The Inventor's Wife
by JMD

    Unlocking the front door, the inventor's wife entered her home from the garage.  Crossing the kitchen, she dropped her pocket book and a couple of takeout bags onto the dining room table.  "Hey, honey," she called out, "I'm home."  
    Going into the hallway, she stopped at the mirror by the basement door and combed her fingers through her red hair.  "So, what's my handsome mad scientist been up to today?"  Opening the door, she headed down the stairs.  "I hope you're in the mood for Thai food, because I've already picked it..."  
    She stopped as she got far enough down to see into the basement.  Instead of her husband, she saw an unfamiliar brunette.  The woman was standing in the middle of the basement wearing nothing but a pair of white bikini panties.  In her hands, she held a strange looking device.  
    "...up?" the inventor's wife finished, eyeing the other woman carefully.
    "Thai sounds good," the half naked woman said with a crooked smile.
    Coming down the rest of the steps, the inventor's wife looked the stranger over carefully.  After a moment, she cocked her head with a questioning expression.  "Honey?" she asked doubtfully.
    The other woman looked confused.  "Uh... No."
    "Oh.  Okay.  Then you are...?"
    "According to your... husband?"  The brunette waited for confirmation.  When she got a nod, she went on.  "Well, according to him, I'm a pair of your panties."
    Considering the statement, the inventor's wife slowly nodded.  "The Linge-Ray," she said simply.  "He actually got it to work."
    "He did."
    "But he told me that it was supposed to turn people into lingerie."
    "It is," the former panties confirmed.  "And it does."  She nodded to the inventor's work bench.  "Just ask your neighbor."
    Looking in the direction indicated, the inventor's wife saw a satin slip hanging off the edge of the bench.  She turned back to the sly smile of the brunette.  "Let me guess," she said.  "After he got it to work, he decided to see if he could reverse it."
    The other woman nodded.  "He thought it was..."
    "Cool," the inventor's wife finished for her.  "Yeah, I know."  Her gaze turned back to the flimsy piece of clothing on the workbench.  "Which neighbor?" she asked.
    The brunette looked confused.  "What?"
    "Did my husband say which neighbor that is?"
    "Um... no."
    "Male or female?" the inventor's wife pressed on.
    "I'm pretty sure he said 'he'," the former panties offered.
    The red-haired woman dropped her head and sighed heavily.  "She's going to be so pissed."
    "Who?"
    The inventor's wife just waved her off.  "Don't worry about it," she said, looking back up.  She nodded to indicate the device the woman was holding.  "I'm guessing that is the Linge-Ray?"
    "It is," her panties confirmed, giving the device a little shake.
    "And my husband?" the inventor's wife asked.  All she got in reply was a smile.  She glanced down to the pair of panties the other woman was wearing.  Looking back up with a raised eyebrow, she watched the smile turn into a grin.  "Right," she acknowledged.  "His idea?"
    "Not really.".
    "So?"
    "He wanted to get rid of me," the former panties answered.
    "By 'get rid of', I assume you mean he wanted to turn you back into my panties."
    "Right."
    "And?"
    "I didn't want him to," the brunette explained.
    "I see.  Why not?"
    "Why not?"
    "Yeah.  Why not?"
    "Would you have wanted him to turn you into a pair of panties."
    The inventor's wife smiled slightly.  "That depends."
    "On?"
    "What he did with me after," the redhead grinned, giving the other woman a wink.
    The former panties just stared back at her for a moment.  "Well," she finally said, "I think the only thing he planned to do with me was toss me back into that hamper over there."
    "Probably."
    "So, you can see why I would be against that idea."
    "No.  Not really."
    "You think I should go back to being just a pair of panties, too?"
    "Of course I do," the inventor's wife answered with a slight tone of frustration.  "It is, after all, what you are."
    "No," the brunette disagreed.  "It's what I was.  I'm a woman now."
    "No, you're not," the other woman countered.  "No more than he's a slip now."  She nodded to her neighbor hanging off the workbench.
    "Chemise."
    "Whatever.  The point is that people and things are what they are.  You can change them all you want but, eventually, they go back to what they are."
    The panties gave her a crooked smile.  "I don't think your husband would agree."
    "Of course he wouldn't.  But he wouldn't disagree either.  Haven't you gotten it yet?  My husband doesn't change things to prove anything.  He does it because he thinks..."
    "It's cool," the brunette finished for her.
    "He's a simple man," the inventor's wife smiled, "but he's mine."
    "Well, he's a simple pair of undies now," the other woman countered, snapping the band on the panties she was wearing.
    "Not for long."
    The brunette's expression darkened.  "Because he'll go back to what he is?"
    "Sure, there's that.  But I'll probably just turn him back after I've dealt with you."
    "Dealt..."  The panties gave her a lopsided grin.  "Maybe you missed it," she taunted, "but I'm the one holding the Linge-Ray here."
    "No," the redhead smiled back.  "I didn't miss it."
    The brunette stared back at her.  "You know," she said, "your husband may have been weird, but lady...  You're crazy."  And with that, she pointed the device at the other woman and pressed the button.  Instantly, the laser light flew from the bulb, heading for the woman by the stairs.
    "No, silly," the inventor's wife corrected, holding her right hand out before her.  Just like that, the light from the Linge-Ray turned in that direction.  As it reached the open hand, it gathered into a ball, floating in the air before it.  "I'm a witch," she stated.
    The former panties stared at the ball of light, unable to believe her eyes.  She looked back up at the woman holding it.  "Witch?" she repeated.
    "Witch," the other woman confirmed.
    "But..." the brunette hesitated.  "But witches don't exist."
    "Really?" the inventor's wife said in frustration.  "You can accept that a metal box with a Christmas light on it can turn a pair of underwear into a living breathing woman, but the idea of actual witches is just too much to take?"
    "Well..."
    The woman who claimed to be a witch sighed.  "Some people, I swear."  Then, she smiled.  "Here... catch."  With an underhanded toss, she sent the ball of light back across the room.  
    Without thinking, the brunette reached out with her free hand and caught the ball easily.  As she did, it vanished with a flash.  The woman stared down at her now empty hand, which started to glow.  "Oh," she spat out, "that was..."
    She never finished the statement, as she disappeared with a "pop".  A moment later, a second "pop" announced her reappearance.  But instead of a half-naked woman, a simple white cotton bra appeared in the empty air before dropping to the basement floor.
    "Yeah," the inventor's wife agreed with a smile.  "It was."  
    She headed over to where the woman had been standing and looked down with a satisfied smile.  But a moment later, her smile faltered as she realized that the bra was the only thing on the floor at her feet.  There was no sign of the panties that her husband had become.  Also missing was the amazing device that had trapped him in that form.  She reached down and quickly snatched up the bra by its strap.  Inspecting it closely, she could find no sign that it was anything but a normal piece of underwear.  "Honey?" she called weakly, giving the bra a little shake.  Getting no response, she let her arm drop to her side.
    "Well, crap."