Natasha Romanoff came back to the compound after her exhausting three day mission, she didn't bother taking her bags upstairs or to go take a shower, that she so desperately needed; she needed rest. She sat down on the couch, sleep beckoning her, reaching out for the large blanket over the back of the couch to wrap up with it, she was ready to sleep a little before giving Tony the run down of the mission. However, when she reached for the blanket she noticed it was already being used by a brown haired girl who wasn't Kate or Morgan, both of whom were gone for the time being. She quickly stood up and looked curiously at the girl who was sleeping soundly in front of her.
"Ummm Stark?" she yelled, making the girl move slightly.
"Yeah Romanoff?" the billionaire called through JARVIS, since he was downstairs in his lab.
"Whose kid is on the couch?"
"What kid?" Tony yelled back, his voice coming through crystal clear, making the redhead realize that they didn't need to be yelling at each other since JARVIS had connected them.
Natasha rolled her eyes and marched her way down stairs to the lab where Tony was working on another one of his suits, of course he was working on a suit.
"Whose kid is on the couch Stark?" she asked, tapping her fingers against her arms that were crossed over her chest.
"Probably Peter." he replied, temporarily forgetting that the teenager had left Penny sleeping on the couch the previous night and since it was only six in the morning, he decided on letting them both sleep in late considering the previous afternoon's events.
"No, this is a girl." the redhead replied.
Tony didn't respond to her and his attention starting to get more focussed on his suit that was laid out in pieces on the lab tables in front of him. Natasha walked over to him and crossed her arms again, clearly annoyed with him.
"Come on." she called, motioning for him to follow her, she was going to get to the bottom of this.
"Why do you need me, Romanoff?" he grumbled.
"I need answers." she shot.
Nat grabbed Tony's arm pulling him away from his work and dragged him out of the lab, much to his discontent. She pulled him up the stairs, forgoing the elevator, even though it would've been a quicker way to get to the living room. The billionaire let her drag him to the living room, she was one of the only people she feared; in all honesty he feared two people: the redhead in front of him and his wife. And he was definitely not going tell her to stop dragging him up the stairs when she was obviously sleep deprived and looking for answers; he'd learned his lesson a long time ago from doing that. Finally, they stopped in front of the couch where Penny was still asleep.
"Whose kid Tony?" Natasha asked again, pointing at the sleeping girl.
"Oh, that kid," Tony replied, immediately remembering that they'd left the thirteen year old asleep, on the couch.
"Yes, this kid. Whose kid is she?" Natasha questioned again clearly not thrilled to repeat herself for once again.
"That's little Parker," Tony replied, shrugging as he started walking back to the elevator so he could get back to his lab.
"Who?!" the woman asked, clearly a little shocked since Peter didn't talk much about himself, he'd mentioned having a younger sister a couple times in passing, but it was obvious that the topic bothered him so it was usually ignored unless he purposely brought it up.
"She's the kid's kid sister. She lives here now." he replied.
"When? I was gone for three days and you're collecting kids?" she asked, knowing that the girl had not been at the compound when she'd left for her mission. When she'd left Peter had been in his room for the majority of the day, he hadn't spoken in two days, something that she was trying to convince Tony was something to be extremely worried about.
"Since yesterday. Don't wake her up! The kid said let her sleep!" Tony yelled back.
"What's her name?" Natasha yelled after the billionaire who was no longer in earshot, "Guess I'll figure it out then." Natasha muttered to herself when Tony gave her no response.
Narasha watched the small girl sleep for a little bit before going to get a shower and coming back in her own, clean clothes. She yawned and stretched a little, sitting back in the chair that was closest to the couch, so she could continue to watch the teenager, waiting for her to wake up. As she watched, while she was waiting for the girl to wake up, she started noticing little things about the teenager. She noticed the small sections of thick, slightly matted hair on the back of her head that tangled in with the girl's unruly curls and knots; she was in need of a good combing or brushing. She also, like Tony, saw the bruises on her arms and on the back of her neck, that was peeking through the sections of hair at the redheaded woman. She reminded Nat a little bit of herself, small but definitely strong willed. She watched as the girl rolled over, her eyes flickering slightly as she slowly woke up, rubbing her eyes to get rid of the sleep that was still trying to restake its claim over her body..
Penny woke up with a jolt, her eyes wide and scared; she looked around for a minute not realizing or remembering where she was. She slowly looked around and seemed to calm herself down when she realized where she was; she was with Peter. She finally remembered the previous day's event and started looking around even more for her brother. She felt her chest tightening once again, when she realized her brother was nowhere to be found did he leave her again? She felt herself jump back a little at the sight of the red headed woman who was looking at her, intrigue clear in the lighter green eyes that were watching her.
"P-Peter?!" she called, "Where-where are you?" her voice shaking,
Natasha watched the girl's expressions change several times. She was about to try and help the girl who was clearly starting to panic, the big sister and motherly instincts in her starting to kick in when she heard the sounds of someone running down the stairs. She turned to see Peter behind her, breathing heavy, as he came to check on his little sister.
"You....Okay...Princess?" Peter asked her while catching his breath.
"Y-Yeah...I just wanted to know where you are. I-I was worried." she responded, "I thought...I-I thought you left me..." she replied, her large eyes boring into him like he'd leave if she moved her gaze off of him for even a second.
"Okay" he responded, slightly frowning as he knelt down in front of her, "Princess I'm not going anywhere, promise." he replied, feeling guilt creeping in on him, did she hold a grudge against him for not being with her? "Did you sleep well?" he asked, trying to pull her attention away from her still rapid breathing.
"Yeah I did...did-did you?"
"I slept great princess." he replied honestly, this was the most he'd slept since he'd gotten the news about the woman who'd raised him.
"Okay...." she replied, growing quiet, her eyes falling down to her hands, flicking towards his shoes every now and then.
"Princess, you want to get something to eat?" he asked, remembering that she hadn't eaten lunch or dinner the previous day, she had to be hungry.
"I'm not hungry Pete, I'll-I'll eat later." she replied, the brunette knew better than falling into that trap, she could go a little longer without eating.
"Okay, Princess, just let me know and I'll show you the kitchen." the teenager replied sceptically, not believing that she couldn't be hungry.
Peter looked at his little sister who was sitting cross legged on the couch, she looked like she was trying to curl into herself, like she was trying to make herself as small as posisble. He felt like something was off as he looked at her. She wouldn't look him in the eye really, or anyone for that matter, he'd realized; however, she always looked at her feet or at her hands in her lap. He quickly sat down next to her and placed his hand on top of her hands as she picked at her fingernails, the skin looking like it was ready to crack and bleed from the repetitive action of being pulled at. He could feel her anxious energy radiating off of her, his senses were tingling, giving him a slight headache.
Natasha decided to speak up, the girl's behavior striking her as odd, "Hey sweetheart. You want to get a shower?" she asked
Penny jumped at Nat's voice, almost landing herself in Peter's lap from the force of how hard she'd jumped; her cheeks reddened as she forced herself to sit on her hands.
"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you," she replied, the redflags starting to collect like a sad treasure trove in her mind.
Penny looked over at Peter to make sure it was okay to talk to her, she knew better than to talk to people without permission.
"You're okay Princess. This is Natasha Romanoff." the boy replied, offering her a small reassuring smile, a hint of sadness glinting in his brown eyes.
"O-Okay. H-hello Miss Romanoff," Penny looked down at her hands again, finding them more intriguing than before.
"Hey sweetheart, can I get your name?" the redhead asked, she'd yet to get the younger' girl's name other than the nicknames from Tony and Peter, which she didn't feel comfortable calling the younger girl.
"Y-Yeah, My name is Penny." the small teenager replied softly, still not looking up at the redhead.
"That's a pretty name." Natasha replied, smiling sweetly at the girl, she loved kids of all ages.
"Thank you Miss Romanoff."
"You can call me Nat sweetheart, you want to go get a shower and brush your hair?"
"Is that okay Pete?" Penny asked as she looked up at her brother.
"Of Course Princess. You don't have to ask for a shower. I'll see you when you finish. Okay?" he assured, patting her arm slightly making her flinch a little, a hurt expression creeping into his eyes.
"O-okay Pete. I'm sorry....just nervous...I um I love you." she replied, whispering the last part to herself.
Peter smiled and replied "I love you too princess," as he leaned down a little and kissed her forehead.
"Come on then sweetheart, let's get you a shower you can use my bathroom. Do you know where your things are?"
Penny shook her head and looked down at her hands once again.
"Her things are in my room." Peter responded.
"Okay, thank you Peter, come on Penny." she replied, motioning for the teenager to follow her
Penny stood up and followed Nat up the stairs to the third floor where the rooms were in the compound. She looked around at the large ceilings and the twenty rooms that branched off of the hallway, almost every door was decorated in some sort of way. She was wide eyed as she took everything in and looked around at all the doors, this place was huge. She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of Nat's voice.
"This is Peter's room." the redhead replied, motioing to a door that was a deep blue with a web-like design in the background behind large bubble letters that read Peter on it.
"Oh..okay,"
She quickly opened the door to her brother's large bedroom and looked at everything in the room, while she looked for her black bag. Peter's room was exactly how she expected it to look. There was a big bed in the middle with a blue and white comforter and pillows on it. The walls were lined with shelves of science trophies, legos, and models of science phenomena, she smiled knowing that he hadn't changed too much. Even the dresser was neatly organized, like when they were little. She smiled when she saw the picture of them when they were little. Her brown hair in pigtails and her smile where she was missing a few teeth. Peter's hair was messy and he was smiling as he carried her around on his back. She always loved that picture, it was taken at the beach a few weeks before her dad died. They were so happy then, she looked down and saw a note from Peter.
Since your room isn't ready yet I put your things in my dresser and the shower. I didn't know you had that picture of me, I forgot it existed. Love you princess and I'm glad you're here.
-Peter
She smiled a little and walked over the closet where her three other dresses were neatly hung up next to Peter's crisp, new looking clothes. She frowned to herself as she grabbed the nicest dress she owned. It was too big for her but it didn't have any holes in it like her other ones did, it was her newest one.
"Okay I- uh- I got m-my things Miss Romanoff," she said, not sure what to do with the woman in front of her as she closed the door behind her, making sure to kepe he distance from the woman, but not too much to where it was obvious.
"Okay sweetheart, my room is right across the hall." the redhead replied, opening the plain door that was behind her.
Penny walked over to Nat's room where Nat was waiting for her, the room was covered in red, white, and grey tones.
"The bathroom is right here," she said as she opened the door, walking into the room, "I already put a towel and washcloth on the counter for you. To work the knobs on the shower, you turn it right for it to be cold and left to get hot; if you'd like it room temperature, turn it slightly to the left."
"Oh...Thank you."
"No problem sweetheart." she replied, walking out of the bathroom and leaving the thirteen year old by herself.
Penny quickly got into the shower and stood there as the hot water washed over her. It felt good to finally get a shower after almost a week. Her aunt had locked the big bathroom's door so she could no longer get a shower as a punishment for being late from orchestra practice the previous week. That was one of the better punishments her aunt and only had for her when she did something wrong, or when they were just mad. She quickly shook her head trying to remove the memories from her mind, feeling panic trying to creep into her again; something she hated to feel because it was often so strong it was suffocating. After a few minutes, she got out of the shower and quickly dried off, changing into the red and white dress. When she opened the door to the bedroom, she noticed Nat sat on the bed holding a blow dryer.
"Do want me to dry your hair?" she asked.
Penny sat on the bed and thought about it for a few seconds why was this woman, who didn't even know her being so nice to her? "O-Okay,"
It took almost an hour for Nat to dry the teenager's hair since it was so thick and long; it fell in thick spirals down her back, almost swallowing her whole. As she was drying Penny's hair she noticed bruises once again on her neck and shoulders, some fresh while others looked a little older. The teenager flinched almost everytime she touched her, another red flag adding itself into the bundle of them that the redhead had collected in the short period of time she'd known the girl; Nat's brow furrowed as she finished drying Penny's hair. After she finished drying her hair, Nat picked up a brush and started brushing the knots out of Penny's hair, causing the teenager to flinch again as the brush touched her scalp; she whispered another apology, making the redhead feel bad for the girl obviously something was very wrong in this situation.
"There you go sweetheart," she announced as she finished brushing Penny's hair.
"Thank you, miss Romanoff." the teen replied softly.
Nat smiled at her, "You can call me Nat sweetie and it was no trouble."
"O-okay."
"Sweetie, your hair was really knotted. Do you have a brush?" she asked, hoping that what she was feeling in her gut wasn't true.
Penny got quiet and looked down at the bed not knowing what to say.
"Penny?" she called.
"N-No I don't.....my aunt and uncle wouldn't buy me one... said I didn't need one." she replied softly, her eyes falling to her lap.
"Oh, well we will get one okay?" she replied, with hair like this, they teenager definitely needed a brush.
Natasha automatically knew something was up from the way the girl acted when her aunt and uncle were mentioned and from how she reacted when she was touched. Why wouldn't they give the girl a brush or a comb, with hair like hers.....or at all? It needed a detangling brush or one that was made for her curls, it was neglect for the girl not to be able to do her hair. She finished finger combing the girl's hair, and frowned everytime she felt the girl's small flinches, when she touched her; the teenager was uncomfortably stiff in front of her, yet another sign that something was clearly off with the girl's family. After a few moments, she had finished putting back the blow dryer and cleaning out her brush and started to guide Penny back downstairs, since she didn't know where anything was. They made their way down stairs where they saw Peter sitting on the couch watching T.V., Penny ran the rest of the way and jumped on the couch next to Peter and hugged him tightly.
Peter smiled at his little sister, "Hey Princess, you have a good shower?" he asked, his fingers finding their way into her long locks.
"Mhmm,"
"That's good, your hair looks nice,"
"Th-Thank you. Miss Rom- er Miss Nat brushed it out for me."
"Okay, she did a good job," he replied, as he ruffled the top of her head a little bit much like everyone else did to him.
"Whatcha watching Pete?"
"The best movie ever made!"
"Is it still Star Wars?" she asked, remembering that her brother had always loved the franchise.
He smiled at her and nodded his head,"Yep. Wanna watch with me?"
Penny cuddled up to her brother and turned her attention towards the T.V.. Every now and then she'd look up at Peter and watch his reaction to the movie. She smiled as they watched the movie together, she had really missed her brother. The only time she ever got to see him was outside the school where she waited for her cousin to get out of school, and usually that was barely a glimpse of him for the most part. But that was just from the distance at school or it was just a quick glance at him as he walked past her, making his way towards the black SUV that was waiting for him and a group of other teenagers. She wasn't even allowed to talk to him then or her cousin would tell on her, it felt nice to see him in person, to hear his voice. She tried to talk to him once in middle school, when they'd gone to the same place temporarily, and when she got home, she'd faced the consequences from her uncle. Penny shivered at the thought of what her uncle would do to her if she ever went back there, what any of them would do if she ever went back.
"Romanoff!" Tony yelled, calling Natasha to the lab.
Peter felt his younger sister tense up next to him at the sound of Tony's voice being played in the room from JARVIS; he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to himself, feeling her relax slightly next to him as the redhead left the room.
"Yes Tony?" she asked, she was enjoying her time with the two siblings upstairs, even if she wasn't the biggest fan of the Star Wars franchise.
"Why don't you take the kiddo out to get some clothes. I'll pay for it. Peter told me her clothes are worn out and that they look too big for her and that she barely has any. Get her some shoes too, the ones she was wearing look like they're gonna fall off of her."
"Okay Tony, do you think she will go with me without Peter there?" she asked, she'd quickly realized that Peter seemed to be a safety net for the younger girl.
"I don't see why she wouldn't." the billionaire replied, he hadn't seemed to notice much about her behavior, then again he'd barely spent any time with her, "She's got nothing to be scared of. Besides she's talked to you the most next to Peter, barely said a thing to Happy once he got her out of the house."
"Okay, I'll go get her." the redhead replied.
"Good. I've already texted Peter."
"Okay Tony." Once upstairs, she had JARVIS pause the movie they were watching so she could speak to the girl, "Hey sweetheart, why don't you come to the mall with me?"
"Wh-Why?"
"To get you a few things. Like clothes, shoes, a hair brush; just things you need."
"Oh okay." Penny paused and looked at Peter, "Is that okay Pete?"
"That's okay Penny, you need some more clothes and just things in general."he replied, kissing her forehead again softly, "Go on, I'll be right here when you get back."
"Okay." she replied after pausing for a few seconds, Natasha wasn't sure that the girl would be too comfortable with her by herself, knowing that Peter wasn't around if she needed him.
Penny laced up her beat up old converse and followed Natasha down to the parking garage to her car. While they drove, Natasha tried to make small talk with Penny and eventually got her to talk to her a little more. They talked about what she did at school for the most part: Nat found out Penny played the violin, the piano, and the cello, and was trying to learn to play the flute. She also learned that Penny took dance at the school as well as joined the academic decathlon team at her middle school, much like Peter was on the one at MidTown. She realized that Penny was extremely smart for her age, like her brother, which explained why a thirteen year old was going to be in highschool and not in the eighth grade like almost everyone else her age. Nat asked about how living with her aunt and uncle was, but Penny never answered her; when that particular aspect of her life was brought up the teenager clammed up immediately. She noticed every time they were brought up she got quiet and started playing with her fingers in her lap, her fingers starting to shake a little while she fumbled the words out that it was okay. She had a feeling life wasn't as good as it appeared from the file she read on Tony's desk, the file was particularly thin, thinner than most files for kids her age and it was another thing that struck her as off; she'd had Tony start looking more into the girl and her time with the family while they were out, urging him that her gut was telling her that something was off. Finally they pulled in at the mall and got out of the vehicle. After walking around the store and buying three pairs of shoes, they stopped at a hair salon, the Natasha herself often went to with her own sister.
"Penny sweetheart?"
"Yes ma'am?" the teenager replied softly.
"Do you want to get your haircut?"
"Why do you not like it? Did Peter say something?" Penny's voice started getting smaller as she spoke.
"Of course not sweetie, I noticed when I was brushing your hair you had a lot of damage to the ends of your hair. If you cut it off, your hair will grow quicker and look healthier, it'll feel better."
"Okay, but only the bad parts please? I-I like my hair." the teenager replied, her brown eyes growing wider.
Natasha nodded and touched the back of the girls head, feeling her stiffen under her touch, "Whatever you want sweetheart, I promise."
"O-okay miss Roma- I'm sorry- Miss Nat..."she quickly corrected.
"It's okay Penny. I'm not mad at you. This will just look a little better Mmm? You're not in any trouble." she assured, she could tell that was the thought playing on the young teen's mind.
They walked in and Penny sat in the chair as Nat told them what Penny asked for. The woman smiled and started working on Penny's hair and talked to Penny a little bit. Natasha noticed as Penny didn't really answer the woman and just did what she told, moving her head as instructed and giving small responses. She took note that Penny never really spoke, she just sat there; she could tell she'd been trained to be that way over time, she could see that underneath everything that the girl's personality was almost exactly like Peter's just a little bit more timid. She noticed how quiet she was and how shy she seemed to be, it was sweet but the feeling in her gut told her that part of it wasn't just who the girl was, that it had been ingrained into her. After Penny finished getting her haircut, Nat took her to the clothing store, that she often went to with Kate and Yelena, she didn't think the younger girl would like the shops that Wanda preferred. Nat and Penny picked out clothes for Penny to try on; and Nat found some things for herself as well.
"Penny you can go first," the redhead replied, gently nudging the girl towards the dressing room.
"Okay Miss Nat." Penny smiled at Nat.
Penny was a little surprised with herself because she felt strangely safe around this woman she barely knew; which never happened. She'd learned from experience that most adults couldn't be trusted and just because they should be, it didn't mean that they were nice. Penny tried on a pink floral skirt and a white top to go with it and walked out of the dressing room, part of her seeking for the redhead's approval; she rarely went to the mall and didn't really know how she was supposed to look in clothes that fit her properly.
"Does-does this look okay Miss N-Nat?" she asked.
Natasha turned around, "Yes you look really pretty in that sweetheart." she replied, smiling at the young teenager.
"Thank you," Penny replied as her ears turned red.
She wasn't used to people complimenting her and felt a little embarrassed. Penny went back in the dressing room and tried on the rest of the clothes her and Nat had picked out. Everything she tried on fit well, better than anything she'd put on in a long time; and it felt nice to wear something that wasn't too big or too small- which was a rare occurrence- or something that had holes in it. Nat told her they could get everything that fit her if she liked it, which also took her by surprise, her aunt and uncle never let her get this much stuff, especially if it was new. After she changed back into her dress, she stepped outside of the dressing room where a shopping attendant took everything they were going to buy to the register and waited for Natasha to try on the things that she had picked out for herself.
"I'll wait right here, while you try your things on Miss Nat." she replied, she knew better than wandering off in the store.
"Okay sweetheart, I'll make it quick. If you'd like, you can look around at the other racks in the store, just don't wander off to far, I'd hate to lose you in this place."
"That's okay, you can take your time."
Penny stood outside the dressing rooms by a rack of clothes and looked at some things on the display case next to her, both of them close enough to where she didn't need to move from where she was standing. She got lost in her thoughts until she was interrupted by a voice behind her.
"Hello cousin." a cold greeting came.
Penny froze at the person's voice, now she wished she'd moved.