Work Text:
Penny's leg shook rhythmically as she nervously tapped her foot on the floor, her knee occasionally bumping against the workbench. She had been staring at the same math problem for the past ten minutes, and it really should not have taken her that long to complete it. Briefly she realized that she should get to work or she would be looking suspicious. But her mind was elsewhere.
Today was the day she would come out to Tony. Today she was going to tell him that she was a trans girl.
The first person that she had told had of course been Ned, her best friend. At that point, she was questioning, confused about the very concept of gender and honestly, shocked that she didn't have to be a boy. And maybe she never had been a boy. Ned was incredibly helpful and seemed to know quite a bit about the subject, and Penny learned it was because Ned's older brother was trans.
Then she had told MJ, or well, it was more like MJ just learned about her identity one day. The trio had been eating lunch together and Ned had casually called her 'Penny'. Despite Penny's initial terror of losing her friend, MJ just smiled and from then on called her by her name. Her real name. And the correct pronouns! Penny never felt so relieved and glad to have such kind friends.
It had been three months since she had come out to Ned and MJ and since then, she became more and more confident that this was who she was. She had been steadily growing out her hair and currently, the mass of curls were in an awkward in-between state, not quite a bob yet but more like she had been living in the wild for too long and forgotten what scissors looked like. Well, whatever, she would get there.
Sometimes she wondered if she could just subtly hint at her gender identity, instead of outright tell Tony. Maybe he already knew? She had been trying vocal training and wearing more baggy, brightly colored hoodies and sweaters(They were to keep the dysphoria at bay. Sometimes she felt much too angular and not curvy enough, so large clothes always helped with that.), but she doubted Tony would have caught on to that. If he had, he definitely would have said something by now.
Penny tried to refocus, to get back into reality, and she realized that she had been absentmindedly doodling on the side of her paper. She erased it and tried to bring her attention back onto the problem, but it was the fear that stopped her.
She couldn't help but worry about how Tony would react. He always seemed to be very open minded to that sort of thing, but then again, parents always acted very differently when it was their own child that was coming out. Penny didn't want to lose a third father figure, not when they both had just figured out that that's what Tony was to her.
"Pete?" She tried not to flinch too hard at the sound of her deadname. It wasn't Tony's fault; he didn't know. "You okay?"
Before she could help herself, Penny nodded down at her paper and then mustered up the courage to look up and lie to him. "Yeah, I'm good. Just struggling a little with this problem."
Tony narrowed his eyes and glanced down at Penny's still nervously shaking leg. She willed it to still to a stop. He looked back up with a raised eyebrow. "Kid, you said that your class was just going over the basics of trigonometry. It should've taken you ten minutes. Tops. C'mon, what's bothering you?"
"Really, it's nothing." Maybe she should just tell him another rime. She's way too nervous for this.
"Pete, if you don't tell me what's wrong, I can't help you." There it was again. She should be used to being called her deadname by now, but from Tony, it always stung more. "Did you get hurt on patrol?"
"No, I'm fine." Penny was starting to feel cornered and pressured, the feeling causing any of her motivation to tell him, to dissipate. Not to mention that she was just not in the mood to hear that name anymore. Tony always used nicknames, why couldn't he just use them now? She stood up and quickly shoved her school supplies into her bag, and slung it over her shoulder. "May wanted me home early so I'm gonna head out now."
"Hey, wait-"
"Please, it's nothing."
"Peter!"
Before she could even think to stop herself, Penny was spinning around in frustration, her heart absolutely aching. "Stop calling me that! My name is Penny!"
Oh fuck.
That did not go how she planned.
She felt as though she just ran a marathon, as panic overtook her. Tony's eyebrows were bunched together and he looked so genuinely confused, opening and closing his mouth slowly.
Well, Penny had to tell him now. "Shit. I uh, I'm sorry for yelling at you, Mr. Stark. B-but it's true." She swallowed roughly and took a couple steps closer to him, twisting her hands together. "My name is Penny. I'm… I'm trans." The last part was whispered to the floor.
"What was that?" Tony's words were curious but gentle, as though he was afraid to say something wrong.
Penny shuffled a bit closer until she was just five feet away. "I'm trans." She hardly waited a second before fear gripped her heart and she rambled out, "A-a trans girl. I go by Penny and use she/her pronouns. I've known for a couple months now and I was planning on telling you today anyway but I chickened out and now I am actually telling you so I guess it worked out. Um."
Throughout her whole spiel, Tony was giving her his full attention with a warm smile overtaking his face. Penny flushed, not used to anyone actually paying attention to her ramblings but then again, Tony always did. "Come sit, kiddo." He patted the stool next to his.
Penny sat and fiddled with the sleeves of her yellow hoodie, her gaze drifting up to meet Tony's and then settling back down at her hands. After a moment, she felt a comforting hand settle on her shoulder. "Thank you for telling me." She looked up, her eyes wide. "You could've just ran out that door, but instead you explained it to me. Shit, I- I'm sorry I was deadnaming you like crazy a second ago."
Penny reached her hand up to her shoulder to clasp his. "No, it's fine! You had no clue; that wasn't your fault."
Tony chuckled, softly rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. "So, Penny, huh? That's a cute name."
Penny absolutely beamed. "Really? You think so?"
Her mentor nodded. "You know, I've always wanted a daughter."
Unable to help herself, tears sprung to Penny's eyes and she choked on a sob before launching herself into Tony's arms. Immediately she was held firmly and a gentle hand was combing through her curls. Penny finally let it all out, overjoyed that everything worked out. She hadn't lost Tony, not even close. He was already so immensely supportive and she couldn't ask for a better response.
A moment later, there was a rumbling through her chest and she realized Tony was murmuring something. "What?" She mumbled, somehow already drowsy.
Tony laughed silently, squeezing her tighter as he repeated himself. "Have you told May?"
Shoot. Of course he would be wondering, considering how devoted he and May were when it came to co-parenting her. "Um…" She pulled back and pressed her lips together. "No. But I do plan to tell her! It's just… she's known me for so long now, and I know it will probably be a surprise for her. I guess I'm just a bit nervous."
"That makes sense." Tony nodded and looked as though he was considering something. "Would you like my help?"
"No, thanks. I should do it myself." She took a deep breath. "Yeah, I will."
Tony scooched his stool closer and slung an arm around her shoulders, drawing her into his side. "Hey, don't feel pressured to rush it if you aren't ready. Do whatever feels right."
Penny nodded, and leaned her head against Tony's chest, the position familiar and comforting. A silence settled over the two as Tony began to continue working on his project. The panic had left the girl feeling tired, so she hardly paid any attention to what he was doing. There sure were a lot of holograms though.
"Mr. Stark?" She whispered, not wanting to break the calm silence.
Tony hummed in acknowledgment.
"Do you think I could change my superhero name to Spider-woman?"
Penny looked up to see Tony grinning down at her. He pressed a quick kiss to her curls. "I think that'd be a great idea, Pen."