The scent of fresh sweat and stale powder was almost strong enough to keep Ray from waking. If the net he dangled in had been secured to the criminal's leg as well as her waist he might have remained unconscious until she was ready to deal with him, but her quick confident stride tossed Ray from one side of her hip to the other.
The streetlamps and moonlight that streamed through the windows they passed did nothing to help identify his captor. Almost every inch of her was covered in skin hugging velvet. From neck to gloves; waist to ballet shoes. Her hair and the bits of her face not covered by the oversized domino mask were exposed, but Ray was too close to see anything above the shoulder.
The slim dagger was his only landmark. The naked blade gleamed whenever it passed through the light. Longer than Ray. Sheathed by a strap of black leather wrapped around her thigh leaving most of its sharpness exposed.
The controls on Ray's belt were still dead; the ones in his gloves had power, but weren't responding. He tried ripping the net, but it was stronger than his tiny muscles. The mesh made for easy climbing, but the open top was tied in a hard knot to the criminal's waistband. He should've been able to swing the net into the blade, but his captor's movements were too unpredictable.
The slide to the bottom of the stocking took less than a second; the sting of being defeated by a piece of hosiery lasted much longer.
The criminal made her way silently down the dark corridors until they'd reached the smallest of the five courtrooms. She skipped the obviously locked main entrance and slid through the clerk's door around the far corner.
The lights were out; the windows shuttered. Ray lost track of where they were, but his captor navigated the darkness like it was her shadow.
The criminal's hips stopped swaying. Gloved fingers longer than his torso cupped Ray's body from below while her other hand undid the knot above. Fight or flight chemicals exploded into his veins as the net went slack. Ray might as well have been asleep for all the good they did him.
Ray was tossed on the bench as casually as a pair of used panties. As he struggled to make it to the open end of the fishnet the criminal found the switch to Judge Fortune's blind justice lamp.
The lampshade was thick and narrow, letting only a small island of light out onto the judge's desk.
Female laughter from outside that light reminded Ray how pathetic he must look struggling to escape such a sheer prison.
Ray's eyes had adjusted to the glare by the time he made it to fresh air. Ray grabbed hold of Lady Justice's metal robe and pulled himself all the way out. He steadied himself against the statue's strength until he found his footing. Lady Justice's feet stood on the same table he did. Stretching to his full height the top of his head still didn't reach her crotch. Her scales hung high above him. He was small enough to fit in them.
“There's nothing valuable here. Nothing to steal,” Ray said. The criminal wasn't in the light, but he knew she was close. “What do you want?”
“We need to talk.”
Ray recognized the voice.
“Jean?”
“You want to explain what happened back there?” The woman leaned into the light until her face Rushmored over him. Ray only needed to see her eyes to know he was right.
“Why are you dressed like that?”
“Rehearsing a surprise for next week's Halloween party.” Jean worked one of her gloves off and tossed it to Ray's left. “I could ask you the same question, but you haven't answered my first. What happened back there?”
“It was dark. I didn't recognize you. I thought …”
“I know what you thought.” The other glove landed to Ray's right. “What I want to know is how a superhero got his butt handed to him by a bookworm in a Halloween costume.”
“My size controls fritzed out. I'm just lucky it was you and not Dr. Li …”
Jean didn't need her whole hand to pin Ray to the table; one finger was enough. She worked his belt off with her other hand while he impotently thrashed under her. When she was done she let the tip of her finger slide down his body till it rested on his crotch.
“Anything you want to admit?” Jean asked. “It'll be less embarrassing if you fess up now.”
Ray turned his head. Jean shrugged and examined the small belt.
“There. I've fixed you.” Jean tossed the belt on his chest and took her finger away. “You can grow or shrink. Be heavy or light. Strong or weak. Run away or talk. What'll it be?”
“You know?” Familiar power rippled through Ray's body.
“You saw through my mask in a heartbeat. Do you honestly think I wouldn't see through yours? I've known since you helped me win my first case. In this very courtroom. I've spent the last three years thinking that was your big secret. Now I know better.”
“I'm sorry.” Ray pulled his mask off before rising to his feet. “I didn't want to keep any of this from you, but … things got complicated. And weird. Fast.”
“I've read about men like you, Ray. I never thought I'd meet one.”
“You've met a lot more superheroes than me.”
“I'm not talking about them,” Jean said. “Unless they're secretly submissive too.”
“I'm not …”
“This isn't a lecture hall; I'm not one of your grad students. It's cute you think you can argue with me, but your balls are in my court.”
“Why would you even think something like that?” Ray asked.
“Remember the time you 'lost your memory' and joined a flea circus? Or when that crook made you the bondage battery of his ray gun? Or the spy who tied you spread eagle to a hand grenade?”
“When you put it like that it sounds bad, but those sorts of things happen to superheroes. A lot.”
“Do the others get tied up as much as you?”
“No, but …”
“Have any of their super suits beaten the snot out of them?”
“That only happened once.”
“In the last six months how many times have you been rendered 'powerless'?”
Ray thought about it a minute before admitting “five.”
“Does that include tonight?” Jean asked.
“Ok, six, but that doesn't prove anything.”
“It proves everything.”
“It was you!”
“You didn't know that. As far as you were concerned I was some hot piece of anonymous ass doing crime. You leaped into my clutches.”
“It's more nuanced than that.”
“Did it turn you on getting carted around in my dirty nylon?”
“No.”
“So you didn't get hard until your big bad girlfriend pinned you with one finger? And don't even think about lying; I know what I felt between your legs. Just like I felt it go away the second I gave you your power back.”
“Are you trying to humiliate me? Getting petty revenge cause I didn't tell you?”
“I'm not the one trying to humiliate you, Ray.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“I've got my own secrets.” Jean took her mask off and lay it behind Ray.
“Am I your beard?”
“What?”
“I've proposed a gajillion times and you always put me off with the same lame excuse.”
“So putting my career first makes me a lesbian?” Jean slipped the ballet shoes off under the table. They ended up beside the gloves.
“If you are just say so. I'll set you up with Enrichetta.”
“It's 1964, Ray. Women are allowed to have careers. Gay or straight.” Jean put the dagger on top of the mask.
“But you're never … frisky.”
“Wet, Ray. The word you're looking for is wet.” Jean's hands were busy under the table.
“Things have been drier than the Sahara down there a damn long time, Jean.”
“You haven't exactly been a stalactite yourself.”
“Are you stripping?” Ray asked.
“Yep.” Jean piled her leggings in a hill to Ray's left.
“Why?”
“Cause being gay isn't the secret I was talking about.” Jean lifted her butt from the judge's chair, hooked her thumbs in the waistband of her underwear, and yanked them down in one swift motion. “When you were getting your little chubby my Sahara turned into a Slip 'n Slide.”
The black panties hit Ray with a wet thump that pushed him off his feet. The soaked material clung to him. If Jean hadn't given him back his strength the weight of her arousal would've pinned him down as hard as her finger.
“Do the math Ray. I'm not getting off on the bottom; you're not happy on top. We both know what we have to do to make this work.”
“That's not how any of this …”
“I'm giving you one minute to crawl out from under my panties. You'd better be naked Ray.”
“Is that an order?”
“You bet your sweet ass.”
Ray didn't hesitate. They were both naked when he crawled into the light.
“I can't take my eyes off you when you're tiny. It's even better when you're naked.” Jean's gaze burned through him like x-rays. “Stand up. Hands at your sides. I want to see everything.”
Ray obeyed.
“Looks like you enjoy getting orders as much as I do giving them.” Jean's fingers glistened when she pulled them out from under the table. “Tell me, Ray, are you strong or weak right now?”
“Weak.”
“I didn't order you to do that.”
“It … it just seemed like what I should do.” Ray couldn't look Jean in the eye.
“Good boy.”
The words made Ray feel better than he wanted to admit.
“I want to marry you Ray. On my terms. Like I was the husband you thought you had to be. Think you can live with that?”
“Will I still be a scientist?”
“It's 1964; men can have careers.” Jean smiled down at her tiny man.
“What about being a superhero?”
“I'll think about it.” Jean ran a fingertip down Ray's back and let it rest on his bottom.
“That's not fair.”
“I won't be most of the time,” Jean leaned down and kissed Ray's chest. “But I'll always love you.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I want your belt.”
“Will I ever get it back?”
“Probably not.”
“You could do anything to me,” Ray said.
“I could,” Jean admitted.
Ray walked to the edge of the light, knelt on both knees, lifted the belt up with trembling hands, and said “I do.”
“This is the size you're most comfortable? Six inches?” Jean wrapped the gold belt around her ring finger and snapped it shut.
“Yes.”
“I don't like that. I can't put my finger on why, but I don't. Maybe it's cause that was your penis size back in the day.” Jean studied the controls on her new ring. “Whatever. I'll just see how I like honeymooning with a 2” husband. I can always make you smaller when I get back.”
Jean hit a button and grabbed her panties while Ray shot down to his new size.
“Where are we going?” Ray asked.
“I'm going to find the best tropical paradise I can afford.” Jean pulled the panties halfway up her legs. “You're going to a very different type of paradise.”
“You can't be serious.”
“At least one of us will work on their tan.”
“But what about …”
It was Jean's first time wearing a man. She did her best to make sure Ray was centered in her gusset, but she had to make several adjustments until she felt comfortable.
“There's one thing I don't understand,” Jean said, pulling up her leggings.
Jean translated the buzzing against her clit as “What?”
“Since when is Enrichetta gay?”