A/N: I do not own The Fantastic Four or any of it's characters. Though I wouldn't mind own Reed--or Ioan for that matter! Who agrees with me? (silence) Okay...anyway, all I own is Gabrielle.

Chapter 10: Love Tap

Johnny flew at full speed, wondering to himself why he even listened to Reed. Oh, yeah. It was because he was close to pushing him over the edge of the roof instead of towards it. Daring to look behind him, Johnny saw Gabrielle right behind him. He couldn't stop the curse that came out of his mouth as he tried to pick up speed. How was she so fast? He was pure energy while she was just flapping. Howin the hell was she so damn fast?A sharp pain suddenly hit him in his back and he stopped mid-air to make sure he was okay. He only had a moment to wonder what had hit him when he turned to find Gabrielle and found her fist instead.

"Damn, Gabbie! When did you get so strong!" He asked, blocking another punch she sent his way.

"Right about the time you got even more stupid!" She countered, pulling back her right arm to punch him again.

Johnny went to block her, but made the mistake of doing so and she spun around to kick him in his head. Johnny flew back a bit and smiled when he looked back at Gabrielle. She couldn't handle the flames. Her gloved hands were starting to burn up, smoking from the impact of his flames whenever she hit him. His confidence building up once more, seeing that she was realizing her weakness, he flew back towards her and grabbed ahold of her wrists. She screamed in pain as he held tightly, burning through the cloth of her uniform.

"Why are you fighting me, Gabbie? You know you've always had the hots for me!" Growling at him, she brought up her knee and hit his groin.

Johnny immediately released her, just as she hoped, and Gabrielle punched him once more before grabbing his own wrists. The pain was unbearable, but she forced herself through it as she began to swing him around. She flapped her wings ever so slightly, picking up speed as she went. Before long, she and Johnny were just a blur. Without warning, she pulled his body out of the spin and upward before throwing him down. Johnny made a beeline down, straight into the pavement of the road. The people scourring the road screamed and either backed away or ran as Johnny made impact, his flames extinguishing.

"Not entirely." She muttered, smirking proudly.

Gabrielle didn't even see the giant hand behind her, or that Sue was building up energy all around her. In one fell swoop, Sue raised her hands towards Gabrielle and released all of the energy she had. The large ball moved quickly and true, hitting Gabrielle directly on her back. She screamed in pain as she was pushed to the ground.

Reed lowered his arm and Sue, who, as soon as she had both feet on the ground, ran straight to Johnny and his crater. Just as Sue had an arm around her brother and they were out of the crater, she heard a crash and turned to see Gabrielle lying on the asphault. She'd gone down head first, just like Johnny though he was much more protected, thanks to his flames.

She still felt guilty about hurting her, but Johnny looked near death. What else could she do? Forgetting the thoughts for a moment, Sue pulled Johnny, who was just conscious enough to walk, into the Baxter Building.

Gabrielle slapped her hands on the asphault, rising to her knees shakily. She was more furious then before. How dare they! All of her anger went straight to her hands as she screamed into the sky, shooting lightning at both Reed and Ben, who had tried to surround her. The civilians ran away, screaming in fear, giving the heros and villian the room they needed. As Gabrielle finished her cry, she stood up completely and looked from Ben to Reed.

"Take your best shot." She said, not even afraid as her voice quivered. Before she knew it, Ben had tackled her side, making her cry out, and sent her straight into Reed, who streched his body around hers to confine her.

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"Are you okay?" Sue asked gently and thoroughly worried, helping Johnny onto an observation table.

"Aside from the emense pain and humilation of having my ass kicked by a girl? Yeah, I'm just dandy."

"Don't be smart." She snapped, hitting his shoulder, but when he groaned in pain she sobered up. "She could've killed you, Johnny. She nearly did." Johnny looked up at his big sister, who already had tears in her eyes and a small smile of relief that he was okay.

"Geez, don't get all movie-of-the-week on me, sis. I'm fine!" He assured her with his trademark smile, even though he felt like he was dead.

"It looks like you may have a broken rib." She told him, pressing his left side to check. When she heard his his sharp inhale and hiss, she stopped and looked up at him with a small smile. "Or two."

"Why not make it three? Third time's the charm, right?" He joked, sitting up with her help and started to remove the top of his uniform.

"Not when it comes to broken bones, Johnny." She told him smartly, beginning to wrap up his bruised ribs. "I think you'll be okay." She told him, then looked up and smile reassuringly. "I know you'll be okay."

"The ladies will be flocking to Johnny Storm once again!" She sighed and slapped him upside his head, going back to her wrapping, but Johnny just laughed. Some things would never change.

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Reed struggled against Gabrielle as she moved irratically to get out of his grip. Every time she moved he tightened his grip, like a snake. His plan to keep her in place was working before, with Ben using his massive hands to hold her down so she couldn't fly off. But, now, they were having some trouble. Gabrielle finally shouted in frustration and head butted Ben, hurting herself more than him, making him let go of her.

"That's it! It's clobbering time!" Ben pulled back to punch her, but soon realized his mistake. When he had let go of her, he'd given her the time she needed to stretch her wings inside of Reed's grip. Just as he was about to hit her face, she broke free and flew off. Ben didn't have time to stop his motion and hit Reed instead, sending him flying into the building behing him. "Uh-oh..."

"Ben!" Reed shouted in aggrivation, and Ben immediately grimaced.

"Sorry, Reed. It slipped!" He explained as he ran over and helped Reed to his feet, completely embarrassed.

"Yeah, and so did she." He replied defeatedly, and both of them looked up to watch Gabrielle fly off into the distance. They were just glad that the citizens of the city were smart enough to take off when they did. "Let's go see if Johnny's okay."

"Yeah, 'cause I'm real worried about that hot head." Ben remarked, smirking at Reed, who knew that Ben was only joking. Shaking his head, Reed ran towards the building, Ben close behind.

Reed, like Sue, felt guilty about hurting her. Not only did she have burns on her knuckles, palsm,wrists, right ankle and knee, but she was bleeding at her scalp from the fall, sending a stream of blood down the bridge of her nose. Not only that, but Sue's attack had given her a few minor cuts on her wings. Reed was amazed she was even able to fight against him as she did; even more amazed that she had escaped. None of that mattered though. Gabrielle was not in good shape.