Disclaimer: Nope, just a fanfiction writer. I would be a man, if I owned it, wouldn't I? So nope.
Story: Penny Parker was bitten by a spider. Instead of keeping it to herself, she lets her best friend know, and somehow Harry becomes the "guy in the chair behind a computer." Then what follows is just her bad luck, with Adrian and Norman becoming part of Team Spider.
Set as an AU genderbender for Marvel's Spider-Man (2017 cartoon), with this chapter focusing on the Origin shorts
Spoilers: For Ep. 1 "Horizon High Pt.1".
Warnings: Cursing and violence for now…hm, just in case since I'm usually writing it, bit of crazy humor, perverted humor, morbid or sarcastic humor, and maybe some sexual situations…
Pairings: Fem!Peter/Various Others, with a lot of focus on Penny/Norman Osborn, Penny/Adrian Toomes, and secondarily on Penny/Tony Stark, Penny/Raymond Warren, etc…

Along Came a Spider
Chapter Two: Birds of a Feather

Penny stood next to Harry, examining her web shooters.

"I'm getting there," she mused.

"Hm, yeah. Try a little more?"

"How about 300 PSI?"

"Sounds good to me," Harry nodded certainly.

Penny's lips twitched a little sadly, looking over her creations bittersweetly. She thought of Ben and remembered his words.

"With great power comes great responsibility."

"You okay, Penny?" Harry said worriedly and she gave him a reassuring look.

"I'm doing better," was all she could say.

She was. He and Norman had helped and she was taking it day by day, and she was doing better.

It just still hurt and there were days where she still wanted revenge.

"Well, let me see your suit!" Harry pulled her out of her thoughts and she laughed under her breath as she retrieved it from her backpack.

Harry stared at it and her grin faltered.

"What?"

"Pens, please tell me this is just a homemade prototype."

Indignant, she threw the sweater and goggles at him. "Of course it is!"

He gave a sheepish look and she huffed irritably at him. She forgave him when she was offered a cookie, and she ended up pilfering through her bag to get her sketchbook, showing him the design of the suit she wanted to make.

"Very nice," he said, taking out his phone and snapping a pic. "I'll work on making something suitable here. You've got access to Oscorp Labs, you know. Take advantage of it."

"I know, I know," she said, this time the one sheepish.

"Don't land on that roof."

"What?" Penny asked, sounding taken aback.

Harry snickered. "Crazy Pigeon Lady apparently lives there."

"How do you know that!"

"Looked up the area and the residents who've said stuff online. Apparently she's well known for her pigeons and going full kung fu with her broom on people who've somehow gotten on her roof and near her pigeons."

Penny full out laughed, which made Harry smile a bit. It's been five days since she'd come back from who knows where (and both he and his father knew it had something to do with Uncle Ben's killer being caught) and come crying to them. She didn't talk about what happened and where she'd gone or what she did. Her first day back was spent in silence and then Harry's dad told him he'd hated it, so the next day Norman practically overdid it —he'd dragged Harry from bed early in the morning, called him in sick for school, and then drove to Penny's home at 5 am in the morning.

After that, Harry had no idea how he survived the day.

Norman had their private helicopter fly them to Winnisook Lake, where they were dropped off near to the cabin his father had bought some time ago. It was near to the lake but away from all the other private homes, and they'd only just managed to get into the clothing Norman demanded they wear, before they were being forced to go hiking. Harry had immediately refused, only to be ignored as Norman led the way. They were halfway (okay, a third of the way…or less) before Harry quit and told them to go on without him, swearing he'd catch up. Of course he'd lied and just turned around to head back to the cabin, thinking he'd just wait for them. They didn't get back until nightfall, but thankfully Penny seemed a lot better than before, and had even started smiling a little bit. Small smiles, but they were there. Harry didn't think he'd ever seen his dad so proud and pleased with himself.

They spent another day there just relaxing, and Penny even went swimming in the lake. Harry joined her after a little bit and eventually dragged Norman into it. Literally. They dragged him into the water, suit and all. That's what he got for wearing a damn suit.

Eventually, they came back home late that evening and had dinner at the penthouse, where Penny stayed over and he finally got to tell her that he'd gotten into Horizon High while she'd been gone. Penny had been quiet for a second before smiling sadly at him and congratulating him, telling him she'd miss him. It made him feel horrible because he wanted her to be there with him too. The next day, Penny had gone back to school and Harry had fretted at Horizon the entire time.

Then school ended and she'd surprised him by bringing up the whole superhero thing. They'd spent the rest of the day practicing and making Penny's webshooters she'd come up with, and she showed him the start of her costume design she'd been working on all day in school. She had just shown him the final design earlier that morning. Harry was excited about it; while Penny wore her homemade pair right now, Harry was already working on a functional suit right now and hoped it was going to be done by tomorrow.

Which brings him back to now and with him in their usual café, trying to monitor the situation and help Penny out.

"Well, it's 'learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow,' right?" Penny said.

Harry laughed. "Albert Einstein."

"I'm just gonna go in! It's my debut after all," Penny's voice was accompanied by the whistling of wind, probably as she swung forward with her webs.

"Go get 'em, Tiger!"

"Harry! It's Spider-Girl," she said playfully and then Harry was listening to her deal with the bad guys, trying to watch out for traffic and whatever else he could to make sure she had things going smoothly.

He snickered to himself as he listened in to her ramblings to herself.

"You should record yourself and then listen back to everything you say," Harry told her wryly. "I don't know if you're trying to be a supe or a stand-up comedian."

"Haha, Harry. Maybe I want to be a comedian as my day-job and moonlight as a superhero."

"I think it's the other way around."

He heard her grunt and then there was scuffling noises.

"Ahah! Got 'em. Alright, hand it over, boys. Ah, crap! My spider-sense."

"Penny, what's up?" Harry got worried.

"Did you just call me Bug Girl? Excuse you! I'm not a bug, you overgrown bird! I'm an arachnid!"

He blinked. What? "Penny?"

"Lalalala! Can't hear you, Mr. Vulture! I've got these wicked cool ear muffs to stop your nonsense from reaching my brain!"

He choked back a laugh that had threatened to burst out of him. What on earth was going on over there? Damn, he wished he could have actual live footage so he could better see what was going on. And better earphones! They have got to have better earphones.

"Eeeiyyyah! Oh my God! Where did you get your flying license! It should be taken away, Vulture!"

Geez, Vulture, Spider-Girl…Harry kind of wanted a codename now too.

"Cops on your tail, 5 klicks out. Watch for them," Harry remembered to inform her.

"Roger that, Chairman!" Harry kind of grinned at that. "I'm clutching tight onto this guy's leg, but man is he a good kicker. I'm just about to —"

There was nothing from her for a moment and then there was a soft thud.

"Ouch! Oh no you don't! No screeching with these fancy earmuffs!" There was some noises that Harry couldn't figure out. "Damn it, he got away."

"What happened?" he asked.

"Ah, he blew out the windows behind me with his sonic scream. Thought it was for me, but it was for the police officers behind me. Almost got cut up by the glass shards, you know? I was gonna save them by putting them in a web ball to protect them."

Harry groaned. "Please tell me you didn't."

"Aw, come on, Harry! Give me more credit. I thought it was more efficient to just use my webs to attach to the officers and yank them away from the shards, okay?"

"Better," Harry rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Less of my web fluid too, and they wouldn't have been stuck with the webs for an hour."

"I've got a dissolving fluid prepped," Harry told her. "We could try it out later."

"Awesome! See you in a few minutes."

As soon as she got there, their drinks was put on the counter in front of Harry and he shut down his laptop.

"Good job," he told her.

She blushed. "Could've been better though. I let him get away after all."

"But you saved everyone and no one got hurt," he pointed out. "So a win."

Penny smiled brightly. "You're right!" She took a sip of her drink before shivering and clutching her head. "Ech! Sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia!"

Harry snorted. "You mean brain freeze?"

"Inaccurate," Penny smirked. "It's more like heat blast. Because, you know —"

Harry shoved his hand over her mouth. "Nope. Don't nerd out on me, Pens." He let go as soon as it was clear she was starting to pout. "Seriously, why aren't you in Horizon High with me? You're perfect for there."

She looked hesitant. "It's…After Uncle Ben's been gone, Aunt May and I are barely scraping by. I couldn't ask anymore from her."

"Smoothies are on me," Harry said firmly, but inwardly felt frustrated.

If only Penny would just ask him for help. Hell, even his dad would break out cold hard cash for her if she'd ask. Actually, Norman would especially be more than willing. Penny was just determined not to ask them for anything, not wanting to look like some 'leech' or whatever. It was ridiculous —they'd known Penny practically forever and they knew she wasn't like that or would ever use them like that. He couldn't break through to her, but maybe his dad could…

It was notoriously hard for Penny to say no to Harry's dad. He'd just have to tell his dad about it after school.

"That's not what I meant," Penny said in exasperation.

"I miss you," Harry said suddenly. "I wish you went to Horizon, so we could be like we were in Midtown."

"What? Gleek Royalty?" she teased.

He started laughing. "What are you talking about? I'm still Gleek King, Penny!"

Penny sobered up. "I miss you too, Harry. That's why I'm glad we still get to do this and we're doing this whole super thing together, you know? It's not the same without you in school."

Harry straightened up, smiling widely. "You'll see me today! A slot opened up at Horizon, so Max is coming to Midtown today for a recruitment presentation."

"Really?!" Penny's eyes widened and she looked super excited. "Max Modell is coming to school today? How do I look?"

"Like one of your idols is coming to grace your presence," Harry said sarcastically, grinning. "I know, I know. He's one of your top five guys you idolize for all time. The first being Reed Richards, the second being Tony Stark, and the third being —"

Penny shoved her hands onto Harry's mouth, blushing heavily. "H-Harry, be quiet!"

Harry moved back and smirked widely. "Number three being Norman Osborn, my dad."

She hid her face, face still burning bright red. "You're such a bad friend."

"Aww, but you know how fun it is to get you flustered. Even Dad enjoys doing it." He did and had even admitted to Harry he did when Harry had brought up how much fun it was to get Penny flustered.

And so did their staff, who occasionally got into it as well. It really didn't help that Penny looked so cute when she got flustered.

"It is not fun," Penny grumbled. "Ah, but this is probably why Liz Allan asked me to come in early and help set something up."

Harry looked at his watch. "You better get going then," he told her.

"Right!" She stood up and grabbed her drink and bag, leaning over and kissing Harry's cheek. "Thanks a lot for your help! I'll see you later, Harry!"

"See you," he waved and she was jogging out of there in a hurry.

It was about time he headed out as well anyway. He had to meet with the others and make sure things were working out with their machine.

Penny had barely made it to school, running into Randy Robertson in the hallway. Randy led her to Liz's way and together they set things up.

"Are you aiming to get into Horizon, Parker?" Liz asked her once they were done and were taking a break in one of the science classrooms.

Penny blinked cluelessly at the popular girl. "Who me? Why would I?"

"You're smart, a total shoe-in, I'd bet," Randy answered for Liz, who nodded.

Before she could answer them back, another voice cut in snidely.

"She'd be wasting her time at an overrated hack like Horizon High," Alistair Smythe sneered. "Especially if a snob like Harry Osborn got in. If Horizon was a legit place, I'm sure to be invited in next at least."

That made Penny bristle and she was about to defend her best friend, when Alistair's father appeared and cut into the conversation.

"You're much too good for them, Son," Mr. Smythe said. He turned to Penny. "Max Modell is an overrated lab assistant. I knew him back in the day and he's a fraud."

Penny was taken aback and was scrambling around for something to say when Liz laughed, surprising her further.

"Oh don't say that, Mr. Smythe —Max Modell is in Penny's Top Five Idols. You'll just upset her with that kind of talk."

"Hey!" Penny was indignant. "Does everyone know the top five guys I look up to?!" Did Harry freaking tell everyone when he was in Midtown with her?

"You talk about The Five a lot in school," Randy deadpanned.

"It's not hard to tell," Liz sniffed. "You just need to be listened to enough and it's easy to figure out."

"If someone is around you long enough, they can be picked out easily," Alistair added.

While Mr. Smythe looked bemused, Penny was mortified.

"Reed Richards, Norman Osborn, Tony Stark, Max Modell and Bruce Banner," Randy listed off with his fingers.

"No, no, you've got the order wrong," Liz turned to him. "It's Norman Osborn, Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Bruce Banner and Max Modell."

"Wrong!" Alistair huffed, looking down at the other two. "Penny's top five consists of Reed Richard, Tony Stark, Norman Osborn, Bruce Banner and then Max Modell."

The three of them turned to Penny, who jerked her arm up and pointed at Alistair. "Um, he's right," she gave them a shaky smile.

Alistair looked triumphant.

"Ahem," Mr. Smythe interrupted, looking annoyed. "I believe it's 9:00 and about time for the presentation."

Penny was grateful, being that it brought the attention off of her. The small group started to migrate to the auditorium, as Mr. Smythe moved to her right. His hand landed heavily on her shoulder.

"If you were recruited to Horizon High, it would be a big loss for Midtown," he said, squeezing her shoulder.

She was suddenly pushed forward and away from Mr. Smythe, and she saw it was Alistair behind her, giving a frown to his dad.

"Not that she's going to Horizon," Alistair muttered.

Huh. Wonder what was all that about?

In the auditorium, she ended up being between Randy and Alistair. It wasn't long until Max Modell came out to greet them and Penny was watching him starry-eyed. At one-point though, while she'd mostly ignored Alistair's snide muttering, he ended up shooting a spitball at Mr. Modell. Annoyed and embarrassed, she was getting ready to lecture Alistair when her focus switched to awe as it was revealed Mr. Modell was a hologram and the real one walked into view.

He revealed what Harry had told her earlier, that a slot was opened at Horizon. However, he then revealed an equation that had to be solved in order to get in.

"Looks like it's supposed to explain how moisture interacts with vibration," Penny muttered to herself, her eyes roving back and forth on the equation.

They brought out the vibranium reactor that a pretty girl named Anya Corazon apparently had worked on. At the next few seconds though, the vibranium reactor started acting strange and then it was clear it was malfunctioning. Penny cursed under her breath, even as everyone around her started screaming and running towards the exit in terror.

She ran towards the auditorium stage, hiding in the backstage and finding a place to change into her makeshift uniform, and then went back out. Adrenaline rushed through her, even as she saved some people, stopped pieces of the ceiling from falling on others, and did what she could to calm the chaos. However, everything was still on fire and that damn machine was still causing problems.

She looked around for Harry, worried about him and becoming more so when she couldn't see him. She hoped that meant he was out of the way and safe, so she took off towards the machine. Her clothes were on fire, so she grimaced and changed out of them backstage again.

"I guess it's time for plain Penny Parker to save the day," she bit her lip, rushing towards the machine. She saw the equation on the broken screen and then got an idea, reconfiguring the machine. Soon enough, it changed and began to help clear out the fires around the auditorium.

"Yes!" she pumped a fist in the air.

"Penny?" she heard Harry and she turned around and saw him exhaustedly limping into view. She ran towards him, hugging him tightly.

"Harry! Are you okay?" she checked him over hurriedly.

He chuckled and pushed her away. "I'm okay, Penny."

Mr. Modell showed up and walked towards them, along with the girl Penny remembered was called Anya and the boy who was called Miles Morales.

"Hey! Why couldn't you have left it to that beetle kid?" Anya complained.

A tick developed by Penny's temple and she scowled at the other. "What? Why the hell would I do that?! People could've been hurt in the meantime! Anyone and everyone with the ability to help should do what they can to help and not just rely on others to! And it's Spider-Girl!"

Harry roughly patted her head. "Oookay, Penny. Down, girl," he teased. "Anya, guys, this is Penny Parker, my best friend I told you about."

Before Penny could pout and reintroduce herself properly though, Mr. Smythe stormed towards them.

"What recklessness! Horizon High should be shut down," Mr. Smythe stopped in front of them.

Mr. Modell frowned back. "I believe in my students and I know they know what they're doing. If I had to guess, some tampering was involve on campus," he glared at Mr. Smythe.

Mr. Smythe scoffed. "Point your fingers at your own group. I've got proof that one of your own was involved! I know for a fact that Harry Osborn was tinkering around with the reactor before the presentation."

Penny gasped. What was he saying? Harry would never!

"What? That can't be," Mr. Modell said, echoing her thoughts.

"And the board of education states that any student accused of sabotage shall be suspended indefinitely. Pending an investigation," Mr. Smythe sneered.

"You're a devious person, Spencer," Mr. Modell said unhappily. "But you're right. Harry, I hate to say it, but pending a brief investigation, I'm afraid you'll have to be suspended."

She was flabbergasted and angry on Harry's behalf.

"What? You can't do that," Harry said, devastated.

"Why would you have proof?" Penny suddenly blurted out, watching Mr. Smythe in suspicion. "And if you did have proof and you did see it happening before the presentation, why didn't you say anything to anyone or warn either Mr. Modell or some of the other staff about a potential danger?"

Mr. Smythe looked flustered then. "B-because no one would've believed me over him! He's an Osborn!"

"But you said you had proof," Penny pointed out.

"You were saying something about the machine and thought it was acting up," Harry spoke out angrily. "I went over to check on it and thought it was fine. You took a picture of me then, didn't you!" he said accusingly.

Before things could go further though, they were interrupted by the Vulture reappearing. He crashed into the auditorium and captured Mr. Modell suddenly, taking off with him. She only had a second to trade a look with Harry, before she was rushing off, saying she was going to get help when she was actually changing back into her costume.

Upset about what was happening to Harry, she didn't realize she'd already caught up and was now wrestling with the Vulture in the air and holding onto Mr. Modell. But then she heard them trading words, could hear the anger in the Vulture's voice —his name was Adrian, she faintly remembered hearing Mr. Modell call him —his genuine upset at his technology being claimed away from him, and his vindictive pride at his Vulture suit.

"I'm not Adrian Toomes, your pathetic employee anymore, Modell! I am the Vulture!"

As sincerely sorry she actually ended up feeling for him, she couldn't let him harm Mr. Modell. So she redoubled her efforts in fighting against Toomes in the air, who struggled against her and the combined weight of her and Mr. Modell.

"E-enough!" he yelled. "If you want to be backstabbed by Modell like I was, go ahead!" He finally kicked her off and she held tight to Mr. Modell while the Vulture flew off.

"Um…I really hope you know how to fly this?" Mr. Modell asked after she created a parachute.

"Ah, sorry, I'm still a novice at all this…"

She had a Vulture to catch though.

She did her best to hurry back to Midtown, where she ended up back in the auditorium. She set down Mr. Modell before landing and then rushing Toomes. He may have a reinforced, empowered suit, but she had actual inhuman strength and reflexes. In short, against someone who didn't actually have much experience in fighting and relied on his suit, Penny actually managed to shut Toomes down pretty quickly. She was amazed and excited at a real win for her, more so when the police quickly came and it seemed like this time he was going to be arrested. She disappeared from sight then, deciding it was time to return to being Penny Parker.

When she rejoined them, she tried to hide her heavy breathing, still feeling the adrenaline flowing in her veins from the fight. Back to her plain clothes, she watched as the man Max Modell had called Adrian was surrounded by the police, his rights read and his hands cuffed behind his back. Her proud smile faltered and she remembered what that man had said, how bitter and angry he sounded.

Yeah, he signed a contract that made his work belong to Horizon High, but it had still been his and he'd worked hard on his tech. She could understand his feelings and how she'd be upset too, if all the hard work she put into developing something was no longer hers.

Looking down, she blinked as she realized there was a metallic round object near her. She picked it up and realized it was the sonic tech that belonged to his Vulture suit. Debating with herself, she pocketed it and watched quietly as the police took the 'Vulture' out of there.

"Congratulations, Miss Parker," she heard and she saw Max Modell smiling widely at her, approaching her. "And welcome to Horizon High."

Her eyes widened, completely caught off guard. She'd forgotten about the whole thing with Horizon High offering a spot to someone there at Midtown. "R-really? Wow! Thank you, Mr. Modell! But why?"

"You solved my equation!" he told her excitedly. "I'd been tinkering with indoor storm clouds and you're the only one who figured it out, and even put it to practical use."

"But I solved the problem too!" she heard Alistair exclaim, holding up a wet paper.

"Ah, but she solved it and immediately managed to apply it in time to save the day," he said pointedly. He glanced at the paper too. "And I'm sorry, young man, but that looks more like a Rorschach test than an answer." He looked to her then. "Thank you for putting out the fires. And please! Call me Max. All my students do."

Excited, she was eager to tell Aunt May, Harry and Norman the good news. After excusing herself, she ran to find Harry, seeing him look dejected in a hallway.

"Harry?" she asked worriedly, slowing down once she'd reached him. "What's wrong?" She remembered his suspension and wished she hadn't asked, probably reminding him.

He gave her a feeble smile. "I'm just a little upset at what happened. I worked hard at Horizon and I hate that I got duped like this. I'm getting punished for something I didn't do. And then you were battling that crazy Vulture dude, and I had a hard time helping you out."

She stood next to him and nudged his shoulder with hers. "Hey, it's all good. We just have to keep trying to find a way to better coordinate in situations like this. It's not like we're all that experienced at this hero business thing, right? It's all trial and error. As for your suspension, we'll figure out what happened and clear your name in no time. I'm pretty damn sure it's not your fault and everyone will see it my way," she declared certainly.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Harry told her, perking up a little.

"Good! Now cheer up —we're celebrating," she said, getting excited again.

"Oh? What for?" he asked, amused now.

"I got into Horizon High!" she revealed eagerly.

"That's great, Penny!" Harry hugged her, matching her enthusiasm. "Hell, we've got to tell Dad. You know he'll be ecstatic for you and throw you some sort of party."

She blushed. "Ah, don't exaggerate. Norman wouldn't."

He gave her a look.

"Would he?" she asked uncertainly.

Harry snorted. "I bet he'd buy you the Moon in congratulations and rename it after you."

Penny slapped his shoulder, even as her face started burning hot.

After the whole incident, they were picked up by Harry's chauffeur. George greeted them and drove them to Oscorp, where they headed up to the penthouse. There, Harry's father waited for them.

"I heard from your school about what happened," was the first thing out of Norman's mouth as he looked at Harry, though he did quickly smile at Penny.

"Enough bad news, didn't you hear about Penny getting into Horizon?" Harry said quickly, giving her a glance and blinking simply at her.

Mentally, Penny gaped and reeled back in shock. A deflection! Harry had deflected to her! Damn him! And she had nothing to deflect back.

Norman paused, tilting his head before turning to Penny. A warm smile spread across his lips.

"Did you? Congratulations, Penny. I apologize for not greeting you properly right away. How are you, my dear? You must be so excited." He came towards her and grasped her shoulders, leading the way further into the penthouse. "I should have George pick up your aunt. We should celebrate at a restaurant, or perhaps a small little party here with the staff."

"N-no, it's okay! You don't need to go that far, Norman!"

Behind them, Penny missed her best friend smugly smirking. When it came to Harry's dad, Penny was the best deflection. Laughing under his breath, he followed them at a distance.

After the celebratory meal Penny finally agreed to at the restaurant, her aunt having been picked up and was just as happy and excited for her as the Osborns, she was now at home with Aunt May and the happy high of getting accepted into Horizon High deflating.

It wasn't a cheap school after all.

"Aunt May, I don't think it's a good idea for me to go," she said.

Her aunt looked at her in confusion. "Why not? Isn't this school somewhere you've always wanted to go?"

"It's expensive," she said quickly. "We really can't afford for me to go there."

Aunt May shook her head. "That's enough, Penny. You really want to go and I know it's what your uncle would have wanted. If I have to take a second job for you to go, then I will. But you're going, Penny, alright?"

Penny gave her a small smile. "I-I guess."

She still worried about it, especially since she knew that their bills weren't going too well either. She would just have to get a job herself too, and try to help out.

She trudged to her room and changed out of her clothes, only to have something drop from her pocket. Picking it up, she realized it was the sonic module she'd picked up earlier. Nibbling her lower lip, she began to fiddle with it and fix it up.

The next morning, she was going to head to her usual spot with Harry, though Aunt May accompanied her this time. They joked around a bit, though money came up again. Before it could get too serious, Harry appeared and Aunt May took her leave soon enough.

"I wish we could be going to Horizon together," Penny said wistfully.

"The suspension will be temporary," he said, sounding not worried at all.

"What did your dad say? You know…when you guys finally talked about it and I wasn't there for you to deflect to," she added with narrowed eyes.

Harry clearly almost burst into laughter, giving her an impish look. "He said to 'Relax.' If the smartest school wouldn't have me, he'd create an even smarter school for me."

Penny laughed. "Sounds like Norman. Whatever that means."

"And this is where we part," Harry sighed. "Back to Midtown for me and off you go to Horizon. Have fun there and tell me how it goes later, okay?"

"Sure, sure," Penny grinned widely, kissing his cheeks briefly and then turning and excitedly running off. She was going to be late if she didn't hurry up!

"There you are, Miss Parker," Max greeted her when she came in view of the school and walked up to it. "Welcome to Horizon High!"

"Thank you for having me," she beamed happily at him.

"I'll give you a tour, let you see the facilities, peek in on the classes, and show you how the school runs," Max said.

"That's great! Thank you again, Max," she said eagerly. But the heavy weight in her pocket reminded her of what she wanted to ask him. "Actually, there's something I'd like to ask you about first…"

He looked at her inquisitively and she reached into her pocket.

After she was done at Horizon High, excited to start there for real the next day, she became a little more subdued as she remembered her self-assigned task that day. She called up the police station, asking to talk to Captain Stacy. When she asked her favor, he hesitantly agreed and she was quickly making her way to the police station, where she was greeted by Captain Stacy himself.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked her in concern.

She nodded in determination. "I am. It's…it's okay, right? I can go?"

He sighed but nodded to her.

So now Penny stood nervously in front of the prison guard, who'd asked her to wait a moment. Then she was being walked to the visitor's section, sitting down at a table and waiting patiently. Around her, other inmates were visiting with loved ones in the open space, though they were watched carefully by the guards positioned around the room.

All too soon, a loud thud near her alerted her to the fact she wasn't alone. Looking across from her, she saw that Adrian Toomes had finally made his appearance and was sitting opposite her with a surly expression on his face. As he looked at her though, she saw his eyebrows scrunched together.

"You're that girl," he said suddenly. "The one from that school —the one who'd stopped the machine from blowing up the auditorium. What do you want? Why are you here?"

Penny cleared her throat awkwardly. "I-I asked Max if I could have it and I asked Captain Stacy if I could give it to you, so…h-here!" she stammered, thrusting out her hand and holding out the modified sonic module that she'd made into sort of a necklace.

His eyebrows raised but he cautiously, almost disbelievingly, reached to grab it. She knew that he knew that the guards around them had tensed, but when he didn't do anything but grab it, they didn't do anything.

"It doesn't work," she blurted out. He looked at her blankly. "I'm sure you're smart enough to find a way to get it to work, but I really hope you don't. I just thought…I get it. It's your work, it's your tech. I thought you'd want something of yours back, even if it's a small piece like that."

He stared at the sonic module for a moment, before —to her pleased surprise —he'd slipped the cord around his neck and wore the makeshift necklace.

"Thank you," he told her quietly.

She beamed happily at him, glad that she managed to do something for him.

"Penny," she heard her name and saw Captain Stacy standing nearby.

She deflated slightly, but turned back to the other.

"Goodbye, Mr. Toomes. I hope you get out soon and turn things around for yourself."

She stood up and went to Captain Stacy, who gently grabbed her arm to lead her out of there.

Started 10/4/17 — Completed 7/19/19

A/n: Heeeeyo! Long time no see? God, this chapter was supposed to be done ages ago, but I thought I'd be able to put Horizon High 1 and 2 in here. I just decided to hell with it and split the chapter, since HH 1 was done already in here, and I really wanted to publish a chapter for this. I'm so happy the first chapter was so well freaking received and everyone's comments are just so awesome (the pairings are even being embraced, like wow)! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much! Please leave a review~

Omake!

Harry hid his malicious grin, shooting his hand up. Mr. Smythe's eyebrow twitched and he could swear that the man's temple was pulsing.

Welp. That was the bastard's fault for sabotaging Harry and getting him in this mess.

"What is it, Mr. Osborn?" Mr. Smythe sneered.

He smiled angelically. "I can't understand your writing, Mr. Smythe. Can you write neater?"

Harry could practically hear the older man gritting his teeth and cackled in his head. If Smythe hadn't been stupid enough to focus on getting him in trouble, then he wouldn't have ended up being stuck with Harry again and end up losing Penny to a rival school.

Then again, Penny upgrading had nothing to do with it, just Smythe being stuck with Harry because of the other's doings.

Class ended and he walked out, seeing Smythe Jr. fumbling with his locker, before finally opening it and a stream of Penny's pictures coming out and falling to the floor.

Harry didn't know whether to laugh or cringe. He'd rigged the locker to be difficult in opening, but the barrage of Penny's pictures made him regret it.

There was a reason he thought the two Smythes were creeps.

Started 7/29/19 — Completed 7/29/19