So yeah, I had to remove my little trailer thingy and repost it, they deleted it in the middle of my grounding, so it took me about 2 weeks to repost. So here it is again, and I swear I will finish the next chapter and post it soon!

Chapter 1: Lifelong Dream

Bryce Jameson had never imagined she would ever enter the Baxter building, which she was now being driven to. Hell, she'd never dreamed of even contacting Reed Richards. But it had been her lifelong goal to work with the amazing scientist. When he and three others had gone up into space and become the "Fantastic Four", she thought she had absolutely no shot.

Yet here she was…getting closer to the very place she had worked so hard to get to…and she had a job there! She was actually going to work as an intern for Reed Richards! The young brunette woman took a deep breath to calm herself. "Easy, Bryce…you don't want to freak out your idol, do you? It's not like he hasn't had to deal with enough ogling fans," she muttered to herself. After the Four had become famous, Bryce had become jealous of all of the women and girls that had fallen in love with 'Mr. Fantastic' and his little crew just because they were…different.

The only thing she dreaded about going into that building…was Johnny Storm. She despised him with a fiery passion. From the day she was born, Bryce had acquired a hatred of egotistical guys that thought every girl would do anything for him, just because he had good looks. The 'Human Torch' was always soaking up the attention that they were given, and greedily accepting any girls that came his way. Which, of course, there were plenty of, saying as he was a celebrity. If he expected her to drool all over him…he was wrong; dead wrong.

Reed and Sue Richards entered the Baxter Building, hand in hand and glowing with happiness. They were just getting back from their honeymoon in Bermuda, and everything had gone flawlessly.

Johnny, who had been dropping a package off to the mailman, spotted them and grinned. "Hey, newlyweds! You two look happy…how was the honeymoon?"

Sue smiled warmly back at her brother. "It was fantastic…everything was just," she paused, looking up into Reed's eyes. "Perfect." Reed bent his head to kiss her, earning a good-natured sound of disgust from Johnny. They pulled back laughing, and Sue smacked Johnny's arm lightly. "How was everything around here?"

Johnny shrugged a little, still smiling. "Quiet, really. We've been working a lot on trying to figure out a way to better control our powers. Nothing yet, but Pebbles and I both have a feeling that it's going to be soon."

Reed chuckled, and Sue couldn't suppress a giggle. "Pebbles?" she questioned in between giggles. "So you two are still at it, huh?"

Johnny shrugged again, his grin turning mischievous. "You know us…we taunt and tease like brothers."

"Except a little bit more rough sometimes," a deep gravelly voice added from behind them. The trio turned to see Ben Grimm stepping out of the stairwell doorway, a wry smile on his face. The newlyweds smiled brightly, and Sue ran up to her longtime friend, and wrapped her arms around him as best as she could. "It's about time you two got back."

"I missed you too, Ben," Sue replied teasingly.

When he pulled back, Sue could see pride in his eyes. He then looked over to Reed, and smiled. "Congratulations, guys." He paused. "Oh, and Reed…there was a message saying Bryce Jameson will be coming in today."

Reed nodded, but the others looked surprised. "Fresh blood? I'll have some fun teaching him the ropes," Johnny teased, rubbing his hands together.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm sorry…you won't be teaching him the ropes anytime soon." Ben looked over Johnny's shoulder to where the voice had come from, and looked surprised. The other three turned as well, and Reed laughed.

"Guys…this is Bryce Jameson, our new intern." He reached forward and shook her hand, smiling warmly. "Welcome, Bryce. I have been looking forward to meeting you…your professor was very adamant about getting you here."

Bryce blushed slightly. "Thank you, Mr. Richards…it has always been my dream to work for you." She looked at him in awe for a few more minutes in awe, before turning to Sue. "Thank you as well, Mrs. Richards; and congratulations on your marriage." Sue glanced at Reed and smiled, impressed by how polite and warm this girl was.

"It is a pleasure to have you here. This is my brother, Johnny Storm, and this is Ben Grimm," Sue introduced, gesturing towards the two men in turn. Bryce gave Johnny a stiff, forced smile and shook his hand quickly, but was warmer towards Ben. She didn't seem phased by his appearance; instead, Ben felt a sort of understanding forming between them when their eyes met.

Reed grinned as he watched their interaction, noticing the same thing Ben did. There was just something that clicked for them…not in a romantic sense…but they just seemed to really connect in that moment.

"Uh, well, how about I take Bryce upstairs and show her where she'll be staying?" Johnny offered sincerely. Sue and Reed both nodded, and Bryce felt herself tense up a little. She waved shyly to the newlyweds and Ben, and then reluctantly followed the Torch to the elevator.

They rode in awkward silence, before Johnny couldn't take it anymore and turned to face her. "Look…I think we got off to a bad start, and it seems like you don't really like me. I'm sorry about what I said-"

Bryce turned on him, cutting him off mid-sentence. "I have worked for this for the past 10 years…and I'm not going to let some egotistical pretty boy ruin that for me. Don't get in my way," she snapped angrily. Johnny held his hands up in surrender, but still stood his ground.

"I think you got the wrong impression…I'm not that person anymore. I will admit I was a jerk and soaked up the limelight a little too much. But I am not the person I was when this first happened to us."

Bryce scoffed angrily, not believing a word he said. "Prove it to me."

Johnny calmed her instantly with a very serious look that had no trace of him trying to hit on her. "I understand how you feel…and I will eventually find a way to prove it to you…maybe it will be by not hitting on you, because you obviously hate me right now. So I'll respect your feelings, but you need to put them aside for now, because I need help disassembling something, and you're the only one that can help me right now."

At that moment, the doors opened, and Johnny left the elevator, with a shocked and slightly unsure Bryce unable to move. Could someone like him have actually changed?

Does anything that has to do with the Fantastic Four make sense? She reminded herself. After shaking herself out of her shock, she silently followed him, a little bit of trust breaking through her cold walls.