Ted scowled as he struggled with the hair tie in his hand. Women made this sort of thing look so easy, but he couldn't seem to get the hang of it. Of course, it didn't help that his real hair was short, and he could only see the long hair he was trying to manipulate in the mirror.
At last, however, he managed to pull his reflection's long blonde hair back into a neat ponytail. He smiled in satisfaction at his reflection. He looked almost professional now. The woman in the mirror was around twenty years old, and very attractive, with wavy blonde hair, a nice body, and a sweet face. She wore a uniform police shirt and slacks, both in women's sizes, that fit her very well. Ted had actually been surprised to find they fit him, since they had appeared so small when he'd picked them up, but that seemed to be part of the baffling physics that operated these switches. At first he had picked up a men's extra-large shirt--the size he had worn as a man--but it had draped off of him like a tent as much as it had on the girl in the mirror. It hurt his head to think about it, so he tried not to.
Of course, Ted didn't look particularly intimidating in this outfit. If anything, he looked... cute. A few of the guys in the station had attempted to flirt with him when he'd come in, in fact, before he'd had a chance to tell them who he really was. Ted wasn't sure how many people would take him seriously when he looked like this. Women had a rough time as cops, even when they didn't look like models who were fresh out of high school. At least he looked like a police officer now, though... and for the first time in hours, he felt like one, too.
The only item on his person that didn't quite fit the professional look he was trying to pull off were the pink canvas sneakers on his feet. He'd grabbed them from Michelle's room because they'd been the only pair of athletic shoes he'd found--and these were certainly better than the sandals and high-heeled boots and pumps he'd found in her wardrobe--but they definitely didn't go with the rest of his uniform. Unfortunately, while the station had been able to provide him with the shirt and pants he was wearing, officers were expected to provide their own footwear, so he would have to go with these ridiculous things until he... well, probably until he could make it to a store to buy something more appropriate. If nothing else, they were reasonably comfortable.
The door to the locker room swung open, and Ted turned to see who had come in. He was surprised to see a young girl walk in.. in fact, it was the girl Danielle had jumped into, still wearing the casual clothes she'd been wearing at the college. For a moment, Ted panicked; he still felt like an intruder here in the women's locker room. This was where he'd been told to go, however; gender was kind of a moot point right now, but for now the station was having people who looked male use the men's locker room and people who looked female use the women's locker room, regardless of their actual gender.
"Ted," Danielle said, smiling, "I'm glad you made it. I was so worried about you out there... someone who looks like you do shouldn't be out on the street alone right now, at least not unarmed." Her smile turned to a frown. "Trust me, I know how dangerous it can be for an attractive woman to walk alone even under the best of circumstances.
Ted was sure she did. Danielle was gorgeous beneath that preeteen face she was wearing now. Ted still couldn't shake his old crush on Danielle, even while she looked like this. Of course, he knew they wouldn't stand a chance in their current forms. Ted wouldn't want a relationship with someone who looked ten years old, even if she was really in her thirties; Ted was no pedophile. And despite her skittishness around men, Ted had never taken Danielle to be a lesbian. Their shapes were simply incompatible right now. Still, Ted was pleased by the thought that being a woman might let him connect with Danielle in a way he'd never been able to before. And he was glad he'd gotten to look like a hero today.
Ted had managed to bring in two of the criminals who'd escaped from John Wilson that afternoon. The woman holding her roommate hostage back at the college had turned out to be Frank Murphy, a bank robber and murderer, while the woman with the leather clothing and the bright red hair who he's taken down in the alley had identified herself--when she'd woken up--as Joe McCarty, a murderer and a rapist. The criminals who'd jumped out of John Wilson had been a major point of concern for the station, so collaring not one but two of them--dressed as a civilian and without a weapon, no less--had made Ted something of a hero. It was nice, since he'd never had much respect on the force, except from a few of his frends, like Danielle and his partner Roger Winston.
"You look nice," Danielle said as she walked up to Ted. Then her eyes fell on his shoes. "Except for those," she said with a grin.
"Yeah," Ted said, frowning at his feet. "They're the best I could do on short notice. If things ever quiet down enough, I'll go out and buy something more appropriate."
"You know," Danielle said, looking him over, "You're about the same size I used to be. Hold on a sec." She disappeared behind a row of lockers. She returned a minute later with her purse in one hand and a pair of dainty black uniform shoes in the other. Handing the shoes to Ted, she said, "Try these on."
"Oh, wow, are you sure?" Ted asked.
"Yeah," Danielle said. "They don't fit me anymore anyway," she said, wiggling her toes in the flip-flips she was wearing. "You can give them back to me if we ever get back to our own bodies, but until then, I don't need them."
"Thanks," Ted said, sitting on a bench and untying his sneakers. Sliding into Danielle's shoes, he smiled. "Perfect fit."
"Well, you must be Cinderella," Danielle said, giggling. She sat down next to Ted. "You know, Ted.. you were great today. The whole force is talking about you."
Ted blushed and shrugged his shoulders. "I was just doing my job. It wasn't any big deal."
"No, it was," Danielle said. "I know a lot of the guys give you a hard time, but I knew you always had it in you. I'm proud of you, Ted." She kissed him lightly on the cheek. Then, slinging her purse over her shoulder, she stood and walked back to the door. Before she reached the door, though, she turned back and looked at Ted. "Keep up the good work."
"I will," Ted said.
"I know you will." Danielle smiled and walked through the door.
Ted felt good. He felt really good. He felt like he could take down every bad guy who'd gotten out of jail today single-handedly. Andf he would need that kind of confidence; there was still a lot of work ahead of him, ahead of the whole police force, the whole city. Ted was going to do what he could to help out. He'd volunteered to patrol for a while in the immediate area of the station. He needed it; he wanted to get back to work. He only had an hour or so; sunset was approaching fast, and the police chief wasn't letting any officers who looked like women or children patrol on foot after dark. Hopefully an hour would be enough time for Ted to do some good, though.
Strapping his gun and holster around his waist, Ted took one last look at his reflection and headed out to get back to work.
