Hillary and I were on the road, her driving as we went up to the university I go to, Knox University. We were heading up there to meet a professor in the medical school there, one who could likely shed some light on what was going on at Collin’s University.  We had done a bit of digging and found he had come there just before the semester started, a former research professor who left for reasons that were curiously unspecified.  That piqued all of our attention.  Further digging revealed that this professor actually used our own university to do some analysis.  While partnerships are pretty common, this wasn’t partnering for a project, rather an analysis of some work which our STEM college agreed to, provided that they be given credit for their contribution.  However, we found that the arrangement seemed curiously unmentioned by the college, and we only found it by digging into the professor some.  That made this all the more interesting.

                I had called a professor of mine, a Dr. Sue Callen, and we were heading to meet her.  Apparently, she had a part in this collaboration, and Hillary and I were very interested to see what she had to say.

                The drive was about fifteen minutes longer than the normal forty-five or so I had to do daily, but that was taken into account the distance of Luke’s home.

                For the first nearly half-hour or so, Hillary and I were both pretty quiet.  I know I was thinking of things to ask my professor, and I could see Hillary mind was divided, likely between the road and the same task my mind was on.  It was only when we started to hit the more built-up urban that we started to talk.

                At first, I started by us asking each other what the other wanted to ask.  Both had questions that, upon bouncing them off of someone else, we decided were better left unasked, and we both had questions, good questions that the other hadn’t thought of.  About fifteen minutes later, we were finally in the city itself and we had more or less solidified on the questions.  Now, though, both of us realized, we had other things to discuss.

                It seems almost cliché to ask how someone is doing in this situation.  I mean, I knew I didn’t like it because I felt like I had taken her body away from her. I knew that wasn’t my fault, not at all, but it still felt like that on some level.  I had to imagine that Hillary felt the same.

                Still, one of us had to ask.  Might as well be me.

                I asked.  The answer surprised me.

                “Not as bad as you’d think, Brendon.”

                “Thank god.”  I said at first, my happiness at her not being miserable overtaking my surprise, but only for a moment.  “Wait.”

                “I mean, I feel bad for you and I want to be a woman again, but this isn’t, all things considered, that bad.”  Hillary pointed out.  “We’re healthy, we at least know our respective body is in good hands.”

               “Do you-“ I started.  Hillary laughed, cutting my sentence off.

                “No.”  She said with a weak smile.  “But there are much, much worse fates.  Brendon, if it was between having your body the rest of my life and living with that bastard the rest of my life, I’d choose this, with the only caveat that I wouldn’t want you to be miserable or not live your life due to it.  I mean, god, I should say, I’d find another way to handle my soon-to-be-ex that would allow to have your body back if I could do it over, absolutely.”

                “How are you doing with this, then?”  Hillary asked.  I could hear the hesitation in her face.  I think she was afraid I might have taken this the wrong way.

                “For me, if it’s between this and you going back to him, no, I’ll be a woman the rest of my life.  You didn’t deserve what he did, what he put you through.  I know more than you realize, Hill.”

                “Your dad?”

                “No, my mom, but she got it from my dad.  He didn’t want me to do anything rash, knowing how close we were.  My mom knew me better than that, and she figured I had a right to know.”

                “What did she tell you?”

                “Maybe this isn’t the right time to tell it-"

                “Damn it, Brendon!  Tell me!”  She said, hitting her fist on the steering wheel when they were at a traffic stop. He jumped at that.

                “I’m sorry!  Oh god, I’m sorry!”  Hillary said. “You, you don’t, I can understand if you didn’t want to.”

                “I’ll just say,” I started.  “That it wasn’t just verbal, and there were reasons why you seemed to like long-sleeved shirts.”

                At that, Hillary looked at him.  I could tell she wanted to cry from both her feeling bad about her outburst and from what his saying brought up in her mind. However, she didn’t.

                “It is true.”  She said confirming it.  “And, I’m glad you didn’t take it like I was loving your body.”

                “If it’s between this and what you went through, I meant what I said earlier.”  I said.

                She held out a hand, and I took it, and she looked at me and smiled.

                “Thank you.”

                A moment later, the light turned green, and the rest of our drive was uneventful.

                We got onto campus, and she followed me to the mathematics building.  We definitely got looks as we walked past, but neither of us had any time to worry about it.  We had much bigger issues than that.

                We walked up to the third floor and found Dr. Callen in her office.  We walked in and she asked us to close the door.  We did and sat down.

                Dr. Callen, despite her obvious surprise at our situation, handled it quite well.  We had told her of it prior to coming in, but it was one thing to hear of it, and quite another to see it.  Or, at least, I imagine it would be.  I know I’d be surprised as hell at seeing someone come in with their head on someone else’s body.

                “So, Dr. Callen,” Hillary started.  “This Dr. Mathis…”

                She was going to ask Dr. Callen about when this doctor started the university, but Dr. Callen cut her off.

                “Officially, I’ve been told that we’re not to inquire about our confidential, previous relationship with Dr. Mathis, and any and all events that might be related to this.”

                At this, Hillary and I were crestfallen.  We could try to confront him directly, but he’d likely just shut us down.  He probably knew what was at stake here, and he’d be much less interested in cooperating than the people at the university who might not have known exactly what they were in for.  At least, we hoped they didn’t realize what they were doing.  If they did, we were really screwed.

                “But, Brendon, if this file on my desk was to contain all the relevant information we had, if it was enough to even convince him to help you, and if I was to go get a coffee and be so silly as to put it in my filing cabinet and forget to lock it, and, as this file shouldn’t exist, it wouldn’t be missed if it was to somehow disappear, well, I guess those are the fortunes of the world.”

                “So,” She said, getting up.  “I’m getting a coffee.  Want anything?”

                We both shook our heads.

                “Also, if you would be so kind as to vacate yourselves from my office prior to my return, I’d be ever so grateful.”  She said the last bit with a determined smile.

                She then took the documents, put them in the filing cabinet, and closed it, then walked to the break room, which I knew was a floor up.

                Hillary had her briefcase on her and she scooped them out of the filing cabinet and we were out before she had even started to climb the steps upward.  As we started down, we heard her.

                “Oh, shoot, I forgot to check my lock.  Oh well, nothing of value anyway.”

                We were back at Hillary’s vehicle, and we were both looking at the file.

                Damn, we realized, it was no wonder why my university scrubbed all reference to this project.  This guy, this Dr. Mathis, he brilliant, a genius, maybe even the reason this project succeeded, but this guy was very much the unscrupulous type.  It seemed like he blackmailed his way onto a position here after he had made an unspecified move at Collins and gotten booted out.

                Also, interestingly in the file, he had a thing for women younger than his nearly sixty.  About twenty years younger, and it seemed that he couldn’t control himself. At that, Hillary smiled.

                “So, he’s a sexual harasser of women my own age.”

                “Yes, he is.”  I said, not sure what Hillary’s smile meant.  “He’s had to have done it hear.  We can just get someone to talk, even if he’s blackmailing them, they’ll…”

                “He’s probably got more than enough to block that. You have to figure, this guy was transplanting around heads, and this university is going to keep that quiet.  A lone woman or two won’t be enough for them to risk it.  It’s much safer for them to risk a lawsuit from them than for them to deal with his account of the events, which is probably mostly lies, but they’ll be ruined before they can get in front of that.”

                “So, we’re back to square one?”

                “No, not at all.”  Hillary said.  “Want to watch a guy like this break?”

                “Yeah, I do.”  Brendon said.  At that, Brendon realized she had a plan already, and given that this creep’s preferred type was now-

                Damn it.  He knew where this was going.

                “I’m bait, aren’t I?”

                “Only if you agree.  If not, we’ll figure something out, but this is our best chance right now.  So, we can find another-“

                “I’ll do it.”

                “That was easy.”  Hillary said.

                “What do you think will work?”

                About an hour later, Dr. Mathis was opening his office door.  It was a very nice office, much nicer than most of the professor’s offices in the medical department, more akin to a dean’s office.  The way his office was situated, his desk was facing perpendicular to door and against the far wall, so when he entered the room he couldn’t see his desk until he was inside.

                He turned to see me in a short red skirt, black heels, and a short black top, posed sexily on his desk, doing the Mrs. Robinson pose.

                He closed the door quickly upon seeing me, and I saw him smile wickedly and lustfully.

                “I see Dr. Carrolton had sent me another gift.” He said.  It was then that he noticed the camera that was set up on a stand behind the desk that put both me and him in the video.  His face paled, and he went to get back out of the room, unlocking the door.

                Big mistake, I thought, as Hillary walked in with Luke behind her.  As they walked in, I grabbed a pair of jeans I had set nearby, kicked the heels off, and put the jeans on, then taking off the skirt, and putting my socks and shoes back on.  The crop top I left on, just putting my other shirt on over it as Luke and Hillary almost gleefully showed him the video, pointing out that me in this situation and his obvious familiarity with it would be something that might not be in his best interest to get out.

                He agreed, and, instead of talking, he just unlocked his cabinet and then handed them two jump drives and an external hard drive.

                “You know I’ll do a full check for viruses or if it’s got a kill switch, right?”

                “Do what you wish.”  He said, defeated.  “It’s funny, all this, all undone by a thirty second video.”

                “You seem to be going rather easily.”  Hillary commented.

                “Yeah, you do.”  I said.  “What do you have up your sleeve?”

                “I showed my knowledge about the procedure, about what it could do, that I was complicit in it, and that I knew one of the people who was still a part of it, and that he was sending people to me who, by anyone who isn’t a total moron could tell it was for a sexual encounter, across state lines.  All of you taking this is much better than the FBI.”

                “You know we’re going to call the cops, right?” Hillary asked.

                “I know, but you have no authority to hold me, and by then I’ll be gone.”  He said with a smile.

                “Very true.”  Luke said, motioning for him to leave.  The doctor smiled as he walked out.

                As he walked toward the elevator, I looked at Luke and Hillary.

                “We’re not really letting him go, right?”

                “No, not at all.”  Luke said.  We grabbed the evidence and started to walk, deciding to take the steps instead.  We got to the first floor, and saw police arresting Dr. Mathis, a very angry look on his face as Luke walked past and smiled at him.  Soon, Luke was back in his truck, and we in Hillary’s vehicle.

                We both sat there a moment, each breathing a sigh of relief.  That had worked and we had gotten a treasure trove of information, or at least we hoped.

                “We did it!”  Hillary almost squealed, giving as good of a hug as possible in her vehicle, this time our bodies being less of an issue as previously.

                “Now,” She started.  “Once we examine all this, I think we can go to Collins University.  From there, we can prove what my husband did.  Brendon, we can not only help ourselves, but we might have uncovered something bigger, something much bigger.”

                “That sounds bad.”  I said.  “You worried about that?”

                “We’re in it now, and we have been from the moment our heads landed on each other’s bodies.  I think this was going to come to this regardless.  Might as well do good for ourselves and likely good for others as well.”

                “I hear you there.”  I said.  That comment on him seeing me as a “gift” was very unsettling.  How many more were like this?

                “But,” Hillary said.  “We’re making great progress.  I’m proud of you, Brendon!”

                “Thanks!”  I said meaning it.  “But, I feel like a junior partner here.  You and Luke know a lot more about this.”

                “We’ve been around the block a bit.”  Hillary said.  “But, don’t sell yourself short.  You had the contact we needed.  Brendon, we’re going to need all of us working together, and you are absolutely vital here.”

                I held out my hand, and Hillary took it.

                “Thanks.”  I said.

                “Don’t mention it.”  She said with a smile.

                “So,” she said.  “We’re going to have a very busy day tomorrow.  Ready for it?”

                “As much as I’ll ever be.”  I admitted.