Straight Up Typhoon – 15

SWEET! Fifteen. Well, here it is folks, the final installment of the fic.

So what can I say? To those of you who stuck with me throughout My Impractical Hurricane all the way to the end of this…I'm shocked at how much time you've wasted. Ah, just kidding! Thank you for reading, reviewing, and giving a purpose to my writing. I'm very happy that it was so well received. Save for by my flamer, of course, who by, the way I still love, wherever she's gotten to. XD I'm sure she's lurking in the shadows somewhere, waiting to leave one last comment and run. You've all been great. And I'm so glad to be finished! It's one less burden on my mind now.

So please, enjoy! And don't eat so many onion rings—for a vegetable, they really aren't that good for you.

"I don't know why they gotta keep you here so long." Ben muttered as he leaned against the wall, eying Reed casually. Sue looked up briefly from her chair, but didn't add anything.

"I was only here overnight, Ben." Reed reminded. "I'm out of here in an hour at the most."

"Yeah, well, it's makin' me uncomfortable." Ben returned. "Makes me think somethin's wrong that they ain't tellin' us. I hate hospitals."

"Sure. There's a conspiracy behind all of this, I'm sure." Reed said sarcastically. He glanced around at all of them with mild satisfaction that they were all in the same room again. If he would've known that a simple little near death experience would bring them all together again, he would've done it weeks ago. It was worth it in more than one way anyway, since in the excitement of the fire and the rescue, the media seemed to have completely forgotten the supposedly made up incident between himself and Johnny. They were heroes again, scandal abated.

"I'm just sayin'. Hospitals've done all sorts a'crazy things. And you never know what these experimental whackjobs'll want with you, especially a guy with DNA like yours, right? …You sure you still got both kidneys?"

"I'm pretty sure."

"Did they make you sign anything you didn't read all the way through?"

"Get off his back." Johnny muttered in annoyance. "Break your arm and see how you feel about a hospital then."

"Hey Reed, when'd you get a guard dog?" Ben asked, ignoring Johnny's heated glare.

They looked up as there was a knock at the door, after which it quickly opened and Alicia entered the room. "Hey, I've got the right room, right?"

"Heya, Al." Ben greeted, reaching out to grip her hand and pull her into him.

"Hi guys. How you doin', Reed?" she asked in concern.

"I'm fine." Reed assured. "Just a few scrapes. Are you alright?"

"…As good as I can be." She sighed with obvious effort to keep her tone level. "I'll be better knowing that a certain someone rots in prison."

"I hope they put him in with the biggest, ugliest goons they got." Ben growled, clenching a fist. "I hope he drops the soap and some hairy, sweaty Hell's Angel rear-ends him like a semi plowing into a—" Ben suddenly stopped, and the room fell into the most uncomfortable, suffocating silence any of them could remember as all eyes unconsciously fell upon Johnny and Reed.

Johnny twitched and turned red, looking away and biting his tongue as he shook his head. "What?" he dared Ben gravely in a tone that was not to be challenged. Reed rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"Uh, nothin'." Ben shrugged with false flippancy. "A-all I'm sayin' is the little jerk has every kind of whoopin' coming to him. I swear, if I'd'a had my way—"

"If you'd'a had your way, we'd be bailing you out of jail." Alicia cut him off.

"What exactly are you all talking about? What happened, anyway?" Reed broke in obliviously.

Sue, Ben, and Johnny all exchanged a brief look before Ben took charge. "You'll never guess who started that fire. You remember that sick punk I was pointin' out to you the other night? The one I've been goin' on about, you remember."

"Wait, you mean…Really?" Reed's eyes widened, taking a moment to absorb this concept. "Why?"

"He's a nasty little psychopath, that's why." Alicia crossed her arms, a grimace on her face. "He was waiting for me in the lobby of my building when I got home. He was angry over getting brushed off or something—the creep took it pretty hard when I told him I was calling the police. I mean enough's enough. But he left after that, I didn't give it another thought. Next thing I know, everything's…gone…" she tossed up a hand and trailed off.

Ben offered a hand on her shoulder and gave another sigh. "Look Reed, I sort of…told Al it'd be okay if she crashed with us for a while, you know? There's nothin' wrong with that, right?"

Reed was blank for a moment before quickly shaking his head, then pausing and nodding jerkily. "Yeah, er, no, I mean of course. You can stay with us as long as you need to."

"You guys are my heroes." Alicia thanked. "But I guess I'm not the only one, am I?"

"You still uncomfortable with that super hero title, Reed?" Ben smirked.

"All I really did was get knocked out." He shook his head again, shrugging his wounded arm and wincing. "And give myself a nice disability for the next few weeks…"

"Which leads us to the question of how, exactly, a guy made of rubber breaks a bone." Johnny noted.

"I wasn't thinking about stretching it when I was landing on it." He muttered back. "In any case, Johnny's the hero. Not me."

Johnny paused before stammering, loosing track of whatever comical remark he might have been about to make. "H-hey, don't pin this on me."

"You should be happy, the public will fall in love with you all over again." Reed pointed out.

"Screw them, they weren't the ones rushing into the fire." He returned.

"Oh really? So suddenly you don't care about what they think?"

Johnny glanced up at him and nodded. "…Well…why should I?"

"I thought that you loved them." Reed went on with a mild sensation of interest at this sudden change of heart.

"To set it straight, they love me. I love…my…loved ones." Johnny nodded again and met Reed's eyes only in a flicker. Reed smiled knowingly.

"Aw, well ain't that sweet?" Ben interrupted. "They're friends again."

"Hey, shut up!" Johnny growled, lowering his head in embarrassment.

"Don't yell at me, lover boy—"

"Don't call me that, I'll kick your ass!"

"Johnny, come on, don't lose your head," Reed attempted to intervene.

"Yeah, you and what army? The fan girls?"

"At least I have fan girls."

"Matchstick!"

"Rock head!"

"Frat boy!"

"Geezer!"

"Ouch, hey, that one hurt."

"Ugh, I'm so tired of this!" Sue spoke at last. Alicia laughed slightly, but the others tensed nervously. Their eyes fell on her with terrified anticipation, wondering if this would be the moment she would choose to erupt. Was it finally enough? Was sitting too long in the same room as Reed and Johnny driving her into madness? Would they need another doctor after this? …She only snorted and rolled her eyes. "Will you three stop fighting? The doctor's gonna kick us out."

"Yeah, I wish." Ben said, covering his relieved tone at the lack of meltdown.

"Sue's right, you shouldn't be fighting." Alicia added. "This is the time when you should all be happiest."

"I suppose so." Reed nodded from his place and carefully drew his eyes towards Sue. Every glance meant for her had been full of apology these past few weeks. Usually she ignored it, but now she offered at least a docile sigh. "Sorry, Sue. Really. We won't fight. Right guys?" he raised a dark eyebrow commandingly at Johnny and Ben. Johnny nodded instantly and Ben reluctantly gave sign of his consent as well.

"No fighting." Sue smiled just slightly. "I can't tell you how good that sounds."

All of them fell silent as the door to the room opened and the same tall doctor from the night before marched swiftly into the room. He was looking down at his chart, seeming not to take notice of the miniature crowd that had gathered in all corners until he was already well past the entrance. Furrowing his brow in what looked like a mix between confusion and irritation, he passed a quick sigh through his nose and glared at Reed. "What are you still doing here, Mr. Richards?" he demanded. Present company was obviously befuddled. The doctor continued with no small amount of impatience. "You were scheduled to be discharged an hour ago. Now if you wouldn't mind, this isn't a hotel."

Six hours after Reed came home from the hospital, things had already died down into a pleasantly tranquil setting. On any other day before his whole incident with Johnny, this particular day and the respective interactions therein would have depressed him greatly, but compared to how things had been only days prior, today had been one of the best that he could remember. That night, the entire team with the addition of Alicia had all eaten dinner together, had a mildly uncomfortable conversation about mundane things, and then had gone their separate ways for the rest of the night. And even though he was sore, exhausted, and a bit mentally fuzzy from painkillers, Reed hadn't been this relaxed in a good, long while.

At least—he would have been, if it hadn't been for Johnny.

Not that the younger was such a bother, but Reed had never found a moment's peace around him in the entire length they had known one another, and now, as he found with much disappointment, was certainly no different. He begged Johnny to sit down and unwind, but he just wouldn't stop with his fidgeting, blabbering, and constant questioning. Whether Reed was hungry, whether he was thirsty, whether he was bored, bothered, tired, needed to lie down, wanted to change the channel. Reed appreciated the sentiment, but a sane man can only take so much.

Johnny drummed his fingers on his knee before looking over at Reed yet again. "How's the arm?"

Reed tried to pretend he hadn't heard him, staring at the scenario of Austin Powers coercing a police officer into joining his dance number on the television screen before them.

"Reed?"

"It's fine." He said at last.

"It doesn't hurt?"

"It's fine." Reed repeated. What is wrong with you? Just say that it doesn't hurt. …Damn it, he'll just ask until I say it does.

"That doesn't really answer my question."

"It's broken, Johnny, it's going to hurt some. But with the painkillers, I hardly even feel it." He attempted to assure him, but he doubted that would go over.

"Well how much does it actually hurt? Like on a scale of one to ten? Maybe you should take another one. I'll get 'em for you, you want a drink while I'm up?" Johnny quickly got up and paused to await a response.

"Johnny, do you know what I really want?" Reed sighed in frustration before smirking. He grabbed Johnny by the back of his shirt and yanked him back down onto the couch before pulling him against his chest in an uncharacteristic show of assertiveness. "Just sit here with me. And shut up."

Johnny tensed in all sorts of places with Reed's arm locked around his waist and their bodies so close together. He almost seemed like he was going to pull away, but he settled for a grumble and sat with a disgruntled stiffness. "Oh. Er, okay. Fine"

Reed sat back in relief at the potential of losing the nuisance. So apparently whenever he needed Johnny to stop irritating him, all he had to do was make him uncomfortable…He was more than happy to have finally found a solution. He wondered how long he would be able to enjoy teasing Johnny with simple affections before he would get too used to it. That was all it was, wasn't it? For all of his self-glorified whoring, Johnny was afraid of a little loving. He tried not to laugh. Testing his theory, Reed casually groped his hand into Johnny's side, at which his breath instantly hitched and then held determinedly. "…Comfortable?" Reed asked sweetly.

"Yeahgreat." Johnny wheezed. "But…listen, Reed, can I say some—thing?" he attempted.

"You can try."

"Enough with the sarcasm."

"Sarcasm? I wouldn't dream of it."

"Reed," Johnny sighed, pushing away from him a little so that he could face him. "Gimme a little credit here?"

Reed straightened up and shifted so that his elbow wasn't nudging so painfully into the couch. So Johnny wanted to play adult. This should be interesting. "Sure. I'm sorry. What is it?"

"I-I…just, you know, wanted to say a few things. Just, well, just for the sake of sayin' 'em, 'cause, you know, I…" he made some inane gesture. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry about what I said before. Okay?"

Reed didn't know if Johnny was apologizing for what he said during their fight or what he had said in the hospital in his high-strung rant. "…Okay."

"You know I would've flipped out if anything really bad'd happened to you…right?" he slowly brought his eyes to Reed's face.

Reed nodded hesitantly as he studied Johnny, biting his lower lip in ponder. "…Of course I know that." He said quietly. Johnny was never a fan of admitting emotion, and he was never very good at it either. The sad part was that he was still better at it than Reed. What a pair they made. It was amazing anything ever got said between them. Then again, maybe nothing ever did, and maybe, in some strange way, that was why this worked. At least hoping to match Johnny in courage, he searched through the softest parts of his soul and mustered up his own truly heartfelt response. "…So this is some movie, huh?" Oh, fucking hell.

"Uh…"

"I mean, er, that's not what I mean…" he shook his head and made a mental note to smack himself later. "I know, Johnny. You don't need to explain it to me. Whatever else we've said to each other, we…" he paused. "I mean, we're alright. Aren't we?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Johnny agreed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "But there's uh…there's…something else…"

Wow, Johnny was really going all out on this one. Usually he hated to talk about things that needed to be talked about, what could be so important? Then it clicked. Something else? What something else? Oh God, Johnny had slept with someone last night, hadn't he? The lousy, cheating, thick-headed, brainless jackass, how could he have—?

"Okay, when you were…" Johnny swallowed thickly and looked away, seeming agitated. "When they took you to the hospital, and I was waiting around, you know?"

"I was unconscious." Reed reminded dryly.

"Well I sort of told myself I would…that I would tell you this…if…you know, if you were okay."

"What is it already?"

Johnny growled and ground the heel of his palm into his forehead as he sank into his seat. "Um…fine, alright, the first night. The first night you and I…er…You know, you were sick? And I got home early? And we started talking and then, uh…You know the night, right?"

The night. Did he mean the night of witty exchange, inadvertent wrestling, and the little peck on the lips that had subsequently altered Reed's universe into the label of lecherousness and apparently selective bisexuality? "Yeah, I...seem to remember that night. It's pretty hard to forget considering the way things ended u—"

"It was me." Johnny interrupted shortly.

Reed stopped, furrowing his brow in confusion. "…What?"

Johnny sneered at him and rolled his eyes. "…The kiss. I kissed you."

There was a depthless silence.

Reed's brain shut down. For as useful as it should have been, it seemed to do that an awful lot. Was he saying what Reed thought he was saying? "It was you?" he uttered in disbelief. Of course, he had accused Johnny of having been the initiator of the first kiss before, but that had really only been in retaliation to the accusation he himself had received. Plus there had been something along the lines of hangovers and orange juice involved in that argument…In reality, he had no idea who had done it, or if either of them had meant to do it, or, if so, which of them it had been. He assumed, after a point, that he would never know. But it had been Johnny, all this time. This whole thing was because of Johnny. "…why?"

Johnny drew out a trembling sigh and looked down at the couch, mouth open but no words coming out for quite some time. "I don't know. It's not like I came home and said, 'Gee, I'm bored, I think I'll go make out with my brother-in-law'. I didn't…I didn't even mean to do it when I did it. But I did it. So I guess I'm trying to say I'm sorry." He paused for a moment and quirked a brow. "Uh, well maybe not exactly sorry, but I'm…I…I just thought you should know it was me. I guess."

"So then this was your fault." Reed concluded. "Everything. It's all your fault."

Johnny looked up with an expression that was both guilty and hurt. "Hey, I never would've kissed you a second time. That was all you, you jerk. Damn it, why'd I even tell you this?"

"No, I mean," Reed started laughing. "All this time I thought it was just me. That, you know, everything was my fault. I thought I did something to you that…" he shook his head and smiled. "Never mind. It doesn't matter."

"Fine, okay, so there, we're even. Now you know." Johnny folded his arms over his chest and leaned back into the couch as he fixed his eyes onto the screen indignantly.

Reed looked over at him with a pleased intrigue. For once, he didn't feel like he was the villain of the house. He actually didn't start this. Sure, he might've finished it, in a sense, but he didn't start it, and that was good enough for him. "You…" Reed cleared his throat and edged a little closer to his companion. "You know what I think would make my arm feel a lot better?"

Johnny gave him a sideways glance and started to shake his head before he froze. "Wh…huh?"

"You know…" he encouraged as he fondled the hem of Johnny's shirt almost imperceptibly between a thumb and forefinger.

Johnny stared blankly. "You…want me to take my shirt off?"

Reed winced and laughed nervously. "If it adds to the process, sure."

"Man, you're nuts. Yeah right." Johnny pushed him away and tried to focus on the television. He eyes continued to flicker back and forth between it and Reed, however. "No way. You're drugged. And all banged up. And…and everyone else is home."

"And asleep." Reed pointed out.

Johnny shook his head and jerkily began tapping his foot on the floor. "Just, I don't know, watch the movie. Hey, look, Elizabeth Hurley."

"Just a kiss?" Reed suggested. "Since you seem to like starting that so much."

"Shut up!" Johnny tried to keep a laugh out of his tone.

"Come on."

"No."

"Come on."

"Lay off, I said no."

"…Come on."

"Reed, quit it."

"You know me, Johnny, I don't give in so easily."

With an exasperated grunt, Johnny turned just slightly and pecked Reed on the lips. "There. Okay?"

"Was that really so bad?"

"…Wasn't awful."

"Alright, alright. Anyway…thanks."

Johnny was halfway through a nod before he stopped. "For what?"

"Well," Reed rested his head a moment on the back of the couch. "for making it to the fire on time. For saving my life. For worrying about me. I don't think I've ever had many people who would do those things for me."

"Sure. Glad I could help out." Johnny glanced over as Reed kissed his shoulder. "Thanks for um…your stuff."

Reed smirked at Johnny's infinite eloquence and settled back once more to watch the movie he had no interest in. "So…just how long has it been since you've had sex? If you don't consider it prying, that is."

Johnny visibly twitched. "I consider it prying."

"Because it's been years for me."

Johnny halted, his eyes instantly shifting to Reed. "…No." he denied simply. "You're not serious. …Years?"

Reed shrugged. "I've had a lot of preoccupations. Research, experimentation, and that's all set apart from what's been going on here in the past few months. Where would I have found the time?"

"Years?" Johnny repeated incredulously.

"Give or take a month or two…"

"Uh…wow."

"So how long has it been for you?"

"…"

"Johnny?"

"Too long, alright?" Johnny let out a pensive breath and leaned over with a hand on Reed's jaw as he kissed him again. Reed momentarily patted himself on the back for being just so clever. The instant their lips met, Johnny was already beyond a point of no return. Of course, he was usually that way all the same. Johnny was always heated, in whatever he did. He hadn't lost a step between them since the last time they had kissed.

"Did you ever notice," Reed pointed out with a bit of a pant as Johnny's hands moved over his chest. "that almost every one of our…um…encounters…seems to happen on this couch?"

"It's a magic couch." Johnny muttered in dismissal.

Reed worked his good arm down around Johnny's middle and leaned his weight into him, successfully pushing him down onto his back against the couch as he continued. Johnny's right hand moved in an instinctively protective fashion against Reed's broken arm as his other held his head forcefully in place. "I think this is about where we left off…" Reed said against Johnny's neck as hands roamed.

"I think it was closer to here." Johnny played along and guided Reed's hand to the rim of his pants.

"Here?"

"Ah, yeah, that's…"

"Better?"

"Well, no, that's my hip."

"It—? Oh, sorry. You're turned all funny. Here."

"Uh, yeah, there it is."

"Well so it is."

"Keep doing that..."

"Reed?" a third voice suddenly entered the mix and Reed froze, head jerking up from where he was on top of Johnny.

"Uh—Alicia!" Reed chirped and cleared his throat, clamping his hand over Johnny's mouth. Johnny's eyes traveled cautiously between them.

Alicia stood in the doorway, leaning a hand out against the frame as she faced the room and luckily seeming unaware that he wasn't alone. Reed had almost completely forgotten that she essentially lived here now. "…Hey, you okay in here?"

Reed swallowed heavily and dropped his head down onto Johnny's chest. "Uh, yeah. No, I'm fine. Just…lying down. Was there something you needed?"

"I was just about to take a shower, if that's alright. It's been a helluva long day… Do you have any towels you could throw my way?" she asked tentatively.

"Sure." Reed replied quickly. "There's a closet at the end of the hall. Towels are on the second shelf."

"Thanks." She smiled. "Reed, I really appreciate you letting me stay here."

"It's nothing. Really." He assured. "We're happy to have you."

"Well…thanks all the same." She nodded and moved a little away from the door before pausing. "Goodnight guys."

Reed and Johnny both winced in mild shock. "Uh, heh…'night, Al…" Johnny offered meekly as Reed's hand fell away.

She gave a casual smile that just may have been a smirk and disappeared down the hallway.

"Okay, I take it back," Johnny decided. "This couch isn't magic. It's cursed."

"You're probably right." Reed laughed lightly and sighed. "…I wonder if the bed is cursed, too."

Johnny looked up as though contemplating and raised an eyebrow. "Only one way to find out."

And so, in keeping with the spirit of that first night, both men fled the room as fast as possible.