This is my first fanfic of Fantastic Four, so I'm sorry if it's not good. If you could tell me anything to improve on, I would appreciate it. Review please!

Fantastic Four (c) Jack Kirby, Stan Lee

Chapter One

"Hello Alicia. How are you?" The doorman Jimmy greeted, holding the door open for the blind woman. She smiled, her everpresent walking stick gliding across the floor in front of her as she walked.

"Hello Jimmy. I'm doing fine. Just going up to see Ben."

"Thought so." he said, smiling. "Have a good day." She moved into the lobby of the Baxter Building and past the reception desk, familiar enough with the place that she could walk to the elevator with no problem. The elevator slid opened and she walked in. Reached out, Alicia felt for the buttons, moving her fingers up until she found the right one and pressed it. She waited, feeling the car leave the ground and go slowly upwards. A ding told her that she had reached the right floor. As she stepped out she was met with a cloud of smoke and the smell of terribly burnt food. She coughed, trying to wave the smoke away while she moved deeper into the apartment.

"Ben?" She heard a shuffling of feet in the kitchen along with the clinking of plates and decided to follow it. "Why is there smoke? Is something on fire?" She reached the kitchen and called out once more, "Hello?"

"Oh, hey Alicia." Johnny said, waving to her although she couldn't see him.

"What's going on? What's that smell?" She ran her hands along the countertop in front of her, feeling several packages of what she guessed was ingredients for a recipe as well as a few mixing bowls and spatulas.

"Oh, hehe," Johhny scratched his head, blushing. "that. Well, I bet Ben that I could cook better then he could," He started moving about the kitchen, washing the mound of dirty dishes in the sink, then went over to the nearest window and cracked it open to let out the smoke. "but it turns out..." She cocked an eyebrow and smirked.

"You caught something on fire, didn't you?"

"The cake burned. Really bad." He held out a charred cake on a platter and she leaned forward, poking it with a finger. It was hard as a brick.

"Wow...Ben won, didn't he?"

"What do you think? Rockhead won with his stupid family recipe cookies." he sighed, then muttered to himself. "Stupid cookies." He tossed what was left of the disfigured cake in the trash with a thud. She rolled her eyes, ignorning the name Johnny just called her boyfriend.

"So, do you know where 'Rockhead' is?"

"Yeah, he should be in the showers. Just got done with lifting a few dozen tons in the weight room." Her eyes widened a bit and she let out a suprised laugh. Alicia could never really get over how much Ben Grimm could bench. "Said to tell you he'd be right out."

"Thanks."

She decided to wait on the sofa in the living room adjoined to the kitchen until Ben was done. The tv had been left on, switched to one of those dime a dozen gossip shows. She sat down and did her best to ignore it; even though she didn't like watching- or in her case, hearing- those types of shows, she couldn't help but listen to what they were saying.

"We won't be seeing much of her after this horribly embarrassing mishap. Now, on to local gossip. The Human Torch, also known as Johnny Storm, has picked up a new girlfriend, seen here in this photo."

"Johnny, they're talking about you on tv!" Alicia called.

"When are they not?" he replied. "The press loves me! And I can't blame them!" She repressed a snort of laughter and returned to the gratingly annoying voice of the tv host.

"-and she was quoted saying 'I didn't think I would ever have to fireproof my underwear.' Speaking of girlfriends and the Fantastic Four, The Thing has seemed to find a girlfriend himself- a blind sculptress by the name of Alicia Masters." This caught Alicia's attention. She knew that the media wasn't always kind to Ben, and it infuriated her. But now they were talking about he and Alicia? She prayed they wouldn't take it too far. "We weren't able to contact Masters, but instead we have on one of our best reporters. Susan?"

"Ben Grimm, popularly known as The Thing, was spotted on a night out on the town. Sources say he picked up Ms.Masters at a local bar and then left with her, going who knows where!" Alicia's hand, resting on her leg, tightened. 'They were watching us?'

"She's been seen with him several times in the past few weeks, and rumors say that she's spent more then a few nights over at the Baxter Building. Why Ben Grimm choose Ms.Masters is clear to us. Who else better to date the Thing then a blind woman?" Infuriated, her hands groped at the remote. She turned off the tv and threw the remote at the fading image of the grinning reporter, speaking obscenities under her breath.

"Uh, Alicia?" She looked up, towards the sound of the deep, gritty voice. "Are you...okay?"

"Um, yeah," Her face reddened and ran a hand through her now unruly hair, trying to calm herself down. Ben's eyes cast over to the tv, which now bore a crack on it's screen.

"Had a fight with the tv?" She stood up with a huff and muttered,

"I hate reporters and their stupid tv shows."

"Did they say somethin' about you?" he asked, getting an edge to his tone.

"No! ...Well, not exactly..." She shook her head, brushing the topic aside. She placed a hand on Ben's arm. "It doesn't matter. Let's just go."

"Where are you going Pebbles?" Johhny asked, stepping out from the kitchen with a tea towel to dry off his hands.

"Alicia and I are goin' out for a while. There a reason for you askin' Flamo?" Johhny shrugged and tossed the towel over his shoulder. It caught flame midflight. Johnny cursed and ran over to put it out while Ben laughed.

"I haven't seen Reed or Susan in a while." Alicia mentioned, grabbing her walking stick from the sofa and folding it within itself before slipping it into the pocket of her jeans. "Where are they?"

"Eh, they're both in the lab. Sue's monitoring some project Reed's working on."

"Huh. Not much has changed since they got married, has it?"

"Besides the sharin' a room together? Nah." She smiled and they made their way out of the apartment.

The day was a pleasant warm one, not suffocatingly stuffy as it usually was in the last throws of summer. A cool breeze would pick up now and again, making Alicia shiver and wish she had worn a sweater over her light tank top. Ben noticed, and offered that they might go inside one of her favorite coffee shops and he'd buy her something warm to drink. She smiled at the offer and accepted it. They moved through the crowds of people on the sidewalk and entered the small cafe. Inside the shop, it smelled like chocolate and -appropriately- fresh roasted coffee beans.

A few small tables and stools were placed by the main window, which was right by the entrance of the store. Opposite the entrance was the counter, where the employees and several customers waiting to place their orders stood. The bell above the door jingled as they entered, signaling the store of their presence. One of the employees rummaging for something behind the counter called,

"Welcome to Half Roasted, best coffee in-" The employee, a teenage boy in a standard shop issued green apron, straightened up and looked at Alicia and Ben. "...in New York..." Ben shifted uneasily; he could feel the eyes of half the store on him and Alicia, but Alicia didn't seem to mind. She just strolled forward and stopped at the counter.

"Ben? Could you please..." She gestured vaguely in front of her. Since she was unable to see the menu, she usually just let Ben order for her.

"Oh, right..." He lumbered forward, relieved when some of the onlookers went back to their coffee. He stood behind Alicia and looked up at the menu. Rubbing his chin, he said,

"I guess I'll have the latte, and Alicia here'll have some mocha."

"R-right." The boy went to work preparing the coffee.

Ben felt even more uncomfortable just waiting there, standing so everyone could gawk at his massive form. He wanted sit down, but his weight would easily break the stools. And the last thing he wanted was to embarrass himself or Alicia.

Alicia and Ben got their coffee and opted to drink them outside. Ben hadn't said a thing the entire time from when they were in the shop to while they were strolling down the sidewalk sipping their coffees. She had been talking to him the entire time, suggesting that they catch a movie later that night. When he didn't respond Alicia looked over to him, concern on her face.

"Ben, is something wrong?" He remained silent, pretending not to hear the question. Of course there was something wrong. Even now people were gaping at him like he was a freak, turning and whispering and pointing as he passed. But Ben didn't want to ruin the day by making her worry about him.

"Ben, baby, say something." An exaggerated sigh escaped her lips. She let go of his arm and walked out in front of him, placing a hand roughly on his chest and stopping him in his tracks. "Benjamin Grimm," she began, her tone sharp and serious.

'Oh crap.' Whenever Alicia used Ben's full name, he knew it wasn't good.

"Don't pretend you don't hear me!" she shouted angrily. "I may be blind, but I'm not stupid! I could feel you in the coffee shop- You were tense, uncomfortable- something wasn't right. Now I will ask you one more time. What. Is. Wrong?" He sighed, and sat down carefully on a bench next to them, so as not to break it. He guided her to the bench and she sat down beside him, lips pursed and arms crossed.

"Look, Alicia...I love bein' outside in the city with you...But the second we walked in the coffee joint, they all stared at us...I-I just felt so out of place." Her expression softened.

"Out of place? Ben, you have just as much right as anyone else to be there. Just because some people stare doesn't mean you don't belong there."

"I know that. It's just, they look at me like I'm a monster." He looked as his rocky hands and chuckled. "I guess they're not too far off..." Alicia frowned, reached for her walking stick, extended it, and brought it down with a crack on Ben's leg.

"Ouch!" He rubbed his leg and shot an irritated glance at Alicia. "What was that for?" A smug grin spread across her face.

"I've decided that every time you call yourself a monster, I'm going to whack you with my walking stick." she said matter-of-factly.

"What?"

"Why not? I've tried telling you you're not, I've tried showing you you're not, so the only other way I can think of is hitting it into you." He sighed, raising what would be an eyebrow if he had one.

"You know that ain't goin' to work."

"It's worth trying, isn't it?" She set her cup down on the bench beside her and turned to face him. She put a hand on his arm, and put the other softly on his cheek to turn his face to look at her. "Ben, you have to understand. What ever happens, no matter what anyone thinks about you, no matter what anyone says about you, you are Ben Grimm. You always have been, and you always will be. And I'll always love you." He smiled, and a deep chuckled roused from within him, before kissing her.

"Come on, how 'bout we go catch that movie you wanted?"