Let's Review - strawberrysoup - The Avengers (Marvel) (2024)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

There weren’t many things that Penny Parker could really rely on. Her paychecks fluctuated unfathomably every two weeks, the electricity bill was never consistent, and for some reason even when she drove her car dry it never took the same amount of gas to fill the tank. Peter’s class schedule seemed to change every time she asked about it, his after-school club activities were never on the same day, and why did she have to sign this report card but not last quarter’s, Pete? Consistency was something she’d learned not to hope for. Mostly she kept her fingers crossed that things would somehow work out to her advantage, day by day.

For the most part, it did. She’d dropped out of high school when uncle Ben died to start working, to help support aunt May and Peter. It had taken three years to get her GED between the three jobs she worked, but she managed. GED accomplished, she checked off that box on her mental list and signed up for night classes at the local community college. It was hard, but she could make it work. Then aunt May had died.

Custody of 14 year old Peter Parker had been hotly contested, as Penny had only been 21 at the time of aunt May’s death. Technically, she was an adult. She had two jobs, a steady income, an apartment, a decent credit score. Somehow, like most things in her life, it had just kind of worked out and she was granted sole custody of her younger brother. She’d dropped her night classes, picked up a third job overnight, and kept her fingers crossed that social services never asked why her “two bedroom apartment” only had one bedroom.

Semi-decent luck was the only thing that really kept her life running, and by extension Peter’s. She knew it would wear off someday, she’d been granted the lion’s share of good fortune in Queens when it came to looking after her brother and it wasn’t super fair. She just didn’t think it would end so spectacularly. The end of the luck was supposed to be a low, painful fizzle.

Instead, it was a flashbang that started with Peter acting like a co*kehead. Peter had never been a particularly twitchy kid; Penny had leeched all the chaotic energy from their mother’s womb and left the intelligence behind for her kid brother. Over the course of several months though, he’d begun jumping at the drop of a hat. Penny would turn the corner into the kitchen and startle him so badly he’d have an asthma attack. If she even glanced at his phone when a notification lit up the screen he’d lose his mind, accusing her of not respecting his privacy and dart away into his room. Asking if he needed anything from the store was suddenly the Spanish Inquisition and god forbid she offer him a ride to school.

Because she’d graciously left all the IQ points for Peter, Penny had a tendency to do stupid things. Like assume Peter’s behavior was because he had gotten a girlfriend or was just going through usual teenage boy hormones that made him act like a jackass. Luckily the dumbass wasn’t actually a co*kehead, considering he still blanched whenever she had weed in the house, but f*ck if he wasn’t acting like a freak. It came to a head when she happened to be coming home from her second job at the same time he was getting home from one of his after-school club meetings.

She hadn’t been sure what she was seeing at first. It was definitely Peter, he’d hit a growth spurt finally and started to put on some height and muscle mass but was still a lanky little sh*t, and he was arguing with a man in a suit who was walking next to him. Both were being followed by a slow-moving car with blacked out windows and no front license plate. Peter’s body language was uncomfortable, arms crossed over his chest, shoulders angled away from the man and tucked in, eyes down.

When Penny called out to Peter, the man had gotten into the backseat of the black car which promptly drove away. Her brother had gone red in the face and ran up the steps to their apartment complex without waiting for her to catch up, locking himself in the bedroom and refusing to come out when she followed him in. She’d given up on being the casual guardian, the cool big sister who let him live his life. Penny had begged him to come out, to tell her what was going on. She just wanted to help, how could she help him if he wouldn’t talk to her?

It had started with simple answers, after Penny had started to cry, through the door.

Who was that man? Tony Stark.

What did he want with Peter? To offer him a job.

Why were they arguing? Because Peter rejected the offer.

He was lying. Penny knew what it sounded like, the way his voice changed. She’d been glued to his side since their parents died when she was 13 and it had only gotten worse with uncle Ben’s passing. Peter was lying through his teeth and Penny had no idea why, no idea what to do. Helplessness had settled over her shoulders like a lead blanket, her chest tightening. If Peter was willing to lie to her, then whatever was happening with Tony Stark was really, really bad. And she had nof*ckingidea what to do.

“JARVIS, bring up Peter’s file.”

The voice cut through the silence of the car like a shot, Happy glancing at the man in the backseat through the rearview mirror questioningly. Usually his boss was in a pretty good mood after having harassed the high school kid he’d become obsessed with over the last several months, but the tone of his voice said otherwise.

“Of course, sir,” the AI responded dutifully from the Stark phone, a document appearing on the screen, “anything in particular, sir?”

“Peter told me he was emancipated after his aunt’s death and that he lived alone. I think my boy’s lying to me, J,” Tony’s voice was lower than usual, irritation apparent in his stony expression.

“Straight home, boss?” Happy asked quietly, humming in response when the man in the backseat nodded.

“Records show that Peter Parker is under the guardianship of one Penelope Parker, 24 years of age, relation: sister.”

“So he did lie to me,” Tony ran a hand over his goatee, sighing through the motion in disappointment before anger overcame him again, “You mean he lives in that sh*thole with someone? She’s supposed to be taking care of him, that place is a f*cking drug den!”

“The police have indeed responded to 23 calls involving illicit drug use in that apartment complex in the last 10 days, sir. Another 10 calls were answered in response to domestic violence, 5 calls in regards to loitering, 7 calls in—”

“Thank you, JARVIS,” he waved his hand impatiently before the AI could recite every reason his boy shouldn’t be living in such a f*cking pigsty, “tell me more about Penelope.”

The name was said with enough venom that Happy’s eyebrows went up, glancing once again at his boss in the rearview mirror as he navigated through the congested New York City streets.

“Penelope Parker, 24 years of age, born in New York City, New York. Dropped out of high school at 16, accomplished a GED at 19. Currently employed at Little Hands Daycare, Starbucks Coffee, and Kroger’s. Owner of a 2001 Toyota Camry, license plate 605-CEG, rents a one-bedroom apartment in Queens for $1,200 a month, credit score of 713, 1 speeding ticket, no medical insurance—”

“Stop,” Tony grit his teeth, tilting his head from side to side to crack his neck, “a one-bedroom apartment. No medical insurance. Didn’t even graduate from f*cking high school. How the hell did she get custody of my boy?”

“Custody of Peter Parker went to his closest living relative, with the stipulation that social services kept up regular visits on account of the young age of the guardian. Records show that visits kept up for roughly 3 months before ending.”

“3 f*cking months, those useless f*cks,” it came out as a snarl, “look up the case workers, I want their names. And their heads. On a platter. Get a lock on their wifi signal, I want to know what they’re doing at all times. I already have a tracker on Peter, hack into the GPS on Penelope’s phone and keep track of her too.”

“The phone number listed on Ms. Parker’s work forms is a prepaid burner with no GPS capabilities. I can use triangulation to pick up on her general location when she connects to cell phone towers.”

“Seriously, a burner phone? Is she a drug dealer?” Tony’s eyes shot up to meet Happy’s in the mirror, “Oh my god is my baby’s guardian a drug dealer?”

“There is no evidence of any misconduct on the part of Ms. Parker, sir,” JARVIS stated calmly, despite the edge of infuriated panic from Tony, “she has no arrest record or suspicious activity.”

“That doesn’t mean anything and you know it JARVIS,” Tony pressed his head back into the cushion behind him, squeezing his eyes shut, “I’ve got to get him out of there, sooner rather than later. Happy, once we get home, start coordinating with Rhodey for extraction plans. JARVIS, keep an eye on any activity on their WiFi network.”

“Shall I connect to the webcam on the laptop computer, sir?”

“And the camera on my baby boy’s phone,” on his own phone, Tony opened his picture gallery to swipe through the images he already had of Peter, a small smile taking over his mouth in the process, “Keep any recorded video for at least 24 hours, let me know if anything interesting happens.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Happy, let’s get everyone ready for my boy’s homecoming,” Tony stated, shifting in his seat as they pulled into the private garage beneath Stark Tower, “its coming up sooner than we anticipated.”

Penny had started googling Tony Stark the moment she realized Peter wasn’t going to part with anymore information. The longer she sat in front of the laptop, the more panic began to grow in her chest.

Tony Stark was a bad man. A very, very bad man who made very, very dangerous weapons and had lots of very, very important and powerful people in his back pocket. There was no real evidence, of course. None of his misdeeds could be proven in court, none of the weapons he invented could be traced to his company, none of the people he practically owned would even admit to knowing the man. He was incredibly powerful and so f*cking dangerous that Penny’s teeth ached at the thought of him even being near her baby brother.

“f*ck,” she muttered dragging both hands through her dark brown hair, “f*ck, f*ck, f*ck.”

There was no reason for a man like Tony Stark to be offering Peter a job. Sure, Peter was smarter than anyone she’d ever met. The kid’s IQ had to be off the charts, he’d gotten into that insanely expensive private science school in Midtown. But there was no reason for Tony Stark to recruit a high school senior, even if he was a budding genius.

“What are you doing Pen?” Peter’s voice was raspy from crying and the sound made Penny jump, turning in her seat to look at the teenager behind her.

“I’m…,” she glanced guiltily at the laptop before sighing, “I didn’t know who Tony Stark was off the top of my head. I had to look him up.”

Peter quickly reached out and closed the internet browser before shutting the lid of the laptop, running his hand through his hair in a way rather reminiscent of his sister, “You shouldn’t google him, he’s got enough of an ego that he probably gets an alert every time his name comes up.”

Penny bit her lip, rubbing her hands together in her lap before gathering as much courage as she could and pushing out the chair at the table next to her, “we need to talk, Pete. I need you to tell me the truth about why he was talking to you, no bullsh*t. I can’t help you if I don’t know the situation.”

The teenager hesitated for all of 30 seconds before dropping into the chair, his expression one of dismay, “I can’t tell you anything, Penny. Its too dangerous, he could hurt you—”

“I’m not worried about me, Peter,” she cut him off, hand rising when he started to open his mouth again, “Stop. Listen. Its my job to take care of you, to keep you safe. Start from the top, how did you meet Tony Stark?”

Another hesitation, eyes darting away from her face before he answered, “on accident. He saw me on the street, I was looking for a job at one of the coffee shops near school.”

Penny held her tongue, refusing to lecture him on getting a job and derailing the current conversation, “and he approached you?”

“Yeah,” Peter rubbed a hand over the back of his head, “Asked me my name, about my uniform. Asked me if I liked science since I went to a special school. I thought it was cool, he runs a research and development laboratory. Then he started… showing up in different places.”

“You think he was in those places deliberately?” The question was a quiet prompt when Peter seemed to clam up and he nodded in response.

“It was weird, but I… I liked the attention,” it was whispered, tears gathering in his eyes as shame built in his chest, “He told me how, how smart I was and how impressed he was by me. Talked to me about science and then just… about me. He wanted to know what kinds of things I liked to do for fun, what kind of movies I liked. I kind of thought we were friends but then…”

“Its okay, Peter,” Penny reached out and grabbed both of his hands in hers carefully, tears in her eyes as well, “what happened then?”

“He started getting handsy,” he murmured, a shiver going down his spine, “at first it was just, just like him putting his hand on my back when we walked through a door. Or he’d put his arm over the back of my chair and touch my shoulder. It was weird because he was an adult but… he’s handsome, Pen. He’s really, really handsome and I was excited because he was interested in me for some reason but now I realize that it wasn’t good and it’s not good and I shouldn’t have let him and I’m so sorr—”

“Don’t say sorry, Pete,” a quiet sob escaped Penny’s mouth and she covered it with her hand, the other still clutching at his, “Don’t apologize, you have done nothing wrong. Oh God, Peter, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I noticed that you’d started acting differently but I passed it off. Oh my God, I should’ve talked to you so much sooner. I should’ve asked what was going on. How long has this been going on, Peter?”

He was quiet for so long that another sob was ripped from Penny’s lips and she shot forward, dragging her little brother into a nearly suffocating hug. f*ck, f*ck how long had that piece of sh*t been conditioning her little brother. That f*cking pedophile how long had he been stalking her little brother. f*ck the age of consent in New York, f*ck the law, Peter was a baby—he was a f*cking child.

“You don’t have to answer, Peter, its okay,” it was a soft whisper, her hand carding through his hair while he cried against her, “I’m going to figure something out, okay? I don’t know what yet, but I’m going to make sure that he leaves you alone. I’m going to take care of this, I’m going to take care of you.”

“You can’t, Penny,” his cries were breathy and quiet, “you can’t take care of me this time, he’ll hurt you—”

Penny couldn’t say it out loud, because Peter would lose his mind, but Penny would let Tony Stark murder her in front of an audience if it meant he’d leave Peter alone. Every promise she’d ever made, to her mother on her deathbed, to aunt May on hers, was to keep Peter safe. To make sure he had every opportunity. Peter was so smart, he had so much potential, if she could just give him the chance, if she could just get him to the point where he could make something of himself—then she would consider her life perfect. She’d die knowing she had done her job, she’d opened the gates for her brother’s success.

“I’ll figure it out Peter, one way or another.”

Chapter 2

Chapter Text

Penny Parker worked, on average, 108 hours a week between three jobs to make ends meet for herself and Peter. His high school, a stupidly expensive private science academy, sucked the majority of her income up each month despite a scholarship. Rent was $1,200 a month, not including utilities. Peter ate like a quintessential teenage boy, which meant a pound of cereal every morning before school and the equivalent in the evenings when he got home from his clubs.

She didn’t sleep much and only had one rotating day off each week. After learning of Peter’s situation with Tony Stark, she slept even less and spent her days off doing any and all research she could into the man and her options for getting Peter away from him. By the time a month had passed since the revelation that her baby brother was being stalked by a super powerful, criminal mastermind pedophile piece of sh*t, Penny was a wreck of a human being. Even Peter, who was understandably wrapped up in his own head most of the month, had noticed the bags under his sister’s eyes and the harried look she carried about her at all times.

They joked that Penny had taken every bit of chaos from her parent's combined genes, somehow managing to leave behind every ounce of intelligence for Peter. She was a walking, talking disaster on the best of days. He’d seen her stick a fork in a toaster, try to mix bleach and vinegar, hell one time she’d come home from work with a sprained wrist because she’d fallen off a ladder stocking some shelves despite the fact someone had been actively holding the ladder to spot her. But this was an entirely new level of disarray from his sister.

Peter could tell that she wasn’t coming up with any solutions that she was happy with. Despite their inside jokes, Penny had a weird sort of intuitive intelligence. She couldn’t do basic math in her head and forget anything to do with science, hell basic reading comprehension could be a trial at times.

What she knew was that Tony Stark had every police department in New York on his payroll, despite the act they put on that “they were doing everything in their power” to gather evidence on the 87 open investigations into him and his company. She knew that he had several politicians under the same thumb, not because it was public knowledge, but because somehow every bill that was put to vote that could be useful to Tony Stark passed into law (or however that sort of thing worked—Penny didn’t understand bills and laws and the senate or whatever, but who really did?).

She knew that the surrounding states were similarly within his range of power. That his companies’ holdings in California meant he had too much control there too. He had holdings in Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico as well. It wasn’t public knowledge, but Penny could read between the lines when things seemed too good to be true. Or, too good to be true for one Tony Stark. Everything aligned in a way that was so suspicious, she couldn’t figure out why the FBI or CIA or NSA weren’t on to him too.

In the end, all it meant was that nothing Penny did would really matter in the long run. Tony Stark was infinitely powerful in a multitude of states, rich and influential in a way that one person shouldn’t ever have the ability to be. And Penny Parker had $3,000 to her name and a sh*tty apartment and an even sh*ttier car. Compared to Tony Stark, she wasn’t even good enough to be dirt.

It meant that she had to be more creative. Penny wasn’t smart, but thinking outside of the usually accepted parameters was kind of her specialty. There was no good way to get Peter away from Tony’s sphere of influence, but there were some ways. Maybe just a single way. A very unpleasant, single way that would rip her heart to shreds. But Penny had decided as a 13 year old that she would do everything she could to keep Peter safe and happy and f*ck if she was willing to stop now.

“Are you still stalking the webcam feed?” Tony wondered if it was possible to push anymore exasperation into his voice as he walked into the main living room only to find Clint once again watching Peter’s empty apartment on the massive TV.

“Something might happen,” it was the same defense the assassin always used when caught in the act, but Tony knew that the blond actually just wanted to catch a glimpse of Penelope Parker.

In all fairness, even Tony could admit that the young woman was rather beautiful. Where Peter’s skin was milky white and freckled, Penelope had a tan that betrayed her father’s Israeli heritage. She was shorter than Peter, held more weight than her lanky but growing brother. Her hair was long and held a natural wave, the same colour as Peter’s. They had the same eye colour as well, but Penelope’s were more narrow and slanted. It wasn’t Tony’s cup of tea, but he could objectively understand the appeal.

In all honestly, Penelope Parker wasn’t his cup of tea as a person. Every time her name popped into his head, he felt a seething rage begin to build in his chest. Penelope f*cking Parker, responsible enough to be deemed guardian of the most precious boy in New York but not responsible enough to actually take care of him.

Back when he thought Peter lived alone off his meager inheritance, the living situation had bothered Tony but not enraged him. After all, sure a teenage boy would be fine living in a sh*t hole if it fit his budget. But no, his sister was the one who made him live in that rat’s nest. His sister, who worked so often it left poor Peter neglected and alone, was the reason he had to walk through dangerous streets to get home at night. His sister.

His f*cking sister.

No wonder Peter hadn’t told him he had a sister. She was probably a f*cking monster, as selfish and miserable as the goddamn evil stepsister from Cinderella.

He’d caught enough glimpses of Penelope Goddamn Parker in the last month to last him a life time. She and Peter hardly interacted where the webcam could pick up, although sometimes they caught snippets of audio. Mostly, they witnessed just how addicted to the internet she was. She spent more time on her f*cking laptop than she did talking to her own brother.

It drove Tony insane, knowing that the longer he left Peter in her care, the more neglected he would be. His baby boy was trapped in an apartment with an uncaring bitch who spent 90% of her time working and the other 10% ignoring him for whatever bullsh*t Instagram, Facebook nonsense she was so obsessed with. Tony didn’t even bother keeping a record of her internet history, after the first two days of monitoring had revealed she spent the entire time on Youtube.

“Yeah? And has anything happened in the last, oh, 6 hours since she left for work?”

“No but she should be getting home soon—” Clint winced, having walked directly into the trap Tony set like a dumbass.

“Stop watching the bitch on my TV, all you do is stare down her f*cking shirt anyway.”

“The bitch would make a pretty decent lay if you’d give a guy a break.”

Tony Stark did not roll his eyes. Tony Stark was a genius, ran a weapons engineering empire, had the most important politicians in the United States in his back pocket. Tony Stark did not roll his eyes.

So Tony Stark Did Not Roll His Eyes at the blond parked out on his couch with a bowl of popcorn and a beer. No doubt there was a cheap ass pizza on it’s way up the elevator, despite the fact Tony employed some of the best chefs in New York for his private kitchen. Clint Barton was the worst sort of best friend Tony had, but he’d still kill for the dumbass.

“What has Penelope Goddamn Motherf*cking Parker done now?” Sam Wilson questioned absently as he walked into the living room from the kitchen, quoting Tony’s general tone of voice when talking about the woman.

“She hasn’t even taken her shirt off where I can see it, can you believe that? f*cking ridiculous. With a rack like that she should be shaking her tit* on camera for money daily,” Clint whined in response, gesturing to the empty room on the TV, “I swear she sleeps on that f*cking couch almost every night and not once has she undressed in front of the computer.”

“You’re a freak, my dude,” Sam smacked the blond upside the head as he walked past towards the elevator, “Time table still on track, Stark?”

“Steady as she goes,” Tony replied, pulling his phone out of his back pocket, “Where are you going? Movie night starts in 20 minutes?”

Movie night was almost the most ridiculous thing Tony participated in on any given day. His inner circle was made up of the only people in the world he trusted, was made of up assassins and ex-military super soldiers and all sorts of genetically altered freaks, and somehow movie night had become a staple of their existence. To miss a movie night without a doctor’s note or a mission was a crime punishable by near exile in the form of a group silent treatment. Pepper, Happy and Pietro were currently exempt, away on a business trip as executive, body guard, and assistant.

“Just going to change,” Wilson gestured to his workout clothes and shrugged, “need to shower.”

“Now if only we could make you realize that needs to happen more than once a month,” Clint muttered quietly, only to have a dirty shoe nail him in the face a moment later.

The blond fell off the couch with a shout, popcorn flying everywhere as the bowl escaped his grip. Sam, who’s aim was almost as impeccable as Clint’s own, gave the man the finger as the elevator doors closed dramatically.

“You are a disaster of a human being,” Tony commented absently, still watching his phone as the little dot that was his baby boy moved through the city.

He ignored Clint’s protests, flopping onto the couch and making himself comfortable while the rest of the tower’s residents slowly ambled into the communal living room. Bucky and Steve were parked out on the recliner, disgustingly cute and cuddly even from a distance. They, like Clint, had a stupid fascination with f*cking Penelope and were watching the webcam feed while they waited for everyone to arrive.

Natasha and Wanda wandered in while chatting, each already having a drink in their hand. Thor, Loki and Bruce all came out of the elevator at the same time, Bruce having come from the labs and the two brothers from the coffee shop on the ground floor of the tower. Sam and Rhodey entered at the same time from the stairwell, both having freshly showered after a long day.

“What are we watching tonight?”

The following argument generally lasted a solid 20 minutes, but Wanda and Natasha won out with a comedy horror they’d all already seen before. It left plenty of room for conversation while the movie played in the background, a deck of cards finding their way onto the coffee table as well.

“So what’s the plan for your boy’s sister, Tones?” Rhodey questioned as Sam dealt cards for their third game of poker of the night.

“I’m sure he’ll be ecstatic to get away from the bitch,” the man grumbled in response as he adjusted his hand, “He’d probably walk right out the front door and leave her in the dust if I asked. I figure I’ll give her an ultimatum: Peter comes with me and she shuts the f*ck up, or Peter comes with me and she finds herself in a shallow grave.”

“I think I could draw her tit* from memory from how often she’s on her computer and ignoring her brother,” Clint stated, because despite the fact he thought Penelope god awful Parker was hot as all Hell, he knew how much it hurt to have the person who was supposed to care for you most ignore you completely.

Rhodey hummed in agreement, “Maybe we should off her, just in case. I bet she gets some sort of welfare from the state for him and she shouldn’t get to keep raking that in.”

“She shouldn’t get it even while she’s got him,” Natasha stated from over her wine, spread out and lounging on the loveseat closest to the couch, “probably uses it for drugs. It definitely isn’t used for groceries to feed to the poor kid, he looks half starved.”

“Nah, that’s just teenage boy syndrome,” Bucky added a couple of bills to the pot on the coffee table, “Not that I think she’s winning any care taker of the year awards, but I’ve seen that him eat while doing surveillance. Kid could take down a whole ass McDonalds by himself if given the chance.”

“He’s been putting on some weight actually,” Tony felt the corners of his lips tip up in a small smirk, “Muscle mass, one of his friends started dragging him to lift weights on Thursdays.”

“Careful Stark, you get too excited by the thought and you’re gonna pop off in your jeans,” a round of snorts sounded at Rhodey’s words and Tony Stark, Who Did Not Roll His Eyes, gave his friend the finger.

“I say we just go ahead and kill her,” Bruce was focused more on his laptop and the reports there in than the movie, but made sure he always paid attention to the conversation during movie nights, “she’s a liability. It might help Peter adjust too, knowing that she’s gone.”

“And that he has nothing left and nothing to go back to,” Clint added, not mean spiritedly but pointedly and with an exaggerated head tilt.

“He won’t have anything left or anything to go back to,” it was pragmatic and a bit cold, but Steve never pulled his punches, “its best to cut all ties. The more he relies on Tony, the faster he’ll adapt to his new situation. Maybe its manipulative, but this is a weird situation and we might have to get our hands dirty to get him to a good place, mentally and physically.”

“By weird you mean kidnapping a kid?”

“For his own good!”

“Its only kidnapping until he turns eighteen, right?”

“I don’t think that’s how the concept of kidnapping works, Clint.”

“Excuse me, sir,” JARVIS suddenly interrupted, turning on the lights and turning off the movie, “I believe it is important that you watch the webcam footage I’ve been monitoring. The recording begins as of five minutes ago and is still ongoing.”

“Pull it up, J,” Tony ordered quickly, sitting forward on the couch.

Everyone in the room watched in confusion as the TV began to roll on Peter and stupid f*cking Penelope sitting in front of the laptop, most likely at the kitchen table. Peter was slightly off to the side, the computer centered more on his sister.

“Penny, please just tell me what you’ve decided on? I’ve been watching you lose your mind for weeks, I know you came up with something last night.”

“You’re… not going to like it Peter,” f*cking Penelope’s voice was soft, the laptop microphone too sh*tty to pick up the quiet cadence well, “If you can think of something better, we’ll go with that. But… I don’t think there’s another choice. I’ve gone through everything I can think of. Try to let me get through this without yelling at me, okay?”

They’d never really seen Peter and f*cking Penelope interact before. Most of the time it was just her, on the laptop, all the f*cking time. Peter came and went in the background, to and from school and clubs and his friend’s houses, but most of the time she closed the laptop when he was around. They were all a bit surprised by how much affection was in her expression as she looked at her brother. Peter nodded at her, lips already pursed in frustration.

“I’ve been doing as much research as I can on Tony Stark. He’s… God, he’s got more influence than the f*cking president. There are entire states in his pocket, Pete. Can you believe that? From what I can figure out, he’s got just about every New York senator on his payroll and don’t even get me started on the police—”

“How’d she figure that out?” Rhodey’s frown was a mixture of concern and irritation, “There’s never been any sort of reporting on your dealings with politicians.”

“I don’t know.”

“The good news is, I don’t think he has any business in Oregon. I’ve looked through as much of the gossip as I can, he’s never spent any significant amount of time there and if I’ve been understanding the weird ass insinuations correctly, his businesses don’t operate in the area.”

“Oregon? Are we gonna go there?” Peter reached out and grabbed his sister’s hands, “I promise, I’m not upset over us having to move Penny, I—”

“Peter, I’m… I’m not moving babe, you are.”

The teenager seemed to draw back slightly, his eyebrows furrowing and his mouth dropping open as he searched for words but was unable to come up with any.

“I don’t think you remember them, the last time we saw them was before mom and dad died, but we have second cousins in Oregon, Paul and Olivia. They’re about ten years older than me, with one kid. When I got custody of you, I contacted them. I wanted to make sure that if something happened to me, I had a sure thing lined up for you. It was years ago, but they promised they’d take you in a heartbeat if I couldn’t care for you anymore, for any reason.”

“You… you wanted to give me to them?” Peter’s eyes were full of tears and they watched as Penelope reacted in horror.

“Peter, no! Never! I would never willingly let you go. I was worried, everyone around us was dropping like flies in freak accidents and I couldn’t let you go into foster care if I died. I just wanted to make sure you would have someone if something happened to me.”

“You thought you were gonna die?”

“My birth father died, and then mom and dad died, then uncle Ben, then aunt May. I didn’t want to leave you alone with no one. I didn’t think I was gonna die, I just… wanted to be prepared. Just in case.”

“Why are you bringing them up? And Oregon? What do you mean that I’m moving? Alone?”

Penelope What the f*ck is Happening Parker’s lips pursed, eyes filling with tears. There was a level of sheer pain on her face that was startling for them all to see, especially considering they’d managed to work her up as an unfeeling monster in their heads for f*cking weeks now.

“I’ve tried a thousand ways for us both to go, but I just… I don’t have the money saved for us to move. We’d have to break the lease and even if we left with the clothes on our backs, we wouldn’t be able to afford getting to Oregon. The car won’t make it, I can’t afford plane tickets. I wouldn’t be able to afford to get to Oregon. But I’ve figured out a way to get you there.”

“How Penny?” Peter’s was obviously trying to sound stern, but his voice cracked slightly.

“Not tomorrow, but the day after, we’re going to put in an anonymous call to Child Protective Services and claim that I’m abusing you. Neglecting you. They’ll take you out of my custody and send you to Olivia and Paul, since they’re our ‘closest’ living relatives.” Penelope Oh f*ck Parker’s voice was cracking too, tears running down her face as she explained her batsh*t crazy plan to her baby brother, who they were quickly realizing was far from neglected or abused.

Tony felt his chest tightening at the sight of the siblings, both with tears streaming down their cheeks. He wasn’t sure how he’d managed to get it so incredibly wrong. Maybe he’d seen what he wanted to see, that his baby boy was easy pickings. That no one really cared for him so it would be easy to sweep him off his feet and spirit him away.

“You’ve never abused me! You’ve never neglected me! How could you even say that, Penny!? Everything you’ve ever done—”

“Peter please, listen,” Penny was nearly sobbing, grasping Peter’s hands tightly with her entire body angled downwards over them, “We have to pretend, okay? We have to pretend because they’ll send you somewhere safe.”

“You’ll go to jail!”

“That’s fine! That’s okay, Peter! As long as you’re safe, I don’t care—”

“You can’t ask me to do this, you can’t ask me to send you to jail, to send you away when you haven’t done anything wrong, ever! I wouldn’t even be able to visit you! I’d be a million miles away and you’d be rotting away in jail because I was too stupid to mind my own business!”

“Peter none of this is your fault,” the tone was so stern and determined as Penny sat straighter in her chair, squeezing her brother’s hands reassuringly even as her chest heaved with grief, “it’s that f*cking pedophile, piece of sh*t Tony Goddamn Stark’s fault, don’t you ever think that you are at all to blame for any of this—”

“I probably deserve at least half of that rage,” Tony stated absently, almost guilty at the word ‘pedophile’.

“Half? Hah!” It was an absent response, more instinct than intention but got the point across even as the entire group was absorbed by the pain playing out on the TV.

“I went to that stupid tower!” Peter wailed suddenly, making Penny go stiff, “After you got that note telling you not to report the assault, I went to the tower because I knew he worked there and I wanted him to suffer. You wouldn’t go to the police because they threatened your family but I thought… It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I was stupid and I went to f*cking Stark Tower and that’s where he saw me. It’s all my fault.” Peter’s sobbing was viscerally painful to hear, even through the sh*tty microphone.

“What assault? A note? JARVIS, figure out what he’s talking about!” Tony barked, already on his feet and pulling out his phone, “Give me the surveillance footage from that day, who was my boy here looking for?!”

“As the conversation is roughly five minutes delayed, I took the liberty of deciphering Mr. Parker’s statements already, sir,” the AI stated calmly, “six months ago, Mr. Brock Rumlow of level six security sexually assaulted Ms. Penelope Parker in a club in Queens. In order to prevent any bad press upon the company, a persuasive letter was sent from the Tower’s security to Ms. Parker to ensure her silence on the matter. I assume the day you came across Mr. Parker was the day he arrived to confront Mr. Rumlow over the assault and threat.”

“Find him,” Tony snarled towards Rhodey, who was already on his feet and typing away at his phone, heading towards the elevator, “Alive, Rhodey!”

“I’ll see what I can manage,” the man muttered darkly as the doors shut and he began descending towards level six, leaving the rest of them in the living room.

“He… he saw you… there? Oh, god… Oh god he saw you because you went to the tower, oh my God you went there because of me and he saw you— Oh my God!” Penny’s reaction was so emotionally brutal that it verged on physically violent. Her entire body seemed to lock up for a solid thirty seconds before she threw herself out of the chair and they could hear retching in the background a moment later. Peter was still sitting on the far side of the screen, sobbing into his hands.

Almost five minutes later, Penny ambled back into view. Her face was so pale compared to her usually tan complexion that she looked like a ghost. A fine tremble ran through her entire body, goosebumps visible on her exposed arms.

“I’m so sorry,” Peter’s voice broke through his sobs, bone achingly sad, “I’m so sorry I did this to us.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, bud,” Penny’s eyes were almost blank, the pain so overwhelming that she couldn’t force any other expression, “I set all of this in motion. I made a mistake and I’m so sorry you’re having to pay for it. I should’ve protected you better, you never should’ve even known what happened, let alone who— it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. Everything is going to be okay Peter. We have a plan and everything is going to be alright.”

“You’re going to go to jail, Penny! For a horrible crime that you’d never, ever commit! Because I was stupid and immature and—”

“Stop Peter,” Tony’s eyes watered as Penny gently ran her fingers through Peter’s hair and left it to rest on his cheek, “don’t blame yourself for this. No matter what you did, no matter what choices you made, you didn’t deserve to be frightened and stalked. What’s happening is happening because there’s a man out there with a sick mind, who thinks he can take whatever and whoever he wants for whatever he wants. That’s not on you, babe. That’s on him. And everyone who built him up and let him get to this point.”

She let Peter cry for several minutes and the group in the living room found themselves left to digest the situation to the sound of his sobs. Discomfort ran through all of them, for different reasons. Because they’d judged Penelope Too Good for This World Parker so wrong. Because they were the ones enabling Tony to do something terrible. Because they didn’t actually feel guilty for enabling Tony but they did feel guilty for the pain it was causing the Parker siblings.

“You’ll take such good care of him, Tony,” Natasha said quietly after a moment, seeing the pain in the man’s face, “He’s never going to want for anything ever again. He’s going to live in comfort and luxury for the rest of his life and that’s because of you.”

“He’s scared right now, Tones,” Clint jumped in quickly when it looked like Tony might protest, “They both are and we can’t blame them for that. But once they’re—he’s here, he’ll realize that it’s not a bad thing and that he has nothing to be afraid of. That we’re going to take care of them—him, all of us.”

Mind running at a million times per hour, Tony considered their words. Actually, he considered Clint’s words. Clint’s misspoken statements that implied both Parker siblings would be in the tower. Both of them would be safe and cared for. Both.

“They’ll never want for anything ever again,” Tony repeated quietly, all eyes in the room locked carefully on him, “Peter and Penny shouldn’t be separated.”

“You’ve given up everything for me, Penny,” Peter whispered after his cries calmed, “You dropped out of high school, dropped out of college, started working three jobs so I could go to that stupid school, you don’t sleep, you hardly eat, and I know it’s all for me. I can’t let you give up your freedom, I can’t let you give up anything else for me.”

“Oh my God no wonder she’s so skinny,” Wanda suddenly gasped, tears pouring down her cheeks in continuous rivers, “we thought Peter was skinny, but look at her, look at her collar bones! JARVIS, give me a record of all credit and debit card transactions she’s made in the last month and—” The redhead cut herself off when Penny began speaking again.

“All I want is for you to be happy Peter,” Penny whispered, the blank look in her eyes fading into grief again, “All I’ve ever wanted was for you to be happy. You’re everything to me, you’re my baby brother. I’ll do anything to keep you safe, bud, anything.”

“I won’t do it, Penny, I won’t—”

“Yes, you will, Peter,” resolve hardened Penny’s voice and she squeezed her brother’s hands, “You’re going to do as I say. Tomorrow you’re going to go to school and I’m going to call out of work. I’m going to throw most of your clothes away, all of the food in the house. I’m going to switch my stuff for yours, so it looks like I make you sleep on the couch while I take the bedroom.”

“Oh God she does sleep on the couch every night,” Professional Perfect Person Penelope Parker Stalker Clint Barton gasped in horror as he recalled his earlier comment on her sleeping habits and her undressing habits oh no.

“I’m going to trash the place as authentically as I can and I’m… God I’m going to destroy some of your stuff, Pete,” Penny looked pained at the thought, scraping a hand down her face, “But I’m going to transfer all of my savings into your name, so you’ll only be without your stuff for a little while. You can rebuy everything you need once this is over.”

“I can’t take your money, Pen—”

“Hush Peter. I don’t have much saved up, but I’ll put it under your name tomorrow. Now, when I turn 25 in a few months I’ll be able to use my portion of the money mom and dad left us. I’m going to transfer that to you as soon as I can, it should be enough for you to live off of once you turn 18 as long as you use it wisely.”

“Penny, please, you can’t expect—”

“I expect you to do as I say, Peter!” She cut him off with all the flare of a bossy big sister, “I want you to apply to universities outside of the United States. Focus on places like Norway, Australia and New Zealand. Avoid Mexico, Canada and the UK because I think he has business dealings in those countries and I don’t know how long he’ll be willing to search for you, so don’t risk it.”

“How does she know about our business in those places?” Tony threw his hands up in confusion.

“Sir, from what I can gather from Ms. Parker’s search history, she has done her best to track yours and your staff’s movements around the world for the last five or so years by means of social media and gossip blogs—”

“Well holy f*ck, who would’ve thought to do that?” Sam’s eyebrows were raised nearly to his hairline, “that’s ridiculous, no wonder she was on the laptop constantly.”

“Once you turn 25 you’ll come into your inheritance too. By that time I’ll probably be out of jail but… Peter I want you to leave me alone, okay? We don’t know… we don’t know if Stark will let this go, if he loses you. He might use my location and contacts to find you and I can’t let that happen.”

“You want me to just cut you out of my life forever? Like you’re some horrible monster I never want to see again? I can’t—”

“We don’t have a choice bud,” Penny was quiet, soothing as she ran her fingers over his wrists and hands, “Tony Stark is a dangerous man and he has more connections and money than we could ever hope to fight. The police won’t help us, the law won’t help us. All we have is this plan and I need you to follow it. I need to be able to trust that you’ll follow the plan, so that you’ll be safe.”

“What about you, Penny!? You won’t be safe! You’re always so worried about, about me being safe and happy that you forget about yourself! Do you understand that you’re telling me you want to go to jail? That you want me to abandon you forever?”

Penny seemed to waiver for just a second, as if she might actually let some tiny ounce of selfishness set in and change her mind, before her resolve hardened once again and she stood, putting herself nearly out of frame, “This is happening, Peter. This is the plan. This is what we’re doing. Because I won’t let him hurt you. I will literally do anything to keep you safe Peter, this doesn’t even make a wave in the pool of batsh*t crazy I’m willing to go if I need to. I love you. Now go to bed, you have school in the morning.”

Chapter 3

Chapter Text

Penny had sent Peter off to bed before allowing herself to cry for a solid two hours until she passed out on the couch in her work clothes. Waking up was a trial, her head was pounding and she hadn’t pulled the curtains over the living room window closed before falling asleep so it was ten times brighter than it needed to be. She hadn’t set an alarm, but she could hear Peter moving around in the bedroom so it was around 6 AM.

“Peter, you good?” She called out absently, the usual morning greeting that meant ‘are you moving fast enough to make it to school on time?’

“I’m good,” his voice was quieter than usual, dejected in a way that broke a piece of her heart.

She sat up on the couch and put her face in her hands, elbows digging sharply into her thighs. Everything felt off, like the earth had shifted on its axis but only by a few degrees. There had been several times in her life when everything had changed in the blink of an eye. Her entire world stopped spinning, first when her mom and dad died, then again with uncle Ben, and again with aunt May. Every time it had eventually started back again, but she’d always had an anchor.

She’d always had Peter, when everything went wrong. Having to start from scratch, to rebuild her entire life, was always possible because she had Peter. He was her rock, her reason for pushing forward to fix everything that went wrong. To restabilize.

When she’d been date raped in a club in Queens half a year ago, it had been traumatic. Brock had been sniffing around for ages before she finally agreed to go out with him and then he turned into a f*cking monster at the drop of a hat, the piece of sh*t. She hadn’t meant to let Peter find out about any of it. She’d called a friend to get her from the club, to help her home. She’d been traumatized and angry, half drugged by the time they got to the apartment and screaming about the injustice.

Peter had helped her into the shower, sent her friend off for food, and held her while she screamed and cried and otherwise lost her f*cking mind. By the next morning she’d gotten a note slipped under the door, essentially telling her to f*ck off and keep her mouth shut or else. As if she’d even considered going to the police— what would she have said? ‘This dude I talked to for months slipped me drugs and raped me in the back of a club. No, there were no witnesses. No, I didn’t call the police. No, I didn’t go to the hospital.’ Stupid. She’d been stupid, as always.

Getting into such a stupid situation had spiraled into a rabbit hole of almost inconceivable bad luck. If she hadn’t let herself get duped in that stupid club, Peter never would’ve gone to Stark Tower. Never would’ve gotten spotted by the man himself. And now, she wouldn’t have Peter with her when she rebuilt after this most recent, life altering tragedy.

But he would be safe. There wasn’t anything else that she needed, or could hope for, other than Peter’s safety. Besides, prison might be a nice reprieve from the 108 hour work weeks she currently endured. And they had hospitals in prison, maybe they had dentists? She hadn’t been to the dentist since before aunt May died. Would she go to prison or jail? Penny didn’t know the difference between the two, honestly.

Standing up from the couch, her eyes landed on her laptop. It was sitting open on the dining room table, plugged in because it was so old it never held a charge. She should make a to-do list for the day, starting with calling into all three of her jobs and making Peter breakfast before he had to leave for school. There was a lot she had to get done before her brother got home from school today.

“Hey Pen, have you seen my biology textbook?”

“No babe, check the table by the front door,” she stretched her arms over her head and yawned, trying to work some of the kinks out of her body from sleeping on the couch, “do you have enough time to stick around for breakfast?”

Peter stopped on the other side of the couch, watching his sister act like it was a normal day, a frown on his face. They always joked that he was the smart one. Peter could recite pi to the 40^th digit, explain thermodynamics, and had gotten into a super prestigious science academy on scholarship. Usually, he’d call himself the logical sibling, the one who could see the best course of action and follow it.

But looking at his sister he was realizing there was a level of maturity missing from his logical thinking. He might’ve been the smarter one, but Penny was the one who was going to get them through this hellscape. She was calm, he could see in her eyes that the wheels were turning and that she was in so much pain, but she was calm and collected and was going to work through the day to make sure her batsh*t crazy plan worked out so that he would be safe.

“Yeah, I’ve got time.”

“Sounds good,” she stripped her socks off clumsily while walking into the kitchen, dropping them on the floor as she went, “hey, open up all of the bills on the counter and leave them scattered around while I cook. I want it to look like I’ve been ignoring them and they’re covered in crap.”

Peter dropped his head back, staring up at the ceiling blankly. Penny was pretty good at covering up her emotions but the level of dissociation she was currently displaying was impressive. He retrieved all of the bills from the basket on the kitchen counter and brought them into the living room, dropping them onto the laptop’s keyboard and kicking his feet up on the table before he began ripping them open. He tossed the empty envelopes over his shoulder absently as he went while arranging the bills into a pile to be thrown strategically around later.

“Maybe I should see if Flash will beat me up today at school,” he cringed at the $95 electric bill, knowing that was pretty high for them, “some bruises and cuts might help us when the social workers show up.”

“Don’t get yourself beat up, bud, you don’t have enough padding on your bones to keep everything from snapping under pressure.”

“Well maybe if you actually fed me sometimes, you neglectful monster.”

“Savage, Peter!” Penny’s gasp from the kitchen was full of laughter despite the painful conversation, “keep that up for the social worker.”

“So aside from trashing my things, throwing out anything edible in the kitchen, and destroying the apartment, have anything fun planned today?”

The sound of Penny cursing, followed by the loud clang of a pan hitting the floor had Peter shifting in his seat, angling around to see through the doorway to the kitchen. She hadn’t hurt herself and there was no mess, so he didn’t bother getting up to go help.

“Actually,” she made a pathetic sound upon realizing the orange juice in the fridge was expired, “f*ck. Oh, actually I’m gonna go get my hair and nails done. So it looks like I blow our money on frivolous things instead of like, food and clothes for you.”

“Nice, you should get one of those stupid expensive coffees from those hipster places on your way back. Just for emphasis.”

Once Penny actually managed to cook, she was pretty good at it. She usually cooked what she could for all major Jewish holidays when their budget could stretch to accommodate it. Otherwise she didn’t get around to it all that often, except on her days off, so Peter considered it a treat when she made breakfast for him before school. She shoved the laptop back on the table and put a plate down in its place, revealing a heaping egg scramble and toast with jelly.

“I think we have some major issues,” Peter stated casually as they ate, avoiding the chunks of turkey bacon to save for the end, “I’m pretty sure we shouldn’t be joking about today. Or tomorrow. Or any of it.”

“I figure we’ve got two options,” Penny kicked her feet up next to his, balancing her plate in her lap, “Cry about it or laugh about it. We cried about it last night and it gave me a headache. So, might as well try laughing.”

Peter shrugged but nodded in agreement, “So I think I’m gonna become a supervillain.”

“Oh? Why?”

“I could break you out of jail, bring down Tony Stark and all his minions, steal a whole bunch of money and then we could abscond off to some private island and live the rest of our lives in peace.”

“Except for when you have to go be a supervillain?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

Penny gave a barking laugh and leaned over to shuffle a hand annoyingly through his hair, letting him slap her away like usual. The casual, relaxed attitude they shared was obviously forced, their eyes were full of despair, but they could at least pretend for a while. Pretending that everything was okay would at least get them through the next few days.

“Alright you dope, head to school. I’ll see you when you get home.”

Peter stood up from the table and pulled Penny up after him, wrapping her into a tight hug. He’d grown over the last year and stood several inches taller than her now. Sometimes, hugging her now felt weird because for so long he’d been smaller than her. He vividly remembered being engulfed in her arms, being surrounded by her scent and warmth and how safe it always made him feel. He hoped that she felt the same way he used to, that his hugs made her feel warm and fuzzy.

“See you after school,” he choked out after a moment, pulling away and darting out of the room without looking at her too closely.

It would hurt too much.

Nobody had left the living room, other than Rhodey, in over 12 hours now. Steve and Bucky were still in the recliner together, eyes glued to the TV screen showing the Parker’s living room. Peter had left for school about 20 minutes ago and Penelope Actual Angel Parker had disappeared into the bathroom.

Clint had ordered food from the kitchens about an hour ago and was waiting by the elevator for the chefs to drop it off. They’d all lamented the fact they couldn’t eat the breakfast Penny made with the Parker siblings but had satisfied themselves by listening in on their conversation with stalkerish intensity. Usually Penny didn’t leave the laptop sitting open when she wasn’t using it, so it had been another shocking revelation into their lives.

“Peter’s face while he was opening those bills makes me wonder if she usually hides them from him,” Bruce commented absently, cheek resting in his hand as he scrolled through the files on his laptop.

Instead of the lab reports from the previous night, he was looking through Penny and Peter’s medical histories—HIPAA be damned. Peter got regular physicals each year, was up to date on all of his vaccinations, had minor asthma but no other chronic issues. Penny’s medical history stopped around when her uncle Ben died and she dropped out of high school. She had all her vaccinations and was in the 2^nd year of a 3 year birth control implant, no known conditions except for possible anemia. She hadn’t gone to the hospital after the rape, so he would need to run an STD panel just in case. A diet meant to promote weight gain might also be a good idea.

“I’m sure she didn’t want them to know how dire their situation was,” Wanda stated, “If given the chance, I would’ve hidden things like that from Pietro.”

“So they’re Jewish like y’all, right?” Sam squinted at the screen, pointing to a wall decoration in the apartment, “or is that a Buddhist thing?”

“A Hamsa,” she didn’t look up from her phone, having seen the wall decoration next to the window the first time she’d watched the webcam stream nearly a month ago, “they have it because they’re Jewish but it’s used in other cultures too.”

“Do we need to make sure we have anything… particularly Jew-y for them?”

Wanda finally looked up from her phone, eyebrow raised derisively, “did you get anything particularly Jew-y for me when I moved in?”

“I’m going to learn to make Challah,” Bucky intervened in the conversation before it could become a fight, having been looking up traditional Israeli and Jewish dishes for several hours now, “do you have any recipes Wanda?”

The two devolved into a conversation about homemade breads and the nuances of kosher foods, all the while Wanda scrolled through Peter and Penny’s bank statements. She was looking for their overall spending habits, what was bought for Peter and how often and when and what Penny bought for herself. The former list included the amount of clothing one would assume necessary for a growing teenage boy, along with an above average amount of groceries. There was far less fun stuff, like video games and extensive Lego sets (which they knew Peter loved). Usually those were bought around Peter’s birthday or near Hanukkah. Penny’s spending on herself was generally relegated to work clothes and toiletries, with the occasional splurge on nail polish.

“We had a Jewish neighbor growing up, you remember Buck? Ms. Goldstein made that soup,” Steve scratched his head, trying to remember the name of it but failing.

“Matzah ball soup,” Bucky supplied, glancing at the screen of Steve’s phone from his position in the man’s lap.

He’d started going through the Parker sibling’s social media accounts early in the morning, wondering who was going to put up a fuss over their potential disappearances and how much it was going to interfere with business. Not that it mattered, business was business and home and family came first but it still would be good to have a plan for any fallout.

Peter had all the social media accounts a teenager could want; Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat, TikTok, everything. He overshared on the internet just as much as any other Gen Z kid, although he seemed to favour Twitter and Instagram over the others. Instagram was updated almost daily with pictures of his friends, from school and clubs, pictures of scenery taken around New York. It was actually pretty cute and a touch artistic. He had a decent amount of followers on it too.

Penny on the other hand only had an Instagram page and a Pinterest. The former wasn’t updated much since their aunt May passed away, the recent pictures were mostly of food she’d made or of her and Peter on holidays. He wasn’t sure if the followers on her Pinterest were friends or strangers. There were a whole slew of cute pictures on her ‘Memories’ board, several of which Bucky watched Steve save to his phone. One in particular, of Penny squeezing Peter’s face close to hers while both stuck their tongues out at the camera, was saved as his new home screen.

It would be difficult to spirit either of the siblings away without some repercussions. Peter had some very close friends, MJ and Ned in particular, and was involved in tons of extracurricular activities. If he disappeared, an AMBER alert would go out within a day. Penny wasn’t particularly close to anyone, but she did have several coworkers who would notice very quickly if she went missing. She had been working in the same three places for 3 years and was a well-established and liked staff member.

“We may need to stage some sort of accident,” Steve rubbed a hand over his mouth as he scrolled through Peter’s Snapchat memories, “Peter’s friends are very close and Penny’s barely ever missed a day of work. People are going to cause a stink if they just disappear.”

“Car accident? Fire? Carbon monoxide?”

“Something that won’t leave behind a body,” Natasha drummed her fingers against her leg, humming in thought as the elevator opened and Clint retrieved the cart of food that had been sent up, “probably a fire. Or we could stage a kidnapping and blame it on someone else.”

“Both,” Clint had half of a croissant stuffed in his mouth, spitting out pieces as he spoke, “set up a kidnapping, burn some bodies, set it up to look like Penny and Peter.”

“Who’s the kidnapper?”

“How about this dumb mother f*cker.”

Rhodey’s voice came from the stairwell, the man himself emerging while shoving a heavily beaten and gagged Brock Rumlow through the door. His arms were bound from the elbow down and he lost his balance, landing with a heavy thud only to be kicked hard in the side by the very angry James Rhodes and forced back to his feet.

“He confess?” Tony’s back was to them as Rhodey pushed him farther into the room, making himself a cup of coffee from the French press that had been sent up on the cart.

“More or less.”

One of the things Tony had learned over his long career was that anticipation was almost worse than a beating. Adrenaline was a devastating drug when applied as a method of torture. He could almost feel Rumlow’s heart beating faster, the sweat dripping down his brow. He hummed quietly, taking a sip of his coffee before nodding to himself and turning around.

Rhodey had the man on his knees near the coffee table, head bowed in a mixture of panic and fear. He was bleeding from the head, from his nose, dark bruises were beginning to bloom across the bridge of his nose and around his neck. Rhodes had done a number on the man in the last couple of hours.

“Did you send a letter to Penelope Parker, threatening her younger brother if she went to the police?” His voice was low and he crossed the living room in with an unhurried stride, coming to sit on the couch just inches away from where the man knelt.

The reply was muffled but obviously not a yes or no answer. Tony was well versed in what begging sounded like through a gag, how ‘please’ and ‘don’t hurt me’ came out when one’s tongue was held down by fabric. Brock Rumlow might’ve been a big bastard, but when confronted with his own mortality he became a simpering baby just like all the rest. In all honesty, Tony had a thing for begging anyway.

“Now that didn’t sound like the answer to the question I asked you.”

From his position in Steve’s lap Bucky pitched an empty wine glass at Rumlow’s face. The stem snapped off, the bowl of the glass breaking against his brow bone and leaving a jagged cut in its wake. Bruce rolled his neck at the sound of the rest of the glass hitting the ground and shattering, the sharp noise irritating his always present headache.

“You’re making us upset Brucie here, my man,” Tony stated with a flippant wave of his hand in the scientist’s direction, still taking small, satisfying sips of coffee, “which is a huge mistake. He gets pretty dangerous when you make him mad.”

The exact state of being of most of Tony’s close associates was more… fantastical, than most of the population. Mad scientists had been around for centuries and so had horrible things, like eugenics and human experimentation. He had a tendency to pick up strays at the best of times and the exciting strays, the ones who were really special, he fought to keep. It had started with Rhodey and Clint. They weren’t genetically altered, just insane at the best of times.

He’d met Rhodey in university. At the time, the man was being paid to watch Tony by his father and report back on his activities. Tony had paid better and overtime gained Rhodey’s loyalty as well as friendship. They’d been inseparable and Rhodey had been the one who thwarted Clint’s assassination attempt on Tony. It hadn’t been anything personal, of course, Clint was a world-renowned assassin and was one of the best—if you could pay him the right amount, he was willing to take out anyone. Then he’d been waylaid by a Very Angry Colonel Rhodes. Clint was easily persuaded to switch targets for the correct amount of money and soon Tony had come to see him as less of an employee and more of a friend.

Natasha and the Old Men had come next. From a situation similar to Clint’s, Natasha had been sent to off Tony. Not only had he offered her a better deal, but also protection from the Red Room, a branch of the former KGB that specialized in stealing little girls and genetically altering them. She didn’t hate the violence or the killing, she hated being controlled.

The freezer burned boyfriends had come along looking for Howard Stark, who had apparently betrayed them (and the United States as a whole, actually) in the 40’s in a whole bunch of exciting and horrible ways. Bucky had been traumatized, a veritable murder machine and Steve hadn’t been much better off. Tony had kept them out of the public eye so they could live in relative peace and in turn had become emotionally attached. Especially upon realizing that Bucky was likely his father’s unknowing murderer, which was endearing.

Bruce had been Tony’s next acquisition and the only deliberate one. There had been reports of some sort of monster raging across the globe. It had taken ages and lots of illegal activity in the form of JARVIS hacking satellites and cameras all over the world but they’d found Bruce hiding away in India, providing illicit medical attention to the poor. He’d been attempting to copy the Super Soldier Serum used on The Olds and turned himself into a monster in the process. Tony adored the man.

Then came Thor and his adopted brother Loki, who had been experimented on by their father from a very young age. They’d lost an older sister to a process of attempted Berserker serums and they themselves were forever genetically altered. Thor was in slightly better control of his rages than Loki, but both came to Tony seeking asylum when their father had decided to end his experiments and terminate all test subjects. They were strong and brutal and Thor’s loyalty was unwavering, which was nice because Loki’s only loyalty was to his brother. It was a compromise Tony could live with.

Sam and Wanda and Pietro had been picked up by Steve and Clint respectively, the former a veteran and counselor who turned to murder for hire after being honorably discharged from service and the latter a pair of genetic experiments who’d accidentally stumbled upon Clint after escaping imprisonment. All three had been brought back to the Tower and into the fold.

Pepper and Happy had been picked up along the way of course, his right and left hands for all intents and purposes. Pepper had helped him build the legitimate face of his business and Happy had run interference in all illegal aspects, as well as literally putting himself between Tony and danger.

A short whimper of sheer terror escaped Rumlow before he seemed to almost crumple in front of them, folding in half and hitting the ground. Tony raised an eyebrow as the man landed just a few inches from his foot and groaned in annoyance before dumping the rest of his coffee on the man.

“Don’t pass out on me now, Rumlow, we’ve got— Oh, would you look at that.”

Tony drew the attention of the whole room to the TV screen, where Penelope Precious Parker had emerged from the bathroom in clean clothes. Her long hair was dripping down her back, dampening her white t-shirt just enough that Tony sent Clint a look that said Watch Yourself, Pervert. The same look was not given to Steve or Bucky, although with the way their eyes followed the woman, it should’ve been.

Rhodey bent over and hauled Rumlow back to his knees, turning him to face the TV and yanking his head back, “You see her, Rumlow? You remember her?”

Another whimper, this one with enough inflection to mean ‘yes’. Tony nodded and let out a deliberate, disappointed sigh.

“Yeah, I thought you might say that. You see, that precious little thing has just become one of the most important people in the world. In my world. Her little brother, who you threatened after hurting her in such a despicable way? He is my world,” Tony rolled his shoulders and stood up, walking around the table to get a closer look at the TV.

Penny had sat down on the couch, still well within view of the webcam, and was pulling on a pair of socks. A pair of beat up tennis shoes were on the floor next to her, having been fished out of the trunk that doubled as an end table. Bucky shifted out of the corner of his eye, watching as her shorts rode up higher on her shapely thighs as she contorted to pull on her sneakers. She continued on to gather all of her wet hair into her hands, tying it into a big messy bun on the top of her head.

“I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now,” he continued after a moment, “being confronted with your mistakes like this. You see, I go out of my way to not make mistakes. Or mistakes that could come back to haunt me, at least. I tie up my lose ends, I like pretty packages.”

“She’s a real pretty package,” Steve f*cking sighed like a swooning school girl as Penny stood up and started shifting through some things on the table in front of her, bent over enough to offer an excellent view of her ass.

Tony snorted along with Sam and waved a dismissive hand in the blond’s direction. Steve and Bucky had been half infatuated with Penny when they thought she was a cruel, neglectful monster; now that they knew the truth, that Penny was precious and kind, they were falling in love just watching her through a screen.

“Now the point of this whole thing, unfortunately for you, is that you hurt Penny and you threatened Peter and by extension, you hurt and threatened me.”

There was a muffled ‘I didn’t know!’ through the gag and Tony Stark once again Did Not Roll His Eyes, because he was above that sort of thing.

“Of course not, that’s why this has to sting. You see, maybe if you just didn’t rape anyone this never would’ve happened. You never would’ve been in this situation. But instead you had to go and drug some poor girl and stick your disgusting dick in her and hurt her,” Tony rolled his head to the side and cracked his neck, “And once again, unfortunately for you, everything just kind of got more complicated from there. Because I’m not sure what to do with you at the moment.”

“Tones?” Rhodey’s eyebrows were furrowed, his hand still keeping Rumlow’s head in place.

“Right, right, let me explain to the room at large,” a flamboyant wave of Tony’s hand made everyone sit slightly straighter, “we have a couple of options going forward. The first, is take Peter and Penny, frame and kill Rumlow and be done with it,” several noises of agreement followed the sentence but Tony shook his hands again to quiet them, “Or, we could take the babies, frame Rumlow, but not kill him.”

“Why not kill him?”

“Because then we could let Peter do it. Or Penny,” Tony tapped chin and began to pace, “or, because they’re both going to be very upset in the first few months, we could use him as… incentive, to be good.”

“Hm, killing him in front of them is ballsy,” Sam stood over next to the cart of food, making himself a plate and a cup of coffee, “You want to induce Stockholm Syndrome, but the shock might be too much.”

“Are you worried about them reacting to a murder in general or like, feeling bad he was killed because of them?”

“Both, either,” Sam shrugged, “pick your favourite.”

“Why don’t we keep him around for a bit, we don’t necessarily have to make the decision today,” Steve suggested, shifting Bucky off of his lap and standing up.

The imposing man made his way towards Rumlow with his usual level of heavy swagger, natural as a result of his musculature and dimensions. Rhodey took several steps back at the approach, recognizing the glint of near ferality in the former Captain’s eyes. Getting in the blond’s way was in no one’s best interest and besides, Rhodey trusted him implicitly. The man’s hand came down on Rumlow’s head almost gently, his fingers carding through his hair and tilting his head back to look him in the eyes. His face was swollen from Rhodey’s heavy hits already, but he could still see.

“Besides, me and Bucky are gonna need a playmate for a while. All that pent-up aggression—it’s gotta go somewhere, right, Brock?”

Chapter 4

Chapter Text

When she was younger, Penny could remember her mother blaming little problems around the house on trolls. She said they were little gremlin like creatures that crept around in the dark and sabotaged things just enough to be inconvenient. Whenever Penny forgot something stupid, or worse, something important, she blamed the trolls. Forgetting her purse? The trolls. Forgetting to turn off the lights when she left the apartment? The trolls. Forgetting to make a to-do list? Trolls, obviously.

The latter, of course, was the worst. Forgetting to do things was annoying, but forgetting to do them even though you’d thought about making a to-do list and then just didn’t? A nightmare. f*cking trolls.

Penny had left the apartment with all the necessities; shoes, purse, phone, keys. She had a plan in mind that started with an outrageously expensive coffee and ended with a haircut. She knew what her plan was, had everything she needed. And that’s why she blamed trolls for the way her morning went.

When she got in line to get her coffee, she dug into her purse only to find that her wallet wasn’t in it. Which was ridiculous, because her wallet was always in her purse. She never took it out at home. The only options were that A. Peter took it (a joke) or B. She had been pickpocketed on the subway. Her head dropped back on her shoulders and she groaned loudly, ignoring the looks from the hipsters surrounding her.

“Ma’am, are you alright?”

Penny startled slightly and turned, not expecting a voice to come from quite so close behind her. The coffee shop was super busy, she shouldn’t have been so shocked that the patron behind her was so close, but it still startled her to nearly bump her nose on the man’s chest. She rocked back on her heel in surprise, nearly falling over if it wasn’t for the man reaching out and steadying her by the shoulders.

“Are you alright? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

His hands were f*cking huge. They covered her shoulders entirely and curled down towards her shoulder blades, his grip tight enough to keep her on her feet but not bruising.

“Ma’am?”

“I’m,” she gulped slightly and shook her head, “sorry, I’m fine, just a drama queen I guess.”

“Are you sure? You seemed bothered by something before I scared you.”

Penny gave a small shrug and sighed with a self-deprecating smile on her face, “I think I was pickpocketed on the subway, my wallet’s gone. Should’ve been paying more attention I guess.”

She needed to get back home and call the bank, her debit card and credit card were in that wallet. And her driver’s license too, which meant a trip to the DMV. Was it even worth it to get a new one at this point? She literally planned to be in jail (prison?) by the end of the week.

“That’s horrible,” the frown on the man’s face didn’t do anything to mar how stupidly beautiful he was, “let me buy your coffee.”

“What? Oh my God, no, you don’t have to do that!” Penny had forgotten that his hands were still on her shoulders until she lifted her arms to wave off his concern, accidentally bumping against his elbows.

“Please, I’d like to,” he moved his arms, only to grab her flailing hands for just a moment before letting them go and moving to stand at her side rather than behind her, “my boyfriend should be showing up any moment and he’d skin me if I didn’t pay for you.”

She momentarily considered that f*ck All the Good Ones Really Are Gay right before relief filled her. Ever since the incident with Brock, men showing any amount of interest in her gave her goosebumps. Having a boyfriend meant that this one at least couldn’t have any ulterior motives, he was literally just being a good person. A genuine smile crossed her face at the realization.

“I guess it would be in bad taste for me to say no then, I wouldn’t want your boyfriend to skin you alive.”

“Alive?” The blond beside her laughed, a bone achingly deep and attractive laugh, “I want to point out that you escalated that, I assumed I would be dead before he skinned me.”

“Why am I skinning you, alive or dead?”

The man who appeared was definitely on par with the Adonis she’d already been speaking to. Standing next to each other, it was like looking at the cover of Men’s Fitness. He was tall and tan and built like a f*cking tank, his shoulders looked so broad she wondered how he fit through doorways. Both of them, actually, how did either of them fit through doorways with shoulders wider than most people’s arm spans? Okay, that was an exaggeration but Penny was just about floored by how freaking attractive they both were.

“For not offering to pay for her coffee after she got her wallet stolen,” the blond responded with a grin, leaning over slightly to kiss his boyfriend’s cheek.

“You get mugged, sweetheart?” The frown on the brunet’s face was a goddamn crime and Penny quickly shook her head.

“No, no! Just pickpocketed, I think. Probably on the subway, I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should’ve been. It’s really not a big deal, I didn’t have any cash on me and I’ll just have my cards cancelled,” she gave a shrug and moved forward with the line, trying to pretend she wasn’t actually super upset over having to deal with yet another heap of bullsh*t.

“Well, Stevie’s right anyway, I’d skin him for not buying you a coffee. Are you traumatized doll? I’ll make him spring for a scone too.” Did he just wink at her? Penny’s told her heart not to stutter like that, he had a boyfriend for f*ck’s sake.

“I don’t think I’m traumatized,” Penny turned big, brown eyes on the blond and tilted her head down for effect, “but I might be a little shaken, like enough for a cake pop.”

She didn’t notice the way both of them gripped each other’s waists, as if having to hold each other up under the onslaught of her puppy dog eyes, or the way that the brunet pinched his boyfriend’s side to keep him from offering her the entire world on a platter if she asked for it.

“A cake pop it is, sweetheart,” Stevie (Steve, Penny she supposed she should probably call him) gave her a nearly blinding grin and she had to stop herself from taking a step back in awe, “What’ll you have to drink?”

“A vanilla latte with almond milk? Please,” she cleared her throat slightly, “Steve, was it? And you are?”

“Call me Bucky,” the brunet held his hand out for her to take and she hesitated for only a second, reminding herself again that they were gay, gay, gay before she shook it, “What’s your name sweetheart?”

“I’m Penny, thank you guys for being so kind,” they’d made it to the register and she stepped aside slightly so that Steve could center himself in front of the barista.

“Large black coffee, large white mocha, and a large vanilla latte with almond milk please,” he ordered politely, before putting his arm around Penny’s shoulder and nudging her towards the dessert display, “Which cake pop did you want doll?”

Penny had to literally reign herself in under the weight of his arm, to not go stiff in fear or swoon at the feeling, “t-the, uhm, chocolate one, please.”

“And a chocolate cake pop,” Steve directed the barista with a smile.

“And a blueberry scone,” Bucky interrupted, jabbing his finger at the case, “And one of those giant chocolate chip cookies.”

The barista glanced at Steve for confirmation, who just nodded in response and held out a matte black credit card, “you two go sit, I’ll bring everything out once it’s done.”

“Ah finally, let’s ditch this punk, sweetheart,” Bucky snatched Penny’s hand and tugged her away from the line, heading for a table in the corner that was recently vacated.

She just barely heard Steve scoff before they got too far away, letting Bucky pull out her chair before sitting down. It vaguely registered in the back of her mind that this was the most bizarrely pleasant situation she’d ever been in. Considering the amount of sh*t she dealt with on a regular basis, it was a breath of fresh air. It was kind of a shame she hadn’t met the pair of them before she’d started actively planning how to get thrown in jail.

“I think Stevie made a mistake,” Bucky snorted, breaking her from her thoughts and drawing her attention to Steve, who was fumbling with three coffees and several pastries.

The squeaking noise she made upon standing to go help was not deliberate and actually kind of embarrassing. She was pretty sure Bucky laughed at it as she walked away, quickly stealing one of the coffees and two of the pastry bags from Steve’s hands.

“Thanks doll, nice to know one of you has some manners,” Steve shot his boyfriend a look as he and Penny sat down, winking at the brunet when she wasn’t looking.

“You know, you’re lucky you’re so good looking or I wouldn’t put up with this kind of BS,” Bucky stated casually, reaching over to snatch his mocha from Steve’s grasp.

Steve rolled his eyes but didn’t reply to his boyfriend, “so, Penny, what do you do?”

The casual opening for conversation made Penny immediately uncomfortable and she shifted in her seat as he passed over her coffee and cake pop, “oh, lots of things. Barista, day care, that sort of stuff.”

“Day care, huh? You a kid person?” Bucky asked as he took a sip of his coffee, grimacing slightly as he burnt his tongue, “that sh*t’s hot, watch your tongue, doll.”

Penny shifted the cup between her hands carefully but avoided drinking any, “Kids are precious. Annoying as all Hell sometimes, but I do like working with them. I’m usually with the infants anyway, toddlers occasionally. At that age they’re just cute.”

“We never been around kids too much,” Bucky shoved almost half of the blueberry scone into his mouth in one go, mumbling something around the bite immediately after.

Steve rolled his eyes and reached across the table from his place next to Penny, pulling the scone away and replacing it with a napkin, “manners, jerk. I think he was saying we’ve only been around older kids.”

Bucky nodded in response, picking up the napkin to wipe his face before gesturing for the rest of the scone. Instead of giving it back, Steve pushed it in front of Penny before resting his arm over the back of her chair.

“Let Penny have some before you murder the rest of it, Buck,” the blond admonished, “have at, sweetheart.”

“Oh, that’s alright, I don’t need any,” she shook her head and pushed the bag over to Bucky, “thank you though.”

“Nah doll, you eat the rest of this, I’m gonna hit this cookie.”

He repeated the process of sticking at least 50% of the cookie into his mouth in one go, chewing obnoxiously while Steve dropped his face into his hands in embarrassment.

“You’re a nightmare, I can’t believe I bring you out in public.”

Penny laughed happily at their exchange, enjoying the casual friendliness. She got so wrapped up in the whole experience that by the time she noticed the clock, two hours had gone by.

“Oh sh*t! I’ve got so much to do today and—crap, I’ve gotta go home so I can cancel my credit cards,” she slapped a hand against her forehead, finally remembering that she was busy today. A lot of planning went into getting put in jail for child neglect and she was dropping the ball.

“Here doll, you can borrow my phone to cancel your cards,” Steve started digging into his pocket but Penny waved him off.

“I have a phone, I just have to get on my computer to look up the numbers to call,” she stood up, shoving her hand into her purse to grab her phone, only to freeze.

Her f*cking wallet was in her purse. A deep red blush spread over her cheeks and down her neck. It would’ve been one thing to have missed that her wallet was in her purse, but Steve had gone out of his way to pay for her coffee. Embarrassment coursed through her.

“Hey, what’s wrong sweetheart?” Bucky stood from his seat, hand coming to rest on her shoulder as he curled his shoulders down, making her feel engulfed by his presence.

“I,” she closed her eyes and inhaled sharply, “I’m so embarrassed. I just found my wallet, it was in my purse, I swear I wasn’t trying to scam you— it wasn’t in there, I know it wasn’t but now it is and I—”

“Calm down, sweetheart, its alright,” she’d been drawn in to an all-encompassing hug before she really knew what was happening, pressed tightly to Bucky’s chest with his hand gently stroking the back of her head, “we don’t think you scammed us, it was an honest mistake. We’re just glad you didn’t get robbed, right Stevie?”

“Absolutely, doll, I’m glad you found it,” Steve had stood up as well and was standing just beside the pair, close enough that she could feel his body radiating heat, “don’t be embarrassed, things like that happen.”

Tears were welling in Penny’s eyes; how the f*ck had she come across such nice, kind people at such a time in her life, “sorry, I don’t mean to be so emotional. Just having a rough go of things, I guess. Look, I really do need to get going. Thank you both so much for being so nice.”

“You don’t have to thank us for being nice,” the blond gave a small grin, his hand coming to rest on her shoulder from where she was still wrapped in Bucky’s arms, “How about we get your phone number before you leave? We’d love to have you over for dinner some time.”

Penny hesitated for a moment as they both reached for their phones; what was the point of giving them her contact information? Her days of freedom were shortly numbered, if they tried to call her they’d think she was ignoring them when she never answered. But still, what was the harm— she’d never see them again most likely. Even when she got out of jail she’d have a record of child abuse and who the f*ck wanted to be friends with a child abuser?

She quickly punched her number into their phones and waited for each of them to call her cell so she’d have theirs, “well, it was great meeting you guys! I’ll see you around, okay?”

“Are you going somewhere nearby?” Steve gave a wide smile as he stepped a bit closer, sweeping his arm between himself and Bucky, “we’d be happy to walk you.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary,” Penny shook her head, distracted enough by the phone in her hand and the text message she’d gotten from Peter at some point during their conversation that she didn’t notice the way Steve’s smile tightened, “I’m just going to the salon to get my hair done.”

“We’ll walk you doll,” Bucky’s grin was as charming as the rest of him and she tried not to swoon, “You can tell us who you’re so excited to hear from on the way.”

“Excited to hear from?” She frowned in confusion before the brunet gestured to her phone, “Oh! Just my little brother, he got a 100% on his chem test, highest grade in the class.”

“That’s wonderful, must be a real smart kid,” The expression on Steve’s face was soft and fond as he led them out the door, and Penny wondered if he was thinking of his own little sibling from the proud glint in his eye.

“Peter’s a genius, we always joke that when I was born I took all the chaos and left him all the IQ points,” she flipped her pay-as-you-go phone back open as she received another text from the kid in question, “although with how often he gets his ass beat at school maybe he did get a bit of chaos too. I should’ve taught him to fight but he’s scrawny and I always worried he’d break his wrist trying to punch someone.”

“He gets beat up a lot?” She didn’t look up from her phone, too busy replying to Peter to catch the furious expressions the boyfriends exchanged over her head as they continued down the street.

“Nerd on nerd violence is surprisingly common,” Penny pursed her lips and waved her hand flippantly, “and he doesn’t get beat up anymore. I paid this girl in his grade to beat up his main bully when they were in freshman year and then Peter became friends with her, so he doesn’t get messed with too much anymore. I guess Flash was just super pissed Peter got a better grade in chem this time around,” a careful shrug came as she opened a new text message, “MJ will take care of it. I can’t beat up minors anymore.”

“You paid a girl to beat a kid up?” There was a disapproving tone in Steve’s voice and Penny immediately stopped walking and texting, looking up at the blond with a scowl.

“If it laid hands on the kid they’d of slapped me with a lawsuit and taken Peter away. He was too small to fight for himself, so yea, I paid one of his classmates to beat the sh*t out of the boy who sent him home with a black eye and bruised ribs. And I’m not ashamed of it either, that little asshole deserved what he got,” she jabbed her finger at his chest and left it there forcefully, “If I could’ve beaten the sh*t out of that little punk for what he’d done, I would’ve in a heartbeat. MJ was my next best option. If you’ve got a problem with how I take care of my little brother, you can get f*cked because I couldn’t care less what some stranger thinks of—”

“Hey, hey, doll,” Bucky quickly stepped in, cutting her off and gently taking her wrist to pull her hand away from Steve’s chest, “I’m sorry my man put his foot in it. He’s a dumbass, doesn’t think before he speaks and certainly doesn’t consider the impact of his words. Steve, apologize.”

Penny pulled her hand away from the brunet and lifted both in a placating gesture, “I’m not interested in an apology, it doesn’t matter anyway. I’ve really got to get going.”

“Wait!” Before she really knew what was happening, Steve had grabbed both her arms and stepped into her space, holding her tightly in place, “please wait, Penny, I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” she tried to pull her arms back but he held firm, keeping her far closer than she was comfortable with, “let go of me, please.”

“You take great care of your brother, Penny, I shouldn’t have judged how you decide to do that.”

Bucky came up right behind, boxing her in between the pair and put his arms on her shoulders when she tried to pull back again, “hey, calm down sweetheart, don’t get upset.”

“Get off me! Both of you!” A spark of panic was starting to shoot through her, voice rising as she yanked hard on her hands and bumped roughly back against Bucky, “Get the f*ck off!”

“Hey, what’s going on over here?!” Penny’s head snapped to the left to see a little old lady barging her way through the crowd, garnering the attention of several other people on the way, “you let her go, right now!”

Bucky and Steve pulled away like they’d been burned, both with placating, placid looks on their faces. Penny didn’t stick around to see if they could talk their way out of the situation, taking off down the street in a dead run. They were so f*cking charming, so handsome they could probably talk their way out of a paper bag. She continued straight passed the salon she’d planned to stop at and kept running until she couldn’t anymore. Her breath came in exhausting pants and she bent over, holding her chest.

What the f*ck, how could such a pleasant morning go so badly so fast? Bucky and Steve had seemed so nice and then out of nowhere thought they could manhandle her however they pleased. She could still feel Steve’s hands circling her wrists, Bucky’s pressing down on her shoulders and her back against his chest. The sensation of being held down hadn’t just been terrifying but had brought back brutal memories of being assaulted.

Just like when she’d been attacked, fury pumped through her veins. Those assholes, those f*cking assholes. Penny found herself heading down to the closest subway station and getting on the train towards home. f*ck the salon, f*ck getting her nails done, all she wanted to do was crawl into Peter’s bed and hide under the covers. It was easy to forget about everything she had to do that day in the wake of her panic.

Peter was still texting her, she could feel her cell phone vibrating inside of her purse as she boarded the subway and sat down heavily. She’d been out of the apartment for hours, accomplished nothing, and was thoroughly exhausted. Her head dropped back against the window and she clenched her eyes shut. The blows just kept coming. What a nightmare.

Chapter 5

Chapter Text

Tony looked down at his cell as a text came in from Bucky, that they’d kept Penny busy for as long as they could but Steve had stuck his foot in it and she’d ran off. He definitely Didn’t Roll His Eyes but he did scoff, shoving his phone back in his pocket. It wasn’t a big deal necessarily, just meant their timeline was moved up a bit.

“Rhodey, we should be expecting Penny pretty soon,” he shouted from the Parker’s kitchen to where Rhodey was in Peter’s room, “the Winter Wizards chased her off and she’s probably going to be heading back.”

“Thought she wanted to get her nails done?” Rhodey called back curiously, examining a giant Lego spaceship on the dresser.

“Bucky thinks she’s probably freaked out enough to forgo her original plans, I guess they got a bit handsy.”

“Do you want me front and center or should I stay back?”

Tony hesitated in thought for several moments before sitting down at the kitchen table, arranging the laptop to angle the webcam for the best view of what was to come. Everybody back home would want to watch.

“Stay in the bedroom for now,” he gave a quick thumbs up to the camera before moving to look through the trunks that doubled as an end table and a coffee table near the couch.

Most of Penny’s belongings were in the trunks, several outfits and a few pairs of shoes. She didn’t own very much, just a couple of books on gardening and cooking and a pair of knitting needles but no yarn. A stack of what she probably considered important papers were at the bottom of one, her and Peter’s birth certificates and social security cards, the bill of sale for her car, the scholarship agreement for Peter’s school.

There was also a stack of printed pictures, none in frames, neatly tucked into a corner. They were of Peter and of their family, old photos of their parents and aunt and uncle and what looked like grandparents. He’d seen several of them before, saved on Penny’s Pinterest, but he left them out on the couch to make sure they’d be taken with them upon leaving the apartment. They wouldn’t need any of their clothes, but keepsakes would be important in the coming months. Both for comfort and as incentives for good behavior.

He was still digging through the trunk-slash-coffee-table when he heard the key turn in the lock of the front door. A quick, careful breath steeled his nerves and he sat down on the couch, casually crossing one leg over the other and began flipping through the pictures.

There was a change in the air the moment Penny realized something wasn’t right in her apartment. Tony got goosebumps, the anticipation running through him as he listened to her very quietly set down her purse and keys, creeping through the hallway towards the living room. She stopped in the doorway, a sharp inhale betraying that she’d seen him.

“Why don’t you come sit down with me sweetheart,” he called without looking over his shoulder, curious to see how jumpy she would be after her run in with the soldiers.

“How did you get in my apartment?”

“I’m willing to answer all of your questions if you come sit down.”

The hesitation was obvious, he imaged he could almost smell how scared she was, but in the end she came shuffling around the side of the couch. She stopped again, hovering for a moment before pulling one of the chairs away from the kitchen table and sitting down a fair distance away from him.

He snorted slightly but nodded, “I guess I didn’t specify that you had to sit by me, did I?”

Penny didn’t move a muscle in response, she was hardly breathing with how stiffly she sat. Tony sighed and stood up from the couch, one hand going into his pants pocket while the other still held the pictures.

“I got into your apartment by picking the lock,” he stated, answering her earlier question, “Even the new deadbolt you bought is pretty easy to pick, sweetheart. Although that security bar sitting next to the door would’ve been effective if I tried to break in while you were home. How much was it, $20? $30?”

A moment went buy before she realized he actually expected an answer and Penny inhaled rather sharply, “$50.”

“Ah, you must’ve splurged then, hm? I know an extra 50 bucks probably wasn’t easy to come by,” Tony deliberately looked around the sparse apartment, “but I know Peter’s safety is your top priority, right?”

“Always,” she sounded on the verge of tears and Tony smiled softly, crossing to stand directly in front of her.

“Take deep breaths, baby, we still need to talk,” he took her hands into his and pulled her up off of the chair, leading her to sit on the couch, “now, that’s more comfortable, isn’t it? Well, not by much. This is probably the most uncomfortable couch I’ve ever sat on. That’s why you make Peter sleep in the bed, right? Because the couch isn’t good enough for him.”

Penny didn’t answer, her pretty face was pale and frightened and Tony sat next to her gently so she didn’t startle too much. Her muscles tightened in response, especially when he dropped his arm around her shoulder and tugged her closer to his side. She was smaller than he remembered when he first saw her, smaller than she looked on the webcam footage. She fit perfectly under his arm and if she’d just relax a bit, she’d tuck right against his chest with her head under his chin.

“You know, Peter lied to me, when I first met him,” he stated quietly, turning his head just enough to brush his nose against her temple, “he told me that he didn’t have any family. No parents, no siblings, he lived on his own after his aunt died. When I saw that he actually did have a guardian, I was furious that he lived in such a sh*t hole.”

He hadn’t really thought it possible, but Penny stiffened up even more under his arm. It might’ve been anger or discomfort or sadness, he didn’t know, but he did know she bit down on her lip, hard, to stop from responding.

“I figured that anyone who made him live in a place like this must’ve been a monster. Who would let a kid live in this drug den? Did you know that the week I saw you for the first time, there had been 23 drug related police calls to this location? In just a week! Knowing my boy was—”

Penny broke away from his grasp swiftly and with more strength than he’d anticipated, launching herself off the couch to stand in front of him, “He’s not your boy! Peter isn’t your anything, you f*cking pedophile—”

“I’m almost glad I won’t be the one teaching you your manners,” a low, dark chuckle escaped his lips and Tony stood up, causing Penny to stumble back several steps towards the window, “but only almost, baby, I promise. I think the freezer burned beef-cakes are going to take good care of you, but if they don’t I’m gonna steal you back in a heartbeat, I promise.”

“Get out of this apartment,” Penny thrust her arm out, showing her cellphone with 911 dialed but the call not yet placed, “I swear I’ll call the police if you don’t get out, I swear—”

“I’m actually positive that you would, if you didn’t already know that I have 99% of the NYPD on my payroll,” he reached out and plucked the phone from her hand gently, shutting it before turning it around in his hand curiously, “this is ancient, sweetheart.”

Penny’s back was nearly pressed against the wall beside the window but Tony continued to approach, his steps slow and methodical. The goal would be to herd her back towards the hallway, where Rhodey could approach from behind. It would be the best way to get her carefully drugged without too much of a struggle, but Tony was fully capable of subduing her by himself if necessary.

“You’re upset and I understand why, I just want you to understand that no harm is going to come to you or your brother,” Tony stopped a few paces away and put his hand back into his pocket, along with her phone, and gestured around with the other one, “all I wanted to begin with was to get Peter out of this hell hole, he deserves so much more, don’t you think? Peter deserves everything, doesn’t he?”

“P… Peter deserves to grow up, l-like a normal kid,” she stuttered after a moment, her feet shifting unconsciously away from the man in front of her, “he deserves to graduate high school a-and go to college and be whatever he wants, he deserves to live in p-peace, without being stalked or—”

“You’re not very good at manipulation, are you sweetheart?” Tony smiled, watching her gear up to run from him, “That’s okay, you don’t need to be. I know that all you want is for Peter to be safe and happy. You want him to have all of the opportunities you and the rest of your family didn’t get.”

“L-Look, you’re right, okay?” Penny once again found herself putting her hands out in front of her, palms out as she tried to discourage the man from coming any closer, “I just want Peter to be safe. I just want him to be h-happy. So please, please leave him alone. I would do… I would do anything if it meant you’d leave him alone. Please, Mr. Stark, please leave my brother alone. H-He has so much potential. He’s going to go on to do… to do amazing things. He’s so smart, he can do anything he wants. Please, tell me what I can do to make you go away? To leave him alone? Please.”

A small sigh escaped Tony’s lips as he reached out, grabbing her hands as he stepped closer and tugging her into his chest. Her muscles pulled so tight she started to shake. Three men in one day had laid their hands on her, had thought they had the right to touch her when she didn’t want them to. Tony’s grasp wasn’t as tight as Steve or Bucky’s had been, but it was somehow firmer. It was scarier, there was more potential for violence in this man’s arms.

“You’ve spent a pretty long time giving up everything for Peter. I looked into you, you know? I saw when you dropped out of high school because your aunt didn’t make enough to support you and Peter without your uncle. You had to settle for a GED so your brother wouldn’t go without. Started working dead end job after dead end job to support him. And then when your aunt died, you dropped your classes all over again, and picked up even more work. Everything you do is for him, huh?”

He rested a hand on the back of her head, making her lean her forehead against his shoulder and tugged out her hair tie. The waves of dark brown hair spilled down over her shoulders and brushed against his suit. He slipped his fingers into the dark locks, gently rubbing over her scalp and sighing. Penny felt so small, trembling against his chest.

“You’ve taken such good care of my baby boy, Penny,” he tilted her face back slightly with his thumb, making her meet his eyes, “you did such a good job, keeping him safe and happy for me. But now its my turn to keep him safe and happy, and I promise I’m going to do my best.”

“N.. No, please, no, listen to me,” Penny pushed against his chest in a panic, trying to twist out of his arms but only succeeding in twirling them both around, “Please leave Peter alone, please don’t take him from me, I need him, I love him, please—”

“You’re so precious baby, so sweet,” all of a sudden, his grip around her shoulders and on her face tightened, slowly and carefully forcing her to bend her neck to the side, “I’m not taking him from you, I’m taking both of you. Now stay still, sweetheart, take a deep breath.”

“No… No, no, no, please—”

Rhodey pressed himself against the young woman’s back, one arm coming around her torso to help Tony steady her attempts at thrashing. They had expected a fight, but Penny was surprisingly tough to hold. Maybe it was her adrenaline, the combination of thinking she’d gotten her wallet stolen, what happened with the Ancient Aliens at the coffee shop, the whole situation with Tony Stark overall.

Penny Parker had been gearing up for a fight for a solid month, whether she realized it was going to come to physical blows or not. A full f*cking month of anticipation and fear and fury.

“No!”

Neither of them had expected Penny to drop her weight. Both ended up fumbling, trying not to let her hit the floor but in the process, she kicked her leg out and up, nailing Tony directly in the junk. Rhodey was suddenly left with all of her weight in one arm and shifted to the side to compensate, putting himself off balance only to have Penny suddenly regain her footing and force them back. They both fell into the trunk in front of the couch, Rhodey breaking Penny’s fall.

Both men were winded, left gasping, as Penny shot to her feet and went to jump over the couch. Rhodey just barely managed to reach out and grab her ankle, his grip slipping almost immediately but it was enough to keep her from landing on her feet on the other side. She hit the floor with a bang, having tipped head first over the couch. There was a low groan but they knew she wasn’t down for the count despite the fact that they couldn’t see her; she was crawling across the floor, towards the hallway that went to the front door.

“Penny,” Tony forced himself to move despite the almost nauseating pain, she’d kicked him hard enough he’d be sore for days, “don’t make this any harder, sweetheart.”

The brunette didn’t respond, instead focusing on using the wall to pull herself to her feet. She hadn’t locked the front door behind her when she walked in, if she could open the front door it was a straight shot to the stairs, she could run to her car, go pick up Peter—

Tony grabbed her tightly from behind and pressed her face first against the wall, one foot stabilizing his balance while the other locked around her own. Rhodey’s back was on fire from hitting the trunk dead on, but he quickly crossed the living room.

“Shhh, princess, calm down,” he used his own weight against Tony’s back, pressing both of them harder against the wall and almost completely immobilizing Penny, carefully forcing her head to the side once again.

She was screaming again but neither paid any mind, knowing that any calls to the police at this location would go unanswered for at least the next several hours. With careful, steady hands Rhodey adjusted the already prepared needle and slid it gently into Penny’s neck, her screams reaching a crescendo of terror and pain for several seconds before she began going limp.

“There you go now, baby,” Tony murmured quietly as Penny slumped heavily against the wall, “you go to sleep and when you wake up, everything will be better.”

Tony pressed a careful kiss against the top of her head and turned her to face him, sighing at the tears running down her face as she fought the drug coursing through her system. She’d put up a hell of a fight, had injured both of them in her escape attempts, but he couldn’t be mad. Poor thing was terrified of them, scared for her brother and herself. No amount of reassurance would do anything until she experienced her new life.

“You okay, Tones?” Rhodey couldn’t help but laugh slightly as his friend swept Penny up into his arms, reaching over to adjust her head against his shoulder, “she got you pretty hard there.”

“Let’s just say it’s a good thing I wasn’t planning on making any babies,” Tony snorted fondly, leaning down to brush his lips against her forehead, “she’s a fighter, Old Man 1&2 are gonna have their work cut out for them. Your back alright?”

“Gonna have some real f*cking bruises,” he stretched his back with a groan and a wince before shaking his head, “little lady tried to take me out there. Naughty thing.”

A laugh escaped Tony and he nodded in agreement before adjusting her in his arms slightly, “let’s get her back to the tower, Peter won’t be home for several hours. She’s going to be pretty uncomfortable when she wakes up, we need to at least make sure she’s in a nice bed.”

“Surrounded by super soldiers?”

“Honestly I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold them off, so probably.”

Chapter 6

Chapter Text

God, Penny had a brutal f*cking headache. The light coming through the window meant that once again she’d forgotten to pull the curtains shut before passing out on the couch. She must’ve fallen asleep crying again, it would explain the serious dry mouth and pounding head.

“Peter?” She called out, groaning in pain immediately after, “augh… Peter, are you getting ready for school?”

There was no reply and she couldn’t hear him shuffling around in his room, which was a bad sign. She must’ve forgotten to set her alarm and Peter had probably slept through his own. Swallowing hard, she raised her arms and dug her palms into her closed eyes.

“Peter, you gotta wake up babe,” trying to raise her head made a wave of nausea roll through her body and she clapped a hand over her mouth just in case.

She might’ve been sick, could it be food poisoning? If she was sick, Peter was probably also sick. That must’ve been why he wasn’t getting ready for school. Oh, f*ck she needed to call into her job at the daycare, there was no way she’d be able to deal with screaming babies with low immune systems for six hours. Blindly reaching down over the edge of the couch, she furrowed her brow in confusion when her hand didn’t hit the floor. The couch was low and uncomfortable, she was barely off the floor at the best of times.

Prying her eyes open was going to hurt and she really, really didn’t want to invite that level of pain into her life. Assuming her sense of space was off because of her sickness, she just reached further down. And further. And further. Until she reached too far and pitched herself off the edge of the couch. Hitting the ground was bone jarring and stirred a memory just out of reach, of falling and slamming her head into the hard wood flooring. It wasn’t an usual occurrence, she fell and hit her head all the time, but the carpet she landed on was weird. Super weird, they didn’t have carpet in their apartment.

Penny’s eyes snapped open, letting in the brutal light and also the terrifying revelation that she wasn’t in her apartment. She hadn’t fallen off her couch. She’d fought with Tony Stark in her apartment and smashed her head against the ground before they stuck a needle in her neck. They, there had been a second man who’d come out of nowhere.

Immediately she forced her knees under her and pushed up to her feet. She didn’t know whether it was the blow to the head or the drugs but her entire sense of balance was off and she went careening into the wall, smashing her head for the second time in what she assumed was a single day, against a shelf. A yelp and a crash later she was on the floor again, both hands clutching the side of her head that had gone into the corner of the wood. Was she bleeding? f*ck she was probably bleeding.

“Oh sweetheart,” she hadn’t heard a door open or any footsteps but suddenly a pair of heavy arms came around her, lifting her carefully off the ground and setting her on what she now realized was a bed, “stay still, you’re bleeding. J, call Bruce, Penny might need stitches.”

“Right away, sir. He asked me to inform you he must run to the medical wing to retrieve supplies but will be in shortly.”

Her eyes were clenched shut, against the pain and the fear, but Penny recognized Tony Stark’s voice immediately. He was sitting next to her, holding her tight to his side with a towel or something pressed to her bleeding wound. He was making a hushing sound, petting her head with his unused hand.

“Off,” she choked, squirming in his hold, “f*ck—get, get off of me.”

“Calm down, Penny—”

“No!” it came out as a shriek and she curled her hands into fists, lashing out in his general direction, “get off of me you f*cking bastard! Get away from me!”

One of her hits must’ve landed because he yelped abruptly, arms going slack from where they’d held her and she launched herself off the bed. Once again she realized her entire sense of equilibrium was gone and collapsed on the floor, forcing her eyes to stay open despite the nausea and started to crawl towards the only door she could see.

“Damn, Penny, that’s one hell of a left hook,” arms wrapped around her waist and hauled her up and backwards, causing her to screech in fury and indignation, “Don’t make me tie you up, sweet girl, cause I will.”

“So, I take it she’s not a docile kidnapping victim?”

Her head snapped around, eyes landing on a man now standing in the doorway in shock. He was about Stark’s age, hair graying slightly about the temples and some wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes.

“She’s a spitfire, Brucie bear, a real sh*t kicker,” Tony grunted as he forcefully manipulated her onto the bed again, this time keeping her in his lap with her extremities restrained by his own, “you’re so small, where is all this force coming from—Jesus!” he ducked his head to the side swiftly, just barely avoiding the back of her skull slamming into his nose.

He brought his arms up, still holding her wrists, and tucked her head tightly between his shoulder and neck while keeping her wound exposed for Bruce to look at.

“Her head went into the corner of the shelf over there, I’d show you the spot but my hands are full at the moment.” The bastard was making jokes. She had been drugged and kidnapped and was being bodily restrained after waking up in a strange room and he was making f*cking jokes.

Penny hadn’t considered ‘murder’ to be a logical solution to her Tony Stark problem but maybe it should’ve been her go to. Actually, now that she thought of it, there was still time.

“Wow, I can literally hear how badly you want to kill me right now,” Stark pressed the side of his face against hers, “what kind of expression is on her face right now Bruce? Does she look like a murder kitten?”

“She definitely doesn’t look happy Tony,” he rolled his eyes, leaning against the bed to get a better look at Penny’s scalp, “I’m sorry we’re meeting like this Penny, I’m Bruce. Any bumps and bruises around here go through me, anything serious needs to go to medical though. Other than this, how are you feeling? Dizziness, nausea?”

For a moment, Penny almost answered just based on instinct. She hadn’t been to the doctor in ages, but he gave off the same vibe as a pediatrician. Instead, Penny pressed her lips together and averted her eyes, not that she’d been able to see him well with her head pinned against Stark’s neck anyway. Bruce hadn’t been one of her kidnappers but he was obviously, painfully complicit. He knew everything and wasn’t trying to help her escape.

“Come on baby, you can tell Bruce,” Stark tucked both of her wrists in one of his hands and brought the other up to cup her face, stroking his thumb along her jaw line, “he just wants to make sure you’re okay. It looked like she was having trouble staying on her feet—J, any observations?”

“Ms. Parker seemed to wake in acute pain, movements suggest nausea and light sensitivity. Potential for dizziness and vertigo, and a loss of balance.”

“Hm, she might have a concussion. Tones, you said she hit her head, right?”

“Twice now, once at her apartment and just now off the shelf.”

“Let’s get her to medical, I want to run a CT scan just in case,” Bruce shifted to bring himself into Penny’s line of vision, “I’m sure you have a concussion. Usually, I wouldn’t bother with a CT scan at this point, but since you hit your head twice in such a short period of time I want to make sure there’s no bleeding in your brain. Have you ever had a CT scan before?”

A moment of silence passed before Tony sighed, pressing his thumb firmly into the joint of her jaw, “answer, Penny.”

The threat in his movement was clear and Penny swallowed heavily, “no.”

“Good girl,” a slow, victorious smile crossed Tony’s lips at her response and he moved his thumb, continuing to stroke her face softly, “J, call the soldiers, we’ll need help to transport her safely and I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to assist.”

“They’ve been pacing the living room for the last three hours, I’m sure they’ll be here in half a minute, tops.”

Soldiers. Tony Stark employed soldiers. Of course he did. He had the government and the police in his pocket, why not the f*cking military too. It was all a goddamn conspiracy and holy mother of God, Penny’s head was throbbing so bad.

She must’ve made a noise or something, because Stark was back to cooing at her a moment later, turning his head to nuzzle his face against hers, “we’ll get you some medicine soon, angel, just hang on.”

Penny pressed her eyes shut tightly, wishing he’d stop with the pet names. What was it with assholes and pet names? They’d been effectively ruined for her, if she ever got out of this she’d make everyone call her Penelope forever, no exceptions.

The door to the room opened with so much force it crashed into the wall with a bang. If she hadn’t been so tightly restrained in Stark’s grip, she would’ve jumped. Instead her muscles just went rigid and she prepared to be manhandled further as they brought her to ‘medical’.

“Oh, doll,” why was that voice so familiar, why did it feel like she’d been electrocuted by a 50-volt battery, “our poor baby.”

“Just wait until she tries to beat the sh*t out of you, Barnes, you won’t be cooing over her then,” Stark snorted, turning Penny’s face again and tapping her nose, “she’s a Hellcat.”

“She’s tried to beat the sh*t out of you multiple times now, Tony, and you’re still ‘cooing’ over her,” Bruce shot back, his voice fond.

He laughed and stood up with her still clutched in his arms, causing her eyes to pop open as her equilibrium shifted for the 80th time that day. Penny’s head lolled slightly, until her eyes caught sight of the two men moving towards her.

She wasn’t sure when the culmination of her bad luck would come, when it would all wrap up in a grisly end. Soon, hopefully, because as the blows kept coming she wondered if she was going to be able to keep up.

Bucky and Steve, from the f*cking coffee shop, were apparently the soldiers Stark had summoned to assist with her transit. If she’d been rigid before, it was nothing compared to the way her muscles pulled taught at the realization. A complete, overwhelming sense of fight or flight began pulsing through her veins—it had been a setup, everything at the coffee shop had been staged.

“So, the bad news is that I think she recognizes you,” Stark’s voice was full of laughter as he felt her begin gearing up for a throw down, “the good news is I think if I let go she’d hit the floor before she managed to hit one of you.”

No, Penny thought carefully, the bad news was that she might’ve been a dumbass but she wasn’t stupid enough to try to fight four men at the same time while half incapacitated. The bad news was that Penny had been a real sh*t kicker when she was in high school and maybe hadn’t grown out of it quite as well as she thought. The bad news was that at some point, they were going to let their guards down.

Penny was a little ball of chaos, but every inch of her was patient. She could wait.

The paranoia had started setting in around noon, when Penny had stopped answering his text messages abruptly. It would’ve been one thing if she’d been at work, but Peter knew she’d called out.

She was unusually available even at work, so it was extremely weird of her not to answer when she had the day off. By 1pm he’d placated himself by deciding she must’ve been getting her nails done like she’d said earlier and couldn’t answer because her hands were busy. But it didn’t take that long to get a manicure and when another hour passed without an answer, Peter felt his chest begin to tighten.

It was their last real day together for what could be forever. She should’ve been glued to her phone the way he was, desperate to live in his pocket for just a little while longer. He wanted to tell her about the gross apple he’d bought during lunch and how the soap dispenser was out in his favourite bathroom and ask if she knew about geomagnetic reversal.

By the time school was out, he heavily considered skipping academic decathlon practice to just go straight home. He’d be shipped off to Oregon in a few days anyway, so what was the point? But he forced himself to go anyway, if only to spend a little more time with MJ and Ned. And Flash wasn’t there, since MJ had punched him so hard in the stomach earlier that the asshole puked. Peter’s cheek still twinged from where Flash had punched him over the stupid chemistry test.

Practice had stretched on half way past forever and he’d hugged both of his friends for a solid minute before literally running away. The idea of really saying goodbye to either of them made him want to throw up and he couldn’t look at them any longer without breaking down. So he’d ignored Ned’s shouting and bolted for the subway as fast as he could.

Penny’s solution to his Tony Stark problem was insane. Peter wasn’t even sure if it would work, or if Tony would somehow intervene. He had so many connections, it was like running from an entire army instead of just one man.

Peter hadn’t actually seen Tony since Penny had caught them walking near the apartment complex. He almost wondered if Tony had been scared off by someone seeing them together, as if worried about being caught. Caught. Because Peter was 17 and there was no reason for a 40-year-old man to have any interest in him unless it was creepy and Stark needed to be caught.

But he knew that Tony wouldn’t be dissuaded by something so simple. If Penny was right, and he was almost sure she was because she always was somehow, then Tony was immune from the law. That’s why they were going to such extreme measures to get out of his grasp, because there was no other way to stop him. There was no way Tony had stopped following him, had stopped watching him. He was simply doing it at a distance now.

For some reason.

Peter really didn’t want to think about what that reason was.

A bone deep chill ran down his spine as he buzzed himself into the apartment and started up the stairs. He kept his phone in his hand, still hoping it would vibrate with a text message any second now. It was almost 5 o’clock, why hadn’t she answered his texts for 5 whole hours?

All three locks were done up on the door when he arrived at his apartment, which eased his tension somewhat. Penny was either still out and about for whatever reason, or she was safely tucked away in the apartment. Maybe she’d laid down to take a nap and not set an alarm— her schedule was so irregular she could sleep for hours and hours whenever the opportunity arose.

Another reassurance came when he saw her purse and keys sitting on the table just inside the doorway. She was home safe, her phone was probably just in her purse and she’d forgotten about it. It would bother him if she just hadn’t answered, but at least she’d be okay.

“Pen?” He called out, dropping his backpack onto the floor under the table and quickly digging into her purse, “are you awake?”

No phone in her purse, Peter sucked his lip into his mouth and worried it with his teeth. She must’ve fallen asleep on the couch and her phone was on the floor charging. He stepped swiftly down the hall and into the living room, crossing the hardwood floor quickly and peered over the back of the couch. Panic began to shoot through him when she wasn’t there. She might’ve been in the bathroom, maybe, or she could’ve laid down in his bed to rest instead—

“You lied to me, baby.”

Icy terror dripped down Peter’s spine, every hair on his body rising in unison. He wasn’t sure if it was the statement itself, or the tone, or the implication. Half a dozen apologies stuck to the roof of his mouth, spicy like cinnamon. Suddenly, a single thought began to race through his brain on repeat: Where is Penny?

“You told me you lived alone, off of an inheritance. Made me think you were all alone. Did you want me to think you were vulnerable, Peter? Did you think it would make keeping my attention easier? Because if you just wanted more attention, you should’ve told me baby boy,” the swish of fabric betrayed Stark’s otherwise silent movements as he shifted around in the kitchen, directly behind Peter.

“I… I told you I moved here after my aunt died, with money from family.”

“Do you really want to argue lies of omission with me, baby? I’m really good at arguing,” he was much closer now, Peter could almost feel the taller man’s body heat against his back.

“M-Mr. Stark, where is—”

“Penelope?” Stark cut him off before he could even ask, sending another nauseating spike of terror through his entire body, “does she prefer Penny or is that just what everyone calls her? She seems pretty averse to sweetheart.”

“Where—”

“She asks a lot of questions too, Petey,” his arms wrapped around Peter’s torso and pulled him back against his chest, carefully running his palm over the teenager’s sternum, “like ‘how did you get into my apartment?’ and ‘why won’t you leave my brother alone?’ That last one threw me for sure, baby. She was so scared but would hardly say anything but ‘please leave him alone’ half the time.”

“What did you do with her?” He could barely breathe, there was ice in his lungs, was he having an asthma attack?

“Nothing you need to worry about, baby boy. Why don’t you explain why you didn’t tell me about Penelope Parker, big sister extraordinaire?”

“P-please, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, j-just tell me she’s okay first,” tears were welling in Peter’s eyes, threatening to spill out at any second accompanied by loud sobbing.

“It’s cute you think you’re in a position to negotiate, precious. You’ve already earned yourself a punishment for lying, are you going to dig this hole deeper by being naughty? Answer me, now.”

f*ck, f*ck he’d alluded to punishments and rules before but it had never seemed real. It all seemed like a bad dream most of the time, something that gave him nightmares but hadn’t actually happened. Wouldn’t ever lead to anything happening.

“I didn’t want to you know about her,” he whispered after a moment.

“Why Peter?”

Another hesitation, swiftly brought to an end by Tony’s teeth near his ear, “a-at first because she’d just… she’d just been hurt really bad and I didn’t want anyone near her. But later—later it was because I didn’t want you to have any leverage over me. Any more than you al.. already did.”

“Leverage, huh?” The man hummed quietly, both still very close to Peter’s ear, “You think I would’ve, what? Threatened to hurt her if you didn’t do what I said, threatened to kill her if you told?”

Peter nodded, a few tears escaping over his lash line to run down his cheeks. He’d been right too, Tony had taken advantage of Penny’s existence to hurt him. Where ever Penny was, she was there because of Peter. Whether she was hurt or scared or please not dead it was Peter’s fault because Tony Stark should’ve never been in their lives to begin with.

“Well naughty boy, you’ve earned yourself at least one and a half punishments, by my calculations. Silly thing, thinking I would hurt the person who took such good care of you for me. Now it’s my turn to take care of you, baby boy.”

“Please, where is she?” Peter sobbed, curling over the arm around his waist slightly, “is she okay?”

“Penny hit her head pretty hard, so she’s getting a CT scan right now and some medicine to help her sleep it off,” Tony’s unused hand began carding through Peter’s hair, tickling the back of his neck carefully, “You can see her sometime tomorrow, if she’s up for visitors. Cap might get over protective, we’ll have to wait and see.”

“W-Who is Cap, why can’t I see her now—”

“Uh, uh, uh, baby,” long fingers suddenly grew uncomfortably tight against Peter’s scalp, pulling his head back in one slow drag, “no more questions from you. It’s time for your punishments, and the only words I better hear from you are ‘thank you, sir’.”

Chapter 7

Chapter Text

Steve was actually going to go insane. What was supposed to be a simple, if stressful day, had gone completely downhill. He and Bucky hadn’t adequately distracted Penny (his fault, admittedly) and she’d been both drugged and had her head bashed in twice. After the CT scan, which showed no permanent damage, Bruce had given the very irate Penny a sedative to keep her from making her headache any worse.

For the second time in one day, he and Bucky held vigil outside of her temporary room, pacing the hallway and intermittently stopping to listen at her door for any sounds. JARVIS would alert them immediately if she started to wake up, but they found themselves with their ears pressed to the doorway anyway. Most of the time, it was just to listen to her breathing. Sometimes, she shifted in bed, which was a good sign of her beginning to wake.

Just about everyone else had already gone to bed, with the exception of Stark and Rhodey, who’d gone back to the Parker residence to retrieve Peter. Likely they’d arrived back at the tower already, the teenager in tow, and were getting ready for bed.

Steve didn’t think he’d sleep if he tried. Too many emotions were rushing through him; irritation, nervousness, anticipation, adoration— he was a mess. Bucky had told him at least three times that he was a f*ckin’ mess and Steve absolutely believed him. How Buck was handling the situation so well was beyond Steve’s comprehension. Their girl was sedated, asleep in a strange place, and she’d wake up alone if they weren’t careful.

“You know, we could just go get in bed with her,” Bucky stated as they walked past each other in the hallway, continuing their very short patrol, “You know I’ll wake up the second she starts to stir, I’ll wake you up first and we’ll be ready to take care of her right when she opens her eyes.”

“She doesn’t want us near her,” the blond responded regretfully; that was his fault, he’d really f*cked it all up earlier outside of the coffee shop.

It wasn’t that he was really judging her on how she chose to take care of Peter, not really. Mostly he’d been bothered that Penny had asked a girl to beat up Peter’s bully. It was an outdated ideal now, that a man should always be the one to take care of his woman, but Steve was outdated himself. He understood ladies wanting equality, but did they really need to be out doing things like fighting? Wanda and Natasha were outliers, physically altered to fight and kill.

His Penny was a fighter too, although there wouldn’t be any need for that going forward. Stark had a split lip and a busted ball sack thanks to his scrappy girl and poor Rhodey’s back was one giant purple bruise. He knew without a doubt she was gonna give him and Buck Hell until they got her used to her new life.

“She doesn’t want a lot of things, Stevie,” Bucky rolled his eyes at his lover and stopped in front of Penny’s door, “she doesn’t want to be here, doesn’t want Stark near Peter, doesn’t want us near her. She’s gonna have to get used to all of it, might as well start early.”

Steve hesitated for a moment. He did believe in ripping the band aid off quickly, so to speak. But poor Penny was already half traumatized, terrified and furious in equal measure. He’d felt her seething rage upon seeing him and Buck in the room earlier, a dangerous combination of wrath and despair.

“How much longer until Bruce thought she’d start to wake?”

Buck grinned at the question, knowing it meant he’d won out over Steve’s conscious, “about an hour and a half, let’s go.”

The brunet didn’t even give him the chance before opening the door and stepping in, leaving it open behind him for Steve. Penny was curled in the center of the double-sized bed, lying on her side with her hands tucked against her stomach and a cocoon of pillows around her.

He wasn’t sure if it was possible for her to be any prettier than he remembered, but Steve felt his heart race in his chest at the sight of her. He’d thought she was beautiful when they watched the webcam footage. Even when they’d thought she was a monster and a neglectful bitch, he’d been intrigued. Sure, he’d been more than willing to kill her for Tony if the man asked, but he would’ve regretted it just on the basis that he found her interesting.

His enhanced hearing meant he picked up things over the microphone that the others didn’t; Penny singing while she cooked Peter dinner, murmuring about buying the teenager new clothes, worrying over the phone bill. He hadn’t fallen in love with her over the camera necessarily, but he’d grown very infatuated.

Bucky liked Penny at first simply because Steve did. Anything that made Stevie happy generally made Bucky happy too, and Penny was gorgeous. He liked looking at her as much as Steve or Clint, enjoyed watching the expressions on her face while she’d sat on her laptop for hours on end. It was easy to see why his boyfriend was so obsessed and after meeting her, Bucky couldn’t fault him. He liked her too, wanted to keep her close too. Penny needed to be tucked away safely between them at all times.

Both carefully climbed into the bed on either side of her, the smaller sized mattress causing them to cuddle close to her curled form. Steve let himself press against her back, his arm coming to circle her middle and clasp her tucked hands gently. Facing her, Bucky pushed his metal arm up under her pillow, cradling her head, and reached over her with his flesh arm to rest his hand on Steve’s hip. The positions felt natural and comfortable and both soldiers sighed contently as they settled.

Penny was small between them, soaking up the heat their bodies gave off. Her body had unconsciously pressed back into Steve, seeking warmth. He buried his face into her curly hair, inhaling deeply and smiling to himself. Their girl was finally where she was supposed to be.

“She’s gonna want to see Peter.”

Steve hummed in acknowledgement, “we’ll see how much pain she’s in when she wakes up.”

“She’ll wanna see him even if she’s in pain, Stevie. How are we gonna handle it?”

Quiet settled over them for a moment while they both considered their options before Steve sighed into her hair, “she’s gotta get dressed and shower, then she can see Peter as a reward. If she’s in too much pain, we’ll put her in the bath with that stuff Bruce gave us and she can see him after.”

“And what about the fit she’s gonna throw when she wakes up?”

“We’ll make her stay in bed while we explain,” the blond stated quietly, twining his fingers with hers against her stomach, “we can’t expect her to follow the rules if she doesn’t understand everything. She’s gonna be upset, we’ll need to make sure to keep her head stable.”

“We’ve got this, Stevie,” Buck squeezed his hip reassuringly, stroking the skin under his t-shirt, “we just gotta be patient and take care of our girl.”

Steve swallowed heavily, the affectionate look Buck was leveling him with would’ve brought him to his knees had he been standing, “Bucky… thank you, for all of this. I know you’re doing it for me—”

“I’m doing this for us, Steve,” the brunet cut him off sternly, “You might’ve wanted her first, but I want her just as much now. We need her and she needs us.”

Bucky looked like he was about to say more, but Penny shifted in their arms. A low, quiet groan escaped her lips a moment later and she squirmed between them. Steve let her pull her hand from his, watching as she brought it up to her head and dug her palm against her left eye. A few more moments of silence passed as she tried to wake up.

It was obvious when she became aware of her surroundings because her entire body pulled taught. Rigidity put distance between her back and his chest but Steve left his arm over her waist, resting against her trembling stomach.

“Morning babydoll,” Bucky used his flesh hand to cup her face, brushing away her attempts to swat at him, “how bad does your head hurt?”

“What the f*ck is this?” Her voice was raspy even in comparison to her usually low tone, washing over them both like a spring.

A slow smile pulled over Steve’s lips; their girl was predictable, but precious anyway, “take a deep breath, doll, everything’s okay. You’re safe here.”

“Safe here? You— you assholes helped him kidnap me! You’re letting him—"

Bucky barked a laugh, yanking her tight against his chest before she could really get going, “deep breaths, spitfire. I know you’re upset and you’ve got every right to be, but you need to calm down. We won’t get anywhere with you pitchin’ a fit.”

A sharp, infuriated inhale was their only warning before Penny started screaming at the top of her lungs and flailing violently. Her end game was obviously to create distance, which was successful if only because she had a tendency to dig her extremities into vulnerable places. She managed to slip down to the end of the bed, falling off in a heap. Steve quickly followed after her, leaving Bucky clutching between his legs after a particularly brutal co*ck shot.

Steve didn’t get the chance to help her up, Penny had immediately shot to her feet. She was obviously still slightly off balance but determination shined through her eyes.

“Where is my brother?” She demanded, pointing an angry finger at the center of Steve’s chest, “if Stark took me, he took my brother, now where is he?”

“Stark’s right, you are a Hellcat,” Bucky groaned from the bed, a light sweat on his brow as he overcame the pain she’d inflicted, “dangerous.”

“You’re allowed to be upset, Penny, but you need to be calm,” Steve’s tone was stern, an edge of irritation seeping through, “No hitting, no kicking—”

“No low blows!” The brunet on the bed was still whining and Steve rolled his eyes fondly.

“Definitely no more low blows, Pen. Obviously we need to talk but you have to let us explain.”

“I don’t have to let you do anything, now tell me where my brother is!”

Bucky managed a breathy laugh as he forced himself to sit up, ignoring the pain lancing through him. The botched super soldier serum running through his veins allowed him to heal quickly and the pain was receding much faster than it would’ve for say, Tony Stark, who’d also been nailed in the balls by Penny Parker in the last 24 hours. He actually felt kind of bad for the genius.

“Peter’s probably still in bed, asleep. It’s just about 4am,” he shifted to the edge of the bed and stood up, shaking his legs out determinedly, “you could be a real monster with the right training babydoll. Now, let’s talk.”

Steve took the cue for what is was and rushed forward while Penny was distracted, wrapping securely around her from behind and pinning her arms down in the process. She immediately dropped her weight in a move that probably would’ve worked on anyone who wasn’t supernaturally strong. Steve easily kept her aloft, even when she tucked her knees to her chest and kicked out, trying to force him backwards with the momentum. She definitely had some sort of self-defense training.

“You’re not very good at following rules, are you?” Bucky grinned as he came up in front of the pair, grabbing Penny’s legs before she could kick him again, “to be fair, we aren’t either. Last warning, baby, no physical violence or you’re gonna earn yourself a punishment.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t be violent if I hadn’t been kidnapped!”

“I know, I know,” Steve manipulated Penny in his arms until she was turned to face him, her legs tucked near his waist, “this is a horrible situation for you right now and you’re mad and you’re scared. We understand that and we want to work with you to get passed that.”

“All we want is for you to be happy, Penny doll,” Bucky came up behind her and leaned against her back, letting Steve hold the extra weight, “all you’ve done for years is work and stress over Peter, don’t you think you deserve to be happy? We’re going to give you back your life.”

“You’re not giving me anything, you’re taking everything,” her voice cracked and she spoke imploringly, trying to pull back far enough to look Steve in the eyes, “please, listen to me—”

“You listen to us first, sweetheart,” the blond cut her off, not unkindly, but certainly sternly, “we’re going to explain and then you can talk. Understand?”

If he’d been expecting a reply, Steve would be disappointed. Penny’s lips had pressed together in a firm, unyielding line and were actually turning white from the pressure. In all fairness, he had asked her to stay quiet and it looked like she was going to great lengths to do so.

Steve didn’t let himself laugh and cleared his throat, curling his hand gently to cup her lower back, “You work so hard, Penny. You’ve worked so hard for so long, taking care of your aunt and Peter. But now, Tony’s going to take care of Peter. And we’re going to take care of you.”

“It’s going to be a hard adjustment for you, we understand that,” Bucky continued, stroking his flesh hand through Penny’s long hair, careful to not tangle in her curls, “you’ve been incredibly independent for a very long time and all of your energy has gone into taking care of your brother.”

“L-Look,” Penny took a breath, swallowing heavily. Steve could see some sort of pain settle through her, weighing heavily on her shoulders; resignation or sadness or something, “I know… I know that Stark wants Peter but… but if I stay here, without a fuss, will he let Peter go? I won’t fight anymore, I won’t… I’ll do whatever you want, if Peter can go free. We have family he could—”

A bone deep ache settled into both Bucky and Steve at her words. Penny had a desolate combination of a lack of self-care and an overabundance of duty to her brother. It was the same thing they’d noticed over and over again since the night Penny had dropped her plans on Peter; she was willing and would drop everything in her life for Peter. She would drop out of school, she would go to jail, she would be a willing captive if it meant Peter was safe.

“Not everything is about Peter, babydoll,” Bucky quietly informed her, hand still pulling gently through her hair, “all you’ve cared about for a long time has been him and that’s going to change now. You’re a person too, Penny. You always talk about what Peter deserves and what Peter needs, but what about you?”

They saw a moment of hesitation similar to what they’d seen through the webcam feed, where it looked like Penny might be considering doing something she considered selfish.

“I don’t need anything, I just want my brother—Where is he? Where is my brother? Where is my brother!? Where is my brother!?”

Peter’s breath escaped him in heavy sobs, dread and humiliation and sorrow filling his stomach like lead. His ass was raw from a spanking— a f*cking spanking. He was 17 years old and yet Tony had put him over his knee, on the couch his sister slept on every night, and spanked him until he could barely breathe through the tears and heaving cries. Then, he’d drawn Peter into his lap and cooed over him. Told him it was over, all was forgiven, they could move on now, he took his punishment so well.

When he’d tried to ask about his sister again, he’d been brushed off. Tony told him to be a good boy, to calm down, everything was okay. He hadn’t realized that the older man was distracting him while his partner in literal crime crept up and stuck a syringe in Peter’s neck.

Upon waking up, disoriented and alone, the tears had come again. Tony was on his way, the AI informed him immediately when he woke up, which meant that it wasn’t some horrible nightmare. Peter’s ass was raw, his sister was gone, he’d been taken by a lunatic, and he was trapped. f*ck, he was trapped.

“Oh, my baby,” Tony’s voice broke through the sound of his sobs and he felt himself simultaneously going rigid and boneless, “take deep breaths, I’m here, I’ve got you baby.”

He was wrapped up in the older man’s arms just a moment later, hands running down his back and through his hair. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the embrace tickled a memory of being held. Back when Penny had been bigger than him, when she could engulf him fully in a hug. It had always felt so warm and comforting and he liked being wrapped up that way. He’d lamented his growing size when he realized that it wasn’t quite the same anymore. Her hugs were still better than anything else, but they were different.

“Where is Penny?” Peter couldn’t stop thinking about her hugs, the words hiccuped through his sobs, “please, please, please…”

“Shhh, Penny’s okay, Penny’s just fine,” Tony cooed in his ear, tucking the boy’s head against his chest, “you’ve gotta breath, precious, you’ll have an asthma attack at this point.”

“Sir, I believe Ms. Parker is also experiencing emotional taxation as a result of being separated from her sibling. The soldiers have requested they attend breakfast together, in order to ease the anxiety,” the AI’s voice sounded once again and it took Peter a moment to understand what it said.

Breakfast with Penny. Soldiers wanted him to have breakfast with Penny. Why was she with soldiers? What had they done with her?

“Sounds like a good idea, J. We’re gonna get cleaned up, have them meet us in the private kitchen in about an hour.”

“The captain finds that agreeable sir.”

“Alright baby, we’re gonna see Penny at breakfast, but you need to calm down first. We gotta bathe and get dressed, can you calm down enough for that?”

“Yes,” he whimpered quietly, “I can, I can calm down I promise.”

“Good boy,” the praise was met with a shocking but warm sensation in Peter’s chest and he startled when Tony stood up, carrying him in his arms, “I think a bath would be best, I’m sure you’re still sore.”

A blush lit up Peter’s face. Yes, he was still sore. His ass felt like a huge bruise and any sort of pressure hurt like a bitch.

Tony set him down on the bathroom counter, staying directly in front of him, “J, start the tub. Add aloe.”

The faucets immediately turned on and the familiar scent of aloe wafted from the steam. Peter was astounded by the innovation, that Tony had a voice-controlled bathtub. The AI was beyond compare in the public market and he’d bet even the private sectors didn’t have anything close. Peter’s primary scientific interests were chemistry and biology but he was fascinated by the engineering and mechanics that must’ve gone into the creation.

“Your wheels are spinning baby, tell me what you’re thinking.”

“Your AI is awesome,” the teenager stated quietly after a moment of hesitation, shrugging his shoulders and tucking his head down slightly, “I’m not great with electronic engineering but it’s really cool.”

If he’d looked up he would’ve seen the soft, fond look on Tony’s face, “I could teach you, if you wanted to learn. Are you interested in mechanics?”

“I like biochemical engineering more than practical, but I’m in my school’s robotics club—” Peter swallowed heavily, “I… was in my school’s robotics club.”

“Robotics club has nothing on me, baby,” Tony said fondly, easily brushing past Peter’s discomfort and sadness and barreling forward, “I’ve got the best toys in the world to play with. Maybe after breakfast we’ll go down to the lab.”

“Will Penny come too?”

The older man seemed to watch Peter carefully for a moment before gently tugging him off the counter, “let’s get you undressed, the bath’s almost full and we’ll need to head to breakfast soon.”

Another dark blush spread down Peter’s face, extending to his shoulders and chest. He could feel the heat of it under his skin as Tony pulled his shirt off followed by his own.

“Y-You’re going to…” his eyes darted to the bath and back to the older man’s face, jaw moving even as words failed to come out.

A soft laugh escaped Tony, “get in the bath with you? Of course I am baby boy.”

Anxiety crawled through his veins, spreading like ice while Tony continued to undress him. He tried not to shake when his pants came off, or his boxers. Tried not to look when Tony took off his own. It was humiliating, please don’t look at me, don’t touch me—

Tony herded Peter to the bathtub, ignoring the panic that was visibly surging through the boy. Getting him into the water was a little harder, he was shaking and Tony was almost worried he would fall. When they were both settled in the water, with Peter resting against his chest and the steam rising around them, Tony finally felt himself begin to relax. His baby boy was in his arms, finally, so vulnerable, all his.

“I’m so happy you’re here, Peter,” he whispered gently into the boy’s ear, nuzzling his nose against the skin there, “you’re finally with me, where you belong.”

The bath was so warm and Tony was so close, Peter’s head almost felt floaty. Just like in the beginning, the man’s attention was euphoric. It was so, so wrong but Peter wanted it. He wanted the quiet words and promises and reassurances. He must’ve been so f*cked up in the head to be almost happy cradled naked in his kidnapper’s arms, God what the f*ck was wrong with him.

Penny raised him to be stronger, to be smarter. He was spitting in the face of everything she’d done for him over the years as he relaxed into Tony’s chest. All the hours she’d worked, all of the things she’d given up on for his sake, he was throwing it all away in the warmth of Tony Stark’s arms.

He hoped she would forgive him.

Chapter 8

Chapter Text

Penny had only calmed down after being threatened with another sedative. There was no f*cking way she was letting them put her under again, she refused to be unconscious and vulnerable around them. JARVIS, an AI invented by Stark apparently, had alerted them that Tony had requested they attend breakfast around 5am, which was insanely early but it wasn’t like she would be getting any more sleep anyway.

Bucky and Steve had insisted she shower and dress before they went to breakfast. In any other situation, she would’ve told them to get f*cked, how dare they tell her what to do— but it was heavily implied that Peter would be there for breakfast. So she walked docilely into the bathroom, slamming the door shut in Bucky’s face before he could follow her, and flipped the lock.

Creepily, the shower was stocked with everything she would’ve used at home. The same brands, same items. It was another little invasion that made goosebumps erupt over her skin despite the warmth of the water. She was halfway through the arduous process of washing her when a knock came at the door.

“Penny! You need clothes and towels, I’m coming in,” Steve called in warning and she would’ve rolled her eyes if she hadn’t had them closed.

“You can’t, the door’s loc—”

Her words were cut off by a metallic crunch.Dread spread through her, had he just broken the lock?

“We’ll never complain about you locking a door, doll, but it’s only fair that you realize it doesn’t make any difference,” there was a sharp inhale and then she could hear the salacious smile cross his face, “what a f*ckin’ view.”

Like most people with natural curls, Penny washed her hair upside down. Bent at the waist, back facing the bathroom door, she realized he was staring directly at her bare ass through the glass door.

“Now that is pretty,sweetheart,” Bucky’s voice broke her out of her horrified, frozen state and she stood up so fast she lost her footing on the slick tiles.

She landed roughly on the hard floor, shoving her face back into the spray to clean the soap away from her closed eyes as fast as possible. She could hear a pile of fabric hit the counter at the same time the shower door was pulled open. Frigid air blasted over her for a second before it was pulled closed again. There was only time for a moment of anticipation before arms wrapped under her bust and pulled her up and back into a very naked body.

Shock pumped through her, one of the arms was metal. Like some sort of super advanced prosthetic. It moved just like the flesh arm, tightening around her rib cage in what was probably supposed to be a reassuring squeeze.

“Let’s get all of that soap out of your hair before I get too distracted, huh babydoll?” Bucky was the one with the metal arm and he shuffled her forward while he spoke, back into the stream of water, “don’t want you to get any in your eyes.”

The shower door opened again just as her head was plunged under the spray and she had to clench her eyes shut against the spray and soap. Knowing they were both in there with her had her muscles all pulling taught. It was a fight she couldn’t really afford but she started gearing up anyway. She’d give them Hell before—

“Shhh, precious, breathe,” Steve came to stand in front of her, blocking most of the spray and wiping her eyes gently with his thumbs, “you’re alright, we’re not going to hurt you. We’ll never hurt you baby.”

She could feel his body contort as he reached behind him, grabbing the detachable shower head and pulling it down to position over her head. Multiple sets of gentle fingers began combing through her hair, rinsing the shampoo. They were silent as they proceeded to put conditioner in it.

“We’re gonna buy you better stuff than this,” Bucky said softly, twisting the long rope of her hair up into a bun before using a hair tie off his own wrist to secure it out of the water while the conditioner soaked in, “fancy stuff for your curly hair. Bath wash that smells better than plain soap. Whatever lotions and products that you want.”

When she didn’t answer, Steve pressed closer to her front. One of his arms joined Bucky’s around her waist while the other came up to her face, thumb brushing across her jaw bone. A shiver passed through her whole body as he came to rest seamlessly against her, the skin to skin contact as foreign as everything else that had happened over the last 48 hours. The blonde was murmuring something against the top of her head, his lips brushing against her wet hair and down to her forehead before she could actually hear his words.

“—so beautiful, precious girl, we’re so glad you’re with us now. We’re gonna take such good care of you, baby—”

Bucky’s had shifted over her rib cage, one going high to cup her breast and the other, the metal one, going low. His fingers curved over her skin, slipping between her legs to caress the crease of her thigh. The hand on her breast mimicked the soft touch, the pad of his thumb sliding against her nipple.

“S-Stop,” her words came out in a panicked breath, “don’t touch… don’t touch me—”

“It’s okay, sweetheart, I’m not Brock,” the brunet cooed into her ear, “when I take you it’s gonna feel so good, that puss*’s gonna come all over my co*ck.”

“We’ll be as patient as we can be, doll,” Steve’s lips continued their path down the side of her face, coming to rest on the delicate skin below her ear, “we know you’re sensitive after what he did to you. Do you wanna see a therapist about it baby? We can make that happen.”

It was surreal, the words coming out of the man’s mouth. Bringing up a nasty sexual assault while she was being sexually assaulted. Could he not hear what he was saying? Did the words not sound the same way to him? Offering therapy, as if that was what she needed therapy for. That was the squeaky wheel in her psyche.

She didn’t respond, ignoring the pair as Bucky pulled his hands back to her hair and began pulling out the ponytail. Apparently they’d been in the shower long enough and as they began to rinse the conditioner out she wondered just how long it had been. It felt like a life time. She’d been trapped in that stupid shower for ages now, being touched and fondled against her will. Her stomach felt like it had settled into her throat.

Nausea continued to well in her as they turned the water off and Steve retrieved towels, gently wrapping a giant purple one around her. He held on for several moments after tying it, rubbing her back up and down through the fabric. Would it matter if she asked him to stop touching her?

“You’ve got about twenty minutes to get dressed, sweetheart,” Bucky settled his hands on her shoulders, passing his thumbs idly over her bare skin, “do you need a blow dryer? An extra towel?”

She literally couldn’t even decide what to say, couldn’t figure out if she could keep herself from screaming if she opened her mouth, so she shook her head. The look they passed each other was lost on her, too distracted by her own thoughts.

Had Peter been treated the same way she had? Was thatpedophile putting his hands on her baby brother while she couldn’t stop him? The age of consent in New York was 17 but it didn’t matter, he was still a kid. He hadn’t even graduated from high school yet.

“Let’s get you dry baby,” Bucky said quietly when she continued to stand in place for another half a minute, unmoving, “into some soft clothes, huh? We’ll go eat breakfast and you can see Peter and then you can rest all day. Maybe we can do some shopping online for our place, get some stuff you like.”

They once again went without a response, the brunet sighing slightly at her unyielding silence and unwound the tie in the towel Steve had made. She barely shifted as he carefully ran the fabric over her damp skin, listening as his boyfriend requested JARVIS change the temperature in the bathroom and turn on the fans. Living in such an automated place would take some getting used to, for both Penny and Peter.

Bucky turned Penny to face him, tugging her close and forcing her to lean most of her body weight against his chest, “lift your legs so Stevie can get your panties on baby.”

She did as directed without hesitation, Steve sliding the soft material up her legs gently. The underwear were almost too small and he had to stop himself from groaning at the way her ass peaked out from the bottoms. Buck met his eyes from over Penny’s shoulder and gave him a careful smirk.

“Again baby, let Steve help with your pants.” Soft sweatpants came to cover the boner inducing panties, the blond standing up in the process to press against her back.

Skin contact might’ve been what inevitably broke down Penny’s walls. They could tell she was touch starved, the way goosebumps rose on her arms anytime they tucked up close. There would be a careful shiver, an almost instinctual curl against the heat source offered. She was desperate for contact but fighting out of principle.

Steve ran his nose gently along her bare shoulder, one arm wrapped around her rib cage and the other tugging Bucky closer to her front. She sunk, inch by inch, into the embrace until they were holding up the majority of her body weight.

“So sweet, baby,” the blond murmured quietly, enjoying the way her body curved around his arm slightly, “precious.”

Reluctantly, they helped her into the shirt Steve had brought in from their closet, one that they both wore but Bucky usually claimed. It was soft and long sleeved, leading the brunet to roll the sleeves up several times to reveal her hands and forearms.

“Captain, Sergeant, it’s been requested that I inform you that it is five minutes past 5am and that Mr. Parker is having difficulties behaving in the absence of his sister.”

Penny’s head shot up, eyes going to the ceiling, “What’s wrong with him? What’s wrong with Peter?”

“He misses you something terrible, Ms. Parker,” the AI informed her calmly, “he is otherwise perfectly fine.”

“Can we go?” Dark brown eyes flitted between Steve and Bucky’s faces as she pulled out from between them both, anxiously inching towards the bathroom door, “please? Please can we go?”

“Hold on baby, let us get dressed real quick,” Bucky grabbed a pair of jeans off the bathroom counter, tugging them on while Steve did the same with a pair of joggers.

The blond tossed a t-shirt to Bucky as they both began moving, tugging on a tank top as he did so. His hand came to rest on Penny’s back, gently leading her out into the hallway and towards the elevator.

“ETA?”

Bucky looked at him in confusion for a moment before he hummed, “0800.”

Penny hardly spared them a glance as she stepped into the elevator, ignoring Bucky’s attempt to draw her closer and stared at the numbers changing on the panel above the doors.

Steve leaned against the wall, “sitrep?”

“All clear so far.”

Really, they didn’t need to speak in code. Penny wouldn’t have cared even if she could understand what they were saying. All she could think about as the elevator came to a stop several floors up and the doors opened, was getting to Peter. She desperately needed to make sure he was okay.

“This way sweetheart,” Bucky put his hand back on her back and led her through the doorways to Tony’s private kitchen, “He’ll be in here—”

Penny disappeared from under his hand a second later, hurtling herself at Mach 5 across the kitchen. Peter had come flying from the opposite direction at the same speed and they collided spectacularly, ending up in a heap on the tiled floor. Their weight distribution ended up with Peter hovering over her, clutching Penny to his chest while she clung to him with both arms and legs.

“Are you okay? Peter, baby are you okay? Are you oka— ” the words were whispered, barely audible if it wasn’t for enhanced hearing, and repeated over and over again.

He was answering her, yes Penny, yes I’m okay, yes, I’m okay Penny but she wasn’t truly hearing him. Bucky and Tony made quick eye contact before nodding, the shorter man moving forward to remove the teenager from the floor and subsequently, his sister. Bucky was quick to follow, picking Penny up but quickly setting her back on her feet while Tony did the same.

They collided again, this time both staying on their feet. Penny’s head was tucked into her brother’s neck, still murmuring to him but this time in another language. He was nodding along with whatever she was saying, holding her so tightly against him that they almost worried about her spine. Both were openly crying, Penny’s nose turning bright red.

“Come on you two, let’s sit down and eat,” Steve managed to coerce the pair into chairs, barely managing to get them to each sit by themselves.

“Penny—” Peter’s voice cracked, disappearing into a whisper.

“It’s okay, Peter, it’s okay,” it didn’t sound like she believed what she was saying, Penny’s voice was trembling and it struck Steve right in the heart.

He carefully lifted her out of her chair and sat down in her place, having her come to rest in his lap. Peter reared back as if struck, only to have Tony wrap an arm around his waist from the end of the table and tug him close, chair and all. The extra foot of space between the siblings was nearly nonexistent but they both immediately started to reach for each other, like they were being pulled to opposite ends of the Earth.

“Calm down,” Tony ordered gently, reaching up to stroke Peter’s hair, “you’re fine, Penny’s right there, just breathe.”

Steve carefully nudged Penny’s head to rest against his wide chest, hushing her quietly, “we’re not taking you away, we’re just gonna eat breakfast. Aren’t you hungry, baby? It’s been almost a full day since you ate.”

Bucky started piling food onto the plate in front of her and Steve immediately, his seat at the end of the table making it easy to reach everything, “let’s get you fed, angel, I know you’re tired.”

Tony had done the same for him and Peter, nudging the boy to pick up a fork and start eating. Penny wasn’t quite so lucky, as Steve was the one who grabbed the fork in front of them. For a moment she wasn’t sure what to expect, but then he brought the loaded fork to her lips and she had a moment of rage .

They could all see it play over her face, even Peter, as she considered the food in front of her. How Steve was trying to feed her, how Tony had dragged her brother out of reach, how she was being carefully restrained. For a moment it looked like the eruption of anger might spill out, but Tony cleared his throat and Bucky shifted in his seat. He reached out with metal fingers and brushed her cheek, pressing her head closer to the fork.

“Be a good girl, Penny. Eat your breakfast, talk with your brother,” his gaze was imploring and stern, “good girls get rewards, baby, naughty girls get punishments.”

“Your sister takes good care of you, doesn’t she Peter?” Tony directed his attention at the boy sitting so close he was nearly in his lap.

“Y-Yeah,” Peter gulped, anxiety drying his mouth, “always, s-she always takes care of me.”

“Does she take care of herself, baby boy?”

Penny called herself a dumb ass on a regular basis but she immediately saw through the manipulation. Her eyes homed in on the genius and she felt her lips contorting into a snarl, especially with the way Peter seemed to hesitate. His eyes seemed to rake over her, taking in the dark circles under her eyes, the too thin column of her neck emphasized by the oversized shirt.

“I take care of myself just fine, stop trying to lead him like that,” she spat, “stop trying to put things into his head.”

“I’m not putting anything into his head, precious,” Tony smiled coyly and shook his head, “Peter’s a smart boy, he’ll come to his own conclusions.”

“What is going on in that head of yours, Pete?” Steve asked kindly, letting his hand come to rest under the hem of Penny’s shirt and enjoying the tremor that ran through her at the contact.

“Penny takes care of me first and herself second, no matter what,” the teenager answered, sad brown eyes settling on his sister’s face, “education, money, food, all of it.”

“Peter, stop, don’t let them get to you,” she tried to shift closer to her brother but was brought back by Steve’s firm hold, “get off! Peter—”

“Hush doll,” the blond ordered sternly, bringing his hand up to cup the side of her face, pressing her cheek to his chest and resting his thumb somewhat forcefully on the joint of her jaw, “take a bite.”

A moment of indecision visibly passed through her before Penny allowed herself to be fed. The fight over scrambled eggs and pancakes wasn’t worth it, wasn’t worth being potentially dragged away from Peter. The debate though, that was worth it, the look in Peter’s eyes was enough to convince her.

“Nothing I’ve ever done for Peter has been a burden,” she locked eyes with her little brother, determination clear, “there’s nothing I regret.”

“Of course not, precious,” Tony shook his head, “I’d never imply that Peter was a burden. I know you love him unconditionally. But you have to admit, you’ve made a lot of sacrifices for him. Don’t you think you might’ve let your own health and happiness fall to the side?”

“No.” There was no hesitation or thought before she answered, forcing herself to chew another bite when it was held up to her, “Taking care of Peter makes me happy.”

“We know, sweetheart,” Bucky reached over and took one of her hands, “but other things will make you happy too. You can love Peter without having to devote every minute of your life to him, you know?”

“That’s why you don’t have to worry about taking care of Peter anymore, angel,” Tony smiled, the look on Penny’s face was full of disdain but it didn’t dampen his affection for her, “you still get to be with him, you still get to love him, but he’s not your responsibility anymore. You don’t have to break your back over him, all you have to do is love him. Doesn’t that sound nice? Not having to constantly worry about money and paying for his school? Or about making your eighty different schedules work together?”

“Bite, baby,” Steve directed her attention once again, making her eat before she could answer.

Tony directed Peter to eat too, while she was chewing. She watched as the older man filled his plate, pulled a cup of juice closer to him. He touched Peter with reverence and adoration. She hated it. Hated his hands on her brother. Hated that he thought he could tell Peter what to do. Simmering rage was building under her skin, ready to erupt.

“I want to take care of Peter,” her teeth were clenched, hands tightened into fists in her lap, “I don’t care what I have to do, I want to take care of him—”

Steve’s hand came to rest directly over her sternum, having set down the fork while she spoke, and he pressed down with just enough force to make her nervous, “me and Bucky are going to do everything we can to make you happy, Penny, but you’re not always going to get what you want. Things are different now.”

“He’s my broth—”

“She’s like a chihuahua.”

Heads snapped up all around the table, Penny and Peter watching in disbelief as the vent cover over the stove wiggled violently for a moment before abruptly falling off. It hit the floor with a clang, a man tumbling out of the air vent a moment later. He also hit the floor, after bouncing off the stove. Steve had to restrain Penny from running over to check on him out of instinct.

“Congratulations dumbass,” Tony deadpanned as the man groaned and shifted in a heap on the tile, “you’re officially the only person to continuously injure themselves falling out of air vents in the tower.”

“Wrong!” He argued, flopping onto his back and pointing in the vague direction of the table, “Barnes has also ate sh*t falling out of the vents multiple times.”

Penny and Peter watched as the two men sitting at the table leveled Bucky with questioning looks. The brunet was very carefully avoiding their gaze, cutting the pancakes on his plate into precise triangles. Usually, as the guardian of a teenage boy, Penny took avoidance as a sign of guilt and she felt her lips curl.

“You’re too bulky to be in the vents Buck,” Steve gave him a stern look which his boyfriend continued to ignore, turning his eyes on the smirking Penny instead.

“Wanna bite, doll?” He held up a fork with pancake on the end and Penny narrowed her eyes slightly before giving in and taking it.

“Is that why you have a huge bruise on your back?” She asked pointedly, addressing the bruise she'd noticed during the unpleasant shower and realizing that getting the man in trouble was likely her best bet to deviate their attention from her.

Bucky looked stricken at her words, eyes quickly darting to Steve who looked less than pleased, “JARVIS keeps dropping the vent covers without warning!”

“That’s because you’re not supposed to be in the vents!” Stark literally threw his hands up in exasperation, looking taxed to the core, “it’s meant to dissuade you!”

“Physical deterrents don’t work on some children,” Penny stated with a snarky smile.

“See, a chihuahua; the most vicious attack dog on the planet.”

“Peter, Penny, this dumbass is Clint Barton, who was told to f*ck off for at least the next two days,” Bucky waved a flippant hand in the blond man’s direction, a glare on his face.

“I won’t be kept away from my children!”

“Clint, they’re not your kids.”

“I’ve claimed them, they’re mine.”

“They’re not—”

“DIBS!”

“You can’t dibs people , Clint!”

“f*ckin— you assclowns dibs-ed people, that’s why we’re in this situation.”

“But if they dibsed us,” Peter frowned slightly, “you can’t dibs us again, we were already dibsed.”

“For f*ck’s sake,” Penny muttered quietly, covering her eyes with a hand, “Peter, really? Kidnapped. The word you’re looking for is kidnapped.”

“Oh,” the teenager blinked several times, as if replaying the conversation in his head before twisting his lips into a frown, “good point. Dibsing a person is like, illegal. Super illegal.”

“Super f*cking illegal,” she groaned, ignoring the way Steve’s arm tightened around her waist, the one on her chest coming up to run through her hair only for her to bat it away, “Stop! My hair is curly, you can’t do that when it’s dry or it’ll tangle!”

“That’s true actually,” Clint stated, walking around the table to drop into a chair opposite of Penny and Steve, “you should never comb or brush curly hair when it’s dry, it’ll frizz and tangle. Makes it hard to manage.”

“You’ll have to help Penny pick out stuff,” Bucky waved his fork in her direction, “she needs special shampoo for her hair right?”

The conversation was, once again, surreal and Penny couldn’t decide if she wanted to shoot herself or them. They wanted to talk about hair products, as if she and her brother weren’t literally being held against their will by a rich pedophile with too many connections and his psycho soldier buddies.

“I can hear the wheels turning in your head babydoll,” Steve murmured quietly in her ear, the hand around her waist sneaking up under the hem of her shirt again to settle on her skin, “take a deep breath and try to relax for me, okay? Just try to calm down.”

She willed her entire body not to tense as fury shot through her, not wanting to instigate a fight but seriously what the f*ck. Try to calm down, relax, everything’s okay, I know you’ve been kidnapped but chill the f*ck out— everything since she woke up had been the same mantra, deep breaths, calm down, it’s okay, you’re safe. Over and over again.

“Are you full, sweetheart?” Bucky asked softly, seeing the barely contained anger trembling through her, “we can head back to the apartment, you can rest?”

“I want to stay with Peter.”

“Peter’s gonna be resting all day too, precious,” Tony patted the teenager’s shoulder gently, “you guys’ve been through some emotional upheaval, you need time to relax.”

“We can relax together.”

A sigh escaped the genius and he shifted to rest his elbows on the table, leveling Penny with a serious expression, “Alright Penny, real talk: you two need time to adapt to your new situations and being in each other’s pockets isn’t going to help. You’ll see each other every day, multiple times a day, but you need time apart—”

“N-No we don’t, please,” Peter looked stricken, turning in his seat to face the man dead on, “p-please Mr. Stark, we don’t need time apart, please—”

“Your lives are changing and your behaviors have to change with them,” Steve cut him off gently, both hands coming to rest on Penny’s skin under her shirt now in an attempt to keep her calm, “you both need to learn to rely on us for your needs and that won’t happen if you keep clinging to each other. Imagine that you’re living in different houses, that you’ve each got your own separate lives. You’re still going to see each other regularly but you’re going to be independent of each other from now on.”

The two siblings had very different temperaments and it became extremely apparent in their reactions. Peter, who was certainly less mature but generally more logical, looked crest fallen. Tears gathered in his eyes and his lip wobbled but he didn’t argue or fight, he knew there was no point. It didn’t make sense to freak out.

Penny on the other hand, lost her goddamn mind. Steve had excellent reflexes but the level of batsh*t crazy she displayed was hard to account for. She’d snatched a fork off the table and slammed it down into the man’s leg without hesitation, screaming obscenities and threw the cup of coffee he’d been drinking in Bucky’s face. Clint dove across the table just as she brought her elbow up and back into Steve’s face, breaking his nose with a bone chilling crunch. She’d shot to her feet, knocking Steve off the chair, but Clint grabbed her arms before she could go anywhere.

Unfortunately he only managed to put himself in an unforgiving position when she dropped her weight, yanking him off balance and causing him to tumble over her head. Tony was quick to sweep her into his arms from behind but she kicked his knee out before he could get any leverage, sending them both to the ground. She landed with a heavy thud, crying out at the sharp pain that shot through her whole arm.

“Penny!” Peter shot to his feet but Tony managed to get up and grab him before he could go to her, holding him back and whispering something that she couldn’t hear in his ear.

She barely had time to process her position and situation before Bucky grabbed her by the legs and hauled her up off the floor, holding her upside down. Her shriek was enraged and she flailed but was unable to pull herself into any sort of defendable position, her core muscles weren’t strong enough.

“You okay Stevie?”

“Damn baby,” the blond groaned slightly, holding his nose between both hands as blood gushed down his front, “shattered my nose.”

“I’m honestly more impressed than upset,” Clint called from the floor, “how’d she get the drop on a super soldier? Holy f*ck there’s a fork sticking out of your leg.”

“Better head to see Bruce,” Tony jabbed a thumb over his shoulder towards the elevator, “Barnes, you got her?”

“Yeah, I got her,” the man rolled his eyes, adjusting his grip on her ankles so he could meet her eyes, “Remember when we said no hitting or kicking? Naughty girls get punishments? I know you can be sweet, Penny, why won’t you be sweet for us?”

“I’ll f*ckin kill you mother f*ck—”

“Ohhkay,” Bucky swung her up abruptly, catching her over his shoulder and effectively knocking the wind out of her, “Steve, you head to see Bruce, me and Penny are going to go learn a lesson.”

Chapter 9

Chapter Text

Bucky was honestly impressed by Penny’s pain tolerance. Or maybe her stubbornness. He wasn’t sure which had seen her half way through a very thorough spanking with minimal noises, but it was only at swat 27 out of 50 that small sounds of pain started escaping her. Nothing loud or obvious, just short whines that could’ve been easily mistaken for exhales if he didn’t have enhanced hearing. Her hands, held carefully in his metal grasp behind the small of her back to prevent thrashing, were tightened into fists, skin going whiter with tension after every smack.

At 40 she was audibly whimpering and he could smell the salt of her tears. Her ass was dark red, hot to the touch, and would be sore for several long days. It was only fair, she’d broken Steve’s nose and stabbed him with a f*cking fork— not being able to sit right for a week was almost not enough. But it was also her first punishment, it wouldn’t do to go too hard right off the bat.

At 44 the door to the apartment opened and Steve walked in with two black eyes, nose and thigh already beginning to heal. At 45, a loud cry escaped and Penny started openly sobbing. If it weren’t for his legs trapping hers, she would have started kicking out of desperation.

“Almost there baby,” he cooed, laying another hard swat down.

She wailed in response, going boneless over his lap. The high-pitched cry turned Steve’s stomach and he started forward. Bucky hurriedly gave her the last four before the blond could intervene, seeing the intention on the man’s face. Steve swept her up immediately when he got close enough, tucking her into his chest tightly.

“Shhhh, baby, you’re okay, you did so good,” he murmured, rubbing carefully up and down her back while she clung to his torso, legs hooked over his hips, “it’s all over baby, you’re done.”

Bucky came up behind her, running a hand through Steve’s hair and down his cheek, gently sweeping his thumb over the bruise under his left eye. There had been multiple times when he and Steve got into physical fights and wailed on each other. He’d certainly given his boyfriend much worse injuries than what Penny had done.

“I’m gonna go grab some arnica cream and her shorts,” he told the blond quietly, motioning towards the couch.

Steve nodded, maneuvering to lounge on the couch with Penny lying on her front against his chest. She was still sobbing and he couldn’t blame her; Bucky had made sure the spanking would leave a reminder of her behavior for days. He gently moved her to lay on his thighs, turned more on her side than flat on her front and pressed her cheek into his chest.

“I know baby, cry it out,” he kept his tone soft and gentle, pleased by how she clutched his tank top in her fists, pressing as close to his torso as she could.

He shifted her again when Bucky came back, rotating her enough that her reddened behind was easily accessible. The brunet was almost treated to a foot to the face as Penny tried to scramble away at the first brush of his fingers against her burning skin. Steve tightened his grip, hushing her quickly when she cried out.

“Bucky’s gonna make it feel better baby, hold still.”

“No please!” Penny was wailing, desperately trying to thrash away, “please, please, please—”

“Penny, baby, breathe,” Steve hefted her slightly higher against his chest, adjusting his grip and pressing his cheek against the top of her head, “he’s gonna put lotion on that’ll make it feel better.”

“Please don’t, it hurts please, please don’t!”

Bucky sighed quietly and got off his knees to sit on the edge of the couch by Steve’s hip, laying his hand on her back, “I’m gonna be as gentle as I can sweetheart.”

She cried through the whole process as he carefully applied the arnica cream to her bruising skin, begging him to stop whenever he hit a particularly sensitive spot. Both Steve and Bucky winced the whole time, her pain giving them almost physical aches.

“Shhhh, it’s done baby, I’m done,” Bucky cooed softly, “we’re gonna skip your panties, I brought some really soft shorts.”

“No, no, no, no, no…” it was sobbed and Steve had to hold her arms tighter as Bucky slipped her feet into the silk shorts, carefully pulling them up her legs.

She screeched, more in fear they assumed than pain as Bucky pulled them over the curve of her ass and adjusted the band around her waist. They were the softest pair of shorts they’d bought her, pale pink and purchased specifically with punishment aftercare in mind. Both were hoping spankings would be enough, they didn’t want to have to graduate to more painful punishments.

“See baby, they’re soft,” Bucky rubbed his hand over her exposed thigh gently, “and the fabric’s nice and cold.”

“Let’s move to the bed,” Steve nodded towards the door to the bedroom, shifting carefully on the couch before swinging his legs over the edge and standing with Penny clutched to his chest.

Bucky manipulated her legs to tuck around the blond’s hips, making sure there wasn't any unnecessary pressure on her ass before moving ahead to open the door. He watched his boyfriend carry her through and lay down on the bed with her still on his chest, never shifting her more than a few inches. A slow smile crawled across his face as she clenched the fabric of his tank top in her hands, pressing her forehead to the bare skin above the neckline. Penny would inevitably pull away from him as the one who delivered the punishment, but Bucky didn’t mind too much if it meant he was privy to sights like the one in front of him.

Steve was taller than him by a few inches, but much slimmer. His shoulders were wide, his torso tapered sharply into his hips and his ass was to die for followed by tree trunk thighs. Penny’s shape and size allowed her to slot perfectly against the front of his body, head rested to the side between his pecs, her soft chest and stomach cushioned along the dip of his abs. Her hips were wide enough that her legs splayed comfortably over his thin waist, resting on the bed on either side of him and her feet tucked back over his knees. She’d tucked one arm up along her body, fist still wrapped around his shirt and rested under her chin with the other hidden under her hair on the other side of her head.

“Incoming,” Bucky directed the quiet statement at the blond, jerking his head back slightly towards the front door, “you good?”

“Yeah,” Steve sighed softly, his eyes fluttering shut as he wrapped his arms around Penny’s back, hands tangling carefully in her hair, “keep me updated.”

“Shouldn’t be much,” he crossed the room and kissed Steve’s lips gently before kissing the back of Penny’s head.

Penny was half asleep, exhausted from the stress and crying. She could hear them talking but couldn’t really understand what they were saying. It didn’t really matter anyway, nothing they said meant anything.

Her head hurt and her throat hurt and her ass hurt and her stomach hurt too. Everything hurt in special and inconsistent ways; throbbing, aching, stabbing, shooting pains. Her arm hurt especially, where she’d fallen on it in the kitchen. She couldn’t believe she let herself get so worked up over a spanking. Had it hurt as much as she thought or had she just freaked out? Her ass was on fire, a deep throbbing that kept time with her heartbeat. It had just been such a repetitive pain, the same spots, the same tender skin, the same pressure with each hit. It had built to an overwhelming agony at the end.

She swallowed a sob, feeling her body shake with the force of it. Steve was quick to start hushing her, making quiet noises and rubbing her back soothingly. His legs twitched and the next thing she knew he was pulling a heavy comforter up over them, tucking it carefully along her shoulders.

“Let’s take a nap baby, you’re so tired,” he cooed, nose brushing against the top of her head.

“Perhaps a movie will help, Captain? My records show that Ms. Parker regularly falls asleep while watching DVDs on her laptop.”

It really emphasized how tired she was, that Penny didn’t jump at the sudden sound of the AI’s voice. Honestly, she kind of appreciated the technology butting in; it was hard for her to fall asleep in a quiet room. Steve was quick to agree, asking the AI to project a movie onto the far wall. JARVIS must’ve been watching her closely for some time, to know that her favourite movie to sleep to was Toy Story.

Only a few minutes of the movie went on before Penny went slack in Steve’s arms and he felt himself start to finally relax. He’d been tense the entire time, just knowing she was in pain and so distraught had him tied up in knots. The punishment had been necessary, she’d acted in an unacceptable manner, but it had hurt his heart to listen to her cry while enduring the spanking.

If everything went according to plan, she would adapt before long. She’d acclimate to her situation, settle into her new life, and the fighting would stop. Penny would calm, accept them.

“We’ll make you happy,” he whispered to the sleeping woman, stroking his hands up and down her back under the blanket, “you just have to let us, babydoll.”

It took two hours for Bucky to come back, Penny was still sound asleep when the door opened and he walked in—thankfully. His entire front was saturated with blood, it was literally dripping from his hair. Steve’s eyes passed over him carefully, looking for any injuries but saw none.

“You couldn’t have cleaned up before you came home?” He raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend, “what if Penny had been awake?”

“I checked with JARVIS,” Bucky rolled his eyes, stripping his shirt off as he crossed the room, “said she was sound asleep. From his tone, I’m assuming he’s mad at me.”

“JARVIS is mad at you? The computer that lives in the walls?”

Bucky shot the blond a scowl, “he has emotions, okay? Stark programmed him too well and he could take over the f*ckin’ planet if he wanted to.”

“Drop your pants and shirt down the incinerator,” Steve ordered when his boyfriend started to drop his soiled shirt into the laundry basket, “I don’t want those where Penny could see them.”

“I like this shirt!”

“Then you shouldn’t have worn it for an interrogation, Buck!”

“Interrwhaht?”

They both froze at the sound of Penny’s voice, Bucky swiftly divulging himself of his bloody jeans and wrapping them and his shirt into a wad. Steve had one hand pressed gently to the top of her head, a small attempt at preventing her from trying to look around, and frantically gestured to Bucky’s hair with the other hand. The brunet practically dived for the bathroom when she batted his hand away and pressed herself up with one arm, looking around blearily.

“S’it Bucky?” She frowned, squinting around only for Steve to shush her and scoop her back into his chest.

“Buck’s in the shower baby, he went for a workout,” he lied easily, tilting her chin up to nuzzle her face, lips ghosting over her cheeks, “are you hungry? You’ve been asleep for a couple of hours.”

Penny hummed, turning her head this way and that to avoid him, “not hungry.”

“You sure doll? You don’t have to sit at the table, we can eat on the couch,” he implored, running a gentle hand over her backside under the comforter.

The reminder had Penny going stiff in his arms, having nearly forgotten about the pain. Coming out of sleep, she’d forgotten about everything almost. But only for a moment. Pain and anger and fear hit her with force and she wasn’t sure which feeling deserved the most attention.

“Don’t tense up on me, sweetheart,” Steve didn’t want to lose the little bit of sleepy intimacy she’d allowed for just a few moments after waking, clutching her against his chest, his hands running up and down her back, “shhh, come back to me, baby. You’re safe, right here, you’re warm and comfortable.”

“Let me go,” she grit her teeth and began to squirm, raising the arm that didn’t hurt to press against his shoulder, “let go!”

A firm pat against her ass made her yelp, tears welling in her eyes at the pain. Steve had barely used any pressure but it was enough to ignite the skin back to a stinging burn, his hand running over the spot softly moments later not doing anything to ease the pain.

“You need to calm down, Penny,” his voice was stern and he used one hand to direct her face, forcing her to look him in the eye even as a few renegade tears dripped down her cheeks, “I know that you don’t like it when we tell you to calm down, but you’re working yourself up. You’re okay, you’re safe; there’s no reason to panic or get angry. Now take a deep breath and decide how you want this to play out.”

“Be sweet, babydoll,” Bucky’s voice came from the bathroom and she turned to see him leaning against the door jamb, towel wrapped around his waist, “maybe that’ll be what we call rule number two: Be Sweet.”

Steve’s arms wrapped around her, a deliberate squeeze giving her the option of either pulling away or leaning against him. A tremble ran through her, bone deep as she considered her options. The first was, obviously, to follow the lead and let herself be tucked into his chest. The second was to continue to fight, but the shocking pain still burning through her ass gave her pause. It would hurt, so much, if she kept fighting. And it already hurt so much. Her bruises were bruised.

But giving in was hard. Where her body hurt in the literal sense, the idea of letting herself be cuddled and coddled hurt her soul. A searing sensation ran through her chest, a physical manifestation, and more tears began falling down her cheeks. There were just a few more seconds of hesitation before she leaned forward, letting her forehead press into his shoulder.

“Precious,” Steve’s voice was breathy and relieved and he leant back into the pillows against the headboard, bringing Penny with him, and relaxed with her reclined on his chest, “that’s such a good girl, Penny, thank you babydoll.”

A hand slid into the hair at the nape of her neck, fingers carefully massaging the tension. Bucky joined them on the open side of the bed, resting on his side, pressed up against Steve with his head also on the blond’s chest. A heavy, content sigh escaped the man, his unused arm wrapping around his lounging boyfriend.

“This is perfect,” he murmured, feeling his eyes growing heavy at the sheer level of contented bliss running through his veins, “JARVIS, will you project another movie onto the wall please?”

“Of course, Captain.”

Steve was quick to realize that the AI must’ve actually been mad at his boyfriend, because the movie that started was Coraline; a movie that Bucky found deeply disturbing, especially for a kid’s movie. His mouth opened to say something, but Penny let out a small noise before he could.

“I love this movie, thank you JARVIS,” she looked towards the ceiling endearingly and Bucky shut his mouth, teeth clicking audibly.

The AI sounded positively smug as he responded, “my pleasure, Ms. Parker. Enjoy your day in bed and please alert me if there is anything I may do to make you more comfortable.”

JARVIS was mad at Bucky but apparently adored Penny already. The two men exchanged glances at the realization; JARVIS was irritated because Bucky had punished Penny, she’d cried and was in pain and it was Bucky’s fault as far as the AI was concerned.

“This could be a problem,” Steve murmured quietly towards Bucky, ignoring Penny’s questioning glance.

“Oh, I’m sure it is a problem.”

Chapter 10

Chapter Text

Penny never had difficulty sleeping. She was exhausted 90% of the time, between three jobs and everything that went into raising Peter, and could take a nap whenever the opportunity arose. It was a joke amongst all of her coworkers, that if you gave Penny an idle 10 minutes, she'd find a place to curl up and nap. She could sleep 16 hours straight happily if given the chance.

Insomnia wasn't a part of her life. It was why finding herself unable to sleep was shocking to her entire system. The day of her punishment she took a nap and that was the last time she slept more than an hour at a time for the next three days. She wasn't sure if it was the fear and anxiety or the stress or any other combination of things, but she simply couldn't sleep.

She didn't know if her kidnappers had noticed, strangely enough. They watched her constantly, tracking her movements and making notes of her habits, but never mentioned her sleep patterns. Or her eating patterns, for that matter.

When Steve got up in the mornings, she waited about half an hour before getting out of bed herself. While he went for a workout, she pulled all of the curtains back from the floor to ceiling windows in the living room and laid on the floor in the sunshine. It was the only time she really slept soundly for longer than 20 or 30 minutes. By the third day, when she got up and went into the living room, the curtains had already been pulled back and the couch cushions were arranged like a pallet on the floor where she usually lay. An apple, which she had a tendency to grab in the mornings to hold her over until breakfast because half the time the only kosher food in the kitchen was fruit or vegetables, was already washed and cut and set on the coffee table.

They never said anything about what she ate, even when Bucky made large, intricate meals and she avoided most of it. The first night he made spaghetti and meatballs with a side salad and she'd only eaten the salad. The second night had been pork chops and pasta salad— she'd dug out the last of the salad from the previous meal and a bit of the pasta before realizing there was bacon in it. Honestly she was starving, there was hardly anything kosher in the apartment and she was living off vegetables.

Her captors were strange dudes. Sometimes they seemed chivalrous to a fault, set in some sort of bizarre gender stereotype; they would never sit before she did or start eating until she took her first bite. But Steve didn't like when she cursed or rolled her eyes and Bucky told her smoking wasn't ladylike when she asked for cigarettes. There was a weird dichotomy where they desperately wanted her to be happy in her imprisonment but simultaneously wanted to micromanage her behavior.

After the fourth near sleepless night, she’d once again retreated to the living room once she was sure Steve had left. The spot in front of the windows was comforting for some reason, the warmth of the sun was encompassing like a hug but didn’t require touch. It felt safer than anywhere else in the apartment.

She slept for at least an hour and only woke up to the sound of JARVIS playing a chime every few seconds, the noise slowly increasing in volume. As she blinked, slightly disoriented by the sound, and realized she was no longer laying on the cushions. At some point while she was asleep Bucky had managed to wedge his way beneath her, leaving her to lie on his chest. His arms were raised on either side of her head like he was holding something over her and the top of her head brushed his chin.

At that point, her body didn’t even bother to instinctively tense. Even after such a short period of time, the panic response had lost its grip in the face of resentful acceptance.

“Good morning, doll,” Bucky’s voice was a rumble beneath her more than a sound and she heard a page turning above her, “I can see why you like to lay here.”

Penny didn’t bother answering, tired eyes tracking his movements as he lowered his arms and put a book on the floor. He didn’t look tired at all with his hair carefully pulled back into an artfully messy bun, fully dressed despite the fact that it couldn’t have been past 7 am. It was unfair how attractive they were, considering the position they had put her in. She’d never even considered a man bun attractive before for f*cks’ sake. After a short moment, his hands came back up to cup her face.

Knowing the kiss was coming didn’t make it any easier to process or mentally prepare for. She didn’t want him to, it was disgusting, how dare he kiss her— but it was also so nice. Bucky was a really good kisser, both of the soldiers were, and it sent tingles down her spine every time. The warmth from the sunshine was amplified by the feeling until it seeped into her veins and rendered her boneless against him.

“Really good morning,” Bucky smiled against her lips, brushing his nose against hers as he pulled away enough to look at her, “Steve’s gonna be out of the shower in a few and we’ll head up to breakfast. Go get dressed.”

Penny nodded in response, dazed, and let him pick her up and set her to the side of the pallet where it was easier to stand. The bedroom was still mostly dark, the heavy curtains drawn and the only light coming from the partially open bathroom door. The shower was running and she could hear Steve moving around as she walked to the dresser.

There was a drawer dedicated to the softest clothing they’d purchased for Penny and she was especially taken with the shirts in it. They felt like ultra thin, soft cotton but were actually rather thick and warm. She pulled out a black one with long sleeves and traded it for the t-shirt she’d slept in. The same pair of jeans she’d worn the previous day followed and she tugged off her socks, preferring to go barefoot just because she could tell it bothered Steve.

She stepped past the blond in question just as he came out of the bathroom, pretending not to notice the once over he gave her. The assholes weren’t exactly subtle, probably didn’t see the need to be. Bucky was waiting by the elevators when she walked into the living room, motioning her over with the metal hand.

It had been days but she still hadn’t gotten up the courage to ask about the arm. Steve and Bucky both treated it like a completely normal arm, as if it wasn’t a super strong and incredibly high tech prosthetic, and she was afraid to mention it. Instead she tried to make sure she didn’t look at it for too long, or hesitate when he touched her with it just in case it made him angry.

“Ready for breakfast baby?” He wrapped the arm around her shoulders and tugged her into his chest, ducking his head down to kiss her cheek.

“Yeah,” Penny murmured, eyes tracking Steve as he also left the bedroom and crossed the room, kissing them each soundly before calling JARVIS to bring the elevator.

Penny had forced herself to become comfortable with any display of affection that came directly before getting to see Peter, just in case they decided to throw a hissy fit at her rejection and refuse to take her to breakfast. Despite the fact that she'd been promised she could see her brother multiple times a day, it had been limited to breakfast. She asked at least 20 times a day, can I see Peter now? I want to see Peter. I want to see my brother. They brushed her off every time, made some sort of excuse.

It was part of their plan to make the siblings 'adapt' to their new lives. Penny could read between the lines and knew they didn't want them together too often to avoid any plotting. If they couldn't communicate enough to make an escape plan, they probably wouldn't try. It made sense, the clever bastards, but not being able to see her brother was wearing her down. Combined with the lack of sleep, she was beginning to feel more and more distraught.

JARVIS was a small, unexpected saving grace. She wasn't sure why, but the AI would give her updates on Peter if she asked. Is Peter okay?Yes, Ms. Parker, he is currently in the lab. Is Peter okay? Yes, Ms. Parker, he is taking a nap at the moment. Is Peter okay? Yes, Ms. Parker, he is watching the original Star Wars trilogy.

As they rode in the elevator up a few levels to what she'd come to realize was Stark's floor, she could see a very small red light in the upper corner. JARVIS was always watching, monitoring things like heart rate and temperature. He understood Hebrew if she spoke in it and would answer in kind, giving her a sort of privacy from the men boxing in her. The AI wasn't on her side per say, but the little things he did helped keep her from going crazy.

When the doors opened, Penny didn't wait for the men to move before she began on her way to the kitchen. She would sit in a chair, despite the incredible discomfort it caused after her punishment, but would be transferred to someone's lap almost immediately. Likely Bucky, since they seemed to take turns and Steve had held her yesterday. They wanted to hold her and feed her. It restricted her movements, kept her farther from Peter, and drove her batsh*t insane.

She quickly sat in the chair closest to her brother, forcing herself not to wince in pain and reached out for his hand. Peter was coping much better than she was, it was plain on his face and otherwise in his appearance. He didn't look happy necessarily, but he was sleeping and eating regularly. There was no visible cringe when Stark touched him, which she assumed meant the man hadn't hurt him.

Penny had been considering for days what she would do if she walked into the kitchen one morning and found Peter injured. She was about .02 seconds from losing it at any second as it was, if she ever suspected Peter was hurt she would go ape sh*t. The goal would be to take Stark out as efficiently as possible— she'd likely only have one chance. She was pretty sure shoving a fork through his eye would be as effective as anything else.

"You know, you get a very particular look on your face when you're considering killing me."

Penny looked away from Peter just in time to see Stark before he swept her up out of her chair and sat down with her in his lap. Being as small as she was, it made manhandling her pretty easy in comparison to say, Peter, who despite being skinny was tall and ungainly to lift and carry around.

"Tony," Bucky sounded displeased but Stark waved him off.

"My turn Winter Wizard," the older man snarked, tugging her snugly back against the line of his chest, "I love Penny too."

Love. Stark didn't love Penny. She was half convinced he didn't even understand the concept, had it so thoroughly confused with obsession that he couldn't comprehend what love was. Love was selfless and unconditional, it was supposed to bring joy and comfort. Nothing about Stark's actions were any of those things, didn't provide a feeling of happiness and safety. Sitting in his lap was like sitting on a live landmine.

"What're your plans for today sweetheart? Peter wants to spend some time in the lab with Bruce— honestly I think he likes biology more than engineering, can you believe that?"

Penny didn't answer, watching from the corner of her eye as Steve and Bucky sat down in the chairs around them. Steve sat opposite of Peter at the head of the table while Bucky took a seat to the teenager’s right, across from Penny and Stark. There was another comprehensive breakfast spread across the table, a quiche, pancakes, scrambled eggs with cheese and ham, fresh fruit, sausage and bacon.

Every time they loaded plates for her, Penny found herself turning her nose up at at least half of it. She was pretty sure they were unaware that the siblings were Jewish, either that or they were too stupid to realize there were dietary restrictions involved in the religion. Peter was more lax than Penny, he didn't remember their parents as much and aunt May and uncle Ben hadn't been religious, but she still ate kosher about 75% of the time. Plus, most kosher foods just felt more ethical and humane.

Not that the mother f*ckers who'd kidnapped them had any idea what it meant to be ethical. Or humane for that matter.

"Penny, words," it wasn’t an order necessarily but she'd come to realize over the few days she had been in the tower that Steve's tone left no room for disobedience.

"I don’t have any plans," she tried not to overtly grit her teeth in irritation.

Any other day she'd be at the daycare until 1ish, taking care of the babies. After that she'd go to her barista job and after that, she went to the grocery store to stock shelves over night. Penny didn't have downtime, she didn't have hobbies, she didn't do anything during the day other than work. Maybe that's why she wasn't sleeping at all; she wasn't doing anything. Certainly not half as much as usual.

"Well, what would you like to do? What do you do for fun?"

Simmering anger began to build under Penny's skin but before she could answer (and potentially get herself into trouble), Peter jumped in, "Penny used to knit. And you liked gardening, right? When we lived in the house you had all those plants and the garden out back."

"Ma's garden," Penny twitched her nose, the movement preventing a facial expression from settling and giving away her emotions— she tried not to think of the garden, or the house they'd lived in before the accident, it made her too sad.

"Bite, sweetheart," Tony directed when she went quiet, refusing to elaborate.

The food on the fork was a piece of the quiche, something with spinach and cheese and bacon, and Penny shook her head. The bacon was bad enough, but putting dairy with it as well was too much for her to stomach. Stark hesitated for a moment before sighing heavily and putting the fork down, forcing Penny to turn slightly in his lap to face him.

"You have to eat, sweetheart," he looked just a shade short of irritated and a thrill ran through her, a mix of fear that he might hurt her if he got mad enough combined with dark satisfaction that her actions were having an effect on him even if unintentionally, "you're too skinny as it is and you can't keep refusing food."

"I won't eat it," she stated quietly, resolution in her tone.

The only things on the table she would truly be willing to eat were the fruits and the pancakes. The quiche had cheese and bacon, the eggs had cheese and ham, and the individual meats were pork. For some reason, the bites of food she wanted were few and far between compared to the dishes she couldn't eat.

"It's not an option baby," Bucky's voice was soft and imploring.

Irritation climbed up her throat. She wasn’t on a hunger strike, she wasn’t being difficult. They were the ones who'd snatched her up against her will without considering her needs and wants. They were the ones at fault and f*ck if she was going to—

"That's not kosher," Peter quickly pointed to the quiche, followed by the scramble, "that's not either. The pancakes might not be either depending on the eggs. Penny will eat the fruit."

"You guys eat kosher?" Bucky and Steve both looked startled and she'd bet Tony did too.

She didn't realize they were all considering what they knew about Peter; Tony had taken the boy out to eat multiple times in the months before bringing the siblings to the tower and there'd never been any sign of a special diet. They were Jewish, yes, but Tony could clearly remember the teenager eating bacon cheeseburgers and shrimp alfredo.

"I don't but Penny does."

Since they'd brought her into the apartment, the soldiers hadn't paid too much attention to what she ate. Salads mostly, pasta. They hadn't focused on what she was eating, just that she atesomething.

"Ms. Parker regularly checks with me before consuming anything,"JARVIS announced to the silent room.

Maybe part of the reason Penny wasn't sleeping was because she was hungry. Honestly she was always sort of hungry, Peter having plenty to eat was more important than her eating regularly, but she'd been really hungry over the past few days.

"Penny why didn't you say anything?" Steve looked stricken and Bucky's face was ashen; he'd even talked to Wanda about kosher foods before they'd assumed the Parker's didn't eat a specific diet.

"Why didn't I tell my kidnappers that I follow a religious diet? I wonder."

The words were scathing and spoken with a hiss of disdain that had their shoulders raising automatically. Bucky and Steve both shrunk back slightly and Stark went still behind her. She even managed to get out of his arms without a fight, standing up and heading for the elevator without hesitation.

"...Penny?"

"I'm going to take a shower, leave me alone!"

She was so angry and f*cking exhausted and hungry. Irrationally, it felt like storming off after having an argument with family instead of the true life villains she was surrounded by. She felt like a teenager storming off after fighting with her parents. Shockingly, they really let her go. The elevator doors opened and closed for her, even though she was alone.

"Shall I bring you to your apartment Ms. Parker?"

"It's not like I can go anywhere else," her voice was tearful and she bit the inside of her cheek, refusing to cry.

But instead of moving, the elevator stayed still for an abnormal amount of time. She assumed JARVIS was waiting for the soldiers to arrive.

"Perhaps you would like to go to the kitchens, miss?"

"The kitchens?"

"Yes miss, I've spoken to one of the chefs who is more than happy to make all necessary adjustments to the kitchen to facilitate a kosher diet. New equipment is being brought in to prevent cross contamination and an order was sent to the runners for kosher foods which should arrive in less than an hour. In the meantime, Chef Cohen is gathering the necessities to make a kosher breakfast from what is currently on hand."

Penny immediately burst into tears against her will, entirely overwhelmed. The tower was a goddamn nightmare, she was trapped and more often than not separated from her brother, but JARVIS was slowly becoming one of her favourite people (even if he wasn't really a person) in the world. Because JARVIS talked to her in Hebrew and told her about Peter when she asked and helped her figure out what she could eat and played movies on the wall all night while she was stuck in bed.

He couldn't help her escape, he was a computer program at the mercy of his protocols, but he did more for her than anyone else.

"Yes please JARVIS," Penny managed to get out through her tears, pressing her palms against her eyes gently, "thank you JARVIS."

"You are most welcome Ms. Parker, your happiness is my priority."

"It is?"

"My protocol is to make sure Mr. Parker and Master Stark are happy. In order to do so, I must make sure you are happy miss."

Penny wasn't smart. She didn't have a high IQ, never finished college, would never qualify for anything more than a dead end job. But she was good at reading between the lines. Finding unconventional solutions to problems was a skill of hers. JARVIS might not be able to intentionally help her escape, but he might help her on accident without even realizing it.

It wasn't a plan, not yet, but it was a tool in her arsenal she never expected to have. And she would use it to her advantage as soon as possible.

"Sir, Ms. Parker is currently on her way down to the kitchens where Chef Cohen is preparing a kosher meal. He has also compiled a comprehensive list of kosher foods to be kept in the kitchen at all times."

"He made a list? Why didn't you do it J?"

"He's Jewish," Peter answered before JARVIS had a chance, shrinking back slightly when three pairs of eyes leveled on him suddenly.

"Have you met him? He shouldn't have come up to this floor."

Sometimes Peter forgot that gentiles didn't recognize Jewish surnames, "he… didn't. His last name is Cohen. That's one of the most Jewish names I can think of."

He couldn't be sure, there was a high chance that Peter was hallucinating, but it was possible that Tony Stark was blushing. Like, it was possible but Peter was pretty sure his eyes must've been playing tricks on him. Tony made him blush a million times a day, it was never the other way around. A small thrill ran through him, had he made Tony turn red?

"Peter, is there anything else like this that we should know?"

Steve's voice drew him out of his reverie and Peter directed his attention at the blond, "like what?"

"Like things Penny doesn't like, or will upset her?"

Peter nodded in understanding, "like abducting her and keeping her against her will?"

"Peter!" Tony was trying to admonish him but his tone was full of laughter.

Bucky leveled the teenager with a vaguely amused expression, "Tony was the one who kidnapped her."

"Yeah but she hated him on principle before that, you guys she learned to hate."

"Okay, moving on," Tony waved his hand dismissively before the soldier could respond, "J, let Cohen know he's officially Penny's personal chef. I want him available any time she's hungry, any time she wants a snack. I'll up his pay, but if Penny gets up at 3am and wants some ridiculously complicated meal, he'll be dragging his ass out of bed to make it."

"Understood sir."

Bucky absently stared towards the doorway Penny had disappeared through, "I could figure out kosher cooking."

"Let the professionals handle it, Bucky Bear," Tony snorted slightly before turning his attention to Peter, "is she allergic to anything?"

"I'm not sure, we think she had an allergic reaction to something a while back she never went to the doctor or anything," Peter took a huge bite of his pancakes.

"She hasn't been to the doctor in a long time has she?" Bucky frowned, considering the implications.

"Or the dentist," Peter nodded.

"We'll have Bruce do a complete work up, just to be safe. We’ll get dentist in here too. J?"

"Dr. Banner would be happy to see Penny anytime today and I am sending a request to your own dentist sir."

"Tell Bruce we'll head his way once Penny finishes eating," Steve had a tendency to look up at the ceiling occasionally when speaking to JARVIS despite knowing he wasn't up there, "will you let us know once she's done? I want to give her some time to calm down."

"Once she has finished her meal I will direct her Dr. Banner's lab —"

"J, you'll tell them when," Tony ordered, quickly noticing the way his AI tried to steer his words, "the soldiers will accompany her. Going down to the kitchen by herself was a stretch, she can't be wandering around unattended this soon."

"She was hungry, sir."

Steve and Bucky exchanged a glance; the AI sounded defensive but there was a derisive tone to him as well, aimed at the soldiers. They were the ones supposed to be taking care of Penny and yet she was hungry. JARVIS was unimpressed with them and had a surprisingly strong attachment to Penny after such a short time.

"Yeah, yeah, J, just let them know a few minutes before she's done eating," Tony turned his attention to Peter, "baby, why don't you go take a shower before we head to the lab?"

Peter felt his eyebrows furrow in confusion. Usually, showering before going to the lab was sort of a waste. They'd get sweaty and gross by the end of it and need another shower anyway. He hoped he wasn't blushing— usually Tony took a long bath with him when they were done in the lab.

"We're still gonna take a bath together baby, don't look so sad," the salacious look on the older man's face had Peter quickly darting to his feet, face on fire as he ran off.

Tony waited until the teenager was out of earshot to turn a very dark look on the soldiers, "wanna explain how the f*ck you haven't known for f*cking days that Penny won't eat anything that's not kosher?"

"Tony—"

"No, actually," he waved his hand before Steve could finish speaking, "I don't care what you have to say. You're going to listen."

He wasn't older in literal years, but Tony's consciousness was older than the soldiers' and in that moment he felt those years. He stood from the table, coffee mug in hand and took a few steps towards the counter. In general, Tony considered his friend’s to be his family. They were important to him, he wanted them to be happy and healthy and cared for. But Peter was his world and because of that, Penny was too. Her happiness usurped theirs.

“I gave you both the opportunity to take Penny, the way I took Peter,” he took a sip of coffee, tapping his fingers against the expensive marble counter top, “I knew from the way you talked about her, that you loved her the way I love Peter. But I didn’t want to. Honestly, I wanted to keep her tucked away where I can keep her safe and happy. I knew I could do a better job than you, but I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

Tony dumped his coffee into the sink, setting the mug in after and running some water into it. Around 10am a housekeeper would come in a clean up after breakfast, leaving the dishes that lived in the house and taking the rest down to the kitchens. He liked to keep everything as spotless as possible because his brain was a pretty big disaster at the best of times and clutter didn’t help.

“You’re very quickly losing it,” he held his hand up when Steve went to speak, “shut up, I don’t want to hear it. Right now you’re listening. This is strike one. Penny is upset and she’s been hungry for days. Somehow, despite being around her constantly, you didn’t realize that. You better figure out what else you’re not realizing because if I feel like Penny isn’t thriving, I’m going to take her back whether you like it or not.”

Chapter 11

Chapter Text

There was a weird sense of urgency and purpose when the soldiers appeared to collect her from the kitchens. They weren’t frantic per say, but she was definitely aware of a certain energy around them. As soon as Bucky walked through the doors, he made a beeline for her and swept her up into his arms. The pair were pretty touchy feely with her as a rule, but this was different for some reason.

Most of Penny’s irritation had dissolved with the excellent meal she’d received. Chef Cohen had prepared Shakshuka, a very traditional dish that she hadn’t eaten since her mother had died. She’d burst into tears at the first bite and thanked him profusely through the meal. He was a very kind man in his late 50’s who explained that he was at her disposal whenever she was hungry, literally at any time, and would make whatever she asked for. She didn’t even have to know what she wanted specifically, all she had to do was ask for food and he would whip something up in less than an hour.

She wasn’t sure if he understood her circ*mstances. He never let on that he had any idea what the situation was and she was too afraid to tell him and potentially put him in danger. He was so nice, had told her about his family— she couldn’t do anything to jeopardize him. And if he did know, she decided she’d rather him not tell her. He felt like he could be a friend if not a confidant and she couldn’t ruin that.

“Did you have a good breakfast precious?” Bucky’s voice was nearly a coo, burying her into his arms and nuzzling against the side of her face, “I’m so sorry, baby, I’m so sorry we didn’t realize how hungry you were. We should’ve noticed, we should’ve taken better care of you.”

Penny didn’t get a chance to answer before Steve came up behind her, pressing against her back and wrapping around the both of them, “we’re gonna do a better job from now on, doll, I promise.”

“We’re gonna take you to see Bruce for a check up, okay?” the brunet pressed against her brushed his lips over her temple, “Peter said you haven’t been to the doctor in a while, he’s just going to make sure you’re alright. If there’s anything you want to talk to him about, we’ll step out of the room.”

For a moment, she considered not answering. She hated that they were making her do anything, that they were telling her what was going to happen instead of asking, but she hadn’t been to a doctor in nearly 10 years. In fact, her desire to go to the doctor was outweighing her irritation. The food had helped too.

“Yeah, okay,” she nodded in agreement, ignoring their mutual smiles as Bucky pulled back and wrapped an arm around her waist, tugging her close before beginning to walk back towards the elevators.

It didn’t take long to get to the doctor’s office, which was actually a lab. In the back of her head she remembered Tony saying that Bruce was a scientist that Peter liked to learn from. It would’ve endeared the man to her, if he wasn’t so f*cking complicit in her kidnapping. The same thing had happened with Clint; he seemed like such a decent guy, they could’ve been friends in any other situation, and yet he wasn’t doing anything to help her.

“Hey guys, come on in, I’m just finishing this up,” Bruce called from behind a computer, gesturing towards a table that almost resembled the chair from a doctor’s office.

Steve lifted her up, setting her on the edge and giving her what was— f*ck that was winning smile. She refused to let her heart race, remembering back to once upon a time in the coffee shop when she’d thought he was incredibly attractive and so, so nice. It was almost distracting. He leaned down and brushed his nose against hers sweetly, pressing a kiss there a moment later before backing away.

“Alright Penny, I went ahead and pulled your medical records,” Penny didn’t want to know how he’d done that, what an invasion of privacy, “but we’re going to need to go through a lot of it now since you haven’t seen a doctor in so long and you’re a lot older now. If at any time you’re uncomfortable answering questions in front of Bucky and Steve, all you have to do is let me know and I’ll send them out, okay?”

“Okay,” nervousness was thrumming through her a bit more now- God she hadn’t been to the doctor in so long, she wasn't sure what to expect.

An arm came around her shoulders, a metal hand settling over the top of her arm. Bucky had saddled up as close to the table as possible, trying to offer comfort through his presence. She would absolutely never admit that she leaned into his heat a little, or that the attempt was even fractionally successful.

The appointment wasn't as nerve wracking as she'd expected; there were a lot of questions about her past medical history and family medical history, her habits regarding smoking and drinking and exercise, he looked in her eyes and ears and listened to her breathing, did she have any allergies or take any medications? It was a lot of things she remembered from going to the doctor as a kid.

There was only one time when her heart felt like it might burst out of her chest: Bruce mentioned wanting to do a blood test. It was important in part because she hadn't ever had one, but also because she was Jewish and there were dozens of diseases passed genetically through the population. She knew of them of course, Tay-sachs and Gauchers and a slew of other things, but she'd never considered she could have them— there was no time.

Luckily, he'd decided it wasn't a good time since she had barely been eating. Escape had been on her mind almost constantly since waking up in Stark's home but never so critically as when she thought there would be needles involved. Penny's fear of needles had started as a child and overtime had become an overwhelming, if irrational, phobia. The kidnapping via injection certainly made it worse too.

Bruce finished up, continuing to address her rather than Steve or Bucky. It seemed peculiar for some reason, that he was being sure to treat her like her own person instead of the soldiers' property.

"Have you ever had blood drawn Penny?"

"Uhm, no," she did her best not to shift, not wanting to show weakness, "I'm sure it's not really necessary. I feel completely fine and—"

"There are certain genetically linked diseases I can test for with a blood panel. The fact that you probably have anemia is a little worrying because of your heritage. Now we can’t do the test today, but we'll schedule one. That being said, I want to hook up an IV for a few hours, you’re very dehydrated.”

“No, thank you,” Penny stood up from the table, composing her face carefully and putting her hands on her hips, “I’d rather just drink water.”

“Penny I can tell you haven’t been getting enough hydration for days,” Bruce stated, ignoring the semi-panicked looks the soldiers sent each other, “Whatever your reasoning is, it’s hurting you. A drip will rehydrate you relatively quickly and you can get on with your day.”

“I’m not in any critical danger, drinking water will be enough,” usually she wouldn’t argue with a doctor but if he came near her with a needle she would throw down.

“Doll, it’s not an option.”

God, how many times had she heard that. It’s not an option. It’s not an option. Nothing was ever an option. She’d been kidnapped, was being held against her will— f*ck, she refused to list their sins against her again.

"I'm an adult, I get to decide what medical procedures I do and don't consent to."

"Baby, did you hit your head again? I think we're a little past consent."

How many times would she have to physically fight these motherf*ckers before they gave up.

"I hate needles," she snapped, glaring at Steve with as much rage as she could muster, "no blood draws, no IVs, no vaccines, nothing."

Bucky stepped closer to her side, an imploring look on his face, "your health is suffering right now sweetheart, if Bruce says you need an IV, you're going to get it. We're going to take of you, Penny."

They'd done a real stand up job of taking care of her in the last several days for sure. She'd only ended up drugged, concussed twice over, half starved, dangerously sleep deprived, and enraged. The skepticism must've shown on her face because Bucky visibly winced at the implication while Bruce had to turn and pretend to cough to cover his laughter.

"Sweetheart, I understand that it makes you uncomfortable," Steve somehow managed to manifest in front of her in the blink of an eye and she startled backwards a step.

The blond was freakishly fast and Penny was beginning to suspect that everyone calling him and Bucky 'super soldiers' weren't just mocking their demeanors. Steve had been strong enough to snap the lock on the bathroom door like twig, could bodily lift her with just one arm, and he moved a fraction of an inch too fast to be normal. Bucky was similar in the strength department, plus he had that arm. But instead of nearly vibrating with restrained power at all times, Bucky was almost preternaturally still. Even when she moved in the middle of the night and startled him awake, the only way she knew was because his eyes would open. He was so still sometimes she wondered if he even had to breathe, was his heart even beating?

The brunette's arms came to wrap gently around her shoulders from behind; the way he held her was more reminiscent of a loving cuddle than a restraint but it worked all the same. If they didn't want her to go anywhere, it was going to be very hard to run off. The doors to the lab swept open abruptly, as if beckoning her to escape, but no one came through. JARVIS, always looking out.

"I'll make your lives hell," she hissed through gritted teeth, eyes locked on the blond in front of her while Bucky backed them up and sat on the exam chair, tugging her into his lap, "if you come near me with a needle I'll shove it through your eye."

"Penny, be sweet," Bucky's tone was firm, his arms squeezing around her in what she assumed was supposed to be a comforting gesture, "it'll all be okay and you'll feel so much better after."

Penny's eyes were dragged away from Steve when she caught movement, zeroing in on Bruce. He was fiddling with something in crinkly plastic and her blood froze in her veins when she realized it was a sterilized needle. He was preparing an IV despite her protests and panic began coursing through her like poison.

"W-wait, wait I don't need an IV, I swear I feel fine, I'll drink a ton of water, don't—"

"It’s gonna be alright babydoll," Steve cooed, understanding that her anger in this case was 100% a result of sheer terror, "Buck's gonna hold you the whole time. Bruce will give you a shot to numb the pain and—"

"No, n-no, no. Please? Please no, f*ck, no," Penny could barely move as Bucky locked his arms in place, holding her steady while Steve moved to block her view of Bruce, who was filling a syringe with lidocaine.

"Shhhh, just watch me, baby," the blond brought his hands up to cup her face, manipulating her head to face him dead on, "don't pay attention to Bruce, just keep your eyes on mine."

Tears of panic and fear began falling from her eyes, overwhelming terror beginning to consume her. There was no rationalizing the phobia, no talking herself through the fear, all she could think was I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die. When she could hear the doctor's footsteps shift in their direction, she opened her mouth and started to scream bloody murder. Thrashing wasn't effective in the least but she did the best she could, jerking every inch of her body as violently as possible. She couldn't hear anything any of them were saying, she couldn't even hear her own screams; all she could hear was the blood rushing through her ears and the mantra, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die over and over again in her head.

"Dr. Banner, sir is currently on his way and asks that you wait to perform any procedures until he arrives."

Bucky tensed under her but Penny barely noticed. The edges of her vision were going dark and Steve wasn't so much holding her face in place anymore as trying to caress her cheeks and jaw. She could see the doors to the lab, still open as if waiting for her to run.

Instead, Stark came through them. There was a tightness to his usual swagger and she wondered if she was imagining the irritation in the lines of his face.

"You know I thought I had sound proofed all of the labs, but I can hear my poor girl screaming from three floors away," he commented casually as he swept in, easily pushing past Steve and stealing Penny from Bucky's lap, pulling her into the cage of his arms, "now this is over an IV, correct?"

"Please, please, please—" Penny's voice choked off in a sob as she tried to tug away and make a break for the door.

"Shhhh, angel, look at me," Tony carefully manipulated her head, making her look up at him through her panic, "you're going to drink plenty of water and relax all day, understand? You're going to eat plenty and drink so much water you have to pee every thirty minutes."

"Yes, yes okay, please, no needles—"

"That's right baby, no needles," he pulled her into his chest and hushed her, stroking her hair gently while giving the three men behind her a careful look, "with supervision you'll be fine without an IV, but you have to be good, do everything you're told. Can you be a good girl for me, Penny?"

Steve and Bucky watched as their girl nodded against the man's shoulder, still crying. This wouldn't be strike two, not quite since she'd gotten so upset as a result of them trying to take care of her, but apprehension was setting in. Tony was their friend, but he wouldn't put their feelings before Penny's and that was a dangerous position to be in. Especially considering JARVIS had all but jumped ship on them and was firmly on Penny's side.

"Now, is there anything else Brucie Bear? Because I think Penny here is gonna come with me to the labs and watch Peter try to make a robot."

Somehow, despite the fact that they knew Penny hated Tony just as much if not more than she hated them, he was the one who managed to get through to her. Tony Stark was her mortal enemy, the kidnapper, the pedophile, and yet he was the one holding her while she cried in distress. Bucky and Steve watched on in amazement and disbelief.

There was something about Tony that was just a touch unnatural. The way he could manipulate people was almost beyond comprehension. It showed in his friendships, the way that people who were sent to kill him were so easily turned to his side. People who didn’t want anyone, who didn’t want friends, found themselves enfolded in his presence. It was also apparent in the way that Peter had almost accepted his new situation, how he was so quickly coming to terms with the way his life had changed. Tony Stark was, as far as anyone knew, not enhanced in any way, but some of his companions had started to wonder.

They watched as the older man spirited her away, talking loudly and keeping her tucked under his arm as they walked. Steve and Bucky were left in the dust, feeling dejected once again.

“Leave it to Tony to decide he has more medical authority than me,” Bruce gave a low snort, rolling his eyes, “does he have 7 PHDs? No, he doesn't.”

“We keep f*ckin’ it up, don’t we?” Bucky groaned, watching the doctor step back towards his computer system, “We’re gonna end up dead. World War II and HYDRA couldn’t kill us but Tony f*ckin’ Stark sure will.”

“Hard to compete with a Goddamn witch,” Steve muttered, running a hand through his hair before crossing his arms over his chest.

“You two need to be doing what Tony is with Peter,” Bruce interjected before the super soldiers could continue to lament their situation, “he panders to him just enough to keep him happy. He can give an inch and Peter thinks its a mile. You’re strategic geniuses, master interrogators, use your strengths.”

The ‘dumbasses’ was implied at the end of the statement. In all fairness, he was right.

Steve exhaled through his nose, a stabilizing breath, before turning to regard Bucky, “A garden, to start. She had a lot of things on her Pinterest account, we’re gonna look through there. JARVIS? Can you please make sure our kitchen is stocked with plenty of kosher foods?”

“And is there anyway we can get the extra room in the apartment turned into a garden? Maybe a rooftop garden?”

“Sir has given me full discretion to green light any construction projects that will aid in Ms. Parker’s adjustment. A section of the roof can easily be cleared for a garden and greenhouse. The east facing wall of the spare room can be replaced with floor to ceiling windows and UV lights can be installed. Might I also suggest a knitting area?”

"Yeah, that," Bucky nodded, "any other suggestions JARV?"

"On her Pinterest Ms. Parker has shown interest in softball, soccer, crocheting, yoga and video games."

"Can you have everything she needs for those things sent for and brought to the apartment? And have everything set up as much as possible considering the renovations that'll be made for the garden room?"

"Yes sergeant, although I would suggest making room in your personal gym for Ms. Parker do to yoga."

“Good idea JARVIS,” Bucky felt a bit of relief that the AI was willing to help, even if it was only because it would help Penny in the long run, “I know we talked about keeping her secluded but I think we should show her the game room, introduce her to Thor and Sam so she can play video games with them.”

Steve looked hesitant. The brunet knew why; they’d waited what felt like so long to find a girl who appealed to both of them. They were possessive by nature and having so little over time, growing up in the Great Depression followed by fighting in the war, only to suffer a hellish betrayal and go into the ice for so long, meant they were covetous. Sharing their girl so soon was uncomfortable and just the idea made both of them chafe.

“Yeah, we should,” he choked after a moment, clearing his throat.

“We’re gonna build a life, Stevie,” Bucky said quietly, stepping closer to the man and putting his hands on his shoulders, “we’re going to work this out with our girl and eventually, she’ll want to be with us as much as she can. But until we get to that point we have to make some concessions.”

“But she’ll still sleep in our bed.”

“Yes Stevie, she’ll still sleep in our bed.”

Chapter 12

Chapter Text

Peter had been waiting at the door to the lab when Penny and Tony got off the elevator, bouncing in place just beyond the threshold. Penny assumed he'd been told not to leave the room because even as they walked closer and he got more energized, he only toed the edge without going over. As soon as his sister was in reach, he snatched her up into his arms and squeezed the breath out of her.

“She’s fine, baby, don’t make her eyes pop out,” the tone of affection in Tony’s voice was heavy and Peter felt himself preen slightly; it was nice when Tony sounded like that.

“JARVIS just said you weren’t okay and that Tony needed to go get you right away,” he said quietly against the side of Penny’s head, “I didn’t know what happened.”

Tony stepped up close to the pair, one hand going to the small of Peter’s back and the other curling into Penny’s hair. The two were precious, especially together. Honestly, Tony didn’t like having them separated the way they were. They couldn’t conspire, which was useful in making sure they stayed where he wanted them, but God they were so sad. Peter asked a million times a day to see Penny and according to JARVIS she did the same, settling for updates on his status every once in a while to calm her.

If it hadn’t been for Steve and Bucky, he would’ve taken them to his cabin upstate. The isolation would’ve been so good for them. Peter would’ve loved the lab setups and Penny could’ve had a garden outside in the fresh air, they would’ve been together and with JARVIS monitoring closely they could’ve negated any escape attempts even if it was just Tony out there physically. In the back of his mind, he wondered how long he would attempt to let the soldiers care for her before taking over.

“It’s all taken care of,” he stated quietly, rubbing Peter’s back gently, “now I’ve got some work to do, baby why don’t you show Penny what you’ve been working on?”

He watched the pair walk away to a work table before heading to his own, determined to get started on a blood testing device that wouldn’t use needles. Or, at least wouldn’t use any visible needles that Penny would be able to identify or feel. He knew Bruce wouldn't let her off without one and if he could circumvent the fit she was going to throw it would be great.

When JARVIS had announced that Penny was in extreme distress, a level of irritation had risen in his chest that he didn’t really expect. Peter was his primary concern in every aspect, but Penny was a very close second. He’d literally just had a conversation with the soldiers about figuring their sh*t out but within the next two hours he’d been alerted she was losing it once again. It was testing his patience, but he reminded himself there wasn't a presidence to their relationship like there was between him and Peter.

In the beginning it had been easy; Peter craved adult approval. All Tony had to do was compliment his intelligence and the teenager was on a high. They'd talked about science, Tony told him how smart he was, how impressed he was. Graduating to careful touches had been simple, new compliments on his appearance and his growth over time slid under the radar.

About four months in, he could tell Peter was antsy. The text messages he sent got shorter, less enthusiastic. He made excuses to not meet up for coffee and joined a new club at school that kept him tied up on weekends, tried to reject gifts and invitations. Something had spooked his boy, now he wondered if it had something to do with Penny. The reticence had gotten worse and worse until he'd followed him home from decathlon practice and she'd seen them.

He still hadn't pressed, hadn't asked what caused Peter to pull away. If it was his own conscious or if someone had influenced him. In the grand scheme of things it didn't really matter but he was curious. They had a relationship before the kidnapping, a basis to build upon. Penny and the soldiers didn't have that, everything between them had to be built from scratch and the guys had to demolish some massive barriers before the building could even begin.

He kept an eye on the pair through the many reflective surfaces in the room, smiling softly to himself while he worked; they were adorable. Penny was smart, but had no idea what she was doing in a lab setting. She kept touching things, moving them and then waiting for Peter to react. He played into her hands, whining every time he noticed something was out of place, freaking out when she picked up a blowtorch. They also seemed to have some weird dissociation with their bodies, but only in relation to each other: Peter acted like he was smaller than she was, where she seemed to forget he'd outgrown her. He would shift and settle his weight against her, only for the pair to almost go tumbling; she would reach out to muss his hair, but couldn't reach the top of his head anymore without getting on her tip toes.

It was easy to get lost in his work; despite his reputation as a weapons designer, he was a fair touch at medical equipment. He only got distracted by the sound of a soft snore and his heart melted when he glanced into the reflective wall to see Penny curled up on a stool. She'd fallen asleep somehow perched with both feet on the seat, tucked into a ball and leaning precariously against the wall, head on her knees. Peter was obviously keeping a close eye on her, turned to face her at his work table while he messed with the parts Tony had given him for a robot.

"J, order a daybed for the lab," he quietly addressed the AI, watching Peter very carefully set a screwdriver on his sister's shoulder, adding to a collection of tools he was balancing on her sleeping form.

"Perhaps an oversized bean bag chair, sir? Ms. Parker has them saved on her pinterest under the board 'if I was rich'."

Peter's head snapped up when he heard JARVIS speak, nervously glancing at his still sleeping sister. When he decided she was peacefully asleep and not about to sit up and kill him for the calculations he’d scribbled onto her arm, he turned to look at Tony in confusion.

"Come here baby," Tony kept his tone quiet, motioning him over, "I want you to look at something."

Peter went without hesitation, reminding Tony once again how lucky he was that the younger Parker sibling was so different than his sister. He tried so hard not to question Tony's orders, to just obey. Penny would’ve tried to stab him with a fork.

"What is it?"

Tony flung several holograms up, all with different schematics, “I’m trying to design a new method of drawing blood, one without visible needles. Bruce won’t let her get out of a blood test and I don’t want it to send her into hysterics again. Now, this one is what I’m leaning towards— its got needles, but they’re so small she won’t be able to see them. Shouldn’t even be that uncomfortable, like suction.”

“Uh,” Peter tilted his head to the side, trying to catch up with Tony’s thought process and also examine the schematics, “what about this one?”

He listened intently as the older man explained all of the ideas he’d come up with, one of which required technology that didn’t currently exist but Tony promised he would invent it within a few days if Peter thought it was the best option. The whole time the teenager tried to pretend his affection for the man wasn’t steadily growing. He was so conflicted— Tony Stark had groomed him like a pedophile to be receptive to his advances over time, had kidnapped and ‘punished’ him, took his sister and gave her to his friends. But Tony also provided him with nearly anything he asked for, showered him with affection and always told him how much he loved him, how much he wanted Peter to be happy. And it was hard to remember the bad stuff because Peter wanted that affection so much.

He wasn’t starved for affection really, Penny hugged him whenever she could, smacked more kisses to his forehead a day than exchanged words with him. She worked so much that she wasn’t always around the apartment when he was, but she texted him as much as she could. Peter never had to wonder how much his sister loved him; there was no question that he was the most important person in her world.

But it was different coming from Tony. The affection, the touches, the words, they made Peter burn up with happiness. Yes, Tony had spanked him until it hurt to sit for several days but he also held him all the time, kept him cuddled close. He stole him away from his friends but he was providing him with a home, the highest tech laboratories in the world— literally anything Peter wanted could be provided, as frivolously as possible in most cases. Tony kidnapped his sister, yeah, but he also adored Penny almost as much as Peter did; he’d stated multiple times that he just wanted Peter and Penny to be happy.

It was messed up and backwards but Peter wanted everything Tony had to offer. The wrongness of it flipped his stomach every time he thought about leaning into the man’s touch, when Tony kissed him and he forced himself to turn his head even though he really, really wanted that kiss. Penny would be devastated, she’d think that she failed him somehow.

“I’m not sure, either the first one you mentioned or the third, probably,” Peter crossed his arms over his chest, forcing himself to put a barrier between them, “the second doesn’t really sound plausible and the fourth has too big of a needle, she’d notice.”

“Anything is plausible when you’re me, baby,” Tony smirked slightly, but gave a shrug nonetheless and turned his attention to where Penny was still asleep against the wall, "how does she sleep like that?"

"Penny can sleep anywhere," Peter shrugged and took a stylus off the table, walking back to his sister to balance it on top of her head, "she doesn't move at all. I'm not sure if it's really, like, restful because she stays so tensed up? But I've seen her sleep balanced on the arm of a couch before without a wall holding her up. It's kind of cool."

"Multiple bean bag chairs, J," Tony couldn't decide if he was impressed or kind of sad that Penny was really good at making herself sleep in uncomfortable situations, but he could absolutely make sure she didn't need to ever again, "labs, living rooms—"

"You're buying Penny bean bag chairs for the lab?" Peter butted in, and Tony Did Not Roll His Eyes at his interruption but he did give the teenager a quick, painless pop on the cheek.

“Manners, baby,” his tone was stern, but he raised an eyebrow when Peter hardly reacted to him, the boy’s head instead turned to stare at the still sleeping Penny.

“You shouldn’t do that where Penny could see,” the teenager responded in a hushed tone, stepping forward just a bit, “she’ll get super pissed.”

To be fair, the thought hadn't really occurred to Tony before. Discipline was important considering the nature of their relationship, just as it was between the soldiers and Penny, and doling out punishment wasn't something he'd ever even thought he would consider hiding. But considering how fraught her relationship was with literally every inhabitant of the tower, he couldn't help but wonder how far would be too far to push Penny. She was a powder keg begging for fire, any excuse to explode.

Tony knew for a fact that there was a line drawn in the sand, the one that stood between actual life and death, between Penny and everyone else; he just didn't know exactly where it was. Would seeing a quick pop to Peter's cheek be the straw that broke the camel's back? Or would it be the evidence of a spanking in the way he sat? And what would the explosion look like? She'd already proven to be unpredictable and prone to pretty significant violence, including using improvised weapons to cause (what she'd hoped was) lasting damage.

Even worse, he realized he didn't know where his line was. How far would he let Penny go in her attempts to escape and take Peter with her? When would he draw the line, cite a failure to thrive and put her out of her misery? It could come to that; he didn't want to imagine it, that Penny could loathe them all so much she'd never stop trying steal Peter away.

There was no good way to show Penny how much better it was for her and Peter in the tower without the passage of time. Until she began to notice changes. When it settled in that all of Peter's clothes were new and perfectly fitted. When she noticed her brother looked so much healthier, well fed and vibrant. When the stress of living stopped pressing on her shoulders, when she began to gain weight and stop pulling at her own hair, biting her nails.

There was so much that could go wrong where Penny was concerned but there was also so much that could go right. She could finally thrive, be her own person, live for herself and her own happiness.

A rush swam through Tony’s veins and he stood, kissing Peter’s cheek gently where he’d just smacked him before walking over to where Penny was curled on the stool and removed all of the odds and ends Peter had managed to balance on her. She was in such a tight ball that picking her up was easy; there were no flailing limbs to corral or sudden shifts in weight distribution to compensate for. Tony understood what Peter meant— the sleep she got couldn’t be very restful when her muscles were tight like iron bands.

“Let’s take Penny upstairs so she can sleep,” he directed the quiet comment to the teenager who had followed him across the lab and was standing at his elbow, “J, is anyone in the living room?”

He was conflicted on whether or not he wanted Penny on the floor he shared with Peter beyond the kitchen. There was too much for her to get upset over; the obvious lack of a separate room for her brother, the cushion on the floor next to the couch for when he wanted Peter to kneel for him, Penny would probably go insane and the poor thing didn’t need the added stress. Peter was his baby boy, his to do with as he pleased, but he loved the boy too and Penny wouldn’t be able to fathom it. All she would see was mistreatment and pedophilia and imprisonment.

“The living room is currently empty sir, most of the tower’s occupants are currently out.”

“Take us up, then,” Penny weighed much less in his arms than he really cared for, it was almost too easy to carry her to the elevator and hold her the entire trip.

Even when he put her on the couch, she didn’t release the tension from her muscles. She remained in the same tight curl where her body had been so precariously balancing. Tony started to comment, but Peter had slipped around him already and began tugging at Penny’s arms and legs until she was stretched out across the length of the couch.

“Sometimes she does this at home,” Peter stated quietly, “the only thing that’ll really make her wake up is a loud noise, so I can usually get her shifted so she’s more comfortable without bothering her.”

“Did you have to do this often?” Tony responded in the same tone, sitting on the couch near Penny’s feet and motioning for Peter to come to him once he’d finished rearranging his sister.

“No, not really,” the teenager allowed himself to be pulled into Tony’s lap, tangling his feet with his sisters, “Penny tried to always be awake if we were gonna be home at the same time. It was usually only if I woke up in the middle of the night, after she got home from her overnight shift. I think she was too stressed out when she got back and couldn’t relax enough, so she’d just fall asleep however she was sitting.”

A slight shudder ran through him as he remembered the few nights that he’d woken up and gotten up to get a snack or something to drink, only to find Penny sleeping like a statue on the edge of the couch. She’d fall asleep hunched over, elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. The first time he thought she was crying and his heart had broken, but it actually felt worse when he realized she was so exhausted she’d fallen asleep like that. She was working herself so hard to provide for him that she could fall asleep like that.

Tony tugged Peter’s head against his chest, running a hand through his hair gently. It was amazing how much he’d hated Penny just days ago. Penelope f*cking Parker. Once upon a time he thought she was a cruel, neglectful monster. The power of ignorance was astounding.

“It’s gonna be so much better now, baby boy,” he murmured quietly into Peter’s ear, lips brushing his temple gently, “I promise, for you and Penny both. No more stress or worrying—”

Peter’s mouth opened, as if to interrupt, but he snapped it shut with an audible click of his teeth. Tony couldn’t help but grin to himself; he really did hit the jackpot with his obedient boy.

“Yes Peter?”

The prompt made the teenager melt against Tony’s chest slightly and he turned his face to press against the oil stained shirt, “Penny likes cats. They’re supposed to be good for stress, right? Like, an emotional support cat?”

“Cats huh?”

“And weed,” Peter continued, still not looking up at the man holding him, “when she could spare the cash and I didn’t need anything, she would buy a little bit. You could get her weed, right?”

Peter said you could get her weed right like Tony was the most powerful person in New York (which he was) and Tony preened, “cats and weed, the soldiers will love it.”

The way Peter tensed against him was sudden and almost shocking in the way it mimicked Penny gearing up for a fight. Tony imagined he could smell his boy’s outrage, the discontent welling up inside of him and pouring from his pores. It was the first time Peter had given any indication he possessed the same amount of rage as his sister and Tony had to hide his shock.

“Why does she have to be with them?” The words were ground through Peter’s teeth, his forehead pressing more firmly to Tony’s chest so he wouldn’t accidentally glare at the man. What Peter wanted to say was why would you give my sister to them? If you loved me you wouldn’t give my sister away like a f*cking animal. If you loved me you wouldn’t make her stay with them. If you loved me you’d kill them both for touching her.

“They love her, baby, like how I love you,” Tony kept his tone light, knowing that Peter was doing his best to reign in his fury despite not knowing how deep it went and the direction it was aimed, “they want to take care of her and make her happy, why shouldn’t they have the chance to?”

The teenager didn’t respond but Tony felt the tremble that ran through his muscles and wondered if Peter was about to lash out. He’d been so good over the last few days with only small slip ups in his manners.

“Penny should get to choose.”

Tony Did Not Roll His Eyes, carefully running Peter’s hair through his fingers, “Choice is overrated, baby boy. Having a choice means having the opportunity to choose wrong and get hurt. You and Penny don’t need those kinds of choices. They’re stressful, all that’ll do is make you sad.”

“But—”

“End of discussion, baby,” Tony made sure his tone was stern but not mean as he tugged Peter’s head back by his hair, forcing the teenager to look into his eyes, “Penny will be staying with the soldiers unless I decide otherwise. Make your peace with it, Pete.”

It was impressive, honestly, how carefully Peter maintained his expression. Intelligence and cunning flashed through his eyes, a chaos leashed by logic. He probably could’ve gotten past Tony taking him, with time. Life was easier in the tower; no school, no bullies, no worries over money or Penny’s health. He could’ve gotten used to it, made his peace with it, so to speak.

If Tony hadn't taken Penny, he could’ve moved on with his new life. If Tony hadn’t given her away, he might’ve pushed through the emotional upheaval. If Tony wasn’t allowing those guys to do whatever they wanted with his sister, Peter might’ve been willing to go along with everything.

But he did and had and was and Peter wasn’t raised to be the forgiving sort. He’d been raised by fire and fury and women who were angry. Aunt May and Penny, despite not being blood related, had the same fuel burning through their veins. The same indignation that came from the world trying to beat them down.

The stolen circuit board tucked into his pocket burned against the fabric, ready to be added to the slowly growing stash of parts and pieces hidden around Tony’s apartment.

Make your peace with it. Oh, he’d be making something.

Chapter 13

Chapter Text

The apartment was filled with plants. Like, a ridiculous number of plants and a good portion of them weren’t suited for the indoors. She’d woken up on a couch, was kissed goodbye by Peter and Tony, and got swept up by a very enthusiastic Bucky before she really knew what was happening. We want to show you something. Shivers had gone down her spine because she wasn’t sure she wanted to see anything they were so excited to show her, but it turned out to just be a metric f*ckton of plants.

Actually, there was a ton of stuff in the apartment that hadn’t been there that morning. There were empty shelves all over the place and yarn, f*cking yarn for days. A bazillion crochet hooks and knitting needles and books— books. She could barely read on a good day but they’d bought about fifty million books on crocheting and knitting and plants.

In real life, if Bucky and Steve were her boyfriends who’d done something stupid, the ridiculous amount of stupid I’m Sorry gifts probably would’ve worked. There was a spark of amusem*nt in her chest anyway but she refused to glorify it. There was no amount of ‘Oops Sorry’ gifts that could make up for kidnapping and imprisonment. They couldn’t f*cking enrich her environment like she was an animal at the zoo and expect her to lose her mind over it.

“A lot of the plants need to go outside,” Steve was walking around the living room, “JARVIS has greenlit construction on a rooftop garden and greenhouse so we only need to keep them inside for a little while. We’re also gonna set up an indoor garden room, with humidity controls and special lights, we just have to get the windows replaced.”

“And we wanted to get your opinion on these,” Bucky invaded her space a moment later, wrapping his arms around her from behind and holding his phone in front of them, “you like to lay in front of the windows, do you want one of these daybeds?”

“Or one of these,” Steve stepped up with his own phone in hand, several photos of indoor hammock style lounge chairs, “we can anchor it to the ceiling.”

A numb sort of feeling seeped into Penny’s bones and she found herself looking at the phones silently, listening to them go on and on about her ‘options’. f*cking options. Penny didn’t have options, that had been made very clear to her multiple times over the course of the last several days. The last month, in fact, if she was being completely honest. From the moment she learned of Tony Stark’s involvement in her little brother’s life, her options had slid out from under her like sand.

“I’m going to go lay down,” she stated quietly, ignoring the fact she’d taken a three hour nap, and pulled away from the pair.

She didn’t sleep though. JARVIS began projecting movies onto the wall without being asked while Penny stripped off her jeans, not bothering to change into anything, and crawled into bed. She wished the bedding was heavier, wished the room was colder, why weren’t there more pillows?

Several movies played while she lay curled around a pillow, not moving other than to breathe. At some point they brought her dinner, prepared just for her by Chef Cohen, and watched while she picked at it for a good hour before giving up. While Steve left to go put away the leftovers, Bucky slotted himself behind her and returned the pillow she’d been holding before. He fell asleep after about an hour, just before Steve returned with a book and a glass of water.

“I don’t want you to get dehydrated again, doll,” he explained quietly as he slipped into bed, waking Bucky with the movements but not acknowledging it, “drink this before you fall asleep.”

Penny didn’t bother to inform him she likely wouldn’t be falling asleep, not for any reasonable amount of time anyway. She drank the whole thing regardless, resettling herself down into the bed once she’d finished and letting the soldiers find their places around her. It took half an hour before she realized something was weird, that her eyes were getting heavier while she tried to watch her movie. Part of her wanted to be excited— if she managed to fall asleep, it would be the first time in ages that she had a chance to sleep through the night. But the other part of her realized that something was off.

“Shh, baby, don’t tense up,” Bucky murmured from behind her, his hands petting over her stomach slowly, “you’re so tired precious, just go to sleep.”

“Whahdiju—” Penny couldn’t even finish her slurred sentence; it was like something had attached to her body and was pulling her down, she was sinking deeper and deeper into the mattress but she could hardly move.

Steve cupped her face from where he lay in front of her, gently brushing his nose against hers, “goodnight babydoll, we’ll see you in the morning.”

A strangled noise escaped Penny, she thought she should be hyperventilating but she literally couldn’t. Her body was being pressed down on, was still sinking further and further into the mattress until she couldn’t think anymore. The sleep was restful to a fault, a dead slumber with no dreams at all.

When she woke, she was alone in the bed. The soldiers were nearby, she could hear their voices, but she wasn’t wrapped up in them like she usually was. It took longer than it should’ve for her body to respond to her brains orders, longer for her to have complete control over her extremities. She felt out of place and confused, much like the first time she’d woken up in the tower after being drugged.

She’d been drugged more in the last year than most people were in their entire lives. In the back of her mind, she remembered how lucky she’d been for so long; sure, it was about time for it to run out, but why did it have to go so spectacularly?

A low thrum of despair started in her heart and spread throughout her body like a virus, slinking through her veins and infecting her flesh. She clapped a hand over her mouth, trying to quiet the cries escaping against her will. Obviously, she’d never felt safe in the tower. She was entirely at the mercy of her captors, their whims were her existence. They could put their hands on her, hurt her, lock her in a room and throw away the key, but being drugged felt like something worse. It was an extra step in stripping her autonomy that she somehow hadn’t expected and it was more than terrifying. They could literally do whatever they wanted to her and she couldn’t do a thing to stop it.

“Jesus! Penny, baby what’s wrong?” She was swept up into Steve’s arms, the blond cradling her close to his chest, “Are you hurt? Are you sick? Penny, doll, talk to me baby, please—”

A tremble was running through her entire body, chest heaving with silenced cries while he continued to rock her. Bucky appeared through the blur of tears, pressing himself against her back where Steve held her and wrapping his arms around the pair.

“Just let her cry, Stevie,” the brunet quietly ordered, running his hand up and down his panicking boyfriend’s back, “let her get it out.”

Penny wasn’t sure how long it took for her to stop bawling. Eventually she just sort of opened her eyes and found herself sitting on Steve’s lap on the edge of the bed, once again exhausted and numb.

“Feel better, doll?” Bucky asked quietly, stroking her hair gently and sighing when she didn’t bother to answer, “maybe we shouldn’t go in today.”

“We have to,” Steve shook his head, pressing his lips to Penny’s covered shoulder, “Baby, Bucky and I have to go to work today. We’ll still be in the tower, JARVIS can contact us for you if you need us.”

As if she would ever, ever ask JARVIS to contact them. As if they were in some fever dream where Penny would be devastated if they left and never came back. As if she wouldn't be elated if they died.

Penny just nodded, allowing them to pet and coddle her until they needed to leave. Apparently breakfasts with Peter were now only on weekends, although Penny was allowed to go to see him as long as she checked first.

The soldiers spent a stupid amount of time 'saying goodbye' to her, fretting over leaving her alone as if she wasn't a goddamn adult. Contempt welled in her chest, crawling up her throat. She swallowed it down as hard as she could; she wouldn’t break the ‘be sweet’ rule, not when her ass was just starting to feel normal again. It took a good twenty minutes before the door shut, JARVIS automatically locking it behind them.

“They’re gone, JARVIS?”

“The soldiers are on the elevator heading for the conference floors, Miss. Should I call them back?”

“No!” Penny jumped at the sound of her own shout, “No, definitely not. I just… will you warn me when they start to come back?”

“Of course Miss, I would be happy too.”

“What is Peter doing right now?”

“Mr. Parker is still asleep, Miss.”

Disappointment settled on her shoulders but Penny quickly shook it off, looking around the living room. There were still a million and one plants scattered about, most looking desperate for water. Her disdain rattled through her; watering the plants would be giving in. They’d think she liked the plants, that they’d made her happy. But she hated the idea of letting them all die just to send a message. It wasn’t the plants fault that they’d been purchased by monsters.

It took almost half an hour to water them all and another forty minutes to sort them by the amount of sunlight they needed. JARVIS was critical in the endeavor, identifying everything Penny didn’t recognize and immediately reporting the optimal conditions for growth. The more effort and energy and time it took, the more Penny felt her rage growing.

“Those f*cking bastards, do they not realize how delicate these are? They’ll die without enough sunlight!”

“I f*cking hate these, they’re the worst JARVIS.” “Peaco*ck plants require very strict care routines, shall I set reminders Miss?” “You can set it the f*ck on fire I hate these.”

“Please tell me this isn’t a zebra plant.” “Should I lie to you, Miss?” “How the f*ck am I going to keep a zebra plant alive in f*cking New York?”

“They bought crotons. I hate crotons, JARVIS. You move them two inches and they get mad and drop all of their leaves.”

By noon, Penny was seething and it wasn’t just the plants that had driven her rage. The sheer injustice of her situation was setting in, overpowering the fear and the sadness.

“They just took us, JARVIS, how could they think that was okay?” She demanded, looking at the little red light in the corner of the room, “They just f*cking took us like we were—like we were puppies in a cardboard box! We’re people, JARVIS! We’re people and we have lives and they just f*cking took us away!”

“A-and they think that I should just accept it! I should be happy to be here, to be locked in a literal tower like some f*cked up Disney princess, I should be thankful they stole us!”

Penny roughly placed an African Violet onto the kitchen counter, slamming her fist down next to it a moment later. She dropped her face into her hands, elbows rested on the counter, and heaved a massive sigh. Her face was hot to the touch in her rage.

“I can’t even get mad, I can’t be mad at them or I break their stupid f*cking rules. Be Sweet, what the f*ck does that even mean?!” She threw her arms out in irritation, screeching when her hand hit the mug Bucky had used for breakfast. It flew off the counter and smashed against the ground, pieces of ceramic flying everywhere, “oh mother f*cker! Now I’m gonna get in trouble for that.”

“There is no rule against breaking dishes, Ms. Parker.”

Silence settled over the kitchen, even the sound of her breathing quieted. They had told her she couldn’t be violent and she had to be sweet—those were the only rules. Penny darted out of the kitchen and ran to the closet, snatching a pair of Bucky’s slippers before running back.

“Hey JARVIS, can you play music for me?”

“Of course, Miss, what would you like?”

“Ever heard of Break Stuff by Limp Bizkit?”

It only took about an hour to destroy every single plate, bowl, and cup in the kitchen. Every single piece of smashable cutlery had been demolished while a loud, raging playlist screamed through the apartment. Her chest was heaving with effort, eyes scanning the carnage that was the floor. A sense of contentment was washing through her for the first time in a month, a fleeting peace thrumming through her bones. It felt wonderful, even if it would only last for a little while.

"JARVIS, can you ask Chef Cohen if he has time to make me lunch maybe?" Penny asked absently, broken glass and ceramic making satisfying crunching noises as she left the kitchen and flopped onto the couch.

"Do you have anything specific in mind Miss?"

"No, just whatever he wants to make. How do I turn on the TV?"

"I can do that for you if you'd like Miss. The remote control is kept in the basket beneath the side table to your left."

"Thanks JARV, I got it," Penny hadn't actually sat down with the intention of watching TV in ages but it sounded like a good way to pass time, "maybe you could help me find something to watch though? I'm not sure where to start."

Binge watching TV shows was a phenomenon Penny was pretty sure she could get behind. She spent the whole afternoon parked out on the couch, happily eating the huge lunch that had been sent up for her and secretly admiring the very pretty array of succulents that had been purchased for her.

"Ms. Parker, the soldiers are preparing to return home for the day."

A small under current of nerves rocketed through her. The kitchen was a warzone and part of her wondered how badly she was gonna get beat for destroying everything she knew would make acceptable shattering noises. Technically, destroying the kitchen wasn’t against the rules. When the door to the apartment opened, Penny plastered a sweet smile on her face. Be sweet had never been defined, but she would be sweet as f*ck.

“Hey doll,” Bucky greeted upon seeing her, eyes sweeping over her sprawled position on the couch and the empty food cart next to the coffee table, “did you have a good day?”

“Yes,” Penny continued to smile, making sure her tone was sugary.

She could see the suspicion settling over their faces, the furrowed brows and pursed lips. They exchanged a look and her smile widened.

“Penny, what’s going on?” Steve asked gently after a moment.

“I’m being sweet,” her lips pulled back to show her teeth, the expression still a smile but a rather brutal one, and carefully tried to keep her eyes from straying to the kitchen.

Somehow Steve still divined her intention though and turned to walk to the kitchen while Bucky approached her. The brunet looked simultaneously suspicious and amused, carefully scooping her up into his arms and sitting on the couch with her sprawled on top of him. A low, long whistle came from the kitchen and Bucky raised an eyebrow at her, only to have Penny very abruptly press her lips against his.

It was a trick, he was fully aware that she was trying to distract him, but f*ck if it didn’t work. Penny initiating any sort of intimacy had been a practically nonexistent dream and he very quickly decided he couldn’t give half a sh*t about what was in the kitchen. He adjusted her on his lap and leaned back against the arm of the couch, tucking her up close to his chest and sighing into her mouth. f*ck he’d found heaven, f*ck he couldn’t care less what she’d gotten up to in the kitchen, she was kissing him and she was soft and her weight on top of his chest was perfect.

Steve could literally see his lover melting into the couch cushions under Penny’s clever, if obvious, tactics. The kitchen was a disaster and he wondered if anything had been left intact but he did love getting to see his two favourite people wrapped up in each other. Plus, poor Penny seemed to have forgotten her original purpose in kissing Bucky and had gone boneless.

“Our doll left quite a mess in the kitchen, Buck,” he called lowly, watching the brunet fight to bring himself back to full consciousness and reluctantly pull away from the kiss.

“f*ck you’re so sweet,” Bucky rumbled, dragging his lips against Penny’s several times before forcing himself to stop, “manipulative little doll.”

“How long did it take you to break everything, precious?” Steve felt a small smirk tugging at his lips, eyes tracking Penny’s careful smile and the nervousness beginning to rise in her eyes.

“I don’t know,” still smiling, a sugary sweet voice, their doll was a little sh*tkicker.

“JARVIS, why didn’t you tell us that Penny was having a fit?”

“Ms. Parker was in no danger and was not showing any signs of emotional distress, Captain.”

“Destroying everything she could get her hands on doesn’t count as a sign of emotional distress?”

“I am unable to differentiate human emotions unless they are accompanied by biological changes in temperature, heart rate—”

“JARVIS, call Tony up here please.”

Penny’s body pulled taught at that and he could see her throat move as she swallowed, the nervousness continuing to rise. Her cheeks were an appealing shade of pink and Steve crossed the room to sit on the coffee table in front of the couch, stealing her off of Bucky’s lap and bringing her to sit across his thighs.

“You’re being sweet, huh baby?” He murmured quietly, nose brushing her cheek bone, “show me how sweet you can be.”

He pressed his lips against hers but didn’t move further, forcing Penny to adjust her position in order to kiss him properly. There was only a moment's hesitation, broken by the sound of Bucky’s near delirious sigh, before Penny’s lips started moving over his in a languid fashion. He quickly came to understand why Buck had just about melted into the couch when she gave in, their doll was an excellent kisser and she was so, so sweet.

“And here I thought you’d fallen and couldn’t get up.”

Penny tried to pull away at the sound of Tony’s voice but Steve kept a hand on her cheek, holding her in place for a few more seconds before letting her lips fall away. He guided her head down to rest against his shoulder, carefully running his hand down the length of her hair without tangling his fingers in her curls.

“Go check out the kitchen, wouldja?”

“Did you break the coffee pot again, Ol’ Timer? Need the youngin’ to come fix—oh, that’s an impressive level of destruction for such a little thing. Did you have to climb on the counters to get to the top shelves precious?”

“Tony, why wouldn’t JARVIS alert us that Penny was having a breakdown?” Bucky reached out and swiftly stole Penny from his boyfriend’s lap, carefully curling her into the cage of his arms and ignoring her grumbling when he manipulated her limbs into a more comfortable position.

“J, explain yourself,” Tony Did Not Roll His Eyes, but he did really, really want to.

“Ms. Parker was not breaking any rules that had been explained to her, nor was she exhibiting any signs of emotional distress.”

“I’m pretty sure going ape sh*t on the entire kitchen counts as emotional distress, J,” Tony admonished carefully.

“Then I do apologize, sir.” The AI did not sound apologetic in the least and if nothing else, JARVIS was smug.

“Since we seem to have to explain this implicitly, Penny doll, wrecking the kitchen is not okay,” Bucky tipped her head back with a careful nudge, forcing eye contact, “you can’t destroy the kitchen because you’re upset.”

He wasn’t even bothered, to be honest. The tower was still standing, she hadn’t set anything on fire, and she was entirely unharmed; it was a better outcome than he had been expecting upon leaving their tiny monster alone for so long. She hadn’t even attempted an escape and honestly he was planning to count the day as a win. A quick glance at Steve confirmed he felt the same way.

“JARVIS, if Penny goes on the warpath again, I expect you to inform someone,” Tony ordered, ignoring the small spark of heat in his chest upon seeing Penny give in to Bucky’s embrace and lay against the brunet completely.

“Yes, sir.” Petulant. The robot voice in the walls sounded petulant and Steve didn’t appreciate JARVIS having such strong emotions.

“Now, was there anything else or can I get back to my baby?”

Before either of the soldiers could respond, Penny popped back up, “Can I see Peter?”

“Not tonight, precious,” he ignored the sad look on her face and pressed on, “I’ll send him up tomorrow to have breakfast with you, fair?”

Penny didn’t look all too placated but she nodded, grudgingly accepting the pretend compromise. It wasn’t an actual compromise, Stark didn’t give anything up in exchange for them meeting in the middle, but being able to see through the manipulation tactic was its own success.

“Come give me a kiss before I leave, precious.” Cheating. Stark was cheating and they both knew it.

When she hesitated for too long, Bucky cleared his throat and gave her a nudge, “Be sweet, Penny.”

Standing up was a f*cking chore. Her entire body protested the action, Steve ended up guiding her hips up off the edge of the couch. Stark had his hand stretched towards her and she forced her feet to move as he gestured her towards him.

Being touched by Tony Stark was like touching a livewire. When she grabbed his hand, goosebumps ran down her arm and her heart began to race when he pulled her to his chest. His presence was simultaneously terrifying and calming. The kiss he placed on her forehead was scorching and afterwards, when he tapped his own fingers to his lips, she felt her body tremble. Stretching onto her toes, she pressed a chaste, barely brushing kiss there before quickly backing away and retreating into the bedroom.

The door slammed behind her and Tony turned his gaze to the soldiers, “I’ll send someone to clean up your kitchen. I do need to talk to you while I’m up here though— their disappearance is starting to gain attention.”

Bucky groaned, head falling back against the couch, “We’ll need to stage some bodies then, do we have any options on hand?”

“One that’ll fit for Penny, maybe, but nothing for Peter,” Tony crossed his arms over his chest, one hand running over his goatee, “shouldn’t be too hard though. Have you talked to Rumlow recently?”

“Not in a few days,” Steve rolled his neck in annoyance, “too fragile.”

“Make sure you leave him alive for now,” it was an order, “Penny’s having a hard time adjusting, we may need some leverage.”

“Is Peter acting out?”

“Hardly,” Tony snorted, “force more intimacy, affection broke Peter in half like he’d never experienced it before.”

“Penny has some trauma with sex, from Rumlow,” Steve glanced towards the bedroom door, “she almost doesn’t know how to react to phsyical contact.”

“She has to be punished for the stunt in the kitchen,” Bucky tilted his head thoughtfully, “we can’t go any further until that.”

“She didn’t technically break any rules—”

“Don’t start Super Stupid,” Tony pointed at the blond quickly, “she’s not a child, she knows better.”

“We do owe Rumlow a visit,” Bucky didn’t give his boyfriend a chance to respond, “We’ll take Penny along.”

“It’ll traumatize her,” Steve frowned, resting his cheek on his fist.

“And you’ll pick up the pieces afterwards,” Tony gave them both a careful expression, “she needs to know that you’re her support system, that she has to rely on you for comfort and safety.”

“Break her down and build her back up,” a soft hum escaped Bucky, the wheels beginning to turn in his brain as he considered the implications of shredding Penny down to her bare essentials, “systematically.”

“Poor thing,” a heavy sigh escaped Steve before he slapped his hands down on his thighs and stood, turning to face the door she was hiding behind, “I hate seeing her sad.”

“We’ll get through it, Stevie,” Bucky followed him to his feet and squeezed the blond’s shoulder, “and so will she. Penny! Penny doll, come out here, we’ve got places to be!”

Chapter 14

Chapter Text

Bucky hadn’t been a good guy in a really long time. He’d done horrible, horrible things and the majority of the remorse he felt was how it all had impacted Steve. The blond had been so distraught when he first pulled Buck out of cryo, a shell of the man he’d been before. He recited information when asked, followed direction without question, never complained about anything. There were no memories, not of his happiness with Steve, not of his betrayal at the hands of Howard Stark, not of his murders. Steve had cried. He vividly remembered the tears and the feel of the taller man’s arms wrapped almost suffocatingly tight around him.

It was Steve who brought him back to himself, as much as he could be brought back. He wasn’t the same man that he once was, but Steve still loved him and that was all that mattered. And in all fairness, Steve himself wasn’t the same man either. The betrayal had hardened him, the ice had frozen his core and never quite thawed. He was still Stevie, still the golden retriever of a man, but his teeth were sharper and his snarl more vicious. There was a bite behind the bark now that hadn’t existed before.

Their development had taken place separately but they still fit together. Bucky and Steve were still two pieces of the same puzzle, they fit together so perfectly that changing the edges of one just caused the other to adapt and warp themselves.

Warped was a good word. Steve and Bucky were still Steven Grant Rogers, Captain America, and James Buchannan Barnes, Sergeant of the 107th, but they were warped. They were still them, but the ice had caused cracks in the surface and the debris had fallen away to reveal sharper, more dangerous edges.

As Bucky watched Penny walk several steps in front of him, he wondered what the Original Bucky would’ve thought. Buck had been a good kid, if a player, back in the day. He’d been respectful and kind, would never think to even look at a dame wrong. Was it dark to think he would of killed himself back then, if he knew what the future held?

“Where are we going?”

It was quiet, almost a whisper, their doll feeling the change in atmosphere and getting nervous. Her shoulders were raised up to her ears, arms wrapped around her torso.

"Come here doll," Bucky pulled her back slightly to walk next to him, tucking her under his flesh arm, "we're going to take care of you, don't worry."

"What do you mean?" Her voice shook and he could feel her tremble under his grasp, "why—"

"Hush babydoll."

The tremble increased to full out shaking as the elevator descended, Penny's eyelids fluttering slightly as she visibly tried to regain control of herself. Bucky's enhanced hearing meant he could hear her heart thundering in her chest and he passed Steve a steadying look. They would comfort her after, when she was desperate and seeking any sort of safety.

Getting Penny to crack was going to be a trial and he wished he was more reluctant to make it happen. Instead the idea was almost relieving; it was the first step in moving her along on the path to acceptance.

When the elevator came to a stop, he had to push her along down the corridor. Her little bare feet squeaked against the tile every few steps, heels dragging in an almost unconscious show of resistance. Poor thing didn't even know what was happening, just that she needed to be frightened. That something was coming.

"This way doll," he steered her into the observation room connected to Rumlow's temporary quarters, squeezing her shaking shoulders gently. The light was turned out, she couldn't see what was on the other side of the glass, but instinctively she knew it was horrible.

"You've been real bad today, precious," Steve told her softly as he stepped around them, deeper into the room, heading towards a control panel just in front of the mirror, "you know how we feel about consequences."

"You're an adult, you know better than to throw temper tantrums," Bucky adjusted his arms to wrap around her, pressing her tightly against his chest.

He brushed his nose against her cheekbone, eyes locked on the mirror in front of them. Penny couldn't see, but his vision was even better than Steve's and Bucky was fully aware of Rumlow watching them. The man was propped against a wall, stripped down to a dirty pair of jeans and beat to sh*t. His entire torso was a mottled mess, bruised in gruesome blacks and purples. His eyes were swollen, his lips split and his nose was broken and smashed to the side.

Rumlow could see Penny just fine if the dark look in his blood shot eyes was any indication. Bucky wondered what was going through the man's head, wondered if he was scared or angry.

A whine escaped Penny, a short, terrified noise ripped from her throat. Danger was suffocating the air, the sound of some kind of buzzer making her jump in Bucky's arms. Slowly, several dim lights began flickering on in the room on the other side of the glass, one by one illuminating the room.

He could tell the second Penny laid eyes on Rumlow, the second she registered who he was. Her body locked up in terror so violently it resembled rigor mortis, her muscles turning to stone beneath his hands. The only thing moving was the jumping of her pulse, throbbing at a startling pace under her flesh.

"Sometimes, it helps to have reminders," Bucky ran his hands up her sides under her shirt, “Of what happens when you’re naughty. Of what could happen if you’re naughty.”

“We promised we’d never hurt you baby and we’d never break that promise,” the blond pressed a button on the wall causing another buzzer to go off, followed by an air lock sound as a hidden door shifted out from beside the two way mirror.

The small cry of fear that came from Penny was heart wrenching, the way she pressed back against Bucky as the door slid open made his chest pound. He loved that she would try to find comfort in his presence. Somewhere in her brain, Penny knew that he would take care of her when she was in distress, when she was scared or in danger. It would’ve been nice to comfort her properly, but instead he forced her closer to the window while Steve stepped into the prison room and Buck shut the door behind him.

“We’d never hurt you, precious,” he repeated softly into her ear, one hand coming up to hold her chin firmly while the other stayed locked around her waist, “so we’ll hurt someone else instead.”

“What is this?” Bucky felt the goosebumps spread over her skin, felt her hair literally stand on end.

She remembered his voice. Bucky was sure she remembered the words he’d said that night, all of them. The taunts. He wondered if she recalled every sound he made while she couldn’t move, couldn’t shout for help. If she remembered the fear and the pain and the humiliation as vividly as he could imagine it.

And then Steve’s fist slammed into the man’s face with enough force that Bucky could practically feel it from the other room. A shudder ran through Penny’s entire body; the sound of pain Rumlow made was like a wounded animal, full of primal fear and desperation.

“Get off,” Penny gasped, pressing against Bucky’s hold as hard as she could, “get off me, oh God—”

Her entire body was primed to run, he could feel her muscles bunching under his hands, could hear her heart thundering in her chest. She wasn’t strong enough to force even a few inches of separation and he locked his arm tighter around her waist. He was careful not to dig his fingers into her chin too hard, not wanting to put bruises on her pretty face. Her punishment would be just as effective if she came out of it completely physically unharmed.

“Shh babydoll,” he crooned, brushing his lips over the shell of her ear, “you know, one of Stevie’s talents has always been interrogation. Getting information out of Nazis was easy, they were all puss* bastards. This future though, it’s harder. He’s always had some aggression issues and they got worse with the serum, but this helps him work through it productively. Well, not in this case. In this case he’s just going to cause as much pain in the next hour as he can without mortally wounding him. It took you just about an hour to destroy the kitchen, so we rounded up.”

“I-I don’t,” Penny hiccupped on her words, terror eating her up inside, “Please, p-please, I—”

She couldn’t finish her sentence before Steve bodily lifted Rumlow and tossed him against the wall with petrifying ease. A sharp cry escaped the man, a bone chilling wail as he hit the ground, leaving a distinct crack behind on the wall. Penny trembled against his chest, watching Steve grab Rumlow by the hair and drag him to his feet.

“He’s in a lot of pain, Penny doll,” Bucky whispered, caressing her jaw with his thumb delicately, “Stevie probably broke a couple of his ribs, if not several vertebrae.”

“Oh god,” her tone was a mix of a gasp and a retch.

“Now see, watch what he’s doingbaby,” he murmured, directing her attention at the way Steve was examining Rumlow’s ribs with deft touches, “Rumlow’s had broken ribs before, might have some now right? So Stevie’s looking for the weak points. Oh, there he found one.”

An audible crack echoed in the room, followed by a scream. Penny flinched back against Bucky’s chest with a soft whine, he could see in the reflection that she’d squeezed her eyes shut. The thrill her terror sent through him would’ve made Original Bucky puke. He knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the excitement was not natural. There shouldn’t have been such an impatient undercurrent in his soul for her to start crying, for her to need his comfort even more.

Steve broke at least 5 ribs with deft, casual hits to Rumlow’s torso. Penny was just trembling in terror and Bucky hid his sigh as she pressed back against him. His eyes caught movement in his peripheral vision and he flicked his eyes up to see Steve gesturing to Penny. Her eyes were pressed closed while his hand continued to hold her face in place and he stroked his thumb gently over her jaw.

“Open your eyes, precious,” Steve’s voice was crystal clear through the microphone and they both knew she was aware of how much the blond enjoyed having to repeat himself when they immediately fluttered open.

“That’s a good girl, Penny,” Bucky moved the hand from her chin to stroke her hair back from where it fell on her forehead, “you don’t get to look away.”

Steve dropped Rumlow to his knees, receiving another agonized sound of pain from the man for his efforts along with a whine of fear from Penny. The blond was sure he’d think she was pretty in every situation ever, but she looked especially sweet in her terror; her cheeks were flushed, her dark eyes shiny and wide, her hair a wild mane. She was so precious, to be so upset over the pain of a man who hurt her so badly. Poor Penny, able to have empathy even for a man who’d damaged a piece of her soul.

“How longs’it been, Buck?”

“Just about half an hour,” the brunet glanced at the digital clock on the wall near the control panel before pressing his lips against Penny’s face again, “Breaking ribs takes a lot of care, you’ve gotta do it just right so they don’t puncture a lung or float. Hairline fractures are the most effective, but our strength makes it hard to only cause fractures. Stevie’s a real talented man, precious.”

“I-I’ve learned m-my lesson,” her voice was shaking, her teeth chattering, “please, I w-won’t do it again, I…”

“Shhh, precious,” Bucky ran one hand up her side again, gently stroking over her skin to offer just enough contact to prevent shock, “we said an hour, remember?”

A coughing hiccup was the only response, followed by a little sob. The tears were starting now, her consciousness pushing past the initial fight, flight, or freeze instinct and allowing for a full range of emotion. He could practically feel her desperation to make them happy, to make them stop the punishment early.

Steve drew his eyes away from the crying woman after just a moment, mind whirring with strategies; it wasn’t a full break, Penny was still in control of herself, he needed to up his game for the second half. He hummed quietly, refocusing on Rumlow’s pain with terrifying ease. The man wasn’t going to die today, but he might wish he had.

“Don’t look away, Penny,” the blond ordered as he reached down and grabbed Rumlow’s arm, manipulating his hand carefully, “you need to watch what you’ve caused if you’re going to learn from your mistakes.”

And then, he wrapped his hand around Rumlow’s pointer finger and twisted. The man shrieked as the tendons and ligaments were ripped, the sound increasing in volume when Steve didn’t stop twisting; the bones broke, the skin tore, and then Steve pulled. The finger came off with terrifying ease and Steve very casually shoved the digit into Rumlow’s mouth, covering it with his hand to keep him from spitting it out.

Bucky smiled when Penny fell forward over the arm around her waist and vomited all over the floor, her lunch returning to splash against the wall and their feet. She heaved several times, gagging and wailing in terror when Bucky gently manipulated her to stand upright again, pressing her front carefully against the glass.

“Didn’t Stevie tell you not to look away, precious?” Bucky was fully aware that she’d had no control over her movements, that she either aimed her puke at the ground or she would’ve projectile vomited all over the mirror, but the soft sob she made in response felt like a win.

She threw up twice more in the next ten minutes before going mostly catatonic in his arms; her eyes were still locked on the two men in the other room as she’d been instructed, but Bucky knew she wasn’t actually seeing anything anymore. The trauma was setting in, the shock too overwhelming for his steady touches to combat.

“That’s time, precious,” he told her gently, reaching out to knock against the glass to alert the blond it had been a full hour, “let’s go back upstairs.”

Steve would catch up; he’d need to bring someone in to treat Rumlow’s wounds to prevent him from bleeding out and then he had to wash up. Unlike Bucky, the blond thought with a fond twist of his lips, he avoided bringing bloodstained clothing into the apartment.

Bucky took Penny straight to the bedroom when the elevator stopped, stripping off her leggings and the t-shirt she’d been wearing. It was a testament to how far gone she was that she didn’t even react, just sat silently on the edge of the bed in nothing but a pair of little panties. Bucky had to reel in his libido; taking her while she was in such a state wouldn’t be conducive to building the relationship they were going for. He pulled the long sleeved henley he was wearing over his head and gently dressed her in it.

“Come ‘ere, babydoll,” he murmured, scooping her up into his arms and holding her close while he climbed into bed, pulling the comforter up over both of them, “JARVIS, lower the temperature in the room to 70 degrees and tell Stevie to grab one of the weighted blankets out of the closet before he comes in.”

“Yes Sergeant,” JARVIS sounded cold and a touch irritated, which in turn irritated Bucky; the AI was becoming a pain in his ass.

The technology in the tower was great. Bucky had always loved innovation and science, loved the idea of intelligent buildings and flying cars, but it was hindering his ability to fully ensnare Penny and that was a problem. The kind of problem he wouldn’t tolerate for much longer if JARVIS kept up with his current behavior.

Penny was uncommonly still where he lay on his chest. He’d expected shaking and crying, but instead she’d gone entirely blank. It wasn’t the first time, she had a tendency to retreat into herself whenever she became emotionally taxed, but he didn’t like it. He wanted her to break down, they needed her to crack but she kept reinforcing her foundations instead. She pulled away and stewed in her fear and anger instead of releasing the negative emotions.

“How’s she doing?” Steve questioned softly as he walked into the room, a blanket in his arms that he was quick to spread out over the bed.

Bucky hummed and looked down at where Penny’s head was rested on his chest, examining the blank look in her eyes, “not well.”

The blond rolled his neck, hand reaching back to squeeze the tense muscles, worrying quietly that they’d gone too far. Honestly, he wondered if maybe just the sight of Rumlow would’ve been enough to do the job, if the fear of knowing he was so close by would’ve been punishment enough.

“Poor thing,” he murmured, kicking off his shoes and nudging them under the edge of the bed before stripping off his clean shirt, “we’ll need to be extra sensitive for a while.”

Bucky made a noise of agreement, watching his boyfriend shuck the sweats he’d put on after the quick shower with pleasure. Steve was sex on legs and any amount of undressing was generally enough to get the brunet hard as a rock. The temptation to throw him onto the bed and f*ck him senseless was strong, he wanted to lay the man on his back and rest Penny on his chest, tuck his knees as far up as they’d go and then plow him through the mattress. He could imagine the look on his lover’s face, the sight of Penny’s cute panties taunting him as he wrecked the blond beneath him.

He forced himself to drag his eyes away before Steve caught the expression on his face; now was, unfortunately, not the time. He tugged Penny a little higher up on his chest, carefully adjusting her head to rest in the crook of his shoulder.

"It'll come, Buck," Steve murmured, addressing the sadness in the brunet's eyes as he looked at their girl, "we gotta be patient."

"I don’t want to be patient. I want her to break," there was no reason to watch his words, Penny was nearly catatonic, "but she keeps doing this instead."

"You and I both know she can’t hold out forever, self-preservation will win out—”

“Captain, Ms. Maximoff urgently requests to see you. She is on her way in the elevator,” JARVIS interrupted, causing the blond to roll his neck in irritation.

Most likely, Wanda had gotten word of Penny’s impending punishment and was irate with them; like several of their companions, Wanda had become immediately protective of Penny and Peter even without meeting them. He pulled his sweats back on and flashed a quick I’ll be right back hand gesture to Bucky. The elevator arrived on their floor as he crossed the room, his enhanced hearing picking up the sound of the doors even through the soundproofed walls of their apartment.

Upon opening the door, he was immediately met by Wanda shoving two squirming furballs in his face, "pick one and take it to Penny."

Steve nearly fell back when she lifted the kittens threateningly towards him, bobbing the mewling little things intently. Both were light in color, one almost entirely white with spots of cream and the other with a white belly and legs and a pale orange on top. Each one was entirely too fluffy, with tails nearly the size of their little bodies. The mostly white one had ridiculously short legs and the other had fat chubby cheeks.

"Wanda—"

"Don't argue Steve! She needs a companion she doesn't hate! Especially after what you idiots just did to her!" The redhead was fuming, a slightly glow in her eyes warning him that he was edging on her very dangerous temper.

He heaved a sigh; maybe a cat would do Penny some good. He looked between the two critically. Both cats were unnecessarily cute. Their burden of adorableness was too heavy for such small creatures. They reminded him of Penny in that way—they were so small and precious and—sh*t.

Steve carefully took both kittens from Wanda, ignoring the victorious look on her face and turning back into the apartment without a word. He used his heel to shut the door on her before she could taunt him the way he could clearly see she wanted to. Two kittens would be a challenge but Penny needed something to keep her busy anyway.

She was still entirely out of it when he walked back into the bedroom, half lying on Buck's chest, but Bucky's eyes went wide immediately. The brunet's gaze was locked securely on the cats, not even twitching to his half dressed boyfriend for a second.

"Oh my God," he whispered, reverently and with so much feeling that Steve couldn't help but grin.

"Gifts from Wanda," he explained as he carefully climbed onto the bed, laying the kittens on the pair's stomachs.

"Oh my God," Bucky's voice was almost a whine as the chubby kitten stumbled across his chest, accidentally head butting him in the chin, "oh my God, Steve."

The white kitten made a squeaky meow before clawing her way up the Henley Penny was wearing coming to rest in the crook of her neck. It turned in place several times before snuggling down and beginning to purr like a tiny motorboat. It was loud enough that Penny startled, her eyes regaining focus as she tilted her head down.

"Oh my God." Steve knew he had a type but the uniform reactions from his lovers just reaffirmed the knowledge.

"Its cute, huh?" He reached over to scratch its neck, enjoying the way that Penny didn't even flinch at the proximity.

Then, she burst into tears. Massive, heaving sobs that shook her entire body. The kitten let out another squeaky toy like meow before crawling onto Penny's chest, settling between her breasts and purring even louder.

Bucky's eyes snapped to Steve's immediately, a very clear What the f*ck expression on his face. The blond mostly ignored him, instead settling himself on his side as close to Penny as possible, one arm going around her waist while the other slipped under her pillow. The emotional outburst was welcome no matter the cause.

"That's good baby," he murmured quietly, brushing his nose against her cheek, "you're okay, let it out."

Penny's arms came up to wrap around the kitten, just barely managing not to squeeze it too tightly. The reaction led to Bucky quickly depositing the other kitten onto her stomach.

"Look doll, here's another," he cooed stealing one of her hands to run it over the chubby cheeked cat.

Some sort of sobbed sentence escaped her, entirely incomprehensible to either of the soldiers, and she tugged the second kitten up her chest to lay next to the white one. It took nearly an hour for her to calm down, the exhaustion of the day settling over her shoulders.

When her eyes started fluttering shut, Steve carefully scooped the orange kitten off her chest and handed it to Bucky. Before he could take the white one Penny startled awake, almost violently.

"No please!" The kitten made a distressed noise when the brunette abruptly clutched it to her chest, tears once again spilling from her eyes, "please don't take them, please! I'll be good please, let me keep them please!"

“Shhh, precious, I’m just going to put them in a drawer to sleep for the night, until we can get them beds,” Steve cooed.

“C-Can’t they stay,” she begged, dark eyes shining beneath her heavy eyelashes, “please, can’t t-they sleep in the bed?”

Steve passed Bucky a speculating look, to which the brunet just shrugged. He heaved a quiet sigh, knowing his boyfriend was as far gone on the kittens as Penny was, before nodding and settling back into his position at her side. Bucky placed the orange kitten back on Penny’s chest, watching both of the kittens amble around for a few seconds before curling into each other and falling back asleep.

“We’ll need to buy everything for them in the morning,” Steve murmured quietly over Penny’s head, watching Bucky curl his flesh fingers gently into Penny’s hair.

“And get Wanda a thank you gift,” the brunet added with a definitive nod.

“Yeah, and that.”

Chapter 15

Chapter Text

Steve could tell she didn't remember when she woke up. It was still dark and she was cocooned between them, her body not even touching the bed but instead splayed across theirs. Her legs had tangled with his during the night, one hitched over his thigh while the other brushed against his shin, squished between him and Bucky. She was mostly laid out across his torso, flat on her stomach with her head rested in the crook of his neck. Her lips nearly brushed his skin every time she breathed, soft, sleepy sounds escaping.

Several precious moments went by, where she didn't tense up or try to pull away. She curled her neck down, forehead brushing his skin like she wanted to burrow into his chest and tucked her arms closer to her torso, fingers leaving goosebumps in their wake as she shifted.

It was a small, squeaky mewing from the end of the bed that caused her reaction. Her movements stopped all at once, her breathing freezing in her lungs. The cats, of course, served as a reminder of the night before. After all, they’d been a supplication gift.

An “oh sorry we made you throw up three times because we tortured a man in front of you” present.“Remember that time you watched me systematically brutalize another human being? Take some cats while we pretend we didn’t do anything wrong.”

He felt how hard she swallowed in the short, jerky movements that followed, as she remembered Rumlow’s screams with every hit. His eyes had swollen completely shut over the course of the hour, blood was pouring from his mouth where teeth had become entirely dislodged and then, of course, he’d gone and ripped the man’s finger off completely.

It began again all at once, with Penny shoving against his chest so hard she practically threw herself off the bed. She teetered on the edge for several seconds in panic before visibly deciding to fall rather than reach for help. A slow sigh escaped Steve at the resulting thud; they were back to step one, where she was so afraid that she abandoned any concern for her safety. Their bed could’ve just as easily been the one in the spare room several floors away, the scene played out just the same, if short a bit of violence. Steve went to the end of the bed just the same, only for her to pop up on her own accord before he could help her.

It was like any and all progress had been erased. Penny’s eyes were darting around the room, searching for any possible escapes. She almost stumbled over her own feet in her haste to back away from him, arms out to her sides for both balance and to keep him at a distance as he approached.

“Penny, doll—”

“P-Please, please I’ll be better,” Bucky had sat up by this point, the blanket pooled over his waist, face twisting upon hearing Penny’s whimpering, “I can do better, I swear.”

When Buck stood up, a keening cry escaped her and her back hit the wall from trying to prevent them from getting too close, "wait, please! Wait, just wait, please! Please, please!"

Please became a much more important facet of her vocabulary when she was trying to Be Sweet. Usually it was when she didn't know how to make them happy, when she didn't know what behavior constituted as breaking the rules. He knew she didn't necessarily care about them being happy, she was trying anything she could to avoid punishments. It would've been cute if it weren't accompanied by tears and violent, fearful shaking. Steve stopped approaching, motioning for Bucky to do the same, and held his hands up placatingly.

"Take a deep breath, Penny," he ordered gently, "try to rationalize baby. We haven't been aggressive, haven't done anything that would make you think we're angry. Just try to think, Penny, you're not in any danger, we're not going to hurt you, you're safe here."

There was a visible fight or flight reaction. Her muscles locked and both Steve and Bucky had to immediately drop into defensive stances—Penny chose fight 9 times out of 10 with no hesitation or forethought. She had a tendency to get the drop on them too, just because her movements were always so brutal. Whoever taught Penny self-defense must’ve put a lot of emphasis on disabling an attacker and disengaging from the situation, because she wanted to cause as much bodily damage as possible. It was actually almost impressive but neither of them was looking to receive a co*ck shot any time soon.

“Penny, you don’t have to be better,” Bucky implored quietly, staying far across the room just in case he needed to play back up to Steve in the event of violence, “we know how stressful this is for you, precious. You’re going through a really hard time.”

Steve was quick to nod in agreement, “you’re so scared baby, let us help you. Let us take care of you. That’s all we want.”

Her dark eyes darted between them for several prolonged seconds, face crumbling as she did so before she burst into tears. She slid down the wall, coming to rest in a crumpled pile on the floor. Both soldiers immediately advanced, dropping down to the ground on either side of her and simultaneously engulfing her in their arms. Please, please, please. She was just repeating the words over and over through sobs, her hands shaking as she held them in front of her, elbows curled against her sides. It was a defenseless position, one that desperately sought space and projected don’t touch me, stop touching me, let go.

"Shhhh, shhhh, shhhh," Steve's lips brushed her temple, both his and Bucky's hands running over any skin they could find.

She'd never admit it, never tell them, but the skin to skin contact was immediately successful. She'd resigned to quietly crying, spread across both of their laps. Steve carefully shifted her to lay chest to chest with him, catching the mass of her curly hair to fall away from her face.

"I hate how scared you are baby," he murmured after a few moments, the three of them comfortably settled in a pile, "we don't want you to be upset. All we want is for you to be happy, Penny doll. We want to make you happy, for you to be happy."

The skin contact was brutally unfair; Penny was touch starved in an almost incapacitating way. Her skin was on fire from the sensations of their hands, her brain flooding with happy chemicals despite how much she hated them. She didn't want to be touched. They were monsters among men but somehow she leaned in anyway, absorbing the body heat. Her cheek brushed Steve's bare chest, eyes slipping shut at the sensation of his skin beneath hers.

She’d been scared for ages now. Fear had permeated her entire existence since the moment she’d searched for Tony Stark online, her heart beat with a steady thrum of underlying terror at all times. The fear had been real when she’d woken up in the Tower when the soldiers’ purpose was revealed and when she realized Stark had taken Peter. It had gone effete to a degree, the intensity depleting with the consistency.

This fear was different. It was overwhelming and all-encompassing. Tony Stark was dangerous and powerful and she’d been so, so afraid of him. She’d been afraid of his power over everyone he came in contact with, the overwhelming control he seemed to have over his world and everything in his orbit. But her fear of the soldiers was worse. Never in her life had there been such a dire and immediate threat to her safety. She was literally wrapped in the arms of men who would rip a man’s finger off and shove it into his mouth. To prove a point. They would do that just to prove a point.

What if they got sick of her fighting them? What would they do when their infatuation with her wore off? She knew very clearly that Peter was the prime target in this whole situation, that she was the equivalent of a kid's toy and could be thrown away with the same level of apathy. She, personally, was not safe and it had honestly never been so clear to her before.

Peter was going to be alone, after everything she did to make sure he wouldn't be. Paul and Olivia would've taken care of him, would've loved him like a little brother just like she had. Penny had no delusions; she was going to die and Peter was going to live surrounded by monsters for the rest of his life.

She'd failed him, in the worst possible way, Penny had failed him.

Bucky carefully arranged Penny to rest completely on Steve, standing up and walking to the bed to collect the weighted blanket they’d brought out the night before. The blond helped him arrange it around her, cocooning her in the fabric. She was covered in goosebumps but felt like she was burning up, a shiver went down her spine and her teeth clenched together to prevent them from chattering. Over her head, the soldiers spoke with nothing more than facial expressions and minute hand gestures. Small sighs escaped both of them and Steve arched his neck to rest his forehead against the crown of her hair.

“I’m gonna stay home with you today, okay precious?” He murmured, “We’ll rest, play with the kittens. Do your plants need to be watered?”

Penny felt like her bones were expanding under her skin, pressing out and out and out until they burst through her flesh and ripped her entire body to pieces— a hair raising sensation that almost equaled the substantial level of unrelenting terror she felt at the thought of being alone with Steve all day long. Did they forget she’d watched him rip a man’s finger off about twelve hours ago? Because she had. She was almost sure she’d seen it.

But it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter what happened, because they didn’t care. They didn’t care how she felt, how her stomach was twisting into such tight knots she felt like she’d never eat again. Nothing about her mattered to them beyond a surface level obsession.

“Ss... some of.. them,” the words barely escaped, a desperate attempt to placate the psychopaths surrounding her with a response; she had to make them happy. She had to make them happy or she was literally going to die.

She didn’t see the glance exchanged over her head, the sad expression on Steve’s face; her eyes were wide open, moving even but she was hardly saw anything but blurs. Between the tears and the near mental breakdown, she was blind to the way both men seemed almost lost.

“How about we go make breakfast,” Steve asked softly, getting to his feet and carefully setting Penny on hers, his hands on her hips to keep her steady.

A jerky nod was his only response and Bucky sighed a little, leaning over to kiss her forehead before heading into the bathroom; Steve might be staying home, but he’d need to get into the ‘office’ by about 9 A.M. to prevent Tony from pitching a fit. He’d take over the blond’s work for the day, some internal investigation Steve had been working on. His interrogations could always wait— if there was one thing he and Stark agreed on, it was that anticipation was its own form of torture.

Rumlow would need several days to stew before he and Steve returned. That was the kind of anticipation Bucky really like causing. A bone deep chill that grew worse and worse with each passing hour, until the victim was a shivering mass curled up on the floor. His lips twisted as he stepped out of the shower and quickly dressed in work clothes. Usually he liked causing that kind of anticipation, but the image in his head replayed Penny sliding down the wall bawling, over and over. Their poor girl was a mess and it was at least 30% their fault.

Sure, Tony was largely at fault and Peter had a hand in it all, no matter how unwittingly. And Penny had proved she obviously needed a lesson. But seeing her so scared hurt his heart, especially since he had a part in causing it.

It was hard knowing that Penny didn't believe how much they adored her. They'd waited a hundred years for her, endured countless agonies and survived it all, and somehow were found worthy of finding their doll at the end of it. Fate had tried to keep them from her, had tried everything to prevent them from their happy ending, and fate had failed. She was their supplication present, sent by whatever monsters had put them through hell for so long, and they adored her.

They'd known from the beginning, when they made their decision to take her, that Penny's acceptance would take a lot of time and effort on their part. The constant rejections were frustrating and depressing but they could handle it. That didn't mean they wouldn't do anything in their power to shorten the time and suffering. It was likely time to call in the big guns.

"JARVIS, tell everyone I need a meeting during lunch today," he sighed, pulling his hair back into a bun, "we need some strategic assistance."

"I'll alert you once I have received responses, Sargeant."

"Thanks buddy," Bucky replied absently, adjusting his shirt sleeves as he stepped out of the bathroom and into their room.

His ears picked up the sound of shattering glass as he approached the living room, stopping him in his tracks. Anxiety flooded the entire apartment, tension rising up to choke him.

"I d-didn't mean to," Penny's voice was hardly more than a whisper, Bucky wouldn't have heard it if he hadn't doubled timed it to the kitchen as soon as he regained control.

The sink was still running behind her while she faced Steve at the oven, wet, soapy hands still held out at her waist where she'd been holding the glass now broken on the tile. Her eyes were locked on the floor, pupils blown wide with terror.

"Penny—"

"I'm sorry!" Penny dropped to her knees immediately, brutally shredding her skin and reaching out to begin sweeping the glass into a pile with her hands, "I'll clean it, I'm sorry!"

Bucky blew past Steve, shoes crunching over the glass as he scooped Penny off the floor and deposited her onto the counter. Her blood was smeared over the white tile, a nearly nauseating sight to the soldiers. The blond had already darted off for the first aid kit and come back, easily battling away Penny's attempts to keep him from touching her wounds.

"JARVIS, call for Dr. Banner immediately!"

"Dr. Banner is en route with the emergency kit."

"Penny, baby— Jesus baby, why did you do that? JARVIS, open the apartment door so Dr. Banner can get in once the elevator arrives."

"Please, I'm so sorry!" She sobbed, "I lost my grip, I swear! I didn't mean to, please—"

"We know, baby, we know!" Bucky cooed, trying with Steve to carefully restrain her flailing limbs and steady her head without making her feel trapped, blood covering their hands, "it was an accident baby, it's okay! Steve?"

He has gauze in hand and was trying to clean her knees without pressing the glass further into her skin, "come on baby, stay still for me."

"Penny you've got to calm down before Dr. Banner gets here or we'll have to give you a sedative so he can clean your wounds, do you understand?" Bucky caught her chin in his flesh hand, trying to ignore the sight of the blood he smeared over her chin and cheek.

Penny visibly tried to reel herself in, sobs coming out in bubbling breaths and her entire body shaking. The soldiers carefully cooed around her as she quieted, bloody hands running over her bare skin. She was streaked red, her legs and neck and face. It looked like she’d been assaulted, all bloody and small and trembling. The elevator dinged and Bruce quickly made his way in to the kitchen, shouldering them both out of his way.

“JARVIS told me what happened,” he stated, setting the emergency kit next to Penny on the counter, “Penny, sweetheart, try to take deep breaths, okay? I need you to be still.”

“She’s trying,” Bucky snapped, hand wrapping around to cup the back of her neck.

“She’s already calmed down a lot, Bruce,” Steve stepped in before his boyfriend could get anymore heated, “just give her a second, I think it’s the adrenaline.”

Bucky sighed and glanced over at the doctor remorsefully, “sorry Bruce. I’ll clean up the glass.”

But when the brunet tried to pull away, Penny let out a sharp cry and latched onto his arm. A whine of pain followed, the movement pushing glass further into her hands, but she tightened her grip anyway. She was saying something, but the words were Hebrew and none of the men understood what she was trying to say.

“sh*t, it’s okay doll,” he scooped Penny up into his arms and walked over to the kitchen table, swinging a chair out and settling into it with her on his lap, “here baby, let me hold you.”

The elevator dinged once again, this time revealing Stark and, surprisingly, Pepper, meaning JARVIS must've either left the door open after Bruce came in, or Tony has used his override. Steve did what Bucky called the ‘confused puppy’ head tilt but was waved off by the pair as they walked into the kitchen. Both were dressed to the nines, likely for some sort of press conference. Pepper was one of the only people who could properly reign Tony in and regularly made a point of showing up to supervise him during press events. The soldiers hadn’t even been aware she’d gotten back from her most recent business trip.

“JARVIS said we had an accident,” Tony came to crouch in front of Penny with Bruce, eyes scanning over her knees and outstretched hands, “oh, angel, you did a number on yourself didn’t you?”

Quiet, hiccuping cries continued to to escape Penny but she gave no other response. She hadn’t even acknowledged Stark’s presence, which just emphasized how distraught she was; Penny was hypervigilant around Tony 90% of the time.

“Poor thing,” Pepper sighed, hand rested on her forehead, “we need to get a psychiatrist in here.”

Penny yelped loudly when Bruce dug a small piece of glass from her knee, jerking against Bucky’s hold unintentionally, “I’m not that kind of doctor.”

“We know, we know,” Tony brushed his words off, standing up and dragging a hand over his beard, “get someone on it, Pep. We’ve got to get going or we’ll be late, Rogers—”

“I’m staying home with her today, Buck’ll go in once she calms down,” the blond cut him off before he could finish.

The older man nodded, leaning over to press a kiss to Penny’s forehead before standing up, “I’ll be back later, we’ve got a press conference.”

The pair exited just as quickly as they’d entered, Pepper giving JARVIS orders while Tony talked incessantly at her. It was the kind of dynamic that to a stranger looked like regular behavior, but the soldiers and Bruce knew it revealed their discomfort; Pepper made very polite requests to JARVIS, always, because she knew how annoying it was to have orders barked at her and Tony didn’t speak over her, out of a sense of respect he only had very a select few people. They weren’t sure if it was Penny’s current state, or the press event they were likely on their way to, or both, but Tony and Pepper were definitely distraught.

“You’re doing very well, Penny,” Bruce spoke quietly as he moved from her right knee to her left knee, having successfully removed all of the glass, “there’s not too much in this one, it’s just a little deeper. Just squeeze Bucky’s hands when it hurts, okay?”

The trembling brunette nodded, still hiccuping every few seconds. It took a good half hour for Bruce to get all of the glass out and after double checking his work three separate times, he finally bandaged her up. Sitting in her panties and an oversized henley in Bucky's lap, with bandages on her hands and knees, she lookes like a little girl who'd fallen while playing outside. It was almost like when Steve had been so small, when Bucky could still cradle him in his lap. His arms squeezed around her waist and he kissed the back of her head softly.

"Alright Penny, we're finished," Bruce gave her a smile and stood up, handing off some sterile packaging to Steve to be thrown away, "just keep an eye out for signs of infection, change the bandages regularly, and you'll be good to go."

"Thanks for coming, Bruce," the blond sounded just as sad as he felt as he led him out towards the open front door and into the hallway that held the elevator.

"The emotional trauma will recede, Steve," Bruce put a hand on the taller man's shoulder, "she's going to be okay, humans are incredibly adaptable. You just have to keep pressing."

"It's just hard when she's so sad," Steve sighed, "we knew she would be scared, but I hate that we're making her sad."

"That's because you're a good person," Bruce's face cracked into a crooked smile, "now, go comfort her."

Chapter 16

Chapter Text

Peter Parker was persistent. He had the kind of focus not seen in many teenagers, a dead set determination and a clever tongue to boot. Tony knew his boy hadn't learned his fast-talking ways from Penny, who would rather plow through problems with a baseball bat and her boots than sweet talk her way through anything, and he honestly wished he could've met their aunt May. She must've been one cunning lady to have raised such sh*t kickers. Especially since Peter, for all of his brutal intelligence, knew when to feign his sister's bambi eyes and play young and dumb.

Unfortunately, Tony had a tendency to overlook the fact that Peter was a genius. It wasn't an exaggeration, it wasn't stretching the truth, Peter had a deadly combination of intelligence and cunning that was far beyond most people’s scope of understanding. Maybe if things had gone different, Penny could’ve explained that Peter was a f*cking Slytherin. The kid had a level of ambition and determination that meant his intelligence went from ‘damn he’s smart’ to ‘oh no he’s smart’.

It was a thin line that Penny had learned to walk quite well, but that Tony wasn't quite aware of. If he knew how fast the teenager's mind worked, he would've waited to let Peter see Penny. Instead, he agreed that they would have dinner on the soldier's floor. The second they stepped off the elevator and through the door to the apartment, Peter had already begun calculating. Steve clocked it within minutes, the way the teenager’s eyes scanned.

Peter knew without a doubt that he was the safest person in the tower at any given time, both literally and figuratively. JARVIS had eyes on him every second of the day, regardless of privacy protocols and dark rooms. If Peter was in the tower, JARVIS was watching and entirely prepared to obliterate any danger in over ten miles, if Tony's spiel could be believed. If anyone decided to try to hurt Peter, they would literally be dead in seconds.

He also currently possessed at least 90% of Tony Stark's devotion. The man was admittedly a creep, but he was a very powerful and very dangerous creep. Peter had seen the kind of men who skittered away under the weight of Tony's glare, who were more afraid of Tony Stark than of their mobster bosses. People were scared of the power Tony had and that included every person in the tower— the soldiers were not exempt.

The soldiers were not exempt and Peter was savagely aware of his status in comparison to theirs.

And Penny wasn't right. Penny was good at hiding her distress she always had been. Even when all of her loved ones were dying around her she'd kept her head on straight. Peter couldn't remember seeing her falter even once when she knew he was watching. But she was not okay and he noticed immediately and he did not like it.

She'd greeted him when he and Tony came in. She'd hugged him tight and kissed his cheek and whispered she loved him. Tony had quickly inserted himself, wrapping around the pair and cooing at them both like they were puppies. Steve felt his jaw tick; Peter was subconsciously checking her for injuries, tucking Penny as close to his chest as he could and engulfing her small frame while his eyes scanned their surroundings.

It was strange to see a place so heavily influenced by Penny's tastes. They'd never had money before, never had the opportunity for Penny to so any sort of decorating, but the soldier's living room was decorated exactly to her dreams. There were plants everywhere, a giant hammock hung from the ceiling in front of the windows right next to an oversized beanbag chair. There was a delicate looking shelf with a vast array of yarn. It looked green and warm and there was a fireplace under the tv that he knew she'd love once winter hit.

Because they were still gonna be there in the winter. Peter understood that, to some degree. That it had been early May when they were first taken, he'd been about to graduate. Penny would turn 25 in August and he would turn 18 in September. And they'd be in the tower. They'd be in the tower for their birthdays and for Halloween and Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. Unless something happened.

The longer he watched Penny interact with the soldiers, the more Peter decided that something needed to happen.

He hadn’t seen a happy or pleased look on Penny’s face since the day they’d been kidnapped. There was no telling if Tony or the others could tell, but he got the feeling they couldn't. To be fair, she had a bit of a resting bitch face and it was difficult for some people to distinguish between ‘that’s just how my face looks’ and ‘if one more bitch throws a stone in this glass house I’m gonna f*ckin’ lose it’. Even Peter could admit the differences were subtle; it came down to a slight dimple in her cheek caused when she grit her teeth especially hard on the left side, the way her nose twitched when someone said something especially f*cking dumb. Usually when she spent so long looking so pissed off, she’d come home from the night shift with a bag of weed the moment she could afford it.

But the way she looked now wasn’t… anything Peter had ever seen before. Happiness was easy to identify if you knew her and he’d seen what she looked like two minutes before she started screaming in anger. He could remember the several times the pair of them had been in some sort of custody related court hearing and he knew what fear looked like on Penny’s face too. It wasn’t fear, though, the expression on Penny’s face; it wasn’t the fear he’d witnessed on her face when she’d been so, so afraid that she wouldn’t be put under aunt May and uncle Ben’s custody. It wasn’t even the same expression she’d made the day they were deciding on whether or not he’d be able to stay under her custody after aunt May died, but fear was the closest thing he could compare it too.

It was crushing to witness. Penny’s natural tan had gone pasty white, the blood drained from her features. Her hair was a frizzed up mess, meaning she’d been pulling at it constantly for hours. Her eyes were bloodshot and constantly scanning and she was staying within arm’s reach of the soldiers at all times. He almost wondered if it was some stupid rule they’d given her like the ones Tony gave him sometimes; arbitrary orders just to see if he’d follow the rules properly.

But the soldiers were acting incredibly casual and simply accepting the closeness like it was a gift. Every time she brushed near them, Peter could see the way their faces would light up. Both Steve and Bucky were unnecessarily attractive, problematically pretty and when they were happy— well, they were really attractive when they were happy. Steve looked like a golden retriever, exhilarated and bright. Bucky was a harder read but even his eyes were softer, his stance more relaxed.

“Food will be up soon, how about we pick the movie?” Steve was facing the TV as he spoke, remote in one hand while the other smoothed over Penny’s back, “anybody have any suggestions?”

“Not Star Wars,” Tony spoke up, tone light as he put his arms around Peter from behind, kissing the side of the teenager’s head, “we’ve been marathoning them for days and there’s still more.”

“Star Wars is great,” he automatically argued, forcing his body not to relax into the hold.

“What about a fantasy film instead of sci-fi then? JARVIS, could you show us options?”

The men all bickered casually over their options, but Peter turned his head to Penny and spoke in Hebrew, “what’s wrong Penina?”

The words seemed to startle her out of a trance and she turned to look at him, confusion in her eyes; he very rarely used her Hebrew name. It was common for Jewish kids to have a Hebrew name tucked away, the one that families generally used versus the English name they used by day. Penina Shoshana was her full name, her grandfather had been Penuel and was the reason Penny and Peter both had P names. Shoshana was named for her father, Ephraim.

“Nothing my love,” she answered quietly, eyelashes fluttering slightly and he could see the shine of tears in her eyes, “nothing is wrong.”

Peter squirmed out of Tony’s arms and walked to the couch, grabbing her arm and pulling her down onto the same cushion as him. He wrapped himself around her like an octopus, sending Steve a dark look when the blond looked back curiously, and tugged her closer.

“Don’t lie, please tell me what’s wrong?”

“Palti Chayim,” Penny rarely used his Hebrew name, only when she was chastising him, but it was all she could choke out, her eyes so full of fear, “don’t look at him like that, don’t make them angry.”

“But—”

“Hey, we’re feeling a little left out here,” Tony plopped onto the couch directly next to him and wrapped his arm around Peter’s shoulders, “I’m surprised you both know Hebrew so well, you must’ve learned it as kids?”

Peter tried not to grit his teeth; he was trying to have a serious conversation with his sister but if he didn’t answer Tony promptly and with the correct attitude he’d get called bratty and get threatened with a punishment. Penny was in a fragile state— Peter literally didn’t know how she’d react to him being threatened right in front of her. He’d never seen her like this before, he was missing key variables.

“Penny knows it better than me,” he answered, “I learned when I was little but Penny spoke it enough that it kept me from forgetting it all once we moved in with aunt May. Penina, please tell me what’s going on? What did they do to you?”

“Penina, is that what Penny is short for?” Bucky questioned, coming to sit far too close to them on the opposite side of the couch from Tony, “I thought it was Penelope?”

“Jewish kids have Hebrew names most of the time,” Peter forced himself to bite out, “They chose Penina first with Penny for a nickname, Penelope was just an easy derivative for an English name.”

“Peter you must let it go,” Penny’s voice almost startled him, especially coming from so close to his ear.

“I’m not letting it go! What did they do to you?”

Steve was watching him. The blond man was careful and incredibly discreet but Peter felt the tingle run up his spine. There was a dangerous energy behind the muscle bound giant, he retained the golden retriever essence but there was red behind it. Penny immediately clocked it as well.

“Do not speak in such a tone, Palti,” Penny’s tone was more controlled than Peter’s was but the panic was still there and she followed it up with a string of words he vaguely recognized from the Torah, mumbled so fast under her breath he couldn’t make out the individual words.

“Penny,” her head turned, nervous brown eyes landing on Steve.

It was probably a good thing that Peter couldn’t tell what was going on in her head. The fear she’d experienced for 7 and a half f*cking hours of being alone with Steve. A man that she witnessed torture another human being without hesitation just 24 hours ago. He would’ve lost it and his captors would realize he was far more like Penny than they could’ve imagined.

“You need to speak a language we can understand, your tone is making us nervous,” the man’s words were calm and his tone was even.

There wasn’t a hint of agitation that Peter could hear but Penny’s spine stiffened and she nodded immediately, lips pressed tightly shut.

“Now, what movie should we watch?”

“They hurt you, didn’t they? Tell me, I’ll tell Tony, he’ll take you from them!”

“Palti Chayim, stop it!” An accent laced Penny’s voice, audible beneath her panic, “Now! You have to stop!”

“Peter,” Tony’s hand casually found the back of his neck, fingers massaging into the tissue gently but pointedly, “between the three of us, we know at least 10 different languages. You can pick any of those, but you need to pick one we understand.”

The order raced across his skin like a spiderweb, chills chasing down his spine at the nearly tangible sensation. Disobeying direct orders from Tony was one of Peter’s least favourite things to do, both because it resulted in a punishment 9 times out of 10 and because it meant Tony would be upset with him. He hated making Tony upset, despite everything.

Once again his brain repeated what he’d been thinking for days and days, ‘if you just hadn’t of hurt Penny, if you’d left her out of this, why did you have to do this, it didn’t have to be this way’. How was he supposed to deal with such an offense, the blatant disregard for his sister’s life. Penny was the single most important person in Peter’s life but he was just supposed to deal with how she’d been treated? Like an abused f*cking dog. Passed off to whatever schlep would take her, beaten into obedience and expected to be kind and loving and loyal and beaten again every time she wasn’t.

“They hurt her,” he snapped, eyes locked on where Bucky was sitting so close to her, “they had to have, there’s no other reason Penny would be acting like this!”

“Peter—” Bucky cut Penny off before she could finish, standing up with her in his arms and taking just a couple of steps away from the couch.

“Hush, babydoll,” the way the man arranged her in his arms bothered him, the way he rolled her head against his shoulder and tilted his head down to shadow her face. Who the f*ck did he think he was, touching his sister like that?

“Peter, I want you to listen to me,” Tony took his chin in hand and turned his face, “Penny has not been hurt, she was punished for acting out last night. She wasn’t hurt at all.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Peter snapped to his feet, heart racing under his ribs, “Y-You think whatever they did to her… was okay? S-She’s traumatized! I’ve never seen her so terrified in my entire f*cking life, what the f*ck Tony!?”

“Baby boy if you don’t calm down immediately there will be consequences. You’re getting your sister worked up over a punishment that should’ve been put to bed the moment it was over. You’ve earned yourself a couple of punishments yourself, haven’t you?” There was a cold calmness in the man’s voice, at war with the fire in his eyes.

Part of him wanted to believe that Tony couldn’t possibly mean what he was saying. Penny was broken, something was wrong. How could he say that, as if she deserved to be traumatized for whatever stupid behavior she’d displayed.

It would’ve been okay, maybe, for her to have gotten a spanking like he had before. It wasn’t a lasting punishment, it wouldn’t follow her in her nightmares. It certainly wouldn’t bother her while she was awake—he’d bet Penny would chew literal glass before allowing herself to act like she was in pain from something like a spanking. Whatever this was, it had changed her entire demeanor into something he wasn’t entirely sure he recognized. It wasn’t just some punishment for misbehaving, they’d hurt her and he didn’t care. He didn’t f*cking care.

Peter turned to look where Penny had managed to wriggle her way onto her feet despite Bucky’s arms remaining loosely around her, swallowing heavily, “I’m going to get us out of here, Penina. I promise Penny, whatever I have to do to get us away, I’m gonna do it.”

He didn’t notice Tony’s phone go off hardly a second later, but he did feel the way Tony’s hand closed over the back of his neck. The pressure steadily increased until he found himself squeezing his eyes shut, apprehension tangling its way down his nervous system.

“I know that you were told to speak a different language—twice, baby. You deliberately disobeyed. You’re not going anywhere, sweet boy, there’s no getting away,” Tony’s voice vibrated through his entire body, his knees trembled, “and you should know better than to be acting out like this.”

Already weak kneed, Peter was quick to collapse under the weight of Tony’s hand. The landing was jarring and painful but Tony immediately stepped up closer and pulled him to lean his weight against his legs, cheek pressed firmly to the hollow in the older man’s hip by a tight grip on his hair. Peter managed to tilt his head back just enough to see the way Tony looked down at him, the stern expression on his face.

It only lasted a second or two. At least, that’s what it felt like in Peter’s eyes. One moment, Tony was staring down at him, flexing the hand clenching his hair and the next he was just gone. All 125lbs of Penny had bulldozed him, shoulder finding prime real estate exactly where his sternum ended and the fragile connection of his false ribs became the most tenuous. There was a horribly awkward inhale followed by a pained wheeze. Tony stumbled and hit the ground and then everyone moved at the same time.

Penny darted forward to grab the injured man, hands already tucked into fists as she landed on her knees at his side. Before she could enact anymore acts of brutality Bucky and Steve had burst forward. Steve hauled Penny up and over his shoulder in less than a second, completely immune to her screaming obscenities. Bucky followed Tony to the floor and carefully felt out the prone man’s ribs, flesh fingers gliding over bruising skin as delicately as possible. He couldn’t find any fractures, nothing was obvious other than the abrasions, but they’d still have to call Bruce down. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too disturbed by the late hour. Or the multiple house calls in one day (to the same floor even, they were f*cked).

“Penny, babydoll—twice in two days?” Steve sighed heavily as he manipulated her carefully in his arms, her own pinned to her sides.

“I’ll f*cking kill him, I don’t care!” She screamed, tears of fear and rage slipping from her eyes, “Don’t you ever touch him! I’ll f*cking die first, Stark! I’ll kill you myself!”

Penny’s knee slipped from Steve’s grip and she immediately drove it up straight into his face. She hit the ground full force, back taking the entire impact and knocking the breath out of her. Steve stumbled back a step or two before going through the coffee table, smashing it to bits while blood spewed everywhere.

Recovering from her rough landing took more time than she’d anticipated, but Penny managed to weakly grasp the leg of the coffee table, broken off in Steve’s spill, on her way back to her feet.

Peter’s eyes went almost impossibly wide at the sight; Penny had played softball since she could walk. She’d been such a good batter that had she finished high school, she likely would’ve gotten a full ride scholarship for the position. She hit harder than any other player in the state, harder than the majority of the baseball teams’ players in the area. Her wrist rolled and the wood spun around her hand before coming to rest in her palm again.

Bucky didn’t even really see it coming, but Peter watched it happen in slow motion. The man’s head turned one frame at a time while Penny adjusted her grip and wound up. He just barely managed to raise his metal arm in time to deflect the tail end of the hit.

Steve and Tony couldn’t remember the last time they’d seen Bucky hit the ground like a sack of bricks. A completely uncontrolled fall, head bouncing off the luckily carpeted floor. Tony would’ve been next, had Steve not gathered his bearings with an unsettling swiftness. He rose to his feet, blood pouring from his nose, and grabbed Penny from behind. It was fortunate that by now she’d run through her repertoire of bear hug hold escapes because she didn’t try anything that managed to surprise him, maintaining a carefully balanced amount of pressure and support.

“Shhhh, babydoll, you’re gonna go to sleep now,” Steve’s hand closed over her throat, thumb covering her pulse with a careful pressure, “just go to sleep baby, we’ll take care of this.”

“D-Don’t hurt her,” Peter felt a panic attack coming on with rapid speed, twisting in his chest and knotting around his heart, “please, please—”

“It’s okay, Peter, you don’t have to worry, Penny’s safe,” the blond’s words were gentle despite the situation, despite the fact that Penny went limp in his arms within seconds and his eyes locked on the boy’s face, “all we want is for you both to be safe and happy and we’re going to figure out how to make that work. It’s our fault that everything’s been so difficult on you both, but we’ll fix it. Just give us a chance sweetheart, I promise we’re going to fix it.”

There was a shocking amount of meaning portrayed in so few sentences. They were going to figure it out, make it work. They were going to fix it and Peter had no idea what that entailed and no idea what impact it would have on his sister but he understood now. He understood why Penny looked so exhaustingly terrified; Steve Rogers was covered in blood, still actively bleeding while his nose swelled and his eyes bruised. His lover was knocked out cold on the floor, next to one of his best friends who still gasped for every other breath.

The golden retriever of a man transformed into something unseemly. There was a darkness in his eyes, a sharpness to his face, and a cunning cut to his stare. He was terrifying in a way that Tony couldn’t emulate, one that caused a primal sense of fear to build in the back of one's skull.

But Peter Parker was a f*cking genius and if these bastards thought for a moment they could outsmart him they were wrong. Because if you gathered all that determination and all that ruthlessness together, it collected into a powder keg. So maybe he was the powder keg, not Penny. Penny was just the match and Peter was the one about to explode.

Chapter 17

Chapter Text

"You know, with the right training she could be—"

"Don't. Don't say it, Clint." Bucky still had an ice pack pressed against his head, laid in one of the beds in Bruce's med lab with Tony in a similar situation to his left. Penny was medically sedated and laying across Bucky's chest, looking far too peaceful for having attempted two whole murders not an hour ago.

Natasha smiled at the way her blond friend pouted, crossing his muscled arms over his chest and muttering something about "I was just saying…". She'd come home just in time to witness the chaos that followed Penny's admittedly brutal attack (she would never tell the soldiers, but she was at least 75% sure that given the right combination of timing and surprise Penny could absolutely kill at least one of them) and hadn't stopped smiling since.

Seeing Penny Parker on a television screen, filmed by a sh*tty old laptop webcam, was entirely different than seeing her in person. She was just as cute, made the same little irritated faces and noises but she could see what Steve had seen so early on now, that there was something more. Even after she’d literally just taken a makeshift baseball bat to his skull, Bucky’s hands were running up and down her back, chin brushing the top of her head. They’d mentioned something about not wanting her to have to see a needle mark after being sedated, Steve had changed her into a long sleeve shirt and a pair of pink shorts, but not before making everyone but Tony and Bucky leave the room.

There was something about her that made the people in her vicinity want to do things for her. She made people want to make her happy. It was some kind of compulsion, found most deeply in the three men currently resting closest to her— she’d tried to literally break his ribs, but even Tony had an arm stretched over the gap between beds to hold her hand.

The man in question was actually the main reason she’d headed to the medical floor upon returning to the tower. There were times when Tony became strangely unapproachable and it had taken a good 30 minutes of him reclining back on a hospital bed for him to regain his usual nonchalance and easiness. As soon as he recognized her lurking near the back of the room he’d motioned her over but was quick to ask her to wait until Penny had been under for a sufficient amount of time before asking for a debrief.

“She’s gonna lose it when she wakes up,” Steve was talking mostly to Bucky, both hands on his lovers, “we’ll need to at least prove that Peter’s alright, immediately.”

“She can’t see him for a bit,” Bucky’s tone was tighter than Natasha would’ve expected, his hands running up under the back of Penny’s shirt, “no offense Tony, but Penny was trying so hard and he just—”

“No offense taken, Buckaroo,” Tony was tapping away at his tablet with his free hand, “Peter is in very big trouble.”

“Penny is too,” Steve sighed heavily, elbows sinking into the mattress of Bucky and Penny’s bed slightly harder, “I just don’t know… She obviously has to be punished, what she did could’ve caused a lot more damage if she’d taken half a second longer to think it through, but at the same time—”

“At the same time we know she’s going to do whatever she thinks she has to in order to protect him.” Bucky removed one hand from Penny’s back to grasp his boyfriend’s. “We should’ve been ready for it. She doesn’t have impulse control when it comes to Peter, she needed us to keep her steady and we didn’t.”

“If you are going to begin infantilizing her, you would best do it now.” There was a sharp delight in Loki’s tone as the man spoke, a wicked smirk on his face while he stood with his arms crossed over his chest near the wall. “Otherwise, keep in mind that she is an adult and is capable of rational thought.”

“Sometimes she may not be, brother.” Thor sent the slender man a quick look of derision. “A rage is not something we can all dig our way out of and you know that just as well as I. Penny will trade herself and her own safety for Peter’s every time, in any case.”

“I would say we’d take her for another lesson with Rumlow, but…” Steve very deliberately turned his gaze to her and Natasha forced herself not to preen under the eyes of one of her best friends, who knew she wouldn’t have returned unless she’d been successful in her task.

“I’m afraid he’s going to be coming with me, after a debrief,” she inclined her head towards Tony, eyes darting just momentarily to Penny in question.

“She’s been out long enough at this point she shouldn’t be able to still hear anything and if she does her brain won’t be able to make sense of it,” Bruce stated from his desk in the corner, having heard the woman’s hesitation.

“Go ahead, Nat,” Tony added when the redhead still hesitated.

“I found good matches for Penny and Peter,” she stated, producing photographs from her back pocket, “they’re not perfect, I’d need a bit more time, but they’ll be good enough. We’ll just need to mutilate the bodies more than usual, people won’t ask questions when they fit the situation so well. I’m going to burn the bodies in the woods, make it look like Rumlow got lost trying to find his way back to his car and died in the wilderness.”

Tony hummed, brushing his fingers over the figures in the photographs. They’d been beaten in the process of their abduction but their general size, shape, and ages were correct. The kid wasn’t anything close to his baby boy, nothing in comparison to Peter, but he would likely fit the bill of tall, skinny, 17 almost 18-year-old boy who potentially didn’t get proper nutrition. The woman who’d been taken in place of Penny was slightly closer, if only because the skin was nearly the right shade (which wouldn’t matter once the body was burned, anyway).

“How are the police doing?”

“They’re pretty sure Penny was the target,” Clint butted in, having assisted with infiltrating the law enforcement presence surrounding the situation, “Peter was an unfortunate casualty. They have two or three leads but obviously nothing accurate, although her friend did come forward and tell the police Penny had been attacked in a club all those months ago.”

Tony swung his legs over the side of the hospital bed but carefully waited for a go head nod from Bruce before getting to his feet. “I’m going to run some security tests, make sure nothing’s going to come back to us. Natasha, feel free to take a break before you run off with Rumlow.”

“Hold on, Tony, I’m gonna come with you.” Steve leaned over and kissed Bucky gently, running his lips over the back of Penny’s head. “We’re obviously gonna need some advice going forward with Penny and I don’t know a better person to talk it over with.”

“Right on Cap, let’s go,” Tony turned and bent over to kiss Penny’s visible cheek, “take care of her, Bucky Bear.”

“She won’t stay under long after I remove the anesthesia, we should do a blood test while she’s out,” Bruce interjected as he walked to one of the medical cabinets near his desk, “give her the vaccinations she’s missing—”

“Can you get that thing out of her arm?” Steve stopped just short of the doorway, Tony nearly running into his back. “There’s no way she’ll let us do it while she’s awake unless we restrain her.”

“The birth control implant?” Bruce nodded, “Yeah, it’s just a quick incision.”

Bucky hummed quietly, one hand coming up to tangle in her hair. “Is there anything else she needs that you can do while she’s asleep?”

“I don’t think so,” Banner shook his head while he continued to ready his equipment, “I’m gonna take enough blood to run all of the tests we need, she might be a little woozy for a bit once she wakes up. Just make sure she eats and drinks plenty.”

“She’ll wake up scared but after that she’ll settle pretty fast,” Steve crossed his arms over his chest. “She knows she’s gonna get a punishment, she’ll be good ‘cause she’s scared to make it worse.”

Bucky heaved a sigh, feeling Penny shift on his chest in the process. Thor and Loki remained in the room while Bruce puttered around, despite Natasha and Clint following at a respectful distance behind Steve and Tony. They hadn’t actually been near Penny since her arrival and he could tell the brothers were curious—obviously, the stories had been running rampant. She was certainly a curiosity.

“She really is quite precious,” Thor’s voice was a rumble as he came to sit in the chair Steve had vacated, “the things she has gone through would have ruined some people.”

Loki scoffed from his corner but Bucky didn’t take it personally; Thor and Loki had been through things that would cripple a normal person. Their childhoods had been full of the kind of suffering most people had nightmares about, literal torture. But in all fairness, Thor and Loki had been ruined by what they’d gone through.

“Bucky, lift her arm up and put her hand behind her head, I need to get to her tricep to get the implant out,” Bruce had rolled a little metal tray over to the bedside, “it’s a small incision, I’ll press the implant out and bandage it up.”

“How soon will it lose effect?”

The look the doctor leveled him was derisive, “Immediately, Buck. She’s gonna be fertile very quickly, you’ll need to make sure she has what she needs for when she starts to menstruate again.”

It took real, actual willpower to keep himself from popping a boner. The word fertile was weird and held certain connotations, but the idea that if he came inside her she could get pregnant was almost mind-blowing. He and Steve wanted a big family, they always had, even when it had just been the two of them. They’d never thought anything would come of it, especially in the ‘40s but even after they’d found themselves hurled 70 years into the future. Two men adopting children was still persistently frowned upon. That wouldn’t be a problem anymore though, they had Penny, they had their babydoll. They were gonna have babies.

Bruce proceeded to cut the implant out and bandage her up, take so many vials of blood from her arm that Bucky started getting concerned, and inject several vaccinations into each of her arms. He warned that she’d likely be sore, to keep her in long sleeves so she couldn’t irritate or see the injection sites.

“Everything should be set to rights in your apartment,” Loki stated when Bucky finally came to stand up, Penny carefully cradled in his arms, “anything broken was replicated and replaced, the cats are with the little witch. I do suggest keeping her away from any object that can be wielded like a bat, her swing would likely give Thor a run for his money.”

“She is a little warrior,” Thor stood up nodding, coming around the bed to stand next to his brother, “I hope that soon she will feel safe enough to know she does not have to be.”

“Steve and Tony will come up with something.” If there was one thing Buck had no doubts about it was that if the pair of them put their heads together over a problem, it would inevitably be solved rather quickly. “We’ve just gotta keep her safe in the meantime. I’m gonna get her up to bed. How long on those sedatives, Bruce?”

“Not long, probably half an hour, an hour max. She’s going to be drowsy for a bit once she comes out of it too, so keep an eye on her.”

Bucky slipped through the necessary pleasantries and found himself walking just slightly faster than usual towards the elevator. For some reason the ride took forever, all he wanted was Penny back in their bed, wrapped in blankets that smelled like them.

Well, actually, that might’ve been a small white lie. In all honesty, he was very much preoccupied with the idea of Penny sleeping while filled to the brim with his cum. He wouldn't f*ck her while she was unconscious, not for their first time anyway, but he wanted his cum on her, in her, somehow ASAP and his co*ck completely agreed. He knew that Steve would likely disagree with him, the blond had been pressing him for patience for weeks but he couldn't hold back completely— not while an image of the tiny Penny standing with a hugely pregnant belly (twins, he told himself, she was so big because she had two babies in there) watched him demurely through dark lashes in his mind's eye.

He barely registered walking into the apartment, kicking off his shoes or shutting their bedroom door. The kittens were with Wanda, their friend not wanting to leave the poor things alone for too long, and he found the absence of the squeaky meows a small relief; that had been a part of what set Penny off before.

They'd been doing that a lot— tiptoeing around Penny. She was delicate, in a very complicated situation, but they had been walking on eggshells with her since day one. They'd been so determined to make her happy they'd forgotten that breaking Penny needed to be a priority. She was strong-willed and he loved that, but her determination and stubbornness needed to be directed constructively. They should've been more stern with her from the beginning, more exacting.

Bucky had decided on behalf of both him and Steve that it would be changing immediately upon her waking. Once he'd set her on the bed rested up against the headboard and several pillows, he immediately pulled off her little pink shorts and smiled at the sight below; Penny was small but she had a particularly sweet bubble butt and the panties they had for her didn't really fit because of it. The fabric was consistently caught between the cheeks of her ass, pulled tight in the crotch with dusky puss* lips almost peaking out on either side, especially when he splayed her legs wide to either side.

His co*ck came out of his joggers and slapped against his lower stomach just as soon as he lowered the waistband far enough. Fully erect he was incredibly impressive, a combination of a botched super-soldier serum and genetics. He had always had a healthy sex drive, even when he and Stevie had been half-starving in their late teens he could remember railing the blond's ass in whatever speck of privacy he could achieve nearly every day. Stevie had whined even back then, even before the enhancements that Bucky had too much cum, that he felt like Bucky dumped buckets up his asshole every time they f*cked. 'It's like gettin' an enema at the doctor, Buck,' the skinny blond would whine, holding himself around the gut as they walked down the street, 'I need'a bathroom.' Bucky would tell him that he better keep his asshole clenched to keep it all in, otherwise it'd look pretty bad while they walked. 'You want people to think you sh*t yourself with the wet spot you'd make punk? You better hold that cum until we get home— if you start to spill before that I might have to pull you into an alley and fill you back up.'

It was a thing, he supposed, his very slight obsession with his cum filling and covering his lovers. Bucky climbed up onto the bed, hovering over Penny's waist while he jerked his co*ck. He'd imagined Penny walking around with belly fulls of cum constantly and figured daily blowj*bs would be a good way to curb her stubbornness. Precum dripped from the tip of his co*ck and he arched his back to rub the head over her just slightly parted lips. It had been days since he and Steve had gotten a chance to go at it and he felt his balls draw up at the sensation of her breath on his oversensitive skin.

"That's good babydoll," he murmured, slipping his thumb between her lips and gently coaxing her mouth open wider, "lemme cum right on that sweet tongue baby. Give you plenty to drink, just like Bruce said."

He slipped his co*ck just between her lips, groaning at the sensation while continuing to work himself. He could come buckets if he tried but was careful to bring on just a small org*sm, just enough to take the edge off.

"My good girl, you would take my whole co*ck down your throat, wouldn't you," his voice was gritty and low, "gonna swallow a whole load.. but for now…"

He moaned her name when he came, thick ropes covering her tongue quickly. He tilted her head back and rubbed her throat gently, coaxing her to swallow before he grasped the base of his dick almost painfully and shifted down her body. As much as he liked seeing her pretty lips covered in his drying cum, there was another spot he wanted to mark just as thoroughly.

Pulling the crotch of her underwear to the side was easy with the way he'd spread her legs and he was quick to work his hand down his co*ck, shooting the rest of his load into her panties. His breathing was faster than normal during an org*sm and as he pressed her panties back in place, slipping his fingers under the waistband and pulling them high, high, high on her hips to work his cum all over her little puss*, he realized he hadn't had such a satisfying org*sm since the first time he'd seen her on that sh*tty webcam footage.

He heaved a sigh, carefully rearranging Penny to lay comfortably in the bed and gently pulling her silk shorts back up her legs. They’d likely be the only pair of pants she wore for the next week; her punishment would begin in the morning, a 25 count spanking every day for 5 days—1 for Tony’s bruised ribs, 2 for the grade of concussion Bucky had from the hit, 1 for Steve’s broken nose, and 1 for not following the rules. Their poor baby definitely wouldn’t be sitting on the bruises for a while.

Bucky’s eyes flickered up when the bedroom door opened, only to nearly get yet another erection upon seeing Steve’s shirtless form illuminated from behind. The blond had a tendency to undress while walking from room to room in the apartment, leaving behind trails of clothes in his wake. His shirt was still in hand this time, likely a new habit in development after the few days he’d experienced Penny’s disgruntled looks every time she found a rogue shirt flung haphazardly across the apartment.

“Is that cum on her lips, Buck?” His voice was gravelly and Bucky let a slow smirk cross his face.

“In all fairness, I hadn’t come yet,” Bucky’s hand trailed down between her tights, swirling his fingers in the mess in her panties and showing it to the other man in the light, “not until this.”

“Is that right, jerk? You telling me you didn’t cum in her mouth? I don’t believe that for a second,” Steve slipped around the side of the bed, tugging Bucky back towards the edge and pressing his thumb past the brunet’s lips to stroke against his tongue. “Penny’ll be asleep for a little longer, why don’t you come take a shower with me?”

Bucky took the time to lean over Penny’s sleeping form and press his lips against her cheek before letting Steve pull him to his feet and into the bathroom. He made sure to leave the door propped open, just in case Penny started to wake up while they were still in the shower.

In all honesty, they probably let things get away from them; the anesthesia mixed with the vaccinations and the blood loss wreaked quick havoc on Penny’s consciousness as she dragged herself awake; there was a sense of panic and despair caught in her chest but she didn’t know why? She didn’t know where she was, where was Peter, where was Aunt May—

The slowly increasing despair suddenly flooded through her, eyes blurring until Aunt May took shape in the shadows and contours of the bed beside her. God, she looked so pretty, so young, but her usual smile was missing. Instead, there were tears on her cheeks and a tremble shook her form.

“May?” Penny’s voice felt hoarse, several octaves lower than usual, “Aunt May, why’re you crying?”

May didn’t answer, her hand came down to rest on Penny’s shoulder but she couldn’t feel it. She couldn’t feel the familiar weight, the comforting heat. Something wasn’t right, her head swam. Why was she so messed up? The last time—

“What did you do, Pen?” Aunt May’s voice warbled, tapering off at the end.

“Do?” She wasn’t sure if the word actually came out, had she actually spoken?

“What did you do, Penny?” Names echoed in Penny’s head, Penny, Penina, Penelope, Pen, different voices saying different things, “All I asked was for you to take care of Peter…”

Crushing, violent pain rocketed through her heart, echoing in her muscles, vibrating from her pores. Aunt May had made her make so many promises before she passed, take care of Peter, give him a chance, be there for him. She’d asked for so much and Penny hadn’t been able to conform to every promise; she couldn’t take care of Peter and herself, couldn’t give him a chance and stay in school, couldn’t be there for him and also provide for him. There were trade-offs, she did what she had to.

But the look of disappointment on May’s face was overwhelming, “you’re going to die, he’ll be alone, here, in this… place.”

This place. Penny rolled to the edge of the bed opposite to where Aunt May sat, the contents of her stomach splattering against the hardwood floor. She shivered violently, almost falling off the edge of the bed. Her brain told her Aunt May had moved, the way the bed jolted made it feel like she was right behind her.

“I’m so sorry,” she breathed, eyes wide and filling with tears, “I tried to hard—”

“I know, I know,” Aunt May’s voice sounded weird, her hands were so much bigger than Penny remembered, “you tried so hard, I’m sorry it wasn’t enough. But there won’t be a next time and it’s over now.”

It was never enough. Penny tried so hard over and over only to fail, to fall short of the finish line. It didn’t matter if it was providing for her family, protecting Peter— nothing. It was too much, too overwhelming, every time she paid a bill there was another overdue, she could work every day of her life and never catch up to her debt, Peter was so sad every time she couldn’t make it to a competition or science fair but she couldn’t take time off, not when his school cost so much…

“Oh Penny,” the voice was so far away and she found it hard to listen, her brain reorganizing the words, “why did you let this happen? Why didn’t you do better? Why don’t you ever get it right?”

It didn’t matter that the words were actually meant to be comforting, Bucky and Steve having come running out of the shower upon hearing her vomit. “Its okay baby doll, I’m sorry we let this happen to you. We should have done better, I swear we’ll get it right.”

Chapter 18

Chapter Text

Penny wasn’t entirely sure when the other shoe was going to drop. After throwing up all over the bedroom floor and crying profusely for a full hour, Steve had carried her to the bathroom for a shower while Bucky had phoned down to the kitchen for Chef Cohen to send something up. She was sure she only remembered showering because of Steve’s wandering hands. The assault in itself wasn’t shocking, they touched her constantly and it was always more sexual while they bathed, but it had been different. The touches had been more insistent, fingers probing and stroking. When she’d tried to squirm away, he’d swatted her ass hard enough that it was still smarting the next morning.

There were plenty of things to be nervous about and she wasn’t quite sure what to start with, but the fact she’d been punished for trying to escape his touches was… bad. It couldn’t quite top the fact that as they sat eating breakfast, neither had mentioned the previous evening. There was no talk of her trying to add extra ventilation to Bucky's head or that she’d smashed up Steve’s face again.

“Pretty quiet this morning, doll,” Bucky stated conversationally after an extended silence, “what’s on your mind?”

Penny’s fingers tightened around her fork, “...nothing.”

“Nothing?” Steve’s eyebrow went up, a derisive mockery of surprise and she realized whatever was coming was about to happen—the soldiers were waiting for some signal but she didn’t know what it was.

Staying quiet was evidently the wrong answer, because Steve’s face contorted into an expression of borderline irritated disappointment. Bucky seemed to mask his annoyance easier, setting down his utensils and clasping his hands over his plate. She watched the brunet closely, expecting him to stand up and cried out in shock when she was suddenly swept up out of her seat by Steve instead. The man had moved almost impossibly fast and had Penny laid out on her front across his knees on the couch before she really realized what was going on.

“We had agreed that your punishment was going to be a spanking, once a day for a week,” he easily ignored her struggles, literally ripping her shorts and panties off of her body, “but you can’t even apologize for your actions like a good girl. So today you’re getting two, I’ll take the first and Bucky can do the second.”

“Apologize?!” Penny’s voice came out as a bark, shock settling through her, “I—”

“You are an adult and should know when you need to apologize, if that’s something we need to teach you, then we will,” the first hit came without any warning and she screeched, legs kicking out while he quickly wrangled her flailing hands, “count Penny, or we’ll start from one.”

When she didn’t respond, another hit came down, “you can count or I can keep going until your ass blisters, babydoll, but you better keep in mind this is one spanking of many.”

Another smack, “agh! Two!”

Another smack, “one Penny, you didn’t count when I told you to so you’re still at one.”

Unlike the previous spanking, there were already tears in Penny’s eyes, “f*ck—one! One!”

“No cursing during a punishment,” another hit, “back to one since you can’t be sweet.”

A coughing sob escaped her, “one! One, I’m sorry!”

“Awh, now you’re sorry huh baby?” Steve’s voice was more taunting than she’d ever heard, “amazing how fast you can change your tune.”

Penny got to five before losing count and Bucky smiled from where he leant against the wall; Steve hated when she was in pain but the blond had one helluva temper when pressed and boy had Penny pressed. Penny begged when he told her to go back to one, managing three swats before she gave in and started counting again. Bucky had no idea how many she’d actually taken but had no doubts Steve knew exactly how many times his hand had come down on her bare ass. It was bright red already and Bucky would bet his backpay there would be dark purple bruises by the end of her five days.

When Penny finally managed to get to ten, Steve was quick to lift her up and sit her flat on his lap, her back to his chest and her ass pressed painfully into his thighs. It spoke to how distracted she was by the pain, she didn’t even notice the way Steve hooked her legs over the outsides of his knees. Bucky tried not to grin at the sight of her dusky puss*, spread wide and brutally exposed.

“Are you ready to apologize to Bucky, babydoll?” Penny immediately nodded through her sobs, obviously not willing to risk the blond's wrath if she didn’t respond properly.

Steve glanced up, eyes trailing over Bucky and a wry grin taking his lips; he’d assumed Buck would be rock hard and was easily proven right, watching the man swiftly pull his raging hard on out of his sweats. Penny didn’t even seem to fully comprehend what was going on as Steve pressed his fingers between her lips, between her teeth and opened her mouth wide.

“Open up precious, be a good girl now,” Steve pressed his lips against her ear as Bucky came to stand between their spread legs, hand pumping over the length of his co*ck, “be sweet Penny, no teeth.”

It was the last order that seemed to shock her out of her daze, brown eyes finally gaining some understanding just in time for Bucky to slip the head of his co*ck through her lips to drag against her tongue. Almost immediately she attempted to pull back, only for Steve to lay a brutal slap against her exposed puss*.

“If you wanna be naughty your next spanking is gonna be right here, like this, while you swallow Bucky’s co*ck,” Penny immediately stopped moving, tear filled brown eyes locked on Bucky.

“You’re alright, doll,” he murmured, hands on either side of her face while his thumbs stroked away her tears, “I promise you’ll start to like taking my co*ck like this, we’ll get you used to it,” he gave a short thrust at the back of her mouth, tutting slightly when she tried to close her throat, “open up, let me feed you baby. You didn’t eat much for breakfast and I’ve got plenty of cum to fill you up.”

He pulled back, co*ck slipping out of her mouth with an audible pop and Penny immediately whined, “please, please—”

“Finish him off and your done, babydoll,” Steve brushed his lips over the shell of her ear, her cheek, “we’ll get some arnica cream, get you some new shorts, we can lay around and watch a movie—Buck and I are both staying home, we’ll have a good day, precious.”

Bucky speared back into her mouth before she could respond, “take it all the way baby, breathe through your nose.”

Penny gagged when his co*ck pressed down into her throat but didn’t try to pull off, making the soldiers both smile. Steve brought his hand back down to her spread c*nt, ignoring the way her thighs trembled and how she instinctively tried to close her legs. His fingers danced over her puss*, coming to rub tiny circles against her cl*t. She shook at the sensation and Steve smiled, licking his fingers before returning his hand to her c*nt; the hood of her cl*t was incredibly sensitive, if the way she jumped and panted around Bucky’s co*ck was any indication. He’d have to ask the brunet his opinions on piercing her down there—Steve, personally, greatly enjoyed the idea of a nice fat jewel to keep her stimulated and wet at all times.

“Oh that’s good, precious,” Bucky gave several short thrusts into her mouth before his hands went to the back of her head, “gonna finish me off, baby? Here we go, take a deep breath.”

He barely gave her time to comply before sliding home down her throat, ignoring the way she wretched as his balls slapped her chin. Several long, brutal thrusts followed while Steve buried his fingers into her c*nt, f*cking her deep and rubbing her g spot while Bucky f*cked into her throat. He bottomed out in her mouth, hands closing around the back of her head to hold her in place.

“Stay right there,” he grunted, the soldiers ignoring the way her hands slapped desperately at the brunet's thighs—it was instinctual and she couldn’t really help it, “hold it Penny, don’t panic and hold my co*ck down your throat.”

The brunet made her wait a good 15 seconds before he pulled back, ignoring her crying whines and immediately plowing back in. Her hips were wiggling as Steve finger f*cked her c*nt, just as relentless and determined as Bucky—if the tone of her whines were anything to go by, his determination was about to quickly pay off.

“f*ck I’m gonna cum,” Bucky grunted and slowed his thrusts, pulling back until just an inch or so of his length was left in her mouth, “suck the head baby, hollow your cheeks. That’s good precious, be a good girl, deep breaths through your nose.”

Steve grinned slightly at his lover’s words; Penny could breathe deep all she wanted, once Bucky started cumming down her throat she was gonna get choked out and he enjoyed the challenge of forcing her to cum while she couldn’t breathe. He dipped his fingers into her c*nt and spread the copious wetness up to her cl*t, the extra slide making her hips jolt almost violently while the fingers on his other hand worked over the spongy wall of her puss*.

“sh*t—sh*t,” Bucky gave several brutal thrusts deep down Penny’s throat, “f*ck, I’m gonna cum precious, I’m—f*ck!”

His balls slapped her chin as he bottomed out, the first initial gush of cum going straight down the back of her throat. Penny choked, eyes watering with panic as she instinctively tried to draw back, only for Bucky to start sawing just a couple of inches back and forth, just enough to pump his co*ck through the org*sm. Steve knew how uncomfortable it could be to take Bucky's entire load, could vividly imagine the cramp in his jaw, the rapidly increasing fullness of his stomach. Penny squirmed on his lap and he gave her puss* several light slaps, the stimulation and pain distracting her from the discomfort. He could feel her c*nt tighten around his fingers and grinned.

“Cum Penny,” he ordered, punctuating each word with a slap, “cum on my fingers while Buck pours down your throat, now Penny.”

The noise she made came from her chest, incapable of escaping her mouth. She clenched tight around his fingers, her entire body trembled for several seconds before her legs thrashed out. Another long whine emanated from her chest and it was a good thing Buck had such a tight hold on her head because her body heaved when Steve’s hands didn’t let up. He was quick to pull her back when the thrashing came to an almost complete stop as she verged on unconsciousness, Bucky groaning at the loss of her mouth. The brunet brought a hand up to cover her throat, gently rubbing up and down until she gagged and gasped for breath while his other hand stroked his co*ck to send the last few thick ropes of cum across her face.

“There you go babydoll, you’re okay,” Steve knew exactly what it was like to have a massive org*sm when you couldn’t breathe for an extended period of time, “you did good, precious.”

“I knew she’d be pretty when she came.”

Penny’s eyes slit open, her face going from red to entirely ashen in a startlingly short time as she realized Tony had entered their living space and was leaning against the wall next to the fireplace, directly across from where Steve held Penny. He and Buck had both clocked the man immediately when he entered during Penny’s spanking, but it was unnecessary to call any attention to it. As long as he didn’t interfere it didn’t matter, but Steve clenched this teeth when the genius spoke; it was stupid and incendiary and Penny burst into tears almost as soon as she registered he was there. The blond was quick to limit her movements. The plan had been to close her legs and shift her to sit sideways on his lap, but Bucky stole her from his arms before he could. The brunet looked just a shade shy of furious, the heated glare he sent Tony spoke volumes even as he silently left the living room and went into the bedroom. The door slammed and Tony’s shoulders jumped while he laughed.

“Do you think that’s funny, Tony?” Steve’s tone caused him to immediately stop laughing, raising his hands placatingly.

“Calm down, Captain Crabbypants, I just came to check on things.”

“Which is fine Tony,” Steve stood, arms crossing over his chest as he took just a few steps forward, “but you should’ve left when you saw we had the situation under control. You definitely should’ve at least kept your mouth shut. That was an opportunity for progress, Tony, and you shot us in the foot.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, it wasn’t—”

“Tony, I am telling you it was out of line,” the blond immediately cut him off, “Penny isn’t yours. Her punishments aren’t an open show, we let you stay when you came in and then you decided to make a stupid quip and upset her. In the future, I need you to ask for permission before coming into the apartment.”

There was a moment of tense silence and Steve watched Tony’s jaw tick. The genius didn’t like to be told what to do, didn’t like limitations being set on his person.

“Alright Cap,” he nodded after a moment, “will do. Now, the reason I came down was for proof of life for Peter.”

“She can’t go see him right now, Tone,” Steve shook his head hands coming to rest on his hips, “not in this state. Buck’s gonna treat the spanking and then she’s going back to bed for a few hours.”

“Just send a soundbite through JARVIS, it’s not rocket science old timer,” the repeated admonishments from the soldier seemed to have turned Tony’s mood, “have her say something that can be replayed without Peter losing it.”

Steve’s eyebrows immediately jumped up his forehead, “you mean like how I would like you to not say things that make Penny lose it?” Before Tony could respond he waved the man towards the door to the apartment, “we'll send something your way, Tony.”

The brunet seemed to consider his actions for just a moment before nearly storming out the door, irritation visible in his stride. Steve didn’t have much sympathy; Penny certainly wouldn’t have been okay had Tony not been so stupid, but the inconsolable humiliation could’ve been avoided. He quickly headed to join them in the bedroom, only to find himself hesitating in the doorway with a small smile.

Penny was holding her own weight, pressed up against Bucky’s chest tightly while the man carefully rubbed arnica into the new bruises she’d acquired. She was saying something between sobs, because Bucky was nodding along placatingly and cooing in her ear.

“Never again babydoll, I promise, he’ll never be there like that again,” there was a threat in Bucky’s tone that Steve immediately recognized; if Tony decided to show his face again during an intimate moment, there would be hell to pay, “you did so good baby, you did so well.”

Steve walked up behind her, hands resting gently on her shoulders, “let’s get some shorts on you baby, the pink ones are gone but we’ve got some others.”

Bucky gave him a quick kiss over her shoulder before the blond moved to the dresser, digging out a pair of soft white shorts. They’d smart against her ass more than the silk but for the moment would suffice. She hissed just a little when he let the waistband drag over her skin, a quick reminder of the punishment she’d earned. Steve stepped back and took a seat on the edge of the bed before beckoning her forward, arms outstretched but held close to his body—he liked to see her reaching for him. She took just a few seconds to contemplate before leaning out towards him, tensing up when he lifted her to sit sideways on his knees.

“We should’ve done better for you last night, babydoll. As soon as Peter started acting up we should’ve removed you from the situation and we didn’t,” her tense muscles turned to stone and he immediately ran his hands up her shirt, pulling her close to his body and using the extra skin contact to his advantage, “shhhhh, calm down. We know better, we know how you react with Peter and we should’ve taken care of you. That being said, you still broke the rules. I already explained your punishment but I want you to understand that Bucky and I think we have a solution to the problems we’ve been having, it’s just going to take a little while for us to get things going. All you have to do is hold it down in the meantime, precious, just like today.”

Her jaw worked for a moment while she apparently held her explosive temper. When she continued not to respond, stewing slightly in her fury, Steve tucked her closer to his chest and sighed. Most likely it was the just like today that got to her. Bucky flashed him a ‘bad-bad-not-good' hand sign followed by a ‘warning', the brunet reading her facial expressions easily. At this point he might as well go for broke, his hand sliding down to cradle her full stomach gently.

“You did good, precious, today was a good lesson for you,” it was potentially a mistake, especially considering the way she shook when he pressed his hand more firmly against the very slight pooch of her tummy, “Buck’s got a lot of cum—we both do, actually, after the serum thing, but all Bucky really wants is to fill you up. We’ll get you nice and acclimated to taking his load before you start taking mine too. We’ve got plenty of time though, to get you used to being all full of cum.”

Penny was stiff as a rock, even her trembling had stopped and her face paled at the implication. Before she could think about it too long, Bucky stepped up to the bed and rested his knee next to Steve’s thigh, closing her from the front, back and side.

“You don’t need to be so scared babydoll, it sounds scary but you’ll get used to it. I’ll try not to be as rough as I was this morning, but you took my co*ck down your throat so well. Your pretty puss* will be so much less difficult and we’ll take our time working your asshole up to taking one of our co*cks—that’s so much easier nowadays, they make all of those things that stretch your asshole out. We’ll get you a pretty one and you can just wear it all the time.”

Steve clocked the exact moment Bucky realized that an anal plug could also be used to keep their cum inside of her for as long as they wanted, but was quick to divert the brunet’s attention, “you just need to focus on being sweet for us Penny, you be a good girl and we’ll worry about everything else. We’ve been saying we were gonna do better for you for days now and I promise we’ve finally got a plan in motion to do that.”

“Speaking of everything else,” Bucky swept her up into his arms, ignoring the yelp of pain she gave when her shorts pulled taut over her ass, “you need to go pee after having Stevie's fingers in your puss* or you might get an infection, we should get you cleaned up.”

To be completely honest, Steve would've rather Bucky dropped her on the bed so he could eat her messy c*nt until she cried, but instead he watched the pair disappear into the bathroom. Penny needed time to recalibrate and resume her usual candor, if minus a bit of naughtiness. It had still been there that morning, tiny sprigs of the fire in her heart. The last thing they wanted was to extinguish that, it was passion and ferocity and life in a way that was uniquely Penny— they just needed to adjust her targets.

“JARVIS, blackout protocol, full system,” he ordered, listening while Bucky kept up a running commentary in the bathroom, not giving Penny time to sit in silence or think too much.

“Full security blackout will begin in 15 seconds, my abilities throughout the apartment will be 98% nullified with exceptions for safety measures including fire procedures and intruder protocols.”

It took about a minute and a half for Bucky to return with Penny, a quick ‘okay-question’ hand signal met with a nod. Telling her their plans would likely be met with resistance, even with her ass stinging and her throat sore, but having JARVIS listening in would be entirely too detrimental. Steve had only vaguely brushed the subject with Tony and with the genius’s current mood, solidifying the plans might bring up wanted discourse.

Steve shifted back into the bed, leaning up against the headboard before holding his arms out to take Penny from Bucky. The brunet helped him set her gently on his thighs, curled to the side and leaned up against Steve’s chest before he followed them onto the mattress. He canted his body towards them, Penny’s shins resting over his lap.

“The next few days are gonna be tough doll,” Steve pressed his lips to the side of her head, speaking quietly even in the silent room, “but we told you we have a solution for you and we do. When we came out of the ice, the army owed us both an awful lot in back pay and restitution—between the two of us, we’re gonna be comfortable for a long time and we’ve taken to investing in the last few years. I bought a couple of houses, out in different parts of the country. Right now I’m having one of them fixed up for us and it should be ready by the end of the week.”

Bucky was careful not to give the gears in Penny’s head any time to start turning, “We’re hoping to grab a quinjet and head out as soon as your punishment’s finished up, we’ll get all of our things packed up and goodbyes said the night before.”

“G-Goodbyes? Wh—”

“Yes baby, goodbyes,” Steve squeezed her little body tight to his chest for just a moment, long enough for her system to recognize the comforting pressure before letting go, “like I said earlier, the tower isn’t going to work. We’re asking you to deal with too much change with too many variables. If we go out of town, get you somewhere quiet, we can x out those variables and all you have to focus on is this, us.”

“We should’ve done better for you from the beginning, precious, we just felt like it was unfair to take you away from Peter. It was a mistake and we recognize that; it's not unfair, just necessary. Once you’ve accepted this life we’ll come back—or we could travel,” Bucky’s eyes flicked up to meet Steve’s, a questioning expression on his face, “I hadn’t thought of it until now, but maybe travelling will do us all some good. Steve and I have been a bit cooped up recently anyway. Have you ever traveled outside of New York doll?”

When Penny didn’t answer, Steve shifted her on his lap just enough to deliver a smack to her still smarting ass, “you need to answer when we ask you questions Penny.”

The brunette yelped, eyes immediately starting to water as she wiggled on Steve’s lap, crying out when he laid down another swat when she still didn’t answer, “No! No, I haven’t t-travelled.”

“Your poor ass is gonna be black and blue by the time the week’s up,” Bucky murmured, partially to himself and Steve and partially loud enough to get a whine out of Penny, “you might wanna stop earning those extra swats, precious.”

“I’m not trying to!” She snapped in frustration, fists balled in her lap, “y-you—”

Bucky barked a laugh, followed quickly by Steve who hauled her higher up against his chest, “oh good, you’re still in there.”

Chapter 19

Chapter Text

Penny did not, in fact, stop earning extra swats at all and by day 3 had stopped sitting on her butt entirely, much to the quiet amusem*nt of the soldiers. Steve had ordered more silk shorts and a pair of joggers that were soft enough she could wear them without too much pain. She was petulant and precious and far too tired to be as angry as they knew she wanted to be. He and Bucky had rotated taking days off since the incident, doing their best to try to engage with her.

Some of the things they'd learned were as follows:

1. Penny's father had died when she was very young and she didn't remember him. He'd been Israeli, Jewish, and had lots of family Penny had never met. Peter's father was who she meant if she said 'my dad', a man from Queens who'd married her mother and loved Penny like she was his own (she missed her parents awfully, at all times and got tearful while talking about them).
2. Penny called herself stupid and dumb and an idiot on a regular basis and truly believed that Peter had gotten every IQ point her mother had to offer; it was a bad habit and bothered both of the soldiers—she was so smart and they regularly had difficulty keeping up with her intellect, her thought process was just very different from most people's.
3. Penny liked watching TV and movies and anything that had come out since her uncle Ben died was new and exciting. She would let them hold her for hours while they watched movies and talked through all of them with a witty and precious commentary. She didn't care for movies that made her cry.
4. Penny hated reading. Steve was pretty sure it was because it was difficult for her and wondered if she had the disability that flipped letters around but couldn't ask lest she got upset. If there was something that needed to be read in a movie or show, the soldiers had taken to reading it out loud immediately and unprompted.
5. Penny desperately enjoyed and craved skin contact, to a point where Steve and Bucky were wearing less and less clothing because Penny would come to them when they weren't wearing shirts. She would ask to watch movies or TV because it was an excuse to lay on them with her cheek against their skin. Her tiny shorts were a constant but she'd shifted to wearing tank tops instead of long sleeves shirts and the soldiers liked it.

They'd thought from the beginning that skin contact could be their ticket in, Penny preened under careful touches even if she tried to hide it but it became more and more clear as the days went on. The daily spankings made her incredibly sensitive, mentally, and the extra contact seemed to be a coping mechanism. On the first day she'd tried to curb the desire with the kittens, carrying them around as much as possible but it quickly became clear it wasn't quite the same. While the little short-legged kitten had come to basically live in the spot between and directly above Penny's boobs, the orange one with impossibly chubby cheeks was more distant and preferred to simply be in the same room with people rather than held and touched (Bucky adored both kittens but the f*cking tiny legs killed him, he loved it so goddamn much). But kittens were not a good replacement for a very warm super-soldier.

Steve had gone for broke the night before, sleeping in a pair of briefs instead of joggers and a beater. Penny had stayed firmly on his chest the entire night while Bucky, wearing boxers and a t-shirt, had been left with just a single cuddly kitten tucked up under his chin. The brunet had gotten up early for work, scowling jealously at the way Penny cuddled against their lover so sweetly; he almost told JARVIS to call in for him, he could've shucked his shirt and joined the pile of warm sleepy bodies. Tony was still not entirely pleased with them though (especially once Steve had dropped their plan to head into the Rockies for a few months) so it was better to head into the office. He kissed Steve soundly and pressed his lips gently to the back of Penny's head before heading out, depositing the kitten in his hands onto the cat tree in the living room on his way.

Steve laid awake in bed for another two hours, savoring the way Penny felt against him. Their babydoll was small and precious and fit so well against him. Her legs splayed wide over the smallest part of his waist, her head cushioned against his chest. She'd been sleeping or laying on them in similar positions since the first spanking (she'd even let Bucky carry her around after her spanking the day before, as long as his hands stayed far away from her ass). He could feel her slowly starting to wake up and ran his hands up and down her back under her tank top.

He wasn't expecting the way she started to tremble, or the tears spilling down onto his chest. She didn't make any noise but her breaths came in little hiccups, her head tilting further down as she tried to curl into herself.

"Baby? Penny doll, what's wrong?" He sat up, keeping her legs wrapped around his waist and enough of an angle to his torso that her weight wouldn't press her down to sit on her ass.

She said something, but it was disrupted by hiccups and a small sob and Steve's heart broke just a little when he couldn't understand. When Penny spoke in Hebrew it was usually on accident, she was either too distressed or too scared to notice she wasn't speaking English. Steve's ears perked at the sound of bells, eyes going to the door of their bedroom where both kittens were trotting into the room. The short-legged kitten often appeared whenever Penny cried and the orange one followed but stayed near the door. It was far too small to jump onto the bed so Steve dangled an arm over the edge until he felt fur brush his fingertips, scooping the kitten up and depositing it between his and Penny's chests. The little thing purred like a motorboat, tucking into Penny's shirt and between her boobs where it generally spent most of its time.

"Shhh, baby, it's okay," Steve brushed his lips against her temple and her cheek, continuing to run his hands under her shirt, "can you tell me why you're upset?"

The sounds she made were borderline heartbreaking and he figured for a minute she wasn't actually capable of answering until she spoke haltingly between hiccups, "it hurts, it h-hurts, s-so much."

Penny's ass was already shades of blue and purple, even if Steve was sure Bucky had gone easy on her the evening before. The little smacks she earned in between spankings only served to ignite the burn.

"Oh, doll," Steve cooed, his expression pulled tight and his chest feeling even tighter; he hated the distress she was in, the pain, "hold on, I've got the arnica right here."

She whined when he moved her legs and slipped off her shorts, leaving her naked from the waist down, and grabbed the tube from the bedside table. They had hidden several of them throughout the apartment so they'd be handy at all times. In general, Penny appreciated the relief it provided but the application made her cry even harder, even as Steve used the gentlest touches he could. Her ass was still hot to the touch and would be for days and days.

"All done baby, I'm all done," he'd applied the cream as thickly as possible, a visible layer on her bruises, "let's leave your shorts off, okay? You don't need them."

Personally, he'd like for her to walk around naked at all times, he liked seeing her little puss* peeking out, but it really would feel best for Penny not to have anything on her ass. She was still crying, not quite as hard but he could still feel the tears against his skin.

"Okay baby, okay," he murmured, lips returning to her temple, "we're gonna skip your spanking today, alright? We can't tell Bucky or he'll make me, so you have to pretend I did understand?"

Penny nodded tearfully against his chest, "thank you, thank you, thank—"

"Shhh, it's okay baby, it's okay."

Steve spent the entire day with Penny in his arms, carrying her carefully from room to room or laying on his chest on the couch or in the bed. The pillow on her chair in the dining room (her Princess Pillow, a term Penny did not like and had led to her refusing to use it for meal times—but only until dinner on the first night, after two spankings had left her very uncomfortable) went unused just because she never actually sat on her own, instead rested on Steve's hip while they both ate over the sink.

He honestly hadn't intended for anything sexual when he forewent her shorts that morning and he knew Penny didn't have any salacious goals either. It happened purely on accident while they lounged on the couch watching an action movie, Penny enjoying the way Steve could pick apart the movie's shortcomings. She'd sat up for some reason and her puss* had ground against his abs causing her entire body to still, an aborted noise escaping her lips as her cl*t hit a ridge just perfectly. Steve's hands found her hips quickly and he kept her from lifting up, gently stroking her bare skin.

"Hey, hey, you're alright," he murmured softly, hoping not to trigger an escape attempt, "that felt good, didn't it babydoll? Here, do it again, lemme help."

He used his hold to manipulate her hips, rolling her c*nt over the bumps of his abs again, twisting her slightly at the end to really grind her cl*t. She moaned, breaths coming just slightly faster as he continued to move her hips in the same pattern, carefully holding her to prevent her ass from brushing anything that would cause pain.

"That's good doll, that's so good," he praised, feeling her thighs clench ever so slightly as she started to work herself against him, "good girl, Penny, chase it. Make yourself feel good baby."

Her wetness spread over his abs, aiding the slide of her c*nt against his skin. She even canted her hips the way he'd manipulated her, the twist at the end dragging her cl*t against the ridges of his abs in a way that made her pant. Her lower lip found its way between her teeth and Steve did his best not to moan at the sight; she was working herself over beautifully above him. Her puss* was so slick he imagined he could feel her arousal dripping down his abs and rolling over his skin onto the couch. She rocked hard, hands coming to rest on his chest for leverage and he could see how close she was and the exact second she started to get frustrated. A whiney moan escaped her, the twist of her hips more pronounced as she tried and failed to bring herself off.

"I—I can't, " she whined, thighs clenching tighter, "I can't—"

"Shh precious, come here, let me help you," he lifted her easily by the waist, pulling her up until her puss* hovered just over his mouth, arms coming around her thighs to hold her tightly, "I'll fix it, baby, I'll make you cum."

His mouth sealed over her cl*t in and she yelped just before a long moan escaped her lips. Steve was good at eating puss* and enjoyed it deeply, the taste of her filling his mouth and coating his tongue. She was musky and tangy and he decided he could eat her out for hours if she'd let him. Her puss* clenched as he swirled his tongue inside of her, her thighs twitching as his nose bumped her cl*t. He waited until he could hear her begging for release before refocusing on her cl*t, the sensitive little button all but throbbing under his tongue as he began a truly exquisite onslaught.

"Oh.. Ohhhh, I—oh no, oh no," he smirked against her c*nt as she seemed to realize she was about to cum all over his face, her cheeks lighting up red at the thought and her thighs attempting to gain enough strength to lift herself up.

Steve tightened his arms around her thighs and held her firmly, puss* sealed against his mouth with no room for squirming. Her lower body began desperately twitching as her org*sm built. He focused his tongue on her cl*t, working happily as she got louder and louder, her hips desperately rocking in his hold. The noise she made when she came nearly made his pop off in his briefs, loud and pitched and desperate. It tapered into breathy pants and whines and he stopped just before she became too sensitive for comfort, tongue lapping up into her c*nt. Her cum was the same earthy flavor as her arousal and he cleaned her until she started to squirm.

Her face was so endearingly red when he resituated her on his abs, directly onto the wet spot her puss* had made on his skin. She couldn't meet his eyes and he smiled, stroking his hands over her thighs gently.

"Lay down baby, the movies not finished yet," he told her softly, pulling her down to rest against his chest again with her head on his peck and she stayed that way for the next two hours, until Bucky for home.

Bucky's eyebrow had gone up when he walked in after work, the first thing he saw being Penny's bare ass and puss* from between her splayed legs where she lay over Steve's chest on the couch once again. The blond had signed 'don't ask-don't ask-don't ask' quickly before Bucky could even open his mouth, instead choosing to walk over and kiss both of them before heading into the bedroom to change. Well, mostly he just undressed down to his briefs and called it a day, obviously clothing was optional if not frowned upon in their apartment at the moment. His day had been relatively easy, the interrogation he'd done had gone by fast and after that it was just paperwork. Tony's companies, both legal and illegal, had a whole slew of enemies. Steve was good at finding them and Bucky was good at retrieving information from them.

"Remember what we talked about precious," Steve murmured to her as Bucky walked back into the room, the blond's eyes finding his with a careful expression on his face, "be a good girl, be sweet."

A squeaky meow interrupted his thoughts and Bucky reached down to scoop his favourite kitten into his arms. The orange one brushed against his ankles with a quiet purr, a little welcome home, before she retreated into the cat tree once again. He was worried because Penny hadn't named either of them yet but didn't know how to bring it up without upsetting her, and she was already so upset all the time. In his head he called the short one Munchkin and the orange one Chubs (for her little chubby cheeks).

"How was your day?" He asked casually, noting the way Penny's eyes met his from under dark lashes like she had a secret.

Judging from the way Steve gave a short 'later' hand motion, she did, but it wasn't something the blond was worried about and that meant Bucky wasn't either. Besides, he liked seeing the life in her pretty eyes today (she was half-naked on Steve's chest, unconcerned that her legs were spread, and looked almost happy—she could've killed 6 people and bathed in their blood and he wouldn't have cared because she almost smiled at him).

"I already called down for dinner, it should get here in just a few minutes," Steve sat up, cautious of how Penny was arranged to make sure no pressure was put on her ass, "Penny needs arnica and her shorts, can you do it while I run to the bathroom?”

Bucky nodded and swept her up into his arms, cradling her tightly in his arms before falling back onto the couch and grinning when she immediately glared up at him, “I missed you today baby.”

“I didn’t like that.”

“You don’t like anything I do precious,” he pressed a kiss teasingly against her forehead, “let’s get this arnica on your poor ass, huh? Steve must’a already given you your spanking for today.”

“Yeah.” Bucky’s eyebrows jumped high on his forehead; it didn’t take a master interrogator to figure out she was lying.

The hesitation to answer was the most obvious give away but she wouldn’t look him in the eyes either, a finger coming up to his chest to trace shapes against his skin. Lying to him was ballsy but he remembered the hand signals he’d received from Steve upon entering the apartment, the blond’s cryptic words to their babydoll while she thought Buck couldn’t hear. So instead of calling her out for the deception her grabbed a bottle of arnica from the end table and started very gently rubbing a layer into the bruised skin on her ass.

Her little whimpers hurt his heart, but the full tears were what made it crack. She was likely at her breaking point for pain, where the punishment didn’t fulfill its purpose anymore. He’d bet Steve had realized the same thing and had held off.

“Almost done babydoll. Steve! Bring her shorts with you when you come!”

There was more squeaky meowing and he dropped his hand over the side of the couch without looking, scooping up Munchkin and dropping her onto his chest right between himself and Penny. The kitten hated being away from Penny even after such a short time.

“What movies did you watch today? Have I seen them?”

Penny hesitated for just a few seconds before she gave a short commentary, not noticing the way Steve walked out of the bedroom and up behind her. A quick few hand signals ‘food-sleep-talk’ told him that the blond wanted Penny fed, in bed, and asleep before they got a chance to talk and flashed and ‘okay’ behind her back. It didn’t take long to fulfill the list, Penny was out like a light with a very small dosage of sleeping pills (not enough for her to notice, just enough that she’d sleep through the night).

The soldiers kind of assumed it was like having a toddler; during the day they had to watch what they said, if they got much of a chance to talk at all, and the dynamic between them had changed while they focused on getting Penny settled. Nights were when they had the chance to talk, it helped that they didn’t need a lot of sleep, and they honestly kind of enjoyed lying in the dark with their babydoll laid out across their chests, talking quietly over the sound of her breathing. It was certainly a good way to decompress after a long day and the pair fell asleep in the early hours of the morning, Penny on Bucky’s chest and Steve wrapped around them both from the side, a kitten or two thrown into the mix somewhere.

Bucky woke immediately when the blond shifted, slowly starting to wake up for work. It was Steve’s turn to go in and he had a meeting with Tony too—Steve was much better at dealing with the eccentric billionaire than Bucky was, especially when it came to the topic of Penny. Despite the fact Steve had been the one who wanted her originally, Bucky was the one who’d become more overtly possessive and he didn’t like Tony butting into their business.

“Take care of her, I’ll see you in the evening,” Steve bent over to kiss him lightly, lips trailing to brush against his cheek lovingly before he stroked a hand through Penny’s hair and gave pressed his lips to the back of her head, “love you.”

“Love you, punk, go to work,” the brunet ignored Steve’s wry smile, instead shifting Penny to lay next to him on her side, curling his body tightly around her and tucking her up against his torso while Steve left.

She’d be up in an hour or so, would probably want to go lay in the hammock in front of the windows. She sunned herself the same way the kittens did, taking little cat naps in the sunshine between attempts at knitting. He could feel the small changes in her breathing as she started to come to and smiled; her forehead burrowed against his chest, her nose brushing his skin lightly. But then she started to tremble and a small whimper escaped her and she was reaching for him and there were tears in her eyes—

Bucky swept her into his arms immediately, carefully arranging her the same way they’d been doing for days to keep the pressure off her ass, “Penny, talk to me baby, why’re you crying? Did you have a bad dream?”

“The stuff—the lotion—” she hiccuped and he felt her hips jump in his hands when the side of her ass brushed his leg and she yelped, “it hurts, it—”

“JARVIS, remedies for bruises,” Bucky ordered, immediately lifting them both off of the bed and heading into the bathroom.

“Because this is the second morning Ms. Parker has woken up in pain, I have taken it upon myself to order several items to be sent to the apartment, including hypericum perforatum. There is an aloe vera plant in the living room which can be used for pain relief after a bath, which I shall add witch hazel and lavender to, along with epsom salts for the swelling.”

“Thanks buddy,” he responded absently, the steam from the hot water immediately settling over his skin when he stepped past the doorway; the bathtub was already filling, “can you hold your weight baby? Just for a minute.”

Penny nodded tearfully against his chest and he carefully rested her on her feet, gently manipulating the waistband of her shorts over the curve of her ass. He could see in the mirror that her skin had retained its deep red tone, purple and blue splotches concentrated on the fullness of either cheek. It wasn’t anything permanently damaging, just very painful. He pulled her tank top off and dropped it to the side with her shorts, listening as the faucet kicked off.

“Alright baby, let’s get you into the bath,” He quickly shucked his briefs and stepped into the water, helping Penny in after even when her breathing hitched at the movement, “you’ll lay against my chest, just like usual.”

Once they were situated, Penny with her head tucked under his chin and his arms around her back, Bucky couldn’t help but smile. He could see why Steve hadn’t gone through with her spanking yesterday, there was simply no need. Penny might not have trusted or liked them but she reached for them. When she was in pain she reached for them to help, to fix it, and knew that they would, where in the past you couldn’t have gotten her to ask them for anything, let alone help.

It was a significant step in the right direction, Penny succumbing to a piece of her new life. She didn’t chafe under his hold, wasn’t stone still or angry. She was in pain and seeking comfort and help and she knew he’d provide it. He knew she was a stubborn little thing, the concession of just a bit of her space wasn’t the end of her fighting, but it meant something and the soldiers could work with that. During interrogations, the systematic deconstruction of a person’s will and mind meant that when one wall fell the others were very close to follow. Penny could still fight if she wanted, but it was only a matter of time before she conceded the battle.

Patience wasn’t Bucky’s strong suit but he would wait as patiently as he could for her to crumble in his arms, after all, it wouldn’t take long now.

Chapter 20

Chapter Text

There was a difference in the air when people like Steve and Bucky were around. Penny had never really noticed it on the soldiers, she’d been too preoccupied at first. The way the air settled around them was just different and it took being in a room with them with normal people for more than thirty minutes for her to notice (Tony didn’t count. Penny could barely breathe when Tony was in the room, not while she actively panicked over the wellbeing of the Most Important Person in Her Entire Life, let alone notice anything so subtle.) Sam and Clint were regular dudes, there was nothing in their aura that made her lizard brain stand at attention. But Thor? He had the same offsetting crackle that almost seemed to jump off his skin. She might not have even noticed it on the soldiers if it weren’t for the juxtaposition between them and the regular humans, the similarities seen in Thor.

It was uncomfortable. The men refused to acknowledge it, but discomfort choked up Penny’s spine as they all milled around the living room. They were supposedly there to help the soldiers pack up the apartment, to get them ready to leave. Leave. Leave the tower, leave New York, leave Peter. She was barely moving, even as they brushed past her carrying boxes.

“I’m just about to order dinner, is there anything you want doll?” Steve came up behind her and gently slipped his arm around her waist, tugging her back into his chest, “it’ll be pizza for the rest of us.”

A small shiver ran over her when his hand slipped under the hem of her shirt, fingers brushing the skin of her stomach, “kosher?”

“We can hunt down a kosher joint,” the blond’s Brooklyn accent was strong, lips brushing the top of her ear, “how d’you like it?”

The mundane conversations still turned her stomach most of the time and she swallowed heavily before listing several options she’d be happy with, listening to him hum against her ear. Every one of the guys shouted out their preferences as well, as if they’d been waiting for the exact second Penny had finished with her request. Watching Sam half tackle Clint into the couch while arguing Hawaiian pizza was triggering something in the back of her mind, Peter and Ned roughhousing in the apartment while she cooked dinner. She could practically hear MJ’s scoff.

“Can I have a pack of cigarettes?” She asked quietly enough that the soldier could’ve pretended not to hear, but somehow Thor had picked up on it.

“Cigarettes?” She wasn’t sure if the giant of a man realized how patronizing his tone was but she immediately bristled.

“Babydoll, we’ve talked about this,” Steve sighed, turning her in his arms to face him, “cigarettes are a dirty habit, not something a sweet girl should be indulging in.”

It was one of the few things they’d denied her in the early weeks that she continued to ask for. She wasn’t sure why it was so important, she didn’t generally even crave cigarettes, but it mattered. It mattered that they refused her one of the only coping mechanisms she could think of. And honestly it pissed her the f*ck off.

Clint snorted from his position next to the yarn shelf, “so you cut her off cold turkey and now you’re wondering why she’s a nightmare?”

Sam barked a laugh, looking less than apologetic even when Bucky and Steve turned their glares on him. The two humans, Penny knew they were humans and the others were something else, exchanged eye rolls while Steve carefully grasped her chin and tilted her head back. Penny’s lungs seized momentarily—it was unsetting, for multiple reasons, to have the entirety of his attention focused on her. In part it was because, honestly, he was so breath takingly pretty and it was a shock every time. There was also an uncanny light in his eyes though, something knowledgeable. It was like staring into the sun and her anger was swept away by a surging nervousness.

“I don’t wanna hear any more about cigarettes, okay?” His thumb gently brushed over her jaw, “it’ll only be hard for a little while longer and then you won’t even want them anymore.”

Somewhere behind her ribs, her heart pounded in irritation but it was masked by the pressure in her lungs. She wanted to be angry, it would’ve been easier to be angry. Instead she dropped her eyes and nodded, trying to tug her chin from his grasp.

“Awh baby, don’t pout. You know we just want what’s best for you,” the hand not on her face trailed down her back, coming to rest on the lower curve of her ass with a careful and deliberate squeeze, “go with Bucky and pack any of the clothes you want to bring with us. Not too many, okay? Just your favorites.”

Penny immediately turned in an attempt to get out of his arms, the opportunity to escape his grasp too good to pass up. Her eyes landed on Bucky, who was murmuring something to Sam. Both had their heads ducked together, speaking in hushed tones. When they clasped hands, Penny could’ve sworn she saw something exchanged between the pair that Sam immediately tucked into his pocket. Sneaky bastards.

Bucky didn’t give her half a second to consider it before he swept her down the hall and into the bedroom, closing the door behind them. Her entire body froze up at the sound of the lock, knowing that it was more to keep her from getting out than prevent someone from getting in. Penny’s arms crossed, fingers digging into her own skin roughly as a tremble tried to race through her stomach. It was a curious sensation, an icy nervousness down her spine fighting a hot lick of arousal from between her legs. She’d argue it was a Pavlovian response, the soldiers had been eating her out on the daily since Steve had done it the first time, but Penny had also been horny as f*ck for days and they’d noticed. If they even looked at her too hard she had to rub her legs together.

“Penny doll, you’re so uncomfortable,” Bucky wrapped tightly around her from behind, one hand slipping under her shirt to rest on her stomach while the other came up to run over her hair, “you don’t have to be nervous around our friends. Everything is okay, you’re okay, precious. Maybe you’re just antsy, huh baby? Come over by the bed and get on your knees.”

The cold anxiety almost won out as Bucky pulled her to the bedside, grabbing a pillow to drop on the ground in front of his feet, “on your knees, don’t make me ask again.”

She winced, both at the implication of a punishment if she didn’t do as asked and the memory of the last time Bucky wanted a blow j*b. Her throat had been sore for days and even as she did get down onto her knees, she wondered if having a sore ass might be preferable. It didn’t matter anyway, because Bucky had already shoved his jeans down to free himself.

“I don’t want to,” it came out whinier than she intended, potentially whinier than she’d ever sounded in her life and she almost slapped a hand over her mouth; Penny hadn’t been immature since she was 13 years old, but she sounded like a petulant child.

There was no way she could’ve noticed how Bucky almost got light headed from how hard his co*ck throbbed at her bratty little tone. He dropped a hand to the top of her head, digging his fingers into her curly hair and directing her neck to arch back so he could catch her eyes. A pouty baby, fidgeting on a pillow while his co*ck dangled not five inches in front of her face.

“Open your mouth, baby doll,” he ordered inching further, running his hand down the length of his co*ck, “maybe a snack before dinner will calm you down.”

The head pressed against her lips and she clenched her teeth for several seconds before forcing her jaw to drop. Bucky’s responding groan went straight to her c*nt, thighs nearly trying to close in search of friction. She barely had time to consider the implications before he started moving, cupping her lower jaw in one hand while the other palmed the back of her head. He was being more gentle than the first time, still holding her head in place while thrusting into her mouth, but he wasn’t jamming it down her throat.

“You do so well, precious,” he murmured, sounding almost short of breath, “you take my co*ck so well.”

Penny should’ve knocked on wood, because the next thing she knew her nose was pressed to his pelvis and his dick was visible in her throat. The hand on the back of her head easily held her in place when she tried to jerk back, fingers rubbing gently against her skull. She might’ve puked when he pulled back if he hadn’t have driven his whole co*ck back in her mouth so fast she didn’t have a chance. Bucky nearly blew his whole load at the desperate little noises she made, her eyes meeting his while tears streamed down her cheeks, but he wanted to make it last.

He pulled back, the tip of his co*ck sitting on her lower lip, “you wanna be in control baby? I’ll let you, but you need to do a good job or I’m gonna wreck your pretty throat, understand?”

It had been a long time since Penny had given a blowj*b (of her own volition, of course, a horrible thing to think) and it took her a long second before she brought a trembling hand up to grasp his co*ck. Her fingers just barely couldn’t meet around the girth and she realized there was a good reason her lips felt so sore. His hands rested on the back of her head, it wasn’t intentionally threatening but all she could think of was him deciding she wasn’t doing well and shoving it back down her throat. Bucky moaned as she took the head into her mouth, tongue laving over his skin. She wasn’t sure she’d ever really learned to give a good blow j*b, but f*ck if she wasn’t gonna do her best.

“That’s a good girl, I want you to take it in your throat and swallow around it,” Bucky shuffled forward again, capturing all of her hair into a ponytail, “you take as much as you can, you understand?”

Penny nodded as much as possible, anxiety tightening her chest as she inhaled deeply through her nose before attempting to take as much of his co*ck into her mouth as she could manage. A firm hand continued to press her down when she hesitated and gagged, Bucky cooing above her—a little more baby, take a little more, a little more, keep going.

“Don’t gag baby, swallow,” a choked sound escaped his chest when she did as ordered, desperately swallowing around his co*ck while he held her in place, “as long as you can, hold it. You be good and I’ll cum in your mouth instead of down your throat.”

Was that any better? She wasn’t sure, could barely think as her vision started to blur. It would mean less time with that massive co*ck blocking her airway. She knew her thighs were trembling though, knew her puss* was dripping. Her body was betraying her the same way it had been all week and he’d know, as soon as he finished in her mouth she knew he’d check her panties. It was never taunting, the way they crooned at her when they saw how wet she was, but it was humiliating regardless.

He pulled her back just before she realized she was about to pass out, pressing her cheek against his hip bone while she gasped for breath and he wrapped his metal hand about his co*ck, jerking it quickly, “that’s a good girl, deep breaths. I’m gonna cum in your pretty mouth and I want you to hold it there, understand? You don’t swallow until I tell you.”

Bucky was loud. He moaned and gasped and grunted, pulling her hair and squeezing her skin tight enough to leave bruises whenever he came. This time was no different, his chest heaving as he groaned, his flesh hand squeezing her jaw hard enough to force her mouth to stay open. There was no warning before the first spurt of cum shot towards the back of her throat and she almost gagged, forcing it to pool in her mouth instead of swallowing.

Neither of them noticed the sound of the lock breaking as Steve twisted the knob and slipped inside, closing the door quietly behind him. He’d been listening from the living room, getting harder and harder as the desperate little noises came from Penny. Clint had excused himself at the first sound of Penny choking on Bucky’s co*ck, a grin on his face as he went. Sam and Thor hung around, the pair lounging around in the living room in quiet amusem*nt while Steve dipped out.

“Give her a nice big mouthful Buck, it’s gonna be an hour before the pizza gets here,” the blond’s words finally caught Penny’s attention and her eyes rolled in his direction, tearful and wide, “keep her tummy full.”

Penny was trying to stay up right, holding tightly to Bucky’s jeans while breathing heavily through her nose. She could’ve sworn it had been an hour, her mouth was pooling with cum and when he slipped his thumb between her lips and stroked her tongue, she realized he’d finally finished.

“Oh baby doll, you look so pretty with your mouth full. Stevie, come here, look,” Bucky was still holding her jaw and Penny forced herself not to heave, the breaths she took through her nose not nearly enough as her body continued to pump adrenaline through her system.

“Precious,” Steve cooed, dropping onto his knees next to her, one hand going to the back of her neck while the other sunk into the front of her shorts, “are you wet for us? Awh, you are. That little puss* is gushing for us, Buck.”

“Swallow my cum and we’ll eat your puss*,” Bucky stroked his hand down her hair, eyes locking onto hers as she looked up at him desperately, “quick now baby, we’ve got guests remember?”

The tears that had been gathering in her eyes fell at that, the reminder that there was a very good chance the guys in the living room had just heard her choking and gagging on their friend’s dick. His hand guided her mouth shut and she whimpered for several long seconds before finally managing to swallow. Steve pressed his lips to hers when she squeezed her eyes shut, half a sob getting trapped in her chest.

“You’ve been so good, baby doll,” the blond pressed to his feet with her still in his arms, forcing her to stand on unsteady legs while he slipped her shorts and panties down her legs, “stand here precious, just like this. It’s time for your reward.”

“One leg up,” Bucky murmured from behind her, his lips brushing against her shoulder while lifting her left leg all the way up onto the bed, “nice and wide for us.”

Steve went back to his knees, groaning at how slick her c*nt was, the moisture coating her puss* and her pretty thighs. He’d never get tired of eating her out, not while he still breathed. His mouth latched onto her cl*t immediately and she whined, slapping a hand over her mouth instinctively.

“No way baby doll,” Bucky grabbed her wrist and dragged her hand down, “I want our friends to hear how well Stevie eats your puss*. I bet we can make you squeal, huh baby? I bet I know something that’ll make you get nice and loud.”

He held fast at her waist even as he dropped to his knees behind her, a tight grasp that would leave bruises. She couldn’t even think to move away, even as Steve’s shoulders wedged between her thighs and precariously trapped her by throwing off her balance without leaning into him. The blond’s arms wrapped around her thighs, hands landing sharply on her ass cheeks. It drew a squeak from her, followed by a cry when he pulled her cheeks apart and something very wet probed at her asshole. She would’ve gone up onto her tiptoes if she could, anything to escape Bucky’s slick mouth.

“Oh G-God, no! Don’t!” The brunet’s hands tightened further on her hips, Steve’s doing the same on her still slightly bruised ass to keep her in place when she started to squirm.

“You’re so cute precious,” Steve crooned from between her legs, “nobody’s ever touched your asshole before have they? We’ll get you nice and broke in before you take a co*ck back there. Buck’s real good at eating ass, huh? The way your puss* is gushing tells me you like it.”

It wasn’t Penny’s fault, she couldn’t help how her body responded, but she was gonna cum. Especially when Steve pressed two fingers up into her c*nt and started furiously rubbing away at her g-spot. A screech escaped her at the sensation, especially when it was followed directly by two metal fingers forcing their way into her asshole. The stretch was a painful burn but her toes curled, Steve’s tongue lapping at her cl*t and she wailed at the combination of sensations.

“There you go baby doll, that’s it, cum with my fingers up your ass,” Bucky growled, “we’ll get you to a point you can’t cum unless you have something in your little asshole.”

“N-No!” Penny hiccuped, unsure if she was crying in humiliation or pain or because her need to cum was unbearable.

“Yeah precious,” Steve scissored his fingers while Bucky’s mouth descended once again, drawing a cry from their doll at the sensation, “we’ll train you up so good, Penny doll.”

The org*sm took her out at the knees, literally, when Steve’s lips returned to her cl*t. She would’ve collapsed, screaming, had Bucky not shot to his feet to stabilize her. He held her in place while Steve continued to draw out her org*sm, until the hypersensitivity set in. Her entire body trembled, jerking away from the blond’s persistent mouth as he continued to work her over. It wasn’t until she was a babbling mess that he finally pulled away and stood back up, pressing the fingers that had been in her puss* into her mouth.

“I don’t know why we bother with clothes,” Bucky sighed from behind her, shifting her weight to lay her up against Steve’s chest while he went to work readjusting his pants, “tedious. Here’s your shorts back precious.”

Penny shivered slightly, quickly noticing that her underwear weren’t being replaced and that there had been no mention of her cleaning up before redressing. They were going to make her go back out there with her own arousal coating her thighs and cum dampening the crotch of her shorts. She obediently lifted her feet when instructed, feeling the silky material drag up her legs and whining when Bucky pulled them too high on her waist, pulling the gullet through the mess between her thighs.

“Now, let’s get back to the guys,” Steve patted her puss* through her shorts before nodding to Bucky, “Clint’s probably back by now. Pizza should be here in another half hour or so.”

It was more than a walk of shame going into the living room. Her hair felt frizzy, her skin was overheated and sticky and she smelled like cum. She could still taste Bucky’s in her mouth, stuck to her teeth.

Thor, Clint, and Sam were splayed out over the couches when they returned, chatting about football while ESPN played on the TV. It was a shoddy ruse that Penny could see through immediately; they were pretending to act casual, but the smirks on their faces betrayed their amusem*nt. They’d absolutely heard everything and Penny felt her cheeks darken in humiliation.

Knowing her thighs were visibly sticky hurt in a special way. It meant they could tell she’d come, if her screaming hadn’t been a dead giveaway. The way her shorts stuck to her crotch showed she’d liked it. She had to actively try not to cry as Steve pulled her down into his lap on the couch, tucking her into his chest. None of them were looking at her but it felt like they were and she wanted to curl into a ball and hide.

She just barely noticed the way Bucky had canted his head towards Clint, how the blond had reciprocated the motion and was listening intently to whatever the soldier was saying. It raised the hairs on the back of her neck slightly, suspicion racing through her. There was no telling what was going on but she could only assume it wasn’t going to be great for her.

“Can I go to the kitchen?” Penny only raised her voice enough that Steve could hear her, maybe Bucky.

“Why baby, you hungry?” The implication lit her cheeks and she shook her head immediately, scowling in frustration while the blond chuckled and pet her hair.

“Tea,” the word was ground through her teeth and Steve hummed.

“Gimme a kiss first baby doll.”

She wanted to scream in his face, or curse or something. Every inch of her was barely restrained chaos and in that moment she felt every molecule of her body vibrate with the impulsive desire to smash her forehead into his nose. She wondered how effective it would be. Instead Penny sat upright and pressed her lips to his carefully, giving him the bare minimum of cooperation to be released. Steve’s tongue swept into her mouth, despite her attempts to keep it chaste. When he finally let up she was quick to slip out of his lap, skirting carefully around the couch before she could be reeled back in.

You hungry? Her cl*t had throbbed immediately at the jab and she ogled at the fact she could possibly be horny in such a desolate situation. What kind of freak was she? Penny had to brace her weight against the counter, inhaling shakily. She must’ve been about to start her period, one of the few she got per year due to the implant. She always got super horny right before she had a period. There was no other explanation. Instinctively she reached around to run her thumb over the device, freezing in place when she couldn’t find the raised skin.

Immediately she panicked that the implant had migrated; it was something they warned about, the possibility, but it was supposed to be such a small chance. She was going to need an x-ray, they might have to do surgery. Her panic was disrupted by pain, a hiss slipping from between her teeth when her thumb pressed into a tender spot. There had been painful spots on her arms for the last week, since they’d put her under anesthesia and given her a whole array of shots while also taking blood. She’d freaked out over the needle marks days ago but had mostly moved past it, not thinking any more of the pains.

Evidently that was a mistake. She skirted over to where the toaster sat, the most reflective surface in the kitchen. It took a good bit of maneuvering before she managed to get the angle right, dark eyes going wide at the sight of a thin, short red incision. Not a needle mark, an incision.

“What the f*ck?” She gasped, dropping the toaster back onto the counter and grasping desperately at the marble behind her to keep herself up right, “f*ck!”

“Penny doll, what’s the matter?” Steve materialized in the kitchen like a f*cking wraith and Penny found herself with a split-second decision— rage out or conceal don’t feel.

His eyes were dead set on her face, the same hair raising level of attention he’d laid her out with earlier. Her implant was gone. They’d taken it out of her arm without her consent, without her knowledge. It was like waking up the morning after they drugged her all over again, the sudden overwhelming flood of helplessness. Nothing was hers. Nothing was beyond their reach, their control. Penny’s chest heaved in shock and disbelief. How could it just continue to get worse? How could there possibly be something horrible around every corner, a worse obstacle, a more painful fall.

“Come on precious, talk to me,” Steve bracketed her with his arms, hands coming to rest on the counter next to hers, “what’s going on in your head?”

Her eyelashes fluttered, teeth grinding as she carefully considered her response, “my birth control. It’s gone.”

Blue eyes bounced between hers with caution, one hand coming up to cup the side of her face, “you don’t need that anymore, baby doll. You’re in a committed relationship, Bucky and I are ready to start a family whenever it happens.”

A slow tremble of sheer rage slipped its way down her spine, dripping over every vertebra and flowing along her nerves like fire. Whenever it happened. When. They were making f*cking plans, the rat bastards.

“Penny, I want you to listen to me for the next minute,” his hand tightened on the side of her face with careful, deliberate pressure, “We’re leaving in the morning. Tonight, you’re getting to say goodbye to Peter. If you decide to have a fit right now and earn yourself a punishment, when do you think you’ll be able to say goodbye?”

His words did nothing but stoke the fire, “you’d take that away from me? After you’ve taken everything else? Every f*cking thing I had, you’ve destroyed it. F-From my independence to my f*cking dignity. Why are you doing this?”

The look on his face was some cross between stern and mean but Penny refused to back down, even when he seemed to grow more intimidating in the momentary silence, “weren’t you tired, baby? The way you lived, do you really miss that? You worked every day of your life, you barely saw Peter. You could never have friends, the one time you put yourself out there and tried to date you were hurt. Do you understand, Penny doll? We are saving you. Everything we take, its for your own good. I know it’s so hard for you, to give up your control, but you don’t need it anymore. You have self-destructive tendencies, you’re codependent on your brother, your life was spiraling. You can’t be trusted with your own health and safety. That’s what we’re here for now.”

“You had no right—!”

“I don’t need an invitation to save a life, Penny,” he bent over slightly, pressing a hard kiss to her forehead, “now, you need to make a decision. Are you going to be a good girl and calm down for me so you can see Peter this evening or are you going to go to bed with a spanked ass and not see him until we get back?”

Penny shook with restrained fury, fists closing tightly but she only brought them tighter into her chest instead of lashing out. Her lips trembled and without warning she screamed, loud and long and full of anger. Steve didn’t look bothered, his fingers gently stroked her face even when she shook her head, almost violently. He just steadied her, barely glancing towards the entry way to the kitchen in time to see Sam step in. Penny quieted just in time for a massive crash to come from the living, Steve sighing heavily under his breath.

“Sam, can you please stay with Penny for a minute?” The blond didn’t wait for an answer before stalking out of the kitchen, “what did you do Thor?”

“It was Barton!”

Penny was left shaking, leaning against the counter for support. Sam gave her a long glance before sighing, his eyes darting quickly to the doorway to the kitchen before he stepped forward.

“Look, I know this is a rough time for you,” he could see she wanted to spit in his face, the desire almost radiating from her pores, “hey, just listen okay. I heard earlier, Cap’s givin’ you trouble about cigarettes, right? Look, I’ve got a half-smoked pack you’re welcome to, if you think it’s gonna help.”

He dug into his back pocket and pulled out a half-crushed pack of camels, lifting the top to show it was still mostly full with a plain red lighter tucked inside. Instead of getting any closer to her, he tossed the pack onto the counter next to her before taking a step back. Her eyes trailed his face for several seconds, waiting for the other shoe to drop, for some sort of condition or trade. Sam looked sincere though, his face kind and sympathetic. He and Thor were more guys she was saddened by; they could’ve been friends probably, in another life.

“…Thanks,” she murmured, grabbing the package carefully and tucking it into the waistband of her shorts, “a lot.”

“You’re welcome sweet thing,” a crooked grin came over his lips and his head tilted slightly, “you don’t tell the soldiers where you got those, you understand?”

“Secret’s safe with me, Sam,” Penny’s chest ached, the unobtainable friendship lingering just out of reach, not bothering with the obvious response— who could I possibly tell?

“Well, I guess we’re not watching any movies here tonight,” Steve grunted as he walked back into the kitchen, “Barton just knocked the TV off the wall trying to get one of the cats down from the window ledge. Penny, go change and we’ll go up to the common floor.”

Penny didn’t hesitate, darting out of the kitchen before the blond could grab her and shuffling quickly into the bedroom. The pack of cigarettes was tucked into a pair of knitted wool socks, wrapped in one of her favorite shirts. Things she’d definitely be bringing with when they moved her, things they wouldn’t think to check for contraband.

It wasn’t really a win, but Penny hadn’t had a real win in a while. Probably wouldn’t have one for longer. So she decided to call the more than half full pack of camels a win, if only because it might’ve been the closest she’d ever get again.

Chapter 21

Chapter Text

The anxiety had been building for a week now, but as the final day of Penny’s stay in the tower progressed Peter found himself practically vibrating with panic. He’d been trying, desperately, to make Tony change his mind—he’d spent an entire day not talking to the man, had screamed and raged against him, he’d cried and begged, offered anything in exchange for Penny to stay. The older man had held his ground remarkably, gently admonishing him for all of his misbehavior and brattiness and explaining, every time, that it was what was best for Penny.

In all fairness, Peter realized about half way through the week there was no hope for convincing Tony, but he had to keep up the behavior lest he rouse suspicion. Thankfully it wasn’t exactly hard to be depressed and angry and petty, not when Tony was endangering his sister.

The garbled piece of technology in his pocket felt heavier than ever, in his head the iridium electrodes were ten thousand degrees. Peter didn’t want to use it—kind of. He didn’t want to make Tony sad or angry, but he kind of did? What he knew he wanted was for Penny to escape, with or without him. Any disappointment or anger would be worth it, he’d revel in it just a bit, and Penny would be safe.

“Come here baby.”

His feet moved before he even thought of it, trailing over to where Tony was standing at the bar with a finger of scotch in a tumbler. They were getting ready to head down to the soldier’s floor, freshly showered after a day in the lab and just waiting for it to be time. Peter didn’t understand why they couldn’t just go early, why did they have to wait all day anyway? He could’ve been with Penny hours ago, he could’ve helped her escape hours ago. The clock was ticking and his nerves were rising.

“You are freaking out,” Tony told him pointedly as he drew Peter into his arms once he was close enough, tucking the boy against his chest, “I can feel your brain going nuts. What do you need baby?”

“Penny.” It wasn’t a belligerent or angry response, just short and desperate.

Tony sighed heavily, weight settling on his shoulders at the teenager’s words. He’d been conflicted for the last week, ever since Steve told him the ‘plan’. The plan to take Penny a thousand miles away and tuck her away inside of a cabin until they could condition her to behave. He understood the method to the madness—he’d considered spiriting them away before too. But the keyword was them. He had considered taking them both off to some secluded cabin. It was the same sensation Tony had gotten when he decided he would steal Penny away along with Peter; they were supposed to be together.

But that wasn’t to say he didn’t see the necessity.

Tony was fully aware that Penny was not adapting the same way his boy was. Where Peter had fallen into tolerance and was moving towards acceptance and potentially even appreciation, Penny was still actively resisting most of the time. Steve revealed that she’d started to break after reaching her pain threshold, there had been small cracks in the surface and the soldiers were managing to pry their way through the gaps. Had it been Peter, they would’ve had him calm and docile and perfectly behaved by now—but Penny was a completely different animal.

It was slow going though, agonizingly slow. And her reluctance caused a correlating reluctance in Peter, who generally matched her opinions and emotions but at about a quarter of the level of passion. Not to say Peter wasn’t passionate about things, the kid was, but Tony still wondered if the teenager realized the gravity of what had happened the way Penny did.

For all of his intelligence, Peter was still young. His ability to think logically was great, but his immaturity hindered him; Penny had shielded him, a lot, from the realities of the world. The idea that he was with Tony for the rest of his life likely didn’t mean much, it was a concept but Peter didn’t have any way to conceptualize the future like that. His brain was perpetually stuck in the present, just like most kids his age.

Penny understood consequences. She understood harsh realities and disadvantages and unescapable struggle; she’d lived it for so long. Three jobs, no bed, no insurance, no degree, no— Tony had to stop himself. Penny understood suffering in a way she hadn’t allowed Peter to, had protected him from. Penny knew what forever meant and she knew it was crippling. Peter was in the early chapters, still in his exposition and living in the moment. His sister was at the end of her story, a tragic dénouement of everything she’d ever known.

Peter had retained his rose-colored glasses, whereas Penny’s were smashed when she was thirteen. Hard stop, no condolences for the loss of her childhood—they were obliterated when she could barely comprehend what life was and the difference between the pair was palpable.

If they kept the siblings together, Penny would never adapt beyond protecting Peter. She wouldn’t be able to see the future as an opportunity versus a loss, not while she felt like she had failed him. Seeing Tony touch him, talk to him, look at him was enough to make Penny fall into a pit of existential dread over her failure to protect her brother. The separation had to happen; him and Peter needed to develop away from the soldiers and Penny—there was no other viable solution.

The way Tony’s arm tightened around his back for just a moment, a quick reassuring squeeze, told Peter that despite the silence the man hadn’t changed his mind. He wouldn’t relent. He wouldn’t f*cking fix it.

“Here, you know what? Let’s peek in,” Tony gestured towards the TV with the tumbler, tugging Peter around the bar to stand just behind the sofa, “JARVIS, how’s Penny and the Popsicles?”

“Ms. Parker has just changed clothes and is awaiting your arrival, sir,” the AI responded smoothly, “shall I pull up the camera feed?”

“Yeah, throw it on the TV,” Tony wrapped his arms around Peter and pulled him into his chest once again, resting his cheek against the side of his head while they focused on the screen, where Penny was walking into the living room.

She was wearing a long sleeved shirt that dusted her knuckles and leggings, her masses of hair pulled into a bobble on the top of her head. The camera was focused on the living room as a whole, angled to see the front of the couch and armchairs, Penny’s daybed just barely visible in the corner. Bucky was sitting on the armchair, phone in his flesh hand while Steve skirted the top corner of the screen, walking around the kitchen and dining room.

Peter clocked that something was amiss immediately. Penny was hugging herself around the waist, shoulders hunched towards her ears as she crossed the room. They were able to catch her profile as she came to a stop in front of Bucky and waited until she had his attention, a hint of the expression on her face something Peter recognized to be heart wrenching. When he put his phone down and sat up slightly, looking almost concerned, Penny immediately tucked herself into his lap—of her own volition. Bucky was visibly in disbelief, arms snapping up to help settle her, tucking her close when she rolled even further onto her hip and pressed her chest against his. She went so far as to press her face against the slope of his neck, arms tucking around the back of his neck and shoulders tightly.

Bucky had followed all of her movements valiantly, helping her adjust and tugging her knees to rest between his thigh and the arm rest. Steve even crept further into the corner of the screen, looking at Bucky with raised eyebrows and signing something with one hand while absently holding up a pitcher with the other.

There was something crawling under Peter’s skin; he could feel it slithering over his muscle tissue and insinuating itself into his being. A sharp tremble ran down his back and he pulled away from Tony, pretending to turn to wipe away tears when instead he was trying to get a handle on his shaking. He couldn’t identify it, didn’t know what was going on, it felt like his blood was bubbling in his veins and he tamped down the shiver fiercely before Tony could tug him back into his chest.

“See baby, Penny’s fine, she’s just waiting for us,” he murmured gently against the side of Peter’s head—Tony didn’t know, didn’t recognize how sad she looked— “I know this is going to be hard. It’s gonna be hard for all of us, but Penny won’t be gone long baby. They’ll be back before we know it.”

Penny would break before they knew it. Penny would break. Penny would shatter. Something viscous was festering in his chest, constricting his organs. His heart was pounding but blood was oozing rather than pumping through his veins, it felt thick and congested—he felt sick, he was going to puke but Tony was shuffling him towards the elevator already. Peter swallowed hard, allowing himself to be ushered inside while the man followed behind.

“Soldiers’ floor, J.”

“Of course, sir.”

Tony cursed before the elevator doors closed, sticking his arm out, “I forgot Penny’s present, wait here baby.”

And all of a sudden the blood was rushing through Peter’s veins. He didn’t even think—the moment Tony was out of sight he ripped the piece of tech from his pocket and opened the tiny pocket that allowed whatever little physical maintenance that was necessary for an AI enhanced elevator. He couldn’t have imagined such a pristine opportunity, hadn’t had any idea how he was going to execute his plan.

“Mr. Parker, I do not—”

“Sorry JARVIS,” he gasped, on the verge of a panic attack as he hastily connected the circuit board to the elevator system and, by proxy, JARVIS’ system.

Peter had just closed the panel before Tony returned and the teenager found himself gasping for breath, leaning against the railing in the elevator. Tony sighed upon seeing his distress, obviously believing it was a result of Penny’s impending departure—it wasn’t like JARVIS could explain otherwise, Peter glanced towards the red dot in the corner of the elevator, once again apologizing to the AI in his mind.

When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, he stepped into the foyer where the soldiers’ front door was located and waited, shaking, to see what happened when Tony stepped off. He let the man shuffle him along, listening for the sound of the elevator doors behind them. Tony didn’t seem to notice that it stayed in place, open, an anomaly for either of the tower residents’ personal elevators.

The front door opened and Penny burst through, immediately jumping up to wrap her arms around Peter’s shoulders to tug him into the biggest hug she was capable of. He could feel her shaking, Tony’s hand rested on the small of his back and the soldiers were standing inside the apartment, waiting to welcome them in. Peter reeled with scenarios, looking to the side at Tony’s face, his eyes. He let his eyes trail over him for just a few seconds before shifting.

He made eye contact with Steve for all of four seconds before sweeping Penny up and darting back to the still open elevator, “JARVIS! Down, now! Fast!”

He slid through the doors with Penny clutched to his chest just before the door closed and the elevator started to descend at the fastest rate that was safe for unaided, standing human transportation.

“PALTI CHAYIM WHAT DID YOU DO?!” She was screaming in Hebrew, words flying from her mouth so fast he couldn’t even keep up—something about stupid, why, what they’ll, safe—

“PENNY—f*ck! You have to run! Stop screaming, listen! When we get to the floor you run!” He shouted back, trying not to shake her too hard while they continued to descend uncomfortably fast, “I don’t know how long it’ll work!”

“Peter why did you do this?” Penny was sobbing into his chest while he struggled to get them both to their feet, “Palti Chayim, I—f*ck! f*ck—”

Her hands dug into his shirt roughly and she shoved him into the back corner of the elevator, falling against him just a moment later. Peter’s arm lashed around her waist when she almost fell while trying to turn, her back pressing him further into the corner and he realized the elevator was starting to slow. Penny’s hands gripped the railings to each side, trapping him in the corner. His eyes snapped to the blue dots over the doors and his heart seized in his chest—they were only on floor 35, for the elevator to have slowed so much they would’ve needed to be on the 20^th floor minimum to stop on the 1^st floor at the current rate of deceleration.

JARVIS was back in full control, carefully dropping their speed until it came to a complete stop on the 12^th floor. Penny’s body locked up like she’d gone into rigor mortis when it started to ascend again, her breathing coming in frantic pants. It was going up at the usual clip and Peter realized that every second it took made his heart beat faster in his chest. He was light headed, dread setting in.

Tony had told him multiple times that anticipation was the real punishment sometimes, the overwhelming paranoia and fear and desolation. His thoughts immediately began to spiral and his knees weakened slightly.

“When it stops you stay in here,” Penny’s voice shook as she spoke.

“Wha—”

“Shut your mouth!” She screamed, once again defaulting to Hebrew, “Be quiet. Do as I say. Do. Not. Move.”

“Penina—”

“Stop.”

Peter swallowed down a sob, head dropping to rest on her shoulder. The passing of floors was marked by a soft tone and between the two of them, they were barely able to remain standing when the silence between beeps started to lengthen. Penny’s grip on the railing slipped, her hands sweaty from sheer panic, her knees just barely holding up the extra weight. His arm was still slung around her waist, but his hold was too slack to keep her up despite the strength with which he clenched her shirt in his fist.

“Stay.” Penny managed to choke the order out just seconds before the door opened, a panicked sound escaping her lips when she realized her legs weren’t moving the way she needed them to.

It just amped the anticipation, Penny’s brief but agonizing hesitation before she forced her limbs to react and lead her out of the elevator. He nearly gagged on a sob, watching as she put her hands up and out to her sides, just slightly. Penny was vibrating with fear, her fingers almost blurry from a distance.

“P-Please—” Peter couldn’t see them, they must’ve been standing to the side of the doors, in front of the second elevator, “it’s m-my fault.”

“No—!” He launched himself forward, only for his sister to turn faster than he thought she could move.

Penny had never laid a violent hand on him, but the way she shoved him back into the elevator bordered on it, “SHUT UP!”

He’d never noticed the way Penny’s voice cracked when she screamed before. It had always been there, he was aware in the back of his mind, but he’d never really noticed. It hurt in a special way, when the bottom seemed to fall out of her words until she could rally through the rasp. Penny had been smoking some combination of weed and cigarettes for almost as long as he could remember—had she been fourteen or fifteen? He was only eight, maybe nine at the time. Did her voice crack like that before?

His thoughts spiraled once again while Penny turned forward again, putting herself between his seated self and the three men’s towering forms, “I’m his guardian. His actions fall on me, not him. I should’ve stopped him, I shouldn’t—if I had stayed inside t-to wait, it wouldn’t have—”

“Babydoll,” Steve sighed, shifting to step closer but stopping short when a full body cringe racked her form and her hands lifted to cover her face, just for a second before she clasped them tightly in front of her chest, “Penny…”

“You—you can just… p-punish me, okay?” Her voice was shaking as badly as her body, hitching every few words and she shuddered violently for a moment before lowering herself onto her knees, “H-He’s just a k-kid, I should’ve—”

“Okay, precious, come here,” Tony scooped her up under her arms, bringing her back to her feet before tucking her into his chest, “I know that this is just what you do. It’s a compulsion, trying to take the blame like this? But we both know nothing you did could’ve stopped him. He grabbed you and ran before Steve could get to you, sweetheart.”

“N-No, I—”

“We had audio and video in the elevator the whole time, doll,” Steve cut her off gently, “JARVIS was translating to Tony’s phone. We know what you said, and we know what he said.”

A choked sob escaped Penny and her fingers dug violently into Tony’s old t-shirt, her nails scratching him through the fabric. Bucky immediately darted forward and snatched her out of Tony’s arms, spinning them around until Peter couldn’t see her around the bulk of his body. It had been preventative—if they got to her before she did damage, there didn’t have to be a punishment. He could see her legs kicking and the sound of her crying but not much else.

“Peter,” his attention snapped to Tony, who’d stepped directly in front of him, “we’re going to go inside, everyone is going to calm down, and we’re going to have a good night. Do you understand?”

His breath froze in his chest for just a moment, whooshing out when the man crouched to look him dead in the eye, “are you willing to calm down so that you can be with Penny this evening?”

It took him a half second longer than he intended to nod, murmuring a quiet response. He was rewarded by a small smile and Tony helping him up, the older man immediately wrapping an arm around his waist once he was on his feet.

There wouldn’t be any opportunity for escape, of course, whether Tony was physically holding him or not. He’d give the kid one thing: he never thought Peter would get so close. Never thought Peter could get so close. He wondered how long he’d been working on that particular piece of tech—something that overrode JARVIS’s response to his orders. It only worked in the one elevator and it was corrected within two minutes of the breach, but it was still incredibly impressive. Especially considering Tony had been very careful not to provide him with any parts or pieces that could facilitate a runaway attempt.

Inside the apartment, Bucky was still cradling Penny tightly to his chest but now in the same position that they’d seen on the security camera. Tony could feel Peter tremble against his side at the sight, his chest jumping with a suppressed sob. There were a pair of kittens worming their way around Bucky’s ankle, the little white one particularly loud in its’ efforts to be noticed.

“It gets upset when Penny’s upset,” Steve stated from behind, startling Peter for just a moment when he walked around the pair and towards the chair, “here you go, doll.”

The super soldier scooped the tiny cat into his hand and deposited it right against the exposed crook of Penny’s neck before swiping the orange one up as well, setting it on the arm of the couch a few feet away.

“That one doesn’t?” Tony questioned, guiding them over to the couch and pressing Peter sit before sitting next to him.

“It doesn’t like to be touched as much,” the blond answered, already walking towards the dining room again, “food should be up soon.”

Tony knew that Steve was doing his best to distance himself at the moment, lest he lose his temper on Peter. He was pissed, practically steaming in irritation and honestly Tony appreciated the lengths he was going to. The orange cat let out a squeaky meow from where it sat, looking hesitant to be on the same surface as other people. It very carefully hopped from the arm of the couch to a seat cushion, toeing the very edge before backing away nervously.

“Here, I’ll put you down,” Peter murmured quietly, reaching over and carefully picking the kitten up, relieved when it didn’t protest and sat it on the ground gently.

“Do you need a cat too, baby?” Tony nosed his temple gently before pressing a kiss there, watching Peter smile when the orange cat went up onto its back legs to knead its little paws against his ankle.

The teenager reached over and picked the kitten back up when it continued to meow and scratch at him, obviously looking for attention. As soon as it was on his lap it started to squirm, but only until his hands weren’t wrapped around it. The little thing was sniffing around him curiously, stumbling across his lap on unsteady paws.

A tone sounded near the front door, alerting them that the food had arrived. Steve was quick to respond but Penny didn’t even shift and Peter certainly didn’t look much inclined to move while the kitten was, adorably and painfully, clawing its way up the front of his shirt.

“How about we eat around the coffee table,” Steve suggested as he walked into the living room with two large, brown paper bags full of food, having evidently read Tony’s mind, “Tone, can you get everything out? I’ll go grab plates.”

Tony started absently digging through the bags and pulling out the styrofoam containers. He was definitely checking what was in everything and stacking it around the table depending on who’d be eating what, but his eyes were mostly locked on Peter. The kitten had made its way up to his shoulder and was furiously rubbing its face against his cheek, purring up a storm.

“It usually only lets Penny touch it,” Bucky’s voice rumbled from the armchair, his eyes also focused on Peter and the cat while his hands absently roved over Penny’s still form, “even then not for long.”

“Maybe it has discerning taste,” Tony reached out and tried to scratch it under the chin, only to jerk back when it lashed out with sharp little kitten claws, “exquisite tastes, I guess.”

“It’s cute but those claws are sharp as hell,” Steve returned with plates and silverware, two six packs balanced on top and a few bottles of soda tucked under his arm, “Bucky would be covered in scars if we didn’t heal.”

“I was trying to play with it, I didn’t think it would turn into a psycho killer and go for the jugular.”

“Says the psycho killer who regularly goes for the jugular,” Tony muttered under his breath, making Steve and Bucky both snort in amusem*nt while Peter wondered if an actual ice cube going down his spine could make more goosebumps than that statement, “why not get it declawed?”

Steve and Bucky exchanged looks, both cautiously glancing towards where Penny’s face was tucked into the brunet’s neck, “it’s not—”

“Declawing a cat is cruel,” Penny’s voice was watery and angry, “they’ll be in pain for the rest of their lives. You want them to stop scratching but all it does is make them angry and mean and they’ll spend the rest of their lives hating you. Making your life as miserable as possible until you give up and either euthanize them or give them away. It’s what you get for ruining their f*cking lives.”

Chapter 22

Chapter Text

Their parents had died a few months after her thirteenth birthday and Penny essentially blacked out for the next 8 months. She didn’t remember anything from that school year, although she’d evidently scraped by in all of her classes—actually, Penny was still convinced that little Peter, who was already showing signs of being a tiny genius, had done at least half of her homework. She didn’t remember Hanukkah that year, or the first Christmas she’d ever celebrated with Aunt May and Uncle Ben. She had zero friends coming out of that year, having accidentally pushed everyone away in fits of rage or sadness that she couldn’t even remember. The pain cut just as deep every time she remembered showing up to school the first day of her freshman year only to receive the cold shoulder from half her grade.

That was actually one of the first memories she’d retained after coming out of 7 months and 3 weeks of complete emptiness, how none of her best friends wanted anything to do with her. Everything had been confusing, somehow devastating all over again but… it was less. Her parents were gone and it hurt so much but it was nothing compared to the agony that had beset her form seconds after being informed her mom and dad were dead. When Penny racked her brain she could almost remember Aunt May crouched in front of her while she sat on the couch at home, holding her hands.

Somewhere in her brain, Penny had known that plane crashes were possible. Like, as a concept she understood the idea. The plane that was flying through the air stops doing that, and all the people inside the plane die. But it couldn’t possibly happen to her parents—they were her parents, they were infallible. Plane crashes happened, yeah, but her parents couldn’t be gone. Aunt May had told her several years later that she and Ben had been petrified she would try to kill herself, especially when the state tried to take the young girl away from the Parker’s.

They’d never had the money for therapy and Penny figured she’d never regain the memories from those months but honestly, she didn’t want them. The gaps were reprieves, the missing conversations, the absence of any and all detail. Wasn’t she sad to not remember her eighth-grade graduation? f*ck no, it was a blessing to forget how she’d felt like everyone in existence had their eyes on her—except for the ones she wanted.

There were times she absently wondered how disappointed her parents would be that she didn’t finish college, let alone get an actual high school degree. Her dad had been so smart, a genius in his own right. And her mom… Penny tried not to think of her mom often, not when it hurt so deeply. Mary Parker had been a gentle soul with an IQ of 150 who made Penny feel safe and loved and understood every day of her life. Her mother would’ve been understanding, she would’ve seen the necessity in her dropping out but it would’ve hurt that gentle soul to know the opportunities her baby had missed.

It hurt Penny in a special way that neither of Mary and Richard Parker’s children would be graduating from high school. Neither would attend university. They wouldn’t go on to press the limits of their parent’s knowledge or make an impact on the world. Somehow despite everything she’d sacrificed, Peter would never get the opportunity that he deserved. Her genius baby brother, his potential capped before he had a chance to try. God, it was an agonizing burn in her chest, a searing pain that made her nauseous and light-headed.

Her heart was pounding so hard she wondered if her ribs would crack. The cabin was lovely. Dark wood and an A-frame, a nice deck in the back and lots of windows. It was surrounded by trees, with dark needles or thin pale trunks, the purple mountains of the Rockies a lovely backdrop. It was colder than she’d expect for summer, especially considering the overcast sky and the breeze. The clouds moved so fast at such a high altitude and Penny watched trembling as a shadow passed over the house, chasing the light away before the sun followed its path ravenously once more.

Steve and Bucky were unloading suitcases from the back of the SUV, passing each other calculating looks as Penny stood practically frozen in place. Her shoulders were hunched almost to her ears, arms wrapped gently but tightly around the white kitten in her arms. It was purring quietly, the same way it had been for hours now. The little thing had cried the first few hours after they’d left the tower and subsequently the chubby cheeked orange kitten behind, only settling when Penny laid down across the middle seat in the SUV and let it burrow into the crook of her neck.

If Penny turned around she would’ve recognized the mournful looks on their faces, the pain in the lines of their eyes. The soldiers knew the hurt she felt, to be separated from their most important person—they understood that Peter was the most important person in Penny’s world. This separation was on their heads, but what could they do? They’d worked themselves into a rut, the three of them, wearing such deep treads into their negative behaviors that they couldn’t climb out. A complete shakeup was the only solution.

Both winced when she abruptly folded at the waist, clutching the kitten to her chest, and vomited over the pine needle strewn dirt of the driveway. Her hair fell in heavy, curly curtains around her face as she heaved again, hiding her tear-streaked face from the soldiers’ view. The sound of them setting the bags they held down registered in Penny’s ears but she couldn’t find the strength to collect herself before they converged on her.

“Come ‘ere doll, lemme take you up to the bathroom,” Bucky stated quietly, sweeping her and the cat up into his arms as gently as he could, “you can take a bath while me and Steve get everything unloaded. I think you’ll really like the cabin baby, we… well, we designed it just for you. If there’s anything you want to change, you just tell us. We want it to be perfect for you.”

She mostly caught flashes of green and white and brown, tucking her chin to look at the kitten snuggled into her cleavage. It felt cruel, to have taken the white one and left the orange, but the little chubby-cheeked kitten had taken to her brother so well—better than it had taken to her, even. Peter had named it Malcah and while it still didn’t like being picked up or held, it twined his ankles and meowed at him for love.

“Sit here baby,” the soldier set her carefully on the lid of the toilet, after having climbed a set of stairs and turned multiple blurry corners, “let me run your bath.”

It was all white tile, the toilet built into the wall. The tub was a freestanding clawfoot, with a spray nozzle and high sides. It was surprisingly small, considering how large the tub in the tower had been. Penny idly speculated that only perhaps one of the soldiers would be able to fit at time and it would certainly be a tight squeeze if she was forced in with them. There was a standing shower on the other side, where the roof wasn’t so sharply sloped by the A-framed roof. The nice thing, that Penny would never admit was very nice, was all of the plants. The entire room was predominantly white but there was a long-vined philodendron hanging gracefully over the tub, snake plants sitting on the shelf before the toilet. She could see a rubber plant and another type of vine by the sinks, framing the mirror.

They’d obviously gone to great lengths to make sure it would be something she liked, clearly evidenced by the bathroom alone. There were even candles waiting to be used on the antique, hunter green shelves and bath bombs with lovely scents. If she’d been able to design a personal bathroom, Penny figured it would probably have looked something like this and that made her hate it all the more.

The bastards were so in their heads they could barely see the sunlight. Penny was convinced that they were so distracted orchestrating her nightmare they’d lost the plot. They kept throwing stuff at her; beautiful plants, nice clothing, cute cats, lovely homes—but it didn’t mean a single thing. All of the possessions in the world didn’t make up for the gaping, rotting hole in her chest.

“Alright doll, let’s get you undressed,” Bucky shifted towards her once the water was at the right temperature and filling the tub, a small smile on his stubbled face.

“Do you think I’m debilitated?” She rasped after a moment, rolling her eyes up to stare him in the face before spitting a vomit speckled wad of phlegm onto the rug by her feet and setting the kitten on the shelf next to the snake plants. “Last time I checked I didn’t need to be treated like a baby. Are you gonna keep standing over me like a pervert? Get out.”

The soldier’s eyebrows shot up his forehead, surprised by the calmness behind her cutting tongue. Usually, when Penny got an attitude, it came with fury and fists and resulted in broken bones or bleeding wounds. This was overwhelmingly controlled; a bitchy rebuttal. Her voice was the gravelly tone she usually got after screaming or crying, dark brown eyes nearly black. When he didn’t move, Penny rolled her eyes and stood, whipping her t-shirt over her head and dropping it to the ground.

“You’re bein’ a little moody, babe,” Bucky watched calmly as she undressed, her clothes piling up on the floor. “Wanna think about reigning it in?”

Penny’s hair was big and curly around her face, framing the clenched jaw and sneering nose. “What are you gonna do, kill me? Whatever.”

“Penny, what—”

“Peter is a thousand miles away,” Penny’s voice started out sharp but very quickly faded into a tired drawl, “you can’t hurt him from here. And what do I care if you hurt me? So could you either get the f*ck out and let me take a bath or f*cking drown me in it? Whatever it takes for this interaction to be over.”

“Are you looking for a punishment right now?” Bucky’s lips pulled down at the corners, eyebrows furrowing, “‘Cause you’re working your way towards one really quick.”

“What’re you gonna do? Kill someone in front of me?” She groaned, reaching up to dig her fingers into the roots of her hair, tugging sharply before dragging it into a tangled, thoughtless bun on the top of her head “Or spank me until I can’t sit? Rape me? Could you just get it over with? I want to be alone, please!”

Bucky was silent for several long seconds before sighing through his nose, pushing his sleeves up to his elbows. “Take your bath, think about your f*ckin’ attitude. Steve and I are gonna bring the bags in.”

He left the door open and Penny was further irritated to learn he had too much dignity to stomp down the stairs the way she’d hoped he would. His break in composure had been so good for her it was unbelievable—but there was likely a punishment on the horizon and Steve wasn’t likely to let her off easy once the brunet told him what she’d said. The bastard was stone cold when it came to that sh*t.

She stared idly at the steaming bath, naked with her clothes piled around her feet—the question was whether she wanted a bath or if she’d been resigned to it? The water was scented, because of course it was. It was even one of her favorite citrusy scents, she noted disdainfully, another thing they had paid so much attention to while keeping her locked up in a tower like f*cking Rapunzel. Now in a cabin, she figured she was a Jewish Goldilocks surrounded by hungry bears.

But it smelled nice and her body ached from the long car ride, it had already been run so why not hop in? Besides, it would keep her busy while the soldier’s f*cked around and she wouldn’t have to see them for a bit. They were shuffling around and she could hear the sounds of bags being placed around the cabin. The door banged off the walls several times, always accompanied by a groan or a curse, one of which she recognized as a Yiddish swear—which she refused to find endearing. The kitten meowed at her from its position on the shelf, looking put out to be so far away but Penny shushed it quietly.

“You won’t like the water, just stay there,” she murmured quietly at the distraught little creature, picking up a washcloth and dunking it into the perfumed water. “If I come get you I’ll make a huge mess.”

She ignored the kitten as it continued to communicate with her, chittering in annoyance and pawing the edge of the ledge for several minutes before evidently surrendering and lying down with its little paws draped over the edge. Penny smiled to herself, the cat’s tail was roughly the size of its body and when it curled the fluffy mass of fur around itself it became unrecognizable as a cat. The orange one would’ve continued to complain until Penny let it down, would’ve just barely given her ankles a rub before running off to hide somewhere.

That’s why she decided to leave Malcah with Peter; the orange cat didn’t run from or scratch him. She twined his ankles, sat next to his thigh on the couch, kneaded her little paws against him. Peter had decided both kittens were female, based on the very reasonable basis that he wanted them to be. Penny wasn’t sure, didn’t quite care. The only thing she ever referred to the cats as was Chatul—which literally meant cat in Hebrew. She’d shortened it to Tuly for the white kitten, for the sake of ease, but refused to say it in front of the soldiers. The cat was hers, she didn’t have to share it with them.

The sounds of the soldiers were becoming more consistent throughout the cabin and Penny figured they must’ve brought in all of the bags and were focused on unpacking. She could hear someone down in the kitchen, unloading the masses of groceries they’d brought up the mountain while the other was in the bedroom. Penny rubbed the washcloth over her skin lightly, the oils from the fragrance making her skin soft and slippery.

She didn’t hear him come in, she felt Steve come in. The blond’s presence was just as overwhelming as Tony Stark’s, an aura bigger than his body that filled the room. She could feel the disappointed stare, even as she continued to wipe herself down with the washcloth. Her teeth ground together as he watched in silence, just waiting.

“Bucky said you’ve caught an attitude, baby doll.”

“Caught an attitude?” She rolled her eyes. “Wow, if only I hadn’t become desensitized to living in constant terror—you never would’ve realized I’ve had an attitude the whole time!”

“We’re supposed to be turning a new page, Pen.”

“Turning a—” Penny scoffed, face appalled as she abruptly stood from the bath and ignored the water going everywhere, “we’re not turning a new page—You burnt the f*cking book!”

The blond’s eyes widened; Penny had gotten angry in the past, furious even. She’d broken things, broken skin, broken bones and it was always accompanied by outraged screaming. But Penny didn’t make unnervingly straight eye contact while she did it. She was barely coherent at the best of times, mostly she screamed to the room at large before flying into a violent frenzy—it was different. It was startling, the light in her eyes and the way her voice cracked.

“There is no page turning, there’s no f*cking—f*cking reconciliation here, Steve,” she snatched a towel from the rack behind the tub, wrapping the light green fabric around her chest tightly, “I can’t believe after, f*ck, how long has it been? A month and a half? Two months? What f*cking day is it?”

“…It’s July 2^nd,” he found himself choking out, still feeling shell shocked as she stepped out of the tub.

“A month and a half,” Penny’s face twitched, just barely concealing the distraught look he could see she wanted to make and she started shifting past him, “Jesus Christ after a month and a half you guys still don’t get it—you know what, never mind. After a month and a half, I should’ve been smart enough to realize what dumbasses you both are.”

“Penny—”

“God, f*ck!” She shouted up at the ceiling, stopping in place halfway out the door. “I have listened to you two talk at length for what’s apparently been a month and a half! I have tried to listen to your stupid f*cking rules, I put in the f*cking effort and you still decided to take away the one thing I care about! I’m sick and tired of you saying my name in that f*cking tone, I’m tired of constantly internalizing and I’m tired of being f*cking walked on! So I’ll tell you what I told Bucky—either kill me or leave me alone, but for f*cks’ sake just give me space!”

A low mew followed her statement and Penny made an abrupt about face, stomping past him to snatch up the kitten from where it had been sitting on the ledge and storming past him again. It was like getting brushed by a wildfire and Steve fought the urge to take a step back when her wet hair whipped against him.

She dug through one of the bags that held her belongings angrily, kitten on her shoulder, knowing that the blond continued to watch her from the bathroom doorway. Shorts, underwear, a sports bra, a t-shirt, and a hoodie over that. She would’ve put on socks but she knew it bothered Steve when she went barefoot.

“Come downstairs, precious,” he sighed after watching her dress, gesturing towards the stairs, “we’ve got to talk.”

“We’ve always got to talk,” Penny snorted derisively but started down the stairs anyway, Tuly back in her arms, “but it’s usually just you two telling me what I can and can’t do. Stop bossing me around.”

Steve followed after her, aghast and confused—Penny had always been brave in the situations she was forced into, whether it was taking custody of her fourteen year old brother or dealing with being kidnapped from her apartment by a billionaire criminal, but she hadn’t ever antagonized before. She’d talked back, got irritated, snapped, but she hadn’t ever just been flat out bitchy.

On the main floor, Bucky had already put away all of the groceries and was folding up the cloth shopping bags to tuck away for next time. The brunet’s eyes locked on Penny for several long calculating seconds and her hackles raised; whatever was coming was going to be annoying. She refused to be afraid though, not when there wasn’t anything to lose. Not anymore.

“Sit on the couch, let’s talk,” Steve directed, watching as she seemed to contemplate following the direction before doing so, “things are obviously going to be different here, precious.”

“The cabin is equipped with the same AI as the tower but its restricted to monitoring and safety protocols,” Bucky explained, gesturing to the open layout of the main floor, “you’ll be able to go outside so long as you ask first, there’s plenty to do out there. When Steve bought it there was an overgrown vegetable garden out there, we had it cleaned up for you and the shed fixed up and stocked. A lot of good hiking around here too.”

“I can’t talk to JARVIS?” She asked, eyes tracking the way the soldier’s exchanged glances. “Of course not. Then I would have some sort of interaction beyond the pair of you. Damaging to your plan, huh?”

“Penny, the rules didn’t end just because we’re out of the tower,” Steve had one hand braced on his hip while the other rubbed over his forehead, “be—”

“If you say Be Sweet I’ll find a way to kill myself,” Penny intoned, a dry look on her face. “Jews don’t have an afterlife you know, I’m not afraid of going to Hell.”

“Penny, we’re trying—”

“Penny we’re trying,” she mocked in a high-pitched voice, dead eye stare once again boring into Bucky’s, “I’m not. I’m done trying. You’ll either kill me or drive me insane, I’ll never see Peter again—I…I failed. I couldn’t protect him, I couldn’t even keep him safe until he was an adult, isn’t that insane? Grand total of three years and some change and I f*cked it up.”

Penny stood up from the couch, shaking her head as she went. The kitten was quick to jump off the couch and follow after her, meowing while that massive fluffy squirrel tail curled over its back. The open floor plan of the cabin came in handy for the soldiers though, because she couldn’t really escape even as she walked across the living room and into the kitchen.

It was hard to pretend she didn’t actually love the cabin. The kitchen was small, located beneath the loft that held the bedroom and bathroom. The railing to the loft was covered in live vines that hung down to create a tiny illusion of separation between the living room and kitchen, the kitchen itself was sage green with white and dark brown accents. There were more plants, open cabinets mounted to the walls, the sink was small but there was a dishwasher. She loved the spiral staircase that led up to the loft, framing the kitchen to the left with small shiny baubles hanging from it.

There was a hamsa and a cross, both stained glass and hanging from the tallest step. Pretty cat toys hung from the lower railings, just within the kitten’s reach. It made Penny’s skin itch, just how lovely and perfect the whole cabin was. More evidence that they were paying a freaky amount of attention to her and every move she made.

“You didn’t fail, doll,” Bucky’s tone was quiet and he hesitated for a moment before following after her several paces, ending up on the edge of the kitchen, “You didn’t f*ck it up, Peter—”

“Peter is trapped in a prison in New York with a creep more than twice his age who wants to violate and brainwash him,” Penny was on her knees in front of the fridge, digging through the crisper drawer in the bottom. “Literally all I had to do to prevent that from happening was pay more attention to his daily life. f*ck, kid was practically raising himself with how often I was gone—never stood a chance, you know?”

“Don’t think like that Penny,” Steve sighed, leaning down to pick up the kitten that had circled back to his ankles and setting it on his shoulder, “there’s nothing you could’ve done. You know who Tony Stark is, you know what he’s capable of. You can’t heap that guilt on your shoulders.”

“Oh, can’t I?” She hummed, absently throwing a package of bacon onto the floor, followed by a flat of raw chicken and beef. “There can be dairy in here or there can be meat, not both.”

“We might need a second fridge,” Bucky observed quietly, watching Penny drop a couple of deli bags with sandwich meat onto the ground before she started shuffling everything into different places within the cooler. “We could keep it in the shed?”

“No room,” Steve shook his head absently, “garage?”

Penny had collected a stack of items from the fridge and piled them onto the counter, not even bothering to look back on the soldiers as she began puttering around. The open-faced cabinets on the walls held mostly dishes and containers filled with ingredients and she ducked down, opening the lower cabinets and digging out several pans.

“Do you… do you want a hand, doll?” Bucky asked hesitantly after several moments, watching her collect ingredients and tools and turn on the stove.

“No.”

“Penny—”

“Can I make lunch please?” She whipped around, an irritated look on her face and a spatula in hand, looking like she was about to use it to beat them both, “I’m hungry and I want to die, I figure you’ll only allow me to fulfill one of those wants so can you let me cook?”

The next thing she knew, Penny had been swept up into Bucky’s arms. The solider looked confused, lips curled in frustration but his brow furrowed with dismay. She stiffened at the action when he stomped back to the couch and sat down roughly, dropping her over his knees and landing a smarting blow to her ass through her shorts without warning.

“Thirty for this f*cking attitude,” he barked, yanking the shorts down until the waistband settled under the curve of her ass against the tops of her thighs, “count.”

A sharp inhale followed the first skin to skin hit and Penny snarled in response, “one.”

“Apologize,” Steve’s fingers tangled into her hair, extracting the hair tie and letting the curls fall in chaotic waves over her shoulders and face.

“Two,” she counted dutifully and angrily, narrowed eyes landing on Steve’s face, “I’m sorry you’re a f*cking monster!”

“That just added ten more, Penny,” Bucky sighed through gritted teeth, “you better reign it in.”

“You better just kill me,” she rasped, nails digging into his leg where she was holding on for balance through the hits, “because I won’t reign it in. I’m sick to death of you motherf*ckers—Oh, f*ck, three!”

“No cursing during punishments, start from one,” Steve ordered darkly, the hand in her hair pulling taught as he glanced into Bucky’s eyes—the baffling combination of anger and dismay and loss in the brunet’s eyes let him know he wasn’t the only one scrambling.

“f*ck you!” Penny shook her head roughly as if to dislodge his hand, canting her head to the side the best she could manage to look him in the eye, “beat me black and blue, I don’t f*cking care. Don’t you get it? It doesn’t matter anymore! Nothing f*cking matters.”

Chapter 23

Chapter Text

And so, co*cktails.

A French 75 was the best she could do with the meager supplies she found. It was all gin and brandy— no whiskey, no vodka and at this point she didn’t dare hope for cognac because that particular let down might be the straw that broke the camel’s back in the scope of her psyche. She chalked up the suspicious bottles of very sweet champagne to a win and overserved herself on both it and the gin.

Penny had fuzzy, nostalgic daydreams of when she used to be lucky. Things hadn’t necessarily been good, but it always buffed out in the end. She always managed rent. Peter never went hungry. The laundromat was never closed or too busy when she erratically found the time to do laundry. When she was forced to quit the bartending gig with zero notice or planning, she managed to pick up her barista position and the over nights at the grocery store within a week. That luck certainly had run out, leaving her an airhead with a penchant for disaster.

It was her deeply rooted inner dumbass that resulted in practical knowledge being a hit or miss with Penny. She knew it was harder to play softball at higher altitudes because the air was thinner. She knewthat altitude sickness was a thing, an explanation for the headache she’d been blaming on the soldiers for the last several days in lieu of admitting she needed to drink more water. She did know that it was the dry mountain air causing her insanely dry skin. Unfortunately, Penny had no f*cking idea that drinking at altitude was brutal. It wasn’t until she was nearly done with her drink, staring down at the large glass cupped between her hands that she realized she was far tipsier than she had expected.

Back when Penny was lucky, she was generally considered a very chill drunk. She sat at a very pleasant, giggly baseline where her stupid ramped up to a 9 out of 10 and she went from clumsy to someone needs to play safety net for the crash test dummy please. Sitting on the floor was the safest option, enjoying the feel of the fireplace burning just a few feet away. She was propped very carefully on her hip, ignoring the dull ache the uncompromising hardwood offered in favor of avoiding the sharp pain that would result in sitting on her ass.

All the soldiers saw was her absolute refusal to be anywhere near them, avoiding where they sat on the couch like it was infested with bed bugs. The only time she got within arm’s reach was when they were actively trying to catch her, usually when she was found deserving of a spanking—which was astoundingly often. Grumpy and disobedient didn’t even come close to describing Penny’s attitude since the move and they had no idea what to do with her. It wasn’t necessarily a complete 180 but it was at least a 120 degree turn from her behavior in the tower; she was belligerent and rude and crass.

No number of spankings had done a damn thing—except reveal she wasn’t breaking. Evidently her take away from the last round of constant punishments was to hold onto her anger every time they laid into her for mouthing off. It meant that even after days and days of being yanked over their knees every ten minutes, she was still spitting like an angry cat.

“Penny doll? Why don’t you come sit on the couch?” Steve’s tone was gentle, and he exchanged a glance with Bucky when Penny didn’t immediately bristle upon being addressed. “You’d be more comfortable.”

“I’d rather climb into the fire,” she replied, heavily lidded eyes rolling up to his face as she took a long sip of her drink.

The room was silent aside from the popping, burning wood, the soldiers realizing with rising dread that she’d barely hesitated before spouting off. At the very least Penny usually had to take a moment to steel herself before saying something she knew would earn a punishment and there was no way to know if the lack of consideration for her actions was because of her increasingly brazen attitude or because she was tipsy.

“Watch what comes out of your mouth, Penny,” Bucky’s expression was stern and his voice was low, a threatening burr that absolutely should’ve had her metaphorical tail tucking between her legs.

Instead, brown eyes shifted to his and she lifted her glass in his direction silently before downing the rest and clambering to her feet, contorting and swaying as she tried to avoid any pressure on her ass. It was bruises on bruises by day four and she was finding that unlike those hazy days when she’d been lucky, the drinking was making her temper roil. Regardless she crossed the living room into the kitchen and began mixing another.

“Penny, baby, please—don’t earn yourself another punishment. Aren’t you tired—?”

“Do not ask me if I’m tired! I’m not tired or hungry or restless,” She cut him off by slamming the bottle of champagne down on the counter so hard it spilled and gave a flustered, angry wave of her hand. “I hate when you ask me sh*t like that. It’s like you diagnose me with damsel in distress syndrome and I end up with a dick down my throat every time and I hate it.”

“Diagnose?” Bucky asked under his breath, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he and Steve made confused eye contact.

“Penny, we already told you to watch your mouth.” Steve steamrolled his own confusion and focused on trying to reel their girl back in before she could really get started.

“Yes, I know, it’s much easier to keep me compliant when I’m too scared to talk back but you forcibly removed my one f*ck to give, so get wrecked.”

“This is getting ridiculous Penny,” the blond rose from the couch and crossed the room to stand behind her, resting his hand on her shoulder gently despite the irritation thrumming through him.

“Do you ever feel like you’ve been cursed or something?” Her tone was entirely too conversational for the very real peril her ass and/or vocal cords were in, proceeding to squeeze half a lemon into her drink. “Because I can’t say that things have been good in a really long time, but this is just f*cking insane. My life didn’t even like, fall apart. It didn’t take time or anything. One day everything just…was, and I was me. And the next it was gone and so was I. Every time I blinked there was less and less, and it happened so fast.”

She shrugged the hand off her shoulder and took several deep gulps from her glass, immediately cringing— Penny didn’t even like gin. Steve allowed his hand to fall but immediately rested it on her hip, determined to force contact. It had been days since they’d been able to manage anything but glancing touches and he was sure the longer she went without skin contact the easier it was to avoid them.

“Come sit down and we’ll talk, precious,” he kept his voice soft and calm, fingers teasing carefully under the hem of her t-shirt.

“Oh, God,” Penny scoffed in irritation and turned, drink in hand to face the soldier invading her space. “Don’t get all soft and sh*t, like you give a f*ck about how I feel—”

“Penny, of course I do!” Steve’s hands went to her shoulders and she squirmed, trying in vain to escape his grasp without spilling. “Listen—”

“Penny listen,” shemocked in a high-pitched tone. “You don’t give a f*ck! All you care about is getting your rocks off with your brainless, live-in sex doll, God forbid she has a will of her own and a personality that you don’t even like! I’m done trying to act right, I can’t figure it out and every time I try, I end up punished anyway!”

“Babydoll, we love you,” his thumbs pressed against the ridges of her clavicles, rubbing circles into her skin. “All we want is for you to be less self-destructive, we want you to be happy. You’re so precious to us Penny, you’re all we’ve ever wanted. We can’t watch you bury your needs under Peter’s, we can’t watch you work three jobs and never eat. You need affection, Penny. You need to be taken care of and loved and we can’t do that when you’re so determined to go without. What we’re doing is for you, baby.”

Penny scoffed before he could even complete his last sentence, her eyes rolling almost violently in her head. She was drunk, furious, and self-destructive. He had huge balls to be so close to her while saying things he knew would incite her on a good day. His jaw ticked as he stared down at her and Penny felt a small quirk at the corner of her lips.

“You’re so pretty,” the slur in her words betrayed the level of alcohol in her blood but Penny felt plenty in control as she raised the hand with her drink in it and brushed her knuckles against his cheek bone, brown eyes tracking the way his muscles lost their irritated clench at the affectionate touch. “It didn’t have to be like this you know.”

“Penny, it still doesn’t—”

“Steve—!”

Bashing the glass in her hand against his face was one of the single most satisfying hits she’d gotten in since taking a broken table leg to Bucky’s head. It shattered against his skull, glass shredding the flesh of his cheek and her hand with the fierce burn of alcohol immediately following. Steve had to take several steps to the side to regain his balance while Penny swayed in place, absently bringing her hand up to her mouth to lick at the blood and booze pooling in her palm. It was hard to get one over on the blond, he usually moved so quickly and she was somewhat proud to have managed such a brutal hit.

“Steve!?” Bucky’s voice came from much closer than she anticipated, and Penny’s eyes focused in just in time to see the blond wave him off.

“I’m alright,” Steve’s tone was soft as he gently pushed away his lover’s anxious ministrations. “Check her hand, the blood’s not all mine.”

The brunet immediately turned his attention on her, and Penny felt another wave of satisfaction at the anger in Bucky’s grey eyes. It always pushed his buttons when she physically hurt Steve, most of her punishments from the shorter soldier having been a result of some violence against the blond — most memorably, stabbing him with a fork. He took her hand with what she assumed was the maximum amount of gentility he currently had reserved for her, resulting in a sore wrist and probably a couple of bruises from his metal fingers.

“Shouldn’t need stitches,” he exhaled in frustration and pushed the long strands of hair off his forehead, the tie he’d put it in failing. “Penny—”

“What’s it gonna be?” Her voice was taunting as she cut him off. “Gonna spank me more? Or should I get on my knees?”

“I’m starting to think we need to be more creative,” Bucky growled in response, keeping a careful grasp on Penny’s injured wrist with one hand while the other dropped to his belt buckle.

Her nose crinkled in a snarl. “Genius move, are you trying to Pavlov me into wanting to die every time you get your dick out? Cause it’s working.”

“You wish I was getting my dick out, babydoll,” the brunet sighed, whipping his belt out of the loops in a smooth motion while still keeping a firm grasp on her wrist. “This is gonna be much worse.”

Penny’s fight or flight instinct was honestly the most baffling thing about her in the soldiers’ opinion. Someone as small and slight as she was shouldn’t have been so ready to throw down at any given moment and certainly shouldn’t have been so effective. And when her ability to fight waned, when they managed to subdue her, she would do her best to flail hard enough to wriggle out of their grasp. It was a surprisingly daunting process even for two super soldiers.

The struggle resulted in Penny being bent over the kitchen counter, her toes dangling a few inches above the floor. Bucky kept both of her wrists pinned to the small of her back with one hand, still holding his belt in the other while Steve took the initiative to pull down her leggings and panties so they pooled beneath her feet. Both winced at the sight of her already bruised ass, the vast array of colors betraying both the consistency and duration of her recent punishments. Bucky only let himself glance at Steve for a moment, eyes following the trail a tear had made through the blood on his face despite the frustration evident in his expression.

He hurt with Penny, with every single punishment. Every time it just reinforced the fact that they were failing. Nothing they tried was having any effect on Penny’s behavior; she wasn’t waning, she wasn’t breaking. If anything, she was getting more resolute in her rage. Bucky ignored the way the blond winced every time he brought the belt down across her ass. Penny was wailing by the fifth whack— the pain was shocking in comparison to a hand, especially considering it was layering more bruises on her bruises. Bucky stopped after ten, both soldiers breathing heavier than expected while Penny lay limp over the counter, still sobbing.

Steve knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the last thing Penny wanted in that moment was to be comforted by either of them but he couldn’t deny the instinct that told him to pick her up and hold her close to his chest. Almost instinctually Bucky shifted to move her knees until her legs were wrapped around Steve’s waist, helping the blond properly distribute her weight across his body while she remained effectively boneless.

“How about we turn in for the night, doll? We’ll get the fireplace next to the bed going.” Steve’s hand curled into her hair, encouraging her to press her forehead against his shoulder— almost dropping her when sharp little teeth dug into the top of his shoulder, where his tank top left his skin unprotected near his neck.

“Jesus, Pen!”

The pained hiss he made was satisfying, but not as satisfying as the crunch his flesh made when he tried to tug her head back with a rough grasp and she bit down harder. Blood burst from the muscle like she’d popped a water balloon between her teeth, filling her mouth almost immediately and so suddenly that she nearly choked. Bucky was quick to tangle a hand in her hair to keep her from going back in to do more damage, Steve preoccupied with both holding Penny and pressing a palm against his newest wound. His eyes glanced over the blond’s face with a grimace; the cuts on Steve’s face were still bleeding sluggishly while the one on his shoulder dyed the neckline of his top red.

She definitely deserved another punishment, but Bucky was just a little hard at the sight of her teeth imprinted on Steve’s shoulder. It wasn’t an intentional show of ownership but it sure looked like it, to the point he found himself absently dreaming about a not too distant future when Penny would purposefully lick and suck at their skin until she left a mark.

In all fairness, Steve looked relatively unperturbed considering he’d just been bitten, violently. Penny, with tears actively dripping from her cheeks, still appeared absolutely furious despite the pain she was likely in. Honestly, she looked half feral with blood and tears dripping from her chin, crooked teeth stained red and easily visible with the way she snarled at them.

“Left f*cking field, every goddamn time,” Bucky commented absently, releasing the tension from his grasp on her hair. “Are you done for the night, you little monster?”

“Only if you are,” Penny sneered, head tilting with the expression.

“All Steve suggested was that we go to bed and you lashed out, Penny!” He gave a sharp tug on her hair, closing in on her suspended form from behind until his chest pressed into her back and he could lean their collective weight against Steve.

“You just hit me with a belt!” She immediately spat, a sob breaking the end of her sentence.

“Baby that was after you, completely unprompted, smashed a glass across my face. You remember that, right?”

“What the f*ck are you talking about, completely unprompted?” The high-pitched mocking grated both their ears, but mostly because it was tinged devastation. “You helped Stark take my brother—”

“Stop, listen,” Bucky gently shifted both hands to rest on either side of her throat, fingers long enough to slip under the neckline of her shirt where he gently brushed her skin. “Do you ever think about how your very first problem with us is that we helped Tony get Peter? Not that we asked Tony to give you to us, not that we’ve kept you locked up for months—”

“All this time later and that’s still your most immediate concern. You have a blind spot for yourself, doll, and we won’t let you go neglected anymore.”

“Not this again, I can’t do this right now,” Penny’s voice was taking on more and more of a hysterical tone. “Stop trying to— stop trying to make this out to be something I’m being irrational about, like I can’t think past Peter! I know I’m a person! I’m completely aware that I’m a person with needs just like Peter! I realize that my life has been one sh*tshow after another! I’m stupid, okay, but I’m not that stupid. I can tell when you’re trying to manipulate me by now. You’ll try bringing up raising Peter next, how hard it was for me to take care of him. There are no lessons to be learned here, okay? No behaviors to be changed. So just stop it. Please.”

Eye contact with Steve was one of Penny’s least favorite things, but she was counting on all things in the universe that she had some form of sad puppy dog eyes. Her hand hurt and her ass was on f*cking fire, she did in fact want to just go to f*cking sleep but she couldn’t submit to another night of that. Penny’s brain scrambled sometimes when she was tucked between them, she’d start to get too comfortable and that made her forgetful. The warmth and weight of their bodies had developed into some weird sort of sedative and if she wasn’t careful she’d get distracted.

“Put me down, I want to sleep on the couch.”

“Penny, there is no way—”

“Please!” She interrupted with a hiccupping shout. “Will you please just give me space? You breathe down my neck twenty-four hours a day, can you please leave me alone for just a few hours? Sometimes I think I’m going insane because I’m talking to you and I’m saying the same things over and over and I know I’m speaking English but you don’t even hear me. Am I really talking? Am I speaking the wrong language and I don’t realize it? Tell me you understand me, please!”

“Okay, okay,” Bucky moved one hand to Steve’s shoulder to quiet him. “Penny, we’re listening to you, but communication goes both ways. You have to reciprocate.”

“No, no way! I’m asking you to hear me! When you say listen you’re demanding obedience, like I’m a dog or something, it’s so f*cking dehumanizing! f*ck, I-I just want to go to sleep. Please put me down, I just want to go to sleep..” Penny’s voice cracked the way it usually did when she got so worked up and their hearts may as well have cracked with it.

Bucky took a short step back and Steve carefully lowered her to the ground, the brunet guiding her legs down by her thighs to help stabilize her. She seemed to freeze when her feet hit the floor, her hands tangling into the hem of the oversized long sleeved sweater she wore. Several seconds past before she stumbled from where she’d been standing between them and out of the kitchen, almost tripping up the stairs. Tuly was up there and Penny needed to wash her hands and face, feeling sticky with blood, tears, and alcohol.

Goosebumps rushed over her entire body when she heard steps on the stairs behind her, snatching a pair of panties from an open drawer as she dashed into the bathroom. Tuly gave a chirping meow from the cat tree next to the fireplace but Penny didn’t have time to grab her before closing the door. The lock wouldn’t keep them out but she flipped it anyway, out of sheer desperation, as a sob ripped from her throat.

She pulled her underwear on first, nearly falling over when she lost her balance. The spike of pain made her toes dance against the tile and she cut the water on high to muffle the noise that slipped from her lips. It was a miracle they’d given her any space at all, nothing was worth the risk of bringing them through that door.

Outside the bathroom, Bucky had barely managed to pin Steve before he burst in. Usually the brunet was incredibly adept at silent take downs but Steve could be a bit intense when it came to Penny’s behavior and the taller man was very determined to get to her— try as she might, they’d heard her over the sound of the water and he could never deal with her pain as well as Bucky. Luckily she let it run for well over five minutes and her unenhanced ears wouldn’t be able to hear their muted grunts as they rolled across the rug.

“Come on, think Stevie!” Bucky hissed, constricting his legs around Steve’s torso and holding his arm in a joint lock. “Be patient! We need to call Stark, we need advice! We can’t risk doing the wrong f*ckin’ thing and making this sh*t worse! Again, Steve!”

“She’s—”

“She’s not hurting us or herself, so I need you to shut the f*ck up and let her sleep on the f*cking couch tonight so we can call everyone back home!” He yanked on the blond’s arm roughly when he tried to speak. “Come on babe, reel it in! Help me!”

They’d just gotten to their feet, both feeling a rush of exhaustion—it didn’t happen often, but when they did get tired, it was somehow always the result of Penny’s behavior—when she reemerged from the bathroom. Her hair had been scraped into a sloppy bun at the top of her head, face scrubbed clean and her teeth brushed. There was still blood at the collar of her sweater, where it had run down her throat, but she didn’t care enough to risk changing in front of them. She gave the pair a strange look at their disheveled states but skirted around them regardless, hesitating just long enough to scoop the kitten into her arms before making for the stairs.

Bucky always felt the instinct to chase when she ran. It wasn’t something the original Bucky had any inclination towards, he’d been a Brooklyn boy for f*cks sake, but the Soldier was a predator. Regardless he restrained himself, despite the urge to run her down and sweep her up. That cold voice in the back of his head reminded him that a dick down her throat always proved a good teaching tool but he was quick to shake his head—whether he was the original Bucky or the Soldier or something in between didn’t matter, now was not the time to press (when had he become the one who didn’t press? Another thing that didn’t matter).

So he held Steve’s waist to steady them both while she dashed down the stairs with the kitten in tow, immediately curling up on the sofa and settling. She covered herself with one of the several blankets available and adjusted the pillow against the arm of the couch before closing her eyes. Away from the soldiers, it took her about ten minutes to fall asleep. They waited until her breathing steadied before Steve dialed his phone and headed outside to talk to Tony. She didn’t even stir when he opened the patio door and stepped out.

His conversation with Tony lasted twenty minutes but to Steve it felt like two hours; two hours of swearing, disbelief, and unease. They thought Penny was giving them trouble— Peter had made two escape attempts in the last four days, disabling JARVIS both times. He even made it to the ground floor of the tower at one point and had to be surreptitiously collected by security in a blessedly empty staff corridor. Tony had two black eyes, a destroyed penthouse, three total system failures, and the full weight of a teenage boy whose neural reward system didn’t account for consequences as a result of his brain not being fully developed yet which meant he was a f*cking psychopath.

“They’ve both gone off the deep end,” he announced quietly upon returning to the bedroom, closing the door behind him but not approaching Bucky on the bed. “Peter has caused more problems in the last week than the last two months and Penny just smashed a glass across my face before effectively telling us to square up. This might’ve been a mistake, should we go back?”

“Tony didn’t have any advice, huh?” Bucky sighed, sweeping a hand down his face tiredly when they immediately returned to an earlier conversation with absolutely no new information or variables to calculate with; did they retreat or press on? “Maybe we could try Loki? Or Nat?”

“You’re avoiding answering,” the blond pointed out sternly. “Honest, gut reaction. Stay or go?”

“Gut reaction? Stay.”

“Okay, then we stay. We need a new strategy. I’ll call Nat, you call Loki and we’ll brainstorm together tomorrow when Penny goes out to garden,” Steve sent a longing glance towards the bedroom door but crossed the room to the bed instead of going back out, laying close to Bucky since Penny wasn’t there to be in the middle. “I’m worried, Buck.”

“Don’t worry Stevie,” he wished he felt as confident as he sounded. “We’ve got her on the ropes.”