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: Hey, everyone! Hope you guys are well. Today's chapter title comes from You Make My Dreams (Come True) by Hall & Oates. Not much to say other than that.

As always, I also hope you enjoy. Until next week,

~TGWSI/Selene Borealis

~the heavy souls 'verse~

~life in technicolor ii~

~chapter 11: you make my dreams~

"Alright, does everyone remember the plan?"

"We remember the plan," Harley said from where he was laying on the couch in the twins' living room. He had a paper airplane in his right hand which, as he squinted his eyes in concentration, he threw. They all watched as it flew across the room until it hit the wall head-on, causing its nose to crumple before it fell to the floor.

"Nice," Wanda commented.

He grinned. "Thanks."

"Let's focus!" Pietro exclaimed. He pointed back to the white board that he had managed to smuggle up here from one of the R&D floors. Penny...actually wasn't quite sure how he had managed that, as she felt like somebody had to have noticed that it was gone, and there was video evidence that they could go looking for if they wanted to, since FRIDAY saw almost everything that went on in the entire building. Maybe they'd just decided that looking for it wasn't worth it. "Wanda, what is your job?"

"I'm playing the distraction for Sam, since he's the only one here today," she said. "Oh, and I blew up all of the balloons for his apartment, which are currently in my room." Her nose wrinkled. "It's a lot of balloons, Pietro."

"Good. That was what we agreed on," her brother replied. Next, he focused on Harley. "Harley, what are you doing?"

Reaching down, Harley picked up a bag of two hundred miniature rubber ducks, his grin coming back with a feral edge. "I'm placing these all over Steve's floor," he spoke.

"Yes. Excellent." Pietro went to her next. "Penny?"

She explained what she would be doing to her father.

When she was done, the nineteen-year-old nodded. "Exactly. And as for me..." He rubbed his hands together, winking. "I will be wrapping all of Matt's furniture up in wrapping paper, and depositing the balloons on Sam's floor."

This was the plan they'd come up with after Pietro had suggested that their first official bonding exercise (he hadn't phrased it like that, but she, as woefully uncultured about how friends really worked as she was, was calling it that in her head) be pranking all of the other Avengers living in the Tower, with the exceptions of Vision and Natasha. Clint, apparently, had pulled his fair share of pranks back in the day, which according to Harley had been met with exasperated amusement by everyone. He'd always made sure that his pranks were harmless, but the ones he'd come up with were a lot more convoluted than theirs were.

It wasn't like they were automatically going to be experts when it came to pranks, though, Penny thought. If things went well, they could work up to something close to his level.

Besides, there was something bordering on maliciousness about the rubber ducks in particular. She had no doubt that Steve was going to be finding those forever.

There were two different reasons why they'd decided not to prank Vision and Natasha. In Vision's case, while he felt emotions just the same as the rest of them, they weren't exactly sure if he would completely appreciate the complexities of a prank – and Wanda didn't want to be part of pranking her partner, plain and simple, especially since he didn't really have his own floor at the Tower anyways due to how much time he spent at the Compound. As for Natasha...

They were all terrified about what she would do in retaliation if they did. Because make no mistake, they knew she more than anyone else would retaliate, and that her years as Clint's partner would undoubtedly make whatever form that retaliation would take terrifying. Not poking the bear was just better for them all, end of story.

As for the reason why they were doing this today: today was Friday, which meant that Harley's internship was today, and he'd told his mom he was coming over early to spend time with her before then. Her dad, Steve, Natasha, and Matt were additionally at a meeting up at the Compound about Avengers business, and wouldn't be back until later that afternoon. There was plenty of time for them to enact their plan before then, and before her therapy session. It was the perfect day for this all around.

"Alright, let's get this started," Pietro said, smacking his fist into his palm. "Young Avengers, attack!" He watched them all for a moment, as they didn't immediately move, gauging their reactions to the name. He wilted. "...Yeah, that name sounded better in my head."

"Lots of things sound better in your head," Wanda quipped.

"And I'm not an Avenger," Harley added right after her. "I'm not going to be a superhero, no matter what you guys say."

As Pietro began to splutter, Penny stood up and headed over to the elevator. Wanda followed after her. They took the elevator up together, since Sam's floor was above hers and Pietro's. Although, FRIDAY seemed to notice that Wanda didn't want to immediately "ring his doorbell," so to speak, because she kept the elevator going further up, up towards the penthouse.

"Thank you for this," the older girl said quietly, smiling gently.

Penny blinked. "Why?"

"I think...this is the most fun I've seen Pietro have in a while," Wanda explained. "He didn't really get to do have that much fun while we were on the run. It's nice to see him so excited again."

"Oh." She lifted and lowered her shoulders. "Not a problem, this is fun. And it's what friends do, right?"

"...Right," Wanda repeated, her smile becoming wider. "It's what friends do."

"Friends."

To be honest, Penny was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she had more than one of those, that she didn't just have Harley now. The number had exponentially increased when compared to two years ago, when she hadn't had any.

...And technically, she thought as she bit the inside of her cheek, if she really wanted to be honest with herself, she might really have more than that.

But that was a thought for later. Lay-ter.

"Thanks for helping us out, Wanda."

"Oh, not a problem. We're different, but Pietro's my brother. There's nothing for him I wouldn't do."

Compared to Harley's and Pietro's, the prank that she was going to pull on her father's was more complex, but she'd come up with the idea herself. After she got out of the elevator, she casted her eyes at the ceiling. There was one thing she had to make sure of before she actually did it. "FRIDAY?"

"Yes, Penny?"

"You're not gonna let Dad find out what's going on, right?"

"Affirmative. As we previously discussed, I will be looping the

footage of the penthouse cameras. If he checks, which I do not think he will, he will not see what you are doing."

She blew out a breath that made her cheeks puff out. "Thank you too, FRIDAY."

"Of course. As you pointed out, it will be interesting to see his reaction to it."

She snickered. That was one way of putting it.

Penny surveyed her choices for where to begin. Deciding that the coffee table was a good place to start, she picked it up with one hand, the weight practically nonexistent with her strength. With her other hand, she activated her web-shooters, shot a web, and used it to propel herself to the ceiling. Once there, she used the webbing fluid – different from the webbing fluid that she regularly used, and one that she had come up with specifically for this prank – and basically glued the coffee table to the ceiling. She tested out her work, experimentally trying to pry it off. She grinned when her light attempt was unsuccessful – the coffee table was going to be staying up here for a while, that was sure.

One piece of furniture was down. She just had the rest in the living room and her dad's bedroom to go.

FRIDAY played her some tunes as she worked. The songs were all upbeat, which she surprisingly didn't mind. She was in a good mood today. It felt kind of weird, however she was willing to roll with it.

She was just about done with the living room when the elevator dinged and Harley came out. "Wow," he whistled, admiring her handiwork. "Impressive."

"Thanks. Did you finish up with Steve's floor?"

"Placing all the rubber ducks wasn't that hard, I just had to get creative with it," he answered. "Your dad's going to wonder what the hell he did to warrant this compared to everybody else's pranks, though."

"I'm his daughter. We don't do anything in halves." She unstuck from the ceiling, the couch now finished being glued there, allowing herself to land down on the floor. "Now all I have to do is his bedroom."

"I'll help," Harley offered. "I was given too basic of a task anyways."

She booped him on the nose as she walked past him. "That's the reason why you came up here. You want to prank my dad just as much as I do."

"Yes," he said without any hesitation.

The work got faster due to the smaller amount of things to put upside down and her boyfriend's help, albeit he wound up not really being able to do as much as she thought he'd figured he could. Along with webbing them to the ceiling, Penny webbed shut the drawers to her dad's nightstands. She really, really didn't want to know what he kept in there.

They got done just in time for her therapy session with Anne. Harley was sweating and she did feel a little winded from the exertion of her entire task. Her mouth was dry. There wasn't anything she could do about that right now. She didn't have the time to make some of her substitute.

Oh, to be a vampire.

"You seem in a better mindset today," Anne observed once they'd gotten settled down. "Is there anything going on that you'd like to share?"

"...Pietro, Wanda, Harley, and I are pulling some pranks on my dad, Steve, Sam, and Matt today," she confided.

"Oh, that sounds fun. What have you four done?"

"Uh..."

Anne got a kick out of it. "That sounds like an extravagant prank," she said, fighting to contain her chortling. "But...do you think it might've been too much?"

Penny frowned. "...No. Why?" An idea occurred to her, and she very much did not like it. "Wait, do you think my dad's going to be mad at me for it?"

She didn't want her dad to be mad at her. The prank was supposed to be fun, it wasn't supposed to make him upset!

"Not mad exactly, no," Anne rushed to say. "But try and look at it from an adult's perspective: you did this without supervision. Yes, you have super strength and many other abilities that un-enhanced people do not, but what would've happened if you got hurt?"

"Friday was watching me," she protested. "If I'd gotten hurt – which wouldn't have happened, but if I did, she would've contacted somebody for me, like Dr. Cho if she couldn't get to Dad."

"But you still would've been hurt," Anne pointed out. "I'm not saying you have to undo what you did today, or that you were wrong for doing it, but maybe in the future, think about the kind of prank you're doing before you do it? It might be harmless to the person you're pranking, but try to make it harmless to yourself, too."

She heaved out a breath. She supposed Anne was right. "Alright," she agreed. "I'll think about it in the future."

"That's all I ask."

The rest of their session went mostly okay. They stuck to the lighter topics today, like what she thought about Pietro and Wanda so far now that she was getting closer to them. Anne was glad they'd finally crossed the barrier between them, and she was glad as well. It didn't stop her anxieties about their friendship – that was something she still needed to work on.

By the end of the appointment, Penny was antsy to get back upstairs. Her dad and the others weren't back yet, as FRIDAY informed her, but they would be in probably a few more hours or so. And when they were, she couldn't wait to see her dad's reaction to everything. She hoped it wasn't as fraught with worry as Anne thought it could possibly be.

The meeting her dad and the others were in, as it turned out, ran far later than any of them could have imagined.

They still weren't back by the time that Penny's therapy session was done, but Sam and Wanda, who had taken him out to a cafe or something, were. She unfortunately didn't get to see his post-reaction in real time (she watched it later, along with the reaction from his floor's feed), but she was welcomed to the communal floor by the sight of Harley and Pietro laughing, one of her boyfriend's arms wrapped around his own torso, as Sam continued to have a long-suffering expression on his face.

"Were you part of this?" he asked her as soon as the elevator doors opened. He pointed a balloon at her to prove his point. "Wanda, I already know, 'cause she's part of almost all the pranks Pietro. But you, Penny Parker, did you stoop down to their level? Did you join their childish efforts to place more balloons than I would ever fucking need on my floor?"

She knew she wasn't going to be able to answer his question without breaking into hysterics over the balloon, so she kept it to a simple, "Uh..."

Unfortunately, that said it all. "Figures," Sam huffed. "Everybody else leaves and I let Wanda coax me outside like a total idiot, and this happens. I get pranked in my own home."

"Where...else would you get...pranked?" Harley wheezed out between laughs, before he went back to cackling madly.

Sam threw his balloon at him. "Shut it, you." There were still several more at his feet, because apparently there must've been enough to get shoved in the elevator with him when he'd escaped from his floor (damn, Wanda). But then, an idea occurring to him, his eyes gleamed. "Wait. I wasn't the only one you pranked, was I?"

"No," Penny said, sitting down next to Harley on the couch. Since she'd just come into this mess, she was managing better them all laughter-wise, although she was still having to fight down her giggles.

"Ah. Okay." Sam relaxed. "All is forgiven, then. Provided...y'all tell me what you did."

"You won't tell them what we did?" she asked.

"What, you think I'm a snitch?" Sam accused. "Hell, no."

When they told him what they'd done, he roared with laughter – so bad, in fact, he had to wipe tears from his eyes. "Oh, that's good. That's too good," he said. "Steve's gonna be finding those ducks forever, Matt's gonna be so disappointed with every more wrapping-covered piece of furniture he finds, and Tony..." Like Harley, he downright cackled. "Tony's going to be impressed and exasperated at the same time. He's gonna be damn proud of you."

His hypothesis made her feel a lot better than Anne's. "You think so?"

"Yeah, I do," he said, his tenor relaxing and genuine. "Don't worry, Tony loves a good prank just as much as the rest of us."

It was just after three when this conversation occurred. They settled down after that, waiting for her dad, Steve, and Matt (and Natasha, of course) to come home.

Yet, as four o'clock came and went, there was no sign of them. "The meeting probably just ran over a little," Sam suggested. "Give them an hour, they'll probably be back by then."

But by the time it was five-thirty, they hadn't.

She, Harley, Pietro, and Wanda were all antsy – not just because of their prank, but also because the meeting had run over this far, and neither Tony nor Natasha had called any of them? That wasn't like them.

What was going on? What were they talking about?

As if on cue, Sam's phone rang. He took it out, his face darkening as he stood up to go into the kitchen and take it. Penny didn't know why. She and Harley would both be able to hear what was being said from that distance.

"Hey, Nat," Sam muttered into his phone. He had his back facing them in the kitchen as he leaned into the island counter, his elbows propped up against it and his left hand supporting his head. "When are you guys going to get back?"

"About that," Natasha said.

And Penny...

Penny felt her heart drop into her stomach, just from two simple words.

She looked down, ashamed as tears pretty much immediately came to her eyes. She didn't even hear what Sam and Natasha said after that as she fought not to cry. Harley wrapped an arm around her to comfort her, but it didn't do nearly as much as she thought he wanted it to.

So much for her good mood.

The minutes passed by. She recognized the sounds of Sam hanging up from the phone call, even if she didn't fully register them. When he came back into the room, his visage was sad – not for him, not for Pietro and Wanda, but for her. "Tony's going to call you in a couple of minutes to explain what's going on," he informed her gently. He clapped his hands together. "But...yeah, we're on our own tonight. Sorry, guys."

"Oh," Wanda whispered, disappointed.

Pietro had a similar, albeit louder, reaction.

She and Harley didn't say anything at all.

Sam exhaled. "Let's not let it pull us down too much. Shit like this happens. It sucks, but they'll be back tomorrow. In the meantime...what do you guys think about takeout?"

Pietro let his head fall back dramatically. "We always order takeout."

"True, because the only people who can cook on this team are me, Natasha, and Matt," Sam acknowledged, pointing a finger gun at him. It eased some of the tension in the room. Some. "But there's this one Indian place I love that we don't ever order from because Steve can't handle too much spice. You wanna try it?"

"I'm always down for Indian food," Harley said. It was his favorite takeout cuisine.

Pietro and Wanda also agreed.

They set about ordering, which made Penny feel even worse. She was glad when she felt her phone start to buzz, because it meant that she had a reason to go to the elevator. FRIDAY seemed to sense that she didn't actually want to go anywhere else as she sat down on the elevator floor, pulling her knees to her chest as she pressed the accept button and brought her phone to her ear, because she only took her a few floors up. Far enough that Harley wouldn't be able to hear the conversation, basically.

"Hello?" she said. Her voice cracked as she spoke. Dammit.

"Hey, honey," Tony said back – and she couldn't be mad at him, not when he sounded like that. He was as upset as she was about this whole thing, she could tell. "Sam already told you we're not going to make it back tonight?"

"Y – yeah."

"I'm so sorry. I already told Ross I'm going to be ripping him a new one after this is all said and done and – "

Ross.

She did not know much about the Secretary of State, but she knew enough about his position on the Avengers – and her. Ross understood why she'd done what she'd done, but now that she had the substitute, he didn't want her ever killing again. He'd promised he'd send her to the Raft if she did.

Thank you, FRIDAY, for letting her listen to the recording of that particular phone call.

"It's okay, Dad. I understand."

"No, it's not. But thanks, kiddo. How was your day? Did you and Harley hang out with Pete and Wanda this afternoon?"

"Yeah." A ghost of a smile graced her features. "We had fun."

"That's good. How did your appointment with Anne go?"

"Fine."

"That's good, too." She heard some noise happen in the background, followed by him breathing sharply through his nose. "Look, honey, I'm sorry, but I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow, and I'll do my damnedest then to make this up to you."

"Okay," she replied, happiness creeping back into her at the thought. Just seeing his reaction to her prank would be enough. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

She stayed sitting there for a few minutes in the unmoving elevator, going through the motions of calming herself down. Finally, she requested, "The penthouse please, FRI."

FRIDAY took her up to her and her dad's floor. Penny went into the kitchen to get her thermos and two cartons of substitute, then went back downstairs. Sam, Harley, Pietro, and Wanda were watching some movie.

"I'm sorry," Harley said to her as she sat down, once she'd put her stuff on the counter in the kitchen.

"It's fine," she responded. She sounded too flat for even her own liking. "It's not like it's your fault."

He purposefully leaned into her dramatically, making her giggle. "Doesn't mean I can't be sorry."

She ate with them when their food came. It made for a later start to her patrol as Spider-Woman, as she didn't get into her suit until seven-thirty instead of a quarter past six like she usually did...but maybe that was a good thing. It meant that she didn't really have any time to do her usual patrol stuff before what she was going to do tonight, which in turn meant that she would have more of her wits about her.

"Hello, Penny," KAREN said once the screens in front of her eyes blinked to life. "You're putting the suit on later than you normally do. Does that mean you are no longer going to do the plans you made for tonight?"

"No, they're still on, KAREN," she told the AI as she climbed out of the window.

"Would you like me to show you the quickest route to Forest Hills, Queens, then?"

"Yeah," she said. It made butterflies began to dance around in her stomach, however she ignored them for the time being. She'd properly freak out once she got closer to her destination. "Let's do it."

Word Count: 3,773

Next Chapter Title: the pantaloon