Chapter 2: Insomnia

AN: Okay, I didn't put this in the first chapter b/c it wasn't relevant. This story takes place after the first movie because, very sadly, I have not had the chance to watch SS. :-( So, just pretend SS never happened. Also, not much happens in this chapter, but it'll start to pick up by the next chapter. Another thing... the title is from a song on the FF soundtrack which I absolutely love called Waiting (Save Your Life) by Omnisoul. Thanks for reading and please review:-)

SPOILER ALERT - if you have not seen American Psycho, Psycho, or the Shining, you might not want to read this chapter as there are several details about these movies below. I don't really go into great detail, but there are some plot points you might want to avoid if you have not yet seen these movies, but just to be on the safe side, fair warning. :-)

Also, please no one take offense to my comment about Sixteen Candles. I love that movie, so I don't think it's "insipid." I'm a big fan of the Brat Pack movies, especially Sixteen Candles and Breakfast Club. Judd Nelson was so hot. :-D

Again, a great big thanks to my friend, PirateGyrl for all of her help in writing this story and her invaluable ideas. You rock!

Present day...

Johnny glared out the window of his bedroom, finally letting the blinds fall back into place when he turned away. The day had been too short and yet, way too long. It wasn't like he didn't enjoy his life, but some days; it started to wear on him. It had been a mostly uneventful day, but Reed had insisted on doing another ream of tests to see if anything had changed in the past six months, much to Ben and Johnny's chagrin. Sue, of course, being the steadfast little scientist, was right on board with Reed and probably would've pretended to be even if she wasn't just to back up her fiancée. Of course, nothing had changed and all the tests had done was irritate him. It had been six months since Victor had gone insane, trying to kill him with a heat-seeking missile and had been turned into a grotesque lawn ornament for his trouble, shipped off to Latveria and none of them had heard anything else about the former billionaire since, except that he was being kept in a storage facility in Latveria.

Johnny didn't like to dwell on it; the guy was completely nuts, there was no explaining it. He shuddered to think what would've happened if Sue had accepted his marriage proposal and had become Mrs. Von Doom. Of course, everything could change with one little flip of the coin, but he had a feeling that Doom would've been as much of a megalomaniac without powers as with them.

Although Reed was the 'world's dumbest smart guy,' he was glad that Susie had ended up with him. He was a hell of a lot nicer than Victor and not psychotic to boot. Although he was a bit more mind numbing than Johnny would've liked, he was still a nice guy, and that was what he wanted for his sister.

Irritated because he couldn't settle, he walked back out to the living room, which was deserted, and grabbed the remote from the end table, flipping the channel to ESPN and settled back. It was a Bucs versus Giants game. That guy Gruden was a moron, he thought. He'd only had a SuperBowl team because of Tony Dungy. They'd be sacking him within the year.

His thoughts drifted as he watched another play resulting in a touchdown for the Giants. Between dating, randomly saving people, pulling pranks on Ben and helping Reed avoid Sue when she came flapping at them with decisions about colors, china patterns and cake styles, he was exhausted. He had too much he wanted to do, see and experience. What fun was life when you let it pass you by? He started to flip channels again, irritated with the football game. He landed on the movie channels and considered his options. Sixteen Candles or Psycho. Good, Psycho would do it. He hadn't seen the movie in years and anything was better than a insipid teen comedy. Although he did like the 80's comedies, Breakfast Club, Weird Science and all of the ones with Molly Ringwald, he just wasn't in the mood.

The music played, graduating to a crescendo as Marion Crane walked up towards the Bates Hotel. Scary movies were great, Johnny thought, but not as much fun without a girl hiding her eyes on your shoulder or practically crawling into your lap. He was not the kind of guy that thought girls were stupid or helpless. He just didn't invest a lot of time or energy into understanding them, so their inexplicable nuances didn't worry him. He respected women for what they were; beautiful, mysterious, and just as interested in him as he was in them.

Which was why, at the moment, he thought sardonically, he was sitting home on a Friday night, watching an old horror movie wearing red boxers and an old high school t-shirt, when he should be out at a club or dinner. What would his fans think if they saw him now, sitting on the couch, the picture of insomnia in all its glory?

He shrugged inwardly. Not everyone found their soul mate when they were a kid, he thought, referring to Reed and Sue. Why drive yourself nuts, when there was plenty of fun to be had and nothing to worry about at the moment? He turned the volume up on the TV, knowing everyone had long since gone to bed and were probably oblivious to anything but a hurricane at the moment. He smirked as Marion talked to Norman Bates, the quintessential nice guy with a big ugly secret; he was completely nuts and had killed his mother, essentially becoming a split personality.

This movie always got to Johnny, and after watching it, he found himself wondering if he knew anyone that was secretly crazy. He wasn't paranoid, just curious about those closest to him. Look at Reed, he thought. If anyone had a complex, it was him. Or Ben. Poor Ben. If he wanted to do some damage, he wouldn't really have a hard time. Good thing he wasn't a psychotic killer. He turned back to the movie, focusing on the screen as Marion began her ill-fated shower. No happy ending for her. She gets sunk into a swamp along with the money she stole only to be fished out at the end by the police. One of many victims of the sweet Norman Bates.

Johnny toasted her with the beer he'd grabbed on his way through the kitchen and took a long swig. He didn't know what it was but he was starting to feel better. He smiled to himself as he remembered the first time he'd seen this movie. He'd snuck into the living room after bedtime and everyone else was already asleep. It had been a midnight showing of Psycho, similarly to tonight. He'd woken up thrashing in his covers for a week straight after that, convinced that the killer was chasing him. His mother never could figure out how he'd seen the movie when they monitored their television habits so carefully.

Sue knew though, he remembered. She'd threatened to tell but he'd begged her not to and she'd finally agreed. He'd spent two weeks cleaning up her room after that, he remembered with a smirk. She'd milked that for all it was worth. Of course, his idea of cleaning was shoving everything under her bed and behind the door, so he hadn't really exerted much effort.

Was he really in the mood for the murder movies, he wondered as he changed the channel again as the credits began to scroll, and landed on American Psycho. It wasn't really a slasher, just a guy's deluded fantasy. He'd read the book in high school, a very long time ago. It wasn't so bad, but the description of all his exercise and music, his tedious skin care regimen and the perfect restaurants did start to wear on his nerves. Watching Patrick Bateman kill Jared Leto with a bad dye job, he yawned and reached for the remote again. Boring, he thought. Once you'd seen it once, it wasn't as great. The first time, it was more shock value as you wouldn't expect Christian Bale to be an insane killer.

It was nearing Halloween, which explained why there were so many horror movies on. Choosing another, he tuned to the channel. The Shining, perfect.

As Jack Nicholson's character hurled a tennis ball against the wall, he grinned. One of his favorite scary movies. It was one of those creepy movies that never went out of style, although certainly looked dated, which only made it all the more fun to watch. Jack Nicholson sure knew how to play a psycho. As Danny roamed through his mother's room muttering "red rum," he smiled. When he leaned his head back on the couch and finally closed his eyes he smiled, thankful that he was finally relaxed enough to sleep.