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Ben walked into the lab his huge feet echoing off the tile. He tapped Reed on the shoulder, causing the man to jump and spin around so fast that the chair slipped out from under him. "Ben…oh. What are you doing? Is Johnny alright?"

Ben nodded, his eyebrows creasing into a frown as he thought about Johnny. All of Johnny's symptoms had returned ―the high fever, the sweating, the coughs. Except now he had to endure them with a broken wrist and a couple broken ribs. Just looking at Johnny was almost more then he could take.

"Yeah, the Kid's just sleeping. Any luck on finding a cure?" he had never been one for beating round the bush.

Reed shuffled a couple of papers which all contained huge complex equations. He stopped on one, which had a diagram on it. "I think so." He handed to paper to Ben.

Ben looked at it, the years of living and working with Reed enabling him to decipher what few other people in the world could. "So we have to make The Machine again?"

"Yes and no." Reed was obviously excited. "It will be like the machine that turned you back into the regular you; only this one will be powered by fire."

Ben's eyes widened in sudden realization. "No way. I've spent time with Johnny, Reed. And he's putting up a great fight and everything, but he won't be able to supernova in the condition that he's in."

"Of course he won't." Susan walked into the lab, coming to a stop in front of Ben. "It'll take weeks to make the machine, he should be able to be well enough by then."

Ben was surprised. Susan had always come off as the overprotective mother sort of person, not one likely to let her little brother undertake such a dangerous operation.

"I just want my brother to be okay. This is the only way."

Ben looked back and forth between Reed and Susan, unbelieving. Finally, he gave up. "Just tell me if you need any help," he strode out of the room, wanting to walk in off.

Just as he was about to leave the huge apartment, a weak sound called him back. A thin scream hung in the air, making Ben turn around and rush back into the living room because he recognized the scream.

It was exactly the same sound that he had heard a month ago. He had hoped he would never hear that sound again. Johnny was delusional once again. He was imagining he was back in Doom's horrible torture chamber.

There was nothing he could do to help his friend.

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