Disclaimer: I don't own or pretend to own anything relating to Fantastic Four, the characters, or the actors. (Sigh) But I do own my plot and my own characters . . . so please respect my territory. :)

Chapter Seven

For the Sake of Old Times

Chapter Quote: "Can't say I've met many guys who can light themselves on fire... or fly.""

True to his word, Johnny took me to a place that I didn't mind so much at all. It was a diner, located just a block or two from where I'd been sitting only moments before his arrival. It wasn't one of those old diners though, the kind that were well past their prime, this diner was just simple. And it was in this simplicity that made me like it so much. The menu was cheap enough for me to afford but Johnny insisted on covering the bill- he looked so pleased with this rare gentlemanly gesture that I was persuaded to his view rather easily. Again, another weakness of mine.

It was also so unassuming that we wouldn't have a hoard of screaming fan girls crowding around us or scantily dressed girls falling 'accidentally' into Johnny's lap. I ordered Boneless Buffalo Wings and fries. Johnny got a macho burger with toppings that made my insides curl. He was being pleasant enough so I guessed I could pay him a similar courtesy. It was, after all, only one lunch.

"Now I can understand tomato and lettuce on a burger... but tomato, blueberries, and chocolate chips...?"

"Don't forget the cheese." Johnny replied, nodded enthusiastically.

"That's just gross." I said, trying not to look as revolted as I felt at the thought of the mix.

He shrugged. "Can't take it James? I thought you were tougher than that."

His words sparked a memory and I remembered him ordering similar, disgusting burgers on our first dates. Was it a coincidence or a gesture meant purposely to remind me of better times between us? I wasn't sure. I looked at him with a smile. "I can handle a lot of things... but former high school jocks turned super hero and currently on suicidal missions eating evil concoctions is all just a bit much for me."

Johnny laughed. "You haven't changed a bit Jo."

I smiled serenely- I wouldn't be meeting with him again anyway and he didn't have to know anything about my life or what had, in fact, changed in it. "But you have." I said, crossing my arms and resting them on the table. "'Can't say I've met many guys who can light themselves on fire... or fly."

Johnny grinned, he held out a hand in front of me and snapper his fingers. I could see the amusement in his eyes as my eyes widened in astonishment as a flame flickered from his thumb. I had seen Johnny on fire before on the TV... or in pictures. I met literally of course. But to see a guy before me, one I used to date, snap his fingers to have fire appear was a lot more impressive when you saw it in person. He snapped his fingers again and the flame went out. I blinked once or twice to adjust my vision before I regarded him again with blue eyes.

"Pretty cool... right?" He asked me with pride etched in his handsome features. No wonder why girls drooled over him... there wasn't another man in the world like Johnny. And he was also both rich and good looking- it was a dangerous combination. He was just begging for attention... and boy did he get it all right. He could have any woman he wanted... but it was interesting to find that he didn't want just one. I guessed that it was just in his nature to have as many as he wanted.

He discarded each as efficiently and easily as he would a soiled pair of clothes. No regrets... no hesitations. Which was why I knew, no matter what, that I was the one woman on earth that he wouldn't be able to have. The thought appealed to me and I relished in it.

"So how does it work? Do you have to tell yourself when and where to light up...? Or does it just happen?"

Johnny's brows met at this question, "It's kinda both. I've just got to het a handle of my self-control... at least that's what Sue says."

Jo's brows rose at this statement and she smiled with an amused expression on her face. "Well... you must be a hot one in bed." She said snidely.

He winced. He could easily joke about women to his friends at the track or even with the cocky reporters. But having Jo tease him about the way he lived was something entirely different. Not only because the barb stung, but also because he knew she wasn't just joking. Jo knew what he had been up to lately and she was disappointed in him. Because despite the smile she wore, he could see her disappointment in her eyes. He felt somehow like he had let her down- but that made no sense at all.

He liked the way he lived... he enjoyed himself. He and Jo had been over for a while now and there was no reason for him to feel guilty about anything. Unfortunately, he didn't feel like that. So when he smiled at her, it was a weak smile- hiding his unexplained shame. And when he spoke his words sounded unconvincing and flat to his own ears. "You could say that." He said simply and was mercifully spared from meeting her burning gaze when the waitress appeared suddenly at their table again.

My wings looked delicious, Johnny's burger however made both me and the waitress grimace. She walked away, shaking her head while Johnny picked up his burger and started to eat while I bowed my head and whispered a prayer of thanks like I had been doing since I was old enough to talk. I made the sign of the cross once I finished, then I too bit into my meal. I tried avoiding looking at Johnny's burger as the spicy meat lightly burned my tongue.

He chewed thoughtfully for a minute, watching me through blue eyes. "So... you're still doing the 'God' thing?"

Her eyebrows rose at the question and a knowing smile wormed its way onto her face. "As a matter of fact... yes."

"Is that what you were doing this morning?"

"Going to church, you mean?" She chewed on a french fry and nodded.

"Is that a fad or something? Like you'll grow out of it?" As soon as he spoke the words he knew they were stupid. Even though he considered Jo's religion for old people and mom's with screaming kids, he knew the comment was uncalled for.

Jo cocked her head and he winced inwardly when he saw the disappointment again, though she tried to craftily hide it behind a smile. "So... you still doing the 'jerk' thing?"

He grimaced. "Guess I deserved that."

Jo nodded acutely, sipped from her glass of lemonade. "Don't worry about it too much Johnny, you were always one for speaking your mind- no matter what was in it." There was a double meaning behind her words- something mean and ugly that reared its head and made his pride bristle.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"I think you know what it means." She said sharply, she looked up at him and he could see buried anger etched in her features- which suddenly seemed older than they had moments before. He frowned, recalling all that he could about the Jo for the two years they had dated each other.

"You don't come to the city for work... do you?"

Her eyes flashed. "I didn't come here to see you... if that's what you're insinuating."

"I'm not 'insinuating' anything!" He replied, nearly toasting his burger in frustration when he realized his hands were heating up. He dropped it into his plate with a forceful slam, curling his fingers into fists. She was actually lecturing him. It was different from when Sue lectured him. Sue had been lecturing him for years. But this... this was Jo. He had known her for like... ever. He'd loved her in one way or another once upon a time. She knew him... really knew him. And she wasn't proud of what he had become. She wasn't interested in his many conquests, didn't care about the celebrity he had become.

It was as if she had looked into his eyes and had judged him by what she had seen in his very soul... and she had been ashamed. And- to top it off- it was really bugging him. "I remember you Jo... remember your dreams. Why are you here?"

She smiled bitterly. "Why do you care? You didn't when I left all those years ago. You didn't inquire after me then."

He chewed his lip. "That's not the point..."

"Then what is the point? What did you bring me here for? To satisfy your curiosity? Or are you still drunk enough to assume that I'll become one of your lap-warmers as well?"

"I'm not dr-" He stopped, he felt hot all over and quickly put a damper on the flames that threatened to burst out from under his clothes. "All I'm saying is that is you didn't really come to the city for work... so I was wondering why you were here."

"That's none of your business." She said quickly, she half-heartedly bit into her chicken but she seemed to have lost most of her appetite.

"Why not? I thought we could... I don't know... catch up...?"

"You mean like friends, Johnny?"

He looked up at her, felt confused by her wariness. "Yeah... sort of."

She didn't answer him right away, she just stared at him with an unbelieving look. "You don't remember... do you?"

"Remember what?" He asked, irritation spiking.

"Remember why we broke up in the first place?"

He shrugged. "You just left Jo."

"So you're saying it was all my fault we haven't spoken in nearly a decade? That you did nothing wrong?"

Johnny met her gaze defiantly and he shrugged again. "Basically."

He didn't know what happened exactly after that. But suddenly there were buffalo wings and fries heading straight for him.

"WHOA!" He shouted, ducking before the heavy glass plate could crack his skull into two. "What was that for!" He asked in alarm, his voice cracking.

Jo was already stumbling to her feet, wincing as she put weight on her right knee. Her face was flushed in anger and she whirled to face him. "It was always my fault? Wasn't it?" She demanded, glaring at him.

"What are you so angry for? It was you who broke us up... not me."

She had started to turn away, but as he spoke she stiffened. Slowly turned to him, her hip jutting out and rage in her eyes. "You really have no clue... do you?" She said icily. "I didn't come to the city seeking you out, flame boy." She said, her hands on her hips. "I was doing fine on my own." She moved to leave, then she paused, eyeing him in disgust once more. "And just for the record," She added, her hands balled into fists. "It was you who broke us up."

Johnny blinked, caught off guard by the sudden malice in her voice.

"Been to any bars lately Johnny?" She said cooly, sniffing once or twice and he was aware suddenly of the traces of the alcoholic beverages still on his breath. She shook her head. "Thought so. Some people just never change."

Ho whirled on her heel and stormed out from the diner. Johnny stared for a moment or two at her empty seat, trying to understand everything that had just occurred. "Well... that went swimmingly." He muttered dryly. He pushed his burger away, no longer possessing the desire to finish the wretched concoction. He'd only ordered her to impress her... to prove that he did still remember the old days. But that hadn't ended up working anyway.

The waitress was hovering over the table again. She was an older lady better suited for looking after grandkids then waiting on tables. She looked at him through flat eyes set in an expressionless face.

"Want the check, kid?" She said with a heavy Brooklyn accent.

Johnny looked up at her, his face slowly registering into one of shock. "Yeah... sure." He paid her quickly and was almost out the door when he heard her voice call him back.

"You forget something mister?"

He turned, his head still pounding from Jo's outburst and his shoulder sore where her plate had whammed into him. The waitress was holding out a notepad to him, when he didn't move towards him right away she waved it a couple of times.

"This yours buddy? Or am I keeping it?"

"No... I'll take it." He said quickly, reaching out and snatching the notepad from the waitress wrinkled hands. She sniffed distastefully and sauntered to the back of the diner muttering under her breath. Johnny breathed a sigh of relief. He'd seen Jo writing in this notepad when he'd first seen her earlier. And while he had no desire to have his head ripped off or smashed to pieces... he was still curious as to why Jo was in the Big Apple...and why she was so keen on keeping it a secret from him.

He smirked as he pocketed the notebook, glancing out the diner windows to see if Jo was still in sight. She wasn't. The coast was clear as he walked out of the diner and into the sunshine streaming down from above the towering buildings above. He started down the street with a confident air, unaware of the attention he was getting from a young, dark-haired woman who stood watching him with a satisfied smile on her face.

A/N: And yummy buffalo wings made their cameo... you like? This chapter was one of my favorites simply because of my morbid like of getting Johnny's feathers ruffled. You like? I have an announcement to read... which you can peek at below. :)

All right, here it is. I've been writing fanfiction for almost five years and have been posting it online for nearly three. It's time I started an original work- which I have. My goal is to finish the first manuscript by the end of this summer and work on getting it ready to be submitting for publishing over the next school year. I've been trying to write at least ten pages a day to accomplish this goal. What does this mean to you as a reader? Simply that I don't have as much time to devote to my fanfiction. So that while I will still update, I won't be able to update as often.

Secondly, I got accepted to the college of my dreams (which is two miles from my house) and I will be starting summer courses this July (because both me and my mom are over achievers... what are you gonna do?) Again, another cut into my fanfic time. Top this with my job and my horses and my web design- get the picture? All this means really is that I'll probably be updating every ten days instead of once a week to give myself more time since I take my fanfiction schedule very seriously and feel lower then crap when I post chapters late. So... that is my really big announcement and I hope you will all forgive me. :) I might post chapters more frequently if I get the time to type them up quickly- either way I am in no way abandoning this story... I'm just slowing down the pace. :)

Thanks to all you guys for reading and reviewing and please don't give up on me yet! And thanks a million to my wonderful beta, Kiann, without whom I'm be a puny, pathetic morsel. :) Updates are coming! Just have patience. :) Toodles!

TO BE CONTINUED...