Chapter 20:
Two weeks have passed since Halloween and Dannie-Lynn and Warren were out at dinner together. "Mmm…kinkiest touch?" Dannie-Lynn asked Warren as she took another bite of her dinner.
"Uh…behind the ear." Warren answered. "You?"
"I found that spot, by the way and as if you don't know it's my earlobe." She replied.
"Favorite pleasure?" Warren asked.
Dannie-Lynn grinned. "Undecided."
Warren laughed slightly. "When you scream my name."
"Fine. Ooo…naughtiest fantasy?" Dannie-Lynn said.
"We've already done it." Warren said eating a whole jalapeno. And Dannie-Lynn giggled.
"That's as naughty as you get, damn I thought your kink factor was a little higher." She teased him.
"Oh so yours get better."
"Mr. Boss man and his secretary." Dannie-Lynn said grinning at him huskily. Warren smirked back at her and set his fork down on his empty plate and raised his hand. The waiter came over.
"Yeah can I get the check?" Warren asked. The waiter nodded and left to retrieve their check.
Dannie-Lynn laughed. "Your mom is home."
Warren shrugged and gave her that shit eating grin of his that she hated but couldn't help loving cause it was just part of his personality. "Yes but we have the truck."
"You can't act that out in a truck."
"No but we can do other stuff in the bed of said truck." Warren said raising a cocky brow at her and she rolled her eyes playfully at him just as the waiter brought the check. "Yes or no your choice?" Warren said showing her his debit card.
Dannie-Lynn snatched it and the check from him and headed towards the register without him. He grabbed his jacket jogging casually after her.
"Um excuse me you can't pay with that." Warren teased trying to take it from her as he saddled up along side her and put his one arm around her shoulder. She kept the card and receipt out of his reach and smirked.
"Yes I can, it's debit. I don't have to sign for anything and as long as I know the pin who's going to argue with me?"
"You don't know my pin." Warren said smugly.
Dannie-Lynn waited for the girl to pull up their receipt and she swiped Warren's card in the machine and put in the pin number and handed him the card just as the final paid receipt printed out. "You have a nice night." The hostess smiled and handed Dannie-Lynn the receipt, which she promptly turned and tucked away on the inside breast pocket of Warren's jacket smirking at him.
"Who said?" She asked teasingly and left the restaurant with Warren right after her.
"How'd you get my pin number?" He asked.
Dannie-Lynn smiled turning to him. "Hothead do you know how many times I've watched you put in that god forsaken number. 'Sides I had to have some way to pay for that costume." She said playfully.
"Ha, ha. I didn't pay for that costume."
"Ok so you didn't but I do still know how to use your debit card so…don't piss me off mister or I might just decide you need a whole new wardrobe of khaki slacks, and argyle sweaters." She said smirking at him evilly.
Warren chuckled. "You're evil." He teased her.
"Yeah but you love me." Dannie-Lynn said smiling again innocently as she walked up to him slipping her arms around his waist.
Warren nodded. "Unfortunately I do."
"Peace in khaki and argyle…for some reason I just don't picture it." Dannie-Lynn and Warren both turned noticing Lash with a random date hanging off his arm.
"How's it hanging limp?" Dannie-Lynn asked as Warren slipped his arm protectively around her waist.
"You come find out." Lash said smirking at her.
Warren's hands ignited, Lash took a step away and his date seemed unphased by this, but Dannie-Lynn just smirked. "If I take a look I might just decide to wrap it around a pole tie it in a pretty little pasty white bow."
Lash winced slightly. "Peace is right you are evil."
"He's usually right." Dannie-Lynn nodded.
"Beat it Lash before I roast you."
"Temper, temper Peace, not supposed to use your powers outside the school gym."
Dannie-Lynn used hers and smirked at him as Warren extinguished the flames in his hands. "He might not be able to but I can." She said calmly.
"You'd get in trouble with Powers." Lash said childishly.
"You know my dad right? The human Torch, he doesn't have to worry about getting in trouble and I'm sure he could make it look like accident, so…"
Lash grabbed his date's hand and dragged her into the restaurant Dannie-Lynn and Warren had just walked out of. "Nicely played." Warren said high fiving her as they both laughed.
"So you, me, truck bed, and a nice quiet place?" Dannie-Lynn asked him.
Warren grinned bending his head to kiss her tenderly. "You know it." He said and they headed for the truck and left.
Next Morning:
"WARREN, DANNIE GET UP!" Irene banged on the door.
"We're up!" Warren yelled back. He heard his mothers footsteps head down the hall and looked down at the bundle of warmth sleeping with him. "Torch? Wake up. Torch." He nudged her. So he'd only told half the truth, he was up and had been for a little while, where as Dannie-Lynn was still sleeping.
"Fi mer m'nuts." Dannie-Lynn mumbled against his stomach and Warren laughed.
"We're already running late Torch. Come on get up. We have school today and your dad is coming to help you pick out an apartment." Warren said.
Dannie-Lynn lifted her head up and she ran her fingers through her hair and climbed out of bed. "I get a bachelor pad." She chanted all the way to the bathroom in her bootie shorts and tank.
"Isn't it bachelorette pad?" Warren laughed getting up and following her into the bathroom. She had a toothbrush in hand brushing her teeth. When she was finished she rinsed with water and rinsed the sink.
"That sounds stupid, besides I'm more of a bachelor than most men."
Warren laughed and grinned at her. "But you aren't single, free, unattached or a spinster…"
"Ok fine we'll call it Dannie-Lynn's domain of kinky and naughty things." She said sarcastically hopping up on the counter next to the sink letting Warren brush his teeth like they did every morning.
Once that was finished they went in to their separate rooms and got dressed meeting up in the hall, messenger bags over their shoulders and headed downstairs.
"Bye Mom!"
"Don't forget your father Dannie!" Irene called from the kitchen as they reached the front door.
"Don't worry!" Dannie-Lynn yelled back. Warren put his arm back around her neck and bent his head kissing her temple before taking a bit of his blueberry pop tart. "So are we meeting in the library or outside for free period today?" Dannie-Lynn asked.
"I think back corner of the library today. I have to do some reading for advanced global heroes class."
"Ugh I hate that class." Dannie-Lynn whined.
"Did you finish the essay on Auqator from Japan?" Warren asked.
"Shit!" Dannie-Lynn cursed out loud.
Warren laughed and opened his bag once they reached the bus stop and slipped a five page packet from his bag. "I was just playing. You're thinking of the essay on lava rays for Medulla's class.
Dannie-Lynn sighed in relief and took the packet from him. He'd printed and stapled it for her. "Thanks. I thought I was going to be in the doghouse."
"I wouldn't let that happen. 'Sides if you get held up in the class Petrie will switch you and me to new partners."
Dannie-Lynn smiled flirtatiously. "So if I hadn't finished an assignment you'd do it for me?"
"Only if it was already almost finished." Warren said.
"Just playing. You just keep me up to date on deadlines, so I don't forget."
"So I was thinking…" Warren trailed off as the bus pulled up. They climbed on and went to their seat in the back.
"Wow shocker hothead you were thinking." Dannie-Lynn teased him playfully.
Warren grinned at her and rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha. I was thinking about what we were talking about last night."
"Oh the pleasures thing?" Dannie-Lynn said quietly.
Warren nodded. "Yeah that. I was thinking you move in a few weeks out of my place and you'll have a place of your own so we could always…"
Dannie-Lynn grinned. "Oh trust me it's already planned." She said confidently
Warren smirked at her. "I love you, you know that?" He told her quietly.
Biting her lip Dannie-Lynn smirked back at him playfully. "I know."
They sat back in silence the rest of the bus ride to school. Everything was as usual during school. They always seemed to end up in the janitor's closet making-out at the beginning of lunch and then they'd go to the cafeteria to meet the others.
After save the citizen which luckily Dannie and Warren weren't called on for they headed to the bus and headed for Warren's.
"I have work, if you want I can call in and take the day off." Warren said.
Dannie-Lynn laughed. They'd been joking on and off about what her and Johnny would talk about when Warren wasn't around. "No it'll be fine. My dad could barely give me the say no to drugs speech. Aunt Sue had to give me the 'woman's talk' and the birds and the bees. Which I might add was duller than I thought it should've been."
Warren chuckled and pulled his hair back off his face. "Positive? This is your last chance."
"Go hothead, go make money so you can buy me something pretty and shiny." She said playfully.
"Yeah pretty and shiny, you hate pretty and shiny."
"I know, so go to work so you can by me something sexy." She said grinning at him.
Warren kissed her lips quickly and turned to the front door opening it. "Bye." He said and was about to step out when the ball of flame landed on his front porch.
"Warren." Johnny smiled at him.
"Mr. S." Warren said and walked passed him heading to work with a wave over his shoulder.
Johnny looked at his daughter and smiled. "You ready?"
"Yeah I found the listings and this perfect loft. It's one bedroom one bathroom."
Johnny nodded. "Ok we'll check it out. Your uncle the dork that he is, said he'd come by in the next week after we decided and fire proof the apartment for you."
"Aunt Sue told me. She emailed me." Dannie-Lynn said as they headed to the truck. Warren was walking to work so Dannie-Lynn could take the truck with her father.
"I should drive."
"I don't think so. Warren entrusted me with the truck and I don't want you speeding and getting us in an accident." Dannie-Lynn said climbing up into the cab. Johnny got in to the passenger side and rolled his eyes.
"Like I'd do that."
"Dad how many accidents have you had since you got your license at sixteen?" Dannie-Lynn said smirking at him. Johnny glared at her playfully. "Enough that it takes more than two hands to count right? So I think I'll drive."
Two hours Later:
They walked in to the loft apartment Dannie-Lynn had found in the paper and she loved it. "Dad this is it."
"But the windows…" Johnny pointed to the windows, there were six floor to ceiling windows in the living room that looked out on the city.
"There's this great invention maybe you've heard of it, it's called curtains dad." Dannie-Lynn laughed.
"But what if some pervert spies on you?"
"Then my boyfriend will defend my honor and roast him like a thanksgiving bird." Dannie-Lynn said sardonically.
Johnny sighed and looked at the sheet the manager had given him. "It's not to terribly expensive I can put sixth months worth of rent down and then do another six later on so you don't have to worry about it.
I'll put money in your account so you can pay the power bill, water, and cable."
"Dad I'm gonna get a job."
Johnny turned and smiled at her. "You're willing to get a job just to have this place?" He asked.
Dannie-Lynn nodded. "Plus it's time I started helping out. I am eighteen now so…"
"Ok you get that from your mother, the whole responsibility thing." Johnny teased.
Dannie-Lynn smiled slightly. "Yeah I know. So I can fly to school instead of taking the bus and living here I'm not far from Kameron and Lacey so they could come by and hang with me."
"And will you be having a regular roommate?" Johnny asked.
Dannie-Lynn groaned. "Dad…"
"I'm your father I'm allowed to ask." Johnny said in a confident stern manor.
"Yeah dad Warren might come stay once and a while. Dad despite what you might think of Warren's and my relationship he loves me and I love him."
"It's not that Dannie I'm worried that you're moving in to things too fast with him. He is after all your first boyfriend." Johnny said.
Dannie-Lynn nodded. "Technically yes, but that doesn't mean I haven't had boyfriends before him."
"That makes no sense." Johnny said looking confused.
"Dad I saw other guys I just never brought them home and it never lasted more than a few dates." Dannie-Lynn enhanced the truth. It was not technically dating, but it never did last more than a few nights together. "Warren just happened into my life and I do love him."
Johnny sighed. "I worry that…you know how much I loved your mother, right?" Dannie-Lynn nodded. "I just worry that you guys will end up like we did. We loved each other but we weren't ready for a family yet. And I'm not saying we didn't love you at first, I'm saying it was really hard. Your mom loved her dancing and I loved being the Human Torch and those things were hard to balance with a child.
I always felt terrible when I'd have to leave you with your mother at the school because I would have to run off and help save the world. With Sue and Reed it was different, they were older and they could handle those things better, but Julie and me were still young and wanting to experience our own lives. After years passed it started getting easier, sure but those first few years were really tough on us.
After your mom's fall and she couldn't dance anymore, and I curse myself for this every night, I thought 'this is great she can stay home and take care of Dannie while I save the world.' And you don't have to say anything I kick myself for it all the time.
But the point is you two are younger than we were and second generations meant to be heroes…" Dannie-Lynn smiled inwardly that he hadn't said Warren was going to be villain like his father was. "So what happens if you end up with a child and a career saving the world?" Johnny finally finished his little speech and Dannie-Lynn was bobbing her head slightly coping with the stuff he'd said.
"First of all dad there was never any guarantee that I wanted to be part of the second generation fantastics. I mean there are three of us, not four. Did you ever think that maybe I didn't want to save the world? And if I did I don't want it to be a career. I want to be a writer."
Johnny nodded. "I use to think about it all the time after your mom died when you got your powers. But you did everything asked of you so I just assumed you wanted to be a hero."
"I do, but not on a regular basis. At least that's what I've realized more so lately than I ever did before. I do want a family of my own someday, someday not tomorrow or the next day, but someday and I don't want to constantly be running out on them to save the world from some big disaster. There's other people out there just as qualified as me to do that. Sky High is full of junior supers in training why should the worlds fate always fall in to our hands?" Dannie-Lynn asked him. "Why?"
Johnny shrugged. "We use to think after we adjusted that we got our powers for a reason."
"You did, I was born with mine, they are birth right but that doesn't necessarily mean they have to be used to save he world."
"I see your point." Johnny said.
"Dad if you're so worried about Warren and I…"
"What if he's not right for you?"
"What if he saved me?"
"When?"
Dannie-Lynn sighed. "Don't flip, I didn't want to worry you, but he came after me the night of my birthday in the Mexican restaurant where we were eating."
"Him as in…" Johnny asked fire playing at the tips of his fingers in anger.
Dannie-Lynn nodded. "Yeah. Will and Warren ended up saving me though."
"Danielle Lynn Storm what is wrong with you? Why didn't you tell any of us?" Johnny practically yelled.
"Because I knew this would happen! You'd be immensely worried and consider moving me back to New York."
"You don't know that's what I'm thinking." Johnny scoffed.
"Dad." Dannie-Lynn said slightly amused and Johnny nodded.
"Ok fine it is. But you're safer there with us."
"But I don't want to be there. I'm eighteen and I can make my own decisions dad. I don't want to go back."
"But…"
Dannie-Lynn cut him off. "No dad I'm staying. And you don't have to worry because Warren's not going to let anything happen to me. I'm not going to let anything happen to me." She sighed. "You should've seen his face when I woke up, he was so worried and scared and I could tell he was beating himself up because he hadn't gotten to me sooner."
"Were you hurt?"
"Yeah a bump to the back of the head, a nice shiner and a split lip and my thigh was bruised up pretty bad but I lived." Dannie-Lynn told him.
Johnny rubbed his temples for a moment and then looked at her again. "You're absolutely certain you want to live on your own?"
"Dad I'll be fine. You can even have uncle Reed install an elaborate security system if you'd like." She smirked at him.
Johnny grinned back. "You don't know I'm thinking that."
"Dad."
"Ok maybe I am."
"This is the place than."
"Fine, but no funny business with Peace."
"You got it."
A Couple Days Later:
"I'm moving in a week." Dannie-Lynn chanted dancing around Warren's kitchen making scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast.
"I know now stop it." Warren laughed grabbing her by the waist and kissing her soundly on the lips before she had time to utter a single word.
When they pulled away Dannie-Lynn was left breathless and Warren was grinning. "Ok." She said softly and turned back to the eggs. Irene had left for work and all sky high students had the day off due to Teacher meetings.
"So when is your uncle Reed going there?"
"Tomorrow. Look uh I've been meaning to tell you my dad, aunt and uncle want Syd, TJ and I home for thanksgiving." Dannie-Lynn said as she platted their breakfast and walked in to the dinning room where Warren had gone to sit down with his book.
Warren looked over at her when she set the plate down. "Ok."
"But I already promised your mom I'd be here, so…my dad agreed to come here for the holiday and Syd and TJ will go to New York."
Warren groaned. "I think your dad hates me."
"No. Not really he hates that he thinks you're having sex with his only little girl." Dannie-Lynn laughed.
"I am." Warren grinned at her.
"But he doesn't need to know that." Dannie-Lynn said eyeing him dangerously as she stabbed at her eggs.
Warren laughed slightly and set his book down at started eating his food. "So what would you like to do today since we have the house to ourselves?"
Dannie-Lynn shrugged. "I don't know."
"I can think of a thing or two." Warren said impishly.
Smirking at him Dannie-Lynn nodded. "You'll have to share when I'm finished eating."
"Why wait?"
"Cause I'm hungry and if you share I'll just want to jump you and I'd kind of like to eat." Dannie-Lynn teased him.
Warren rolled his eyes and started eating his food faster.
AN: Sorry for the short chap. But I have to get to work kiddies! Enjoy more to come either tonight or tomorrow!