Title: Alternative

Author: FantasticStorm

Summary: "Is it wrong to just want him to come back? I miss him. And I'll do whatever I have to, to get him back." "But this isn't him, Sue." "I can make it him." "No you can't. He's dead. You have to accept that."

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't own. Don't... own...

Blood. Blood was everywhere. On her hands, her clothes, her face, the ground beneath her.. everywhere.

"Reed! Reed where are you!?"

Sue looked around. Her breathing started to come out in small huffs as panic overwhelmed her. Where was Reed? And why does this scene look so familiar?

"Ben? Ben are you here?!" She looked around. "Johnny?" she whispered. No one answered.

Her fingers shook as they trailed nervously through her hair. She has to calm down. She has to control herself. She closed her eyes, trying to get her thoughts together but most of all trying to remember where she is.

"...Sue..."

Her eyes flew open and she jerked her head to the side. "No..." she whispered, suddenly remembering exactly where she was-

Sue Richards jumped out of her memory when the wind flew through the window and knocked over a picture frame on her nightstand. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, bringing herself back to reality. She stood up and went to the nightstand, sitting the picture back in its rightful spot.

"How's she doing?"

Sue glanced at the door. Ben's here. She knew he would be. Little earlier than expected, but she knew he'd be here. She grabbed the book she's been reading and headed out of the room.

-----

"How's she doing?"

Reed Richards looked up to the rough voice of Ben Grimm. With a soft sigh, he folded the newspaper he had been reading and set it down in front of him. "She's... suspiciously calm."

"Has she said anything?"

"Just the usual. Good morning. Do you want breakfast? What are you doing today?"

"Did you bring it up?"

"No! No, God no. You know how she reacts to.. that," Reed glanced into the living room, spotting Sue as she sat down on the couch with a book. "Last time I brought this up she blew me out the window."

"I remember," Ben couldn't help but smirk at the memory. "But she's your wife Reed. And she's hurting. I mean, we all are, but especially her. She needs someone. No, she needs you."

"I know that," Reed sighed. "But she's-"

"Am I suppose to pretend I can't hear the two of you?" Sue Richards called from the living room. Her eyes remained on her book. It was only when she was met with silence, that she raised her eyes to look into the kitchen where Reed and Ben were both staring at her. "If you have something to say about me, come in here and lets all discuss it."

Ben glanced at Reed, who seemed to have no intentions of going near her. "Wuss," he mumbled before walking into the living room. "Hey susie, how're you doing today?"

"I'm okay Ben."

"What are you doing today? Anything special?" he asked, eyes practically glued to her.

Sue stuck her bookmark into the crease, then closed the book. "I remember what today is Ben. I wouldn't forget," she said with a sigh. Ben's mouth opened, surely to tell her that he hadn't meant it like that, but Sue cut him off. "I'm going to the cemetery and I'm going to spend the day with my dead brother. I'll pour my heart out, tell him how much I miss him, how much it sucks to live without him, and undoubtedly I'll end up crying half the time. Then Johnny will tell me-oh.. wait... that's right he's dead! I won't be spending the day with my brother. I'll be spending the day with a cold piece of rock with his name on it!" she threw the book down onto the coffee table as she stood up, storming out of the room.

Ben blinked after her. Well, that wasn't how thought things would go. "See, this is why it's best to steer clear of her today," Reed said, his head poking out of the kitchen. He slowly stepped out, glancing down the hallway as a door slammed.

"You're a great husband, anyone ever tell you that?"

"Hey now," Reed put his hand up in defense. "I love Sue more than life. But, when it comes to Johnny, I learned a long time ago that that part of her life is off limits to me. I can't comfort her Ben. It's impossible to help her today. Plus, she still feels guilty.."

"Still?" Ben asked. "You've got to be kidding me? That's ridiculous. It wasn't any more her fault then it was yours or it was mine. The kid wouldn't want her to blame herself anyway."

"Of course not. But 'the kid' isn't here to tell her that. And there in lies the problem. Johnny's dead and Sue's alive and in her world that's not how it's suppose to be," Reed said and sat down on the couch.

"So what are we suppose to do?" Ben carefully sat down beside him, making sure he didn't break the couch.

"I guess we just wait for her to come to us-" the bedroom door opened and Sue came out, putting her coat on. "Hey honey, where you off to?"

"Oh shut up Reed," Sue hissed before slamming the door shut, exiting the apartment.

Ben chuckled. "Hey," Reed frowned. "Wasn't funny..."

------

"I brought flowers.." Sue said, standing in front of her brother's tombstone. "You never liked flowers. I don't know why I bought them..." she admitted quietly. Her eyes tore away from the stone, fighting with all her strength to keep the tears back. "Oh Johnny..." she bit her lip. She brought her eyes back to the tombstone. She hadn't been aware that her legs gave out, until she felt her knees hit the grass.

"I miss you," she said to the stone. That's all that's left of him now. A rock. A cold rock. Seems wrong. No, it is wrong. She placed the flowers in front of her. "Same color as your eyes," she was refering to the flowers. "I told Reed to shut up earlier," she smirked. "You would have loved that..."

It was awhile before she spoke next. And when she did, the tears flowed right along with her words. "I miss you so much. I need you to come back. God, Johnny.. how could you be so stupid? Why couldn't you have just stayed away?"

Blood. Blood was everywhere.

Her fingers pressed against her eyes, trying to keep the tears and the memories back. "You're such a jerk," she sniffled. "Always making me cry over you."

"...Sue.." "...No..."

Sue took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Are you with Mom?" she felt like a moron for asking questions, but she felt like she needed to talk. Talking kept the images away. "Bet you were happy to see her, huh?" she grinned. "I don't know if you can hear me up in heaven, but I-"

HELP!

Sue frowned, turning around to see who was screaming. Not that far away she spotted black smoke. Thick black smoke.

HELP! SOMEONE HELP US!

It probably made her a bad person to want to ignore the fire and stay with her brother. No, not her brother but her brother's tombstone.

OH SOMEONE PLEASE HELP US!

Sue sighed and got up, her knees a little dirty from the ground. She jogged out of the cemetery and got a quick look at the fire. Her cell phone beeped. Ben and Reed are on their way.

HELP!

"I'm on my way," Sue mumbled before taking off towards the burning building.