Gold to Airy Thinness Beat

Chapter Seven

Stephanie grimaced...and then burning liquid entered her body and her eyes flew open, an involuntary grunt of pain escaping her throat.

The pain faded almost immediately to an uncomfortable warmth and she started to relax. The bed began to move and she gasped in surprise, her body twitching against the straps as it reacted instinctively to the sensation of falling. The bed raised her until she was almost vertical at which point the metal pods lifted and closed around her and a hood came down over her face shutting her away from the outside world. There was a viewport but it was too high for her to see out.

Good thing she wasn't claustrophobic.

She heard clunking as something was done to the outside of the pod and then a knocking sound as Dr. Erskine asked if she was alright.

"I think I left the stove on," she quipped, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "You think you can send someone to turn it off for me?"

He chuckled, and then she heard him giving the order to proceed.

A loud humming started around her and a bright light forced her to squeeze her eyes closed.

Inside her, the liquid still burning through her veins began to grow hotter. She let out a gasp and clenched her teeth as it continued to heat. Her blood felt like it was on fire and she bit down hard on a whimper of pain fighting to escape through her clenched teeth.

And that's when the real pain started.

It felt like every cell in her body was ripped open simultaneously. Her body was pulled, the muscles tearing and the bones stretching like putty.

She arched, her mouth opening but the pain was so bad it robbed her breath and nothing but an awful, chocking sound came out. When she was finally able to inhale enough to scream she knew full well the sound wasn't masculine but there wasn't a thing she could do about it, or the ones that followed. The pain shot to a crescendo, or what she prayed was a crescendo; becoming her entire world, the only thing she'd ever known. Her lungs seized again inside her and her mouth was locked open in a soundless scream, and still the pain went on.

And then, as fast as it had started, it was fading. The humming died down and the light bled away. The fire in her blood went out and she sagged against the bed. Her lungs unlocked and she dragged in a huge draught of air and then another.

She heard a whirring noise and then the doors were sliding open, cool air rushing over her, made colder by the sweat drenching her body and sticking her damp hair to her forehead and neck. In the room there was dead silence and Stephanie forced her eyes open, looking down at her body, convinced she would see it in bloody shreds.

She would swear it wasn't even hers. She had...curves, taut muscles, and smooth, flawless skin. She could feel hair resting on her shoulders and realized the procedure must have accelerated its growth, taking it from near stubble down to well past her shoulders. There were a few ash blonde strands stuck in her eyes, the shafts straight and shiny and without a single one of the split ends that always plagued her.

She became aware of cool air in places she shouldn't be able to feel it and flushed with embarrassment at the realization that her clothing not only no longer fit but was now ripped and tattered in a way that was barely appropriate and certainly not decent. Even as she noticed that, her eyes were drawn to her breasts which, while not huge, most definitely existed in a way they never had before and combined with the remnants of her clothing, marked her for exactly what she was.

"What in the hell is this?"

Crap.

Dr. Erskine appeared at her side, getting the strap off her chest and supporting her as she stepped down. Her legs buckled as her feet met the floor and she staggered, holding onto him until she got her footing. She heard clattering on the stairs and then Peggy was there, offering her an oversized shirt. Stephanie shrugged off what was left of her jacket and slid the shirt on over the remnants of her old shirt, buttoning it quickly as Colonel Phillips approached, the look on his face thunderous.