Chapter Note: I don't really have any for this one, except I never planned for Hector to have this large of a role. I blame Beyogi. :)

Thanks Note: Again, thanks goes out to Elrod for his most excellent MAU universe and all MAU mistakes/transgressions are totally my fault. I am trying to keep this story as close to the MAU rules as possible, but I am afraid I may end up bending a few. Thanks also go out Beyogi, Landing and Grover for their sometimes real-time feedback and suggestions. Last but not least, djkauf for his magical editing.

<* Chapter 5 *>

Greg felt mildly surprised to find the second garage stall empty when he arrived home.  He had sort of expected Hector to at least play with the device a little while he was away.  Maybe even try experimenting with the fairer sex, but he knew Hector was way too macho to even consider trying something like that.

The smell of Mama Vasquez’s chicken mole drew him directly into the kitchen, wiping all thoughts of using the MAU out of his mind.  Her chicken mole was to die for and wow, was that her homemade corn tortillas he smelled too?  “Yo! Hector! When are we eating?” Greg yelled down the hall, towards Hector’s room.

“Hey dude! Just finishing up doing my sets, be right there.” Hector grunted from the spare bedroom he used as his workout room.

Greg followed the sound of his voice and casually leaned against the open door frame as a shirtless Hector effortlessly lifted what appeared to be 350 lbs, 10 times in rapid succession. “Wow, that’s impressive. Wasn’t that close to your old max?”

“Yeah,” Hector placed the bar in its holder, sat up and grabbed his towel. He wasn’t even sweating. “I did some testing and my new max is probably close to 700 lbs, but I’m not sure since I didn’t wanna try that without a spotter.  You game?”

“Oh, sure...” Greg said, unsure if he could really help Hector if that much weight got out of control.  He watched with bemusement and alarm as Hector piled on the weights until the bar started to bend. Hector easily had 800 lbs on there and there was absolutely no way he could lift that, could he?

Greg stood at Hector’s head and figured the best he could do if the weights fell would be to try and redirect them away from Hector’s head and body.  He anxiously watched as Hector carefully set his hands on the bar and then, with a light grunt lifted the weights off the stand.  Hector, carefully and with more precision and control than Greg expected, lowered the bar to his chest before smoothly raising it back up as he powerfully exhaled.

“Holy shit dude! Was that really 800 lbs!?!?!” Greg’s eyes almost popped out of his head.

Hector simply looked up at him, set the bar back in its holder and said, “Yep.” as he sat back up.  “Okay, you try it Spiderman.”

“What?!?! No fucking way. There is no way that I can lift that! Seriously dude, let’s just eat.”

“No, try it. I’ll spot you.” Hector patiently gestured for Greg to take his place on the bench.

Greg reluctantly lay down on the bench and carefully positioned his hands on the bar. “This isn’t going to work...”

“Just try it. I could have done more, probably lots more, but this is all the weight I have.” Hector looked down at Greg and grinned.

“Fine, I’ll try it, but don’t laugh at me when it doesn’t budge, okay?”

“No problem, but that will just prove Wolverine is better than Spiderman, right?”  Hector chuckled.

“Fuck you, man!” Greg pushed up against the bar and surprisingly, it lifted off the stand as Hector scrambled to hold it in case Greg dropped it.  “Holy shit, I lifted it?!?”

“Yep, now try pressing it.” Hector carefully studied the bar and Greg’s arms to gauge how much his friend might be straining with the weight.  He didn’t want an accident to happen to Greg.

Greg carefully lowered the weight to his chest.  He definitely felt it, but it wasn’t nearly as heavy as he expected. It was close though, but he might be able to max press another 100. “Are you sure you put 800 lbs on the bar?”

Hector simply nodded with his eyes as he kept himself focused on the bar and Greg’s level of control over the weights. Greg exhaled and pressed the bar off his chest with one smooth motion, followed by a second press and a shaky third before he was forced to return the bar to its holder.  “Wow, that’s impressive...” Greg sat up, shaking his arms to get the blood flowing again.

“Si...” A clearly impressed Hector absently responded as he looked around the room to see if maybe he had some additional weights tucked into a corner somewhere.

Greg looked over at his friend and laughed. “So, how was your day, dear?”

The stunned expression on Hector’s face was priceless as his eyes shot back to Greg’s face before he realized his friend was just messing with him. Greg briefly wondered why Hector reacted like that.  It’s not like they haven’t joked with that line with each other before.

“Oh, it was okay.” Hector grabbed his t-shirt and pulled it over his chest. “Had a welding tank get dropped on my foot. Thank god for my new bones and the healing though.” As he took the lead exiting the room, he glanced over his shoulder at Greg. “What about you?”

Greg pretended to dust his fingertips against his shirt. “Oh, nothing much. I just had a lunch date with that girl from HR that I was telling you about and saved her life. Why?”

“What?!?!” Hector abruptly stopped in the middle of the hallway and twisted back around. “Oh, you’re fucking with me, right?”

“Nope, let’s get some of your mama’s chicken and I will tell you all about it, que?”

As they ate, Greg proceeded to tell Hector all about how he got his lunch date with Michelle. He left out the part where he turned into a Black Widow version of Michelle the previous night and played with herself, himself.

“Yep, she clearly liked you before you said she was beautiful. Good move, but what gave you the confidence to talk to her like that?” Hector asked, pretending he didn’t know about Greg’s late night adventure with the opposite sex.

“I dunno, maybe it was my Spiderman powers or something.” Greg looked away in an attempt to keep Hector from seeing him blush.

“Ahh, si, that explains it. It is pretty nice to have these powers, but you claimed you saved her life?”

“Oh yeah, after we had finished eating, my spider sense kicked in. So, I grabbed Michelle and jumped away from our table just before a crazy dude crashed his car through the window, smashing our table.” Greg looked back with a fond smile on his face as he recounted the heroic part of his story.

“Nice, so, did you get her number and are you going to call her tonight?” Hector grinned mischievously. “You know, strike while the iron’s hot and all that?”

“Yes, I got her number...” Greg sighed. “and she asked me to call her tonight, but she has a boyfriend and he looks like an NFL football player. So, I think I will just see how she is doing tomorrow at work.”

Hector’s expression shifted from amusement to fierce determination in a flash. “Give me your phone and her number, now.” He held out his hand expectantly.

Startled, Greg shied away. “No, dude. I told you she has a boyfriend...”

“Don’t care. If a lady asks you to call her, you call her.” Hector crossed his arms over his chest and stared Greg down.

Greg was shocked by Hector’s insistence and after a few seconds, he couldn’t take it any longer. “Fine, I’ll call her, okay?”

“Now, soldier...” Hector all but ordered Greg as he slipped back into Army Sergeant mode.

Greg pushed his chair back and stood. “Okay, okay.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out both his cell phone and Michelle’s card, displaying the card to Hector before he started to punch her number into his phone. “See, okay, it’s ringing now, but she probably won’t answer, hap-”

Greg’s phone stopped ringing and both men easily heard the excited squeal of a woman on the other end causing Greg to hold the phone a few inches from his ear. “Greg! Oh thank god you called! Are you okay? Did jerkwad let you go home early? Are you going to be at work tomorrow?”

Hector gave Greg the thumbs up before he grabbed his plate and casually sauntered off  into the living room to give Greg some privacy.  Greg found himself laughing at Michelle’s rapid fire questions and was touched that she seemed to care.  “Oh, no. I’m fine, but my boss made me stay and yes, I will be at work tomorrow. How about you?”

The two of them had only been on the phone for half an hour before Greg got the best news of the night. He found out that the NFL player on her phone’s wallpaper was her brother, not her boyfriend! Michelle even invited him to a game when the season started this fall. Greg wasn’t sure of what to make of the invitation, but it was definitely a positive sign if she was thinking that far into the future. He really, really liked Michelle, but it was shortly after the news about her brother that she dropped the biggest bomb of them all.

“So, Greg, what are you doing tomorrow night?” Michelle asked with uncharacteristic hesitation.

“Umm, nothing planned, why?”

“Well, I know you read comics and like sci-fi, but I’m not sure if you will be interested. So, if you’re not, no big deal...”

Greg chuckled at her obvious concern, but he knew it probably wouldn’t matter what she asked, he would do it and in a heartbeat if it meant spending more time with her. “Okay, I’ll go.” He shot out while she hesitated.

“What?! I mean, but, you don’t even know what I was going to ask.” A confused Michelle answered.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m sure that it will be fun if you are going and I am with you, but what is it?”

“You’ll probably think it’s kinda dorky, but, umm, it’s the comic convention and I’m going dressed up as Catwoman...”

Greg almost dropped his phone. He could not believe he just heard her say what thought she just said. It was impossible. No, she was impossible. This entire conversion was impossible because there was no way he could be that lucky, was there? Maybe the machine was really an alien Virtual Reality device and he was actually trapped inside of it right this second. If so, he really wanted to stay there.

“Greg? Umm, Greg, hello? Are you still there?”

[beep][beep][beep]

Greg was reminded of the real world by the sound of his heart going into defibrillation and the doctors were trying to revive him or it was his phone telling him his battery was going to die.

“Yes? I mean, yes! I would love to go to the comic convention. We were thinking of going, I mean, Hector and I were thinking about going, but if you’re going, I kind of have to go. If only to see you, umm, I mean, well...”

Michelle’s pleased laughter raced through the air. “Oh, Greg, you really are so sweet.”

[beep][beep][beep]

“Hey, I need to plug my phone in. I can’t believe we have been talking for over an hour already!” Greg sat up and started to head for his room so he could plug his phone in and continue talking.

“Oh my god, really? I need to go...” Michelle said.

“What’s up? I hope I didn’t make you miss dinner or something?”

Michelle giggled. “Oh no, it’s just Scandal night and I need to head over to my parent’s house to watch it with my mom.”

“Scandal? Haven’t heard of it. Is it any good?”

“Really!!?! It’s only the best show on TV! I have the first season on DVD. We should watch it sometime...” Michelle trailed off sounding hopeful.

“That would be great. I’ll have to find out more about the show now.” Greg made a mental note to check it out the first chance he got. It would give him something else to talk to her about.

“See you at work tomorrow?” Michelle sounded a little shy.

“Hehe, yep.”

“Lunch again, but this time not at a drive through?” Michelle giggled delightfully causing Greg to laugh at her.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world...”

“Awesome, see you tomorrow then, Greg and umm, good night. Sweet dreams...” Michelle accented that with what sounded, to Greg’s ears, like kiss.

“Yeah, sweet dreams for you too.” Greg absently replied with a sense of stunned disbelief as he hung up his phone.  He stared at this phone, then glanced over at his closet with the Black Widow costume hidden inside, and back to his phone before he yelled for joy.

“Hell ya! Best day ever! Thank you alien device from heaven!” Greg fell back into his bed with a contented smile permanently etched into his face.

Greg rejoined Hector in the living room and was surprised to discover all of the chicken mole gone. Not only that, but Hector had a loaf of bread on the coffee table and was in the process of making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while he watched some TV.  Greg could have sworn it was a new loaf this morning, but it was more than half gone now.  “Wow, Hector, you hungry a little?”

Hector shrugged his shoulders apologetically. “I guess so; I’m just now starting to feel full.  So, how did your,” Hector glanced over at the wall clock. “Umm, 2 hour talk with your new girlfriend go?”

“Michelle?  She is not my girlfriend dude, but...” Greg plopped down on the couch with a dreamy smile.  “She could be.”

“Okay, spill it.” Hector began his big brother styled interrogation, asking for all the details and began shaking his head with sadness when Greg brought up Michelle asking him about the comic convention. “Dude, you got it bad...”

“Yeah...” Greg smiled contently. “So, do you wanna go now?”

“Yep, but I think I wanna wear a G.I. Joe, Snake Eyes costume, just the costume because I don’t really feel the need to wear a Wolverine costume now that I have his powers. What about you? Spiderman or is Michelle making you think about going as Batman?”

“Maybe?” Greg hesitated as another idea hit him, but he didn’t want to offer it to Michelle without clearing with Hector first. “What do you think about letting Michelle use the machine to make her costume?”

Hector rubbed his chin as he considered Greg’s question. “Hmmm, not sure, didn’t she say she already has a costume?”

“Yeah, but the machine could make it better...” Greg knew Hector had valid reasons to feel cautious over who knew about the machine and he even felt the same way, but it was for Michelle.

“True, but how about if we sleep on it?”

Greg knew he had won because Hector just needed some time to think it over and get used to the idea. So, it was time to move on. “Okay, hey, you wanna play with it tonight?”

Hector dubiously glanced over. “And do what?”

“Well, I was thinking about your skeleton and how hard it would be for you to fly with the TSA going all crazy these days.” Greg paused as he thought of one more thing that could give Hector problems. “And, what about swimming?  With all that weight, you will sink right to the bottom.”

“There is that, but what else could my skeleton and claws be made out of?”

“Well, after I spoke with Renee,” Greg noticed Hector’s unspoken question about who Renee was. “She was a TSA agent for a couple of years, and I did some research about how metal detectors work, yeah Wikipedia!” He happily grinned. “And the Na’vi,” Greg noticed Hector’s lost expression. “You know, the blue chick I was last night.”

Hector nodded. “Yeah, and?”

“Well, their skeletons were made from organic carbon fiber.” Greg leaned back into the couch and looked up to the ceiling as he mulled over the thought.

Hector dubiously raised an eyebrow. “Their make believe skeletons?”

Greg stared at Hector. “And your skeleton is?”

“Point, okay, what are ya thinking?” Hector held up his hands with mock surrender.

“Well, we can’t just make your skeleton non-magnetic. It also has to be non-electrically conductive and probably lighter too, right?” Hector nodded with agreement on the last part, but the rest he decided to trust Greg as he continued with his brainstorming session. “So, maybe we can ask the machine if it can make your skeleton out of a super-strong, non-metallic, non-conductive alien composite material. Maybe something based on carbon nanotubes or something similar?”

“Okaaaay...and what are these carbon nano-things?” Hector hesitantly asked even though he knew that if Greg thought they might be a good idea, then they probably were.

“Oh, they’re cool!  They are just starting to take off, but one of the apps for them is to make a space elevator,” Hector appeared lost. So, Greg decided to explain. “You know, string a super strong cable from the ground and attach it to a giant space station in orbit, then simply run things up and down like a elevator.  It would be way cheaper than using rockets...” Greg noticed Hector’s eyes sort of glazing over. “Umm, TMI?”

Hector smirked and nodded his head. “Yeah, a little, but it sounds like you know what you’re talking about.”

Reassured, Greg turned and walked over to the machine. “Now, for the swimming issue, hmmm...it could make it so you can breathe water in an emergency, add extra buoyancy or both, what do you think?”  He asked, turning back to Hector.

Hector crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side as he thought about it. “I kind of like the ‘both’ option, but how would we add extra buoyancy?”

“Well, I dunno, but let’s get started...” Greg jumped up and headed for the laundry room with Hector reluctantly following in his wake.

~o~O~o~

Hector felt honestly happy for Greg. The poor dude needed a girlfriend in a bad way and from the description of Michelle, she sounded like a winner for him. He thought it was pretty funny how Greg didn’t want to call her, but now that he was talking to her; the dude wouldn’t get off the phone.  Maybe Greg’s experiment with the fairer sex worked out.

Hector frowned as he looked down at his third P&J sandwich. He didn’t understand why he felt so hungry, but maybe he could ask Greg about it later. It might just be his new metabolism and muscles needing more fuel or it could be something bad.  He wasn’t a doctor, but he couldn’t very well go to a doctor right now either.

He almost lost it when heard Greg yell his thanks for the device before he came out of his room with a dreamy, love struck puppy expression on his face. Of course, he had to give him some shit over the length of his call and get all the details.  He didn’t know why he wasn’t surprised when Greg asked him about going to the comic convention in costume and that Michelle was planning on going as Catwoman.  Based on Greg’s earlier description of the lady, he wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if she also enjoyed skydiving and Hector actually felt the minor stirring of something that could almost be jealousy.

Oh, he loved Greg like a brother, but either the woman was full of shit and taking Greg for a ride; in which case it was Hector’s duty to protect Greg from himself, or she was the real deal and in that case it was also Hector’s duty to help Greg however possible so that he could win this woman’s heart.  He wanted to tell Greg that letting her use the MAU for her costume would be fine, but he hesitated because he wasn't sure if they could trust her with this big of a secret.

Greg’s thoughts regarding his new skeleton surprised him for some reason.  Not because Greg wouldn’t have come up with the problem his metal bones might give him, but because he didn’t think of trying to figure out a way to solve it himself. He knew he had to be able to fly commercial, but he mentally kicked himself for not giving the problem a higher priority because he usually had to fly two or three times a year for his job and as an Inactive Ready Reservist, he could also get recalled at anytime.  How would he explain a full metal skeleton to his CO when he couldn’t pass through airport security?  Additionally, the extra 140 lbs would also be pretty damn hard to explain if the Army decided to do the usual physical fitness weight check.

Shit, swimming was an issue he never even considered. He loved swimming because it was a good low impact exercise and he loved fishing and playing in the ocean. What would have happened if was fishing and the boat capsized?  He would have gone straight to the bottom and never came back up. Not even Wolverine’s healing factor would help him if he couldn’t breathe and was stuck 1,000 feet underwater.

Hector watched as Greg carefully set the box down on the floor and touched the symbols on the side, causing the box to expand.  With it expanded, Greg pointed to the red paw print. “Okay, put your hand on it and bring yourself up on it.”

The skeleton problem was easy; he let Greg do all the thinking on that issue. He trusted him, but it took the two of them about 30 minutes to come up with a plan that would allow Hector to float in water while not looking weird.  They thought about anti-gravity devices to make him lighter, but those would just make him lighter, not less dense and thus able to float.  In the end, they decided that a thin layer of a neoprene like substance under the skin of his chest and back that he could inflate and deflate would work best.  It was undetectable when deflated and not half bad when inflated.  A swim shirt might hide the effect.

Once Hector stepped out of the machine, not only did he feel lighter, but when he took off his shirt, inflated his built in lifejacket and struck a bodybuilder pose. “I’m Hanz,” He pointed at Greg and motioned for him to join in on the skit. “And you’re Franz...come on Greg, it was your idea.”

Greg reluctantly joined in. “Und, I am Franz...”

Greg’s accent caused Hector to laugh. “And we are here, to pump! You. Uppppp.” The two of them chorused together, finishing their impromptu skit with high fives and chest bumps.

Hector struggled to contain his laughter. “Oh my god, that was funny...so, what are you going to change?”

Greg leaned against the workbench as he considered the question. “You know, don’t know. I think I am pretty happy as I am. Having your new and improved bones might not suck, but how much did weight did we cut?”

Hector, with Greg following, tested his weight on the bathroom scale and discovered they had shaved off 70 lbs. He was still much heavier than he should be, by about 70 pounds, but if he did fail an Army weigh in, he might be able to convince them it was muscle mass using the alternative tape measure method.

“Well, that’s pretty good, but I think I only want my bones to be reinforced, and I guess an increased healing factor wouldn’t suck either.” Greg smirked mischievously. “I just wouldn’t want your monster bones because Spiderman isn’t a lumbering brute like Wolverine...”

“Ha, ha, ha, not funny.” Hector deadpan laughed. “Okay, your turn.”

They both returned to the garage where Hector tested his claws again to make sure they were still nice and sharp. They still hurt like a son of a bitch, but they were just as sharp and even better, the blades were a dull black color versus the dull silver color of the adamantium stuff.  He was going to need to buy a new breaker bar, or get the machine to make him one.

After Greg finished with his own tweaks, Hector felt restless, but was at a loss for what to do. It was only 8:00pm and it was a Thursday night, but that meant it was lady’s night down at their favorite club and they wouldn’t let the guys in until after 9pm.  “Hey, do you wanna go out or something?”

Greg glanced over at Hector. “Okay, where?”

Hector hesitated before making the suggestion because he wasn’t sure about the idea that was starting to form. “We could go to The Hole in the Wall?”

Greg checked his watch. “Oh, at 9 when it opens for guys? I guess I can do that.”

“No...” Hector struggled with himself to complete his thought because it wasn’t something he had ever considered before this second. “I mean, we could go as girls and well...”

Greg blinked with confusion as he tried process what Hector was saying. “Whoa! You’re not really The He-Man Hector Vasquez.” He looked anxiously around Hector and at the machine. “What did you do with my friend, Mr. Alien?”

Hector felt his face flushing from unaccustomed embarrassment. “I know, but I am kinda curious and I’m thinking it might help me understand women better, or something.” He glanced nervously over at the machine before returning his attention back to Greg. “You know? I mean, I’ll do it, if you do it.”

Greg stepped back and shook his head no. “Oh no, not me and why in the hell do you think you need to understand women better? You have zero problems getting girlfriends!”

Hector took a step back and leaned casually against the workbench. “I know man, but keeping them is the problem. I just don’t understand why they keep wanting to ruin good sex with talks about relationship crap.”

“Ahh, well, I don’t know much about that myself, but I think it would take more than walking a few feet in their shoes before you understood that. Probably an entire year and even then, maybe not.” Greg chuckled.

“Maybe. So, will ya go?” Hector smiled

Greg shook his head back and forth.“No thank you because that would just be too...”

“Gay?” Hector defiantly crossed his arms against his chest daring Greg to agree with him because if he did, he was going to bust him for what he did last night.

Greg paused for a second before he turned to give Hector his full attention. “No, I don’t think it’s gay and I don’t think you thinking about it makes you gay either.” He said with complete sincerity before hesitantly grinning at Hector. “It’s just that, well, I want to bring Michelle, or at least call her and see if she is interested in meeting me there tonight.”

“Okay, so if she doesn’t want to go, then will you?”  Hector surprised himself by his determination to try spying on the enemy camp.  Thinking of it that way made it seem not so weird of an idea.

Greg looked very hesitant about going. “If Michelle doesn’t want to go, then, maybe. Okay? I’m just not comfortable with the idea and I am surprised you even suggested it, Mr. He-Man Vasquez.”

Hector had to agree with Greg. “Yeah, I’m kinda surprised myself, but at the same time, I am kind of curious, you know?”

Greg softly chuckled. “Yeah, I know...”

“Great! You call Michelle and I’ll get changed, okay?” Hector motioned for Greg to leave the garage in an attempt to get the ball rolling before he chickened out himself.  Plus, he kind of wanted to surprise Greg.

“Fine, fine, I’m going...” Greg let himself be pushed back into the house.

With Greg gone, Hector felt a fresh round of hesitation and doubt. Was this idea of his really necessary? Unlike Greg, he never had problems with the ladies, but he had to admit that Greg’s experience last night seemed to help him with the girl at his office.  Maybe a temporary defection to the other side would actually help him understand women better?

“Okay, what do I wanna look like?”  Hector muttered to himself as he placed his hand on the red paw print.

A few of his favorite movie stars and singers flashed on the hologram before he settled back to himself.  With himself as the template, he imagined himself as if he had been born a woman and the image morphed to display an attractive woman who took more after his mom then his dad. She looked more Latino than he did with luxuriously long black hair that fell to her shapely ass.  Her complexion was a perfect light tan color with dark smoky eyes a man could fall into and never escape.  Long slender legs, perfectly tapered waist and an adequate bosom. Hector didn’t really care for super large stripper breasts, so he made her a firm and proud C cup.

Satisfied with how her body looked, he decided she needed some clothes, but he didn’t really know a lot about women’s clothing, just what he thought looked hot and was the easiest to remove.  His female image was instantly clad in a sexy black leather mini-skirt with a slit up on side, no nylons, red four inch heels and a slutty looking black stretch top with hoop earrings complemented by a garish shade of red lipstick on her lips.  “Gross, that’s not going to work. She looks like a hooker. Shit, what can I wear?”

Greg stepped back into the garage. “What was that?”

While Hector didn’t want Greg to see, he was at a loss for what to do.  “Oh, I dunno, maybe this is a dumb idea. I don’t think I want to go now.”

Greg smiled knowingly and nodded. “Lemme see?”

Hector moved to allow Greg to view the image. “Yeah, that’s pretty bad and I don’t really know all that much about women’s clothes myself, but,” Greg touched the paw print and the image’s clothes changed to show Hector’s female self wearing a white, midriff baring top with a pair of faded and distressed jeans complemented a pair of black, three inch wedge heeled, open toed sandals. “How’s that?”

Hector was shocked at both what Greg had done simply by changing his image’s clothes and by the fact he seemed to know what would look good, but not be slutty. Even his image’s makeup appeared to be perfectly matched. “It’s good, but how?”

Greg blushed. “Well, while I was on the phone with Michelle, she’s going to meet me there by the way, I was sort of looking at some pics of Jennifer Lopez because I kind of figured you would go more for this kind of girl and well, this was one of the outfits she was wearing.”

“Oh...okay.” Hector’s mouth suddenly felt dry because he realized he was running out of excuses and now he would be going solo, without a wingman, err, girl.

“Oh yeah, I also told her that my room-mate’s cousin, Jennifer was going to be there. Maybe the two of you could meet up while I wait to get let in?”

“You what?!?” Now Hector was really worried because it felt like he no longer had a way to back out without looking like a chicken.

“Sorry man, it was the first name that popped in my head when she asked me what your cousin’s name was...”  Greg pointed back at his female image. “Oh, don’t forget a purse and some ID.”

Hector took over control and gave his image a small black purse with a driver's license to match his image.  He also added a few of the things he remembered seeing in his ex girlfriend’s purses. Things like a small compact, a tube of whatever color lipstick his image was currently wearing, tampons, cringe, and the standard smart phone for texting, but he didn’t want his purse to be too cluttered at the same time, so he left things alone with that. The idea of ‘his purse’ made him laugh.

He also made sure his female self had all of his male Wolverine enhancements, minus the bulging muscles. He thought his original female self looked pretty damn hot, but the final Wolverine tweak brought her to an entirely new level of hotness. With the bare midriff top showing off her sleek, yet well defined abs, he found himself whistling with appreciation. “Wow, glad I remembered that...” He muttered as he slowly shook his head with wonder.

When he stepped out of the machine, Hector felt mildly surprised to discover he felt like he was still over 6 foot tall, even though he knew that his female self was supposed to only be 5’ 11”.  He laughed at himself when he realized it was because of the heels he was wearing.  He gasped with astonishment and grabbed his throat at the sound of his female laugh. “Oh my god!” The sound of his voice only made things worse. “I mean...” Hector tried to lower the octave of his voice back to its normal deep register. “I mean...mmmm, maa-ma-ma-mmmaaaa...” His voice stubbornly refused to go lower than a tenor. So, he gave up. “That’s weird...” His voice was back to a natural feeling, but still not accustomed to his own ears, Mezzo-Soprano.

Greg simply smirked at him. “What’s weird?”

Hector glanced down at his body and the view of his lightly tanned and perfectly shaped cleavage that prevented him from viewing his exposed midriff without bending a little more forward, added to the feeling of tightly fitted, yet soft and comfortable jeans with his elevated footwear almost caused him to panic. Instead, he gulped and self-consciously crossed his arms against his chest, causing his cleavage to swell even further from the pressure of his arms against the unaccustomed flesh.  “Well, umm, everything...” He glanced back up at Greg.  “How did you do it?”

Greg’s smirk was instantly wiped from his face, replaced by mild panic. “Do what?”

Undeterred now that he had literally, jumped over the gender canyon with both feet. “You know...I heard you last night. This is just so weird. How did you handle it?”  Hector glared at his friend, daring him to contradict him.

Realizing that he had been busted, Greg blushed as he looked at his friend in female form. “Well, umm, it was a little hard at first, but I sort of got used to it and well, since you know, the umm, you know was nice.”

Hector found himself nodding with Greg’s admission because he had to admit that the sex part wouldn’t suck to find out the truth. “Mmm, okay...well, what now?” He found himself shyly glancing around and feeling unsure about what to do now that what seemed like the hardest part was over with.

“Well, ‘Jennifer’, you could drive down the club and then, I will meet you and Michelle down there in a few...” Greg meaningfully gestured toward the front of the garage, hinting for Hector to leave.

Hector took the hint, but left via the front door instead of out the garage like he normally would. “Can ya hide the thing? It would suck to have it go missing now, right?” He turned back to Greg as he politely held the door for him, as if he was a real woman.

Greg nodded. “Sure, that’s a good idea. I’ll hide it in the same place, okay?”

“Sounds good, umm, see you there?” Hector glanced back down at himself and wondered just what in the hell he was thinking with this idea.

“Yep, I’ll be there at nine. Don’t forget. You’re Jennifer now and use the women’s rest room if you have to go, okay?” Greg chuckled as he closed the door behind Hector.

Hector stared at the closed door with shock for a few seconds as he processed Greg’s last bit of advice. “Crap, this is so NOT a good idea...” He shook his head and felt the unaccustomed weight and sway of his long hair against his shoulders and bare lower back.

Determined not to chicken out, he firmly clutched both his purse and his truck’s keys in his hands as he cautiously made his way to his truck wearing high heels. At first, he expected to fall over or twist an ankle in the shoes, but he found himself walking easily in them, almost like he had been wearing high heels is entire life.  Once he pulled himself into the cab of his truck, he found himself needing to adjust the seat a little and the mirrors, but not by a lot.

Finally satisfied with his mirrors, he sighed and began to cautiously back out of the driveway.  Walking in heels was one thing, but driving in them for the first time proved to be a little of a challenge.  He had a harder time judging the position of the gas and the brake pedals. So, for the first few miles and stops, he drove like the girl he appeared to be with jerky starts and stops, but by the time he arrived at the club, his driving was back up to his usual standards.

“Okay, that wasn’t so tough, who says women can’t drive? Not me...”  He laughed at himself with that thought, but it came out sounding more like a giggle with his higher female voice.

Entering the club proved to be an eye opening experience for Hector.  First of all, the bouncer checked him out like he was a tasty menu item, but Hector couldn’t really find fault with his assessment because he felt the same way about himself. He knew he was one hot babe and from the waist up, he was mostly naked. Secondly, the bouncer smiled warmly at him as he let him through the front door without the usual pat down or even an ID check. “Ma’am, welcome to The Hole in the Wall, enjoy.”

Damn, the dude even told him to enjoy himself. That was weird because normally, the same guy would glare at him like he was there to cause or get into trouble. Followed by a rude pat down in an attempt to find a hidden weapon so he could refuse him entrance to the club.

The next surprise was the fact that he wasn’t even charged a cover to enter. Normally, it cost him $10 just to get in the door.  Maybe his wacky, half baked idea to go as a woman to a club’s Lady’s Night wasn’t as crazy of an idea as he originally thought because in addition to the zero cover charge, all the drinks were two for one and even better from his point of view, the club was filled with beautiful women in various states of inebriation. Not a single male in sight. Oh yes, this idea of his might not be as bad as he original thought.

Even though he had been to this same club many, many times in the past, he had no idea where to go or what to do.  Without any guys there to compete and guard against, he felt completely out of his element.  He saw tables filled with women, laughing and having a good time, relaxed in each other’s company like he had never seen before.  He watched women, hot women walk up to other women and greet them with a squeal and a hug that made it sound like they hadn’t seen each other in years. He was about to head to the bar to get one of those drink specials when he felt someone plow into him from behind, followed by a cold, wet sensation splash against his back.

~o~O~o~

The outside of the building appeared to be a slightly rundown temporary staffing agency. The inside even helped sell the outside’s appearance with standard cubicles populated by normal looking office workers.  The only thing that may clue a visitor to the office that something was not right with this staffing agency was the elevator.

For a two story building, the elevator was surprisingly large and modern looking with a proximity card badge reader attached to the control panel.  Using the correct badge on the control panel activated the hidden fingerprint scanner built into the basement level button. If the print matched the print stored in the database, the elevator would drop 100 meters down and into a very secret government facility known only as “The Agency”.

Amongst the hustle and bustle of an agency charged with protecting the United States from the very real alien threat that the Morphic Adaptation Units represented, a man known by his teammates only as Agent C waited outside his boss’s office.  He checked his watch, 1729 hours, he was a minute early for the emergency meeting and he felt mildly curious what had happened now.  Did another unlucky civilian get their hands on a MAU or worse, a foreign country with an axe to grind with the U.S.?

At 1731, the door to his boss’s office opened and the woman known as Agent K poked her head out. “I realize that you like to be precisely on time for everything, but you didn’t have to wait out here. Come on...” She motioned for him to enter her office.

Agent C entered and without a word, sat down in the single chair positioned for him in front of his boss’s desk.  Agent K sat and studied the display built into her desk, but Agent C did not attempt to view it. If he needed to see it, Agent K would make it available. Instead, he bided his time and waited patiently for her to start the conversation.  After approximately three minutes of silence, she interrupted it by sighing heavily and leaning back in her executive office chair.  Next, she reached back and pressed a hidden switch on his desk and a display slowly rose from her desk, facing Agent C.

Agent C studied the screen with a growing sense of alarm and hope because based on what he was reading, it appeared like someone in California may have found a MAU. Thank god Google and the Patriot Act made it so easy to get search results.  The FBI loved using Google to find domestic terrorists searching for bomb making instructions. He was a little worried about the future though because the new Collective search engine was beginning to steal some market share from Google and The Collective was not as willing to divulge its users search history.

However; that was a problem for the future because if what he saw here was correct; there may be a working MAU, but it was impossible to say at this stage in what was sure to become an active investigation by the Agency.

“So, what do you think?” She asked.

He glanced away from the screen. “According to the date/timestamp on these search requests, it appears that we may have an active event.”

Agent K nodded with agreement. “Yes, or it could be another of those two bit science fiction writers coming up with a new story to amuse themselves with.”

“Possibly ma’am, but this person was very specific with their search criteria and based on the time spent on each of the resulting URL’s in addition to the URL’s they spent the most time reading for more information, I think we have to follow our active event protocol.”

“I agree, but who should we send? Normally, I would send you and Agent D, but we have a reliable report of an active MAU in China and I will need both of you for that one. I am even concerned that the results of your mission could very well require me to brief the first President in over 40 years about the threat these devices represent to our country and the world.”

Agent C started to sweat with that revelation. The last time that had occurred, the start of World War III almost happened, but the world knew it simply as The Cuban Missile Crisis. The world thought the U.S. called the military blockade a quarantine for legal reasons, but Agent C knew that it really was a quarantine due to the alien device under Castro’s control.

It was very fortunate that the working MAU Castro got his hands on stopped working before his people were able to put it to use because there is no telling what kind of weapons that man would have been able to dream up.  It was also fortunate the Soviets didn’t hear about the MAU either, but he still wondered if the man the world knew as Fidel Castro was really born Fidel Castro.  His girlfriend at the time was said to have committed suicide.

Agent C sighed as he debated making his suggestion. “Agent L and Agent P, ma’am.”

“Interesting choices there, Agent C. What makes you think Agent L can be trusted and Agent P is ready for her first mission?”

“It’s been six months and Agent L has been a reliable investigator.  He knows he is under suspicion and it’s bad for his morale. Agent P is fresh from her training and needs some field experience. Plus, since many of the victims have switched genders, she may be able to gain their trust sooner.”

“I see.” Agent K nodded her head with agreement. “Okay. I will assign Agent L and Agent P to the California case.  Their plane will leave at 2200 hours tonight. Let the two of them know, please.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

~o~O~o~