Straight Up Typhoon – 3

Booyah! I bitch slap y'all with a chapter three. Thanks so much for the reviews! You guys rock! I'm so happy that people are actually interested in a sequel at this point!

For those of us who have been graced/cursed with siblings, we understand that there are certain connections between us and them that are as unbreakable as they are irritating. We know their likes and dislikes whether we want to or not, we're forced to remember their birthdays, we know their traits, habits, and most of their secrets, and we have an uncanny ability to sense one another's presence wherever we happen to be. Sue and Johnny Storm were no exception to these phenomena. Of course, it was blatantly easy for anyone to sense Johnny's presence at any given moment, the flamboyant nuisance that he was.

At the current time, Sue was simply trying to pretend that said brother was miles and miles away in some far off land of cars and busty women—so long as he was not here, perched atop a desk, clunking his legs back and forth against it while she was trying to concentrate. It wasn't as though spending time with him was such a chore in and of itself, but Johnny, like most brothers, had a knack for requesting her attention when she least wanted to give it. When Johnny had come into the room, she had resolved to ignore him. After all, with things being as awkward between them as they had as of late, Sue really preferred to keep their conversations to a minimal. Normally she would tell him to buzz off, and even then he hardly listened to her, but remaining quiet only seemed to make the situation worse. Was it so unreasonable just to be able to use the computer in peace without someone looking over your shoulder?

"Ssssso…whatcha doin'?" he chirped from behind her, eating out of a can of chili where he sat on the desk.

Sue sighed, blowing a stray chunk of hair away from her face. "For the third time, I'm writing an E-mail."

"Oh."

Silence.

"Still?"

"Yeah. Still." She replied, eyes locked to the screen.

"To who?"

"Someone." By this point, she was half-tuning him out.

"…Who's someone?"

"No one you know." She leaned her chin down on her palm with every intent to ignore him. He couldn't stay there forever. Eventually he would get bored, or have to go to the bathroom, or run out of chili. Maybe she would even get lucky, and the phone would ring for him.

"Sue?"

Mother of God. "What, Johnny?"

"Are you looking at porn? …'cause you can tell me if you are."

"Would you shut up for five minutes?" she snapped back. She didn't know how he could be so bold as to be bothering her now. Was he really going to go the route of pretending nothing was wrong between them? She wasn't about to let him do that, but then again, she wasn't about to get into another fight, either. She was tired of the fighting and the yelling. Actually, all things considered, she was just as tired of being alone, but it seemed to be a better alternative than drawing this issue out in the open yet again. She hadn't talked to Reed yet. Not that he deserved it, the cheating bastard…She didn't even really know how to handle Johnny right now, let alone Reed. Wait, wait a minute…he was quiet…Sue slowly paused with her hand over the mouse, listening carefully for a few moments. When she heard nothing, she let out a relieved sigh and went back to what she was working on.

"So is Victor still on your buddy list?"

Sue turned over a shoulder to give him a deadly look. "Did you want to use the computer, Johnny?"

Johnny stopped chewing. "…Nope."

"Then why are you here?" she demanded. Wasn't he scheduled for his usual late night barhopping?

Johnny swallowed heavily and jammed his spoon back into the can. "I dunno. The others are out."

"So?" she swiveled around in her chair. "What, are you looking for quality time or something?"

Johnny lowered his head and wiped his mouth with a sleeve. "Uh..."

"I'm busy right now. Go away." With that, she turned back to the computer. She admitted she was being a little harsh, but…well, didn't she have every right to be?

"Sue, come on…" she could hear him slide off the desk, his feet hitting the floor with a thump. "Let's go do something, you and me."

"Not interested." She decided.

"…Please? Look, it doesn't have to be anything big. We can…go to the store, or-or go to a movie—I'll let you drive my new motorcycle!"

Sue turned back. "Your new what?"

Johnny grimaced. "Um…Okay, so I'm guessing that wasn't the greatest time to bring it up."

"Johnny…" Sue groaned, slapping a hand to her forehead.

"You say that now, but you wait 'til you see her." Johnny defended. "And anyway, just for a few hours. Like old times…"

"Oh old times?" she crossed her arms and stared him down. "Like before you and my ex-fiancé were screwing each other?"

His chest instantly sank, eyes widening. "W-what? We never—!" Johnny panicked, his voice taking on a nervously shrill tone.

"I don't care. Like I said," she waved a hand to dismiss him rather coldly. "I'm busy."

And at that, there was finally the silence she'd been waiting for. However, when at last Johnny's slow, hesitant footsteps faded back down the hall, and the room was deserted and quiet enough to work in…she didn't really feel nearly as satisfied as she thought she would.