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Tony had been gone for three months. He wasn't sure if gone was quite the right word to describe exactly what had happened to him, but he was sure that was how it had appeared to his daughter. She was seven, there was no way she'd understood what had been happening, or even that anyone had really explained. He doubted Rhodey had found much time to explain to his goddaughter why her father was missing, after all, the man had clearly been nonstop searching for him for months.
He hoped that Rhodey had stopped by to make sure Penny was okay though. The girl adored him beyond belief, and would listen to anything he said. Truly, he was the only reason she believed the Easter Bunny existed. He'd had the girl since she was born, an agreement being made between her and Ms. Fitzpatrick that he would keep the girl and take care of her. Well, he hadn't done a very good job these past few months.
Tony rotated his shoulder, wincing at the pain. But the arm sling would only stay for the rest of the trip before he ripped it off for his announcement. And while hugging his kid. He didn't want to scare her.
As if reading his thoughts, Rhodey looked up from where he'd been hunched over some supplies and sent him a dirty look, "You better keep your arm in that sling, Tony."
"Oh, I wasn't aware it was necessary," he joked, "You just don't get the same recognition for blowing up a terrorist base single-handedly like you used to."
Rhodey rolled his eyes, "Just keep it in the sling until we can get you to a hospital."
Tony hummed, pretending to play along with the idea of going to a hospital, though he knew he would be doing no such thing. The plane ride was amazingly long, and he barely managed to sleep until they arrived, often jerking awake, half expecting to be back in that cave. And sometimes he wished he was. Then Yinsen would be there, and he could try again. He could save his friend.
But he couldn't.
But he'd get to see his daughter. That was really the only thing that kept him calm as the plane landed, the speed and the bump making his stomach jostle with nerves. Rhodey helped him limp off of the plane when the back opened, Pepper and Happy both waiting for him. The former had a soft smile on her face, tears in her eyes.
"Watch it, coming up here," Rhodey warned, stabilizing Tony as he slid a little bit. Medics began making his way towards them, but he waved them away haughtily.
Are you kidding me with this? Get rid of them," he ordered, managing to make it the rest of the way to Pepper, "Your eyes are red. A few tears for your long-lost boss?"
"Tears of joy. I hate job hunting."
"Yeah, vacation's over," he sniffed, looking around, worry crossing his face, "Where's Penny? How's she been?"
Fear and apprehension fleeted across both Pepper and Happy's faces, and Rhodey tensed up beside you. It made his blood run cold and his heart clench.
"What? Where is she!?" he demanded, and Rhodey winced.
"She's...last month she was taken." Tony drew in a sharp breath, his eyes flashing with panic, "We've...had no contact. No ransoms or--or anything. Obie said he'd lead the charge looking for her while I look for you, and I've been trying to split my time, but..."
"Let's go."
A month. A full month. That's how long Penny had been gone, and Tony hadn't been around to protect her. And there'd been no contact...he didn't even want to think about why she must've been possibly taken. Hopefully they were just looking for ransom, and now that he was back to pay a ransom he'd get to see her again. To keep her safe.
Before Tony had headed home he'd still called the press conference, much to Pepper's chagrin and everyone's deep confusion at his announcement. He'd hated every minute he wasn't looking for Penny, but he'd had to rectify what horrors he'd done to the world. He couldn't leave his company, himself, to continue making those mistakes. Those decisions. Not when he could shut it down.
Turns out, his company didn't like it, and was now claiming PTSD and separation anxiety from Penny being missing. The PTSD was 100% not true, but they had a point at the anxiety. After the conference he'd sped back home, hastily greeting Jarvis and going down to his lab, starting his search.
"Welcome home, boss," Jarvis greeted as he walked through the door, the house lighting up, "I've kept the bots from destroying the lab while you were gone."
"Thanks," he said hastily, heading down the stairs, clapping for thee lights to his lab to spring on, "Fire it up, and get me everything you have on Penny's kidnapping. We're finding her."
"Yes, sir."
He combed through footage with a tired yet painfully critical eye, trying to find where his daughter had been taken. Because he couldn't lose her. He couldn't lose Penny, who was bright smiles and big hugs and ice cream after they put her report cards on the fridge. She needed to be safe. To be in his arms.
Penny had been taken while she was at school. Happy had been two minutes late, just a little further down in line, as the camera on barely managed to capture the men picking up a crying Penny. A teacher rushed over, but it was too late, and the minivan had raced off. With his kid.
"Follow it," he ordered, and Jarvis did, switching cameras to try and catch where they had gone. But Tony knew it wouldn't be that simple, not if she'd been gone for a month, and soon enough, the minivan was gone. Without a trace. It wasn't even that it had disappeared, but that the footage had cut out, "Where's the rest of it?"
"This is the last known location of the van, sir."
"Spread out for the next hour in a 100 mile radius, find it."
"I already did that, sir. Three vehicles matching the car's make did not share the license plate and were tracked to find no Ms. Stark," the AI explained, and Tony banged his fist on the table in frustration. He couldn't lose her, not Penny. She deserved to live, to grow up and live her life to its absolute fullest, to make the changes he knew she would make. Because she was unstoppable. But Tony's incompetence might be what stopped her.
"Open a new file, J, and expand your search as far as you can; the van, facial recognition, the whole nine yards. We're gonna find her, and we're gonna be ready."
Penny was scared. She was cold and her body bruised from hits that would sometimes rain down from her kidnappers. Because that was what she was. Kidnapped. She was hit often, but mostly left alone in a small bedroom that had little more than a mattress on the floor and a thin, scratchy blanket.
Daddy had been been gone for forever. He'd said he wouldn't be away long, just a few days, and when he came back they'd go to the movies. But he'd been away longer than just a few days. Uncle Rhodey had come back after a week and a half, talking to a bunch of strangers about her daddy being missing and the search to find him.
She'd cried a lot while Auntie Pepper had taken care of her, had had a harder time sleeping. She'd had nightmares, but she was too old for nightmares. A girl in her class had told her so.
The days had stretched since Daddy had been gone, each worse than the last. She usually didn't see Uncle Rhodey either, who sometimes stopped by with a gift and a hug all while assuring her that she was looking for her daddy.
And then she'd been gone too.
She'd been taken at school, taken from car to car with a bag over her head until she'd found herself in this small room. She wasn't sure how long she'd been here, but her skin crawled with nerves and her heart ached with longing. She wanted to be home. Home where it was warm and the blankets were soft and Daddy would always give her a hug if she felt scared. She wanted to be anywhere but here.
Penny felt tears stream down her cheeks for the millionth time since she'd been here, and she didn't bother to wipe them away. What was the point? She'd just cry more later anyway. But maybe she should stop. She was really thirsty, and they had yet to bring her her water and cold soup that she'd been eating so long she couldn't stop dreaming of pizza and chicken nuggets.
The girl sniffled, trying to quiet her cries. They didn't like it when she cried, and the thought made her tense up in anticipation of being hit. And just as the thought crossed her mind, there was a resounding CRASH!!
She flinched at the noise, scrambling up in fear and pushing herself into the corner as more crashes sounded above her. There were mechanical whines and yells of anger, and though it felt like they lasted forever, she was sure it had barely been two minutes.
She strained her ears when suddenly all the noises stopped, no more yells or crashes from upstairs reaching her. But then there were footsteps, sort of. They were loud and heavy, booming as though a monster were shaking the house, and Penny shook with it, trembling against the corner. She could barely look at the door for her fear as each stomp grew closer and closer. Until they stopped outside her door.
The door swung over rather harshly, and suddenly she was staring wide-eyes at a robot. Well, an android, since it was human-looking. It was red and gold, and it stared at her, and she stared back, the silence between them tense.
And then the android took a step, and she screamed.
"No!! St-stay away!" she tried to yell, putting toughness into her voice, only for it to break. The android paused, and then it kneeled down in front of her, reaching up its head. She watched, unable to look away and unable to stop shaking, as it put its hands around its head and pulled, revealing-- "Daddy?"
"Hey, Shortcake," he mumbled, smiling a little, his eyes flitting over her, "It's just me, hon. Just me. I came to take you home, okay?"
"Where--where have you been?"
"Overseas. I was trapped, like you were, and I got home. And now you get to go home now, okay?"
"Are you a robot now?"
That made him smile a little wider, "No, this is a suit. I'll show you more about it when we get home. Can I come closer?"
She nodded. Daddy stood up, his steps still heavy as he approached, but instead of cowering, she reached her arms out, allowing for him to scoop her up and press a kiss to her nose.
"Are you sure you're not a robot?" she asked, suddenly very sleepy as she clung to him. Daddy shook his head, still smiling, as he picket up the scary robot head.
"I'm sure."
"What about a superhero?"
He paused at that a little, and suddenly he looked sadder, "I don't think I'm the hero type, Pen."
"That's bullshit."
"Penny!"
"What?"
He shook his head again, walking them through the door to outside. Outside which she hadn't seen in so long, "I'm gonna have to start a swear jar, aren't I?"
"You don't have to."
"Oh, I love you, Bambina," he said fondly, bumping his nose against hers before putting his mask on, the eyes going from black to blue, "Ready to see the city?"