Chapter 3: Just Another Morning

A/N: Okay guys, I know, 3 chapters in less than one day. :-D I've just been obsessing about the story, so forgive me. Johnny's not in this chapter much, but it's setting everything up for the next chapter where it really gets into the story. Hope y'all like it. If you do, please review as those make me do Snoopy dances. :-D

Also, as always, a huge, gigantic, enormous, wonderful thank-you to PirateGyrl for all her help and being my beta. You are the best! And, thanks to Black-Rose090 for being my second reviewer.

Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing, except my Apple iBook, which, at the moment has a yummy Chris Evans Nanny Diaries wallpaper on it at the moment and my own characters which will make an entrance shortly.

The next morning...

"Rise and shine kid, you're in my seat," a deep gravelly voice boomed somewhere above him. "Come on," the voice said again and he could feel someone poking at him, making his head roll to one side. It was Ben. Maybe if he pretended to keep sleeping Ben would let him sleep for a few more minutes, so he didn't show any indication that he'd woken him.

When he heard banging receding into nothingness as Ben stomped to another part of the house, he sighed and situated himself, as he'd let his head fall to one side convincingly when Ben had "tapped" him.

He must've crashed at around 3 in the morning. Although, by the looks of the light coming in through the windows, he'd slept until around 10, he didn't feel like he'd gotten any rest and therefore, was cranky. Knowing that Ben would come back any minute, he stretched as he sat up, tugging his shirt down where it had ridden up during the night, yawning loudly as he did so. He stood up, pushing himself up off the couch, and stumbled a little before finally righting himself. Still squinting, he made his way towards his bedroom, intending to get back to sleep as he felt like something scraped off the bottom of a shoe. However, Reed's sudden appearance made that possibility diminish quickly.

"Morning," Reed said as he walked in, sprawling on the couch. "You sleep out here last night?"

"Looks that way," Johnny said.

"Not like you?"

"Well, I couldn't sleep, so I came out here to watch some late-night television. Try to bore myself to sleep. Apparently it worked." He stretched his arms over his head and yawned again. He slouched into the chair perpendicular to the couch and slung his arms over the armrests.

"Want to watch some television?" Reed asked.

Johnny shrugged, "why not."

Sue busied herself in the kitchen, cracking eggs over a frying pan and tossed them into the sink as she went. Ben stomped in, looking chipper as usual.

"Morning," he grumbled, his voice gruff.

"Morning," Sue said, sliding a pan of biscuits into the oven. "You doin' okay?"

He smiled and sat down, the chair grinding as he slid it across the floor. "Yeah, fine."

"What's Reed up to?"

"I think he's in the living room watching the news. You know how he is; constantly checking the news for anything interesting."

"Yeah, I know. He's addicted." She finished the eggs and started to fry bacon in the same skillet.

"You sleep okay?" he asked.

"Sure, fine. You?"

He grumbled in response.

She finished cooking; wiping her hands on the kitchen towel and tossed it on the counter. "I'll go grab Reed," she said. She walked down the hallway leading to the living room where she could hear the faint buzz of the television. Reed was slouched in the middle of the couch; his head leaning slightly back, studying the news program. She'd been quiet coming down the hall so he didn't know that she was standing right behind him. Brushing her hair back behind her shoulder, she leaned down and whispered in his ear, "morning." She smirked as she saw him jump and planted a small kiss on his cheek. When she started to pull back his arm wrapped around her waist and yanked her over the back of the couch, pulling her down under him, causing her to squeal with laughter.

He was grinning at her. "Morning to you too," he said. He leaned down and kissed her, his weight settling on top of her.

When he pulled away, she smirked. "Reed," she said, "breakfast is ready." When he caught her lips again as if to silence her, she rolled her eyes. "I'm going to murder you if I have to eat cold eggs." He kissed her again and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. She almost laughed when she felt his stomach grumble as his lips traveled to her neck.

Finally he sighed and pulled away. "I like saying good morning this way," he smirked, an eyebrow raised. He pulled her up so they were sitting next to each other on the couch and she finally noticed Johnny sitting in the chair opposite them, his eyes closed and his mouth half-opened as he'd fallen back asleep. She sucked in a little gasp, surprised to see him there; as she didn't notice him when she'd first entered the room.

"What's wrong with Johnny?" She frowned as she studied her little brother.

"He said he just didn't sleep well. Seems he fell asleep on the couch last night." He stood up and pulled Sue to her feet. "Come on. We'll let him sleep. Let's go get breakfast before your eggs get cold. I'd hate to die over eggs." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek as he led her back down the hall.

Later that afternoon...

Reed was ensconced in his lab, headphones on as he worked, his fingers roving over the keyboard deftly, his mind a million miles away. Sue and Ben had run to the store for groceries and Johnny was asleep in his bedroom after he'd woken up, drool down the side of his chin, and rushed to his bedroom, slamming the door, embarrassed as Reed and Ben had laughed uproariously. This meant that he had the whole place to himself, although, rather than blaring the stereo or dancing around like Ben would, or like Johnny, doing things he would not even like to contemplate, he was hard at work. When the phone rings reverberated through the airy room, he grabbed for it, missing and knocking it to the floor. He scooped it up distractedly and held the receiver to his ear.

"Hello?" Reed answered the phone in his lab, not really paying attention, but just half-listening as he continued typing.

"Yes," a deep, booming voice said genially, "I'm calling for Reed Richards."

"This is he," he said.

"Dr. Richards," the voice continued, "this is Dr. Theodore Munroe. I'm calling from the NSA office in Washington D.C."

"What can I do for you?" Reed replied, still not really paying attention, preoccupied with his project.

"I'm afraid we need your help. We've just received some troubling intel regarding an old friend of yours."

A/N: Okay, so that's the end of Chapter 3. Who do you think the old friend is? ;-) It might not be who you think... Any reviews are much appreciated. I should be updating Chapter 4 shortly. Thanks for reading! Also, if I might suggest other stories, PirateGyrl has 2 new great stories right now: Always (Red Eye) & A Pirate Calling (POtC), both are terrific.
Adios!