Two weeks later, Penny was following Pepper and Peter through the mall like she'd done a mere couple months ago. Morgan was next to her and had a tight grasp on the thirteen year old's hand as she skipped along next to her. It was now September and the colder weather was starting to blow in. Pepper had decided to get her three children some clothes that matched the weather. They all needed something to wear in the colder months that were coming. Penny had nothing for the weather other than a few thin sweaters and her brother didn't fare much better. Peter had now gained enough weight from his improved diet and meal schedule that he no longer fit the small clothes he used to wear; the only things that really fit him now were a couple of long-sleeved shirts that had been his uncles and a few sweaters that he wore year round. Morgan had a similar problem, the eight year old had gone through a couple growth spurts since the past winter and no longer fit into the clothes she could wear the previous year. Peter was talking to the strawberry blonde about what he was currently doing in his classes and was trying to help her schedule a floor plan for them to get in and out of the mall as quickly as possible. The CEO wasn't wearing a disguise like the others usually did, her and Natasha were the only ones that seemed not to care about themselves being recognized . However the woman didn't want the four of them to be swarmed by photographers when she eventually would get noticed, so she was trying her best to make sure they slipped in and out. Peter slowed his pace to where he was now matching the pace of the younger girls and slipped his hand into Morgan's and began swinging his arm back and forth gently. Morgan giggled at him and picked up her pace in her skipping causing the two teenagers to speed up a little so she wouldn't trip.
Pepper paused and turned back to look at them. "Alright, we already know where Morgan wants to go." she announced.
The eight year old nodded her head quickly. "Uh huh."
Pepper chuckled, "Where do you two want to go?" she asked the two teens.
"I'm okay with anywhere Pepper." Peter responded softly while he shrugged his shoulders.
"I know you say that but the second we go into somewhere like Nordstroms or Bloomingdales, you won't pick anything out. Where would you like to go?"
"Umm I guess Macy's or Hot Topic, Wanda says they have really cool stuff." he announced.
"I guess they do, what about you sweetpea? Where do you want to go?" the blue-eyed woman asked.
"Hot Topic sounds nice and maybe Rue Twenty-one or Plato's, they usually have stuff that fits me."
The woman nodded, "Okay then, and we're stopping for more shoes."
Peter groaned a little, he hated shoe shopping.
"Don't groan Pete," the woman chided, "Morgan's basically outgrown her tennis shoes and her other shoes, and you and Penny only have sneakers."
"I-I have some flats and sandals," the younger Parker sibling responded
"And I like my converse," Peter responded, slightly poking out his bottom lip.
The woman narrowed her eyes slightly at the boy and pursed her lips; she hated it when the tried to talk her out of getting him things he needed, "They aren't waterproof and they won't keep your feet warm. We're getting you two some warm, winter shoes. Probably some boots." she replied, her tone showing that there was no room for argument.
Penny nodded, "Okay, Miss Pepper, whatever you think is best." she replied.
"Thank you sweetpea," the strawberry blonde responded with a faint smile.
Penny for the most part stopped calling her Miss Potts and now called her Miss Pepper, it made her happy at the progress she felt they were making. She'd also slipped up a couple times and called Natasha Nat without a miss in front of it, which had thrilled the redhead. She'd also started calling Steve Captain Rogers, Bucky Mister Bucky, and Sam was Mister Sam instead of referring to them as Mister Barnes and Mister Wilson. Clint, and Tony were still referred to by their last names, but Pepper and Natasha were pretty sure that it was because that's what Peter called them, so the younger girl stuck with it. After an hour, they walked out of the last store that Morgan had wanted to go to to get her clothes. The eight year old had also managed to convince Pepper to get her a stuffed Spider-man plushie to add to her collection of stuffed animals. She was holding the figure by his arm as Peter carried her around after she started to get tired of walking. Penny noticed the different treatment they all received compared to their other mall visits. When she'd come with the girls and Natasha, they were treated a little better because the redhead was recognized by a few store clerks and owners. With Steve, they were mostly ignored in the stores considering the man had worn a disguise the entire time and had struggled to keep the reins in on the group of teens. But with Pepper it was different, everyone recognized the strawberry-blonde. Store workers walked up to them constantly and offered help, they took the things that they were going to purchase to the front and held them until Pepper paid for them before taking them out the car for them. It was like they were royalty with the strawberry-blonde. Eventually they reached a store that they'd gone to the last time with Steve, Peter ended up getting most of the clothes he needed from the store. Most of them consisted of thicker flannel shirts, soft long-sleeved shirts, several sweaters, and some more pairs of jeans. His new wardrobe was basically whisked away by the time they had paid for the clothes. At the register, Peter picked Morgan back up and she wrapped her arms around his neck while he balanced her on his hip. The eight year old tucked her head into the crook of his neck and Peter used his free hand to grab Penny's hand as they pushed through the crowds. Hours later, they finally finished shopping. Penny had gotten some more sweaters, long-sleeved shirts and dresses and a few pairs of overalls. She'd ended up with more shoes than she'd planned. Originally she had picked out a pair of black combat boots and a pair of gray knee high ones, when Pepper realized the girl liked them and she'd gotten more in other colors. Peter selected two pairs of boots, a brown pair and a black pair saying it was all he needed and that he'd probably still end up wearing his sneakers anyway. His comment had gotten him a couple glares from Pepper and she fussed at him for not keeping himself warm enough. By the time she'd finished fussing at him he was sheepishly rubbing the toe of his shoe in the carpet and his cheeks were a bright red. Morgan had only wanted a pair of bright pink rain boots, which Pepper gave in and bought for her along with another pair of tennis shoes that were exactly the same as the eight year old's old ones. Later on they found themselves in the food court sitting at a table in a corner waiting for the chinese food that they'd ordered. Peter and Penny were sitting across from Pepper who was holding a half-asleep Morgan in her lap. They had four hot chocolate's sitting in front of them.
"Are you two ready for tomorrow?" she asked, slowly sipping on her hot chocolate
Peter slowly nodded, he was ready for the day but he was by no means looking forward to it.
Penny nodded slowly, she wasn't looking forward to bringing up her past with a perfect stranger, "Yes ma'am." she replied softly.
The blue-eyed woman offered her a small smile, "I'm very proud of you sweetie, it takes a lot of courage to do what you're doing tomorrow."
"Thank you...are you sure it will help?"
Pepper nodded slightly, "I know it will help. Your testimony will make sure that you never have to go back there again, sweetpea. Mister Layne is very effective at what he does, he's never lost a case and this one is an open and shut one. Once he gets your testimony, everything should fall into place." she announced, giving he uneasy thirteen year old a reassuring smile.
Penny took a sip from her cup, "W-what will happen to them?" she asked quietly.
"To who princess?" Peter asked, giving her younger sister a slightly confused look.
"Uncle Brad and Aunt Lisa, to Brad..."
Pepper gave the teenager a soft smile and reached across the table with her free hand, placing it gently on top of the younger girls. She knew that the younger girl still cared about the three of them, even if they tortured her for the majority of her life; it was just who the girl was.
"You're Aunt and Uncle might go to jail for what they did. I know you don't want anything to happen to them, but what they did to you was wrong and they deserve to face the consequences of their actions. They should have never treated you that way. Not only were they neglectful, but they were abusive sweetpea, they put your life at risk several times in several different ways. They deserve what will happen to them."
"And Brad?" the thirteen year old asked, blinking her eyes slightly as she talked about the teen who tortured her at school.
"It depends on what all he did. He might go to juvy for helping them, but since he's only sixteen, they will probably have him go under counseling, nothing that won't benefit him in the future."
"Oh..." Penny whispered softly, slightly nodding her head as she listened to the woman's words.
Pepper gently tapped on the girl's hand with her index finger, "Pietro mentioned he's in one of your classes, does he bother you at all?"
The thirteen year old shook her head, "N-No ma'am, he kind of ignores me." she lied.
The woman smiled, "Well that's good, if he is bothering you let someone know, no need to keep it to yourself. That goes for both of you, is that boy still bothering you Peter?" she asked, her tone slightly shifting as she mentioned Flash.
Peter quickly shook his head, "No, he stopped."
Penny cut her brother a look saying that he was lying.
"Yelena told Natasha that he still calls you that awful name." the blue-eyed woman countered.
Peter shrugged, "That's all he really does, Pep, it's fine. He doesn't do the other stuff anymore. Pietro stopped that."
"Good, if I need to I'll go down there myself," the woman replied.
Peter's eyes widened and he was about to speak up when one of the workers at the restaurant brought out the group's food. They all thanked the waitress and started dividing out their plates when he decided to speak up.
He continued to shake his head emphatically, "No, no, no. No need to go mama bear Pepper. Everything is okay at school."
"Mama bear?" Penny asked quietly.
"Early last year your brother was being bullied severely, whenever he tried to report it or when he'd finally told your Aunt about it he ended up getting in trouble for it because they didn't have the financial means to make things happen at school."
"Like what?"
"Like that boy getting in trouble for what he was doing to Peter and some other students." Pepper replied, a slightly scowl on her face as she put salt on her food.
Peter sighed a little and slouched in his seat, remembering what his foster mother had done, "Pepper basically went down to the school and set up a meeting with Mister Moretta, she threatened to sue if nothing was done about it."
Penny looked at Peter, slightly tilting her head to the side, "Did it work?"
"It seemed too. That boy got in trouble like he should, Peter stopped getting physically assaulted by him and the rates of bullying in the school dropped by eight percent."
"But I thought you and Mister Stark kept a low profile..." the younger teen replied.
"We do," Pepper replied softly, "we made the school sign confidentiality contracts about my visit. As far as they knew, Peter was an intern at our company and we'd noticed his injuries when he came to work every day. Tony was concerned for his personal intern, who was like family to him."
Peter had a faint smile on his face.
The strawberry-blonde looked up at the two teenager, "You two are our family, and I promise to do everything in my power to do everything right by the two of you." she replied softly, she cleared her throat, pushing away the emotions that were trying to through her voice, "You better eat your food before it starts going cold. Cold Chinese food isn't that good.'' she announced.
The two smiled at each other and started diving into their late lunch.
Pepper ended up putting Morgan's food in a to-go box in order to save it for the eight year old for later. The eight year old was currently hugging the stuffed Spider-man doll to her chest with her eyes closed. She was curled up in her mother's lap with her head resting against her chest. Soft snores were escaping the eight year old while the three ate their meal. Peter sneakily picked up his phone and started taking pictures of the woman and her daughter. Pepper smiled at him, she had taken a picture of the two siblings at the same time that Peter had taken his. Her picture showed Penny with a large smile on her face while she looked at Peter. She had a loving expression in her eyes, while she looked at him; it gave her a warm feeling in her chest. Peter had a similar smile on his face, the two looked extremely similar at the moment. Both their eyes had the same twinkle of light in them and their chestnut brown locks were falling into their eyes. Peter's impish grin made him look younger while he held his phone up in order to take a picture of her and Morgan. He looked closer to Penny's age now that the thirteen year old didn't look so thin and sickly; their similarities didn't stop at their looks. At the moment both were wearing blue and white flannel shirts and jeans, if Pepper hadn't known any better, she would've thought they were twins. They soon finished their meal, Peter walked over to Pepper and picked up Morgan in order to help carry the eight year old out to the car. Pepper thanked him and gave him a small smile before picking up her purse and Morgan's lunch. Peter carried Morgan out to the car, while Pepper held Penny's hand to keep the thirteen year old from getting swept up in the crowd. Once they reached the car, Pepper opened the door and Peter slid Morgan into her booster seat before bucking her up and placing her stuffed animal into her arms. Penny climbed into the back seat next to the little girl and held her small purse in her lap. Peter sat in the front seat with Morgan's lunch in his lap and Pepper's purse on his feet.
Hours later, Penny lurched awake, she sat up quickly and started looking around her room. Where was she? Her lights turned on to a dim setting. She rubbed her hands across her face and glanced around the room again before realizing that she was at the compound. Her chest hurt, it felt tight like something was sitting on top of her. She couldn't breathe. Her breaths felt like they were getting tighter and tighter as she glanced around the room. She was trying to calm herself down, but it was failing. Okay, five things she can see: her hands, her blankets, her teddy bear, the wall, her phone. Breathe out....breathe in, hold....four things she could feel: the soft blankets, her hair rubbing her arms and around her neck...how it felt like it was choking, suffocating even, how hot it felt in her room -Was it always this hot in here?-....How tight her chest felt, like she couldn't breathe. Her breathing started becoming more and more shallow, she couldn't focus on the technique Tony had shown her. It wasn't working, so she reached for the inhaler next to her and shakily grabbed it before pulling the cap off and taking a puff and letting out a ragged breath. She need help, but she stayed paralyzed in her bed before hastily grabbing her hair and tying it up on her head, in an effort to stop feeling like it was suffocating her.
"Miss Parker, you are experiencing a severe panic attack. Would you like me to contact someone?"
She jumped in her position at the AI's sudden announcement, "N-no...I'm okay..." she breathlessly replied.
"Would you like me to help you through some breathing strategies to reduce your symptoms?"
Penny shook her head, she couldn't find the words at the moment to voice her opinion.
"Very well, but due to the "Baby Parker Protocol", I will be forced to contact Agent Romanoff or the boss if your condition persists for more than the next fifteen minutes."
Penny held up a shaky thumbs up towards the ceiling.
Finally, she managed to pry herself out of her bed, the cold tile of her floor, sending a chill through her body. She started crossing people off of the list she'd go to. She couldn't go to Peter, he'd be worried and he'd end up not sleeping after he helped her. Her brother didn't sleep much at night, she often woke up to hear her brother getting a shower-which was usually a little after midnight. So Peter was out of the question, she knew Wanda often suffered from nightmares, so she couldn't bother the redhead without feeling more guilty than she already would. She wouldn't bother Pietro either, because he often helped his sister with her nightmares and he needed to sleep. Kate was hard to wake up this early in the morning and if she talked to Natasha, she would definitely end up telling Miss Pepper or Mister Stark. That left Lena; she forced herself across her room, her vision swimming as she opened the door. In her current state, she couldn't remember where the blonde's room was. Was it across from her room, or was it a few doors down? She couldn't remember, she felt herself stumbling across the hall towards a door and started knocking lightly.
"L-Lena? A-Are you a-awake?" she called, her words feeling like they were getting stuck in her throat.
Sam was pulled out of his deep sleep by knocking at his door. His thoughts immediately were pulled to Bucky, who often woke up about this time from his nightmares. He threw himself up out of his bed and tugged a t-shirt down over his head. He paused for a second, realizing that the door wasn't shaking as it was being knocked on; usually the door shook under the force of the super-soldier's half-frantic knocking. He slowly walked across the room to his door, about to put his hand on the doorknob when a voice carried through the door.
"L-Lena? A-Are you a-awake?" a small, shaky voice came through his door.
This wasn't Bucky.
He threw the door open, wondering who was at his door at this time in the morning when he recognized the person as Peter's little sister. By the dim lights in the hall, he could see she was pale and her brown eyes were frantically darting around the hall and his room. Her breaths were coming in quick, shaky breaks and her hands were trembling as she pulled at her shirt by her neck.
He frowned, "Are you okay kid?" he asked, recognizing the signs of a panic attack.
She looked at him, guilt immediately crept into her eyes, "S-Sorry to bo-bother you Mister Sam, I-I thought this w-was Lena's room," she replied, taking in a shallow, wheezy breath after she spoke.
His frown deepened, "It's fine," he replied quietly, leaning against his door frame, "Are you sure you are okay, baby girl?" he asked
"Y-Yeah....I-I just need L-lena," she replied, her eyes were glazing over as her breathing grew more and more shallow.
He opened the door to his room fully and propped it open with his shoe. She definitely wasn't okay.
He reached out to touch her in an effort to calm her down when she flinched back from him, "Why don't you come in here kid?" he asked.
She shook her head, "I-I don't want...want to b-bother you." she replied, slightly wheezing.
He eyed the blue inhaler that was gripped in her other hand, "Are you having another asthma attack baby girl?" he asked gently, holding his hand out to her.
She shook her head, her brown eyes darting around the room still.
Panic Attack, his brain whispered to him, "Okay, I can help with this," he announced, slightly motioning for her to come in, "Come on in, I'll leave the door open if you want. I know how to help with this."
She seemed to consider the thought before nodding her head as if she was agreeing with him.
He reached out to bring her in and she flinched once again, he frowned and held his hands up in surrender, remembering what he'd learned from Bucky almost two months ago, "Okay...sit on this chair for me baby girl." he replied, motioning towards a large desk chair behind him.
She slowly walked in and sat down before pulling her knees up to her chest, her whole body was trembling.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"I-I can't breathe...I-i dont w-want to go back....d'don't don't send m-me back....pl-please...."
He nodded and knelt down in front of her, he refrained himself from placing his hands on her arms like he did with Bucky, who usually relaxed into the touch; he could tell that she'd have the opposite reaction based on her flinches when he reached out to her, "Can you tell me five things you can see?" he asked calmly, trying to keep his voice steady so he could get her to calm down, even if it was a slight amount.
"I-I tried that al-already...i-it didn't work," she replied, shaking her head, as a stray tear slipped down her cheek.
He nodded patiently, "Okay...but let's try it again." he replied softly, pausing before motioning towards her inhaler that was still gripped in her hand, "But I need you to take a puff off of that inhaler for me. Can you do that baby girl?"
"Y-Yeah...." she replied as she tried to pull of the cap from the container, she kept failing because of how bad her hands were shaking.
He reached his hand out to her, "Here let me help,"
She handed the blue inhaler to him and he gently took it from her before he removed the cap. He handed them both back to her, waiting for her to take a puff off of it before he tried to help her with the panic attack she was having. She shakily brought it up to her lips and sucked in a puff of the medication. After holding it in for a few seconds and shakily letting go, she buried her face into her knees.
He offered her a large smile, "Good, that's a little better. Now tell me five things you can see." he repeated.
She slowly nodded her head, "Um....I-I can see m-my hands...y-your hands....the....the floor, ummm your slippers an-and my knees.....That's five..." she whispered, then looked up at him, "That's f-five right?" asking if she was right.
He nodded at her, "Yeah that's five...Four things you can feel?" he asked softly.
"Four things...I can feel...um my cl-clothes, the tightness in m-my chest...."
He quickly interrupted her, "No, no, no." he called softly, holding up his hand a bit, "Try not to list things that can make you feel like this. It will only make things worse, try things that will distract you." he encouraged.
She nodded slowly, "O-Okay...I-I'm sorry M-Mister Sam." she whispered.
"Don't apologize., three more things you can feel baby girl," he reminded softly.
"Umm...uh, the chair. I-It's soft, ummm my breaths? A-and um my inhaler." she replied.
He could see the terrified yet exhausted expression in her eyes, "Good, good, you're doing great," he replied, giving her a reassuring smile, "Three things you can hear."
"I can hear your voice....a-and my v-voice and someone...snoring?" she asked, slowly looking up at him with a confused expression.
A small grin formed on his face, "That's Bucky next door," the man replied with a small chuckle, "two things you can smell."
"I can....can smell lavender?" she asked questioningly.
"Yes you do, it helps me sleep," he replied motioning over to the dispenser on his bedside table, "one more?'
"Oh...I can smell Peter's shampoo on my shirt." she replied, she pulled the fabric up to her face, taking a deep breath of the smell.
She'd stolen another NASA shirt from him when hers was being washed, the shirts usually helped her sleep better.
He nodded, "Okay, that's good. Now one last thing, one thing you can taste." he replied.
"The residue of my inhaler." she replied softly.
Sam smiled and nodded his head. He'd taken tone of how her breathing had slipped back into a normal, even pace, a good sign "Perfect. How are you feeling now kid?" he asked.
She looked up from her knees, "B-Better...I can breathe again," she replied, she sounded relieved.
"That's good. You want to talk about what caused it?"
She started twisting the hem of her shirt in her fist.
He took it as a sign that it made her uncomfortable, "Almost all of us have them....You're not the only one baby girl," he offered, "You know Bucky?" he asked quietly.
She numbly nodded her head
"He has one almost every night, he has really bad nightmares that cause them. A flashback if you will. Tony has them from bright flashes of light or if there is complete darkness. That's why there is a night mode in the compound, its why there are small lights in all the halls. Natasha has them sometimes and so does Steve. I'm sure you've seen your brother have one, I've been told you're pretty good at helping him. Wanda and Yelena have them too, their backgrounds make it more likely that they'd have them and PTSD episodes. Pietro has them too, I'm pretty sure at least. He doesn't mention them to anyone, but you can always tell by the eyes..." he replied softly.
She nodded her head.
He offered her a soft smile, "That's part of my job, I'm a therapist baby girl. It's my job to help you...What you tell me won't leave this room unless you tell me you're going to hurt yourself."
"O-Okay," she replied hesitantly.
"So, do you want to talk about it? It helps most of the time." he replied, trying to coax her into talking about it.
"I-I had a nightmare," she finally replied, her voice was almost a whisper, making it difficult for him to hear her.
"Do you mind going into detail?" he asked, reaching out to give her a reassuring pat on the arm.
She flinched again and shrank slightly into herself, "It was m-more of a memory in a dream..." she replied, hugging her knees.
He retracted his hand. Bucky had told him that new people made her nervous and that she'd had a pretty rough childhood; the therapist in him had slowly but surely started placing the pieces together.
She took a deep breath and slowly breathed it out, "From when I was younger...it was a few years ago...M-My aunt was on a business trip, leaving me with my u-uncle and my cousin....I-I don't remember what I did. But I know I did something, b-because he had th-the belt with...with the studs on it. He never wore it, s-said h-he didn't want to mess u-up a perfectly g-good belt.... it was mainly used f-for me...when I messed something up o-or I did something...I-I always did something..." she whispered.
Sam took a steadying breath and absorbed the new information, his theories starting to become cemented, "What...What happened?" he asked.
She sighed lightly, "I-I don't remember what I did but h-he had the belt. I was on the floor again and he was standing th-there with it in his hand. H-He kept swinging it over and over again....it-it hurt s-so bad. So bad...." she whispered, hugging her knees up to her chest, "b-but that was because he used the studs on the outside because he...he said it taught m-me better. Then h-he was kicking me over and o-over again and I couldn't breathe a-anymore. I-I was bleeding and everywhere hurt and B-Brad was laughing at me. He always found it f-funny and the he p-put me in the...the closet. I-it was s-so small and d-dark, I-I hated that closet....and then I woke up.....a-and I-I didn't remember where I-I was and I thought th-that he was coming back and I-I was stuck. I-I coul...I couldn't get out." Her voice was trembling and there were tears in her eyes as she shook her head.
Sam noticed her breaths were starting to grow shallow again. "You're not there baby girl...okay?" he announced, slowly reaching out to her but retracting it when he thought about her earlier reactions to his touch, "You are here at the compound and you're safe. No one will hurt you here, kid and they won't let anyone ever hurt you. I need you to take a deep breath or you're going to throw yourself into another panic attack."
She nodded and took a deep breath then slowly released.
He nodded, "Good." he replied softly, "Take another one...you're not there, okay?"
She followed his instructions and nodded her head.
He leaned a little closer to her, barely enough for her to register, "Repeat after me, You are not there. You're safe."
"I'm not there...I-I'm safe." she whispered.
"Again." he called, he was going to make her repeat the phrase until she wasn't stumbling over her words any more.
"I'm not...I'm not there...I'm safe." she repeated again.
He nodded, "Again please." he called
She took another deep breathe and nodded her head repeating those five words eight more times before she stopped stumbling over them. Her voice slowly stopped shaking and she seemed to calm down every time she repeated what he said.
"There you go kiddo." he announced after the last time.
"Th-Thank you," she replied. "I'm sorry I woke you up Mister Sam, I should go back to my room now..."
He shrugged, "It's fine, you didn't cause any harm." He replied, he was almost right in front of her and she had yet to notice it, "How often do these happen?"
"Does what happen?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.
"Tha panic attacks and the nightmares?"
"I-I don't know....th-they used to be worse." she continued to hug her knees, her fingers were almost white from the amount of force she was using; he could tell that she still wasn't completely done with the panic attack, the after panic fear was still very much there, "I-I used to stop breathing and stuff...but-but I see them almost every night..." she replied softly.
He frowned, "Do you see anyone for these episodes?"
She shook her head, "N-no, b-but Mister Stark wants me too and Peter..."
"How does that make you feel?" he asked.
She swallowed thickly, "Scared....I-I don't like doctors...or strangers that much."
"Understandable, what if I asked Tony if I could do it?"
She gave him a shaky smile, "That'd be better...Would it help?"
He smiled, feeling glad that she'd be comfortable with the idea, "It might and I would recommend you to take medications if I thought you needed it."
She seemed to think about it before nodding her head slowly, "That'd be nice...Thank you for your help."
He offered her a large smile, "No problem baby girl, but you better get back to bed you have school in a few hours."
"And a meeting with Mister Stark's lawyers...." she replied softly.
He paused for a second, "What's that about kid?"
"M-my aunt and Uncle want me back....Mister Stark and Peter said that if I tell the lawyer what happened and he records it, then it will stop it and that when they go to court, I won't have to testify, th-that I can just stay in my seat. I-I don't want to talk to them."
"Do you think the idea of talking about it caused this particular nightmare?"
She shrugged slightly, "Maybe....this one was more vivid than they usually are."
He leaned back a little in his chair and crossed his legs, "Sometimes if our mind thinks that it is in danger it plays tricks on itself, it starts bringing on things we'd rather not remember and affects how we feel and sleep. It's a side effect of PTSD."
"Oh..."
"I'm across the hall if you need me, doesn't matter what time it is, just let me know kiddo. But you really should get back to sleep." he announced, noticing a small yawn that escaped from her.
"Okay, thank you again Mister Sam."
"No problem baby girl, try to get some sleep," he replied, as he followed her to his bedroom door.
Penny went back across the hall to her room and shut the door behind her before crawling back into her bed. She had JARVIS keep her lights on a low setting, she didn't want to be in the dark. Even though she had a small lamp that was on constantly, at the moment it felt like it was off; part of her was scared that if she turned the overhead lights off, that she'd never be able to turn them back on. The darkness scared her, it made her uncomfortable and it made the room feel smaller, like stuck back in the closet from a few months ago. She laid there for a few minutes before realizing that she couldn't sleep there, she felt too out in the open. She slipped out of her bed again and grabbed her pillow and her teddy bear before walking into the hideaway book nook in her room. She flipped on her fairy lights which gave the room a dull lighting and curled up in the large beanbag. She tucked the pillow under her head and pulled her bear close to her chest before tugging the large fuzzy blanket on over her shoulders and burying her face into it. She soon slipped into a dreamless sleep, feeling a little bit safer after realizing that she was hidden from the world.
At six fifty-five, Peter came upstairs from the kitchen, he was nibbling a waffle while he walked over to his sister's room. The thirteen year old still hadn't made her way downstairs for breakfast, which was unlike her. He saw that the bedroom light was on from the small amount of light that was shimmering from under the bedroom door. He lightly knocked on the door and got no response. He frowned, considering she was usually up at this time and knocked a few more times before calling out to her.
"Princess? Are you okay?" he called, waiting a few moments for her to respond but got none, "I'm coming in!" he called.
He opened the door slowly, his sense slightly tingling, while he pushed the food open. He let the doorknob go and walked into the room; the empty bed caught his eye. The covers were twisted up in itself and her flat sheet was almost pulled off of her bed. He also noticed the lack of her pillow and tattered brown teddy bear. He could tell she wasn't in the bathroom since the light was off in the room and her phone was still plugged in on her nightstand. He knelt down and looked under the bed to see if she had crawled under there during a nightmare-it was something she'd done before- but he found nothing.
"Um princess?" he called, "Where are you?
He glanced around her room again and trained his ears out for the sound of her heartbeat and breathing. The slightly parted emerald green curtains caught his eye and he noticed the dull light from her fairy lights that hung from her ceiling. He walked over, to the area, expecting to find her curled up reading a book. He knew that when she couldn't sleep, she usually read a book and she had a tendency to get so absorbed in a good book that she didn't respond to any outside stimuli. He smiled faintly when he saw her curled up asleep instead of the beanbag. She was tucked into a small, tight ball in the center of the large bean bag with herself completely cocooned in the green fuzzy blanket. He walked over to the beanbag and knelt down to where he could wake her up and pulled the covers off of her head.
He started to gently shake her, "Penny, it's time to get up," he called softly.
She nestled down further into the covers, burying the bottom half of her face into them.
He started trying to unwrap her from the blanket that she cocooned herself in. He gently lifted her head up a little and started rubbing her cheeks with his thumbs.
"Come on princess, it's time to wake up." he whispered softly,
She groaned a little, her eyes fluttering back and forth beneath her eyelids.
"Rise and shine Bri". he announced cheerily.
"Five more minutes please," she mumbled.
He sighed and pulled the blanket fully off of her.
He chuckled a little when he saw her legs tightly wrapped around her pillow while she clutched her teddy bear to her chest; it reminded him of when she was a little girl. He grabbed the part of the pillow case that was sticking out from above her knees and pulled it out of her grasp before tossing it next to him. He gently grabbed her arms and pulled her into a standing position, causing her to drop the bear.
"Come on princess, we gotta get you breakfast. It's almost seven." he announced.
"'M tired Peter," she whined slightly.
"You went to bed before I did," he reminded her, smiling.
"Had nightmare...." she replied groggily, "Couldn't breathe, was stuck."
He frowned at her words, "Why didn't you come get me?" he asked.
She sleepily rubbed her eyes as she started waking up, "Cuz you go to bed late. Mister Sam helped me." she replied
"That's good, but come get me next time Bri." he replied.
She looked at him and blinked her eyes, "Last person who called me Bri was Daddy," she replied quietly, she found her brother calling her the nickname more and more.
He gave a sad smile, when she was tired he found her to look and sound younger than she was. It made him sad that he missed watching her grow up, "I know..." he replied softly before kissing her cheek, "Get dressed Princess. Mister Layne will be here in a couple of hours but you need to eat breakfast."
"M'kay" she replied, hugging him tightly.
He gently hugged her back, "I'll see you in a few minutes," he replied.
"'Kay....I love you Peter," she whispered.
"I love you, princess," he replied.
Penny waited for her brother to shut her bedroom door behind him as he left before she pulled off the t-shirt she'd stolen from him. She turned off the lights in her book nook and grabbed her pillow and teddy bear from the floor and placed them on her bed. She went over to the large closet and pulled out a knit long-sleeved blue dress. She removed its hanger before pulling it over her head and pulling her shorts off. She folded up the t-shirt and her pajama shorts and tucked them under her pillow after she neatly made her bed. She pulled on a pair of tights under the dress and slipped on her shoes before letting her hair down.
Peter glanced towards the stairs when he heard his sister's familiar footsteps coming down the stairs. He grinned a little when he noticed her wearing the blue dress he'd found for her at the mall the previous evening. She had pulled up half of her hair in a set of long curly pigtails with some ribbons. Pietro pulled out the stool in between them and motioned for her to sit down while Peter started putting different fruits on a plate for her. They'd noticed a while ago that she enjoyed fruit, which had pushed Natasha and Pepper to order more fruit when they ordered groceries for the compound. She flashed them a small smile before climbing up into the stool next to him.
For the first time that morning, Penny noticed her brother's appearance. He was dressed up, not like he had a presentation, but not in his normal t-shirt and jeans. His curly hair had gel in it in order to make it look less floppy and puffed up and it was styled differently than how he usually wore it. He was wearing a pair of the boots that he'd gotten the previous day as well as a pair of khaki pants and a nice deep blue sweater, that ironically was similar to the color of her dress. How did they keep doing that? He reached over and ruffled her hair a little, making her shy away from his touch in order to save her hair from becoming frizzier than it already was. Peter and Pietro soon finished their breakfast and slipped into the living room where they were whispering amongst themselves about something. Wanda slipped into the spot where her twin had been sitting a few moments ago and started offering her advice on how to act with the lawyer. She talked her through how to keep herself calm and collected, to keep herself from having a panic attack during the meeting. She was also offering encouraging words while she combed her fingers through some strands of the thirteen year old's hair that had found its way onto her arm. Kate offered her some encouraging words to, "You'll do great little P" was playing through her head on repeat when the other four teens left for school. Right before Pepper was about to leave with Morgan, the eight year old ran over to her and hugged her legs tightly and wished the two of them good luck.
"You two will do great," Pepper called, giving them each a small peck on the forehead and a hug before ushering the eight year old out the door for school.
An hour and a half later, Tony came downstairs and found the two siblings reading on the couch. Peter was sitting cross legged on the couch, his shoes were tucked under the coffee table with his sister's right next to them. He was reading the last Harry Potter Book in the series while she read the third. She was laying on the couch with her ankles crossed, her head resting in his lap while he twirled a stray curl around his finger. Tony smiled lightly at the pair and started sipping his third cup of coffee before sitting on a recliner next to the couch.
"Layne will be here in fifteen minutes," he announced.
Peter nodded his head and he noticed Penny frown slightly at the thought, he could tell she was anxious.
"Are you kids ready for him?" he asked, trying to get them to get their nerves out of the way.
"I don't really need to say much," Peter replied, "I just need to talk about the panic attacks...I'm moral support. Right Princess?" he asked, flashing the younger teen a small smile.
"Uh huh..." she replied quietly.
Tony turned his gaze to the younger of the siblings, "What about you kiddo? Are you ready?"
She shook her head, "N-not really Mister Stark....but I'm gonna do it. You promise it will help and I won't have to go back?"
He nodded, "Promise kiddo, why don't you two get your shoes on, he'll be here any moment."
"Yes sir, Mister Stark," Peter replied.
Penny nodded her head and sat up.
He watched the two put on their shoes and noticed how they were both wearing similar colors. Peter's khaki pants, deep blue sweater, and black boots matched the blue dress and black boots his sister was wearing. He chuckled and shook his head.
"What is Mister Stark?" Peter asked, looking up at him.
"You two are matching again, looks good. Presents a united front." he replied.
"We didn't mean to, it just happened." Penny replied, slightly shrugging.
He nodded, "I know kiddo," he replied, reaching over and gently patting her shoulder with his hand.
"Boss, Mister Layne has arrived on the premises and is requesting entrance to the building."
"Thanks JAR, tell him I'll be right there."
"As you wish boss."
"That's so cool," Penny whispered.
Peter laughed a little at the awed look on his sister's face; she found JARVIS extremely interesting, he always seemed to mesmerize her.
"Okay, you two wait in the conference room and I'll be right in with Layne. You'll do fine kids, if you need anything, JARVIS will tell me and I'll be right there." he announced.
"Okay Mister Stark," Peter replied, "Come on princess."
"Okay Pete." she replied quietly.
Tony watched Peter grab the slightly shaking hand of his little sister as he guided her to the conference room. He smiled to himself when he heard the boy whispering her calming things to soothe her worries, everything will be just fine, he told himself. He walked over to the front door of the compound and opened it, revealing the lawyer who was wearing a nice three-piece suit.
"Layne," he announced, motioning for the man to come in.
"Mister Stark." the lawyer announced as he stepped into the compound.
"I'll take you to the conference room, the kids are waiting." Tony announced, he turned to face the man, "Just be patient with them, she's a little nervous. She's never done anything like this and I think the idea of telling people what happened scares her."
The man nodded, "Alright, is she settling in well?"
Tony nodded as he guided the man through the living room, "Yes she is, we got her into a doctor for a checkup and we've gotten her into an asthma and allergy specialist. Her asthma is well controlled now, she hadn't had an attack in almost three weeks. We're working on therapy, to help with the PTSD." he announced.
"That's good, it will look good for you that you can provide a safe and stable environment for her and that you can keep them together."
Tony nodded and opened the door to the conference room revealing the two siblings who were sitting side by side in the room, they were still holding hands and Peter was rubbing his thumbs over his sister's knuckles as a soothing tactic.
"Mister Layne, you remember Pete?" The billionaire announced.
"Of course, how are you doing Mister Parker?" the man responded
"I'm doing well sir, how are you?" the brunet asked shaking the man's hand after he stood up, pulling Penny up with him.
The lawyer gave him a small smile, "I'm doing fine."
"This is Penny, my sister."
"Miss Parker, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"It's um nice to m-meet you too."
"Mister Stark, it is best if you are not in the room for the interviews," the man announced, turning to face the billionaire, "if you stay the defense will argue that you coerced her into making her statements."
"Right, well I'll be right outside if you need anything. JARVIS is on standby if you need me. Good luck kids" he replied.
"Thank you Mister Stark," Peter replied.
"Thank you," Penny followed softly.
He nodded and hugged both of them and pressed gentle kisses on the top of both of their heads, "I love you kids, you'll do fine. I'll be right outside." he repeated.
Both of the siblings were now a light shade of pink when the billionaire left.
"Alright, so before we dive into the deep end, I just have a few questions for the both of you, is that alright?"
"Um yes sir, " Peter announced.
"Now usually, I'd conduct these interviews separately, but the judge has granted a joint session to comply with Miss Parker's needs."
Peter nodded, his hand resting on his sister's knee, "Okay, Mister Layne. What did you want to ask?"
The man turned on the video camera that he'd brought with him, "Please state your names to the camera and your relation to each other," the man requested
"I'm Peter Parker," Peter announced, looking into the camera.
"I-I'm Penny Parker." Penny followed.
"We're brother and sister," Peter finished for the both of them.
The man nodded, "Very good. Can you tell me if your needs are being met here with the Starks. Whether it is physically, mentally, or anything else. Mister Parker please go first."
"Yes sir. The Stark's are great! I've known Mister Stark for a little over three years now, he started out as my boss after I got an internship at Stark Industries. We became really close, and he was like family to our aunt and I, he helped us get Penny back. My Aunt and Happy, who is Mister Stark's best friend and bodyguard, were going to get married on Christmas Eve, they decided that Mister Stark and Miss Potts would be our godparents in case anything ever happened to them. After Aunt May um....after she died, I was told I could stay here, and they became my foster parents. Mister Stark promised that Penny could come stay with us, so he agreed to foster her too. They let me continue my education at MidTown Tech, I have my own room, and they get us everything we possibly need or want. We're really lucky."
"Miss Parker, what about you?"
"Ummm uh, the Starks are really nice. They let me go to MidTown with Peter, they wanted me to get an education that was worthwhile for my future. They let me get new clothes and shoes. I got my own room too, I haven't had my own room in a long time...It's really nice and I get to see Peter. They even take me to doctor's appointments, they don't get mad when I get sick, a-and they get my medications too. It's really nice here." she replied quietly, as she looked at her lap.
"Thank you for your responses. Do either of you feel unsafe here?"
"No sir," Peter replied, his expression proved that he felt one hundred percent positive that this was the safest place for them.
"No sir, never. At first I was really nervous, um....but here's different. I haven't felt safe like I do here in a long time."
"Have either of the Starks or anyone here caused you mental, emotional, or physical harm?"
"No sir, we treat each other like family here," Peter replied.
Penny shook her head, "No sir, never."
"Miss Parker what did you mean when you said this place is different? Different how?"
"Ummmm...." Penny faltered, she immediately froze upon the question was it really okay to talk about it?
Peter reassuringly placed his hand on top of her hands that were picking at themselves on top of the table, "It's okay princess, no one can hurt you here." he announced quietly.
She nodded, "Sorry....H-here I don't have to worry about messing up or um getting in trouble....Everyone here is r-really nice...at my old home with my aunt and uncle it wasn't like that."
"Would you explain further please, Miss Parker?"
Penny started picking at her fingers a little more and nodded her head, "Y-yes sir...They um ...they uh..." she paused, taking a deep breath like Wanda had told her too and closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again, "S-sorry." she whispered.
He gave her a reassuring smile, even though the camera couldn't see it, "It's quite alright Miss Parker. You may continue when you're ready." he assured.
She nodded slowly, "They used to hurt m-me...a lot. It didn't matter what I d-did or um didn't do, th-they um did it anyway ...."
"How did they hurt you?" he asked.
"Aunt Lisa used to slap me or she um dug her nails into m-my arms or legs. Usually it was whatever she could...um whatever she could reach...Sometimes she threw things too. Uncle Brad he um was really angry a lot. B-But only towards m-me. He had different ways of doing it...sometimes he'd throw me down the um stairs o-or he'd um beat me. It wasn't like being spanked or yelled at me, it was worse. He didn't stop....he'd leave bruises o-or cuts and scratches. S-sometime's he um ch-choked m-me...B-but they um...they don't do that here....i-it's nice." she replied quietly, almost whispering the last word.
"Would you say you felt safe or cared for with the Davis's?" he asked.
She froze for a couple seconds at the thought of having to go back; she shook her head quickly, "N-no sir."
"Would you like to go back to their residence?"
"N-no!" she replied, her voice picked up at the end. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to sound um rude...b-but please n-no." she replied, her voice cracking.
He nodded softly, it was obvious that she was terrified of them, "Can you give some examples of what happened while you were in their care for the past eight years up until July thirteenth?"
"U-um yes sir....One time when I was five I accidentally uh dropped a-a vase when I was h-helping them move s-something...It broke...g-glass got everywhere..." she took a steadying breath and closed her eyes.
The lawyer noticed her brother gently squeeze her and, "Miss Parker what happened after you broke the vase?" he asked gently.
"M-my aunt came running in...I apologized b-but she looked really angry and she um sh-she slapped across the face. I b-bit my lip and it started bleeding and it got on her rug wh-which made it worse. She ended up shoving me into the glass...I had to g-go to the emergency room to get it o-out..."
"To get what out?" he asked.
She paused and looked at her palms, there were small white spots that appeared to be old scars on her hands, "The glass...it got stuck in m-my hands and arms. We said I fell into a pile o-of broken glass." she replied.
"Can you give us some more examples please?"
She nodded, "O-okay. R-right before I m-moved here there was an incident with m-my uncle....He um was drinking, it usually made it w-worse...I was late w-with the groceries b-because it started raining and the bag it um it ripped so I had to get s-some more...Wh-when I got home he was...he was waiting for me, he grabbed my arm and dragged me into the living room...." she swallowed thickly and put her hands back into her lap, squeezing them into fists, "He um...h-he threw me into the fl-floor and started kicking me...then h-he threw his bottle at me and it broke, h-he was drunk so he missed by a c-couple inches," she replied quietly as she balled the sleeves of her dress into her fists, "...After a while he um he picked me up b-by the...the th-throat a-and h-he started to um ch-choke m-me...." She was now crying, her body shivering as small whimpers escaped from her. She wiped her face with her sleeve, "I-I couldn't...I couldn't br-breathe...I-it lasted for a-almost f-four minutes...I almost passed o-out...I-I had a um br-bruise for almost tw-two weeks." she sniffled, her hand was lingering at the base of her throat, while she rubbed the area, like she could still feel a hand there.
"Would you like to take a break?" he asked, noticing that she was getting a little emotional.
"N-no sir.....I'm sorry." she apologized again, wiping another tear.
"Don't apologize, that is a very traumatic experience for anyone to go through, especially as a child. Miss Parker how often would you say that these incidents happened?" he asked.
"I-I don't know..." she whispered, shrugging slightly; she didn't want to think about how often it happened. She could probably tell him the days it didn't happen easier than how many times it did.
He paused for a second, slightly frowning behind the camera, "If you could guess, would you say weekly, monthly, or a few times a year?"
"A few times a week....a-almost every day...."
"Other than causing you physical harm did the Davis's do anything else that caused you pain or harm?" he asked
"I wasn't allowed to eat sometimes....if I did something wrong a-and they didn't f-feel like it was worth behind hit they took things away....Most of the time it was food o-or showers.....Sometimes they locked me in a closet in their room....it was smaller than my closet."
"Your closet?" the man asked, giving her a curious expression as he looked up from his notes.
She nodded slightly, "It was an old linen closet, i-it was a pretty big size," she replied, not thinking about how small it actually was compared to her current room. Her old room could barely fit a nightstand in it to hold her clothes; she shrugged softly, "b-but it was my room....I had a a small m-mattress made out o-of old blankets a-and a few pairs of clothes that I put in an old nightstand...They never liked to b-buy me a-anything."
"Did you ever try to tell anyone about what was happening at home?" he asked.
She nodded her head a little, "A couple times..."
"What happened?"
"When i-it first started happening I-I told my Kindergarten teacher a-and she called a meeting....They pretended to be upset by the news and said that I was struggling to adjust to the new environment and was acting out-t-to cope. They said they'd have a conversation about it with me when I got home."
"Did they?"
She shook her head."N-no sir...I missed school for a couple days because I broke my arm."
"How did you break your arm?" he asked.
Her breath hitched for a second, "Uncle Brad th-threw me down the stairs..."
"What happened the second time you tried to tell someone?"
"I-I didn't tell anyone; sometimes a teacher or nurse would ask but...." she paused, "I-I learned that no one believed me...N-not even the emergency room d-doctors or nurses, m-my teachers n-noticed my behavior and saw a lot of bruises and w-were worried about m-my injuries. They reported it to the school counselor who called a family meeting to express their concerns....They said I was really clumsy and that they were taking me to a doctor for i-it because it worried them and th-they didn't want anyone to think that they were hurting me...When we got back h-home I got punished really bad...I was locked in the closet for the weekend and the following Monday...I started wearing l-long sleeves o-or sweaters after a-and made sure to be better at h-hiding when I was hurt, so I wouldn't be in trouble."
"It says here that you have a cousin, Bradley Davis, was he ever harmed?"
She shook her head Brad never got in trouble. "No s-sir...o-only me...he liked to watch."
The man's brow furrowed, "What do you mean by that?"
"He liked to do things and get me in trouble so he could watch what happened after...He um he bullied me at school too..."
"It says here that he goes to your current school, does he still bother you?"
"Um....n-not really." she replied quietly.
Peter cast his sister a glance, "Princess..." he called gently as he urged her to tell everything.
"I-It's usually just comments....he doesn't hurt me much." she replied.
The man leaned forward, picking up on the last word of her response, "Much?" he asked.
"Sometimes he trips me, but he says it's an accident...."
"Do you think it's an accident?"
"I-I don't know." she replied quietly.
"What type of things does he say to you Miss Parker?"
"He says I'm worthless a-and pathetic....That I'm a curse to whoever takes care of me....things like that."
"Can you give me some other examples of how the Davis's harmed you?"
Penny nodded her head and talked for another half hour about what happened, she talked about the incident from her nightmare. She also talked about how they refused to pay for her treatments for her asthma and how they usually waited to take her to the doctor or hospital when she was sick until she got really bad off. By the time she finished talking, she was sobbing. She felt like she couldn't breathe anymore and felt stuck, she wanted to stop. She couldn't talk about it anymore, at least for right now.
"C-Can we stop p-please...I-I n-need some air....please.." she asked.
He nodded, "Of course, we'll stop for a few moments," the man replied, pausing the camera.
Peter was teary-eyed himself, he'd started silently crying when he heard about the choking incident before she came to the compound. When she first started talking, he'd been angry with them and himself, but the more and more she talked about it, the more and more a part of him broke.
He pushed his chair back from the desk and motioned for her to hug him, "Come here princess," he said softly.
She nodded and moved into his lap, hugging him tightly, "'M sorry..." she whispered.
He shook his head, not caring if his hair got messed up, "Don't be, you're doing great. You're doing so good," he replied, "I'm so proud of you Penny, so so proud."
Mister Layne pushed himself up from his chair, "I'll give you two some time, '' the lawyer offered. He felt like he was intruding on their moment and knew that they probably needed to calm down; he knew that he himself needed a moment to breath.
"Thank you Mister Layne." Peter replied.
The man gave them a curt nod and walked out of the room in order to give them some space and to gather himself as well.
Peter wrapped his arms tightly around his sister's frame and repeatedly planted gentled kisses on her forehead and cheeks while she tightly hugged him. He gently ran his fingers through her hair and assured that she was safe and that he'd make sure she'd never go back there. In that moment, she forgot everything that Liz told her, because all she felt was safe, knowing that he'd protect her no matter what.
Tony watched his usually stoic lawyer come out of the conference room, "Are you finished?" he asked, checking his watch.
"Not yet, we are taking a break." the man replied, running a hand through his hair.
Tony looked at him, "Are you okay Layne?" he asked.
"I'm fine Mister Stark, I just didn't expect it to be so..." the man was trying to find a word.
"Evil?" Tony replied, it was the only word he could think of to describe the situation.
"I suppose that word fits." the taller, younger man replied.
"How are they doing?" the billionaire asked.
"I think they are, for the most part, doing well. She broke down crying and he's quite upset himself. She stumbles over her words quite often when certain things start to be brought up. It makes it a little difficult to understand her, but if you are paying attention, you can understand her quite well." he replied.
Tony nodded, "She does it when she's nervous, or having a panic attack, but usually it's when she's scared or this specific topic is brought up. It puts her on edge, makes her jumpy."
"I can understand that, please check on them to see if we can continue." the lawyer asked, "If they need more time that is completely fine."
"Of course," Tony replied.
Tony walked over to the door, and gently knocked on the door before he opened it. Part of him broke when he saw the two in Peter's chair. Penny was curled up in his lap, he could hear faint whimpers and cries from her while she had her arms wrapped around her brother's neck. Her brother had his arms tightly wrapped around her as he pulled her closer to him. His face was buried into her hair, as he whispered to her. Peter looked up at him when the billionaire opened the door, his eyes were red and brimmed with unshed tears. Tony walked over to the both of them and wrapped his arms around them from around the chair.
He pressed his lips against each of their heads, "Shhhh, it's okay kids. You're fine. Everything's okay." he offered, "It's almost over you two, I'll call the school say that you won't be coming in today."
"You don't have to Mister Stark," Peter replied, shaking his head.
The man frowned, he wasn't going to budge on his decision, "Kid, take the day off, both of you. You deserve it."
"Okay Mister Stark," the boy replied.
"You okay kiddo?" Tony called, looking over at the younger girl who still had her face buried into her brother's sweater.
The thirteen year old nodded her head, "'S just hard..." the thirteen year old replied, her voice slightly muffled.
"I know kiddo, you're doing great." he assured, "You ready to finish, I think he's done asking you questions. You can go to your room if you want and Peter can finish." he replied, gently running his fingers through the bits of curls that had fallen on his hand when he'd set it on the back of Peter's chair.
She sat up and Peter loosened his grip, "It's okay Mister Stark. I'm ready, but I want to stay with Pete...if that's okay."
"Okay...What about you Pete? You ready kid?" he asked.
"Yes sir," he replied, he broke the hug he had on his sister and wiped her face with the sleeve of his sweater, "Let's finish this princess and then we can change into comfy clothes and watch movies or read. Whatever you want."
She gave him a shaky smile, "Okay Petey," she replied quietly, moving back to her chair.
Peter wiped his face and nodded, "We're ready Mister Stark." he announced, looking up at the billionaire.
The billionaire nodded, "Okay, I'll go get him." Tony walked out of the room and straightened the shirt he was wearing when he saw his lawyer, "They're ready. Do you have any more questions for little Parker? I don't think she'll be able to answer much more."
The man shook his head, "No I don't have any more for her. I just have a few more questions for her brother and then I'll be on my way."
Tony nodded his head, "Okay then."
Mister Layne straightened his suit jacket as he stood up from the chair in the living room and walked back over to the conference room. He entered the room and saw the two siblings back in their own chairs, they were holding a tight grasp on each other's hands. The younger of the two had red puffy eyes, her nose was red too and her tear stained cheeks made her look like she was younger than thirteen. The man hadn't thought it was possible for the small teenager to appear younger than she already did but he was proven wrong by what he saw. Her brother had a similar expression, his eyes were large and red, you could tell he had been crying but there was a deeper expression in his eyes. The brunet's eyes held unbridled anger in that moment, it was chilling almost to see that much anger in someone so young's eyes. His jaw was tightly set as he held his sister's hand, he was gently tracing her knuckles with his thumb and kept glancing over to her with a soft expression.
The man cleared his throat, "Are you ready to continue?" he asked.
They both nodded, "I'm sorry Mister Layne." the youngest of the two apologized.
"Don't apologize," he replied, sitting down and turning the camera back on. He cleared his throat again, "Alright, I think that is all the questions I have for you Miss Parker, would you like to add anything else?"
"No sir," she replied, shaking her head softly.
"Okay then, Mister Parker I've already spoken with a few other witnesses about the state of Miss Parker when she first arrived. How would you describe her state?"
"Ummm the first thing I did was hug her," the boy replied softly, "I hadn't seen her since she was five. She was really light and skinny. I could feel her um...I could feel her ribs through her clothes. Her hair was dirty and really knotted as well and she was covered in bruises. She had one on her neck," he replied, making a hand motion around the base of his throat, "it looked like this, and it was right about here, and there were some on her arms too.... She looked really scared....she wouldn't talk unless we talked to her and she kept asking if it was okay for her to do something. Even if it was to eat or get a shower. She um she flinched at almost everything and then she'd cry and apologize for doing it."
"Did your sister tell you what happened?" he asked.
"Yes she did....we found out that the reason she was dirty was because they locked the bathroom she was allowed to use so she couldn't get a shower. She didn't have a hair brush either, so she couldn't take care of her hair. We ended up getting it cut because we couldn't fix some of it.....She told me a little later that they didn't get her her epipens or or medicines for her asthma and that they....that they hit her." the boy replied.
"According to the Starks and Natalia Rushman," the man replied, referring to the redhead by the name that the general public knew the redhead as, "as well as a few other eyewitnesses, Miss Parker suffers from panic attacks. Do you know what causes most of these episodes?"
"Yes sir, I do."
"Can you explain?"
"Sudden movements, loud noises, seeing them, she has flashbacks."
"Has she seen your aunt or uncle since moving here?"
"No sir, but she's seen Brad. They're not my aunt and uncle." he replied, frowning in disdain as he corrected the man's statement about the pair being his uncle.
"When did she see him?"
"We went to the skating rink a couple weeks after she moved here to stay and he was there. He tried to drag her back home with him when we weren't around."
"Where were you, were there any adults around?"
Peter shook his head, "N-no sir. We go there all the time,...the others and I...and they usually leave us there. Happy doesn't like to roller skate and Mister Stark and Nat were busy....But Penny stayed with the table, the rest of us were doing something and she volunteered to stay at the table so we wouldn't lose our spots."
"Where were you and who was with you?" the man asked.
"Pietro and I went to get supper for everyone. Kate and Wanda had to go to the bathroom, Brad saw her by herself and tried to take her with him."
"Kate is Katherine Bishop-Barton and Pietro and Wanda are Pietro and Wanda Maximoff-Rogers, am I correct?" The man asked, flipping through the stack of notes that were on his desk.
"Yes sir," Peter replied, nodding his head.
"How do you know them?"
"The twins live at the compound for the most part and Kate stays here during the school year; we all go to school together. The three of them are some of my best friends but if you ask Wanda and Pietro, me and Penny are their little brother and sister."
"So you're close with them?" the man asked.
"Yes sir, I trust them with my life." the younger boy replied and he did.
Kate had saved him from serious injury several times by helping maim people with her bows when he was fighting them off. Pietro had sped him to safety on several occasions and Wanda had saved his life in Sokovia. At some point in time, all three of his teammates and friends had saved him from either injury or death and he wouldn't have anyone else on his team.
"Do you trust them with your sister's?" he asked.
The brunette nodded, "Yes sir,"
"Can you tell me what happened when Bradley Davis tried to force Miss Parker to go with him?"
"Pietro noticed it first, he went over there to ask what was going on. Penny was crying and trying to pull away from him, so Pietro pulled her away from Brad. He stepped in between them and she went back into the booth."
"What else happened?"
"After he got Brad to leave, he tried to help her calm down but she wouldn't, she couldn't." he replied, pausing as he corrected himself; he knew that if she could, she would've calmed herself down at the rink, "She wouldn't let him touch her, she kept scooting away from him, it was like she wasn't there anymore. That's when Kate and Wanda came back from the bathroom, they couldn't do anything either so Pietro came and got me."
"Did you manage to help her?"
"I think so, I was the only one she'd let touch her....Eventually she calmed down and we ate supper and went home."
"How many of these episodes would you say you've seen her have?"
"That's hard to say....Around eighteen maybe? Most of them come with flashbacks or nightmares... JARVIS would know, he keeps track of everything. May I ask him?"
"Yes, but first tell me who JARVIS is."
"JARVIS is Mister Stark's AI, he's installed in everything around here. The compound, the tower, Stark Industries, our phones, everyone's suits who are on the team. His job is to maintain security and help wherever he can."
"Very well then, please ask him."
"JARVIS?" the brunet called.
"Yes Mister Parker?" the AI asked, his British accent breaking through the room.
"How many panic attacks has princess had? Include flashbacks, nightmares please."
"According to my history, Miss Parker has suffered from twenty-one panic attacks since her arrival. Fifteen have been tied with flashbacks and thirteen with nightmares, some of them dealt with both a nightmare and a flashback that triggered a panic attack. Is this what you were looking for, Mister Parker?"
Peter nodded, "Yes, Thank you JAR."
"No problem Mister Parker."
The man sat in awe for a second while he admired the technology; he cleared his throat before turning his attention back to the teenager, "Would you say it is a good idea to place your sister back into the care of the Davis family?"
Peter shook his head, "No sir, absolutely not....I don't think she'd survive it there." he replied softly.
"Referring to your previous statement, what did you mean by the statement that the Davis's are not your Aunt or Uncle."
"We're half siblings..." Peter replied, "But that doesn't change anything, she's still my baby sister and I'm still her brother. We have the same mom who died when Penny was six months old. My birth father died when I was a baby, I don't remember him. However, I remember my dad," the boy replied softly, "he adopted me when my mom married him, and said that I was his son no matter what. After Princess was born, he gave her my last name. Brad and Lisa Davis are his brother and sister-in-law, they never claimed relation to me."
"Thank you, Mister Parker, that's all I have to ask. Would you like to add anything else?" the man asked, closing the notebook that he'd been writing his notes in.
"Yes sir," he replied, pulling Penny closer to him, his arm planted protectively around her, "Please don't send her back, she'll die there." he replied, his eyes were wide with emotion, the young lawyer was pretty sure that no one would be able to deny the boy his request, "Mister Layne, please fight as hard as you can for her, she's the only family I have left. We're all we have left," he added while he looked straight into the camera.
The lawyer turned the camera and looked at the boy, "I will do everything in my power to stop it." he stood up, "Thank you for doing this interview, it will help with the case tremendously."
Tony walked in, "JARVIS said you were finished," he announced.
"We are Mister Stark." the man in the suit replied with a curt nod of his head.
"Great, thanks for coming Layne."
"It was no problem." the man replied, he held his hand out to the two siblings who each shook it, "It was nice to meet you Miss Parker and it was nice to see you again Mister Parker. I'll see you in court." he replied, mentioning the court date in November.
"It was nice to meet you too Mister Layne...Thank you for your help." the thirteen year old replied.
"It's my job," the man replied, giving her a small smile.
"I'll walk you out," Tony replied, "you two get changed and go to the kitchen, I made lunch." he announced.
The two nodded.
After he walked out Peter pulled Penny close to his chest and hugged her tightly, he pressed his lips against the top of her head. She wrapped her arms around his waist, the two stood there for a few moments before finally breaking from their hug.
"Let's get lunch and then we will do whatever you want princess." the boy announced, remembering his promise.
"Harry Potter marathon?" She asked.
He grinned largely, "Harry Potter marathon." he confirmed.