#butonlyaflashback

[alexandrinav0605]

Talking to Strangers

Multi-Chapter 2/? LINK TO AO3

We learn more about Penny’s past and actual home life. Another group meeting and Penny gives Steve a piece of her mind.

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TW: Implications of Rape at the end of the chapter.

English is not my first language, therefore, I'm not from US and I do not know how the foster system works, as well as group therapy

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The walk from the therapy place to the Sullivans’ house was short, shorter than Penny would want. Although they weren’t as bad as Skip and the Preachy couple, those were very low standards to go by. Mr. Sullivan basically ignored her while Mrs. Sullivan just talked to her to hand her the chore list and on her first day to explain the rules. She didn’t like them, but to be honest she liked no one.

The thought sink deep, she misses Ned and MJ. The three of them along with Peter were inseparable before May’s dead, before having to move around the city, jumping from one foster house to another. She didn’t miss a single grown-up. She had stopped trusting adults a long time ago; the only adults she once trusted were either six feet under ground or made something to harm her. Ned and MJ told them, Penny and Peter, to trust their social worker, because she was in charge of them and was the one that would take care of them. Surprise, she care about nothing besides her paycheck.

She tried to clear her head, even if the Sullivans hadn’t made a move to touch her, in anyway, she still tried not mad something to made them angry. Besides what Penny wanted for people to see, she still was scare. Scare of her foster parents, scare of finding Skip or the Preachys, more so that her foster parents turn out to be like Skip or the Preachys. If someone ask her what would be preferable, she will say neither, but she knew that was impossible; another Mr. and Mrs. Preachy would be better. Not only because she was terrified of even thinking about her time with Skip, but also because this time the Peter in the equation will be a Penny. Entering the household, she said a quit good evening before going to her room. There weren’t any other children on the house, so she got a room for herself. She left her things, hiding her brother’s ashes under a tab. A month after Peter’s dead, her social worker has come in and began searching for the ashes, tired of Penny carrying around; she didn’t find nothing because Penny already hide it constantly. Now she was very careful not to let them alone and had them with her at all time. She also wasn’t shy to tell them how they took her brother from her and now they want to take his ashes, the only consolation she has left.

She went down to the kitchen, one of the infinite list of chores was to make breakfast, when needed, lunch and dinner. She try to do everything without annoying anyone, she was already on thin ice, and pissing her foster parents won’t do anything to help her.

Looking up to the living room, where Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan were, she wondered what bad she had done in another life to deserve this. At first, she hadn’t believed in bad luck, or any luck at all, but now, there was no other logical explanation for her awful life, in her opinion, everything had gone downside the moment her family left London, her beloved Great Britain and arrived at the United States. They should have never boarded that plane. She tried to concentrate on the food and not in the What If’s. They would change anything, what is done is done. What would change anything was if she were stupid enough to burn the food.

Next Wednesday was awful. First, her school tormentor, Flash, decided it was good to make fun of her the most today of all day, as if therapy wasn’t enough. His teasing was mostly innocent, mostly about her accent and her dead parents, which was a long time ago, so it was relatively okay, and her accent was something she was used to as she moved to New York at five and her accent has never decrease. Today was different, today Peter was the main source and Perter was still a delicate spot for her. Flash knew Peter, but the details of his death were left for her to be tell and she wasn’t about to do it, not to him. So school was hell, and her day was about to get worst.

When she arrived at the therapy building, she entered immediately, finding the Avengers already seated. She took her own sit between Black Widow and Iron Man. Tyler was nowhere to be find and the tension could be felt in the air.

Obviously, it had to be Captain Righteous who had to speak about the vents of last week.

“Listing, kid.” If this was an apology, this wasn’t a good beginning. “I know it was wrong f me to judge you the other day, but you had to understand that you were really good to the mediator the other day.” Now that was the worst apology she had ever received, note that she had receive a very bad one about putting her with a murderer and a rapist before.

As it turns out, his team members also thought that wasn’t the best apology. “Really, Steve?” And that was Natasha Romanoff.

Tony Stark decided to make the next remark. “Hate it to break it for you, Capsicle, but just because you put the word sorry in a sentence doesn’t mean that will be an apology.”

“Let me get something clear, Captain Righteous.” Penny sometimes wonders why she can’t keep her mouth close. “The other day you made a mistake of judging me without knowing what I had been through, now you know that my last foster parent, Mr. Preachy, abused me and my brother to the point where he kill my brother, throwing him to the wall, after hitting him repeatedly and then continue to hit him even though he was already dead.” Now, Penny didn’t cry, but her voice broke at the end. “If I decided to be rude, as you say, to Tyler that is because he was the person that certificated that asshole to be a foster parent and as you can hear he was a shitty foster parent. He fail to protect me more than once.” Rogers was just looking at her. “You know shit about me, you know nothing about what has happened to me and what made me hate people. I don’t treat social workers bad just because I want to, I treat social workers bad because some of them just want to place kids on fosters homes so they can receive a commission without caring about the child in question. So, you can go and put that apology down your ass because I don’t want it until you learn how to deliver a proper one.” Barton, Rogers, and Banner looked shook, Romanoff looked neutral, while the others just had an amused face at Rogers misfortune. “Let me give you a piece of advice, don’t judge people you don’t know or even better don’t judge people without knowing if they have a past that mad them the type of person they are.” The last part was a full hate scream, she had enough people judging her that knew what happened, the last thing she needs was to people to judge her without even knowing. “I don’t need to ask forgiveness for being the person I have become when the people that made possible for me to turn into this never ask me for it.” She look at Steve Rogers straight in the eyes and the man just shiver under her gaze. That girl was terrifying.

He wanted to say something, but before he could, Tyler came in. Tyler being the idiot he was, didn’t notice the tension that could be feel in the room, and continue to introduce the session topic. Penny didn’t participate in today’s activity; she was tired and simply ignore Tyler when he ask her to participate. He let it go, probably to not make a scene like last week. Although she acted like she didn’t pay attention, she did notice the Avengers looking at her, especially Captain Rogers. She hoped they didn’t try to approach her.

Tony Stark wasn’t someone you could impress easily, but when he saw that little girl that seemed like a breeze could destroy her, shouting at Steve, he really was impressed. With honestly, he thought Steve deserved it, after the incident of last session the others try to convince him to apologies and they thought they had succeeded, but they didn’t. Steve’s apology was crap, and he deserved to be put on his place. He wasn’t just impressed by this girl; he was also curious. Penny obviously had a dark past that she try to put behind. Her dead brother was something, the fact that somehow, she had ended in the foster system was another thing, but in between all those things she said to Rogers, she did say this Tyler guy fail her more than once. One time was obviously him placing her and her brother with those foster parents, but the others? Where the other foster parents that hurt her? He didn’t think she had other siblings that die. It could be anything, abuse, neglection or without having to go very far, the girl deserved loving parents, not some decent one, good ones. He would like to think that, that the guy’s mistake was just placing her with decent parents and not good ones, not that it was okay, but seeing this girls history and how much she flinched when she thought no one was looking, Tony thinks that he would be making a right assumption when saying the worst had happened. You name it, punches, starvation, rape? As he said it could be anything.

Contrary to his nature, he decided not to search the girl´s history. That was what therapy was about, right? Maybe at one moment she would open up and if he made any signal that he already knew whatever had happened, she would trust any of them. He knows Penny would notice; he had met the girl in 2 occasions, and he notice she was as observant as Natasha. Another sign of an abuse child.

Finally, the session had ended. He hated those; he was only there because it was required by the government so they could be a team again. He notice the girl didn’t make a move to participate and she also ignore Tyler when he tried to make her say something, so when they were out and Steve started to walk towards her, he tried to stop him. To no one’s surprise Capsicle didn’t care.

Penny lift her eyes from her phone, when Steve was in front on her, eyeing him suspiciously and taking a few steps back. Tony suppressed a flinch, another sign of an abuse child, rejection of nearness.

He began talking before she could go away. “Penny, I just wanted to say how sorry I am. You are right, I don’t know you or what you’ve been through. I’m sorry I judge you, your actions and attitude. It was something unfair from me.” She looked unfazed. Steve let out and sigh and looked at her with an ashamed expression. “Just wanted you to know that I’m really sorry.”

He began walking towards the Avengers when Penny talked. “Thanks.” She look at Steve at the eyes and then she walked away from them, the acceptance to Steve’s apology clear.

Natasha move to stand next to Steve. “That went well.” Then Sam decided to make an apparition. “Can we just talk how terrifying that girl is? Like, man, can she be intimidating if she wants to.”

Tony was the next in the line of let’s tease Cap. “Spangles, that girl looked like she could be carried by a breeze and yet she managed to shut your mouth. I don’t think any of us ever managed to do that.”

Steve just look around, not amuse, and say under his breath. “Yeah, yeah, I get it.” And with that all of them began walking to the car. Tony had the feeling this girl will shake their lives.

Penny woke up to the familiar weight over her, Skip was here. She tried to suppress her whimpers, so he didn’t know she was awake; he made her participate when she notice she was, and she already felt dirty enough as it was. Peter had died 3 moths ago, and it was in days like today that she missed him the most. He would have done something; he wouldn’t paralyzed like she did. If that weren’t true at least she would have a companion.

“C’mon Einstein, I know you’re awake” His voice made her have nausea. She wondered how she was so stupid to trust him.

She began sobbing, begging for him to stop. Aunt May always told her and Peter that if they didn’t like something, they had to tell them to stop; she was doing that, why wasn’t Skip stopping? She wanted Peter, her Aunt, Uncle, and her parents. She wanted to be happy again. She wanted to go back to London where she knew the foster System was better. She wanted to go back in time to when her parents were alive and so was Peter. At least, she begged in her mind, let me have Peter with me.

As Skip continue doing what he was doing, she look at him through the tears in her eyes. No, Skip wouldn’t stop because of Peter, he would probably do the same that he was doing to her. She couldn’t be that selfish, Peter was dead, murder by the hands of a monster. The only lucky thing was that he didn’t met a worst monster. She would get over it, she would rise, and this will be just a bump. She will get over this, she always did.