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Henry wiped the sweat off of his forehead and sat against the wall of the training room. Things had been awfully slow lately with no real threats to HQ or the world, so he spent most of his time honing his fighting skills, preparing himself for whenever the next one hit.
Noting the vibrating phone in his pocket, he glanced at the number on the screen. It was no one in his contacts, but the number looked vaguely familiar... he swiped the "accept" button and held it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Guess who has two thumbs and just got out of prison?" A young man’s voice came from the other side. "This guy."
"Talon?”
Henry hadn’t realized how deep his voice had gotten until he realized his nemesis on the other side couldn’t recognize him. “Oh, my bad. Do I have the wrong number? I thought I was calling Penny Gadget.”
At first Henry didn’t know how to respond. He was technically Penny Gadget for the first fifteen years of his life, but how was he going to explain to Talon, whom he hadn’t spoken to in well over two years, who he was now? “Oh, um, I know… knew Penny Gadget.”
"Great. Can you tell me where to contact her?”
“She’s um… not around anymore.”
”What do you mean? Did she transfer or something like that?”
”… I guess you could say that.”
"All right, well, if there’s a way to get in touch with her, is there a way she can meet me at the Metro Cafe sometime today? I haven’t had a decent cup of coffee since she threw me in jail, and… it’d be really nice to catch up with her.”
Henry glanced at the clock on the wall. He could meet Talon there, but what would his reaction be when he saw the new him?
“Actually, she… can’t meet you.”
“You’re being awfully ominous, man. Did something happen to her?”
Damn it. He felt like he couldn’t just tell him how he changed. He’d probably think he was some random crazy gay guy just saying that to get in his pants. “I’ll tell you what: my name is Henry and I’m an HQ agent. If you’re willing to meet me at the Metro Cafe in an hour, I can tell you where she went.”
”Oh, uh… sure? I guess?”
”Just look for the blonde guy in the blue flannel jacket.”
”Okay. Blonde guy, blue flannel jacket. Got it. See you there.”
Talon couldn’t help but worry the whole time he was off the phone. Whoever this guy was he wasn’t telling him anything about Penny or where she went… or worse, what might’ve happened to her. But! Only because as her arch-nemesis, he was the one who was supposed to take her out! How humiliating would it be if some other villain got to her first?
Yeah, sure, man. Keep telling yourself that.
"We'll call your name when your order is ready," Talon heard the barista say when he walked into the coffee shop.
"Thanks.” There was the guy: blonde hair, blue flannel jacket. But he looked really familiar.
Talon approached him: “hey, are you Hen-“
Time froze as blue eyes met brown. There was no doubt that the other was the person they had come here for. Talon had known his nemesis would’ve changed after three years, but this much?!
The iconic pigtails were gone, his blonde hair now more akin to a fluffy mop, and the slight curves of the figure Penny used to have were hidden under baggy clothes. He’d definitely gotten taller, about as tall as he was, now.
“Penny…?”
Henry managed a smile, though his pale cheeks were starting to turn red. “Hey, Talon. It’s… Henry, now.”
Talon just stood there, jaw dropped. It definitely looked like the transformation came as a shock to him. Henry braced himself for whatever came next. He knew he couldn’t avoid this moment forever. Henry looked down at the ground. Would Talon freak out? Storm off? He used to think he could read him like a book but he ran this scenario over in his head a thousand different times before today. There was just no telling how someone would react when you came out until you did.
Talon choked back a sob. “God-DAMMIT!”
In none of these scenarios Henry had pictured, did it ever involve Talon wrapping his arms so tight around him that it nearly knocked the air out of him.
”You had me thinking you were dead!”
Finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, Henry returned the hug. Tighter than he himself would’ve thought he would, but it really was good to see Talon again, and that he wasn’t in fact transphobic or something.
Thankfully, Talon did let go so Henry could breathe again.
”I’ll go find us a table,” Henry said. “You go order your coffee and I’ll meet you there.”
"Iced coffee? In February?” Henry questioned.
"I didn't want to wait for it to cool down," Talon said, mixing some of the sweetener in at the top. He let out a satisfied hum as he took a sip. "Mm! That is so good. You have no idea.”
“Yeah, I bet.”
”So,” Talon set his coffee down. “Why ‘Henry’?”
”Oh, we’re, getting right into it, huh? It was, just a name that I liked.”
”I mean, we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
Henry’s finger circled the lid of his cup. “It’s okay. I kinda want to.”
”All right. How long have you known you were a guy?”
Henry took a sip of his coffee. “Roughly two years ago? I never liked my feminine curves or the way breasts felt on my chest. At first I tried to hide them with baggier clothes, but that wasn’t enough, so I tried a binder. I guess somewhere in there I had my hair cut. The whole thing was kinda clumsy. I started HRT last year and got a mastectomy six months ago.”
”For what it’s worth, you’re looking good. Congrats on the transition.”
”Thanks, you really think so?”
”Takes a handsome guy to know one, am I right?”
Henry snort-laughed at that, making Talon laugh too.
”The way your face is turning bright red, I can’t.”
“Ah, jeez, is it really?”
”Blame your pale complexion.” After a moment of letting their laughter settle down, Talon spoke up again. “Is this why we haven’t talked in two years?”
”Yeah… yeah it’s a lot of it. I guess… coming out is a scary thing. You never know who’s going to take it well and who isn’t.”
”Statistics have never been my strong suit, but I’m guessing at least thirty percent of M.A.D.’s minions are somewhere in the alphabet soup. It’s not like the concept is anything new to me.”
”Really? Why so many?”
”If I had to take a guess, it’s usually middle-aged or older gay people who weren’t welcomed by society at the time. Or, I think before I was arrested I’ve seen a couple of runaway teens working in the lower ranks like the M.A.D. nursery. I guess they just feel more at home among the other outcasts.”
”… That’s unfortunate.”
”It is, but, what’re you gonna do? How did your uncle take it?”
"Pretty well. He’s been really supportive. He does sometimes call me ‘Penny’ out of habit, but I think that’s just forgetfulness, not malice. I try not to let it bother me.”
They sat for a moment in quiet. Talon’s gaze was on his cup, but he looked like he was staring off into some kind of space.
”… What’cha thinking about?”
Talon came out of his daze and back to the table. “Huh? Oh, just thinking of a new nickname for you, since I can’t call you ‘Pretty Penny’ anymore.” He smirked, leaning back in his chair. “How does ‘Handsome Henry’ sound?”
”So, we’re still going to have that weird sexual tension, huh? This -“ Henry gestured to himself, “-doesn’t change anything?”
“You know, I considered myself a straight dude before today. Before I saw you. It’s never really crossed my mind if I’d be gay for you if you were a guy.” Talon paused. “I mean, that’s not really an ‘if’ anymo- you know what I mean.”
Henry leaned forward. “Would you, then?”
Talon hesitated to respond at first, He took a slow, thoughtful sip of his iced mocha and set it back down again. “… Permission to get sappy? Totally off-the-record and not a word to anyone we know?”
”Sure.”
”I like you for you, Hen. If this is who you are, I’ll take you as you come, labels be damned.”
Henry smiled. “I don’t think that’s sappy. I think that’s sweet. And I’m really glad to hear you say that.”
Talon had a blush of his own pooling in his cheeks. “But, um, don’t tell anyone I hugged you and cried, okay? It’d totally ruin my villain cred.”
”’Villain cred’?” Henry raised an eyebrow. “So you’re still going back to work for Old Man Claw, huh?”
“Yeah, well, I don’t have a lot of choice right now. I need a job and somewhere to stay, and that’s just what happens to be convenient right now.”
”That’s disappointing. I was hoping after three years in jail you’d finally learn your lesson.”
”And I was hoping three years without me means you’d learn you don’t have much of a job when I’m gone.”
”… Touché.” Henry shrugged. “On the other hand, I’ve been wondering if the testosterone supplements would give me any edge in handing your ass to you. Oh, and don’t think just because we admitted we like each other means that I’ll go easy on you.”
Talon grinned. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”