Reed Richards stood on the roof of the Baxter Building, leaning over the rails, admiring the New York City skyline. A few floors beneath him lay his wife, Sue Storm-Richards, unconscious in a hospital bed. H.E.R.B.I.E. had made it clear that she was going to wake up, but that didn't make it any easier on Reed. This whole thing was his fault, he knew he only had himself to blame.
Mere hours ago, the supervillain known as the Red Ghost and his ape servants had broken into the Baxter Building. Luckily Reed had just spent the last few months perfecting their security system, so all Sue had to do was lead them into the decoy lab for Reed to activate the electric field. Sue had turned invisible, Reed had no way of knowing if she'd exited the room or not. He couldn't take any risks. He had sealed the doors and turned on the field, which immediately defeated the villains. However, the electricity had reverted Sue back to visibility, and she too was forced into a coma.
Now Reed was alone on the roof, thinking. Ben had refused to leave Sue's side. Reed has always known that Ben is in love with Sue, but it didn't bother him. Ben was Reed's best friend and he had the right to love who he wanted, and Reed respected that. And if Sue had ever chosen to leave Reed for Ben, he tells himself he'd respect that too. Of course he couldn't really blame Ben, Sue was a very lovable person. But now she's laying in a bed with her eyes refusing to open.
When Reed heard footsteps he didn't turn around. He knew they were Johnny's. They were too light to be Ben's, H.E.R.B.I.E. didn't have feet, and no one else had access to the roof. Johnny didn't say anything as he leaned down next to Reed. They stood in comfortable silence for some time before Johnny spoke.
"This isn't your fault, Reed."
"You know as well as I that that isn't true."
"Oh, come on, Reed, she was invisible, you couldn't've known she was in there!"
Reed sighed and looked down at the ground below them.
"I should have. I should have waited for a signal or something, I should have-"
"If you'd waited any longer, Red Ghost would've gotten out and you know it."
He sighed once more.
Johnny lit his index finger on fire and began twirling it around the air. He does that when he doesn't know what to say. Reed has noticed this, but Sue just thinks it is an annoying habit of his.
He blew out the flame and said "Reed you're the smartest guy in the world. You invented the smartest AI in the world, if it says Sue's gonna wake up, she's going to wake up."
"I know that, Johnny, but that still doesn't change the fact that it's my fault she's in the coma in the first place!"
"Jesus, Reed, you always blame yourself for everything that goes wrong! What is it going to take for you to realize that not everything is your fault!"
"I know not everything is my fault, because most of the time it's the fault of the screw-up of the group!" he shouted, turning towards Johnny.
Reed was never emotionally compromised. Except when Sue was in danger. Whenever she was involved he was more stress than man. Johnny's gotten used to it.
"This isn't about me! I came up here to comfort you, Reed, do you know why?"
"I assume it's because Ben is refusing to leave your sister's side and you felt that it was your responsibility to do something, even though you hate responsibility, you just needed to be involved to make yourself feel important."
"I came up here because you're my brother, Reed."
This took Reed by surprise.
"I haven't had the courage to even look at my sister since she's been in the coma. But not for a second did I think that this was your fault. This is our life, people are going to get hurt, sometimes worse, sometimes way worse, but we lucked out this time! Sue is going to be just fine, and I'm happy to accept that. But I knew that you wouldn't think that way, so I thought I'd make things easier for you. We're family, blood or not, Reed, I love you."
Reed was still in shock by Johnny's response. He had no idea what to say.
"Look, you couldn't see her, you took a chance and hit the button. I don't know about Ben, or even Sue, but if I was in your position, I would have done the exact same thing."
Reed smiled for a second. Johnny patted him on the back and began to walk back inside. "Don't beat yourself up over it, Richards."
Just before Johnny reached inside Reed called his name. He turned around looking expectantly at Reed.
"I love you, too."