Betrayal

Everyone knew that Tony Stark didn't talk about his daughter. He'd left more than one interview when the press or the person interviewing him had brought up the little girl he'd lost, shutting down, turning on his heel, and storming out of the room. No one even asked anymore. Not the press. Not Happy. Not even Pepper or Rhodey.

But Tony still thought about her. He still locked himself in his lab on her birthday. He still refused to go to the park where she'd last been seen. He still refused to even say her name.

Huffing out a sigh and dropping the knife he'd been attempting to wash into the sudsy water of his lab sink and resolving to wash it later, Tony dried his hands with the Iron Man themed towel hanging on the faucet. It had been a long day…a long week, and the urge to grab a bottle and start drinking until he saw the bottom and wasn't thinking about his daughter anymore was almost too strong to resist.

"Sir, Penny Parker has arrived."

For a second, that didn't make any sense. Why would Penny be at the Compound? Not that Tony wasn't glad for the distraction, or to see the kid but…and then it hit him. It was Friday. Lab day. Swearing under his breath, he looked around the lab kitchen that was, frankly, a mess. He'd been practically living down there for the last few days, and had been attempting to clean up the dishes he'd left everywhere before giving up and dropping them into the sink.

"Uh…go ahead and have Happy take her to Helen. Tell them I'll be there in twenty." Then he managed to wipe down the counters, put away the tools scattered around the room, and change clothes before hurrying to the elevator.

In the Medbay, he found Penny Parker in a black plastic chair, arm resting with her palm upright, watching as the blood traveled from her veins to the tube in Dr. Helen Cho's hand. The woman smiled briefly when he entered the room, and Tony did his best to act like this was normal…that he was fine and Penny getting her blood drawn here to make pain medicine that worked for her wasn't the result of something that had nearly scared him to death.

"Hey, Mr. Stark!" She was still always so happy to see him…so eager to work together. It made his heart twist painfully to think that he'd completely forgotten she was coming.

"Hey, kiddo."

"How are you feeling, Penny?" Helen asked.

"I'm fine," the girl assured her.

"We have snacks on standby. Let me know if you start to get dizzy, okay?"

It had started a week ago, but he hated to even think about it. Penny, shot while wearing the suit. Helen, trying to get the bullet out while Penny had screamed and sobbed and ripped the safety rails off the bed she'd been lying on. Tony, feeling the same fear he'd felt when he'd seen her trying to hold that ferry together, only worse now because he'd finally let himself admit that he cared about this kid…so much. He wanted to be better than his father, so he'd started a real internship and he'd given her his phone number and slowly, over the last month, their relationship had changed.

She had relaxed around him. She'd joke around and laugh when he teased her and she'd started telling him about school. They worked together on projects in his lab once a week when she made the trek out to the compound and he had even been thinking about buying a place in the city to be closer. And then her suit had alerted him in the middle of a meeting with Ross and he'd barely managed to get the words 'family emergency' out before leaving Rhodey to clean up with his mess while he'd gone to clean up Penny's.

Only this time, it hadn't been her fault. She'd managed to swing away from whoever had shot her (he was still looking for him…the guy had been wearing a mask but Tony was nothing if not persistent) but had collapsed less than a block away, her suit's baby monitor footage telling him that she'd only made it halfway up a wall before collapsing back to the ground. Penny had been crying when he'd found her. Sobbing. Clutching her side and rocking back and forth and he had no idea what he'd said to her but he knew his pants had been ruined from kneeling in her blood and his jacket too from where he'd lifted her in his panic before remembering the Iron Man armor he'd practically crawled out of.

"Okay…I know…I know, honey. It's okay. You're okay."

The same words he'd said to his daughter once. The same ones he'd whispered to her when she'd been sick or hurt, desperate to be calm so that maybe she could be calm too.

Obidiah had told him they'd done everything they could…that they would never stop looking. That the reward would be increased every week. That the little girl who'd been stolen by her nanny would be brought home. And Tony had let him lead the search while he'd gone on TV, pleading with the public to help him bring her back, and then when he'd given up months later, losing himself in work and his private bar instead.

He hadn't wanted to think about his daughter, the little girl who had been taken away from him, on that day when he'd tried to hold Penny down as Helen had dug a bullet out of her. He hadn't wanted to remember that his little girl would be about Penny's age. For the most part, he'd managed to drown those memories until not even Rhodey bothered bringing her up anymore. But memories of her had crept in anyway, usually when he least expected them.

His daughter had been eleven months old when she'd been taken. Almost a year old. She would have been nine when he'd been kidnapped. That's what he had been thinking when Yensen had asked if he had a family. He'd said no instead of not anymore.

He hadn't dared hold Penny's hand. Not when she was in so much pain…she might break his hand without meaning to, and although he hadn't cared too much about that, he'd known that she would never forgive herself. So instead he'd rested a hand on her cheek while Helen had worked with a single-minded determination, apparently unaware of a tear running down her cheek.

"It's okay…she's almost done. You're okay, baby. I'm here."

They were the words he'd said to Margaret Mariah Stark, named for his favorite aunt and his mother, Peggy for short, when she'd gotten her shots, clutching at him and sobbing, and he had almost felt embarrassed when they'd come out of his mouth only Penny hadn't seemed to know what he was saying…she'd continued to sob and he'd continued to be there until Helen had gotten the bullet out.

Now Penny watched her blood fill a fifth tube, and just when he was about to insist that that was more than enough, surely, Helen put the tube aside and gently slipped the catheter out of the crook of Penny's elbow, pressing an Iron Man band aid there (they were the only ones he kept stocked.)

"Done?" Penny asked, and the doctor nodded.

"All done. Hopefully we'll have some pain medicine that works on you in another few weeks. Try not to get majorly injured in the meantime?"

Penny gave her a sheepish smile, glancing over at Tony. "I'll do my best."

He lifted an unimpressed eyebrow. "Yeah? You do that. For the sake of my heart, alright Underoos?"

She nodded, dropping her eyes, making him feel bad. It hadn't been her fault. It was just a risk of the job…a job she shouldn't even have, but one he could never hope to keep her from.

"Come on, kiddo. Daylight's burning and we've got science to do." He reached a hand out, then felt his heart leap into his throat when she jumped up without taking it only to sit down hard, blinking too fast as she swayed, and before he knew what he was doing, he was on his knees in front of her, hands braced on her shoulders. "Kid? Hey…talk to me. What's wrong?"

"I'm okay. Sorry…maybe I do need a snack."

Her smile was sheepish again and Tony sighed, squeezing her shoulders. "Alright. Stay there, Spiderling. I'll be right back."

"You don't have to…"

"Stay," he ordered again, pointing a finger and smiling a little to soften the word.

Once she'd drunk a glass of orange juice and had eaten a few of the cookies from the jar Helen kept on hand, he led her back to the kitchen in his lab so that the doctor could get started. "What do you want for dinner?"

"I thought we had science to do."

"We do, but if you pass out on me, we won't get anything done. Besides, your aunt already said you could stay over if we ran late, and Pepper has the guest room set up for you." He managed to make himself sound nonchalant, as though the guest room he was talking about wasn't actually a bedroom he'd designed specifically for her, including a tiny stuffed spider and a few Iron Man t-shirts in an attempt to be funny.

"Are you sure?" she asked, sounding small and hopeful, and he squeezed her shoulder.

"One hundred percent. Now what do you want to eat? We'll go grab it and eat in the lab, then we can get started."

It was starting to feel normal, picking up food with Penny in the car and listening to her talk about her week at school and what she and Ned were up to. He knew the names of her friends now, Ned who was her oldest and best friend and MJ who was the captain of the academic decathlon team. He knew about her favorite teachers and the ones she didn't like as much, and he knew about Flash who was about one more snide comment away from meeting Iron Man.

Pepper was supportive of this. So was Rhodey. They both thought Penny was good for him, whatever that meant. Rhodey wanted to meet her, but the timing hadn't worked out quite yet. He also had to make sure she was never around when Ross showed up, so he worried about having her over too often. But, he had to admit, things were going really well. She was a good kid and she seemed to have a good time when she came over and he was always glad to see her.

Back at the lab, they ate Thai takeout at the table in the kitchen, him answering questions about the project they'd been working on between bites. That was another thing. Like Bruce, she spoke his language. She could keep up with him in the lab! Sure, she had a ways to go before she was working on more advanced stuff, but he had no doubt that she'd be great one day.

She was already great. Already, he thought with a small smile, the urge to lose himself in a bottle was lessened. He couldn't drink with Penny here…couldn't risk getting drunk when she needed him. And she looked up to him so much. He wouldn't ruin that for her.

They were just finishing their food when Friday spoke up, interrupting him mid sentence. "Sir? I have some results you may want to look at."

If Tony didn't know any better, he'd say that Friday sounded…worried. Frowning a little, he pushed himself up from the table, and Penny did the same. "I can clean up."

He wanted to assure her that she didn't have to worry about it, but Penny loved being helpful, so he just smiled. "Alright, kiddo. Thanks. I'll be right back." And, leaving her to it, he moved over to the screen mounted on the wall of his lab, turning his back to the kitchen and reading over the results Friday had flagged.

At first, he had no idea why she had flagged this. It was just information on Penny. Genetic markers and blood type. The usual stuff. "Fri, this is for Helen. She's making…". He trailed off then, because her information wasn't the only information on the screen.

It was doubled. And it was like his body knew before his brain did, teeth aching when his jaw clenched, his whole body freezing in place as his heart started to race.

Penny Parker. Peggy Stark.

No, he thought, dismissing it immediately. He would have known. Something in him would have known and…and it would have been flagged before! Only Tony had never needed to take blood from Penny. He wasn't running experiments on the kid…that's what he told himself as he stared at the screen, shaking his head without realizing it. He had never checked her blood because…because why would he? Why would he ever do that? He'd looked at her history before meeting her. Daughter of Richard and Mary Parker. SHIELD agents. Taken in by her aunt and uncle when they died in a plane crash. Her uncle had died back when she'd first gotten her powers. He'd never asked about her family and she'd never brought it up! He'd assumed she didn't want to talk about it. God knew he didn't want to talk about his lost family!

But this…it wasn't possible.

Only it was. They were the same age. Her birthday was different but he knew they could have changed that. Her eyes. The brown hair. Her intelligence.

"Run it again, Friday."

"I've already compared this date fifteen times, sir, and Helen Cho confirmed ten times."

No.

How was this possible? Had the Parkers…what? Stolen his daughter? Or had they even known?

They'd been her parents. They'd raised her! She'd never really talked about her parents but he had to assume that they'd been good ones. Had Ben Parker known? Did May? No…May couldn't. But Ben Parker, Richard's brother? Had they been working with her nanny?

Then, the most important question. Did he tell her? What was he supposed to do?

"No. Just…find…find anything you can on her. Adoption records. Childhood pictures…anything. Dig through SHIELD! Get into their servers. Tell Nick to call me if he has a problem with it."

"Shit!"

The curse took him by surprise and Tony spun around, eyes wide as he watched Penny hold her hand up over the sink, bloody water dripping down her wrist and arm before she clamped her other hand over the cut that ran across her palm. He remembered the knife then…the one he'd dropped into the sudsy water of the sink and forgotten because he was usually the only one to work in the lab and because he'd forgotten she was coming over for her internship and this…this was Peggy?

"Kid?" he asked, choking on the word and knowing he sounded more afraid than he should considering it was just a cut and she was enhanced and even if she hadn't been, it still wasn't life threatening or anything.

But this was his kid? His daughter. His little girl. Margaret Stark. Little Peggy. The name didn't fit her anymore. No…she was Penny. Penny Parker. But…how? How was this possible?

He hurried to her side, gently pulling her hand away from the cut and wincing at the jagged edge. It wasn't bad…wouldn't even need stitches, but he couldn't help the panic as he turned the cold tap on and ran the water over her hand, trying to wash it out, feeling a stab of pain like it was his own hand that had been cut when she winced.

"We could have just let Helen take my blood this way," she joked, and he tried to smile or nod or acknowledge her somehow instead of staring at her hand and knowing that it had been his fault and also knowing that Friday wasn't wrong…that this was his daughter.

Data didn't lie.

"Mr. Stark? Are you okay? Are you afraid of blood?" she asked, obviously trying to sound sympathetic while also giving him a look that told him that if that were the case, she was seriously questioning his career choices.

"No," he choked out, grabbing a hand towel and wrapping it tightly around her hand. His daughter's hand. The hand he'd held so many times. The little girl he'd read books to and tucked into bed at night with a kiss to her forehead. The baby he'd clawed his way to sobriety for, only to drop back out of it when he'd lost her. Obi had told him that he was still searching…but had he been? Or had he been the one to do this? "Sorry…I left it in there…I'm sorry, Pen."

Pen. Penny. Not Peggy.

"That's okay. I'm fine," she reassured him softly, sounding worried. He wasn't acting normal. He knew that. But how could he?

"Let me…uh…" He turned away to grab the first aid kit, blinking hard to make sure the tears didn't fall. He had to be sure. 100% sure. He couldn't tell her until he knew everything. She held still while he pulled the alcohol wipe out, barely flinching when he cleaned the cut and then wrapped her hand in gauze.

"Mr. Stark? Do you need to sit down?" she asked gently, putting a hand on his arm like she was bracing him and he realized for the first time that he'd been swaying…like he'd been the one to lose blood today.

Tony made himself smile down at the girl he'd just been told was his long-lost daughter. It felt like this couldn't be real. He couldn't have gotten so lucky as to find her again after fourteen years. He just couldn't. But the evidence was right there! How did he feel about it? He had no idea? How did one react to something like this? "I'm fine, kid. You okay?"

"Yeah. It's just a little cut. It'll be healed in a couple of hours."

He nodded, making himself take a deep breath as he put the first aid kit on the counter and closed it up. He couldn't do this…couldn't go into the lab and work on science when Friday was trying to confirm something he already knew. "How about ice cream?"

Penny cocked her head at him, brow furrowing. "Huh?"

"Ice cream. Dessert. Served frozen. Available in many specialized stores called 'ice cream shops.'"

She huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, I know what it is. But what about science?"

He sighed, too aware of Friday and Helen working in the background. "I don't think I'm up for it today, kiddo. I'm sorry."

Her eyes went wide. "Oh…are you sick? I can go home…" She started to flap her hand towards the door, backing away, but he shook his head.

"Not sick. Just…" he hesitated, not sure how to explain any of this. Because he couldn't. Not until he was sure. Absolutely sure. He wouldn't do that to her. "What do you say to ice cream and a movie? Then we do science tomorrow. If you want."

She searched his face for what felt like a long time, then nodded, a little smile turning the corners of her mouth. "That sounds fun. Are you sure you wouldn't rather lay down or…"

"I'm sure, kiddo."

Penny called her aunt to confirm that it was okay. They got ice cream. They watched a movie. He showed her the room he'd designed specifically for her and called it a guest room, something she obviously didn't believe for a second. Then, after she'd gone to bed, he went down to the Medbay, and one look at Helen's face confirmed it.

"How are we on the pain medicine?"

"It's going to take some time, but I've got a good start."

"Good. Call in whoever you need."

"Tony…"

"Friday is looking into it."

"I tested it three times on my own."

He nodded and she went back to her work because no one ever asked him about his daughter.

Tony woke early, going straight to the lab after he dressed and ordering Friday to let him know when Penny got up. He'd had dreams all night…not quite nightmares, but not good dreams either. Dreams of little Peggy. Dreams of Obidiah, putting a hand on his shoulder and promising that he would keep looking…but that Tony had to take a break or it would kill him. Of Obidiah carrying her away, only for him to blink and watch his little Peggy turn into Penny, her wrist held too tight in his hand as he dragged her away. No matter how fast he ran or how loudly he called for the armor, Tony could never stop him…could never reach her. He dreamed about Penny in the lab then, standing next to him as they worked, the words stuck right on the edge of his tongue, only he couldn't make himself say them.

Dropping onto the sofa, Tony had Friday send everything she'd found to his tablet and started reading.

An hour and a half later found him up in the kitchen, making pancakes with blueberries, which he knew she loved. He already knew so much about her…he knew her favorite foods and the names of her friends. He knew about her hobbies (including being a vigilante) and her favorite subjects in school. Maybe nothing much would change.

(He knew better…of course he did. Everything would change. He wanted things to change. But did she? How was he supposed to explain this?)

He knew so much about her but he didn't know how she'd react to this.

Penny emerged from her room, rubbing tiredly at her eyes, then smiled when she saw him. She always smiled when she saw him. "Good morning."

"Morning, kiddo. Come get breakfast."

She did, getting plates down to set the table, and the two of them ate as he struggled to figure out what exactly he could say to her about all of this. He asked about her hand, which she assured him was completely healed, and apologized for leaving the knife in the sink again, which she waved away immediately. She asked about what they'd be working on and he tried to focus on answering until they were both finished with their food, then as they did the dishes.

As soon as the last dish was dry, Tony turned to her as they stood at the sink, saying the words he'd held in all morning.

"Pen?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you know about my daughter?"

Penny went perfectly still, eyes darting from him to the cup he had placed in the dish drainer. He didn't blame her for being nervous. It was a topic he famously refused to speak about. But when he just waited, doing his best to make his expression open and encouraging, she answered him in a soft, hesitant voice.. "Um…I know she was kidnapped when she was little. Her name was Margaret, but you called her Peggy, after Peggy Carter."

He nodded, trying to smile. Trying to put her at ease. "That's right. She was with her nanny. I was working in my lab and her nanny took her out…she took her for a walk in the park every day. Louise Henderson. Obidiah hired her a week after Peggy was born. She'd been with us for eleven months. But then…then on that day, they both disappeared."

He'd been confused at first. Louise was never late. He'd called for her, and then he'd asked Jarvis to call her and then…

He'd called Pepper. Rhodey. Obidiah. They'd held him up when he would have collapsed. They'd taken over the search when he couldn't. They'd watched him dive headfirst into a bottle of scotch the night that Obi had told him, so gently, that he should probably give up. Obidiah had never wanted him to get custody of his daughter from the mother who had wanted the check more than she'd wanted their child. He'd insisted that a child born out of wedlock was a burden. Something he didn't need. A distraction.

And here she sat.

Had Obi done this? Had he sent her away? Had he paid someone to kidnap Tony's daughter? He'd known, later, that Obidiah had turned into a villain. But he hadn't thought him capable of something like this.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, and Tony met her eyes that were his eyes and tried to smile as his heart constricted painfully.

Peggy. Penny. It wouldn't have been a huge change for a child so young.

Had she cried for him? She hadn't been talking just yet, but she'd been babbling and she would reach her little arms up for him and make noises that almost sounded like words so he would pick her up, pressing kisses to her face until she was giggling. Had she wondered where he was until she'd forgotten him? His Peggy?

But Peggy wasn't her name anymore. He wouldn't put that on her. Not with everything else he would have to tell her. She was Penny.

His Penny.

"I looked. For months. But…it was like she'd vanished. I would have paid anything but no one asked for a ransom. No one contacted me. She was just gone. Obidiah was like a father to me, and he told me to stop looking…that it would kill me if I didn't stop. So I trusted him. I stopped looking and I started drinking."

Hesitantly, Penny rested a hand on top of his, squeezing gently in silent comfort.

"I want to show you something."

Penny nodded.

"Friday made the connection last night," he told her as he led her to the elevator that would take them to the lab.. "And…I had her running all night. Helen was working too, and I called Fury this morning to try and figure out the timeline. But…". He hesitated, looking back at her when she just watched him in concern. "I didn't want to show you until we were 100% certain."

"What do you mean?"

The elevator doors opened, and he led her over to the sofa he sometimes slept on and picked up his tablet. Watching him carefully as if worrying he might collapse at any moment, Penny sat when he gestured for her to, then took his tablet when he handed it over.

"I…don't really know how to explain this," he admitted, placing it in her hand. "Just…look at what I've found," he urged, knowing she was smart enough to figure it out. Knowing that she was brilliant and that she would put the pieces together as soon as he gave them to her. So he sat beside her on the sofa and watched her read, line by line, the information that Friday had given him.

The genetic markers and the DNA sample from his daughter, listed on the screen as Peggy Stark. The same information for Penny Parker.

The documents done by someone in SHIELD and the adoption records of Richard and May Parker. Fake documents created for a stolen child to change her name and her birthday, moving it a month and four days forward…just enough to throw off all suspicion but not enough to affect her life in any real way.

Her breath stuttered the second she got it, and he watched her eyes go wide, jaw literally dropping. She read it again, eyes going line by line as she moved the tablet closer to her face. He didn't move…didn't know the right thing to say. This was his daughter. But this was also Penny Parker, daughter of SHIELD agents Richard and Mary Parker. Spider-Girl.

She was quiet for so long…he was sure she must be able to hear his heart pounding in his chest. He didn't know if he should say something…try to explain. He didn't even know how to begin.

"I…I don't…" Penny shook her head, not looking away from the screen, her lips trembling, and when she turned to face him, her eyes were wet. "This…Mr. Stark…"

"I know."

"But my…my parents…they were…"

He nodded, reaching out slowly enough that she could have easily moved away, resting his hand on her shoulder when she didn't.

"Is this real?"

He didn't blame her for asking, even if he'd never play a joke on her like this. "It is. Friday alerted me last night, but I had her double checking everything all night. Digging into SHIELD. I had Helen looking too. I wasn't going to tell you until I knew for sure."

"I don't understand," she whispered. "This…it doesn't make sense."

"Do you want me to tell you what Friday has been able to find so far?"

She nodded, lips trembling like she might start crying and his heart felt like it was breaking. He'd wanted her back…more than anything he'd wanted her back but not at the expense of hurting her.

"Okay." He stood, grabbing two bottles of soda from the kitchen and handing her one before sitting down beside her once more. "Okay," he whispered again, lacing his fingers together and squeezing them so hard it hurt. He had to stay calm. For her. "I think…I think it was Obidiah."

His old mentor had never wanted him to have custody of his daughter, and even then, when Tony had loved and trusted the man who had been like a father to him, he'd never left Peggy with him…had even been uncomfortable letting Obidiah see her. But he'd been such a mess and Obi had taken care of him! He'd hired the nanny and found the doctors for her check ups and had been looking into preschools…doing all of the things Tony hadn't had time for because he'd been so busy working.

But Tony had tucked her into bed every night. He'd read to her every day. He'd held her hands as she'd tried to stand and talked to her when she'd started to babble. She had been his whole world for eleven months. And then one day, he'd come upstairs and she'd been gone.

Tony told her his suspicions. Obi had paid someone off, just like he'd paid terrorists to try and kill him, only in this instance, he'd succeeded. Someone in SHIELD had forged the documents. Two SHIELD agents had adopted her, covering it up neatly and changing her name. She'd been too young to tell anyone…too young to remember him for long.

"Did my parents know?"

Tony thought they must have at least suspected but he wouldn't put that on her. "I don't know," he told her, shaking his head. "I never met them. Friday can't find any pictures of you before your third grade yearbook."

She was crying by then, slow tears running down her cheeks, but she nodded, taking that in. "May doesn't know. She couldn't."

"I think you're right." May Parker wouldn't have let her niece have an internship with him if she'd been trying to cover this up. Besides, he liked to think he knew May pretty well by now, and he didn't think she'd have been okay with this in the first place.

"I'm sorry," she whispered then, but he shook his head, wrapping an arm around her when she hid her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry…"

"No…honey, this isn't on you. None of this is on you."

She leaned against him and he closed his eyes, forehead resting in her hair, and this was her. It was his daughter! His Peggy! She must have felt the tears that fell into her hair but she didn't say anything, just leaned into his arms and let him hold her like he'd wanted to hold her for fourteen long years.

"I didn't know," she whispered.

"Of course you didn't. There was no way you could have known. I didn't know either." He couldn't help thinking that he should have…that of course he should have known that it was his daughter that first day when he'd come to her apartment, or when he'd seen her strung up between two halves of the ferry.

Or when he'd been holding her arm, one hand on her face, as Helen had dug a bullet out of her.

But he hadn't.

An eleven month old baby and a fourteen year old girl were too different. There was no way for him to have known. He hadn't dug into her past and he hadn't tested her blood and there was no possible way for him to have known.

"What do I do?" Penny asked after a long time as he rubbed his hand over her back, her tears soaking into his shirt. "I don't know what to do! They changed my name…they…I don't remember any of it!"

"You were too young, Pen. There's no way you could have remembered."

"But I should have!"

He pulled away just enough to look at her, resting his hand on her face and brushing a tear away with his thumb. "Honey, you couldn't have. You were eleven months old. You couldn't even talk yet."

"But…what do I do? Do…do I change my name back?"

"You don't have to do that, kiddo. Not unless you really want to."

"I don't know what I want."

"That's okay. You can think on that one. There's no rush. For now, I think we should probably tell May. And there's probably some legal things for me and Pepper to take care of. I'll move back to the city. I was planning on it anyway," he assured her, waving off her surprise.

"You were?"

He nodded. "Figured I'd better have a base in the city anyway."

"Why?"

"Because a certain Spider-Kid lives in the city and I wanted to be closer in case she needed me," he told her simply, oddly calm now that she was freaking out.

She smiled a little at that, eyes dropping, and he wanted to pull her back into his arms. He wanted to hold her like he had when she'd been a baby and he'd been a terrified single father, desperate to do everything right for his daughter. But that time had passed and he would just have to do the best he could with what he had.

"Alright, Pen. How about we work on some science and call May later?"

Penny nodded, obviously relieved. They would talk more later, but she needed time to process, and like him, she processed things best while doing science. So he pulled out the project they'd started a few weeks ago and, in a silence that started heavy and a little awkward but that grew comfortable soon enough, they got started. Tony knew they would have plenty of time for conversations soon. For now, he just wanted to spend time with his daughter.