Author's Note: A Retroactive Continuity, or Retcon if you will, is the altering of previously known facts in order for the universe to conform to new story lines. This is mine. The third in a series of stories, a followup to this universe is a retcon of Captain America in the Marvel Comics Universe. Marvel owns the character and all rights associated with him/her/it. The pic credit is attributed to DC Comics and its character Stargirl.

American Dream

She would have sixteen years old today, my baby girl, Casey.

My time in the Army had engrained the necessity of waking up at four in the morning to start my day. I spent the first two hours as I do every morning. Plucking any stray brow hairs, cleansing my face, applying unscented lotion to my body to keep my skin as smooth as possible even though I'd never pass for a girl in my lifetime. It was my own fault.

In my youth, I knew I was different and I knew why. I just didn't have the stones to tell anyone and decided to go whole hog in the other direction so as to deny myself the choice in the matter. After all, if I was overly masculine then I wouldn't want to dress up in girls clothes anymore. It made perfect sense at the time. Of course, I was an idiot back then. By the time I'd made it into the Army Ranger School, I realized what a mistake I had made. At that point I was six-three and two-hundred and twenty pounds, all lean hard muscle.

It was after my third tour that I decided to opt out for a fourth. Instead I joined the FBI. They recruited me straight out after they saw my service record, entered me into their HRT -- that's Hostage Rescue Team -- and I'd spent three years there before being called up for volunteers for a new program.

That's where I was going for my daughter's birthday. Casey was a victim of crib death, or SIDS. There was no explanation as to why she died: no suffocation, no virus, no infection, no abuse. My wife and I woke up one morning and she was dead, simple as that. Six months later, unable to reconcile between us what had happened, we divorced. I haven't seen or talked to her since.

It's one of the reasons I live in a single bedroom efficiency apartment and drive a three year old motorcycle. I just didn't care about frills. My only emotional release came in my occasional journey to the feminine side, usually in the form of nightclothes and the care of my body. It was something to waste time and take a mild amount of enjoyment from. I wasn't hardcore, meaning I didn't want to be a woman. Looking more like a woman wouldn't have been too bad, but I'd set that aside when I realized my chance of passing as a real girl was long gone.

Throwing my attention into something meaningful was my only other out. That's why I joined the HRT. Saving innocents and capturing the bad guy gave my life purpose again. That's also why, when I was called into a meeting with the Director of the FBI, I went willingly and with a certain amount of eagerness. Since I knew our team leader was retiring in a couple of months, I thought I was to be given my own team to lead. I couldn't have been more wrong.

"Special Agent Carter," said the girl that was tending office and doubling as guard for her boss. "The Director will see you now."

I nodded my thanks, and straightened my civilian clothes. Since my team was on training rotation it was standard, otherwise I'd be in greens or blacks, ready for deployment.

When I entered the office I was somewhat surprised to see an Army General sitting to the side of the Director's desk. Closing the door behind me I approached the desk and waited for instructions.

"SA Jake Carter, meet General Chester Phillips," said the Director.

I looked the guy over. He couldn't be more stereotypical military if he tried harder: broad shouldered, chest full of ribbons, two of which were the bronze and silver stars, a couple of the highest decorations that were available, only to be outdone by the Medal of Honor. He'd served his country well and with distinction. That kind of made me wonder why he was at the FBI and in on my meeting. Thoughts of leading my own team fell through. His presence only meant a few things. Either my team was being loaned out for duty to the Army, which wasn't unheard of, or I was being singled out for some reason.

"Pleasure, sir," I acknowledged the General.

He held out his hand toward the chairs in front of the desk. "Have a seat son."

I popped the button on my suit coat and sat. The Director deferred to the General. "It's your show Chet."

He didn't bother with any pleasantries and got straight to the point. "This is security level SCI Eyes Only, Special Agent Carter."

I nodded. "Yes sir." That meant Sensitive Compartmented Information. Only those that absolutely needed to know actually got to know. It offers plausible deniability for everyone else higher up. At this level, that basically meant the President. Don't you love politics? It also meant that if word ever left my lips about what was said in the room then I'd be in prison, in a nice dark cell for the next fifty years.

"What do you know about Metahumans?"

Again I was surprised, but I'd learned long ago how to school my face to show nothing in front of others.

"Just what I've seen on TV and in information briefs, sir." Which amounted a while lot of nothing. "The lady known as Jade, or Green Lantern, appeared two months ago claiming that there was life on other planets, and she was part of a intergalactic police force of some kind. There's supposed to be a certain percentage of the human population that carries the gene and might, under the right circumstances, develop powers on the level of comic book heroes.

"Since her arrival, there has been one other, a teenage girl called Terra who is able to control the earth and minerals."

During my recounting of what I knew, my hopes grew higher that I might be assigned to a special HRT or even a new unit that would be assigned to keep an eye on these metahumans. While the two that had popped up were good intentioned, so far, there were bound to be others that were not. That's where the FBI came in.

The General nodded. "That's what is common knowledge. What's not is that we've obtained tissue samples of this Terra girl, and we've isolated the metagene. We now have the ability to test for this in others, so we can start profiles on these people, at least those in the United States."

"How can I help, sir?"

That's really all the higher ups want to hear.

"We've discovered through routine medical exams that you possess this metagene."

Being schooled to not show emotion didn't help me at all. My stunned face was revealed to both of them. "Sir, I don't have any powers. I'm just…"

The General leaned forward. "We know, son. That isn't what this is about." After pausing for a beat or two, his eyes focused on mine. "How would you feel about seeing if we can activate this thing?"

My hand involuntarily came up to my mouth and brushed over my beard growth. I'd just shaved three hours earlier, but I'd always been a strong producer of the hormone that makes hair grow in men, testosterone or whatever. It was a comforting gesture, something to distract me while I thought things through.

"To what purpose?"

He was prepared for that question. "We want to put together a team for the defense of this country, son.

After hearing his speech, it all made sense. Eventually there would be other countries that wouldn't think twice about using their own metahuman against us. The thought of a terrorist organization possessing the power of the two known metahumans already in existence was almost terrifying. I agreed and signed the necessary paperwork that would end my service with the FBI HRT and transfer me to the Department of Homeland Security as an FBI liaison. I'd still hold my position as Special Agent, but I'd be under their direction.

The tests the next day were staggering. Even in the Army, I'd never been poked and prodded so much and they were masters at making a person feel like a pincushion.

The lead scientist, a Doctor Josef Reinstein, was the one that briefed me on what they were doing and hoping to accomplish. They only had one subject to actually study -- the Terra girl. From anecdotal accounts they'd learned that she was actually a he at one point. He was dressed in a Halloween costume when he encountered an overly high stress situation, in his case a robbery and murder in progress. He passed out and woke up in a new body and new powers. They were hoping to recreate the situation.

Being in the Army, the Rangers, and the FBI HRT, I was no stranger to stress, which was a good and bad thing. It mean that, while I could deal with the demands of pretty much any situation, it would make it that much harder to initiate the change. I'd been shot at, and I'd killed several times in the line of duty. Danger didn't make me afraid, only energized. In other words, I was a borderline adrenaline junky.

We'd gone through new and improved psychological profiles where I wasn't supposed to lie. I didn't for the most part. The only thing I hid was my nighttime feminine activities. That was against company policy. Not officially, of course. However anything that could be used to coerce a person into doing something they wouldn't normally do was grounds enough for job termination. Being a crossdresser fell under that area. It was a Catch-22. I couldn't reveal that I dressed because I would be a pariah at work and in society, and I couldn't legally keep it a secret. So I kept it a secret.

I didn't wince at the needle full of clear fluid that I got stuck with.

"This should make things easier," Dr. Reinstein explained. A mild psychotropic to reduce your level of stress resistance until we complete the procedure."

I almost laughed at his clinical-speak. The procedure consisted of torture, plain and simple. Something that would push the adrenaline in my body to near panic levels with the aid of the drugs. Along with the psychotropic stuff was a stimulant as well. In a minute, I could actually feel my heart beating. That probably wasn't a good thing, but it was the only way to get the desired results, and I was surrounded by a team of specialists that hopefully could revive me if I had a heart attack on the table I was strapped down to.

Droplets of sweat were already trickling down my brow when they attached the electrodes that were going to be used to deliver electric shocks to me. I'd felt them a few times before, during my Ranger training. Everyone got to feel what it was like to be tortured so we'd be prepared for it in case of our capture. That was the one thing I didn't like and couldn't defend against. Which was why they chose that form in the end.

"Ready?" the doctor asked.

"Not at all. Let's do it."

"Special Agent Carter?"

I had a headache of almost hangover proportions. I'd gotten drunk once in my life, my twenty-first birthday -- never again. Being drunk makes people stupid, and I'm not a stupid person. I learn from my lessons and very rarely make the same mistake twice. That's why I'd lived to make it to a ripe old age of thirty-seven. Considering my field of experience that's saying a lot. So hopefully you can understand my confusion at waking up with the mother of all hangovers.

"Head hurts," I rasped.

"That should go away on its own. I'd rather not introduce anymore drugs into your system at this point until we know more about your new physiology," Dr. Reinstein replied.

New? My eyes snapped open. The metahuman experiment! Everything started coming back to me. I must have passed out from the pain, which I remembered very well. I really hated electric shock.

"Just stay still until we can retrieve a few samples. We were having trouble piercing your new skin with the standard needles."

I tried to look down, but I was still strapped securely to the table.

"Would you like some water?"

Nodding my head as much as I was allowed, gave him leave to produce a squeeze bottle to my lips. I took in a mouthful, swishing it around and swallowing it before trying to say something again. My throat felt significantly better and it seemed like my headache was lessening.

"How'd everything…" I stopped talking, because it wasn't my voice that was coming out of my mouth. It was definitely younger, and most definitely female sounding. "Doc?"

He looked at me and raised his eyebrows significantly, looking at me with expectation. "Yes, Special Agent Carter, the metagene has altered your gender. I'm quite puzzled as to why."

"You're puzzled?" I tried to keep calm. If there was one thing I'd learned over the years, panicking solves nothing. Assess the situation, develop a plan of action, and execute the plan; that was the only way to deal with any unexpected event. At that moment I was secured to an examination table and if I acted abnormally then they would keep me strapped down. My first plan was to find a way out of my predicament and judge what I needed to do from there. So the plan was to talk my way out.

"Yes, this new development has me in quite a quandary. " He slid his roll-around stool closer so I could see his face. "There was no external stimuli, like the Terra subject's costume. You were totally nude for the procedure. There was nothing in the medication that would explain this development. So that discounts internal. How about mental? What were you thinking of during the procedure?"

I rolled my eyes a little, trying to recall what was going on in my mind. "During Ranger training we sample different torture methods."

He nodded in understanding. "Go on."

"They taught us to concentrate on something else in order to endure the pain. Thank of happy places, times, people, whatever can get us to the next minute so we aren't broken at the end."

The doctor looked thoughtful. "Interesting. And what was your happy place, Special Agent Carter?"

"My family. My daughter. Yesterday would have been her sixteenth birthday."

"Ahh, I think we've stumbled upon something here. Excellent."

I felt like telling him off, but held myself back. That wasn't my primary objective. "Doc, I'm feeling a lot better. You think I could sit up?"

He considered it for a moment. "You seemed to be of a rational mind. I don't see why not." Holding up a finger he halted his movement. "One moment. You'll need something to wear."

I sighed while I waited. When he returned He had a pair of standard issue scrubs that most of the people who worked there were wearing, and accompanying him was a female assistant. I didn't know if she was a doctor, nurse, or otherwise. Right then it didn't seem to make a difference.

They started on the leg straps and worked their way up to my head, undoing about ten of the things along the way. Mission accomplished. I switched to accessing mode again for my secondary objective: getting the hell out of Dodge before they did something worse to me.

The assistant held the white sheet to my neck until I could sit up and take it myself. If I was female then that meant accompanying female accouterments, namely breasts. I felt the weight of them on my chest, and under my arm as I clutched the sheet close. They weren't gigantic and for that I was thankful, however from what I could tell, they were big enough.

"Right this way, Special Agent Carter," she said. "Let's get you to a room where you can ask me anything you want."

The floor was a lot further down than I remember. Before, it was only a few inches away, at the moment it was at least a foot an a half more. I was shorter, that was for certain. Hopping down didn't take any effort at all. It was a little disconcerting when my breasts jiggled with the effort, but I dealt with it and followed her to an adjoining examination room.

"Would you like some privacy while you change?"

I just shrugged. "It doesn't matter. You've probably seen everything already anyway."

She nodded and put on an air of professionalism. "The change was recorded and there were several people present at the time. I was one of them."

So I dropped the sheet.

The was a mirror above the hand sink so I cold see what I looked like, but I chose for a little modesty instead. Ignoring all the implications of wearing bikini panties sized xtra-small, I slid them on. They fit perfectly.

"There's a chance that you'll grow more," said the assistant. She just hung that out there for me.

I grabbed the sports bra and checked the size -- small 32-34 A/B. Again, after I pulled my hair out of the back which hung down to my waist, it was a perfect fit. I could assume either somebody has a great eye for guessing my size or they already performed the needed measurements.

"What makes you say that?"

"There's a couple of us here that have daughters. Me being one of them. Your body is the spitting image of my sixteen year old."

I paused for a moment to consider the implications of that. I was thinking of my family, specifically my daughter and her sixteenth birthday. Somehow I'd turned myself into her, or at least what I imagined she'd look like. Some things didn't figure into that analysis, like how I knew the correct proportions for a teenage girl for one.

"So this was guesswork?" I gestured to my underwear.

She shook her head. "We took your vital data already."

As I deduced. "And?"

Her eyebrows raised and then she figured out what I was asking. "Oh, sorry. You're five feet four and a half inches tall which puts you exactly at the fiftieth percentile for your estimated physical age, measurements are 33-24-35 and a B-cup. Weight is something we haven't figure out just yet. The scales on the bed only reached to three-sixty and you're easily beyond that…"

I stopped her there. "Three-sixty? You mean three-hundred and sixty pounds?"

She nodded. "That was the limit of the scales, yes. It would explain our inability to draw your blood. The needles just bent when we tried."

I looked down at my body. There was no way. I couldn't be much over a hundred, maybe a hundred and ten pounds at the most.

"Your skin and muscle density have increased considerably. We'd like to get you into an imaging chamber as soon as possible."

"I don't feel any different." I paused for a moment. "I mean that I don't feel that heavy."

"It's understandable."

To her maybe.

"Continuing. Your shoe size is seven and a half. Taking that into consideration, and your hip size, we came to the conclusion that you might grow a little more. Probably an inch or so in height and chest, and a increase in cup size as well."

The green scrub pants and shirt went on next as I was listening. The only shoes that were provided were the stretchy things they normally put over their shoes, but it was better than nothing.

"We'll have to work on your shoes. Your weight will prove to be a problem for proper support and maneuverability. However, we'll figure something out."

I weighed four-hundred and forty-two pounds. They never got a needle in my arm or anyplace else for that matter. They even tried the lingual veins under my tongue, nothing. Scalpel blades wouldn't cut, and they were considering bringing in a diamond bit and a power drill when the General showed up.

"What are you people dicking around for? You can't get blood, move on. I want her out in the field ASAP."

A man after my own heart.

"How are you feeling, son? Er…"

I almost laughed, but the seriousness of the situation made me pause. "Actually pretty good, sir, considering."

"I've got them working on your team. HRT Three is yours until we manage to find some more volunteers. They'll be your contact out there."

I nodded, almost excited. "Where am I going?"

"We're enrolling you in the same high school the Terra girl is attending. The doctor's say you're sixteen, seventeen shouldn't be too much of a stretch. I want you to get close to her when you get the chance and find out as much about this Jade person, her capabilities and resources as you can. We'll take it from there."

"Infiltration then," I summed up and he nodded.

"They may be doing good out there, and I won't fault them if they are, but if there's an ulterior motive, or even if we can use each other as resources, then we'll do so."

"Am I winging it, sir, or do you want to make the final decisions?"

He expected the question. It was the only way he'd have an answer so quickly. "Use your own judgment for now regarding your true age and experience, but don't reveal your mission without approval."

"Understood."

He looked up and found Dr. Reinstein. "What have you got for him next."

Doc didn't look too happy about having his test monkey taken away. "We'll subject Special Agent Carter to various tests in an attempt to ascertain her powers. It would be inadvisable to release her into a situation with children without knowing as much as we can."

The General nodded. "Keep me updated. Good luck Carter."

"Yes sir."

They didn't have anything I couldn't lift in the weight room. That's when we went out to the motor pool. I lifted a standard jeep, not the whole thing mind you, I couldn't get the leverage right. Then we moved on to one of the armored Humvee's those things weigh in at around 8600 pounds. The front end gave me trouble, but I still cleared the wheels from the ground. In other words, I was strong.

They timed me at a one minute and fifteen second single mile run. I was fast.

In the gymnasium, I was run though all sorts of drills, athletic equipment, and gymnastic equipment. From the word go, I ripped through them all. The vaulting horse wouldn't be the same after I hit it at a sprint and leaped about twenty feet in the air. It was bent at an angle when I looked back. The wooden floor where I landed was in splinters.

From what the Doc says, I was just past Olympic standards for agility.

In other words, I was a fighting machine. That was my power. We tried the flying thing. I was land bound. No shooting laser beams out of my eyes either. At the end of the day, I was just bored. They were getting ridiculous with the things they wanted me to try. I finally had to put an end to it. It was simple, I was superhuman, and that was it. With weight practice and arms re-certification, I'd probably be unstoppable.

The quarters I was given was utilitarian to say the least. I went ahead and took a shower even though I hadn't broken a sweat all day, which sent the scientists into a tizzy all in itself.

There was a sleep shirt waiting for me and not much else. They said that they'd provide clothing consistent with the students of the high school I was attending, and a full wardrobe would be available at the location they purchased in the area that would serve as local headquarters. In the meantime I was provided Army sweats, sports bras, and bikini panties. For someone that normally slept in boxers while on base, this was quite a change.

Tugging on the panties and the sleep shirt, I fell into a restless sleep.

The next morning I was subjected to counseling to deal with my sudden sex change. The office I was in had a fairly comfortable reinforced chair, a round table, bottled water, and a psychiatrist that could have been my mother in my male life. She wore a civilian skirt suit and moderate heels and carried a large data pad that looked like those iPads that just came out on the market.

She tapped her fingers here and there before settling into the meeting. "Special Agent Carter, I'm Doctor Alice Remington."

I nodded but didn't say anything. She smiled warmly. I had a feeling that was her painted on patient smile.

"I've been asked to help you with any issues you may have regarding your new gender."

Leaning back in my chair, I heard the metal groan slightly. "How exactly is that going to happen?"

"We're going to speak about what led you to the change and your thoughts afterward."

"Uh-huh. Look, Doctor. I was a soldier in the military, and for the last few years I've been a member of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team. I've done the counseling thing before, a number of times actually."

She nodded. "Tell me about one of those times."

I licked my lips, a little annoyed that I'd been interrupted. "It's standard after high stress missions, or for shooting incidents, just to make sure we aren't going to go wacko and mow everyone down. That's not why I'm bringing this up."

Her eyebrows raise in silent question.

"The thing is that I've done this deal with your emotions thing before and it doesn't really make any difference because I know whatever I did, it was because it needed to be done. We need someone to do the dirty work that others are afraid or unwilling to do on their own. That's where I come in."

After hiking an ankle up on my knee, I looked as nonchalant as was possible. "It's not because I have a sociopathic personality or anything. I recognize that there are laws, and I believe in them and follow them. I also enforce them. When there's a bad guy in the way of my mission, I take them out with the minimal amount of force that is needed. If that includes me killing them in the process then so be it."

I dropped my foot back to the floor and leaned forward. My blonde hair fell about my face, something that felt somewhat odd, but familiar in a certain way. "What I'm getting at is that I'm not bothered by the side-effects of the experiment. I'll deal with it."

She considered me for a moment. "It's not as simple as that, Special Agent Carter. There are issues of lost identity, self loathing, anger at those that did this to you and anyone involved…"

This time, I cut her off, chuckling. "You don't get it, Doc. I'm a soldier, in or out of the Army. The only time I feel anger is when I'm facing the enemy." Gesturing at my breasts and shrugged. "This? This is like losing an arm in battle, or a better example would be losing my hearing."

"How so?" she asked.

"When that happens, a committed soldier compensates for it. Yes, it's annoying having to stop what you're doing to figure some things out, but you adjust and compensate with other senses and training or you die and your mission fails."

I saw the thought rolling around in her head. "Are you saying nothing's more important than the mission?" There was no inflection in her voice other then curiosity, no accusation, and no judgment.

"No, I'm saying there's nothing more important than keeping your wits about you and not panicking. That's when mistakes are made that cost lives." Leaning back, once again, I gestured to my new body. "This is an inconvenience, but with it comes compensation: new powers to help me do my job. Yes, it will take me time to get used to the new body, and I'm sure there will be road-bumps along the way. However, I'll deal with them. If I need help then I'll ask. It would be stupid and irrational not to."

It didn't matter that I had said all of that, we still had our session. I don't know why I bothered. There's no convincing psychiatrists that you're capable of dealing with your own problems.

More tests were had. No matter what they threw at me I knew I'd barely scratched the limits of my powers. Training could only improve my reaction times, and my strength.

I spent Wednesday re-cert'ing on all my weapons. At first it took a few moments to adjust to my smaller hands on the big grips, but I gotten everything squared away in short order. Hand to hand was ridiculously easy. I only had to make sure not to break anyone's arm like I did when I tossed my first cert instructor into a brick wall.

By Saturday I'd reached a point where I could spend some time alone. My Kawasaki Vulcan 750 rumbled into it's parking space and I killed the engine on the bike. It was a ground floor pre-furnished apartment, mostly rented to military personnel, or in my case, former military. I had few knickknacks. Used to being on the move, I never felt the need to acquire more than the necessities of life. A few unread books sat on the side table to the one couch against the far wall. I probably wouldn't get the chance to read them in the near future.

Making my way to the bedroom, I opened up the one drawer dedicated to my former feminine wardrobe. I'd only kept a couple of practical outfits: shorts, simple tops, accompanying underwear, plus two negligees. They went into the trash. It was kind of pointless to enjoy being dressed as a girl if I was one already. It was also kind of ironic; since I'd been transformed, I hadn't really had the desire to dress in anything that wasn't masculine, or at least asexual.

Time constraints dictated that I wouldn't have a chance to pack my clothes for donation, so I concentrated my efforts on my personal items.

It was disturbing how little I could call my own. Two large packing boxes later and I was done. They would go into storage until I found a more permanent home wherever the assignment took me. Taking the folder that contained my change of personal information: new birth certificate, immunization records, forged medical history, bank accounts, and so forth, I stuck it in one of the boxes before taping it up and setting them by the door.

Another sweep of the apartment and I bid it farewell, like so many before and returned to home base.

The assistant was waiting for me when I came through the doors. "Everything packed away?"

I nodded and started toward my room.

"We'll have someone in there and your belongings put into storage for you."

I nodded again, familiar with the routine.

"Is there anything you want to talk about before you leave tomorrow morning?"

I stopped and turned around, curious. "It's like you're baiting a hook. Am I supposed to be talking about something pertaining to the mission?"

Her lips pursed for a moment. "Nothing important, Special Agent Carter."

She left it at that and I proceeded to the room. Of course, I knew what she wanted. It was the whole share your feelings thing. I was a soldier and was currently a Federal Agent. We didn't share our feelings unless it was pertinent to the mission or unless we were given orders to do so to a FBI sanctioned psychiatrist. Feelings on the eve of a mission was especially frowned upon. An agent should be focused on nothing else but what he or she was doing. Everything else was secondary. Not quite a robot, but close enough. TV shows and movies always got it wrong.

We didn't have secret affairs with criminals, we didn't chase aliens, or go off on vigilante quests. We did our jobs. All the extracurricular things were done off hours, at home, away from the job. Right then I should have been focused on what was expected of me and my team, which I was.

Two of my teammates with the HRT were posing as my parents. I thought that was funny as hell because there were no women in HRT. They were posing as a gay couple. If I had to take the hit of switching genders then the least they could do was take it on the chin in a fake relationship.

I'd see them in the morning as well.

By the time I'd fallen asleep I was too mentally exhausted to even think.

My internal clock woke me at 0300 on the nose, a second before my alarm went off. Five minutes later, while I was in the midst of my normal morning calisthenics a knock sounded at my door.

Clothes. Uniform. Female assistant from the previous day.

"Good morning."

"Morning," I said while she set three boxes on my bed.

"I have your uniform, and some street clothes for school."

I shook my head, slightly. School again. At least it was senior year, and December at that. So, a break in a couple of weeks and only five months of hell again.

"Your uniform will be worn under your regular clothes, since it's winter you won't have to hide anything out of the ordinary."

"How about gym class?" I asked.

She shook her head as she was unpacking the street clothes. "You'll only be taking three classes. We've tested you out of the others and physical education isn't required after tenth grade there."

I saw jeans and a blue turtleneck with some regular looking tennis shoes.

The uniform was next. "What's that?"

"Your uniform."

"What's it suppose to cover?" I said with a small amount of incredulity.

"So far you don't need any protection."

Good point.

It was a bright blue crop top with long sleeves and a gigantic white star on the chest along with smaller stars on the arms. The bottoms looked like bike shorts with white stripes on the sides and white borders at the end of the legs which only went halfway down my thighs. I had no idea what the red belt was supposed to hold up since there was no belt loops on the shorts. I guessed that it was purely decorative. Red gloves and boots ended the torture.

"I have to go out in public like that?"

"You're a superhero now, Courtney."

"Pardon?"

"Your name. Courtney Ophelia Carter. You were asleep and we needed to come up with something. You can change it after your mission if you don't like it. For now, you'll have to get used to hearing it."

"Courtney," I repeated, testing it out. Whatever. I'd taken aliases before. The name was just another alias. "Fine."

"Now, on with the uniform."

I grabbed the shorts. "Where's the underwear?"

"You don't need any."

I raised my eyebrows at that.

"The top has enough support for you and the bottoms are made that way."

I narrowed my eyes and shook my head. "There are geeks on your team aren't there."

She shrugged. "It's a very practical uniform, Courtney, simple and self contained."

Listening to her, I guess I was supposed to be thankful they didn't break out the butt crack spandex and the extra cleavage enhancing see through top. It was a pain in the butt to get my hair though the neck, but I accomplished it soon enough. Once I'd adjusted myself I saw that she was right about the support. My breasts barely moved.

"There's a mask that hangs down in the back. It'll cover the top half of your face."

I pulled it across and fastened it at the back of my head.

"Perfect. Now the gloves and boots."

The boots were the same red as the gloves and belt. Apparently there were going for a flag waving theme. There were some decorative buckles that went up my calves, but they snapped securely closed. I didn't even need socks.

She looked at her watch, and appeared rushed. "Come on, we'll have to do the rest in flight. Your plane's taking off in twenty minutes."

"What? I'm going out like this right now?"

She shrugged. "No time like the present."

Grabbing the gloves, I scowled at her while she led us outside to a waiting jeep. Slipping on the gloves, I noticed that save for the color, they were standard shooter duty gloves, thin enough that I won't have problems feeling anything, but strong enough to maintain a grip on whatever I wanted to hold on to. A Velcro strap at the wrist held them secure. I felt ridiculous.

"You look good."

I gave her a crazy eye.

"Seriously. Very inspirational looking. I have no problem believing that you stand for nothing less than mom, apple pie, and baseball."

"Baseball sucks," I commented. "I hate apples, and I barely knew my mother."

What could I say? The outfit made me cranky.

She shrugged. "Well, you look good either way."

I had to adjust my breasts again. That was an odd feeling. "See if they can go a ease up a little in the future. It's kind of constrictive."

"Noted."

I really liked the boots though.

They commandeered a troop transport from somewhere. As we were approaching from behind, I saw my team waiting at the bottom of the ramp at the rear of the plane, milling about in civilian clothes and heavy coats. It was then that I noticed I wasn't the least bit cold wearing what amounted to workout clothes in cold weather. "What's the temperature?"

She looked surprise at the question. "Sorry, your coat is on the plane with the rest of your equipment and clothes."

"No." I waved her off. "I mean I'm not cold."

She blinked a couple of times. "I think it's in the lower thirties."

Right.

We came to a stop and I steeled my nerves before opening the door and stepping out. There was nothing to do but grin and bear it. At least I had some ammunition of my own as far as the husband and husband thing went. Of course that left two of the guys to razz me about the outfit. I'd think of something.

When I rounded the front, all eyes were on me. I heard the low whistle of someone sucking in their breath, and then the assistant running to catch up.

"Jake?" Heller said in disbelief. He was one of four Assaulters, me being one of the others. He was twenty-seven, with a dark complexion, with his dark brown hair. He was also the closest thing I had to family.

I held out my hands to the side. "In the flesh."

Sparks, Moore, and Rios stood there like they'd been body slammed.

"Let's get on board. Is the General here yet?" I asked.

Passing them all up, I climbed the ramp and spotted three civilian vehicles already loaded on board.

"He's on his way."

It wasn't a tight fit as I made my way up to the front of the plane. Seats ran along the fuselage that I remembered as not being very comfortable, but that was before I had buns of steel… literally.

I heard the rest of them come up and I went ahead and strapped in when the engines start to crank up.

"Where can I put this?" the assistant asked. I really had to learn her name at some point.

"What is it?" asked Heller.

"Courtney's street clothes."

Rio's eyed me from across the isle. "Courtney?"

I shrugged and unfastened the mask. "Alias."

He nodded, still staring at me, especially now that I was unmasked. "Dios, Jake, you look like my kid sister."

Fernando Rios, my second Assaulter, was third generation Mexican-American, legally. I seriously doubted the accent was real, but he always used it. He played up the foreign-national thing to the hilt, mainly for the girls, which he always had on his arm after a mission. It was annoying, really. Being the youngest member of the team, at twenty-three, he always had a wisecrack on hand.

"I'm Mexican? When did that happen?" I remarked.

I was as Caucasian as the pure driven snow, tanned definitely, but having the blonde hair enforced the look.

"I'm just sayin', you look like you're sixteen."

Brian Sparks, my Sniper/Observer, couldn't look at me. In fact he was looking anywhere but me, namely at the assistant who was trying to figure out the arm restraints. At thirty-one, he was graying prematurely all through his hair. Something about having to shoot people for a living tends to age people more than normal. I never understood it.

"You volunteered for this?" asked Moore. He never admitted it, but it was easy to tell he was a homophobe.

I gave him a threatening look, which I doubted came off as such. I was a little girl in his eyes now. However, I didn't have a chance to reply before the assistant spoke up.

"He volunteered to have his metagene activated. It wasn't his fault it changed his body also. So you can stow that attitude Special Agent Moore, or I'll have your ass off this team in a heartbeat."

I cocked my head at her. Okay, maybe she wasn't an assistant.

"Who are you?"

"Doctor Sharon Rosenthal, lead scientist of project Super Soldier. Only the General has authority over me and Courtney is my responsibility, so if you piss me off, you'll be back doing guard duty for some Colonel's dog in Santa Fe in no time."

"Lead scientist?" I asked. "I thought Reinstein…"

"That's kind of sexist coming from someone in your position, Courtney."

Point made. "You're right. Sorry, Sharon."

The corner of her mouth ticked a little and I saw that she was amused.

The door that lead to the cockpit opened. "General's been held up. He said to go without him and you'd meet later."

Sharon nodded. "Let's go."

We were wheels up about ten minutes later.

The flight was nearly two hours. Mission briefing was given via laptop to the others while Sharon got me dressed and made up.

"You don't need a lot. Teen girls don't wear a whole lot of makeup except on dates, and I have a feeling that's going to take you a while."

"If ever," I added on the end of her statement.

She shrugged as I tried not to poke my eye out in the back of the cargo plane. The eyeliner wasn't tough. I'd had experience putting it on before, but she didn't know that. I just made sure she told me how to do everything first. The complements afterward on getting it right my first time, made me feel good.

Mascara and a light lipstick finished off the look.

I'd already dressed, so I didn't have to worry about smudging my make up. The only thing I missed were the boots which were stowed in the storage area in the back of my truck, one of two Nissan Xterra's on board. The Hummer H2 was for the team.

"There's nothing special about yours except for the storage in the rear. We want you to be able to drive Terra around. Maybe use the excuse to get to know her."

I nodded. "What's in the storage."

She popped the back and I saw that half of the area, vertically, was taken up by a big black box secured to the interior sides of the truck. No, I didn't think of it as an SUV. Something that stands that tall and has that much storage capability is called a truck.

There was a keypad that she punched my social security number into. I heard little servos or hydraulics activate before the top lifted up to the roof of the truck.

"Excellent." All of my toys were present.

"We had it outfitted with your mission standard weapons. Once we have the proper holsters and equipment modified, we'll ship out your new belt." She looked at me and shrugged. "We were preparing for a male, sorry. The costume was difficult enough to pull off with so little time."

I pulled my Colt M1911 Professional Model, and noticed that it weighted like nothing. I'd have to adjust the grip a little for the smaller hand, but it felt good nonetheless.

The Heckler & Koch MP5 was there with assorted clips, the M4A1 as well.

"We added the Taser and you have your flash-bangs as well. Lastly, are the ASPs. You won't be able to bring your regular weapons in the school itself. This should give you something if need be."

I nodded in understanding.

"I opted for a backpack instead of a purse. More storage room anyway. The ASPs secure here and here," she pointed to small Velcro closed pockets that looked like they were there for really large pens or maybe small sticks of dynamite, it was a toss up. "Taser in this pocket. You're already load up. The ones with your equipment are for backup."

Looking in the main compartment of the backpack I saw a spiral notebook and three textbooks. "Where did you get these on short notice."

"It wasn't hard. A lot of the texts are universal across the country."

The classes were Government, Economics, and Language Arts. "At least those subjects won't be a problem."

Sharon nodded. "That's why we picked them."

There was only one more pocket that held my writing supplies and my identification in two billfolds. One with my current picture for a drivers license and another with my DHS ID and badge, both under the name Courtney Carter.

I set the backpack in the passenger seat. When we returned to the front, I saw Heller having a somewhat heated argument with Moore. Stopping Sharon, I motioned behind the Hummer H2.

"We need to dump Moore. I really don't want him screwing this mission. I gave a lot up to do this, and if he's going to have a problem taking orders from me then this is not the time to deal with his crap."

"I'll do it."

I shook my head. "No, I'll do it. I just wanted to give you a heads up. I plan on giving him an ultimatum first. He's earned that."

"Alright," she agreed.

Everyone was quiet for the last thirty minutes of the flight. We'd landed at the local airport and taxied into a private area where we unloaded the trucks. I had forty-five minutes to get to the school, and I'd be cutting it close according to the GPS.

I motioned for Moore to come over to the Xterra while I acted like I was storing something. When he arrived I lowered the compartment in the rear and closed the door.

"Are you and I going to have a problem?"

He shook his head tightly, but didn't say anything. Which I took to mean that, yes, we were going to have a problem.

"I volunteered for the upgrade. I got made into a chick along with the lot. You think I'm happy about this?" I all but snapped, but I kept my voice low.

He sighed and I saw his shoulders drop just a little. "We saw a little of the tape where you changed. I know its you in there Jake, but…"

"But how are you going to take orders from a guy that looks like a teenage girl?" I didn't wait for an answer. "Well it's going to happen, or I will personally kick your ass from here back to Quantico. I'm suped-up now, believe me when I say that I could easily do it. So help me, if you screw this mission up and I've done this for nothing…"

He held up his hands and stepped back. "I don't give less than a hundred percent in the field."

"I know, and that's the only reason I'm standing here talking to you. Tell me now if you're going to flake, Harry. Rios and Heller are acting like they're gay in this thing for gods sake. It's important."

He rubbed his hand over his bald head. "I know. I won't fuck up. You have my word."

I gave him a sharp nod. "That's always been good enough for me. Lets get the hell out of here. I have to get to school." With a grimace I jumped into the Xterra and tore out of the airport.

Exceeding the speed limit wasn't my original plan, but I had to make it to the school on time. I really didn't want to spend my first day in detention and screw up my chance to meet with Terra.

Once I found my parking space, I grabbed the map and class schedule, locked the doors and almost ran into the school. There were a few stragglers, and I had about five minutes to find the room. One of the local DHS officers had come to the school the precious day to fill out the needed paperwork and present perfectly normal looking transcripts, shot records, testing scores, and whatever sundry items were needed. I just had to actually show up and learn, or at least act like I was learning. Rios and Heller were available for Parent/Teacher conferences, or for anything that needed approval from an adult.

Right when the bell rang I walked into Government class.

I wasn't the only person that was making their way in, but I was the only one to stop by the teacher's desk.

"Courtney Carter. I'm starting today."

He gave me a nice fake smile. Here was a guy that was seriously in need of a vacation. While he was pulling up his computer records to check for my name on the day's attendance, I glanced around the room. Terra was sitting in the back right and there wasn't an empty chair in sight except for one in the middle of the classroom.

"Ah, here you are, Courtney. Go ahead and have a seat, we're starting on chapter eight today in the text."

I'd forgotten how incredibly boring high school was. Before I knew it, I was already falling back into my habit of clock-watching, counting the minutes until the bell. I was positioned fairly well to accidentally bump into my target on the way out of class.

Now I just needed to speed up time. Why couldn't that be one of my powers? I thought. That would have been handy.

Finally, the bell rang. I closed my textbook and folder, sticking them in the pack and waited for the right moment. It didn't take long. Some things never changed. Once the end of class bell rang, everyone wanted to get out of the room as fast as humanly possible to get to the bathroom, meet up with friends, or rush to the next class. It was all coming back to me.

The accidental bump, from my side, wasn't meant to be. She'd avoided it by mere chance because someone else jostled her from the opposite direction and she actually ran into me.

"Sorry," she said with an apologetic grimace.

"No big." Luckily I had my schedule in my hand at that moment, which I knew mirrored hers. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where B203 is do you, Language Arts with Franklin?"

Her curious face shifted to a smile. "Sure. I'm going there myself." Holding out her hand to me, she offered a shake. "I'm Terra."

I grasped it eagerly. "Courtney, Courtney Carter. Thanks, by the way. First day and all."

"No prob." We continued on at a fairly brisk pace where human traffic allowed. "So where are you from."

I shrugged. "Most recently from Virginia, but I move around a lot."

She gave me an understanding look. "Parents in the military?"

"Not anymore." Which was true. My dad was in the Marines and he was dead. Technically he wasn't in the military anymore.

"Well that's good. At least you won't have to move again."

I chuckled a little. "There's only another five months of school, then I can go pretty much where I want." Again technically true. I was staying as close as I could to the real truth. Eventually she would know who I really was, and if she was really on America's side then I didn't want to make an enemy of her.

There was one avenue of getting to know her that I wasn't too sure on. She was famous. Almost a household name even thought it had only been a month since she'd been outted to the world. I had to play that knowledge carefully.

"I don't want to sound stalkerish, just letting you know that I recognize you from the TV. I wanted to just say thanks for being a good guy… or girl, whatever."

She giggled. "Well, thanks for not going all fan girl on me. I'm just like everyone else, except I have to occasionally run off and help save someone or some thing."

I nodded and then played it nonchalant afterward. The object was to treat her like every other person out there that didn't possess metahuman traits. "I know what that's like."

She tilted her head at me. "How so?"

Damn, I meant to play that card a little later in the game. Well, nothing to do about it, but lay one of my cards on the table. "You're not the only person out there that's… special."

Terra was steering me toward a certain door, but suddenly stopped. That almost caused a traffic jam.

"Hey," a blonde girl complained. "You don't stop in the middle of the hall like that. You don't have the right of way."

I gave her a 'are you stupid' look. "You have to be licensed to walk now. Wow!"

"Whatever." She ducked around us while Terra and I migrated toward the walls. She grabbed my arm and tugged me one door down, which was the girls restroom.

After waiting about fifteen seconds for the last person to leave and then checking the stalls, Terra looked at me. "You're a metahuman?"

I nodded. "I just found out last week."

Receiving a critical eye I knew she had her doubts. From the mention of the term fan girl, I deduced that someone had approached her before with claims of super powers. I just smiled. "Look I can't really prove it here in the school. I have an alternate identity and prefer to keep it on the low down, if you know what I mean."

Her face became even more skeptical.

"Fine." I looked around but there really wasn't anything I could use to prove my powers without destroying something. Seeing the partially open window on the wall, I came up with an idea. "You do earth stuff right? Can you call fist sized rock, then I'd be able to show you."

Her tongue played on the inside of her cheek for a second, then she held up her hand. Within seconds she was grasping a dirt covered stone, a little bigger than I wanted and handed it over. I walked to the sink. "You might want to shield your eyes, just in case."

Holding the rock in one hand, I covered it with the other and squeezed. A few seconds later and a loud crack sounded in the restroom. Opening my hands I showed her the rock had been broken in several pieces.

"You're strong!" she said with astonishment.

I nodded and brushed the shards into the trashcan next to the sink before washing my hands of the dirt. "Among other things."

"Oh wow, this is cool. Finally, someone my own age and that goes to my school." Terra put a couple of pieces together and looked at me with a frown. I already knew the conclusions she and reached.

"Don't freak out. I wanted to come here, to meet you. Someone like me." When her face softened I pursued that thought. "I really do live here now, I really did just move in. I haven't even had a chance to unpack my stuff before rushing here this morning."

The warning bell came and she shrugged. "Okay."

In the LA class there was an close empty chair this time. Not right next to her, but close enough to pass notes back and forth. I felt like I was in junior high again.

I got a frown after that.

The note passing ended there. Maybe I overplayed my hand. I probably did. It was way too soon to be this involved. The plan was to earn her trust over the course of a week or two in hopes that something would come up where I could help out with my powers and earn her trust. That took a sharp left turn. After Economics class I bailed and headed to what was serving as headquarters for the team.

Headquarters seemed like every other warehouse along the I-10 past the shopping areas on the west side of downtown, in a district all by itself. Surrounded by other inactive, but not abandoned warehouses it served as the perfect camouflage. At least the tanking economy had one perk, anonymity. The inside was set up like a camp, with tents, portable shower, and toilets. It was a temporary set up until I'd figure out what we needed for the long haul.

Heller smirked at me. "How was your first day at school dear?"

I flipped her off. "Bite me, Mom."

Rios laughed from the corner where he was storing the heavier weapons. "Told you you'd be the bitch, Heller."

Moore was fine tuning the communications equipment, and Sparks was arranging all of his high tech toys.

"I made contact and revealed my metahuman status."

Heller looked surprised. "Already?"

"Yeah. Zoom zoom," I said. "She's suspicious, but I think she's willing to trust me for now."

"General said he'd be coming around no later than tomorrow morning," Moore said. I nodded in acknowledgment.

"Where's Sharon?"

Heller leaned back in his desk chair. "Went to pick up your superhero ride."

"My what?"

He shrugged. "Since you can't fly or teleport or whatever, you're going to need fast transportation and the Xterra won't cut it. You'll blow your cover."

True.

Rios stepped in as he was wiping down his H&K PSG1 sniper rifle. "You should have seen the set up they had back at base, Jake. They had all sorts of toys."

"What do you mean?"

"Weapons, vehicles, you name it," offered Moore. "They said ever since the metahuman thing was out in the open, they've been developing all sorts of stuff for a special ops crew like us. They had this sweet…"

He was interrupted by the automatic doors to the warehouse opening. We exited the tent as a group. Sharon was waving in the rear of a closed trailer and then cut it off before the cab entered.

"Moore, can you and Rios roll it down. It'll take both of you," asked Sharon. They were the largest of our team.

"What did you get?"

She smiled. "I think you'll like this. The guys in the special weapons division needed a little more time to get it ready. Again, they had to adjust it for your size, but it came out pretty good."

It was a motorcycle. I was expecting one; that really wasn't the issue.

"It feels like a giant brick," Rios called out from inside the trailer. "How much does it weight?"

"About eighteen-hundred pounds," she answered.

"A motorcycle?" I stood there and watched as Moore and Rios rolled it down the ramp. "Holy shit. What is that?"

Sharon laid her arm around my shoulder. "A tricked out Dodge Tomahawk. It's basically the stripped down engine block of a Viper with a motocross frame wrapped around it. They added armor instead of the standard fiberglass and aluminum covers, and a bullet resistant windshield. It's really a deathtrap for anyone that doesn't have your abilities."

The thing was much bigger than I was. Rolling death was the proper sentiment.

"They've tested it zero to sixty in two point five seconds, and tricked the motor out a little. Your top speed should be around three-twenty-five or so."

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "What, no canon?"

She smiled and shook her head. "They wanted to put twin miniguns over the front wheels, but it threw off the balance."

There were two front tires and two wheels about a foot and a half apart, probably to handle the corners properly. Plus, it was seriously blue, and had white stars matching my uniform.

"Why don't you take it out for a spin?"

I laughed at her. "I'd be pulled over for sure."

She shook her head. "If the police run the plates they'll know to leave you alone, not that they'd ever be able to catch you in the first place."

My hands twitched to do it. I wanted to. "Alright."

Once I'd retrieved my boots and shed my street clothes I went over to the Tomahawk and climbed aboard. Sharon had my new belt that had the holster for my pistol and asps, along with a couple of spare clips and a pack of zip-tie restraints.

Rios couldn't resist. "I call seconds, if you survive that is."

Sharon stood at the handlebars. "You've got the standard setup here: GPS, secured communications, and rearview camera."

There wasn't a speedometer, but there was a small tachometer in the dash.

"Gear switch, here. You only have two gears: fast, and get out of the way. If you plan on going off-road then hit this switch and you'll have better stabilizers. The wheels separate, and you lose considerable speed. That's about it."

She handed me an earpiece. "That's so we can talk to you. Just speak normally."

After stuffing the radio in my ear, I folded the uniform's mask over my eyes. "How do I look?"

Rios waved it away. "Too easy."

Heller didn't appear too happy. "You don't even have a helmet."

"Don't need one. I have a really hard head now."

He gave me doubtful face. "Three hundred miles an hour into a brick wall. They'll be cleaning up what's left with a hose."

I turned the key and it purred to life, sounding nothing like what a motorcycle should. It was more like a sports car, which would make sense, I suppose.

The trailer was gone already, but the doors were still partially open. "Alright stations everyone. This'll be a dry run. I'll make a tour around the city and then bring it back home. Go ahead and monitor police and emergency bands. If anything comes up let me know."

I gunned the throttle and heard the engine rev and purr at me after. Sharon gave me a thumbs up and I was gone.

For the first few minutes I toured the warehouses and got used to what I could do in the turns. I watched the wheels slid along side of each other independently. Neat concept. Then I took it out to the frontage road and entered the freeway.

Heller's voice came over the com. "Mother Hen wants to know how it's handling."

"Can I keep it?" I answered.

"Mother Hen says, no, unless you have one point five million."

I didn't bother answering. While I didn't spend a lot of money, I didn't have that kind to waste.

The traffic was light and I had an easy time winding around the cars at around a hundred miles an hour, judging how fast I was passing them. I heard a few brakes squeal, but from the rearview camera, they were fine.

"Dream, we've got a high speed pursuit on the 610 North heading east," said Heller. I pulled off at the next exit and made a u-turn under the freeway, dodging three cars in-between.

"Hold on. What did you call me?"

"That's your call sign, according to Mother Hen -- American Dream."

All the stars and stripes started to make sense right then. "Lovely. ETA in two minutes."

"We're tracking you on your GPS, Dream."

I entered the on-ramp to 610 and hit the throttle, sliding onto the side maintenance lane so I could bypass all to the traffic that was being held back by a line of County Deputies.

A couple of sirens went off when I blew past the cops, and pulled up along side the vehicle in the lead. Keeping a good five feet away, I watched as the driver, a guy in a stained wife-beater, eye me. I waved him down to stop, and he swerved at me for my troubles and I kicked out with my foot, slamming it into the front wheel-well. It collapsed and punctured the tire at the same time, sending the wheel into the concrete of the freeway.

Sparks sprayed under the car and it dropped to almost a crawl. I pulled up about fifty yards ahead and stopped the bike. Looking back, I saw that his wheel had been mangled to a crumpled mess and he was dead in the middle of the freeway. The cops pulled up and I took off.

"Subject's car is immobilized, locals are taking it from there."

Heller came back. "Acknowledged, American Dream."

I rolled my eyes at the name. Who came up with that crap? Opening up the throttle a little I spent the rest of the time on the loop around the city, weaving in and out of traffic getting used to every nuance of the bike. It was a lot of muscle and little else, but as long as it got me where I needed to be, quickly and in one piece, it served its purpose.

The sun had already passed it's high point in the sky and there hadn't been anymore incidents to speak of. You'd think that in a city of four million people that there would be crime virtually all the time, but apparently the criminals were either taking a break or the crimes weren't anything that the regular police couldn't handle.

"Base, give me a 10-36."

"It's 1420 hours, Dream."

"Copy. I'm heading to offer Terra a ride home. Maybe see if I can get the ball rolling again."

"Will do, Dream. Good luck."

Ten minutes later I was rolling up to the front walkway where I killed the motor and popped the stand.

"This thing needs a minifridge or something," I said to nobody. My throat was dry and my hair windswept. Considering that it hangs down almost to the seat, I wasn't looking forward to running a brush through it anytime soon.

The afternoon bell sounded and I waited a good four or five minutes before the first of the students piled out of the doors in a mass exodus. I was a mild curiosity to the girls and the boys couldn't decide where their eyes were going to go, at me or the bike. Apparently I was like one of those car magazines with the bikini babe standing next to the latest sports car. She served no useful purpose, but she was nice to look at. If you played your cards right, and purchased that particular model then you'd stand a chance of having a girl like that too.

I was surrounded in mere seconds, and all sorts of questions were being rapid-fired. Who was I? What kind of bike was that? Was I a metahuman? Why was I wearing a mask?

That last one was answered by one of the ever increasing crowd. "It's to protect her secret identity dumb-ass."

The last one was what threw me. "Hey, aren't you the new girl, Chelsea or something?"

"Courtney," one of the guy's said. "Yeah, that's who you are. Why you wearing a mask, Courtney?"

So much for a secret identity.

"And now you know one of the reasons I chose not to hide." Twisting my head around I saw Terra standing there, smiling at me. "Nice outfit. Aren't you cold?"

I shook my head. "I don't get cold anymore. Need a ride?"

The guys just stood there with envy while I slid forward and keyed the ignition. She looked the bike over again and held her fist up to her mouth, before speaking to her ring.

"Motorcycle helmet."

I watched as a black helmet appeared on her head from nowhere. My eyes locked onto her ring and the symbol atop. It was the same symbol that Jade wore on her chest. Obviously advanced technology, just the kind of thing that was high on my mission list to acquire.

Terra secured her backpack behind her and tugged on the straps so it was tight before swinging her leg over the bike. When her hands slid around my waist one of the guys said.

"Oh man, that's so hot."

I arched an eyebrow at him, but it was hidden by the mask, which ruined the effect. Why was I so surprised at the idea of lesbian superhero subtext would be attractive to teenage guys?

Moving slowly through the crowd until we were clear, I leaned a little so I could turn my head back. "Where to?"

Terra pointed down one of the streets and I followed her directions until we were pulling up into her driveway. I killed the motor and she slid off from behind. "Thanks for the ride. Come on in."

When we entered the house I reached up and undid the mask. "I guess this is useless now."

Terra shrugged. "I think it's cool, but unless you cover your whole face and hide your hair, or at least wear a wig, you're going to be busted. It was pretty obvious who you were."

I just shook my head in annoyance.

"Terra is that you?" An older woman's voice came from upstairs.

"Yeah, Mom," she responded. "I've got a guest."

Her mother appeared at the top of the stairs and started her way down, pausing briefly when she saw my outfit. "Oh, new friends?"

I could see where Terra got her good looks from. Her mother stood just a little taller, maybe an inch or three, mostly in the legs, and she had the same midnight black hair, but much longer.

"Yeah, this is Courtney. She just started today at school, and she's a metahuman like me." Turning to me she waved her hand out. "Courtney, this is my mom, Mia Cross."

I held my hand out. "Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Cross."

When she took my hand in hers, I noticed she had a firm grip unlike most women I knew. I also noticed I still had my gloves on. "Sorry for the gloves." Undoing the Velcro I slipped them off one by one.

"Not a problem, Courtney. Would you girls care for a drink or a snack."

A drink sounded really good. "Water would be great, Ms. Cross."

Terra led me into the kitchen area and dumped off her backpack before taking a seat and motioning for me to sit as well. "So what's your story?"

Straight to the point, I guess. I shrugged. "Got my powers about a week ago. Not much to tell."

Ms. Cross set a cold bottled water in front of me and a canned Coke for Terra in front of her, then she took a seat. "You've been a girl for that long?" she asked.

I nearly choked on the water. "What?"

Terra's mother smiled. "Honey, it's the way you carry yourself. Terra had the same problem. It's easy to see if you know what to look for."

My eyes shot to the teen sitting across from me, and then I looked down at the table, I felt my face redden slightly. "Uh yeah. I was a guy before."

Ms. Cross took it in stride. "You present quite well. Most guys would have a problem with wearing something that showed so much of their femininity."

I took another gulp of water and swallowed. "I just play with the hand I'm dealt. From what I know, it's not reversible, so there's no use crying about it."

She nodded. "That's a very adult way of looking at it." Her eyes studied me. I cringed internally. The lady read me way too easily, or she was far too observant. The situation didn't bode well for me keeping very many secrets.

Terra leaned into the table. "So, I know you're strong and you don't get cold anymore. What else do you do?"

Thank god, a change of subject. "I'm fast, agile, invulnerable so far, but I haven't been able to really test how much, yet." They tried several ways to cut into my skin, but never succeeded.

"Jade might be able to help you with that. She's got this medical scanner that's pretty advanced. It gave me the lowdown on everything about me."

That bit of information grabbed my attention. "That'd be great."

Terra's eyes looked up, behind me. "What do you think?" she asked, and she wasn't talking to me. My hand instinctively went to my sidearm as I spun around.

Standing there was the primary objective decked out in a tight rubber-looking green and black bodysuit.

"I think," Jade said with a frown on her face, "that our Miss Courtney better advise the people listening in that they aren't invited to this conversation."

Chairs scraped across the floor. Terra and her mother were to their feet and I froze. "Everyone relax," I said as I brought my hands up, clear of my weapon and tried to look as non-threatening as I could. "I'm not here to do harm."

Jade half-snorted. "I wouldn't allow you even if you tried."

"Right," I commented. Everything was screwed.

"Are you really a metahuman?" Terra accused me. She was pissed.

"Yes, I haven't lied to you about anything."

"Yeah, right."

Her mother had her arms crossed, looking decidedly disappointed in me and Jade was leaning against the wall, relaxed.

"Really," I said. "I actually did turn into a metahuman a week ago, yesterday. I really was a man before. I really moved here from Virginia to meet you and Jade."

"Where, in Virginia?" asked Jade.

"Pardon?"

"What city?"

That's when I clammed up. She was damn smart to put the pieces together so quickly. I knew she'd figured it out already, but I couldn't divulge classified information without authorization. "I can't say."

"What am I missing?" asked Terra. The question wasn't directed at me.

"She's government." Jade moved away from the wall. "My best guess is either CIA or FBI. I'm having trouble tracking certain information systems. They're closed to outside communications so it'll take a few more minutes to crack."

"Look," I said as I stood slowly. "I'll step out to my bike and get it cleared, okay?"

Jade looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded. "Leave your earpiece there as well. It won't work properly around me anyway."

Grabbing my gloves I made a retreat outside. Before I'd even made it to the bike, I barked out. "Base, my cover is blown."

"Say again, Dream." Heller sounded dumbfounded.

"Repeat. My cover is blown."

"How?" he responded incredulously. "You've been talking about economics homework. I didn't know you swung that way."

At that point I was really confused. "Base, what the hell are you talking about?"

There was a short pause. "Hold one, Dream. Replaying the last thirty seconds of recorded conversation between you and subject Terra."

I heard a static blip, for lack of a better word, immediately followed by my voice.

"I know! It's incredibly boring. I mean who cares about the difference between macro and micro economics, really." Then the sound of two girls giggling ended the clip.

"Base, that was not me. They must have some sort of… I don't know. Jade is on site, knows that you are listening, and knows I'm wearing an earpiece even though she had no way of knowing that I'm aware of. Get the head honcho on line and approval to brief the subjects."

"Hold one, Dream."

I slipped on my gloves and angrily tightened the Velcro straps. "Dammit."

While I was waiting, I scanned the area. There were a few people driving by that slowed to get an eyeful before moving on and my subjects were still in the house as far as I knew. The whole plan was a clusterfuck from the word go. We should have been up front about the operation. I recognized why we did what we did, but when you're so outclassed to begin with… ugh.

"Dream, Base. You've been given clearance to reveal what you need. Keep it at a minimum if you can."

"It's already beyond that. Jade has tech that can infiltrate closed systems. If its on any computer then she knows about it. I'm going dark for now. Advise command that that they need to offer up an olive branch ASAP. I'll get back online when I can."

"Copy, Dream. Will do."

I dug the mic out of my ear and wedged it under the seat cushion. There was no storage areas on the bike. Steeling myself for a confrontation, I reentered the house.

"Hello Special Agent Jake Carter, former FBI HRT, now assigned to Project Super Soldier run by the Department of Homeland Defense." Jade was almost smug with her findings. "Did Army Brigadier General Chester Phillips say you can brief us about your mission to infiltrate our group and build a threat assessment?"

I went on the defensive, leaned against the doorway and crossed my arms. "Do you actually know the definition of term threat assessment, Jade?"

Terra bolted up from her chair and pointed her polished fingernail at me. "You don't get to talk to her that way. You're the one who's a liar."

"Terra, sit down," calmly ordered her mother.

Jade didn't say anything so I took the lead. "Terra, what would you do if all your next door neighbors all had laser guns and all you had was a slingshot? I'll tell you what I would do. I would find out as much as I could about them to see if they were nice and friendly toward me, or if they planned on murdering me in my bed one night."

Her lips tightened, but I could see that she was at least letting me talk.

"Then I would find one of my friends who had a similar laser, so they'd be on equal footing, and let them meet with the others, maybe find similar interests and common goals so we could exist together in peace instead of being terrified about what they might do."

I watched as Jade interlaced her fingers and set them in her lap.

"There are other countries that would like nothing better than to end the Unites States. They want nothing more than to impose on us their religious beliefs, ways of life, and persecute and prosecute those that think or live different than they.

"I'm here to check you out and decide if you're a threat. If you aren't then I'm here to work out an arrangement where we can maybe help one another. If you're a threat, then I'm here to deal with that too."

Ms. Cross looked at my sidearm at that point.

I frowned. "No ma'am. I will not be shooting your daughter in cold blood. There's a thing in America called the Justice System, maybe you've heard of it."

Jade's piercing green eyes narrowed at me. It was a lost cause.

"Fine. You want to go about this the hard way." I raised my hands. "Just remember. There will be other metahumans out there. Some of them will be stronger than you. There is always a bigger bully that can and will take you down for no other reason than that they have the power to do so. If you want to be all alone when that happens… well." I shrugged my shoulders. "When you're ready to talk I'm sure you can contact me."

I turned and strode out of the house. When I got to the bike, I pulled out the mic from under the seat and placed it back in my ear, fed the key in the ignition and started up the bike.

"Base, Dream." I scowled at the call sign. "Ball is in their court. I'm returning to headquarters."

I metaphorically kicked myself so many times on the way to the warehouse, I should have had an ass that was black and blue. It was like amateur hour in my brain. I'd never lost my cool on a mission. Covers get blown; it was a fact of life. That's how you can tell the true professionals from the rank and file. Professionals wipe the dirt off their butts and get back in the game.

The doors opened for me when I arrived, and everyone gave me a wide berth when they saw my face. Everyone, that is, except Sharon.

"I take it things didn't go so well." She looked sympathetic and if there was one thing that I hated, it was sympathy. I'd received enough of it when Casey died. Sympathy meant you'd failed and they felt bad for you.

"It'll be in my report," I snapped back before disappearing into my tent.

The uniform was off in a flash and I grabbed my robe and toiletries before heading to the shower. The water was cold, but it didn't bother me like it should. Hair stubble still hadn't appeared on my legs, arms, pits, and pubic areas. I was beginning to wonder if it was ever going to happen. I felt enough like a kid already, compounding it with a complete lack of body hair was insulting.

After I washed down, I drew the shower curtain to the side and made sure I wasn't being spied upon before taking care of other business. It wasn't written in Army regs anywhere, but sexual release was a necessary function of any human. You could tell the true professionals by how relaxed they were. Guys that didn't take care of business got twitchy and pent up, stressed. I hadn't released myself since the morning I had my sex changed. Everything just seemed wrong.

However, my performance at the Carter home was seriously lacking. Was I blaming my temper on lack of masturbation? Not really, but I wasn't taking any chances. The next time I saw Terra or Jade, I wanted to be playing my A-game. That meant taking everything into account, even sexual appetites.

When I'd gotten back to my tent, Sharon was waiting for me on my once perfectly made bed. My anal retentive brain growled, but I held it in check.

"Well you look much more relaxed," she commented.

Before she could see my reddening face I turned and went to my traveling trunk. A pair of Army sweats and shirt went on. I didn't bother with underwear. Even though it was provided, I'd grown accustomed in the new body to going without.

"What do you want, Sharon?"

"You still haven't gotten used to the hormones have you?"

I didn't answer.

"If you fight it, Courtney, it well only make it harder."

I spun around. "There are perfectly well adjusted woman in the world that don't act like simpering cry-babies. I happen to be one of them."

She nodded. "True." After standing she pointed to a package in the corner. "Your new uniforms have arrived. I had them loosen up the bust a half size. Tell me if they fit better, and get some rest. I'm sure it'll be a long night."

I inspected the clothes and packed them away. They looked exactly the same as the originals, five pair this time. I also saw my old ones were gone from where I left them folded on the desk.

"Jake."

My eyes snapped open. Moore was at the tent opening. "What's up?"

"Guests. Your super-powered friends."

"Give me three minutes."

He nodded and disappeared. I dressed hurriedly in my uniform, pulling the gloves on as I left the tent. Terra was looking at my bike and Jade stood beside her with her hands clasped behind her back watching my team. Nobody was talking. Sharon looked like she'd swallow her tongue if she wasn't able to say something soon.

I didn't bother with pleasantries, but I kept my cool. "Is there something we can do for you, Jade?"

Terra pursed her lips at being ignored.

She nodded. "We've considered your situation and agreed to let you take the first step in proving your sincerity."

I glanced over at Sharon. "Alright. Where do you want to start?"

"We'd like a place to call headquarters," Jade started off. "The Carter house is nice, but we'd really like to keep her mother out of harm's way as much as possible, and my Starcruiser is impractical. Terra can't get there without assistance from me."

I nodded. "Understandable. And what are you willing to give up on your end?"

"I'm not through yet."

I raised my eyebrows and almost laughed, but stopped myself at the last second. "Okay."

"We," she paused and looked at my team and then at me, "will form a team, with support of the US Government that operates independently from politicians, to assist the people of Earth."

"Assist…" I pondered her meaning of the word and let her know it.

From the looks on Moore's and Rios' faces I could tell that she was already losing them.

She shook her head. "I'm not talking about getting involved in politics of warring nations or religions. That's not what this is about."

Sharon took that moment to help things along. "I think it would be best if you had a mission statement or restrictions about the team's involvement. What would have to happen in order to garner our assistance?"

Jade pursed her lips together in thought. "The Green Lantern Corps used to have a set of laws…"

Heller snorted. "Is this the cops in space thing you talked about on TV? Come on." The measure of his disbelief was felt by a large majority of the world. Most people thought that Jade was a prank played on everyone to insight panic or bring about a one world government under American rule. Even the Americans thought it likely.

From what I'd seen of her actions, I was in the Aliens Exist category.

Jade measured Heller with a resigned sigh while Terra whispered something in her ear. With a nod, the tall woman turned to the team. "Why don't we go on a field trip, and I'll prove what I say."

I waved it off. "Later." She didn't have to prove anything to me at the moment, at least not in that regard. "What are these laws you were talking about."

Jade crossed her arms and shifted her hip to the side. "I wouldn't suggest them as laws but more like charter rules that can be amended if needed. It would be our duty to uphold the standards and spirit…"

I circled my hand for her to get to the point. "Yeah, I got that, move on."

Terra rolled her eyes and turned around, looking decidedly frustrated, but Jade took it in stride. "Very well. Number one: The protection of life and liberty would be first and foremost. Number two: Noninterference with a country's culture, political structure, or population's collective will. Number three: Taking no action against anyone unless they are proven to be a threat against life and liberty. Number Four: Giving top priority to the greatest threat or danger."

I could see where I would have a problem with a couple of those already. "It won't work. I can't justify flying off to an enemy nation to assist them with their troubles when something is going on here, and what constitutes collective will? How do you deal with election tampering in rogue nations? If we think the current regime is rigging elections do we intervene to protect the collective will? Not to mention what defines liberty. There are a lot of countries where the liberties of women don't even exist, slaves are still owned to this day, and a hundred other human rights violations that I really don't want to get into right now. Do we usurp the sovereignty of a nation just because of our own values?"

It was obvious they hadn't really thought about the ramifications of those rules. "It's all sounds nice and idealistic in theory, but it practice it's a good way to start wars without the backing of a boatload of other countries. Even then you're pretty much screwed. Look at Iraq."

Jade nodded. "You're right."

I wasn't really expecting her to concede. "How about we start small. Say, within the confines of the US, and metahuman threats outside its borders."

Terra spun around a looked like she was about to go off, but Jade placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let her finish."

I nodded my thanks and continued. "If there is a natural disaster like the volcano you two stopped in Japan, or the earthquake in the Middle East, then we help where we can. However we stay out of other countries unless specifically asked by their government. Then we judge on a case by case basis whether or not to accept their summons."

My team got what I was saying, but Jade and Terra looked a little confused.

"If the President of Iran calls and says he wants help with riot control because his government is being overthrown and he might die, well, I'm not too inclined to help him much." Realization dawned in their eyes. "But if France calls and says the Tower in Paris is falling over. I wouldn't mind lending a hand to help save a historic treasure."

Jade looked at Terra and she shrugged, deferring to the older woman. "Agreed. However, we will not be tools of the government. We're here to help, and are not a hit squad."

"Plus, I have school," added Terra.

Sharon was beaming at me.

General Phillips passed the idea up the chain of command, I wasn't too hopeful for positive results. I knew how the government worked, and if anyone thinks that they're just going to give up a chance to control something 'just because' then they've just grown their Pollyanna pigtails and were skipping their way through beautiful pastures of self-denial.

Jade took the whole team and Terra up to her Starcruiser to put an end to the disbelief once and for all. I believed in alien worlds long before she showed up; her confirming it just strengthened my conviction.

Since I was already up, I finished preparing for the night's patrol. I needed some serious experience out in the field to test the extent of my powers. Doing it under controlled conditions back at the lab was one thing. Making sure I pull my punches enough not to break someone's neck in the heat of battle was another.

As I was giving the Tomahawk a systems check, Jade and the gang returned, and they looked somewhat excited.

Sharon yelled out as soon at the green bubble dissipated. "Courtney, you need to go with Jade and Terra."

I stood from my crouched position. "Not interested in a sight seeing tour, thanks."

She shook her head as she arrived next to me. "No, I mean there's trouble in Great Bend, Kansas. Big trouble."

My eyes darted to Jade as she and Terra closed. "There are reports of a flying woman throwing lightning around like it was going out of style, and another with horns taking most of the hits. We need to move."

I was already prepped. "Can I take my bike?"

She nodded as another green bubble appeared from her ring and encircled us. I climbed on the bike. "Inform the General that we're on our way and to make sure the skies are clear of all commercial and military aircraft in the area." With a nod to Jade, I said, "Let's do this."

Faster than I thought possible we rose through the ceiling and shot off into the sky.

Terra, for once, looked calm again, and a little nervous about the oncoming fight.

"Don't worry. I've seen you in action. You'll do fine," I said.

She looked at me and returned my comment with a soft smile. "I hope so." Another few moments went by. "What do you want us to call you out there."

I shrugged. "They gave me a codename of American Dream, just Dream for short."

Her eyes sparkled with mirth. "It fits."

I tried to change the subject. "Since you two can handle the air, I'll take the ground and make sure the area gets cleared if people are stupid enough to gather below."

The sky was darkening and in the distance I saw it lit up like the fourth of July. "Shit. Maybe you shouldn't go up there. You aren't lightning proof are you?"

She shook her head, but Jade answered. "Lightning can't hurt me. Terra, Dream has serious combat experience. Defer to her, please."

Terra nodded without a second thought. "Okay."

"Climb on back," I said as I scooted up.

When we reached the edge of the storm, Jade dropped us off and took off again in the sky. A few seconds later, Terra was holding me tight around the waist and we were flying down the side road of the highway. Cars were screaming past, going the opposite direction. If I didn't know any better I'd swear that there was a tornado forming and everyone was running for shelter, but the lack of spinning clouds rid me of that thought.

"There!" Terra called. Her left hand pointed in a forty-five degree angle.

I slowed to a more reasonable speed and stopped the bike. Up in the sky, hundreds of feet high, I spotted the green glow of my new teammate and two others. One was wearing a yellow costume and the other a dark color.

Turning around, I said, "I'm getting us right under them, then we do our thing."

She nodded.

I didn't know how much help I'd be in that particular fight, since I was stuck on the ground. However, every offensive line needed support. It was my job at the moment to provide that. I just hoped these kids didn't get themselves killed.

END

Author's note: Thor's next... as if you didn't suspect who was up in the sky shooting lightning-bolts everywhere.

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