Where I almost get impaled by Tony Stark with needless needles and find out why the Quinjets are called Quinjets

-

"Hold still!" Tony demanded.

Penny sighed. Didn't he understand that that was the one thing you couldn't ask of a descendant of Pietro Maximoff?

She focused on not moving.

Keep still keep still keep still... she repeated over and over in her head. She found her leg tapping out the rhythm of her thoughts, but that didn't matter.

Out of the corner of her sight she could see the needle approaching, and was tempted to run.

Keep still keep still keep still...

Why did she have to get Tony? Diana was lucky — she had Joanna doing her tests. Daniel had Bruce. Anything would be better than Tony Stark.

Keep still keep still keep,—

She cut off the rhythmic chant as she felt a sharp jab in her shoulder, and fought the urge to stop time and run. 

Keepstillkeepstillkeepstill...

Somehow, she had managed to overpower her instinctive defense mechanisms. Oh no wait — she had stopped time with that annoying needle in her upper arm. With a sigh she forced time to continue, and then it was over.

"There," Tony grinned, holding up the syringe in satisfaction, "that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"It was absolute torture," Penny corrected bluntly, "can I go now?"

"Go ahead," Tony dimissed her, his attention already on other things.

Penny walked out of Tony's lab, rubbing her arm.

"How did it go?" Pietro enquired.

"Horrible," Penny grimaced, "my instincts stopped time with that stupid needle halfway through my arm."

"I had noticed," Pietro stated.

Penny realized that, unaffected by her time stopping as he was, he'd obviously 'notice'.

"Before I came here," Penny began, "did you notice my time stopping often?"

Pietro nodded as they began to walk down the passage.

"As often as you stopped time, which was fairly... frequent. I spoke to Wanda about it, but there was not much we could do. Then a few days ago, you stopped time, and I was nearby. I saw you."

"At the orphanage?"

Pietro nodded again, stepping into the elevator.

"Stark sent Coulson to pick you up because we were busy, and here you are."

It took considerable effort for Penny to wrap her mind around the fact that all this had happened only a few days ago.

"Wait for me!" Daniel shouted, dashing into the elevator.

"Is anyone else coming?" Penny enquired, semi-sarcastically.

Daniel shook his head, missing the sarcasm entirely.

"Except maybe Bruce. And Joanna. And Diana."

Pietro pressed the button labelled 1 with an impatient sigh.

"They will just have to use the stairs."

"Why didn't you?" Daniel enquired.

"Because we wanted to needlessly annoy everyone," Penny finished off.

School had been disbanded, although Joanna still studied and anyone who wanted to was free to join her. But the majority of them was more than glad to have some time off.

They stepped out of the elevator at the first floor and Penny made her way to the kitchen, while Pietro headed to the TV room. The Star Wars theme resounded through the passages, and Daniel dashed after Pietro while Penny slowly walked in the opposite direction.

There was nobody in the kitchen, which was understandable. It was 11:30 AM, and most of the inhabitants of the ADAPT base were probably watching Star Wars.

Penny slipped outside through the back door, her eyes searching for Rocky. When she couldn't find him, she concluded that he was inside, probably in the TV room too, or otherwise training.

Torpedo bounced circles around her excitedly, and Penny tried in vain to keep him from jumping all over her. She tried to find a place to hide from the jolly Border Collie, and her glance rested for a moment on the orchard.

For safety reasons that did not at all involve the presence of chickens, she decided against it. Instead she sought refuge in an oak tree, leaving Torpedo torpedoing around the trunk.

In between the oakleaves she was extremely well-hidden, but she still had a spectacular view of the meadows, the orchard, and the base. She saw Rocky emerge from the back door, and Torpedo immediately turned his attention to the wild-haired boy.

"PENNY?" Rocky shouted, "are you here?"

Penny stopped time, slipping adroitly out of the tree and moving to stand behind him before allowing time to resume.

"What?" She demanded, and Rocky jumped.

"Oh," was all he managed to say when he turned around, and Penny grinned.

"Well?"

"Sarah and I are taking Torpedo for a walk with Sam," he found his voice again, "do you want to come?"

Penny glanced at the energetic dog.

"Sure!" She decided, "Torpedo could defintely use something to drain his energy."

"Great! Sam is getting the leash and Sarah is putting on shoes. We'll meet them by the front door."

"Where is the front door?" Penny asked. Even though she felt like she'd lived in the ADAPT base for weeks already, small things like these proved that she'd only been there for less than a handful of days.

Rocky pointed back through the kitchen.

"It's that way, follow me."

-

When they got back from their exhausting walk, the only one who wasn't tired at all was Torpedo. Even Penny panted a little as they were greeted by Bucky, who had a concerned look on his face.

"There you are, Sam," Bucky began, "there's been an emergency distress call that Steve thinks could be related to the Infinity Stones business. We're trying to leave as soon as possible."

Sam frowned.

"But you only just got back!" Rocky protested.

"Sorry Rocky," Bucky excused himself, putting his (metal) arm on Rocky's shoulder, "but this is urgent."

Sam gave Sarah a quick hug.

"Good luck Dad," she whispered, "be careful."

"What's the distress call about?" Penny asked. Her exhaustion was forgotten — she wanted to find Pietro as quickly as possible, but her curiosity had overpowered her.

"I'm not sure, the Science Duo have the details," Bucky answered, referring to Tony and Bruce, "but it has to be bad, because we're taking Pepper, Edward, Mark, Joanna, Wolf and Simon with us. Even Cooper, Nathaniel and Sylivia are joining in."

"Wait, so who's in charge?" Rocky enquired, doing the math and coming to the conclusion that Diana was the oldest person staying behind, "Please don't tell me that Diana..."

But Bucky shook his head.

"No. Don't ask me why, but..."

He trailed off, before finishing uncertainly.

"They're leaving Loki."

-

While Rocky was trying to decide who he'd prefer in charge between Diana and Loki, Penny had slipped away to find Pietro. She still automatically refrained from using her superspeed, and this time she didn't stop time either, because then if he was in an elevator or on the third floor she wouldn't be able to find him.

Pietro was at the hangar, waiting, impatient as always, for the others.

"If this mission is so important," he was muttering to himself, "then why don't they move a little faster?"

"Not everyone is as fast as you, Quick," Penny answered, an amused smile on her face.

"Ah, Penny," he grinned as he noticed her, "it was a... how do you say... rhetorical question."

Penny nodded.

"I thought so."

In the silence that followed, Penny tried to figure out what to say. But what do you say to the adoptive father you've known for barely twelve hours, even though it already feels like forever, if he's about to leave on a top-secret mission for who-knows how long?

'Goodbye Dad' somehow seemed insufficient.

"You still owe me a prank," Penny reminded him eventually.

"We will do this prank when we get back, agreed?" 

"You'd better not forget it," Penny warned.

"I will not," Pietro promised.

Both of them glanced at the entrance to the hangar.

"What is taking these heroes so long?" Pietro mumbled.

"Not everyone is as fast as you, brother," Wanda reminded him as she walked in, Chelsea on her heels. The young Maximoffs exchanged a smile, before Penny turned to Wanda.

"What are they even doing?"

"Mostly suiting up," Wanda answered, glancing backwards automatically, "and perhaps Stark is doing some basic repairs on Sam's wings. He probably didn't think we'd need them again so soon."

Joanna and Bruce entered the hangar, followed by Steve and Simon.

"Who is still missing?" Steve informed.

"The Starks," Pietro replied, "Sam, the Romanoffs, the Rhodeses. And Pepper, if she's coming."

"She is," Wanda knew, "although she's not too keen on leaving Nutmeg behind in the hands of a master of mischief. And then don't forget Cooper, Nathaniel and Sylivia, but I assume we collect them elsewhere?"

"Clint has already left to fetch them," Bruce pointed to an open space in the hangar.

"Ah, how could I forget the old man?" Pietro asked himself out loud.

"He's not the only one you forgot," Vision noted, standing in the dooropening (for once).

"I forgot you on purpose," Pietro growled, "I like to pretend that you do not exist."

That earned him a steely glare from his sister, who moved to put a hand on Vision's shoulder. Pietro tried, and failed, to ignore it.

"I didn't mean myself," Vision continued as if the exchange between brother and sister had never happened, "I meant Mr Barnes, and of course Thor."

"Do I hear my name?" Thor bellowed down the passage, and if Loki was there he would've cringed.

"Duck," Pietro mumbled to himself as he eyed the swinging hammer with caution.

Thor was followed by Wolf, Natasha, Bucky and Rocky.

"Should we get into the jet so long?" Steve suggested, but Wanda shook her head.

"Sam has the keys to the Quinjet."

"Why is it called a Quinjet anyway?" Penny enquired out of nowhere.

Bruce shrugged when several people turned to him.

"Don't look at me, I'm not the one who named it."

"Maybe the person who named it was a Harley-Quinn fan?" Rocky suggested.

"'In the comics, the Quinjet was originally an Avengers-exclusive vehicle designed by Black Panther. It got his name from the 5 jet thrusters that gave it propulsion,'" Vision quoted, "at least, that's what is says on Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki."

"Or that," Rocky gave in.

Then, 'finally', Mark, James, Tony, Edward, and Sam came in.

"Last second repairs," Sam explained, confirming Wanda's theory, and Pietro rolled his eyes in impatience.

"Clint will join us in Manhattan," Natasha stated, "let's move."

They started boarding the Quinjet just as Sarah, Diana and the twins burst in, followed at a slower pace by Loki.

"You have to wait for Pepper!" Sarah yelled, making use of the moment to give Sam another last hug.

Pepper entered moments later with Nutmeg attatched to her leg. Daniel was trying to get her off, but eventually it was Diana who succeeded, handing her to Loki.

"Don't go mommy!" Little Nutmeg begged.

Pepper gave Nutmeg a kiss on the top of her head.

"I'll be back soon, Meg. Be good!"

With that she climbed into the jet before Nutmeg could wrestle herself out of Loki's grasp.

"I take it Pepper doesn't go on missions much?" Penny whispered to Chelsea.

"Not since Nutmeg arrived," Chelsea confirmed, "she's been here since she was tiny, so everyone is extremely attatched to her."

"And sometimes she's quite literally attatched to Pepper," Penny grinned.

Chelsea smiled.

"Yes, that's true. Technically Nutmeg is a Stark, but so is Pepper, so they called her Potts because of her red hair."

"Wait, so are Tony and Pepper officially married?" Penny asked.

Chelsea's reply was lost to the roar of the (five) engines of the Quinjet, so instead she nodded in answer to Penny's question.

They waved as the Quinjet took off into the air, the vault above sliding open to let it through, and closing again behind them.

"So?" Loki began, carefully detatching Nutmeg from his leg, "whose stuff do we go through first?"