All it took was a snap.
One snap to take her life.
One snap- five years later- to return it.
Not even ten minutes later, she was in a battle for it.
"Keep Tony away from the gauntlet. Either that or find some way to keep it from him."
Dr Strange had taken her aside, eyes stern, with a shadow of remorse. "He would try and wield it. It would kill him. Do not- I repeat, do not let him use it. There will be disastrous consequences to his death."
"I won't," Penny had said quickly. "But who won't die if they used it?"
"The Wakandan king. His suit would absorb the energy."
So she had.
Taking it far away, she had bounded over the rubble, not even stopping to see him.
She had heard him call her name once, when she had passed him, and she wondered if she had imagined the desperation in his voice.
But she couldn't stop.
If she did, she wouldn't be able to walk away.
She did see Ms Potts though.
And a cool woman on a flying horse who had carried her over the battlefield.
And Captain America, who knew her name.
Well, not really.
'Queens' wasn't her real name.
But it was still cool.
She'd also ridden Mjolnir, which was the. Coolest. Thing. Ever.
The gauntlet was surprisingly light, and deceptively beautiful.
She was only feet away from the Black Panther when she heard an enraged roar, and a giant hand grabbed her by the neck, something crunching as it squeezed, plucking the gauntlet from her spasming hand.
A booming laugh rang out from beside her, and the purple titan stepped to face her, tilting her face up. "Brave little bug, aren't you?"
Then he recoiled as Penny spat in his eye. "Spiders. Are. Arachnids." She gritted out.
She gasped as the hand tightened, then released, letting her fall, only to be forced to her knees by the alien who looked remarkably like Squidward.
"You will not speak to the all mighty Thanos in such a manner," he intoned.
Penny could hear yelling, faint screams…
Familiar voices-
Rhodey.
Pepper.
Tony…
Thanos pointed the gauntlet at her, smiling, pleased. "You will make a fine addition to my children."
The girl knelt, gazing at Father. "What would you ask of me?"
"To kill the Iron Man," he rumbled.
"Yes father."
The enemies had been forced to their knees by the titan all with varying degrees of horror on their faces as she approached.
She stopped before a man in a metal suit, silver and grey. His eyes were scared, she noticed.
"Daughter."
The girl turned. "Yes?"
"The Iron Man. Not this look alike."
Down the line, two people struggled.
One in a blue and purple suit, one in red and gold.
Red and Gold.
Why did those seem familiar?
As she approached, he struggled more, eyes pleading, though a clamp of metal was over the lower half of his face, preventing him from speaking.
Unnoticed by Thanos, a figure crept closer to the girl.
Her hand wrapped around the throat of the Iron Man, and began, slowly, to choke the life out of him.
She watched impassionately as he gagged, thrashing weakly in her hold.
Then she felt a searing pain as something collided with her skull, and Clint Barton staggered back with a groan, rubbing his head. "Hurt less when Tasha hit me."
He was forced back in line, pieces of metal obscuring everything but his face, not hiding the look of failure in his eyes.
"Daughter. Finish him."
The girl whispered into the neck of her suit, so quietly none could hear it, then tightened her hand.
An audible crunch was heard over the deathly silence, followed by a strangled, agonized sob of grief from his wife.
"Now," Thanos rumbled, "take your place by my side."
The girl stepped up, folding her hands in front of her, no one missing the murderous glint in her eyes.
"I have given you a chance for renewing your lives, starting over, and how have you repaid me? By undoing my life's work, the balance I have wrought over the universe. Now you will all pay the price."
He raised the gauntlet, fingers in position to snap…
And Penny moved.
Picking up Thanos' sword, she threw it like a spear, impaling Ebony Maw, leapt onto the titan's back, mechanical legs severing his neck in one blow.
Then she watched as the corpse crumpled, thudding to the ground.
"I'm not your daughter."
She stumbled forward, sinking to one knee beside the Iron Man suit. "Fri- st- stop making it quiet now." It came out as a choked sob.
Seconds later she slumped in relief, head resting over his heart.
Meanwhile Doctor Strange approached T'challa.
The other heroes, freed from their prisons, attacked the remainder of Thanos' army.
Pepper fell to her knees beside the shaking teenager, one hand going to her husband's neck. She too let out a sob, resting her head against Penny's.
"How?" She whispered painfully. "I- I heard the-"
Penny shook her head wearily, gritting her teeth as pain flared, white hot, at the base of her skull. "We need- hospital. Think 've got concussion. Tell you later."
The older woman pulled her close, kissing her temple. "Just rest now, okay? We're going to be fine."
Penny drifted.
Faint voices lapped like waves against the sands of her consciousness.
"-told Friday to unmute-?"
"-program- gave her-"
"-Karen said head injury-"
"-Barton tried the-"
"-like Nat-"
"-cognitive recalibration-"
A hand moved gently over her hair.
Someone sighed.
"You're gonna have to open your eyes soon, baby girl. Let us see that you're still in there. The doctors said- they said that they had no idea if you were going to wake up. They don't have any knowledge of magical head wounds."
A long, soft exhale.
"I miss you."
"Is Penny still sleeping daddy?"
"Yeah."
"Why isn't she waking up?"
"You know when Uncle Rhodey hurt his head, and he was asleep for a couple of days so he could heal?"
"Oh. Is that what Penny's doing?"
"Yeah, sweetheart."
"Can she hear us?"
"Maybe. You can talk to her. Might make her feel better."
"Okay!"
A small figure climbing onto the bed.
"Hi Penny! Daddy said you're my big sister that wasn't coming home, but you did! Can you wake up? We'll play with my dolls, and you can have the best one! That's spidergirl. Cause you're spidergirl. And you're daddy's favourite superhero! But I really wanna meet you. We can have girl talks! And we can have secrets, and build forts. Okay? So get better soon, cause we miss you!"
More movement.
"Did I do a good job?"
A shaking voice.
"Yeah. Yeah, sweetheart. That was really nice."
"Penny? Daddy's really sad. I saw him crying today. I think he misses you bigger than the moon. And mommy doesn't like him being sad, and I don't like him being sad. So can you wake up? Please?"
Penny forced her eyes open.
Light stabbed her vision, and a loud squeal hit her ears.
"Daddy! Daddy! Mommy! Penny's awake!"
Small footsteps hurried away, a high voice still yelling.
The teen stared blankly at the ceiling.
It didn't look like the normal hospital room.
It was wooden, and-
She wasn't in a hospital bed.
The door swung open, and Pepper hurried in, brushing hair out of her face. "Friday, Morgan said-" she stopped short. "Penny?"
Her tone was filled with cautious hope.
Penny smiled weakly.
It took three tries, but her voice finally obeyed.
"Hey Ms Pepper."
Her voice was shaky, and hoarse, but there.
Pepper's eyes were filling with tears. "You're awake."
Penny tried to move, to sit up, but her strength failed her, and she fell back with a huff.
The older woman smiled sadly. "Here. Let me help you."
The top portion of the bed raised Penny to a sitting/reclining position, and Pepper spread another blanket over Penny's lap. "Tony is asleep. He would be here otherwise. He has been here."
Then she noticed that Penny was trembling, eyes slowly filling with tears. "I hurt him."
"Oh baby. We're not mad at you. You saved his life. If you hadn't pretended to-" she took a deep breath. "If you hadn't done that, Tony would most definitely be dead. Because Thanos would have sent someone that wanted to kill him."
"But I hurt him," she mumbled, hands gripping the blanket.
"Penelope Parker." Pepper's voice was sharp. "Don't say that again. You saved his life. He wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."
The teen hugged herself, eyes filling with tears. "I'm sorry."
The older woman's demeanor softened, and she sank down to the side of the bed, pulling Penny into her arms. "It's alright, sweetheart. It's okay. Want me to get him?"
Before Penny could answer, the door opened slightly, and two brown eyes peered around the frame. "Mommy? Daddy isn't awake yet. Can I see Penny?"
Pepper laughed wetly. "Yeah. Come here."
The tiny figure crept in, hurrying to stand beside Pepper, and stared wide eyed at Penny.
"Hey Morgan." Penny forced herself to smile, hoping the tears in her eyes would go unnoticed by the child.
"Are you my sister?"
The question caught Penny by surprise, and she stumbled over her words trying to answer. "I- well, not-"
Pepper came to the rescue. "Yes. She's your sister."
The teen stared at her in shock. "Uh- Miss- Pepper? What-?"
The older woman smiled gently, looking unsure of herself. "I hope you don't mind. While you were gone- I didn't know how to tell her why Tony had pictures of you, and- and talked about you- so we told her that you were her older sister."
Tears welled in Penny's eyes again, and her hand came up to cover her mouth. "Of course I don't mind. Of course not."
Pepper leaned forward to hug her gently. "You two can get to know each other for a few minutes, and I'll go wake Tony up."
When she left, Morgan climbed carefully onto the bed, situating herself on Penny's legs. "Daddy missed you a whole bunch." Her dark eyes twinkled curiously. "Where'd you go?"
"I don't know." Penny smiled briefly at the girl. "I was just- gone."
"Huh." Morgan frowned. "I guess we'll just have to hold you really tight so you don't leave again."
Penny laughed softly. "Sure thing little miss."
The door opened again, and Tony stepped through.
His eyes landed on her, and a soft breath escaped, his lips turning up at the corners. "Penny?"
There were dark bruises circling his neck, and Penny immediately felt sick.
She'd done that to him.
Bile rushed up her throat, and she turned away, vomiting into a trashcan by the bed.
Tony was immediately there, pulling her to lean against him, brushing her hair out of her face, rubbing her back as she threw up. "Hey, hey- it's okay, Pen, it's okay. Morgan, get your mom, tell her to bring a bottle of water."
The girl disappeared, and Penny focused on Tony's voice, and his hands on her shoulders, grounding her. "Hey, you're gonna be okay, Pen, just breathe. Come on, you can do it, yeah, like that, it's okay-"
Penny shook her head violently, breathing climbing again. "No, no it's not okay- nothing's okay! I- I hurt you, and I made Pepper think you were dead, and I almost killed you, and I'm so sorry-"
"Stop. Now."
Her apologies broke off at his sharp words.
His hands cradled her face, movements jerky as he brushed strands of hair away. "Just stop. No more apologies, please Pen."
A stuttered breath. "I tried to stop him," she whispered brokenly. "I tried, but I couldn't make him stop."
"Penny." Tony lifted her face to meet his eyes. "Not your fault. Never your fault. You saved me. It's as simple as that. You killed Thanos, which all the Avengers combined couldn't do, and saved the world in the process. You have nothing to apologize for, honey. Nothing."
Penny's chin trembled, and she lifted her arms, letting Tony pull her close, tucking her head underneath his chin.
"Hey Pen?"
She hummed slightly, eyes closed in an effort to keep tears from spilling over.
"I love you."
She lost the battle, and twin streaks dampened her cheeks, combated by the smile on her face. "Pepper said- she said you told Morgan that I'm her sister?"
There was a flash of hesitancy in his eyes, but he masked it quickly. "Yeah. Morgan- she kept asking who the girl in the picture was, and I didn't know what else to tell her. May suggested it, actually."
Penny nodded slowly, glancing up, and back down when she realized he was watching her. "Do you- I mean, did you-" she broke off, twisting the blanket between her fingers. "You see me like- like that?"
Tony seemed to sag in relief, eyes crinkling as he smiled at her. "Pen, you've been my kid for years. This just makes it a little bit more real. You've got a little sister, and a family. If you want it."
The teen wiped her eyes, laughing wetly. "Of course. Of course I want it."
Her mentor- maybe father figure- brushed her hair away from her eyes, and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "Welcome to the family kiddo."