Disclaimer: I don't own the Fantastic Four, if I did I'd be in Vancouver watching them film right now…wouldn't that be great?
Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews coming my way and I'm sorry for the gap in between updates. I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, I'm not that far off from the end…that may change soon though. The bad news is the gap between updates is only going to get bigger now school has started. I'm starting my GCSEs this year and so my Dad has declared that Fan Fiction and The Sims are weekend only activities. Do not fear; I'll crack him soon. : P
BTW, the first nine speeches are completely different people, just one of the effects that work better in films I think but oh well. Enjoy!
"Well I think I did see an ambulance pass by not too long ago. I would think it went to the hospital. Do you know where it is? I think I have a map…"
"Ambulance? I haven't got time to be looking out for such things, you're a mother, you should understand! At least you have a man by you side, try being single with three kids under twelve! "
"I saw an ambulance about seven hours ago, I got pretty scared when it stopped next door."
"I didn't see an ambulance but I saw a limo! It was real nice, I took a picture, wanna see? I'll just get it…Hey! Where you going, don't you wanna see the limo?"
"You mean the one that stopped at the art studio? Nope, didn't see it."
"My mommy says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers…or open the front door, even if it is The Thing…will you say it's clobberin' time?"
"I don't want to buy anything!"
"Maybe you should come inside and have a cup of coffee. I might just remember if I did see one…is it true you can stretch any part of your body?"
"Well well, if it isn't Johnny Storm. Take that! No one stands up Nina Lease and gets away with it…well, when you put it like that…okay, see you Friday."
The Fantastic Four continued their fruitless search for two hours, by the time they were finished it was almost midnight and most people were refusing to open their doors. Who can blame 'em, Ben thought sadly. Everything was okay for them; they didn't have to deal with the loss of loved ones or powers or saving the world on a day-to-day basis. Their biggest dilemma was probably running out of milk. Ben looked at his three friends. Reed and Sue were walking in front, Reed had an arm around Sue's shoulders and he held her close to him. Johnny lagged behind with his hands in his pockets and his head down. They all walked in silence.
"We shouldn't stand for this," Johnny said suddenly, everyone turned to look at him.
"What do you mean?" Reed asked as he let out a yawn.
"I mean Victor's crossed the line and he keeps going further! I mean c'mon, he stole you baby, took my powers and then kidnapped your half dead girlfriend. You can't tell me we're still gonna stand around and wait for him to make another move," Johnny looked around at his team-mates desperately.
"And what exactly are you gonna do?" Ben snapped. Johnny looked down with a hurt look on his face. He shrugged.
"Something," he mumbled.
"I think the one thing we can all do is get some rest, we've had a long day. We should continue our search for the impostors in the morning," Reed announced. Johnny fought the urge to ask why his problem wasn't on the 'urgent' list. Why are we gonna spend so long finding Alicia, we spent less time looking for Franklin for god sake.
THE NEXT DAY - BAXTER BUILDING
Sue stirred in her sleep as she felt someone kiss her lightly on the forehead. She opened her eyes just in time to see him disappear from the door of her room. She smiled slightly and sat up slowly, she yawned and turned over to look at the clock on her bedside table. Instead her eyes met a large bouquet of sunflowers in a glass vase. Sue smiled again and reached for the small card that was nestled in between the flowers. She opened up the card and read the message; her smile vanished.
Don't worry; everything will be fine. Love…
Dread washed over Sue and she quickly got out of bed, she grabbed her silk dressing gown and put on her slippers. She quickly made her way to Reed's office. It was empty.
Sue searched the lab but he was nowhere to be found, Sue gave up and went into the living quarters; she still couldn't find him. She ended her search in the living room. Her brother was lying on the sofa watching MTV; he sat up and turned to look her when she walked into the room.
"Reed told me to tell you he went with Ben to track down Alicia," Johnny said casually.
"Okay, did he just leave?" Sue asked hopefully.
"Nah, he left about half an hour ago," Johnny said distractedly. Sue's blood suddenly ran cold, if Reed hadn't just kissed her then who had? Johnny certainly wouldn't do it.
"Oh yeah! And he told me to tell you to watch the news cos they keep talking about Franklin," Johnny added. Sue's worry was quickly redirected to her baby.
"Franklin? What happened? Do they know where he is? Do they know what happened?"
"Calm down, they just got a lead on the case or something like that. I dunno, watch the TV," Johnny handed his sister the remote and left her alone. Sue immediately switched over to CNN. They were reporting a scandal involving a random politician. Sue switched channels until she found the story she was looking for.
"Police are currently looking for a middle aged white woman who was seen with the baby in a toy shop, she appeared nervous around authorities and at one point was hiding the baby from sight. Witnesses who were already suspicious of her alerted authorities when she began to call the child Franklin and mentioning the late Victor Von Doom. Police believe she is part of a Latverian cult who prophesised his return…" Sue listened intently to the woman on the television screen. She listened as she went into greater deal about the cult, Victor's death and the woman Franklin was seen with.
YANCY STREET
"We're never gonna find her," Ben wailed. He was sat on the curb outside Alicia's studio; Reed was beside him.
"Don't say that, negative thinking won't get us anywhere," Reed said but he too had to admit everything looked hopeless. Alicia and the ambulance she was in seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Reed had considered going to the press again but Ben had firmly disagreed. He didn't want to have to deal with more pressure about the Fantastic Four 'losing it'.
"Yeah, well just cos you think happy thoughts don't mean everything will work out for you," Ben grumbled.
"True, but sometimes it does help. It also means you aren't wallowing around in self-pity all the time," Reed pointed out.
"I'm wallowing around in self-pity?" Ben asked angrily.
"No! That's not what I meant-" Ben cut Reed off.
"Then what do you mean?"
"I mean that…that this isn't going to help us in any way. Sitting here isn't going to bring us Alicia," Reed explained. Ben sighed.
"You're right. This is hopeless, we should really be looking for that lady that has your baby."
"Nothing's hopeless," Reed corrected. "If the team splits in two I think we could find Alicia and Franklin. Come on, let's go home." The two friends stood up and slowly walked back to the Baxter Building.
BAXTER BUILDING
The Fantastic Four sat round a table in the centre of the lab discussing plans for the day. They had agreed that Reed and Sue would search for the woman, who had now been identified as Barbara Lawson, and Ben and Johnny would look for for Alicia.
"But where exactly are you guys gonna look?" Johnny asked Reed and Sue.
"The police are searching her home. We'll start there, maybe contact her friends or family."
"What if she's a loner? Someone with loads of friends wouldn't steal a baby would they?" Johnny asked.
"You'd be surprised kid. Not everyone who commits a crime is a hermit," Ben pointed out.
"Then what do we do? Cos we can't go back to Yancy street, everyone knows we're not gonna find anything there," Johnny said in a know-it-all voice.
"He's right, you two can't go back there," Sue said.
"Well where can we start?" Ben asked.
"You could just knock on doors again," Reed suggested.
"No!" Johnny protested. "Lets just…search alleyways and see if we find a body." Johnny clamped his free hand over his mouth and looked worriedly at Ben to see his reaction.
"Sorry man, I didn't mean it like that-"
"Forget about it," Ben said tersely.
"Seriously, I really didn't-"
"I said drop it!" Ben shouted. Johnny bit back the urge to tell him he actually said 'forget about it' and sank into his chair. He didn't even know why he was apologising to Ben; he was still slightly annoyed about Ben abandoning him the day before. It's probably because he looks so sad; this was true. All of Ben's features seemed to droop and he walked around looking defeated. Johnny cursed his compassionate side and tuned back into the conversation going on around him.
"It's a big city, for all we know they could already be out of it. How do we know they haven't already left the state?" Sue asked.
"Well I believe we can safely say Barbara hasn't gone anywhere," Reed concluded.
"But what about the ambulance?" Sue asked with a worried look at Ben.
"That's easy," Johnny declared. "All we gotta do is think like the enemy. I can't really think like an old lady but these ambulance guys are easy!"
"Oh yeah? And what did you have in mind?" Ben asked sceptically.
"Okay, picture this. You've just stolen an ambulance, what are you gonna do?" Johnny asked. Reed, Sue and Ben looked at him blankly, Johnny sighed and rolled his eyes.
"You get rid of it. You can't drive around in stolen property, especially something that stands out so much like an ambulance," Johnny said as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
"So how would you get rid of it?" Ben asked, all his doubt was gone and he was now genuinely interested.
"You change it. A fake number plate and a new paint job equal a whole new car. No one would even notice. If you drive sensibly and don't draw attention to yourself you can get from A to B without getting stopped by the cops. Cos you know, once they catch you they might investigate your car and discover your number plate is fake or something. When you get to B you can take it apart and sell the parts or something like that." Silence filled the room after Johnny's explanation; everyone was shocked at his sudden knowledge.
"I don't even want to know how you know all this stuff," Sue said in distaste, Johnny beamed at his sister in reply.
"So where do we go?" Ben asked.
"You should visit all the mechanics in the area-" Reed announced.
"Not likely," Johnny cut in. "Real criminals know you can't go some place that will have loads of people hanging around. What if they leave a little bit of evidence behind by accident?"
"Well then where will they go?" Reed asked, slightly annoyed than Johnny had suddenly become the fountain of knowledge.
"Are there any real dumps near that hospital?" Johnny asked. Ben's eyes widened and he nodded slowly.
"They shut off half of the hospital after there was a fire, they say it's not safe and there are gas leaks and all sorts."
"Perfect! Everyone will think they're going towards the hospital, once they turn off the siren and go some place quite they'll lose attention. Then they just go into the deserted part of the hospital, change the ambulance and bam! They're off the hook. All we gotta do is search the place for anything they may have left behind or stuff that shows they were there."
"But you can't go into the hospital," Sue said to Johnny.
"Why not?" Johnny asked in disbelief. "It's not like I'll blow the place sky high."
"Yeah well you're pretty much defenceless now and I won't have you in there. Look at the state of you," she gestured to the cast on Johnny's arm.
"Sue! You can't let Ben go alone, it's not fair!" Johnny protested.
"And what happens if people are waiting for you in the hospital, then what are you gonna do?"
"Ben would protect me," Johnny said with a desperate glance at Ben.
"Yeah of course," Ben mumbled distractedly, he clearly wasn't listening to anything anyone was saying. Sue glared at her husband, immediately Reed joined the debate.
"Maybe Sue's right," he said calmly. Johnny ran a hand through his hair and looked at the people around him.
"I don't believe this. C'mon Ben, don't you want some company?" Johnny pleaded. Ben stared forlornly at the table; he jumped when Johnny called his name.
"Huh?" he grunted.
"Stay here," Sue commanded. "I'll be watching you," she added menacingly. She stood up and left the room. Reed and Ben quickly followed her, giving apologetic looks to Johnny. Johnny sat in his chair glaring at the doorway; he put his head in his hand and exhaled loudly. Think Johnny think. He stood up and began to inspect the equipment around him. There's gotta be something here to help me.