Chapter 1- For a genius, you're kind of an idiot

"Trust Victor Von Doom to build a 30-foot statue of himself." Ben scoffed slightly as the three friends all gazed in awe and slight disgust at the statue before them.

"It's obviously aimed at first-time visitors to create feelings of smallness," Reed shuffled awkwardly, "and inadequacy."

Ariella glanced in amusement at Reed's nervous actions and chuckled, "Good thing it ain't working."

Ben threw an amused smile at her before sighing in frustration at Reed, "Reed, what are we doing here? This guy's fast-food, strip-mall science-"

"This wasn't our first stop in case you forgot NASA," Reed interrupted Ben exasperatedly, "And Victor's not that bad," Ben and Ariella shared a skeptical look as Reed carried on, "He's just a little," he glanced nervously at the statue again, "larger than life."

Ella rolled her green eyes as Reed began rushing into the large building that was 'Von Doom Industries'.

Ben and Ella trailed slightly behind Reed and Ella leaned over slightly to mumble to Ben, "Why did I have to come again?"

Ben shot her a confused glance, "What do you mean? You came to every other presentation."

She sighed, "Yea, but I'm not Victor's largest fan." She mumbled sarcastically.

Ben let out a bark of laughter, "Who is?" He responded just as sarcastically.

"Victor's statue." She chuckled.

Ben grinned as they stepped inside the large doors, "Come on, Ariella, if I have to face Victor then so do you."

She suppressed a smile as Reed shot them an annoyed look over his shoulder, "Will you two stop grumbling? This could be our big chance."

"That's what you said last year," Ella paused and pretended to think, "Oh and the year before."

Ben laughed and Reed rolled his eyes, then snapped back, "Well maybe if we hadn't had to worry about paying for your college tuition for the past four years."

She narrowed her eyes slightly, "Well we can't all be geniuses, Reed."

Reed shot the brunette an apologetic look before speeding into an elevator.

She sighed and Ben glanced at her with a sympathetic look, "Hey it really wasn't that bad," he smiled slightly, "I mean you basically had a full-ride anyways, Ella."

She rolled her eyes but chuckled lightly at Ben's attempt to soothe her anger. They all knew how short-tempered she was, and the men didn't want to experience how cold she could become when her temper rose. They stepped into the elevator after Reed and the doors slid closed and the companions were left staring at their warped reflections in the metal doors. Ella remained quiet as Reed began talking half to them and half to himself to ease his nerves. She glanced blankly at the men she'd been living with for the past four years as she attended college, and struggled in the publishing business that was always cruel on young authors.

She had befriended Ben and Reed several years ago as Reed had noted her love for anything to do with writing. He'd taken that as an opportunity to hire her to record his ideas and experiments in hopes that Ella would one day publish a book that would bring light to his great ideas. Ella had grown close to both of them, as she'd spent a large amount of time with them. As she'd gotten older and graduated high school, she'd moved into the Baxter building with them, mainly to escape her dull home town, and find some inspiration to write. Upon living with Reed, she couldn't help but notice how all of his experiments usually resulted in him losing money. She'd also continued writing occasionally about the noteworthy things the great Reed Richards had thought up, which again, usually ended in some sort of explosion or money-loss. This wasn't to say Reed wasn't a genius, he was, but it seemed technology just hadn't quite caught up with his eccentric ideas.

Over the years he'd spent a large amount of money on his experiments, so much that he'd gone bankrupt. So here they were, about to plead to Victor Von Doom no less, for funding for Reed's latest experiment.

The elevator finally dinged signaling their arrival on the indicated floor.

Reed took a deep breath, "Well," he threw back his shoulders in false confidence, "here goes nothing."

"My research suggests that exposure to a high-energy cosmic storm born on solar winds might have triggered the evolution of early planetary life." Reed paced around as he conducted his carefully prepared presentation to Victor.

Ben and Ella lounged behind Reed as he spoke. Ella looked to where Victor sat, submerged in shadows, she tried to make out the expression on his face, but failed. Perhaps this was his reason for remaining in the shadows, so that nobody could see his reactions, therefore making Reed slightly nervous and wary.

Reed continued his boring presentation that Ella had already heard too many times before, "In six weeks another cloud with the same elemental profile will pass Earth's orbit. A study in space could advance our knowledge about the structure of the human genome, and help cure countless diseases, extend human life, give kids the chance to be stronger, healthier, less prone to-"

"Turn it off," Victor rudely interrupted, "Please."

Reed frowned, "But I haven't fully explained my-"

"Yes you have," Victor interrupted again, and Ella frowned glancing around uneasily, "Imagination. Creativity. Passion. Those were always your trademarks." Suddenly the lights turned on, throwing Victor's flawless face into view. She grimaced slightly at the look of arrogance on his annoyingly perfect face. Victor's eyes were cold as he tossed a magazine onto the desk before them, it had a large image of Reed and the caption 'RICHARDS BANKRUPT, GRANT CUTBACKS' on the cover, "But dreams don't pay the bills, do they?" Ella's lip curled in annoyance at the condescending smile on Victor's lips, "Same old Reed, the hopeless optimist. Still reaching for the stars, with the world on your back."

Ella rolled her eyes, something she did quite often, and clenched her fists at the bullshit coming out of Victor's mouth, Reed seemed unphased though as he spoke up, "You remember in school we talked about working together. That's what I was about to explain."

Reed pressed a remote in his hand, and the hologram in front of him morphed into the image of a Von Doom Industry shuttle approaching Von Doom Industry's space station. Ariella's eyes shifted from the hologram to Victor's sarcastic smile.

"So it's not just my money you want. It's my toys... Tell me if NASA doesn't trust you, why should I?"

Ella tensed slightly, as did the other two men, wondering how in the hell did Victor know about their failed visit to NASA. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the billionaire, noticing how Ben cast him a suspicious gaze as well.

Victor smirked at our expressions, "That's my job. To stay a step ahead. To know what other men don't."

She rolled her eyes in annoyance, "This is pointless, Reed. It's obvious Mr. Know-It-All over here isn't gonna help us," she threw a glare at Victor, "Let's just go."

Ben nodded once in agreement, "I can't take this."

Reed turned to them, and in a low voice said, "Guys, this is business, it's just work."

She opened her mouth to argue with him when a familiar feminine voice said, "He's right, Ben, Ariella," she turned in surprise to see Susan Storm standing behind them, "It's just business."

Her mouth gaped slightly at the unexpected sight of Susan, Victor's voice called out from behind her turned head, "I think you all know my Director of Genetic Research, Susan Storm."

A grin tugged at the corners of Ella's mouth, "Susie!"

"Hey, Susie!" Ben grinned as well, before muttering so only Reed and Ella could hear, "One more thing he's got."

Susie strutted further into the room, giving Reed a cold look before turning to Ben and Ella. She immediately grinned and wrapped them both into a hug.

"It's been too long." She smiled brightly at them, she scanned Ella quickly, "And look who's all grown up now."

Susan was slightly shocked at how Ella had grown up in the past few years, her hair was an even darker and richer shade of brown, her body had evened out nicely, and her face was soft yet defined, now fully free of any baby-fat she had a few years ago. Sue smiled slightly at the beautiful young woman Ella had become. Ella chuckled bashfully, and watched as Reed and Susie exchanged an awkward handshake.

Reed shuffled his feet uncomfortably, "You're- you've- I mean, how have you been?"

"Never better." Sue replied shortly.

Ella raised an eyebrow at the awkward exchange between the former lovers. She noted how Sue hadn't seemed to age a day since the last time they'd seen each other, almost five years ago when Ella had only been 17.

"This isn't going to be a problem, is it?" Victor cut in as he placed a hand on Susie's shoulder.

Ella huffed in annoyance at the billionaire, Reed stiffened and managed to stutter out, "No, not at all."

At the same time Susie scoffed, "Ancient history."

Ben and Ella shared a skeptical look as Victor smirked, "Good. Then you're just in time to hear the great Reed Richards ask me for help," Victor looked at Reed, "You know, you made a lot of folks at MIT feel like a junior high science fair, so you'll excuse me if I savor the moment."

Reed clenched his jaw but nodded nonetheless, "You back this mission, and I'll sign over a fair percentage of any application or-"

"The number's seventy-five, and it's applications and patents." Victor said smugly.

Ella's eyes bulged slightly and she scoffed, "You can't be serious."

"What about his first-born?" Ben asked sarcastically.

Victor raised an eyebrow at them, but Reed quickly turned to them again, "Guys, the money's not important. We could save lives."

Ella snorted, "But we can't save ourselves from all the debt we're in." she mumbled sarcastically.

Ella noticed Susie giving Reed a faint smile at his selfless words, and her eyes flickered between the two of them as she smirked.

"Twenty-five percent of a billion is enough to keep the lights on, isn't it?" Victor glanced at Ella pointedly as if he'd heard her mumbling, "Maybe even pay off your fourth mortgage on the Baxter Building." Ella gave him a bewildered look, wondering how he knew everything about them, "Deal?" Victor asked.

Reed glanced at Ben who shook his head, then at Ella, who just let out a deep sigh. Reed ignored their negative reactions, giving Victor a sharp nod.

Victor grinned, "Well then, to our future. Together." the two exchange a tight handshake, and Victor laid a hand meaningfully on Susie's shoulder, "Funny how things turn out, isn't it?"

"Hilarious." Reed muttered under his breath as he caught Sue's eye.

Reed rushed to pack up his equipment, and Ben watched Victor walk back to his chair warily. Ella turned her attention to Sue, who cocked her head and smiled at Ariella.

"How you been, Sue?" Ella grinned.

"Good." She said, her voice wavering slightly.

Ella raise an eyebrow and smirk, "Right," she shot a pointed glance at Reed then turned to Susie again.

Susie smirked back, shaking her head slightly, "I've missed babysitting you, Ariella."

Ella groan and shook her head, her messy bun swaying slightly on her head, "You weren't babysitting me," she grimaced, "I'm not even that much younger than you anyways. It was more like two best friends hanging out."

Sue nodded mockingly, "And I got paid for it," the two old friends laughed and Sue cocked her head again, "So you out of college yet?"

"Yup," Ella smirked somewhat cockily, "No more school for me," she gestured towards Ben and Reed, "I've already got myself a job writing about the two greatest scientists of our time."

Sue nodded, albeit a little skeptically. Suddenly Ben walked over, draping an arm over Ella's shoulder, "For it to be a job, you'd actually have to be paid," He paused and smirked, "Oh, and I'm not a scientist."

Ella rolled her eyes and shoved him away playfully, Susie was trying to suppress a laugh. Reed hurried over to them with his briefcase, Sue began leading the, out of the room.

She turned to Ella and smiled, "Well if you ever want a real job, you can come work here. I'm sure Victor could always use another writer publishing books that fawn about his accomplishments."

Ella raised an eyebrow in disgust, and laughed at the sarcasm lightly laced in Sue's words, "At Von Doom Industry?" she laughed sarcastically, "No thanks."

Susie rolled her eyes slightly, "At least it pays well."

Ella pursed her pink lips, "Good point."

Ben shoved Ella lightly and she laughed with Susie. Reed and Ben step into the elevator before the two young women, chatting quietly. Sue and Ella entered and Ella stood by Ben, behind Susie and Reed. Susie pressed a button and the elevator began moving.

Sue looked at Reed, "You know the solar winds have been picking up."

Reed nodded, "I've already factored them in to my calculations."

Ella rolled her eyes slightly and Sue nodded, "Right, in theory. But it's a little different once you're out there."

Reed looked uneasy so to save him from further shame Ben jumped in, "So when do we leave?"

Sue glanced at him, "I'll be scheduling the launch. Call me in the morning to talk about resources and crew."

She outstretched her hand to Reed, holding out a business card.

Reed smirked slightly, "I, uh, think I remember the number."

"It's been changed." Sue smiles sweetly.

Ella looked down to hide her amused smile. An awkward moment passed before Ben nudged Reed slightly, and gestured to himself and Ella.

Reed nodded and turned to Sue, "As far as crew, I was hoping Ben could pilot, and Ariella could come to record it for her, erm," Reed paused slightly embarrassed, "book about my achievements."

"Well, he's welcome to ride shotgun, and I'm sure Victor wouldn't mind Ella coming to record his latest scientific achievement," Reed grimaced slightly at her words, "but we already have a pilot on our payroll," Ben and Ella exchanged confused glances behind their backs, and Susan smiled, "You all remember my brother Johnny."

Ben grimaced and Ella raised an eyebrow. It was hard to forget Johnny Storm. Ella and Johnny had been peers back in high school, he'd also been quite popular and hard to avoid. She had been his tutor in English and even Math for Junior and Senior year. They'd naturally adopted a love-hate relationship consisting of a lot of insults and also a lot of laughs. She'd also already been friends with Ben and Reed, who was dating Susie at the time, so when the four of them would hang out, Johnny was always nearby. She smirked slightly at Ben's annoyed face, then began to wonder what Johnny was like after so many years. Probably the same cocky and arrogant asshole as before, though Ella had to admit he always made her laugh.

Ben, Reed, and Ella stood on an observation deck at the launch site where they'd be leaving for space shortly. Ella was looking through a pair of binoculars, admiring the stunning view when she felt Ben tense beside her.

"What?" she frowned at him questioningly.

He grimaced, looking through his binoculars, "Oh, God."

She lifted her binoculars again and looked in the same direction as Ben was. She caught sight of dirt trailing up into the air behind two vehicles, a car and a motorcycle. Upon closer inspection she could make out the man on the motorcycle leaning over and kissing the woman in the car. He pulled back, grinning, and sped up, making more dirt fly up behind him. The man was wearing a dark pair of sunglasses and had a blonde buzz-cut, even without the binoculars she could tell he was well-built. It was Johnny Storm.

She lowered my binoculars and rolled her eyes in annoyance, "He hasn't changed a bit." she muttered, referring to his player attitude.

Ben shook his head and lowered his binoculars as well, "Can't do it. I cannot do it."

Reed frowned, "External SRBs, orbital system engines. It's just like the shuttles you flew in-"

"No, I cannot take orders from that underwear model. That wingnut washed out of NASA for sneaking two Victoria Secret wannabes into a flight simulator." Ben growled.

"Youthful high spirits." Reed shrugged

Ella snorted, "They crashed it into a wall. A flight simulator," she widened her eyes, "Who crashes a simulator?!"

"I'm sure he's matured since then," Reed said, though his voice raised in pitch, indicating that he didn't quite believe himself. Reed turned to Ben, "Besides, when have I asked you to do something you absolutely could not do?"

"Five times." Ben stated, and began walking off.

"I had it at four." Reed frowned.

Ella laughed and darted after Ben, "This makes five." she called back.

She followed Ben inside, where they quickly ran into Susie.

"Oh great," She smiled at them, "I was just coming to look for you, Ariella. We need to get changed."

Ella nodded, but frowned in confusion, "Changed?" she glanced at an amused looking Ben, "Into what?"

"This." Susie grinned and held up a blue suit, which by the material she could already tell was going to be skin-tight.

She grimaced in annoyance as Ben laughed at her, her eyes darted to something else in Sue's hands, more suits, "Hey look, Ben," she smirked and snatched up a suit, "Here's one for you too."

Ben's face immediately fell, and he stopped laughing, "No. No way."

Ella threw it at his chest and laughed, "Too late, big guy, you signed up for this mission, and now you get to reap the benefits that come with it." she smiled sarcastically at him.

Susie chuckled and grabbed Ella's wrist, dragging her away. She led Ella into a bathroom at the end of a long hallway, and handed Ella her suit. Sue began to change into hers, and so Ella began stripping down as well. Ariella stood in her underwear and struggled to pull the suit up one of her legs, she began hopping around on one foot while Susie laughed at her. She finally managed to get all the way into the suit, and zipped it up to her chest. She squirmed uncomfortably as she tugged on the boots that went with it.

"Is it necessary for them to be so tight?" she gasped at Sue.

Sue smirked as she zipped her's up to her chest as well, "They act as a second skin," she turned and smiled at Ella, "Plus we look hot."

Ella laughed and turned to look in the mirror, the suit clung to her every curve, showing off her curvy hourglass figure. Ella smiled slightly at the fact that even though the suit was uncomfortable, at least she looked good. Susie and Ella began putting their hair up. Ella put her's in a simple high-ponytail, showing off her good bone-structure. Susie pulled her's into a more elegant bun-like up-do, she turned and grinned at Ella before sauntering out of the room. Ella quickly snatched up their clothes scattered along the floor, stuffing them into the gym bag Sue had found, before scrambling after her.

She was a few feet behind Sue when they heard Ben speaking in a sarcastic voice, "I can handle the ship. I can even handle Mr. Blonde Ambition over here. But I don't know if I should be flying, or playing Swan Lake in these suits," Ella laughed slightly at the fact that Ben was still annoyed with the suits, but couldn't help but partially agree with what he said, "Who the hell came up with them?"

Sue rounded the corner and out of Ella's sight and said, "Victor did," Ella came around the corner just behind Susan as Sue carried on, "The synthetics act as a second skin, adapting to your individual needs."

"That means, it keeps the hot stuff hot, and the cool stuff cool." A familiar voice said.

Ella snapped her eyes to a figure lounging on a crate in front of Ben. It was Johnny, and she laughed as she realized he was already in his suit. The suit clung to his chiseled muscles, highlighting his good-looks, though she'd never admit that to anyone. At the same time she found it a hilarious sight to see Johnny covered in basically a spandex suit. Everyone's eyes snapped to her as they heard her laugh. Johnny perked up slightly as he recognized his peer from high school, though he would never admit it, he had missed her company. He grinned slightly, then was pleased to notice she was also in her suit. He smirked as he let his eyes scan her body, noting how much she'd filled out since last time he'd seen her.

Ella's body shook slightly as she laughed harder, she pointed at Johnny, "You look like an idiot."

Johnny's face dropped slightly.

Ben roared with laughter, obviously pleased with Ella's comment. Ben raised his hand signalling a high-five for Ella, she strutted past Sue and Johnny to high-five Ben. Johnny's eyes dropped to her curvy backside as she walked past, Ella leaned casually against the wall beside Ben, smirking at Johnny. Johnny began trailing his eyes slowly up and down her figure again, obviously pleased with what he saw. She raised an eyebrow as his gaze finally stopped to linger on the fair amount of cleavage revealed by her slightly unzipped suit.

"My eyes are up here." she spat sarcastically.

Johnny's eyes lingered on her chest for a little while longer before they met her's, he smirked, "I actually like the suits," he pointedly checked her out again, "they give me a nice view."

Ben, who already wasn't overly fond with the cocky pilot, growled in annoyance. He especially didn't like the blonde bimbo checking out Ella, who was now like a little sister to Ben.

Ben tossed a boot at Johnny, "Hey, eyes off!"

Johnny smirked again, "But there's so much to put my eyes on."

Ella grimaced at him, "I was right," she shared a look with Ben, "he hasn't changed a bit."

Johnny stood up suddenly and reached over to lay a hand on her shoulder, "And I see you haven't changed much either, Ariella Rogers," he smiled mischievously, "still as smokin' as ever."

She gave his hand a look of disgust and then gave Johnny a look, "I'll break every bone in your hand if you don't remove it in three... two."

Johnny jerked his hand back and Ben chuckled, Johnny nodded his head, "And as feisty as ever."

Ella smirked, then glanced at Reed who'd been gaping at Susie this whole time, "Wow. Fantastic." He muttered. Ella suppressed a smile and glanced at Sue who looked happy that Reed had been checking her out. "Material made from self-regulating unstable molecules," Susie's face fell, and Ella rolled her eyes at Reed, "I've been working on a formula for this."

Ben and Ella shared an exasperated look at Reed's expense. Johnny had his eyebrows raised at the oblivious scientist.

"Great minds think alike." Susie muttered, she then turned to Ella, "You have the gym bag? Could you get the flight suits out?"

Ella nodded and straightened up, walking back over to the gym bag that she'd set down behind Susan when she'd walked in. She bent down and unzipped the bag, taking out the suits inside. As she did so, Johnny took this opportunity to check out her backside again. Ben didn't fail to notice this, and chucked another boot at Johnny, succeeding in hitting the young man in the back of the head. Johnny cried out in pain, and Ella straightened up and turned around with the suits in her arms. She looked on in question as Johnny rubbed the back of his head.

"What was that for?" He cried out at Ben, who smirked triumphantly back at Johnny.

"That was for checking her out again." Ben growled at Johnny.

Ella raised an eyebrow as she handed Susan the suits. She was somewhat flattered that Johnny obviously thought she looked good, but was disgusted at the same time.

"What's it to you?" Johnny retorted.

"We're practically brother and sister." Ella said, as she went to stand by Ben, draping an arm over his shoulder.

Johnny rolled his eyes at them, and Susie walked over to Ben, handing him his flight suit to go over the skintight suit, "Here you go, Ben," she said sweetly, then tossed one unceremoniously at Reed, "Reed."

Ella stifled a laugh at the flabbergasted look on Reed's face and Susie walked out.

Ella turned to Reed, a grin on her face, and her green eyes sparkling with amusement, "You know, for a genius, you're kind of an idiot."

Ben and Johnny laugh and Reed looked confused again. Rolling her eyes Ella turn around and followed after Susie. She smirked to herself as she heard more shuffling and Johnny yelling out in pain again.