Dirty Little Secret Finale (Patreon)

Part 10:

Dr. Fairbanks and Unstoppable were both in custody now, the latter with his powers returned. Both of which were a relief for Thief.

Despite that relief, the bursting of the dam of her deeply repressed pain and stress meant she was now slumped in a corner, crying quietly down her face as she processed just what had happened. Who she really was.

Not exactly sobbing, just tears running down her face as she stared blankly into space.

“Luckily the gas, while quick to cause a loss of consciousness, is slow to do serious damage,” Doctor Medic said, standing in earshot, even if Thief wasn’t really processing his words. “Everyone should be able to recover with proper medical attention. Though most will be waking up in custody…”

Ilya nodded, his arm in a sling, several bandages on him, and his good hand applying ice to his face. All the while he was watching everyone being led out. The gas had cleared enough that more of the paramedics could head down, leading to a steadier flow, and simply increasing Ilya’s levels of visible stress.

“Has anyone seen Ethan, though?” he asked as another unconscious goon was led past.

Thief blinked, turning to look at him, her previous name rousing her from the state of emotional exhaustion. The movement caught Ilya’s attention, and something seemed to flash in his mind.

“Right. You were down there… did you see Ethan? I—where did you come from, anyhow?” Ilya asked.

She stared at him for a moment, the lack of recognition in his eyes hurting. Yet, also, the worry and confusion was so cute on Ilya’s face.

Smiling, she stood up and walked over to him. He was still taller than her, but not as imposingly as before. She raised a hand and tapped the collar around her neck.

“Turns out I don’t hate this. I actually really like it,” she said as Ilya stared. “Dr. Fairbanks messed me up because I realised I was a girl as a kid, and so she buried it so deep I managed to forget I had powers. But now… now I’m me.”

“Y-you… I…” Ilya stammered, before staring into her eyes.

They were always a good tell. His stayed just as softly warm in either form, so she hoped hers looked about the same.

“You got… tall,” he said, giving her a once over.

“Oh. Yeah. And kind of jacked,” she replied, lifting an arm to flex. “I didn’t realise the collar could do that.”

“It gives you a form you truly desire,” Dr. Medic said, not looking up from his tablet as he stood a couple metres away. “You were in a dangerous situation, so your subconscious strove for height and strength so that you could protect yourself. Much like Ilya becomes quite small due to his deep seated wish to have someone else protect him.”

“Oh. That makes sense,” Thief replied, nodding a few times.

“Mhm,” Ilya began, before freezing. “W-wait, I don’t—what do you… I…”

Dr. Medic let out a small sigh. “Since your girlfriend got a change collar from somewhere and you’ve accidentally left women’s clothing that would only fit someone with a rather small frame in the Keep laundry machines on more than one occasion, it seemed a safe bet.”

Ilya blushed furiously, but couldn’t quite manage a rebuttal.

“You’re so cute when you’re flustered,” Thief said, smiling over at him. “Though… I guess it’s a shame I’m only just now becoming comfortable thinking that, since we’re going to have to break up…”

Blinking, Ilya turned to her. “Why?”

“Well, like, you’re Northford’s most famous gay superhero, and… and I’m a woman now,” Thief muttered, eyes dropping.

Only to find Ilya leaning down into her field of view. “I’m gay as in ‘celebrate gay pride’, not as in ‘exclusively into guys’. I’m pan.”

It was Thief’s turn to blink in surprise, staring at him. “Y-you are?”

“Mhm,” he said, smiling. Then, he dropped to a whisper. “As long as the other party takes the lead. Which is a bit tricky to find looking like this either way…”

“That’s… I…” she stepped forward, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull Ilya down into a kiss.

A few moans of pleasure escaped him, though they were mixed with a slight hesitation.

Thief broke the kiss to stare at him. “You’re sure you’re interested in women?”

“Yes,” Ilya replied, adjusting the ice pack on his face. “But… I… I think any makeout sessions should maybe wait until I’ve healed a little bit?”

“Oh. Oh yeah. Th—that makes sense,” Thief replied, blushing and nodding. “Sorry.”

-

The police debriefing had been another long one. Longer, even, due to layers of confusion over her identity. The police were slow to believe she had been Ethan Quinten, let alone Ryan Fairbanks, child of Dr. Gloria Fairbanks. Having Captain Wreckingball there to vouch for her was useful in getting past the police reluctance, however.

Though she then had to dodge around the specifics of how she and Ilya had known to investigate the White Fist facility. Or where she’d gotten the change collar from. For the sake of Ilya’s reputation.

She really wasn’t sure how much ignorance she could legally get away with feigning, but the police had eventually seemed to get bored of questioning her and had left her alone.

Which maybe wasn’t quite what she wanted. She was feeling rather fragile at the moment. She’d been through too much in the past twelve hours.

The door opening again raised her hopes that Ilya was going to be here with her again. However, rather than Ilya she was greeted by the sight of a familiar woman who had just a hint of grey in her hair.

“I’m sorry,” Shifter said, closing the door behind her. “I didn’t think… we all thought she was a hero still. If I’d even suspected…”

“You were busy here in Northford. I don’t blame you for not chasing us to Calgary,” Thief replied.

Shifter took a slow step forward, then hurried across the room. Almost before she knew what was happening, Thief found herself pulled into a hug.

“I’m still—you were so cheerful and enthusiastic as a child. When I saw you again… so empty after everything she’d done… I should have tried to help you through it more. I should have realised it wasn’t something she could have truly taken from you… that the smiling little girl was still in there,” Shifter said, burying her face into the younger woman’s shoulder.

A shoulder fast becoming wet with tears.

“I should have been there for you,” she mumbled.

“It’s ok,” Thief replied, returning the hug. “You’re being here for me now, and I appreciate that… especially since I… well, I was thinking…”

The older woman lifted her face, blinking her tear filled eyes a few times as she looked at Thief with confusion.

“W-well, I am kind of in the market for a maternal figure and role model, if you—”

A new hug cut her off, Shifter replying with a happy ‘yes!’.

-

Her coworkers stared at her as Thief finished her slightly awkward reintroduction to the team. It probably wasn’t surprising that it was taking a bit for them to process that the coworker who had previously been terrified of all things feminine was actually a woman, but Thief hoped they’d come around soon enough.

Dr. Xiang, meanwhile, seemed quite ready to accept things. Apart from one slight issue.

“You might want to pick an actual legal name,” she said, looking up at Thief from her desk. “I’m not sure Accounting or any other department will be very comfortable with an employee named ‘Thief’ on the books.”

“Oh… yeah. Right,” the new superheroine replied. “I’m still working on figuring out a normal name.”

The rest of the day went smoothly enough, however. Sure, she was pretty sure some of her coworkers were checking her out, but they were being reasonably subtle about it. She could tell Dr. Xiang wanted to chat, however, so stayed a bit longer at the end of the day, as the rest of the team filed out.

Her boss seemed at least mildly unsure to proceed, however, even as they were left alone.

“So, you… uh, went girl?” Xiang said.

“I did,” Thief replied.

“Will admit, if I’d had to guess which one of us would have gone all in on changing, I’d have probably picked myself, even knowing how complicated my feelings are,” Dr. Xiang said, sitting down on Thief’s desk.

“So you’re… not going guy?”

“Mhm… no. I think I’m just like the ‘girls’ at the club. I get a bit of a kick out of dressing up an playing a part, but, at the end of the day, that’s because it’s a game to me, not because it’s what I want to be,” Dr. Xiang explained.

“I get that. ‘Julie’ has said similar things,” Thief replied. “Whatever you choose, I’ll have your back, though.”

“Thanks,” Dr. Xiang replied.

“Also,” Thief said, as a thought occurred to her, “on top of being a role model woman in STEM, if you keep visiting the club, you also get to be a pioneer of women in men.”

Dr. Xiang stared at her as she laughed at her own joke. The stare, however, didn’t last as Thief’s giggling proved infectious. Though Dr. Xiang did manage to get out a light chastising for the inappropriate nature of the joke for work.

“Wait,” Thief said, blinking after her giggling subsided. “I’m now a woman in STEM, aren’t I? That’s going to take a bit to get used to…”

-

The small redhead clung tightly to her as they floated above the city. Thief had to admit she rather liked being able to fly, and having access to Ilya’s strength felt amazing, but it wasn’t clear Ilya was enjoying it quite as much.

“Are you ok?” Thief asked.

“F—fine… I just didn’t—didn’t realise how scary it could be to be up here without being able to fly,” Ilya stammered, clinging to her.

Thief tightened her grip, trying to reassure her girlfriend while slowly drifting down, back towards her backyard. She set down Ilya’s small feminine frame as they landed, smiling down at him.

“Hopefully you’ll enjoy it more next time,” she said, ruffling his hair.

“I do like being held in your arms, but… we should stick to flying lower, I think,” he replied, continuing to blush. “Also, there’s… there’s definitely advantages to being on the ground.”

“Advanta—” Thief began to ask, until she realised where the petite redhead’s eye level was right now. “Ah.”

Little things like that were nice as firm reminders Ilya did indeed still find her attractive.

“Not that I didn’t like your old chest, but this one is a bit more eye level, and… it comes with you radiating so much more confidence. So, what’s not to like?” Ilya asked, looking up at her with that cute little face he could have once again, thanks to a replacement collar.

Thief grinned, leaning in to give Ilya a kiss. One that led to her pushing him back inside, through the patio door. Soon she had his curvy figure pinned to the couch, the kiss evolving into something rather more.

“Mhrmph… are those my powers back?” Ilya whispered, flushed from where Thief’s hands had gone.

“I’m not quite as good at controlling myself with them as you are, as fun as they might be to play with,” Thief replied, before cutting off any further possible protest with her lips and hands working together to overwhelm him.

It wasn’t long before their clothes were but memories, tossed onto the floor, and Ilya was letting out the same cute noises of joy as usual. Thief was thrilled she could still make him make those, even if she was forced towards clumsy creativity thanks to her new body.

Yet she also felt tempted to try further exploration, her hands moving up to the collar around Ilya’s neck, her fingers now knowing just where to push to deactivate and remove it.

Ilya let out a much deeper noise of surprise at that, his height expanding to more than fill the couch. They’d discussed the idea in passing, so she knew Ilya wasn’t completely opposed to being in his fully masculine form with her. He had, however, seemed nervous then, and nervous now.

“W-what are you…” he started to ask.

“Proving I can stay in charge, even when you’re like this,” she whispered.

“But I’m so much bigger tha—”

She silenced him with a kiss once again, waiting until she felt him relax and melt under her lead before breaking it off. He was smiling and nodding as she shifted to get herself in position for Ilya’s shifted frame.

The rush of being in control while he was in his true form was delightful, even more than what first understanding the truth had gotten her. Perhaps, in part, because it was no longer about puffing out a false masculinity on her part, but instead… well, she wasn’t sure, but she liked control. Maybe it was a reflection of her powers. Maybe it was something else.

Whatever it was, right now she had all 204cm of Ilya pinned under her and letting out moans and shouts of joy.

By the time they were both exhausted, sweating, and simply cuddling together, there was one slight issue that Thief couldn’t help thinking about.

“If we do this with you all… hunky… the couch is not big enough,” she said, relaxing on top of him for lack of room.

Ilya let out a quiet ‘mhm’, while smiling away. A smile that she couldn’t help but let distract her from any of the discomfort of their current cuddling efforts. He was just as cute like this as ‘Julie’ had ever been, and she was thrilled to have both options now. All while being the real her.

All without any secrets.