DISCLAIMER: I Do Not Own Any Fantastic Four Character. That Belongs To MARVEL.
"Daddy!" The shout of his daughter woke him at an instant. Any sort of random outburst from anyone can mean anything from a spill of juice to some guy in a mask is trying to kill me. So, Johnny Storm ran to his daughter's room, just hoping that nothing major happened. When he opened the door, he just sadly smiled at the minor issue. "I burnt my sheets." His lovely daughter cried whilst sitting in the middle of a ring of ashes.
"Oh, sweetie," He came and picked her up with a gentleness that was only for her. "Don't worry about it. You'll get the hang of your powers. Common, how bout you sleep with me tonight?"
She nodded, a pout on her face with a few tears running down her cheeks, "Okay." She mumbled.
All he could do was hug her. "Hey, hey," He spoke so softly that it instantly soothed her. "Don't cry. It's alright. I'll take care of this tomorrow." He started rubbing her back as he walked her back to his room. When they reached his room, he laid her down, and crawled over her to lay down behind her, both of them facing the door.
A while later, when he was almost asleep, she asked, "Daddy? Where's mommy?"
For the second time that night, he was wide awake. It was seven years, and she had never asked that question before. He looked from the back of her head, to the wedding picture of him and Frankie that was sitting on the nightstand next to the bed. "She's um, she's away." He just didn't have the heart to tell her that Frankie had died while giving birth to her. "And she's going to be away for awhile."
"Why haven't I ever met her?" She was asking all of the questions that he didn't want to explain to her until she was a little older, like when she was thirty, not seven.
"She works a long way from here. And she can't come here all the time." It hurt him so much to lie to her, and not tell her what had really happened. "Get some sleep, okay?" She was quiet after that. He put his arms around her, held her tight, and fell asleep.
The next morning, he woke up to find that Anita was still in his arms. He loved her dearly. She was the most important thing in the entire world to him. And he wouldn't let anything happen to her, and if that meant sacrificing himself for her safety, he would do it. He just laid there, listening to her breathe. His girl; his baby; his one and only love. Out of no where, she let out a whine, and started on fire. Being the responsible parent, he quickly sucked the fire into himself, and kept her from burning her clothes completely. Johnny seriously needed to talk to Reed about getting her some fire proof clothes. Speaking of the devil, Reed burst into the room in his uniform. Johnny, again being the responsible parent, picked his head up, and brought a finger to his lips.
'We have to go,' Reed mouthed to him, a sorry look upon his face.
Johnny looked down to Anita, then back up to Reed, mouthing back, 'Give me a minute.' Reed nodded, then dashed away from the door. He sighed, and kissed her forehead, gently waking her up. "Honey, Daddy's got to work." he whispered, and she emitted a small groan.
"Do you have to go?" Anita said in her innocent voice.
"Yeah, honey." He sounded just like she did.
She rolled around to face him, "Promise to be careful?"
"I promise." He then gave her a tight hug before getting up, dressed and went out the door.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~
An hour later, the Fantastic Four returned, tired, but successful. They had a few cuts and bruises, but nothing in the life-or-death category.
"Reed, I need to talk to you." Johnny said to Reed as he wrapped gauze around his right arm which had a large gash in it. "Anita has no control over her powers. She's bursting into flames at a nightmare. I need to get her clothing-" he was stopped by the door opening to show the silhouette of the little girl that all four of them knew and loved.
"Daddy, you promised!" She ran to him, crying.
"Hey, hey," He embraced her tightly with the his left arm, "I'm sorry." he then started rubbing her back soothingly.
"You promised you'd be careful!" She sobbed into his shoulder.
"I know, baby, I know. I tried to be careful, I really did. But he just got the better of me. I am so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He held her even tighter when Reed let go of his right arm.
"Don't ever do it again."
"I promise to be more careful next time," he said into her hair, and then he kissed her temple. "I love you, baby. I would never want to scare you or hurt you in any way, you know that."
"I know, Daddy, but every time you leave, I'm afraid that you're not going to come back." She cried digging herself even closer into him.
"Oh, baby." he cooed at her, rubbing her back gently. "I would never do that to you. I will always come back. I'd miss you too much, Honey." They sat there for a long time, just hugging one another.
"Why can't I turn it on and off like you?" She said about twenty minutes later.
"I don't know, baby, I just don't know." And they stayed put, him sitting on a bed in the infirmary, her in his lap, and clinging to each other. A long time later, Sue came rushing in, startling Johnny, who held a now sleeping Anita. He looked so disappointed. "Don't tell me-"
"I'm sorry, Johnny." She interrupted, and she looked like she would have rather done anything else at that point.
"Can't you do this one without me?" He sounded desperate. Very desperate to just stay there with his little girl.
"I'm so sorry, but we need you." Sue sounded even more terrible and sad than before.
"Common, Susie!" Ben was heard shouting from down the hall.
"We have to go," She then darted to Ben's voice.
He sighed. "Baby," he rocked her awake tenderheartedly. "Sweetie, Daddy's got to work."
"Do you have to go?" She whined.
"Yeah, honey." He lifted her up, and placed her down on the bed.
"Promise to be careful?" She started to tear up again.
"I promise. And don't worry, I will be back." He gave her a kiss on the cheek, a quick hug, and ran to catch up with the others.
"I love you, Daddy!" She shouted after him.
"I love you too, Anita!"
The End.