Elena woke slowly the morning after I carried her home.
Sunlight filtered through the curtains, painting golden stripes across her silk sheets. She stirred in my arms, stretching like a cat, body pressing back against me in ways that made the night's restraint feel like ancient history.
I'd stayed all night—watching her sleep, changing cold compresses on her forehead, making sure she drank water whenever she surfaced. Now, with her eyes fluttering open and that slow, sleepy smile spreading across her face, the air between us shifted.
"Morning," she murmured, voice husky. She rolled over to face me, silk tank riding up to expose the curve of her hip. "You stayed."
"Couldn't leave you like that."
Her hand came up, fingers tracing my jaw. "My hero."
The kiss started soft—gratitude, relief—but ignited fast. Months of tension, interrupted moments, teasing photos, all of it poured out. She climbed on top of me, straddling my hips, tank and shorts disappearing somewhere between kisses.
We didn't speak. We didn't need to.
Skin on skin. Her breasts heavy in my hands, nipples hard against my palms. My mouth on her throat, her collarbone, lower. She moaned when I took one peak between my lips, arching into me.
When my fingers finally slid between her thighs, she was soaked—hot, slick, ready. She rocked against my hand, guiding me, showing me exactly how she liked it. Her breath hitched as I circled her clit, then slipped inside.
"Alex," she gasped. "Now."
I flipped us, settling between her legs. She wrapped them around my waist, heels digging into my back as I pushed in—slowly, reverently.
The sensation was unreal.
Her pussy gripped me like velvet steel—tight, pulsing, impossibly strong. Every thrust drew a low moan from her throat. When she started riding me from below, hips rolling in perfect, powerful waves, I nearly lost it right there. Her strength was subtle but overwhelming—muscles clenching in ways no normal woman could, milking me with every movement.
I pulled out just long enough to flip her onto her stomach. She rose to her knees willingly, ass up, back arched. I entered her again from behind, hands gripping her hips as she pushed back to meet me. The view—her curves, the way her body took me—was overwhelming.
She came first, crying out into the pillow, walls fluttering and squeezing so hard I saw stars. Purple sparks danced across her skin, faint but there, heightening every sensation. I followed seconds later, buried deep, groaning her name as I emptied inside her.
We weren't done.
She pushed me onto my back with effortless strength, eyes glowing softly violet. "My turn."
Her mouth on me was devastating.
Super speed wasn't just for fighting.
She took me deep in one smooth motion, lips sealed tight, tongue swirling. Then she moved—fast, impossibly fast—head bobbing in a blur, suction perfect, hand stroking in tandem. The pleasure was white-hot, overwhelming. I lasted maybe thirty seconds before warning her, but she didn't pull away—just hummed around me, swallowing every drop as I came again, harder than the first time.
We collapsed together, laughing breathlessly, bodies slick with sweat.
"Holy shit," I panted.
She nuzzled my neck, still glowing faintly. "Told you it'd be worth the wait."
We spent the rest of the day in bed—slow rounds, lazy exploration, her showing me positions that defied physics (literally, at one point she held herself suspended above me using only core strength while I thrust up into her). No purple energy transferred to me—I felt normal, human—but the sensations were out of this world. Her body was a weapon and a wonder.
By evening, we were showered, fed, and sitting on her couch in robes when I brought it up.
"I want to come with you."
She froze, wine glass halfway to her lips.
"Alex—"
"No. Hear me out." I stood, walked to the duffel I'd brought over earlier, and unzipped it. "I've been thinking about this since Rome. You collapse like that again, and I'm not there? Unacceptable."
I pulled out the costume.
It was ridiculous—black ski mask, black-and-white striped shirt like an old cartoon burglar, black pants, even a little cloth sack with a dollar sign I'd drawn on with marker. I'd made it half as a joke, half deadly serious.
Elena stared, then burst out laughing—real, head-thrown-back laughter.
"Oh my god. You look like you're about to rob a 1920s bank."
I struck a pose. "Introducing… The Sidekick. Master of… moral support. And carrying your spare masks."
She wiped her eyes, still giggling. "You're insane."
"I'm serious." I dropped the pose, stepped closer. "You almost didn't make it home last time. What if next time you don't? I can't fight monsters, but I can watch your back. Carry gear. Drive the getaway car. Drag you home if I have to."
Her laughter faded. She studied me—really looked.
"You'd risk your life for this? For me?"
"Already am," I said quietly. "Every time you leave, I'm terrified. At least let me be terrified beside you."
She stood, walked over, and cupped my face.
"You're human, Alex. Fragile. I'd never forgive myself if—"
"Then train me. Teach me to stay alive long enough to rescue you when you need it."
She searched my eyes for a long moment.
Then she kissed me—soft, accepting.
"Okay," she whispered against my lips. "Sidekick."
We sealed it that night with another round—slower, deeper, her riding me on the living room floor while wearing nothing but the domino mask. Symbolic. Claiming.
No powers transferred. Not yet.
But something shifted.
The next week was training.
Mornings: Gym in her basement lair (hidden behind a fake bookshelf). She taught me basic self-defense, evasion, how to use gadgets she'd collected—stun devices, smoke pellets, a reinforced jacket that could take a punch.
Afternoons: Strategy sessions. Studying footage of her fights, learning villain patterns, planning contingencies.
Nights: Each other. Exhausting, incredible sex that recharged her faster than sleep ever could. She glowed brighter after every orgasm, strength returning in waves.
The first real test came ten days later.
A news alert at 2 a.m.: Seismic activity downtown. Reports of a massive subterranean creature burrowing toward the surface—tentacles, acid spit, the works.
Elena was suiting up in seconds. New catsuit—matte black with reinforced purple plating.
I pulled on my "costume"—upgraded slightly with actual tactical pants and a utility belt she'd mocked but secretly approved.
She raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"
"Try stopping me."
She grinned. "Hop on."
I climbed onto her back—arms around her neck, legs around her waist—and she launched us out the window. Flight was exhilarating: wind whipping, city lights blurring below. She flew low to avoid radar, landing us on a rooftop overlooking the chaos.
The creature was already emerging—thirty feet of writhing tentacles and armored shell, spraying acid that melted cars.
Thick Chick dove in.
I stayed high at first—spotting, calling out weak points via the comms she'd rigged in my ridiculous mask.
"Left side—exposed joint under the third tentacle!"
She hit it perfectly, purple fist shattering armor.
When a tentacle whipped toward her blind spot, I didn't think—just leaped off the roof with a grappling line she'd taught me to use. Swung in, jammed a high-voltage baton into the appendage. It recoiled long enough for her to finish it.
The fight ended with her tearing the core out in a shower of ichor.
We escaped before police swarmed—her flying us home, me clinging tight, adrenaline singing in my veins.
Back in the garden, she set me down gently.
"You did good," she said, pulling off her mask. Eyes shining.
I yanked off mine. "We did good."
She kissed me hard, backing me against a tree. Clothes didn't last long. We fucked right there in the moonlight—her legs wrapped around me, my back against bark, her strength holding us both up as she rode me to a shattering climax. Purple sparks danced between us, but still no transfer.
Later, tangled in bed, she traced patterns on my chest.
"Official," she murmured. "You're my sidekick now. For real."
I grinned into her hair.
"Damn right."
The world didn't know it yet, but Thick Chick wasn't alone anymore.
She had backup.
Ridiculous costume and all.
End of Chapter 7