Hatching A Plan
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New Newly Not Cis. Holy shit. Thank you to everyone for being patient. Unedites cause I rewrote the whole chapter like twice and I didn't want to bother Trismegistus Shandy again after they already edited the peevious version. Still shoutout to them.

TW: Suicide mentions, death and hate crime mentions. Lotta anxiety.

Katie had been trying to keep it cool for the sake of Nick, and Melody. She was the mystery solver. The smart one! One of them had to be functional and figure this out and no one else was qualified, but now Melody/Jay was unconscious in Nick's lap she had a second to breathe. She could get the body of her dreams one day. She just had to help Jay and figure out how this ghost stuff works. Unfortunately, she can't do that without first calming down. Her heart was pounding after their little back and forth.

"I'm calling Adam. I'll be back." She stepped into the hallway. Hopefully Jay would be there when they woke up and this could be over with, but for some reason she doubted it would be that easy. She scrolled to her contacts and without texting beforehand called him.

"Sup."

"Adam! Handsome, my love," she said without thinking. She was doing such a good job earlier of keeping cool through the bullshit but she didn't need to be cool to Adam. 

"Are you alright?" 

"Somethings going on with Jay. Can you come over?"

"He did something ridiculous again, didn't he?"

"You have no idea. Nick and Melody are here as well and I could really use you here for moral support."

"Wait, the ghost?"

"Yeah. There's a lot I need to fill you in on. Can you get here?"

"I'm on my way."

"Thanks, babe. I'll see you when you get here."

She could hear yelling from behind her door. Someone was awake.

"That asshole!" Nick shouted. "I can't do this anymore!"

"I'm sorry, Nick." Melody whimpered. 

"It's not your fault, he's the one that lied to me." Nick responded. "I'm sorry for that. And for earlier. He really put you in a bad spot, sorry for doubting that."

"I get it." She sounded scared. Or guilty. Katie was getting tired of trying to figure out what was happening in other people's heads.

Judging by the look on Melodys face when she walked in and how she didn't seem to be moving away from the pacing Nick, it was probably guilt. 

"You alright Melody?" Katie asked.

"As alright as I can be right now." Her voice quivered slightly and her leg bounced.

It was odd that after dying Melody still managed to get shaken by terrifying and confusing situations such as this one. Katie didn't blame her for it or anything. It's hard to imagine how it would feel to go from incorporeal to living and breathing again and it was easy to understand why she panicked earlier. Between Nick's reaction and James coming back this was the most excitement she'd had in a decade. This can't have been the worst thing that had happened to her though. 

"Anything we can do?" 

"I just want to fix this, finish what I was doing, and disappear." 

Maybe it wasn't fear she was feeling. Frustration maybe. Maybe she was just tired? 

"Disappear?" Nick stopped pacing.

"I'm thirty. For half that time I've been sulking in the halls of a rotten school and trying to prevent people from getting hurt. After everything that's happened with James, I just want to move on." Tired. Got it.

"Aren't you our age?" Katie asked. 

"I was when I died."

"Wouldn't that make you seventeen?" 

"I don't know. Do you know how hard it is to keep track when for half the year you're alone and for the other half people can't see you?"

"I guess not."

"I'm tired of existing like that. And I can't retroactively stop my death. I just want to move on. Whether that's to an afterlife or nothingness."

"For what it's worth I appreciated your help. Both with the food appearing and the transition stuff."

"I'm glad I could help, but I still don't think I can continue doing this."

Her words hung in the room for minutes. After they were done, if Melody had her way she'd disappear. Was Katie selfish for not wanting that? If she wants to go, it's past her time. She should be allowed, but shouldn't she also get a chance to live her life. It was unfair. Everyone will get through this because of Melody, but she wont?

Katie didn't want to dwell on it. Focusing on the problems in front of them made more sense. Even if she had no idea where to begin with possessions and ghosts and getting her friend's body back. 

"Katie, Adam's here!" Katie's Mum called, interrupting her from processing the existential horror that was Melody's existence. Adam stood in the doorway. She jumped up to hug him. Being around Melody emphasized how lucky she was despite everything with Jay, and Ben and the systems she had to navigate.

"So what happened?" He whispered in her ear.

"Melody is in Jay's body. You know the ghost girl?"

"Oh."

"Yeah. She's not taking it well."

"I can imagine."

Adam held her tight. It was comforting being held by him. He smelled fantastic. His patience with the bullshit she had gotten herself into was also hard to overstate. She let go and Adam introduced himself. Adam and Katie sat next to each other on the floor, while Nick and Melody sat on the bed together. Katie once again gave the overview that she gave to Nick. 

"What was the other option?" Nick asked. She'd left out the girl option in her explanation. It wasn't important, it was just another bad option. "What could have been that bad?"

"He wanted me to try and make him a girl at heart as well." Melody explained. 

"Why didn't you do it?" Nick pushed. It took everyone else a second to process what he had just said. "Wouldn't that be the best option?"

"What the fuck, Nick?" Adam shouted.

"What?"

"It would change a part of his identity. Invading his brain and messing with it. It's messed up. Borderline killing the old him." He explained. 

"I don't see how it would be that much different from changing his body."

"Nick, it's basically magical conversion therapy." Katie interjected. 

"I also don't know how to do it." Melody interjected. "If it goes wrong I might not be able to change him back."

"His dysphoria would be gone. He'd still be Jamie. Just a girl now. She'd be alive and happier."

"I don't know if she would be. The issue isn't him, or that he's trans now. It's that he's not got the support. I can fix his body. I just need him to work with me to do it."

"This is confusing." Nick said.

"James is a guy, the physical body changes aren't the whole reason for him feeling like shit." Adam explains. "I still have a uterus and deal with periods and shit and that kinda sucks but it doesn't make me wish I was a girl. I'm happy being a guy. Is that similar for you Katie?"

"Kinda yeah. I still have parts of my body I don't like, but being a girl and having Adam, and my mums and you see me as a girl makes me happy and content. What hurt was Jay treating me like garbage and navigating the medical system."

"What would happen if she did change him?"

"I don't know." Melody said. "It wouldn't change that his mothers love is conditional, the expectations she has for him, or the pressures that pushed him to this point. She'd know that he was a guy and that without my intervention she'd still be one. It's more likely that Jamie would still hate herself."

"I get it, I guess."

"I'm sorry, Nick. I do wish it was that easy."

"So what do we do?"

"I don't know. He's probably right. I jumped the gun. Trying to start T for him and transitioning might not work." Katie tried to imagine doing that to herself. It didn't even seem possible. "Not with what he was saying and not with how I’ve been able to help Katie and Adam.” 

“What?” Katie knew she’d forgotten to tell Adam something. It was hard to think and remember everything with more bullshit happening every minute. 

“I don’t know what he wants. Like when I try to make things easier for you, Adam I follow your lead. You work for what you want. I can try and help with that. With Katie, she’s really open about her wants, and I can think about my experiences.” Adam’s hand clenched.

“You’ve been messing with my body?” he asked.

“I’ve been trying to help you.” Katie didn’t understand why Adam was upset. If he was upset. He was largely an open book but sometimes she still struggled to figure out what he was feeling, pissed might be a better description.

“Without asking?” 

“How was I meant to ask? I was restricted to poltergeisting before this.”

“Then you don’t change people’s bodies! You could have hurt someone again.” It hurt hearing him say that. Katie was happy with her changes. She had a body she liked and she wanted it to keep changing. If someone has told Melody this before, those changes might not have happened. 

“Are you unhappy with what I did?” 

“I like what my body has become, but that doesn’t change how irresponsible it was to change it.”

“Okay. That’s fair. Now can I get back to the issue with James?” 

“Sure. Whatever.” Katies squeezed Adams hand. It’s fine. They got what they needed and wanted. That’s what mattered right?

“Good. James needs to initiate the changes he wants so I can piggy back off them. He needs to show me what he wants.”

“You know what he wants. He wants to go back to his old body.” Nick argued.

“Then I need him to work towards that. Whatever he wants I’ll do my best to grant. At this point it’s the least I can do, but I can’t decide for him. This isn’t my body.”  

“Then ask him.” 

“He won't answer. He won't do anything. He thinks the only way forward is to be what his Mum wants."

"And he won't listen to anyone who says otherwise. Right." Katie was getting tired of this. They all had offered to let Jay stay at one point or another. He turned them down. Separating them wasn't an option, not until Jay actually valued himself. "Usually I'd suggest he see a mental health professional, but he can't do that if he's not present."

"You three will have to support him."

"How can we support him if he isn't here?" Nick had dealt with the most over the last week. He'd been dumped, lied to, and ignored. He deserved a break. 

"On Monday, I'll try to leave his body. You will have to figure out how to stop him from doing something stupid." 

"You want us to trap him?" 

"You could put it that way."

"And if he escapes, or runs into traffic?" Adam asks.

"I'll be there as back up."

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