The Avengers Weakness

Chapter Twenty-Four

"Uncle Brad, w-why is here?" she asked, staring at the redhead as tears welled in her eyes.

"Sweetheart, that's Stephen...We'd never let your Uncle in here." she replied, reaching out to the teenager.

Penny was shaking her head, she flinched away from the woman's touch.

"Can you tell me why he reminds you of your uncle?" the redhead asked, gently pulling her hand back from the teen.

Penny was staring at him, her eyes were wide and tears were threatening to spill out of them. Her eyes kept glossing over the man, fear was taking over her as she stared at the man. The more she looked at him, the more she started noticing that he wasn't her uncle. He was taller, had more gray hair than the man did, and he had a goatee and not a beard. The only thing that was familiar about him was his shirt, she remembered that shirt.

"He has that shirt...it was his favorite, h-he wore it all the time...please don't make me go." Penny was trying to listen to what her eyes were showing her, but her thoughts and memories were talking too loud. She started backing away from the woman.

"Jarvis please call Wanda down to the Medbay for me?" Natasha asked.

"Miss Maximoff will arrive in approximately three minutes." the AI replied.

The redhead nodded, as she knelt in front of the obviously terrified teenager, "Sweetie breath." she called softly, the younger girl was on the verge of a severe asthma attack if she didn't calm down.

However, JARVIS had been wrong about when Wanda would arrive, the young witch had teleported herself downstairs. She looked concerned as she entered the room, her green eyes darting around the room before landing on Penny and Natasha. She could feel Penny's terrified and anxious energy radiating off of her, as she started to curl up into a ball. She ran over to them and hugged Penny, making the younger teen flinch before hugging her back as she buried her head into the girl's chest.

Wanda looked at Natasha in confusion, "What happened?" she asked.

"Calm her down for me?" the woman asked.

"I'll try..." the teen responded before starting to rub soothing circles on Penny's arms "It's okay peanut, you're safe." she whispered, she'd already read the teen's mind and knew what she was feeling.

Stephen Strange was watching the interaction as he leaned against the desk, his stethoscope in hand; he hadn't expected that reaction. He'd heard the elevator doors open outside of the medbay and the sounds of people walking into the doorway, but he'd also heard them suddenly stop. He'd heard hushed whispers, causing him to look over at Natasha and the young teenager that Tony and Pepper had begged him to give a check up too. But he'd seen something he didn't expect from her; she looked absolutely terrified. Her eyes were wide and her frame was shaking as she said something to Natasha, making the redhead's features contort. He waved at her to ease her nerves, thinking she was just scared of doctors, but she'd flinched back from him like he'd hit her. He was frowning when Natasha came over to him, the doors to the medbay shutting behind her as she locked them and pulled the blinds shut.

"Is she okay?" he asked, he was concerned for her well being.

"She will be, did Tony tell you anything?" she asked, he could hear the concern and worry in the young woman's voice.

"What do you mean?" he asked, furrowing his brow at her vague question.

The redhead sighed, "Why does he always leave it up to me?" she muttered as she looked up at him, "Before she got here, she was abused." she replied softly, "She lived with her aunt and uncle and they weren't...they weren't good. They half-starved her, deprived her of basic necessities like showers, a hair brush...a bed and clothes that fit her, and they beat her. We don't know everything....but she's supposed to talk to Layne about it in a few weeks, but she's absolutely terrified of them." she replied.