Bullied

Penny hissed as she pressed an alcohol-soaked cloth to her face, blood from a particularly deep scratch on her arm dripping onto the bathroom sink. Her dad was going to kill her. Not for getting blood everywhere…he wouldn't even be mad about that. In fact, he'd probably be scared to death when he stepped into their living room and saw the blood trail leading to her bedroom, which reminded her, she really needed to hurry this up and clean before he got back from dinner and saw it. And he wasn't going to kill her because she'd been late for curfew. That he might be upset about, but she had a good excuse! It was Halloween anyway…he'd probably expected her to be out a little late with Ned.

Her dad had dropped her off at Ned's apartment earlier, and had been openly skeptical about her getting home on her own. "It's Halloween, Pen. There might be some weirdos out."

"We live in New York. There are always weirdos out."

He'd snorted at that, shaking his head and swatting her hand away when she'd gone to turn up the radio. "Are you sure you don't want to come to dinner with Pepper and me? We don't mind waiting for a while. I can change the reservation."

Penny had shaken her head. "Nah. Ned and I are going to watch scary movies and eat candy for dinner."

"Sounds very healthy."

He'd been a little sad, she'd known, and she hated that, but she also couldn't help how she felt about Pepper. Penny had come to live with the father she'd never met when she was seven years old after losing her mom and the man she'd always thought was her dad. They hadn't told her yet…honestly, she didn't know if her parents were ever going to tell her. A year or two ago, her dad had found her sitting on her bed on the day they'd died, curled up under the blankets and staring out the window. He'd hesitated for a minute, and then he'd sat on the bed beside her, resting a hand on her hair.

"Hey, kiddo."

"Do you think my mom was ever going to tell me about you?"

He'd been quiet for a long time…he never said anything bad about her mom and Richard Parker…not to her. Never complained about her mom not telling him that he had a daughter, or about not getting to meet her until she was seven years old, even though she knew he hadn't been happy about it. It hadn't been until they'd died that the birth certificate and the letter in her mom's will had come to light. She'd been staying with her uncle Ben and aunt May while they'd been on their work trip…and then her aunt and uncle who weren't actually related to her by blood, as it turned out, had sat her down and tried to explain all the things a seven year old couldn't really understand.

"I don't know," her dad had finally told her, running a hand over her hair. "I really don't, honey. I know she loved you though. And so do I."

From the day she'd first come to live with her dad, who had picked her up from her aunt's house, looking bewildered and nervous and also, looking back, probably hung over, Pepper Potts had been an almost constant presence in her life. She'd been the one to set up Penny's bedroom, ordering the furniture and having it put together the day before she'd arrived. She'd been the one to ask how she wanted her clothes put away, doing it herself when Penny refused to speak to anyone, curling up under the bed in the very corner of her room and refusing to come out for hours. Pepper had been the one to get her a cheeseburger and fries from a local diner, sliding the plate of food under the bed like she was a feral cat and then leaving the room. Pepper had placed the boxes of her books and toys in her room…had made her bed and had sat on the floor beside the bed that evening, her father nowhere in sight.

Penny had learned later that he'd been reading a parenting book that her uncle Rhodey had given him…that he'd spent the day with his best friend she wouldn't come out from under the bed, confiding in Rhodey that he didn't know what to do…that he had no idea how to be a father but that he couldn't be one like his had been. And, so far, Penny thought, he'd done a really good job of being nothing like his own father, so the book must have helped.

She'd slept under the bed that night, too afraid and sad and confused to make herself crawl out for long enough to do anything but run to the bathroom, and the next morning, he'd come to sit on the floor beside her.

"I know you're scared, Penelope," he'd told her softly as she'd laid curled up in the fetal position, eyes squeezed tightly shut. "I know this is scary and you don't know who I am and…this sucks. I get it. But…I'm…biologically, I'm your dad. Uh…biologically means…"

"I know what it means," she'd whispered, not able to help herself, and to her surprise, he'd laughed a little.

"Yeah? Good. Anyway, I want to be your dad. Your other dad. I know you already had a dad, and I don't want to replace him." To her surprise, she'd heard him moving, and, opening her eyes, she'd watched him scoot down until he, too, was laying on the floor on his side, watching her sadly. "My dad was awful," he'd admitted softly, smiling at her a little, and she'd never seen a grown up look sad like that…not until her aunt and uncle had told her about her 'real' dad. "He was…he was really mean and…he never cared about me. But…I want to be a good dad, okay? I'm going to try to be a good dad."

Pepper had been there that day, bringing them breakfast as he'd lay on the floor for two hours with her until, hesitantly, he'd asked if she wanted to come out. And, hesitating herself, she had. Pepper had handed his father the blanket he'd wrapped around her, holding her close while she'd sobbed. Pepper had brought her a glass of water while he'd held her, and she'd ordered them lunch when Penny had finally managed to stop crying. She'd been there when her dad had given her a tour of her new home in New York...he'd just moved in, apparently because she lived in New York and he hadn't wanted to make her move.

The man who helped him run his business, Obidiah, hadn't been happy, but all of that had come later.

Pepper had been there to pick her up from her aunt and uncle's house when her dad had been kidnapped in Afghanistan, holding her close and telling her that everything was going to be okay, then sitting on the floor beside the bed when she hid under there again. And she was there when her dad came back, flying with her to Malibu to meet him because he had business things to do before he could come home, standing with her at the airport as her dad had walked off that plane, his arm in a sling. Penny had been crying, arms wrapped around herself, and the first thing he'd done was pull her close, pressing a kiss to her hair. "I'm okay, baby. I'm so sorry. I'm here."

For a long time, Penny had cried any time he'd gone on a work trip that lasted long enough that she had to stay with her aunt and uncle, who she loved, but who always seemed to have to deliver bad news.

Pepper had been there when her dad had become Iron Man, a real-life superhero, and as he'd tried to find a cure for what his arc reactor was doing to him. She'd been there, going from her dad's assistant to the CEO of his company and his girlfriend…and then one day, she'd walked out of the apartment and she hadn't come back. And she just…hadn't been there anymore. Penny had found her dad in the kitchen that night, his head resting on his hand, a glass of dark alcohol on the counter in front of him, and she'd climbed onto the stool at his side, dropping her head on his shoulder until he'd wrapped her in his arms.

Penny had never forgiven her for making her dad look like that. She didn't care why they'd fought…didn't care how her dad excused it all. Pepper hadn't even said goodbye to her. So no, she'd thought as she'd watched movies with Ned, she did not want to go to dinner with the two of them. They weren't dating or anything…not as far as she knew, but Penny was afraid they would date again, and then she would leave again, hurting the two of them all over. Despite that, he hated that Penny didn't want to spend time with Pepper anymore, and she had a feeling that Pepper was hurt too, but she didn't know how to make any of it better.

She tried not to think about that as she wiped down the scratches on her face, hissing when the alcohol stung. Her dad wouldn't be mad that she was hurt…this wasn't even the worst she'd been hurt since becoming Spider-Girl, something her dad had been angry about at first, but only because she'd kept it from him. She'd never seen him so scared as the day she'd come home from that field trip, sicker than she'd ever been, tied only with the day she'd crawled into her bedroom in the suit, only to be met with Iron Man's repulsor pointed right at her face.

"Hi, what the hell are you doing in my daughter's room?" he'd demanded, the robotic voice furious.

Thankfully, she'd managed to rip her mask off before he'd shot her, and he'd dropped his hand immediately disengaging the suit and staring at her with so much fear that she had worried he might have a heart attack. "Penny?"

"I can explain."

"Yeah…please…do that!"

So she had. It had taken a lot of explaining. And he hadn't been happy about any of it...he'd threatened at least six times to sue Osborne for everything he was worth, and that was just that day. He'd since threatened the same thing nearly every time Penny had gotten injured...or any time she'd crawled on the walls, mostly muttering it under his breath. But he'd come around...slowly. He'd even made her a suit, letting her help, and going over the many rules he had for her if she was going to do this whole superhero thing.

At first she'd been afraid that he wouldn't let her keep patrolling when he'd found out. "I just wanted to be like you!" she'd cried, and he'd looked away for a long time, shaking his head and looking so sad it had hurt to see.

"I want you to be better than me, Pen."

"No one's better than you!" she'd cried, eyes wet from tears she hadn't let fall.

He'd held her then, a hand pressed to the back of her head, and she'd felt his shoulders hitch as he'd struggled to breathe normally. "I can't lose you, baby. I can't. You're...you're the most important thing in the world to me. More than Iron Man and more than my company and more than the Avengers...you are my whole world." He'd just held her for a while, rocking them back and forth, and when he'd finally pulled back, he'd searched her eyes for a moment before seeming to come to a conclusion. "Okay...okay. If you're going to do this, you're going to do this right. And I'm going to help."

Penny hadn't been in the suit her dad had made with her when she'd been on her way back home from Ned's, which explained the scratches she was currently cleaning. She was almost done…she just needed to get the one on her face to stop bleeding…

And then there was a knock on her bedroom door.

"Penny? Why did I just follow a trail of blood to your bedroom?" her father called in a very barely controlled voice.

"I'm fine!" she promised, and she heard him step into her room.

"You see, you always say that, and it's almost never true."

"Hey! It's always true! I've never died, right?"

He sighed, then knocked on her closed bathroom door. She worried that he hadn't closed her bedroom door, but she didn't think her new friend was going anywhere anytime soon.

"Who is it?" she called in a sing-song voice.

"Penny…"

"No, I'm Penny," she told him with a grin. "Unless I have a doppelganger. Do you think it's true that if you see your doppelganger, you'll die?"

The door opened and she sighed, giving him her best smile. "See, I'm fine!"

"You're literally bleeding."

"Yeah, but barely. Remember that time I got stabbed? That was so much worse than this!"

He gave her an incredulous look, shaking his head and grabbing a fresh washcloth. "Yes, Penny, I remember walking into my daughter's bedroom and finding her unconscious in a pool of her own blood. I don't think any amount of therapy is ever going to make me forget that."

She winced. "Sorry."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Promise. I wasn't patrolling or anything…I was just walking home."

"Okay…and then?" he asked, gently cleaning the cuts on her arms and grabbing a roll of bandages.

"And…okay…promise you won't be mad?"

He lifted an eyebrow, meeting her eyes, then sighed. "I reserve the right to be mad at anyone that hurt you, but I probably won't be mad at you."

She nodded…that was the best she was going to get. "So…I was walking home and I had plenty of time before curfew because I am very responsible and basically a grown up."

"You are fifteen."

"And I'm basically an Avenger."

"Nope. You are not an Avenger. But continue."

"So there I was, a basically grown up Avenger, walking home on time, and I heard some kids yelling and throwing things and I thought maybe these children are in danger and I, basically an Avenger, should help."

His lips twitched into a smile as he wrapped her arms in the bandages, and he huffed out a laugh, shaking his head.

"And I went around the corner and…they were all throwing rocks at a cat," she murmured, dropping her eyes. "And it was hurt and…it couldn't get away. So I chased them off and…"

"And you tried to pick up that cat," he finished with a sigh.

"Do you think cat scratch fever is a real thing?"

"Cat scratch fever is absolutely a real thing. Did you clean the ones on your face with alcohol?"

Penny nodded.

"Alright…you should be fine."

"It'll all be healed by morning," she reminded him, and he nodded, patting her shoulder.

"I know. Doesn't make me any happier about following a blood trail to find my kid."

"Sorry…I'll clean it up."

"I don't care about the blood, Pen."

"I know." She dropped her eyes and he wrapped an arm around her, pressing a kiss to her hair.

"I'm sure the cat will be fine, honey."

She winced, and as if her new friend had been listening, there was a crash in her bedroom. Her dad went stiff and she gave him a sheepish smile. "So…about that."

"You brought the cat here, didn't you?"

"The thing is…"

"You brought the cat here?" he repeated, incredulous.

"I couldn't just leave him! He was hurt and he was really scared and it's Halloween and you know people can be really mean to cats on Halloween especially since he's a black cat and…"

"He scratched the hell out of you, Pen!"

"He was scared! He calmed down when he realized I wasn't going to hurt him! Please, dad! Please? I promise I'll take care of him and I'll buy his food and…"

"You think buying cat food is my problem with this?"

"Please, please, please? Don't make me put him back outside, dad. Please?" she begged, gripping his hands and feeling her eyes heat up at the thought of throwing him back outside. He'd been hiding her under bed, just like she had, when she'd put him in her bedroom. He was scared but he had let her hold him when he'd calmed down and he'd even started to purr. "Please?" she whispered.

Her dad closed his eyes, shaking his head and huffing out a sigh. "Let me meet the cat," he told her in a longsuffering voice, and she grinned. "Nope, don't smile at me. I'm not happy about this," he told her firmly, but when he met her eyes, he lost the battle with his own smile. "Come on, no one likes a smug spider. Show me the cat."

She led the way into her bedroom where her new cat had made himself at home on her pillow, purring as she approached and giving an adorable little 'meow' when she stroked his head. Hesitantly, her dad held out a hand for him to sniff, and he nudged it with his nose, purring louder when he gave in and petted him.

"Alright." Sighing, her dad pulled out his phone. "We need to run to whatever pet store is still open. Think he'll be okay here?"

"Of course! He's a very good boy. And now that he lives in the tower, he's basically an Avenger too."

"I worry about your standards for who gets to be an Avenger," her dad told her wryly, throwing an arm around her and squeezing her in a hug. "That cat is not an Avenger and neither are you."

"Rude."

They found a can of tuna in the kitchen and she left it out on a plate for her new friend, and then the two of them headed to the pet store where, despite her insistence that she'd use her own money, her dad bought everything they would need for a cat, ballcap pulled low over his face. That night when she went to bed, the scratches already mostly healed, the cat jumped onto the bed beside her, nuzzling her face until she gave in and petted him, pressing a kiss to his fuzzy head.

The next morning, when she woke up with her new friend curled up next to her on the bed, his back pressed up against her side, Penny grabbed her phone from her bedside table and found a new text from Ned. It linked to an article, "Tony Stark and daughter Penny caught shopping for cat supplies on Halloween night," along with pictures of the two of them going into the pet store, and one of her pushing a cart with a litter box and a bag of cat food while her dad stood in front of an entire row of cat trees and pinched the bridge of his nose. (She'd insisted that they needed the tallest one because cats like to be up high 'just like spiders.')

Then, underneath the link to the article, Ned had written "You got a pet?"

She grinned, scooting just far enough away from her new cat to take a picture and sent it to Ned. "His name is Shadow and he's an Avenger."