I shouldn't be doing this..I should be working on one of my other two WIPs...but this idea wouldn't leave me alone and I was home sick all day! So I thought I'd try my hand at one of these 5+1 things...

Chapter 1: Flash

It all started with a haircut.

Well...no. It had actually started back in seventh grade. That was when Flash Thompson had transferred to their school in the middle of the year. Penny had felt bad for him at first...it was scary to transfer to a new school in the middle of the year, and he was obviously smart. A nerd just like her. He'd showed up to the chess club meeting that week, proving that her first assessment had been right, so she had wondered if he would join her little friend group. Well, friend duo. She'd known Ned since third grade when they'd become best friends, bonding over a mean girl in class who'd made fun of them both.

Then, Flash had opened his mouth, all cool and self assured, everything Penny wasn't, and then he'd beaten her twice in a row, made some joke about her, which a handful of people at chess club had laughed at, and that had been it. He'd gotten into Midtown Tech, along with her and Ned, and after that, the bullying had only escalated. Once, in eighth grade, she'd mentioned it to May. Just the basics. "He knocks into me in the hallways sometimes." She'd told her aunt when Ben had been at work. She hadn't wanted to get her uncle angry...any hint of boys being mean to her, and she had had a feeling that Uncle Ben would have his retribution. So she'd waited until she and May had been alone. "Knocks my books out of my hands. Pulls my hair…" Penny had left it at that.

May had given her a little smile, tugging gently on the end of Penny's braid. "He's just being mean because he likes you." Her aunt had broken it to her gently, like this was some kind of big revelation. But of course, Penny had known that wasn't true. Why would someone that liked her slam her into lockers and call her mean names, 'Penis Parker' being his favorite? She could never bring herself to say that particular nickname out loud to Aunt May. Still, Ned liked her. Okay, he didn't like her like her, but he was her best friend, and he was never mean to her. Still, she never mentioned anything to May about Flash bullying her ever again.

Logically, she knew he hated that she was smarter than her. She was better at robotics, better at programming (even though Ned was even better than she was at that) and better at Academic Decathlon where he was always an alternate. Sure, he had more friends and was more popular, but she had Ned and, later, Michelle, so she wasn't upset about it. Her and MJ had met in art class, which was, unfortunately, mandatory. Something about a balanced education. Anyway, Michelle had been doing a sketch of Penny titled 'honors chemistry student in distress' and ever since, the two had been pretty good friends. Of course, Michelle didn't love Star Wars or superhero comics like Penny and Ned, but she and Penny did have the occasional girl's night.

When Mr. Stark had shown up at her apartment one day after school, whisking her into a life of superheros and pretend internships, she'd dropped most of her extracurriculars, including robotics club and band, but she'd stuck with Academic Decathlon even if it meant less time as Spidergirl. (She'd wanted to be Spider-Woman but apparently it had too many syllables or something...besides, Youtube commenters had been the ones to come up with her superhero name.) And while she'd been busy stealing Captain America's shield and fighting some guy called the Vulture who just happened to be a cool, beautiful senior's father and taking down a plane full of really important weapons and technology, Flash had somehow been getting more and more popular, and, apparently, more and more resentful of the tiny space she'd carved out for herself at Midtown Tech.

After the spider bite, and after getting her new powers, there had been times when she'd been tempted to use that new super strength to shove that asshole into a locker once or twice. Maybe web him to the side of a building and leave him there. But if there was anything her Uncle Ben had taught her, it was that her new powers came with serious responsibility. People who had a lot of power had to be responsible with it! She could use her powers to help people. She could use them to goof around and swing across the city and have some fun. But using them to get petty revenge on a bully...that wouldn't be right.

So she ignored him for the most part. Let him throw spitballs at her head and knock her stuff out of her hands and slam his shoulder into hers while they walked down the hallway. It rarely hurt anymore, even if she did sometimes find bruises when he'd trip her push her down the stairs. She told herself it was all no big deal. Everyone dealt with bullies at some time or another, and honestly, how could she complain when her life was so freaking amazing?

After her disastrous homecoming, Mr. Stark had invited her to join the Avengers! To be an actual member of a superhero team! With Iron Man! And he hadn't been mad when she'd turned him down. Of course, she figured it was all a test that, thankfully, she'd passed, but he hadn't been kidding about her room at the compound. And then the internship had sort of turned into a real thing. Every other Friday after school he'd have her over to the compound to work on suits and, when they ran out of upgrades for her suit or when he didn't have anything to do with the Iron Man armor, the two of them had started to restore an old car!

She didn't want to say it out loud...didn't even want to think it, but it was almost like having Uncle Ben back. And of course, Mr. Stark wasn't her uncle. Hell, half the time she figured he just tolerated her because he felt somewhat responsible for her. And no one could ever replace her uncle. She didn't even want that. But when her new mentor taught her patiently, over the course of several hours, how to put a car engine together, it had reminded her what it was like to have a father figure again. But she'd never say it out loud. Ever. Not to anyone. Not even Ned, who she told everything to.

So she liked Mr. Stark a lot. Loved him, even. Him and Miss Potts, who was always warm and welcoming, and Colonel Rhodes, who was the only other member of the superhero team, apart from Vision, who knew that she was Spidergirl. She loved all of them, even Happy, who grumbled constantly whenever Mr. Stark had him drive her to and from the compound every other week. Still, he always answered her texts after the homecoming fiasco, even if it was sometimes with a frowny face emoji or an eye-rolling emoji, both of which meant 'leave me alone, kid.'

No matter how much she liked Mr. Stark, and no matter how much she trusted him and Colonel Rhodes and Miss Potts and Vision, she never said a word about the bullying, even when it started getting worse after homecoming. His favorite topic was the internship, and how sad it was that she insisted that she knew the Tony Stark. And of course, he'd throw in a few comments about her Uncle Ben and how desperate for attention she was and how pathetic she was and so many other things she just tried to ignore.

Flash would go through phases, escalating until he went nearly too far, then backing off for a little bit until she'd almost think he was going to leave her alone. It had been three months since Homecoming and it had started with spitballs. Lots of them. In the hall, in Chemistry, in Calculus. Thankfully those were the only classes they had together. Then he'd bump into her in the halls, and then, a week ago, her spider sense had gone off just as he'd slammed a hand down on the books in her hands, knocking them and all of her papers to the ground and laughing out loud, along with his posse of friends. Ned had crouched beside her, helping her pick them up, prompting Flash to make a joke about her friend's weight which had almost had her webbing him to the ceiling, but Ned had grabbed her arm, the look on his face reminding her why she couldn't do that.

The day she was scheduled to go to the compound to work with Mr. Stark, her mind had been on the suit and the upgrades to her web fluid that she wanted to try, when a foot had shot out and a hand had pushed against her back, and then she'd been falling, wrist bending painfully when it had reached out to catch her. Ned had raced to her side, and she'd brushed him off, staring furiously up at Flash who had been laughing, pointing a finger and nudging his friends. "Have a nice trip, Penis?" He'd yelled, prompting even more laughter, and Penny had accepted a hand up from Ned, flinching at the pain in her wrist.

"Are you okay?" Ned had asked, somewhere between angry and concerned, and she'd waved him off, sure she'd sprained her wrist but not about to tell her friend.

"I'm fine. Let's just go."

She'd arrived at the compound, aching wrist hidden in her jacket sleeve, after a long, extra quiet drive. Happy had walked her in, which had been strange, and then, when Mr. Stark had appeared, Happy had asked to talk to him alone, so Penny had gone into the kitchen where there had been a plate of sandwiches ready for her. She'd eaten three before Mr. Stark had come back, looking somewhat concerned. "Hey, kiddo." He'd patted her briefly on the back before grabbing one of the sandwiches for himself. "How was school?"

He always asked that, and it always made her think of Uncle Ben. But, as usual, she pushed that thought away and forced a smile. "Uh, it was fine. We had a pop quiz in Spanish…"

"Good thing you're fluent." He'd teased, and she had grinned.

"Yeah, that helps." Uncle Ben had taught her Spanish since a large portion of their neighborhood spoke it, and so most of the stuff they learned in class was stuff she already knew. She knew she could have taken a different language, but the temptation to have at least one easy class had been too great to pass up. "Science fair is coming up. Ned and I are trying to make a robot with an AI! He's doing most of the programing, though."

"He certainly has experience hacking into them." She'd given him a guilty smile.

"Uh...yeah...he's really sorry about that, by the way." He'd hummed, rolling his eyes. "I know he'd love a job...after he graduates."

"We'll see. Depends on whether or not he ever touches my stuff again. Let me know if you two need help with that AI."

They'd gone down to the lab after the sandwiches, and Penny had nearly forgotten about his talk with Happy when Mr. Stark had turned to her, hesitating for a second before speaking. "So, uh...everything alright?" He'd asked, not looking up from his project, and she'd put down the screwdriver and her web shooters, ignoring the twinge in her wrist.

"Yeah. Fine."

"You sure...Happy said you were pretty quiet today."

"Oh, yeah. No...I uh…" She had waved a hand carelessly, flinching when she picked the wrong hand to gesture with. And of course, Mr. Stark had noticed.

"What's wrong?" He had asked, quiet and serious all of a sudden as he'd put down his own tools, turning to face her.

"Nothing." When it had become apparently that that excuse wasn't going to fly, she'd gone on. "Just, uh...I think I sprained it last night. As Spidergirl. I was, uh...swinging around and I just twisted it wrong."

He had frowned, reaching out and taking her arm carefully in his hand. "That's odd...Karen didn't say anything. Friday, what are we looking at here?" A holographic blue screen appeared beside the table, showing an x-ray of her hand.

"It looks like a minor sprain, boss. With Miss Parker's healing capabilities, it should be back to normal in four to five hours."

He'd hesitated for a second, and she had hoped that he wasn't doing the math...trying to figure out why her wrist would still be hurting after so many hours. But he hadn't asked...just given her a look and let her arm go. "Use your left hand for the rest of the day." He'd ordered, and they'd gone back to their work. Still, it had seemed like he'd suspected something.

At school on Monday, Flash had mostly left her alone, probably afraid that she'd say something about him pushing her down the stairs. But then, on Tuesday, the spitballs had started flying. On Wednesday, he'd knocked her into a locker, and on Thursday, he'd knocked her lunch out of her hand and she'd spilled it all over herself. But Friday had been the worst. Ned had been standing beside her, leaning against the lockers while she'd been bent over the water fountain, getting a drink, when he'd walked back and smacked her butt, hard.

She'd jumped, whirling and staring, red-faced and humiliated at Flash as he'd grinned at her. "What? Don't tell me you're not getting any from fatso here, huh, Penis?" Tears had sprung to her eyes when the rest of his friends had all laughed, and the other kids in the hall had all either grinned or just looked away. "That the first time a guy's touched your ass?" Her hands had shaken then, fury and embarrassment warring as everyone in the hallway had watched.

But what could she say? She hadn't been able to fight him before the spider bite. So how could she justify fighting him now? "Leave her alone, Flash." Ned's voice had been quiet and dangerous, his own hands in fists. "Don't you touch her."

"Or what? You jealous, Ned? What, your BFF not giving it up? Don't tell me you're both virgins." He'd snorted, and Penny had grabbed Ned's arm.

"Just ignore him. He's obviously overcompensating for…" She'd trailed off, letting her eyes stray down to his pants. "Something." He'd turned red at that, taking a threatening step forward.

"What the hell did you say, Penis?"

"I think she just implied that you put other people down because you have a small penis." MJ had stepped in, arms crossed as she'd moved in front of her friends. "Also, slapping a girl on the ass is sexual assault, so you'd better beat it before we go to the principal, asshole."

Somehow, that had worked, and them MJ had turned back to her. "You okay, Pen?"

"Yeah." She'd muttered, arms crossed tight over her chest, cheeks still flushed. For a second, she had thought MJ was going to scold her for not standing up for herself...instead, she'd just put an arm around her friend, walking with her to her next class, and nothing more had been said about it.

That weekend, she'd had a sleepover with Michelle and had gone to the movies with Ned, and had nearly forgotten about the incident with Flash. She went out as Spidergirl every night, went shopping with Aunt May on Saturday, and on Sunday, she and Ned nearly finished their science fair project. Their AI was nowhere near as advanced as Mr. Stark's, but it did answer to basic commands, so that was something. She even wondered if Mr. Stark would come to their science fair, but figured it would be too much to ask. She knew he was busy.

All that week, Flash was surprisingly quiet. Sure there was the usual teasing about the Stark internship that he still thought she was making up, and a couple of times he made rude comments about her and Ned, mostly after she beat him in Academic Decathlon, but there was very little physical violence, which she was thankful for. Then, on Friday, as she passed him in the hallway, he grabbed her hair, which she usually wore pulled back into a braid, and yanked. She cried, out, jerking away from him, and he smirked at her as he kept walking.

"What the hell?" She screamed after him, surprising herself at the venom in her voice. He only grinned.

"Don't know what you're talking about, Penis."

She stormed up to him then, hands shaking with the urge to break his nose like she had a mugger's night before. "Keep your fucking hands off me!" She shouted when she was so close their noses nearly touched.

"Penny Parker! My office. Now." Flash's lips had been twitching, obviously fighting a laugh when she'd turned to face their principal.

"Sir, he was pulling my hair!" She'd cried.

"She's insane! It was an accident! Then she got up in my face and started screaming at me."

"Miss Parker, now." Fighting back angry tears, she'd done as he'd asked, following him into his office and throwing herself into a chair where she'd received an impressive lecture and a promise to call her aunt the next time she behaved threateningly toward another student.

The hair pulling continued all day...never as hard. Just annoying, mostly. Ned would glare at him, and MJ flipped him off and tripped him every time he walked by, but nothing could deter him until last period when he took the desk behind her. She'd been expecting him to keep pulling her hair or kick her desk or something...instead, he seemed to be ignoring her the whole class until she felt him pulling at her hair. Someone behind her gasped, and another person laughed under their breath. She started to pull away and felt resistance, then jerked away, only to feel her hair come out of her tie and the braid start to come undone.

Reaching back, she felt her heart plummet when the braid that had one gone halfway down her back only reached her shoulders. Flash was smirking at her, holding the tail end of her braid in his fist like a trophy. "You asshole!" She didn't mean to scream it...didn't mean to sound like a crazy person as she jumped to her feet, fists clenched as she towered over him. She could have thrown him through a wall...she was strong enough. And angry enough. But their teacher's voice interrupted her rant.

"Miss Parker! What…"

"He cut my hair!" She dimly realized she was still screaming. Was dimly aware that tears were building in her eyes and Flash was still smirking.

"Mr. Thompson, principal's office." Their teacher's voice was softer then as she turned toward Penny, looking like she was at a loss. "Um...Miss Parker, why don't you go see the nurse."

It was such a stupid thing to say. The nurse? She wasn't sick, she wanted to scream. But she always listened to her teachers...couldn't imagine openly defying them. So she grabbed her stuff, ignoring Ned's worried eyes following her and the way Flash gathered his stuff, always smirking at her, and stormed out of the room. Since there were only fifteen minutes left of school, she went to the bathroom closest to the exit and sat down on one of the toilets, her feet on the toilet seat, her forehead on her knees, and sobbed.

She wasn't sad. Not really. She was furious and humiliated and just so tired of no one saying anything when Flash tormented her. Why? Why wouldn't he leave her alone? Why couldn't he just ignore her like she wanted to ignore him? Aunt May's words from a couple of years ago came back...but they couldn't be true. He didn't like her. And even if he did, she hated him. Hated him for making her life miserable and for embarrassing her in front of as many people as possible. Hated him for putting his hands on her and hated him for always getting away with it.

Grabbing her jacket, she threw up her hood and made it out of school just before the bell rang, hands shoved in her pockets as she waited for Happy's car to pull around. She had no idea how she would explain this to Mr. Stark. At some point during their lab time, he'd start to wonder why she was wearing a hood. And he'd obviously notice when her hair looked awful...and a lot shorter. Pulling her now-ruined hair into a ponytail, she kept the hood up, all but jumping into the car that pulled up by the school before Flash could find her and do something worse...or provoke her into throwing him in front of a car.

She was going to start crying if Happy got her talking, so she just curled up in the back seat, staring out the window and praying he ignored her. "Kid? You okay?" He asked, and she could hear the worry in his voice which only made her feel worse.

"Yeah. Just tired." She muttered, using the easiest excuse she could think of. He left it at that, but she knew he'd be talking to Mr. Stark. That was fine. They could talk all they wanted. She didn't have to say anything. Mr. Stark already saw her as a child...a little girl playing dress up. And sure, he'd made her a suit, and he seemed to trust her to do her patrols and take down low-level criminals, but if she went crying to him over a schoolyard bully...no way he'd let her be a superhero anymore. He'd take the suit back so fast her head would spin! And then there would be no more lab time, no more fixing up old cars...no more internship. And that wasn't something she was willing to give up.

Mr. Stark didn't meet them outside when they got to the compound, and once again, Happy climbed out of the car when she did, trailing after her as she headed to the kitchen where she could usually find the man if he was running behind, talking on the phone or getting food together. Instead, she found Miss Potts who took one look at her probably blotchy face and stood up from her seat at the counter. For an instant, she looked concerned, but then her face went back to smoothe and professional as she smiled at Happy.

"Happy, could you tell Tony that I need to talk to Penny. She'll be down in a little bit."

"Sure thing, boss." Happy nodded, giving Penny one last awkward look before heading downstairs. Miss Potts waited until he was in the elevator before turning to Penny.

"Penny? What's the matter?" She asked, reaching out and touching Penny's shoulder. The girl shook her head, staring down at the floor. "Come on." Putting the arm around Penny's shoulder, Miss Potts led her down the hall and into Penny's bedroom at the compound. She rarely used it except to change in sometimes, but Mr. Stark had promised that she could stay over during her holiday breaks as long as May approved. Miss Potts pushed her gently onto the bed and sat beside her. "Friday, lock the door, please."

"Yes, boss." There was a click, probably only audible to Penny, then Miss Potts was leaning forward on the bed, a hand on Penny's knee.

"What happened? Are you okay?'

"I'm fine."

"Then why are you crying?"

"I'm not." Penny snapped a little. Reaching up, Miss Potts took hold of Penny's hood, pulling it back and pausing at her ruined hair. For a moment, she just stared at the choppy ponytail, the reached out, gently pulling the hair tie out of her hair.

"Penny?" She felt tears spilling down her face but refused to look at Miss Potts. "Did you cut your hair?" The woman asked, sounding bewildered. Penny shrugged her shoulders. If she told Miss Potts, she would tell Mr. Stark. She didn't want to tell Mr. Stark. But what if Miss Potts got him and he made her tell him?

"Please don't tell." She whispered.

"Don't tell who, sweetheart?" Miss Potts asked, reaching up and tucking a ragged strand behind her ear.

"Don't tell Mr. Stark."

"Don't...you don't want to tell Tony that you cut your hair?"

"Please…" Her word broke off in a sob and Miss Potts cupped her cheek in her hand, just like Aunt May did sometimes.

"Okay. I won't tell Tony." She soothed. "Can you tell me?"

"This guy...he sits behind me...he cut off my braid." Miss Potts went from concerned to downright angry, eyebrows pulling together.

"He what?"

"Can you fix it? Please, Miss Potts?" She sobbed. The woman hesitated, then nodded.

"Yes. Of course, I can fix it. Well, I can call somebody to fix it. Okay?" She pulled out her phone, sending out a quick text. "I'm going to go get some food for us, and I'll tell Tony that...well, I'll make something up, okay? It's going to be fine. Then you can explain what happened. Deal?"

Since she didn't have any choice, Penny agreed, which is how she found herself sitting in a desk chair in her bedroom at the Avengers compound while a lady who probably worked at a high-end hair salon she could never afford cut her hair into a bob that she assured the crying girl was very fashionable. Outside her door, she could hear Mr. Stark and Miss Potts talking, even though she didn't want to eavesdrop. "Pepper, what's going on? Is she okay?"

"She is going to be fine."

"Is going to be? Do we need to call her aunt? A doctor? Who is that lady in there with her?"

"Tony, don't worry about it."

"Happy said something was wrong with her...that's twice in a row he'd said that to me, you know? Is something going on?" Miss Potts hesitated, and Penny was sure she was going to rat her out. She'd given the woman the barest of explanations. There was a boy that picked on her sometimes. Her aunt said the boy just liked her. He cut her hair. Miss Potts had not been even a little okay with all that, but that's when Fiona the hairstylist had shown up, escorted by Happy, and Miss Potts had left the room to deal with Mr. Stark.

"I'm taking care of it."

"Pep…"

"Tony, it's...it's girl stuff, okay?" Penny was sure that would make him drop it...Uncle Ben always had when her aunt had said those two magic words, but Mr. Stark was like a dog with a bone.

"Girl stuff? What? Like...boys? Is she sick? Is someone bothering her? Give me something, Pepper. Happy said she was crying in his back seat. Penny Parker doesn't cry in the back seat of Happy's car for nothing."

Miss Potts dropped her voice. "Why don't you ask her the next time she comes, okay? She asked me not to tell you, and I promised I wouldn't."

"She asked you...not to tell me?" He asked, almost incredulous. "What, she doesn't trust me? Whatever it is, I can fix it…"

"I know." Miss Potts soothed again. "And I'm sure she knows too. She's just upset right now. So why don't you go work downstairs, and I'll make sure she gets home okay. Maybe you can pick her up from school this week...she might talk to you about it then. Okay?" And, miraculously, that worked. Mr. Stark muttered something about teenagers and girls and gray hair, but he left, and she heard him take the elevator down to the lab.

True to her words, Miss Potts gave her dinner when Penny's hair was done, assuring her that it looked great, even though it was shorter than Penny had ever worn it, and then drove her home herself, ignoring Penny when the girl assured her that she could just take the bus or something. When they pulled up outside her building, Miss Potts turned to her, elbow propped up on the back of the front seat. "I want you to tell me if that boy bothers you again." Miss Potts told her softly, her voice serious.

"He's not...it's not a big deal. Really. He just…"

"He put his hands on you. He cut your hair off. That's a big deal, Penny. That can be considered assault." Penny stared down at her lap.

"I can deal with it. Don't worry about it, Miss Potts."

"I am worried about it. And I want you to tell me or Tony if he bothers you anymore. Okay?"

"Okay." She lied, and then made her way up to her apartment.

Surprisingly, convincing Aunt May that she'd just wanted a change wasn't too hard, and the school hadn't contacted her or anything, so she was all clear on that front. She spent most of the weekend as Spidergirl or with MJ who didn't ask her anything about her hair, only told her that Flash had been suspended for three days.

It was a glorious three days. But suspensions end and Flash came back on Thursday to lots of homework, irritated teachers, and cheers from his friends who applauded his hilarious bullying techniques. Penny kept away from him as best she could until lunch when he reached out as he walked by, a hand ready to knock her lunch tray out of her hands. With a speed she wouldn't have been able to achieve before her spider bite, she jerked it out of his way.

As she stared him right in the eye, she remembered Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries and one of the most badass women she'd ever met. "You ever touch me again, I'll break your nose you asshole." With that, she left him standing alone in the cafeteria amongst quiet, impressed 'ooohs' from the students standing nearby.

"Nice hair, Penis!" He called, and she held up her middle finger over her shoulder, feeling powerful for once when he didn't say anything else.

Calculus was their last class of the day, and somehow he managed to get a seat behind her again. Beside her on her right, Ned gave him a dirty look, but there wasn't much Ned could do. But Penny was ready. Her hands shook with how badly she wanted to punch him. She knew she would get in trouble. She knew the consequences would be bad. But man...punching him would feel so good. And of course, Flash couldn't resist.

At first, it was his foot kicking the back of her chair. She tolerated it for a few minutes, then turned a little in her seat. "Stop." She told him, voice hard, and for a little while, he did. Then a spitball hit the back of her neck. She ignored that. He hadn't touched her. In the end, it was kind of a little thing that set her off. His fingers grabbing the back of her bra, pulling back, and letting it snap against her back.

She turned so fast she doubted he could even see her. Her fist swung, perfectly painted pink nails (courtesy of MJ) biting into her palm, and she relished the feel of his nose crunching under her knuckles, his head swinging to the side as he was thrown out of his seat and onto the floor, blood immediately gushing from his nostrils.

The room filled with laughter and gasps just like when he'd cut her hair...only this time, they were pointing at Flash curled up on the floor, his eyes huge as he stared up at Penny. "Told you." She snapped.

"Miss Parker! Principal's office! Now!" Her teacher all but screamed, her horrified voice breaking Penny out of her triumph. Grabbing her stuff, she cursed herself for the tears building up behind her eyes, slamming the door on her way out and storming into the principal's office. It wasn't like she regretted it...hell, she wanted to hit him again. Kick him. Make him regret ever laying a hand on her. But her teachers wouldn't see it that way, of course.

"Take a seat, Miss Parker." His secretary, an older man without any hair, gestured toward a row of chairs, and she curled up in the one by the wall, hating the tears that dripped from her eyes. The secretary was talking to someone, possibly on the phone, but all she could focus on were the tears falling down her face and the unfairness of it all. He'd been tormenting her for years! And the one time she fought back, her teachers were going to...what? Expel her? Call in May? May was going to be so mad! And Mr. Stark! He'd find out and then he'd really take her suit away! He'd never trust her again if he knew she'd lost her temper over a school bully. Putting her hands over her face, she felt her heart race as she sobbed for what felt like a long time, unable to focus on anything that secretary was saying. And then the door was opening and closing, and someone was sitting beside her. Figuring it was her Aunt May, she kept her face in her hands until a large, warm hand rested on her back, and she realized that it wasn't her aunt.

"Penny?" Mr. Stark's quiet voice reminded her that May had added him as an emergency contact right after she'd found out about Spidergirl. Of course her aunt would be unavailable on the one day she punched another student in the face. "What happened, kid?"

"I'll tell you what happened! That crazy bitch punched me in the face for no reason!" Something inside her snapped, and she jumped to her feet, realizing that Flash was standing in the adjoining doorway to the nurse's office.

"I'll show you 'crazy bitch' you fucking asshole!" She screamed, knowing she sounded unhinged and not caring as she lunged for him. But before the secretary could even get up, a firm hand wrapped around her wrist, and she froze. Mr. Stark wasn't stronger than her, but there was no way she could lose control of her temper like that in front of Iron Man.

"Yeah, how about we don't do that." He spoke dryly, not quite amused but not as angry as she expected either. "Who are you?"

"Flash." The boy muttered, apparently realizing for the first time exactly who he was speaking to. He stared up at her mentor with wide eyes and a slack jaw.

"Flash? Your parents named you Flash?" Flash opened his mouth to answer, but Mr. Stark waved him off. "Yeah, don't really care. You," he pointed at Flash. "Sit down in here. We're gonna use that room." Tugging on her wrist, he led her into the nurse's office, which, thankfully, was empty other than Flash. Her tormentor walked by, opening his mouth, but Mr. Stark held out a hand. "Don't talk to her. She already broke your nose and I'm inclined to believe you deserved it." Mr. Stark shut the door in his face before he could say anything else, then pushed her toward the couch. "Sit." He ordered, dropping into the nurse's rolling chair and rolling himself up to her, a sight that might have made her laugh another day.

She started to wipe her face, but she was still crying, hands still shaking, so she just stared at her hands clasped in her lap. Mr. Stark leaned in, a hand resting on her knee. "Look at me, kiddo." He ordered, voice soft, and she lifted hesitant eyes to his. "Deep breaths. You're okay." She shook her head, but he reached out, a hand on the side of her face. "Hey. Stop. You're okay. I'm sure that little asshole deserved it...but don't say that in front of your aunt. Now, tell me what happened."

"I punched him in the face."

"Yeah, I got that. Broke his nose and everything." He gave her a faint smile. "How about you tell me why?" She hesitated for a long time, trying to avoid his gaze, but he squeezed her knee. "Come on, Pen. I'm not going to be mad."

"You're gonna think…" He waited, just as patient as he'd been when he'd been teaching her how to rebuild a car engine. "I don't deserve to be a superhero if…"

"Nope." He cut her off, holding up a hand. "I'm not going to think anything and you have 100% earned your place as a superhero. So tell me what happened. Does this have anything to do with the other night? With Pepper?" She nodded, not seeing a way out of it. "Okay. Why don't you start there?"

"He won't leave me alone." She whispered it, hating herself for giving in so easily. But she couldn't lie to his face, now when it would be so easy to find out the truth. "He's always making fun of me and running into me and making me drop my books and tripping me…" Mr. Stark's face shifted, the encouraging openness giving way to disbelief and irritation. "The teachers don't do anything and everyone just laughs...I told him to leave me alone and I got in trouble for threatening him. And a couple of days ago he was sitting behind me and he cut off my hair…"

"He cut…" Mr. Stark stopped himself, lips in a thin, bloodless line. "The lady Pepper called...that was a hairdresser?" She nodded. "Right. Okay." He bit out. "We'll come back to that." He gestured for her to go on.

"He got suspended but he came back today...I told him to leave me alone or I'd break his nose." She admitted, staring down at the floor instead of his face. "Then, in our last class...he was throwing spitballs and kicking my chair and then…" Her face heated up a little. "He snapped my bra and I punched him in the face." She finished in a rush.

Mr. Stark nodded, not speaking for a moment, then stood. "Yeah, okay." He kept nodded, jaw tight as he stepped into the waiting room for principal's office. The principal, Flash, and a man that must have been Flash's dad, all stood together in a loose circle before turning to Mr. Stark.

"Mr. Stark. Thank you so much for joining us. I'd like to speak to you…"

"Yeah, here's what's going to happen." Mr. Stark rubbed his hands together, pointing with his pointer fingers. "The typical suspension for first-time offenders is three days, so you can suspend her until Thursday. Am I correct in assuming that you are Flash's father?" The principal blinked and the man standing beside Flash nodded.

"Yes, and that girl…"

"Hup up up...I'm not done." He held up a hand. "If your son touches that girl again, I'm going to have him charged with sexual assault and I will file a restraining order against him. Do you understand?" Flash blinked, apparently in shock, and his father's expression was eerily similar. "Good. I will also be filing a complaint against this school. He has been harassing her for months and nothing has been done about it. I donated a lot of money to this place, and as you can imagine, it is a little unsettling to learn that my intern has been made to feel unsafe while attending school here." He turned and pointed at the principal. "Principal Morita, correct?" The man nodded. "I want something done about this before she comes back to school Thursday. I do not want him in any of her classes or any of the nerd clubs she attends. What are you down to, kid? Just Academic Decathlon, or do you still build robots with other nerds?"

"Just Academic Decathlon." She told him, fighting a smile at the dumbfounded looks on the faces of the other occupants of the room.

"Yeah, I want him off that. Detention would be nice, but optional. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." Principal Morita nodded, ignoring Flash's stuttering father. Penny figured he didn't see any point in arguing with Tony Stark. She didn't blame him. Tony Stark usually got whatever he wanted, and if he couldn't, he called in Pepper Potts.

"Now wait just a minute." The man with his hand on Flash's shoulder spoke up.

"Now if you'll excuse us, I have a meeting with the President and Miss Parker should really be getting a jump start on that suspension." Mr. Stark spoke over him. "And Flash, I happen to be pretty close to Iron Man. The next time you bother my kid, you might be answering to him."

Penny followed Mr. Stark out the door and into the hallway, the two of them walking in silence until they reached his car. He held the door open for her, waiting for her to crawl in, then let it shut and slipped into the driver's seat. She kept her hands in her lap, eyes downcast, and it was silent until they came to a red light where her mouth opened of its own volition, words spilling out. "Sir, I know I shouldn't have lost my temper like that and I know I shouldn't have hit him and I'm really sorry they bothered you for this but he wouldn't leave me alone…" She froze when Mr. Stark cut her off, making a loud buzzer noise with his mouth. "Wha…"

"Wrong."

"Mr. Stark…"

"No one bothered me. You're not a bother. Ever. You should have lost your temper and you should have hit him. He assaulted you. You were perfectly within your rights to defend yourself. Heck, if anything you should have hit him harder. Also, we're going to have a chat about lying to me."

"I didn't…"

"Oh, so you really did sprain your wrist while webbing your way through our city as Spidergirl despite the fact that Karen didn't alert me of any injuries while in the suit."

"How…"

"I knew you were lying when you said it, kiddo. I just thought you'd come clean eventually."

"Mr. Stark…"

He held up a hand. "I'm not mad, kiddo. You're not in trouble. Well, not with me. I can't do anything about May. I don't think we'll be able to cover this up, but I guess we could try...another internship convention?" He mulled it over for a second, and Penny managed a smile. "We can figure that out later. What bothers me is the fact that didn't think you could come to me with this." She dropped her eyes to the floorboards and he was quiet until they came to another red light, turning in his seat to face her. "Look, you're...you're not just my intern, okay? Pepper and me...you're…" His uncharacteristic stammering would have amused her any other time, but at the moment, all she could feel was a knot in her stomach. "You're not just my intern." He finished, hitting the gas as they sped toward the compound.

"I just didn't want to disappoint you again." She admitted in a murmur, not missing the way he stiffened. To her surprise, he pulled off at the next fast food place, putting the car in park before turning all the way around in his seat to face her. She glanced up, then immediately dropped her eyes again at his expression.

He took a couple of deep breaths, drumming his fingers on his leg, opening his mouth to speak then closing it several times. Whatever he was working up to, she figured she'd let him do so in silence, so she waited, hands clasped tight in her lap. "You..." He cut himself off, sighing before trying again. "Spidergirl has never disappointed me. Ever. Whatever mistakes she has made, I know she made them while attempting to do the right thing." Her eyes got hot again but she blinked the tears back, still not looking at him until a hand moved under her chin, pulling her face up. "Penny Parker has never disappointed me either. And defending yourself against someone who was hurting you is not something that could ever disappoint me."

"But...I'm a lot stronger than him and…"

"That doesn't give him the right to try and hurt you." He was quiet for another moment, dropping his hand and drumming his fingers on his leg once more. "You can always come to me...Spidergirl or Penny Parker. Always. Even if you've screwed the pooch. Again." That coaxed a small smile from her. "I might be mad for a little while, but I'm always going to be glad that you came to me for help when you needed it. Okay?" She nodded, biting down on her lip and wiping irritably at her eyes. He clapped his hands, nodding briskly. "Okay. Good. Glad we got that figured out. Let's head to the compound and call hot Aunt May. Oh, and get ice cream on the way. Or donuts."

"Ice cream…?"

"Yeah! You punched an asshole in the nose today. That deserves a reward."

"I thought you had a meeting with the president."

"Yeah, I lied about that. So, ice cream or donuts?" She managed a smile to meet his, shrugging a little.

"Both?"

He pointed a finger at her. "I like the way you think. Both it is."

Thanks for reading!