A Remote Lodge in Japan

"Japan?" Reed Richards said, his brow furrowing. "And for an entire week?"

"It's a health retreat," Sue Storm said. "Dr. Stone thinks it'll be good for me to get away for a bit, get in tune with myself. Exercise, massages, hot springs, saunas, the works. I've already gotten the She-Hulk to agree to cover for me, and I'll have my communicator on me and a teleporter pad, so that if the world does look like it's about to end, I can come back here within minutes."

"Well, I hope you have fun," Ben Grimm said, shoveling a pile of mashed potatoes onto his place. "Or, er, relaxes you."

"Don't worry sis, we'll hold down the fort," Johnny assured her.

"You're going to come back, right?" Franklin said, his pale blue eyes worried.

"Of course, sweetie," Sue said. "And I'm sure your dad will stuff you full of pizza and tacos when I'm not looking."

That brought a smile to Reed's face. He was a pushover as a father and they all knew it. He stretched his head over to Sue and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Well, I've no objection, darling. Although you should probably check in with the Japanese government before you go; we don't want another ninja situation if we can help it."

"Already done, darling," Sue said happily.

She felt only a tiny bit guilty that she hadn't told her family the whole truth about her trip.

Karla smiled as she and Sue stepped onto the teleporter pad. They only brought a single small piece of luggage each. From what the doctor had told her, Sue knew they weren't going to be wearing much during this trip. The Invisible Woman felt both giddy and anxious as they stood next to each other. Then in a flash of light, they were translated into data, sent streaming across the world, and were reassembled in an exclusive resort in a snow-filled valley, deep in Japan.

"The purpose of this trip," Karla told her. "Is intensive personal therapy. We're going to be working on breaking your desires down to their absolute basics and building you back up again. It is going to be an ordeal for both of us, but you are going to come through it stronger, and with a better understanding of yourself and your sexuality than you ever experienced before. I promise you that. But for this to work, you have to trust me completely."

"I do," Sue said, and undid her scarf. Dr. Stone smiled, and pulled the heroine's coat off. Sue stood in the ancient wooden room, letting the other woman undress her, not sure where this was leading...