Disclaimer: I do not own the Fantastic Four, Marvel, the Silver Surfer, etc.

Thanks to Naruto-Yaoi-Fanchick and chipmunk87 for reviewing. It really encourages me to right more.

Chapter 3:

"My inside sources tell me that the unlucky bride-to-be, Sue Storm, turned invisible and it seems she's staying that way after yesterday's embarrassing fiasco. Coming up next, the Invisible Woman's greatest fashion blunders and an impromptu dance routine from former scientist, Reed Richards."

Sue stared helplessly at the reporter on the television as Reed came in and grabbed the control. He switched off the TV and turned to Sue.

"Why do you keep watching this? Just ignore it."

Sue looked up, frustrated, "I can't ignore it, Reed. There's no getting away from it!"

Johnny stopped outside the room and listened in on the conversation.

"I believe there is," said Reed.

"How?" asked Sue, as Reed shrugged his shoulders, "See? No answer."

Reed looked at Sue seriously, "Yes there is. What if, after this crisis is over, we leave it all behind?"

Sue raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

Johnny listened more intently with a frown on his face.

"We move out of the Baxter building. I'll take a teaching position somewhere – get back to my research. The two of us will live our lives and raise a family like normal people."

Sue looked at Reed with adoration, "You would do that?"

"Nothing is more important to me than our future together."

"Thank-you," she said, hugging Reed then her expression changed as she realised something, "What about the others?"

Reed shrugged, "They'll understand. Besides, Johnny's always been more of a solo act."

Johnny resisted the urge to storm in there and punch Reed in the face. He leaned against the wall, still listening.

"Let's not mention it to them yet," said Sue, "Johnny's got enough to worry about as it is, with his power problems and Harri..." Sue trailed off.

Reed looked up at her questioningly, "What about Harri?"

Johnny leaned towards the opening of the room so he could listen properly.

"Well, don't tell Johnny, but a few days ago, Alicia and I took Harriet to see a doctor and...well...she's pregnant," said Sue.

Reed smiled slightly, "That's great!"


Johnny was searching in every room. He couldn't find her anywhere. He couldn't believe that she didn't tell him that she was pregnant. He was furious. He didn't know what he would do but he had to see Harriet. He found her sitting with Ben and Aliciain one of the games rooms.

"You're pregnant!?" shouted Johnny as he stormed in.

Harriet looked at him in fear, "I, er, how did you-"

"It doesn't matter how I know! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry," cried Harriet standing up, "I was waiting for the right time."

Johnny scowled at her and pulled his hand away from her as she attempted to comfort him.

"This is just great," he said sarcastically, "first you're pregnant, then Sue and Reed want to break up the team..."

"What? What do they expect us to do? Keep it going just the three of us?" asked Ben.

"And call ourselves what? The Terrific Trio? Besides, I doubt that Harriet would be able to carry on now!" snapped Johnny.

Harriet got angry, "Hey! Stop acting like this is a bad thing! And maybe the fact that Sue and Reed want to break up the team is a good thing. It means that we can have more time to raise a child!"

"When were they gonna tell us?" growled Ben, ignoring Harriet.

Johnny shrugged. Harriet stormed out, realising that her views were being ignored, that, and she was craving more cookies.

"They'll tell you when they're ready to tell you," said Alicia, "it's their decision, not yours. You can't be mad at them for doing what makes them happy. And Johnny, Harriet needs you right now. She can't take care of a baby on her own."

Johnny was about to respond when Reed walked in.

"Guys," he said, "we've got a serious problem. Get Harriet and meet me in the lab."

Ben found Harriet wolfing down a box of chocolate chip cookies in the kitchen. He chuckled.

"Reed wants us all in the lab," he told her.

Harriet nodded and walked with him, keeping the box of cookies with her.

"So you're pregnant, huh?" said Ben, "Congratulations."

"Thanks," sighed Harriet, "I wish Johnny would be more supportive. I'm scared enough and I don't want to do this alone."

"Harri, you know that no matter what, we're all here to support you," said Ben, giving her a hug, "do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?"

"No, it's only the ninth week, I should be able to tell by about the eleventh or twelfth week."

They entered the lab and saw Reed, Sue and Johnny looking up at the screen hanging from the ceiling. Harriet pulled her box of cookies closer to her as Johnny looked around. He caught her eye and looked away. Harriet stood next to Reed with Ben on the other side of her. Reed smiled at her knowingly and then went on to explain what he had found.

"I cross-referenced the Surfer's radiation through every astronomical database: Altair 7, Rigel 3, Vega 6."

"He's been to all these planets?" asked Ben.

Reed nodded, "And now they're lifeless. Barren. Some even shattered. Everywhere the surfer goes, eight days later, the planet dies."

Everyone was silent. Reed looked at Sue sadly. Harriet glanced over at Johnny who was looking down. Ben put a hand on her shoulder.

"How are we gonna stop him?" he asked Reed, "We don't even know where he is."

Reed shook his head helplessly.

"What about the craters?" suggested Sue.

Reed pressed a few buttons and his face lit up, "They are appearing in a numerical sequence. The last crater was formed in Greenland so the next in the sequence should be latitude 51 degress, 30 minutes north, longitude zero degrees, seven minutes west."

"London?" said Harriet.

They all looked at her amazed.

"Hey, I know some science-y stuff!" she said, chomping down on her final cookie.

Reed smiled, "We have to go to London right now,"

"Er, I can't," said Harriet, glancing over at Johnny, "I have a scan later."

Reed nodded and smiled again, "Congratulations, by the way,"

Sue realised that Johnny knew and bit her lip. She dragged Harriet out of the lab and to her room so that she could get ready for her flight to London.

"How did he react?" asked Sue, searching for her costume.

"I think that the word 'horrified' is the most appropriate. Thank goodness that I didn't have to figure out a way to tell him though," she sighed and after seeing Sue's confused face she continued, "he overheard you and Reed when you were talking about breaking up the group."

Sue froze.

"Don't worry," said Harriet, "I'm fine with it. I'll need some time off anyway."


Harriet paced around the living room. Johnny and the others were going to be back any minute. Reed had called her and told her what had happened in London and how Von Doom was supposed to be helping them catch the Surfer. And now, Harriet had more news. This day was getting more eventful by the minute. The others walked into the living room and Harriet almost tripped in surprise.

"Careful," giggled Sue, holding her up, "how did the scan go?"

Harriet looked over at Johnny who looked really grumpy. She took a deep breath.

"I'm having twins," she said.

Sue clapped her hands in excitement and Reed smiled at her. Ben patted her gently on the shoulder. She looked at Johnny who seemed to be thinking hard. He got up and rushed out of the building. Harriet looked round at the others sadly and Ben ran after Johnny.

Ben had followed Johnny to a bar where they both immediately ordered drinks and headed straight to the dart board. Ben decided not to play as he didn't want to break anything. Instead, he watched Johnny. Johnny was silent for a while but he eventually spoke up.

"How can we be working on the same side as Victor?" asked Johnny, throwing the darts.

Ben sighed at first; he was hoping to talk about Harriet but it was clear that Johnny was avoiding the subject.

"You got me, pal," he said, "things were a lot simpler when I could just whale on the guy."

Johnny angrily threw a dart at the board, accidentally setting it on fire. He rushed forward with a drink and put it out. He turned towards the bartender.

"I'll pay for that."

He pulled out the darts from the board, "I've gotta tell you, Ben, I'm beginning to feel like a complete screw-up."

"Hey, hey, you're not a complete screw-up," said Ben.

"Thank-you," replied Johnny.

"Look, kid, it's out of our hands; it's up to the eggheads now. And about Harriet, she needs you. She is so scared about this whole pregnancy thing."

Johnny looked down, "Do you think Reed's right about the whole end-of-the-world thing?"

Ben sighed again, "He's never been wrong about this kind of thing before."

Johnny sat down across from Ben, "You know, I'm not exactly a deep kind of guy."

"Really?" said Ben sarcastically.

Johnny leaned forward, "But if Reed's right and this is it, how do you want to spend your last few minutes?"

It was serious question. Ben could see that Johnny was thinking about his own answer.

"Part of me would like to go out fighting," said Ben, "but the truth is, I'd like to spend my last couple of minutes holding Alicia."

Johnny nodded and smiled slightly. He thought hard; if this was the end would he want the same with Harriet?


Next chapter should be up fairly soon...there's not much more to go. Thanks for reading!