Chapter Note: This won't be the final chapter either. Sigh... I'm not even going to try promising that ch 16 will be the final, but it should be. Unless, I decide there needs to be some sort of shoot out finale. :-P

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.

Hector marveled at the woman sitting across from him.  Even bone tired, he thought that Michelle looked extremely beautiful as she maintained a cheerfully optimistic attitude over their chances of finding the MAU. He was still a little unsure about how she and Sadie’s relationship might work out or how it could even work if Greg became stuck as a female Decepticon, but perhaps their strange Avatar link would help pull the pair together.  He found the soul mate or life mate concept overly romantic, but he couldn’t help feel a little jealous as he wondered if Natalie might have been the one for him.  He certainly thought he had felt a connection to her that he had never felt to another woman before..

He glanced out the restaurant’s window and studied the other half of the equation, Arcee or Sadie in her Autobot motorcycle form. On one hand, he felt stunned by the fact that “his” motorcycle was really an Autobot who could also turn herself into a perfectly normal looking and beautiful woman, but at the same time, he still had problems figuring out how to think of Greg while in this form.

What if Greg did get stuck? For their sakes, he hoped Michelle was right, they would find the MAU, Greg could change back and it would soon become a story they would all laugh about in the years ahead.  If not, he worried about his friend and perhaps he was projecting his concern because he couldn’t help thinking that Arcee appeared a little depressed. He didn’t see how a motorcycle could “look” anything other than fast or dangerous, but she certainly looked depressed to him.

Maybe her handlebars were drooping a little?  He wasn’t sure, but he wished she had been able to join them inside. He felt like he was abandoning his friend and making her wait outside like a simple vehicle or pet dog, but she couldn’t change back into her Sadie form. There were too many witnesses. If she could have changed, could she have eaten? Probably not, but she would have still been able to join her friends instead of being left out in the cold.

“Any word from Wheelie?” Michelle spoke out loud while also speaking to Arcee via their BlueTooth link before a yawn escaped her. “Sorry...” She grinned sheepishly.

Arcee chuckled nervously. {“Not yet, but I’m still getting a signal from him. So, I suspect he’s still trying.”}

Hector noticed that Greg’s voice had changed to match Sadie’s female voice. It surprised him because up until now, every time Greg spoke over their comm link, he sounded like his old male self.  Was something wrong?

“Good.  The coffee is helping, but the food is making me sleepy...” Michelle stifled another yawn before she turned to smile and covertly wave at Arcee.

Arcee hesitated for a few seconds and Hector thought it looked like she had perked up a little. {“We probably won’t hear anything for a few hours, at least. You two should check into a hotel or something and get some sleep.”}

Hector nodded with agreement even though he really wanted to tear the place apart and find the container, but even he needed some sleep. “Good idea, but what about you?”

{“I don’t need to sleep. I’m a robot now. Ya know, Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto!”} Arcee tried to joke about her situation, but Hector had known Greg for far too long to buy into his tough guy act. Greg/Arcee/Sadie was worried.

Hector’s eyes briefly flared with alarm when an exotic looking red and black motorcycle carrying a man wearing a tight, race styled leather jacket with a matching helmet parked his bike next to Arcee, sharing the same parking spot. 

He whistled with appreciation and jealousy as he recognized the make and model of the bike. “Oh, nice. An Aprilia RSV4! Dude, I hope you can copy it...”

“I dunno Hector; I kinda liked Arcee better when she was the pretty red bike.” Michelle giggled as Hector turned to her with a pained expression.

He started to automatically correct her, but Michelle reached over and patted Hector’s hand. “You’re so easy!  I know, I know, a Ducati.”  She mischievously stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to watch the rider of the Aprilia.

Hector turned back to watched the Aprilia rider as he removed his helmet and took a few seconds to study Arcee. The man did a double take as his eyes passed over Arcee’s gauges. Hector wasn’t sure what caught his attention, but if he had to guess; it was probably Arcee’s Autobot symbol on the top of the triple clamp.  The rider glanced up and spotted both Hector and Michelle watching him.  He nodded his head once with acknowledgement and mouthed, “Nice...” before he walked into the restaurant carrying his helmet under his arm. 

With their stomachs full, Hector and Michelle decided it was time to leave.  As they exited the restaurant, he spotted the Aprilia rider standing in order line; The two exchanged polite and respectful nods. Reunited with Arcee, Hector admired the exotic lines of Aprilia for a few seconds before he donned his helmet and mounted Arcee. Once settled on the bike, Michelle joined him.

“You scanned it, right?” Hector glanced enviously back to the RSV4.

{“Yep, but Hector, huunnney, am I not good enough for you anymore?”} Arcee giggled, giving away the fact she wasn’t serious.

Michelle joined Arcee. “Careful Hector, your motorcycle appears to be a tad more ‘high maintenance’ than I think you expected.”

“Ha Ha Ha, very funny you two...” Hector paused and sighed. “But, it was a nice looking bike.”

Hector enjoyed riding Arcee, once he got over the weirdness factor of riding a sentient motorcycle who also happened to be his best friend. Arcee was incredibly fun to ride and it felt like she had limitless power to tap.  He was ashamed to admit it, but he wasn’t sure if he would enjoy riding his real motorcycle anymore. Arcee was just so much better.

As he guided Arcee onto the street, she interrupted his thoughts. {“We should find a hotel for you two while we wait. A few Z’s couldn’t hurt.”}

Hector held back a yawn. “Sure, I am pretty tired, but we need to find a place that you can transform back into Sadie so you and Michelle can share a room.”

{“I’d like that, but that could be a little hard.”}  Arcee sounded dubious.

“I saw a hotel with some first floor rooms back near the harbor. Maybe Ar- I mean, Greg could pull into the room and change there?” Michelle gestured back down the road heading toward the harbor.

Hector nodded with agreement. “Sounds like a plan. It’s a good thing we got some cash from the warehouse. If the Feds are watching, using a credit card would be a dead giveaway of our location.”

It only took a few minutes to reach the hotel and as they approached it, he was a little concerned about how they could sneak Arcee past the front desk because from a distance, it looked like a modern hotel.  Instead, it was a mutant blend of old school box motel with exterior room doors connected to a modern centralized multi-story hotel complex.

Hector parked Arcee on the sidewalk, next to the bicycle rack to the side of the front doors. He and Michelle entered the hotel lobby side-by-side. The front desk clerk’s initial smile and polite greeting briefly turned into a frown as Hector specifically requested a pair of first floor rooms in the older, motel section of the complex.  Perhaps the hour was too early for guests to try and check in, or the woman thought Hector and Michelle were there to knock boots.

“I’m sorry sir, but I...” She faltered as Hector fixed her with a practiced impatient stare honed by his years in the Army dealing with subordinate soldiers and idiot civilian contractors. She nervously licked her lips. “Sorry, I need to get my manager. I’m, umm, not sure if we have any of those rooms available right now.”

It was a bullshit excuse and they both knew it, but Hector decided not to push the poor woman. She was probably acting according to orders since it was somewhat unusual for a man and a woman to arrive at a hotel on a motorcycle with no baggage and request a room.  He did request two rooms, but that didn’t seem to register with the woman.

To the relief of the front desk clerk, her manager quickly arrived with a practiced, fake smile on his lips. “I’m sorry sir and ma’am.” He nodded to Michelle. “But, what seems to be the problem?”

Hector calmly pulled out a few $100’s from his wallet. “It’s been a long night and the two of us would like to get some shut-eye. My sister-in-law and I need a couple of rooms for a day or two, preferably on the first floor so I can park my bike outside the door and keep an eye on it. Do you have any available?” He smiled as the manager’s eyes darted from Hector to Michelle and finally back down to the cash in Hector’s hand.

The manager replaced the beleaguered clerk and punched in a few commands into the computer terminal behind the desk. “Hmmm, yes, it does appear that we have pair of rooms available.” He looked up and smugly smiled. “I assume you will want neighboring rooms for your, umm, sister?”

Hector wanted to reach over and punch the man’s smug little smile off his face, but he held himself back. He felt a measure of satisfaction when the man blanched and glanced back down to his screen instead of meeting Hectors’ eyes. “Yes, that would be perfect, thank you.”

{“What an asshole...”} Arcee noted over their link as the manager handed Hector a pair of room keys.

With Hector watching to make sure the coast was clear, Greg snuck into Michelle’s room and immediately transformed back into his Sadie Pretender form. Except for her blonde hair and blue highlights, he looked exactly like Scarlett in her armored uniform.

Hector shook his head with amazement. “Okay, I’m going to get some rack time. Wake me up if ya need me.”

“Night Hector.” Michelle stood on her tippy toes and gave him a sisterly kiss on his cheek before he left the room and Michelle locked the door behind him. 

Despite feeling grateful to Hector, Greg felt no such compulsion to give his friend a kiss or any sort of hug.

Michelle yawned again. “Oh man, I’m beat. I’m going to grab a shower.” She gave Greg a quick kiss before she sat down on the foot of the single queen sized bed and mechanically removed her clothes without a appearing the least bit concerned by Greg’s presence in the room.

Greg wasn’t sure what to do. Should he cover his eyes or turn around to give her some privacy or did Michelle even care if he saw her? 

Michelle glanced innocently up to Greg as she pulled off the last of her clothes. “Whatcha thinking?”

“Umm, I’m not sure?” Greg blushed and glanced away, towards the bathroom and caught sight of himself in the mirror over the sink.

Michelle smirked at Greg as she calmly stood and lightly kissed him on his lips before she turned away from him. He was at a loss for how to respond as he slowly lifted his hand to touch his lips to confirm to himself what just happened.

He glanced back up as Michelle stopped and coyly glancing back over her shoulder at Greg. “Are you going to join me?”

“Umm, I might rust?” Greg mentally kicked himself for thinking of such a lame sounding excuse because when the woman you love asks you to join her in the shower; you’re not supposed to say no.

Michelle pouted a little before turning back and commandeering the shower. At a loss for what to do, Greg decided to hang outside of the bathroom. Michelle asked for a washcloth and he was happy to oblige. Since he now looked like a woman, he felt a little unsure how to act. If he was still himself, he wouldn’t have thought twice about jumping into the shower with her, but now, he simply didn’t know what to do.

After asking for a towel and drying off, Michelle further flabbergasted Greg when she casually exited the bathroom and proudly sauntered past him, leaving the towel behind. She looked stunning and he enjoyed watching her.

“My god Michelle, you’re so...” He paused, lost for words to describe his confusing mix of feelings. He felt lust and envy for her beauty and pride that she was his, mixed with a little dose of fear on the outer edges. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, he still felt afraid that she might not reciprocate his feelings for her.

She stopped and glanced fetchingly over her shoulder at him. “Yes?”

“Well, stunning is the only word I can think of right now and I don’t deserve you...” Greg glanced away, ashamed by his admission.

Michelle frowned momentarily before she climbed under the covers and calmly patted the bed to signal Greg to join her. 

Since Michelle was naked, Greg deactivated his Scarlett body armor and feeling extremely exposed, stood naked before Michelle. He knew he wasn’t really naked because his skin wasn’t real, but it certainly looked and felt like it. 

Michelle gasped with astonishment. “Meeeow...You’re beautiful!”

Greg glanced down at his body. “I am?”

“Yes!”  Michelle growled possessively. “Aaannnd, you’re mine and don’t you ever think that nasty thought again, got it?”

Greg gulped and nodded.

Michelle grinned with satisfaction and pointed to her side. “Now get in here ya beautiful hunk of metal and hold me.”

After double checking his compensators to keep from breaking the bed with his weight, Greg happily obliged her request. Michelle giggled lightly as he gingerly worked his way into the bed. She held out her hand and pulled herself closer to him. She hesitantly touched the skin on his stomach and pressed lightly. “Warm and soft, but underneath, you’re so hard. I wonder...”

Her hand traveled up and touched one of Greg’s breasts, sending tiny shocks through his body as his power plant momentarily spiked. She smiled at his reaction. “Oh, that’s a good sign. Your breasts feel a little firm, but otherwise, they feel good to me.”

Michelle leaned forward and kissed him gently on his lips. “Very nice, I could get addicted to kissing those lips...”

Greg felt his power plant’s output fluctuate again. His biggest worry was whether or not she would still love and find him attractive if he became stuck in his current form. It seemed like she might as she affectionately kissed him a second time and he returned her kiss. Their shared kiss lingered for a few seconds before Michelle reluctantly pulled away and stared into his face with an expression that seemed to say that she liked what she saw.

“Yes, that was very, very nice, but-” Michelle yawned and hastily brought her hand up to cover her yawn. “Sorry, I would love to explore those lips,” She glanced down at his body. “And the rest of you some more, but I’m crashing here...” She lay down and with a pleased smile, motioned for him to join her. She quickly snuggled herself against him and sighed with satisfaction when he hugged her to his body.

Michelle further surprised him when she started purring like a cat as she slowly relaxed in his arms before drifting off to sleep.  Greg thought she looked so beautiful and he felt his eyes begin to lubricate themselves.  He loved her so much and worried about their future together if he was unable to change back.

It seemed like she was capable of loving him, but would their love survive?  How could Michelle love a machine and if he was a machine, was it possible for him to love her? He thought he loved her, but were his emotions real? Could a machine love a person or was the love he thought he felt just a simulation running as a background process in his central processor? What if it stopped running or he decided to terminate the process?  He was too afraid to check and if things went according to plan, it wouldn’t matter in a few hours.

He clung to that hope as he lightly kissed Michelle on her forehead and relaxed as much as he could without putting too much weight on her body or the bed.  Greg closed his eyes and configured his hibernation mode to wake him up if Michelle woke, someone tried to enter the room, Wheelie contacted him or 12 noon, whichever came first.  Satisfied with his alert settings, Greg activated Arcee’s hibernation mode.

Wheelie felt so proud of his humans and recently elevated Decepticon master.  They all trusted and were counting on him to find the MAU for them.  He couldn’t let them down, but he wasn’t sure what to think of his Autobot/Decepticon boss though. Even though he knew that she was once just a meatbag and Bossman Greg, she kind of scared him because a Decepticon Pretender was seriously dangerous.  She was also a babe and as the only Autobot/Decepticon in existence, he felt he had a chance to win her affection.

He cackled gleefully at the thought of her sharing code with him. With her superior code, he could upgrade himself into a more advanced Decepticon form. Maybe even a full sized vehicle instead of a toy truck. The possibility caused him to pause and stare dreamily ahead as he considered the idea. Oh yeah, she was perfection in any form and he would be willing to do anything to spend a little alone time with her. All he had to do was not fail.

Easier said than done and Decepticon’s were not known for their tolerance of failure, but he felt some hope for his continued existence by the confusing fact that she was also an Autobot. Not that an Autobot wasn’t dangerous. Far from it, but he knew he could count on an Autobot to not punish him too much if he failed. Autobots had too much honor, integrity and love for the meatbags to even consider punishing him, but Sadie was also a Decepticon and Wheelie feared what Sadie might do to him if he failed because a Decepticon wouldn’t hesitate to end his existence if they felt he served no useful purpose.

If all else failed, maybe her meatbag origin would cause her to show him some mercy?

“Best not think about that Wheelie...” He muttered to himself as he rolled around the yard, looking for the container while working to stay out of sight of the meatbags lumbering around the yard in their dumb behemoth lifting machines.  Part of him lamented that he didn’t have a piece of the AllSpark with him. He would love to use it to create a few more Decepticons out of the dumb machines here.  He would then be their master and as such, he could use them to finish his search even faster and even Sadie would be forced to bow to him.

Oh yes, it would be glorious to finally be treated with the respect he deserved! Although, he had to admit, his humans were pretty nice to him. Perhaps, he would spare them. 

“Holy shit! How in the hell did an R/C monster truck get in here?” A male human‘s voice broke Wheelie out of his thoughts.  The large and brutish looking meatbag wearing a hardhat, fluorescent safety vest, stained jeans and much abused, heavy duty work boots stood over him.  The man glanced around the yard. “It sure looks expensive, but I wonder which joker is controlling this thing?”

Wheelie didn’t know what to do. His orders were to remain undetected, but he knew if he transformed and blasted the meatbag; it would only make things worse.  The primitive meatbag thought him to be a simple toy truck.  He decided to remain in vehicle mode and see what happened.

The meatbag picked him up and inspected him. “Nice...this isn’t one of those cheap R/C trucks I’ve seen at the mall. Who ever lost it is going to want it back. Maybe they will even give me a finder’s fee. Hehe.” The meatbag laughed as he carried Wheelie back toward his lifting machine.

Wheelie felt a slight bit of generosity in his core for the primitive human vehicle operator. The man did say he was nice and admired his superior construction. The meatbag climbed up to the cab and after a moment’s hesitation from studying the obviously cramped interior of the vehicle, the human, decided to set Wheelie on the small steel deck that surrounded the vehicle’s cabin.  Next, the meatbag used a silly rubberized cord to secure Wheelie to the deck before he returned to the interior of his cabin and resumed his work by driving around the yard. 

Wheelie quickly cut the cheap rubber cord and he was about to make good on his escape when he noticed that the view from up here made it much easier for him to accomplish his mission. Plus, the meatbag appeared to be heading toward one of the yards he had not been able to search yet. Yes, he would let the meatbag and his dumb machine aid him with his mission.

His plan was going well until the meatbag decided to take an authorized work break to refill his inefficient gullet with simple carbohydrates.  The human was fortunate that his orders were to remain undetected; else he would have forced the human to continue driving him around.  Anticipating the meat bag’s actions, Wheelie hid under the cabin.

“Well, shit. The damn thing must’ve fallen off...” The human picked up the cut cord. “Damn cheap ass bungee cord.  Fuck, oh well. Time for lunch.”

Wheelie debated continuing his search, but due to activity in the yard and the lack of concealment due to the daylight, he doubted he would remain undetected for very long.  His best bet would be to remain with the dumb vehicle and let the human continue to drive him around.  He reluctantly decided to notify Sadie of his status.  He knew she would be unhappy with his results, but she seemed perceptive enough to realize he was working diligently to find the missing container and it wasn’t his fault he had failed to spot the container.  She might not render him nonoperational.

{“Hello, Boss Lady. This is your humble servant, Wheelie reporting.”}  Just in case she was in a foul mood, he decided to lay it on thick.

{“Wheelie, have you found it?”} Her voice instantly replied. She sounded more anxious than mad at him.

Wheelie felt that her response was a good sign. {“Sorry Boss, not yet, but I have commandeered a human vehicle and its unwitting operator to aid me with my search. I have searched the other part of the yard.” He uploaded the search results to her system. “But the human took a lunch break and the conditions make it risky for me to continue the search on my own.”}

Sadie paused for a millisecond as her system performed a scan of the data and electronically acknowledged his results. {“Excellent work Wheelie. I knew we could count on you and as much as I would have liked to hear you tell me you found it, I am glad you are on the job. If anyone can find it, it will be you!”}

Wheelie was beside himself with joy. He now understood how lucky he was to have her as his commander because a normal Decepticon would have been less than understanding with his lack of results. {“Thank you Sadie Prime. I won’t let you down. I WILL find your shipping container!”}

{“What did-”} Sadie gasped before Wheelie closed the communications link on her. His misidentification of her as a Prime had the desired effect and he hoped she would be even less likely to punish him if he failed.

He spotted another dumb lift vehicle and its human operator driving towards the section of the yard he had not been able to search yet. For Sadie Prime, he decided to take the risk.

He jumped down and transformed into vehicle mode in mid-air. As soon as his wheels touched the ground he raced towards the rear of the vehicle.  He jumped and climbed aboard, hiding below the deck and raised cab of the lift vehicle to remain undetected by the meatbag operator inside.

At precisely 12 noon, Greg instantly became aware of his surroundings again. If not for his internal clock, he would’ve never known he had “slept”. Michelle still dreamed peacefully in his arms and he took comfort from that fact. A quick system check confirmed Wheelie was still operational, but the fact that Wheelie had not reported in meant he had not found the container and that worried Greg, a lot.

He wasn’t sure what to do. Should he go back into hibernation mode just to keep himself from worrying or get up and try to do something?  A ping from Wheelie gave him hope.

Unfortunately, Wheelie’s report was less than encouraging, yet at the same time, Greg couldn’t fault him for not finding it, yet.  The little guy had been very resourceful and managed to search the other yard. Thus, narrowing the search down to one remaining shippingcontainer. Well, unless their container had been moved to another yard behind Wheelie’s back.

Greg was unsure how to handle being called a Prime by Wheelie. He was pretty sure Wheelie knew he wasn’t a Prime and was trying to suck up to him, but at the same time; it did feel kind of nice.  Yes, Wheelie’s personality was a little annoying at times and Greg realized he made the scrappy little Decepticon too much like the one in the movie, but at the same time, he kind of liked him and was glad he made him.  Wheelie was certainly helping out more than he ever expected when he made him  clean Hector’s truck.

Now he was awake, not that he was really asleep, and he couldn’t bring himself to entering hibernation mode again.  Greg carefully and regretfully disentangled himself from Michelle. She mumbled and whimpered a little, but smiled and calmed down when Greg gently tucked her in and gave her another light kiss on the cheek.

He felt at a loss for something to do. Normally, he would take a shower or maybe grab a bite to eat, but he didn’t need to do either now. He could eat, but there wasn’t a need and the ability was only built in to help maintain his Pretender-bot disguise.

Greg decided to do something he had yet to do, simply look in the mirror and study his changed reflection. His reflection caused a lot of conflicting emotions at his core. Pride, lust, fear, amazement and curiosity. He wasn’t sure what to think.

On one hand, he thought he looked pretty damn, well, pretty. More than pretty actually because he knew his female Decepticon body was perfect in every way and he felt a little bit of pride. Until Michelle had touched him, he had never felt his ‘skin’, or whatever it was, and he marveled at how real it felt. Hell, just the fact he could feel it amazed him.  He hesitantly reached up and pressed a finger into his right breast.

Yikes! He hissed with surprise and let go.

It felt real to him, except his breast tissue, or whatever it was made from, hit a hard stop about one inch in, but it took more force than a normal human fondling a woman’s breast would use.  He pinched his butt, it felt real, but he hit a hard stop after about only half an inch when pressed hard.

“Hmmph, less padding back there...” He muttered.  The skin covering the rest of this body gave even less before hitting a hard stop. Unless someone squeezed super hard and were paying attention, he guessed they would never know his body wasn’t real.

Greg leaned forward and studied his face in the mirror and he didn’t see any of his male self in his reflection.  He only saw a naked woman objectively studying herself in the mirror and liking what she saw.  He liked how he looked, but felt confused by the realization at the same time. Guys aren’t supposed to feel “beautiful” or “pretty”. Handsome or macho, yes, but pretty, never. 

“I guess it wouldn’t suck that bad...” He softly whispered as he considered what it would be like to be stuck as a girl, correction, a woman and a pretty damn hot one too, a certifiable robo-babe.

He smiled.

Greg knew his skin was fake and he could deactivate it. “I wonder...” With that thought, he deactivated his skin and gasped as it appeared to turn into sand and absorb into his body, revealing the unmistakable shape of a robot woman underneath.  Instead of being stick like and full of sharp edges like the Alice Decepticon, his robot form looked like a woman with a exoskeleton instead of skin, but with sharp muscle definition artfully merged with unmistakably feminine curves, and bright metal skin.

Tiny seams ran between her muscles and Greg realized that was how his body “broke” apart to expand into Arcee mode. Unlike his Arcee form, her eyes glowed Decepticon red instead of Autobot blue.  Greg wasn’t sure why his eyes had to look so evil because she had glowing blue eyes in the movie, but maybe he subconsciously decided that her eyes needed be red. It didn’t matter too much since he didn’t plan on walking around without his skin active and when active, his eyes did not glow. Well, no one had mentioned it to him if they did and he hadn’t noticed.

He reactivated his skin and, once again, the “sand” coalesced around his body. After only a few seconds, he looked human again. He double checked his face in the mirror. Nope, his blue human eyes didn’t have a reddish glow.

Greg stepped back a few feet and viewed more of his female body. Yes, he thought his new body was exceptionally attractive and he decided that things could be worse.  He could be trapped as a Na’vi. He shuddered with fear at that thought because there would be no way he could lead a normal life. There is no amount of makeup that could disguise a nine to ten foot tall blue skinned alien.

He glanced back to the bed and counted his blessings. His earlier doubts seemed kind of silly to him now. Michelle truly loved him and she loved him for who he was, not what he was.  He didn’t know what he would do without her and their link. She was his soul mate and his reason to not do something stupid, like try killing himself. The sappy ‘she was his rock’ sounded so trite, yet had never felt more true to him.

He wanted to talk to Hector and hear what he thought about what he should do because he could always count on him to cut through the bullshit and tell him how it was. Unfortunately, he didn’t have anything to wear.  He grinned at his stereotypical female thought, but walking out nude or wearing Scarlett’s body armor would be very ‘distinctive’.  The only other outfit Sadie had stored was the slinky summer dress and high heels Alice wore in the movie. 

“Well, it’s not like I have a choice...” He softly muttered to himself, closed his eyes and activated the dress pattern. He felt himself grow by three inches as heeled sandals formed on his feet and the sensation of wearing a dress left him feeling both covered, yet somehow more exposed than when he was nude.

Now his reflection in mirror caused Greg all kinds of mixed emotions. There was no getting around the ultra-feminine clothes he was now wearing.  Guys wore body armor and as Scarlett he could kind of rationalize the sexy body armor, but guys never wore a summer dress with high heels and they certainly did not look good while doing it. 

Thank god Hector’s room was next door because he wasn’t sure if he could be seen in public dressed like this.  He knew that every male eye would be drawn to him as each man began to imagine what the hot chick looked like without a dress on. If that wasn’t bad enough, he would also have half of the women pissed at him for flaunting herself in front of their husbands or boyfriends.

His first step in high heels surprised him because he didn’t trip or fall over. Instead, he found walking in them a breeze and by the time he reached the side of the bed, he didn’t notice any difference. Even so, the first chance he got, he was going to scan in some additional outfits.

Greg leaned over and gently shook Michelle. “Michelle, I’m going to check in with Hector. I’ll be right back.”

“Mmmm, okay...” Michelle smiled dreamily as Greg kissed her. She fell back to sleep before he reached to door.

Stepping out of the room was an adventure all by itself.  Greg was so nervous about how short his skirt was and how much of his legs were showing that he ran into and almost knocked down a 40 something man in an expensive business suit.  It was only Greg’s quick reactions that allowed him to grab onto and prevent the man from landing on his butt. 

The man appeared a little stunned by how easily he was almost knocked down by a woman who looked like she weighed 50 to 70 pounds less than he did and by how easily she held him up, preventing him from falling.  Greg thought the man looked like a CEO with a trim, well muscled body and a full head of thick, dark brown hair with only a few signs of grey.

As Greg accidently appraised the businessman, the man also appraised Greg.  He briefly glanced down to Greg’s heel clad feet and smooth, shapely legs before raising his eyes and smiling with appreciation as he focused politely on Greg’s face. “I’m sorry, umm, miss. I wasn’t watching where I was going. Completely my fault.”

Greg thought about chewing the man out for virtually undressing him with his eyes, but he realized a part of him actually liked the attention and the entire situation confused him even more because guys never acted so politely to each other. Another guy was more likely to call the other a bad name or worse. “Oh, no. It was my fault sir. I wasn’t paying attention and I just rushed out of my room instead of stopping and looking both ways before crossing the street.”

The businessman chuckled and smiled warmly at Greg before glancing at his expensive looking wrist watch, over to the main hotel and back to Greg followed by nervously running his fingers through his hair. “Hey, umm, I’m going to grab a quick bite and a coffee before I head off to my afternoon meeting with a customer. I’d be happy to buy you a cup or treat you to some lunch as an apology.”

Now Greg was really shocked and he wasn’t sure know how to handle such a proposal. The cynical side of him knew what the man ultimately wanted, but he seemed to be genuinely nice and Greg didn’t want to be rude to him. “Ahh, thanks sir, but, ummm, I was just going to try waking up my boyfriend.” He gestured over his shoulder to Hector’s door. “And, well, umm, you know?” He stammered to an embarrassed halt.

The businessman chuckled and nodded his head as if he expected Greg’s answer. “Of course and it’s fine. I’m very sorry about putting you on the spot like that. If you change your mind, I’ll be there; no strings attached” He smiled and gestured back toward the main hotel complex before turning to resume his journey.

“Thanks...” Greg found himself timidly waving goodbye. It felt very strange to get hit on by some random stranger, but the guy was nice about it. His biggest surprise was the revelation that he wasn’t pissed at the man. He had never had another man hit on him and he had a few openly gay classmates in college, but they had never hit on him and he never gave the possibility much thought.  He wasn’t sure how he would have reacted back then. Part of him worried that he would have reacted violently or been horribly repulsed by the suggestion because that how “normal” heterosexual men were supposed to react.

At least, that is what he heard, but now he hoped he would have treated an unwanted advance a little more graciously and as a compliment because he realized he felt a little flattered by the man’s attentions. He turned and quickly glanced over his shoulder at the retreating businessman, who just happened to be sneaking a glance back over his shoulder at the same time. They were both busted, causing Greg to smile as he waved at the man before turning back around to hide how embarrassed he felt.

Greg impatiently knocked on Hector’s door. He didn’t want any more surprise encounters, but Hector wasn’t answering his door. After a few, excruciatingly long seconds without a response, he knocked a little harder.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m coming...hold on.” Hector grumpily muttered from the other side of the door.

Greg anxiously glanced back toward the hotel to see if the businessman was still trying to sneak a peek at him. He wasn’t and Greg turned back to face the door as he heard Hector fumbling with the door chain.

Hector cracked open the door and his eyes widened with surprise as he caught sight of Greg. From what he could see, it was obvious Hector wasn’t wearing a shirt and he might not have been wearing pants either.  “Sadie? I mean, umm, Greg. Hold on, lemme get some pants and a shirt.”

Hector closed the door and after a few seconds re-opened it to let Greg into his room.  “You didn’t have to get completely dressed ya know?  I’m still me...” Greg realized that wasn’t actually correct because he wasn’t and he probably would have felt and done the same thing if Michelle had knocked at his door. “Okay, well, sorta...” Greg sighed with frustration.

Hector chuckled as he turned and quickly pulled the covers over his bed in an attempt to make his room look a little neater. Another thing he wouldn’t have done before. “Umm, you didn’t need to do that either, but I guess I understand.  So, umm, Wheelie called.”

Hector turned back and like the businessman, he reflexively looked him up and down before settling on his eyes. “Umm, that’s an interesting outfit you have there, umm, Greg.”

Greg glanced down at himself and blushed self consciously. “Yeah, It was the only thing other than my Scarlett costume and I didn’t think the costume would go over so well with the other guests here.  Hell, I had some dude ask me out to lunch as soon as I stepped out of my room!  It’s crazy.”

“Yeah, I bet.” Hector snorted. “So, what about Wheelie? Did he find it?”

“No...” Greg sighed heavily as he plopped himself down on the corner of Hector’s bed.  He realized he didn’t sit down very ladylike and quickly stood back up to smooth his skirt under his legs as he carefully resuming his seat.  He glanced back over to his slightly bemused friend. “Sorry, this is so weird...”

“Yeah, I know.” Hector chuckled. “So, what now, Greg?” He stumbled a little over his name.

“It’s okay. You can call me Sadie or Arcee. I understand because I hardly look or sound like a Greg right now, do I?” Greg hesitantly smiled at his friend.

Hector nervously swallowed. “No, no you don’t, umm, Sadie.  So, what did the little PITA say?”

“The what? Oh yeah, Wheelie. Well, he hadn’t found it, but he did manage to search all of the second yard.  I’m hoping he will be able to search the third yard and give us some good news here soon...”

“Me too. What do you wanna do when he finds it?” Hector canted his head slightly to the side.

“Well, I dunno.  I guess it depends on where and when he finds it because it might be kinda hard for us to break into the place and then, break into the container without getting the cops called on us, right?”

Hector pulled out the cheap desk chair. It groaned alarmingly as he carefully sat down, facing Greg. “Probably not and we can’t wait until it gets dark for everyone to leave since we might be running out of time.”

Greg nodded with agreement. “So, when he finds it and we have something to report, we call the Agents?”

Hector paused as he mulled over the course of action. “I guess so? I mean, I don’t think we have much of a choice at this point, but you’ll wanna keep Michelle here and out of sight.”

“Yeah, she probably won’t like it, but I’m sure she’ll understand.” Greg nodded his head slowly, his long hair distracting him a little as it moved across his bare shoulders.

“Well, until we hear from Wheelie, there isn’t a lot we can do. I’m awake now. So, I’m going to take a shower and grab a bite to eat.” Hector casually pulled off his shirt as he walked towards the bathroom. Shirt in hand, he turned back to Greg. “You wanna see if Michelle is up for that?”

Greg stood and his eyes inadvertently focused on Hector’s bare chest and wide, strong shoulders. “Geez, he’s ripped...” He thought as started to check out Hector’s abs. “Why haven’t noticed-”

His train of thought derailed and came to a crashing halt and he forced himself to look away before Hector realized that he was doing. Unwilling and unable to look at his friend, Greg found himself self-consciously smoothing the wrinkles out of his skirt.

“Umm, yeah, I’ll go check on her.” With his mind in turmoil, he turned away and woodenly exited the room.