Work Text:
Penny Parker couldn't help but stare in awe at the people - superheroes!! - in front of her.
She was in a room with the Avengers. And Tony Stark!!! Her role model - the reason (well, some of them) why she is the hero she is today.
And his intern was particularly attractive...it was kinda distracting if she was being honest. She couldn't let that get to her though because the last thing she needed was the Bugle portraying her as a pedophile. The world thought she was a male web-slinging menace in her early to mid-twenties and she wanted it to stay like that thank you very much!! The last thing she needed was for the paparazzi getting pictures of her drooling over Stark's seventeen-year-old intern!
It was also hard to concentrate because she had Fury breathing down her neck.
He was listening in through an earpiece to make sure she didn't screw anything up. They also upgraded her suit. It was made out of prototype nanobots (Bullet and fireproof. Fancy) and less sweatpants like she was previously wearing before they came pounding at her door. It also came with a males voice that suspiciously sounded like a young Leonardo DiCaprio to help her hide her identity even further. Not that she was complaining because the man was gorgeous even in his mid-40's. Plus, her voice was pretty high so it made sense that they wanted to disguise her voice. She couldn't before because she didn't have the technology.
Penny couldn't complain though because the suit was awesome.
They even upgraded her web-shooters so they had different web functions (electrocution, grenade, bullets, rain, etc etc.) and she had a heater (because Spiders didn't thermoregulate so neither did she) and parachute in case she fell from swinging or ran out of webs.
Her suit still had the classic obnoxious fire engine red and bold Super-Man blue that she adored. Let's not forget the extremely detailed spider on the front and back that also had hidden pockets and a bullet proof vest hidden inside. She was all set. Penny could basically live in the suit. Maybe she could convince Fury to add a portable toilet or snack pack. Penny cringed slightly. Maybe not the toilet; that's kinda gross. Definitely the snack pack though for her advanced metabolism.
Poor May had to add more to her grocery list because of Penny's appetite. She could eat through a loaf of bread in one sitting if she wasn't paying attention.
Anyways. She looked up quickly when someone stood in front of her trying to get her attention. Oops.
"Kid - you still with us? We're about to head out for the mission." Hawkeye was talking to her of all people. Ohmyogodhessohandsomeinperson!!!!
This really wasn't fair. She didn't even want to get started on how gorgeous the Black-freaking-Widow was.
Penny blinked and nodded, "Y-Yeah, sorry. Got a little too into it," She joked and Hawkeye smirked before motioning for her to follow to the Quinjet.
Crap. She almost forgot about the mission. That was the reason why she was here in the first place!
Fury wanted her to observe and stay on the sidelines to see if she was compatible enough to join the team. He wanted her to help with only the small missions in case the Avengers needed reliable back up for future battles. She didn't really understand why he thought a fifteen-year-old superhero who just started high school could be reliable back up for the Avengers, but she definitely wasn't going to question the man.
Fury was someone you didn't want to piss off. He was probably one of the most dangerous people on the planet. He could make her disappear by just blinking if he wanted to. Penny liked to live thank you very much.
Anywho. Mission.
They were going to Berlin because there was word that there was some alien tech hidden away at some warehouses. Suspicious men and all that jazz. She hoped it wasn't Homecoming all over again. Even though Fury helped her out with the suit she didn't appreciate having a building dropped on her after they took away her suit for "misconducted use" even though she was trying to stop a raid on a ship in the middle of the gosh darn ocean!
Whatever. Everything worked out and it was all sunshine and rainbows. (Not really but a girl can dream, okay?)
Penny followed Clint (they all wanted her to call them by their first names and it was so strange but kinda welcoming) onto the Quinjet and sat in her own little secluded pair of seats in the back away from everybody. She didn't want to intrude too much and overstay her welcome.
She was lucky enough they even agreed to allow her on the mission. A complete stranger to them.
Penny was grateful though because she was learning from the people she looked up to her entire life. She couldn't ask for much else.
They were being friendly so she would give them space to reach out to her if they really wanted to get to know her. Penny didn't want to step on any toes by being annoying or asking too many questions. The last person she wanted to piss off was her role model Tony Stark, the Hulk, Widow, or Thor. Who she had a small crush on since she was a kid. It really wasn't fair how pretty he was or how nice and flowing his hair was.
Penny kept her curly hair short for more convenience. The long hair got stuck in her suit quite often when she first became Spider-Man. She feared it would lead to more dangerous situations if she was on patrol. It would be incredibly embarrassing and tragic if Spider-Man died because she couldn't see from a piece of hair that got stuck in her eye! So - it only made sense to cut it all off.
Like, boy short. Mask hair was a thing; though, she'd rather deal with that more than a bullet in her leg!
May had been surprised when she asked to get it chopped off. Penny always had long, curly auburn brown hair since she could remember. She often kept it in a side braid or pony tale. When May asked why she wanted to get it cut she just said she was starting a new trend or a "new chapter" in her life. New year, new me; whatever that saying was. May shrugged and sent her off to the barber for a $10 haircut.
Michelle loved it and Ned didn't care. Flash also called her a lesbian boy and Penis Parker now but he was the least of her problems.
Speaking of May.
Fury had her tell May she got an internship at the Avengers Compound for high school credit so she could get into a good college. It got her away for a few days. They weren't sure how long the mission could take and if Spider-Man was really was going to be in the Avengers she had to have a good excuse for her to get away from home and school if she needed to go on another long term mission.
It was also believable because Stark recently started taking interns. Like the pretty Southern boy intern from Tennessee that was constantly around Stark like a lost puppy. Fury said that the kid helped him out a few years ago so he moved him up to New York for the internship to help him out.
Harley Keener was his name. He seventeen, technically a senior but now home-schooled by a tutor Stark hired for him, and was the absolute definition of a bad boy.
Harley had curly dirty blonde hair that was slicked back with hair gel, pierced ears, nose ring, leather jacket, ripped black skinny jeans. The accent was cute too. Not to mention his gorgeous cerulean blue eyes. Penny nearly passed out when they made eye contact when she first walked into the room. Well, he didn't know they made eye contact through her mask but she knew and that was all that mattered.
The only downsides were her identity and he was also two years older than her. She just turned fifteen and he was seventeen (she may or may not have stalked him on Facebook on the Quinjet). May would never allow it. She wasn't allowed to even date until she was seventeen.
Rude.
Maybe if Penny could sneak a picture of Harley and send it to May she would understand.
Penny quickly discarded that thought, though. She was no stalker. She could keep her cool around attractive people despite what MJ says.
No, that was creepy. She wanted Harley to like her - not be afraid of her. To him, she was some twenty-something-year-old who swung around Queens, New York in a spandex suit beating up criminals. There was no way he would see her any differently. Although he did seem to be a fan because when she walked in the room she saw him perk up a bit at her presence. Cool, cool. No big deal.
Footsteps startled Penny out of her thoughts and before she could even breathe, Tony-freaking-Stark was casually sitting next to her like it was the most normal thing on the planet ohmygodhesmelledreallygoodandhewashandsometoowhat!!!
Penny was fed up with all of these attractive superheroes and interns! There was only so much a hormonal fifteen-year-old could take!
"So, do those webs come out of you or?" Mr. Stark asked and Penny blanked. Anything she was thinking previously was gone out the window because what?! Of course they didn't - okay maybe he wasn't far off. Some mutants out there could actually spit webs from their mouth. Gross.
"N-No, um. It's an original formula I created." Penny stuttered nervously and Mr. Stark (she refused to call someone so powerful by their first name. the others (save Captain America because she wasn't a heathen) she didn't have problem calling by their name like Clint, Wanda, Sam, etc. etc. because they seemed a little more human. Tony Stark was someone you just didn't casually call by their first name.) looked impressed. HolyshitsheimpressedTonyStarkNedwasgoingtofreakout!!
"Really? Interesting. Care to share?" Mr. Stark responded with what appeared to be genuine interest and before she knew it they were talking about quantum physics, biochemistry, and theories about the multiverse existing. She was a firm believer but Mr. Stark thought it was all bullshit despite Gods, aliens, and witchcraft being real. He said time travel and dimension travel seemed too good to be true.
Before she knew it the eight hour flight had passed and they arrived to their destination. Mr. Stark patted her on the should with a silent good luck and left to get suited up. A sudden thought suddenly crossed Penny's mind that shook her too her core.
What if she really did fuck up the mission? What if she wasn't good enough yet?
Shit.