Chapter 29 – Unlikely partnership

 Outside Deborah's apartment, there were two men standing in the sidewalk talking to each other. One of them took a drag of his cigarette, and watched as a silver car drove past slowly. His head turned to follow it until it was out of sight. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. After a few rings, he said “It's me. She just drove past her place. You want us to get her outta here?”

“No.” the voice on the other end said. “You and Bobby stay there. I'm going to send Tommy and Rocco to take over.”

“I thought you were done with her?” he asked.

“Hey.” he said. “You just keep an eye out and don't worry about it, alright? Nobody gets in or out.”

“I got it boss.” he replied, then ended the call.

“Tommy and Rocco are coming.” he told his partner.

“Why are we watching this brod, again?” he asked.

“I don't know. We're just doing what Vito told us to do, okay?” he replied.

He shrugged his shoulders and said “Whatever.”

Inside Deborah's apartment, Carlos was back on top of her dresser. She had dried him off and was in the bathroom changing her clothes. She put on a white tank top and some red shorts, then took an elastic and tied her hail in a pony tail as she walked back to her dresser. Carlos was on his knees watching her. She was not wearing a bra and her perfectly shaped breasts were show just the right amount of cleavage. Her nipples were ever so slightly raised. She put her arms down on the top of the dresser and rested her chin on them. “That salt in the water made you all soft.” she said. “I could feel it when I dried you off.”

Feeling his arms with his hands, he looked up at her face and said “Probably made you feet soft too.”

He eyebrows raised as she tilted her head to the right a little. “Why don't we take those socks sitting there and you can try them out and let me know they are?”

She stood up and placed her hand, palm up on the dresser top. Carlos looked at it then backed up. “Ready?” she asked. He stood up and walked over to her hand and climbed into her palm. “I think it's so nice that you like my feet sweetie, but do you think I can get you interested in other things too?”

Before he could say anything, she cupped her hand and gently pressed him into her lower left breast. Her hand retreated, then she repeated it, pressing him into her soft skin, just behind the tank top fabric. She grabbed the socks, then lowered her hand and pressed him into her stomach as she took slow steps to her bed. Lifting her hand, she looked closely at him, raising her eyebrows. “I guess I can get you excited about other parts of me, can't I?” she said.

Holding the sock above him, she shook it and said “But now, we need to fulfill your first request, don't we?”

She put the socks down in the night stand, then put him down beside them. Stretching her arms and back, she yawned, then lay down on the bed. Propping her head on her hand, she lay on her side looking at him. After a few seconds of silence, he gestured with is hands and then said “What?”

“I'm just intrigued sweetie. That's all.” she said.

“About the socks?” he asked, looking down in shame.

“Not just the socks.” she told him. “You wanted to stay shrunk. How did you come to that conclusion?”

“I don't know.” he replied. “Do we have to talk about this again?”

“Yes.” she told him. “If we are going to survive together when your back to normal size, I need to know what makes you tick.”

“It's hard to explain.” he said.

“Try sweetie.” she said. “It's important. I've been purposely pushing your buttons and I can turn you on like a light bulb with my feet, but that not all I have to give.”

“Look, I already told you that I find women with beautiful feet and hands sexy. I always have.” he told her.

Deborah's eyes shifted as she frowned. He knew that he had to come clean, or it would be over. “Deborah.” he said, but she didn't look at him. “Deborah.” he said again. “It's not just your feet. It's everything.”

He moved closer to the edge of the table and continued. “Your hair, your smile, your lips. It's the way you walk, the way you talk. I love all of it.”

She lowered her head to the pillow and waited for him to continue. “It's the way you can be so tough, but still so incredibly feminine. And you can read me like a book most of the time, and never judge. That's what I love most. I guess I like being taken care of. I've never had that.”

Deborah licked her lips and had a slight smile. She didn't have to say anything. The look in her eyes said it all. “Everybody likes to be taken care of, but can't be a one way street.”

“You don't need anybody to take care of you Deborah. I've see you in action.” he told her.

“Sweetie.” she said. “You're right, I can take care of myself. I'm not needy, or need validation. For me, its really all the little things. I'm pretty easy to figure out.”

“If I'm being honest Carlos.” she said, tapping her finger on the table top. “If I'm being honest, a month ago, I wanted to beat the living hell from you.”

He looked down, nodding he head in agreement. He knew exactly what they was talking about.

“You were being such a prick.” she continued. “When the shrinking started happening, I went overboard. I did, I admit it, but,” she stopped and exhaled, then said “I loved dominating you. I really did. I guess it was my way of saying, try and be macho now.”

She stroked his leg and said “The smaller I made you, the more I controlled you. I know it sounds terrible, but I couldn't help myself.”

“I don't know what to say.” he told her.

“Carlos, I just want you to know who I am.” she told him. “I'm going to take care of you, but that means that your days of bimbos and macho ass are over.”

“Of course.” he replied with confidence. “I'm a million miles form there already.”

“Okay.” she said. “Now we need to agree that you are going to start taking the antidote, right?”

“Sure, but I thought....I uhhhh...” he said looking at the socks beside him.

“I just don't want you getting any ideas that you're going to stay like this.” she told him. “I'm still going to keep my promise that we are going to take it slow.”

“Okay.” he said. “But if it's makes you uncomfortable...”

“Sweetie.” she told him. “Over the next few days, I'm going to do whatever you want me to. Its your chance to live out your fantasies.”

Carlos just stood there, speechless. After a few seconds of silence, Deborah reached over and slowly picked up her socks and placed them in front of her on the mattress. “So what do you feel like doing first?” she asked him.

Across town, Paige pulled around the corner near her condo and stopped. She watched for a few minutes, waiting to see if anybody was waiting for her, but to her surprise, there was nobody. It had been almost eight hours since she took off from the lab, and driving around the city gave her chance to clear her head and decide on her next move. The one thing she wanted most, was to get Claire. She had been setup, and there was no way she was about to let her get away with it. What Claire didn't know was she had an alternate buyer as a fall back position. There was plenty of the serum left to sell. The only problem was Claire had the antidote. Her buyer wouldn't buy anything without the antidote.

Taking a cell phone from her glove box, she dialed a number and waited. After a few rings, she said “I have what we spoke about.”

“With you?” the man on the other end asked.

“It's somewhere safe.” she replied.

“You got the antidote too?” he asked.

Paige hesitated before answering “I have it.”

“Doesn't sound like it.” he said.

“Just make sure you have what we agreed on.” she replied sharply. “And don't even think about trying to back out of our agreement.”

“Don't threaten me.” he replied.

“I don't make idle threats.” she said. “You know what I am capable of.”

“Where do you want to meet?” he asked.

“We can meet tomorrow. At your place.” she said.

“Okay.” he replied. “You know where to get a hold of me.”

After ending the call, the man dialed another number and waited. “Claire, she just called. She want's to meet me tomorrow.” he said.

“You get someone over there today and take care of her. Do you understand me?” Claire replied.

“Me?” he replied. “We had a deal.”

“We still have a deal.” Claire said. “You take care of her and our deal stands.”

“This wasn't part of it.” he said.

“Don't be such a pussy.” Claire said, almost shouting into her phone. “I can easily pin the Bosati cases on you, don't forget that.”

After a pause, Vito said “Fine. I'll send someone.”

“You need more than one.” Claire said. “She won't go that easy.”

“Alright.” he said. “You better hold up your end of the bargain.”

“When have I ever reneged on anything.” she stated. “Just get it done.”

“Fucken bitch.” Vito grumbled after Claire ended the call.

He dialed another number and when the person answered he said “Paolo. I have something I need you to take care of. Come to the restaurant.”

Paige was in the elevator heading up to her condo. She had been careful not to be seen and was sure she was not being followed, but her training kicked in and she drew her pistol. Peeking out the elevator after the doors opened on her floor, she saw the coast was clear. She walked slowly down the hallway, gun drawn. Stopping at her door, she unlocked it and pushed it open slightly. Seeing the condo seemed to be empty, she stepped inside and closed the door.

Safely inside, she exhaled with her back to the door before kicking off her pumps and headed for the bedroom. Across the room, standing behind a table leg was Ed. He heard her come in and came out from his hiding place to have a look. He ducked down at seeing her enter the room. She had gotten changed and was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. She sat down on the sofa with her phone, then turned on the TV. After a minute or two of looking thought messages, she put the phone down and got up and went into the kitchen. Ed stood still as he watched her bare feet slap against the wood floor. There was some noise of her rummaging in the fridge, but he couldn't see what she was doing. He wanted to get a closer look, but before he even moved, she came into sight. He stared ahead as her bare feet came down on the floor with a thud with each step. His gaze was abruptly broken by a glass falling to the floor and shattering. Paige said something in another language just after it happened, which made him do a double take. She went back into the kitchen and returned with a broom and dustpan, then proceeded to sweep the broken bits of glass into the dustpan. She turned and went back into the kitchen again to put the glass in the garbage. Ed noticed a rather large (at his scale), piece of glass still on the floor. She was still in bare feet and he darted out to pick it up, not wanting her to step on it.

Paige returned with a cloth and knelt down on the floor. As she wiped up the spilled liquid, Ed took a chance and walked closer holding the broken piece of glass. For some reason, he thought she might find his gesture endearing. “You missed one!” he shouted up at her.

Paige yelped “Geeze!” and jumped back. “You scared the shit out of me!” she snarled.

Ed held up the piece of glass and said “I didn't want you to cut your foot on this.”

She moved back and reached down, carefully taking the glass from the small man's outstretched hands. “Thank you.” she said down to him with a bit of a smile.

“I completely forgot about you.” she said as she wiped up the mess on the floor. Getting back up, she walked to the kitchen and tossed the rag in the sink. With her arms folded, she took slow steps back to where he was standing.

“So what am I supposed to do with you now?” she asked him, sliding her bare toes on the floor in front of him.

“What have you gotten yourself into?” he yelled up to her.

“Never mind that.” she said. “We have something to settle here.”

“Listen.” he said. “I said what I said because I was scared! Don't you understand that?”

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn't step on your.” she said, sliding her foot a little closer.

Ed walked up to her toes and got on his knees at the tips of her big and second toes. He put his little hand on her black painted toenail and looked straight up. “Please don't step on me.” he said to her. “I feel like I can help you, but you won't let me.”

“You can help me?” she questioned sarcastically.

“You have to get off this path you are on.” he said. “It will end only one way, and you know it.”

Exhaling, she looked up at the ceiling, then back down and said “I don't know why I even care, but you've bought yourself some time.”

“Thank you.” he said sheepishly.

“And don't think I give a shit about you.” she said, pointing down at him.

“Okay.” he said as he stood up. It was a small victory for him to break through her facade, if even just a tiny bit. Paige stepped over him and headed for the sofa. She sat down and flipped through the tv channels. Ed walked towards her and stopped near her left foot. She had long, slender feet, with nicely formed toes. A nice touch was her second toe was ever so slightly short that the third. Ed was not sure why, but he found this deformity cute and sexy. She wasn't looking down, so he figured he would make the first move and walked right up to her giant foot.

Reaching out, he caressed the top of her pinky toe with his hand. It felt rather rough to the touch. The black polish was slightly chipped. He move to the fourth toe and caressed it. Being so close to her foot was a new experience for him and he kind of liked it. “Enjoying yourself?” he heard her say from above.

“Oh shut up and relax.” he shot back. “Can't you appreciate when somebody does something nice for you?”

She leaned over and asked “Relax?”

He continued to the next toe, not even looking up.

“You are presuming to tell me what to do.” she said, lifting her toes, causing Ed to fall back on his rear end.

“Are you done with the act?!!” he yelled up at her. “You're not as heartless as you want me to believe.”

“Why I haven't stepped on you already, I will never know.” she said. Ed stood his ground, even as Paige raised her foot on the heel, exposing her huge bare sole to him.

Getting to his feet, he looked up past her raised toes at her face “If you wanted to step on me, you would have done it.” he yelled. “Do you need to continually belittle me to prove powerful you are?”

She lowered her foot back to the floor, seeming to get what he was saying. He exhaled and shook his head, thinking he was getting through to her, but it was short lived. Her foot lifted with blinding speed. He looked up to see her giant sole directly above him for just a second before she slammed it to the floor with a loud slap on the hardwood surface. Ed lay on his back, wondering if he was having an out of body experience and had just been squashed like a bug. In reality, the air pressure from her foot slamming to the floor inches from him had tossed him a few feet (at his scale) to the side. He turned his head to see her foot still on the floor beside him, then he looked up to see her face. “Talk to me like that again, and I will step on you.” she said sternly.

Ed swallowed and cleared his throat, realizing just how closed he had come to being crushed to death, but even so, he somehow felt sorry for her. How did she get like this? He was going to break though the facade if it was last thing he would do. Getting to his feet, he motioned with his little hand for her to move her foot back in front of him. “Are you kidding me?” she asked with a slight chuckle.

“You have demonstrated quite nicely that I am easily stepped on.” he told her. “I apologize if I offended you. All I want to do is to treat you like you need to be treated. Can you please put your foot back her so I can continue what I started.”

Paige stared down at him with a puzzled look. She was not used to having a man (even a shrunken man at that) want to treat her nicely. She had grown so cold and closed hearted over the years, this felt so foreign to her. Her natural instinct was to wonder what was he up to, but at his size, he was pretty helpless, so she did as he asked and slid her foot back in front of him and watched as he knelt in front of her big and second toes and proceeded to caress to tops of her slender digits.

She watched him for a few minutes, finding is a little odd that he was so interested in her feet. All the other men she had shrunk tried to avoid her feet at all costs, but in the end, she usually ended up squashing them. “You're skin is really dry and you need the polish on your toenails fixed.” she heard his little voice call out.

“So I guess you have a solution to propose for such a dilemma?” she asked.

Ed frowned a little. He detected the slight accent in her voice that he had heard before. Taking a mental note of it, he shrugged his shoulders and said “Well I could do something about it I guess.” he said. “But not without your help.”

She bit her upper lip and shook her head slightly and said “Wait here.”

Ed watched as she stood up. He stared up at her towering form as she looked down at him from her full height for a few seconds before walking off toward the bathroom. A minute later, she returned with an opaque bottle. She sat down and put her right foot in front of him. A large plastic bottle was deposited on the floor beside him. He looked up at the green label “Aveeno” on the side of it, then looked up at her and said “Were you expecting me to squeeze the lotion out myself?” he asked.

“I thought it would be fun to watch you try.” she said jokingly.

“My God! You have a sense of humor!” he shouted.

“Watch the sarcasm.” she said down to him.

“Take it easy.” he said putting up his tiny hands and taking a step back. “I'm just happy to see you letting down your guard a little. That's all.”

After a short pause, her hand lowered towards the bottle, but she stopped dead and turned her head towards the door. “What?” Ed yelled. She raised her index finger at him, and listened intently. Her hand swooped down and grabbed Ed in her fingertips. He felt like he was on a rocket roaring skyward as she stood up quickly and headed toward the door. Ed clutched at her skin trying not fall, but in reality, she a good grip on his tiny body. All of a sudden, he slid on his butt on the table top. She had let him go in stride as she headed for the door. He came to a stop and turned around to see the giant woman pull a gun from the shoulder harness that she had hung on the back of a chair. Stepping lightly to the door, she peered through the peep hole, then moved to the side with her back against the wall beside the door. She glanced back at Ed on the table and put her index finger across her lips. Ed's heart skipped a beat as the door lock clicked open. Paige loaded a round into the barrel of her pistol as the door opened. The man on the other side of the door was greeted with a hard right to the side of his jaw as he peered inside. Paige slammed the side of her gun into his head causing him to tumble to the floor in a heap. She placed her foot on his neck and pressed down. “Who sent you?” she asked, holding him down. When he didn't answer, she applied much more pressure and said “If you don't want me to break your neck, you better start talking.”

He clutched at her calf muscle and stared up at the gun barrel pointing directly at his head. “No…..no...body…..sent…...me….” he gasped, not able to get much out with the ball of her bare foot cutting off his air.

Letting up a little on his neck, she took aim and said “Try again.”

He struggled to get free, and finally was able to push her foot off his neck. He scrambled to his feet and gasped “Wait a sec.” He held he throat and moved sideways as she followed him, still aiming her gun at his head. “You better tell me who sent you or I'm going to blow your fucking head off.”

“Wait.” he said, holding his throat. “I thought there was nobody here.” he blubbered.

“You're a fucking burglar?” she said, rolling her eyes. “Do you know how fucking close you came to getting you head blown off!”

“Sorry.” he said. “I'll just leave. No harm done.”

Paige lowered her pistol and shook her head. She walked over the table and put down her gun on the top. Ed was several feet away and still looking at the intruder. He saw him look at her, then he put his hand inside his jacket and pull out a knife. “Paige!!!” he screamed, realizing that he was lying and was going to harm her. “He's got a knife!!!!” he screamed for all he was worth.

She heard his squeaks, but it was too late and she felt the intruder's arm around her neck. He pulled her away from the table as she struggled. She landed an elbow to his gut, but he had too much leverage. She saw the knife blade and snarled “Like hell!”

Using her left hand, she punched him in the groin as hard as she could, but he didn't have enough force to break his hold. Ed stared at them struggling, feeling totally helpless. Paige stumbled and the intruder was able to pull her down to the floor and hold his hand on her throat. She fought back hard, but he was much stronger that she was and had all the leverage.

Seeing that she was in real trouble, Ed ran across the tabletop as fast as his little legs would carry him. He lifted the latch on the case Paige had placed on the table the night before. Using all his strength, he lifted the top enough to grab one of the six-foot long syringes inside. He pulled it out and ran back to the other side of the table. The intruder was sitting on top of Paige with his one hand on her neck and the other was holding a knife in the air, ready to do what he had been sent to do.

“Hey buddy!” Ed yelled as loud as he could. “Over here!!”

The assassin stopped and looked up, his eyes darting left and right, wondering where the sound was coming from. “Here!!” Ed yelled, waving her arms.

“What the fuck?” the man said out loud at seeing the tiny naked form on the table waving at him. He was startled long enough for Ed to push the syringe off the table. Paige saw it fall and caught it with her free hand. She quickly grabbed the plastic cover in her teeth and with the assassin still fixated on Ed, jabbed the needle into his neck and pressed the plunger.

“What the fuck?!!!” he yelled, grabbing his neck. “You fucking bitch!” he shouted at her. “What the fuck was that?!!!”

The knife fell from his hand, now too large for him to hold. Paige felt his weight on her quickly diminish as he dwindled before her eyes. It was a matter of seconds before she had a pile of clothes on her with the now, tiny assassin buried somewhere within them. Pushing the clothes off her chest, she tossed them aside. She looked up at Ed who was staring down at her over the edge. She gave him a slight smile, realizing that he had just saved her life. Standing up, she rubbed the back of her neck as they waited for the shrunken assassin to appear. Finally, after quite a while, there was movement in the fabric. Shortly after, a three-inch tall man appeared. He stared straight ahead at a pair of the largest bare feet he had ever seen. Following up past the ankles with his eyes, he continued up and up and up until he was staring at Paige's gigantic form. She had her arms crossed and said “You are going to tell me who sent you.”

Her hand swooped down as she bent over. He yelped as her giant fingertips grabbed him and lifted him skyward with blinding peed. He was unceremoniously dumped into her waiting palm. He sat up, looking at the perimeter of her large hand. She raised him to her eyes and let their cool blue stare heighten the level of his fright. “Wh..wh..what are you going to….uhhh...do with me?”

“You mean if you don't tell me who sent you?” she whispered.

Sitting up, he defiantly said “Why should I tell you? You're going to kill me anyway.”

Lowering her hand, she dumped him on to the table top, then lowered her face down to the edge, glaring at him. Her hand appeared from his left and he was knocked over with the tip of her finger. She placed her thumb on his chest and pressed down. He clutched at the sides of the massive digit as he felt his rib cage compressing. “Please!!!” he pleaded.

Ed yelled at her “Paige! Stop!”

She seemed to not hear him at all as she applied more and more pressure to the tiny man. Ed ran up to her face and whacked her nose. She seemed to be in a trance with her eyes fixed on her victim.

“What?” she snarled at him, relaxing her thumb. Her eyes shifted to him as she exhaled a few times. “What!!!” she repeated.

“You have to stop this cycle of destruction!” he shouted, caressing the side of her nose.

She moved her head back and up slightly, with her eyes still fixed on him.

“I'm sure this fellow here.” he said, walking over to the guy that she had just came close to crushing. “I'm sure he will be happy to tell you whatever you want to knows, won't you?” he said the man. Turning back to Paige, he winked and said “I'm sure he will.”

Knowing the good cop, bad cop routine full well, Paige growled “Fuck it! I don't care anymore. I'm going to step on him.”

Ed leaned closer and told the guy “Now would be a good time to tell her what you know. I've seen her step on someone before. It's not a pretty sight, but hey, you won't suffer that much, unless….”

“Unless what?” he questioned, staring up at her menacing glare.

“Unless she decides to squish you bit by bit.” Ed replied.

“Okay!!!” he blubbered. “Okay!!! I'll tell you!”

“You're making the right choice buddy.” Ed said, patting him on the back. He smiled up to Paige and said “You don't want to piss off this giant woman any more that you have already.”

Paige smirked, shaking her head slightly at his theatrics.

Looking at her, he continued the show. “Listen man.” he told the guy. “Forget about her for a minute. Tell me who sent you. I can talk some sense into her and get her to put us back to normal. Holding his chest, he whimpered as he shook his head. “How the fuck did I get involved in all this shit?”

Ed patted his back as he looked up at Paige, motioning with his head for her to leave them to talk. Paige bit her lower lip, then stood up and walked into the kitchen to make herself some coffee. Ed looked over at her as she went about her task. He felt a connection. She was trusting him, which was probably something she rarely did with anybody.

Turning his attention back to his shrunken companion, he was about to ask him who sent him, when the man pushed him aside and said “You gave her that syringe you cock sucker.”

“You were trying to kill her, remember, asshole?” Ed shot back.

“Who cares?” he said “Look what she's done to me. What the fuck am I going to do now? How do I get back to normal?”

“You need the antidote.” Ed said.

“Who has that?” he asked, resulting in Ed looking over at Paige.

“You fucking serious?” he said shaking his head.

“Don't worry, I'll talk to her.” Ed said, patting him on the back. If I were you, I would come clean.” he said.

“Why?” he stated. “She's going to kill me anyway.”

“You don't know that.” Ed told him. “She looks mean, but she's actually a really nice person.”

“Sure she is.” the man said, not sounding too convinced.

“Are you going to feel sorry for yourself, or are we going to get her to give us the antidote?” Ed asked.

“I don't know shit.” he said. “I got a call from my uncle Vito and he told me I had to ice this chick. It's the first time I did this kind of thing.”

“Okay.” Ed said, realizing he was telling the truth. “Let me talk to her. It looks like you've got caught up in something much bigger that you can ever imagine.”

“Much bigger. Yeah, funny. You're a fucking comedian.” he snarled.

“Take it easy.” he said as he stood up and motioned to Paige, who was standing a few feet away sipping her coffee.

Ed motioned to her and she lowered it to the table, palm up, and waited for Ed to climb into the center of her palm and sit down. She raised her hand, turning her back to the table. “And?” she asked.

“He's not a professional.” Ed told her. “You know that just from the fight before. It was dumb luck that you tripped and he got the upper hand.”

“I know that.” she said. “But he tried to kill me.”

“Yeah, you're right, but he didn't.” he told her.

“Anyway, what did he tell you?” she asked.

“He said his uncle sent him over here to take care of you.” he told her.

Paige's expression turned to a blank stare as she mentally connected the dots. Ed looked at her for a few seconds before asking “What?”

“Vito.” she said.

“Right.” Ed commented. “I know he's connected to people internally, I've see it in reports. What the hell is going on?” he asked her.

“That fucking bitch!” she screamed, realizing that Claire had set this up too. “I'm going to kill that fucking bitch.” she said quietly.

“Paige!” Ed yelled.

Her eyes shifted down to him and she said “Just forget it.”

“Forget it?” he yelped. “I'm not going to forget it. I can help.”

“Good work getting him to talk, but this is my fight.” she told him.

He took her thumb and pulled it into his chest and said “We're in the together. Like it or not.” he said.

Paige felt a little bit of heaviness in her chest as she looked down at him in her hand. She exhaled and looked away. How could she be feeling something for a shrunken nothing of a man that she had every intention to squash like a bug?

“You can't help it!” he yelled. “I know you feel it too. You're better than them. They stole you life and turned you into a machine.”

She had a slight tear as she listened to him. He was absolutely right, but it was all she knew. “I am what I am.” she said.

“What you are is beautiful.” he told her. “You just don't know how beautiful.”

“That's enough.” she said, lowering her hand.

“No!” he screamed. “You're going to listen to me!”

She held her hand steady, looking down at him. Here was a tiny man in her hand, telling her what to do. She could have tipped her hand and let him fall to the floor, then finished him off with her foot, but she couldn't deny it. She felt something for the little man. Lifting her hand, she said “Don't try to boss me around Ed. That could be dangerous.”

“Oh stop the act.” he told her. “I know under that cold exterior is someone sensual and caring that needs to be treated like the beautiful woman she really is.”

Not being able to deny what she was feeling, she knew what he was was trying to do. “I have not way of getting you have to normal. I don't have the antidote.” she told him.

Ed hesitated, then said “So you knew all along that I was going to be this size permanently?”

She just nodded.

“I don't know what to say.” he said. “I was telling you the truth just now. I think you are beautiful, but what am I supposed to do now?”

Unbeknownst to Paige and Ed, there where two other men who did have the antidote and were slowly starting to return to normal. The harder case of the two was Director Wiley, who Paige had dubiously glued to his wife's toenail and left for dead. Paige had no idea that he had already increased in size by five hundred percent. His wife was administering the antidote bit by bit, making sure he didn't take too much. He was now standing a quarter inch tall, far larger than the millimeter state Paige had left him.

Inside his condo, his wife Jennifer was watching him sleep. He was still inside the jar top she had put him in after carefully removing him from her toenail. Her phone buzzed on the table beside her breaking her stare. She looked over and saw “Donna” on the display, but didn't answer. She was still freaked out from their last encounter and didn't want to talk to her. Looking back at her tiny husband, she started to wonder what would happen if the antidote stopped working, or if he only grew back to a certain size, and was stuck small. “Stop it.” she spoke to herself as thoughts of him underneath her foot popped into her head.