Title : Not The Guilty Party For Once
Fandom : Fantastic Four
Characters : Johnny & Ben
Rating : PG-13
Written for the fic_promptly prompt of Fantastic 4, Johnny, Ben, Ben's bedroom is on fire, and he walks in on Johnny trying to put it out.
Disclaimer : All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Not The Guilty Party For Once
Johnny knows he's going to be in trouble before he even knows where he's going. He can smell the burning and for once he was nowhere near the source when it started. He tracks the smoke down the hallway and can't believe it when he sees the tendrils curling up from underneath Ben's door.
He can't ignore it, pretend he never noticed, but there is no way that Ben isn't going to immediately jump to the conclusion that he's to blame and that he did it on purpose. There's also the possibility that Ben is inside slowly suffocating from smoke inhalation.
With a resigned sigh, he kicks the door in and heads forward. It doesn't take him long to establish that Ben isn't in the room and so the only danger is to his possessions. Johnny weighs his options quickly. He could tackle it the old fashioned way, smothering it with the covers from the bed or drenching it in water, although where he's going to get enough water quick enough he's not sure.
He's still a little erratic with his own flames, but his control is getting better and there is the possibility that if he changes, becomes the Torch, that he might be able to gather the flames to him, bring them inside himself and control them and extinguish them at will.
He hasn't got the time to play with the ideas, smothering is probably the most reliable, but he's guaranteed to damage more of Ben's stuff in the process. That swings the decision and he's changing in part to the Torch. Before he's finished, he's already reaching for the nearer of the flames.
He's moved onto the second patch of flame when there's a noise from outside and he can hear Sue's voice. This is not going to go well. He gathers the flames again, taking another step forward to continue.
"What are you doing? You evil little . . .!" Ben storms from behind him.
"I know you're not going to believe me, but it was like this before I got here. I'm trying to put it out!" Johnny defends himself as he snatches up the last of the flames before extinguishing them and those that come from himself. He stands before Ben and Sue looking thoroughly sheepish and no doubt that's just compounding their impression that he's the one to blame. "I'll just go now," he says quietly. "I'll pay for the repairs and I'm sorry," he adds, figuring it's easier just to accept the blame than try to defend himself. It's not like he's had control of his flames for long, it's less than a week since he evaporated the water in the hot tub by losing control while relaxing. He can't be certain that something like it won't happen again.
He slinks off out of the room before anyone can say anything else. Ben is too busy cataloguing the damage to stop him and Sue just looks disappointed.
***** FANTASTIC FOUR *****
A week passes and Ben's room is damage free, repainted with everything that was damaged replaced and so far Johnny hasn't found himself presented with a bill for anything. Johnny is slumped in front of the TV sulking, Sue still isn't talking to him and Reed has banned him from setting foot outside the house.
He's surprised when the couch shifts violently and he's almost launched into the air as Ben sits down beside him. "Johnny, I'm sorry," Ben says gruffly.
It has Johnny looking up sharply, confusion clear. "I got you this," Ben adds, dropping a copy of Playboy on Johnny's lap, which has Johnny brightening considerably.
"What's this for?" Johnny asks, still confused but most definitely curious now.
"The fire . . . you weren't to blame. I know that now. It was my fault. I've already told Reed and Sue so they know it wasn't your fault."
Johnny breathes a sigh of relief, but he's still curious as to what exactly Ben did to set fire to his room. "So what did you do?"
"Match."
"Match? What did you do with a match?"
Ben mumbles something that Johnny doesn't think anyone on Earth could have made sense of, so he presses again for an answer.
Eventually Ben sighs and gives up his attempt to conceal what really happened. "I tried lighting a candle but the matches were too small. I didn't realize it had actually caught light before it flicked away over the cabinet."
Johnny doesn't laugh, in fact he doesn't do anything stupid for once, because his power is cool when he's got it under control, but the reality is he could have set fire to Ben's room by accident in a moment when his concentration dipped. Ben doesn't get to turn his powers off, he doesn't get to be normal anymore and Johnny is in a rare moment when he not only understands but actually feels sorry for him. He doesn't know whether Ben will believe him or not, but he tries anyway, saying, "Man that sucks!"
But that's not him, that's not what Ben expects, so he follows it up with, "We'll have to get Reed onto designing some industrial strength matches for you," and grins wildly. It wouldn't do for any of them to think he was actually growing up now would it.