This is today's freebie, inspired by a backchannel prompt from starbit . It also fills the "shapeshifter" prompt in my 10-1-19 card for the Fall Festival Bingo. This poem belongs to the LIFC series. (Yes, it skips ahead a lot, but this is where the prompt went.) "A Painful Process" The Avengers had just gotten used to the 'Luke Rogers' persona when Loki threw a monkey wrench into it. "Who the hell is this?" Betty said, staring at the other woman. She was tall and slim, with long seal-brown hair that fell to her waist in soft waves, and arresting blue-green eyes. "I'm Lucy Rogers? I'm here about the job?" she said. "What the hell are you doing on our floor?" Betty said. "Mr. Stark told me to meet him here?" Lucy said. Clint ambled into the room with a box of Lucky Charms. "Morning, Betty. Morning, boss." "Wait, that's Loki?" Betty squawked. "No, that's Lucy," Clint said. "Different shape, different name." "O ... kay," Betty said slowly. "It would have been nice to know about this development before you guys gave me a heart attack." "Sorry," Clint said. "I knew it was a possibility, but nobody told me they were moving forward with it." "Tony is a dick," Betty muttered. "Yeah, but we love him anyway," Clint said, looking at Lucy. "Did I do something wrong?" Lucy asked, shifting in place. "No, you look great," Clint said. "People just weren't expecting it. You changed a lot, didn't you?" "I used the same templates that I did for Luke," she said. "The changes are ... considerable. I am not used to these parameters." "Okay, well, you've been female before, and you've been Luke before," said Clint. "This is just another step. You'll get the hang of it soon enough." "I'm not used to seeing you so ... insecure," Betty said. Lucy sighed. "I haven't finished the face yet. Whenever I try to set up the confidence front, everything sort of shifts under me." "Oh, that," Betty said. "Imposter syndrome. Yeah, it's a bitch." She frowned. "I didn't know it could be genetic, though." "It's not genetic, it's more like using SillyPutty to pick up newsprint," Clint explained. "Loki borrowed from Steve and Bucky to make Luke, and now Lucy, but there's also some sort of cultural imprint outside it." "That sucks," Betty said. "What sucks?" Tony said, walking into the room along with Natasha. "I don't see any sucking." "Imposter syndrome sucks," Betty said, waving at Lucy. "New body problems?" Tony said as he looked up and down Lucy. She shrugged. "It is ... an adjustment," Lucy said. "Why did you not warn them?" "I wanted to see how people would handle you, not knowing that you're you," Tony said. "Betty was surprised," Lucy said. "Clint recognized me at once." "Yeah, well, we know Clint has ulterior resources," Tony said. He turned to Betty. "What do you think? Can she pass?" "As what?" Betty said. "Human? Female?" "Female," Tony said. "If not, I can call and hire a gender coach, but there aren't any human coaches, or weren't the last time I checked." "I have not found any human coaches either," JARVIS said. "Guys, she's not passing, she is female," Clint said. "So is Gertrude, but that didn't stop Walter from still calling her 'George' until I fired his ass, and that was just embarrassing for everyone," Tony said. "So Stark Industries has a policy of hiring a gender coach for any employee who needs one." "Lucy doesn't need a gender coach, she needs other girls to hang out with who can help get her feet under her," Betty said. "It's not that other people won't believe she's a woman, it's that she's having trouble believing in herself." "This society is a challenge," Lucy said. "Every time I think I have it figured out, something new blindsides me instead." "Learning is always a painful process," Natasha said. "Like when you're little, and your bones are growing, and you ache all over." "So are you volunteering to take on the job of girl friend?" Betty asked Natasha. "I will take Lucy out shopping. She will need new clothes. I am better at shopping than socializing," said Natasha. "You will introduce Lucy to Gertrude and Tiffany, since they will be working in the same department." "Wait, what?" Betty said. "Did everyone know about this project except me? How could you know that?" "Publicity is the department that posted an opening yesterday, but internal-only, not public," Natasha said smugly. "Why do I even bother trying to surprise you people?" Tony muttered, glaring at her. "I was surprised," Betty said. "You're lucky it was me and not one of our more volatile members." Lucy took a half-step behind Tony. "Yeah, you'll do fine," he said. "Come on, we can use one of the back rooms for the interview." "Why are you interviewing her?" Betty wondered. "You already know what Loki can do." "I know what Loki can do in battle, and a few other bits and bobs from Thor's stories," Tony said. "I don't know what Loki could do with publicity, and I don't know Lucy at all." Clint chuckled. "I don't think you need to worry about that," he said. "They don't call him 'Silvertongue' for nothing." "That's what I'm hoping," Tony said. "Come on, Lucy, let's get this show on the road." She took a few hesitant steps. "Okay, no, not like that," Tony said. "You got to walk it like you own it." "But you own the Tower and everything in it, except for personal quarters," Lucy said. "All the Avengers have a share in the common floor," Tony said. "Steve and Bucky both claim you as family, so that includes you now." "Oh," Lucy said softly. "I hadn't thought of it quite like that." "Well, now you know," Tony said. "So put some strut in your stuff. Nobody believes a publicity agent who creeps around like a mouse." "Sorry," said Lucy. "I'm not used to being ... this." "I know Asgard is bass-ackward about a lot of things," Tony said. "Earth may have its problems, but gender is one place where we've made a lot of progress." "You really have no idea," Steve said, coming into the room. "Oh, hi. You must be new here. I'm Steve, pleased to meet you." Lucy laughed, high and bright. "Hello. I'm Lucy Rogers." It took a moment for the penny to drop. Then Steve smiled. "Are you okay?" he asked gently. "I hear that top step can be a doozy." Gender expression had been different in his day, and Steve had gotten hassled just for being a male artist. "I am fine," Lucy said. "People have offered to help." "Good," Steve said. "If you need a hand fine-tuning your makeup for that body, let me know. You'll need different eye shadow for sure, and brown liner, not black." "Natasha has offered to take me out shopping," Lucy said. "That's great, but Natasha is a better canvas than an artist," Steve said. "So come with us," Natasha said. "We will visit some of the malls to look at different things." "Sure," said Steve. "JARVIS, clear my afternoon schedule." "Cleared," said JARVIS. "Your new schedule is in your personal calendar." "That leaves us the morning for the interview and introductions," Tony said. "Chop-chop, everyone!" Despite his high-handed manner, the Avengers had been accommodating, and introducing Lucy was not so much of a painful process as it could have been. * * * Notes: Lucy : [suddenly pinning Jang's hands to the chair with knives] Learning is always a painful process. Like when you're little, and your bones are growing, and you ache all over. Loki has enough queernesses to fill a whole QUILTBAG both in comics and in mythology . Loki can definitely change physical sex and gender presentation. Does that change gender, though? It's kind of like asking if a bisexual person is still bi when paired with a member of the opposite sex. Loki is always genderqueer. Just the details vary. Gender dynamics at work can pose challenges. Here are basic and detailed tips for making a gender-friendly workplace. Tony may not always think of these things ahead of time, but he's weird enough himself to sympathize with other people's differences, and also he's an engineer so he dislikes having to solve the same problem over and over again. Imposter syndrome comes in various styles . It's especially common in women , transfolk , other QUILTBAG people , and other minorities . Here are some ways to fight it .