"Stayin' Alive"

Johnny barrelled through the ice tunnel being formed around him by some kid.

"Give it up, Pyro!" he heard. "You're surrounded!"

"Pyro?" Johnny said, glancing over his shoulder. "Is that some bad joke?"

"Wait." Ice-Guy stopped, the icicles dropping from his hands. "You're not John."

"Technically, I am. Johnny Storm. No one calls me John."

"You're not John Allerdyce."

"…What the hell kind of name is 'Allerdyce'?"

"That's… that's Pyro's name."

"Huh." Johnny looked the boy over. "What's your name?"

"Bobby Drake. They call me Iceman."

"They call me the Human Torch."

"Yeah. I got that." They stared at each other uncomfortably. "You should probably go back to what you were doing. Pyro can't fly, but I hear you… can."

Johnny waved as he flew off, and reminded himself to keep an eye out for anyone else who could work a flame. He landed beside Reed, since he couldn't see Susan.

"Know of any other supers around here?" he asked over the roar of… whatever those things were. They looked like porcupines, and the tips of their bristles were acidic. The best way to deal with them was to kill the creatures before they started to roll. They'd already punctured the sides of several cars, begun to compromise building foundations, and were tearing up patches of road. Well, causing it to crackle and break apart. He pitied anyone who had to drive anywhere. Assuming their cars were still intact.

"The Avengers are in the UK," Reed replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Some guy just tried to ice me. He thought I was someone else who can control fire."

Reed snorted. "I don't think the world could handle another one of you, let alone downtown New York City."

"Piss off," Johnny said, before flaming another porcupine thing. These porcupines were, admittedly, the size of car tyres. They could use the help if there were other supers in the area. Not if there were bad supers, obviously.

"I'm letting Susan know," Reed said. Johnny envied their ability to communicate telepathically. He heard the hiss of another ubër-porcupine down the street, and flew that way, flaming one when it started to sneak out from an alleyway. He saw Iceman… ice one, and other supers – or whatever they were – taking out more of the monsters. He had no idea who was creating them, and was tempted to stop and ask if any of the others had a clue.

They were still going ten minutes later, and no closer to finding and plugging up the source. It'd be great if SHIELD were here, but there'd been no word since they'd gone underground a couple of months ago, which was a real shame. One of Johnny's favourite games had been pissing Coulson off, even after he came back to life. Hell, that gave Johnny a whole slew of new nicknames and jokes to use.

One car which had been totalled gave Johnny some inspiration when he was isolated, and saw a porcupine climbing a fire escape. What, these things had sticky feet now? He welded a door off, flew up, and then beat at the porcupine. It fell to the ground, and started to scuttle away again. He landed beside it, bringing the door down. The spikes went straight through it, so Johnny heated up the metal.

The porcupine was cemented in place, and Johnny carefully plucked one of the acid-tipped spikes off its back. The creature grunted, struggling, and he backed off. It trembled, and eventually shook the metal off. Johnny shielded himself, throwing up flames to fry the pieces of car door before it could hit him. The creature was about to roll itself up when he fried it, well and truly pissed off. He held onto the spike, though, and the next time he encountered a porcupine he stabbed it in the belly just as it started to roll itself into a ball. It screamed, and he covered his ears as it sort of… imploded. He stared, and then backed up quickly. It would be great if Susan was there to form a force-field, just in case it blew.

Because when it did, Johnny was grateful that he could take to the air, since he missed the way cars rocked, even exploded. One guy – oh shit, a civilian – was hit by flying parts. At least the ubër-porcupines nearby also imploded, although their explosions were comparatively minor. But Johnny felt responsible, and landed beside the guy. He shoved the twisted metal and car innards off the man's body, and then turned off the flames so he could pat his cheeks.

"Don't be dead, please don't be dead," he said. Brown eyes sprang open, and Johnny sat back in surprise.

"A little warning the next time you experiment like that, kid," the man said.

"You… just said my—"

"And you 'just said my'," he said. "Got a job to do, boy."

"Boy?"

"I was born in eighteen thirty-two. You're a kid to me."

"Um…" Johnny stood with him. "What's your name?"

"Just call me Logan." Claws popped out of each hand, startling Johnny.

"Whoa."

"You only speak in monosyllabic words?"

"Not when I'm introducing myself. I'm Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch."

"Yeah, well, lemme do my job, and you do yours."

Johnny shrugged. "Okay. I'll find you later, then."

"Doubtful, junior, but you can try."

He frowned as Logan ran off, and decided to fly back to Reed and tell him about popping the porcupine.

…That sounded like a really painful euphemism.


"Thank you for your help," Professor X said. Johnny had already forgotten his surname, and was looking for the guy with the sideburns and tufty hair. It was cute. He was cute.

"I think we helped each other," Susan said, shaking his hand. Johnny turned back, and saw that the professor was watching him. "We'll have to keep in touch. Next time Dr. Strange gets bored—"

"Send him to us. We'll keep him busy."

"Thanks so much."

"Say," Johnny said, "do you know a guy named—"

"Logan. Yes, I do. He is one of ours."

"Uh-huh. You see—"

"He is your soulmate. I am aware." Johnny gaped at him, and the professor tapped the side of his head. "My power."

"You can read minds."

"And influence people, if necessary. I cannot do that to Logan, however. But I will advise him, if I see him before you do."

"Yeah, but advise him to do what?" Johnny muttered. "Avoid me, or see me?"

"See you, naturally. We must all find our soulmates and be happy with them if we possibly can." He sounded a little sad, which intrigued Johnny.

"Who'd you lose?" he asked.

"That is unimportant. I will locate Logan, and encourage him to find you."

"Well." Johnny shrugged. "We live at the top of the Baxter. He can come via the front door and the elevator. Or, if he has another way of getting in…"

Professor X chuckled. "One never knows with Logan. Take care of him, if he lets you." He paused. "Even if he doesn't let you, take care of him all the same."

"I don't know whether he'll even come after me. He sure as hell didn't seem thrilled about me trying to find him. Or about me being his soulmate."

"Logan's as ornery as they come," a white-haired woman said, touching Johnny's shoulder. "He's had a few soulmarks, and outlived all of them."

"He mentioned something about being nearly two hundred years old. If he's with me in… seventeen years time? We'll totally throw a party, and you're all invited."

"You're planning that far ahead?" Susan asked. "Your relationships don't even last seventeen days."

"He's my soulmate, Sue. It's different."

"It is," Professor X said. "Ororo is right. He will be wary."

"I'll wait. Because damn, he's hot. And he's my soulmate. I haven't outlived a bunch of `em, so I don't know what it's like; but I'll support him. Just… send him my way when he's ready. If…"

"He will be ready someday," the professor said. Johnny sighed.

"See you around," he said. "I'll be at home, Sue."

"Take care, Johnny."

"Yeah."

He checked the area he'd last seen Logan, but there was no sign of him, and probably no clues. He flew back to the Baxter Building and landed on the roof. He took a moment or three to look out over the city they'd saved yet again, and wondered why they lived in such a trouble-magnet. But if they didn't, who'd be there to save the day when the Avengers were elsewhere? Only a bunch of people who lived in Canada, and happened to be visiting that day. At least Professor X had found Stephen Strange, who'd sequestered himself away when he realised what was happening, trying to find a way to reverse it. At least he finally had, and at the expense of zero lives.

Thus, their record remained cleaner than the Avengers'. Take that, Tony Stark.

"Been waitin' for you to show up."

Johnny whirled around, fire already dancing on his hands even though he recognised the gruff voice. But one couldn't be too careful these days.

"You disappeared," Johnny said dumbly.

"To clean up more of Strange's mess."

"And now you're here."

"As you can see."

"No more calling me 'kid'?"

"Nah." Logan looked him over with a smirk. "I'd feel like a lech."

"Good. You, uh… wanna come in for a drink?"

"I'd sure like to drink somethin'."

Johnny didn't rise to the bait, no matter how tempting it was, and led Logan down to the penthouse.

"How'd you get up here?" he asked.

"Fire escapes."

"Of course." Johnny looked at the muscles with slight jealousy. However, his next thought was the possibility of being pinned against a wall by the taller man, and his eyes must've glazed over or something, because Logan's smirk grew.

"My soulmark's on my hand," he said, showing Johnny his right palm. Johnny traced it, amused to see the twitch of the skin. And slightly nervous, considering what came out of those hands. He'd heard of this guy, come to think of it.

"You're the one they call Wolverine, aren't you?" he asked.

"That's me. Gonna show me your soulmark?"

Johnny looked up at him, and blinked slowly. "Well… not unless it's in private."

"Uh-huh?"

"It's on the back of my left thigh, but kinda high up, and I don't wanna flash my sister."

"Of course not."

"But I don't mind flashing you."

"And I don't mind screwing you against the wall, or in the shower, or in bed, or—"

"Yeah, I got that." It took a lot to make Johnny blush, but he didn't realise that he'd been backed into the wall until Logan got much closer, and Johnny found he couldn't retreat anymore. Not that he wanted to, far from it. In fact, he very much liked where things were headed. However, they were still in the stairwell, and call him a romantic, but he wanted to do this right with his soulmate. "Wait."

"What for?"

"Lube and condoms in my room. Or no condoms. It's up to you." Johnny looked down with a grin. "Literally."

"It'll be up you," Logan growled. "Up to you, I mean."

"Of course. Not that I object to the other."

Logan slid his right hand down the back of Johnny's left leg and then pulled it up to hook around his waist. They kept eye contact as he pressed in close, and Johnny swallowed. It was intense, that's just the word for it. He rested his hands on Logan's shoulders, and tipped his head in for a kiss.

"Johnny! Where are you?"

He groaned in frustration. "Damn it, Susie."

"Your sister?"

"Yeah. Come on. You'd better meet the family first. Good thing I insisted on soundproofing the rooms. You try living with a married couple."

"They don't have to be married for it to be loud."

"Are we gonna be loud?" Johnny asked, and he licked his lips.

Logan smirked at the involuntary action. "The soundproofing is gonna be useless. And that, baby, is a promise."

Later that night, Susan and Reed were lying side by side, quiet.

"Well," she said eventually. "Now I know how it feels to be Johnny."

"I guess it was wrong to rub it in his face, that we have each other," Reed said. "That we're married."

"But we got soundproofing—"

"Yeah, and clearly it doesn't work."

"Or not well enough," Susan muttered.

"…I think it's time Johnny found a place of his own."

"Maybe another floor?"

Reed gave her a disbelieving look. "Do you really want to be in the same building as all that?" He jerked his head in the direction of Johnny's bedroom.

"…Point taken."

"Well, theirs certainly were."

Susan elbowed him in the ribs for that.


Kunohichi8 asked for a number of Wolverine pairings, so I thought this'd be a fun suggestion to follow. Johnny thinking that he'd injured a civilian, begging Logan not to be dead, and Logan following up with a sarcastic comment.

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