He really should've known better than to accept medicine from Lisa- especially after her behavior at the sanatorium and then the theater.

But his head had been pounding so hard, and he hadn't been getting anywhere- he'd almost been convinced that Alessa couldn't be real, but almost was the key word. He couldn't truly believe that. Maybe he had imagined seeing her a couple times, but he was sure that he'd met her at least once.

He'd accepted the glass Lisa offered him - she said it would help him clear his head and he'd thought she'd been telling the truth.

He'd been wrong.

A new pain had come, and then intensified and then spread throughout his body. It felt like fire, like molten lava was flowing through his veins and setting his body on fire from the inside out.

He wasn't aware he'd dropped the glass, didn't see it shattering on the floor- he didn't notice Lisa backing away, fear in her eyes.

He was only aware of the pain- it suddenly intensified in his hands and fingers and he yelled-almost screamed- as they twisted, growing and changing- scales appeared and his nails grew and sharpened. The scales spread, running along his arms and then his torso, quickly followed by just as drastic changes inside his body.

Travis dropped to his hands and knees.

He opened his mouth to scream but a roar, a noise like one a dinosaur would make, came bursting out of his throat.

Wings sprouted, ripping out of his back.

The scales and the inside changes had chased themselves up and down his torso- they were moving down his legs (there was a tail now, bursting out like the wings) and running around in his head.

He shook it, gasping at the pain, trying to get this thing to go away, to get out of him-

The transformation reached his toes and finished- he collapsed to the ground, panting.

After a minute, his eyes blinked open to see black Mary Janes on front of his face.

He knew who it had to be, even before she slowly knelt down and looked him in the face. He hadn't heard her coming, but then, he never seemed to.

"Travis?"

Weird. She actually sounds worried.

"Travis?" Her hand brushes against his face, gently, and he groans.

Her hand is nice and cool- Travis realizes that he's halfway feverish, and dizzy as anything, although that was beginning to fade.

"Travis?" she did sound worried.

Travis coughed, and struggled, then managed to get his voice to work. "Yeah?"

She flung her arms around his neck. "It worked! I made it so the poison didn't kill you!"

"…what?"

"The Order knows you're helping me, so they wanted you dead. They gave Lisa something that would kill you-"

"It was poison?" the nurse whimpered, pressed against the door, hand over her mouth.

Alessa sat there a moment, then pulled back and looked at Lisa.

The two females stared at each other.

Travis couldn't see Alessa's face, as she was turned away, just staring at the nurse, but he could see Lisa's face- she no longer looked quite so horrified, but the fear was still there. Her hands were on the floor now, almost as if she was trying to brace herself.

"You treated me very kindly," Alessa said at last, beginning to walk forward. "You were very nice to me- but you work for the Order and you hurt Travis. If I hadn't changed it you would have killed him."

"I didn't know."

"No, you didn't. But you should've. You should know better." Alessa paused as if considering something, then reached forward, slowly, and placed her hand on Lisa's forehead.

Lisa shuddered and stared at Alessa- and then she began to hacking and changed positions, so she was on her knees and vomiting.

Alessa stood behind her and one arm was wrapped around her in a half hug, and the other patted her head. "Good girl. Throw it all up- get rid of all that yucky stuff inside you."

Travis couldn't see the blonde nurse anymore- Alessa blocked his view.

But the feverish sensations and the dizziness were fading. He didn't understand what happened to his body- he glanced down at himself.

Black scales and claws met his eyes. Disbelieving, he twitched, telling his fingers to move, make a fist, do anything-

The claws twitched- huge black things that could easily rip a man's heart out- and then curled.

Travis grunted. Somehow, he wasn't as shocked as he should have been. But then, reality seemed to have given up on him a long time ago. At least this would make dealing with the monsters easier.

Slowly, stretching, trying to adjust to this changed body, he moved, made his way to his feet- his four feet- and shook his head, stretched wings, lashed tail- he didn't look himself over, not yet. That he wasn't ready for quite yet.

"Alessa?" he whispered, padding closer.

The retching noises had stopped. Hopefully that was a good sign.

Alessa looked over her shoulder at him. For half a second, she just looked at him- and then she smiled. There was a touch of hesitancy about it- as if she had something to show him, and hoped he would like it but wasn't quite sure. "Look Travis," she whispered back, "I helped Lisa get rid of all the yucky stuff."

She was holding a baby. It was wrapped in Lisa's red sweater, while the rest of her things- uniform, hat, armband, shoes- were scattered on the floor, among the remnants of the "yucky stuff" that Lisa had puked up.

The baby was small, blonde, and looking around curiously with big green eyes.

She didn't seem to see Travis.

Alessa began to rock her gently, her face thoughtful. "I need to find her a good family- someone who will take care of her."

Travis took a step forward and almost stumbled. The awkwardness of the motion made him remember his changed body.

"The orphanage is a bad place," Alessa continued thoughtfully. "The Order runs it, so she can't go there. Hey Travis, how do you find nice people to raise babies?"

"Well, generally there's a whole system you go through- but I wouldn't trust the system in this type of town…" Travis trailed off as a thought entered his mind. He wasn't sure it was a good idea, but at the same time, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Travis?"

And apparently Alessa could read his facial expressions. Great.

"I have a friend named Dan, who lives in Brahms. He and his wife are good people- and they don't have any kids. And they won't ever. Laura's body-" he wonders how to explain it to a child. "Her body won't make babies, even though she wants it to."

"They'll take care of her?"

"Yeah, they would."

What worries Travis is the thought of her growing up like before and breaking Dan and Laura's hearts. But in addition to being the nicest people he knows, they were also among the wisest.

If anyone could help Lisa grow up wiser, they'd be the ones.

Alessa smiled fondly down at the baby, who had apparently decided that she was in good hands, because she gave a happy, burbling laugh.

And somehow, something in Travis's heart eased when he heard that. And he knew everything would be okay.

"Travis?" Alessa's voice had gotten quieter again- almost shy sounding. "Can I ride on your back?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen my back recently. Is there anywhere you can ride?"

"Uh huh, I can see a spot."

"Alright," Travis said, crouching down, "but I don't know how I'm going to get out that door, let alone explain this- I don't suppose you can turn me back to normal, can you?"

"Sorry," Alessa said, snuggling into his back in a way that somehow touched his heart. "I mean, I know there is a way, I just don't know what is. I was in a hurry, because I was afraid you were going to die… you aren't mad, are you?"

"…not at you." Travis answered truthfully. "Come on, let's get out of here."