There is one remarkable similarity to a scene in the Avengers if you squint. Believe me when I tell you I had this chapter written long before the movie came out.

Thanks for all your kind words! Enjoy the next chapter!

Ben had been watching Johnny's ascent, unable to shake the feeling that something was seriously wrong with the kid. He was having a hard time staying upright while Norrin healed Sue—not that Ben was supposed to have noticed—and he seemed paler than he had been before his fight with Doom. Considering how fair-skinned the kid was to begin with, he was almost ghost-white now. But they had needed him to fight Victor and, by extension, save the world (wow, would that cliché ever get old?) so Ben hadn't stopped him. That didn't mean Johnny wasn't going to get a serious reaming when he landed for taking such risks.

So, when he hadn't seen the flames return, he began to worry. He squinted in the general direction the two flyboys had left in and eventually saw a Johnny-sized mass falling without any sign of slowing.

His eyes widened and he was on his feet before he could register the thought that Johnny was falling and wasn't flaming on.

"Reed!" Ben shouted, breaking into a run as he tried to track Johnny's path.

"JOHNNY!" he heard Sue scream. His eyes never leaving the falling Storm, he dug his heels into the ground, sending concrete flying in all directions, right under where he believed Johnny would land. A bluish tarp flashed over his hands and Ben saw Reed sprawled out above him, creating a buffer between Johnny and Ben's rough, rocky exterior.

The younger Storm smashed into Reed, bouncing high into the air before landing firmly in Ben's arms. Ben almost immediately placed the Torch on the ground, tilting back his head to allow him to breathe more easily.

Sue pulled herself to her knees, yelping as her muscles refused the movement. She pushed past the stiffness and scrambled towards her brother.

"Sue," Reed couldn't help but warn before his fiancé fixed him with an icy glare and gently palpated her brother's neck for a pulse.

She held her breath, praying that she would feel the movement beneath her fingers. A second later, she did. His pulse was shallow and thready, but it was present.

"He's alive!" she shouted, pulling his head into her lap and carding her fingers through his hair. Her head was bent, her hair cascading down in front of her, hiding Johnny from sight, yet both Ben and Reed were able to see one lonely tear trickle slowly down her cheek.

"And he needs a doctor!"

Reed snapped into action, not at all hurt by Susie's underlying meaning that he was not equipped to handle this situation. And to be fair, he wasn't—he was a physicist, thoroughly untrained in the field of medicine.

He hauled himself upright, restoring his limbs to their rightful positions, discarding the ache in his midsection from Johnny's landing. He hurried down the street until he found the first bystander who was poking his head over the ruined knick-knack cart.

"Where's the nearest hospital?" Reed demanded.

The man stared at Reed in shock and began mumbling incoherently in his native language.

"Hospital," Reed mimed walking with crutches.

"My friend," he pointed to Johnny, "is hurt," he held his arm disjointedly away from his body, trying to convey the notion of injury.

The man continued to babble for a moment before throwing up his hands and dashing in the opposite direction.

"Forget it," Reed mumbled, stretching upwards. He ignored the shouting of the shocked workers as he shot past the multi-level houses and office buildings to a height where he had a relatively unobstructed view of the city. He glanced around and was able to see a red X marking a vertical landing pad on top of a building not too far away.

He felt a pounding against his calf and looked down to see Ben punching his leg, motioning wildly to a blob next to him.

"REED!" Ben's voice travelled faintly up to his current height.

Recognizing the urgency in his voice, the scientist quickly retracted himself to find the Thing one step behind an elderly Chinese man carrying a black medicine bag and speaking rapidly into a cell phone.

"Thank God!" Reed murmured as he followed suit.

The doctor crouched beside the Storms, slamming his cell closed. He pulled out a thermometer from his bag and was about to stick it in Johnny's mouth when Reed stretched out and pulled the hand back.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he explained.

"Correct," the man nodded, putting the thermometer back into his bag. "Human Torch temperature very high. Medical mystery."

He began performing a full body examination, muttering in a mixture of Mandarin and English as he did so.

"Possible fracture zygomatic, broken sixth, seventh ribs left side," he spoke loudly, as he sensed the rest of the team waiting for answers, "we worry about lung, major inflammation right knee, multiple contusions."

He fingered Johnny's carotid artery, stared at his watch, his mouth moving softly with the count. Then, he pulled a stethoscope from his bag and listened to Johnny breath.

"Bradycardic. Slight wheeze. He need hospital. STAT."

"Who should I…"

"They on way," the doctor extracted a clear IV drip, swabbed the back of Johnny's hand and deftly inserted the needle. "For Mr. Storm, they rush plenty."

Sue looked up from her brother's bruised form. "Thank you," she whispered, continuing to rub her thumb in soothing circles on his uninjured cheekbone.

Sure enough, the paramedics were there within minutes. They fitted Johnny with a neck brace before strapping him to a spinal board. Susan automatically followed her brother into the ambulance, shooting a quick glance towards Reed wondering how they would manage.

"We'll be fine, Susie," Reed nodded, slamming the doors of the ambulance closed. "You just take care of Johnny."

He quickly went up to the driver's seat. "Check her out as well," he pleaded. "She was in the same accident that he was. She probably won't let you do it, but you—"

"Consider it done," the driver nodded, checking the rearview mirror one final time before pulling away.

"When are they…"

Ben rolled his eyes and buried his head in his hands. "Soon Susie. They'll let us know as soon as they have something."

Sue nodded, blinking back tears. "Of course. You're right. I just—"

Ben reached out and took her small hand between his, patting it very gently. "I know Susie. He's your brother."

"That stupid jerk didn't tell us he was injured—why didn't he tell us he was hurt?" She began to speak more loudly as she became more agitated.

She pulled her hand from Ben's and began to gesticulate animatedly. "That's so unlike him, you know? Every little thing—paper cut, skinned knee, you name it—it was such a big deal, but stuff like this, he hides?" Ben smoothly nodded to the ED nurses who were shooting Sue death glares. "As soon as the doctors figure out what's wrong with him, I'm gonna kill him."

Ben took her hand once again and carefully wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. "It'll all be okay Sue. Reed's in there doing everything he can, and Johnny, he's a fighter. Trust me: he's not done living yet."

Sue nodded and nestled her head into Ben's chest. "He better not be."

The Thing nodded, tightening his grasp around the female Storm, but only slightly.

He continued to hold her as her breathing slowed and he felt her slack against him in sleep. Unable to sleep himself, he began people-watching. The room was packed full, but in the hours they had been there, it had begun to slow. The public had been either cognizant enough, or fearful enough, to give Ben and Susan a bit of space.

"Pwease momma! Pwease!" he heard a little boy wail.

"No, you can't go over there!" A Caucasian mother whispered sharply to her son. She was barely maintaining a grasp on her young son, who had a Fantastic Four band-aid on his forehead. He was trying desperately to extract himself from his mother who had a firm grip on his one wrist and was stretching himself as far as possible, reaching towards The Thing with his free arm. "He's clearly busy."

Ben smiled. "It's okay, miss. He can come over here if he wants to. And if it's okay with you," he added after a quick pause.

"Are you sure, sir?" The mother still looked concerned. "I don't want to be disturbing you."

"He'd be a welcome distraction," Ben motioned with his free arm. The child bounded away from his mother, promising to be nice, and crashed into the seat next to Ben, splaying his upper body over the plastic as he tried to pull himself up.

"Careful little fella," Ben laughed, reaching out his hand. The boy's eyes widened and he crawled into Ben's hand, allowing Ben to lift him into the seat.

"Thank you, Mister Thing," he said politely, his eyes still the size of saucers.

"So what's your name, squirt?"

"I Chris," the boy declared, pointing to his chest. "And…and…and dat my bruder Jake. He gots hurted falling down stairs." He whipped around and pointed toward the second child his mother was clutching tightly to her chest. The younger brother was fast asleep, his eyes swollen and red from crying.

The mom caught The Thing's stare. "It's probably a sprained arm, but I just wanted to be sure. It's our last night here and I don't want it to be a problem on the flight home."

"Yeah," Chris was practically bouncing in his seat. "We hewr visiting my daddy. He working."

"I don't think Mr. Grimm wants to hear about Dad's work, honey," the mother informed her son.

"Oh, sowwy," the boy quieted. For a split second.

"Dat the In…in…Insibivle woman?" he questioned, leaning in towards Sue.

Ben nodded, pushing Susie's hair out of her face. "But you have to speak quietly, she's sleeping."

"N' I'm not," Sue mumbled, forcing her eyes open. "Hey there," she greeted the child.

"Hi," Chris replied, his chubby cheeks turning tomato red.

"What's your name?" she asked as she straightened up and yawned into the back of her hand.

"Chris," the boy answered softly.

"It's very nice to meet you Chris," she smiled warmly. "You want to know something?"

The boy nodded eagerly.

"You look just like my brother Johnny when he was little."

Chris's jaw literally fell open. "I looked like the Torch?"

Sue nodded.

"DAT'S SO COOL!" Chris shouted, jumping to his feet and fist pumping the air.

"Christopher!" his mother reprimanded and the boy immediately stilled but didn't look the least bit apologetic. He plopped down, his little legs swinging back and forth enthusiastically.

"Where is Mr. Johnny?"

Sue barely managed to keep the sadness out of her face. "Well, Chris, he got hurt on our last mission."

"Just like my broder?"

Sue glanced over and saw the younger brother curled into his mother's arms. "Just like your brother."

"Weld, I hoped he feeled better. He my fav'rite," Chris announced quietly.

"Jake Evans?" A nurse called from the other side of the room.

"That's us, honey," the mother announced. "You say thank you to Mr. Grimm and Ms. Storm for putting up with you."

The boy saddened as he slid off the chair. "Thank you very much. I had the bestest time."

"So did we," Ben smiled.

"Christopher!"

The boy dragged his feet as he headed away from the members of the Fantastic Four.

"You guys really cool," he said before turning and hurrying to catch up to his mother.

Sue laughed and waved until the boy passed into the patient's rooms.

"Any word on Johnny?" she questioned the second he was gone.

"Nothing Susie, but it's only been a half hour or so. Give them some time."

"Okay, yeah, sure. You're right. Again."

She was quiet for a moment. "God, Chris was cute, huh?"

Ben shrugged. "I guess."

"He really did look just like Johnny. That same hair—refused to lay flat, no matter how much gel I had in it."

Sue's eyes snapped up as she recognized the distinct footsteps approaching. Without looking, she threw herself into her fiancé's arms, wrapping her arms so tightly around his chest that he actually thinned until she was practically holding nothing.

"How is he, Reed?" she asked, her head buried in his shoulder.

"Mrpph," was all the scientist could manage in his current position.

Sue tweaked her head and loosened her grip when she saw how tightly she was holding him. "Sorry," she apologized.

"Get to it, Stretch," Ben growled from his still seated position. "Is Matchstick gonna be okay?"

"Johnny will be fine. He managed to break two of his ribs, but not his cheekbone. His knee is so swollen they couldn't run an MRI but the initial ACL test came back negative, so its unlikely he tore it, though there is a small chance the test was wrong, as with all tests of that nature…" he trailed off as he saw Sue's mortified expression.

"But there's a great chance it is completely accurate," he quickly amended. "They're looking to run another one in a few days as soon as the swelling goes down. He managed to crack his left radius, so they are going to cast it, just in case. And…"

"There's more?" Ben spoke up, anger at the Torch for hiding all these injuries creeping into his tone.

"Just one more thing. He's also suffering from a very minor respiratory infection, nothing too serious, but—"

"I thought Johnny couldn't get sick," Sue interrupted.

"His body temperature is high enough to burn the 'bugs'," Reed paused to use the air quotes on that particular phrase, "on impact, but the events of the last week, especially the flux of his powers, probably weakened his immune system enough to leave him susceptible to a chest cold. He is on steroids as a preventative manner as well as IV antibiotics to ward off any further infections. All in all, if we can keep him resting for a few days, given his unusually fast healing rate, he should be back to normal within one to two weeks. Maybe sooner."

"Oh thank God, Reed," Sue wrapped her arms around him again. "He's going to be okay!" she cried, the tears she had been holding back now falling freely.

"When can we see him?"

"He's resting now," Reed continued, rubbing his hands in circles on Sue's back. "But…the nurses have granted you special permission, given what you have just done for their city. He's in room 237."

"What are we waiting for?" Ben declared, creaking off of the once-horizontal waiting room benches that had dipped considerably under his weight.

They walked in anxious silence, pausing right outside of Johnny's room when Reed shot out his arm, barricading the door.

"Just one more thing," he began.

"So help me Reed, if it's another injury…" Sue began.

"No, no, nothing like that. This is good news. His most recent encounter with the Silver Surfer must have restored his balance. His tests, though still below his norm, are much closer to his pre-Surfer results than the last batch. Considering the fact that the two of you didn't switch powers when you touched, I'd say Johnny is cured. In that regard at least."

"I could kiss you," Sue breathed, resting her hands on the side of Reed's face and drawing him close.

"Um," Ben backed up awkwardly while the two embraced. "I'd really like to see Matchstick, if that's okay with you two lovebirds."

"He's really going to be okay, Ben!" Sue practically shouted, pulling away from Reed and slipping open Johnny's door.

She bit her lip as her gaze landed on Johnny's unusually still form. With only a moment's hesitation, she dashed to his bedside and laid the back of her hand against his cheek, exhaling deeply as she felt the warmth under her touch. She lowered her arm and grabbed Johnny's hand, clutching it tightly.

She heard chairs screeching and felt one just behind the backs of her knees. Nodding her thanks, she settled in next to her team, waiting for her brother to wake up.