Lee goes into Burnout. Leah is born.

It's a new day and Leah has a lot to learn.

I want to thank Maggie Finson and all the other authors for creating the Whateley Universe. This story is Fan-fiction and may not conform to Canon rules or timelines. I am only playing in their sandbox. I also want to thank Connected and my wife for all the editing work put in to turn my scratchings into a readable story.

Please note that all of the categories checked do not apply to all chapters.

I appreciate all the encouraging comments and Kudos. Some of you may have noticed that Lee/Leah's mother's name has not been consistent throughout the chapters. This has been fixed. Sorry for the error.

Lee was disoriented when he woke, not recognizing the sterile white room immediately. Then it all came flooding back to him. The strange accident and the tumble over the cliff, followed by the stark terror of trying to save his mom. He could only see out of one eye, and a quick feel with his free hand confirmed a bandage covered his right. In fact, it was that side of his body that appeared to be showing the physical clues as to some of the damage. The right wrist and leg were encased in inflatable casts and the hand was wrapped in a bundle of bandages.

He knew he had multiple breaks in his leg, arm, hand and ribs. Remembering his new senses, he scanned his body. Knowing he was a pretty rapid regenerator, he was surprised at how much of the damage remained; the healing was proceeding exceptionally slowly. The breaks in the bones were starting to knit, but there were still multiple deeply bruised areas mostly again on his right side. His eye was still the worst, but he could feel that the lacerated mess was beginning to rebuild. Since he had so little experience with regeneration, he wasn’t sure whether or not the eye would completely heal. He decided he would ask the doctor about it.

Only a single life monitor hooked up to a skullcap with about a dozen wires and a single IV dripped clear fluid into his arm. What was most unusual was he seemed to be buried in ice packs, yet he wasn’t cold. Within moments of waking, a nurse came into the room, alerted no doubt by change in the monitors.

She smiled as she entered the room and immediately came to check his vitals. “Welcome back. You are one lucky girl. Let’s check your temperature.” She stuck a thermoscope in his ear and took a quick reading - “100.1 degrees F. That’s much better, we thought we were going to lose you before we could get your temperature stabilized. Last night you were peaking over 107 degrees F”

Lee gasped. He knew that anything over 104 degrees F caused concern for brain damage. He was so surprised by the fever, that he missed her calling him a girl.

The nurse rearranged some of his ice packs and added some fresh ones from a small portable freezer he hadn’t noticed before. She very efficiently began fluffing his pillows and checking his fingers and toes for movement.

Lee interrupted her franticly as he remembered the terrible damage to his mother, “How is my mom? Did she make it?” He was mortified that he hadn’t remembered to ask until now.

“Shhhh! Calm down, you mother is going to be fine, — surprisingly enough considering her injuries. “Someone”, she said knowingly, “rather expertly healed her worst wounds and her own regeneration is rapidly taking care of the rest.” The nurse slipped a needle into the port on the IV and injected a rather large dose of something. “This will calm you for a few minutes and help with your pain, but being a regenerator, it won’t last long. You don’t worry about her, we’re taking good care of her. She will probably be back on her feet in a couple of days. Dr. Engelhard will be in shortly to check on you. He is with your mother now.

“Do you feel up to a quick visit from your father?” Lee became a little light-headed as the drug kicked in. The nurse never lost that professional smile through her whole visit, although Lee suspected it wasn’t forced, she really liked her job.

“Please.” Lee answered even though he was tiring rapidly.

Tom entered the room a few minutes later, and walked to Lee’s side. Lee briefly caught a glimpse of a black-suited man standing stiffly outside his door before it closed.

Tom gripped Lee’s good arm and smiled. “You scared us pretty good there. How are you feeling?”

“I’m still pretty sore but it seems to be getting better. How’s Mom?”

Various emotions played across Tom’s face. “She’s doing well. According to the doctor’s here, someone had already healed the worst of her injuries.”

“That would have been me,” Lee said quietly. “Danu gave me the ability to heal, so Mom wouldn’t die. So it worked?”

Again a brief play of emotions, then - “Yeah, she’s going to be fine. The worst is just about healed, now they are mostly waiting for the deep bruising to go down and for her red blood cell count to get back to normal.” Tom stammered as he tried to figure out how to ask the next question. “B-but wh-what did you do to her?” Concern dripped from his voice.

“What do you mean?” Lee asked concerned. “I just healed her wounds so she wouldn’t die.”

“No. It has to be more than that. She looks different, younger, and she’s regenerating. She’s a mutant now, too. How did that happen?”

Lee suddenly realized what he had done when he had activated the gene’s to help repair her body. She must have had a full set of meta-genes herself which sort of made sense, because Lee had to inherit them from somewhere.

“Uhhh, I may have done that. She was dying and I didn’t know how to use my healing powers properly. When I was trying to heal her, I could see that if I activated certain genes, they would help me heal her. I didn’t know they would make her a mutant, too! I’m so sorry!” Tears were streaming from his eyes. He tried to sink into the bed.

“Honey, Honey! It’s okay. You did what you had to do. She’s alive and that’s the most important thing. You did good, even if it does make things a little more complicated.”

Lee looked up at him and he was smiling, with just a hint of worry. Just then the door opened and a young doctor walked in. He’s cute, Lee thought before being taken aback by the thought. Whoa! Where did that come from? ‘Cute?’ Lee knew that his body was getting more feminine, but when had he started thinking of random guys as ‘Cute’?

The doctor picked up Lee’s chart and started flipping through the pages, before turning and saying, “Well, young lady, how are we feeling this morning?”

“Young lady?!?” Lee’s eye went wide and looked big as a teacup. “What do you mean, young lady? I’m still a guy!” Lee all but shouted.

Dr. Engelhard turned to her dad and asked, “I take it you haven’t had a chance to tell her, yet?”

Tom sighed, “No, she just woke up and I have only been in here a couple minutes.”

Dr. Engelhard walked around to the side of her bed and placed his hand on Lee’s. “Leah, I’m afraid that using your power like that caused you to go into burnout. Before we could get you stabilized, it and your regeneration kicked the transition process into high gear. You’re pretty much all girl now. I wish that there was an easier way to tell you, but you would see for yourself once we get the burnout completely under control and take off the ice packs.”

Lee lifted his good hand and looked at it. It was smaller with slender shapely fingers. He reached tentatively to his/her chest, then jerked the hand away like she had been burned. Where yesterday were very small breasts barely an A-cup, today there was a mound that felt larger than the one he had felt on Amanda, the one time their making-out had gotten that far. The only problem was this one was on him. Fearing the worst, he slid his hand between the sheets and under the icepacks to his crotch. It was empty! No that wasn’t quite right either, it wasn’t empty, there was a small soft mound there. As he slid his hand further he could feel the catheter snaking into the small valley between his legs that he’d been dreading since he had first found out what was going to happen to him. In spite of the drugs, before Lee could explore any further, blackness claimed him and he passed out, leaving his father and doctor scurrying frantically around the bed.

————

Avalon was much calmer than the last time Lee was here. This time when he arrived just outside the Henge stones, Lee felt different. His body was changed and he was naked. Looking down, Lee realized that he was going to have to quit using masculine pronouns to describe himself - herself! Surprisingly enough, being naked didn’t embarrass ‘her’. In fact, it felt very freeing and natural, at least in this place. Lee didn’t know what to make of that.

Her balance was —— different. The weight on her chest pulled one way but that was somewhat counterbalanced by the increase of her hips. She seemed considerably taller as well. As she moved, she felt hair brush against her buttocks.

Reaching behind her, she pulled a handful of the silken, wavy, dark auburn hair shot with golden highlights around where she could see it. If anything it was even prettier than it had been before. Lee had never had hair that could be called pretty or even good-looking before. He used to consider it to be his worst feature as a boy, always dull, coarse, and limp. The color was a nondescript brown. No girl ever wanted to run her hands through it more than once. It always looked slightly dirty even when it was freshly shampooed. Now it looked like his dream girl’s hair. The trouble again was it was on him — her.

Her hips were full and round sitting pertly on top of long slender legs any girl in his school would die for with delicate shapely ankles and small well formed feet. Her breasts were the same problem. Round, pert and high on her chest, she guessed them to be about a large B-cup or a small C-cup based on the education her mom had been giving Lee about women’s clothing on their shopping trips. She really needed a mirror, but if she looked like she thought she did, then, OMG! Was she in trouble.

Thinking about shopping, Leah groaned. If this was what she looked like in the real world, none of the clothes they had just bought would fit. That meant more shopping and soon. With her mother laid up, she didn’t know how she would manage shopping and this was already costing her family a fortune. They weren’t poor by any means but nor were they exactly wealthy, even with Grandpa’s generosity; and it might be months or years before her patents on the new machining innovations paid off, if they ever did. Her chest heaving as she blew out a long slow breath of air, she tried to relax before she walked between the stones of the Henge.

Danu waited on the altar stone at the center of the Henge, her legs dangling. “I am proud of you, my daughter. You did well, however, you must learn how to better gauge and use your available energy. You nearly drew too much of your life essence, — but that knowledge will come with time.”

“I couldn’t let my Mom die or be crippled!” Leah whined a little.

“Hush, child, you need not justify yourself to me, but some of the wounds could have been left to heal themselves once you activated her regenerative power, and that energy could have been saved to heal yourself. You could also have drawn on the life energies of those living things around you. I ask only that you learn to better use your essence and abilities, but I am remarkably proud of your willingness to sacrifice for others. Even one as close as your mother. As one of your philosophers said, ‘With great power, comes great responsibility.’”

Leah giggled, yes giggled, (so sue me!). Leah didn’t know Stan Lee was a philosopher.

“It is a lesson that many of my children failed to learn and therefore, they became superfluous to the world and in time passed from it, to not be there when they were needed. I have hopes that you will be different.

“But I tell you now, you are no longer safe where you are. Those whose lives are defined by bigotry and hate have learned of you. For your safety and the safety of those you love, you must soon leave for the school known as Whateley. There you can learn in relative security and your family will be less threatened once you are away. Although I suggest that your father might consider moving nearer there as well.”

“So soon?” Lee asked with anguish in her voice, “and what of my mom now that she is a mutant too?”

“Your mom will be safe. Her powers are more limited. She obviously has regeneration, healing and a little empathy as befits a mother. If she is careful not to flaunt her power, few if any will notice, and I will watch over her.

“You need not go immediately, but soon. The one you call Cantrip is making arrangements to enroll you. That will be soon enough, if you keep a low profile, as you say. I suggest that a trip to your Grandparents home for a few weeks might be in order. Until then, use care and be observant when you are out. I assure you that the ones who sought to harm you this time will not do so again, but there will be others. Practice your shield spells and keep them active when you are out.

“It is nearly time for you to leave here again, take these with you and give them to your father. These will help ensure that your changes are not a burden on your family. I will not allow being my Paladin to be a financial burden on her family, on my account. You have more important things to worry about.”

She handed Leah a small leather bag, surprisingly heavy for its size, tied with a draw string, then continued. Leah untied it and looked in. It was filled with a small fortune in uncut gems, nuggets of gold and other precious metals.

“But how do we explain where these came from. The world is different today, and you can’t just take a bag of gold to the bank.”

“Tell your father to call a law firm in New York called the Olympian Group and they will handle it.”

“You’re kidding, right? The Olympian Group?”

“Yes, I’m kidding.” She laughed. “Tell him to call Armbruster & Smith, LLC in New York.”

Leah looked at her with surprise.

“I am not without contacts in your world. I am also not without humor. Many of the Fae who have passed from the mortal world are willing to undertake small tasks for me from time to time. Your father was one such.”

“Where’d you get this stuff?”

She laughed that warm tinkling laugh of hers that made you feel wanted, loved and safe. “Oh, child, all riches of the world are mine to command. I command it to come forth and it comes. Someday you will be able to do so as well, but you have much to learn before that day comes.

“Your Father is most upset by this attack on you. I understand he is taking measures to see these ones do not try it again.”

Leah was stunned by all this and stood there, gaping.

“Close your mouth, dear one, it is not seemly.” She smiled to take the bite from the words.

Leah closed her mouth for a moment. “My Father?,” She said in a small voice. “You’re not talking about Tom Cook, are you?”

“No, my child. Your real father has taken quite an interest in you for one of his kind. I have not seen one of the High Fae in such a rage in many long millennia. He was quite put out with Goldenclaw that she wasn’t with you and I understand had a somewhat dour discussion with her about it.”

“But that was my fault.” Leah protested. “I made her stay because I didn’t know how we could get her around the outlet shops.”

“I know, dear one, but you can not talk rationally to a Grey Lord when he is that enraged. Don’t worry about Goldenclaw, she just had her ears pinned back, save your concern for those who actually hurt you. I don’t know what he has planned; but the Jenkinses and possibly several others will not enjoy it.”

“He wouldn’t kill them, would he? I mean I know they deserve punishment, but I wouldn’t want them killed.”

Danu grinned a grin that reminded Leah of a cat contemplating a cornered mouse. It was not a wholly pleasant sight. “I doubt that he would do anything so pleasant. Few have seen a Grey Lord of the High Fae in his full Majesty and Fury and enjoyed the experience — or were even able to talk about it, — or, some of them, talk at all.”

Leah was growing a little concerned about her real father. He did not sound much like the pleasant, joy-filled man who had swept her mother off her feet.

Danu smiled more pleasantly. “Don’t worry, he is not normally like this, but he is very angry with the men who endangered his daughter, of whom he is very proud.

“One last thing before you go, the small tree you accidentally created for your magic instructor, she still has it?”

“Yeah, I thinks so. She said she was going to tend it and see if it continued to grow without any more essence transfer. Why?”

“Tell her to keep it safe living or dead, it can be very valuable to us. We will discuss it more the next time you are here. By the way, now that you are complete, you should be able to visit here of your own volition, without the dismaying need to be unconscious. When you’ve gotten your strength back, I want you to see if you can figure out how.

I am aware of how disconcerting this change has been for you, and you should know that I, too, am very proud of you. You are handling a change you did not want, extremely well.

“Now return to the world with my blessing, before the poor doctor and Tom get anymore excited.”

————

After Leah was gone, Danu sat with a wistful smile on her face contemplating the next great event in Leah’s short life. It would be both a blessing and a curse, but necessary to bind her spirit to its humanity lest she fall into the same pattern as so many of her other children. Leah would need an anchor for her humanity, and a mighty anchor was soon about to be forged for good or ill.

————

Waking back in the hospital, with her father and the doctor frantically scurrying around the bed, startled looks on their faces. Time moved much more slowly in Avalon than here. It hadn’t taken Lee, now Leah she guessed, long to figure that out. Looking down at the leather bag in her hand nearly caused her to passed out again.

How did she do that? Oh yeah, right, she’s a goddess. Leah pulled a corner of the sheet quietly over the bag.

“Are you alright? You looked very strange for a moment, kind of like you were passing out, or just… were fading away.”

Leah knew her Dad was really worried, but didn’t want to tell him much with the doctor there. “I’m alright, Dad. I guess I’m a little woozy.”

“I’m glad you had your MID card with you, young lady.” Dr. Engelhard said. “It saved us having to do a lot of unnecessary surgery on you. With your regenerative abilities, I believe you will be able to get out of those inflatable casts in a couple of days or so. You might even get to go home then, if you keep improving at the rate I’m seeing here.”

“I should heal much more quickly now, Doctor. My essence is fully recharged.” Indeed, she could feel the bones knitting, the bruising fading, and even her eye quickly healing, since her return from Avalon.

After quickly checking her, he took her temperature again and made a note her chart. “Well, — Leah,” He said quickly after glancing back at her chart. “I believe we can start getting you out from under all those ice packs. Your temperature is stabilizing nicely. I’ll tell the duty nurse, who should be here in a few minutes.” With that he smiled at her, staring for a second which made her fleetingly uncomfortable, before turning and leaving the room.

————

When the doctor was gone, Tom stood looking at his new daughter. She had been changing for months. He thought he’d accepted that Lee was changing, but now it was a reality and she was beyond beautiful. Despite being in hospital garb, limbs wrapped in bandages, no makeup, and no one to compare her to, she had an unimaginable beauty. Her face exhibited an almost unearthly radiance that was hard to take your eyes from, not withstanding the bandages covering the right side of her face.

————

Leah squirmed slightly as she watched her dad staring at her. She knew he said before that this wouldn’t make any difference in how he felt about her. Now though he was faced with the reality. She wished he would say something. After a few eons long seconds, he moved to the side of her bed and gave her a careful hug.

Standing back up he looked at her again. “Oh, my Lord, Lee, no, — I’m sorry, Leah. You. are. beautiful!”

Leah floundered at this unexpected reaction. She hadn’t seen herself yet except for the glimpses of her front in Avalon and rather assumed she looked like an improved version of before. Her mental image was still that she had seen in the mirror when she was made up for the Halloween party. Now she was beginning to wonder . . .

“You’re not disappointed in me?” She asked timidly.

“Oh, Le-Leah, baby! I could never be disappointed in you. Son or daughter, genetic or adopted, it doesn’t matter. You’re still my child and I will always love you, but I can see I’m going to be doing a lot of worrying about you. “No, you could never disappoint me. Besides I owe you everything. You saved your mother’s life —— and mine as well, because I don’t think I could have gone on without her — or you. Thank you, baby!”

He had never called her baby before; she found she rather liked it. He leaned over her and carefully hugged her again. She quit worrying and savored the love he was showering on her. He sat down by her bed and held her hand in his.

“I guess you better start getting used to calling me Leah, dad. I think — Lee has left the building.” She grinned.

“Shut the door, and lock it if it will lock.” She told him. When he returned, she pulled back the sheet to expose the soft leather bag. “Danu sent a gift to help with my needs and schooling.” She handed him the bag, and watched as he nearly dropped it from the unexpected weight.

She watched as he untied it and peered inside, his eyes going wide as he took in the contents.

“Are these what I think they are?” He asked with a little awe.

“Yep! Gold, uncut gems, platinum and more besides. I’d estimate about ten kilograms total. She said, that she would not have me being her Paladin be a burden on my family.”

“Yeah, but what the heck am I supposed to do with them?”

“I asked the same question. She said if you would contact Armbruster & Smith, LLC in New York, they could take care of converting them into cash. I got the impression there should be more than enough to pay for my needs while in school.”

“I’d guess so. There must be a fortune in uncut emeralds and rubies alone.”

He nodded, grinning back. closing and tying the bag. They chatted a little, but mostly just enjoyed each others company in a companionable silence. It made her a little nervous that he kept glancing at various parts of her body, not lustful glances, more like almost adoring glances especially at her face. After a little while, he got up and gave her a peck on the cheek.

“I’ll be back later. I need to see how your mom is doing.” He beamed as he looked at her again. “Oh, yeah, I can see I’m going to need the proverbial shotgun.”

—————

They came in about 2 o’clock and removed her catheter, which hurt a little but more than that just felt really strange, tugging in places where there shouldn’t be places. The nurse who removed it, poured her a large glass of water. “You need to drink all this and as much more as you can. We would like for you to urinate as soon as possible, to flush out any bacteria. That will help prevent a urinary tract infection, in case the catheter caused irritation.”

Lee giggled (giggled??), “I don’t think that will be a problem because my regeneration won’t let me get most infections.” The nurse, however, was adamant. Finally, Leah decided it was easier just to give in.

The orthopedic nurse came in and examined her. “At the rate you were healing, I was going to say that you would be mostly healed in two or three more days, but after examining you now, I think we can remove the casts this evening. I will have the ophthalmologist stop by when she comes in for her rounds.”

The ophthalmologist was absolutely fascinated when she lifted the bandage. She could actually watch as the eye was rebuilding itself. Finally, replacing the bandage, she stared at Leah very curiously for a long enough moment for Leah to wonder if she was physically attracted to her, but then decided probably not. From the reactions she gotten all day, Leah decided that it was probably just her glamour and the fascination of watching her eye healing. At least, she hoped that was all it was.

By late afternoon, they had removed her casts and allowed her, with the aid of an orderly, to get out of bed. Her injuries were still tender, but she could feel them rapidly healing. She immediately told the orderly she wanted to go to the bathroom. Not only did she need to go, she wanted to see herself.

She could feel the orderly’s eyes on her and sensed his sudden surge of lust. He looked at her like a starving man looking at a T-bone steak. It made her very uncomfortable, but she didn’t say anything because to be honest she could tell the orderly really was trying and after a few awkward moments, actually did a pretty good job of controlling not only his wandering eyes, but his emotions.

After closing the bathroom door, she sighed, glad to be away from his gaze. She stopped in front of the mirror and stared at the tall willowy stranger looking back at her. She felt a little wobbly in the knees as she looked at a girl more drop-dead gorgeous than any real girl she had ever seen.

Three months ago, if Lee had seen a girl who looked like this, he wouldn’t hardly been able to look at her, for fear of being caught staring, much less to speak to her for being tongue-tied. It was no wonder the orderly was lusting after her.

She was so much more lovely than any other girl in Lee’s school, with her large deep green eyes; — emerald green eyes. Eyes designed to melt any man's heart. Her long, wavy, dark auburn hair framed a face that belonged on an angel in the cathedral.

She lifted her hand to her face, mesmerized as a small hand with slender fingers and oval nails rose to touch the soft, warm skin. Her skin was absolutely flawless, and her lips were full, red and warm. She had high cheek bones on a heart shaped face. Her nose was small and about as perfectly shaped as she could imagine. The only thing marring the perfection of her face was the bandage over her right eye, and somehow that only seemed to emphasize the perfection of the rest.

Her skin looked like that of an air-brushed model in a magazine and it was so much more sensitive than it had been as a boy. She had been noticing an increase in skin sensitivity for the last couple of months, even as it became tougher and more resistant injury, but this was a quantum change in sensitivity.

Her hair fell from around her face across her shoulders to spill over her full firm breasts. As she had thought in Avalon, they were much bigger.

She stood there staring for several minutes before the call of nature demanded her attention. Going to the toilet, she realized at the last minute that she would no longer be standing to use it. She sat gingerly on the cold seat. It took a moment to figure out what muscles to relax. She was shocked as the cascade of urine was released. It was so different than the steady stream she was used to as a boy. She blushed at how loud it was, knowing that the orderly was just on the other side of the door. When the flow trickled to a stop, she gathered a handful of paper and wiped front to back. The nurse had earlier explained some of her new hygiene requirements, much to her embarrassment.

She was tempted to explore her new equipment, but decided to wait until there wasn’t someone waiting for her just outside the door. Leah used the handicap bar to pull herself upright because her leg was still tender. When she was standing, she realized that her grip had left an impression of her hand in the metal bar. It brought home to her in a way that nothing else had that she was going to have to be very careful: a) not to give herself away through her strength; and b) not to hurt someone or some thing accidentally. She made a mental note to talk to the coach about that last round of power testing.

After washing her hands, she stared again at the dark - haired beauty in the mirror for several more long minutes, before shaking her head in dismay. She was in so much trouble. Not only would this be impossible to pass this change off as a side effect of the mythical steroid drug, she knew that any boy who wasn’t vehemently anti-mutant or flamingly gay was going be following her around like a hound after a bitch in heat. It was actually worse than she knew, being unaware of the subtle pheromones that she was now releasing.

As she moved, the huge-looking (to her) new mounds on her chest jiggled and bounced under the thin hospital gown, the paper rubbing against her very sensitive nipples, making her shiver as they tingled. She could also feel a cold breeze blowing up her backside. All of this was embarrassing enough without this stupid gown.

Indulging her curiosity, she untied the belt on the inadequate hospital gown, and removed it, so she could get a look at the rest of her body. She inhaled sharply. It was one thing to be told his? her? Johnson was gone and quite another to see the neat triangle of thick curly hair that accented her new mound. Her hand briefly brushed the curly hair and then with a single finger parted the hair to expose the valley concealed therein. She quivered as her finger touched something exquisitely sensitive. She withdrew her hand quickly.

Her breasts were not as large as she had first thought looking at them with the gown on. On the girl in the mirror, which she was still having a little trouble associating with herself, they looked ……. very nice. They were appropriately sized for her chest.

They sat high and proud on her chest, with just barely enough sag to make them look real. She caressed one of her breasts like Lee would have caressed Amanda’s. It sent delicate shivers racing down her spine to her new mound. She jerked her hand back, but continued to stare at herself. She couldn’t see her legs in the mirror over the sink, but looking down, she knew her legs with her relatively small feet and ankles were as perfect as the rest.

She trembled, now was definitely not the time for this. Another cold breeze chilled her derriere. Nope, this gown wasn’t working for her, in so many ways. As she slipped it back on and started to re-tie the sash of the paper gown, she heard the orderly.

“Are you alright in there, Miss!”

“Yes, I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute.” She finished re-tying the gown, and checked that everything important was covered, — or as covered as it was going to get wearing this. She flushed the toilet, and opened the door.

She made her way back to the bed with her involuntarily randy orderly at her elbow. After she opened the door she sensed his lust increase, but had no idea that this was due to the gust of pheromones that wafted into the room ahead of her.

Finally back in bed and decently covered, she leaned over and dug her phone out of the drawer beside the bed and rang her sister, Eve.

“Eve, Caaa- …….“ She began.“EVE! Slow down.” ….. “Yes, it’s me. I’m going to be fine. I’m mostly healed.” …. “No, I haven’t seen mom yet, but they tell me she is going to be fine.” She paused again, not knowing how to say what came next. “Eve, I sound different, because I’ve changed - a lot. I’m completely ….(sigh)…. your sister now, I guess.”

Eve’s shriek of delight came through the phone.

“Eve! ——Eve! Calm down. I need you to do something for me. I really need something to wear. This hospital gown just ain’t going to cut it. I feel naked.”…. “No! I don’t know what size.” Leah was frustrated and embarrassed. “They’re huge! Weeelll, not exactly huge, but they seem that way to me. Look, can you at least bring me one of Dad’s old robes?” …. “Can’t Grandpa, bring you?” “Pleeease? And bring me a pack of panties that Mom bought me the other day.” ….. “Go ask him now, pleeease? I’ll hold on.” …………… “Great. You’re a life saver. You have no idea what it feels like to be up and wearing only this skimpy thing with my rear hanging out, and I want to go see Mom.” …. “Alright, maybe you do know. See you soon.” Leah closed the phone and lay back with a sigh.

She didn’t try to get back up while she waited. Healing was taking so much of her energy, she was really, really exhausted, and hungry. She quickly grabbed the phone again. She dialed and waited.

“Eve, one more thing. Can you get Grandpa to stop at the Burger Barn and get me two of their biggest ‘slop’ burgers with everything? Yeah, I’m really hungry and the hospital food is soooooo bad!”…….“Because I’m an energizer now and healing, I need a lot of food. I can’t seem to get that across to the doctors. I’m starving. Oh, you might want to bring Mom at least one, too. I expect she’s also pretty hungry as well. ……”Okay, thanks sis.”

————

Two hours later, Eve, Beth, and her grandparents came into the room carrying two big bags, one from the Burger Barn and one from a store in the mall that Leah recognized as catering to women’s lingerie. Leah’s mouth began watering as the smell from the burgers reached her sensitive nose.

They all stopped just inside the doorway and stared. Leah squirmed uncomfortably as none of them said anything. Finally, just as Leah was beginning to feel really rejected, Mamaw softly said, “Leah?”

When Leah nodded, Mamaw sighed heavily. “Sweet Mother Mary, child, if you aren’t the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

It’s official, kill me now!

Leah started sobbing uncontrollably. The next thing she knew she was engulfed in a group hug, with Mamaw, Eve and Beth. She just couldn’t stem the waterworks.

Finally, she reached the point where she could get words out between sobs. “Mamaw,” sob “what am…” sob “I going…” sniff “to do? I thought…” sob “I was…” sniff “prepared for…” sob “this, but I’m…m not.” (More sobbing).

Mamaw hugged her tighter. “Leah, honey, it’s going to be alright. You’re going to be alright. I’m not going to tell you it’s going to be easy, but it’ll work out. Being a girl is not the end of the world. Look at your sisters… they’re doing alright. Look at me. I’ve been a girl for 56 years, and they’ve been mostly good years. And if you’re going to be a girl, being one who looks like you do doesn’t hurt, at all.”

Leah had stopped sobbing by this point and only a few tears still ran down her face. Eve handed her a couple of tissues. Leah wiped her face and blew her nose noisily.

“But that’s just it, Mamaw, you’ve always been a girl. You learned how from the cradle. I don’t know anyyythinng about being a girl,” Leah gasped out, on the verge of tears again. “And every guy who comes in here, looks at me like a piece of meat, and they are starving!”

Grandma chuckled and her sisters giggled. “Well, honey, that’s just something your going to have to get used to, looking the way you do. As to the rest, we’ll teach you. Won’t we, girls?” Her sisters nodded vehemently.

“Sure we will. It’s not hard, really!” Beth said.

“But I don’t want to be a girrrlll!” Her face twisted up as the waterworks got ready to flow.

Grandpa, who had stood back during all this, suddenly, stepped up by the bed. “Liam Ephram Cook!” He rumbled sternly, “that’s enough of that. I always given you credit for being stronger than this. Yeah, you’ve been dealt a bad hand, and you’ve done your crying about it. …. Now! It’s getting time for you to quit feeling sorry for yourself, and play that hand the best you can. It’s not like you didn’t know this was coming. You’re a girl! A very, very beautiful girl, so deal with it. It could be a lot worse. You could be fat and ugly as a mud fence, but you’re not. All this blubbering is not the kind of thing I expect from a Cook. You’ve got a backbone — use it and stand up, face your problems.

“You can handle this. You know we’re all behind you, don’t you?” His gravelly voice got a little more gentle at the end.

She hung her head and nodded glumly. Leah knew he was right. She just wanted to wallow in her self-pity, when she knew it wasn’t making her feel any better and was making those who loved her feel worse, because they couldn’t really do anything to help. Grandpa pushed to her side and wrapped his big arms around her and gave her an embrace.

Leah sat there in the bed sniffling and feeling embarrassed that Grandpa had to shake her out of her funk. He was right. It might not be what she wanted, but it was what she had, and she wouldn’t - couldn’t let him down -or herself.

“Yeah, (sniff) and I love you guys, too. It’s just sooo much to deal with, you know. I mean the way everyone looks at me, especially, the guys. That’s why I called, they made me feel naked, and I know what they are thinking, because I know what I would have been thinking. That orderly, who was helping me earlier, I thought his eyes were going to swivel around to the back of his head. Speaking of which, you did bring me something more to wear, didn’t you?”

Mamaw grinned and pulled out a fluffy white housecoat. It was long enough to reach at least to Leah’s knees, but more important it would cover her behind.

Leah slipped it on over the hospital gown. Mamaw started to reach into the bag again.

“Food first!. I’m starving.” Mamaw smiled and pulled out one of the Burger Barn’s ‘slop’ burgers. That was the name the kids had for their enormous 8-ounce burger on an oversized bun with everything on it. It had your standard lettuce, tomato, onion and thick-sliced dill pickles. It also had smoked gouda cheese, loads of bacon, thick slices of fresh avocado, and topped with a thick, rich, tangy barbecue sauce. It came with a large order of crispy fries. In short, heart attack on a plate.

Mamaw started to put the other one in a small refrigerator in the room. Leah stopped her. “No! It’ll get cold.”

“But you can’t possibly eat both now,” she said.

She only nodded, her mouth full of heaven on a bun. In between bites of burger, she was stuffing in the fries dredged with their special extra-spicy catsup. Beth went to take Mom’s burger to her. Leah had no doubt Mom would eat the whole thing. The rest watched in amazement as she downed both of the monstrous burgers.

The doctor came in just as she was mopping up the last of the ketchup with the remaining fry and slurping up a large root beer. Seeing the Burger Barn bag, he asked, “Slop burger?”

She nodded again, mouth not fully stuffed but half afraid she would embarrass herself with a very unlady-like monster belch, if she opened it.

“How many?”

She held up two fingers, coloring slightly at her piggly gorging.

“Good, I was going to suggest something like that. You used up an awful lot of your reserves and the meat has a lot of iron in it, which you need right now, as well as the calories.”

Leah swallowed the last of it, and asked, “How’s Mom?” The question was punctuated with the much feared belch.

Laughing at her, while Leah flushed brightly — again, the doctor replied. “She’s doing very well. Your healing almost certainly saved her life. Did you repair her spine, too?”

She nodded, wondering if she had somehow screwed up. She had really been guessing and working out of desperation.

“Well, young lady, I wish I had you on staff here. We ran an MRI and CAT scan of her back and while I can tell where she was injured, I can only guess how bad. Can you tell me about it? Oh, and don’t worry, anything you tell me about it or any of your powers, will be held under the strictest Doctor/Patient confidentiality.”

Leah looked at him for a long moment reading his emotions before knowing she could trust him. Her empathy seemed stronger now. “It was bad, doctor. Her spine was almost completely severed where her neck joins her shoulders. Her shoulder blade had been slammed into the door frame and had broken and parts of it must have impacted her backbone. Using a sense I can’t really explain, I can see into the body, and I looked into myself and used my own undamaged spine as a guide. She will be able to walk, won’t she?”

“Oh, without a doubt. The finest healing I have ever seen. If you want to get a medical degree and come back here, I’ll put you on staff immediately, if I have to fight H-1 and the MCO to do it.” Her eyes went wide as she realized she was talking to the head doctor for the whole hospital.

“Well, I haven’t really thought about a career yet. I have to graduate high school first.” His eyes went wide as he took in the silhouette of her body under the sheet.

“Just how old are you?”

“I’ll be fourteen next month.”

Looking at his face with his mouth open, Leah snickered. She was glad there were no flies in the room.

Seeing the bag in Mamaw’s hand. “Well, I see you are about to get some less drafty clothes, so I won’t keep you. I’ll come back around tomorrow and we can talk some more.”

After he left, Mamaw pushed Grandpa out of the room with the excuse that they needed to go see their daughter(-in-law). Once he was gone, Eve locked the door and helped her out of bed to change. “I can’t believe how gorgeous you are, and so tall! I’m 5’ 3” and you must be at least seven or eight inches taller than I am now.”

“Nine! I know, crazy, ain’t it? I was waiting for what seems like forever to get taller back when I was a boy and playing football, and now it takes becoming a girl to grow up. The nurse said I’m 6 foot now.”

“Wow! That’s fairly tall for a guy, especially a fourteen-year old one. You’re a giant compared to most girls that age. All the girls at school are going to be so jealous when they see you. I’m jealous of you. You’re soooo gorgeous. As they say, you’re stacked like the proverbial brick outhouse.”

“Sweet Mary! School. I can’t go back to school looking like this! I’ll be lynched as a mutant, or worse, I won’t be and I’ll have to deal with guys!”

Eve giggled as she helped Leah ease off that darned hospital gown. “Oh yeah! The guys are going to be ca…raaazy for you. She gasped and her eyes went wide as Leah’s body was fully revealed. “OMG! You are going to need such a big stick!” Then she giggled hilariously.

She opened the package and handed her a pair of silky feeling cotton panties. “Grrrrr! You just had to bring me pink ones, didn’t you? How am I supposed to get these on, I’m still pretty stiff.”

Eve knelt down and spread them on the floor. “Step into them.” When Leah did, Eve slid them up her long legs. Leah sighed, as she lifted them into place. It was a relief to be covered. They felt different now that her male equipment was completely gone and they snugged against her smooth flat crotch and larger hips filled them out behind.

Eve giggled again as she reached into the bag and pulled out a matching athletic bra. It was cotton, as well, Leah thought.

“There’s no way I’m going to be able to wear the bras we bought before the accident.”

“Oh, Mamaw called the nurse and got her to estimate the sizes you needed. We stopped and got it on the way here. Besides, you simply can’t go letting those bounce around in that robe, you’ll be flashing everyone before you know it, … including Dad.”

That last stopped a sarcastic retort cold in her mouth. “I don’t know how I’m going to get it on with my sore ribs and wrist.” She carped. Have I mentioned how much I hate it when I whine?

Leah was shocked when she looked at the label, 36C? No way! She staggered slightly, with Eve catching her elbow to steady her.

“I’m a C-cup? Amanda is only a B and she’s got some of the biggest ones in my class. When I looked in the bathroom earlier, I didn’t think they would be that large.” Eve gave her a sympathetic look. Beth just looked jealous with her tiny buds.

Eve gestured for her to sit on the edge of the bed. Leah sat reluctantly, as Eve slipped the bra over her head. She stopped to pull Leah's hair through the opening, which took a minute as long as it now was, then helped her slip her arms through the straps. Then she gently pulled the bra down over Leah’s breasts. It wasn’t comfortable. Her boobs (suddenly I hated that word) weren’t positioned right and it kinda pinched them.

“You need to adjust them,” Eve said seeing her discomfort.

“How?”

“It’ll be easier, if I show you.” Eve slipped her blouse off. She reached into her bra from the top and slipped her fingers of her right hand under her left ‘breast’ and lifted it before letting it fall back into place as she held the top of bra out from her body with the back of her hand. It nestled itself into the cup. She then slipped her top back on. Leah watched as Beth soaked up the lessons intended for herself. She smiled to herself as she realized she wasn’t the only one in the room with interest in learning about being a girl.

“See, easy as pie! Then just do the same for the other one. Usually, you would use the other hand for the left one, but you can do it with one hand, it’s just a little more awkward.” She watched as Leah adjusted her girls (Yaah! I like that word much better, less clinical, and more importantly, less vulgar). She had heard Eve and Beth using it, although Beth’s ‘girls’ didn’t amount to much yet.

“Isn’t that better?” Leah nodded her head in agreement, although all the movement was making her ribs ache. Luckily the band of the bra was above the worst bruising. She stood up and reached for the robe hanging on the back of the door.

“Not yet,” Eve reached back into the bag and pulled out a translucent silk nightgown. It was also pink, of course.

“I’m not wearing that!” Leah exclaimed.

“Oh, yes, you are! Mamaw just bought this and she’s very proud of finding one on such short notice. You wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings by not wearing it, would you?” Leah groaned, Eve always knew just how to get her -- guilt! (What can I say, I’m Catholic. We’re raised on the stuff right along with mother’s milk.)

The gown was a soft, draping confection with lacy trim around the low cut neck and almost non-existent sleeves. It had built in cups for her girls. Once she slipped it over Leah’s arms and head, Eve once again went through the lengthy process of pulling her hair through the opening and adjusting the gown over her girls.

On Eve, it would have reached to mid-calf. On Leah, it was barely mid-thigh.

Beth looked at her with her head cocked to one side. “You know I really don’t think pink is your color.”

Leah looked in the mirror and moaned. She looked so … girly. Worse, she was a good looking girly girl. No, strike that. She was breathtaking, as Eve had said. Leah was her own male self’s wet dream come to life. She leaned her head against the wall and gently beat it against the tile. Gently, because she didn’t want to have to pay for new tile.

She turned and looked at Eve as she held the robe for Leah to slip into. The wrapper just accentuated the rest of the ensemble. “Please, please tell me I don’t look like the wet dream of every boy in school!” Leah begged her.

“Sorry, sis. Can’t do it. You are going to drive them out of their horny little minds just by walking down the hall. Most of them are going to be beating off to the thoughts of you every night, and those that don’t — are gay!"

Beth injected with, “And you might convert some of them!”

Leah was in so much trouble. The worst part of it was, as stunning as she knew she was, Leah didn’t do a thing for herself. (On the other hand, I would hate to be attracted to myself) Instead, her first thought was what Jim would think. She thought about Jim going crazy, if he ever saw her in this outfit, which she told herself would never, never, ever happen.

Suddenly, she thought of something. “If this gown has built-in support for me,” She gestured at her girls. “then why do I need the bra?”

“Well, technically, you don’t, but those things are going to be pretty bouncy and jiggly, and that nightgown shows a lot of cleavage. I thought you might be more comfortable with a little more support and coverage, just until you get used to it.”

Leah realized she was right, although she wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to them. “Thanks, sis. You’re the best sister a guy turned girl ever had!” Leah gave her a gentle hug. This started both of them crying, happy tears, but crying none the less. Darn those female hormones, but hugging her sister felt good, really good.

Finally, they wiped their faces and Eve showed her how to splash cold water on it to reduce the puffiness around the eyes. Then re-donning the plush wrapper, Eve had her sit back down, reached into her purse and pulled out a brush. Eve brushed Leah’s long, thick hair for at least 10 minutes and Leah could swear she actually purred. It felt sooo good. Then Eve gathered it up and with a lot of effort put a scrunchy on her hair making a ponytail that still reached below the small of Leah’s back.

Leah was still pretty sore so she only protested a little when Eve insisted that she get a wheelchair. She had just left, when a large furry head rubbed against Leah’s nearly naked thigh, making her quiver at the feel of soft fur against her sensitive skin.

“Golden!” Leah had shortened the cat’s name after a long discussion. Golden thought it wasn’t very dignified. You know how cats are about their dignity, but she had finally given in. She reach down and embraced the big cat joyfully. “How long have you been here?”

“Nearly as long as you have. I have strict instructions not to leave your side again.” Leah could hear the wince in her mental voice.

“I hope ‘Father’ (‘Leah wasn’t sure exactly what to call him, seeing as she had never met him.’) wasn’t too hard on you? It was my fault you weren’t with us, besides you couldn’t have done anything.”

“It is never pleasant when a Grey Lord reveals his true self to you, but I’m fine, and it’s not strictly speaking true that there was nothing I could have done. I could have supplied you with much essence, saving your own.”

“I’m glad you’re here. I’ve missed you.” Leah said with feeling.

“I will always be near now, though it will be necessary that most are not aware of that fact.” Golden stropped her cheek against Leah’s leg again. “I would not be separated from you again even without the Grey Lord’s admonitions.”

When Eve began opening the door, Golden faded from view - though Leah could still feel her presence in the room.

“They had to hunt one that wasn’t being used.” Eve was so solicitous as she helped Leah into the chair, that Leah had to suppress a giggle. Then Eve pushed her down the hall to visit her Mom. Leah shrunk down in the chair as she couldn’t help noticing the heads turning as she went by. Oh crap, this was really going to be hard. Lee had always been one of the invisible people that no one notices, usually one of the ones trying to figure out ways of getting noticed. Guess I’ll soon be hankering after the invisible days soon.

The strange man in the black suit followed them and stood side by side with another that could have been his twin outside her mother’s door. When Leah asked, she was told they were with the DPA and were there to keep the MCO from bothering her.

————

Even though everyone had tried to warn her, Kathleen was still shocked by her first glimpse of her new daughter. It was hard to connect this exquisite creature that Eve pushed into her room with Lee. She thought the months of changes had prepared her for her son becoming her daughter, but nothing could have prepared her for this. She didn’t think she had ever seen a more beautiful girl than this magnificent vision before her. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes, as she was struck speechless.

Leah looked at least sixteen or seventeen years old, not her soon to be fourteen. When she stood, her tall, svelte stature made her look even more mature. Kathleen winced in her head. There was so much she was going to have to teach her. Leah might look like a young woman, but inside was a child, a very young confused child. Dear Mother of God, how could she enlighten her new daughter to all the dangers and wonders awaiting her. Not the physical ones, she knew Leah could hold her own there, but the emotional and psychic ones. Kathleen’s new empathic abilities showed her just how fragile Leah was, and she wanted to cry for her.

“Hi, Mom.” Even Leah’s cheerful voice was in dulcet tones that soothed and enticed everyone around her.

Finally, gathering her wits, Kathleen spoke. “Oh, Leah, you look — just glorious. When Coach told me you would become a girl, I never in my wildest dream imagined anything like this.” She watched as Leah’s face flushed shiningly.

Leah tried to change the subject. “How are you feeling, Mom?”

“Oh, much better! I understand I mostly have you to thank for that. They tell me you healed me and helped my body learn how to heal itself. How did you do that?”

Leah hung her head. “I didn’t mean to make you a mutant, too, but you were dying and I didn’t know what else to do,” Leah knew she was near to whimpering again. Would her mother hate her for making her a mutant? It didn’t sound like it, but if someone else had caused Leah’s mutation, she was sure she would hold a lot of resentment. Leah was aware of her aura flooding the room with her remorse, guilt, shame, and fear that she was not good enough to have healed her mother without turning her into a mutant.

“Darling, come here.” Leah moved to her mother and when her mother grabbed her hand, she was amazed at the flood of emotions she could feel coming from her mother. Love, gratitude, pride, uncertainty all flowed through her contact. “Leah, I was surprised to wake as a mutant, but I’m very glad just to wake at all, and am very grateful for what you did for me.” She tilted her daughter’s head back, and turned her own head to give Leah a profile view, then gave her a sly grin. “Besides … it gave me an instant free facelift. What woman my age wouldn’t be grateful for that.” She gave a radiant smile and held her good arm out for a hug.

Kathleen concentrated on pouring her love for Leah through her link into this brave, but very frightened, young girl child in her arms. Deep in her heart she prayed for her.

Leah could feel her mother’s love through their contact, even though it was tinged with a little uncertainty. She relaxed onto her mother’s shoulder as that love washed away her own anxiety, if even only for a few moments. There also was an unseen nudge of reassurance against her leg and more love from her furry alter ego.

————

Coach and Doc came by to see her that evening. They were both struck speechless when they saw her. She blushed again. At this rate, she was going to always look like she had a sunburn.

“Leah, I can see I’m going to have to make some s-s-serious ad-d-justments in my machines. I always knew you were going to be stunning, but this is be-beyond anything I ever imagined.” Doc said.

Leah felt her blush reach her toes. She just had to figure someway of controlling her blushing.

Coach just smiled at her. “Leah, you scared us to half to death. I knew that Randy and his father were furious with you for getting him expelled and for being a mutant, but I never expected anything like this. I’m so sorry, I should have kept a closer watch on them.”

“It was Randy?”

“Yeah! Your mom caught a glimpse of their wrecker before she passed out, but the police say that the extent of her injuries will make her testimony inadmissible or at least unreliable to a jury. So they’re still running around loose, no doubt having bragged to their H-1 buddies what they did to the mutant.”

“I never thought they would do something like this either, although as bigoted as Randy is I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” Leah grimaced.

Coach looked sideways at Doc with a wry grin on his face. Leah knew something was up.

“It may be bigoted as he was.” Coach said uncertainly. “Have you watched the local news today?”

“No, I’ve had too much on my mind to even turn on the TV.” She replied.

Coach looked at his watch. It was just coming up on six o’clock. He walked over and picked up the remote from her bedside table, and quickly turned on the TV to one of the local stations. The WBIR news logo was just fading as the TV came on.

The lead newscaster appeared. “Tonight’s lead story is the disappearance of several local people, including some quite prominent persons. Missing tonight are the Knox County Sheriff, the Captain in the Local Tennessee State Trooper’s office, the owner of Jenkins Wrecker Service and his son, an English teacher at John Paul Jones High School, and several members of the Pentecostal Church of Genetic Purity, including its minister.

“One of the the strangest parts of the story is in the last known location of each of these persons, a small frightened capuchin monkey was found running loose, according to confidential police sources. No other clues have been released, citing the need for confidentiality in an ongoing investigation.

“This reporter, however, talked to a student at John Paul Jones High School, who wished to remain anonymous. The student had returned just after class was let out to retrieve a book she had forgotten. The student says when she had left the classroom only a couple of minutes prior, the teacher was alone at her desk. The student also mentioned that the only thing she saw out of the ordinary was what appeared to be a small purple rabbit leaving the classroom as she returned, yet the teacher was gone. The student was certain the teacher couldn’t have left without her seeing her leave. Police are treating this account with skepticism, but are continuing to question her and other students in the area.

“The Knox County Sheriff’s office and Tennessee State Troopers have jointly called in the FBI to aid in the investigation. FBI sources have said that they are treating this as a serial kidnapping. No reasons have been given for the selection of victims and no messages or demands for ransom have been received at this time.

As the announcer concluded the story a list of names of the missing scrolled up the screen. “Anyone having information concerning these missing persons should contact their local law enforcement agencies or contact the FBI Informant Hotline.”

“In other news, the —“ Coach muted the volume.

Leah sat there with her lovely mouth hanging open. She sat there for a long time before slowly breaking into giggles. She giggled louder and harder until she had to turn and bury her face in the pillow laughing hysterically as she kicked her feet on the bed. She was giggling so hard, she was having trouble breathing. Enough so, Golden suddenly appeared between her and the two men growling softly, before turning and putting her enormous front feet on the bed sniffing and staring at her. Coach and Doc were speechless as the cat either decided she was alright -- or crazy -- and disappeared before their eyes.

Several minutes later, she was finally able to stop giggling enough to tell Doc and Coach who she suspected was responsible for the disappearance of those people. She told them the highlights of her last conversation with Danu. They stared at her with a glazed expression.

“Your father did this?” Coach asked incredulously.

“Not Tom,” she explained. “My biological father. He is apparently a high-faluting elf lord in the undying land. A Grey Lord, Danu called him. I seriously doubt that they will ever find those people. No, that’s not true, I think they have already found them and just don’t recognize them.”

“You know, — sometimes being around you can be a little — unnerving.” Coach quietly.

After they recovered from their shock at what Leah thought had happened, and who had done it, they began to see the humor and justice in what befell those people. They didn’t know how the State Trooper Captain was involved, but were certain that he was in some way connected to the events leading up to or after Leah’s ‘accident.’

Leah then introduced them to Goldenclaw. Both men were a little intimidated by the large cat, at first, but her gentle attitude, once she saw that they didn’t mean Leah harm, soon won them over. Golden even tolerated a little stroking of her head and scratching of her ears.
Before they left, Doc gave Leah a small metal box about the size of a large cigar box. She thanked him and opened it. The contents were surprising. The box was filled with 4 rows of what looked like bumblebees. Each row was colored slightly differently. There were also two pairs of aviator’s sunglasses. She looked at him, puzzled.

“They’re my own devises. I decided you might need some recon and backup support, once you leave. The bees can fly just like a normal bumblebee. They are thought-controlled through the glasses which also act as a heads-up display for relaying what they see. Each bee can fly up to a half a mile from you and can stay aloft for approximately 1 hour before needing to return for recharging. They can also fly up to 70 miles per hour although this high a speed will necessarily reduce flight time. They can be programmed to fly a particular pattern or in a straight line. A flashing red light in your display will warn you of an approaching target or blue when it is time to replace the robot on patrol.

“Each bee is also equipped with a stinger. The bees in each row carry a different load in their stingers. Each robotic insect can sting up to three times before the toxin load is exhausted. Row one gives a very painful but harmless sting much like a normal bee; except the likelihood of extreme allergic reactions is very low; while the pain factor is approximately twice as intense.

“The second row is equipped with a special anesthetic. One sting can drop a charging rhino in two seconds, yet allow him to get up unharmed after approximately 15 minutes. A normal human would be out for an hour or more. The third row are for very special use only. The venom they carry is a very lethal neurotoxin. They should only be used as a last resort.

“The final row is for those occasions when you need a little more punch. They each can be detonated. The yield is adjustable from as little as 20 grams up to 1 kilogram of C-4, controlled through the glasses. They can be detonated on impact, by remote control, or by proximity.

“You can control the each of the bees individually or in groups like a swarm. I have also included a small automatically opening box that will carry up to four bees, which you can slip in a pocket — or your purse, that you can carry with you for emergencies. The only thing you need then is the glasses. There is also a spare pair of glasses in case something happens to the other.

There is a small automated assembly chamber under the top layer which when fed the right raw materials can reproduce any of the types at a rate of about one every 12 hours. Instructions are included.”

Doc looked very proud of himself, and Leah was touched. Her attack had obviously upset Doc and Coach very much. Coach confirmed that saying “Doc worked for two days nonstop to build this for you.”

After thanking him profusely and with quick hugs all around, Coach shepherded the now glassy-eyed Doc out, saying he was going to take him home and put him to bed.

————

Leah’s final visitor that day was Jim. Naturally, he showed up just as she was returning from the bathroom, getting the full picture so to speak. The meeting was a little tense as Jim struggled with her appearance, glamour and pheromones. He was quite tongue-tied, and Leah wasn’t much better.

“You’re looking a lot better than the last time I saw you.” Jim began weakly.

“Yeah, my regeneration really helps.” Leah replied unable to think of anything else to say. She knew how she looked, and she had never intended for him to see her in that frilly nightgown and robe set.

“So, are the changes all - uh - finished?”

“Uhh, yeah. They think so. They are going to run some tests when I’m a little better healed to find out for sure.” Leah said accompanied by the inevitable blush as she was reminded her of her latest changes.

They sat and tried to talk. Leah sat in the bed but kept her robe on. Jim sat on the edge of his chair, fidgeting, bumbling and stumbling as he tried to make conversation with his old friend who now looked so — Wow!

Leah had to give him credit. He very manfully tried to control his roaming eyes, but it was a futile attempt and knowing how she looked, she couldn’t be upset with Jim, no matter how uncomfortable it made her. She kept straightening and closing her robe almost unconsciously. This only served to reinforce her new femininity.

“Your dad says you’re going to Whateley after Christmas.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Me, too, but I won’t be there until the start of spring semester, so we’ll see each other there soon.”

“I can’t say I’m thrilled about going, at all, but after this latest incident I don’t think I can stay here. Oh, that reminds me, have you watched the news?”

“Yep, wonder what happened to Randy and all those other people?”

Leah giggled again. (She was really going to have to get this unfortunate tendency to giggle under control) Then motioning for him to shut the door, she proceeded to tell him about her biological father and her very strong suspicions about what happened to those people. They were both laughing uproariously at the justice of it, when the duty nurse came in to check on her.

After the nurse came in, Jim made an excuse and left. By the time he left things were less strained between them, but it would never be the same again. Deep inside her, she wasn’t sure she wanted it to be exactly the same.

Leah felt discouraged by the uneasiness between them. She felt sad and like the least little thing could send her into tears. Jim was really the only close friend her own age she had left and the strain this was putting on their friendship saddened her. There was something more, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. She knew she was also very sorry to see him leave.

————

The two, now walking wounded, were both allowed to go home the next day. Leah was fully healed, but Mom was still in her inflatable casts and was slightly anemic. The doctor told her that she was healing rapidly and could expect to be back to normal by the end of the weekend. The vision in Leah’s eye was still a little fuzzy, but the eye doctor assured her it would clear up quickly.

Leah was really glad to be back in her own room. She had never realized how good just having her familiar room around her was, but as she looked around she realized that despite the familiarity, it was essentially a boy’s room and, like it or not, that simply was going to have to change.

After her grandfather took her to task in the hospital, she spent a lot of time thinking about what he said and what it made her realize about herself. She had fought becoming a girl tooth and toenail, which was a little like trying to row up Niagara Falls. She finally perceived that she was going to have to embrace the girl she had become, or she was going to spend the rest of her life making herself and everyone around her miserable.

Right. Tomorrow she would talk to her mother and grandmother at breakfast about redoing her room, and when they returned all the clothes that no longer fit her, she would really try to make more feminine choices.

As she stood in the bathroom looking at her new self in the mirror, she now understood her mistake. The clothes she had chosen only emphasized her lack of feminine skills, and drew more attention to her boyish behaviors.

Her choices before made her stand out, when what she needed to do was blend into the others around her. Besides, with this last change there was no way, no matter what she wore, that she could hide the fact that she was all girl. The trouble now was that her new body made her look like a eighteen-year-old model instead of the fourteen-year-old girl she was.

She slept like the newborn she was — restlessly. She had a lot of trouble finding a comfortable position, and every time she went to sleep she ended up rolling over onto her new breasts. She woke grumbling and rubbing her tender girls.

———

Kathleen had been up since daylight, partly because her rapidly healing body still ached and the painkillers were almost useless thanks to her regeneration. The doctor had told her that thankfully, she should be fully healed in a couple of days.

She and her mother were sitting in the living room drinking their coffee and Kathleen was taking what ease she could from Tom’s recliner.

“I’m worried about Leah,” Kathleen mentioned between sips. “She is so beautiful, but is so naive about being a woman. I don’t think she believes it’s real, deep down where Lee still lives. How can she know how to protect herself — emotionally? I don’t worry about her so much physically. She’s strong enough, knows enough martial arts, and with her regeneration, I don’t think anyone could hurt her very badly physically, but emotionally, that’s a different story.”

“I know. She’s like a baby in a grownup’s body. Every man she meets is going to be sniffing after her like a dog in heat, and she has no defenses.” Ada paused to take a sip of her coffee. “She looks nearly like a grown woman…at barely fourteen.”

“I know and I’m really worried, because even if she’s accepting that she’s a girl, she didn’t grow up even to fourteen as one. There’s so many things she doesn’t know, and what’s worse is she doesn’t even know she doesn’t know.”

“Well… you will teach her what you can, and then like most girls she will learn as she goes. All you can do is trust her and hope that the lessons aren’t too painful, and if she makes mistakes you will have to accept them, and help her get past them.

“That’s what we did with you, when you married Tom and joined our family, remember? And you - and Lee didn’t do too badly.”

“Ada, it’s so hard, watching her and remembering, but hard as it was, Lee was the best mistake I ever made. —— I don’t think I ever thanked you for all you did — for accepting me when I married Tom. You, Papaw Samuel and Tom made it possible for me to go forward, especially when my mother and father died. I know you were disappointed in me sometimes, but mostly you didn’t let it show, and you all helped me anyway.”

“Oh darlin’, even if you are not my own flesh and blood, you are my little girl. There was never any choice about accepting you. Every one makes mistakes, some big, some little, what matters is what we do after those mistakes, and Kathleen, you have made me proud with all you did to make those mistakes turn out for the best. No, I may have been less than thrilled initially, but I got a real keeper for a daughter-in-law. You’ve done right by my Tom, and you’ve raised three children that any mother could be proud of; pleasant, courteous, and strong children. Leah is nearly as strong mentally as she is physically. Lord knows I would be a basket case if I’d had to go through one-tenth what she has faced these last few weeks.

Leah will make her mistakes, maybe more than her share, but given the circumstances who will blame her, not me! We will love her anyway, just like we did you. We just have to do our best in the very short time left to us to see that she makes as few blunders as possible.”

“Speaking of that, I had an idea that I wanted to discuss with you. With all that’s gone on I think that you, Leah, and her sisters need to come home with Samuel and me in a day or two, and stay until Christmas. You can petition the school to let her take her lessons on-line, based on the severity of her injuries. They don’t have to know she is virtually healed.

“This will accomplish several things. First, she won’t have to face any of those bigots, especially now that there will be no hiding that she is a mutant. Second, it will give us a chance to really shop for her. In Cincinnati there are a lot more choices. Finally, and most importantly, it will give us three solid weeks with her sisters’ help to put Leah through an intensive boot camp in Girl-101, before she has to go off to a strange school.”

“I don’t know, Ada. I doubt Tom will be very happy about losing what little time he has left with her before she leaves.”

“He can apply for family leave and come too. They can’t refuse him under the law considering his having to take care of his invalided wife and daughter, now can they?”

Kathleen smiled as she thought about it. It would be nice to get the whole family out of the pressure-cooker they had been in for the last few months. And they really did need to spend some comprehensive training time teaching Leah the biological basics of her new body. Also, things like how to dress, walk, sit, talk and all of the other little things she would already know if she had been born a girl. They had made a tiny start at Halloween, but there was so much more she needed to know.

Her first impressions at the new school would be important, and right now, no matter how she looked, she was still a very young, male boy in a spectacular female body, and acted like it. They wouldn’t be able to completely rewrite her training, but maybe they could make her into a tomboy in a very spectacular female body. Kathleen smiled. Leah was going to hate this.

“Okay, I like the idea, but I have to talk to Tom and we can’t possibly leave before the end of the week. I have my own powers evaluation at Doc Widget’s on Wednesday. I can’t miss that. Assuming Tom agrees and can get off, we’ll leave Friday morning. That will give us time to get a new car and return all those clothes we spent so much time and money on.”

The two women looked at each other with satisfaction. They had a plan.