This story differs slightly from most of my other stories.
a) It's one of the longest stories I have posted here
b) It's more of story/tale than usual
The r rating is for violence, not really graphic and mostly referred to. NO graphic sex

The most colorful part of Professor Gray was her name. In dress and demeanor she was even grayer. No denying that she was brilliant. She was one of the foremost experts on Latin American politics. In particular about non-democratic transfer of power. As a result many students at our just below Ivy League university enrolled in her basic class. Every year after the first lecture some 30-40 % of the students changed class. You had to be committed to realize that what she droned on about was inherently interesting and insightful.

She always dressed in a gray pantsuit. Never a skirt. She never took off her jacket. Hair in a strict bun. A face that gave every sign of having lived too long and seen too much. I was shocked when I learned that she was only 37 years old. She never attended social gatherings unless forced to. Even then she wore her usual grey pantsuit. Or more precisely one of them. I had noticed that occasionally she wore a jacket where one button was missing. Otherwise it was exactly like the other (others?). Her office was devoid of any decoration except a copy of a homemade arbalest that had been important in the latest power shift in Majadesnuda, a Mesoamerican republic. You really had to be into Latin American studies to recognize that. I was.

I had been unable to find anything she appeared to find enjoyable. The one possible exception was commenting on our essays. Cutting to say the least. I can’t say I enjoyed her comments but I could also not deny that I learned more from then than from much of the course literature. After I had begun my master studies I had come to admire her. I can’t say I liked her. If anything I was feeling sorry for her.

Well, I was until the day the president of Majadesnuda visited our university. Due to my contacts in the department I learned that his granddaughter studied at the university though at another department. All kept very quiet for security reasons. President Ribera had been able to remain in power for over twenty years through mostly clean elections. That is after he was propelled to power after a popular uprising. Quite a story: from about to be publicly executed to president in an hour! That, and surviving at least six other assassination attempts had given him the nickname “The Cat”.

Sad to say there were not many people at the university who spoke fluent Spanish so I had been roped in to be part of the welcoming committee. The fact that I’m a quite beautiful young woman was not mentioned. On the Friday of the visit we were waiting at the entrance to the Political Science building as the President with all the entourage approached.

The President was only less 20 yards away when I heard a hissing sound and saw an arbalest bolt whizz past less than an inch from the President’s ear and smash into the head of the person behind him. A local professional interpreter I had met occasionally. More by reflex than thought I snapped around my head and saw Professor Gray calmly put her arbalest aside and disappear into her office. While I did that mayhem broke out so it took me a quarter of an hour before I could tell an agent what I had seen. A call went out to arrest Professor Gray. Sometimes you have the most bizarre reactions. The only thing I could think about was how this was going to affect my master!

Professor Gray was not to be found. Despite that the President insisted that the big dinner was going to go ahead that night anyway. The place was crawling with police from various agencies.

Suddenly there she was. I was stunned. Not by the fact that she seemed to have appeared out of thin air, I was used to that. No, the reason I was stunned was that she was wearing a ball gown. A stunningly beautiful ball gown that left her arms, neck and a substantial part of her chest uncovered. The multiple and quite nasty scars now visible was explanation enough for her usual dress. It took me some seconds to recover from that shock and then I got another. She was wearing the sash and Grand Star of the order of Sorolla, the highest decoration in Majadesnuda. Only given to a very select few heroes of the nation. And yes, the Grand Star was with banana leaves!

I was one of perhaps five people in the room, apart from the Majadesnuda delegation, that recognized the Grand Star of the order of Sorolla and definitely the only one to realize the importance of the banana leaves. The banana leaves signified that the recipient had received the order twice. No person alive should be entitled to wear it. The last person so honored was the boy who at 12 had shot the dictator General Murillo with an arbalest, just like the one in Professor Gray’s office, from a rooftop from a distance of 200 yards at an impossible angle to avoid the bulletproof glass screen raised to protect the dictator when attending the public execution of Ribera and the rest of the leadership of the supposedly crushed opposition. The spectacular explosion of the dictator’s head and the, amplified, shout of “The Dictator is dead. Rise against the tyranny!” made the crowd storm the stage and disarm the soldiers. Since General Murillo had made sure no one was in position to challenge his power the army was split between three different generals claiming to be the legitimate successor. Resistance to the popular revolt soon ended. The banana leaves were added when the same boy at sixteen kept revolting soldiers from reaching the president for the vital minutes for the presidential guard to react. Supposedly he received mortal wounds then. That was over twenty years ago and he had never been heard of since.

Those scars?! Professor Gray?! No, she couldn’t be that boy?!

Well, I didn’t have to remain in doubt for long. President Ribera shone up and ran towards her while waiving away the police etc.
(conversation in Spanish but rendered here in English translation)

“Peter! I hadn’t expected to see you ever again! So you are the famous and now infamous Professor Gray nowadays. I should have known!”

And then he proceeded to give the professor an excessive number of greeting kisses. While waiving away the police.

“Why did you leave like that? Without telling anyone, without leaving a message. You took only the Grand Star you are wearing, a few clothes, the emergency cash reserve and your arbalest. Was it the same one you saved my life with again? And how did you know that the interpreter was about to murder me?”

“I recognized him from school back in Majadesnuda. He was General Murillo’s nephew. Devoted to his uncle and a terrible bully. When I saw him I worried and prepared and then I glimpsed the knife …and yes, it’s the same arbalest The Greek made for me all these years ago. Do you think you could see that I get it back? I have a certain fondness for it. Also, I’m sorry for the million US dollars that I took from you.”

“Ah, the money isn’t important. We owe you so much more. What the point of being a part of the wealthy old aristocracy if you can’t make sure a friend, more than a friend, my savior, could get a starting capital even if I wasn’t aware of it until after the fact. No the one reason I’m mad at you is that you left without telling my daughter.”

At that point said daughter pushed her father aside and gave Professor Gray a kiss that was anything but a simple greeting kiss. Those aren’t lips to lips. Them breaking the kiss I was placing a wager with myself. Yeess! I won. Professor Stoneface Gray 1 emotion 0.

“Oh, Peter I’ve missed you so much”

“Dolores, you know why. We didn’t have any future together. I couldn’t stand to be near and yet so far from you. You wanted children. I couldn’t give you that.”

President Ribera: “We owed you so much. The unexpected rescue from being executed, foiling two coup attempts and delaying coronel Velázquez for those crucial fifteen minutes …”

“Actually, there were three coup attempts. Coronel José de Goya y Lucientes was about to take off in attack aircraft armed with rockets he had planned to blow up the bridge over the Ixion gorge when you passed. I discovered that too late to go through channels.”

“So he wasn’t killed by an outraged father?”

“Yes, it was rather fortunate that his sexual inclinations were so nasty that this was what everyone believed. Of course that meant I had to let his co-conspirators leave the country. On the other hand the colonel was the only one of importance. And remember, I failed to sniff out the Third of May. I FAILED!”

“But you saved me even then. Naked against three soldiers you stopped them for fifteen minutes. But why were you naked in my secretary’s office?”

I was shocked. Professor Gray BLUSHED!

“Oh, sorry for embarrassing you. I know very well what you and Dolores did. She told me. I still can’t believe that you succeeded in holding them off for fifteen minutes and thus saved me and Dolores” The President resumed.

“I held them off for TEN minutes. The next five I only screamed. It was certainly wasn’t MY decision to make Coronel Velázquez waste time castrating me. Let’s close this issue. Tell me all about why you are here”

“We are here to visit my grandson” started President Ribera but was interrupted by Dolores

“My DAUGHTER. She’s transgendered. You know that this is a bit complicated at home so we keep a low profile. She’s studying here.”

“Yes, Ángela Zurbarán, she’s using your mother’s surname, Physics student, GPA 3.8 more by hard work than brilliance according to Dr Xu, age 20, height 5’8”. I see her mother in her face every time I see her. Recent problems with her roommate since that girl discovered Ángela’s birth sex”.

“Yes, Ángela’s transition hasn’t been easy. I had expected she’d be more accepted here than at home. Funny thing, I always see her father when looking at Ángela.”

“I never could find out who he was. Who’s the lucky guy?”

“Believe it or not I only have had sex with one man. I only loved one man”

“But we had sex once …. We had sex once, but only once…”

“One time is all it takes, my love. Why did you have to leave? How did you become the woman you are?”

“I never knew. How could I have stayed, not knowing that you were pregnant and me castrated? As for being a woman. Well, I decided to complete what coronel Velázquez had started. I did have some practical help from the CIA. One – I was still a US citizen and Two – They were rather pleased that your father remained in power so they helped me starting a new life. Of course the money I took helped as well.”

Looking at them I realized that I had lost my wager after all. Professor Gray was crying! Dolores kissed her once again. Softly, tenderly.

“You know Peter, I’ve decided to move here to be near my daughter. We have lost twenty years but there are many years still to come. The next kiss was more passionate from both sides. HEY, what have you done with Professor Gray and who is this impostor!

Professor Gray looked around and saw me.

“Miss Turner, good you’re here. Tomorrow you will have a new room-mate.”

In my mind I saw myself entering my dorm room only to find my room-mate, whom I didn’t particularly like, dead on her bed. Professor Gray knew me only too well.

“Don’t be so melodramatic, Miss Turner. That rather stupid girl will only change rooms with Ángela. No killing necessary. No one will object. I will make sure of that. You will be a good role model for Ángela.”

“How did you know that I’m transgender? That information is nowhere in the university records!”

President Ribera laughed

“Do think that is a problem for someone who sniffed out two military plots before the age of sixteen?”

“Three plots, don’t forget Coronel José de Goya y Lucientes.” Dolores added.

All of a sudden Professor Gray was her old self again. Once again she had that icy, almost imperceptible smile that had discomforted me so often earlier and now, knowing what she was capable of doing, absolutely terrified me.

“Don’t forget that essay, Comparative Analysis of Coup Attempts in Central America in the 21th Century. It’s due by Monday morning at 8.”

I felt icy cold. Not ONLY from that smile. Cancel, cancel everything for the weekend!

Come Monday the whole Political Science Department was in a daze. First of all people found it hard to comprehend what had happened on Friday. Professor Gray had killed someone? She had used a medieval weapon? And she was NOT the villain?

The already dazed staff and student body was then completely bowled over when Professor Gray arrived in a skirt and a light blouse. Not really unsuitable for a professor but definitely something that accentuated a body that was rather attractive, once you got past the scars. The professor was radiant. She was in love. She was as brilliant as ever but now she was lively and captivating as well. You wouldn’t have been able to not be fascinated by her lecture even if you had tried.

Only a few weeks later Dolores and Laura (the Given, sorry, Taken name of Professor Gray) were married. On the bride’s side there was large crowd of family and various dignitaries from Majadesnuda (only a few disapproved and stayed away). The bride was led up the aisle by the proud president of Majadesnuda. On the other bride’s side there were less people. A few professors and the Chief Operating Officer of the CIA (stationed in Majadesnuda many years ago, some uninitiated people thought he had managed to sit on the wrong side of the central aisle).

I had had a brief relapse and reverted to being male. It took some effort I’ll tell you. I had donned the tailcoat and led the bride down the aisle. There were two lateral aisles that we used in the ceremony. The only problem with the wedding was that both brides insisted on having the same maid of honor, Ángela. Ángela decided that fight. She decided on – both. She moved back and forth. She really is an angel. She insisted that we don’t formalize our engagement until after I get my degree. We wouldn’t like to put the Professor in a position of conflict of interest would we?

And the essay? I got an A-.
The first A ever given by professor Gray.