The sun rose with a shining array of colour, the perfect metaphor for how relieved they all were. The only clouds that dotted the morning sky were the inevitable rain clouds that plagued the city, but as dark as they were, they weren't hovering over the skyscrapers just yet. So, instead, Sue turned away from the clouds, which only served to make the sunrise that fraction more beautiful, and took in the scene before her.

The city seemed to have fallen in love with them; the Fantastic Four, heroes of New York City. Already, they had been cornered by news teams, and yet she still wasn't used to the constant cheering. All their lives, the group of scientists had been known in the press rarely and few between in their stories. Reed and Ben had been published as bankrupt, for going against the predictions of others; Johnny, a few times in his youth, had been known to the papers as the 'unnamed youth' responsible for the annoying pranks of New York suburbia; and Sue had been linked with Victor...something she now despised, definitely in the case of the dating rumours, which had always been just rumours.

Now, they were celebrities...heroes...saviours. The labels were flying at them from left, right and centre. Already, she'd been informed by one journalist, there were internet forums exchanging opinions, fake autographs being sold online, and talks of winning a chance to meet the superheroes. It just didn't seem possible after what had happened. It had all been so quick.

They were lucky to be alive, in reality. Reed had predicted that the cosmic storm would be deadly if they were hit by it, and for once, she was glad that he was wrong. Otherwise, none but Victor would have survived that trip to the space station. They were fortunate to be in relatively good health, besides the obvious side affects from the radiation. Even fighting against Victor that evening, or now, she realised as the rising sun lit up the city street they were still standing in, the previous evening, had been a risk. They still weren't sure of how much control they had over their powers, and had shocked themselves with the strength of this power. They weren't heroes, she thought, they were just lucky.

As things had started to heat up during the week, with the experiments becoming more frantic in Reed's attempt to make the machine work safely, and Johnny being his usual hot-headed self, Sue had found that sleep wasn't always top of the list. For her and Reed, sleep became the moments of desperation they found in between the failed attempts at unleashing the recreated storm on the plants, and this sleep was never in a bed. No, they drifted off in chairs, and on desktops...and now, it was taking a toll on her.

They were in the middle of the street, as the finality of Victor's encased body was finally being extracted from it's molten concrete base. Reed stood a little along from her, watching the scene with a strange expression on his face; after all, this was the man that he used to want to work alongside, and there had been a time when he and Victor could be considered friends, rather than rivals. Johnny was still, typically, talking to the reporters, but to everyone's surprise, Ben stood proudly beside him, the two of them speaking to the journalists who were more than happy to have their questions answered - and for once, the pair weren't arguing.

Sue, however, looked between the three for a moment, just as the last of her strength left her. She turned, her hands hitting the bonnet of a police car as she lost her balance. She gripped the edge of it tightly to try and upright herself, but she failed, dropping to her knees.

"Sue, are you okay?" A voice asked, and she wasn't at all surprised to see Reed immediately at her side, bringing her to her feet once again, just as he had done a few hours ago.

She allowed him to help her, but unlike hours before, she didn't let him go when she reached her standing position. She held onto him tightly still whilst her head was spinning. "I...I think so." She murmured, bringing one hand to the side of her head, all to aware of the camera flashes that had increased since one of the famed superheroes appeared to show weakness.

"What happened?" Reed asked, checking to make sure that she hadn't hurt herself from her stumble.

"I don't know." She said, slowly shaking her head to try and clear the fog that tried to pull her into unconsciousness. "I just...I don't know."

Reed looked at her with a blatant concern. She was unable to see this with her closed eyes, as she tried to fight the oncoming darkness, but the rest of the people around them could. They all saw the tenderness with which he examined her, and the gentleness he possessed whilst he held her upright. "Maybe we should take you home." He suggested, and Sue nodded. There was no need to argue with that.

"I agree." Ben said, as he and Johnny joined them once again. "It's been a long day…and night."

"You okay, Sue?" Johnny asked, as he frowned at his sister.

"I think so." She nodded, looking up at her younger brother. "I just need to rest a bit, I think."

"The cops are giving us a ride home." Reed confirmed. "Think you can make it over to the car?"

She nodded, and they left the scene of their first team battle behind them. She held to Reed's arm with some mild form of death-grip as they walked, in fear of collapsing as they made their way over to one of the police cars, which would escort them back to the Baxter building. Once they were inside, she found that she didn't release Reed's arm, and Johnny spent the entirety of the trip with an amused smirk on his face from this. When they reached the Baxter, Reed helped her out of the car. She stumbled, but thankfully, his extended, rubbery arm was still wrapped around her several times, and immediately steadied her. She reached out, and clung to him once more to steady herself, and he remained stationery on the sidewalk for a moment whilst she collected herself.

"Thanks." She said breathlessly after a moment, and released her hold on him a little.

He just smiled at her, and lead her into the building. In the apartment, it was still a complete wreck from when Victor's intrusion had trashed it, and broken equipment was littered in between fragments of broken glass. However, Reed paid no attention to his devastated laboratory as he led Sue across into the bedroom she was using.

"Here you go..." Reed said, guiding her onto the bed. She slid onto it wordlessly, laying back into the pillow there whilst he sat on the edge of the bed beside her. He looked down at her for a moment, and whilst her eyes were closed, he noticed just how exhausted she really was. There was dark circles starting to appear underneath her eyes, and her entire face was pale. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked her worriedly.

"Yeah." She assured him. "I just...came over really weak." She explained. "All my strength just disappeared."

Her eyelids fluttered open, immediately locking eyes with him, and for some reason, she felt like this was an intimate moment between them. They used to have moments like this, and they had been growing more frequent during their time together in the lab, but this was different, and she wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the tiny cap between where their hands rests on the side of the bed. Maybe it was the look in his eyes as he gazed down at her. Or maybe it was the fact that, even though he had done his part and helped her into her room, he was still there with her, even though he didn't need to be.

"You used a great deal of strength to contain the supernova. I should think that's what drained your strength." He told her. "You've been through a lot recently, and your body has probably been on autopilot for a few hours."

She nodded, but stopped when she found it made her dizzy again. "Hopefully, it'll give me a warning next time." She smirked.

Reed smiled. Even when she was exhausted to the point of collapsing, she didn't lose any of the charm that made her Sue. "Maybe." He agreed, and instinctively put his hand out, placing it on her forehead. "You're not burning up." He announced lightly.

"That's good, right?" She questioned.

"Yeah, that's good." He smiled reassuringly at her. "Ten to one, you just need a good rest."

She nodded, surprisingly docile in her sleepy state. "How long before that meeting with the mayor?" She asked, closing her eyes again.

"It's not until noon." He told her. "That's more than enough time for you to get some sleep."

She nodded again, but her eyes snapped open when she thought of something. "How long has it been since you've slept properly?" She asked him.

Reed seemed to wince at the question, and rubbed his hand across the back of his neck, the skin there moulding underneath his fingertips. "I think it's best I don't answer that." He told her guiltily.

Sue thought about something for a moment, then shuffled over to the other side of the bed, staying close to the middle. "Come on." She said simply.

"What?" He asked her.

She moved up a little more, so that there was now more than enough room for him to lay down beside her. With the space now empty, she patted the blanket, inviting him to lie there. "You need to sleep, too." She pointed out.

"Sue-"

"Just do it, Reed." She told him, before he tried to argue with her. "We both know that if you walk out that door you're not going to rest at all."

Reed hesitated for a moment, and she could see the question that he was asking himself...was it right for him to lie down beside her, to share a bed with her after all that was happening between them?...but he still climbed onto the bed beside her after a few seconds. There was plenty of space in the double bed, but they still curled up tightly together as if it were a single bed.

After a moment, Sue let out a sigh. "Reed?"

"Yes?" He answered.

"I'm glad you're here." She whispered to him.

Reed just smiled, unseen by her. He wasn't sure whether she meant 'here' in general, or 'here' as in the bed, but either one worked for him. He kissed her forehead boldly, hearing her sigh again, and then allowed the sleep to take him.

----

Out in the living room, Ben cast a look towards the clock. It was 10am. At midday, they had a meeting with the mayor of New York, to discuss what had happened the previous night and the early hours of that morning with Victor. Reed had never left Sue's room after taking her in there when they first arrived back, and he knew that, with her being so exhausted, and all of them needing to be present and accounted for at this meeting, that they would need at least two hours to get the pair out of bed, and changed for the meeting. They'd also need to eat, which Ben and Johnny had already done.

"You wanna go wake them up?" He asked Johnny, who was still watching the news channels in hope of seeing another repeat of his interview. "We'll have to leave soon."

"Sure." Johnny said, backing out of the room so that he could still see the television screen right up until he hit the hall.

He headed down the hall towards Sue's room, noting the massive mess in Reed's lab that no one had dared to touch yet, and then spotted the people he was looking for through the open bedroom door.

It was the double bed in Sue's room that they lay on, but they were only occupying the centre of the bed. Both were lying on their sides, curled into each other so that they were fused together. Arms were tightly wrapped around each other, multiple times in Reed's case, lingering on the others back as they ensured that even sleep would not part them. Reed's lips were still lingering on her forehead from that goodnight kiss which appeared to have not ended, and Sue was burying her face completely into his neck.

Johnny simply turned around and went back into the living room.

"Are they awake?" Ben asked, when he entered once more.

"No." He said.

"But-"

Johnny didn't give him the chance to complete his sentence, and just dragged him, rather awkwardly, down the hall. The two of them looked at the sleeping pair from the doorway, and, right on time, Sue let out a tiny whimper in her sleep, edging even closer as Reed's arms tightened around her instinctively.

After a moment of 'aww's from Ben, Johnny turned to him. "You wanna wake them up? Be my guest." He knew how badly his sister would hurt him if she knew that he was responsible for ending such a moment between her and the man that she still loved.

Ben spotted Sue's digital camera on the chest of drawers at the side of the room. He nudged Johnny's attention towards it, and Johnny grinned. He grabbed the camera, and sneaked closer to Sue and Reed, snapping the picture of them lying together.

Ben grinned. "Told you that they loved each other."