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

It was quite a domestic sight, really. Penny in the middle of the couch, with Natasha on one side and Clint on the other. The three were the only ones at the compound, with everyone else off doing something or another. It was Penny's last day at the compound, with the day before being fairly uneventful. As they all sat in piles of blankets, half awake, with Star Wars playing in the background (Penny's choice, obviously), her phone began to ring.

"Huh, that's weird, it's a Pennsylvania area code." The teenager said, looking down at her phone.

Through a bite of popcorn, Natasha said, "Answer it, maybe it's your aunt calling from her hotel."

Penny clicked the green "accept" button and brought the phone to her ear.

"Hello, is this Penelope Parker?"

"Uh, yes, this is she."

"Hello, Ms. Parker, I'm Beth Wilson, a doctor at Allegheny Valley Hospital. I'm very sorry to tell you that your aunt had an unexpected stroke late last night and was found unresponsive with no pulse in her hotel room this morning. You're listed as her only living relative, and-"

The doctor kept talking, but Penny couldn't hear her.

She heard a strangled scream come out of herself, but she couldn't stop it.

Faintly, she could hear Natasha and Clint talking next to her, but it felt like she was far away.

"Penny? What happened, what's going on?"

"Hey, hey it's okay, just talk to us."

"Call Tony, Clint!"

"Hey, it's okay Penny, here, give me the phone милаг (sweetie)."

She knew Natasha talked to the woman on the phone, and she could feel that she was pulled into a hug. A long time later, or maybe it was just a few minutes, Penny had no idea, she saw Tony sitting in front of her.

"Hey, kid, you gotta breathe, okay?"

She felt like she was drowning. Choking on air. Like an elephant was sitting on her chest. Like she was back under the rubble, but this time it was a thousand warehouses. She made no effort to wipe away the tears that were streaming down her face. Her breaths were more like little choked gasps, but she eventually evened out her breathing until it was normal except for the occasional hitch. 

Pepper walked over holding a glass of water and handed it to the girl, who accepted it with shaky hands.

"We're so sorry, sweetie. Natasha told us what happened."

Penny gasped out the first words since she learned the news about May. They were barely a whisper, but Tony and Pepper still heard.

"She was all I had left."

Penny curled onto herself, putting her head in her lap, and could feel both adults sit down next to her and put their arms around her.

"I know it's hard, kid. Trust me, I know. We're here for you, okay? And you don't need to worry about the funeral or any of the legal stuff, we'll take care of it."

Penny nodded, looking up and wiping her eyes. "Thank you."

--------------------------

It had been five days since Aunt May died. 

The funeral came and went, Penny went through the motions, but her heart was numb. 

It had been decided by Tony and Pepper that she'd be staying at the compound indefinitely and that they'd take over temporary guardianship since May was her last living relative. Penny told them over and over that it was okay, she could just live in the apartment by herself, she didn't need to be a burden on them. She only stopped when Tony pressed her chin up to look at him and firmly said,

"Penny, we're the adults here and this is what we decided. If we didn't want to do this, we wouldn't be."

That ended her verbal arguments, but she still couldn't shake the voice in the back of her head calling her a burden. When it finally came time to go to the apartment and get her things, Penny asked if she could go in alone. The adults gave her sympathetic looks and nodded, telling her to call them if she wanted them to come inside.

Putting the key in the door and opening it, Penny saw that it looked exactly as it did when she left. 

Of course, it does. Nobody else has been in here since then.

She walked through the apartment, filling up a backpack with important things of her aunts, as well as clothes from Penny's closet. It was summer, so she didn't technically need her school supplies, but she brought them anyway. When she walked into the bathroom, she could feel an urge popping back up from the inside of her head.

I really shouldn't.

I know I shouldn't.

But...

Maybe it'll help.

Opening the medicine cabinet, Penny dug around until she found the two bottles she was looking for. The first was the painkillers from when May got her appendix taken out, the second was anti-depressants from when Ben died. She had taken a few of each in the past when she'd felt extra-terrible, but never became addicted.

Pushing the thoughts out of her head, she dropped the bottles into her bag. Without thinking twice, she walked back into her room and popped open her jewelry box. Digging to the bottom, she pulled out a small razor wrapped in toilet paper. She dropped that into the bag as well.

Maybe it'll help.

Her mind now clouded by these old habits coming to life, she walked into the kitchen and pulled a chair over in front of the pantry. Standing on it, she was eye to eye with the top shelf, where May put all the alcohol (and all the good snacks) so that they were out of Penny's mind and sight. Or so she thought.

The months after Ben's death were hard, and it didn't take a genius to figure out where the vodka was. It helped. She needed at least a cup to feel something, because of her metabolism, but it helped. Poor May was too busy grieving to notice. Penny loved being drunk, mostly because it helped numb whatever pain she was feeling. 

She grabbed the one vodka bottle that hadn't been refilled by Penny with water. It was small, maybe only a pint or so, but it was better than nothing.

You shouldn't be doing this, her inner voice-of-reason chastised.

Penny shook her head, and whispered to herself, 

"It'll help."