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“Mr Stark!” Penny came running through the penthouse at almost full pelt looking for her mentor. She had just finished school and she had good news.
“Pen, kid, is everything okay?” At hearing his mentees yells he was shaken out of his thoughts and looked at the disheveled girl who was stood infront of him.
“Mj said yes. She said yes Mr Stark!” There was a massive grin on her face, the worries and anxieties she’d been building over the past week simmered down. Mj had said yes!
“Awe, my little spider kid is growing up,” Tony looked at the girl, brining his arms around her, in a bone crushing hug.
“Mr Starkkkkkkkk, lemmie goooooo.” Penny was giggling and using zero strength to try and wriggle free from his arms. “I gotta go tell Pepper!” With that tony bent down and pressed a kid to her forehead before letting her go, she started to bounce up and down before running towards the elevator.
“Hey! Why is she ‘Pepper’?” He shouted back at the girl.
“Because i like her better!” The laugh in her tone and the glint on her eyes showed the truth, she loved them both equally.
——————
Pepper was sure something good was going to happen that day.
It started off sour, Penny was late for school, Pepper and Tony had a minor fight, a few bad meeting and PR being extremely loud. She could not catch a break. Yet, there was that feeling that something was going to be okay. And that feeling of goodness came after Penny had finished school.
Normally she didn’t come and see Pepper till she was finishing up or it was an intern day. But today, she heard the whirlwind of the girl before she saw the teen.
“Hey Oliver! Did you get the specs Mr Stark sent over?”
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry- i didn’t mean to knock those over. Lemme get them for you-“
“Eek, excuse me!”
“Penny! Can you help me for a moment!” Some intern yelled across the room. Penny was well known across SI, she had been ever since she was first employed as Tonys personal intern. She gained the credit of being an absolute genius, being able to stay on track with Tony Stark was a feat in its self. Over time she started to grow more and more on everyone. She would always be around helping how ever she can. Everyone loved her.
The teens reply was cut off by Peppers PA.
“I’m sorry- do you have an appointment?” She was new, and by new she means this was her second day. She hadn’t yet met the whirlwind that was Penny.
“Yep, Peppers expecting me. Fri? Buzz me in pleaseeee”
“Ma’am, please, i don’t want to call security.” The new PA was on edge, yet Friday opened the doors and Pepper stood up and walked over. She saw a massive grin on Penny’s cheeks and large pink splotches on her cheeks.
“Of course Penny, might i remind you that Boss is waiting for you in the lab when you’re done.” Friday said before Pepper could get a word in. Penny just smiled even larger. Humming a thank you while eyeing the woman who came when the doors opened.
“Its alright Jane, Penny’s always welcome. If she isn’t Friday will let you know.” She felt a pang of guilt in her stomach, she hadn’t warned her about Penny. The rest of her thoughts were cut off by her teen bouncing on the stop next to her, she was being patent but clearly her excitement was getting the better of her.
“I’m so sorry Mrs Stark- i wasn’t aware.” Jane was sputtering out while looking flustered, clearly afraid of her boss. Pepper just waved it off with a ‘ it was my fault’ before she ushered herself and Penny into her office.
“Pepper. She said yes!” The same words she had shouted at Mr Starks before came tumbling out of her mouth. “Mj said yes, I asked her while Ned was in the lunch queue, she said i looked uncomfortable but it wasn’t the ‘right’ kind of uncomfortable for her to draw. What even is the ‘right’ type of uncomfortable anyways?” She had managed to get it all out in one breath before she plopped to the floor in the middle of Peppers office. Pepper just smiled at her, another tradition, she pried off her heels and sat on her knees across from the teen.
“Pen, honey, take a breath.” She teased at the teen as she blew a strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face out of the way. She watched as Penny glared at her, took two exaggerated breaths, then carried on.
“So i sat there and she was staring at me right? I was so sure she was going to say no, and say something about homecoming being a massive heteronormative thing that was riddled with mysogny and capitalism. She just stared at me, i was so afraid. You know how worked up I've been about this. Mr Stark told me i was going to go grey a couple of days ago, is he grey? I found hair dye in your cabinets a few days ago.” Penny had started to ramble on, Pepper was used to it. She had payed attention to it all, her smile growing louder and louder until she heard about ‘your cabinets’.
“What were you doing in our medicine cabinet?” She watched Penny rub the back of her neck sheepishly.
“Couldn’t find my comb and de-tangling spray, i know you keep a spare in there so...” the two started looking back and forth at each other for a moment before Pepper started to laugh and pulled the teen to her side, their backs were against the couch. She encouraged Penny to continue.
“Right- where was i? Oh yeah! Turns out I didn’t have to be as worried as i thought. She just smiled, said yes, and smiled at me again. Did you hear? She smiled at Me! Twice! And then went back to her sketchbook. Meaning, i, Penny have a date with the most beautiful girl in school. To homecoming!” Penny finished with a squeal and she let out a massive sigh of relief as she finally got it all off her chest.
“Penny, of course she said yes. I’ve seen the ways she looks at you when you watch films together. She gives that look that Tony used to give me when he didn't know how he felt.” Her heart was melting at her, the slight parallels between Penny and Mj and Tony and Pepper were, slightly, uncanny.
“I was so sure she would have said no.” Penny just mumbled against Peppers shoulder. Her energy absolutely tanked.
They continued their conversation before Penny said she had to go up to the lab and do some homework before her patrol.
To the majority of the office, they were used to their CEO, the headstrong, Pepper Potts-Stark melting for the girl beside her. They were used to the whirlwind that was Penny and they’d all grown accustomed to seeing their boss go soft at her sight. They’d all understood that they shouldn’t get in the way when they saw Penny coming in full speed towards Mrs Starks office, they also knew to turn a blind eye when they forgot to drag down the blinds.
Meanwhile, poor Jane had a feeling that working at SI would be tough. She would work hard but she was the PA to the Pepper Potts-Stark. She just didn’t expect to see a teenager come barrelling in, with no badge anywhere to be seen, asking to see her boss and for her boss to let her in. And to have full access to Friday, not even she had that. Only few were known to have to have it. This was going to be a wackier job then she had first thought.
——————
Around a month before homecoming Penny had gone dress/suit shopping both Mr Stark and Pepper, it had been a strange experience for them.
“So kid, where are we headed?” Mr Stark had said from the drivers seat as he looked back from the drivers seat. Pepper was finishing up a phone call outside of the car before they could leave.
“There’s this thrift shop, that i know has these beautiful dresses and suits. We go there all the time and the last time i went for some new shirts there was this really cool suit that looked really awesome and i was talking to Mj and she said she wanted to wear a dress and i was leaning towards a suit and-”
“- Kiddo? Hey take a breath. You’re okay.” Mr Stark had fully turned around and placed a hand over her shoulder. His smile was so soft, she had grown accustomed to it over the past few months. He waited for her to breathe some before letting her continue.
“Um right- so there’s this suit right? And its pretty much everything I’ve dreamed of. Plus I have a backup plan if its not there so it’ll be okay.” Her face was bright, she’d always dreamed about going dress/suit shopping with her parents. Mr Stark and Pepper were. It made her heart swell. She pushed away the thoughts that she would normally allow to consume her- not today. Today she was going to be having a good day with Mr Stark and Pepper.
“What if neither of those go to plan?” Mr Stark pulled her from her thoughts with a slight mischievous smirk.
“Then I’ll just hope i find something before homecoming.” She answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She had a month, she’d figure something out. Yet, she watched as a smile grew on the mans face.
“So if it doesn’t work out, and you can’t find anything. Does that mean i am allowed to take you somewhere and buy a dress or a suit for you?” He had learnt over the time he’d known the girl that getting her to accept something was a nightmare. It would take a lot of convincing and a lot of reassurance. He wanted to give her the world, and when he couldn't. He wanted to give her the best. He loved his two girls and wanted to make sure they had the best.
“Mr Stark, no? You’re going to want me to have a really expensive thing, and you really don’t need to spend that on me. I have enough money to buy them myself.” She watched as his face melted and he started to explain.
“Kid, please. I’ve always dreamed of being able to buy my child their first suit or dress. I didn’t think i ever would, well not till you. You don’t need to feel bad either, i am a multi-billionaire. Doing this for you is nothing. Plus? Haven’t i made you multiple million dollar spider suits?” He ended the last thing with a laugh. She just glared at him a little bit.
“But i didnt ask you to make me those though. You gave me my first one without even telling me about it! And it’s different. This is just a single occasion, i probably wont even need this again. There’s no point spending so much money on it for one evening.”
“I’m offering here too. Penny, please let me do this for you? We can head to your thrift shop and see if we can find your suit or dress, and if we do. Can I pay for it as well?”
“Mr Stark, you really don’t have to.” She was looking up at him with slight tears in her eyes.
“But I want to bambina.” Just as he said that Pepper finished up her phone call, she got into the car and looked between them and saw the emotion.
“Is everything okay here?” She could see the tears in Penny’s eyes and her husband swallowing thickly. She heard him clear his throat before nodding and sending a wink back in the rear view mirror. Penny just laughed and they started their day together.
After a relatively short trip, they ended up in the thrift stores car park, the Starks car looking highly out of place. None the less, they all pushed on. The three of them walking in together, Pepper and Mr Stark on either side of Penny. She looked up at both of them and saw out of the corner do her eye the bright smiles they were giving off. When they walked in Penny felt like she was on a little mission of her own. She knew this store like the back of her hand. It was a place she regularly went to and knew was the best of the best.
She took her first step in and she smiled, it had been a few weeks but it felt all so familiar to her all of a sudden.
“Pen, we’re out of our elements here. It’s all yours.” Pepper and Mr Stark look at the store with wide eyes, they didn’t know where to start but knew that their child did. So they soon realised the best thing to do would be following her around. The racks upon racks of garments, separated by style, type, colour, all started to blur to the adults. They just smiled as they watched Penny smile and go straight to were she wanted.
She headed straight to the men’s section and started rifling through the suit jackets, Pepper and Tony looked at her with a smile on their lips. The smile Penny was sporting was the same that she would wear when she was in the lab, or helping out an intern. They spent a little while looking for themselves until they heard Penny give out a little laugh. They turned back towards her and saw what she was holding, it was a deep red corduroy suit jacket. It looked small enough so it would fit her and yet still big enough that she could wear it if she grew.
“I found it, i was pretty sure it was gone but it was squished at the back.” She was smiling bright and wide. “I saw it when i was last here, it was just after me and Mj had talked about the colours we would be wearing and it was perfect then and it is now.” Both Pepper and Tony went to look at it and they both agreed that it was perfect.
They turned around to talk to each other for a moment and when they turned back around Penny was gone. They scanned over the rails and saw the girl again. This time she was over by the trousers. But there, she looked a little lost. So Pepper wandered over to give her a hand. Tony wandered off in another direction he was starting to understand Penny’s liking for the place. It felt warm to be there, unlike all the stores he and Pepper shopped in regularly. He had ended up finding somethings perfect for her.
——————-
“Pepper- its not here anymore. There’s nothing similar either.” Penny looked up at the woman with concern in her brows.
“It’s alright, you said something about the colours? What did you and Mj decide on?” She brought her into a hug.
“She said she wanted red and blue,” Pepper shot her a look and they both started to laugh. “I know! I promise it wasn’t me though, she was so sure on it. Plus i have no idea what I’m doing with this whole fancy stuff so i let her choose the colours. She also said black and white were okay too.” She finished as an afterthought. Pepper looked at her and felt a pang in her chest, the fact she was helping her child buy her homecoming outfit made her want to shout for joy.
“Okay so you have options-” Pepper started to explain what she was on about and started helping Penny sort through the clothes. In the end they found something perfect, Penny would have looked past it but it was all perfect. By the time they went to go find Mr Stark, he was already stood by the register with a smile on his face, the look on the workers face was utterly shell shocked. They looked like they had been slapped in the face.
“You two got everything?” He watched as Penny sheepishly nodded and Pepper put the things she was holding in the counter. Penny already grabbing her purse as Mr Stark put an arm around her.
“Pen- I’ve got it okay?”
“I-um. O-okay.” She gave him a sincere smile, hugging him around his waist before Tony shot Pepper a look ‘go wait in the car, i need to do something’ he mouthed. And Pepper took Penny towards the car. Back in the store Tony payed for the items, placing the few things he picked up there as well. He just hoped that she would like them.
It turned out that they didn’t need to go any ‘fancy shmancy’ stores. As Penny so gracefully put it. None of them minded, they all enjoyed the experience of doing that together. It was strange but was something that they could all get used to.
Although, Penny did try and give the money to Mr Stark for it all. He declined, she then tried the same thing with Pepper, who also declined. They all ended up in the living room with Pennys head against Mr Starks chest and her legs in Peppers lap as she explained her mentality behind what she was doing. They spent the evening talking, sharing emotions and overall bonding even further.
——————
It was the night of the homecoming and Penny was freaking out.
She had her outfit on a hanger in the wardrobe. Mr Stark had trimmed her hair for her and de-tangled her curls too. It was an act he had done so gently and with such precision he could be a hair dresser if he wanted too. And they had spent the day on the sofa watching films together, it was a perfect day really. Even though it was Saturday, Pepper was still at work, she had a meeting that was running late and she couldn't leave. She had Friday tell them she would be back so she could see Tony and Penny off to pick up Mj, (As Tony was acting as chauffeur for the two girls).
Penny was sat in her room, she had her outfit on. Which, with the help of Pepper was perfect. The red jacket accenting the red trim of her black and white dress. She was padding around in her most colourful mismatching socks because she refused to let the colour scheme dictate her socks. The last thing she had to do was her hair and makeup.
She looked at all the stuff that Pepper had let her grab from her vanity. There was so much stuff she had no idea what to do with. The most she could do was put on some concealer and some mascara. Yet there was eyeliner, eyeshadow, lipstick- it was all in-front of her and she had no idea what to do. There was a knock at the door that awoke Penny from her stupor.
“Hey kid? How’s it going in here?” Mr Stark walked in with a small smile on his face, he knew that Pepper had promised to help Penny get ready. No one- not even Pepper Potts-Stark could dictate the SI meetings.
“I don’t know what I’m doing Mr Stark. I- what even is half of this stuff? I am so out of my depths.” She looked up at him from where he was sat with a hint of regret in her voice.
“Well, would you like me to help? Ive given Pep a hand often enough. I may have learnt a thing or two from the years of being with her.” He watched Penny’s eyes light up, she jumped up from her seat and hugged the man, tight.
“Really? Thank you Mr Stark.” Her smile was building on her face. With that, Tony pushed for Penny to sit on her bed while he grabbed what he needed from the things that Pepper lent her and he set to work.
They spent their time sat with Friday playing their lab playlist. Tony being gentle as he helped Penny with her makeup, her eyes watching him as he did his magic. Over the years, he had watched Pepper do her make up so many times it was like he could do it in his sleep. He watched as Pepper would put on eyeshadow, making sure it’s even and blended out. He watched as Pepper would touch up her lipstick and make sure it was even. He had made sure to let Penny choose everything, bringing up references too.
In the end, Tony was proud and Penny was surprised.
“Woah, Mr Stark! Look i-” She was speechless, they just looked at each other for a moment before they both hugged each other- tight. They stayed like that for a while before they heard a knock on the door, their heads snapped up to see Pepper stood with a bright smile and Tony beckoned for her to join their hugs.
“Pen, you look beautiful.” Pepper just whispered. “There’s just one thing left i think.” And with that it was Tonys turn to take a step back and Pepper about to do her magic.
It took over half an hour and Pepper and Penny both laughing and shouting at Tony to keep him out of Penny’s room. He was stood waiting, pacing, like a new father waiting to see his child and wife outside a hospital room. That half an hour he had spent making sure he had everything in place. Mainly making sure that Friday had a folder ready for all of the photos that he and Pepper were going to take.
“Tony, close your eyes.” Pepper called from inside Pennys room, he did so. A moment later, he felt someone leading him inside if the teens bedroom. Still patently waiting with his eyes closed. “Okay.”
When he opened his eyes, there stood his Penny next to his Pepper. His two girls. Penny looked stunning. Her curls were artfully pushed back on her head, with flowers in the centre of it. A few curls framing her face. Tony looked between the two members of his family and tears prickled in his eyes.
“God look at you- you’re all grown up!” He said will leaning down to push a kiss to her forehead and the same to his wife.
“Mr Stark, its only homecoming. I’m not getting married.” She laughed at the man, she could hear the overwhelming love in his voice. She looked up at Pepper with a blinding smile.
“Yeah you’re not getting married, you’re living here till you're at least 30, young lady.”
“Sure Mr Stark, sure.” They all started laughing then.
Before Pepper and Penny had realised it, Tony was taking photos upon photos. Causing them both to laugh and smile. Soon it was Tonys turn to be in them and Pepper was taking almost as many photos as Tony had. They were relying on Friday for the shots of the three of them. It was almost time to leave when Penny said she needed to grab some shoes. Tony stopped her in her tracks and told her to wait.
She watched as he walked back towards his and Peppers room and five minutes later he came back out with a bag.
First he pulled out a pair of mismatching converse. One red, one blue. Penny just laughed and hugged Mr Stark tight, before slipping to the floor and putting them on. She got up and did a little dance, making the adults laugh.
“I have one more thing,” he started with a small smile, this was a more of a hit or miss. “Close your eyes, open your palm.” Penny looked at him with a furrowed brow. She looked at Pepper, hoping she could give some relief. Alas, she couldn’t and she did what Mr Stark asked.
She felt two things in her palm, they were cold but they felt delicate. “Okay kid, open your eyes.”
When Penny did she was blown away really. There sat in her hands where two necklaces, they were matching but it was what they were that mattered more.
Two small glass black dahlias.
She looked up at him and he just grinned back at her. “Mr Stark- what the hell.” She muttered while gently looking at them.
“I remember the documentary that you both were watching. I remember you telling me that her favourite unsolved mystery was the black dahlia. When he were at the store i saw them and thought well, now you two can match.” He said with a small smile, he was just worried about over stepping here. He watched as many emotions flashed across her face.
“I- I love them. She’s gunna love them. Thank you. You’ve done so much for me. Thank you, thank you.” She threw her self at the man, he let out a little ‘oof’ at the sudden weight of a spider child on him. They all had tears in their eyes. Peppers mind was working a little overtime before it clicked and she remembered when he asked her to take Penny to the car. She smiled even wider. Shaking her head at her husbands antics.
“Bambi, it’s the least i could do. You’ve brought so much light into my life over so many months. You’ve made me so happy, happier then I could have ever thought, you’ve made our house feel as if its a home. This is the least i can do for you.” He murmured into the girls hair. They stayed like that for a while, it wasn’t until Pepper lightly coughed before they separated.
“Right- okay. I think its time we head out and pick up Mj, don't you?” Mr Stark cleared his throat and gave her a final squeeze before letting her go. She watched as both of his girls nodded and he heard Pepper say to him.
“Go start the car, I’ll be down with her in a moment.” Pepper smiled at her husband. He just nodded and walked away. Not so subtly wiping his tears.
They waited until they were alone for Pepper to pull her into the tightest hug. She pulled one of the necklaces from her grasp and gently put it around her neck. Leaning down and pushing a kiss to her temple. “God, Pen. You’re going to blow her away.”
“You really think so Pepper?” She seemed like a little child needing reassurance from her mother.
“I know so baby.” They spent their time hugging before she walked Penny down to the garage. And with one final kiss she let go.
This was their first mile stone together.
Penny sat down in her seat, a grin on her face. Her heart full of love and joy. In her hand held hopefully the next step too.
“You ready bambina?”
“As I’ll ever be.”