Chapter 3:

(JPOV)

I was looked at the various milk selections, trying to decide on one, when suddenly I heard a strange sound. Sort of like a bug zapper. I quickly made my way back down the isle I came up through, and the first thing I saw was Sue standing there in a fighting stance, a small force field in front of her. As I turned the corner, I saw why. There he was, Victor Von Doom, standing there as calmly as ever, but there was something different this time. There was young girl, unconscious, on the floor in front of him.

"Victor." I said in disbelief, taking my place standing next to Sue.

He gave me a momentary glare, before raising his hands above his head and shooting his electricity from his fingertips, causing all the insulation, brick, and wood, in that spot in the ceiling to fall down in front of him. I rushed towards him, going to make sure the girl didn't get crushed. But my path was blocked off by all the falling debris. I was almost sure the girl was going to get crushed to death, but thankfully, Sue put up a force field over her to protect her. Once all the dust cleared away, and we could get a good view of the pile of rubble. We noticed that Victor had blown yet another hole in the building, his time in the back of the store. Sue lifted up her arms slightly, lifting the force field she created, and the young girl who was encased in it. She moved her so she was floating right about face level with me, and I stretched out my arms to catch her as Sue removed her force field.

"Oh god." she sighed, coming closer to us to examine the girl.

I couldn't help but study her features as she laid in my arms. She was a small girl, probably only about 120 pounds at most, and she couldn't have been any older than 16. Her hair was long, wavy, and a sort of chestnut brown color. Her facial features, as well as her body, were damn near perfect. All together, she had to be one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen.

Sue felt for a pulse, and quickly sighed in relief when she felt it. "Her pulse is strong, and she seems to be breathing alright. We just got to wait until she wakes up." Sue explained

"Well, what are we gonna do with her? We can't just leave her here." I told her

"Well, I guess she will have to come back to the place." Sue shrugged. I nodded, and began walking towards the door, Sue walking right beside me. "We'll pay for that. I swear." she promised to the store clerk as we passed by him, before stepping out the door. We walked over to my car, and I carefully placed the girl in the backseat, before climbing into the drivers side. We drove for a good 20 minutes before we finally made it back to the Baxter building. I opened the door, and climbed out before carefully lifting the girl into my arms. I carried her small form through the lobby, and waiting for Sue to press the elevator buttons so we could go up. Once the doors opened, we stepped into the elevator, and waited until they opened once again and opened to reveal Reed's large apartment.

"Reed!" Sue called out to her husband

"Hey, Sue. You guys got back…" Reed said as he walked around the corner, stopping in his tracks when he saw the girl. "What happened?" he asked, rushing towards us.

"Von Doom happened." I said flatly

"Victor? What did he do?" Reed asked, checking her pulse, and breathing quickly

"He was just talking to her about something, and then he shocked her with his electricity once we tried to help her." Sue explained

"What would Victor want with a young, teenaged girl like this?" Reed asked, confused at the story.

"I don't know. But it didn't seem like they knew each other." Sue said with a slight shrug.

"Well, Johnny, can she stay in your bed to rest until she wakes up?" Reed asked me carefully

I was about to answer him, but as if on cue, the girl began to wiggle slightly in my arms, her body curling up closer to my chest. I couldn't help but smile at the soft sound she made as she got more comfortable. "Yeah. Definitely."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Susan give me a look, and then share a glance with Reed. I wasn't sure what they meant by it, but I had a strong feeling I was gonna find out.

"Okay. You go take her to your room, and don't hesitate to come find us if anything changes with her." Reed said, wrapping his arm around Sue's waist

I nodded silently, and walked past them, heading to the other wing of the apartment, to my bedroom. I carefully used my left hand to open the door, making sure I was still supporting the girl. I pushed in the door, and walked inside, quickly going to my bed and setting her down on it gently. I pulled back the blanket and sheets, and then carefully adjusted her so she was underneath them.

I moved so I was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her with a small smile. I sighed, before moving so I was sitting in a chair on the other side of the room, making sure I still had a good view of her. She just looked so damn peaceful as she slept. But I can't even imagine how much better she'll look once she's awake…

(SPOV)

I gasped softly as my body was suddenly awakened. My eyes slowly fluttered open, and my hand flew to my head. Damn, my head hurt. In fact, everything hurt. What happened to me anyway?

I began to look around the room, and I didn't recognize it. The walls were painted a light blue, and there was a large bookcase off to my left. And to the right there was a desk, with a rolling office chair, and a plain black Toshiba laptop sitting on it. Over on the side opposite to me was just a simple, plain, chair. I groaned softly and pushed myself into a sitting position, but soon after was hit with a shock of pain in my back, and fell back on the bed with an, oomph.

Soon after, a man dashed into the room, stopping once he saw me awake. It took me a moment, but I soon realized who he was. It was Johnny Storm. Oh god…

"Hey." he said softly

I blinked a few times before smiling slightly, "Hi."

"You feeling alright?" he asked me softly, moving over to sit on the edge of the bed.

I shrugged, sitting up slightly so I was resting on my elbows. "I'm alright I guess. I'm kinda sore though."

"I can imagine." he nodded. We sat there in silence for a few moments before he spoke up again. "So, you want something to eat or anything?"

I thought to myself for a moment, "Uhh… Sure. What do you guys have?"

"Anything you want." he shrugged

"Well… I could really go for a glass of milk. But I'm not really that hungry." I told him

"Okay. I'll be right back." he said, standing up from his spot on the bed, and walking out of the room.

I yanked the covers off, and scooted off the bed. I stood up, and slowly began to pace around, just examining his room. I walked over to the large brown bookcase that was pressed against the wall. There, of course, weren't any books, but there were some pictures. I picked up of them, looking at it carefully. It was a picture of two young, blonde, children, one slightly older than the other. They were playing in a small kiddie pool, a large turtle floaty sitting in the pool with them. I wasn't sure, but I figured it was a picture of Johnny and Sue when they were younger. I smiled to myself and placed it back where I got it. My smile soon faded as I saw one of the other ones. I picked it up, and began to examine it as well. It was a picture of Johnny and some girl. She was pretty, I'll give her that. She had long blonde hair, and bright green eyes that we're really brought out by her lilac eye shadow. Johnny was giving her a kiss on the cheek, and she seemed to be enjoying it. I sighed and put the picture back on the shelf, and turned around to walk back to the bed. Right as I turned around is when Johnny entered, carrying a glass of juice in his hand.

"Hey, we're out of milk. But I found some apple juice if that's okay?" he said, handing me the glass of juice.

I gave him a small smile and accepted the beverage. "Thank you." I said, taking a sip of the delicious drink.

"No problem." he said with a nod, "Uh… I gotta go and get some shit done soon. But you can just chill out here if you'd like. I'm sure Ben, Sue, and Reed can keep you entertained."

I bit my lip lightly, and rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly, "Umm… No it's fine. I've gotta get heading home anyway. My mom's probably worried."

"Oh, okay. You need a ride?"

"Uhh… No. I'll be okay." I say, finishing off the last bit of my apple juice. Johnny nodded and took the glass from me as I held it out to him. "So, I guess I'll be going now."

"Yeah. I guess so." Johnny agreed solemnly

I sighed and gave Johnny one last smile before heading out of his room, "Bye, Johnny.", I walked through the large apartment, and called the elevator. Before I knew it, I was walking out of the Baxter Building… Forever.

Woo! I'm finally starting to figure out exactly what is gonna happen, so it should be getting better. R&R3