Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. 20th Century Fox, Marvel Comics, Stan Lee, and probably some other people do. Wish I did. Especially the guys. Typos as always are my fault.
Rating: T to be safe. This one doesn't have my usual amount of action, only some adult themes and mild language. See part one for author's notes.
2
Villains had devised no situation yet for which Mr. Fantastic could not devise a gadget, or so his team and family had learned. When the images of Johnny imprisoned in Victor's cage were first broadcast—less than six minutes earlier---Reed had not known what kind of trap, precisely, that they were dealing with, but he'd prepared as best he could. Victor had to be confident in his cube, for he'd placed it in an obvious location and had placed not a single trap, barrier, or obstacle between the Fantastic Four and their imprisoned comrade. Clearly, Doom wasn't worried about Johnny escaping or the team liberating him from the cell.
Having sized up the situation in a hurry, and ever-mindful of the deadline hanging over their heads by the dwindling oxygen and toxic carbon dioxide in the cell, Reed swiftly set to work with the instruments that he'd brought along. He stayed out of the range of the small camera, hoping to hide his activities from Doom.
The immediate threat to Johnny wasn't the only factor weighing on Reed's mind. Sue had been right when she said that Doom had gone to a lot of trouble if all he wanted was a simple concession of defeat from the team. Something more was going on here. For one thing, why had Victor gone to all the trouble of fashioning a small speaker and surgically implanting it in Johnny's ear? Why did he need a closed circuit to speak to his captive? Anything Johnny heard, he would tell the team, so Victor couldn't imagine that they'd be having a private conversation.
While Reed worked, Ben paced around the outside of the cube, clenching and unclenching his fists, as if he could crack open the box with the force of his glare. Susan kept one eye on the monitor, keeping up a stream of chatter with her brother, and the other on Reed's activities. When she glanced in his direction, Reed waved her over.
"Tell me you have a plan." She wasn't asking.
"Victor said he could open that box with the press of a button, so there has to be a lock or a trigger hidden somewhere in the walls of that cage," he whispered. "He'll transmit a signal to that lock to open the box. I want you to have a good look around, see if you can find something that looks like a receiver. It'll be very small. If we find it, I might be able to find its frequency and trigger the lock from here."
"Or maybe you'll set off another trap," Sue warned.
Ben had joined their conference just in time to overhear. "I ain't got any better ideas, Susie, how 'bout you?"
She was sure Victor would have anticipated an attempt like that, but she did not have any better ideas at the moment either. "All right. Just please be careful." She shimmered into invisibility.
Feeling useless at the moment, while Sue went about her task and Reed set to work on another of his gizmos, Ben complained, "I hate this sitting around waiting."
"You and me both," Johnny agreed.
Ben turned back to the monitor. On the screen, he saw Johnny seated on the floor, his back to the wall, a twitch of his foot the only hint of the Human Torch's frustration. Johnny's eyes were closed at the moment, and that worried Ben. Was the kid already getting tired from the thinning air? "Ya all right, kid? Eyes open, hear?"
Johnny blinked and opened his eyes, then winced. He couldn't tell if his headache owed to just the lights or if the air was starting to get thin. The flashing lights were even brighter and more annoying after having his eyes shut for a minute or two. He felt like he was locked inside a 1970s disco lounge…without the consolation of having pretty ladies for company. On top of that, the crackle and pop of static in his ear was beginning to make his skin crawl. If he didn't get out of this box and get that thing out of his ear soon, he was going to think seriously about taking his chances with burning off his remaining air to remove it himself. This has to be worse than Chinese water torture.
"How are you feeling?" Reed added from somewhere off-camera.
"Like I'm stuck in a Maroon Five song." Like crap, Johnny wanted to say, but adding to their stress wasn't going to help. It was hard to watch the monitor, since it was right above the lamps and therefore required Johnny to look almost directly into their glare, but talking over the communicators—with that killer feedback---was worse, and he knew Ben and Reed weren't going to be satisfied unless he answered. "I'm okay."
Ben knew that was a lie. The kid was scared, even if he would never show it. "We'll getcha out. Sit tight."
Johnny grinned a bit. "What, don't tell me you're actually worried about me, Big Guy?"
The Thing snorted. "Nah, I just wanna get your ugly mug off'a everyone's t.v.'s before they miss Days of Our Lives and start rioting in the streets."
"Aw man, I'm missing the soaps? Someone run back to the Baxter Building and turn on the recorder for me." It was a feeble joke, but it was the best he could do. Besides, he wasn't going to lose his cool or his sense of humor in front of a worldwide audience. He blinked again, trying to keep his eyes open against the desire to close them and rest for a minute. Thin air and sleep is bad…or was it cold air and sleep is bad? Never could keep those straight.
Johnny heard a derisive grunt over the earpiece, and his own temper flared up. His adrenaline surged with the rush of anger, instinctively gearing up for a flame on and a fight, heating up the already-stuffy cage. He forced himself to calm down. Fully awake now, he challenged his unseen captor: "You got something to say, Tin Man?"
"Nice show of bravado, Johnny. Always keep a brave face to the world. What I can't understand is why you worry about impressing Ben Grimm, of all people," Victor chided. "I've never understood your need for his approval. That's the sort of emotional weakness I was talking about, the kind that makes you weak. The kind that holds you back."
"I don't need anyone's approval," Johnny shot back.
The rest of the team turned their full attention to the monitor at Johnny's out-of-the-blue remark. "What're you talkin' about?" Ben asked him.
Susan suddenly appeared beside the Thing. "He wasn't talking to us. Victor's saying something to him again," she answered for her brother. "Johnny, ignore him."
Johnny nodded to her, "Gladly."
Victor, however, wasn't finished. "Ben Grimm was your C.O. I understand the desire to impress your superiors---it opens the door to opportunity, after all. But, your loyalty to him should have ended the day you left NASA, Johnny."
"Ignoring you," the Human Torch informed Doom.
"You were kicked out for what---some harmless fun with a couple of young ladies?" Victor pressed. "It's no secret, Johnny, I read your file long before you ever came to work for me. What were the charges? Improper use of NASA facilities? Bringing unauthorized civilians into secured areas? Did I leave anything out? Tell me, I'm curious."
"Destruction of NASA property, etc, etc…" Johnny answered. Then, he shook his head. "And why am I answering you?" he asked himself.
Susan raised an eyebrow. "What's he saying?"
Ben glowered. "He's talking about NASA…or Victor is." Ben could guess his name was coming up in the conversation, too, and he wasn't at all pleased about it. What the hell was the point of Doom's dredging up Johnny's bad memories?
"Harmless fun," Victor repeated his conclusion. "The point, Johnny, is that Grimm was your C.O., he had a say in the decision to throw you out, you have to know that. At the least, he had the power to speak in your defense. Come on, Johnny, tell me the truth, you must be a little angry with him."
Ferocity bit into Johnny's tone, matching the icy stare he directed into the camera. "Ben went to bat for me, I know he did. He helped me get in 'cause I was Sue's brother and I disappointed him. I didn't blame him for being pissed off."
Ben felt an unexpected pang of regret, like a physical blow to the gut. "You got something' to say 'bout me, Vic? Don't say it behind my back---" Sheesh, why was Vic tearing into that old wound? Yeah, it was true, Johnny had grated on Ben's nerves back in their days at NASA. The kid had been brash and cocky---good qualities for a pilot, but not so good for a team where mutual cooperation had to outweigh personal glory. Ben hadn't seen Johnny as a team player back then, he'd seen him as a hot shot and a glory hound. Ben hadn't entirely trusted him with the safety of a crew. He'd been right at the time, but that wasn't (entirely) true of Johnny Storm now. Johnny was still a hotshot and a glory hound, yes, but his dedication to the team, to the Fantastic Four, was beyond question. The kid was learning to listen and take orders. He trusted Johnny with his life now. Of course, Ben shouldn't be expected to say mushy crap like that out loud.
It was ancient history, all that, and if Victor was using it to hurt the kid, he was going to answer to Ben.
"Are you sure, Johnny? Did Ben really 'go to bat for you'? Why would he? He did the right thing when they were deciding what to do with you, Johnny---he didn't let emotional impurities like friendship and loyalty get in the way of making his decision. He did what was best for NASA. I respect him for that. I understand Ben, but you---why are you still defending what he did back then? You were angry when you came knocking on my door. I know you were. I saw you on the space station. I saw you at the quarantine facility. I watched you at the Baxter Building. Why did you stand there on that space station and risk your life staying with Ben when that cosmic storm hit? Why were you the one sitting with him in the quarantine facility when we were brought back to Earth? Why did you hang on to your loyalty to him after all that?" Victor's tone grew in intensity with each question. "The first lesson I have to teach you is this, Johnny: If a man stabs you in the back once, you don't hand him another knife and say, 'Try again.' You cut him out of your life, out of mind, out of heart. Trust is a privilege. When it's betrayed, it's revoked."
Victor had already baited Johnny about all this a long time ago, when Johnny had marched into Von Doom's office in search of employment. What was the point of rehashing it now? Johnny wondered.
Ben Grimm had been larger-than-life to Johnny when they'd met. Ben was a pilot, an astronaut, a hero, and he came from the poor side of town just like Johnny Storm had. So, yeah, Victor was right. Johnny had worried about impressing his C.O. back then. He'd wanted to be all those things, too. And then Johnny had done something remarkably stupid and disappointed his would-be mentor. At the time, it had hurt that Ben hadn't put in a word on Johnny's behalf with the big wigs (he didn't know Ben had, in fact, done so until later when Reed told him), and he'd been angry, thinking that his dreams were over (until Sue had convinced him to try signing on with Von Doom's corporation). But, Johnny didn't hate Ben for what happened. And, yes, sometimes he still tried to impress his old C.O. (usually only driving the Thing nuts with his antics instead).
Glancing away from the camera, Johnny took a deep breath and counted to ten, trying to bring himself under control. Victor was baiting him, but that didn't mean he had to take the bait.
Doom's captive's mouth was set in a firm line. Johnny didn't answer, but a twitch of his jaw confirmed the fact that Victor's words had hit their mark.
Victor must have been smiling beneath his garish mask, for Johnny could hear self-satisfaction in Doom's voice when he added: "Are you that desperate for a father figure, Johnny? That would be understandable, being raised by your big sister the way you were."
Johnny's ice stare became venomous. Instinctively, he tried to stand and started to raise his fists. Smoke began to pour from his fingertips. "Leave her out of this," he warned.
"Johnny, don't listen to him!" Sue's authoritative tone came over the monitor.
Johnny paused only long enough to meet Reed's eyes over the monitor. The question was in the younger man's eyes: Do I still need to keep Victor talking? Regretting the necessity, Reed nodded almost imperceptibly in answer. The Human Torch scowled and returned his attention to Victor.
Doom would not be silenced yet. "I'm not criticizing her, Johnny. I know how hard it was for you two, losing your parents in such an awful way, Susan having to raise you on her own when she was what—sixteen? Seventeen? She was a child herself. Never having a father around when you needed one…it leaves a void. Believe me, I understand. We have that in common, Johnny."
"Me have something in common with you, Doom? There's a thought that'll make a guy lose his lunch."
Whatever Victor was saying, the Human Torch's face was a mask of deadly fury. He appeared ready to climb right through the camera to get at Doom. He was oblivious to his teammates' efforts to distract him from the voice in his ear. Reed worked that much faster, while Sue and Ben watched the one-sided exchange on the monitor with increasing fear. If Victor provoked him to flame on, Johnny was as good as dead.
"I wish I knew what Victor was saying," Sue said.
"I wish I could cram that camera and microphone down Vic's throat," Ben added.
"I lost my father, too, Johnny. Very few people know that. My father was a doctor, just like yours. A doctor in Latveria…well, I suppose he was what your culture would call a gypsy or a specialist in folk remedies and homeopathic medicines. It was a long time ago. We traveled from village to village so my father could help people," Victor recalled. "And, like your father, eventually someone under his care passed away and he found himself accused of a murder that he didn't commit…in his case, it was a little girl in his charge, not his wife. There was nothing that could have been done for the girl's fever, but the people in her village didn't see that way. They convinced the officials in their province that my father had deliberately poisoned the child. When the soldiers came to arrest my father, we ran. I was with him when they caught up with us. I think a general named Kubeka pulled the trigger. It's the worst thing in the world to watch your own parent die…"
Victor's end of the earpiece lapsed into silence. Johnny was momentarily at a loss for a retort. The anger was ebbing out of him, and the instinct to fight with it. He might even have felt an instant of pity for his tormentor, but Victor's words had torn right into Johnny and opened a gaping wound. As if he knew that, Doom poured the salt into the wound: "…but I imagine you felt almost the same way the day your father was arrested: Abandoned. Afraid...betrayed. You were what…eleven? Twelve?"
Johnny didn't want to think about that day. He hadn't let himself think about it for a very long time. In spite of himself, his vision blurred and the unfamiliar sensation of tears burned the corners of his eyes. He didn't bother to ask how Victor knew so much about his family---Victor had made it his business to know everything about his employees when Susan and Johnny worked for him. Naturally, there'd be no secrets that the billionaire couldn't have uncovered.
Something was terribly wrong. Susan could tell. Johnny no longer looked to be in danger of flaming on, but he had lapsed into silence…had practically frozen in place…and there was something in his eyes she hadn't seen in a very long time. Whatever Victor was saying was getting to Johnny…and there wasn't much that darkened his spirits, penetrated that devil-may-care attitude he wore like a shield.
Gently, Susan used the lull to try to distract her brother from Doom's tirades. "Johnny? What?"
"You shouldn't be angry at your father for what happened, Johnny. You need to put the past behind you, if you'll pardon the cliché. Otherwise, the past is an Achilles Heel that your enemies can use against you---for instance, when they have you imprisoned much like you are now. I'm sorry I had to use that to make my point. I didn't know your father, but I know he did exactly as I've been trying to tell you: He didn't let emotional attachments interfere with doing what he had to do to survive. I'm sure he would have liked to have come back for you and Susan when he escaped from prison, but what kind of life would that have been for any of you? You would have slowed him down. The worry over both of you would have always come first. He'd never be able to focus on clearing him name, on staying ahead of the police, and sooner or later he would have had to give you up or give up his life. He made a practical, sensible decision in making a clean break from your lives---sensible for all three of you. Love is a fine thing…but if you don't master it, love will get you killed. It's that kind of sensibility that your should emulate, Johnny, if you're ever to live up to the potential of your gifts."
Too much. Johnny could deal with Doom and his tirades…he could give a flying fig for what creeps like Victor had to say to or about him…but not with the bad memories and the surge of long-dormant pain that accompanied those memories. His temper flared to rare heights.
On the monitor, Susan was trying to intervene, though she was powerless to do more than say: "Don't listen to him. Listen to us, Johnny…you're losing oxygen in there. It's going to make you feel confused. It's going to make it hard to think clearly. Victor's using that to play mind games with you…"
For just that moment, Johnny could care less about burning off his air. The need to shut that psycho up was stronger. He couldn't kill Doom…but he could take out that camera and microphone. He raised his hands and smoke began to pour from his body.
Sue saw this and yelled into the microphone: "Johnny, no!"
Reed's attention snapped back to the monitor at once. "Johnny, don't move!"
It was their Leader's voice, his order brooking no disobedience, and the Human Torch stopped only a heartbeat before his flames would have come to life. He couldn't prevent a snarl at the unseen Victor: "You don't know shit about me or my dad, Doom!"
Ben would have raised an eyebrow if he'd had one. "Dad?" The question was directed at the Invisible Woman.
The blood drained from Susan's face. Suddenly, she knew exactly what was provoking Johnny to that level of rage. "Oh God." This had gone too far. She didn't care about finding Victor any more…not if this was the price her brother had to pay. The entire world didn't need to see this. Maybe they couldn't get that earpiece out without risking Johnny's life, but they could sure as hell spoil some of Victor's fun. "Johnny, can you take out that camera and microphone without flaming on?" They would still be able see and hear Johnny over their own communicators.
"My pleasure," Johnny growled, advancing on the cameras.
"Ben." Sue turned to the Thing and nodded to the camera in the office with them.
"No problem," Ben answered.
Reed warned them, "No, wait---the transmitter might be ins----"
Doom's voice interrupted once again: "I can't let you do that."
The communicator on Johnny's wrist crackled in warning, and then burst into flames and disintegrated from within. Only the fact that his skin was fireproof preventing him from being burned and the material of his suit kept the fragments of the device from leaving more than a couple small cuts behind. Outside the box, the rest of the team's communicators blinked the message: Signal lost.
"Destroy the cameras if you wish," Victor sounded quite pleased with himself, "but you lose your only communication with your friend. It's your decision."
Ben looked at Susie, making it her call. She, in turn, waited for her brother's reaction. On the monitor, Johnny hesitated for a long while before he abandoned his plans and turned away from the camera. Being in the box was bad. Being in the box without being able to see or hear anyone besides Doom would be worse.
Susan faced the camera, but this time she wasn't speaking Johnny. "Victor?"
Doom answered at once. "Susan?"
She paused just for a second before saying what she had to say. It made her sick in the pit of her stomach, but if swallowing her pride for two words was the price she had to pay to help her brother, Sue would do it. "You win."
She could practically hear Victor smiling: "One down. Three to go."