Johnny sighed, grinding his face into his hands once again. It had been a matter of minutes since Reed had gone into the delivery room, and already, Johnny was expecting news. Of course, he didn't know why. It was going to be a case of desperation and force if Reed left that room now that he was at Sue's side. He had to hand it to his brother-in-law, there was times when he was nervous and twitchy, but when Sue really needed him, he always came through for her.

"I wonder what's happening in there." He murmured, looking up, and feeling Ben's gaze upon him.

Ben was silent for a moment. He, too, was wondering what on Earth was happening on the other side of those doors. Especially now that the sound of Sue having a contraction seemed to have stopped, and it wasn't because of the sound of baby's cry. Instead, there was an uneasy silence that came from the room now, which seemed to echo all around them. "Someone will tell us eventually." He said in an usually small, yet still gruff, voice.

Johnny frowned impatiently. "I can't wait for 'eventually'." He complained, standing up and starting to pace around.

"Just calm down, kid." Ben tried, but Johnny looked at him wildly for suggesting the idea, and gesturing with his arm towards the door.

"That's my sister in there." He pointed out.

"Yeah." Ben nodded calmly. "And that's my best friend in there too."

They locked eyes for a moment, when they both came to the realisation that, in reality, each were waiting for news about the most important person in the world to them. Johnny may have grown up in his intelligent sister's shadow, but at the end of the day, after their mother died, she was the sole reason that he hadn't gone off the rails in his teenage years, and she had brought him back from a self-inflicted silence which he had fallen into immediately after their mothers dead. They were a team. Sue and Johnny. The siblings that fought like hell, but would do anything for each other. Ben, much the same, had a hard childhood, especially with the death of his brother Daniel, and Reed had always been there for him. Of course, Reed was always the smart one, and Ben the brawns of the pair, but they were a team, like Sue and Johnny, and they handled things together, whether it was their disastrous love lives, science projects, or bullying. They were both parts of teams within the main team, and it was hard for both of them to realise that each of their minority teams were on the other side of that door, completely blocked off from them, and any chance of being able to help.

Sighing heavily, Johnny stopped his momentary pacing, and fell back into the chair beside Ben. He picked up the coffee he had retrieved a moment ago from the machine at the other end of the hall and took a large gulp, the burning liquid would have been unbearable were it not for his high heat tolerance. "Are we meant to be doing anything?" He asked quietly, leaning his head back against the wall.

Ben shook his head. "We can't do anything." He said, his voice just as low, and it probably would have been threatening to someone who didn't understand the anguish he was facing like Johnny did.

"We have to do something." Johnny said desperately.

"We just have to wait." Ben told him.

Johnny sighed again, banging his head slightly against the wall, hoping it would knock a solution into his head. Waiting. He didn't do well with waiting. The same with rules - like the ones that the quarantine guys were giving them. Part of him wanted to stay there and be good for once, so that nothing stressed Sue out even more than it already was, and so that the doctors could carry on finding a way to save her and her baby. The other part of him, however, which he was more used to listening to, was telling him to go ahead and burst through the door, force the doctors to save Sue, and then stay at her side. For once, though, he knew that he needed to listen to the part of his mind he had labelled as 'sensible and useless'. If only for his sister's sake.

Johnny suddenly spoke into the silence. "How does this happen?" He asked quietly.

Ben shook his head. "I don't know."

"Susie and Reed never did anything wrong to anyone." Johnny complained unfairly. "They don't deserve this."

"No one does, Johnny." Ben pointed out. Not even the worst super villain in existence deserved to go through an ordeal like this.

"I know." Johnny moaned. "But...but...just...not them."

Ben placed his large, rocky hand on Johnny's shoulder as they both let out sighs.

"Reed..."

Reed's head jerked out of the silence he had been staring in to. Everything in the room, save for the whispering of the doctors in the corner, had fallen to an uncomfortable silence. Reed and Sue had spent many long hours together without saying a word, just enjoying each others presence as they lay in each others arms, but this, unfortunately, wasn't one of those times. The magnesium sulphate had stopped her contractions half an hour ago, but so, it seemed, had her energy levels. She was groggy, exhausted, and above all, scared and confused.

He stood beside her, one arm stretched around her several times as she lay back on the bed, the other stroking her blonde hair, assuring her the entire time that he hadn't left her. Her eyes were closed, trying to get some of the rest that had been recommended now that there weren't contractions to stop her sleeping, but whilst she lay on the verge of a much wanted slumber, she never crossed the line between waking and sleep. Reed knew why without her saying, and part of him was glad for it, even though she was exhausted. No matter how many assurances the doctors gave them, if these were to be some of her last hours, she didn't want to sleep through them.

Needless to say, when her tired voice reached his ears, he jerked back into reality, leaving behind the trance he had found himself in where, for a moment, it had seemed like they were simply at home together. "What is it, sweetheart?" He asked her, in a gentle tone, his hand stopping its caress over her hair to rest it along her hairline, his thumb stroking the skin gently.

Her eyes opened to look up at him, that action alone feeling like an effort for her. "I'm not having contractions anymore." She pointed out, a questioning confusion to her tone.

"I know." He told her, seeing in her eyes that she appeared as if she had just woken up from a long sleep. "I know, the doctors stopped them, remember?" He prompted.

Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "But...I'm meant to be having a baby..."

"We are." Reed assured her firmly. "We are having a baby."

He remembered saying this multiple times when they first found out that Sue was pregnant. She'd been feeling unwell, and even though they hadn't even suspected a pregnancy, due to long months of trying to conceive and failing, she went to the doctor, who recommended a test. When it was positive, she had left the surgery, and called Reed. He'd met her in the Hayden Planetarium, and there, underneath the fake stars which had been the sky of so many of their dates, she told him that she was pregnant. He'd said it so many times, whilst the information processed, and the reality set in, and then he'd actually disturbed many of the other visitors by screaming it aloud, and then jumping into the air with Sue in his arms. Somehow, having to say it with the forced determination that he was using now, didn't have the same magical effect that it had when Sue had told him for the first time.

"Then, why aren't I having contractions?" She asked him.

He sighed, and gave her a sad smile, stroking back a stray hair which had escaped his attention. "Sue, do you remember what's happening?" He asked her sadly.

For a moment, she was quiet, looking at him in confusion. Since the drowsiness had set in on her, she seemed to forget about where she was, and what was happening around her. Reed hated himself for having to remind her of the situation, and felt his heart breaking in two when the emotional drive returned to her pained eyes. "Surely," She suggested hesitantly. "Surely, it's better to just have the baby quickly?"

"I'm afraid not, Mrs. Richards." Dr. Philips said from where he had been checking her painkiller intake from beside the bed. "The longer we can keep you and the baby joined via the placenta, the better. It's what's keeping you both alive at the moment."

Reed looked down at his wife, who, at hearing this, seemed to lose even more of the hope that was already failing. Reed left her side, and went to the other side of the bed, standing before Dr. Philips. "Do you have to keep saying this in front of her?" He asked, trying to keep his voice calm so that it didn't attract Sue's attention.

"The drugs that we've administered may be causing her mind to block out the facts-"

"Then let it block them out!" Reed said rather loudly, attracting the attention of the midwives and the other doctor as well. Seeing the hostility that Reed was presenting, Abigail, Sue's midwife, went to her patient's side, distracting her from what was happening beside her.

"Dr. Richards, I'm not sure you understand-"

"What I understand is that you want to keep my wife from becoming distressed." Reed countered. "And telling her that the only reason she's alive is because the baby she wants to hold in her arms is still inside of her, is probably the most distressing thing she can hear at the moment."

"I am simply giving my patient the facts." Dr. Philips said after a moment.

"But that doesn't mean you have to repeat them." Reed insisted, looking back at Sue, who was no longer watching them, but rather, having a cool cloth placed on her forehead by Abigail. He turned back to the doctor. "She's scared. She's terrified. We've been trying to have this baby for years now, and you constantly telling us that either or both of them could die isn't helping anything." He said, his voice lowered once more.

"Forgive me, I didn't mean-"

"Do you know anything else yet?" Reed asked, before he found himself in a position where he was asked to leave as Johnny had been when he kicked up a fuss.

Dr. Philips shook his head. "We're waiting for one of the midwives to bring up an ultrasound machine so that we can get a better look at what's happening inside." He informed him.

Reed nodded silently, and then asked the question that he hadn't yet had the courage to ask. He still didn't have that confidence, but he needed to know. "How long do you...if something goes wrong...what happens?" He asked. "How long will she..?"

"If we are unable to diffract the radiation from both her and the baby, it is unlikely that either of them will make it through the full birthing." Dr. Philips explained.

"No..."

"Maybe you should get some air." Dr. Philips suggested, when he saw that Reed's face had paled considerably, almost beyond that of Sue's current pasty colour.

He shook his head. "I can't leave her." He murmured.

"Reed..."

As if on cue, Sue called out to him, her voice a weak cry. He left the doctor standing there, and went back to Sue's side as Abigail walked away, allowing them their moment to as much privacy as they could give. "I'm here." He said, taking up her hand again. "I'm here."

She looked up at him wearily, doubt written on her face. "I can't do this anymore, Reed." She said, tears rolling down her cheeks as she shook her head from side to side on the pillow.

"Yes, you can." He told her, trying not to panic at the thought of her giving up. "Sue, you're doing great."

"No, Reed." She said, her voice coming out on a sob. "I can't lie here waiting for my baby to die."

"Sue-"

"I can't do it, Reed. I just want this over-"

"Susan, look at me." He instructed, his voice firm. She knew that he was serious about whatever he was about to say, because he called her 'Susan'. He always called her 'Sue', apart from the times when he was being sweet or comforting, when he would call her 'Susie'. 'Susan' was reserved for the completely serious. Like now. "Listen to me." He told her softly. "Do you love this baby?"

"Reed-"

"Do you love our baby, Sue?" He repeated over the top of her.

She held his gaze for a moment, biting her lip to stop another sob escaping her. "More than anything." She said genuinely, the words alone coming from her heart.

"You need to hold on to that, okay?" He told her. "You've got to hold on, and remember how much you love this baby, and how much I love you."

"I love you, too." She murmured back.

Reed leaned his head down, placing a kiss to her quivering lips. "Please, Sue." He begged her. "Just...hold on, please. I know that it's hard, and that it hurts, and that you're scared. I'm scared too, but we're going to get through this together. I'm going to be here, and we're going to do this, but you need to believe that you can."

Sue tried to compose herself for a moment, taking deep breaths and wiping underneath her eyes with the back of her hand. "Okay." She said firmly. "Okay."

"Good, that's good." He smiled, kissing her forehead as she sniffled one last time. "It's all going to be worth it, Susie, I promise. It'll be worth it when we've got our baby in our arms."

She nodded. "I know...is Johnny okay?"

"Johnny?" He questioned at her quick topic change.

She nodded again. "He was here, with me." She explained. "But they made him leave. He made a really big fuss about it. Is he okay now?"

Reed gave her an amused smile, which was hard considering the situation, but he still managed. "He's really scared." He told her.

"He is?"

"He won't admit it, but he is." Reed nodded. "He's worried about his sister."

She smiled sadly. "Will you go and check on him?" She asked him, as easily as if she were asking him to go and check on a sleeping child.

"Sue..." He trailed off, not wanting to leave her side.

"Please." She said softly. "I want him to know what's happening."

"Sue, don't."

"I'm not saying goodbye." She assured him. "I just want him to know."

He sighed, not liking the idea of leaving her side. What if something happened and he wasn't there? But still, she was lying there, moments after a breakdown, and in the worst position of her life, and she was still the same old Sue, always worrying about her little brother. He gave her a soft smile and nodded. "Okay." He said, glad to see that this caused her to smile, even if it was just a fraction. He kissed her forehead. "I'll be right back."