Itsy Bitsy Spider

Summary: The day twenty five years old Penny Parker dies alone in a pool of her blood is the day thirteen years old Penny Parker open her eyes to a broken future. FemPeter. TimeTravel.

Just a warning: Mentions of Character Death, AU, Time Travel, Panic Attacks, Angst and Drama, PTSD, Blood, FemPeterParker, FemPeter-is-Penny, Penny is a mess but she will get better (Promise), Messed Time Line, More in the Future

I don't own anything related to Marvel!

Chapter 4. A Spider's Mistake

Penny regards the trio with wonder; watching as they joke around, even the always lady like and composed Pepper. It's nice, even if a part of her knows that their actions are a little forced. They want to make her comfortable (She appreciates their efforts but she can't though – Not in their presence. Not now. It hurts too much to look at them and it will take time for the pain to stop).

Looking down at her barely eaten pizza slice, Penny closes her eyes for a moment. Contenting herself in listening and only opening her mouth to vaguely and hesitantly answer any question one of the trio has for her.

Suddenly, just as Penny is contemplating the possibility of her being able to finish her food without making herself sick, her phone starts ringing; the familiar theme from Super Mario Bros filling the kitchen.

A little absent minded, she takes her phone from the pocket of her jacket. By the corner of her eyes, she sees Tony making a disgruntled expression, as if he can't come into terms with what he is seeing. She can't really blame him; her phone is ancient – It makes and receives calls though so it's good enough for her.

"Hello…?"

"Penelope where are you?" Matt's voice is a little low and by the background sounds she is hearing, the man must be standing outside of a courtroom.

"Let me talk to her."

Matt ignores his best friend's demand, "May called us asking for you. She's worried."

At this, Penny grabs Tony's arm and looks at his always present expensive watch. She winces. It's almost time for dinner and she promised Aunt May that she would be home an hour ago.

"Matt, let me talk to her!"

"Where are you Penelope?" The vigilant asks again.

Penny hesitates. She knows that Matt more likely wants to come and get her but she has no idea of where she is and the time traveler doesn't want to give such answer to him. She knows Matt. He is going to worry and more times than not, worry makes him reckless. Especially if he thinks someone he cares about is in danger.

Before she can try to think of an answer or something akin to one, someone takes the phone from her hand. Her head snaps to the side, staring at Tony with wide eyes.

"Hello!" The man says cheerfully, standing up from the table and walking away.

Penny stares.

Should she freak out?

She buries her face into her hands as the man enters one of the rooms and closes the door behind him. Even with her inhuman senses, she can't hear what is being said. At least not with how weak her powers are at the moment.

Ok – Maybe she should freak out a little bit.

Penny hopes Tony is not making Matt think she was kidnapped. She really does.

Someone snickers, making her raise her head to see Happy staring at her with amusement.

"What's wrong kid?" The bodyguard asks, "You look like someone is going to die."

"Close, but no…"

Pepper arches a elegant eyebrow but before the woman can open her mouth to speak, Tony walks out of the room and gives the phone back to her.

"It's for you."

Penny stares, as if the phone would bite her.

His eyes are sharp, as if he just learned something very interesting, but the way his lips twitches up into a mischievous smile distracts her from trying to understand what he could have possibly talked about with Matt. To be honest , she doesn't think she wants to know.

"No need to look so scared. Murdock only wants to talk to you." Tony says.

The time-traveler places the phone against her ear. There is a tense moment of silence, she can hear the vigilant taking a deep breath before he speaks.

"We really need to talk about those panic attacks." Penny winces while Matt sighs.

He had been trying to talk to her about it for a while now.

The last time she lost herself to one of her memories in front of him, Penny broke a vase and tried to stab him in a moment of panic and desperation.

Thankfully, Penny is very talented when she needs to avoid her problems. She is good at that and has years of practice. But whatever those two had spoken about over the phone had changed everything. Matt didn't sound like he was going to keep waiting for her to come to him. He would tie her to a chair if he found that it was necessary to do so and he would make her talk.

And she doesn't want to talk.

Penny doesn't need to talk.

She is fine.

"Penelope you need help." He muttered, as if reading her mind. Either that or her displeasure is very apparent.

No – Penny doesn't need help.

She is broken and shattered but she has been doing so well lately; at least she thought so. Matt and Foggy are already a great help to keep her more or less grounded, there is no need for them to get involved the mess that is the future that shall never come to pass.

No one needs to get involved, especially since she can deal with it all on her own (Lies).

"We'll talk about it later." Matt warned her, not giving her the chance to protest, "Mister Stark will be taking you home. I'll see you there."

"Matt –"

He hangs up. Penny feels like crying. The man is angry with her; she doesn't want that.

Taking a deep breath, Penny shakes her head.

Well, that's it. There is no escaping talking about – About her problems now. She would go home and they would talk. Hopefully, she could take his attention away from those problems and everything would go back to normal.

She lets out a dry laugh.

Yeah… As if.

Penny raises her head when someone places a hand above her head, patting her gently if not awkwardly. Tony smiles down at her. It is an odd sight, especially since he looks more uncomfortable than anything but she feels a little lighter anyway.

"Come on, kid." He says, "I'm taking you home." The man winks, "We can stop to have some ice-cream on the way and talk about your future employment with me."

Pepper sends him a look, "Tony!"

"What?" Tony asks, "I am a good employer."

"That isn't the problem." She says.

The dark haired man gives her a look, "What is it then? She is a smart kid, she can handle working for me."

Penny has to stop herself from beaming and smiling like an idiot.

No matter how much time had gone by, she never stopped being that little girl who fought for Tony's approval and respect.

"That isn't the problem." Pepper repeats, pitching the bridge of her nose.

They duo stares into each other's eyes. There is a tense moment of silence before the red haired woman pursues her lips. She opens her mouth say something but Tony cuts her off by making a gesture to Happy who rolls his eyes fondly but stands up from the table without a single word of compliment.

"We can talk about it later." He says, not leaving any room for her to argue. "Don't worry about it."

Penny sends a nervous look in Pepper's direction, waiting for the older woman's outburst. To her surprise, Pepper takes a deep breath and nods her head in acceptance.

Ok, Penny thinks with a blink of her eyes, I'm missing something here…

"It seems like everyone is going to talk about something later." Penny mutters to herself as she follows Tony and Happy to the elegant and expensive looking elevator and out of the apartment like hotel room.

Tony snorts, pressing a button of the panel beside him, "People do that sometimes."

Penny lets out a sarcastic and dry Ha ha causing him to smile widely. She bows her head, a sweet smile appearing on her face when he reaches out to pat her head.

She truly missed Tony.

Having him back may hurt but Penny can't remember feeling so light in a long time.

"So, tell me about Murdock." Tony says casually, far too casually.

The time-traveler looks at him by the corner of her eyes, arching her eyebrows when she notices the suspicious glint in his eyes. It confuses her a little but she doesn't ask about it.

Shrugging a little, she tells him about Matt; about his work and how they had meet in this timeline. She kept speaking; from their stop at the ice-cream shop until they reached her house, making her blink as she hadn't even noticed that they had left the hotel behind.

"You must be Murdock." Tony smirks. It is his winning smirk, that one he gives reporters and people who were arrogant enough to believe that they actually knew him.

Matt, who opened the door of her house before they had even stepped out of the car, tilts his head. Penny winces when she feels his attention on her.

She bows her head, playing with the sleeve of her jacket nervously.

"Mr. Stark." Matt's voice is calm if not a little cold, "Thank you for bringing her home." He nods at the other man, stepping aside.

The time traveler didn't need to be a genius to understand what he wanted. Penny mutters something to Happy, who had been standing next to her while looking like the perfect definition of a intimidating bodyguard with his back straight and arms crossed, and moves to enter the house when Tony steps before her; blocking her path and view of Matt.

Her older brother takes a deep breath and the tension in the air is almost tangible.

Tony clicks his tongue, "Won't you invite us in, Murdock?"

Penny gives Tony a look, What's he doing?!

"Why should I?"

"That's only polite."

"This isn't my house to invite anyone in."

"I'm sure that the kid won't mind."

Penny blinks her eyes, feeling a little overwhelmed. She – She has no idea of what is going on. What she does know is that those two are having some kind of private conversation. Either that or a strange form of pissing match.

"Isn't that right, kid?"

Penny has no idea of what Tony is talking about as he turns to look at her but she still nods her head. Matt doesn't seem too happy with her almost automatic answer but the vigilante merely nods and steps aside so Tony can walk into her childhood home.

Before following the genius, Penny wonders if she hadn't just made a mistake.

By the way Matt's clenches his jaw and how Aunt May blushes, completely charmed by Tony when he introduces himself, Penny nods to herself and decides that yes, she has just made a mistake.

Ops.

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-Cissnei