Mind games

Prompt: Mind games

Staring out through the tiny window in the wall of the basement where he sat on the painfully cold floor, Tony Stark wondered what time it was. He wondered how long he'd been in this place. He wondered where Penny was. Closing his eyes, he tried not to let himself panic. His kid was smart. No…she was brilliant. She was strong. She would never stay down…she always got back up and she kept fighting until she won. He rubbed a hand over his face, sighing and trying not to think about how she'd looked when they'd pulled him into that van…how her dress had been covered in blood. How her arms had lay limp at her sides, face lax in unconsciousness. How he'd called out for her but she hadn't so much as twitched.

Penny wasn't his daughter. That's what he'd told the people who'd taken her away, throwing him into the basement. He didn't have kids! He'd been very careful on that particular front, thankfully. Penny was his intern. A girl who had come with him to the gala only because he'd invited all of his interns. A girl who seemed to know him so well because they were working on a project in the lab together.

Later, Tony would see the photos that the paparazzi had taken and published in their magazines and online and he'd see the girl at his side, her hair cut short and straightened, a headband around her head and the fringe of her dress sweeping across her knees, his arm around her shoulders as they smiled and posed, and he would think…yeah, actually, it makes sense that people think she's my daughter. But he never let himself think that word. His kid, sure. Penny was like his kid. His responsibility. Someone he loved being around. But not his. No matter how many looks Pepper gave him when he tried to make that point.

Penny had been skeptical when she'd received the invitation, calling him almost immediately, and he'd grinned when Friday had informed him that she was attempting to contact him. "Yeah, okay, patch her through," Tony had ordered. And when her face had appeared on a little screen to his left, he'd sat down his drill, spinning around in his chair and smiling pleasantly. "Hey, kiddo. What's up?"

"Mr. Stark…why are you throwing a…" she'd hesitated, looking down at the paper in her hand. "Great Gatsby Halloween Charity Speakeasy?"

"It's the roaring 20's, Pen. Besides, Pepper let me pick the theme for once."

"Does this have anything to do with the fact that I'm currently reading The Great Gatsby for English?"

"That could have been a factor."

"Okay…why was I invited?"

"All Stark Industries employees are invited." She'd sighed, giving him a look, and he'd grinned. "Come on, kiddo. You love Halloween!"

"I mean…yeah but..this is like…a really fancy gala."

He'd waved a hand. "Hardly. It's going to be full of people dressed like mobsters and flappers. How fancy can that be?"

She'd lifted an eyebrow.

"I made this one casual just for you, Pen. I promise. Pep already had an outfit for you. You'll come for a little while, drink mocktails, and then you can come upstairs and eat take out with me and Pepper. It'll be like any other Friday night."

He certainly was eating those words now.

The two of them had split up once they'd taken photos outside, her smiling shyly at the paparazzi, him throwing his arm around her to put her at ease. Once they'd stepped into the ballroom, she'd gone to get a drink and chat with the other interns, him to network. But thirty minutes in and she'd appeared at his side, smiling at the people he'd been talking to before meeting his eyes with a look that told him this was important. So he'd excused himself and she hadn't even apologized, which had told him this was serious.

"Something is wrong with this drink," she'd whispered, holding it up but keeping that smile on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"I think it's drugged. I don't know for sure."

"Did you drink any?"

She'd shaken her head.

"Senses?"

She'd nodded and he'd glanced around the room, grimly wondering if someone had after her in particular or if they'd put something in all of the drinks. He hadn't wanted to cause a scene…hadn't wanted stories to spread.

"Okay. Go to my office. Don't eat or drink anything else. I'll let Happy know and then I'll be right up. We'll see if we can find anything on the cameras."

Penny had nodded, disappearing with her glass, and Tony had gone to find Happy, which had been harder than he'd expected it to be. His friend hadn't answered his phone, and when he'd asked another security guard who he hadn't recognized if he'd seen him, the man had shaken his head, looking around like he was about to get in trouble. Tony had assured him that was okay, and had asked him to keep an eye out.

Now he wondered if they'd gotten to Happy too. Later he would find out that none of his security team had actually been working that night…that the people who'd taken him and Penny had been planing this for months…that they'd infiltrated his security team and his building and that someone on the inside had been working with them…he would just need to find out who. Happy had been found in a storage closet, hands tied behind his back, a nasty head wound giving him a concussion but thankfully not killing him.

When he'd finally made it up to his office, he'd found the cup sitting on his desk…empty. It had been with a growing dread that he'd approached it, looking around the room and wondering if Penny was playing some kind of Halloween joke on him. But beside the drink had been a post-it note and a photograph.

'Meet me in the lobby, Penelope.'

And a picture of May outside of her apartment.

Tony had spun around, hurrying back to the elevator and pulling out his phone from his suit pocket, but Penny hadn't answered when he'd called. She hadn't answered when he'd texted. He'd stepped out onto the floor where the gala had been in full-swing, glancing around the room but not seeing her. Then he'd headed for the lobby, but she hadn't been there either. The lobby of his building had been quiet and dark and never before had he regretted not putting Friday throughout the whole of his new building as much as he had in that moment. He'd just bought the place a few months ago after selling the tower, wanting an SI base in the city partially because a lot of his employees lived there and partially because Penny did.

Spinning on his heel, he'd gone back to the ballroom where SI employees and their guests had been mingling and eating and dancing, and the security team that he'd thought had been his had stood at the ready around the room, the only ones not dressed in old-timey suits or flapper dresses. No one had seemed to be negatively affected by the drinks. Had it only been the mocktails, he'd wondered, head spinning, or had it only been Penny's drink? One of the security team had come up to him while he'd been pondering it, hesitating at his side.

"Sir? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah…I'm looking for my intern. Penny Parker. Sixteen, dark hair, black and green dress, green headband."

"Yes, sir. I think I saw her go into the kitchen."

Nodding, he'd hurried off towards the kitchen, slipping between waiters and waitresses and standing in a corner, trying to spot her, but hadn't had any luck. But then, on the table by the far wall, he'd spotted a glass just like the one Penny had been holding…just like the one on his desk upstairs. Swearing under his breath and shaking his head at himself, he'd tried to shake the feeling that something strange was going on. Penny's senses were rarely wrong…hell, they were never wrong, but this felt…weird. What had been in her drink? Why couldn't he find Happy? And, he'd thought, come to think of it, why didn't he recognize any of the security team? He didn't recognize any of the waiters either, but that wasn't all that strange…they hired catering companies for these kinds of things. Still, he had avoided any waiters with trays of drinks or food as he'd continued to search the packed room for Penny.

And then he'd spotted her, making her way towards the back exit, and he'd hurried through the throngs of people, trying not to jostle anyone and trying his best to look like everything was normal. He'd avoided at least three conversations, apologizing to acquaintances and assuring them that he would be right back, but when he'd finally reached the side of the room where he'd seen Penny, he'd realized that she wasn't there at all. Swearing under his breath, he'd started to turn around, then had pressed his hands to the bar, pushing the back door open and standing in the empty hallway. There were bathrooms, but there was no line…people didn't usually come to this part of the building...just the cleaning staff and security team.

Then a woman had emerged from the bathroom…a woman he'd first thought was Penny. She'd been wearing the same dress…the same headband. Her hair had been the same color. And when she'd met his eyes with a tiny smile, alarm bells had gone off in his head. Something was wrong…someone was trying to distract him. Tony didn't have special senses like Penny, but he did have his own gut feelings, and right then, that gut feeling had led him to turn around and sprint towards the nearest exit. There was a back alley that ran behind the building, his brain had helpfully supplied. Could Penny be there? Was someone trying to get her alone? Or get him alone? Why?

He knew why now, of course. They'd needed time to draw her out of the building…to contain her…then to fight her. They'd left different clues behind for each of them, hoping to lead her into that alley and him on a wild goose chase. She was stronger than they'd expected but there had been eight of them waiting for her, and the woman in the dress just like hers had come down to the basement and had smiled at him just a few minutes ago, crossing her arms and regarding him with something like amusement. "You know, you weren't supposed to come with us."

"What the hell do you want?"

"What does anyone want? Money."

"Money?"

"Of course. The plan was to take your daughter and make you pay…maybe threaten to tell everyone that your intern was actually your bastard daughter." She had shrugged. "But you had to go into that alley."

He'd stepped out the door right as they'd been carrying her into the van, her dress covered in blood, and he hadn't made it two steps before something had slammed into his head, making the world go black for a few minutes…just long enough for him to find himself in the van too. And when he'd opened his eyes, he'd found himself face to barrel with the woman's gun.

In the basement, she'd sighed. "You really did mess up our plans, you know?"

"Oh sorry about that," he'd snapped, but he'd known what she must have been thinking…he'd seen their faces. He'd been told their plan. And where, he wondered, was Penny? They'd taken him out of the van first, forcing him to walk through the doors of a house in the suburbs. Was Penny even in the same house? He would give them money if they asked…he didn't care if they thought Penny was his daughter.

Why had he told her to go to his office? Why hadn't he gone with her right then? Why hadn't he sent everyone home?

None of that mattered, he told himself firmly, standing up and looking around the dark, damp basement. It had been raining for the last five days off and on, and he was freezing. Would they take money from him now? He could call Pepper…tell her to work with them…to wire them the money to whatever bank account they wanted. Or would…

Someone in the house screamed. Not Penny. A man. The man screamed and a gun went off and Tony raced up the stairs, grabbing the knob and yanking on it, but nothing happened. "Hey! Let me out!" he called, slamming a fist into the door and wincing when all it did was make his hand hurt. He raced back down the stairs, looking wildly around the room to try and find something to bust the door down or pick the lock or literally anything to get him out. He had to find Penny! He had to help her!

Another gun went off and someone else screamed…how many people had been in the van? Four? He tried to count…the woman in the front…she'd been driving. The woman who'd talk to him who had been wearing Penny's dress. And two men. He'd threatened every one of them, screaming for Penny until one of them had hit him across the face with one of their guns and even then he'd opened his mouth to keep talking but the other guy had pointing the gun at Penny's unmoving body and that's when he'd gone quiet.

He'd promised himself that he would kill that man first.

Had there been other people in the house? Were they fighting amongst themselves? Was…

Tony froze when footsteps approached the stairs and, quietly as he could, he hurried up them, gripping the railing and crouching, and the second it opened, he launched himself at the woman in green and black…but she only caught his fist, cocking a bloody eyebrow, and it hit him a second too late that it was Penny.

"Pen!" he gasped, jumping back, and he would have fallen down the stairs if she hadn't caught him by his arms, gently pulling him forward.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. You're the one who's bleeding."

She brought a hand up to her head and winced. "Yeah…it was your security team. Or…probably not your security team…"

"Are you okay?" he demanded, not caring about that just yet. Before she could lie, he brought a careful hand up to her head, wincing as he pushed her short hair back. There was a gash on her forehead that still dripped blood, and a split across her eyebrow…they'd gotten her twice. And then he saw that part of her dress along her side was darker than the rest.

"Sorry about the dress," she tried, giving him a weak smile.

"Don't…no joking about this. Not yet."

"So I should wait until tomorrow?"

"Try giving it a week and we'll see how I feel," he muttered. "Anyone else in the house?"

"No…not yet. There are more of them…they might be on their way." He noticed then that she was swaying a little and he wrapped an arm around her.

"Okay…you're okay. Let's get you out of here. We'll call for help."

Penny nodded, but the second they took a step, he knew something was wrong. She leaned on him almost entirely, eyes drooping, and he tightened the arm around her. "Stay with me, Pen…please, kiddo…just a few steps and you can lay down, okay?"

"Lay down," she agreed, nodding her head, and he led her past the two bodies on the floor, not bothering to ask if they were dead. He didn't care. He would just have to deal with that later, along with several other things, apparently. For the moment, he focused on getting her out of that house and out onto the sidewalk. The sun was long gone, and if he had to guess, he'd say that it was probably around eight-thirty or nine…late enough that people wouldn't want to answer their doors. But they'd taken his phone and had left Penny's little purse out in the alley, so they were going to have to rely on the kindness of strangers.

Tony took them three houses down, not wanting to make Penny walk too far, but also wanting to be far enough away from the house they'd been held captive in to be safe. So he guided her up the front steps, letting Penny lean on him, then knocked on the bright yellow front door. The woman that answered peered hesitantly through her screen door before seeming to go pale in the dim light of her living room when it seemed to register who exactly was standing on her porch at what Tony assumed was nearly bedtime based on the toys on the floor behind her.

"Hi…I'm Tony Stark. Sorry to drop in like this. Can I use your phone?"

She blinked a few times, eyes darting to Penny whose head had dropped to her chest.

"Long story," he preemptively explained. "We got kidnapped earlier tonight. This is my intern, Penny. She got hurt when we were getting away. She needs help and I need a phone. Please."

"Right," the woman whispered, nodding with wide-eyes before snapping out of whatever shocked state she'd been in for a second there. "You're…yes. Um…come in. Please," the woman ushered, jumping out of the way and pointing him towards the sofa in the living room where he led Penny, easing her down and making a mental note to send the woman some money to replace it. "Is she…will she be okay?"

"Do you have a first aid kit?" He needed a phone but Penny was bleeding and that had to be his priority.

"Yes…um…Reggie?" she called, and a boy who looked to be about ten or eleven peeked his head around the corner from what looked like the kitchen, eyes wide and afraid. "Honey, go get the first aid kit. Take your sister upstairs."

Tony heard a younger child saying something about watching TV and he wanted to apologize but Penny's eyes were closed. "Penny? Hey…hey, kiddo…stay awake, okay? Pen?" he shook her and her eyes fluttered open, struggling to focus on him. "I know…this sucks, kiddo. Just stay awake. Can I get a soda? Please?" he asked the woman who'd let them into her house and she nodded, hurrying to her kitchen and returning with a can of Pepsi that he popped open, grabbing one of Penny's hands and wrapping it around the soda. "Take a drink, Pen. You need sugar…you're losing blood."

"That makes sense," she muttered, nodding and taking a long drink.

"There you go. We've got a first aid kit on the way." He focused in on where the rip in her dress was, ripping it more so he wouldn't have to try and take her dress off, then winced when he realized it wasn't just a cut they were dealing with…it was a gunshot wound.

"Bad?" she asked, voice slurring a little.

"Not great," he admitted. But just then the boy returned with the first aid kit and he thanked him absently, opening the box and pulling out a sterile pad and a bottle of alcohol. The woman shooed her children back upstairs, something Tony was only vaguely aware of as he ripped the package open and soaked the pad in alcohol, then pressed it to Penny's side. She gasped, hands curling into fists as her back arched, but she didn't scream, just clenched her jaw as her eyes slammed shut. "There you go…good job, kid. You took it better than me, that's for sure. Last time I got shot, I cried like a baby."

The woman moved to sit beside Penny, and he stiffened, feeling himself get defensive before she'd even touched his kid, but she just bought a wet cloth to Penny's forehead, gently wiping the blood away. He relaxed a fraction, going back to pressing the pad to Penny's side to try and stop the bleeding, then managed to tape a fresh sterile pad down over the wound.

"That'll have to do for now, kiddo," he murmured, patting her knee. "How are you feeling?" She gave him a weak thumbs up and he chuckled, sitting on her other side and wrapping an arm around her. "Good enough for me. Try to stay awake. Can I use a phone?" he asked the woman on Penny's other side, and she jumped up, hurrying over to the table where a cellphone sat plugged in, yanking it off the charger and holding it out. "Thank you. I'll replace the sofa. Or…pay to have it cleaned."

"Oh…that's okay. I've got kids…this old thing has seen worse," she tried to assure him as he dialed Pepper's number with shaking fingers. Beside him, Penny took another drink of the Pepsi, and in his ear, the phone rang, and it all felt so surreal. But he had to focus. He might have a concussion, but he didn't have time for that at the moment.

"Tony? Where are you? I…"

"Pep, the security team isn't ours. They tried to kidnap Penny. They got both of us. Penny got us out. Can you have Friday track our location? Send a medteam too…Penny's hurt."

Pepper, bless her, had enough experience with high stakes situations to snap immediately into action, but he knew he'd have questions to answer later. "Of course. I'll send them right now. Happy?"

"Couldn't get ahold of him."

"I'll find him. Are you okay?"

"Fine. Penny took the brunt of it," he assured her, deciding to leave out the concussion.

He handed the phone back to the woman, thanking her, then thanking her again when she grabbed a blanket and draped it over Penny who was obviously struggling to stay conscious.

"Can I get you something to drink? Soda? Tea? Water?"

"Water would be great. Thank you."

She nodded and he closed his own eyes, wishing he could sleep. But, he reminded himself, he had to keep going a little while longer. When she brought him a bottle of water, he sat up a little, lest he give into temptation. He took a drink, then sat it on the table, wiping his hand on his pants and grimacing when the blood didn't come out. "Sorry…I'd shake your hand but…"

She smiled, waving him off.

"I didn't ask your name."

"Lois Wright."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Wright. Thank you again for letting us come in."

"It's really no trouble. And it's just Lois, please." She took a hesitant step back, glancing at the stairs. "I'm just going to get my kids to bed…"

"Of course. A medical team is on their way…they'll take care of us and we'll be out of your hair."

Once Lois the good samaritan was gone, Tony shook Penny's shoulder a little. "Kiddo? You still with me?"

"I'm tired."

"I know…just stay awake a little longer."

"Mkay."

He smiled, not believing her. "How'd you take all of those guys down, anyway?"

Penny scoffed. "They were just regular humans."

"Regular humans with guns."

She shrugged.

"Regular humans with guns that shot you."

"They got lucky."

Tony shook his head with a chuckle and pressed his cheek to her hair, closing his eyes and holding her for a moment. He had a lot to do…a lot of puzzle pieces to put together and a lot of people for Iron Man to take down. And he needed to make sure no one else thought to go after Penny to get to him. But for the moment, he just wanted to hold his kid. So he did, and when Rhodey and Pepper arrived, they had both fallen asleep.