Chapter 8

Cassie was on the eCom. And she was in full Prophet of Doom mode.

"Hi, Penny. Or is it Cassandra?"

"Cassandra. Hey, you got an eCom! Congrats!"

"Yeah. It came with the promotion at the theater. But if I quit or get fired, I have to give it back. So, what's the crisis?"

"Right to the point? Ok. It's David. You and Radar need to be there when he wakes up. He will wake up hard, and need help."

"Hard?"

"Mind out of the gutter, girl. His new senses will panic him, and there's a good chance he will lash out with his other powers. There are a lot of possibilities that way, all bad. Radar can get through to him, before things get too far out of control."

"So what do I have to do with it? Other than the obvious?"

"You need to go with them to the clinic. Another person, someone you don't know, will be there in a bad situation that your perceptions can help with."

"Ok, when?"

"David will wake up about 11:00 tomorrow morning."

"Have you called Radar?"

"She knows. You two can work out the details. She's busy right now, but she'll call soon."

"Just a ray of sunshine, aren't you?"

"Hey, at least half of Apollo's curse doesn't work."

"What's that?"

"You know the story of my namesake?"

"Just part of it."

"Apollo was into this girl, Cassandra. And she didn't exactly object to spending some time with him. He was considered a hunk, and a god to boot. Since prophecy was one of his things, he gave her the gift. But when she wouldn't put out for him, he added a curse. She would see the truth, but just about bad things. And nobody would believe her."

"Ouch."

"Yeah. I see the bad stuff, but at least some people believe me. Of course, the anti morfs crowd don't want to know, because of what I am. And lots of adults ignore me because I'm a teen. What could I know?"

"Been there. So, what's your plan next time you see Apollo?"

"Can you whip up an STD that works on gods but not me?"

"Not enough information. I'd have to spend a lot more time with gods."

"More time?"

"Well, I can't spend less. That sort of thing doesn't come in negative numbers."

The continued the banter for a few more minutes, then ended the call. Before she had a chance to put down the eCom, her mother walked in.

"What's the envelope?" she asked. "And where's the rest of the mail?"

"The mail wasn't here yet when I got home. The envelope is a thank you card for what I did today, and a check. Take a look."

She did, and whistled. She put it back, then turned her head and sniffed theatrically. "I don't smell dinner."

"Sorry. After I got back from the hospital, I just collapsed. A call from Cassie woke me up, just before you got here."

"Cassandra? Not Penny?" She understood what that indicated.

"Oh, yeah. In spades. On my day off tomorrow, Lena and I have to be at David's when he wakes up. Lena needs to help him, and I need to help someone else at the clinic they take him to."

"Sounds fun." Her tone implied anything but.

"Oh, yeah. Should be a ton of laughs." Angel rolled her eyes. "So what do we do about dinner?"

"What about dinner?"

Angel jumped. Either she was much more tired than she thought, or someone did something to the door. He was the second person to come in without her noticing. She gave him a quick hug, then sat down again.

"Angel had a long day, and didn't get a chance to cook anything."

"Want to go out?"

"Any other day. I'm still wiped. Frozen?"

"Just the single serving things your father stocked up on when we weren't here to keep an eye on him, and some sides and desserts. Take out?"

Now he was in his element. In his temporary bachelor days, he found the good, the bad, and the overpriced around there. "What's everyone in the mood for? There's a good barbecue place, pizza chains, squid kabobs, chicken, and the usual fly throughs. If you want fancier, there's Indian, Thai, Chinese, EastBlock..."

"Ugh, no borscht. Barbecue sounds good to me. Mom?"

"Why not? It's been a while."

They finalized plans, and he called in the order. Then, with an air of martyrdom, he went out to pick it up.

After he left, Angel relaxed. Before she knew it, she was asleep again.

The smell of food woke her. And a wonderful smell it was. Over dinner, they discussed their days. Other than Angel, they had been remarkably routine. They were just starting to think about dessert, when Lena "called".

Angel! Would you guys like a fresh baked peach pie?

"Lena is offering us a fresh baked peach pie. What do you think?" Her mother got the "thinking to Lena" look for a moment, then said "She'll be right over."

"Hey! She was talking to me!"

"I had to find out some things. You can talk to her now."

Knowing a cue when she heard one, Angel went to the front door. There was Lena, coming up the walk with a steaming pie in her hands. After closing the door behind her, Angel followed her into the kitchen.

"What's the occasion?"

"Mom baked two. One for us, one for a meeting. The meeting was just cancelled, and she knows what will happen if she leaves two pies in the house." Lena grinned.

Over pie, Lena politely asked "So, how did it go with the little girl and the fairy?"

"One exhausted fairy later, she's mostly a pretty little girl again."

"Mostly?"

Angel told her (and the rest of her audience) about the hair. While she was at it, she vented her frustration about being unable to go deep enough for some things. And about her other limitations.

"You gave her back her face and body. That's no small thing. Only a handful of people in the world could do that, and you did. Quit feeling sorry for yourself!" Lena snapped.

This was a side of Lena that Angel hadn't seen before.

What's going on?

I'm worried about David. I have an idea what he'll be going through, and it isn't pretty. I can probably help calm and stabilize him in the beginning, but he's going to need more help than I can give him.

Angel's parents exchanged looks, then went back to their pieces of pie. They could see from the girls' faces that their discussion was serious.

What have I done?

Given him his dream. But he'll have to get through a nightmare, first.

Do his parents know?

I was talking with them when Cassie called you. They will expect us. And they'll expect his likely reaction.

They concentrated on their dessert for a few moments. Angel was aware of the pie. It tasted wonderful. Almost as good as her mother's.

I heard that! Lena grinned. Almost?

Well, I might be prejudiced. Angel grinned back.

After Lena left, Angel spent some time setting things up on her eCom and tablet. She would be able to take pictures and holos with the eCom, send them to the tablet, and modify them there. That way, she could take pictures of the affected areas, highlight them, and show them to the managers (and, if appropriate, the office). It would be better than having the manager tag along behind her when she was inspecting.

When she woke up the next morning, Angel was annoyed. She could finally sleep in, but she woke up at about the same time as she had been. And she couldn't get back to sleep. Giving up, she got ready to face the day. At least she could dress for comfort, rather than professional image.

The one advantage of waking up early was that she got down to the kitchen in time to wish her parents goodbye for the day. She wasn't sure why, but that was more important to her than it used to be.

After days of going to work and other responsibilities, it was strange to have a morning to herself. Especially a weekday morning. The pool wouldn't be available until after she had to be at David's, so swimming was out. Still, with email to answer, summer reading to do, and so on, she had plenty to do.

When it started getting near time to go, she realized she hadn't heard from Lena all morning. That was unusual, as well.

I was just resting and centering. I suspect this is not going to be fun.

Angel agreed. However, they decided to leave a little early and enjoy the day while they walked over to David's house.

About two thirds of the way there, Lena got agitated. "He's starting to come around. It will take a while for him to really wake up, but we'd betted hurry."

They trotted the rest of the way, not wanting to arrive too winded to do any good. They got there with minutes to spare.

"Come on in. He's starting to stir." They could see the worry on his mother's face.

Angel started wondering what she was doing there. She was all for providing moral support and all that, but Penny had been very clear. Or as clear as her Cassandra ever seemed to get, anyway.

"Ok, everyone." Lena started briefing the three of them. "When he wakes up he'll probably be disoriented. Chances are really good that he'll be frightened. I'll be talking to his mind to calm him and help him focus. I may ask you to do something, or stand somewhere, or something like that. It won't be without reason. He needs to know that he's here, and he's safe. After that, I'll help him get a handle on his new perceptions and align them with his eyesight. He may get severe vertigo, so have a barf bucket ready. Once he's got it together enough, you can shower him, dress him, and get us all to the clinic."

"Will you need to be with him the whole way?"

"I think you can manage his shower without me. But I'll be in touch with his mind. Angel can ... Get ready! Hello, David. Welcome back."

David started thrashing around on the bed. "What's happening? Where am I? It looks all crazy! Mom! Dad! Help! Where are you?"

Angel watched helplessly as he got more and more upset, and as panic tinged his voice. Lena took his left hand with hers, and used her other to turn his face toward her. She held their hands up near the center of his field of vision.

"But I can't! I can't see them!" He thrashed around, hitting Lena a couple of times. Angel could see that there would be bruises, but dared not help yet.

A large, white, feathery wing shot out from behind him, knocking his mother off her feet. She seemed unhurt, but kept clear of the wildly flailing appendage and its mate.

Lena clearly continued talking silently to his mind. Sometimes his protests were similarly silent, sometimes out loud. After a while, he calmed down somewhat. His wings folded in against his back, and he stopped thrashing. He brought his free hand up in front of his face, and wiggled his fingers. Then he started getting upset again.

"Why can't I hear anything?" he wailed.

"Because I asked them to be quiet." As she said it, it looked like she was speaking it into his mind as well. "I'm going to count. Focus everything on my voice. One. Two. Three..." for each count, she squeezed his hand. After about fifty, he seemed calmer. But she kept counting. After one hundred, she dropped his hand. At one hundred eighty, he sat up and looked around.

At first, Angel was a little puzzled by the pattern of the way he looked. When he looked toward the door, he smiled a little. Angel turned to follow his gaze, and saw that his father had changed into a swim suit. She watched as he carefully looked at his parents' faces. But when he turned to her, he looked at all of her. At first, that didn't make any sense. Seeing his covers start to tent helped her make the connection. His new vision, his telesense, was the same as Lena's in some ways. He was seeing right through her clothes.

"Hey! Watch where you aim those X ray peepers, you perv!" She chided, in a joking tone.

"Sorry. I can't really control it yet."

"Sure." with friendly skepticism. She looked a question at Lena, who nodded. "How are you feeling, David?"

"Cruddy. And I lost control. I need a shower, bad."

For a moment, Angel didn't understand the control comment. Then she noticed the smells. The bed would definitely need to be changed. She felt sorry for David. On top of everything else, that had to be embarrassing.

"Let's get you cleaned up." his father said. He lifted David out of bed, and carried him to the bathroom. Lena followed them, but stopped outside and closed the bathroom door. Angel helped his mother strip the bed, including the badly stained mattress pad. She noticed a shiny layer that had been under the pad.

Then she moved to Lena.

"Will it interfere too much if I heal those bruises?" she asked.

Lena shook her head, and lifted her arm to allow access to a spot on her side that had taken a couple of good thumps. Angel made them right, then moved to Lena's face. It was already starting to swell in places, and if she had waited much longer she would have had to do it in steps to get around her depth limits.

"Thanks, Can you get the bathrobe out of David's room? It's inside the closet door."

Angel nodded, and went on her errand. When she returned with it, Lena took it and hung it inside the bathroom door. Angel heard the father's "Thanks" before the door closed.

Angel went downstairs to help his mother. She had apparently done the worst part, and was stuffing the now thoroughly wet bedclothes in the large capacity washer.

"I haven't had to deal with that in thirteen years. It hasn't gotten any better." David's mother grinned. "It's a good thing we were prepared. Without that layer under the pad, the mattress would have been ruined.

When they heard the shower stop, she started the washer then motioned Angel back up to the living room.

"Thank you again. Without you and Radar, I don't know what we would have done."

"I didn't do all that much here."

"You gave us the warning. We knew what to expect, and it gave us a chance to prepare."

"Ok. You're more than welcome. I'm sure he will be just fine."

"I second that." Lena grinned, walking down the stairs from the bedrooms. "They should be ready to go as soon as the fashion crisis is resolved."

"Huh?"

"There was a last minute growth spurt. The new clothes are too small. Including the underwear."

A few minutes later, the men came down. David was wearing a t-shirt that was only a little large on him, and jeans with very rolled up cuffs. And a grin, when he looked at Angel and Lena.

"Ok, c'mon letch. Let's get you to the clinic." Lena didn't seem too disturbed about what she knew he was seeing.

For me, it's no worse than all those boys undressing me with their eyes. At least his image is more realistic.

Angel conceded the point.

When they got in the car, Angel rode shotgun, and Lena and David's mother propped him up between them.

After they were underway, Angel commented over her shoulder "Hey, David. I told you that you'd keep the family jewels."

"Until I tried squeezing them into those clothes. I think maybe I bruised something. Could you fix it like Radar's bruises?"

"Only if you want to be 'fixed' like the vet does. Besides, there's no bruising there. Nice try, though."

David flinched at the threat to his fertility, and gave a rueful grin at having his bluff called.

When they got to the clinic, David's father handed in some pre filled out paperwork at the desk. David was ushered right in, and Lena followed. They apparently recognized her, and allowed it. Angel stayed in the waiting room, with his parents. She occupied herself by playing games on her eCom, while his mother read a book she brought along. His father alternated between trying to read and pacing. From the wear on the carpet, he wasn't the first.

After what seemed like hours, a nurse called them in. She ushered the parents into an office, but asked Angel to follow her into another. She recognized the room as an evaluation room, the kind they had used to "read" her when she changed. The young man behind the desk seemed a little apologetic when he spoke to her.

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but we have some questions about what we were told about you. Frankly, I've never encountered a bio elemental with your ability to read the direction MORFS will take, or has taken."

"It was just a matter of self training. I can't really do much with my powers, since my range is so limited. So I concentrated on what I could perceive. After I looked at a lot of morfs, I started to understand what I saw. Well, perceived. It's not really seeing, more of a sense we don't have words for."

"Would you mind terribly if we asked you to demonstrate that ability? We have someone you might be able to help us with, but we need to know what we're dealing with first."

"Cassandra warned me there would be days like this."

"Penny Johnson? She's involved here?"

Angel was only a little surprised that he knew who she was talking about. "She told me to come here today. In part, to help David and all. But the other part had something to do with one of your other patients."

"What did she tell you about him?"

"She didn't even tell me he was a him. Just that you would benefit from my help with that person, and bad things would happen otherwise."

"She's right. But still, we have a duty to be sure."

He had three people come in, one at a time. She told him what she noticed, then they left. In the end, he was impressed.

"You noticed a couple of things I missed, but were more general about some things than I was. I don't think there are any more questions, except the big one. Are you willing to help?"

"Of course."

"I don't want to tell you too much, but I can't read him properly in his current state. Anything you can tell us might help."

In the room he took her to, she saw a boy who looked to be about twelve or thirteen. He was curled up tightly in a fetal position, and shaking. He looked pale, and she could see that he was very low on energy. She mentioned that, then gave him a good look.

"He's a halfie, with shape shifting and some low grade telepathy or empathy. He is using the mind stuff to hold up a shield, and is trying to shapeshift. With where he's concentrating his efforts, I would guess that he is trying to go back to his old body. Or at least look like it. He's in the middle of the shift, but doesn't have the energy to finish it. I don't think he can stop it. And I think he's dying."

Without thinking, she put her hand on his shoulder and offered some of her own energy. She was caught by surprise when he sucked her energy like a giant drain. She couldn't even pull away. Time lost all meaning,

A second or a day later, she felt hands pulling her away from him. She was barely aware of seeing other hands on his body. The room started swimming, and she noticed she was being gently pushed down on something like a couch or a bed. Rest sounded wonderful.

She woke up in a different room, with her shoes off and covers over her. Lena was there, and David's mother.

She opened her mouth to ask a question, but realized she had more than one. Lena answered a few.

"You were out for about an hour. The boy you helped is much better, and they want to talk to you about it. David is fine. He needs some special training, but if he works hard he can probably be out of here before school starts. And yes, he'll have to register."

Our locker room will never be the same. Angel thought at her, with a tired grin.

It never was. Lena grinned back.

The evaluator came in. "What you did was brave, but foolish. We have people here who are trained to give energy safely. He could have drained you completely." He half scolded. "Still, you did help him until they got there. As fast as he was fading, he might not have made it. He finished his change and woke up a few minutes after you went to sleep. He still needs a lot of help, but thanks to you, he'll get it."

"That shield of his kept me from seeing much of anything. We owe you one, and he owes you a big one." He shook her hand, handed her his card, then left.

"Ready to go?" David's mother asked.

"I guess so."

They went to David's room, which looked more like a dorm room than a hospital room. They said their goodbyes, collected his father, and left.

On the ride home, Angel had a lot to think about. Despite losing her manhood, she had it pretty easy when she woke up from her transition. David was a friend, but she'd put him through hell.

You gave him what he wanted, and more. Unlike you and me, he can't whine that he didn't ask for those powers. And once he's learned control, he'll be very happy with the gifts.

"You girls are awfully quiet back there." David's mother commented.

"Just tired. And thinking." Angel answered, which was true enough. She just neglected to mention what kind of thinking.

Ooh, devious. I like it. Lena grinned.

Out loud, Angel asked "Got any plans this afternoon?"

"Just thought I'd hit the pool. I've been neglecting my tan, lately." They both laughed at that, and in the front of the car, David's parents smiled.

"Sounds good. I'll go with you." Then she mentally shifted gears. I guess this proves what we thought. I can shape how and when people morf.

Yep.

Scary. That's a lot of responsibility.

It's reassuring that you look at it that way. But it does prove the concept of the Pope Hill idea.

That's true. And I bet David will be able to help a lot, too. Once he gets control.

Oh, yeah. That adds a whole new dimension to the idea. Lena grinned again, with new enthusiasm.

When they got to Lena's house, everyone exchanged thanks again, and the two girls went inside their houses to change.

At the pool, they found a few of their friends and went over to say hello.

After the usual round of greetings, Star eagerly spoke up.

"Watch!" she invited. She held her hands as though holding a bowling ball (without the finger holes). A small ball of light formed in the middle of that space, then grew to the size of that imaginary ball. She held it steady for several seconds, then made it shrink away and vanish.