Events conspire against a successful young woman with a dark painful past. She is forced to confront her frightening past that she has been running away from her whole adult life.

Kerri helped her lover into the car and they made it to their hotel room. She could tell that Susan was mentally exhausted after recounting her abuse to the court. It must had been horrible for her friend.

Kerri knew her lover needed to be at piece. She could tell that Susan was very troubled by remembering all that was done to her. She had a black look on her face, and she was very quite. She seemed to be just staring out into nothing. Kerri figured that she must be going though her childhood again, in her mind as she drove Susan home as she stared out the window.

Susan went into their room and just collapsed into the bed when they got back. Kerri wrapped her arms around her lover as she felt her lovers body trembling and shaking, she seemed like the lost little girl who had NEVER had a peaceful night's sleep.

This brought back memories of when Kerri first met her lover and how she used to wake up in horror every night, screaming. She remembered her long bouts of crying out, uncontrollably sobbing in her arms. Thanks to therapy and her own support and love, Susan doesn't do so much of that anymore but, she feared this could bring it back with a vengeance.

Susan had cried herself out within twenty minutes, then she went to the bathroom to clean her face off and retouched her makeup in case her lover wanted to go out and do something, that night. It was only then that Susan knew the peace of love and friendship that kept her sane.

Kerri was just sitting there, waiting for her with a disturbed look on her face when Susan came out of the bathroom with a white towel over her body, "Susan, we need to talk about the Russians you said you know. There are a lot of things I need to know. We are in love and you haven't told me you have a brother, nor how you know the Mob."

She sighed loudly and sat down in front of Kerri, "There are a lot of things you don't know about me, but I guess the time has come. I guess you know there are a lot of mysteries about me. When I escaped from my mother's domination, things were quite a mess, but I lied about how I escaped. The chemicals that my mother used to make me weaker worked for a short time, only. They feminized me and were supposed to make me totally subservient and obedient. One of the phrases that were drilled in me was, 'A sissy is to be obedient at all times.'"

Kerri hugged her, stilling Susan's growing turmoil. Then, Susan easily shoved the heavy coffee table, spooking Kerri.

"But they backfired. Instead of making me weaker, they were making me stronger. I am freakishly strong. I just walked out and overpowered my brother, easily. I stole the car and left. For a few weeks, I was totally poor and didn't know what to do with my life. I was living on the streets. I figured that the easiest thing I could do was join the service. So, I enlisted in 1990. There, I found I fit in easy, except that I was a freakishly strong woman that could compete as equals with men. In fact, I was far stronger than most of the men. I enlisted in the Army and easily made it though basic training. From there, I went into Special Operations."

Kerri looked at her in amazed wonder, now seeing the control that kept her lover's rage in check.

"I made it into the Army Rangers. DO you remember the Persian Gulf War in 1991?"

Kerri shook her head. Things that far back were foggy.

Susan continued, "Well, in the eighties and nineties, Saddams Iraq was a U. S. ally and with massive U. S. aid, they became one of the dominant powers in the Middle East. But they started abusing that power and they invaded one of their neighbors, Kuwait. We saw their new aggression as a threat to the entire stability in the region so the U. S. gave Saddam a stern ultimatum and a date to withdraw. To show we were serious, the powers that be started shifting enormous manpower into the region too. We called that mobilization, Desert Shield. I, along with close to a million more soldiers, tanks and aircraft were sent to Saudi Arabia in preparation to invade Iraq, if necessary. You know the rest, Saddam blustered, threatened to make it the mother of all battles, " Susan snorted. " The deadline came and passed and Iraq was still occupying Kuwait so we were ordered to invade. That engagement was my first experience with the real thing. My squad was sent in hours before the deadline. We were the fist to engage real Iraqi forces. They were good but no match for our training. I loved shooting and killing them.

"We went into Iraq in 1991 before anyone else. We went there, engaged Saddam's Republican Guard and did some strikes to prepare the way for the main armor divisions of the Army to come though. It was great, well for me. The scary thing was, I loved it. I loved killing. I was on a serious rage thing. I loved shooting, stabbing and killing. And being a Ranger inside Iraq, I did a lot of it."

"Susan, I am glad that you were never hurt," sighed Kerri.

Susan said solemnly, "I was hurt, Kerri. You saw the marks on my back. I told you that my mother made them but she didn't make those scars. My mother was rarely overtly violent. Those scars on my back are electrical burns made when I was a POW. My team was captured by the Republican Guard and I spent over a year as a POW in Iraq."

"We stayed there until peace was declared, then I was sent to many other places till the mid 1990s. I did about six years of enlisted service, then I retired. I went into college then, eventually got a Masters Degree in science."

"But I still see that rage, Susan."

"I still love that time I spent in Iraq killing. I still have that desire and rage. I think you have seen that look in my face when I faced my sister. That dark look. I can see you are very frightened of me."

"No, not of you, rather for you. What about the Russians?"

"While I was in the service, I did a lot of missions in the Middle East, but I was also sent into the Balkans conflict when that blew up in 1995. Do you remember all the violence and the war in Kosovo in 1995, when Clinton ordered the bombing and a U. N. peacekeeping force there. We were sent there too to engage Slobodan Milosheviche's forces. It was there that I made contact with the Russians and members of the Russian Mob. I can say they are about the most ruthless bastards on the planet. I made a lot of friends with them. I saved them and a lot of the Russian Mob owes me favors. In the last month, I made some calls and my brother will be history.

Kerri shook her head at all of this. Then, she asked, "Susan, I am a attorney so why cant I find any of this on your records."

"Because, much of it is very highly classified. You know how the military and special operations loves its classified stuff. Black Ops, very hush hush, secret."

"Well, That would explain why there are about six years of your life where you seem to drop off the earth. I never knew any of that. But I thought the U. S. military had some rule against women in combat positions?"

"As you can tell, I am a very special case. My body is female but, mom could never get in and change the official state records, so at that time, I was still recorded as a male. Because of my special status, and my strength, the U. S. Army made an exception for me, and allowed me to serve in a Special Forces Army Ranger Squad, and they allow us to go into Iraq first to engage the Iraqi Republican Guard during Desert Storm. Now that you know my big secret, we must keep that part from the defense. It is none of my sisters business. I just told you because I wanted you to understand. I love you Susan. I love our son and I can never thank you enough to carrying him for nine months for us. That was the greatest act of love."

Kerri embraced Susan tightly. "Thank you too. It couldn't had happened with the samples you left when you were still male. The boy is both of ours. He loves us both."

"It is late, I am very tired Kerri."

"But Susan," Kerri reminded, "You promised our son Anwar that you would call him every night. Please don't forget your promises. He loves you."

"Thank you for reminding me," Susan thanked her. "I don't want to disappoint our beloved son. " She picked up her cell phone and called her son. She gave him his own cell phone so she could call him directly.

His sweet youthful voice said, "Hello Mom."

"Hello, Anwar. I miss you so much. How are you doing?"

"I am fine," He answered. "I am really getting along with Melinda and her kids. I hope that you get done with this soon. I really miss you, mom," He sniffled sadly.

"I hope I get finished with this soon. This crazy thing will get done soon enough. Kerri wants to talk to you."

"Oh great. I love my mother mom too."

They talked for a while as Susan took out his picture from her purse and held it close to her heart and missed him deeply. Kerri went over and held Susan close as she wept missing her son.

"When you believe, Kerri. We can make anything happen and we will overcome my mothers evil. I am reconsidering this suit against my sister."

"Oh?"

"Does she deserve to pay, The answer is undeniably Yes. If she is sorry for what she did or if she isn't sorry is irrelevant. She chose her path and or regret doesn't mean I didn't suffer for what she chose. But, she should not be our main focus. My Mother and Ms Gladstone should be. Mainly Ms Gladstone. I want to file a massive suit against her, and Forever Femme. It is that company that is evil and still making children's lives a living hell. We need to expose that to everyone. Forever Femme is a multi billion dollar company. We need to be prepared to take them on in federal court. We need to nail them all."

Jessica was becoming very uncomfortable. She gasped fearfully, "You mean you want to take on the entire company, a multi billion dollar company?"

MS Gladstone had a lot of power and it did make her afraid to be going up against her directly like this. Before, Susan's main attention was directed at her mother and sister but now she was talking about filing a lawsuit against a massive corporation directly. That was a lot more difficult. As were the stakes if they failed.

"Yes, Kerri. I know this is really big, But it needs to be done. My suffering was brought on primarily by Ms Gladstone and Forever Femme. They did it all. My mother just stupidly went along with them. But, it was them. And they are still doing it. My Lover, My wife, My friend, Please stick with me. They must be stopped. It is up to us. No federal agency seems to want to move against them so it has to be us."

"Yes," She finally admitted. "You are right. But, this will not be easy. This corporation rivals yours. It has a lot of power, A lot of supporters in high places, And a top legal department. I cant do this alone. We need help. I will call some of my old associates and we will get to work. We need a team of attorneys to take them on. They will also have a team of lawyers. If we go at them unprepared, they will eat us alive, Susan. If we loose, they will make sure you loose everything. Your entire company will go bankrupt. Are you sure you want to do this?

"Yes, make it so, Number One!" And they both busted out laughing.

~~~*~~~
Susan woke up earlier than usual to see her lover Kerri talking to a few other people. "Well good morning Susan, These are my former Associates at my former practice. This is Jack Laurence and Kimberly Stanford. Partners at Laurence and Stanford law offices. I took the liberty of hiring them for this project. Their entire office is now devoted to this single case. Don't worry, Susan. We will nail them now that we have the legal power."

The guy spoke up, "Susan, I am glad you brought us in on this. Have you thought about what kind of damages you are asking for?"

That was a good question. "I was originally asking for five hundred million in damages but, that was against my sister and IM sure Kerri has appraised you of that still ongoing case but, Forever Femme, five hundred million is nothing. Kerri what could we ask for to put them out of business, chapter eleven bankruptcy?"

"I don't know? We can ask for massive momentary damages but even if the jury awards it, we'd never likely see any of it. They would bog the case up with endless appeals for twenty years. But it would still cost them. The case would give them exposure to the public that they cant afford. That would shut them down. Public would demand that something happen."

"We are going to asking for damages of one billion dollars."

"Good," Kerri said. "I will go file the papers with the federal court. We have work to do now. Oh, Our son called last night. He is doing fine but, he wants you to call. He wants to tell you something."

Susan called her sons number and he answered. "Hello, Mom. I want to ask you something and please don't be mad at me," He said in a small voice full of fear that his mother would be upset or abandon him.

"Never, Anwar. I would never abandon you. I will always love you no matter what. Did you do something bad?"

"I think so but it doesn't feel bad. It's just..."

"Anwar, I will always love you so don't be afraid."

"I have done this a lot of times before, but I was afraid to tell anyone. But, last night, Melinda caught me. I went into her room and, well, I like to wear girls clothes and I was in her stuff when she found me. She told me it was alright and nothing was wrong. but she said she would have to tell you."

Well this was ironic. "Is that all you wanted to tell me?"

"Yes, Mother," He said.

"Well its nothing bad at all. But perhaps you should ask her to get you some of your own stuff," Susan said

"Melinda called me Julienne. She said I should have a name when I am 'dressed'"

"We will talk about this when I get home, but it isn't much of a big deal. Unless you really want to be a girl."

"Oh no, not at all. The soft clothes and pretending some time is nice, though."

She chuckled, "I love you Anwar."

He sounded relieved that his mother understood and still loved him. "Thank you for understanding. Do you think my other mother Kerri will understand?"

"Yes, totally. Don't be afraid to tell us anything. You are our son, and we will always support you. "

"I have to go Mom. Melinda is taking us out for dinner tonight. I think I will try to talk to her about this. She is being very nice to me," The boy hung up. He sounded so afraid at first and then he sounded very relived.

The irony of it all hit Susan hard. She was raised with it and it hurt him. The thing was used to humiliate and destroy the boy and her son desired it. Not the torment and humiliation. She would have to make sure he was protected from people that would use that information to harm her son. People like Ms Gladstone.

"Kerri, we have to talk privately about our son."

~~~*~~~
Kerri totally understand, just as Susan guessed. She was already on the ball to find him a good counselor. They had other matters to attend to. They had to prepare as good of a case as they could against Forever Femme.

Kimberly told her, "We are working out all of the legal documentation for their records. We are going to subpoena their financial records, taxes, Income statement, Retained Earnings, Cash Flows Statement. We will find out their assets, and liabilities, We will find out about their customers, where they got their money, who paid them and the names of their victims. I am also sending one of our auditors to go though their company and find what is possible. Then, we will try to interview their victims personally. If they can, we will add them to our witnesses. We have to find out everything we can in order to prove misconduct. And then, we will take them down. "

A big smile spread across Susan's face. She knew that they were on the right track.

~~~*~~~

They had filed the papers and the judge sent a subpoena for all of forever femme's client and financial records but they kept getting stalled. Boxes of files were sent to Kerri's office but they were clearly fakes. There were no victims files, no client files. How they got their money was a mystery. When they complained to the judge, they basically got, 'its not my problem. they sent you what you asked for. its not my job if it isnt what you expected. "

Kerri said, "This case will fall apart if we cant talk to any of their clients face to face. We need evidence. We need to talk to some of Forever Femme's former clients. They clearly have allies in high positions that are stalling this case. "

Kerri gave her friend a serious look and said, "Ok, We had enough of their corruption. I will deal with Ms Gladstone and her people my way. I will make a few calls to my friends in Russia. Ms Gladstone will be sorry that she ever messed with Ben. "

She was walking out and turned toward her lover, "Tell Anwar I love him in case I dont come back. The Bitch has returned.