Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and especially reviewing! I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

Last Day

Something happened the day they visited Rhodey. Tony didn't quite know what it was…didn't understand the change he saw in Penny. He knew that Pepper had talked to the girl that evening, but he didn't know what they'd talked about…he just knew that the two of them had had a conversation and then Penny had gone to bed. He hadn't asked any followup questions…hadn't felt like he was entitled to know anything more. He was glad they'd had a conversation, and glad that the girls had gotten to meet Rhodey, because Penny was different. Not a lot, and not all at once. But after that day, Penny seemed to relax. She smiled more…at first, it startled him every time. He froze in place sometimes when he saw her smile, not wanting her to scare her off, like she was some kind of feral animal. But soon, to his surprise, it became almost commonplace.

She slept inside more too, curling up in her hammock on nights when it rained and nights when it didn't. She helped Tish make breakfast before school and watched movies in the evening and three days after the girls met Rhodey and she had that talk with Pepper, he walked into the living room after working in the lab to find her and Tish sitting on the floor on either side of the coffee table, each with a hand of cards, a pile of them in the middle of the table.

"Hey, kids. What are you playing?"

"Gin Rummy. My mom taught me to play, and I'm teaching Penny." Tish told him with a grin, and Penny's lips twitched into a smug smile as she picked up a card, then laid down four kings.

Tish's jaw dropped and Tony's did too when Penny barked out a laugh.

"You…cheated!"

"How did I cheat?"

"You said you didn't know how to play!"

"Yeah, but then I Googled it."

"How did you get all the kings?"

"I drew them." She drew four more cards and Tony chuckled, shaking his head and starting to grab the remote. "Do you want to play, Mr. Stark?"

That offer would have been completely normal coming from Tish. Hell, he'd almost expected it, and had been ready to say no, to beg off…to tell them that he was basically cross eyed from working in the lab all day. But it wasn't Tish who asked…it was Penny. And there was no way he was saying no to her when she actually invited him to join in. So he nodded.

"Alright. But I'll warn you, I haven't played cards since…" He couldn't remember when, actually, but he was sure he'd been drunk. "For a long time," he corrected, about to sit on the floor with them, but Penny scooted the table closer, handing her cards to Tish and resituating so that she was sitting so close she was literally within reaching distance.

And then he played cards with them. And Penny talked to him. And laughed. And didn't so much as flinch away when he went to draw a card or lay them down or when he accidentally hit the table with his knee and it jostled it and moved it closer to her. Nothing. No reaction. She just seemed happy to be there. With him. Tish was happy too…she was smiling and laughing and looking between the two of them like they were her family and he couldn't stop smiling either…couldn't help the warmth in his chest every time he saw these girls smile.

On Penny and Tish's last day of school, he picked Tish up himself, and she lit up with excitement when she saw him waiting by his car. "Hi, Mr. Stark!" she called, bounding up to him, and never in his life had he wanted kids but he got it…he understood why having kids made some people so happy. His father certainly hadn't been one of them, but he was finding that he was. Not that Tish was his kid. But she was a kid and she was his responsibility and he liked having her around and he was happy to see her happy. So he grinned and threw the passenger side door open. "Hey kiddo. How was your last day?"

"Good! We watched a movie and played games and my math teacher had a scavenger hunt for us and that was cool, and I almost got first place except Josh got the last equation right first." She rolled her eyes and he chuckled. "So he got to pick anything he wanted from the prize box but I got second place so I got to pick something too and I got this!" She leaned over, digging around in her backpack for a minute as he pulled out of the school parking lot. He glanced over and saw that she was holding a giant rainbow colored lollipop. "There weren't any candy bars…I wanted something I could share with Penny but maybe I can break it in half so she can have some too."

"I'm sure she'd like that," he told her with a smile.

"Did you pick her up from school too?"

He'd thought about it. But in the end, he'd decided against it. She was more relaxed with him than she'd been since coming to live in the tower, but he still didn't want to interfere with her patrolling…or her visiting her friend Ned, which she did plenty of, based on her suit's feedback. He'd never met the kid, but he'd seen him in that video he'd watched arguably too many times. "No, I figured she would be patrolling," he told her. "But I thought we could do something fun to celebrate your last day."

"Are we going to see Rhodey again?"

He grinned. "We'll definitely get to do that this summer. He's going to come visit soon."

"Will the other Avengers come visit?"

"Maybe someday."

"Can Rhodey go to the aquarium with us?"

"I think he'd like that." If he could walk…and even if he couldn't, Tony would build him a wheelchair.

"What are we doing to celebrate?"

"You'll have to wait and see," he told her with a smile, and she bounced in her seat.

"Are we going to Coney Island? Penny surprised me by taking me to Coney Island when I first went to stay with her and…" she hesitated over the name, then went on. "And she took me to the beach even though it was cold and we had a lot of fun. She knew I was sad."

His heart dropped and he glanced over at her as she stared down at the lollipop in her hands. "Are you sad now?" he asked softly.

She hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. "No…I have Penny and I have you and Pepper." Then, "I miss my dad, though."

"I know, kiddo."

"He didn't do anything bad…they took him away for no reason," she told him in a near whisper.

He considered telling her that his lawyers had taken over her father's case…but he couldn't stand the idea of getting her hopes up only to disappoint her if it didn't work out. Instead, he asked as gently as he could, "Have you been able to visit him?"

She shook her head, eyes still trained on the lollipop.

"If I could talk to your social worker and arrange for you to visit him, would you like to?"

Her head jerked up, eyes going wide, and he almost regretted it when her lip trembled and she nearly dropped the lollipop. "Could you really do that?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "But I can try. Would you like to visit your dad?"

She nodded, wiping quickly at her eyes, and he made himself smile.

"Okay. I'll call them tomorrow."

"Thank you," she whispered, then dropped her eyes again. "Do you think Penny will be upset?"

"Why would she be upset?"

"Because she doesn't have anyone to visit?" Her voice was so quiet he almost didn't hear, and he found himself reaching out to rest a hand on her shoulder.

"Penny won't be upset with you for visiting your dad. I can promise you that, Tish. She loves you so much…I think she'll be really happy for you."

That made her smile again, and he hurried to move past the moment before she got sad again. "So, not Coney Island. But you and Penny can go again this summer. Happy can go with you to make sure the press doesn't bother you."

"Does Happy like roller coasters?"

"I doubt it," he told her with a laugh.

"Do you?"

"I haven't been on a roller coaster in a long time."

"Do you want to go with us?"

"Maybe. No promises that I'll get on a roller coaster, though."

"So…are we going…to…" she thought for a long time. "Play with the Iron Man armor!"

He chuckled.

"Oooh, can you take me flying in the armor?"

"I don't think the social worker would approve."

Tish sighed, then her voice turned hopeful. "Are we going for ice cream?"

"Well, for dinner I thought we could all go to dinner and get ice cream after, so kind of."

"Are we…" He smiled out at the road when she stretched the word out, then continued to shoot down her many guesses, although they did give him some ideas for things they could do over the summer that he thought Pepper might enjoy too. She started with local things, like the zoo or shopping again or fancy restaurants, but by the time they got to the Tower, she had expanded to more and more outrageous possibilities, from skydiving to a trip to every country she could name, which was pretty impressive because she was working her way through the countries in Africa when they finally pulled into the parking garage, giggling every time he said 'Nope.'

She trotted at his heels as they made their way to the elevator, then froze when the elevator stopped not at the penthouse, but at a different floor. Then her eyes went wider than ever before and she turned, gripping his arm with both of her hands. "Are we…Mr. Stark, are you going to let me see your lab!"

The excitement in her voice made him feel guilty…he really should have let her see it before. But it turned out to be an excellent surprise for her last day of school. "I am. In fact, you're going to get your own private tour."

She squealed aloud, jumping up and down beside him as they made their way to the door with a keypad beside it. "Do you have to put a code in?"

"Nope. Friday knows who I am." He pulled the door open and she hurried in behind him, turning in circles as she looked around. Old versions of the Iron Man armor stood at attention in glass cases and he could see her twitching to run over to them, but she stayed glued to his side, finally turning to look up at him like an excited but obedient puppy.

Thus began the tour. She was silent for the first few minutes, then finally held up a hand like she was on a school field trip. "Yeah, you in the front?" he asked, pointing to her and making her giggle.

"Can I ask a question?"

"You can ask as many questions as you want. And you don't have to raise your hand."

That was all the permission she needed.

By the time five o'clock rolled around, he was ready for a nap. He got it now…why people with kids went to bed so early. But it was good…he felt warm all over when he was with these kids…when they trusted him. He knew it didn't come naturally to either of them. But they were both such good kids…such smart kids. He remembered being a smart kid surrounded by adults who were either baffled by him or had no time for him. He wouldn't be that…he would be better. He would be like Jarvis. He wasn't Tish's dad and he wasn't Penny's but he was something.

"Boss, Penny has entered her bedroom through her window."

"Thanks, Fri. How about we get Penny and go get some dinner."

"And ice cream?"

"You got it."

Penny stepped into the kitchen right when they did, and she barely had time to say hello before Tish was grabbing her hands and telling her all about Tony's lab at the speed of light. And Tony marveled a little at the fact that this girl, who hadn't had a sister for the first thirteen or so years of her life, just smiled and nodded and listened with the patience of a saint. He couldn't help remembering their first meeting…how Penny Parker, a fourteen year old girl living in the home of a man that had abused her, hadn't asked Tony to save her. She'd only asked him to save her sister.

"Alright, Tish, you want to tell her the rest on the way?"

Penny tilted her head in confusion, but nodded and let Tish pull her back towards the elevator, and the three of them headed back down to the car while Tish filled her in on the plan. "He's taking us to dinner and ice cream since today was our last day of school! Oh, is Pepper coming too?"

"Yep. She's meeting us there."

"And Happy?"

"Nope, not tonight. It's just the four of us."

"Do you think Happy would want to come?"

"Maybe next time."

"Does he have plans tonight? Since he didn't pick me up?"

"I gave him the afternoon off."

"Does he have a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend?"

Tony chuckled a little too himself, wondering if she'd ever tried asking Happy about his dating life. "Not at the moment."

"Does he live close to the tower?"

"Yeah, he has an apartment a few miles away."

"Can we visit him?"

He laughed at the idea of showing up at Happy's apartment with the kids, then shook his head. "Not tonight. Happy likes his peace and quiet at night."

Penny snorted at that and Tish elbowed her. "I can be quiet."

"You can? Since when?" The question was asked so teasingly that Tish just rolled her eyes, shoving her sister gently against the car door.

Pepper met the three of them at the restaurant, and the four of them were led to a table in the back corner. Pepper followed behind the maitre d, the girls in the middle, and Tony bringing up the rear, keeping an eye on all of the people they passed to make sure no reporters were hiding out, and that no one was picking up their cellphone to take any pictures. This restaurant was usually a pretty good place for him to eat and get some privacy, but he also wasn't usually so worried about people taking pictures.

He had Penny and Tish sit with their backs to the restaurant while he and Pepper sat across from them, so if anyone did take any pictures, they wouldn't get either of the girls' faces. Pepper didn't seem as worried as he did, but he knew she was just better at hiding it.

"So, Penny, how was your last day?"

"Um…it was good," Penny told her, voice low. "We didn't do much. Finals are all over so we just watched movies and played games and stuff."

"Are you glad to have some time off?"

Penny nodded, although he had a feeling that she didn't mind school too much. "Yeah, but I'm taking four AP classes next year, so I have some summer work I have to get done."

"Four?" Pepper asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah. Calculus, Physics, European History, and English."

"Damn kid, you're going to have enough college credit to get a degree before you graduate high school," he joked.

She laughed, shaking her head. "Didn't you graduate college at, like, ten?"

He waved a hand. "Don't follow in my footsteps, Pen."

Her eyes widened in disbelief. "You're Tony Stark," she told him, incredulous, and it was the first time he'd really heard the hero worship in her voice…she hadn't said 'Iron man.' She'd said 'Tony Stark.'

He smiled, feeling his eyes go soft. And he wanted to tell her that it had taken him a long time to recover from her childhood…that it had taken him years and that he'd had to grow up way too fast and that he didn't want that for her. But hadn't that already happened to her? Hadn't she already had to face horrible things? Hadn't she already grown up too fast? Didn't she already do everything she could to protect Tish so that the same thing didn't happen to her?"

"Is there anything you wanted to do this summer?" Pepper asked, saving him from trying to answer.

"Tony said we could maybe go to the aquarium with Rhodey," Tish put in, hopeful.

"That sounds like fun," Pepper agreed.

"And maybe he can take me flying in the armor!"

Pepper lifted an eyebrow at him and he shook his head, lifting his hands in surrender. "I did not agree to that."

"I'll probably patrol and hang out with Ned," Penny told her, shrugging. "You don't have to entertain us or anything."

Tony couldn't help noticing how Tish glanced at her and dropped her eyes, the two of them suddenly subdued, and he couldn't stand to see them look like that. "We've already got a list going," he informed her, although it was more of a mental list than anything. She didn't need to know that. "So far, I've got the zoo, the aquarium, Coney Island, Luna Park, and a trip to…" he pretended to count on his fingers. "All of Europe and about fifteen different countries in Africa."

Tish giggled to herself, staring down at her plate, and Penny glanced up at him, meeting his eyes and looking so hesitant it hurt to see.

"Plus we've got your internship. We'll get started on that as soon as we get back from Malibu."

They glanced at each other, then at him.

"What do you think? A week on the beach, and then we get started on your internship?"

Penny hesitated for a long time, looking like she wanted to agree but was afraid to risk it. But she'd been doing so much better since they'd visited Rhodey…since her talk with Pepper. She was a brave kid. Braver than he'd ever been by far. So she nodded, face relaxing into a hopeful smile.

"Yeah…that sounds like fun."

"We're going on vacation?" Tish asked, voice a little too loud with excitement now that she was allowed to be excited.

"We sure are. I've got a beach house in Malibu. I thought we could leave this weekend."

"I thought your house in Malibu got blown up."

"It did," Tony told Tish, trying not to remember that day. "This is a different one. I bought a vacation house so we can get out of the city sometimes."

"Do you go there a lot?"

"Once or twice a year." Tony had already had rooms set up for both of the girls, one right next to the other just like at the penthouse. They were fully stocked, including a hammock hung in the top corner of the ceiling for Penny, along with one out on the back patio by the beach.

As promised, Tony and Pepper took them out for ice cream after dinner, and as Tish devoured her banana split, Tony turned his attention to Penny. "So, summer work? You need anything?"

"Um…I have to pick a book from a list. And I've got some packets to read through."

"We can go shopping tomorrow," Pepper told them, licking her vanilla cone. "We need to get you suitcases anyway. Swimsuits too."

"Oh…I can just check it out from the library," Penny started to insist, but Pepper met her eyes, seeming to communicate something that made her drop it. He wondered, not for the first time, what those two had talked about that night.

Back at the penthouse, the four of them continued their semi frequent tradition of watching a movie in the living room together, a bowl of popcorn shared between them, and not for the first time, he thought that he enjoyed the feeling of having a family. They watched a Disney movie that he hadn't seen before but that Tish had, so she fell asleep with her head on the couch cushion and Pepper fell asleep with her head against the back of the sofa. He grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch behind them as soon as she was out, draping it over Pepper, then turned and watched Penny do the same, her face soft as she tucked her sister in.

"You really don't have to entertain us this summer." Penny's soft voice surprised him. The only light in the room came from the credits playing on the TV, and he gestured for Friday to turn the volume down.

"I'm looking forward to seeing more of the city," he told her simply, trying to keep his voice casual. "It'll be fun." He didn't even have to look at her to know how skeptically she was looking at him and he had to grin, looking up at her and leaning forward, elbows on his knees. "We signed up for this, kiddo. We want you kids to have a good summer."

She pursed her lips, dropping her eyes, and he stood, jerking his chin towards the kitchen, knowing that there was no way they could have this conversation while Pepper and Tish were trying to sleep, but that it was a conversation they needed to have. With one last glance down at her sister, Penny followed him. And, remembering what little Pepper had told him about their talk, he grabbed the milk and poured two mug-fulls into a sauce pan, then turned the heat on low.

"Hand me the chocolate syrup, would you?"

She did.

"There's something you should know about me, Pen. I'm Tony Stark." He gestured to himself, grinning when she huffed out a sigh, seeming to barely resist the urge to roll her eyes from the other side of the kitchen island. "I don't do things I don't want to do. I took the two of you in because I wanted to. I planned an internship for you because I wanted to. I took you two out for dinner because I wanted to. And I planned things for us to do this summer because…" He trailed off, gesturing for her to finish, and she did roll her eyes then, lips twitching into a smile.

"Because you wanted to?"

"Bingo," he told her, pointing a finger, and she sighed, staring down at the counter, and he decided, against every instinct, that he was going to have to be vulnerable for a minute. It was hard…almost impossible, to open his mouth again…to get the words out. But he forced himself to say them because it was important and he needed her to know. "I…I know that this…it's probably still strange. For the both of you. And I get that. I…I never thought about having kids, you know? My dad was…" He sighed, wiping a hand over his face and struggling to meet her eyes. "He was…bad. He didn't want to be a father…didn't want anything to do with me for the most part. And I decided pretty early on that I wasn't ever going to have kids. Because…I never wanted to be that person, you know? I never wanted to do that to a kid."

She was silent, watching wide-eyed, and he stared at the counter once more, forcing himself to continue speaking.

"But…you and Tish are…" He shook his head. "I know you're not my…I'm not your father. I know that. But I want to be…something. I'm your foster father and I want you two to be happy here. This is your home…for now. I mean…it's your home. Me and Pep…we're your home. And I want you to feel safe and I want you to have a fun summer. Because my dad sure as hell never did any of that stuff with me…we never went to theme parks or the aquarium or…hell, when we went to the beach, he was always holed up in his lab. So…I want you to have that. You and Tish. You deserve that." When he dared to glance up again, Penny was staring down at the countertop, lip trembling just a little like Tish's had earlier that day, and he wanted to reach out and rest a hand on her shoulder but she hated it when people touched her and she couldn't sleep in a bed anymore because of what that man had done to her, so he just put his hand on the counter, sliding it closer to her but not touching her.

"You deserve that, Penny," he told her again, voice firmer now. "I deserved to have my father actually act like he liked me some of the time. And you deserve to be safe. Just like Tish. You both deserve to be safe and you deserve to have a good time over the summer. All kids do."

"I don't feel like a kid anymore," she admitted in a whisper, and he felt like his heart was ripping in half when a tear ran down her cheek. He couldn't help remembering how she'd clutched that stuffed spider in her arms in her sleep, and how she'd looked when that reporter had touched her, and he wanted to hold her even though he wasn't a father and even though he'd never really comforted a kid before these two girls had come into his life. It was an instinct he didn't understand and one he couldn't act on without hurting her so he just flipped his hand over and felt a jolt of surprise when she took it, squeezing hard.

Then, her whole body shaking, she moved around the kitchen island and he froze, not daring to move a muscle as though she were a feral cat and was afraid she would bolt if he so much as breathed. When she was close enough, she shocked him again by resting her head against his shoulder and he didn't know what to do because never, in their limited acquaintance, had she ever initiated contact…she'd barely initiated conversation! But she was resting her head against his shoulder and holding his hand and her shoulders shook as she cried silently, like she was afraid of someone overhearing.

And he knew she had to be hurting worse than he'd even guessed if she was coming to him for comfort. She was just a kid…a little girl. And someone had hurt her and she'd lost her whole family and him and Tish and Pepper were all she had left and he was not going to let anyone else hurt this girl. He was going to protect her and he was going to comfort her and maybe one day she would trust him…really trust him. For the moment, though, he would just have to do the best he could

Tony lifted the hand she wasn't holding, moving so slowly that she had to know what he was doing, then rested it on her shoulder. He didn't know what was safe…what he could do that wouldn't scare her. But she didn't flinch away when he finally made contact…she just cried, and he let himself relax, taking deep breaths and moving his hand in slow circles over her back. He didn't know what to say…didn't know if there was anything he could say. So he just rubbed her back and let her squeeze his hand until the milk was boiling but he didn't care…wouldn't have moved away for anything.

"You're safe, kiddo. It's okay. You're safe now. I've got you, okay? I promise. I've got you." Tony had no idea where the words came from…how he would possibly know how to comfort a little girl who had been hurt so badly and who was so afraid to trust him, but he kept talking anyway, whispering the words over and over. "You're safe. I've got you. It's going to be okay. I promise." He remembered how Jarvis had held him when he was little and slowly, hesitantly, giving her plenty of time to tell him or show him that she was uncomfortable, he wrapped the arm around her instead, turning so he was fully hugging her, and she wrapped her arm around him and gripped the back of his sweater and cried for a long time…

And then she stiffened a little, breath catching, and he let go immediately, patting her once on the back and moving over to the stove.

"Oh…the milk," she whispered, wiping at her face, and he dumped the scalded milk down the sink, grabbing another saucepan.

"That's alright. We have more."

And, without speaking about what had just happened, he went back to making their hot chocolate. Except this time, she stood right beside him as they waited for the milk to heat up, her shoulder so close to his that they were nearly touching.