Switched

Ten

Batcoon 

"So tell me exactly what you saw in the vision Vanoss." The owl man was in a different mood; one I've never seen before. It was a mix of sad, confused, and frustrated emotions. I grab his hand, "Vanoss, we're alone, you can tell me anything." His mood finally changes to a warming one. 

"Delirious... we had a baby." Vanoss shakes his head at the edge of the bed, his hair swings with it. 

"How? And why?"

"Don't you see?! Humane Labs is obviously trying to make something with both of our powers combined. They made a trap with the train crash. They put some type of liquid or powder, whatever!" Vanoss threw his arms up in the air. 

"Anyway, in the vision, I was being taken away... we were being taken away; the baby and I." Vanoss looks at me, assuring I was following along. 

"Continue..."

"And well, you were screaming and being tackled by those scientists. I was screaming back and turned to look and... you were a man again. So I checked to see if I changed as well, but... I was still a woman. Which makes me think..." Vanoss reaches for my neck and finds the spot where I was shot at. "Whatever they shot at you is to reverse it. Remember that liquid you were talking about?"

"Yeah." I grab his hand from my neck and squeeze it. 

"Well, that is probably the... the... Delirious why the fuck? Why'd they choose us? There are plenty others to fuck with." The brown eyes fill with tears, my heart hammers, "No, Vanoss." I pull him closer and kiss him. I run my fingers through his hair, trying to comfort him. Every day he acts more and more like a female, and I seem to be going backward. A sudden pain goes through my chest, I push away from Vanoss and fall off the bed. "Delirious?!" He falls to the ground beside me. I caress his cheek. The pain turns into a warm sensation. Vanoss stands up and backs away as a glowing light forms from my legs. It spreads throughout my body and I go blind. "It's happening..." I can vaguely hear Vanoss's voice. Vanoss inches closer to me again only to be blown away. The glass shatters as he falls from the top of a 25 story building. I get up instantly and stop time, but Vanoss won't stop with me. "NO!" I try to stop time anyway. The whole world stops, even Vanoss does. I sigh in relief and run over to the shattered window. Vanoss has just started falling. I grab his ankle and pull him in. Time unfreezes as he tumbles on top of me. He is still breathing but isn't awake. He shifts his hand so it's on my chest, but there's no cushion. I look down and realize I'm not a woman anymore. 

I easily set Vanoss onto his bed. His arm flops onto on side as I cover him with the blanket. I kiss him on the forehead. I shut the door quietly and sneak upstairs with one thought on my mind, well actually two: What am I going to tell the guys? And was Vanoss pregnant already? 

Early Bird

Someone trudges up the stairs, all of us turn slowly to watch. My jaw drops, "Delirious?! You aren't a woman anymore!? How the-?" I realize his gloomy behavior. He plops down on the couch, "Yeah, I'm a man, but Vanoss isn't..." 

"Just use protection," Wildcat jokes. Mini punches him in the gut. He wheezes and apologizes to our friend. 

"I'm so sorry Delirious. What happened, how?" 

"Well, it was the plan of Humane Labs. They're trying to get me to get Vanoss pregnant."

Wildcat can't help but chuckle, "Why?"

"To make our own villain, but stronger than both of us."

I understand where he's going with this, "That's why they'd need the genes of both of you."

Mini steps in, "Why wouldn't they just do it while they had you two trapped?"

"That makes me think Vanoss is already knocked up, but unofficially. They just turned me into a man to protect him I guess." 

"Well, we don't know if he's pregnant yet." I tried brightening the mood. 

"You could always get an abortion," Nogla suggests. 

"Yeah, how are they going to abort a superhero that's two times stronger than Vanoss and I?" 

"Even as a fetus, you think it's going to be strong as hell Delirious?" Wildcat sits at the edge of the couch. 

"I hate to say this, but we might figure it out..." Delirious's mood changes drastically, and it worries the hell out of me. 

BatOwl

How bad would it be if I got pregnant? Hah, that means I'd be a woman for 9 more months... I cry to myself, thinking about how downhill our lives had gone; Delirious and Is'. 

Speaking of, the man himself walks into my room. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Is there a word for scared, pissed, and tired at the same time?"

"No, but we can make the word."

"Yeah, let's name it after me. Just like we will this fucking baby."

Delirious scoffs, "How do you know you're pregnant?" 

"I don't know..." I feel the waterworks going at it again. 

"I'm crying so much, is that a symptom?"

I let the tears stream down my face. Delirious lays down beside me and spoons me. "What would be the biggest problem of having a child?"

"Being a woman for a longer period of time." 

"Evan..." I jump at his sudden use of my real name.

"Jonathan... I wanna be able to love you like a real man. Like..."

"Evan, if you truly loved me it wouldn't matter."

"I do, but when I first figured out I liked you, I had dreams of us loving and fighting side by side as men. As BatOwl and Batcoon. Not BatOwlette and Batcoon..." 

We sit there in silence, I know I made the situation bigger than I had to. Delirious only squeezes his arms around me, and his breathing slowly turns to quiet snoring. I lay there awake, waiting for something else bazaar to happen. 

I jump when my phone starts vibrating, I pull it out without hitting one of Delirious's arms. It's an unknown number, hopefully not a telemarketer. 

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Is this BatOwl?"

"Who's asking?"

"Miranda, from the lab."

"Why are you calling?" I keep my surprised voice down. I don't want to wake Delirious.

"Well, I found some info that might be critical for you."

"What?" My heart beats loud in my ears. I was afraid of the answer. 

"It's about fertilization..." 

My jaw drops and tears form in my eyes. I shift and look at the sleeping man next to me. I image him protecting me from something stupid while I stand back and caress a baby bump. The thought makes me blush. 

"Hey, can we meet somewhere?" I ask, not wanting Delirious to know anything about this.

"Of course, when?"

I slip out of Delirious's grip, "As soon as possible."

***