Belief

Penny stared at the phone screen, Tish's shoulder pressed to hers. The video in front of them was live footage of a press conference that was happening on one of the lower floors of the tower they were sitting in at that very moment. It was a weird thought. Tish had told her that the 'work thing' Mr. Stark had to do was actually a press conference that he had called after he'd found out that the reporters had come after them, so the two of them had decided to watch it. Penny couldn't help being intrigued. Tish had told her that he'd been mad. Really mad. Not mad at them, though. Mad at the reporters. Penny had worried about him being mad at her for embarrassing him…apparently not.

On the stage, behind a podium like the one that had been at the press conference where he'd told the world that he was Iron Man, Mr. Stark told the room of reporters that what they'd done was unacceptable. He told them that he would ruin the career of anyone that tried something like that again. And he called them 'his kids.' His kids. Not his foster kids. Not the kids he was looking after for a little while. No. His.

Penny didn't know how she felt about that. He was their foster parent. He'd taken them in without telling them that he was taking them in. He had saved Tish from Skip and he'd saved her too. He'd built her a place to sleep outside because he knew she felt more comfortable on the roof. Then, when she'd had to come inside, he'd hung a hammock practically on the ceiling, as high as he could get it, knowing that she'd feel safer up there. He'd kept enough space between them that she'd never felt threatened and he'd knocked on her door even when it had been open, waiting for her to invite him in.

He cared that she trusted him. He answered Tish's questions without getting impatient and he looked at them like he actually liked spending time with them. He was nothing like she'd thought he would be. He was quiet and kind and he cared about them. That much was obvious. No one had made him get up in front of the whole world and call them his kids. No one had made him protect them.

He did it without asking. He wanted to protect them. He'd called them his kids.

Tish liked him. She trusted him. She finally had a home where she felt safe. And Penny was so glad…so grateful to him for saving Tish. But she still didn't know how she felt about him saving her. It had all been such a whirlwind and some days it still didn't feel real that she was living in the Avengers Tower and Mr. Stark was always so kind to her…he wasn't like how she'd expected from what she'd seen of him on TV.

He protected them. He publicly condemned ((and threatened) the reporter that had harassed them. He was kind to her. He was a man with all the power. These things were all true and she was still trying to learn to live with all of them at the same time. She wanted to trust him but she didn't quite know how. But in the meantime, she wanted to try. She wanted to do her best.

Penny hadn't really met Rhodey before…not officially. She'd fought on the same side as him at the airport, and she'd read in books about Mr. Stark that the two of them were good friend (with the books disagreeing about how good of friends they were) but as the three of them made their way to the hospital and rehabilitation center where he was currently staying, Penny felt herself getting nervous. Sure, they'd had brief interactions at the airport, but she'd never actually spoken to him, and she wouldn't be meeting him as Spider-Girl…she'd be meeting him as Penny Parker, Mr. Stark's foster daughter. Would he approve of Mr. Stark taking in two foster kids? Would he think that Penny had somehow made him do it, since he'd only taken Tish in as a condition of her helping him, right?

"Does Iron Patriot know that Penny is Spider-Girl?" Tish asked from the front seat of the car, which she'd called the second they'd laid eyes on it. That had been just fine with Penny. She was trying her best to act like a normal person…to relax for once. But it was hard, and she knew it would be harder in the front seat. Instead, she was able to look out the window and watch the city pass as rain poured down.

"He does," Mr. Stark told them, glancing at Penny in the rearview mirror. "I knew he wouldn't tell anyone."

Penny nodded. He'd saved her sister…it was going to be hard to actually be upset with him over much of anything. Besides, she trusted Colonel Rhodes not to tell anyone who she was.

"How long does he have to stay here?" Tish wondered.

"Probably another couple of weeks."

"Penny said he got hurt," she told him softly, glancing back at Penny. "He fell?"

"Yeah." Mr. Stark nodded, hands tightening around the steering wheel, and Penny wanted to kick the back of Tish's seat. She couldn't help remembering how he'd looked when the armor had plummeted to the ground…how he'd sat on the ground next to his unconscious friend. How the entire atmosphere had changed. She knew he'd been afraid…that he probably still was. And maybe even guilty.

"Will he be able to walk again?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I hope so. If he can't, I'm going to build him something to help him."

"Like…prosthetics?"

"Kind of."

Tish nodded and, thankfully, didn't ask him any more questions about Rhodey. Instead, she switched to the other Avengers, wondering out loud if she would ever get to meet any of them, or if they would ever come to the tower, or if any of them lived at the Tower, which led to questions about why exactly they were in hiding, and that conversation carried them all the way to the hospital. Usually, Penny didn't mind Tish's questions, and she knew that Mr. Stark didn't mind most of the time either, but this seemed like a sensitive topic. Still, he answered her questions as patiently as ever, then invited her to play around with the radio when she ran out of them.

Colonel Rhodes wasn't doing physical therapy when they arrived, thankfully. He was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, looking just like a normal person, Mr. Stark knocked and opened the door to the apartment he was currently living in. He glanced up from the book he'd been reading, a smile taking over his face when he saw Mr. Stark, but then he caught sight of her and Tish and the smile got even bigger somehow, his eyes lighting up.

"Hey, Honey Bear. I brought the kids," Tony told him, gesturing to the two of them. Tish, who'd never been shy a day in her life as far as Penny could tell, hid behind Penny just a little as they hovered in the doorway, so Penny shut the door behind them, draping an arm around Tish's shoulder and trying to radiate confidence to make her feel better. "Rhodey, this is Letitia Taylor and Penny Parker. Tish, Penny, this is Colonel James Rhodes, Avenger. Also known as War Machine. You might have seen him on TV."

"Hi. It's nice to meet you." The man held out a hand and Penny dropped her arm from around Tish and moved forward to shake his hand, not wanting him to try and get up or even think that he needed to try to get up.

"It's nice to meet you too," Penny told him, reminding herself that he was safe and that she was going to act like a normal person…that she didn't need to be nervous around him. It was hard to take his hand, but not because of him. He radiated warmth, his smile soft and sincere, and when she moved away, Tish shook his hand too.

"Hi. Nice to meet you," she told him softly.

"I heard Falcon was your favorite Avenger," he told Tish with a grin, and she flushed a little.

"I think you're really cool too," she told him, sheepish, and he chuckled.

"Thanks."

"I think Iron Patriot is a better name."

"Yeah?"

She nodded, passionate as ever. "That's a better superhero name! War Machine has the word 'war' in it! Superheroes aren't supposed to do war."

"She has a point," he told Mr. Stark who shook his head.

"Betrayal. My own family."

Tish giggled, sitting down on the sofa that sat beside Rhodey's chair, and Penny joined her as Mr. Stark took the other chair. "Mr. Stark is Iron Man. You could be a different metal," she offered.

"I could. What do you think, Tony? Think I should rebrand?"

"Then they'd have to change the names on all of your action figures."

"Oh yeah…sorry, Tish. I think I'm going to stick with War Machine."

"Did you pick it?"

"Nah. I don't think any of us got to pick our names." He glanced over at Penny, questioning, and she shook her head.

"People on Youtube started calling me Spider-Girl when someone uploaded footage of me."

"People in the newspapers called me Iron Man," Mr. Stark told her.

"You said the suit wasn't made of iron, though."

"True. But titanium-gold alloy man doesn't really roll off the tongue."

Rhodey snorted.

"How are you feeling?" Mr. Stark wondered before Tish could suggest a better name for Iron Man.

"Not too bad. Had physical therapy this morning. Watched some TV…caught a press conference."

Penny dropped her eyes to try and hide a smile.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah…you were actually in it."

Mr. Stark shrugged, but Rhodey was smiling, something soft in his eyes as he looked at his friend, and then he turned to her and Tish. "You guys went to Coney Island yesterday?"

"Yeah!" Tish cried, animated once more. "We ate hot dogs and pretzels and made sandcastles at the beach with Penny's friend. Maybe when Luna Park opens we can go there too."

"You like roller coasters?"

She nodded. "Especially the big ones. My daddy used to take me, but he wouldn't go on any of the roller coasters, so I went by myself. But I don't like the Astro Tower."

"What about the Aquarium? That's over there too, right?"

"Yeah, I've never been though."

Penny dropped her eyes again, feeling a wave of guilt that didn't make a lot of sense. She hadn't ever taken Letita there for the same reason she hadn't planned on taking her to Luna Park… because she hadn't been able to afford the tickets.

"We'll have to go," Mr. Stark told her casually. "What do you think, Pen? You like the aquarium?"

Tish was staring at her, hopeful, and Penny smiled and nodded, trying to act like this was normal…like she knew exactly how to act in this strange situation. "Yeah. That sounds like fun." She did like the aquarium. The last time she'd been had been with her Uncle Ben one day after school…he'd picked her up an hour early and the two of them had gone together and afterwards they'd gotten cheeseburgers for dinner. She didn't think she'd ever be able to go back there without thinking of him. But for Tish she would try.

"The two of you are almost done with the school year, huh? You got any plans for the summer?"

"I thought we might head to my house in Miami for a week or two. And now we'll have to hit the aquarium. Maybe the zoo too." Mr. Stark hesitated, then glanced at the two of them. "And I thought we could spend some time in my lab…"

Tish lit up, sitting straight up beside her, eyes huge, and Rhodey chuckled.

"You like science, Tish?"

And she was off, telling him all about her favorite classes and how good she was at math and science, and Penny sat back with a smile, listening to her chatter. It was comforting…had been comforting from the start. Even when she'd been in that apartment, hiding out in her sister's room, it had been comforting to hear her talk.

"What about you, Penny?" Rhodey asked after Tish had exhausted that topic. "You like science too?"

"Yeah."

"She made her own web fluid in chemistry class," Tish told him, so obviously proud that it made Penny's heart go warm. "And she built her web shooters! And she got into Midtown School of Science and Technology on scholarship. Look at my mp3 player! She built it out of scraps from the dumpster by the electronic store!" Tish pulled it out of her bag and thrust it at Rhodey who took it, and Penny flushed.

"It…it's mostly a Zune. I just added some stuff to make it work."

"Wow," Rhodey murmured, doing a good job of looking honestly impressed. "This is pretty cool. You thought about college?"

"She's going to MIT."

"I'm going to apply to MIT," Penny corrected.

"You know what would look really good on an MIT application?" Rhodey asked, giving Mr. Stark a look. "One of those Stark Industries Internships."

"Oh…I don't think…" She glanced back at Mr. Stark who was giving Rhodey a look of his own, and she felt uncomfortably caught in the middle of something she didn't understand, but then he caught her eye and smiled.

"He's right. I was going to wait until this school was over to let you know, but we are launching a high school internship program."

She glanced between the two men, feeling frozen as she tried to breathe normally. An internship? A real internship? With Tony Stark? He hadn't mentioned anything about a real internship before. She hadn't even known that his company offered real internship programs for high schoolers…well, she thought…no…he was launching it. So it was new. "Oh…" was the only response she managed.

"Really?" Tish cried, practically bouncing next to her. "Can I apply too?"

"Sure. As soon as you're in high school," Mr. Stark told her with a grin, and she deflated a little. "You can still come into the lab and work with us," he promised, and that appeased her some.

"Penny, will you tell me about it?"

"Of course," Penny promised on autopilot.

"So…MIT. Have you thought about where you want to work?"

She had. Extensively. Before all of this, she'd wanted to work for Stark Industries. Ever since Mr. Stark had come back from Afghanistan and had stopped making weapons, focusing on clean energy and electronics instead, that was the place she'd wanted to work. She'd already looked up the job application and had daydreamed about doing something great and actually getting to meet Mr. Stark in person.

"Not really," she lied instead of trying to explain all of that.

"You've got plenty of time," Rhodey assured her, and she nodded, trying to pretend that she was reassured.

After about an hour, Mr. Stark volunteered to go get everyone some lunch. "What are we thinking," he wondered, looking between the three of them. "Burgers? Chinese? Pizza?"

"I could go for a burger," Rhodey offered, glancing at Penny and Tish. "That sound okay?"

"I like burgers." Tish looked at Penny who nodded too.

"Alright. Burgers it is. You girls want to come with me? Help me carry everything?"

Tish glanced over at her again, questioning, and Penny nodded. "Go ahead. I'll wait here."

She didn't really want to, but it felt rude to leave Rhodey all by himself, and Mr. Stark probably would need help carrying anything. Tish had been alone with him plenty of times anyway. It was safe. And she would tell Penny if anything happened.

Mr. Stark looked at her for a long moment, then nodded. "Alright. We'll be right back."

Once she was alone with Colonel Rhodes, Penny felt herself scooting back against the side of the sofa, curling in on herself a little, but she tried not to…tried to sit normally and act normally. This man wasn't a threat. He could barely walk, right? She didn't have to be afraid. Besides, her senses hadn't gone off. So she was safe.

Why couldn't she just accept that she was safe?

"Do you need anything?" she asked, glancing at the arm braces leaning against the wall beside him.

Rhodey gave her another one of his soft smiles and shook his head. "I'm alright, kiddo. How are you doing?"

She cocked her head a little, confused.

"I know it must be weird…living with Tony Stark. Dealing with reporters."

"Oh…um…I'm okay." That wasn't quite true, but she wanted it to be. Rhodey nodded, looking thoughtful, so she went on, hoping that she could speak it into existence. "Mr. Stark is really nice. Pepper is too. And he's great with Tish."

"She's a great kid. Smart."

"Yeah…she's really smart. She'd do really good in an internship with Mr. Stark."

"I'm sure she'll get one. You can tell her all about it."

Penny nodded, dropping her eyes.

"You got any other plans for the summer?"

"Um…I don't think so. Just patrolling and…and hanging out with my friend Ned."

"Yeah? What do you two get up to?"

"We like to build LEGO sets. He usually gets a set for his birthday or Christmas. Or we play video games at his place."

"Sounds like fun. Has he been to the tower?"

She shook her head, probably a little too fast.

"I'm sure Tony wouldn't mind."

"That's okay. We can just hang out at his place."

Rhodey nodded slowly, but she felt like he was concerned for her, which she didn't understand. She was fine! Tish was safe and she was safe and she couldn't ask for much more.

The four of them at lunch together in Rhodey's living room, the two adults talking about Avengers things that Tish didn't understand and that Penny only sort of understood, but they were both just content to listen. Penny found herself lost in thought anyway…Mr. Stark was giving her an internship? Or…she'd earned an internship? Had he looked at her grades? Was he giving it to her because she was his foster kid? Or was he giving it to her because he thought she deserved it? An internship would help her get into MIT though, and that was her goal, now that Tish was safe.

Wasn't it? Would she be okay leaving Tish behind? Would she be okay sharing a dorm building with strangers?

Would she ever be able to just feel normal again?

The thought kept her distracted all day, and that night, curling up in her hammock, it kept her from falling asleep. For the first time in so long, she'd slept through the night, curled up in a nest of blankets inside of an actual room. She'd felt safe, just like in her nest, but it had also been so quiet inside…no sirens or shouting had woken her for the first time in what felt like months. And she wished she could explain to Mr. Stark how much that meant to her.

She climbed down after a few minutes of trying to sleep, crawling down the wall and landing lightly on her toes, then pressed her ear to the wall. It was still raining outside, although it wasn't storming anymore, and she could hear her sister's soft, even breaths. She was asleep. She was safe. Yawning and rubbing her eyes, Penny slipped out of her room and headed to the kitchen, and she felt safe. It was safe to walk around Mr. Stark's apartment and grab a mug and a packet of hot cocoa and heat milk on a saucepan over the stove.

It still felt strange to feel safe.

"Penny?"

She'd heard the footsteps…had known that Pepper was approaching, but she still felt a jolt go down her spine as she looked up to find her standing in the doorway. "Sorry…did I wake you up?"

"No, I was already up. I'm not a great sleeper," Pepper admitted, leaning on the island and watching her. "Did the rain keep you up?"

Penny shook her head. It hadn't been the rain…it had been her own neverending worries. But she didn't know how to explain that.

"Tony told me about the hammock. Has that helped you sleep?"

"Yeah…it's great. That was really nice of him."

"If there's anything else you need, I hope you know you can let us know. We want you to be comfortable here."

"Thank you," she murmured, staring down at the milk, turning down the heat right before it started to boil, then added the two chocolate packets and continued to stir. "I am. I mean…it's…it's really nice of you to let us stay here."

"Of course. It's no trouble at all. We're glad to have you." Penny didn't know how to answer, but Pepper went on. "You got to meet Rhodey today?"

"Yeah. He's really nice."

"He is."

"Mr. Stark…he mentioned an internship?"

"That's right. He's been working on it for a few days now…it's not quite ready."

"Will it just be one intern?"

"To start with. He's supervising the internship himself so he won't have more than one afternoon a week to devote to something like that, but it's coming together pretty well. It's the first time he's ever shown an interest in a high school internship program, but the college one is very competitive."

"He didn't have to do that," Penny murmured, grabbing a second mug and dividing the liquid between the two of them. She passed the one with slightly more hot chocolate to Pepper who gave her a gentle smile.

"He wanted to."

"I didn't know he was doing that."

Pepper nodded to herself, taking a sip. "You know, he didn't just choose you as his first intern because of who you are."

Penny forced herself to meet her eyes.

"I mean…I won't say that isn't part of it. We both know better. But he also looked at your grades, which are incredible, by the way, and your extracurriculars. He looked at how smart you were and how you are at the very top of your class in addition to being a literal superhero. So don't for one second doubt that you deserve this, Penny. Because you do. You deserve it, just as much as anyone."

"I don't feel like I deserve it," Penny admitted in a whisper, not able to maintain eye contact while saying it. "I…it was just supposed to be Tish." Her voice broke as she repeated the thought she'd had so many times…the words she'd already said to Pepper. The woman started to reach for her, then hesitated with her hand hovering just above Penny's, and Penny wanted her to take her hand. She wanted someone to comfort her. She wanted someone to touch her and for it not to make her whole body freeze up.

So she moved her hand just a little closer and Pepper rested her hand on the back of Penny's, squeezing gently. "I'm so sorry you feel that way, honey. And I know it's going to be a long time before you're able to believe anything else after…" She trailed off and Penny was glad. "But I hope you know that we care about you…about both of you. This is your home, and we are your family. We want to help you. We want you to be safe."

Penny nodded, swallowing hard as Pepper squeezed her hand.

"And you earned this internship. I promise. If I had looked at all of the top students in your class, I would have chosen you. Tony would have too."

She wanted to believe it. She truly did. So she nodded, hoping that Pepper didn't let go of her hand anytime soon.