And the story goes on... ;) Some scences from "Request Denied" recapped, as well a kind of deleted scene of a sort from the same fanfic that is summarized. Filler mostly, but it tells you that the characters are starting to make connections.

Chapter 14

Truth be Told

Emily awoke again, lying in a small, sparsely decorated, cell. The only one in the room with here was Sue, and a computer. Upon seeing her alleged foe, Emily quickly braced herself for combat.

"Don't." Sue quickly intervened. "There's no need."

Emily gave Sue a look, and tried to phase. Her feet sank into the ground a few inches, but was suddenly stopped by something very solid. Puzzled, Emily tried to force her way through, before Sue stopped her again.

"The room is lined with a special material Reed discovered that will prevent you from phasing through it." Sue explained. "It is also resistant to most forces exerted upon it, so your telekinesis will do little to damage it."

Emily scowled, then hovered over to Sue, almost to say defiantly that wouldn't stop her. "Why am I here?" she asked bluntly. "With you?"

"To tell you the truth." Sue said. "What you have been told about us isn't true, and I can prove it."

"Try all you want." Emily stated, "But it would take me actually seeing it to believe it."

"We can manage it." Sue said, turning to the computer, and opening a video file. "What you are about to see was taken a few months ago. Tell me if you can identify who's all in it."

The video started, showing Johnny Storm lying on a cot in a cell not unlike the one Emily now found herself in. For several moments, that was all the video showed, but slowly Emily began to notice that one wall of the cell was starting to glow bright red, like it was getting extremely hot.

Johnny must have noticed, for he rolled over and sat up, looking at it. Before he had a chance to do much of anything, the wall suddenly shattered, scattering debris everywhere. In the space the wall had once occupied, floated a figure, fully engulfed in flames. For a moment, Emily thought she was seeing double, that there was two of Johnny, but she quickly crossed that out when she recognized the figure on fire.

"That's Jacob!" she exclaimed suddenly.

Sue nodded, motioning for her to be silent.

"You!" Johnny exclaimed on the tape.

"Yes, me!" Jacob shouted back gleefully, looking like he was having fun.

"Just who are you anyway?" Johnny asked.

"Gotta catch me first!" Jacob taunted. Emily sensed something almost evil about Jacob's attitude.

"What's with you and this catching thing?" Johnny asked, annoyed, but Emily suddenly realized he was stalling.

"I'm bored." Jacob replied simply.

"I can think of far better things to do." Johnny said. The cell door on the recording suddenly opened, and the rest of the Fantastic Four filed into the room.

"Although taunting you is a fun sport, Johnny." Ben remarked as he entered.

Johnny half-turned, but stopped when he saw Jacob begin to fly off. Seeing this, Johnny then whirled back around, flamed on himself, which surprised Emily, then raced out the ruined wall to give pursuit after Jacob, both disappearing from view.

The recording then ended. Sue turned to Emily expectantly.

Emily was silent for a moment. "That must have been the situation Jacob referred to that got him in trouble with you guys." she said, understanding. "He didn't tell me much about it."

"Now you know why." Sue said. "He really was in the wrong, and causing trouble; not us, like he no doubt believes and told you." she changed videos, loading a new one. "This one was taken the next day."

The video began, showing a open, glass sliding door. Beyond it, out on a patio, sat Johnny in a lawn chair, his back to the camera. He was too far away to tell what he was doing. Then, suddenly, a flaming figure landed directly in front of Johnny. Emily again recognized the figure as Jacob.

Johnny stood, and they began to talk. They were too far to hear, but it was clear that Johnny seemed very agitated, and Jacob was acting very serious and dark, a big contrast to his attitude in the last video. This time around Jacob was acting more like the Jacob Emily knew. Jacob started to pace, still talking. It was clear he was not happy. Johnny didn't look exactly thrilled either. Emily wondered what was going on.

Then Ben suddenly charged through the open sliding door, momentarily blocking the camera's view. He was about to grab Jacob when Jacob quickly took to the air, flaming on. Ben missed and crashed to a wooden boat dock beyond the patio. Jacob again landed, conversing with Johnny, but what happened next was hidden from view when Reed and Sue suddenly charged out the sliding door to Jacob. Reed was about to grab Jacob when the video ended.

"A battle then ensued after that point." Sue explained, "And the camera didn't get much of it."

Emily nodded slowly, stunned.

"And now, the final video." Sue said. "And the most important one. This was taken later the same day."

The third video began, showing Reed and Jacob in a jail cell. Jacob sat in a chair in the middle of the cell, and judging from the look on his face, it was clear that he was the prisoner.

Reed was pacing in circles around Jacob. "So tell me, Jacob Roberts, what spurred you to do what you have done?" he asked.

Jacob looked surprised that Reed knew his name, and visibly paled. Emily saw that Jacob knew his little game was up.

So he told everything. Who he was, where he lived, how he got his power, what happened because of it, why he ran away from home, and, most importantly to Emily, why he attacked the Fantastic Four at all. His reasons were very different from what he had told Emily, and she felt anger welling up inside of her for being lied to by someone who pretended to be her friend an ally.

When the video ended, Sue turned off the computer and looked at Emily expectantly.

Emily shook her head. "I don't know what to say." she admitted. "Other than sorry."

"You were lied to and manipulated." Sue said reassuringly. "You were simply doing what you thought was right. And no one has been hurt yet. And we won't press charges against you."

Emily kept shaking her head. "I've been Jacob's little puppet throughout all of this, haven't I?" she asked. "He needed help, and chose me to be it." she scowled. "If I get my hands on that little twirp..."

"You and me both." Sue agreed. "Jacob has caused us more trouble than we care to admit."

Then Emily suddenly thought of something. "But, what about that life form Jacob told me about, that nearly ate the Earth?"

Sue froze. "Galactus?" she asked, as if she expected Emily to know what that meant. "Jacob told you about that?"

"He summarized it." Emily said. "He said that you guys didn't do much to stop it, yet in the cover story, it says you did."

"That was the military's doing, not ours." Sue said quickly in the Fantastic Four's defense. "And trust me, there is nothing more we want than to change that. We don't want to take credit for something we didn't do." she paused, rubbing her forehead. "But how did Jacob find out about Galactus and Norrin?" she asked quietly.

"Jacob has an outside source." Emily said suddenly, just now remembering. "He has been supplying Jacob with various materials he needs for his plans, as well as transportation, even a little bit of funding."

"But not enough, because you had to rob a bank." Sue said.

"Right." Emily said, nodding.

"Do you know who this supporter is?" Sue asked.

"Not really." Emily admitted. "Jacob communes with him via cell phone in private, usually when I'm not around. Whoever he is, he belongs to some obscure industry. Jacob said it's been failing as of late. I wonder if what Jacob plans will somehow help the industry get back on it's feet."

"It's possible." Sue said. "But odd, all the same." she paused, looking at Emily. "I suppose you're on our side now?" she asked.

Emily nodded. "Completely." she said. "In fact, I think my ties with Jacob were strained from the beginning, seeing that he tricked me into getting involved to begin with."

"Good." Sue said, opening the cell door. "We need to figure out exactly what Jacob plans to do. You'll need to tell everything to Reed."

"Oh believe me, I will." Emily assured her, as they stepped out of the door.