---

Mike and Jill turned to see what she was talking about and saw Sarah crying on Melanie's shoulder. Jill sighed, "I tried to tell her not to get her hopes up, but I knew she would anyway." She said before walking over to comfort Sarah.

"I was really hoping this would work." Mike said sadly. "Now she'll have to go to work tomorrow as Sarah. She's had a lot of trouble from her coworkers before, it's going to be a lot worse now."

"Why did she have trouble with her coworkers?" Laura asked.

"For as long as I've known her, people always assumed she was gay. They've been calling her names and taunting her, and worse, all her life. It's been close to the point of getting physical again this last week. I wish I could be there for her all day tomorrow, but the best I can manage is to be there until she starts work and when she gets off." Mike explained.

"Does she have any abilities that would allow her to protect herself? I can't believe that the portals are the only thing she can do with such a powerful spirit." Laura asked.

"Well, the portals could be used for defense, too, though she wants to keep that ability a secret for obvious reasons. She can also change the gender of anyone with a touch, except for herself, that is." Mike replied.

"Hmm, interesting. I assume she'd rather keep that ability a secret, as well. But it could prove to be a more potent weapon than the portals in some circumstances." Laura mused.

Mike nodded and turned to see how Sarah was doing. She was now being held by Jill as Melanie looked on sadly. "We should get going, Sarah's going to need her sleep for tomorrow." He said.

Sarah calmed enough to open a portal a few minutes later. They said goodbye to Melanie and the others and stepped through into Sarah's apartment.

"I'm never going to be male again, am I?" Sarah said as she plopped down on the couch.

"Don't say that, there're still lots of possibilities." Mike replied.

"Yeah, and they'll all say the same thing." Sarah said bitterly.

"You need to talk to Erica and then get to bed." Jill said firmly.

Sarah agreed, until she saw the time. "It's too late." She said.

Jill glanced at her watch and saw how late it was. "I'm sorry Sarah, I didn't realize how late it is. She'll be in bed by now. Do you want me to stay for a while?" she asked worriedly.

Sarah shook her head sadly. "No, I'll just crash. No point in you sticking around for that."

"I guess we'd better go and let you get some sleep then." Mike said. He said goodnight to Sarah and waited while Jill hugged her goodbye and then they left.

"Take good care of Sarah tomorrow." Jill told Mike back in their apartment. He agreed and they went to bed.

Sarah didn't bother changing before flopping into bed. She fell asleep immediately.

Pounding on her bedroom door woke Sarah in the morning. "What?" she called out weakly.

"You need to get up and get ready for work Sarah!" Mike called through the door.

"Okay." Sarah replied with a sigh. Noticing the time, Sarah realized she was late getting up. She threw some clothes on and got ready as quickly as she could and left her room to find Mike waiting in the kitchen with a plate of food for her.

"You don't have much time, eat up!" he said. Sarah nodded and sat down to eat. As soon as she was finished Mike whisked her plate and silverware away and washed it off. Then he led her over to his car.

Mike drove her over and led her inside. "I want to talk to your manager before I leave." Mike said. Sarah nodded fearfully, sticking close to her friend.

Sarah pointed out the manager's office and followed meekly in his wake. She didn't want to make a scene, but she knew it was inevitable.

They were in luck, as the branch manager was in. "Excuse me, I need to talk to you about Sean Kinsley." Mike said.

George Holsteader, the branch manager, looked up from his computer at Mike. "What is the problem?" he asked.

"The problem is the way your other employees have been treating him! They've been harassing him from the start, but it's gotten even worse in the last couple of weeks. And I expect it will get even worse, now." Mike said angrily.

George seemed a little taken aback at Mike's anger but recovered quickly. "Why would you think it would get worse now?" he asked.

"Because," Mike said, stepping to the side away from Sarah and gesturing towards her, "this is Sean, and she goes by Sarah now."

George's eyes widened as he looked at Sarah. "Sean, is that really you?" he asked, amazed. Sarah nodded. "Well, I can see why you'd be worried then! Why haven't you said anything before now? John could have taken care of it for you; he is your supervisor after all."

Sarah snorted, "John's the worst of the lot!"

"Yeah," Mike agreed, "we encountered him last night at a restaurant. He insulted Sarah and was clearly looking forward to giving her more grief today!"

"Really?" George said in surprise. "This is the first I've heard of it. Nobody else has complained about John, or anyone else for that matter."

"So are you going to do something about it?" Mike demanded.

George frowned. "Of course I'm going to do something about it! I'll talk to everyone, starting with John. If you have any more problems from him, or anyone else, tell me immediately." He said to Sarah. She nodded numbly, not having expected him to take it seriously.

After that Sarah clocked in and got to work. Mike stuck around a little longer, glaring at anybody who looked like they were even thinking about saying anything about Sarah, before leaving to go teach his classes.

Her coworkers looked at her oddly as Sarah worked, but didn't say anything at first. Then John came up to her. "Hey pussy, you trying to get me in trouble?" he said angrily. "You go talking to Mr. Holsteader again and I'll make you a girl for real, got it?" He leaned in threateningly at the last making snipping motions with his hand. Sarah nodded fearfully and he stomped off.

Kyle and the others who always tormented her got into it after that. They pushed her at every opportunity and called her all sorts of names. Everyone but Sarah was called in by Mr. Holsteader over the course of the day, and they all reacted differently. Those who were the worst towards Sarah got even more abusive.

"Bob, get in here!" Mr. Holsteader yelled out just after he'd pushed Sarah into a wall. A few minutes later Bob stormed out of the building and George approached Sarah.

"Sarah, I really need to apologize." He said. "From what people have been telling me, it was even worse than your friend said. I just had to fire Bob, and I'll be looking very closely into Kyle and John's behavior as well. Have they given you any more trouble today?"

Sarah remembered what John had said and just shrugged. George's eyes narrowed and he said, "They have, haven't they? What happened?"

"Just the normal." Sarah said softly without making eye contact.

"There's more, isn't there?" George demanded. Seeing Sarah flinch he softened his tone. "Please tell me what happened Sarah."

Sarah tried to pass it off as nothing, but finally told George what John said. "He WHAT?!!" George roared. He immediately regretted it as Sarah shrank back from him and seemed to look for somewhere to hide. Everyone looked over at them, wondering what had gotten the normally calm Mr. Holsteader so angry.

He took several calming breaths before saying, "Sarah, please wait for me in my office." She nearly ran into his office. He sighed in regret over frightening her and turned to find John.

Sarah waited in George's office for nearly an hour before George returned. "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting so long, Sarah. When I confronted John he tried to deny it, but when I pressed him he got very angry and abusive. I fired him, too, but he started trashing the place. I had to call the police and have him arrested." George explained apologetically.

With wide eyes Sarah said, "He's gone, really?"

George nodded, "He's gone. If you see him here or in the parking lot, come straight here to me or Tiffany, she'll be your new supervisor." Sarah nodded happily. She didn't know Tiffany well, but she had never harassed her like the others did. "Are you okay to finish out your shift, or would you rather go home for the day?" George asked.

Sarah was sorely tempted to accept that offer, but decided that dealing with Jill would be more hassle than staying. "I'll stay." George nodded and Sarah went back to work.

The rest of the work day was surreal for Sarah. Kyle kept giving her black looks, but everyone else was leaving her alone. A few people even came up and said 'Thank you' for getting rid of Bob and John. Once her work day was over Sarah clocked out and waited by the exit for Mike. She saw Kyle and several others leave, and the next shift arrive, but still no Mike. She wondered if he was waiting for her outside, so she walked out into the parking lot to look for him. She never even saw Kyle creeping up behind her.

---

 To Be Continued…