Liam knew where his life was going, or so he thought until an incident at football practice turns into his worst nightmare. And the fun is only beginning.

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 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. My goal is to post a new chapter weekly as I have written several ahead with publication pending a final grammar check.

I appreciate all the encouraging comments and Kudos. I understand now in a way I never did before how important these are to the authors. It kind of like being paid, so thanks. Don't be afraid to tell me if there are things you think could be improved. I'm new to this and want to learn to be a better writer.

Mother's Child

Chapter 2

August 13th, 2008

Lee looked nervously out the living room window waiting for Coach Quail to arrive. He hoped that the coach would get there before his dad got home from the golf course. His dad had already been gone by the time Lee got up, as he was every Saturday morning. He had taken Lee golfing a couple of times, but his dad didn’t have the patience to be an effective instructor, so that had stopped almost as quickly as it had begun. Lee thought it was a shame really, because he kind of liked the game. Still, maybe given what was going on now, it was for the best. At least he hadn’t had to make any excuses to his dad when the coach had called.

Lee snorted softly, yesterday, his biggest worries were whether or not he could make the team, how to get his father’s approval, and how many zits he had. Now he was waiting to find out if he was a mutant. His chances of making the team were now nil to nothing and he had to worry about if he would have tell his father, (who wasn’t really his father), that he was a mutant.

He had never considered that he might be a mutant. Sure you heard about them, but he had never known or even met anyone who was a mutant. Most of what he knew was based on watching the MCO program, where most of the mutants shown were violent, deformed or both. On the one hand, he was horribly frightened about the possibility of being different, the greatest fear of any teen, and a mutant. On the other hand, he was also a little excited that he might be like some of the superheroes you occasionally heard about on the news. There weren’t any resident supers in Knoxville; however, Atlanta had the Guardians, whose exploits were covered in the local press. One thing he was sure of, he didn’t want to be a super villain.

Mom had been in the kitchen ever since she woke him to say that the coach had been able to get an appointment with the doctor today. When he came down, she had barely looked at him, and that really hurt.

He had eaten a bowl of cereal as she washed dishes. She made idle chatter about nothing important as he ate, but he could tell she was anxious too. That made Lee more antsy than if she had simply said she was frightened by all this. Not once did she look him in the eyes.

When he was finished eating, he rinsed and put his bowl in the sink and walked to the living room, where he had stood staring out the window ever since. He looked at his watch, 10:55. Coach should be here any minute. He wished his mother was going with him.

When the coach pulled up, Lee went to the kitchen, “Coach is here.” He didn’t know what he expected her to do, but she surprised him with a fierce hug.

“Be good for the coach,” she had whispered in his ear, “and know that I will always love you no matter what. You’re my boy!” She kissed his cheek and quickly turned back to the sink, but not before he saw a tear on her cheek. He was surprised to discover that there were tears on his own face. He wiped his face on the back of his hand and left without another glance back.

—————

“Scared, Lee?” the coach asked as he got in the car and fastened the seatbelt.

“Yeah, a little I guess.” he hesitated then said, “Actually, I’m terrified. I never thought I might be a mutant. It scares me stiff, and the testing is worrying me a little, too.”

“Don’t worry about that. The testing is easy — and almost painless,” Coach chuckled, grinning. Once the shock faded from Lee’s face and mind, he realized Coach Quail was trying to make a joke. Lee grinned back, feeling a little more at ease.

“Don’t worry about the results either. There’s no reason to worry, either you are or you aren’t, and worrying isn’t going to change that. Besides, chances are even if you are a mutant, nine times out of ten, the changes and powers are negligible and won’t really change your life.”

“Yeah, like I’ll have that kind of luck. With my luck, it will leave me with three heads, antennae and a tail —— or worse a girl!”

Coach Quail laughed and decided to change the subject. “What do you think about that new wide receiver they have Central? I hear he’s got good hands.”

“Oh, he’s got good hands alright. I went and watched one of their practices from under the bleachers last weekend, but their quarterback couldn’t make a pass in the ladies locker room, so I don’t know how much good that receiver is going to do them.” Lee replied. “Although we’ll have to watch the QB on the running plays. He’s fast! But overall, our varsity guys are going to wipe the floor with them,’’ he grinned enthusiastically, “and if they don’t find a better quarterback, our JV guys could probably beat them.”

They spent the rest of the trip talking about football and the team’s chances this year.

————-

“This is the doctor’s office?” Lee asked, nervous again. The building looked condemned. Half the windows were boarded up and rust streaked the stone facade from the rusting bolts holding up an old marquee that looked ready to collapse. Gang graffiti covered the boards over the windows.

It wasn’t a very good neighborhood. Not much off Laurel Avenue was in a very good neighborhood. You heard of drive-by shootings and gang warfare out here on the East end of town all the time. Lee nervously looked over his shoulder at a couple of tough looking teens wearing gang colors standing across the street.

“Well, I never actually said he was a doctor, just that he could help figure out if you were a mutant. He goes by the code name of Doc Widget and for all I know he may be a real doctor, but mostly what he does is create devises. I think he may have some other powers as well but mostly he’s a devisor.

“He suffers from a modest case of Deidrick’s Syndrome, but when he feels it coming on, he locks himself up in his lab in the basement. That’s why he lives here, but he’s licensed by the DPA to do mutant testing and issue Mutant Identification Cards, even though it gripes the MCO’s butt. The Department of Paranormal Affairs,” he said seeing the confusion on Lee’s face, “The DPA is a department of the US government and are a lot more respectful of mutant rights.”

“What’s Deidrick’s Syndrome?” Lee was getting more nervous about this all the time. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see this Doc Widget.

“Diedrick's Syndrome is a condition where the use of a mutant power causes the brain to overproduce certain kinds of neurotransmitters, causing megalomania. The classic super villain raving about what a 'genius' he is and how his 'master plan' cannot fail as energy surges all around him; that’s a perfect example of a mutant with Diedrick's syndrome. From what I know it’s most common in high level devisors.” Coach Quail remarked calmly as they got out and triggered the locks. “Don’t worry! Barry hasn’t had an episode in months and he always seems to know when it’s coming well in advance.”

Coach pushed the buzzer beside the door and leaned forward and said softly “It’s Rumor and a friend.”

Lee didn’t think he was supposed to hear that.

The door beeped and the lock clattered. Coach pulled the door open and ushered Lee inside. It was hot and still in what he now realized was an old movie theater. The air was heavy with decay and mold, and there was one dim light trying to beat back the darkness.

Coach went to an elevator that looked old enough to have been installed by Otis himself, but when he pushed the button the doors slid smoothly and quietly open. Once inside, the doors closed as Coach pushed the buttons for the top floor and basement at the same time. Then, while holding them in, he hit the door open button. The elevator lit up brightly and started down. The elevator ride was smooth but it seemed to Lee to continue interminably.

Lee looked at the controls which showed only two sub-basements. “Slow elevator, huh.”

The coach chuckled. “Not exactly,” as the elevator jarred to a halt. “We’re just over four thousand feet under the street level. Doc Widget used to be a little paranoid before he learned to control his Deidrick’s.”

The elevator doors slid open to show a brightly lit and freshly painted hallway. Cameras rotated to follow them as they walked down the hall to the double doors at the end. The heavy doors swung open automatically just like the ones at Target, but they were solid steel as thick as the door on a bank vault. They walked into a room nearly as big as an aircraft hanger with a vaulted ceiling that must have been a hundred feet above them. Lee’s jaw hung open as he looked around the brilliantly lit space full of all kinds of strange machines, the purposes of which Lee couldn’t even begin to guess. His head tried swiveled owlishly as he tried to take it all in. The coach stopped and Lee, not paying attention, ran into his back.

Lee stepped around to the coach’s side, and was stunned at the man standing before them with a grin on his face. Lee wasn’t sure what he expected, but the short balding middle-aged man with coke bottle glasses, a pot belly, wearing a stained and torn lab coat, wasn’t it. Although oddly enough the strange metal net on his scalp helped a little.

Coach was shaking his hand, with a grin on his face. “How’s it going, Barry?”

“Fine, Fred, fine. Haven’t had an episode in almost a year. This neuro-depressor devise seems to interrupt the episodes before they even get started, and business has been good.” He responded jovially, then looked at Lee and asked, “I’m guessing you’re Lee, right?”

“Uhh, yeah.” Lee timidly responded. “Hi!”

“Come on in, boy, I won’t bite or anything else,” holding out his hand, Lee slowly reached out and shook his hand. He had a dry, firm grip. Lee relaxed a little; maybe this guy wasn’t so bad.

————

Lee was putting his pants and shirt back on after removing the skin-tight body suit full of sensors. Over the last three hours he had been in and out of six different machines, some of which looked like something from Star Trek or Battlestar Galactica. He had lifted weights on a machine that didn’t have any visible weights. He had ran an obstacle course that included balancing on round beams that turned beneath his feet. He finally fell off when the bar he was on began rotating in two different dimensions simultaneously.

He had run on a treadmill until he thought his heart was going to burst, and then he had been put in a room full of tennis ball servers all aimed at him. At first when they started throwing two at a time, he had got clobbered, then he realized that if he relaxed, closed his eyes and just went with the flow, he had no trouble dodging, at least until they started throwing 6 at a time. He had been dodging the balls so well that it seemed like he knew where the balls were going to go before they were launched.

In another test he was put in a room with several tables covered in piles of mechanical and electrical parts. He was given a few simple tools, but he was given no instructions. Doc told him to do whatever seemed right to him with the parts. He could see a pattern in at least some of the piles of parts. His hands seemed to almost itch until he, almost randomly, began putting the various parts together. It felt good, like it was only right that certain things be together.

The completed objects made gadgets that all operated, even if he wasn’t sure that what he built was what was intended to be made from the parts.

Some of the piles he could see no pattern in, and after studying them for a few minutes, he instead began combining parts from three different piles. An hour later, he had produced a small flying saucer about two feet across that floated around the room with no visible thrusters or fans. He had intentionally made it look like your typical flying saucer. When finished, it seemed to respond to his thoughts for guidance. He also knew that it had several compartments in it that seemed larger on the inside than the whole craft was. He didn’t really understand how that worked or how he had known how to make them. In the course of making the saucer, he had used some of the parts to make various tools he needed. When he was finished he put the tools in one of the compartments. Coach and Doc just looked at him and smiled. When he followed them to the next test, the little ship floated behind them. Only Coach noticed the purple rabbit’s head that popped up into the clear dome briefly flicking its ear toward him, before ducking back down.

When he entered the other room, Coach and Doc Widget were looking over sheets and sheets of data that the Doc had collected during the tests. Coach had looked at him a little strangely as he entered, while Doc Widget just continued muttering to himself as he studied the results. Finally, he put them down and absently pushed his glasses back up his nose, before staring at Lee for a moment, like he couldn’t believe what he saw. The two men were making Lee increasingly nervous.

“Well, what’s the verdict?” Lee quipped.

Coach Quail opened his mouth but nothing came out for a second. By this time Lee was really getting skittish. Then finally, Coach found his voice, “Uhh, well, you are definitely a mutant.” Then he abruptly closed his mouth, and turned to Doc Widget with a puzzled stare.

Doc Widget sighed. “Lee, the tests aren’t completely conclusive because you are just beginning to manifest, and that means everything is still a little nebulous as far as your powers go.”

“Uhh, but a few things are clear.” He stopped and stared back at the sheet of paper for a minute. “For one thing, you definitely have a full set of active meta-genes. Now, by itself, that doesn’t mean much as at least one sixth of the population has the genes. No one really knows what makes the genes manifest and create a mutant, but yours are definitely active and creating proteins and enzymes that are a sure indication that you are manifesting.” He hesitated and then said, “You also have an extra pair of chromosomes the likes of which I’ve never seen before. They are a little like what you see with the Sidhe,” seeing what he must have presumed was a look of bewilderment, he added, “Elves or fairies, but not exactly like theirs either.”

The coach broke in. “The good news is that it appears that you may develop a fairly significant ability to do magic, as well as some gadgeteering and possibly devisor abilities. How much of each we really can’t tell yet, but you used magic at least three times during your testing. That little spaceship you built has at least two magical pocket universes built into it. That is something you shouldn’t be able to do without a lot of training and practice. We also think it is powered by magic. To be able to use magic like that, instinctively, implies that you are at least a level 3 or 4 magic user, maybe higher. It could partially be some devisor capabilities, but Doc doesn’t think so. He can usually detect a devise even when it’s not his.

“You are also either at least a level 2 energizer, hence your burst of speed yesterday, or a level 2 or 3 warper which can produce similar effects. Doc isn’t sure whether your magic powers your energizer/warper potential or vice versa, probably the former.” He stopped and stared up. “I know it sounds like we don’t know what we are talking about but really it’s just because your powers are only beginning to manifest.”

That didn’t sound all that bad, but Lee knew that wasn’t all, once he got by the fact that he was a mutant.

Coach continued, “Lee, you are definitely going to be some level of Exemplar, and since you appear to have a fairly strong Body Image Template or BIT emerging, you are probably a fairly high level exemplar.” Seeing the confusion in Lee’s face, he explained, “You can think of a BIT as a blueprint your body will use to shape your mutation. Doc thinks that you are probably going to be at least an Exemplar 3 or 4. Do you know what that means?”

“Yeah, I think. I mean I watch ‘Tales of the MCO’ and know what they say about it, which isn’t often very good, but I have also read a little about mutants. It basically means I’m not going to really be human, am I.”

“Not in the conventional physical definition,” Doc interjected, “but your true humanity is up to you. If you want to keep your humanity, all you have to do is decide to do so.”

The coach looked like he was trying to tell a man he was dying. “Ignore what the MCO says. They have their own agenda and it’s usually not good for whatever mutant they encounter. What being a high level exemplar means is you will probably be quite strong and almost certainly very good looking - as in model good looking. You are already stronger and faster than most grown men. You lifted 650 pounds during testing and you’re just starting to manifest. That’s 400 pounds more than you lifted in practice last week.

“You also are getting some kind of mental boost. You are smarter than you were, too, at least according to your registered IQ. The tests today show your IQ went up by at least 50 points. You have an almost perfect memory. Your reflexes are quicker, and I suspect you will get a boost to your other senses, hearing, smell and sight, especially. Your sense of balance is better than a cat’s, and you seem to have at least short term precognition or danger sense, once you decided to trust it. Doc seems to think you may also be a projective empath, but the test results were a little confusing. It may be the result of an aura or glamour that you manifest, perhaps unconsciously. Finally, as a fairly high level exemplar you will probably be a regenerator of some level, probably a 2 or 3, maybe more.”

Again, a little scary but not so bad. Lee sure they were holding something back.

“Okay, just give me the bad news. Am I going to develop GSD or something?”

Coach glanced at Doc Widget before replying, who nodded back to the Coach. “No, nothing like that, although it’s still so early in your manifestation that we can’t be absolutely sure of anything. However, there are quite a few inconsistencies in our results that are a little unusual. Doc’s machines can usually pin the results down better than they have today, therefore, Doc would like you to come back in 2 months and run through the tests again.”

“Again? But why can’t you find out now. I’ll do the tests over.”

“Lee, it won’t help.” Doc explained. “ Some mutants manifest quickly, for a variety of reasons, but yours is following a more classic pattern of slow changes. Your BIT determines how you will change both physically and mentally. Most strong BITs change the mutant slowly so as to give you and your body more time to get used to the changes. It’s less likely to cause problems that way. But, this is important! You must try to use any developing powers as little as possible, and only under supervision. This is important for three reasons. 1) It greatly reduces the risk of burnout. Trust me, you don’t want to go through that even if it didn’t kill you, which it might. 2) The more you use any powers you get, the faster you are likely to change and that could be mentally as well as physically traumatic. Finally, 3) you are not trained to use your powers yet, and you could easily hurt someone else or even yourself. You wouldn’t want that would you?”

“No, but how will I learn to not to use them. I didn’t mean to use them yesterday. It just kind of happened!” Lee was getting really worried about all these potential problems.

“Well, about that,” Coach broke in, “I maybe can help you with your empathy. Your gadgeteer powers should resolve themselves without too much problem. If you do have a problem with it let me know, and Doc here can help you, since he is also a low level gadgeteer.

“Probably the most difficult for you to learn to control and the most important is your magic. You seem to be using it instinctively, which shouldn’t happen. I only have heard of one or two mutants who didn’t have to be trained before they could do the simplest things, and you are doing some pretty advanced magic there. Luckily, I know a woman here in town that is a mid-level magic user. I’d like to talk to your parents about you going to see her two or three times a week until you get a better handle on controlling the use of your powers.”

“But won’t that make me change faster?” Lee’s nervousness was about to get the better of him.

“Well, yes, a little, but she will show you how to control your magic so that you can minimize your use of it. It’s better to use it a little and prevent an accidental big use that might throw you into burnout or hurt someone.” the Coach still looked nervous.

“What are you still not telling me?”, Lee asked with a bit of insistence. He noticed a quick glance between Coach and Doc.

“It’s nothing. At least nothing important now. When you come back and I test you again, I will know much more, and I promise I will tell you everything I know then. Now I would be guessing and I don’t want to tell you something that might well prove to be nonsense.” Doc’s voice was firm and Lee realized he wasn’t going to get any more answers now, no matter how he asked.

Maybe Coach would tell him after they left, but Lee kinda doubted it. He knew there was something that they at least suspected but weren’t telling him, and he didn’t like it now and was pretty sure he wasn’t going to like it when they finally got around to telling him.

The Doc had charged them only a minimal fee and had told him to come back in two months and they would nail down his powers better. He asked Lee, if he had picked a codename. Lee just looked at him dumbly. “Why do I need a codename?”

“For your MID, that way your name doesn’t appear on any of the testing results or other documents. It’s better that way, believe me.”

Lee thought for a moment. “Can I change it later?” He looked at the Doc,
who answered yes, but sooner was better than later. Lee gave them a sardonic look knowing they were holding something big back from him, and said. “I’ll use Mushroom, for now.” Seeing the question on Doc’s face, Lee said sarcastically, “You know mushrooms. You keep them in the dark and feed them on crap.”

Coach had the decency to look chagrined. Doc just turned back to his computer and typed for a minute, then a printer whirred and a card already laminated spat out a minute later.

He handed Lee his temporary MID.

“Cold iron?” Lee asked quizzically, seeing the entry for allergies.

“An allergy to cold iron usually goes with the genetic changes similar to what you seem to be getting. Hold on.” Doc rummaged through a pile of what looked like junk for a moment before tossing a railroad spike in Lee’s direction. “Here, catch.”

Lee could feel it burning before it even touched him, and his muscles and reflexes kicked into overdrive allowing him to dodge it completely. “What the frell?” he said as the metal spike clattered on the concrete floor.

“Wow,” Doc said quietly. “I’m sorry, Lee,” he said looking at Lee’s reddened hand that had never actually touched the piece of iron but had only come close. It was blistered.

“I’ve never seen a reaction that violent before.” Doc said as they watched the skin begin to heal before their eyes. “I guess that answered two questions. A) you do indeed have a serious allergy to cold iron and B) you are definitely a higher level regenerator than I thought. I should add it to your MID, but we will do that next time you are here. I’ll make sure to register your card with the DPA with a note that it will be updated, pending further testing.

“I’ve almost certainly understated your powers, maybe by a lot, but if you have a run in with the MCO or even the Department of Paranormal Affairs, it’s better that they underestimate your potential than decide you are a danger. I can’t ignore those that are going to be pretty clear like your exemplar status, but the others that we can’t confirm yet - well, who knows. We’ll cross that bridge later.”

————————

The trip home was tense to say the least.

He and Coach left. They talked a little on the way home about his powers. The Coach told him he would have to be very careful about his strength or he could hurt someone very badly, which would not only make him feel bad, but would bring the MCO down on him. He instructed Lee on how to hide his other powers too.

He could see Lee was really scared, but was manfully trying to deal with it. His respect for this kid was growing by leaps and bounds. There were many grown men who couldn’t handle less problems than Lee had.

“There’s still something you’re not telling me, isn’t there?” Lee asked flatly staring at his coach.

“Yes, there is, but it may not be what we think it is, and I think you have enough to think about right now without worrying over a ‘maybe’, don’t you?”

“I guess, but I still don’t like not knowing.” Lee said a little sullenly.

The coach could see the worry on Lee’s face. He knew this was going to be hard on the Lee, not only from his own experiences and seeing what happened to his sister, but from stories he knew about other mutants.

It had been hard on him and he could, and had, passed for baseline, all these years. There had always been the worry that one day he, or one of the few who knew about him, would slip. He was putting his neck on the line just helping Lee. If the school board ever found out, he would almost certainly never teach again.

He watched Lee trying to figure out how he was going to face his problems. He could feel the emotions rolling off Lee in waves - fear, uncertainty, despair, worry, but through it all was an undercurrent of hope and excitement. Right then the coach realized he had to do whatever was required to help Lee get through this, even if it cost his job. The spirit of his sister that lived in his heart demanded it.

“Let’s get you home. If you want, I’ll even go in with you to tell your family.” He had been planning to anyway, but he also wanted to give Lee a morale boost.

Lee gulped. “I think I’d like that.”

Liam knew where his life was going, or so he thought until an incident at football practice turns into his worst nightmare. And the fun is only beginning.

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.

Mother’s Child

Chapter 3
August 13th, 2008

Telling his parents didn’t go exactly as Lee had expected. He thought his dad would hit the ceiling, maybe throw him out or possibly even call the MCO on him, but that wasn’t at all what happened.

To say Lee was anxious was calling Noah’s flood a drizzle.

Both of his parents were home when they got there, waiting on them. His mother met him at the door, looking drawn. With a wan little smile she bent and hugged him. Yesterday, he would have pulled away, being too old for such things, but today it felt welcome.

His dad was sitting in his recliner with a tight look, drumming a tattoo on the chair arm. He didn’t see or hear any sound of his little sisters, adding to the unreality of the scene.

Quietly, his mom ushered Coach to the sofa, and offered him a lemonade, which he refused with a wave. She sat on the other end of the sofa and looked up expectantly at Lee.

Lee looked at Coach, who had suddenly developed an enormous interest in his jacket cuff. Despite a rising thread of panic, Lee realized this was something he needed to do for himself, something that he was going to have to face himself. Not that he didn’t appreciate Coach being there for moral support.

Lee flopped on the floor beside his father’s chair. He cleared his throat. “Dad, I assume mom told you where I’ve been all day.”

His father nodded, not saying anything.

Lee took a deep breath. “I’m a mutant.” He heard his mom give a little squeak, but he didn’t look at her. He had to get this all out; he had to get this out now.

“Dad, I know how you feel about mutants, but really I’m just the same as I was, just a little more. Well, maybe a lot more, we’re not sure yet.” He looked up into his father’s face. “But, you have to know, I’d never hurt you guys.”

His father looked up and gazed at Lee. His face was pretty unreadable, but it didn’t seem angry so Lee forged ahead.

“I’m just starting to change. I don’t know where this is going, but I guess I don’t have a choice. I’m going for the ride, whether I want to or not. If you want me to… leave, I will, but please don’t call the MCO. I’ve heard they do bad… things to mutants.”

For a long moment, everyone stared at the floor.

Finally, Coach started to speak, but Lee’s father just held up his hand.
Slowly he lowered his hand and softly stroked Lee’s hair.

—————

After a few moments, his dad began speaking, slowly and surprisingly softly. “You could have let your Coach do your talking for you, but I’m glad - proud that you didn’t. I’m proud of you.” He sat and held Lee’s gaze. The room was so silent, Lee could hear them all breathing. “It took a lot of guts, but it shouldn’t have. You should have been able to come straight to me…with anything, anything at all.”

He paused, and when he began again his voice was stronger, surer, growing in conviction. “I blame Haskins for that; for holding my job over my head, for suggesting it was in my best interest, our best interest, to embrace the H-1 and the MCO - but mostly, I blame myself, for letting it change the man I was to the people I love.” He raked his hands through his hair and gave Lee a look of such intensity that he felt tears sting his eyes. This sounded, finally, like the father he thought knew, the father he wanted to know. The father he had always loved.

“Lee, you must believe me - I don’t really believe in all that claptrap. And you are my son. You’ll always be my son. Nothing means more to me than that.”

Maybe, just maybe, things were going to work out after all, Lee thought with the first real relief he’d felt since this all began. Who cares if you’re a mutant as long as you’ve got your family. He sighed with contentment.

“I love you, too, Dad.”

Lee’s dad stood and held out a hand to Coach. “I want to thank you for what you’ve done for Lee - for this family. I know it was a risk, a big risk.”

Coach Quail took his hand in a brief, strong grip. “Well, it…I know what it’s like…couldn’t have really done differently…”

“Don’t minimize this, Coach. I wouldn’t have known what to do…where to go…my God, when I think of how I might have just handed him over to the MCO in complete ignorance.” Lee’s dad sank back into his chair. “So, if there is ever anything you need, if it’s within my power to give, it’s yours. That includes open support before the school board, if they ever try to railroad you.”

“I really appreciate that, Mr. Cook. I may call that debt someday for myself or for someone else.”

“It’s Tom. My friends call me Tom.”

Lee’s mom had been sitting quietly for a long time but now she spoke. “Coach, I think you better tell us…what we really need to know.”

Coach gave her an encouraging grin. “Lee’s a great kid - full of drive and fortitude, one of the best I’ve ever seen. And, he’s going to need that, and more. Today’s tests show Lee is just beginning to manifest, and we don’t know yet where that’s going to lead. But it’s going to be a difficult, scary and maybe dangerous process for him. And, even for those around him.”

Lee’s parents looked at each other and Tom asked, “Dangerous? How?”

“Well, there’s H-1 and the MCO for a start, they’re always ferreting about looking someone to grab. But there are other dangers a powerful mutant, and believe me, Lee is going to be a powerful mutant, have to face. He’s already stronger and more agile that the best Olympic athlete. Ignoring his other powers, those are enough to put him in danger from people like H-1, and you know it. Couple that with his other powers and it’s going to be a trial for him to conceal his mutant status - if he can.”

Lee’s mom spoke up, “The MCO, we know about them, but you said something about other dangers. Like what? What kind of…”

“Burnout.” Coach answered grimly. “When a powerful mutant overuses his powers before his body is accustom to housing those powers it can be very dangerous for him, sometimes even fatal. If he ever starts running a high fever or shows signs of delirium, call me. Immediately.” He paused. “Good training can help avoid that, by learning to exercise control. He’ll need to avoid stress, as well, to keep down unconscious overuse.”

“And then there’s always the possibility of accidents.” He continued. “Accidents can be a big problem! Lee’s manifestation was pushed forward by his instinctive drive to excel at football which triggered his energizer, magic or warper power…we’re not really sure which. This caused him to momentarily become a speedster, causing a cascade effect activating his manifestation. Before yesterday, he could barely bench press 225 pounds, today he lifted 650, and he’s going to get stronger.”

“Something else you need to know is that Lee has magic. This may be the hardest for him to learn to control, because at his level, a certain amount of magic use is instinctual; he seems to be developing a glamour or aura, if you will, that may project his emotions and maybe other things to those around him. Glamours can be very hard to control.”

We can’t say how powerful a magic user he may be, just yet, but I doubt he’s less than a Wiz-3, probably a 4. He could be even higher. He has to be that strong to use magic at all without training.”

That was’t the complete truth; Doc’s devise was calibrated to a Wiz-5 and could indicate even one level higher, but it had fluctuated wildly in a way even Doc didn’t completely understand. Doc thought that Lee’s changes were in such a state of flux, it simply couldn’t get a good reading on him. But how in Hades was he to explain what even Doc wasn’t sure about? Besides, he wasn’t convinced. The results had ranged from Wiz-3 to off the scale. Doc said he had never seen it do that before. Secretly, Coach thought Lee might one day be one of the most powerful Wizards on the planet. The trip back in two months was as much to see how fast Lee was changing as it was how much, but he didn’t want to scare Lee’s parents more than necessary. The boy was going to need all their love and support to get through what was coming.

“I know a magic user who may be able to help Lee control his magic. Her name is Cantrip and we should contact her as soon as possible. Lee’s magic is manifesting quickly compared to his other powers and he needs to control his glamour. If he doesn’t, it is likely to out him to other people as a mutant.”

“I think I’ve heard of her. Wasn’t she one of the leaders of that protest in Nashville last year where the mutants attacked people going in and out of the Capital Building?” Tom asked nervously.

“Yeah, she helped lead the march for mutant rights in Tennessee, but it was a couple of the MCO’s pet mutants that caused the trouble. It was a set up from the word go. Someone in the mutant organization leaked info about the timing of the march and all it took was a few attacks by the MCO mutants to taint the whole thing. They were able with minimal effort to set mutant rights in the state back years. Actually, most of the people that were supposedly attacked were H-1 supporters, who faked their injuries.”

“That makes sense. The way I heard it at the H-1 meetings, it was the protesters who attacked and killed or wounded a bunch of innocent people, but for some reason the leaders thought it was amusing. I should have known that was another load of crap or it would have made more of a splash in the news and they would have been outraged, not amused.” Tom looked embarrassed.

Coach nodded, “You can’t believe half of what you hear. It’s like the civil rights movement back in the sixties. The opponents will do or say anything to discredit the movement up to and including killing innocents. They especially like to fake violence, then call the MCO, who have a distressing habit of making the mutants disappear - permanently. That is one of the reasons it is so important that Lee get his powers under some control almost as soon as they appear. Lee must avoid under any circumstances doing anything that might be construed as hurting anyone else. He has to hide by blending in at least for now.”

“Later, there may be other options, but I don’t think he is ready for them now.” The coach looked intently at Lee’s parents, “You are going to have to help him, and so will I. I have my own reasons for helping, above and beyond thinking that Lee is one of the finest young men I have had the privilege to be associated with. I just ask that we try to keep my involvement under the radar, so I can stay a teacher and continue to help people like Lee.”

Lee’s parents nodded. “Of course.”

Cantrip is a good person and she owes me a favor for something I did years ago. I’ll call her tonight. She’ll help, I’m certain, and she just lives a few miles away in Fountain City.”

“But it’s your help that may be most important. He’s got to control his physical strength, and soon. There are things you can do. I’ll get you a list of practice exercises. An easy one is tossing raw eggs to him until he can catch them without breaking them. Also, to teach him the unconscious control he’s going to need, have him carry an egg around while he’s doing other things until he can do it consistently without breaking it. That will teach him to have a gentle touch. You can do the same type of thing for his upper body strength with something fragile like a porcelain doll or anything large and fragile that he can practice hugging and carrying in his arms.”

I am not carrying around a doll! thought Lee. That was really carrying things too far!

“Also, I strongly recommend some sort of martial arts training. Lee, you will have to be very careful to conceal your full strength, but if you think you can, the dojo is a wonderful place to learn control, meditation techniques, and how to protect yourself without at least appearing to use your powers. A good martial artist can almost appear super-powered without attracting the wrong kind of attention. Can you learn to control yourself enough to do that?”

“I honestly don’t know, coach, but I will surely try. I took aikido for about a year a while back, so that will help won’t it?”

“Sure it will. Do you remember any of the meditation techniques they taught you?”

Oh, yeah. Kuroda Sensei was big on them. Made us practice them at least a third of every class.”

“Good, I want you to practice them at least an hour every day until school starts, preferably twice a day. Do you have any idea, how Kuroda Sensei feels about mutants?”

“Well, there was a rumor that his daughter manifested and then went to a school up in New England, but I don’t know for sure.”

“I’d guess she went to Whateley Academy then. It’s a high school for mutants up there.”

The Coach mulled this around in his head for a moment. “How long ago was this?”

“A couple of years, I guess.”

“Okay, let me check my contacts and see what I can find out about the Sensei. If he looks sympathetic, then you’ll tell him about yourself. That way he can avoid putting you in situations where you might accidentally reveal your true strength and maybe help you control it. I’ll check and get back to you by Monday. We need to be confident that you can pass as a mundane before you go back to school.”

“Uh, speaking of school, Coach, what about the team?” Lee asked expectantly.

“Lee, I’ve already told you, son.” Coach was almost apologetic. “I’m not allowed to have mutants on the team; but to provide you additional cover, maybe I can put you on as a second stringer, if you think you can control your strength in practices, and no more magic! Then, later, you pretend to get bored with sitting the bench and quit after school starts. If you can avoid a repeat of Friday, everyone will soon forget it or think it was a fluke. Nobody will be surprised you don’t want to be a bench warmer.”

He saw the disappointment on Lee’s face. “I’m sorry, Lee, I know you really wanted to be on the team, but it just can’t be done. You are going to keep getting stronger, and I strongly suspect that you are going to become a lot stronger, before this runs its course.” Doc’s devise was projecting Lee’s ultimate strength might be measured in 10’s of tons. Not something to hit the kid with just yet.

Lee’s mother spoke up. “What do we do if there are physical changes or he outs himself in some other way. Will he be able to stay in school?”

“Mrs. Cook, I can’t answer that right now. Oddly enough being in the heart of the Bible belt, Knoxville is one of the more tolerant areas for mutants, but it still has it’s advocates of Humanity-First, and that so-called Church of Genetic Purity,” he nodded at Tom who grimaced, “and there are some other individuals who hate mutants. It’s hard to say what might they will do if Lee’s secret gets out.”

“If things start getting out of hand, Lee may have to be home schooled or, preferably, go to that boarding school we were talking about after Christmas break. By then I suspect it will be getting harder to hide his changes, so it’s either one of those options or announce that because of the devisor drug he has become a mutant. I don’t really think that you want to do that, do you, Lee?” Lee shook his head from side to side violently. There had been a genuine mutant student at another local middle school last year for a short time. What Lee had heard about the way she had been treated made Lee ashamed to go to the same school system.

Coach continued, “Whateley is one of the best schools for mutants in the world. They specialize in helping mutants learn to control and use their powers, while giving them a world class education. Technically, it’s a high school but many students come out with as good an education as they would get at a lot of colleges. But most importantly, it’s relatively safe. It’s well protected, even the MCO has to get permission to come on-site, and they can’t take a student without a federal warrant. However, you should know it’s a boarding school.”

“It sounds expensive,” Lee’s mom put in. And far away, thought Lee.

“It is, but they have scholarships and work programs designed to help students keep the costs down. I know some people who might help too, if you need it. I think it is going to be important that Lee gets all the help he can with controlling his powers, and they really are one of the best.”

Tom spoke up, “We’ll find a way, if that’s what we have to do. My parents are pretty well off and would probably help. Lee’s their favorite grandson, after all.”

“And Lee’s got a small trust fund for his education that my parents left him when they died.” Kathleen interjected.

Coach was really jazzed about this school, but Lee didn’t want to leave his family or his friends. Frak, things were just getting good here for him. He had his friends from the neighborhood and had a girlfriend he had just start getting serious about dating. Now they were talking about sending him away. There had to be a way to hide or explain these changes that would let him stay here.

As they continued to talk about what a wonderful place this Whateley was, anxiety began to harden into anger. This was his life they were talking about! Nobody was asking him what he wanted to do! You’d think they were discussing where to put the damn sofa!

Coach and his folks seemed to be becoming louder and more agitated,to

Suddenly, they were all shouting at each other; the coach shoved Tom and shouted, “Look, if you don’t want my help, fine! I don’t need the aggravation and risk.” With that he stomped toward the door.

Good, Lee thought, so much for boarding school!

“Fine,” Tom shouted at the coach’s retreating back, “who asked you to interfere in the first place?”

“What do you know, anyway?!” Kathleen was screaming.

As Coach left, they turned to each other, throwing insults and arguing with each other.

Lee’s anger turned to fear and misery; he knew with certainty that he was causing this. His mother was crying and his Dad didn’t look much better and it was all his fault. He just wanted to keep his life, and look what he’d done to them.

And then, Coach was back in the doorway, looking embarrassed and a little frightened.

“You’re just stirring everything up. I don’t want to go away to school, but you didn’t even ask me?” Lee said a little belligerently.

Coach shook his head as though clearing it. “No, we didn’t, did we? And, obviously, we should have.” He laid his hand on Lee’s shoulder and guided him back into the room where his parents were looking dazed and confused.

“I gotta live with this, don’t I?” Lee mumbled.

“Yes, Lee, you do…and I’m sorry I didn’t realize what we were doing and how that was making you feel much, much sooner.” He raised his voice to get Lee’s parents attention as well, “I think we have just experienced one of Lee’s powers. Glamour. Glamour can be very tricky. By the time I got to the car, I realized that Lee was projecting his emotions through that glamour. At least I think that was what was going on.”

Tom looked bewildered, as did Kathleen. “What do you mean?”

The Coach looked at Lee and asked, “Lee, tell me what you were thinking and feeling when we were talking about sending you to Whateley?”

Lee thought a moment. “I guess I was thinking I was going to have to leave all my friends and everything, and nobody was asking me what I wanted. All of you were just kind of ignoring me. It made me frustrated … and mad”

“Anything else?”

“I guess I was wishing that you all could know what I was feeling before you packed me off to some strange school, to make you all feel as miserable as I was - am, and it kinda - I don’t know - felt like I was pushing those feelings at you. I mean that really doesn’t describe it very well, but I don’t know how better to say it.”

The Coach looked thoughtful for a minute. “And after I left?”

“I kinda got scared because my parents were yelling at each other, and I was sad that I was the cause, being mutant and all. I mean - they never fight with each other. It made me feel like they didn’t want me here and I couldn’t blame them.”

“Was it about then that your mother started crying?”

“Yeah, it was, and Dad looked really uneasy and… sad, sort of. Mom was looking more and more wretched, which only made me feel worse.”

Lee looked from one adult to the next and said plaintively, “Look; I really don’t want to go away to school! I love you all. I like my friends. I just got my first real girlfriend, for Pete’s sake. Isn’t there some way I can stay here with you guys?”

His mother got up of the couch and went to him. She grasped his hands and looked into his eyes. “Lee, we love you no matter what! If you end up going away to school, it will be because we love you so much that we will bear parting with you for a while, so you can be safe and learn what you need. But never doubt this — we - will - always - love - you!” She reach out and pulled him into a fierce hug. Lee hugged her back, trying to do so gently as the memory of the Coach’s admonitions on his strength flooded back into his mind. “Besides even if you go, you will be coming home summers and holidays.” Lee felt tears running down his face, and was surprised to realize they were his as well as his mother’s.

“Tom - Kathleen, I think just Lee was projecting his feelings through his glamour. It may just be that he is a projecting empath, but it didn’t feel quite right. I’m a low level empath and I should have recognized it, if Lee was directly projecting those emotions; they would probably have been more focused at a single person. But if he was putting them into his glamour, it wouldn’t feel like a single source.” Coach could see the confusion in their faces, and went on. “The biggest difference is Lee wasn’t consciously doing it. His feelings just became a part of his glamour, without his doing anything.”

“Is that why we got so mad, so quickly?” Lee’s father asked, beginning to see how irrational and unreal the entire blow-up had been.

“I think so. It is like being caught in a big surge of emotional energy; kind of like what happens at a close fought sporting event. There may even have been some magic involved. We really don’t understand glamours like this very well. As soon as I got outside I immediately started calming down. That’s really what tipped me to what had happened.”

Kathleen looked at Lee nervously. “That’s a little scary. What if we had been in a big crowd?”

“I think we might have been caught in a riot.” Coach looked at Lee. “You see now why I keep harping on gaining control? Why it’s so important?”

“Yeah, I guess, but I’m still not happy about the idea of leaving home and everything and everyone I know.”

“Well, don’t worry that yet, kid. It may never happen and for sure not soon.” Coach said with a grin.

“Wait a minute,” both parents piped up. They exchanged a quick glance and then Tom demanded. “You have been convincing us how Lee’s got to learn to control his powers and how this place is the best place in the world for that, and now you say he won’t be going?”

“I didn’t say he wouldn’t be going or that he shouldn’t, just not now, maybe especially not now. Lee’s got to stabilize some first. What just happened proves that. Lee’s tough and tough-minded, but this school has a lot of powerful mutants most of whom already know how to use their powers and they are all teenagers. Teenagers with mutant powers - super powers in a lot of cases.”

“Do you remember your high school days?” He paused a moment to let them think back. “You remember the pranks, the bullying, the social cliches, the thoughtless cruelty of teenage kids? Now, add in that some of these kids can lift a tank, make you see things that aren’t there, shoot lightning out of their hands, throw fireballs or spells.” He paused to let that image settle into their minds. “Do you still want to send Lee before he knows what’s happening to his own body, and what it can do; and at least the rudiments of how to control his powers?”

“Ohhh!,” Lee’s mother said and her hands flew to her mouth, her eyes growing huge as she remembered her own high school days. “I don’t know if I want him to go to a place like that at all.”

“Oh, don’t take me wrong, Kathleen. Once he is trained, Lee will be able to hold his own.”

Lee looked at him quizzically.

Coach grinned at him and said cryptically, “Jason never did figure out who put pepper spray in his jock strap, did he?”

Lee’s face reddened. He glanced at his Dad, who had a ‘We’ll talk about this later.’ look on his face. Lee suddenly found his shoes very interesting. His mother giggled.

He looked up and all the grown-ups were grinning at him. He figured he wasn’t in too much trouble and began to grin also. Soon they were all laughing. Lee’s mother swept him into another hug.

While they were engaged, Coach’s took the opportunity to silently catch Tom’s eyes. He nodded his head toward Lee, then the staircase beyond. Tom nodded.

“Lee, I need to talk to the coach alone for a few minutes. Will you go check on your sisters and stay upstairs while we talk a little more? You can tell them that we’ll have a family meeting after dinner and discuss all this.”

As much Lee wanted to stay, he slowly made his way up the stairs.

—————

Liam knew where his life was going, or so he thought until an incident at football practice turns into his worst nightmare. And the fun is only beginning.

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.

Sorry for the delay in posting. I've been very busy and also having a little trouble deciding where this story is going to end up. This has resulted in a mild case of writer's block, but I hope I'm working through it.

Mother’s Child

Chapter 4

August 13th, 2008

After Lee went upstairs, the Coach sat heavily down, running his hand through his thinning sandy hair. “I guess you suspect there are things I haven’t told Lee yet. Some of his impending changes are going to be hard for him and you to handle, some harder than others”

“Harder than what we’ve already talked about? What kind of changes?” his mother demanded. “He’s not going to become a freak, is he?”

“No, no. Nothing like that … I’m pretty sure not, although Lee may have his doubts.”

For one thing, Doc thinks he the potential to be much stronger and more powerful than most of the mutants out there. That alone is going to be hard enough for him to handle, but he’s a good kid, and from what I’ve seen you have done a good job raising him, with support and training he’ll will adapt to that.”

“Doc is a devisor, and no one except maybe another devisor understands the machines they make and how they do what they do; so I don’t pretend to understand Doc’s machines, but I do know they work and are mostly accurate. The point is they showed us some things that were a little disturbing.” Coach knew he was beating around the bush, but he was dreading this.

“For one thing, his genome is like nothing else we ever saw and there’s no record of anything like it anywhere else in the world.”

“What do you mean?” Tom asked, his face a mask of forced calm.

“Just that, there is nothing like it in the records. He has an extra set of chromosomes with almost double the number of genes of his other chromosomes. Genes that we have no idea what they are doing. I don’t know better how to explain it because I don’t understand it myself.”

Kathleen asked. “Are you saying he is going to be some kind of monster?”

“No, but he’s probably not going to be fully human either, not in the conventional sense anyway.” Kathleen looked stricken. “For one thing, he’s probably going to live for a really, really long time.”

“How long is long?”

“I don’t know, — “hundreds, maybe thousands of years. We don’t really have anything for comparison, but the fairy types are probably the closest thing to Lee genetically, and the oldest known fairy currently in the world is over 350 years old and shows no signs of aging.”

“Oh, Blessed Mary, that’s more a curse rather than a blessing!” Kathleen exclaimed.

“Yes, it could be, but more than that, his long life coupled with the potential power he may have, may make it hard for him to hold onto his humanity. He could easily come to see himself as above mere mortals. Individuals that powerful were once worshiped as gods. Now keep in mind, what I’m telling you is based on some very preliminary results and a lot of guesses.”

Coach stood, and began walking back and forth in front of the couch. His face looked tired.

Kathleen started crying softly into her hands. “My poor boy. No child should have that kind of responsibility laid on them. By the Blessed Virgin, no adult should, either! How can we possibly help him, if he’s going to outlive us so long, and change so much?” Tom wrapped his arm around her shoulders squeezing gently.

“Kathleen, we’re not sure just how much he is going to change. Some of the results were very contradictory. However, you can help him most by doing what I already see you doing. Accepting him, loving him and giving him an anchor for his humanity for as long as possible. I’m hopeful that he will have a long time to grow fully into his powers, maybe a very long time by our standards.” He sighed deeply and went quickly on, “I’m talking about possibly centuries before he comes to his full power. Oh, he’s going to be right powerful pretty dad gum soon, but nothing like as powerful as he may eventually be.”

“Just how much eventual potential are we talking about?” Tom asked nervously.

“Well I don’t really know, maybe just your run of the mill mutant superhero powerful, but how familiar are you with the stories of the Olympians?”

“You’re not talking about athletes, are you?” Tom tried to smile

Coach shook his head. “No, I’m talking Zeus - Hera - Poseiden.”

Tom blanched, “Oh, fuuu——”

“Language, Tom!”, Lee’s mom gave him a dirty look, then giggled at the ridiculous admonition given the circumstances, but it was an instinctive response after 14 years of child rearing.

“But he’s not really going to be that powerful, is he?” Kathleen worried.

“No, No! I — maybe not, but I just don’t know! — at least not for a long time, hopefully a very long time. We just don’t know! Doc’s machine’s have never given such ambiguous results.”

She looked both relieved and sad, and tears ran down her face as she contemplated the burdens Lee was going to have to bear - alone. She said a silent prayer for him, crossing herself. The room went silent for several minutes.

Coach smiled gently at her. “As much as all these things are going to impact his life eventually, what I’m really worried about in the immediate future is his Body Image Template or BIT. Do you know know what a BIT is?”

“Sort of, I guess,” Tom said, “I’ve heard guys at the H-1 meetings talking ‘bout them, but I can’t say I understand it.”

“Well, the simplest analogy I can give is the one I told Lee. It’s a blueprint for his change. But the truth is no one really understands exactly how a BIT works. One of the leading theories is that everyone’s DNA extends through all the 11 dimensions of the multi-dimensional hyper-universe. In other words, it is like the universal soul in all of us, to make a metaphysical analogy. In baselines, that multi-dimensional image corresponds on almost a one-to-one basis with what we get from our 3-dimensional DNA.”

“In mutants, that image can differ considerably in the other dimensions from our simple 3-D DNA template.” The Coach was struggling to explain something he understood only imperfectly. “That is why some mutants come out of their manifestation looking a lot different than they started. Manifesting somehow activates this extra dimensional aspect of their DNA.”

“Okay, I think I get what you are saying,” Kathleen said, sniffling slightly, “even if I don’t fully understand it, but what has this got to do with Lee?” she asked, sounding alarmed.

“Coach, what are you not saying?” Tom asked sternly.

Coach hesitated for a few seconds trying to decide just how much to tell them of what Doc thought about Lee’s BIT. He could feel their heightened emotions beating painfully on his fragile empath shields. Damn! He was really going to have to quit putting off getting some more training himself, if he was going to continue to do things like this.

“The thing is, as best we can tell, Lee’s multi-dimensional BIT is female.”

He sat and let that sink in to their stunned minds. Tom sat back heavily.

“What does that mean?,” Kathleen demanded, fearing what she already suspected, “How can it be female? Lee’s a boy. He’s always been ALL boy!”

“He is now, but if we are right, that’s going to change. It may take weeks, months, or maybe even years to fully happen, but it is inevitable that one day he will be as much a woman as you are, Kathleen. That ’s what I’m worried about, because as you say Lee is all boy. He has a very strong male body image.”

Tom looked stricken. “You’re taking my son?” He murmured almost inaudibly.

“No, Tom. I’m not going to take your son,” Coach said gently, “but this mutation is going to change him. Believe me when I say this, I would do anything to take this burden from Lee and from you, but I can’t.”

Tom looked deflated. “I was there when Lee was born, and I love the girls but Lee is my son. He’s my son! How can I lose him? How?”

“Tom, you aren’t losing him!” Coach said sharply. “He will still be your child! He’s going to need you to be there for him more than he ever has!”

“When he changes, and he almost certainly _will_ change, the very strength of his body image is going to make accepting his change very difficult.” Couch paused.

Anger flashed across Tom’s face, as he thought about what this was going to do to Lee — to him. “Is there anything we can do to change this?”, he asked, fearing he knew the answer.

“No. I’m sorry. I’m afraid not”, Coach said regretfully. “Many people have tried. They’ve tried almost everything including hormones, surgery, and even magic, but no one has ever succeeded. Many of the attempts killed the subject. Surgery combined with hormones for some reason seems to frequently prove fatal.”

“You said, if you were right,” Kathleen asked in a plaintive tone, “does that mean you could be wrong?”

“Maybe. I don’t really think so, but I think we should hold off telling Lee about this part until we must. The kid is going to have enough to digest in the next few weeks with being a mutant, without throwing this at him until we are sure. Either way he’s going to need a lot of love and some therapy to get through this.

“However, his physical form may change much quicker than his powers. Especially, if he overuses his powers or goes into burnout. That seems to speed the physical changes up, especially in a mutant with regeneration.”

“But you could be wrong!” Tom grasped for straws.

Coach sighed. He didn’t want to encourage this kind of thinking. “I’m afraid it’s very unlikely, but we will know for sure by the time I take Lee back in two months for more testing. His manifestation will be much farther along by then, and we can nail this and some other things down.” He could sense the next question they were going to ask, so continued, “I can’t tell you any more right now, he only started manifesting yesterday after all.” He said, they, like Lee, had more than enough to deal with at one time. Doc’s devises were practically never wrong, even about projected changes that haven’t happened yet. The things that coach thought most uncertain were how fast the changes were going to occur and to a lesser extent the fluctuating readings.

“The thing is that a change like this in a boy as thoroughly male as Lee, who has worked as hard at being a man as he has, well, let’s just say it could have serious long term effects on his mental stability. We are going to have to help him deal with this. More importantly, you are going to have to make him believe that this makes no difference in how you feel about him. That being a girl is just as good as being a boy, if it comes to that, and to do that you are going to have to believe it yourself.” He said looking hard at Tom.

“My poor, poor boy,” Kathleen had tears streaming down her face as she thought of all the implications of what was going to happen to Lee.

“How do we help him, Coach? How do we pretend that all this isn’t going to change everything?” Tom asked.

“You shouldn’t, mustn’t pretend that this doesn’t change things, because he is going to know that it will. What you must do is treat him like he is your child no matter what and that he is no less than he was, just because he is becoming a girl. He must know that he is still your child who you love and who you believe is just as good and just as capable as he was as a boy. His powers will help some with that, but not being able to use them will sometimes negate any positive psychological effects they might have. Try to do the same things with him that you always have. He can be a lot more help to you around here now with all that strength, let him. Using his physical strength shouldn’t have as much effect on the speed of his gender change. Just make sure you’re out of sight of other people when he does.” Looking at Kathleen, “Don’t try to force him into feminine things or activities unless he wants to, at least until it becomes necessary.

“Oh, there will be differences you’ll have to deal with on a regular basis, but just remember that under those changes, and through the angst and anger that all this is going to cause, he’s still Lee. He’s still your child who you love. That’s so important. You both know how hard the teen years can be on kids and their parents, the anger, the rebellion against authority; well, this will be so much worse - for you - for Lee - and maybe many, many others, if it all goes wrong.”

The Cooks looked poleaxed as the implications of all they had heard sank in. He knew he was overwhelming them, but the stakes were just too high not to tell them.

“That’s the real reason I don’t want Lee to go to Whateley right now. While they have a lot of experience in dealing with powerful young teens, they can’t give him the love and one-on-one support that he can get right here. Sure if things start to get out of hand, or the local social pressures become too much, then Whateley will be the best thing for him, not second best. Otherwise, I would like to keep him near you. At least until he is through most of his physical changes. I would also like to recommend a psychiatrist, I know. She’s very good with teens, she is a mutant herself.” He paused, “Look, maybe we’ll get lucky and Doc and I will be wrong. I hope so for Lee’s sake and yours. If that is true, then all these precautions still won’t be for nothing, Lee’s still going to have all the problems of being a mutant, and a teenager to deal with, and brother, believe me, that’s enough.

“I would like to get Lee started with Shrink, that’s her code name, and Cantrip as soon as possible. I will get in touch with both, and let you know what they say.

“Here is my private mobile number. Feel free to call me, day or night. I’m going to tell my wife enough so she won’t be worry, if I have to get up and come out in the middle of the night, but she won’t know who I’m helping. It’s better to keep this as close to the breast as possible for now. It’s going to be hard though, when Lee’s changes start to become evident, especially at school, even if they are just minor physical changes. You should also try to get him back into those aikido classes ASAP, especially if Kuroda Sensei is mutant friendly.

“Tom, I think you should keep going to the H-1 meetings, that way you can keep an eye on the weather gauge of what they know and are planning. Also, it’s good cover for Lee, since you will be able to head off any rumors before they can get any traction.

“I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that Lee going to the local school is going to be difficult for him, too. It’s critical that he not use his powers or his extraordinary strength at school or in public. After we’ve talked with Cantrip and the psychiatrist, we should sit down and see if we can come up with a cover story for the changes, at least in the early stages. I have already thought of one other possible cover story, but Lee or you may not like it.”

They looked at him skeptically. “Exactly what is this story?” Tom asked.

“Well, you know what happened yesterday at practice, and everyone on the team knows how desperate he was to make the team,”

They nodded.

“We could leak the story that Lee had somehow gotten hold of some devisor steroid drug to try and make himself bulk up, but it’s backfired and caused the burst of speed and other ‘side effects’. We could use those side effects to explain a lot of the changes that he’s going to go through at least for the next few weeks or months without letting out that he’s a mutant. As tolerant as most people in this area are, I’m afraid of the mutant hate groups.”

Tom nodded in furious agrrement.

“Yeah, and it’s not just H-1, there’s that evangelical church out on Tazwell Road that preaches that mutants are an abomination and not made in God’s image. Also, I think there’s some more down toward Wartburg.” Tom interjected. “We don’t need them around stirring things up as he is trying to deal with all this.”

“I know school starts in a couple of weeks, but unless Cantrip can get his glamour under control in that time, I think he should stay home sick or something. Do you know a good doctor who’s discrete, who would write him an excuse without a detailed examination?”

Kathleen spoke up, “Dr. Evelyn Sharpe has been my best friend since high school, and is Eve’s godmother and namesake, I think I can count on her to provide Lee with a medical slip for as long as we need. I’ll want her to monitor Lee as he changes anyway.”

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, Kathleen. The fewer, the better, you know.” Coach began, but Kathleen cut him off laughing, waving her hand. “Oh, I don’t think we need to worry about Evelyn.”

Seeing the doubt in his face, she continued, “her father was a founding member of the Savannah Rebels, and her brother is a member of the Atlanta Guardians. You know their brick, Iron Tooth? That’s her brother! Her biggest regret is that she didn’t manifest. I’d trust her with my life and more importantly, Lee’s life. If you’re right, he’s going to need a good doctor, we can trust.”

“Well, if you’re sure. A good dependable doctor with a knowledge of mutants could mean the difference between life and death, if something does go wrong. Well, that’s settled then. Oh, and one other thing - you need to get Lee some colored contact lens that match his eyes and soon, and preferably not from a local optometrist.”

“Contacts? Why?”

“Most mutants develop changes in eye color, often to brilliant and unnatural colors and shades. It’s the thing that gives a lot of mutants away. If we can hide that, with a little luck we can keep this quiet for several weeks, maybe even months yet, and give Lee some much needed time to adjust.

“Okay,” Kathleen said with a grimace, “I guess I can take him Monday to an optometrist in Oak Ridge or Morristown. He’s due an eye appointment anyway. Will that be far enough away?”

“Yeah, but Morristown or Johnson City is probably better. Too many people who work in Oak Ridge live in Knoxville. Fortunately, he doesn’t have any very distinctive or unusual changes to his eyes yet.”

“Well, I’ve done about all the damage I can do to your peace of mind today, so I’m going to go home and make some calls. I meant what I said earlier, I’ll help Lee in any way I can, Feel free to call me anytime for any reason, even if all you want is someone to lend a sympathetic ear.” He stood up, the Cooks rising with him.

Tom decided to ask what had been on his mind for a while now. “Coach, not that I’m not grateful, but why are you doing this? You’re putting your job on the line, calling in favors, all for a boy you only met 2 months ago. Why?” Tom asked, a little suspiciously.

The Coach sighed, but realized he might as well tell them the truth. “Well, first off, I really like Lee, he is one of those kids who are the reason why good teachers teach. He’s a good kid, smart, eager to learn, and who always seems to keep his sense of humor. Lee is about to go through more than anyone his age should have to face, and I want to help, if I can.

“But the real reason is far more personal.” Then he told them about his sister, and how he had failed her. “I vowed to her on her grave that if I could help a kid avoid that, and get through their changes alive and mentally healthy, I would do whatever was necessary to do so. Lee’s the first real chance I’ve had to fulfill that vow, so, there it is. My reason!

“Now don’t get me wrong, I’d like to come out of this with my job intact and with as few people as possible privy to my secrets. Mostly, so I can be there when the next Lee comes along, but I will do whatever necessary to protect Lee from what happened to my sister. I won’t be there every time some SOB is cruel to him - or her.” He waited for that to sink in. “But I can blunt some of the worst of it, and be there with a sympathetic ear when he needs, or just provide a place where he can get away from the rest of the school for a little while. Maybe if my sister would have had that she would be alive today.

“One challenge you are going to have to face quickly, is Lee’s little sisters. They mustn’t tell anyone including their friends what’s going on, but they’re going to have to know. If they can help support him through these changes, and help him learn to cope with being a girl, that could make a huge difference. I also think he would find some of the more embarrassing things about becoming a girl easier to accept coming from someone nearer his own age, at least initially. I think your oldest girl is only a year or so younger than Lee, isn’t she?”

Yes, Eve is twelve and precocious. She already wears a bra and has started her period. She’s both mortified and obscenely proud of both.”

“Will she help?”

“Oh, I’m sure she will, although she may have a little trouble initially accepting his change. She adores her older brother even though she would deny it, if asked.”

“Of course, a lot is going to fall on you, Kathleen, as I’m sure that Eve only has a rudimentary knowledge at her age, but she can help him with some of the more routine things that he would find too embarrassing coming from you, and she can help with things like how to dress and act like a teenage girl.

“But I’m getting ahead of myself, I think it will be at least three or four months before that kind of talk is necessary, hopefully longer. The important thing now is they understand that Lee is a mutant and that they must keep that a secret, no matter what. You’ll have to decide how to tell them and how much, but they must keep his secrets at least for now. I don’t care how mad they are at him, or how close a friend they consider the person they are talking to about him, or even if it’s just talking between themselves, if there is the slightest chance they might be overheard, they must keep his secret.

“You might point out to them that as siblings of a mutant, they could come under harassment, as well, if the secret gets out - guilt through association. I know I did.”

“Tom, you should know from the H-1 meetings, that they will.”

Tom nodded, “They have run more than one family out of the state because one of them was a mutant. I think I can impress on the girls the consequences of spilling the beans, although I’m sure they will want to protect their brother. It’s more a matter of impressing on them just how vital keeping the secret is. You know how teenage girls like to talk.”

“Tom, the best thing you can do is to try and treat him just like you always have. Take him fishing, take him golfing, get him to help you around the house, whatever, you would have done. Treat him like your son, because for a while yet that is what he is, and as he changes, accept those changes but never, ever treat him like he is less than he was. He’s already stronger than both of us put together and he is going to get a lot stronger, even when he starts to look like a delicate young woman.”

Finally, Coach left. Kathleen looked devastated. Tom took her in his arms. “We will get through this. We will get Lee through it.”

She snuggled against him, comforted by his quiet strength.

——————

The family meeting was strange to say the least. Eve and Beth sat together as they often did, kind of curled against each other in the big chair-and-a-half. They had always been close, Eve being only ten months older, they acted more like twins than normal siblings. The girls knew something was up and were understandably nervous. Lee sat close to his mom on the sectional sofa across from Dad’s throne, a fancy leather recliner.

Dad explained to the girls the basics of what Lee already knew, he didn’t bring up the potential gender change. He emphasized the importance of keeping Lee’s secrets and what the consequences could be to all of them if the secrets got out, even to their closest friends. Truthfully, he hoped to scare them just little. Just enough for them to remember.

Eve and Beth looked at Lee a little fearfully. Mom hugged him, which seemed to reassure both him and his sisters.

“He’s not going to turn into a monster,” Kathleen said to the girls softly with an amused twinkle in her eyes. “He’s still going to be your — brother.” She stumbled, remembering that Lee didn’t know about his BIT.

Lee kept his head hung, glancing up occasionally to gauge their reactions. Mostly they just listened.

When his parents were finished, the girls looked at each other intently for a few seconds in silent conversation. Eve slowly got to her feet and gestured to Beth. They both stood and moved to the sofa and sat on either side of Lee, throwing their arms around him and squeezed him between them. Lee sat stunned then relaxed in their arms, sobbing softly at their acceptance.

“You will always be our brother,” they said simultaneously. Eve continued, “We don’t care if you’re a mutant, your secret is safe with us. — Maybe when you learn how to use your magic, you can do some cool tricks for us.” She grinning mischievously.

“Like turning Lydia Wylie’s face green!” Chimed in Beth. The sisters giggled.

Their mother tried to frown warningly at them, but couldn’t keep from breaking into a grin herself. “You girls are going to be the death of me.”

Lee smiled feeling happy for the first time since all this had started. Maybe it would be okay. He wrapped his arms gently around his wiggling sisters.

Lee’s mother looked silently at Tom, their eyes meeting with understanding. She said a silent prayer for Lee and the girls as well.

————

August 14, 2008

Sunday, they had gone to Mass as usual, although making confession was strange to say the least. Lee confessed to lying by omission since the Father decided that Lee was truly penitent, he reluctantly allowed Lee to take communion, but strongly suggested Lee pray for guidance.

After Mass and Sunday lunch, Lee was in his room playing video games, when he heard the doorbell; a chill run up his back, and he had a strange frisson of impending danger. Then there was a knock on his door.

With a lot of trepidation he put down his controller and went to the door, hesitating with his hand on the knob. He jumped as the knocking came again louder, then jerked the door open.

It was Chuck. Oh, crap, he really wasn’t ready to face his friends.

Chuck entered the room before Lee could make an excuse to send him away. “Hey, dude, where have you been? I’ve been trying to call you since Friday. I was getting worried.”

“Been busy,” Lee muttered as he shuffled back to his video game controller, which he picked up and proceeded to fumble with it, not looking at Chuck.

“Lee, come on, this is me you’re talking to, what’s going on? There’s all kind of crazy rumors going around the team.”

“What kind of rumors?”

“Everything from you doing drugs to you being arrested for something. Fred even thinks you’re a mutant!” Chuck laughed. Lee gave a half-hearted chuckle at that. Fred saw mutants everywhere.

Lee fidgeted for a while, finally deciding to try out the cover story the coach and his parents had worked out, “You know how bad I wanted on the team? Well, I did something stupid. A friend of my cousin knew how to get in touch with this bio-devisor.” He paused searching for the right words to make this lie believable. “Well, he got me this stupid devisor steroid analog drug. It was supposed to kick start puberty and make me bulk up in a hurry, and be undetectable in drug tests.” Lee kept his head down so his friend wouldn’t see the lie in his eyes.

“Is that how you were able to run so fast during practice?”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t supposed to do that. The guy claimed it would make me grow and be able to compete to so I’d get on the team. Now, the coach may have to kick me off the team altogether.”

“What? Why!?” Anger and shock tinged Chuck’s voice. “He can’t do that. Can’t they just wait until it’s out of your system and let you at least try for the second string?”

“Maybe, but maybe not, because the drug may have long lasting effects. Devisor drugs are weird. I should never have taken it, but I wanted to make the team so bad, and all you guys were getting bigger and stronger, and nothing was happening to me.” Lee was shouting now, angry at the lie but more angry at the truth.

Chuck could tell Lee was upset. “Dude, it will work out, somehow.”

“Yeah, right,” Bitterness lay heavy in Lee’s voice.

Chuck felt helpless. Quickly, he changed the subject, relaying some gossip about one of the girls in their class, but he could tell that Lee wasn’t really listening. After a few minutes, he said he had to go help his dad with something and left.

Lee sat on the bed in his room as tears began rolling down his face. Just two days ago, he had known where he stood, had known what he was going to do, now everything was all screwed up.

His mother found him there crying. She sat down beside him, putting her arm around his shoulders as his soft tears became sobbing. He turn and buried his face in her shoulder and cried like he hadn’t cried since he was a toddler. She held him, stroking his hair, making soft soothing sounds, as tears ran down her own face. After a while, he cried himself to sleep. Even then, she held him against her for a long time.

Jim came over the day after Chuck, and received essentially the same story, but Jim had looked at him oddly as he told the story. Lee was pretty sure Jim didn’t believed him, but he didn’t openly question Lee’s story. In fact, unlike Chuck, Jim just treated Lee like he always had. He was unhappy that Lee probably wasn’t going to be able to be on the team, but they both knew that Lee’s chances of being a first team starter had never been good. Somehow, talking about that with Jim felt okay.

Unlike Chuck, Jim had stayed and they had chatted about the upcoming start of school, girls and other very normal things, then they played GEO for a couple of hours, at the end of which Lee had felt almost normal again. He was grateful to Jim for that. He hadn’t cried after Jim left, because somehow he knew that their friendship would survive what was coming, surviving even the lies he had told today.

————

Liam knew where his life was going, or so he thought until an incident at football practice turns into his worst nightmare. And the fun is only beginning.

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 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.

Mother’s Child

Chapter 5

Lee was too busy before he started back to school to dwell much on his problems. Coach had checked with his friends and found out that Sensei’s daughter was, indeed, a mutant so Lee had re-enrolled in his martial arts classes on Monday. He had met with the Sensei and told Kuroda Sensei everything he knew, then they had planned his continued instruction. He had put Lee through his katas and had briefly sparred with him to see how much he had retained. Then Sensei told him to come in at 9am on Wednesday, which surprised Lee since the dojo usually didn’t open until noon.

Kuroda Sensei had him at the dojo for two hours of individual instruction three mornings a week. He was relearning all the lessons he had neglected since dropping out of his aikido classes a year ago, when he decided to concentrate on football.

The Sensei’s appearance belied his abilities. A tiny, delicate man who was barely 5 feet tall, if that. He also seemed ancient to Lee, although he was probably only in his sixties. Lee knew he had been born shortly after World War II, in Saka, Japan. He had told his students once of how his parents told him of seeing the mushroom cloud from the atomic bomb, when it went off about ten miles from their home at the end of the war.

Karoda Sensei was a harsh task master, “As mutant, you will need every advantage you can get. Many people want to hurt you.”

When Lee tried to tell him how much stronger he was now, Sensei’s hand darted out and grabbed him by the wrist. Before Lee knew what had happened he found himself face down on the matt with a bloody nose.

“Strength only one part of equation, Cook-san. Must know how use strength, must read one’s honorable opponent, and know own strengths and weaknesses.” Karoda Sensai punctuated each point with a jab, twist, pressure on a nerve bundle, and finally by holding a iron crowbar against the back of Lee’s hand until he screamed as the flesh sizzled and burned. Lee found himself crouched in the corner holding his burned hand staring at Sensei with a betrayed look on his face.

Karoda Sensei stood and looked at him for several minutes, before starting more gently, “Lee, I not do this to cause pain, but make you understand no one, no matter how strong, cannot be hurt. More stronger you are, more those less powerful look for weakness. Must know own weaknesses to defend same from use by those who would cause harm.” He ended that lesson there, leaving Lee sitting in the Lotus position to meditate on his lesson for the remainder of the session. It was hard to focus with his hand still burning but it was mostly healed by the time he left.

————-

Next was the trip to the therapist, which was — therapeutic, — Lee guessed. It was good to able to talk openly about being a mutant. He vented a lot of anger and frustration. Lee hadn’t realized just how mad he was at fate, at his mother, at his father (both of his fathers), and at life in general. Dr. Bennett listened mostly, gently prodding the conversation when Lee started to wind down. After two hours of talking about it, Lee realized he wasn’t quite as angry anymore. Oh, he still had a lot frustration at life and the seemingly cruel joke it had played on him, but his misplaced anger at his family was mostly gone.

At the end of the session, she asked him if he had started Aikido lessons again yet. He hadn’t known she knew about the aikido.

She encouraged him to pay special attention to his meditation practice. She also had him start keeping a journal, (as opposed to a diary, which he told her was for girls) to record any changes he noticed, dreams, or other similar things, and how he felt about them. She wanted him to record his perceptions of how other people were reacting to him and his changes, as well.

The next couple of sessions were pretty much the same, but then she started him on some harder exercises involving role play of various situations. Most were situations he knew he would encounter when he started back to school. Then came some that Lee didn’t understand the purpose of at the time, although later they would make more sense.

She had him role-play situations from the point of view of a homosexual then a transsexual. When Lee asked about that she had just said that they faced similar problems of being ostracized and taunted by their peers to what he might face if or when his mutant status came out. Lee had a lot of trouble with those sessions.

That night after the session of role-playing transsexuals, Lee had a nightmare where he woke up an ugly manly looking girl and all of the people in his high school were laughing at him and worse. He got up and got out his journal. It took him nearly an hour to write down the dream that had left him bathed in sweat, and how it made him feel. However, when he went back to bed he slept dreamless for the rest of the night, his terror, embarrassment and fears locked safely away in the pages of his journal. Maybe Dr. Bennett did know what she was talking about.

**************

His lessons with Cantrip took up much of the rest of his time, and were interesting to say the least. Lee didn’t know what to expect when his mom dropped him in front of the small neat Carpenter’s cottage. Somehow he thought that a wizard or witch would live somewhere more impressive, maybe with a tower and battlements.

Cantrip herself, was a tall statuesque woman who looked in her early twenties. She had shoulder length, golden blond hair and a bright wide smile. Her breasts were — impressive to a lad like Lee. In short she looked like a stereo-typical bimbo. Lee quickly reassessed this opinion as his lessons began.

She spent the first lesson going over the theories of magic, of which there were several, and no one could apparently say one was more correct than any other. It was really more a case of which one or ones worked for you.

She told him he would be spending two hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays with her and all afternoon on Saturday. She explained that once he gained a little control, they would cut back.

She had tested Lee with a number of crystals, and seemed to be confused by the results. “This is really strange.” Cantrip said with a puzzled look on her face.

Lee looked at her quizzically.

“You seem to react most strongly to nature, healing and elemental magics, but you also show some aptitude for enchantment, and even limited capacity for illusion. I’m not sure whether your healing is a magical ability or an outgrowth of your regenerative abilities. Some regenerators are also healers,” She explained. “It’s very unusual to have abilities in so many types of magic, but as we work together I’ll try to help you develop at least the rudiments of as many as we can.”

In the next couple of sessions she tried to teach him how to manage his glamour with limited success. One problem was his glamour didn’t always seem to do the same thing. When his emotions were running high, they would broadcast to people around him, which could be a real pain. He had learned to reduce this using meditation to control the strength of his emotions somewhat, however, it didn’t completely stop the dissemination of the strong emotions he did have.

Other times his glamour caused odd phenomenon to happen around him. For example, over the previous weekend, he helped his mom plant a winter garden with mostly seeds. The next morning the seeds had sprouted and the seedlings looked like they were a week or so old.

Once at the mall, he saw a couple of older bullies from school and he remembered kinda wishing he could hide from them. Suddenly everyone seemed to be sort of unconsciously avoiding him, going widely around him and totally ignoring his presence.

Cantrip was still trying to figure his glamour out. Most fae had a glamour of some sort. They could range from making them really attractive to making them virtually invisible. Each individual fae’s glamour could be different, but it was always did the same thing for the same fae, and fae could usually quickly learn to control their glamours. Lee, however, didn’t appear to actually be a fae, and his glamour was very different. But since Lee wasn’t a fae, Cantrip wasn’t sure how to approach teaching him control.

She had first tried to train him to turn it off altogether using a technique a fae friend of hers taught her, but while he could do so for short periods, it actually made the problem worse, since the glamour seemed to build up and burst free all at once, intensifying the effect on whoever was near him. It also made his meditation less effective. She had then tried to teach him to sort of mute it, since turning it off altogether didn’t work.

By his third or fourth session, he seemed to be gaining pretty good control of his emotional broadcasts most of the time, at least, according to Coach who was more sensitive to emotions than his parents. They decided to go with that for now. Hopefully, the staff at Whateley could do more. However, as much as they tried and as much as they worked on it, he still lost control during times of high stress.

The most frustrating effect for Lee was when he wasn’t upset and was just going about his business, people often acted different toward him than they had in the past. For lack of a better description, it seemed like they sort of revered him, even when he was being cranky and hostile. Even his parents did it, which felt really strange and definitely not right. It could be downright embarrassing. Some days were worse than others.

Cantrip started taking him out into public to practice his control. One day he had looked around to find a half a dozen people following him and staring at him like he was a rock star or some other famous person. He now understood why a lot of VIPs were such recluses. One man, his father’s age, even rushed past him to open and hold the door for him. Only people who were annoyed or angry with him seemed immune.

“You realize that you may never fully get control of this,” Cantrip told him during their fifth session. “It may just be a part of who you are.”

“How the crap am I supposed to deal with this? How am I supposed to go back to school? Just how am I supposed to pass for normal when everyone acts so strange around me?”

This made Lee so frustrated that they finally had to quit for the day since he couldn’t stop disseminating his annoyance. It was starting to draw unwanted attention to them.

That evening he let his mom and dad know what Cantrip had told him. His mom said that Cantrip had already called her. “Cantrip also said you would probably be able to control it enough to live a normal life, _if_ you really work at your meditation and control exercises.”

“Yeah, until the day comes when my emotions get the better of me. I don’t want to live my whole life with my emotions so tightly controlled. What kind of a life is that? How am I ever going to have a girlfriend, if I have to be so damned controlled? Huh? Answer me that!”

He turned and ran to his room slamming the door. A few minutes later, Eve and Beth came into the living room in tears. “What’s wrong with us?” They wrapped themselves around their mother. “We both just burst into tears for no reason.

“Shhh, darlings, it’s alright. Your brother is having a hard time with his mutation and right now he can’t help making you feel like he feels, but it’ll be alright. He doesn’t mean to make us feel bad.” She stroked their hair until they stopped crying.

As she felt better, Eve looked up at her mother and said through her sniffles, “You mean Lee feels this bad, too?”

“Probably worse, baby. It’s very hard on him to adjust to his changes, and he can’t help sharing his feelings yet.”

Eve looked over at Beth, silent understanding passing between them. They kissed their mother, slid down from the couch and went toward the bedrooms.

A little later, the emotional storm abated and a feeling of peacefulness settled over the house. Kathleen assumed that Lee had cried himself to sleep again, but when she went to check on him, she felt tears of her own well up as she peeked into Lee’s room. There on his bed were the three of them. One of the girls on either side of him, their arms wrapped protectively around him, as they slept. Their tear-stained faces peaceful and calm. She motioned for Tom to come to her. They hugged each other silently, proud smiles on their faces as they felt the love that had calmed the tempest in Lee’s soul.

**************

By the sixth lesson Cantrip decided to begin teaching him to gather essence and a few simple spells, mostly to get him used to manipulating essence. She thought, if he learned how to sense and manipulate essence, he might be able to apply those techniques to control his glamour.

Cantrip said the simple spells he’d learned were called cantrips and were a type of magic she specialized in, hence her codename. She explained that while the spells weren’t very powerful and didn’t take a lot of essence, they could be extremely useful.

One spell was particularly handy. It allowed him to dry himself or anything else very quickly. A few muttered words and gestures to concentrate the essence around him and whatever object he cast it on seemed to shed the water like a new teflon skillet.

After he showed it off to his family, his sisters were insisting that he dry their hair after they took their showers in the morning. With practice he found he could actually gather the water into a globe and toss it away. A variation on the spell let Lee condense water from the air. He would never need to carry a water bottle again, he thought with a grin. Other cantrips let him hide easily, create powerful odors, both pleasant and unpleasant, and finally to light a candle with a word and flicking his fingers like he was striking a lighter. Cantrip told him that later he would be able to do these without the words and finger motions. They were really just mnemonic devises to help him focus his power.

Another spell created an orb of light that illuminated about a 10 foot area, with a little practice he discovered on his own that he could cast this spell then throw the orb to light up things further away from him. A further spell would freeze what it was cast on, provided it was fairly small. About a quart of water seemed to be about his limits, at least for now. Lee discovered small variations on this spell would boil a similar amount of water, or melt much smaller quantities metal or stone.

One spell that his mother and sisters really liked was a spell that would clean things like his clothes without water even removing stains. They were coming to him every day or two to clean clothes that they would have taken to the dry cleaners.

Lee grumbled that they were taking advantage of him, but secretly he liked doing this for his sisters and mother. He realized just how much he loved and needed them, especially now.

While Lee could gather essence much more rapidly than most beginning magic users, there seemed to be quite definite limits on the amount of essence he could hold and manipulate at any one time. Cantrip seemed confused by this, since her crystals were showing Lee to be a strong or even very strong wizard, he should be able to control much more essence.

Lee was surprised when Cantrip said she was astonished at how quickly Lee was picking up these simple spells and how easily he seemed to gather magical essence. “You know it took me months to learn to collect enough essence to be useful even for these simple cantrips, and it usually took me a week or more to learn each of these spells that you are picking up in a single 1-hour session. I didn’t learn how to modify these spells like you are doing until the end of my sophomore year at Whateley. The only thing holding you back from learning much more is the odd limits you seem to have on how much essence you can control.”

While he had been very excited to be actually learning magic, he had noticed some disturbing changes in himself after a long session of learning or practicing these spells. The first thing he had noticed after his second practice session was his muscles didn’t seem to be as toned or large as they had been. He put that down to the fact that he wasn’t practicing with the team anymore and resolved to exercise more, so he didn’t lose all the muscles he was so proud of. He moreover noticed that after every couple of sessions with Cantrip that he seemed to need a haircut and his dirty blond hair seemed to be getting darker.

When he asked her about these things, she said that some physical changes often seemed to be triggered by starting to channel magical energies. Lee, however, wasn’t sure she was being totally honest with him. He tried to ask Coach about it, but he just replied that he really didn’t know much about magic, and if that was what Cantrip said then Lee should probably just accept that as the price of learning magic.

After his sixth session with her, she surprised him. “Lee, I should very much like you to have this.” It was an expensive looking tome bound in rich dark reddish brown leather. She cast a spell as she handed it to him. When he touched the book, there was a small tingle in his fingers and he understood that she had magically passed ownership of the book to him.

He was touched by the gift since he knew this had been her first spell book. She also gave him another leather bound volume that when he open it, he found the pages were blank. “This is your own spell book or grimoire to record spells as you master them. You need to keep it safe and secret, because if your enemies get their hands on it, they can use that knowledge against you. I want you to have at least started it when you come back for your next lesson. Now here is an easy spell that will help you keep your grimoire hidden. It makes most people’s eyes slide right across anything it’s cast on.” She demonstrated the spell. It took Lee about only a half an hour of effort to be able to reliably cast the spell.

“Now cast it on your grimoire. You will have to renew the spell after every time you open it. Later, I will teach you a spell that will bind the book to you, so that no one else will be able open it, but that’s a little advanced for you right now.”

Lee thanked her profusely. He was more excited to receive these two books than when he’d bought his first Xbox after saving a year for it.

She had recently tried to teach him a more ambitious spell that summoned a type of spell armor for his protection. Even though he was doing it correctly, she confirmed; he was unable to complete the spell. He would start and the essence would begin congealing around him, then suddenly it would dissipate.

“I just don’t really understand why you can’t seem to gather more essence.” She said after another frustrating attempt during which she was monitoring him with her crystals. “The crystals show that you ought to be able to muster and control much more essence. While the essence you gather is collected phenomenally quickly for someone just starting out, there seems to be something limiting how much you can assemble and control, at one time. It should be enough, however, for these next spells I’m going to try to teach you.”

During his most recent lesson she taught him a couple of stronger spells.

“This is a shield spell. It isn’t the most powerful shield spell out there, but it is fairly easy and quick to cast, and you should be able to gather enough essence to cast it, although it is at about the upper limit of your current abilities. It will stop minor spell attacks, physical attacks or physical objects like something thrown at you. It isn’t strong enough to stop a major spell or a bullet, but it’s still pretty useful. Best of all, you can cast it and it will continue to protect you until it is hit with something or you run out of essence to power it.” she said.

The other was a small fireball spell. As a D&D and gaming aficionado, Lee was wild about learning these spells. The fireball was small and only had a range of about 50 feet, but it kind of exploded on impact and would scorch or char whatever it hit. Cantrip looked at him very seriously and said, “You must promise that you will only use it responsibly such as for self defense. You could seriously injure someone who has no defense.”

She made him promise on his name, something which he could feel bound him in some indescribable way. It was a really weird feeling, to feel mentally and physically bound by his words.

She told him, “The shield spell and the fireball spell are more than cantrips, they are your first spells of power. I think that as you practice and develop, you will be able to gather more essence, then we will learn other more powerful spells. In the meanwhile, we can concentrate on cantrips and simple spells to teach you control of your power. Many of the lesser spells can not only be very useful, but are quick and easy to cast. They are good when you are in a bind.”

“How can these cantrips get me out of trouble?” Lee asked a little disdainfully.

“Well, your water spell can be thrown in someone’s face as a distraction, or it can put out a fire, and powerful odors adequately protect skunks, just to give you a few examples.”

Lee left in doubt about the usefulness of the cantrips in a pinch, but he was excited about his power spells.

************

Lee had gone deep into the woods behind his subdivision the next day and practiced these spells, especially casting the fireball repeatedly until he felt exhausted. After about two hours of trying he had hit one medium sized oak tree in the same spot with a half dozen fireballs until it was burned almost a third of the way through the trunk. He hated having to wait between castings to gather more essence. He didn’t realize that the total amount of essence he used was greater than many wizards could collect in a month, and he had done it without thinking, only requiring a few minutes for collecting.

When he got home, he was feeling pretty self-satisfied until he went to the bathroom and was shocked when he looked in the mirror. His hair was at least two inches longer than the buzz cut he usually kept it in. His hair was also thick, curly, and seemed to be browner than usual. ‘What the frell is going on?’ he thought. As he looked in the mirror, he began to notice other small changes. His chin looked - odd, was the only word he could think of, somehow less square and his nose looked like it might be a little smaller. His skin looked softer, as well.

All this was getting too strange. He wasn’t sure he wanted to learn magic badly enough to undergo these kind of changes.

He then also noticed that things looked at little lower than they were yesterday. Was he growing finally? He backed up to the door where he and his parents had marked his height since he was old enough to stand and using a pencil on his head made a new mark. The good news was he’d grown an inch and a half since all this had started. He was so glad to finally be growing, he didn’t stop to question why.

While he stood there staring at his face, he suddenly screamed and doubled over as he was hit with a powerful cramp in his lower abdomen. He had been queasy for several days, but this was the worst yet. He hoped he wasn’t catching a bug.

The cramps passed after a few minutes.

***************

September 20th
John Paul Jones High School

Starting back to school had been weird to say the least. Not only was he not on the team, but there were all sorts of rumors going around.

Everyone wanted to know where he’d been. Why hadn’t he started school three weeks ago with the rest of them?

He had been forced to tell the story at least a dozen times. The fact that he looked slightly different didn’t help. His hair although freshly cut was much darker, and his body was a little more slender. Even someone who knew him would have to think about it to identify the differences other than his hair, but since he was noticeably taller, most people didn’t make too much of it.

He was grateful for the colored contacts his mother had got him, as his eyes, instead of being hazel, were now green. Thankfully, the colored contacts covered that. He hated the way they felt, but he wore them anyway, and was glad to have them.

It was also weird not being on the team. His teammates tried to make small talk with him when he ran into them, but they acted a little uncomfortable around him. He still was hanging out with them at lunch, but he wasn’t sure how long that would last.

Worst of all, he was still being hit unpredictably with abdominal twinges and sometimes outright cramping. He couldn’t figure out what was going on. His mother had scheduled him a doctor’s appointment, right after his next torture session with Doc Widget.

A number of people acted like he had some kind of contagion, people he thought were friends. Even Amanda, his sort of girlfriend, acted a little spooked around him. They had gone out a couple of times to a movie or for a pizza before all this had started and he thought that she liked him, but apparently Fred Neas’ mutant story was getting more attention than Lee wanted and even had some traction with her. She wasn’t outright snubbing him though, so he thought maybe it would pass.

He was walking down the hall, lost in his thoughts, when he bumped into Randy Jenkins. Randy’s dad was a member of the local H-1 group and a deacon at that so-called church - the Pentecostal Church of Genetic Purity. They only had a small congregation but were very vocal.

“Hey, watch where you’re going,” Randy snarled, as he realized who bumped into him. “I hear you’re some kind of mutie, Cook. That right?” He sneered and shoved Lee. Randy was a senior, big as the side of a house, and well-known as a bully. The shove knocked Lee back against the lockers with a loud metallic clang. “You know we don’t allow no mutie scum ‘round here!”

“I’m not a mutant!” Lee lied. Being on the football team, Lee had never had to worry about the ubiquitous school bullies. Even though he was kind of small, the prestige of being on the team in middle school gave him a sort of immunity, plus before he could have counted on his teammates to back him up. He wasn’t so sure now.

“That’s not what I hear,” Randy shoved him again. “I hear you manifested on the field a few weeks ago.”

“No! No. — Look, I took a stupid devisor drug I shouldn’t have, and it made it look like I’d manifested.”

“Yeah, right! I think you’re just another gene scum that needs to be run out this school and this town.” He said shoving Lee again, harder. It took all of Lee’s self control not to use his new strength to toss this bastard down the hall, but that would just confirm his suspicions and cause more trouble. Besides, he knew any bruises quickly heal.

“Randy, what are you doing, you piece of dog crap!” Jim shouted. He had come up behind Randy and had him by the collar of his shirt. Randy was big but it was mostly flab, whereas Jim was all muscle. He slung Randy away from Lee.

Randy turned, ready to punch whoever dared lay a hand on him until he saw it was Jim. A crowd had gathered in the hall around them. Randy stood with his fists bunched for a minute, then seeing not only Jim, but Chuck and a couple of other guys from the team pushing through the crowd, backed down. He turned back towards Lee and growled, “This ain’t over, scum. I’ll have a little talk with my dad about you!” He pushed through the crowd and strode down the hall. People dodging to either side of him like water shed before the prow of a destroyer.

“Don’t let him bother you,” Jim said. Chuck came up behind him nodding. Even the other guys on the team were nodding. Maybe he still had more friends than he had been afraid he did.

Lee nodded, then shrugged. This still isn’t good. Life is going to hell. Sooner or later the truth is gonna come out, and I’m dead, he thought. He nodded back to Jim and went off toward his class without saying anything more, but he was filled with dread.

Lee was so frustrated, he skipped his next class and went to the coach’s office. He was unwilling to face anyone else now, lest his hard-won restraint give way publicly, either showing his strength by throwing some a-hole like Randy across a room or by loosing control of his glamour. Couch listened patiently, saying the right things until Lee exhausted his pique. Lee reluctantly left the modest safety and peace of Coach’s office to go to his next class.

**************

The next month went by with more of the same, except that most people moved on to new rumors about different people. Jim stuck close to Lee, so Randy and his sycophants only had limited chances to give him a really hard time. Chuck stuck close for a few days but Lee could feel him gradually drawing away, now that they didn’t have the football team in common. He still came over to Lee’s house with Jim occasionally to play GEO or some other video game, but it didn’t feel right.

It made Lee sad. Chuck, Jim and Lee had been friends since the first grade. Now it seemed like Chuck, at least, was slipping away, and while the rest of the team were still friendly with him, it wasn’t the same. He was an outsider now, looking in.

There had been some incidents around home, too. Their house had been spray painted with mutant epitaphs twice, and his dad’s car had been paint ballooned once as he drove down the street from behind some bushes.

He had helped his dad put up motion-activated lights and security cameras all around the house last weekend. They had also placed proximity sensors about twenty-five feet from the house to give some early warning. So much for the coach’s opinion of Knoxville being less hostile to mutants, and this was solely on the basis of one or two loud-mouth kids’ accusations to their bigoted parents. Lee’s father had been verbally abused at an H-1 meeting even without any public evidence that Lee was a mutant.

Lee and his parents knew that it would get much worse once he could no longer hide his changes. They had even discussed the possibility of moving. Eve and Beth were devastated by the possibility that they might have to move. Both were in tears every time the subject came up, but as much as they didn’t want to move they also wanted Lee to be safe. It was a no win situation.

October 12th, 2008
Doc Widget’s workshop

Lee glanced at the expressions on Doc’s and Coach’s faces, “So, what’s the verdict. Am I going to grow two heads and a tail?” He half joked to cover his nervousness. He was leaning on a strange looking machine, taller than he was with dozens of gauges and digital readouts. A massive laser focused through a thick mica window on a dark chamber. Lee looked at it and asked, “What does this monstrosity do?”

Doc replied, “That’s my coffee maker.”

Lee laughed, thinking Doc was pulling his leg until Coach pressed a small key pad and slid a cup into a recess. Moments later the laser charged loudly, fired and then the smell of fresh coffee filled the lab. Lee stood dumbfounded.

Coach sipped on the coffee as he gathered his wits to break the news to Lee, finally giving a lopsided grin, and replying to Lee’s earlier question, “You may consider it as such, but no, it’s not GSD.” He paused, “Lee, there’s no easy way to say this - it looks like your BIT is female.”

“Huh! That’s nuts!”

“It’s not as crazy as it seems,” Doc said. “It happens.”

“What do you mean my BIT is female?” Lee was confused and a little scared. “How can that be — I’m a guy?”

Doc took up the explaining. “Lee, as I said, your BIT is the blueprint for improvements your mutation is going to make to your body, and according to my devises, your BIT is going to reshape you as female. Probably a very beautiful female, as you are a high level exemplar, but female none the less.”

Lee looked at first one then the other as he waited for the coach or the Doc to yell ‘Gotcha”, but they didn’t. “What do you mean it’s going to reshape me as female? For how long, and how exactly is that an improvement!?”

The men looked at each other, sympathy in their eyes. “Lee, you are probably going to be a girl for the rest of your life. I know that this isn’t easy, but I’m not going lie to you.” the coach said sympathetically.

“_But I’m a guy fer Christ’s sake!_” he screeched at them. “Run the frelling tests again, you must have made a mistake! _I can’t be a girl! — I’m a guy!_”

“Calm down, Lee”, Doc said in a calm, quiet tone of voice that he hoped would get through to him. “You’re not going to wake up tomorrow as a girl. But you’re probably will change in that direction slowly - over months at least, if not years. You probably should have a long while to get used to the idea before anyone else will even notice.”

“I’ll notice! _You’ve got to do something!_ Lee’s voice was rising both in volume and pitch. “I don’t want to be a girl. I DON’T KNOW HOW TO BE A GIRL! Please, Coach - Doc, do something.” He pleaded with them.

Tears were now running down his face, but his voice fell to a near whisper. “I don’t care if I can’t be on the team. I don’t even care if I’m a mutant, but” and his voice rose again, “I. cannot. be. a. girl!” The word ‘cannot’ echoed around the room.

Coach spoke. “Lee, no one has ever been able to change someone’s BIT, and believe me when I say that many have tried. They’ve tried devises, magic, science and probably some things, we’ve never heard of. No one has succeeded. If they had, there wouldn’t be any mutants with GSD. Most of the attempts have only made things worse for the mutant, and more than a few have died.”

“I. Don’t. Care. You have to do _something_ to change it! Put me in one of these machines AND CHANGE MY BIT TO BE A GUY!”, he screamed. “I can’t be a girl! I’d rather die first!” Lee’s eyes were wide and his face was turning red. A strange greenish glow had begun to surround him.

A small orchid sitting under a grow lamp behind Lee began to grow as the glow touched it. Within seconds, it went from a small seedling to a full sized plant, complete with small blossom buds. They all jumped as the clay pot burst from the pressure of the growing roots.

Lee leaped up, ready to run. He was hysterical, close to losing it completely, and the coach knew it. He had even expected it, nodding at Dr. Widget who had eased around behind Lee. Before Lee could react, the doc stuck a transdermal injector, that looked like it came off of a Star Trek set, against his neck and there came a quick hiss. Lee spun and looked at him, balefully, just before he slumped in the coach’s arms and the room went dark.

***************

He was having the strangest dream. He was walking through a verdant tree-filled valley, full of rocks covered in soft green mosses, and flowers dotted the landscape. Streams, ranging from small trickles to rills of water fell down the steep ravine wall every few feet, all feeding a small brook running down the center of the gorge. The water dripped, tinkled and burbled musically. Birds sang in the trees, and rabbits and squirrels gamboled on the forest floor seemingly oblivious of him. A warm spring-like breeze sighed through the trees. It was the most beautiful and peaceful place he had ever seen. He knew he had been upset, but no one could be upset here. It just simply wasn’t possible.

He bent over one of the small rills and stuck in his hand. The water was cool on his fingers. Cupping his hand he brought a little to his mouth. It was the best water he had ever tasted, refreshing him and quenching a thirst he hadn’t known he had.

A call, he felt more than heard, tugged at his heart from further down the valley. He turned and started in that direction, dropping his wet hand to his side. If he had looked, he would have seen the drops of water from his hand hitting the mossy rocks where diminutive plants unfurled, rapidly growing from where each the drops struck. They quickly opened tiny, exquisite golden star-shaped blossoms behind him fill the air with their perfume.

The gorge widened into a broad shallow valley. He soon came upon a clearing containing a ring of standing stones that reminded him vaguely of pictures of Stonehenge he had seen, but different too. For one thing, it wasn’t a ruin. He walked up and stepped between the polished stones to see a very tall, beautiful woman standing in the center.

She was breathtaking. Standing at least 6 feet tall with a slender statuesque figure reminiscent of marble sculptures. Her rich silky dark brown hair, woven with small flowers, fell in waves down her back reaching well below her waist. It also poured over the front of her shoulders spilling across her moderate sized breasts. She wore no clothing, but surprisingly he was not embarrassed. It looked completely natural, as if she should be no other way.

She had large, gently pointed ears set a little higher and further back than normal yet they looked perfectly natural on her. Her face was regal with large green eyes, ones the he felt like he could fall into and never come out. Her bearing was both enticing and royal. If he had seen a girl that looked one tenth as good as this woman, in school, he would not dream of approaching her. She reminded him of the pictures in his history textbook of statues of greek goddesses, haunting and elusive.

While sensing a great power radiating from the woman, she was not fearsome or scary to him. In fact, she seemed to radiate calm gentleness. He knew instinctively that he was only seeing one aspect of this incredible creature. He knew that she could also be more frightening than anything he had ever imagined. He fell to his knees before her, looking up adoringly.

As he gazed up at her, it appeared as if she was simultaneously a teenage girl and a woman in the full power of her womanhood. Yeah, she was definitely much, much more than she seemed.

She looked at him and smiled. He felt a peace sweep over him like his soul would never be troubled again. He returned the smile.

“Are you an elf,” he asked timidly?

She laughed like the tinkling of bells. “No, Lee, my child. My children’s children’s children begat the Aos Sidhe, but I am not an elf,” she said with amusement. “Rise, my child, you need never give obeisance before me.” She stretched forth a long slender hand to him. Without a word, he took it and stood.

He waited silently for her to speak again. She gazed piercingly at him, then sighed with wistfulness. Her eyes and face became distant as if she were looking at something millions of miles and millions of years away. Abruptly, her face snapped back into focus in the here and now. She stared at him looking slightly wistful or maybe a little sad.

“Ahh, so the time foretold has come to be. The cycle begins anew.” she said in her musical voice. He knew the language she spoke wasn’t English, yet he understood her words clearly. Birds flew down to land on her shoulders as she spoke, their own voices silent in her presence. She sat regally upon one of the large stones. Three large wolves emerged from between the stones and sat on the ground at her feet followed by an enormous white tiger which leapt lightly onto the stone on which she sat. It laid its massive head in her lap. As she ran her fingers though it’s fur, it began to purr as loud as a well tuned Harley. He knew neither he nor she had anything to fear from these creatures. Rabbits and squirrels frolicked with other small creatures, some that he had heard of, but never seen before. All were at her feet, also fearless of the predators.

“Where am I?” he asked in the same language. He marveled that he could understand and speak the language. “And how do you know my name?”

“You are nowhere and everywhere, you walk in a dream world beyond the bounds of space and time, both in the world and beside it. Indeed those concepts have no meaning here.” Lee felt like he could listen to anything she wanted to say forever, just to hear her voice and be near her. “Long, long ago, some called this place Avalon, others called it Eden. It is also the gateway to tír na nÓg. It is a small fragment of the land where Atlantis once held sway, before the breaking of that land and nearly the world.”

She stared at him intently, as if judging him. He couldn’t speak for fear of bursting the dream that surrounded him.

Finally, she spoke. “It has been long indeed since one of my children has been brought into the world, but how could I not know my child’s name?” she replied, slightly sadly.

“I don’t understand. My mother’s Kathleen Cook.” he said bewildered.

“She bore you, but as surely as she is your mother, so am I. I am your true mother, through your mother’s people and your father’s, out of the Emerald Isle. This mutation, as your people call it, but awakens my seed that dwells within you, the true You! Or more exactly what you are becoming, which now stirs.”

“And what is that?” he asked curiously. The sound of her voice drove all other emotions from him except for a need to listen and adore her.

“You are become ‘Tuath dé Danu’”. ———— “Welcome, my child!” As the words resonated with power in his head, she and the scene around him began fading. “Wait! Who are you?” he shouted as she and everything around him became transparent.

“We will speak again soon,” was the last thing he heard her say before blackness took him once again.

**************

Liam knew where his life was going, or so he thought until an incident at football practice turns into his worst nightmare. And the fun is only beginning.

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 apologize for the delay in posting. I decided to do a last minute rewrite of a couple of scenes.

---

He woke and stirred, attracting the attention of the two men. “Feeling better?” Coach asked.

Lee realized he was lying down. He swung his feet to the floor and sat up; the sweet memory of the dream fading into unreality. Deep inside himself, just beyond the reach of easy consciousness, he remembered and knew it was more real than anything he had ever experienced. The room spun with his rapid movement. “Yeah, I guess. What did you do to me?”

“I gave you a quick sedative. You were losing control.” Doc replied. “With your regeneration, it will wear off completely in a few minutes.”

As the room came back into focus, Lee realized that he was in a much smaller room. He was sitting on the edge of a sofa in a very normal looking living room except that there were no windows. A flat screen TV on each wall showed what looked like different views of a forest. As he watched it absently a deer wandered across one of the screens. He looked around and saw coach and the Doc sitting in a pair of armchairs with drinks in their hands in front of a very realistic looking fireplace in which a fire burned steadily, giving off a gentle warmth. Lee knew, without knowing how, that it was a holographic fireplace. His dad had wanted to put one in his house, but was waiting for the price to come down.

Lee shook his head trying to clear it, trying desperately to hold onto the dream which was dimming, becoming less and less vivid by the second, except for an image of the woman and her final words to him.

What was Tuath de’ Danu? Somehow he did not want to share this dream, not yet, even though he knew it could be important. It was too personal. Besides, what if they thought he was crazy?.

He turned his thoughts to the conversation that had been underway before he had been drugged. “So there’s really nothing that can be done to prevent me becoming a girl?” he asked timidly despite the wool that seemed to fill his brain. He seemed more at peace with the idea. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the sedative or the dream or both.

“I’m sorry, Lee,” the coach said gently. “In fact, it may be worse that we expected. When you got excited a while ago, your magic kicked in subconsciously. It seems one of the things your glamour is capable of is making things grow beyond all expectations, how or why, we don’t know.”

The Doc leaned over the other side of his chair and picked up an enormous orchid covered in huge, beautiful, fragrant, lavender and white cattleya blossoms. The plant itself would have filled a bushel basket. “This was a mere seedling and would have fit into a teacup a few minutes before your outburst. It should have been years from blooming. Also, your magic flared again after you passed out, but this time it looked very different. For a few seconds, no one could touch you and you appeared to be moving rapidly away into nothingness, then you snapped back, as if nothing had happened, and that somehow again stimulated your BIT.” Coach hesitated, then reached down and picked put something else, a mirror. He silently handed it to Lee.

Lee slowly lifted the mirror and stared into it. His hair had gone from a nondescript brown to a rich dark chestnut color shot with bright golden streaks. It was also five or six inches longer than the short buzz cut he preferred. It was very full bodied and wavy covering his ears and collar. He lifted his hand and watched in the mirror as his fingers touched his hair. It was silky soft, thick and shiny, not like his normal hair at all, which had previously been coarse, stringy and dull. He ran his fingers though his new hair, not believing it was his.

He turned his attention to his face. At first, he saw nothing much different, but then he realized that his cheeks and chin were smooth, without any trace of the faint wisps of beard that had started to grow there, and no zits. Like most adolescents, he usually had one or two pimples, but now his skin was smooth and perfect. His lips appeared slightly fuller, too. His eyes might be a touch larger also, and possibly a little wider spaced, he thought, but it was hard to be sure. There was no question about the vibrant jewel-like emerald green that had replaced his original pale hazel eyes.

“Oh, crap!” He muttered, totally floored by the changes. Taken individually they were small, but together they were significant. Then he remembered his contacts. He looked frantically at the coach, who held out the colored contacts.

“They just popped out. Hopefully, they will still fit.” Coach said without being asked. Lee took them and put them in the case he took from his pocket.

He looked down at his body, but it looked the same to him although maybe a little slimmer through the chest and shoulders. It was hard to tell with his clothes on. Remembering what they had said about his BIT, he reached slowly down to his crotch. He was relieved to feel his junk still there. Guiltily, he jerked his hand back.

The coach chuckled, “It’s ok, I would check, too, if it was me. You haven’t changed that much except for your hair, a little bit around the face and you may be a little taller, but we weren’t expecting this much change for at least two or three months, maybe longer.”

Doc spoke up. “You should know that you are quite a bit stronger that you were before. You were lifting almost nine hundred pounds today, so you’re going to have to be very careful that you don’t hurt anyone. Also, your magic and regeneration potential both seem to be getting stronger. I’m going to update your MID today, but I’ll leave it as temporary because I want to go through this at least once more before finalizing it.”

Lee continued to study himself in the mirror. He looked relatively normal but somehow not the same. He realized he looked a little like a bad image of the son of the woman from his dream.

He reached for his new hair brushing it back where it had fell into his eyes, when suddenly his ear showed through the thick hair in the mirror. It was slightly pointed, a little larger and seemed to be just slightly further back than he expected. The changes again weren’t extreme but the top of his ear had a distinct point forming. He knew he would be freaking again, if not for the lingering effects of the sedative — or was it the lingering memory of her presence?

“That’s interesting.” Doc commented as he walked over and pulled back the hair to examine an ear. “You are definitely turning into one of the fairy races.”

“I’m not a fairy,” he said with a sense of confidence. He was going to say more, but stopped; to tell what he had experienced seemed like a violation. He remained silent.

“No, not gay,” the doc exclaimed obviously misinterpreting his remark. “It looks like you are turning into one of the fae races.

Lee didn’t bother to correct him. He wasn’t ready to share the dream, if you could call it that. Somehow he knew without an doubt that the woman was as real as he was, even if he wasn’t sure who or even what she was, but she understood what was happening to him.

The image in the mirror kept calling his attention back as if by staring at it, he could also understand what was happening. As he looked he began to notice other subtle changes. He realized that his neck seemed a little longer and slimmer. His Adam’s apple a little less pronounced. His nose turned up ever so slightly at the end. His chin was slightly rounder. In short, he already looked slightly girlier, and not just because of the hair.

He groaned. If the changes kept coming soon he would be the subject of ridicule as a sissy. Heck! these changes were probably enough. Suddenly, the groan became a chuckle and then a long hard belly gripping laugh. He went on laughing for several minutes.

The coach and Doc looked at him, probably wondering if they were going to have to sedate him again. That just made him laugh harder. When they moved toward him, he held up a hand and tried to bring the laughter under control.

“What’s so funny,” the coach asked, obviously wondering what Lee could possibly find so amusing in all of this.

Lee gasped a couple of times, still holding up his hand. Finally between chuckles, he explained that he had been worrying about being labelled as a sissy, when he finally grasped that, between the facts that he was getting pointy ears, turning into a girl and was a mutant, being branded a sissy was so far down in the noise that it just had to be funny.

The two men looked at each other dumbfounded for a moment, then they all broke into laughter together.

————

“We could stop and get you a haircut or even dyed, if you want,” Coach said sympathetically, as they drove home. The contacts had gone back in just fine even if they were infinitesimally smaller that his irises. Coach had revealed that he’d already told Lee’s parents about the suspected gender change.

“Naw, what’s the point? It’ll just grow back and then there’s all the other changes that are coming. I might as well just get used to them as they happen. Besides it covers the ears, for now at least. Since you’ve already spilled the beans about the gender change to my folks, I guess the only thing left is to tell my sisters. I wonder what they’ll make of that.”

“I suspect they’ll take it in stride. They will probably get a kick out of teaching you about being a girl.”

Lee groaned, thinking about one of his sister’s sleep-overs and their friends that he had spied on, watching them do make-overs and dressing each other up in different outfits and makeup. ‘Oh, Lord, what am I getting into!’ Then he laughed; remembering his earlier thoughts on keeping things in perspective. He would have to learn from someone, maybe better his sisters than his mother, at least for some things. That could be just too embarrassing.

“I think we can still blame the designer drug excuse for a while. It’s Friday today, you can say the drug caused your hair to grow really fast over the weekend. You can also tell your classmates your doctors think it may feminize you some until it wears off.”

“Oh! That’s not going to cause me any troubles at school, at all.” Lee muttered sarcastically.

The coach nodded, grinning wryly, knowing Lee was right, but surprised at the maturity and relative calm with which he was facing this. Coach wondered if he could do as well.

***************

October 12, 2007
That Afternoon

Lee hadn’t discussed his last trip to Doc Widget’s lab when he got home that afternoon, but went straight to his room. He half-heartedly tried to play GEO to keep his mind off things, and even though he was kicking booty all over the screen, he wasn’t really into it. All he could think about was the visit to Doc Widget’s and that strange dream. It was a dream, wasn’t it?

The more he thought about it, Doc and Coach’s pronouncement that he was going to become a girl scared the pee out of him. How could he? He knew nothing about being a girl.

He tried to imagine himself hanging out with the gaggles of giggling girls he saw every day in the hallways at school, gossiping about anything and anyone. He often wondered what went on between them with their whispered conversations and glances around at whoever was passing. He also wondered, like countless other men and boys at girls going to the bathroom in groups. Why? Maybe he’d find out, however, he doubted he would be accepted into their little groups.

He couldn’t even begin to think about doing things like cheerleading, or going shopping — dressing up in fancy clothes! Just contemplating such a thing made him start hyperventilating. What was he going to do? Even if he became a really good looking girl like coach thought he was going to be: that just made matters worse - didn’t it? He would be trying to fend off boys and their staring at him. He knew how he had looked at girls, but never had considered how those looks made them feel — until now. Soon, he would be the object of lustful thoughts, if he was lucky, and wasn’t run out of town or killed for being a mutant.

He bowed his head, gripping his crucifix. ‘Oh, Holy Mary, Mother of God, help me in my hour of need!’ He prayed silently. ‘I don’t want to be a girl! I really don’t, but if I must be a girl, please, please, help me accept it and be the best girl I can. Amen’.

Suddenly, tears were streaming down his cheeks, and he began sobbing. He threw himself on his bed and buried his face in the pillow to muffle his sobs. His dad wasn’t home from work yet, but he knew his sisters were just across the hall, and he didn’t want them coming to see what was wrong, not yet. For now, his misery was a private one.

Eventually, he cried himself to sleep. He didn’t notice when his sisters peeped in his door, their sad faces reflecting his own misery as his glamour broadcast his hopelessness, but in the end they simply closed the door and left him alone.

————

Lee’s sisters met his mom when she came in, hugging her and crying. “Lee’s so unhappy, Momma! Isn’t there anything we can do?”

Kathryn hugged them. “All we can do is be there for him. He’s got to deal with a lot of stuff right now, and while he will probably want and need your help later on, right now I doubt if he’s ready for it yet.”

His mother was shocked when she entered Lee’s room and saw his silken hair and girlish cast to his features. She knew, from what Coach had told them that there might be such changes, but it was so much sooner than she expected. She gently brushed his hair back from his face, looking at that very familiar face and yet somehow seeing him as she was still imagining Lee to be.

She gently woke him. He blinked several times then his eyes teared up again as she wrapped him in her loving arms. She smiled at him as she tenderly wiped the tear streaks from his face and hugged him to her bosom as he explained what had driven him to tears.

His Mom listened quietly until he was finished, then still holding him, did the only thing she could; reassuring him that she and his ‘father’ would always be there for him. That she loved him.

8:30 pm
Home

The family held another meeting that night after dinner. When they were all gathered in the living room, Lee described to them what he had learned, and most of what had happened. He even managed to do it without his voice breaking once. When Lee told the girls he was going to be turning into a girl, they squealed with joy, jumping up and down. Lee’s face blushed making it look like he was glowing. His eyes began to glisten with tears, but he blinked back the tears. He knew that his sisters loved him and meant well.

“Girls, that’s enough!” Kathleen’s voice broke in, sharp with reproach. “How would you feel if someone told you that you were going to turn into a boy!”

“Ewww!” They said in unison, looking suitably abashed. They hadn’t thought about what the changes would mean to Lee.

“We’re sorry, Lee.” Eve explained that she had always wanted a big sister and she hadn’t really thought about what it meant for him. “We’ll try to help, honest! We can show you things and explain girl stuff to you.”

Lee’s face turned an even brighter red at that thought. “Thanks? I guess.” The girls looked disappointed by his lackluster response. “I’m sorry. This is just all so weird.” He went over and hugged them.

The discussion went on for a long while. His sisters were admonished again to keep his secrets. Finally, there was nothing more to say, and he started up to his room to finish his homework.

However much Lee hated the thought of changing, he was grateful for the support of his family. He knew he would need it, although Lee noticed that his dad seemed a little distant, contributing little to the discussion. Since Tom was normally fairly taciturn, Lee didn’t give it too much thought or concern.

He still held back the images of his dream, if dream it was, from them.

Monday October 14th
At the office of Dr. Evelyn Sharpe

The trip to the doctor’s office was interesting if a little anticlimactic seen in retrospect. Dr. Sharpe had run him through the same battery of tests she had performed two months ago, plus an ultrasound of his abdomen to try and determine the cause of his stomach cramps. She turned the monitor away from him as she slid the cold mouse through the slimy gel coating his stomach.

His face had turned bright red as she palpated his testicles (quite clinically) and he got a involuntary erection. She smiled gently, “Don’t worry about it. It happens to nearly every male I’ve ever examined.”

“I need to take some blood, too. This may sting a little.” After locating a vein, she was having problem getting the needle into his arm. She bent the first needle. “That’s really strange, your skin is getting really tough, yet it feels so very soft.” She looked at him thoughtfully, “I don’t think you are going to have to worry much about casual scrapes and cuts though, if this is any indication.” She finally got a heavier gauge needle in and collected her sample. She turned her back, so he wouldn’t see her put it and the used equipment into a Level 3 bio-hazard bag.

She handed him three cups with lids, a package of disinfecting wipes, sealable plastic bags and a pair of rubber gloves. “I need a urine sample and a stool sample.”

“Yukkk! Really!” Lee was both embarrassed and disgusted at the prospect. He turned to go to the bathroom, then turned back. "What's the third one for?

"I need a semen sample, if you can manage it."

Lee wash blushing a neon red, both at being asked for the sample but also at the implication that he might not be able to. Truthfully, his last erection was over two weeks ago.

Once he delivered the samples, still blushing, Lee hemmed and hawed for a few seconds before, looking Dr. Sharpe in the eye. "Doctor, --", he hesitated then, blurted out what was on his mind. "Doctor, when you're finished with your tests on this, if there are any good sperm in that sample I just gave you, can you make arrangements for them to be frozen?" He stared at his feet as he said this.

Evelyn looked at him with dawning comprehension. "Lee, I have my doubts about the viability of any sperm in this sample, but sure," she said softly. Wondering what he had in mind, it filled her with apprehension, but she couldn't turn him down. She made a mental note to consult about this with Dr. Bennett. She shuffled the paperwork and put the samples in her lab refrigerator for now.

Getting back to his exam, she began weighing and measuring him, not just his height, but his feet, inseam, neck, distance between his eyes, the diameter of his irises, the girth of his thighs and arms, the length of his arms, his hands and fingers. She measured the width of his shoulders, and his chest, waist and hips. She even measured his aureola and nipples, which tickled almost unbearably. They seemed so sensitive.

Lee already knew that he was changing since none of his clothes fit right anymore, but the changes were more than he had expected. He was almost three inches taller than he had been in August when she first measured him, his inseam had increased from 28 inches to 31 and a half inches. He also had gained almost thirty-five pounds. That was the good news. The bad news was everything else. His neck was longer and thinner, and his shoulders narrower. His chest was only slightly smaller than it had been, but his waist had shrunk from 32 inches to 26 inches. His hips had increased from 32 inches to 34 inches, but it felt like more.

The doctor was a little bewildered by his weight gain since it looked like he was losing muscle mass, his muscles becoming less defined and smoother, even as he got stronger. When she calculated his body mass index though, it was significantly higher than it had been. HIs muscle and bone density were increasing.

His hands and feet also had both changed. His hands were longer and slimmer, while his feet had gotten longer and narrower. His ankles were becoming a little delicate looking.

She wouldn’t discuss any of his clinical results with him. She said she wanted to get all of the results back and look at them before coming to any conclusions, not that there was any doubt in Lee’s mind what the general outcome was going to be.

————

Lee’s mother asked, “Do you want to stop by the church on the way home. He thought about it for a few moments, “Yeah, I think I do.” The stop in the confessional bothered him a little, he didn’t feel right knowing he was going on telling lies about himself to others. It felt wrong. Father Kennedy listened patiently as Lee talked about all of his lies of commission and omission. Then Lee got to what was really bothering him.

“Father, — do you think that there might be — other —uhh — deities out there other than God?” He got out stumblingly, embarrassed to be asking such a question. “I mean lesser gods, of course!” He added quickly.

Father Kennedy didn’t answer for a long minute and Lee was half expecting an explosion from this man he had always thought of as gentle. Then softly, the priest asked in his soft Irish brogue, “Why do you ask?”

Lee turned red with embarrassment, “Because, I think I might have met one — in a dream when I was unconscious the other day.”

Lee told the priest what he had not told anyone else. Partially because he thought no one would believe him or think him crazy, which he was not sure he wasn’t. Partially he hadn’t said anything because it had felt so private, so personal, that he didn’t want to share it, and finally, because it felt wrong to this faithful boy of the church to consider that there might be other beings worthy of worship and adoration.

When he finished his confession, Father Kennedy was quiet for a long time. “My son, there are many lesser beings made by The Creator of All. Some less than man, and some greater. We would be fools to think that we know all of God’s mind and creation. You know of angels and other such creatures. Many of these are worthy of awe and reverence, but not worship. Others are to be despised such as demons and their temptations.

“But men worshiped other higher beings long before they found the true God, and even the church reluctantly admits that in some cases these deities may have had some basis in reality. However, I _seriously_ doubt you have actually met such a creature, in a dream or otherwise. One must be ever vigilant to the temptations of idolatry and false gods.

“However, having said that, I remember stories that my Nanna from the old country used to tell, that her Gran had told her. She believed that many beings belonging to the unseen races wandered Ireland in the early days. Some were said to be beings of power. I don’t know having never been there myself, but I do know that nothing happens or exists that is naught in God’s plan. Many and mysterious are the ways of God, and beyond the knowledge of men. If you meet this being again, make sure that it is not a devil sent to tempt you, but be open to the possibility that it is one of the greater parts of God’s plan, — as you may be yourself. Now don’t you be telling the bishop that I told you that.

“Say three rosaries and four Hail Marys, in penance for your lies and spend 1 hour a day for a week in contemplation of the mysteries that are God and his creations.” The priest closed the curtain over the confessional screen indicating that confession was over.

Father Kennedy really hadn’t helped him much, but Lee did remember the dream in greater detail after recounting it. At least Father Kennedy didn’t seem to think that the ‘woman’ was necessarily a demon or that Lee was damned; or worse that he was crazy. Lee wasn’t sure what he met in the dream, if it even was a dream, but the more he remembered, the more he was sure that the ‘woman’ was a real being. Very real, and he was somehow connected to her. He really, really did not know what to think about that.

————

Monday
October 21st

Lee’s mom took the measurements he had from the doctor’s visit and bought him some new clothes. There weren’t very many of them, as she knew they probably wouldn’t fit him very long.

He spent an hour Monday morning, trying to pick out something to wear that wouldn’t emphasize his changes and trying to get his hair to look like he hadn’t just come from a woman’s hair stylist, without much success. He showered and washed it thinking once it dried it would hang limply as usual, but noooo! Once it was dry and he had combed it, it looked full, wavy, and very shiny. Only the fact that the length was somewhat uneven took away from the impression that he had spent time styling it.

Lee screamed, “Mom! Help!”

————

When she came running in and saw him standing in front of the mirror with a comb in his hand and his bright glistening hair that any girl would be jealous of, she knew instantly what the problem was. “I guess that’s too girly for you, huh? Let’s see what we can do.”

She combed it and tried to change its look with hair spray and gel, but in the end there wasn’t much she could do.

“Lee, I’m sorry. I know you don’t want to hear this, but you simply have beautiful hair, and short of cutting it off, it’s always going to look beautiful. Shall I try and cut it?”

“No, that’s just going to show my ears. The hair is easier to explain, I guess.” He said with a sigh of resignation.

School on Monday was every bit as bad as he thought it would be. Every one immediately noticed his hair, his face and a couple even commented that he seemed taller. He brushed off as many people as possible with the explanation that was growing a bit threadbare by now, but he couldn’t dissuade his friends so easy.

“Hey, dude, what’s happened to you?” Chuck asked as soon as he saw him. “What’s with your hair? You’re not a redhead and you look like you’ve been to the beauty parlor with your sisters.”

Lee groaned to himself, and replied, “It’s a side effect of that damn drug. The good news is I’m finally getting taller,” trying to divert Chuck’s attention away from his more feminine changes. It didn’t work.

“I don’t know, dude. You kinda look like a girl, and I thought you had been getting a beard?”

“Yeah, well; that’s the bad news. The doctors say it may make me look a little girlish for a while.” The lies were beginning to trip off Lee’s tongue more easily every day, and he hated that too.

“Dude, that’s terrible. How long?” Chuck seemed genuinely concerned, but then his tone changed harshly. “Dude, that’s what messing around with mutants will get you. You should never have trusted one. They’re all alike - bad news!”

Lee mentally cringed as he heard this. He never expected Chuck to be so vehement about mutants. Answering Chuck’s question, Lee mumbled, “We don’t know how long.”

“Is it done changing you?” Chuck’s concern for his friend was back in his voice.

“We don’t know. The best answer they could give me was maybe, but probably not.”

“Damn, mutants! We ought to gather them all up and lock them away where they can’t hurt decent people.”

“What about the heroes, who help people?” Lee tried to turn his friend’s anger away from all mutants.

“I’m telling you, you can’t trust any of them. They’re all reckless, egotistical goons out to distract good people from the threat they represent.” Chuck seemed to be getting more angry, and louder. An awkward silence descended between them. Chuck seemed to grow more uncomfortable the longer they stood there. “Look, good luck with this, but I’ve got to get to class.” Then he turned and hurried off down the hall. Lee wasn’t sure whether he was hurrying to class or to get away from him.

Other people Lee met that day were less understanding. A lot weren’t interested in his story, they only saw a guy who was starting to look like a girl. Fag, queer, sissy, tranny and similar epitaphs floated in the air behind him as he walked the halls all day long.

Even a lot of his football buddies seemed to want to keep their distance, as if what was happening to him would rub off either physically or socially on them. The kids who went to the Tazwell Evangelical Church of Genetic Purity were more vocal and vehement in their opinions. Lee was accosted several times by them during the day.

“You’re an abomination in the eyes of the Lord, trafficking with mutants. You deserve whatever happens to you. Your soul is forfeit for your iniquities.” They harassed him off and on all day with that and other similar statements, often quoting what sounded like bible verses, but weren’t out of any Bible Lee recognized. They weren’t interested in any reasons or excuses, just that he had trafficked with the hated mutants. Lee wondered what they would do if they knew the truth.

His teachers and the administration were officially ignoring his changes for now, but Lee wondered how long that would last. He caught a couple of his teachers staring at his hair and face when they thought he wasn’t looking, and Ms Long, his English teacher, looked at him with obvious disapproval and disdain. He steered clear of Coach most of the time, since he didn’t want to implicate him, although he had slipped into Coach's office once to decompress and complain about how people were treating him.

Coach listened and sympathized with him. After Lee left, Coach fumed and then called a lawyer friend of his to lay the groundwork for a harassment lawsuit, if needed. The threat of that would at least stop the worst of the abuses by staff, since even a lawsuit the school won would be expensive.

At least Lee didn’t have to take gym thanks to Dr. Sharpe. He didn’t want to think about letting people see him without his protective covering of clothes.

Finally, the day was over. Lee hadn’t seen Jim today, as he was off on a trip with his father. After Chuck’s reactions though, Lee wasn’t all that unhappy about that. He didn’t know if he could stand it if Jim felt the same way.

Since Lee was back in school, he was now going to the dojo after he got out of classes. His strength seemed to be increasing almost daily, so the sensei had him mostly working on his katas and sparring with the sensei himself to teach him control. The physical exercise at least released some of the tension, and combined with the meditation, put him in a slightly better humor.

But by the time he got home, Lee was tired and still depressed. He went straight up to his room. After a lackluster session of GEO, Lee had curled up on his bed staring at the wall. His guts were cramping again and he didn’t know why; although he suspected that he wouldn’t like the answer when he found out.

How - how had his life gone to crap so fast? Two months ago, he knew who he was and what he wanted. Now he felt he was on a runaway roller coaster careening out of control. He didn’t even feel good enough to cry about it.

————

He was half asleep when his mother came up to get him for supper. Her heart ached for her child as she looked and saw him curled in a fetal position on his bed.

“How you are doing, darling.” she asked brushing his long hair away from his face.

He looked up at her with the most forlorn face she had ever seen. It wrenched at her to see her boy so unhappy. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him to her breast.

“I don’t know if I can do this, Mom.” he mumbled into her shoulder. “How am I supposed to be something I’m not?”

“Oh, baby! You can do it. You are still the same person you’ve always been. You’re just going to look a little different that’s all. You’ve always been so strong, never giving up. Look how hard you worked to get on the team.” She realized this was the wrong thing to say, even as the words came out of her mouth.

Lee jerked in her arms. “But I didn’t get on the team, though, did I?” He said bitterly. “I’ll never be on the team now, will I? I had plans, plans of what I was going to do with my life! Now they are all so much crap.”

“What am I supposed to do now, huh? Be a cheerleader and jump around bouncing my tits; find a boyfriend; get pregnant - like you did, and start pumping out babies?!”

Kathleen was shocked at the vehemence of his words. The words designed to hurt her only showed her how much her son was hurting. She pulled him back to her bosom, cradling his head against her shoulder.

“Lee, I can’t tell you this is going to be easy. It’s won’t, but I will always be here for you. I will do everything I can to help. It’s probably not as bad as you think right now. I’ve done alright as a woman and even enjoyed it most of the time. I know that all you know right now is how to be a boy, but it’s not that hard, just different.” She pushed Lee to arms length and looked into his eyes, combing her fingers through the hair hanging over his face. “Now, why don’t you tell me what happened today to put you into this funk.”

“Everyone thinks I’m queer, weird, or act like I’m contagious, and I still mostly look like a boy. They don’t even know that I’m a mutant yet or that I’m going to turn into a girl or any of this. Even Chuck’s acting weird around me, implying that it’s my fault for having anything to do with a mutant. What’s he going to think when he finds out I _am_ a mutant?”

“Honey, I don’t pretend to know all that you’re going through, but I know this, if any of these ‘friends’ of yours are really friends, they’ll come around. I’m not so old that I don’t remember what high school was like. Teenagers are highly social creatures and can be very harsh when something upsets the order of their little world. Truth is, though, most social groups don’t initially react well to anything that upsets the group order, but, — once things settle down and a new order is established, it’ll get better.”

“But how can it settle, Mom? I’m just going to keep changing and it’s going to get worse! I’d be better off dead!” he blurted out, staring past her at the floor.

She shook him sharply to get his attention. “Lee, stop this! It’s alright to feel a little sorry for yourself, but you’ll never be better off dead. If all your friends abandon you, you’ll still be better off alive. You can make new friends and new plans. What do you think it would do to your sisters, if you died; to me; or your father! Now snap out of it. You had a bad day. You’ll have others. You would even if you weren’t a mutant. Do you think you’re the only one who's ever despaired!?” She paused for a moment as her words slowly seemed to change the expression on Lee’s face to something a little less dire. She reached out and caressed his head, and said gently. “Now come on. Go wash up and let’s go eat dinner before it gets stone cold.”

Lee did as she asked. He did feel a little better, maybe it was just the emotional purging, but he guessed probably he just needed his mother to tell him it was going to be alright. He hadn’t thought about needing his mother since he had started to grow into a man. Now he suspected he was going to need her a lot more in the coming months than he’d ever needed her. He also made a mental note to update his journal before bed.

———-

Tuesday was better, a little better anyway. Many of the kids at school had moved on to something or someone else. His changes weren’t so drastic yet.

A few of those who had been most vehement about his changes continued to taunt him. Chuck remained a little standoffish, but they talked some about everyday things. By the end of the day, Lee felt pretty much like most high school kids, — a little drawn and quartered but nothing he couldn’t live with. He wondered how long it would be before his changes would make it impossible to feel even this good after a day at school. By the end of classes on Friday, he was old news. Oh, a few people like Randy and his buddies were still hassling him verbally because they could, and the evangelical kids acted like he was contaminated, verbally harassing him whenever they saw him, but nothing too major. Lee was becoming inured to their scorn.

Lee wondered if it would always be like that, a surge of problems as he changed then dying off to an annoyance. Somehow, he doubted it, as much as he might wish it to be true.

Saturday
October 25th
Home

Lee had returned from yet another, distressing shopping trip with his mom. There had been too many of those lately. Now five foot nine and a half inches, he’d shot up a little over five inches since his manifestation started and was thrilled to finally be catching up with and even passing some of his classmates. He would have been even more thrilled, if it wasn’t accompanied by other changes to his physique. His waist continued to shrink while his hips were slowly widening. Although his waist and hip changes weren’t grossly obvious as yet, the height increase kinda masked those changes. There was no getting around the fact that his body was slowly looking more and more like a girl’s, however. Only the careful choice of clothes was masking it.

The most distressing part of it was most of his increase in height seemed to be concentrated in his legs and neck, giving him long slender legs that would have looked great on any girl he knew, but unfortunately they were on him. This, coupled with the changes to his waist and hips, meant the jeans he was wearing were girl’s jeans. His neck now looked like Audrey Hepburn’s. He was ineffectually trying to hide it by wearing turtleneck sweaters to school. His mother didn’t have the heart to tell him, they made him look more feminine even if they were boy’s sweaters. She had been taking him to Cookeville for shopping, both to save at the outlet shops there and to spare Lee the embarrassment of shopping locally where he might be seen by people who knew him.

However, this latest trip was just to the local mall to get him some new sneakers, the second pair he’d outgrown in the last month. His feet and hands seemed to be growing out of proportion to the rest of his body, and the worst part of it was his growth was making him clumsy. He had always been athletic and well coordinated, with a fine sense of balance, if not large in stature. They had been some of his greatest strengths, now he could trip walking across the living room floor. He’d just gone up to his room when the doorbell rang. He could hear his mom inviting Jim in before he could tell her not to. He hadn’t been expecting Jim to be back from his trip until Monday.

Lee and Jim hadn’t exactly been avoiding each other. However, with Lee’s busy extra-curricular schedule, starting school late, and being off the football team, neither of them had been able to spend any real time with the other for several weeks. They had mostly just been saying hi in passing at school. They talked frequently on the phone, but Lee was worried what Jim would think when he saw him.

He rushed to get downstairs. In his hurry, he managed to stumble on the top step and went head over heels down the stairs. He instinctively grabbed at one of the spindles supporting the railing but with his new strength, all he succeeded in doing was breaking the spindle and hurting his wrist. He ended up in a pile at the bottom of the stairs, dazed. Jim and his mother rushed over to him. By the time they got to him he was recovering his wits.

“Lee, are you all right, man?” Jim asked as he and his mother were reaching for him.

“Yeah, I think so,” He was hurting but it didn’t seem too bad - until he put his hand down to get up and screamed. He had either sprained or broken his wrist.

“Stay there!” His mother yelled as he grabbed his wrist in his other hand. “Are you hurt anywhere else?” Concern was written across both their faces.

Lee tentatively began straightening his other limbs and moving body parts. “No, I don’t think so, just my wrist.” His wrist was visibly swelling as they watched.

“You sure, man?” Jim asked, “that was quite a tumble you took there.”

“Yeah, I’ve got a bit of a headache and a few other aches, but apart from my wrist, the rest just seems to be bruises.”

His mother on one side with Jim grabbing his other arm, they got him to his feet and the couch. He winced as they jarred his wrist.

“I think I should call Dr. Sharpe,“ Mom added, concern heavy in her voice. “You may have broken it.”

“No, I think it’ll be alright.” Lee said with the surety of every teenager who didn’t want another person to be privy to his clumsiness.

“Lee, I don’t know, man.” Jim looked at his wrist which was still swelling rapidly. “Your mom’s right, you may have broken it.”

“Nah, I think it’s just a sprain. I just need to wrap it and put an icepack on it.” The wrist was already starting to feel a little better. He knew it might be broken, but he also knew his regenerator power was already busy starting to fix it. He wanted to get it wrapped and out of sight before it revealed his regeneration to Jim’s eyes. He gave his mom a pleading look and jerked his head toward Jim.

Evidently realizing what he trying to convey, she sighed, giving him a look that mothers have given their children since time immemorial. Shaking her head, she went off to grab an Ace bandage. She came back and handed it to Jim, who, as an athlete himself, knew how to wrap an injured joint, while she went to prepare the icepack.

Lee hissed as Jim began to wrap the wrist. It was still plenty tender even as it started healing. As Jim finished wrapping it, Lee’s mother brought the ice pack and placed it gently on the injured arm, then she left them.

They sat there, an awkward silence between them for several minutes. Lee fidgeted, messing with his arm to keep from looking at Jim.

“So that drug has done all this to you?” Skepticism evident in Jim’s voice.

Lee looked up and began his, by now, well practiced spiel about the drug and what the doctors said. The lies tripping glibly off his tongue.

“Lee!” Jim interrupted sharply. “This is me you’re talking to, I’ve known you since we were both in training pants. I know you well enough to know when you’re lying, too!”

Lee sat there dumbfounded. He knew a lot of kids at school didn’t really believe his story, but their disbelief was limited and was more for the sake of having something to taunt him with. Jim was really the first one to openly call his bluff.

Lee sat there for a moment with his mouth open. He tried to think of something to salvage the situation, but nothing came to mind.

“It must be the drug,” he began feebly.

“Bull hockey! No drug is doing this. What’s really going on?” He paused waiting for Lee say something. When he didn’t, Jim took the bull by the horns. “You manifested, didn’t you?

Lee just sat there dumbfounded. Finally, he nodded, not trusting himself to hold back his tears, if he said anything.

“I thought so,” Jim said softly. “It’s okay. I had already kinda figured it out. I ran into Chuck on the way over here, and he told me about some your changes.”

“Oh, no! Chuck knows too?” Lee could feel the moisture welling up in his eyes.”

“No, no.” Jim laughed. “He hasn’t got a clue. He was trying to talk me into going hunting for this devisor that gave you the bum drug. He wants to beat him up. No, I figured it out on my own. — You see,” he paused for a long moment, “I manifested back in the summer, too.”

Lee looked like a fish gulping for air. Finally, “You did what?”

“I manifested as a mutant.” Jim said firmly.

“What did it do to you? You look the same, just a little more buff.”

“Not much, but that’s where Dad and I have been. We went to Atlanta to visit the Guardians, so I could get tested. Turns out, I’m what they call a Package Deal Psychic, or PDP-3 they said. I also may be a level 2 empath, which is not usually part of the package, and also possibly a fairly low level exemplar; making me a little stronger and bulking me up. Though with PDPs, it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference. They said my powers might get stronger as I learned to use them. I also got at least a little boost in other mental capabilities. You know memory, problem solving, that sort of thing.”

Lee was getting rather tired of feeling like he’d been hit between the eyes with a two by four. Jim was a mutant, too? “How long have you known?”

“Well, I’ve suspected for about three months. At first, mom and dad just thought I was going through a growth spurt, but then things started happening. Like I’d answer a question from one of them before they asked it, or once I told Dad to turn down a different street to get home, but of course he didn’t. Then two blocks later when a girl in a Porsche came out of a side street and clipped his fender, he gave me a really strange look. Bitch had the audacity to try and blame Dad for the damage to her Porsche, too. But two weeks ago was the clincher, Mom caught me moving chess pieces around the board without touching them, and the rest as they say is history.”

Lee was both delighted to have someone else who he could talk to about this but at the same time he was more than a little jealous. Why couldn’t his changes have buffed him up as a boy. Why did it have to turn him into a stupid girl?

—————

Lee’s Mom smiled from where she stood just around the corner. Marge, Jim’s mother had already told her about Jim as she had told her about Lee. Just as Jim was Lee’s best friend, Marge was hers. She was glad Lee might no longer feel so much like he was going through this alone.

—————

“So what’s it doing to you?” Jim asked.

“How long have you known about me?” Lee tried to change the subject, as he blushed. ‘How do you tell your best friend that you’re turning into a girl?’

“I’ve suspected since that day at practice, I guess. I mean I never saw anything, much less anyone, move that fast, and the purple rabbit was kind of a give away” Jim grinned.

“What purple rabbit?” He’s got a nice smile, Lee thought, then mentally did a rewind. What did I just think, I’ve never thought that about a guy’s smile before. He groaned to himself. This had to be a fluke. Yeah, he’s got a nice smile, but that’s no big deal. Lots of guy must have thought something like that before, he tried to tell himself.

“Earth to Lee, Earth to Lee, arrcch, Come in Lee.” Jim covered his mouth with his cupped hand to imitate talking into a mike.

Lee blushed more furiously at being caught woolgathering about Jim, of course, Jim couldn’t know that. Or could he? Lee had been reading up on mutants of all kinds since manifesting. As a PDP, Lee knew Jim would have some telepathic abilities, it was mainly a question of how much and could he use it yet? Lee’s face was now probably radiating into the far infrared.

“Purple rabbit?” Lee desperately again tried to change the subject, but his traitorous mind couldn’t stop thinking about that damn cute smile. Cute! Cute! He did not just think that. Again!

Fortunately, Jim seemed to be oblivious to Lee’s thoughts or discomfort.

“Yep, purple rabbit. I don’t think anyone else saw it before it scampered under the bleachers, but I did. You some kind of magic user?”

“Yeah, I guess. I seem to have an affinity to magic. Cantrip thinks I might be fairly powerful someday.”

“Who’s Cantrip?”

She’s the wizard/witch I’ve been studying magic under. You know, so my powers don’t get out of control. They seem to think I could go into burnout pretty easy if I don’t learn to control using it.” Lee replied before thinking about the implications of what he was saying.

“Who’s they?” Jim queried.

Realizing what he’d said, Lee grimaced, “Oh, just some people who have been trying to help me get a handle on this mess. I can’t tell you who, I kinda promised to keep their names secret.”

“That’s alright. Don’t worry about it, I shouldn’t have asked. It’s hard keeping all this stuff secret, isn’t it? It’s too bad mutants like us have to hide just to live.” Jim said a little morosely. He looked at Lee’s face and head.

“So what else did it do to you? I mean you look a little different, kind of — softer and what’s with the hair?” Jim looked at him thoughtfully.

Lee started blushing again. Ignoring Jim’s last statement, Lee went into his power ratings from the new MID he’d picked up at Doc’s the last time.

“Well, according to my testing results, I’m wizard 3 or 4. Mostly I test out as a 3, but I seem to be able to do some things that only a 4 or higher should be able to do. I’m an Exemplar 4 or will be when my BIT finishes with me. I’m a devisor 2, a gadgeteer 4, and I am a regenerator 3+, but they weren’t equipped to test for anything higher.”

“Woh, dude! That’s a wicked set of powers. Anything else?”

“Well, I’ve been growing like a weed. When I was tested they said I had the balance and reflexes of a cat, but with this latest growth spurt, I’ve gotten more than a little clumsy. Hopefully, that will pass. All my senses are heightened at least somewhat; my memory is near perfect and my problem solving is better, kinda like yours; ——— and I’m turning into a girl.” Lee mumbled at the end.

“You’re WHAT?!”

The look on Jim’s face would have been priceless if they had been discussing anything, or better yet anyone else. Lee was blushing down to his socks. He was staring at the floor afraid to look at Jim.

“Did you just say you were changing into a girl?” Jim asked more softly, but still the incredulity dripping from his voice was quickly making Lee regret telling him. Oh, well, another friend gone, maybe at least I can keep him from telling anyone else, since I know he’s a mutant.

“Yeeaah, that’s what I said.” Tears were glistening in his eyes again.

“Wow, — that’s rough, man, errr, girl.” Jim shook his head sympathetically.

Lee snuck a glance up through his eyelashes to see if Jim making fun of him. It didn’t look like he was, it looked like he was really trying to accept Lee’s changes without judgement, but he was obviously still thunderstruck.

What Lee failed to realize was just how cute, feminine, and coquettish glancing up at Jim through his eyelashes made him look. The tears beginning to steak his face completed the look.

———-

Jim gulped as Lee gave a very credible whipped puppy look. He half expected Lee to whimper. _Wow, this was going to hard to deal with, for both of us,_ he thought.

Two things had been constants in Jim’s life up until now. One was his family, and the other had been his best friend and partner in crime, Lee. Lee, who was a boy, not this vulnerable girlish-looking creature here with him now.

He sat back sharply on the sofa, staring blankly at Lee. He had thought he had it rough finding out he was a mutant, but, wow! This was radical.

Suddenly, he was seeing all the changes in Lee that he hadn’t really paid attention to before. Looking beyond the hair and face, and feeling with his new empathy power, he realized for the first time that the person in front of him was not the same Lee he’d always known. The irrepressible confidence that had always been a part of Lee was — not gone exactly, but different. There was an element of fear and uncertainty that he had never known in his friend. The determination to carry through was still there, but it was mixed with confusion and fright.

Jim didn’t blame him. Jim knew he would be terrified; they would probably find him curled in a corner peeling the wallpaper off with his teeth. No, he didn’t blame Lee. Jim admired him. Lee was facing this the best he knew how, just like he had always done everything.

He looked at Lee again, seeing more of the small physical changes that his mind had edited out before, and his own powers now fully engaged, he realized that Lee was further along toward becoming a girl, than probably even Lee realized. Jim’s heart, like billions of males before him, was melting at the tears leaking from Lee’s eyes. He wanted to do something — anything to stop them.

Jim scooted closer to his friend who was in so much pain, and did something he would have never thought of doing before today. He put his arm around Lee’s shoulder and pulled him into a gentle tentative hug.

———

Lee sagged into the crook of Jim’s arm without thinking about what he was doing, and relaxed for the first time really since he had found out what was happening. His best friend had accepted him. A long tremulous sigh escaped his lips. Maybe he could take whatever else the world threw at him.

Lee's adventures continue. His old life is careening out of his control, his new one coming at him head-on. Can he survive the clash of old and new and still keep his sanity. Will his mother's attempts at helping make matters better or worse. It's anyone's guess. For sure, Lee doesn't know.

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.

Saturday
October 26th

Lee jumped to his feet, drawing another cry of pain as he jarred his wrist. He stood there, staring at Jim. Embarrassment made the blush on his face grow brighter with each passing moment. His mouth worked soundlessly, before he turned and ran upstairs to his room, slamming the door.

He threw himself onto his bed, his head spinning. He’d been astonished to learn that Jim was also a mutant; surprised that Jim already knew or at least suspected about Lee being a mutant; and been thrilled when Jim had accepted him and his changes. All of these though had paled in comparison with the shock he felt when he realized he was curled up on Jim’s shoulder, like - like a girl, and he liked it; liked the way it felt with Jim’s strong arm around him; liked feeling safe and protected; and even liked the way Jim smelled. It was a severe body blow to Lee’s already battered male ego.

—————

Jim sat there confused, until he began to pick up on the mortification Lee was announcing to the whole house with his glamour. Lee’s mother came into the room wiping her hands on her apron, sighing.

“Jim, Lee’s having a hard time adjusting to all this. He just learned a few days ago about becoming a girl.” She said quietly. She had heard most of the exchange between them from the other room.

“I don’t know what happened.” Jim looked confused. “We were just sitting here and I put my arm around his shoulder. We’d been sitting there for a couple of minutes, and he’d started to relax, then suddenly he jumped up looking shocked and ran upstairs like I’d done something.” Jim was clearly confused and a little hurt. “I don’t even know why I put my arm around him. It was like I had to do it.”

“Oh!”

“Well, Jim,” Kathleen paused, trying to figure out how to explain what she knew had happened. “I suspect that Lee suddenly realized he was reacting to you like a girl would to a boy, — and you were acting like a boy with a girl. I’ve seen him do it in little ways with other guys when we were out for a couple of weeks now. A glance here, or a smile at a boy in the mall, as I said, little things.”

“What you don’t know is he seems to put out a pheromone or glamour that makes people attracted to him, feel protective of him or both, especially when he’s feeling insecure. The wizard who’s been teaching him to control his magic tried to explain it to me, but I didn’t really understand it, and to tell the truth I’m not sure she does either.”

“I suspect just now, Lee, at least in his subconscious mind, is discovering that he’s beginning to feel like a girl. That’s going to be really hard for what’s left of his male ego to deal with. I think it would be best, if you went home now. He’ll call you when he’s ready to talk to you. I’m glad you came over, Jim. Lee’s going to need your friendship now more than ever. Some of his other friends have been less than supportive and they don’t even know he’s a mutant.”

Jim stood and started toward the door, shoulders a little stooped. He stopped and turned back, concern on his face. “Tell Lee not to tell Chuck.”

“Oh really, why’s that?”

“Well, Chuck’s favorite cousin was killed by a newly manifested mutant a couple of years ago. I don’t think the girl meant to kill him, but he’s dead just the same, and Chuck’s whole family has hated mutants ever since.”

—————

Kathleen waited a few minutes, before she made her way up to Lee’s room. She listened for a moment, but didn’t hear anything so she knocked gently on his door. Still hearing no response, she spoke to him, “Lee, can I come in?”

Lee still didn’t answer, so she slowly opened the door a little. “Lee, are you alright, honey?” She could see him sitting on his bed staring blankly. “Lee?! Are you alright?”

He looked up at her, terror written all over his face. “No! I don’t think so.”

She was surprised and a little worried that he wasn’t crying. That had seemed to be his typical response lately to the everyday traumas he was going through. Now he seemed almost catatonic.

“Jim’s concerned about you. Said you ran off from him, like you were afraid of him. Are you?”

“No! No. Well, not exactly. More afraid of me, I guess.” Lee’s face slowly became a little more animated. Kathleen was still peering through the crack in the door, not wanting to intrude if he really didn’t want her there, but not wanting to leave him either.

“Can I come in so we can talk?”

“Yeah, I guess. You might as well. I guess I got to talk about this stuff with someone, might as well be you,” Lee’s calm colorless tone scared her worse in many ways than the crying fits and tantrums he’d been throwing in the last couple of weeks. It was like there was a bomb hidden in that skull, and she knew one wrong word from her could cause it to explode. It was making her very nervous.

“So, what’s up, Sport? It looked like you and Jim were getting along fine when I left the room.”

“Yeah, I guess.” His voice giving lie to his words.

“Then why did you run out like that?” Her soft words tried to sooth his troubled mind.

“I don’t know.” He mumbled.

She paused watching him squirm on the edge of the bed. “I think you do, don’t you?” She was sure that this had to be resolved as soon as possible, before his mind could fasten onto some explanation that would mask the real reason. She was pretty sure she knew what was troubling him, but getting him to admit it could be traumatic and hard; probably on both of them.

“No! I was just uncomfortable that’s all.” His voice was surly and defensive.

“Why were you uncomfortable?”

“I don’t know! I just was, okay!” His voice rose and anger creeped in.

She paused to collect her thoughts and then said, “Lee, I think you do know. Now what’s up?” She needed for him to say it.

That was what the psychologist told her. She”d had several sessions herself to train her how to deal with Lee’s changes, and Dr. Janice Bennett had been adamant that Lee not be allowed to retreat behind barriers, but rather face his monsters. Kathleen was uncertain. She felt like she was tiptoeing through a minefield. She wasn’t trained for this, and her few sessions with Dr. Bennett weren’t enough. She hated causing Lee more pain, but Janice said it would cause him even more pain in the long run, if it was allowed to fester. So she picked at the raw wound, not letting it scab over.

“Jim’s your best friend. Did he say something to hurt you? Did he do something?”

“No.”

He managed to put a lot of sullen frustration into that single syllable.

She walked over to the bed and sat beside him. Reaching out, she cupped his chin and pulled his face toward her.

“Lee, what’s the matter?” She needed to get him to say it.

He lifted his eyes to her full of glistening unshed tears. “I’m so bewildered. It was great with Jim when I found out that he was a mutant too. I thought at least I can go through this with my best friend, and we were talking and even laughing a little. Then I told him I was turning into a girl and things started getting weird. He was cool about it, and I thought it was going to be alright, but then I was getting scared and upset, and he, —— he put his arm around my shoulder.” He stopped, unable to continue.

“It’s alright, sport.”

“No! It’s not! Don’t you see? I liked it! It felt good and I felt safe - and wanted. He felt good; and was warm; and strong. Oh, Holy Mother, I LIKED IT, momma. Don’t you understand? Guys aren’t supposed to like that with other guys. Maybe all those a-holes at school are right. Maybe I _am_ a queer! Maybe I’m damned for these feelings. Isn’t that what the church says.”

Kathleen was silent for a few moments. She had known the gist of what was wrong, but she still hadn’t been prepared for this. “Lee, first off, all you did was take a little comfort from the company of your friend. That’s what friends are for, so we don’t have to face the world alone. There’s nothing wrong with that. That doesn’t make you a homosexual.”

“But, Momma, guys aren’t supposed to comfort each other that way. That’s for gi—girrr,” She silenced him with a finger laid gently on his full soft lips.

“Secondly, even if what you said is true, you know you’re becoming a girl, maybe faster than you realize. In fact, one way of looking at it is that since you are becoming a girl, then to like other girls would be homosexual.”

“And your body that is starting to look a little more like a tomboy’s body than a boy’s. Is it any wonder you’re confused — or that Jim is? He just wanted to comfort his friend. A friend whose body — and actions — and maybe even smells were starting to tell him that his friend was a girl.”

“I smell like a girl?” Bewilderment and fear was creeping back into his voice.

Kathleen sighed again. Sweet Mary, how do I tell him just how much he’s starting to become a girl. She knew he still had his man parts, and in a way that was making this more difficult. It was keeping him from seeing the other things that was happening to him.

“Well, not exactly, Honey. All the same, you don’t exactly smell like a boy either. I’ve noticed that as I’ve washed your clothes. Teenage boys have a distinctive musky odor from the male hormones. You are starting to lose that muskiness. Your body odor is becoming less pungent, more like a teenage girl’s.”

Lee felt lost in the sea of his changes. When this started, it was scary, but it didn’t seem like that big a deal in a way. He would stop being a boy and become a girl, but it wasn’t like that. He was being jerked and tossed between them, neither fish nor fowl.

Looking deep into his eyes, she asked. “So, what would you have done before all this started, if you saw a friend who looked and smelled like a girl and who was obviously in distress?”

Lee looked at her with dawning comprehension, but still his mind rebelled at the thought of being a girl who boys would want to cuddle and protect. Maybe worst of all was his traitorous mind that was telling him, that he wanted those feelings. He sat there and thought for a long time.

“Maybe you’re right,” Lee said softly, “but it’s hard, momma. It’s so very, very hard!” The tears that had pooled in his eyes began to flow down his cheeks, as his mother swept him once more into her arms and crushed him to her breasts and let him cry it out, knowing he needed to cry for his lost manhood. “Of course, it is, baby. Nobody said it was going to be easy, but you’ll get through this just fine, — and maybe, just maybe with a little help from your friends.”

————

She finally left him sleeping softly on his bed. As she covered him, she took time to really look at him, and realized he really was starting to look like a girl. When had that happened? Coach assured them repeatedly that it would take a long time for his transformation. Suddenly, she realized it’d been three months since all this had started. Could it really have been that long? At this rate, Lee might be fully a girl by Easter or before. That was an incredibly short amount of time for her to teach him - ?her? - all the things that his sisters had learned over their whole lives.

She stood back astonished. She thought she would have so much more time to teach him the things he needed to know, but between jumping from one crisis to the next, that time was slipping away.

This incident with Jim made her realize for the first time that mentally and emotionally Lee was changing almost as fast as he was physically, if not more so. Kathleen came to a sudden decision as she eased from the room and softly closed the door. She would need the help of Lee’s sisters and maybe Evelyn. She guessed she should check with Dr. Janice Bennett before she started something this profound and potentially traumatic.

————

Lee’s dad had been traveling a lot lately. While travel wasn’t unusual with his salesman job, the amount of travel he’d been doing was unusual. When he was home, he had little to say to Lee.

Lee needed to talk to his dad about all this, but most of the issues were too embarrassing for Lee to seek him out about them. Even though his dad had been distant and angry the last few years due to all the H-1 stuff, Lee never really thought he was angry at him. They did things together, and he had always treated Lee like a son. At its worst, Lee always felt he could go to him with his problems, but now he wasn’t so sure. They weren’t doing much together anymore, and Tom seemed uncomfortable when they were together.

————

Before the rest of the family got up the next morning, Kathleen was up and working on her plan. She called Dr. Bennett who listened to Kathleen as she explained what happened yesterday and her realization how Lee’s changes were whipsawing him so intensely. She explained that she’d done little besides offer him comfort. She hadn’t done anything to prepare him for the emotional or physical changes that were coming, and she feared that he was probably going to resist most of her efforts. Most of all though she was worried that with Lee still seeing himself as a boy, these changes were going to be even more traumatic.

“Dr. Bennett, what I was thinking was that we need to help nudge Lee along in his realization of his changing status. I think that something is needed to encourage him to stop thinking so much of himself as a boy in a body that is becoming that of a girl. I was thinking that maybe the best way to do that is a little public role play in a situation where he would get feedback from people outside his family. This Saturday may be the perfect time for him to do that without outing himself as a mutant.”

“Even though Halloween is technically on Wednesday. Amanda Carter, Lee’s friend and old flame, always has her Halloween party on the Saturday after Halloween and it’s always a costume party. No one allowed in without a full costume, and Lee already has his invitation, but I know he isn’t planning to go.”

“My idea is that a little role play’s needed to help shift Lee’s thinking. I think Lee needs to go to this party - as a girl.”

Dr. Bennett didn’t respond for a moment. “I don’t know. That’s an awful big step.”

Kathleen then described to her the incident yesterday, and Lee’s reactions. “It made me realize that time is getting away from us. Lee’s going to really be a girl before we know it. Yesterday, just showed me how quickly things are moving. We’ve been two steps behind where Lee is now. I really think some drastic action is needed to help Lee change his body image, so he can better deal with his emotional issues.”

Dr. Bennett was silent for another long minute. “I understand what you’re saying, but there are so many ways, this could go wrong. I want to think about this some more and I will call you back later.”

Kathleen decided to go ahead with her planning since time was so short. After all, if Dr. Bennett vetoed it, she could just stop and Lee would be none the wiser.

Dr. Bennett called back about thirty minutes later. She somewhat reluctantly agreed, provided Kathleen could finagle her an invitation. She wanted to be there if things went too badly wrong; and so she could observe both Lee’s reactions and the reactions of the rest of the people to Lee as a girl.

Kathleen agreed. Dr. Bennett also suggested that since Lee had an appointment with her on Tuesday, she would assign going to the party as a girl for therapy, thus hopefully overcoming at least some of Lee’s objections since they had already been doing a lot of role play.

Kathleen was glad that Dr. Bennett would be there. She had her own misgivings about this, but it was the best idea she could come up with on short notice, and she really felt like they needed to be more pro-active.

————

Next on her to do list was getting Lee’s sisters out of bed and briefing them on the plan, before Lee got up. Their help would be critical. She thought Lee would take their help with looking feminine with less resentment and resistance than he would hers.

Eve and Beth drug themselves to the kitchen table bleary-eyed and still half asleep. “Why’d we have to get up so early? It’s Sunday. Are we going to early Mass?

“No, girls. I need to talk to you, before Lee gets up. You know Amanda’s Halloween party is next Saturday.”

“Yeah, it’s always a great party,” Eve interrupted. “I can’t wait.”

Beth piped in, “Can I go this year?”

“Maybe, Beth, but for now just hush. Girls, this is important.” Beth looked crestfallen, like she thought her mother wasn’t going to let her go. “What I want to talk to you about is Lee. I think he needs to go, and I think he needs to go as a girl. This is the perfect time to introducing him to girlish things in public, before he has to know them, and because it’s a Halloween party, he can do it without much of the embarrassment.”

“That’s a great idea, Mom! We can help him dress up and everything.” Eve’s excitement was palpable, and Beth was nearly as bad.

Trying to dampen their enthusiasm a little, Kathleen cautioned them. “This is going to be serious therapy for Lee; so serious that his psychiatrist coming to observe. We can not get to carried away. It must be a gentle approach. The idea here is to make his costume help him change how he looks at himself. One that will make him think that being a girl might not be the end of the world but, we absolutely can not to make a clown out of him or a tomboy.”

“It’ll be great, Mom, Julia Ottinger’s boyfriend is already planning to go in drag according to Maryanne.” Maryanne was one of Eve’s friends, all of whom had been talking about the party for weeks. Beth piped in, “I heard that Gary Haskins is dressing as a girl, too.”

“That will help, of course, but we still have a fine line to walk. One slip and we could really hurt Lee’s self image and make him a laughing stock.” Kathleen replied, “Dr. Bennett and I are nervous about it as it is.”

They discussed various ideas, colors, and makeup and how much they thought he would stand still for. The whole plan was that when they were done Lee would see not a boy-in-drag, but a budding girl in the first blush of womanhood; to show him what he might become and hopefully make him like it or at least accept it. They mutually decided to wait to let Dr. Bennett assign this to him as therapy before they started on him.

Most importantly, Kathleen told them, “The costume must not make Lee a figure of ridicule in front of his other friends. However, I also, want Lee to see a little of the girl he going to become.” Kathleen said, “I want something that will definitely look like a costume, while still being feminine.
Beth looked thoughtful then ran to her room, coming back with a large library book. She flipped through the pages until she came to one particular picture. Pointing at it, she said, “I think a late 1890’s period costume like this would be better than trying to make him look like a contemporary girl.”

Kathleen and Eve crowded around the book and talked about the pros and cons of the outfit. It would clearly be a costume but you couldn’t get much more feminine. Kathleen finally decided she liked the idea. It was the perfect balance between femininity and what was clearly a costume. Kathleen sent the girls went back upstairs to work on making a list of the things they would need for the costume.

Kathleen then called Evelyn to get her take on this. Evelyn also had reservations but agreed that if it worked it could help. “It’s probably for the best, considering the news I need to give you all when you come in tomorrow to discuss the latest test results.” Kathleen began questioning her, but Evelyn didn’t want to get into it over the phone.

————

Monday Afternoon
October 28th

Lee and his mother sat in the Evelyn’s plushly appointed office instead of a cold examining room which was unusual and a little scary for Lee. What did she have to tell him that required this level of privacy?

“Kathleen, Lee, there’s not much point in beating around the bush. I know what’s causing your stomach problems. It’s these little growths right here.” She pushed a blurry ultrasound picture across the desk.

“Tumors?” Lee asked almost hopefully.

She shook her head sadly. “You are developing female sex organs. See, you can see the uterus, and here are the ovaries.” She pointed to she pointed to a triangular darker area with horns and two little ovals with her pen as she talked. “And if you look really close you can also see the fallopian tubes.” She said pointing to the tiny horns on the triangle.

“But I’ve still got my —,” he paused embarrassed to discuss his privates with a woman, even if she had seen and handled them.

“Yes, I know,” she said gently, “and you probably will have for some time yet, although I can’t say how long. It will depend on too many variables for me to even make a guess. Your mother has given me permission to discuss your case with Coach and Doc Widget.

“Since I don’t have a lot of experience with this type of change, I discussed this with them. None of us were expecting to see this happening yet, at least not to this degree. You now have the internal organs of a ten or eleven year old girl. The cramps and nausea you’ve been feeling is caused by your abdomen trying to make room for the new additions as well as changes caused by the new hormones in your blood.

Your original male sexual organs are also beginning to show definite signs of atrophy. Your testicles are only marginally functional anymore and they are beginning feel smaller and less firm that is normal for a boy of your age.” She hesitated before speaking again, “I know this is embarrassing question, but when was the last time you masturbated or had a nocturnal emission?”

Lee’s face turned crimson as he mumbled something.

“What was that?”

“Except for in here the other day, I haven’t, you know, in at least month.” Lee snapped back, feeling flushed and reddened to his toes. “Is that what wanted to know?”

“Lee, take it easy!” His mother jumped in. “Evelyn is trying to help you.”

Lee’s mother turned and asked the doctor. “Is there anything we can do to delay this?” She had seen the horror creeping into Lee’s face.

Evelyn looked thoughtful but said, “I really don’t know what it would be. I know you have already been told of the dangers of things like hormone treatments and surgery. This is all such unknown territory. Even the one’s this has happened to, don’t talk about it, and the doctors can’t.” Evelyn replied with as much compassion as she could put into her voice.

Lee just sat stunned. He knew this was going to happen. He thought he was prepared for it, but he realized he wasn’t. He felt like what he imagined cancer patient must feel when given their diagnosis.

“That’s not all,” the doctor continued, “I told you the last time you were here that your blood work was beginning to show a little higher level female hormones than was normal for a boy your age. Well, your current blood work indicates that your new ovaries have begun to pump out a lot more hormones especially estradiol, while your testes are basically shutting down testosterone production. In short, your hormone balance looks more like that of a pubescent girl than a lot of young girls your age.”

“No!” Lee stood suddenly. This was too much, he couldn’t handle anymore. He turned and ran from the room.

Lee’s mother sighed and began gathering her things. “Thank you, Eve. It’s not what we wanted to hear, but I guess you’re used to that with your patients.” She started to stand.

“Oh, Kathleen, you never get used to delivering bad news to your patients. At least, I hope I never do, but there’s a couple more things you should know. Lee left before I could get to them.

“His chest and body hair seems to be falling out. Also, when I examined Lee, I noticed that he has breast buds forming behind his nipples and his nipples and areolae are all ready a little bigger than I would expect for a male. Since this has already started, you need to prepare him for his breasts to develop.”

Kathleen stood there with her mouth open. Even though they had talked about Lee’s impending girlhood, she suddenly realized there were soooo much that she was going to have to teach him very quickly. She had been talking to Eve and Beth about these things for years, and still they were being shocked by the changes brought on by puberty. How was Lee ever going to cope?

Evelyn stood, walked around the desk, wrapped Kathleen in a tight hug, offering what comfort she could to her dumbfounded friend. When they separated, she smiled, “You know if you ever want me to talk to Lee, or if you just need to talk, Kate, call me.”

“Thank you and I’m sure I’m going to be taking you up on that. I don’t know how Lee can handle this, because I’m loosing my mind and it’s not happening to me. I better go and see about my son - or is it my daughter now? I’m so bewildered myself. I can’t imagine how confused Lee is.” She rushed out the door.

She found Lee sitting rigidly in the seat of the car staring blankly at the dash. She slipped in and slipped her arm around his shoulders, murmuring soothing sounds and soft words, knowing there was little else she could do for her disorientated child.

————

Finally, Lee sniffed a couple of times and sagged in her arms. “What am I going to do, Momma?” He asked plaintively, his voice heavy with anguish. He hated sounding so whiney.

“Baby, I wish I could tell you that it’s going to get easier, but I’d be lying to you and I won’t do that. I will tell you that you can get through this. You’re strong, and you’ve got a family that loves you no matter what comes. Together we will get you through this.”

“I don’t know, momma. I feel so helpless, so hopeless. All I can seem to do is cry. I must have cried more in the last six weeks than in the last six years!”

“Oh, honey, don’t worry about that. You’re going to cry a lot easier as you change. Girls cry. They cry when they’re sad. They cry when they’re happy, and sometimes for no reason at all. It’s not like you don’t have something to cry about. I know you’re confused, frightened, and you’re starting to feel things you don’t understand. Part of that is the new soup of hormones starting to circulate in your body, and you’ve this coming on top of learning to be a teenager. Under the best of circumstances being a teenager is confusing and frightening, and this is certainly not the best of circumstances. If you were not confused and frightened by what’s happening to you then you’d be a fool, and I didn’t think I’d raised any fools.” She said giggling and then grinning a wry smile at him. In spite of himself, he grinned back for a second.

“It’s okay to cry.” She continued. “I’d be crying too, and have cried many times for a whole lot less reason. No, don’t worry about crying. You can come to me and cry on my shoulder any time you feel like it. I may not be able to do much about what is happening to you, but I can give you a shoulder to cry on.”

————

She paused thinking about what Evelyn told her as they left. Well, rip the bandaid off fast and get it over with.

“Lee, Dr. Sharpe told me something else after you left the room.” She hoped she was doing the right thing telling him now, still the die was cast.

Lee looked at her and groaned. He knew he wasn’t going to like this.

———

“Breasts?! I don’t want breasts! I mean I do, but not on me.” Lee was pawing at his chest. He had noticed his nipples were tender and itching and that there was a little swelling behind them, but he hadn’t thought anything of it until his mother told him that Dr. Sharpe thought they were the beginnings of breasts. In spite of all the changes, and everything that he had been told, it all had seemed so surreal to him that he could be changing into a girl. That some morning, one of these tests were going to come back and tell them that is was all a big mistake. Now though, it was suddenly real to him.

In spite of the reality of it though, he was calmer than he had been earlier. Maybe because it was becoming real, or maybe the emotional roller coaster he was on had jerked him around too many times and his emotional responses were getting languid.

“Mom, how am I going to deal with this? I could handle the hair and all the little stuff, but breasts? I’m not ready for this!” Lee’s voice was calmer and without the angst he was expressing a few minutes ago.

“Honey, no one ever is. Don’t you remember the histrionics Eve threw when she discovered her breasts were starting to grow? You’d have thought that she was building the pyramids of Egypt on her chest when in reality they were tiny little bumps. And don’t get me started on her reaction to her first period!”

Lee blanched at that thought. At least, he didn’t have to worry about that yet, since he still had male external genitalia.

Tuesday Morning
October 29th

“Liam Cook - Report to the front office. Liam Cook - Report to the front office.” The announcement came over the intercom at the start of second period. His teacher looked annoyed at the interruption, but nodded him toward the door.

Lee walked nervously into the office. He didn’t know why he was here. Had he been found out or was it something else? He swallowed to try and wet his mouth. The secretary looked grim as she told him to go into the Principal’s office.

Once in the office he saw Mr. Keesling, Ms. Long, Randy Jenkins and Principal sitting around his desk, all looking at him. Ms. Long’s face was twisted into a look of hatred, but with a smug warped grin. The look on her face almost said, ‘I’ve got you now’. I knew she didn’t like me, but this was taking it to a new level.

“You called for me?” I said to Mr. Garcia, the principal.

“Mr. Cook, there have been allegations brought that you cheated on your algebra test yesterday.”

“Sir! I absolutely did not! Who said that I did?”

“Mr. Jenkins claimed that he caught you copying from his test.”

“Yes, and I’ve suspected you of cheating in my class.” Ms. Long interjected with venom in her voice. “I spoke with your teachers at the middle school, and you were a mediocre student at best, but suddenly you’re making all A’s.

“That’s enough, Ms. Long!” Mr. Garcia said sharply. “I’m not sure why you’re even here. Do you have any actual evidence to present here?”

“I know something is not right. Mr. Cook is very strange. Just look at him,” she said, “You can see he’s not right. He looks girlish. He’s dressed in girl’s pants. I think he’s one of those funny boys, who thinks he ought to be a girl. We need to get him out of this school before he contaminates the other students.” Her face was twisted with hate.

“That’s enough, Ms. Long. I think you’ve contributed more than enough to this. You’re free to go.” Mr. Garcia was clearly annoyed with her.

“But —“

“I said you can go!” He said with dismissal clear in his voice.

“Very well,” She gave Lee a scathing look like it was all his fault that Mr. Garcia was put out with her.

After she shut the door, Mr. Garcia turned to Mr. Keesling, “So, Mr. Keesling did you actually see Mr. Cook copying Mr. Jenkins test?

“Uhhh, no, sir. Mr. Jenkins came to see me with Ms. Long.” Mr. Keesling looked distinctly uncomfortable now that Ms. Long was no longer there. “But I felt I had to investigate the allegation. She was so sure.”

“I DON’T CARE WHAT MS. LONG THINKS!” Mr. Garcia voice echoed in the office and his face was red with anger. “I only care about what you saw and what these two boys have to say. Is that clear?”

Mr. Keesling gulped and answered meekly, “Yes, sir.”

“Now did you see Mr. Cook cheating?”

“No.”

“Do you have any actual other evidence that he has been cheating?”

“No.” Mr. Keesling squirmed in the chair under Mr. Garcia’s gaze.

He turned his attention to Randy. “Mr. Jenkins, you claim Lee copied your answers.”

“Yeah, he was copying all my answers. I saw him. That freak needs to be out of this school.” A scathing look silenced Randy.

“Mr. Cook, do you set next to Mr. Jenkins?

“Yes.”

“So you could have copied his answers?”

“Yeah, but why would I? He’s an idiot!” Lee said with contempt.

Randy jumped up and attacked Lee, grabbing Lee’s shirt and jerking, ripping it. Mr. Garcia seized Randy and slammed him back into his seat. Lee frantically closed his shirt, hiding the tiny bumps on his chest.

“Mr. Jenkins! You just bought yourself a week’s detention, now settle down before I suspend you.”

“Mr. Keesling, have you graded those papers yet?”

“Yeeess, sir.”

“And—

“Mr. Cook made a perfect score.” He said like that proved Lee was cheating.

“And Mr. Jenkins?” Mr. Garcia was clearly tired of this exchange.

“He scored a 59.”

“And based on this, you wasted my time!” His voice filled with scorn.

Mr. Keesling sank deeper into his seat. “Well, Ms. Long, felt tha—-“

“I don’t care what Ms. Long thinks, and you obviously don’t think for yourself at all. I will be discussing this further with both you and Ms. Long.”

“Mr. Jenkins, your accusations are obviously baseless, and a waste of all our time. The next time you make such a groundless allegation against another student, you will get worse than detention, as it is I think I will make your detention two weeks, and if you attack another student in my school you will be expelled. Do I make myself clear.”

“Yeaah.” He muttered.

“What? I didn’t hear you.”

“Yes, sir.” He said sullenly.

You are all free to go. Mr. Cook, I apologize for these cretins.”

—————

In the hall outside the Principal’s office

“Cook, I guess you think you’re pretty smart. You tried to make me look stupid in there. Don’t think you’re going to get away with it.”

“Randy, you don’t need my help, you’re do such a good job yourself.”

“Huh! Well, — Well, you better watch yourself, I saw those bumps on your chest. You’re taking those hormones. You’re some kind of sissy boy - or is it worse than that. I think you are a mutant, and I’m going to make it my business to make sure everyone knows it. So enjoy your little victory, because when my dad and I get done with you, you’ll be run out of this town, — or dead!”

Tuesday Afternoon
October 29th

The trip to Dr. Bennett’s office had left Lee filled with anxiety. He hadn’t wanted to go to Amanda’s party before, but to go dressed as a _girl_, that was too much. Wasn’t he being humiliated enough by his own body, did they have to make it worse by dressing him up like - like _some_ clown.

As his mom was driving him home she was talking about how they could dress him up and make it so nobody would make fun of him or only good natured fun if they did. She obviously didn’t know his classmates. He would never live something something like this down. Her assurances that Gary Haskins would be dressing in drag also made no difference. Lee knew that Haskins would play it for laughs, not really trying to look like a girl, which is what they wanted him to do.

He tuned out his mother’s droning on about what they could do, because he had no intention of going to that party and certainly not as a girl. What would Amanda think of him? She had acted a little weird at first but she was acting normal now.

He really liked her and thought she liked him, but he had been avoiding her most of the time, even though she tried to talk to him several times. What was the point? What could he talk to about now? Shopping, hairstyles, _boys_! He sure as hell couldn’t date her now. He knew he was hurting her feelings by avoiding her, but what else could he do?

“Lee! Are you listening to me?” His mother sounded miffed.

“What? Oh! No, not really Mom, sorry. I don’t want to go to this party. I’m not ready for something like this.”

“Lee, just when do you think you’re going to be ready? When you have to sit to pee? Or after your first period? Just when are you going to be ready?” His mom’s voice was sharp. Dr. Bennett suggested some shock therapy to get him moving ahead mentally

“But, Mom,” Lee absolutely hated his voice when he whined.

“No buts, Lee.” Then her voice softened, “Lee, I’ve tried to give you time to adjust and I know this is hard, but the changes are happening — fast, faster than either of us want, whether we want them to or not. You don’t have enough time to adjust, especially if you won’t start embracing the changes. I told you what Evelyn said. You are going to start growing breasts — and other changes will follow. I know you are scared, and I know why you don’t want to go to the party. But this is a real chance to start getting used to the changes and if you handle it right, a chance to do it without a lot of embarrassment.”

“How can this not be embarrassing? I’ll be dressed as a girl!” Lee groused.

“Because it going to be a Halloween party,” she explained as if to a five year old. “You can be anyone or anything you want to at Halloween. If they laugh, you laugh with them. If they start making fun of you, then you play it up for more laughs. You do that and they’ll soon be laughing with you; not at you. Do you think you can do that?” Her voice was gentle and encouraging.

Lee thought about it for a minute. “I don’t know, — maybe.” His voice was still filled with uncertainty.

“Of course you can.”

—————

Wednesday evening

If he’d known what she and other torturers had in mind, not only wouldn’t he have agreed, he’d have lit out for the hills. Oh well, hindsight’s 20/20 as they say.

The first step in his transformation was learning to wear a corset; yes, a corset. Well, to be truthful, first was learning to wear the whole set of undergarments that a young lady born in the late 1880s would have worn. The best thing he could say for all this was that between them they totally concealed his true shape from any prying eyes, so he didn’t have to worry about his changes being an obvious problem.

THEN came the corset, OMG! Whatever monster came up with this torture device deserves to be horse whipped.

“Hold still!” Mom said for the tenth time as she tried to lace him into this contraption, obviously invented by the Spanish Inquisition, with his sisters help. Where she’d found a genuine whalebone bustier style corset was a mystery, but found one, she had. He suddenly realized that this whole idea was not something thought up after his trip to the shrink. Mom had all this stuff on hand and they weren’t things that you could go to the neighborhood Target and buy. He’d been had.

“It’ll be fine once it’s tied up, you’ll see,” Eve piped in.

“How would you know? He wouldn’t have thought that his own sisters would hold still for their brother being tortured like this.” He hissed as he struggled to draw a breath. The little monster had the audacity to giggle at him.

“It’ll make you look like a real girl,” Beth piped in.

He gasped and squeaked out, “But I don’t want to look like a girl!”

“Lee, hold still for just. one. more. minute.,” Mom said as she yanked on the laces a final time. He could feel her stop pulling as she began tying off the various laces. She stood back and gave a huge sigh. “There. Now how does that feel?

A more ridiculous question, he’d never heard. “Like I’ve been put in a giant vice!” He gasped with the effort of breathing and talking at the same time. “Haven’t you got this thing too tight! I can hardly breath.”

“No, in fact, it’ll have to be tighter for you to get into the dress that we’ve got coming for you.” He’d never thought his mom capable of an evil grin. Boy, was he wrong!

“Now, we need to create the illusion of at least a small bosom. She said as she pulled him close and slid her fingers into the top of the corset, pulling the loose flesh into a bunch at the top on the right, then she did the left. His face had quit blushing a half an hour ago.

“Owww! That pinches,” He complained. She grabbed the top and shook it a little, jerking him around with it, but it did relieve the pinching.

“Okay, well we got it this far, now get me out this thing.” He gasped for breath between words.

“Oh no, honey. You’ll need to wear this all evening and every evening until the party to train your body.”

“Yeah, you don’t think you can just put something like that on and wear it out the first time, do you?” Eve giggled, obviously enjoying this way too much.

He stood there in bloomers, chemise, and corset and just stared from one to another of them as they stood there grinning. How had he let himself be talked into this? The worst thing was he had let his Mom weasel a promise out of him that he’d go through with this, although if he’d known it was going to include a corset, he’d never have promised.

“So what am I supposed to wear with this? I can’t wander around the house like this. What if one of my friends comes over?” I am so massively screwed, he thought.

Both Eve and Beth were trying to assure him that he looked great. He was a little snappish with them about not wanting to look great, he was afraid, as tears welled up in both their eyes. That did it, he sighed, he could never stand their tears. He tried to bend over, and had to settle for squatting a little as he gathered them in his arms and hugged them both.

His mom left the room and came back with a silky dressing gown, which she said was called a peignoir. As he slipped it on, he realized it fit perfectly, more evidence of the conspiracy going on around him, because with his new added height, he was already considerably taller than his mom’s 5’ 5”, and his shoulders were still wider than hers too.

He groaned. “How long do I have to wear this?”

“Oh, just a couple of hours tonight, we’ll do longer tomorrow.” She answered. He sighed.

“Do you want to see?” Mom took him by the hand and lead him in front of the full length mirror in the hall.

He looked in the mirror and said, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” He stood looking dazed. The boy with narrow hips, washboard abs, and wide, strong shoulders was gone. He’d known that his shoulders were getting a little narrower and his hips a little wider, but he wasn’t prepared for the person staring back at him out of the mirror. He had a mental image of himself as everyone does, but that image was built around a buff, athletic boy who, if a little short, was still very much a boy on the brink of manhood.

The creature staring shyly out of the mirror looked very little like that boy. This person was truly a girl. A girl on the brink not of manhood but womanhood. He stood there stunned. The changes the corset made in his/her body seemed to highlight the changes in his/her face and the boy remaining in him saw that she was really cute.

Tears began to run down his face as he realized that no matter what happened at this party, that boy/man was gone forever. Mom stepped up beside him and gathered him in her arms and hugged him silently. He felt his sister’s arms slip around him too.

“It’s never going to be like it was, is it?” He asked plaintively as he stared at the stranger in the mirror with tears running down her face.

“Oh, baby! It never _is_.” Mom had tears in her eyes as well. “Even if you stayed a boy, there would come a day when you’d look in the mirror and not recognize the person staring back. It’s part of growing up. You’re just getting there quicker and with more unexpected changes, but it will work out one way or another. Life keeps changing us, and we all have to struggle to maintain who we are.” She pulled a kleenex out of the pocket on her apron and began wiping the tears from his face.

“Go wash your face with cold water to reduce the puffiness and then come on downstairs, I need to show you how to walk and sit with that thing on.”

He panicked and started hyperventilating. Only the fact that he could only take very shallow breaths kept him from passing out. “I can’t go down there! Dad’s down there! I can’t let him see me like this.”

“Honey, Dad knows you’re changing and he knows what we are doing up here. He’s waiting for a glimpse of what his new daughter might look like.”

————

Saturday
November 1st

He was in full blown panic mode. I can’t do this, he thought, as he sat rigidly in the back seat of the van outside of Amanda’s house. Of course, rigidly was the only way he could sit in this costume. The corset had only been the first course. It was now buried in several petticoats, 19th century hosiery, button-up shoes with two inch heels. All of this was covered by an underskirt and a formal overdress the design which originated in the 1890s and whose hem brushed the floor. It was high necked with lace frills and had a lace lined chevron-shaped opening that created a dipping opening that highlighted the convincingly fabricated hint of creamy cleavage. His waist had been cinched down to a delicate 23 inches, accenting the swelling of his hips making them look like a real woman’s, and giving the perception of a swelling bosom.

His glistening dark chestnut hair was augmented by something called rats and was piled on top of his head interwoven with strings of faux pearls. His ears had been pierced (several times thanks to his regeneration closing the holes before an earring could be inserted) and long pearl drop earrings dangled down his long slender neck.

He thought back over the last week and especially this evening. His mom had brought out a long slender box tied with a silken bow just before we left and handed it to him. “Every young girl should have a nice piece of jewelry. These belonged to my mother and I want you to have them.”

He gingerly untied the bow and opened the box. There wrapped in tissue were a double strand of pearls. He knew these were the real thing. He stared at her wide eyed, not at all ready for something like this. He started to hand them back, but she cupped his hands in hers closing them over the box and smiled lovingly at him.

“I know you’re not really a girl yet, Lee, but you are tonight and all to soon you will be. I want you to have these, and they are the perfect accompaniment to your costume.” She emphasized the word costume as if to reassure him that this didn’t mean that he was really a girl, but he knew when he looked into that mirror that he could never completely go back. A part of the boy that was Lee had died in that reflection.

Mom took the pearls out of their box and hung them on him as she fastened them around his neck. He couldn’t help notice the resemblance to a noose.

She quickly adjusted them tucking them under the shoulder panels of the dress so that a double string of pearls seemed to appear out of nowhere from under the material covering his shoulders and dipped down into the opening on his chest. There was a large pearl drop matching his earrings that hung from the bottom strand highlighting illusion of a cleavage. He sighed as the women oohed and aahed over his body wrapped in these foreign trappings.

His face had been powdered, and primped. His eyelashes were long and curled thanks to the magic of mascara. The waxing of his eyebrows leaving only a narrow strip that arched over his brilliant green eyes was another interesting form of abuse. Yes, brilliant green eyes, Evelyn and his mother decided that he could leave out his contacts and tell anyone who asked that this color was created by Halloween contacts.

Mom and his sisters had spent three long days teaching him how to walk, sit and move like a girl, well, a nineteenth century girl, anyway. That was a little different from a modern girl. The stiffly upright posture enforced by the corset pulled his shoulders back, and the layered underskirts, skirt, overdress and shoes demanded that he maintain a good posture. The high collar forced him to hold his head back perpendicular to his shoulders. The heels made his backside sway from side to side as he put one foot in from of the other as Mom insisted was necessary. They even taught him the rudiments of dancing like a girl. He didn’t know it at the time, but all the training this costume gave him, would help him walk and move like a modern girl when the time came.

Once again, when he was completely made up and ready, they stood him in front of that terrifying full length mirror and made him face a person who just couldn’t be him. I was beyond merely cute. I was bordering on beautiful. Luckily, Mom thinking ahead had used water proof mascara and makeup, so his tears did little damage as he backed away from this frightening vision. His sisters looked faintly jealous.

After another session of being hugged and comforted by not just his mom, but by his sisters, Evelyn, and Dr. Bennett, he sniffed a few times and after a little repair allowed himself to be lead down to face his Dad.

The look on his dad’s face, almost made it all worth it. Emotions conflicted on his face as the anguish brought on by the realization that his son was soon to be gone forever, warred with pride in the birth of his new daughter. After a few moments, he came forward and swept her/him into a hug. It felt wonderful, feeling his strong arms surrounding her/him with their promise of a safe haven from the world. Briefly, the thought stole through his mind; What would it be like to held like this by Jim? Then what was left of his male mind recoiled from the thought, and he would have run back upstairs and stripped everything off, but a touch of his mother’s hand on his cheek, coupled with a small nod and look of understanding stopped him. This too, he would have to face, best start small with this party.

Dad took him aside. “Lee, I’m sorry if I’ve been distant the last few weeks. I’ve been having a lot of trouble with losing you as my son.

I've not been a very good father, again. I know it’s not your fault and that this is the last thing you want, but that didn’t help much with the way I was feeling. I’ve been very selfish, thinking only of myself when you needed me the most.

“I know that’s no excuse, but I’ll try to do better. I have and always will love you.”

After an interminable series of photographs first with his Dad, then his sisters, and finally his whole family (taken by Evelyn), we were off. He sat in the back of dad’s van since there was more room for his voluminous skirts and petticoats there. Dr. Sharpe drove her own car since she had finagled her own invitation, under the pretext of doing research for a paper she was preparing on teenagers and their mating rituals. Sounded kinda lame to Lee, but apparently it worked and no one would know she was there to watch over him. There to make sure he didn’t get in over his head emotionally. Equally, lame, he thought since he’d been in over his head since this idea had first been brought up.

After sitting there in silence for several minutes, Mom gently asked, “Are you going in?”

He turned his head (that being the only part of his body he could really turn in this outfit) and once again plaintively asked, “Do I have to?”

“No, but just remember someday probably sooner than you think, you are going to have to go out as a girl for real, don’t you think that some practice when you can pretend it’s make-believe, is a good idea.”

He sighed. We’d been over this same ground many times in the last week, and the answer was always the same, even for Lee. He reached for the door latch.

Mom leaned over and kissed my cheek lightly. “You’ll be fine, Leah.”

He jerked back, looking back at her. “Who?”

“Leah, that would have been your name if you had been born a girl. You don’t have to use it. You can pick your own if you want, but that’s what I would have named you. You can still even go by Lee as a nickname, if you want.”

My eyes began to mist again, as I leaned over and kissed her cheek, “Thank you, momma, for everything. I know I’ve been a holy terror to be around the last few weeks, but I couldn’t have survived this without you - and, of course, Eve, Beth and Dad, but mostly you. I’ll always be proud to carry any name you chose for me.” Then doing something frighteningly girly, he giggled, “but if you don’t mind, I think I will just go by Lee tonight.” With that he got out of the car and walked as confidently as he could to where Amanda’s mother was greeting her guests secure in the knowledge that his family was there with him in spirit supporting him as they had always done.

————

The party was a raging success. Randy and his buddies weren’t invited having made themselves persona non grata the year before. The kids from the Evangelical Church would never attend anything that celebrated Halloween, so most of the people there were either friends or good acquaintances of his and after a nervous moments, he was laughing and having fun with his friends. He even tried to dance a couple of slow dances with Jim, and he liked it.

Oh, he got a few good natured jabs about his costume, but also a lot of complements, especially from the girls. A few were frankly envious how he looked. He ended up having to describe in great detail how they had achieved the look of a real girl. He left out the most important part, of course.

Actually the worst moment had come at the door, when Amanda’s mother didn’t recognize him and wanted to know if he was at the right party. It took a minute or two to convince her of his identity and even then she gave him a few strange looks throughout the evening.

————

The party broke up about ten and Kathleen watched as the kids filed out of the door. She was shocked when she realized that the young girl bouncing down the walk with Eve was Lee. She grinned. It wasn’t hard to figure out that the party and the costume had been a success.

She listened all the way home as Lee described the party in detail. The kind of detail that only a girl would. Lee talked about the costumes the other girls were wearing and even what the guys had on. Lee would never have noticed the kinds of details he was reporting before. He was also excited over the fact that he had won the prize for the best costume. But she was even more surprised by his descriptions of dancing with Jim. Kathleen winced a little inwardly when she heard this, fearing maybe they had done too good a job make Lee into a girl.

Kathleen knew a turning point had been reached in Lee’s transformation. The party had been just the ticket to kickstart the process, but now would come the hard part. The fact that he won the costume contest would be all over school Monday, and she was afraid that Lee might be in for a rough day when the other kids who weren’t there heard about it. She sighed hoping she hadn’t swapped one problem for another.

————

Lee's adventures continue. His old life is careening out of his control, his new one coming at him head-on. Can he survive the clash of old and new and still keep his sanity. Will his mother's attempts at helping make matters better or worse. It's anyone's guess. For sure, Lee doesn't know.

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, and I apologize for the delay in posting.

Monday
November 3rd

Lee came running in through the kitchen door after school. He slung his backpack into the corner as he ran up the back stairs slamming the door to his room behind him. Katherine began to hear loud crashing noises of things being thrown around and breaking in his room. This was followed by the sound of splintering wood and breaking glass. Kathleen groaned softly as she wiped her hands on her apron and took it off. She hurried upstairs to his door and knocked loudly.

“Lee! Stop that and let me in.” She shouted through the door. The sounds settled down, and after a few minutes, the door open tentatively a couple of inches. Lee peeped at his mother kinda timidly, anger warring with chagrin on his face.

“Can I come in? she said softly.

“Yeah, I guess, your house,” he replied sarcastically as he swung the door open.

Kathleen gasped at the devastation in his room. His dresser was in small pieces and scattered over the room. One of the 5” thick posts on the corner of his bed had been snapped off and crushed. There were at least three holes in the wall and his desk chair was a pile of kindling with one leg stuck through the window.

“Lee! What’s got into you?” She had a pretty good idea what was wrong, but that wasn’t an excuse for this kind of outburst. She knew she had to impress on Lee that as strong as he was he had to maintain control.

“It was that damn costume you made me wear. Everyone was making fun today over that stupid costume, and some of the guys are starting to notice the changes in my body thanks to it looking so good! They taunted me all day.” He said angrily.

“Everyone?” She queried skeptically.

“Weeeelll, no, not everyone, but Randy and his friends, some of the guys I thought were my friends on the football team, and a couple of the fuckin’ cheerleaders made my life hell all day! Why did I ever agree to go through it. I’ll never be able to show my face in this town again!” Lee’s tone was belligerent as if daring her to disagree with him. “They all think I’m a pansy or worse.” He slammed his hand through the top of his desk.

“Liam Ephraim Cook! I will not have my child cursing while they are living in my house and I won’t tolerate wanton destruction! So you calm yourself down, right now!” He’d seldom heard Mom sound so furious. He stood raking the toe of his shoe through a pile of debris, unable to look her in the eye.

“You will clean up this mess as spotless as possible, before you come down to dinner. Do you hear me?” He nodded staring at the floor. “Look at me when I’m talking to you.” He looked into her irate face. “Then you will repair as much of this damage as possible - out of your allowance, _and_ you are grounded for two weeks or until the damage is repaired whichever comes first.”

“But I don’t know how to fix this.” He whined, sweeping his hand around the room.

“You should have thought of that before you went on a rampage in my house.” Kathleen was really angry, but she was even more scared by the violence of his actions. “I know you’ve had a bad day, and I even know that it may have been at least partially my fault. That is still no excuse for this. We talk about things in this house — not destroy things. Do I make myself clear.”

Lee muttered something under his breath, still not looking at her.

“Liam Ephram Cook! You look at me when I’m talking to you! Do. You. Understand?” He sullenly looked into her eyes.

“Yes, Ma’am.” He was realizing just how much trouble he was in.

“Seeing the dismay on his face, she relented a little. “If you ask nicely and are sufficiently contrite, you _might_ get your father to help you a little.”

Lee’s face blanched at the thought of telling his Dad about this.

“You should have thought of that, too,” she said sternly, reading his face like a book. “I’ll send you some garbage bags and a couple of boxes, but I don’t want you to stir out of this room until you are called. I expect to see the worst of this cleared away by then. Do you understand me, young man?”

Lee still had enough spirit to mutter under his breath, “Don’t you mean, young lady?”

“What was that?” She had heard him clearly, but was cutting him no slack. She was afraid to.

“Nothing. Yes, ma’am, I’ll get right on it. Now that Lee’s fury had passed he felt contrite, but he was still mad and frustrated, too.

————

She went down and sent several heavy duty garbage bags in two large boxes up by Eve as she came in from school. Eve stared at the devastation in Lee’s room.

“What did you do?” She said incredulously.

“I got mad at school today and came home and took it out on my room. That darned Randy and the rest of those narrow minded jackasses were calling me names, and even Ms. Long got into it.”

“What’s she got to do with anything?” Eve was sympathetic but also a little frightened by what Lee had done. She knew he was strong, but this was just scary.

She’s decided I’m some kind of Nancy-boy or tranny and am going to infect the rest of the students. She was trying to get me kicked out last week for something I didn’t even do, and she drug Mr. Keesling and the Principal into it.”

“Have you told Mom and Dad about her?”

“No, what are they going to do? Especially, now after this.”

“Lee, sometimes you can be so dumb. They are not going to stand for a teacher abusing one of us even if we were in the wrong. You need to go down and tell them about this.”

“I can’t, I’m not supposed to leave my room until Mom says I can.”

Alright, but you’re going to tell them about this at dinner. Meanwhile, give me a bag and I’ll help.

——————

Katherine picked up the phone, at first intending to call Dr. Bennett, but at the last second dialed Coach instead. After she finished explaining the situation, he asked if he could come over. She readily agreed.

Once he arrived, Katherine told him of her fears.

“I knew Lee’s day was an especially rough one.” Coach said as he sat in Kathleen’s kitchen sipping coffee.

She crooked an eyebrow at him in question.

“What? You didn’t think I was just going to ignore him at school, did you? I have my spies. He took another sip of coffee. “Good coffee this,” lifting his cup.

“Did he tell you about the incident last week with Ms. Long and Mr. Keesling?”

She shook her head.

He proceeded to tell her of the trumped up charges against Lee, and it’s resolution. “Mr. Garcia’s a fair minded individual, and I understand both teachers got raked over the coals, with a note in their personnel files. Randy Jenkins in doing detention for the next two weeks. He should have been suspended and/or arrested. But I’m more worried about his dad though, besides being in H-1, his wrecker company has the county contract with the Sheriffs’ office. He and the Sheriff are good old buddies and you better watch yourselves or risk getting hauled in on some trumped up charge and that could be very bad if Lee was with you. I’m going to call Doc and see when we can get that MID issued final. We can worry about changing it later, if necessary.”

He took another long sip of coffee and sat there staring at the wall. Then he changed the subject back to Lee.

“I’m not really surprised that he came home and threw a tantrum. I know you’re not happy about it, but honestly, think about it — better here than there. I was afraid he would go ballistic on that jerk Randy today. Bad seed that one, I had to kick him off the team even though he had real potential. He was too vicious and violent.

“He and his cronies were really giving Lee a really hard time, and I thought once he was going to turn on them. That would have been — bad. We could have had broken pieces of boys to pick up instead of furniture given what with his strength now. He showed real restraint, and you should be proud of him for that.”

“Maybe, but I can’t let him get away with this here, either.” She responded.

“No, and I’m not just suggesting you should. Lee’s going to have to learn to exercise restraint all the time. As bad as Randy and his crew were, the evangelicals were in a way worse, preaching at him all day. The final straw I suspect was the cheerleaders. You know how cruel teenagers can be, especially teenage girls. You may have done too good a job on him the other night, from what I hear. He looked prettier than some of the cheerleaders there, and that’s an insult they couldn’t ignore … a “boy” outshining them.”

“Well, maybe we did get carried away,” She said kind of deflating. “But I wanted to show Lee what he could be, as well as getting him used to the concept of being a girl. Would you like to see some pictures?”

“Yeah. I’ve heard all about it today, but it’s really hard to visualize Lee as a pretty girl.”

“Oh, he was most certainly that! Let me get my camera.”

Once Coach had paged through the pictures, he sat back heavily staring at the last picture on the microchip. “Oh, crap! Sorry. It’s no wonder he was getting ragged about that. How did you do it? She’s, I mean, he’s beautiful. It’s a wonder those cheerleaders weren’t trying to claw his eyes out. How did you make him look like that?”

“It really wasn’t hard, Coach, that’s mostly Lee. Oh, he has on a corset, some hair extensions, a fancy dress, jewelry and a little _light_ makeup, but that’s mostly just Lee. I don’t think we could have made him into a boyish-looking girl, if we’d tried and we did kinda try.”

Coach leaned back in his chair and took another long sip of coffee, looking at her thoughtful for a long moment. “Kathleen, I know that you may not want to hear this, but I think that you should consider sending Lee to Whateley sooner rather than later.”

“How soon?”

“By Spring term at the latest, maybe winter, although that’s an odd term to start, I understand. Spring term usually starts around the end of February, but they will take students at any time if they are in danger. If you decide on Winter, I think that starts about the 4th of January.”

“So, you’re not talking next week, then.” Relief colored her voice.

“No, but I would if I thought I could, but it’s going to take time to get his application in, and to see if you can get some financial aid. I wasn’t kidding when I said it was expensive, and yes, sooner or later he’s going to be in danger; probably more sooner than later. The rest of you aren’t safe while he’s here either. The kids are starting to talk, and they’ll be talking to their parents, if they’re not already.”

Coach looked thoughtfully at the now empty coffee cup in his hand, and didn’t answer her directly. “We haven’t really had a chance to discuss Lee’s last powers testing session, have we?”

Kathleen got up, grabbed the coffee carafe and refilled both her own and Coach’s cups. “No, Lee didn’t really say much about it and to tell the truth I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.”

“I’ve been meaning to call you and come over to discuss it. You should know. The results were —— impressive.” Coach said after searching for the right word for a moment. “You know he was lifting between 4 and 8 hundred pounds at his first test, well, in his last test he lifted almost 4 and a half tons.”

Kathleen gasped and threw her hand to her mouth.

“And I expect he’ll get stronger for at least a while yet. His skin is tougher than boiled leather, even though it feels soft. It would difficult to cut him with a regular knife, we had to use a devisor-made vibro-scalpel to make a small cut to test his regeneration time.

“Then there’s Cantrip, who says she’s never seen anyone learn magic like Lee. She says he can already do most everything she could do after two years of training. The only thing holding him back magically is whatever is blocking his ability to gather and store essence.

“Scholastically and physically, he’s much smarter, quicker, and was more coordinated than most people, although this last growth spurt seems to screwed up his coordination, but he’s already showing signs of getting over that. He seems to have almost total recall of anything he sees, reads or hears. He’s getting straight A’s in all his school subjects, and less face it, he was an average student at best before this. He’s learning magic faster than you or I could read a novel, and he’s learning runic magic, something most people take a lifetime to learn, almost as fast as if it were in English. Granted it will probably take years of practice for him to be able to use it efficiently.

“What all this adds up to is sooner or later, especially with the way he’s starting to look, pretty soon, someone is going to put two and two together and realize he is a mutant. Up ’til now, he’s done an excellent job of being a chameleon; but all it takes is one slip, one time losing his temper in public, or an accident in front of others resulting in an injury, coupled with his physical changes and you’re going to have a mob, or worse, the MCO at your door. Then yes, he will be in danger, maybe great danger.

“I know you’re not happy about the damage he did to his room, but just think what might have happened, if he wasn’t as good at controlling his temper as he is. What if he’d done something like this at school? I’m actually quite proud of him; he managed to wait until he got home to cut loose. It’s so much better than the alternative. If he was my child, I’d go ahead with the punishments assigned, they are not onerous, but talk to him about it rather than giving more punishment or yelling at him. I’d also let Kuroda Sensei know about it, so he can concentrate on helping Lee find his center and gain a measure of peace. People laugh at that aspect of the martial arts, but it is better than psycho-babble at helping people learn to know themselves.”

Coach leaned back and reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of plastic. “Here’s is his new temporary MID; I was bringing by.” Coach pushed a small orange laminated card across the table. “The bad news is, if he gets into any public trouble, that card being temporary, won’t stop the MCO from trying to take him. You _mustn’t_ let them do that no matter what they say. I’d get a good lawyer on speed dial too, just in case. That’s why I’m going to bring MID that says final on it ASAP.”

“Are they really that bad? I mean as powerful a Lee’s becoming maybe….”

“No!” Coach said sharply slamming his coffee cup down. Then more softly said, “No, I know that not all MCO agents are that bad, but do you really want to take a chance on getting a bad one; to take a chance with your child’s life?”

Kathleen’s hand trembled slightly as she picked the MID up. The numbers didn’t really mean much to her, but she knew that Coach was ?impressed? by them. She stared at the card.

Coach sipped at his coffee and looked thoughtful, “I think that maybe I can get Doc to call up his contact at the DPA and get an official observer back there to certify the final results. That might slow the MCO down when they try to say they need to take him for more evaluation.”

“But can we trust the — what did you call them, the DPA? Won’t it be the same thing as with the MCO.”

Coach chuckled. “No, the MCO is an international organization, a lot of whom seem to think that mutants shouldn’t have any rights. The Goodkinds have heavily funded them, and used that leverage to turn the organization into a force for bigotry.

“The DPA on the other hand is chartered as a branch of the Justice Department under the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. They are bound to protect the rights of any mutant who is a US citizen or legal alien just like anybody else. That’s why I took Lee to Barry in the first place, he’s chartered for testing by the DPA.”

“Now don’t get me wrong, if Lee was to really break the law or do something really dangerous to others, the DPA would treat him just like any baseline criminal. The big difference is he would get a public trial, just like anyone else. The MCO might just spirit him away to some secret holding facility, or worse, and the way their charter is written you wouldn’t have any easy recourse.

“He’s a good kid, but all kinds of bad things can happen to good kids. Let me call Barry and I’ll see when I can set up a final evaluation.”

“What’s this here,” she asked pointing to the line for Weak vs.

“Well, I told you, I think, when we went through this the last time about his strong reaction to iron. Anyway, the last time he was there, we noticed he was itching and even sometimes getting a slight rash when he touched certain things made of plastic, or containing synthetic fibers. It was not very strong reaction, not like the Fae, but he was supposed to tell you about it.”

“Oh well, he knows I don’t buy clothes, or furniture unless it’s made of all natural materials. Better for the environment, you know. What’s with these plus marks after some of the numbers?”

“Well, magic ability is really hard to quantify especially for a non-magic user like Doc. Cantrip says Lee has a good chance to be a really powerful wizard, but she doesn’t know how to classify him since Lee’s abilities are already stronger than hers in some ways. Lee just doesn’t have the training and practice that Cantrip has. So we classified Lee the best we could. When he gets to Whateley, they have much better qualified people to better rank him, the same goes for his regenerator power. Short of cutting off a limb to see if it regrows and how quickly, we just can’t quantify it. But even if he is only a 3, he’ll never have to worry about getting sick or even fairly major wounds. Does this make any sense?”

“Yeah, I guess. Heavens! I just don’t know what to think of all of this. I guess from what you say he or she does need to go to this school, although I can’t say I like the idea of him going to a boarding school so far from home. I’m still trying to get used to the idea of referring to Lee with feminine pronouns. Can you get me the application papers to Whateley so we can start filling them out?”

“You can download them from the internet. You should know that there are some very unusual and very personal questions on it about Lee and his changes. You should answer them as fully and candidly as you can. The information on the application is confidential and they need to know all the details so they can place Lee in the safest way possible, both in his living situation and his classes. You really need to get the process started so if the current situation starts to go south, we can get him in there with the least possible delay.”

————

It had taken his parents three days to fill out the paperwork with input from the coach. When it was done, she let Lee go over it.

"Mom," Lee was wondering why he’d let Mom fill out his application to Whateley. "Why did you put 'other' for sexual orientation on my application?”

Mom smiled. “Saw that, did you? To be honest, I didn’t know how to answer it,” she said. "They didn't have a spot for 'not sure’ or “uncertain’.”

“But I’m not uncertain, I like girls! I always have.”

“Do you? Are you still going to like them when you are one or will be soon?”

Lee opened his mouth to say yes, then closed it. He’d always been taught in church that homosexuality was wrong, but was it homosexuality after Lee changed to a girl to like girls. It felt right to like girls, but nestling on Jim’s shoulder the other day had felt kinda good too. He was soooo baffled by all this. He decided to figure it out later.

"And for effects of transformation, you put that I've changed from a male into a female? Are you trying to get me killed or something?” Lee was right in his sense of foreboding.

Mom patted him on the hand. “Don’t worry about it. Your father and I worked on the application packet over the past few days. According to the instructions for the forms, that information is very private and won't be disseminated. It's supposed to be there to help you with your cottage and room assignment to minimize conflicts. They use it to make sure you have roommates and dorm mates who won’t have a problem with you because of these things.”

“Great,” he muttered under his breath, “I get to live in a dorm full of weirdos.”

————

On Saturday, Grandpa and Mamaw Cook came to town. They lived in Cincinnati, so they didn’t get down as much as either family would have liked. Grandpa had recently retired from running his own very successful small chain of high tech electronics stores. When he retired, he had sold the business for a small fortune.

Mom had already told them what was going on with him. Mamaw tried to be comforting, with some success, he guessed. Mamaw had always been a little more hands-on luvy-duvy than Lee was totally happy with, but now for some reason he didn’t seem to mind as much as he once had.

Grandpa was Grandpa, quiet and a little brusk, but there was never any doubt he loved Lee just like he was his genetic grandchild. Neither of them had ever treated him any different than his sisters. When Mamaw had finished her fussing over him, he had called Lee over.

“I understand I’m getting a new granddaughter,” he said in his deep gravelly voice. His voice always sounded like he had swallowed a mouthful of pebbles which were grinding together as he talked. This was due to an injury to his throat he’d sustained in fighting during the Invasion of Granada. Dad was born on that same night in 1984.

Lee looked at his feet, then remembering what Grandpa had always said about facing your problems, Lee looked into his eyes and answered. “Yep, that’s what they tell me, too.”

“How soon?” He rumbled.

“The doctors tell me I’m mostly a girl now. It just doesn’t show much yet, but I guess that’s not going to be true much longer.” Lee shrugged in resignation.

“Oh, yeah?” He grumbled.

“Yeah, I’m already starting to grow, you know,” pointing at my chest, and blushing brightly.

“Oh, that’s tough, boy; and I understand that this is because you’re a mutant.”

“Yep,” He answered, half afraid he wouldn’t want anything to do with a dirty mutant as some of Lee’s friends called them.

“Well, that’s tough, too, but you remember that no matter what you’ve got family who will always love you. You might also want to remember that your Aunt Charlotte is a mutant, too. I’m sure she would help you anytime you need it, and she lives in upstate New York now. I don’t think that’s very far from this new school your mom’s been telling me about. You call her if you need something. She’ll help you. After all, you’re family, — Girl!” He said with a grin.

Lee was startled for a moment, then grinned in spite of himself. Within moments they were both laughing.

“Family, that’s what matters.” Grandpa rumbled. “Now come here, boy and give your old Grandpa one more hug as my grandson, because the next time might be as my granddaughter though that’ll be alright too.” He grumbled as he wrapped his still strong arms around him.

Lee didn’t think he’d ever been happier before or since. He had to be very careful because he didn’t want to squeeze Grandpa too hard, but he put every ounce of his love into that hug and got that love back a dozen times over.

They stayed most of the afternoon. It was a great afternoon for both Lee and his sisters. Mom even showed his grandparents the scrapbook she had been making chronicling his changes, much to his embarrassment. Some of the pictures made at the doctor's office were practically nude. She even showed them the ones she had taken of him in his Halloween costume, much to his mortification. Mamaw went on and on about what a beautiful girl he was becoming. It was even more upsetting when everyone agreed with her.

After they left, Lee wandered out into the backyard, more bored that anything else. He didn’t really want to go where he might run into any of his friends, or enemies; and as usual, there was nothing on TV. Besides which, He was still grounded for his little outburst on Monday. He sat down at the picnic table. Ever since Grandpa said what did about hugging his granddaughter, all he was able to think about was how much he’d already changed and how fast he was still changing. He needed to find something to keep his mind occupied. He sat there for a long time paying attention with his augmented senses to all the noises, and smells, he’d never noticed before.

Soon he wandered into the small barn that had been a carriage house in the 1880’s. He could still faintly smell the horses and horse manure, something he had never noticed before.

Dad had turned it into a small woodworking shop several years before, then lost interest in it. Now it collected junk, broken gardening tools, old electric motors, a broken electric drill, two leaf blowers, a weed eater, and three broken lawnmowers, along with other such odds and ends, as usually collected when people had a place for them. There was also his
Dad’s tools. Besides the usual small hand tools such as a drill, hammer, etc.; there was a small table saw, a drill press and a belt sander.

As Lee stood there looking at this stuff, he started thinking about the damage to his room and furniture. Maybe he could use some of this stuff fix them, or at least some of them. He’d need some of the right kind of wood and some more tools, but maybe he could do it.

Lee suddenly was looking at all the broken tools and equipment in terms of their parts. Getting out his dad’s toolbox, he began dismantling the broken tools and sorting their components into piles by function or type of material.

Lee only realized how long he’d been working when he looked up and realized it was dark out. He was surrounded by piles of parts, and even though he had never taken a shop class Lee knew what most of the pieces were at least by function, and knew that he either had most of what he would needed to make the tools to fix his bedroom, even broken bedpost.

Lee began tidying up and getting ready to go to the house, when the door creaked open and his dad stood there. Tom’s mouth fell open as he looked a the neat piles of parts, pieces of metal and plastic arranged around the small shop area. On the workbench, were two paper grocery bags that Lee’d cut open to draw on. He had drawn exploded views of the tools he thought he needed to make to repair or rebuild the furniture that he’d destroyed, carefully labeling each part that he already had by the pile it was in, ones he would have to make, or as a last resort buy.

“So, what are you up to?” Tom asked.

“Well, I was bored so I wandered out here and was looking around when I realized I could use some of this broken stuff to start repairing Monday’s damage.”

Dad stood there dumbfounded. “Since when have you been mechanically inclined? I had to help you put together a pre-cut kite.”

“Well, they did say I was a gadgeteer and a devisor, after all.” Lee explained. “The more I looked at all this junk, the more ways I could see to use it to help fix things.

“Okay, but how did you figure out how to do all this? I thought I’d at least have to help you.” Lee realized his dad was a little disappointed that he didn’t need his help.

“Well, it just sort of came to me, but I’m going to need a lot of help to go to some junkyards for the rest of the material and parts, and probably help putting it together.” He didn’t really, but his dad seemed so disappointed.

“Okay, I guess I can do that.” Tom grinned. “You make a list of what you need and we’ll go after I get in from work tomorrow.” He sounding a little mollified that Lee at least needed him for something.

————

Lee’s dad had ended up being more help than either of them initial thought, since he had more practical experience with machine tools. Side by side they had worked whenever his dad was home until two weeks later with his shop up and running, Lee had not only repaired his bedroom, but had made a number of things for the house. When they went to the junkyard, he had not only picked up the planned items, but they found a pallet of junked electronics including computers, printers, and a couple of devices that contained fairly high powered lasers, that they were fixing to ship off for disposal in a RCRA landfill, since they contained parts with lead and mercury in them. With his dad’s help, he negotiated a cheap price for the whole pallet.

Now _LEE’s_ workshop was outfitted with a complete set of computer controlled tools including one full sized router, a microrouter, a drill press, a lathe with a precision laser cutting head, an ultrahigh pressure plasma cutting table, two 3D printers that used recyclable common plastics and a laser welder that could weld either metal or plastic. Two mobile robotic arms salvaged from another junkyard fed raw materials to the tools, and they executed the designs on his laptop computer.

His dad, who sold industrial manufacturing equipment installations for the company he worked for, said that Lee’s shop was more efficient than the ones his boss charged hundreds of thousands of dollars for. He took pictures of the equipment and sent them to a lawyer friend of his who specialized in patent law. The lawyer was researching it, but thought that he could see at least three patentable improvements in the equipment Lee and his dad built. If they worked out, Whateley might not end up costing his family as much as they had feared.

Of course, since he was a devisor as well as a gadgeteer, it remained to be seen if these would work for anyone else. Lee didn’t know for sure but he thought that this was all gadgeteering. He couldn’t see anything that seemed to violate any laws of physics or other natural laws.

————

Tuesday
November 18th
Cantrip’s workshop back of her house

Cantrip brought in a variety of objects, an unlit candle, a glass of water, a sharp flinty chunk of stone, one of those children’s pinwheel toys, a small plastic toy, a block of wood, and a few other things. She had placed them all on her workbench and gestured to the stool in front of it. Lee sat down in front of them. She explained that she had noticed a trend in which spells he seemed to pick up the easiest and which worked best for him, so she wanted to try an experiment to confirm her supposition.

“I want you to concentrate on each of these things and try to reach out with your magic and affect them.”

“How? I don’t understand. We’ve never done that kind of thing. Is there a spell I’m supposed to know?”

“No, it’s not that kind of magic. This should be more instinctual, if it works at all. At your level of Wizardry and if I’m right, you should be able to close your eyes, reach out with your magic and at least be able to feel some of the materials without physically touching them.

“At least, I think you will be able to. If you can feel them, I want you to try to think about changing them in some way, be it shape, form, or energy level.”

Lee thought this was nuts. How was he supposed to see and manipulate something without seeing it or touching it? Still, it was no crazier than any other magic — or turning into a girl, for that matter. She walked behind him and slipped a blindfold over my eyes. It was one of those blindfolds for people who have to sleep during the day, so he couldn’t even see anything around the edges of the mask. Lee could hear her shuffling the items around, so he wouldn’t know which was which by memory.

“Okay, now extend your senses. Can you feel anything?” Cantrip asked a little anxiously.

He tried to sense the objects, but he was getting nothing. After several minutes, Lee said exasperatedly, “just what am I——?” He was swinging his arms when suddenly he felt something odd a few inches beneath his outstretched hand. It felt hard? A sense of perception that he didn’t know he had, and couldn’t explain began to explore the ?rock? It must be, all hard with sharp edges. Lee let his new sense explore the object. It was hard, but he could feel the sharp edges, but he could also feel tiny cracks in it, and a feeling that he could reshape it. He slowly felt gathered energy from something or somewhere around him and funneled that energy into the object he was now sure was the rock. Slowly, he could feel the sharp edges began to smooth out, getting smoother and smoother, and the small cracks healed. Finally, he couldn’t make it feel any smoother.

“Very good!” Cantrip exclaimed beside him, looking at the perfect polished pool-ball sized sphere of stone. “Now can you feel any of the other objects?”

“I’m not sure.” Lee murmured as he moved his hands from side to side, until suddenly he could feel something that felt liquid. Lee could feel it’s fluid shape being constrained by sides of the glass. Gathering more of the energy he slowly lifted the water free of the glass still holding the shape at first. Then he reshaped it until it felt like a dolphin in his mind, then not knowing what else to do, he pulled heat/energy out of the water until it hardened and froze. He gently lowered it back to the table. He thought he was getting the hang of this.

He moved his hands again, feeling for the other objects. This time he felt something that felt like it had a lot of potential energy in it, but not how to use it. He let his instincts take over, and with a quick snap of energy, Lee knew he had lit the candle. He could feel the heat from the tiny flame.

Lee was becoming more confident with every moment. He couldn’t exactly feel the pinwheel, but he realized he could feel the air around it. He made the air move, spinning the pinwheel. He could hear it spin.

That only left the block of wood which confounded him at first. It felt different. It could be many things, and had a lot of potential. It could burn or be reshaped —— or Lee realized it had another potential as well. It was a different potential from the other objects. Taking a little of the ice from the dolphin, melting it and spreading it over the surface of the wood, Lee then tried to pull a different kind of energy, but while he could sense what he needed, he couldn’t seem to find it around him. Then he realizing where a well of this energy existed, reaching inside himself he pulled some essence that felt different and pushed it into the wet wood. He could feel the little cells in the wood begin to soak up the essence he was directing toward it. They almost seemed to glow in his mind as they rehydrated, then they began to divide, taking nutrients and materials from the rest of the block, as they began to grow. He pulled more and more of the essence from his body and fed it into the rejuvenated cells. Suddenly the drain of essence made him feel weak, as he realized he had nearly drained this pool of essence. Lee stumbled against the table.

“Stop!” Cantrip all but screamed.

Lee sank to his knees, as she grabbed him holding me upright. She stripped the blindfold from his head. There on the table, Lee saw a small 2 foot tall leafy sapling growing from the block of wood, just before he passed out.

————

Avalon

He saw the Lady when he arrived at the Henge. The same fantastically beautiful woman creature who had spoken to him when he came here before.

She didn’t seem as tall this time, perhaps because he was quite a bit taller now, nearly 5’ 11”, but she was still incredibly beautiful. She sat on the same altar stone surrounded by a veritable menagerie of animals. A snow leopard lay across her lap enjoying being stroked and scratched like a little house cat. A strange feathered lizard standing on his powerful looking hind legs, at least 5’ tall stood behind her. It yawning as only a cat or a reptile can, it opened it’s mouth, it was full of truly frightening teeth. It’s short arms ended in fearsome claws, but she obviously had no fear or need of fear of it. An assortment of small creatures cavorted at her feet, predators and prey playing together. Most Lee recognized, but there were a few that were unknown. The whole grotto was as before abounded with life and sound.

She beckoned for him to come closer from where Lee stood outside the circle of stones. He noticed more detail this time as he walked through the rings of the henge. There was a ring of great trees surrounding the stone circles. Trees, the likes of which there are few remaining in the world Lee knew, most having been cut for their wood or to simply clear the land for planting. The trunk of a giant chestnut nearest him must have been fifteen feet thick and the others in the circle while being of many different types were of similar size. Bears, wild hogs, and others foraged among the leaf litter, crunching the bounty provided there.

Other details were more obvious to him this time. The stones in the henge were finely cut and highly polished. Intricate patterns were deeply inscribed into the gleaming stone and filled with bright silvery and golden metals. There were rows of glyphs and runes in an almost unknown language. He saw a few that were known to him from his magic studies with Cantrip, though he knew little of their meaning. If he hadn’t already known it, that alone would have told him this was a place of great power and magic.

Lee felt strange energies wash over him as he stepped through the various rings, and was filled with essence as never before, replenishing the pool within him that he had depleted so severely. Maybe they was here when he visited before but not being attuned to the magic then, they went unnoticed. Switching to his mage sight, Lee noticed for the first time torrents of energy flowing from between the stones. There the veritable flood began splitting again and again into ever smaller streams dispersing in all directions. It dawned on him that here was the source of the lines of magical essence that wrapped the world in their embrace.

“It is good to see you again, my child. Indeed, you are always welcome here.” Her golden voice rang with power, and as before all the creatures and birds fell silent when she spoke as though hanging on the sound of her voice, as indeed was he. “You have grown in power and knowledge. That is good. You will need power and knowledge to guide you through times ahead.”

Lee felt something brush against his legs and looked down. He immediately observed that was clothed in a short tunic that reached to mid thigh and there were distinct two mounds on his chest. These changes were almost enough to distract him? — her? from the magnificent large spotted golden cat which was now stropping against her bare legs, it’s shoulders reaching above his knees. It felt almost obscenely good. It’s coat was soft and silky. Absently she reached down to scratch behind its ear as she would have the family cat, completely unafraid of the powerful beast. She knew it would cause her no harm. Peace filled her with this knowledge as she looked up and into the Lady’s face. Even the fact that in this place Lee was Leah could not disturb the peace in her heart.

“Yes, my child, here you are as you will be.” The Lady said softly to her.

‘I guess I will have to get used to being Leah,’ she thought.

“She seems to have taken quite a liking to you.” The Lady’s warm dulcet tones filled his head, indicating the cat, still loving on her.

“Who are you?” Lee asked simply and reverently.

“I have been known by many names in many cultures. I am Danu, the Mother of all, to the Celts. I was also known as Neith, the First and Last to the Egyptians, and Ninhursag to Sumerians. More commonly I was known as Gaea to the Greeks, Atlantians, and their spiritual descendents, Tellus or Terra to the Romans, and simply by The Goddess to my followers in your society. I was also known by many other names in many other cultures that rose and fell long before man walked this world. By names you could not pronounce and indeed whose very sound would rip reason from the minds of most men. Some called me sister to Chuthlu, though that is a relation that neither of us would claim.

“I am one who men, elves and many other species worshiped as one of the elder gods. I was born out of the primordial cloud that became this world and am forever bound to it, to watch over it and its creatures. Out of me, all life was shaped on this world.

“My children, such as yourself, were once worshiped as Gods, as well. You have studied the Pantheons of the Greeks, Romans and Norse. They were but a few of my children and the children of my children.”

“Then, are you God?” She said trembling expecting to blasted to Hell for looking upon the face of God.

“No, child.” She said softly. “I am not the Divine One, who first created order out of chaos. It was that One who caused me to be born with the planet to be a steward to it and its creatures, and a poor job I have done of it. Five times has life nearly been wiped from the face of the planet, by those who seek Chaos above all else. Only through great sacrifice by myself, by those descended from me, and those who would ally themselves with us out of love of this world, have they failed.”

A silence fell over the glen, as Leah contemplated her words. This was beyond her meager knowledge, and yet somehow, if she accepted what Danu had to say then she was somehow her heir?

“The last time I saw you, you said I was your child. What does that mean?” Danu rose from her stone and walked to her. Reaching out her slender hand, she stroked her hair. Leah didn’t notice that with each stroke, her hair lengthened, grew thicker and more lush.

“It means that a time is coming when the Earth will again be assaulted by the Great Old Ones between now and then Chaos will try to creep back into the world to prepare the way for them. Into a world that is already weakened by events of the past and by the foolishness of men. You, Leah, as my daughter will be called upon one day to do battle with the forces of Chaos in my stead, if you accept your true heritage.”

“But I know next to nothing, and am so confused. How can I do anything to stop such forces. I don’t even know how to be a girl, yet. Can’t you protect us.” It suddenly dawned on Leah, Danu had used her new name.

“Leah? You know what my mom called me?”

She smiled, and nodded. “It is appropriate, especially here and now. No, child, I can do little this time beyond guiding you and seeing that you are trained.”

“Why not?” Leah knew she sounded whiny but this was a lot to lay on a perplexed thirteen year old boy who was also becoming a girl. How was she to handle this?

“During their last assault on this world, the tools of the Great Old Ones came close to destroying all. Those were the last days of Pangea and the city of Atlantis. I stood with my daughters as the center of the Five Fold Court that sought to hold Chaos at bay, and hold we did, but alas, at such a cost. It was the end of the great alliance of the courts. The Courts failed, Atlantis fell, and the entire world was nearly torn asunder. Only by binding myself and my power to the fabric of the world was anything saved. That binding though was not only a working of great power, it was permanent, and I have little power left to influence events. Only on this tiny fragment of the magical courts can I manifest in physical form.

“I have tried to raise other of my children to stand in my stead, the gods of Sumeria and Egypt stood for many millennia protecting both the world and men before they wearied of the battle and passed from this plane of existence. The gods of Olympus both Greek and Roman were born and raised up to have the strength to protect the world, but after millennia of strife with the forces of chaos and shamefully with each other, they, too, fell from power. They ceased coming to me for guidance and without that guidance they, as you say in your world, began to believe their own press. The gods of Olympus became vain and self-serving, and lost all respect for the races of men and the planet whom they were born to protect.

“After a long period of strife both external and internal, they were bound to Mt. Olympus, by powerful mages and others of my children, lest they destroy the civilizations they were born to nurture. The similar things happened to other Pantheons you are less familiar with such as those associated with the Mayans, Aztecs, Norse and Celts. Those few that remain in the world are reduced in power and wisdom, and seldom make themselves felt in the world.”

“But how can I hope to stand where gods could not?”

“Oh, child, you are and will be much more than you can now comprehend. You will also meet others of power, who will stand with you, some at the school where you _must_ go to learn of your powers. I have blessed you with many of the powers of my children who went before, and in the fullness of time you will discover and come into these powers. I have blessed you with the strength and fecundity of Arianrhod that you might nurture those lesser creatures that man has driven to the brink or those who just need your help. You have some of skill of Hephestus, the wisdom of Athena, the agility and senses of Bast, the affinity of Pan for the wild things and the magic of Thoth. Yet this will not be enough, unless you yourself discover the strength within you, that even I know naught of.

Leah’s face must have shown her despair. How could she possibly do what the very gods of old could not. Her knees became weak and she settled to the ground, wrapping her fingers in the thick pelt of the golden leopard, and hugging it to her. It’s deep purr resonated in her own chest. She sat here legs tucked under her for a long time as her mind tried to wrap itself around her new knowledge.

Gaea stroked her head once more in a kind of sad embrace. “I am cursed with the foresight and can see many things. While you will face many trials in the near future, as you learn who and what you are. I can tell you that you will not be called upon to stand against the true might of chaos until you have sufficient time to grow into your powers.

“But you must go to this school that your coach has been advocating, both to learn to control not just your powers but your body as well. There you will meet others of power to stand by your side.

“I suggest though that before you go, you will also need a more appropriate codename than Mushroom,” she smiled wryly at this. “I will not have my daughter carry such a name. Instead, I will give you one of my own names to use. Would you like that?” When Leah nodded, not trusting her voice. Danu continued. “It is a name of power. A name to conjure by. You will be, henceforth, known as Terra.”

“Will we win?” Lee asked simply.

“Alas, that is not given me to see, but I can tell you that you will not lose.”

“Isn’t that the same thing as winning?”

Danu sat quietly for several long minutes, until Leah wasn’t sure she had heard the question, then Danu answered in a soft voice filled with sorrow beyond measure. “No, Leah, it is not the same as winning.” A darkness descended upon the grove.

She reached out and with a single finger touched Leah’s forehead. Images began swirled through her head; first was a great gleaming city built upon a perfect conical — hill? — mountain? It was difficult to judge scale. An image took form of a city more beautiful than any city mere man had ever built, with slender graceful towers piercing the clouds. Constructs blended with nature to create edifices that must surely rival what the cities of heaven must look like.

This city of infinite delight was surrounded by magnificent landscapes where marvelous creatures roamed, flew and swam, most of which, their likes which no man had seen today. Great mountains surrounded the verdant plain from which the city-mountain rose. Broad cataracts of water carrying millions of gallons of water plunged over their edge falling thousands of feet before disintegrating into rainbow colored mists. The whole land had the feel of a garden sculpted by a master gardener.

Then as Leah watched a dark cloud rose on the horizon, and great armies of elves, dwarves, dragons and a few men marched forth out of the great city to clash with creatures so foul and distorted, that she felt dirtied and ill just looking at them. Great and terrible battles were fought that rent the very land itself. Darkness fell across the land.

Then Leah saw a different image. The city was no more. A few broken stubs marked where it had been. The landscapes were rent and desolate with hardly a blade of grass left standing. The land was littered with bodies both beautiful and foul. Few if any still lived, from either side.

A final image shown from high above revealed a land broken. Great rifts in the earth poured forth great fountains of lava as the continent was broken into many pieces. For a brief time, it looked as if the planet would break into pieces in orbit, then a mighty wave of magic swelled out from near the center of Pangea binding the fragments together and Leah realized that she had just witnessed Gaea/Danu binding herself to the world to prevent all from being lost. She could feel her pour forth her essence in torrents into the planet, and becoming both less and more than she had been.

“That is what it can look like not to lose, — may you and yours fair better than we.” Her face was now creased with wrinkles. Her hair was thin and grey. Scars on top of scars marred her infinite beauty. Then the darkness receded and her immeasurable beauty returned.

“It is time for you to go. Back to your world lest your spirit become lost from your body. I am more sorry than you can imagine to call you forth into the world to face such as this, but a great power for the forces of Order has been lost; lost before you could even meet her. It has come to pass, as I saw all those many eons ago, that Aunghadhail, Daughter of the Burning Oak, Paramount Queen of the West in the Five Fold Courts, Chatelaine of Tyr-na-Baine and my friend for many long ages has passed finally from the world. Nikki Reilly, who was her avatar, may be a great force to rival her power one day, but without Aunghadhail to guide her, it may take her as long or longer as it does you to grow into the fullness of her power.” There was a look of immeasurable sadness on her face, and for the first time, Leah felt something other than peace in this place.

“Can’t you teach us?” Leah tried not to whine, but this was a lot to ask of a thirteen year old.

“I may call you here from time to time to instruct and guide you, as you are my child, but to do so, takes a tiny fraction of my attention and power away from the world, and in that brief time, much damage may be done.”

“One more question, please? What does Tuath de Dannan mean?”

She laughed again like the ringing of many small bells dispelling the seriousness of the previous conversation. “Oh, Leah, it means — ‘Child of Danu’. It means that you are my child and are to be my paladin in the world, if you will accept that charge. It won’t all be fighting chaos, much of what you may do will simply be to limit the damage man is doing in his ignorance and greed. You will also make friends, and there will be much time for fun and even love. Now go and return from whence you came, knowing my blessing goes with you, Leah.”

————

Lee's adventures continue. His old life is careening out of his control, his new one coming at him head-on. Can he survive the clash of old and new and still keep his sanity. Will his mother's attempts at helping make matters better or worse. It's anyone's guess. For sure, Lee doesn't know.

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, and I apologize for the delay in posting.

Tuesday
November 18th
Cantrip’s Workshop Back of her House

As he returned to consciousness, he saw Cantrip hovering over him.

“Lee, are you alright?” Cantrip was obviously agitated.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” He started to rise, but Cantrip pushed him back down.

“Stay there! That was very foolish. I assumed that you had actually read the books I gave you, and would know better than to draw so deeply on your life essence.”

“Is that what I did?”

“Yeah, how else do you think you made a lifeless block of wood grow? We can only cause something dead to live by taking life essence from something else, in this case you. Only God can create life, we can at most transfer it. You could have killed yourself or extinguished your ability to do magic, if you’d taken too much. Frankly, I’m astonished that you could use as much as you obviously did without more serious consequences. I thought when you began to fade out that you had used so much that you were dying, but then you snapped back.”

“How long was I gone?”

“Only a couple of minutes or so, but I was very worried.”

“No! It had to be longer than that. I must have talked to her for hours.”

“Talked to who?” She asked with the same look on her face that his Mom got when she thought he’d done something he shouldn’t have.

Lee gulped. He wasn’t sure he should or wanted to talk about having a conversation with a — god. They might lock him up in a looney bin. “Uhh, it was nothing, just a crazy dream.”

He started to get up again and this time Cantrip took his arm and helped him. As he rose to his feet, she looked at him in shock. Lee looked down at himself to see what was wrong, and got the same shock Cantrip had. Looking down he saw the same small but definite breasts from his vision sitting high on his chest.

He ran his hands down his torso. It also looked like he/she wouldn’t need that corset to look like a girl anymore. His waist was now narrow and his stomach flat and smooth. His hips flared into almost womanly curves. He also realized that he was once again at least a little taller than he’d been. His hair hung down below the bottom of his shoulder blades on his back and his new breasts in front. He grabbed a handful and pulled it up where he/she could see it. Not only was it longer, it seemed even fuller and more lustrous, if that was even possible.

“Oh, crap!” His shoulders slumped in resignation as he thought about how he was going to explain his appearance. This was going to be hard to explain. No! no, make that impossible to explain.

“Are you still dizzy?” Cantrip asked as she helped him maneuver to a day bed she had set up in her workshop for when she over-extended herself and needed to rest.

“No, I feel fine.” He did feel fine, just like the last time after he had visited the Lady. He remembered she had given him a list of names for herself. Since she had named him Tuath dé Danu, he guessed that was the name he would use for her, ‘Danu’. The next question was what would he call himself.

Cantrip picked up a large green crystal from her workbench and waved it around his body. The crystal glowed brightly, especially when it passed his head, his heart and his crotch.

That made him remember his manhood and embarrassing as it was in front of Cantrip, he grabbed at his crotch and sighed. Mr. Happy was still there, although he seemed decidedly smaller. Lee decided he would wait to make a more detailed examination both of himself and the two new appendages gracing his chest. For now at least, Lee guessed he could continue to use male pronouns for himself. He was afraid that wouldn’t be true very much longer.

Cantrip frowned and repeated her crystal examination, then switched to a blue crystal and repeated it again. It, too, glowed brightly as she waived it around his body.

“This isn’t possible!” She said with an air of frustration. “You’ve got more essence of both types (life and environmental) than you had before, but I watched you expend almost all your essence before you passed out. How is it you now have more than you did?” She clearly was waiting for an answer.

Lee gulped, and said nothing.

“Lee, I think you better tell me of this dream,” she said in a voice that brooked no argument.

When he said nothing, she sighed and said, “I guess we’d better call your mother. I can’t take the responsibility for continuing to teach you if you won’t let me know what’s happening.”

“No, wait, Amy! — I’ll tell you, but you mustn’t tell my parents; not yet, anyway. They wouldn’t understand and it would only frighten them. You promise not to tell them?” Even though he called her Cantrip almost all the time out of respect for her as his teacher, she had revealed a couple of weeks ago that her real name was Amy. He used it now to emphasis how serious this was to him.

“Lee, I can’t promise that. You have been entrusted into my care to learn magic and I have to be free to do what I think is best.” She truly sounded sorry.

“But you can’t! I’m not sure I should tell you, but I know I can’t tell them. They would never understand, especially my mom. She will think I’m possessed by evil or something. The next thing you know she would be asking our priest to exorcize me. Please?”

“Lee, I’ll you what. You tell me everything, and if I think that I safely can, I won’t tell anyone else, at least without discussing it with you first. That’s the best I can do, but if I’m going to go on teaching you, you must come clean, okay?”

He grimaced, but realized that this was the best he was going to get. He needed what she could teach him, now more than ever.

“Okay, but this is really important and it’s important that I go to Whateley, so please, please, don’t say or do anything that might interfere with that.”

She nodded. “I’m not about to interfere with that. If I had my way you’d be on your way now. So tell me!”

“I don’t think it was a dream. I mean I did, but now I think it was some kind of vision or visitation.” Then Lee proceeded to tell her about both his dreams in detail, even showing her the images Danu had showed him, using the same technique Danu had used. Cantrip gasped as the images started, grabbing his hand.

“How?? I didn’t teach you this. Hell, I don’t even know how to do this.” Cantrip was shaking.

“I don’t know exactly. Danu showed me the same images the same way, I just copied what I remembered her doing. It’s no big deal.”

“Lee! This is a very big deal for a magic user. Psychics, telepaths, and others like them can do this with a lot of effort, but not magic-users, and you just “remembered” what she did and then you did it? No, this is a very big deal.

Frankly, I’m not sure anymore if I’m even teaching you magic. I’m beginning to think I’m just showing you various magics and then you’re figuring it out on your own. I’m beginning think you’re not so much learning magic, as you are magic! Honestly, it’s a little frightening.”

He shrugged and went back to showing her the visions and gave his descriptions of what had happened. “So that’s about it. I seem to be at least the spiritual daughter of Gaea; maybe her actual daughter, I don’t know anymore. I guess I’m destined to be some kind of paladin for Gaea. If that wasn’t enough, I’m supposed to somehow save the earth and it’s life from the excesses of man and the forces of chaos. Whoever they are?

“Oh, in answer to your earlier question about the essence, whenever I go there, I come back charged with all this essence. I’m not sure but I think that Danu, Gaea, or whatever you want to call her, may be the source of it.” He could see the look of skepticism? confusion? on her face.

He grinned and said, “She also told me to change my codename from Mushroom, which she found funny and a little insulting, I think, to a new codename. She said she wasn’t having any child of hers being called Mushroom. She gave me one of her names to use. Since who am I to argue with a goddess, I guess my new codename is ‘Terra’.” Cantrip gasped softly.

“Now do you see why I can’t tell anyone? If they believed me, they would want to protect me from my fate, which they can’t do; or lock me away as a danger to everyone around me; or if they didn’t believe me, they’d lock me up in a padded cell.”

Cantrip stood there with her mouth open and moving like a landed fish, as she tried to comprehend what Lee’d told her. Finally, she sat down heavily on one of the stool in front of her workbench and stared at Lee for such a long time, he got really nervous.

Eventually, she looked up at him like he was a stranger. “I think I understand. I won’t tell anyone — for now. I doubt that anyone would believe me either. I’m not sure I believe it. Maybe it is just some kind of dream. I mean, Gaea? You’ve got to admit that’s pretty hard to swallow.”

“Tell me about it! Most of the time, I think I am crazy.”

As they sat there looking at each other, the air began to shimmer between them like heat waves on hot asphalt. Then a oval opening appeared between them and they quickly scrambled backwards. Lee was scooting on his behind as quickly as he could. Then the lovely spotted golden cat from his vision stepped through, walked to him, and began stropping its cheek on his leg, before looking up into his eyes and purring. It then laid her large head in his lap. He began stroking it, as if by reflex.

Cantrip’s eyes were wide as she stared at the 60 lb spotted cat. “What is it?” She asked in a subdued, awestruck voice.

“She is my familiar, — I think. At least that’s what came into my head when she looked at me. I think Danu sent her.” He shrugged as he stroked her . Mom and Dad would freak. I mean they wouldn’t even let us have a puppy. I felt like I was going to pass out again. How the heck was I going to explain this to my parents?

“How do you know?”

He shrugged, then said weakly, “I just know.”

The cat looked at him and this time he clearly heard: “I am Goldenclaw.” The words thrummed throughout his head, as he felt a bond form between them.

After recovering his equilibrium, he stroked the soft fur of her muzzle in awed silence. She was so beautiful. He knew she was physically powerful, quick and potentially quite dangerous, but that she represented no danger to him or anyone not threatening him.

“She says her name is Goldenclaw.”

“What am I going to do, Amy? I can’t walk around with a 60 pound leopard. Things are too strange for me now.”

“I don’t know Lee, but if she is your familiar, then you may have no choice. A witch or wizard can’t be separated from her familiar for long. The bond is too strong, a long separation will cause distress for you both. On the other hand, this may be at least a partial solution to your problem of how to gather and store essence. You should be able to channel excess essence to her and she can store it for you for when you need it; she can eventually even store spells and cast them for you as you become closer. As to your problem of having a large, potentially dangerous cat with you all the time, I just don’t know. Maybe, we can work on using your glamour to disguise or hide her.”

“There is no need for concern. Others will see me only if I wish it.” Her voice was deep and held overtones of purring in his head. He repeated what she had told him to Cantrip as he scratched behind her ears. Goldenclaw purred loudly, a rumbling and deeply comforting sound.

When he looked up at Cantrip, she was looking at him in a way that made him think she was contemplating going to go her knees before him. It was very disturbing. Then, as animation came back into her face, she stood up and leaned over, putting her arms around him and pulled him into an embrace. “I don’t know whether to congratulate you or pity you, Lee, but I suspect your life is likely to be the epitomization of the old Chinese curse about living in interesting times.”

————

November 21st

He was right about mom and dad’s reaction to his familiar. They freaked. Eve and Beth were delighted even though she was nearly as big as they were. Mom was terrified it would attack the girls until she watched it roll over and purr as they scratched her belly.
Eve and Beth immediately wanted to name her. They were throwing out typical cat names, Puss, Miss Meow, and other similar silly names.

“Beth! Eve! She’s already got a name. It’s Goldenclaw.” They looked at Lee like how dare he name her without consulting them.

“I didn’t name her. She told me her name.”

“What? How?”
“I can hear her in my head.” He said, and Goldenclaw nodded.

Realizing they couldn’t hear her, he sighed. “She can talk to me, since she’s my familiar, but only in my head. She ‘told me’ that her name is Goldenclaw.”

His family looked at him like he was crazy, but then how many boys bring home a 60 pound exotic cat only they can talk to. Lee sighed again, and knew that his sessions with both Cantrip and Dr. Bennet this week were going to be very interesting.

Then he had another thought. Where in the hades was he going to find a vet who would take care of her. Would she even need one? He rubbed his temples as his head began to hurt.

————

School was a nightmare that week. With his mom’s help, he had put a tight sports bra on and then wrapped a large Ace bandage around his new breasts. Between that and his old threadbare excuse with the drug, he thought he could continue to pass, — maybe, and then school could continue to be the same uneasy, anxiety-filled place that it is for most teenagers. He was ever the optimist.

He was growing stronger by the day, and if it hadn’t been for the sensei’s meditation techniques and training, it would have been so easy to slip up and show his true strength. As it was he had broken the doorknob off one of his classrooms. Fortunately, the teacher thought it must have already been defective.

Monday morning, some of his classmates were looking at him like they had never seen him before. His latest spurt of growth in height had made him taller than many of his peers, but his swelling hips, and other feminizing body changes, and longer hair, even camouflaged with baggy clothes, accentuated his changes, so that he now looked like a very tall tomboy. In fact, he now not only towered over most of the girls in his class, but most of the boys as well.

He had continued to leave his hair long so it would be somewhat shaggier and look less like he was going to the beauty parlor with his mom, and even though it now reached mid back, it wasn’t really working. No matter what he did, his hair looked beautiful; soft, glossy and full bodied, almost like something out of a shampoo commercial. It was beginning to be less curly and more wavy as it had quickly grown out. It was the type of hair he would have loved to run his hands through as a boy dating a girl with hair like this. When his sisters were vocally envious, he had snapped at them that they were welcome to it. He thought about cutting it, but the last time he had tried that, it grew back even longer in only three days. Coach thought that it might have something to do with his BIT.

Binding his breasts kept them from being a problem, but it made them hurt and itch. Worst of all, as the changes went on, more and more of his classmates were shunning him. Those that weren’t shunning him, made fun of him, or worse. Lee was beginning to feel he couldn’t win.

Really, the only friends he had left was Jim, Amanda, and strangely enough, Chuck, and Fred Neas. Lee was sure that Chuck would throw him over in a heartbeat if he knew Lee was a mutant. On the other hand, Lee was realizing that Fred was a strange bird, even though he was always seeing mutants around every corner, Lee had become convinced it was because he was envious of them. As far as Lee was concerned he could have it.

His and Amanda’s relationship was also a little strange. Even though he’d avoided her for weeks after finding out about his mutanthood, she had never given up on him. They had even gone out to the movies a couple of times, once since the party. Lee wasn’t sure but he was wondering if she didn’t suspect what was really going on. A couple of things she had said since the party certainly seemed to indicate that she knew or thought she knew something. She had even sort of tried to talk to him about things he would have considered to be ‘girl things’ a time or two.
He had even thought about trying to talk to her about it all, but was too afraid of the potential results. Coach was also adamantly against it.

Thank goodness, it was nearly time for the Thanksgiving holidays. He’d have a whole week without any of the annoying taunts or bullying. A week without trying to hide his new breasts which seemed to be growing daily. All he had to do was survive until Wednesday noon without killing that SOB Randy or one of the Bible-thumpers.

He walked into the lunchroom. He used to love lunch time, it meant not only that the day was half over, but it was also a time for shooting the breeze with his friends. Now, however, his circle of friends had shrunk dramatically. His buddies from the football team had pretty much drifted away over the last few weeks along with most of the rest of his friends. Only Jim, Chuck, Fred and Amanda had stuck with him. Regrettably, all of them ate during the second lunch period while he was in the first, so here he sat at a table for twelve all alone.

What was worse though was Randy and his sycophants ate during this period. Their taunts were becoming a daily ordeal. The more he tried to ignore them the more creative they became, finding new ways to get under his skin. It surprised him. He hadn’t thought all four of them together had enough brains to come up with an original idea.

Lunch period was almost over. Maybe they were going leave him alone today. Just a few more minutes and he could get out of here, then he looked up from the pile of crap on his plate to see four more walking piles of crap coming toward him. He groaned. He tried to find his center and control his emotions like Karoda Sensei had taught him.

“Hey, faggot! I really like your hair. Maybe I can run my hands through it while you suck me.” Randy laughed and then his buddies followed suit as though he was waving cue cards.

“What do you want, Randy? What did I ever do to you, huh?”

“You’re breathing my air, you mutie-lovin’ scum.”

“Is that the best you can do, Randy? I mean here I am, being made to look like a girl by that damn drug, and I dressed as a girl for Halloween, and ‘I’m breathing your air’ is the best you can do! You’re pathetic.” Lee had been in a foul mood all day. When he got up this morning, during his daily inventory he’d discovered that his balls were for all intents and purposes gone and his little friend was getting littler and littler everyday.

But talking back to Randy and challenging his taunts was maybe not the brightest thing that Lee could have done. Randy was getting red in the face as he tried to decide if he’d just been insulted.

He decided he had. “Let’s see if we can’t mess up this pretty hair for you, faggot.” He grabbed a handful of mashed potatoes covered in greasy gravy off Lee’s plate and tried to smeared it into Lee’s hair.

Lee was as surprised as Randy when the greasy mass slid right off his hair and dropped to the floor, leaving it looking almost just like it did before. There were only a few traces caught in the strands. Lee reached up and ran his hand through his hair, pulling it back and looking at his practically clean hand in surprise.

“You _are_ a mutie,” Randy squeaked.

“No, it’s just another side effect of the drug,” Lee scrambled trying to cover this with his stock story.

“Bullcrap! You’re a g-ddamn mutie.” He and his buddies turned and all but ran from the room. Lee sighed, what was he going to do now? He decided he needed to talk to Coach, if he could catch him without a lot of people around.

————

Fifteen minutes later, Lee admitted defeat. Coach was nowhere to be found, so he decided to get to his algebra class before he was caught out in the hall without a pass. Going to his locker, he was gathering his books, when something hit him across the back of the head hard, slamming his face loudly into the metal locker. Lee staggered and turned in time to catch the next swing of the baseball bat Randy was wielding right across the side of his jaw. Two teeth went flying across the hall and blood sprayed from his mouth.

Three months earlier, those blows would have probably killed him, or at the very least put him in the hospital, now he was merely stunned, but not so stunned that he didn’t get his left arm up in Aikido blocking move before Randy could hit him in the face again. He heard and felt his ulna crack under the force of the blow. Randy was swinging the bat two handed as hard as he could. He drew back to swing again, but by this time Lee’s head was beginning to clear.

When the bat came around, Lee’s right hand flashed up in front of his face and caught the bat, yanking it from Randy’s astonished grip. Lee nearly hit Randy with the bat, but barely keeping his anger in check, he simply slung the bat across the hall hard against the cinderblock wall, breaking the handle off the bat and jamming the rest of the bat into the wall. He grabbed Randy by his shirt front and lifted him two feet into the air before lightly tossing him to the floor as he got control of himself.

By this time, the noise of the fight had brought teachers and students boiling out of the rooms on either side of the hall. A dozen students and Ms. Long looked daggers at him as he stood there with blood running from his mouth. The front of his shirt was covered in blood.

“What’s going on here?” Mr. Johnson yelled as he came out of the room.

Randy, of course, tried to put the blame on Lee. “This mutie scum attacked me with a baseball bat.” He pointed to the broken bat handle on the floor of the hall from the floor.

Mr. Johnson looked at both of them as blood ran down Lee’s chin and his jaw began swelling. “Is that so, Mr. Jenkins?

“Then how is it you don’t have a mark on you and Mr. Cook is covered in his own blood!” Lee broken jaw was swelling rapidly as was the arm he was cradling against his chest. Lee spat the remaining blood out of his mouth for dramatic effect. While the pain of his injuries was making him vaguely nauseous, his regen was kicking in. However, with bone injuries like these, it was going to take a while. The first blow to the back of his head was making him dizzy, and he was afraid he was going to pass out. He needed to get out of here before they decided to send him to the hospital.

“Mr. Cook, you need to get to the nurse’s office. Do you need help?”

Lee shook his head, causing his head to throb painfully. “I’d rather go to Coach, Mr. Johnson. He’s a certified EMT and has treated worse injuries than this for me at practice. I trust him.”

“I don’t know, Lee, that arm looks broken to me. I think you better sit down while I call for an ambulance.”

“No! I don’t want an ambulance. I want to go to Coach. Then if I need to go, he can send me.” He staggered a little as he tried to start down the hall.

Mr. Johnson looked skeptical as he grabbed Lee’s good arm to support him, looking into Lee’s eyes. He was afraid of the consequences if Lee was badly hurt. Finally, he relented, although if he had noticed the small amount of blood in Lee’s hair he might not have.

“Alright, but Coach was in the head office. You go to his office and I’ll have him sent there. Mr. Collins, and Mr. Leonard, would you two escort Mr. Cook to Coach’s office, and pick up those teeth, Mr. Collins,” pointing to the two teeth lying across the hall near the locker, “maybe they can be re-implanted. Ms. Jones, would you be so kind as to fetch Coach?”

————

Darn it, Lee didn’t want an escort. This day was just getting better and better. He sighed and started down the hall, staggering with dizziness from the blows to the head. Randy screamed after him, “You haven’t heard the end of this, Gene-scum!” He didn’t turn around.

I heard Mr. Johnson tear into Randy, “Mr. Jenkins, if you know what’s good for you, you will shut up and listen for a change. First off, Mr. Jenkins, we will not tolerate attacks on other students. You will be expelled! I am going to the principal, as well, and recommending that the school prefer charges of its own against you, no matter what charges Mr. Cook may decide to bring. I will recommend the school bring charges of assault with a deadly weapon. You will be lucky not to graduate high school in the Reformatory or prison.”

He raised his voice to the other students standing around. “We will not tolerate racial, ethnic or genetic slurs around this school, much less physical attacks. Do you understand me? I can promise you that this kind of bigotry will be dealt with most harshly.”

“Yeah, but that dudn’t apply to gene-scum like him.” Randy piped up and screamed at him. “My dad says you have to be human to have rights, and that mutie ain’t human!”

Mr. Johnson was getting red in the face as he replied “Under the law, Mr. Cook is every bit as human as you are and has the same rights as you even if he is a mutant. Which hasn’t been confirmed to my knowledge.”

“You people, who think you’re better than everyone else, make me sick and if I have anything to say about it, you will face criminal charges, and maybe civil rights violations.” Lee glanced back, but only saw a belligerent look on Randy’s face.

He heard “Do you know who my father is? He has the sheriff’s wrecker contract and they are good friends, and they both hate these mutie scum. So you call the f—in’ law, I’ll be out in time for dinner, and we know what to do to mutie-lover’s like you!”

“In that case, Mr. Jenkins, maybe I’ll just recommend that we call the state troopers, since you think that the local law enforcement may be prejudiced!” He heard this just as they turned a corner and the voices went out range, even of Lee’s hearing.

“You’re looking a little better than you did,” Collins said as they continued down the hall. “I thought you were dead for sure when he hit you with that bat. You sure you’re not a mutant?”

“I wish!” Lee replied, and laughed; that being the only thing he could think of to say.

“Except for the teeth, he didn’t really didn’t hurt me all that bad, although I have to say that my head and mouth hurt like a bitch,” Lee equivocated. “Randy’s an a-hole and a wimp. Bastard can’t even swing a bat right.” His words were slurred due to the missing teeth and the swelling in his jaw. Fortunately they were now just outside the gym.

“Well, hope you’re not hurt too bad, but we’d better get back to class.” Jeff said handing Lee his own teeth. Fred looked at him for a moment and smiled. That smile worried Lee.

“Yeah, I’ll be alright, but my folks are going to be pissed about the dental bill.” Lee deliberately slurred his words even more though he could feel the swelling on his jaw easing.

Jeff waved as he went into the gym. Fred suddenly came back, and followed Lee into the the gym.

“It’s okay, you know. Being mutant, I mean. My cousin in Houston can do all sorts of cool stuff.” He said with a smile.

“But I’m not …”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s the drug. I understand. I’m just saying if you were to be a mutant, it’s not necessarily the end of the world. If you ever, you know, just want to talk, I won’t tell anyone. Anyway, good luck.” He stuck out his hand and when Lee shook it with his good right arm, he grinned again and left the gym whistling. Lee groaned both from the pain and from the weight of having another person suspecting his secrets. At this rate, he might as well take out an ad in the local paper.

Coach showed up a couple of minutes later. After Lee told him the whole sorry story, Coach sprayed his jaw and arm with an athletic cryo-spray to ease the pain, then wrapped his arm with a splint to keep the bone from moving until it began healing. They decided that he needed to quickly go home before anyone else saw how fast he was healing. Mom showed up about fifteen minutes later parking just outside the gym door.

To say she was upset was a gross understatement, but agreed with the coach that Lee needed to get out of there quickly before someone from the principal’s office or the police showed up to take a statement from him or worse yet pictures. Between them, they decided that Lee wouldn’t come back to school until after Thanksgiving break by which time he could reasonably be mostly healed. Coach said he thought Lee’s broken bones and teeth would regenerate in two or three days. His head was still throbbing when he got home, and he went straight up to bed. Goldenclaw leaped onto the bed and laid against his back and began purring. The pain almost instantly eased and Lee fell asleep.

When he woke, Goldenclaw was sitting with her front paws on his chest, looking down at him. I should have been with you. I could have stopped him!

Lee hugged her to him and gently slipped those heavy feet to the mattress. “I know you could, but it would just have made matters worse. When we get to Whateley it will be different.” Lee hoped that would be true. Here was getting very uncomfortable.

————

The long break was just what he needed. The last few weeks had been so stressful that he was glad for a chance not to have to pretend for a while. Jim came over after school that afternoon and marvelled at how fast Lee was healing.

He about had kittens himself when Lee told Goldenclaw to show herself. The three of them played in the backyard for almost an hour. Goldenclaw was incredibly playful and thought Lee’s laser pointer was the greatest thing ever. Then they played video games until dinnertime. She was greatly put out that pouncing the screen did not yield the desired results.

After dinner, they had sat in Lee’s room just talking for an hour. Cussing Randy, who did get expelled, but as of the end of the day still hadn’t been charged. Apparently, since it was his word against Lee’s and Lee wasn’t there to give a statement, he had created enough doubt to prevent charges at least for now.

Lee noticed that Jim was sitting kinda close on the bed, but didn’t think much of it, although it made him feel a little —shy? It was strange, but he didn’t move away from him either.

The good news was Lee wasn’t the only one going to Whateley. Jim was enrolled in spring semester. That made Lee very excited, and happy. He would know someone when Jim got there. Deep down though there was more to it than that, but Lee wasn’t ready to look at that too close just yet.

On Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Lee made a quick last trip to Doc’s lab. Coach was afraid that someone who saw the fight; or worse Randy or his dad would call the MCO, so they wanted to get his MID finalized. Doc had his friend from the DPA back there again to provide oversight and to countersign his MID.

The only changes were altering his codename to Terra, and adding a Familiar under techniques. Coach and Cantrip thought he should wait about adding Paladin to his list of powers.

Both of his sisters were there and tested positive for the full set of meta-genes, but Doc said it was anybody’s guess as to whether or not they would manifest. His parents were naturally stressed by the possibility after Lee’s experiences.

————

Grandpa and Mamaw came for Thanksgiving and they all had a great time, although after seeing how much Lee’d changed after the last session with Cantrip, Mamaw and Mom decided it was time to go to Cookeville to take advantage of the Black Friday sales to get him clothes that fit. Of course, they also took Beth and Eve along, saying they needed clothes too.

It was a long drive to Cookeville, but in spite of his misgivings and the mortifying process of getting sized for a bra (a 34A! Amanda only wore a 34B!), Lee actually found himself enjoying shopping, at least most of it.

Eve got entirely too much pleasure helping him select lingerie. Lee wanted to stick with boy’s underwear since he told them he still hadn’t completed his change. His mother then proceeded to humiliate him beyond words as she took him into the change room to examine the extent of this change. After seeing that his penis was barely larger than a toddler’s and his scrotum was essentially non-existent, she determined that it was time to switch to women’s lingerie, much to Eve’s delight and Lee’s utter humiliation.

What was worse was none of them would let him get away with just the very plain ones he wanted to buy. Eve and Beth selected several sets of frilly bras and panties in a variety of colors and manufacturers. Eve went with him into the dressing room in spite of his protests, and a few misgivings on his mother’s part. After seeing Lee was near to tears, Eve sent the others away.

“Lee, I know this is difficult for you. Heck, it was difficult for me the first time and I’ve always been a girl, I can only imagine what it must be like for you.” She reached up and rubbed Lee’s cheek. “There’s an old Chinese proverb I don’t remember very well, but the gist is about reeds bending in the wind rather than breaking like the tree that tries to fight it. You have to learn to bend. You think this is hard now because you think you are still a boy, but you’re not, not really. You are like a caterpillar in a cocoon, hiding from the world as you change. Soon you will be a butterfly, but if you don’t learn to bend now, it won’t be easier then, it will be harder, because you won’t be able to hide behind the excuse that you are still a boy. If that happens, you might break. You’re my — sister, — Leah, who I love just as much as I did my brother Lee and I don’t want to lose you.”

Eve grabbed Lee in a hug and held on until she felt him relax in her arms. She could hear him softly crying as she held him for what seemed like forever, then he sniffed a couple of times and straightened up, smiling through his tear-stained face. Eve took a tissue from her purse and wiped his face.

Lee hugged her again. “You know I can’t get through this without you; you, Beth, Mom and Dad. I don’t know who I am anymore in here,” pointing at his head and heart, “but then you guys show me that I’m still a part of ‘us’. You have no idea how important that is to me right now!”

“You will always be a part of us.” She reached out and stroked his smooth cheek.

Now,” she said, with an slightly evil grin, “Try this one on for size,” handing me a bright red lacy bra.

Lee grimaced, but struggled into it. He had to admit to himself that it actually felt pretty good, and while his boobs were small, they were starting to jiggle a bit, But the best thing about it, was it eased the confounded itching of his nipples when he put his shirt back on over to see how it looked. Having found one that fit, he didn’t understand why he needed to try on all the other 25 or 30 they had brought. Eve just laughed and said he would see. See he did, as most of them, although they were supposedly all the same size, didn’t fit.

He ended up with five sets, two white, one red (Eve insisted on that one), a black one and one that was called nude. Even after they explained it, Lee still didn’t understand why women’s clothes couldn’t be like men’s where you found the right size and then just bought that size. Bend like the reed, he thought after trying on the fifteenth or twentieth bra. After the fitting ordeal, the others relented and let him get a dozen pairs of cotton boy-cut panties.

The rest of the day went by a little easier with him balking from time to time as they buried him in blouses, crop tops, halter tops, women’s slacks, capri pants, skirts, dresses, 50 kinds of shoes, 20 kinds of socks, stockings, and pantyhose, and all of the other myriad accouterments of feminine attire. He spent a lot of that day reminding himself to bend, when what he wanted to do was scream.

Mamaw paid for everything. Lee knew Grandpa was loaded, but he was just beginning to realize just how loaded he was. Lee knew he had operated his own high tech retail chain and had sold it a few years ago. It took the store clerk, where they bought most of their haul, three trips to carry it all to the SUV.

The strangest thing was he couldn’t believe he had actually enjoyed shopping and trying on clothes. They had even strong-armed him into a couple of simple knee-length dresses and skirts, that Mom said he would need for church and other dress up occasions. But to tell the truth he liked how they looked and felt. He felt sort of light and free in them. Lee was definitely going to have to talk to his shrink about that.

The new bra felt strange but oddly comforting under his shirt, which he was informed he now should call a blouse. ‘I guess I’ve officially gone over to the dark side’, he thought, even though he was not yet completely a girl.

Once they got back, the grandparents decided they needed to get home to take care of a few things, but assured him they would be back the first of the week. Eve and Beth were going home with them for the weekend. Later he would be glad they went, otherwise, they would probably have been with Mom and him on Saturday.

————

His Mom and Lee were going back to Cookeville to return some things on Saturday that they decided either didn’t fit properly or were things that she was afraid he would grow out of too quickly to be worth keeping. It was kinda cool spending some quality time with just him and his Mom.

Things were becoming more awkward around his Dad. Lee knew he still loved him, but didn’t think his Dad was quite ready to cope with the new Leah. He tried, but it wasn’t the same, even if (or maybe because) of how strong he was now. It created a dichotomy that his dad was having a hard time reconciling. He had been stunned as Lee lifted the front of the car effortlessly, so Tom could change a tire, yet this was the child who was becoming his daughter.

Unfortunately, the trip also gave his mom the opportunity to give him _The Dreaded Talk_ for girls. He had already had the one for boy’s from dad, and he was expecting something similar, but the one for girls was quite a bit different and more than a little scary. Lee had never had to think about periods except as a way to tease his sister, (uh oh! Payback could be hell!) and had never even thought about the possibility of pregnancy. Suddenly, he realized when he became Leah, the health classes would take on a whole new meaning.

He was very quiet after that as he considered the possibility of actually having a baby inside him (her). It changed Lee’s entire outlook on becoming a girl.

Even with this, he and his mom still were still having fun. He hadn’t spent any real quality time with Mom in years; a lot of time with Dad, but not Mom.

They were winding their way up the side of the Cumberland Plateau on steep twisting Highway 70. Mom preferred it to the interstate. Most of the fall leaves were gone, but it was still pretty.

His mom was explaining woman to woman social relations. Boy, talk about complex, Lee thought it a wonder that any woman spoke to another one. Things a guy wouldn’t give a second thought to, are big deals between women. He was learning that he would have to learn to watch what he said, if he wanted to have any ‘girl’ friends. He also learned that girls are not necessarily the delicate creatures that boys thought they were. Their conversations, even with his mom, got quite raw by guy standards.

Girls seem to be much more emotionally oriented creatures than boys, that much was obvious. Partially that was due to the hormonal soup that flows through their veins as he was already learning from experience, and partially, Mom said, she thought it was because most men were not by nature monogamous, and therefore, women tended to be more emotionally protective of their boyfriends, husbands and families.

They also talked about how much more difficult and important female hygiene was. Wow, he had never known that female plumbing was so complicated and prone to infections. Fortunately, his regen powers would protect him from a lot of the problems most girls had to deal with routinely. His mom emphasized that he would still need to be careful, if he didn’t want embarrassing odors. Unfortunately, having a period was probably not one of the things his regen would prevent. After his mom’s descriptions of the process and what he would need to do, he shuddered at the thought of that coming initiation into womanhood.

————

Lee and his mother were so busy talking as they neared the top of the plateau, neither of them paid any attention to the heavy older model wrecker truck idling, half hidden in one of the brushy turnouts just east of where Highway 70 began its descent down the steep eastern slope of the Cumberland Plateau. Across from it was a place to park at a scenic overlook. As they came abreast of it, the truck suddenly accelerated out of the underbrush and rammed them right in the passenger side door. The air bags blew into their chests and faces. The last thing Lee remembered clearly was the sound of crumpling metal and being showered with glass from the window beside him.

Lee suddenly found himself back in Avalon, but this time it was different. Rain fell in sheets and violent winds whipped the trees and bushes. Thunder and lightning crashed overhead.The small waterfalls were now raging torrents and storm clouds roiled overhead. All the animals and birds were scurrying about as if in some demented flight from who-knows-what horrors.

Lee started toward the great Henge, but was surprised to see Danu running toward him, her countenance terrible to behold. “What’s wron….”

“Lee,” she interrupted, her voice like the rumbling of an avalanche, “You must return to your world. You have been attacked and both you and your mother are or will be badly hurt. You will live and heal, but your mother will not survive without your help, and you will need her and her guidance now more than ever.”

“How can I help her?” He was really frightened. “Wait, I thought I was too tough to be hurt bad!”

“Lee, you will become much tougher as you develop, but for now, you can be hurt.

“As you grow in power and experience, I can show you new ways to use your power. You have developed much in the last few weeks, enough that I can show you how to use your power to heal others.” She grabbed his forearm tightly, under the palm of her hand, it burned like a red hot poker pressed against his skin. When she removed her hand a small strange neon green caduceus shaped tattoo about an inch long glowed on the inside of Lee’s arm where she had touched him. He realized at the same time that knowledge of how to use it had been imprinted in his mind.

“You now know how to use your power to heal others besides yourself, but you must it use cautiously. Much of the essence you will use to heal others will necessarily include some of your own life essence to shape and transform it. You can easily cause yourself great injury, possibly irreparable damage, if you use too much. It will also slow your own ability to regenerate.

“One day you will command enough essence to heal a army of soldiers and not notice it or to heal great environmental wrongs in the world, but for now your reserve of essence is very limited, use it wisely and know when to stop.” She took Lee by the hands and stared into his/her emerald eyes. “Use your own essence only when you must, and draw on the essence of the world as much as you can. Do you understand? Know too, that using any magic, especially personal magic, comes with a cost. Use it sparingly and with knowledge of the price to be paid.”

Lee shook his head numbly, and mumbled a promise be careful. Lee had questions, but before he could ask, Danu took him by the shoulders and shoved.

“Now go!” She thundered as she mentally, as much as physically shoved him back into his world. “and from now on, keep Goldenclaw with you at all times!”

————

The tumult of the disturbed Avalon faded and was replaced by the sounds of breaking glass and tearing of metal of the wreck which was still in progress.

He knew he could use some the essence around him to accelerate his body to move much faster and dodge some of the flying debris of the crash. But even as the magic flowed and time was just beginning to slow for Lee, he watched as shards of shattered window glass floated into his face and bounced off his toughened skin. His eyes were not as tough though, and he watched helpless as one relatively small shard of glass came straight at his right eye. The vision in that eye became blurred and red with blood as the shard pierced his eye before he could move. His body finally accelerated to full speed. He moved instinctively to dodge the larger pieces of flying metal and glass, but even as he turned to dodge a foot-long jagged shard of the doorframe, he saw that by avoiding it, it continued on to pierce his mother just below her breast. Blood stained her blouse and fountained in slow motion from her mouth, and nose as the shard pierced her lung and liver.

His fear, which had caused him to dodge that that particular piece of debris, made him realize too late that he could see every probability and the outcome of every event going on around him and every action he could make to alter them. For most events, any actions he could take would not affect the outcome, some made the results worse, but a few improved things - especially for his mother. Truthfully, after seeing that injury to his mom, he was more interested in preventing more injury to her so that he ignored most events concerning himself, counting on the toughness of his skin and body to minimize the damage.

Without warning, a possible event separated itself from all the multiple possibilities he was seeing, and he knew that his mom’s head was about to hit the door post as the SUV rolled over, and when it did her skull would be shattered. With right hand moving at blinding speed, Lee used his strength to tear the seatbelt restraining him from its moorings, and leaned over to cup his left hand around his mother’s head to cushion it in the milliseconds before it hit the metal post. A part of his mind saw the crushing blows that would come to him as a result of his action, but he didn’t hesitate. The impact of her head mashed Lee’s fingers between it and the metal post, breaking several bones, but the shattering blow to her skull was avoided. There was still a series of a sickening cracks as her left shoulder and upper arm impacted the door frame and the scapula was driven into the side of her spine, where there was a final sickening crack as one of her vertebrae was fractured by the displaced scapula.

As the SUV continued to roll, the now unsecured Lee was thrown around the front seat. Then the dash broke loose and came crashing down on his extended leg. Tough as his body was now, he wouldn’t escape injury. He felt and heard his left leg break in two places and his knee dislocated when the dash collapsed onto it. His left wrist was fractured by the momentum of his body as the dash drove him into the post of the door as he tried to keep his body from impacting against his mother’s. He was thrown back to the front of the cab where his face where his head hit the still intact windshield breaking the nose and flattening his face. Both maxillary sinuses were also smashed and the window exploded outward. The SUV continued its roll throwing him back into the door on his side. More bones cracked like rifle shots, this time in his ribs.

When the vehicle came to rest, miraculously upright, it was entangled with the mutilated guardrail separating them from the edge of the Cumberland Plateau. That was not to last.

Lee’s mother was bleeding profusely from her mouth, nose and chest, caused by the metal splinter which had severed several major blood vessels. Lee discovered that with his new power to heal came new senses showing him the damage to both his and his mother’s body. Her spinal cord was partially severed by a broken vertebrae. He knew that she was paralyzed from the chest down. That, at least, was sparing her temporarily some of the pain that would be undoubtably sending her more quickly into shock. A steady spurt of blood shot out of her left arm from a compound fracture of her humerus. Blood ran from several other cuts on her stomach and legs. Miraculously, she was still conscious.

———

Kathleen dazedly looked toward Lee and beyond him saw the wrecker that had hit them as the driver threw it into low and slowly began to shove them through the mangled guardrail and over the edge of the precipice. As Kathleen felt the SUV begin to tip over the edge, the wrecker was suddenly thrown into reverse, turned and sped off down the deserted road, but not before she saw the Jenkins Wrecker Service logo on its door. It was the last thing she saw before the loss of blood, and the injuries to her head, robbed her of consciousness.

———

The battered vehicle bounced and rolled for about a hundred feet down the critically steep slope before coming to rest on its side against a buckeye tree growing out of a crevice in the rock, where it teetered perilously. Only the shallowly rooted ten inch tree separated them from a drop of several hundred feet down the side of the plateau.

Lee was in a misshapen pile half under the dash, incredibly still mostly conscious. He took stock of his injuries as much to take his mind off his pain as anything else at this point. His left leg was bent in at least two impossible places. Every breath was a new experience in pain as his broken ribs grated against each other. Blood covered his face from his right eye which was a mangled pulp. He could feel the shards of glass grinding together as his eyelid worked futilely to rid his eye of the foreign matter. When he coughed, blood filled his mouth, and he knew at least one of the ribs had pieced the lung.

The wrist and fingers of his left hand were bent at unnatural angles and swelling rapidly. Suddenly he heard gurgling as his mother tried to breath with at least one punctured lung. This forced Lee try to pull his consciousness together. His mother needed his help.

It took several moments for Lee to return to full consciousness. He knew he had at least a concussion. He couldn’t see out of his right eye, and what he could see out of his left wasn’t good.

He could see his mother and the obvious injuries she had and knew that if he couldn’t help her in the next few minutes, she would die. But before he could help her, he had to improvise some repairs to himself.

With a skill he didn’t know he had he used his magic to move the penetrating rib and stop the bleeding. The most immediate threat dealt with, as he steeled himself against the pain, Lee began straightening his twisted limbs with his miraculously unbroken right arm. Screaming in pain, he pulled and straightened the ruin of his left wrist and hand.

Reaching out of the shattered window, Lee grabbed a torn corner of the thin sheet metal on the door and peeled a foot long, eight inch wide strip from the side of the car door with his uninjured right hand. His strength peeled it off like it was aluminum foil. Gritting his teeth until chips were flaked from the edges, he carefully folded the metal around his arm and hand splinting the wrist and fingers. The sharp edges should have sliced him to ribbons, but only one particularly keen point pierced his toughened skin and brought a single drop of blood.

Straightening and splinting the leg was much more difficult and painful, making him dizzy with pain as he manipulated his leg. His right eye was an oozing bloody mess, but there was nothing he could do about it. He also knew he had other serious injuries, but they would have to wait. Wiping the splattered blood from his good eye with his uninjured forearm, Lee used a small amount of his essence to dull his pain. He knew he could not spare much more essence, and still save his mother’s life.

Twisting in his seat, he placed his back against the center console, and using his good leg, he kicked the door. The force ripped it from its hinges and sent it flying a couple of hundred feet into the woods. The car rocked precariously, but he didn’t have time to be delicate about it. Turning and bracing his splinted leg against the console base, he stood on the side of the console. Gritting his teeth again against the pain, he was only able to stand on his broken leg by means of his improvised splint, the grating ends of the bones sent waves of nausea through him.

He bent over, gasping again in new pain caused by his broken ribs, and gently disengaged his mom’s seatbelt. Extending his new senses, he probed his mother’s broken body and gasped in horror. Her organs were shutting down from blood loss. She would be dead in minutes.

She had lost at least a third of her blood volume, and even though it was slowing as her blood pressure dropped, the on-going blood loss was critical. Only partially conscious and not knowing for sure what he was doing, he began to work by instinct and intuition.

Lee knew the internal loss of blood was the most critical thing. He grasped the metal splinter protruding from her side and pulled it out, even as he drew on his own life essence and blended it with the ambient essence to knit her savaged tissues as he withdrew it. It was both easier and infinitely more difficult than he had expected.

Probing with his new senses at the cellular level, he realized that he could encourage her own body to direct a lot of the work, if he provided the energy. That would make his job much easier. Reaching deep, he could feel triggers in her genetic code that when activated would enable her to use his energy as he sent it to her to rebuild her ravaged tissues and blood vessels. Without considering the potential consequences, he activated the genes.

This made it unnecessary for him to fix the smaller structures and blood vessels, especially, since he had only the most rudimentary knowledge of anatomy. They began healing as he poured bio-essence into her and her body did the work.

As soon as the bleeding in her critical organs stopped, he turned to the compound fracture of the arm and the weakening arterial spray. Plunging his fingers into the wound, he pulled the bones back into place. Drawing still more energy from himself, he blended it with what he could gather, and guided it to where it was needed. Her body immediately sealed the edges of the ruptured artery. It was getting easier as her own body took the energies he provided and used them with minimal direction. But when it started to heal the broken bones, he cut off the flow of essence realizing he had no more to spare, not now!

Sensing his own impending loss of consciousness, Lee leaned against the twisted steering wheel and rested, gathering and renewing what energies he could muster. He knew he had two more critical tasks that had to be done, if his mother was to ever be whole again.

He screamed again in pain as he wrapped his broken arm around her waist and then grabbing her neck in his good hand, he gently used his great strength to stretch her spine until he sensed the bones slip back into place. He once again drew on his rapidly dwindling store of life essence. Probing his own undamaged spine for a pattern, then he used gentle tendrils of magical force to begin to realign the nerve fibers with a delicacy no surgeon could match. He watched then as her internal blueprint joined outraged nerves back together on a sub-cellular level. Once the critical neural damage was repaired, he caused microscopic nodules of calcium phosphate to precipitate from her blood and fuse into the gap in the broken vertebrae. Still more nodules filtered into and reinforced smaller cracks in that and other damaged spinal bones, and finally a last wave stabilized the fractured arm, at least temporarily. With his dwindling reserve of energy, he mentally and physically nudged her scapula, and other shattered bones in the shoulder back into approximately the correct place. He had no energy to spare to stabilize them. Finally, he used what he sensed was the last energy he could spare to stimulate the blood-forming stem cells in the undamaged areas of her bone marrow to begin rapidly rebuilding her red blood count.

He knew that there was much more that needed to be done, but he also knew he had no more to give. Sliding his phone from his jacket pocket, he punched the first number on the speed dial. When Jim answered, he heard weakly “Help! — Pushed. Over. Cliff. — Get. Daaaaddd.”, as Lee slid into unconsciousness, an unconsciousness so deep that he couldn’t even project into Avalon to regenerate his essence.

————

From Avalon, Danu smiled with satisfaction and then frowned with concern. Through her connection to the planet and through Lee to every living creature that walked or crawled on it, she had watched as Lee sacrificed so much of his life force to save his mother.

He could have used some of that essence to heal himself and saved himself much pain, and for all he knew death. But his only thought was for healing her and thought he would have been unable to heal much of the damage to his mother, if he used it for himself. He had thought, at the very least, she would have been paralyzed.

Danu wondered if Lee knew that by stimulating those genes in her body, he had done far more than heal her. She doubted it. She also wondered if he knew the consequences for himself.

She knew of sacrifice from first-hand experience and was pleased with her newest child’s selflessness. She also knew he had depleted himself much too far, and she would not allow one with such promise to be damaged beyond repair by that courage. She reached out and drew a deer from the forest near to the teetering wreckage. Exerting her meager free forces, she drew forth the life essence of the deer and used it to replenish a small portion of Lee’s, then blessing the spirit of deer she drew it to her to cherish.

————

Jim stared at his phone. He knew it was Lee, but Lee had not responded when Jim tried to find out what was wrong. Thinking quickly, Jim did not hang up his phone. He and Lee had jokingly put a GPS tracking app on each other’s phone some months before. As long as there was an active link between the phones, they could track each other. Right now, it showed Lee on state Highway 70 near Rockwood. Hopefully, Lee’s phone was fully charged.

Jim called Lee’s father and then Coach. Lee had told Jim that Coach knew about his mutation and would help. His new senses were telling him that he needed all the help he could get. By stretching his psychic link with Lee to its limit, he could feel that Lee was in bad trouble, maybe dying. It was hard to tell. The only thing he knew for sure was that Lee’s life force was very, very weak.

Jim called 911 giving them the GPS coordinates from the phone. The emergency response people said they had no reports of an accident in that area, but they would dispatch a police car to check that area as soon as one was available.

Tom was rummaging through the piles of gear in his garage by the time Coach and Jim arrived, tossing out bights of rope, other rock climbing gear, picks, axes and anything else he thought they might have a use for. Jim and Coach quickly started loading the gear into Coach’s 4x4.

Within minutes, they were traveling as swiftly as they dared out I-40 toward Rockwood. From the GPS location on Jim’s phone, they knew that Lee and his mother were not on I-40, which was not surprising given that Lee’s mother hated driving on the interstate. As near at they could figure, Lee and his mother were just west of Rockwood somewhere near the Mount Roosevelt escarpment on or near US Highway 70.

They passed the scene of the wreck twice before Jim noticed the scrapes in the gravel at the edge of the road and the twisted gap in the guardrail. Standing at the edge of the overlook, they could see the blue SUV balanced precariously against the slender tree which was slowly bending even as they watched.

Coach threw open the rear door of the SUV and started tossing the bights of rope and other rock-climbing gear out. Tom and Jim began to put on their climbing harnesses. Coach, meanwhile was on the phone to emergency services, describing the accident scene and location. He was told that the state trooper was less than 10 minutes away on a different road.

As soon as he was finished Coach turned to them and asked, “What can I do? I’m not much use rock-climbing. I’m acrophobic, but I can do anything else.”

Tom, his face torn with worry, began unwrapping one of the bights of rope and after tying off one end to a guardrail post, tossed the rest down the mountain. Jim was doing the same on the other side.

“Don’t worry about it. I used to take Lee, Jim and Chuck rock-climbing all the time. Don’t know why we stopped really. You can belay us and watch for emergency support.”

Tom and Jim stood near the edge adjusting their gear and looking at the wreck below them. “I don’t like the way they’re balanced. One wrong move and they could go over the cliff. We better take the hand winches to tie it off,” Tom said. Jim nodded in agreement. Strapping the winches to their backpacks, they began backing down the very steep slope. A shower of small rocks and gravel rained onto the vehicle below. One head-sized rock struck the front of the vehicle causing it to rock alarmingly. They could see the occupants were both obviously unconscious or worse.

Keeping to a deliberate pace that was nerve wracking slow, they stopped about fifteen feet above the teetering vehicle. Looking around, Tom indicated that Jim should anchor his winch to a small but strong Maple tree to his left, while Tom did the same to an oak on his right. The winches now secured, they carefully made their way to the vehicle. The shallow roots of tree the vehicle was resting against were slowly giving way. They could hear them popping and cracking. The slightest touch now was enough to cause the finely balanced SUV to sway perilously. Dislodged rocks clattered down the steep bare slope below to drop over the edge of the cliff, clattering faintly long seconds later. Dangling almost upside-down, Tom reached under the SUV and secured the hook around the front axle, while Jim did the same to a convenient towing hitch at the rear of the vehicle.

“Alright easy.” Tom said as he began carefully worked the cranking levers. “Take the strain evenly between them. Easy, easy.” Finally, the cables were taut and the roots of the tree stopped cracking and things began to stabilize. “There, that’s good. Lock it off.”

About the time the car was secured, they could hear a police siren in the distance coming up the plateau. Reaching in through the missing door, Tom felt for a pulse on Lee’s neck. To his relief, he found one. “He’s alive. His pulse is weak and thready, but it’s there.”

“There’s an awful lot blood on Lee, and somehow some of the metal has gotten twisted around Lee’s arm and leg.” Jim nearly vomited at the sight of Lee’s ruined right eye. “It looks like Lee’s right eye may be gone. I can’t tell. There’s so much blood on his face.”

He couldn’t know that most of the blood on Lee was his mother’s. He was just glad Lee was alive. They had always been friends, but in the last few weeks that relationship was deepening. Into what, Jim didn’t know, but he did know that Lee was becoming much more than a friend, maybe, a brother? Sister? Maybe something more. It was all so confusing. For now, his sense of relief was beyond description.

Tom, too, was sickened at the sight of Lee’s injuries. “It doesn’t matter now, Lee’s alive. We can worry about fixing things later.” Tom looked across Lee at his wife and gasped. She was even more soaked in blood, with some still seeping from wounds in her chest and arm. There was evidence of half- healed wounds all over her body. He looked hard at her chest. It moved! She was still breathing. He breathed his own sigh of relief. “She’s alive. At least for now, but it looks like she’s hurt real bad, maybe even worse than Lee.”

————

It was among the worst accident scenes that rookie State Trooper Fred Stanley had ever investigated. It was immediately obvious that more than one vehicle had been involved, but there was only one still at the scene, and it was demolished. There weren’t even many fragments from the other vehicle, but he immediately recognized an odd light among the debris on the highway. He had seen those lights at many accident scenes, - attached to the bumpers of tow trucks. He quickly photographed the light where it lay with his phone and slipped it into an evidence bag. There would be time to complete the documentation of the scene later, but he wanted to make sure he got that piece before it could get moved. Something wasn’t right.

After tying off, he rappelled his way down the steep slope, to where Tom and Jim were working to further secure the vehicle. A third winch had been secured around the door post. Officer Stanley was impressed at the professional way the vehicle had been stabilized. Without it, emergency personnel would probably not have been able to get to the victims until a wrecker arrived.

Officer Stanley worked his way carefully down. From a glance at the two victims and the amount of blood, he assumed they were most likely dead, but the man who said he was husband of one of the victims and the father of the other assured him that they were alive. Conscientious public servant that he was, he risked crawling onto the SUV and fought losing his lunch to confirm the life signs for the two victims. To his everlasting surprise, the two mangled bodies were both not only alive, but the woman was beginning to show signs of consciousness. Getting on this lapel mike, he called for additional backup and an emergency medical air ambulance. He then went back to see if he could help either of them.

It wasn’t until he started looking beyond whether they were alive or dead that Officer Stanley realized Lee’s limbs were crudely but effectively splinted, though in a very odd manner. The woman’s wounds showed signs of healing, although they were obviously fresh wounds. These were no ordinary accident victims. One or both must be mutants, he thought. Either that or one of these people claiming to be friends and family were. Given that fact, he was even more sure that this was no accident. He had seen enough mutant hate crimes to have few illusions.

Most of his fellow officers would have immediately called the MCO, but Fred had called them on another “accident” case a few months before. The MCO agents were very polite and seemed to be very concerned about the victim. Saying that they needed to take her for specialized care, they had loaded her into a convenient MCO dropship and whisked her away.

Officer Stanley had tried to follow up with the MCO on the victim the next day, but was told that the MCO had treated the mutant and released her. Needing more information for his report, Fred had tried to track her down to no avail. No one had seen the girl since she had been loaded into the dropship.

He had put out an All Points Bulletin on the missing girl, only to have his Captain call him into his office when he returned to his station and tell him that he had withdrawn the APB. When Fred asked if she had been found, the Captain had gotten red in the face and told him if he wanted to continue as a Tennessee State Trooper, he would do as he was told and stop asking questions.

Ten days later, a corpse had shown up in the morgue matching the description of Fred’s missing mutant. The girl’s body was mutilated and the cause of death was listed as an animal attack, but Fred knew of no animals that left burn marks like those of a cattle prod, or knife wounds in their victims. Now cautious, Fred tried the next day to get some information from a friend of his that worked in the Coroner’s office, only to be told that the body had been cremated and the files on the case were “lost”. His friend did give him one piece of friendly information, Fred’s Captain was a member in the local chapter of Humanity First.

So this time, he didn’t call the MCO, instead talking into his personal cellphone, ‘a burn phone’, he called air traffic control and asked to be patched through to the incoming air ambulance.

“AirGuard Flight 201, this is Officer Fred Stanley of the State Highway Patrol. I’ve got two severely injured accident victims. I’m afraid they might not survive if taken ANYWHERE else so I need them air lifted direct to UT Hospital, ASAP, regardless of any other orders. Do you read me? Over.”

The pilot of the air ambulance was a drinking buddy. He had a cousin who was ‘disappeared’ by the MCO and he understand immediately.

“Roger that. Will get them there ASAP with no other stops. Over and out, good buddy.”

Fred then called the DPA headquarters in Nashville and gave them a quick rundown. “I suspect that H-1 may have been involved in this, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the MCO is not inbound. Can you assist?”

“Roger. We have a small drop ship getting ready to lift off any minute. Will divert them to your 20. Any other assistance needed?”

“Negative. Just get here ahead of those MCO bastards.”

“Will do our best. Over and out.”

Fred next called ahead and alerted an ER trauma doctor at UT Hospital that he knew was not bigoted against mutants that they were inbound so he would be in the ER.

The DPA drop ship arrived four minutes ahead of the MCO.

MCO agent McAllister was annoyed at the presence of the DPA. After demanding to see Lee’s MID, Agent McAllister said that since his MID was just issued, and since a civilian had been injured in the accident, they felt it was imperative that they take Lee for further testing at their center, after treating his injuries, of course.

Agent Landers of the DPA told him that wouldn’t be necessary since the MID in question was issued by one of their testing agents, the DPA would be able to follow up on any additional required testing that might be needed. It was also pointed out that Lee’s powers had no bearing on the accident. The MCO agent then tried to say it was possible that his powers had caused the accident, since no other car was evident.

When Agent Landers asked the MCO how they had even heard of this accident, their answer had been a tip from a concerned citizen. Officer Stanley immediately broke in, “as the duly appointed law enforcement officer investigating this accident, I have to insist that you turn over the identity of this concerned citizen, as ‘this concerned citizen’ is at least a potential witness and/or possibly the prime suspect in a hit and run accident. As no other vehicles stopped or even called in the accident until the victims’ family arrived, they are at least material witnesses.”

At this point, the MCO agent began arrogantly citing various treaty clauses that (in most countries) allowed them to maintain confidentiality of their informants. They also allowed them to take dangerous mutants who had been involved in the injury of a civilian in for further evaluation.

At this point, the DPA agent pulled out his copy of the treaty. “Your treaty in the United States limits the MCO’s jurisdiction to detain mutants. It was amended three months ago to restrict it to those cases involving imminent danger or when requested to do so by the local, state, or Federal authorities. Can you give me the name of the authority who authorized the detention? Just for my report, you understand.”

The MCO agents face turned a bright shade of puce. “We were called by a member of a local mutant watchdog group, which in my opinion constitutes such a request.”

“I understand. I assume that this member, under the terms of your treaty, was a sheriff’s deputy then or a member of some other law enforcement agency? In which case, they are required by law to present their testimony regarding the incident.”

The MCO muttered something.

“What was that? I didn’t quite catch it.”

“I don’t know,” he all but shouted.

“In that case, I can’t see that you have any authority to take anyone,” Agent Landers replied. “You should be well aware that the Federal government does not recognize any of the so-called watchdog groups as having authority to request such assistance. In fact, the only locally active groups of that nature in the area are Humanity First and a local extremist religious group, both of whom are, in fact, under investigation by Homeland Security as domestic terrorist groups. The MCO wouldn’t be supporting a terrorist group, now would they? Therefore, per section 1127.54c of your treaty, you will want to cooperate with State Trooper Stanley by giving him the name of your informant.”

“I don’t think I actually got a name,” Agent McAllister prevaricated. After a heated discussion, involving more citations of treaty clauses about jurisdiction and rights under the MCO treaty to maintain confidentiality of informants, the angry MCO agents loaded up in their drop ship and left without providing any of the requested information, not even the names of their other agents.

Once the air ambulance arrived and the EMTs extracted Lee and his mother, the DPA drop ship decided to accompany them to ensure that no attempts were made to remove Lee from the Ambulance upon arrival or during registry in the hospital. A DPA agent was assigned to remain at the hospital until after Lee’s release, as MCO agents had in the past intimidated hospital staff to turn over people to which they had no rights or jurisdiction.

When Officer Stanley got back to the office, he was immediately called into his superior’s office. His captain was furious. When Fred pointed out that under Tennessee State Code calling the DPA was Tennessee State policy, he thought that the Captain would burst a blood vessel, but couldn’t do more than yell at him - officially anyway. Fred knew he was in for all the crap details for the next couple of months, but at least he would be able to live with himself, and more importantly, so would his victims. He secretly wished the victims well, and promised himself that he would follow up with them to see if they knew who had done this, even if it cost him his job.

————

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.

Leah is having problems adjusting, but then she meets someone unexpected. Will this meeting help or hurt? Leah's adventures continue.

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.

Sorry for the delay, but I warned you that I wouldn't be able to post as often. I will post future chapters as soon as I can.

Monday
November 26th, 2007
Leah’s Bedroom

Leah stood in her room looking over the meager selection of clothes she had that would fit her new form. There wasn’t much. Grandma, Eve, and Beth had gone to Westown Mall that morning to get a few clothes for her to tide her over until they got to Cincinnati to do some of Grandma’s “power-shopping.” However, appropriate selections for a six-foot tall fourteen-year old female with a figure like hers were limited in Knoxville, at best. Mom and dad weren’t taking any chances with her going out in public where someone might recognize who (or what) she was.

Eve and Beth sat on her bed, ready to coach her as she dressed in girl’s clothes for real for the first time. Leah noted that Eve was wearing a skirt and blouse combo, and demurely had her legs folded under her. Beth on the other hand was in jeans and a tee, and sat on her heels.

Leah’s figure was now a 36-22-34 with C-cup breasts. She had an inseam of 38 inches with beautiful, well-toned, slender legs and ankles. Her feet looked very petite for her height. Her skin color was a soft golden tan, suggesting she had spent days in the sun. In short, if her breasts were a couple of cup sizes larger and she dyed her hair, she could give a passable imitation of being a living Barbie doll.

She still was changing internally. Before leaving the hospital, the doctor ran tests. Her face flushed with embarrassment and she trembled slightly as she recalled the exposed feeling of her feet spread in the stirrups (which she thought were only for horses). The feeling of the attempted penetration by the speculum was unpleasant to say the least. It reminded her a little of the feeling of having a prostate exam as Lee, but much more personal for some reason. There was nothing sexual about it.

As it turned out though, the exam was cut somewhat short when the doctor discovered that her internal plumbing was not yet complete. Her vaginal canal ended shortly below the surface.

Ultra-sound showed that other of her female organs, still had a little way to go before they would be complete. The doctor, estimated, based on the current rate of change, she would probably be complete within a week to ten days. She hoped that the remaining abdominal cramping would finally end then. She also hoped there wouldn’t be any more changes to her size and shape, so they could finally get her clothes that fit for more than a day or two.

The shopping team had managed to find her several silk bra and panty sets, mostly in cream and white at that bastion of femininity, Victoria’s Secret. Leah was still trying to get her head around the fact that they belonged to her. As Lee, he would not have considered even entering that store. The loss of man creds would have been too extreme. Now she was wearing something from there.

Leah still felt a little voyeuristic even looking at the bras. She didn’t even want to think about the feelings running her finger over their sleek smoothness had evoked after she put them on. What was worse were the thoughts that crept into her head unbidden about having a boy run his hands over them (and the soft sensitive flesh they contained), while she was wearing them (Jim maybe?). A shudder (or was it a shiver) ran down her spine at those thoughts.

In addition, to the underwear - which she had been informed should be called lingerie - they had bought her a cotton shirt which they called a peasant blouse. She tried it on first and sort of liked the free and easy way it felt, although the low cut of the neck made her feel as though she was on display. They also bought her a couple of sweaters, one they said was a scoop neck (same problem as the peasant blouse), and one that was a v-neck, which wasn’t quite as bad, but was very snuggly form fitting.

All the tops were either white, cream, or ecru. The sneakers would have been alright, if it weren’t for the pink trim and the cream or pink shortie socks, they had bought to go with them. At least they hadn’t bought her any heels!

The real problem was her legs. They had bought her jeans, a pair of crisp capri linen pants, and two skirts. Leah was not ready to go out in skirts, but the problem was that neither of the pants fit.

“Just try one of the skirts,” Eve suggested gently. “They’re really not so bad.”

Leah grimaced and reached for the longest one, a beige one. Eve called it an asymmetric A-line skirt and it came almost to her knees at least on one side. She was disturbed to see that it showed a lot of golden skin on her other leg. Once she put it on, she started toward the bathroom.

“No, no. You can’t wear that blouse with that skirt.” Eve said.

“Oh, yeah, she can.” Beth piped up. “Everybody is doing it these days.”

“It just doesn’t work for someone who looks like Leah though.” Eve said with all the confidence of a teenage girl just becoming fashion conscious. “That’s an asymmetric type skirt, right?” Her voice taking on the same tone as her teacher’s at school, when they were explaining something they thought she should already know.

Leah just looked bewildered.

“Trust me, it is. An asymmetrical skirt has an uneven hemline with one side hanging slightly to significantly higher than the other.” she explained. “You wear them if you want to show off your legs without feeling too exposed.

“The important point is that it is a loose type skirt. Now with a loose-fitting skirt, you need a fitted top like one of those sweaters. I would go with the scoop neck. They’re really in right now with the girls in my class.” She said in a knowing way. “The V-neck is OK, but kinda formal and old ladyish. If it were summer, you could get away with a fitted tee and light cover-up sweater, but it’s not.

“Now that other skirt is called a pencil skirt. It is more closely fitted. With it you could wear the looser top like that peasant blouse. You don’t have to worry about color matching yet. We made sure that everything we bought would go with each other and would all look fantastic with your hair, eyes, and skin. If you wear a tight top, you wear a loose bottom, and vice-versa. See?”

“Nooo! I don’t see. Can’t I just get a bunch of jeans and t-shirts and wear them?”

Eve heaved a deep breath, “You could do that, but looking like you do, I don’t think the tomboy look is going to work for you. Oh, you can wear them just to knock around your room and dorm, and when it’s cold. Also, with the fitted look of most girls’ tee’s, your ‘girls’…she giggled… “ are naturally going to attract a lot of attention. Think about the boys at school who just love to watch the girls in their tight jeans walking away from them. You’ll probably get just as much attention in jeans and a tee as you will in a skirt, if not more. With most tee’s, you’re going to want to wear a light sweater anyway, or you’re going to be cold all the time. Girl’s clothes are made of thinner material than boy’s.”

“Haven’t you ever watched the girls at school in their tight jeans?” Beth cut in.

“Yeah, but I don’t want ‘tight’ jeans.” Leah was feeling very beleaguered. She also was thinking about all the occasions Lee had watched a girl in a nice, tight pair of jeans walking down the hall and what he was thinking then. She could feel her face starting to color, as she realized she was going to be on the other end of that equation.

“Tough! Girl’s jeans only come in three types. Baggy, which trust me is not really a good look for anyone. The other two types are tight like those, or sprayed on. Besides, haven’t you read the dress code for that school, you’re going to?” Eve stood with her hands on her hips looking like their mother did when explaining something she thought should be obvious.

“I-it ha-has a dress code?” Leah answered in a shaky voice.

“Yep. A uniform, — skirt, blouse, and blazer, along with low-heeled pumps for girls, although they will allow tailored pants instead of a skirt in the colder months, and fashionable boots. Reading between the lines, it’s plain they would prefer that girls wear the skirts year round, just adding leggings when it’s cold.” Eve had a slightly evil grin on her face as she relayed this information. “You should really read that handbook. There’s a lot of important stuff in there. It’s not like the handbook at your old school where they just put one out to justify someone’s job.”

“I’m so screwed.” Leah sat heavily on the bed.

“No! - No! - No! Get up. You’ll wrinkle that skirt and then you will have to iron it.”

Leah sprang to her feet.

“Now brush out the wrinkles you put in it.” She waited while Leah reached behind her to do so. “Now, as you sit, use one hand to smooth the fabric.”

Leah did as she was told. “There sure are a lot of rules for being a girl.”

Both of her sisters giggled. “You haven’t seen anything yet, and there’s no way we can teach you everything you need to know before Christmas. Maybe we can show you enough to avoid making any really big goofs that will out you to your classmates as a former boy. You’ll have to learn most of it just like the rest of us, — as you go.” Eve quipped.

Beth was listening intently to her older sister. A lot of this was new to her also, although she would never admit it. She had always been something of a tomboy herself, but recently she was seeing that some of her friends and classmates were experimenting with their clothes. She had been thinking of talking with Eve about this since school started this year, but this way she didn’t have to embarrass herself by asking dumb questions. It was a win-win for her.

“Now, change that blouse for one of the sweaters. I suggest the scoop neck, but either will do.”

Leah looked at the two sweaters. She then reluctantly put on the scoop neck. She knew it was wool and expected it to be itchy, but it was incredibly soft against her skin.

“I thought this was supposed to be wool?” Leah asked, questioningly.

“It is.” Eve replied. Mamaw picked this out especially for you. “That’s Merino wool, that’s why it is so soft. She bought us each one as a gift. Aren’t they wonderful?” She oozed.

Leah had to agree. The wool in the sweater was very elastic and seemed to caress her skin as it conformed to her upper body. It also emphasized her hourglass figure, especially her breasts.

“Now let’s practice sitting. Remember, smooth the back of your skirt as you sit. —— That’s good! You just have to practice it until it is automatic.

“That’s better. Now let’s go in the bathroom. We need the mirror. I want to show you how to care for your hair.”

“What’s wrong with my hair?” Leah was overwhelmed. There was so much to learn and remember.

“Nothing much, I just want to show you some of the easiest ways of keeping it out of your face. Otherwise, it will drive you crazy, being in your eyes and mouth.”

Leah gave a long shuddering breath before following Eve across the hall into the bathroom that was Eve and Beth’s. Might as well get it over with. She really did get tired of pulling her hair out of her face; and out of her mouth especially.

————

“Okay. See that wasn’t so bad, was it, and you look fantastic.” Eve was so proud of her efforts.

Leah stared at the young hottie in the mirror, and whimpered. That was the whole problem; she did look fantastic and Eve had just done the bare minimum. She had put just a hint of eyeliner on her, and a touch of lip gloss but she had helped her mostly with her hair.

“I’m really jealous of your eyelashes.” Eve and Beth said simultaneously. “As long, thick, dark and naturally curled as they are, you will never have to fool with mascara, and trust me that is one of the worst things about wearing makeup.” Eve finished.

Leah’s hair glistened and reflected the light, making it almost iridescent. Eve had taken a small lock of hair on either side of Leah’s face and used a curling iron to produce a long curl of hair that hung in front of her ears framing her face. The rest she had pulled back behind Leah and fastened it at the sides with a couple of clips over her ears. The bulk of her hair she had clipped in a large barrette and let cascade in waves down her back in a loose ponytail. It had a natural layered look, was plush, springy, and bounced every time Leah moved her head. Leah thought it made her look like a bimbo.

The really strange thing was individual locks of her hair were seeming to take on a life of their own sometimes, waving about, wrapping around things, almost like tentacles. Eve had been fascinated as it would wrap itself around the handle of the brush as she tried to give Leah’s hair some style. Leah had always heard women talking about their hair having a life of its own, but this was just weird.

This independent movement of her hair had just started since she woke up in the hospital. Sometimes wispy clumps of hair would wave around as if there was a wind blowing just that strand, but there was no wind. She had first noticed it when she was struggling to reach a brush from her hospital bed when a finger sized bunch of her hair formed a tendril had wrapped itself around the handle, dragging it toward her hand. Another time she had thought about braiding a few strands to hang over her ear, simply because she was bored, but by the time she reached for it, she had discovered she already had a braid there, exactly like she had thought of, yet she couldn’t remember doing it.

As Lee, with his buzz cut, hair care consisted of a quick shower and he was good to go for several days. Now, it took tons of care. Leah with her hip length hair had to brush it for ten or fifteen minutes at least twice a day and usually more often. It had to be washed, conditioned, and at least partially blow dried. This operation took at least 45 minutes even with her water shedding spell which took most of the water out of it before she even started drying it.

“I don’t know why I can’t get it cut,” She groused to Eve. “It is very distracting, and is a constant reminder of — you know. It’s always getting in my face, and my food, or getting caught in something. In short, it’s a monumental pain.”

“But it is so beautiful. Why would you ever cut it? Do you have any idea how long it would take to grow it back out?” Eve looked appalled at the mere suggestion.

“I don’t want to grow it back out. That’s the point of getting it cut.” Leah grumbled.

“Yeah, shorter is a lot easier to care for.” Beth piped in. Only Beth seemed to see the value of ease of care.

Eve gave her a dirty look, and spoke. “You have hair most girls would gladly kill for, why, on earth, would you want to cut it?

————

This morning after getting dressed and copying the light makeup Eve had put on her yesterday, even Leah had to admit that it looked really nice as she stood in front of the mirror. The boy inside her looked at it and wanted to run his fingers through it. The girl groused about how long it took to get it ready. Right now she had it in a fairly low maintenance ponytail set high on her head that bounced and swished cutely with every movement of her head. Sometimes it even seemed to move without her moving. She heaved a deep breath and resolved to try and put up with it for now, but she still wanted to get it cut.

“Everything takes longer as a girl.” She complained to both of her sisters that evening. They were all sitting on her bed in their night clothes. Leah was wearing cotton fleece pajamas with loose shorts instead of the longer pants she was used to. They would have been okay, except for the bunnies printed all over them.

Her dad had surprised her with an expensive silver-plated brush and mirror set that evening. She was brushing her hair while she talked. “Getting ready for bed (stoke) for example.” She continued. “As a boy, I brushed my teeth, (stroke) took a quick whizz, (stroke) said my prayers (stroke) and I was good to go, (stroke) five minutes tops. (stroke)

“Now I have to cleanse my face, (stroke), apply moisturizer (stroke) (still not sure why, I thought. Didn’t I just spend ten minutes cleaning the oils off my face?) brush my teeth (stroke)(At least that hadn’t changed), brush my hair (stoke) for at least five or ten minutes, (stroke - stroke) select my sleepwear, (stroke) which I am supposed to change daily according to Mamaw, (stroke) (I figured that what Mamaw didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her), then find some way that’s not too uncomfortable (stroke) to put my hair up to sleep (stroke) so it doesn’t tangle.” (stroke)

“Naahh! Every three or four days is plenty often enough to change your pajamas,” Beth chimed in.

“Beth!” Eve was offended, “You need to change at least every other day. Besides you’ll want to change more often once you, you know — start.” She said wrinkling her nose. “Believe me - you’ll really want to change your clothes then!”

Leah shuddered.

“Whatever,” Leah turned back the conversation back to her point, and away from the thoughts of periods, to which she knew Eve was referring. “And then I still have to say my prayers. (stroke) All this takes at least twenty minutes (stroke) and usually thirty or forty (stoke) because one or both of you usually come in (stoke) and want to critique my preparations, (stroke) and all before I can even get in bed, (stroke) and now you are trying to push me into wearing make-up, (stroke) which would have to be removed on top of everything else. (stroke) I still don’t see why I need any more make-up than this eyeliner and lip gloss with my skin.” (Although I will admit that the eyeliner and gloss look good. she thought.) She stopped brushing and put the brush in it’s case.

Both her sisters simultaneously declared that wasn’t the point. “You need to learn the skills so you can use it, if and when you do want it or need it.” Eve explained, as if to a retarded child. “Besides, girls wear make-up for all sorts of reasons other than need. You can change your look to suit the occasion, or make yourself look older or younger. You might even want to use it for a date or something.”

“Yeah, like that’s going to happen! Not!”

Eve and Beth looked at each other and grinned evilly. “Right, big sister. We’ve seen the way you act when Jim’s around.”

“He’s just my best friend! I’m not interested in him like that.” Even Leah didn’t know who she was trying to convince — them or herself.

Golden who was lying on the bed with her head in Beth’s lap getting brushed, an activity Golden had discovered she liked very much, lifted her head to look at Leah and broke in. ‘You should listen to your sisters while you have them available. You may wish you had after you’re at school. They know more about fitting in and what other girls think and how they act. You would be foolish not to take advantage of their experience. And you do act like you would like Jim to be your mate.'

Leah moaned. Now she was getting it from all sides. She decided another quick change of subject was needed.

“That reminds me. What am I going to do about Golden? How am I going to convince the school to let me keep a 70 pound wild cat in my dorm room. ‘You can’t stay invisible all the time, and those rooms aren’t that big.'

‘I’ve been working on that.’ Golden spoke to Leah, ‘I visited Danu and she put a spell on me, which I can use hide in plain sight, if you provide me with the essence to power it, since I can’t collect essence myself.’

“Are you talking to Golden again?” Beth asked.

“Yeah, she’s about to tell me how she’s going to get them to let me keep her in my room. Go on.”

‘Well, if you will send a little essence my way I’ll show you.’

Leah funneled some of her essence to the cat. She had been practicing that with Cantrip’s help, who was coming over to the house now to give her lessons. Apparently Golden could act like a battery to store the essence Leah collected. This would help her work around the limits on how much essence she could gather and store in herself, at one time.

Suddenly, Golden seemed to shimmer and begin to get smaller, until curled in Beth’s lap was a normal sized cat. One with the unusual markings and color of Golden, but the size and generally look of a slightly odd house cat.

“Wow, that’s cool.” Beth was ecstatic over the new, smaller Golden. But it’s still weird being around you two and only being able to hear one side of the conversation.

“How long will the spell last?”

“How much essence have you got? The amount you sent me this time should enable me to look and feel this way for about 30 minutes.”

“Wow, that’s going to take a lot of essence to keep you hidden all the time, but since I can gather it pretty quickly, I guess, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Why does everything have to be so complicated?”

“Well, also, I don’t have to stay hidden all the time, just when there’s someone else around. Also, I can use my own ability to become invisible, if necessary.

“You also should really start charging me up with essence everyday. If you wait until you need it, it will be too late.”

“I guess,” Leah agreed reluctantly. She could see so many ways for this to go wrong, and with her luck they all would.

Eve jumped in at this point. “I see you still haven’t read your handbook. All Mages are allowed special dispensation for familiars. You just have to hope who ever you get as a roommate isn’t allergic to cats.”

“Roommate? I didn’t know I was going to have to share a room.” She moaned. “I’ve never shared a room. How am I going to keep my secrets with a roommate breathing down my neck all the time?”

“You won’t be able to. You just have to hope you get someone cool, and make them your BFF. That way they will keep your secrets happily.” Eve grinned.

“Most of the time anyway.” Beth shrugged as she threw in that last part.

————

Deep within the northern edge of the Canadian shield, more than ten miles under the surface was a cavern of sorts. It was no ordinary cavern having neither entrance nor exit and any ordinary cavern would have long since collapsed under the weight of the rock overhead. This cavern was held open by its sole inhabitant.

In that Stygian blackness, where no sunlight or any other light had penetrated since long before the dawn of the dinosaurs, something moved. If human eyes could have seen it, and remained sane enough to report what they saw, they might have reported something resembling a bulbous, grey-white grub, about the size of a small train and filled with protoplasmic snot. Hundreds of eyes and needle teeth-filled mouths appeared and vanished continually within each segment.

Yet such a description would not have begun to explore the foul, slimy feeling the monstrosity would leave on any mind that saw it. A sliminess that would corrupt that mind and, indeed, the very soul of that person, until all that was left was a shell only a shell remained. A shell, yet alive, and devoted to serving its master without thought or remorse for any act it might perpetrate. A shell capable of passing that corruption on to others they might also serve.

The shoggoth had been made by and as a servitor to the Great Old Ones (GOOs). It’s life, if it could be called that, had been sustained by sipping at the magical essence of the world. Sipping almost daintily, lest it attract unwanted attention.

When taking part in a great war between the forces of light and dark, order and chaos, near the dawn of this world, it was injured almost beyond its ability to maintain life before escaping into a deep cavern. Once it had healed slightly, the shoggoth made the cavern was made deeper and deeper, sealing the rock behind it.

Here it slumbered through the ages of the world, hoping to escape the attention of beings greater than itself, but seemingly hoping in vain. It would soon be apparent that those beings were fully aware of its existence, and location, all along.

Alien voices from beyond the space and time in which this world existed insinuated their way into the thing’s mind. ‘We have need of you. One has entered the world who could interfere with our plans. This must not be. You will seek it out and test its strength before destroying it.’

The shoggoth mentally cowered and whimpered. It had been content in its cocoon deep in the earth. It did not want to leave it, but yet knew it dare not disobey; for while the GOOs might be outside the plane of the planet now, it knew they did not intend to stay there. Chaos would reign over the world again, when they returned. To disobey, meant torment beyond imagination in that time. Torment that could last for geological ages. Torment that would make it long for oblivion, but it knew that boon would not be granted. It would suffer for eternity, or until the GOOs forgot about it, and they had long memories indeed.

It reluctantly began insinuating tentacles into cracks and crevices of its self-made prison, further cracking the greenstone of the shield. It would take months to work its way to the surface, but what is time to a creature who slept and dreamed since giant dragonflies with six foot wing spans had hunted for prey among great swamps filled with other creatures now only known from fossils. The thing would make its way to the surface and then something not seen in living memory would follow its instructions. The shoggoth moved slowly but surely, cracking rock and gradually climbing ever upward.

————

The Ottawa Ontario Earthquake Monitoring Center’s computers noted the continuing swarm of small earthquakes 500 miles north of Winnipeg, but since the quakes were small (< 2 on the Richter scale), they sounded no alerts. The bored operator noted a tiny wobble on the seismographs, but went back to reading the trashy romance novel, dismissing them as rebound. After all, small quakes in the region were fairly common as it was still rebounding from the last Ice Age. It would be months before someone in the center noted the ongoing pattern of the quakes; and due to its remote location, months more before anyone was sent to check the area.

————

Danu noticed though, as the ley lines in the area were disrupted. Leah’s coming had been noted in the beyond and they had caused something else to stir. Danu hung her head. She had hoped that Leah would have more time to learn and develop before this occurred. With luck it would be only one of the lesser servitors, although that was still more than Leah was ready for now. Steps would have to be taken that Danu had not wanted to take yet and Leah would need friends, friends with power.

————

Leah sat limply on her bed. Mamaw and Grandpa had gone back to Cincinnati to get things ready for their visit later in the week. Her dad was at work finishing up some things so he could take time off to go with them to Cincinnati. Mom had gone back to the mall, to return clothes that hadn’t fit her, and no doubt to bring more home for her to try. Her sisters were both at school.

Leah was alone with her thoughts, not a pleasant place to be. Even Cantrip’s visit this morning hadn’t been enough to pull her out of the funk, in which she was wallowing. She had learned several new spells, Levitation, and ghost walking being the two coolest. She had drug herself through the lesson, until Cantrip giving up on getting through to her cut the lesson short.

She felt like crying, yet couldn’t be bothered. There was a sadness within her that was like a physical pain. One she had never felt before, even when she first learned of her impending changes. Leah had been sitting there for the last two or three hours staring at the stranger in the mirror across the room. She really didn’t know exactly how long, nor care. A psychiatrist would have called it deep depression.

The girl in the mirror was pretty — no, she was beautiful. Even Leah had to agree with that — but she wasn’t him. Everyone around her was so stunned and entranced by that face and body. They all told her how beautiful she was, and how lucky she was to have turned out so well, but that girl wasn’t Lee, and she didn’t feel lucky. When she looked at her she only felt like she wanted to vomit.

Golden rose from her cushion and padded to the bed and where she stropped her cheek against Leah’s legs. Her familiar didn’t say anything, because she knew there was nothing to say that would help right now. Leah’s emotions broadcast that, Golden could only remind Leah that she was here for her.

Leah absently stroked Golden’s head. She did appreciate the big cat’s presence and love, but it wasn’t enough. What no one seemed to understand was that no matter how beautiful she was, no matter how powerful, the girl in the mirror wasn’t Lee. She could never be Lee. Lee was a boy and always would be.

They had told her how lucky they were that she was there to save her mother. Of course, Leah was infinitely glad she could do so, but what no one, but her, seemed to realize was that if she hadn’t been there, hadn’t been a mutant, her mother wouldn’t have needed saving. Her mother wouldn’t be a mutant herself, but most of all Leah would still be Lee.

Leah had waited once until she was alone with the doctor while still at the hospital. “Doctor, I’ve been doing some reading and I wanted to ask you about something.” She was a bit embarrassed to be bringing this up. “I was reading on the internet about Sexual Reassignment Surgery, and was wondering if, maybe, — it could change me back to a boy.”

For a moment he looked at her like how could she even consider changing that body before his professionalism took over, and he remembered she was still a boy where it counted.

“I’m so sorry, Leah, but with your BIT and regenerative power, the chances of SRS working are a million to one. I wish I could tell you different.”

Now as she sat here alone in her room, she knew he was right. Heck, she couldn’t even cut her hair. In a fit of anger after it got on her face one time too many, she chopped it off to a couple of inches long. Her mother and sisters were appalled. They didn’t seem to understand she wasn’t really a girl. What was really strange though was how the remaining short hair had writhed for several minutes before it settled down.

In the end, it hadn’t mattered. When she woke this morning it was already down to her shoulder blades. Now, four hours later, it was as long as it ever was, and the only result was that she was really hungry, probably needing to replenish the materials used to regrow it. She couldn’t even raise the energy to go eat something.

Her sisters, mother and grandmother were constantly bringing new clothes for her to try on and model for the last few days. The women’s trousers and tee’s were the best of the lot. They, at least, covered her. They were always trying to teach her the myriad types of women’s clothes, how and when to wear them. They didn’t understand that the clothes were just another reminder of what she had lost, not what she had gained.

Yesterday, Mamaw, Kathleen and her sister’s brought out a huge stack of catalogues. They showed her dozens of different types of clothes and tried to explain which one was appropriate for what occasion. Beth seemed to hold back, not really joining in.

“There’s so much more variety in women’s clothes.” Her mother had tried to tell her.

“For example, these are blouses”. Mamaw flipped open one of the catalogues and pointed. There were pages and pages of them.

“Yeah, boy clothes are sooo boooring!” Eve rolled her eyes and gave an exaggerated shrug.

“Blouses come in almost every conceivable shape and style.” Mamaw enthused. “There are jewel necks, scoop necks, V’s, boat necks, turtlenecks, halter necks, and dozens of others. Then they might have fitted sleeves or full sleeves, short sleeves, elbow length sleeves, three quarter sleeves, raglan or dolman, etc,…etc, and that doesn’t even get into the types of collars, or cuffs, or bodice cuts, types of waist, fitted or loose. Then, there’s colors, materials, weights, and decorations and that’s only blouses.” she had pointed out examples of each as she talked. “So, you see, you’re going to have more choices than you’ve ever had before!

“But, remember, Leah,” Kathleen said kindly, “You will develop preferences for certain things just like you did when you were a boy. And once that happens, you’ll find that you get essentially the same things over and over.” She laughed. “You know, like we did when you found that Redskins football jersey and we got six of them! Just alike!”

“Yeah, but no girl wants six of anything just alike!” Eve said.

Beth snickered. “They’d want at least want six different colors!”

Mamaw scowled and continued as though they had not spoken,“This doesn’t begin to address the various kinds of sweaters, jackets, jeans, pants, shorts, skirts, dresses, leggings, hose, socks, sandals, flats, loafers, and especially, with your long, lovely legs,… heels.” She gushed rhapsodically.”

“When you get used to everything, you’re going to have a lot of fun mixing and matching to get just the right look.” Her mother added. Their enthusiasm was making Leah lightheaded.

This was all running together in Leah’s head. Maybe, eventually, she would get the hang of clothes. It was like learning a foreign language - study, practice, and exposure would finally make some of it stick. For now, she was drowning in information she didn’t want. She began to nod her head and pretend to be listening, like she did in class.

Finally, Beth, watching Leah closely, cried, “Enough! Can’t you see she can’t take anymore of this right now. You’re trying to teach her to be a girly-girl overnight, when she doesn’t even want to be a girl at all.”

Mamaw, Kathleen and Eve looked at Beth like she’d sprouted antennae.

Leah hugged Beth. She might be the only one who understood. Over her shoulder she noticed Eve give her a slow nod. Maybe, Eve got it, too.

“Mamaw, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I can only swallow so much of this at one time.” Leah pleaded almost sadly. “I’ve only been a girl a few days.

“I’m tired. I think I’m going to go lay down for a while.” With that she had gone to her room and locked the door.

————

She was actually glad to be alone today. That way she didn’t have to pretend to care about all that unnatural (for her) stuff. She breathed a deep shuddering breath, and dragged herself to the bathroom to perform another aberrant act, — peeing. Once she finished and washed her hands, (something that seemed a lot more important to her now than it had been to Lee after taking a leak,) she made her way back to the mirror.

They couldn’t or wouldn’t understand these things weren’t important to her, not really. What was important was how she supposed to learn live in a body that wasn’t hers? She was a boy, and suspected that she would always be a boy, inside where it counted. She had actually thought about killing herself a couple of times since she had woke in the hospital, but she had a feeling that it wouldn’t be easy. Actually, between her regeneration, as well as Golden and Danu watching over her, she doubted that it would even be possible.

She threw herself back on her bed, tears streaming from closed eyes and running down her face. She didn’t even try to wipe them away. If she had been less caught up in her misery, she would have felt the magic coalesce in the room, right before the purple rabbit hopped out from under her bed. Goldenclaw backed up and lowered her head and shoulders, her legs stretched out in front of her in an obvious bow. The rabbit stopped, looked at her and flipped his ears down in recognition of the honor accorded him. Goldenclaw lay down on her belly, flipping her tail nervously.

“Call to her.” He ordered Goldenclaw haughtily.

“Leah, — Leah! Someone is here to see you.” Golden obeyed.

Leah sniffed, wiping her face with her hands before rising on her elbows to look at Golden. She inhaled sharply upon seeing the rabbit, her reddened eyes going wide.

The air around the rabbit began to shimmer, then with a blur, standing before her was a ?man?.

“Hello, Leah. I am your father.”

He was handsome, - very tall and regal looking, just as her mother had said, but there was more. His ears came to a tall point. His hair was long and the color of silver, not old-man silver, but like the metal silver. His eyes were very large with a vertical irises that were a brilliant amethyst color. He wore a silver circlet with what looked like a large amethyst centered on his forehead. She lay there supported by her elbows with an astonished look on her face.

Leah’s mouth worked but no sound came out. She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment, shutting her mouth. When she opened them again, she simply said “Hello — who are you?” Even though she already knew.

“As I said, I am your father.”

“No!” She said sharply, “A father is there for their children. You are a sperm donor. Why are you here? — Now?”

“Leah, I am sorry, sorry for a lot of things, but it is complicated.”

“Not to me. My dad is my father. He raised me after you walked away.”

“In many ways, you are right, he is your father, and worthy of your love. But I am your father, too. I have watched over you, even if you never saw me. I did what I had to do. Danu foresaw things that required me to sire you.”

“So you just came and spilt your seed and split. Leaving me to fulfill some unknown destiny. You pretended to love my mom, got her pregnant and then slam bam, thank you, ma’am. I’ll call you! You bastard! How could you do that? What if my dad hadn’t been the standup kind of man he is? Did you even care about her, — about me?! How can you come back here and stand before me and say you’re my father?”

“It was not like that.” His face revealed he wasn’t used to being talked to like that. Golden cringed in the corner, clearly torn between wanting to go to Leah and fear of being before her.

“No? Well then, just what was it like? What is your name anyway? Is it Liam like you told my mother?” Leah wasn’t having a good day before this and didn’t feel like being especially social to this stranger claiming to be her father. A soft amber glow began to surround her, crackling softly with power, as she seemed to get larger somehow.

“I need explain myself to none!” His face grew dark and forbidding and he seemed to grow taller in response.

Golden could stand by no longer, the bond between her and Leah was stronger than her fear of the Grey Lord. She rose and leapt between them, her fur fluffed out, growling with her teeth bared.

Her father waved his hand and Golden became a small house cat.

Acting mostly out of instinct and partly in imitation of what she had just seen, Leah waved her own hand and Golden once again stood between them, now also surrounded by the Leah’s amber glow. Golden snarled and showed her teeth as her flexing claws ripped gouges in the oak flooring. “You will leave me and mine alone! They are not yours to command or change.

“Now! You’re right, you need explain yourself to none! Certainly not to me, who cares very little what you have to say, but either answer my questions, or leave. I’ve done alright without you up ’til now and I can continue to do so.” The regal tone of her voice left no room for equivocation.

He relaxed, shrinking to the size he had first appeared and chuckled. “You are indeed worthy to be my daughter, as well as, the daughter of the Goddess.” He paused looking thoughtful for a moment before speaking.

“My true name, the name by which I can be commanded is Lugubelenus dé Dubhtiarna. No living being other than you knows that name. You may call on me using it, if you are in need, and I will come.”

“You are my daughter and even though I’ve poor enough father to you, I trust you with my name. I ask only that guard it well. True names have power.”

Leah was taken aback. She and Cantrip had spoken at length about the power of true names. What he had just told her was mind shattering when talking about a being like a Grey Lord.

“However, I have gone by Liam ever since I met your mother. You see something happened while I courted your mother that I did not expect. I fell in love.”

“So naturally you had to leave!” Leah was cutting him no slack.

“Yes, Leah, I had to leave. As much as I loved your mother, my time in this world is limited. It pains me greatly to be here — in more ways than one.”

“What do you mean?” Leah’s curiosity was overcoming her anger.

“I was born in and of this world in its youth. I am a part of it, and it me, but the world you see around you is not the world I knew. Much has been lost. Lost through war, lost through neglect, or lost through use. The world I remember from my youth was a paradise, all of it much like Avalon. It pains me to see what has been overlain on what was.

But there is another reason I could not stay, just as my time here and now must be brief. Has your mother told you stories of when I was with her?”

Leah nodded.

“Did she tell you of your grandfather’s garden and how it grew.” Again Leah nodded.

“I was born to the world as a part of it and it in me. Now, as l sit here, the world in its need tries to take back that part of itself that is in me. The garden grew, because my life energy nurtured it. Each time I return, it takes more, depending on how long I remain here. If I remain too long or come back too many times, it will take so much that I will die. Therefore, even though I can not stay long, Leah, I had to see you, to explain and comfort you, who, even I could feel, was in such pain for one so young. I, also, owed you — and your mother an explanation.

Maybe one day when you have set right much of what is wrong I can return to stay. Mankind is responsible for some of that changes in the world, but by no means all. That is a part of what you were born to help set right.

“In the youth of man, he had few choices in the damage he did to this world, but now he is coming of age, you must show them that they not only have choices, but responsibilities. The wanton destruction of the world and its inhabitants must end.”

Leah pondered on his words, then asked one of the questions on her mind.

“I don’t understand how I can be the child of three parents. My mother, you and Danu.”

“It is — complicated,” Liam replied, no longer looking her in the eyes. He looked disturbed. “While it was me who made love with your mother, the sperm delivered was not wholly mine. Danu had altered it in such a way that you would be the result.” He looked pained.

“So I was engineered?” Leah didn’t like the clinical sound of that.

“No. It’s more like, you are the daughter that Danu would have liked to have had herself, were she not bound. However, since she is bound, she had to use others to give birth to her daughter. You are no less precious to her or me than any other of our children, maybe more. And, yes, you have a destiny involved in your life, but if they only knew it, every person and thing in this world has a destiny, mostly only small destinies, whereas your destiny is much greater, like helping to keep mankind from destroying his own world, among other things.”

“Just how am I to change the ways of billions? I can’t even control myself.”
Leah asked exasperatedly. Danu had hinted at the same thing, but no one was telling her how.

“You will know when the time comes. These are not things that you will be expected to go out and do tomorrow. Your destiny will come in its time, but first you have much to learn, not least of which is how to live with yourself.

“You are depressed because you have become a girl. It is necessary that you be a girl now, and one day you will understand why. By the time that day comes, you will have grown into your power, and will know that you can take any form that suits you. Then if you want to be a man, you can become one easier than you can change your clothes, but for now this must be who and what you are.”

Leah’s lip trembled as she stood staring out of the window at the brilliant red sunset. “I don’t want this power. You, Danu, even Coach, Cantrip and Doc see all this great power in my future. I don’t want it. I don’t want some great destiny. I don’t want to be responsible for the world… it’s too much. — I’m afraid.” As the tears began to drip down her cheeks, Liam wrapped her in his arms.

“Shhhh! Don’t worry about it. Most of the things foreseen are far in your future, and by the time you get there you will be ready and will welcome it, for you will need the purpose it will give your life. There will be many, many years of happy times in your life, before you will be called on to be what only you can be. Don’t let the worry about what might be taint what is. Embrace your life. Fill it with joy. These will sustain you when darker times come.”

This stranger who was her father held her and stroked her hair. When she finally relaxed, he held her at arms length and wiped the tears from her face. Even though she had known him only minutes, she felt a bond forming between them. A bond she wasn’t sure she wanted, but which was there none-the-less.

How simple her life had been. She longed for those days that she realized would never be again. She took a deep breath and resolved to face what she must, but only when she must. What was that saying, ‘sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof’. In those moments, though she didn’t know it, she took a large step in growing up.

“Go and wash your face. Your mother comes, and I want you to prepare her. I wish to speak with her, and she thinks I am dead. I want you to break it to her that I live.”

“Oh, that’s going to be fun,” she said sarcastically. “By the way, mom, that guy who was my father, he didn’t die, he just left us.”

“I didn’t say it was going to be easy, for any of us, least of all me. I love her with a love that mortals can only dream of and yet, she belongs to another. I must accept that, but I must see her.”

Leah could hear the pain in his voice. A pain born of a love that could not be but which would live on in this near immortal being, and she was sad; sad for him; and sad for her mother.

—————

Leah had just told her mother about her father being here, when he walked into the room. He was shorter, and looked very human. He was still very handsome.

He smiled and said simply, “Hello, Kathleen.”

Her mother stood there, mouth gaping, tears running down her face as she looked at Liam (Sr). She seemed struck speechless. After a long pregnant minute, she walked toward him and raised her hand as if to caress his face. And slapped the crap out of him.

For a brief moment the visage of the Grey Lord flashed across his face, before retreating. “I guess I deserved that,” was all he said.

“You think!” her mother responded. “Where have you been for the last fourteen years? No! I don’t want to know. It doesn’t matter, but did you ever care for me, or was I just a convenient fuck to you?”

Leah had never heard her mother use language like that. It shocked her, shocked her more than meeting her father.

“It wasn’t like that.”

“No? It sure seemed like that when you left without a word. Did you tell them to tell me you had died. Do you care that a part of me died when I heard those words?”

“Kathleen, I cared. I had to go, and that seemed a less painful way to do it.”

“Right! Let me think that the love of my life and father of my unborn child was dead. Do you care the pain, and embarrassment that caused me? My father and mother went to their graves thinking their daughter was some cheap slut who would spread her legs for anyone. Wondering if it would happen again. Daddy never really forgave me, and you have the audacity to come back here now! You Bastard!” Her mother’s voice was filled with anger and loathing.

Leah couldn’t take anymore of this. This was a side of her mother she had never seen. In many ways, it disturbed Leah as much as her own changes, because it knocked the pins out from under something she thought was solid in her life. Between her father showing up, her own angst, and now seeing her mother like this, she couldn’t take anymore. She turned and ran from the house, followed by a house cat hot on her heels.

She ran and ran and ran until she ended up deep in a wooded valley. She threw herself on the ground beside a small stream and sobbed. She wasn’t even sure she knew what she was sobbing about. It just seemed her world was coming apart and nothing was certain anymore.

Golden, back in leopard form, snuggled up against her. The big cat was breathing heavily, getting her breath back after struggling to keep up with Leah. Leah threw her arms around her neck and sobbed into her fur. The only thing she was aware of was the deep rumbling purr of the big cat as Golden comforted her. There was nothing for Golden to say. Leah just needed to get it all out.

Leah was unaware where she was. She might have been surprised, but really didn’t care, that she was in the Great Smokey Mountains just outside the small village of Cherokee, North Carolina. She had covered the distance of nearly 70 miles from Knoxville through the mountains in less than thirty minutes. Unlike Golden, she wasn’t out of breath, except from crying.

————

“I tell you, Ernie, I seen ‘em a-going atta way. I ain’t never seen nuttin’ movin’ ‘at fast. She must have been going two hun’red miles an hour, and that big cat wattin’ much ahind her. She’s gotta be one of them thar’ mutants, and if’n we wuz to bag that thar’ big cat, I knows a feller who’ll pay big money fer it.”

“Jimbo, if they’s a movin’ fast as you say, they’s probably three er four counties away, by now. How’s we supposed ta find ‘em?” He shifted the big scoped rifle on his shoulder.

“You jest look o’er yonder. Ya see that scrap o’ blue on that thar snag o’er thar?

“Yeah, so.”

“Well, I reckon she dun tore that off what she wuz a wearin’ when she run through that thicket. If’n that be hers, one of ‘em Basset Hounds ’a mine can get her scent, and then he’ll foller her anywhar’. ‘Em dogs’ best trackers, I e’r ‘ad. How many of ‘em bears has they dun tracked down fer us. Hell! We’ve dun got three gall bladders this here hunt.”

“How’s ‘at ‘sposed to help us, if’n she’s two hunderd miles away, by now.”

“Coz, don’ think she is. She wuz slowin’, like she was runnin’ down. I don’ figger she’s mor’n a few miles away. An if’n she’s dun wore out as I figger, then ‘ey ought’a be easy pickin’s. We kin kill dat cat, and nab her. Sam Baker o’er in Sevierville’ll pay us good money fer a mutant lik’n her.”

“What’s he wan’ ‘er fer?”

“Sell’s ‘em to some MCO guy in Asheville.” He wrapped the sling of his rifle around his forearm, then gripped the barrel to keep it ready. He wasn’t sure he liked the look and smell of that big cat. It creeped him out for some reason, but he figured they could stay well back and pick it off using the scopes. He had never seen anything like it before, but he knew they could get hundreds, maybe thousands of bucks for a big cat from that chinaman down in Del Rio.

“Why don’t we jest sell ‘er to him d’rect? Cut the middlin’ man.”

“Naw! You don wan’ nuttin’ to do with ‘em fellers. They’s bad news.”

“But we ain’t mutants, what’d they wan’ with’n us?”

“You jest better off stay’n ‘way from ‘em. They’s bad news, I tell ya. Least that’n o’er in Asheville is.” Jimbo didn’t want nothing to do with the MCO. He also didn’t want Ernie to know that it wasn’t just the dogs that was tracking the animals they hunted. Jimbo could smell the girl and that cat, and could feel their life. That’s how he knew they were only a few miles further on, laid up by Cricket Creek.

————

The dawn light was just beginning to filter through the bare branches of the trees as Golden heard the dogs baying and scrambling through the thick brush along the creek. The dogs didn’t worry her. The men and guns she could smell a few hundred yards further away did.

She and Leah were just beginning to explore their bond. She seemed to have abilities with Leah that she had never had before. For example, she could hear, not their thoughts exactly, but knew their intent and definitely their emotions. She could feel them even when she couldn’t see them. Golden knew that one of the men was working his way up onto the slope above them to get an angle on them, while the other followed them with the dogs.

Golden woke Leah with a deep basso profondo growl the seemed to vibrate the very ground beneath them. With a mental admonition for silence, she quickly conveyed the important information to Leah, and indicated she needed leave her jacket stuffed with some leaves and get among some boulders piled near them.

Casting one of Cantrip’s spells to move silently and another to move in shadows, Leah worked her way in the dim morning light until she was amongst the boulders. She never questioned Golden. Once she was there, Golden slipped almost as silently up through the scrub and trees toward the man trying to get above them. She knew these men’s sour hearts and knew they did not mean them well.

————

Jimbo spat a stream of tobacco juice as he settled into the natural blind a fallen tree provided. He couldn’t see all of the girl, just a patch of her coat between two trees. What really worried him was, even with the scope he couldn’t find hide ‘ner hair of that big cat; that raised the question of where it were.

The cat was the main reason Jimbo had sent Ernie and the dogs up the creek bank, knowing that Ernie couldn’t move really quiet, if’n his life depended on it, and them dogs made enough noise to wake the dead. They were to be the distraction, so he could take the shot; but there was no shot to take. Where the hell was that damn cat? Jimbo swept the powerful scope down the banks of the stream looking for his prey.

‘Nothin’. Where was ‘at damn cat. He didn’t figger ‘at girl fer any real trouble, e’en if’n she was a mutant, she was just a cunt, after all. Couple of good hard clouts to the side of the ‘ead an’ they all purty much shut up and did what ‘ey wuz told. ‘Ell, ‘ey might e’en have ‘em sum fun, afer ‘ey sold ‘er to Sam. Maybe, she’d put up sum fi’t, he like it when they fought. Made the pokin’ better — more ‘citing.’

But he had to find the cat first. His instincts told him ‘at weren’t no ordinary cat, and it scered him for some reason. He worked the near side of the bank with’n the scope, down to ‘em damn noisy dogs. Nuttin’.

He was working his scope back up the far bank looking for movement, when he heard a soft rustle of dry leaves behind him. He froze for a moment, then gripping the rifle hard, tried to swing himself around to bring the rifle in line with whatever was behind him. He didn’t make it. He had enough time to see Golden spring toward him, before one swipe of the large paw with its needle-sharp claws sent the gun flying and ripped through his heavy coat. He screamed once as the large claws ripped his arm to the bone from elbow to wrist, breaking at least one bone. One of Golden’s back legs kicked out as she landed on his thigh, bending the leg backwards at the knee and ripping the patella loose from its moorings on one end.

Jimbo was aware he was probably dead even before the cat’s massive jaws closed on his throat, but the big cat didn’t complete the job. Jimbo could feel the trickling of blood down his neck where the great teeth of the cat held him by the throat. He couldn’t draw any air through his constricted throat, but the big cat stilled, as though listening.

————

Leah could feel and see everything that went on during the lightning fast attack, through her link to Golden, as if it were in slow motion. Having sampled the hunter’s emotions and intent with her empathy, she felt no remorse for what was happening to him.

These men were just more of the same as those who tried to kill her and her mother, although if it were possible, these were even worse. She knew from their emotions, they liked killing. One could even say they lived for killing. She could smell the three bear gallbladders through their plastic bags even chilled with the additional bags of dry ice stuffed in the backpack with them. Still she wasn’t sure she wanted the weight of their deaths on her soul. With a single thought, she stopped Golden from the death blow that would have ripped out his throat.

————

With her deep bone-rattling growl, Golden loosened her grip on his throat. Jimbo gasped blessed air back into his starved lungs. The stench of urine and feces rose from his pants. Snarling her mouth in distaste, she showed Jimbo a mouth full of deadly fangs. He cowered back into the little hollow formed by the downed tree, whimpering. Golden turned and started down the slope to circle behind the other one.

————

Leah reached out with her mind and could feel Ernie’s foul thoughts. She had never been able to do that before. In fact, she had never really felt that much empathy before. She knew that these abilities were not hers alone, but a function of the gestalt of her mind and Golden’s. They were really going to have to explore this, but not now.

She knew this ‘man’ had no respect for anything or anybody. They wanted to kill Golden, both as a obstacle to the capture, rape and sale of herself and for the money they could get for the big cat’s “parts”. His thoughts made her sick. For the first time, she got an inkling of what Danu, and her father meant when they talked about changing the ways of men.

These men were extreme examples, but they were just a symptom of humanity’s greater disregard for the planet and its inhabitants. She had always told herself that most men meant well and if they could just be shown the damage they were doing, they would stop, but she suddenly knew this was not true. Most men didn’t care.

These men were sick and sickening, but she suddenly knew with crystal clarity that the businessmen “exporters” of endangered animal parts were worse. The final users were the worst yet, not caring what had to die so they could get one more fix - one more cure - one more erection. As long as that market existed, this killing would go on.

Beyond them though were the corporate men sitting in their boardrooms; deciding to destroy another forest, or filling in another wetland, so they could build another strip mall to be abandoned in a few years; polluting another stream to keep from paying to dispose of their wastes properly. The list went on and on. The eternal pursuit of profit or power, at the expense of anything that got in their way.

Leah leaned over and quietly vomited at the realization of their callous disregard for the planet and the task that lay before her.

It wasn’t just the corporate men, either. There were the religions that insisted it was holy to have child after child in the name of the Lord, her own Catholic church being one, but by no means the only offender. What were they planning to do when there was no room left on the world for anything but them? Declare God’s plan fulfilled?

Revolted as she was by her thoughts, she knew she was nowhere ready to do anything significant about most of it, and wouldn’t be ready for years, but a day would come when she would stop this. One way or another, she would put an end to it!

But for now she had to deal with what was in front of her. She could see through Golden’s eyes as if they were one. Could see that she was circling behind the other man to take him out. Suddenly, she realized that she couldn’t, wouldn’t leave it all to Golden. She didn’t want to leave it all to Golden. She silently instructed Golden to leave this one to her. Golden reluctantly agreed, although she continued to slink up behind him.

Standing from where she crouched among the boulders, she brought herself into view of Ernie. He looked surprised.

————

Ernie was never the brains of his and Jimbo’s little enterprise. So even though he didn’t remember hearing Jimbo’s shot, he had heard Jimbo holler. He assumed that must have been when he killed the cat, and now the girl was coming out to give herself up. (As said - not the brains of the outfit.)

He pointed the gun at her, and hollered, “Get o’er here, bitch!” Then louder, “Jimbo! I got ‘er.” He called the dogs back, lest they spoil the bitch.

Ernie watched as Leah sauntered down along the creek bank in her tattered and torn clothes. She made him nervous. She didn’t look afeared ‘nuf. Didn’t the dumb cow know what ‘ey was fixin’ ta do ta ‘er?

He cocked his rifle as she began to get closer. “Stop rite ‘ere, you dumb ho. I knows youse one of ‘em mutants. Ye just stop, er I’ll put a piece a lead in ye, and still fuck ya. Jimbo, where ye at? Git down here and ‘elp me with’n this bitch.” He yelled still louder.

“Oh, I’m sorry, but I don’t think your buddy’s going to be joining you. See my familiar kinda distracted him. He won’t be leaving that place where he was hiding for a while.”

Ernie’s face went white as she said this and the movements of the gun barrel got more erratic as he wondered what he was going to do now. This little piece of tail ought ta be beggin’ fer her life, but she looked like she was the one with the gun. He was getting really scared.

————

Leah could see she had pushed him about as far as she’d better. Even with her tough skin and regeneration, he might get that lucky one in a million shot, so she decided to take steps to prevent it.

Thinking back on her lessons with Cantrip, she closed her eyes and felt for the end of the gun barrel. A little concentration and a quick mental squeeze and she knew she had nothing to fear from that rifle. He had a pistol, but she didn’t think he would think about it, not with the rifle in his hands. He didn’t notice that the end of the barrel was now considerably smaller than the rest of the barrel.

She stepped toward him, and he jerked the rifle up and fired.

————

Ernie heard the blast of the 30-30, but it didn’t sound right. Then he heard screaming rip through the dawn forest, it was at least ten seconds before he realized he was doing the screaming.

The breach of the rifle had exploded. His right hand was a mangled mass of shredded flesh. The rest of the blast had blown back in his face. Both eyes were dribbling down his shattered cheeks, and he was blowing out bits of shattered teeth, blood and flesh with each new scream. Slowly his screams became whines.

Leah knew she should heal him, but instead she stooped to pet the dogs clustered around her, before stepping over the pathetic mewling excuse of a man to join up with Golden. She went to her knees wrapping her arms around Golden’s neck and holding her to her breast. She had always heard that big cats had coarse, rough fur, but not Golden. Her fur was soft as a kitten’s. Leah buried her face in that fur for several long minutes, ignoring the whimpering sounds behind her.

————

She finally knew how to get to Avalon. She had been trying ever since her last visit. Danu had asked it of her, but she just hadn’t been able to figure out how. Now she knew. It was both so easy, and infinitely hard. You simply had to need it. Need it deep down where you live. The trip was a little like dying, that’s what made it hard — la petite mort — the little death, the French called it. However, not in the sexual context it had become to be used in the last few decades, but in the original broader context of referring to the spiritual release that comes with a short period of transcendence of the physical plane as a result of the expenditure of the "life force”.

Leah remembered one of the books about ancient Egypt Cantrip had assigned her to read. At the time it hadn’t made much sense, but here and now in the context of her first battle, she thought she understood. Egyptians believed that with Heka, the activation of one’s Ka, an aspect of the soul of both gods and humans, (and divine personification of magic), they could gain protection, healing and transformation. Every aspect of life, every word, plant, animal and ritual was connected to the power and authority of the gods. Only by surrendering some of one’s Ka, could one reach their goal, and gain access to Nirvana.

Before she had unwilling surrendered a portion of that Ka by becoming unconscious, in order to reach Nirvana or Avalon as she knew it. Therefore, it shouldn’t be difficult to willingly surrender a portion of her Ka, in order to attain access to Avalon and Danu’s guidance.

Reaching inside herself, she drew forth a small amount of her Ka and offered it to the winds and Danu. The good Catholic boy in her cringed at this pagan act, but that boy was rapidly having less influence on her actions.

Not surprisingly, it worked, (Well, truth be told she was a little surprised that it was so easy) and she found herself wandering among the brooks and trees of that magical (truly magical in many ways) land. She was not eager this time to approach Danu.

After a half an hour of aimless wandering, she found herself before the great Saracen Stones of The Henge. With only a moments additional hesitation, she stepped through into the inner ring. Danu sat relaxed, but with just the faintest hint of disappointment about her, or maybe that was Leah projecting her own issues onto to goddess.

“I believe you have had yet another “interesting” day or so.” Danu understated to such a degree that Leah smiled in spite of herself.

“You could call it that.” Leah expressed with an involuntary twinge of frustration. She realized that she had forgotten just how hard it was to be upset or out of harmony with this place, which brought her thoughts back to problem.

Leah needed a calmer, more rational head to tell her what to do. She couldn’t find her objectivity when it came to these men. “Danu, help me. You know what has happened.” It wasn’t a question. “A part of me wants so bad to kill these men outright, for what they wanted to do to me and to Golden, but even more for the pain they are inflicting on anything that crosses their path. They like to kill. I have seen into their minds and I could find little there worth saving.”

“Ah, I see you’ve discovered another aspect of your’s and Golden’s bond. Neither of you can read minds or even clearly perceive emotions, but together you are more. There are other discoveries awaiting you.” Danu smiled that knowing, proud smile that truthfully Leah was beginning to find annoying.

Ignoring her interjection, she continued, “Another part of me wants to leave them to suffer and eventually die in torment as they had done to so many before, human and animal.” She could not see these men as anything other than evil, and she associated them with the Jenkinses. She had been denied her opportunity to extract her pound of flesh there. Yes, they were punished most appropriately, but not by her.

“And yet, still another very small part of me who wants to go back and heal these men, to try to make them better than they were. Why? Why do I feel this way, they surely don’t deserve mercy? So why don’t I just kill them or leave them to die? They would have no qualms about it if the situation was reversed. So why, do I feel this need?”

“There are many reasons, my daughter, but they are reasons that only you can know. You are right. They deserve death. They deserve to die a slow, lingering, painful death. I can not, will not tell you what to do. I will say there may be other possibilities you have yet to explore. If you decide to let them die, either quickly or lingeringly, I will never reproach you, but you must decide.

“One thing and one thing only can I give you, to help in this decision, — and it is done. Go now and decide, my child.”

With those words, Leah found herself back in the North Carolina mountains, exactly as she had left it, except for one small addition. Jim stood over Golden, petting her head, something Golden had grown to love.

“Hi. See you’ve been busy. Do you go looking for trouble or does it just naturally find you?,” He indicated the still whimpering wreck of a man.

Leah rushed forward embracing him fiercely until he squawked he couldn’t breath. Leah loosened her grip and stepped back from him.

“How’d you get here?”

“Magic. How else?”

“I’m so glad to see you. I don’t know what to do.” She proceeded to tell him of the morning’s events, which lead to the events of yesterday starting with her wallowing in her depression. Leah was distracted by the mewling, moaning and whimpering of the men, she eased them into unconsciousness, and staunched their bleeding, so she could think without worrying about them.

When he knew the events and they had discussed them and the feelings they elicited in her about the accident, he stood silently for a very long moment thinking.

“As I see this, it comes down to two fundamental questions only you can answer. Do you put on the mantle of loosing and binding; deciding who lives and who dies with all that entails, knowing you can never again take it off? Or do you show these wretches more mercy and compassion than they deserve, and thereby put off taking on that responsibility; to postpone having to right the wrongs of the world? We both know you have a destiny, probably a great one. But you’re fourteen years old, do you really want it now, Leah?” There was a gentleness in those words that made Leah realize what was really at stake here.

“I guess I give them mercy.” She said quietly. “They don’t deserve it, you know.” He nodded in agreement.

“But you do, Leah. You do deserve it.” Jim wrapped his arms around her suddenly shivering body, and held her until she stopped shaking and the iciness of that December morning along with the greater chill of what she had nearly done left her soul.

She stepped back. Suddenly, she noticed Jim was wearing his camping backpack.

“What’s a girl got to do to get a blanket and a cup of hot coffee around here?”

“Cantrip appeared in my bedroom and said that I should pack for a hike for two people in the mountains.” With that he set down his backpack, and pulled out a down coat that belonged to his dad. Teeth chattering, Leah grabbed it, and slipped it on, as she did the matching pants.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had these? I’ve been freezing my tush off here, you stinker.” Though in truth, until Jim had arrived, she had been unaware of being cold, even through the long early December night. She didn’t want to examine that too closely right now.

“What, and miss out on that hug? Not a chance!” She flushed as he held her eyes with his.

“You do remember that just a few weeks ago we were playing football together, don’t you? Now you think I’m hugging material.” Leah’s tone was slightly sarcastic, but also partly pleading.

“I remember,” He said simply and softly. He paused, looking into her eyes. “I don’t care. You’ve always been my best friend.

“Leah, you are about the most beautiful gal I ever saw, but I wouldn’t care if you looked like a mud fence. You’d still be my best friend, and crazy as it sounds I think I’m falling for my best friend.”

She leaned over and gave Jim a quick hug and an even quicker peck on the lips, at which they both blushed. Her own emotions were churning, as was her stomach as she considered Jim’s words.

She watched as Jim wandered about gathering broken branches for a fire, admiring his quiet competency, as she contemplated the fate of these two cretins. After watching him gather a couple large armfuls, Jim caught her staring at him. He smiled at her, then turned and started stacking the wood for the fire. Jim’s presence and quiet strength calmed her.

Soon Jim had stoked up a roaring fire, and Leah was basking in the warmth. Jim filled and set his granddad’s old metal percolator over a small pile of coals pulled from the main fire. While the coffee brewed, he put together a small travois, and dragged the unconscious men carefully closer to the fire.

Leah knew she could almost effortlessly lift and carry the men to the fire, but somehow she didn’t want to flaunt that before Jim, not right now anyway. She watched him with admiration and a little bit of something else tugging at her as he moved the men with quiet competence and a gentle strength of his own, before covering them with space blankets.

Once she had wrapped herself around a couple of cups of his strong coffee, she checked on the men, she and Golden had savaged. Ernie was beginning to stir. She eased him back down into the relative bliss of unconsciousness. Jimbo was still out, but she nudged him still deeper. As she considered her next move.

Finally, rising to her feet and fighting the revulsion she felt for these men, she gathered essence from Golden, from the trees, from the fish and other life in the stream, careful not to take too much from any one. Finally, she took essence from the man himself as she stood and roused the broken man before her.

She bent over Ernie. “You piece of white trash, you give me just one good reason not to let your sorry ass bleed out right here in these woods.” He could say nothing with his ruined face, but Leah didn’t need an answer from him.

She began to heal the worst of his wounds. Bleeding stopped. The flesh of his hand began to knit itself back into the semblance of usefulness. His eyes regrew painfully in their sockets.

That hand though while useful enough, would always give him pain particularly when he tried to use it to pull a trigger with tendons in those fingers just a little too short. She repaired his face to its normal ugly countenance. She could have fixed him good as new, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She wanted the pain to remind him that he wasn’t the only predator in the woods.

She turned to the one called Jimbo. Gathering more essence she ran her fingers through the trenches in the flesh of his arm, sealing the bleeders, and closing the skin. Not without regret, she healed the torn muscles. She left the scars as a reminder. She mended the knee enough that he and that other piece of scum could make their way out of the mountains, if they had to do so, but he would never freely walk these hills, to kill, again.

She then left the men where they lay. She had taken much of the essence she used from the men themselves, leaving them tired and drained. They would sleep for a long while.

Using one of the hunter’s cell phones, Jim called the park rangers, and without giving his name, told them about the men. He told them about the poaching and gave them the GPS coordinates where they could be found. Then relieving them of any remaining weapons, the two kids built up the fire to keep them warm and left.

In a way, she regretted letting them live, but she knew she was not ready to take that step; to accept that taint on her soul. That day would come she knew; as she now understood more clearly the path that lay before her. The day would come when many men would die at her hand or will, and she would feel no more regret than she felt for these men, but that was not today.

She silently mourned the innocence she had lost that day. A fourteen year-old shouldn’t have to understand these things, to make these choices. She felt sickened by them and by herself.

Then she felt Golden’s mind merge with her own with its more simplistic understanding of life and death, of predator and prey. Oddly, it gave her comfort. She now knew that Golden was more than just a helper and companion, the two of them together were, and always would be, more than either were separately. But she knew much more had changed this day than her new found understanding of her relationship with her familiar.

She and Jim started up the valley toward Knoxville. She didn’t looked back.

They had been walking through the woods in silence for about a half an hour, before a shimmering in the air announced the arrival of her father. Without a word, she, Jim and Golden stepped past him and through the portal into her room before he followed. When he started to speak, she simply held up her hand and he stopped. Pushing Liam, Sr. out with a hand, she shut the door and shed the outer down-filled clothes.

She was left in only the tattered remains of her own clothes. She looked at them and thought they looked like her soul at the moment. Then, without a word between them, she kissed Jim hard on the lips, their tongues briefly exploring. It was more than just a kiss. It was a promise. A promise that would wait until she felt less dark and until they were both ready, but still a promise.

She turned and walked toward the bathroom, and maybe there was just a little extra swing in her hips as she walked away in those tattered clothes that revealed almost as much as they hid. Jim stood watching her, mesmerized as she went to go about the business of washing the physical and psychic filth away. Golden went with her — always.

Sorry for the delay.

Leah is having problems adjusting, but then she meets someone unexpected. Will this meeting help or hurt? Leah's adventures continue.

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.

Wednesday
November 28th, 2007

When Leah finished her bathing, she found Jim gone. A part of her had hoped he would be, but another part had hoped he would still be there.

She put her fingers to her lips, remembering the sweet feeling of his lips on hers. She giggled slightly; for someone who was in the depths of despair just yesterday over being changed from a boy to a girl, she had come a long way in a very short time. She realized that she had been as much fighting what she thought she should feel about changing as much as what she actually felt.

As ambivalent as she was about her real father appearing, he had started her on the path to acceptance of her current gender. He told her she would be able to be a boy one day if she so desired. At first, this idea thrilled her, but confused her as well.

It had led her to understand that while being a girl was a shock, it wasn’t all bad. She still had a lot to learn and it was intimidating, and sometimes terrifying. However, most of the bad things that had happened, actually occurred not because she was a girl; but because she was a mutant. Being a girl, though, was something she realized she was actually coming to like. For the first time, when she looked in the mirror, she discovered that she no longer expected to see Lee staring back.

She picked up her brush and began slowly working the tangles out of her long hair. She smiled gently at her reflection. No! It wasn’t all bad at all, especially the touch of Jim’s lips.

—————————

When Jim came out of Leah’s room and said his goodbyes to her family, her mother offered him a ride home saying she was going out anyway and it was on her way. This struck Jim as a little odd, since he lived at the dead end of their subdivision and walking it was only a long block and a half to his house. Realistically though, he was too emotionally, and physically, tired to give it much thought. So without protest, he accepted.

Half way to his house, Kathleen turned onto Cherokee Blvd. He looked at her questioningly.

“Just a little detour,” she responded to his unspoken question. He didn’t respond, although he could tell she had something on her mind.

A few minutes later, she pulled into Riverside Park, found an empty spot and parked the car. She unbuckled the seatbelt, and turned to face Jim.

“Jim, I thought we needed to have a little talk — just you and me.”

He nodded, not really sure where she was headed, but certain that she knew about ‘The Kiss’. He wisely kept his mouth shut.

“Jim, you and Lee,” using his male gender name didn’t seem like a good omen, “have been friends all your lives.”

Jim nodded, not knowing where this was going.

“Lee — Leah is very confused right now. You do realize that, don’t you?”

Jim nodded again, still not sure of the purpose of this talk.

“Her head is telling her she’s still at least part boy. Her body is telling her she’s all girl, and her emotions are all over the place. She’s got hormones running around in her body she has no experience with, and people are trying to kill her.”

Jim felt a little confused and a little frightened himself.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that she is very, very vulnerable right now. I know how much you two have always meant to each other as friends, and now you’re both having to deal with the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing. So take it easy, easy on her and easy both on her and yourself. There will be lots of time for both of you to figure out what your new relationship is going to be. So just take it easy. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yes, ma’am. I think I do. I had kinda come to the same conclusion myself. That’s why I didn’t wait for her to bathe and change. I guess I’m a little confused about our relationship myself, and need time to think about it.”

Shyly, he added,“You know we kissed, don’t you?”

“No, but I’m not surprised.”

“I would never do anything to hurt Leah.”

“Jim, I know you wouldn’t intentionally, but as vulnerable as she is right now, you could hurt her very badly without meaning to. You do see that don’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess so, but you should know I think I’m falling for her as a girl, so I’m going to stay away as much as possible until we can both figure some things out.”

Kathleen stared at Jim for a few infinitely long seconds. “Wow. That’s an amazing mature outlook for someone of your age. I know you, Jim, and I trust you not to do anything that will jeopardize her fragile well-being.”

She started the car and took him home, knowing they both had much to ponder. She sighed, and quietly commented, “Both of you might have a rather rough road ahead.”

—————————

Leah slept fitfully. Dreams disturbed her and woke her more than once.

The night was one for the book, literally. She recorded her dreams in her journal. In her first dream - which she wasn’t sure was a dream at all, she visited Avalon. Usually she remembered her trips to Avalon with crystal clarity, but this was different. The dream felt “out of time”, like she was in the past or maybe the future, or both.

It started out with her viewpoint elevated, as if she was floating above the scene. She saw again the great battle on the plains surrounding Atlantis with its horrific death and destruction. This time her attention was focused on one particular part of the battle. A small knot of elves wielding brilliantly glowing swords and bright silver shields shining in the moonlight along with dwarves in gleaming moon-silver plated armor who brandished massive flaming axes were fighting together in a campact valley just outside the city walls. They were attacking something that looked vaguely like a maggot, but it was the size of three tractor-trailer rigs set end to end. Two mages stood on a small hill overlooking the deep valley, casting their spells, flanked by other armored elves firing arrows seemingly tipped with starlight. Two more dwarves holding six foot tall silver-plated shields and axes stood guard in front them, obviously disgruntled at missing the fight.

The foul creature itself was covered in hundreds of large mouths full of needle-like teeth and a piercing red eye or two for every mouth. Slender fifty-foot long tentacles formed wherever needed to lash out like whips at the attackers. The mouths and eyes would disappear, only to appear somewhere else. The entire creature appeared to be a rubbery sack filled with snot, not the clear healthy snot of someone with a cold, but the sickly yellow, green, and brown snot and pus of someone with massive infections.

“Pay attention, Leah, to the creature.” Gaea whispered in her mind. That was the last thing she wanted to do, but she obeyed. The very sight of the thing was sickening; made her feel dirty and betrayed, and yet she had an urge to join in the fight. The swords of the elves glowed like lightsabers from Star Wars. Frequently, an elf would take advantage of an opening and leap lightly and quickly in to attack before leaping back out, leaving a deep gouge, where ichor that smelled like death flowed sluggishly out. The dwarves protected the elves by severing tentacles lashing at them as they attacked. The arrows of the elves on the hill plunged deep into the creature and immediately detonated causing sometimes dozens of eyes and mouths to wink out of being.

It was obvious that these forces of Light and Order were slowly getting the upper hand in this battle. Great blackened and seared gouges appeared in the “flesh” of the creature where an elf’s sword or arrow struck or a spell drove home, only to heal moments later. But the healing was slowing and more and more rents were made. However, the creature was getting in its own licks. She saw two elves and a dwarf ensnared in the writhing tentacles and dragged to the hungry mouths. She could hear their screams over the noise of the great battle as the creature devoured them. A blob of the creature’s flesh flew out to engulf the head of one of the mages. The mage fell, a blacked stump of a neck was all that was left of his head.

“The creature you see is a shoggoth, one of the lesser servitors of the Great Old Ones. They are extremely difficult to kill, having to be literally rendered into small bits or burned by magics.”

Leah watched as the shoggoth, retreating from the battle, found a small cave into which it oozed. The remaining forces of Order battling it were set upon by other foul creatures, some part human/part animal, others part more nauseating things; allowing the shoggoth to escape into the cavern.

*******

Leah woke shaking from the nightmare - for it could be called nothing else - but she was just as certain the events she just witnessed were real, just not of this time. She shivered, though the room was warm as she reached for her journal. This was one part she knew she would not show to Dr. Bennett or her family, but she might discuss it with Coach and Doc. Doc especially, might be able to come up with some ideas. Once again, she never got back to sleep that night.

The recent events had taken their toll on her emotionally. The only good things to come out of the last couple of days were her growing acceptance of herself as a girl, the changes in her relationship with Jim, and her mixed feelings of meeting her biological father.

Her encounter with the poachers had made her feel stronger, and more confident, while Jim’s reactions had helped her accept that this body was hers now, and would be for the foreseeable future. It might not be the body she thought she wanted but then again, it wasn’t a bad body. It did have its perks.

Jim had helped her make a fundamental change in how she saw herself. The fact that he knew who and what she was, and was okay with her, made a huge difference. The fact that knowing what he did, he was still attracted to her did wonders for her self-image. It, and Amanda’s continued acceptance and friendship, made embracing who she was so much easier. She had the acceptance and support of her family, which was important, but to have Jim and Amanda’s meant even more right now.

She had read on the internet about the trials and tribulations that transgendered persons faced and even acted out some of them out with Dr. Bennett. She knew that many were rejected by their families as well as their friends. Yet, other than a few nervous moments with her dad, her family had come through like troopers.

Despite Jim being her base friend, she could not take it for granted that he would accept her. But he had, and so had Amanda. She touched her lips with her finger tips and smiled as she remembered Jim’s kiss. She expected it to feel gay, however, there was nothing homosexual about it. In fact, it felt anything but. She might, in the lonely confines of her room, feel despondent about all the lost opportunities and dreams that Lee might have mourned. However, when she was around her family and especially Jim though, she couldn’t take those feelings as much to heart. She did have people who cared deeply about her.

Unfortunately, Chuck certainly didn’t. While she was still in the hospital, he sent her a rather nastily worded note along with a dead rose in a long thin florist box tied with black ribbon in the hospital. If she had any doubts before, she didn’t now. His message was clear. He not only never wanted to talk to her again, she was dead to him. Not because of her gender change, but because she was a mutant. That hurt her deeply. They had been close friends forever, it seemed. Now to have him reject her for something she had no control over, made her doubt if he ever was the friend she thought he was.

She understood that he had reason to distrust mutants, but did he really think that she had changed that much inside, where it counted? Maybe he did. The fact that Jim was a mutant also, almost certainly helped Jim accept her, but she knew there had to be more to it than that.

There was so much she didn’t know or understand. There were others she would never have thought about, who had shown her support. She didn’t know what she would have done without Coach, Doc, or Cantrip.

Amanda’s acceptance came somewhat of a surprise. Leah had been sure that now she was a girl and a mutant, too, Amanda wouldn’t want anything more to do with her. They certainly couldn’t be boyfriend and girlfriend, but Amanda was one of the very few friends her own age who visited her in the hospital.

Yet, Amanda seemed to have few problems with Leah’s changes, and was very supportive after they got past a few awkward moments when she first came in the room and saw Leah in her full glory for the first time.

“Lee? Is that really you?” She sounded as if she wasn’t sure she was in the right room.

“Yeah, it’s all me,” Leah answered a little timidly. “But it’s ‘Leah’, now.”

“Wow! You’re gorgeous!” She ran over to the bed and leaning over gave Leah a quick hug.

Leah blushed at the compliment, and the hug. She still wasn’t used to the way girls got up close and personal.

“I kinda thought that you were heading this way ever since the party,” Amanda said pleasantly. “But this is beyond any ideas I might have had about the way you would look.”

“You knew?”

“Well, let’s say I suspected. Oh, come on! Everyone at school at least suspected it might be a possibility. That story about the designer steroid was pretty lame, but Jim and I talked after the party. Also, if you remember, my aunt used to be my uncle, before he manifested.”

Leah vaguely remembered a conversation about that during one of their dates, but at the time he was too focused on Amanda and not making a fool out of himself to register much of what she was actually talking about.

“You didn’t say anything” Leah was a little bewildered as to where this conversation was going.

“I figured you had enough on your mind, and you would say something if you wanted me to know.”

“It wasn’t so much I didn’t want you to know as not wanting anyone to know. I mean it’s been so embarrassing and baffling. I haven’t known which way was up for months, now.” Leah felt tears beginning to leak again.

Amanda was at her side wrapping her in a hug and as she held Leah, tears were running down both their faces.

“I’m so sorry. I should have seen how hard it was for you. I should have been there. I always liked you a lot as Lee, and I still like you as Leah.”

Leah sniffled a time or two before settling down. After getting past all that they had chatted amicably for over an hour until the nurse ordered her out. They both understood that their relationship was changed, since Amanda was quite heterosexual, and Leah was growing more sure all the time that she was also.

They talked almost daily on the phone and she was coming over tomorrow. Amanda not only accepted her, she offered all kinds of helpful hints about being a girl her age that Leah’s sisters either hadn’t reached or didn’t know yet. Leah was inclined to think the latter. Eve and even Beth had been so wonderful, but being even a little younger at their ages made for a lot of difference in their outlooks when compared to Amanda.

Her biological father had come to try to help her, but that was, at best, a mixed bag. While she was interested in getting to know him, his showing up at this point in her life, raised as many emotional issues as it resolved. His news that she might one day become a man again helped her past her depression, but she was but she was beginning to doubt that she would make that choice even should that day come.

At least, he and her mother had resolved their major issues. Leah knew that Kathleen really liked many things about Liam Sr., but she wasn’t going to completely forgive anytime soon. Leah was pretty sure that her mom would never forget that he had left her without a word, knowing he was leaving her with a baby.

As a girl herself now, she enjoyed a whole new perspective on sexual responsibilities. A father could leave. Only the social contracts entered into by people prevented abandonment. For the first time in her life she was beginning to understand deep in the gut that things weren’t so simple for the female of the species.

Thursday
November 29th, 2007
Outside Doc’s Headquarters

“This is where you’ve been coming for testing?” Kathleen’s voice showed her distrust and disdain of the neighborhood, looking at Leah.

“It’s much nicer once we get inside,” Leah said soothingly. “Besides, who’s going to want to tangle with Golden?” The big cat stroked against Kathleen at Leah’s silent suggestion. A rather large rough-looking man who had been watching them from across the street suddenly discovered he had somewhere else to be as Golden gave a big yawn as only a cat can, showing her large sharp teeth.

Coach chuckled beside them. “Don’t worry, Kathleen. The local wildlife know to give this place and anyone with business here a wide berth. Doc’s been watching us ever since we parked the car. See those odd-looking gargoyles on the building? Well, they conceal force generators that can, and have, knocked out entire gangs of tough guys. Nothing can get within a block of this place without coming into their range, and they are only the first line of defense. As I told Leah the first time I brought her here, Doc used to be kinda paranoid.”

Pressing the button by the door, Leah waited for the buzzer then held open the door on the dilapidated theater for her mother and Coach. She liked showing off her knowledge and familiarity of the place to her mom. Kathleen was still a little edgy as she stepped into the creaky rusting elevator.

Leah took pride in telling her all about the depths to which they were descending. Unfortunately, she was making her mom more nervous. Kathleen had never told her of her claustrophobia.

Just as they reached bottom, Kathleen was reaching her limits. Leah noticed as her mom started gasping for breath. Leah could only watch as Coach, recognized the symptoms, and rushed her out and through the heavy doors into the cavernous room Doc used as his workshop and storeroom for his devises. Once in the colossal, brightly lit room, her breathing eased a bit.

“Kathleen, you should have told us you had trouble with being underground.”

“To be honest, I really didn’t think about it. The last time I was underground was in Mammoth Caverns when I was just a girl. I’d forgotten just how airless it could seem.”

“Are you alright in here?” Coach asked. His voice was full of concern. He had phobias of his own, and knew how debilitating and irrational, they could be. His own worst was of all things, roaches. Just seeing one could send him out of the building. He had two different exterminators under contract and on speed dial.

“This is better, but to tell the truth I don’t think I’ll be alright until we get back to the surface.” Her voice still sounded shaky to Leah who was in a state of shock at seeing her mom’s reaction.

“I’m so sorry, mom. You should have stopped me running on about all this.” Leah felt guilty about her enthusiasm and showing off about this place.

“Sorry, I’m late.” Doc came running up with a small mace-sized canister with a breathing mask attached. “I saw what was happening, and made a detour to my dispensary.” Leah watched as he handed the canister to Kathleen. “Just put that over your mouth and nose, and hit the button on the top, then take a deep breath. You’ll feel much better.”

“What is it?” Kathleen immediately wanted to know.

“Oh, it’s just a very mild relaxant that interrupts the activity of the adrenergic receptor agonists and antagonists. It’s my own devise and I promise has no side effects. I promise you’ll feel much better almost immediately.”

Leah watched as her mom reluctantly did as he said. She heard the puff of gas as her mother inhaled. Kathleen’s body posture and face immediately relaxed.

“Wow, that’s much better!” She took a deep breath as her respiration returned to normal.

“You’re welcome. I forget that not everyone is as comfortable down here as I am. I must remember to find out before it happens when people are coming here. That should last until well after we’re done here.” Doc was chagrinned. Turning his attention to Leah, he said comfortingly, “I understand that you’ve had quite a lot of adventures since you were last here. You really should learn to carry my bees on you. Do you even have your emergency box and glasses on you now?”

“No,” Leah responded in a small voice.

“They can’t do you any good if you don’t have them with you. You could have easily taken out those red-neck bastards without any trouble with them,” he chided her gently.

“Okay, okay, Doc. I’ll do it,” she said contritely.

She watched as he turned to Golden, and bowed slightly. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, GoldenClaw.” he said formally. “You are very welcome in my home.”

Golden dipped her head regally, returning his greeting.

“Please tell Doc I am very glad to be here, and appreciate his concern for us.” Meaning, of course, her concern for Leah’s well being.

Leah relayed Golden’s words.

“Well, let’s get you ladies tested. After a burnout like that, Leah, I’m sure there have been some changes to your powers, and I understand that GoldenClaw and you together may have some abilities that you, alone, do not have. Kathleen, we’ll start with you, since it will take a little longer than Leah’s retesting will take. Come on in and I’ll introduce you to DPA agent James Allison, who’s going to be certifying your results. By the way, have you chosen a code name yet?”

“Yes, Leah told me I should pick one out so my results will be anonymous. I picked one from a sci-fi story I liked as a little girl, from an old Heinlein story. It’s ‘Mother Thing’.” She looked a little embarrassed.

“Most appropriate, Kathleen, I’m sure.” Coach said with genuine respect.

Leah clapped her hands, giggling with delight. “Oh, Mom, it’s perfect!”

“Very well. If you’ll come this way, Mother Thing, I’ll make the necessary introduction, and we’ll get started.”

————

Kathleen’s results were interesting, and made her choice of code name even more appropriate. She was an Exemplar-1 with a strong BIT, explaining her more youthful appearance. It had also given her more strength than she had ever had, lifting almost 210 pounds and gave her very quick reflexes.

She was a regenerator-2, which was actually less than everyone had expected, given the circumstances of her manifestation, but not so surprisingly, she also tested as a Healer-2. Most surprising, she was a level 3 receiving and sending empath with a highly developed danger sense which seemed to extend to people important to her.

She had sensed every object they had thrown at her no matter how unexpected, and dodged it easily until it became a physical impossibility. They had discovered it extended to others, when Leah was back in the dodgeball room as she liked to call it. Kathleen could sense every ball thrown at Leah. Kathleen was actually able to last a little longer without getting hit than even Leah. Although Leah had much faster reflexes and was more agile, she couldn’t predict where the balls were going to come from nearly as well.

Leah’s results were different.

Doc had hemmed and hawed over her results, studying the outputs from his devises. “Well, Leah most of your ratings haven’t changed, but a few definitely have. Your Exemplar rating has increased to a solid 5, based mostly on your strength, toughness, speed, agility and, of course, looks.

“You probably don’t have to worry much about another accident like the last one doing much damage to you. Your skin would easily deflect low caliber bullets and your bones are now denser and stronger than high alloy steel. Your muscles have greatly increased in strength and the tendons and ligaments that hold you together, appeared to be made of carbon nano-fibers in a biological matrix. What all these changes mean is that although you look slender and delicate, you weigh nearly 300 pounds and can easily lift over 20 tons.

“I don’t think your wizard rating and regeneration ratings have changed per se, but these are, at best, estimates. I’m just not equipped to test anything higher than that. When you get to Whateley, they have much better facilities and resources to evaluate you.

“You should know that your gadgeteering and devisor ratings dropped to a 3 and barely a 2 respectively. Your Esper powers have seemingly disappeared altogether.”

Doc said, “These kinds of changes are not uncommon during severe burnout. However, you are now a level-2 speedster/energizer, and this is seemingly now independent of your magic ability, whereas before this ability was pretty definitely tied to magic, acting almost like a spell, rather than a power.”

The most interesting changes though were when they tested her with GoldenClaw in the room and working as a team. Under those conditions, the Leah/GoldenClaw team was registering as a solid level 4 receiving empath, and a level 2 projecting empath, as well as a Level 2 receiving telepath with people external to the pair. Telepathy between the two of them was level 5 projecting and receiving.

I talked to Cantrip yesterday and another change, according to Cantrip, is that the pair of them are able to manipulate considerably more essence than Leah alone making her judge the team as a solid level Wiz-4+, and possibly Wiz-5. They also seemed to project some sort of PK field around the two of them. Doc and Coach had little idea what kind of effects this field might exhibit. They were not even sure if it was a magical effect or a psychic one. They suspected it was essentially protective.

The DPA agent insisted upon one more change that made Coach or Doc distinctly unhappy and very nervous although Leah and her mom didn’t really understand why. He had wanted to discuss at some length her connection with Danu. Doc had accidentally mentioned it in conversation, and he had picked up on it. After a long discussion, he had insisted that her Wizard rating be changed from Fae Class to Goddess Class.
They had gone off to another part of the lab with the DPA agent, and had a somewhat heated discussion. Doc in particular seemed extremely agitated. Leah could see him getting in the agent’s face. His own usually calm face was bright red with anger. Leah couldn’t understand what was being said even with her augmented hearing, but she knew it wasn’t good.

While they were gone, Leah demonstrated Doc’s coffee maker and made herself and her mother a cup (Kathleen was as amazed by his coffee devise as Leah had been). As they sat drinking the coffee, they discussed the implications of the changes.

Kathleen sipped gently at the strong yet smooth coffee. Looking up at Leah, she spoke, “Leah, I want you to know that I don’t hold you responsible for my changes. You did what you had to do, and I’m glad to be alive.”

“Yeah, but I should have been able to do it without turning you into a mutant!”

“You’re assuming I regret becoming a mutant. I don’t! Oh, it going to require some getting used to, but it’s not all bad. Look at me! I’m younger, stronger, smarter, quicker and prettier than I was before. More than that it helps me understand better what you are going through. I don’t regret what you did for a second.” Kathleen held out her arms to Leah and they embraced, luxuriating in being close, closer that they could ever have been when Leah was Lee.

Coach and Doc came back over as the DPA agent left, both looking sour. “What was that all about? Kathleen asked. The two men looked sheepishly at Leah and Kathleen. “We were trying to talk him out of putting that Goddess Class designation on Leah’s MID, without any luck I might add. Listing her as a goddess class mutant is not a good change,” Coach started off.

Doc started it off. “Basically, ‘my friend’ ,” he said sarcastically, “just painted a large target on your back, Leah, as far as the MCO and H-1 are concerned. Rating you as a Goddess Class Wizard is going to make many of the MCO as well as maybe some in the DPA very nervous, even possibly to the point of automatically presuming that you are a potentially dangerous mutant.”

“Which she is,” Coach broke in. “Just not for the reasons they are going to assume. It is also going to inflame the religious zealots. ‘Have no other gods before me’ and all that.” The MCO is likely as not going to issue a ‘Deadly Force Pre-Authorized’ bulletin at the least provocation — and if they connect you with events from last weekend — ?. Well, suffice it to say, it won’t be pretty.”

“That’s wonderful. Just what I need, more trouble” Leah grumbled. “What does ‘Deadly Force Pre-Authorized’ mean?”

“If you get into any trouble with the law or with the MCO, then any police, MCO, or other governmental agency can shoot first and ask questions later.”

“That just f’ing great! Like I don’t have _enough_ trouble. People have tried to do me harm twice, yet I’m the one who is a danger. Is that about the size of it?”

“Yeah, They haven’t actually don it yet, but that ain’t all. or necessarily even the worst of it,” Coach looked disgusted. “If this gets out, you are likely as not going to find yourself hip deep in acolytes and would-be priests.”

The look of horror on Leah’s face told what she thought of that idea. “Acolytes? Priests? Oh, my sweet Jesus! In other words, I’m going to be inundated with nut cases.

“Yep! It ain’t fair, Leah honey, life isn’t fair, and don’t trust anyone who tells you different because they’re a liar. That’s all the more reason to get you to Whateley as soon as possible.”

“Here are your MID cards. Keep them on you at all times.” Doc handed them their cards. “Leah, I strongly suggest you load up your emergency B-box with mostly knockout or pain bees, but I’d carry at least one explosive bee. It could get you out of a ticklish situation, if someone were to capture you — or you can use it to create a distraction. If I were you, I would get in the habit of wearing the control link all the time. That way people are less likely to question it. I’ve been working on making one that is less obtrusive. It makes a direct neural link to the optic and cochlear nerves eliminating the need for the glasses and gives you the ability to hear what’s going on in the vicinity. They are going to be embedded in a very fashionable hair comb. Keep the sunglasses for emergencies, but people might question sunglasses inside. They should be ready in a few minutes along with a slightly larger emergency carrier for six bees, if you need it.”

Leah saw that her mom was worried. Hell, Leah was worried. These simple changes were going to make life even harder on her and on them. From what her dad said, there was already at least one MCO agent out there trying to stir up trouble in H-1, because he was ticked off by being thwarted by the DPA at her accident scene. The good news was — he only knew her code name and that fuzzy picture taken at the accident scene, before her final changes.

Now the DPA agent had made it easier for them to come after her — or just kill her. Leah’s attention was jerked back as Coach continued.

“Kathleen as much as I hate to say this, I think it’s time you get Leah and yourself out of this town. Too many people know or suspect too much. Those kids who were making trouble at your school, sooner or later are going to enable the MCO or H-1 to connect “Terra” with you.

“Then it’s just a matter of time before one or more of them makes a move against either her directly, or you, or someone else in your family to get to her.” Both worry and regret resonated in Coach’s voice.

“I think you’re absolutely right, Coach. We had planned on leaving Sunday anyway to go to my in-laws until Leah goes to school, but I think I’m going to move that up to tomorrow, if I can. I still have to do some things at my job before I can take off.”

“Kathleen, screw the job! I think you should leave ASAP, and not come back, at least not anytime soon. I think your whole family could be in potential danger. Once Agent Allison gets back to his office and files those MIDs, it’s just a matter of time before the MCO shows up at your door.

Leah stared at her MID. The word Goddess seemed to leap out at her. Danu had referred to her as a goddess, but that was back when she was just starting to change and it didn’t seem real. Now seeing it in black and white was different. Could she really be a goddess?

She really hoped this was the last time her MID would have to be changed. Every time it did, things got worse for her and her family.

“This’s a lot to digest in one sitting. Why did he do that to Leah?” Kathleen was in full mother mode. “Can we appeal his change? What are our options here?”

“Kathleen, I honestly don’t know. I’ve never ran into this before.”

Doc spoke up. “I’d never have thought James would do something like that or I wouldn’t have called him to be here. Obviously, he either saw something that scared him or someone is putting pressure on him from above. I suspect the latter, or he would have at least stayed and explained his reasoning. I’ll try and find out, but for now I agree with Coach.

“Blow this town! Go somewhere that you can blend in with the crowd; not next week, not tomorrow, but TODAY. And get Leah to Whateley ASAP. Also, when you leave, get and use cash, if possible, to make it harder to track you.”

Kathleen looked at Coach, who said, sadly, “If it were me, I’d move, lock, stock, and barrel. Leave here permanently today. Have Tom take care of the moving, and selling your home and you just pack what you and the kids need and go. Tom should be relatively safe, if you and Leah are not there. I’ve told you, I have a little precog, — well right now, it’s going off like crazy. Something bad is coming and you don’t want to be here when it does. You seem to have a strong danger sense; what’s it telling you?”

Leah watched as her mom thought for a minute. Then, Kathleen said, “It says ‘go’. I don’t know if we can get packed in time to leave today or not, but I’m going to try.” Kathleen stared at her MID with a slight air of disbelief, before tucking it into her wallet. Never in her wildest dreams did she think anyone in her family would be a mutant, least of all herself.

“I’m going to miss you, you know. You put yourself on the line for Lee, and I’ll never forget that.” Kathleen had tears in her eyes as she kissed Coach on the cheek. “And you, too.” She said to Doc. “You’ve both gone way over the top for us.”

Leah was crying too as she also hugged them. “I’ll be back.” She said to them both, “when it’s calmed down around here. You guys are important to me, as important as family. Heck, you ARE family.”

Doc looked both embarrassed and insufferably pleased. Coach was wearing a large smile as well, as they rode the elevator back to the surface. Just to be on the safe side, Doc had given Kathleen another inhaler.

“We’d better go,” her mom said. “We’ve got a lot to do. God bless you both.” With that, they turned and left.

————

Leah was an emotional wreck. She knew they were leaving, but she always expected to come back. This was Home. Besides, she had been spending a lot of time together with Jim, since their little adventure on Monday, and they were planning to spend a lot more. She didn’t want to leave him or Amanda behind.

Oh, she knew she would see him at Whateley in a couple of months, but she had hoped for a more leisurely goodbye. She had discovered much to her surprise that she liked being a girl when she was around him. It still felt a little wrong, and she knew her emotions were moving awfully fast for someone who was not even fully a girl yet, but she didn’t care. It was one of the few perks of changing genders; she didn’t want to worry about how it felt. She could just go with it. Now she would be lucky to get to say goodbye in person.

Packing was relatively easy for her, since she had so little clothing and personal items yet. She did pack a number of Lee’s personal mementos, treasures she wasn’t ready to give up yet, but most of those would be coming with the movers. Once she was packed, she went to help Eve and Beth. They were both tearful, and full of trepidation about leaving. She tried to comfort them, but the move was going to be hardest on them emotionally.

Dad had jerked them out of school with a family emergency excuse, and made quick arrangements for them to get their study assignments by email, so they could finish the semester. Now they were going to have to leave without even saying goodbye to their friends.

Coach had come over to help pack. “I think that the whole family except Tom should turn off their current phones before they leave and pull the batteries and SIM cards, so they can’t be traced. Tom, you can turn yours off when you follow. I also recommend changing email addresses and not giving out the new ones until you are a good distance from Knoxville, at least as far as your grandparents. I also suggest establishing several burn email addresses to be used only once, to use in contacting friends, etc. Here is a phony license plate, use it for a few days, to keep them from following via the traffic cameras.” They looked bewildered.

“Isn’t this going a little overboard, Coach?” Kathleen asked skeptically.

“I hope so. -- I certainly hope so, Kathleen, but I’m just afraid we’re not going far enough. _You do NOT want to let Leah fall into MCO hands!_”

The worry in his voice was enough to convince Kathleen. She kissed him on the cheek again with tears in her eyes.

A quick trip to Wally World bought them all new cell phones with new numbers. These were virtually untraceable until they made enough calls to establish a pattern that could be recognized as them. Coach recommended changing to a new one at least once a week.

They had left Doc’s at 11 am. It was now almost 4 pm, and they were packing the last of their stuff in the new SUV. Leah told her mom where she was going, and went to see if Jim was home from school yet. Her mom had insisted she be back in 30 minutes.

Jim wasn’t there when she got there, but came in a few minutes later. After a not so quick kiss, she explained what was going on. He was as unhappy about it as she was. After a few more tearful hugs and kisses, it was time to go.

“I’ll see you in a couple of months,” Jim said trying to cheer her up. But it was hard, because he felt as sad about this as she did. They hadn’t realized how much they had been counting on these last few days together. He even stooped to hug Golden after she appeared. After the hug she went invisible again, so as not to excite the neighborhood gossips.

“I know, but——— “ There just didn’t seem to be anything to say, so she tearfully hugged and kissed him again. “You’d better be there, or I’ll have to come hunting you, and you don’t want that.” She threatened with a sly grin, hugging him again”

With those words, she turned and ran from his house, crying by the time she was half way home. How had a boy come to mean so much to her in that kind of way? And so quickly? Oh, you could say they had always been friends, she thought, but this was different. This was more, much more. Sweet Mary, she realized for the first time that Jim was more than her friend, he was her boyfriend. When had that happened? How had that happened?

Leah unexpectedly recognized how far she had come in the last few days toward accepting her new gender. She realized that maybe she could be that girl in the mirror, without losing all of Lee in the process. Lee would always be a part of her, but that didn’t have to preclude her being a girl, too. She knew Jim’s acceptance of her as still being his old friend, Lee, and his new friend, Leah, was the primary foundation for her ability to acknowledge that duality. She didn’t have to be one or the other. She could be both.

By the time she walked into the house she was actually smiling faintly. For the first time in a while, she felt some measure of peace with herself.

Just as she entered the house she heard her mother tell her sisters, “Girls, make sure you haven’t forgotten anything you can’t live without for a few weeks. It’s going to take a while to find a place and get settled.”

They all made one more pass through the house, then loaded everything they’d collected tearfully into the trailer and climbed into the SUV themselves. So as not to raise suspicions, Tom would stay in the house for a few days. He had already arranged to take Family Leave, ostensibly to take care of his injured wife and daughter. He would oversee the movers and get the house ready for sale.

Kathleen had emailed her resignation, citing her injuries and a family crisis. The bank she worked for was very understanding and had sent her a glowing letter of recommendation as well as a very generous severance package, which would greatly help with moving expenses. They not only offered to maintain her insurance coverage for three months or until she was completely healed, they had given her a month’s pay for each of the seventeen years she had worked there. This translated to a tidy nest egg. With some luck they wouldn’t have to touch their 401(k)’s or savings.

Once the gold and gems were sold, some of Leah’s windfall from Danu would help bridge the gap in their finances until they could get settled and find new jobs. Leah knew she could get more if they needed it.

Leah watched as her mom started the vehicle, then sat staring at her home with tears running down her face for a long few minutes, then Kathleen, grabbing a couple of tissues, wiped her eyes and backed out of the driveway. As they pulled away, Leah noticed that Kathleen didn’t look back. Beth and Eve were sobbing inconsolably, especially since they had not even been able to tell their friends they were leaving.

They made one stop on the way out of town to pick up the sapling and for Leah to say a tearful goodbye to Cantrip. The SUV was so full, that they could barely squeeze it into the vehicle. Given how tall it now was, they laid it on its side. Leah didn’t know what Danu had in mind for the small tree, but she knew it was important.

————

As they drove, Mom gave the younger girls more explanation as to why it was necessary to go so quickly. Leah, sitting in the front with her mom occasionally heard the soft complaining and whimpering cries of her sisters. Golden in the back was nuzzling first one then the other, trying to comfort them. Leah looked at them both with their faces buried in her fur.

The trip was more or less quiet for the first hour or so, as they all began in their own way to resign themselves to the fact that they were going and wouldn’t be back. Mom refused to allow them to call any of their friends today. Even with the new phones, she had a feeling it wouldn’t be a good idea.

Although, Leah had been there when all this was decided, and she wasn’t sure she understood. Leah and her sisters were still despondent, but were slowly beginning to look forward to seeing their grandparents.

Leah knew it would get worse for them as they missed their friends. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on her outlook at the moment, Leah had only two close to miss, Jim and Amanda, which created some very mixed feelings in Leah.

Leah felt guilty about being the cause of her sisters’ pain. They didn’t really remember living anywhere else other than Knoxville, being barely toddlers when they had moved there from Cincinnati. Now they were leaving the only home they knew, because of Leah.

“Leah! You mustn’t punish yourself. Bad things happen to good people all the time. Your family may be sad to be leaving their home, but they would be more sad to lose a sister they have only just begun to know. Or a mother.” Golden was wiser than her form would lead one to believe. She saw things in simple terms. Family was more important than places.

———————————-

They were almost half way up Jellico Mountain when it started snowing. A little snow on the mountain was nothing unusual for this time of the year, but soon it was sticking on the road and getting slick.

By the time they neared the top, traffic was almost at a standstill. Finally, it stopped altogether, on the last steep stretch before the top. The crest of the mountain was less than 300 yards ahead but a minor accident had blocked both lanes. Both vehicles, although not badly damaged, could not get enough traction to get going again. Several men were out trying to push them to get traffic moving again.

There was already two or three inches of snow on the pavement, with more rapidly falling all the time. The snow which had started as big wet heavy flakes, was turning to smaller, dryer flakes as the temperature continued to drop.

“Mom, I could go help. Heck, I could probably carry those cars, but I’m afraid to try. They would undoubtedly figure out I’m a mutant if I put out even a moderate effort, but if they don’t get them moving though we could be stuck here all night. That snow is falling harder all the time. What do you think?”

“I’m sure that is not a good idea. As much as I would like to get moving, people around here are not known for their tolerance of people who are —different.” Mom was clearly worried.

“Couldn’t you use your magic to move them without anyone knowing?” Beth asked innocently.

“No! I don’t think she should,” Mom replied. “Someone could start looking for a wizard, and that could lead to trouble.”

“Maybe not,” Leah replied thoughtfully. “Not if it didn’t look like magic.” Leah started mumbling and moving her hands down low where no one outside the car could see.

“What are you doing!? Stop that right now! Do you hear me!? You’re not only putting yourself at risk, you’re putting your sisters’ lives and my life at risk! People have been dealing with snow here for generations. They don’t need your help now!” Kathleen’s harsh voice stopped Leah’s casting.

“But I know I can do it so no one will know!” Leah whined.

“How do you know? Do you know if there is an MCO agent out there? A car full of H-1 fanatics? Any one of them might guess that magic was being used, no matter how careful and resourceful you are. Do you want to end up back in the hospital? Or dead, along with your sisters?

“I know you just want to help,” she said more gently, “But you mustn’t do it. You’re just starting to learn how to use your magic. Something might go wrong.” She paused and then asked curiously, “What were you trying to do?”

Leah perked up thinking her mother might let her use her magic. “I was going to try to modify a spell I learned this week from Cantrip to levitate objects, but instead of making them lighter, I was going to reverse it to make the cars heavier so they would get more traction,” she said eagerly.

“So this would be a spell you have never actually cast?”

“Well, yeah but I’m sure I can do it, I’ve been modifying other spells.” She clearly wanted her mother to agree. “So can I try? I’m sure that no one will know!”

“Don’t you dare! A spell you’ve never cast before, and you’re sure nothing could go wrong.” Sarcasm dripped from her voice. Then more gently, she said, “If you’d been casting spells for even a couple of years, I might consider it, but Leah, you’ve only been doing this a few weeks. You’ve learned a few things, sure, and Cantrip tells me she has never seen anyone learn magic as quickly as you, but you’re just starting to learn, and the consequences are just too potentially high. You see that, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Leah agreed reluctantly. She knew deep inside she just wanted to show off in front of her mother and sisters.

“Now, here’s what you can do. We don’t know how long it will take to clear the road, so you’re going to get us a couple of warm blankets out of the trailer. I want to turn off the engine, and it’s going to get cold in here. They’re in that big box marked bedroom.”

Two hours later, it was indeed cold in the car. The younger sisters huddled under a down comforter in the back seat with Golden comforting them and helping to keep them warm, while Leah and her mother shared one in the front. They were cool but not cold, under the thermal coverlets.

“The comforters were a good idea, Leah. I’d forgotten about them, much better than blankets.” Leah’s mother was trying to do a couple of things with that statement. First, she truly was glad of the extra warmth, and second, to try and take some of the sting out of her earlier rebuke.

She really was concerned about Leah’s free use of magic when it wasn’t necessary. She knew history and knew that that sort of thing could easily lead to trouble. Maybe not lynching or witch trials in this day and age, but it could be trouble nonetheless. H-1 and those mutant-hating so-called churches would love an excuse to get their hands on Leah. In fact, witch trials might be just the thing to suit their purposes. The fact that they were very unlikely to enjoy the process if they got Leah or Golden riled, made it more dangerous, since that would be all the excuse the MCO needed to do their formidable worst, and she didn’t even want to think about the consequences if they managed to piss off Leah’s father.

When she looked at Leah, it was sometimes hard for Kathleen to remember that she would only be 14 in twelve more days. She looked like she was at least 19 or 20. She still had that early teenager’s sense of immortality, never mind that she might be the next best thing to it. She didn’t have the sense of self-preservation that came with age, and experience that almost everyone developed in their twenties or thirties.

She looked over at Leah staring at the tow vehicles that were beginning to make some progress in clearing the road;
of course, the rapidly accumulating snow woud make things more difficult later. A part of Kathleen wished she had let Leah try, but that part was quickly and firmly quashed by her common sense.

“Leah, you do understand, don’t you why I couldn’t chance you using your magic to help out here, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” she responded in that sulky teenage voice that made Kathleen smile behind her hand.

When Leah acted like this, it made it much easier to remember that the child still lurked behind that grown body. Another part of her worried, because if she had trouble seeing the child in her, then others whom she would meet both in Cincinnati, and at that school would have much more difficulty. It wasn’t fair that one of her children had to grow up so fast. She wished that she had Dr. Bennett there to discuss how to handle this.

“Leah, you know that doing what you wanted would have been very dangerous, right?”

“Yeah, but I still think I could have done it without anyone knowing.” Leah was kinda cranky, and she didn’t feel much like being reasonable.

“Probably!” Kathleen threw her that bone. “But was it worth the potential risk to all of us if something went wrong? You know what they say about magic. Nothing is ever free, there are always unintended consequences, right?”

“Yeeah! Sheesh, you’re starting to sound like Cantrip,” she snipped. “Yeah, it would have been a little reckless. But I know I could have done it.” She sulked, slumping down in her seat. “It’s just what do I have these stupid powers for, if I’m not allowed to use them.”

Eve and Beth, listening from the back seat, pretended they weren’t there. They could understand Leah’s desire to use her powers, but all that had happened in the last few days had scared them. They wouldn’t want to admit it to anyone else, but nearly losing their mother and new sister (twice for Leah) coupled with having to move so quickly, had shaken their confidence badly.

“There’ll come a time after you have enough training, when you will be able to put your powers to good use, but after you know what you are doing and for good reasons, not just to show off. Okay?”

“Okaaay, I guess you’re right. I did just want to show off more than anything, _Mother Thing_!” She said with a sly grin. “We’re never going to be able to get away with anything now that you’re an empath, are we?”

“Were you ever able to pull the wool over my eyes?” Kathleen asked with raised eyebrows.

“No!” Came the chorus as all three of them answered simultaneously. They all laughed. Then the car became quiet again as they all retreated into their own thoughts.

Leah and Kathleen knew how upset the younger girls were with leaving their homes especially without being able to say goodbye.

Their raw emotions beat against Kathleen’s empathy. ‘Hell! I’m upset,’ Kathleen thought. She hadn’t even been able to say ‘bye to Helen (Jim’s mother). She was going to have to talk Coach about learning to shield against all the emotions around her.

Soon the wreckers finished and they were on their way again. By the time they reached Corbin a combination of the road clearing, salting crews and traffic had turned the snow on Interstate 75 to water mixed with slush.

A little later, Kathleen exited onto Highway US-25 that paralleled it. She didn’t know why she did it, but it seemed like the right thing to do, even if there was a little more snow and slush on the road. It was slower, but the snowy scenery was beautiful, and besides it just felt right.

———————

MCO agent McAllister was fuming at his desk. Damn DPA! Who the hell did they think they were dealing with here! He had a feeling in his gut that getting this boy or girl from that wreck the other day was going to be important. He didn’t even have a good picture of her.

The damn U. S. and their fucking privacy laws that wouldn’t let the MCO require the information on the MID that they really needed; like a real name, or address or even a fuckin’ picture. At least, some of the eastern European countries were starting to see the need for these things, but for now all he had was that near worthless MID and a fuzzy picture.

This mutant was newly manifested. He was sure of that much, but to have that much healing power! Now he had just acquired a recently updated MID out of the system for a “Terra” that was a healer, and the DPA even categorized her as a fuckin’ GODDESS class mutant, for Christ’s sake! If that bunch of namby-pambies could recognize that much potential risk, then he was sure he was right about her. She was a dangerous mutant.

He wished he had something to use to justify putting a Deadly Force Preauthorization (DFP) rider on her MID. He thought briefly about making something up, but the DPA would want to see his justification. Damn it to Hell! Couldn’t they see that the MCO was just trying to protect the human race?

“Agent McAllister, sir?” One of his newer agents stuck his head in the door tentatively.

“What is it?” He snapped, annoyed at having his thoughts interrupted.

“Sir, you said you wanted to know about any unusual events in the region. Well, a couple of injured poachers over near Cherokee are babbling about some beautiful chick who messed up their hunt.”

“Did they give a description?”
“Yeah, not that it’s much help. They said she was really tall, and very beautiful with very long hair that seemed to move on it’s own.”

“Anything helpful?”

“No sir, although one was babbling about her turning into a jaguar and attacking him, then healing him.”

“Hummm! Now that might be interesting.” He wondered if he could use this to DFP that mutant he’d gotten so close to near Crossville.

No, he decided reluctantly. He wasn’t even sure if that mutant was a girl, and the word of a couple of poachers wouldn’t go very far if the Justice Department decided to investigate. Besides Cherokee was a long ways from Crossville, although the DPA did take her to the University Hospital in Knoxville. Damn, how dare they post guards to keep him and his agents away from her!

“Anything else?”

“Well, there was one other thing.”

“Yes, yes! Get on with it, man!”

“Well, the computer facial ID software kicked out a possible sighting of that mutant from that Crossville accident, but it was only a 68% probability. They’re not working with a very good picture you know.”

“Where? When?”

“A couple of hours ago on a surveillance camera at a rest stop just across the border into Kentucky.”

Damn all the incompetent jackasses he had working for him! He should have been told as soon as it came up.

“Why the hell wasn’t I notified?” He was standing behind his desk now, his face red. The DPA wasn’t going to stop him from doing his duty, with regards to this girl, but his blundering employees just might.

“Well, sir, it was only a 68% match and with the poor quality of the photo, I didn’t think -“

“I don’t pay you to think! That’s my job. Now I want a projection of how far they could have travelled since the sighting. Do we even know which side of the interstate they were on?

“Yes, sir. Northbound.

I want a dropship with a full power armor response team loaded and ready to lift off in fifteen minutes. You got all that? I also want a full scanning team onboard. We’ll drop by the Interstate ahead of them, and scan every car as they pass. Then By God! I’ll catch it for a proper evaluation and containment. Now GO!”

Something in the back of Agent McAllister’s mind said he wasn’t being fully rational about this — girl? He wasn’t even sure of that; although the Codename on the MID was certainly suggestive, and somehow he was sure it was female.

He hated the damn DPA and he wasn’t about to let them thwart him on this one. ‘She’ was important. He was sure of that. The voices that whispered in his head sometimes, were unusually insistent about this one.

—————

Six hours of fruitless scanning of the cars had turned up absolutely nothing. He knew he had to be ahead of them. They were out there somewhere, he knew it, but his boss was calling every 10 minutes now, insisting that he cut his losses and return. It was expensive to mobilize this much manpower and equipment, and he had nothing to show for it. But the whispering voices from beyond kept insisting he continue. Damn it! How had that bitch escaped him again?

He reluctantly gave the order to return to base. He’d get her or maybe him though. No, sir, he wasn’t giving up yet!

———————

Soon they were pulling into Mammaw’s and Grandpa’s drive and the excitement of seeing them chased their grief away, at least briefly. Mammaw’s big Victorian house was decorated to the nines for Christmas and the big fire in the living room fireplace was so welcoming.

When they arrived at the door, their grandparents were waiting in the foyer when they got to the door, along with an unexpected pleasure. Kathleen’s only living relative, Leah’s Uncle Ben was there too, although his wife and daughters were absent. After hugs all around, Uncle Ben, Kathleen and Leah began bringing the luggage. He was flabbergasted by Leah’s strength as she carried the heaviest trunks and boxes effortlessly.

Kathleen had kept in touch with him the last few months so he knew about Leah’s sex change. He wasn’t prepared though for her incredible beauty, strength and physical maturity.

They hauled all the luggage they would need up to the rooms, Mammaw had ready for them. Then they all gathered in the living room in front of the huge old fireplace and basked in its warmth.

As usual, Mammaw had an enormous natural Christmas tree in the corner furthest from the fireplace. It was covered with lights and ornaments, many of which had been made by Tom and her siblings as they grew up. It smelled wonderful!

Leah loved this old house. Built in the early 1890’s, it was so homey, with its plaster walls, covered in stencils appropriate to the time of its construction. They weren’t original, but after doing a massive restoration about 10 years ago, Mammaw had researched and found stencil patterns to put on the walls. Much of the furniture was original to the house, being handed down from Mammaw’s family who had built the house.

It seemed to Leah to be the perfect home. She always enjoyed her time spent here, exploring the unexpected nooks and crannies so typical of houses from the time period. AND the attic, the attic was huge and filled with the flotsam from the four generations who called this house home. She spent countless happy hours there in the summers, pilfering through the wonderful old castoffs.

But now, she was just happy to be in the bosom of her family, and soak up the love they brought her. For the first time in months, she felt truly safe.

———————

December 8th
Cincinnati

Leah sat in the back seat, tired and grumpy. Mammaw and her Mom had dragged her and her sisters all over town shopping. Beth and Eve loved it. Leah was over it.

She must have tried on a thousand pieces of clothing in the last six hours, and she was sick of it. Now they were heading to yet another mini-mall that specialized in clothes and accessories for young teen girls. Leah just wanted to go home. Her back hurt and she was in a sour mood. She felt if one more cheerful clerk stuck another piece of clothing in a half a dozen sizes and colors in her face, she just might turn her into a frog. Not that she knew how to turn anyone into a frog, but she would improvise.

Golden laid her big head in Leah’s lap. Leah hugged her close. The big cat’s warmth felt good against her tummy. She thanked God and the Goddess for Golden. She needed the steadying effect of her presence.

December 10th
6:30 am
At Mammaw’s house in Cincinnati

Leah awoke with a smile. It was her birthday. She was finally fourteen. This last year had been such a rollercoaster; she said a silent prayer for this one to be calmer. She wriggled under the huge old comforter the made the slightly drafty room cosy. She had a bit of a bellyache this morning and the warmth felt really good. She moved again trying to get comfortable.

As she did so, she felt something odd. The bed felt wet. Had she wet the bed? Her face reddened at the thought. She reached down and touched the sheet. It was definitely wet. When she pulled her hand out, her fingertips were red.

“Momma!” She screamed. “MOMMA!”

When Kathleen arrived a couple of minutes later, followed by Mammaw, Leah was standing by the bed staring at the bloody sheets, hyperventilating. Her face was red with a combination of discomfiture, shock, and embarassment. Tears ran down her face. Her nightgown was also covered in blood. She looked like she wanted to sink through the floor.

Kathleen took one look and knew what was wrong. It took all her self-control to keep from smiling.

“It’s alright, dear! It’s happened to us all at one time or another. It’s perfectly normal.” Kathleen wished she could have bit back that last word.

Leah turned to look at her, shock on her face mixed with anger. “It’s NOT NORMAL! It’s nasty! It’s awful. It’s anything BUT normal!” Her voice rose as she spoke. By this time, Eve and Beth had arrived at the door. Leah glared at them for a second as if it was their fault somehow, before running, crying from her room to the bathroom across the hall and slamming the door.

——————

Kathleen could feel the confusing welter of emotions pouring from the mortified and scared young girl. Although she looked like an adult, at the moment she was a very horrified and frightened teenager betrayed by the realities of a body she still barely recognized as her own.

Kathleen sighed and looked sadly at Mammaw. She heard the shower start in the bathroom, giving her a few minutes respite to gather her wits and also some much needed supplies.

She turned to Eve. “Would you go gather some of your tampons, and pads, please. And please don’t tease her about this, not yet anyway. She didn’t have a lifetime to prepare for this as you did, and you know how hard it was on you. It’s very foreign and frightening to her.”

“Yes, Momma,” Eve answered with a grin on her face. Beth followed her a little sheepishly. Beth was looking forward to becoming a woman, but was still a little frightened and in awe of the whole process.

“I’ll take care of the bed,” Mammaw said. Kathleen nodded gratefully, as she began to gather her thoughts for this, sure to be, less than pleasant lesson for Leah.

—————

Leah was still in the shower scrubbing at her legs, and crotch until they threatened to become raw. Intellectually, she knew what was going on. She knew it was a perfectly normal function for a female body, but that hadn’t prepared her for its reality. It was so nasty, and it smelled! No one had said anything about it stinking.

She knew she had washed enough, but she couldn’t make herself stop. She heard the bathroom door open and close softly. She froze, wishing she could flow down the drain with the blood and water into oblivion.

“Leah, honey. You’ve washed enough. Give your hair a quick shampoo and come out here. We need to talk.”

Her mother’s voice drew her back from the panic and the frantic scrubbing. Sighing softly, she began to do as she was told. When she had finished, she reluctantly turned off the shower and opened the door. Her Mom stood there smiling gently with a huge fluffy towel to wrap her in.

Leah flowed into her mother’s arms as Kathleen wrapped her in the towel. She drew Leah into a deep embrace against her bosom, as Leah began sobbing uncontrollably.

“There, there. It’s going to be alright. You knew this was coming. We had talked about it, didn’t we?”

Leah nodded, afraid to speak.

“But it’s not the same, is it?” Kathleen said softly as she snuggled Leah close.

“NO! It’s not supposed to happen to me! I’m really a boy!” She whimpered.

Kathleen smiled up gently at her. “Not anymore, baby. This makes it official. You’re fully a woman! A beautiful adorable woman! This is as almost as official as it gets.”

“Almost?” Leah looked confused.

“Well, there are one or two other steps that may be even more finally official, but I don’t think you will be ready to go there for some time. The good news is, if you are careful you get to pick when those come.”

Leah’s eyes went wide, as she realized what her mother meant. “Oh, sweet Jesus, this means I can get pregnant, doesn’t it? She was beginning to hyperventilate again. Kathleen pulled her closer. “Shhhh! It’s okay. That’s a step that you don’t have to take until you are ready.”

Leah snorted. “I don’t think I’m ever likely to be ready for that one!”

“Never say ‘never’,” her mother cautioned her. “You were quite the surprise, but if you are careful, it can be your choice.” Kathleen rubbed her neck. It was getting stiff from looking up at her nervous, newly initiated daughter. “Hurry up and dry off, so we can sit down and talk. I’m getting a crick in my neck looking up at you.

As Leah slowly regained control of her emotions, Kathleen handed her a towel to wrap around herself and then Leah took another towel to begin drying her hair, before wrapping it up turban-style on top of her head. Leah could feel its weight. Leah grinned slightly, "I’m glad my neck muscles are as strong as the rest of me. This wet hair is heavy.”

“Now, let’s get you squared away.” Kathleen said as she reached to the counter behind her for the sanitary supplies Eve had provided.

Leah blanched briefly, before resigning herself to the ritual that would be a part of her life for a very long time. She watched and listened as her mother explained again how to use the various products.

Finally, a red-faced and slightly uncomfortable girl stepped out into the hall, to find her sisters there waiting for her. She reddened even more as they rushed up to wrap their arms around her.

“Happy birthday, Leah!”

“Humph, some birthday present.”

Eve laughed. “Yeah, well just remember the hard time you gave me when I started! Payback’s a bitch, ain’t it.”

Kathleen jumped in. “You watch your language, young lady! You still aren’t too big for a paddling.”

Slightly chagrinned, Eve apologized, but the devilish grin on her face told Leah she was in for a long few days. Her well-endowed chest heaved as she resigned herself to the payback she knew she richly deserved.

—————

Agent McAllister stared at the map on his wall. 'How had he missed that mutant?’ More and more, he was sure that the girl from the rest stop was the mutant he was hunting. At least he had a decent picture this time.

He knew that Agents weren’t supposed to get so personally invested in the mutants they were tracking, unless they did something violent, but he couldn’t stop himself. Somewhere out there was a mutant that the voices said he had to find, and destroy, and they weren’t going to give him any peace until he did.

She must have gotten off the Interstate, he decided, but where? and in what direction? She hadn’t been on I-75 just south of London, KY but that left at least 3 major state and federal routes, as well as dozens of smaller county routes. After some thought, he decided he could eliminate the county routes. As hard as it was snowing that day, they would have been the next best thing to impassable. That left State Routes 90 and 119, and U. S. Route 25W, but which one?

Damn it, if he just knew who it was! He would have to go back to basics. If he could figure out who it was, he could make a better guess where it might go. What did he know? He knew it was a recently manifested mutant, and that meant more than likely a junior high school or high school student, probably female. He scribbled furiously on his white board.

Their vehicle had been totaled in that wreck, so they would need a new one. Since that one was a SUV, they would probably buy another SUV. That also meant a claim on their insurance. He kept scribbling.

Going back to the map, he stuck a pin where the accident took place. Since they took it to Knoxville, it seemed likely that it lived near there, but that was also the location of the regional triage hospital, so he didn’t want to make too many assumptions based on that. Nashville wasn’t that far from the accident site either. Finally he took a piece of string and wrapped it around the pin and stretched it to the far side of Nashville, making a loop there, he stuck a pencil in it and proceeded to draw a large circle on the map that encompassed Nashville, Knoxville, and a large number of smaller cities and towns. He was reasonably sure “it” lived in that circle. If only the voices would be more specific, he was sure they knew, but it seemed there was only so much they would or could do to help him.

Finally, he was sure she was running. That meant they would probably pull it out of whatever school it had gone to. If they could locate that school, someone there would know who it was!

“JENKINS! Get in here, now!” He bellowed. He was confident at last he had a scheme that would enable him to find “it”.

————

As Agent Jenkins stuck his head in the door, he grimaced. He had seen that look before. McAllister was determined to find and kill another mutant. Agent Jenkins hated this, but as a junior agent in the office, he had little choice but to follow orders.

Maybe it was time to think about sending an anonymous letter to that new Internal Affairs Division the MCO had established in the Seattle office. For now though, he resigned himself to following Agent McAllister’s directions.

—————

“Alright, listen up. See this map and this circle?”

Jenkins nodded.

“Good! Now I want a list of every SUV sold or leased inside that circle between November 25th and December 5th. I, also, want a list of every insurance claim for a totaled SUV; every junior high school or high school student who was pulled out of the school they had been attending, and every home that was sold or listed for sale between those dates inside this circle. Then I want those lists cross-referenced and two new lists generated. One with all the names and addresses of all the families that appear on all those lists and a separate list for all the families that appear on three out of the four lists. Got that?”

“Yes sir, but sir this is going to take a lot of time. I can get the cars sold from the DMV, but rentals are going to require calling every rental agency in that circle, and what about the houses that are listed for sale by owner or on Craigslist or similar listings?

“I will probably have to have a court order to get access to the school records, also. What am I supposed to use to justify getting court orders for those schools? It will require a separate order for every school district before a different judge in each district. That alone will be a massive effort.”

McAllister cut him off. Standing behind his desk looking like he was going to burst a blood vessel at any moment he began bellowing. “I want those lists by this time next week or you’ll be looking for a new job. Pull any of the other agents in the office to help! Hell fire, pull ALL of them! I want those damn lists yesterday!

“Make up something for the judges, I don’t care what. Just get that damn information! Now why the hell are you still standing there? Now get your ass moving or I’ll move it for you!”

McAllister went back to staring at the map, and thinking. Maybe he could lean on that H-1 prick whose wife was a nurse at the hospital where they took it, and get a name that way. There had to be some way to find out.

—————

“Yes sir. Whatever you say, sir.” Jenkins knew that the other agents were going to balk at being pulled off whatever they were working on. Some of those jobs were time sensitive, too, but he started to leave the office, notepad in hand, when he remembered the information he just received.

“Oh, by the way, Sir. We just got a notice of some strange things happening in Knox and Morgan counties. It seems several prominent people have disappeared, including the Sheriff, the head of the local H-1 group, and the preacher at the Pentecostal Church of Genetic Purity, among others.”

“What why didn’t you tell me this earlier? This could be the lead we need, you nitwit!”

“Sir, I just got the information when you called me in here.”

“Alright. Alright. Focus our efforts on these counties. I have to know who this mutant is, damn it! Now get moving.

He’d do the best he could. There was no way this was authorized by the Department Head, or the regional office, but since he was a very junior agent, he would have to do as he was told; at least within limits.

He didn’t care what Agent McAllister said there was no way, he was committing perjury before those judges. He decided he would send that letter to Seattle tonight, — but after he left the office.

—————

McAllister muttered to himself as he stared at the map. “I know those school records are the key to catching up with the mutant, but that wimp Jenkins won’t push it hard enough. He hasn’t got the balls.”

After locking his office door and pulling the shade, he sat down behind his desk and pulling out his file drawer, reached into the space behind it. The folder taped there he wasn’t supposed to have, but it occasionally was necessary. Removing the file, he opened it. In it was information that could be damaging to several important people in the state. One of them would be the key to getting him the name he needed, or they would be very sorry.

Flipping through several pages, he selected one, and picked up his phone. After pressing several buttons to ensure privacy, he began dialing.

—————

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.

I appreciate everyone's patience and apologize for the lengthy delay in posting this chapter. I will try not to take nearly as long on the next one.

Waterdog

Wednesday
December 13th, 2007
Mammaw’s House

Her mom found Leah sitting dejectedly, half-heartedly brushing at her long tangled chestnut locks staring; eyes seemingly unfocused. Her empathy power sensing her daughter’s dejection and pain, and Kathleen was pretty sure she knew the trouble.

Kathleen came quietly in and took the brush from Leah’s hand and began gently detangling her hair as Leah just sat there. She worked in silence at first. The brush gliding through her silken hair was having a calming effect that eased the tension in Leah’s muscles as well as straightened the tangles. Kathleen could feel her relaxing. Finally her mom spoke, “Do you want to talk about it, baby?” She could discern the slight wince that indicated that Leah was still a little uncomfortable with the terms of endearment her mother usually used on her sisters.

Leah didn’t respond for couple of minutes. Kathleen was beginning to doubt she would, when she spoke up.

“I’ve ruined everything for all of us, haven’t I?” Kathleen could feel the dejection and self-loathing that lurked just below the surface.

“No, baby! You haven’t! If anyone is responsible for this, it is me, for falling in love with your father, and I wouldn’t change that if I could. It gave me you!”

“Yeah, but it’s my fault we have to move. Mom, I don’t want to leave Knoxville, it’s the only home I can remember. There’s so much I thought I would do there — with my friends! (Ha! that’s a joke! She thought remembering how the people that she thought were her friends were treating her).

“Not necessarily big things, Mom, just things. Now I’ll never get to go back to the zoo, or play tag in that huge old maple in the back yard with Chuck, Jim, and Fred. Hell, even Amanda used to swing with us through the branches until last year, when she decided she didn’t want to be a tomboy anymore. Like I said, just little things like hanging with the guys, or popping down the street to Jim’s house and finding his mom making her incredible chocolate cookies. It’s all going to be gone!”

Kathleen gathered her into her embrace. Leah wasn’t crying yet, but Kathleen could sense her tears just beneath the surface. She pulled Leah’s head down tightly against her shoulder. She didn’t think she would ever get used to the fact that Leah was so much taller than herself.

“I know that hanging with the guys has been just a memory for a while now, — except for Jim, of course.” Leah muttered into her neck. Kathleen could feel Leah’s heart quicken slightly as she thought of him. “I always told myself that things would get better and I could patch things up with my friends and things could go back to some sense of normal.

“But now that’s not going to happen, is it? — I won’t be there to make them happen.” There was a slight catch in her voice as she said, “I guess until now it didn’t seem real. Even the whirlwind packing and the drive up to Cincinnati seemed more like a spur of the moment holiday vacation than moving, but now with Dad’s call, it is really sinking in that we aren’t ever going to be able to go back.”

“No, baby!” Kathleen said softly as she stroked the silken hair of her newest daughter. “But life goes on. We all loved that house, but when all is said and done, it was just a house. We’ll find a new house and we’ll make it a home too. Nothing stands still. It’s not supposed to! Change is how we grow.”

“I know, Mama, but it just seems like it’s all my fault! If it weren’t for me. Evie and Beth wouldn’t have had to leave their friends and neither would you. You all would be better off without me around. That’s why you’re sending me off to boarding school, isn’t it?

“Leah Elizabeth Cook! Don’t you ever let me hear you say that again. We’re family! And family do whatever is needed for each other.” She said with a slight grin or maybe it was a grimace. “We’re sending you to Whateley because that’s what is best for you, not because we want to! Now I’ll hear no more of this defeatist talk from you, young lady, or you’ll find heir to a goddess or not, I can still tan your hide. You just watch and see if I don’t!”

Kathleen thought back to when she had taken the call last night, that Leah was talking about. Leah’s dad calling and saying that the realtor already had an offer on the house. It had surprised her, too. Her initial reaction wasn’t that much different from her newly minted daughter’s. She wished that things had moved a little slower. It would have been easier on all of them if the house hadn’t sold until after the New Year or at least until after Christmas.

The house hadn’t even been officially listed yet. The realtor had merely told a few people, who she knew were looking, and one of them had made a very good offer. It was a choice piece of historic architecture after all that had been lovingly restored and cared for.

Tom had the movers scheduled to come and pack up the house quickly on Saturday. They were going to put all the stuff in PODS that could be stored until they found out exactly where they were going to settle. She sighed softly, as she stroked Leah’s head. She didn’t like the thought of strangers living in her house, the house where she had raised her babies, but what was done was done.

“Leah, guess what? Your dad had some good news last night, too. You know how Mr. Haskins made life hard on Tom after finding out that you were a mutant. Well he decided, that even if you were a mutant, he really didn’t want to lose Tom as an employee. Tom has, after all, been his number one sales rep for the company eight years running, after all.

“You know Tom was going to give Mr. Haskins his notice yesterday that he was quitting so that we could be nearer where you were going to go to school in New Hampshire. Well, guess what? Haskins offered Tom, the Northeast Regional Sales Manager position.

“The current manager is about to retire so his territory and staff will soon need a new manager. It will be a lot of work and travel, since the current sales manager has let things slip, and sales are down a bit. Anyway, Mr. Haskins offered the territory to Tom, at nearly double the salary, provided he can restore the profitability of the territory within a couple of years. He will be home-based in Boston, — which is fairly convenient to Whateley Academy. And — since Mr. Haskins is transferring Tom, the company is paying for the moving.”

“That’s great! At least I’ll be able to see you guys more often. It’s still going to be hard though, isn’t it? — for all of you! I still wish we could just go home.”

————

Leah kicked her foot petulantly. She knew they had to move, but she missed her home and she missed Jim. She hated being whiny, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. Thank the Virgin, she would at least be seeing Jim again in a couple of months.

————

“Your dad hopes he might be joining us sooner than expected, since things are moving so fast on the house.” Kathleen said trying to cheer Leah up.

One part of Leah was glad, since she would see her dad sooner, but another part grieved. Her home was gone. Tears trickled down her cheeks from an empty spot aching in her heart. Her emotions were on edge anyway from her period.

—————

Beth was driving Leah crazy with questions about her monthlies, as Mom called them. Beth was anticipating her own first period before very long.

“What’s it like?” She asked bouncing on Leah’s bed that first night.

“Gross and smelly!”

“Yewww! ——— I guess it would be though, especially for someone with your senses.” Her enthusiasm dampened a little for a few seconds, wrinkling her nose as she thought about it.

Leah hadn’t thought about it in those terms. Probably she could smell it more, her nose was (or nostrils were) more sensitive. She hoped so, or passers-by would be calling 911. The coppery odor of blood seemed to fill her nose every time she moved.

“Was it really a surprise?” asked Beth, bouncing back from her momentary suppression of spirit.

“Well, duh! Yeah, you could say that, since a few months ago I never expected to ever have one. Can we talk about something else? I’m really grossed out about this.” Leah was disgusted by the whole process, but the young sister ignored her discomfort and continued to ask questions, one after the other, even though Leah was simply ignoring most of them.

—“What does a tampon feel like?”

—“How often do you have to change it?”

—“Does it feel weird to have a pad in your panties?

After nearly an hour of non-stop barrage, Leah got fed up, and literally picked her up and dumped her out of door, which she then closed and locked.

Eve chuckled when Leah came down to dinner. “Now you know some of what I went through during my first. She’s crazy on the subject. She can’t wait for it to start. Boy, is she in for a surprise!”

“No kiddin’! Leah responded, grinning for the first time since she wakened to her unwelcome visitor.

Fortunately, for Leah, her period, while very heavy, (with her having to wear both a tampon and thick pad), was relatively short. By Wednesday afternoon, she was only lightly spotting. Eve was frankly envious that Leah’s period only lasted two days.

Leah was just relieved to have it almost over, and dreading the fact that she could look forward to it again in a month, perhaps for hundreds of years. She shuddered at that thought. She still felt dirty, even though she’d just got out of the shower.

—————

“Sir, I finally succeeded in getting some information,“ Agent Jenkins told McAllister. “The DMV information was easy, and even most of the rental information. Although a couple of the larger agencies are making noises about protecting their client’s confidentiality, I’ve little doubt that I will be able to get that information shortly.”

“I got the tag numbers from the DMV for all of the SUV title transfer records. I then put the computers scanning the traffic control cameras on I-75 for a match, but so far nothing has shown up.”

“The school systems for the most part are still demanding court orders except for a few counties where most of the school boards are controlled by H-1 members or other people we have connections with.”

“So far all the realty records I’ve found are those listed on the internet.”

Jenkins knew Agent McAllister was becoming more and more frenzied every day about this. He seemed to think it shouldn’t be this hard, with the resources they had, to find one mutant.

“The intensive search has turned up a few unregistered mutants in the area, but none could be the one we are after. They are all mostly very low level mutants.”

“Pick them up, anyway. Put them in the isolation cells for now, we’ll ‘deal’ with them more permanently later.” McAllister said with a wave of his hand.

“On what charge, sir? They haven’t done anything.”

“They’re fuckin’ mutants, aren’t they? Who cares what they’ve done. We’ve got to wipe this scourge out. With the new money the Goodkinds are giving us, I expect that we’ll get that new legislation, we wanted. Then maybe we can even get help from that worthless DPA. The public wants action. They’re afraid of mutants. So lock ’em up and we’ll figure a way to find a final solution later. Why do you think we built all those maximum security cells under this office?”

Jenkins felt sick as he left McAllister’s office. This wasn’t what he had signed up for. More and more of the new field agents being hired though thought more like McAllister than himself though. Although there was a vocal few members of the ‘public’ who wanted action on mutants, he very much doubted the public in general gave mutants much thought or wanted this kind of action taken in this country, at all. Jenkins didn’t know why McAllister was so hard core on this subject.

————

McAllister’s parents worked overseas for the State Department, when he was growing up. They had been stationed first in one then another of the old soviet states. The attitude in those failing states toward mutants was much like the German’s attitude in WWII toward Jews.

Their economies had mostly never recovered from the recession in the first decade of the 21st century, and therefore, crime there was rampant. Like governments everywhere, when things were bad, they went looking for someone to blame it on. It kept the people from looking to close at their officials and their actions or lack thereof.

Mutants there had few rights or protections and McAllister had taken their philosophies to heart as he grew up. If he had his way, mutants here would have no rights, either.

————

“Agent McAllister?” The office secretary called out timidly. He ignored her the first time. “Agent McAllister, sir! The Regional Director is on the phone for you.”

“Tell him I’m busy.”

“I did, sir. He insists on speaking to you — NOW, sir!”

“Alright, alright! Damn his eyes! Tell him I’ll be right there.”

“Do you have those school lists yet?” McAllister stopped to ask Jenkins.

“No, sir. Most of the schools refuse to cooperate without a court order.”

“Damn them! Don’t they realize we’re protecting the human race? Damn them all to hell!” He muttered as he made his way toward his office.

The MCO Regional Managing Director had called three times in the past two days bitching about the unreasonable allocation of resources to this single case. McAllister made all the right noises on the phone to the regional office, then continued pouring resources toward it like water.

————

Agent Jenkins had never seen McAllister like this before, and hoped he never would again. He really didn’t understand why McAllister was so fixated on this girl.

Agent Wylann, from the new Internal Affairs office, had called Jenkins at home last night after getting his letter. They had discussed the case at length.

“You are right to contact me, Jenkins. You have every right to question McAllister’s obsession with this case. While this mutant might be, — Hell, probably is dangerous, we’ve got little evidence that she, if she is a she, has actually done anything.

Goddess class mutants are rare enough that we don’t know that much about them. She could be volatile, but at this point, we can’t prove she’s done nothing wrong. Hell, we don’t even sure she’s the right mutant that McAllister is looking for. Assuming that this “Terra” is who he’s hunting, and assuming that she has actually done all the things that McAllister is accusing her of, she still hasn’t done anything so terrible. Many mutants with similar powers and actions have been cautioned and let go. Hell! She’s even properly registered and had saved at least one life, maybe two.”

“That doesn’t sound all that dangerous to me, but McAlister does seem hell-bent on capturing her. I want you to keep an eye on him, and at the least hint he’s gone over the edge, contact me. I don’t like the way this organization is going, and if this isn’t stopped it’s going to get out of hand and turn into a full-blown pogram. It’s up to agents like you and me to figure out a way to stop it.” Agent Wylann was frustrated at the regional director for not taking stronger action already.

“Yes, Sir! And Sir, just for the record. I think McAllister’s loosing it. I don’t think this boy or girl is any real threat unless cornered, and certainly those low level mutants he’s got locked downstairs aren’t. I looked into that incident in the mountains, if it even was her, she showed more restraint than I would have. But cornered, or protecting people who are important to her, my guess is watch out. She probably has the power, but little training in controlling it.” Agent Jenkins was worried. He was feeling caught between a rock and a hard place.

“I know. I know!” Wylann replied, “That’s why I need McAllister to back off. We’re pretty sure she’s headed to Whateley. That would be the best place she could be — for all concerned. She needs training. Right now, thanks to McAllister, she or he is probably as touchy as a case of hundred-year-old dynamite.

“I’ve made sure if she can get there, she’ll be accepted, but that’s all I can do right now. Even though, he’s ticked at McAllister, the Regional Director won’t replace him, not yet. I’m heading your way in the morning on the 10 AM flight into Knoxville. Maybe I can talk some sense into him, but I doubt it. Meanwhile, I want you to register those low level mutants, give them a warning and let them go. This is on my authority and at my orders, if he finds out and asks about them. If he throws a fit as I expect him to, record it and refer him to me. Maybe he will give us the rope to hang him.”

“I tell you what else you can do, if you will. Kinda hold back on the information that’s pointing him in the right direction, and play up the things that will calm him down or steer him the wrong way. Can you do that? I promise I won’t let him hurt your career.”

“Sure, I can try, but don’t count on anything. I’ve been kinda trying to do that already, but he’s starting to go around me. It’s only a matter of time, before that old bloodhound picks up her trail.” Jenkins wondered if he could make something up that would distract McAllister.

“Okay. See you tomorrow. Do me a favor, have a small drop ship standing by, preferably from another district office. I may need it.”

————

Jenkins had gotten one 73% correlation between a tag issued to a new SUV and a house that was in the process of being sold in Knoxville. After discussing it, Agents Wylann and Jenkins decided that it wasn’t a strong enough link to justify hassling these people. Wylann told Jenkins to hold back the info from McAllister and to make note of any forwarding address. When it looked like McAllister was getting close to this information himself then Jenkins was to give it to him before he could confirm it and message Wylann, so Jenkins ass was covered, to preserve his cover. He also authorized Jenkins to check out covert bugs and recording devices that were normally used to track mutants to bug McAllister.

He gave Jenkins a direct line to contact him. Wylann also told Jenkins to keep an eye on McAllister, and if McAllister became more unstable, or if he succeeded in catching her, or they confirmed that she did something dangerous to others, to call him, day or night.

——————

Saturday
December 16th
Uncle Allen’s house

The girls were all excited this morning. They were going Christmas shopping, then they were going to Uncle Allen’s house, two of their favorite things to do. Even Leah was excited. Uncle Allen had always been her favorite relative, maybe because he had always treated her as an adult and an equal.

When she was Lee, he had taken Lee rock climbing in the mountains, or camping, or fishing, or just made time for him any time they were together.

Now maybe it was partially because his own children were all girls, but Leah didn’t think so. He had always included them until they had decided they were too girlie to participate in such boyish pastimes.

“How are my favorite nieces!” He said holding out his arms to embrace them, making sure with a look and a smile to ensure the Leah knew she was included when they arrived. After hugs and greetings all around, he stepped aside for his wife.

Aunt AnnaMarie, his wife, was always a little more standoffish, but she had always made them feel welcome in the past. The only thing Leah could say against her was she was always preaching at them. She was member of the Anglican Church, and didn’t really approve of papists. She had never made a big deal out of it, but she had never really ceased trying to convert Allen and the children.

But both of them had always gone out of their way to make us all feel welcome in their home, Leah thought, reflecting back on previous visits, until today.

Uncle Allen met all of them with a hug, but while Aunt AnnaMarie hugged her sisters, she totally ignored Leah. Or was she . . ? She’s not ignoring me, she’s – she’s snubbing me. I might as well not be in the room as far as Aunt AnnaMarie is concerned. That realization was gut-wrenching. How could she. . . and her attitude toward Mom is not much better, and – Oh my God -- she doesn’t even know mom’s a mutant yet. Leah glanced over to Uncle Allen, who simply shrugged his shoulders, as if to say what can I do? Well, at least she was making a fuss over Beth and Eve.

Then Leah realized things were even worse. Uncle Allen’s girls
were only 10 and 11 years old respectively, so she didn’t have much in common them to start with, but they had always been excited to see their older cousin. But now? While they were engaging with Beth and Eve, they wouldn’t even look at her. Clearly they didn’t want to or had been told not to have anything to do with her. In fact, within a few minutes, they took her sisters and went up to their room. The girls too? Oh, this is too much. She felt tears welling but, with a huge effort, she managed to suppress the hurt, and move on into the living room with Uncle Allen and her mother.

When Leah went into the living room with Uncle Allen and her mother, Aunt AnnaMarie said, “I’ve got some things on the stove in the kitchen,” but it sounded more to Leah like an excuse to get away from her and her mother.

“I’m sorry about that.” Uncle Allen said apologetically as they settled into the living room. “AnnaMarie’s gotten involved a church group doesn’t like mutants, and she has clearly taken it to heart.”

“It’s alright. I’m kind of getting used to it. It makes me sad though. I always liked Aunt AnnaMarie, and I thought she liked me.” Leah replied.

“No! It’s anything but alright.” He replied quickly with a little heat in his voice. “You didn’t ask for this, and you haven’t done anything wrong. You’re not the first to be the object of her bigotry, and I’m getting pretty tired of it. It was one thing when she was just expressing her own opinions, but now she’s begun trying to indoctrinate the girls.”

“Kathleen,” he rubbed his palms against his pant’s leg. “I haven’t said anything to you, when we’ve talked, because I figured you had enough on your plate; but AnnaMarie and I have been having problems for some time now. Mostly because of things like this. She almost got me fired, shooting off her mouth at the company picnic this year. The boss’ son is a mutant, with GSD. He looks like he is part cat, and Beth just couldn’t keep her mouth shut when he came to the picnic.

“I’ve been telling myself it was better for the girls, if we stayed together; but more and more I’m seeing how her prejudices are rubbing off on Candice and Anne. I haven’t decided quite what to do about it yet.

“Kathleen, what do you think? You were always my ballast as we grew up. Should we stay together for the sake of the girls or separate?”

Kathleen sat with a disturbed expression, thinking before she answered. “Allen, I’m not sure I’m the best one to advise you on this. I can’t really be a disinterested party here.”

She took a deep breath. “In the last few months since Leah began changing, I’ve come to understand just how damaging things like this can be. They’re not only damaging to the recipient of the prejudice, but everyone around them, and now — well it hadn’t seemed like the right time to bring it up when we talked on the phone, but — I’m a mutant myself.” Her brother-in-law gasped softly, then wrapped his arm around her.

“Don’t worry about it as far as I’m concerned, but let’s not mention it right now to AnnaMarie.” he looked pleadingly at her.

“I didn’t plan to tell her. It’s really none of her business, plus I can’t stand a bigot, especially now.”

“You should know though that I’m not ashamed of it. Leah caused me to manifest by saving my life when that H-1 scum-bucket tried to shove us off the mountain. I was seconds from death when Leah working from instinct used her healing power to fix the worst of my injuries. She also mended my broken back, but in doing so, she made me a mutant, too. I’m a pretty low level one, but a mutant all the same.

“So all of this has just has given me a more personal outlook on the whole subject of mutants. There is no easy answer, but AnnaMarie is wrong, and what’s worse she will never see that she is wrong.” Kathleen was getting more worked up all the time.

“I’ve not told you, but I’m somewhat of an empath now, so I can tell you just how much AnnaMarie hates having us here — in her house. If you weren’t my only living relative, frankly I would gather up the girls and leave right now, and never come back. The hatred I feel from her is painful. Especially, since I thought she and I were close, almost like sisters until today.

“Now all I can feel from her is disgust, and a desire for us to be gone, and your daughters aren’t much better. They don’t really understand what’s going on, but they sense how AnnaMarie feels about us, and that’s coloring their actions.

“I actually hate to have them around my girls, and if I didn’t know how much Beth and Eve love their sister, I would be worried about the mental poison your daughters are probably preaching at her right now.

“But AnnaMarie is your wife! You’ve got to decide what you feel and what you can tolerate in your house. I can’t do that for you. Do you want us here enough to buck her on this, knowing the issues it will cause?”

“Kathleen, you know I love you, and I couldn’t love your children more if they were mine. It’s issues like this that are driving me to consider a split.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s not just the mutant issues. AnnaMarie becomes more bigoted and hate-filled every day toward anyone who’s different. She actually started a petition to try to drive an elderly muslim couple out of the neighborhood. Those people were born in this country and have lived here all their married life. They have been nothing, but good people and good neighbors. Fortunately, she got little support for the petition, in fact quite the opposite, but that just made her hate them more.

“I really don’t want to leave her. I love her dearly, or did, before she began to change. Now, I just don’t know what I feel toward her. I know I don’t like what she’s becoming, and I don’t like what she’s doing to the girls.”

Kathleen walked over and put a hand on her Allen’s shoulder. “I’ve written you and talked to you, so you know some of the problems Leah has encountered since changing. It’s been very hard for her to maintain her positive outlook on life, but she mostly has. How I honestly don’t know, in the face of people like AnnaMarie, and so many others. People have tried to push us off a mountain, vandalized our cars and house, and tried to attack or capture Leah for experiments and that ignores the name-calling, bullying and relatively minor stuff at school. Is it any wonder that some mutants go bad? They’re just people under it all. Most of them that go bad, do so, I suspect, because people don’t give them any other choice.”

Kathleen looked at Leah who was sitting there quietly with tears glistening in her eyes. “I know how hard it is for you, baby, and how important family has been for you.” She said softly but from the heart.

Leah nodded, not trusting her voice to speak. Even though she was currently invisible, Leah could feel Golden bristling beside her.

“Allen, I can’t — won’t tell you what to do, but I’m afraid this is the way it is. AnnaMarie’s venom is infecting everything and everyone around her. I came here today, suspecting that she had a problem with mutants from your letters, but I never expected the level of loathing and hostility I feel. It’s slimy, and corrosive. It clings to and destroys everything it touches.

“And I can tell you this, brother, as hard as you are fighting it, it is affecting you, too. The brother I knew and grew up with wouldn’t even have had to ask these questions.”

They sat there staring sadly at one another for several minutes, sipping on their coffees. Then Allen spoke up. “You’re right, of course. — you always were! Darn it!” He said with a teasing grin.” His face grew more serious. “I’m giving her an ultimatum tonight. She has to change, or we are going to divorce, and I’ll fight her for the girls. I don’t inten——

—————-

Right then, loud shouting came from the girls’ bedroom. “You take that back!” Eve’s angry voice sliced through the house.

“No! She’s a monster and a witch! She should be killed! The Bible says ‘suffer not a witch to live’ and she’s going to hell!” Candice’s voice was as full of malice as her mother’s.

“You bitch,” Beth’s shrill voice.

“You leave my sister alone,” Anne’s husky contralto boomed, as the sounds of a scuffle broke out. The noise of things falling and breaking.

Then they heard the two smaller girls start chanting. “Witch! Witch! Leah’s a witch! Witch! Witch! Leah’s a witch!

AnnaMarie came running through the house, drying her hands on her apron as she went. More shouting and tussling ensued. Allen and Kathleen were starting toward the noise, when AnnaMarie came down the hallway dragging Eve and Beth by their hair.

“Your daughters attacked my girls, for no reason other than they were telling the truth! I want you to take them and that _thing_ and get out of my house, this instant!” Her face was bright red with anger. She half slung the sisters into the room. Hair fell from her hands where she had pulled it out by the roots. The girls were both crying.

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!” Allen’s normally soft voice reverberated around the room.

“I’ll tell you what’s going on! That witch has infected our house with her sinfulness. I told you I didn’t want them here, but you just had to have things your way. Now Anne is crying on her bed, her favorite doll broke beyond repair, just because she told the truth about that thing sitting there, acting so innocent.” She looked at Leah. “Well, you don’t fool me. You should be burned, like all witches!”

Leah’s face burned with shame. What had she done to warrant this? Maybe she was some kind of monster. Nearly everyone seemed to think that.

But more than that though; she was angry, Angry at the treatment of her sisters by Aunt AnnaMarie. She stood slowly to her feet. Golden winked into view beside her, snarling and emitting a low growling that echoed through the room from her chest. As the anger continued to overcome her shame, she seemed to grow as her essence rose to the surface such that her presence filled the room. Energy crackled around her, her eyes were dark, full of power and her long hair was waving violently around her head crackling with static. In spite of her anger, when she spoke it was with a quiet calm voice, but one that would brook no discussion.

“Aunt AnnaMarie! I have done nothing to you or yours — yet, but You. know. this! I will not tolerate anyone, even family, mistreating my sisters.” Her voice had a timbre that seemed to resonate painfully in the heads and bones of all present. Her anger was a palpable thing that beat on her Aunt. “You will apologize to them NOW. and then I will leave this house and never return as long as you are here, but you will leave my sisters out of this!”

Aunt AnnaMarie backed up until she was against the door frame, her eyes wide with fear. She seemed to shrink as her fear of Leah made her become an almost pitiable thing. Kathleen nor Uncle Allen felt frozen in place and couldn’t make themselves intervene in the scene before them, even when Golden took a couple of menacing steps and let out a loud no-nonsense scream of anger.

Leah stood waiting, staring at her Aunt, her anger a tangible thing in the room. No one else in the room made a sound, except her sobbing sisters, clinging to one another on the floor where Aunt AnnaMarie had slung them.

Finally, in a small quivering voice, “I’m sorry, girls. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I won’t do it again.” Then her voice grew harsher, “It’s that thing masquerading as your sister that’s the cause of this.” Turning back to Leah, she made herself clear, practically spitting. “To you, I apologize for nothing! You’re a freak and a monster! I want you out of my house. You have already imperiled your own mother’s soul, and you will not corrupt me and mine.”

Uncle Allen was released from his immobility as Leah’s presence receded slightly and spoke up then, in a quiet firm voice that brooked no argument, “Leah will always be welcome within this house as long as I live here. She had no control over what has happened to her, and I will not sit here and listen to your narrow-minded abhorrent ramblings. Leah is a sweet, innocent girl, who has had a very difficult time.

The last thing she needs is your self-righteous dribble. Now if you don’t like that, then you can leave, but know this. The girls will not be going with you.” With a shocked look on her face, Aunt AnnaMarie turned and ran from the room, crying.

Leah seemed to draw back into herself, but remained standing for a moment, before she shuddered and collapsed into her chair, emotionally drained. Eve and Beth ran to her, wrapping her in a hug as they cried on her shoulders. Golden laid her great head in Leah’s lap as her hair wrapped around all of them like a cocoon. Finally she became aware of her mother and uncle still in the room sitting quietly staring at her in awe. Her hair unwrapped from around her face.

“I’m sorry.” She addressed herself in a small almost timid voice directed mostly to her uncle, but to a certain extent all of them. “I shouldn’t have done that, but I love my sisters too much to let anyone hurt them. I should have handled it better.” She apologized as her hair pulled back from around them.

Uncle Allen sat quietly for a long moment. “You’re right, you could have handled it better.” He said gently reaching out and stroked her hair, then cupping her cheek in his hand. “You’ve only convinced her of the moral certainty that she was right about you. On the other hand, it’s my experience that when a person has become that petty and convinced of their own righteousness, there is little real hope of changing their mind no matter what you do.

“I, on the other hand, wish to thank you. You have crystallized my own thoughts on the subject. I know now that for me to stay, is only to open myself to living in this pit of venom that has become her stock and trade and either be slowly infected by it, or sink into bitterness.

“You, however, have given me a third option, I can leave her or she can leave — now while there is still feeling between us. That way, if she can see her way clear of this morass, then maybe, just maybe, we can try to pick up the pieces and try to be a family again. Maybe, at least, that way with a little luck, I can get my daughters away from her before it’s too late for them, as well.”

Leah sat slack-jawed, unable to respond. She certainly hadn’t meant to come between her uncle and his family. She was only defending her sisters. It seemed wherever she went she left devastation and ruin behind her. Her mother had been nearly killed. Her own family had been driven from their home, and now she felt she was responsible for driving a wedge into her uncle’s family. Tears ran down her face. She was a monster, maybe an unintentional one, but a force of destruction none the less.

Her mother feeling her pain, went to hold her daughter. Kathleen sat beside her and cradled Leah’s head against herself leaning over Beth’s head, stroking Leah’s silken locks. Her locks still writhed with agitation, slowly calmed and lay hanging down her back once again. No words were spoken. Beth and Eve, confusion on their young faces, were huddling against them and trying to understand what had just happened. Leah’s face, however, had lost a little more of its youthful simplicity. She rocked Leah as Kathleen tried and failed to know how to comfort her daughter whose emotions were so chaotic and filled with self-loathing.

Leah had lost that piece of her innocence that contained the instinctive sense that her family would alway accept her. Kathleen knew that Lee had always liked Aunt AnnaMarie, and had thought she would accept Leah. Now she could feel that it was almost unbearable for Leah, that this beloved aunt had turned her back on her. Kathleen’s empathy showed her just how deeply this had cut.

Leah had got through her changes mainly because she had a solid foundation of family who believed in her and trusted her. Now that foundation was showing cracks and Kathleen knew that shook Leah to the core. Kathleen tried to reassure her, but the rancor of her Aunt’s diatribe hurt Leah deeply.

All of them gave Uncle Allen a big hug, then they left to return to Leah’s grandparents. It was a very quiet ride back. Kathleen tried to think of something to say to make Leah feel better, but in the end, they just rode in near silence.

—————

December 23rd

Agent McAllister had finally gotten a possible lead. A bunch of anti-mutant leaders had disappeared a couple of weeks ago in a manner that suggested magic. He was convinced that it had something to do with “his” mutant.

For one thing, one of the missing was a teacher at John Paul Jones High School. By nosing around and asking questions of the students, he had learned that a boy from the junior varsity football team had become transgender, and the nature of the change suggested it wasn’t by the conventional surgical means for this perversion.

McAllister had boldly lied to a federal judge about this mutant’s activities. He claimed that witnesses could connected her to the multiple disappearances that had occurred using generic witness forms supposedly filled out by real people whose signatures had been forged. He claimed in a formal sworn affidavit that Leah was also suspected of being responsible for for a whole series of unsolved cases over the past six months.

Now he was finally armed with a Federal court order that Jenkins’ half-hearted efforts had failed to produce. Really, sometimes he wondered if Jenkins wasn’t sympathetic to these things (his lips curling at the mere thought of these gene freaks). Freaks that undermined McAllister’s neat sane society, but that was an issue for another day. Some days he wished he were back in the old soviet republics, where they knew how to deal with these monsters.

Armed with the warrant and a full combat squad including 2 agents in powered armor, he descended on John Paul Jones High School’s office demanding to see their records. Given it was Saturday he had to wait for the principal to arrive, and then even with all this he was forced to wait impatiently again for the arrival of the school’s attorney. He was grinding his teeth by the time the legalities were observed.

Finally, he was allowed to see the records for the three students that had transferred out since the beginning of the school year. Only one really interested him though, and that was a sealed records transfer to that to that damned mutant haven, Whateley Academy.

Now he had a name and knew where the family lived. The transfer request had only been made a week ago, maybe he could catch it before it left town. He knew if that thing got to Whateley, he would play hell getting his hands on it.

“Come on,” he growled at that incompetent Jenkins, “we got ourselves a mutant to capture.”

“On what charge, Sir?” that infuriating Jenkins had the nerve to ask.

“Charge? I don’t need any goddamn charge! Make something up, I don’t give a damn what! She’s a fu’kin’ gene freak mutant, and some kind of gender changing monstrosity on top of that. We’ll just grab her and sort out the paperwork later, after we’ve got her in a holding cell somewhere where no damn lawyer can ever find her. Then we’ll turn her over to the research division to take apart to see what makes her tick. Maybe that information will help us, one day, to wipe this scourge from humanity.”

————

McAllister was losing it. Jenkins was actually becoming frightened of his boss. He knew he hated mutants, but he never before exhibited this kind of mania.

Jenkins started to flip up the guard on the small emergency transceiver in his pocket that Agent Wylann had authorized him. After thinking about it though, he did nothing but continue using it to record McAllister’s tirade. He needed more evidence before triggering the emergency button.

————

Within minutes, the agents arrived at Leah’s old house. There was a realty sign in the yard with a sold sticker plastered across it. It was obvious that the house was empty. Agent McAllister was stomping around furious. He burned down the door with and energy gun just to make sure, but it was clear there was no one there. Finally in frustration, he kicked the realty sign out of the yard and into the street. Jenkins quietly recorded the agent’s temper tantrum.

————

From his rented car parked down the street, Tom watched as the heavily armed force landed in his former yard. The movers had only left 15 minutes before they arrived. He watched and recorded it with his video camera as the agent who was obviously in charge threw his fit. It would have been funny, in keystone cops kind of way, if he didn’t know how deadly serious it was. He laid his camera aside and quietly put the car into gear. He slowly cruised down the street past them and away, while the MCO agent fumed and ranted at his subordinates outside the house.

————

When Tom got to Cincinnati they had a joyous reunion. Later, after the kids were in bed, Tom quietly told Kathleen about the MCO raid as they readied for bed. He showed her the playback on the cameras tiny screen.

“You know that we are going to have to get her out of here even faster than we’d planned. If the MCO knows who she is, they may start looking at relatives. How long do you think it will be before they show up here?”

“Oh, Tom! I really wanted all of us, but especially Leah to have a nice Christmas here together with family, before she had to leave. Who knows when we’ll all be together again. It’s only two day’s away. Can’t we wait that long?” She pleaded.

Tom looked at his wife with sadness. He understood all too well the pain this impending separation from her firstborn was causing her. He also knew that the MCO was deadly serious about apprehending her.

“Alright, but if there’s any sign of the MCO in the area, we leave right then! No arguments. No hesitating. No waiting while someone packs. Everyone stays packed. You understand that, don’t you? These people are really after her. I don’t know why, but you didn’t see them at our old house. They’re maniacal about it. They showed up with enough firepower to take down the Atlanta Rebels.

“If they get their hands on her before we get her to Whateley, it will be an uphill fight to ever get her out of their clutches.” Tom thought of his last conversation with Coach yesterday. He was pretty sure, if necessary, Leah could probably extract herself, but that would almost certainly cause more problems than it solved.

“I have serious doubts about waiting.” He said quietly, but as he looked at Kathleen’s pain-filled eyes, he knew he couldn’t deny her. He just hoped they didn’t all regret it. “Maybe if we keep a very low profile. We are going to have to contact the school to make sure they can take her during the holidays, so she can’t leave before tomorrow anyway.”

“Surely even the MCO takes Christmas off,” Kathleen almost pleaded.

Tom could see how much she wanted to believe that and didn’t have the heart to disagree, but Kathleen hadn’t seen the malevolence in the aborted attack at their previous home. In the end he agreed to waiting until after Christmas, but something deep inside him knew it was the wrong decision. He just hoped that it wasn’t so wrong that it became a mistake that Leah would end up paying for with her freedom — or her life.

In the dark of the bedroom, he hugged Kathleen to himself fiercely. Later as her presence calmed him, the passion of his fear turned to another kind of passion, and they made love late into the night. None would know it for some time yet, but the girls got another baby brother that night.

December 24th
Early afternoon

“Hello, Mrs. Carson speaking.”

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Carson. This is Thomas Cook. Do you remember me. We talked some weeks ago now about my daughter Leah.”

“I remember. You were concerned about the social situation there in ?Knoxburg?, I believe it was.”

It was Knoxville, but yes. I’m sorry to bother you on Christmas Eve, but I believe the situation is deteriorating much more quickly than I anticipated.”

“That’s quite all right, Mr. Cook. I’m just trying to catch up on my paperwork, while things are kind of quiet here. What can I do for you?”

“Due to some the extenuating circumstances, we have moved, temporarily only to a relative’s house. I am disinclined to say where over the phone, as the MCO paid our previous home a visit just as I was leaving. They didn’t see me, but the visit was not a social call. They landed on the lawn with a dozen heavily armed agents, four mech-augmented hounds and two powered assault suits. They seemed quite perturbed to find no one there.” Tom paused to marshall his thoughts.

“I think I understand your concerns, Mr. Cook. I suspect that you now wish Leah to come to the school somewhat sooner than we had discussed?”

“Yes, Ma’am. I’m sure that our current location will be secure only a very short time as it is a logical place for them to look, now that they know or suspect Leah’s identity — days at the most, perhaps only a matter of hours. Can you help us?”

“I’m sure we can, but it will take at least a couple of days to complete the in-processing paperwork. As you can imagine, due to the holidays I am critically short staffed. Can you find someplace secure for that long? If not, we can try other measures. I won’t turn her away because of paperwork, but it would be better for all concerned if we could cement her status here before the MCO come calling for her.

“I am going to contact one of our newest faculty members. Let’s just say she has had a long and colorful career of avoiding the authorities. She may be able to help. Her codename is Imp, and while her methods are somewhat unconventional, they do work.”

“I believe we can manage a couple of days, but I am most anxious to get Leah to the school. Given recent events, I don’t think the MCO agent is well intended.”

“Do you know the agent’s name?”

“I was told that the agent who seems out to get Leah is named McAllister.” Tom said remembering Coach’s discussion about the man. There was silence from the other end of the phone line for a long few very long seconds.

“I am familiar with him. You are right to be concerned.”

There was a hard edge to Mrs Carson’s voice, giving Tom the distinct vision of a lip curling in anger upon hearing the agent’s name, even though he had never met her and he couldn’t possibly put a true likeness to the vision. “You are right to be concerned. He has been suspected of involvement in the disappearance of several students heading to this school. I won’t ask where you are, as he is not above illegal wiretaps. I suggest you get several disposable cellphones, and don’t use any of them for more than a day or so, and don’t stay in any one location more than two days at a time. One would be better. He has a quite nasty reputation and is relentless when he gets on the trail.”

“I’m using a disposable now. I don’t plan on using this phone again. We will leave here no later than Wednesday morning. I will text you a contact number and location as soon as we stop, to see what the progress is.”

“Very well, Mr. Cook. Are you equipped to use cash rather than cards?”

“Yes.

“I also, suggest that you split your family up to confuse the trail. Good luck and watch your back. McAllister is not at all above causing collateral civilian damage or taking hostages to get his target, so make sure all your family is secure, and don’t count on there being safety in numbers at least until you can get Leah here. Keeping a lawyer handy would not be a bad idea either.”

“My brother can probably help there, or if he can’t, he should know someone who can. Thank you, Mrs. Carson. This is a load off my mind.”

“Don’t thank me yet. You can thank me when you get her here safely. Don’t relax for an instance. Get her here first, then we have leverage. We can protect her here, even from the MCO, in most cases. I will talk to you soon.”

“Goodbye and thanks again.”

————

Mrs Carson quickly called Imp and briefly explained the situation, including the measures already being taken. “Do you have any suggestions that might help this girl get here?”

“Well maybe. If it were me, I’d contact a couple of gadgeteers I know who are computer wizards and get them to disrupt the traffic camera system between Cincinnati and here. That would slow down their ability to track their vehicle and make facial recognition slower. They also need to get vehicle whose records can’t be tied to them or any of their family. I might be able to arrange that. They also need to find a route that doesn’t lead directly from where they are to here. You know the MCO is going to be waiting in Dunwich and probably Berlin.”

“Yes, that’s a problem.”

“Maybe not. Can’t Fey and Sir Wallace teleport?”

“Yes, but the distance and luggage is a problem. To teleport that kind of distance requires a long time to set up, days at least.”

“How about from Albany?”

“That would be better.” Mrs. Carson was beginning to see how Imp had been a successful and uncaught thief for so long.

“She could ship the majority of her luggage, just carrying say a backpack full to last her until the rest of her luggage arrives.”

Mrs. Carson thought for a few moments, then said. “I think this could work, if she can get there. Make those arrangements for that vehicle and see what you can do to limit MCO’s access to those traffic cameras. Send me the bill. I think it’s time to dip into the emergency funds. Thanks, Imp.”

————

Mrs. Carson stared at the phone for several minutes after hanging it up. Then she picked it up and dialed a confidential number to one of the DARPA administrators. She heard the phone ring, then forward to another phone. After ringing for several minutes, a slightly sleepy male voice came on.

“Hello, Nick Riley here.”

“Hello, Nick. This is Elizabeth Carson.”

“Elizabeth, don’t tell me Nikki has been in trouble again.”

“No, no! Nikki been very — calm for her and her friends. However, I may have another issue I’m hoping you can help me with, if you’re willing. A young lady with — how shall I say this — ‘similar issues to Nikki’ is heading here, but McAllister with the MCO is hot on her trail.”

“I’m truly sorry to hear that but there’s not a lot I can do against the MCO. They do have a treaty with the US to control dangerous mutants. My jurisdiction is very limited, and as you know I’ve stretched it several times in the past few months.”

Mrs. Carson paused thinking how best to coax Nick to use his influence. “You know McAllister. Do you think he’s going to abide by US rules or citizen rights?”

“No, I guess not, but I’m still unsure what I can do. If this girl was there, then maybe, but until then?”

“Nick, Mrs. Potter called me two days before I had even heard of this girl to tell me she was important. How she is important, — I don’t know. You know how vague seers are, even one as talented as Mrs. Potter.”

“Oh!” Nick paused. “If Mrs. Potter is involving herself in this girl’s life then perhaps I better give her some attention, as well. I’m running through favors owed me like water lately, but still!” He muttered “Well, I guess I can make a phone call or two, and see if I can get my friends at the DPA to help out.”

Elizabeth pondered how to say what she needed to say. Straight out, she guessed. Nick was a fair man.

“I’m not completely sure that’s the best move just now.” She said softly.

“And why is that?” Nick asked knowing he probably wasn’t going to like the answer.

“Well, her power testing was done under the auspices of the DPA, and at the end, the agent, who is not one I would have thought reactionary, changed her MID.”

“Changed it how?” She could hear the nervousness in his voice now. “And who was the DPA agent?”

“James Allison.” Elizabeth chose to answer the second question first.

“He’s a good man. What kind of change did he make that has you concerned?”

“He changed her classification from Fae Class to Goddess class.”

“He did what? They didn’t even class Nikki as a Goddess! What the hell is this girl?” The incredulity fairly dripped off Nick’s voice.

I’m not sure yet, but I’ve got a few suspicions.”

“Goddess-class. That’s ridiculous, she hasn’t even been fully tested, yet has she?”

“No, although Doctor Gadget is pretty good at it, he doesn’t have the equipment or available expertise to make that kind of judgement. No, I think Allison had political pressure placed on him to make it ‘Open Season’ on Leah. Someone or something doesn’t want her to get here, at least not alive. I’m hearing disturbing rumors, that the independence of the DPA from the MCO and H-1 is being compromised by money and lobbying pressure backed by the Goodkinds.”

“Yeah. I’m hearing the same rumors. They’re setting up to buy this next election. If they do, You’re going to have trouble maintaining Whateley’s independence and neutrality.” Nick sighed. He’d gone up against the Goodkinds several times and usually lost. “Is it possible that this girl is really that good?”

“Of course, it’s possible, but we just don’t know yet, and if someone gets their way, we never will. She has already been attacked several times, and if the stories I hear are true while she did damage to her opponents each time, she has shown remarkable restraint in her responses, especially for someone with as little training and control as she is bound to have.” Mrs. Carson stopped and thought for a second before revealing this next piece.

“Nick! I don’t know if I should tell you this but you should also know that she may be able to activate latent powers in older mundanes. She appears to have made her mother a low level mutant during the process of healing her during one of the attacks.”

“She did what?” There was a very long pause. “You’re right we’ve got to see that she gets there.”

Mrs. Carson thought for a minute before continuing. “You know that there has been a remarkable upswing in the number and power of mutants recently. It’s almost like someone or something is gathering powerful troops to respond to a threat, they perceive is coming, that we don’t see yet. You and I both know the upswing is way outside the statistical norm and Mrs. Potter confirms it. She also says if we don’t get this girl on our side, ‘we could lose the world’; those are her words, not mine. — I want to get this girl here; find out what she can really do; and get her training started, sooner rather than later. Will you help?”

“Elizabeth, you know the President has forbidden any of us getting directly involved, until these mutants can make their way to the school. Until she gets there, my hands are mostly tied. I can make some phone calls though and maybe take a little of the pressure off her, and once she is there, the President has authorized all necessary measures to keep students at the school safe. He and his advisors think something bad is coming too. This is classified information, but for a few hours a couple of weeks ago pi became a rational number.”

“What?! Oh, my Goddess. This may be worse than any of us dreamed. There are only a few entities capable of that and they have been sealed away from the Earth since before mankind developed intelligence. If they are trying to break the seals, we are in real trouble.”

“Nick, all I’m asking, is for you be prepared to give me some backup once she gets here. If there is anything else you can do to throw McAllister a curveball, though I wouldn’t turn it down”

“That I can probably arrange. I might be able to get her some unofficial help getting there.”

“Good. I’ll call you when I know more, and thanks.”

“Elizabeth, you’ve helped Nikki so often, no thanks are needed. One more thing you should know though, you know the President is nearing the end of his last term. I’m frightened about what will happen after that. The anti-mutant sentiment is growing rapidly, largely to the Goodkinds and their money. I fear that the next administration will not be as tolerant of Whateley’s protected status as the current one.”

“I’m aware of this, Nick, but I appreciate the heads up. I am taking steps to protect the school, no matter what. I probably shouldn’t say more over the phone. I know this line is encrypted, but nothing is perfect and this is a case of the less you know, the better, but thanks again. I’ll talk to you again soon in person so we can more frankly discuss the future.

————

Nick sat in his living room, sipping at a cup of coffee that had long since grown cold. Elizabeth was right, but he wasn’t sure if she was aware of just how right she was.

Nick knew that there were powerful forces at work. His friends at the DPA were nervous. No! Nervous didn’t begin to cover it. He was certain that was the reason for Agent Allison to changing her MID.

It wasn’t just the upswing in the numbers and power of the mutants manifesting. The DPA and the military had been called out on several calls of strange phenomenon and beasts appearing lately. Some creatures were recognizable from mythology, but there were others that would make Stephen King blanch and maybe even Lovecraft.

So far, the DPA seemed able to handle them using some of the more unusual weaponry their devisors and gadgeteers were turning out, and a few of the better supergroups, but there had been some close calls. It was getting harder and harder to cover them up, too. Like that outbreak of “zombies” last month in northern California, by the time they got the call, two thirds of the small town were infected. The DPA had leveled the town, after evacuating the uninfected, and swearing them to secrecy. Then they had set a forest fire to cover up the fact that whatever these things were, they made zombies seem cuddly. Twenty-three DPA agents had been killed, eight more were locked in a psych ward in Area 51, seven had quit the DPA on the spot, and eleven more had taken a hardship retirement package.

Of course, some of the rescued had talked in spite of being sworn to secrecy, but thankfully only the tabloids ran with the story. That story actually helped, since if the tabloids printed it, the majority of the mainstream population automatically discounted it as a hoax, especially after a few well placed leaks made the story even more unbelievable.

Sooner or later though, a reputable reporter was going to be in the wrong place at the right time. Nick wondered what the government would do, once one of these stories was confirmed. Nick pulled out a bottle of 40 year old scotch and tossing the cold coffee into a potted plant half fill the cup with scotch.

Nick knew that some in the government were capable of almost anything. Some of the proposals he’d heard were worse than the things they were trying stop. Ever since Nikki had manifested, he’d found himself being drawn into mutant issues more and more. Thanks to the Goodkinds and others like them, more and more people were starting to blame problems like this on mutants, whether or not they had anything to do with it. Nick just hoped that the public would realize that despite a few bad eggs among the mutants, they might be humanity’s only hope.

Nick drummed his fingers absently on the arm of the chair for some time, before picking up his secure phone. He needed to call in some more favors. At the rate he was burning through favors though, pretty soon he would be the one having to pay.

December 25th
6:30 am

The younger girls woke Leah, giggling, bouncing, and shaking her trying to wake her. “Get up! Get up! It’s Christmas. Come on, get up!

“Go away,” Leah muttered pulling the pillow over her head. Even as Lee, she had never been a morning person.

“Get up! We’ve got presents and you know Mom won’t let any of us open presents until we’re all there.”

“Leave me alone!” She peeped at the window. “Arrgh! It’s the middle of the frakkin’ night.” She turned her head away from them only to have a broad rough tongue lick her face.

“Ahhh crap, Golden, I’ll get you, you traitor.” She heard a rumbling chuckle in her head.

Beth started bouncing on the bed again. “Come on, Leah,” she pleaded. “It’s Christmas.”

Leah groaned, slowly giving in to the inevitable. She pried one eye open and peeped at Beth and Eve. “What you going to do for me, if I get up?” She might as well milk this for any advantage she could get.

“We’ll tell you who’s come to see ya. They got here after you went to bed.” Eve grinned.

“Who? And it’s not enough, I’ll find out who it is if I get up anyway.” She replied slyly, determined to make the little minxes pay for waking her.

“We’ll do your share of the clean up all day.” Beth responded, with Eve giving her a glare, before relenting and nodding reluctantly.

Leah groaned again softly turning over and snuggling under the thick down comforter. “Alright, alright, but you’ll have to wait while I shower.”

“Awww! That’ll take foreeevver!” Beth wheedled as she bounced some more. “Come on, pleeeease?”

“Okay, okay. I guess I can shower after breakfast. I do get breakfast, don’t I?” Leah was really milking this, mostly just to push her sister’s buttons.

“I’ll make you pancakes and bacon and eggs — after we open presents!” Eve smiled, knowing that now that food was mentioned, they had her. Ever since her last burnout, Leah ate like there was no tomorrow. Something about it being the result of her change in energizer status. She ate more than Eve, Beth, their mom, and Mammaw combined — at every meal now.

“Alright! Alright! Get off my bed and let me up.”

Beth and Eve squealed with joy and bounced off the bed. Leah got up wrapping the comforter around her and sliding her feet into the silk brocade slippers by the bed. Mammaw’s house was great but it was drafty. She headed to the bathroom to take care of necessities. At least that awful period was over — for this month anyway. She grimaced as she thought about having to go through that every month for God-only-knew how long.

She scowled, as she sat on the frigid toilet seat. She resolved to use her gadgeteering to improve Mammaw’s bathrooms by making the toilet seats self-heating. She thought about various ways to do it without making them plug-in. After all, she didn’t want to electrocute herself sitting on the crapper. That would be embarrassing. “Hmmm!” as she thought of a way to possibly make a better battery that would suck energy out of a neighboring dimension. She was pretty sure, it was a violation of physical laws but what good was being a devisor and a gadgeteer, if you couldn’t violate the law (of physics anyway), she grinned. Oh, well, first things first — food!

Finishing her business, she carefully patted herself dry as she had been taught. She still had to think about it every time, and hated it. It was so much more trouble taking a leak than it had been as a boy, but the alternative was damp, stinky panties, and that was too gross to think about.

A quick brushing of her teeth and then the ten minute ritual that brushing her long silky hair had become, albeit a pleasant ritual. Finally, a quick application of moisturizer, and she was done. She was pretty sure that she didn’t really need the moisturizer, but it felt and smelled nice.

She had decided after her last hospital stay that if she was going to be a woman, then she was going to take advantage of all the best things about it. She had always, as Lee, been secretly envious of the pretty clothes, jewelry, nice smells and other things girls got to wear that boys couldn’t. Since becoming a girl, she had discovered she really adored the perfumed lotions, shampoos and conditioners, and all the other indulgences that boys couldn’t admit to liking.

She quickly stripped off her pajamas. She looked at herself in the mirror. She still had trouble thinking of this long-legged, slender vision looking back as herself.

She gathered her hair up and slipped a green silk ribbon that matched her eyes through and tied it in a bow creating a lush ponytail set high on her head. Even tied up, her wavy thick hair reached to her hips. She still resented the care her long hair took a little bit, but it did look so good. It was pretty, and call her narcissistic, but she liked being pretty. Also, if she was being completely honest with herself, she found the ritual of brushing it, rather zen-like and calming. In spite of Lee's niggling voice in the back of her head, she was beginning to like being girl.

She looked in the mirror again and shook her head, watching her dark, wavy ponytail bounce and sway with the motion of her head. She frowned something wasn’t right. Pawing through her meagerly supplied jewelry box, she found what she wanted. A six-inch translucent, carved hair clasp made of the finest alabaster. It stood out exquisitely against her dark auburn hair, and a very bright eight inch long brilliant silver pick, (that seemed unusually sharp) to hold her hair in place. The pick was encrusted on the large end with real, flawless, multicolored sapphires, Piling her hair on top of her head and using the clasp to hold it in place, Leah thought she looked very sophisticated.

Actually, she had some ways to go to be sophisticated, but the very thought that she could look experienced as a girl would have been alien to her a few weeks ago. She would learn, like any other girl what sophisticated really looked like. She was right about one thing though, her hair swept up and held with the pick was beautiful.

Danu had sent the clasp to her for her birthday with a cryptic note in which Danu had hinted that there was more to this piece of jewelry than met the eye. She said she would explain more the next time Leah visited her. Having two mothers was alright when it came time for birthdays and such. Kathleen had gotten her a brand new IPad.

Leah was finally starting to take pride in the way she looked. She blushed as she realized that she couldn’t wait to try out the flirtatiousness that her sisters had been teaching her on boys. It shook her a little to be contemplating such thoughts, having been a boy so recently. It would seem that her mutation was changing more than just her outsides, but to her surprise — she was okay with that.

She slipped on a clean silk panty and bra set, and a pair of red silk house pants with matching top that dipped enough to show more than a trace of cleavage. She luxuriated in the feel of them against her smooth skin as she pulled them on. Then she slipped on a thigh-length, light-weight silk kimono that was also mostly red with an intricately embroidered green and golden dragon that wrapped around from the back left side up and around her right side to the front seemingly caressing and support her bosom. They had been a birthday present from her grandparents. A pair of red silk slippers completed the look. She looked one more time in the mirror, preening slightly as she found herself liking what she saw.

She was still sometimes a little embarrassed with these unfamiliar emotions. It still felt slightly treasonous to the remnants of Lee in her, to revel in her femininity.

Oh well, what the heck, she knew deep inside that she was still Lee, but she also knew she was becoming so much more. With a sense of being especially playful this morning, she dabbed a little perfume on, not consciously realizing that she preparing to do what every young girl did at sometime during their lives since time immemorial. She was preparing to try and flirt with her dad and Grandpa.

With a last glance, she flounced out of the bathroom and down the stairs. She was so new to her present condition that she was mostly oblivious to the fact that her looks, the clothes she had chosen and her bouncy, flirty actions, were guaranteed to make a dead man sit up and take notice (mostly oblivious, but not totally). It was probably a good thing today that she only had sisters.

When she got downstairs, she could hear her mother in the kitchen with her sisters. From the parlor she could hear the sounds of a parade, and men’s voices. She knew she should go help in the kitchen, but the parlor sounded so much more interesting and she was curious as to whom the voices belonged.

Sliding the French doors back, she was shocked to see not only her Dad, Uncle Allen and Granddad; but there was Coach, Doc, and most importantly — Jim! She ran to his arms, barely remembering in time that if she jumped on him with her weight, she was likely to hurt him. Instead she wrapped her arms around him and picked him up, swinging him around, giggling hysterically.

He seemed pretty glad to see her too, if the lump in his pants was any indication. She carefully squeezed him close to her, and unobtrusively (she thought) rubbed her hip against his organ. She ducked her head and blushed all the way to her toes when she looked up and saw her mother standing in the doorway grinning at her, with raised eyebrows.

————

Christmas had been great, especially her surprise visitors. Seeing them was the best Christmas present of all.

Coach had come over and given her a cautious hug, then a tighter one as she saw that he realized she had truly accepted and even embraced her change. He seemed very happy for her. He knew she would have days of doubt, but he felt like she had finally crossed her Rubicon.

Coach smiled at Doc’s first question. “Do you have your bees with you?” She smiled broadly as reached into the pocket on the front of her robe and brought out the smallest bee box.

“Good girl,” he said. “You never know when they might come in handy.” There was a slight emphasis on that last statement, she didn’t quite understand. He hadn’t elaborated then, but she could tell there was something more. She decided she could wait for what she expected to be less than joyous news.

She dutifully went to the kitchen to offer her help, but her mother replied. “I’ve got plenty of help in the kitchen. You go catch up with your friends.”

Leah squeezed into the small space on the sofa between Jim and Coach. Her broader beam making the available sofa space a tighter fit than it would have been last Christmas, but she kinda liked the feel of their legs against hers.

Jim liked it too, so much so that he decided he needed a pillow in his lap.

Overruling her sisters, her mother insisted on breakfast before opening presents. Complaining they followed their mother to the kitchen. Soon the rich aromas of bacon, and ham, along with the sweet scents of warm honey, maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg filled the home.

After breakfast, they had finally got to the presents. Mom didn’t even insist on washing the breakfast dishes first. They had all gotten lots of loot, even Coach, Doc, and Jim had a couple of presents under the tree. Leah looked at her mother who just smiled and nodded. Leah realized then that this was not as much a surprise visit to everyone else as it was to her.

Leah had gotten mostly clothes from her family, and to her surprise, she was fine with that, happy in fact. As Lee she would have been disappointed to get clothes, now she couldn’t wait to try them on. Doc had brought her a upgraded version of her bee manufacturing box. One that would allow her to customize their function, to suit her needs. He explained that he had also altered the components of regular bee’s sting injection so that if anyone analyzed the residuals, it would only show normal bee toxins.

Coach had given her a set of precision tools to aid her gadgeteering and devising. It looked entirely too expensive, but when she said something, he just shook his head and said every devisor should have the basic tools of the trade. Besides, he said most of the kit was custom made by a devisor/gadgeteer friend of his who owed him a favor, so even if it wasn’t a cheap product it hadn’t cost as much as it appeared.

They all had a great afternoon. She had spent as much time as possible with Jim, of course. They had even gotten in little “private” time upstairs in Mammaw’s sewing room, at least until giggling from the hallway clued them that they weren’t as alone as they thought. Leah held her finger to her lips to tell Jim to stay quiet as she closed her eyes and concentrated.

They heard Beth let out a loud yelp in the hall, as Leah used her magic to create a very tiny lightening bolt behind her. Then it was Jim and Leah’s turn to giggle and laugh as Leah could hear her sisters running down the steps giggling. She shrugged and grinned as she knew she would hear more about this, but that didn’t stop her from going back to a little casual necking with Jim, and just a little less casual necking.

His hand felt wonderful as she let him caress her breast through the layers of silk as did his lips on hers. She could still feel her nipples stiffening and her breath quickening against the fabric of her bra when she thought of it. She wondered what it would feel like without the intervening fabric. She quietly resolved to find out sooner rather than later.

Leah couldn’t believe that she had gotten comfortable enough in this body to be making out with Jim. Lee, the boy, was already just becoming a memory.

————

The next morning came all to soon. Once again, Leah was quite melancholy as she packed her stuff in a new SUV that had been delivered from an unknown source. It was still a couple of hours before dawn as they loaded up.

Jim, Coach and Doc had left late last night, so Jim could have some time with his parents before school began. Now she was headed to a new school that would essentially be her home for the next four years or five years.

As wonderful as Whateley sounded, and it did, she was still going to be the new kid, coming in the middle of the year, at least until Jim got there. She be alone among strangers. All the other students would have formed their on cliches. She would be an outsider, but she was getting used to that.

Worse yet, she, Golden and her mother were going on toward Boston alone, while Tom and her sisters stayed at her grand-parent’s house for another couple of days before heading toward New York. It was supposed to provide a distraction and confusions for the MCO, which would hopefully to slow them down.

Leah had a lot of doubts about the wisdom of this and worried about the rest of her family. What if they took one of her sisters thinking it was her or took them as hostage to lure her out?

After a series of tearful goodbyes, they had hit the road a little before daylight. Her Mom was a morning person and wanted to make it to Buffalo, NY before dark, thinking it would be more difficult for the MCO to find them among all the people there.

After a half hour or so, Leah drifted off to sleep lulled by the oncoming headlights and the monotony of the road in the dark. When she woke, she realized she was no longer in Ohio. The bright sunlight filtering through the trees and babbling brooks told her, she had been brought to Avalon. She quickly made her way to the henge.

“Good morning, Leah.” Danu’s lilting music-like voice greeted her.

“Good morning, my Goddess.” Leah decided that she had been too cavalier in her previous dealings with the goddess, and tried greet her with a fairly miserable excuse for a curtsy.

“Leah, Leah, Leah, my daughter, I’ve told you that you need not stand on ceremony with me, child. You are too much beloved and always welcome here.” Danu said with mirth in her voice at Leah’s posturing.

“Yeah, well I guess I do still have a lot to learn about being a girl.” I grinned, “How to curtsy might be one of them.” We both giggled a little at that.

“Come, my daughter, and walk with me.” They strode through the peaceful forest, but here and there Leah could see signs that all was not well in Avalon. On a great towering oak, the leaves were withering and dying. While Leah knew that this was not uncommon in a normal forest, she also knew that it was very odd for this one. She had never seen anything else in Avalon dying.

Also, here was a badger burrow, abandoned and neglected. Weed encroached on the entrance, and the stench of something long dead reached her sensitive nose from the burrow.

A beautiful Bird of Paradise lay beside the path, still alive but fading fast. Even the grass seemed less soft, and kind of crunched underfoot. Leah gasped as she finally became totally aware of the valley. Whereas the first time she came here, there were beautiful flowers blooming everywhere and hundreds of small rills and streams watered the fertile valley, now only the largest of the streams still contained water. The only flowers visible were small, deformed things as if looked as if there was too little energy in the plant to bloom and the flowers were a dying gasp.

“I see you noting the changes in Avalon, now know the reason behind it. You remember your dream of the Shoggoth, well, it does indeed stir deep in the bowels of the world. Soon it will make it’s way to the surface and come for you. Energy that once went to maintaining this speck of the old world now opposes it and as a result winter and death reaches even here. There are also lesser evils beginning to rise for the purpose of hindering you on your journey.”

“But you can’t let Avalon die!” Leah’s distress evident in her voice. “I need this place.” She said realizing it was true. This place of beauty, peace and tranquility was her final refuge when the world became to much. Her place of healing, body, mind and spirit. “Let it come. I will fight for you,” she spoke with a ferocity that Golden would have been proud. “You must protect this place —— for me.” She said in a quiet imploring voice.

“Leah, I know your spirit is strong, but you are not ready to fight one such as this. Your body is as a toddler’s compared with what it must and will become. The energies needed would destroy you without training—or maybe some tools to aid you.”

“What can we do? We can’t just let it loose upon the world, and I cannot let Avalon wither.”

“No, we cannot, but there are ways we can aid your body to manipulate the raw magic required without directly channeling it through your body. Old ways long forgotten in the mists of time and do not despair for Avalon, for if you succeed, it will recover.

“Do you remember the elves that fought the Shoggoth? Some used wands and staffs to channel the energies. Others used swords imbued with light magic, arrows with heads of light and most wore armor of shimmering silver.

“The wands, staffs, arrows and swords were made with Mithril and Orichalum such that they act like batteries and transformers, storing and stepping the magical energies up or down, so those fighters could use them without burning out their bodies. There is still much risk but without them they would have destroyed themselves.”

“I remember the dream, but I don’t understand. I don’t have these things.”

“Their armor, bows and some arrows lie buried with those who fell; at least some of them do. Others were lost, but there is a large barrow where many of the honored dead were laid to rest. It is protected by powerful wards that have kept the ravages of time from them. There you can recover the armor, bows and arrows for those who you will meet and who will fight with you.

“But listen to me closely now,” Danu voice was dark and full of portents. “The staffs and wands are keyed to their former owners, and can be used by no other. To attempt to do so, would mean death to the one attempting to use them. If it is necessary to move them, you must wrap your hands with silk, although many folds of linen will suffice, if you are careful.

“When you get to Whateley and have made friends you can trust, then I will show you where they lie, so that you can take them to recover enough of the other items to equip them. The barrow is well hidden behind many layers of wards and glamours.

The Goddess’ voice lightened as she said, “I understand that this is the time of the celebration of the birth of your Christ child, and is often accompanied by the giving and receiving of gifts. I have a gift for you from your father, made with his own hands laboring in the great armory of Tir na n-Og at the forge of Gobnui - the Tuatha dé Danann God of the Smiths.”

She presented Leah a package wrapped in fine supple leather that seemed to ripple under her sight making it hard to look at. Her eyes seemed to want to slip off it to something else. It’s color seemed to change at random. When removed, the wrappings were revealed to be a long hooded supple leather cloak lined with soft fur. Inside the leather cloak was a garment of shimmering fabric. When Leah lifted it up it was an elegant gown of bright shinning silver. The fabric was so fine it seemed to slip through her fingers like water.

“I can’t wear this.” Leah protested.

“All is not as it seems,” Danu replied. “You must wear it. Slip it on.”

With a sigh of resignation and some fumbling Leah managed to slip it over head and get her arms in the right places. The gown dropped to over her coming it to her feet. A quick very feminine wiggle of her hips settled the gown into place.

It had seemed loose and shapeless when she started but now the gown fit her like a glove from the hips up. The skirt portion was loose so as not to impede her movement. The long sleeves came to her wrists and there was a pair of gloves of the same material. A

“Would you like to see?”

Leah nodded. Danu waved her hand and water from the stream rose up and became a mirror.

Leah gasped. This could not be her. This creature looking back at her look -- looked like a—a—a goddess. In fact, she looked a lot like the goddess standing in front of her.

Danu's tinkling laugh rang through the forest. "Should my daughter not look like a goddess!

The gown is woven of moon-silver that the dwarves called Mithril. Your father drew the metal into gossamer thin wire, spun the threads and wove it into the garment, you now wear. As fine and beautiful as it is, it will protect you better than the finest armor; stiffening to absorb blows, arrows, knives or bullets. It will also store great quantities of essence for your use and will absorb spells cast at you, storing their essence as well. Only the fiercest driven arrows or knives made of Mithril themselves can pierce it.

Leah stood open mouthed gazing at the gown. If anyone but the Goddess had told these things she would never have believed it, but from Danu she could not doubt its truth.

The gown itself was a thing of great beauty, gleaming bright silver. The bodice designs of golden thread forming many runes and designs. There were spiral bracelets that fit on both her upper and lower arms which with the inlaid gloves completed the outfit.

The gown is your armor and the golden runes are woven with Orichalcum which allows you to store and direct large amounts essence to power your spells in it. If you could put a value on it, that gown alone is probably worth more than the whole of your states east of the Mississippi river.

There was also a pliant soft leather catsuit in the package that covered her from ankles to throat and down to her wrists with a tight fitting hood. The stitching on the quilted silk was obviously done by hand, and it was infinitely finer than any machine sewing Leah had ever seen. In fact you had to look very close to see that it was not a single piece of cloth or leather.

Every square inch of the leather on the catsuit was embossed with many tiny runes, almost invisible, each rune a quarter the size of her littlest fingernail. Leah knew that the sum of the runes were greater than the parts. Each individual rune seemed to form a grand pattern.

The leather suit is made of hide of a non-sentient species of dragon that still lives in some numbers in the high Himalayas. It is extremely difficult to obtain since the dragons protest most vehemently its collection. The leather alone will turn all but the most fiercely driven moon-silver knife or one made of Orichalcum. The runes will protect you from many magics and many other energies directed at you. Few of the Eldar remember the secrets of the collection and spelling of the hides.

“The cloak leather is made from the hide of a unicorn; — one who died a natural death, she quickly reassured Leah as she saw the horror on her face. It makes great camouflage, if you need not to be seen. Like the jumpsuit, it to is also ensorcelled to resist spells and turn an enemy’s eyes from you. The catsuit and cloak will keep you warm in the coldest winter and cool in the most scorching heat.

These are your father’s gift to you to honor your birth. Hide them well, for many would kill to take even one of them. Their value is beyond measure. You should know that your father passed much of his grace into the making of this for you.”

Reaching behind her, Danu pulled out a long slender sword. The sword was a work of art in and of itself. The blade was laminate-welded with three distinct metals. The edge was the silver grey, like steel (and yet not quite), backing it was more of the silvery Mithril, and finally the back of the blade was more of the golden metal.

“The silver metal is Mithril and the golden metal is Orichalcum, you can charge it with magical energy. Thus charged no armor or magic shields can resist it. The edge will never need honing for it is made of adamantium. May it help you see another anniversary of birth of the Christ child.

“This is the sword named Claíomh Solais. It was crafted by another of your brother Tuatha, Nuada Airgeadlámh, in the days of Atlantis. The sword was irresistible in battle, having the power to cleave Nuada’s fiercest enemies in half and it glowed with the light of the sun when charged. It was like the swords in your dream, but greater. Nuada was a sorcerer/smith of surpassing skill. He, himself, placed it in my hands when he departed this world. I now pass it now to you, may it serve you well.

“Thank you, Mother Danu!” Leah said with feeling as she caressed the sword. It seemed to sing in her bones as she caressed it. “Is my father here? I wish to thank him also.”

“Alas, no. The forging of your armor took a terrible toll on him. As I said, he put much of himself and his magic into its creation, and it will be some time before he can leave Tir na n-Og again, maybe centuries. I will extend him your felicitations and gratitude, though.

“Finally, I give you this,” and handed her a small nondescript bag of the sort to hang on a belt. This bag has been especially enchanted to contain and conceal your armor and weapons while concealing them. Yet when we are finished you will be able to don your equipment in moments.”

“But that cloak wouldn’t fit in there, much less the gown, suit and sword.”

“Reach into the bag.”

Leach did as she was told, and discovered to her surprise she could not reach the bottom or the sides. “Wow! I don’t know what to say. This is fantastic, but how do I get to them to get what I want out?”

“Just turn the bag up and shake it once and the last thing put into it will appear. Shake it twice and the gown will appear and fit itself immediately to you. You will be able to don your gown and bracers in mere moments due to the enchantments on it.

“Shake the bag three times and everything in it will come out. There is a small side pocket just inside the top of the bag that can hold small or delicate objects and protect them from harm.”

“That’s crazy cool. Thank you so much.” Leah was excited

“Now, however, it is time that I teach you to craft some tools of power of your own. Tools, being made with your own hands, will be capable of much more than those made for you. Also, some of what you will make, cannot be made by someone else and still work for you. The first thing a magic user such as yourself needs is an Anthame.”

“I need music?”

“Not anthem, Anthame, or ceremonial knife.” Danu laughed. “In truth, any virgin dedicated knife could in theory serve as an Anthame, but one made by your own hands of materials recovered from the earth can be used to infinitely greater effect to transform and direct magical energies. Since you have nothing, but your power, we will have to start from the beginning.

“You will need the power to which this will give you access to defend yourself and your mother against dark beings — lesser demons and other dark creatures like those the original Tuath dé Dannu fought in the mists of time in Ireland and Wales; and dark or misguided men, that are even now close on your heels, such men of the MCO. Some of whom are in league willingly or unwillingly with the forces of chaos.

“In many ways the men are the greater threat, for not all are bad. You will have to discern for yourself how to do battle with them. They will catch up with you just after full dark this day. There is one among them whose soul has been corrupted by the darker powers that seek to bring back the Great Old Ones. He will kill you, if he can, and justify it by saying you are a threat to men.

“He has many men and machines that are both ahead and behind you. Some of these men’s souls are dark and they fight out of hatred for mutants. Some of them believe they are protecting the innocent, and there are a few among them who would be your friend, if they thought they could trust you.

“They do not know that at about the same time as they will spring their trap for you, they and you will be attacked by the lesser demons sent to slay you before you can learn enough and growing strong enough to oppose the Great Old Ones. You must find a way to fight both the demons and the men who would kill you. You must not kill these men, lest all men’s hands be turned against you.”

“Wonderful. The MCO is going to try and kill me, but I can’t fight back, and a bunch of demons get thrown in just to keep things interesting. Just how am I supposed to accomplish all of this? Can’t I just bring my mother here and then us wait here until they give up and go home?”

“I am sorry my child, but your mother’s body could not stand the dimensional shift to enter Avalon, and if they take her they will hurt her to get to you.”

“But all is not lost. There is one among them with the authority and desire to protect you from the other MCO agents. His name is Wylann. If you have the opportunity, seek him out.”

“Just why would he help me? Aren’t all the MCO a bunch of mutant hating goons. They have already tried to attack me with power armor once.”

“Do all mutants want to kill baselines?”

“Nooo! But the MCO is different.”

“How are they different?”

“For one thing they all hate and fear us.”

“Many do. Some hate because other mutants have out of anger, fear or just ignorance hurt or killed them or their families. Others because they feel inferior and fear that mutants will take over their world. What they don’t realize is mutants have already overrun the world.”

“Huh! When? Where?”

“What is a human but a mutant ape? What they now call mutants are just the next step in the process. Cro-Magnon man probably felt the same way about modern humans, and they were right, but nature marches on.

“What you, Leah, must do is show them that they don’t have to fear you.”

“How do I do that?” Leah was feeling totally confused.

“You could start by saving them from the demons when they attack. Fight with them, not against them.”

“That’s assuming they don’t kill me on sight.”

“I did not say it would be simple or easy. Enough of this, we have much to do and little time, even here, to do it. Let us be at it.”

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