Chapter 2
I woke up to the sound of a beeping monitor. The bed I was laying in was soft and warm. I looked around at my surroundings and noticed I was in a hospital. To my right there was a single rose in a light pink glass vase. There was no note and no name, so I had no idea who it was from. Perhaps my uncle or maybe Reed wishing me to get well.
I got up out of bed and put on a hospital robe to cover my gown I wore. I walked out of my bedroom and turned into a man. I nearly knocked into him before I looked up.
"Hey, I was just coming to check up on you." Johnny said with a smile. "How are you doing?"
I smiled lightly before answering him. "I think I am okay…I feel fine."
There was a pause before he turned into his normal flirty self. "I could make sure you feel better."
"If that was the case, I'm fine doing that myself." I said and gave him an I can be like that too look.
"You've never had the Johnny experience." He said and got really close to my face.
"And I don't want it. I am fine." I turned my face away. "How is my uncle?" I was afraid to know if he was dead.
Johnny put a hand on my shoulder, soothing me a little. "He is fine. Don't worry…all of us are okay."
"You're okay?" I asked with a questioning and worried look.
"Aw, are you worried about me? How sweet!" Johnny teased, giving me a huge grin.
I pushed his shoulder with a smile on my face. "Asshole."
The next day I was wearing my normal clothes. A dark grey t-shirt with blue jeans. I wasn't one for fashion.
I was making my way down the hall when I saw Johnny. He had a coat and snow pants on and a snowboard at his side. I noticed that he saw me and made his way over to me.
"And where do you think you're going?" I asked and put my hands on my hips. "We are supposed to be staying inside. We are under quarantine." I said.
"Yeah….but I've never been good with rules." He said and gave me a wink.
"Oh, trust me I know that. You've always been trouble." I replied and walked down the hallway with Johnny.
"Trouble is my middle name." Johnny said and nudged my arm.
"Johnny you really should stay ins-…" I was interrupted by Mr. Flirtyman.
"Okay, I can't stay in here. It's driving me insane. If you want…" He stopped and I with him. "I can take you. Consider it a date it you want."
"You and I…on a date?" I looked at him like he was crazy. "My uncle would have your head."
"Look, how long will it take you to get ready?" He asked me and I rolled my eyes. "Come on…tell me."
"I don't know…maybe twenty minutes tops." I said as I shrugged my shoulders.
"Okay, you meet me outside in twenty minutes." He said as he zipped up his coat. "Oh by the way did you get my flower?"
"Flow-….you?!" I asked shocked.
"Yes, why is that hard to believe?" Johnny asked with a slight frown.
"You're the last person, besides Victor, that I thought would give me a flower." I gave him a slight smile. "Thank you, it was sweet."
"So it's settled then. We're going on a date." He leaned over and quickly kissed my lips. "See you outside in twenty!" He called out as he walked away from me.
I stood there dumbfounded. Johnny Storm just kissed me. What the fuck?
I was dressed and ready to go on this so called date with Johnny. I looked at myself in the mirror. My dark brown hair was getting to be a little longer than what I was used to. Before I put it up in a ponytail, it went past my shoulder blades. I wore no makeup. I looked at my light baby blue eyes and gave myself a small smile. I liked my eyes.
I looked at my lips. Johnny kissed me. That was my first time ever kissing someone. I felt a slight tingle from my lips. They had a nice curve for the bottom lip and my top lip had a soft cupids bow. I looked at the time and saw it was almost time to so meet Johnny.
We flew in a helicopter together, I sat beside him. It's been so long since I have skied, I was nervous that I forgot how to. I leaned over to shout at him.
"Thank you for inviting me!" I shouted.
He gave me a wide smile. "No problem, Babe! Okay, so you're gonna want to stay to the right. The left might give you trouble."
I don't know what came over me. I just wanted to have fun and play with him a little. "Last one down gets to be the winner's bitch for a day!" I shouted before jumping down onto the snow, skiing away.
It took a while before Johnny caught up to me. I looked over at him and he had a huge smile on his face. I couldn't help but feel like I was one of the reasons for creating that smile.
"You're losing, Storm!" I shouted at him.
"Alright, no more kid stud!" He shouted and tried to get in front of me.
From the corner of my eye I saw a red and orange flare. I turned to find out that Johnny was on fire.
"Johnny!" I shouted. "You're on fire!"
"Thanks, you're pretty good too!" He shouted back.
"No, I mean you're actually on fire!" I shouted in a panicked voice.
He tried to pat out the flames but I lost control of my skis. After getting back to my feet I made my way over to where Johnny was. He was in a pool of melted snow. Steam came off of him and the water. His face showed how confused he was and looked up at me.
"Care to join me?" He asked.
"Johnny, if you wanted me in a hot tub…all you had to do was ask." I teased.
He gave me a smirk. "Well, how about this one? We're alone."
"Yes we are, but you are naked and hot. I would freeze and there's no way I would get naked." I said and took off my coat to give to him. "Here put this around your man bits."
"Man bits? What you can't say dick? Or penis? Or cock?" He asked, teasing me.
"Fine, take my coat so you can hide your dick. Better?" My eyebrow was raised and he laughed.
"I'd love to hear you say cock. I think it would be hot." He stood up and locked his lips.
Before I looked away I saw part of his shaft where his dick and body met at. I couldn't help but notice that he saved his crotch.
"Woah! You could have warned me you were going to stand!"
"That would beat the purpose of you seeing it." He said. By the tone of his voice, he was smirking.
"I don't want to see it." I replied back.
"Oops?" He said.
Johnny and I ran into a dining area. Good job, Genius. You could have gone to your room to get clothes on first.
"Hey guys! You'll never believe what just happened!" They both looked down at the coat. "What?" He looked down as well. The sleeves of my cost were right where his dick would be. Again good job. "Well, I can explain this."
Johnny explained what happened and Sue and Reed looked at each other with knowing looks. All four of us were walking to Ben's room. I looked over at Johnny, who was snapping his fingers. His thumb would catch on fire but burn out quickly.
Finally he was able to keep the flame up. He waddled his way over to Sue and Reed.
"Woah, guys look!" He said as he kept snapping his fingers. Sue and Reed were in shock. "Now, picture that…" He then moved his free arm around, flailing it over his body. "but everywhere. It was…everywhere!"
"The cloud has fundamentally altered our D.N.A…" Reed said and Johnny let out a laugh.
"Cool! And do you know what? I think I was flying!"
Sue looked over at me. "What has happened to you?"
"…Nothing…" I said with a frown. "Everything is normal. I'm not bursting into flames, turning invisible, or stretching. I'm just me…" I couldn't help but be slightly jealous.
As we made our way to the door, Sue was getting irritated with Johnny. He kept on snapping his fingers over and over again to create flame.
"I said cut it out, Johnny." Sue warned but he continued.
"Still getting the hand of it." Johnny replied.
Sue turned around and pointed her finger at him. She gave him the I am your sister and you better listen to me look. "Stop."
"Alright." Johnny said as he held up his free hand in defeat.
"Alright?" Sue repeated.
"Yes!" Johnny said exasperatedly.
God!" Sue said irritated.
"God!" Johnny repeated back. These two are so fun to watch.
"What's wrong with you?!" Sue snapped at him.
"What?" Johnny replied back, not sure what he did wrong.
"Sue, do you know the code?" Reed interrupted their fight.
Reed was pounding on the door to Ben's room. He locked the door and all we heard was grunting, groaning and roaring.
"Just break the glass. It can't be that thick!" Johnny said with a raised voice.
Reed stuck his arm under the door, stretching it and eventually unlocking the door. Slowly his arm made it back to him and he looked at the rest of us shocked.
"That's gross…" Johnny said with a disgusted face.
There was a loud crash and thud noise. Some alarm beeped and we all ran into my uncle's bedroom. There was a huge hole in the wall and no Ben.
"Look! Look, look, look, look!" Johnny said as he pointed outside. "What is that thing?"
"What's going on?" We all turned to find Victor in the room. "What happened in here?"
"Ben did this. He's had some kind of reaction to exposer from the cloud." Reed answered.
"We all have different symptoms…" Sue began to say.
"Just find him." Victor said and walked away.
"Anybody got any ideas where the big guy's going?" Johnny asked, leaning against the wall.
"…I think he's going home…" I muttered as I saw a picture of him and his wife. I felt a lump in my throat and Reed put his hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry, Ashlyn. I'll get your uncle back." Reed said in a soothing voice.
"I wish…" I sighed out heavily. "I know she won't accept him if the thing we saw in the woods was him."
"Why do you say that?" Sue asked.
"I know how she is…trust me. She'll break his heart." I turned to Reed. "We need to go, now."
We didn't find Ben that night. So the very next day we went out looking for him. Johnny and I were in our own taxi while Sue and Reed were in theirs.
"So, about that kiss…" Johnny said and I turned my head to look at him.
"What kiss?" I asked confused until I remembered. "Oh! What about it?"
"What did you think about it?" He asked me. "Is it something you'd want again?" Johnny's hand made its way on my leg, slowly moving towards my inner thigh.
I grabbed his hand and held it, making sure he doesn't move it any further. "Johnny, please not now…I already have a lot on my mind."
"Right, sorry." Johnny muttered but didn't take his hand away.
I noticed he was tracing his thumb over my hand absentmindedly while he looked outside. I found this gesture very adorable.
"You know, the last time you held my hand was up in space." I mentioned with a small smile, trying to ease the tension.
He turned his head towards me and looked down at our entwined hands. Johnny let out a small laugh before he spoke. "I didn't even notice I was still holding your hand right now."
"Is that a good thing or bad thing?" I moved my free hand and poked his forehead. "Maybe you're just getting old and you're forgetting things."
He chuckled and rolled his eyes at me. "Oh, Shrimp you sure do know how to wound a man."
I couldn't help but smile proudly to myself. It's not that want to hurt Johnny, maybe just bring his ego down a smidge. I looked over to Johnny, who was staring out the window again. He looked to be deep in thought. I wondered what was bothering him.
The traffic stopped moving. No one was moving. Johnny and I saw Sue and Reed get out of their car. We looked to each other and I shrugged at him.
After removing our hands from each other, we got out of the taxi car and walked over to Sue and Reed. I had a gut feeling Ben had to of been the cause of this.
We made our way to the scene. There was Ben, causing a disturbance.
"What are we gonna do now?"
"We're not going to get past these guys…" Reed turned to Sue. "But you could."
Sue concentrated hard to become invisible. Once she did, we three were amazed by this.
"Sue, your clothes…" Reed said and looked embarrassed. "Lose them."
"Oh. Right." Sue said as she started to take off her pants and shirt.
"This is so wrong." Johnny mumbled.
"You're right, I wish it was you instead." I mumbled back at him.
He gave me this mischievous grin and a playful wink. "That could happen anytime you want, Babe."
I tried so hard to not smile. Playing this game with Johnny was fun. It was harmless. There's no way Johnny and I would ever go down that road.
Slowly Sue started to fade back into her normal form. People gasped and Johnny and I turned our heads to look.
"Oh!" Johnny said and quickly turned his head away.
Sue was in her bra and underwear. She tried her best to hide under her arms.
"Wow. You've been working out…" Reed said in a trance.
"Shut up!" Sue said, embarrassed.
Now you notice her body, Reed?
"Got any more idea? Why don't you strip down and have a hundred people stare at you?" Sue said tensely, shifting from one foot to another. As she spoke, her body became invisible again.
"Sue…" Reed said and pointed at her.
"What? Oh…." Sue then continued to get naked.
"I'm gonna need therapy…" Johnny mumbled again.
Finding another moment to play, I mumbled back to him. "What kind of therapy are you hoping for?"
He looked over to me and gave me a teeth showing smile. "One that involves you…in my bed…"
"Building a fort?" I asked innocently, knowing how much of a butt I was being.
He looked at me dumbfounded before he started to laugh. "Shrimp, you are one of a kind."
"Hey you two, let's get out of here." Reed said, tapping Johnny's chest.
Johnny grabbed Sue's clothes and frowned when her bra was on top. "Great…"
Johnny and I were dodging people, trying to make our way to find Ben. There was a little girl all by herself. She looked petrified as she called out for her mother.
"Mom…Mom?" The little girl called out to her mom.
There was a loud exploding noise; Johnny quickly took the girl in his arms. He held her tightly while the fire went on him. I reached out, screaming as I watched Johnny consumed in flames.
When I reached out a pink shade of misty aura came from my hands. It wrapped around the fire and I along with Sue, pushed back the fire. I found the source of the explosion and lifted all the tanks out of the way so they wouldn't catch fire. I collapsed onto the ground onto my knees. All my strength was taken from me.
Johnny saw me fall to my knees and ran over towards me. He took me into his arms after tapping my face.
"Hey…stay with me, Shrimp." He said as he carried me towards Reed, Sue, and Ben.
I leaned my head on Johnny's chest, not able to hold it up anymore. I was so sleepy.
"Guys, we have a problem." I heard Johnny tell Reed and the others.
"What the hell happened?" I heard a deeper version of my uncle's voice talk.
"She was affected like us…" Johnny said and looked over to me. "She helped stop an explosion and now she's like this."
"Here, let's take her to see a medic. They are on their way." I heard Reed say.
Sue and I were checked out by medics. My strength was back, but I still felt a little weaker than before.
"Where are your ears?" I heard Johnny ask.
I turned my head and saw Johnny sitting across from this rock creature. I think it was my uncle. I slowly stood up and walked over to them.
Ben looked up at me and then turned away. I had a feeling he was embarrassed. I put my hand on one of his, feeling the hardness of rock instead of skin.
"I'm here, Ben." I said simply and it made him look up at me. "I'm not going anywhere. You're still my uncle and I still love you dearly."
He gave me a small smile, appreciating my words.
"How are you doing?" Johnny asked and I looked over at him.
"I feel better now. I don't really remember all of what happened…" I looked at my hands. "I think I lifted something with my mind though."
"We'll be testing our powers back at my place." Reed said as he came into the tent. "We will all be staying at my place."
"There are some folks outside that want to talk to you." Mentioned a cop.
"We're not going public with this…" Reed said as he put a hand up. "We're scientists, not celebrities."
"It's too late, son." He walked over to a TV, turning it on. "Look."
"-Became part of the tragedy. But the rescue itself is not the story. One of the five stretched to an amazing length. Another was a woman who raised an exploding tank into the air with her mind!" The person on the TV said.
They showed each of us on TV. I couldn't help but smile when I saw Johnny on TV.
"Cool!" Johnny said as he was leaving the tent.
"Where are you going?" Sue asked with a glare.
"I'm gonna go talk to them." Johnny said as he pointed to the outside.
"No!" Sue said.
"We should think this through…" Reed said to everyone.
"That's great. Brainstorm." Johnny said as he walked out of the tent.
"Get back here! Johnny!" Sue called out for him, following her brother.
I walked up beside Johnny. The news and a lot of people were either recoding us or taking our pictures. Johnny put his arm around me, bringing me to his body.
"Do you believe this?" Johnny asked me.
"Which one of you is the leader?" Asked a reporter.
Reed stepped forward, not really wanting to be the leader. "Uh, during out recent mission to the Von Doom space station, we were exposed to as yet unidentified radioactive energy."
"What happened on the bridge?"
"How can you stretch?"
"Are you two dating?" That question was towards Johnny and I.
I turned to look at Johnny. He was grinning like a little boy. "It's complicated." Johnny answered as he rubbed my back. "She's being difficult."
"You're doing this to get attention…aren't you?" I asked looking up at him.
"Your attention." He answered and stuck his tongue out at me.
"It's hard to ignore one with a huge mouth that never shuts up." I teased and he gave me a squeeze for a hug.
"There are times when I shut up. I can show you if you'd like?" He gave a suggested smile.
"If it involves anything sexual no…other than that I am in." I gave him a wink.
"We will be going directly to our lab to diagnose our symptoms." Reed said to the reporters.
"Symptoms? Is this a disease?" Asked a reporter.
"No! No, no, no! It's not a disease." Johnny looked at Reed and Sue who were giving him a look. "If having special powers is a disease, then yeah we got it bad."
"Excuse me. That thing doesn't look very fantastic." A reporter pointed over to my uncle.
I felt a surge of anger run through my body. I gripped tight to Johnny's jacket as I tried to calm down. I didn't know how to control my powers and I was afraid anger would cause me to use them.
"Ben Grimm is a genuine American hero." Reed answered as he touched his friend's shoulder.
"What he means is every team needs a mascot. A new day is dawning, the day of the Fantastic Five!"
I glared up at Johnny. How dare he say that about my uncle? I went to move out of his arms but he tightened his grip on me.
"Look, look! We went up to space to find a way to understand D.N.A., out disease, our lives on the line. Thank you…" He turned his body to walk away. "No more questions."
A/N: I'm super excited for this story! I hope you guys are enjoying it!
