A Chance of Talenny

Dilemma

"Oh, what do I do?"

Penny was groaning at her stupidity as she lay on the couch, regretting life decisions. She was the one who surrendered Talon to HQ, she was the one who turned his and her own life upside-down, she was the one who was going to be the downfall of her own crush!

Penny couldn't believe it. One moment she was wishing that something spectacular and exciting would happen in her drab life, and now she was hoping that everything could go back to normal. She only had a week to make a decision on whether she wanted to save Talon or not, before he gets taken away and she'll NEVER EVER SEE HIM AGAIN! He'll probably hate her forever if that happened. Even if she did decide to rescue him, she was going to have to pull a lot of strings and come up with the most brilliant plan ever! Penny's head throbbed with indecision. She was one of HQ's most talented and trusted agents, and her loyalty towards HQ was unquestionable, but now, she herself was beginning to question it. She couldn't betray the trust of Chief Quimby, Uncle Gadget, Kayla, and all her fellow agents! Yet again, she couldn't just give up her crush just like that!

Penny paced to and fro in the living room. She stopped when she spotted Talon's rocket boots by the door. She had kept it under confiscation to minimise any chance of Talon making a quick getaway. She picked them up, they were surprisingly pleasant-smelling, with the faint tinge of Talon's signature hair gel. Penny could recognise that hair gel anywhere. She spotted a few pieces of paper in a not-so-secret pocket sewed into the side of the left boot and she fished it out. They were slightly creased photographs. She flipped through them out of curiosity. The first was of Talon and his parents when he was younger, probably about nine or ten. Aww, he looked so adorable, Penny thought. He took after his father, and his father looked significantly less evil than Dr. Claw. He inherited his jet black hair from his mother, a lady with kind but sharp eyes that seemed to inspect your every move.

Penny took the second photograph, and it contained somebody whom she didn't recognise. It was a girl in a MAD uniform, and Penny flared up, jealousy bubbling in her veins, until she saw the name tag. Talia Claw. It looked like either his cousin, or his sister. Penny didn't know he had any relations other than his uncle and parents. She put it aside and moved on to the last photograph. It contained a familiar-looking blonde girl in a HQ outfit. It's me? Penny was confused. Why would Talon have a picture of her? Part of her wanted to smile wildly and jump around the room like an excited child, but the other part knew she had to maintain her composure if she wanted to make a rational decision that could affect her entire career. After a moment of willing herself to follow her mind and think logically, she relented to her heart instead. "Talon's gonna owe me big time."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With no window in his cell, Talon was miserably bored out of his mind. His wrists hurt, but the guard on duty who was pacing to and fro outside now had refused to take the cuffs off. It was pretty troublesome to have to eat and shower in them, but Talon had gotten pretty used to it after a few days. His neck was sore and he felt terrible. HQ's prison cells were actually nicer than the cramped bedroom Dr. Claw made him sleep in back at the lair, though. There was a decently comfortable bed with the occasional odd spring jutting out, and a wooden bench with a mirror hung above it in the corner. The meals served thrice  Talon stared at himself in the reflection and concluded that he looked horrible. I can't let Penny see me like this! he thought. Penny, the one who got me into this mess.

There was a beep at the door and a short man with a neatly-pressed suit walked in. He took a seat on the bench beside Talon and tapped on a device that reminded Talon of Penny's CodeX. His profile appeared on the screen. "Talon?" the man who came to be known as Professor Xavier asked. "Are you ready for today's session?"

"Yes," Talon grumbled. Why did HQ have to send this weirdo to interrogate me, couldn't they just get Penny to do it?

"Alright then, I will say a series of words, and you'll answer the first word you think of when I say a word," Professor Xavier said in the tone that dentists use right before they yank out your tooth.

"HQ."

"Penny."

"Evil."

"Me."

"Agent."

"Penny."

"Annoying."

"Kayla."

"Inspector Gadget."

"Weirdo."

"Penny."

"Girl who kicks my ass every time but who I still have a crush on."

Talon suddenly realised what he had said, but he didn't really care at this point. Besides, Penny wouldn't be listening to their conversation and Professor Xavier seemed like the kind of guy whom everyone hated by tolerated politely. Professor Xavier stared at him with some interest, but he broke off and concluded the session. "I see you haven't come around yet," he got up. "We'll try again tomorrow."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Talon has a crush on me?! Penny was totally freaking out right now in her room. She was feeling hysteria, happiness, and disbelief at the same time as she whirled around the room like a blonde tornado, nearly breaking a couple of things round the room. It had taken her over an hour to access HQ's security feed, but she had done it with the help of her tech knowledge and five mugs of black coffee. She had tuned in to the camera feed situated in Talon's cell, and Professor Xavier, whose crazy ravings and impolite attitude HQ had to tolerate, was interrogating him. She had turned up the volume and attentively listened to their entire conversation. Talon looks so good when his hair is down, she couldn't help thinking.\

Penny was 100% convinced now that she had to help Talon. She had spent the last night scribbling out plans and scouring HQ databases for resources. Her eyes felt like shutting, she had only manage to secure an hour of sleep last night. A stack of written plans lay on her table, and she had added a photograph of Talon's cell to that stack. Laying down on the bed, she finally fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of Talon and adventure and missions.