Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! I hope you like the new chapter!
Fainting
Morgan Stark stood in the elevator, arms crossed as she drummed her red and gold fingernails on the skin above her elbow. This was stupid, and she knew it. It was stupid to start a fight like this and stupid to come after her when they'd just hung up the phone. She knew what she should do…give her sister space and let her cool off before she tried approaching. Her sister almost never got angry with her…not really. They'd had their share of little disagreements…mostly Morgan growing up and making stupid choices and Penny being there to scold her, but in a nicer way than her parents would have, so looking back, Morgan couldn't really think of a time when her sister hadn't been right.
But she wasn't right this time. This time, she was being stupid. And though Morgan may have regretted saying those exact words, she still secretly thought they were true. So she'd thrown her phone into her purse, then stormed into the elevator without really considering what she was doing…or even what she was going to say.
The elevator slid open and Morgan walked through the hall, hesitating at the door to her father's lab, then gesturing for it to open, which it did without a sound. At least…not one she could hear.
Penny was sitting at her workstation…the same one she'd had since their dad had bought the building a year after Penny had come back. It was right next to their dad's.. Back when she was little, Morgan had been jealous of how much time her father and sister had spent in the lab together…how they seemed to share this secret language that she had no understanding of. But Penny had welcomed her in right from the first moment she'd shown an interest, teaching her, along with their father, how to build things and fix things. Her and their dad had set up a desk for her to use as her own workstation in the lab, and she could spot her papers and a half finished project sitting on top of it. They'd worked on cars together and had built robots and by the time Morgan had been in high school, she'd had a full understanding of how both the Iron Man armor and Penny's Iron Spider suit worked.
Now Penny was hunched over a tablet, scribbling something on paper as she read, her long hair tied back and pinned away from her face, a gold band on her left hand flashing in the light. Morgan had been a flower girl at her wedding at 12 years old. Ned had been her 'man of honor.' Their father had walked her down the aisle.
Sighing and dispelling happier memories, Morgan stepped into the room, even though her sister already knew she was there…had probably heard her drumming her fingers in the elevator. They'd already had this fight…a fight that had begun with Morgan worrying and Penny assuring her that she had it handled…that everything was fine. It was a dynamic that hadn't started until Morgan had graduated from high school…until she'd started seeing more of what Penny actually faced out there when she put on her suit. And sure, Sam and Bucky had her back, and she was an adult and she looked after herself…hell, she was one of the greatest superheros of all time!
But Morgan was still afraid and when she was afraid, she got angry. She wasn't like her dad or her sister or even her mom! She'd never put on a suit to fight crime…couldn't even imagine being that brave. The one time her life had ever actually been in danger, Penny had saved her!
It had started more than a week ago, when the two had been scheduled to meet down in the lab to do some work together. She was halfway through her doctorate program and rarely had free time anymore, so they tried to get together when they could. Morgan had waited and waited, first smirking to herself and thinking about how she'd tease Penny about getting caught up with MJ. Then, as it had gotten later, she'd gotten a little irritated…and maybe hurt, too. Had Penny forgotten her? But then, when an hour had passed, she'd moved from irritated to worried.
"Friday, any idea where Penny is?" she'd asked, pulling out her phone to call.
"Penny is currently in the medbay."
That had brought her up short. "What? Why?"
"She is giving herself stitches."
Morgan had sworn under her breath, jumping up and racing to the elevator which had taken her to the medbay, which had a dedicated floor thanks to Penny's extracurriculars and the fact that the Avengers sometimes stopped by. Penny had, in fact, been sewing a gash on her arm, and had sighed when she'd seen Morgan.
"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to keep you waiting."
"What happened?"
"Rough patrol. Don't worry about it. I'm fine. Promise." She'd given Morgan a tight smile, wincing as she'd pulled the thread tight. It hadn't just been her arm…her ribs had already been turning colors, and Morgan had later learned that three were broken. Blood had been running from a cut on her forehead and from her busted lip and Morgan had asked again, but again, Penny had assured her that it was fine…that she had it handled. That there was no reason to tell their father.
'Your father,' Penny always said.
'Our father,' Morgan always corrected.
In the end, Morgan had agreed…but that hadn't been the end of it. Not to her.
She knew it had been wrong to take Penny's tablet when her sister had been patrolling…to hack into her suit. She knew that she shouldn't have read through the files and watched footage from her suit to try and find out exactly what it was her sister was involved in. But Penny had refused to tell her! That's when she'd learned about Kingpin…about the huge, nationwide human trafficking and drug dealing empire he'd built, and how she was trying to take it down, one secret lair at a time.
It had been wrong to take Penny's tablet and to hack into her suit. It had been stupid to confront her about it the minute she'd put it all together.
"Hey, Pen." She tried to sound like they hadn't just had a shouting match over the phone and failed.
"Doctor Stark," her sister greeted dryly, and Morgan sighed, her tenuous grip on her temper already slipping. Penny knew she hated it when she called her that.
"Why are you like this?"
Penny snorted, rolling her eyes. "I could ask you the same thing, but I already know."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"It means," Penny started, spinning around in her chair and wincing a little. "That I have a deadline, and I don't have time to have this fight with you again. Not now."
"You wouldn't be so behind if you would cut back on…"
"I'm not having this conversation again," Penny snapped, enunciating like Morgan was stupid.
Morgan rubbed a hand over her face. "I don't understand why you don't just call Sam or…"
"I said, I'm not having this conversation, Morgan!" she snapped, pressing a hand to her side as she turned around.
"More broken ribs?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"Enough, Mo," she ordered in that 'big sister knows best' voice that Morgan hated.
"Fine. Get yourself killed. See if I care!" she snapped right back, spinning on her heels and heading back for the elevator.
Fighting with Penny was a new experience, and she was quickly finding that she hated it. She had been almost five years old when Penny had returned, and Penny had been almost seventeen. With a twelve year age gap, Penny had been more like an aunt than a big sister, even if 'sister' was what Morgan had always thought of her as. Still, even it Penny had sometimes lectured her and even if Morgan had sometimes gotten irritated with her sister or been jealous of her, they'd never had an actual fight…not like this. So despite hating it, she didn't know how to fix it. Any time Penny had shown any kind of frustration with her, it had always passed pretty quickly. But Morgan had a feeling that wasn't going to be the case this time.
Just like she had for her entire life, Morgan barged into her father's office without knocking, sighing loudly and dropping onto the sofa against the wall. He was sitting at his desk, a stack of paperwork in front of him, and across from him was her Uncle Rhodey who grinned at her, tossing the packet of papers he'd been looking through onto the table.
"Did you talk to her?" her dad wondered, smiling in a way that let her know that he already knew the answer. Penny and Morgan had never fought, but they'd bickered, and he always stayed out of it. He didn't know why they were having an actual fight this time…he only knew that they were in the middle of an argument, and she had the feeling that he was started to suspect it was a serious one.
Morgan had threatened to tell him. That had been what had really started all of this. First, she'd hacked Penny's suit using a stolen tablet. Then she'd confronted her in person. Then the phone call less than an hour ago…the phone call where she'd threatened to tell their dad.
"Your dad."
"Our dad."
"She called me Dr. Stark." Morgan told him, making Rhodey chuckle. "She only calls me Dr. Stark when she's pissed at me."
"Would a juice pop help?" her dad offered.
Morgan shot him a look
"I really do miss the days when I could fix things with a juice pop," he told Rhodey as an aside, both of them smiling.
"Those were the days," Rhodey agreed.
"Will you just…talk to your daughter?" she all but begged.
They both laughed at that and she rolled her eyes, a reluctant smile tugging at her mouth that she did her best to fight.
"Dad! She's being ridiculous!"
"I think you're both being ridiculous."
"I am not being ridiculous! She's insane! She's trying to work on the plans that are due tomorrow and she's behind on everything! And she's still going out as Spider-Girl!" She wouldn't tell him the truth…not yet. She wanted to. Instead, she told him what little she could.
"Sorry honey, I gave up on that battle a long time ago. Some things she just has to learn on her own."
"But she'll never learn! She's practically old now!"
Rhodey huffed out a laugh, and she could see the concern in her dad's eyes but she knew he wouldn't step in…he never got involved when they bickered and she knew he wouldn't do it now. Morgan groaned and dropped her head back. "I'll bet MJ would be on my side."
"Probably,' He told her with a shrug.
Kicking her feet up on the sofa, Penny rolled her head back to look at their dad. He was still smiling a little, watching her with a raised eyebrow, and behind him on the wall was the framed magazine cover from a year ago, the headline a bright, Iron Man red against the backdrop. "Tony Stark's Legacy."
And underneath, the picture that still made him get that sappy smile on his face whenever he looked at it. It was him, sitting in the desk chair he sat in now, with Morgan on one side and Penny on the other. Both wore matching black suits with white blouses underneath, and each had a hand on his shoulder. In Penny's other hand was a wrench, and in Morgan's was a tablet, and they both grinned at the camera, looking happy.
Morgan missed her sister all of a sudden. That was the smile that Penny had given her so many times…when she'd picked her up from her first day of middle school and had taken her out to ice cream, or when she'd covered for Morgan when she'd snuck out to a party in 10th grade, giving her a lecture of her own but not ratting her out to her parents. Or when Morgan had started to spiral during her first year of college and Penny had showed up at her dorm, bag packed, one Thursday morning, and had taken her on a four day road trip where they'd spent hours talking in the car that Penny had built with their father.
Penny hadn't always been her sister. As she'd gotten older, she'd learned more about Penny's story and how she'd come to know her father, who Penny had called 'Mr. Stark' until she was in her 20's, the switch to 'Tony' a slow and hesitant transition. But to Morgan, who had grown up hearing stories about the Amazing Spider-Girl, getting to meet the girl she'd always thought of as some kind of relation had been the coolest moment of her young life, and then having that girl come to love her and look after her…well, to Morgan, Penny had always been her sister.
But not to the rest of the world.
Her dad had agreed to do the magazine story on two conditions: one, that they refer to both Morgan and Penny as his heirs and children, and two, that the story focus on their accomplishments. Penny was going to take over the research and development team of Stark Industries some day. Morgan was working on her Doctorate in Engineering, a degree that Penny already had, and worked closely with her mother to one day take on the role of CEO. "There have been enough articles about me," her dad had said simply. "Let's focus on them."
And the magazine had agreed.
"Mo? You know she loves you."
"Of course I know that," she grumbled. She'd never doubted it…not once. Not since the moment Penny had become her sister.
"You know she's tough. She's done a pretty good job of taking care of herself so far."
"I know."
He hesitated, and Rhodey spoke up. "Do you want me to call Sam? See if he can stop by…maybe see if she needs a hand?"
That was too close…they were suspicious. She couldn't be the one who gave away Penny's secret, even if she wanted to…even if she wanted someone to help her. So she shook her head, sitting up. She at least had to warn Penny that they suspected something was wrong.
"I'll go talk to her again," she told them.
"Sounds good."
"You already knew I would," she accused, pointing a finger, and he chuckled.
"I know you two never fight for long."
He was right…but that was only because they'd never fought before. Not like this. And that was Morgan's fault but it was Penny's too.
Morgan once more rode the elevator down to the lab, unable to believe that she had to be the mature one. But, she told herself, she wasn't going to be mad. She was going to talk to her sister. She was going to explain, again, how scared she was and she would tell her that she needed to call for backup and that…that their father suspected that something was wrong but that it would be okay. Because things had always been okay.
This time when she entered the lab, Penny wasn't at her workstation. Her tablet was there and the plans she'd been working on were there, but there was no Penny. Morgan hesitated beside her desk, then froze when she spotted the puddle on the floor.
Blood.
There were dots of it on the floor and she followed them like some kind of terrible trail of breadcrumbs, and there, at the end of them, was Penny. She was standing by the sink, shirt pulled up to her bra, a bloody bandage wrapped around her side. She was holding a hand to it, but the blood seeped through her fingers and she swore, gripping the counter so hard that it cracked. "Penny…"
She looked up, face so pale that Morgan surged forward, catching her arm before she could fall.
"Penny?"
"Don't…don't tell your dad. It's okay…I'm fine. Don't…don't worry him, okay? I'm fine." But Penny's voice was slurring and she was leaning so heavily on Morgan that she almost couldn't hold her up anymore.
"Our dad," she corrected in a whisper, voice breaking. "What happened? What…" she shook her head. "Just…come on. Let's sit down, okay? I'll get more bandages…"
"Mo…"
"You're okay. Just tell me what happened!" she demanded, tears already falling despite her attempts to be calm. Her sister was hurt and they'd been in the middle of some stupid fight and she was still bleeding…why was she still bleeding? She was supposed to heal fast!
"It's…not healing…" Penny bit out, gripping Morgan's hand before abruptly letting go when she winced. "Sorry."
"No…don't…I'm sorry…I…"
"Come on, Dr. Stark. Don't look like that," Penny told her with a weak smile, trying to comfort her as always the second she saw tears. "I'll be fine…"
"What's going on? What happened?"
Penny just shook her head, taking a faltering step forward before she stumbled, and then her eyes were rolling back and before Morgan knew it, she was dropping and Morgan barely had time to catch her before the two of them were on the floor and her heart was racing and she could hardly catch her breath but Penny was…she wouldn't open her eyes!
"No! Penny! Friday! Get my dad! Hurry!" She screamed it, throat aching as the words tore out of her. "Get a doctor! Get…Friday, get help!" Sobbing, she tried to roll Penny over and pressed her hands to the spot that was bleeding through the bandages, but the blood just coated her hands and dripped through her fingers. "Friday! What do I do?"
"Keep applying pressure," Friday coached, her robotic voice gentle. "Your father is on his way, as is a doctor."
"I should have gone to med school," she sobbed, not bothering to even try to wipe at the tears that dripped from her cheeks to Penny's shirt. "Damn it, Penny…"
The doctor got there only a few seconds before their dad. And then their dad was holding her on the floor even though he was too old to be on the floor and her Uncle Rhodey was there too and a doctor was blocking her view of her sister…and then she was in a waiting room with her face hidden in her father's shoulder and her uncle was still there.
Her father.
Their father.
The last time she'd sat in a waiting room with their dad, all of them waiting to hear news of her sister, had been three years ago. She'd just turned 17 and had been starting her second year of college after graduating early. And that's when some nut job had decided to try and get money out of her father by taking her. And it hadn't been hard…she wasn't a superhero and she wasn't enhanced and she wasn't brave…they'd taken her from the alley behind the library at three in the afternoon.
There had been one problem though. Said nut job hadn't known that her sister was Spider-Girl, or that she had a tracker in not only her watch but also the necklace she always wore, the pendant in the shape of her dad's old arc reactor. He hadn't known that Penny was notified any time she pushed the little button on her watch, along with the Avengers.
But of course he hadn't needed to worry about the Avengers. Penny had gotten there first.
Morgan hadn't been brave. She'd been terrified. And later she had been ashamed at how she'd sobbed in the basement he'd locked her in, curling up in the corner…nothing like Iron Man's daughter. She'd been sure that her dad would be ashamed of her for being a coward…that Penny would scold her…would tell her that she should have fought back.
Instead, her sister had kicked the door of the basement in, dressed in street clothes, and had pulled her into her arms, rocking her just like their dad as she'd cried. "It's okay. You're okay. I'm here." Then she'd held her by her shoulders, taking in her bleeding lip and the cut on her forehead. "Are you hurt?"
She'd shaken her head, still sobbing, and Penny had hugged her hard before taking her hand and leading her towards the stairs. "Let's get out of here."
When they'd stepped into the kitchen, she'd seen the man, knocked out on the floor. Penny hadn't even webbed him up apparently…just walked in and beat the shit out of him. But as they were walking out through the place where a front door had once been, Penny had frozen in place, then grabbed Morgan and shoved her off the porch right before the sound of a gunshot had made her ears ring. Penny had crumpled right as Sam Wilson had landed, his shield in hand.
Later her parents had held her in the waiting room but she'd been inconsolable.
"I should have protected her! I shouldn't have let them take me in the first place!"
"Oh sweetheart…you didn't let them take you."
"Yes I did! And I was scared and…and I didn't even fight back! I'm not like Penny…I should be like her!"
"No, you shouldn't," her father had told her, voice soft and firm. "I don't even want Penny to be like Penny sometimes. She is always putting herself in danger, and I understand it but I still hate it. I don't ever want you to think that you should have to do that too. And it makes sense that you were scared, kiddo. Anyone would have been."
"You weren't scared! When they took you…"
"Yes I was. Morgan, I was terrified! I thought I was going to die. And I didn't think I had anyone coming for me…I almost gave up. I might have if it hadn't been for Yinsen."
"Penny's never scared."
"Penny is scared all the time. I know that because I am too. But we chose this life. She's been saving people since she was fourteen years old. I couldn't stop her then and I can't stop her now."
Now she rested her head against her dad's shoulder, practically able to feel his worry as he sat beside her, his hand clenched together in his lap. It took a while, but when he finally spoke, his voice was tight. "Any idea what happened?"
She was quiet, but he went on.
""Does it have anything to do with why you were fighting?"
"It was my fault."
He started to shake his head but she ignored him.
"We're fighting because I stole her tablet and hacked into her suit to figure out what she was doing."
He turned to her, wide-eyed, and she hurried to explain. "I know! I know it was stupid and I shouldn't have done it but…but she got hurt and she was spending more and more time as Spider-Girl and…". Morgan let out a frustrated groan. "She wouldn't tell me what was going on and…and I told her that I knew what she was doing and that she had to stop or I'd tell you."
"I'm sure she took that really well."
Morgan rolled her eyes.
"Hey," he murmured, squeezing her shoulder. "She'll be okay. Lord knows she's had worse. And I know you love her. I know it's hard to love someone that does the kind of stuff she does. But if there's anything I've learned about Penny Parker, it's that she's very good at what she does. Hell, she's one of the best. And if she truly does need help, she will ask for it. Okay? You've got to trust her, Mo."
"I don't want anything to happen to her," she whispered, struggling to keep her voice from breaking, and he pulled her close again, her mom coming into the room and sitting on her other side, a hand on her back as they all waited. MJ arrived a few minutes later, practically running into the room. Their dad gave her a gentle smile.
"She's okay. It was a stab wound…the doctor thinks the knife was coated in something…poison probably. But they have an antidote and it's working. We're just waiting for her to wake up."
MJ nodded, deflating a little as she dropped into a chair. Morgan didn't know how she could do it…how she could look so stoic and strong when the woman she loved went out and did the things she did. How had her mom survived all those years while their dad had gone out in his suit, putting his life in danger? And May…May came into the room at a near run less than ten minutes after MJ, but after she learned that her niece was going to be okay, she too sat down with a kind of resigned calm. How did they cope with this? Why couldn't Morgan?
Why couldn't she stop being angry with her sister? Why did Penny insist on doing this? She had a good job with Stark Industries and a family that loved her and…why did she keep putting her life in danger?
What if one day, she didn't come back?
It took another four hours for Penny to wake up…for the antidote to finally finish working and her healing started to kick in again. MJ went in first, along with May. Then Pepper. Then MJ came out and Morgan went in with her father while the others went to get dinner to bring back…like this was normal. Like there was nothing wrong with her sister putting her own life in danger over and over again. Like they should all just be okay with it!
Penny was propped up in bed with at least three pillows, her eyes heavy as she smiled at their dad and Morgan. "Hey, Tony. We have to stop meeting like this."
"You're telling me, kiddo," he said with a sigh, dropping into one of the chairs by her bed and taking her hand. "How are you feeling?"
"Better. They've got the good drugs here."
"Good. Let me know if you need more, alright? You about scared me to death, you know that?"
"I know. I'm sorry." Penny hesitated. "Where's Mo?"
He jerked his chin towards the door where Morgan hovered and Penny smiled weakly, holding out a hand that Morgan took after a moment, sitting down in the empty chair on her other side.
"Hey, Mo. Sorry I scared you."
Morgan shook her head, tears spilling over.
"Morgan…" Penny started, but Morgan pressed a hand to her mouth, shaking her head. "Mo…"
"You…you can't do this…" she whispered, and Penny squeezed her hand.
"Honey…"
"No! You can't!" she cried, squeezing her hand right back. "You…we're supposed to take over the company and you're my sister and I can't…I can't do this without you. Please…Penny…" She dropped her head, shoulders shaking as she sobbed. "Please…"
Penny shifted in the bed, and Morgan heard their dad protest when Penny sat up, but she did it anyway, pulling Morgan into her arms and holding her. She shouldn't have felt so safe considering her sister was in a literal hospital bed…but she did. Penny was her sister and she was strong and she would protect Morgan from anything! She'd always known that! But who would protect her?
"Morgan, I can't stop being Spider-Girl."
"But why not?" she pleaded, pulling away and gripping both of her hands. "Why not? There are other superheroes! And…and the police and…" The sad smile on her sister's face only made her feel worse…like a selfish little child. But she couldn't help it. "I don't know how to do this without you," she finally admitted. "Any of it."
Penny smile was soft as she pulled her close again, a hand on the back of her head.
"I love you…I…I need you to be okay!"
"I know."
"You're my sister!"
"I know." Penny patted her back. "Okay, Mo. Listen…I can't stop being Spider-Girl. But I'll call Sam and Bucky. See if they're free. Maybe they can give me a hand with this one."
Morgan nodded, face hidden in Penny's shoulder as their dad moved to sit on the bed behind her, a hand on each of their backs as he supported her. It wasn't the answer she wanted, but she guessed, with a superhero for a sister, she would have to take what she could get.
Thanks for reading!