Porkum Does Not Let Sue Storm Sleep

The spasm that ripped through Sue Storm's body shook her out of her dream.

Her eyelids fluttered, but her blue eyes were rolled back in her skull. The Invisible Woman's mouth was struck in a rictus "O" shape, her entire body contorted in a paroxysm of pleasure as every muscle seemed to constrict at once. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Mindless pleasure, terrible in its intensity, thought-destroying in its sudden and all-encompassing sensation, ore her to sudden wakefulness.

Then it was gone.

Sue Storm lay gasping, shivering in the aftermath, her entire body coated with sweat, bladder emptying onto the bedsheets. Unable to comprehend what had come over her.

Reed Richards, who had chosen that moment to answer nature's call, emerged from the bathroom to see his wife awake, flustered, and staring at teh spreading wet spot.

"What happened, darling?" he said.

"I don't...I don't know," Sue gasped. "One moment I was sleeping, and the next...well, whatever happened, I need to run a wash."

Reed Richards did not mind as Sue gathered soiled sheets and clothes together. He took them down to the washer as his naked wife went to a shower to clean herself, giving him a little kiss as they passed each other. Once Sue had turned the water on, Reed frowned and stretched out an arm to a hidden control panel.

Something had happened to Sue tonight. He wanted to find out what it was.

After the shower, dressed and clean, Sue cleaned and remade the bed, glad it hadn't soaked through to the mattress itself. She looked at the clean sheets and pillows. They were inviting. Sue could feel the headache that lack of rest had brought her. Still...

She spent the night in the kitchen, baking and drinking coffee. The children awoke to the smell of fresh chocolate chip cookies; Ben and Johnny to the pleasant surprise of bacon and breakfast sausage hot off the grill. Reed, who had been in his lab for hours, emerged with a five o'clock shadow and questions about how Sue was feeling.

It was an unusually quiet day for the Fantastic Four. No villains threatened the country, no aliens invaded. Reed spent more time with Sue and the children than in his lab. In the afternoon, weary from having been up for so many hours, Sue found herself on the couch, reading the same sentence over and over again in a copy of JANE EYRE. Her eyelids flickered, suddenly heavy. She closed them, just for a moment...

The shriek brought Ben and Johnny running.

They found Sue Storm on the floor, shivering, wild-eyed, the crotch of her mom-jeans soaked. Utterly the worse for wear. Reed stretched his torso into the living room moments later, and gathered Sue in his arms.

"I'm taking you to the lab," he said. "For a thorough checkup!"