Flinching
The last 15 hours or so have been the most bizarre and scary of Penny’s life. She has gone to space, wrecked in said spaceship, met some a lot of superhero people, fought Thanos on Titan, died, come back to life, then fought Thanos again.
It had felt strange when she had gone. It had felt wrong.
Penny remembered Mr. Starks eyes and knowing there was absolutely nothing he could do to help her.
Penny remember the terror of not knowing what came next, and waking back up screaming and thrashing until Stephen Strange had rushed to her side. He had been concerned and sorry, but urgent that they needed to get back to earth. There was no time for her to regroup, no time for her to wipe her tears or run straight toward her mentor when she stepped through that portal.
It had all happened too fast, and Penny couldn’t keep up mentally. She just did- and hoped she would make it through.
So maybe that’s why in the silent aftermath of the battle where the hero’s stand in awe, surrounded by the dust of aliens and monsters and Thanos himself, Penny’s adrenaline still rages on. Her body still buzzing with the fight and the fear in her blood.
Penny crawls out of the small crater in the earth she was flung into at some point, attempting desperately to catch sight of Tony. But the smoke and ash make her cough. Penny presses a hand to her chest, rubbing a circle into it. It doesn’t help to relieve the pressure.
There is blood on her hands. It’s coming out of her lips too. Her body is beaten and bruised and everything is throbbing more and more as the seconds tick on.
She may need Doctor Strange to do a physical on her, she’s pretty certain after everything that’s happened he would be willing.
Penny shutters. The crackle of the flames and soft whistle of the wind seem deafening to her ears. As the hero’s begin to stir, looking for their teammates to see who lived and who didn’t, their voices add on more pain to Penny’s overstimulated brain.
Penny takes a step, desperate to find out if Mr. Stark is okay, but her foot feels like pins and needles and suddenly she’s on her knees. The impact is jarring, shooting fiery pain up her spine. A small sob escapes her lips, causing blood to splatter on the ground in front of her.
God, everything hurts.
Penny curls in on herself, shielding her face from the world around her. She lets her body collapse to the side, stay there in the dirt with her eyes clamped shut and hands pressed hard over her ears.
The world is getting louder and brighter, and Penny can’t stop shaking. She can’t stop her racing heart.
When a loud, thunking sound become noticeable to her senses and begins to get closer, Penny whimpers at the assault it brings. The sounds get slightly softer and slower at that. Penny is almost certain exactly who that is, but unfortunately, she can’t move to find out.
So she stays put, chest hitching as she tries to calm herself down to no avail. When another sob comes from her lips, her lungs burn with the force of it. Her body isn’t just trembling anymore, it might as well be convulsing from the panic that can’t find any outlet.
Penny doesn’t know what else to do but call out his name blindly, not able to care who hears her or if she does truly sound like a child.
Penny wants Tony.
Something feels as though it slams into her should, and she flinches away hard with a yelp. The pressure withdrawal immediately. Penny cries harder- she wants so desperately to be held but everything just fucking hurts.
When the tapping vibrations register in her brain, it takes her jumbled thoughts a moment to right themselves. But when she focuses-
Penny
It’s okay
You’re safe
Mr. Stark
Penny whimpers in relief. She figured it was him, but the relief is all the same. Strangled words leave her sore throat that come out probably just as pathetic as they feel.
“Help me.”
Sensory overload
I’m sorry honey
Just breathe
Touch okay?
Penny wants to say yes. She wants more than anything to crawl into his arms and fall asleep and block everything out, but she shakes her head and just cries a harder.
Then, out of nowhere, her senses dampen. The light turns down to normal, her hearing dials back until it’s blissfully muffled and the dirt underneath her no longer feels like knives. Her mind dulls too, wonderfully so. The panic ebbing back to a bearable level.
Penny takes a deep breathe and basically goes limp. She hears Mr. Starks panicked voice for the first time since Titan.
“Whoa, Penny?! Honey, can you hear me?” There are familiar hands gathering her up and Penny lets them, knowing she’s safe against Mr. Starks chest. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt her. “What the hell did you do?!”
“It’s alright Tony,” That was Dr. Strange, Penny noted. He was safe too. “I am just helping her rest. Her bodies senses are struggling to right themselves, there was no need to have to let her suffer through that consciously. It’s painful.”
Penny hummed tiredly in agreement.
“Pen? Sweetheart, you with me?” Mr. Stark asked, still sounding a bit scared. She makes a noise of confirmation and he chuckles somewhat manically. “Yeah, that was convincing.”
“M-sstark?”
“I’m here Pen, I’m right here, it’s okay. Everything is okay now.”
Then, there is a gentle kiss pressed into the top of her hair, and the arms holding her grow stronger. Penny turns with what little energy she has left to hide her face into his collarbone.
“I love you. I love you I love you I love you.” Mr. Stark whispers the word over and over again. Penny’s heart lurches, even as she quickly losses consciousness. He’s never said it out loud before, even though she always knew he did. Her mind is slipping away fast, and she can feel her being lifted from the ground and Mr. Stark is carrying her somewhere and Dr. Strange is speaking something.
Penny is so tired, but before she sinks fully into the dark, she uses every last bit she has in her to mumble back to him-
“L’ve you too.”