Jacqueline sat on the couch waiting for the better part of an hour. From the moment she first saw the texts, she couldn’t think of anything else.

The anticipation made her restless. Her mind conjured up numerous images of what Ben might look like as a woman. She imagined someone strong and burly, with enough muscle mass to lift a truck. Her face would be fierce, commanding and instill respect into everyone who saw it.

She realized she may have been exaggerating Ben’s actual appearance. An easy mistake to make when his job involved fighting literal monsters.

Her imagination was put to a stop when a woman suddenly came in through the front door. She wore an oversized male uniform, and had perhaps the most beautiful face Jacqueline had ever seen. She stood still in front of the doorway, clearly ashamed and embarrassed. Her head was turned down and to its side. She did everything in her power to avoid meeting Jacqueline’s eyes.

Jacqueline tilted her head a bit, curious. She hadn’t expected Ben to look like this. The woman hardly had a muscle on her, but even from under the baggy clothes she could tell her body was very lean and graceful. She had no doubt those small, clammy hands of hers could and would do a lot of damage.

Jacqueline stood up from the couch, walking up to her and laying her hand on her cheek when she got close. Since they were the same height, she didn’t have to look up. Something she wasn't used to, as Ben had always been a few inches taller than her.

With a slight push, Jacqueline moved the woman’s face toward hers.

Time seemed to stop as they stared into each other’s eyes. Jacqueline had heard before that the eyes were the window to the soul. And as she gazed deeply into the eyes before her, she knew they were the same ones she’d seen so many times.

“Ben.”

Ben’s eyes darted down for a second, her face going red out of shame.

“How did this happen?”

“One thing led to another. Everything just kind of spiraled out of control.”

Ben’s new voice sounded so elegant Jacqueline was almost jealous. Even with as little knowledge as she had about the supernatural, she knew this was not the kind of beauty that could happen naturally. No, this was mystical.

“I don’t know how to undo this. Everything gets worse the more I think about it.”

“Are you scared?”

Ben didn’t answer that question. She was supposed to be a fighter, the one protecting others. She couldn’t bear to hear herself say she was scared.

“This will get fixed, I promise.” Ben said.

Ben felt Jacqueline rub her cheek with her thumb. Whether she said that to assure herself or Jacqueline, she didn’t know. She wanted to believe this was just another challenge she’d have to overcome as part of her job. That in the end, she’d win, and everything would be back to normal. Then, maybe, the name Benjamin Cross would finally be recognized for the hero it belonged to.

But the deepest part of her mind couldn’t stop fearing the worst.

***

Dinner was very quiet that night. Jacqueline tried to engage Ben in conversation, but she was too withdrawn. Not much could be gotten out of her aside from terse, one-word responses.

That was, until Ben asked “how could you tell it was me?”

Jacqueline looked at her dumbfounded, as if she was stupid for even asking that. “You’ve looked in the mirror right?”

“I’ve seen my reflection, yes. I don’t look like myself at all.”

“No, you do.”

“Jackie, I think I know what I look like.”

“Yeah, and you’re wrong.” Jacqueline retorted. “You know, I remember my mom telling me once that everyone else has a better idea of what you look like than you do. So I’m here to tell you that you still look like yourself. You don’t look like a completely different person. Actually, you kinda look like how your sister would… if you had one. And very… very beautiful.” Her voice drifted on those last few words.

Ben could see the growing lust on her face. “Jackie… is there something you want to tell me?”

Jacqueline didn’t hesitate for a second. She stood up and reached her hands across the table to grab Ben’s face, pulling it in for a long, deep kiss. This was the first time she ever kissed another woman, and it was beyond thrilling. She felt dangerous, like she was doing something she wasn’t supposed to.

She loved it. She was so engrossed in it that she didn’t want to pull back. Ben had to do it for her.

They were both shocked by how heavy their breathing was. They couldn’t remember the last time their kissing was so passionate.

Ben found it much easier to talk following that. It was like that kiss was all she needed to know everything would turn out okay.

***

When the time came for Ben to get in the shower, she was in such a good mood she didn’t even care that she’d have to see herself naked again. That wasn’t to say the shower was necessarily comfortable for her. She didn’t just need to look at herself, she needed to get intimate with herself. She had to feel every square inch of her body. Nothing could be left untouched.

Though, as she scrubbed herself with soap, she found it wasn’t nearly as bad as she thought. She still wasn’t used to her body being like this, but she figured in maybe a week it would feel perfectly natural. That was assuming she wasn't turned back into a man by then, which she hoped she was.

The biggest surprise tonight was how okay Jacqueline was with her being a woman. More than okay, even, she already seemed to like it. Ben wasn’t sure what to make of that, but it was a huge relief Jacqueline wasn’t abandoning her. Really, she shouldn’t have had such a low opinion of her.

When this was over, Ben hoped she’d be able to understand and relate to Jacqueline more. She needed at least something to show for getting through this.

Turning off the nozzle, Ben stepped out of the shower, dried herself, then headed over to the toilet. She may have eaten too much at dinner.

“Are you about done in there?” Jacqueline asked from across the door. “You’re taking forever.”

“Shut up. If you turned into a man you’d take long too.”

Ben heard her laugh.

“It’s not funny!”

“Oh, don’t pretend you wouldn’t laugh if I suddenly grew a dick.”

As much as Ben hated to admit it, she was able to find the humor. She even smirked a little.

Once it felt like she had emptied out her entire intestines, she flushed the toilet. She loved the new bidet they just had installed. It felt very refreshing, she couldn’t believe most American toilets didn’t have one. She washed her hands, and she was about to put her clothes on, but the bathroom door opened abruptly, revealing Jacqueline, naked from head to toe.

This was far from the first time Ben had seen her naked, but this felt different. This felt special. She could feel Jacqueline eyeing her up as she saw her new body for the first time. Already, she was in love with it. Was she really suggesting…

A smile and a giggle was all it took for Ben to get the message.

Ben ran toward her and threw both of them onto the bed. They embraced each other’s bodies, ready for a very long night.

To their right, the toilet could be heard filling up. It was near industrial strength, though there was still one thing it couldn’t flush. Stuck to the inside of the bowl was a small piece of white thread, like a line of silk in a web.