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 Twenty-Five

Two Halves

Chapter Quote: " Save me? You are going to kill me. What happens to you if I die?"

Susan was up and she whisked Jo away to the kitchen to redress her wounds within moments of her and Johnny having stepped out of his room. Reed's machines whirred and beeped miscellaneously as he moved to each one, examining and probing them with the intention of repairing whatever he could. The lab looked infinitely improved since the previous day. Resembling less of a war zone and more of a place where they would be able to find answers, Johnny felt cynically optimistic as he walked downstairs and looked around.

He spied a large, metal cell- newly erected in front of the computer station. Similar to the one he himself had tried out just over a year or so ago, he grinned as he recalled the sensation of immense power that had flooded his limbs as he had flamed up for the first time. The looks on Sue and Reed's faced when he'd stood before them, dripping with fire extinguisher foam with the ruins of the cage about him, had been priceless.

He approached the cell, examining the thick metal walls as he walked around it. "Where'd you get this?" He asked Reed, running his hand over the cold, smooth surface and stopping at the far end where a door was located.

Reed glanced up at him briefly. "I had it in storage from our first testings. I just made a few extensions and adjustments to suit our purposes for Josephine."

Johnny glanced about the lab again, frowning as he noted the absence of Ben. "Where's the brother Grimm?"

"He left a little while ago to check in with Alicia."

"Oh... so he gets to go check in with his girl, but I'm stuck in here?"

Reed's brows raised. "For newlyweds, Ben has hardly had a honeymoon after the wedding, and now with all of this..."

"Still, it's hardly fair."

"To which girl would you run, Johnny?"Came the voice of his sister approaching from the kitchen. "I was under the impression that there were far too many to try and visit." She appeared at the base of the lab with Jo at her side, looking refreshed with a somewhat healthy flush appearing on her pallid cheeks. Johnny rolled his eyes, cheered at his sister's joviality.

"Joke... ha ha."

With her hair brushed, bandages changed, and a brightness in her eyes that Johnny could hardly recognize, Jo smiled nervously as she approached the metal cell, glancing apprehensively between it and Reed as she stopped at its base.

"Good morning, Josephine. Did Susan get you something to eat?"

Jo shifted her weight on the floor. "I wasn't very hungry." She replied, her eyes now fixed on the cell. "So... ah... how is this going to work?" She asked, reaching out tentatively to touch the cool metal.

Reed dropped his clipboard lightly by a computer. "Come on." He said, gesturing to the door standing ajar on the opposite side. "I'll give you a tour."

Reed was as pleasant as the situation allowed I suppose. Not knowing much about Mr. Fantastic made me wary of judging him in anyway... but he did have the tendency to be easily distracted by the loudness of his own thoughts. It was probably just in his nature, but I couldn't help but feel that he was fascinated by my current condition, rather then eager to help me correct it.

I tried not to be vexed by this impression... but when you're handling a dangerous object, one feels better about it when it is handled seriously. And right now I was beginning to feel more like a lab rat than someone in desperate need of help.

He was determined and brilliant, as Susan had told me. And he was the only one who could figure out what had happened to me. For this reason alone I shouldn't have been complaining... but that damned cage was making me nervous!

I felt apprehensive as Reed led us into the cell, Susan was at my side and Johnny followed in the rear. The cell was actually rather large, despite outward appearances. Johnny whistled,

"You just whip this up Reed?"

Mr. Fantastic hardly blinked as he began to wordlessly examine the walls. Susan chortled. "I just 'whip up' brownies. I don't think I'll ever understand how he comes up with this stuff." She whispered to me. I tried to smile, but my insides felt cold at the thought of being locked up in here on my own.

The four of us were able to fit inside comfortably. The ceilings were low, and I imagine that would have made Ben uncomfortable had he been there to join us, but it was otherwise spacious, and lighted dimly, which my highly sensitive eyes appreciated. Reed flicked a switch and computer screens began to appear on the walls. "All of these will monitor different areas of your body while we perform our tests." He gestured to the screens and moved closer to one in particular. "This one will allow you to see outside the cell." It was focused on the lab, Reed's computer area in particular where I knew, in just a short while, the Fantastic Four would be huddled anxiously around Reed's computers as I tried to change in whatever way I could.

"So... what exactly am I suppose to do?" I asked, watching as profiles of my body began to appear on the various screens.

"You, Josephine, are going to transform today." He replied cheerfully, sounding ridiculously optimistic... like he was explaining something like the benefits of eating broccoli to three year old. I bristled and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Transform? I'm glad you seem to be moving past the idea that I'm a cold-blooded killer by nature- but this isn't exactly a problem that I can turn on and off." I noted curiously the images on the screens, but doubted whether or not any of this could really work as Reed's smile faded and he cleared his throat.

"But see... that's where I think you're wrong." He moved to the door and we followed, my curiosity and doubt piqued as I stepped out of the cell. "You were able to change when Johnny threw that fireball at you. You chose to do so out of self-defense, not because you were forced to. Self-preservation sparked that change. If we could channel your desires, you might be able to alter the changes."

"In theory." I countered, glancing back at the cell darkly.

Reed sighed and nodded. "In theory." He agreed.

"But I have no control over myself when I change, it's as though I become an entirely different person." I replied uneasily, my brows furrowing as I heard the dark whispers in my head.

"You have to understand something," Reed took my hand and held it up to my face. "Look... right now you are as normal as the rest of us. When you transform, the change comes from somewhere inside of you. It is a part of you, which means that you will have as much control over it as you need once you learn how to use it. Now-" He pointed to the cell door. "When you're ready, you can step inside and I'll shut the door behind you. You can control the lights with simple 'on-off' vocal commands. I'll walk you through the next step once you're inside."

I blinked, my fears churned in my stomach- making me feel ill. "But what if I can't bring myself back?" I asked at length.

Reed only shook his head. "You'll come back." He affirmed confidently. "Before you go in, I need to ask you something. Can you remember anything at all about your past transformations? Anything that might explain what they are and what they feel like?"

I stared forlornly at the cell, chewed my lower lip. "Pain... that's all that I remember. Of all things, it hurts... alot."

Reed gave me some final instructions... how to change the focus of the screens, how to calm myself down if I became claustrophobic, etc., etc..

"How will you be able to see me?" I asked, still feeling unsure about this whole ordeal.

"There are various microscopic cameras situated throughout the cell. You will control the lights, but the sensors I've installed should make sure we always know how your internal systems are functioning. It will be easier for us to track any changes in your shape if the external visuals don't rule in our favor."

"I don't think I like this..." I said uncomfortably.

"We'll be with you every step of the way." Susan said as she flashed me an encouraging smile.

Johnny hovered behind Reed, he grinned sheepishly- revealing the boyish charm that had swept me off my feet so many years ago. "I'll come after you if something goes wrong." He said solemnly, and I wondered if he was as nervous as I. I couldn't help but wonder what was going through his mind as he smiled at me... couldn't help but wonder for the millionth time why he was still here- fighting to protect me.

I turned, crossing my arms over my chest as I approached the cell door. I climbed the three, small steps- leveling my breathing as I paused in the entranceway. "You'll be fine." Came Johnny's voice from behind me and I pivoted in surprise at finding him at the base of the stairs rather then Reed. He stepped up closer to me, and I could feel my heart start to race as those blue eyes looked into mine. There was a strange look in those eyes... concern mixed with determination.

I faced the mouth of the cell, and I felt a strange sense of foreboding. This was my the beginning of my climax... the point in my story where there was no going back. Johnny cleared his throat, sounding just as nervous as I.

"Well, this is it." I said softly. I played with the edges of my large sweatshirt and I bit my lip.

"I'll be here." He replied, but I couldn't meet his gaze, I didn't want him to see my tears. Why are you here for me now? I wanted to ask him. Don't you know how different everything could have been? But I didn't voice my thoughts and, willing myself to move, I entered the cell. The lights still glowed dimly, illuminating the cell with a soft light. I heard Johnny pushing the door closed, but I didn't turn to look at him as it slowly swung shut. The clicking of the lock outside finalized the decision I had made.

And also informed me that no matter what any of them said, I was truly on my own now.

I stood in the doorway, frozen as I tried to control my raging emotions. The screens whirred, the images shifting as I stepped further inside.

"Josephine, can you hear me?" Reed called cautiously. I looked towards the screen on the wall directly opposite of me where I could see Reed, holding a hand to a microphone that was pressed to his ear. He, Johnny, and Sue were all facing the screens that revealed me inside. The angle of the camera allowed me to see myself on their screen, faintly outlines in the dim light.

My heart pounded fiercely against my chest, urging to free itself. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and willed myself to calm down. "I can hear you." I responded, trying not to let my voice break.

"Alright... are you ready to begin?"

I nodded, wondering vaguely why he insisted on calling me Josephine. It sounded so formal, stiff, strange. It was so dark in here, I felt cold. My eyes explored the room, and I continued me efforts to regulate my breathing as I stepped forward again.

"I want you to think about the last you times you transformed. What were you thinking about?" He asked.

I thought back, remembering how the bright lab lights had burnt my eyes. "It doesn't work like that... not exactly anyway." I replied, trying to ignore the whispers in my mind as the cell appeared to get smaller. "It just... happens. Something makes me angry. When I woke up to the lights, they burnt my eyes... and I just wanted it to stop."

"What happens then?" Reed persisted. "You said you didn't feel good about needles either."

I flexed my hands, glancing down at the snakelike scars decorating my wrists. My head hurt and I squeezed my eyes shut. "I don't know... there are voice, in my head. They tell me I can't let it happen again."

Don't talk to him. Why tell him our secrets? Do you really think he's doing this to help us? This is just a game to him.

"Your blood pressure is rising Jo, tell me what's going on."

My head and body ached, and she was getting so persistent now. She wanted so badly to show herself, she wanted to silence them once and for all. "She just wants to protect me." I said quickly, swaying as my hands began to tremble. "She just doesn't want it to happen again."

"Doesn't want what to happen, Jo? Who are you talking about?"

Fool! He will keep us locked up in here forever! He will NEVER LET US GO!

I remembered Dr. Lewis' face as he had soothed my fears about the surgery... as he had given me that needle and my eyes had suddenly felt so heavy. "Dr. Lewis said he would take care of me... he said everything would be ok." I answered, moaning as she began to yell louder.

He lied. They all lie. You can't trust them... they'll only do it again.

"Jo?!" Johnny called nervously.

"Tell me what you feel right now... what is she telling you?" Reed said loudly. "What does she say?"

Don't tell him anything you bitch. You'll ruin everything!

The screens on the walls were making noises, but my head was erupting now in pain.

Please... do you really think you can tell me what I can or can't do?

"Lights on." I wheezed, groaning as the pain intensified and I fell to my knees. The room burst with blinding light and she hissed at me. "She wants me to stop you... she says if I listen to you that you'll never let me go." I felt tears in my eyes and I clutched my head in agony. "Tell her she's lying Reed! She won't listen..."

But she was so powerful, and with a cry of rage she screamed at me and I felt as though I were suffocating. "She's hurting me Reed..." I gasped, "..tell her to stop..." I curled into a fetal position, rocking back and forth as tears streamed down my face.

Don't listen to him. She warned, threatening to tear me apart.

Leave me alone.

"Don't let her take over Jo... don't let her force you into anything."

Johnny jerked as Jo moaned again, staring in horror as she fell to the floor. "I'm going in after her." He said darkly, but Susan stayed his movements with a steady hand.

"Wait." she whispered, nodding towards the screen as Jo's body began to tremble. Reed was clutching the edge of his desk so tightly that his hand had begun to flatten out- his knuckles losing their color. Johnny glowered briefly at his sister, but then leaned towards the screen, hardly breathing, and watched in grim fascination at Jo's internal battle.

"Tell her she can't protect you if she hurts you." Reed said urgently, glancing at the other screens that were all beeping loudly as Jo's heart rate increased and her blood pressure climbed.

Jo shook for a moment- opening her eyes, she gasped as she threw her head back and, holding in a scream, she shouted "Lights off!" And the interior of the cell plunged into darkness.

'You're choking me.'

You won't listen.

'Reed is right... you swore you would protect me.'

I am

'They are the only ones who can help us... can you see that?'

Help us? Who needs help? I'm doing everything to save you.

'Save me? You are going to kill me. What happens to you if I die?'

She was silent and I felt numb as I caught my breath and the pain receded. 'You could at least try to listen to what he says.'

You are foolish to trust so easily.

'And you will kill us both if you have your way.'

She hesitated, it was eery... she really was a whole different person, a whole other side of me I didn't recognize. She grumbled angrily under her breath.

Fine. Try the mad scientist out for size. See what his toys can do... but know this: I killed for you. I am the only one you can trust.

I felt my insides grow cold. 'What did you say?' I asked, trembling as I began to feel very ill.

I will not speak of it... not yet anyway. I will not help to turn you into a mockery for these buffoons. But neither will I force you to do anything you don't want to.

Her presence was weakening and, panicked, I called after her. 'Wait! Won't I be powerless without you?'

The weak are often mightier then the strong. And you are stronger then you think. And then she was gone, leaving me a hollow shell with a cryptic message and a splitting headache. I had forgotten how empty I felt without her.

"Jo?" Johnny called, sounding frantic over the microphone. I sat up slowly, blinking as I looked around me. Technically, I felt no different then before. My senses still felt heightened and overly aware, and I could see my surroundings perfectly as if it were light... but something had changed... and I wasn't sure if I liked it or not.

"She's gone." I said breathlessly, smiling for the first time with relief. "She's gone."

It was too dark inside the cell to see anything. But Reed's heat sensors displayed an outline of Jo sitting on the floor and looking around her slowly. There was a collective sigh of relief and Reed bowed his head for a moment and released his grip on the desk. Johnny wished desperately to see her face, to know if she was truly all right after having listened to her writhe in pain for nearly a... damn... it had only been about twenty minutes. It had felt like a lifetime.

He wanted so badly to understand who exactly insisted on tormenting Jo in this fashion. Or rather, who was it who would dare torment her at all? The thought made him angry, and his sister sent him a warning glance as his hands started to smoke.

"Lights on." Jo said, her back facing the cameras and her hair unbound and free upon her back. She rose, turned to face them. Her eyes were still dark, her teeth extended and her hands bearing the trademark claws of Monster Jo. She smiled that feral grin that Johnny had grown to hate, but there was something different about her now.

Standing before the screen, she held up her hand, and they all watched wordlessly as her claws receded into her hand and, still smiling, her face took on its natural, healthy hue. Her freckles returned, dotting her nose and cheekbones, her eyes then took on a whitish color and then brightened into her natural, resplendent blue.

"I'm a little hungry." She said softly over the microphone. "Could we break for lunch?"

Jo looked like an entirely different person as she stepped out of the cell. Her eyes eerily bright, she couldn't seem to stop smiling as Susan raced over and embraced her in a warm hug. "I knew you could do it." She said warmly and Jo, still shell shocked, could only smile wordlessly in reply.

Susan ordered a pizza, to celebrate, and Jo sat down with Reed for a break down of the previous events while Johnny hovered awkwardly and protectively nearby.

Reed's clipboard was in his hand again, and from his seat he reached over to the kitchen sink and grabbed a glass of water. Gulping it down, he looked like a kid at Christmas as he gazed into Jo's face. While Jo, exhausted but happy, lounged contentedly on the couch across from him.

"I don't even know where to begin with my questions, Josephine-"

"Please," She interrupted, "...call me Jo."

Reed cleared his throat, "Sorry. Ah... to begin, I guess the most obvious question at this point is who is this person you keep referring to?"

Jo's brows wrinkled in concentration. "She's difficult to explain... she's a part of me that was never there before. She's very strong... very violent." At this point she blinked and sighed, her eyes flicked black for a moment before she continued. "She just wants to protect me... you have to understand that. She says she just doesn't want it to happen again." Jo fiddled nervously with her hands. She seemed uncomfortable explaining herself, or her other self, to Reed.

"What was it that happened?" Reed asked gently.

Jo didn't answer for a moment. Biting her lip, she shifted in her seat. "I'm not sure... she never really explains that bit."

"Jo, what you've just explained to me sounds like an advanced form of schizophrenia and selective amnesia. The amnesia part is a little easier to explain. You said earlier that you have no recollection from the time you checked into the hospital until Johnny found you in your apartment?"

I nodded.

"Do you have any idea as to how long you've been missing?"

The way he said that made me feel uncomfortable. "No... I don't. It's just empty... like nothing ever happened in between that time."

"You've been gone for almost six months."

Gaping, I looked wordlessly to Johnny and he confirmed Reed's statement with a sharp nod of his head. "Six months?" I sputtered. How does someone disappear for six months and not remember a thing about it? I gulped.

"Something especially traumatic must have happened during those six months and now your mind is keeping it from you in order to protect you."

"Or else someone deliberately erased your memories so you wouldn't know who did this." Added Johnny thoughtfully.

My eyes widened, "Is that even possible?" I asked Reed in awe.

"It is another daunting possibility I'm afraid. If someone went through all this trouble to kidnap and alter you, then we can't really assume that they would have any limits at all. If it really is selective amnesia you're suffering from, you'll recover those memories with time. If your memories were erased however, then it means you'll undoubtedly never get them back."

I felt numb... uselessly questioning for the millionth time why someone would do this to me. Why me? What had been so special about me? What is it that they were trying to make me forget? I wondered silently. But no one, not even she could answer my questions. And then I felt angry... too many people were trying to protect me, wasn't I capable of doing that myself?

I cleared my throat and weakly met Reed's probing gaze. "So what do we do now?" I held my raging emotions in check and settled again on the couch.

"I haven't quite finished yet. Selective amnesia is only part of your problem. As I said before, you are also suffering from a severe case of schizophrenia. Have you ever had records of mental illness in either your or your family's medical history?"

I blinked in surprise and slowly shook my head. "Not that I'm aware of."

"Then it also leads me to the conclusion that this schizophrenia is also in part do to the trauma you experienced and perhaps it was even accomplished purposely by your captors."

"Wait- so you're saying that someone could intentionally make me mentally ill?"

"I'm not really saying anything. This is all speculation up to this point. But the alterations they made to your body already defy normal medical science. And while I don't pretend to understand the plans behind your kidnapping- I will also remind you again that there are, so far, no limits as to what they might have done to you."

Reed needed to work on his bedside manner. I sat stunned on the couch, unable to think as I processed his words inside my head. Intentionally... this meant that I wasn't a genetic accident like Johnny and the rest were. It meant that someone had actually planned to do this to me. Had actually thought this through... and I didn't like where that thought led me to.

Reed cleared his throat. "You said your other half tells you that she is protecting you. Do you know if she has a name or something else you could identify her presence with?"

What a strange question. My other half was so utterly foreign that it was difficult for me to grasp that she, like my other... alterations, was a part of me now. But she didn't have a name, or one that I knew of anyway.

"She doesn't have a name, we haven't exactly sat down for a 'heart to heart' chat yet. But..." I thought back to the times I had felt her in me, of the black strength that had surged through me like fire. "...she feels strong- dark. She's powerful, unmerciful."

"Have you been able to stop her from appearing?"

I shook my head. "Even just before, she was the one who let me go. She can and does anything she likes."

I had to admit, whoever she was, she was unnerving.

"How do you know she'll leave you alone?" Reed questioned. I saw my reflection in his eyes, and I noted how my own flickered black momentarily. I sighed.

"She is many things, but I don't think she would lie." The room was silent, Reed cleared his throat and stood.

"Believe it or not, this is a start. For now, lets break for lunch and we'll resume the tests immediately after."

I stood up behind him, my brows furrowing. "Resume what?" I asked curiously, the thought of re-entering the cell didn't exactly thrill me.

Reed smiled wearily and nodded toward the kitchen. "That I'll explain over our meal. In all honesty, this is going much better then I had hoped."

For now. I thought glumly. Reed was optimistic about this mess, and I guess I should have been too. But it seemed to be too easy... and I found myself dreading what the day would bring.

A/N: Wow... sorry about the delay. Since school ended, I've been away every weekend which has really limited my typing time. I'm trying to get back on schedule with at least weekly updates, but we'll see. Anyway, we're slowly getting more answers about Jo and, as you may have noticed, Johnny is sort of just hovering right now. For those of you who are worried that this is going to fast between them- don't. Johnny hasn't redeemed himself yet. You have to realize, Jo has only been around for a few days now. Lol.

And, while I'm here, come on, how many of you saw Pirates of the Carribean 3 over this past weekend? I know I did. My final call: I'm heartbroken over Will and Elizabeth, though I'm told I missed a heartwarming scene after the credits that I wasn't aware of. I ADORED Jack (as usual). Barbossa kicked ass... Norrington ROCKED! Will became a man (as stated my by wonderful friend, Sara) and Elizabeth wasn't annoying- I actually rather enjoyed her. The awesome 'wedding' on the ship made me laugh, and I was shocked and awed by the special effects throughout this movie (amazing). Overall, I still love the 1st one the most, this one the 2nd and the 2nd one the least. I consider Dead Men's Chest (while it was ok) to be like puberty, it's nothing that everyone loves- but it has to happen. :)

Now that I'm done ranting, do review if you've got a moment. And, for anyone who is wondering, my plan is to repost my pirates fanfiction over the summer. I took it down last year for reworking, but now it's coming back. (At least... that's the plan anyway. :))

Thanks to Kiann for betaing and for all you who have been reading and reviewing!

Cheers,

TO BE CONTINUED...