Chapter 1
Penny had quietly cried herself back to sleep snuggled between Pepper and Tony. One of her little hands still had a good grip on one of Tony’s and her other had a fistful of Pepper’s lounge pants in her grasp.
Pepper reached out and gently pushed the curls off of Penny’s face to look at her sleeping peacefully, “God, Tony. Why?” She asked quietly.
“I don’t know. But I do know that everyone involved is in a holding cell and no one is watching the team ‘interrogate’ them,” The emphasis on the word interrogate let Pepper know that the sick sons of bitches would get what was coming to them.
“What do we do now?” Pepper asked him as she studied the girl’s peaceful face. “I mean, Tony, I never want to take my eyes off of her again. I don’t know how we go back to normal,” She told him brokenly.
“We take it one day at a time, sweetheart,” Tony answered after a moment, “We don’t need normal right now anyway. The kid is just going to have to be sick of us being around for at least a few days.”
“Yeah, a few days,” Pepper said as she shook her head knowing how clingy Penny and herself were already before this and how Tony was though he tried to hide it, “We’ll see.”
0~0~0
Penny sat up suddenly as she woke and looked around the room in confusion. “I’m right here, baby bug,” She heard from behind her and spun on the bed to see Pepper. Penny realized now that she’d been sleeping against the woman before waking.
“Pepper?” She whispered and the woman nodded. Pepper felt her heart break, she knew that Penny was most likely in distress and half-asleep when she’d called her ‘mama’ the night before, but it still hurt not to hear it again.
“I’m here, baby, come here,” She cooed and reached for Penny. The tiny blonde curled up on her lap and let out a shaky breath, “I’ve got you, darling. I’m right here,” She continued to whisper comforting words as she ran her fingers through Penny’s curls.
“Where’s Tony?” Penny asked quietly after realizing that the man was no longer sitting vigil over them.
“He’s in a meeting with the team,” Pepper answered her and subconsciously shifted Penny closer in her arms, “He brought your hoodie back down,” Pepper gestured to the folded top at the foot of the bed, “And Iron Moose,” Pepper finished with a smirk.
“It’s his hoodie though,” Penny pointed out, “I grabbed it by accident,” She whispered.
“It’s yours now. It ultimately saved you anyway,” Pepper said.
“What?” Penny asked and looked up at her with furrowed eyebrows.
Pepper breathed out a short laugh, “I used to steal the thing all the time and Tony was always hunting it down. So he put a tracker in it one day so he could catch me stealing it from him. He never used it. We both forgot about it actually. He just happened to remember it when FRIDAY said you had his hoodie.”
Penny leaned forward and grabbed the hoodie. Her face fell as she realized it had been washed. “What is it?” Pepper asked her as she noticed the change.
“Nothing,” Penny shook her head as she sat back against Pepper once again.
“Darling, you know I can just tickle the answer out of you, right?” She asked and Penny turned comically wide eyes up to her.
“You wouldn’t,” She said lowly and Pepper smirked before digging her fingers into Penny’s sides.
“Stop!” The girl shrieked as she writhed around in Pepper’s lap. Her laughter was uncontrollable and she knew that if her strength was up to what it normally was, she would have hurt the woman by now. After a few moments, Pepper relented. The woman’s smile didn’t leave her face though as she looked at Penny who was trying to catch her breath as she still laughed softly.
“You ready to tell me what’s wrong with it now?” She asked and gestured at the hoodie.
Penny shifted slightly so she was cross legged as she subconsciously also reached for the stuffed moose and pulled it into her lap. She bit her lip until Pepper reached out and tapped her on the chin just below it. Penny let out a sigh, “It smelled like you guys,” She mumbled after a few more moments and Pepper felt tears spring into her eyes. It had brought her comfort. They had washed it and washed the comfort away.
Pepper leaned forward and picked the hoodie up. She unfolded it and tugged it on over her head while Penny watched her with furrowed eyebrows, “What are you doing?” She asked the woman quietly.
“Fixing your hoodie,” Pepper answered her easily as she reached forward and tugged Penny back into her lap. She didn’t like the girl being even that far away from her yet. She couldn’t stomach the panic that rose when Penny wasn’t right there.
“You don’t have to,” Penny told her quietly as her fingers found the ends of Pepper’s hair. The woman had noticed that was one of Penny’s comfort gestures. It made her feel safe and she didn’t mind in the slightest.
“I know,” Pepper told her and kissed the side of her head, “But if something this simple can make you feel safe then I will do my due diligence in wearing the thing and then pass it on to Tony for a while too,” She informed her, “I love you, baby. Any and everything I can do for you? I will. In a heartbeat.”
“I love you too,” Penny whispered as she buried her face against Pepper’s shoulder.