*discontinued* we're family. [& no you're not alone] (penny parker)

"Yes, May."

"You're sure?"

Penny sighed, opening her suitcase up and showing it to her ever-worrying aunt.

"I have clothes, my suit, my toothbrush, my laptop, and literally everything else I'll need for a four-day trip. Yes, May, I'm absolutely, 100% positive. Can I please go now? Happy's waiting, and he's mean when he's grumpy." Penny said with a fake pout, making her aunt laugh.

"Isn't that man always grumpy?"

Penny shrugged, "Pretty much, but still."

"Alright then," May pulled her into a tight hug and rested her head on top of Penny's, "you be good, okay baby? And call me if you need anything, literally anything. I don't care if I have to leave a meeting to give you advice on what top to wear, my girl is more important than all these hospital people combined. Alright?"

Penny giggled and squeezed her aunt before pulling away. "Alright, May. But I have been dressing myself for over eleven years now, not to brag or anything."

"I know, baby." May said with a smile, "Jesus, really, only eleven years? God, I sometimes forget that you're, like, four."

"May!"

"Sorry, sorry! Okay, I'll let you go now, be good, no patrolling after two, no leaving the country, and try to relax a little bit? No carrying the whole world on your shoulders, at least just until Tuesday. Deal?"

"Deal."

A loud honk sounded from outside, making Penny roll her eyes.

"Okay, I really have to go now. Bye May, larb you!"

"Larb you too!"

And with a slam of the front door, Penny was off. She really couldn't believe it. May, on her mission to become head nurse at the hospital, had to attend a four-day training in Pennsylvania. She had turned the opportunity down at first because, much to Penny's disagreement, fourteen was 'much too young' to stay home alone for a few days.

So, Penny did something that she really hated doing. She asked Mr. Stark for a favor. Of course, he instantly said yes, but Penny couldn't help but feel guilty.

He doesn't want you staying at the compound, idiot she thought to herself. He just feels bad for you. He just cares about Spider-Girl. He just-

Penny's train of thought was cut off by yet another honk.

Cursing to herself, she quickly ran to the bottom floor, out the door, and into the car of a very unhappy looking Happy Hogan.

"Jesus Christ, kid, I thought I was gonna grow old out here."

Penny smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, Happy. You know how May is, she had to double-check everything seven times."

Climbing into the backseat, Penny quickly got comfortable. The four-hour car ride from Queens to upstate had felt like forever the first few times she'd gone, but it really didn't bother her too much now. This trip made her more nervous than her past visits, though. For one thing, she was going to be staying there for four whole days. The most time she'd ever spent there before was just spending the night after working in the lab too late. To add another stressor, this was her first time meeting all the Avengers. Well, if you exclude fighting with them/against them in Germany.

Shit, she thought, do they even know that I'm Spider-Girl?

Picking up her phone, she called Mr. Stark

"What is it kid, aren't you supposed to be driving up here right now? Lemme guess, Happy didn't show?"

"No, no Mr. Stark he came, and yeah I'm in the car right now. I just, I kinda had a quick question if that's okay..?"

"Yeah, sure, kid. Go for it."

"Uh..did you tell the Avengers that I'm Spider-Girl?"

She heard Tony's voice soften, "Nah, kid, I thought I'd leave that one to you. You don't have to tell them while you're here, though. I mean, not if you don't want to."

"Yeah, I think I want it to stay secret for now, if that's fine."

"Sure."

"Okay, thanks Mr. Stark, see you soon!"

"Bye, kid."

Penny took a deep breath, then squealed and leaned forward to Happy.

"Happy, can you believe it? I'm meeting the Avengers today! All of them! At once! Oh my God, Happy, it's gonna be so cool and they're gonna be like "so you're Stark's intern?"  and I'll be like "yeah"  and they'll be like "cool."  Oh my GOD, Happy, the Avengers are gonna call me cool! Can you believe it like-"

She was cut off by Happy grunting and putting the backseat divider up.

"Rude!" she scoffed. She grabbed a book out of her bag and started to read, but found herself quickly drifting off.

-------

"Hey, wake up, I'm not carrying your stuff."

"Huh? Oh, hi Happy. Are we here?"

"I thought you were a genius or something."

"Love you too, Happy," Penny said, sarcastically, as she grabbed her suitcase from the floorboards.

Looking around at the compound was always amazing. Just the sheer size of it, alone, plus the huge buildings and green grass, it was really something to behold. When Penny reached the door, she knocked, expecting Tony or Pepper to answer it as usual.

"Everybody come down here, pizzas here!" a female voice yelled inside, before opening the door to reveal Penny standing there.

Natasha acted quickly, grabbing Penny by the wrist and slamming her up against the doorframe.

"Who the hell are you and how did you get in here?" she demanded, but she was cut off before she could finish, 

"Nat! Why the hell is my intern in a headlock?" a voice that Penny immediately recognized asked.

"Intern? Oh, shit-" Natasha quickly released the younger girl, "Sorry about that." She held out a hand, which Penny shook. "I'm Natasha."

Penny gave her a smile, "I'm Penny, uh, I'm Mr. Starks intern...but you already knew that...sorry."

The two stepped back inside, and Tony rolled his eyes.

"Everybody, this is Penny Parker, my intern. She's staying here for a few days because her aunt is out of town and frankly, I really need some help in the lab right now. Penny, this is everybody."

Penny gave everyone a friendly smile, which faded when she saw Steve.

Ugh, I forgot that he would be here. Even though he doesn't know that it was me in the suit, he's still not my favorite person. At all.

"Uh, I'm gonna go put my stuff in my room, if that's cool?" Penny asked, and Tony nodded in reply.

"Her room?" Bruce asked, and the rest of the group looked equally confused.

"Yeah, sometimes she stays late working, and she lives in Queens, so she has to sleep somewhere," Tony said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

There was a short silence before Steve spoke up.

"Ohh, I get it, it's his kid!"

Everyone else nodded and murmured in agreement, while Tony looked flustered,

"No, no, nope. Not my kid. Really, why is it so hard to believe that she's my intern?"

"Tony, we weren't born yesterday. And she kinda looks like she was. C'mon, when did SI start hiring high schoolers, much less whatever she is?"

Tony rolled his eyes, "She's in high school, she's 14. She's just...vertically challenged."

"She's like 4 feet tall."

"She's 4'11" and 3/4, actually. God, why do I know that? Okay, you know what, that's not the point. She's my intern, she's staying here for a few days, try not to traumatize her too much. Okay?"

"Yes, daddy Stark," Natasha said, making everyone laugh, and an exasperated Tony leave the room.

"Really, though, what's up with her?" Nat said, "She seems so familiar."

"It's her voice," said Cap, "I've heard her voice before somewhere."

"We'll figure it out eventually," Bruce said with a shrug, and the rest of them nodded.

And they did.