"Hope?" The man said before he turned the light on. It shone down on who he though was his wife.

"None here! Not the figurative kind but most of the literal! Oh, you were expecting someone else, I take it?"

"That her body." The man said. It was just a statement of fact, he was too surprised by the sight of a middle-aged man's head on what was obviously his wife's body to muster any more than that.

"Yes, my lad, it is. You know, I have to hand it to you, wanting to rescue your wife, saving the day like a knight saving the captured princess, but I'm afraid her head is in another castle! Now, as for you..."

Before the middle-aged man could move from his position under the single light, the younger man was up the stairs, terrified, his steps thunderous as he made his escape.

From a darkened corner, hidden by shadow, came a feminine laugh that shattered the silence once the man's steps faded.

"Big tough guy, huh?" The middle-aged man asked, putting soft hands on feminine hips and looking at the figure emerge from the shadow.

"That'd be him." She said. While her head was young, not more than twenty-five, her body was a little older in its mid-thirties, a bit heavier, but still very much feminine. "I can't thank you enough for all of this."

"My pleasure." The man said. "A three-way swap that helps everyone, and I get to scare the hell out of an abusive bastard like your husband? Hell, I should be thanking you!"