Dr. Li wants to leave the stitches in for a while longer but allows Penny to shower and change into some clean clothes. Tony makes her breakfast. Pancakes. The first thing Penny ever taught him to cook. She eats every single one that he sets in front of her.
Had she always eaten that much and he hadn't noticed or did she hold back in front of them and go hungry so they wouldn't notice her enhanced metabolism? Tony doesn't have time to fret over it before May is barging into the room.
She sighs when she sees Penny sitting up, alive and well, but looks between them and demands, "Someone explain, right now."
"How about we move to the couch and have a seat," Tony suggested. May huffs but nods.
Sitting side by side, May reaches out and grabs Penny's hands. "Penny, sweetie, what happened? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, May, I'm fine," Penny said. She glances at Tony and he nods. "I promise I'm fine but...I have to tell you something."
"Okay," May nods. Tony can see the tension in her shoulders. She's worried and confused, but staying calm. He worries how long that'll last. "You know you can tell me anything, sweetie."
"I know," Penny grips her aunt's hands tighter and takes a deep breath. "You have to promise you won't freak out though, okay?"
"Penny, are you pregnant?"
"What!? No," Despite the situation, Tony laughs. He stifles it behind his hand and clears his throat when May glares at him. "Seriously, May?" Penny's face is still set in a grimace.
"Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's fine. I won't freak out, I promise."
"Pinky swear," Penny holds up one pinky and after a second, May hooks her own around it.
"Pink swear I won't freak out."
"Okay," With another quick glance at Tony, Penny looks her aunt in the eyes and says, "I'm Spider-Girl." Silence. "You know, the vigilante in Queens." More silence. Tony leans forward to try and see May's face. When she opens her mouth, Penny stops her by pointing. "You pink swore!"
"I'm not freaking out," May said but her calm facade is cracking. The calmness in her voice is so forced that it almost cracks, like glass under pressure. "Penny," May inhales deeply and lets it out slowly. "This better not be a joke. It's not funny."
"It's not a joke." May glances back at Tony. He holds up his hands.
"I wish it was, May," He said. May takes another controlled breath. Tony has to hand it to her, she's handling this very well.
"Okay," May nods, seemingly to herself. She holds Penny's hands a little tighter. "I'm not freaking out," Tony doesn't know if that's also to herself or to Penny. "So, how did you end up here?"
"Like, as Spider-Girl or the tower?"
"Both."
"Well, the first one is kind of a long story."
"That you will tell me," May said. "But for now, why did you come to the tower last night?" Tony braces himself.
"I'm okay, May, I promise. I'm fine but...I got...hurt. But I'm fine!"
"Hurt how?" May asked sternly.
"Uhh, slightly shot."
"Penny!"
"It's almost healed now!"
"Show me."
"May-"
"Show. Me. Right. Now." Tony scoots back a little further on the couch. Penny looks at him and he freezes. She sighs before lifting her shirt. Dr. Li didn't bother putting a bandage back over the stitches, it didn't need it.
May lets out a choked sound and covers her mouth with her hand. "I'm okay, May." Penny said again. "I promise." She doesn't fight it when May pulls her into a hug. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize, sweetie, not for getting shot," May pulls back with a sniff and wipes her eyes. "You can apologize for lying to me but we can do that later." She reaches out and lifts Penny's shirt again to look at the wound. "This happened last night?"
"Yeah."
"That's...it's almost completely healed."
"See? I'm fine."
"You're not fine, Penny, you still got shot." Penny doesn't say anything else, just ducks her head. May scoots closer and pulls Penny to her side. "You must've been so scared."
"It wasn't so bad," Penny said. "I called Mr. Stark and he came to get me." May turns to him and smiles with watery eyes.
"Thank you. Thank you, Tony."
"No thanks needed, May."
"Yes, thanks needed," She argued. "You saved her life-"
"I think I would have been fine," Penny starts but stops as soon as May scowls at her.
"We have a lot of things to talk about," May said. "At home once you're completely healed."
"Are you going to make me stop?"
"Penny, now isn't the time-"
"It is the time. We're talking about it now, why stop?"
"Because, Penny-"
"Come on, May-"
"Penny," Tony said. They both turn to him. "I think May some time to process this," He looks at her and she nods. "There's no rush." He can tell Penny wants to argue but she bites her tongue. "Try to get some more rest for now, kid, I want to talk to your aunt for a second." Penny looks between them suspiciously but lets them go. Tony leads May to another room.
He starts by saying, "I don't have a say in this, I know that. But if you would hear me out for a minute?" May crosses her arms and looks at him for a moment before nodding. "She won't just stop. She can't. And I'm afraid that if you try to make her...it won't end well."
"What are you saying?" May asked.
"I can't tell you what to do, May, and I don't want to. Penny is your kid, I can't imagine what you're going through with this," He wants to think he does but can he really? Penny isn't his. "We talked a little, last night. I think, for her, Spider-Girl, it's impossible to give that up. It's become a part of her. So, before you make any final decision, let me show you a few things. Let me show you how I can keep her safe."
May sighs, defeated, and runs a hand through her hair. "I should have known."
"I don't know how you could have."
"I knew something was going on," May glances back to where Penny is. "I didn't know what. Penny has always been such a good kid. She still is, but something changed after Ben-...I didn't even know she had these...abilities. How did I not notice that?"
"She didn't want you to."
"That's no excuse. I think about it and I'm not surprised that this is what she chose to do with them. Her uncle, he was a cop, you know? Penny always looked up to him, called him a superhero. Told everyone that would listen that her uncle saved lives every day." May laughs but a tear slides down her cheek. "I mean, what kid gets superpowers and decides to go out and help people in secret?"
"If it was going to be anyone, it was going to be her."
A minute passes in silence. May looks defeated when she says, "I really can't stop her from doing this, can I?"
"You could try." Tony shrugs and May sighs helplessly. Tony feels the same for a different reason at that moment. He gives a quiet sigh of his own.
How the hell is he going to tell Pepper?
Pepper is not happy with him. Nothing he's not familiar with. Penny gave him permission to tell her about Spider-Girl. 'You can't keep secrets,' She had said. 'That's not how good relationships work.' He told her that it wasn't his secret to keep or tell. She'd assured him she was okay with it.
"Really, Tony?" Pepper is pacing. He hates it when she paces. It usually means he's done something wrong.
"'Really, Tony'? I had nothing to do with this." He reminded her. He didn't even know Penny when she became Spider-Girl! "I mean, I suppose Iron Man could have influenced this behavior slightly. Slightly. But directly, I did not encourage her."
"I can't believe this," Pepper falls into her chair and buries her face in her hands. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, though."
"If it makes you feel any better, I didn't see it coming either." Tony cautiously takes the seat opposite of her.
"I can't imagine how May feels."
"She's handling it quite well." Penny has been sending him update texts. She and May talked. A lot, Penny stressed. A little bit of crying too. Tony isn't sure if his and Penny's definition of 'a little bit of crying' is the same.
"I should talk to her."
"She and Penny are coming by later. We're going to talk about things, you can join us." More talking. Penny said May was willing and open to the idea of her continuing as Spider-Girl but there would be a lot of rules in place. Ones that if she broke even once, Spider-Girl would be over.
"Yes, okay," Pepper clears her throat and sits up straight. She looks at him across the desk for a moment but says nothing. Tony doesn't interrupt her thoughts. Another moment passes and Pepper asks, "You're going to look after her, right?"
"Of course, Pep. I'll keep her safe." Anything and everything that has to be done will be. There's nothing in this world that could stop him from protecting Penny.
Pepper relaxes and smiles softly. She reaches out and grabs his hand.
"I have no doubt that you will."