Fantastic Four (Movieverse) – The Solution
Summary:
Sequel to Lost Time. Dr. Claus of CryoIndustries is proving a nuisance for Reed, but he has no idea of her true intentions. She'll stop at nothing to locate and test the source of the ice-crystal, even if that source is a person... Will be Johnny-centric as usual!
Disclaimer:
I own nothing. Never have.
Author's Notes:
I'm back again with the sequel of the sequel of the sequel of the original! There'll be suspense, romance, and more Johnny-angst than should be legal! I hope you enjoy, let me know what you think :P
And thanks to everyone who has reviewed, alerted, favourited and/or read any of my previous fics, you're all awesome :D
We continue from where we left off...
Chapter One -:- Life
It was the weirdest sensation she had ever felt. Even weirder than being trapped in a freezer and turned into a mutant. And that's saying something. There was no pain, no panic, nothing. Just a strange sense of detachment. Everything was miles away, her vision wouldn't focus and her hearing felt like she was underwater. She couldn't even remember what had happened.
"Kayla?"
I know that voice. She blinked and tried to locate it. To her right a familiar face came into view. It was a guy, his face all chiselled features and blue eyes. He looked concerned. Close to panic really. She struggled to put a name to the face, but when she did, things finally started making sense. "Johnny?"
A smile. She loved that smile. It made you believe everything was all right. And even if it wasn't, you knew it would be. She realised she was sitting on the floor with Johnny crouched next to her. She was in the club that was now suddenly deserted, the shouts of people and the whir of sirens barely audible from outside. Then she felt the pain. She glanced down at her arm, surprised to see a layer of rose-coloured ice. She'd been shot.
"Kayla?" Johnny asked again, he had relaxed significantly, but the concern was still evident in his voice. "Are you with me?"
How long had she been like this? Just sitting in shock like some pathetic damsel? She felt embarrassed. And worse than that, she felt weak. From a glance she had seen that it was just a nick, and her ability had even patched it up for her. After everything she had seen Johnny and the rest of the Fantastic Four go through, here she was, floored by a tiny cut? She was angry with herself.
She tried to climb back onto her feet, her irritation doubled when she realised her legs were like jelly. Johnny went to help her, supporting her by the arm, but she pushed him away with a muttered "I'm fine." She couldn't even look him in the eyes anymore.
"There's probably an ambulance outside, we'll get you checked out at the hospital..." Johnny began.
"No," Kayla snapped. Johnny looked offended for a moment, then masked it behind a half-smile. She took a breath, knowing he was only trying to help. "It's nothing I can't stitch up. Let's just get back to the Baxter Building." She glanced around, not wanting to go out the front and find the flashing cameras. "There's a back-way...right?"
Johnny nodded. "Yeah, it's this way."
CryoIndustries Detainment Research Division
Dr. Claus stormed back into the lab, her white coat a flurry behind her as she marched. She threw herself behind her desk and started angrily arranging stationary. It was a quirk of hers, the need to organise, whenever she was angry or upset she had a tendency to empty her pen pot and sort it into size order. Usually it was calming and allowed her to collect her thoughts. Today it wasn't working.
"Did he hang up on you again?" Dr. Farrell, her partner asked. She didn't really consider him her partner, to her he was barely a lab assistant, only present to complete tasks that were below her sizable IQ. He hadn't moved as he spoke, his eye glued to a microscope as if even taking his eye away for a second would lead to him missing something huge.
Claus huffed. "He claimed it was bad connection, again. I didn't think anyone even used the sweet wrapper trick anymore." The line had been fine when she'd been talking to the secretary, but the second she had mentioned the ice-crystal to him, the line had mysteriously broken up.
It had been two weeks now since she had first found the ice with the strange chemical structure. They were in charge of maintaining the criminal Dr. Doom's cryo-containment after he had had his most recent run-in with the Fantastic Four. If she were honest, it was Farrell who had taken the sample and found the ice, but he had had no idea what he was looking at. But she knew. A Fourth state of water. Ice that maintained its own temperature. She had already realised the possibilities. She knew that this ice could be the solution to global warming, replacing the polar ice-caps with non-melting ice. All she needed to know was the source.
And Reed Richards was holding out on her.
How many times had she tried to call him now? At least twelve times a day (up to nineteen, depending on her mood) over a period of two weeks, not including Sundays, which meant it was approximately: 144-228 times. Obviously this method wasn't working.
"I'm going to pay Dr. Richards a visit." She declared as she collected a sample box from next to her desk and slammed it loudly on the table, sending her neatly organised stationary into disarray. She then removed one of the many samples they had taken, the largest, from its place and positioned it inside the box. With another slam she shut the lid and clicked the catches closed.
Farrell, eye still on the microscope, waited for her to finish, listening to the unnecessary noise. Once complete, he heard her take a deep breath as if she were collecting herself before she left. It was then that he chose to remind her of the time. "It's 11.49 at night. He might be awake for your call, but he won't appreciate a visit."
"Fine. I will pay him a visit in the morning."
The Baxter Building
"Rustle, crackle...I'm sorry Dr...rustle...the connection...crackle...bad...fizzle...bye!"
Reed disconnected the phone and placed it back in its cradle. He returned the piece of foil he had been using to make the sound effects to its now usual place next to the phone, then leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily. He had grown to be able to handle the constant, pestering calls of the press, but this Dr. Claus was even more persistent and annoying. He was beginning to regret sending Doom's ice sculpture to the cryo-lab in the first place.
Despite her irritation, however, Dr. Claus raised a point Reed hadn't really considered before. It wasn't until she had begun to hound him that he realised that he knew very little about their resident medic, and her icy capabilities. Dr. Kayla Maiden had been living with them for two years now and the first time he had witnessed her ability had been two months ago when she'd frozen Doom. He hadn't even realised she was that powerful, she was so intent on hiding the ability. Maybe now would be a good time to investigate further.
His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of his wife. Sue carried their baby Leona in her arms as she settled into the seat next to him. She never let the child out of her sight anymore, not since she had been taken from them and had come so very close to never being returned. Sue was a stay-at-home mom now. No matter the crisis, her child was the most important thing. They were still the Fantastic Four though, even if only by name and not number.
"Who was that?" Sue nodded at the phone.
"The scientist from the cryo-lab," Reed began
"Doom didn't escape did he?" Sue interrupted a hint of both fear and anger in her voice. Reed noted that she held Leona a little closer as she said it, as if Doom would show up at any moment and take her again.
"No, no, nothing like that," Reed soothed. He placed a hand on Sue's in a reassuring gesture. "The scientist is Dr. Claus, she's very interested to know how Doom got himself turned into a sculpture, something about the ice not being ice...anyway, it doesn't matter."
"Is she going to be a problem?"
"Only for my sanity," Reed replied. "I've lost count on how many times she's called. I would get Roberta to screen her number, but then if there's an emergency..."
"She won't get through and Doom would escape."
"Exactly. So I guess she's just going to drive me slowly insane instead."
The silence in the elevator filled the small space to the point of almost making Johnny claustrophobic. Ever since they had left the club, they hadn't said a word. The car journey had been in silence. The walk across the garage had been in silence. And now in the lift. Johnny felt like he was being punished. He wasn't 100% sure what he had done wrong; if he was honest, across his lifetime there was too much to choose from, but this felt unfair.
He glanced to his left to see Kayla staring straight ahead as if even eye contact was no longer allowed. Instead he decided to look up and watch the light pass across the numbers, the lift not able to move fast enough.
Eventually they arrived at the Fantastic Four's headquarters. The pair hesitated for a moment as if unsure how to proceed. Johnny spoke first, "Do you need me to give you a hand?" he gestured at the wound, but Kayla shook her head.
"I'll be fine," she paused. In essence, this was the end of their first date. In an ideal world, this is the moment where she would be hoping that Johnny offered her a kiss and they parted on good terms. But that dream had been shattered by an idiot with a gun. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
"Right," Johnny agreed. He stood frozen for a moment, watching Kayla walk away. This was not how he had pictured the night ending. Nothing seemed to go right anymore. Even the things he managed to fix; his relationship with Sue and their father, for instance, it could all be undermined by a single moment. It made him wonder why he bothered at all.
After a few minutes, he realised he hadn't moved. Kayla was long gone and the Baxter Building was in darkness. He wasn't tired and didn't fancy lying in bed with only in thoughts for company, so he headed towards the lounge. He was surprised to find it occupied when he got there.
Ben Grimm was stretched out on the sofa, an oversized remote in his hand. He looked up at Johnny's arrival, and then gestured for him to come and join him. They sat in silence for a while, the television being the only sound. "So...how'd your 'not-date' go?"
It took a moment for Johnny to answer. "Well...it started off pretty good. Even managed to get her to dance," Ben nodded, but was waiting for the 'but'. Johnny didn't disappoint. "But then the place got robbed by some gang. Then Kayla got shot."
Ben sat up suddenly in surprise, trying to read Johnny to gage the situation. "Shot?"
"She's okay, just the arm. Well, she says she's okay," Johnny tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. "She's in her white box fixing it now." Another moment passed as Ben wondered what to say. Then Johnny muttered, barely audible above the TV "Don't you hate Life sometimes? It won't even let me have one night."
Ben watched Johnny, concern etched on his rocky face. But he still couldn't think of anything to say.
Hokay, that was the first chap, hope you enjoyed.
Now for me to enlighten you with my paranoia. Ever since I created Kayla all the way back in Retribution, I have been terrified of her becoming a Mary-Sue. While writing this, I realised just how Kayla-centric it is, and it's a little worrying. I would greatly appreciate input as to whether or not the extra Kayla is good, and if it's not I may need to re-jig the plot...significantly.
Thanks for reading...both the chap and my rant :P See you for the next chap!
