1-morphisms between pairs of objects, for example, the functors CFD, and
2-morphisms between parallel pairs of 1-morphisms, for example, the natural transformations $\xymatrix{ \cC \ar@/^2ex/[r]^{F} \ar@/_2ex/[r]_{G} \ar@{}[r]\mid*{\Downarrow \alpha} & \mathsf{D} }$
so that:
The objects and 1-morphisms form a category, with identities 1C:C→C.
For each fixed pair of objects C and D, the 1-morphisms F:C→D and 2-morphisms between such form a category under an operation called vertical composition, as described in Lemma \ref{lem:vert-comp}, with identities $\xymatrix{ \cC \ar@/^2ex/[r]^{F} \ar@/_2ex/[r]_{F} \ar@{}[r]\mid*{\Downarrow 1_F} & \mathsf{D} }$.
There is also a category whose objects are the objects in which a morphism from C to D is a 2-cell $\xymatrix{ \cC \ar@/^2ex/[r]^{F} \ar@/_2ex/[r]_{G} \ar@{}[r]\mid{\Downarrow \alpha} & \mathsf{D} }underanoperationcalledhorizontalcomposition,withidentities\xymatrix{ \cC \ar@/^2ex/[r]^{1\cC} \ar@/_2ex/[r]{1_\mathsf{C}} \ar@{}[r]\mid{\Downarrow 1{1\mathsf{C}}} & \mathsf{C} }$. The source and target 1-morphisms of a horizontal composition must have the form described in Lemma \ref{lem:horiz-comp}.
The horizontal composite $1H \ast 1_Fofidentitiesforverticalcompositionmustbetheidentity1{HF}$ for for the composite 1-morphisms.
The law of middle four interchange described in Lemma \ref{lem:cat-is-2-cat} holds.