, Natasha sitting between her and Matt. He sat on the end of the couch next to theirs, with Rhodey at his side and Pietro on the other side of his best friend. Wanda and Vision took the other couch. Steve and Sam sat in two of the armchairs.

Tony purposefully didn't look at Steve.

The smell of popcorn being brought even closer to her from where it had been in the kitchen made Penny's nose wrinkle, the only external reaction she allowed herself to have besides pulling a blanket over herself as the movie began to play and FRIDAY dimmed the lights.

He wasn't really hungry himself. He took a cup of coffee when Natasha wordlessly gave it to him, but he didn't eat, like some strange act of solidarity with his daughter and Vision. Propping his head against his hand, and his arm against the armrest of the couch, he tried to pay attention to the movie like everybody else.

Like Penny, he'd seen it before, seeing as how they'd watched it for the first time together back in January, just the two of them. It'd been on a night like this one, watching a movie for bonding purposes. "I haven't seen it yet," she'd said when he'd asked her what movie she'd wanted to watch. "Can we watch it?"

He hadn't been able to deny her.

It was a good movie. He wasn't one of the biggest fans of Star Trek out there – he'd seen The Original Series (who the hell hadn't at his age? It was considered a classic among science fiction titles), The Next Generation, and most of the movies with the cast members from the two series, but he wasn't one to go out and watch everything he could in the franchise. He wasn't like Penny and Harley, who practically lived and breathed Star Trek and Star Wars some days and could talk about each of them for well over an hour without being interrupted. Despite this, he did have his opinions on how the reboot cast compared to the original one, and that was they were all pretty decent. The plot of this installment, unlike Into Darkness, actually felt more in-line with The Original Series, too.

But because he'd seen it before, Tony couldn't give his entire attention to the movie, or even most. There was an undercurrent in the room, an electronic pulse only he was aware of in the darkness. It kept on sending his eyes to Steve in lieu of the TV, watching how the light from the latter partially lit up his face. Watching how the muscles in that face subtly moved as he watched the movie, barely touching his own giant bowl of popcorn.

Steve was captivated by the movie, he could tell. He simply knew his ex-fiancé like that, like the back of his hand. The man might not completely understand the "science," but an action movie which had thought-provoking messages was going to be of especial interest to him and his deeply empathetic mind.

Back and forth, his eyes went.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

Tony didn't think he was being subtle with it. Actually, he didn't think much about his observing at all. Just over a year ago, it would've been natural for him to watch Steve's face as they watched a movie together he had already seen, interested to see what the man out of time thought of it. They would've been sitting on the couch together rather than separated like this, but yes, the watching part of it wasn't that much different. "Steve-watching," as Bruce had playfully called it, was something that he had always done, even before Steve had come out and they'd gotten together. It was something that he excelled at.

But then, about halfway through the movie, Steve caught his watching gaze. Lit only by the movie, his eyes were a strange swirl of color. They were the blue blue blue with those flecks of green that he could never forget and had been a constant presence in his dreams for the past year, but there were also...sparks, for a lack of a better word, of gold in them. Sparks.

Tony couldn't bring himself to look away. He knew he should've as soon as their eyes had met, then locked, but it was like he was outside of his body and couldn't control its even most basic of functions. The way those muscles in Steve's face shifted as he realized what was going on was too irresistible. Shock played out on his features, followed by sadness and an emotion he could only place as curiosity. He didn't know why Tony was looking at him now when he hadn't been able to bear the sight of him for the past month, was trying to figure out what he was thinking. Which was a fair thing to do.

Tony was trying to do the same thing himself.

His breath instinctively caught, like it had with Penny earlier.

And...just like that, the moment was over.

Standing up, he ignored everyone's concern, the worried look in Penny's eyes most of all, as he fled for the elevator. He couldn't find the air within himself to offer a lackluster attempt about how he was "fine."

He couldn't breathe at all, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

FRIDAY opened up the doors to the elevator for him seamlessly. He heard the beginnings of chatter beyond movie commentary as they went back shut, but he didn't care about that as she began to take him up. "Boss – "

Wildly, he shook his head. He could deal with this on his own.

Probably.

You're not having a panic attack just from a look, he told himself, clenching his teeth. You're not you're not you're not you' re –

Except it hadn't been just from a look, had it?

He hadn't been able to breathe, and no matter how brief it had been, it was still eerily reminiscent of –

The shield on his chest. Looking up into those blue, blue, blue eyes. Being unable to breathe.

"Fuck!" he roared. He slapped a hand against the wall of the elevator.

How pathetic was he, that he couldn't even watch a movie just for the sake of his daughter without devolving into this? That he couldn't be the role model for her that he needed to be?

FRIDAY did not take him up as far as the penthouse, as she made the elevator come to a stop on the floor with the helipad. He tumbled out of the cart, heading for the outdoors like he was a plant in need of light...actually, that metaphor didn't quite work. Whatever.

"Don't let anybody up here, FRI," he muttered, knowing she would hear him and understand that "anybody" meant everybody, except for Penny. She was the only exception to everything he did.

"Yes, Boss."

The night air ran through his hair, and bit at his skin due to the height. It comforted him, giving him the clarity he needed. He sucked in his breaths, feeling how it became easier and easier with each one to do so.

He still felt lousy as he began to calm down, he just wanted to say that.

But, that was a given.

When his panic attack finally ceased, Tony looked out at the city skyline. A part of him wanted to go flying in his suit to further clear his head. But, that wouldn't be a good idea. It'd cause too many questions.

He went back down to the communal floor, continuing to feel shaky but not wanting to put off his reentrance for any longer. The movie was almost over. Steve wasn't anywhere in sight. His stomach twisting, he resumed his place right next to Rhodey and leaned his head over towards him.

"Steve went up to his floor. He said he was feeling tired," Rhodey said without him having to ask. Hence why they'd become best friends so many years ago. The honey bear knew him like he was an open book.

The revelation didn't make him feel any better, only worse. But, he pushed aside those emotions, deciding to deal with them later.

(Hopefully never.)

At the end of the movie, Penny sat up and put her hands behind her head, stretching. Her spine curved in freakishly, because yes, she was that flexible. Pietro's face did its own contortions from it, and Sam was visibly disturbed. "How do you do that?"

"I'm a spider," she said. "I'm flexible."

"That doesn't make sense."

Matt huffed. "You're not completely a spider. You could maybe be described as a human arachnid."

"That's close enough." Before they could continue that debate, which was one they had had before, she peered over at Wanda. "What did you think of the movie, Wanda? We all heard what Pietro thought during the movie."

He frowned. "That's only because you have super hearing."

"Nah, I could hear it, too," Rhodey said.

"You're right next to me! That doesn't prove anything!" Pietro spluttered.

"I thought it was a good movie," Wanda cut in, giving a small smile. "Not something that I would usually watch, but it was nice."

They chatted a little bit more, before they called the night the quits, one by one. Penny followed him to the elevator, even though she knew she was free to stay with Pietro and Wanda for however long she liked. She probably needed to recharge after the whole night. He did, too. "Did you have fun?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I did. I already told Matt and Natasha thank you," she said. "What about – ?"

He had a feeling he knew where that question was gonna go and stopped her right there. "I'm glad. It's nine-thirty. Were you thinking about going out on patrol tonight?"

She narrowed her eyes at either the diversion or the mention of it being an hour and a half until her curfew, or both. "No. There's not really enough time to do anything."

"Alright." Good. He yawned as they exited the elevator to the penthouse. "I'm tired. I think I'm going to call it a night."

"You? The Tony Stark who's infamous for pulling all-nighters, going to bed at nine-thirty at night?"

"Hey, I know what you're implying, and I resent it. I'm not old." He pressed a kiss to her forehead when she offered it to him and pointed down at the thermos and carton that were back to being clutched in her hands. "You should probably drink that before you go to sleep. 'Night, honey."

"'Night, Dad."

Word Count: 3,582

Next Chapter Title: let's kill tonight