Mutants & Masterminds: The Indigo Children - [Fiction] Not Alone [Complete]

[z-Penny Mann]

Penny woke up the morning after meeting the mutants with a migraine. She hadn't had them since she was a child, but this morning, they were back with a vengeance. With a moan, she rolled over and pulled her pillow over her head.

"Penny? Honey, it's noon," her father said as he tapped on her door. "Your mom's going to be here to pick you up soon."

"I have a migraine," Penny said, only it come out as "ahave amrgph."

"Pumpkin?" Robert had opened the door enough to see her; she peered out from under the dark safety of the pillow.

"Kill me," she whispered before pinching the pillow back shut.

"Oh, hon. Is it a migraine?" Penny nodded, moving the pillow so that it nodded, too. "Ok. Did you pack your medicine?" Penny mumbled a negative. "Then I'll make sure Leslie brings some when she comes."

"Thank you, Dad," Penny said, managing to make it mostly comprehensible.

It wasn't until after she'd been taken to her mom's home and given her medication time to work that she was able to see or even function. She got a shower and was blowing her hair dry when Megan, her mom's wife, came to the door. "Penny, hon, you have a phone call."

"Thanks," she said, giving her step-mom a smile despite the fact that she wished that her father in the door. Heck, she wished that they were in his brownstone in the Village rather than this West Side condo. But there was nothing she could do about that, she reflected as she took the portable handset from Megan. "Hey."

"Hey, you," Randy's familiar voice said over the line.

"Hi," Penny said. "Why didn't you call me on my cell?"

"Mike's been trying all night," Randy said. "Goes to voice mail."

Penny dug out her phone and started to blush. "Oh, I uh... turned it off."

Randy laughed. "Well, I guess that's why. Hey, Mike and I are at his place. Wanna come over?"

"Sure," Penny said, after a moment of hesitation. She didn't like going over to Mike's condo. His father made her very uncomfortable. But after last night, she needed to be around her friends. "Let me finish getting dressed and get the car out of the garage."

"Hurry up," Randy added, after Mike's voice said something in the background. "We've already ordered the pie, and if it gets here before you, we're not waiting."

"And god knows that you pigs will eat it all," Penny laughed. "I'll hurry."

She dressed and grabbed her bag. As she walked through the living room, her mom looked up from the news and asked, "Where are you going, honey?"

"Mike's," Penny said, pulling on her jacket.

"Don't be too late," Leslie said, turning back to the news. "You have school tomorrow."

Penny took the elevator down to the garage and got her car. It was a really nice car, but she only drove it when she was at her mom's. Parking in The Village was something you avoided when you could. She drove the five minutes to Mike's, parked in one of the visitor spots in his garage and took his elevator up. Other than the color of the paint and carpets, it was just like her moms' condo. It was a little creepy.

She knocked on the door to Mike's, smiling when she saw his mom. "Hi, Mrs. Knox," she said, smiling at her. She liked Mike's mom, a tall, elegant woman. Tonight, she was dressed really nicely, and it occurred to Penny that she might be going out.

"Hello, Penny," she said, frowning while trying to smile. "I didn't know you were coming over."

"Relax, Meredith," a gruff voice said behind her. "Randy's here, it's not like she and Mike will be making him sit while they screw or something."

"Hi, Mr. Knox," Penny said, a bit tightly. James Knox looked more like Randy's father, tall and thickly built. His salt and pepper hair was still full and he moved like a man ten years younger.

"Penny. The little lady and I are going out, so you kids be good, right?" James said, giving her a warm smile.

"Of course," Penny said quickly, eager to end this conversation. She slipped past them and headed for Mike's room. Heaving a sigh of relief as she slipped into his room, she was pleased to see Mike and Randy slouched in chairs, playing video games.

"Hey, Pen," Mike said, getting up and giving her a kiss. Penny accepted eagerly; she really liked kissing Mike. They were interrupted when Randy put a foot in her back and gently pushed. "Mann. Yer in my way. Can't see the zombies I'm supposed ta be killin'."

"So sorry that kissing my boyfriend gets in the way of you fake-killing little pixels on the TV," Penny grumped as she moved, pulling up a bean bag chair and putting it next to Mike's chair. Mike plugged in another controller, and she joined their game.

Three hours and two and a half pizzas later, Penny was done. "Ugh," she said, tossing down her controller as yet another zombie grappled her avatar and tore open her skull. "I suck." She glanced at the clock. "And I need to get going."

"Mann... you have got to stop leaving yourself open," Randy said, his face tense with concentration. "Were I not a gentleman, I would be making all kinds of jokes right now."

"You aren't a gentleman," Mike said, cutting down a zombie with two quick flicks of his thumbs.

"Hmm, you're right," Randy said, blowing away a bomber zombie before it got close enough to explode. "Everyone gets one."

"This one is going home," Penny said, leaning over her boyfriend. "Can I get a kiss?"

"Uh huh," he said, turning his head to the side without taking his eyes off the screen. Unlike earlier, he gave her a quick, non-committal kiss. Slightly irritated, Penny grabbed her stuff.

"Mann, can I get a ride?" Randy called, breaking through her self-absorbed bad mood.

"What? C'mon, if you go, who'll be my wingman, Randy?" Mike protested. "We have a duty to kill zombies!"

"Sure," Penny said, despite the fact that it would mean a trip out to Brooklyn. "I can take you out there."

"I see you dodged my banter," Randy chuckled, dropping his controller and giving his avatar over to the zombie horde. "Well-played, Mann." They left Mike cursing at his solo status.

When they got to the car, Penny remembered that she hadn't said anything about the strange animals. Suddenly nervous, she didn't say anything until they were headed south on FDR Drive. "Hey, Randy?"

"Yeah?" he asked. Biting her lip, she glanced at him in the dark car. He raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, Penny, just spit it out."

"Have you ever seen anything odd in the city?" she blurted.

Randy broke out in laughter, a guffaw that filled the sports car. "Penny, Jesus, we live in New York. We're known for weird here. I mean, you half-live in the Village, the Grand Central of weird."

"Weird animals," Penny pressed on, even as he cheeks turned red.

Randy didn't laugh this time. "No, I almost never see animals, though I guess that means seeing one is seeing somethin' weird." She saw him tilt his head. "Why?"

"Because I saw something really weird, and I... I need help." Penny drew in a deep breath and told him the story. They were on Atlantic Avenue before it over.

"Holy shit, Penny," Randy said after a moment of silence. "Are you serious?" She glanced at him, just in time to see him run his hands through his hair, mussing the black mass.

"Totally. Here." She dug into her bag and pulled out the copy of the newspaper. "The ones I met aren't responsible for that, but they all think it is something like them doing it. Worse, whoever is grabbing them up knows I'm involved. I can't walk away." She stopped at a red light and turned to look at him. "But I don't think I can manage without some help. That's why I told you."

"Why not tell Mike?" he asked quietly.

Penny finished her turn onto Randy's street before answering. "I just forgot to say anything there. It just seems so unreal, sometimes."

"Don't tell him," Randy said suddenly. When Penny frowned, he said, "He won't believe you. It'll just cause problems. Let's just keep this between you and me."

Penny swallowed, her voice tight with hope. "So you believe me?"

As she parked, his answer seemed to take forever. "Yeah. Unless I'm completely mistaken about you, you're not the kind to make stuff up."

Impulsively, she threw her arms around him, leaning over her center console. "Thanks, Randy," she murmured as he slowly hugged her back. "Hearing that... it means a lot."

Randy was quiet until she pulled back. "So when can I meet them?" he asked.

Penny grinned. "I'll talk to them. It should be cool. Thanks, Randy. Thanks so much."

Randy was half out of the car when he glanced back. "No prob, Mann. Can't let you go all Watership Downs alone. See ya at school tomorrow."

"Bye," Penny called, then watched until he was in his house. As she drove away, she felt better than she had in a while. She wasn't alone in this crazy situation.