Authors note: Constructive Criticism please. 'II' denotes a character of the same name & 'Negative' denotes a alternate double of the same name. The description of Reed's apartment might be a bit off too. Thank you in advance for the positive reviews. Originally this was one long ONE-SHOT, but it has been split into several chapters so never mind the rushed feeling in this one, the later are much lengthier. And on a last note, the Negative Zone will appear, but much later on into the story: I.E., the possible next chapter.
Part II: Myotis
"Okay, Sue calm down," Johnny coaxed inching away from his sister. "We'll find him, don't worry about." Susan reappeared from her invisible state, Ben sighed inwardly his blue eyes shifting from place to place. They stood in the only area that Reed could've gone through to disappear, though somehow he had vanished by some other means. A flickering of light through the window caught Ben's eye, scratching his chin Ben ventured towards the stairs that would lead him to the walk way above the laboratory. An eerie sound of metal creaking under pressure caught the ear of Johnny.
The young man tilted his head upward in question. "What is it?" Sue asked, her eyes following her brothers curious body language. Ben shrugged his shoulders unsure of what it was he was seeing, bringing back his fist Ben knocked the glass out of the window frame. A gust of wind hit his stone body like a punch would've if he were still flesh, he stared up at the sky in astonishment. "What do you see, Ben?" Susan asked. Ben had no time to answer the woman below, quicker than the blink of an eye the sky was flooded with a great white light, blinding all within its rage. Ben was knocked down by a incredibly fierce force that him square in the chest, it bounced off him and landed two feet away behind Susan and Johnny.
Sue raised her shields around her brother and herself, the electricity bounced off her shields onto the floor, the light flickered violently for another minute before it diminished into nothing leaving behind two bodies that laid on top of each other. "Ben, you all right?" Johnny asked uncertainly. Ben climbed to his feet with little help from the railing of the walk way that was bending under his weight, he nodded to the man below. Smoke rose from Ben's chest where had been hit, he was otherwise, fine. Johnny exhaled unable to believe how hard his heart was beating at that moment, they had almost been electrocuted. Sue ventured over to the fallen bodies, her eyes blinked wearily at the recognizable body below the mess of bustle of fabric that was not tightly wrapped around the unnaturally thin frame, and bright orange hair that stuck out in every direction, defying gravity.
Underneath the thin frame was the very person Sue had ached to see. Reed! Sue reached past the 'woman' atop of Reed to shake the seemingly unconscious man awake, her fingers grasped his visible arm lightly. The reaction from Reed's still body was a moan, Sue exhaled gratefully. Reed's eyes fluttered open, revealing not brown eyes that Sue had come to know, but a pair of white orbs staring up at him. Sue felt her breath catch in her throat, she took a moment to catch her breath, opening her eyes she stared back at Reed. Instead of white orbs, his brown eyes reappeared. "Sue," He drawled dreamily. "It worked . ." Before she could answer Reed's eye-lids fell back over his eyes, his head fell back to the ground.
Her fingers pressed against his neck, a pulse throbbed strong under her finger tips, He was all right. Now to remove the woman, with a grunt Susan gripped the woman's arm. Without warning the fallen woman's fist collided with Sue's face knocking her onto her back, Ben was quick to make his way down off the walkway above, hoisting himself over the bent railing the giant landed on the ground with a thunderous boom. Johnny went stumbling out of The Thing's path as he marched toward his fallen friends. The orange haired being was sent stumbling over Reed in her frantic escape, Sue was helped off the ground by her brother who watched the skinny woman proceed behind the desk.
Her arms and legs extended in front of her, siding across the floor on her behind with only her hands and feet to propel her backward. "Suzie, are you all right?" Ben huffed stepping in front of his friends. Sue wasn't sure how to answer Ben's question, her eyes remained fixated on the unmoving body of Reed. Something was defiantly not right with any of this, Sue thought glancing at the woman peering at them behind the counter.
Shaking her head she removed herself from her brother's grasp to join Ben at his side. "I don't know. Grab Reed, put him in his bed," Sue said, taking the initiative. "Johnny, you stay here with me." The two men did as they were told, Ben gathered the unconscious man up in his arms, proceeding out of the lab. Johnny made himself comfortable on one of the office chairs behind him, Sue kept watch on the woman that continued to peer out from behind the counter at her with large onyx eyes.
It was around 5:00 when Reed finally aroused from his slumber. His eyes wandered the orange sunlit room, he pushed himself up into a sitting position his head spun with the familiar dizziness. His gaze shifted to a familiar Golem figure. Ben rested against the wall on the floor, his arms barely folded across his chest. What had happened after he tried to turn the machine off? Reed searched his mind for answers. Surges of electricity flowing through him and the bright light before darkness was all that came to him. A sort of boyish excitement rushed through him: Had he actually traveled to another dimension?
Reed flexed his gloved fingers, he winced at the burning underneath the thick leather. Hastily he yanked the glove off to reveal left his hand that sustained second degree burns on its palm and back. Removing the right glove, Reed almost choked on his tongue at the sight of his untouched hand. Something was not right here. Barely giving himself time to recover from his unconscious state, Reed flung his white lab coat onto the bed, kicked his boots off (both feet were untouched like his right hand) and was quick to make his way down the hall into the bathroom.
Reed slammed the door behind him. Locking it, he began to undress himself. The suit came off without problems erasing fears of burns on his entire body, Reed stared wearily at himself in the mirror. He looked like he had missed several hours of sleep at least. His face was sagging, his hair was falling out of place from its neat and orderly position to make things worse. This was all something that be taken care of. Concentrating Reed pulled his sagging face back into its original position, he smiled in triumph at the firm skin of his bony face.
Even so, he was surprised that the hair that been whitened did not move a bit from it original place oddly enough. Reed's brow creased worriedly at this, he ran his hands through his hair, the gray hair fell out place right away. After a while he started to make faces at the mirror, to relieve the stress twisting knots in his stomach. Reed couldn't help but laugh himself when his tongue extended beyond its original length and touched the tip of his nose. Looking down at his burned hand he noticed that most of the scars were beginning to fade away. Reed assumed his body was healing itself at a much faster rate than he had been for the last several weeks. He pawed the injured hand cautiously.
Ben was shaken out of his sleep by the slamming of the bathroom door, his blue eyes turned to check on Reed . The scientist was nowhere to be found. "Sue's gonna kill me," He grumbled rising climbing off the ground. Ben's brow crinkled at the lab coat and boots thrown aside, if he didn't have good sense he would've thought Reed had been vaporized to moon dust. Leaving nothing behind but his jacket and boots. His non-existent ears perked up when Sue and Johnny's voice could be heard from laboratory, strained and obviously angered. Ben made his way down the hall quickly, as he was approached the door frame that lead into the living room, a barely visible substance made its way out of the lab.
Johnny stumbled out into living room with a dazed look on his face, Sue was quick to follow her weakened brother. Ben caught notice of another offensive shield forming around the blonde woman and was quick to put a stop to anymore violence. "Sue!" He cried, causing the woman to turn in his direction. Her shield was in a momentary halt, the shimmering glow growing stronger by the minute. "As much as I like seeing, twinkle toes get his, ain't you supposed to be watching that kid in there?" Ben stated. Sue's shield vanished in that instant though she did not return to the lab right away, Johnny got back onto his feet appearance unfazed by the event which unfolded around him.
"She started it," Johnny pointed. "I don't care who started it, go back in there and watch that kid," Ben snapped irritably. Both Storm's were quick to make their way out of the living room towards the lab. Ben shook his head tiredly. It was like living with a bunch of children sometimes with those two. He was pretty sure Reed and Sue said the same thing about himself and Johnny when they got into arguments. Ben ventured down the hall until he reached the bathroom door. His large fist rapped against the door lightly.
"Hey, Reed, youse all right in there?" Ben asked. There was a lingering silence after his question, Ben began to wonder if Reed was actually still in there. "Uh, yeah Ben. I'm fine," The answer came out with frequent pauses. Ben's brow wrinkled in concern. "Are you sure?" He inquired. "Yes, Ben," Reed felt as though he was suffering from a bad case of vertigo as he stared into the mirror that was steadily changing colors through his dizziness. He was not a fine as originally thought, the nausea had just started up.
He grabbed a hold of the sink for balance, the memory of the pain he felt in the lab returned to him all to soon. Moving slowly away from the sink, Reed climbed into the shower. "Well . . . you'd better come outta there soon, Johnny and Sue are at it again," Ben grumbled. "When aren't they?" Reed mumbled, then said, "I'll be out soon." Ben left the hall heading to the kitchen for something to eat, his stomach was beginning to chastise him for not taking Reed's offer for making waffles. Reed was out of the bathroom sooner than Ben originally thought, the scientist was quick to thrown on a fresh pair of clothing over his suit. He stuffed his gloves into his pants pocket and reentered the living room with a sigh.
Ben nodded in his friend's direction when he came out of the kitchen, he noted that the man before him looked a lot better than he was previously. "Where are they? Johnny and Sue?" Reed said. "In the lab watching your new pet," Ben joked dryly. In natural Reed style the younger man's brow creased with confusion and his lips thinned upon being pressed together. His new pet? Slowly Ben realized that Reed was unaware of whatever he brought back with him, rolling his blue eyes he gestured to the man to follow. Reed made haste in following Ben, when the two arrived in the lab they found Johnny and Sue sitting on the desk where I.D.M. had been. Reed found no signs of the pet Ben mentioned. Sue leapt from the counter running past her brother toward Reed, she enveloped him the tightest hug her arms could muster.
Reed smiled, the color of his cheeks deepening to a crimson color, he could feel his body modifying itself to the pressure being applied to it. When Sue stepped back she began to behave in manner much like Enid had. "Reed, what happened?" Sue finally said. Reed shook his head and gave everyone an account on what he could remember before he blacked out. Everyone lapsed into silence afterward leaving Reed with a uncomfortable feeling. "Were you hurt?" Sue interjected, breaking the silence. Reed felt himself pause then shake his head, Sue's eyes narrowed at his body language. Her blue eyes ventured downward, noticing how much Reed was favoring his left hand. Instead of pressing the issue, she glanced up at him with her best disarming smile. "Well if remember otherwise, let me know. I did major in Biochemistry, you know," Sue said punching his arm playfully.
Reed seemed to missed the cryptic message she sending him, his cheeks went red in an instant. He looked away abashed never noticing Sue's shock. Johnny pondered thoughtfully on the figure hiding behind the counter still. "Hey, Reed, what about that chick?" Johnny said, wagging his eyebrows. Reed met the young man's face with more confusion. "Johnny, what chick are you talking about" Reed said, almost indignantly. Johnny climbed off the counter, he was quick to make his way around the counter. In mere minutes the fearful figure scampered out its hiding place. Reed watched the so-called chick duck behind his desk, awed by what he had just seen. Without a second thought Reed surged toward his desk, he bent downward to get a better look at the chick.
It jumped back in surprise from the abrupt movement of the scientist. The spiked bright orange hair, youthful features were enough to fool Johnny to believe it was girl. Its frame was thin, perhaps too thin. But given the size and body mass of the chick, it certainly was male. Reed felt his heart skip a beat when their eyes met, the boy leaned forward curiously his head cocked to the side. Sue, Johnny, and Ben joined Reed's side with curiosity. "That's the chick I'm talking about," Johnny whispered pointing. "Its' not girl, Johnny," Reed grumbled, his head turning slightly. Johnny, Sue, and Ben gave each other odd looks, their eyes focused on the cowering human: It looked very much like a young girl to them.
Reed must've gotten fried worse then they thought. Sue decided to take the initiative, squeezing in-between her brother and Reed she poked her head under the desk. The boy leaned back cautiously, Sue plastered a disarming smile on her face. "What's your name? Can you understand us?" She asked. The boy's head moved like a bird at the question, his onyx eyes blinked slowly in response. His shook his head for minute hunching his shoulders. He appeared or they assumed he understood the English language judging by his body language.
The foursome's faces brightened when the boy looked up finally, they leaned in anticipation. The boy's finger jabbed Reed's chest with twice, Reed to say the least was offended but said nothing. "Her name is Hart?" Johnny asked. Ben was careful to restrain his strength when he shoved Johnny to the side, the young man stumbled away from the group as he tried to keep his footing.
"No dingus, her- his name is Reed, I think," Sue spoke haughtily. The bright orange haired boy nodded his head in Sue's direction with appreciative smile, the woman nodded back at him. Johnny scoffed with a scowl on his face, like he was supposed to know that the kid's name was the same as Reed's. The team stepped back to let the boy climb out from under Reed's desk, he was lanky and thin, his arms looked too long for his body. He stood two heads shorter than Johnny. Sue realized the white fabric that had been covering the important parts of his body down to his legs were a poor imitation of male clothing.
His face seemed unnaturally developed as well, bordering adulthood, like it wasn't his own. The boy's large onyx eyes darted from place to place like a cat's, he fidgeted under their gaze like a normal teenage boy conduct. "So your name is Reed?" Johnny double checked. The boy shrugged then nodded. Ben scratched his bald head in dismay, the child seemed to be in a state of confusion as to what his name was. Either that or he was deliberately trying to confuse them.
They all stood in a uncomfortable silence for the longest time, none of them were sure as to how to communicate with the boy though it was obvious he understood what they were saying to him. After a while Reed broke the silence. "If he's from another dimension, then I'm pretty sure somebody's noticed his absence," Reed said excitedly. "Whadya mean if? You came down riding a bolt lightening like Zeus with that kid, of course he's from another dimension," Ben interjected sarcastically.
Reed couldn't argue with his friend's comment. "Well, while he's here don't you think we could learn something some him?" Sue implied. "I mean if he really is from someplace, he could help us improve our technology in ways we never. . ..," The youngest of the group had stopped listening. Johnny rubbed his temples in aggravation; He seriously had to leave this place before his brain was too overwhelmed with scientific mumbo-jumbo. While the others were occupied with handling freakazoid, the Human Torch was quick to make his way out of the laboratory. His socks made his footfalls soundless, his movement through the apartment was easier than he would've imagined. Grabbing his sneakers he discarded his melted leather jacket.
The weather was too harsh outside, he could to without a jacket for a while. His feet slipped into his untied sneakers easily, running his tongue over lower lip the young man made his way down the hall. So far so good, no one missed him ye- "Johnny, get back here!" Sue's booming voice stopped Johnny in his tracks. Your not the boss of me, Johnny thought wickedly grasping the door knob. There was no telling if Sue was still in the room with Reed and Ben, opening the door he rushed forward in one last ditch effort to escape the apartment.
Instead of the greeting of hallway, Johnny's chin collided with an all too familiar force. Johnny fell to the ground around the same time triumphant laughter rang through his ears. Sue, he thought angrily rising to his feet. Sue appeared beside him with a smug look on her face, her arms folded across her chest in a formidable manner. "I got you back," She said in a sing-song voice. At first Johnny was in the dark as to what she meant by got you back, until events of the early morning came rushing back to him. Johnny rubbed his chin in annoyance, what did Sue have against his leaving the apartment.
"Leave me alone, Sue, I wanna got out," He interjected, ignoring her comment. Sue's jaw shifted cockily, her large blue eyes under her small framed glasses glistened with regained pride and vigor. "Well you can't, not until we figure this situation out," Sue said. Johnny's mouth fell open in aghast at the statement, was she not in her right mind.
"Figure out what? Reed travels to another dimension, picked a kid up, and lost some more of his good sense along the way. What is there figure out?" Johnny snapped. Sue smacked her brother on the arm in her reach, his eyes flared red in annoyance. "We have to figure out where the machine went, it didn't come back with him," Sue quipped. Johnny's angry face was replaced with a unbiased one, patting his sister on the shoulder Johnny headed through the door. "Johnny, get back here! We have to find that machine!" She shouted down the hall after the boy. "That's your job sis! I'll see you later!" Johnny answered vanishing around the corner. Sue let out a aggravated huff reentering the apartment, she stormed down the hall in the living room where Reed, Ben, and the boy awaited her. "Where's twinkle toes?" Ben asked. "Out again," Sue replied tiredly.
"We'll leave him alone until he comes back," Reed said, pacing the room. Sue's lip curled inwardly in frustration but complied to her friend's wishes. "So . . . what are we gonna do, fearless leader?" Ben asked. Fearless? You can hardly me fearless Ben. Exact opposite in fact. Reed rambled mentally. He scratched the back of his mildly burned hand as he watched the two people in front of him. His brain felt like it was still scrambled, but he had do something other than stare into space. "First, I have to locate the I.D.M.," He mumbled. Reed headed back to the laboratory. There was no apparent danger with the boy being here, Reed felt that there was no cause for concern.
However, with the I.D.M. absent from his lab, the scientific, sometimes irrational side of him wondered what the effect would be with that thing still activated. Reed jumped into the office chair, with a push of his feet the chair moved smoothly across the floor to his computer. The screen saver vanished when he moved the mouse, displaying on the desktop was a plain wallpaper displaying several planets in the solar system.
Clicking on a icon shaped like Saturn Reed listened to the computer noise before the window finally appeared. During the time he was inside his lab repairing the I.D.M., he had installed one of the tracking devices he had 'borrowed' from NASA when they gave him the boot. Ben had chided him for stealing but at the time Reed was feeling seriously wronged and stealing (though against his moral code) a state of the art tracking chip was no wrong doing in his mind. To an extent it still wasn't, though he was beginning to feel the guilt that had been numbed by his anger. Typing his password into the box, Reed watched as the window opened to his own state of the art tracking system, that allowed him access to several of the satellite hovering in outer space. How easily surpassed the government system is, he thought with a chortle.
Label: I.D.M. (Interplanetary Dimension Machine)
ID: #144055910
Current Position: Unavailable (out of range?)
Status: Off?
Energy Level: Below normal (recharge soon)
A brief sigh of relief ran through Reed, his finger tapped against his chin rhythmically. This didn't tell him much aside from what he already knew or suspected. Running his hands through his hair Reed rose from the chair and began to pace across the floor. What was he going to do if he couldn't even pin point the exact location of the I.D.M., there was no telling what happened after he attempted to shut the machine down. The thought of traveling to another dimension thrilled Reed to no end and yet he had barely been aware to experience a childhood dream become realized. That is where his dread tugged at his excitement. If he had actually traveled through another dimension, there were a number of possibilities that could've occurred during this travel. The machine did not return with him to the Baxter Building, that was one certainty.
The other was that there was a major possibility that it was on, off, or between both. If so it could be causing major damage to the space-time continuum. Reed ran his finger worriedly across his eyebrow, his mind was choking on the idea that he would responsible for any kind of damage to the universal structure of the time continuum, his eyes ventured downward to stare at his burned hand; It seemed to be healing nicely.
Bringing his hand up from his side Reed turned his hand around, the skin was peeling away. Reed brushed his thumb against his palm, the skin flaked away like dry wallpaper. Reed repeated this motion three more times, the skin flaked away from his palm fluttering lifelessly to the ground. Reed stared closely at his palm in concern; A hitch in his breath formed when he noticed something irregular. Instead of raw unhealed skin there was nothing, he could see the floor he stood on through the small patch of missing skin. "Reed? Did you find your I.D.M.?" Sue's voice rang clear and true in the scientists ears. Reed his arm tense up as he pulled out one of his gloves out of his pants pocket, he pulled the black glove over his hand as Sue entered the laboratory with Ben and the boy. He took a moment to get himself together before he answered Sue.
"Uh, no. It's out of range," He answered stepping over the small flakes of skin on the ground. "Are there any dangers to that machine being unattended? Assuming its' still on?" Sue asked, her hair falling inher face. Reed shoved his hands into his pockets, his teeth bit down on his lip. "In theory, if the I.D.M. did transport me to another dimension, and its still on, there's a sure chance its bound to some kind of damage with the rift its created between this world and wherever it took me," Reed explained. "So in other words, we need to find it before something actually does happen?" Sue said quickly. Reed was slightly taken aback by her bluntness, he nodded. Reed moved over to his Bio-scanner. Sue joined him at his side, her hand brushed against his left arm affectionately.
Reed felt his face burning once more, everything was all right between them. There was not a plausible excuse left to hide behind anymore. The boy instinctively leap onto the chair before either of the tiro could order him to do so, Sue gave him a wary glance, his almost naked appearance was unnerving. "Ben, do you think you could . . . get him so clothes?" She asked. Ben scoffed in reply. "Why can't you do it? Your not doing anything," Ben said bluntly. Sue's blue eyes blinked rapidly at her orange friend. "Do you know how to operate this machine, Ben?" Sue inquired slyly. Ben folded his arms across his chest with a scowl, what did she take him for? An idiot?
He worked with Reed on his projects longer than she did, of course he knew how to operate that infernal scanner. "Yeah, yeah I do Susan, in case you forgot," Ben replied hotly. "But since I figure I'm just the muscle around here, I'll go and get the clothes for scarecrow here." The boy turned his head in acknowledgment. Reed looked up from the keyboard on the scanner with bothered expression. "Ben, she didn't mean it like that," He called after his disgruntled friend. Ben raised his hand in objection.
"Quit sticking up for her, egghead," Ben answered vanishing from sight. Reed's brow creased in dismay then shot a look at Susan who was actually looking a bit guilty for what she said to Ben. Without a word said to her former boyfriend Sue reached up and pulled the scanner mirror down in front of the boy, she was surprised to say the least that the boy showed signs of normal vitals, with the exception of irregular heart rate. Reed peered at the x-ray in curiosity.
"Vitals are normal; I can't find anything out of the ordinary in the skeletal or organ system," He murmured quietly to himself. "Stats are coming up," Sue announced resting her chin on Reed's right shoulder. Reed pulled away from the x-ray and focused his attention on the computer screen as it loaded the vital stats onto the screen. Ben returned from pillaging Johnny's already unkempt dresser, in his large hands resided a red T-shirt and a pair of cargo pants.
He handed the items to the boy, the child looked them over briefly then examined the two men in the room for a minute. Ben's brow made a wave motion of sorts as he watched the boy get up from the stool and run into a hidden corner of the room. Apparently he figured out he was supposed to put them on, Ben hopped he put the clothing on himself correctly at least. "Find anything interesting, egghead?" He said. Reed nodded never taking his eyes away from the computer screen. "Yeah, um, the boy . . . I mean, Reed's molecular structure is pretty much the same as ours, the same goes with his organ structure.
The only difference is that his heart rate a faster than ours, he doesn't use oxygen to breathe, he has no vocal chords and is . . . telekinetic . . .," Reed trailed off. Ben blinked, he glanced down at the computer screen and x-ray then back up at his friend. "You figured this out all by looking at this?" Ben said, unconvinced. Reed's hand removed themselves from his lap in a careless motion. "Most of it," Reed said vacantly.
Ben's brow crinkled, he turned to find out what the scientist was gazing up at with wide eyes. Above them the boy hovered above them with his belly facing the floor, his toes and fingers touched the ceiling, barely missing the track lights above. Sue's glasses slid down her nose when her mouth fell open. The boy was dressed her brother's red muscle shirt which fit nicely on his thin body, the cargo pants fit far too loosely on the young man's waist, giving him the added lazy 'teen' appearance. He looked down on them with his onyx gaze which glowed blue in the track light.
He waved to them as he turned himself up right in mid-air and descended to the floor. His feet touched the ground, various items in the lab shuddered as if the air was being pushed against them. When everything settled the boy's pants sagged on the right revealing his bony waist, he instinctively reached down and pulled them up again. "We either fatten this kid up, or get him a belt," Ben said jokingly. Sue noted that Reed seemed to be actually considering Ben's words, she rolled her eyes and nudged him lightly in the back. Reed craned his neck back to look at his female companion in question "He was joking Reed," She stated with a uneasy smile. Reed nodded his head quickly before returning his attention back to the computer screen, trying to ignore the increasing tingle in his left hand.
In the passing months Reed and the others quickly gained a new ally of sorts. At first Reed II was not allowed nor wished to wander outside of the Baxter Building. He remained inside their large apartment reading Reed's vast library of science text books, Sue's romance novels, Ben's westerns and Johnny's magazines. Reed continued to perform tests on the young man whenever he could. If he wasn't doing that, the others noticed he devoted all of his time times searching for the I.D.M., thinking of other energy sources for his machine to use on Ben. Reed was becoming more and more distressed by the slow deterioration of his vanishing hand.
The seemingly unknown phenomena of peeling skin had spread up his arm, nearly to his chest. He found himself wearing his gloves and keeping his sleeves down more often then he liked, this especially aroused suspicion in his comrades (most notably Ben and Sue). Reed II helped the Fantastic Four whenever they happened to show up in the middle of danger or robberies during their routine shopping trips or simple walks around New York City. Reed II was disgruntled at the fact he was left holding their baggage since he could not could control his energies as well as they would like. Sue was appointed to help develop Reed II's telepathic powers (which helped her keep hers up to an extent), Ben and Johnny were appointed watchmen when Reed was too busy and combat trainers for the young man.
Reed locked himself up in his lab for hours on end, to the point where the others would not see him until the next day. He only came out of the lab to eat and accidentally ended up sleeping on the couch for two and half days straight by the order of Sue. Reed awoke on the third day feeling hungry, yet nonetheless refreshed to Sue's delight. Reed day after his long slumber was fated to get worse when he received a call from his baby sister, Libby who was quick to explain that she had no qualms against his being a mutant, but Enid had no plans to speak to him ever again. His parents took the news the same as Libby and did not hold his change against him.
That was his only shred of good news from the remaining week then, he proceeded to bury himself in his work again. Johnny was in and out of the house most of the time, Ben began to suspect that the youngest of their group was seeing a lady-friend and was reluctant to tell them because what they would think. Sue agreed partly with what her friend suspected, ultimately deeming Johnny's line of thinking irrational and illogical. Reed II would spend his time with Reed in spite of the man's tendency to ignore him unless focused on another physical test.
Their days continued in a routine type manner as the early months passed by drawing nearer to the end of spring. Reed was no closer to completing any of his goals and his condition was only worsening. Spasms of pain that reminded all too much of his electrocution would now occur frequently, they became harder to hide when they struck him at inappropriate times.
If this kept up someone was going to notice.
(TBC)