The action will pick up soon, I promise.

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Chapter 4

Present Day

"It's excruciating being a psychic in a city of eight million souls, all living and dying, celebrating and mourning, being born and passing away, all at the very same moment."

Those fairly simple words had explained everything. Anna had spoke them as she was falling under the sedatives that Reed had given her in order to make the trip back to the Baxter Building. Thanks to a double dose of sleeping pills and Reed's ability to make quick excuses, they had managed to make it back with only a few prolonged glances their way. Even coming from her half-drugged state, the words had stayed with him all through their semi-successful work at trying to get her powers under control and on to the present day.

"Whatcha got there?" a voice asked from behind him in the lab.

Reed nearly jumped out of his skin, which for him was not totally infeasible. He whirled around to be greeted by the tired face of Anna Macedon.

"You nearly killed me," he commented breathlessly.

"I'm not going to be the one killing you if you keep pulling all-nighters like this, you'll die of exhaustion," she chided gently. "Besides, shouldn't you be with your fiancée?"

"Feeling slightly hypocritical tonight, are we?" he asked with a small smile.

"Hey, I was sleeping," she pointed out, motioning to her bright green pajamas, "but someone out here was thinking so furiously that it kept waking me up."

Reed suppressed a gulp, wondering what else she may have gleaned from his thoughts. But this comment also served to bring him back to the task at hand.

"So, whatcha got there?" Anna persisted.

"Why don't you tell me?" he asked snidely.

"No need for attitude," she scolded, "you know I don't read minds on purpose."

With a sigh, he hyper-extended his arm around behind his back and brought out the device he had been working on. "It's for you," he said quietly.

"Well…what is it? I mean, it looks like a headband, but…"

"Oh, it is."

A pause, then, "Go on…"

Taking a deep breath, he reluctantly decided to rush into it headlong and get it all over with. "It's meant to suppress brain waves, more specifically yours. It will make you…mono-minded…not psychic."

An undecided look passed over her face. "I mean, that's a good thing, I guess…but I thought I had my powers under control enough by now, I wouldn't really need this."

"It's for the group. Your powers make them…uneasy."

She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut in before she could say anything. "Anyway, wouldn't you like to not hear the voices anymore?"

Her eyes narrowed. "You make it sound as if I'm crazy."

"No, I didn't mean that, it's just…"

Now it was her turn to interrupt. "Besides, I don't need to be a psychic in order to tell that you aren't telling me everything right now."

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, and the two just stood there, almost staring each other down. Folding, he finally explained, "It is designed to suppress higher brain functions, and your psychic ones may not be the only ones affected."

"Are you saying that it's going to make me an idiot, too?"

"No! It may just knock down some things like advanced algebra and particle physics."

"I can't do that, Reed!" she hissed. "I'm not strong or athletic, or even particularly attractive; my brain is all I've got! And you know how much academics and science mean to me! How many years have we worked together? Three, almost four?"

"Calm down," he whispered, stepping forward and putting his hands on her shoulders. "Just wear this thing. For the others, for us, for the Fantastic Four…" he lowered his head to look into her eyes. "…for me."

She stared into his eyes, long and hard. Snatching it out of his hands and pulling away, she said, "For you."

As she turned back and headed towards her room, it really hit him how much trust Anna had in him. He only hoped he hadn't just done something to betray it.