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When she was a little girl, she'd never thought much about weddings. She didn't daydream about what dress she'd wear, how extravagant it would be, and who would attend. For a long time she told herself she wouldn't get married, simply because it was too expensive and an outdated tradition. For a part of her life, the kind of wedding she wanted wasn't even legal. Then Michelle Jones came along and that opened all sorts of new possibilities.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god, I can't do this..." she shakes her hands in front of her, rocking back and forth on her feet.
The empty elevator echoes her own anxious words back at her. It's moving down towards her third favourite homebase (after her bed and the very top of the building overlooking the city in spandex). Her fiancée's encouraging words stick with her and she focuses on her confidence.
"Parker, don't be a wuss. I promise it'll make him cry like an overgrown baby."
Her intention isn't to make him cry, but it wouldn't upset her if it happened.
The doors ding open.
"I can't, I can't, I can't-"
"Penny, you've arrived at your destination," Friday points out unhelpfully.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," she grumbles, walking out.
The doors close with what feels like finality. No backing out now, Penny Parker. Time to get tough. She walks towards her and her mentor's shared lab and before opening the door she glances down at her only ring for a last breath of courage. Despite their hesitant start, Penny and MJ both equally awkward in their own ways, MJ was the one to pop the question with a beautiful plain gold ring that fits well under her suit.
That was nearly two years ago now and the wedding is finally drawing near. They're out of college, with steady jobs (Penny getting the hang of mixing work and patrol and home life to something functional), and they're now in their own little home; they're ready for this big step.
They've got a venue, flowers, and napkins. Penny's got her dress, MJ has a pantsuit because she doesn't conform to gender norms and that's one of a thousand reasons Penny loves her so much. They've got a wedding party. Penny has May as her Maid of Honor and Ned as her bridesmaid, and MJ has her sister as Maid of Honour and Harry as her bridesmaid. Morgan Stark is their adorable flower girl. A modest guest list of twenty-three people. Food. Photographer. Vows.
They're set.
Except for the one thing Penny's been procrastinating for the past two years.
"Hey, kiddo," Tony greets as she finally steps inside.
"Hey, boss." She takes her seat and tosses her oversized purse on the ground by her desk.
"You want to go over the coding on those bots?" He asks, not looking up from his own work.
"Yeah, in a bit." She turns in her seat towards him. Their desks are side by side. It's not really Penny's desk, she stole half of Tony's years ago and he's never bothered giving her her own or moving her elsewhere. One of her hands rests on the desk, nails ticking against it in an anxious rhythm. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something." She forces out.
Her stomach is clenched with worry and she feels a little like she might vomit. Asking MJ to move in together hadn't been so stressful (probably because MJ had been dropping massive hints for weeks).
"Oh? What's up?" Tony pulls his attention away from his tablet and turns to meet her gaze.
"It's about the wedding," she starts and hesitates to continue.
"Do you need more money? I told you you could use as much as you wanted, you don't need to worry about asking for more. Friday, transfer-"
"Nope! No, no, we don't need more money." She waves her hands in front of her and shakes her head. Tony's already been more than generous enough with that.
MJ's in charge of their finances; Penny can't be trusted with anything more than a ten dollar bill. They'd both been involved in choosing wedding things, but MJ was the one who found the best prices and they were well below budget.
"If you say so. What's this about then?"
"Well, I was thinking..."
"Yeah?" He gently prods.
The silence stretches for longer than is considered comfortable, but Tony knows to be patient.
When she was a little girl, she thought weddings were overrated. She and MJ were similar in that sense; neither of them cared for parties. The only reason they were having a traditional wedding rather than eloping is that they wanted to do it for their families, and they agreed they wouldn't mind a small celebration to celebrate their choice to spend the rest of their lives together.
Sue her for getting drawn into the romanticism of the idea.
MJ's only real request was for Penny to ask Natasha to officiate the ceremony and that conversation had gone better than this one is going. (Surprisingly, she'd agreed and Black Widow is going to officiate and that is probably one of the coolest things in her entire life.)
However, in the few times she'd thought about a wedding, it had always been an obvious thing to her that May would be her Maid of Honour, and back then she'd always assumed Ben would be around to walk her down the aisle. Now she has no Ben. She's spent the past two years debating how she wanted to go about working around that problem.
MJ isn't being walked down the aisle - she'll be standing at the front right from the start of the ceremony. She could do the same thing, or she could walk alone. She could ask May, but May's more on the 'mother of the bride' side of things and she really wants her as her Maid of Honour. She could ask MJ's dad; she's close to her family and he'd be happy to do that for her.
But Penny doesn't not have a father figure of her own. Tony Stark's been in her life for a decade. His daughter is her baby sister that she would fight the ocean to keep safe. Pepper knows her favourite colour and meals and takes her on spa days when Spider-woman's been beaten down one too many times in the last week and needs a break. Tony gave her a bedroom in his home, paid her college tuition, gave her a job he claims she's earned.
He came to her graduations. Taught her to drive (even though she has zero need for a car). Taught her to change the oil and a flat tire and repair a car as well as any mechanic could. He's been by her side in the medical center time and time again when she was in over her head fighting weirdos in the streets. He took her side when the Avengers thought her too young to fight by their side. He's her go-to for things out of May's depths.
"I was thinking - I mean, wondering, or well I guess hoping, really, that you might, maybe..." she clears her throat. "Would you want to, maybe, walk me down the aisle? During the ceremony?"
Tony blinks several times really quickly. "Oh."
"I won't be offended if you don't want to," she says hurriedly. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable. You're still more than welcome as a guest."
"You sure you want that?" He asks, expression purposefully blank.
"Yeah, I really do," she admits.
His face breaks into a smile.
"It'd be an honour, kiddo."
He reaches out for her and tugs her into a hug. Neither of them cries then and there, but they keep the tears for later.
When she was a little girl, she knew if she ever got married that she wasn't going to have a completely traditional wedding. She was never going to have a husband. She has no mother to do her hair or father to ask permission. She has what matters though.
She has a soon to be wife that she loves and will love for the rest of her life. A partner who knows all the good and bad and frustrating parts of Penny Parker; inventor, scientist, superhero, and vigilante.
Aunt May does her hair and makeup (thank Thor for waterproof). She wears a beautiful red dress because MJ is the perfect partner and let Penny have red and gold as her colour scheme. (She was vetoed on the red and blue since that would clash in a larger setting, so she chose the next best option.) May links arms with MJ's little sister as they walk down the aisle ahead of Ned and Harry, followed by a cheerful Morgan throwing flowers pretty much everywhere.
Tony links arms with her, ready to follow after them.
"You ready?"
She nods.
"Thanks for doing this. I'm... I'm really glad you're here."
(Thank all the gods for waterproof makeup, she's already teary-eyed.)
"Wouldn't be anywhere else, kiddo."
Her smile is shaky because she wants to cry with the happiest of tears. She tells herself to wait until she sees her almost-wife first.
The song changes and it's showtime.
Her spidey powers make her much more balanced than she used to be, but she feels shaky in her heels. The walk feels like it takes forever but also not long enough. Her eyes are fixed on Michelle. She's dazzling, somehow more than she usually is. She barely even notices Natasha standing by her side ready to officiate, or any of their wedding party. She brushes a stray tear and she sees her holding back a laugh and probably tears of her own. Tony is steady by her side and she's grateful for his presence.
She understands that it's an old practice of a father giving away his daughter to a new man, but she thinks it could be about support too.
When they reach the end of the aisle, he turns to her with a smile.
"I love you, Penny." He leans forward and kisses her temple.
She throws her arms around his waist, "I love you, too, dad."
"Go get 'er, tiger."
It's so stereotypical she can't help but laugh. He kisses her forehead next and then steps back to take his seat next to his wife and daughter, now holding an empty basket.
Penny takes that last step to be beside Michelle. She takes her hands in her's and everything else fades away. Time to become a wife.