"Hello? I'm overhead."

"Come to the abandoned paper mill at the eastern edge of town. I'll send a

woman over."

"I don't care... Although I would have liked to see you as well, Gren..."

Gren clicked his phone shut with a grimace. He was annoyed at his own reaction to hearing Vicious' voice again. After all these years the bastard still had a hold on him. He adjusted his veil, making sure that it concealed his features. The last time he laid eyes on Vicious was a lifetime ago...when he was still a whole man...before the drugs turned him into the androgynous abomination he was today.

His hands trembled slightly as he fussed with the fabric of his skirt. The voluminous dress he wore accentuated his breasts but concealed a deadly cache of weapons within its folds. His pulse quickened as he contemplated what lay before him...there was no turning back. The next time he and Vicious would meet, only one of them was going to walk away, he was sure of that.

With the specter of death hovering in the air, Gren allowed his thoughts to become a blur of the people and events that had marked his life one way or another. A string of lovers marched across his mind's eye...mostly hard, cruel men like Vicious who used and abused him, each in their own inimitable way. But then there was Faye...a faint smile crossed his face.

He left her trussed up on his bed, dazed and barely conscious. How ironic, he thought, that he should seek comfort in the arms of a woman in this last hour. Not even Julia, that shimmering presence, could sway his appetite for men. He wondered if someone would eventually find Faye...

CLINK

The sound of a latch opening interrupted his reverie. His muscles tensed as the door swung open and the unmistakable profile of Vicious filled the doorway.

Gren stepped forward into the light and put down the bag he had been carrying. As he retreated, Vicious came forward and opened the bag. He extracted a vial of Red-Eye and pierced its stopper with a spectrum device. The tiny screen glowed a deep red moments later.

"EX+ ranking. Very nice." Vicious put a suitcase down. "This is the Titan Opal that you requested. Give Gren my regards."

Vicious turned to walk away, but froze as Gren's voice rang out in the cavernous space.

"You saved me from that scorpion back then... Yet you sold me out!"

Gren slid the suitcase over to Vicious. He fumbled while reaching for the gun concealed in his sleeve, giving Vicious the opportunity to grab the suitcase and hurl it back in his direction. It struck the side of Gren's head, knocking him off balance momentarily. The next thing he knew, he was flat on his back with the wind knocked out of him, pinned to the ground by Vicious. Their faces were inches apart.

"Gren?" Vicious' steely eyes searched Gren's face. "You've changed since we last met."

"Long time no see." Gren could barely breathe. His warring emotions showed nakedly on his face, as he tried to summon the resolve to kill this man that he so desperately desired. A flash of hot anger rose to the surface. "Are you trying to kill me again? We fought in the war together... We were comrades... We fought together... on that desert battlefield...I looked up to you... I believed in you...!"

Vicious hissed at him. "There is nothing there to believe. Nor is there a need to believe."

With an anguished cry, Gren broke free from Vicious' grip and landed a punch on his jaw. Vicious responded with a punch of his own, but Gren deflected it and clamped his hands around Vicious' throat. As Vicious grappled with Gren's viselike grip, he lost his balance and Gren used his legs to kick him and scramble away.

The two men faced each other across the room.

Gren drew a ragged breath and screamed: "VICIIIIOUS! Look at me! Look at what you have done to me!" He reached for the collar of his dress and ripped it open, exposing shapely, pink-tipped breasts. He trembled violently as he felt Vicious' gaze sweep over his chest.

Vicious stared and felt something twist deep inside him. Gren had always had a slight build and delicate features, but he was unmistakably male. The lush breasts, however, changed everything and made him look positively female. It was a shocking sight. His eyes traveled south.

"And are you also -"

"No." Gren interrupted him. "A strange twist of fate, but the drugs they gave me in prison left my manhood intact."

He dropped his eyes and whispered: "I am both, but I am neither".

Vicious felt his cock twitch and drew in a sharp breath.

"Come here, Gren"