Gotham's Spider

26

Today is the day of the gala, and Penny couldn't be more nervous/excited. All night and this morning her stomach was in knots. When she woke up, she ate breakfast silently, which everyone noticed, and quickly went up to her room. She spent a while in there looking up what she can do for make-up (with the little make-up she has), and what she can do for her hair. Damien ended up being the one to help her finalize the decision. With her lace/lilac knee length dress and silver heels, she's going to put her hair up into a braid crown, and do a more natural look with her (very) small collection of make-up. 

She had taken a shower, for one, so she could smell great, and two, so it was easier to put her hair into the braid crown. When she was all dressed, and looked at herself in the mirror, it was like she was looking at a completely different person. She had never been so dressed up before, so it was strange to see herself so... fancy.

So when Bruce knocked on her door, telling her that the gala was starting, she had been staring at herself in the mirror. Snapped out of her staring, her nerves bubbled intensely in her stomach. Shaking her head and body, she took a moment for herself... deep breaths... Once she was all set, she walked to her door and opened it. What she saw made her smile. Bruce, and all the boys are waiting in the hallway for her, and they all have some shade of purple for their tie. Obviously this was because of her, and she couldn't help but smile. Bruce and the boys, as soon as she opened the door were shocked at what they saw. Penny looks absolutely gorgeous and grown up.

After a moment of staring they all stuttered out something similar to, "You look pretty."

A blush formed on Penny's face. She hadn't been so dressed up before, so she'd never really gotten so many complements like that before. And because they're coming from her family, it makes her very happy.

... 

When Penny had first gotten to the gala, she had been in awe. Wayne manor was decorated to the t. She barely recognized the place, and it had taken her almost ten minutes to look at the beautifully decorated room fully. After she had admired the room, she admired the people that were coming in. Everyone looks amazing. But because she doesn't know anyone, she stood with Damien and Jason. Dick and Tim were in the crowd socializing, and Jason and Damien weren't. of course the trio were happily talking, and occasionally Dick, Tim, or Bruce came over with someone to introduce, so it wasn't like they were complete hermits. 

Penny had to have met a million people by now. From Bruce's friends she had met, Clark Kent, Diana Prince (amazingly beautiful), John Jones, Oliver Queen, Dinah Lance, Arthur Curry (smells like the ocean), and Barry Allen (huge nerd). Penny had come to the conclusion that all of Bruce's friends are members of the Justice League, and it didn't take her long to figure out who was who. The League members who had met Penny had to admit that they really like her. She's super sweet, very nice, and very smart. Barry and her probably nerded out over some new science paper that was released for almost ten minutes before they were interrupted.  Penny had also met a ton of the boy's friends. Barbra Gordon, Conner Kent, Megan Morse, Artemis Crock, Wally West (annoying), Kalder'ahm (also smells like the ocean), and Roy Harper. Like Bruce's friends, it didn't take her long to figure out that the boy's friends (or acquaintances in Damien's case) are the Young Justice League. It also helped that they stayed at the manor, and half of them look the same, but whatever.  

Not only did Penny talk, but she also danced. She only danced with Dick and Bruce though. She had insisted she not dance after she had stepped on Dick and Bruce's feet so many times. She may have super reflexes but that does not mean she can dance. Jason, Tim, and Damien were a bit sad when she said she wasn't going to dance anymore, but would later on be happy when they saw the bruises she left from stepping or kicking Dick and Bruce. 

... 

Eventually Penny found her way over to the buffet table. She couldn't understand why she stayed away from it for so long, but she had, so she had to make up for lost time. She had taken a very big plate, and to stop anyone from judging her, she crawled under a table unnoticed. of course the table had a table cloth that went down to the floor, so no one could see her. It would totally defeat the purpose of not getting judged if people could see her eating under a table. 

Once she was under the table, all the stress from the party disappeared. She hadn't realized there had been so much, or she would have disappeared along time ago. 

Penny probably spent a good ten minutes happily eating alone under the table before she had gotten a text from Bruce asking where she was. Of course she answered honestly, telling him she was eating under a table. Bruce wouldn't admit this, but he had laughed aloud when he read her text. Then it was only a good five minutes before Bruce crawled under the table to join her. Again no one noticed. 

Penny smiles at him, "Cookie?"

Bruce smiles and shakes his head no, "So, why are you eating under this table?"

"I wanted to be alone to eat. Not only because I don't want some stranger judging me for eating a great amount of food, but also because I had no idea who stressed out I was around so many people until I was under here. I'm not used to this amount of people, so I just need a bit of alone time."

Bruce nods once more, "I understand... When I was a kid and went to my first gala, I ended up hiding in the bathroom for three hours."

Penny laughs at this, which in turn makes Bruce laugh. 

... 

Bruce and Penny ended up talking and laughing for ten minutes before they decided it was best for the pair to rejoin the party. But Penny really wished they hadn't. 

Herself, Bruce, and the boys ended up getting together, which was was two things happened. the first thing that happened was Penny told all of them that either tonight or tomorrow when it's just them, that they really need to talk. It's her intention to tell them about her powers, and the fact that she knows their secret identity, so she just told them that she has something super duper important to tell them, and that she needs to tell them soon. 

Of course this perked the interest of all of them, and they really want to find out what this super duper important thing about Penny could be. I mean they already know she's got a boyfriend.

The second thing that happened, was nothing related to her revelation about a secret, or boyfriends, or even the gala itself. What happened was the lights went out, and when they came back on the whole room was surrounded by thugs in clown masks, and on the stairs with a very big gun pointed at the crowd, was the Joker.