A/N: So here's chapter five. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, they make me very happy. :-D As I'm starting my internship for my last semester of college I might not be as quick from now on (or at least after the next 2 weeks), so sorry in advance. Hopefully that won't be the case. Anyways, hope you enjoy the latest chapter. I'm having a lot of fun writing it. Special thanks to PirateGyrl for all her help and for putting up with me asking for constant advice and being my beta.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 5: Once Upon a Time...
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," she said, as she stared, open-mouthed, at Johnny, who smirked at her.
"Ummm," Johnny began, "can I help you?"
"Johnny Storm," she said, her voice barely above a growl.
"Yeah," he flashed a grin and leaned against the doorframe. "There something I can help you with?"
"You don't remember me?" she cocked her head to one side, her short brown hair glinting in the morning light.
"Ummm," he gave a short laugh, "Can you give me some help with this, gorgeous? I'm drownin' here."
"Doctor Rebecca Yale," she stuck out a hand, her eyes narrowed. "I'm your NSA liason."
Rebecca Yale? Oh, shit. He gulped and held out his own hand, "Wow, Becca, you look...great."
She shook his hand, his callused palm grating against her smooth one. "Thanks." She gestured to the door, "you going to invite me in?"
Still shocked, he pushed the door open, "yeah, of course. Come in." As she walked past him, he flashed another smile. "So you're the great Dr. Yale? Reed said you were a guy."
She rolled her eyes, "well, obviously not." He led her into a large area that seemed to be composed solely of experimental equipment.
"Reed's in here," he said, gesturing to the left, which branched off onto a hallway with a large private office. Reed sat, his nose buried in a book. When Johnny knocked on the doorframe, he jumped visibly and spun in the desk chair.
"Reed," Johnny grinned, "this is Dr. Becca Yale with the NSA."
"Rebecca," she corrected.
"Rebecca," Johnny said, trying to get his mouth around the elongation of her name. "Hmm. I like Becca better." He didn't see her roll her eyes and step into Reed's office as he jumped to his feet.
"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Richards," she extended a hand and took Reed's in her own.
"Please," he smiled kindly, "call me Reed."
"Reed," she let him lead her to a comfortable armchair and put both bags on the ground.
"Johnny," Reed said, "you're so rude. You let Dr. Yale haul both of these bags around?"
"Well, umm." Johnny looked uncomfortable. "Sorry." He ducked out of the room after saying, "I'm gonna go grab Sue and Ben. I don't even know if they're up yet." With that, he disappeared down the hall.
Reed smiled again at Becca. "So, how do you know our Johnny?" he asked conversationally.
"What?" She frowned, "how did you know?"
"Just a feeling," his smile widened.
"College," Becca said, "we went to school together."
Reed nodded. "I hope there's no problem working with him?"
Becca smiled warmly, "no, of course not. College was quite a long time ago. Whatever mistakes which were made are long forgotten."
"Water under the bridge?" he offered.
"Exactly." She hated platitudes, but continued to smile. Why let on that the fact that just seeing him had made her want to grab the closest pointed object and stab him in the heart? Whatever issues she had were going to be worked through. It wasn't going to interfere with her job. Everything was much more important than her feelings.
"So," Reed continued, "you brought the scroll that was left in the crypt in New Orleans?"
"Yes," she knelt and pulled the paper that he was referring to from her briefcase, as well as a letter from Dr. Munroe. "Here's what Dr. Munroe sent you, also. I haven't had a chance to study this parchment, but I don't believe that was why he was so concerned."
Reed opened the sealed letter from Munroe and frowned as he read.
Down the hall, Johnny was pacing in the living room. Rebecca Yale? How the hell had this happened? He frowned as he heard footsteps approaching. It was Sue.
"Johnny, who was at the door?" she asked.
"Dr. Yale," he said softly.
"Great. Where is he?"
"Talking to Reed in his office. Go on in. I'll be there in a minute."
Sue started to turn and then looked over her shoulder at her brother. "Is something wrong?"
No, everything's freaking great except I'm going to have to work with my ex-girlfriend who hates me. Everything's wonderful.
"I'm fine," he smiled at her and waved her off. "I'll be there in a minute."
Four years ago…
She shut the door to her dorm room, turning the electronic key in the lock. With a definitive beep she heard the lock engage and stuck the key in her jeans pocket. She had to get out of her room. It was too smothering. She'd been in there, fuming all day and ignoring the telephone ringing. Finally, she'd pulled it off the hook and hopped in the shower. She needed some air. The night was warm and humid, with a light drizzle falling. Even that didn't bother her. She could see the stars through the murky clouds and the pavement glimmered as she took the path towards the library. It was a brisk walk, and when she pushed through the front door past a few girls grouped together on cell phones, the cold air hit her in the face.
Although she didn't have any work to do, she thought she might search for a good book to read, anything other than a textbook. She walked over to the elevator, brushing her hair behind her ear. When she climbed into the car she hit the button for the sixth floor. She checked her cell phone after pulling it out of her pocket. Nearly one o'clock in the morning. Since it was close to finals, the library stayed open all night. She could stay as long as she wanted. The double doors slid open and she stepped onto the empty floor. She made her way towards the fiction section. Maybe a good murder mystery would do the trick. Her hiking boots squeaked from the moisture the drizzle created as she walked across the linoleum floor. The moon glinted through the skylights as she walked towards the back corner, where her favorite section was. The lights seemed to have been turned off in one area so it was rather dim in the stacks. She began to browse, searching for a good new book. She lost herself in browsing titles and let out a squeak of surprise when someone tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned she founder herself face to face with the person she'd been avoiding all day.
"Becca," he said, smiling guiltily. "How are you?"
"Leave me alone Drew," she said slowly. She turned and continued to browse while he just stood there, watching her.
"Becca," he said again. "I'm sorry."
"Oh save it Drew," she spat. "I don't care what your reasons are and I don't care about you. If you don't leave me alone I'm going to call campus security for harassment." She shoved past him but he grabbed her arm.
"What the hell is wrong with you? I'm trying to apologize."
"If you don't let go of me…" she started, her voice low. He shoved her against the stacks and planted both of his hands on either side of her shoulders to cage her in. "Could you at least listen for a damn second?" he asked. She glared at him without answering. Her head was ringing from making contact with one of the metal shelves. Pissed off, she said, "fine." She punched him in the nose and kneed him in the groin. When he collapsed in front of her, falling to the side, she shook her head. "Don't ever come near me again."
"Bitch," he spat, as he writhed on the floor in pain.
She smirked and retrieved his wallet from his back pocket. "Now," she said, "I'm going to go report this to security. You can go pick up your wallet from them."
She turned and started to walk away when she bumped into someone. "Sorry," she mumbled, a little flustered. A hand grabbed her upper arm, steadying her. She looked up into the face of a young man, about her age, frowning down at her.
"Everything all right?" he asked, looking over her shoulder at Drew still curled up on the carpet.
"Yeah, thanks. Why?"
"Um…" he looked down at Drew again, confused. "What happened?"
"Nothing," she smiled brightly. "Just finishing a discussion. It got a little…heated."
"Looks like you came out on top. Good thing. I heard you fighting across the aisle and was going to come kick that guy's ass," he glanced down and saw her holding Drew's wallet.
"Oh, this?" she waved the wallet. "I just need to go hand this off to the security downstairs. Maybe that'll teach him."
She started to walk away, and out of the corner of her eye she sensed him following her. "Sorry," she said over her shoulder. "I appreciate the masculine show of chivalry, but I can take care of myself."
"I gathered. What did he do?" he asked, indicating Drew.
"Oh, him? Just cheated on me and then lied about it." She tossed the wallet in the air and caught it with one hand. "Moron. And then he tries to come make up. Does he honestly think I'd take him back after that?"
She turned and looked at the boy full in the face. He looked like he was ready to spit nails. "Oh, sorry," she said. "I'm sure you don't want to hear about my relationship problems."
"No," he frowned, "I was just trying to decide whether I should go kick the guy's ass myself."
"I think he's had enough for one night, but thanks." She patted him on the shoulder.
"Okay," he sighed. "Sorry," he stuck out a hand, "I didn't introduce myself. Johnny."
She took his hand with her own. It was warm and had calluses on the palm. "Becca. Nice to meet you."
AN - well there you have it guys, another chapter. Ch. 6 should be up in a few days if I can get it finished. Again, thanks to all my wonderful reviewers. Hope you guys are enjoying it. Also, Dawnie-7 who normally doesn't read FF stories, I'm appreciative that you suffered through this one. I'll try not to make it too boring. Love you guys!
Mystery Gyrl