After David is caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, his entire life changes in ways he never could have expected. This is a fan fiction taking place in the Whateley Universe.

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Jackie and I had just finished eating dinner a short time ago, and in spite of getting my fill, I was still in a bad mood. In fact, I’d been in a bad mood ever since our narrow escape from the MCO earlier that morning. If it hadn’t been for the fact that one MCO agent happened to accidentally bump up against a car with an over-sensitive alarm, we would have been caught by surprise and either killed or captured. And considering how the MCO had treated me previously, I wasn’t sure which of those would have been worse.

Of course, I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t her normal cheerful self. Jackie had been rather subdued today as well. She’d been keeping a close eye out for any signs of the MCO, and at any other time, I probably would have called her paranoid. However, the fact that I knew they really were after us changed her actions from being paranoid to being reasonably cautious.

“They found us this morning because someone from Humanity First reported us,” Jackie told me we parked our stolen car at a gas station to fill up. “Now they know we’re on the move, that we’re traveling together, and which general direction we were heading. That will make it a lot easier for them to find us again. We’re going to have to be careful not to do anything to draw extra attention.”

“Like you could avoid getting attention,” I responded with a snort. “Every guy in miles has his eye on you…”

Jackie smiled faintly at that, then pointed out, “You’re getting the same attention…miss jailbait.”

I scowled at that, definitely having mixed feelings about the attention I was getting with my new body. It certainly made me a little uncomfortable, but at the same time, it was kind of nice to be noticed for once. I just wished it was girls who were staring at me like that instead of the guys.

“People barely notice me when you’re around,” I reminded her with a faint smirk. “I mean, I’m below the legal limit and they know they’d have to throw me back. You on the other hand are a keeper…”

Jackie chuckled at that, then she climbed out of the car and slowly looked around, searching for any MCO vans or indications that someone might be following us. I wondered if this was what it was like for her all the time, having to be on the lookout for police or super heroes who were trying to catch her. I just couldn’t imagine living my life like that, always looking over my shoulder. The only thing that made this bearable was the knowledge that once I was at Whateley, I’d be safe and not even the MCO would touch me.

“Come on, miss grumpy pants,” Jackie told me with a faint smile as she started for the convenience store to pay for the gas. “I think you can use a coffee refill.”

The thought of coffee improved my mood a little bit, but not much. After all, even a caramel mocha with extra whip couldn’t make the MCO go away, especially when the caffeine didn’t even do much for me anymore. Still, coffee was coffee.

Jackie and I began gathering up the road trip necessities, which consisted of coffee, pop, and a lot of snacks. After looking at the pile of junk food we were getting, I was suddenly very thankful that I didn’t have to worry about getting fat anymore. And with my increased appetite, I suspected that we’d be finished with half of this before we even stopped for the night.

Suddenly, a voice yelled, “Nobody fucking move…”

I jumped at that and snapped around in fear at the thought that the MCO had found us again, but then I saw the speaker and actually let out a faint sigh of relief. He was dressed in normal street clothes and had a bandanna over the lower half of his face. From the skin that was visible on the top half and his hair, it looked like he was either Hispanic or a dark haired Caucasian. He had a gun in his hand, pointing it straight at the cashier, but the fact that he clearly wasn’t with the MCO made him somehow seem far less dangerous.

“Give me everything in your register,” the robber demanded of the cashier, waving the gun around back and forth between the cashier and the customers in the store.

“Just great,” Jackie muttered with a look of annoyance. “Just what I needed.”

I stared at the robber for a moment, having a bad sense of deja-vu at being caught in the middle of another robbery. Then I realized there was another guy with a bandanna around his face standing at the door, holding it open and apparently acting as a lookout. Both of them seemed pretty jumpy.

I glanced to Jackie and quietly asked, “Are you going to do something about them?”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” she answered grimly. “It would be kind of hypocritical of me.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” the robber demanded, pointing the gun straight at Jackie and me. Then he stared for a moment and called out to his partner, “I think we found us a couple dates for tonight…”

The robber came closer us, holding his gun in a cocky fashion. I couldn’t see his face beneath the bandana, but I could imagine he was smirking or even licking his lips eagerly. He pointed his gun straight at me while staring at Jackie’s breasts.

“Do NOT point that gun at her,” Jackie ordered him in a cold voice.

“Or what?” the robber demanded, moving the gun to point it at her instead.

Without saying a word, Jackie suddenly reached out, moving at a speed I hadn’t realized she was capable of. She grabbed the robber by his wrist and twisted, clearly breaking his arm. He screamed and dropped his gun, which she casually kicked aside, right before throwing him halfway across the store and into one of the display cases. He slumped to the floor, holding his arm and crying out while his partner suddenly ran out of the store.

“Stupid, sloppy, and unprofessional,” Jackie said with a sigh as she went over to the robber. “You really should find a new line of work. You really aren’t very good at this one.”

“Oh my God,” the cashier exclaimed, staring at Jackie in amazement. “You stopped him so easily. Are you a super hero?”

“Hardly,” Jackie responded with a loud laugh, acting as though that was one of the funniest things she’d ever heard. Then she bent down over the cowering robber and took the wallet out of his pocket. She pulled all the cash out, then tossed the empty wallet aside. “I think this should cover our purchases,” she told the cashier, dropping all the money from the robber’s wallet right onto the counter.

“That was…interesting,” I commented as Jackie and I hurried out of the store. Then I teased her, “So, what’s it like being a hero?”

“Don’t ask me,” she responded with a wry smile. “I just hope I don’t get kicked out of the union for this.”

“Come on,” I urged her, feeling just a little better than I had earlier. “It could be a whole new career for you…”

Then Jackie and I both froze as we saw the robber’s partner driving away…in our stolen car. Without a word, Jackie began running after him, forming her bubble and rolling towards the car at high speed and then slamming into it before it was even out of the parking lot. The car slid from the impact and came to a complete stop.

“You can keep the car,” Jackie told the shocked and terrified robber as she yanked open one of the doors and retrieved our backpacks. She came back and tossed my backpack to me, then said, “We’d better get out of here before the cops arrive.”

“I guess we’re looking for another new car,” I said with a sigh while slinging the backpack over my shoulder.

Jackie and I hurried away as quickly as we could on foot, and we were only half a block away when the police finally arrived. They didn’t see us and we continued to slip away, being careful not to use our powers since that would draw even more unwanted attention. A short time later, we found a parking lot behind a decent looking restaurant. From the grin on Jackie’s face, I knew we were about to do a little more car shopping.

Just a few minutes later, Jackie had picked out another plain looking car and had switched the plates again. As she unlocked the door and began to hotwire it, I hesitantly asked, “Can I try some of the driving this time?”

“Do you have a license?” she asked me curiously.

“I’m only fifteen,” I reminded her with a sigh.

“How about a learner’s permit?” she asked.

“Not yet,” I reluctantly admitted.

Jackie gave me a faint smirk and pointed out, “Well, it’s illegal to drive without a license.”

I just stared at her for a moment before responding “And NOW you care about the law?”

“Climb on in, sis,” Jackie told me, gesturing to the passenger side door and making it clear that she wasn’t going to let me drive. “And don’t forget your seatbelt.”

“You’re almost as bossy as my other sister,” I commented, thinking about Becky and letting out a sigh. She might only be six, but she certainly had a lot of attitude. I figured that Mom and Dad were really going to have their hands full once she became a teenager.

Jackie chuckled at that, then turned and stared at me for a moment, her expression becoming serious. “Dana,” she finally said. “I’m sorry things aren’t going as smooth as I’d hoped. In fact, everything has kind of turned to a cluster fuck.”

“Two counts of grand theft auto in one day,” I pointed out, holding up two of my fingers. I gave a forced smile and weakly joked, “That is NOT going to look good on my college application.”

“I don’t know,” Jackie joked with a forced smile of her own. “They tend to like ambition and real life experience.” She let her expression turn serious again. “That’s all on me, and I’ll make sure the cops know that. With my record, I don’t think they’ll have any problem with me taking all the blame. Hell, if necessary, I’ll just tell them that I kidnapped you and forced you to come with me. You’re a good kid and you don’t deserve any of this crap that’s happened to you, but I’m proud of the way you’ve been dealing with it. Things may not be going as planned, but trust me when I say that I’m going to keep you safe.”

“I do trust you,” I told her, starting to tear up as I did so.

Ever since I’d turned into a girl, I found that I tended to get a little more emotional than before. I wasn’t completely sure if it was the new hormones, or if it just felt more acceptable to show my emotions now. What I did know was that I was suddenly very grateful that Jackie had been there for me. If it hadn’t been for her, I have no idea how I would have dealt with all the changes to my body and life, much less actually survived them.

With that, I suddenly bent over and gave Jackie a hug. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me,” I told her, the tears beginning to flow freely. “You’re the best big sister a former guy could have.”

Jackie stared at me with an odd smile, looking as though she was starting to tear up as well. “Thank you,” she told me, seeming quite happy. Then she joked, “But I’m still not letting you drive.

“Darn,” I responded with an exaggerated sigh, giggling as I wiped the tears from my eye.

“But since we lost most of our food back there,” Jackie said, gesturing in the direction of the gas station where we’d dropped almost everything while running. “How about I make it up to you by stopping for coffee?”

I just grinned at that and responded, “Do you really need to ask?