I'm sorry that the update schedule is less dependable now. I'm taking a college course (through Study Hall!) for the first time in almost 10 years, on top of working full time, so that's been taking up a lot of my free time. I hope you still enjoy the chapter and don't mind waiting a bit more between each chapter!

Into the Woods

Penny didn't sleep that night. She couldn't. Instead, she placed the plate that the woman who'd first approached her had brought her, which had contained a homemade ham and cheese sandwich and a banana, on the edge of the bed, then crawled back to the corner beside the bed, back pressed to the wall, the blanket they'd given her wrapped around her shoulders. The men guarding her stayed on their own side of the room, playing cards or reading paperback books and drinking beer from the green minifridge they'd either stocked themselves or were stealing from, but she still didn't dare risk it. She couldn't sleep in a room with two strange men guarding her…she had enough trouble falling asleep in her hammock in her room in the tower, high above the ground…high enough that no one could sneak up on her.

Closing her eyes, Penny tried to quiet her own breathing and focus. They were in a nice house in the middle of nowhere. Two stories with a basement. Plenty of land, so no neighbors nearby. Tish was probably on the second floor, but her senses were good, so she tried to tune out the men as they talked and drank and breathed and focused instead on the other sounds. Someone walked around on the floor above her head for a little while, finally stepping through and closing what sounded like the front door. Further away, someone had a conversation she could sort of make out…a woman talking about 'the girls' and 'Stark,' but she couldn't hear enough of the words to understand what it meant. Part of her wanted to figure out who exactly their kidnappers were and what they wanted…money? To get back at Mr. Stark for something? But she knew it was more important to keep Tish safe. If it had been just her, she could have taken these people easily. But it wasn't. She had to think of Tish first. Always. So she listened for her sister, wishing that Tish had had her own phone on her…that they both had cellphones. That they could text, even if it was just to know that she really was safe.

But they didn't.

Mr. Stark would find them. He cared about them, right? He would come for them in the suit, or maybe he would give these people money and they would hand Penny and Tish over and Penny could apologize for not paying enough attention…for not realizing that something bad was happening. Until then, she just had to wait. So she did. She sat in the corner, eyes closed, and listened to every sound throughout the night, hoping to get more clues as to where exactly they were. Somewhere upstate…or maybe they'd crossed into another state. It had been hard to tell, and she'd been paying more attention to comforting Tish than to watching the road signs.

It had been past three o'clock when the women had taken Penny and Tish and they hadn't reached the house until dark. Struggling to stay awake, Penny opened her eyes and stared into the dark, trying to do some math. It had been almost dark when they'd pulled into the driveway of the house, so they'd been driving for maybe 5 hours? It had felt like an eternity…how far had they driven? Maybe three hundred miles? She imagined the numbers as though they were written on paper in front of her. 5 hours, an average of 60 miles per hour on the highway, but less in the city…so probably somewhere around 250-300 miles. So where could they be? Rochester? Buffalo? Syracuse? If she had to guess, she'd say they were upstate somewhere, but they could have crossed into Vermont or New Hampshire…Massachutes? The women had been carrying guns…she hadn't wanted to risk looking like she was paying too much attention to where they were going, especially while holding her crying sister.

When the sun started to peek in through the high basement windows, Penny got up and made her way towards the adjacent bathroom, moving slowly lest one of the men shoot her. One of them had moved to the couch in the corner and seemed to be asleep, but the other one stood, making the hairs on her neck stand to attention, adrenaline flooding her bloodstream. He was not going to go into the bathroom with her. No fucking way. But he stopped at the doorway to the unfinished wall, gesturing for her to go ahead, then turned his back. "Make it quick," he ordered simply.

There were no windows in the bathroom, so she wasn't sure what he thought she was going to do. He had no idea that she could probably punch her way through the concrete walls if she was desperate enough. Then again, it would be better to punch through the ceiling since they were in a basement. There would be no punching, of course…too loud. "You think I'm going to Shawshank my way out?" she asked, trying to hide how her voice shook, and he snorted.

"Just hurry it up," he told her, hand moving to the gun on his hip.

Penny did, jaw tight as she hurried to use the bathroom and wash her face, her eyes never leaving his back. He didn't turn around though…not until she stepped out of the bathroom that didn't have a door, watching her make her way back to the corner and sit down. The man who had been sleeping when she'd gotten up headed upstairs then returned with a plate for her, filled with cold bacon and eggs on a piece of toast a few minutes later, placing it on the bed and going back to the couch where he flopped back down. She wanted to ask about Tish but she didn't want to draw attention to her sister or herself, so she kept quiet, eating the food and sticking to her spot in the corner, the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Her eyes were so heavy and she wanted to sleep but those men were still in the room and no matter how tired she was, she couldn't sleep with them so close.

The whole day dragged by, Penny doing her best to listen for any clues as to where they were or what these people wanted, but the two men who took turns heading upstairs, presumably to eat or use the bathroom, were mostly quiet, only occasionally letting the other know that they'd be right back. They did have one conversation where they talked about the how they were going to spend their money, which was a clue, but not one she hadn't already guessed. This had something to do with money. Of course it did. Why else would they take Tony Stark's foster kids? But were they trying to ransom the two of them? Or were they being paid by someone else to kidnap them?

Who would be paying them for this?

Every time she went to the bathroom, one of them took up their post by the door, and every time she went back to her corner, they sat back down. A few times, she stood up just to move, and their eyes followed her the whole time. She was always exposed…they could always see her unless she was literally on the toilet, and even then she didn't know if she would have had enough courage to pull out her cellphone and send a text…she knew she wouldn't have been able to make a phone call.

Would Tish?

Mr. Stark needed a way to track her phone. He didn't have the number to her flip phone, but if he'd found Tish's purse…no…he would have found that by now, she told herself. He would have found it and he would have traced the number and he would have been there to save them, Iron Man suits in tow. So maybe someone had stolen Tish's purse? Maybe they'd taken the phone? There had been cash in her wallet, so Penny wouldn't have been surprised.

It was getting dark outside again when Penny started to lose patience, a backup plan already forming. She knew that Mr. Stark would be looking for them, but what if someone was trying to lure him in? What if this was a trap for him? She hadn't heard Tish's voice all day, but if her sister was on the third floor that made sense. Were they watching her even more closely than they were Penny? Had she been able to text Mr. Stark?

If she was going to break out, she'd have to take down the two men in the basement, which would be no problem, except she'd have to do it without drawing any attention. Even if they did catch her, Tish still had her phone, so Penny didn't have to worry about that at least. Without her consciously trying, her brain started to form the plan. If she were going to try to grab Tish and sneak out of here, she reasoned, would it be better to try and get out and climb the side of the building or make her way through the house to find her sister? Or maybe they would sleep at some point? Then could she slip upstairs? Sneak through the house and find Tish? Then…find a window and jump? Use the trees like she was Tarzan or something? She could do it, even if it would blow her cover…possibly reveal her secret? But did her secret matter when Tish was in danger? Even if she could just get Tish out, that would be good enough. She'd waited a full day…was that long enough? How could she know? How could she know if Tish had managed to contact Mr. Stark? What if one of them caught Tish with the phone? What would they do to her? Would they hurt her? Did they need both of them to get their money? What if they decided they didn't need Tish? What if she was putting Tish in more danger by just waiting around?

And just like that, it was like everything clicked into place. She knew what she was going to do. It didn't matter that Mr. Stark might be on his way, or that he might want her to stay where she was.

She was the only one here and she was getting her sister out.

Penny waited until the sun went down. Every time she went to the bathroom or got up to stretch or made any kind of movements, the two men watched her. In between, they played cards or drank or took breaks upstairs…but surely, she thought, as it got darker, they would start to lose focus. Spider-Girl didn't kill people…not unless she absolutely had to. But for Tish…Penny shook that thought off. She would try not to kill them. She didn't want to hurt anyone. She just wanted her sister safe. So she waited and watched the room go dark, eyes adjusting easily. Pretty soon, the guy who must have been taking the first watch grabbed his book and Penny started to weigh her choices. There were two ways out of the basement: the stairs and the windows. Were the windows locked? Surely they weren't expecting her to be able to climb the walls, but if she did and the windows were locked, she'd have to break them to get out…would they shoot her to stop her?

The other option was the stairs, but that would require even more sneaking. More time exposed…the stairs were further away than the window. Did she dare risk climbing on the ceiling? Would they be less likely to notice her if she was on the ceiling? The lights were off…if she was quiet enough could she do it? She wished she had her suit…wished she had her webs. Mostly her webs. But she could do this without them. She just had to make her choice.

She pulled the blanket around her in the corner and watched the man who was still awake read his book, eyes growing heavier and heavier, her own eyes doing the same. But she was going to get Tish out, one way or the other, so she held them open wide and reminded herself that it was her own fault that they'd taken Tish…that if she'd been paying more attention or if she'd taken them home instead of going to the park, then her sister wouldn't be in danger. And when the man put his head in his hands, eyes closing, she slipped out from under her blanket and inched forward, moving slowly. There was a lamp on the table where he sat, turned on what she guessed was the lowest setting, throwing the rest of the room in shadow. Penny doubted he expected her to try to escape, so she hoped that would work in her favor.

Not letting herself stop and think, Penny pretended she was on any other mission…sneaking past any other criminal while she was on patrol. She didn't care if he found out her identity because the only thing that mattered was on a mission. She was Spider-Girl and she was going to save her sister and get them both out of here. So she edged forward on the floor, crawling as quietly as she could and freezing in the shadows when he glanced up from his book, whole body tensing as she readied herself to leap into action. He didn't see her, though, going right back to his book. She wished she could get ahold of his cellphone…he had to have one! But it was too risky. She knew she could take him out, but could she take him out without getting shot? WIthout alerting anyone else in the house?

She wasn't willing to bet on that if she didn't have to.

So she crept forward, keeping low, making sure to breathe as quietly as she could until she reached the staircase that sat between them. Easing herself to her feet, Penny pressed her hands to the wall, climbing slowly, reminding herself that there was no rush. They wouldn't think to check the wall. They wouldn't think to check the ceiling. She had some time. So she crawled slowly until she reached the railing right by the basement door, slipping underneath and glancing back before resting her hand gently on the knob and closing her eyes, holding her breath to hear better.

There was no one on the other side of the door. She didn't hear anyone walking around. Slowly, still holding her breath, she turned it, tensing when it clicked…

And then the man stood up, and she turned and leapt before he'd even gotten the first letter of 'Hey' out of his mouth.

If they caught her, she knew what they'd do…they'd try to restrain her. They'd be watching her even more closely. She'd made her choice and she had to follow through. She couldn't let him catch her and she couldn't let them hurt Tish, so heart pounding in her ears, her mind strangely calm, Penny leapt, landing in a crouch at the foot of the stairs, then leapt again, wrapping an arm around his throat.

She wouldn't kill him…Spider-Girl didn't kill people unless she had to, but she pressed hard, making sure he didn't have the air to make any more sounds, holding tight until he slumped in her grip. The other man was sitting up and it was like she was outside of herself, watching as she got him around his neck too as he reached for his gun, pressing her forearm to his windpipe and holding him until he went limp.

Now she had to hurry.

She raced up the stairs as quietly as she could, leaping up to the ceiling and crawling through the empty yellow kitchen and an empty living room, glancing in confusion at the landline on the wall, but moved past it without bothering to try it, heading instead for the staircase that led upstairs. There could be people in other rooms on the first floor but there was no time to explore…she had to find Tish. So she hurried up the stairs on her toes several at a time, grabbing the railing to propel herself forward.

There were several doors on the second floor, all of them closed, and Penny swore under her breath, wishing her weird danger sense hadn't started going off the moment she'd seen the woman with the gun sitting beside her on the bench in the park. Not sure what else to do, she headed to the left, going to the very far end of the hallway, and pressed her ear to it, then, hearing nothing, she jumped and pressed her hands to the wall, turning the knob and easing the door open. Thankfully the hinges didn't squeak, but the bedroom was empty. She left it open, not waning to risk any more noise, then, a better idea occurring to her, she headed for the window, unlocking the latches, then, after peering outside to ensure no one was patrolling the perimeter, she lifted the window and the fly screen, crawling out onto the side of the house.

Easing the window and fly screen back down, Penny crawled to the next window, peeking in from the bottom. Empty. Then another one. A bathroom, also empty. But on the third window, she got lucky.

It was a child's bedroom…there were bunk beds in one corner, and on the bottom bunk, Penny could just see the top of Tish's head. She looked around the rest of the room which appeared to be empty, then pressed her hands against the fly screen, gently easing it up. Her sister didn't stir as she pulled it high enough that she'd be able to fit through, then gripped the window.

Locked.

Swearing, she tapped her fingers against the glass, whispering, "Tish! Tish!"

Her sister didn't move and Penny risked tapping a little harder, tensing when her sister jerked awake, looking around the room with wide eyes before finding Penny who pressed a finger to her lips. Tish's mouth opened then snapped shut, and she jumped out of bed, unlocking the latch and pulling the window open, shooting glancing back at the door.

"Penny…" she whispered, voice breaking, but Penny shook her head. There was no time.

"Did you call? Text?"

"No service," Tish whispered, lips trembling, eyes filing with tears. "I'm sorry…"

"It's okay. Put your shoes on."

"She said there was a camera…I don't know if anyone is watching…" Penny followed her gaze to the corner where the ceiling met the wall, a camera stuck up in the corner. Penny couldn't tell if it was real or not, but it didn't matter.

"Doesn't matter. We're getting out of here. Hurry."

Tish hesitated, glancing at the camera once more, then nodded, hurrying over to the bed and sitting down, yanking her shoes on, and Penny hopped into the room just as she heard footsteps in the hallway. Racing over to the door, she grabbed onto the doorknob as Tish struggled to tie her shoes with shaking hands.

Someone tried to turn the knob but it didn't budge, and then a boot connected with the door and the whole thing shuddered. Behind her, Penny heard Tish let out a sob and she gritted her teeth.

"Penny, open the door now!" the woman who'd first sat beside her on the bench demanded.

"Fuck you!" she snapped right back.

"If you open the door right now, we won't hurt you or your sister. But if you make us bust down this door…"

Penny turned to Tish who had stood, shoes sloppily tied, and Penny nodded her head towards the window. Not questioning her, Tish hurried over to it, easing her way out of it and sitting on the windowsill, legs dangling off the side of the building. Penny looked back at the door, heart pounding, adrenaline flooding her body. There was no time to hesitate…no time to think…she let go of the doorknob, turning on her heel and racing towards her sister, wrapping her arms around her as she threw herself out the window.

There was a gunshot behind her and the woman screamed, "You moron what are you doing! He wants them alive!" But Penny didn't have time to care about that. The whole world moved in slow motion as got her feet under her, shifting Tish so that she could grip Penny around the neck, legs wrapped around her wasit, and Penny managed to land in a crouch, nearly screaming when her thigh gave a throb of agony. But she had to be quiet! She bit down so hard on her lip she tasted blood, taking off in an adrenaline fueled sprint until she was close enough to throw herself at the nearest tree, gripping the bark and scampering up until she was in the foliage, then leapt into the next one, and then the next, sprinting along tree branches that threatened to buckle under her weight…she had to get as far away from the house as possible, so she swung and leapt and climbed, the sound of shouts and pounding footsteps as bodies crashed through trees close behind her. She remembered the cartoon movie Tarzan, and how easy he'd made it look to slide along tree branches...in reality, she had to watch every step, trying only to use the thickest branches so they wouldn't snap underneath her and send both her and Tish to the forest floor.

Had they seen her jump into the tree? Did they know about her powers? Maybe not…maybe they just thought she was running through the woods, so she jumped and climbed and wished for her webshooters, Tish clinging to her like a baby opossum, her face pressed against the back of Penny's head, until she finally dared to stop, holding her breath and trying to listen around the sound of her heart pounding in her ears and Tish's gasping sobs that she tried her best to stifle.

There were footsteps, but they were far away. When she glanced around, she didn't see any flashlights, so she reached up and rested her hand on Tish's. "Hey…you okay?" she whispered, and Tish nodded.

"Yeah," she whispered back, voice breaking on a sob.

"Are you hurt?"

Tish shook her head.

"Okay…good. Do you have the phone?"

She nodded, and Penny almost laughed with relief. "Good…good job, Tish." She squeezed her sister's hand and Tish squeezed her waist with her legs in what might have been a hug. "Do we have service?"

Tish shifted behind her, and Penny knew she was racing into her bra to pull the phone out. "Not yet."

"I'm going to keep moving...keep an eye on it? Let me know as soon as you get a bar, okay?"

"Okay."

So Penny kept moving, wincing when her thigh gave another throb. She wondered if she'd landed on it wrong or something…adrenaline still coursed through her, making it hard to focus on anything but getting them as far away from these people as possible, so she hoped it was just a sprained muscle or something.

It was at least thirty minutes before Tish gasped, pulling Penny up short. "Service?"

Tish nodded. "Two bars."

It was quiet all around them, and the sounds of footsteps had long since faded into the distance. The woods were thick with trees and brambles on the ground, and the tree they were in blended in with all the others, foliage making her feel safe to sit on the thick branch they'd paused on, resting her back against the trunk of the tree as Tish carefully maneuvered to straddle the branch in front of her. She was so tired, and her leg was throbbing along with her head, so she dropped it back against the trunk.

"Go ahead and call him."

Tish nodded again, giving her a concerned look, but Penny's eyes were so heavy she could barely keep them open. "Are you okay?" she whispered, and Penny nodded.

"I'm okay. Just tired."

Her sister was quiet for a second, then Penny heard her pressing buttons, scooting a little closer to her. "Hello?" a tinny voice from the phone demanded after only two rings, and Penny felt her lips turn up into a smile. They'd be okay now. Mr. Stark would come and get them.

"Mr. Stark?" Tish whispered, and his voice changed immediately.

"Tish? Where are you? Are you okay? Who…" He seemed to cut himself off, then, "Friday, track it now! Steve, let's go! She's on the phone! Tish, hey…are you okay? Is Penny okay? Are you…"

Tish was crying immediately, breath hitching, and Penny held out a hand, Tish taking it with no hesitation as she squeezed it hard. "I'm okay. Penny's okay. She got us out…we…they had us in a house. I don't know where we are. We're in the woods. They…they had us in a house…it was…it was in the woods…" her voice broke and Penny wished she could hold her but she was so tired and it felt like she was falling into darkness she couldn't fight anymore.

"It's okay. Honey, you're going to be okay. I promise. I'm coming to get both of you right now. I'm tracking the phone. Don't hang up, okay?" He sounded so sad and so afraid...Penny had never heard Mr. Stark sound like that. Like he was begging her...

"I won't."

"Good. Thank you. Are…you're okay? You…you're both okay?"

"Yeah. Penny found me…they had her somewhere else but she climbed in my window and we jumped…they shot at us."

"Do you know who it was?"

"No…just…two women and some men. They didn't hurt us…the lady said that if I was good and didn't cause any trouble, she wouldn't hurt Penny, so I didn't." Tish's voice seemed to be coming from further and further away but Penny couldn't bring herself to be worried about that. Mr. Stark was there, right? He was going to take them home…home to the tower. That was her home now. He was her home…him and Pepper and Tish. "Penny gave me her secret phone because…mine…mine was in my purse. I was supposed to have it with me but Penny had hers…" Her voice was speeding up and Penny thought maybe she missed something because then Tish was squeezing her hand.

"Penny…wake up. Mr. Stark needs to talk to you," she hissed, shaking Penny's hand a little, but Penny couldn't even make herself squeeze Tish's hand…couldn't open her eyes or figure out why she was so tired but she was. She was so impossibly tired.

"Penny?" Tish's voice was a little louder, filled with fear that Penny hated to hear but there was nothing she could do. "Mr. Stark…she's…she's asleep…I…"

It was okay. Mr. Stark was there. Penny had gotten Tish out and now he would protect her. That was all that mattered. So Penny let herself sleep, the ache in her leg fading as she did.

Thanks for reading!