Using his night vision binoculars, Tim sat behind a bush watching the police raid a house a couple of blocks away. In fact he was watching the very same house where he had planted a rather large cache of narcotics.

The owner of the house, Katie’s dad, came home and was arrested as soon as he exited his car. Tim, having seen enough to be convinced the man was going to jail for a long, long time, removed the battery from his burn phone, dropped both down a storm drain, and started heading back to the hotel.

Once back at the hotel he knocked gently on the door and go no response. Quietly, he unlocked the door and pushed it just a crack. Inside he could see the little girl asleep. Opening the door the rest of the way, he slipped inside and locked the door. He took the pistol from Katie and pulled the blanket up over her. He sat down on the other bed with his back against the wall, pistol in hand, and fell asleep.

A few hours later he was woken by the sound of a toilet flushing. Quickly, he raised his pistol towards the door. Seeing it was closed he swept across the room to the bathroom door. Looking at the other bed he noticed Katie was no longer in it, and hoped that it was her in the bathroom. A moment later she emerged, still wearing his kevlar vest, which was several sizes too large for her. Smiling, he put the pistol down beside him, and motioned for her to come over. “You don’t need this anymore,” he said as he removed the vest and pulled her into a hug. “You’re safe now.”

“Thank you,” she replied through her tears. For the first time in her life Katie felt a freedom to be herself. She didn’t know how long it would last, or even what would happen when they left the hotel, but here, in this moment, she was free.

“With your father out of the picture, will you be safe at your grandmothers?” asked Tim.

Katie nodded. “I should be. She has always been kind to me. What did you do to my father?”

“It’s best that you don’t know the details, but he’s going to jail for a long time,” replied Tim. “In fact, it’s best if you never mention me to anyone. If anyone ever found out what I did, your father would probably be released from jail.”

“What do I tell my grandma then?” asked Katie.

“Tell her you ran away, and that when you walked past your house, there were police there, so you walked to her house,” he replied. “We need to get going,” he said as the sun was peeking in the window. He quickly changed back into his uniform, packed up his gear, and checked out of the room. Katie gave him directions to her grandmother’s house and he stopped the jeep a couple of streets over.

“I need you to walk from here,” he told her. “If anyone sees us together, it could blow the whole operation.”

“I’m gonna miss you,” she replied as she leaned over and hugged the stuffing out of him.

“I’m gonna miss you too,” he replied, hugging her back. “I’m gonna miss you too.”

“Will I ever see you again?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. It is a small world after all,” he said with a smile.

She giggled at his joke. “I really hope so,” she said. Katie opened the door and got out of the jeep.

Tim sat and watched until she rounded the corner of the block her grandmother lived on, and then headed back for the interstate. As he drove he thought about last night’s mission, and how much he would miss Katie. He had never really been fond of children, but in the short time he knew this girl, she really touched his heart.

Six hours later he arrived in Orlando. He made a quick stop at the post office to pick up packages he had mailed to a box he’d set up when he’d gone to Orlando on leave the year before. From there he went straight to the apartment he had reserved when he got his leave date. A quick tour of the apartment informed him that it would suit his needs for now, and he signed the lease.

Back in his apartment, he quickly locked the door and threw his duffel aside. The place was empty as his furniture had not yet arrived, so he opened his packages. Pulling out some toiletries, he dashed into the bathroom and stripped. He grabbed the Nair out of the pile of toiletries and after reading the directions, applied it to his whole body. When it was time he hopped in the shower and rinsed away all of his body hair. He filled the tub with hot water and added some Epsom salt and lavender bubble bath. He setup his laptop and turned on a playlist of slow songs from the big band era before settling down in the tub.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d soaked in the tub, but he felt refreshed when he got out and toweled off. He looked in the mirror and his heart sank. Staring back at him was a tall, slim man with rock hard muscles from years of training and combat. He had a few battle scars from covert operations he’d been involved in, but nothing that really detracted from his appearance, yet he longed for feminine curves, breasts and hips that would help convince the rest of the world he truly was a woman. His face at least, was rather androgynous. His nose was larger than he wanted, but he didn’t have that manly, square-jaw look that most soldiers did.

His thoughts were interrupted by his stomach rumbling, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten since the diner the day before. He pulled out his droid, and a quick google search later, called out for pizza. While he waited for his pizza to arrive, he went through his packages and found a shiny purple nail polish, which he promptly applied to his toenails. He was startled by a knock at the door just as his toes were finished drying. He jumped up, threw on a robe he’d pulled from his package, and opened the door. It was the pizza guy. Tim paid for his pizza and sat and watched youtube videos while he ate. After dinner he went back to his packages and found a pair of pink panties, a pink nightie, and a pair of white frilly socks. As he pulled on his first pair of panties since he was a teenager, he got such a rush. Once he also had the nightie and socks on, it all felt so right. He knew then that he wasn't crazy, and he didn’t want to keep his secret any more. He climbed in his sleeping bag and slept soundly for the first time in years.

The next morning he was woken by a loud knock on his front door. He jumped up and ran to the door. Looking through the peephole, he recognized the logo on the man’s shirt as the logo of the moving company. “One minute,” he yelled as he scrambled back to the bedroom. He threw his sleeping bag over his girlie stuff, and changed into his male clothes with a speed that would’ve impressed Superman.

It didn’t take long for the movers to unload all of his stuff, as he didn’t have much stuff to unload. A couple basic pieces of furniture, and a few boxes of other assorted stuff is all he owned having been prone to moving often, and traveling light due to his military duties. He quickly double checked that everything had made it and signed for his stuff. He thanked the movers, and they left.

He double checked that his body hair was all gone and decided he was going to try going out en femme. Rummaging through his packages, he found a pink hello kitty t-shirt that reminded him of the one Katie had worn, a denim skirt, and a pair of black mary jane flats. Pulling on the shirt and skirt he went and looked in the mirror. It was all wrong. He didn’t look like a linebacker in a dress as he had feared, but his military style haircut didn’t really help either. Looking around again he found silicone breast forms, a bra, and a wig. After adding the bra and forms he put his shirt back on and checked again. This time he liked what he saw, well, from the neck down anyways. Using the makeup skills he’d been practicing since his teens, he deftly covered any stubble his razor was unable to remove. Going for that natural look, he stuck to neutral shades of lipstick and eyeshadow. He picked up the wig and managed to get it on his head. The long brown wig matched his natural hair color pretty well. He found a pink scrunchie and pulled the wig back into a loose ponytail. He grabbed the maryjanes and slipped them on over the frilly socks he was still wearing from the night before. Once again he stood in front of the mirror, this time he almost liked what he saw. Grabbing his tactical shoulder bag that could pass for a purse, he tossed his pistol in it and headed for his jeep.

Wanting to go somewhere where she wouldn’t be recognized by the people that lived around her, Cassandra headed across town to the University of Central Florida. After she found a place to park she started following the signs towards the student union. As she rounded the corner of one of the building she heard screaming coming from inside. Quickly she went inside and followed the sound through the mostly empty building until she finally found it’s source. Some linebacker looking guy had a frightened young woman pinned against the wall.

“Please, no,” she plead with her attacker.

“I’ll show you what it means to be a real girl, faggot,” the jock replied as he tried to shove his hand down the girl’s pants. Cassandra managed to sneak up behind him and twist him around pinning him against the wall. She adjusted her grip on his forearm to dig her thumb into a very sensitive pressure point.

“If you would like to retain the use of your arm, I suggest you keep it out of other peoples pants,” she growled at him.

“Let me go dammit,” he yelled as he tried to twist out of her grip. Cassandra pressed harder as she twisted his arm farther.

“Any farther, and it’ll snap,” she hissed.

“Okay, Okay, just stop hurting me,” he plead. She let him go and he took off like a scared cat.

“Oh my god thank you,” the scared girl said as she hugged her savior.

“He shouldn’t bother you again. I’m Cassandra by the way,” she replied.

“Zoey,” replied the girl quietly.

To be continued...