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Panic. The past thirty-six hours had been pure panic.
Tony had gotten the call on Wednesday, and he wished he'd taken it sooner. He wished he hadn't put off Ross those so many times before, surely only angering the man further to take action. He'd been putting off the call for four days, constantly giving fake voicemails and being as much of an asshole as he thought he could push before he finally picked up the phone.
"Who is this?" Tony had asked, spinning around in his chair.
"Stark," Ross had grunted.
"No, I'm Stark."
"And her name's Parker."
Tony had stopped spinning immediately, his blood turning to ice. He couldn't possibly mean Penny Parker. Because Penny Parker was a secret. Well, Spider-Woman was a secret, and nobody was supposed to know. And Ross certainly wasn't. Tony could practically feel the man's growing smirk even from the blank phone screen.
"Who?" he'd tried to play off, "Need I remind you I'm engaged to Ms. Potts and--"
"Oh, cut the shit, Stark," Ross had interrupted, "You and I both know who we're talking about. That little arachnid friend of yours that, may I remind you, you've been ordered to arrest and turn in to UN custody." There was a beat of silence, and Tony, somehow even in the midst of his panic, managed to get Friday to start tracking Penny. That girl couldn't go on the Raft, "It's a pity, you know. She looks really sweet, still her whole life ahead of her. I can tell why you like this kid, Penelope Parker if I'm not mistaken."
"You're not taking her," Tony had steeled, getting up as Friday showed Penny still at school, "She's a minor, and she's not being placed in your shitty prison."
"Well, that's not entirely up to you, Stark. Get me Rogers and Barnes and maybe we can talk renegotiations, but until then... Well, seventy-two hours, Stark."
Ross hung up, the lab steeped in silence.
"Fuck."
Tony felt awful. Terribly, and truly, he did.
After the rather terrifying conversation with Ross, he'd called Steve, and through some frosty and surprised greetings, he'd managed to lay out the gist of what was happening. Ross was pissed. He wanted the Rogues, but didn't. He was going to take Spider-Woman. She had to go into hiding. And she'd be going into hiding with them.
Steve had agreed with the plan easily enough, Penny...not so much.
"What do you mean I have to leave Queens?" Penny had exclaimed when he'd pulled her out of school and started trying to explain what was happening in the car.
"I mean you have to go," he'd said, "And this isn't up for negotiation either. You're in danger."
"From who? Why do I have to leave?"
"From some dangerous government assholes," he explained shortly, honking the horn in frustration as someone cut him off, "Dammit! Kid, you're a bargaining chip, and they can use as much force as they want to arrest you. They don't even need a warrant. I have barely a day to get you out, so you're going to have to work with me."
"I can't leave, Mr. Stark," Penny protested, and it was all he could do to keep from sighing, instead revving the engine as he sped down the road. He had to get her out of the city. Out of the country, "What about May? Or Spider-Woman? Or school? What--"
"Penny, your life is more important than school. I'll keep May safe, they don't want her, and the city will survive without you until I can figure this bullshit out," he explained as patiently as he could, swearing as he got stopped by a red light, hitting the steering wheel angrily. He hadn't wanted for Penny to be dragged into this. He'd been working on the Accords, he'd been fixing them! Trying to get Ross out of power, talking with the President, negotiating with other nations. And still, his kid had gotten dragged into this.
"I'm not leaving," Penny said stoically, and he swerved to look at her with an eagle eye, before reluctantly turning back to the road as the light turned green.
"Yes, you are. Either we get you out now or you'll be stuck in a jail cell for who knows how long. Or, we'll have to break you out of prison and then you can disappear. So--"
"I'm not going!"
This time when he glanced at her, he realized there were tears in her eyes and her face was flushed. He made himself take a deep breath and try to calm down. She was a kid. She was a kid and she was scared and she wouldn't even get to say goodbye to her aunt.
"Pen, I'm sorry all this is happening, but you have to leave. I don't want you to go, kid, I really don't. But...this is how you stay safe, okay?"
He didn't get a response. Penny just turned away from him, pulling her knees up to her chest and huffing. This time he couldn't hold back a sigh, just continued to drive to the designated meeting place. Soon they were on the highway, cars speeding past them. Tony tried not to stop, incredibly grateful for how little gas his cars needed, but he knew he'd need to grab Penny something to eat soon. Not that she was talking to him at all still, just turned away from him and stared out the window.
Soon the thirty-six hours dwindled to to twenty-four, and he was still driving the roads at midnight. Driving kinda sucked, and his legs felt like they were going to fall off, but he had to keep under the radar, so no Iron Man suits or planes or anything.
He'd been thinking about taking a stop for about an hour, get some food and stretch their legs, when Penny suddenly shot up, making him flinch. He didn't know if she'd been asleep or not, but as she turned to look at him with wide eyes, he knew something bad was about to happen. And he was right. It was like slow motion. The blaring of horns, the burning of headlights coming at his, the weight of Penny leaping on top of him, and then black.
Tony groaned awake, and he didn't think he'd passed out for more than a minute. He couldn't make out much of the world around him other than dizzying yells and a harsh weight against his chest. He thought it must be the air bag, but when he managed to blink away black spots, he realized the weight was Penny.
She was pushed up against his chest, her face bloodied, and he began to panic. Because she couldn't have, but she did. Because that was just how self-sacrificial Penny was. Of course she would take the brunt of the impact.
"Penny," he whispered, trying to nudge her awake, but his hand was trapped underneath the air bag, "Penny. Penny wake up, please."
There was a shift and a mumble, followed by a whine. But she was alive. Alive he could work with.
"Yeah, I know, kid. I know. Don't worry. I'm sure help is...on its way..." he trailed off, squinting outside the window. That wasn't help, and though his brain felt foggy with pain and adrenaline, he recognized this for what it was. This was no accident. People were making their way over them, but these weren't concerned and helpful citizens, these were people dressed in military grade army, large guns and clear shields in their hands.
"Mr. Stark?" Penny whispered. Thank God she was awake.
"Yep, that's me, kiddo. Come on, we've got to move," he encouraged, but he wasn't quite sure how to get out, "Friday would've sent over a suit, but we've got to try and get out. Okay? Can you move?"
Rather than respond, Penny began moving, picking herself up slowly. The airbag was no help, continuing to push her against him as she tried to crawl away. Her entire side had been crushed in, and he was suddenly grateful for her idiocy of moving to save him. It kept her alive for now, but it didn't stop a yell outside that went in one ear and out the other, and then his door was wrenched open.
Having been trapped against the side of the door, Tony practically fell out, barely managing to throw his hands out and catch himself. He grunted in pain, spitting out blood that had been filling his mouth out onto the glass littered road.
Penny was pulled out after him, the girl clearly putting a lot of effort into fighting back, but too injured to actually do so. No doubt she had broken ribs, and her leg was twisted at an odd angle that made him a little sick.
"Penelope Parker, you are under arrest," announced the irritatingly familiar voice of one Thaddeus Ross. Tony looked up to see the man towering over him, smiling wickedly, "We didn't have to go through all this, Stark. If you'd just given me what I wanted... But, I guess I get something out of this either way." He turned away, nodding to his men, "Cuff her, and...shoot him. Rogers will be around here somewhere, we don't need Stark anymore."
This was is. He was going to die on the road, concussed, blood dripping from his mouth, and frantically searching for Penny. Someone had taken her, she was around. But where--where was his kid? He had to at least see his kid before he was gone, but he couldn't find her, and his last moments were going to be staring at Ross's stupid--
There was a swooping of metal, shots ringing into the air, and Tony flinched, but arms wrapped around him, pushing him next to the car for cover as something happened. it was dark, and hard to make out, but he recognized the figures fighting. The wings, the shields, the electricity and the red glow. It was the Avengers.
Penny, it seemed, had grabbed him, pressing him against the car as the Rogues took care of the scene in front of him. It was over in barely a minute, his Iron Man suit appearing at the last minute to take out the remaining few. The sounds of fighting were gone, replaced by the labored breathing of the girl next to him. He squeezed her tighter, pressing a kiss to her bloody temple.
"Hey, Steve," he rasped as the man approached, Penny unraveling herself from his deathly hug, "I like the new look, really screams hobo."
Steve smiled, "Yeah, and yours is more like a Halloween costume."
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, suddenly going serious, "The Quinjet nearby?"
"It's half a mile east."
"Good. Uh, just a sec, Cap." Steve nodded, getting up and turning to the rest of the team. Knowing he had precious few minutes, Tony cupped Penny's cheek gently, "Hey, kiddo. It's time to go."
She shook her head, tears in her eyes, "You're in trouble."
"And you're in worse trouble. I'll call, May will call, okay? We'll try out best, but we just want you to be safe. So you're going to go with them, and I'll get you back to Queens as soon as I can."
"But I'm gonna miss you."
"And I'll miss you too, Shortcake. A lot."
"We should make cake when I get back."
Tony sighed, wrapping her in another hug, and hesitating, "As much cake as you like. I...I love you, kid."
"I love you too, Mr. Stark."
A know in his stomach relaxed, because he'd finally told her, and because she'd said it back. Because she was his kid and now she had to leave and Tony would miss her more than words can express.
Like pulling off the band-aid, he passed her over to Sam, who practically carried her as she limped away from him. Penny kept looking back as they walked into the woods off of the highway, and Tony couldn't look away. He didn't, didn't let her out of his sight until she was covered by trees and by darkness.
He'd get her back. He'd fix this. Because she deserved to be home. And though it had been barely a minute, he couldn't wait to hug her again.