Private Interior
By Angel-death-dealer
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Twenty-four hours had passed since the Fantastic Four had arrived in London. 'Fiasco' would be a mild way of describing the chaos which had occured when they had tried to intervene the mysterious Surfer at the site of the next crater. Instead of being able to successfully stop him, something which the entire team had been hoping they'd be able to do rather easily, which had turned out to be a false hope, they had simply managed to prevent the Millenium Eye from collapsing into the river, which was later drained because of the crater created by the Surfer. No, things were not going well.
In the twenty-four hours that had passed, the team had been under nothing but the most intense stress. As Susan Storm wandered through the corridors of the US Embassy, she couldn't remember any other time where she had been under this much stress, except perhaps her finals at M.I.T. Despite their first encounter with Victor after they had been enstated with their powers, she couldn't help but feel this was more chaotic to their lives. At least the first time around, their days had been fast-paced, with little time to dwell on the fact that they hadn't eaten or slept in however long. This time, it was the waiting that got to her; especially when she could do nothing but walk the halls, checking in on her fiance.
She walked towards the lab, a steaming mug of coffee in her hands. She held it between both of her palms, more for the comforting warmth that it radiated into her than the reassurance that she wouldn't spill it. The rich aroma drifted up, alerting her senses to the hot, tasty liquid she held before her, but she wouldn't drink any. Her head was still pounding with the headache that she'd had ever since she had collapsed beside the Millenium Eye. It had been a strain on her powers, something that had been happening ever since she had started trying to push her powers to new limits, but it hadn't been a situation that she could control otherwise, so she had been forced to push herself. In return for her help for all the tourists on board the slow ferris wheel, she'd recieved nothing but a throbbing headache and a feeling of weakness that she didn't enjoy.
She stepped into the lab, knowing that even though her mind was pulling her to sleep, something she had not done since she had cried herself to sleep after her latest destructed wedding attempt, she wouldn't be able to rest whilst she was this tense. She wouldn't be able to close her eyes onto the situation whilst she was so on edge.
Victor von Doom watched her as she breezed into the Embassy laboratory, with all the graceful ease in which she used to waltz into his office every morning. Jealousy still seeped through his veins, poisoning him in favour of her subconscious charms even though their past tried to convince him to hate her. She had, after all, played a significant part in his downfall, and if it wasn't for the surge of radiation that the Surfer sent out on his journey, he certainly wouldn't have been freed from his solid metal prison any time soon.
He watched as she walked right past him, and the smell of coffee hit him. When was the last time he'd had coffee? When was the last time Sue had brought him coffee? Two, almost three years ago? It was too long for him to remember correctly, but it may have been the morning that he agreed to Reed's proposal; the proposal that had spectacularly ruined his own proposal to Sue. She payed no attention to her ex-employer as she walked past his work bench, and Victor wondered whether or not it was because she hadn't seen him at all, or if she was just more focused on the person she clearly was looking for.
The smile on her face that appeared when she reached the other side of the laboratory simply proved that his presence wasn't the one she sought. No, there was a light in her eyes that appeared when she looked in the direction of the other laboratory dweller that he wouldn't be able to ignite himself. However, as his polite mind told him that privacy would be the right thing for the couple, curiosity drove him to continue watching the pair from his work bench.
"Hey." Sue smiled as she came up behind Reed.
Reed jerked up into a straighter sitting position when her voice reached him; clearly he'd been on the verge of collapsing over his desk. He had, after all, been rather quiet recently, and Victor hadn't heard him muttering to himself for some time now. "Sue." He said simply, turning in his chair to face her as she drew up to his chair, wrapping her arms around his shoulders from behind. "How are you feeling?"
"Yeah, better." She brushed off, and even Victor could tell that she was lying. "I brought you some coffee." She pointed out, indicating to the mug that was now wafting before Reed's senses.
He breathed in the smell, welcoming the mug into his own hands, which allowed Sue to wind her arms more comfortably around him. "Oh, I love you." He sighed.
Sue smiled, an expression which Victor caught sight off reflected on one of the metal cabinets that surrounded Reed's work station. "You love all the girls that bring you coffee?" She asked teasingly.
"Not all of them, just the blonde one. I like her." Reed told her, instantly picking up on her playful tone and directing it back at her. Victor raised his eyebrows slightly; the Reed Richards he had known back at M.I.T would never be one for teasing and games.
"Oh, really? Should I be threatened?" Sue asked, in a rather husky sounding voice.
"Well, she is extraordinarily beautiful." Reed told her. "And I have been in love with her for a very long time."
Sue's eyebrows rasied. "Wow, that sounds pretty serious." She said, with a hint of a smile in her tone.
He nodded. "It is. In fact, we're getting married soon."
Sue smiled, and kissed the top of Reed's forehead from where she stood above him; her lips brushing against his hairline. The playfulness of the conversation vanished as she rested her head atop of his, sighing briefly; just loud enough to travel to the other side of the room to where Victor was still listening in.
"So, we're still getting married?" She asked him.
Reed frowned, a confused expression taking hold of him. "What makes you think I'd want to do anything otherwise?"
She shrugged. "I don't know...I mean...all of these interruptions...you don't think it's some kind of sign, do you?"
At her question, Reed turned around in his chair, causing Victor to move his chair to the side, preventing them from seeing him as he continued to listen. However, he could still see worried expression on the scientists face. "Okay, now we're worrying me." He admitted. "You've never had any doubts before..."
"I'm not having doubts." Sue assured him quickly. "It's almost unbelievable how much I'm not having doubts. It's just...what if it's like...and omen or something, that we're not supposed to be together?" She asked him. "I mean, if we really were meant to get married and live out all of the rest of our plans, wouldn't we have been able to get married the first time around with no interruptions whatsoever?"
Victor had never believed in curses himself, but he wanted to believe that some kind of higher power, other than himself, would want to prevent the so-called 'couple of the century' from binding their love with vows. He'd have been able to give Sue a better wedding and married life than Reed could give her, but she had thrown away her chance at that when she had chosen to side with the 'good' guys, as the media had dubbed them. After turning down a chance for a life with him, she didn't deserve the whole white wedding with another man. Especially Reed.
However, Reed clearly thought differently, as he took Sue's hand in his and looked up at her. "Sue...do you love me?"
Sue sighed. "Reed, I'm talking about-"
"I know what you're talking about, and I'm asking you if you love me." Reed cut in over her, a confidence that wasn't previously seen in the younger scientest that Victor remembered.
Sue softened before him, smiling at him. "More than anything."
"See, that's how I know we're meant to be." Reed told her confidently. "You love me, and I certainly love you." Victor held back his gag reflex. "It doesn't matter how many interruptions we have as long as we have that."
Sue remained smiling at him for a moment, before she held his hands tightly within her own. "You're perfect, you know that?" Victor seethed. Sue had never called him perfect.
"I do know that." Reed confirmed. "Since my favourite coffee girl keeps telling me."
Sue mocked irritation. "You know, Reed, any more secret coffee girls, and I'm going to go find her and kick her ass."
"Oh no, don't do that." Reed insisted.
"Why not?"
"She's really strong. Powerful." Sue smiled. "I'd say more, but I'm afraid her ego might explode."
"Hey, I don't have an ego!"
Reed let out a breathy sound, which was clearly supposed to be a laugh; one that he couldn't manage in his exhausted state. "I know." He assured her.
She smirked at him. "Although, I might end up with one if you keep saying things like that."
Reed smiled, rising from his seat. When he was standing fully before her, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. When his lips found hers with such habital ease, Victor could feel a strange rage within him rising. He remembered this feeling; it was the same feeling that he could remember feeling when he had caught her staring at old photographs in her office once, old photographs of her and Reed. Jealously. When their kiss was over, for how long, he didn't know, Victor watched as they rested their foreheads together, staring into each others eyes as Reed's wrinkled in concern.
"You're a little warm." He commented, drawing back and placing his hand over Sue's forehead. "Are you sure you feel okay?"
"Yeah, I just...I think yesterday took more out of me than I first thought." She admitted.
His frown only deepened. "You were unconscious for a few seconds...perhaps we should get one of the doctors here to take a look at you..."
"No, it's not important." Sue cut over him.
"Sue..."
"I'm okay, really." She assured him with a smile. "I've just got a headache still, and a few hours rest will get rid of that easily." She gave him a chaste kiss. "Besides, you know how much I hate doctors."
Reed gave her a concerned look again, but soon softened to her will. "If resting will help, why aren't you lying down already?" He asked her.
"I needed to relax first." She told him. "I've been climbing the walls trying to make myself useful but I just can't with this headache."
"And are you relaxed now?" He asked her.
She smiled, feeling his arms wrap tighter around her. Victor watched in a strange curiosity as Reed's arms wound tighter around her by stretching multiple times around her waist. Who'd have thought that his cosmically radiated powers would have found a way to give Sue something that no other man could give her? "Yes." She nodded. "Very."
"Okay then," Reed told her. "You go and lie down, and I'll join you soon."
Looking rather hopeful, Sue raised her eyebrows. "You're going to be leaving the lab tonight then?"
He nodded. "Although it's nothing on par with yours, I've got a need for rest myself."
"Okay." She smiled, kissing him another time. "Just don't lose track of time, okay? I should think we've got a long week ahead of us, and I don't want you completely exhausting yourself."
"Don't worry," he assured her, smiling at her concern for him. "I'll be along soon."
"You better be," Sue told him as she started to walk away from him. "Because I'll be waiting up for you."
Reed smiled as she walked away, and Victor almost thought that this visual torment was over until Reed called her back. "Oh, and Sue?" She stopped ten paces from him and turned. "If you want to be starting a family anytime soon, you're going to have to develop a higher tolerance for doctors."
From the other side of the room, Victor could see the intense glee that lit up Susan's face. "Does that mean what I think it means?" She asked him.
"What do you think it means?" Reed asked.
"Do you mean that we can start trying soon?"
Whilst Reed gave her excited look a reassuring smile, Victor fought down the bile that rose within him. A child. They wanted a child together. A child, no doubt, with his mother's eyes, and his father's passion for science. A child born in the public eye and adored by all. A child that would seal the binding ritual once and for all, chasing away any of the 'omens' that fought against their marriage.
Reed nodded, confirming Victor's worst imaginations. "I think we need something to look forward to after all this is over, don't you?"
Sue ran back to him, throwing her arms around him as she kissed him again. "I love you." She told him when they parted.
"I love you too, now go and rest!" He told her, laughing over his concern. "If you're not lying down by the time I get there, then I'll just turn around and come straight back to the lab." He warned her.
"Reed!" She scolded him lightly.
"Go!" He told her, still grinning.
Sue left without further argument, a smile on her face that wasn't there before when she walked back past Victor. Whilst he looked up as she passed him, he wasn't surprised that she didn't give him a first glance, let alone a second. No, she was probably too busy planning wallpaper for the baby's room.
So, Sue was going to walk away and wait for Reed to join her for resting?
Victor stood from his seat, going over to Reed with a pile of papers in his hand. He stood beside his once-fellow scientist, who was drinking from his coffee as he started at the computer screen. As soon as Sue had left, exhaustion had fallen over him again.
"I think we should start looking at the craters again." Victor said, alerting Reed to his attention. "Cross-examine the sites of the previous craters and see why the alien chose them over any other locations."
Reed leaned his elbows on the desk, rubbing at his face tiredly. "Can't this wait until the morning?"
Victor looked at him, almost murderously. "Wait? You think we have time to wait? Don't you remmeber what happened the last time you waited?" He threw the pile of papers down beside Reed. "We don't have time to do nothing but wait, Richards. We need to get moving, and fast." Reed sighed, leaning down closer to the table in exhaustion. Clearly, he wanted nothing else than to go and lie down beside the woman he loved, but Victor wouldn't let that happen. Not if he could help it. "Resting, however, can wait."
Victor walked away, feeling rather pleased with himself. The less he had to see Susan and Reed together, the better.
Okay, I know it was pretty evil in terms of ending, but I realised I'd made it all sweet and then rememebered that Victor was watching them, and evil ol' Vic's not gonna sit back and let a chance to disrupt their relationship slip by, is he?