Disclaimer: Fantastic Four is the property of Marvel and 20th Century Fox.
Meant to Be
Chapter 2-Confrontation
In Johnny's room, Sue was getting up to leave. After talking to her brother, Sue felt a little bit better. She felt as though a little bit of weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Sue was glad she came to talk to Johnny. It was nice to talk to someone who wouldn't judge her. It was nice for her to say everything that she had on her mind, and for someone to just listen to her. 'Who knew Johnny of all people could be such a good listener?' Sue thought to herself.
"I'm going to go out for awhile. I think it'd be better if I create some distance between me and Reed because I don't want to see him right now nor do I want to talk to him. I don't know when I'll be back, but at least this way you know where I am," Sue said.
"Hey sis, you don't need my permission to go anywhere," Johnny replied.
Sue thought back to something Johnny had said to her. 'Do you want me to beat him up for you?' kept echoing in Sue's head. As much as Sue would love Johnny to give Reed what he has coming, she didn't want to drag her brother into her problems with Reed. Although, Sue was tempted to topple Reed with one of her force fields herself.
"Okay, but before I go, will you promise me that you won't go and fight Reed?" Sue asked.
"Now where's the fun in that? Besides, Reed is practically asking for it," Johnny responded.
"Johnny!" Sue exclaimed.
"Alright. I'll try to behave myself, but I refuse to promise anything," Johnny said reluctantly.
Sue sighed. 'That's probably the closest thing to a promise I'll get from him,' Sue thought to herself. She still couldn't shake the feeling that Johnny was going to do something to Reed while she was away. Not that she was concerned for Reed's safety though. The mental image of Johnny immobilizing Reed with a fireball was enough to put a grin on Sue's face. Sue just wished that Johnny would do what he was told for once. She knew that he would probably always be impulsive, but was it too much to ask for her to hope that he would be less impulsive?
"Thanks for letting me vent," Sue said before planting a kiss on her brother's cheek.
"Hey, that's what brothers are for," Johnny stated before vigorously trying to rub his sister's lipstick off his cheek.
Sue stifled a laugh as she left Johnny's room. 'I love him to death, but he never has been one for the whole sibling affection thing,' Sue thought to herself.
In the meantime, Reed was in the lab working on one of his many projects. New ideas were almost constantly popping into his head, and thus he had several projects started, but many of which were far from completion. Whenever Reed wanted some time to himself or just to gather his thoughts, he came to the lab. Ben knew this as well, as he showed up at the lab to find Reed.
"I thought I might find you here," Ben commented.
"Well, this is basically my second home," Reed stated without looking up from his work.
Ben felt guilty for some of the things he said to Reed before. He and Reed were best friends, and you wouldn't have known it from some of the things Ben said about Reed earlier.
"I came to apologize for before. I didn't mean to come down so hard on you. I'm sorry," Ben said.
"You should be sorry. However, I must say that I have reached the conclusion that you were right. I do have a tendency to become so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I fail to realize that other people have thoughts of their own as well. It's not fair for me to expect that I'll always get my way. Although, in my defense, all four of us are rather stubborn individuals. None of us like to be wrong," Reed answered.
Ben was somewhat surprised that Reed didn't say 'I forgive you.' In all the years Ben has known Reed, Reed has never been the type to hold grudges. Ben felt as though Reed was waiting for him to explain himself.
"All I really wanted was for you and Sue to work things out. You were correct to say that Sue, Johnny, you, and I are stubborn. A part of our stubbornness is an inability to look at things from someone else's perspective. That's all I really wanted you to do Reed—to try to see things from Sue's point of view," Ben explained.
Reed finally looked up from his desk at Ben. He noticed that Ben had a very genuine expression on his face. Reed knew that Ben meant everything he had just said.
"I hate to admit it, but thanks to your brutal honesty, I was able to see things from Sue's perspective. I can see why she would be upset with me. Quite frankly, now that I've cooled off, I'm not even sure why I was so mad at her. I don't know how I'm going to make things right between Sue and me, or if I even can," Reed commented.
Ben hated hearing Reed sound so defeated. Reed was not one to just give up when things looked bleak, and what kind of a best friend would he be if he were to let Reed be a quitter now?
"What are you talking about? Of course you can fix things between you and Susie," Ben said reassuringly.
"Where do I even start?" Reed asked.
"That's simple. Johnny. If anyone knows what goes on in Sue's head, it's her brother," Ben answered.
Ben made a good point. Reed knew that Sue had to essentially raise Johnny by herself after their parents had died. She knew how close the two siblings were to one another. Ben's suggestion was the most appealing not to mention the only solution he could think of for the time being. Reed headed towards Johnny's room to speak with him.
However, it would be Ben, not Reed, that would see Johnny first. Ben found Johnny lounging on the sofa flipping through the channels on TV while eating a bowl of cereal. Ben realized that he hadn't seen Sue ever since her fight with Reed.
"Hey Tinker Bell, where's your sister?" Ben asked.
"What, do I look like her babysitter wide load?" Johnny retorted.
"I'm not in the mood for your antics, so just answer the question!" Ben exclaimed.
Johnny tried his best to hide the smirk on his face. One of his favorite things to do was getting under Ben's skin. Johnny found it incredibly easy to do, which made it that much more satisfying.
"Well, since you asked ever so nicely, she's out," Johnny answered.
"Out? Out where?" Ben asked.
"I don't know," Johnny replied.
"Wow! You've been incredibly helpful Burnout!" Ben remarked.
"It's always a pleasure talking to you too Blockhead!" Johnny commented.
Ben rolled his eyes. He couldn't figure out why Johnny always seemed to get him so riled up. Ben had a suspicion that Johnny knew more than he was saying, but it was apparent he wouldn't get anymore information out of him.
"Oh, by the way, Reed wanted to see you," Ben said.
"Oh, okay," Johnny responded.
However, Ben noticed that Johnny remained reclining on the couch flipping through the channels. The only sounds that could be heard were the sound of Johnny munching on his cereal, and the TV.
"Did you hear what I said flame boy?" Ben asked.
"Yeah, yeah. I heard you Pebbles," Johnny stated.
Despite Johnny claiming he heard what Ben said, Ben noticed that Johnny remained rooted to his spot on the sofa.
"Well?" Ben said.
"Well what?" Johnny asked.
"Aren't you going to go find Reed?" Ben asked.
"Yeah. Of course. I'll get right on that," Johnny said.
Ben saw that Johnny still wasn't budging, so he just rolled his eyes and gave up. He headed to his room muttering something to the effect of 'kids these days' under his breath.
Not long after Ben left the living room, Reed entered. He saw Johnny lying on the sofa. He also noticed that nobody else was in the room. 'Maybe it's better that nobody else is around,' Reed thought to himself.
"There you are Johnny. I've been looking for you," Reed stated.
"Well, here I am," Johnny replied.
Johnny got up from the couch, turned around, and launched a fireball straight at Reed. After his initial shock, Reed managed to avoid Johnny's attack by stretching his torso and bending it at a bizarre angle.
"What are you doing?" Reed asked.
"It's called payback. You hurt my sister, and now I'm going to make you pay," Johnny answered before hurling a second fireball at Reed.
Due to the distance that separated them, Reed had enough time to avoid Johnny's second attack this time by simply sidestepping the attack.
"I'm not going to fight you," Reed said.
"That's too bad because I'm fighting you," Johnny remarked.
This time, Johnny launched a series of fireballs one after the other. Reed stretched, twisted, and turned his body to avoid the attacks. He knew that if one of Johnny's fireballs connected, that part of his body would be superheated, and Reed wouldn't be able to stretch it at all. As it was, Reed was barely dodging Johnny's flurry of offense.
"Johnny, stop it! Will you at least listen to what I have to say?" Reed asked.
"Why would I do that when I could care less what you have to say?" Johnny countered.
The next two words to come from Johnny's mouth were the two words Reed hoped Johnny wouldn't say.
"Flame on!" Johnny said as his body was engulfed in flames, and he hovered in the air.
The next thing Reed knew, Johnny was flying straight towards him. Reed knew that he had to do something quick. He stretched out his right arm, extended it out to the kitchen, and grabbed a fire extinguisher. He retracted his arm, and sprayed Johnny in the face with the fire extinguisher just as he was a mere three feet away. Johnny's body was no longer on fire. Instead, he was covered in flame retardant. Johnny was now on the floor temporarily blinded, and furiously rubbing his eyes trying to see.
"Are you okay? I didn't want to do that," Reed stated.
"Flame on!" Johnny said, but it was to no avail.
Reed noticed Johnny snap his fingers in an effort to conjure up a fireball, but that didn't work either. Johnny started to throw wild punches, and Reed was caught off guard when one of those punches connected with his jaw.
"You may have neutralized my powers, but I can still take you," Johnny commented.
Reed wasn't about to make the same mistake twice. He already underestimated powerless Johnny, and as a result, Reed was nursing a sore jaw. Reed elongated his body, wrapped it around Johnny's, and tied him up. He could feel Johnny squirming and struggling to break free, but Reed wasn't letting him go until Johnny heard what he had to say.
"I didn't mean to hurt your sister. I love her," Reed stated.
"Oh really? Well, you sure have a funny way of showing it!" Johnny replied.
Reed was fighting the desire to squeeze the air out of Johnny so he would shut up and listen to him. Reed was normally a very patient person, but Johnny was definitely pushing his buttons.
"I don't know what your sister told you, but I am willing to do whatever it takes to make things right with her, and that's why I need your help," Reed said.
"Dream on! You may be our leader, but my loyalties are first and foremost to my sister," Johnny responded.
Reed tightened his hold on Johnny. It wasn't enough to injure him, but it was enough to make Johnny more uncomfortable.
"You want your sister to be happy, don't you? Well, so do I. Johnny, I didn't ask your sister to marry me just for the sake of asking her to marry me. I asked your sister to marry me because I love her, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her," Reed explained.
Johnny was so tempted to respond with 'Well, then why haven't you set a wedding date yet?', but that might give Reed the answer he's seeking. That would be helping Reed, and Johnny wasn't about to do that.
"You broke my sister's heart the first time you dated, and I won't let you break her heart again!" Johnny exclaimed.
Reed admired how Johnny was unwilling to give up in spite of the fact that he couldn't even move. Even so, Reed was getting somewhat irritated that he wasn't getting through to Johnny.
"For the last time, I love Sue! Yes, she and I got into a fight, but every couple is bound to fight every now and then. That doesn't mean we can't work things out! We can work things out. We will work things out," Reed said.
"How can you work things out if you don't know what Sue wants? How can you work things out if you don't even know what you did wrong?" Johnny countered.
"Then tell me what Sue wants. Tell me what I did wrong," Reed pleaded.
Johnny scoffed at Reed's request. If it was even possible, Reed's patience with Johnny became even thinner.
"You know for someone as intelligent as you are, you sure can be clueless! I'm not about to provide you with the inside scoop on how to win over my sister or cheer her up. Figure it out yourself!" Johnny remarked.
Reed was tired of Johnny defying him. 'I'm his leader! He's supposed to do what I say!' Reed thought to himself.
"Reed? What are you doing? Let the kid go!" Ben shouted.
Reed saw that he and Johnny were no longer alone in the living room. Ben had a very bewildered expression on his face like he didn't know what to make of the situation. Reed's body slithered like a serpent as he uncoiled his body and let Johnny go. Johnny headed to his room but not before giving Reed a venomous glare. When, it was just Ben and Reed in the room, Ben confronted Reed.
"What were you thinking? I come into the living room and see Johnny covered from head to toe in flame retardant. I see you entangled him with your body. You better not have hurt him—" Ben said before he was interrupted by Reed.
"I didn't hurt him. The only thing I probably hurt is his pride," Reed stated.
"Like I was saying, you better not have hurt him because if you did, and Sue was to find out, you'd be in deep trouble," Ben finished.
Ben saw for the first time that Reed's jaw was starting to turn black and blue. He couldn't believe he didn't notice that when he first walked in.
"How'd you get that?" Ben asked pointing to Reed's jaw.
"Johnny. He wasn't exactly open to the idea of helping me patch things up with Sue," Reed explained.
Ben thought back to when he and Reed fought with one another. Reed had managed to prevail in that encounter as well just like he got the better of Johnny in their altercation. 'I guess that's why he's our leader,' Ben thought to himself.
"Speaking of Sue, do you know where she went?" Reed asked.
"No. All Johnny told me was that she went out," Ben answered.
Reed felt miserable. The Fantastic Four were falling apart at the seams. He knew that he played a major role in that. 'At least you were able to get some information out of Johnny. At least you are on good terms with him,' Reed thought to himself while looking at Ben.
"Well, nevertheless, I'm going to go look for her," Reed said.
Ben watched as Reed got into the elevator. He hoped that Reed and Sue would be able to work things out. As things stood now, Ben felt that the Fantastic Four were four individuals instead of a cohesive team. Ben hoped that would change very soon.
To Be Continued…
So finals week at my college started yesterday. I actually had one final yesterday, and I also had a final this morning. That is why I didn't update sooner. My next final isn't until Tuesday, but I do still have two finals left to take, so I am not certain when I will get the next chapter up as the two finals I have left to take are cumulative, and thus, I have a ton of studying to do. I want to thank everyone who read and/or reviewed the first chapter. I also want to thank in advance anyone who will read and/or review this chapter. Feel free to let me know what you think in a review. No flames please.