In the Heat of Battle

As soon as Kelli turned around, Finn turned his back to her as well, and stripped out of the t-shirt and sweatshirt he was wearing, letting them fall to the ground by his feet. He started putting the bra on just like Kelli had said, slipping it on like a vest and making sure his breasts were held in the cups. He stared down at his chest, bottom lip between his teeth as he fumbled to get the clasp done. “No…no, I can get it, I just…hang on,” he muttered, finally getting it done. “There we go.” He tugged and pulled at the undergarment, feeling awkward and uncomfortable in it. 

It was then he caught a glimpse at himself in the mirror in Kelli’s room, and he paused, actually looking at his changed body. Shit, he was tiny. He had a very slim waist, smooth stomach, yet he still had some light muscle on him. His breasts actually didn’t look too big, at least in his opinion; if he had to be stuck with them for a few days, he supposed they could have been worse. Finn turned around, glancing over his shoulder to look at his back in the mirror with a grimace. He still had the years of scarring littered over his back, and it was such an odd, ugly contrast with his new feminine appearance now. He cleared his throat, turning back to Kelli and trying not to fidget or cross his arms…or stare at his friend’s bare back and towel-covered ass. “Okay, I got it.” 

“You know with my clothes, you don’t look that bad as a girl Finn. Though I doubt you’ll be getting on any roller coasters any time soon at that height.”It was a cheap shot yes but when was Kelli going to get another chance to brag about how she was taller than him for once? She might as well live it up now while she could.“Alright I need some clothes now, and can we please go get seriously drunk? I don’t think I can handle this all sober. Plus my tolerance has to be like twice as high if not better.”

Finn looked at the bra Kelli pulled out for him, lips pursing together into a pout. He so didn’t want to wear one of these. Hell, he didn’t even want boobs in the first place, but it seemed like he didn’t really have much of a choice here for the next few days. “At least it’s in black,” he muttered, trying to find a bright side. He took the bra from her, looking at it as he tried to figure out just how exactly he was going to get it on, and wrinkling his nose a bit. He bit his bottom lip as he debated Kelli’s offer, and then nodded. “Uh, yeah, that might…help, considering I have no idea what a bra is supposed to fit like and that stuff. You’ve seen boobs before, and it’s not like you haven’t seen me without a shirt, so…it’s not weird, right?” Finn held up a hand, twirling his finger in the air for Kelli to turn the other way. “Look away while I get this thing on though.” 

“Hey I have cute stuff,” Kelli insisted with a small scoff. “You just don’t know how to appreciate it yet. Trust me the clothing industry hates us. Barely anything is comfortable or functional, looks is all we have.”

“It won’t be any more weird than the rest of this situation,” she shrugged before turning around so he could make his first attempt with the feminine undergarment. “How’s it going?” she called over her shoulder when it seemed he was taking quite a while. “Should I get you a sports bra? You can just pull that over your head.”

The news report, while offering no immediate solutions to their dilemmas, did offer some reassurance to Finn that this was only a temporary problem. He could deal with temporary. He didn’t want to, but he could do it, no matter how awkward it felt. 

Suddenly Kelli was right in front of him, abs, pecs, biceps, and v-line in all their beautifully sculpted glory and Finn’s eyes almost popped out of his head. God that towel was so dangerously close to coming off…or being pulled off… His face grew hot and flushed, and he swallowed thickly before speaking. “Call me a little girl again, and I’ll yank that towel off,” he muttered, gaze shifting into something more daring. He’d fucking do it; he’d fucking pull that towel right off of Kelli’s waist out of spite. 

With a disgruntled huff, the blonde stood and marched off into Kelli’s bedroom. “I have some clothes from Axel back at my place,” he called down the hall. “Those might fit you better than what I have because you’re like freakishly tall.” He opened up Kelli’s closet, easily finding and grabbing the first pair of jeans and t-shirt that he saw. He moved over to the dresser and opened the top drawer, staring hopelessly down into the variety of bras. His brows furrowed together and he pursed his lips. “…Kelliiiiiii,” he whined. “Help me, I don’t understand your bras.” 

“I’m just calling it like I see it,” Kelli shrugged, finding his anger just that more amusing. She was tempted to call Finn on his bluff but given how flustered he seemed by her just being topless, and the fact that losing the only thing keeping her somewhat decent was the absolute last thing she wanted.

Looking over the selection Kelli considered what would be the easiest on someone new to bras.“This one would probably be best for you. It’s a front clasp with no underwire.” She grabbed a black bra and handed it over to Finn. “You put it on like a vest with the clasp in the front. Depending on how...secure...you feel I can adjust the straps for you.”

“Clothes aside, I feel, uh, rather…exposed underneath, and not very secure,” Finn muttered, shuffling after Kelli, practically jogging to keep up with her longer strides. He kept his arms pinned tightly over his chest until he took a seat on the couch next to Kelli, sitting right on the edge of it to keep his nearly naked friend out of his main line of vision. He grabbed the remote and turned on the tv, flicking through news channels impatiently until he found something immediately addressing a magical gender transformation plague upon Pansaw. “Wait, I think I found something,” he announced, turning up the volume a few notches to listen. 

Hearing Finn declare is find she stopped searching on her computer for a while before listening to the tv. It of course had no good news besides the fact that they were not alone.“Seriously? A few days?” Kelli repeated in frustration. Why did something like this always have to happen to this city? It was like they were the epicenter of chaos in the universe.

After taking a moment to loudly groan out her anger and irritation she stood up and faced her friend. There was no point in throwing a fit, according to the announcement there was nothing they could do and the effects would wear off on their own eventually. “Alright first things first we need to find clothes because I’m not going to walk around in a towel until this is over and you look like a little girl playing dress up with her big brother’s wardrobe. Go check my closet, I think you’re about my size. If anything what I have will fit you better than that. Bras are in the top drawer of my dresser.”

“Damn, I relate so much to that issue, but like…opposite problem,” Finn answered, his voice wavering for a moment. He cleared his throat, counting to five before he took a breath and dared to turn back to face Kelli with arms crossed tightly over his chest. She was literally almost a full foot taller than he was now, and as much as he tried to keep himself looking up at her face, his gaze kept dropping, tracing over the ink skin and perfectly formed muscles…and that v-line slipping underneath the towel…fuck, he needed to get laid. 

“I don’t have a damn clue, but I hate this so much,” he said, eyes snapping back up to the redhead’s face, his chin tilting up in the process. “Maybe…okay, where’s your computer, phone…something…maybe we’re not the only ones with this issue and there’s something on google about it?” 

“Hey at least you have clothes you can wear, even if they’re three sizes too big,” she pointed out as she wished she had even a larger robe to help cover up. It was rather embarrassing, especially with Finn eyeing her like a piece of meat.

“Yeah...it would make sense if we’re not the only ones. I left my laptop in the living room last night I’ll check there you see if there’s anything on the TV. Hopefully Hope won’t try to bash our heads in with a frying pan if she’s home.” Kelli lead the way, keeping an eye out for her roommate just in case but it seemed Hope was out again. Sitting on the couch she threw open her laptop and as quickly as she could started searching the headlines for any news about their latest problem.

This was not how Finn was expecting to wake up this morning. He’d gone to bed thinking he was coming down with a cold, and now he had somehow changed biological sex overnight. All he could do was stare at himself in the mirror in horror; the delicate features, the shoulder length blonde waves, the breasts…the lost eight inches of height. He’d shortly figured out it wasn’t a horrible nightmare, and this was 100% real. How the hell did this happen?

His horror was interrupted by a buzzing of his phone on the nightstand, and he darted over to it, reading the text from Kelli. He mentally debated saying he couldn’t come over, but he couldn’t do that to one of his closest friends. He texted back, “Be there in ten seconds” and ran to his closet, trying to find something that would fit him for now. He settled on a t-shirt and hoodie that were way too big now, and a pair of sweats he haphazardly rolled up around his waist and at the ankles. Once dressed, he grabbed his phone and teleported himself right into Kelli’s apartment in front of her. 

“If it’s anything like the emergency I’m facing then––oh.” Finn stopped, eyes widening when he noticed that Kelli wasn’t exactly herself either. There was a split second where he was ready to attack this intruder, but another second later he identified the red hair, the registration mark, and the other tattoos Kelli had now painted on a well-muscled, unfairly taller male form. His jaw dropped as a light tinge of pink colored his cheeks, and Finn quickly spun on his heel to turn the other way. “Do…Do you maybe want to put on a shirt or something?” 

While she waited for Finn to reply Kelli desperately tried finding something in her closet to cover up these changes but given the sudden growth spurt all she could really hope for was a towel from the bathroom. She had just managed to get it tied around her waist when someone just appeared in front of her. “Holy shit!” Kelli gasped at the sudden intrusion, nearly losing her towel in the process. She was about to start demanding answers from this stranger when she recognized Finn’s clothes and the fact that she had in fact teleported into her apartment. “Finn?” she was in shocked but also somewhat relieved to see that she wasn’t the only one with sudden and unwanted changes.

There was absolutely no way Finn and the other heroes were sitting by while Pansaw was under attack by some juiced up Nephilim. Especially Finn, considering he had a bone to pick with those fuckers for destroying his home. Everyone had gotten suited and geared up, collected their emergency Meta Steroid (save for Hope who was working her magic to keep them all safe and alive behind her computers), and spread out across town to the points with most damage. 

Finn had come out a little later than his friends, needing to make sure his dogs were safely inside the Hero lounge with food and water, and wouldn’t disturb Hope. He perched now on a high rooftop in Wayland Hills, surveying the damages and sirens of emergency vehicles blaring in the darkened town. He’d faced some absolute shit before, but nothing as bad as this. With a deep breath, the vigilante injected himself with the Meta Steroid, figuring he’d definitely be needing it. Not too long after, he could physically feel the effects like pure lightning running through his veins. He activated his com system linked to the other Hero Squad members, speaking into it. 

“A’ight, bitches,” he greeted them, clapping his hands together. “Who needs some help kicking ass? Tell me where the freaks at.”

She threw back a shot and started explaining about the bar and her coworkers and Charles just stood and listened. This was surreal. He could’ve sworn he knew something like this would happen. He couldn’t understand–the city was scary and terrible! Why would anyone live here? “Do your coworkers always come to work when there’s a disaster?” He blurted out, bewildered.

Originally posted by betty-and-jughead

“We may run a bar but we have good work ethics,” Kelli gave a small shrug, not wanting to explain how she was really a masked vigilante. It made her wonder for a second how she would slip away if need but figured she would worry about that when the others showed up. “Plus in disasters people need comfort which we provide. Speaking of which if you need anything just ask, it’s on the house.”

Charles could barely speak, let alone protest as she dragged him through the streets. Not that he really wanted to. She was offering him a place to hole up and stay safe, and he was not going to let that go. When they got out of the chaos, Charles looked around wide-eyed, taking in the room. Maybe she was a bartender?

She introduced herself and he shook his head. “Charles. I don’t drink.”

“Nice to meet you Charles,” she nodded before knocking back a shot of whiskey, deciding to limit herself considering the disaster going on outside. She needed to keep a clear head after all. “We should be okay here but if things get really bad we can head downstairs to the stockroom. It’s should hold up just in case. In the mean time my coworkers will hopefully show up soon.”

The redhead stood and Charles looked her over quickly, grateful he hadn’t injured her. He would not have known what to do at all if he had. He stared at her, a little bewildered, when she asked about a safe place, and gestured to the horrific scenes on the TV. “Safe from that?” He asked incredulously, indicating that no, he had nowhere to go at all. The apartment he was renting was farther south, right where that noise had come from. And that must have been this destruction. So no, aside from having somewhere safe, he had nowhere at all.

Originally posted by 221bwithyou

Right. “Come with me. We can hole up at my workplace. It’s probably no better than any of these other places but it’s away from that.” She nodded to the billowing tower of smoke coming from what she could only assume was a crater now. “Let’s get out of here.” She grabbed his hand and quickly continued towards the bar, dodging crowds of panicking people and a couple chaos induced accidents along the way.

When they arrived Kelli quickly did a sweep to see if any of her teammates where there and when she realized they were alone she made a beeline for the bar. “I’m Kelli by the way.” This definitely wasn’t the time for small talk but she figured they could both use a distraction from the horrors going on outside. “Do you want a drink to calm your nerves? I know I could use one.”

Charles was just making his weekly trip to the grocery store and back when about three blocks south, he heard a deafening crash. He didn’t wait a second, he immediately turned and went the other direction. That did not sound good. He did not want to know what it was, whether a huge auto accident or even simply some kind of demolition, he wanted out of there as fast as possible. “I hate the city,” he muttered as he picked up his pace. He didn’t glance back until he turned a corner and passed a huge TV in a store window, showing smoke pouring through the streets and destruction to the highest level. “Oh my God,” he murmured, horrified. Now he was scared. And unable to move, apparently. It was only when someone barreled into him from around the corner that he stumbled backwards and mentally pushed the air below him up to keep his balance. It worked, but the other person ended up sprawled on the sidewalk. “I’m sorry, are you alright?” He asked, coming over to help them up.

Quickly she raced through the streets, fighting her way though growing mobs of frightened and confused civilians only to end up plowing into someone standing like a petrified statue when she rounded a corner. In a second she was suddenly knocked to the ground while her mind tried to play catch up with what had just happened to her. “Yeah...Yeah I’m alright.”Kelli nodded though she was felt rather dazed as she got to her feet. “We probably shouldn’t be standing out in the open like this though. Do you have somewhere safe to go?” As she asked she realized what even could be considered a safe place right now?

“Quick’s my middle name,” Finn replied with a grin and a playful wink in Kelli’s direction. “You won’t even finish with the first bad guy before I get back.” He exhaled as he crouched down, balancing on the balls of his feet and interlocking his fingers in between his knees. He glanced up, shooting Kelli a confused look. “What are you talking about? It was a reality before the dream, y’know…” 

He was fully ready to have a pointless argument about it when Hope delivered intel for them, and he immediately switched to business mode. He nodded in confirmation. “Yep, sounds good to me. I’ll meet you in your location in two minutes or less to finish off the rest of the bad guys for you.” Finn flashed Kelli another cheeky smirk, teleporting off to do his part before she could argue back.

“Two minutes or the next ass-kicking is free?” Kelli chuckled at her own joke before jumping into action. The lookout went down without much resistance, probably some scrawny newbie relegated to the easiest job of the heist. After a few quick punches and a swift kick that knocked him to the ground she left him cuffed to a nearby bike rank after swiping his coms so he couldn’t call ahead.

Hope was frustrated. She’d spent a couple of days in Texas with Erick but broke her phone shortly after arriving. Finn had known they were going so she didn’t think to contact anyone back in Pansaw in the meantime. She hadn’t realized how much helping the heroes was therapeutic for her until she didn’t have anything to do for a while. Her thoughts were swirling around in her head when she walked into the new base. There was a lot she needed to get caught up on upstairs in the bar but she just wanted to be back in her element for a moment. Hope stopped short as she heard her name. It took her a second to realize who was talking and what was being said to her…or rather, about her.

“Umm…you…talk…nice? To it?” She was confused. Not only was no one usually in her command center but they never tried to get into her system. They never had a reason to. “Did you need me to find something for you?”