Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel. Stan Lee (The great man he is) does.
A/n: You know the drill. NO FLAMES! Unless they come from Johnny. R&R VGxx
Chapter two: I'll Never Stop Loving You
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11-year-old Rayne Storm watched, with one eyebrow raised, as her father looked for his jacket, she sat on the couch reading over her homework. Sighing, she ran a hand through her long soft brown hair. She knew where it was. She looked up at him again as he continued to rumage through the clthes on his bedroom floor - Auntie Susan wouldn't be happy with him.
"Dad?" He paused and looked at her, "it's hanging on the back of your door." She said. He swung his door shut and then opened it a second later jacket in hand. Rayne watched on as he pulled on his boots. He noticed her staring.
"I'm going out." He told her, without waiting for her to ask.
"Why?" She asked.
"Because I can." He said, smartly.
"But you went out last night." She pointed out.
"So?" He said clearly not in the mood to play games tonight.
"So – you promised you'd stay home tonight and play Monopoly with me." Rayne held up the board game. Johnny sighed. He was the only one who'd play the game with her. He had promised her he'd play the board game with her, it had been a birthday present and she hadn't had a chance to play it yet. Now he was breaking that promise. He rolled his eyes. He put his hand on her shoulder, crouching to her height.
"Bunny – listen I promise you. I swear on Auntie Sue's invisibility – that I will play Monopoly with you tomorrow night ok? If I break that promise then you can punish me whatever way you like." Johnny said standing up.
"Really?" She brightened up immediately.
"Really." He agreed.
"Can I set Auntie Susan on you?" She asked.
"Uh…yeah. Of course." Johnny said after a moment of hesitation.
"She'll hurt you won't she?" Rayne said.
"Yeah she'll rip me to shreds." Johnny nodded.
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X-Games Arena
Johnny lowered himself onto the bike. Rayne would be watching even though she was 11 and Sue had rendered it 'unsuitable for children under 15' Johnny had told her when he was on it Rayne could watch it. So Sue didn't have a say. Rayne was at home, safe & sound. Johnny sighed as he heard his name announced. He did his 'old-school' stunts that set the crowd alight with cheers. He didn't bother doing anything new. Even if the announcer asked for it.
When his set was over and getting a near perfect score putting him in the qualifying finals – he started to head home. He was aware of everything around him – as the Human Torch you had to be. It was just the way it was. Suddenly he saw something he knew needed his attention. He flamed on and got into the thick of it, while he knew someone called the rest of the Fantastic Four.
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"Ray! Make it Rain!" Sue yelled at her niece. Rayne got to her feet from where she'd been doing her homework and ran to the balcony, she saw why it needed to rain. Those flames had to be at least twenty feet high! Closing her eyes she concentrated on the water she could sense in the clouds above her head. She only opened her eyes when it started to fall; she directed it to be over the building only. Being able to control the weather had it'd advantages. She jumped into the Fantastic Car as it hovered next to the balcony. She was seated next to Ben.
"Dad's gonna so ground me for this." She said. She wasn't allowed out of the Baxter Building to help them out.
"We're still the Fantastic Four it's just you help us out every so often." Sue said. Rayne smiled her Aunt always thought of something! Rayne knew she had to help the other people in the lower floors – her father couldn't save them all. She didn't even think of the consequences, she summoned all the air she could to push her to the burning building. She jumped from the Fantastic car. The wind did its job despite dropping her fifty feet below where she wanted to be. She made her way through the flames.
"Hello! Is anyone in here?" She called stepping over beams and furniture.
"Over here! Help me!" A voice called over the flames. Rayne stepped over more furniture; she knew she had to find this person.
"Where are you?" Rayne called.
"Over by the window!" The voice replied. She made her way to the other side of the building she spotted the figure and made her way over to it. She helped the person up and led her to the side she'd entered to see her Uncle below her she called out to him over the sound of the flames and the sirens, he looked up. He stretched up to her level.
"I got one," she said, he smiled and took the survivor down to the ground. Rayne went back to her search for anyone else. She went a floor up. Still yelling and searching. She would always find them then call out to her Uncle for help. It was only when she was a floor down from her father when the unthinkable happened. A beam collapsed onto her.
Johnny made his way a floor down. He knew someone was trapped. He found the survivor, once Reed had gotten that one out; he went in search of the person the survivor had been worried about. Reaching the collapsed beam he found them. What he saw made his blood freeze. He moved the beam and pulled his daughter out under it. He then flamed on and flew down to the ground. Where he laid her down and listened to her ragged breathing.
"Rayne – Bunny sweetheart come on you gotta talk to me." He said. At 11 she couldn't do this. She shouldn't have been out here. She coughed.
"Daddy?" He looked down at her as she opened her dark blue pools that were so much like her.
"Oh Ray Baby – I thought I'd lost you." Johnny grabbed her close and held her to his chest for a while. The public swarmed around them, wanting to know who this child was. Reed and Sue were crowd control as well as Ben. They were able to keep the crowd as far back as they would go without using force. Johnny suddenly got very parental.
"I told you never to leave the Baxter! What do you? Go and play hero when we could've done fine!" As Rayne's eyes filled with tears the sky rumbled overhead, her emotions could control the weather as well as her thoughts and when she wanted it changed. She opened her mouth to talk but he stopped her.
"No, I haven't finished yet! I told you not to leave the Baxter Building. You suddenly decide to break that one rule and play heroine for these people! Who do you think you are?" Johnny wasn't really angry – he was more scared than anything, "what we deal with isn't low scale sweetheart. Do you have any idea how scared I was when I found you in there? I thought you'd broken your back or you'd be covered in burns! Rayne you're my daughter! I don't want to loose you!" Johnny said, "You broke a rule. You crossed a line!"
Rayne got up and ran; she didn't care where she went she just started to run and run and run until she couldn't run anymore. She just pelted the pavement. Her trainers slipped and skidded on the asphalt as she ran but she didn't care as long as she got as far away from her father as Brooklyn would let her. She slipped and fell. She got up and looked down. Her knees had skin torn from them. She sighed and sat down on the gutter. Suddenly the sound of an engine, that she knew too well, alerted her that she'd been found.
"Your father is frantic looking for you Rayne." Sue's voice said as she sat down next to her niece, "he wants to know that you're ok."
"Go and tell him I'm ok then. I'm fine. The elements don't effect me like they would you or Uncle Reed." Rayne said, as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Sue looked at her niece's knees and clicked her tongue at her husband back in the Fantastic car.
"Rayne – you need to have those looked at, you could get an infection and that wouldn't help anyone." Reed's voice said. Rayne laughed bitterly.
"What does it matter? No one would care. My father sure as hell doesn't." She said.
"Rayne! How dare you say that? He loves you. He wasn't angry with you. He was scared. You could've been hurt seriously. You're very lucky you weren't." Sue said softly, brushing her hand over her niece's hair.
"You do realize that it's only raining because he yelled at me and got me upset?" Rayne said holding out her hand and a small rain cloud formed over her hand.
"Yes. I know. We all realize that. That's why you're father wants to know you're ok. So you can make it stop." Sue said.
"And if I don't want to?" Rayne snapped.
"Then you'll make him absolutely frantic. You're father can't flame in the rain. He'll be put out." Sue said. Rayne laughed bitterly again.
"Serves him right. He yelled at me! He hates me! I broke the rules Auntie Susan! He hates me!" Rayne screamed standing up. Sue stood up she was a little taller than her niece but not by much. Sue didn't scare Rayne and Rayne didn't scare Sue. Rayne lifted her hands up and the thunder rumbled louder.
"Rayne…please – there's no need to scare me. Johnny just wants to make sure you're safe." Sue said. Rayne looked at her.
"Why didn't you just say so Auntie Susan?"
"I thought I did." Nevertheless Rayne got into the car and let them take her back to the Baxter.
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"Look who we found!" Reed said as he, Sue and Rayne walked into the Baxter. Rayne still looked a sight but Johnny couldn't care less – she was safe.
"Oh Rayne thank god. Bunny I'm so sorry I yelled at you. I didn't mean to sound so angry. I wasn't angry at all I was scared. I thought I'd lost you!" Johnny said his voice slightly muffled as he had nestled it in her hair. She didn't say anything; she didn't even hug him in return. She just let him hold her.
"Dad?" She said he pulled back to look at her.
"Yeah Bunny?" She looked down at her feet and scuffed her toe on the floorboards.
"Do you hate me?" She asked timidly.
"Hate you? No! God no! How could you even think that?" Johnny said putting a finger under her chin and lifting her face to look at him.
"You yelled at me. And you never had before." She said.
"I was scared Ray. I told you. I know I sounded angry but I wasn't. I was scared." Johnny told her.
"That's what Auntie Susan said." Rayne said wrapping her arms around his neck now. He kissed her neck softly. When she giggled he did it repeatedly, making her giggle loudly and wriggle out of his arms. She sprinted off, Johnny chasing her.
"Well at least we know now that Dad and Daughter are safe." Sue said. Reed nodded.
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"Hey Dad?" Rayne asked when her and Johnny had both collapsed on her bed after he'd chased her and caught her successfully.
"Yeah Bunny?" He said turning his head to look at her.
"Do you think you'll ever hate me?" She asked.
"You want me to do you?" Johnny said.
"No. I was just wondering." Rayne stated.
"I could never hate you. Even if I tried. You're my daughter. You're family. No one in this building could possibly hate you!" Johnny told her.
"Especially you though right?" She said.
"Right. I'll love you forever." He smiled, as he saw her grinning.
"Really?" She asked.
"Really. I'll never stop loving you Bunny." Johnny told her. He pulled her into the sitting position and hugged her tightly.
"Got to go to bed now Bunny Rabbit." He said kissing her forehead.
"I'm 11, Dad. I think I'm passed 'Bunny Rabbit' now." Rayne said.
"What do I call you then?" He asked.
"Just Bunny or Rabbit is fine." Rayne said. Wanting to have some remainder of her childhood with her. He smiled at her and turned to walk out. He made it to the door before she stopped him.
"Daddy?" He turned.
"Yeah?" He said, leaning on her doorframe.
"I'll never stop loving you either. For as long as I live." Rayne said, swinging her legs back and forth as her bed was too high for her to put her feet on the floor.
"That's good to hear. I don't know what I'd do if you hated me." He said.
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Next chapter soon! R&R VGxx