I don't own the F4 characters.

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Reed bolted up in bed breathing heavily. It was a cool night yet sweat was dripping off him like he'd just come out of the shower. He looked down at Sue, his wife hadn't stirred, he resented her for sleeping so soundly.

He slowly lay back down and closed his eyes hoping to go back to sleep, but every time he closed his eyes, he saw another pair staring back at him. Eyes so full of hatred and malice that Reed felt fear grip him and he kept having to open his own.

He looked around his room, it was dark. His clock read 3.05 am, the sun wouldn't be coming up for a long time yet.

Sighing quietly he pushed back his side of the duvet cover and slowly climbed out of bed and put on his slippers. Johnny had given them to him the Christmas before last. He had teased him about them, saying they were 'Grandpa slippers' to go with the hairdo he had been given along with the elasticated abilities he had acquired during the cosmic storm up in space more than two years ago.

He slowly crept out of his room and walked down the hall. A puzzled look crossed his face when he saw light coming from under the kitchen door, and he slowly pushed it open.

"Hi!" a familiar voice greeted him as the door opened fully and he saw Johnny standing by the cupboard.

Reed smiled at the young man, "You couldn't sleep either?" he asked him, noticing the hot chocolate powder in his hand.

"Nah," was the reply as Johnny opened the lid, "Not gone yet," he said, knowing fully well Reed was raising his eyebrows behind his back. "I wanted to watch a movie, it just finished," he explained, "Making myself a little night-cap before I turn in," he turned and grinned.

Reed nodded and pulled out a chair, and sank into it.

Picking up on his brother in-law's discomfort, Johnny pulled out another cup from the cupboard and spooned some cocoa powder into it. He placed both cups on the table, and then got some milk to put in the cups, and sat down opposite Reed.

"It's not hot," the older man pointed out.

"What?" Johnny said with sarcastic surprise, "Silly me," he, he joked trying to get Reed to smile. He eventually got one and then fire balled the cups to heat the milk.

"I remember when they milk used to boil over," Reed said pulling the cup towards himself.

"I remember when you used to sleep all night," the younger man pointed out sipping his hot chocolate. "Not the first night, is it?" he asked Reed who was silent. "You used to have bags, now you have suitcases," he said touching the eye area under his own eyes when Reed glanced at him.

"Funny," he said sarcastically, and sipped his drink.

Johnny smiled slightly, "You'd be laughing if it was funny," he pointed out. "I was going to joke about Sue keeping you up all night, but it isn't that," he said seriously. "You want to talk about?" he asked taking another sip.

Reed shook his head, "No," he answered, drinking more of his drink.

The young man nodded, and drank his own drink.

"So what film did you watch?" Reed asked changing the subject.

Johnny shrugged, "Just some film about a devil hand, you wouldn't have liked it," he said.

Reed nodded "Idle Hands?" he asked, and smirked as he saw Johnny's surprised face. "Watched it with your sister once," he said, "She has a thing for Seth Green," he added.

Johnny smiled, "Yeah… she's seen 'Without a Paddle' at least ten times," he sipped more of his drink. "If you don't mind I'm going to go to bed," he said finishing his hot chocolate.

"No problem," Reed told him, "I'll be going soon," he said, and watched as Johnny took his empty cup to the sink and leave the kitchen.

However when Reed finished his drink, instead of taking his cup to where his brother in law had taken his, he went to the cupboard and began making himself another.

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a/n. i tried to swap a chapter, and clicked the wrong button, but i didn't know. so my li'l sis, so cute, thought she was saving time for me and proceeded to click the delete buttons. i was making tea at the time to save time until the page loaded (i have an obsession with time). so here is the first chapter... again. it was called 'can't save everyone,' but i decided to change it, so sorry for those who have already read it.