Penny was mad.

Not just mad, but furious.

And ready to punch something.

It was... guess what?

That time.

Fuuuun.

So after waking up in a pool of blood, she stumbled to the shower, pushing her hair out of her eyes.

The hot water helped with the cramping, but then she found out there were no pads. No tampons.

Nothing.

So she was mad.

She had one in her bag.

Just one.

Luckily.

But she needed help.

------------

Natasha was her first option.

But then she found out that she was on a mission.

Wanda was next.

But she was out with Vision.

And Pepper was on a business trip.

Which left Penny with no choice but to tell one of the guys.

She hated that option.

They were the avengers, for crying out loud.

And they were guys.

Which left her in a bad position.

She couldn't drive.

And she didn't have money.

So she just huddled on the couch wrapped in blankets slowly dying.

Several of the avengers greeted her, not seeing anything wrong, but Clunt was the one was finally noticed.

He waited until there was no one else around, and then he sat down beside her.

"You okay, Pen?"

She nodded softly.

He didn't seem to think so, though, and after several seconds of studying her, he came to a conclusion.

"I'm going to the store. Anything you need me to pick up?"

Her eyes lifted, meeting his, and she started to nod, but stopped.

"You need pads?"

She nodded, her face pink. "There's no girls here."

He squeezed her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine with getting them for you. I'm married, okay? Laura needs me to get stuff for her all the time."

She gave a tiny nod. "Thanks Mr Clint."

He smiled softly. "Just Clint, okay?"

He stood up, looking back down. "I'll be back in around half an hour."

-----------

He came back, as promised.

In the bag that he gave her, there was also warm socks, and a chocolate bar.

"I didn't know what kind you liked, so I went by default." He explained. "Just tell me if you need anything else."

She nodded shyly. "Thanks Clint."

He nodded. "You can watch a movie if you want. Remote's on the coffee table, blankets are on the couches and so on. I'll make sure no one disturbs you."

She smiled gratefully. "You're the best."

He winked. "I know. Just dont let Tony hear that."

"One of the best," she corrected herself.

He rolled his eyes, squeezing her shoulder as he left.

-------------

Penny wanted food.

Lots of it.

And then sleep.

But she had school.

She stumbled blearily into the lab. "Daaaaad."

Tony looked up. "Hi sleepy head. You look really exhausted."

She fell into a seat beside him, propping her hands under her chin. "I dont wanna go to school. 'M really tired."

He studied her. "Okay. You can stay home today. On one condition."

She leaned against him. "Mmm. Wha's that...?"

He rested his chin on her hair. "That you go to sleep. Friday told me you were up all night. Any specific reason?"

Penny shook her head gently. "I just didn't sleep well."

He hugged her with one arm. "Okay. Go on back to your bed. I'll call the school and tell them you're not coming in."

She nodded. "Thanks dad."

He returned the nod. "No problem Pen."

-------------

She did manage to sleep, emerging from her room after lunch.

Natasha was reading a book on the couch.

She looked up when Penny came in. "Hello мой паук. Sleep well?"

Penny collapsed beside her on the couch, using her legs as a pillow. "Yeah."

Natasha rested her hand on Penny's head. "Are you okay?"

Penny raised her eyes. "That time."

Nat pursed her lips. "Oh. Sorry."

Penny shrugged. "I'm fine. It's almost time for me to patrol, so I need to get ready."

Natasha studied her. "All right. Be careful."

Penny winked. "Always am."

------------

First off was a mugging.

"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!" Penny called, dropping down beside them.

The man turned around, his lips set in a snarl. "Spidergirl, eh? You're gonna squeal."

Penny dodged his punch. "Actually, only pigs like you squeal. I'm a spider, see. And don't make faces like that. It'll freeze that way! Didn't your mom tell you about that?"

He grabbed her neck, slamming her against the wall. "Scream, little girl."

Penny gasped for air. "I don't think I will, thanks."

She brought her knee up, and he doubled over, groaning in pain.

She webbed him to the wall, and turned to the girl, holding out the wallet. "You okay?"

The girl nodded slowly. "Thank you."

Penny saluted. "Just doing what I can to help."

------------

Penny walked through the door of her room, to find her best friend sitting on her bed. "Ned? What're you doing here?"

He looked up from his phone. "Hey. Mr Stark said I could visit."

She pressed the spider on her chest, and the suit slipped off, leaving her in shorts and a tank top.

"You've known him for three years. You can call him Tony."

He shrugged. "It seems disrespectful."

Penny tossed the suit in her closet. "Seriously Ned? He's my dad."

Ned scratched his neck. "I know. It's just weird that my best friend is Tony Stark's kid."

Penny flopped onto the bed, bouncing Ned. "This is literally nothing new!"

Ned poked her. "Still cool."

Penny grabbed his hand, stopping him from tickling her. "Don't you dare," she warned.

He raised his hands in mock innocence. "Oops."

She glared at him. "I mean it."

They both made their way to the common room.

Almost everyone was there, and Ned was silently fanboying.

Penny crossed to the kitchen, grabbing sodas for her and Ned.

"Penny, what happened to your neck?" Natasha asked suddenly.

Penny looked up. "My neck?"

Nat held up a mirror.

Penny's neck was mottled purple with bruises in the shape of a hand.

"Oh. Patrol."

Natasha stood up. "Come on. I'm going to train you. You need to learn more self defense."

Penny shot out of her seat, grinning excitedly. "Yesyesyesyes!"

-----------

Penny managed to hold her own for twenty seconds, surprisingly, but then Nat stopped going easy on her.

She was body slammed into the mat, wheezing for breath. "So... cool."

Nat offered her a hand up. "Take a defensive stance."

Penny did so, and listened to Nat telling her how to correct it.

Then they sparred.

After several hours had passed, she was getting slowly better. Nat didn't have to correct her stance as often, and she had actually managed to last more than a few seconds.

Then she got distracted, and the results were disastrous.

They were sparring when Penny's spider sense went off, warning her of danger.

She turned her head slightly, losing focus, and Natasha's foot slammed into her chest.

She was knocked backward, into the wall, gasping for breath.

Instantly Natasha was beside her, eyes worried. "Are you okay, мой паук? I'm so sorry!"

Penny coughed. "Oof. That hurt. Yeah, I'm okay. Don't worry about it. I got distracted."

Natasha wiped her eyes. "Good. I thought I'd hurt you."

Penny pulled herself up. "My senses went haywire, and it was bad. Something's happening."

Natasha frowned. "Okay. Let's go talk to Tony. See if he noticed anything out of the norm."

-------------

Penny rolled over in her bed, staring at the wall.

She wasn't tired.

Her senses had been going off all day.

She hadn't seen anything, and was wondering if she was just being paranoid.

When she finally dropped off to sleep, it was restless.

-------------

Tony woke to the sound of muted sobs through the walls. He rose and felt his way to the door. The moon had barely risen, so everything was dark.

He listened for the sound again, then headed toward the living room. A small lamp was on, and Penny was huddled on the couch, staring unseeingly at the wall. Tony sat beside her, gently touching her arm. She didn't respond.

“What happened, Pen?” he asked gently, taking her hands.

“He's dead.” Penny mumbled. “He's dead.” Mindlessly repeating the words.

Tony gently shook her arm. “Penny?”

Penny's eyes were closed, her voice low, both fists gripping the couch cushion, murmuring two words. “He’s dead. He's dead. He’s dead.”

“Pen. Look at me. Please. What is it? Who's dead?”

The words rushed out of Penny. “T-Tony. He's dead. He died.” Tony gripped her shoulders. “Pen. Penny. I’m right here. I'm not dead. I'm right here.”

Her shoulders started to shake, and she buried her head in her hands, crying softly.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I could- couldn't stop them- I wanted to, please-"

Tony pulled her hands away from her face, tilting her head up. Her eyes wouldn't meet his.

"Penny. Penny. Listen to me. I'm right here. You're right here. Nothing's wrong, okay? It was just a dream."

Her eyes slowly focused, meeting his gaze.

"Dad?"

He pulled her into a hug. "Its okay, sweetheart. I'm right here."

He could feel hear her muffled sobs, feel her small fingers curling around his shirt.

"Its okay, Pen. I'm here. I'm here."

She didn't move for several minutes, trying to control her sobs. "I'm sorry, I just-"

"Nope. No apologies. I won't hear any of it. It is not your fault, k? Listen to me, Pen. It's okay. None of this is your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. It sucks, yeah. I know. But it isn't your fault."

She wiped her eyes. "I just- I'm scared. I don't want to lose you. I-I can't lose another parent. I can't. And I'm scared, because you're in danger all the time, and I know that you can take care of yourself, but I'm so scared that one day you won't be able to, and I'll lose you."

He leaned back against the pillow, and let her rest against him. "I can't promise you that I will never get hurt. Or die. You know the risks of being an avenger. But I will promise you that I will be careful. And I'm never going to let you go, okay?"

She gave a tiny nod.

He pressed a kiss to her head. "Get some rest, okay? I'll be right here."