Sorry for not updating yesterday, I had a really bad migraine that messed with one of my disorders and I was stuck in the ER all night. I'm okay, but I have to see a neurologist (Yay....) But here is Thursday's chapter!
On a side note, I'm almost finished with Penny's character design, I'll probably upload it Sunday or Tuesday.
The group of girls ran inside with their bags once they returned to the compound. Penny wanted to see Peter first, but was quickly dragged upstairs by Wanda and Kate who declared that they should put their things away. They all took their bags into their rooms, and Penny dropped her bags off in Peter's room; when she asked if Peter was back, the man Peter often referred to as JARVIS told her that the fifteen year old wasn't home yet. The older two teens decided to get showers to wake themselves up; they were feeling tired and were sweaty from walking around the mall all day long. Penny decided on taking a longer shower after finding out that her brother wasn't back just yet. After stepping out of the shower, she dried off and grabbed a purple galaxy patterned dress off of the sink counter and slipped it on over her head. She pulled on a pair of socks and stepped out of the bathroom, slipping on a sweater and her flats before walking towards the stairs. When she reached the main floor, she found Nat talking to a little girl who was about seven or eight years old. The redhead was squatting down in front of the small, brunette girl talking to her when she saw the youngest teenager; she looked up at her and smiled softly, motioning for her to come over.
"Penny Sweetheart," she called as she motioned for her to come closer with her hand.
"Yes ma'am?" the teenager replied.
"I want you to meet Morgan," she announced as Penny walked over to them, the redhead was pulling the little girl with her.
"Hi," Penny announced to both of them as she stopped walking over to them, she waved slightly at the younger girl.
Morgan grinned at her and ran over to her hugging her waist, "Hi" she greeted, pushing her cheek against the girl's chest.
Penny froze for a second before she gingerly wrapped her arms back around Morgan, hugging her back, "Hi" she repeated, smiling at the little girl.
"I'm Morgan." the younger girl replied, "I'm eight." she announced.
"That's a pretty name," Penny replied, "My name's Penny."
"I know..." Morgan replied, excitedly as she looked up at the slightly taller girl.
"Really?" the teenager asked.
"Uh huh," she replied, nodding her head as she grabbed Penny's hand, "Peter talks about you a lot." she announced.
Penny paused, shocked a little, "H-he does?" she asked.
"Yeah, he says you're his little sister." the younger girl announced, swinging the teenager's arms slightly, "Is that true?" she asked.
"Yeah I am." Penny replied, smiling at her softly.
Morgan started to pull Penny over to the couch and sat down with, "I wish Peter was my brother," she announced to the older girl.
"You do?" she asked; she wasn't surprised that the younger girl liked her brother that much, the fifteen year old was very likeable.
"Yeah! Peter is the best." the younger girl replied, nodding her head.
"Yeah, Peter is the best..." she replied softly, "He can be your brother too if you want." Penny told her.
The younger girl grinned, "Okay...I like that." she announced, she looked up at the thirteen year old, with a pair of big brown eyes that were similar to hers, " Can you be my sister... if Peter is my brother?" she asked.
Penny grinned at her, she really liked the younger girl, "Yes, if you want."
The younger girl grinned and threw herself at the teenager and hugged her again "Yay!" she announced.
"Who are your parents?" Penny asked her, wondering who was responsible for the cute eight year old.
"My daddy is ironman!" Morgan announced proudly.
"That's cool, Mr. Stark is really nice." she replied, smiling softly
"Uh huh, my daddy is the best daddy in the world." the younger girl replied, grinning at the thirteen year old.
Nat smiled as Penny and Morgan talked with each other; Morgan was closer to the teenager in her first time talking to her than she'd ever been in the past two weeks. Penny seemed happy talking to Morgan; she smiled and laughed more when talking to the younger girl. Nat could tell that she also did not pause to think about what she was going to say before finishing what was going to come out of her mouth. She watched as Morgan took Penny's hand again and pulled her off of the couch, as she started leading her around the compound. The younger girl dragged her upstairs and down the fourth floor hall to the staircase that Penny had never noticed before. She pulled the younger teenager up the stairs behind her, talking about many different topics before they reached the penthouse floor. Penny quickly realized that this was Mister Stark's floor; there were several pictures of him and Pepper Potts with the young girl at different ages as well as ones with the young girl with Peter and the entire family with the doe-eyed boy. She paused for a few seconds when she noticed that there were a few pictures of her in the suite as well, she wondered when the billionaire had taken a few of them since some of them were current. One was with her and Peter from a few weeks ago, Peter had hugged her tightly from behind, both of them had large smiles on their faces. Morgan pointed at the picture, announcing that it was her before pulling her down the hall and pointing out every picture that had the thirteen year old or her brother in it. She stopped at a pale yellow painted door with large letters that spelled out the name "Morgan" in bright green and pink colors. Morgan pulled her into her room and showed her all her dolls and toys for almost an hour before showing her around the rest of the compound. Even though she'd been to most of the places that the younger girl had shower her, she enjoyed being with her. It was like having the little sister that she always wanted, especially when the younger girl kept calling her her sister with a large smile on her little face. When Morgan brought her back up the stairs from the second floor, she quickly let go of her hand and ran over to Kate who'd come down from her room, her t-shirt and jeans from earlier had been swapped out with a t-shirt and shorts.
"Katie!" she exclaimed loudly, hugging the older girl's legs.
"Hey Morgie," Kate announced as she picked the younger girl up, slightly swinging her around before placing her on her hip.
"I missed you." the younger girl replied, "You didn't come with Mommy and me from Californa," she announced, slightly mispronouncing the state's name.
Kate laughed slightly, "I missed you too Morgie, but I couldn't come with you this time. I had stuff to do with my family and Lena. What have you been doing today?" she asked.
"Mommy and me came back today and I played with daddy in the lab. He let me paint his suit with him." she announced.
"Really?" Kate nodded, she'd seen the iron man suits that had little handprints and finger marks from the younger girl, from when Tony let her help him paint the suits that weren't going to be used.
"Uh huh" she replied, nodding her head," and I played with Penny. We played with my dollies and I showed her the house." she announced.
"Was it fun?" she asked, grinning at the younger girl.
"Yeah, I like Penny." the little girl replied, waving at Penny who was behind her.
"Me too." Kate whispered in her ear; the blue-eyed teenager turned around to Penny who was still standing in the doorway of the third floor, "Come over here little P," she called, motioning for her to come forward with her head.
"O-okay Kate," Penny responded to her as she walked over to them.
"Hi sissie," Morgan greeted with a large wave.
"Hi Morgan," Penny greeted back, even though they were just together, she had a soft smile on her face at the young girl.
Kate grinned at the younger girl calling the teenager her sister.
"Are you staying for supper?" Morgan asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.
"Yeah, I'm staying," Penny responded softly.
"Guess what Morgie?" Kate announced, amusement clear in her voice as she adjusted Morgan on her hip as the younger girl started to slip down her side.
"What?" she asked, pressing her forehead against the older girl's.
"Penny lives here now." she replied softly, making the younger girl break out in a large grin.
"Really?!" she asked excitedly and looked over at Penny.
Penny nodded at the little girl, "Yeah I do."
"So when I come back, you're here?" she asked.
"Y-yeah, I'll be here;" the teenager replied.
Morgan leaned over to Penny and quickly hugged her, "That's good, I can see my sissie now," she announced, smiling as the thirteen year old held onto her waist while the younger girl transferred herself into the teenager's arms.
A few minutes later, Peter walked in with a grim expression on his face as he carried in his boxes from Aunt May's old apartment. He trudged up the stairs to his room and started putting his things away as he looked at the things from the apartment, carefully placing them in the small, empty spaces he'd created for them in his room. He started tearing up when he saw the picture of them at the science museum when he was twelve, it was an early birthday present for him since she couldn't get the day off; it was one of his favorite memories. Peter sat on the bed, slightly throwing himself down on the mattress, not carrying that he knocked a couple of his pillows off of his bed; he buried his head in his hands as he started crying, hot wet tears rolling down his cheeks. It had finally hit that she was gone, that she wasn't on a business trip and would be coming to the compound to pick him up, she was just gone...forever. There would be no more birthdays together, no more Christmases, she wouldn't be there for his graduation or when he got married; worst of all, she never got to see Penny again, the teenager who she'd fought so hard to see again. Penny would see Aunt May in the casket, but she'd never see her alive again and it wasn't fair to either of them. He felt guilty for getting to spend as much time with her as he did, and he felt guilty for not showing how much he'd loved her either; the guilt was eating at him. Peter stayed up in his room for a while as he cried, not wanting to upset Penny or any of his friends; he hated it when people saw him cry. Penny was finally starting to be happy, and he couldn't ruin it for her, not when the past few weeks had been a difficult adjustment for her, it was just unfair if he made her upset he thought to himself.
Penny had seen her brother come in with his boxes from where he and Aunt May used to live. She was waiting for him to come downstairs, but he never did. After thirty minutes, she decided to go upstairs to check on him, like he'd done with her for the past few weeks. Once she got to the door, she knocked on it softly, waiting for a response; when she got none, she quietly opened it to see him crying.
"P-pete?" she called softly, stepping into the room.
Peter quickly wiped the tears from his eyes and looked up at his sister, hoping she hadn't seen him crying, "Yes princess?"
She noticed his red eyes and flushed, puffy cheeks, "Why are you crying? Are you okay?" she asked.
"I..I'm okay princess." he assured her, rubbing his hand across his face.
She frowned, wishing he'd tell her the truth, "N-no you're not Petey," she whispered, pausing for a few seconds, ".....you're crying..." she added as she shut the door behind her and walked over to him.
"It's okay princess...." he whispered softly to her as he felt himself tearing up again.
Penny shook her head, walking over to her older brother who looked like his world was crumbling at the moment and sat down on the bed next to him, laying her head on his shoulder, "What's wrong Peter?" she asked quietly.
Peter paused for a few seconds, hesitating to tell her the truth.
She seemed to falter in her confidence and sighed softly, "You can tell me... if you want...I'm your sister...we tell each other everything....right?"
"It's hard...." he whispered finally, grabbing her hand with his own and tracing soothing circles on the back of it with his thumb, except this time it was more soothing for him than it was for her.
"Wh-what is Peter?" she asked, already knowing what he was talking about, but wanted him to tell her himself.
"Not seeing Aunt May, I just realized we're not going to see her again...." he mumbled, "I-I keep waiting for her to walk through that door...b-but she's not...sh-she's never going to walk through that door."
"I-i know Pete..." she replied softly as she squeezed his hand.
"I'm trying to be a strong princess, but it... it hurts." he cried softly; he moved his hand from hers and wrapped it around her waist, pulling her closer so he could bury his face in her hair. He just wanted her to be close at the moment, to hold the last bit of family he had left.
"Why are you trying to be strong, Peter? It's okay to feel sad...you always told me that after dad..." she whispered, carefully reaching up so she could run her fingers through his tangled curls, like he often did for her when she was upset or falling asleep.
"I want to be strong for you..." he mumbled into her hair, "I know it's hard for you princess, you were excited to see her but you can't....I didn't want you to see me upset. I just.....I miss her....but it hurts so bad..."
She sighed softly, slightly hating herself for making him feel like he had to be strong for her, not realizing that he would've felt that way regardless, "I know Pete...I miss her too. B-but it's okay to be sad...You don't have to worry about me, I can take it, Peter. You can't hold it all in, please....don't hide anything from me. Y-you always tell me not to keep it to myself when I feel scared or-or nervous....so please...j-just do the same for me?" she replied, the end of her statement sounding more like a question than a statement.
Peter felt guilty when he sat up slightly and looked at his little sister, who was being so sincere in trying to make him feel better. He hugged her, "I promise princess...sorry." he whispered.
Penny hugged her big brother back, tightly wrapping her arms around his torso, "Okay..." she replied softly; looking at her hands. She didn't want to see him so upset, and she knew he would feel bad if he saw she was crying too.
Peter noticed her sudden quietness, "What's wrong Princess?" he asked her, gently nudging her with his nose that was still pressed against her forehead from him hugging her. She looked up at him and he saw the teary expression on her face. "I'm sorry..." he apologized.
"For what?"
"Making you cry."
She shrugged, "Y-you didn't..." she replied, wiping away the traitorous tears that were starting to run down her face, "It's just....I can't lose you Pete....I don't have anyone...."
"What are you talking about, princess?" he asked, pulling back slightly so he could study her emotions.
"I have you...that's it. Everyone else is only nice to me because of you...."
"Wh-" Peter started, staring at his little sister, he stopped himself when he realized that she wasn't done talking.
"If-if something happens to me...you have Miss Nat and Mr. Stark...you have Wanda, Kate, and Pietro....you probably have Yelena too...."
"Princess...."
"Please don't leave me Peter....I don't want you to get hurt...or-or worse...e-everyone dies...a-and I don't want that to happen with you." she whispered, thick tears streaming down her face.
"Princess, look at me..." he said as he gently lifted her chin to face him, wiping the tears out of her eyes, "I'm not going anywhere, you're not going to lose me, just like I'm not going to lose you. Everyone here likes you because you're amazing and sweet and perfect in every way, not because of me. Kate and Wanda, they've been wanting to meet you for over a year. Nat likes having another girl in the house, she loves you princess. I didn't do that, Mr. Stark said it didn't matter that Aunt May died...he was going to bring you here because he said we should be together. He didn't send you back, because he likes you too, Princess. If something happens to me Princess, which it never will..." he promised, staring into her deep brown eyes to get his point across, "then everyone here will take care of you, because they love you almost as much as I do."
"They do?" she asked quietly.
He sighed softly, wishing she would see herself like he saw her; he hated that she saw herself as unlovable, especially when he loved her more than anything in the world, "Of course, princess; you're amazing. You're sweet and kind. You're smart, probably smarter than me," he told her as he hugged her tighter, "Nothing is going to happen to me. I promise."
"O-okay Pete..."
"I saw you with Morgan." he announced, deciding to change the subject before they went back downstairs.
"You did?" she asked, giving him a slightly puzzled expression.
"Yeah I did. She really likes you." he replied, nodding.
"Yeah she does, she likes you too." she replied with a small smile.
"I know..." he replied laughing, he could often be found carrying the eight year old around when he wasn't training, patrolling or doing something in the lab with Tony.
"She wants to know if you can be her brother too..."
"She does?" he asked, slightly surprised that the younger girl wanted him to be her brother; he'd always secretly saw her as another little sister.
The thirteen year old nodded, "Y-yeah, she said she wants you to be her brother. She already asked me if I could be her sister..." she replied.
"What did you say?" he asked, smiling softly at her; he knew that she would never be able to tell the younger girl no, no one really could.
"I told her I could share and that I always wanted a little sister." she replied.
"Well now you do and now I have two." he announced, gently ruffling her hair as he kissed her for head.
"Mr. Parker," a voice announced from somewhere in the room.
Penny's eyes went wide and she grabbed her brother's arm.
"It's a fine princess, that's JARVIS."
"Wh-who's JARVIS?" she asked, "I never see him, but I always hear his voice." she replied softly.
"Mr. Stark's AI system." he replied to her before addressing the system, "Yes JARVIS?" he asked.
"Boss has announced that dinner is here and that the both of you need to come downstairs before it gets cold."
"Thank you JARVIS." the teen announced.
"You're welcome Mr. Parker," the system replied before turning off.
Peter stood up and Penny followed him as they walked out of his room. Penny paused for a second causing Peter to turn around.
"What's wrong princess?" he asked
"Nothing..." she replied, but she still decided on announcing what was on her mind, "What's an AI system?" she asked, suddenly feeling stupid, how could she be a genius and not know what it was? she asked herself.
"Oh.. it's something Mr. Stark created; it stands for Artificial Intelligence. It's a computer that can talk to you as well as do things for you. It's really neat." the teenager replied, grinning at her.
"That sounds interesting... how does it know your name, Peter?" she asked, taking a few steps towards him.
"Mr. Stark programmed it that way, JARVIS knows everyone's name." he replied, shrugging slightly.
"Even mine?" she asked.
"Yep. Now come on" he replied, nodding his head as he lifted her up and put her over his shoulder, "Let's get dinner." he announced, "I'm starving."
Penny laughed as he carried her downstairs, "P-peter...put me down!" she giggled loudly.
"Okay," he told as he carefully set her down in the kitchen area, "As you wish princess." he teased.
She rolled her eyes at him playfully, making him smile; he enjoyed seeing her act like a kid.
"Finally," Tony announced teasingly, "I'm starved."
Penny felt guilty, "I'm sorry Mr. Stark." she replied softly.
His grin faltered, "It's fine kiddo," he told her, "I'm just teasing you two."
"Oh..." she replied, her ears reddening slightly, now she felt really stupid.
Everyone sat down at the table where the dishes of food were set out, everything looked delicious. Morgan quickly ran over to Penny and pulled her towards where Kate was sitting.
"Sit with me Penny!" she announced excitedly, pulling out the chair with one hand while maintaining a grip on the brunette's hand.
"O-okay," she replied to her as she sat down next to Morgan.
Peter sat next to Penny, smiling to himself as Morgan excitedly pulled her down to the chair. The three brunets made the billionaire smile to himself, he was glad that they got along well; he'd been worried that his daughter would be a little much for Penny, but it turned out that he was wrong. The billionaire was sitting across from the three of them when he stood up and pulled out a chair for a strawberry-blonde woman who walked in.
"Sorry honey," she announced, gently kissing Tony on the cheek, "the company had a longer meeting than we expected. Sorry I had to leave as soon as I got back."
"It's fine Pep, you're just in time for dinner." the billionaire replied patiently, returning the kiss that she'd given him.
Pepper sat down as Tony pushed her seat forward and sat down next to her, handing her a bowl of green beans while he asked her about her day. After she told him how the meeting went she looked over at Morgan, who was seated across from her, "Were you good for Daddy while I was gone?" she asked.
"Uh huh." the little girl announced, emphatically nodding her head.
"That's my girl," she replied smiling sweetly at the eight year old.
Penny carefully watched the woman, not knowing what to say to her or how to act around her.
"Princess," Peter nudged her gently, "This is Ms. Potts, Mr. Stark's wife." he whispered, leaning over to whisper in her ear, "She runs the company."
"H-hello Ms. Potts," Penny greeted her, offering the strawberry-blonde a slight wave.
She smiled at her, "Hello sweetie, you can call me Pepper."
"Yes ma'am.." she replied nodding her head slightly.
"You must be Penny," she announced, the smile still plastered on her face; Penny couldn't tell if it was genuine or if it was a really good fake and it made her slightly nervous.
"Yes ma'am..." she replied, her response barely above a whisper as she nodded her head slightly.
"I'm glad you're finally here." the woman announced, "May and Peter talk about you all the time, I feel like I've known you for a long time." she replied.
"Th-thank you." Penny replied, she shifted slightly in her chair.
"Are you settling in well?" the woman asked, maintaining eye contact with her as she scooped a large spoonful of Nat's mashed potatoes onto her plate, "If not, let me know and I'll try to help anyway I can. Anything you need, you can come to me." she offered.
"I'm settling in okay, thank you for asking," the brunette teenager replied quietly, she grew quiet and shifted around again in her chair. "B-but I'll keep your offer in mind." she added quickly, not wanting to seem rude; she flashed the strawberry-blonde a slightly shaky smile.
Everyone talked amongst themselves during dinner. Pepper asked how the missions were going, and looked over at Penny who was quietly picking at her food every now and then. After dinner all the teenagers went into the living room and started watching a movie after Pietro quickly cleared off the table. Morgan, followed behind them and climbed into Kate's lap, the blue-eyed girl was sitting next to Penny who was quietly tucked under Peter's arm. Their laughing voices carried over to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Nat noticed Pepper's confused expression, "What's wrong Pep?" she asked as they finished cleaning off the table, the two women were quite close and the redhead could often read the older woman's expression like a book.
"I don't think Penny likes me." the blue-eyed woman announced quietly.
"What are you talking about?" the redhead asked, giving her a questioning expression.
"I don't know..." the CEO replied, "she didn't really look at me during dinner. She didn't speak much either... Did I do something wrong Nat?" she asked softly, a small frown tugging down at the corner of her lips, "It's almost like she's scared of me or something."
"You didn't do anything Pepper, I promise." the younger woman replied, placing a gently hand on the strawberry-blonde's forearm, "She just needs to warm up to you, Penny likes everyone. She's just shy and is skittish around new people."
Pepper looked at her and furrowed her brow slightly, "Why? That's not well- that's not exactly well...normal." she replied.
"Tony didn't tell you?"
Pepper placed her glass down, "Tell me what?" she asked.
Natasha rolled her eyes, "Of course he didn't." she replied, slightly shaking her head in annoyance, she didn't feel like it was her place to mention the topic of the woman's foster daughter's abuse, but seeing as how Tony hadn't and probably would forget until it was too late, she decided she better do it. She sighed softly, "We found out that her Aunt and Uncle were hurting her..." she replied softly, "don't take it personal if she's scared of you. She's scared of almost everyone....even of Peter sometimes..."
"Oh...the poor girl." Pepper whispered softly, her confused frown turning into a slightly sorrowful one.
"She's doing a bit better now though," Nat told her as she gave her a reassuring smile, she didn't want the woman to be too worried about the teenager, "She'll be used to you in a few days; it just takes time.... Just be patient with her." she replied softly.
The redhead nodded, her expression full of understanding, "Thanks Natasha..." she paused for a second before speaking up, "Is there any way we can help her?" she asked.
"I don't know...I thought of therapy, but she doesn't trust doctors." the redhead replied.
"Why not?"
"They never helped her..." Natasha replied, pausing for a few seconds before continuing her response, "They looked over all the signs, which enabled her aunt and uncle to continue abusing her. She doesn't think that they'll help her any...she's a little scared of them frankly."
"Lord..." the woman muttered.
The redhead patted the older woman's arm softly, "Peter and I have been trying to convince her to go, but it's been a bit busy around here because of everything." she replied, chuckling dryly.
"Let me know if I can help." Pepper replied.
"Sure..." the green-eye twenty-six year old replied, "But she's your daughter now." she laughed dryly, "You and Tony do what's best for her, I'm just here to help the two of you."
Pepper smiled softly at her, "You're always helpful Nat."
After the two women finished their conversation, they went into the living room where the kids were watching T.V.. However, when they got there Pietro and Peter were the only ones awake. The two women laughed as they saw Wanda curled up next to Pietro as he rested his hand on her back and played with her red colored locks of hair with his free one; the younger one of the set of twins had her arm thrown over his torso and her head on one of his shoulders. They looked over at the couch to see Kate asleep with Morgan, Kate's head was laid back on the couch and her mouth was open. She was slightly snoring as Morgan lay asleep on her lap, tucked into the crook of Kate's arm, while cuddling into her under the blanket. Looking over at Peter, they noticed Penny asleep with her head resting on Peter's shoulder as his arms were wrapped around her, holding her halfway in his lap while he watched the movie; the fifteen year old's chin was pressed gently on the top of her head.
"Okay," Pepper laughed, "I think it's time you boy's went to bed too." she told them as she gently lifted Morgan from Kate's lap causing her to groan.
Peter lifted his sister's head off his arm and stood up, gently placing her head back down on the couch.
"Kate," he whispered, shaking the slightly older teenager, "let's go to bed."
"No..I'm not...tired..." she told him, half asleep.
"Yes you are, you slept through the whole movie." he whispered to her as he grabbed her arms and pulled her up into a standing position.
"I'll take her upstairs." Nat said she took Kate's arms and started guiding her up the stairs to her room. Kate was now almost walking on her own when Nat helped her into bed and shut the lights off before coming back down the stairs.
Down stairs, Pietro lifted his sister up from the recliner, carrying her bridal style in his arms before he started to walk to the stairs. "This was easier when she was Penny's size," he whispered to Peter.
Peter looked down at Penny who was asleep in his arms, he laughed quietly, "I don't mind it," he replied, smiling.
"Guess, it's a big brother's job," Pietro announced, slightly shrugging as he let out a short laugh.
The two boys took their sister's upstairs, both carrying them to their respective rooms. Pietro carried his sister to her bedroom which was across the hall from his, the lamp was still lit in her room. He noticed the different school supplies laid out on her desk and rolled his eyes as he placed her gently down in her bed. He pulled off her slippers and wrapped her up, gently kissing her good night before walking over to her lamp and twisting its little knob.
"Good night Wands," he whispered as he closed the door behind him, slipping across the hallway to his own room.
Peter took Penny to Nat's room, where Nat helped him get her to bed. After he set her down softly in the redheaded assassin's bed he brushed the teenager's hair out of her face.
"Good night Peter," the redhead announced, as she leaned against her dresser.
"Good night Nat, sleep well." he bade.
"Thank you, I will." She told him, smiling softly at the boy.
Peter leaned over to Penny and gently kissed her forehead, "Good night princess," he whispered, "sleep well."
***TIME SKIP***